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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1). Field of the Invention
The invention relates to crosslinkable dispersion powder compositions which are redispersible in water, to processes for their preparation and to their use.
2). Background Art
Dispersion powder compositions which are based on homo- or copolymers of ethylenically unsaturated monomers and are redispersible in water are known. Such a dispersion powder composition is prepared by spray drying the corresponding aqueous plastics dispersions in a stream of hot air. The dispersion powders are suitable as additives for hydraulic binders in the construction materials industry, and furthermore such products are employed as binders in coating compositions or adhesives.
Crosslinkable dispersion powders are known from EP-A 149098 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,751). The polymers mentioned therein contain N-methylolacrylamide or N-methylolmeth-acrylamide units as crosslinking functions. The disadvantages of such polymers are on the one hand that formaldehyde is liberated when N-methylolamide units are crosslinked, but above all N-methylolamide-containing polymers crosslink only in acids, if appropriate by means of addition of crosslinking catalysts. However, the main field of use for crosslinkable dispersion powders which are redispersible in water lies in the building sector; here, it must also be possible for crosslinking of the binder to take place, above all, in the alkaline range.
There was therefore the object of providing crosslinkable dispersion powders which are redispersible in water and also crosslink in the basic range, but without already crosslinking completely during preparation of the dispersion powder, that is to say during the polymerization or drying.
Known vinyl ester copolymers which can also be crosslinked in the basic range are those which contain vinylalkoxysilane units. DE-A 3727181 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,249) describes aqueous dispersions of polymers which comprise vinyltrialkoxy- or alkylvinyldialkoxysilanes as crosslinking units. Aqueous copolymer dispersions analogous to these which are based on alkyl acrylate polymers with acryloxyalkyl (trialkoxy) silane units are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,697. The fact that in copolymer dispersions with alkoxysilane units as crosslinking functions these are readily hydrolysed and crosslinked by condensation even at relatively low temperatures of about 50° C. presents problems here.
To prevent premature crosslinking of aqueous dispersions of alkoxysilane-substituted copolymers, EP-A 485057 proposes using aqueous dispersions which, in addition to water-insoluble, alkoxysilane-substituted copolymers, also comprise polar, low molecular weight alkoxysilane copolymers. To improve the storage stability of aqueous dispersions of polymers with alkoxysilane functional units, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,095 proposes polymerizing these in the presence of condensable siloxane precursors, polysiloxanes which can envelop the alkoxysilane units like protective groups being obtained.
EP-A 493168 relates to dispersion powders obtained by spray-drying a mixture comprising aqueous polymer dispersion and liquid organopolysiloxane.
CH-A 499650 describes a process for preparing polyvinyl ester-based dispersion powders where silica powder is added before spray-drying to the dispersion yet to be dried, in order to prevent caking of the polymer particles in the course of spray-drying.
EP-A 601518 relates to redispersible polymer powders which are based on (meth)acrylates, comprise from 1 to 15% of ethylenically unsaturated comonomer units and are dried in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol as atomizing aid.
Surprisingly, the abovementioned object has been achieved with dispersion powders of copolymers with alkoxysilane functional units, although against the background just discussed, during the required drying of the copolymer dispersions in a temperature range from 55 to 100° C., complete crosslinking of the copolymers had to be expected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to crosslinkable dispersion powders which are based on water-insoluble copolymers of ethylenically unsaturated monomers and, if appropriate, further additives, such as protective colloids and antiblocking agents, and are redispersible in water, obtainable by
a) emulsion polymerization, at a pH of 2 to 9, of a comonomer mixture comprising one or more comonomers from the group comprising vinyl esters of unbranched or branched alkylcarboxylic acids having 1 to 18 C atoms, methacrylic acid esters and acrylic acid esters of unbranched or branched alcohols having 1 to 18 C atoms, olefins, dienes, vinylaromatics and vinyl halides, and
0.05 to 15.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture, of one or more silicon compounds of the general formulae
CH.sub.2 ═CH--(CH.sub.2).sub.m --SiR(OR').sub.2,
where m=0-8,
CH.sub.2 ═CR"--CO.sub.2 --(CH.sub.2).sub.n SiR(OR').sub.2,
where n=1-6, ##STR2## wherein R is a branched or unbranched, optionally substituted C 1 -C 12 -alkyl radical or a phenyl radical, R' is identical or different and is a branched, unbranched or cyclic, optionally substituted C 2 -C 6 -alkyl radical, R" has the meaning H or CH 3 , and the group --SiR(OR') 2 can also have the meaning ##STR3## and b) spray drying, at a pH of 4 to 8, the resulting aqueous copolymer dispersion at a discharge temperature of 55 to 100° C., if appropriate before or after addition of the additives mentioned.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred vinyl ester comonomers are vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl butyrate, vinyl 2-ethylhexanoate, vinyl laurate, 1-methylvinyl acetate, vinyl pivalate, vinyl esters of α-branched monocarboxylic acids, for example vinyl esters of α-branched monocarboxylic acids having 9 C atoms (VeoVa9 R ) or vinyl esters of α-branched monocarboxylic acids having 10 C atoms (VeoVa10 R ), and vinyl methylnorbornanecarboxylate. Vinyl acetate is particularly preferred.
Preferred acrylic acid esters or methacrylic acid esters are methyl (meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, n-propyl (meth)acrylate, iso-propyl (meth)acrylate, n-butyl (methyl)acrylate, iso-butyl (meth)acrylate, t-butyl (meth)acrylate, hexyl (meth)acrylate, ethylhexyl (meth)acrylate, cyclohexyl (meth)acrylate and dodecyl (meth)acrylate. Methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate are particularly preferred.
Suitable comonomers are also the mono- and diesters of fumaric acid and maleic acid. Preferred alkyl radicals in the ester groups for fumaric and maleic acid are methyl, ethyl, iso-propyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, t-butyl, hexyl, ethylhexyl and dodecyl radicals.
Examples of olefins and dienes are ethene, propene and butadiene and isoprene, it being possible for the dienes to be copolymerized, for example, with styrene, (meth)acrylic acid esters or the esters of fumaric or maleic acid. Examples of vinylaromatics are styrene, methylstyrene and vinyltoluene. The preferred vinyl halide is vinyl chloride.
In a preferred embodiment, 0.05 to 15% by weight, based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture, of auxiliary monomers from the group consisting of the ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, preferably acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, fumaric acid or maleic acid; from the group consisting of ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid amides, preferably acrylamides; or from the group consisting of ethylenically unsaturated sulfonic acids and salts thereof, for example vinylsulfonic acid, are also copolymerized during the preparation of the water-insoluble copolymers. If appropriate, up to 2% by weight, preferably up to 0.5% by weight, in each case based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture, of comonomers from the group consisting of poly-ethylenically unsaturated comonomers, for example divinyl adipate, diallyl maleate, allyl methacrylate or triallyl cyanurate, can also be copolymerized.
Suitable auxiliary monomers are, if appropriate, also other comonomers which have a crosslinking action, for example acrylamidoglycolic acid (AGA), methacrylamidoglycolate methyl ether, (MAGME), N-methylolacrylamide (NMAA), N-methylol methacrylamide, allyl N-methylolcarbamate and alkyl ethers, such as isobutyl ether, or esters of N-methylolacrylamide, of N-methylolmethacrylamide or of allyl N-methylolcarbamate, if addition of these for performance reasons provides advantages. If these crosslinking comonomers are copolymerized, they are preferably copolymerized in an amount of 0.05 to 3.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture.
Particularly preferred silicon compounds are
CH.sub.2 ═CH--(CH.sub.2).sub.0-1 --Si(CH.sub.3) (OR').sub.2
and
CH.sub.2 ═CR"--CO.sub.2 --(CH.sub.2).sub.2-3 --Si (CH.sub.3) (OR').sub.2,
wherein
R' is identical or different and is an ethyl, iso-propyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl or t-butyl radical. Preferably, R' is identical and is an n-butyl, iso-butyl, t-butyl or cyclohexyl radical.
Preferred substituted radicals R' are those which are substituted by an alkoxy group. Examples of these are radicals R' having the formula --(CHR'") 2-3 --O--CH 2 R", wherein R'" is H, CH 3 or C 2 H 5 . Particularly preferred substituted radicals R' are the methoxyethylene, ethoxyethylene, methoxypropylene and ethoxypropylene radical and the radical ##STR4## R" in each case has the abovementioned meaning H or CH 3 .
The most preferred silicon compounds are vinylmethyl-diisopropoxy-silane, vinylmethyl-di-n-butoxy-silane, vinylmethyl-di-iso-butoxy-silane, vinylmethyl-di-t-butoxy-silane, vinylmethyl-di-cyclohexyloxy-silane, vinylmethyl-di-(1-methoxy-isopropyloxy)-silane.
If the silicon compounds mentioned are not commercially obtainable, they can be prepared by processes known from the literature, such as are described in Noll, Chemie und Technologie der Silicone [Chemistry and Technology of the Silicones], 2nd edition 1968, Weinheim and in Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie [Methods of organic chemistry], volume E20, page 1782 et seq., 2219 et seq., Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 1987.
The silicon compounds are preferably copolymerized in an amount of 0.2 to 3.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture.
Comonomer mixtures or copolymers which, in addition to the silicon compounds mentioned, also comprise the following comonomers or comonomer units are preferred:
vinyl acetate;
vinyl acetate and ethylene with an ethylene content of 5 to 50% by weight;
vinyl acetate and 1 to 30% by weight of vinyl laurate or a vinyl ester of an α-branched carboxylic acid (VeoVa9 R or VeoVa10 R ) and 5 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl acetate and 1 to 30% by weight of vinyl laurate or a vinyl ester of an a-branched carboxylic acid (VeoVa9 R or VeoVa10 R );
vinyl acetate and 1 to 30% by weight of an acrylic acid ester, in particular n-butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate;
vinyl acetate, 1 to 30% by weight of an acrylic acid ester, in particular n-butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, and 5 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl acetate, 1 to 30% by weight of vinyl laurate or a vinyl ester of an a-branched carboxylic acid (VeoVa9 R or VeoVa10 R ), 1 to 30% by weight of an acrylic acid ester, in particular n-butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, and 5 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl chloride, 10 to 40% by weight of ethylene and 5 to 40% by weight of vinyl laurate or a vinyl ester of an α-branched carboxylic acid (VeoVa9 R or VeoVa10 R );
methyl methacrylate and 35 to 65% by weight of an acrylic acid ester, in particular n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate;
styrene and 35 to 65% by weight of an acrylic acid ester, in particular n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.
The data in % by weight here are in each case based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture or of the copolymer.
The water-insoluble polymers mentioned, which can be polymerized by free radicals, are preferably prepared by the emulsion polymerization process. The polymerization can be carried out discontinuously or continuously, with or without the use of seed latices, by initially introducing all the constituents or individual constituents of the reaction mixture into the reaction vessel, or by initially introducing some of and subsequently metering in the constituents or individual constituents of the reaction mixture into the reaction vessel, or by the metering method without initially introducing constituents. All metering is preferably carried out at the rate of consumption of the particular component(s).
The polymerization is preferably carried out in a temperature range from 0 to 100° C. and is initiated with the water-soluble agents which form free radicals and are usually employed for emulsion polymerization, these preferably being employed in amounts of 0.01 to 3.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomers. Examples of these are ammonium and potassium persulfate; hydrogen peroxide and t-butyl peroxide; alkyl hydroperoxides, such as t-butyl hydroperoxide; potassium, sodium and ammonium peroxodiphosphate; and azo compounds, such as azobisisobutyronitrile or azobiscyanovaleric acid. If appropriate, the free radical initiators mentioned can also be combined in a known manner with 0.01 to 1.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomers, of reducing agents. Suitable agents are, for example, alkali metal formaldehydesulfoxylates and ascorbic acid. In the case of redox initiation, preferably one or both of the redox catalyst components are metered in during the polymerization.
All the emulsifiers and/or protective colloids usually used for emulsion polymerization can be employed as dispersing agents.
If appropriate, 0.05 to 3.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomers, of emulsifier is employed. Suitable emulsifiers are anionic, cationic and nonionic emulsifiers. Suitable emulsifiers are familiar to the expert and are to be found, for example, in Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie [Methods of organic chemistry], volume XIV, 1, Makromolekulare Stoffe [Macromolecular substances], Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 1961, 192-208. Those which are not soluble in the protective colloid are preferred.
The polymerization is in general carried out in the presence of a protective colloid, preferably in amounts of from 3 up to 35% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomers. Examples of these protective colloids are polyvinyl alcohols and derivatives thereof, such as vinyl alcohol/vinyl acetate copolymers and polyvinylpyrrolidones; polysaccharides in a water-soluble form, which is preferably partly "degraded" for viscosity reasons, such as starches (amylose and amylopectin), cellulose, tamarind, dextran, alginates and carboxymethyl, methyl, hydroxyethyl and hydroxypropyl derivatives thereof; proteins, such as casein soya protein and gelatin; synthetic polymers, such as poly (meth)acrylic acid, poly (meth)acrylamide, polyvinylsulfonic acids and water-soluble copolymers thereof; and melamine-formaldehydesulfonates, phenol- and naphthalene-formaldehydesulfonates and styrene/maleic acid and vinyl ether/maleic acid copolymers.
The polymerization is carried out at a pH of 2 to 9, preferably 4 to 8, particularly preferably 5 to 7. The pH is brought to 4 to 8, preferably 5.5 to 7, at the latest after the polymerization has ended. The mixture to be atomized should also have this pH.
The dispersion powder composition is prepared by means of spray drying. Drying is carried out in customary spray drying units, it being possible for the atomization to take place by means of one-, two- or multi-component nozzles or using a rotating disc. The discharge temperature is in general chosen in the range from 55° C. to 100° C., preferably 70° C. to 90° C., depending on the unit, the Tg of the resin and the desired degree of drying.
Before the spray drying, the copolymer dispersion obtained after the emulsion polymerization is preferably brought to a solids content of 20 to 60%. The solids content depends on the nature and amount of other additives which are added during the drying. For example, further amounts of protective colloids can also be added to the dispersion. The total amount of protective colloid before the drying operation should be at least 6% by weight, preferably at least 10% by weight, based on the copolymer.
A content of up to 1.5% by weight of antifoam, based on the copolymer, has often proved favorable during the atomization. Liquid antifoams are usually added to the dispersion before drying, and solid antifoams can be mixed into the dry dispersion powder composition.
The average particle size of the dispersion powder particles is in general 1 to 1000 μm, preferably 10 to 700 μm, particularly preferably 50 to 500 μm.
To increase the storage stability by improving the stability to blocking, especially in the case of powders of low glass transition temperature, an antiblocking agent (antibaking agent), preferably in an amount of up to 30% by weight, based on the total weight of polymeric constituents, can be added to the resulting powder. This is preferably carried out as long as the powder is still finely distributed, for example still suspended in the dry gas. In particular, the antiblocking agent is metered into the drying device at least partly separately from but at the same time as the dispersion. Examples of antiblocking agents are finely ground aluminium silicates, kieselguhr, colloidal silica gel, pyrogenic silicic acid, precipitated silicic acid, microsilica, ground gypsum, kaolin, talc, cements, diatomaceous earth, magnesium carbonate and/or calcium carbonate or magnesium hydrosilicate.
Other constituents of the dispersion powder composition which are contained in preferred embodiments are, for example, colorants, fillers, foam stabilizers, hydrophobicizing agents and condensation catalysts. These constituents can be added before or also after the spray drying. The condensation catalyst for accelerating the crosslinking during use is added after the spray drying.
The dispersion powder composition can be employed in the fields of use typical for this. Examples are construction chemical products in combination with inorganic, hydraulically setting binders, such as cements (Portland, aluminate, trass, sheathing, magnesia and phosphate cement), gypsum and water-glass, for the production of construction adhesives, plasters, stopper compositions, flooring stopper compositions, joint mortars and paints; furthermore as sole binders for coating compositions and adhesives or as binders for textiles. The dispersion powder composition is preferably employed as a binder in fields of use in which, in addition to good adhesion, a reduced water uptake and/or good resistance to solvents is also desired.
The redispersion powders according to the invention are products which are at most slightly crosslinked, are readily redispersible in water and form mechanically strong, crosslinked films when used in powder form or as an aqueous dispersion. In contrast to the doctrine of the prior art, these products are accessible without the need for cocondensation of siloxanes during the free radical polymerization.
EXAMPLES
General instructions for the examples and comparison examples listed in Table 1 with the resin base of vinyl acetate/n-butyl acrylate:
In a heat-stabilized 1.5 l tank fitted with a stirrer and thermometer, after introduction of 545 g of water, 36.5 g of polyvinyl alcohol G 04/140 (Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich) and 60 g of a monomer mixture of 437.8 g of vinyl acetate, 158.0 g of n-butyl acrylate and silane (nature and amount according to Example 1), the initial mixture was heated to 65° C. The catalyst solutions, a 3.4% strength aqueous t-butyl hydroperoxide solution and a 5% strength aqueous sodium formaldehyde-sulfoxylate solution (1:1), were then introduced. Five minutes after the start of the reaction, metering of the remaining amount of the monomer mixture was started. The duration of the metering was about two hours. The pH during the polymerization and before the atomization is shown in Table 1.
When the reaction had subsided, after-polymerization was carried out three times with 1 ml of 10% strength H 2 O 2 solution each time. The solids content was between 48.5 and 50.0%. The residual monomer content was about 0.3%.
In comparison example 3 and in example 2, the silane was metered in together with the last 40% of the vinyl acetate/butyl acrylate mixture. In comparison example 1, no silane was incorporated. This was used for determination of the "0 value" for the degree of crosslinking.
Before the atomizing operation, 10% by weight (solid for solid) of polyvinyl alcohol M 13/140 (Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich) was admixed to the dispersion in the form of an 11% strength aqueous solution, and the mixture was diluted to 33% strength with water.
The dispersions were atomized in a Nubilosa spray drier under the following conditions.
______________________________________Intake temperature: about 112° C. Discharge temperature: 80° C. Compressed air pressure upstream of 4 bar the 2-component nozzle: Throughput: 1.5 1/hour______________________________________
After the atomization, 10% by weight, based on the spray-dried product, of a commercially available antiblocking agent was incorporated into the powder. The dry powder was very readily free-flowing and very readily redispersible in water.
To determine the crosslinking, the contents soluble in tetrahydrofuran were determined from about 500 mg of the dispersion film or of the powder. The components insoluble in tetrahydrofuran, the polyvinyl alcohol and antiblocking agent, were deducted from the weight before the calculation. The difference between the soluble contents and the total amount of water-insoluble resin content weighed is stated in the table as "% crosslinking".
The results are summarized in Table 1: the product from comparison example 1 is non-crosslinked since it comprises no silane content. The value of 57% insoluble in THF is caused by the fact that the particles are enclosed by the atomizing aid polyvinyl alcohol. This value can therefore be used as a reference value for evaluating the crosslinking of silane-containing polymers during polymerization or spray drying.
While the polymers of comparison examples 2 and 3, which are not silane-substituted according to the invention, are crosslinked completely after the spray drying, no significant crosslinking can be detected in examples 2 and 3, and only slight initial crosslinking can be detected in example 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________ % by weight pH THF-insol- Silane mon- of Poly- Atomiz uble % by Example omer silane merization action weight*______________________________________Comparison -- -- 5.5 6.0 57.0** example 1 Comparison Vinyltrieth- 2.0 6.0 6.0 98.5 example 2 oxy Comparison Vinylmethyl- 2.6 2.5 2.5 96.0 example 3 di-n-butoxy Example 1 Vinylmethyl- 2.0 5.5 6.0 77.0 diethoxy- Example 2 Vinylmethyl- 2.6 5.5 6.0 65.0 di-n-butoxy Example 3 Vinylmethyl- 2.6 5.5 6.0 61.0 di-i-butoxy-______________________________________ *minus the additives insoluble in THF, such as polyvinyl alcohol and Hydrite **blank value: the product is noncrosslinked. It seems to be only partly insoluble in THF (in this case 57%) because it is enclosed by polyvinyl alcohol.
General instructions for the examples and comparison examples listed in Table 2 with the resin base vinyl acetate/ethylene:
4,630 g of water, 78 g of polyvinylalcohol W 25/140 (Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich) and 230 g of polyvinylalcohol M 05/140 (Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich), 800 g of ethylene and a portion of a monomer mixture of 2,430 g of vinylacetate and silane (type and amount according to Table 2) were initially introduced into a 15 l stirred autoclave and the initial mixture was heated to 50° C. The catalyst solutions, a 6.0% strength aqueous sodium persulfate solution and a 3% strength aqueous sodium formaldehyde-sulphoxylate solution (1:1), were now introduced. After a reaction time of 1 hour, metering of the remaining amount of the vinyl acetate/silane mixture was started. The duration of metering was about 5 hours. After an after-polymerization of 2 hours, the autoclave was let down. The solids content was between 50 and 51%. The residual monomer content was about 0.3%.
No silane was incorporated in the comparison examples 4 and 5. These were used to determine the "0 value" for powder solubility and film crosslinking.
Before the spraying operation, 10% by weight (solid for solid) of polyvinylalcohol M 13/140 (Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich) was admixed to the dispersion in the form of an 11% strength aqueous solution and the mixture was diluted to 33% with water.
The dispersions were sprayed in a Nubilosa spray dryer under the abovementioned conditions.
Test Methods:
The solubility of the dispersion powders was determined analogously to the determination in Table 1, with the difference that dimethylformamide was employed as the solvent and the solubility was evaluated qualitatively.
In addition, the crosslinkability of films which are obtained by redispersing the powder in water under acid or basic conditions was tested.
To investigate the crosslinkability under basic conditions, 90 parts of dispersion powder were redispersed in water together with 10 parts of calcium hydroxide. To investigate the crosslinkability under acid conditions, 90 parts of dispersion powder were redispersed in water and a pH of 2.0 was established with HCl.
Films were cast with the redispersions thus obtained and their solubility in dimethylformamide was evaluated qualitatively.
The results are summarized in Table 2:
The products of comparison examples 4 and 5, without a silane content, were completely soluble in dimethylformamide. Films produced with these crosslinked neither under acid nor under basic conditions.
The products of examples 4, 5 and 6 were completely soluble in dimethylformamide. The films produced with these crosslinked both under acid and under basic conditions.
TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________ Solubility Acid/Base pH of the addition to Silane % by weight Polymer- Atomiza- powders in the Solubility of the Example monomer of silane ization tion DMF redispersion film in__________________________________________________________________________ DMFComparison -- -- 5.5 6.9 clear Ca(OH).sub.2 dissolved Example 4 solution completely Comparison -- -- 5.5 6.9 clear HCl dissolved Example 5 solution completely Example 4 Vinyl- 4.0 5.6 5.9 cloudy Ca(OH).sub.2 film swollen methyl-di- solution ethoxy- Example 5 Vinyl- 3.0 5.3 6.9 cloudy Ca(OH).sub.2 film broken up methyl- solution and swollen dipropoxy- Example 6 Vinyl- 2.5 6.0 6.9 clear HCl film slightly methyl-di- solution swollen i-butoxy__________________________________________________________________________ | A dispersion powder of water-insoluble copolymers of ethylenically unsaturated monomers and optionally, further additives, which are redispersible in water and obtained by:
a) emulsion polymerizing, at a pH of 2 to 9, a comonomer mixture of at least one comonomer selected from vinyl esters of unbranched or branched alkylcarboxylic acids having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, methacrylic acid esters of unbranched or branched alcohols having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, acrylic acid esters of unbranched or branched alcohols having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, olefins, dienes, vinylaromatics and vinyl halides, and 0.05 to 15.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the comonomer mixture, of at least one silicon compound of the formula
CH.sub.2 ═CH--(CH.sub.2).sub.m --SiR(OR').sub.2,
where m=0-8
CH.sub.2 ═CR"--CO.sub.2 --(CH.sub.2).sub.n SiR(OR').sub.2
where n=1-6 ##STR1## b) spray drying aqueous dispersion, at a pH of 4 to 8 at a discharge temperature of 55 to 100° C., before or after addition of any additives. The dispersion powders are useful as additives for hydraulic binders and binders in coating compositions and adhesives. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based on and claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/653,040 filed on Feb. 14, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to devices for assisting individuals facing mobility challenges, such as the elderly and others with physical disabilities. There is an ever-growing segment of our population which is aging, which continues to grow as the baby boomer generation ages. Those who are elderly often experience a decreased range of motion of their limbs, whether due to arthritis, injury, impaired strength, or impaired visual perception issues such as impaired depth perception. These individuals often experience an overall lack of stability and comfort (both psychological and physical) when stepping down and up. Such individuals are often unable down or up as far as a particular situation requires, and therefore would benefit from a device which effectively bridges the gap between the actual distance to step down or up. Also, such individuals would benefit from a device which would not conflict with their need to slowly ambulate, perhaps even by shuffling their feet.
[0004] Although the aforementioned individuals might not be disabled enough to require a wheelchair or scooter, these individuals often nonetheless find certain movements required by everyday living to present significant challenges. Thus, elderly and other individuals with these types of challenges quite often find that even simple movements, such as stepping out of a car onto the pavement in a parking lot can be a frightening and challenging experience. Similarly, visiting a friend whose house has a step up into the threshold of the door can present a challenge, and sometimes a total bar, to entering that house.
[0005] There is a need for a simple, easy-to-use, removable, portable, easy to manufacture device, to assist individuals facing certain physical mobility challenges, to make it easier for those individuals to enter and exit motor vehicles, buildings and to step up and down onto curbs and the like. There is a need for a device which can be easily transported, such as in a vehicle, so that it can be readily deployed whenever needed, in a variety of situations. Heretofore, such a device has not been known. Thus, the invention provides a device which the user, or the user's caregiver, family member, companion or the like, can easily transport and utilize in a variety of situations, such as entering and exiting cars and houses
[0006] 2. Background Information
[0007] Prior to this invention, permanent and semi-permanent devices such as ramps have been utilized to assist physically-challenged people in moving up and down levels. Ramps are typically necessary for those who must use a wheelchair for mobility, but ramps tend to be quite bulky, heavy, expensive and non-portable. In addition, ramps are not always suitable for use by an individual who is ambulating on his or her own, even with the aid of a walker, cane or crutch. In fact, a ramp could be very difficult for an ambulatory elderly or other person having stability, balance or other issues to use, due to the angle at which a ramp would cause the person to walk at.
[0008] There are devices which have been designed to assist individuals in climbing stairs. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,379 (Kroll, et al.), which discloses a stairway step assembly for use as an aid to the elderly and handicapped. Kroll et al.'s device comprises a plurality of step members of a height about half the height of a normal stairway step rise. However, Kroll et al.'s device is intended to be permanently or semi-permanently installed in a stairway, and thus is not portable. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,904 (Wallum).
[0009] Step stools of a variety of designs are known, and are primarily designed to assist an individual to reach things in places above the normal reach of the individual. They tend to be bulky, and not easily transportable by car, and often are not easy to carry. In addition, step stools are generally designed with relatively small stepping surfaces, which do not allow a user to “shuffle” his or her feet along the stepping surface. Step stools are rarely stable enough or large enough to provide a stable, comfortable place for an elderly or frail user to stand on. Moreover, step stools tend to raise the individual at least about twelve (12) inches in height, to meet the goal of permitting the user to reach things above his or her normal reach. Additionally, step stools of the prior art do not adjust easily to different heights as needed by the user depending upon the different environment. [ 00141 For example, see U.S. Design Pat. No. D343,960 and No. D344,858 (both to Leduc), which each disclose particular ornamental designs for step stools. See also U.S. Design Pat. No. D287,283 (Johnson) which discloses a portable half-step stairway unit, which appears to comprise an overturned box without a top, being hollow inside and constructed of what appears to be wood that has been nailed or screwed together. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,437 (Caughey) which discloses a portable step stool having an upstanding post to be grasped to assist the user in keeping his or her balance, and including wheels or rollers which permit the stool to be moved around. U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,161 (Manuszak) discloses a combination carrying case and step unit, and having a strap for use by the user to lift the unit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,494 (Heifetz) discloses a device for reducing the height of a riser on a step of a staircase, wherein the device is a hollow box having an elongated handle which the user grasps to place the device on each successive stair tread.
[0010] Accordingly, the devices of the prior art have failed to accomplish the goals of the present invention. Despite the need for a highly portable, simple, easy-to-use and easily transportable device, none until now described herein has been developed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention is a device 10 for providing a means to assist people and animals as they enter and exit vehicles, buildings, etc., although the primary usage is anticipated to be by people. Herein, the term “user” refers to the individual or animal using the device by stepping onto it. In addition, the device 10 can be used as a seating surface to effectively raise the height of the seating surface of a chair, couch, wheelchair, etc., so as to assist a user in rising and sitting.
[0012] The object of this invention is to provide an easily transportable, platform-like device, that is lightweight, portable, and strong. In some embodiments, the device 10 is also adjustable, so that a single device can be adjusted to achieve different heights. The device of the invention can be used on the ground or floor adjacent to the steps or doorway of a building, such as a house. It can also be used within a house or building having floors of differing heights (such as in houses with sunken living rooms), to provide a way for an individual to move from one floor level to another with ease, by reducing the distance the individual must step up or down.
[0013] The device 10 generally decreases the distance that a user must step when going from one level to another. Thus, a user who has trouble (due to frailty, illness, agedness, youth) getting in and out of cars may place (or have a caregiver or other companion place) the device 10 immediately in front of the door of a car prior to getting out of the car. The user would then step on the device, and then step from the device onto the ground.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate three embodiments of the device 10 , wherein the device is composed of a single planar member.
[0015] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate three embodiments of the device 10 , wherein the device is composed of two planar members.
[0016] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate two embodiments of the device 10 , wherein the device is composed of three planar members.
[0017] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of the device 10 , wherein the device is composed of four planar members.
[0018] FIGS. 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and 10 d illustrate several embodiments of the device 10 .
[0019] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the placement of the device 10 for use by an individual getting into or out of an automobile.
[0020] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of the placement of the device 10 for use by an individual going into or out of a house, wherein the house has a step up to the threshold.
[0021] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the placement of the device 10 on a street 40 next to the curb 60 of a sidewalk.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] Elderly individuals tend to have more trouble than the average younger individual in entering and exiting cars, and entering and exiting doorways to the outside, due to the differing height/level of the floor of the car and the ground below or with the differing height/level of the doorway of a building versus the ground. Houses in particular are typically built with doorways that are elevated above ground level. Elderly individuals and individuals who are not elderly, but rather who have physical challenges such as decreased flexibility or who are subject to pain when moving, would find this invention particularly helpful, as it eases the transition from one level to the next. This invention is also useful for individuals who have problems with balance and/or visual impairment. By easing transitions from one level to another, the device 10 can be used for example, to assist a person in exiting a front door of a house, then for entering and exiting a car, and then for entering a doctor's office.
[0023] The following describes how the device 10 could be used. A caregiver for an elderly person may be driving the individual to a doctor's office in the caregiver's car. Once the car arrives at the destination, the caregiver would exit the car, retrieve the device 10 of the invention from the trunk or other cargo area of the car, and place it on the ground 40 immediately outside the area where the elderly person will be exiting, as is illustrated in FIG. 11 . The invention serves to ease the transition from the car to the ground, by decreasing the distance that the elderly person must initially step down. Once standing on the device, the elderly person can then walk or shuffle his or her feet from the device 10 onto the ground 40 itself. As illustrated in FIG. 12 , at the entrance to the doctor's office building 50 , the device 10 can be placed outside the doorway, and the user can step up from the ground 40 onto the device 10 , and then step further up into the building 50 . Typically, the caregiver or companion would then pick up the device 10 , and place it in the car for storage, or take it with him or her, for further use at the destination.
[0024] The portable stepping device 10 of the present invention is comprised of at least one substantially planar member 13 . In a preferred embodiment, the member 13 is substantially solid, i.e., is not hollow. The member 13 has first and second parallel sides which, when the device 10 is in use, are situated horizontal to the ground, i.e., the largest surface area of the device is horizontal to the ground 40 or other substantially horizontal surface on which it is placed.
[0025] The first side 12 of the planar member 13 when in use faces upward, so that the user's feet step thereon. The second side 11 (not shown in the Figures) of the planar member 13 when in use faces the ground or other substantially horizontal surface on which is placed. The first side 12 and second side 11 are the same or substantially the same size or area as one another. The distance between the first and second sides may vary, from about 1 inch to about twenty-four inches high. Preferably, the distance will fall within one of the following ranges: about 2 inches to about 7 inches, or about 3 inches to about 7 inches. In the preferred embodiment, the distance will be in the range of about 3 to about 6 inches. As can be understood from this description, the distance between the first and second sides of the planar member 13 generally defines the height of the device 10 when in it is in use.
[0026] The device 10 may be comprised of a single substantially planar member 13 . Illustrations of several embodiments of the device 10 consisting of a single member 13 are shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 . Although each of these Figures show the device with handles therein, handles are optional, although they do provide ease of handling to the device 10 .
[0027] In an alternative embodiment, the device 10 may be comprised of multiple members 13 , with the members joined together.
[0028] See FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 for illustrations of embodiments wherein the device 10 is comprised of two members 13 , wherein the members will be joined together by a hinge 19 or hinges. This embodiment may be used with both members 13 directly contacting the ground, or the device 10 may be used with the members folded upon one another, thus forming a higher step. The hinge 19 may be made of any suitable material or mechanism, such as a standard hinge of metal, plastic or the light, of the type used on wood cabinets, toys, etc. Alternatively, the hinge could be of a fabric or polymeric material band or web. In a preferred embodiment, the hinge 19 is actually formed from a coating or layer used on the members 13 , wherein the coating or layer extends between the two members 13 to form a hinge. The hinge 19 will serve to keep the two members 13 joined to one another. Although these Figures show the device with handles therein, handles are beneficial but not required.
[0029] In yet another embodiment of the invention, the device 10 comprises three or four members 13 , as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 . Although these Figures show the device 10 with handles therein, handles are beneficial but not required. In each device, the members are joined together by a means such as a hinge 19 . With respect to FIG. 7 , which shows a three member device, the device is designed so that the two outer members 13 a and 13 c fold over onto the same side of the center member 13 b , as is denoted by arrows in the drawing. With respect to FIG. 8 , which also shows a three member device, the device is designed so that the two outer members 13 d and 13 f fold over onto opposite sides of the center member 13 e.
[0030] FIG. 9 shows a four member device 10 , which can be used in a number of different configurations. For example, it can be used with one only member 13 folded onto another, resulting in a device 10 which can be used with two levels or heights simultaneously, thus providing a “mini-step” of two different step heights. Alternatively the device 10 shown in FIG. 9 can be used by folding two of the members 13 onto the other two members 13 , resulting in a device that is double the height of the device wherein all four members are laid flat (unfolded). In yet another embodiment, all four members can be folded on top of one another, to form a stack four members 13 high.
[0031] In yet another embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 10 a , 10 b , 10 c , and 10 d , the device 10 may be comprised of two or more members 13 which are not permanently attached. The multiple pieces can be temporarily joined together either one on top of the other (so as to increase the height of the device), and/or can be joined side by side, so as to increase the width and/or length of the device. Individual members intended to be joined can be provided with a means to engage and join or link the members, such as teeth. Other suitable attachment methods, such as Velcro, hook and eye fasteners or snaps can be used. In another specific embodiment, the pieces are joined temporarily to permit the user or caregiver to adjust the size (width, length and/or height) of the device to the circumstances required, and permit it to be reduced in size for easy storage in a vehicle or other place. The individual members 13 may be wedge shaped, so that the first and second sides of the planar member are not parallel to one another. They may be provided with corresponding angles, so that when placed one on top of the other they form a unit which is substantially horizontal to the ground, and when used separately, they form sloped or angled. Yet another specific embodiment of the invention contemplates making the invention of several stackable and removable pieces that rest in parallel on top of one another. This provides a way for the user to make the device as short or tall as needed, depending upon the circumstances (the height of a particular doorway through which the user must walk, the height of the curb onto which a user may step from the car onto, etc.).
[0032] The stacking pieces can optionally be provided with means for preventing the multiple device pieces from moving apart when stacked or joined. For example, one or more of the surfaces to be joined may have projections, stripes, gridlines or the like, in order to prevent the pieces from slipping when stacked. Yet another embodiment involves providing each piece with interlocking mechanisms so that when stacked the pieces will temporarily lock into one another, to provide resistance to slipping when stacked, thus resulting in increased stability of the entire device in use.
[0033] The devices may also be comprised of pieces that attach longitudinally. Thus, more than one piece can be put together so that the overall surface area on which the user can step may be increased as needed. Thus, if more stepping area is needed, two or more pieces can be put together. Larger overall surface (stepping) areas are quite desirable for users who need to walk using small steps or by shuffling their feet, as elderly users may require. For users who employ a walker (or other device to lean on, such as a cane), it is desirable to have a surface area large enough to accommodate the user and a walker.
[0034] The device 10 is made of a lightweight material or materials, so that it can easily be lifted and put in place, and then removed by the user or a person assisting the user. It can be of any size, but preferably the first 12 and second 11 parallel sides of the member 13 are at least large enough in the surface area, so that when the users steps or stands thereon, at least one of the user's feet can be placed completely thereon. More preferably, this surface area will be large enough that both of the user's feet can comfortably and completely be placed thereon. In yet another preferred embodiment, the member's first parallel side 12 has a surface area that is large enough to accommodate the user's two feet and a walking-assistance device, such as a walker.
[0035] In a specific example of the device 10 , the largest surfaces of the first and second sides of the planar member 13 (i.e., the surfaces which are horizontal to the ground when the device is in use) are square shapes of about twenty-four (24) to forty-eight (48) inches on each side of the square, and the planar member 13 is about 3 inches to about 6 inches high. Notwithstanding, the device may be of other shapes and sizes, as well as of other heights.
[0036] The device 10 is stable, so that a person standing, walking or shuffling on it will feel comfortable using it. Stability is achieved via a combination of one or more factors, including a relatively large overall area of the stepping surface, being made of material that does not flex or compress too much, and that does not slip on the ground, or is not slippery to the user. The device is preferably of a solid material (i.e., not hollow) so as to provide a stable yet lightweight device that is easy to manufacture by molding and/or lamination.
[0037] The material of which the planar member 13 is composed is preferably waterproof or water-resistant, or at least the outer coating or layer of the member 13 is waterproof, water-resistant and/or chemical and oil resistant. Still more preferably the material is chemical-resistant, such as resistant to the oils often found on the ground in parking lots.
[0038] The device 10 of the invention can be made of a variety of materials, provided that the device is stable and relatively lightweight. The material must be able to support the weight of at least an adult male, without compressing significantly, and preferably without compressing at all. Non-limiting examples of possible materials to make the device 10 include rubber, foam rubber, plastic, foamed plastic or any combination thereof. It is also possible for the device to made of a wood, preferably a lightweight wood such as balsa wood. Alternatively, it may be made of a lightweight ceramic or ceramic deposit material.
[0039] The substantially planar member 12 or members 12 of the device 10 is optionally provided with an outer coating or shell. This outer coating or shell is intended to protect the material composing the inside of the member 12 or members 12 , and may also provide non-slip or traction properties. Thus, frictional means may be provided for providing traction against slippage. Examples of frictional means include anti-slip coatings, anti-slip tape and anti-slip decals.
[0040] Further, the coating or shell can be used to provide reflective material and/or coloration to make the device 10 more attractive or for safety purposes, i.e., to make it more easily visible. The outer coating or shell may be present on all surfaces of the substantially planar member 12 or members 12 , or may be present on less than all surfaces. More than one type of coating or shell may be provided, to impart certain characteristics to the device 10 . For example, the entire member 12 may be coated to provide a bright orange or yellow safety visibility coloring, and then the first side 12 of the member 12 (upon which the user will step) may further be provided with a coating imparting anti-slip or traction properties.
[0041] The second side 11 of the member (which will contact the ground) may be provided with a coating imparting anti-slip or traction properties.
[0042] The following are examples of possible materials for producing the device 10 : a foam core/center with a rubber or plastic coating/shell on one or more sides/edges; polymeric foam, urethane foam, closed cell foam such as Aqua-Cell, polyurethane foam, polystyrene, Sculpture Foam, Foam Core, natural sponge rubber, hydrophobic thermoplastic starches, synthetic resin foam such as Clark Foam, of the type used in the manufacture of surf boards, and RTV liquid urethane mold rubber.
[0043] In one embodiment of the invention, the device is made of material so that the device is overall sufficiently flexible to be rolled for easy storage.
[0044] The device 10 may be manufactured in a variety of ways, including but not limited to injection molding the core, with a coating or skin integrally molded thereon, and/or with a coating or skin applied by spraying, dipping or other methods known to those of skill in the art.
[0045] The device can be constructed so that it can be folded so that it will take up less space when stored. For example, it may be hinged to fold in half, thirds, or quarter parts for easy storage. The hinge may be integral with the main portion of the device (such as made of the same material in a thinner layer). If the device is comprised of multiple layers (such as a foam core encased in an outer skin), the hinge area could be made of the outer layer or layers of skin. The hinge could alternatively be made of a different material than the main portion of the device, and still yet alternatively could be attached to the main portion via various fastening mechanisms, including adhesives, welding, staples, bolts, screws, etc.
[0046] Without intending to limit the scope of the invention, some preferred embodiments of the invention are of the following size: 18 inches by 18 inches with increments of one inch, up to 48 inches by 48 inches. Also, rectangular shaped devices of 24 inches by 36 inches, up to 24 by 48 inches wide are contemplated.
[0047] The device 10 can be of virtually any shape when viewed from above, such as square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, oval, rhomboid, trapezoidal, although preferably it will have a square or rectangular profile when viewed from above. The device may have curved corners (either convex or concave corners), and could also have scalloped edges. It may have continuous thickness or progressive thickness eg: wedge which could also be stacked to form a level step.
[0048] The device of the invention may be equipped with one of more handles 14 , which can be integral with the rest of the device, i.e., can be cut directly into the material or can be of the same or different material welded onto the body of the device. The handles 14 may be attached by any mechanism suitable to the material of which the body of the device and the handles are made. For example, the handles 14 may be attached using clamps, adhesives, welding, staples, bolts, screws, etc. The device 10 may contain one or more handles 14 .
[0049] If the device 10 includes more than one handle and more than one member 13 , and is configured into a folding design such that the multiple handles 14 touch each other when the device 10 is folded, the handles may be further equipped with a mechanism for holding the two handles together. Such mechanism is often used in gym bags and luggage, to fasten two or more handles together. For example, the device may be equipped with a mechanism, such as a Velcro closure to secure the two or more handles together.
[0050] The device may also be equipped with frictional means for providing traction against slippage. Examples of frictional means include anti-slip coatings, anti-slip tape and anti-slip decals. Alternative means include the following: the bottom of the device may be equipped with grippers, suction cups, etc. The grippers may be made of rubber, or other type of composite material, provided that they adhere to the device, or are molded integral to the device, and impart to the device non-slippage characteristics. The grippers may be on either the top or bottom or both of the sides. Grippers on the top prevent the user from slipping on the device when the device is in use. Grippers on the bottom prevent the device from slipping relative to the surface (such as the ground) that it is on. May have a ribbed pattern on the top and bottom (like the sole of a tennis shoe) to help prevent slipping.
[0051] The device can be made in any color or color combination. One embodiment of the invention provides that the perimeter of the device 10 that is visible to the user (the top and/or sides) is provided with a color that contrasts with the remainder of the device. Another embodiment uses a color on the perimeter that is highly visible. Alternatively, the color may be provided with reflective, luminescent and/or other so-called “glow-in the dark” materials, for enhanced visibility in the dark or low light conditions.
[0052] In yet another embodiment, the planar member 12 may have a contrasting color dashed or solid line around the perimeter. In still another embodiment, the device 10 of the invention is equipped with a light source with a battery and/or AC power source, so as to provide lights (flashing or non-flashing) on the device.
[0053] The device 10 may also include designs or logos, etc. thereon.
[0054] In an embodiment of the invention, the device 10 is equipped with a cover or case within which the device may be stored. The case or cover may be of any suitable fabric or material, such as ripstop nylon, mesh, vinyl, cloth, etc. The cover or case could alternatively be a hard-sided one, such as of a composite material, plastic, metal or wood. The cover may be integral with the device, such that it does not detach from the device, or it may be detachable or elastic. The cover or case may include prockets to store the user's personal items. In addition to, or instead of a case or cover for the device, the device could be supplied with straps which maintain the device when storage use in a folded or rolled configuration, if the device is made up of a material which permits folding or rolling or Velcro straps to contain folded items. The cover or case may also be separate at all times. | Described herein is a device 10 that is easily transportable, platform-like device, lightweight, portable, and strong, for assisting people and animals as they enter and exit vehicles, buildings, etc. The device of the invention generally decreases the distance that a user must step when going from one level to another. Thus, a user who has trouble (due to frailty, illness, agedness, youth) getting in and out of cars or over the threshold of houses may place (or have a caregiver or other companion place) the device 10 immediately in front of the door of a car or house. The user would then step on the device, and then step from the device onto the ground, or into the car or house. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 08/613,880, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,803, filed Mar. 11, 1996, and application Ser. No. 09/021,501, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,495 filed Feb. 10, 1998 which is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/613,880, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,803, filed Mar. 11, 1996, both of which are divisionals of Ser. No. 08/324,579, filed Oct. 18, 1994, now abandoned, and a continuation of Ser. No. 08/681,095 filed Jul. 22, 1996 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,818.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk cartridges for storing electronic information, and more particularly, to a disk cartridge having a spun fabric liner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Removable disk cartridges for storing digital electronic information typically comprise an outer casing or shell that houses a magnetic, magneto-optical or optical disk upon which electronic information can be stored. The cartridge shell often comprises upper and lower halves that are joined together to house the disk. The disk is mounted on a hub that rotates freely within the cartridge. When the cartridge is inserted into a disk drive, a spindle motor in the drive engages with the disk hub in order to rotate the disk within the cartridge at a given speed. The outer shell of the cartridge typically has an aperture near one edge to provide the recording heads of the drive with access to the disk. A shutter or door mechanism is often provided to cover the aperture when the cartridge is not in use to prevent dust or other contaminants from entering the cartridge and settling on the recording surface of the disk.
Although the cartridge shell and shutter mechanism provide some protection against contaminants entering the cartridge, some contaminants will inevitably reach the recording surface of the disk. For example, dust, smoke and other debris may enter the cartridge through the disk hub or through the cartridge shutter when the disk is inserted in a disk drive. Additionally, magnetic particles may be generated during manufacturing of the disk cartridge as well as during read/write operations in the disk drive. These contaminants can interfere with a read/write head causing errors and a potential loss of information.
To reduce the risk of read/write errors resulting from particles on the disk surface, cartridges often include one or more fabric liners within the cartridge placed in contact with the disk surface. These liners typically are formed of a mixture of non-woven fibers bonded together either thermally, with an adhesive binder, or through a hydroentangling process such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,389.
As illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,750,075, 5,006,948, 5,083,231 and 5,216,566, the fabric liners are typically affixed to the upper and lower halves of the cartridge shell between so that they lie in a plane above the respective surfaces of the disk. In each of these examples, lifters and opposing ribs are provided on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shells to bring the fabric liners into contact with at least a portion of the disk surface. Essentially, the lifters and ribs cooperate to force the liners against the disk surface. While the use of lifters and/or ribs ensures that the fabric liner contacts the disk surface and wipes unwanted particles from the disk, the force with which the liners are pressed against the disk creates a significant amount of drag on the disk as it rotates within the cartridge. Increased drag requires a corresponding increase in the strength of the disk drive spindle motor. Additionally, the increased contact pressure between the liners and the disk increases wear on the disk surface.
As flexible media products have evolved the thickness of the magnetic recording layer has become progressively thinner. For example, the 1.44 MB floppy disk has a magnetic coating layer of about 2 microns thick. The 100 MB Zip™ disk has a magnetic coating layer which is about 0.4 microns thick, while the present generation Zip™ 250 disk has a thickness of about 0.24 microns. The Zip™ 250 disk is shown, for example, in application Ser. No. 09/161,007, filed Sep. 25, 1998.
Future generation flexible products are intended to have a magnetic coating thickness of about 0.15 microns or less. It can be seen from this progression of thinner and thinner magnetic coating layers that the task of wiping the media free of air suspended debris while at the same time not damaging the ever thinner magnetic coating is quite challenging.
Historically, non-woven fabrics made of cotton, polyester, rayon, nylon, polypropylene, cellulose and other low cost fibers have been used to wipe the surfaces of flexible media. In a typical floppy disk application, the liner is brought into contact with the flexible media surface through means of a lifter. Other methods include a fuzzed liner region where upstanding fibers were generated during the cartridge manufacturing process to contact the media surface. The ideal wiper is aggressive with its debris wiping action while at the same time being gentle in its physical interaction with the underlying thin magnetic coating. The fibers must not break easily and become a source of debris themselves. Also, a fiber which minimizes the wicking up of the media's lubricant in the process of wiping is of significant importance.
Accordingly, there is a need for a removable disk cartridge having a liner that provides adequate wiping of the disk to remove unwanted particles, that creates much less drag on the disk and does not damage the magnetic coating. The liner should also be low cost and easy to manufacture. The present invention satisfies these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a disk cartridge having a non-woven liner of PTFE fibers. The disk cartridge comprises a rotatable disk having upper and lower surfaces and an outer casing for rotatably housing the disk. The casing comprises upper and lower shells that mate to form the casing. Each of the upper and lower shells has an inner surface disposed in facing relation to a respective surface of the disk. The cartridge has a head access opening on its front peripheral edge, and the upper and lower shells have grooves formed therein to provide sufficient space for the magnetic heads of a disk drive to move across the surface of the disk. A spun non-woven fabric liner comprising a plurality of PTFE fibers is attached to the inner surface of one of the upper and lower shells. A main body of the fabric liner lies against the inner surface of the shell and is spaced a predetermined distance from the corresponding surface of the disk. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a region of the fabric liner is subjected to a fuzzing process in which the bonded fibers in that region are loosened to form a region of upstanding fibers that extend from the main body of the liner to the surface of the disk. The fibers wipe the surface of the disk while the main body of the liner remains spaced from the disk thereby reducing drag. In a preferred embodiment, a second non-woven fabric liner is attached to the inner surface of the other of shells.
Preferably, the spacing between the main body of the fabric liner and the recording surface of the disk is in the range of about 0.2 to 0.8 mm. The spun non-woven liner preferably is attached to the inner surface of the shell by an adhesive. Additionally, the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shells preferably are substantially planar.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become evident hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings an embodiment that is presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is top view of a disk cartridge according a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cartridge of FIG. 1 taken along line 2 — 2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a fabric liner affixed to the inner surface of the lower shell of the cartridge of FIG. 1 and illustrates a region of the liner in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fabric liner affixed to the inner surface of the upper shell of the cartridge of FIG. 1 and illustrates a region of the liner in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 5 shows a modification in which the PTFE liner has a non-woven fabric underlayer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in FIG. 1 a disk cartridge 10 comprising an outer casing 12 and a disk 14 having a hub 16 rotatably mounted in the casing 12 . The casing 12 comprises upper and lower shells (FIGS. 3 & 4) that mate to form the casing. A shutter 18 is provided on the cartridge to cover an aperture (not shown) in the front edge 20 of the casing. When the cartridge is inserted into a disk drive (not shown), the shutter moves to the side exposing the aperture and thereby providing the read/write heads of the drive with access to the recording surface of the disk 14 . In the present embodiment, the disk 14 comprises a flexible or floppy magnetic disk, however, in other embodiments, the disk may comprise a rigid magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk or an optical storage medium. In the present embodiment, the magnetic disk 14 is formed of a thin (e.g., about 0.0025 inches), flexible, circular base of polymeric film. Each side of the flexible disk is coated with a layer of magnetic recording material to form upper and lower recording surfaces.
Referring to FIG. 2, in greater detail, the upper shell 22 of the outer casing 12 has an inner surface 22 a disposed in facing relation to the upper side 14 a of the rotatable disk 14 . Similarly, the lower shell 24 has an inner surface 24 a disposed in facing relation to the lower surface 14 b of the disk 14 . As further shown, a circular cutout 21 is formed in the lower shell 24 to provide access to the disk hub 16 . Preferably, the inner surfaces 22 a , 24 a of the upper and lower shells 22 , 24 are substantially planar.
A first spun fabric liner 26 is attached to the inner surface 22 a of the upper shell 22 . Preferably, the liner 26 is formed of Teflon or “GoreTex” type fibers made of spun PTFE. Teflon is the most lubricous (slippery) manmade polymer there is. It is extremely tough and hence fibers made of it are significantly less likely to break than those made of similar diameter materials listed above. PTFE fibers do not individually wick fluids and hence allow for the media lubricant to remain on the media. The invention described herein is the application of PTFE fiber based fabrics for the purpose of wiping flexible (rigid also) magnetic and optical media for the purpose of air born debris removal while at the same time not damaging/scratching/wearing-away the recording layer.
As further shown in FIG. 2, a second fabric liner 28 , which may be identical to the first liner 26 , is attached to the inner surface 24 a of the lower shell 24 . The upstanding fibers 28 b of the second liner 28 function identically to those of the first liner. The enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the second liner 28 provides further detail illustrating the fibers of the main body 28 a of the liner, as well as the protruding fibers which wipe the surface of the disk. It has been found that use of the opposing liners in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention has a tendency to stabilize the disk 14 during high speed rotation (e.g., about 3600 rpm). Stabilization of the rotating media is desirable. Additionally, because the fibers are not densely packed together, they can also serve to filter the air within the cartridge.
In the present embodiment, the first and second liners 26 , 28 are attached to the respective planar surfaces 22 a , 24 a of the upper and lower shells 22 , 24 using an adhesive 29 . Specifically, in the preferred embodiment, an adhesive that cures under exposure to ultra-violet light is printed on the inner surfaces 22 a , 24 a of the upper and lower shells 22 , 24 using conventional pad printing technologies with a flat transfer pad. The liners 26 , 28 are then placed on the respective shell surfaces 22 a , 24 a. A flat circular plate capable of transmitting ultra-violet light is then placed over each liner to press each liner against its respective shell surface. An ultra-violet light source is then used to expose the adhesive to ultra-violet light through the UV transmittable plate thereby curing the adhesive and affixing the liner to the shell surface. While this method of attachment is preferred, it is understood that other suitable methods may be employed.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show further details of the inner surfaces 22 a , 24 a of the upper and lower shells 22 , 24 , respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the inner surface 22 a of the upper shell 22 is substantially planar, and the main body 26 a of the first fabric liner 26 is affixed to the inner surface 22 a of the upper shell 22 so that it lies substantially flat against the planar surface 22 a . An opening 30 a is provided in the front edge 20 a of the upper shell 22 , and a groove 32 a is formed in the upper shell 22 that extends from the opening 30 toward the center of the shell 22 .
As shown in FIG. 4, the inner surface 24 a of the lower shell 24 is also substantially planar, and the main body 28 a of the second fabric liner 28 is affixed to the inner surface 24 a of the lower shell 24 so that it too lies substantially flat against the planar surface 24 a . As further shown, the lower shell 24 includes an opening 30 b and a groove 32 b similar to that formed in the upper shell 22 . A circular opening 21 in the lower shell 24 provides access to the hub 16 of the disk 14 .
The opening 30 a and groove 32 a in the upper shell 22 a cooperate with the opening 30 b and groove 32 b in the lower shell to provide the magnetic heads (not shown) of a disk drive with access to the recording surface(s) of the disk 14 . As FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate, according to an important feature of the cartridge 10 of the present invention, there is no aperture or opening in either the upper or lower shell surfaces. Rather, the grooves 32 a , 32 b form a closed channel within the cartridge. The only aperture through which the magnetic heads of a disk drive can enter the cartridge is that formed on the front edge 20 of the cartridge 10 by the respective openings 30 a and 30 b. By providing an aperture only in the front edge 20 of the cartridge, the risk of contaminants entering the cartridge and reaching the recording surface of the disk 14 is reduced.
Multiple layers of fibers can be used, as shown in FIG. 5 . The layer 30 closest to the disk and that performs the wiping function comprises PTFE fiber. Lower layers, such as layer 31 , comprise suitable fibers to promote such things as bonding (e.g., heat meltable fiber) or electrical conductivity (to reduce ESD build-up). This method also allows for lower cost fibers to be used in conjunction with the PTFE fibers and hence obtain the desired functionality and benefits at the disk surface from the PTFE fibers, but allow the full thickness of the material to be built up without the need for all PTFE fiber, thereby lowering the cost.
The specification for an exemplary PTFE fiber liner in accordance with the present invention has a thickness of about 7.5 mils+/− about 15%. The fiber diameter is preferably about 10 to 20 microns nominal, and has a length of about 1 inch nominal. The fabric type is non-woven. Methods of bonding include hydro-entangled, spunbound, thermally bonded, caustic entangled, chemically bonded, and other processes that provide for random and numerous surface protruding wiping fibers. The electrical resistivity is preferably as low as possible to reduce ESD build-up.
A preferred material roll size is about 9 inch wide, 4500 ft. long, OD of about 18.5″, core of roll is 3.375″. This amount of material makes about 10,000 liners/wipers per roll. Sample material with this core inner diameter and 9″ width would be optimal to fabricate liners.
The properties that make PTFE fiber desirable as a recording media wiper include: (1) non-flaking fiber, (2) high mechanical yield strength as compared to other fibers, therefore making fiber breakage less likely, (3) can be manufactured very cleanly without particle debris, (4) individual fibers are about twice the density of other fiber, therefore making them very non-absorbent of disk lubricants, and (5) highly lubricous and hence allows more forceful or more complete contact with the disk surface with equal or less wear on the thin recording layer.
Although illustrated and described herein with reference to certain specific embodiments, the present invention is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention. | A disk cartridge comprising a rotatable disk having upper and lower surfaces; an outer casing for rotatably housing the disk, the casing comprising upper and lower shells that mate to form the casing, each of the upper and lower shells having an inner surface disposed in facing relation to a respective surface of the disk; and a spun fabric liner comprising a plurality of PTFE fibers, the fabric liner being attached to the inner surface of one of the upper and lower shells, a main body of the fabric liner lying against the inner surface of the one shell and being spaced a predetermined distance from the respective surface of the disk, whereby the fibers wipe the surface of the disk while the main body of the liner remains spaced from the disk, thereby reducing drag on the disk. | 6 |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a needle threading device of simple structure for sewing machines, with which the thread can be easily and exactly passed through an eye of a needle, irrespectively of the straight stitching sewing machines or the zigzag stitching sewing machines.
There have been proposed various needle threading devices for sewing machines. However, such types of devices attached to the machine frame are in general large in size, and many of them are strictly limited in available range by a position of the needle to be threaded, and those are involved with problems in structure, operation and other respects. Even if those are simple in structure, a skilled experience is required, and this type also has problems in operation.
The present invention has been devised to eliminate all the problems of the prior art in order to realize each of the above mentioned purposes. It is a primary object of the invention to provide a device with which the thread can be easily passed through the eye of the needle. It is a second object of the invention to provide a device which can be applied not only to the straight stitching sewing machine moving the needle vertically only, but also to the zigzag stitching sewing machine giving the lateral amplitude movement to the needle. It is a further object of the invention to provide a device which can pass the thread through the eye of the needle at any stopping position of the sewing machine only if the needle is above the needle plate of the sewing machine. It is another object of the invention to provide a simple unit to be attached to the machine frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing the instant device attached to the sewing machine in an upper inoperative position,
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the above,
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view showing the present device in a lower operative position,
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the above,
FIG. 4A is an enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 4,
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the invention, and
FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C is a sequence of views showing the needle threading conditions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will be discussed with reference to the attached drawings. In reference to FIG. 1, a needle bar 2 is supported in a machine housing in such a manner that it is vertically reciprocated and laterally swingable in synchronism with rotation of an upper shaft (not shown). A needle 3 having a threading eye 4 is fixed by a needle clamp 5 to the lower end of the needle bar 2 in a condition that the threading eye faces to the machine operator. As shown in FIG. 2, a base plate 6 is fixed to the machine housing 1 vertically in parallel and adjacent to the needle bar 2. The plate 6 is formed with a vertical slot 7 in parallel to the axis of the needle bar 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The slot 7 is engaged by a rectangular sliding part 10 of a slider 8 which is provided with a depending operating part 9 on one side of the base plate 6 as shown in FIG. 1. On the other side of the base plate 6, a holder plate 11 engages the sliding part 10 at the upper and lower ends thereof in such a manner that the two elements 10, 11 clamp the base plate 6. The holder plate 11 may be a leaf spring. Thus the slider 8 is slidable along the guide slot 7 of the base plate 6. An elongated support plate 12 is, at the upper end thereof, turnably mounted on the upper end of the depending operating part 9 of the slider 8 by a pin 13, and is biased in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 by a spring 14 wound on the pivot pin 13, and the support plate 12 is, at a projection 15 thereof, pressed against the plate 6. As shown, the projection 15 is provided at the end of an inclined part 15A of the support plate 12.
At the lower end of the support plate 12, a thread guide 17 is turnable supported by a pin 16. The thread guide 17 is provided with an upwardly extending lever 18, and an inclined part 19B providing, at the end thereof, a projection 19 extending toward the base plate 6 which is just in alignment with the projection 15 of the support plate 12 when the device is in the upper inoperative position. The thread guide is also formed with a smaller projection 20 at a part below the projection to provide a recess 19A therebetween. A compression spring 22 is provided between one side of the thread guide 17 and an abutment 21 provided by a rearwardly bent part of the support plate 12 to bias the thread guide 17 in the clockwise direction in FIGS. 1 and 3. The thread guide 17 is provided at the lower and rear side thereof, with a projection 23 which is pressed against one side of the needle to position the threading device relative to the needle at the needle threading time as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. In FIGS. 1, 3-5, a thread inserting element 27 is provided on the thread guide 17 at the lower side thereof. The thread inserting element 27 is provided with a push button 25 facing the operator and with a blade 24 extending axially and rearwardly within the threading guide 17. The blade 24 is forked at the free end thereof for engaging the thread which is to be passed through the needle eye 4. The push button 25 is normally biased toward the operator by a compression spring 26 arranged within the thread guide 17.
As shown in FIG. 5, a hook 28 is secured to the thread guide 17 on the left side of the positioning projection 23. The hook 28 is made of a thin elastic material, and is so arranged as to guide the positioning projection 23 exactly to the side of the needle.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the thread guide 17 is formed, at the lowest part thereof, with a laterally extending projection 32 which is provided, at the rear side thereof, with a face 31 inclined toward the operator to guide the thread to be inserted into the needle eye. The thread is guided to a horizontal groove 33 extending all through the thread guide 17 across a hole 32A through which the threading blade 24 passes, and between the guide projection 23 and the base of the lateral projection 32, as particularly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
The needle bar 2 is provided with a stopping pin 30 at its lower part for checking the down movement of the thread guide 17 and positioning the same with respect to the needle eye 4 (FIG. 1).
The slider 8 is held to the base plate 6 by the holding plate 11 of the spring material, and the springs 14, 22 press the aforementioned projections 15 and 19 against the plate 6 respectively. The threading device is also supported on the base plate 6 with the projection 19 getting over a checking projection 34 provided on the base plate 6 as shown in FIG. 1. Therefore the threading device will not be slipped down by vibration of the sewing machine in operation.
The instant device is of the above mentioned structure, which is attached to the plate 6 and is concealed by a cover 29 except the operating part 9.
The operation is as follows, if the machine operator pulles down the operating part 9, the threading device comes down along the vertical slot 7 of the base plate 6 from the upper inoperative position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Accordingly the support plate 12 and the thread guide 17 come down together in the condition that the respective projections 15, 19 are pressed against the base plate 6, and the projections 15, 19 get over the checking projection 34 of the base plate 6. As the threading device is further pulled down, the projections 15, 19 come out of engagement with the base plate 6 at the lower end thereof. Then the support plate 12, on which the thread guide 17 is mounted, is turned in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 by the torsion spring 14. Therefore the respective inclined parts 15A and 19B of the support plate 12 and the thread guide 17 engage the lower end of the base plate 6, and the support plate 12 and the thread guide 17 are shifted toward the needle 3 around the pivot pin 13 under the guide of the inclined parts 15A, 19B as these elements come down, and then the positioning projection 23 on the lower part of the thread guide 17 is guided by the hook 28 and the lower part of the thread guide 17, and engages one side of the needle 3 which has been brought up to a position in a predetermined region above the needle plate. Thus the lateral position of the threading device is determined relative to the needle eye 4.
As the threading device is further pulled down, the lower projection 20 of the thread guide 17 engages the laterally extending stop pin 30 of the needle bar 2. Then the thread guide 17 is turned in the counterclockwise direction around the pivot pin 16 against the compression spring 22, thereby to receive the stop pin in the recess 19A. Therefore, the upper projection 19 engages the stop pin 30 and prevents the threading device from coming down, thereby to stop the latter in the predetermined position. Thus the vertical position of the threading device is determined relative to the needle eye 4 as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. In this case, the needle 3 is positioned between the thread guide 17 and the hook 28, and the needle eye is in alignment with the hole 32A of the thread guide 17 through which the brade 24 of the thread element 27 passes through as shown in FIG. 5.
In this condition, the machine operator holds by the left hand the end of upper thread which is extended from the upper thread supplying source (not shown) through the thread take-up lever and the appropriate thread guide (not shown). Then the operator guides the thread to the inclined guide face 31 (in FIG. 5) at the rear side of the lower laterally extending part 32 of the thread guide 17, and pulls up the thread along the guide face 31. Then a part of the thread is guided into the horizontal groove 33 which is laterally extended across the hole 32A of the thread guide 17 through which the thread inserting blade 24 passes. Then, if the operator pushes the push button 25 of the thread inserting element 27 against the action of the compression spring 26, the blade 24 is moved in the rearward direction passing through the hole 32A and is inserted into the needle eye 4 which is in alignment with the hole 23A as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6(a), and therefore a part of the thread is inserted into the needle eye 4.
Then if the operator releases the push button 25, the blade 24 is retreated into the hole 32A by the action of the compression spring 26, and only the thread remains behind as it is inserted into the needle eye 4 as shown in FIG. 6(b) forming a loop substantially in a vertical plane on the rear side of the needle 3. Then, if the operator pushes up the threading device from the lower operating position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 to the upper inoperative position as shown in FIG. 1, the lower projection 20 of the thread guide 17 gets over the laterally extending stop pin 30 during the upper shifting process, and the thread guide 17 is turned together with the support plate 12 in the clockwise direction around the pivot pin 13 against the action of the torsion spring 14. Therefore, the hook 28 is inserted into the loop of the thread and pulls out the thread to the rear side of the needle. Thus the needle theading operation is finished, when the threading device is brought to the upper inoperative position as shown in FIG. 1, in which the device is again held against the base plate 6 by the friction spring 11 and by the torsion spring 14 which presses the support plate 12 against the base plate. | A needle threading device for sewing machines includes a thread guide which is pivotably mounted on a mounting plate parallel to the needle bar; a projection at the end of the thread guide is displaceable against the needle, and a thread inserting element operated by a pushbutton is slidably mounted for alignment with the thread guide to push the thread through the needle eye. | 3 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/077,981, filed Mar. 13, 1998.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to hose joint assemblies, e.g., connections, branched hoses and bleeding devices for fluid circuits, and especially to such assemblies for use in automotive and industrial coolant circuit assemblies and to processes for manufacturing such assemblies.
[0003] Hose joint assemblies, and in particular such assemblies used in fluid circuits for automotive and/or industrial processes, operate in exceedingly harsh environments. Factors including varying pressures and temperatures at different points of an assembly, varying diameters of different hoses in a particular circuit, as well as chemical exposure result in the need for highly rigorous hose assemblies. For these systems to operate effectively, the connections between the hose and the inner connection members to which they are sealed must be fluid tight and must be able to resist separations caused by fluid pressure. This mode of separation is known as blow-off. Separation of the hose from the fixtures may also occur as a result of environmental interference, which mode of separation is known as pull-off.
[0004] A branched rubber hose is a difficult article to manufacture in great numbers with efficiency and economy, and many previous attempts at manufacturing such assemblies have resulted in products that were not entirely reliable against leakage in use. Known hose joint assemblies generally include rubber hoses, the end portions of which are sealed to generally rigid inner connection members by means of a sealing mechanism. Three types of sealing mechanisms for connecting the rigid inner connection members of such assemblies, e.g., those in the shape of T's, elbows and so forth, to the flexible hose components include metal clamps, shrink bands or clamps, and molding techniques.
[0005] Metal clamp-type sealing mechanisms suffer from a host of drawbacks, including a susceptibility to corrosion, a susceptibility to pull-off and difficulty of installation due to clamp protrusions, and a susceptibility to blow-off due in part to the compression set of the materials and the inability of the metal clamps to respond to such dimensional changes. Shrink band techniques, wherein polymeric bands are placed about the connection points of such assemblies and allowed to contract resulting in a compressive connection, generally address the corrosion, pull-off and installation problems associated with metal clamps. The additional logistical and manufacturing steps and costs associated with forming and storing the shrink bands however makes this technology relatively expensive. Molded sealing techniques, wherein a thermoset or plastics material is molded about the connection point of an assembly and is cured or allowed to harden, resulting in a compressive type seal about a hose connection point, eliminate the additional steps and costs of manufacturing and storing bands. In this method, the seal about the inner connection point is formed directly on the joint assembly itself; molding material is formed in such a way as to essentially encapsulate the inner connection member and hose ends. But this method is still somewhat burdensome; relatively large amounts of molding material are generally used to encapsulate the entire joint portion of the assembly, and where such material is reduced to save on costs, the integrity of the seals or the stability of the assembly is generally compromised.
[0006] Various prior attempts to reduce the cost of such molded hose joint assemblies without compromising the integrity of the seals or the stability of the assembly have met with varying success. One attempt involves the elimination of a portion of the molding material required to encapsulate a joint assembly via the use of permanent external runners or external bridges which connect one band about one hose connection point with another band about another hose connection point. External runners or bridges between hose connection points allow molding material to flow during the molding process from one hose connection point to another without encapsulating the mid-portion or trunk of the inner connection member, i.e., without encapsulating the entire joint portion. A drawback of this method however is in the increased possibility of independent rotation of the different hoses compared to prior art designs; it is believed that the external runners or bridges do not provide the stability provided by the fully encapsulating molding, i.e., that technique whereby the outer covering element encapsulates the hose connection points and the entire trunk of the inner connection member. Moreover, because the molding material must be forced through generally narrow external runners, the molding operation must take place at relatively high pressures and temperatures, resulting in increased production costs. These higher temperatures moreover result in increased cool down periods for the plastics molding material, thus further increasing production time and decreasing production efficiencies. The generally permanent external runners or bridges between hose connection points also pose the possibility of increased environmental interference, i.e., entanglement with other objects in the vicinity of the assembly.
[0007] Thus, a need exists for a durable, long-life molded hose joint assembly which is resistant to independent rotation of the individual hose members, but is efficient, economical and easy to manufacture.
[0008] Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a molded hose joint assembly which is efficient, economical and easy to manufacture, and minimizes the risk of independent rotation of the several hose members.
[0009] It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an assembly which can be utilized in automotive and/or industrial coolant circuit systems.
[0010] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a hose joint assembly which adequately addresses hose pull-off and blow-off concerns.
[0011] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved method for manufacturing such hose joint assemblies, which method involves a relatively low cost alternative to prior art methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with a purpose of the present invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a molded hose joint assembly is provided comprising a substantially rigid inner connection member having at least two hose connection ports and a trunk portion. The assembly furthermore includes at least two flexible hoses, each hose being joined at one end to the inner connection member at a hose connection port to form a hose connection point. The assembly also includes an outer sealing band or covering element engaging at least a portion of each of the hoses at a hose connection point, for substantially sealing the hose to the inner connection member. The hose joint assembly is characterized in that the outer covering element forms a unitary mass in the form of interconnected bands about at least two of the hose connection points in the absence of external runners or bridges, to form one or more hose connection intersection regions, but the portion of the inner connection member trunk apart from the hose connection intersection region remains substantially free of the covering element, to define a non-intersecting region.
[0013] In a further embodiment of the present invention, such a molded hose joint assembly for use in an automotive or industrial coolant system is provided.
[0014] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for forming the inventive molded hose joint assemblies, which method involves the utilization of flexible manufacturing techniques.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with a description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the several drawings, like numerals designate like parts, and:
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention in the form of a “T”-shaped hose joint assembly, in which portions are shown in partial cutaway view to reveal the construction of a hose joint assembly of the present invention;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an inner connection member of one embodiment of the present invention in the form of an “T”-shaped inner connection member;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 3 is a top view of the “T”-shaped inner connection member shown in FIG. 2;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4 is a top view of a “T”-shaped hose joint assembly mounted within molding apparatus, the figure having portions cut-away to reveal the construction of molding apparatus useful in one embodiment of the process of the present invention.
[0020] [0020]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the hose shown in FIG. 4 cut along reference b-b thereof, to illustrate the merge cavity and resultant interconnection of one embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention is shown in the form of a “T”-shaped hose joint assembly. In the embodiment shown, a hose joint assembly 10 includes a substantially rigid inner connection member 12 having at least two ends defining hose connection ports 14 , 16 , and in the embodiment shown includes an additional such port in the form of a stem 18 . The inner connection member 12 includes a trunk portion 20 . The assembly furthermore includes at least two flexible hoses 22 , 24 , 26 each hose being joined at one of its ends to the inner connection member 12 at a hose connection port 14 , 16 , 18 to form a hose connection point 28 , 30 , 32 .
[0022] The assembly also includes an outer covering element 34 engaging at least a circumferential portion of each of the hoses 22 , 24 , 26 at a hose connection point 28 , 30 , 32 , for substantially sealing the hose 22 , 24 , 26 to the inner connection member 12 . The hose joint assembly 10 is characterized in that the outer covering element 34 forms a unitary mass about at least two of the hoses 22 , 24 , 26 at a hose connection point 28 , 30 , 32 to form at least one hose connection point intersecting region 36 , one such region being visible in the view shown in FIG. 1. The unitary mass is in the form of interconnected bands 35 , 37 , 39 . Each band 35 , 37 , 39 forms a circumferential ring about a hose connection point 28 , 30 , 32 . Each band 35 , 37 , 39 moreover merges with, or includes an interconnection 72 , with at least one other such band at a tangent point between such bands. This interconnection among bands defines the unitary mass characteristic of the outer covering element of the present invention. The portion of the trunk portion 20 of the inner connection member 12 outside of or apart from the intersecting region 36 remains substantially free of the outer covering element 34 , to define a non-intersecting, or encapsulant-free, region 38 .
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an inner connection member useful in one embodiment of the present invention is shown in the form of a “T”-shaped inner connection member 12 . In the embodiment shown, the substantially rigid inner connection member 12 is shown having at least two hose connection ports 14 , 16 , and in the embodiment shown includes an additional such port in the form of a stem 18 . The inner connection member 12 also includes a trunk portion 20 . The inner connection member 12 of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 furthermore includes at least one raised, generally circumferential rib which defines a hose stop 40 , 42 , 44 extending axially from the inner connection member 12 between the trunk portion 20 and the hose connection ports 14 , 16 , 18 thereof. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, hose connection ports would be inserted into the ends of hose such that the hose end 22 , 24 , 26 would abut the hose stop 40 , 42 , 44 , thus providing additional stability to the assembly prior to molding of the outer covering element, and improving ease of manufacture of the assembly. The type of hose stop shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , in the form of a raised rib, is distinguishable from the step-type hose stop used in conventional molded hose joint assemblies, which latter design requires additional inner connection member material, and hence more cost, in the trunk area.
[0024] Several additional circumferential ribs 46 , 48 , 50 are shown in the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, between the hose stops 40 , 42 , 44 and the distal ends of the hose connection ports 14 , 16 , 18 , which secondary ribs 46 , 48 , 50 are shown as being preferably of lesser height than the hose stops 40 , 42 , 44 , and optionally may also angled or fish-tailed slightly away from the trunk portion 20 of the inner connection member 12 . These ribs could also be angled toward the trunk portion however. These additional ribs 46 , 48 , 50 in either configuration are optional, and are designed to increase the engagement of the hose to the inner connection member 12 . While an embodiment of the present invention in the shape of a “T” is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , one skilled in the art would readily recognize that the invention could be applied to a hose joint assembly having any appropriate or suitable shape, wherein at least two of the hose connection points are located sufficiently near one another to allow for the construction of a hose connection intersecting region 36 as described supra and below. Such configurations include but are not limited to hose joint assemblies in the shapes of an “X”, a “Y”, an elbow, etc.
[0025] As can be seen in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, two of the otherwise-circular raised rib-type hose stops 40 , 42 are substantially flattened where they intersect with the stem hose stop 44 , i.e., they form an incomplete ring in the area at which they merge with the stem hose stop 44 . The stem hose stop 44 however, as can be clearly seen in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, forms a complete ring about the stem 18 .
[0026] This optional but preferred flattening-out or leveling-off of one or more select hose stops where it merges with another hose stop allows various hose connection points to be located sufficiently close to one another so that, in a preferred embodiment the molding material defining the outer covering element can be formed about two or more of the hose connection points as a unitary mass, i.e., as tangentially interconnected bands, without the need for external runners or bridges. In order to effect this, the mold or molds useful in forming the outer covering element may be formed and shaped so that there are “merge cavities” or internal flow paths which allow for the flow of molding material in the molding process from one hose connection point to another. These flow paths are located at the tangent points at which adjacent hose connection points meet. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the area in which two or more such adjacent hose connection points meet is substantially the same as that wherein adjacent hose stops merge. These areas generally define the hose connection intersecting regions or hose connection intersections. Thus, according to this embodiment of the present invention, molding material covers only that portion of the trunk located within an intersecting region, but the remainder of the trunk may in this way remain free of the outer covering element. This phenomenon is apparent from a view of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , and represents potentially significant material cost savings. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the location of the merge cavities of the respective covering element molds is evident by the manner in which the covering element 34 about the stem 18 encapsulates the hose connection point 32 to a point on the trunk 20 of the inner connection member 12 , but extends only up to the hose stops 40 , 42 of the remaining two hose connection points 28 , 30 .
[0027] As is readily apparent from an inspection of the figures and accompanying descriptions provided, the present invention makes it possible to significantly reduce the manufacturing costs associated with molded hose joint assemblies by eliminating a large amount of the outer covering element in the area of the inner connection member trunk compared to conventional designs. By eliminating the need for external runners or bridges the possibility of hose pull-off is moreover reduced. Notably, by forming unitary masses or tangentially interconnecting bands about two or more hose connection points, the possibility of independent rotation of the several hose members is significantly reduced over prior art designs. Moreover, the presence of the outer covering element as interconnected bands about two or more hose connection points ensures a high degree of hose joint assembly stability despite the optional flattening out of one or more hose stops in a hose connection intersecting region.
[0028] The hose joint assembly of the present invention furthermore allows for improved manufacturing flexibility and increased manufacturing efficiencies and economies, due in part to the unique spatial relationship of the inner connection member and outer covering element of the present invention, which is facilitated in part by the unique design of the hose stops noted supra. In a preferred embodiment, the inner connection member and/or outer covering element of the present invention are formed using injection molding techniques and molding apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 4. According to this method a mold is used to form the outer covering elements of individual hose connection points. To form the molded hose joint assemblies, the mold for the outer covering element is installed onto an injection molding apparatus having an inner connection member with attached hoses already mounted thereon. The outer covering element mold is designed such that the appropriate corresponding portions of the mold surround individual hose connection points. The mold includes at least one internal flow path or merge cavity which is located generally between the hose connection points within the mold and in such a position as to allow molding material to flow from one hose connection point to at least one other hose connection point, thus forming a hose connection point intersecting region. According to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , the unique hose stop design of the present invention allows respective hose connection points to be sufficiently close to one another to allow this technique to be successful with the minimum amount of molding material.
[0029] Thus, as molten molding material is injected into the mold apparatus, it is allowed to migrate from one portion of the mold to another via the internal flow paths or merge cavities, forming a unitary mass or interconnecting bands about two or more of such hose connection points, each such mass being defined as a hose connection point intersection or intersecting region. The mold may thus be designed to allow for the trunk portion of the inner connection member, being located away from the hose connection point intersections remaining free of outer covering element.
[0030] This preferred embodiment of the present invention, in addition to ensuring that independent rotation of the individual hose members and material costs are substantially reduced over prior art designs, moreover provides an opportunity to further improve manufacturing efficiencies through the use of “flexible manufacturing techniques”. This term is used in this context to define a system whereby, instead of relying on dedicated molds to form every size, shape and configuration of hose joint assembly desired, a single molding apparatus may be used to form several distinct types of hose joint assemblies. In this more preferred embodiment, separate molds are used to mold the outer covering elements of individual hose connection points. These individual molds, as illustrated in FIG. 4, may conveniently be referred to as “modular insert mold blocks”, or simply, “mold blocks” 52 , 54 , 56 . According to this embodiment of the invention, to form the molded hose joint assemblies, such individual mold blocks 52 , 54 , 56 are installed onto an injection molding apparatus, in this case having a mold base 58 for supporting the mold blocks 52 , 54 , 56 ; at least one runner 60 for introduction of molding material from the injection port 63 to the apparatus, and at least one gate 62 , 62 ′ to facilitate the flow of molding material from the runner 60 to at least one mold block. An inner connection member 12 with attached hoses 22 , 24 , 26 is mounted within the injection molding apparatus, such that a mold block 52 , 54 , 56 surrounds each hose connection point, and portions of at least two such mold blocks abut each other in the area of a desired hose connection point intersecting region. The mold blocks 52 , 54 , 56 include a merge cavity 64 , 66 at their point of intersection or abutment with another mold block, thus facilitating flow of molding material from one such mold block to an adjacent mold block at a given hose connection point intersection. This characteristic is evident from a view of FIG. 5, which illustrates a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 taken on reference line b-b thereof, and results in the formation of an interconnection 72 of the outer covering element between two adjacent circumferential rings 37 , 39 . Thus, as molten molding material is injected into the mold apparatus, it is allowed to migrate from one such mold block to another, forming a unitary mass or capsule about two or more of such hose connection points in the form of interconnecting rings to form a hose connection point intersecting region. The trunk portion of the inner connection member however, outside of the hose connection point intersecting region, in this way remains free of outer covering element.
[0031] This more preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a mechanism whereby different types of hose joint assemblies may be formed on the same molding apparatus by designing individual or modular insert mold blocks and locating and sizing the internal flow paths or “merge cavities” of such mold blocks such that various combinations of mold blocks can be assembled on a single molding apparatus to successfully form variously shaped and sized inventive assemblies. In designing such several mold blocks, the designer should keep in mind that the internal cavities or sprues of the individual mold blocks must meet opposing sprues on adjacent mold blocks sufficiently well to allow for the flow of molding material from one hose connection point to the next, irrespective of any of the other dimensions of the mold blocks or inner connection members. Thus, as a non-limiting example, similarly shaped hose joint assemblies, each having a different combination of hoses with differing nominal inside diameters may nonetheless be formed on the same apparatus, by first forming and then placing within an otherwise-conventional molding apparatus appropriately aligned mold blocks for the different hose connection points, and in all other respects, following general molding techniques well known to the art.
[0032] A preferred application of the claimed invention is in the area of automotive and/or industrial coolant circuits, wherein the integrity of the hose joint assembly, particularly in terms of pull off and blow off, as well as overall efficiencies and economies are of paramount importance.
[0033] The inner connection member useful in the present invention may be formed from any material suitable for a given application, including thermoset materials, plastics and metals, which may or may not include typical reinforcement materials well known to the art. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention associated with the injection molding of automotive or industrial coolant hose joint assemblies, the inner connection member is preferably formed of a suitable plastics material, including nylon 6, nylon 4/6, nylon 6/6, nylon 6/12, polypropylene, or combinations thereof. The hose useful in the practice of the present invention may similarly be formed of any material suitable for a given application, but in a preferred embodiment associated with automobile or industrial coolant assemblies, is an elastomer-based hose, and is more preferably formed of an ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymer or terpolymer type elastomer. Where operating pressures dictate, as in e.g., automotive applications, such hose is suitably reinforced with, e.g., metal, plastics, fabric, and/or any other type of reinforcement material known to the art, which may be of a warped or weft configuration, which may be braided or otherwise formed in conventional configurations which are all well known to the art.
[0034] The molding material for use as the outer covering element of the present invention may be formed from any material suitable for a given application, including thermoset materials and plastics, which may or may not include typical reinforcement materials well known to the art. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention associated with the injection molding of automotive or industrial coolant hose joint assemblies, the inner connection member is preferably formed of a suitable plastics material, including nylon 6, nylon 4/6 nylon 6/6, nylon 6/12, polypropylene, or combinations thereof. Where operating pressures dictate, as in e.g., automotive applications, at least one of the inner connection member or outer covering element is preferably suitably reinforced with, e.g., glass, calcium carbonate, fiberglass, thermoset materials including but not limited to ethylene propylene diene terpolymer, fluorinated thermoplastics, or preferably a hydroscopic material, including but not limited to plastics such as nylon, or combinations of the foregoing. The outer covering element preferably has a gauge of from about 0.1 to about 1.0 mm, more preferably of from about 0.2 to about 7.0 mm, and most preferably of from about 0.5 to about 5.0 mm for these applications.
[0035] For purposes of the present invention, the merge cavities between adjacent hose connection points are preferably designed to have a cross-sectional area sufficiently large, firstly, to allow for the flow of molding material from one mold block to another, and, secondly, to form an interconnection which will provide additional structural support or stability to the hose joint assembly. Notably however, where such stability is not required of a given application, and/or the molding material of choice has a relatively low viscosity, the merge cavity may be designed to be relatively small. As one having ordinary skill in the relevant art would readily recognize, a determination of the cross-sectional area required for a given merge cavity would depend largely on the viscosity of the molten molding material being used, the size of the overall hose connection piece as well as the individual dimensions of its components, the intended use of the finished piece, as well as other factors which may be readily identified. As a non-limiting example, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention directed to T-shaped automotive radiator hose joint assemblies, wherein the trunk portion has a rated hose inside diameter of 1.50 inches (3.81 cm), and the stem portion has a rated hose inside diameter of 0.75 inches (1.91 cm); the molding material used for the outer covering element is nylon 6/6; the outer covering_element has a gauge of about 0.200 inches (0.51 cm); and wherein the molding operation is carried out at an injection temperature of about 350° F. (177° C.), the merge cavity and resultant interconnection possesses a generally crescent-type shape having a flattened base (as illustrated in FIG. 5), and is preferably characterized by a gauge of from about 0.15 to about 0.075 inches, preferably from about 0.100 to about 0.090 inches, and most preferably about 0.095 inches (0.241 cm) at its maximum height. The interconnection moreover has a breadth at its widest point of from about 0.90 to about 0.10 inches, more preferably from about 0.75 to about 0.35 inches, and most preferably of about 0.640 inches (1.63 cm). The interconnection is characterized by an overall cross-sectional area defined generally by the formula, A=½[rl−c(r−h)], wherein A is the cross-sectional area, r is the radius of the trunk hose, 1 is the length of the arc created at the point where two adjacent merge cavities meet, c is the breadth of the interconnection at its broadest point, and h is the gauge of the interconnection at its highest point. In the preferred embodiment described above, the cross-sectional area of the interconnection is about 0.0304 square inches (0.1961 sq. cm.).
[0036] An additional significant benefit has surprisingly been found in the practice of an embodiment of the present invention. Prior to this finding, it was generally accepted that in relatively high pressure environments, the inner diameter of the hose end must be substantially the same as the outside diameter of the inner connection member port to adequately address blow-off concerns. Thus, lubricants including so-called volatile organic compounds or “VOCs” were routinely used to apply such hose ends to inner connection members. In the present case however, it has been surprisingly found that the integrity of the seal formed by the outer covering element about hose connection points is in many cases so great that one can actually increase the inside diameter of the hose ends relative the outside diameter of the inner connection member hose ports, without significantly increasing the risk of hose blow-off. This surprising finding, which was made in the course of testing an automotive coolant hose joint assembly of the present invention, formed of otherwise conventional ethylene propylene diene terpolymer reinforced automotive coolant hose applied to a nylon 6/6 inner connection member which was reinforced with long-aspect fiberglass, and an outer covering element formed of nylon 6/6, makes it possible to reduce or eliminate the use of lubricants, e.g., volatile organic compounds, in the application of hose ends to hose connection ports. In the present case, it was found that one could preferably increase the inner diameter of the hose end by from about four times the wall gauge of the inner connection member to about one tenth the wall gauge of the inner connection member; more preferably from about three times the wall gauge thereof to about one half the wall gauge thereof; and most preferably from about twice the wall gauge thereof to about one and one half times the wall gauge thereof, and still maintain a resistance to blow off appropriate for generally harsh conditions. This_characteristic is shown in FIG. 4, wherein a hose 24 is shown having a first inner diameter_ 68 and a second inside diameter 70 about the hose connection point 14 , which second inside diameter 70 is greater than the first inside diameter 68 .
[0037] Hose joint assembly molding techniques are well known to the art. One such method is set forth for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,775, the contents of which with respect to such techniques are hereby incorporated by reference. Generally, such techniques involve applying hose ends to the hose connection ports of an inner connection member to form a hose connection point; placing the thus-formed assembly into a molding apparatus; applying an outer covering element to the assembly at pressures and temperatures appropriate for the molding materials and to effect hose displacement; where thermoset materials are used as the molding material, curing the molded material, and where plastics materials are used as the molding material, allowing the molded material to cool, and; removing the thus-molded hose joint assembly from the molding apparatus.
[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention associated with injection molding the outer covering element onto the hose joint assembly according to flexible manufacturing techniques, the assemblies are formed by first applying hose ends to the hose connection ports of an inner connection member to form at least two hose connection points; placing the thus-formed assembly into a molding apparatus; placing appropriately designed modular insert molding blocks into the molding apparatus such that each molding block surrounds a hose connection point and the merge cavities of at least two of the molding blocks abut one another; at a temperature and pressure appropriate for the given molding material, injecting a plastics molding material into at least one of the molding blocks; allowing the molding material to flow from one molding block to another via the merge cavities; allowing the molding material to cool, and; removing the thus-formed molded hose joint assembly from the molding apparatus. By following this method, hose joint assemblies of the present invention formed of a nylon 6/6-based inner connection member reinforced with long-aspect fiberglass, reinforced elastomer hose, and a nylon 6/6-based molded outer covering element have been molded at a cycle rate of from about 30 to about 50 seconds per unit, which cycle time is presently expected to go to from about 15 to less than about 30 seconds per unit with increased processing automation.
[0039] By eliminating a large amount of the outer covering element in the area of the inner connection member trunk compared to conventional designs, the present invention makes it possible to reduce the manufacturing costs associated with conventional molded hose joint assemblies. The unique design of the present invention allows for this increased manufacturing efficiency without sacrificing overall hose joint assembly stability; by eliminating the need for external runners or bridges the possibility of hose pull-off is furthermore reduced. Notably, by forming unitary masses or interconnecting rings about two or more hose connection points, the possibility of independent rotation of the several hose members is significantly reduced over prior art designs. Moreover, the present invention makes it possible to utilize flexible manufacturing techniques to form variously shaped and sized hose joint assemblies using a single molding apparatus and several complementary modular insert molding blocks. This possibility is facilitated in part by the unique design of the hose stop configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. This improvement presents the possibility of potentially significant cost savings by eliminating the need for a number of dedicated molds. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process allows for an increased inner diameter of hose ends relative the outer diameter of the inner connection member, thus enabling the reduction or elimination of lubricants, including hazardous and expensive volatile organic compounds, in the construction of the hose joint assemblies of the present invention, without significantly impacting blow off resistance of the final assembly.
[0040] Although the present invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that variations can be made therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention except as it may be limited by the claims. The invention disclosed herein may suitably be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein. | Molded hose joint assemblies, e.g., connections, branched hoses and bleeding devices for fluid circuits, and especially such assemblies for use in automotive and industrial coolant circuit assemblies, which assemblies comprise a reduced amount of molded outer covering element over prior art designs, said covering element substantially encapsulating the connection points of generally flexible hose ends to generally rigid inner connection members. The outer covering element forms a unitary mass or interconnecting rings about at least two such hose connection points. Flexible manufacturing techniques for producing such assemblies are provided. | 5 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of automotive protective systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to inflatable knee airbag cushion assemblies.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present embodiments will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that the accompanying drawings depict only typical embodiments, and are, therefore, not to be considered to be limiting of the disclosure's scope, the embodiments will be described and explained with specificity and detail in reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1A is a top elevation view of a panel of material from which a portion of an airbag cushion may be formed, which in turn, comprises a portion of an airbag assembly.
FIG. 1B is a top elevation view of the panel of material of FIG. 1A after portions of the panel have been removed.
FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a portion of an embodiment of an airbag assembly.
FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 after the assembly has been rotated 180 degrees.
FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 6 is a close up side elevation view of a portion of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 7 is a close up side elevation view of a portion of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a panel of material from which a bag strap can be formed.
FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the panel of material of FIG. 8A after a portion of the panel has been folded.
FIG. 8C is a perspective view of the panel of material of FIG. 8B after a loop has been formed in the panel of material.
FIG. 9 is a close up top perspective view of a portion of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 10 is a close up bottom perspective view of a portion of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 11A is a rear elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 2 , wherein the airbag cushion is in an extended configuration prior to being subjected to a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 11B is a rear elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 11A after side portions of the airbag cushion have been tucked in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 11C is a rear elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 11B after a top portion of the airbag cushion has been folded in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 12A is a side elevation view of the airbag cushion assembly of FIG. 11C .
FIG. 12B is a side elevation view of the airbag cushion assembly of FIG. 12A after a top portion of the airbag cushion has begun to be rolled in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 12C is a side elevation view of the airbag cushion assembly of FIG. 12B , wherein the airbag cushion has continued to be rolled in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 12D is a side elevation view of the airbag cushion assembly of FIG. 12C after the top portion of the airbag cushion has been rolled in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 13A is a rear elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 12D .
FIG. 13B is a rear elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 13A after a bag strap has been wrapped around the cushion in accordance with a method for folding an airbag cushion.
FIG. 14 is a side elevation view of the airbag assembly of FIG. 13B .
FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of an airbag housing into which a packaged airbag assembly of FIG. 2 has been placed.
FIG. 16 is a close up cutaway perspective view of a portion of another embodiment of an inflatable cushion airbag assembly.
FIG. 17 is a top perspective of a portion of the airbag assembly of FIG. 16 .
FIG. 18 is a close up cutaway perspective view of a portion of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly of FIG. 17 after another step in a method for attaching an inflator has been performed.
FIG. 19A is a close up cutaway perspective view of a portion of another embodiment of an inflatable cushion airbag assembly.
FIG. 19B is a close up cutaway perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly of FIG. 19A after a step in a method for attaching an inflator has been performed.
FIG. 19C is a close up cutaway perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly of FIG. 19B after another step in a method for attaching an inflator has been performed.
FIG. 20 is a close up cutaway front perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly of FIG. 19A .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of various embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, as claimed, but is merely representative of various embodiments. While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated.
The phrases “connected to,” “coupled to” and “in communication with” refer to any form of interaction between two or more entities, including mechanical, electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, fluid, and thermal interaction. Two components may be coupled to each other even though they are not in direct contact with each other. The term “abutting” refers to items that are in direct physical contact with each other, although the items may not necessarily be attached together.
Inflatable airbag systems are widely used to minimize occupant injury in a collision scenario. Airbag modules have been installed at various locations within a vehicle, including, but not limited to, the steering wheel, the instrument panel, within the side doors or side seats, adjacent to the roof rail of the vehicle, in an overhead position, or at the knee or leg position. In the following disclosure, “airbag” may refer to an inflatable curtain airbag, overhead airbag, front airbag, or any other airbag type.
Front airbags are typically installed in the steering wheel and instrument panel of a vehicle. During installation, the airbags are rolled, folded, or both, and are retained in the rolled/folded state behind a cover. During a collision event, vehicle sensors trigger the activation of an inflator, which rapidly fills the airbag with inflation gas. Thus the airbag rapidly changes confirmations from the rolled/folded configuration to an expanded configuration.
FIGS. 1A-1B are a top elevation views of a panel of material 101 from which a portion of an airbag cushion may be formed. Panel 101 comprises a sheet of fabric that may comprise a woven nylon material, or any other material that is well known in the art. Panel 101 comprises a rectangular shape that is defined by a perimeter 105 and has a first portion 102 , a second portion 103 , and a middle portion 104 . First tether 130 and second tether 135 may be cut from the middle portion of panel 101 such that after being cut, panel 101 may be said to have an “I” or “H” shape. The length and/or width of panel 101 may be varied according to different embodiments. For example, width W 1 may be from about 400 mm to about 600 mm and length L 1 may be from about 600 mm to 900 mm.
FIG. 1B depicts panel 101 after first and second tethers 130 and 135 have been cut from panel 101 , after which a second width W 2 is defined by the middle portion 104 . W 2 may be from about 250 mm to about 550 mm. Width W 2 of middle portion 104 may comprise about 110% of the width of an airbag housing of airbag assembly 100 . An inflator insert aperture 123 and an inflator mounting stem aperture 124 may be formed in middle portion 104 by cutting, stamping, or as a result of the employment of a one-piece-weaving technique. FIG. 1B depicts the corners of panel 101 as being trimmed compared to the corners of the panel as shown in FIG. 1A ; however, the corners may be trimmed or not. Embodiments of an inflatable airbag cushion formed from a panel that does not have trimmed corners may have a perimeter seam that angles across the panel's corners, as shown in FIG. 1B , in which case an inflatable void of the cushion may comprise corners similar to those sown in FIG. 1B .
FIGS. 2-4 are perspective views of a portion of airbag assembly 100 , wherein FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view, FIG. 3 is a top perspective view, and FIG. 4 is a side perspective view. Assembly 100 may comprise a cushion 110 , a first tether 130 , a second tether 135 , reinforcements 140 , heat panels 145 , a bag strap 150 , and a stabilizer strap 170 . After the first and second tethers have been cut from panel of material 101 the panel may be folded at middle portion 104 to form a fold 109 . When panel 101 is folded, first portion 102 and second portion 103 are brought in close proximity such that the planes of the first and second portions are in a substantially parallel orientation. Fold 109 may comprise one or more discrete folds, or the fold may comprise a more general “U” shape.
Once membrane 101 is folded, stitching 106 may be applied around perimeter 105 such that the first and second portions 102 and 103 are coupled together. After being folded and stitched together, it may be said that panel of material 101 has been configured as an inflatable airbag cushion membrane 110 . As such, the cushion membrane has an inflatable void 118 . For clarity in depicting various structures and characteristics of assembly 100 , in some of the following figures, cushion 110 is shown without the perimeter being sewn together.
Cushion membrane 110 may described as having an upper portion 111 , a lower portion 112 , a front face 113 , and a rear face 114 . Upper portion 111 of cushion 110 is the portion of the cushion that is closest to the headliner of a vehicle when the cushion is in a deployed state. Lower portion 112 is below upper portion 111 when cushion 110 is in a deployed state, and is closest to a floor of the vehicle. The term “lower portion” is not necessarily limited to the portion of cushion 110 that is below a horizontal medial plane of the cushion, but may include less than half, more than half or exactly half of the bottom portion of the cushion. Likewise, the term “upper portion” is not necessarily limited to the portion of cushion 110 that is above a horizontal medial plane of the cushion, but may include less than half, more than half or exactly half of the top portion of the cushion.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a variety of types and configurations of airbag cushion membranes can be utilized without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the size, shape, and proportions of the cushion membrane may vary according to its use in different vehicles or different locations within a vehicle. Also, the cushion membrane may comprise one or more pieces of any material well known in the art, such as a woven nylon fabric. Additionally, the airbag cushion may be manufactured using a variety of techniques such as one piece weaving, “cut and sew”, or a combination of the two techniques. Further, the cushion membrane may be manufactured using sealed or unsealed seams, wherein the seams are formed by stitching, adhesive, taping, radio frequency welding, heat sealing, or any other suitable technique or combination of techniques.
Once the panel of material has been configured as an inflatable cushion 110 , the cushion may be coupled with additional components to form an inflatable airbag cushion assembly 100 , as depicted in FIG. 2 . Bag strap 150 , stabilizer strap 170 , and first tether 130 have been coupled to membrane 101 at middle portion 104 . Second tether 135 is coupled to membrane 101 closer to upper portion 111 than first tether 130 . First and second tethers 130 and 135 are coupled to front face 113 and extend to, and are coupled to, rear face 114 . In other words, the first and second tethers are located between the front and rear faces such that the tethers may be said to be located within the inflatable void of the inflatable airbag cushion. First and second tethers 130 and 135 may be coupled to front and rear faces 113 and 114 by stitching, or any other suitable technique.
Each tether may not be symmetrically attached to the cushion membrane on the front face and the rear face. For example, the portions of the first and second tethers that are coupled to the rear face of the membrane may be located between about 20 mm and 30 mm closer to fold 109 than the portions of the first and second tethers that are coupled to the front face of the membrane. In other words, the point at which the first and second tethers are coupled to the front face of the inflatable cushion membrane may be located more towards the upper portion of the cushion that than the point at which the first and second tethers are coupled to the rear face of the inflatable cushion.
First tether 130 may be located between middle portion 104 and first and second portions 102 and 103 and may be oriented such that the tether runs transversely across the middle portion of cushion 110 . In one embodiment, the first tether runs the entire width of the cushion, from perimeter to perimeter. First tether 130 may comprise one or more apertures ( 131 ), as depicted in FIG. 1 , wherein the apertures are configured to allow inflation gas to pass from a first side of the first tether to a second side of the tether. First tether 130 may be described as running transversely across a majority of the width of cushion 110 and is coupled to front and rear faces 113 and 114 of the cushion. First tether 130 is positioned within cushion 110 such that when the cushion is deployed, the first tether is located outside the housing. The first tether may be located between about 100 mm and about 200 mm from the folded portion of cushion 110 , before a pleat has been formed. First tether 130 may be located between the inflator (not shown) and a portion of inflatable void 118 , such that the plurality of apertures may allow inflation gas to pass from an inflator-proximal side of the tether to an inflator distal side of the tether. As such, the apertures may allow inflation gas to flow from the inflator into the inflatable void. The apertures may each comprise a diameter of about 33 mm and may be sewn concentrically using a single needle lock stitch with about a 3 mm off-set.
Second tether 135 may be located between about 33% to about 50% the distance from first tether 130 to a top edge of upper portion 111 of cushion 110 . Generally, the second tether may be about 50% the width as the airbag cushion. For example, in one embodiment, the second tether is about 250 mm wide and the inflatable airbag cushion is about 500 mm wide.
Bag strap 150 may comprise a piece of woven fabric that is coupled to attachment portion 120 of cushion 110 . Attachment portion 120 is located on front face 113 at middle portion 104 . As such, bag strap 150 is coupled to front face 113 of cushion 110 , and may be coupled to the cushion via stitching or any other suitable technique. Bag strap 150 may aid in retaining cushion 110 in a packaged configuration; in obtaining favorable airbag cushion deployment characteristics; and in coupling the cushion to an airbag housing.
One or more reinforcements 140 may be placed at high stress points in assembly 100 , wherein the reinforcements comprise one or more pieces of fabric that may the same or different than the fabric from which cushion 110 is formed. For example, one or more reinforcements may be sewn into perimeter seam 107 near where middle portion 104 of cushion 110 extends to become lower portion 112 of front and rear faces 113 and 114 . Additionally, one or more layers of reinforcement may be coupled to cushion 110 at an attachment area 120 , near inflator apertures 123 and 124 , wherein the reinforcement may comprise the same material or a different material than reinforcement 140 .
Heat resistant fabric 145 may be coupled near the inflator attachment area 120 and may be employed in addition to or instead of reinforcements at inflator apertures 123 and 124 . The heat resistant fabric may comprise a plain woven fiberglass material with a silicone coating, wherein the fiberglass strands in the fabric comprise E-glass, S-glass, or S2-glass grades of fiberglass. If present, the silicone coating may be applied to one side of the fabric and the fabric oriented within assembly 100 such that the silicone coated side faces the inflator.
One skilled in the art will recognize that a variety of types and configurations of heat resistant materials and coatings, as well as reinforcements may be employed without diverging from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the fabric need not be plain woven, but may have a more random fiber orientation of sun bond material. Also, the heat resistant material may comprise one or more of a variety of different fibers such as para-aramid synthetic fibers that are sold as Kevlar brand fibers, carbon, hemp, nylon, and polyester. Further, the heat resistant coating may comprise one or more materials such as neoprene, urethane, phenolic materials, and other flexible epoxies. In some embodiments, the reinforcement material and the heat resistant material may comprise the same material.
FIG. 3 depicts a portion of airbag assembly 100 from a top perspective view, wherein the airbag assembly has been rotated 180° from the view of FIG. 2 . In this view, front face 113 of cushion 110 is below rear face 114 , and the dashed outlines of first and second tethers 130 and 135 are visible. Also shown are inflator insert aperture 123 , inflator stem aperture 124 , and the dashed outline of reinforcement and/or heat shield 140 / 145 .
A pleat 115 may be formed in rear panel 114 , such that the rear panel is not as long as front panel 113 . In other words, a distance from the upper portion 111 to the lower portion 112 is smaller for rear face 114 than front face 113 . Pleat 115 is located between first and second tethers 130 and 135 and may be formed by folding rear panel 114 back upon itself such that a fold of cushion membrane 110 is created that extends into inflatable void 118 in the direction of front panel 113 . Pleat 115 may be retained by employing a double needle chain stitch. The pleat may be gradually formed and retained in cushion 110 by creating two arcs of stitching at each end of the pleat and a straight stitch in the middle of the pleat, or in another embodiment, the ends of the pleat may be stitched such that the pleat is tapered at its ends. In another embodiment, the stitch and pleat may form a single radius arc.
The portion of the pleat that extends toward the front face may have a length of about 20 mm, in which case the rear panel is shortened about 40 mm. In another embodiment, the pleat extends about 50 mm such that the rear panel is shortened about 100 mm. The width of the full depth portion of pleat 115 may correspond to the width of first and second tethers 130 and 135 such that the portion of the pleat that is the full depth is about as wide as the tethers. In one embodiment, the airbag cushion is about 500 mm wide, the tethers are about 240 mm wide, and the full depth portion of the pleat is also about 240 mm wide, although the entire pleat extends about 400 mm.
First tether 130 , second tether 135 , and pleat 115 are configured to aid the inflatable cushion membrane in following a predetermined deployment trajectory. Additionally, the tethers and the pleat may be configured such that the inflatable cushion adopts a predetermined shape during deployment and upon full or substantially full inflation. For example, when fully or substantially inflated, the inflatable cushion may be variously described as adopting an approximately “C” shape, a banana shape, or a crescent shape.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of airbag assembly 100 , which depicts cushion 110 , first tether 130 , second tether 135 , pleat 115 , and bag strap 150 . Portions of the first and second tethers are visible between front and rear faces 113 and 114 . Bag strap 150 is coupled to front face 113 of cushion 110 at middle portion 104 of the cushion.
FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a portion of airbag assembly 100 . As described herein, inflatable airbag cushion 110 comprises upper portion 111 and lower portion 112 . Upper portion 111 comprises upper edge 108 that may be defined by the ends of front face 113 and rear face 114 , or alternatively, the upper edge may be defined by a seam formed at the point at which the front face and the rear face are coupled. Lower portion 112 may comprise middle portion 104 at which fold 109 is formed, as well as one or more seam reinforcements 140 , one or more heat panels 145 , bag strap 150 , and stabilizer strap 170 .
First tether 130 and second tether 135 are each coupled to front face 113 and rear face 114 such that they are located within inflatable void 118 . Forming pleat 115 in rear face 114 of the airbag cushion shortens the rear face, compared to the front face. As such, a top-most point 108 of rear face 114 is closer to bottom portion 112 of the airbag cushion, compared to a top-most point of front face 113 . Bag strap 150 may comprise bag strap loop 160 and engagement portion 155 . In the depicted embodiment, bag strap loop 160 comprises a fold or pleat of the bag strap material and engagement portion 155 comprises a roll or fold of the bag strap material. Stabilizer strap 170 may be coupled to cushion 110 at lower portion 112 .
FIG. 6 is a close up side elevation view of a portion of inflatable airbag cushion 110 , wherein pleat 115 and first tether 130 are visible. Pleat 115 may be formed by drawing together two points on rear face 114 , and then coupling the two points together via stitching 133 . For clarity, the two points are neither touching each other or located directly adjacent each other, because seam reinforcement material may be used such that the pleat doesn't rupture during airbag deployment. If reinforcement material is not used, the portions that comprise the pleat may touch each other. Pleat 115 may project from rear face 114 into inflatable void 118 in the direction of front face 113 . A distance D 1 to which the pleat may project from the front face may be between about 20 mm and about 50 mm. First tether 130 has a first and second end, each of which may be rolled or folded before being coupled to front face 113 and rear face 114 of cushion 110 . First tether 130 may be asymmetrically coupled to the front and rear faces such that a tether attachment point on front face 113 may be located further from an inflator (not shown) or inflator attachment area (not shown) than the point at which the tether is attached to rear face 114 . Reinforcement and/or heat panel 140 / 145 may extend to first tether attachment points such that each of the first tether attachment points comprise 4 or more layers of material. First tether 130 may be coupled to cushion 110 via stitching 132 .
FIG. 7 is a close up side elevation view of a portion of inflatable airbag cushion 110 , wherein second tether 135 is visible within inflatable void 118 . Second tether 135 may be coupled to cushion 110 at two attachment points, wherein one attachment point is located on front face 113 and the other attachment point is located on rear face 114 . In the depiction of FIG. 7 , the two attachment points for the two tethers may be located approximately equal distances from an inflator. In another embodiment, the second tether 135 attachment point on front face 113 may be located closer to the inflator (not shown) than the rear face 114 attachment point, as depicted for first tether 130 in FIG. 6 . Second tether 135 may be coupled to cushion 110 via stitching 136 , wherein the stitching crosses 3 layers of material at each attachment point.
FIGS. 8A-8C depict bag strap 150 from perspective views, wherein FIG. 8A depicts a full-length panel of material before it has been formed into a bag strap; FIG. 8B depicts the panel of material of FIG. 8A after a bottom portion of the bag strap has been rolled; and, FIG. 8C depicts the panel of material of FIG. 8B after the bag strap has had a loop formed in it. FIG. 8A depicts a panel of material 152 that has a predetermined length, and from which a bag strap may be formed. Panel 152 may comprise a piece of a woven nylon material similar to that which forms an inflatable airbag cushion. Panel 152 has a front face (not shown) and a rear face 164 and may comprise an airbag cushion portion 151 , an inflator insert aperture 153 , an inflator stem aperture 154 , an engagement portion 155 , engagement apertures 156 , stabilizer strap apertures 157 , and perforations 162 . The apertures and perforations in panel 152 are formed in predetermined locations and may also be described as forming three horizontal rows of apertures and three vertical columns of apertures. The rows of apertures comprise apertures that have different functions, and the columns of apertures comprise apertures that have the same function.
FIG. 8B depicts panel 152 of FIG. 8A after engagement portion 155 has been rolled to form a rolled engagement portion 158 . Rolled portion 158 is formed by folding a predetermined length of engagement portion 155 of panel 152 toward rear face 164 and in the direction of cushion portion 151 . The distance of the fold is of such a magnitude that apertures 156 align with each other, and likewise, apertures 157 align with each other. After being folded, bag strap 150 has a shortened length, L 2 . In another embodiment, the bag strap may not comprise a folded engagement portion. In such an embodiment, the panel of material from which the bag strap is formed may comprise two inflator stem apertures and one stabilizer strap aperture. FIG. 8B also depicts arrows that indicate the direction the panel of material may be folded to form a loop, which may be a step in a method for forming a bag strap.
FIG. 8C depicts panel 152 of FIG. 8B after a loop 160 has been formed such that the loop is located on rear face 164 and perforations 162 are incorporated within the loop. Loop 160 may also be described as a fold or a pleat in panel 152 , from which bag strap 150 is formed. Loop 160 has an apex 161 that may also be described as a fold. Loop 160 may be retained via tear stitching 166 or any other suitable technique or structure. Tear stitching 166 is configured to rupture during inflatable airbag deployment. In one embodiment, the tear stitching includes, about 25 threads per 100 millimeters, although one skilled in the art will appreciate that other thread counts may similarly allow the rupture of tear stitching 166 during inflatable airbag deployment without damaging bag strap 150 . Thus, tear stitching 166 is configured to rupture during deployment of the airbag cushion without damaging the bag strap and without retarding or altering cushion deployment.
In the depicted embodiment, tear stitch 166 runs across bag strap 150 ; however in other embodiments, the tear stitch may only be formed in a portion of the width of the bag strap or may define one or more light tack stitches. Tear stitch 166 and perforations 162 are configured to rupture during airbag cushion 110 deployment, such that the tear stitch ruptures before the perforations. Perforations 162 may be configured to allow bag strap 150 to become severed into two pieces during deployment. Perforations 162 are depicted as being located within bag strap loop 160 ; however, in alternative embodiments, the perforations may be located along different portions of the bag strap.
Panel 152 is of a predetermined length such that after the panel has been shortened by the formation of loop 160 and folded portion 158 , the resulting bag strap is of a predetermined length L 3 that is shorter than the full length of the panel of material. The shortest length (L 3 ) of bag strap 150 can be called a wrapping length. The wrapping length is also shorter than a deployment length L 2 (depicted in FIG. 8B ).
The wrapping length of the bag strap is configured to allow the bag strap to wrap around a rolled and/or folded inflatable airbag cushion and retain the cushion in this “packaged” or “folded” configuration. As discussed above, upon airbag deployment, the tear stitching that retains the bag strap in the wrapper length ruptures such that the bag strap adopts the deployment length. The deployment length of the bag strap is configured such that the airbag cushion can expand up to about 150 mm before it again begins to apply tension to the bag strap. As the airbag continues to expand, it is briefly retarded by the bag strap, until the perforations rupture and the airbag can continue to freely deploy.
FIGS. 9-10 are close up perspective views of a portion of airbag assembly 100 , wherein FIG. 10 is rotated 180° compared to the view of FIG. 9 . As depicted in the figures, stitching 106 may be employed to couple front and rear faces 113 and 114 . Reinforcement and/or heat shield 140 / 145 can be seen as being coupled to cushion 110 near middle portion 104 . Bag strap 150 is coupled to front face 113 . Inflator aperture 153 of the bag strap is in alignment with inflator aperture 123 of cushion 110 , and likewise, inflator stem aperture 154 is aligned with inflator stem aperture 124 of the cushion. Bag strap loop 160 , tear stitch 166 , and perforations 162 are located between cushion portion 151 of bag strap 150 wherein the bag strap is coupled to cushion 110 and an engagement portion 155 of bag strap 150 . Loop 160 is configured such that it extends away from front face 163 . In other words, an apex 161 of loop 160 extends from rear face 164 because the loop is formed on the rear face. Engagement portion 155 may comprise a folded engagement portion 158 , inflator mounting stem engagement apertures 156 , and stabilizer strap aperture 157 .
Stabilizer strap 170 may comprise a piece of webbing that is about 10 mm wide and is coupled to bag strap 150 and cushion 110 on front face 113 , near middle portion 104 . Stabilizer strap 170 may be coupled to cushion 110 via stitching 171 , such that the stitching is aligned with the centers of the inflator insert apertures 123 / 153 and inflator stem apertures 124 / 154 . In the depicted embodiment, stitching 171 comprises a single line of stitching; however, in another embodiment, the stitching may comprise a box stitch. If a box stitch is employed, the portion of the box stitch that is closed to the inflator or attachment area 120 of cushion 110 may be aligned with the centers of inflator apertures 123 / 153 and 124 / 154 .
Inflatable airbag cushion 110 may be configured into a packaged configuration by employing a method for folding an airbag cushion, wherein the method may comprise obtaining an airbag cushion membrane as disclosed herein, tucking the sides of the cushion in toward the center until a width of the cushion is less than a width of an airbag housing to which the cushion may be attached; applying an optional tack or tear stitch; reverse rolling or reverse folding the tucked top portion of the cushion one time; continuing to reverse roll or reverse fold the tucked top portion; wrapping a bag strap around the folded cushion; securing the bag strap to at least one inflator mounting stem. In one embodiment, the folding method results in an airbag cushion that has been rolled or folded up to 5 times.
FIGS. 11A-14 depict various views of airbag cushion assembly 100 during and after steps in a method for packaging an inflatable airbag cushion have been performed. FIGS. 11A-11C are front elevation views of assembly 100 , wherein FIG. 11A depicts the assembly in a pre-packaging configuration, FIG. 11B depicts the assembly after a first step in the method for packing an airbag cushion has been performed, and FIG. 11C depicts the assembly after another step has been performed. In the views of FIGS. 11A-11C , various structures and features of assembly 100 are visible, including cushion 110 , which has upper and lower portions 111 and 112 , rear face 114 , a first half 116 , a second half 117 , inflator insert aperture 123 , and inflator mounting stem aperture 124 ; and bag strap 150 , which has cushion portion 151 , engagement portion 155 , inflator mounting stem engagement apertures 156 , stabilizer strap aperture 157 , rolled portion 158 , loop 160 , perforations 162 , and rear face 164 .
In the depiction of FIG. 11A , assembly 110 is in a flattened configuration, wherein any wrinkles or folds in cushion 110 have been removed and rear faces 114 and 164 can be said to be facing “up”. It can be said that providing an inflatable airbag cushion and flattening the cushion comprise first steps in a method for folding or packaging an inflatable airbag cushion.
FIG. 11B depicts cushion 110 after first and second halves 116 and 117 have been tucked in towards a midline of cushion 110 . The tucks may be performed by pushing each half of the cushion into the cushion, “outside-in”. In other words, first and second halves of the airbag cushion are each tucked into a middle portion of the airbag cushion such that the front and rear faces of each of the first and second halves are positioned in between the upper and lower panels of the middle portion. After the tucking steps have been performed, cushion 110 comprises a tucked upper portion 119 .
FIG. 11C depicts cushion 110 after a tucked upper portion 119 of cushion 100 is folded one time in the direction of rear face 114 , away from front face 113 . As such, tucked upper portion 119 is folded downward toward lower portion 112 and bag strap 150 .
FIGS. 12A-12D depict airbag assembly 100 from a side elevation view, wherein the assembly is being subjected to steps in a method for packaging an inflatable airbag cushion. Visible in the figures are cushion 110 , which has front face 113 , rear face 114 , attachment area 120 , and bag strap 150 , which has cushion portion 151 , folded engagement portion 158 , and loop 160 . FIG. 12A is a side elevation view that depicts assembly 100 , wherein the assembly is at the same stage of packaging as depicted in FIG. 11C . Upper tucked portion 119 has been folded one time toward rear face 114 , in the direction of bag strap 150 , such that a fold 121 has been formed.
FIG. 12B depicts the airbag assembly 100 of FIG. 12A after fold 121 of upper tucked portion 119 has begun to be rolled in the direction of rear face 114 . Since the roll is made in the direction of the rear face, it may be described as being a “reverse” roll. In another embodiment, the airbag cushion may be folded, instead of rolled. However, it will be noted that as consecutive folds are made, they may begin to resemble rolls.
FIGS. 12C-12D depict the airbag assembly 100 of FIG. 12B after the folded portion of the upper tucked portion of the airbag cushion has continued to be rolled towards rear face 114 in the direction of bag strap 150 . As cushion 110 is rolled, the cushion comprises a rolled inflatable airbag cushion 122 . As noted previously, attachment area 120 is located on front face 113 of cushion 110 , and bag strap 150 is coupled to the cushion at cushion portion 151 of the bag strap. Cushion 110 may continue to be rolled in the direction of bag strap 150 until rolled cushion 122 is rolled to fold 109 of the cushion. As such, cushion portion 151 of bag strap 150 may be partially rolled with the cushion. A next step in the packaging method disclosed herein may comprise wrapping bag strap 150 around cushion 110 such that rear face 164 of the bag strap is on the inside of the wrap and front face 163 is on the outside of the packaged airbag assembly.
FIGS. 13A-13B depict airbag cushion assembly 100 from front elevation views. Visible in the figures are cushion 110 , and bag strap 150 that has cushion portion 151 , inflator insert aperture 153 , inflator stem aperture 154 , inflator engagement apertures 156 , strap aperture 157 , folded engagement portion 158 , loop 160 , perforations 162 , front face 163 , rear face 164 , and tear stitching 166 .
In the depiction of FIG. 13A the assembly is at the same stage of packaging as depicted in FIG. 12D . Cushion 110 has been rolled such that it comprises a rolled cushion 122 and rear face 164 of bag strap 150 is positioned such that it can be wrapped around the rolled airbag cushion. As noted herein, inflator insert aperture 153 is aligned with cushion 110 inflator insert aperture 123 and inflator mounting stem aperture 154 is aligned with inflator mounting stem aperture 124 .
FIG. 13B depicts a next step in the method for packaging the airbag cushion, which may comprise wrapping bag strap 150 around rolled cushion 122 such that inflator stem engagement apertures 156 are aligned with inflator insert apertures 123 / 153 and inflator mounting stem apertures 124 / 154 . Since the rear face of bag strap 150 is on the inside of the packaged airbag cushion, front face 163 is visible. If an optional stabilizer strap is present, it may protrude through strap aperture 157 . Prior to completing rolling cushion 110 , an inflator may be inserted in cushion 110 such that the inflator mounting stems protrude through apertures 123 / 153 , and apertures 156 , which are located in the folded engagement portion 158 of bag strap 150 . The length of bag strap 150 is configured such that loop 160 is located at a predetermined position on rolled cushion 122 . Since loop 160 is located at a predetermined location, perforations 162 and tear stitching 166 are also located at predetermined locations on rolled cushion 122 .
FIG. 14 depicts a portion of airbag assembly 100 from a side elevation view after cushion 110 has been placed in a rolled configuration 122 , the rolled cushion has been wrapped by bag strap 150 , and an inflator 180 has been inserted into the cushion. Attachment area 120 of cushion 110 is the area to which inflator 180 can be attached as well as the area to which cushion portion 151 of the bag strap is coupled. In the packaged configuration, folded engagement portion 158 is adjacent to cushion portion 151 , rear face 164 is adjacent to the wrapped cushion 122 , and front face 163 is located on the outside of the packaged airbag assembly. First inflator mounting stem 182 and the second Inflator mounting stem (not visible) may protrude through cushion 110 attachment area 120 , bag strap 150 cushion portion 151 , and folded engagement portion 158 . Bag strap loop 160 is located at a predetermined location on cushion 110 , and the loop is oriented such that the apex 161 of the loop is between the bag strap and the cushion.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of airbag assembly 100 after the airbag cushion has been folded and/or rolled into a folded configuration, wrapped by the bag strap, and placed into an airbag housing 190 . Housing 190 may comprise a metal or plastic container to which the inflatable airbag cushion may be fixedly attached. Housing 190 is configured to be mounted within a vehicle and serves to specifically position airbag assembly 100 so that the inflatable cushion may deploy with predetermined characteristics. Housing 190 is configured to fluidly couple inflator 180 with the inflatable void of the inflatable airbag cushion, as well as fixedly couple the airbag cushion to a vehicle structure. Housing 190 may comprise a stabilizer strap aperture 191 , through which stabilizer strap 170 protrudes. A mounting aperture 172 formed in stabilizer strap 170 may be received by a mounting component 192 on housing 190 . In the depicted embodiment, mounting component 192 comprises a mounting hook; however in other embodiments, the mounting component may comprise a tab, an aperture for receiving hardware, or a linear extension. Housing 190 may further comprise a plurality of apertures (not visible) through which first and second inflator mounting stems 182 and 183 can protrude. First and second inflator mounting stems 182 and 183 may receive mounting hardware 194 , such that the inflator, bag strap, and cushion may be fixedly coupled to the housing.
Inflator 180 is configured to be activated in response to predetermined vehicle conditions as determined by vehicle sensors. Upon activation, the inflator rapidly generates or releases inflation gas, which forces the airbag cushion through a cosmetic cover and rapidly inflates the cushion. The inflator may be one of several types, such as pyrotechnic, stored gas, or a combination inflator. Additionally, the inflator may comprise a single or multistage inflator. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, one or more vehicle sensors of a variety of types and configurations can be utilized to configure a set of predetermined conditions that will dictate whether the inflator is activated. For example, in one embodiment, a seat rail sensor is utilized to detect how close or far away from an airbag deployment surface an occupant's seat is positioned. In another embodiment, a seat scale may be used to determine whether an occupant is occupying the seat and if so, ascertain an approximate weight of the occupant. In yet another embodiment an optical or infrared sensor may be used to determine an occupant's approximate surface area and/or distance from an airbag deployment surface. In another embodiment, an accelerometer is employed to measure the magnitude of negative acceleration experienced by a vehicle, which may indicate whether an accident has occurred and the severity of the accident. Additionally, a combination of these and other suitable sensor types may be used.
FIGS. 16-20 are various views of portions of another embodiment of an inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 , wherein the figures depict structures used in a method for coupling an inflator to an airbag cushion membrane and airbag housing. The figures also depict a stabilizer strap that aids the cushion in achieving predetermined deployment characteristics. Inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 may be configured similarly and may function similarly as inflatable cushion airbag assembly 100 , described herein. Assembly 200 may comprise an inflatable cushion membrane, a stabilizer strap, an inflator, and an airbag housing.
FIG. 16 is a close up cutaway perspective view of a portion of inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 . Inflatable cushion membrane 210 may be configured like cushion membrane 110 , described herein, or cushion 210 may be configured differently. Cushion 210 defines and inflatable void that is formed by a seam 207 that comprises stitching 206 . Cushion 210 may comprise a stabilizer strap 270 that is formed by a loop of nylon webbing that defines a mounting aperture 272 . Strap 270 may be about 10 mm wide and has a predetermined length. Stitching 271 may be employed to couple strap 270 to cushion 210 .
FIG. 17 is a top perspective view of airbag assembly 200 , wherein airbag cushion 210 is located adjacent to housing 290 prior to the cushion being coupled to the housing. Cushion 210 comprises a folded middle portion 204 , an inflator attachment area, an inflator insert aperture 223 , and an inflator stem aperture 224 . Strap 270 may be positioned on cushion 210 such that a lowest portion 273 of stitching 271 is aligned with the centers of apertures 223 and 224 . Mounting aperture 272 of strap 270 is configured to receive a strap hook 292 located on housing 290 . Housing 290 also comprises apertures 293 that are configured to receive inflator mounting stems.
FIG. 18 is a close up cutaway perspective view of assembly 200 , wherein cushion 210 and housing 290 have been rotated such that a strap aperture 291 is visible. Stabilizer strap 270 protrudes through strap aperture 291 and extends to strap hook 292 . Strap mounting aperture 272 is configured to fit over and be retained by strap hook 292 .
FIGS. 19A-20 are perspective views of a portion of inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 , wherein the figures depict a method and structures for coupling an inflator to an airbag cushion membrane and airbag housing. Inflator 280 , cushion 210 , and housing 290 are configured such that they may be employed in a method for coupling an airbag cushion to an airbag housing.
FIG. 19A is a close up cutaway perspective view of a portion inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 , which depicts a first step in the method, wherein the step may comprise inserting first end 284 of inflator 280 . Also, first inflator stem 282 is inserted into inflator insert aperture 223 of cushion 210 . Cushion 210 comprises inflator insert aperture 223 and inflator stem aperture 224 , which have diameters D 3 and D 2 , respectively, which are of predetermined magnitudes. Diameter D 2 of inflator mounting stem aperture 224 is configured such that it can receive a mounting stem from an inflator. As such the diameter of the mounting stem aperture may be about equal to, or slightly larger than the diameter of the mounting stem. Diameter D 3 of aperture 223 is configured such that the aperture can accommodate the diameter D 4 of inflator 280 . As such, D 3 of aperture 223 may be greater than the diameter D 4 of inflator 280 , or the diameters may be of about equal magnitude. In some embodiments, the magnitude of D 2 may be from about 4.0 mm to about 8.0 mm. In one embodiment, D 2 has a magnitude of about 6.5 mm. In some embodiments, the magnitude of D 3 may be from about 20 mm to about 30 mm. In one embodiment, D 3 has a magnitude of about 25 mm. The inflator insert aperture and/or the inflator mounting stem aperture may be strengthened and/or reinforced by stitching or additional material. In some embodiments, the magnitude of inflator diameter D 4 may be from about 20 mm to about 30 mm. In one embodiment, D 4 has a magnitude of about 25 mm.
Inflator 280 may comprises a pyrotechnic inflator with a tubular body 281 , from which first and second mounting stems 282 and 283 protrude perpendicularly from the inflator body. The inflator is defined by a first end 284 and a second end 285 , wherein the first end may have one or more vents 286 through which inflation gas can be expelled. Inflator 280 comprises a predetermined length L 4 . In some embodiments, the magnitude of inflator length L 4 may be from about 100 mm to about 120 mm. In one embodiment, L 4 has a magnitude of about 108 mm. A distance between mounting stems may be from about 70 mm to about 90 mm. In one embodiment, the distance between mounting stems is about 80 mm. As such, the distance between the inflator insert aperture and the inflator mounting stem aperture may be from about 100 mm to about 120 mm, and in one embodiment, the distance is about 80 mm.
FIG. 19B is a close up cutaway perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly of FIG. 19A after first end 284 and first mounting stem 282 of the inflator has been inserted into the inflator insert aperture. The method may further comprise pushing inflator 280 toward inflator stem aperture 224 of cushion 210 . Inflator 280 may continue to be pushed in the direction of inflator stem aperture 224 until first inflator stem 282 is approximately aligned with aperture 224 , but second end 285 has not been pushed through inflator insert aperture 223 .
FIG. 19C is a close up cutaway perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 of FIG. 19B . A method for coupling an airbag cushion to an airbag housing via an inflator may further comprise threading first mounting stem 282 through inflator stem aperture 224 . When inflator 280 is positioned properly, first end 284 is located within cushion 210 , inflator stem 282 protrudes through aperture 224 , and second inflator stem 283 and second end 285 protrude through aperture 223 . Stem 283 may abut cushion 210 at a rim of aperture 223 . The diameters of first inflator stem 282 and inflator stud aperture 224 may be configured such that during deployment, the junction between the stem and the aperture is substantially airtight. Likewise, the diameters of inflator body 281 and inflator insert aperture 223 may be configured such that during deployment, the junction between the inflator and the aperture is substantially airtight.
FIG. 20 is a close up cutaway perspective view of the inflatable cushion airbag assembly 200 after another step in a method for attaching an inflator has been performed. The method may further comprise threading first and second inflator stems 282 and 283 of inflator 280 through corresponding housing mounting apertures 293 . Cushion 210 may then be fixedly attached to housing 290 by employing mounting hardware that matingly engages first and second inflator stems 282 and 283 , such as nuts 294 . The previous methods may be said to be methods for attaching an inflator or methods for attaching an airbag cushion to an airbag housing.
FIG. 20 also depicts stabilizer strap 270 after the strap has been threaded through the strap aperture (not shown) and received by strap hook 292 . Stabilizer strap 270 may or may not be used in combination with the structures associated with the methods for coupling an airbag cushion to a housing via an inflator, as described above. Stabilizer strap 270 may be used in combination with cushion 210 and inflator 280 , so that during inflatable airbag cushion deployment, the cushion cannot rotate around the inflator and cushion attachment points. As such, the stabilizer strap prohibits the airbag cushion from skewing during deployment.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that a variety of inflators and airbag housings may be used without deviating from the sprit of the present disclosure. For example, the size and shape of the inflators may differ from those described herein. Further, the inflator mounting stems may not be integral to the inflator, but rather, in some embodiments, an inflator housing may be employed that provides the mounting stems. Additionally, the inflator and/or housing may comprise less than or more than two mounting stems and those mounting stems may be oriented axially to the inflator body, rather than perpendicularly as described herein. Airbag housing 290 may not comprise a complete housing, but rather may define a mounting structure that may or may not be a subcomponent of an airbag housing.
The present disclosure is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/430,562 entitled, “KNEE AIRBAG ASSEMBLIES CONFIGURED FOR INFLATOR INSERTION AND INFLATOR-MEDIATED COUPLING TO AN AIRBAG HOUSING,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/430,246 entitled, “INFLATABLE KNEE AIRBAG ASSEMBLIES WITH BAG STRAPS FOR WRAPPING THE AIRBAGS AND OPTIMIZING DEPLOYMENT,” which were filed on the same day as the present disclosure, Apr. 29, 2009, and are hereby incorporated by reference.
Any methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for performing the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for proper operation of the embodiment, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified.
Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can use the preceding description to utilize the present disclosure to its fullest extent. The examples and embodiments disclosed herein are to be construed as merely illustrative and not a limitation to the scope of the present disclosure in any way. It will be apparent to those having skill in the art that changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the disclosure described herein. In other words, various modifications and improvements of the embodiments specifically disclosed in the description above are within the scope of the appended claims. Note that elements recited in means-plus-function format are intended to be construed in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112¶6. The scope of the disclosure is therefore defined by the following claims. | An airbag assembly with a reduced-cost knee airbag cushion and internal tethers can be formed from a single rectangular panel of material so that there is very little material waste. A pleat can be formed in a rear face so that the combination of tethers and pleat help the cushion deploy with favorable characteristics and adopt an arced shape when inflated. The cushion can have apertures for inserting an inflator with mounting stems partially within the cushion so that the mounting stems can be used to couple the cushion to an airbag housing. The assembly can also have a bag strap formed from a single piece of fabric that can wrap around a rolled and/or folded cushion. The assembly can also have a stabilizer strap that can be coupled to the cushion and to the airbag housing so that during deployment, the cushion does not skew or twist. | 1 |
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No, 11/190,992, filed Jul. 27, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,541, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates generally to an integrated circuit (IC) design, and more particularly to light emitting technologies that can be produced in the same substrate along with a control circuit device.
Light emitting technology has been one of the fastest growing industries in recent years. The improvement in the technology has shrunk the size of many products such as computer displays by providing new generations of products such as the liquid crystal displays (LCD).
One conventional method for fabricating a light emitting device today is to implant a number of ultra-fine particles, which are also known as nanocrystals, into a thick dielectric layer above the silicon surface. These nanocrystals can be made of materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a combination of the two materials (SiGe). The dielectric layer is made of silicon-oxide (SiO 2 ), and it is a proven combination of materials that provides good control over the fabrication process.
However, this conventional method suffers from various critically important pitfalls. For example, it provides a poor gate dielectric layer interface, which reduces the ability to optimally form nanocrystals into the dielectric layer above the silicon surface. The CMOS device performance may also be poor due to poor hole mobility. The thick SiO 2 dielectric layer also means a higher material cost during fabrication. It is also difficult to combine the light emitting devices and control circuit devices on the same substrate with this conventional method. This is a major issue since the light emitting devices need to be assembled with many VLSI control circuit devices.
It is therefore desirable to design methods for a fabricating light emitting device that can be easily integrated with a control circuit without driving up fabrication cost.
SUMMARY
In view of the foregoing, this invention provides light emitting devices and methods for allowing the light emitting devices to be produced in the same substrate along with a control circuit device. In various embodiments of the present invention, methods for creating a light emitting device are shown. The device has at least one porous or low density dielectric region formed in or on top of a bottom electrode, at least one top electrode on the porous or low density dielectric region, and one or more color filters placed above the top electrode, wherein the porous or low density dielectric region contains light emitting nanocrystal materials. As the device is generated using a CMOS process, they can be manufactured along with the control circuit.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional semiconductor cross-section of a light emitting device.
FIG. 2A illustrates a semiconductor cross-section of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprised of porous or low density oxide in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2B illustrates a semiconductor cross-section of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprised of porous or low density oxide in accordance to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2C illustrates a semiconductor cross-section of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprised of porous or low density oxide in accordance to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a three-pixel circuit in accordance to various embodiments of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION
The present disclosure provides several methods for fabricating light emitting devices such that the light emitting device is produced in the same substrate along with the control circuit device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional semiconductor cross-section 100 of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a thick dielectric layer (e.g., comprised of silicon-oxide) that is formed above the silicon substrate. A thick dielectric layer 102 is formed above a silicon substrate 104 . The thickness of the dielectric layer 102 can affect the color generated by the light emitting device. The dielectric layer 102 is typically made of silicon-oxide (SiO 2 ), which provides good control over the fabrication process. A number of nanocrystals 106 , which are ultra-fine particles, are implanted into the thick dielectric layer 102 above the surface of the silicon substrate 104 as a light emitting medium. These nanocrystals 106 can be made of materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a combination thereof.
However, this conventional design presents several issues. For example, a relatively poor gate dielectric layer interface prevents an optimum formation of the nanocrystals. The CMOS device performance may also be poor due to poor hole mobility. A high material cost is inevitable due to the thick dielectric layer 102 .
FIG. 2A illustrates a cross-section 200 of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprising porous or low density oxide in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the porous or low density oxide is formed within a shallow trench isolation created within the silicon substrate.
In the cross-section 200 , a shallow trench isolation (STI) 202 is created within a silicon substrate 204 . The STI 202 , used as a dielectric layer, is filled with a type of porous or low density oxide. This porous or low density oxide is preferably a low-K material; sub-atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (SACVD) oxide or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) oxide, and increases its formation efficiency by having a plurality of nanocrystals 206 . The porous size of porous materials is at least larger than 2 nm. The low density oxide has a wet etching rate greater than 200A/min in 50:1 HF solution. As an example, the porous or low density oxide can be placed through an SACVD or PECVD. The porous or low density oxide can help improve the hole mobility and gate dielectric layer interface. The nanocrystals 206 are implanted into the porous or low density oxide within the STI 202 as a light emitting medium, and the implantation methods are well-known by those skilled in the art. Note that the nanocrystals 206 can be made of Si, Ge, or a combination thereof. In order for the nanocrystals 206 to emit light, a top electrode 208 is implemented above the STI 202 while the silicon substrate 204 is used as a bottom electrode. The STI 202 can have a thickness of more than 3000 Å.
In this design, light emitted from the nanocrystals 206 can be visible above the top electrode 208 . An optional color filter film 210 can also be implemented on a higher level above the top electrode 208 to provide the color desired. The thickness of the dielectric layer can also affect the color generated. Also note that the processing steps and materials used for creating the components of this design such as the STI 202 and the top electrode 208 are all compatible with the current standard CMOS process. This allows further circuit integration for this design such as implementation of VLSI memory.
FIG. 2B illustrates a semiconductor cross-section 212 of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprising porous or low density particles in accordance to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the dielectric layer comprises a porous or low density oxide that is formed above the silicon substrate. A dielectric layer 214 has the same porous or low density oxide used in FIG. 2A which is formed above a silicon substrate 216 . The thickness of which can be larger than 3000 Å. A plurality of nanocrystals 218 are implanted into the dielectric layer 214 above the surface of the silicon substrate 216 as a light emitting medium. These nanocrystals 218 can be made of materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a combination thereof.
Like in FIG. 2A , the porous or low density oxide used for the dielectric layer 214 is a low-K material, which can increase the formation efficiency of the nanocrystals 218 . In order for the nanocrystals 218 to emit light, a top electrode 220 is implemented above the dielectric layer 214 while the silicon substrate 216 is used as a bottom electrode.
In this design, light emitted from the nanocrystals 218 can be visible above the top electrode 220 . An optional color filter film 222 can also be implemented on a higher level above the top electrode 220 to provide the color desired. The thickness of the dielectric layer 214 can also affect the color generated. Also note that the processing steps and materials used for creating the components of this design such as the dielectric layer 214 and the top electrode 220 are all compatible with the current standard CMOS process. This allows further circuit integration for this design such as implementation of VLSI memory.
FIG. 2C illustrates a semiconductor cross-section 224 of a light emitting device with nanocrystals implanted into a dielectric layer comprising porous or low density oxide in accordance to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the dielectric layer comprises a porous or low density oxide above a metal layer that acts as a bottom electrode.
The cross-section 224 is similar to the cross-section 212 of FIG. 2B . A dielectric layer 226 is filled with the same porous or low density oxide used in the FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B . However, in this example, the dielectric layer 226 is formed on a metal layer 228 instead of the silicon substrate. The metal layer 228 is also designed to be the bottom electrode. A plurality of nanocrystals 230 are also implanted into the dielectric layer 226 as a light emitting medium. These nanocrystals 230 can be made of materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a combination thereof.
The porous or low density oxide used for the dielectric layer 226 is a low-K material, which can increase the formation efficiency of the nanocrystals 230 . In order for the nanocrystals 230 to emit light, a top electrode 232 is also implemented on the dielectric layer 226 while the metal layer 228 is used as the bottom electrode.
In this design, light emitted from the nanocrystals 230 can be visible above the top electrode 232 . An optional color filter film 234 can also be implemented on a higher level above the top electrode 232 to provide the color desired. The thickness of the dielectric layer 226 can also affect the color generated. Also note that the processing steps and materials used for creating the components of this design such as the dielectric layer 226 , the metal layer 228 , and the top electrode 232 are all compatible with the current standard CMOS process. This allows further circuit integration for this design such as implementation of VLSI memory.
FIG. 3 illustrates a three-pixel circuit 300 in accordance to various embodiments of the present invention. The circuit 300 , which is fabricated with standard CMOS processes, can be integrated with the cross-sectional designs shown in FIGS. 2A , 2 B, and 2 C, since they are designed to be compatible with current standard CMOS processes.
Each pixel comprises three NMOS transistors that are lined up in the same row. Each of the three NMOS transistors is designed to control a certain color of the pixel: red, green, or blue. For example, a pixel comprised of three NMOS transistors 302 , 304 , and 306 is used to display an RGB color, with the transistor controlling red output, the transistor 304 controlling green output, and the transistor 306 controlling blue output. The color output corresponding to a transistor can be determined by a color filter that is placed above the light emitting device corresponding to that transistor. Since there are three columns and three rows of transistors in the circuit diagram 300 , a total of three pixels are shown.
The gates of all NMOS transistors are tied to a corresponding variable voltage generator circuit, which is not shown in this figure, through a signal line. By adjusting the voltage applied to the gate of the NMOS transistors, the intensity of the light emitted for the certain color can be controlled. For example, the gate of the NMOS transistor 302 is coupled to a variable voltage generator circuit that controls the intensity of the color red through a signal line 308 . The gate of the NMOS transistor 304 is coupled to a variable voltage generator circuit that controls the intensity of the color green through a signal line 310 , and the gate of the NMOS transistor 306 is coupled to a variable voltage generator circuit that controls the intensity of the color blue through another signal line 312 . With this pixel concept, different color light can be generated and adjusted with three optical devices.
By using plasma doping methods or other implantation methods to implant nanocrystals made of silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a combination thereof into a more porous or low density dielectric layer with a lower dielectric constant (such as the SACVD oxide or porous or low density low-K materials), the formation efficiency of the nanocrystals can be increased, thereby improving the hole mobility and gate dielectric layer interface of the light emitting device. In addition, the control electrode on top of the porous or low density dielectric layer such as layers 208 , 220 , and 232 can be formed by non-poly semiconductor materials such as Indium Tin oxide as long as such materials can handle the voltage applied thereon. The proposed method also allows the light emitting device to be created within the same substrate with the VLSI circuit, because all process steps and materials are compatible with the current CMOS fabrication process.
The above illustration provides many different embodiments or embodiments for implementing different features of the invention. Specific embodiments of components and processes are described to help clarify the invention. These are, of course, merely embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention from that described in the claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in one or more specific examples, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention, as set forth in the following claims. | A semiconductor light emitting device and a method to form the same are disclosed. The device has at least one porous or low density dielectric region formed in or on top of a bottom electrode, at least one top electrode on the porous or low density dielectric region, and one or more color filters placed above the top electrode, wherein the porous or low density dielectric region contains light emitting nanocrystal materials. | 7 |
This application is a U.S. National Stage of International application PCT/FI02/00235, filed Mar. 21, 2002.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a new method for the preparation of 2-{2-[4-(4-chloro-1,2-diphenylbut-1-enyl)phenoxy]ethoxy}ethanol (illustrated by formula I below) and its isomers as well as new intermediates prepared and further used in the method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The publications and other materials used herein to illuminate the background of the invention, and in particular, cases to provide additional details respecting the practice, are incorporated by reference.
Estrogens are increasingly used for the treatment of climacteric symptoms in women. Estrogens are shown to be beneficial also in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (Henderson, 1997) and in the lowering of LDL-cholesterol values and thus preventing cardiovascular diseases (Grodstein & Stampfer, 1998). However, estrogen use increases the risk of uterine and breast cancers (Lobo, 1995). New therapies which would have the benefits of estrogens, but not the carcinogenic risks are requested. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have been developed to fulfill these requirements (Macgregor & Jordan, 1998). However, the presently used SERMs have properties which are far from optimal.
The international patent application PCT/FI00/00946 relates to a novel group of SERMs which are tissue-specific estrogens and which can be used in women in the treatment of climacteric symptoms, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and/or cardiovascular diseases without the carcinogenic risk. Certain compounds can be given to men to protect them against osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer's disease without estrogenic adverse events (gynecomastia, decreased libido etc.). Of the compounds claimed in said international patent application, the compound 2-{2-[4-(4-chloro-1,2-diphenylbut-1-enyl)phenoxy]ethoxy}ethanol (referred to as compound No. 19 in said patent application) has shown a very interesting hormonal profile suggesting that it will be especially valuable for treating disorders in men, particularly for preventing osteoporosis in men.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect, this invention concerns a new method for the preparation of the compound (I), which is therapeutically useful as a selective estrogen receptor modulator,
wherein
a) a compound of formula (II)
R—O—CH 2 CH 2 —O—CH 2 CH 2 —R′ (II)
where R is a protecting group and R′ is halogen, preferably Cl; —OSO 2 CH 3 or tosylate, is reacted with 4-hydroxybenzophenone to give a compound of formula (III),
b) the compound (III) is reacted with cinnamaldehyde and LiAlH 4 in a suitable solvent to give a compound of formula (IV)
c) the compound (IV) is reacted with thionyl chloride in a suitable solvent to give a compound of formula (V)
and
d) the protecting group R is removed from the compound (V) to give the compound of formula (I).
According to further aspects, this invention concerns also any of the intermediates of formulas (III), (IV) and (V).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The formulas shown in this text shall be understood to cover also isomers and mixtures of isomers.
The protection group R as shown in formulas (II), (III), (IV) and (V) shall preferably be a protection group which has good stability (i.e. it will not undergo unintentional cleavage) in both acidic and alkaline conditions, such as allyl, benzyl or substituted benzyl, preferable benzyl.
The reaction in step a) is preferably carried out as a phase-transfer catalysis in the presence of a quaternary ammonium salt. Alternatively, the sodium salt of 4-hydroxybenzophenone can be reacted with the compound of formula (II) in DMF.
The solvent used in step b) is preferably tetrahydrofuran. As examples of other useful alternatives can be mentioned ethers e.g. diethyl ether and dimethoxyethane.
The solvent to be used in step c) shall be able to dissolve the compound (IV) but not to react with the thionyl chloride. As suitable solvents can be mentioned toluene and dichloromethane.
The removal of the protecting group R in step d) is preferably carried out by hydrogenation with metal catalyst in appropriate solvent or by selective cleavage of nonaromatic ethers with Zn/Acyl chloride.
The invention will be illuminated by the following non-restrictive Example.
EXAMPLE
a) [2-(2-chloroethoxy)ethoxymethyl]benzene
is prepared from benzyl bromide and 2-(2-chloroethoxy)ethanol by the method described in literature (Bessodes, 1996).
b) {4-[2-(2-Benzyloxyethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}phenylmethanone
The mixture of 4-hydroxybenzophenone (16.7 g, 84.7 mmol) and 48% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (170 ml) is heated to 80° C. Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr) (1.6 g, 5.1 mmol) is added and the mixture is heated to 90° C. [2-(2-Chloroethoxy)ethoxymethyl]benzene (18. g, 84.7 mmol) is added to the mixture during 15 min and the stirring is continued for additional 3.5 h at 115-120° C. Then the mixture is cooled to 70° C. and 170 ml of water and 170 ml of toluene are added to the reaction mixture and stirring is continued for 5 min. The layers are separated and the aqueous phase is extracted twice with 50 ml of toluene. The organic phases are combined and washed with water, dried with sodium sulphate and evaporated to dryness. Yield 31.2 g.
Another method to prepare {4-[2-(2-benzyloxyethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}phenylmethanone is the reaction of 2-(2-benzyloxyethoxy)ethyl mesylate with 4-hydroxybenzophenone in PTC-conditions.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 3.64-3.69 (m, 2H), 3.74-3.79 (m, 2H), 3.90 (dist.t, 2H), 4.22 (dist.t, 2H), 4.58 (s, 2H), 6.98 (d, 2H), 7.28-7.62 (m, 8H), 7.75 (td, 2H), 7.81 (d, 2H).
c) 1-{4-[2-(2-Benzyloxyethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-1,2-diphenyl-butane-1,4-diol
Lithium aluminum hydride (1.08 g, 28.6 mmol) is added into dry tetrahydrofuran (60 ml) under nitrogen atmosphere. Cinnamaldehyde (6.65 g, 50 mmol) in dry tetrahydrofuran (16 ml) is added at 24-28° C. The reaction mixture is stirred at ambient temperature for 1 h. {4-[2-(2-Benzyloxyethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-phenyl-methanone (14.0 g, 37 mmol) in dry tetrahydrofuran (16 ml) is added at 50-55° C. The reaction mixture is stirred at 60° C. for 3 h. Most of tetrahydrofuran is evaporated. Toluene (70 ml) and 2 M aqueous hydrogen chloride (50 ml) are added. The mixture is stirred for 5 min and the aqueous layer is separated and extracted with toluene (30 ml). The toluene layers are combined and washed with 2M HCl and water, dried and evaporated. The product is crystallized from isopropanol as a mixture of stereoisomers (8.8 g, 50%).
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 1.75-2.10 (m, 2H), 3.20-4.16 (m, 10H), 4.52 and 4.55 (2s, together 2H), 6.61 and 6.88 (2d, together 2H), 6.95-7.39 (m, 15H), 7.49 and 7.57 (2d, together 2H).
d) Z-1-{4-[2-(2-Benzyloxyethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-4-chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-ene
1-{4-[2-(2-Benzyloxy-ethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-1,2-diphenyl-butane-1,4-diol (10.0 g, 19.5 mmol) is dissolved in toluene (50 ml). Triethylamine (2.17 g, 21.4 mmol) is added to the solution and the mixture is cooled to −10° C. Thionyl chloride (6.9 g, 58.5 mmol) is added to the mixture at −10-±0° C. The mixture is stirred for 1 hour at 0-5° C., warmed up to 70° C. and stirred at this temperature for 4 hours. Solvent is evaporated, the residue is dissolved to toluene, washed three times with 1M HCl solution and twice with water. The Z-isomer of the product is crystallized from isopropanol-ethyl acetate. Yield 3.0 g. The filtrate is purified by flash chromatography to give E-isomer.
Z-isomer: 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 2.91 (t, 2H), 3.41 (t, 2H), 3.55-3.85 (m, 6H), 3.99 (dist.t, 2H), 4.54 (s, 2H), 6.40 (s, 1H), 6.56 (d, 2H), 6.77 (d, 2H), 7.10-7.50 (m, 15H)
E-isomer: 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 2.97 (t, 2H), 3.43 (t, 2H), 3.65-3.82 (m, 4H), 3.88 (dist.t, 2H), 4.15 (dist.t, 2H), 4.58 (s, 2H), 6.86-7.45 (m, 19H)
e) 2-{2-[4-(4-Chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-enyl)phenoxy]ethoxy}ethanol:
Z-1-{4-[2-(2-Benzyloxy-ethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-4-chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-ene (3.8 g, 7.4 mmol) is dissolved in ethyl acetate under nitrogen atmosphere, Zn powder (0.12 g, 1.85 mmol) and acetyl chloride (1.27 g, 16.3 mmol) are added and the mixture is stirred at 50° C. for 3 h (Bhar, 1995). The reaction mixture is cooled to room temperature, water (10 ml) is added and stirring is continued for additional 10 min. The aqueous layer is separated and the organic phase is washed with 1 M aqueous hydrogen chloride solution and with water. Ethyl acetate is evaporated and the residue is dissolved in methanol (16 ml) and water (4 ml). The acetate ester of the product is hydrolysed by making the mixture alkaline with sodium hydroxide (1 g) and stirring the mixture at room temperature for 1 h. Methanol is evaporated, water is added and the residue is extracted in ethyl acetate and washed with 1 M hydrogen chloride solution and with water. Ethyl acetate is evaporated and the residue is dissolved in toluene (25 ml), silica gel (0.25 g) is added and mixture is stirred for 15 min. Toluene is filtered and evaporated to dryness.
The residue is crystallised from heptane-ethyl acetate (2:1). The yield is 71%.
Z-isomer: 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 2.92 (t, 2H), 3.41 (t, 2H), 3.58-3.63 (m, 2H), 3.69-3.80 (m, 4H), 3.96-4.01 (m, 2H), 6.56 (d, 2H), 6.78 (d, 2H), 7.10-7.40 (m, 10H).
E-2-{2-[4-(4-Chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-enyl)phenoxy]ethoxy}ethanol is prepared analogously starting from E-1-{4-[2-(2-benzyloxy-ethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-4-chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-ene. The product is purified by flash chromatography with toluene-methanol (10:0.5) as eluent.
E-isomer: 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ): 2.97 (t, 2H), 3.43 (t, 2H), 3.65-3.79 (m, 4H), 3.85-3.90 (m, 2H), 4.13-4.17 (m, 2H), 6.85-7.25 (m, 2H).
Debenzylation of 1-{4-[2-(2-benzyloxy-ethoxy)ethoxy]phenyl}-4-chloro-1,2-diphenyl-but-1-ene is also carried out by hydrogenation with Pd on carbon as a catalyst in ethyl acetate-ethanol solution at room temperature.
It will be appreciated that the present invention can be incorporated in the form of a variety of embodiments, only a few of which are disclosed herein. It will be apparent for the expert skilled in the field that other embodiments exist and do not depart from the spirit of the invention. Thus, the described embodiments are illustrative and should not be construed as restrictive.
References
Grodstein F, Stampfer M J: Estrogen for women at varying risk of coronary disease. Maturitas 30: 19-26, 1998.
Henderson V W: Estrogen, cognition, and a woman's risk of Alzheimer's disease. Am J Med 103(3A): 11S-18S, 1997.
Lobo R A: Benefits and risks of estrogen replacement therapy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 173:982-990, 1995.
Macgregor J I, Jordan V C: Basic guide to the mechanism of antiestrogen action. Pharmacol Rev 50:151-196, 1998.
Bessodes et al., Synlett, 1996, 1119-20.
Bhar S., Ranu B. C., J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 745-47. | A new method for the preparation of a selective estrogen receptor modulator and its isomers. Also disclosed is the preparation of new intermediates and their use in the preparation of the selective estrogen receptor modulator. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a buckle and more particularly a buckle of the type comprising a male member and a female member which are rotatable relative to each other.
2. Prior Art
A typical prior art buckle of the type mentioned is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-20334 in which the buckle is made up from a plug member having a resilient engaging tongue integral therewith and a socket member having a circular window dimensioned to receive the tongue. When coupling the two members, the tongue is urged to flex downwardly about an axis defined by a portion thereof connected to the body of the plug member and returns resiliently to its original position upon entry into the window. When separating the two members, the tongue is depressed to sink below the level of the window so that the plug member can be pulled apart from the socket member. Repeated flexing action of the tongue during engaging and disengaging of the plug and socket members over extended periods of time would lead to reduced resiliency or even breakage of the connecting portion between the tongue and the plug body. This problem may be solved by literally increasing the thickness of the connecting portion of the tongue or otherwise reinforcing the same, which would however in turn render the tongue less resilient or pliable, resulting in difficult, if not impossible, manipulation of the plug member relative to the socket member.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved buckle which will eliminate or alleviate the aforementioned difficulties of the prior art and which comprises a plug member and a socket member, the two members being so constructed as to ensure mutual coupling and uncoupling with utmost ease and being further movable rotatably relative to each other when assembled.
The above and other objects and features of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example a preferred embodiment. Like reference numerals refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.
According to the invention there is provided a buckle which comprises a plug member and a socket member releasably engageable therewith, the plug member having a circular window and including a retainer means resiliently supported to be movable through the window vertically with respect to the plane of the buckle and a stopper means adapted to hold the retainer means in place against rotation, and the socket member having a chamber dimensioned to receive the plug member and a circular window dimensioned to receive the retainer means movably therein, the arrangement being that the plug member and the socket member are rotatable relative to each other about the retainer means in a plane parallel to the plane of the buckle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a buckle embodying the invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a plug member constituting a male part of the buckle;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken on the line III--III of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a retainer means;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line V--V of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a stopper means;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VII--VII of FIG 6;
FIG. 8 is a plan view of a socket member constituting a female part of the buckle;
FIG. 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken on the line IX--IX of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a plan view of the plug member shown assembled with the retainer means and the stopper means;
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line XI--XI of FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a plan view of the buckle shown with its plug and socket members mounted together; and
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line XIII--XIII of FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown a buckle 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention, the buckle 10 essentially comprising a plug member 11 and a socket member 12 releasably engageable therewith. The plug member 11 has a body 13 including a belt retainer 14 at one end for retaining one free end of a belt or the like B in a manner well known in the art. The plug body 13 has an engaging tongue 15 in the form of a generally circular disc formed by an upper plate 16 and a lower plate 17 defining therebetween a chamber 18. A circular window 19 is formed centrally in the upper plate 16 in communication with the chamber 18 and defined by a circular peripheral edge 20 having equidistantly spaced therearound a plurality (four in the illustrated case) of engaging notches 21a-21d.
An arcuate inlet mouth 22 is formed in a portion of a peripheral end plate 23 diametrically opposite to and remote from the belt retainer 14 and in communication with the chamber 18, the end plate 23 connecting between the upper and lower plates 16 and 17 of the engaging tongue 15. An elongated guide slit 24a is formed in the lower surface of the upper plate 16 centrally of the inlet mouth 22, and a locking aperture 24b is formed in the upper surface of the lower plate 17 in registry with the guide slit 24a.
The plug body 13 has a pair of flanges 25, 25 having respective one ends formed integral with the belt retainer 14, each of which flanges is reduced in thickness from both sides so as to lie flush with the upper and lower surfaces of the upper and lower plates 16 and 17 and consequently provide an arcuate abutment 26 on each side of the engaging tongue 15 adjacent to the belt retainer 14 as better shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The flanges 25, 25 have respective opposite ends terminated to provide end abutments 27, 27 disposed substantially diammetrically centrally across the circular window 19 of the plug member 11 as better shown in FIG. 2.
Designated at 28 is a retainer means in the form of a disc-like collet to be mounted through the window 19 for retaining the plug member 11 rotatably relative to the socket member 12 in a manner hereinafter to be described.
The retainer means or collet 28 is provided equidistantly spaced around its periphery with a plurality of engaging ridges 29a-29d which register with the engaging notches 21a-21d in the window 19. The collet 28 is further provided with at least one, preferably four engaging recesses 30a-30d equidistantly spaced apart but located adjacent to the engaging ridges 29a-29d, as better shown in FIG. 4, for receptive engagement with a stopper means later described. The collet 28 is still further provided at its bottom with a concentric cavity 31 dimensioned to receive and support therein a coil spring 32 when the latter is seated in the chamber 18 of the plug member 11 as better shown in FIG. 5. The collet 28 has its upper surface preferably rounded off to allow the socket member 12 to smoothly slide thereover.
Designated at 33 is a stopper means which is, as better shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a crescent-shaped block having a first locking lug 33a projecting upwardly from a linear side of the block for engagement with either of the recesses 30a-30d of the retainer means 28 in a manner hereafter to be described, and a second locking lug 33b projecting downwardly from the lower surface of the block for engagement with the locking aperture 24b in the lower plate 17 of the plug member 11.
The socket member 12 has a belt retainer 34 at one or rear end thereof for retaining the opposite free end of a belt or the like B in a manner well known in the art. The socket member 12,being generally complimentary in shape with the engaging tongue portion 15 of the plug member 11, is formed by an upper plate 35 and a lower plate 36 joined together by a side peripheral flange 37 to define therebetween a chamber 38 dimensioned to receive the engaging tongue 15 of the plug member 11.
The upper and lower plates 35 and 36 have their respective front ends arcuately shaped as at 39 substantially in conformity with the arcuate abutments 26 of the engaging tongue 15. The peripheral flange 37 has a portion removed to provide two opposite terminal ends 37', 37' defining therebetween an arcuate opening 40 at the arcuate front ends 39 of the plates 35 and 36 in communication with the chamber 38 for receptive engagement with the engaging tongue 15 of the plug member 11.
A circular window 41 is formed in the upper plate 35 in communication with the chamber 38, the window 41 having a diameter substantially equal to or slightly larger than that of the retainer means 28.
With this construction, the buckle 10 is assembled in the following manner.
The retainer means 28 having the coil spring 32 supported in the cavity 31 is inserted through the window 19 into the chamber 18 of the plug member 11, in which instance the engaging ridges 29a-29d of the retainer means 28 are brought into registry with the mating notches 21a-21d in the peripheral edge 20 of the window 19 and the retainer means 28 is then depressed against the tension of the spring 32 until the ridges 29a-29d sink below the notches 21a-21d, whereupon the retainer means 28 is rotated in either direction to bring one of its engaging recesses 30a-30d into alignment with the guide slit 24a in the inlet mouth 22 of the engaging tongue 15 as shown in FIG. 10. The stopper means 33 is now mounted in the inlet mouth 22 with its first locking lug 33a guided along the slit 24a into that one of the engaging recesses 30a-30d which has been aligned with the slit 24a , while the second locking lug 33b is received into the locking aperture 24b in the tongue 15 as shown in FIG. 11.
This is followed by coupling the socket member 12 with the plug member 11, in which instance the engaging tongue 15 is inserted through the arcuate opening 40 fully into the chamber 18 until the retainer means (collet) 28 fits into the window 41 of the socket member 12 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. With the plug and socket members 11 and 12 thus coupled together, the terminal ends 37', 37' of the flange 37 of the socket member 12 are spaced apart from the end abutments 27, 27 of the flanges 25, 25 of the plug member 11 by a distance over which the two members 11 and 12 are allowed to rotate relative to each other about the retainer means 28 in a plane parallel to the plane of the buckle 10. This distance therefore can be selected at will to determined the extent of relative rotative movement desired between the plug and socket members 11 and 12.
Releasing the plug member 11 from the socket member 12 is done simply by depressing the retainer member 28 to sink into the chamber 18 below the level of the window 41 against the tension of the spring 32 so that the plug member 11 can be pulled out apart from the socket member 12.
Obviously, various modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. | A buckle comprises a plug member and a socket member relasably engageable therewith, the plug member including a retainer means in the form of a disc-like collet and a stopper means adapted to hold the retainer means stationery after the latter is rotated into position in the body of the plug member. The retainer means is normally urged upwardly by a coil spring and serves as a fulcrum about which the plug member and the socket member can be moved rotatably relative to each other. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for continuous molding of concrete blocks having refractory material coated metal surfaces which mold the concrete blocks. In particular, the present invention relates to metal surfaces which have been flame sprayed with a mixture of a refractory material and a metal binder to provide abrasion resistance and then smoothed. Further, the present invention relates to a preferred polymeric coating of a thermoset polymer applied to the refractory and metal binder coating which provides a smooth surface for molding the concrete blocks.
(2) Description of Related Art
Examples of continuous concrete block molding apparatus are well known to those skilled in the art and are shown for instance by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,319,291 to Besser, 2,587,413 to VanderHeyden, 2,566,787 to Zevely, 2,985,935 (Re. 25,404) to Wellnitz, 3,608,162 to Staton, 3,832,119 to Woelk, 3,660,004 to Woelk, 3,545,053 to Besser, 4,235,580 to Springs et al, 4,260,352 to Balhorn, 4,395,213 to Springs et al and 4,978,488 to Wallace.
The production rate of a block molding plant is a linear flow which is paced by the block apparatus. When the block molding apparatus is running, the whole plant runs. When it is at rest, the whole plant is at rest. A mold change sequence, being made for whatever reason, usually because of wear on the mold, idles the block molding apparatus and disrupts the flow of the entire block plant for about 35 minutes or longer.
The principal elements of a block plant are as follows: (1) hoppers, bins, and water lines to feed sand, aggregate, cement, and water to the mixture; (2) a mixer and material handling system to feed the cementitious materials to the block molding apparatus; (3) a block molding apparatus producing up to 1,620 blocks per hour; (4) a stacking system to collect and position the green block carried on steel pallets in racks; (5) shuttles to move racks into the kiln; (6) a kiln to cure the green block; (7) shuttles to remove racks from the kiln; (8) a device to remove the cured block and steel pallets from the racks; (9) a depalleter to remove the block from the steel pallets; and (10) a cuber to collect, bundle, and strap the individual blocks for shipment.
The principal components of concrete block (including paver) mold assembly in the block molding apparatus are preferably manufactured of 8620 steel and carburized (case hardened) to 48 to 52 Rockwell, C-scale. This case hardened surface resists both wear and abrasion while still providing a ductile core which allows parts to be straightened after physical part distortions occur in the heat treating process. Surfaces of division plates forming the blocks must be ground before heat treatment to a 125 pin or better micro finish to produce smooth finishes on the faces of the concrete blocks being formed.
A steel pallet (plate) is held against the bottom of the mold by hard rubber blocks. Voids in the mold cavity are filled with cementitious materials and the mold assembly is caused to vibrate by the spinning of eccentric weights located on each end of the mold assembly. The cementitious materials begin to compact under vibration and a plunger is lowered to help compress the materials against the steel pallet by adding additional physical forces to the compacting forces caused by the vibration. Once the proper material density has been reached, as measured by the amount of material fed into the mold assembly, the length of the cycle time, and the measured height of the block, the vibration ceases. The steel pallet and a plunger are then lowered, stripping the block from the bottom of the mold. The pallet carrying the finished block then shuttles out of the apparatus and a new pallet is placed in position and raised against the bottom of the mold assembly. The cycle is then repeated.
Mold assembly wear is caused by the forming, compaction, and stripping of highly abrasive cementitious materials and by metal parts sliding against one another during the cycle and parts coming together during vibration. The wear pattern typical for a concrete block mold assembly is usually about 81/2" (22 cm) up the inside of the mold assembly. Thus, surface wear can occur by friction wherein the materials being vibrated and compacted abrade the surface of the mold or it can occur by impact erosion. In impact erosion, material is displaced from the surface of the mold by physical contact with other components of the mold assembly and the materials themselves being compacted in between components of the mold which are moving in opposite directions and at different rates of speed. This process continues until the surface condition of the mold assembly is unsuited for further use.
In an attempt to create satisfactory molds, solid, tungsten carbide plates, 90 to 100 mils thick, were cast and then bonded to flat surfaces of the mold, and more than a million cycles were completed with no appreciable wear. Coating thicknesses, the cost of the material, and the limitation of casting and applying the coating only on flat surfaces of the mold limited the usefulness of this solution to wear in the mold assembly.
Attempts have been made to increase the surface life of concrete-block molds by applying hard finishes; examples include flame spraying, plasma spraying, and hard chrome plate. Such expedients proved unsuccessful because of material porosity and limited surface adhesion. Other types of surface hardening treatments such as carburizing and nitrating are being used with varying degrees of success.
Udale, U.S. Pat. No. 1,536,952, and Sanborn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,983 show flame spray coating of steel working parts with refractory metal in order to increase the number of working cycles they can undergo. It should be noted that these patent disclosures deal with applications in which there is no direct physical contact between surfaces of the mold (e.g. relatively low forces are exerted between the respective surfaces). They disclose examples of materials being molded, pressed, formed, and sheared in dies designed with close fits and running tolerances. In the case of concrete-block apparatus, large mold assemblies and material masses moving in opposite directions and at different rates of speed are subject to abrasion and surface erosion through direct physical contact. This physical contact includes materials very hard in nature and deformation resistant which results in surface material being displaced and rapid erosion of the mold assembly.
Flame spraying of metal parts with metals, alloys and refractory materials to impart wear resistance is well known to those skilled in the art as represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,536,952 to Udale et al, 3,419,415 to Dittrich, 4,262,034 to Anderson, 4,420,543 to Kondo et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,964,420 to Poorman et al describes the type of coatings which are useful in the present invention, including refractory materials and a binder metal. Such coatings have a high resistance to abrasion, although they tend to be rough and have to be smoothed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,983 to Sanborn et al describes a pressure method for smoothing such coatings. Tungsten carbide in a metal matrix is the most well known.
Flame spraying produces the most dense and preferred coating. This coating is described in Product Engineering 59 to 64 (Dec. 6, 1965). One type of equipment is produced by Metco Division of Perkin Elemer, Westbury, N.Y. and the method is described at pages 2.1 to 3.2 with Tables 1 to 7 and is a particularly preferred system.
Fluorocarbon coating materials are known to those skilled in the art. One such material are the Xylan® materials manufactured by Whitford Corporation, West Chester, PA. These materials are a mixture of an amide thermoset polymer and polymeric tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). They are known to provide wear resistance. They are described in a Product Bulletin dated Sep. 4, 1990, particularly XYLAN® 1014/870 Black. U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,937 to Wall also describes the use of polymers containing PTFE for flame sprayed metal coatings to increase corrosion resistance with chromium coatings to provide hardness. The base material can be steel. There is no suggestion in the prior art that such coatings have any use in concrete block making apparatus where smoothness of the surface forming the mold assembly is important.
OBJECTS
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide mold assemblies and parts of concrete block making apparatus with a coating, including a refractory material-binder combination, which resists wear by the concrete. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide replaceable parts of such apparatus with the coating. Further still, it is an object of the present invention to provide coated mold parts which are economical to produce. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus with significantly less down time for replacement of mold parts which are worn out because of longer life. Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide blocks which can be produced economically to the highest standards. These and other objects will become increasingly apparent by reference to the following description and the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a separated perspective view of the inner parts of a concrete block molding apparatus showing the parts of the apparatus which are coated with the refractory material and metal binder. The coated parts are shown with a lead line to an "X".
FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the faces of stripper shoes 36 used to compress cement in the mold assembly 100 of FIG. 1 and to strip the formed block from the mold assembly 100.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 3--3 of FIG. 2 which shows faces of stripper shoes 36 used to compress cement in the mold and to strip the formed block from the mold. The face of the stripper shoe 36 and the leading edges of all sides (X) are coated with the refractory materials and metal binder.
FIG. 4 is a side view of mold assembly 100 of FIG. 1 with plunger assembly 32 positioned above the mold assembly 100 ready to be lowered and compress the cementitious materials. The pallet receiver frame 44 has been raised, raising the mold off the mold carrier pins 46, and ready to start the mold cycle. Eccentric weights on the mold vibrator assembly 22 start spinning and the hard rubber "pucks" 48 on the pallet receiver frame 44 cause the mold assembly 100 to vibrate in a vertical direction.
FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating the use of cores 38A and core plates 38B inside the mold assembly 100 and illustrates outside and inside division plates 14 and 16, end liners 20, and end cores 18 to contain the cementitious materials and define the mold assembly 100. All mold assembly 100 surfaces used in forming the block are coated with refractory materials.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along lines A--A of FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view along line B--B of FIG. 5 which illustrates use of cores 38A and core plates 38B, and end liners 20 inside the mold assembly 100. Also illustrated are the outside and inside division plates 14 and 16, end cores 18 and end liners 20, to contain the cementitious material and define the mold assembly 100. All mold assembly 100 surfaces used in forming the block are coated with refractory materials.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention relates to an apparatus for continuous molding of concrete blocks with parts which mold the block and which remove the block from the mold, the improvement which comprises providing on metal wear surfaces of at least some of the parts of the apparatus which come into contact with the blocks or which come into contact with each other during the molding with a smooth coating, which comprises a flame sprayed metal refractory material admixed with a binder.
The present invention also relates to a concrete block molding apparatus of the kind having a frame, a vibratable open bottom mold supported on and in contact with the frame, a pallet support beneath the mold, a pallet carried on the pallet support, motion transmission means connected to the pallet support for raising the pallet toward the mold a distance sufficient to seat the pallet against the bottom of the mold, vibration means for vibrating the mold and a stripper head for removing the block from the mold by pushing the block towards the pallet, the improvement which comprises: metal wear surfaces of the mold and stripper head which come in contact with the block and which come into contact with other parts of the apparatus during the molding with a smooth coating which comprises a flame sprayed metal refractory material and a binder wherein the refractory material coating has a thickness between about 0.05 and 30 mils.
Further, the present invention relates to a part for a concrete block molding apparatus selected from the group consisting of an end core, an end core liner and inside and outside division plates; a stripper shoe on a plunger for pushing the blocks and a core with a coating on surfaces of the parts for making concrete blocks which come into contact with the concrete blocks as the blocks are formed in the apparatus or which come into contact with other of the parts during the molding, wherein the coating comprises a flame sprayed metal refractory material and a binder.
Finally, the present invention relates to a metal wear surface which comprises a metal base surface, a flame spray coated refractory material admixed with a binder adhered on the base surface; and a polymer coating of polytetrafluoroethylene admixed with a polymeric binder adhered to the refractory material, wherein the refractory material has a thickness between about 0.05 and 30 mils and wherein the polymer coating coats the refractory material.
The term "concrete block" means any shape which is molded, including building blocks, landscaping blocks, and so-called "paver stones" used as patio stones, for instance.
The term "mold assembly" as used herein, means any part of the concrete molding apparatus which comes into contact with the concrete block.
The term "thermoset polymer" means any polymer which upon curing forms a resin which does not soften or melt upon heating. Such polymers are epoxy, amide, phenolics, polysulfones such as described in Great Britain Application 2,113,235A. Such polymers are described for instance in Polymers and Resins by Goulding, D. VanNostrand, Princeton, N.J., pages 116 and 117 (1959) and many later publications.
The term "refractory material" means any compound of carbon, nitrogen, boron, oxygen, silicon and other Group IIIA, IVA, VA and VIA elements in the second and third periods of the Periodic Table which form refractory materials, which preferably have a hardness greater than about 300 Diamond Pyramid hardness number with a 300 gram load and a melting point of greater than about 2370° F. (704° C.) as described by Poorman et al (U.S. Pat. No. 2,964,420) discussed previously.
The term "binder" means any metal which can serve as a matrix for the refractory material in forming the coating. Most preferred are the Group IVB, VB, VIB, VIIB and VIIIB metals in the 4th period, as well as molybdenum in the 5th period of the Periodic Table.
The term "polytetrafluoroethylene" means any polymer of tetrafluoroethylene which provides ease of slippage of the concrete blocks as they are formed in the mold.
The term "flame sprayed" means any method by which refractory materials and a metal binder are heated and sprayed onto a surface to provide an adherent coating. Included are detonation spraying, plasma spraying, high velocity spraying and the like.
The present invention is directed to improving the life of concrete-block mold assemblies using a surface treatment. Such mold assemblies have predetermined contours and are used to form cementitious materials to the mirror image contour. The surface treatment consists of flame spraying a thin layer of a refractory material. Such refractory binder combinations are for instance:
(1) Carbides--Tungsten carbide (WC) with a cobalt binder, with a nickel binder, with an iron-nickel binder, with a copper/aluminum/chromium binder, with a chromium-molybdenum binder, with a chromium binder, with a silver binder; titanium carbide (TiC) with a cobalt or with a nickel binder; boron carbide (B 4 C) with an iron binder, a nickel and a ferro-chromium binder; chromium carbide (Cr 3 C 3 ) with a cobalt or with a nickel binder; tantalum carbide (TaC) with a cobalt binder.
(2) Borides--Titanium boride (TiB 2 ) with an iron and a cobalt-tantalum binder; chromium boride (CrB 3 ) with a iron binder.
(3) Nitrides--titanium nitride (TIN) with a copper, cobalt, and nickel binder.
(4) Oxides--aluminum oxide with a nickel binder, a chromium binder.
(5) Mixtures and alloys--Tungsten carbide and titanium carbide alloy with a cobalt binder; titanium carbide and tantalum carbide alloy with a cobalt binder; chromium, molybdenum, and tantalum oxide; chromium, tungsten, and tantalum oxide; chromium boride and titanium boride with a nickel binder; tungsten carbide, chromium, molybdenum, and tantalum oxide; tungsten carbide and titanium boride with cobalt binder; tantalum carbide and boron carbide; zirconium dioxide and titanium carbide; tungsten and molybdenum; and tungsten and silicon with a nickel binder.
Flame spraying is required to generate the high deposition densities and bond strengths required to increase mold life. Flame sprayed, refractory materials greatly increase the wear and abrasion resistance of the mold. However, flame sprayed materials leave a very porous surface, unacceptable to the face of a concrete block and the surface of the mold.
Heat treated steels must be used for toughness in the mold assembly. Metal plates distort during the heat treating process. Thus the flame sprayed, refractory materials must be applied after heat treatment. Subsequent grinding, lapping, and other finishing techniques are not easily used to finish mold assembly surfaces because very limited amounts of expensive refractory materials are applied, the high cost of finishing these very hard surfaces, and the already physically distorted mold surfaces.
This invention preferably includes the use of tough, heat-treated steels in combination with high density, flame sprayed, refractory material coatings which greatly increase the life of the mold assemblies and a lubricating thermoset resin coating which conforms to the contours of the mold, fills in the pores and wears smoothly, thus producing a smooth finish on the face of the block, improving stripping of the block from the mold assembly, and helping protect the mold assembly surfaces from corrosion.
The refractory coating with the binder is preferably applied to steel molds made of various steels such as 8620 high carbon steel heat treated to a heavy case depth. It will be observed however, that the treatment can be applied to a wide variety of other steels and indeed to other mold assembly materials, including for example nickel alloys. The refractory material is preferably applied to the surface of the molds by flame spraying, using conventional techniques, for example a Metco Type DJ DIAMOND Jet Gun, (HVOF, high velocity oxygen fuel), operated at 150 psi oxygen, 100 psi propane, 125 psi nitrogen, 75 psi air, and 38 grams per minute of refractory material to apply the coating to the mold surface. The coating thickness need be only from 5 to 7 mils, but may be greater for reasons to be described below.
The coatings of the invention preferably comprises at least 60% to 93% by weight tungsten carbide or other refractory material. High density, flame sprayed, refractory materials with bond strengths greater than 14,000 psi and porosities of less than 0.5% can be obtained. Individual powder particles can contain both larger and fine crystalline structures. Mold life increased from eighty thousand to more than six-hundred thousand cycles in one application.
The economic significance of this improvement can be appreciated in that several hundred man hours were required to manufacture, change over, and maintain block mold apparatus. The process of the invention requires time to apply and adds material cost, but it provides great improvement in mold life.
Within the concrete-block mold assembly, certain portions of the molds parts are observed to wear at much greater rates than other portions. In such a case, a substantially thicker layer of flame sprayed coatings can be locally applied to high wear areas. This technique increases the life of the locally treated mold assembly region.
The primary benefit of the present invention is increased mold assembly life. However, it is also observed that worn mold assembly parts can be repaired by applying an excessive build-up of coating materials on the surfaces of the mold part which have become worn, reducing replacement part fabrication time and cost and improvement in mold assembly turn around time.
FIG. 1 shows a separated view of a typical concrete molding machine, such as manufactured by Besser Company, Alpena, Michigan. The mold is formed by the top mold plate 10 which includes horizontal plate 10A which closes the top of the mold assembly 100. The mold assembly 100 sides are formed by mold side bars 12 which are held together by outside division plates 14 and inside division plates 16 and which support end cores 18 mounted on end liners 20. Vibrator shaft assemblies 22 serve to vibrate the mold as the blocks are formed. An agitator grid 24 is used to agitate the concrete which is in the mold assembly 100. A cutoff bar 26 with cutoff shoes 28 mounted thereon is used to smooth the surface of the concrete after it has been poured into the mold assembly 100. Plungers 30 in plunger assembly 32 supported by head plate 34 are provided mounting stripper shoes 36, which are held in place by pins 34A, to compact and strip the blocks after they are formed. The downward faces and sides of the shoes 36 are coated with the refractory material binder. Core assemblies 38 with cores 38A and optionally core plate 38B are provided to mold the openings in the concrete blocks. Stripper head wiper rubber 40 and frame 42 are provided to protect the stripper shoes 34. Outside division plates 14 and inside division plates 16 are mounted between the mold side bars 12 to provide the separate cavities for each block formed with the core assemblies 38, and top plate 10. A flat platen P forms the bottom of the mold assembly 100. A pallet receiver frame 44 transports the pallet P. Carrier pins 46 support the mold assembly 100. Rubber "pucks" 48 on the pallet receiver 44 with the vibrating shaft assemblies 22 vibrate the mold assembly 100 to compact the fluid concrete. Hold down blocks 50 and bolts 52 secure the core assembly 38 in position in the mold assembly 100.
Industry mold wear parts for concrete blocks particularly include outside and inside division plates 14 and 16, end cores 18, stripper shoes 36, end liners 20, stripper shoe retention pins 36A, cores 38A and core plates 38B. The parts and assembly represented in FIG. 1 are typical of the molds being used throughout the concrete products industry.
In applying flame sprayed coatings, coating material, in powder form, is fed into a high velocity oxygen/fuel gas combustion flame. Powdered particles are partially melted by the flame and projected by the gas stream onto the prepared surface of the mold part or component to which they tightly adhere forming the desired coating.
Unlike other spray welding and coating processes, the high velocity flame spraying process produces the high coating material densities and bond strengths necessary to create a strong and abrasion resistant surface, greatly extending the useful lives of the block mold assemblies used in the concrete products industry. Coating thicknesses and locations can be controlled to maintain proper component fits and alignments; yet, provide effective, economical, and highly abrasion and wear resistant coatings.
Elements of the high velocity spray process include a oxygen or other fuel propellent mixture, combustion chamber, ignition, and combustion flame to which powdered coating materials are added. Flame temperatures and gas velocities typical of this process are 5,000° F. and 4,500 ft./sec.
Conventional heat treated steel mold assembly parts provide a useful mold life of 80,000 to 120,000 cycles. The high velocity spray coatings of the present invention provide many times this useful life depending on the materials being used and the applied thicknesses of the coatings.
The use of high velocity spray coatings applied to mild steel or some other soft metallic substrate for parts of the molding apparatus which contact each other or which come into contact with the concrete can replace heat treated steels and can extend the mold life throughout the concrete products industry.
EXAMPLE 1
Case hardened, inside division plate 16, was high-velocity sprayed on both faces with 3 to 6 mills METCO DIAMALLOY 2004 which contains tungsten carbide as the refractory material with cobalt as the binder. The plate 16 was installed in a mold assembly 100 in a BESSER™ Block Machine. The mold assembly 100 operated for 6,250 cycles with no appreciable wear. The blocks produced had a rough surface. The coated surface of plate 16 was porous. High porosity was noted on the face of the concrete blocks produced by the mold inside division plate 16 when the face of each block was painted. No appreciable wear was detected upon examination of the plates 16 when removed from the machine.
EXAMPLE 2
Soft steel, inside division plate 16, was coated as in Example 1 and finish ground to a total thickness tolerance of one (1) mill. The plate 16 was high-velocity sprayed on both faces with 8 to 12 mills of DIAMALLOY 2004. The finish on the faces was ground with a diamond wheel to better than a 60 micro finish with a 3 to 6 mills remaining coating thickness. The plate 16 was installed in a mold assembly 100 in a BESSER™ Block Machine. The blocks did not strip as well from the DIAMALLOY 2004 ground surface as when uncoated surfaces in the mold assembly and caused surface imperfections. The plate 16 was removed from the mold assembly 100 and no appreciable wear was detected.
EXAMPLE 3
Soft steel, inside division plates 16 was finish ground to total thickness of one (1) mill. The plates 16 were high velocity sprayed on both faces with DIAMALLOY 2005. There was a 160 percent higher tungsten carbide in the coating. The plates 16 were finish ground with a diamond wheel to better than a 60 micro finish with 3 to 6 mills of remaining coating thickness. No benefit was achieved by using more tungsten carbide.
EXAMPLE 4
Soft steel, full set inside and outside division plates 14 and 16, were finish ground to total tolerance thickness of one (1) mill. The plates 14 and 16 were high-velocity sprayed on faces with 8 to 12 mills DIAMALLOY 2004. The plates 14 and 16 were finish ground with a diamond wheel to better than a 60 micro finish and 3 to 6 mills of remaining coating thickness. The plates 14 and 16 were installed in a mold assembly 100 in a Besser™ Block Machine equipped with mold assembly pin 46 alignment. The machine ran for 80,000 cycles with no appreciable wear of the plates 14 and 16. The plates 14 and 16 are still in production.
EXAMPLE 5
Case hardened, high velocity sprayed, set of inside and outside division plates 14 and 16 with mold faces sprayed with only 3 to 6 mills DIAMALLOY 2004. All sprayed surfaces of the plates 14 and 16 were coated with 2 to 4 mills of Whitford (West Chester, PA) XYLAN 1014/870 Black, a thermoset amide resin containing polytetrafluoroethylene and cured for 30 to 60 minutes at 375° F. The plates 14 and 16 were installed in a mold assembly 100 in a BESSER™ Block Machine. The blocks stripped cleanly from the machine and had uniformly smooth block faces. The faces of the division plates 14 and 16 were worn to a smooth, even finish with the resin binder filling the pores in the refractory material.
In tests it appears that based upon a projection of the wear for mold parts presently in service that the mold can last over a period of about 500,000 to 1,000,000 cycles. This represents 5 to 10 times increase over conventional hardened steel mold parts.
It is intended that the foregoing description be only illustrative of the present invention and that the present invention be limited only by the hereinafter appended claims. | A concrete block molding apparatus and component molding parts coated with a flame spray refractory material and binder composition. The coatings can be smoothed to provide a finished surface for the blocks as by polishing, pressure on the coated surface or preferably by a coating of a thermoset resin as a binder. A preferred thermoset resin includes polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in the coating to improve slipperiness. The parts have a greatly increased life cycle and the apparatus has a much longer cycle time between changes of the parts. | 8 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 973,403, filed Dec. 26, 1978, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 707,585, filed July 22, 1976, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the preparation of polymeric fibers in general and to the formation of such fibers from solution in particular.
2. Prior Art
The formation of fibers from polymeric materials by spinning from a melt or from a highly viscous solution is old. These methods involve the initial formation of the fiber by a mechanical step such as extrusion through a spinnerette or drawing a fine continuous thread from the viscous melt. In the case of fiber formation from the molten material, the fibers are cooled and subsequently stretched and heat treated to develop desired mechanical properties. In fibers spun from highly concentrated solvent solutions, the solvent is removed by evaporation or extraction following the spinning step. They are then mechanically stretched and heat treated in the same manner as fibers formed from the melt.
In recent years, the formation of fibers by stirring very dilute solutions of certain polymers has been described in the scientific literature, Pennings, A. J., Vander Mack, et al. (Polymere, 99 (1969)). This procedure results in the formation of linear fibers attached to the stirrer. The fibers are non-uniformly distributed around the stirrer and are spirally arranged. The formation of similar fibers from stirred solutions has also been reported by A. Keller (Physics Today, May 1970, page 42). In addition, a crystalline material of fibrous shape having what is described as a "shish kebab" structure has been formed by irradiating a dilute solution of polyethylene in p-xylene with ultrasonics at 0.1 4 mW/cm from 85 to 190 Kilo HZ at a temperature of between 82° to 88° C. The concentration of polyethylene in the solvent ranged from 0.05 to 0.5% by weight and the fibers formed were sparse and very short (Blackadder and Schleinetz, nature 200, 788, 1963).
There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,624 (Ser. No. 792,838, a division of Ser No. 616,747, abandoned) a process for generating unique masses of fibers from solutions of certain polymers by agitating the solutions at sonic frequencies. The fiber masses so formed consist of coherent, interconnected three dimensionally arrayed networks of very fine fibers. The method of forming fiber masses by sonic agitation of a cooling polymer solution was found to be useful with linear organic polymers, having a regularly repeated chain structure and a degree of crystallinity as determined by x-ray diffraction. The class of polymers described as polyalkenes are particularly amenable to fiber formation by the sonic agitation procedure. In general, isotactic polypropylene most readily formed fibers under these conditions and mixtures of isotactic polypropylene and other polyalkenes form fiber masses more readily than the polyalkenes alone. Non-crystalline polymers do not readily form fibers from solutions by the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,624.
The ability to form dense fibrous masses from solution is highly desirable, particularly if the solute is a curable polymer or a curable polymer may be infiltrated into the mass after it is formed. This capability would facilitate the fabrication of superior solid encapsulants for complex geometry electrical devices.
Applicants know of no prior art processes for preparing fibers, fiber masses and fiber reinforced composites from non-cystalline polymers wherein the fibers are formed from solution in a manner which facilitates the fabrication of self-reinforced insulating elements within intricate electrical components such as complex shaped transformers magnetic devices and/or capacitors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In seeking to provide a method for preparing reinforcing fibers for use in composite material compositions serving as insulation in intricate electrical components, applicants have invented a process for forming a new class of polymeric fibers from solution. This process may be used to induce the formation of fibers from solutions of linear polymers which are essentially atactic and not highly crystalline. The process involves the seeding of a solution of the fiber forming polymer with a small amount of an isotactic, high molecular weight polyolefin, heating the mixture to effect dissolution of the polymers and then allow the mixture to cool under agitation.
The fibers are a combination of the seeding polymer and one or more other polymers which exhibit unique physical characteristics.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the previous work described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,624, it was observed that fibers and fiber masses can be produced by sonic agitation of concentrated polymer solutions while cooling. Furthermore, it was observed that useful composites can be produced by forming the fibers and fiber masses from solution in a curable polymer or by secondary impregnation of the fibers and fiber masses with a curable resin. Fibers and fiber masses were prepared from polyethylene and from a variety of polyalkene polymers providing that the polymers possessed a high degree of crystallinity. Composites prepared from these fiber masses were shown to exhibit good mechanical properties, thermal resistance and dimensional stability on aging.
All of the previous work, however, was limited to the class of polymers defined as linear polyalkenes which have uniform symmetrical structures and are highly crystalline. Only one exception was noted in our previous work. Nylon 6, a noncrystalline, atactic polymer, was observed to form fibers in combination with isotactic, highly crystalline polypropylene. This behavior was attributed to the pronounced tendency of nylons to form fibers because of the strong hydrogen bonding between the molecules of this class of polymers.
We have discovered a new method of growing fibers and fibrous masses from polymeric material that employs a seeding concept. Utilizing our method it is possible to prepare fibers and fiber masses by stirring and other means of agitation from polymers that will not form fibers from solution by any known technique. The fiber masses and composites possess significant advantages over comparable prior art products.
Fiber forming materials which are useful in this invention are linear, organic polymers. The seed materials are high molecular weight organic polymers, having a regularly repeated chain structure and a high degree of crystallinity as determined by x-ray diffraction. The crystalline polymer, isotactic polypropylene, is particularly useful as a seeding polymer. We have successfully used our seeding invention to produce fibers and fiber masses consisting essentially of poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) a terpolymer of ethylene, propylene and acrylic acid; isotactic 4-methyl-1-pentene; and several other polymeric materials. Generally, the seed polymer used in the above fiber mass formations was isotactic polypropylene of high molecular weight (average viscosity of 200,000). However, other seeding materials such as polyethylene and polymers taken from the group of isotactic, crystalline polyalkenes, such as isotactic polybutene, isotactic poly(4-methyl-1-pentene), will function as seeding polymers.
A solution of the seed polymer and of the polymer which does not normally form fibers by this method is formed. The solution will preferably contain about 2% to 20% by weight of the fiber forming and seed material, the upper limit being dictated by the limit of solubility of the fiber former. The ratio of seed polymer to fiber forming polymer may vary from 1% to 90% of the weight of the polymers in the solution.
The choice of solvents will depend upon various factors such as the nature of the solute and the final product to be obtained from the process. When one wants to isolate the fiber mass, then the solvents generally are in the xylene and toluene class of alkylbenzenes.
In general, it is necessary to heat the solvent in order to dissolve an adequate amount of the fiber forming and seed material therein. Temperatures ranging from 110° to 140° C. are adequate. The solution is then allowed to cool slowly while it is simultaneously subjected to a high stirring rate, which in turn creates an intense velocity gradient between the stirring rod and container, or to some other form of vigorous agitation, either mechanically or vibrationally induced. At some temperature range during the cooling and agitation, dependent upon the concentration, type of polymers, and solvents, an abundance of fibers will appear.
Fibers produced by stirring are usually attached to and spirally arranged around the stirrer. We therefore prefer to subject the cooling polymer solution to agitation produced by vibration in the sonic range whereby dense interconnected fibrous networks are formed. These networks we have generally referred to as fiber masses. By sonic range we mean vibrations having a cyclic frequency on the order of 20 to 20,000 hertz (Hz).
Other methods of agitation also produce fibers, for instance the submersion of an object in a cooling polymer solution while the object is shaken, vibrated, or subjected to a reciprocating motion of frequencies in the sonic range will cause fibers to be formed upon and attach to the object.
If the fiber mass is the desired product, the solvent may be removed by routine methods, the precise method being dictated by the nature of the solvent. For instance, a volatile solvent may be removed by simple evaporation. A relatively nonvolatile solvent can be washed out with a volatile liquid, the traces of which can then be evaporated. The resultant fibers or fibrous mass may then be impregnated with a curable resin to form a composite material having excellent physical, chemical and thermal resistance characteristics.
Our fibers and fiber masses have a variety of practical uses. They may be used in the formation of papers, cloth, felts, mats, nonwoven fabrics, cordage and the like. In addition, the masses may be broken up to provide individual fibers or fiber bundles which can also be used to form paper, felts, and similar products. They are useful in the formation of fiber-reinforced molded or cast products.
While it is possible to cause fibers to form from solutions having as little as 20% of the seeding polymer in solution with the target polymer, we found that seeding polymer concentrations of from 25% to 35% by weight to yield the best results insofar as out particular requirements for fiber masses were concerned.
Our studies further indicate that the concentrations of seeding material needed is dependent upon its molecular weight distribution. It is apparent that a small fraction of the higher molecular weight components of the seeding polymer initiate the formation of fibers, which in turn cause lower molecular weight components to come out as fibers along with fibers from the target polymer. This principle tends to suggest a seeding polymer selected from a very narrow high-molecular weight range to minimize the amount of seeding material required to initiate the formation of the desired polymeric mass.
While seeding polymers are not required to produce fibers from solutions of crystalline polymers we have discovered that the use of seeding polymers during fiber forming processes wherein crystalline polymers are used substantially increases the efficiency of the fiber forming processes.
Following are examples of this invention when applied to fiber forming polymers which either do not form, or form only with difficulty, fibers from solution by previous methods. These polymers however do meet the previous method criteria of isotacticity and crystallinity.
EXAMPLE I
0.70 g of isotactic poly(4-methypentene-1) with 0.30 g of isotactic polypropylene was placed into 15 ml. of styrene. The mixture was heated to 130° 140° C. to effect dissolution of the polymers. The solution was cooled while under highspeed stirring producing an abundance of fibers with a blue cast.
EXAMPLE II
0.70 g of isotactic poly(4-methylpentene-1), 0.15 g of isotactic polypropylene and 0.15 g of isotactic polybutene were dissolved in 15 ml. of styrene at 140° C. The solution was slowly cooled under vigorous stirring thus producing a large amount of loose fibers.
EXAMPLE III
0.70 g of isotactic polystyrene, lot #911-3, and 0.30 g of isotactic polypropylene were dissolved into 15 ml. of styrene inhibited with benzoquinone at about 140° C. The solution was cooled with good stirring to produce fibers.
EXAMPLE IV
To 30 ml. of styrene inhibited with benzoquinone was added 1.4 g of isotactic 4-methyl-1-pentene and 0.60 g of polypropylene. The mixture was dissolved at 135° C. then slowly cooled with good stirring. A large amount of fibrous mat was obtained, washed in acetone and dried.
The fibers formed on the stirring rod and in the solvent may be dispersed in a liquid using a high speed mixer or blender and separated by filtration.
The same systems as described in the examples may also be prepared as fiber masses by subjecting the cooling solution of polymers to low frequency sonic vibrations.
While the examples above disclose our invention as it is applied to the formation of isotactic poly(4 methylpentene-1) and isotactic polystyrene fibers, our polymeric seeding technique may be applied to form fibers from atactic, noncrystalline polymers as well. From our studies it can be concluded that a great number of soluble linear polymers can be caused to form fibers from a solution in which a seeding polymer has been added.
The determining factors in the selection of a seeding polymer appear to be a high degree of crystallinity, isotacticity or regular symmetrical structure and solubility in the same solvents as the fiber former. Following are examples of our invention applied to non-crystalline atactic polymers.
EXAMPLE V
To 40 ml. of xylene was added 0.28 g of high molecular weight, isotactic polypropylene and 2.52 g of a terpolymer consisting of acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene. The mixture was heated to about 125° C. to dissolve both polymers then slowly cooled with rapid stirring to cause the formation of layers of fiber mats. The fiber mats were washed in methyl alcohol and dried.
EXAMPLE VI
To 40 ml. of styrene with 0.45 g benzoquinone added as an inhibitor, was added 3.8 g of XPA-1 (a copolymer of propylene and acrylic acid) and 0.2 g of isotactic polypropylene as the polymer seed. The mixture was heated to 140° C. to dissolve the polymers then slowly cooled under rapid stirring to about 30° C. The fiber mats were washed in acetone and dried.
EXAMPLE VII
Two grams of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer) resin and 2 g of isotactic polypropylene were added to 40 ml. of xylene. The mixture was heated to 120° C. to effect dissolution, then with stirring slowly cooled to room temperature. The resulting fiber masses were washed with isopropyl alcohol and dried.
EXAMPLE VIII
A 50/50 w/w blend of highly crystalline polypropylene with polyvinylidene fluoride and tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride terpolymer was dissolved in a solvent system to a 10% w/vol concentration. The solvent system consisted of a 57% 2 butanone, 15% acetone, 25% methyl isobutyl ketone, 2% cyclohexanone, and 1% diacetone alcohol mixture. A small amount non-solvent, water, was slowly introduced to the polymer solutions while subjecting them to vigorous sonic agitation at ambient temperature. This resulted in the formation of homogeneous fiber masses.
Having fully described our invention and provided teachings to enable others to make and utilize the same, the scope of our claims may now be understood as follows. | Polymeric fibers are formed from solution by the influence of polymeric seeding materials under conditions of simultaneous cooling and agitation. | 3 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and a device for limiting the driving speed of a motor vehicle.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A method for limiting the driving speed of a motor vehicle is discussed in German Patent Application No. 102 01 160.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the method and the device of the present invention for limiting the driving speed of a motor vehicle, the driving speed is limited to a maximum value at which a predefined maximum fuel consumption for a fixed driving speed is not exceeded. A set, fixed fuel consumption can be maintained in this manner without limiting short-term acceleration. As a result, an economic manner of driving can be automated according to driver requirements.
The maximum value for the driving speed may be determined from a maximum drive power of the vehicle, resulting from the relationship between the predefined maximum fuel consumption and a specific fuel consumption of the engine at a current operating point, via an inverse characteristic curve for a speed-dependent proportion of the driving resistance. In this manner, the maximum value for the driving speed can be determined particularly simply and easily. It is particularly advantageous when the maximum drive power is corrected by a speed-independent proportion of the driving resistance. The accuracy of the determination of the maximum value for the driving speed is increased in this manner.
The speed-independent proportion of the driving resistance may also be filtered, in particular via a first order low pass filter. Noise influences in the calculation of the speed-independent proportion of the driving resistance can be largely equalized in this manner.
Moreover, it may be useful to limit the driving speed as a function of the predefined maximum fuel consumption only when the gradient of a driving pedal position is less than a predefined value or a kick-down function is deactivated. In this manner, it is ensured that the fuel consumption-dependent limiting of the driving speed is invalidated in situations in which the driver is primarily concerned with achieving a driving speed that is as fast as possible. As a result, the driving safety, e.g., during passing operations, is ensured.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary driving speed limitation using an embodiment of the device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an exemplary functional diagram for describing the structure of the device of the present invention and a flow of the method of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for speed limitation in a motor vehicle in the form of a block diagram. A device 10 for limiting the driving speed of the motor vehicle is provided in this context. Device 10 includes an input/control unit 20 , which is connected to arrangement 15 for determining a maximum value vmaxbe, to which the driving speed is to be limited.
Maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed is transmitted by arrangement 15 to arrangement 30 , which perform the actual speed limiting function. In this context, arrangement 30 ensures that the current driving speed of the motor vehicle does not exceed maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed. Input/control unit 20 allows the driver of the motor vehicle to define a maximum fuel consumption Besoll for a fixed driving speed. Moreover, the driver may activate arrangement 15 at input/control unit 20 such that the arrangement determines maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besoll for a fixed driving speed. Input/control unit 20 generates an activation signal “ON” to activate arrangement 15 . Correspondingly, the driver may deactivate arrangement 15 at input/control unit 20 such that maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed is not determined as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besoll for a fixed driving speed. The input/control unit generates a deactivation signal “OFF” for arrangement 15 for this purpose.
FIG. 1 also shows an engine control 25 , which provides device 10 and arrangement 15 with values for a transmission ratio factor üactual, an engine speed nmot, an actual engine torque Miactual, an actual acceleration aactual of the vehicle, an actual speed vactual of the vehicle, and a bit B_kdown, which indicates whether a kick-down of the vehicle was operated during use of an automatic transmission. The values for transmission ratio factor üactual, engine speed nmot, actual engine torque Miactual, actual acceleration aactual, and actual speed vactual are determined in a manner known from the related art. Bit B_kdown for operation of the kick-down is set during operation of the kick-down and is otherwise reset. FIG. 2 shows a functional diagram to describe the structure of arrangement 15 as well as the flow of the method of the invention. An engine consumption map 35 to which engine speed nmot and actual engine torque Miactual are supplied as input quantities is provided in this context. A specific fuel consumption beENG of the vehicle engine results as the output quantity at the current operating point that is characterized by engine speed nmot and actual engine torque Miactual. Engine consumption map 35 is determined as a standard for every engine by the manufacturer and is therefore known from the related art. Specific fuel consumption beENG of the engine is multiplied by transmission ratio factor üactual at a first operation point 40 . The result of the multiplication operation is multiplied at a second operation point 45 by a wheel radius r wheel of the wheels of the vehicle, wheel radius r wheel being able to be known and stored in arrangement 15 or known in engine control 25 and transmitted to arrangement 15 . The result of the multiplication operation is designated as bePT in FIG. 2 and supplied to a third operation point 50 . The quotient is formed from predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for the fixed driving speed, and multiplication result bePT at third operation point 50 so that a maximum drive power F BEsetpoint of the vehicle results as follows:
F BEsetpoint =Be setpoint/ bePT (1)
Actual engine torque Miactual is also supplied to a fourth operation point 55 and multiplied there by transmission ratio factor üactual. The multiplication result is supplied to a fifth operation point 60 and multiplied there by wheel radius r wheel . The multiplication result is current drive power FAN of the vehicle.
Actual acceleration aactual of the vehicle is multiplied by vehicle mass MFzg at a sixth operation point 65 . The multiplication result is inertial force T of the vehicle. Vehicle mass MFzg may be known and stored in arrangement 15 . Alternatively, vehicle mass MFzg may be known in engine control 25 and transmitted from there to arrangement 15 . Actual speed vactual of the vehicle is supplied to a first characteristic curve 85 as an input quantity. First characteristic curve 85 provides a speed-dependent proportion fv of the driving resistance of the vehicle from actual speed vactual. Inertial force T and speed-dependent proportion fv of the driving resistance are added together at a seventh operation point 70 . The addition result is subtracted from current drive power FAN of the vehicle at an eighth operation point 75 . The subtraction result is supplied to a filter 5 to equalize noise influences on the measured value for actual acceleration aactual and to prevent quick changes of maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed. Filter 5 may be a first order low pass filter, for example. The equalized output signal of filter 5 is supplied as speed-independent proportion Fα of the driving resistance to a ninth operation point 80 and is subtracted there from maximum drive power F BEsetpoint . The subtraction result is supplied as an input quantity to a second characteristic curve 90 , which is inverse to first characteristic curve 85 and provides a speed value fv −1 , which is supplied to a first input 105 of a controlled switch 100 . A predefined absolute maximum speed VMAX, which is either preset in a fixed manner or may be defined by the user at input/control unit 20 , is supplied to a second input 110 of controlled switch 100 . Controlled switch 100 is controlled via an OR gate 95 to which deactivation signal “OFF” and bit B_kdown for the kick-down are supplied as input quantities. If one of the two input quantities “OFF” or B_kdown of OR gate 95 is set, i.e., the kick-down is operated or the driver used input/control unit 20 to deactivate the provision of maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed, the output of the OR gate is set and causes controlled switch 100 to connect second input 110 to output 115 of controlled switch 100 . In this case, predefined absolute maximum speed VMAX is supplied to arrangement 30 as maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed. However, if the output of OR gate 95 is reset, i.e., neither the kick-down is operated nor the determination of maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed, is deactivated by the driver at input/control unit 20 , the reset output of OR gate 95 causes controlled switch 100 to connect first input 105 to output 115 so that output fv −1 of second characteristic curve 90 is supplied to arrangement 30 as maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed.
The speed limitation function performed by arrangement 30 is a function of the vehicle longitudinal motion that allows the driver to define a maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed that may not be exceeded by actual speed vactual of the vehicle. This benefits driving safety as well as fuel consumption. If the driver would like to use the speed limitation function for limiting to a desired fuel consumption, this is not possible by only defining maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed since fuel consumption also depends on speed-independent parameters, such as incline, engine operating point, or head wind. Fuel consumption is a fuel consumption per distance in this exemplary embodiment, i.e., fuel consumption per distance traveled, for example, the fuel consumption per 100 km of distance traveled.
Arrangement 15 described here may be used to calculate maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed as output fv −1 of second characteristic curve 90 so that predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed is not exceeded. Actual value Be for the fuel consumption per distance traveled may be calculated according to the following formula:
Be
=
[
beENG
(
nmot
,
Miactual
)
*
∫
(
Froll
(
vactual
)
+
Fair
(
vactual
)
+
MFzg
*
aactual
+
Fbr
+
F
α
)
*
vactual
ⅆ
t
]
/
∫
vactual
ⅆ
t
(
2
)
The objective is to solve equation (2) for actual speed vactual. If actual value Be for the fuel consumption per distance traveled is replaced by predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed, maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed valid for predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint is obtained instead of the actual speed. In this context, the vehicle acceleration under maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed need not be limited as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint so that the vehicle agility is not impaired. Therefore, only maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed is calculated, the value resulting in the fixed drive case, i.e., in which actual acceleration aactual of the vehicle is equal to zero and the braking force Fbr of the vehicle in equation (2) is also equal to zero. The driving resistance of the vehicle is made up of speed-dependent proportion fv, which is made up of rolling resistance Froll and air resistance Fair in equation (2), as well as of speed-independent proportion Fα, which is made up of the climbing resistance and the force of the headwind. Therefore, if actual acceleration aactual and braking force Fbr are each set to zero in equation (2), the following results:
Be=[beENG ( nmot,Mi actual)*[∫( F roll( v actual)+ F air( v actual))* v actual dt+Fα*v actual dt]/∫v actual dt (3)
The following then results from equation (3):
Be/beENG ( nmot,Mi actual)− Fα=∫ ( F roll( v actual)+ F air( v actual))* v actual dt/∫v actual dt (4)
The right side of equation (4) corresponds with the average force generated by rolling resistance Froll and air resistance Fair. The quotient on the left side of the equation may be interpreted following multiplication with transmission ratio factor üactual and wheel radius r wheel as a drive power F Be of the vehicle, which results from actual value Be of the fuel consumption per distance traveled in relation to specific fuel consumption BeENG of the engine at the current operating point. The right side of equation (4) may be determined in a vehicle experiment as first characteristic curve fv (vactual) via actual speed vactual. The determination may be performed as follows:
The vehicle is operated in windless conditions, on a flat driving surface, at a fixed actual speed vactual. Current drive power FAN of the vehicle is then determined from actual engine torque Miactual, as in FIG. 2 using fourth operation point 55 and fifth operation point 60 , for any time period. The described vehicle experiment is conducted for a plurality of actual speeds vactual of the vehicle, which sufficiently cover the entire spectrum of possible actual speeds vactual of the vehicle. First characteristic curve 85 is formed in this manner. Actual speeds vactual of the vehicle then represent the data points of first characteristic curve 85 .
The following relationship results from equation (4) on the basis of the described vehicle experiment:
Be/beENG ( nmot,Mi actual)− Fα=fv ( v actual) (5)
The driving resistances as a function increase strictly over actual speed vactual of the vehicle. As a result, first characteristic curve 85 , which corresponds with function fv (vactual), can be inverted. The inverting of first characteristic curve 85 then corresponds with function fv −1 (vactual) and second characteristic curve 90 . Second characteristic curve 90 allows equation (5) to be solved for actual speed vactual of the vehicle:
v actual= fv −1 ( Be/beENG ( nmot,Mi actual)− Fα ) (6)
If actual value Be for the fuel consumption per distance traveled is then replaced by predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed, equation (6) yields maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed as output fv −1 of second characteristic curve 90 instead of actual speed vactual of the vehicle. This is represented in the following equation:
v max be=fv −1 ( Be setpoint/ beENG ( nmot,Mi actual)− Fα ) (7)
Engine consumption map 35 is described in equation (7) as BeENG (nmot, Miactual) and is determined as described as a standard for every engine by the manufacturer and is therefore provided in means 15 in a manner known from the related art. Predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint for a fixed driving speed may be defined by the driver at input/control unit 20 . Therefore, only speed-independent proportion Fα of the driving resistance must still be calculated. Speed-independent proportion Fα of the driving resistance is able to be calculated according to FIG. 2 from the force balance at the vehicle in that speed-dependent proportion fv of the driving resistance and inertial force T represented by MFzg*aactual are subtracted from current drive power FAN of the vehicle in accordance with the following equation:
Fα=FAN−fv ( v actual)− MFzg*a actual (8)
Current drive power FAN of the vehicle may be formed from actual engine torque Miactual, transmission ratio factor üactual, and wheel radius R wheel in the manner described in FIG. 2 . To prevent nervous vehicle behavior from quick changes of maximum value vmaxbe for the driving speed due to a distorted value for actual acceleration aactual, speed-independent proportion Fα of the driving resistance is filtered according to FIG. 2 , e.g. by a first order low pass filter. As shown in and described with respect to FIG. 2 , the driving speed is limited as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint only when a kick-down function is deactivated, i.e., bit B_kdown is reset. Additionally or alternatively, it may be provided for the driving speed to be limited as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint only when the gradient of a driving pedal position is less than a predefined value. If the gradient of the driving pedal position exceeds the predefined value, it is detected that the driver wants to accelerate as quickly as possible, similar to in the kick-down function, so that the limitation of the driving speed as a function predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint is to be dispensed with also in this case and the driving speed is to be limited instead by predefined absolute maximum speed VMAX. Furthermore, as described with respect to FIG. 2 , it may be provided for the driving speed to be limited as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint only when the driver also activates arrangement 15 by setting the activation signal to “ON” at input/control unit 20 . In this case, the deactivation signal “OFF” is reset. For the case that the driver deactivates arrangement 15 at input/control unit 20 by setting the deactivation signal “OFF”, the driving speed is limited by predefined absolute maximum speed VMAX instead of as a function of predefined maximum fuel consumption Besetpoint as described in FIG. 2 . | A method and a device are provided for limiting the driving speed of a motor vehicle that allow a selectable, fixed fuel consumption per distance traveled to be maintained without limiting short-term acceleration. In this context, the driving speed is limited to a maximum value (vmaxbe), at which a predefined maximum fuel consumption (Besetpoint) for steady driving speed is not exceeded. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention develops a system for non-invasive measurement of the glucose levels in blood, independent from the current methods based on blood sample analysis (Oxidasa Glucose molecule reduction) or by means of an absorption spectrum analysis of glucose in blood. With this purpose, a new method is presented based on the function approximation by means of random forests implemented by means of a DSP or FPGA device, whose input is a pre-processed version of the plethysmographic pulse combined with other variables from the patient.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Diabetes Mellitus (DM) comprises a group of metabolic disorders, which share a hyperglycaemic phenotype, (increase of blood glucose levels in patients). Several types of DM exist, which are a result of a complex interaction between genetic factors, and environmental factors and lifestyle (sedentary, diet, etc. . . . ). Depending on the causes of DM, factors that contribute to hyperglycemia may include the reduction of insulin hormone secretion, insufficient use of glucose at the metabolic level, or an increased production of glucose by the body.
[0003] Disorders associated with DM seriously compromise the body. Also, such disorders are a major economic burden to the healthcare system. In developed countries, DM is the primary cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic amputation of the lower extremities, and blindness in adults. In fact, studies have shown that approximately 1.7% of the world's population suffers from DM, and that this percentage is likely to increase in the medium and long term, thus, DM remaining a major cause of morbidity and mortality.
[0004] The protocols published by the World Health Organization (WHO) define the following diagnose criteria of the DM:
Diabetes symptoms with a glucose concentration in a random sample of blood greater than 11 mmol/L or 200 mg/dL or, Blood plasma glucose (after fasting) above 7.0 mmol/L or 126 mg/dL or Blood plasma glucose (two hours) greater than 11.1 mmol/L or 200 mg/dL during the glucose tolerance oral test.
[0008] Currently, measuring glucose levels involves taking a blood sample during the testing process. Various devices exist for determining glucose levels in diabetic patients, based on the reduction of the reagent glucose oxidase (GOX). Such devices use a small blood sample, obtained with a lancet, and deposited on a small test strip impregnated with GOX. Glucose in the blood reacts with GOX, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is obtained as a result. The amount of hydrogen peroxide causes a change in the impedance of the strip, which correlates with the level of glucose in the blood.
[0009] Said systems are highly invasive, because they require patients with diabetes to puncture their fingers up to four times a day to obtain blood samples and monitor their glucose levels.
[0010] With the aim to eliminate the hurting related to the puncturing and to minimize the sources of infection, systems exist that utilize spectroscopic techniques to measure glucose levels means of spectroscopy (emission, transmission, and reflection methods). These systems are adversely affected by water in the body, a low glucose concentration, and optical effects produced by the skin, and are thus unreliable. In fact, nowadays there is no known commercial device which uses such techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,029 establishes a system for monitoring the glucose in blood for controlling an insulin bomb for a domestic use. Said glucose monitoring uses an optical refraction device, which measures the refraction index of the light over a transparent interface (light quantity reflexed near the critic angle).
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,023 describes non-invasive system for the measurement of the glucose concentration in an absorption matrix. The system directs light rays towards the matrix using wavelengths sensitive to glucose (absorption or reflection) in combination with other wavelengths not affected by said substance. Said patent also uses the photoplethysmography principle for measuring the change in the light intensity of the light on the absorption matrix before and after the blood volume changes during the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle. Said change in the light intensity, is used to adjust the light intensity to measure the glucose concentration.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,758 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,311B1 describe a non-invasive system for monitoring the glucose levels in blood and tissues using a polychromatic source of light, which emits in a wide wavelength spectrum in the range near infra-red (NIR). Said light passes through the finger or ear and is separated on its main components by means of defraction or refraction. A microprocessor uses said components to calculate the quantity of light transmitted and calculate the medium absorbency. Said system calculates the second derivative of the measurements and performs a linear regression for estimating the glucose concentration.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,452 measures the glucose concentration in blood using the polarization changes in the emitted light caused by the chromophores and particles dissolved in the blood. Said system requires a calibration by means of conventional methods (for example, a blood sample analyzed by means of the technique known as Glucose Oxidasa).
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,504 performs a determination of the glucose concentration in blood measuring the light interaction with a biological matrix. Since the light properties change based on the substances present in the matrix, it is possible to correlate said changes with the glucose concentration to be estimated.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,298B1 presents a method for determining the glucose in blood by means of a calculation of optical parameters (reflection and refraction of light) on several temperatures.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 7,356,364B1 presents a device for monitoring the glucose in blood by means of the modulation of a LASER emitter and the calculation of the absorption spectrum of said light. Said system can be used in a non-invasive form or by means of an implant.
[0017] Patents US2001/0039376A1 and US2004f/0127779A1 present a system for measuring the glucose concentration in blood by means of the transmission of one or more wavelengths from which the absorption/attenuation is measured, for estimating the oxygen level in blood. Said invention uses an extra wavelength at 1060 nm (glucose concentration sensitive) to measure the sugar concentration in blood from the light absorption at that wavelength.
[0018] Patent US2003/0225321A1 presents a system for non-invasive measurement of glucose levels in blood by means of the transmission of several wavelengths. Said wavelengths are transmitted through the eye's humour of the patient and the reflected light is detected and analyzed (changes in the emitted wavelength's polarization) to provide an estimation of glucose concentration.
[0019] Patent US2005/0070770A1 describes a system and apparatus for measuring glucose concentration in blood based on the interaction of light with several components dissolved in the blood by means of a differential analysis.
[0020] Patent US2006/0149142A1 presents a system and apparatus for measuring the glucose concentration by means of the light transmission on a determined wavelength through a tissue and calculating the difference between the propagation paths of said light. Said invention performs an estimation of glucose levels from a linear regression model related with the optical characteristics of the tissue and the difference between paths previously described.
[0021] However, it is still to be solved the need to establish a robust, reliable, fast and safe system for determining the levels of glucose concentration, which captures the metabolic complexity of the glucose levels in blood without imposing any restrictions a priori in a functional level over the analyte to be estimated.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0022] According to the priori art of the invention previously detailed, the proposed system and apparatus of the present invention is based in the inference of the functional relationship between the shape of the pulse (PPG) and the glucose levels in blood wherein the information is deduces from the dependence between the shape of the pulse and its statistics with the state of the glucose of the patient.
[0023] The input information for performing the estimation of the glucose level in blood is processed to ease the work of the function estimator. Since the PPG signal has a variable duration, a treatment is performed to generate a fixed length vector for each measurement. This vector contains information about the shape of the pulse (auto-regression coefficients and mobile average), average distance between pulses, its variance, information about the instantaneous energy, energetic variation and clinical information of the person, such as, for example, sex, age, weight, height, clinical information of the patient (body mass index or similar measurements), etc. . . .
[0024] The system for the inference of functions works blindly in the sense that no functional restriction is imposed to the relationship between the pulse and the glucose level in blood. Since the functional form which relates the PPG with the glucose levels is unknown, a system for infering said function has been chosen which is robust with irrelevant input variables such as clinical information and parameters derived from the shape of the PPG wave. Furthermore, said technique is related with other parameters as previously described in the prior art of the present invention. The preferred system for estimating functions in the present invention are the “random forests”, in comparison to other machine learning systems and pattern recognition such as, for example, decision and regression trees (CART), Splines, classifier comitees, Support Vector Machines and Neuronal networks. The random forests are based in the parallel generation of a set of decision trees, which estimate the function with a random selection of variables in each node not performing the prune of the nodes, and training each tree with a random subset of the training database in such a way that each tree has a different generalization systematic error. Therefore, when performing an average of the estimations of each tree, the systematic error are compensated and the estimation variance decreases.
[0025] The implementation of the present invention comprises two different phases. First phase is the training of the system, which is performed only once and, therefore, it does not require any calibration/personalization afterwards. This phase consists of the obtaining of a database with information about several patient's parameters including, sex, weight, age, etc. combined with a recording of the plethysmographic wave. This information is used in the estimation of the parameters of the decision trees and are stored in the system.
[0026] The second phase consists of loading the information of the set of trees obtained in the training phase and recording the plethysmographic wave of the patient in the measurement moment with other variables such as, for example, sex, weight, age, etc. . . . In this phase, the system reads the information of the plethysmographic pulse, performs its processing and generates a fixed length vector with the information that describes the signal. The additional information of the person is added to this vector and a set of random forests is applied, which calculate several intermediate functions of the variable of interest. Afterwards, the glucose level in blood is calculated from said intermediate functions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES
[0027] FIG. 1 of the present invention shows a waveform of the pulse obtained by means of an invasive catheterism.
[0028] FIG. 2 of the present invention shows a general block diagram of the described system and method.
[0029] FIG. 3 of the present invention shows a plethysmographic waveform obtained by means of a digital pulse-oximeter.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows a detailed block diagram of the pre-processing system described in the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 5 shows a detailed block diagram of the AR filter for establishing the stochastic model of the pressure pulse physiology described in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0032] The present invention consists of a system for monitoring glucose in blood ( FIG. 2 ) its data being evaluated by means of a device ( 1 ) for capturing plethysmographic signals (optical, acoustic or mechanic), the preferred embodiment the invention consisting of a pulsioximetry system (SpO2). The PPG information is combined with other data of the patient such as, for example, age, sex, height, weight, etc. and is analyzed with a digital pre-processing system ( 2 ), which simplifies the subsequent processing and estimation of the variable of interest (glucose concentration in blood). Said system captures in a better way all the parameters which affect in a random way the metabolic management of the glucose of the patient.
[0033] The vector of the obtained stochastic model is linked with a digital system ( 3 ) which approximates functions based on “random forests”, its main function being estimating the glucose concentration with several functions related with that, with the object of decreasing the estimation error in the post-processing step ( 4 ). The main function of the system ( 4 ) is to estimate the final values of the glucose concentration by means of the averaging of the functions of the previous step ( 3 ) to decrease the systematic error (bias) and the variance of the estimations performed with said concentration. Systems ( 2 , 3 , and 4 ) are implemented by means of a FPGA or DSP device.
[0034] The system ( 1 ) for obtaining the PPG wave implements a simple technique, non invasive and low cost for detecting the volume changes in the micro-vascular network of a tissue. The most basic implementation of said system requires few opto-electronic components including:
[0000] 1. One or more sources for illuminating the tissue (for example, the skin)
2. One or more photo-detectors for measuring the little variations in the intensity of light associated with the changes in the infusion of the tissue in the detection volume.
[0035] The PPG is normally used in a non-invasive way and it operates in the infrared or near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. The most known PPG waveform is the peripheral pulse ( FIG. 3 ) and it is synchronized with each heartbeat. At this point it is important to take notice the similarity between the obtained waves by means of PPG and the obtained pulses by means of invasive catheterism ( FIGS. 1 and 3 ). Because of the information of great value obtained by means of PPG, it is considered one of the main features of the present invention.
[0036] The PPG wave comprises a physiological pulsed wave (AC component) attributed to the blood volume changes synchronized with each heartbeat. Said component is superimposed with another fundamental component (DC component) related to the respiratory rhythm, the central nervous system's activity, thermo-regulation and metabolic function. The fundamental frequency of the AC component is found around 1 Hz depending on the cardiac rhythm ( FIG. 3 ).
[0037] The interaction between the light and the biological tissues is complex and includes optical processes like the scattering, absorption, reflection, transmission and fluorescence. The selected wavelength for the system ( 1 ) is highly important because of the following:
[0000] 1. Water's optical window: the main constituent of tissues is water. It highly absorbs the light with ultraviolet wavelengths and long wavelengths within the infrared band. A window exists in the water's absorption spectrum which allows the passing of visible light (red) or NIR easier through the tissue and allowing the measure of the blood flux or its volume within this wavelengths. Therefore, the present invention uses NIR wavelengths for system ( 1 ).
2. Isobestic wavelength: substantial differences exist related to the oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2) and the reduced hemoglobin (Hb) except for this wavelength. Therefore, the signal will not be affected by the changes in oxygen saturation in the tissue in this wavelength (i.e. near 805 nm, for the NIR range).
3. Tissue penetration: the penetration's depth of light in a tissue for a determined radiation intensity is also a function of the selected wavelength. For PPG, the penetration's volume (depending on the probes being used) is of the order of 1 cm3 for transmission systems like the one used in (1).
[0038] The PPG pulse ( FIG. 3 ) presents two different phases: the anacrotic phase, which represents the rise of the pulse, and the catacrotic phase, which represents the fall of the pulse. The first phase is related to the cardiac systole while the second is related to the dystole and the reflections of the wave in the periphery of the circulatory system. In the PPG, a diacrotic pulse is also usually found in the catacrotic phase in healthy patients and without arteriosclerosis or arterial rigidity.
[0039] As it has previously been described in the prior art of the present invention, the propagation of the pressure pulse PP along the circulatory tree also has to be taken into account. Said PP changes its shape while it moves towards the periphery of the circulatory tree suffering amplifications/attenuations and alterations of its shape and temporary characteristics. These changes are caused by the reflections suffered by the PP because of the narrowing of the arteries in the periphery. The PP pulse propagation in the arteries is further complicated by a phase distortion depending on the frequency.
[0040] Because of this, the representations of PP by means of ARMA stochastic models (Auto-Regressive Moving Average) and by means of the Teager-Kaiser coupled to an AR system ( 2 ) have been considered.
[0041] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , the PP is similar to the PPG, wherein similar changes are observed during vascular pathologies (cushioning caused by stenosis or change in the pulse).
[0042] The pulse-oxymeter of the system ( 1 ) uses the PPG to obtain information about the oxygen saturation (SpO2) in the arteries of the patient. As previously described, the SpO2 can be obtained by illuminating the tissues (normally a finger or an ear's lobe) in the red and NIR wavelengths. Normally, the SpO2 devices use the commutation between both wavelengths to determine said parameter. The amplitudes of both wavelengths are sensitive to the changes in SpO2 because of the absorption difference of HbO2 and Hb in those wavelengths. The SpO2 may be obtained from the ratio between amplitudes, the PPG and the AC and DC components.
[0043] In pulse oximetry, the intensity of the light (T) transmitted through the tissue is commonly referred to as a DC signal. The intensity is a function of the optical properties of tissue (i.e. the absorption coefficient μ a and the scattering coefficient μ s ′). Arterial pulsation produces periodic variations in the concentrations of oxy and deoxy hemoglobin, which may result in periodic variations in the absorption coefficient.
[0044] The intensity variations of the AC component of the PPG may be expressed in the following way:
[0000]
AC
=
Δ
T
=
∂
T
∂
μ
a
|
μ
a
,
μ
s
′
Δμ
a
(
I
)
[0045] This physiological waveform is proportional to the variation of light intensity, which, in its turn, is a function of the absorption and scattering coefficients (μ a and μ s ′, respectively). The component Δμ a , may be written as a linear variation of the concentrations of oxy and deoxy hemoglobin (Δc ox and Δc deox ) as follows:
[0000] Δμ a =ε ox Δc ox +ε deox Δc deox (II)
[0046] Being ε ox and ε deox the extinction coefficients (i.e. fraction of light lost as a result of scattering and absorption per unit distance in a particular environment). Based on these equations, the arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) may be determined by:
[0000]
Sp
O
2
=
Δ
c
ox
Δ
c
ox
+
Δ
c
deox
(
III
)
[0047] The expression of SpO2 as a function of the AC component may be obtained by the direct application of equations (I) and (III) at selected wave-lengths (red and NIR).
[0000]
Sp
O
2
=
1
1
-
x
ɛ
ox
(
NIR
)
-
ɛ
ox
(
R
)
x
ɛ
deox
(
NIR
)
-
ɛ
deox
(
R
)
(
IV
)
[0000] wherein,
[0000]
x
=
∂
T
(
NIR
)
∂
μ
a
|
μ
a
,
μ
s
′
∂
T
(
R
)
∂
μ
a
|
μ
a
,
μ
s
′
AC
(
R
)
AC
(
NIR
)
(
V
)
[0048] Normalizing the AC component with the DC to compensate the low frequency effects which are unrelated to the synchronous changes in the blood, the following is obtained:
[0000]
R
=
AC
(
R
)
DC
(
R
)
AC
(
NIR
)
DC
(
NIR
)
[0049] Including this parameter in (IV) yields:
[0000]
Sp
O
2
=
1
1
-
kR
ɛ
ox
(
NIR
)
-
ɛ
ox
(
R
)
kR
ɛ
deox
(
NIR
)
-
ɛ
deox
(
R
)
(
VI
)
[0000] being:
[0000]
k
=
Δ
T
(
NIR
)
DC
(
NIR
)
Δ
T
(
R
)
DC
(
R
)
[0050] Wherein ΔT(NIR) and ΔT(R) correspond to equation (I), evaluated at R and NIR wavelengths.
[0051] Although the equation (VI) is an exact solution for SpO2, k cannot be evaluated since it doesn't have T(μ a ,μ s ′). However, k and R are functions of the optical properties of the tissue, being possible to represent k as a function of R. More specifically, it may be possible to express k as a linear regression with the following form:
[0000] k=aR+b (VII)
[0052] This linear regression implies a calibration factor empirically derived but assuming a flat wave with intensity P, its absorption coefficient may be defined as:
[0000] dP=μ a Pdz (VIII)
[0000] where dP represents the differential change in the intensity of a light beam passing through an infinitesimal dz in a homogeneous medium with an absorption coefficient of μ a . Therefore, integrating over z the Beer-Lambert law is obtained.
[0000] P=P 0 e μ a Z (IX)
[0053] Assuming that T≈P, equation (VII) is thus reduced to k=1, which is the preferred approximation in the pulse-oximetry measurement performed in the present invention.
[0054] The PPG signal obtained by the system ( 1 ) is used as the system's excitation ( 2 ) ( FIG. 4 ) of the present invention, its main function being performing a pre-processing, which simplifies the functions to estimate.
[0055] Several parameters exist, which are basic in the form and in the propagation of the pressure pulse (PP). Said parameters are related with the cardiac output, heart rate, cardiac synchrony, breathing rate, and the metabolic function. I has also been previously detailed the close relationship between the PP and the PPG. Therefore, since the previously detailed parameters are important in the shape and propagation of the PP, the parameters listed above may also influence the PPG signal.
[0056] According to the above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a stochastic ARMA(q,p) modeling (auto-regressive moving average model of order q (MA) and p(AR)).
[0057] By definition, the time series PPG(n), PPG(n−1), . . . , PPG(n−M) represents the realization of an AR process of order p=M if it satisfies the following finite difference equation (FDE):
[0000] PPG( n )+ a 1 PPG( n− 1)+ . . . + a M PPG( n−M )= w ( n ) (X)
[0058] Wherein the coefficients [a 1 , a 2 , . . . , a M ] are the AR parameters and w(n) is a white process. The term a k PPG(n−k) is the inner product of the a k coefficient and PPG(n−k), wherein k=1, . . . , M. The equation (X) may be rewritten as the following:
[0000] PPG( n )= v 1 PPG( n− 1)+ v 2 PPG( n− 2)+ . . . + v M PPG( n−M )+ w ( n ) (XI)
[0000] wherein v k =−a k .
[0059] From the above equation, it follows that the current pulse value PPG(n) equals a finite linear combination of the above values (PPG(n−k)) plus a prediction error term w(n). Therefore, rewriting the equation (X) as a linear convolution, it is obtained:
[0000]
∑
k
=
0
M
a
k
PPG
(
n
-
k
)
=
w
(
n
)
(
XII
)
[0060] It can be defined that a 0 =1 without loss of generality, and thus, the Z-transform of the predictive filter may be given by:
[0000]
A
(
z
)
=
∑
n
=
0
M
a
n
z
-
n
(
XIII
)
[0061] Defining PPG□z□ as the Z-transform of the PPG pulse, then:
[0000] A ( z )PPG( z )= W ( z ) (XIV)
[0000] where
[0000]
W
(
z
)
=
∑
n
=
0
M
v
(
n
)
z
-
n
(
XV
)
[0062] FIG. 5 shows the analysis filter of the AR component of the PPG(n) pulse obtained by the system ( 1 ).
[0063] In the MA (moving average) component case of order q=K of the PPG(n) pulse, it can be described as the response of a linear discrete filter (filter with all zeros) excited by a Gaussian white noise. Thus, the MA response of said filter written as an EDF may be:
[0000] PPG MA ( n )= e ( n )+ b 1 e ( n− 1)+ . . . + b K e ( n−K ) (XVI)
[0000] wherein [b 1 , b 2 , . . . , b K ] are the constants called MA parameters and e(n) is a white noise process of zero mean and variance σ 2 . Therefore, relating equations (XII) and (XVI) we obtain the following:
[0000]
PPG
(
n
)
=
e
(
n
)
+
∑
k
=
0
p
a
k
PPG
(
n
-
k
)
+
∑
k
=
0
q
b
k
e
(
n
-
k
)
(
XVII
)
[0064] Being e(n) the error terms of the ARMA(q,p) model. Taking the Z transform of the above equation in (XVII) the following is obtained:
[0000]
PPG
(
z
)
=
1
+
B
(
z
)
1
-
A
(
z
)
E
(
z
)
(
XVIII
)
[0065] Since the first terms of the AR and MA vectors may be equal to 1 without loss of generality, the expression of the ARMA(q,p) model ( 5 ) in the system ( 2 ) may be given by:
[0000]
H
(
z
)
=
B
(
z
)
A
(
z
)
(
XIX
)
[0066] Being A(z) and B(z) the AR and MA components of PPG(n) respectively. The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an ARMA model of order q=1 and p=5, although any order of p and q in a range between [4, 12] can be used
[0067] Once the ARMA (q,p) is calculated, by means of the Wold decomposition and the Levinson-Durbin recursion, the input signal is filtered with an H(z) inverse filter ( 6 ). Also, the statistics of the residual error e(n) are calculated with the subsystem ( 7 ). The information obtained from these subsystems is stored in the output vector V(n) of a fixed dimension
[0068] The pre-processing system ( 2 ) of the present invention also comprises a subsystem ( 8 ) which calculates the Teager-Kaiser operator and models its output by means of an AR process of p order which is equivalent to the previously described.
[0069] In this case, without a loss of generality, the PPG pulse may be considered as a signal modulated in both amplitude and frequency, or an AM-FM signal, being the type of:
[0000]
PPG
(
t
)
=
a
(
t
)
cos
∫
0
t
w
(
τ
(
τ
)
(
XX
)
[0070] Being a(t) and w(t) the instantaneous amplitude and frequency of the PPG. The Teager-Kaiser operator of a determined signal is defined by:
[0000] Ψ[ x ( t )]=[ x ′( t )] 2 −x ( t ) x ″( t ) (XXI)
[0000] wherein
[0000]
x
′
(
t
)
=
x
(
t
)
t
.
[0071] This operator applied to the AM-FM modulated signal of equation (XX) results in the instantaneous energy of the source that produces the oscillation of the PPG. That is:
[0000] Ψ[PPG(t)]≈a 2 (t)w 2 (t) (XXII)
[0000] wherein the approximation error is negligible if the instantaneous amplitude a(t) and the instantaneous frequency w(t) do not vary too fast with respect to the average value of w(t); as is the case of the PPG pulse for the estimation of glucose levels in blood.
[0072] The AR process of order p of Ψ[PPG(t)] is implemented with a filter ( 9 ) equivalent to that of FIG. 5 . The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an AR model of order p=5, although any order of p comprised between 4 and 12 may be used.
[0073] Once the stochastic models based on an ARMA(q,p) model ( 5 , 6 and 7 ) and the ARMA(q,p) model over the Teager-Kaiser operator ( 8 and 9 ), the present invention calculates the heart rate (HR) and cardiac synchrony (for example, heart rate variability), from the PPG signal by means of subsystem ( 10 ). The preferred embodiment of the present invention calculates the heart rate (HR) over time windows of the PPG which may vary between 2 seconds and 5 minutes.
[0074] The pre-processing system ( 2 ) comprises also a subsystem ( 11 ), which calculates the zero crossings of the PPG signal input, as well as the variances of these zero crossings. The preferred embodiment of the present invention calculates the heart rate over time windows of the PPG which may vary between 2 seconds and 5 minutes.
[0075] Finally, the pre-processing system ( 2 ) comprises a subsystem ( 12 ) for the generation of variables related with the patient under study which include:
[0000] 1. Sex, age, weight, height, if he has eaten any food, time of the day.
2. Body mass index.
3. Weight divided by age.
4. Weight divided by HR.
5. Height divided by HR.
6. HR divided by age.
7. Height divided by age.
8. Age divided by body mass index.
9. HR divided by body mass index.
10. Blood pressure.
[0076] All the obtained data in the subsystems comprised in the system ( 2 ) are stored in the output fixed length vector V(n).
[0077] Once the features vector of fixed length V(n) is obtained, an estimation of the SBP, DBP and MAP may be performed by means of the function approximation system ( 3 ) based in “random forests”. The function estimation system presented in this invention has the advantage of not requiring any calibration once the ‘random forest’ has been correctly trained.
[0078] In a specific way, a random forest is a classifier which consists of a set of classifiers with a tree structure {h(V,Θ k ), k=1, . . . } wherein Θ k are independent random vectors and identically distributed (i.i.d.), wherein each vector deposits a single vote for the most popular class of the input V. This approximation presents a clear advantage related to the reliability over other classifiers based on a single tree, in addition to not imposing any functional restrictions on the relationship between the pulse and glucose levels in the blood.
[0079] The random forests used in the present invention are generated by growing decision trees based on the random vector Θ k , such that the predictor h(V,Θ) takes numeric values. This random vector Θ k associated to each tree provides a random distribution on each node and, at the same time, it also provides information on the random sampling of the training base, resulting in different data subsets for each tree. Based on the result, the generalization error of the classifier used may be provided by the following:
[0000] PE=E V,Y ( Y−h ( V )) 2 (XXIII)
[0080] Since the generalization error of a random forest is smaller than the generalization error of a single decision tree, defining
[0000] Y−h(V,Θ)
[0000] Y−h(V,Θ′) (XXIV)
[0000] yields
[0000] PE(forest)≦ρPE(tree) (XXV)
[0081] Each tree has a different generalization error and ρ represents the correlation between the residuals defined by equation (XXIV). Thus, a lower correlation between residuals may result in better estimates. In the present invention, this minimum correlation is determined by the random sampling process of the feature vector at each node of the tree that is being trained in the subsystem ( 2 ). To further decrease the generalization error, the present invention estimates both the parameter of interest (glucose levels in blood) and linear combinations of the previously discussed parameters (height, weight, age, gender, etc.).
[0082] The random forests consist of a set of CART-type decision trees (Classification and Regression Trees), altered to introduce systematic errors (XXV) on each one and afterwards, by means of a bootstrap system, a systematic variations (these two processes are modeled by the parameter Θ in the analysis of the predictor h(V,Θ). The systematic error in each embodiment is introduced by two mechanisms:
[0000] 1. Random choice at each node in a subset of attribute, which does not allow to establish a statistical equivalence among the partitions made between similar nodes in different trees such that each tree behaves differently.
2. The trees are allowed to grow up until their maximum. In this case, trees act similarly to a lookup table based on rules. Because of the sampling of the attributes, these are lookup tables to search with different structures.
[0083] The result of the above process is that each tree has a different systematic error.
[0084] Also, for each of these modifications, each tree is trained with “bootstrap” type samples (for example, a sample of input data is taken, leading to a fraction of the input data missing while another fraction of the data is duplicated). The effect of the bootstrap samples is that variability is introduced, which when performing the average of the estimations, it is compensated.
[0085] The overall result of the above features is system ( 4 ), in the systematic error and variability in the error can be easily compensated resulting more precise than other type of function estimators (XXV). In this system, the base classifier is a tree, which decides on the basis of levels, which makes it robust when presented with input distributions which include outliers or heterogeneous type data (as in the present invention).
[0086] The preferred embodiment of the system ( 4 ) consists of taking random samples of two elements of 47 in a node level (which can be implemented in variations between 2 and 47) and a bootstrap size of 100, also with the possibility of varying between sizes of 25 and 500.
[0087] The hand-held device according to the invention may incorporate a display for displaying data and commands for controlling the operation of the device. It also comprises at least an acoustic, mechanical, and/or optical probe, whose signals are interpreted by a post-processing system by means of a CPU centralized by means of DSP, FPGA or micro controllers. It also comprises working memories for storing the data and operative processes of the system.
[0088] The manual device of the invention may also comprise manual control buttons, according to the prior art, to activate and control it, plus batteries and/or access to an external power source.
[0089] Finally, the results obtained by the present invention may be transmitted to a PC to be analyzed, via serial port or USB or a network connection, for example by means of WiFi or Bluetooth.
[0090] It has to be noted that any alterations of the details or shape of the invention are comprised within the essence of the invention. | A system for estimating the glucose levels in blood is developed in the present invention. Said system establishes a physiological model of the pulse wave and its energy, which are also correlated with the glucose metabolic function, for generating a fixed length vector containing the values of the previous model combined with other variables related to the user such as, for example, age, sex, height, weight, etc. . . . This fixed length vector is used as an excitation of a function estimation system based on “random forests” for the calculation of the interest variable. The main advantage of this parameter estimation system lays in the fact that it does not apply any restriction a priori on the function to be estimated, and that it is robust in front of heterogeneous data, such as in the case of the present invention. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is in many circumstances encountered in a wide variety of activities difficult to align two connecting parts of a connector assembly for proper connection. A particular example of such circumstances is the attachment to undersea anchors of tubular or otherwise hollow members suspended from the surface, particularly if the water depth is large. This type of problem is frequently encountered in the exploitation of undersea gas and oil reserves, particularly in the guidance and connection of compliant vertical marine structures, e.g. single anchor leg moorings, articulated columns, tension leg platform moorings, to a seabed foundation.
Offshore oil and gas fields have been developed in water depths to 200 meters, which is generally considered to be the working limit for divers in flexible suits and who are therefore subjected to ambient pressure of about 21 atmospheres. Well drilling has progressed to water depths up to 1500 meters, and remotely-controlled vehicles (RCV's) with television cameras and manipulators have been developed for performing work required below 200 meters depth. RCV's may also replace divers for many tasks in shallower water.
Structures for the support of wellheads, separation, gas flaring, and tanker loading equipment have been designed, and in the cases of gas flaring and tanker loading installed, which have a compliant or articulating connection to a seabed foundation and depend on buoyancy to maintain the structure in a close to vertical, stable configuration. These structures are generally more feasible for installation in deeper water than fixed structures which do not have buoyancy, and which depend on their own stiffness and strength to support equipment.
For some compliant structures, the seabed foundation is installed prior to structure arrival on site. The foundation may be of a gravity type, i.e. dependent on selfweight to maintain position, or piled, either by driving or drilling. Means are usually provided on the foundation to allow the structure to connect to it.
The structure is generally hollow and sufficiently long to extend from the seabed to the surface. When the structure arrives on site, it will usually have a universal joint (e.g. a Hooke's joint or a bonded rubber flexjoint) and connector attached at the lower end, and may be floating in a horizontal position on the surface. Buoyancy adjustment along the structure length will allow it to swing from the horizontal to vertical position so that the universal joint and connector are some tens of feet above the seabed.
Once in the vertical position, floating or virtually suspended over the foundation, wind and current forces must be counteracted to prevent drifting. Surface vessels with lines attached to the structure can maintain it within a radius of tens of feet around the correct position directly over the foundation connection point by using sonar transponders.
To make a successful connection between the lower part of the universal joint and the foundation, the former must be brought to a position directly above the connection means mounted on the latter. It is also preferable for the connector of the lower part of the universal joint, and the connection means on the foundation, to be correctly aligned both laterally and angularly, before mating. These operations should not involve the use of divers, and should be practically independent of water depth.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a connector assembly comprising first and second connecting parts together with means for aligning the connecting parts for connection together, the first connecting part having a guide post and the second connecting part having means for receiving the guide post such that when the guide post is received, the first and second connecting parts are laterally and angularly oriented for connection, wherein the alignment means comprises a line provided with a remotely releasable latching means adapted to be releasably attached to the guide post so that the line extends therefrom and wherein the line may be passed through the receiving means of the second connecting part and the second connecting part may then be slid down the line so that the guide post is thereby brought into the receiving means and the two parts thereby oriented for connection and after connection the latching means may be released and the line withdrawn through the second connecting part.
Preferably the latching means is actuateable remotely both to attach and release the line to and from the guide post.
Preferably the latching means is releasable by fluid pressure. In such a case the line preferably comprises a hydraulic hose for actuation of the latching means.
For instance the line may comprise a cable having a hydraulic hose core.
It may be that the latching means is a radially expandable portion provided on a mandrel attached at the end of the line and attachment is made to the guide post by engagement of the radially expandable portion in the guide post.
On the other hand it may be that the latching means comprises gripping means at the end of the line and attachment is made to the guide post by engagement of the gripping means over a part of the guide post.
Preferably, the first connecting part comprises a socket having the guide post extending through the socket mouth.
Preferably, in such a case, the second connecting part comprises a plug adapted to be received in said socket and the receiving means is a bore therein, a continuation of said bore allowing passage of the line through the second connecting part.
Preferably also, the second connecting part comprises connecting means for forming the connection between the first and second connecting parts, this may be remotely actuable e.g. hydraulically operated.
For undersea operations it may be that the first connecting part is provided in an anchor member for mounting on the seabed.
The second connecting part may be provided at the end of a hollow marine structure and a flexible (e.g. universal) joint may be provided between the structure and the second connecting part.
Examples of suitable hollow marine structures are tubular tension moorings, articulated columns, blow out preventers and tubular risers.
The invention includes a guide post for incorporation in a connecting part and an alignment means as defined above.
The invention includes also a method for connecting first and second connecting parts wherein the first connecting part has a guide post and the second connecting part has means for receiving the guide post such that when the guide post is received the first and second parts are oriented for connection, which method comprises passing a line through the receiving means of the second part, attaching the line to the guide post by a remotely releasable latching means so that the line extends from the top of the guide post, sliding the second part along the line so as to bring the guide post into the receiving means and thereby orient the parts for connection, connecting the first and second connecting parts, remotely releasing the latching means, and withdrawing the line from the second connecting part.
Where the guide post is separable from the remainder of the first connecting part, the method may include the preliminary step of fitting the guide post therein.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be illustrated by the following description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows an assembly according to the invention prior to connection, first and second connecting parts being sectioned;
FIG. 2 shows the same parts at an early stage in the course of connection;
FIG. 3 shows the parts at a later stage in the course of connection; and
FIG. 4 shows the connection established.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, a connection is being established between first connecting part 7 incorporated in a seabed anchor and second connecting part 4 attached to the end of a steel pipe 10 deployed from a surface vessel.
First connecting part 7 comprises a cylindrical socket 17 having a slightly restricted opening by virtue of an inwardly projecting shoulder 12. Centrally disposed in the socket and extending from the socket base through the socket opening is a guide post 6 having a smoothly tapered top in which is an axial bore 8, which may be as shown or which may extend deeply into or throughout the length of the post to avoid the bore becoming blocked by sediment. In the bore 8 there is a portion of an enlarged diameter constituting a latch groove 9. The guide post 6 is steel and the anchor or foundation base providing the socket 6 is also of steel.
Second connecting part 4 is attached to the end of a section of steel hollow pipe 10 by a universal joint 3 and takes the form of a hollow cylindrical plug with a frusto-conical tip having an axial bore 19 therethrough and a projecting circumferential shoulder 16. Between the shoulder 16 and the frusto-conical tip is a hydraulic latch 20 comprising dogs 13 having a retracted position flush with the surface of the plug and a projecting position. Hydraulic pipes 14 and 15 are provided for operating dogs 13.
Threaded through hollow pipe 10 and bore 19 is a line 2 terminating in a mandrel 1. Line 2 is a cable with a hydraulic hose core by means of which a radially expanding hydraulic latch on mandrel 1 may be operated to expand or to contract. Mandrel 1 is shown being gripped by a manipulator 5 of an R.C.V. equipped with a television camera 21.
In use, the mandrel 1 and wire-reinforced hydraulic hose (guide wire) 2 are uncoiled from a winch at the surface (not shown) through pipe 10 (not shown) universal joint 3 and second connecting part 4. The RCV with manipulator 5 grasps the mandrel 1 and inserts it into bore 8 of guide post 6 in which to locate the mandrel 1.
In FIG. 2 the mandrel 1 is shown latched into the location bore 8 at the top of post 6 by applying hydraulic pressure down hose 2. Tension is then pulled in wire re-inforced hose 2 by the winch at the surface (not shown). Pipe 10 now moves laterally to a position more directly above the guide post 6.
When the bore 19 of the second connecting part has engaged the guide post 6, as shown in FIG. 3, the pipe 10 is directly over and oriented with first connection part 7. Vertical motion of the structure 10 due to surface waves and swell is now transmitted through the universal joint 3 to second connecting part 4 which is constrained to move co-axially with guide post 6.
Increasing tension of wire-reinforced hose 2 and/or lowering pipe 10 e.g. by decreasing the bouyancy of a structure to which it is attached causes further engagement of the second connecting part 4 onto the guide post 6, until locking dogs 13 are able to engage the shoulder 12 (See FIG. 4). Locking dogs 13 are actuated by application of fluid pressure to hose 14, or can be unlocked by application of fluid pressure to hose 15 so that structure 10 can be released from anchor or foundation 7 at a later date. Alternatively, many other forms of hydraulically or mechanically-actuated connecting devices can be used.
The geometry of the guide post 6 and second connecting part 4 have been chosen such that substantial engagement can be obtained to align these two parts prior to connection being made and to accept some vertical motion due to heave without causing disengagement. The post is dimensioned for adequate strength but sufficiently slender to reduce the tendency to `cross-lock` or `stick` as experienced with short, wide drawers.
By positioning the post 6 inside the socket in the foundation, and by keeping the locking dogs 13 and thrust face 16 as close to the universal joint as possible, the post 6 is protected against damage by trawl boards, etc., prior to structure installation, and bending moments at the point of connection i.e. thrust faces 16 and locking dogs 13, (due to lateral loads transmitted through the universal joint 3), are kept to a minimum.
When the locking dogs 13 have successfully engaged the connection means 12, the pipe 10 is correctly connected to the foundation or anchor. Release of hydraulic pressure in wire re-inforced hose 2 allows recovery of the mandrel 1 and hose 2 to the surface winch (not shown).
It should be noted that using the assembly described above, the pipe and universal joint may initially be tens of feet from the connecting part on the foundation but the tension in the wire will first pull the universal joint and second connecting part towards the guide post against current forces, and will later pull the second connecting part, pipe and any attached structure down from the previous floating position until the lower part of the universal joint engages the guide post. The post may incorporate helical cam means to engage a follower inside the second connecting part to orientate the pipe relative to the foundation (e.g. to align jumper hose connections).
Increasing tension in the wire or decreasing the buoyancy of the pipe will allow the two parts of the connector to mate with correct alignment guaranteed by the post and internal mating surfaces of the two connecting parts.
When connection has been made, the pressure in the guide wire may be released, and the mandrel and wire raised to the surface using the winch for re-use and structure re-installation as required.
The invention includes a marine structure tethered to or supported on the seabed by one or more connections formed between first and second connecting members by a method as described above. The marine structure may be a hydrocarbon production, drilling transportation or flaring facility. | A connector assembly comprises first and second connecting parts which are oriented for joining by a guide post and a cable having a hydraulic hose core terminating in a radially expandable mandrel. The cable is threaded through a bore in the second connecting part and located in the bore of the guide post by a hydraulic latch. The cable is tensioned and the second connecting part slid along the cable to the receive guide post in the opening thus orienting the two connecting parts for proper connection. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a fluid gear pump of the gerotor type, which is suited for use as a lubricant pump within machinery such as an automotive engine.
[0003] 2. Disclosure Information
[0004] Gerotor lubricating oil pumps have been used for years within automotive engines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,501 discloses a gear pump in which internal valving is used to adjust the amount of fluid being discharged from the pump. A drawback of the pump disclosed in the '501 patent resides in the fact that the efficiency of the pump is impaired by the use of the illustrated internal passage output limiting system.
[0005] For any particular automotive engine, designers will typically specify a lubrication pump having a volume rate of flow which is sufficient to provide adequate lubrication under worst case conditions. Conditions which dictate maximum lubricant flow generally correspond to maximum temperature, high speed operation, whereas conditions which dictate maximum flow per pump revolution (conditions that dictate the pump's displacement) generally correspond to maximum temperature, low speed operation. Conventionally, a pressure regulating valve installed between the oil pump's outlet and inlet is the only control mechanism for the pump. In the event that the pressure differential between the outlet and inlet exceeds a set value, the pressure regulating valve limits the pressure differential by allowing some of the pump's outlet flow to return directly to the pump inlet, effectively bypassing the engine's lubrication circuit. This method of control wastes energy for two reasons: first, because oil which has been pumped to a high pressure is merely bled to some lower pressure location, the work needed to pressurize the oil is lost. Secondly, the engine's bearings do not always require oil pressure as high as the pressure regulating valve setting, and excessive oil flow through the bearings causes increased energy consumption by depressing the temperature of oil actually in contact with the bearing journals, thereby increasing the oil's viscosity and the shear work performed on the oil. In any case, fuel consumption needlessly increases. The present gerotor pump allows operation so as to control the volumetric output of the pump, thereby permitting the pump output to be matched to the engine's requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A variable output gerotor pump includes an outer housing having a generally circular bore therein and a generally annular output control ring having a circular outer peripheral surface with a center, and a circular inner surface having a center which is offset from the center of the outer peripheral surface. The output control ring is rotatably mounted within a generally circular bore housed within the pump. An annular, driven outer rotor is mounted within the annular output control ring and has a circular outer peripheral surface matched to the inner surface of the output control ring. The driven outer rotor also has a toothed inner surface. An inner rotor is mounted to a rotatable shaft and is meshed to the toothed inner surface of the outer rotor. A control drive rotates the output control ring to a desired position so as to control the output of the pump. The control drive may comprise a hydraulic drive powered by the output of the pump, with a vane-sealed torque arm being mounted to the outer peripheral surface of the output control ring and moveable within an annular control cavity. A plurality of passages within the outer housing conduct fluid from an outlet port of the pump to the control cavity. A valve controls the flow of fluid from the output port through the plurality of passages. The control passages include at least a first passage for advancing the output control ring and a second passage for retarding the output control ring.
[0007] The output control ring further includes shunt passages which allow limited flow between the pumping chambers and the outlet and/or inlet ports. These shunt passages include at least one shunt passage having a non-constant flow area.
[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, a pressure lubrication system for an internal combustion engine includes a source of lubricating oil, an oil pressure sensor for generating a pressure signal, a variable output gerotor pump for providing lubricating oil to the engine, and a controller operatively connected with the oil pump and with the pressure sensor. The controller operates the oil pump so as to control the flow output of the pump as a function of at least the pressure signal. The controller regulates or operates the oil pump output flow by controlling the rotational position of the previously described output control ring by metering oil from the pump's discharge port to a control cavity within which a control ring torque arm is located.
[0009] It is an advantage of a system according to the present invention that an engine equipped with present gerotor oil pump may be expected to use less fuel because the oil pump's throughput may be tailored to the engine's particular needs at any given point in time, without the need for wasteful bypassing of high pressure oil.
[0010] It is an advantage of the present invention that the gerotor oil pump according to this invention is easily controlled with a single solenoid valve or other suitable control valve mechanism known to those skilled in the art and suggested by this disclosure.
[0011] It is an advantage of the present invention that the gerotor oil pump described herein is output-controllable at a low cost because external plumbing and valves are not needed with the present system.
[0012] Other advantages, as well as objects and features of the present invention, will become apparent to the reader of this specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a gerotor pump according to the present invention in a maximum flow position, with no advance of the output control ring. For the sake of clarity, the oil pump cover plate is not shown.
[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates a control valve used for controlling a gerotor pump according to the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a gerotor set useful for practicing the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates the pump of FIG. 1 in a near maximum output control ring advance position.
[0017] FIG. 5 is similar to FIGS. 1 and 4 , but shows the present pump in an intermediate advance mode.
[0018] FIGS. 6-8 illustrate various operating characteristics of a pump according to the present invention at various output control ring advances.
[0019] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a system according to the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 10 illustrates a second embodiment of a gerotor pump according to the present invention in a maximum flow position. FIGS. 10A and 10B are sectional views taken through the pump of FIG. 10 , along the lines A-A and B-B, respectively.
[0021] FIG. 11 illustrates the pump of FIG. 10 in an intermediate advance (flow) mode.
[0022] FIG. 12 illustrates the pump of FIG. 10 in a large output control ring advance position corresponding to a near minimum flow.
[0023] FIGS. 13-15 illustrate various operating characteristics of a pump according to FIGS. 10-12 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] As shown in FIG. 1 , gerotor pump 10 has inlet port 12 fed by pickup passage 13 , and outlet port 14 , which feeds discharge passage 15 . Generally circular bore 22 is formed within pump body 16 and a gerotor pumping elements are housed within this generally circular bore 22 . Output control ring 24 has a generally annular configuration with a circular outer peripheral surface, 24 a, having a center. Output control ring 24 is mounted within generally circular bore 22 . Output control ring 24 is rotatably positioned by means of fluid acting within annular control cavity 56 , which exerts a fluid force on torque arm 60 . In essence, torque arm 60 divides annular control cavity 56 into two chambers of variable size. Depending upon which chamber is pressurized, torque arm 60 and output control ring 24 will be caused to rotate, thereby changing the output of pump 10 . Torque arm 60 carries a moveable vane, 61 , which maintains a tight seal between the end of torque arm 60 and the outer wall of cavity 56 . Pressure relief valve 32 is of conventional design.
[0025] As shown in FIG. 9 , pump 10 picks up oil from a source such as sump 96 , and sends the oil at a positive pressure to oil galleries 98 . Controller 100 is operatively connected with oil pump 10 and with a number of engine operating parameter sensors, 104 , including at least an oil pressure sensor, and optionally, engine speed and oil temperature sensors. Controller 100 operates solenoid valve 76 (described below), so as to control the volumetric output of pump 10 .
[0026] Pump 10 uses a gerotor pumping system having an outer rotor 42 which is mounted within circular inner bore 24 b of output control ring 24 . Bore, 24 b, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 , is formed eccentrically with respect to outer peripheral surface 24 a of output control ring 24 . As a result, rotation of output control ring 24 by means of torque arm 60 , acting in response to unbalanced pressure within annular control cavity 56 , will cause the output of the pump to change. This phenomenon will be described more fully below.
[0027] Inner rotor 46 , which is mounted to driving shaft 52 , has one tooth less than the number of teeth formed on outer rotor 42 .
[0028] FIG. 1 shows pump 10 in a maximum flow position. With reference to the rotary positions through which the pumping chambers pass, these angular positions are measured relative to the pump's housing, with 0° being located between the outlet port and the inlet port, while 180° is located between the inlet port and the outlet port. The chamber passing through the 0° position has minimum volume, and the chamber passing through the 180° position has a maximum volume. As noted above, in FIG. 1 torque arm 60 —and output control ring 24 —are in the fully counterclockwise or retarded position, and as a result, the chamber passing through the 180° position has maximum volume. This means that the maximum amount of oil will be pumped, because the maximum amount of oil will be moved from inlet port 12 to outlet port 14 at the 180° position, while a minimum amount of oil will be moved from outlet port 14 to inlet port 12 at the 0° position.
[0029] Moving now to FIG. 4 , which shows the near maximum advance position of output control ring 24 , it may be seen that the parcel of oil moving from inlet port 12 to outlet port 14 is diminished considerably from that shown in FIG. 1 because the shifting of the eccentric output control ring 24 has allowed the pumping chambers to reach full volume and begin diminishing in volume while still in communication with the inlet port. At the 180° position, where the pumping chambers transfer oil from the inlet to the outlet port, the volume of the chambers is much less than when the eccentric output control ring 24 was at the maximum flow condition with zero advance. Also, the at the 0° position, where the pumping chambers transfer from the outlet to the inlet port, the chambers now carry a larger portion of oil from the outlet port to the input port, which further reduces the volume output of the pump.
[0030] FIG. 5 illustrates an intermediate output control ring position between FIGS. 1 and 4 , in which the volume of the 180° chamber is less than that of the zero advance ( FIG. 1 ) but greater than that of the near maximum advance ( FIG. 4 ), whereas the volume of the chamber at 0° is greater than that of the zero advance and less than that of the near maximum advance case.
[0031] FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show performance characteristics of the present gerotor pump with control ring advances of zero, large, and intermediate levels, respectively. FIG. 6 shows that with zero output control ring advance, the maximum pumping chamber volume is achieved as the pumping chamber passes the 180° position relative to the pump housing. Maximum inflow occurs at 90°, zero flow at 0° and 180° and maximum outflow at 270°. The inlet and outlet ports are situated in the housing so that there is minimal or zero flow area between the pumping chambers and the inlet and outlet ports at the 0° and 180° positions where the pumping chambers move from one port to the other.
[0032] When the output control ring is rotated to a large advance ( FIG. 7 ), the maximum chamber volume occurs before 180° and maximum flow, inflow, zero flow and outflow points are correspondingly advanced relative to housing 16 , inlet port 12 , and outlet port 14 .
[0033] FIG. 7 illustrates that when control ring 24 is advanced to a large extent, the pumping chambers pass from one port to the other, at the 0° and 180° positions relative to the housing, while they are changing in volume. If the pumping chambers were to be completely disconnected from both ports while changing in volume, large, undesirable pressure changes may occur within the pumping chambers. Pressure spikes may occur in the pumping chambers that are decreasing in volume, while cavitation may occur in the chambers that are increasing in volume.
[0034] To assure that the pumping chambers are never completely disconnected from both ports while the pumping chambers are undergoing a change of volume at the 0° and 180° positions, a plurality of radially extending slots, 44 , is formed in the axial faces of outer rotor 42 to allow limited flow from each pumping chamber to outlet port 14 and/or to inlet port 12 via shunt passages 28 and 30 which are formed in upper and lower portions of output control ring 24 . These shunt passages are formed in control ring 24 and have varying cross sectional flow areas which are intended to assure that the pumping chambers at the 0° and 180° positions have no direct communication with the shunt passages 28 and 30 when control ring 24 is at the zero advance (maximum pump output) position, but as control ring 24 is advanced to decrease the pump output, the pumping chambers at the 0° and 180° positions attain adequate flow passage area to the inlet and outlet ports to prevent the development of undesirable pressure spikes as well as cavitation. The shunt passage flow areas are shown at A 1 and A 2 of FIGS. 6-8 . A 1 corresponds to the shunt flow area to inlet port 12 , and A 2 corresponds to the shunt flow area to outlet port 14 .
[0035] When output control ring 24 is in an advanced position, shunt passages 28 and 30 can provide a restricted leak path from the pump's outlet port 14 to inlet port 12 . This leak path does not occur when output control ring 24 is at the zero advance position and maximum pump output is desired. If output control ring 24 were to be advanced by 90° from its zero advance (maximum output) position, the pump's output would diminish to zero. Because a running engine's lubrication requirement is never zero, there is no practical reason for constructing an engine's lubrication pump with the capability of advancing the output control ring to that extent, although there are other uses for gerotor pumps where zero, or near zero, output capability would be desirable.
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates a control solenoid according to one aspect of the present invention. Solenoid valve 76 fits into valve port 62 which is formed in the body 16 of pump 10 . Valve port 62 receives high pressure oil from outlet port 14 via high pressure supply passage 64 and can release oil to the engine's crankcase through oil passage 74 . When it is desired to reduce the pump's output, solenoid valve 76 simultaneously supplies advance passage 68 with high pressure oil from high pressure supply 64 and relieves the retard passage 72 to discharge passage 74 , so as to move torque arm 60 in the clockwise direction indicated in FIG. 4 , from the at rest position of FIG. 1 . Conversely, when it is desired to increase the pump's output, solenoid valve 76 simultaneously supplies retard passage 72 with high pressure oil from the high pressure supply 64 and relieves advance passage 68 to the discharge passage 74 . When it is desired to maintain the pump's output at an existing setting, solenoid valve 76 closes all four passages and locks the fluid within the advance and retard sides of cavity 56 . If solenoid valve 76 or its control system were to fail in this locked position, internal pump pressures and the viscous drag of the rotating gears within the pump would tend to rotate control ring 24 into a “fail safe” position of maximum pumping capacity.
[0037] FIGS. 10-12 show a second embodiment of a pump according to the present invention, in which relief passages 200 and 204 allow selective communication between revised shunt passages 206 and 208 and the pump's inlet and outlet ports. Relief passage 200 , which is formed as a pocket within pump body 16 , is shown with greater specificity in FIG. 10A . Passage 200 extends radially from output control ring 24 to inner rotor 46 . When output control ring is in the zero advance position illustrated in FIGS. 10, 10A , and 10 B, flow cannot pass between the pumping chamber at 0° and shunt passage 208 , nor between the pumping chamber at 180° and shunt passage 206 . If however, the pump is adjusted as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , communication is possible between the pumping chambers and shunt passages, but then only on an intermittent basis; there is no continuous flow of fluid from the outlet port to the inlet port. FIG. 11 corresponds to an intermediate control ring advance, and FIG. 12 corresponds to a large (near maximum) control ring advance.
[0038] FIGS. 13-15 show various operational characteristics of the pump illustrated in FIGS. 10-12 . FIG. 13 , which corresponds to zero flow control ring advance, illustrates the flow conditions experienced by the pumping chambers as they travel through a complete rotation in the pump configuration shown in FIG. 10 . In FIG. 10 it can be seen that the shunt passages 206 & 208 do not make contact with the relief passages 200 & 204 , so the pumping chambers do not have any flow communication with the shunt passages 206 & 208 while they are passing through the relief passages 200 & 204 at the 0° and 180° positions. In this configuration, with zero advance of the output control ring 24 , the pump has the same flow output as a conventional pump with the same size pumping elements 42 & 46 .
[0039] FIG. 14 illustrates the flow conditions experienced by the pumping chambers as they travel through a complete rotation in the pump configuration shown in FIG. 11 , which has an intermediate control ring advance. In FIG. 11 it can be seen that the shunt passages 206 & 208 do make contact with the relief passages 200 & 204 , so that relief passage 200 , at the 180° position, is connected to outlet port 14 through shunt passage 206 , so as to allow limited flow from the pumping chamber to outlet port 14 . Likewise, shunt passage 208 now allows limited flow from the inlet port 12 to the relief passage 204 and the pumping chamber passing through the 0° position. As before, A 1 corresponds to the shunt flow area to inlet port 12 , and A 2 corresponds to the shunt flow area to outlet port 14 .
[0040] FIG. 15 illustrates the flow conditions experienced by the pumping chambers as they travel through a complete rotation in the pump configuration shown in FIG. 12 , which has a large control ring advance. Inspection of the effective flow area between the relief passages 200 & 204 and the shunt passages 206 & 208 shows that these effective flow areas at the 0° and 180° positions increase as the output control ring 24 is advanced, but direct leakage from the outlet port 14 and the inlet port 12 only occurs intermittently while a pumping chamber is in the process of transferring across the 0° or 180° position. This reduced leakage improves the efficiency of the pump as compared to the previously described configuration that allows the shunt passages to create a continuous leakage from the outlet port to the inlet port.
[0041] Although the present invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that various modifications, alterations, and adaptations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the following claims. As an example, the electronic pressure sensor and solenoid control valve could be replaced with a hydraulic control system. | A variable output gerotor pump includes outer and inner driven and driving rotors and an annular output control ring which is rotatable within a bore mounted within the pump's body so as to change the amount of working fluid which is transferred from the inlet port to the outlet port of the pump. This is particularly useful for controlling the output flow of lubricating oil used in an internal combustion engine. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sewage disposal systems and, more particularly, to an improved rockless drain field system using multiple corrugated drain pipes.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional sewage systems, such as those used for disposing waste from homes that are not connected to sewer lines, typically comprise a concrete, plastic, or steel septic tank into which both solid and liquid waste flow. The tank has one or more compartments through which the sewage flows horizontally and is kept out of contact with the air for a minimum of 24 hours. Spontaneous biological action liquefies much of the organic matter, while fine particles settle to the bottom, where bacteria convert some of the organic matter into methane and carbon dioxide. The solid matter either decomposes or is periodically pumped out of the tank.
The liquid flows out of the septic tank through a perforated pipe surrounded by loose aggregate, usually a bed of rock or gravel. The soil itself then continues the filtering process, and the liquid ultimately returns to the ground water.
The installation of such sewage systems entails digging a trench into which is poured aggregate in the form of rock, crushed stone, or gravel. The perforated pipe is then laid down on the aggregate, and additional aggregate is added to a required depth. The top layer consists of soil cover, preferably planted, to facilitate surface water runoff.
Conventional systems require a considerable amount of skilled labor and expensive materials. The installations must meet stringent state and local codes, and must often take place in difficult terrain. For instance, suitable fill material is often difficult to obtain, since the aggregate must meet size and cleanliness requirements.
An additional problem with currently used systems is that the aggregate material, being of nonuniform sizes, has variable properties with regard to retention and evenness of distribution. The aggregate is capable of sealing off with sewage material, which prevents further filtration at such sealed off sites.
Another problem with conventional systems is that the perforated pipe through which the fluid exits the septic tank is typically buried 2 feet beneath the surface. This depth can both hinder evapotranspiration of liquids into the atmosphere and can also cause backup with as little as 10 inches of rainfall, depending on the soil and water table conditions.
A previous rockless drain field system has been described by Seefert (U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,325). The apparatus disclosed therein comprises a distribution pipe having perforations suspended above an empty trench. The pipe is suspended above the trench bottom within a channel formed by a plurality of mesh-like channel forming members. In overlying relation to these members is a porous length of sheet goods, through which evapotranspiration occurs.
Another rockless drain field system is disclosed by Houck et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,123). This system provides a preassembled drainage line unit comprising a perforated conduit surrounded by loose aggregate. The aggregate is bounded by a perforated sleeve, through which liquid may pass into the soil.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drain field system that does not require the addition of aggregate material.
It is a further object to provide a system that has uniform retention and distribution properties.
It is another object to provide a system that has improved transpiration properties.
It is yet an additional object to provide a system that has improved capacity and flow over conventional systems.
It is a further object to provide a prepackaged system that is less labor intensive than currently used systems.
It is yet another object to provide a system that has increased longevity and is environmentally sound.
It is yet an additional object to provide a system that has fluid retention time as a variable.
The foregoing objects are achieved with the drain field and drain field assembly of the present invention, which form a part of an improved drain field system.
The drain field assembly disclosed herein has a top edge, a bottom edge, and two sides for use with a sewage disposal system. The assembly comprises a generally cylindrical distribution pipe for receiving liquid effluent from the sewage disposal system. The distribution pipe has an inlet at a first end, a second end, a cylindrical axis, a bottom half defined by an imaginary line bisecting the distribution pipe along the cylindrical axis, a wall. The distribution pipe further has a plurality of holes through the wall distributed along the bottom half. In one embodiment the second end is capped.
The assembly also comprises a plurality of generally cylindrical void pipes for receiving effluent from the distribution pipe, retaining the effluent for a time, and distributing the effluent to an area of soil. Each void pipe has a cylindrical axis, a wall, and a plurality of holes through the wall.
A third component is a protective soil-impervious, liquid-permeable sheeting surrounding the top edge and the two sides of the assembly for protecting the holes in the distribution pipe and the void pipes from intrusion by soil.
When the assembly is formed, the distribution pipe is positioned along the top edge of the assembly with its bottom half facing the bottom edge of the assembly. The distribution pipe and the void pipes are situated in a plurality of adjacent rows. The cylindrical axes of the distribution pipe and the void pipes are arranged generally parallel to each other and to the sides of the drain field assembly, and one row of void pipes is disposed along the bottom edge of the assembly.
In one embodiment of the assembly, the holes in the distribution pipe are disposed in two generally straight, generally parallel lines, which are generally parallel to the cylindrical axis. In this embodiment, the holes in the void pipes are disposed in a plurality of generally straight, generally parallel lines, which are generally parallel to the cylindrical axis.
In an exemplary embodiment the plurality of adjacent rows takes the form of three rows. The top edge of the assembly comprises the distribution pipe and two void pipes, one void pipe on either side of the distribution pipe. The center row comprises four void pipes, and the bottom edge of the assembly comprises three void pipes. The rows are disposed in a close-packed arrangement, wherein the cylindrical axes of any three adjacent pipes define an equilateral triangle in a cross section normal to the cylindrical axes.
The drain field of the present invention comprises the drain field assembly as described above situated in a generally rectangular trench with its bottom edge facing downward and covered over with backfill material. In operation, the distribution pipe receives liquid effluent from a sewage disposal system, usually a septic tank, through its inlet at the first end.
The features that characterize the invention, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description used in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is to be expressly understood that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration and description and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. These and other objects attained, and advantages offered, by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description that now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of pipes draped with a cloth cover and situated in a trench.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a distribution pipe of the system of the present invention having two rows of holes.
FIG. 3 is an end view of the distribution pipe.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a void pipe.
FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the distribution pipe having three rows of holes.
FIG. 6 (a)-(d) illustrate end views of four embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a leach bed system having a plurality of parallel pipe assemblies,
FIG. 8 is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of a trench system having a plurality of trenches with two pipe assemblies connected in series in each trench.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be presented with reference to FIGS, 1-8,
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of the drain field assembly of the present invention, referred to generally by the reference numeral 10, has a width 118, a length 119, and a height 120. Drain field assembly 10 comprises a plurality of generally cylindrical perforated pipes having a protective sheeting 102 covering its top 104 and both sides 106 and 108 but not its bottom 109. The pipes include one distribution pipe 20 and a plurality of void pipes 30 disposed in a plurality of adjacent rows wherein the cylindrical axes 116 and 117, respectively, of the pipes are generally parallel to each other and to the sides 106 and 108. The distribution pipe 20 is positioned in the top row 110 of the assembly 10.
In general, the assembly functions as follows: Liquid effluent from a sewage disposal system such as a septic tank is channeled into distribution pipe 20. The effluent trickles out of the perforations in distribution pipe 20 into void pipes 30, from which the effluent subsequently trickles into other void pipes 30, after being retained for a time within the void pipes 30, and ultimately into the ground.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a side and an end view, respectively, of distribution pipe 20. The side view in FIG. 2 depicts an inlet at a first end 202, a second end 204, a cylindrical axis 116, a wall 206, and a plurality of holes 208. In the embodiment shown, the second end 204 further comprises a generally cylindrical cap 205 dimensioned to closely engage second end 204 for preventing liquid effluent from escaping out second end 204 and for preventing soil from entering second end 204. Holes 208 are shown disposed along the bottom half 210 of distribution pipe 20, which is defined by the area of pipe 20 below an imaginary plane 212 longitudinally bisecting distribution pipe 20 along cylindrical axis 116, as is shown in FIG. 3. Top half 211 is likewise defined by the area of pipe 20 above the imaginary plane 212.
Holes 208 in a preferred embodiment are disposed in two generally straight, generally parallel lines 214 and 216, the lines being generally parallel to the cylindrical axis 116. In FIG. 3, it is shown that these lines 214 and 216 of holes 208 are spaced at an angle 218 of approximately 120 degrees from each other. It can be seen that flow line 219, which is parallel to the cylindrical axis 116 and runs beneath the lines of holes 214 and 216, defines the volume of liquid effluent that can be retained in distribution pipe 20.
In an alternate embodiment of distribution pipe 22, shown in FIG. 5, holes 208 are distributed in three generally parallel, generally straight lines 220, 221, and 222 distributed so that lines 220 and 222 each make an angle 223 of 45 degrees with a diametric line 224 that passes through the middle line of holes 221. Middle line of holes 221 is disposed generally at the lowest point of pipe 22 when positioned in an assembly in a trench, that is, with middle line 221 along the diametric line 224 positioned perpendicular to level ground.
Returning to the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, distribution pipe 20 further comprises a coupler 234 for connecting the distribution pipe to another distribution pipe or to a connecting pipe (see FIGS. 7 and 8). Coupler 234 in the preferred embodiment takes the form of a tube having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of distribution pipe 20, the respective diameters being sufficiently close to enable a distribution pipe 20 to make a liquid-impervious fit when inserted into an end of coupler 234. In order to couple two distribution pipes 20 together, coupler 234 on one end of a first distribution pipe 20 is then fitted over a second end of a second distribution pipe 20.
In addition, a marking such as reference stripe 236 is disposed on the top half 211 midway between the lines 214 and 216 of holes 208. Stripe 236 permits the accurate positioning of distribution pipe 20 so that the lines 214 and 216 of holes 208 define equal angles 218 with level ground to maximize liquid effluent distribution.
Each void pipe 30 is a generally cylindrical pipe that has a cylindrical axis 117, a wall 302, and a plurality of holes 304 through the wall 302. In a preferred embodiment, the holes 304 in void pipes 30 are disposed in a plurality of generally straight, generally parallel lines, five of which are shown in side view in FIG. 4 as 306, 307, 308, 309, and 310. Lines 306--310 are generally parallel to the cylindrical axis 117. Generally there are at least six lines of holes, with an eight-line embodiment shown in FIG. 4.
As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, distribution pipe 20 and void pipes 30 comprise corrugated pipes, in one embodiment having diameters 207 and 307, respectively, of 4 inches and a lengths 209 and 309, respectively, of 10 feet. The corrugations 225 in distribution pipe 20 are defined by regions of larger diameter 224 and smaller diameter 226. The regions of larger diameter 224 define a valley 227 having a depth 228 defined by the difference between the larger diameter 207 and the smaller diameter 232. The corrugations 325 in void pipe 30 are defined by regions of larger diameter 324 and smaller diameter 326. The regions of larger diameter 324 define a valley 327 having a depth 328 defined by the difference between the larger diameter 330 and the smaller diameter 332. In the embodiment of the void pipe 30 shown in FIG. 4, holes 304 are distributed in regions of smaller diameter 326 such that each line comprises holes in alternating regions of smaller diameter 326. Each adjacent line has a series of holes staggered in a direction parallel to cylindrical axis 117 by one region of smaller diameter 326.
It can be seen that the flow, distribution, and retention properties of drain field assembly 10 can be altered in several ways and thus can be tailored to specific sites, applications, and volume demands. For instance, fluid retention time is a function of depths 228 and 328 of the valleys 226 and 326; the size, number, and placement of holes 208 and 304; and the lengths 209 and 309 and diameters 207 and 307 of pipes 20 and 30, respectively. In addition, one can alter the number of void pipes 30 in the assembly 10 to adjust the time it takes fluid to trickle from distribution pipe 20 through the plurality of void pipes 30 into the soil. The placement of holes 208 and 304 relative to the corrugations in pipes 20 and 30 can also be seen to affect retention time: If the holes 208 and 304 are placed in regions of smaller diameter 226 and 326, retention time is greater than if placed in regions of larger diameter 224 and 324. As an example, the darkened areas 380 at the bottom of FIG. 4 illustrate fluid retention volume in pipe 30.
Protective sheeting 102 comprises a soil-impervious, liquid-permeable fabric that is draped over the top 104 and the sides 106 and 108 of assembly 10. The soil-impervious nature of the sheeting 102 protects the holes 208 and 304 in pipes 20 and 30, respectively, from being clogged by surrounding soil. The liquid-permeable nature of the sheeting 102 permits improved liquid distribution properties because, as sheeting 102 is forced against holes 304 in void pipes 30, more contact area is created with the effluent being discharged.
In the preferred embodiment, protective sheeting 102 comprises a spun-bonded, nonwoven fabric. Such fabrics may include nylon or polyester. In the preferred embodiment a fabric known as Tile guard (Remay TM, Style 2005 or 2015, DuPont, Wilmington, Del.) is used.
In the preferred embodiment, returning to FIG. 1, the drain field assembly's adjacent rows comprise a top row 110 along the top of the assembly, a center row 112, and a bottom row 114 along the bottom of the assembly. Top row 110 comprises a distribution pipe 20 disposed between two void pipes 30. Distribution pipe 20 is positioned having its bottom half 210 facing the bottom 109 of the assembly. Center row 112 comprises four void pipes 30. Bottom row 114 comprises three void pipes. These three rows are disposed in a close-packed arrangement, wherein the cylindrical axes 116 or 117 of any three adjacent pipes define an equilateral triangle 382 in a plane 384 normal to the cylindrical axes 116 and 117. In the preferred embodiment, which employs 4-inch-diameter, 10-feet-long corrugated pipes, the assembly 10 has a width 118 of 18 inches and a height 120 of 15 inches.
The drain field of the present invention, shown in one embodiment without backfill in FIG. 1 and referred to generally by the reference number 50, comprises drain field assembly 10 as described above positioned with its bottom 109 facing downwards in a generally rectangular trench 502 having a depth 504 beneath ground level 510, a width 506, and a length 508. In a preferred embodiment for a single assembly 10, trench width 506 may be 24 or 36 inches. Depth 504 should be not less than 24 inches nor more than 30 inches. The width 118 and the length 119 of drain field assembly 10 are dimensioned to reside within trench 502. In order to maximize the uniformity of liquid effluent distribution, it is preferred to position assembly 10 so that cylindrical axes 116 and 117 are generally parallel to level ground. Trench 502 is surrounded by undisturbed earth 507.
Drain field 50 further comprises backfill material 510 sufficient to cover drain field assembly 10 (see FIG. 6). The amount of backfill cover 512 is the difference between the top 104 of assembly 10 and the top 514 of the drain field 50, which may or may not be even with level ground level 511. If the top 104 of assembly 10 is greater than the depth 504 of trench 502, assembly 10 and backfill material 510 form a mound. When constructed, cover 512 should include at least 2 inches of overfill to allow for settling.
Five embodiments of drain field 50 are illustrated in cross section in FIGS. 6(a)-(d) and in plan view in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIGS. 6(a) and (b) show 36- and 24-inch-wide trenches, respectively, each having a single assembly 10 placed within trench 502. In these embodiments, the height 120 of assembly 10 is less than the depth 504 of trench 502.
A bed system 51 is shown in FIG. 6(c), which is also shown in plan view in FIG. 7, comprises a trench 520 having a width 522 dimensioned to hold a plurality of drain field assemblies 10 disposed in generally parallel fashion side by side. In this embodiment as well, the height 120 of assembly 10 is less than the depth 524 of trench 520. As shown in FIG. 7, assemblies 10 receive liquid effluent in parallel from a sewage disposal system 60 via a header pipe 602 exiting from system 60, pipe 602 connected to a perpendicularly disposed connecting pipe 604, through which effluent is distributed into the distribution pipes 20 of each assembly 10 in parallel. It is further shown in FIG. 7 that additional distribution capacity may be obtained by connecting a plurality of assemblies 10 in series via couplers 234. Further equalization of distribution is accomplished via a secondary connecting pipe 606, which is connected to all of the second ends of distribution pipes 20.
FIG. 6(d) illustrates a typical mound system 52, wherein a plurality of assemblies 10 are placed generally in parallel in a trench 540 having a depth 542 wherein assemblies 10 reside. Depth 542 is less than the height 120 of assemblies 10, and, therefore, assemblies 10 protrude above level ground 511. Backfill material 546 covers assemblies 10 by forming a mound 548 above level ground 511.
A further drain field 54 is illustrated in FIG. 8, wherein a plurality of generally parallel trenches 602, 604, and 606, separated by a distance 607, contain a plurality of assemblies 10. Assemblies 10 receive liquid effluent from a sewage disposal system 60 via a header pipe 602 exiting from system 60, pipe 602 being connected to a plurality of connecting pipes 654 via a distribution box 656. It is further shown in FIG. 8 that additional distribution capacity may be obtained by connecting a plurality of assemblies 10 in series via couplers 234.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity, and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for description purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the embodiments of the apparatus illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.
Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby, the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims. | A drain field and a drain field assembly for use with a sewage disposal system are provided that do not require the use of aggregate in the form of rock, gravel, shale, or the like. The assembly contains a distribution pipe having a plurality of holes disposed along its bottom half for receiving liquid effluent. Alongside and beneath the distribution pipe are positioned a plurality of void pipes that serve to retain and distribute the effluent received from the distribution pipe. Draped over the top and along the sides of the assembly is a protective sheeting that is impervious to soil and liquid permeable that serves to keep soil from entering the pipes and also to aid in evapotranspiration. The drain field of the present invention contains the assembly positioned within a trench and covered in backfill material. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/725,686, filed Mar. 17, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/161,124, filed Mar. 18, 2009, and is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/642,337, filed on Mar. 9, 2015, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/725,686; the disclosures of all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of Technology
[0003] The present disclosure relates to a device and method for manipulating soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] During repair of soft tissue, such as biceps tenodesis repair, the biceps tendon is placed and temporarily secured in a prepared hole in the humerus prior to final fixation of the tendon via a fixation device, such as an interference screw. Devices that would accomplish this temporary placement and fixation are needed.
SUMMARY
[0006] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to an instrument for manipulating soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure. The instrument includes a handle; and a shaft coupled to the handle, the shaft including a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the distal portion of the shaft comprises a tip including at least two prongs and a channel located between the prongs. In an embodiment, the instrument is cannulated. In another embodiment, the distal portion includes marks, the marks representing a measured distance from an end of at least one of the prongs to the marks. In yet another embodiment, an outer diameter of the tip is between about 4.5 mm to about 5.5 mm.
[0007] In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method of tissue repair. The method includes creating a hole in bone; placing the soft tissue over the hole; providing a cannulated instrument for inserting the soft tissue into the hole, the instrument including a handle and a shaft coupled to the handle, the shaft including a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the distal portion includes a tip including at least two prongs and a channel located between the prongs; inserting the soft tissue into the hole via use of the instrument, wherein the soft tissue is housed within the channel; and inserting a fixation device into the hole to fix the soft tissue to the bone. In an embodiment, the method further includes inserting a guide assembly through the cannulation of the instrument and into the bone prior to inserting the fixation device into the hole, the guide assembly comprising a guide wire and a vice coupled to the guide wire, the guide assembly inserted through the cannulation until a bottom portion of the vice engages with the handle. In yet another embodiment, the method further includes inserting the fixation device into the hole via use of the guide wire.
[0008] In a further aspect, the present disclosure relates to a soft tissue manipulator assembly. The manipulator assembly includes a soft tissue manipulator instrument having a handle, a shaft coupled to the handle, a tip coupled to the shaft, and a cannulation extending an entire length of the instrument; and a guide assembly disposed within the cannulation, the assembly comprising a guide wire and a vice coupled to the guide wire, the vice including a bottom portion and a top portion, the bottom portion in engagement with the handle.
[0009] In yet a further aspect, the present disclosure relates to a kit. The kit includes a soft tissue manipulator instrument including a handle, a shaft coupled to the handle, and a tip coupled to the shaft; a guide wire; a vice including a top portion and a bottom portion, the bottom portion having a channel and a hole extending perpendicular to the channel; and a fixation device. In an embodiment, the kit further includes a drill bit; a reamer; and a driver.
[0010] Embodiments of the invention may include a method of attaching a biceps tendon to a humerus. Methods may include creating a hole in the humerus of a first diameter; severing a proximal end of the biceps tendon; pushing a portion of the biceps tendon into the hole with an instrument that captures the biceps tendon at a distal end of the instrument; inserting a distal portion of a guide wire though the biceps tendon and into humerus in the hole in the humerus; and inserting a fixation device over the guide wire to fix the biceps tendon to the humerus.
[0011] Still other embodiments of the invention may include a method of tissue repair that includes creating a hole in a bone of a first diameter; pushing a portion of soft tissue into the hole with an instrument that captures the soft tissue in a channel adjacent to one or more prongs of a tip at a distal end of the instrument; inserting a distal portion of a guide wire though the soft tissue and in the hole in the bone; and inserting a fixation device over the guide wire to fix the soft tissue to the bone.
[0012] Embodiments of the invention may be directed to an instrument with a proximal end and a distal end, the instrument configured to manipulate soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure. The instrument may include a cannulated instrument body and a first prong coupled to the cannulated instrument body, wherein the first prong is the most distal element of the instrument and is offset from the cross-sectional center of the cannulated instrument body. The instrument may also include markings on the instrument representing a measured distance from a distal end of the first prong to the markings.
[0013] Other embodiments of the invention include an instrument with a proximal end and a distal end, the instrument configured to manipulate soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure. The instrument may include a cannulated instrument body, a first prong coupled to the cannulated instrument body, wherein the first prong is the most distal element of the instrument and is offset from the cross-sectional center of the cannulated instrument body, and a second prong coupled to the cannulated instrument body opposite from the first prong to form a channel between the first prong and the second prong, wherein the channel aligns at least in part with a cannulation of the cannulated instrument body. The first prong and the second prong may be rounded and blunted at their respective distal ends to not readily penetrate bone when pushed against the bone.
[0014] Yet other embodiments includes an instrument with a proximal end and a distal end, the instrument configured to manipulate soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure. The instrument may have a cannulated instrument body, a fork means at a distal end of the instrument for capturing soft tissue between a first prong of the fork and a second prong of the fork and aligning the soft tissue with a cannulation of the cannulated instrument body, and a depth determining means for measuring a distance from a distal end of the fork means to markings on the instrument.
[0015] Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and together with the written description serve to explain the principles, characteristics, and features of the disclosure. In the drawings:
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a side view of the soft tissue manipulator instrument of the present disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 1A shows an expanded view of the distal portion of the shaft of the instrument of FIG. 1 .
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the instrument of FIG. 1 .
[0020] FIGS. 3A-3C each show isometric views of the tip of the instrument of FIG. 1 .
[0021] FIG. 4A shows a side view of the guide assembly of the present disclosure.
[0022] FIG. 4B shows a cross-sectional view of the guide assembly of FIG. 4A .
[0023] FIG. 5A shows a side view of the soft tissue manipulator assembly of the present disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 5B shows a cross-sectional view of the soft tissue manipulator assembly of FIG. 5A .
[0025] FIGS. 6-6A show the soft tissue manipulator instrument of FIG. 1 and a drill bit disposed within the instrument prior to creation of a hole in bone.
[0026] FIGS. 7-7A show the use of a reamer to increase the diameter of the hole created by the drill bit of FIGS. 6-6A .
[0027] FIG. 8 shows the insertion of the soft tissue manipulator assembly of FIG. 5A in bone.
[0028] FIG. 8A shows a representation of area 100 of FIG. 8 with soft tissue (not shown in FIG. 8 ) having been inserted into the bone via the soft tissue manipulator assembly of FIG. 5A .
[0029] FIG. 9 shows disposal of the guide wire of the guide assembly of FIG. 4A within bone.
[0030] FIG. 9A shows a representation of area 200 of FIG. 9 with soft tissue (not shown in FIG. 9 ).
[0031] FIG. 10 shows insertion of a fixation device into bone via use of a driver.
[0032] FIG. 10A shows a representation of area 300 of FIG. 10 with soft tissue (not shown in FIG. 10 ).
[0033] FIG. 11 shows disposal of the guide wire of the guide assembly of FIG. 4A and the fixation device of FIGS. 10-10A within bone.
[0034] FIG. 11A shows a representation of area 400 of FIG. 11 with soft tissue (not shown in FIG. 11 ).
[0035] FIG. 12 shows disposal of the fixation device of FIGS. 10-10A within bone.
[0036] FIG. 12A shows a representation of area 500 of FIG. 12 with soft tissue (not shown in FIG. 12 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0037] The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses.
[0038] FIGS. 1 and 2 show the soft tissue manipulator instrument 10 of the present disclosure. The instrument 10 includes a handle 11 and a shaft 12 coupled to the handle 11 . The instrument 10 includes a cannulation 14 that extends the entire length of the instrument 10 . The shaft 12 includes a proximal portion 12 a coupled to the handle 11 and a distal portion 12 b. The distal portion 12 b includes a tip 13 having prongs 13 a and a channel 13 b located between the prongs 13 b. FIGS. 3A-3C show three tips 13 , all of which have a different outer width W. For the purposes of this disclosure, the widths W of the tips 13 are 4.5 mm, 5.0 mm, and 5.5 mm. However, other widths W may be used. As will be described further below, the choice of which instrument 10 to use will depend on the diameter of the soft tissue that is being repaired. In addition, FIG. 1A shows markings 12 b ′, and numbers correlating with those markings, located at the distal portion 12 b of the shaft 12 . As will be further described below, the markings 12 b ′ are used to determine the depth of a bone hole during repair.
[0039] FIGS. 4A and 4B show the guide assembly 20 of the present disclosure. The assembly 20 includes a guide wire 21 having a proximal portion 21 a and a distal portion 21 b . Coupled to the proximal portion 21 a of the guide wire 21 is a wire vice 22 . The vice 22 includes a top portion 22 a, a bottom portion 22 b, a channel 22 c that houses the proximal portion 21 a of the guide wire 21 , a hole 22 d extending perpendicular to the channel 22 c and having threads on an inner surface 22 d ′ of the hole 22 d, and a knob assembly 22 e housed within the hole 22 d. The assembly 22 e includes a knob 22 f and a pin 22 g coupled to the knob 22 f. The pin 22 g includes a proximal portion 22 g ′ coupled to the knob 22 f and a distal portion 22 g ″ having threads that are engaged with the threads on the inner surface 22 d ′ of the hole 22 d. Prior to use of the guide assembly 20 during repair, the proximal portion 21 a of the guide wire 21 is disposed within the channel 22 c of the vice 22 and the knob 22 f of the knob assembly 22 e is rotated until the distal portion 22 g ″ of the pin 22 g abuts the proximal portion 21 a of the guide wire 21 , thereby coupling the assembly 22 e to the proximal portion 21 a of the guide wire 21 .
[0040] FIGS. 5A and 5B show the soft tissue manipulator assembly 30 of the present disclosure. As will be further described below, the assembly 30 is used to insert tissue into bone.
[0041] FIGS. 6-12 show a method of soft tissue repair. FIGS. 6 and 6A show the soft tissue instrument 10 and a drill bit 40 disposed within the cannulation 14 of the instrument 10 . The drill bit 40 includes a proximal portion 41 and a distal portion 42 having threads 43 . The instrument 10 is used as a guide for placement of the drill bit 40 into bone 50 . Once the drill bit 40 is disposed in the instrument 10 , as shown in FIG. 6 , a drill (not shown) is coupled to the proximal portion 41 of the bit 40 and is operated to rotate the bit 40 and advance the bit 40 into the bone 50 . For the purposes of this disclosure, the drill bit 40 is 2.4 mm in diameter, but other diameter drill bits may be used. Once the bit 40 is advanced into the bone 50 , the instrument 10 is removed while the drill bit 40 is maintained in bone 50 .
[0042] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 7A , a cannulated reamer 60 is disposed over the drill bit 40 and is used to provide the create a hole 51 in the bone 50 . The reamer 60 includes a distal portion 61 having threads 61 a and a proximal portion 62 . Once the reamer 60 is disposed over the drill bit 40 , a drill (not shown) is then coupled to the proximal portion 62 and operated to rotate the reamer 60 and advance the reamer 60 into the bone 50 , thereby creating the hole 51 . For the purposes of this disclosure, the diameter of the reamer 60 is 6-8 mm, however the diameter is dependent on the diameter of the soft tissue that is placed within the hole 50 , as will be further described below. Therefore, other diameter reamers may be used. In addition, the distal portion 61 of the reamer 60 may include number markings, similar to the markings 12 b ′ described above, for measuring the depth of the reamer 60 as it is being advanced into the bone 50 .
[0043] Once the reamer 60 and the drill bit 40 have been removed from the bone 50 , the soft tissue manipulator instrument 10 is used to manipulate the soft tissue 70 and place the soft tissue 70 within the channel 13 b. The shaft 12 of the instrument 10 and the soft tissue 70 are then placed within the hole 51 and the guide assembly 20 is placed within the cannulation 14 of the instrument 10 until the bottom portion 22 b of the vice 22 abuts the handle 11 of the instrument 10 , as shown in FIG. 8 . At the same time, the distal portion 21 b of the wire 21 is inserted through the soft tissue 70 and subsequently disposed within the bone 50 lying beneath the hole 51 , as shown in FIG. 8A . The distal portion 21 b of the wire 21 is inserted into the bone 50 by tapping the top portion 22 a of the vice 22 with a mallet, or another striking force, until the bottom portion 22 b abuts the handle 11 . The vice 22 acts as a depth stop in limiting the depth of the distal portion 21 b of the wire 21 into the bone 50 . Other factors that limit the depth of the distal portion 21 b into the bone 50 include, without limitation, the length of the wire 21 , the length of the instrument 10 , and the depth of the channel 22 a.
[0044] FIGS. 9 and 9A show that the vice 22 has been removed from the proximal portion 21 a of the wire 21 by disengaging the pin 22 g from the wire 21 and uncoupling the vice 22 from the proximal portion 21 a. The instrument 10 has also been removed from the hole 51 , thereby leaving the wire 21 alone in the hole 51 .
[0045] The wire 21 is subsequently used to guide the insertion of a fixation device 80 , such as an interference screw, into the hole 51 , as shown in FIGS. 10 and 10A . A driver assembly 90 , which includes a cannulated driver 91 having a handle 91 a and a shaft 91 b coupled to the handle 91 a and the cannulated fixation device 80 coupled to the shaft 91 b, is disposed over the wire 21 . The driver 91 is rotated to insert the device 80 into the hole 51 , such that the threaded outer surface 81 of the device 80 is engaged with the soft tissue 70 , thereby fixating the soft tissue 70 to the bone 50 . After insertion of the device 80 into the hole 51 , the driver 91 and the wire 21 are both removed from the bone 50 , thereby leaving the device 80 within the hole, as shown in FIGS. 11-11A and 12 - 12 A. The wire 21 is removed by placing the proximal portion 21 a into the channel 22 c of the vice 22 , rotating the knob 22 f to couple the assembly 22 e to the wire 21 , and then using the assembly 22 e to remove the wire 21 from the hole 50 . Other methods of removing the wire 21 are also within the scope of this disclosure.
[0046] The soft tissue manipulator instrument 10 and drill bit 40 are made from a biocompatible material, such as titanium, stainless steel, or other biocompatible material and via a machining process or other process known to one of skill in the art. A combination of processes may also be used to make the instrument 10 and drill bit 40 . The cannulation 14 and channel 13 b are formed during or after the machining process via a method, such as drilling. The markings 12 b ′ and associated numbers are formed by a laser or another method and the threads 43 are formed via a machining process.
[0047] The guide assembly 20 and its components and the reamer 60 are also made from a biocompatible material, such as titanium, stainless steel, or other biocompatible material and via a machining process or other process known to one of skill in the art. A combination of processes may also be used to make the assembly 20 and reamer 60 . The channel 22 c, hole 22 d , cannulation, and threads on the inner surface 22 d ′ of the hole 22 d, the distal portion 22 g ″ of the pin 22 g, and the reamer 60 are formed during or after the machining process via a process, such as drilling or other process known to one of skill in the art.
[0048] The fixation device 80 is made from a resorbable polymer material. However, a metal material and other non-metal materials, either resorbable or non-resorbable, are also within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, the device 80 may be made via a molding process or other process known to one of skill in the art. The cannulation and threads on the outer surface 81 of the device 80 may be formed during the molding process or after the molding process by drilling or machining.
[0049] As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. | The present disclosure relates to an instrument and method of manipulating soft tissue during a soft tissue repair procedure. The instrument and related method may include use of a handle and a shaft coupled to the handle, the shaft including a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the distal portion of the shaft comprises a tip including at least two prongs and a channel located between the prongs. | 0 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation application under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,165, filed on Jan. 11, 2007, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING DEVICE WITH A CURVED END EFFECTOR, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,540,128, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The subject application is related to six co-pending and commonly-owned applications filed on Jan. 11, 2007, the disclosure of each is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, these six applications being respectively entitled:
(1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,169, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING DEVICE WITH A CURVED CUTTING MEMBER, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0169332;
(2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,166, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING DEVICE HAVING SUPPORTS FOR A FLEXIBLE DRIVE MECHANISM, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0169331;
(3) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,188, entitled APPARATUS FOR CLOSING A CURVED ANVIL OF A SURGICAL STAPLING DEVICE, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,434,717;
(4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,164, entitled CURVED END EFFECTOR FOR A SURGICAL STAPLING DEVICE, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0169329;
(5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,423, entitled BUTTRESS MATERIAL FOR USE WITH A SURGICAL STAPLER, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0169328; and
(6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/652,170, entitled SURGICAL STAPLER END EFFECTOR WITH TAPERED DISTAL END, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0169333.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to surgical staplers, and, more particularly, to surgical staplers having a curved end-effector and to surgical techniques for using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As known in the art, surgical staplers are often used to deploy staples into soft tissue to reduce or eliminate bleeding from the soft tissue, especially as the tissue is being transected, for example. Surgical staplers, such as an endocutter, for example, often comprise an end-effector which is configured to secure the soft tissue between first and second jaw members. The first jaw member often includes a staple cartridge which is configured to removably store staples therein and the second jaw member often includes an anvil. In use, the staples are typically deployed from the staple cartridge by a driver which traverses a channel in the staple cartridge. The driver causes the staples to be deformed against the anvil and secure layers of the soft tissue together. Often, as known in the art, the staples are deployed in several staple lines, or rows, in order to more reliably secure the layers of tissue together. The end-effector may also include a cutting member, such as a knife, for example, which is advanced between two rows of the staples to resect the soft tissue after the layers of the soft tissue have been stapled together.
The end-effectors of previous endocutters are often configured to deploy staples in straight lines. During many surgical techniques, such as the resection of stomach tissue, for example, such a linear deployment is often preferred. During these techniques, the end-effector is typically inserted through a cannula to access the surgical site and, as a result, it is often desirable for the end-effector to have a linear configuration that can be aligned with an axis of the cannula before the end-effector is inserted therethrough. However, in some circumstances, end-effectors having such a linear configuration are somewhat difficult to use. More particularly, for example, when the end-effector must be placed adjacent to or against a cavity wall, such as the thoracic cavity wall, for example, it is often difficult for the surgeon to position a jaw of the end effector behind delicate or fragile tissue which is proximal to and/or attached to the cavity wall. Furthermore, even if the surgeon is successful in positioning a jaw behind the tissue, owing to the linear configuration of the end-effector, the surgeon may not be able to see the distal end of the end-effector.
In some circumstances, endocutters having a curved end-effector have been used for accessing, stapling and transecting tissue. These end-effectors typically include curved anvils and staple cartridges which co-operate to deploy the staples in curved rows. To deploy the staples in this manner, the staple driver and the cutting member can be moved through a curved path by a flexible drive member. However, owing to the amount of force that is typically transmitted through the flexible drive member, the drive member may buckle or otherwise deform in an unsuitable manner. Furthermore, previous curved end-effectors are configured such that the distal ends of the jaw members are the last portions of the jaw members to contact the soft tissue. As a result, tissue may escape from between the jaw members before the jaw members are completely closed. What is needed is an improvement over the foregoing.
SUMMARY
In various embodiments, an end effector for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed comprising a first jaw and a second jaw moveable relative to the first jaw, wherein one of the first jaw and the second jaw comprises a plurality of staple cavities arranged in a plurality of curved staple cavity rows, and wherein at least one curved staple cavity row extends along a path. The path comprises a first curved portion comprising a first longitudinal vector component and a second curved portion comprising a second longitudinal vector component, wherein the second longitudinal vector component is opposite of the first longitudinal vector component. The end effector further comprises a firing member comprising a laterally-offset cutting edge, a first camming surface configured to engage the first jaw, and a second camming surface configured to engage the second jaw.
In various embodiments, an end effector for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed comprising a first jaw and a second jaw moveable relative to the first jaw, wherein one of the first jaw and the second jaw comprises a plurality of staple cavities arranged in a plurality of curved staple cavity rows, wherein at least one curved staple cavity row extends along an arc defining a subtended angle, and wherein the subtended angle is greater than 90 degrees. The end effector further comprises a firing assembly comprising a first camming surface configured to engage the first jaw, a second camming surface configured to engage the second jaw, and a cutting element structured to travel along a curved path between two curved staple cavity rows of the plurality of curved staple cavity rows, wherein the cutting element comprises a laterally-offset cutting edge.
In various embodiments, an end effector for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed comprising a first jaw, a second jaw moveable relative to the first jaw, wherein one of the first jaw and the second jaw comprises a plurality of staple cavities arranged in a plurality of curved staple cavity rows, and a curved slot positioned between two curved staple cavity rows of the plurality of curved staple cavity rows, wherein the curved slot extends along a curve defining a subtended angle, and wherein the subtended angle is greater than 90 degrees. The end effector further comprises a firing assembly comprising a first camming surface configured to engage the first jaw, a second camming surface configured to engage the second jaw, and means for cutting, wherein the means for cutting is structured to travel along the curved slot, and wherein the means for cutting comprises a laterally-offset cutting edge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic of an endocutter being used to transect and staple tissue;
FIG. 2 is a partial cut-away view of the endocutter of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the endocutter of FIG. 2 taken along line 3 - 3 in FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is a perspective cut-away view of the endocutter of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the anvil of the endocutter of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of staples being deployed from the staple cartridge of the endocutter of FIG. 2 by a staple driver;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of staples being deployed from the staple cartridge of FIG. 2 where the staple driver has been advanced within the staple cartridge with respect to its position in FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the cutting member and drive bar of the endocutter of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 9 is a schematic of an opened thoracic cavity;
FIG. 10 is a schematic of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention being positioned against the side wall of a thoracic cavity;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the endocutter of FIG. 10 illustrated in a closed configuration and positioned about a pulmonary artery;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the end-effector of the endocutter of FIG. 11 ;
FIG. 13 is a top view of the staple cartridge of the end-effector of FIG. 12 ;
FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the jaw configured to support the staple cartridge of FIG. 13 ;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the cutting member and staple driver of the endocutter of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 16 is a top view of the cutting member and staple driver of FIG. 15 ;
FIG. 17 is a top view of a cutting member and staple driver in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 19 is a top view of the staple cartridge of the end-effector of FIG. 18 ;
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 21 is a top view of the staple cartridge of the end-effector of FIG. 20 ;
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 23 is a top view of the staple cartridge of the end-effector of FIG. 22 ;
FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the end-effector of FIG. 12 taken along line 24 - 24 in FIG. 12 ;
FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the end-effector of FIG. 12 after the drive bar has been advanced into the end-effector;
FIG. 26 is a schematic of the cutting member and drive bar of the endocutter of FIGS. 24 and 25 ;
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector configured to close in an asymmetric manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge connection between the jaws of the curved end-effector of FIG. 27 wherein the jaws are in an open configuration;
FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge connection of FIG. 28 wherein the jaws are in a partially closed configuration;
FIG. 30 is an end view of the curved end-effector of FIG. 27 illustrated in a partially closed configuration;
FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge connection of FIG. 28 wherein the end-effector is in a closed configuration;
FIG. 32 is an end view of the curved end-effector of FIG. 27 illustrated in a closed configuration;
FIG. 33 is a detail view of a first slot of the hinge connection of FIG. 28 that is configured to receive a first projection extending from the anvil and is also configured to define a first path for relative movement therebetween;
FIG. 34 is a detail view of a second slot of the hinge connection of FIG. 28 that is configured to receive a second projection extending from the anvil and is also configured to define a path for relative movement therebetween that is different than the first path;
FIG. 35 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 36 is a side view of the endocutter of FIG. 35 ;
FIG. 37 is a schematic of the endocutter of FIG. 35 being used to transect a pulmonary artery;
FIG. 38 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved end-effector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 39 is a perspective view of the staple cartridge of the end-effector of FIG. 38 ;
FIG. 40 is a side view of the end-effector of the endocutter of FIG. 39 ;
FIG. 41 is a partial cross-sectional view of the end-effector of the endocutter of FIG. 38 ;
FIG. 42 is a perspective view of the staple driver, cutting member and drive bar of FIG. 41 ;
FIG. 43 is a perspective view of the cutting member and drive bar of FIG. 41 ;
FIG. 44 is a perspective view of an endocutter having a curved staple cartridge and a curved anvil configured to retain buttress material thereon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 45 is a top view of the staple cartridge of FIG. 44 illustrating a piece of buttress material positioned thereon;
FIG. 46 is a bottom view of the anvil of FIG. 44 illustrating two pieces of buttress material positioned thereon;
FIG. 47 is a cross-sectional view of the end-effector of the endocutter of FIG. 44 taken along line 47 - 47 in FIG. 44 ;
FIG. 48 is a perspective view of an endocutter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 49 is a cross-sectional view of the end effector of FIG. 48 taken along line 49 - 49 in FIG. 48 ; and
FIG. 50 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the distal end of the end effector of FIG. 49 .
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, in various forms, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As known in the art, it is often necessary to resect tissue from a patient after the tissue has become necrotic or cancerous, for example. Frequently, blood vessels within the tissue are transected as the tissue is being cut. As a result, blood may flow from the blood vessels and complicate the surgery or endanger the patient. Often, a surgical stapler is used to secure and compress several layers of tissue together in order to substantially close the blood vessels. For example, referring to FIG. 1 , a surgical stapler, such as an endocutter, can include devices which staple and then cut the tissue. As a result, the blood vessels can be substantially closed by the staples before the tissue is cut, thereby reducing bleeding therefrom.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , endocutters, such as endocutter 100 , for example, typically include an end-effector 102 , a handle portion 104 ( FIG. 2 ), and a shaft 106 extending therebetween. End-effector 102 includes first jaw 108 and second jaw 110 which can be configured in one of an open or a closed configuration. In their open configuration, jaws 108 and 110 can be configured to receive soft tissue therebetween, for example, allowing jaws 108 and 110 to be placed on opposite sides thereof. To close the jaws and secure the tissue therebetween, at least one of the jaws is moved against the tissue such that it holds the tissue against the opposing jaw. In the illustrated embodiment, jaw 108 is moved relative to jaw 110 . Once closed, as known in the art, an anti-firing mechanism can be released allowing cutting member 120 to be advanced toward the tissue. Thereafter, as described in greater detail below, staples 132 can be deployed from staple cartridge 112 in jaw 110 to secure the layers of tissue together. Such mechanisms are described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,818, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Referring to FIGS. 3-4 and 6-8 , cutting member 120 includes body 122 and cutting surface 124 . Cutting member 120 is operably engaged with firing trigger 128 of handle portion 104 via drive bar 126 wherein the actuation of firing trigger 128 advances drive bar 126 and cutting member 120 toward the distal ends of jaws 108 and 110 . In various embodiments, firing trigger 128 can activate a firing drive system which may be manually, electrically, or pneumatically driven. Cutting member body 122 further includes distal portion 123 which is configured to engage a staple driver 130 commonly supported within staple cartridge 112 and advance staple driver 130 therein. As staple driver 130 is advanced, staples 132 are lifted by driver 130 toward anvil 134 . Referring to FIG. 5 , anvil 134 includes pockets 136 which are configured to deform the legs of staples 132 and capture the layers of tissue therein in a known manner. In the present embodiment, as staple driver 130 is advanced, cutting member 120 is also advanced to resect the tissue after it has been stapled. In other embodiments, cutting member 120 can be configured to resect the tissue during or before the tissue has been stapled.
Referring to FIGS. 1-7 , the end-effector of many typical endocutters is linear, i.e., it is configured to deploy staples in straight lines. In these endocutters, drive bar 126 is configured to move cutting member 120 in a straight line and, accordingly, drive bar 126 is rigid such that it does not substantially deflect when the force to deploy the staples and transect the tissue is transmitted therethrough. In addition to the above, a variety of other drive arrangements are known for deploying staples in straight lines while resecting the tissue located between opposite lines of staples. However, it is often difficult to position such linear end-effectors in a surgical site. During at least one surgical technique, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 , an endocutter is used to transect and staple a pulmonary artery (PA) during a partial or total pneumonectomy. During this technique, the end-effector is typically placed against the wall of the thoracic cavity (TCW) such that jaw 110 , and staple cartridge 112 , are positioned behind the pulmonary artery. However, as the wall of the thoracic cavity is typically curved, it is often difficult to position linear jaw 110 behind the pulmonary artery. Furthermore, even if the surgeon is successful in positioning a jaw behind the pulmonary artery, the surgeon, owing to the linear configuration of the end-effector, cannot readily see the end of the jaw as it is typically hidden behind the pulmonary artery. As a result, it is difficult for the surgeon to readily determine whether the end of the jaw extends beyond the pulmonary artery, i.e., whether the pulmonary artery is entirely captured between the jaws of the end-effector.
In various embodiments of the present invention, referring to FIG. 10 , the end-effector of the endocutter is curved. A curved end-effector allows a surgeon to more easily position the end-effector against the curved wall of the thoracic cavity, for example. In at least one embodiment, the curvature of the end-effector can be configured to substantially match the contour of a typical thoracic cavity wall. In these embodiments, the curvature of several thoracic cavity walls can be measured and statistically analyzed to determine the optimum profile of the curved end-effector. This profile can include several arcuate portions and, in addition, several linear portions. In other embodiments, referring to endocutter 200 of FIGS. 10-14 , the curvature of the thoracic cavity wall can be approximated by a single radius of curvature. Such embodiments can be simpler and less expensive to manufacture. In at least one embodiment, this radius of curvature is 1.2″. In other various embodiments, the curvature of the end-effector can be configured to match the profile of the lower rectum, pelvis, or lower abdomen.
In order to transect the pulmonary artery PA, as mentioned above, a surgeon typically positions one of jaws 208 and 210 behind the pulmonary artery PA against the thoracic cavity wall TCW. Once positioned, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11 , closure trigger 117 is actuated to pivot jaw 208 with respect to jaw 210 such that anvil 234 contacts the pulmonary artery and compresses the pulmonary artery between anvil 234 and staple cartridge 212 . Unlike previous linear end-effectors, the curved profile of end-effector 202 assists the surgeon in locating the distal end of the end-effector with respect to the pulmonary artery. More particularly, referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 , end 240 of jaw 210 can extend to one side of a centerline, or axis 242 , defined by the distal end of shaft 106 . As a result of this offset, the surgeon may be able to more readily see distal end 240 and evaluate whether the pulmonary artery is completely captured within the end-effector, for example.
Once the jaws of the endocutter have been closed, the cutting member of the endocutter can be advanced toward the tissue, as described above. In previous endocutters, referring to FIGS. 4, 15 and 16 , cutting member 120 is configured to travel within linear slots defined by staple cartridge 112 , staple cartridge channel 138 , and anvil 134 . Similarly, staple driver 130 is configured to travel within at least one linear slot defined by staple cartridge 112 . As a result of these linear slots, cutting member 120 and staple driver 130 are moved in a straight line between the proximal and distal ends of the end-effector. For example, referring to FIG. 4 , cutting member 120 includes first projections 146 extending from body 122 which are sized and configured to fit within slot 148 of anvil 134 . Cutting member 120 further includes second projections 150 extending from body 122 which are sized and configured to retain cutting member body 122 within slot 164 of staple cartridge 112 and slot 152 of jaw 110 . Accordingly, as cutting member 120 is advanced from the proximal end of the end-effector to the distal end, linear slots 148 , 152 and 164 define a linear path for cutting member 120 .
In various embodiments of the present invention, referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 , staple cartridge 212 , staple cartridge channel 238 and anvil 234 can include curved slots for controlling the movement of cutting member 120 and staple driver 130 along a curved path. These curved slots can include several arcuate portions and several linear portions. In various embodiments, the curved slots can be defined by one radius of curvature. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14 , staple cartridge 212 and staple cartridge channel 238 can include curved slots 264 and 252 , respectively. Similar to the above, curved slots 264 and 252 can be configured to receive a portion of cutting member 120 and guide cutting member 120 along a path defined by slots 264 and 252 . However, owing to the substantially linear configuration of cutting member 120 , cutting member 120 may, in some circumstances, become misaligned or stuck within curved slots 264 and 252 , or a corresponding curved slot in anvil 234 .
To ameliorate the above-described problem, at least a portion of the cutting member and staple driver can be curved. In at least one embodiment, the cutting member and staple driver can be configured to substantially match the curvature of the path defined by curved slots 264 and 252 , i.e., path 258 . More particularly, referring to FIGS. 13 and 17 , cutting member body 222 can include a center portion which is configured to match the radius of curvature of path 258 , and a curved inner portion 260 and a curved outer portion 262 which are configured to co-operate with the sidewalls of curved slots 264 and 252 . For example, curved cartridge channel slot 252 can include inner surface 254 and outer surface 256 and curved staple cartridge slot 264 can include inner surface 266 and outer surface 268 where, in the present embodiment, inner surfaces 254 and 266 are substantially defined by radius of curvature D, which is smaller than the radius of curvature of path 258 , and outer surfaces 256 and 268 are substantially defined by radius of curvature C, which is larger than the radius of curvature of path 258 . As illustrated in FIG. 17 , inner portion 260 of cutting member 220 can be configured to closely parallel the profile of inner surfaces 254 and 266 , and outer portion 262 of cutting member 220 can be configured to closely parallel the profile of outer surfaces 256 and 268 . Furthermore, although not illustrated, anvil 234 can include a curved slot which, similar to slots 264 and 252 , co-operates with curved cutting member 220 to guide cutting member along path 258 . As a result of the above, the likelihood of cutting member 220 becoming misaligned or stuck within curved path 252 can be reduced.
Alternatively, although not illustrated, the cutting member can include slots which are configured to co-operate with features on the anvil and/or staple cartridge and guide the cutting member along a curved path. More particularly, the anvil and/or staple cartridge can each include an elongate, arcuate projection, or a plurality of projections, which define a curved, or curvilinear, path for the cutting member. The slots of the cutting member can be configured to receive the projections and guide the cutting member along the curved path. In one embodiment, one of the anvil and staple cartridge can include such a projection, or a plurality of projections, and the other of the anvil and staple cartridge can include a slot configured to receive a portion of the cutting member, as described above.
Similar to the above, at least a portion of staple driver 230 can be configured to substantially match the curvature of path 258 . More particularly, referring to FIG. 17 , staple driver 230 can include a center arcuate portion 270 which is configured to match the radius of curvature of path 258 , and an inner arcuate portion 272 and an outer arcuate portion 274 which are configured to co-operate with the sidewalls of slots, or channels, within staple cartridge 212 . Similar to staple driver 130 , staple driver 230 can include ramps which are configured to lift, or deploy, staples 132 against anvil 234 positioned opposite staple cartridge 212 . However, in the present embodiment, ramps 276 of staple driver 230 can be curved to deploy staples 132 along a curved staple line. More particularly, for example, the ramps can be defined by a radius of curvature which substantially matches the radius of curvature of a staple line. For example, ramp 278 is defined by a radius of curvature which substantially matches the radius of curvature of staple line 280 , i.e., radius of curvature A.
Although the path of the cutting member has been described above as being defined by a single radius of curvature, the invention is not so limited. In various embodiments, referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 , end-effector 202 of endocutter 200 can include curved portion 263 and, in addition, linear portion 261 which is substantially collinear with an axis defined by the distal portion of shaft 116 , i.e., axis 242 . In at least one embodiment, curved portion 263 can further include first portion 265 and second portion 267 . Referring to FIG. 13 , first portion 265 can include a proximal end connected to linear portion 261 positioned along axis 242 and a distal end spaced from axis 242 wherein second portion 267 can include a proximal end connected to the distal end of first portion 265 and extend toward axis 242 . Stated another way, first portion 265 can define an arcuate portion which extends away from axis 242 and second portion 267 can define an arcuate portion which extends toward axis 242 . As described above, an end-effector having such a profile may facilitate the positioning of the end-effector against the wall of the thoracic cavity, for example.
Referring to FIGS. 18-21 , the end-effector of other various embodiments of the present invention can include other advantageous profiles. For example, referring to FIGS. 18 and 19 , end-effector 302 can include linear portion 361 and curved portion 363 wherein the distal end of slot 364 can be positioned along axis 242 . As a result, although the cutting member progresses along an arcuate path offset with respect to axis 242 , the cutting member will stop at a point along axis 242 . Thus, as long as the surgeon is able to discern the orientation of axis 242 , the surgeon will know that the cutting member will not progress beyond axis 242 and can thereby gauge the point at which the tissue will no longer be transected. In another embodiment, referring to FIGS. 20 and 21 , end-effector 402 can include linear portion 461 and curved portion 463 wherein distal tip 440 of the end-effector lies along axis 242 although at least a portion of the end-effector is offset with respect to axis 242 . In this embodiment, as long as the surgeon is able to discern the orientation of axis 242 , the surgeon can gauge the location of the distal end of the end-effector when moving or dissecting tissue.
In other various embodiments, referring to FIGS. 22 and 23 , the end-effector can define an arcuate path for the cutting member that is defined by an angle that is greater than or equal to 90 degrees. More particularly, for example, path 558 can include linear portion 561 and curved portion 563 wherein curved portion 563 is defined by a radius of curvature that spans an arc corresponding to an approximately 110 degree angle. As a result of the significant curvature of curved portion 563 , a surgeon can position a pulmonary artery, for example, entirely within curved portion 563 . In various embodiments, referring to FIG. 26 , staples 132 may only be positioned within cavities in curved portion 563 , and not linear portion 561 . In these embodiments, the staple lines can be comprised of continuous, curved rows without abrupt changes in direction within the staple line. As known in the art, abrupt changes in a staple line may provide a leak path for blood to flow therethrough. As a result of the above embodiments, the likelihood of such a leak path is reduced.
As described above, the anvil and staple cartridge can include curved slots for receiving and guiding the cutting member. In many embodiments, the anvil and the staple cartridge can be configured such that their features parallel the curved slots therein. For example, referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 , curved portion 263 of staple cartridge 212 can include an inner radius of curvature and an outer radius of curvature which parallel the radius of curvature of curved slot 264 . More particularly, referring to FIG. 13 , the inner surface of staple cartridge 212 can be defined by radius of curvature E and the outer surface of staple cartridge 212 can be defined by radius of curvature B, wherein curvatures B and E share a substantially common radial point with radius of curvatures C and D which, as described above, substantially define the inner and outer surfaces of slot 264 . However, in various embodiments, although not illustrated, the inner and outer surfaces of the anvil and/or staple cartridge, or any other features thereof, may be non-parallel to the curved slot. In these embodiments, the anvil and staple cartridge, and the jaws surrounding them, may be configured to achieve any suitable configuration or purpose.
In previous endocutters, as described above and referring to FIGS. 4 and 8 , linear drive bar 126 is configured to advance cutting member 120 along a linear path and, as a result, drive bar 126 is constructed such that is rigid and does not substantially deflect. After cutting member 120 has been advanced into slots 148 , 164 and 152 of anvil 134 , staple cartridge 112 , and staple cartridge channel 138 , respectively, at least a portion of drive bar 126 can enter into slots 148 , 164 and 152 . However, although cutting member 120 is guided and supported within slots 148 , 164 , and 152 , drive bar 126 , in these previous devices, is unsupported within slots 148 , 164 , and 152 . As a result, drive bar 126 may deflect or buckle in an uncontrollable and undesirable manner when load is transmitted therethrough.
In various embodiments of the present invention, a flexible drive bar can be used to advance the cutting member within the end-effector. More particularly, in order for the drive bar to be advanced into and translate within the curved slots of the end-effector, the drive bar can deflect to closely parallel the curvature of the curved slots of the end-effector. In various embodiments, unlike previous endocutters, the slots within the anvil and staple cartridge can be configured to support the flexible driver bar. More particularly, after cutting member 120 has been at least partially advanced within slots 248 , 264 , and 252 , referring to FIG. 25 , at least a portion of drive bar 226 can enter slots 248 , 264 , and 252 . Slot 248 can include support surfaces 249 which are configured to abut, or be positioned closely adjacent to, side surfaces 227 of drive bar 226 . Similarly, surfaces 254 and 256 of slot 252 and surfaces 266 and 268 of slot 264 can also support the drive bar. While these features are particularly advantageous when used with curved end-effectors, they can also be used in linear end-effectors. In these embodiments, even though the slots may be linear, the slots can support the driver, whether rigid or flexible, and prevent it from buckling in the event that it is overloaded, for example.
Although flexible drive bar 226 can be used to advance linear cutting member 120 and linear staple driver 130 within a curved end-effector, as described above, flexible drive bar 226 can also be used to advance curved cutting members and staple drivers, such as cutting member 220 and staple driver 230 , for example, within a curved end-effector. Furthermore, although not illustrated, one of the anvil and staple cartridge can include a slot configured to receive and guide the cutting member and the other of the anvil and staple cartridge can include a slot configured to receive and support the drive bar. In these embodiments, the slot which is configured to receive the cutting member can have a different geometry than the slot which is configured to receive the drive bar. Accordingly, the cutting member and the drive bar can have different thicknesses, for example.
In various embodiments, the support surfaces of slots 248 , 264 and 252 may be continuous, i.e., they may be configured to contact drive bar 226 continuously along the length thereof, or, alternatively, slots 248 , 264 and 252 may be configured to contact drive bar 226 at various, spaced-apart locations. In these embodiments, projections may extend from the slot walls to define the path of the cutting member and the drive bar. In various embodiments, drive bar 226 may be comprised of a flexible, unitary material such as plastic, for example. Alternatively, referring to FIGS. 25 and 26 , drive bar 226 may be comprised of a laminated material, i.e., a material comprised of two or more materials bonded together. In these embodiments, two or more strips of material may be glued together where the strips have the same cross-sectional geometry, or, alternatively, different cross-sectional geometries. Furthermore, the strips may be comprised of the same material or different materials. The cross-sectional geometries and materials of the above-described embodiments may be selected such that the drive bar is more flexible when deflected in one direction and less flexible when deflected in a different direction.
As described above, the curvature of an end-effector can be selected such that it facilitates the placement of the end-effector in a particular surgical site. In various embodiments, referring to FIGS. 35-37 and 38-40 , the end-effector can be curved in a downward or upward direction, i.e., it can be curved in a plane that is substantially parallel to planes defined by the staple lines. More particularly, referring to FIGS. 38 and 39 , staple cavities 803 , which are configured to store staples 132 therein, are positioned along staple lines 805 and 807 , for example, such that staples 132 , when they are deployed from staple cartridge 812 , are deployed in substantially parallel planes which are at least partially defined by staple lines 805 and 807 .
For each parallel plane described above, as a result of these upward and/or downward curvatures, staples 132 can be deployed along axes which are co-planar, but not parallel. More particularly, referring to FIG. 39 , a first staple 132 (not illustrated in FIG. 39 ) can be deployed from its staple cavity 803 along axis 853 and a second staple 132 can be deployed from its staple cavity 803 along axis 855 . While axis 853 and axis 855 can be co-planar, as illustrated in FIG. 39 , axis 853 and axis 855 are not parallel. In some embodiments, the axes defined by staple cavities 803 can converge, as illustrated in FIGS. 38 and 39 , or diverge, as illustrated in FIGS. 35-37 . In various embodiments, the staple deployment axes can define an angle therebetween which is greater than or equal to 30 degrees. In other various embodiments, the axes can be substantially perpendicular and, in further embodiments, the axes can define an angle that is greater than ninety degrees.
As described above, an endocutter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can include a cutting member which is advanced through and guided by curved slots in the staple cartridge and/or anvil. For example, referring to FIGS. 38-43 , staple cartridge 812 can include slot 864 which is configured to receive and guide cutting member 120 . Similar to the above, endocutter 800 can further include a drive bar for advancing cutting member 120 within slot 864 of staple cartridge 812 , however, owing to the direction and degree of the curvature of staple cartridge 812 , some drive bars may be largely unsuitable for use with endocutter 700 or 800 , for example. More particularly, the illustrated drive bars 126 and 226 in FIGS. 4 and 24 , respectively, owing to their cross-sectional geometries, may not be particularly well-suited to flex in a substantially downward or substantially upward direction as required by endocutters 700 and 800 , respectively. Referring to FIG. 26 , for example, the illustrated cross-section of drive bar 226 is substantially rectangular and is defined by height 257 and width 259 . As illustrated in FIG. 26 , height 257 is substantially greater than width 259 and, as a result, the cross-section of the illustrated drive bar 226 has a moment of inertia with respect to height 257 that is substantially greater than the moment of inertia with respect to width 259 . Accordingly, the illustrated drive bar 226 is substantially less flexible with respect to height 257 than width 259 and may not be able to sufficiently bend in the substantially downward and upward directions described above. It is important to note that drive bars 126 and 226 are not limited to the configurations described above. On the contrary, drive bars 126 and 226 can have cross-sections in which the width is greater than the height. Any reference in this paragraph to drive bars 126 and 226 are references to the particular drive bars 126 and 226 that happen to be illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 24 , respectively.
Referring to FIGS. 41-43 , endocutter 800 can include drive bar 826 which, similar to drive bar 226 , is configured to advance cutting member 120 , or a curved cutting member, through curved slots in an end-effector. In various embodiments, drive bar 826 can include a cross-sectional geometry having a width 859 that is greater than its height 857 . In these embodiments, the moment of inertia of the cross-section with respect to height 857 is less than the moment of inertia with respect to width 859 . As a result, drive bar 826 can be more flexible with respect to height 857 , i.e., in the upward and downward directions, than with respect to width 859 . In at least one embodiment, width 859 can be approximately 0.12″ and height 857 can be approximately 0.05″. Although drive bar 826 is illustrated as having a rectangular cross-section, the invention is not so limited. On the contrary, the cross-section of drive bar 826 can include various embodiments in which the width of the drive bar cross-section is greater than its height. In at least one embodiment, drive bar 826 can include a cross-section defined by a width and a height wherein the width is greater than the height, and wherein the width defines an axis that is not parallel to an axis defined by cutting edge 124 of cutting member 120 . In various embodiments, as known in the art, cutting edge 124 can include a knife edge or a wire configured to conduct current therethrough. Furthermore, in various embodiments, the drive bar can be asymmetric with respect to centerline 224 of the distal end of shaft 116 , for example. In these embodiments, as a result, drive bar 826 can be predisposed to bending in a pre-determined direction.
Similar to drive bar 226 , drive bar 826 can be comprised of one material or, alternatively, several layers of material bonded together. As above, the flexibility of drive bar 826 can be pre-determined by the types of materials used and the arrangement of the layers within the drive bar. Referring to FIG. 41 , cutting member body 822 can include slot 869 which is configured to receive the distal end of drive bar 826 . In the present embodiment, slot 869 is configured to receive drive bar 826 in a press-fit relationship, however, other means, such as adhesive or fasteners, can be used to secure drive bar 826 to cutting member 820 . Similar to the above, staple cartridge 812 can include a slot configured to receive and support drive bar 826 when it enters into staple cartridge 812 . In various embodiments, although not illustrated, anvil 834 could be configured to receive and support drive bar 826 .
As described above, the jaws of an endocutter can be placed on opposite sides of several layers of tissue, for example, and then closed onto the tissue. In the illustrated embodiments, referring to FIG. 4 , jaw 108 can be pivoted between opened and closed positions with respect to jaw 110 via the interaction of inner portion 114 and outer sleeve 116 of shaft 106 in a known manner. Although not illustrated, jaw 108 is connected to jaw 110 via a pivot connection such that when inner portion 114 moves jaw 108 relative to outer sleeve 116 , jaw 108 is pivoted toward jaw 110 . Throughout the movement of jaw 108 , the proximal portion of jaw 108 , i.e., proximal portion 111 , is positioned closer to jaw 110 than its distal portion, i.e., distal portion 113 , until jaw 108 is brought into its final position opposite staple cartridge 112 . In this final, closed position, distal portion 113 and proximal portion 111 can be substantially equidistant from staple cartridge 112 . However, as a result of distal portion 113 being the last portion of jaw 108 to reach its final position, a portion of the tissue, or an artery, for example, can escape from between jaws 108 and 110 before distal portion 113 is moved into its final position. Accordingly, the surgeon may have to reopen the jaws and reposition the end-effector in an attempt to properly capture the tissue, or artery, therebetween.
As detailed below, an end-effector in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can be configured to capture the tissue, or an artery, between the distal and proximal portions of the end-effector before the jaws are moved into their final position. In at least one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 27-34 , jaw 608 can be pivotally connected to jaw 610 via pivot connection 609 . Pivot connection 609 can include first trunnion 615 and second trunnion 617 extending from jaw 608 , and, in addition, first slot 619 and second slot 621 in jaw 610 . Trunnions 615 and 617 can be sized and configured to fit within slots 619 and 621 , respectively, such that pivot connection 609 allows for relative rotational and translation movement between jaw 608 and jaw 610 . In other alternative embodiments, jaw 608 may include slots 619 and 621 and jaw 610 may include trunnions 615 and 617 , or any other combination thereof.
Referring to FIGS. 28, 29 and 31 which schematically illustrate slot 619 in solid and slot 621 in dashes, trunnions 615 and 617 are configured to travel within slots 619 and 621 , respectively, and define the relative movement between jaws 608 and 610 . In the present embodiment, slots 619 and 621 define two different arcuate paths for trunnions 615 and 617 . More particularly, referring to FIGS. 33 and 34 , slot 619 includes first portion 623 , second portion 625 , and intermediate portion 627 extending therebetween wherein slot 621 also includes first portion 623 and second portion 625 , however, slot 621 includes an intermediate portion, i.e., portion 629 , which is different than intermediate portion 627 . Referring to FIG. 27 , as a result of slots 619 and 621 having different intermediate portions, slots 619 and 621 can cause jaw 608 to tilt, or otherwise move in a non-symmetrical manner, with respect to jaw 610 as it is opened and closed. Advantageously, referring to FIGS. 30 and 32 , such an asymmetric motion, or tilting, can allow distal portion 613 of jaw 608 to be placed in close proximity to staple cartridge 612 before the intermediate portion of jaw 608 , i.e., portion 631 , is moved into its final position illustrated in FIG. 32 . As a result, referring to FIG. 30 , an end-effector in accordance with the above can be used to capture tissue, or an artery, between proximal end 611 and distal end 613 before intermediate portion 631 is moved into its final, or closed, position. As a result, the possibility of a portion of the tissue, or artery, escaping from between jaws 608 and 610 is reduced. In addition to the above, the distal ends of jaws 608 and 610 can be brought into close opposition to each other in order to grip delicate tissue, for example, without having to completely close the end-effector.
As outlined above, slots 619 and 621 can define different paths for trunnions 615 and 617 , respectively, when jaw 608 is moved between an open and a closed position. When jaw 608 is in its open position, referring to FIG. 28 , trunnions 615 and 617 are positioned within first portions 623 of slots 619 and 621 . In this position, axis 633 , which is defined by trunnions 615 and 617 , is substantially collinear with axis 635 defined between first portions 623 of slots 619 and 621 . Thereafter, jaw 608 can be moved distally such that trunnions 615 and 617 move upward through slots 619 and 621 . Owing to the asymmetric configurations of slots 619 and 621 , referring to FIG. 27 which illustrates jaw 108 in a partially closed position, trunnion 615 is elevated to a relatively higher position with respect to trunnion 617 , as evidenced by the tilting of axis 633 . In this position, an inner edge of jaw 608 , i.e., edge 639 , can be in closer proximity to staple cartridge 612 than an outer edge of jaw 608 , i.e., edge 641 . Advantageously, as a result, inner edge 639 can be brought into contact against the tissue, or an artery, for example, allowing the surgeon to evaluate the position of the end-effector with respect to the tissue, or artery, without having to bring the entire anvil 634 of jaw 608 against the tissue. This feature may be particularly advantageous when the end-effector is positioned around a pulmonary artery as pulmonary arteries are especially susceptible to rupture.
After the tissue, or artery, has been captured between the proximal and distal ends of the end-effector, referring to FIGS. 31 and 32 , jaw 608 can be moved into its final, or closed, position with respect to staple cartridge 612 . In this position, axis 633 , which is defined by trunnions 615 and 617 , can be substantially collinear with axis 637 defined between second portions 625 of slots 619 and 621 . Furthermore, in this final position, intermediate portion 631 , distal portion 613 and proximal portion 611 can be equidistant from staple cartridge 612 . Similarly, outer edge 641 and inner edge 639 can also be positioned equidistant with respect to staple cartridge 612 . In this final position, tissue, or an artery, for example, can be securely retained between jaws 608 and 610 . Although the above-described embodiments include a curved end-effector, the invention is not so limited. On the contrary, the above features can be utilized with a linear end-effector, for example, to achieve the advantages described above.
In various embodiments, slots 619 and 621 can define paths having different centerlines wherein each centerline can be defined as the line equidistant from the top and bottom surfaces of each slot. For example, referring to FIGS. 33 and 34 , slot 619 can include bottom surface 642 and top surface 643 which define a centerline therebetween that is different than the centerline defined by bottom surface 645 and top surface 647 of slot 621 . In these embodiments, slots 619 and 621 can be configured to closely retain trunnions 615 and 617 between these top and bottom surfaces such that axis 633 of trunnions 615 and 617 substantially travels along the centerlines of slots 619 and 621 . In various embodiments, jaws 608 and 610 can be configured such that trunnions 615 and 617 contact bottom surfaces 642 and 645 of slots 619 and 621 . In these embodiments, jaw 608 can be biased by a spring, for example, such that trunnions 615 and 617 are positioned against bottom surfaces 642 and 645 throughout the movement of jaw 608 . Owing to different profiles for bottom surfaces 642 and 645 , the advantages described above can be achieved.
As described above, once the jaws of the end-effector are closed onto the layers of tissue, for example, staples can be deployed into the tissue. However, oftentimes, the layers of tissue are very thin and the staples may not properly capture the tissue therein. To ameliorate this problem, as known in the art, buttress material can be placed on one or both sides of the tissue to support the tissue as it is being stapled. In such embodiments, the purchase of the staples is improved and the clamping force of the staples may be spread more evenly across the buttress material. In various embodiments, the buttress material can be comprised of a bioabsorbable material such that it can dissolve away during the healing process. Previously, however, the buttress material has been provided in linear strips which are configured to accommodate linear staple lines and end-effectors. Such linear strips may be unsuitable for use with endocutters having a curved end-effector configured to deploy staples in curved staple lines.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIGS. 44-47 , curved staple cartridge 912 can be configured to receive a curved piece, or pieces, of buttress material thereon, such as buttress material 971 . Curved buttress material 971 can include inner edge 973 which can be configured to substantially parallel the inner radius of curvature of jaw 910 , and, in addition, outer edge 975 which can be configured to substantially parallel the outer radius of curvature of jaw 910 . In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 47 , staple cartridge 912 can include lip 977 extending therefrom which is configured to retain buttress material 971 on staple cartridge 912 . More particularly, lip 977 , as illustrated, can be configured to limit lateral movement of buttress material 971 with respect to staple cartridge 912 and, although not illustrated, lip 977 can also be configured to extend distal to and/or proximal to the ends of the buttress material to limit relative axial movement between buttress material 977 and staple cartridge 912 . Similar to the above, curved anvil 934 can be configured to receive a piece, or pieces, of curved buttress material thereon, such as buttress material 979 and 981 , for example. Referring to FIG. 47 , anvil 934 can include several lips 982 which are configured to limit relative movement between buttress material 979 and 981 and anvil 934 . In various embodiments, an adhesive, such as cyanoacrilate, for example, can be applied to the buttress material, anvil and/or staple cartridge to further limit the movement of the buttress material or otherwise prevent the mobilization thereof.
As a result of the above, a surgeon may be able to position the end-effector into a surgical site without the buttress material falling off or moving relative to the staple cartridge and/or anvil. Once positioned, cutting member 120 can be advanced to cut buttress material 971 . More specifically, referring to FIG. 47 , cutting edge 924 can be aligned with buttress material 971 such that it cuts the buttress material as cutting member 920 is advanced through staple cartridge 912 . However, in some circumstances, the cutting member may at least partially dislodge the buttress material relative to the staple cartridge. This relative movement may especially occur when the buttress material is thick, or, the cutting member must cut more than one piece of buttress material at a time. To ameliorate this problem, the buttress material may include a series of perforations, for example, positioned along the path in which the cutting member will cut the buttress material. In these embodiments, these perforations may be formed along a radius of curvature which is parallel to and positioned intermediate two curved staple rows. In other various embodiments, the buttress material may include other features which disrupt the cross-sectional thickness of the buttress material to facilitate the cutting of the buttress material. As a result of the above, less force may be required to cut the buttress material and, accordingly, it is less likely the buttress material may slide, for example, when it is cut.
FIGS. 48-50 illustrate another surgical instrument of the present invention. As can be seen in these Figures, the surgical instrument 1000 includes an end-effector 1002 that has a first jaw 1008 and a second jaw 1010 . The second jaw 1010 may comprise a channel 1038 that is configured to operably support a staple cartridge 1012 therein. Staple cartridge 1012 may be removably supported in the channel 1038 or, in various embodiments, staple cartridge 1012 may form an integral part of the second jaw 1010 . The surgical instrument 1000 further includes a movable anvil 1034 that may be movably coupled to the lower jaw 1010 in the various manners described above or in other manners that are known in the art.
In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 48-50 , the end effector 1002 has a distal end generally designated as 1040 . As can further be seen in those Figures, the staple cartridge 1012 has a blunt first tip portion 1088 thereon. The first tip portion 1088 may be integrally formed (molded, machined, etc.) on the distal end 1013 of the staple cartridge 1012 or it may comprise a separate piece that may be formed with a cavity 1089 ( FIG. 50 ) configured to receive a nose 1083 of a conventional staple cartridge 1012 . The first tip portion 1088 can include snap features 1090 ( FIG. 50 ) or other suitable retainer portions formed therein to retainingly mate with complementary retention grooves 1084 formed in the nose 1083 . In addition, or in the alternative, the first tip portion 1088 may be affixed to the cartridge 1012 by adhesive such as, for example, cyanoacrylates, light-curable acrylics, polyurethanes, silicones, epoxies, and ultra-violet curable adhesives such as Henkel Loctite®. In other embodiments, a combination of snap features and grooves may be provided in both the staple cartridge 1012 and the first tip portion 1088 . Still other forms of fasteners and fastener arrangements may be used to affix the first tip portion 1088 to the staple cartridge 1012 . In other embodiments, the first tip portion 1088 may be affixed to the channel 1038 . As can be seen in FIG. 50 , the first tip portion 1088 has a first upwardly extending curved outer surface.
Similarly, in this embodiment, the anvil 1034 may be equipped with a second tip portion 1092 . The second tip portion 1092 may be integrally formed (molded, machined, etc.) on the distal end 1085 of the anvil 1034 or it may comprise a separate piece that may be formed with a cavity 1093 configured to receive an end portion of a conventional anvil 1034 with snap features 1094 or other suitable retainer portions formed therein to retainingly mate with complementary retention grooves 1086 formed in distal end 1085 . In addition, or in the alternative, the second tip portion 1092 may be affixed to the anvil 1034 by adhesive such as, for example, cyanoacrylates, light-curable acrylics, polyurethanes, silicones, epoxies, and ultra-violet curable adhesives such as Henkel Loctite®. In other embodiments, a combination of snap features and grooves may be provided in both distal end 1085 and the second tip portion 1092 . Still other forms of fasteners may be used to affix the second tip portion 1092 to the anvil 1034 . As can be seen in FIG. 50 , the second tip portion 1092 has a downwardly extending substantially curved outer surface.
In various embodiments, the first tip portion 1088 and the second tip portion 1092 may be fabricated from a variety of different materials that may be identical to or different from the materials from which the staple cartridge 1012 and anvil 1034 are manufactured. For example, the first tip portion 1088 and the second tip portion 1092 may be manufactured from soft plastic, rubber, etc. The first tip portion 1088 and the second tip portion 1092 may be fabricated from the same or different materials.
In various embodiments, the first tip portion 1088 and the second tip portion 1092 are shaped such that their respective outer surfaces 1088 ′, 1092 ′ cooperate to substantially form a substantially blunt end effector nose generally designated as 1096 that, in one exemplary embodiment, has a paraboloid surface 1098 when the anvil 1034 is in the closed position as shown in FIG. 50 . As used herein, the term “paraboloid surface” means a surface having parabolic sections parallel to a single coordinate axis and elliptic sections perpendicular to that axis. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that when employing various embodiments of the instrument 1000 , as long as the surgeon can see one or the other of the first tip portion or second tip portion, the surgeon will know where the other tip portion is, even if it is behind tissue or other structures. In addition, the unique and novel tip configurations permit the surgeon to pass the anvil and/or channel around tissue without great risk of incidental trauma to adjacent tissues. Furthermore, when in the closed orientation as depicted in FIGS. 49 and 50 , these embodiments are particularly well suited for use as a dissector for separating and manipulating tissues.
The first tip portion and the second tip portion have been described and depicted in the Figures as being used in connection with a curved end effector. Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate, however, that the first and second tip portions may be used in connection with a variety of different end effector configurations such as linear endocutters and other types of end effectors without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the first and second tip portions described above should not be limited solely to use in connection with curved endocutters/staplers.
As was described above, the first tip portion may be constructed for attachment to the distal end of a conventional staple cartridge or it may be integrally formed on the end of the staple cartridge. In still other embodiments, the first tip portion may be constructed for attachment to a distal end of the channel or it may be integrally formed on the distal end of the channel. Similarly, the second tip portion may be constructed for attachment to a conventional endocutter anvil or it may be integrally formed on the distal end of the anvil. In those applications wherein the first tip portion and/or second tip portion are fabricated separately from the cartridge and anvil, respectively, the tip portions may be supplied as a kit for retrofitting onto the cartridge and anvil by the end user. For example, in such arrangements, the tip portions may be presterilized and packaged and be configured to snap onto or otherwise attach to the staple cartridge and anvil or channel and anvil, whichever the case may be.
The devices disclosed herein can be designed to be disposed of after a single use, or they can be designed to be used multiple times. In either case, however, the device can be reconditioned for reuse after at least one use. Reconditioning can include any combination of the steps of disassembly of the device, followed by cleaning or replacement of particular pieces, and subsequent reassembly. In particular, the device can be disassembled, and any number of the particular pieces or parts of the device can be selectively replaced or removed in any combination. Upon cleaning and/or replacement of particular parts, the device can be reassembled for subsequent use either at a reconditioning facility, or by a surgical team immediately prior to a surgical procedure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that reconditioning of a device can utilize a variety of techniques for disassembly, cleaning/replacement, and reassembly. Use of such techniques, and the resulting reconditioned device, are all within the scope of the present application.
Preferably, the invention described herein will be processed before surgery. First, a new or used instrument is obtained and if necessary cleaned. The instrument can then be sterilized. In one sterilization technique, the instrument is placed in a closed and sealed container, such as a plastic or TYVEK bag. The container and instrument are then placed in a field of radiation that can penetrate the container, such as gamma radiation, x-rays, or high-energy electrons. The radiation kills bacteria on the instrument and in the container. The sterilized instrument can then be stored in the sterile container. The sealed container keeps the instrument sterile until it is opened in the medical facility.
While this invention has been described as having exemplary designs, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains. | In various embodiments, an end effector for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw moveable relative to the first jaw, wherein one of the first jaw and the second jaw comprises a plurality of staple cavities arranged in a plurality of curved staple cavity rows, and wherein at least one curved staple cavity row extends along a path. The path comprises a first curved portion comprising a first longitudinal vector component and a second curved portion comprising a second longitudinal vector component, wherein the second longitudinal vector component is opposite of the first longitudinal vector component. The end effector further comprises a firing member comprising a laterally-offset cutting edge, a first camming surface configured to engage the first jaw, and a second camming surface configured to engage the second jaw. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2004-232881, filed on Aug. 10, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] In recent years, researches on controlling creation of super molecules making the most of a photocalytic chemical reaction and a photo-enzyme chemical reaction using laser light and separation and purification of biochemical substances of an enzyme, a protein, etc., using a photoreaction have advanced. Application to state analysis such as spectral analysis using plasma generated by laser light has also advanced. The invention relates to a microreactor as a reaction vessel used in such a field.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] The microreactor is a very small-sized reaction vessel and is formed of a substance whose physico-chemical characteristic is clear, such as silicon, crystal, polymer, or metal; generally it is worked to a length of several cm with the flow channel of a fluid measuring about 10 to 100 μm in diameter using micromachining technology of microelectronics, micromachine (MEMS), etc.
[0006] If a vessel for causing a biochemical reaction is micro-sized, a peculiar effect appears in a minute space. As the scale effect of a micromachine, blending is promoted and a reaction easily occurs because of dispersion of molecules without blending a reaction liquid due to an increase in the ratio of surface to volume accompanying the microsizing. That is, if the scale is small, a laminar-dominated flow results; if the dispersion length is shortened, blending in a short time is possible.
[0007] The following documents are known as related arts of such a microreactor.
[0008] [Document 1] FUJII Teruhito: “Shuusekigata microreactor chip,” Nagare vol. 20 No. 2 (published in April 2001), pp. 99-105
[0009] [Document 2] SOTOWA Kenichirou, KUSAKABE Katsumi: “Microreactor de kiwameru CFD,” Fluent Asian Pacific News Letter Fall (2002)
[0010] [Document 3] JP-A-2003-126686
[0011] FIGS. 3A and 3B show the configuration of a microreactor described in documents 1 and 2, wherein two liquids are allowed to flow into a joint flow channel where flow channels are joined as shaped like a letter Y, and reaction of the two liquids is caused. FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken on line A-A in FIG. 3A .
[0012] In FIGS. 3A and 3B , numeral 10 denotes a first substrate (PDMS resin (Poly-dimethyloxane) as a laser light transmission material) formed with a groove 11 , which is made up of a first flow channel 11 a , a second flow channel 11 b , and a joint flow channel 11 c . Numeral 12 a denotes a first inflow port formed at an end part of the first flow channel 11 a , numeral 12 b denotes a second inflow port formed at an end part of the second flow channel 11 b , and numeral 13 denotes an outflow port formed at an end part of the joint flow channel 11 c . Numeral 14 denotes a second substrate (PMMA (Methacrylic resin) as a laser light transmission material), which is fixed covering the side where the groove of the first substrate 10 is formed. The cross section of the groove of the microreactor is about 100 μm 2 .
[0013] FIG. 3C shows a state in which fluids different in component flowing through the first and second flow channels 11 a and 11 b join in the joint flow channel; since the scale is small, a laminar-dominated flow results. Thus, within the flow channel of microscale, mostly the Reynolds number is smaller than one; it can be used for performing extraction operation between the two types of liquid phases, etc., for example. Although the state is the laminar state, if the flow width is lessened (the dispersion length is shortened), blending can be executed in a short time.
[0014] FIGS. 4A to 4 C are plan views to show the configuration of a microreactor described in document 3. Parts similar to those previously described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3 C are denoted by the same reference numerals in FIGS. 4A to 4 C.
[0015] In FIG. 4A , a notch 23 is formed in the vicinity of the joint point where first and second flow channels join, and a partition wall from the bottom to a joint flow channel 11 c measures about 10 μm in thickness and the heating range is about 100 μ. Numeral 20 denotes laser light narrowed through a lens. In this example, SUS, aluminum, glass, etc., is used as the material of a first substrate 10 .
[0016] FIGS. 4B and 4C show examples wherein the first substrate 10 is formed of an optically transparent material of glass, transparent plastic, etc., and is used to directly form a convex lens and a Fresnel lens. Also in this case, laser light is applied through the convex lens and the Fresnel lens for heating and accelerating a chemical reaction of fluid flowing through the joint flow channel.
[0017] By the way, the microreactor using the microflow channel in the related art shown in FIGS. 3A to 3 C is intended for reaction based on dispersion of molecules by joining the flow channels, and the microreactor shown in FIGS. 4A to 4 C is intended for controlling the temperature, etc., by a laser for accelerating the chemical reaction of fluid flowing through the joint flow channel.
[0018] However, only limited chemical reactions can be obtained simply by heating depending on the type of fluid. When a fluid flowing through the joint flow channel is heated by a laser, the area where the light strength is strong becomes the main reaction area and thus when production and reaction occur, the effects of contamination from a wall face, surface reaction of a wall face, etc., are received.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0019] An object of the invention is to provide a microreactor wherein a microflow channel is branched so as to blend fluids and cause fluids to react with each other, and a mechanism for applying an electric field or a magnetic field is provided in the branch part so as to separate and concentrate a reaction product.
[0020] The invention provides a microreactor, including: a plurality of flow channels; a joint flow channel where the plurality of flow channels are joined; a light applying section which applies light, that accelerates a reaction of fluids which flows through the plurality of flow channels to join in the joint flow channel, to the joint flow channel; and an applying section which applies a magnetic field and/or an electric field to a reaction production substance.
[0021] In the microreactor, the joint flow channel is branched into a plurality of channels on a downstream side, and the applying section is provided adjacent to the branch part.
[0022] In the microreactor, the light applied from the light applying section is laser light, the light applying section applies the laser light through a lens, and the laser light is narrowed through the lens so that a beam waist of the laser light in the joint flow channel is smaller than the joint flow channel in width.
[0023] According to the microreactor, it is possible to accelerate a specific chemical reaction, and separate and concentrate a specific reaction production substance that are impossible in the method using blending and chemical reaction by dispersion in a microflow channel controlling the temperature, pressure, etc., of the microflow channel in the related art.
[0024] Further, a reactor that is free of the effects of contamination from the wall face, surface reaction of the wall face, etc., can be provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is a drawing to show one embodiment of a microreactor of the invention;
[0026] FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic representation to show the position of a beam waist of laser light;
[0027] FIGS. 3A to 3 C are schematic representation of a microreactor in a related art; and
[0028] FIGS. 4A to 4 C are schematic representation of a microreactor in a related art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. Parts similar to those in the related art examples previously described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3 C and FIGS. 4A to 4 C are denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. 1 .
[0030] In FIG. 1 , A liquid flows into a reactor from a first inflow port 12 a and B liquid flows into the reactor from a second inflow port 12 b . These liquids join in a joint flow channel 11 c and flow out through first and second outflow ports 13 a and 13 b.
[0031] Although not shown, a second substrate similar to that previously described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3 C in the related art example is formed on the side where the joint flow channel 11 c of a first substrate 10 is formed, and covers the inflow ports 12 a and 12 b and the outflow ports 13 a and 13 b.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 1 , the microreactor of the invention includes the first and second inflow ports 12 a and 12 b shaped like a letter Y for introducing two types of fluids (in the embodiment, A liquid and B liquid), the joint flow channel 11 c where these liquids are joined and light is applied, and an electric field applying section (electrodes) 15 , for example, in the vicinity of an exit where the reacting fluid is again caused to branch into the first and second outflow ports 13 a and 13 b so that an electric field (D) can be applied.
[0033] After the two liquids are joined, they react with each other as they are blended by dispersion of molecules. Here, photochemical reaction is controlled (accelerated) by applying a laser using a laser emission device (not shown) in the middle of the joint flow channel 11 c.
[0034] A transparent material for excitation light is used as the flow channel material of the reaction portion so that the reaction liquid absorbs light and the reaction is accelerated. If the photoreaction is reaction based on resonance absorption occurring at a specific wavelength, for example, specific chemical reaction can be controlled using a variable wavelength light source (for example, tunable wavelength laser) for the excitation light. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a specific reaction production substance is photo-excited and ionized by applying three types of light different in wavelength.
[0035] When the reaction production substance occurring here is caused to branch in the branch part to the first and second outflow ports 13 a and 13 b (Y-shaped flow channel), the electric field applying section 15 provided in the branch part applies an electric field to the reaction production substance in the branch part. Consequently, it is made possible to separate or concentrate the photo-excited ionized reaction production substance in one flow channel after branch.
[0036] In the embodiment, reaction acceleration by applying light of a specific wavelength, photoexcitation and ionization based on specific wavelengths, and separation and concentration by applying an electric field are added as the functions in the microreactor, but a magnetic field rather than an electric field can also be applied to the branch part of the Y-shaped flow channel in response to the type of reaction production substance.
[0037] FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic representation to show the position of a beam waist of laser light. FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken on line A-B in FIG. 2A . The figures show only the portion of the joint flow channel 11 c shown in FIG. 1 . In the example, a light transmission material with small light absorption, for example, a material of quartz, etc., is used as the materials of the first and second substrates. In this case, laser light is applied through a lens 21 and laser is narrowed through the lens 21 to such an extent that it does not come into contact with either side wall of the joint flow channel 11 c.
[0038] That is, as shown in FIG. 2B , for the laser light gathered in the joint flow channel 11 c , beam waist P with high light strength is positioned at a distance from each wall face and the area where the light strength is high becomes the main reaction area. In other words, the beam waist P of the laser light in the joint flow channel 11 c is smaller than the joint flow channel 11 c in width. Therefore, if production and reaction occur in the area where the light strength is strong, the effects of contamination from the wall face, surface reaction of the wall face, etc., can be prevented.
[0039] The above embodiment of the invention described above is only illustrative for the description of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the above embodiment described above and that the invention includes various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A microreactor has a plurality of flow channels, a joint flow channel where the plurality of flow channels are joined, a light applying section which applies light, that accelerates a reaction of fluids which flows through the plurality of flow channels to join in the joint flow channel, to the joint flow channel; and an applying section which applies a magnetic field and/or an electric field to a reaction production substance. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for attaching anchors to flanged ceiling rails.
(2) Prior Art
Hanging displays from ceilings, and changing those displays is a never ending task for merchants, who must change, correct or move displays hanging from ceilings, all the time.
Some devices have been created to aid in anchoring of ad displays from ceilings, but often suffer from handicaps as usually requiring stepladders or the like. Among the art included is U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,376 to Freeman et al; U.S. Patent to Ferguson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,692; U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,576 to Hoop; U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,108 to Jaroche; U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,087 to Wand; U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,215 to Berger; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,165 to Grant et al.
They represent devices that are complicated to make, require close hand support or ladders to bring the worker to the ceiling.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an anchor installation arrangement for ceiling rails which is simple to use, readily adaptable to a plurality of anchor devices, and which will assist in the removal as well as the attachment of such anchors.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises an anchor installation device which is attachable to the end of a telescoping elongated pole. The anchor installation device includes a generally "Y" shaped bifurcated support having a proximal end of stepped diameter, which is attachable to the telescoping pole.
The bifurcated support is arranged to be matable on its distal end, with several different installation heads. A first installation head comprises an elongated generally U-shaped member adapted primarily for the attachment and removal of magnetic anchors on metal ceiling rails. A second installation head is also attachable to the distal end of the bifurcated support, so as to permit the attachment of "spider" anchors to the metal ceiling rails.
The bifurcated support has a pair of elongated fingers having flattened distal ends. One of the fingers has a boss which mates with a similarly configured slot on the installation heads so as to establish proper mounting therebetween.
The first installation head, of elongated generally U-shaped configuration has a central body portion with a pair of spaced apart slots for receiving the flattened ends of the elongated fingers of the bifurcated support. One of the slots has a recess which mates with the boss on one of the fingers.
The first installation head has an open first end having parallel side rails, which are appropriately spaced so as to receive an elongated rectangularly shaped magnet. The installation head has an upper side having upper teeth extending partially towards one another off of the rails so as to grip a magnet and permit it to be pulled from a metal ceiling rail. The installation head has a lower side having lower teeth extending toward one another off of the side rails so as to hold a magnet between the rails as it is being lifted toward the ceiling rail. A pair of tabs extend off of the lower distal most teeth to prevent an elongated magnet held therein from sliding out the open end of the elongated side rails.
The first installation head also has a bifircuted second end. A transverse channel is disposed across the body. An elongated magnet may be held in the transverse channel. The elongated magnets have a centrally disposed hook extending off of one side. The hook would extend into the slot defining the bifurcation, which is directed, permitting attachment of a sign or display arrangement to the hook.
A circular depression in the upper surface of the second end is adapted to engage a circular adhesive pad. The adhesive pad has a boss on its lowermost side from which a hook would extend. The hook would fit into the aforementioned slot in the second end, enabling a display to be attached thereto.
A hook may be disposed on the outer side of the elongated side rails, to lift displays onto the hooks extending downwardly from the magnets or adhesive anchors.
The second installation head is comprised of a generally planar U-shaped fixture having a base of somewhat square configuration. An elevated boss is disposed on each corner of the base. A slot extends down the center of the base defining a pair of spaced parallel legs. A central portion on each side of the slot has sloped sides. A planar ear extends off of the base from each leg. A narrow groove extends transversely across the legs, including the sloped sides on each side of the slot. The groove is adapted to snugly receive a spider clip which is arranged to grip a T-shaped ceiling rail when twisted thereon. The elevated bosses on each corner of the base push up ceiling tiles out of the way slightly so that the spider clip can engage the ceiling rail without interference.
The first and second installation heads are interchangable with respect to the bifurcated support/each permitting its own type of anchor to be secured to the ceiling rail with relative ease.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when viewed in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bifurated support utilized for securing an installation head to a pole;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of an installation head adaptable to receive various types of anchors for securement/retrieval from a ceiling rail;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the installation head shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a view taken along the lines IV--IV of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a further installation head;
FIG. 6 is a view taken along the lines VI--VI of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a spider clip;
FIG. 8 is a view taken along the lines VIII--VIII of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a magnetic anchor utilizable with the installation head shown in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a ceiling rail and ceiling tiles in a ceiling.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a bifurcated support 20 which is adaptable for emplacement onto a telescoping pole 19, for securement of an installation head utilized to attach anchors to ceiling rails. This invention is related to the invention shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,733, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The bifurcated support 20 has a proximal end 22, of stepped diameters 21 and 23, adapted to be received in different size openings, if necessary, on the distal end of the telescoping pole 19, and is arranged to be matable, on its distal end, to different installation heads 24 and 26, shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, respectively. The first installation head 24, shown in FIG. 2, comprises an elongated generally U-shaped member, adaptable for the attachment of magnetic anchors 28, generally as shown in FIG. 9.
The bifurcated support 20 has a pair of elongated fingers 30 and 32 having flattened distal ends. One finger 32 has a narrow elongated key 34 on one side thereof, as shown in FIG. 1, which mates with a similarly configured slot on each of the installation heads 24 and 26 as described herein below.
The first installation head 24 has a central body portion 36 with a pair of spaced apart slots 38 and 40 adapted to receive the flattened distal ends of the elongated fingers 30 and 32 of the bifurcated support 20. One of the slots 40 has a recess 42 which mates with the key 34 on one finger 32.
The first installation head 24 has an open first end 44 having parallel side rails 46 and 48. The first installation head 24 has an upper side 50 and a plurality of short, spaced apart upper teeth 52 extending off of the upper side 50 across the space between the side rails 46 and 48, and towards one another, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The first installation head 24 has a lower side 54 having short, spaced apart lower teeth 56 extending towards one another off of the bottom side 54 of the side rails 46 and 48. A tab 58 extends slightly upwardly of and distal of the distalmost lower tooth 56, the upper and lower teeth 52 and 56 acting to hold a magnetic type anchor 28 therebetween, as it is lifted towards or away from a ceiling rail 60, of inverted T-shape in cross section, which ceiling rail 60 is shown in FIG. 10.
The first installation head 24 also has a bifurcated second end 62, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2. The second end 62 is bifurcated by a central slot 64. A transverse channel 66 is disposed across the central body portion 36, which likewise is dimensioned so as to cradle an elongated magnetic anchor 28, thereacross. The magnetic anchors 28 typically have a boss 68 centrally disposed therein, as shown in FIG. 9. A hook 70 or eye extends outwardly from the boss 68. During installation of a magnetic anchor 28, the boss 68 and hook 70 would extend downwardly through the slot 64 as it is lifted towards a ceiling rail 60.
The second end 62 of the first installation head 24 may have a circular depression 72 extending thereon, which permits the first head 24 to engage a circular adhesive anchor, not shown, having a boss and hook directed downwardly through the slot 64 as would the boss and hook of a magnetic anchor 28. A leader or elongated line may extend from the respective hooks of the anchors, to any display sign thereattached.
An engagement hook 74 is arranged in the outer side of each side rail 48 and 46. The engagement hook 74 permits the emplacement and removal of display sign lines onto the anchor hooks through the manipulation of the first installation head 24 on the upper end of a telescoping pole, not shown.
The second installation head 26, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is comprised of a generally square shaped planar base 76, having an elevated boss 78 on each corner thereof. A slot 80 extends across most of the base 76, and defines a pair of spaced apart parallel legs 82 and 84. A central portion 86 on each side of the slot 80 is of sloped configuration. A planar alignment ear 88 extends angularly off of each side of the base 76. The alignment ears 88 provide an alignment means when the second head 24 is attached to its bifurcated support 20. The ears 88 are caused to line up parallel to the lower portion of the ceiling rail 60. A narrow groove 90 is molded across each leg 82 and 84 as shown in FIG. 5, including the central sloped portion 86. The groove 90 is configured to snugly receive a spider clip 92, which clip 92 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. A pair of feet 94 extend downwardly on the bottomside of the base 76 at the legs 82 and 84, as shown in FIG. 6. A pair of slots 95 and 97 are molded into the feet 94, which receive the elongated fingers 30 and 32.
When attaching a spider clip 92, which mates with the groove 90 in the second head 26, the clip 92 has sloped portions 93 which mate correspondingly with those sloped portions 86 of the groove 90. The alignment ears 88 are manipulated into alignment with the longitudinal axis of the ceiling rail 60, and then the head 26 is rotated so as to engage the bent ends 96 onto the inverted "T" ceiling rail 60. The elevated bosses 78 on each corner of the second head 26 push the ceiling tiles 98 up out of the way slightly, as the spider clip 92 is being rotatively engaged thereon, without interference from those tiles 98.
The first and second interference heads 24 and 26 are interchangably disposable with respect to the bifurcated support 20, each permitting its own arrangement of ceiling anchors to be secured to a ceiling rail, with relative ease. | An arrangement for attaching ceiling anchors to ceiling rails, including a bifurcated support which is attachable to an elongated pole. The support is engagable with an installment head which is bifurcated to define a carrying space for ceiling anchors. The installment head is adapted to keep anchors from slipping off of the head as it is moved relative to a ceiling rail. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/568,748 filed Dec. 9, 2011, incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a method for treating cancer. More particularly, it relates to the treatment of myeloma and breast cancer, via administration of the material referred to as “TBL-12” and elaborated upon infra, either with or without the drug “Velcade.”
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
[0003] Multiple myeloma (“MM” hereafter) is a cancer which evolves from a pathological state known as “monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.” It is characterized by latent accumulation of plasma cells in bone marrow. MM may be described as a malignancy of terminally differentiated B cells, and accounts for approximately 10% of all hematological malignancies.
[0004] While some of the symptoms of MM include end organ hypercalcemic diseases, renal insufficiency, anemia, and bone lesions, patients may in fact be asymptomatic, and there is no standard therapy for such patients. While some efficacy has been shown with thalidomide, it is severely toxic.
[0005] “Bortezomib” or “Velcade,” is widely used in the treatment of MM, and it has shown to provide remarkable response rates in both relapsed and newly diagnosed MM patients; however, the drug is associated with resistance and toxicity issues.
[0006] Current clinical practice in treating MM includes controlling the disease and keeping patients in remission, and to improve life quality via supplementing their therapeutic regime with natural, chemopreventive agents. These include, e.g., resveratrol and curcumin, each of which have been shown to possess anti-tumor properties against myeloma, and promyelocytic leukemia cells, via reducing osteoclast formation, and sensitizing cells which promote multiple mechanisms associated with apoptosis.
[0007] Preclinical studies have shown that Velcade enhances the sensitivity of myeloma cells to conventional anti-myeloma agents.
[0008] One characteristic of MM is that its progression has been correlated to angiogenesis. Hence, one way to determine efficacy of a substance in MM therapy is to observe its impact on angiogenesis.
[0009] “TBL-12” is a natural product, extracted from sea cucumber and other natural, marine ingredients. In parallel experiments, the inventors determined that TBL-12 possesses chemopreventive properties against cancer. In view of these findings, studies were undertaken to deter mine if combinations of TBL-12 and Velcade functioned in a synergistic manner. It has been found that, in fact, the combination of TBL-12 and Velcade has a strong anti-proliferative effect on cancers, such as myeloma. Further, the combination permits the use of doses of Velcade which are below the minimums previously contemplated as being necessary for an anti-cancer effect.
[0010] These and other aspects of the invention will be seen in the disclosure which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 sets out the results of experiments using a combination of TBL-12 and Velcade on myeloma.
[0012] FIG. 2 parallels FIG. 1 in showing the result of the combination on VEGF production in HUVEC cells.
[0013] FIG. 3 shows the results of studies on the use of the combination on tube formation in HITVEC and HPEC cells.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Example 1
[0014] This example serves as background to what follows, and shows the anti-cancer properties of TBL-12.
[0015] Two human myeloma cell lines, which are publicly available (KMS1 and ARP1), were cultured, under standard conditions (96 and 6 well plates in RPMI medium with 10% fetal calf serum). Any cells which reached 75% confluence were used in the experiments which follow.
[0016] A stock solution of 1 mg/ml TBL-12, extracted in DMSO, was diluted to produce concentrations of 25, 75, 100, 200, 250, and 500 μg/ml. The myeloma cell lines raised to confluence were then tested, in 96 well plates, with the varying concentrations of TBL-12. A standard MTT assay was carried out to measure cell proliferation. The cells which were cultured in 6 well plates were used in Trypan blue exclusion studies to measure viability.
[0017] Examination of cells 48 hours after treatment showed dramatic decreases in cell death. Nuclear condensation in both cell line types showed that apoptotic mechanisms were involved in the cell death. The effect became more pronounced at dosages of 100 μg/ml or higher.
[0018] In view of these results, studies were extended to a third multiple myeloma cell line (MM1), a prostate cancer cell line (PC-3), and a human cervical cancer line, “Caski.” This line is also positive for human papilloma virus HPV-16.
[0019] While a necrotic effect was not observed, reduced cancer cell proliferation was seen with all cell lines tested.
[0020] While not intending to be bound by theory, it is thought that TBL-12 may damage cancer cell membranes which are associated with cell cycle arrest and suppression of cell division.
[0021] While LD 50 doses differed (100 μg/ml for ARP1, 200 μg/ml KMS1), the effect of TBL-12 was clear.
Example 2
[0022] Different human myeloma cells (U266, MM1, KMS1, and APR1), which are commercially available were cultured in standard 96 well plates using standard methods to exponential growth face. The cells were stimulated by either 1L-6 (5 ng/ml), or TNFα (5 ng/ml).
[0023] The cells were then contacted with a combination of a constant concentration of TBL-12 (100 ug/ml), either by itself, or with various concentration of Velcade (2.5, 5, 10, and 15 ng). Cells which received neither TBL-12 nor Velcade were used as a control. Cell survival was measured, using an MTT assay, at 24, 48, and 72 hours.
[0024] The results, depicted in FIG. 1 , showed a clear dose dependent relationship between cell survival and the TBL-12/Velcade “cocktail.” There was efficacy even at the lowest dose of Velcade. The IC 50 for Velcade, in combination with the TBL-12, was about 5 ng/ml.
[0025] While results are shown for two myeloma cell lines, they are representative of the results for all of the lines tested.
[0026] With respect to time dependency, survival dropped from 100% to 30% at 48 hours, and to 20% at 72 hours.
Example 3
[0027] In these experiments, the effect of TBL-12 plus Velcade on the co-culturing of myeloma cells with human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) was tested.
[0028] Samples of myeloma cells were co-cultured with HUVEC cells, following standard methods, after which a combination of 100 μg/ml TBL-12 and 5 ng/ml of Velcade were added.
[0029] Several parameters were measured, the first of which was cell adhesion, i.e., adhesion of the myeloma cells, to the HUVEC cells. This parameter was measured via standard phase contrast and immunofluorescent microscopy, and showed a decrease of 45% in adhesion for cells treated with the drug combination as compared to controls.
[0030] Also determined were the levels of VEGF and IL-6 produced in the culture medium. The medium was assayed for VEGF via a standard ELISA, using a commercially available product. Controls were untreated cells, as well as cells treated with TBL-12 only.
[0031] The results, shown in FIG. 2 , demonstrate that TBL-12 had a dramatic effect on production of VEGF, and the combination of TBL-12 with Velcade was even better. Similarly, cells were stained for the VEGF receptor known as CD309+VE or VEGFR-2/KDR. Again, there was a drop in expression of the receptor, which was more prominent with the combination of drugs than with TBL-12 alone. These findings suggest that TBL-12's effect was enhanced via a down regulation of IL-6 and TNF-α mediated signaling on VEGF, and VEGFR expression, which in turn suggests inhibition of angiogenesis in myeloma tumor formation.
Example 4
[0032] These experiments were designed to determine the effect of TBL-12 on endothelial tube formation. Endothelial tube formation is a critical feature of the process by which endothelial cells are involved in angiogenesis.
[0033] Assaying the formation permits the artisan to determine if angiogenesis is occurring and, if so, to what degree.
[0034] HUVEC or HPEC were placed in 96 well plates, coated with Matrigel, a commercially available substrate for facilitating angiogenesis. The aforementioned cells had been treated previously with TBL-12 or Velcade. Either 10 ng/ml VEGF, or 10 ng/ml IL-6. DMSO was the solvent for each of these, and it was used as a control.
[0035] The seeded cells were incubated, at 37° C., and tube formation images were observed with a digital, microscope camera system, at different points in time. The number of tubes formed was quantified, via measuring tube length in more than 5 randomly chosen fields.
[0036] The results shown in FIG. 3 , demonstrate a very pronounced improvement when a combination of TBL-12 and Velcade were used, as compared to either drug alone as well as the control, further supporting the hypothesis advance in Example 2, supra.
[0037] The studies presented supra are now being repeated for breast cancer, using combinations of TBL-12 and standard, well known breast cancer drugs.
[0038] The foregoing examples set forth various features of the inventing, which include a method for treating cancer in a subject, by administering a combination of TBL-12 and Velcade, or another known anti-cancer drug, in an amount sufficient to inhibit proliferation of said cancer.
[0039] The cancer treated may be, e.g., myeloma, breast, prostate, or cervical cancer. In the case of myeloma, TBL-12 is administered with Velcade, which has known efficacy against multiple myeloma. The agent will vary in the case of, e.g., breast, prostate, cervical, or other cancers, with the dose of the agent being less than necessary when used alone.
[0040] In the case of myeloma, the dose of Velcade may range from about 2.5 ng to about 10 ngs, which is significantly less than the amount used when Velcade is used alone (the standard dose per vial is 3.5 mg). The amount of TBL-12 may range from, e.g., about 25 μg/ml to about 200 μg/ml. Preferably, the dose of Velcade is from about 2.5 ng to about 5.0 ng, and that of TBL-12, from about 100 μg/ml to about 200 μg/ml.
[0041] The mode of administration will vary depending upon the severity of the disease and the type of cancer being treated. Preferably, TBL-12 is administered orally, as a food or beverage supplement, while Velcade is administered intravenously via bolus, but the skilled artisan will be familiar with other forms of administration.
[0042] The order in which the drugs is administered may vary with one preceding the other or vice versa. They may also be administered “simultaneously,” meaning in this context that there is essentially little or no time in between the administration.
[0043] Other features of the invention will be clear to the skilled artisan and need not be reiterated here.
[0044] The terms and expression which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expression of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. | The invention relates to the use of TBL-12 in combination with at least one drug known to be effective against a specific cancer, but at a dose below its minimal effective dose when used alone. Among the types of cancer contemplated for treatment are multiple myeloma, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer. For multiple myeloma, combination with Velcade is envisioned. | 0 |
This application is a National Stage Application of PCT/EP2008/050766, filed 23 Jan. 2008, which claims benefit of Serial No. 0700194-4, filed 26 Jan. 2007 in Sweden and which applications are incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to each of the above disclosed applications.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dishwasher using granules for washing pots and pans and a washing basket for holding dirty dishes. It further relates to a method of operating the dishwasher and a system of a dishwasher and a washing basket.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Dishwashers for pot washing traditionally operate with high water pressure and sometimes with granules added to the water. This efficiently cleans pots and pans, but will lead to breakage and scratching of traditional wares, such as crockery, cutlery and glasses. For this reason, separate dishwashers are provided in large-scale kitchens for handling traditional, more sensitive items. This is costly and space consuming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies and disadvantages singly or in any combination. This is in one aspect solved by providing a dishwasher for pot washing which comprises a detector for automatically detecting what type of washing basket has been placed in the dishwasher. The water pressure and granule valve is controlled, so that the more sensitive crockery and glasses are not damaged.
In another aspect of the invention, a washing basket is provided which comprises indicating members. These members are used in conjunction with the detector in the dishwasher of the first aspect.
In yet another aspect, a method is provided for operating a dishwasher, said method comprising the steps of automatically detecting what type of washing basket has been placed in the dishwasher.
In another aspect, a system is provided which comprises a dishwasher of the first aspect and a washing basket of the second aspect.
Further embodiments are given by the dependent claims of the above given aspects.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accumulator of the present invention will be more readily understood by reading the following detailed description in combination with the appended non-limiting drawings, where
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dishwasher according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dishwasher in FIG. 1 , where a basket carrier has been placed on a central hub,
FIG. 3 a is a side view of the dishwasher in FIG. 2 , where a pot-washing basket with a canteen has been placed on the basket carrier, and FIG. 3 b is an enlarged view of a detector and an indicating member of FIG. 3 a,
FIG. 4 a is a top view of the dishwasher in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 b is an enlarged view of the bottom spraying tube and the central hub,
FIG. 5 is a schematical side view of the dishwasher according to the invention, having a pot-washing basket,
FIG. 6 is a schematical side view of the dishwasher according to the invention, having a standard washing basket for crockery and glasses, and
FIG. 7 is a schematical view of an algorithm for an operation method of the dishwasher according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Below, several embodiments of the invention will be described with references to the drawings. These embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only, in order to enable a skilled person to carry out the invention and to disclose the best mode. However, such embodiments do not limit the invention. Moreover, other combinations of the different features are possible within the scope of the invention.
A dishwasher 100 is shown in a perspective view in FIG. 1 . The dishwasher comprises a stand 101 , a bottom wall 102 and a back wall 103 . The top and sides of the dishwasher is enclosed by, e.g., a vertically adjustable hood (not shown). The dishwasher in FIG. 1 also comprises a hub 104 , which is arranged in a central part of the bottom wall 102 . The hub 104 comprises a rotatable portion, which is coupled to a driving unit, such as an electric motor (not shown). A different form of driving unit is possible, which may be placed in an offset position of the dishwasher.
The dishwasher 100 can further comprise a top washing tube 110 , side washing tube(s) 111 and a bottom washing tube 112 . Spraying nozzles 113 are arranged on the washing tubes.
The dishwasher may also comprise a top rinsing tube 120 , a side rinsing tube 121 and a bottom rinsing tube 122 , on which rinsing nozzles 123 are arranged. The exact location or number of washing tubes or rinsing tubes in the shown embodiments is merely exemplary.
With reference to FIG. 2 , the dishwasher can moreover comprise a bottom screen 130 , which is mounted at a distance above the bottom wall 102 . A pot-washing basket 140 is seen arranged in the dishwasher, and a standardized pot 150 can be seen placed in the basket 140 , see FIG. 3 . The lower part of the dishwasher may also comprise a granule compartment 170 , see FIGS. 5 and 6 , where the granules are collected. This compartment 170 can be fitted with a granule valve 171 , for controlling the addition of granules to the washing water.
The bottom screen 130 is arranged at a distance above the bottom wall 102 , and can in one embodiment be placed above the highest water level in the dishwasher. The screen 130 will then obscure the view of the dirty dishwater, which improves the appearance of the interior of the dishwasher. The screen 130 can moreover be fitted with an upwardly extending peripheral edge 131 , indicated in FIG. 1 , which captures e.g. cutlery and prevent them from falling into the dishwater or the granule compartment 170 . This edge 131 substantially extends along the entire outer periphery of the bottom screen 130 .
With reference to FIG. 3 a , the dishwasher 100 is seen with the pot-washing basket 140 and a therein-placed canteen. FIG. 3 b shows an enlarged view of FIG. 3 a , at the back wall 103 , where an inductive detector 160 is mounted to said back wall 103 . An indicating member in the form of an arm 141 is shown extending outwards from the pot-washing basket 140 . The basket 140 can have one or several indicating arms 141 . In one embodiment, at least two indicating arms 141 are provided on the basket.
In FIGS. 4 a and 4 b , the dishwasher is seen from above. The position of the bottom washing tube 112 is clearly visible. The lower spraying tube 112 makes it possible to e.g. wash glasses, bowls and canteens that are placed upside down in a standard washing basket 143 or in a pot-washing basket 140 .
The position of the spraying nozzles 113 can be seen clearly in FIG. 4 b . The shown nozzles are provided with an elongated opening, for spraying a substantially planar jet. The nozzles are specially designed for spraying water and/or granules. The elongated openings of the spraying nozzles 113 are in the shown embodiment oriented towards the centrally located hub 104 , and this is indicated with phantom lines. This means that a planar fluid jet leaving the elongated opening will be perpendicular to the rotation of the washing basket 140 , 143 , at each corresponding nozzle position. The nozzles are in one embodiment placed closer together at the outer periphery of the dishwasher, in order to compensate for the fact that the peripheral speed increases with the radius from the hub 104 . This improves the coverage of the water jets from the spraying nozzles 113 . Other nozzle shapes, such as circular, curved or similar, are possible for spraying water jets of different shapes.
The dishwasher comprises a water pump 180 , which can operate at different speeds, leading to different water pressures and flows. A low speed is used for washing up crockery, cutlery and glasses and a higher speed is used for pot washing. In one embodiment, the pump 180 comprises a squirrel-cage electric motor comprising two windings, where one winding gives a low speed and the other winding gives a higher speed. The speed of the water pump and the resulting water pressure should be adjusted to the specific machine and what type of glassware or pots that are going to be cleaned. In one embodiment, the high water pressure is about 0.8-1.0 atm gauge (1.8-2.0 atm absolute) and the low water pressure is about 0.2-0.4 atm gauge (1.2-1.4 atm absolute). The water flow is about 800-1100 liters per minute at high pressure, and it is about 300-450 liters per minute at low pressure. This depends on the specific application, and both higher and lower flows are possible.
The water pump 180 can also be driven by a standard electric motor, which is controlled by a speed regulator of a known type, such as a frequency changer or a variable-frequency drive. This is a more costly solution, but gives more flexibility and several different speeds and water flows can be chosen.
Alternative Embodiments
The dishwasher 100 comprises a means for detecting if a pot-washing basket 140 is placed in the dishwasher, in order to automatically separate between washing up of pots and more sensitive crockery and glasses. In one embodiment, this is detected by a wheel 146 , which rides on a peripheral edge on the pot-washing basket 140 . Such a wheel is often fitted in dishwashers of a known kind, for guiding the pot-washing basket 140 during its rotation in the dishwasher. If the wheel 146 rotates in a predetermined fashion, it can be determined if a pot-washing basket 140 has been inserted into the machine.
It is also possible to arrange an optical detector on a side, top or bottom wall of the dishwasher, for detecting a reflective surface (as an alternative indicating member) of the pot-washing basket 140 . Such a reflective surface can have been placed on the pot-washing basket 140 , in order to clearly distinguish between reflections from cutlery or glasses, on one hand, and the indicating reflective surfaces of the pot-washing basket, on the other hand. In one embodiment, two or more reflective surfaces are arranged so that a detection frequency can be obtained, which differs from the rotational speed of the pot-washing basket. This increases the accuracy of the detection, and the more sensitive crockery and glasses can more reliably be protected from damage. In one embodiment, the optical detector comprises, or works in conjunction with, a radiation source that emits electromagnetic radiation, such as visible light or infrared light. The vertical metallic bars on the pot-washing basket can in another embodiment be used as the indicating members 141 .
The indicating members 141 of the pot-washing basket 140 do not have to be evenly spaced, but can have any predetermined spacing. The spacing will affect the signal that is detected by the detector, but this will be compared to reference data that has been gathered in advance. The rotational speed of the basket will also affect the frequency of the detected signal.
It is also possible to arrange an ultrasonic unit or a capacitive sensor in the dishwasher, for detecting an indicating member on the pot-washing basket.
Optionally, it is possible to move the detector 160 , either linearly or in a circular path around the interior of the dishwasher, and keep the basket carrier stationary, for detecting the presence of a pot-washing basket 140 .
In one embodiment, all washing tubes 110 , 111 , 112 are supplied water from the same water pump 180 . The water pump 180 can operate at least two separate speeds, which leads to at least two different water pressures and flows. In another embodiment, two different water pumps are arranged in the dishwasher 100 . One water pump operates when high water pressure is desired (pot washing) and the other water pump operates when a low water pressure is desired (washing of crockery and glasses). The two water pumps can supply water to different washing tubes. In one embodiment, the water pump that delivers high water pressure is connected to the side washing tube(s) 111 , and the water pump that delivers low water pressure is connected to the top and bottom washing tubes 110 , 112 . If wanted, the two water pumps can be operated simultaneously during pot washing.
In the above description, only the pot-washing basket 140 is shown with indicating members. However, the standard washing basket can similarly be equipped with indicating members 141 , which are arranged in a different fashion than on the pot-washing basket 140 . This makes it possible to distinguish the standard washing basket 143 from the pot-washing basket 140 . It is also possible to equip only the standard washing basket 143 with indicating members 141 , while the pot-washing basket 140 lacks indicating members 141 , such that the absence of detected signals will indicate that a pot-washing basket 140 has been placed in the dishwasher 100 .
Operation
The operation of the dishwasher is shown schematically in FIG. 7 in the form of an algorithm. Additional steps are possible and not all the shown steps are necessary for carrying out the process of the invention.
The first step A involves initial steps, such as closing discharge valves and the hood (if either of them are open). In step B, the driving unit is started for rotating a basket 140 , 143 that is placed on the basket carrier 145 . The water pump 180 is started at a low speed, which leads to a low water pressure and flow. In step C, a sensor is activated for checking that the basket is actually rotating. If not, the dishwasher is stopped in step D. Otherwise the dishwasher enters a detection phase in step E. A detector 160 is activated for detecting what type of washing basket 140 , 143 that has been placed in the basket carrier, by counting pulses and determining the frequency of the pulses. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the pulses are generated when the indicating arms 141 pass by the detector 160 , caused by the driving unit 104 rotating the basket carrier 145 and hence the basket 140 , 143 . If two or more pulses are detected at a certain predetermined frequency, the dishwasher establishes the type of washing basket 140 , 143 that has been placed in the dishwasher. Step G is chosen for a standard washing basket and step H for a pot-washing basket. In step H, high water pressure can be used together with granules, if wanted. If the standard washing basket is detected, low water pressure should be used and the granule valve 171 should be closed. Otherwise, the high-pressure water flow might damage sensitive crockery and glasses in the standard washing basket.
The pot-washing mode in step H can include additional steps, such as addition of granules, control of temperatures, duration of washing cycle etc. The standard washing mode in step G can include similar additional steps, with the exception of the granule step.
In the claims, the term “comprises/comprising” does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps. Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, the individual features may be combined separately in other combinations, and the inclusion of the features in different claims does not imply that another combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. In addition, singular references do not exclude a plurality. The terms “a”, “an”, “first”, “second” etc do not preclude a plurality. Reference signs in the claims are provided merely as a clarifying example and shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims in any way.
Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiment, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the invention is limited only by the accompanying claims and other embodiments than those described above are equally possible within the scope of the appended claims. | A dishwasher ( 100 ) for pot washing, comprising a detector ( 160 ) for automatically detecting what type of washing basket ( 140 ) has been placed in the dishwasher ( 100 ). This enables automatic selection of water pressure and granule control, such that more sensitive crockery and plates are not damaged. The detector can be an inductive sensor ( 160 ) that detects an indicating member ( 141 ) of the washing basket. The washing basket can comprise one or several indicating members, for enabling a more reliable detection. A method of operating such a dishwasher ( 100 ) comprises the steps of automatically detecting what type of washing basket ( 140 ) is placed in the dishwasher, and then controlling the water pressure and granule addition according to what washing basket was detected. A system comprises an above dishwasher and an above washing basket. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Optical fibers are increasingly being employed in communications and other systems due to their high data rate capability, compact dimensions and based on many other factors.
Essentially, there is a need to produce such fibers economically without sacrificing reliability.
In order to preserve the strength characteristics of an optical fiber, a protective coating must be applied to the fiber after forming. This procedure may employ a suitable elastomeric such as silicone as coating. The silicone coating employs a two component mix which includes a base component (RTV) and a suitable catalyst. Upon the controlled mixing of the base component and catalyst, a silicone polymer is formed. The mixing operation does not lend itself to large scale or mass production techniques as the service life of the system is limited by the properties of the components being employed. Since the mixed base component and the catalyst have curing properties which vary depending on their pot life, this limits the useful life of the components and limits the length of optical fiber which may be coated by the silicone during a given time.
It is understood that silicone is a polymer possessing elastic properties and as such, is generically referred to as an elastomer. Basically, these materials are used in forming seals, gaskets and electronic potting compounds. The silicone elastomers have dimethyl siloxane groups as a backbone and members differ mainly in the nature of the organic substituents on the Si atoms and the degree of polymerization. The chemical combination of organic and inorganic materials give the silicone elastomers useful properties over wide temperature ranges (-70° to 225° C.) and the formation of such polymers by base and catalyst components is well known.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to prolong the pot life of the mixed silicone components by introducing unlimited supplies of unmixed base and catalyst components under control of a unique mixing technique and apparatus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A process for coating an optical fiber with a polymer; which polymer is formed by the mixing of two components which includes introducing a first component into a mixing vessel and introducing a second component into a mixing vessel. A fiber is directed through the mixing vessel at a predetermined speed which is selected to agitate the first and second components to produce a flow pattern about the fiber to cause the agitated components to uniformly coat the fiber with the polymer. The mixing vessel which is also described essentially comprises a spherical chamber having an inlet and an outlet port along a given axis. Each of the ports communicate with the internal hollow of the vessel. An annular tubular delivery means is coupled between two ports transverse to the inlet and outlet ports. The delivery means includes two coaxial tubes for directing the first and second components of the polymer into the mixing vessel to achieve the above noted agitation and coating of the fiber. Other features depict the various techniques for controlling the flow of the materials in providing a closed system wherein deleterious substances are excluded, hence preserving the strength and characteristics of the elastomeric coating for the fiber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The sole FIGURE is a perspective view partially in block form depicting an apparatus used in a fiber coating process according to this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the FIGURE, there is shown a fiber optic processor 10. Essentially, the formation or processing of a fiber optic or filament structure is well known in the prior art. Present investigations and techniques permit the formation of such fibers by continuous processes utilizing chemical vapor deposition of glass within R.F. excited glow discharges. These techniques provide sufficient streams of glass materials for producing optical fibers.
Other techniques as may be employed in the processor 10 produce fibers by the deposition of glass forming ingredients on heated mandrils as well as other techniques existing in the prior art which form optical fibers by using multistepped, funnel shaped heating vessels to form solid glass rods which are then heated and drawn into fibers. Hence, the processor 10 may incorporate any such technique for forming an optical fiber and for directing the fiber 11 to a suitable coating facility.
It is understood that in order to preserve the strength characteristics of a fiber 11, a protective coating must be formed and relatively independently of the process used in fabricating the fiber 11. Hence, the fiber 11 is directed at a controlled rate into an inlet aperture 12 of a glass-bubble mixing vessel 14.
Essentially, the mixing vessel 14 comprises a central spherical mixing portion 15 through which the fiber optic cable 11 is directed. As shown, the spherical portion has an inlet port 12 and an outlet port 16. The entire mixing vessel is fabricated from a non-reactive material such as a pyrex glass. The spherical portion 15 is approximately one inch in diameter. Connected to the spherical portion 15 is an annular delivery section 17. Section 17 comprises a first outer tube 18 which, as will be explained, transports the base materials for formation of the elastomer coating. The outer tube 18 is also fabricated from a suitable glass as pyrex and may be approximately 10 mm. in diameter. Relatively coaxial with the outer tube 18 is an inner tube 19. The inner tube 19 is also fabricated from pyrex and is approximately 4 mm. in diameter. As will be explained, the coaxial inner tube is adapted to transport the catalyst component necessary to mix with the base component transported by the outer tube 18 to form the silicone elastomer. Each tube as 18 and 19 is directed into the spherical mixing portion 15 at opposite ends to thus form a closed system. The diameter of the annular delivery section 17 is approximately two and one-half inches from the outer ends of tube 18 across the diameter. The annular tubes 18 and 19 are directed from the spherical portion 15 of the mixing vessel 14 at an angle selected between 35 to 45 degrees with respect to the central axis of the fiber 11 as directed through the input and output ports 12 and 16. The output port 16 is coupled to a suitable nozzle 20 to direct the coated fiber 21 through a curing apparatus 22. Apparatus 22 may comprise a radiant heater or conventional oven for positively curing the elastomer coating now impressed upon cable 11, as will be explained. The coated fiber 21 is directed into a take-up pulley 23 which is rotated according to a desired speed controlling the cable travel. The system for rotating the take-up pulley 23 is not shown as such devices are known in the art. The cable is thence directed to a spool location 24, whereby desired lengths of fiber may be spooled for future use or sale.
The coating operation as accomplished by a dip-coating mixing technique will now be described.
The outer tube 18 of the annular delivery section 17 accommodates the base component necessary to formulate the elastomer. In this manner, the outer tube 18 is coupled to a delivery hose 30 which is directed to a base component reservoir 31. The reservoir 31 receives filtered or pure base materials from a filter and pumping station 35. Essentially, the base materials or components are filtered to rid them of impurities and them pumped into reservoir 31. Similarly, the catalyst material is filtered and pumped into reservoir 32 associated with and coupled to the inner coaxial tube 19 via the delivery hose 33 connected between tube 19 and reservoir 32.
Shown located in the flow path between the inner tube 19 and delivery tube 33 is a valve 36. Valve 36 is utilized to further control the amount of catalyst flow strictly in accordance with the amount of base material flow.
Hence, the apparatus shown will direct base components of the elastomer as contained in reservoir 31 via tube 30 into the outer tube 18 and thence into the spherical mixing vessel 15. The flow is accomplished by gravity and simultaneously the catalyst components are gravitationally fed from reservoir 32 to tube 19 and into spherical mixing portion 15.
The above described system is completely enclosed and thus serves to prevent foreign particles or deleterious substances from entering the mixing process. Such particles have an adverse effect on the strength of the silicone coating and hence, the coated fiber 21.
The operation of the mixing vessel portion is of extreme interest and essentially, provides a homogeneous mixing of the base and catalyst components while assuring that the fiber 11 is uniformly coated after passage through the vessel 14. As the fiber 11 is directed or drawn into vessel 14 its motion will agitate the base and catalyst components and strictly as a function of the speed at which the fiber 11 is moving or controlled to move. The agitation action as well as their flow pattern is controlled based upon the symmetry of the system to uniformly distribute the same about the periphery or the fiber 11, thus assuring that the fiber will be uniformly and completely coated as directed through the vessel 14.
As shown in the FIGURE, the inlet port 12 is surrounded by a plurality of apertures 40 which serve as a bubble trap to alloy stray bubbles to escape. The actual thickness of the coating is controlled by the nozzle 20 which operates to restrict or limit the diameter of the coated fiber 21 prior to insertion of the same into the curing oven 22. There are, of course, many other ways of limiting the diameter by means of suitable dies or nozzles.
Essentially, the system described enables one to continuously and uniformly coat an optical fiber by assuring a closed system flow. The apparatus depicted enables the reservoirs 31 and 32 to contain the proper proportionate amount of base and catalyst materials as necessary to achieve optimum curing conditions. The reservoirs as 31 and 32 may be graduated for more efficient flow control as well as the fact that control valves as 36 can be employed to further optimize the flow rate of the catalyst or base material or both.
It is noted that the axis of the fiber 11 as directed through the spherical mixing portion 15 is at a relative angle with respect to the annular delivery section 17 to assure that the flow pattern is symmetrical with the axis to accomplish uniform coating of the fiber. This also assures that the fiber as directed will not move laterally since the force and action of the flow pattern when uniform will maintain fiber position.
An X-Y positioner 50 is shown coupled to the nozzle 20 and further adjustments can be made both in the horizontal and vertical planes to assure that the distribution of the flow pattern about the fiber 11 is of properly uniformity to accommodate the coating process.
Typical dimensions of the vessel 14 and the diameter of tubes 18 and 19 were given above. The approximate outside diameter of the outlet port 16 is about 8 mm. The length of the outlet port is about 11/2 centimeters. The inlet port 12 includes an outer cylindrical portion 26 having an approximate outside diameter of 10 mm. and a spaced inner cylindrical portion 27 having an approximate outside diameter of 4 mm. A flat annular surface 28 connects portions 26 and 27 and has the apertures 40 formed therein. The approximate length of portion 26 is 8 mm. and the approximate length of portion 27 is 11-12 mm. thereby extending about 3-4 mm into mixing portion 15.
It is understood that the dimensions are by way of example only and the above techniques and apparatus can be employed to accommodate the coating of any diameter fiber by appropriate adjustments in dimensions. | An optical fiber or similar article is coated by directing the fiber through a spherical mixing vessel. Two silicone RTV components are directed by means of an annular feed mechanism into the mixing vessel at predetermined flow rates. The motion of the fiber directed through the vessel produces a churning or agitation of the silicone components to uniformly and homogeneously coat the fiber with the mixed components and provide a protective elastomeric coating about the fiber. | 3 |
This is a division, of prior application Ser. No. 09/161,840, filed Sep. 28, 1998, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The computer program listing appendix contained within file “Codelist.txt” on compact disc “1 of 1”, which has been filed with the United Patent and Trademark Office in duplicate, is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This file was created on Apr. 12, 2001, and is 194 KB in size.
This invention relates generally to movable barrier operators for operating movable barriers or doors. More particularly, it relates to garage door operators having improved safety and energy efficiency features.
Garage door operators have become more sophisticated over the years providing users with increased convenience and security. However, users continue to desire further improvements and new features such as increased energy efficiency, ease of installation, automatic configuration, and aesthetic features, such as quiet, smooth operation.
In some markets energy costs are significant. Thus energy efficiency options such as lower horsepower motors and user control over the worklight functions are important to garage door operator owners. For example, most garage door operators have a worklight which turns on when the operator is commanded to move the door and shuts off a fixed period of time after the door stops. In the United States, an illumination period of 4½ minutes is considered adequate. In markets outside the United States, 4½ minutes is considered too long. Some garage door operators have special safety features, for example, which enable the worklight whenever the obstacle detection beam is broken by an intruder passing through an open garage door. Some users may wish to disable the worklight in this situation. There is a need for a garage door operator which can be automatically configured for predefined energy saving features, such as worklight shut-off time.
Some movable barrier operators include a flasher module which causes a small light to flash or blink whenever the barrier is commanded to move. The flasher module provides some warning when the barrier is moving. There is a need for an improved flasher unit which provides even greater warning to the user when the barrier is commanded to move.
Another feature desired in many markets is a smooth, quiet motor and transmission. Most garage door operators have AC motors because they are less expensive than DC motors. However, AC motors are generally noisier than DC motors.
Most garage door operators employ only one or two speeds of travel. Single speed operation, i.e., the motor immediately ramps up to full operating speed, can create a jarring start to the door. Then during closing, when the door approaches the floor at full operating speed, whether a DC or AC motor is used, the door closes abruptly with a high amount of tension on it from the inertia of the system. This jarring is hard on the transmission and the door and is annoying to the user.
If two operating speeds are used, the motor would be started at a slow speed, usually 20 percent of full operating speed, then after a fixed period of time, the motor speed would increase to full operating speed. Similarly, when the door reaches a fixed point above/below the close/open limit, the operator would decrease the motor speed to 20 percent of the maximum operating speed. While this two speed operation may eliminate some of the hard starts and stops, the speed changes can be noisy and do not occur smoothly, causing stress on the transmission. There is a need for a garage door operator which opens the door smoothly and quietly, with no abruptly apparent sign of speed change during operation.
Garage doors come in many types and sizes and thus different travel speeds are required for them. For example, a one-piece door will be movable through a shorter total travel distance and needs to travel slower for safety reasons than a segmented door with a longer total travel distance. To accommodate the two door types, many garage door operators include two sprockets for driving the transmission. At installation, the installer must determine what type of door is to be driven, then select the appropriate sprocket to attach to the transmission. This takes additional time and if the installer is the user, may require several attempts before matching the correct sprocket for the door. There is a need for a garage door operator which automatically configures travel speed depending on size and weight of the door.
National safety standards dictate that a garage door operator perform a safety reversal (auto-reverse when object is detected only one inch above the DOWN limit or floor. To satisfy these safety requirements, most garage door operators include an obstacle detection system, located near the bottom of the door travel. This prevents the door from closing on objects or persons that may be in the door path. Such obstacle detection systems often include an infrared source and detector located on opposite sides of the door frame. The obstacle detector sends a signal when the infrared beam between the source and detector is broken, indicating an obstacle is detected. In response to the obstacle signal, the operator causes an automatic safety reversal. The door stops and begins traveling up, away from the obstacle.
There are two different “forces” used in the operation of the garage door operator. The first “force” is usually preset or setable at two force levels: the UP force level setting used to determine the speed at which the door travels in the UP direction and the DOWN force level setting used to determine the speed at which the door travels in the DOWN direction. The second “force” is the force level determined by the decrease in motor speed due to an external force applied to the door, i.e., from an obstacle or the floor. This external force level is also preset or setable and is any set-point type force against which the feedback force signal is compared. When the system determines the set point force has been met, an auto-reverse or stop is commanded.
To overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying frictional-type forces, some garage door operators permit the maximum force (the second force) used to drive the speed of travel to be varied manually. This, however, affects the system's auto-reverse operation based on force. The auto-reverse system based on force initiates an auto-reverse if the force on the door exceeds the maximum force setting (the second force) by some predetermined amount. If the user increases the force setting to drive the door through a “sticky” section of travel, the user may inadvertently affect the force to a much greater value than is safe for the unit to operate during normal use. For example, if the DOWN force setting is set so high that it is only a small incremental value less than the force setting which initiates an auto-reverse due to force, this causes the door to engage objects at a higher speed before reaching the auto-reverse force setting. While the obstacle detection system will cause the door to auto-reverse, the speed and force at which the door hits the obstacle may cause harm to the obstacle and/or the door.
Barrier movement operators should perform a safety reversal off an obstruction which is only marginally higher than the floor, yet still close the door safely against the floor. In operator systems where the door moves at a high speed, the relatively large momentum of the moving parts, including the door, accomplishes complete closure. In systems with a soft closure, where the door speed decreases from full maximum to a small percentage of full maximum when closing, there may be insufficient momentum in the door or system to accomplish a full closure. For example, even if the door is positioned at the floor, there is sometimes sufficient play in the trolley of the operator to allow the door to move if the user were to try to open it. In particular, in systems employing a DC motor, when the DC motor is shut off, it becomes a dynamic brake. If the door isn't quite at the floor when the DOWN travel limit is reached and the DC motor is shut off, the door and associated moving parts may not have sufficient momentum to overcome the braking force of the DC motor. There is a need for a garage door operator which closes the door completely, eliminating play in the door after closure.
Many garage door operator installations are made to existing garage doors. The amount of force needed to drive the door varies depending on type of door and the quality of the door frame and installation. As a result, some doors are “stickier” than others, requiring greater force to move them through the entire length of travel. If the door is started and stopped using the full operating speed, stickiness is not usually a problem. However, if the garage door operator is capable of operation at two speeds, stickiness becomes a larger problem at the lower speed. In some installations, a force sufficient to run at 20 percent of normal speed is too small to start some doors moving. There is a need for a garage door operator which automatically controls force output and thus start and stop speeds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A movable barrier operator having an electric motor for driving a garage door, a gate or other barrier is operated from a source of AC current. The movable barrier operator includes circuitry for automatically detecting the incoming AC line voltage and frequency of the alternating current. By automatically detecting the encoring AC line voltage and determining the frequency, the operator can automatically configure itself to certain user preferences. This occurs without either the user or the installer having to adjust or program the operator. The movable barrier operator includes a worklight for illuminating its immediate surroundings such as the interior of a garage. The barrier operator senses the power line frequency (typically 50 Hz or 60 Hz) to automatically set an appropriate shut-off time for a worklight. Because the power line frequency in Europe is 50 Hz and in the U.S. is 60 Hz, sensing the power line frequency enables the operator to configure itself for either a European or a U.S. market with no user or installer modifications. For U.S. users, the worklight shut-off time is set to preferably 4½ minutes; for European users, the worklight shut-off time is set to preferably 2½ minutes. Thus, a single barrier movement operator can be sold in two different markets with automatic setup, saving installation time.
The movable barrier operator of the present invention automatically detects if an optional flasher module is present. If the module is present, when the door is commanded to move, the operator causes the flasher module to operate. With the flasher module present, the operator also delays operation of the motor for a brief period, say one or two seconds. This delay period with the flasher module blinking before door movement provides an added safety feature to users which warns them of impending door travel (e.g. if activated by an unseen transmitter).
The movable barrier operator of the present invention drives the barrier, which may be a door or a gate, at a variable speed. After motor start, the electric motor reaches a preferred initial speed of 20 percent of the full operating speed. The motor speed then increases slowly in a linearly continuous fashion from 20 percent to 100 percent of full operating speed. This provides a smooth, soft start without jarring the transmission or the door or gate. The motor moves the barrier a maximum speed for the largest portion of its travel, after which the operator slowly decreases speed from 100 percent to 20 percent as the barrier approaches the limit of travel, providing a soft, smooth and quiet stop. A slow, smooth start and stop provides a safer barrier movement operator for the user because there is less momentum to apply an impulse force in the event of an obstruction. In a fast system, relatively high momentum of the door changes to zero at the obstruction before the system can actually detect the obstruction. This leads to the application of a high impulse force. With the system of the invention, a slower stop speed means the system has less momentum to overcome, and therefore a softer, more forgiving force reversal. A slow, smooth start and stop also provide a more aesthetically pleasing effect to the user, and when coupled with a quieter DC motor, a barrier movement operator which operates very quietly.
The operator includes two relays and a pair of field effect transistors (FETs) for controlling the motor. The relays are used to control direction of travel. The FET's, with phase controlled pulse width modulation, control start up and speed. Speed is responsive to the duration of the pulses applied to the FETs. A longer pulse causes the FETs to be on longer causing the barrier speed to increase. Shorter pulses result in a slower speed. This provides a very fine ramp control and more gentle starts and stops.
The movable barrier operator provides for the automatic measurement and calculation of the total distance the door is to travel. The total door travel distance is the distance between the UP and the DOWN limits (which depend on the type of door). The automatic measurement of door travel distance is a measure of the length of the door. Since shorter doors must travel at slower speeds than normal doors (for safety reasons), this enables the operator to automatically adjust the motor speed so the speed of door travel is the same regardless of door size. The total door travel distance in turn determines the maximum speed at which the operator will travel. By determining the total distance traveled, travel speeds can be automatically changed without having to modify the hardware.
The movable barrier operator provides full door or gate closure, i.e. a firm closure of the door to the floor so that the door is not movable in place after it stops. The operator includes a digital controller or processor, specifically a microcontroller which has an internal microprocessor, an internal RAM and an internal ROM and an external EEPROM. The microcontroller executes instructions stored in its internal ROM and provides motor direction control signals to the relays and speed control signals to the FETs. The operator is first operated in a learn mode to store a DOWN limit position for the door. The DOWN limit position of the door is used as an approximation of the location of the floor (or as a minimum reversal point, below which no auto-reverse will occur). When the door reaches the DOWN limit position, the microcontroller causes the electric motor to drive the door past the DOWN limit a small distance, say for one or two inches. This causes the door to close solidly on the floor.
The operator embodying the present invention provides variable door or gate output speed, i.e., the user can vary the minimum speed at which the motor starts and stops the door. This enables the user to overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying functional-type forces. The minimum barrier speeds in the UP and DOWN directions are determined by the user-configured force settings, which are adjusted using UP and DOWN force potentiometers. The force potentiometers set the lengths of the pulses to the FETs, which translate to variable speeds. The user gains a greater force output and a higher minimum starting speed to overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying functional-type forces speed, without affecting the maximum speed of travel for the door. The user can configure the door to start at a speed greater than a default value, say 20 percent. This greater start up and slow down speed is transferred to the linearly variable speed function in that instead of traveling at 20 percent speed, increasing to 100 percent speed, then decreasing to 20 percent speed, the door may, for instance, travel at 40 percent speed to 100 percent speed and back down to 40 percent speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a garage having mounted within it a garage door operator embodying the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a head unit of the garage door operator shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a transmission unit of the garage door operator shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a controller and motor mounted within the head unit of the garage door operator shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 5A-5D are a schematic diagram of the controller shown in block format in FIG. 4;
FIGS. 6A-6B are a flow chart of an overall routine that executes in a microprocessor of the controller shown in FIGS. 5A-5D;
FIGS. 7A-7H are a flow chart of the main routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a set variable light shut-off timer routine executed by the microprocessor;
FIGS. 9A-9C are a flow chart of a hardware timer interrupt routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 10A-10C are a flow chart of a 1 millisecond timer routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 11A-11C are a flow chart of a 125 millisecond timer routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 12A-12B are a flow chart of a 4 millisecond timer routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 13A-13B are a flow chart of an RPM interrupt routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a motor state machine routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a stop in midtravel routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 16 is a flow chart of a DOWN position routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 17A-17C are a flow chart of an UP direction routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 18 is a flow chart of an auto-reverse routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 19 is a flow chart of an UP position routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIGS. 20A-20D are a flow chart of the DOWN direction routine executed in the microprocessor;
FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view of a pass point detector and motor of the operator shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 22A is a plan view of the pass point detector shown in FIG. 21; and
FIG. 22B is a partial plan view of the pass point detector shown in FIG. 21 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings and especially to FIG. 1, a movable barrier or garage door operator system is generally shown therein and referred to by numeral 8 . The system 8 includes a movable barrier operator or garage door operator 10 having a head unit 12 mounted within a garage 14 . More specifically, the head unit 12 is mounted to a ceiling 15 of the garage 14 . The operator 10 includes a transmission 18 extending from the head unit 12 with a releasable trolley 20 attached. The releasable trolley 20 releasably connects an arm 22 extending to a single panel garage door 24 positioned for movement along a pair of door rails 26 and 28 .
The system 8 includes a hand-held RF transmitter unit 30 adapted to send signals to an antenna 32 (see FIG. 4) positioned on the head unit 12 and coupled to a receiver within the head unit 12 as will appear hereinafter. A switch module 39 is mounted on the head unit 12 . Switch module 39 includes switches for each of the commands available from a remote transmitter or from an optional wall-mounted switch (not shown). Switch module 39 enables an installer to conveniently request the various learn modes during installation of the head unit 12 . The switch module 39 includes a learn switch, a light switch, a lock switch and a command switch, which are described below. Switch module 39 may also include terminals for wiring a pedestrian door state sensor comprising a pair of contacts 13 and 15 for a pedestrian door 11 , as well as wiring for an optional wall switch (not shown).
The garage door 24 includes the pedestrian door 11 . Contact 13 is mounted to door 24 for contact with contact 15 mounted to pedestrian door 11 . Both contacts 13 and 15 are connected via a wire 17 to head unit 12 . As will be described further below, when the pedestrian door 11 is closed, electrical contact is made between the contacts 13 and 15 closing a pedestrian door circuit in the receiver in head unit 12 and signalling that the pedestrian door state is closed. This circuit must be closed before the receiver will permit other portions of the operator to move the door 24 . If circuit is open, indicating that the pedestrian door state is open, the system will not permit door 24 to move.
The head unit 12 includes a housing comprising four sections: a bottom section 102 , a front section 106 , a back section 108 and a top section 110 , which are held together by screws 112 as shown in FIG. 2 . Cover 104 fits into front section 106 and provides a cover for a worklight. External AC power is supplied to the operator 10 through a power cord 122 . The AC power is applied to a step-down transformer 120 . An electric motor 118 is selectively energized by rectified AC power and drives a sprocket 125 in sprocket assembly 124 . The sprocket 125 drives chain 144 (see FIG. 3 ). A printed circuit board 114 includes a controller 200 and other electronics for operating the head unit 12 . A cable 116 provides input and output connections on signal paths between the printed circuit board 114 and switch module 39 . The transmission 18 , as shown in FIG. 3, includes a rail 142 which holds chain 144 within a rail and chain housing 140 and holds the chain in tension to transfer mechanical energy from the motor to the door.
A block diagram of the controller and motor connections is shown in FIG. 4 . Controller 200 includes an RF receiver 80 , a microprocessor 300 and an EEPROM 302 . RF receiver 80 of controller 200 receives a command to move the door and actuate the motor either from remote transmitter 30 , which transmits an RF signal which is received by antenna 32 , or from a user command switch 250 . User command switch 250 can be a switch on switch panel 39 , mounted on the head unit, or a switch from an optional wall switch. Upon receipt of a door movement command signal from either antenna 32 or user switch 250 , the controller 200 sends a power enable signal via line 240 to AC hot connection 206 which provides AC line current to transformer 212 and power to work light 210 . Rectified AC is provided from rectifier 214 via line 236 to relays 232 and 234 . Depending on the commanded direction of travel, controller 200 provides a signal to either relay 232 or relay 234 . Relays 232 and 234 are used to control the direction of rotation of motor 118 by controlling the direction of current flow through the windings. One relay is used for clockwise rotation; the other is used for counterclockwise rotation.
Upon receipt of the door movement command signal, controller 200 sends a signal via line 230 to power-control FET 252 . Motor speed is determined by the duration or length of the pulses in the signal to a gate electrode of FET 252 . The shorter the pulses, the slower the speed. This completes the circuit between relay 232 and FET 252 providing power to motor 118 via line 254 . If the door had been commanded to move in the opposite direction, relay 234 would have been enabled, completing the circuit with FET 252 and providing power to motor 118 via line 238 .
With power provided, the motor 118 drives the output shaft 216 which provides drive power to transmission sprocket 125 . Gear reduction housing 260 includes an internal pass point system which sends a pass point signal via line 220 to controller 200 whenever the pass point is reached. The pass point signal is provided to controller 200 via current limiting resistor 226 to protect controller 200 from electrostatic discharge (ESD). An RPM interrupt signal is provided via line 224 , via current limiting resistor 228 , to controller 200 . Lead 222 provides a plus five volts supply for the Hall effect sensors in the RPM module. Commanded force is input by two force potentiometers 202 , 204 . Force potentiometer 202 is used to set the commanded force for UP travel; force potentiometer 204 is used to set the commanded force for DOWN travel. Force potentiometers 202 and 204 provide commanded inputs to controller 200 which are used to adjust the length of-the pulsed signal provided to FET 252 .
The pass point for this system is provided internally in the motor 118 . Referring to FIG. 21, the pass point module 40 is attached to gear reduction housing 260 of motor 118 . Pass point module 40 includes upper plate 42 which covers the three internal gears and switch within lower housing 50 . Lower housing 50 includes recess 62 having two pins 61 which position switch assembly 52 in recess 62 . Housing 50 also includes three cutouts which are sized to support and provide for rotation of the three geared elements. Outer gear 44 fits rotatably within cutout 64 . Outer gear 44 includes a smooth outer surface for rotating within housing 50 and inner gear teeth for rotating middle gear 46 . Middle gear 46 fits rotatably within inner cutout 66 . Middle gear 46 includes a smooth outer surface and a raised portion with gear teeth for being driven by the gear teeth of outer ring gear 44 . Inner gear 48 fits within middle gear 46 and is driven by an extension of shaft 216 (FIG. 4 ). Rotation of the motor 118 causes shaft 216 to rotate and drive inner gear 48 .
Outer gear 44 includes a notch 74 in the outer periphery. Middle gear includes a notch 76 in the outer periphery. Referring to FIG. 22A, rotation of inner gear 48 rotates middle gear 46 in the same direction. Rotation of middle gear 46 rotates outer gear 44 in the same direction. Gears 46 and 44 are sized such that pass point indications comprising switch release cutouts 74 and 76 line up only once during the entire travel distance of the door. As seen in FIG. 22A, when switch release cutouts 74 and 76 line up, switch 72 is open generating a pass point presence signal. The location where switch release cutouts 74 and 76 line up is the pass point. At all other times, at least one of the two gears holds switch 72 closed generating a signal indicating that the pass point has not been reached.
The receiver portion 80 of controller 200 is shown in FIG. 5 A. RF signals may be received by the controller 200 at the antenna 32 and fed to the receiver 80 . The receiver 80 includes variable inductor L 1 and a pair of capacitors C 2 and C 3 that provide impedance matching between the antenna 32 and other portions of the receiver. An NPN transistor Q 4 is connected in common-base configuration as a buffer amplifier. Bias to the buffer amplifier transistor Q 4 is provided by resistors R 2 , R 3 . The buffered RF output signal is supplied to a second NPN transistor Q 5 . The radio frequency signal is coupled to a bandpass amplifier 280 to an average detector 282 which feeds a comparator 284 . Referring to FIGS. 5C and 5B, the analog output signal A, B is applied to noise reduction capacitors C 19 , C 20 and C 21 then provided to pins P 32 and P 33 of the microcontroller 300 . Microcontroller 300 may be a Z 86733 microprocessor.
As can be seen in FIG. 5D, an external transformer 212 receives AC power from a source such as a utility and steps down the AC voltage to the power supply 90 circuit of controller 200 . Transformer 212 provides AC current to full-wave bridge circuit 214 , which produces a 28 volt full wave rectified signal across capacitor C 35 . The AC power may have a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. An external transformer is especially important when motor 118 is a DC motor. The 28 volt rectified signal is used to drive a wall control switch, an obstacle detector circuit, a door-in-door switch and to power FETs Q 11 and Q 12 (FIG. 5C) used to start the motor. Zener diode D 18 protects against overvoltage due to the pulsed current, in particular, from the FETs rapidly switching off inductive load of the motor. The potential of the full-wave rectified signal is further reduced to provide 5 volts at capacitor C 38 , which is used to power the microprocessor 300 , the receiver circuit 80 and other logic functions.
The 28 volt rectified power supply signal indicated reference numeral T in FIG. 5C is voltage divided down by resistors RE 1 and RE 2 , then applied to an input pin P 24 of microprocessor 300 (FIG. 5 B). This signal is used to provide the phase of the power line current to microprocessor 300 . Microprocessor 300 constantly checks for the phase of the line voltage in order to determine if the frequency of the line voltage is 50 Hz or 60 Hz. This information is used to establish the worklight time-out period and to select the look-up table stored in the ROM in the microcontroller for converting pulse width to door speed.
When the door is commanded to move, either through a signal from a remote transmitter received through antenna 32 and processed by receiver 80 , or through an optional wall switch, the microprocessor 300 commands the work light to turn on. Microprocessor 300 (FIG. 5B) sends a worklight enable signal from pin P 07 . In FIG. 5C, the worklight enable signal is applied to the base of transistor Q 3 , which drives relay K 3 . AC power from a signal U provides power for operating the worklight 210 .
Microprocessor 300 reads from and writes data to an EEPROM 302 via its pins P 25 , P 26 and P 27 . EEPROM 302 may be a 93 C 46 . Microprocessor 300 provides a light enable signal at pin P 21 which is used to enable a learn mode indicator yellow LED D 15 . LED D 15 is enabled or lit when the receiver is in the learn mode. Pin P 26 provides double duty. When the user selects switch S 1 , a learn enable signal is provided to both microprocessor 300 and EEPROM 302 . Switch S 1 is mounted on the head unit 12 and is part of switch module 39 , which is used by the installer to operate the system.
An optional flasher module provides an additional level of safety for users and is controlled by microprocessor 300 at pin P 22 . The optional flasher module is connected between terminals 308 and 310 . In the optional flasher module, after receipt of a door command, the microprocessor 300 sends a signal from P 22 whIch causes the flasher light to blink for 2 seconds. The door does not move during that 2 second period, giving the user notice that the door has been commanded to move and will start to move in 2 seconds. After expiration of the 2 second period, the door moves and the flasher light module blinks during the entire period of door movement. If the operator does not have a flasher module installed in the head unit, when the door is commanded to move, there is no time delay before the door begins to move.
Microprocessor 300 provides the signals which start motor 118 , control its direction of rotation (and thus the direction of movement of the door) and the speed of rotation (speed or door travel). FETs Q 11 and Q 12 are used to start motor 118 . Microprocessor 300 applies a pulsed output signal to the gates of FETs Q 11 and Q 12 . The lengths of the pulses determine the time the FETs conduct and thus the amount of time current is applied to start and run the motor 118 . The longer the pulse, the longer current is applied, the greater the speed of rotation the motor 118 will develop. Diode D 11 is coupled between the 28 volt power supply and is used to clean up flyback voltage to the input bridge D 4 when the FETs are conducting. Similarly, Zener diode D 19 (see FIG. 5D) is used to protect against overvoltage when the FETs are conducting.
Control of the direction of rotation of motor 118 (and thus direction of travel of the door) is accomplished with two relays, K 1 and K 2 (FIG. 5 C). Relay K 1 supplies current to cause the motor to rotate clockwise in an opening direction (door moves UP); relay K 2 supplies current to cause the motor to rotate counterclockwise in a closing direction (door moves DOWN). When the door is commanded to move UP, the microprocessor 300 sends an enable signal from pin P 05 to the base of transistor Q 1 , which drives relay K 1 . When the door is commanded to move DOWN, the microprocessor 300 sends an enable signal from pin P 06 to the base of transistor Q 2 , which drives relay K 2 .
Door-in-door contacts 13 and 15 are connected to terminals 304 and 306 . Terminals 304 and 306 are connected to relays K 1 and K 2 . If the signal between contacts 13 and 15 is broken, the signal across terminals 304 and 306 is open; preventing relays K 1 and K 2 from energizing. The motor 118 will not rotate and the door 24 will not move until the user closes pedestrian door 11 , making contact between contacts 13 and 15 .
In FIG. 5B, the pass point signal 220 from the pass point module 40 (see FIG. 21) of motor 118 is applied to pin P 23 of microprocessor 300 . The RPM signal 224 from the RPM sensor module in motor 118 is applied to pin P 31 of microprocessor 300 . Application of the pass point signal and the RPM signal is described with reference to the flow charts.
An optional wall control, which duplicates the switches on remote transmitter 30 , may be connected to controller 200 at terminals 312 and 314 . When the user presses the door command switch 39 , a dead short is made to ground, which the microprocessor 300 detects by the failure to detect voltage. Capacitor C 22 is provided for RF noise reduction. The dead short to ground is sensed at pins P 02 and P 03 , for redundancy.
Switches S 1 and S 2 are part of switch module 39 mounted on head unit 12 and used by the installer for operating the system. As stated above, S 1 is the learn switch. S 2 is the door command switch. When S 2 is pressed, microprocessor 300 detects the dead short at pins P 02 and P 03 .
Input from an obstacle detector (not shown) is provided at terminal 316 . This signal is voltage divided down and provided to microprocessor 300 at pins P 20 and P 30 , for redundancy. Except when the door is moving and less than an inch above the floor, when the obstacle detector senses an object in the doorway, the microprocessor executes the auto-reverse routine causing the door to stop and/or reverse depending on the state of the door movement.
Force and speed of door travel are determined by two potentiometers. Potentiometer R 33 adjusts the force and speed of UP travel; potentiometer R 34 adjusts the force and speed of DOWN travel. Potentiometers R 33 and R 34 act as analog voltage dividers. The analog signal from R 33 , R 34 is further divided down by voltage divider R 35 /R 37 , R 36 /R 38 before it is applied to the input of comparators 320 and 322 . Reference pulses from pins P 34 and P 35 of microprocessor 300 are compared with the force input from potentiometers R 33 and R 34 in comparators 320 and 322 . The output of comparators 320 and 322 is applied to pins P 01 and P 00 .
To perform the A/D conversion, the microprocessor 300 samples the output of the comparators 320 and 322 at pins P 00 and P 01 to determine which voltage is higher: the voltage from the potentiometer R 33 or R 34 (IN) or the voltage from the reference pin P 34 or P 35 (REF). If the potentiometer voltage is higher than the reference, then the microprocessor outputs a pulse. If not, the output voltage is held low. The RC filter (R 39 , C 29 /R 40 , C 30 ) converts the pulses into a DC voltage equivalent to the duty cycle of the pulses. By outputting the pulses in the manner described above, the microprocessor creates a voltage at REF which dithers around the voltage at IN. The microprocessor then calculates the duty cycle of the pulse output which directly correlates to the voltage seen at IN.
When power is applied to the head unit 12 including controller 200 , microprocessor 300 executes a series of routines. With power applied, microprocessor 300 executes the main routines shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The main loop 400 includes three basic functions, which are looped continuously until power is removed. In block 402 the microprocessor 300 handles all non-radio EEPROM communications and disables radio access to the EEPROM 302 when communicating. This ensures that during normal operation, i.e., when the garage door operator is not being programmed, the remote transmitter does not have access to the EEPROM, where transmitter codes are stored. Radio transmissions are processed upon receipt of a radio interrupt (see below).
In block 404 , microprocessor 300 maintains all low priority tasks, such as calculating new force levels and minimum speed. Preferably, a set of redundant RAM registers is provides. In the event of an unforeseen event (e.g., an ESD event) which corrupts regular RAM, the main RAM registers and the redundant RAM registers will not match. Thus, when the values in RAM do not match, the routine knows the regular RAM has been corrupter. (See block 504 below.) In block 406 , microprocessor 300 tests redundant RAM registers. Several interrupt routines can take priority over blocks 402 , 404 and 406 .
The infrared obstacle detector generates an asynchronous IR interrupt signal which is a series of pulses. The absence of the obstacle detector pulses indicates an obstruction in the beam. After processing the IR interrupt, microprocessor 300 sets the status of the obstacle detector as unobstructed at block 416 .
Receipt of a transmission from remote transmitter 30 generates an asynchronous radio interrupt at block 410 . At block 418 , if in the door command mode, microprocessor 300 parses incoming radio signals and sets a flag if the signal matches a stored code. If in the learn mode, microprocessor 300 stores the new transmitter codes in the EEPROM.
An asynchronous interrupt is generated if a remote communications unit is connected to an optional RS- 232 communications port located on the head unit. Upon receipt of the hardware interrupt, microprocessor 300 executes a serial data communications routine for transferring and storing data from the remote hardware.
Hardware timer 0 interrupt is shown in block 422 . In block 424 , microprocessor 300 reads the incoming AC line signal from pin P 24 and handles the motor phase control output. The incoming line signal is used to determine if the line voltage is 50 Hz for the foreign market or 60 Hz for the domestic market. With each interrupt, microprocessor 300 , at block 426 , task switches among three tasks. In block 428 , microprocessor 300 updates software timers. In block 430 , microprocessor 300 debounces wall control switch signals. In block 432 , microprocessor 300 controls the motor state, including motor direction relay outputs and motor safety systems.
When the motor 118 is running, it generates an asynchroncus RPM interrupt at block 434 . When micrcprocessor 300 receives the asynchronous RPM interrupt at pin P 31 , it calculates the motor RPM period at block 436 , then updates the position of the door at block 438 .
Further details of main loop 400 are shown in FIGS. 7A through 7H. The first step executed in main loop 400 is block 450 , where the microprocessor checks to see if the pass point has been passed since the last update. If it has, the routine branches to block 452 , where the microprocessor 300 updates the position of the door relative to the pass point in EEPROM 302 or non-volatile memory. The routine then continues at block 454 . An optional safety feature of the garage door operator system enables the worklight, when the door is open and stopped and the infrared beam in the obstacle detector is broken.
At block 454 , the microprocessor checks if the enable/disable of the worklight for this feature has been changed. Some users want the added safety feature; others prefer to save the electricity used. If new input has been provided, the routine branches to block 456 and sets the status of the obstacle detector-controlled worklight in non-volatile memory in accordance with the new input. Then the routine continues to block 458 where the routine checks to determine if the worklight has been turned on without the timer. A separate switch is provided on both the remote transmitter 30 and the head unit at module 39 to enable the user to switch on the worklight without operating the door command switch. If no, the routine skips to block 470 .
If yes, the routine checks at block 460 to see if the one-shot flag has been set for an obstacle detector beam break. If no, the routine skips to block 470 . If yes, the routine checks if the obstacle detector controlled worklight is enabled at block 462 . If not, the routine skips to block 470 . If it is, the routine checks if the door is stopped in the fully open position at block 464 . If no, the routine skips to block 470 . If yes, the routine calls the SetVarLight subroutine (see FIG. 8) to enable the appropriate turn off time (4.5 minutes for 60 Hz systems or 2.5 minutes for 50 Hz systems). At block 468 , the routine turns on the worklight.
At block 470 , the microprocessor 300 clears the one-shot flag for the infrared beam break. This resets the obstacle detector, so that a later beam break can generate an interrupt. At block 472 , if the user has installed a temporary password usable for a fixed period of time, the microprocessor 300 updates the non-volatile timer for the radio temporary password. At block 474 , the microprocessor 300 refreshes the RAM registers for radio mode from non-volatile memory (EEPROM 302 ). At block 476 , the microprocessor 300 refreshes I/O port directions, i.e., whether each of the ports is to be input or output. At block 478 , the microprocessor 300 updates the status of the radio lockout flag, if necessary. The radio lockout flag prevents the microprocessor from responding to a signal from a remote transmitter. A radio interrupt (described below) will disable the radio lockout flag and enable the remote transmitter to communicate with the receiver.
At block 480 , the microprocessor 300 checks if the door is about to travel. If not, the routine skips to block 502 . If the door is about to travel, the microprocessor 300 checks if the limits are being trained at block 482 . If they are, the routine skips to block 490 . If not, the routine asks at block 484 if travel is UP or DOWN. If DOWN, the routine refreshes the DOWN limit from non-volatile memory (EEPROM 302 ) at block 486 . If UP, the routine refreshes the UP limit from non-volatile memory (EEPROM 302 ) at block 488 . The routine updates the current operating state and position relative to the pass point in non-volatile memory at block 490 . This is a redundant read for stability of the system.
At block 492 , the routine checks for completion of a limit training cycle. If training is complete, the routine branches to block 494 where the new limit settings and position relative to the pass point are written to non-volatile memory.
The routine then updates the counter for the number of operating cycles at block 496 . This information can be downloaded at a later time and used to determine when certain parts need to be replaced. At block 498 the routine checks if the number of cycles is a multiple of 256. Limiting the storage of this information to multiples of 256 limits the number of times the system has to write to that register. If yes it updates the history of force settings at block 500 . If not, the routine continues to block 502 .
At block 502 the routine updates the learn switch debouncer. At block 504 the routine performs a continuity check by comparing the backup (redundant) RAM registers with the main registers. If they do not match, the routine branches to block 506 . If the registers do not match, the RAM memory has been corrupted and the system is not safe to operate, so a reset is commanded. At this point, the system powers up as if power had been removed and reapplied and the first step is a self test of the system (all installation settings are unchanged).
If the answer to block 504 is yes, the routine continues to block 508 where the routine services any incoming serial messages from the optional wall control (serial messages might be user input start or stop commands). The routine then loads the UP force timing from the ROM look-up table, using the user setting as an index at block 510 . Force potentiometers R 33 and R 34 are set by the user. The analog values set by the user are converted to digital values. The digital values are used as an index to the look-up table stored in memory. The value indexed from the look-up table is then used as the minimum motor speed measurement. When the motor runs, the routine compares the selected value from the look-up table with the digital timing from the RPM routine to ensure the force is acceptable.
Instead of calculating the force each time the force potentiometers are set, a look-up table is provided for each potentiometer. The range of values based on the range of user inputs is stored in ROM and used to save microprocessor processing time. The system includes two force limits: one for the UP force and one for the DOWN force. Two force limits provide a safer system. A heavy door may require more UP force to lift, but need a lower DOWN force setting (and therefore a slower closing speed) to provide a soft closure. A light door will need less UP force to open the door and possibly a greater DOWN force to provide a full closure.
Next the force timing is divided by power level of the motor for the door to scale the maximum force time-out at block 512 . This step scales the force reversal point based on the maximum force for the door. The maximum force for the door is determined based on the size of the door, i.e. the distance the door travels. Single piece doors travel a greater distance than segmented doors. Short doors require less force to move than normal doors. The maximum force for a short door is scaled down to 60 percent of the maximum force available for a normal door. So, at block 512 , if the force setting is set by the user, for example at 40 percent, and the door is a normal door (i.e., a segmented door or multi-paneled door), the force is scaled to 40 percent of 100 percent. If the door is a short door (i.e., a single panel door), the force is scaled to 40 percent of 60 percent, or 24 percent.
At block 514 , the routine loads the DOWN force timing from the ROM look-up table, using the user setting as an index. At block 516 , the routine divides the force timing by the power level of the motor for the door to scale the force to the speed.
At block 518 the routine checks if the door is traveling DOWN. If yes, the routine disables use of the MinSpeed Register at block 524 and loads the MinSpeed Register with the DOWN force setting, i.e., the value read from the DOWN force potentiometer at block 526 . If not, the routine disables use of the MinSpeed Register at block 520 and loads the MinSpeed Register with the UP force setting from the force potentiometer at block 522 .
The routine continues at block 528 where the routine subtracts 24 from the MinSpeed value. The MinSpeed value ranges from 0 to 63. The system uses 64 levels of force. If the result is negative at block 530 , the routine clears the MinSpeed Register at block 532 to effectively truncate the lower 38 percent of the force settings. If no, the routine divides the minimum speed by 4 to scale 8 speeds to 32 force settings at block 534 . At block 536 , the routine adds 4 into the minimum speed to correct the offset, and clips the result to a maximum of 12. At block 538 the routine enables use of the MinSpeed Register.
At block 540 the routine checks if the period of the rectified AC line signal (input to microprocessor 300 at pin P 24 ) is less than 9 milliseconds (indicating the line frequency is 60 Hz). If it is, the routine skips to block 548 . If not, the routine checks if the light shut-off timer is active at block 542 . If not, the routine skips to block 548 . If yes, the routine checks if the light time value is greater than 2.5 minutes at block 544 . If no, the routine skips to block 548 . If yes, the routine calls the SetVarLight subroutine (see FIG. 8 ), to correct the light timing setting, at block 546 .
At block 548 the routine checks if the radio signal has been clear for 100 milliseconds or more. If not, the routine skips to block 552 . If yes, the routine clears the radio at block 550 . At block 552 , the routine resets the watchdog timer. At block 554 , the routine loops to the beginning of the main loop.
The SetVarLight subroutine, FIG. 8, is called whenever the door is commanded to move and the worklight is to be turned on. When the SetVarLight subroutine, block 558 is called, the subroutine checks if the period of the rectified power line signal (pin P 24 of microprocessor 300 ) is greater than or equal to 9 milliseconds. If yes, the line frequency is 50 Hz, and the timer is set to 2.5 minutes at block 564 . If no, the line frequency is 60 Hz and the timer is set to 4.5 minutes at block 562 . After setting, the subroutine returns to the call point at block 566 .
The hardware timer interrupt subroutine operated by microprocessor 300 , shown at block 422 , runs every 0.256 milliseconds. Referring to FIGS. 9A-9C, when the subroutine is first called, it sets the radio interrupt status as indicated by the software flags at block 580 . At block 582 , the subroutine updates the software timer extension. The next series of steps monitor the AC power line frequency (pin P 24 of microprocessor 300 ). At step 584 , the subroutine checks if the rectified power line input is high (checks for a leading edge). If yes, the subroutine skips to block 594 , where it increments the power line high time counter, then continues to block 596 . If no, the subroutine checks if the high time counter is below 2 milliseconds at block 586 . If yes, the subroutine skips to block 594 . If no, the subroutine sets the measured power line time in RAM at block 588 . The subroutine then resets the power line high time counter at block 590 and resets the phase timer register in block 592 .
At block 596 , the subroutine checks if the motor power level is set at 100 percent. If yes, the subroutine turns on the motor phase control output at block 606 . If no, the subroutine checks if the motor power level is set at 0 percent at block 598 . If yes, the subroutine turns off the motor phase control output at block 604 . If no, the phase timer register is decremented at block 600 and the result is checked for sign at block 602 . If positive the subroutine branches to block 606 ; if negative the subroutine branches to block 604 .
The subroutine continues at block 608 where the incoming RPM signal (at pin P 31 of microprocessor 300 ) is digitally filtered. Then the time prescaling task switcher (which loops through 8 tasks identified at locks 620 , 630 , 640 , 650 ) is incremented at block 610 . The task switcher varies from 0 to 7. At block 612 , the subroutine branches to the proper task depending on the value of the task switcher.
If the task switcher is at value 2 (this occurs every 4 milliseconds), the execute motor state machine subroutine is called at block 620 . If the task is value 0 or 4 (this occurs every 2 milliseconds), the wall control switches are debounced at block 630 . If the task value is 6 (this occurs every 4 milliseconds), the execute 4 ms timer subroutine is called at block 640 . If the task is value 1, 3, 5 or 7, the 1 millisecond timer subroutine is called at block 650 . Upon completion of the called subroutine, the 0.256 millisecond timer subroutine returns at block 614 .
Details of the 1 ms timer subroutine (block 650 ) are shown in FIGS. 10A-10C. When this subroutine is called, the first step is to update the A/D converters on the UP and DOWN force setting potentiometers (P 34 and P 35 of microprocessor 300 ) at block 652 . At block 654 , the subroutine checks if the A/D conversion (comparison at comparators 320 and 322 ) is complete. If yes, the measured potentiometer values are stored at block 656 . Then the stored values (which vary from 0 to 127) are divided by 2 to obtain the 64 level force setting at block 658 . If no, the subroutine decrements the infrared obstacle detector timeout timer at block 660 . In block 662 , the subroutine checks if the timer has reached zero. If no, the subroutine skips to block 672 . If yes, the subroutine resets the infrared obstacle detector timeout timer at block 664 . The flag setting for the obstacle detector signal is checked at block 666 . If no, the one-shot break flag is set at block 668 . If yes, the flag is set indication the obstacle detector signal is absent at block 60 .
At block 672 , the subroutine increments the radio time out register. Then the infrared obstacle detector reversal timer is decremented at block 674 . The pass point input is debounced at block 676 . The 125 millisecond prescaler is incremented at block 678 . Then the prescaler is checked to see if it has reached 63 milliseconds at block 680 . If yes, the fault blinking LED is updated at block 682 . If no, the prescaler is checked if it has reached 125 ms at block 684 . If yes, the 125 ms timer subroutine is executed at block 686 . If no, the routine returns at block 688 .
Turning to FIGS. 11A-C, the 125 millisecond timer subroutine (block 690 ) is used to manage the power level of the motor 118 . At block 692 , the subroutine updates the RS- 232 mode timer and exits the RS- 232 mode timer if necessary. The same pair of wires is used for both wall control switches and RS- 232 communication. If RS- 232 communication is received while in the wall control mode, the RS- 232 mode is entered. If four seconds passes since the last RS- 232 word was received, then the RS- 232 timer times out and reverts to the wall control mode. At block 694 the subroutine checks if the motor is set to be stopped.. If yes, the subroutine skips to block 716 and sets the motor's power level to 0 percent. If no, the subroutine checks if the pre-travel safety light is flashing at block 696 (if the optional flasher module has been installed, a light will flash for 2 seconds before the motor is permitted to travel and then flash at a predetermined interval during motor travel). If yes, the subroutine skips to block 716 and sets the motor's power level to 0 percent.
If no, the subroutine checks if the microprocessor 300 is in the last phase of a limit training mode at block 698 . If yes, the subroutine skips to block 710 . If no, the subroutine checks if the microprocessor 300 is in another part of the limit training mode at block 700 . If no, the subroutine skips to block 710 . If yes, the subroutine sets the motor ramp-up complete flag in step 702 and checks if the minimum speed (as determined by the force settings) is greater than 40 percent at block 704 . If no, the power level is set to 40 percent at block 708 . If yes, the power level is set equal to the minimum speed stored in MinSpeed Register at block 706 .
At block 710 the subroutine checks if the flag is set to slow down. If yes, the subroutine checks if the motor is running above or below minimum speed at block 714 . If above minimum speed, the power level of the motor is decremented one step increment (one step increment is preferably 5% of maximum motor speed) at block 722 . If below the minimum speed, the power level of the motor is incremented one step increment (which is preferably 5% of maximum motor speed) to minimum speed at block 720 .
If the flag is not set to slow down at block 710 , the subroutine checks if the motor is running at maximum allowable speed at block 712 . If no, the power level of the motor is incremented one step increment (which is preferably 5% of maximum motor speed) at block 720 . If yes, the flag is set for motor ramp-up speed complete.
The subroutine continues at block 724 where it checks if the period of the rectified AC power line (pin P 24 of microprocessor 300 ) is greater than or equal to 9 ms. If no, the subroutine fetches the motor's phase control information (indexed from the power level) from the 60 Hz look-up table stored in ROM at block 728 . If yes, the subroutine fetches the motor's phase control information (indexed from the power level) from the 50 Hz look-up table stored in ROM at block 726 .
The subroutine tests for a user enable/disable of the infrared obstacle detector-controlled worklight feature at block 730 . Then the user radio learning timers, ZZWIN (at the wall keypad if installed) and AUXLEARNSW (radio on air and worklight command) are updated at block 732 . The software watchdog timer is updated at block 734 and the fault blinking LED is updated at block 736 . The subroutine returns at block 738 .
The 4 millisecond timer subroutine is used to check on various systems which do not require updating as often as more critical systems. Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, the subroutine is called at block 640 . At block 750 , the RPM safety timers are updated. These timers are used to determine if the door has engaged the floor. The RPM safety timer is a one second delay before the operator begins to look for a falling door, i.e., one second after stopping. There are two different forces used in the garage door operator. The first type force are the forces determined by the UP and DOWN force potentiometers. These force levels determine the speed at which the door travels in the UP and DOWN directions. The second type of force is determined by the decrease in motor speed due to an external force being applied to the door (an obstacle or the floor). This programmed or pre-selected external force is the maximum force that the system will accept before an auto-reverse or stop is commanded.
At block 752 the 0.5 second RPM timer is checked to see if it has expired. If yes, the 0.5 second timer is reset at block 754 . At block 756 safety checks are performed on the RPM seen during the last 0.5 seconds to prevent the door from falling. The 0.5 second timer is chosen so the maximum force achieved at the trolley will reach 50 kilograms in 0.5 seconds if the motor is operating at 100 percent of power.
At block 758 , the subroutine updates the 1 second timer for the optional light flasher module. In this embodiment, the preferred flash period is 1 second. At block 760 the radio dead time and dropout timers are updated. At block 762 the learn switch is debounced. At block 764 the status of the worklight is updated in accordance with the various light timers. At block 766 the optional wall control blink timer is updated. The optional wall control includes a light which blinks when the door is being commanded to auto-reverse in response to an infrared obstacle detector signal break. At block 768 the subroutine returns.
Further details of the asynchronous RPM signal interrupt, block 434 , are shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B. This signal, which is provided to microprocessor 300 at pin P 31 , is used to control the motor speed and the position detector. Door position is determined by a value relative to the pass point. The pass point is set at 0. Positions above the pass point are negative; positions below the pass point are positive. When the door travels to the UP limit, the position detector (or counter) determines the position based on the number of RPM pulses to the UP limit number. When the door travels DOWN to the DOWN limit, the position detector counts the number of RPM pulses to the DOWN limit number. The UP and DOWN limit numbers are stored in a register.
At block 782 the RPM interrupt subroutine calculates the period of the incoming RPM signal. If the door is traveling UP, the subroutine calculates the difference between two successive pulses. If the door is traveling DOWN, the subroutine calculates the difference between two successive pulses. At block 784 , the subroutine divides the period by 8 to fit into a binary word. At block 786 the subroutine checks if the motor speed is ramping up. This is the max force mode. RPM timeout will vary from 10 to 500 milliseconds. Note that these times are recommended for a DC motor. If an AC motor is used, the maximum time would be scaled down to typically 24 milliseconds. A 24 millisecond period is slower than the breakdown RPM or the motor and therefore beyond the maximum possible force of most preferred motors. If yes, the RPM timeout is set at 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds) at block 790 . If no, the subroutine sets the RPM timeout as the rounded-up value of the force setting in block 788 .
At block 792 the subroutine checks for the direction of travel. This is found in the state machine register. If the door is traveling DOWN, the position counter is incremented at block 796 and the pass point debouncer is sampled at block 800 . At block 804 , the subroutine checks for the falling edge of the pass point signal. If the falling edge is not present, the subroutine returns at block 814 . If there is a pass point falling edge, the subroutine checks for the lowest pass point (in cases where more than one pass point is used). If this is not the lowest pass point, the subroutine returns at block 814 . If it is the only pass point or the lowest pass point, the position counter is zeroed at block 812 and the subroutine returns at block 814 .
If the door is traveling UP, the subroutine decrements the position counter at block 794 and samples the pass point debouncer at block 798 . Then it checks for the rising edge of the pass point signal at block 802 . If there is no pass point signal rising edge, the subroutine returns at block 814 . If there is, it checks for the lowest pass point at block 806 . If no the subroutine returns at block 814 . If yes, the subroutine zeroes the position counter at block 810 and returns at block 814 .
The motor state machine subroutine, block 620 , is shown in FIG. 14 . It keeps track of the state of the motor. At block 820 , the subroutine updates the false obstacle detector signal output, which is used in systems that do not require an infrared obstacle detector. At block 822 , the subroutine checks if the software watchdog timer has reached too high a value. If yes, a system reset is commanded at block 824 . If no, at block 82 E, it checks the state of the motor stored in the motor state register located in EEPROM 302 and executes the appropriate subroutine.
If the door is traveling UP, the UP direction subroutine at block 832 is executed. If the door is traveling DOWN, the DOWN direction subroutine is executed at block 828 . If the door is stopped in the middle of the travel path, the stop in midtravel subroutine is executed at block 838 . If the door is fully closed, the DOWN position subroutine is executed at block 830 . If the door is fully open, the UP position subroutine is executed at block 834 . If the door is reversing, the auto-reverse subroutine is executed at block 836 .
When the door is stopped in midtravel, the subroutine at block 838 is called, as shown in FIG. 15 . In block 840 the subroutine updates the relay safety system (ensuring that relays K 1 and K 2 are open). The subroutine checks in block 842 for a received wall command or radio command. If there is no received command, the subroutine updates the worklight status and returns at block 850 . If yes, the motor power is set to 20 percent at block 844 and the motor state is set to traveling DOWN at block 846 . The worklight status is updated and the subroutine returns at block 850 . If the door is stopped in midtravel and a door command is received, the door is set to close. The next time the system calls the motor state machine subroutine, the motor state machine will call the DOWN direction subroutine. The door must close to the DOWN limit before it can be opened to the full UP limit.
If the state machine indicates the door is in the DOWN position (i.e. the DOWN limit position), the DOWN position subroutine, block 830 , at FIG. 16 is called. When the door is in the DOWN position, the subroutine checks if a wall control or radio command has been received at block 852 . If no, the subroutine updates the light and returns at block 858 . If yes, the motor power is set to 20 percent at block 854 and the motor state register is set to show the state is traveling UP at block 856 . The subroutine then updates the light and returns at block 858 .
The UP direction subroutine, block 832 , is shown in FIGS. 17A-17C. At block 860 the subroutine waits until the main loop refreshes the UP limit from EEPROM 302 . Then it checks if 40 milliseconds have passed since closing of the light relay K 3 at block 862 . If not, the subroutine returns at block 864 . If yes, the subroutine checks for flashing the warning light prior to travel at block 866 (only if the optional flasher module is installed). If the light is flashing, the status of the blinking light is updated and the subroutine returns at block 868 . If not, or the flashing is terminated, the motor UP relay is turned on at block 870 . Then the subroutine waits until 1 second has passed after the motor was turned on at block 872 . If no, the subroutine skips to block 888 . If yes, the subroutine checks for the RPM signal timeout at block 874 . If no, the subroutine checks if the motor speed is ramping up at block 876 by checking the value of the RAMPFLAG register in RAM (i.e., UP, DOWN, FULLSPEED, STOP). If yes, the subroutine skips to block 888 . If no, the subroutine checks if the measured RPM is longer than the allowable RPM period at block 878 . If no, the subroutine continues at block 888 .
If the RPM signal has timed out at block 874 or the measured time period is longer than allowable at block 878 , the subroutine branches to block 880 . At block 880 , the reason is set as force obstruction. At block 882 , if the training limits are being set, the training status is updated. At block 884 the motor power is set to zero and the state is set as stopped in midtravel. At block 886 the subroutine returns.
At block 888 the subroutine checks if the door's exact position is known. If it is not, the door's distance from the UP limit is updated in block 890 by subtracting the UP limit stored in RAM from the position of the door also stored in RAM. Then the subroutine checks at block 892 if the door is beyond its UP limit. If yes, the subroutine sets the reason as reaching the limit in block 894 . Then the subroutine checks if the limits are being trained. If yes, the limit training machine is updated at block 898 . If no, the motor's power is set as zero and the motor state is set at the UP position in block 900 . Then the subroutine returns at block 902 .
If the door is not beyond its UP limit, the subroutine checks if the door is being manually positioned in the training cycle at block 904 . If not, the door position within the slowdown distance of the limit is checked at block 906 . If yes, the motor slow down flag is set at block 910 . If the door is being positioned manually at block 904 or the door is not within the slow down distance, the subroutine skips to block 912 . At block 912 the subroutine checks if a wall control or radio command has been received. If yes, the motor power is set at zero and the state is set at stopped in midtravel at block 916 . If no, the system checks if the motor has been running for over 27 seconds at block 914 . If no, the subroutine returns at block 918 . If yes, the motor power is set at zero and the motor state is set at stopped in midtravel at block 916 . Then the subroutine returns at block 918 .
Referring to FIG. 18, the auto-reverse subroutine block 836 is described. (Force reversal is stopping the motor for 0.5 seconds, then traveling UP.) At block 920 the subroutine updates the 0.5 second reversal timer (the force reversal timer described above). Then the subroutine checks at block 922 for expiration of the force-reversal timer. If yes, the motor power is set to 20 percent at block 924 and the motor state is set to traveling UP at block 926 and the subroutine returns at block 932 . If the timer has not expired, the subroutine checks for receipt of a wall command or radio command at block 928 . If yes, the motor power is set to zero and the state is set at stopped in midtravel at block 930 , then the subroutine returns at block 932 . If no, the subroutine returns at block 932 .
The UP position routine, block 834 , is shown in FIG. 19 . Door travel limits training is started with the door in the UP position. At block 934 , the subroutine updates the relay safety system. Then the subroutine checks for receipt of a wall command or radio command at block 936 indicating an intervening user command. If yes, the motor power is set to 20 percent at block 938 and the state is set at traveling DOWN in block 940 . Then the light is updated and the subroutine returns at block 950 . If no wall command or radio command has been received, the subroutine checks for training the limits at block 942 . If no, the light is updated and the subroutine returns at block 950 . If yes, the limit training state machine is updated at block 944 . Then the subroutine checks if it is time to travel DOWN at block 946 . If no, the subroutine updates the light and returns at block 950 . If it is time to travel DOWN, the state is set at traveling DOWN at block 948 and the system returns at block 950 .
The DOWN direction subroutine, block 828 , is shown in FIGS. 2 CA- 20 D. At block 952 , the subroutine waits until the main loop routine refreshes the DOWN limit from EEPROM 302 . For safety purposes, only the main loop or the remote transmitter (radio) can access data stored in or written to the EEPROM 302 . Because EEPROM communication is handled within software, it is necessary to ensure that two software routines do not try to communicate with the EEPROM at the same time (and have a data collision). Therefore, EEPROM communication is allowed only in the Main Loop and in the Radio routine, with the Main loop having a busy flag to prevent the radio from communicating with the EEPROM at the same time. At block 954 , the subroutine checks if 40 milliseconds has passed since closing of the light relay K 3 . If no, the subroutine returns at block 956 . If yes, the subroutine checks if the warning light is flashing (for 2 seconds if the optional flasher module is installed) prior to travel at block 958 . If yes, the subroutine updates the status of the flashing light and returns at block 960 . If no, or the flashing is completed, the subroutine turns on the DOWN motor relay K 2 at block 962 . At block 964 the subroutine checks if one second has passed since the motor was first turned on. The system ignores the force on the motor for the first one second. This allows the motor time to overcome the inertia of the door (and exceed the programmed force settings) without having to adjust the programmed force settings for ramp up, normal travel and slow down. Force is effectively set to maximum during ramp up to overcome sticky doors.
If the one second time has not passed, the subroutine skips to block 984 . If the one second time limit has passed, the subroutine checks for the RPM signal time out at block 96 E. If no, the subroutine checks if the motor speed is currently being ramped up at block 968 (this is a maximum force condition). If yes, the routine skips to block 984 . If no, the subroutine checks if the measured RPM period is longer than the allowable RPM period. If no, the subroutine continues at block 984 .
If either the RPM signal has timed-out (block 966 ) or the RPM period is longer than allowable (block 970 ), this is an indication of an obstruction or the door has reached the DOWN limit position, and the subroutine skips to block 972 . At block 972 , the subroutine checks if the door is positioned beyond the DOWN limit setting. If it is, the subroutine skips to block 990 where it checks if the motor has been powered for at least one second. This one second power period after the DOWN limit has been reached provides for the door to close fully against the floor. This is especially important when DC motors are used. The one second period overcomes the internal braking effect of the DC motor on shut-off. Auto-reverse is disabled after the position detector reaches the DOWN limit. If the door is not positioned beyond the DOWN limit setting, the subroutine sets the reason as force obstruction at block 974 , updated the training status if the operator is training limits at block 976 , and sets the motor power at 0 at block 980 , and the subroutine returns at block 982 .
If the subroutine determines that the door position is beyond the DOWN limit setting and if the motor has been running for one second, at block 990 , the subroutine sets the reason as reaching the limit at block 994 . The subroutine then checks if the limits are being trained at block 998 . If yes, the limit training machine is updated at block 1002 . If no, the motor's power is set to zero and the motor state is set at the DOWN position in block 1006 . In block 1008 the subroutine returns.
If the motor has not been running for at least one second at block 990 , the subroutine sets the reason as early limit at block 1026 . Then the subroutine sets the motor power at zero and the motor state as auto-reverse at block 1028 and returns at block 1030 .
Returning to block 984 , the subroutine checks if the door's position is currently unknown. If yes, the subroutine skips to block 1004 . If no, the subroutine updates the door's distance from the DOWN limit using internal RAM in microprocessor 300 in block 986 . Then the subroutine checks at block 988 if the door is three inches beyond the DOWN limit. If yes, the subroutine skips to block 990 . If no, the subroutine checks if the door is being positioned manually in the training cycle at block 992 . If yes, the subroutine skips to block 1004 . If no, the subroutine checks if the door is within the slow DOWN distance of the limit at block 996 . If no, the subroutine skips to block 1004 . If yes, the subroutine sets the motor slow down flag at block 1000 .
At block 1004 , the subroutine checks if a wall control command or radio command has been received. If yes, the subroutine sets the motor power at zero and the state as auto-reverse at block 1012 . If no, the subroutine checks if the motor has been running for over 27 seconds at block 1010 . If yes, the subroutine sets the motor power at zero and the state at auto-reverse at block 1012 . If no, the subroutine checks if the obstacle detector signal has been missing for 12 milliseconds or more at block 1014 indicating the presence of the obstacle or the failure of the detector. If no, the subroutine returns at block 1018 . If yes, the subroutine checks if the wall control or radio signal is being held to override the infrared obstacle detector at block 1016 . If yes, the subroutine returns at block 1018 . If no, the subroutine sets the reason as infrared obstacle detector obstruction at block 1020 . The subroutine then sets the motor power at zero and the state as auto-reverse at block 1022 and returns at block 1024 . (The auto-reverse routine stops the motor for 0.5 seconds then causes the door to travel up.)
The appendix attached hereto includes a source listing of a series of routines used to operate a movable barrier operator in accordance with the present invention.
While there has been illustrated and described a particular embodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated that numerous changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all those changes and modifications which followed in the true spirit and scope of the present invention. | A movable barrier operator having improved safety and energy efficiency features automatically detects line voltage frequency and uses that information to set a worklight shut-off time. The operator automatically detects the type of door (single panel or segmented) and uses that information to set a maximum speed of door travel. The operator moves the door with a linearly variable speed from start of travel to stop for smooth and quiet performance. The operator provides for full door closure by driving the door into the floor when the DOWN limit is reached and no auto-reverse condition has been detected. The operator provides for user selection of a minimum stop speed for easy starting and stopping of sticky or binding doors. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to network computing and, more particularly, to a method, system, and storage medium for resolving contention issues among channels that occur during channel program execution.
Utilizing a current protocol such as the FC-SB-3 protocol (FICON), a control unit (CU) typically responds to the first command issued by a channel for a new channel program with a ‘device-busy’ status indication in situations when its resources are completely utilized. When this occurs, the CU ‘owes’ the channel a ‘no-longer-busy’ status response when the CU becomes not busy. When the channel receives the ‘no-longer-busy’ status, it accepts the status and ends the connection with the CU. Subsequently, if the channel still needs to initiate the new channel program, it is re-initiated by sending a new command.
The FICON protocol encounters problems if, during the time that a CU is busy, it receives requests from several channels to initiate new channel programs. In this instance, the CU responds to all of the channels with a ‘device-busy’ status. When the CU becomes no longer busy, it can either send a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to all the channels simultaneously, or it can send the ‘no-longer-busy’ status to a single channel at a time. In many cases, both of these alternatives result in some of the channels timing out while waiting for the ‘no-longer-busy’ status.
If the CU sends a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to all of the channels simultaneously, it waits for one of the channels to re-initiate the channel program. When the CU receives the command from the first channel that re-initiates the channel program, it begins execution of that channel program. When the other channels attempt to re-initiate their respective channel programs, the CU responds to each of them with a ‘device-busy’ status. When the CU completes the channel program and again becomes no longer busy, it once again sends a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to those channels to which it has previously sent a ‘device-busy’ status. As in the first case, the CU becomes busy once again when it receives a command from the first channel that re-initiates a channel program, and it responds with a ‘device-busy’ status to other channels which attempt to re-initiate channel programs. This mode of operation causes problems because each time the CU sends a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to all of the channels, there is a race among the channels to re-initiate the channel program. Since the fastest channel typically wins the race, the slower channels are prevented from initiating their channel programs for long time periods. In many cases, these time periods are so long that upper-level software timers expire, and the applications running on these channels fail.
In order to eliminate the race described above, the CU may alternatively send a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to a single channel at a time. After sending a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to a given channel, it waits for the channel to respond by initiating a new channel program. When that channel program is complete, the CU sends a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to the next channel, and allows that channel to respond. This process continues until the CU has sent a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to all of the channels to which it owes this response. Although this mode of operation avoids causing a race among the channels, another problem occurs when a channel no longer needs to initiate a new channel program when it receives the ‘no-longer-busy’ status. This typically occurs when software has awaited completion of the pending operation until a ‘Missing Interrupt Handler’ timeout has occurred, in which case the software withdraws the pending I/O request. In this case, the CU waits a model-dependent time period before assuming that the channel has decided not to initiate a new channel program. The time that the CU needs to wait is often well over ten milliseconds because it takes some of the slower channels this long to re-initiate an I/O operation after receiving a ‘no-longer-busy’ status. During the time when the CU is waiting, timers that are running on all of the other channels that received the ‘device-busy’ status begin to timeout, causing the channels to enter more catastrophic recovery sequences and thereby compounding the problem.
What is needed, therefore, is a way to resolve these contention issues among channels during channel program execution.
SUMMARY
The shortcomings of the prior art described above are overcome and additional advantages are provided by the contention resolution system of the invention.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method, system, and storage medium for resolving contention issues by a channel in a fiber optic switch environment that occur during channel program execution. The method comprises a channel receiving a status packet indicating a device is no longer busy. The method also includes specifying whether the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program that previously resulted in the device busy status. If the channel does not intend to re-initiate the channel program, a first combination of bits in a re-initiate field of a status-acceptance packet are set which indicate that the channel will take no further action. If the channel intends to re-initiate the channel program, a second combination of bits in the re-initiate field of the status-acceptance packet are set, indicating that the channel will re-initiate the channel program. The method further includes transmitting the status-acceptance packet to a control unit. The invention also includes a system and a storage medium.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in which the contention resolution system may be used in an exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram describing operations performed by a channel utilizing the contention resolution system in an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram describing operations performed by a control unit utilizing the contention resolution system in accordance with a further aspect of the invention.
The detailed description explains the preferred embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The contention resolution system of the invention provides a method and system for enhancing a simple indication of acceptance to ‘no-longer-busy’ status that also carries information about whether or not a channel intends to attempt re-initiation of an operation. This information informs the control unit (CU) of the channel's intentions regarding the re-initiation of the I/O operation, thereby eliminating the need for the CU to wait for the channel. The elimination of the wait time, which can be well over 10ms, allows the CU to return a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to other channels almost immediately. This may significantly reduce the probability that these other channels will experience timeouts waiting for the ‘no-longer-busy’ status, thereby reducing error recovery problems that commonly occur using existing technology. The use of new bits in the ‘status-acceptance’ information unit (IU) eliminates these timeouts in most cases, without requiring any re-definition of the FICON usage of FibreChannel transport-layer facilities.
The contention resolution system utilizes Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol (FC-SB-3) of status in response to a request to initiate channel program execution. Information regarding FC-SB-3 can be found in “Fiber-Channel Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3, (FC-SB-3),” Rev 1.6, by the American National Standards Institute and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An enhanced form of a status-acceptance packet that a channel sends in response to the ‘device-no-longer-busy’ status is described. The new status-acceptance packet includes a new field that indicates whether or not the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program for the device. This indication eliminates the need for a control unit to wait for the channel to re-initiate the operation in the case where the channel is not going to re-initiate the operation, thereby significantly enhancing overall performance.
Referring now to FIG. 1 , a typical configuration in which the contention resolution system may be implemented is described. FIG. 1 includes channels 101 a - 101 c that are under the control of host computing systems (also referred to herein as ‘hosts’) A-C, respectively. Hosts A-C refer to enterprise servers such as IBM's Z900™ servers. Hosts A-C are attached to a FibreChannel Fabric 102 . A FibreChannel Fabric refers to a network transport that provides switching and interconnection capabilities for large enterprise servers and storage area networks. An example of a FibreChannel Fabric is a McData™ fiber optic switch model ED6140. Control units (CUs) 103 and 104 refer to shared storage subsystems and are also attached to FibreChannel Fabric 102 . Each control unit 103 , 104 controls three input/out (I/O) devices (also referred to herein as simply “devices”). Control unit 103 controls devices 103 a - 103 c , and control unit 104 controls devices 104 a - 104 c . Each of control units 103 and 104 may be an IBM™ TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server 2105-800™. An example of a device 103 a - 103 c includes a hard drive attached to a control unit. Also included in FIG. 1 is a sample status-acceptance packet 106 . Status-acceptance packet 106 refers to data transmitted by a channel in response to a device ‘no-longer-busy’ status as will be described further herein.
In order to access a device 103 a - c , 104 a - c , a channel 101 a - c sends a command that initiates a channel program to the CU 103 , 104 that controls the particular device. A channel program includes a sequence of commands that designate the operations that the device is to perform on behalf of the channel. If the CU 103 , 104 accepts the command, then it performs internal operations that cause the device (one of 103 a - c , 104 a - c ) to execute the command, as well as subsequent commands in the channel program. Each device 103 a - c , 104 a - c is capable of executing only a single channel program at a time. If another channel attempts to initiate a channel program to a device that is currently executing a channel program with a different channel, the respective control unit responds with a status indicating “device-busy”.
After a CU 103 , 104 has sent a device-busy indication for a given device (one of 103 a - c , 104 a - c ) to the appropriate channel (one of 101 a - c ), it is said to ‘owe’ the channel a ‘device-no-longer-busy’ indication when the device becomes not busy. The ‘device-no-longer-busy’ indication is in a status packet. When the channel receives the device-no-longer busy indication in a status packet, it accepts the status by sending a status-acceptance packet. Subsequently, if channel still needs to initiate the channel program, it re-initiates the channel program by sending a new command.
As indicated above, the FC-SB-3 protocol incurs a problem if, during the time when a device is busy, the CU controlling the device receives requests from several channels to initiate new channel programs with the same device. In this scenario, the CU responds to all of the channels 101 a - c (except the channel for which it is executing a channel program) with a ‘device-busy’ status, because the device can process only one channel program at a time. When the device completes the channel program and becomes not busy, the CU needs to send a ‘device-no-longer-busy’ indication to all of the channels to which it previously sent a ‘device-busy’ status. At this time, the CU can either send a ‘device-no-longer-busy’ status to all the channels simultaneously, or it can send the ‘no-longer-busy’ status to a single channel at a time. In many cases, use of either of these alternative results in some of the channels timing out while waiting for the device-no-longer-busy status, as explained above.
The indication of intent to re-initiate a channel program as described in this invention informs the CU of the channel's intentions regarding re-initiation of an I/O operation, thereby eliminating the need for the CU to wait for the channel. The elimination of the wait time, which can be well over 10 milliseconds, allows the CU to return a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to other channels almost immediately. This significantly decreases the probability that these other channels will experience timeouts waiting for the ‘no-longer-busy’ status, thereby reducing error recovery problems. Such compounded error recovery problems are common using today's existing technology.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the capabilities of the present invention described herein may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware or some combination thereof.
The contention resolution system describes the content of, and processing rules for, an enhanced form of status-acceptance packet that the channel sends in response to a device ‘no-longer-busy’ status. The enhanced form of status-acceptance packet 106 contains header fields H and a control header field CH that are present in the current status-accepted packet, and a re-initiate field that indicates to the CU whether or not the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program for the device. The re-initiate field can be defined as part of the control parameters field of the control header of the current status-accepted packet. Details of the FC-SB-3 protocol and the current status-accepted packet may be found in “Fiber Channel-Single-Byte Command-Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol (FC-SB-3), rev 1.6, by the American National Standards Institute. Since there are several bits in the control parameters field of the control header of the current status-accepted packet that are currently reserved and set to zero, two of these currently-reserved may be used for the re-initiate field as shown in the table below.
Value
Intention to Re-initiate
00
No indication of intention to re-initiate
01
No intent to re-initiate
10
Intend to re-initiate
11
Reserved
If the re-initiate field is set to b ‘01’, it indicates that the channel does not wish to reinitiate the channel program. In this case, the CU may immediately send a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to another channel or all of the channels to which the CU owes a ‘no-longer-busy’ status, whichever is applicable.
If the re-initiate field is set to b ‘10’, it indicates that the channel does intend to initiate a channel program within a specified time period. In this case, the CU waits for the specified time period for the channel to initiate the channel program. If the CU does not receive a new command from the channel initiating a new channel program within the specified time period, the CU sends a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to another channel for which it previously sent a ‘busy’ status or to all of the channels to which it owes a ‘no-longer-busy’ status, whichever is applicable.
Existing channel implementations do not set either of the bits in the re-initiate field, as the field is currently reserved. Thus, if the re-initiate field is set to b ‘00’, the CU waits a model-dependent timeout for a command initiating a new channel program from the channel. This model-dependent timeout is usually longer than the pre-specified timeout that the control unit waits if the re-initiate field were set to b ‘10’. The reason for this longer timeout period for this case is because existing channel implementations that do not implement re-initiate field do not usually initiate a new channel program as quickly as newer channel implementations which do implement re-initiate field.
As indicated above, the contention resolution system provides an enhanced form of status-acceptance packet that a channel sends in response to a device ‘no-longer-busy’ status. The new status-acceptance packet includes a new field that indicates to the CU whether or not the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program for the device.
FIG. 2 illustrates a process describing how a channel uses the contention resolution system. At step 200 , the process of FIG. 2 begins when a channel such as channel 101 a , having previously received a ‘device-busy’ indication, receives a status packet indicating a ‘device-no-longer-busy’ indicator at step 202 . At step 204 , it is determined whether the channel 101 a intends to re-initiate the channel program. If the channel does not intend to re-initiate the channel program, the re-initiate bits are set to 10 at step 206 and the process exits at step 208 . If, on the other hand, the channel 101 a intends to re-initiate the operation at step 204 , the re-initiation bits are set to 01 at step 210 . In this case, the channel 101 a re-initiates the channel program at step 212 and exits the process at step 214 .
FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram describing how a control unit uses the contention resolution system. At step 302 , the process of FIG. 3 begins when a device (such as device 103 a ) controlled by a control unit 103 becomes busy at step 302 . When the device 103 a completes its operations at step 304 (e.g., completes the channel program that it is executing, it becomes not busy at step 306 . At this time, the CU 103 determines if it owes a device ‘no-longer-busy’ status to any channels 101 a - c at step 308 . If the CU 103 does not owe a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to any channels 101 a - c , it exits the procedure at step 310 . If the CU 103 owes a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to at least one channel at step 308 , it sends a status packet indicating a ‘no-longer-busy’ to one of the channels at step 312 and the CU waits for a status-acceptance packet. Alternatively, the CU may send a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to all of the channels to which it owes a ‘no-longer-busy’ status. The channel to which the ‘no-longer-busy’ status is sent may be selected in any manner by the CU. However, if the ‘no-longer-busy’ status is owed to both channels that do and do not support the contention resolution system of the invention, the CU preferably selects the channels that support the contention resolution system before attempting to select channels that do not support the contention resolution system. In this manner, potentially long delays that are caused when a channel is selected that does not support this invention are avoided.
When the status-acceptance packet is received at step 314 , one of three actions may occur. If the re-initiate field is set to b ‘01’, indicating that the channel does not intend to re-initiate the channel program, the process returns to step 308 whereby the CU again determines if it owes a ‘device-no-longer-busy’ status to another channel, and proceeds as described above in steps 310 - 314 . If the re-initiate field is set to b ‘01’, indicating that the channel intends to re-initiate the channel program, the CU waits a short time for a command that initiates a new channel program from the channel at step 316 . If the re-initiate field is set to b ‘00’, indicating that the channel does not support the contention resolution system of the invention, then the CU waits a longer period of time for a command that initiates a new channel program from the channel at step 322 . The wait time for the case where the re-initiate field is set to b ‘10’ is relatively short compared to the wait time used if the re-initiate field were set to b ‘00’ because only newer channels set the re-initiate field to b ‘01’, and these newer channels are able to reinitiate a new channel program more quickly than older channels.
If the CU receives a command initiating a new channel program from the channel to which it sent the ‘no-longer-busy’ indication before the timeout expires (at either of steps 318 and 324 ) it begins execution of the channel program at step 320 . Upon completion of the execution, the process returns to step 306 where the device again becomes not busy.
When a CU completes an operation and owes a ‘no-longer-busy’ status to other channels, it may use a variety of algorithms to decide which of the channels to send the ‘no-longer-busy’ status. One such algorithm may be for the CU to send the ‘no-longer-busy’ status to some or all of the channels simultaneously. This method of selection might be advantageous in situations where many of the channels implement this invention and do not intend to re-initiate the channel program. In this case, the CU would be able to immediately determine that multiple channels did not intend to re-initiate channel program, thereby eliminating the need to send device-no-longer-busy status to each channel serially.
As can be seen from the above, the contention resolution system provides the means to significantly enhance channel operations and reduce the incidences of channel timeouts with the use of a new status packet (i.e., status-acceptance packet) that is sent in response to a device ‘no-longer-busy’ status. The status-acceptance packet includes a field that indicates whether or not the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program for a particular device. This indication eliminates the need for a control unit to wait for the channel to re-initiate the operation in the case where the channel is not going to re-initiate the operation.
As described above, the present invention can be embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes. The present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. The present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. | An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method, system, and storage medium for resolving contention issues by a channel in a fiber optic switch environment that occur during channel program execution. The method comprises a channel receiving a status packet indicating a device is no longer busy. The method also includes specifying whether the channel intends to re-initiate a channel program that previously resulted in the device busy status. If the channel does not intend to re-initiate the channel program, a first combination of bits in a re-initiate field of a status-acceptance packet are set which indicate that the channel will take no further action. If the channel intends to re-initiate the channel program, a second combination of bits in the re-initiate field of the status-acceptance packet are set, indicating that the channel will re-initiate the channel program. The method further includes transmitting the status-acceptance packet to a control unit. The invention also includes a system and a storage medium. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Prior art with respect to the general construction:
Angle grinders, in particular those for one-handed operation, typically have an electric motor comprising a pole piece and an armature as well as a bevel gear, comprising a pinion, ring gear, and work spindle. The armature shaft is supported in the motor housing, and the pole piece is usually press-fitted into this housing. The brush holders are likewise as a rule secured in the motor housing. The motor cannot be operated outside the motor housing, since the motor housing has the function of positioning the components relative to one another.
The pinion is seated directly on the armature shaft of the motor. The gear can likewise not be operated without the armature shaft, since this shaft takes on the function of a gear input shaft.
Further, prior art with respect to the gear:
The right-angle gear of an electrically operated angle grinder has the tasks of deflecting the flow of force by 90° C. and stepping down the rpm of the typically high-speed electric motor to the lower working rpm.
The drive pinion is typically secured directly to the armature shaft of the electric motor and drives the power takeoff spindle via a ring gear. The spindle is supported in the gearbox at two bearing points, one on either side of the ring gear. The bearing points of the motor shaft are typically located in the gearbox and in the motor housing. The fixed bearing of the motor shaft is typically disposed between the pinion and the fan on the armature shaft, while the loose bearing is located on the shaft end toward the collector. The result is accordingly an assembly with a “floating” pinion.
Further, prior art with respect to the motor mount:
Electric tools typically have an electric motor, comprising a pole piece and an armature, and the armature shaft is supported in the motor housing, and the pole piece is typically press-fitted into that housing. The brush holders are likewise as a rule secured in the motor housing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Further, the object of the invention with respect to the general construction and the gear:
Making a modular construction for a power tool, in particular an angle grinder possible; making assembly easier and improving the ease of servicing, as well as supporting modular systems.
To reduce assembly costs, the ease of assembly has particular significance.
Further, the object of the invention with respect to the motor mount:
Accommodating a completely supported electric motor, in particular an encapsulated DC motor, in a shell housing. The receptacle should position the motor in the housing, compensate for errors in position, and elastically cushion and damp impacts.
Further, the object of the invention with respect to the connection between the motor and the gear:
Structurally simple realization of a modular construction for an angle grinder to make assembly easier and improving ease of servicing as well as supporting modular systems.
If a completely supported motor (“cam motor”) is used in an angle grinder, then advantageously a modular construction is selected, with a motor and a gear as independent functional component groups. These groups should be joined together via the most economical possible coupling. This coupling should furthermore, especially within certain limits, be capable of compensating for an axial offset and an angle error between the armature shaft and the gearbox. The coupling described in the invention attains these objects.
Advantages of the invention over what is known with respect to the general construction:
A modular construction of electric tools facilitates assembly of the tool and makes servicing easier, since individual components can be replaced simply and quickly.
The development of modular systems is supported by a modular construction.
Further, advantages of the invention over what is known with respect to the gear:
A gear of the invention, in contrast to the versions in known angle grinders, has an independent, fully functional component group that can easily be combined with other component groups (such as the motor).
Mounting the pinion shaft with bearing points on both sides of the drive pinion, in particular in the gearbox, makes better absorption of the gear forces possible than do the usual versions with a “floating” pinion. The assembly of the pinion shaft is done without screws, by simply inserting parts into one another. This makes savings in terms of assembly costs possible. The type of assembly presented makes it possible to mount a preassembled subsidiary component group comprising the pinion shaft, pinion, ball bearing and press-fitted fan and simultaneously secure it axially.
Further, advantages of the invention over what is known with respect to the motor mount:
Compared to the known installation situations, the proposed version offers the advantage that the rubber rings provided in the bearing points, because of their resilient and damping properties, are capable of damping impacts and vibration and thus positively affect the service life and operating properties of the tool.
In addition, the rubber rings make it possible to compensate for axial errors; that is, the rubber rings act as a damping unit and at the same time as a compensation coupling. Especially advantageously, the proposed version can be used in a modular construction of the electric tool. Further, while this version is conceivable in various motors that appear suitable to one skilled in the art, it is especially advantageous in battery-operated motors.
Further, advantages of the invention over what is known with respect to the connection between the motor and the gear:
A modular construction of electric tools facilitates assembly of the tool and makes servicing easier, since individual components can be replaced simply and quickly.
The development of modular systems is supported by a modular construction. The coupling described is especially economical. Beyond its actual function, additional functions such as damping of jerking can also be integrated. Further, via the coupling, an advantageous lengthening of a short armature shaft, particularly of a cam motor, can be made possible, so that an angle grinder can advantageously be flanged on. Because of the coupling, standard motors can advantageously be used.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a power tool in accordance with the present invention with a gear box, a fan guide wheel and a subsidiary component group;
FIG. 1A is a view showing an exemplary embodiment of a motor housing of the tool in form of a shell housing;
FIG. 1B is a view showing an exemplary embodiment of an angle grinder of modular construction with a shell housing;
FIG. 1C is a view showing a modular construction of the elected tool with a motor and an angle grinder independently functional as separate component groups;
FIG. 2 is a view substantially corresponding to the view of FIG. 1 , but in which the fan guide wheel is inserted in the gear box;
FIG. 2C is a view showing a fan with an internal toothing and a gear input shaft of inventive tool;
FIG. 3 is a view substantially corresponding to the view of FIG. 2 , and additionally showing a pinion shaft of the subsidiary component group inserted in the assembled gear box with the fan guide wheel;
FIG. 3C shows a fan on a gear with a hexagonal socket and a cylindrical joining face;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the fan gear showing its components;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fan guide wheel with its components as seen from another side.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows the gearbox 10 , the fan guide wheel 20 , and a subsidiary component group 30 that comprises a pinion shaft 31 , pinion 32 , ball bearing 33 , and fan 34 .
The subsidiary component group 30 is preassembled by first thrusting the ball bearing 33 onto the pinion shaft 31 and then press-fitting the pinion 32 on. The fan 34 is press-fitted onto the opposite end of the shaft and has an internal toothing 35 that takes on the coupling function. For the later installation of the component group 30 in the gearbox 10 , it is necessary for the pinion 32 to have a smaller diameter, by several millimeters, than the ball bearing 33 .
A bearing bush or a needle bearing (not shown in the drawing) is first press-fitted into the gearbox 10 . This bearing bush or needle bearing forms the loose bearing for the pinion shaft 31 . Next, an O-ring is placed in the groove 12 in the bearing seat 11 to seal off the ball bearing 33 .
The fan guide wheel 20 performs a dual function: First, the laterally protruding faces 21 , 22 cover hollow chambers in the gearbox and direct a cooling air of the motor to the air outlet openings in the gearbox. Second, the fan guide wheel 20 takes on the task of axially securing the ball bearing 33 in its bearing seat 11 in the gearbox. For assembly, the fan guide wheel 20 is pressed into the gearbox; FIG. 2 . In the process, four tabs 23 on the guide wheel 20 engage corresponding hooks 13 on the gearbox 10 from behind. The fan guide wheel is thus clipped in place.
Corresponding chamfers 14 , 24 on the gearbox 10 and on the tabs 23 of the fan guide wheel 20 assure that the fan guide wheel 20 is pressed to the rear (in the direction A) until the tabs 23 rest on the corresponding faces of the hooks 13 . The axial play required for clipping the fan guide wheel in place is thus eliminated by the elastic bracing of the fan guide wheel 20 .
For assembly of the component group 30 , this group is clipped into the fan guide wheel 20 . In the process, the shaft end 36 slides into the needle bearing (not shown) that has been press-fitted into the gearbox, and the ball bearing 33 slides into the corresponding bearing seat 11 in the gearbox. The outer ring of the ball bearing 33 in the process thrusts four snap hooks 25 radially outward into corresponding recesses 16 in the gearbox 10 . In the final position, the outer ring of the ball bearing 33 rests on a contact shoulder 15 in the gearbox. The snap hooks 25 can pivot back inward again into their unloaded outset position and thus prevent a displacement of the outer ring of the ball bearing 33 in the axial direction A. FIG. 3 shows the assembled gear component group. The fan 34 is not shown in this view, to make the fan guide wheel 20 with the snap hooks 25 snapped into place visible.
The axial gear forces that occur in operation act in the direction A on the snap hooks 25 . The snap hooks 25 are designed such that in the relaxed state (that is, after the component group 30 has been inserted), they have a slight inward radial positioning inward. The snap hooks 25 are thereby prevented from deflecting radially outward again solely on the basis of an axial force in the direction A. Because of their geometry, the snap hooks 25 have the tendency of deflecting radially inward to avoid a force from direction A. To prevent the axial play of the component group 30 from increasing impermissibly as a result of the operative gear forces, stop cams 26 are disposed on the ends of the snap hooks 25 ; in the assembled state, these cams fit around the outer ring of the ball bearing 33 ; see FIG. 5 .
Since in the assembled state the snap hooks 25 and the tabs 23 are hidden by the fan 34 , dismantling the gear component group 30 without destroying it is impossible. To remove the component group 30 from the gearbox 10 , the component group 30 is leveraged out of the gearbox 10 in the direction A. In the process, the snap hooks 25 at the fan guide ring 20 break. Once the component group 30 has been removed, the destroyed fan guide ring 20 can be removed from the gearbox 10 by either breaking out the tabs 23 or bending them back. In principle, however, nondestructive dismantling would also be conceivable.
Description of FIG. 1A :
FIG. 1A shows as an exemplary embodiment the motor housing ( 2 A) of an electric tool in the form of a shell housing. The motor ( 1 A) is supported completely as a unit (encapsulated motor) and is also functional even outside the motor housing ( 2 A).
The motor ( 1 A), on its front and rear ends, has cylindrical receiving domes. Before the motor ( 1 A) is placed in the housing shells, O-rings that fit and are made of rubber ( 3 A) are thrust over these receiving domes.
When the housing shells are screwed together, the rubber rings are clamped in place and enable effective damping of vibration and impacts as well as compensation for tolerances.
Description of FIG. 1B :
FIG. 1B shows as an exemplary embodiment an angle grinder of modular construction. The motor ( 1 B) is supported completely as a unit (“cam motor”) and is also usable outside the motor housing ( 3 B).
The gear has a drive shaft ( 4 B) and a power takeoff shaft ( 5 B), which are each supported in the gearbox ( 6 B). The gear can thus be operated independently of the motor ( 1 B).
The armature shaft ( 2 B) of the motor and the drive shaft ( 4 B) of the gear are connected by a suitable coupling. This coupling could for instance be designed as a safety coupling that interrupts the drive train if the power takeoff shaft (work spindle) is for instance suddenly blocked. This coupling will not be described in further detail here.
Description of FIGS. 1C through 3C :
FIG. 1C shows the modular construction of an electric tool, taking an angle grinder as an example. The motor ( 1 C) and the angle grinder ( 3 C) are independently functional as separate component groups. The coupling comprises the toothed bush ( 2 C), which is connected by nonpositive and/or positive engagement to the armature shaft of the motor ( 1 C), and the internal toothing ( 5 C) that is integrated with the fan ( 4 C). The fan ( 4 C) is in turn connected to the gear input shaft by nonpositive and/or positive engagement.
The internal toothing ( 5 C) and the toothed bush ( 2 C) are dimensioned such that between them a defined running play is created in the radial direction, which makes it possible to compensate for an axial offset between the armature shaft and the gear input shaft. The toothed bush ( 2 C) is furthermore shaped spherically, to enable compensating for an angular offset between the two shafts.
FIG. 2C shows the fan ( 4 C) with internal toothing ( 5 C) and the gear input shaft ( 6 C). The gear input shaft ( 6 C), on its end toward the fan, has a hexagon ( 7 C) as well as a cylindrical part ( 9 C) with a plunge cut ( 8 C).
FIG. 3C shows the fan ( 4 C), which on the gear side has a corresponding hexagonal socket ( 10 C) and a cylindrical joining face ( 11 C). Located inside the joining face ( 11 C) is a ring ( 12 C), with a slightly smaller inside diameter than that of the cylindrical joining face ( 11 C), and it protrudes beyond that face radially inward.
For assembly, the fan ( 4 C) is received in its internal toothing ( 5 C) and is pressed over the cylindrical part ( 9 C) of the gear shaft. By utilization of the elastic properties of the plastic material, the inner ring ( 12 C) becomes seated in the corresponding plunge cut ( 8 C) in the gear shaft and thus serves to secure the fan ( 4 C) axially on the shaft. Simultaneously, the hexagonal socket ( 10 C) of the fan ( 4 C) engages the shaft via the hexagon ( 7 C). The transmission of torque from the fan ( 4 C) to the gear input shaft is thus effected by both nonpositive and positive engagement. | A power tool, in particular a right-angle grinder, includes a motor and a gear, the motor and/or the gear embodied as a mountable function module. The gear is embodied as a mountable function module, with a gear input shaft supported in a gearbox, and the gear input shaft is fixed in the gearbox via at least one detent connection. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to data processing and relates specifically to performing textual content searches of a file and all embedded hyperlinks under the root address of the file and the hyperlink.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Search engines make the World Wide Web manageable. Users enter key words into search engines to find the specified content. Once a relevant web site is found, users often need to refine the search for the specific information desired. Some traditional search engines, such as GOOGLE®, allow users to search within a web site using a site restriction option. This site restriction option is useful when a search engine has not indexed a website. A site restriction option has limited usefulness when the website is very large with many internal links, such as online user manuals. The limit to usefulness arises because the search engine searches the entire website and does not allow the user to restrict the search further. Another limit to using a search engine is that the user must use multiple windows or tabs to view both the search results and the specified content.
[0003] Most web browsers have a “find” or text search tool that searches within the current document, without the need for a second window or tab. Users enter a target string of characters, then the find tool locates and highlights all occurrences of the string within the document. Find tools search the current page only, not multiple pages within the site.
[0004] One known method of selectively searching and indexing multiple documents within a single web site is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,586. The method of the ' 586 patent allows users to select content from multiple documents as the user surfs though the web site. A custom minimized or “fingerprint” web page is created, and a recursive search can add headings and summaries to the custom page. The user accesses the custom page later to find the desired content. The method of the ' 586 patent helps users retrace previously located information, but does not aid in the initial search for the desired information.
[0005] A need exists for a method to selectively search multiple documents within a web site, without requiring the user to access all related documents in the site. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The invention meeting the need identified above is a Hyperlinked Document Find Tool (HDFT) that allows users to perform keyword searches across selected documents within a web site. The HDFT is activated as a frame, pop-up or toolbar, just as a traditional browser “find” function. The user selects the hyperlinks, or section of text containing hyperlinks to be searched. The HDFT searches the textual content of the selected hyperlinked documents, and recursively searches the content of any hyperlinks embedded in the selected documents. The searched hyperlinks are limited to those documents with the same root address as the initial document.
[0007] The HDFT tracks all searched hyperlinks, so as to not repeat a search if the same hyperlinked documents is listed in multiple locations. The listing of searched hyperlinks can also be used to generate a history file of searched pages to allow the user to view the path to the desired content.
[0008] The HDFT can be configured to optionally limit the search. For example, the search can be limited to the self, parent and child directories. These limits can be set by means of radio buttons in a preferences tab either prior to performing a search or when initiating a searching.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0009] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will be understood best by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 represents an exemplary computer network.
[0011] FIG. 2 describes programs and files in memory on a computer.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the Configuration Component.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the Search Component.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the User Interface.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] The principles of the present invention are applicable to a variety of computer hardware and software configurations. The term “computer hardware” or “hardware,” as used herein, refers to any machine or apparatus that is capable of accepting, performing logic operations on, storing, or displaying data, and includes without limitation processors and memory; the term “computer software” or “software,” refers to any set of instructions operable to cause computer hardware to perform an operation. A “computer,” as that term is used herein, includes without limitation any useful combination of hardware and software, and a “computer program” or “program” includes without limitation any software operable to cause computer hardware to accept, perfonn logic operations on, store, or display data. A computer program may, and often is, comprised of a plurality of smaller programming units, including without limitation subroutines, modules, functions, methods, and procedures. Thus, the functions of the present invention may be distributed among a plurality of computers and computer programs. The invention is described best, though, as a single computer program that configures and enables one or more general-purpose computers to implement the novel aspects of the invention. For illustrative purposes, the inventive computer program will be referred to as the “Hyperlinked Document Find Tool” or “HDFT”
[0016] Additionally, the HDFT is described below with reference to an exemplary network of hardware devices, as depicted in FIG. 1 . A “network” comprises any number of hardware devices coupled to and in communication with each other through a communications medium, such as the Internet. A “communications medium” includes without limitation any physical, optical, electromagnetic, or other medium through which hardware or software can transmit data. For descriptive purposes, exemplary network 100 has only a limited number of nodes, including workstation computer 105 , workstation computer 110 , server computer 115 , and persistent storage 120 . Network connection 125 comprises all hardware, software, and communications media necessary to enable communication between network nodes 105 - 120 . Unless otherwise indicated in context below, all network nodes use publicly available protocols or messaging services to communicate with each other through network connection 125 .
[0017] HDFT 200 typically is stored in a memory, represented schematically as memory 210 in FIG. 2 . The term “memory,” as used herein, includes without limitation any volatile or persistent medium, such as an electrical circuit, magnetic disk, or optical disk, in which a computer can store data or software for any duration. A single memory may encompass and be distributed across a plurality of media. Thus, FIG. 2 is included merely as a descriptive expedient and does not necessarily reflect any particular physical embodiment of memory 210 . As depicted in FIG. 2 , though, memory 210 may include additional data and programs. Of particular import to HDFT 200 , memory 210 may include Configuration Component 300 , Search Component 400 and User Interface 500 . Memory 210 may also include the following programs or files with which HDFT 200 interacts: Internet Browser 220 , Configuration File 230 , History File 240 and Results File 250 .
[0018] In its preferred embodiment, HDFT 200 runs as a plug-in or extension to Internet Browser 220 . HDFT 200 has three main components. Configuration Component 300 allows users to select options related to the display of search results and parameters of the search. Search Component 400 initiates existing text search routines and identifies hyperlinked documents to be searched. User Interface 500 can be a window, frame or toolbar that allows users to enter search parameters and set configuration options. In order to operate, HDFT 200 requires access to Configuration File 230 , History File 240 and Results File 250 . The use of these components and files is described in further detail below.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 3 , Configuration Component 300 starts when activated by the user ( 310 ). Configuration Component 300 can be started by selecting an option from a tools menu or from a settings menu in the browser. In either case, the selected option starts User Interface 500 ( 312 ). Alternatively, if User Interface 500 is already open, Configuration Component 300 may be started by selecting a configuration tab on User Interface 500 ( 314 ). User Interface 500 opens to the configuration tab, listing the configuration options ( 316 ). There are two categories of configuration options: search options and display options. If the user elects to change search options ( 318 ), the changes are saved in Configuration File 230 ( 320 ). Search options allow the user to limit the search, such as only searching hyperlinks in parent and child directories from the first searched document. Other search options could include allowing the user to specify the path of directories to be searched or limiting the search trail length. As used herein, trail length refers to how many jumps or links can be made from the first document. If the user elects to change display options ( 322 ), the changes are saved in Configuration File 230 ( 324 ). Display options allow the user to control how the search results are displayed. Examples of display options include listing the results in a pop-up window, a drop-down menu or a toolbar. Another option is displaying results in a new browser window or tab. Using a new browser window or tab enables the search history to display in the browser history. Configuration changes can be made as long as the configuration tab remains open ( 326 ). Configuration Component 300 stops when the configuration tab is closed ( 328 ).
[0020] Referring to FIG. 4 , Search Component 400 starts whenever a search term is entered at the prompt in User Interface 500 ( 410 ). Entering a search term may require the additional step of pressing return or selecting a “start” button on User Interface 500 before actually initiating Search Component 400 . Search Component 400 opens Configuration File 230 , History File 240 and Results File 250 ( 412 ). Search Component 400 initiates a text search for the search term in the current selected page using the native “find” function on Internet Browser 220 ( 414 ). Text searches are well known in the art and are not shown here. Results of the text search are saved in Results File 250 ( 415 ). In addition to searching for the search term, Search Component 400 also searches for embedded hyperlinks ( 416 ). When a hyperlink is found, the search component tests the hyperlink address to determine whether the hyperlink has the same root address as the original document ( 418 ). Search Component 400 tests whether the hyperlink is within the configured limits from the configuration file (such as trail length or allowed directory) ( 420 ). Search Component 400 then tests whether the hyperlink has already been searched by comparing the hyperlink to those listed in History File 240 ( 422 ). If all three tests are met, the search component saves the address of the hyperlink in History File 240 ( 424 ), and initiates a new instance of Search Component 400 for the embedded hyperlink ( 426 ). The same tests are repeated for every hyperlink in the document ( 428 ). Search Component 400 ends when all the hyperlinks have been found and tested ( 430 ).
[0021] User Interface 500 starts whenever the user initiates HDFT 200 ( 510 ). HDFT 200 can be initiated in several ways: In one embodiment, users select “HDFT” from a tools menu or toolbar button. In another embodiment, users right click a mouse pointer of a document, hyperlink or a selected portion of a document containing hyperlinks, and select “HDFT” from a pop-up menu. User Interface 500 opens the results, history and configuration files ( 512 ) and opens the User Interface 500 window ( 514 ). The User Interface 500 window can be a separate window from Internet Browser 220 , a frame within the Internet Browser 220 window or a toolbar on Internet Browser 220 . Users may change the settings of the HDFT 200 anytime the User Interface 500 window is open by selecting the settings tab ( 516 ) which starts Configuration Component 300 ( 518 ). User Interface 500 prompts the user for a search term ( 520 ). The search term prompt may also allow the user to specify a URL, a directory, a hyperlink or other document designation. When a search term is entered ( 522 ), User Interface 500 saves the search term and the root address of the search document in Results File 250 ( 524 ). Search Component 400 is initiated ( 526 ), and after the search is complete, the results are displayed as specified in Configuration File 230 ( 528 ). Results may be displayed in a pop-up window, a drop-down menu or a toolbar. Results may also be displayed in a new browser window or tab. Using a new browser window or tab enables the search history to display in the browser history. User Interface 500 remains active until the User Interface 500 window closes ( 530 ), then User Interface 500 stops ( 532 ).
[0022] The HDFT may also be applied to search email messages. Web based email services store emails as web pages. Each email is listed on one or more web pages. Each email listing contains a hyperlink to another web page containing the actual email message. The email system may contain a native search function which searches all email messages. The HDFT, however, permits limited searches of the email. The HDFT can search just selected web pages with relevant email listings. The HDFT will follow the hyperlinks of the email listings to search each email. For example, if a user wants to only search emails from a certain chronological period that are listed on pages 10 and 11 of 14 pages, then the HDFT can be configured to only search hyperlinks embedded in pages 10 and 11. Users can also initiate the search on only a selected a group of email message listings on a single web page.
[0023] Additionally, the HDFT may be provided with a graphical user interface to integrate the search capabilities of the HDFT with existing search programs having the capability to search files on a system or network. Many files, that are stored on a system or a network, contain hyperlinks or other embedded objects. A search may be conducted through the files in a file folder interface, or an aggregation of different targets of search may be presented. A user can select an initial file or directory to be searched. The HDFT extends the search from the original specified file or directory by searching the embedded hyperlinked files or object.
[0024] A preferred form of the invention has been shown in the drawings and described above, but variations in the preferred form will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The preceding description is for illustration purposes only, and the invention should not be construed as limited to the specific form shown and described. The scope of the invention should be limited only by the language of the following claims. | The Hyperlinked Document Find Tool (“HDFT”) is a tool for recursively searching textual content of a first file and a hyperlinked file embedded in the first file and stored under the same root directory as the first file. The HDFT selects the first file, enters a search term, searches for the search term in the first file, identifies the hyperlinked file embedded in the first file stored under the same root directory as the first file, and searches for the search term in the hyperlinked file. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of sulfonium compounds and more particularly to a process for producing acylated sulfonium compounds by acylating the phenolic hydroxyl group of p-dialkylsulfoniophenols having a specified structure, in the presence of specified secondary amines. The term "acyl" as used herein refers to a group as derived by removal of a hydroxyl group from a carboxylic acid or a carbonic acid monoester.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Sulfonium compounds represented by the general formula: ##STR4## (wherein all the symbols are as defined hereinafter) are useful compounds for reagents for introduction of an acyl group as a protecting group in the organic chemical field, e.g., synthesis of peptides, because they exhibit acylating action in an aqueous solution.
For production of the sulfonium compounds represented by the above general formula, by acylating the phenolic hydroxyl group of p-dialkylsulfoniophenols, a method of reacting acid halides, i.e., carbonylhalogenide compounds in the presence of a base, has been generally employed. For example, Bull. Chem. Soc. Japan, 60 (7), 2409 to 2418 (1987) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8365/1988 disclose a method in which acid chloride is used as the acid halide, and a tertiary amine, e.g., triethylamine, as the base. In this method, not primary or secondary amines but tertiary amines are used as the base to prevent side reactions.
This method, however, is not necessarily satisfactory for practical use, because if in the acylation of the phenolic hydroxyl group of p-dialkylsulfoniophenols, the carbonylhalogenide compound and the above phenol compound are reacted in the presence of a base, e.g., a tertiary amine such as triethylamine, the yield of the desired acylated compound (sulfonium compound of the above general formula) is low, and the amine salt and by-products are not easy to separate.
For example, when p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate and p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl chloride were reacted in the presence of triethylamine as the tertiary amine, the yield of the desired product, p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate, was as low as less than 30%. When N,N-dimethylaniline was used as the tertiary amine, the desired product could not be obtained at all.
When p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate and 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride were reacted in the presence of triethylamine, the yield of the desired product, 9-fluorenylmethyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a process for production of the aforementioned sulfonium compounds in high yields with almost no side reactions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for production of the aforementioned sulfonium compounds, in which the sulfonium compounds can be easily isolated and purified, so that the sulfonium compounds can be obtained in high purity with high efficiency.
The present invention relates to a process for producing sulfonium compounds represented by the general formula (III) as described below which comprises reacting p-dialkylsulfoniophenols represented by the general formula (I) as described below and carbonyl halogenide represented by the general formula (II) as described below in the presence of a secondary amine having the structure in which two secondary alkyl groups are linked to the nitrogen atom. ##STR5##
In the above general formulae (I) and (III), R.sup. 1 and R.sup. 2 may be the same or different and are independently an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, X.sup. 1 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and Y - is a halogen anion, a,perchlorate anion, an alkylsulfate anion, a hydrogensulfate anion or a p-toluenesulfonate anion.
In the above general formulae (II) and (III), R is an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a tert-butoxy group, a benzyloxy group, a p-methoxybenzyloxy group, a phenyl group or a 9-fluorenylmethoxy group, and X.sup. 2 is a halogen atom, e.g., fluorine, chlorine or bromine.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In p-dialkylsulfoniophenol represented by the general formula (I) which is to be used as the starting material in the present invention, the alkyl group of R.sup. 1 or R.sup. 2 is preferably a lower alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and more preferably a methyl group or an ethyl group. The anion Y - is a halogen anion, a perchlorate anion, an alkylsulfate anion, a hydrogensulfate anion or a p-toluenesulfonate anion. From the viewpoint of water solubility of the desired product, an alkylsulfate anion and a hydrogensulfate anion are preferred, and among the alkylsulfate anions, a methylsulfate anion is particularly preferred.
X.sup. 1 is appropriately chosen from a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom and an alkyl group depending on the solubility of the compound of the general formula (III), the acylating reactivity and so forth. Examples of the halogen atom are fluorine, chlorine and bromine. When X.sup. 1 is an alkyl group, a lower alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms is preferred.
The carbonyl halogenides (i.e., acid halides) as represented by the general formula (II) include acetyl fluoride, acetyl chloride, propionyl chloride, propionyl bromide, butyryl chloride, valeryl chloride, hexanoyl chloride, octanoyl chloride, decanoyl chloride, lauroyl chloride, myristoyl chloride, palmitoyl chloride, stearoyl chloride, tert-butoxycarbonyl chloride, benzyloxycarbonyl chloride, p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl chloride, 9-fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl chloride, benzoyl chloride, and benzoyl bromide. Of these halides, chlorides are preferred from the viewpoints of stability and reactivity.
In the case where relatively unstable carbonyl halogenides, e.g., tert-butoxycarbonyl chloride or p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl chloride, are used, the process of the present invention is particularly apt to give excellent results compared with conventional processes.
One of the features of the present invention is that secondary amines having a specified structure (hereinafter sometimes referred to merely as "secondary amines") are used in reacting phenols of the general formula (I) and carbonyl halogenide of the general formula (II).
Secondary amines having the specified structure to be used in the present invention are secondary amines having the structure in which two secondary alkyl groups are linked to the nitrogen atom. Namely the term "secondary amine" as used herein includes alicyclic amines in which both α-carbon atoms (i.e., carbon atoms linked to the nitrogen atom) have side chain, respectively (e.g., 2,6-dimethylpiperidine).
The term "secondary alkyl group" as used herein includes a cyclic alkyl group. And the term "two secondary alkyl groups" includes an alkylene group in which the carbon chain is branched at both ends (i.e., positions at which the carbon chain is linked to the nitrogen atom).
Examples of the secondary amines to be used in the present invention are dicyclohexylamine, diisopropylamine, di-sec-butylamine, and 2,6-dimethylpiperidine.
In the process of the present invention, the secondary amine is used in an amount of 0.5 to 2.0 mol, preferably 0.8 to 1.5 mol per mol of the p-dialkylsulfoniophenol of the general formula (I). The carbonyl halogenide compound of the general formula (II) is also used in an amount of 0.5 to 2.0 mol, preferably 0.8 to 1.5 mol per mol of the p-dialkylsulfoniophenol of the general formula (I).
In the process of the present invention, the carbonyl halogenide is added to the reaction system while usually maintaining the reaction temperature at -80 to +30° C. and preferably -30 to +10° C. although the temperature varies depending on the type of the carbonyl halogenide. Some of the carbonyl halogenides decompose by increasing temperatures over 10° C. And usually increasing temperature tends to increase side reaction. On the other hand, maintaining the temperature at a level lower than -80° C. is undesirable from an economic standpoint. For the reasons described above, the reaction should be carried out for 0.5 to 10 hours while maintaining the reaction temperature at -80 to +30° C., and preferably -30 to +10° C. When 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride is used as the carbonyl halogenide of the general formula (II), it is suitable for the reaction to be carried out for about 0.5 to 4 hours at a temperature of -20 to +30° C., preferably -10 to 20° C.
The reaction of the present invention is usually carried out in a solvent. Solvents which can be used include polar aprotic solvents, e.g., acetonitrile, ethers, e.g., diethyl ether or tetrahydrofuran, and halogenated hydrocarbons, e.g., dichloromethane. Of these solvents, acetonitrile is preferred.
In the present invention, there are no special limitations to the order in which the starting materials and the solvent are added; the compounds may be added simultaneously or successively. In any of the cases in which (1) a solution of carbonyl halogenide is added to a mixture of p-dialkylsulfoniophenol, secondary amine and a solvent, and (2) secondary amine is added to a mixture of p-dialkylsulfoniophenol, carbonyl halogenide and a solvent, the desired product can be obtained in a high yield. It is also possible that all the starting materials and the solvent are added and mixed almost simultaneously.
After completion of the reaction, the amine salt formed can be easily removed by filtration. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure. The desired product, the sulfonium compound of the general formula (III), was crystallized by adding the polar solvent e.g., ethyl acetate or diethyl ether. If necessary, it is purified by recrystallization.
In accordance with the process of the present invention in which the secondary amines as specified above are used as the base, the desired sulfonium compounds can be obtained in high yields with almost no undesirable side reactions. Moreover, since the amine salt formed at the same time can be easily removed, the desired sulfonium compounds can be isolated and purified to a high purity by a simplified procedure.
Accordingly the process of the present invention is extremely useful for production of the sulfonium compounds represented by the general formula (III).
The present invention is described in greater detail with reference to the following examples. In a case where the purity of the sulfonium compound is not indicated, the purity as determined by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method was presumed to be more than 95%.
EXAMPLE 1
A separable flask provided with a glass filter at the bottom thereof so as to permit suction filtration, and jacketed to permit cooling was used as a reactor. In this flask, 7.41 g (0.1 mol) of tert-butyl alcohol and 150 ml of dried ether were placed and cooled to -40° C., and then 13.2 ml (0.2 mol) of phosgene was introduced thereinto. Then a solution of 9.7 ml (0.12 mol) of pyridine in 40 ml of ether was dropped at -40° C. over 30 minutes while stirring. After completion of the dropwise addition, the reaction temperature was raised to -20° C., the reaction mixture was stirred for 2 hours and then allowed to stand at -20° C. for 15 hours. This mixture is referred to as "Solution A".
Separately, 10.64 g (0.04 mol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate was dissolved in 200 ml of dried acetonitrile at 40° C., and 8.0 ml (0.04 mol) of dicyclohexylamine was added thereto. Then the resulted mixture was cooled in an ice bath. This mixture is referred to as "Solution B".
A hundred milliliters of a mixture of excessive phosgene and ether was removed from Solution A under reduced pressure at a temperature of not more than -20° C. to obtain a solution containing tert-butoxycarbonyl chloride. This solution was dropped into Solution B while filtering with the glass filter at the same temperature as above.
The solid material remaining on the glass filter was washed with 100 ml of ether which had been cooled to not more than -20° C. The washings were dropped through the glass filter in the same manner as above. The time required for these dropping and washing was 30 minutes.
This reaction mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 2 hours, and a white solid of amine hydrochloride was separated by filtration. The white solid was washed with 200 ml of acetonitrile. The filtrate obtained by the above filtration and the acetonitrile used for the above washing were mixed, and the resulted mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure.
Ethyl acetate was added to the concentrated solution. Then white crystal was precipitated. This crystal was collected by filtration and recrystallized from acetonitrile-ethyl acetate. This crystal was the desired sulfonium compound, tert-butyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate.
Yield: 4.62 g (12.6 mmol, 31.5%).
Melting Point: 118-121° C.
.sup. 1H-NMR(CDCL.sub. 3) δ=1.54, 9H(s); 3.43, 6H(s); 3.66, 3H(s); 7.39, 2H(d,J=10 Hz); 8.17, 2H(d,J=10 Hz).
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1
The procedure of Example 1 was repeated with the exception that triethylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine. Since the product contained a fair amount of impurities, it was purified by the use of a silica gel column (CHC1.sub. 3:CH.sub. 3OH=9:1) and then again precipitated with acetonitrile-ether to obtain 0.36 g (0.98 mmol) of the desired product, tert-butyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate (yield 2.5%).
EXAMPLE 2
Eight point zero grams (30 mmol) of p-dimethyl-sulfoniophenol methylsulfate was added to 200 ml of dried acetonitrile and then stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. Six point zero grams (33 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine was added, and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and then cooled to 0° C. twenty milliliters of an ether solution containing 6.6 g (33 mmol) of p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl chloride was added while maintaining at 0° C, and the resulting mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 4 hours.
The dicyclohexylamine hydrochloride formed was separated by filtration. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure, and the reaction product was crystallized by adding ethyl acetate to the concentrated solution to obtain 9.1 g of p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate (yield 70.7%).
Melting point: 106-108° C.
IR: 1750 cm.sup. -1 C═0).
.sup. 1H-NMR (DMSO-d.sub. 6):
δ=3.27, 6H(S)
3.37, 3H(S)
3.76, 3H(S)
5.22, 2H(S)
6.95, 7.40, 4H(each d,J=9.0 Hz)
7.61, 8.13, 4H(each d,J=9.0 Hz).
Elemental Analysis:
Calculated: C:50.22%, H:5.15%.
Found: C:49.73%, H:5.24%.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 2 except that 3.0 g (30 mmol) of triethylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine.
The amount of the desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethyl-sulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate obtained was only 3.7 g (yield 28.7%), and a large amount of by-products was obtained.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 3
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 2 except that 3.6 g (30 mmol) of N,N-dimethylaniline was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine.
The desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate could not be obtained at all.
EXAMPLE 3
Twenty eight point seven six grams (108 mmol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate was added to 750 ml of acetonitrile and stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. Twenty seven point two zero grams (150 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine was dropped thereto, and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and then cooled to 0° C. Twenty four point zero seven grams (120 mmol) of p-methoxy-benzyloxycarbonyl chloride was added while maintaining the temperature at 0° C., and the resulting mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 3 hours. The dicyclohexylamine hydrochloride formed was removed by filtration. The filtrate was concentrated by distilling the solvent, and the product was crystallized by adding ethyl acetate to the concentrated solution to obtain 33.10 g of p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethyl-sulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate (yield 71.2%).
EXAMPLE 4
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 16.98 g (150 mmol) of 2,6-dimethyl-piperidine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine, and 700 ml of acetonitrile was used. The desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate was obtained in an amount of 23.87 g (yield 51.3%).
EXAMPLE 5
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 15.18 g (150 mmol) of diisopropylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine, and 400 ml of acetonitrile was used. The desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate was obtained in an amount of 19.15 g (yield 41.2%).
EXAMPLE 6
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 19.39 g (150 mmol) of di-sec-butylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine, and 700 ml of acetonitrile was used. The desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate was obtained in an amount of 17.04 g (yield 36.8%).
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 4
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 16.07 g (150 mmol) of 2,6-lutidine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine, and 300 ml of acetonitrile was used. Although 12.57 g of the desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate was obtained (yield 27.0%), a large amount of by-products was formed.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 5
The reaction was carried out in the same manner as in Example 3 except that 25.00 g (119 mmol) of dicyclohexylethylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine, and 700 ml of acetonitrile was used. The amount of the desired p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate formed was 6.87 g (yield 14.8%), and a large amount of by-products was formed.
EXAMPLE 7
Eight point zero grams (30 mmol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate was added to 200 ml of dried acetonitrile and stirred. 6.0 g (33 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine was dropped thereto, and the resulting mixture was stirred and then cooled to 0° C. Then 2.6 g (33 mmol) of acetyl chloride was added while maintaining at 0° C., and the resulting mixture was stirred at 5° C. for 4 hours.
The dicyclohexylamine hydrochloride formed was removed by filtration, and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure. The product was crystallized by adding ether to the concentrated solution to obtain 8.7 g of 4-acetoxyphenyldimethylsulfonium methylsulfate (yield 94%).
Melting Point: 88-90° C.
IR: 1755 cm.sup. -1 (C═0)
.sup. 1H-NMR (DMSO-d.sub. 6):
δ=2.40, 3H(S)
3.30, 6H(S)
3.40, 8H(S)
7.45, 8.10, 4H(each d,J=8 Hz).
Elemental Analysis:
Calculated: C:42.84%, H:5.23%.
Found C:42.49%, H:5.12%.
EXAMPLE 8
In the same manner as in Example 7 except that 4.6 g (33 mmol) of benzoyl chloride was used in place of the acetyl chloride, 10.0 g of 4-benzoyloxyphenyldimethylsulfonium methylsulfate was obtained (yield 90%).
Melting Point: 173-175° C.
Elemental Analysis:
Calculated: C:51.88%, H:4.90%.
Found: C:51.84%, H:4.86%.
EXAMPLE 9
To 100 ml of acetonitrile were added 4.0 g (15 mmol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate and then 2.9 g (16 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine, which were stirred. One point nine grams (16 mmol) of valeryl chloride was added thereto and stirred at 25° C. for 2 hours.
The dicyclohexylamine hydrochloride formed was removed by filtration, and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure.
The product was crystallized by adding ether to the concentrated solution to obtain 4.5 g of 4-valeryloxyphenyl-dimethylsulfonium methylsulfate. The yield, the melting point and the results of elemental analysis are shown in Table 1.
EXAMPLES 10 to 15
In the same manner as in Example 9 except that 16 mmol of each acid chloride shown in Table 1 was used in place of the valeryl chloride, 4-acyloxyphenyldimethylsulfonium methylsulfate corresponding to the acid chloride used was produced.
The yields, melting points and results of elemental analysis are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________ 4-Acyloxyphenyldimethylsulfonium Methylsulfate Elemental Analysis Yield M.P. (Calculated %/Found %)No. Acid Chloride (%) (%) C H__________________________________________________________________________Example 9 Valeryl chloride 86 89 to 91 47.98/47.86 6.33/6.32Example 10 Hexanoyl chloride 83 83 to 84 49.43/49.26 6.64/6.66Example 11 Decanoyl chloride 96 84 to 85 54.26/54.11 7.67/7.53Example 12 Lauroyl chloride 79 82 to 84 56.22/56.11 8.09/7.83Example 13 Myristoyl chloride 86 80 to 82 57.95/58.16 8.46/8.19Example 14 Palmitoyl chloride 80 77 to 79 59.49/59.12 8.79/8.76Example 15 Stearoyl chloride 92 84 to 87 60.87/60.38 9.08/9.05__________________________________________________________________________
EXAMPLE 16
To 200 ml of acetonitrile were added 8.0 g (30 mmol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate and then 6.0 g (33 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine, which were stirred. The reaction mixture was cooled to 5° C. and 5.7 g (33 mmol) of benzyloxycarbonyl chloride was added thereto. The resulting mixture was stirred at 5 to 10° C. for 1 hour.
The dicyclohexylamine hydrochloride formed was removed by filtration, and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure. The product was crystallized by adding ethyl acetate to the concentrated solution to obtain 11.5 g of 4-(benzyloxycarbonyloxy)phenyldimethylsulfonium methylsulfate.
The yield, melting point and results of elemental analysis are shown in Table 2.
EXAMPLES 17 to 21
In the same manner as in Example 16 except that 30 mmol of each compound shown in Table 2 was used in place of the p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate, a 4-(benzyloxy-carbonyloxy)phenyldimethylsulfonium salt corresponding to the salt used was obtained.
The yield, melting points and results of elemental analysis are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________ 4-(Benzyloxycarbonyloxy)- phenyldimethylsulfonium Salt Elemental Analysis Yield M.P. (Calculated %/Found %)No. Anion (%) (°C.) C H__________________________________________________________________________Example 16 CH.sub.3 SO.sub.4.sup.- 96 106 to 108 50.99/51.14 5.03/5.12Example 17 Cl.sup.- 89 67 to 69 59.16/59.46 5.28/5.41Example 18 Br.sup.- 91 69 to 71 52.04/51.79 4.64/4.60Example 19 ClO.sub.4.sup.- 79 141 to 143 49.42/49.82 4.41/4.28Example 20 p-CH.sub.3 --C.sub.6 H.sub.4 --SO.sub.3.sup.- 86 155 to 157 59.98/60.19 5.25/5.16Example 21 HSO.sub.4.sup.- about 75 --* 49.73/--* 4.69/--*__________________________________________________________________________ *Hygroscopic
EXAMPLE 22
In the same manner as in Example 16 except that 8.1 g (30 mmol) of 4-dimethylsulfonio-2-methylphenol perchlorate was used in place of the p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl methylsulfate, 11.1 g of benzyl-4-dimethylsulfonio-2methylphenyl carbonate perchlorate was obtained (yield 92%).
Melting point: 130-132° C.
Elemental Analysis:
Calculated: C:50.69%, H:4.75%.
Found: C:50.59%, H:4.73%.
EXAMPLE 23
Acylation in Aqueous Solution
Zero point eight three gram (5.03 mmol) of phenylalanine was added to 10 ml of water and 1.05 ml (7.53 mmol) of triethylamine was added. They were then dissolved by stirring at room temperature.
Two point six zero grams (6.04 mmol) of p-methoxybenzyl p-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate (PMZ-DSP) obtained in Example 2 was added and stirred at room temperature for 15 hours. The resulting mixture was adjusted to pH 3 - 4 by adding a 2% aqueous HCl solution and then extracted twice with 70 ml of ethyl acetate. The extract was washed twice with 20 ml of water, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and then concentrated under reduced pressure. To the concentrated solution were added 30 ml of ether and then 1.9 g (4.5 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine (DCHA) to cause crystallization.
N-(p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl) phenylalanine dicyclohexylamine salt (PMZ-Phe-OH DCHA) as the desired product was obtained (yield: 1.94 g, 75.5%).
EXAMPLE 24
Twelve point tree four grams (46.3 mmol) of p-dimethylsulfoniophenol methylsulfate was dissolved in 180 ml of dried acetonitrile by stirring at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Ten point two milliliters (50.7 mmol) of dicyclohexylamine was added thereto. Upon ice cooling of the resulting mixture, a slurry-like mixture was obtained. To this mixture, a solution containing 13.20 g (51.0 mmol) of 9-fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl chloride dissolved in 30 ml of acetonitrile was dropped with stirring. The time required for dropping was 30 minutes. The mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 2 hours and then a white solid of amine hydrochloride was separated by filtration.
This solid was further washed with 50 ml of acetonitrile. The filtrate obtained above and the acetonitrile used for the above washing were mixed and then the resulting mixture was concentrated by the use of an evaporator. The product was crystallized by adding ethyl acetate to the concentrated solution and then collected. The solid thus obtained was recrystallized from an acetonitrile solution containing ethyl acetate as a poor solvent to obtain the desired product of 9-fluorenylmethyl p-dimethyl-sulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate. The purity of the desired product was determined by the high performance liquid chromatographic method and the NMR method.
Yield: 21.70 g (44.4 mmol, 95.8).
Purity: 99.3%.
Melting Point: 117-122° C.
IR: 1760 cm.sup. -1 (C═0).
.sup. 1H-NMR(CDCl.sub. 3), δ=3.42 (6H, s). 3.65 (3H, s), 4.16 to 4.62 (3H, m), 7.16 to 8.20 (12H, m).
EXAMPLE 25
The procedure of Example 24 was repeated with the exception that 2,6-dimethylpiperidine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine.
Yield: 20.40 g (41.8 mmol, 90.8%).
Purity: 99.0%.
EXAMPLE 26
The procedure of Example 24 was repeated with the exception that diisopropylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine.
Yield: 18.13 g (37.1 mmol, 80.1%).
Purity: 98.2%.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 26
The procedure of Example 24 was repeated with the exception that triethylamine was used in place of the dicyclohexylamine.
Yield: 9.95 g (20.4 mmol, 44.1%).
Purity: 84.1%.
EXAMPLE 27
Acylation in Aqueous Solution
Zero point three eight zero gram (5.06 mmol) of glycine was added to 13.5 ml of a 10% aqueous sodium carbonate solution and dissolved by stirring at room temperature.
Two point nine five grams (6.04 mmol) of 9-fluorenylmethyl-p-d-dimethylsulfoniophenyl carbonate methylsulfate obtained in Example 24 as dissolved in 13.5 ml of water was dropped while cooling with ice, and stirred at room temperature for 3 hours.
The reaction mixture was diluted with 500 ml of water and washed twice with 75 ml of ether. The pH was adjusted to 1 or 2 by adding concentrated hydrochloric acid to the aqueous layer while cooling in an ice bath, and extraction was carried out three times with 150 ml of ethyl acetate. The combined orgainic layer was washed with 100 ml of water and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. After removal of the drying agent, the solvent was distilled away from the filtrate under reduced pressure. The product was crystallized by adding ether to obtain N-(9-fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl) glycine.
Yield: 1.45 g (4.88 mmol, 96.4%). | A process for producing a sulfonium compound of the formula (III) ##STR1## which process comprises reacting a p-dialkylsulfoniophenol of the formula (I) ##STR2## and a carbonyl halogenide compound of the formula (II) ##STR3## in the presence of a secondary amine having a structure in which two secondary alkyl groups are linked to the nitrogen atom, wherein R 1 and R 2 are the same or different and are independently an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, X 1 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, Y - is a halogen anion, a perchlorate anion, an alkylsulfate anion, a hydrogensulfate anion or a p-toluenesulfonate anion, R is an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a tert-butoxy group, a benzyloxy group, a p-methoxybenzyloxy group, a phenyl group or a 9-fluorenylmethoxy group, and X 2 is a halogen atom, wherein the reacting is carried out in a solvent selected from the group consisting of polar aprotic solvents, ethers and halogenated hydrocarbons, at a temperature of -80° C. to 30° C. and for a reaction time of 0.5 hour to 10 hours. | 2 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/287,741, filed Nov. 28, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/719,141 filed Feb. 12, 2001, which is a §371 National Ph ase of PCT/BE99/00071, filed Jun. 4, 1999, which claims the benefit of European Application No. 98110439.1 filed Jun. 8, 1998, the entirety of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This invention relates to a transparent substrate, in particular to a coated transparent sheet capable of withstanding heat treatment of a tempering or bending nature without degradation of the coating and adapted for example to be incorporated in a multiple glazing or a laminated glazing.
[0003] Many of the terms used to describe the properties of a coated substrate have precise meanings defined in relevant standards. The terms used in this description include the following, most of which are defined by the “Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage” (CIE).
[0004] In the present description, two standard illuminants are used: Illuminant C and Illuminant A, as defined by the CIE. Illuminant C represents average daytime light at a color temperature of 6700K. Illuminant A represents the radiation of a Planck radiator at a temperature of about 2856K. This Illuminant represents light emitted by car headlights and is particularly used in evaluating optical properties of vehicle glazings.
[0005] The term “luminous transmission” (LTA) as used herein is as defined by the CIE, that is the luminous flux transmitted through a substrate as a percentage of the incident luminous flux for Illuminant A.
[0006] The term “energetic transmission” (ET) as used herein is as defined by the CIE, that is the total energy directly transmitted through the substrate without a change in wavelength. It excludes the energy absorbed by the substrate (EA).
[0007] The term “color purity” (P) used herein refers to the excitation purity measured with Illuminant C as defined in the Vocabulaire International de l'Eclairage of the CIE, 1987, page 87 and 89. The purity is defined according to a linear scale in which a defined source of white light has a purity of zero and a pure color has a purity of 100%. For vehicle windows the purity of the substrate is measured from the external face of the window.
[0008] The term “dominant wavelength” (λ d ) used herein designates the wavelength of the peak in a range of wavelengths which are transmitted or reflected by the coated substrate.
[0009] The term “non-absorbent material” as used herein designates a material having a refractive index [n(λ)] which is greater than its extinction coefficient [k(λ)] over the whole of the visible spectrum (280 to 780 nm).
[0010] The term “emissivity” as used herein designates the normal emissivity of a substrate as defined in the Vocabulaire International de l'Eclairage of the CIE.
[0011] The term “haze” as used herein designates the percentage of diffused light transmitted by a material measured according to the ASTM D 1003 standard.
[0012] The Hunter coordinates L, a, b used herein measure the coloration of a material as perceived by an observer. They are defined and measured according to the ASTM D 2244 standard.
[0013] It has become more and more usual to apply a number of coating layers forming a coating stack to glass sheets to modify their transmission and reflection properties. Previous proposals for metal coating layers and dielectric coating layers in numerous different combinations have been made to confer chosen optical and energetic properties on glass.
[0014] Automotive glazings, in particular, are taking increasingly complex forms which require the glass of which they are made to withstand a bending heat treatment operation. In the architectural field it is also increasingly desired for glazings to have curved forms or for the sheets of glass from which they are made to have undergone thermal tempering for shock resistance and thus safety. However, the majority of coatings intended to be deposited on sheets of glass, particularly those deposited under vacuum, are not able to resist such heat treatment in a satisfactory manner. In particular, their optical properties are significantly degraded during such processes. Thus, it is necessary to apply the coating layers to the sheets of glass after the sheets of glass have taken their final shape or after they have undergone heat treatment which necessitates, particularly for curved glass, particularly complex deposition equipment. Such equipment must enable the deposition of uniform coatings on non-planar substrates.
[0015] It has been suggested to overcome this disadvantage by using coating stacks which incorporate coating layers comprised of materials which, when the substrate is raised to the temperature necessary for a tempering or bending heat treatment, can prevent the degradation of the optical properties of the coating stack for the duration of the heat treatment.
[0016] This degradation may in particular be attributed to, on the one hand, diffusion of oxygen from the atmosphere or from the dielectric coating layers of the coating stack which leads to oxidation of the metallic layers of the coating stack, and on the other hand to diffusion of sodium from the glass substrate into the coating layers of the coating stack.
[0017] European Patent Application No. 761618 describes a method of sputter depositing coatings on a glass substrate according to which the functional metal coating or coatings are surrounded by protecting layers comprising materials adapted to fix the oxygen by oxidation, in particular niobium. According to this document, the absence of degradation of the metallic layers is also due to deposition of the silver layer in a reactive atmosphere comprising at least 10% oxygen.
[0018] European Patent Application No. 336257 describes a glass substrate coated 25 with a coating stack which can resist heat treatment and which comprises two metallic coating layers deposited alternatively with three zinc stannate based dielectric coating layers. The first metallic layer is surrounded by titanium protecting layers and the second metallic layer is overlaid with a protection layer which is also of titanium. This material protects the metallic coating layers during heat treatment by being oxidized itself by combination with the oxygen atoms diffused in the coating stack.
[0019] European Patent Application No. 303109 describes a glass substrate coated s with a coating stack comprising a silver coating layer surrounded by two coating layers of combination of nickel and chromium which are themselves surrounded by two coating layers of a particular metal oxide. This product is intended to undergo bending by heat treatment in an oxidizing atmosphere during which its luminous transmittance increases significantly.
[0020] U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,902 describes a method of sputter depositing a coating stack capable of withstanding a bending or tempering type of heat treatment on to a glass substrate and which comprises a silver coating layer surrounded by two coating layers of a combination of nickel and chromium which are themselves surrounded by two coating layers of a silicon nitride.
[0021] Coating stacks such as suggested by these documents comprise protecting coating layers for the functional coating layers which before a bending or tempering type of heat treatment consist of non-oxidized metal. These protecting coating layers will be oxidized during heat treatment such that the optical properties of the coated substrate will be significantly modified during this process. In addition, it is necessary that these protecting coating layers are not oxidized to their interface with the functional metal layers so that the functional metallic layers are not subjected to oxidation. This is unfavorable for obtaining a high luminous transmission of the finished product.
SUMMARY
[0022] The present invention relates to a transparent substrate carrying a coating stack comprising at least one metallic coating layer comprising silver or a silver alloy, each metallic coating layer being in contact with two non absorbent transparent dielectric coating layers, the coated substrate being adapted to withstand a bending or tempering type of heat treatment, characterized in that prior to such heat treatment, each of the dielectric coating layers comprises a sub-layer based on a partially oxidized combination of two metals.
[0023] We have surprisingly discovered that the presence prior to heat treatment of sub-layers based on a partially oxidized combination of two metals in the coating stack in accordance with the invention protects each metallic coating layer of the coating stack and that this enables a product that withstands this treatment particularly well to be obtained. We have also noted that the luminous transmittance of the substrate at the end of the said heat treatment is higher than when metallic protecting coatings layers are used. As the sub-layers based on a combination of two metals according to the invention are not totally oxidized before heat treatment they allow the absorption of the diffused oxygen in the coating stack during this treatment and thus protect the metallic coating layers from oxidation. In addition, by arranging for these sub-layers to be partially oxidized across their entire thickness before heat treatment, the luminous transmission of the product after heat treatment is greater than if the sub-layers were, prior to heat treatment, non-oxidized is sub-layers of the same combination of metals. Furthermore, the structure of protecting sub-layers which are partially oxidized during deposition is more favorable to the optical properties of the finished product than when these sub-layers are only oxidized during a heat treatment following deposition of the coating stack.
[0024] Preferably, the sub-layers based on a combination of two metals comprise 20 Ni and Cr. This combination once oxidized during deposition and heat treatment has a greater transparency that that of sub-layers based on combinations of other metals. In addition, use of a combination of Ni and Cr in combination with the different coating layers of the coating stack allows the finished product to display advantageous optical properties.
[0025] According to one preferred form of the invention, at least the sub-layer based on a combination of two metals which is the furthest spaced from the substrate is overlaid with a sub-layer comprising a nitride, preferable a nitride of Si, of Al or of a combination of these elements. Such materials act as barriers to oxygen diffusion in the coating stack and thus limit the quantity of oxygen which arrives at the underlying sub-layer based on a combination of two metals. This is advantageous in allowing heat treatment in very oxidizing conditions without necessitating increases in the thickness of the sub-layers based on a combination of two metals. By overlaying the said sub-layer based on a combination of two metals with a sub-layer of a nitride compound, the sub-layer covered in this way is always able to absorb the entire amount of oxygen which reaches it and thus to maintain its protecting effect with respect to the underlying metallic coating layer.
[0026] In one preferred form of the invention at least one metallic coating layer is in contact with an underlying sub-layer comprising an oxide of a metal chosen, in particular, from Ti, Ta, Nb, and Sn. These metals have a crystalline structure which favors recrystalisation of the Ag during heat treatment in such a way that substantially no visible haze appears in the finished product. This is advantageous as when a coating stack comprising a metallic coating layer undergoes a tempering or bending type of heat treatment, the crystalline structure of this coating layer undergoes modifications which can appear macroscopically by the appearance of haze in the coating stack visible in the finished product. Such haze is considered inaesthetic.
[0027] Advantageously, at least the sub-layer based on a combination of two metals which is closest to the substrate is in contact with an underlying sub-layer of an oxide of Ti. This is advantageous as the optical properties of a coating stack destined to withstand a tempering or bending type of heat treatment may be deteriorated by diffusion in the lower coating layers of the coating stack of sodium migrating from the upper layers of the glass substrate. An oxide of Ti has inherent properties to block such migration.
[0028] Preferably, the dielectric coating layer in contact with the substrate 25 comprises sub-layers of oxides of metals or combinations of metals. As this coating layer is the furthest spaced from the main source of diffusing oxygen, that is the atmosphere, it is not strictly necessary that it comprises a sub-layer of a nitride adapted to block such oxygen diffusion.
[0029] In another preferred form of the invention, each metallic coating layer of the coating stack comprises a combination of Ag and Pt or Pd. The addition of one of these elements to the silver confers upon the coating stack a better resistance to corrosion due to ambient humidity.
[0030] The coating layers of the coating stack may be completed by a thin final coating layer which provides the coating stack with improved chemical and/or mechanical durability without significantly altering its optical properties. Oxides, nitrides and oxynitrides of silicon, aluminum or combinations of these elements may provide this effect. Silica (SiO 2 ) is generally preferred.
[0031] When the coating stack according to the invention has a single metallic coating layer, the optical thickness of the dielectric coating layer closest to the substrate is preferably between 50 and 90 nm, that of the other dielectric coating layer is preferable between 70 and 110 nm, that of the sub-layers based on a combination of two metals is preferably between 3 and 24 nm and the geometrical thickness of the metallic coating layer is preferably between 8 and 15 urn. These ranges of thicknesses allow a coated substrate to be obtained which, after a tempering or bending type of heat treatment has a haze of less than 0.3%.
[0032] Such a coating stack deposited on a 4 mm thick clear sodalime glass substrate preferably confers to the substrate after a tempering or bending type of heat treatment a LT greater than 77%, an emissivity less than 0.08 and preferably less than 0.05, a dominant wavelength in reflection of 450 to 500 nm, more preferably from 470 to 500 nm, and a color purity in reflection of 5 to 15%.
[0033] Preferably, the thicknesses of the coating layers and sub-layers of a coating stack according to the invention having a single metallic coating layer are chosen between the preferred thicknesses such that during heat treatment, the variation in LTA of the coated substrate is less than 10%, the variation of the dominant wavelength in reflection does not exceed 3 urn and the variation in the color purity in reflection does not exceed 5%.
[0034] Such a product may be used in the manufacture of so called low emissivity multiple glazings for buildings. In this case, it is associated with at least one transparent sheet of vitreous material from which it is separated by a volume of gas and has its boundaries limited by a peripheral spacer. In such a glazing, the coated surface is directed towards the gas filled space. In the case of architectural use of a product in accordance with the invention, the coating stack may only have a single metallic coating layer.
[0035] It is remarkable that the emissivity after heat treatment of substrates coated according to the invention is of the same order of magnitute as that of standard low emissivity glazings, that is to say those which have not withstood heat treatment, which is generally less than 0.10 in the case of coating stacks deposited by sputtering for LTA of the order of 80%. Multiple glazings incorporating a sheet of glass coated according to the invention and having undergone a tempering or bending type of heat treatment thus offer equivalent optical properties to those of a glazing comprising a sheet of coated glass which has not undergone heat treatment whilst providing, when the coated substrate is tempered, a better mechanical shock resistance and improved safety to the occupants of areas in which these glazings are installed.
[0036] When a coating stack in accordance with the invention comprises two 20 metallic coating layers, the optical thickness of the dielectric coating layer closest to the substrate is preferably between 50 and 80 nm, that of the dielectric coating layer spaced furthest from the substrate is preferably between 40 and 70 urn, that of the intermediate dielectric coating layer is preferably between 130 and 170 nm, that of the sub-layers based on a composition of two metals is preferably between 3 and 24 urn and the geometrical thickness of the metallic coating layers is preferably between 8 and 15 urn.
[0037] Such a coating stack deposited on a clear 2.1 mm thick sodalime glass substrate confers on the substrate, after a tempering or bending type heat treatment, a haze of less than 0.5%, a LTA of greater than 76%, a dominant wavelength in reflection between 450 and 500 nm, preferably between 470 and 500 nm, and a color purity in reflection between 5 and 15%.
[0038] Such a product may be used to form part of a multiple glazing. It may also 5 be advantageously used as part of a laminated glazing, particularly a vehicle windshield. Legal requirements for windshields require a luminous transmission (LTA) of at least 70% in the USA and at least 75% in Europe. With respect to solar energy, the total energy directly transmitted (ET) is preferably less than 50%. A further factor is the color of the coated substrate which must satisfy the requirements of the automotive industry. These requirements generally necessitate that a coating stack according to the invention which is applied to a sheet of glass of a laminated glazing intended to form a vehicle windshield comprises at least two metallic coating layers. When the coated substrate is used in such a structure, it may be useful to employ a thin final coating layer as described above to reduce the risk of delamination of the laminated glazing.
[0039] The metallic coating layers of a coating stack in accordance with the invention may be connected to a source of electrical current such that they give off heat by the Joule effect. Such a windshield may thus be de-iced or de-misted.
[0040] The invention also relates to a method of manufacture of a product such as described above using a sputtering deposition technique to deposit coating layers of the coating stack.
[0041] Preferably, each metallic coating layer is deposited in an oxidizing atmosphere, in particular comprising argon and oxygen. In particularly preferred forms of the invention, the atmosphere in which each metallic coating layer is deposited comprises less than 10% and preferably between 3 and 7% oxygen. These concentrations allow better thermal stability of these coating layers when compared with identical coating layers deposited in an inert atmosphere whilst being of a sufficiently low concentration to avoid any risk of oxidation of the metal during its deposition.
[0042] The materials which comprise the dielectric layers, with the exception of the sub-layers based on a composition of two metals, are preferably deposited from cathodes having an alternating current supply. This process has the advantage of producing coating layers with a density and structure which is more effective in resisting diffusion of sodium and oxygen in the coating stack during a tempering or bending type heat treatment than when cathodes having a direct current supply are used to deposit the same coating layers. Nevertheless, the advantage in terms of density and structure of the coating layers is only obtained by this process for thicknesses of coating layers which are greater than those of the sub-layers based on a composition of two metals. For this reason, these sub-layers based on a composition of two metals are not deposited by this method.
[0043] The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the following non-limitative examples.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
[0044] Two types of clear sodalime sheet glass substrate samples of 2.1 mm and 4 mm thick are passed through in-line deposition equipment comprising five vacuum enclosures (at a pressure of 0.3 Pa), a substrate conveyor, power sources and gas admission valves. Each depositing enclosure contains magnetron assisted sputtering cathodes, gas entries and evacuation outlets, the deposition being obtaining by moving the substrate a number of times under the cathode.
[0045] The first enclosure contains two cathodes provided with targets formed from titanium. These cathodes are supplied from an alternating current source to which they are connected such that each works alternatively according to the frequency of the current to deposit a first coating layer of an oxide of Ti in an atmosphere of oxygen and argon. The second enclosure contains a cathode which is a combination of Ni and Cr supplied by a direct current source to deposit a non-absorbent partially oxidized sub-layer of a combination of Ni and Cr in an atmosphere of oxygen and argon. The third enclosure is the same as the first enclosure to deposit a third sub-layer of an oxide of Ti. The fourth enclosure is subdivided into two compartments. The first of these contains a cathode of Ag supplied from a direct current source to deposit a coating layer of metallic Ag in an atmosphere of argon and oxygen, and the second contains a cathode of a combination of Ni and Cr supplied by a direct current source to deposit a non-absorbent partially oxidized sub-layer of a combination of Ni and Cr in an atmosphere of oxygen and argon which is more oxidizing that the first enclosure. The fifth enclosure contains two silicon cathodes supplied from an alternating current source to deposit a non-absorbent sub-layer of silicon nitride in a nitrogen atmosphere. This sequence of enclosures is repeated for the deposition of a coating stack comprising two metallic coating layers.
[0046] Table A sets out the optical and energetic properties of coated substrates intended for use as part of a multiple glazing both before heat treatment (the numbers without apostrophes) and after heat treatment. The thicknesses given are in nm.
[0047] The coated substrate subsequently undergoes a tempering heat treatment with a 3 mm pre-heating at 570° C. followed by a 3 min tempering heating at 700° C.
[0048] Table B sets out the optical and energetic properties before (A) and after (A′) heat treatment of a coated substrate intended for use in a multiple glazing having a coated stack which is not in accordance with the present invention. This coating stack comprises protecting layers for the metallic coating layer which comprise a non-oxidized combination of Ni and Cr. This comparative example shows that such a coating stack has both an emissivity and a haze which is greater than the products according to the invention.
[0049] Table C sets out the optical and energetic properties of coated substrates before heat treatment (the numbers with apostrophes) and after heat treatment which are intended for use as part of a laminated glazing. The thicknesses given are in nm.
[0050] In this case, the following sequence is deposited on a 2.1 mm thick clear sodalime glass substrate:
[0051] a non-absorbent sub-layer of an oxide of titanium,
[0052] a protecting, non-absorbent sub-layer of a partially oxidized combination of nickel and chrome in a weight ratio of 80/20,
[0053] a non-absorbent sub-layer of an oxide of titanium,
[0054] a coating layer of silver,
[0055] a protecting, non-absorbent sub-layer of a partially oxidized combination of nickel and chrome in a weight ration of 80/20,
[0056] a sub-layer of silicon nitride,
[0057] a sub-layer of an oxide of titanium,
[0058] a protecting, non-absorbent sub-layer of a partially oxidized combination of nickel and chrome in a weight ratio of 80/20,
[0059] a coating layer of silver,
[0060] a protecting, non-absorbent sub-layer of a partially oxidized combination of nickel and chrome in a weight ration of 80/20,
[0061] a sub-layer of silicon nitride.
[0062] The coated substrate subsequently undergoes a bending heat treatment at a temperature of 635° C. during 12 min.
[0063] It is then incorporated into a laminated sheet comprising, in order, the said coated substrate, an adhesive sheet of polyvinalbutyral (PVB) having a thickness of 0.76 mm and second sheet of clear 2.1 mm thick sodalime glass. Example 17″ sets out the optical properties of a laminated glazing comprising a coated substrate in accordance with example 17.
[0064] When the coating stacks according to the examples of Table C are intended to be used in multiple glazings for buildings, they are deposited on sodalime glass substrates of 4 or 6 mm thick. The optical properties set out in the said table are the same with the exception of LTA which is reduced by about 0.5% by mm of increased thickness of the substrate.
TABLE A Ex. 1 1′ 2 2′ 3 3′ TiO 2 (nm) 19.0 19.0 21.5 21.5 15.5 15.5 NiCrO x (nm) 10.0 10.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 TiO 2 (nm) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 6.0 Ag (nm) 13.5 13.5 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 NiCrO x (nm) 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 Si 3 N 4 (nm) 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 LTA4 (%) 76.5 81.4 74.7 80.2 74.1 78.1 ε 0.050 0.050 0.050 0.040 0.050 0.030 λ D (nm) 475.2 474.2 478.7 476.4 478.1 477.6 P (%) 22.1 20.2 17.7 16.3 18.1 14.1 haze (%) 0.20 0.20 0.16 0.19 0.16 0.18 Ex. 4 4′ 5 5′ 6 6′ TiO 2 (nm) 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 11.5 11.5 NiCrO x (nm) 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 6.0 6.0 TiO 2 (nm) 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 Ag (nm) 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 23.0 23.0 NiCrO x (nm) 6.0 6.0 12.0 12.0 6.0 6.0 Si 3 N 4 (nm) 21.0 21.0 15.0 15.0 6.0 6.0 LTA4 (%) 79.0 81.9 78.0 78.5 80.0 82.0 ε 0.080 0.058 0.075 0.062 0.092 0.074 λ D (nm) 477.5 471.8 479.6 478.1 497.9 482.5 P (%) 15.4 10.5 15.6 9.3 6.2 34.1 haze (%) 0.10 0.18 0.10 0.17 0.16 0.29 Ex. 7 7′ 8 8′ 9 9′ TiO 2 (nm) 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 13.0 13.0 NiCrO x (nm) 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 TiO 2 (nm) 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 Ag (nm) 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 NiCrO x (nm) 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 Si 3 N 4 (nm) 50.0 50.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 LTA4 (%) 84.0 87.4 76.0 77.1 80.0 83.1 ε 0.090 0.073 0.099 0.076 0.095 0.066 λ D (nm) ** 453.4 481.4 482.1 478.6 473.7 P (%) ** 7.7 12.0 6.8 16.0 12.3 haze (%) 0.12 0.27 0.14 0.25 0.08 0.20
[0065]
TABLE B
SnO2
NiCr
Ag
NiCr
SnO2
LTA4
λ D
P
haze
Ex.
(nm)
(nm)
(nm)
(nm)
(nm)
(%)
ε
(nm)
(%)
(%)
A
38.0
1.2
10.5
1.2
46.0
68.0
0.090
474.5
14.5
0.20
A′
38.0
1.2
10.5
1.2
46.0
77.5
0.130
470.0
20.0
0.40
N.B.: λ D et P are measured in reflection from the coated side
[0066]
TABLE C
Ex.
10
10′
11
11′′
12
12′
13
13′
TiO 2 (nm)
13.0
13.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
14.0
13.0
13.0
NiCrO x (nm)
7.5
7.5
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
TiO 2 (nm)
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
Ag (nm)
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
NiCrO x (nm)
3.3
3.3
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
Si 3 N 4 (nm)
44.5
44.5
46.0
46.0
47.0
47.0
51.0
51.0
TiO2 (nm)
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
NiCrO x (nm)
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
TiO2 (nm)
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Ag (nm)
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
NiCrO x (nm)
6.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
6.0
6.0
Si3N4 (nm)
21.0
21.0
22.0
22.0
22.0
22.0
27.0
27.0
LTA (%)
71.0
76.4
71.0
77.2
72.0
78.5
72.0
78.1
λ D (nm)
498.7
484.0
516.9
487.9
497.8
485.6
475.3
540.5
P (%)
1.83
13.2
2.3
11.1
3.4
13.0
13.4
4.0
haze (%)
0.11
0.48
0.14
0.46
0.12
0.48
0.10
0.45
Ex.
14
14′
15
15′
16
16′
17
17′
17′′
TiO 2 (nm)
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
16.0
NiCrO x (nm)
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
TiO 2 (nm)
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
Ag (nm)
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
NiCrO x (nm)
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
3.2
3.2
2.5
2.5
2.5
Si 3 N 4 (nm)
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
51.0
TiO2 (nm)
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
19.5
NiCrO x (nm)
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
TiO2 (nm)
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Ag (nm)
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.5
NiCrO x (nm)
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
Si3N4 (nm)
32.0
32.0
27.0
27.0
27.0
27.0
27.0
27.0
27.0
LTA (%)
72.0
78.3
72.0
78.2
71.0
77.2
71.0
77.5
76.9
ET (%)
40.8
λ D (nm)
**
476.8
455.7
480.0
**
477.9
**
478.3
477.6
P (%)
**
9.6
6.1
17.3
**
14.7
**
16.2
10.7
haze (%)
0.09
0.48
0.12
0.47
0.08
0.47
0.10
0.46
0.46
N.B.: λ D and P are measured in reflection from the glass side
**: purple nuance for which no precise value of λ D and P can be determined. | Low emissivity glazing which is an assembly of thin layers including at least one metal layer reflecting infrared rays between one or more dielectric layers located between the metal layer and the glass sheet and on the metal layer, the light transmission of one clear float glass sheet 4 mm thick coated with said layers being not less than 83%, the metal layer being selected such that the emissivity is not higher than 0.042. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to box hole drill steel.
Box hole drill steel and a method of its use is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,321.
Dual tube drill pipe with the inner tube elastomer mounted in the outer tube has heretofore been used, e.g. in drilling vertical holes for support posts, and is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,596, by Jackson M. Kellner and Vincent Hugo Vetter entitled "Dual Flow Passage Drill Stem", assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Multiple tube drill pipe having an elastomer mounted inner tube and intended primarily for drilling horizontal and near horizontal holes, e.g. for venting methane from coal mines, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,495, by Jackson M. Kellner and William R. Garrett, entitled "Hydro-Electric Bit Guide", assigned to the same assignee as the present application. Other prior art relevant to multiple pipe and to elastomer mounting of the inner tube thereof is discussed in these two Kellner et al patent applications and should be consulted for further identification of the prior art.
Dust suppression has heretofore been effected in box hole drill steel, e.g. it is understood, by providing each length of box hole steel with a water conduit, probably a rubber hose therein, the hoses being provided at their ends with steel couplings.
Box hole drill steel with dust suppressant water pipe welded solidly in the center thereof and with pin and box O-ring sealed telescopic joints at the ends of the pipe has heretofore been made.
Box hole drill steel with flanges for handling the steel and splines for making a driving connection with the drill steel may be the subject of a pending application assigned to the same assignee as the present invention by inventors employed by another division of the assignee.
Double lip elastomer seal rings with O-ring spreaders, all of the same construction as used herein for support rings, are known as Parker rod seals.
Dual tube drill pipe, with an elastomer shock absorber and telescopic, elastomer sealed connection means for the inner tube thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,012,061 by Wallace F. Olson and 3,998,479 by William W. Bishop, both assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and considerable prior art relating thereto is made of record therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided box hole drill steel with replaceable water pipe coaxially mounted therein by elastomeric support means.
Dual tube box hole drill steel comprises an outer tubular member having a thick wall, e.g. the wall has a thickness in excess of ten percent of the inner radius of the tubular member. The tubular member has a short length, i.e. its length is of the same order of magnitude as its outer circumference e.g. one yard. Concentrically mounted within the outer tubular member is an inner pipe for dust suppresant water. The inner pipe has an outer diameter of a different order of magnitude than that of the outer tubular member, the inner pipe's outer diameter being smaller, e.g. 10 percent of that of the tubular member.
A holding flange is provided around the tubular member near one end, and the flange is provided with wrench slots. At the same one end of the tubular member it is provided with an internal spline for making a driving connection with a drill. A male threaded connection means is integral with one end of the tubular member and a female threaded connection means is welded to the other end thereof.
Spiders welded against shoulders in the connection means support the pipe coaxially within the tubular member. The pipe has a telescopic joint pin integral with one end disposed within said male connection means in the tubular member. The pipe has an O-ring sealed telescopic joint box integral with the other end disposed within said female connection means in the tubular member. There is a shoulder formed where the box joint is welded to the pipe. A nut threaded onto the pin joint forms another shoulder. Between said shoulders and rabbets at the inner peripheries of the spiders, the latter fitting only loosely around the pipe, are expansible double lip elastomer rings. An O-ring within each elastomer ring lies between the axially facing lips thereof. The O-rings are harder than the elastomer rings. Make up of the nut compresses the O-rings into the elastomer rings, wedging the inner rubber lips radially into contact with the pipe to provide radial support and pressing the elastomer rings against the spiders to provide axial support for the pipe. Washers between shoulders on the one side and the O-rings and double lips of the elastomer rings on the other side, provide stationary smooth surfaces for contact with the rings during tightening of the nut.
The elastomer mounting of the pipe permits the pipe to move radially and accommodate for misalignment of the pipe in one piece of drill steel when connected to the pipe in another piece of drill steel, thereby to insure that a proper seal is effected between the pin and an O-ring in the box. Such misalignment being a particular problem with dual tube drill stem of the box hole type due to the shortness of the steel and to the disparity between the diameters of the outer tube and inner pipe. In addition the elastomer mounting serves as a shock absorber to reduce vibratory and other stresses transferred from the outer tubular member to the pipe. Finally, the mounting method makes it possible easily to replace the water pipe.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIGS. 1A and 1B together form an axial section through a length of drill steel embodying the invention;
FIG. 2 is an elevation of the pin end of the drill steel shown in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 3 is an elevation of the spider at the box and of the drill steel shown in FIG. 1B;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary axial section through the spiders shown in FIG. 1A, and is a mirror image of a like section through the spider shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an elevation partly in section, of the central pipe of the drill steel shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B;
FIG. 6 is an axial section to a larger scale of the elastomer support means shown in FIG. 1A, and is a mirror image of a like section through the elastomer support means shown in FIG. 1B; and
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary axial section, to a larger scale, of the seal box of the drill steel shown in FIG. 1B, with the O-ring seal in contact with the sides of the box groove as it actually is, as distinct from the spaced apart showing in FIG. 1B.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is shown a length of drill steel including an outer tubular member 11 comprising a tubular body 13 having a female threaded connection means 15 formed integrally therewith at one end and having a male threaded connection means 17 welded thereto at the other end. The weld is indicated at 19. The female threads are shown at 21 and the male threads at 23. The threaded connection means 15, 17 are correlative, each being adapted to make up with the opposite end of another length of like drill steel or with correlative means on a drill bit or drill. A shoulder 25 on the male connection means 17 is adapted to engage a shoulder provided by the end of the box on another length of drill steel like shoulder 27 on female connection means 15. There are unthreaded areas 29, 31 between the threads and shoulders, to be strained during make-up, thereby to form rotary shouldered connections. U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,609 -- Garrett gives a further discussion of rotary shouldered connections. A suitable straight thread form is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,321 to Rodgers.
The male connection means 17 is provided internally with splines 33 for making a driving connection with a drill. The female connection means 15 is provided internally with a relief groove 35. Compare U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,685 to Moore.
Around the exterior of body 13 near the male connection means 17 is a flange 37. As shown in FIG. 2, flange 37 is provided with a plurality of slots 39 for receiving a make-up and break-out wrench. Flange 37 also serves to support the drill steel during additions and subtractions of drill steel. In this regard it would be a substitute for the holding tubes shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,319 to Kloesel et al.
Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there are annular shoulders 41, 43 on the interior of tubular member 11 adjacent the ends thereof, one being formed adjacent male connection means 17 and the other being formed adjacent female connection means 15. Both of these shoulders face the female connection means end of the drill steel. Adjacent these shoulders are disposed two spiders 45, 47 (See also FIGS. 2, 3 and 4). The siders are welded in place, e.g. by a plurality of arcuate beads of weld metal 49, 51.
The spiders are scalloped at their outer peripheries as indicated at 53, 55. However if desired the spiders could be blank, i.e. without any openings around the periphery or elsewhere, except centrally to receive the water pipe as will be described later. There is no flow of fluid required through the spiders since in box hole drilling the cuttings return by gravity outside of the drill steel. On the other hand, cutting away portions of the spiders does make the interior of the drill steel visible and also lessens the weight of the drill steel. Since the term spider would be inapt for describing a washer, the term support plate may be used in the appended claims.
Each spider or support plate is provided with a central opening, as best shown at 57 in FIG. 4. There is a rabbet 59 around the opening at one side thereof. The spiders are positioned so that the rabbets face the adjacent ends of the drill steel.
Referring once more to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, extending the length of the drill steel coaxially within the outer tubular member 11 is a pipe 71. Pipe 71 is used to carry water or other dust suppressant to the drill bit. Pipe 71 extends through openings 57 in the spiders, with some clearance. As shown in FIG. 5, the outer diameter of pipe 71 is 1.5 inches (All the dimensions on the drawing are in inches unless otherwise indicated). As shown in FIG. 4, the diameter of the openings 57 is 15/8 inches. The elastomer support means hereinafter described support pipe 71 within the openings 57 in the support plates or spiders 45, 47.
Referring now particularly to FIG. 5, pipe 71 is provided at one end with a telescopic joint pin 73, formed integrally therewith, and is provided at the other end with a telescopic joint box 75, welded thereto at 77. The box 75 is formed with an annular groove 79 (see also FIG. 7). An O-ring 81 is disposed in the groove, as shown best in FIG. 7 and also in FIG. 1B. O-ring 81 is preferably made of an elastomer, e.g. rubber or neoprene. O-ring 81 fits snugly between the sides of groove 79 but protrudes slightly inwardly therefrom. The inner diameter of box 75 at 83 is only slightly larger than the outer diameter of the pin at 85. The inner diameter of O-ring 81 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pin at 85. With this arrangement, the box 75 can receive the pin 73 on the end of another like length of drill steel or other correlative member and the O-ring 81 will deform and seal therewith. Box 75 may therefore be referred to sometimes as a seal box.
The seal box 75 is bored out to provide a positioning shoulder 89. The seal box is pushed onto pipe 71 until shoulder 89 abuts the end 91 of the unfinished pipe; the seal box is then welded in place. By such accurate positioning there is assurance that when the connection means on the outer tubular members of two or more lengths of the drill steel, or other members with correlatively formed telescopic joint means, are made up together, the ends of the telescopic pins will not bottom in the boxes prior to full make up of the connection means on the outer tubular members. Preferably, there will be a slight axial gap between the pin ends (and shoulders) and the box bottoms (and shoulders) of each telescopic joint when the rotary shouldered connections are fully made up.
The weldment 77 securing the seal box to the rest of pipe 71 is machined off to form a smooth shoulder 93 to cooperate with the elastomer support means at the box end of pipe 71, as will be described hereinafter. At the other end of the pipe 71, adjacent pin 73, the pipe is provided with a straight thread 95, to receive nut 96 (see FIG. 1A). Nut 96 provides an adjustable surface or shoulder 99 to cooperate with the elastomer support means at the pin end of pipe 71, as will be described hereinafter.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, adjacent to shoulders 93, 95 are disposed flat steel washers 97, 99, disposed around pipe 71. Between each washer and the rabbet 59 of the adjacent spider is disposed an annular elastomeric support means. Such elastomeric support means are shown at 101, 103, and a typical one of such elastomeric support means is shown at 101 in FIG. 6 (means 103 faces the opposite direction but is otherwise identical).
Referring to FIG. 6, each support means 101, 103, comprises an annular body 105 of an elastomer, such as rubber or neoprene, which may have a durometer hardness of 60 to 70, for example, on the Shore A scale. Body 105 is provided with an annular groove 107, of arcuate cross section, forming two lips 109, 111. Within groove 107 is disposed O-ring 113 made of an elastomer such as rubber or neoprene but having a greater hardness, for example, a durometer hardness of 80 on the Shore A scale. Identical structure intended to be used as a seal ring is commercially available under the name "Parker #18701500-375 rod seal" and further description may be obtained from said manufacturer.
When pipe 71 is assembled inside tubular member 11, being threaded through the openings 57 in the spiders, and nut 96 is screwed onto the pipe, the elastomer support means 101, 103 are compressed between the spider rabbets and the washers. The washers, which lie against the O-rings 113, press the O-rings into the softer body rings 105 and wedge the inner lips 109 to move inward into engagement with the tube 71. By this means the tube 71 is both axially and radially elastomerically supported.
The elastomeric support serves to dampen vibrations which might otherwise be transmitted from the outer tubular member to the inner tubular member. In addition, the support means is such that the inner pipe is readily removable from the outer tubular member as may be required for replacement or repair.
Primarily, however, the elastomeric support allows the pipe to shift a certain amount e.g. radially to compensate for misalignment between the pipe in one piece of box hole drill steel and the next. Such misalignment is difficult to avoid with such short members as box hole drill steel and with such a disparity in diameter between the outer tubular member and the pipe therewithin as exists with box hole steel and its dust suppressor pipe. In this regard it will be noted that the pipe has an outer diameter of the order of only 10 percent of that of the outer tube; considering orders of magnitutde to the usual base ten, the outer diameter of the pipe is not only smaller than that of the outer tubular member but is of a different order of magnitude therefrom. At the same time the length of the outer tubular member is of the same order of magnitude as the outer circumference thereof, both being around a yard, more or less. Considering the matter quantitatively a non-concentricity of the pipe of only one percent of the outer diameter of the outer tubular member amounts to ten percent of the outer diameter of the pipe. A non-concentricity of the inner pipe of one-tenth of an inch will produce an angle of cant ten times as great for a member three feet long as for one 30 feet long.
Although the invention has been illustrated in an embodiment in which elastomeric support means is provided at both ends, it will be apparent that some of the advantages of the invention can be had if such means is used at only one place, e.g. at one end of the steel, the pipe being provided with unyielding rigid supports at the other end or elsewhere as against radial or axial movement or both. At this juncture it should be pointed out that loading of the pipe support means due to change of length of the outer tubular member relative to the inner pipe is not a problem in box hole steel because the outer tubular member is so thick, i.e. over ten percent of the inner radius of the outer tubular member, that the strain thereon under expected load conditions is relatively small.
The O-rings of the elastomeric support means cooperating with the washers and shoulders on the pipe, are just one example of wedging means that can be employed to force the rubber of the annular elastomer support means against the pipe. However, they are a particularly simple and effective wedging means, making it unnecessary to provide conical camming surfaces on the washers or shoulders.
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described and various modifications thereof discussed, other modifications can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. | According to the invention, there is provided a box hole drill steel with a replaceable water pipe coaxially mounted therein by elastomeric support means. | 4 |
This application is a 371 of PCT/US99/29577, filed Dec. 14, 1999. This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60/112,610 filed Dec. 17, 1998.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to recombinant papillomavirus virus-like particles (VLPs) comprising heterologous neutralizing conformational epitopes. This invention also includes nucleic acids encoding these VLPs and assays employing these synthetic VLPs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11 are the causative agents for more than 90% of all genital condyloma and laryngeal papillomas. HPV is a DNA virus which is enclosed in a capsid which is made up principally of L1 protein. The L1 proteins of HPV types 6 and 11 are very similar at both the amino acid and nucleotide level. Consequently, it has been difficult to develop assays which reliably distinguish between these two types of infection.
HPV 11 L1 residues Gly 131 -Tyr 132 were previously identified as responsible for the type-specific binding of several HPV 11 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (Ludmerer et al. 1996. “Two Amino Acid Residues Confer Type Specificity to a Neutralizing, Conformationally Dependent Epitope on Human Papillomavirus Type 11”. J. Virol . 70:4791-4794). Within this same work, it was further demonstrated that a substitution at Ser 346 of the HPV 11 L1 sequence dramatically reduced binding of neutralizing monoclonal antibody H11.H3, and that the effect was specific for this antibody. Additional studies demonstrated that several HPV 11 neutralizing antibodies bound to a stretch of the HPV 11 L1 sequence between residues 120-140, whereas H11.H3 bound to a completely distinct site (Ludmerer et al. 1997. “A Neutralizing Epitope of Human Papillomavirus Type 11 is Principally Described by a Continuous Set of Residues Which Overlap a Distinct Linear, Surface-Exposed Epitope”. J. Virol . 71:3834-3839).
However, these studies did not define which amino acid residues confer type specificity of binding for antibody H11.H3 completely. Furthermore, there may be other regions of HPV 11 VLPs, not described in these studies, which can elicit important HPV 11-specific, conformationally dependent responses. In addition, VLP-dependent antibodies specific for HPV 6 have also been generated (Christensen et al. 1996 “Monoclonal Antibodies to HPV-6 L1 Virus-Like Particles Identify Conformational and Linear Neutralizing Epitopes on HPV-11 in Addition to Type-Specific Epitopes on HPV-6”. Virology 224(2):477-486). These antibodies could be useful in evaluation of infectivity by HPV 6. It would be desirable to determine the exact amino acids involved in the specificity of HPV type 6- and additional type 11-specific conformational epitope formations so that improved assays and vaccines may be developed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a recombinant papillomavirus L1 protein of a first subtype which comprises a conformational epitope of a papillomavirus L1 protein of a second subtype. Preferably, the L1 protein is part of a virus-like particle (VLP). In some embodiments, the papillomavirus is a human papillomavirus (HPV). In a specific embodiment of this invention, a human papillomavirus L1 protein comprises a heterologous conformational epitope from HPV 6. In another specific embodiment of this invention, a human papillomavirus L1 protein comprises a heterologous conformation epitope from HPV 11.
Another aspect of this invention are nucleic acids encoding these heterologous L1 proteins, particularly DNA.
Another aspect of this invention are assays employing the synthetic virus-like particles.
Another aspect of this invention are vaccines comprising nucleic acids and/or proteins encoded by the nucleic acids, wherein the proteins comprise a heterologous conformational epitope.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A and 1B show the amino acid sequences for the L1 protein of HPV 6 and HPV 11 mutants utilized in these studies.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are graphs which show that amino acid substitutions at critical positions within the HPV 6 L1 sequence eliminate binding of monoclonal antibodies H6.B10.5, H6.M48, and H6.N8. In the first graph, the left most bar is H6.B10.5; the second bar is H6,.M48; the third bar is H6.C6 and the right most bar is H6.J54. In the second graph the left bar is H6.N8 and the right bar is H6.C6.
FIG. 3 shows substitutions into the HPV 11 L1 sequence which confer binding of HPV 6 specific monoclonal antibodies H6.B 10.5, H6.M48, and H6.N8. The left most bar is H6.B10.5; the next bar is H6.M48; the next bar is H6.N8 and the right most bar is H6.C6.
FIG. 4 shows that three amino acid substitutions into the HPV 6 L1 sequence between residues 345 and 348 confer binding of HPV 11 monoclonal antibodies H11.G3 and H11.H3. It also shows that seven substitutions between residues 262 and 289 also confer binding of HPV 11 monoclonal H11.G3. The left most bar is H11.H3; the second bar is H11.B2; the third bar is H11.G3; and the right most bar is H11.C6.
FIG. 5 shows that three substitutions into the HPV 6 sequence between residues 49 and 54, or four substitutions into the HPV 6 sequence between residues 169 and 178 confer binding of HPV 11 monoclonal antibody H11.A3.2. The left most bar is H11.A3.2; the middle bar is H11. B2 and the right bar is H11.C6.
As used throughout this specification and claims, amino acid residues (wild-type) are referred to by a two-part designation which is (i) the one-letter standard amino acid abbreviation of the wild-type residue, followed by (ii) the position of the amino acid in the L1 protein. Residues specified in this format would also be for a particular HPV type. For example, “HPV 6 K53” means the lysine residue at position 53 of HPV 6 L1.
As used throughout this specification and claims, mutated amino acids are referred to by a three-part designation which is (i) the one-letter standard amino acid abbreviation of the wild-type amino acid (ii) the position of the amino acid in the L1 protein of a particular HPV type, and (iii) the one letter abbreviation for the amino acid which is now present. For example, HPV 6 “T345S ” means that the threonine residue, normally present at position 345 of HPV 6 L1, has been changed to serine.
Monoclonal antibodies referred to throughout this specification are listed below (all were obtained from Dr. Neil Christensen of Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pa.).
H6.B10.5—this antibody is specific to HPV 6 L1 protein in VLPs.
H6.M48—this antibody is similar to H6.B10.5 in that it binds to HPV 6 L1 protein in VLPs.
H6.N8—this antibody is similar to H6.B 10.5 in that it binds to HPV 6 L1 protein in VLPs.
H11.G3—this antibody is specific for HPV 11 VLPs and its binding is conformationally dependent.
H11.H3—this antibody is specific for HPV 11 VLPs, and is neutralizing. It is known that HPV 11 L1 residue S346 is critically important for the binding of H11.H3, and that a substitution at this position does not affect binding of HPV 11-specific VLP-dependent antibodies demonstrated to bind elsewhere.
H6.J54—this antibody binds VLPs of both HPV 6 and HPV 11, but not other HPV types.
H6.C6—this antibody binds both HPV 6 and 11 VLPs; it also binds both native and denatured material. It can be used to determine total L1 production.
H11.A3—this antibody specifically binds HPV 11 VLPs, but at a different region than either H11.B2 or H11.H3.
H11.B2—similar to H11.A3 in that it specifically binds HPV 11 VLPs, but at a different region than either HI11.H3 or H11.A3.
In order to develop an assay which would distinguish between HPV 6 and HPV 11 responses, the amino acids residues that confer antigenic type-specificity on HPV subtypes had to be determined. Therefore we focused on regions of HPV 6 which have multiple divergences from HPV 11 within a short stretch. To streamline the process of analyses, mutants of HPV 6 which were multiply mutated at these regions were synthesized and the VLPs produced from them were analyzed for effects on antibody binding.
In order to construct the VLPs of this invention, the amino acid residues which make up the conformational epitopes where type specific, VLP-dependent monoclonal antibodies bind had to be determined. This was accomplished by mapping the binding sites of monoclonal antibodies which bind specifically to either HPV 6 or HPV 11 VLPs. L1 of either HPV 6 or HPV 11 was modified by introducing amino acid substitutions at various positions, then determining if the mutant protein would bind either HPV 6- or HPV 11-specific monoclonal antibodies. Mapping was confirmed by demonstrating transfer of binding of a monoclonal to one of these types to the other type which had been minimally modified. Modified VLPs used for these transfers were demonstrated to retain binding of other type-specific antibodies.
In accordance with this invention it has been found that HPV 6 L1 with three HPV 11 L 1-like substitutions, at T345, T346 and S348 produce VLPs that bind HPV 11-specific monoclonal antibodies H11.G3 and H11.H3. These two antibodies can be distinguished in that H11.G3, but not H11.H3, can also bind HPV 6 VLPs which contain seven substitutions between residues 262 and 290. In specific embodiments of this invention, the substitutions are T345S, T346K, and S348A.
Furthermore, we show that HPV 6 L1 with either three HPV 11 L 1-like substitutions between amino acids 49 and 54 (at F49, R53, and A54), or four HPV 11 L1-like substitutions between residues 169 and 178 (at K169, T172, P175, and A178), can bind HPV 11-specific, VLP dependent monoclonal antibody H11.A3.2. In specific embodiments of these class of mutants, the substitutions are (i) the combination of F49Y, R53K, and A54V; and (ii) K169T, T172S, P175S, and A178N.
Thus one aspect of this invention is a recombinant HPV 6 L1 protein which also presents a major neutralizing, conformational epitope of HPV 11. In a preferred embodiment, the conformational epitope comprises T345S, T346K and S348A. These whole regions may be transferred to other HPV types through alignment, generating more refined tools for serological analysis. Thus this invention comprises any papillomavirus type which comprises a heterologous neutralizing conformational epitope of HPV 11 mapped in these studies.
This invention also includes HPV 6 L1 proteins with HPV 11-like substitutions between residues 49-54, 169-178, and 261-290, specifically at (i) F49, R53, and A54; (ii) K169, T273, P175 and A178; and (iii) E262, T270, S276, G277, T280, G283, and N289. In specific embodiments of this class of mutants, the substitutions are: (i) F49Y, R53K, and A54V; (ii) K169T, T273S, P175S, and A178N; and (iii), E262T, T270D, S276G, G277N, T280S, G283A, and N289H. These portions of the protein comprise part of the epitope for HPV 11-specific VLP dependent monoclonal antibodies H11.A3.2, and H11.G3.
A further aspect of this invention is nucleic acids encoding the L1 proteins comprising the heterologous conformational epitopes discussed above, including HPV 11conformational epitope T345S, T346K and S348A. As L1 protein and nucleic acid sequences are generally well known, it is within the skill of the ordinary artisian to insert the mutations described herein using conventional genetic engineering/protein engineering techniques. In a preferred embodiment the nucleic acid is a DNA, and codons may be optimized for increased viral expression for a given host cell.
Other aspects of this invention include vectors such as plasmids which contain the nucleic acids encoding L1 proteins comprising a heterologous HPV 11 conformational epitope. Also included in this invention are host cells, particularly yeast, bacterial, insect, and mammalian cells containing a nucleic acid encoding an L1 protein comprising an HPV 11 conformational epitope, whether or not present in a vector.
In another aspect of this invention, HPV 6 epitopes were transferred to HPV 11. In this embodiment, HPV 11 L1 modified with either one (at K53) or two (at Y49 and K53) substitutions show approximately a 10-fold increase in binding of HPV 6-specific monoclonal antibody H6.N8. In the case of H6.N8, the level of binding was comparable to that observed with prototype HPV 6 VLPs. This demonstrates that part of the epitope, including its type 6 specificity, is defined by these and neighboring residues. Preferred substitutions are K53R, and the combinantion of Y49F and K53R.
Another HPV 11 heterologous L1 protein comprises three changes: at Y49, K53, and V54. HPV 11 L1 modified with these three changes show approximately four-fold binding above background to HPV 6-specific monoclonal antibodies H6.B10.5 and H6.M48, in addition to binding monoclonal antibody H6.N8 as discussed above. In specific embodiments of this class of mutants, the substitutions are Y49F, K53R, and V54A.
Another HPV 11 L1 mutant encompasses seven changes in two regions (49-54 and 170-179). These changes are at positions Y49, K53, V54, T170, S173, S176, and N179. HPV 11 L1 modified with these seven substitutions show binding to antibodies H6.B10.5, H6.M48, and H6.N8 comparable to that observed with prototype HPV 6 VLPs. These HPV 6 epitopes can be moved to any desired PV type. In preferred embodiments the substitutions are HPV 6 residues F49, R53, A54, K169, T172, P175, and A178, placed into equivalent positions of the selected PV L1 type by alignment.
Another aspect of this invention is nucleic acids encoding the L1 proteins comprising a heterologous conformational epitope, including (i) HPV 6 conformational epitope K53R, (iv) the combination of Y49F and K53R, (iii) the combination of Y49F, K53R, and V54A, (iv) the combination of Y49F, K53R, V54A, T170K, S173T, S276P and N179A; and (v) combinations of (i), (ii), (iii) and/or (iv). As L1 protein and nucleic acid sequences are generally well known, it is within the skill of the ordinary artisian to insert the mutations described herein using conventional genetic engineering/ protein engineering techniques. In a preferred embodiment the nucleic acid is a DNA, and codons may be optimized for increased viral expression for a given host cell. Other aspects of this invention include vectors such as plasmids which contain the nucleic acids encoding L1 proteins comprising a heterologous HPV 6 conformational epitope. Also included in this invention are host cells, particularly yeast, bacterial, insect, and mammalian cells containing a nucleic acid encoding an L1 protein comprising an HPV 6 conformational epitope, whether or not present in a vector.
In another aspect of this invention is the transfer of conformational epitopes to a more distantly-related PV type. Almost every species of animal studied to date has a PV, including cottontail rabbit, bovine, canine, and the like. This discussion and the examples focus on the use of cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) comprising heterologous conformational epitopes to produce serological reagents of higher specificity to monitor HPV 6 and HPV 11 responses and infectivity. However, it is intended that any PV can substitute for CRPV for these uses, and the present invention is specifically directed to this broad usage. Thus, this invention specifically includes a recombinant CRPV L1 protein comprising at least one heterologous conformational epitope. In specific embodiments, the heterologous conformational epitope is selected from the groups consisting of human HPV 6 and HPV 11 epitopes, and placed into CRPV L1 by amino acid alignment. This invention also includes nucleic acids encoding the recombinant protein, vectors comprising the nucleic acids, and host cells which comprise the vectors.
A further aspect of the invention is the generation of VLPs which can elicit both HPV 6 and HPV 11 responses. HPV 6 VLPs which contain HPV 11 substitutions T345S, T346K, and S348A will present a major HPV 11 neutralizing epitope alongside all HPV 6 responses. HPV 11 VLPs modified to contain HPV 6 substitutions, such as the combination of Y49F and K53R; the combination of Y49F, K53R, and V54A; or the combinantion of Y49F, K53R, V54A, T170K, S173T, S 176P and N179A will present the one known HPV 6 specific conformational epitope alongside most HPV 11 epitopes, including the major neutralizing epitopes. The latter is significant in that all known neutralizing epitopes are conformationally dependent, and conformational dependence is believed to be a necessary property of such epitopes.
Because of the high identity between wild-type HPV 6 and HPV 11 L1 sequences, present serological assays cannot distinguish responses between these two types very well. The modified VLPs of this invention will identify HPV 6 and HPV 11 immune responses upon infectivity or immunization. VLPs which elicit neutralizing responses to both types can simplify vaccine manufacturing, and lower costs for the consumer.
Another aspect of this invention is the use of these derivatized HPV 6 and HPV 11 VLPs as reagents in serological assays. Because most epitopes are shared between HPV 6 and HPV 11 VLPs, polyclonal sera to one competes with the binding of a type-specific monoclonal antibody to the other due to steric hindrance from the binding of antibodies to neighboring sites. In accordance with this invention, HPV 6 and HPV 11 epitopes can be moved to a more distant VLP type, such as CRPV, where there are no cross-reactive epitopes between CRPV and either HPV 6 or HPV 11. Therefore, presentation of HPV 6- and HPV 11-specific epitopes on a CRPV VLP eliminates the problem of steric competition from neighboring epitopes. Only the presence of antibody in a polyclonal response to the specifically transferred epitope should compete with monoclonal antibody binding.
One assay of this invention distinguishes between the presence of HPV 6 and HPV 11 antibodies in a sample suspected of containing either or both types of antibodies comprising the steps of:
a) contacting the sample with recombinant PV protein comprising either a heterologous HPV conformational epitope or a heterologous HPV 11 conformational epitope; and
b) detecting binding between the antibodies present in the sample and the recombinant PV protein;
wherein binding to a heterologous HPV 11 conformational epitope indicates the presence of HPV 11 antibodies in the sample, and binding to a HPV 6 conformational epitope indicates the presence of HPV 6 antibodies in the sample.
Yet another aspect of this invention comprises an assay for discrimination between HPV 6 and HPV 11 in a subject suspected of being infected with either HPV 6 or HPV 11, or vaccinated for protection against HPV 6 and/or HPV 11 infection, comprising the steps of:
a) obtaining a blood sample from the subject, wherein said blood sample comprises either HPV 6 or HPV 11 antibodies;
b) contacting the sample with a recombinant VLP comprising either a heterologous HPV 6 conformational epitope or a heterologous HPV 11 conformational epitope; and
c) detecting binding between the antibodies present in the sample and the heterologous VLP;
wherein binding a VLP comprising a heterologous HPV 11 conformational epitope indicates an HPV 11 infection, and binding to a VLP comprising a heterologous HPV 6 conformational epitope indicates an HPV 6 infection. In preferred embodiments, the VLP is from a distantly related PV, such as a CRPV VLP.
Another aspect of this invention are vaccines which comprise either L1 protein comprising a heterologous conformational epitope, or the nucleic acid which encode these proteins. In specific embodiments, the protein comprises both an HPV 6 and an HPV 11 epitope; either or both may be heterologous. This vaccine will confer protection against both types of HPV infection, as neutralizing antibodies to both viral epitopes are produced. The protein-based vaccine may be formulated according to conventional vaccine formulation techniques, and include such well known, traditional components as adjuvants, and pharmaceutically acceptable carriers. This vaccine may be administered intranasally, intravenously, intramuscularly, or subcutaneously, either with or without a booster dose. Likewise, nucleic-acid based vaccines, or specifically, DNA vaccines may be similarly formulated and administered.
The following examples are provided to further define the invention without however, limiting the invention to the particulars of these examples.
EXAMPLE 1
Generation of Test Expression Constructs
The HPV 6 and HPV 11 L1 structural genes were cloned from clinical isolates using PCR with primers designed from the published L1 sequence. The L1 genes subsequently were subcloned both into BlueScript (Pharmacia) for mutagenesis, and pVL1393 (Stratagene) for expression in Sf9 cells.
Mutations were introduced into the L1 gene using Amersham Sculptor in vitro mutagenesis kit according to the manufacturer's recommendations. The appearance of the desired mutation was confirmed by sequencing, and the mutated gene subcloned into pVL1393 for expression in Sf9 cells.
EXAMPLE 2
Transient Expression of L1 VLPs in SF9 Cells
SF9 cells were transfected using BaculoGold Transfection kit (Pharmringen). Transfections were done essentially according to the manufacturer's instructions with the following modifications. 8×10 8 Sf9 cells were transfected in a 100 mM dish, with 4 μg of BaculoGold DNA and 6 μg of test DNA. Cells were harvested after 6 days and assayed for VLP production.
EXAMPLE 3
Preparation of SF9 Extracts and ELISA Assays
Cells were harvested six days after transfection, by scraping followed by low speed centrifugation. Cells were resuspended in 300 ml of breaking buffer (1 M NaCl, 0.2 M Tris pH 7.6) and homogenized for 30 minutes on ice using a Polytron PT 1200 B with a PT-DA 1205/2-A probe (Brinkman) in a Falcon 1259 tube. Samples were spun at 2500 rpm for 3 minutes to pellet debris. Tubes were washed with an additional 150 ml of breaking buffer, supernatants collected in a 1.5 ml microfuge tube, and respun for 5 minutes in an Eppendorf microfuge (Brinkman). Supernatants were collected and stored at 4° C. until use. ELISA assays typically were performed the same day, although samples may be frozen on dry ice, stored at −80° C., thawed and assayed at convenience.
5 ml of extract was diluted into 50 ml of 1% BSA in PBS (phosphate buffered saline; 20 mM NaPO 4 , pH 7.0, 150 mM NaCl) and plated onto a polystyrene plate. The plate was incubated overnight at 4° C. Extracts were removed and the plate blocked with 5% powdered milk in PBS. All subsequent wash steps were performed with 1% BSA in PBS. The plate was incubated at room temperature with primary antibody for 1 hour. Primary antibodies (monoclonal antibodies generated against HPV 11 virions, HPV 11 VLPs, or HPV 6 VLPs) were obtained as ascites stock from Dr. Neil Christensen (Pennsylvania State University). They were diluted 10 5 -fold in 1% BSA PBS before use. After washing, plates were incubated for 1 hour with secondary antibody. The secondary antibody, peroxidase labeled Goat anti-Mouse IgG (γ), was purchased from Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Inc. and used at 10 3 dilution in 1% BSA in PBS. After a final washing, a horse radish peroxidase assay was performed and absorbance read at 450 nm.
EXAMPLE 4
Two Near Adjacent Substitutions Into the HPV 6 L1 Sequence Eliminates Binding of HPV 6-Specific, VLP-Dependent Monoclonal Antibodies
We predicted that an HPV 6-specific monoclonal antibody (one which does not bind to closely related HPV 11 VLPs) would bind a region where there are several adjacent or near adjacent residues between types 6 and 11 L1 genes. Excluding the C-terminus (it has been shown that the C-terminus is non-essential for VLP formation), there are five such regions. Using standard procedures, we generated test clones which had multiple 11-like substitutions in each of these five regions. Only clone 1393:6:49-53, which harbors substitutions at L1 residues 49 and 53 (F49Y, R53K) produced VLPs which had an effect on H6.B10.5, H6.M48, and H6.N8 binding. Binding of HPV 11-cross-reactive antibody H6.J54, also VLP-dependent, was not disturbed, demonstrating the presence of VLPs.
EXAMPLE 5
Transfer of Binding of H6.B10.5, H6.M48 and H6.N8 to modified HPV 11 VLPs
Based upon the studies in Example 4, we generated mutants of HPV 11 L1 with HPV 6-like substitutions at positions within the first 60 residues where the two L1 sequences differ. We also generated HPV 11 mutants with single substitutions at either Y49F or K53R. A third HPV 11 clone harbored three HPV 6-like substitutions between residues 49 to 54 (Y49F, K53R, and V54A), and a fourth clone harbored three HPV 6-like substitutions between residues 49 to 54 and 4 substitutions between residues 170 to 180 (Y49F, K53R, V54A and T170K, S173T, S176P, N179A).
Clones 1393:11:K53R and 1393:11:Y49F,K53R both generated VLPs which produced approximately ten-fold binding above background of HPV 6-specific monoclonal antibody H6.N8. An additional clone, 1393:11:Y49F,K53R,V54A, generated VLPs which showed approximately four-fold binding above background of monoclonal antibodies H6.B10.5 and H6.M48.
Antibody H6.C6 is cross-reactive between types 6 and 11 L1, and binds both native and denatured material. Thus it is a measure of total L1 production. Normalized to L1 production, the level of H6.N8 binding was comparable to that observed with prototype HPV 6 VLPs. VLPs produced from clone 1393:11:49-54,170-180, which harbored seven HPV 6-like substitutions over two distinct areas of L1 (Y49F, K53R, V54V; and T170K, S173T, S176P, N179A) showed a level of binding to antibodies H6.B10.5, H6.M48, and H6.N8 which was comparable to that observed with prototype HPV 6 VLPs.
Antibodies H11. B2 and H11.H3, both type 11-specific and VLP-dependent, are known to bind other regions of the L1 sequence. Hence these substitutions at the N-terminus should not impact their binding. They bound these N-terminally mutated constructs, thus demonstrating that these N-terminal substitutions had no effect on VLP assembly, or on the presentation of critical HPV 11 neutralizing epitopes.
This result is especially significant in light of the fact that the binding site of antibody H11 .B2 previously was mapped to a stretch of residues between Y123 and V142, a region which lies in between the two multiply mutated regions discussed in the present example. This demonstrates that the structural perturbations generated by the mutations discussed in this work are quite localized.
EXAMPLE 6
Three substitutions Into HPV 6 L1 Sequence Confer H11.G3 and H11.H3 Binding
HPV 6 L1 was modified with HPV 11-like substitutions to generate 1393:6:T345S,T346K, and A348S. This clone was expressed transiently in Sf9 cells, and VLPs were produced and tested for binding for both antibodies H11.G3 and H11.H3. We observed binding 10-fold above background levels, commensurate with binding to prototype HPV 11 VLPs. Binding of HPV 6-specific antibodies H6.B10.5 and H6.M48 was not perturbed, demonstrating that the VLPs retained HPV 6-like character. Furthermore, binding of HPV 11-specific antibodies H11 .A3 and H11. B2, antibodies known to bind elsewhere, was not observed, thus demonstrating that the transfer was specific to H11.G3 and H11.H3.
EXAMPLE 7
Seven Substitutions Into HPV 6 L1 Sequence Confer H11.G3 Binding
HPV 6 L1 was modified with seven HPV 11-like substitutions between residues 262 and 289 (E262T, T270D, S276G, G277N, T280S, G283A, N289H) to generate clone 1393:6:262-289. This clone was expressed transiently in Sf9 cells, and VLPs were produced and tested for binding. We observed binding 10-fold above background levels of antibody H11.G3. Binding of HPV 6 specific antibodies H6.B10.5 and H6.M48 was not perturbed, demonstrating that the VLPs retained HPV 6-like character. Furthermore, binding of HPV 11-specific antibodies H11.A3 and H11.B2, antibodies known to bind elsewhere, was not observed, thus demonstrating that the transfer was specific to H11.G3.
EXAMPLE 8
Three Substitutions Into HPV 6 L1 Sequence Between Residues 49 and 54, or Four Substitutions Between Residues 169 and 178, Confer H11.A3.2 Binding
HPV 6 L1 was modified with three HPV 11-like substitutions between residues 49 and 54 (F49Y, R53K, and A54V and four HPV 11-like substitutions between residues 169 and 178 (K169T, T172S, P175S, and A 178N), or four HPV 11-like substitutions between residues 169 and 178 (K169T, T172S, P175S, and A178N) to generate clones 1393:6:49-54,169-178 and 1393:6:169-178 respectively. These clones were expressed transiently in Sf9 cells, and VLPs were produced and tested for binding. We observed binding three-fold above background for antibody H11.A3.2 with either clone. Binding of HPV 6-specific antibodies H6.B 10.5 and H6.M48 was not perturbed by clone 1393:6:169-178, demonstrating that these VLPs retained HPV 6-like character. Work described in this document demonstrates that HPV 6-specific antibodies target region 49-54, therefore it is expected that VLPs produced from clone 1393:6:49-54 will not bind these antibodies. The binding of HPV 11-specific antibody H11.B2, known to bind elsewhere, was not observed, thus demonstrating that the transfer was specific to H11.A3.2.
EXAMPLE 9
Monitoring Serological Responses to HPV 11 Infection or Immunization
HPV 6-modified VLPs are used to determine the presence of an immune response to HPV 11 following viral infection or immunization with HPV 11 VLPs. HPV 6-modified VLPs which present the HPV 11 neutralizing epitope to H11.G3 and/or H11.H3 are coated onto the well of a microtitre plate in native form. Following blocking, HPV 11 monoclonal antibody H11.G3 and/or H11.H3 is incubated in ELISA format with increasing amounts of HPV 11 polyclonal sera, HPV 6 polyclonal sera, and test polyclonal sera. Binding of the HPV 11 monoclonal antibody is visualized using a rabbit anti-mouse IgG secondary antibody. Alternatively, it is labeled with I 125 , or coupled directly to horseradish peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase, or another standard ELISA visualization protocol. An increasing amount of polyclonal HPV 11 sera competes with binding until the signal eventually is reduced to background level. Polyclonal HPV 6 sera does not compete, or the competition is significantly reduced from that observed with HPV 11 polyclonal sera. Competition with the test sera at levels comparable to HPV 11 polyclonal sera demonstrates an immune response to HPV 11. Lack of, or a significant reduction of competition demonstrates lack of or a weak immune response to HPV 11.
EXAMPLE 10
Monitoring Serological Responses to HPV 6 Infection or Immunization
HPV 11-modified VLPs are used to determine the presence of an immune response to HPV 6 following viral infection or immunization with HPV 6 VLPs. HPV 11 modified VLPs which present the HPV 6 epitope to H6.N8 and/or H6.M48 are coated onto the well of a microtitre plate in native form. Following blocking, HPV 6 monoclonal antibody H6.N8 and/or H6.M48 is incubated in ELISA format with increasing amounts of HPV 11 polyclonal sera, HPV 6 polyclonal sera, and test polyclonal sera. Binding of the HPV 6 monoclonal antibodies H6.N8 and/or H6.M48 is visualized using a rabbit anti-mouse IgG secondary antibody. Alternatively, they are labeled with I 125 , or coupled directly to horseradish peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase, or another standard ELISA visualization protocol. Increasing amounts of polyclonal HPV 6 sera should compete with binding until the signal eventually is reduced to background level. Polyclonal HPV 11 sera does not compete. Competition with the test sera at levels comparable to HPV 6 polyclonal sera demonstrates an immune response to HPV 6. Lack of or significant reduction of competition demonstrates lack of or a weak immune response to HPV 11.
EXAMPLE 11
Generation of Chimeric VLPs Which Stimulate Both Type 6 and Type 11 Specific Responses
HPV 6 VLPs modified to contain substitutions, S131G and Y132, T345S, T346S, and S348A, produce VLPs which present i) the HPV 6-specific and VLP dependent epitope and ii) all known HPV 11 specific and neutralizing epitopes. Alternatively, HPV 11 VLPs modified to contain substitution K53R, or Y49F and K53R, or Y49F, K53R, V54A, T170K, S173T, S 176P, N179A produce VLPs which present i) the HPV 6-specific and VLP dependent epitope and ii) the major HPV 11 specific and neutralizing epitopes. These latter chimeric VLPs present the one type 6 specific epitope known, the two neutralizing type 11 epitopes known, and the 6/11 common epitopes. Chimeric 6/11 VLPs are able to replace double immunization with type 6 and type 11 VLPs to stimulate immune responses, with reduced productivity costs.
1
1
462
PRT
Human papillomavirus
1
Met Trp Arg Pro Ser Asp Ser Thr Val Tyr Val Pro Pro Pro Asn Pro
1 5 10 15
Val Ser Lys Val Val Ala Thr Asp Ala Tyr Val Arg Thr Asn Ile Phe
20 25 30
Tyr His Ala Ser Ser Ser Arg Leu Leu Ala Val Gly His Pro Tyr Ser
35 40 45
Ile Lys Asn Lys Thr Val Val Pro Lys Val Ser Gly Tyr Gln Tyr Arg
50 55 60
Val Phe Lys Val Val Leu Pro Asp Pro Asn Lys Phe Ala Leu Pro Asp
65 70 75 80
Ser Ser Leu Phe Asp Pro Thr Thr Gln Arg Leu Val Trp Ala Cys Thr
85 90 95
Gly Leu Glu Val Gly Arg Gly Gln Pro Leu Gly Val Gly Val Ser Gly
100 105 110
His Pro Leu Asn Lys Tyr Asp Asp Val Glu Asn Ser Gly Gly Gly Asn
115 120 125
Pro Gly Gln Asp Asn Arg Val Asn Val Gly Met Asp Tyr Lys Gln Thr
130 135 140
Gln Leu Cys Met Val Gly Cys Ala Pro Pro Leu Gly Glu His Trp Gly
145 150 155 160
Lys Gly Gln Cys Asn Thr Val Gln Gly Asp Cys Pro Pro Leu Glu Leu
165 170 175
Ile Thr Ser Val Ile Gln Asp Gly Asp Met Val Asp Thr Gly Phe Gly
180 185 190
Ala Met Asn Phe Ala Asp Leu Gln Thr Asn Lys Ser Asp Val Pro Asp
195 200 205
Ile Cys Gly Thr Cys Lys Tyr Pro Asp Tyr Leu Gln Met Ala Ala Asp
210 215 220
Pro Tyr Gly Asp Arg Leu Phe Phe Leu Arg Lys Glu Gln Met Phe Ala
225 230 235 240
Arg His Phe Phe Asn Arg Ala Gly Val Gly Glu Pro Val Pro Asp Leu
245 250 255
Lys Gly Asn Arg Ser Val Ser Ser Ile Tyr Val Thr Pro Ser Gly Ser
260 265 270
Leu Val Ser Ser Glu Ala Gln Leu Phe Asn Lys Pro Tyr Trp Leu Gln
275 280 285
Lys Ala Gln Gly His Asn Asn Gly Ile Cys Trp Gly Asn Leu Phe Val
290 295 300
Thr Val Val Asp Thr Thr Arg Ser Thr Asn Met Thr Leu Cys Ala Ser
305 310 315 320
Val Ser Thr Tyr Thr Asn Ser Asp Tyr Lys Glu Tyr Met Arg His Val
325 330 335
Glu Glu Asp Leu Gln Phe Ile Phe Gln Leu Cys Ser Ile Thr Leu Ser
340 345 350
Ala Glu Val Met Ala Tyr Ile His Thr Met Asn Pro Ser Val Leu Glu
355 360 365
Asp Trp Asn Phe Gly Leu Ser Pro Pro Pro Asn Gly Thr Leu Glu Asp
370 375 380
Thr Tyr Arg Tyr Val Gln Ser Gln Ala Ile Thr Cys Gln Lys Pro Thr
385 390 395 400
Pro Glu Lys Glu Lys Asp Pro Tyr Lys Ser Phe Trp Glu Val Asn Leu
405 410 415
Lys Glu Lys Phe Ser Ser Glu Leu Asp Gln Pro Leu Gly Arg Lys Phe
420 425 430
Leu Leu Gln Ser Gly Tyr Arg Gly Arg Ser Arg Thr Gly Lys Arg Pro
435 440 445
Ala Val Ser Lys Ser Ala Pro Lys Arg Lys Arg Lys Thr Lys
450 455 460 | The invention is a series of synthetic virus-like particles comprising a heterologous conformational epitope useful in the characterization of human papillomavirus infection, and useful to vaccinate individual for protection against HPV 6 and HPV 11 infections, and assays employing the synthetic virus-like particles. | 2 |
BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
Generally speaking, this invention relates to electromechanical transducers for converting mechanical movements or displacements into electrical signals. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved strain sensitive element or force gage for use in such mechanical transducers.
In electromechanical transducers of the kind to which the present invention is directed, a transducing element is utilized for detecting the relative displacement of two parts and for developing a corresponding electric signal. Generally, such relative displacements have been measured in the past with various kinds of strain gages. However, these have a tendency to be of considerable weight, some of which are very bulky, some of which are not very sensitive. Those that are have intricate designs which are very expensive. As mentioned above, the present invention is directed to a force-type sensor or gage which is mounted between two parts between which a force is applied. The gage is, therefore, strained in an amount which depends upon that force. It is substantially smaller than prior art force gages, is relatively simple in structure, is easily manufactured, and is, therefore, less expensive.
As such piezoresistive transducers have developed in use over the years, it has become increasingly desirable to have extremely small sensors of high sensitivity and low bulk. However, in order to develop force gages which are of extremely small size, difficulties arise in the handling thereof for subsequent mounting upon their substrate, once they are developed. They are difficult to handle not only because of their small size, but also because of their fragility.
One of the primary advantages of force transducers lies in the fact that the displacement between the pads at each end thereof produced by relative motion of the two parts to which the pads are attached is concentrated in the "suspended", so to speak, portion of the force gage which can mechanically amplify the strain being sensed or measured. Furthermore, the resistance change of the element per unit displacement is greatest as the length of the element is reduced. By use of both short gage lengths and appropriate leverage very large resistance changes may result from very small displacements. This change in resistance is determined by means of electrical current flowing through the element from one pad to the other, and measuring changes in voltage or other electrical properties resulting from changes in resistance. However, when attempts are made to reduce to a smaller size such force gages, then, as mentioned above, difficulties arise relative to the handling thereof in mounting upon their substrates, as well as other problems which ordinarily arise in handling very small objects.
With this invention, by contrast, strain sensitive elements are provided in the form of force gages which are derived from the substrate upon which they are subsequently supported in use. That is, the gages are defined upon the substrate or marked thereon, and subsequently etched right from the material of the substrate. In one form of force gage of the invention, the gage is etched to allow a small support or mesa underneath, while maintaining the gage still connected by this minute portion of the substrate to the substrate proper. In its preferred form, the invention is directed to a force gage which is etched free of its substrate along its length but continuous with it at its ends. Thus, the gages of the invention are crystallinally continuous with their support.
That is, force gages of substantilly smaller strain volume are produced by defining the gage in the substrate or in material rigidly bonded to the substrate, and subsequently etching away the immediately adjacent material, leaving the gage free in space, after the fashion of force gages of the past, but supported against unwanted cross loads by remote portions of the substrate. Such gages may have volume as small as 3×10 -10 cubic centimeters of stressed material, as opposed to present commercially available force gages wherein the strained volume is 5×10 -7 cubic centimeters. Both gages would typically be strained to one part per thousand. The strain energy is thus a thousandfold less for the smaller gage.
It will be appreciated, in this connection, that the volume of the gages formulated according to the invention here will vary widely depending upon ultimate use. For example, a "sturdy" gage may have 3×10 -4 times 8×10 -4 times 32×10 -4 centimeters or 10 -9 cubic centimeters. On the other hand delicate gage may have 0.3×10 -4 times 3×10 -4 times 12×10 -4 centimeters, or 10 -11 cubic centimeters. It is within the purview of this invention to obtain a gage volume of 10 -12 cubic centimeters utilizing electron beam lithography.
In considering the conditions generally for carrying out the process of the invention here for producing a force gage, a conventional silicon crystal material is selected, and the outline of the gage is etched on the selected crystal which forms the substrate. An etch is selected which is both anisotropic and doping-selective. Caustic, hydrazine, and pyrocatechol etchants may be selected, depending upon the results desired. They attack silicon rapidly in the [112] direction, moderately rapidly in the [110] direction, and very slowly in the [111] direction. With this invention, the substrate orientation is (110) plane and [111] along the gage so as to define a groove over which the gage extends. With such orientation, a groove is produced with walls which are nearly vertical, and with floors that are nearly flat.
The same etchants which are anisotropic are dopant selective, in that they attack very slowly silicon in which a boron concentration is developed which is greater than 5×10 19 /cc. In accordance with the process of the invention, the gage is defined and its terminals are also defined by a planar diffusion or ion implantation through an oxide mask to a boron concentration of roughly 10 20 /cc. The boron makes the gage P-type, while the substrate is N-type. The diffused area is electrically isolated from the substrate by a P-N junction. During the etching procedure which forms the groove, the gage is exposed to the etchant, but is resistant to it. As will be appreciated, and explained further herein, when the groove is defined over which the gage extends, a hinge is also defined in the substrate around which one end of the substrate moves relative to the other to develop the strain being monitored by the sensor. Also, the hinge protects the gage against transverse loads.
As a further feature of the invention, two substrate wafers may be bonded together. Grooves may be formed either before or after bonding of the wafers. If the groove is formed by impact grinding, it must be formed before bonding. Gages and their terminals may be defined in the gage wafer by doping them to the requisite high concentration of boron before bonding the wafers, then etching away all of the undoped portion of the gage wafer. Alternatively, the whole bonded surface of the gate wafer may be doped with boron so that the etching leaves a continuous sheet of gage material from which gages may be etched by a subsequent photolithographic step. This is similar to the bonded wafer approach described and claimed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 233,728, filed Feb. 12, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,869 issued Aug. 30, 1983 which application is owned by the assignee of this application and which application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
For example, the gage wafer will still be (110)[111], while the hinge wafer is (100)[110] for easy and precise etching. This gives less difference in strain on the gages and the associated hinge surface than does the square etch pattern into (110). Once the two wafers are bonded together, with the gages positioned over their appropriate grooves or apertures which have been defined in the wafers, then the gages are freed by etching away all of the gage wafer except the gages and their terminals. This approach is more complex in its execution, but offers dialectric isolation of the gages, rather than diode isolation. Also, this allows the use of different crystal orientations in the gage and substrate wafers. Of course, this approach departs from one of the primary aspects of this invention which is having the crystal structure of the gage the same as its substrate support.
A piezoresistive transducer developed in accordance with the general procedures noted above is particularly appropriate for use in accelerometers, pressure transducers, and displacement gages. The length of each individual gage produced in accordance herewith, will be generally about 25 microns, while the width will be about 6 microns.
The general steps or procedure involved in fabricating a piezoresistive transducer dice for use in an accelerometer includes first selecting a silicon wafer. In this connection, it should be understood that a plurality of sensors are produced in a single wafer depending upon the form of sensor being developed in any particular application. Subsequently, the individual sensors are diced out of the wafer, once the sensors have been formed with their gages, in accordance with this invention. After the wafer is selected, it is heavily oxidized. Subsequently, index marks are imposed on either side of the wafer photolithographically in order to align the patterns on each side of the wafer. It should be pointed out here, that with respect to each die formed on a wafer, gages may be formed on one or both sides of the wafer, again depending upon the form of sensor being developed for a particular application.
Subsequent to imposing the index marks on each side by photolithographic means, apertures are opened in the oxide layer which are to be heavily doped to define the gages and conductors therefore. After this is done, boron is implanted into the open areas on both sides in the amount of 1.5×10 16 cm 2 , sufficient to obtain boron in the amount of at least 5×10 19 atoms per cubic centimeter, and a depth within the range of between about 0.1 and 3 micrometers. The implantation should provide nearly equal doping on both sides. Subsequent to the implantation of the boron, the silicon wafer is annealed at a temperature of 920° C. for about one hour. In this connection, for a more detailed discussion about general procedures of the kind carried out and discussed here, reference is made to the above noted co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 233,728. The same boron doping can be achieved by planar diffusion.
Once the annealing procedure has taken place, the etching patterns are opened on both sides photolithographically. Thus, the wafer is prepared for the etching procedure. Etching may be done by a potassium hydroxide-water-isopropyl alcohol bath. Preferably, however, an ethylene diamine-pyrocatechol etch is utilized. In this connection, during this etching procedure, areas protected by oxide and areas heavily doped with boron do not etch. The etching procedure takes approximately four hours. Preferably, etching is to a depth of about 0.0022 inches assuming a wafer of 0.005 inches to leave a central hinge of 0.0006 inches. The depth should be sufficient to obtain a substantially level bottom surface of the groove below the gages. Also, depth should be sufficient that residual thickness at the bottom of the groove, considered as an elastic hinge, represents a small fraction of the bending stiffness in a system consisting of the formed hinge and its gage.
Once the etching procedure has taken place, all of the previously applied oxide is stripped and a thin oxide layer is grown on the wafer to protect the P-N junctions. Once this has taken place, aluminum is deposited on one or both sides to provide the metallic connections for the individual gage or gages. In this connection, once the aluminum has been deposited, then the patterns of the aluminum for forming the contact areas are photolithographically defined on the wafer. Subsequently, the wafer is cut into the individual dice with a diamond saw.
With the foregoing and additional objects in view, this invention will now be described in more detail, and other objects and advantages hereof will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a piezoresistive transducer illustrating the invention in which a single gage is arranged on one side of its respective substrate;
FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a further embodiment of piezoresistive transducer illustrating the invention in which two force gages are arranged on one side of the substrate;
FIGS. 3a-3j are somewhat diagramatic views, in section, illustrating the sequential processing conditions of the invention, as the wafers are processed in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a further embodiment of the invention in which the gages are etched upon a cantilevered support; and
FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a still further embodiment of the invention illustrating a form of invention in which the gages are etched offset from the principal crystal direction.
FIG. 6 is a view in section of a mesa supported gage illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views thereof, FIG. 1 illustrates a piezoresistive transducer 10, illustrating the invention, with a substrate 24 having a groove 25 defined therein undercutting the gage 12. As can be seen in FIG. 1, gage 12 extends over groove 25 to pads 14, 16 at each end thereof. 18 is a connection between gage pad 14 with the end 19 of substrate 24, while 20 is the opposite link or connection 20 maintaining contact with gage pad 16. 22 is the contact to the substrate end 28. As will be appreciated, groove 25 defines a hinge 30 between the fixed end 28 of substrate 24, and the movable end 26 thereof. A force is applied in the direction of arrow 32 on movable end 26, which causes movable end 26 to move around hinge 30 relative to fixed end 28, thus creating a strain in gage 12, which is measured electronically, as discussed above.
Once the sensitive elements or gages are formulated in the manner of the invention here, they may be mounted in an electronic circuit for connection to a recording system depending upon the ultimate application of the circuitry. For example, for use in a pressure transducer system, the gages of the invention may be mounted in a Wheatstone bridge circuit in a pressure sensor similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,970.
Referring to FIG. 2, piezoresistive transducer 34 is shown with dual gages 36 formed on the top surface 60 thereof in accordance with the general procedures discussed above. The dual gages 36 end at one end thereof in pad 58 positioned on movable end 44 of substrate 42, while gages 36 have individual pads 56 positioned on the fixed end 46 of substrate 42. The pads 56 have electrical contact terminals 38 positioned thereon, while pad 58 has area 40. Metallic area 40 is formed to reduce electrical resistance of pad 58 between the adjacent ends of gages 36. It is not necessary to the structure shown. The areas 38 and 40 may be comprised of aluminum, as will be appreciated from the above discussion.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, hinge 52 is positioned midway between the top and bottom surface of substrate 42, as opposed to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1. Thus, an upper groove 48 and a lower backside groove 50 are formed to define hinge 52. It is to be understood, from the showing in FIG. 2, that a gage pattern similar to that shown on top surface 60 of substrate 42 may be formed on the bottom surface thereof with the gage pattern being nominally identical to that shown. The gage patterns will be isolated from the substrate and from each other by the PN junctions. This arrangement is derived from the general processing conditions and steps noted above.
Referring now to FIGS. 3a-3j, a sequence of steps is shown for processing a single sided freed or suspended gage piezoresistive transducer arrangement herein. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3a, substrate 62 has formed thereon an oxidized layer 64 on top and an oxidized layer 66 on the bottom surface. Subsequent to the oxidizing step, indices are coordinated for processing both the top surface 64 and the bottom surface 66 of the substrate 62 by forming the coordinate indices 68, 70 therein. As can be seen in FIG. 3c, top surface 64 is opened for doping at 72. Thereafter, boron from B 2 O 3 is diffused into the open apertures to a concentration of 10 20 boron/cc, which might give a sheet resistance of 6 ohms per square, for example. FIG. 3d shows the diffused boron 74 in the open areas 72, as well as in the index pattern 68.
Following the boron diffusion step, both sides of substrate 62 are opened, as shown at 76, 78, respectively, (FIG. 3e) with an etching pattern for the subsequent etching procedure. Subsequently, the etching procedure is carried out, preferably with the ethylene diamine-pyrocatechol etch, as discussed above. The etch takes place to a depth of 0.0022 to 0.0050 inches to undercut the gages and leave a hinge of a thickness of about 0.0006 inches. As can be seen in FIG. 3f, the etching forms grooves 48, 50 to define a hinge 52 at each point of etch. Also, as can be seen in FIG. 3f, the coordinated index pattern arrangement 68, 70 is affected by the etch. In this connection, the original index marks are made immune to etching by boron doping. Index images may or may not open new index areas to the etch, as desired. The formed gages 84, as can be seen in FIG. 3f extend over grooves 48 in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 2.
Subsequently, the used oxide is stripped from the substrate 62 and a thin oxide coating is grown on both surfaces 64, 68 to form the arrangement as shown in FIG. 3g. Following the growth of a thin oxide layer, a metal layer 80 is deposited on the top surface 64 of substrate 62, as shown in FIG. 3h. The aluminum or metalized deposit 80 is then patterned to define the contacts or connecting links of the pads formed at each end of the gages. Finally, the individual dice are cut from the wafer having been processed in accordance with the procedure discussed above, with the individual dice being in a form similar to that shown at 86 in FIG. 3j.
As a further feature of this invention, particularly for low cost, hish sensitivity pressure sensors, the relative ruggedness of a gage on its own support extending across the groove has been found to be preferable to a fully freed or "floating" gage. The strain energy needed for such a "mesa" supported gage is about three times that needed for a freed gage, but the resistance to handling damage is less expensive, as will be appreciated. Thus, if the etching is done into a (100) crystal surface, the walls of the etched cavities are 35° to 45° from vertical. Conductive metallic films may be deposited and patterned up and down these slopes, which define a mesa supporting the gages. When etching into (100) gages are aligned [110], as required for highest gage factor, the gages will not be undercut, as discussed above but will persist on mesas to give gages of relative ruggedness.
FIG. 6 illustrates this form of invention in section in which gage 150 is supported on its related mesa 150 above groove plane 154. In this form, a neutral axis of bending 156 is formed near the hinge plane 154.
If, on the other hand, it is preferable to have the gages etch-freed in this plane if they are "misaligned", offsetting one end of the gage by at least the gage's width will allow the etching to undercut the gage. Some additional angling of the gage may be needed to allow the etch to smooth out the space defining the groove under the gage. The angled gage has a width of about 7.5 microns, a length of 37.5 microns, a depth of 15 microns and a flat bottom width of about 15 microns.
The penalty for angling the gage off the principal crystal direction [110] is a reduction in gage factor. For example, 13° angle to the gage reduces gage factor 19%. This is a relatively small penalty compared to the gain in sensitivity resulting in removal of the underlying material. FIG. 5 is representative of a structure of the kind discussed above in which gages 126 are angled relative to the principal axis 145 of substrate 120. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the applied force, as indicated by arrow 142, is against the movable end 122 of substrate 120 on hinge 140 around the fixed end 124 of substrate 120. Hinge 140 is defined by upper and lower grooves 136, 138 respectively. In this particular sensor element configuraton, gages 126 end in a single pad 128 at one end thereof while each individual gage 126 ends at the other end thereof in individual pads 130. Aluminum connections 132, 134 are deposited on these pads.
As a further feature of the invention, a cantilevered sensor may be utilized. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of sensor utilizing the cantilever. Thus, referring to FIG. 4, sensor 94 is shown mounted on a base block 92. Sensor 94 may be mounted to base block 92 through the use of a clamp or the two parts may be bonded together using an adhesive. Sensor 94 has a fixed end 100 bonded to base block 92, while the movable end 102 is cantilevered from sensor 94. Thus, movable end 102 reacts to forces in the direction of arrow 104 around hinge 114 defined by upper and lower grooves 116, 118 respectively. Gages 98 are subjected to the strain during this movement in one direction and the electrical signal therein is picked up by contacts 106, 112 deposited on the pads 105, 107 respectively at each end of gages 98. This particular form of sensor includes identical gages deposited on the bottom surface of sensor 94 for sensing movement of end 102 in the reverse direction of force 104. Thus, leads 108 extend from contacts 106 while leads 110 extend from contacts deposited on the lower surface of sensor 94 and in contact with gages mounted thereon. The assembly shown in FIG. 4 may be employed as an accelerometer, for example, wherein the inertial force of the end 102 is the force measured by the system.
As will be appreciated from the above discussion the invention herein provides a process, and a product produced from that process, of piezoresistive transducers utilizing sensor elements with gages produced in situ on their substrates, which process and the resulting product allows the use of stressed volumes of material smaller by a factor of hundreds from the stressed volumes previously thought practical. This increased sensor sensitivity can be applied to various types of transducers to produce very improved performance. Accelerometers utilizing the sensor of the invention have an extremely high range, for example. A conventional accelerometer, for example, is calculated to have a resonance frequency of 161 KHz for a sensitivity of 1 microvolt per volt. By contrast, an etch-free gage arrangement in an accelerometer in accordance with this invention has a resonance frequency of 1.28 MHz for the same sensitivity. Furthermore, pressure transducers are developed of substantially smaller size with much greater sensitivity, high resonance frequency and good linearity, because of the small deflections required.
These sensing elements of the invention can be readily fabricated by mass production techniques, because they are formulated in situ, thus reducing the amount of handling necessary, particularly with respect to mounting the gages therefor on the supporting substrates. This makes the methods and the product produced by those methods in accordance with this invention highly advantageous commercially, particularly with respect to the substantial decrease of required material needed for the stressed volume in the sensors.
While the methods and products produced by the methods herein disclosed form preferred embodiments of this invention, this invention is not limited to those specific methods and products, and changes can be made therein without departing from the scope of this invention which is defined in the appended claims. | An electromechanical transducer is provided, and the process for making it, which utilizes a piezoresistive element or gage which is crystallinally the same as the base or substrate upon which it is supported. The gage of the invention is a force gage, and is derived from its substrate by etching in a series of steps which, ultimately, provide a gage with substantially reduced strain energy requirements, because the volume of the gage may be as small as 33×10 10 cubic centimeters of stressed material. In its most preferred form, the element or gage is etched free of its substrate to provide, in effect, a "floating gage. " This is achieved by defining the gage in its substrate or in material rigidly bonded to its substrate, etching away immediately adjacent material, and leaving the gage free in space, while supported at each end on the substrate. | 8 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] a. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a glove packing apparatus for packing gloves into a box, and to a method of packing gloves into a box, particularly to the packing of disposable medical gloves.
[0003] b. Related Art
[0004] The control of infection of patients in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' surgeries has become an ever more pressing concern with the rise of infectious bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, in particular methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium dificile ( C. dificile ). In the United Kingdom alone there are thought to be about 5,000 deaths a year from infections caught in hospitals but some experts believe the number could be as high as 20,000.
[0005] Disposable medical gloves can help prevent cross-contamination, but a problem arises if external parts of the glove touch the same areas of a dispensing container as have previously been touched by hands which are contaminated with harmful micro-organisms. Such external parts of the gloves can then become contaminated prior to contact with a patient, if these external parts are the fingers or palm area of the glove the likelihood of a patient being contaminated is dramatically increased.
[0006] Most gloves used in hospitals and clinics are examination gloves, and these are used in large numbers. Such gloves are supplied not in individual sterile packages, but in relatively inexpensive cardboard dispensing boxes. The size of boxed gloves is an issue owing to the need to minimise the space needed to store gloves, or the size of dispensing apparatus holding boxed gloves.
[0007] Because of the enhanced infection control properties the preferred method of dispensing these gloves is by the cuff, so that the user can only remove the gloves from the container by the cuffs rather than by the fingers etc. However in order to remove the gloves by the cuff there is a danger that the users hands will contaminate the edges of the area of the box through which the gloves have to pass, increasing the possibility that any contamination on the hands of the user can then be transferred to the gloves if they touch these areas when removing them from the container.
[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide a means by which during removal of the gloves from the container, the gloves can be prevented from contact with the areas which could have been previously contaminated by user's hands.
[0009] It is also an object of the present invention to reduce the packing volume of boxed gloves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] According to the invention, there is provided a glove packing apparatus for packing gloves into a box, the apparatus comprising a receptacle for forming a stack of said gloves to be packed, the receptacle having:
a perimeter wall for containing said stack of gloves; a floor within the perimeter wall for supporting said stack of gloves; and an opening opposite the floor into which additional gloves may be added to said stack of gloves;
wherein the floor is movable relative to the perimeter wall, so that, in use:
the floor may be moved relatively away from said opening so that as gloves are added to said stack of gloves, the perimeter wall continues to contain the stack of gloves; and the floor may be moved relatively toward said opening to remove the stack of gloves from the receptacle.
[0016] The box may be formed from any suitable material, for example single layer cardboard, stiff paper, or plastic sheet material.
[0017] The stack of gloves may be formed manually or automatically, for example by inserting one or more gloves at a time through the opening to build up a stack of gloves supported by the receptacle floor. The perimeter wall can therefore help to define and control the shape of the stack of gloves as this is built up, and ultimately, this will help to ensure that the stack is uniform, with the material of each glove spread out evenly with minimal high spots. Because the floor is moved away from the opening as the stack is built up, the packing operative or packing machine need not reach into the receptacle, but can orient gloves correctly on preceding gloves in the stack, all the while working near the level of the opening to the receptacle. As the stack is built up, the floor is moved away form the opening, so that the working height of the stack continues to be readily accessible but not protruding at any time significantly above the level of the opening. All the while, the perimeter wall continues to stabilise the stack from tipping, while preferably ensuring that the side walls of the stack are, on average straight and parallel with each other.
[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the perimeter wall is fixed and the floor is movable towards and away from the opening. It would, however, alternatively be possible to have the floor fixed, with the perimeter wall being the movable component of the apparatus.
[0019] Also in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the floor is an upper surface of a substantially rectangular or square piston that moves within a similarly shaped piston bore.
[0020] The receptacle may be inset beneath a surface, for example a worktop that extends around the opening. This can help with the manual sorting and alignment of gloves on the surrounding surface, which can then be easily moved across the surface and into the receptacle. The surface may also help with automatic placement of gloves in the receptacle.
[0021] The receptacle will in general have a volume that has a shape that mirrors the internal volume of the box in which the gloves are to be packed. Therefore, it will usually be the case that the perimeter wall extends substantially vertically upwards from the base. The perimeter wall may, however, be discontinuous, as long as this does not adversely affect the containment of the gloves stacked in the receptacle.
[0022] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the perimeter wall has at least one slot, and the apparatus comprises additionally a packing plate adapted to rest on the base of the receptacle. The packing plate is fixed to an extending member that extends through one slot in the perimeter wall. The extending member then can be used to lift or otherwise remove the packing plate from the receptacle when the stack of gloves is complete and ready to be transferred to a box.
[0023] To help locate the packing plate correctly on the base, the base may have at least one raised feature in a surface of the base. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the base has around the perimeter edge, at least one raised feature for locating with one or more corresponding external edges of the packing plate.
[0024] Also according to the invention, there is provided a method of packing gloves in a box using a glove packing apparatus, the apparatus comprising a receptacle having an opening and a floor opposite and relatively movable with respect to the opening, the method comprising the steps of:
inserting gloves one or more at a time through the opening and into the receptacle to build a stack of glove that are supported by the floor; moving the floor as necessary away from the opening so that the stack of gloves is contained by the receptacle; when the stack of gloves is complete, transferring the stack of gloves into said box.
[0028] The transfer of gloves into the box is facilitated by first moving the floor towards the opening to gain more ready access to the stack of gloves and then as gloves are added to stack, moving the floor away from the opening so that the stack of gloves is contained by the receptacle.
[0029] The open end of the box in which gloves are to be packed can then be oriented so that this is faces the opening to the receptacle. Optionally, the open end of the box may slot over the outside of the perimeter wall, which can take the form of an extending sleeve. In either case, the receptacle floor can then be moved towards the receptacle opening to move the stack of gloves into the open end of the box.
[0030] The box can then be removed from the opening to the receptacle, while at the same time continuing to hold the stack of gloves inside the box. After the box has been removed from the apparatus, the box can be closed, for example by folding flaps over the box opening.
[0031] When the apparatus comprises a packing plate that has an extending member, the first step, prior to inserting any gloves through the opening, is to place the packing plate on the movable floor, with the extending member extending externally of the receptacle. Then, when the stack of gloves is ready to be transferred to the box, the extending member can be used to help transfer the stack of gloves into the box. During this process, the packing plate is particularly useful in helping to maintain and compress the gloves fully inside the box.
[0032] The open box may have one or more flaps that are moved to close the open end of the box. At least one of these flaps may then be closed while leaving the packing plate in place with respect to said stack of gloves. This helps to compress and contain the gloves in the box until the box can be closed. After at least one flap has been closed, the packing plate can then be removed from the stack of gloves.
[0033] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus comprises additionally a packing element, the packing element having a lower coefficient of friction than the gloves to be packed. The packing element is then used to cover the packing plate prior to inserting any gloves through the opening, following which the stack of gloves is formed directly on the packing element. The packing element then provides a buffer between the packing plate and the stack of gloves so that the packing plate can slide out of the box without sticking on or dislodging in any way the topmost glove in the stack.
[0034] The invention further provides a compression plate for maintaining the alignment of a stack of gloves inside a container, the compression plate comprising a first member and a second member, and a biasing means, said members being joined at a first fold line between said members, wherein:
the first member has a second fold line that divides the first member in a first segment and a second segment; each of said segments is pulled together by the biasing means so that said segments have a tendency to flex along the second fold line and away from the second member.
[0037] The first and second members may have corresponding cut outs in the vicinity of the first fold line, said cut outs at (east partially overlapping to permit, in use, gloves to the dispensed through the cut outs.
[0038] The biasing means, which may be an elastic band, may engage with engagement features in both the first and second segments of the first member, for example being provided in side edges of the first and second segments.
[0039] The first and/or second members are preferably formed from sheet material, for example cardboard, stiff paper or plastic sheet material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0041] FIG. 1 shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of a glove packing apparatus according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention, having a packing sleeve having an internal perimeter wall surface and a movable base which together form a packing receptacle, and a packing plate and a packing element that inserts into the packing receptacle;
[0042] FIG. 2 shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of the movable base of FIG. 1 ;
[0043] FIG. 3 shows the packing apparatus of FIG. 1 when the packing receptacle is packed full with a stack of gloves;
[0044] FIG. 4 shows a box-like receptacle for receiving a packing box into which the stack of gloves is to be packed
[0045] FIG. 5 shows the packing apparatus of FIG. 3 when the box-like receptacle is placed over the open end of the packing sleeve;
[0046] FIG. 6 shows the packing box when removed from the packing sleeve, and with the packing plate and packing element being used to maintain the stack of gloves under compression inside the box;
[0047] FIG. 7 shows how two side flaps of the packing box are first folded over the packing plate;
[0048] FIG. 8 shows how the packing plate is removed from the box, with the packing element left in place inside the box;
[0049] FIG. 9 shows how two end flaps are folded over the side flaps to close the box fully;
[0050] FIG. 10 shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of a glove packing apparatus according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, having a square packing sleeve partially set into a surrounding work surface;
[0051] FIG. 11 shows the glove packing apparatus of FIG. 10 , after a packing plate and a packing element have been inserted into the packing receptacle, with tabs of the packing element rising up the walls of the receptacle;
[0052] FIG. 12 shows how the packing element remains in a box packed full of gloves;
[0053] FIG. 13 shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of a glove packing apparatus according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention, having a square packing sleeve that is slotted flush into a work surface;
[0054] FIG. 14 shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of a compression plate for maintaining compression of the stack of gloves within the box; and
[0055] FIG. 15 shows a view from beneath of the compression plate of FIG. 14 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0056] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a glove packing apparatus 1 , having a packing sleeve 2 , a packing plate 28 and a packing element 30 . The packing sleeve 2 extends vertically and has a rectangular horizontal cross-section with rounded corners 8 . The sleeve is formed in two halves 10 , 11 , each of which has the same shape, being formed from folded sheet metal, preferably stainless steel. Each sleeve half 10 , 11 has a square C-shape in a horizontal cross-section and extends fully on long sides 12 , 13 of the packing sleeve 2 . The sleeve halves 10 , 11 are separated by a vertically extending gap 14 , 15 along the centre of short sides 16 , 17 of the sleeve 2 .
[0057] The packing sleeve 2 contains a movable base 20 that provides a floor surface 22 . The floor 22 and internal wall surfaces 24 , 25 provided by the sleeve halves 10 , 11 define a packing receptacle 26 for receiving a stack of gloves 100 to be packed by the apparatus 1 , as shown in FIG. 3 . The internal wall surfaces 24 , 25 therefore extend around the periphery of the packing receptacle 26 , which has an opening 27 also bounded by the perimeter wall surfaces 24 , 25 .
[0058] The apparatus preferably includes a steel packing plate 28 and a non-woven fabric packing element 30 that are first inserted into the packing receptacle 26 . The function of these will be described below.
[0059] The base 20 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 . The base is preferably formed as a unitary plastic moulding and has four downwardly extending legs 32 that are shaped to make a close sliding fit with the interior wall surfaces 24 , 25 in the vicinity of the sleeve corners 8 . Between the legs is a fulcrum 34 which is connected to one end of a lever arm 36 . The lever extends from the fulcrum 34 though a first one 14 of the slots in the perimeter wall 24 , 25 another end of which can be seen in FIG. 1 . The lever 36 , which is manually operated, pivots about a pivot 38 fixed externally of the sleeve halves 10 , 11 . When a lever handle 40 at the end of the lever arm 36 is moved up and down, the base 20 then moves correspondingly down and up.
[0060] The floor 22 of the base 20 has the same rectangular shape as the sleeve cross-section, but is smaller in both length and width to provide a clear gap 42 between base 20 and the perimeter wall 24 , 25 . The gap is defined by a rectangular strip 44 that extends downwardly from the floor 22 of the base 20 . A lower edge 45 of the strip terminates at an under hanging surface 46 such that the dimension of the gap 42 is increased beneath the strip lower edge 45 . The base floor 22 proximate the perimeter edge 51 therefore extends above an overhang feature 44 , 45 46 in the base 20 .
[0061] At a distance beneath the strip lower edge 45 at least equal to the width of the rectangular strip 44 , the base has a rectangular platform 48 with a rectangular outer profile that matches the shape of the perimeter wall surfaces 24 , 25 so that the base platform makes a close sliding fit with these perimeter wall surfaces. The legs 32 and fulcrum 34 then extend downwardly from the base platform 48 . The contact between the base platform 48 and legs 32 , on the one hand, and the perimeter wall 24 , 25 on the other hand, guides the vertical movement between the base 20 and the perimeter wall.
[0062] As will be described below, it has been found that this arrangement, in which the floor 22 which is used to support gloves is stepped upwards and inwards with respect to that part of the base which makes a sliding fit of the base 20 within the sleeve 2 , greatly reduces or eliminates the chances that any of the supported gloves will become caught or trapped between the movable base 20 and the perimeter wall 24 , 25 of the sleeve 2 .
[0063] The base floor 22 has a raised rim 50 substantially fully around an outer perimeter edge 51 of the floor. The rim is sized so that a main rectangular portion 52 of the packing plate 28 is located within the rim 50 when the packing plate is brought to bear against the base floor 22 . The packing plate 28 has at one end of the central rectangular portion 52 a forwards extending tab 54 , and at an opposite end a rearwards extending projection 55 with a handle 56 by which the packing plate may more easily be gripped and moved by hand. Both projections 54 , 55 make a close sliding fit with the sleeve apertures 14 , 15 when the packing place is first inserted into the packing receptacle 26 , so that the packing plate is guided into location with the rim 50 of the base floor 22 . The rim 50 has a pair of gaps 58 , 59 that accommodate the packing plate projections 54 , 55 so that the central rectangular portion 52 of the packing plate sits flush against the base floor 22 .
[0064] Prior to inserting any gloves into the packing recess 26 the packing element 30 is placed directly on the central rectangular portion 52 of the packing plate 28 . The packing element is a non-woven fabric or paper slip that has a main rectangular portion 60 the size of which matches that of the packing element rectangular portion 52 , and also has a forwards extending tab 62 which covers over the forwards tab 54 of the packing plate 28 .
[0065] FIGS. 3 to 9 illustrate how the apparatus may be used to efficiently pack a box 64 with disposable medical gloves 70 . The box 64 may be formed from any suitable sheet-like material, for example, single layer cardboard, stiff paper, or plastic sheet material, but in this example is cardboard. After inserting the packing plate 28 and packing element 30 into the packing receptacle 26 , either before or after moving the base 20 to a location a short distance beneath an upper edge 66 of the packing sleeve 2 , gloves are aligned by hand and inserted into the receptacle 26 , a lowermost glove 70 rests directly on the packing element 30 . The base floor 22 should ideally be set at a level so that the most recently packed gloves are beneath but near the sleeve upper edge 66 so that the stack of gloves 100 is at all times contained and aligned by the interior wall surfaces 24 , 25 of the packing sleeve 2 .
[0066] The apparatus preferably contains a stop mechanism (not shown) by which the downwards movement of the base 20 is set to a limit which corresponds to a desired vertical size of stack of gloves. When this is achieved, the stack of gloves 100 is ready for transfer into the cardboard box 64 , shown in most detail in FIG. 4 . The box 64 is rectangular in a horizontal cross-section, and has a height which is equal to or less than its width. The box 64 has four flaps 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 at the top edges of four corresponding sides 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 of the box. The flaps are initially splayed outwards around a packing box opening 65 .
[0067] The box 64 is first inserted into a box-like holder or carrier 80 which has an interior volume 79 that matches the shape of the packing box 64 . The packing box carrier 80 has a substantially rectangular opening 82 that leads to a box-like receptacle 83 which receives and provides mechanical support to the packing box 64 during the packing process.
[0068] When the packing box 64 is seated in the packing box carrier 80 , with the box flaps 71 - 74 splayed outwards, the packing box opening 65 is brought up against the upper edge 66 of the packing sleeve 2 , so that the extending outer surface 84 of the packing sleeve nearest the upper edge 66 (see FIG. 3 ) can slot into the packing box opening 65 , as shown in FIG. 5 .
[0069] The lever arm 36 is then use to raise the base 20 and press the stack of gloves 100 up against the inside base of the packing box 64 . As air is expelled from the stack of gloves 100 , the front and rear packing plate projections 54 , 55 come in to proximity with a pair of corresponding magnets 90 , 91 situated on forwards and rearwards projection tabs 92 , 93 that extend outwards in opposite directions from upper central portions of front and rear walls 94 , 95 of the packing box carrier 80 . As these projecting portions of the packing plate 28 are formed from steel, the packing plate becomes magnetically clamped to the packing box carrier.
[0070] During the upward motion of the stack of gloves 100 , outer edges of the stack may drag against the perimeter walls 24 , 25 and so be deflected downwards. An important feature of the invention is that the lowermost gloves on the stack are prevented from interfering with or becoming caught between the sliding base 20 and sleeve 2 by the clear gap 42 and overhang 46 above the sliding contact of the base platform 48 and perimeter walls 24 , 25 .
[0071] The packing operator can then lift the boxed gloves and surrounding assembly using the packing plate handle, and then invert this magnetically clamped assembly and place on a nearby working surface, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 9 .
[0072] The first step in closing the box is to fold inwards the pair of flaps 71 , 72 on the long sides 75 , 76 of the packing box 64 , as shown in FIG. 7 . Then, while holding these closed flaps 71 , 72 in place, the packing plate handle 56 can be used to slide 96 the packing plate 28 horizontally away from the packing box carrier 80 and so disengage the magnetic clamp with the pair of magnets 90 , 91 .
[0073] The presence of the packing element 30 helps to isolate the sliding movement 96 of the packing plate 28 from the topmost glove 70 so that the stack of gloves 100 is in no way disrupted by the withdrawal of the packing plate.
[0074] The packing element 30 is preferably then left in place while the remaining two end flaps 73 , 74 are folded inwards. The end flaps 73 , 74 each have a pair of side tabs 97 which engage with corresponding side slots 98 at a fold line 99 between the side flaps 71 , 72 and the corresponding side panels 75 , 76 of the packing box 64 when closed, as shown in FIG. 9 . The filled packing box 64 may then be removed from the packing box carrier 80 .
[0075] It should be noted that gloves being packed could be folded in half, with cuffs facing the same way, or interfolded in half with cuffs facing in alternate directions. The interior dimensions of the sleeve 2 and packing box can be set accordingly, depending on the desired width and length of the stack of gloves, so that the packed gloves fit snugly within the packing box with minimal wasted packing volume.
[0076] FIG. 10 therefore shows in perspective a view from above and to one side of a glove packing apparatus 201 according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention. This differs from the first embodiment 1 in that the packing sleeve 202 and packing plate 228 all have a generally square outline for packing a similarly square box full of gloves. The packing element 230 , which is again formed from a slip of paper having a lower coefficient of friction than the gloves to be packed. The packing element 230 differs in having a substantially square outline, but with four similar tabs 211 - 214 extending from each side 231 - 234 of the packing slip, except in the vicinity of the four corners 241 - 244 of the paper slip 230 .
[0077] As shown in FIG. 11 , when the packing slip 230 is inserted into the packing sleeve 202 , the tabs ride up interior walls 225 of the sleeve. To aid this, the tabs may be defined by a fold lines, indicated schematically by dashed lines 240 , each of which extends between adjacent corners 241 - 244 of the slip. This covers over most of the gap between the walls 225 and the packing plate 228 or the floor 222 of the movable base 220 , in order to prevent portions of gloves from becoming trapped in this gap when the floor 220 is raised in order to pack the gloves into a box, as described above.
[0078] The packing sleeve 202 is surrounded and partially set into a work surface 250 , at a level where the packing plate 228 rests on the work surface as the packing sleeve is filled by hand or by machine with gloves.
[0079] The use of the packing plate 228 is similar to that described above. In this embodiment, however, the packing slip 230 is intended to remain in the packed box 280 , as shown in FIG. 12 , where two of the four tabs 211 , 212 are shown curved inwards down interior surfaces 281 , 282 of the box 280 . During packing of the box, the packing slip 230 therefore also provides some protection to a stack of gloves 285 within the box, by wrapping substantially over the stack of gloves.
[0080] The square outline box of FIG. 12 has a width of 120 mm, a depth of 130 mm and a height of between 100 mm and 140 mm. In this example the height is 130 mm. The particular width, depth and height will, of course depend on a number of factors, such as the length of the gloves from finger tip to cuff, the thickness of the glove material, and the number of gloves to be packed inside each box.
[0081] The gloves in such a square outline arrangement will be over-folded, with the fingers of each glove being folded around the cuff of the preceding glove in the stack, relative to the order of dispensing from the stack. Although not illustrated, this arrangement lends itself to cuff-first dispensing from a dispensing aperture in the box 280 , on an opposite side to that having the packing slip, with each glove pulled cuff-first from the dispensing aperture serving to pull the cuff of the next glove to be dispensed out of the dispensing aperture. In this way, each glove to be dispensed can be pulled cuff first from the dispensing aperture without having the user touching the finger portion of each dispensed glove.
[0082] FIG. 13 shows a glove packing apparatus according 301 to a third preferred embodiment of the invention, similar to that of the second embodiment 201 , but having a square packing sleeve 302 that is slotted into a square recess 303 in a work surface 350 . The recess 303 is open at one side 304 so that the packing sleeve 302 can be moved in and out of the recess 303 as indicated by an arrow labelled 305 .
[0083] The work surface 350 may be supported at a convenient height for a worker by legs or other supports (not shown) and is therefore preferably fixed in place. The packing sleeve 302 is mobile, being mounted, for example, on a wheeled undercarriage (not shown) so that a worker can move the packing sleeve about as desired.
[0084] The packing sleeve has a top edge 306 that is the same height as that of the work surface 305 . A worker may then gather and fold gloves (not shown) that have been piled on the work surface around the packing sleeve, and then lift or slide these gloves one at a time into the packing sleeve, building up a stack of interfolded gloves above a floor surface 322 of a movable floor 320 within the packing sleeve. Initially, the floor surface is close to but recessed just below the level of the packing sleeve top edge 306 . As the stack of glove is built up, the worker lowers the floor surface 322 so that the top of the stack of gloves does not extend above the level of the packing sleeve top edge 306 . In this ways, the gloves are aligned vertically by interior walls 325 of the sleeve as the stack is built up.
[0085] When sufficient gloves have been inserted into the packing sleeve 302 , this is moved out of the recess 303 to a separate work station (not shown), where an empty box 280 in placed over the exposed top end of the packing sleeve, prior to compression of the gloves into the box by the movable floor 320 , with the aid of a packing plate 328 , followed by closing and sealing of the box as described above.
[0086] The reason that the packing process may be conveniently split into two separate stages at different work stations is that it is considerably quicker to pack the box with the stack of gloves than it is to fill the recess within the packing sleeve with a stack of interfolded gloves. Therefore, in a manual packing operation there may be several workers at different work stations responsible for filing packing sleeves with a stack of gloves for every one worker responsible for filling boxes with stacked gloves.
[0087] The division of such process steps in a production line having a mobile packing sleeve will also be suited to machine automation, in which a robotics system with computer vision is used to fold and pack gloves into the sleeve, prior to packing boxes with stacks of gloves contained in packing sleeves by a dedicated machine at a separate box packing station. In an automated system, gloves may be brought to the sleeve packing station by a conveyor belt. A glove flipper may be used in conjunction with the conveyor belt to orientate each glove correctly so that a robot arm can pick up each glove and deposit in the sleeve with the cuff and fingers correctly oriented. In such an automated system, the second stage of packing the boxes may be done manually with there being two or more automated sleeve packing stations for each manual box packing station.
[0088] FIGS. 14 and 15 show a generally rectangular compression plate 101 which is inserted in the packing box 64 prior to filling the box with the stack of gloves 100 . The compression plate 101 is formed from an elongate strip of cardboard material that has a primary transverse fold line 102 where the plate is folded back on itself so that the compression plate has an elongate upper member 104 and an elongate lower member 105 . Another transverse fold line 106 crosses the upper member 104 midway along the length of this member, thereby dividing the upper member into the forwards segment 108 , and a rearwards segment 109 , each having an equal length in a direction along the length of the compression plate 101 .
[0089] The forwards and rearwards segments 108 , 109 each have at a portion of each segment closest to the fold line 106 in the upper member 104 a pair of notches 110 in side edges 111 , 112 of the card material forming the upper member 104 . An elastic band 114 is engaged with each notch 110 , and when the upper member 104 is lying flat against the lower member 105 , the elastic band is stretched so that the forwards and rearwards segments 108 , 109 are being pulled together. The fold line 106 in the upper member 104 forms a hinge between the forwards and rearwards segments 108 , 109 .
[0090] As shown in FIG. 4 , the compression plate is inserted into the open packing box 64 with the lower member 105 facing towards the box opening 65 . The box flaps 71 - 74 when closed form a base to the packing box when ready for use, the opposite side of the box having a semicircular tear away patch 117 which is removed prior to use in order to gain access to a cuff end 116 of the stack of gloves 100 , so that gloves 70 may be dispensed cuff first from the packing box 64 .
[0091] The compression plate has in both the upper and lower members 104 , 105 similarly shaped, but larger semicircular cut outs 118 , 119 . The cut out 119 in the lower member 105 is larger than the cut out 118 in the upper member 104 , which is larger than the tear away opening 117 in the packing box 64 .
[0092] When a user opens the packing box 64 and begins to pull gloves 70 cuff first from the opening, the use may touch with his or her fingers the opening 117 in the box. The cut outs 118 , 119 below, however, will be protected from potential contamination from a user by the box opening 117 which overhangs the cut outs below.
[0093] As gloves are dispensed, space opens up in the box. The elastic band 114 is under tension and able to flex the segments 108 , 109 of the upper member 104 about the fold line 106 which therefore acts as a hinge to permit the elastic band to flex the upper member segments into a V-shape, as shown in FIG. 13 . The fold line 106 forms an apex to this V-shape and bears against top inner surface of the packing box 64 , thereby pressing the lower member 105 of the compression plate 101 against the top of the remaining stack of gloves inside the box. As gloves are removed, the upper member segments continue to flex, thereby maintaining contact between the top of the stack of gloves and the upper member 105 . In this way, the alignment of the stack of gloves within the box is maintained. This is important because the cuffs of the gloves 70 need to be near the box opening 117 to ensure reliable dispensing cuff first. Because users can pull out gloves by the cuffs, user contact with external surfaces of the gloves used in examination is prevented, thereby reducing the risk that microorganisms or other forms of contamination may be spread by use of the gloves.
[0094] As gloves are dispensed, the potential for contamination of the gloves is also reduced owing the overhanging box opening 117 and upper plate cut out 118 , as these both protect the lower plate cut out 119 , which remains in contact with the topmost glove in the stack of gloves, from any contamination.
[0095] The invention therefore provides a convenient way of packing gloves in a box container, and also an effective way of maintaining cleanliness during the dispensing of gloves. | The present invention relates to a glove packing apparatus for packing gloves into a box, and to a method of packing gloves into a box, particularly to the packing of disposable medical gloves. A glove packing apparatus ( 1 ) for packing gloves into a box comprises a receptacle ( 26 ) for forming a stack of gloves to be packed, the receptacle having a perimeter wall ( 24, 25 ) for containing a stack of gloves, a floor ( 22 ) within the perimeter wall for supporting the stack of gloves, and an opening ( 27 ) opposite the floor into which additional gloves may be added to during stacking of gloves. The floor ( 22 ) is movable relative to the perimeter wall ( 24, 25 ), so that, in use, the floor may be moved relatively away from the receptacle opening ( 27 ) so that as gloves are added to said stack of gloves, the perimeter wall continues to contain the stack of gloves. The floor ( 22 ) may then be moved relatively toward the opening to remove the stack of gloves from the receptacle ( 26 ). | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/500,304, filed Apr. 4, 2012 and also titled “Fireproof Refuges”. The disclosure of said prior application and its entire file wrapper (including all prior art references cited therein) are hereby specifically and expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety as if set forth fully herein.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This invention concerns temporary refuges for personnel in the event of fire. These are classified as active safety measures.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Although fires in buildings consume the fuel inside the building and may persist until the fuel is exhausted or the fire is extinguished by firefighters, the behaviour of a bush fire is different in that a fire front forms and travels over the ground according to various conditions which determine direction and speed.
[0004] Sometimes firefighting vehicles become isolated then surrounded by fire and the crew have no means of escape. Residences which are reached by only one road in a rural setting may become similarly surrounded by fire leaving the occupants trapped. The building codes do not yet specify that residences shall have fireproof construction. Accordingly some householders rely on bunkers into which they retreat in the event of a bush fire. Unless these are purpose-built they may provide inadequate protection and death or injury results.
[0005] The heat of a bush fire can be high over a short period as the fire front advances, consumes oxygen and creates smoke. Any refuge must therefore offer effective heat insulation, a physical barrier to smoke, windblown debris and embers, and an air supply in the event that the design limit of the refuge is exceeded by crowding.
[0006] In U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,711 is a fireproof shelter for installation inside a building. The shelter's wall is 12-20 cm thick with chrome plating or gold finish. Crystal hydrates inside the shelter absorb incoming heat and the occupants spray themselves with water. While it may be possible to use such shelters within buildings, the design of shelters for bush fire resistance and for mobile use on roads or across country requires a different approach.
[0007] In my Australian Patent No. 567145 I set forth a mobile refuge in the form of a water tank which is heat insulated sufficiently to withstand a moving fire front with hatches for rapid entry of persons who dump the water in the tank through a rapid discharge valve as they enter and remain inside for the duration of the emergency. The requirements of a dry refuge to which a family may retreat introduces different requirements from the tank version which are addressed by this invention.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0008] The first apparatus aspect of the invention provides a refuge for temporarily housing people in the event of fire, being a chamber with walls, a roof and a door constructed from an outer metal shell which is attachable to a fireproof base, and an inner shell which provide accommodation for people, the space between the shells being insulated with ceramic fibre.
[0009] Preferably the door is of like construction to a wall of the chamber.
[0010] The metal may be corrosion resistant alloy sheet 1-2 mm thick. This gives the chamber an outdoor life of at least 20 years. It is preferable that the inside face of the sheet be uncoated in order to avoid the generation of vapour or smoke which could adversely affect the occupants. The chamber may be cuboid and accommodate four or more persons.
[0011] The inner shell may be made of fibreglass and resin formed as a tank. Alternatively the inner shell may be a rotational moulding around which the metal shell is built.
[0012] The insulation may be applied to one or other of the shells in layers. The insulation may be in sheet form or as a flexible blanket. The inner or outer shells may have surface mounted spikes which pierce the insulation and keep it in position.
[0013] The chamber may have an external air duct which joins the chamber interior to a storage chamber capable of accommodating one or more oxygen/air bottles. The storage chamber walls and the duct preferably have walls built to the same standard of thermal insulation as the chamber. Alternatively, the chamber may have storage space for breathing apparatus.
[0014] The second aspect of the invention provides a water tank for a fire tanker which has multiple doors for admitting firefighters and a dump valve for releasing water rapidly, the tank being of the same construction as the chamber described above. The chamber may have an air duct which joins the interior to a storage chamber capable of accommodating a compressed air supply. Alternatively, the interior of the chamber may have waterproof breathing apparatus.
[0015] The chamber may be cuboid and large enough to house four six or eight persons. The doors may be in the top face of the chamber opening outwards. The doors may be insulated to the same standard and have door seals which cooperate with chamber seals effecting a double or labyrinth seal. The doors may have a convex exterior section. The interior may have baffles to quell water movement when the tank is full or partly full. The baffles may divide the interior into compartments for occupants. The interior may have lighting, a waterproof radio or phone, and an insulated aerial. A fire crew has six members.
[0016] The third aspect of the invention provides a trailer-mounted refuge for temporarily housing people in the event of fire, comprising a chamber with multiple doors securable to the floor of a road going trailer. The chamber having the same wall construction as described above. A storage chamber for the compressed air supply may be joined to the interior by a duct. The position of the doors may vary.
[0017] Such units would be brightly coloured for identification and have fluoro patches for detection from the air. These could be available from hire businesses or rural councils to be maintained and inspected while they wait to be used for fire protection. Here the protection of personnel is the aim rather than the dual function of water storage and personnel protection.
[0018] The fourth apparatus aspect of the invention provides a standalone refuge for temporarily housing people in the event of fire, comprising a chamber with multiple doors with a wall construction as described above and an optional water dump valve and lugs for slinging the refuge from a helicopter.
[0019] The chamber may contain a water pump facility for changing the interior with water from an external source. Preferably the chamber will have adjustable floor supports for resting the chamber on uneven ground.
[0020] The fifth apparatus aspect of the invention provides a dry refuge for housing people in the event of fire comprising a chamber, having one or two doors, walls and a roof and optionally a floor made of the same wall construction as described above. The floor may have adjustable supports to assist its placement on the ground. The chamber may be of modular construction with identical ends and intermediate modules so that the length was variable. The chamber may sit within an external frame in order to protect the roof from falling debris. The frame may have a lengthwise ridge member to withstand collapsing poles and the like. Lifting lugs allow placement by a crane. The roof profile may be arcuate. The modules may be rotational mouldings which are covered with insulation, joined together by connectors and placed within an outer steel shell.
[0021] If the refuge is designed to be fixed to a concrete base, the base frame need not be insulated like the other parts of the refuge. The base frame may be adapted to be picked up by a forklift. The refuge may have an external or internal air supply for the occupants.
[0022] Alternatively, the unit may have inner and outer like frames, one resting within the other, the inner being sheathed in plywood or plastic to which is attached the requisite insulation as described above, the outer frame being sheathed in sheet metal attached by fasteners.
[0023] The interior may have battery powered lights, peepholes, communication equipment and seating.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0024] One embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a perspective of a dry refuge for temporary or permanent ground installation in rural areas.
[0026] FIG. 2 is a perspective of the outer shell and the inner shell of the refuge of FIG. 1 .
[0027] FIG. 3 is a cross section of the wall of the refuge of FIG. 1 .
[0028] FIG. 4 is an end view of the nested frames of a variant dry refuge ready to be clad.
[0029] FIG. 5 is a perspective of the nested frames of FIG. 11 with the inner frame clad with ply.
[0030] FIG. 6 is the same view as FIG. 9 but with the ply sheath covered with insulation to the depth of the outer frame, ready to receive the steel sheet layer.
[0031] FIG. 7 is a fragmentary end section of the dry refuge shown in FIGS. 4-6 standing on a slab with the insulation partially removed for clarity.
[0032] FIG. 8 is a side view of a firefighting, water carrying truck with an integral refuge for firefighting crew.
[0033] FIG. 9 is a perspective of the interior layout of the refuge in FIG. 8 .
[0034] FIG. 10 is a perspective of a road trailer with a water tank which doubles as a fire refuge with an optional refuge as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
[0035] FIG. 11 is a section through the rectangular door shown in the end wall of the dry refuge in FIG. 10 .
[0036] FIG. 12 is a perspective of a flap valve controlling water inflow.
[0037] FIG. 13 is a perspective of a drain valve.
[0038] FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic side view of the handle for operating the valve of FIG. 13 .
[0039] FIG. 15 is a section through a hatch depicted in FIG. 10 .
[0040] FIG. 16 is a perspective of a dry refuge which is intended to be carried to a site by helicopter to protect marooned firefighters.
[0041] FIG. 17 is a plan view of the base of the airborne refuge as shown in FIG. 16 .
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0042] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 , dry refuge 2 is 1800 mmW×2400 mmL×2000 mmH with an arcuate roof 4 , side walls 6 and end walls 8 . A door 10 opens outwards in each end wall 8 . Seats 12 accommodate six persons.
[0043] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the construction. Outer box shell 14 is made from 1.4 mm stainless steel sheet with a bolt on arcuate roof 4 . The roof has lifting lugs 16 . Inner shell 18 is a rotational moulding. Alternatively shell 18 is a fibreglass reinforced epoxy resin box laid on a mould and later joined to its floor. Brackets 20 bolt to the outer shell and assist placement or anchorage. The floor 22 of the inner shell is bored to receive rows of spacers 24 which lift the inner shell 18 off the floor 26 of the outer shell. A pad 28 of ceramic fibre insulation underlies the inner shell. In a variant, the shells are fixed to a rectangular steel frame which rests on the ground.
[0044] The inner shell is covered with a blanket 30 of the same ceramic fibre insulation to a sufficient depth to safely thermally insulate the inner shell even if the outer shell is exposed directly to the fire front. The insulation is supplied in rolls and can be laid over the inner shell as shown until the required depth is built up. The density of this fibre is important. Three layers of fibres are preferable, separated by intermediate adhered layers of aluminium foil 32 . The edges of the blankets are butted. The use of three layers allow the joins to be overlaid by the next layer. The fibre face slides over the foil face easily which assists in the cladding stage.
[0045] Door 10 is 900 mm wide and 1800 mm high and is mounted to open outwards. It is of the same insulated construction as the welds. Insulated duct 34 connects the interior of the inner shell to an insulated box 36 which houses gas bottles containing compressed air. A valve operable from the interior of the inner shell allows occupants an extra air supply. The volume of the inner shell is about 4200 l. Six persons may require 360 l/air per minute. As the percentage of carbon oxide in the air rises respiration rate also rises but is offset by the ingress of bottled air. The aim is to provide a refuge period of 20 minutes with the door closed. A sight glass 38 in the door allow the occupants to see outside and judge when it is safe to emerge. A tube carries an outer low expansion glass lens and an inner plain lens.
[0046] Refuges of this type of construction allow rises of less than one degree centigrade when exposed to a passing fire front.
[0047] An alternative construction is described in FIGS. 4-6 . The refuge has an outer frame 200 with an arched roof made of metal bars 202 and a smaller inner frame 204 also made of metal bars nesting within the outer frame. Lifting lugs 206 allow the unit to be craned.
[0048] Each end wall 208 has a doorway 210 . Both frames are interconnected by ties 212 . Bending plywood 214 (see FIG. 11 ) is screwed to the inner frame to form a cabin. Nails are driven through the ply from the interior towards the outer frame. These hold the insulation batts or blankets 230 referred to above. The end walls 208 are likewise sheathed and insulated.
[0049] The outer frame 200 is then sheathed in stainless steel sheet (not shown) which is rivetted to the bars. An insulated aerial 232 allows radio and phone reception despite the screening imposed by the metal sheet. The doors and door frame edges incorporate the double seal described above.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 7 , in this version the outer frame 200 consists of hoops 240 made of angle iron connected by horizontal tubular ties 242 . Inner frame 204 likewise consists of hoops made of angle iron 244 connected by horizontal tubular ties 246 . The ends of the two nesting frames are welded to inverted steel channel 248 which in turn is welded to rectangular base channel 250 . Concrete slab 252 may be in the garden of a house in a bush fire area. Aluminium bearers 254 support a pair of platforms made of particle board. These are carried through the door and placed on the slab 252 . The rectangular base 250 can be carried by a forklift.
[0051] Flexible plastic panels 256 are passed through the outer frame and screwed to ties 246 and to the flanges 258 of the hoops 244 . A multi-ply composite of plastic and aluminium sheets allow the inner shell to be curved by bending to allow other methods of fabrication.
[0052] The end walls are clad in the same way. Sealing tape is applied to the edges. The end walls have an edge flange which overlies the side walls. The seal lies between the wall and the flange. A shelter room 260 for the occupants with a pair of doors results.
[0053] Stainless steel panels 262 are next offered up to the hoops of the outer frame 200 and drilled to locate fixing sites in the angle iron 240 . The panels are then parked while the cladding ensues.
[0054] Panels 256 of the shelter room are drilled in a pattern in order to allow roofing nails 264 to be push fitted into the space 266 between the inner and outer frames. A roll of 160 kg/m 3 ceramic fibre (ISOWOOL) 30 A is laid over the panels 256 . A second layer 30 B of the same material increases the thickness followed by a third layer 30 C of 128 kg/m 3 of half the thickness. This produces a 62 mm layer of thermal insulation which entirely occupies space 266 . The nails are pushed outward to pierce the insulation layers. Adhesive applied to the nail head prevents its return.
[0055] The external faces of the hoops of the outer frame 200 and the ties 242 are covered with strips of sealing tape 268 . The steel panels 262 are then re-offered to the outer frame and attached by rivets 270 .
[0056] Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9 , the cab 302 has exterior lights and speakers and a rear section 304 with its own doors 306 and interior seating (not shown) for fire crew.
[0057] Gap 308 separates the rear section 304 from the water tank 310 and houses shelter 312 and gate 314 giving access to shelter 312 . Into this gap 308 is fitted the cuboid refuge 316 shown in FIG. 9 . This is 2500 mm long so as to fit within the trucks chassis width and the width is such as to accommodate a door 318 and interior seating 320 . Beneath seating 320 is the vehicle fuel tank 322 and 24v battery system 324 . These receive the same degree of heat insulation as the crew. In some vehicles the gap 308 may be smaller in which case the door 318 is in the end wall.
[0058] The construction of the refuge itself as described in relation to FIGS. 1-3 with a fibreglass interior shell, a stainless steel exterior shell and 62 mm of ceramic fibre insulation.
[0059] Referring now to FIG. 10 , the refuge is mounted on a trailer 326 having a single pair of wheels and an A-frame tow bar 328 which attaches to the truck via a RINGFEDER® hitch 330 .
[0060] The main part of the trailer supports a 2500 l water storage tank 332 of the type used by rural property owners where mains water is not available. If a source of bulk water such as a swimming pool is not available, a tank on a trailer can be filled at a pump station and kept for firefighting duty.
[0061] The dry refuge 316 with walls, roof and floor is insulated with ceramic fibre. Tow bar 328 permits mobile deployment and typically it would have dual use, primarily as a permanent source of hose water, but secondarily as a fireproof refuge for the rural residents.
[0062] Persons wishing to use the trailer refuge can mount the steps 336 and 338 to open hatches 340 in order to release the tank water through duct 342 . The hatches 340 give access to the operating rod and dump valve shown in FIGS. 12-14 .
[0063] The door shown in FIG. 11 hangs by four hinges 272 from the refuge wall. The door is made from outer and inner panels 274 , 276 with insulation layers 30 A, 30 B and 30 C between the panels.
[0064] The doors have the same paired smoke proof seals 54 , 58 , 68 , 70 as used in the tank hatches in FIG. 15 . A solar panel may trickle charge a battery inside the refuge to provide power for LED lighting and radio communication.
[0065] Referring now to FIG. 12 , the incoming port is a double port having two pipes 84 leading from the interior to an external plenum chamber (not shown) outside the outer shell. The pipes terminate in hose fittings inside duct 42 to which fire hoses are attachable. If the hoses dry and burn the hinged flap 86 can be closed by stainless wire line 88 acting on actuating lever 90 . The tank is filled from an external pump. The inner shell is accordingly constructed as a tank and the hatches are operable from inside and outside.
[0066] In FIG. 13 , the drain is a flap valve 92 pivoted to the inner shell 18 by hinges 94 . The rise and fall operating rod 96 acts on double bracket 98 . A locking tongue 100 engages a detent 101 extending from the face of the inner shell urged by a rat trap spring. When the rod falls the operating rod 96 is operated from within the interior by manual movement of a first lever 102 (see FIG. 14 ) pivoted to a fulcrum 104 on the inner shell using handle 106 from outside the unit by operation of a second lever acting on an extension of the first lever 102 . As the rod 96 falls, finger 106 rotates tongue 100 which unlatches from detent 101 against spring tension and further fall pulls flap 92 away from aperture 108 .
[0067] The hatch construction is shown in FIG. 15 . The top wall 50 of the refuge has an aperture 52 for each hatch and the edge defining the aperture has a rebate 54 which is surrounded by an upstanding circular flange 56 . The rebate is annular and acts as a seat for a braided resilient seal 58 . Insulation 30 fills the gap between the outer steel shell and the inner polymeric shell.
[0068] The underside of the inner shell has a pivot 60 which supports hatch swing arm 62 . The hatch is made of a steel pan 64 covered by a convex steel cover 66 with insulation between. The pan has an annular seat 68 for a circular braided seal 70 like seal 58 but softer. Similarly the hatch has a downwardly depended circular flange 72 which engages seal 58 . Thus the flanges establish a labyrinth seal at aperture 52 .
[0069] Referring now to FIGS. 16 and 17 , the unit is intended to be airlifted into fire threatened sites. The refuge has metal bearers 350 arranged as a cross. The rest of coil springs 352 which surround steel plunges 354 capped by domes 356 . The refuge is rendered mobile by activating wind down jockey wheels 358 at the ends of the bearers 350 .
[0070] A stainless steel cuboid box 360 forms the outer shell 1900×1900 mm and 2000 mm high. The box is attached to the bearers via by high tensile bolts 362 which pass through spacers 364 . The outer shell is 1.6 mm 304 stainless steel. One wall has four stainless steel hinges 366 which support the door shown in FIG. 11 . The same wall contains a flameproof optical viewer 368 . The inner shell is made of fibreglass and the space between the shells is filled with 65 mm of fibre insulation as discussed in previous embodiments.
[0071] The floor 370 is made of layers of plywood in order to take the weight of the occupants.
[0072] The four upper corners of the box each have a stainless steel eye fitting 372 for holding angled tubes 374 . These act as guides for two steel cables 376 , each of which is attached to the end of a bearer 350 by a steel shackle 378 . The two cables meet and cross at swivel eye 380 intended to receive the suspension hook of a helicopter. A foam ball 382 in a net is fixed beneath the swivel eye 380 to absorb impact when the eye detaches from the helicopter hook and falls on top of the box. Viewing port 368 allows the occupants to see the surroundings.
[0073] It is to be understood that the word “comprising” as used throughout the specification is to be interpreted in its inclusive form, ie. use of the word “comprising” does not exclude the addition of other elements.
[0074] It is to be understood that various modifications of and/or additions to the invention can be made without departing from the basic nature of the invention. These modifications and/or additions are therefore considered to fall within the scope of the invention. | A dry refuge for a group of people in the event of a large fire front like a bush fire is a chamber with a roof, walls and doors made of a steel outer shell, a non-metal inner shell to accommodate people and a multi-layer ceramic fibre insulation layer between the shells capable of withstanding 1100EC difference in temperature. When the refuge is mobile in order to accompany firefighters into a fire zone, it is built as an insulated water tank with entry hatches for personnel and a quick release water valve for dumping water from the inner shell. The tanks may be on road going trailers in order to be transportable by the authorities to where they are needed. An air portable version is transportable by helicopter. All may have smoke proof seals on hatches and doors and internal air supply, sight glasses to view the outside, interior lighting and a radio. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/770,966 filed on Feb. 3, 2004, which issued as U.S. Pat No. 6,949,049 on Sep. 27, 2005, which claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 10/134,097 filed on Apr. 25, 2005, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,689,012 on Feb. 2, 2004, which in turn claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/286,803, filed Apr. 26, 2001. The entire disclosure of each of those applications is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to transmissions, and more particularly the invention relates to continuously variable transmissions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention relates to the field of continuously variable transmissions and includes several novel features and inventive aspects that have been developed and are improvements upon the prior art. In order to provide an infinitely variable transmission, various traction roller transmissions in which power is transmitted through traction rollers supported in a housing between torque input and output disks have been developed. In such transmissions, the traction rollers are mounted on support structures which, when pivoted, cause the engagement of traction rollers with the torque disks in circles of varying diameters depending on the desired transmission ratio.
However, the success of these traditional solutions has been limited. For example, in one solution, a driving hub for a vehicle with a variable adjustable transmission ratio is disclosed. This method teaches the use of two iris plates, one on each side of the traction rollers, to tilt the axis of rotation of each of the rollers. However, the use of iris plates can be very complicated due to the large number of parts that are required to adjust the iris plates during transmission shifting. Another difficulty with this transmission is that it has a guide ring that is configured to be predominantly stationary in relation to each of the rollers. Since the guide ring is stationary, shifting the axis of rotation of each of the traction rollers is difficult.
One improvement over this earlier design includes a shaft about which a driving member and a driven member rotate. The driving member and driven member are both mounted on the shaft and contact a plurality of power adjusters disposed equidistantly and radially about the shaft. The power adjusters are in frictional contact with both members and transmit power from the driving member to the driven member. A support member located concentrically over the shaft and between the power adjusters applies a force to keep the power adjusters separate so as to make frictional contact against the driving member and the driven member. A limitation of this design is the absence of means for generating an adequate axial force to keep the driving and driven members in sufficient frictional contact against the power adjusters as the torque load on the transmission changes. A further limitation of this design is the difficulty in shifting that results at high torque and very low speed situations as well as insufficient means for disengaging the transmission and coasting.
Therefore, there is a need for a continuously variable transmission with an improved power adjuster support and shifting mechanism, means of applying proper axial thrust to the driving and driven members for various torque and power loads, and means of disengaging and reengaging the clutch for coasting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The systems and methods have several features, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope as expressed by the claims that follow, its more prominent features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments” one will understand how the features of the system and methods provide several advantages over traditional systems and methods.
In one aspect, a continuously variable transmission is disclosed having a longitudinal axis, and a plurality of speed adjusters. Each speed adjuster has a tiltable axis of rotation is located radially outward from the longitudinal axis. Also provided are a drive disk that is annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis and also contacts a first point on each of the speed adjusters and a support member that is also annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis. A bearing disk is provided that is annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis as well, and at least two axial force generators. The axial force generators are located between the drive disk and the bearing disk and each axial force generator is configured to apply an axial force to the drive disk.
In another aspect, a bearing disk annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis is disclosed along with a disengagement mechanism. The disengagement mechanism can be positioned between the bearing disk and the drive disk and is adapted to cause the drive disk to disengage the drive disk from the speed adjusters.
In yet another aspect, an output disk or rotatable hub shell is disclosed along with a bearing disk that is annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the transmission. A support member is included that is annularly rotatable about the longitudinal axis as well, and is adapted to move toward whichever of the drive disk or the output disk is rotating more slowly.
In still another aspect, a linkage subassembly having a hook is disclosed, wherein the hook is attached to either the drive disk or the bearing disk. Included is a latch attached to either the drive disk or and the bearing disk.
In another aspect, a plurality of spindles having two ends is disclosed, wherein one spindle is positioned in the bore of each speed adjuster and a plurality of spindle supports having a platform end and spindle end is provided. Each spindle support is operably engaged with one of the two ends of one of the spindles. Also provided is a plurality of spindle support wheels, wherein at least one spindle support wheel is provided for each spindle support. Included are annular first and second stationary supports each having a first side facing the speed adjusters and a second side facing away from the speed adjusters. Each of the first and second stationary supports have a concave surface on the first side and the first stationary support is located adjacent to the drive disk and the second stationary support is located adjacent to the driven disk.
Also disclosed is a continuously variable transmission having a coiled spring that is positioned between the bearing disk and the drive disk.
In another aspect, a transmission shifting mechanism is disclosed comprising a rod, a worm screw having a set of external threads, a shifting tube having a set of internal threads, wherein a rotation of the shifting tube causes a change in the transmission ratio, a sleeve having a set of internal threads, and a split shaft having a threaded end.
In yet another aspect, a remote transmission shifter is disclosed comprising a rotatable handlegrip, a tether having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is engaged with the handlegrip and the second end is engaged with the shifting tube. The handlegrip is adapted to apply tension to the tether, and the tether is adapted to actuate the shifting tube upon application of tension.
These and other improvements will become apparent to those skilled in the art as they read the following detailed description and view the enclosed figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of an embodiment of the transmission.
FIG. 2 is a partial end cross-sectional view taken on line II—II of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a split shaft and two stationary supports of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a schematic cutaway side view of the transmission of FIG. 1 shifted into low.
FIG. 5 is a schematic cutaway side view of the transmission of FIG. 1 shifted into high.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a ramp bearing positioned between two curved ramps of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a ramp bearing positioned between two curved ramps of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a ramp bearing positioned between two curved ramps of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the power adjuster sub-assembly of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 10 is a cutaway perspective view of the shifting sub-assembly of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a stationary support of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the screw and nut of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of the frame support of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 14 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the central ramps of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the perimeter ramps of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the linkage sub-assembly of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the disengagement mechanism sub-assembly of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the handlegrip shifter of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 19 is a cutaway side view of an alternative embodiment of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 20 is a cutaway side view of yet another alternative embodiment of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the transmission of FIG. 20 depicting a torsional brace.
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an alternative disengagement mechanism of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 23 is another perspective view of the alternative disengagement mechanism of FIG. 22 .
FIG. 24 is a view of a sub-assembly of an alternative embodiment of the axial force generators of the transmission of FIG. 20 .
FIG. 25 is a schematic cross sectional view of the splines and grooves of the axial force generators of FIG. 24 .
FIG. 26 is a perspective view of an alternative disengagement mechanism of the transmission of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the alternative disengagement mechanism of FIG. 26 .
FIG. 28 is a schematic illustration of a transmission as embodied in a turbine application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner simply because it is being utilized in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may include several novel features, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or which is essential to practicing the inventions herein described.
The transmissions described herein are of the type that utilize speed adjuster balls with axes that tilt as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/695,757, filed on Oct. 24, 2000 and the information disclosed in that application is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it discloses. A drive (input) disk and a driven (output) disk are in contact with the speed adjuster balls. As the balls tilt on their axes, the point of rolling contact on one disk moves toward the pole or axis of the ball, where it contacts the ball at a circle of decreasing diameter, and the point of rolling contact on the other disk moves toward the equator of the ball, thus contacting the disk at a circle of increasing diameter. If the axis of the ball is tilted in the opposite direction, the disks respectively experience the converse situation. In this manner, the ratio of rotational speed of the drive disk to that of the driven disk, or the transmission ratio, can be changed over a wide range by simply tilting the axes of the speed adjuster balls.
With reference to the longitudinal axis of embodiments of the transmission, the drive disk and the driven disk can be located radially outward from the speed adjuster balls, with an idler-type generally cylindrical support member located radially inward from the speed adjuster balls, so that each ball makes three-point contact with the inner support member and the outer disks. The drive disk, the driven disk, and the support member can all rotate about the same longitudinal axis. The drive disk and the driven disk can be shaped as simple disks or can be concave, convex, cylindrical or any other shape, depending on the configuration of the input and output desired. The rolling contact surfaces of the disks where they engage the speed adjuster balls can have a flat, concave, convex or other profile, depending on the torque and efficiency requirements of the application.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , an embodiment of a continuously variable transmission 100 is disclosed. The transmission 100 is shrouded in a hub shell 40 , which functions as an output disk and is desirable in various applications, including those in which a vehicle (such as a bicycle or motorcycle) has the transmission contained within a driven wheel. The hub shell 40 can, in certain embodiments, be covered by a hub cap 67 . At the heart of the transmission 100 are a plurality of speed adjusters 1 that can be spherical in shape and are circumferentially spaced more or less equally or symmetrically around the centerline, or axis of rotation, of the transmission 100 . In the illustrated embodiment, eight speed adjusters 1 are used. However, it should be noted that more or fewer speed adjusters 1 can be used depending on the use of the transmission 100 . For example, the transmission may include 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or more speed adjusters. The provision for more than 3, 4, or 5 speed adjusters can provide certain advantages including, for example, widely distributing the forces exerted on the individual speed adjusters 1 and their points of contact with other components of the transmission 100 . Certain embodiments in applications with low torque but a high transmission ratio can use few speed adjusters 1 but large speed adjusters 1 , while certain embodiments in applications where high torque and a transmission high transmission ratio can use many speed adjusters 1 and large speed adjusters 1 . Other embodiments in applications with high torque and a low transmission ratio can use many speed adjusters 1 and small speed adjusters 1 . Finally, certain embodiments in applications with low torque and a low transmission ratio may use few speed adjusters 1 and small speed adjusters 1 .
Spindles 3 are inserted through holes that run through the center of each of the speed adjusters 1 to define an axis of rotation for each of the speed adjusters 1 . The spindles 3 are generally elongated shafts about which the speed adjusters 1 rotate, and have two ends that extend out of either end of the hole through the speed adjusters 1 . Certain embodiments will have cylindrical shaped spindles 3 , though any shape can be used. The speed adjusters 1 are mounted to freely rotate about the spindles 3 . In FIG. 1 , the axes of rotation of the speed adjusters 1 are shown in an approximately horizontal direction (i.e., parallel to the main axis of the transmission 100 ).
FIGS. 1 , 4 and 5 , can be utilized to describe how the axes of the speed adjusters 1 can be tilted in operation to shift the transmission 100 . FIG. 4 depicts the transmission 100 shifted into a low transmission ratio, or low, while FIG. 5 depicts the transmission 100 shifted into a high transmission ratio, or high. Now also referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 , a plurality of spindle supports 2 are attached to the spindles 3 near each of the ends of the spindles 3 that extend out of the holes bored through the speed adjusters 1 , and extend radially inward from those points of attachment toward the axis of the transmission 100 . In one embodiment, each of the spindle supports 2 has a through bore that receives one end of one of the spindles 3 . The spindles 3 preferably extend through and beyond the spindle supports 2 such that they have an exposed end. In the embodiments illustrated, the spindles 3 advantageously have spindle rollers 4 coaxially and slidingly positioned over the exposed ends of the spindles 3 . The spindle rollers 4 are generally cylindrical wheels fixed axially on the spindles 3 outside of and beyond the spindle supports 2 and rotate freely about the spindles 3 . Referring also to FIG. 11 , the spindle rollers 4 and the ends of the spindles 3 fit inside grooves 6 that are cut into a pair of stationary supports 5 a , 5 b.
Referring to FIGS. 4 , 5 and 11 , the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b are generally in the form of parallel disks annularly located about the axis of the transmission on either side of the power adjusters 1 . As the rotational axes of the speed adjusters 1 are changed by moving the spindle supports 2 radially out from the axis of the transmission 100 to tilt the spindles 3 , each spindle roller 4 fits into and follows a groove 6 cut into one of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . Any radial force, not rotational but a transaxial force, the speed adjusters 1 may apply to the spindles 3 is absorbed by the spindles 3 , the spindle rollers 4 and the sides 81 of the grooves 6 in the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . The stationary supports 5 a , 5 b are mounted on a pair of split shafts 98 , 99 positioned along the axis of the transmission 100 . The split shafts 98 , 99 are generally elongated cylinders that define a substantial portion of the axial length of the transmission 100 and can be used to connect the transmission 100 to the object that uses it. Each of the split shafts 98 , 99 has an inside end near the middle of the transmission 100 and an outside end that extends out of the internal housing of the transmission 100 . The split shafts 98 , 99 are preferably hollow so as to house other optional components that may be implemented. The stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , each have a bore 82 , through which the split shafts 98 , 99 are inserted and rigidly attached to prevent any relative motion between the split shafts 98 , 99 and the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . The stationary supports 5 a , 5 b are preferably rigidly attached to the ends of the split shafts 98 , 99 closest to the center of the transmission 100 . A stationary support nut 90 may be threaded over the split shaft 99 and tightened against the stationary support 5 b on corresponding threads of the stationary support 5 a , 5 b . The grooves 6 in the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b referred to above, extend from the outer circumference of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b radially inwardly towards the split shafts 98 , 99 . In most embodiments, the groove sides 81 of the grooves 6 are substantially parallel to allow the spindle rollers 4 to roll up and down the groove sides 81 as the transmission 100 is shifted. Also, in certain embodiments, the depth of the grooves 6 is substantially constant at the circumference 9 of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , but the depth of the grooves 6 becomes shallower at points 7 closer to the split shaft 98 , 99 , to correspond to the arc described by the ends of the spindles 3 as they are tilted, and to increase the strength of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . As the transmission 100 is shifted to a lower or higher transmission ratio by changing the rotational axes of the speed adjusters 1 , each one of the pairs of spindle rollers 4 , located on the opposite ends of a single spindle 3 , move in opposite directions along their corresponding grooves 6 .
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 11 , stationary support wheels 30 can be attached to the spindle supports 2 with stationary support wheel pins 31 or by any other attachment method. The stationary support wheels 30 are coaxially and slidingly mounted over the stationary support wheel pins 31 and secured with standard fasteners, such as ring clips for example. In certain embodiments, one stationary support wheel 30 is positioned on each side of a spindle 2 with enough clearance to allow the stationary support wheels 30 to roll radially on concave surfaces 84 of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b when the transmission 100 is shifted. In certain embodiments, the concave surfaces 84 are concentric with the center of the speed adjusters 1 .
Referring to FIGS. 2 , 3 , and 11 , a plurality of elongated spacers 8 are distributed radially about, and extend generally coaxially with, the axis of the transmission. The elongated spacers 8 connect the stationary supports 5 a to one another to increase the strength and rigidity of the internal structure of the transmission 100 . The spacers 8 are oriented generally parallel to one another, and in some embodiments, each one extends from a point at one stationary support 5 a near the outer circumference to a corresponding point on the other stationary support 5 b . The spacers 8 can also precisely fix the distance between the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , align the grooves 6 of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , ensure that the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b are parallel, and form a connection between the split shafts 98 , 99 . In one embodiment, the spacers 8 are pressed through spacer holes 46 in the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . Although eight spacers 8 are illustrated, more or less spacers 8 can be used. In certain embodiments, the spacers 8 are located between two speed adjusters 1 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 , 3 , and 13 , the stationary support 5 a , in certain embodiments, is rigidly attached to a stationary support sleeve 42 located coaxially around the split shaft 98 , or alternately, is otherwise rigidly attached to or made an integral part of the split shaft 98 . The stationary sleeve 42 extends through the wall of the hub shell 40 and attaches to a frame support 15 . In some embodiments, the frame support 15 fits coaxially over the stationary sleeve 42 and is rigidly attached to the stationary sleeve 42 . The frame support 15 uses a torque lever 43 , in some embodiments, to maintain the stationary position of the stationary sleeve 42 . The torque lever 43 provides rotational stability to the transmission 100 by physically connecting the stationary sleeve 42 , via the frame support 15 , and therefore the rest of the stationary parts to a fixed support member of the item to which the transmission 100 is to be mounted. A torque nut 44 threads onto the outside of the stationary sleeve 42 to hold the torque lever 43 in a position that engages the frame support 15 . In certain embodiments, the frame support 15 is not cylindrical so as to engage the torque lever 43 in a positive manner thereby preventing rotation of the stationary sleeve 42 .
For example, the frame support 15 could be a square of thickness equal to the torque lever 43 with sides larger than the stationary sleeve and with a hole cut out of its center so that the square may fit over the stationary sleeve 42 , to which it may then be rigidly attached. Additionally, the torque lever 43 could be a lever arm of thickness equal to that of the frame support 15 with a first end near the frame support 15 and a second end opposite the first. The torque lever 43 , in some embodiments, also has a bore through one of its ends, but this bore is a square and is a slightly larger square than the frame support 15 so the torque lever 43 could slide over the frame support 15 resulting in a rotational engagement of the frame support 15 and the torque lever 43 . Furthermore, the lever arm of the torque lever 43 is oriented so that the second end extends to attach to the frame of the bike, automobile, tractor or other application that the transmission 100 is used upon, thereby countering any torque applied by the transmission 100 through the frame support 15 and the stationary sleeve 42 . A stationary support bearing 48 fits coaxially around the stationary sleeve 42 and axially between the outside edge of the hub shell 40 and the torque lever 43 . The stationary support bearing 48 supports the hub shell 40 , permitting the hub shell 40 to rotate relative to the stationary support sleeve 42 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 10 , in some embodiments, shifting is manually activated by rotating a rod 10 , positioned in the hollow split shaft 98 . A worm screw 11 , a set of male threads in some embodiments, is attached to the end of the rod 10 that is in the center of the transmission 100 , while the other end of the rod 10 extends axially to the outside of the transmission 100 and has male threads affixed to its outer surface. In one embodiment, the worm screw 11 is threaded into a coaxial sleeve 19 with mating threads, so that upon rotation of the rod 10 and worm screw 11 , the sleeve 19 moves axially. The sleeve 19 is generally in the shape of a hollow cylinder that fits coaxially around the worm screw 11 and rod 10 and has two ends, one near stationary support 5 a and one near stationary support 5 b . The sleeve 19 is affixed at each end to a platform 13 , 14 . The two platforms 13 , 14 are each generally of the form of an annular ring with an inside diameter, which is large enough to fit over and attach to the sleeve 19 , and is shaped so as to have two sides. The first side is a generally straight surface that dynamically contacts and axially supports the support member 18 via two sets of contact bearings 17 a , 17 b . The second side of each platform 13 , 14 is in the form of a convex surface. The platforms 13 , 14 are each attached to one end of the outside of the sleeve 19 so as to form an annular trough around the circumference of the sleeve 19 . One platform 13 is attached to the side nearest stationary support 5 a and the other platform 14 is attached to the end nearest stationary support 5 b . The convex surface of the platforms 13 , 14 act as cams, each contacting and pushing multiple shifting wheels 21 . To perform this camming function, the platforms 13 , 14 preferably transition into convex curved surfaces 97 near their perimeters (farthest from the split shafts 98 , 99 ), that may or may not be radii. This curve 97 contacts with the shifting wheels 21 so that as the platforms 13 , 14 move axially, a shifting wheel 21 rides along the platform 13 , 14 surface in a generally radial direction forcing the spindle support 2 radially out from, or in toward, the split shaft 98 , 99 , thereby changing the angle of the spindle 3 and the rotation axis of the associated speed adjuster 1 . In certain embodiments, the shifting wheels 21 fit into slots in the spindle supports 2 at the end nearest the centerline of the transmission 100 and are held in place by wheel axles 22 .
Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 10 , a support member 18 is located in the trough formed between the platforms 13 , 14 and sleeve 19 , and thus moves in unison with the platforms 13 , 14 and sleeve 19 . In certain embodiments, the support member 18 is generally of one outside diameter and is generally cylindrical along the center of its inside diameter with a bearing race on each edge of its inside diameter. In other embodiments, the outer diameter of the support member 18 can be non-uniform and can be any shape, such as ramped or curved. The support member 18 has two sides, one near one of the stationary supports 5 a and one near the other stationary support 5 b . The support member 18 rides on two contact bearings 17 a , 17 b to provide rolling contact between the support member 18 and the sleeve 19 . The contact bearings 17 a , 17 b are located coaxially around the sleeve 19 where the sleeve 19 intersects the platforms 13 , 14 allowing the support member 18 to freely rotate about the axis of the transmission 100 . The sleeve 19 is supported axially by the worm screw 11 and the rod 10 and therefore, through this configuration, the sleeve 19 is able to slide axially as the worm screw 11 positions it. When the transmission 100 is shifted, the sleeve 19 moves axially, and the bearings 17 a , 17 b , support member 18 , and platforms 13 , 14 , which are all attached either dynamically or statically to the sleeve, move axially in a corresponding manner.
In certain embodiments, the rod 10 is attached at its end opposite the worm screw 11 to a shifting tube 50 by a rod nut 51 , and a rod flange 52 . The shifting tube 50 is generally in the shape of a tube with one end open and one end substantially closed. The open end of shifting tube 50 is of a diameter appropriate to fit over the end of the split shaft 98 that extends axially out of the center of the transmission 100 . The substantially closed end of the shifting tube 50 has a small bore through it so that the end of the rod 10 that is opposite of the worm screw 11 can pass through it as the shifting tube 50 is placed over the outside of the split shaft 98 . The substantially closed end of the shifting tube 50 can then be fixed in axial place by the rod nut 51 , which is fastened outside of the shifting tube 50 , and the rod flange 52 , which in turn is fastened inside of the shifting tube's 50 substantially closed end, respectively. The shifting tube 50 can, in some embodiments, be rotated by a cable 53 attached to the outside of the shifting tube 50 . The cable 53 , in these embodiments, is attached to the shifting tube 50 with a cable clamp 54 and cable screw 56 , and then wrapped around the shifting tube 50 so that when tension is applied to the cable 53 a moment is developed about the center of the axis of the shifting tube 50 causing it to rotate. The rotation of shifting tube 50 may alternately be caused by any other mechanism such as a rod, by hand rotation, a servo-motor or other method contemplated to rotate the rod 10 . In certain embodiments, when the cable 53 is pulled so that the shifting tube 50 rotates clockwise on the split shaft 98 , the worm screw 11 rotates clockwise, pulling the sleeve 19 , support member 18 and platforms 13 , 14 , axially toward the shifting tube 50 and shifting the transmission 100 towards a low transmission ratio. A worm spring 55 , as illustrated in FIG. 3 , that can be a conical coiled spring capable of producing compressive and torsional force, attached at the end of the worm screw 11 , is positioned between the stationary support 5 b and the platform 14 and resists the shifting of the transmission 100 . The worm spring 55 is designed to bias the shifting tube 50 to rotate so as to shift the transmission 100 towards a low transmission ratio in some embodiments and towards a high transmission ratio in other embodiments.
Referring to FIGS. 1 , 10 , and 11 , axial movement of the platforms 13 , 14 , define the shifting range of the transmission 100 . Axial movement is limited by inside faces 85 on the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , which the platforms 13 , 14 contact. At an extreme high transmission ratio, platform 14 contacts the inside face 85 on one of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b , and at an extreme low transmission ratio, the platform 13 contacts the inside face 85 on the other one of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b . In many embodiments, the curvature of the convex radii of the platforms 13 , 14 , are functionally dependant on the distance from the center of a speed adjuster 1 to the center of the wheel 21 , the radius of the wheel 21 , the distance between the two wheels 21 that are operably attached to each speed adjuster 1 , and the angle of tilt of the speed adjuster 1 axis.
Although a left hand threaded worm screw 11 is disclosed, a right hand threaded worm screw 11 , the corresponding right hand wrapped shifting tube 50 , and any other combination of components just described that is can be used to support lateral movement of the support member 18 and platforms 13 , 14 , can be used. Additionally, the shifting tube 50 can have internal threads that engage with external threads on the outside of the split shaft 98 . By adding this threaded engagement, the shifting tube 50 will move axially as it rotates about the split shaft 98 causing the rod 10 to move axially as well. This can be employed to enhance the axial movement of the sleeve 19 by the worm screw 11 so as to magnify the effects of rotating the worm screw 11 to more rapidly shift the gear ratio or alternatively, to diminish the effects of rotating the worm screw 11 so as to slow the shifting process and produce more accurate adjustments of the transmission 100 .
Referring to FIGS. 10 and 18 , manual shifting may be accomplished by use of a rotating handlegrip 132 , which can be coaxially positioned over a stationary tube, a handlebar 130 , or some other structural member. In certain embodiments, an end of the cable 53 is attached to a cable stop 133 , which is affixed to the rotating handlegrip 132 . In some embodiments, internal forces of the transmission 100 and the conical spring 55 tend to bias the shifting of the transmission towards a lower transmission ratio. As the rotating handlegrip 132 is rotated by the user, the cable 53 , which can be wrapped along a groove around the rotating handlegrip 132 , winds or unwinds depending upon the direction of rotation of the cable 53 , simultaneously rotating the shifting tube 50 and shifting the transmission 100 towards a higher transmission ratio. A set of ratchet teeth 134 can be circumferentially positioned on one of the two sides of the rotating handlegrip 132 to engage a mating set of ratchet teeth on a first side of a ratcheted tube 135 , thereby preventing the rotating handlegrip 132 from rotating in the opposite direction. A tube clamp 136 , which can bean adjustable screw allowing for variable clamping force, secures the ratcheted tube 135 to the handlebar 130 . When shifting in the opposite direction, the rotating handlegrip 132 , is forcibly rotated in the opposite direction toward a lower transmission ratio, causing the tube clamp 136 to rotate in unison with the rotating handlegrip 132 . A handlebar tube 137 , positioned proximate to the ratcheted tube 135 , on a side opposite the ratchet teeth 134 , is rigidly clamped to the handlebar 130 with a tube clamp 138 , thereby preventing disengagement of the ratcheted tube 135 from the ratchet teeth 134 . A non-rotating handlegrip 131 is secured to the handlebar 130 and positioned proximate to the rotating handlegrip 132 , preventing axial movement of the rotating handlegrip 132 and preventing the ratchet teeth 134 from becoming disengaged from the ratcheted tube 135 .
Now referring to embodiments illustrated by FIGS. 1 , 9 , and 11 , a one or more stationary support rollers 30 can be attached to each spindle support 2 with a roller pin 31 that is inserted through a hole in each spindle support 2 . The roller pins 31 are of the proper size and design to allow the stationary support rollers 30 to rotate freely over each roller pin 31 . The stationary support rollers 30 roll along concave curved surfaces 84 on the sides of the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b that face the speed adjusters 1 . The stationary support rollers 30 provide axial support to prevent the spindle supports 2 from moving axially and also to ensure that the spindles 2 tilt easily when the transmission 100 is shifted.
Referring to FIGS. 1 , 12 , 14 , and 17 , a three spoked drive disk 34 , located adjacent to the stationary support 5 b , partially encapsulates but generally does not contact the stationary support 5 b . The drive disk 34 may have two or more spokes or may be a solid disk. The spokes reduce weight and aid in assembly of the transmission 100 ine embodiments using them, however a solid disk can be used. The drive disk 34 has two sides, a first side that contacts with the speed adjusters 1 , and a second side that faces opposite of the first side. The drive disk 34 is generally an annular disk that fits coaxially over, and extends radially from, a set of female threads or nut 37 at its inner diameter. The outside diameter of the drive disk 34 is designed to fit within the hub shell 40 , if the hub shell 40 employed is the type that encapsulates the speed adjusters 1 and the drive disk 34 , and engages with the hub cap 67 . The drive disk 34 is rotatably coupled to the speed adjusters 1 along a circumferential bearing surface on the lip of the first side of the drive disk 34 . As mentioned above, some embodiments of the drive disk 34 have a set of female threads 37 , or a nut 37 , at its center, and the nut 37 is threaded over a screw 35 , thereby engaging the drive disk 34 with the screw 35 . The screw 35 is rigidly attached to a set of central screw ramps 90 that are generally a set of raised surfaces on an annular disk that is positioned coaxially over the split shaft 99 . The central screw ramps 90 are driven by a set of central drive shaft ramps 91 , which are similarly formed on a generally annular disk. The ramp surfaces of the central drive ramps 91 and the central screw ramps 90 can be linear, but can be any other shape, and are in operable contact with each other. The central drive shaft ramps 91 , coaxially and rigidly attached to the drive shaft 69 , impart torque and an axial force to the central screw ramps 90 that can then be transferred to the drive disk 34 . A central drive tension member 92 , positioned between the central drive shaft ramps 91 and the central screw ramps 90 , produces torsional and/or compressive force, ensuring that the central ramps 90 , 91 are in contact with one another.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 , 12 , 14 , and 17 , the screw 35 , which is capable of axial movement, can be biased to move axially away from the speed adjusters 1 with an annular thrust bearing 73 that contacts a race on the side of the screw 35 that faces the speed adjusters 1 . An annular thrust washer 72 , coaxially positioned over the split shaft 99 , contacts the thrust bearing 73 and can be pushed by a pin 12 that extends through a slot in the split shaft 99 . A compression member 95 capable of producing a compressive force is positioned in the bore of the hollow split shaft 99 at a first end. The compression member 95 , which may be a spring, contacts the pin 12 on one end, and at a second end contacts the rod 10 . As the rod 10 is shifted towards a higher transmission ratio and moves axially, it contacts the compression member 95 , pushing it against the pin 12 . Internal forces in the transmission 100 will bias the support member 18 to move towards a high transmission ratio position once the transmission ratio goes beyond a 1:1 transmission ratio towards high and the drive disk 34 rotates more slowly than the hub shell 40 . This bias pushes the screw 35 axially so that it either disconnects from the nut 37 and no longer applies an axial force or a torque to the drive disk 34 , or reduces the force that the screw 35 applies to the nut 37 . In this situation, the percentage of axial force applied to the drive disk 34 by the perimeter ramps 61 increases. It should be noted that the internal forces of the transmission 100 will also bias the support member 18 towards low once the support member 18 passes beyond a position for a 1:1 transmission ratio towards low and the hub shell 40 rotates more slowly than the drive disk 34 . This beneficial bias assists shifting as rpm's drop and torque increases when shifting into low.
Still referring to FIGS. 1 , 12 , 14 , and 17 , the drive shaft 69 , which is a generally tubular sleeve having two ends and positioned coaxial to the outside of the split shaft 99 , has at one end the aforementioned central drive shaft ramps 91 attached to it, while the opposite end faces away from the drive disk 34 . In certain embodiments, a bearing disk 60 is attached to and driven by the drive shaft 69 . The bearing disk 60 can be splined to the drive shaft 69 , providing for limited axial movement of the bearing disk 60 , or the bearing disk 60 can be rigidly attached to the drive shaft 69 . The bearing disk 60 is generally a radial disk coaxially mounted over the drive shaft 69 extending radially outward to a radius generally equal to that of the drive disk 34 . The bearing disk 60 is mounted on the drive shaft 69 in a position near the drive disk 34 , but far enough away to allow space for a set of perimeter ramps 61 , associated ramp bearings 62 , and a bearing race 64 , all of which are located between the drive disk 34 and the bearing disk 67 . In certain embodiments, the plurality of perimeter ramps 61 can be concave and are rigidly attached to the bearing disk 60 on the side facing the drive disk 34 . Alternatively, the perimeter ramps 61 can be convex or linear, depending on the use of the transmission 100 . Alternatively, the bearing race 64 , can be replaced by a second set of perimeter ramps 97 , which may also be linear, convex, or concave, and which are rigidly attached to the drive disk 34 on the side facing the bearing disk 60 . The ramp bearings 62 are generally a plurality of bearings matching in number the perimeter ramps 61 . Each one of the plurality of ramp bearings 62 is located between one perimeter ramp 61 and the bearing race 64 , and is held in its place by a compressive force exerted by the ramps 61 and also by a bearing cage 63 . The bearing cage 63 is an annular ring coaxial to the split shaft 99 and located axially between the concave ramps 61 and convex ramps 64 . The bearing cage 63 has a relatively large inner diameter so that the radial thickness of the bearing cage 63 is only slightly larger than the diameter of the ramp bearings 62 to house the ramp bearings 62 . Each of the ramp bearings 62 fits into a hole that is formed in the radial thickness of the bearing cage 63 and these holes, together with the previously mentioned compressive force, hold the ramp bearings 62 in place. The bearing cage 63 , can be guided into position by a flange on the drive disk 34 or the bearing disk 60 , which is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the bearing cage 63 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 15 , the bearing disk 60 , the perimeter ramps 61 , and a ramp bearing 62 of one embodiment are depicted. Referring specifically to FIG. 6 , a schematic view shows a ramp bearing 62 contacting a concave perimeter ramp 61 , and a second convex perimeter ramp 97 . Referring specifically to FIG. 7 , a schematic view shows the ramp bearing 62 , the concave perimeter ramp 61 , and the second convex perimeter ramp 97 of FIG. 6 at a different torque or transmission ratio. The position of the ramp bearings 62 on the perimeter ramps 61 depicted in FIG. 7 produces less axial force than the position of the ramp bearings 62 on the perimeter ramps 61 depicted in FIG. 6 . Referring specifically to FIG. 8 , a ramp bearing 62 is shown contacting a convex perimeter ramp 61 , and a concave second perimeter ramp 97 in substantially central positions on those respective ramps. It should be noted that changes in the curves of the perimeter ramps 61 , 97 change the magnitude of the axial force applied to the power adjusters 1 at various transmission ratios, thereby maximizing efficiency in different gear ratios and changes in torque. Depending on the use for the transmission 100 , many combinations of curved or linear perimeter ramps 61 , 97 can be used. To simplify operation and reduce cost, in some applications one set of perimeter ramps may be eliminated, such as the second set of perimeter tramps 97 , which are then replaced by a bearing race 64 . To further reduce cost, the set of perimeter ramps 61 may have a linear inclination.
Referring to FIG. 1 , a coiled spring 65 having two ends wraps coaxially around the drive shaft 69 and is attached at one end to the bearing disk 60 and at its other end to the drive disk 34 . The coiled spring 65 provides force to keep the drive disk 34 in contact with the speed adjusters 1 and biases the ramp bearings 62 up the perimeter ramps 61 . The coiled spring 65 is designed to minimize the axial space within which it needs to operate and, in certain embodiments, the cross section of the coiled spring 65 is a rectangle with the radial length greater than the axial length.
Referring to FIG. 1 , the bearing disk 60 preferably contacts an outer hub cap bearing 66 on the bearing disk 60 side that faces opposite the concave ramps 61 . The outer hub cap bearing 66 can be an annular set of roller bearings located radially outside of, but coaxial with, the centerline of the transmission 100 . The outer hub cap bearing 66 is located radially at a position where it may contact both the hub cap 67 and the bearing disk 60 to allow their relative motion with respect to one another. The hub cap 67 is generally in the shape of a disk with a hole in the center to fit over the drive shaft 69 and with an outer diameter such that it will fit within the hub shell 40 . The inner diameter of the hub cap engages with an inner hub cap bearing 96 that is positioned between the hub cap 67 and the drive shaft 69 and maintains the radial and axial alignment of the hub cap 67 and the drive shaft 69 with respect to one another. The edge of the hub cap 67 at its outer diameter can be threaded so that the hub cap 67 can be threaded into the hub shell 40 to encapsulate much of the transmission 100 . A sprocket or pulley 38 or other drive train adapter, such as gearing for example, can be rigidly attached to the rotating drive shaft 69 to provide the input rotation. The drive shaft 69 is maintained in its coaxial position about the split shaft 99 by a cone bearing 70 . The cone bearing 70 is an annular bearing mounted coaxially around the split shaft 99 and allows rolling contact between the drive shaft 69 and the split shaft 99 . The cone bearing 70 may be secured in its axial place by a cone nut 71 which threads onto the split shaft 99 or by any other fastening method.
In operation of certain embodiments, an input rotation from the sprocket or pulley 38 is transmitted to the drive shaft 69 , which in turn rotates the bearing disk 60 and the plurality of perimeter ramps 61 causing the ramp bearings 62 to roll up the perimeter ramps 61 and press the drive disk 34 against the speed adjusters 1 . The ramp bearings 62 also transmit rotational energy to the drive disk 34 as they are wedged in between, and therefore transmit rotational energy between, the perimeter ramps 61 and the convex ramps 64 . The rotational energy is transferred from the drive disk 34 to the speed adjusters 1 , which in turn rotate the hub shell 40 providing the transmission 100 output rotation and torque.
Referring to FIG. 16 , a latch 115 rigidly attaches to the side of the drive disk 34 that faces the bearing disk 60 and engages a hook 114 that is rigidly attached to a first of two ends of a hook lever 113 . The engaging area under the latch 115 opening is larger than the width of the hook 114 and provides extra room for the hook 114 to move radially, with respect to the axis, within the confines of the latch 114 when the drive disk 34 and the bearing disk 60 move relative to each other. The hook lever 113 is generally a longitudinal support member for the hook 114 and at its second end, the hook lever 113 has an integral hook hinge 116 that engages with a middle hinge 119 via a first hinge pin 111 . The middle hinge 119 is integral with a first end of a drive disk lever 112 , a generally elongated support member having two ends. On its second end, the drive disk lever 112 has an integral drive disk hinge 117 , which engages a hinge brace 110 via the use of a second hinge pin 118 . The hinge brace 110 is generally a base to support the hook 114 , the hook lever 113 , the hook hinge 116 , the first hinge pin 111 , the middle hinge 119 , the drive disk lever 112 the second hinge pin 118 , and the drive disk hinge 117 , and it is rigidly attached to the bearing disk 60 on the side facing the drive disk 34 . When the latch 73 and hook 72 are engaged the ramp bearings 62 are prevented from rolling to an area on the perimeter ramps 61 that does not provide the correct amount of axial force to the drive disk 34 . This ensures that all rotational force applied to the ramp bearings 62 by perimeter ramps 61 is transmitted to the drive disk 34 .
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 17 , a disengagement mechanism for one embodiment of the transmission 100 is described to disengage the drive disk 34 from the speed adjusters 1 in order to coast. On occasions that input rotation to the transmission 100 ceases, the sprocket or pulley 38 stops rotating but the hub shell 40 and the speed adjusters 1 can continue to rotate. This causes the drive disk 34 to rotate so that the set of female threads 37 in the bore of the drive disk 34 wind onto the male threaded screw 35 , thereby moving the drive disk 34 axially away from the speed adjusters 1 until the drive disk 34 no longer contacts the speed adjusters 1 . A toothed rack 126 , rigidly attached to the drive disk 34 on the side facing the bearing disk 60 , has teeth that engage and rotate a toothed wheel 124 as the drive disk 34 winds onto the screw 35 and disengages from the power adjusters 1 . The toothed wheel 124 , has a bore in its center, through which a toothed wheel bushing 121 is located, providing for rotation of the toothed wheel 124 . Clips 125 that are coaxially attached over the toothed wheel bushing 121 secure the toothed wheel 124 in position, although any means of fastening may be used. A preloader 120 , coaxially positioned over and clamped to the central drive shaft ramps 91 , extends in a direction that is radially outward from the center of the transmission 100 . The preloader 120 , of a resilient material capable of returning to its original shape when flexed, has a first end 128 and a second end 127 . The first end of the preloader 128 extends through the toothed wheel bushing 121 and terminates in the bearing cage 63 . The first end of the preloader 128 biases the bearing cage 63 and ramp bearings 62 up the ramps 61 , ensuring contact between the ramp bearings 62 and the ramps 61 , and also biases the toothed wheel 124 against the toothed rack 126 . A pawl 123 , engages the toothed wheel 124 , and in one embodiment engages the toothed wheel 124 on a side substantially opposite the toothed rack 126 . The pawl 123 has a bore through which a pawl bushing 122 passes, allowing for rotation of the pawl 123 . Clips 125 , or other fastening means secure the pawl 123 to the pawl bushing 121 . A pawl spring 122 biases rotation of the pawl 123 to engage the toothed wheel 124 , thereby preventing the toothed wheel 124 from reversing its direction of rotation when the drive disk 34 winds onto the screw 35 . The pawl bushing 121 is positioned over a second end of the preloader 127 , which rotates in unison with the drive shaft 69 .
Referring again to FIG. 1 , a coiled spring 65 , coaxial with and located around the drive shaft 69 , is located axially between and attached by pins or other fasteners (not shown) to both the bearing disk 60 at one end and drive disk 34 at the other end. In certain embodiments, the coiled spring 65 replaces the coiled spring of the prior art so as to provide more force and take less axial space in order to decrease the overall size of the transmission 100 . In some embodiments, the coiled spring 65 is produced from spring steel wire with a rectangular profile that has a radial length or height greater than its axial length or width. During operation of the transmission 100 , the coiled spring 65 ensures contact between the speed adjusters 1 and the drive disk 34 . However, once the drive disk 34 has disengaged from the speed adjusters 1 , the coiled spring 65 is prevented from winding the drive disk 34 so that it again contacts the speed adjusters 1 by the engagement of the toothed wheel 124 and the pawl 123 . When the input sprocket, gear, or pulley 38 , resumes its rotation, the pawl 123 also rotates, allowing the toothed wheel 124 to rotate, thus allowing the drive disk 34 to rotate and unwind from the screw 35 due to the torsional force created by the coiled spring 65 . Relative movement between the pawl 123 and the toothed wheel 124 is provided by the fact that the first end of the preloader 128 rotates at approximately half the speed as the second end of the preloader 127 because the first end of the preloader 128 is attached to the bearing cage 63 . Also, because the ramp bearings 62 are rolling on the perimeter ramps 61 of the bearing disk 60 , the bearing cage 63 will rotate at half the speed as the bearing disk 60 .
Referring now to FIG. 19 , an alternative embodiment of the transmission 100 of FIG. 1 is disclosed. In this embodiment, an output disk 201 replaces the hub shell 40 of the transmission 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 . Similar to the drive disk 34 , the output disk 201 contacts, and is rotated by, the speed adjusters 1 . The output disk 201 is supported by an output disk bearing 202 that contacts both the output disk 201 and a stationary case cap 204 . The case cap 204 is rigidly attached to a stationary case 203 with case bolts 205 or any other fasteners. The stationary case 203 can be attached to a non-moving object such as a frame or to the machine for which its use is employed. A gear, sprocket, or pulley 206 is attached coaxially over and rigidly to the output disk 201 outside of the case cap 204 and stationary case 203 . Any other type of output means can be used however, such as gears for example. A torsional brace 207 can be added that rigidly connects the split shaft 98 to the case cap 204 for additional support.
Referring now to FIGS. 20 and 21 , an alternative embodiment of the transmission 100 of FIG. 1 is disclosed. A stationary support race 302 is added on a side of stationary support 5 a facing away from the speed adjusters 1 and engages with a stationary support bearing 301 and a rotating hub shell race 303 to maintain correct alignment of the stationary support 5 a with respect to the rotating hub shell 40 . A torsional brace 304 is rigidly attached to the stationary support 5 a and can then be rigidly attached to a stationary external component to prevent the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b from rotating during operation of the transmission 300 . A drive shaft bearing 306 is positioned at an end of the drive shaft 69 facing the speed adjusters 1 and engages a drive shaft race 307 formed in the same end of the drive shaft 69 and a split shaft race 305 formed on a radially raised portion of the split shaft 99 to provide additional support to the drive shaft 69 and to properly position the drive shaft 69 relative to the stationary supports 5 a , 5 b.
Referring now to FIGS. 22 and 23 , an alternative disengagement mechanism 400 of the transmission 100 of FIG. 1 is disclosed. A toothed wheel 402 is coaxially positioned over a wheel bushing 408 and secured in position with a clip 413 or other fastener such that it is capable of rotation. The wheel bushing 408 is coaxially positioned over the first end of a preloader 405 having first and second ends (both not separately identified in FIGS. 22 , and 23 ). The preloader 405 clamps resiliently around the central drive shaft ramps 91 . The first end of the preloader 405 extends into the bearing cage 63 , biasing the bearing cage 63 up the perimeter ramps 61 . Also positioned over the wheel bushing 408 is a lever 401 that rotates around the wheel bushing 408 and that supports a toothed wheel pawl 411 and a pinion pawl 409 . The toothed wheel pawl 411 engages the toothed wheel 402 to control its rotation, and is positioned over a toothed wheel bushing 414 that is pressed into a bore in the lever 401 . A toothed wheel pawl spring 412 biases the toothed wheel pawl 411 against the toothed wheel 402 . The pinion pawl 409 , positioned substantially opposite the toothed wheel pawl 411 on the lever 401 , is coaxially positioned over a pinion pawl bushing 415 that fits into another bore in the lever 401 and provides for rotational movement of the pinion pawl 409 . A pinion pawl spring 410 biases the pinion pawl 409 against a pinion 403 .
Referring now to FIGS. 1 , 22 and 23 , the pinion 403 has a bore at its center and is coaxially positioned over a first of two ends of a rod lever 404 . The rod lever is an elongated lever that engages the pinion pawl 409 during coasting until input rotation of the sprocket, pulley, or gear 38 resumes. A bearing disk pin 406 that is affixed to the bearing disk 60 contacts a second end of the rod lever 404 , upon rotation of the bearing disk 60 , thereby pushing the rod lever 404 against a drive disk pin 407 , which is rigidly attached to the drive disk 34 . This action forces the first end of the rod lever 404 to swing away from the toothed wheel 402 , temporarily disconnecting the pinion 403 from the toothed wheel 402 , allowing the toothed wheel 402 to rotate. A lever hook 401 is attached to the lever 401 and contacts a latch (not shown) on the drive disk 34 and is thereby pushed back as the coiled spring 65 biases the drive disk 34 to unwind and contact the speed adjusters 1 . During occasions that the input rotation of the sprocket, pulley, or gear 38 ceases, and the speed adjusters 1 continue to rotate, the drive disk 34 winds onto the screw 35 and disengages from the speed adjusters 1 . As the drive disk 34 rotates, the drive disk pin 407 disengages from the rod lever 404 , which then swings the pinion 403 into contact with the toothed wheel 402 , preventing the drive disk 34 from re-engaging the speed adjusters 1 .
Referring to FIGS. 24 and 25 , a sub-assembly of an alternative set of axial force generators 500 of the transmission 300 of FIG. 20 is disclosed. When rotated by the input sprocket, gear, or pulley 38 , a splined drive shaft 501 rotates the bearing disk 60 , which may have grooves 505 in its bore to accept and engage the splines 506 of the splined drive shaft 501 . The central drive shaft ramps 508 are rigidly attached to the bearing disk 60 or the splined drive shaft 501 and rotate the central screw ramps 507 , both of which have bores that clear the splines 506 of the splined drive shaft 501 . The central tension member 92 (illustrated in FIG. 1 ) is positioned between the central drive shaft ramps 508 and the central screw ramps 507 . A grooved screw 502 having a grooved end and a bearing end is rotated by the central screw ramps 90 and has grooves 505 on its bearing end that are wider than the splines 506 on the splined drive shaft 501 to provide a gap between the splines 506 and the grooves 505 . This gap between the splines 506 and the grooves 505 allows for relative movement between the grooved screw 502 and/or bearing disk 60 and the splined drive shaft 501 . On occasions when the grooved screw 502 is not rotated by the central drive shaft ramps 508 and the central screw ramps 507 , the splines 506 of the splined drive shaft 501 contact and rotate the grooves 505 on the grooved screw 502 , thus rotating the grooved screw 502 . An annular screw bearing 503 contacts a race on the bearing end of the grooved screw 502 and is positioned to support the grooved screw 502 and the splined drive shaft 501 relative to the axis of the split shaft 99 . The bore of the grooved screw 502 is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the splined drive shaft 501 to allow axial and rotational relative movement of the grooved screw 502 . A screw cone race 504 contacts and engages the annular screw bearing 503 and has a hole perpendicular to its axis to allow insertion of a pin 12 . The pin 12 engages the rod 10 , which can push on the pin 12 and move the grooved screw 502 axially, causing it to disengage from, or reduce the axial force that it applies to, the nut 37 .
Referring to FIG. 26 , an alternative disengagement means 600 of the disengagement means 400 of FIGS. 22 and 23 is disclosed. The lever 401 is modified to eliminate the T-shape used to mount both the pinion pawl 409 and the toothed wheel pawl 411 so that the new lever 601 has only the toothed wheel pawl 411 attached to it. A second lever 602 , having a first end and a second end. The pinion pawl 409 is operably attached to the first end of the second lever 602 . The second lever 602 has a first bore through which the first end of the preloader 405 is inserted. The second lever 602 is rotatably mounted over the first end of the preloader 405 . The second lever 602 has a second bore in its second end through which the second end of the preloader 603 is inserted. When rotation of the sprocket, gear, or pulley 38 ceases, the drive disk 34 continues to rotate forward and wind onto the screw 36 until it disengages from the speed adjusters 1 . The first end of the preloader 405 rotates forward causing the pinion pawl 409 to contact and rotate the pinion 403 clockwise. This causes the toothed wheel 402 to rotate counter-clockwise so that the toothed wheel pawl 411 passes over one or more teeth of the toothed wheel 402 , securing the drive disk 34 and preventing it from unwinding off of the screw 36 and contacting the speed adjusters 1 . When rotation of the sprocket, gear, or pulley 38 resumes, the second end of the preloader 603 rotates, contacting the second end of the second lever 602 causing the pinion pawl 409 to swing out and disengage from the pinion 403 , thereby allowing the drive disk 34 to unwind and reengage with the speed adjusters 1 .
With this description in place, some of the particular improvements and advantages of the present invention will now be described. Note that not all of these improvements are necessarily found in all embodiments of the invention.
Referring to FIG. 1 , a current improvement in some embodiments includes providing variable axial force to the drive disk 34 to respond to differing loads or uses. This can be accomplished by the use of multiple axial force generators. Axial force production can switch between a screw 35 and a nut 37 , with associated central drive shaft ramps 91 and screw ramps 90 , to perimeter ramps 61 , 64 . Or the screw 35 , central ramps 90 , 91 , and perimeter ramps 61 , 64 can share axial force production. Furthermore, axial force at the perimeter ramps 61 , 64 can be variable. This can be accomplished by the use of ramps of variable inclination and declination, including concave and convex ramps. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 6–8 and the previous detailed description, an embodiment is disclosed where affixed to the bearing disk 60 is a first set of perimeter ramps 61 , which may be concave, with which the ramp bearings 62 contact. Opposite the first set of perimeter ramps 61 are a second set of perimeter ramps 97 that are attached to the drive disk 34 , which may be convex, and which are in contact with the ramp bearings 62 . The use of concave and convex ramps to contact the ramp bearings 62 allows for non-linear increase or decrease in the axial load upon the drive disk 34 in response to adjustments in the position of the speed adjusters 1 and the support member 18 .
Another improvement of certain embodiments includes positively engaging the bearing disk 60 and the drive disk 34 to provide greater rotational transmission and constant axial thrust at certain levels of torque transmission. Referring to an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 as described above, this may be accomplished, for example, by the use of the hook 114 and latch 115 combination where the hook 114 is attached to the bearing cage 63 that houses the ramp bearings 62 between the drive disk 34 and the bearing disk 60 , and the latch 115 is attached to the drive disk 34 that engages with the hook 114 when the ramp bearings 62 reach their respective limit positions on the ramp faces. Although such configuration is provided for example, it should be understood that the hook 114 and the latch 115 may be attached to the opposite component described above or that many other mechanisms may be employed to achieve such positive engagement of the bearing disk 60 and the drive disk 34 at limiting positions of the ramp bearings 62 .
A further improvement of certain embodiments over previous designs is a drive disk 34 having radial spokes (not separately identified), reducing weight and aiding in assembly of the transmission 100 . In a certain embodiment, the drive disk 34 has three spokes equidistant from each other that allow access to, among other components, the hook 114 and the latch 115 .
Another improvement of certain embodiments includes the use of threads 35 , such as acme threads, to move the drive disk 34 axially when there is relative rotational movement between the drive disk 34 and the bearing disk 60 . Referring to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , a threaded male screw 35 may be threaded into a set of female threads 37 , or a nut 37 , in the bore of the drive disk 34 . This allows the drive disk 34 to disengage from the speed adjusters 1 when the drive disk 34 ceases to provide input torque, such as when coasting or rolling in neutral, and also facilitates providing more or less axial force against the speed adjusters 1 . Furthermore, the threaded male screw 35 is also designed to transmit an axial force to the drive disk 34 via the set of female threads 37 .
Yet another improvement of certain embodiments over past inventions consists of an improved method of shifting the transmission to higher or lower transmission ratios. Again, referring to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , this method can be accomplished by using a threaded rod 10 , including, for example, a left hand threaded worm screw 11 and a corresponding right hand threaded shifting tube 50 , or sleeve, that operates remotely by a cable 53 or remote motor or other remote means. Alternatively, left-handed threads can be used for both the worm screw 11 and the shifting tube, or a non-threaded shifting tube 50 could be used, and any combinations thereof can also be used as appropriate to affect the rate of shifting the transmission 100 with respect to the rate of rotation of the shifting tube 50 . Additionally, a conical spring 55 can be employed to assist the operator in maintaining the appropriate shifting tube 50 position. The worm screw 11 is preferably mated with a threaded sleeve 19 so as to axially align the support member 18 so that when the worm screw 11 is rotated the support member 18 will move axially.
Another improvement of some embodiments over past inventions is the disengagement mechanism for the transmission 100 . The disengagement mechanism allows the input sprocket, pulley, or gear 38 to rotate in reverse, and also allows the transmission 100 to coast in neutral by disengaging the drive disk 34 from the speed adjusters 1 .
FIG. 28 illustrates one embodiment including a turbine powered system 700 in which the transmission 100 of FIG. 1 is coupled to a power output 701 of a turbine 702 . In one embodiment, the turbine 702 is coupled to the transmission 100 via the sprocket or pulley 38 of FIG. 1 or another suitable drive train adapter, such as gearing for example.
The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the invention should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims and any equivalents thereof. | A continuously variable transmission is disclosed for use in rotationally or linearly powered machines and vehicles. The transmission provides a simple manual shifting method for the user. Further, the practical commercialization of traction roller transmissions requires improvements in the reliability, ease of shifting, function and simplicity of the transmission. The present invention includes a continuously variable transmission that may be employed in connection with any type of machine that is in need of a transmission. For example, the transmission may be used in (i) a motorized vehicle such as an automobile, motorcycle, or watercraft, (ii) a non-motorized vehicle such as a bicycle, tricycle, scooter, exercise equipment or (iii) industrial equipment, such as a drill press, power generating equipment, or textile mill. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to heading (azimuth) detecting apparatus, and more particularly to such an apparatus which detects the heading of the yawing direction of a moving body by the use of a magnetic sensor and a turning angular velocity sensor (e.g., optical fiber gyro, mechanical type gyro, vibration gyro, gas rate gyro) for sensing the turning angular velocity of a moving body.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
As a method for providing information about the actual location of a vehicle traveling streets, aircraft navigating air routes or ship navigating sea routes, there is known "dead reckoning," in which a distance sensor, a heading sensor (magnetic sensor or turning angular velocity sensor) and a processing unit (e.g., computer) for processing distance and heading data obtained from the distance and heading sensors are employed and the current location data of a moving body are obtained by using an amount of distance change δ1 and a heading θ (case of the magnetic sensor) or amount of heading change δθ (case of the turning angular velocity sensor). A description of the "vehicle" will hereinafter be given, and in a case where "travel" of the vehicle and "navigation" of the aircraft or ship are used together, the "travel" is used. In the dead reckoning method, the east-west directional component δ× (=δ1×cos θ) and south-north directional component δy (=δ1×sin θ) of the distance change amount δ1 that occurs as the vehicle moves along a street are calculated, and current location output data (Px, Py) are obtained by adding the calculated components δx and δy to the previous location output data (Px', Py'). However, conventional systems using dead reckoning have their disadvantages in that the accumulation of error occurs due to inherent limitations on the achievable accuracy of the heading sensor.
That is to say, when the heading sensor is a magnetic sensor which senses earth magnetism for obtaining the absolute heading of a moving body, the magnetic sensor senses the feeble intensity of the Earth's magnetic field. Therefore, if the moving body is magnetized, an error will occur in the output data from the magnetic sensor. In order to compensate for this error, the initialization of the magnetic sensor is performed. However, when the moving body passes through regions including magnetic disturbance, such as railroad crossings, places wherein power cables are buried, iron bridges, highways with sound insulating walls and high buildings, the moving body is subjected to the influence of the strong electromagnetic field and therefore the amount of the magnetization of the moving body varies. For this reason, sometimes errors occur again during traveling. Therefore, unless the magnetic sensor output data containing such magnetic disturbance is detected with accuracy and removed, an accurate heading of the moving body cannot be obtained.
When, on the other hand, the turning angular velocity sensor is employed, it is known that errors in the sensor output data will appear frequently at the time that the heading change has become more than a predetermined value, at the time that the power source is turned on, at the time that the vehicle travels at very low speeds or at the time that it is detected that the vehicle is traveling on rough roads such as mountain roads. Unless compensation for that errors is made, the dead reckoned position will become increasingly imprecise or inaccurate.
Then, it has been proposed that both the turning angular velocity sensor and the magnetic sensor are used. If either the turning angular velocity sensor output data or the magnetic sensor output data is reduced in reliability, one data can be compensated for by the other data.
That is to say, in a heading detecting apparatus, in which a current location of a moving body is obtained by reading and storing output data of the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors and calculating the current heading of the moving body from those sensor output data and from the previous estimated heading, a current estimated heading of the moving body can be obtained by calculating Kalman filter gain in consideration of characteristic errors inherently contained in the output data from the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors, and by processing the magnetic sensor heading data and the heading data calculated from the turning angular velocity sensor output, with a weight processing method based on the calculated Kalman filter gain. However, in this method, it is important how the characteristic error components contained in the output data from the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors are evaluated.
That is to say, the individual error components are evaluated by some method and if these are set to constant values, the processing can be most easily performed. However, setting to the constant values is insufficient because the error component in the output of the magnetic sensor is sometimes increased rapidly due to the changes in the magnetized amount during traveling, and it is desirable to evaluate the error components accurately at real time by some method. In addition, since a bias value that is contained in the output data from the turning angular velocity sensor varies with time, it is necessary to take into consideration the error in the turning angular velocity sensor data resulting from that variation. Furthermore, it is also necessary to take the scale factor (output gain) of the turning angular velocity sensor into consideration because sometimes the scale factor departs from a standard value.
The inventor of the present invention has proposed a heading detecting apparatus (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-329851), which measures the output data from the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors and processes them at real time and is capable of accurately estimating the current heading of a moving body with the aid of the data higher in reliability among the both output data from the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors. In this apparatus, only dispersion values that are contained in the final output data from the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors are measured and processing is performed in accordance with the measured dispersion values. Therefore, this apparatus does not take into consideration individual error factors contained in the output data of the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a heading detecting apparatus which is capable of estimating a current heading of a moving body accurately by individually analyzing and evaluating the error factors contained in the heading data of the magnetic sensor and in the angular velocity data of the turning angular velocity sensor and by determining the rate of use of the output data of the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above object, a heading detecting apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a magnetic sensor for sensing a heading of a moving body and a turning angular velocity sensor for sensing a heading of the moving body.
First means (A) is connected to the turning angular velocity sensor (43) for measuring an error of a bias value that is contained in an output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) as the moving body is in its stopped state.
Second means (B) is connected to the first means (A) for calculating a current error that is contained in the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43), in accordance with the error of the bias value calculated by the first means (A) that is multiplied by an elapsed time after the moving body moves, a change rate of time of the error of the bias value multiplied by the elapsed time, and the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) multiplied by an error of a scale factor of the turning angular velocity sensor (43).
Third means (C) is connected to the magnetic sensor (42) for calculating a magnetized amount of the moving body and an error of the magnetized amount from heading data outputted from the magnetic sensor (42) under a predetermined condition as the moving body is in its traveling state.
Fourth means (D) is connected to the third means (C) for calculating a change in the magnetized amount of the moving body and an error of the change from heading data outputted from the magnetic sensor (42) under a predetermined condition as the moving body is in its traveling state.
Fifth means (E) is connected to the fourth means (D) for calculating a current magnetized amount of the moving body and an error of the current magnetized amount in accordance with the magnetized amount of the moving body and the error of the magnetized amount that were calculated by the third means (C) and with the change in the magnetized amount of the moving body and the error of the change that were calculated by the fourth means (D).
Sixth means (F) is connected to the turning angular sensor (43) and to the magnetic sensor (42) for calculating a change in a difference between the heading data of the magnetic sensor (42) and heading data obtained from the output of the turning angular sensor (43).
Seventh means (G) is connected to the fifth means (E) and to the sixth means (F) for calculating an error that is contained in heading data output of the magnetic sensor (42), in accordance with the change in the difference between the heading data of the magnetic sensor (42) and the heading data obtained from the output of the turning angular sensor (43) that was calculated by the sixth means (F) and in accordance with the error of the current magnetized amount of the moving body calculated by the fifth means (E).
Eighth means (H) is connected to the second means (B) and to the seventh means (G) for calculating a Kalman filter gain by calculating a reliability in the output data of each sensor (42, 43) from the error in the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) calculated by the second means (B) and from the error of the heading data output of the magnetic sensor (42) calculated by the seventh means (G).
Ninth means (I) is connected to the eighth means (H) for calculating a current estimated heading of the moving body by processing the heading data calculated from the magnetic sensor output and the heading data calculated from the turning angular sensor output with weight processing based upon the Kalman filter gain.
First, an error of a bias value that is contained in the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) as the moving body is in its stopped state is calculated by the first means (A). The reason why the data from the turning angular velocity sensor as the moving body is in its stopped state are sampled is that the turning angular velocity sensor output during vehicle's stop contains the bias value only.
Next, based on the error of the bias value calculated by the first means (A) that is multiplied by an elapsed time after the moving body moves, a change rate of time of the error of the bias value multiplied by the elapsed time, and the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) multiplied by an error of a scale factor of the turning angular velocity sensor (43), a current error contained in the output of the turning angular velocity sensor (43) is calculated by the second means (B).
Next, by the third means (C), a magnetized amount of the moving body and the error thereof are calculated under a predetermined condition as the moving body is in its traveling state, and by the fourth means (D), a change in the magnetized amount of the moving body and an error of the change are calculated. The "under a predetermined condition" is conditions such as curve travel and the like in which the magnetized amount of the moving body and the error thereof can calculated from the heading data of the magnetic sensor. The reason why the change in the magnetized amount of the moving body is calculated by the fourth means (D) is that the magnetized amount changes due to the above described factors (railroad crossing, etc.)
Next, by the fifth means (E), based on the magnetized amount of the moving body and the error of the magnetized amount that were calculated by the third means (C) and based on the change in the magnetized amount of the moving body and the error of the change that were calculated by the fourth means (D), a current magnetized amount of the moving body and an error of the current magnetized amount are calculated.
And, by the sixth means (F), a change in a difference between the heading data of the magnetic sensor (42) and heading data obtained from the output of the turning angular sensor (43) is calculated. Sometimes a difference occurs between the heading data from the turning angular velocity sensor and the heading data calculated from the magnetic sensor output. However, for a short period of time, that difference is caused by the error in the heading data of the magnetic sensor rather than by the error in the heading data calculated from the angular velocity sensor output, so the difference is thought of as an error in the heading data of the magnetic sensor.
In the seventh means (G), based on the error of the heading data of the magnetic sensor (42) calculated by the sixth means (F) and on the error of the magnetized amount of calculated by the fifth means (E), an error that is contained in heading data output of the magnetic sensor (42) is calculated.
And, with the eighth means (H), a reliability in the output data of each sensor is calculated from the error in the output of the turning angular velocity sensor calculated by the second means (B) and from the error of the heading data output of the magnetic sensor calculated by the seventh means (G), and then a Kalman filter gain is calculated. By the ninth means (I), by processing the heading data calculated from the magnetic sensor output and the heading data calculated from the turning angular sensor output with weight processing based upon the Kalman filter gain, a current estimated heading of the moving body is calculated.
Therefore, the current heading of the moving body can be estimated accurately by individually analyzing and evaluating the error factors contained in the output data of the magnetic and turning angular velocity sensors and by determining the rate of use of the output data of the magnetic and turning angular velocity sensors. Particularly, by taking the error of the gyro scale factor into consideration, the error of the gyro output can be evaluated accurately. Therefore, the Kalman gain, which is the rate of use of the output data of the magnetic and turning angular velocity sensors, can be set a suitable value, so that the vehicle heading can be sensed more accurately. Of course, in addition to the errors described above, various errors, such as an error of quantization at the time of A/D conversion, can be taken into consideration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a heading detecting apparatus incorporating the principles of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the heading detecting apparatus;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a heading detecting sequence;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the travel track of a vehicle obtained with the aid of the heading detecting apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a change in the heading during travel as the error of a gyro scale factor is taken into consideration and illustrating the rate of use of magnetic sensor data; and
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a change in the heading during travel as the error of a gyro scale factor is not taken into consideration and illustrating the rate of use of magnetic sensor data.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a heading detecting apparatus of the present invention which may be employed in a vehicle navigational system. The heading detecting apparatus comprises a wheel sensor 41 which senses the number of rotations of the left and right wheels (not shown) respectively of a vehicle (this sensor is used as a distance sensor), a magnetic sensor 42 for sensing the heading of a vehicle, a first A/D (analog-to-digital) converter 42a connected to the magnetic sensor 42, a gyro 43, and a second A/D converter 43a connected to the gyro 43. The gyro 43 is selected from among an optical fiber gyro which reads a turning angular velocity as a phase change of interference light, a vibration gyro which senses a turning angular velocity with the aid of a cantilever vibration technique of a piezoelectric element, and a mechanical type gyro. The gyro 43 is used as a turning angular velocity sensor which senses the heading of a vehicle. The heading detecting apparatus further comprises a road map memory 2 for storing road map data, a locator 1 which calculates an estimated heading of a vehicle in accordance with the output data sensed by the gyro 43 and magnetic sensor 42 and also calculates the location of the vehicle with the aid of the data of the wheel sensor 41, a buffer memory 3 to which the location and heading of the vehicle are inputted, a data memory 6 connected to the locator 1 for storing magnetized amount data that are contained in the data of the magnetic sensor 42 and a dispersion of the magnetized amount data and for storing a gyro bias value that is contained in the data of the gyro and a dispersion of the gyro bias value, a navigation controller 5, a display 7 connected to the navigation controller 5 for displaying on the map the vehicle current location read out of the buffer memory 3, and a keyboard connected to the navigation controller 5.
In the locator 1 described above, the number of rotations of the wheel is obtained by counting the number of the pulses outputted from the wheel sensor 41 with a counter (not shown), and travel distance output data per unit time are calculated by multiplying the count data of the counter by a predetermined constant number indicative of a distance per one count. Also, a relative change in the vehicle heading is obtained from the gyro 43. Then, based on the relative change and the absolute heading output data of the magnetic sensor 42, the locator 1 calculates the heading output data of the vehicle, as will be described below.
The above described road map memory 2 stores road map data of a given area in advance and comprises a semiconductor memory, cassette tape, CD-ROM, IC memory, DAT or the like.
The above described display 7 comprises a CRT display, crystalline liquid display or the like and displays a road map that the vehicle is travelling and a current location of the vehicle.
The above described navigation controller 5 is constituted by a figure processor, an image processing memory and the like, and generates instructions to perform a retrieval of the map on the display 7, switching of scale, scrolling, a display of the vehicle current location and the like.
The above described memory 6 stores a gyro bias value Bo, a gyro bias correction error qo, an estimated change rate ε of the gyro bias error, a noise component N that is contained in the gyro output, a scale factor error A of the gyro (rate of a turning angle measured from the gyro output and an actual turning angle), a magnetized amount Mn of the vehicle, a dispersion value Xn 2 of the magnetized amount Mn, a magnetized amount change δMn, and a dispersion value Yn 2 of the magnetized amount change δMn. These values are calculated as follows.
The output data δθG of the gyro 43 and the output data θH of the magnetic sensor 42 are sampled every a constant time. If it is assumed that the time to the current process from the previous process is δt, the number of samplings will be proportional to the time δt.
The output data δθG of the gyro as the vehicle is in its stopped state is normally zero, but it will appear if a bias occurs in the gyro. In estimating this gyro bias value Bo, the value, which has been used during the travel before the vehicle stops, is used as it is. Of course, the gyro output data during vehicle's stop can also be integrated and averaged.
The error qo of the gyro bias value represents what extent of fluctuation the gyro bias value Bo has, and is obtained by reading a plurality of the gyro output data during stop and calculating a dispersion that is contained in that gyro output data.
The estimated change rate ε of the gyro bias error is a value that is obtained from experience as a function of temperature, etc.
The magnetized amount Mn can be obtained by calculating the center of a geomagnetism heading circle from a heading change amount as the vehicle turns and from the output data of the gyro 43 before and after the vehicle turns (see Japanese patent "kokai" publication No. 63-128222).
The dispersion value Xn 2 of the magnetized amount Mn is a dispersion value that is contained in the magnetized amount Mn calculated each time the vehicle turns.
The magnetized amount change δMn is a change in the magnetized amount (the moving direction and magnitude of the center of the geomagnetism heading circle) as the vehicle is subjected to a great change of the magnetic field during travel, and Yn 2 is a dispersion value of the magnetized amount change δMn.
If it is assumed that the previous magnetized amount is M' and the current magnetized amount is M, the magnetized amount change δMn will be calculated by the following equation:
δMn=k1+k2M'+k3M+k4M'M+k5M'.sup.2 M.sup.2 -M
where k1 to k5 are coefficients, respectively. The coefficients k1 to k5 are calculated based on the data as a specific vehicle was actually magnetized. The dispersion value Yn 2 is the remainder as the coefficients k1 to k5 were determined by the above method.
The vehicle heading detecting sequence by the apparatus constructed as described above will hereinafter be described in detail. During travel, the vehicle location and map are displayed on the display 7 in accordance with the individual sensor output data read and stored in the locator 1. Also, during the display, the data (the number of break-ins is indicated by a subscript n) of the magnetized amount Mn, the dispersion value Xn 2 , the magnetized amount change δMn, and the dispersion value Yn 2 are read every a constant time by break-in, and then the vehicle heading is updated. The vehicle heading detecting flow at the time of this break-in is shown in FIG. 3. It is noted that the break-in may also be made every a constant distance that is obtained based on the output data indicative of the distances traveled by the vehicle. The above described constant time or distance is set, depending upon the type of the turning angular velocity sensor and the functional performance of the magnetic sensor.
In step (1), the output data δθG of the gyro 43 and the output data θH of the magnetic sensor 42 are read. Next, in step (2), the gyro bias value Bo, gyro bias error qo, change rate ε of the gyro bias error, noise component N, and the gyro scale factor error A are read out of the data memory 6. In step (3), the magnetized amount Mn, the dispersion value Xn 2 , the magnetized amount change δMn, and the dispersion value Yn 2 are read out of the data memory 6. The magnetized amount Mn and the dispersion value Xn 2 are obtained only under specific conditions such as curve travel, so the latest values are not always obtained during travel. Therefore, in step (4), based on the magnetized amount change δMn and the dispersion value Yn 2 , a Kalman filer coefficient an representing a weight ratio of a current estimated amount and the previous estimated amount, a current estimated magnetized amount μn and the dispersion value μvn 2 of μn are obtained as follows:
μn=αnMn+(1-αn) (Mn-1+δMn)
αn=(Yn.sup.2 +μvn-1.sup.2)/(Xn.sup.2 +Yn.sup.2 +μvn-1.sup.2)
μvn.sup.2 =αnXn.sup.2
Then, based on each data that were read out, the current estimated heading of a vehicle is obtained. In order to obtain the current estimated heading, in step (5) the dispersion qn 2 of the output data δθH of the gyro 43 is first calculated by the following equation (I):
qn.sup.2 =(qo+εT).sup.2 δt.sup.2 +N.sup.2 δt+Aδθ (I)
where T is the time that has elapsed from the previous vehicle's stop, qo is a gyro bias error (containing an error of quantization) which is a constant, εT is equal to the change rate of the gyro bias error multiplied by the elapsed time T and is an error resulting from a change (drift) of the gyro bias, and N 2 is a dispersion caused by noises. The reason that the errors qo and εT are added up is that these errors are not considered to be an independent phenomenon. If these errors are considered to be an independent phenomenon, then second power of qo and second power of εT will be added up (Japanese application No. 2-81582). The reason that δt is not squared is that the noise error N is proportional to 1/2 power of the number of additions. δθ is a change between the previous turning angle and the current turning angle, and Aδθ is a dispersion of the turning angle caused by the error of the scale factor. The value of A depends on the surrounding temperature and is determined every a certain temperature range as a gyro standard. Therefore, the value of A is used as it is.
Next, the dispersion rn 2 of the output data θH of the magnetic sensor 42 will be calculated by the following equation:
rn.sup.2 =rD.sup.2 +rQ.sup.2 +rL.sup.2 +(tn.sup.2 -σn-1.sup.2)+rμn.sup.2
where
rD=constant part of an error that is contained in the output data θH of the magnetic sensor 42,
rQ=quantization error=1/(2×geomagnetism level),
rL=level error=0.7×|geomagnetism level difference |/estimated value of geomagnetism level,
τn=difference between the heading obtained from the output of the gyro 43 and the heading of the magnetic sensor 42=(θn-1+δθn)-θHn,
σn-1 2 =dispersion of the previous estimated heading θn-1,
τn 2 -σn-1 2 =dispersion contained in τn--dispersion of the previous estimated heading θn-1=dispersion that is contained for the first time in the estimated heading, and
rμn 2 =dispersion of the heading data of the magnetic sensor resulting from the dispersion of the magnetized amount.
It is noted that it is assumed that the various errors described above arise independently of one another, and the dispersion rn 2 is obtained by the sum of dispersion values based on the individual factors.
In step (6), by using qn 2 and rn 2 , an estimated heading θ in which errors are taken into consideration is calculated by the following equation:
θn=βnθHn+(1-βn)(θn-1+δθGn)
where
θ is a current heading, θn-1 is the previous heading, δθGn and θHn are sensor output data that are used as the current heading is calculated, and βn is a Kalman gain which is a variable of 0<β<1. By using the previous Kalman gain
βn-1, βn is obtained by the following equation:
βn=(qn.sup.2 +σn-1.sup.2)/(qn.sup.2 +rn.sup.2 +σn-1.sup.2)
The dispersion of the estimated heading is calculated by the following equation:
σn.sup.2 =βnτn.sup.2
As described above, the mean and dispersion of the gyro bias estimated value, the error of the change rate of that estimated value, the noise component, the error of the gyro scale factor, the mean and dispersion of the magnetized amount contained in the magnetic sensor output, and the mean and dispersion of the change amount of that magnetized amount have been calculated and stored. Then, when calculating the estimated heading of a vehicle, the dispersions that are contained in the output data of the gyro and magnetic sensor are respectively calculated from the aforesaid stored data, and an estimated heading can be obtained based on the data that have been weighted. From this estimated heading and the distance data of the wheel sensor 41, the estimated location of a vehicle can be calculated. At this point, it is a matter of course that a map matching method may be used which compares an estimated location with road map, evaluates a degree of correlation with respect to road map data, corrects the estimated location and displays the current location of a vehicle on roads (Japanese patent "kokai" publication Nos. 63-148115 and 64-53112).
FIG. 4 illustrates the travel track of a vehicle that was obtained using the heading detecting apparatus described above. The vehicle starts from an A point and passes through railroad crossings B1, B2 and through corners D, E and returns back to the A point. Before and after the vehicle passes through an iron bridge C, it travels loops C1 and C2. The actual roads on the map are indicated by the solid line L of FIG. 4. The travel track obtained by the heading detecting apparatus of the present invention is indicated by the broken line L1. The travel track obtained by the following equation (II) in which the error A of the gyro scale factor is not taken into consideration is indicated by the one-dot chain line L2 (it is noted that Japanese patent application No. 2-81582 discloses equation in which the noise component N is ignored and the errors qo and εT are independent from each other, but it is essentially identical to equation (II)).
qn.sup.2 =(qo+εT).sup.2 δt.sup.2 +N.sup.2 δt(II)
As shown in FIG. 4, the travel track is departed from the actual road at the railroad crossing B1, but this is due to an error in the initial heading.
FIG. 5 illustrates the estimated heading θ obtained by the above described equation (I) in which the error A of the gyro scale factor is taken into consideration, the heading based on the magnetic sensor, and the rate of use βn (Kalman gain) of the magnetic sensor data. FIG. 6 illustrates the estimated heading θ obtained by the above described equation (II) in which the error A of the gyro scale factor is not taken into consideration, the heading based on the magnetic sensor, and the rate of use βn (Kalman gain) of the magnetic sensor data. The abscissas of FIG. 5 represents the distances traveled along the D, E and A points of FIG. 4 by the vehicle. Likewise, the abscissas of FIG. 6 represents the distances traveled along the D, E and A points.
The travel of the vehicle along the track L1 of FIG. 4 is first explained in conjunction with FIG. 5. When the vehicle travels over the loop C1 after it traveled the point D, the estimated heading θ repeats a change to 180° from -180° two times. That is, the estimated heading θ changes 360° along the loop C1. And, when the vehicle travels the iron bridge C, the noise component is slightly increased. When the vehicle travels over the next loop C2, the estimated heading θ repeats a change to 180° from -180° two times. At the F point, the vehicle undergoes extrinsic noises. After the vehicle travels the corner E, the direction of the vehicle changes to about right angles, so a constant change has arisen in the estimated heading θ.
The difference between the tracks L1 and L2 will hereinafter be explained in conjunction with FIG. 6. As compared with FIG. 5, the difference is that the estimated heading after the E point is different, the rate of use βn of the magnetic sensor is low, and a difference between the heading of the magnetic sensor and the estimated heading is large.
The reason that the rate of use βn is low can be considered as follows. When equation (II) is used, the error A of the gyro scale factor is not taken into consideration, so the errors contained in the gyro output are evaluated to be smaller than actual errors. That is, since the reliability in the gyro output is evaluated to be higher than actual reliability, so that the rate of use of the magnetic sensor output is reduced. For this reason, the difference between the heading of the magnetic sensor and the estimated heading becomes large. However, when equation (I) is used, the error A of the gyro scale factor is taken into consideration, so the reliability in the gyro output is not overestimated. Therefore, the rate of use βn of the magnetic sensor becomes higher. And, as a result of the reliability in the gyro output being evaluated correctly, the difference between the heading of the magnetic sensor and the estimated heading becomes smaller, and the estimated heading of the vehicle after the E point is more accurate than that obtained by equation (II). This is clear by the fact that in FIG. 4, the track L1 between the E and A points is parallel to the actual road L. Accordingly, when the reliability in the gyro output is evaluated, the accuracy in the detected heading can be considerably increased by taking the gyro scale factor error A into consideration.
While the subject invention has been described with relation to the preferred embodiment, various modifications and adaptations thereof will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the noise component contained in equation (I) can be ignored. | A heading detecting apparatus which calculates a Kalman filter gain by individually analyzing and evaluating error factors contained in the output data of turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors, determines the rate of use of the turning angular velocity and magnetic sensors on the basis of the Kalman filter gain and estimates a current heading of a moving body. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to an intra-corpus imaging instrument.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0002] Endoscopes are used for a variety of examinations and treatments in lumens in the body. For example, colonoscopes and gastroscopes for the digestive system, bronchoscopes for the respiratory system, etc.
[0003] Endoscope units often comprise two parts: an inserted part, which penetrates into the body lumen, and a handle, which is used by the doctor to hold and control the unit.
[0004] The inserted part comprises a long, flexible trunk coming out of the handle, followed by gimbals topped by the head. The gimbals enable the head to turn in any direction for steering the unit. The head comprises a vision system as well as various ingresses and egresses for operating the unit and for operating various medical systems via the unit. For example, the head can include lenses for viewing, light sources for illuminating the field of view, and apertures for delivering various materials and instruments, such as liquids to clean the lens, liquids to distend the lumen, fluoroscopes, sampling devices, and therapeutic devices. The inserted part comprises several thin canals leading to the apertures, as well as a connection to the lenses and a power connection for the light sources. The connection to the lenses can comprise a fiber optic cable to carry the image or, if the lens is provided with CCD circuitry to convert the image to data, a data link.
[0005] The unit also houses steering cords connected to controls on the handle that enable a user to steer the endoscope by retracting or extending the cords. The steering cords run to the head of the endoscope, where the gimbals enables the head to be steered in any direction, thereby enabling the doctor to steer the unit.
[0006] Insertion and retraction of the unit is usually done manually by the doctor who physically pushes the trunk into the body lumen, steering by means of the handle.
[0007] Ancillary equipment connected to the proximal end of the endoscope unit are collectively referred to as a workstation and can include:
[0008] 1. Water pump system.
[0009] 2. Compressor for air pressure.
[0010] 3. Electrical power supply for light.
[0011] 4. Image processing unit.
[0012] 5. Vacuum pump.
[0013] The ancillary equipment connects to the endoscope via tubes and cables. Therefore an improved endoscope can be connected to an existing workstation by use of an adaptor that interfaces between the workstation connections and the endoscope connections.
[0014] Existing endoscopes are built for repeated use and therefore must be cleaned and disinfected between uses. This is an expensive time-consuming task. As a corollary, to ensure that a clean endoscope is available at all times, a stock of endoscopes must be maintained, since at any given time some of the endoscopes may not be ready for reuse. It would be preferable to provide a disposable, sterile endoscope. Existing endoscopes are too expensive to be disposable.
[0015] Existing endoscopes also have a high amortization rate caused by bending that breaks interior parts of the endoscope, by chemicals used in the cleaning of the system that attack the lenses, and by liquids that eventually infiltrate the electronic components of the device. Endoscope repair is typically very expensive. On average, an endoscope goes out of service within a thousand uses.
[0016] The present invention provides an economical mass produced design, enabling the endoscope to be disposable. The trunk, gimbals, and head are all mass-produced, for example with extruded plastic.
[0017] In one embodiment, the gimbals comprise a series of links interconnected by cardan joints, perforated for passage of internal tubes and cables and connected to one another by two opposed thin hinges (cardan joint), with the hinges on every other pair of disks situated at 90 degrees to the hinges of the previous disk pair. In this configuration, navigational control wires running from the handle to the head of the device can be pulled and released to steer the head, the gimbals providing freedom of movement in any direction.
[0018] In an alternative embodiment, the gimbals consist of a simple convoluted tube comprising thicker inner rings alternating with thinner outer rings, wherein the outer rings provide the required freedom of movement.
[0019] The typical endoscope is a complex metal device comprising a housing in which each internal cable and tube running from the workstation to the head has its own casing. The need for individual casings is an added expense. A further advantage of using an extruded solid flexible tube for the trunk is that it comprises lumens for the internal cables and tubes, thereby eliminating the need for casings for each individual cable and tube.
[0020] As the endoscope is inserted into the patient, it is desirable to have a means for varying the stiffness of the trunk. For example, when the trunk is starting to go through a sharp curve, it is desirable to increase stiffness (sacrificing flexibility) in order to prevent the trunk from buckling from opposing forces generated by the insertion force on the one hand and the resistance on the head on the other hand.
[0021] It is therefore desirable to have a user-controlled stiffening element for the trunk. The stiffening element could be a cable pulling on the steering cables thereby compressing the trunk, additional separated cable or cables, wires inserted into the trunk to directly impart stiffness, or a fluid (liquid or gas) inserted into the trunk to directly impart stiffness.
[0022] Manual insertion of the endoscope is not always the best method since it can accidentally cause internal punctures in the body. It is therefore desirable to have alternative means of driving the head. There are several possibilities, including pumping a stream of liquid against the inside of the head or mechanically imparting linear motion on the trunk, for example by rollers or other auxiliary propelling device.
[0023] Another problem associated with endoscopes is providing maximum size and number of access channels in the tube. One of the limiting factors is the geometries of the channel cross sections, particularly at the distal end of the endoscope), which are normally circular in shape. A better use of space can be achieved by varying the cross-sectional shape of these elements according to the needs of the particular application. For example, if a larger diameter tool channel is required, the cleaning water channel can be made crescent-shaped to accommodate the area needed for the tool channel. In other words, instead of just circular, the cross sectional shape of the channel can be other geometrical or any other shape—referred to herein as polymorphic.
[0024] Another problem associated with endoscopes is that the viewing lens must be kept a minimum distance from the wall of the lumen to avoid occlusion of the lens. This can be prevented by covering the lens with a cover, which may be a cap incorporated with the lens assembly or a separate cap.
[0025] Another problem associated with endoscopes is that the intensity of the light sources used for illuminating the device's viewing field and in the fluoroscope is fixed. This can be improved with the addition of an adjustable power control, such as a rheostat to the light sources.
[0026] Accordingly, several objects and advantages of preferred embodiments of the present endoscope invention are (some features are optional):
low cost disposable and sterile mass produced from an inexpensive material head, gimbals, and/or trunk are produced cheaply enough to justify making the unit disposable. head, gimbals, and/or trunk are produced employing injection molding or extrusion or other manufacturing method. head, gimbals, and/or trunk are connected together with simple pressure-fit connector or manufactured as one piece propelled by manual insertion, liquid pressure, or drive wheel user-controlled trunk stiffness (complete or partial) by tensioning steering cords, inserting reinforcing fluid, or inserting reinforcing wires cross-sectional shapes and areas of the channels running through the trunk and their outlets in the head are adjusted as necessary to achieve the most efficient footprint. lenses are protected by a cap the intensity of the light sources is user-controlled CCD (or CMOS or other imaging device) is placed substantially perpendicular to or inclined with respect to the line of sight so that its side faces the head, and a mirror under the lens redirects the viewed image onto the CCD at the correct angle, thereby maintaining minimum CCD footprint. the drive-control handle is reusable an adapter connects the endoscope to a workstation (which may be of any existing make).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0040] There is thus provided, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, an endoscope for use in connection and combination with controls and a workstation, the endoscope for inserting into a body lumen to diagnose or treat a medical condition, the endoscope comprising:
[0041] flexible elongated solid body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising cavities provided for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head along twists and convolutions in the lumen; and
[0000] a stiffening mechanism for hardening at least a portion of the body, so as to allow hardening of said at least a portion of the body during navigation of the endoscope within the body lumen.
[0042] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the stiffening mechanism comprises one or more cables, connected to the head or other parts of the body, which when pulled effectively stiffen said at least a portion of the endoscope.
[0043] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the stiffening mechanism comprises at least one elongated insert for insertion into a cavity and provide added stiffness to said at least a portion of the endoscope.
[0044] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the stiffening mechanism comprises at least one cavity for filling with a fluid.
[0045] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the fluid comprises liquid.
[0046] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the fluid comprises gas.
[0047] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the endoscope is further provided with a reservoir for containing the fluid and providing it when desired.
[0048] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sections of at least some of the cavities are circular.
[0049] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sections of at least some of the cavities are polygonal.
[0050] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sections of at least some of the cavities are amorphous.
[0051] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cross-sections of at least some of the cavities are characterized as lacking symmetry.
[0052] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the section with greater flexibility comprises a plurality of links interconnected by cardan joints.
[0053] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the section with greater flexibility comprises a concatenated section.
[0054] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the endoscope is further provided with an auxiliary propelling unit for coupling with and propelling the endoscope.
[0055] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary propelling unit is operable manually.
[0056] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary propelling unit is motor-operated.
[0057] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, at least some of the cavities with outlets at external surfaces of the distal portion facilitating exit of jets of fluid from the outlets thus providing jet propulsion to the endoscope.
[0058] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the body is made of several separate parts, that are connectable.
[0059] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the parts are provided with snap connectors for fast connection.
[0060] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, cords are further provided, inserted through at least some of the cavities, each cord connected to the head, thus enabling manipulating orientation of the head by pulling one or more cords.
[0061] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope for use in connection and combination with controls and a workstation, the endoscope for inserting into a body lumen to diagnose or treat a medical condition, the endoscope comprising:
[0062] flexible elongated solid body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising cavities provided for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head along twists and convolutions in the lumen; and
[0063] an orientation control mechanism for controlling the orientation of the head, comprising at least one of a plurality of cords passing through at least one of the cavities and connected to the distal portion, allowing manipulating of the orientation of the head by pulling or releasing some or all of the cords.
[0064] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope for use in connection and combination with controls and a workstation, the endoscope for inserting into a body lumen to diagnose or treat a medical condition, the endoscope comprising:
[0065] flexible elongated solid body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising a solid body provided with a plurality of cavities for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head along twists and convolutions in the lumen.
[0066] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope for use in connection and combination with controls and a workstation, the endoscope for inserting into a body lumen to diagnose or treat a medical condition, the endoscope comprising:
[0067] flexible elongated solid body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising cavities provided for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head along twists and convolutions in the lumen; and
[0068] an auxiliary propelling device, adapted to be engaged to the flexible elongated solid body, and help in advancing and maneuvering the endoscope in the body lumen.
[0069] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary propelling device comprises a mechanical mechanism operable manually.
[0070] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary propelling device comprises a motor-operated mechanical mechanism.
[0071] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope for use in connection and combination with controls and a workstation, the endoscope for inserting into a body lumen to diagnose or treat a medical condition, the endoscope comprising:
[0072] flexible elongated solid body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising cavities provided for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head along twists and convolutions in the lumen, further provided with cavities with outlets located externally on the flexible elongated solid body, so as to facilitate jets of fluid, when such fluid is pressurized into the cavities, for jet propulsion of the endoscope.
[0073] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an endoscope having a flexible elongated solid body, the body having a proximal portion and a distal portion with a head, the body comprising cavities in the form of a plurality of channels running through it and provided for passing to or from the head materials, data connections, power connections, or instruments, comprising manufacturing the elongated body in extrusion.
[0074] Furthermore, in accordance with some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the method further comprises manufacturing the head employing casting.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0075] FIG. 1 illustrates an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0076] FIG. 2A illustrates in section view, a connector component for connecting primary components of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0077] FIG. 2B illustrates in greater detail the connector of FIG. 2A .
[0078] FIG. 3 illustrates in side section view the viewing components in the head of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0079] FIG. 4 illustrates in top view the distal end of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0080] FIG. 5A illustrates in isometric view, steering controls and stiffening controls of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0081] FIG. 5B illustrates in side section view, components for stiffening the endoscope trunk by tensioning of the steering cords in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0082] FIG. 6 illustrates in side section view, components for stiffening the endoscope trunk by pumping in fluids in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0083] FIG. 7 illustrates in side section view, components for stiffening the endoscope trunk by insertion of reinforcing cables in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0084] FIG. 8 illustrates in side section view a fluid-propulsion mechanism for an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0085] FIG. 9A illustrates in side view a mechanical propulsion mechanism for an endoscope in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0086] FIG. 9B illustrates the propulsion mechanism of FIG. 8A in isometric view.
[0087] FIG. 10A illustrates in isometric view gimbals (with the outer shell removed) of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0088] FIG. 10B illustrates in detail the section shown in FIG. 9A .
[0089] FIG. 10C illustrates in section view, the gimbals of FIGS. 9A and 9C .
[0090] FIG. 11 illustrates in isometric view alternative gimbals in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0091] FIG. 12A illustrates in top section, the trunk of an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0092] FIG. 12B illustrates the two side section views indicated in FIG. 12A .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0093] The present invention is an endoscope for working inside lumens of a patient's body. The proximal end of the endoscope is normally connected to a workstation, which can comprise various ancillary devices, such as water pump, air compressor, electrical power supply etc.
[0094] FIG. 1 is a general view of the endoscope 1000 of the present invention with trunk 100 having a distal end (or head) 200 and proximal end 150 . The length of trunk 100 depends on the desired maximum insertion distance, typically several meters. In FIG. 1 , omitted portions of trunk 100 are indicated by a dashed curved line. Head 200 is inserted into a patient's lumen and comprises components for viewing and openings for injecting and withdrawing materials and devices. Head 200 can be steered by an operator by various means as are known in the art. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, steering is accomplished by retracting and releasing cables passing through trunk 100 and gimbals 700 and attached to head 200 . Head 200 is mounted on gimbals 700 , which enables it to be steered freely in any direction. Trunk 100 is flexible enough to follow head 200 and gimbals 700 .
[0095] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 , proximal end 150 is part of a handle 400 with controls whereby an operator controls steering of and insertion/removal of head 200 into/from the patient's lumen and whereby the operator inserts and removes materials, connections, and instruments (such as a fluoroscope) to/from channels running through trunk 100 and gimbals 700 to head 200 . The materials can be various states of matter (e.g., gas, liquid, solid); the connections can be various types including power supply for a viewing light or data link for receiving viewing data; the instruments can include sampling probes, fluoroscopes, therapeutic devices, and other medical instruments. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that the user-control interface provided by handle 150 can be implemented in various ways without affecting the primary innovations of the present invention. Thus, for example, the controls could be implemented on a stationary box, rather than a handle. Handle 400 is optional.
[0096] The precise use, location, and existence of these controls and ingress points is not critical to the novelty and innovation of the current patent. They are provided for reference, and can include:
Ingress 120 for power for navigation light source, for fluoroscope light source, and for other electrical components. Egress 130 for vacuuming out liquids Optional interface to existing workstation 150 Ingress 160 for fluids for cleaning lens at distal end Conduit 180 for data connections Conduit 190 for inserting diagnostic and therapeutic instruments. Control 420 for governing stiffness of trunk 100 Steering controls 440 and 441
[0105] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the power 120 for the navigation light source and/or the fluoroscope light source can be equipped with a rheostat, so that the operator can control the intensity of the light.
[0106] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, several components of the invention are separate pieces connected 102 together. These separate pieces include handle 400 , trunk 100 , gimbals 700 , and head 200 . Alternatively, all or some of these pieces can be manufactured as a single unit.
[0107] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrate a connection point 102 with a connector 810 that can be used for fast, one-time connection of the pieces. Connector 810 comprises a barbed plug inserted into the adjacent ends of each piece.
[0108] One skilled in the art will realize that there are many other types of connectors that can be used to connect the parts. For example, in an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, the handle is reusable while the trunk, gimbals and head are disposable. In that embodiment, a reusable lock ring can be used to connect the handle to the trunk, while barbed one-time plugs connect the trunk to the gimbals and the gimbals to the head.
[0109] The present invention can be manufactured using inexpensive mass production, for example extruded plastic, in which case it can affordably used as a one-time, disposable device. Alternatively, it can be adapted to include both disposable and reusable pieces. For example, handle 400 could be reusable and connected to disposable trunk 100 , gimbals 700 , and head 200 .
[0110] FIG. 3 illustrates in side section view, the viewing components in the head 200 of an endoscope 1000 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0111] An innovation of the present invention is provided by protective cap 210 covers viewing lens 220 , with a gap between the two. Protective cap 210 ensures that if lens 220 is pushed into contact with another object, such as the wall of the lumen, that the gap between cap 220 and lenses 210 maintains depth of field, keeping the image in focus and preventing occlusion by the object. Protective cap 210 is made of translucent, durable material, such as plastic.
[0112] Another innovation of the present invention is provided by a light-bending component 230 , such as a mirror or prism, which reflects images received through lens 220 at a 90 degree angle to CCD component 231 , thereby enabling CCD 231 and its related electronics to be installed on its side, such that CCD's 231 longest dimension lies in parallel with the body of trunk 100 , thereby keeping the area of trunk 100 cross-section taken up by CCD 231 to a minimum, thereby leaving the most space possible for other components such as the channels for inserting and removing materials and instruments.
[0113] FIG. 4 is a top view of head 200 . As shown in the figure, another innovation of the present invention is to vary the cross-sectional shapes and areas of the internal channels 370 used to insert/remove materials/instruments to/from head 200 and of fluoroscope channel 350 . Both these channels are shaped for most efficient use of space. For example, if channel 370 were the traditional round shape, it would take up more area of the cross section, thereby limiting the cross-sectional area of channel 350 and of other channels.
[0114] The figure shows lens cap 310 (same as 210 in FIG. 2A ), light sources 320 (for example, light emitting diodes—LEDs), and lens cap cleanser dispenser 380 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, light sources 320 and fluoroscope 350 are equipped with rheostats at handle 400 so that the operator can control the light intensity.
[0115] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate handle 400 in isometric and section view. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an operator steers head 200 by turning co-axially mounted steering controls (for example knobs) 440 and 441 . Each knob is connected (via axis 460 and 450 respectively) to a pulley ( 461 and 460 respectively) around which loop cords 470 and 471 (respectively), which run from the respective knob, through trunk 100 and gimbals 700 to head 200 . When the knob is turned it pulls one end of the cord and plays out the other end, thereby pulling head 200 back in the direction of the cord end that is being pulled. Cords 470 and 471 are at right angles to one another such that combined adjustment of controls 440 and 441 can turn head in any direction.
[0116] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a stiffening mechanism is provided to enable the operator to vary the stiffness of trunk 100 . The reason for this is that at some junctures during insertion, for example when turning head 200 to negotiate curve in the patient's lumen, it is preferable for the trunk to be more pliant. At other junctures, such as when inserting head 200 further into the lumen, it is preferable for the trunk to be stiffer, thereby preventing it from buckling under the insertion force.
[0117] One embodiment of the stiffening mechanism is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B . User control (for example, knob) 427 is attached to a pulley to which is attached one end of a cord 430 which runs through pulley 427 to steering axes 450 and 460 . An operator can adjust the tension of cord 430 , thereby adjusting the tension on axes 460 and 461 , thereby adjusting the tension on cords 471 and 470 , thereby compressing or relaxing trunk 200 and gimbals 700 , to achieve greater or lesser stiffness.
[0118] A stiffening mechanism for an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6 . Stiffening channels 480 run inside trunk 100 (see also FIG. 12A ). Fluid pump 470 can be operated to insert or remove fluid, thereby controlling stiffness of trunk 100 .
[0119] A stiffening mechanism for another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7 . Again, stiffening channels 480 (see also FIG. 12A ) run inside trunk 100 . This time the stiffening agent is a wire or rod 490 rather than fluid.
[0120] The present invention also provides several optional mechanisms for inserting the endoscope 1000 into the patient in addition to standard automated or manual drive mechanisms.
[0121] With reference to FIG. 8 , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the insertion mechanism comprises a channel 260 through which a propelling fluid (for example, water) is pumped (illustrated by long arrow in FIG. 5 ), through trunk 100 and gimbals 700 to propulsion plate 240 . There the fluid streams out the sides through exhaust 245 (shown with small arrows in FIG. 5 ) into the lumen, from where it is removed through exhaust channel 250 , which is at least one of a plurality of tubes running back along on gimbals 700 and trunk 100 . The force of the fluid on plate 240 drives the endoscope forward. If required, the insertion mechanism can be adapted to enable switching to removal mode, where the exhaust force is directed such that endoscope 1000 can be removed.
[0122] With reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B , another insertion (and in this case, also removal) mechanism 600 for an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention features inflatable collar 640 which an operator inflates from bladder 650 , to anchor endoscope 1000 in an orifice leading to the patient's lumen. For example, in the case of a gastrointestinal exam, collar 640 would anchor endoscope 1000 in the patient's anus. Once endoscope 1000 is anchored, the operator operates a mechanism that applies linear motion control (for example, a roller) 610 moving trunk 100 . In the roller implementation shown, opposition is provided by opposition rollers 630 . Depending on the direction of rotation of motion mechanism 610 , trunk 100 is either inserted into, or retracted from, the patient.
[0123] FIGS. 10A, 10B , and 10 C illustrate a gimbals 700 for an endoscope in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0124] Gimbals 700 comprises pairs of disks 702 that enable head 200 to pivot in any direction. Each disk 702 has internal spaces for the passage of materials, instruments, power and data, etc. In addition, each disk 702 has holes 710 spaced evenly around its perimeter (for example, at angles of 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees from center). Each pair of opposing holes provides passage for the two sides of a steering cord 470 or 471 . The cords terminate at the distal end of the device and are used to steer the device as was described earlier. Disks 702 are “hinged” to each other at two points 720 . The members of the hinge pair are located opposite one another on the disk, each at the point where a hole 710 passes. The bridge pair on one face of a disk is oriented at 90 degrees to the bridge pair on the other face of the disk.
[0125] Operation of steering works as follows. When a steering cord 470 or 471 is retracted by control 440 or 441 , it passes back through its series of holes, pulling back on head 200 . The series of hinges 720 located along the path of the retracted cord act as blocks, preventing the adjoining disks from compressing, however the other series of hinges 720 (oriented at 90 degrees to the cord) function as hinges, allowing the adjoining disks to compress together, thereby causing gimbals 700 to turn in the direction of the retracted cord, thereby turning head 200 .
[0126] Another gimbals 700 mechanism is provided in an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 11 . In this arrangement, simple ridged (“convoluted”) plastic tubing is used, the tubing comprising thinner-walled inner rings alternating with thicker-walled outer rings. When the string is retracted, the thinner inner rings compress along the string's path, thereby turning head 200 .
[0127] The composition of trunk 100 is now described with reference to FIG. 12A , which is a top section view, and FIG. 12B , which comprises the two side section views indicated in FIG. 12A . Trunk 100 comprises a solid core 110 encompassing channels of various cross-sectional shapes running its length. The channels are intrinsic parts of core 110 and are created as part of the manufacturing process.
[0128] The use of the channels depends on the particular application. In most cases, the channels will be used as follows:
tensioning channels 480 steering cord channel 104 video link channel 105 instrument (“working”) channel 106 fluid evacuation channel 107
[0134] Trunk core 110 is encompassed in mesh 108 , which prevents torsion of trunk 100 . Mesh 108 is covered with sheath 109 , which creates a smooth surface for reduced friction and protects mesh 108 .
[0135] It should be clear that the description of the embodiments and attached Figures set forth in this specification serves only for a better understanding of the invention, without limiting its scope as covered by the following Claims.
[0136] It should also be clear that a person in the art, after reading the present specification could make adjustments or amendments to the attached Figures and above described embodiments that would still be covered by the following Claims. | An endoscope ( 1000 ) comprising a flexible elongated solid body ( 110 ) comprising cavities wherein at the distal portion of the body there is a section with greater flexibility than other portions of the body, for enabling an operator to steer the head ( 200 ) along twists and convolutions and a stiffening mechanism ( 480 ) for hardening at least a portion of the body. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as an electronic camera or the like which is configured so as to electronically record image information, and particularly to an image processing apparatus in a memory control system in which the output data from a solid state image sensor is stored in a DRAM.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electronic camera corresponding to a television system (NTSC or PAL) frequently uses SRAM as memory for storing the data of a solid state image sensor because of high access speed. The SRAM has the disadvantage that a memory capacity which is only enough for one image can be contained in the camera body because of the small capacity and high cost of the SRAM. However, the SRAM has advantages with respect to simple control of writes and reads, rapid access, and a relatively short time required for transferring data because the data capacity handled in the camera is small, as described above. The execution of writes and reads to and from memory and the memory address management accompanying the execution can be controlled directly by a microprocessor, without the need for a special memory control system. However, when a recent HDTV system (High Definition Television) is used, the memory capacity must be increased as the amount of the pixel data for one image is increased, and reads, writes and transfers of the data must be performed at high speed. It is preferable from the viewpoint of a balance of cost and packaging area to use a general purpose DRAM memory for an electronic camera which requires a large amount of data.
However, when DRAM is used as memory, read from a solid state image sensor must be temporarily (refresh cycle) stopped for a refresh operation of the DRAM. The time taken from charge storage in the solid state image sensor to data read therefrom is increased by the stop time, thereby generating much dark current and causing noise spots on the sensor.
The control of the DRAM is also complicated, and the processing speed thereof is lower than that of the SRAM. In addition, the refresh operation is required for holding the stored contents, conditions for address setting and write and read timing are severe, and the access speed is low. A system is thus required for appropriately controlling the DRAM while relating it to the solid state image sensor and other peripheral devices.
A solid state image sensor for color images generally has color filters having a plurality of colors (RGB or YMC) which are bonded to the surface thereof in a mosaic or stripe form so that a color is represented by combination of output of a plurality of pixels corresponding to the filters. If the output of a pixel is saturated, therefore, the color of the periphery of the pixel cannot be correctly reproduced. However, when a general object is photographed, the output of the pixels in a portion or the whole of the image plane of the solid state image sensor are sometimes saturated because the object is excessively bright.
If the output from a pixel is greater than a predetermined value, it is generally decided that the pixel is saturated. In reproduction, the gain (GAIN) of the color of the periphery of the pixel is thus decreased by signal processing for preventing the occurrence of a false color.
However, when the dark current of the solid state image sensor is decreased for decreasing the noise thereof on the basis of the image pickup data of the object, as in a conventional element, since the dark currents of the respective pixels are nonuniform, the level of a pixel which is saturated is decreased due to subtraction. As a result, it is impossible to discriminate an unsaturated pixel and a saturated pixel. There is thus the problem of difficulty in processing for suppressing a false color of a high-brightness portion.
The decrease in dark current also causes the following problem: When general recorded data is reproduced to an image, a high noise component is decreased by passing through a filter. In this case, it is assumed that there is a dark current noise, as shown in FIG. 14(b) below. In FIG. 14, the horizontal position is shown on the abscissa, and the amplitude is shown on the ordinate. In this case, the result of subtraction of the dark current as shown in FIG. 14(b) from original data as shown in FIG. 14(a) is as shown in FIG. 14(c) . The resultant data is passed through a filter to produce data as shown in FIG. 14(d). There is thus the problem that the noise cannot completely be removed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the above problems of conventional apparatuses, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus which can obtain a good image without the remarkable unevenness caused by differences in the storage time of a solid state image sensor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus which can simply realize reproduction processing for suppressing the color of a high-brightness portion.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus which can effectively utilize a memory capacity.
In order to achieve the objects, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, an image processing apparatus comprises a solid state image sensor for inputting an optical image thereto and converting the input image into an electric signal; image memory comprising a general purpose DRAM formed by at least one chip and having the need for controlling refresh operations from the outside of the memory chip, a timing signal generator for generating a timing signal for reading from the solid state image sensor; transfer/storage control means for horizontally reading data from the solid state image sensor synchronously with the horizontal read timing signal generated from the timing signal generator, transferring the read data to the DRAM and storing the data therein; first refresh signal generation means for refreshing the DRAM at predetermined time intervals when no data is read from the solid state image sensor; and second refresh signal generation means for refreshing the DRAM a predetermined number of times during the dormant period of the horizontal read timing signal. In the apparatus, the second refresh signal generation means is made effective synchronously with the horizontal read timing signal during read from the solid state image sensor, and the first refresh signal generation means is made effective during the time other than the time of read from the solid state image sensor.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, an image processing apparatus comprises a solid state image sensor for inputting an optical image thereto and converting the image into an electric signal; a storage medium for A/D converting the output data from the solid state image sensor and storing the converted data therein; means for storing the output of the A/D conversion of a first image from the solid state image sensor in a first predetermined region of the storage medium; means for storing the output of the A/D conversion of a second image from the solid state image sensor in a second predetermined region of the storage medium; and operation storage means for adding a first predetermined value to the content of the second storage region of the storage medium, subtracting the content of the first storage region of the storage medium from the result of the addition, and storing the result of the subtraction in the second region of the storage medium. When the output value of the A/D conversion of any desired pixel of the solid state image sensor in which the second image is stored is within a first predetermined range, a second predetermined value is stored in a storage region of the storage medium corresponding to the pixel. When the result value of addition is within a second predetermined range, the result value is replaced by a third predetermined value. When the result value of subtraction is within a third predetermined range, the result value is replaced by a fourth predetermined value.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, an image processing apparatus comprises a solid state image sensor for inputting an optical image thereto and converting the image into an electric signal; a memory for storing the output data from the solid state image sensor; first, second, third and fourth registers for setting first, second, third and fourth addresses, respectively, for writing data in the memory; first counter means initialized to the contents of the first address; first comparison means for comparing the contents of the first counter means with the contents of the second register; second counter means initialized to the contents of the third address; second comparison means for comparing the contents of the second counter with the contents of the fourth register; address selection means for selecting either of the contents of the first counter and the contents of the second counter to output the selected contents to the memory; and a memory control circuit for controlling the operation of the memory.
In accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the first address is a start address for writing data in the memory, the second address is an ending address for writing data in the memory, the third address is a start address for reading data from the memory, and the fourth address is an ending address for reading data from the memory, data fetch from the solid state image sensor being stopped on the basis of output from the first or second comparison means.
In accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention, an image processing apparatus further comprises second memory means for storing the data contents of the memory; means for continuously accessing any desired region on the memory; and means for transferring in blocks, to the second storage means, the data of any desired region on the memory having a capacity smaller than that of one image plane of the solid state image sensor so as to transfer data from the solid state image sensor to the memory between respective transfer data blocks.
In accordance with the first embodiment, the refresh operation of the DRAM is performed in the dormant period (for example, horizontal blanking period) of the horizontal read signal, whereby reading from the solid state image sensor is not stopped in the course of reading an image.
In accordance with the second embodiment, when the output value of A/D conversion of any desired pixel of the solid state image sensor in which a second image (for example, a dark current pattern) corresponding to a first image (for example, an object image) is within a first predetermined range, a second predetermined value is stored in a storage region on the storage medium corresponding to the pixel, and when the value resulting from addition of the first predetermined value to the contents of the second storage region of the storage medium is within a second predetermined range, the addition result is replaced by a third predetermined value. When the value resulting from subtraction of the contents of the first storage region from the addition result is within in a third predetermined range, the addition result is replaced by a fourth predetermined value. Even if noise enters the dark current image, the noise is thus offset, and a dark current can be subtracted without an adverse effect on an original image.
In accordance with the third to fifth embodiments, an image processing apparatus further comprises a dedicated memory controller provided in a camera, and at least four registers for setting addresses on the memory and various sequencers for writing and reading, which are provided in the controller, whereby the DRAM can appropriately be controlled while being related to the solid state image sensor and other peripheral devices.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic camera in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the memory controller shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram continued from FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating data read from a solid state image sensor;
FIG. 5 is another drawing illustrating data read from the solid state image sensor;
FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating a circuit related to refresh timing control;
FIG. 7 is a drawing illustrating the configuration of a DRAM of an electronic camera in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a drawing illustrating the address space of the DRAM in the second embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating the operation timing stored in the DRAM;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating details of the register 117, an operation section 118 and the peripheral portion thereof shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation of the second embodiment;
FIGS. 14(a) through 14(g) are drawings illustrating the effects of the second embodiment; and
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an image processing apparatus (electronic camera) in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image pickup lens; reference numeral 2, a light control member comprising a diaphragm, a shutter and so on; reference numeral 3, a solid state image sensor such as CCD or the like; reference numeral 4, a sample-and-hold circuit for sampling and holding the output from the solid state image sensor 3; reference numeral 5, an A/D converter; reference numeral 6, a memory controller for controlling the refresh operation of DRAM, write and read; reference numeral 7, the DRAM; reference numeral 8, a timing signal generator for generating a timing signal and a sample-and-hold pulse for driving the solid state image sensor 3, and an A/D conversion pulse; reference numeral 9, a control section for controlling a system for an image pickup sequence; reference numeral 10, a storage medium such as a hard disk; and reference numeral 11, a trigger switch.
A description will now be made of a flow of image data accompanying photography by a camera.
An object image passed through the image pickup lens 1 is projected on the solid state image sensor 3. At this time, the control section 9 controls the light control member 2 so that exposure is performed appropriately.
The image data stored in the solid state image sensor 3 is successively read synchronously with the timing signal generated from the timing signal generator 8. The data is then sampled and held by the sample-and-hold circuit 4, and converted to a digital value by the A/D converter 5. The A/D converted data is stored in the DRAM 7 under control by the memory controller 6. The image data stored in the DRAM 7 is read with predetermined timing by the control section 9, and is transferred to the hard disk 10 to bring the data flow to an end.
The storage of the A/D converted data in the DRAM 7 under control by the memory controller 6 in accordance with the present invention is described in detail below.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of the memory controller 6 shown in FIG. 1.
In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 125 denotes a system bus which is connected to the control section 9 shown in FIG. 1 so that a command and data are transmitted between the control section 9 and the memory controller 6 through the system bus 125. In the drawings, reference numerals 101, 102, 103 and 104 respectively denote DRAM address registers for specifying addresses in the DRAM. The address registers 101 and 102 set READ addresses for reading data from the DRAM, and the address registers 103 and 104 set WRITE addresses for writing data to the DRAM.
The address registers 101 and 103 set the start addresses which will be described below, and the address registers 102 and 104 set the ending addresses.
Reference numerals 105 and 107 each denote a counter for updating an address for accessing the DRAM, and reference numerals 106 and 108 each denote a comparator for making comparison and decision whether or not the present access address reaches the ending address. Reference numeral 109 denotes a register for setting a DRAM refresh cycle; reference numeral 114, a refresh counter for counting the refresh cycle; reference numeral 110, a register for receiving a command given from the control section 9 to the memory controller 6; reference numeral 115, a command interpreter for interpreting the kind of the command; reference numeral 111, a WRITE data register for holding write data when any desired data is written in the DRAM; reference numeral 112, a READ data register for transferring the data read from the DRAM to the control section 9; reference numeral 113, a constant register for storing correction constant data for correcting the data stored in the DRAM; reference numeral 117, a register or buffer for storing data to be written to or read from the DRAM; reference numeral 118, an operation section for computing a correction value; reference numeral 119, a buffer for inputting data read from the DRAM thereto; reference numeral 120, a buffer for writing data to the DRAM; reference numeral 121, a data width converter for rearranging the data (40 bits) from the DRAM to the bus width (16 bits) of a hard disk interface; reference numeral 122, the hard disk interface for transmitting data and commands to the hard disk 10; and reference numeral 123, an A/D data register for holding the data output from the A/D converter and timing with the inside of the memory controller 6, which register is latched with clock CLK2. Although not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the whole memory controller 6 is operated with timing with clock CLK1. Reference numeral 124 denotes a data bus having a 40 bit width for reading and writing data from and in the DRAM. Reference numeral 116 denotes a controller for controlling the execution timing of the command received by the controller in the memory controller 6 from the outside and data transfer. Reference numerals 126 and 127 each denote a trigger signal for reading data from the A/D converter 5. The trigger signal 126 is a signal for specifying the start timing of vertical read from the solid state image sensor 3, which is referred to as "VGATE" hereinafter. The trigger signal 127 is a signal for specifying the start timing of horizontal read, which is referred to as "HGATE" hereinafter. Reference numeral 128 denotes a line group output from the command interpreter 115.
Reference numeral 129 denotes a refresh request signal output from the refresh counter 114. Reference numeral 130 denotes a DRAM address buffer for outputting the contents of the counter 105 or 107 to the DRAM on the basis of a selection signal output from the controller 116.
A description will now be made of the operation of storing data from the solid state image sensor to the DRAM in this embodiment configured as described above.
The addresses of writes to the DRAM are previously set in the address registers 103 and 104 shown in FIG. 2. The command (referred to as "PAGE WR MODE" hereinafter) to read from the solid state image sensor is written in the command register 110. The timing signal generator 8 shown in FIG. 1 generates the signals VGATE and HGATE synchronously with the read from the solid state image sensor. This is described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual drawing of timing of the above-described signals VGATE and HGATE.
In FIG. 4, when the signal VGATE is at a HIGH level, data is read from the solid state image sensor. When the signal HGATE is at a LOW level, data read is stopped. Data for predetermined horizontal lines is read from the solid state image sensor during the time from rising of the signal HGATE from the LOW level to the HIGH level to fall to the LOW level. This is described with reference to FIG. 5. The portion ab of the signal HGATE shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the portion ab shown in FIG. 5. Likewise, the portion cd of the signal HGATE shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the portion cd shown in FIG. 5. The refresh operation of the DRAM in accordance with the present invention is performed when the signal HGATE is LOW.
The refresh timing control is described below with reference to FIG. 6.
FIG. 6 shows a circuit contained in the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2. However, FIG. 6 shows only the timing control section for the refresh operation which is directly related to the present invention, not the whole controller 116. Reference numeral 128 denotes one of the output signals from the command interpreter 115 shown in FIG. 2. The signal 128 indicates a mode for writing data read from the solid state image sensor to the DRAM and which is referred to as "PAGE WR MODE" (Page Write Mode) hereinafter.
Reference numerals 200 and 201 each denotes a NAND gate; and reference numerals 202, 203, 204 and 205 each denotes a INVERTER gate. Reference numeral 206 denotes a NOR gate; reference numeral 207, a DRAM signal generator for generating, to the DRAM, various signals such as RAS 209, CAS 210, /W 211 etc; reference numeral 208, a refresh request signal generation counter for generating a refresh request signal in the PAGE WR MODE; reference numeral 209, a row address strobe for the DRAM; reference numeral 210, a column address strobe for the DRAM; reference numeral 211, a write strobe; reference numeral 212, a refresh request signal in a normal state; reference numeral 213, a refresh request signal in the PAGE WR MODE; and reference numeral 214, a refresh execution signal.
The operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 6 is described below.
When no data is read from the solid state image sensor, both signals VGATE and HGATE are at the LOW level, as described above. At this time, the refresh request signal is periodically brought into the HIGH level by the refresh counter 114 shown in FIG. 2. The NAND gate 200 thus periodically outputs the signal Low, and the refresh execution signal is periodically input to the DRAM signal generator 207 through the NOR gate 206. The DRAM signal generator 207 consequently generates the refresh signal.
The refresh operation may be performed by, for example, the CAS BEFORE RAS method.
The DRAM signal generator 207 is a sequencer which is designed so as to output the CAS BEFORE RAS signal once when receiving the refresh execution signal 214.
Data read from the solid state image sensor is described below. When data is read from the solid state image sensor, both signals VGATE and HGATE are as shown in FIG. 4, as described above. Since the signal VGATE becomes the HIGH level, the normal refresh request signal (SREREQ 212) is not generated because the RFREQ signal 129 is inhibited by the NAND gate 200.
On the other hand, the gate 201 becomes the LOW level during the time the signal HGATE is the LOW level (during the period bc shown in FIG. 4). The refresh request signal generation counter 208 for the PAGE WR MODE generates the refresh request signal a predetermined number of times, as shown by PRFREQ in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the refresh request signal is generated two times during the time the signal HGATE is at the LOW level). In this way, when data is read from the solid state image sensor, the refresh operation is executed during the time the signal HGATE is the LOW level.
Although, in the first embodiment, the number of refresh operations is two during the time the signal HGATE is the LOW level, the number of refresh operations depends upon the kind of the DRAM, the number of element lines possessed by the solid state image sensor, and the time required for reading data from the elements.
For example, when the refresh operation is performed with refresh cycles of 4096 cycles/64 milliseconds, i.e., 4096/64=6400 (cycle/sec), by the CAS BEFORE RAS method according to the specifications of the DRAM, and when the solid state image sensor has 1024×1024 pixels and requires 100 micro seconds for reading data for one row, since the minimum cycles for read of one row (100 micro seconds) are 6.4 cycles, at least 7 cycles of refresh operations may be performed. The horizontal read ending period is of course set to a time sufficient to perform at least 7 refresh operations. Although write in the DRAM is not described above, the write in the DRAM may be performed in the high-speed page mode.
The number of refresh cycles may be changed so as to cope with other types of DRAM and solid state image sensors. Since the usual refresh cycles may be changed by changing the count period of the counter 114 shown in FIG. 2, desired cycle data may be written in the refresh cycle register 109.
Similarly, when data is read from the solid state image sensor, the counter 208 shown in FIG. 6 may be set to a value PRESETABLE. As a result, since the PRFREQ (refresh request signal) is output any desired number of times, the number of refresh operations during the time the signal HGATE is the LOW level can be changed. Although, in the above description, it is assumed for the sake of simplification that data is read, line by line, from the solid state image sensor, data for several lines may be read at a time. In this case, the solid state image sensor may have a plurality of output terminals, and a change-over switch may be provided in front of a single A/D converter. Alternatively, data from the plurality of output terminals may be written in the memory as it was. All of these cases, of course, are within the scope of the present invention.
An image processing apparatus in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is described below.
Although the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is assumed that the DRAM has the configuration shown in FIG. 7.
Namely, the address bus, the signals RAS and CAS and other signals/W and/OE, both of which are not shown in the drawing, are connected to each of 10 DRAM chips of 16 MBit with the X4 structure.
Data is connected to each of the chips, and is written therein at a time through a 40-bit data bus.
The addresses stored in the DRAM are described below.
The addresses for writing in the DRAM are previously set.
As shown in FIG. 8, a 16-M word address space (1 word=10 bits) comprising ROW addresses 00H to 1000H and CAS addresses 00H to 400H.
The image data for one image plane is stored in the region A shown in FIG. 8.
It is thus assumed that the ROW address thus ranges from 00H to 200H, and CAS address ranges from 00H to 200H.
The addresses are set in the address registers 103 and 104 shown in FIG. 2. If it is desired to further read an image, addressing is made within a region which is not superposed on the region A shown in FIG. 8, for example, the region B shown in FIG. 8. The read data may be exposed and then transferred to the DRAM. In this embodiment, the object image and the dark current are stored in the regions A and B, respectively.
Data read from the solid state image sensor is the same as that in the first embodiment. The refresh operation of the DRAM is also controlled to be made during the time the signal HGATE is at the LOW level in the same way as in the first embodiment.
The operation of storing data in the DRAM is described below.
The data read from the solid state image sensor is quantized with 10 bits per pixel. Thus, the A/D converter 5 also has two channels each having 10 bits.
The operation is described below with reference to FIG. 9.
Data is output from the solid state image sensor pixel by pixel for each of the channels at the same transfer speed as that of clock CLK2 302. However, the phase need not be the same as that of the clock CLK2. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 300 denotes the A/D output of one of the two channels, and reference numeral 301 denotes the A/D output of the other channel.
The data is successively latched by the A/D register 123 synchronously with the clock timing of the clock CLK2 302, as shown by DATA 00 (304) and DATA 01 (305), DATA 10 and DATA 11, DATA 20 and DATA 21, etc. in FIG. 9.
The data 304 of the A/D register 123 is further latched by the RAM buffer 117 with timing shown by b in signal 309 synchronously with the clock CLK1 303 to output data 306. On the other hand, the data 305 of the A/D register 123 is latched by the RAM buffer 117 with timing shown by d in the signal 309 synchronously with the clock CLK1 303 to output data 307. In this embodiment, the RAM buffer 117 can latch data of 40 bits.
Data for four pixels (40 bits) is thus stored in the RAM buffer 117. The data is transferred to the output buffer 120 with the timing shown by e in the signal 309, and then written to the DRAM. At this time, the contents of the address counter 107 are updated under control by the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2, and the address for write on the DRAM is also updated.
When the value of the address counter 107 agrees with the content of the address end register, an agreement signal is transmitted from the comparator 108 to the controller 116, and the mode of write in the DRAM is terminated.
If it is desired to further read an image, addressing is made within a region which is not superposed on the region A shown in FIG. 8, for example, the region B, and the read data may be exposed and then transferred to the DRAM.
The data stored in the DRAM by the above method is transferred to the storage medium such as the hard disk or the like. Although this data transfer is described below, it is briefly described because it is not related directly to the present invention.
In this case, since data is read from the DRAM, the read start address is set in the register 101, and the read ending address is set in the register 102.
Only the region A in which data was previously stored may be specified for transferring data of only one image, or both regions A and B may be specified for transferring data for two images at one time.
When data of both regions A and B are transferred, ROW address 00H and CAS address 00H are set in the register 101, and ROW address 400H and CAS address 200H are set in the register 102. The mode for transferring data to the hard disk may be set in the command register 110.
Since the hard disk is generally a 16-bit data bus (AT-BUS interface), the width of the data read from the DRAM is converted by the bit width converter 121. In the bit width converter 121, the data of the RAM buffer 117 which is read twice from the DRAM for 40 bits at a time is stored to 80 bits, and is divided into five 16-bit portions and output to the hard disk interface HDD I/F 122. At the same time, the value of the address counter 105 is continuously updated.
The above operation is repeated until the content of the address counter agrees with the value of the register 102. When the content of the address counter 105 agrees with the value of the register 102, the signal output from the comparator 106 is transmitted to the controller 116, and the mode for writing data to the hard disk is terminated.
The operation of the second embodiment is described below with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.
An image pickup trigger is checked by the switch 11 shown in FIG. 1 in Step S1.
If the switch 11 is pressed (turned on), the memory is examined in Step S2 for a space capacity sufficient for one image plane.
If there is a space capacity, the address region (for example, the region A shown in FIG. 8) of data for one image plane is set in Step S3. Image pickup (charge is stored in the solid state image sensor by controlling the shutter and the diaphragm) is performed in Step S4. The data of the solid state image sensor is transferred to the memory in Step S5. The "image pickup ending flag" is set in Step S6 for temporarily storing that the object image is recorded.
The flow then returns to Step S1. If the image pickup is not triggered, the image pickup ending flag is checked in Step S7. If the image pickup ending flag is set, dark current recording and subtraction processing are performed in Steps 8 to 12. In Step S8, the image pickup ending flag which is set in Step S6 is cleared. A new address is set in a region (for example the region B shown in FIG. 8) which is not superposed on the previous image pickup data in Step S9. Charge is stored in the solid state image sensor while the shutter is closed in Step S10, and the stored data is transferred to the memory in Step S11. The dark current data is subtracted from the object image data in Step S12. The result of subtraction is again stored in the memory. This will be described in further detail below.
It is checked in Step S13 whether of not untransferred data remains. If the untransferred data remains, addresses for data having a predetermined capacity are set in Step S14 (set to an intermediate point of the region A shown in FIG. 8, for example RAS address 100H and CAS address 200H). A predetermined amount of data is transferred from the memory to the hard disk in Step S8, and the flow then returns to Step S1. If the image pickup trigger is turned off, the flow moves to Step S7.
Since, in Step S7, the image pickup ending flag is cleared in Step S8, the flow moves to Step S13. Since all data is not completely transferred in Step S13, addresses are continued from the address (RAS address 101H and CAS address 00H) of the portion from which data was previously transferred in Step S14. The data is transferred to the hard disk in Step S15, and the flow returns to Step S1. When the data is completely transferred through Steps S1, S7, S13, S14 and S15, record of one image is completed.
The flowchart of the case where the result different from that described above is obtained by decision in each of the decision steps (Steps S1, S2, S7 and S13) is not described below for the sake of simplification.
As described above, the operation can be performed by the control section 9 in accordance with the sequence shown by the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 and 11 so that the object image is pickup and stored in the memory, and the result of subtraction of the dark current from the object image is transferred to the hard disk.
The processing in Step S12 shown in FIG. 11 is described in detail below. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating details of the register 117, the operation section 118 and the peripheral portion thereof, which are shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 12, a section 117 shown by a broken line corresponds to the register 117 shown in FIG. 3, and a section 118 shown by a broken line corresponds to the operation section 118. Portions 113, 119, 120 and 123 also correspond to the portions denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. 3. Reference numeral 515 denotes a buffer, and reference numeral 514 denotes an input data selector for the buffer 515 which selects any one of the A/D register output 123, the output of the input buffer 119 from the DRAM and the RAM bus data 124 and outputs the selected data to the buffer 515. .Reference numeral 516 denotes a selector of output data from the buffer 515, which selector outputs the output data from the buffer 515 to one of buffer 120 and the RAM bus 124. Reference numeral 517 denotes a selection signal for selecting input of the data selector 514, which signal is controlled by the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2.
Reference numeral 518 denotes a selection signal for selecting the output from the data selector 516, which signal is controlled by the controller 116. Reference numeral 500 denotes an adder for adding data of the constant register 113 to data of the RAM bus 124 to output the result to the data bus 501. Reference numeral 510 denotes a latch for holding the contents of the RAM bus 124; reference numeral 506, an output bus for the latch 510; and reference numeral 502, a subtracter for computing a difference between the addition result 501 and the latch 510 to output the computation result to the bus 503. Reference numeral 504 denotes a minus flag signal which is made the HIGH level when the results of addition and subtraction are negative; reference numeral 505, an OVERFLOW flag signal which is made the HIGH level when the results of addition and subtraction overflow; reference numeral 507, a register for holding a predetermined value; reference numeral 511, a comparison computer for comparing the data of the RAM bus with the data held of the register 507, and making the BRIGHT signal 508 the HIGH level if the data of the RAM bus is greater than the predetermined value.
Reference numeral 509 denotes an OR gate; reference numeral 512, OR gate output; and reference numeral 513, a latch for holding the results of addition and subtraction. The content of the latch 513 is set to a predetermined value (for example, 3 FF [HEX]) when the OR gate output is the HIGH level, and is cleared to zero when the minus flag 504 is the HIGH level.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing operation. The operation below is mainly performed by the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2.
The memory address regions in which original data and dark current data are stored are set in Step S21. The storage addresses of the dark current data, i.e., the start address and the end address of the region B shown in FIG. 8, are set in X -- ADDRESS and X -- E, respectively. Referring to FIG. 2, the start address is set to B -- S in register 101 (XS), and the end address is set to B -- END in register 102 (XE).
The storage addresses of the original data, i.e., the start address and the end address of the region A shown in FIG. 8, are set in Y -- ADDRESS and Y -- E, respectively. Referring to FIG. 2, the start address is set to A -- S in register (YS), and the end address is set to A -- END in register 104 (YE).
The dark current data is read from the X-ADDRESS in Step S22 (DK -- DT), and is held as X -- DT by the latch 510 shown in FIG. 12. At this time, the selection signals 517 and 518 shown in FIG. 12 are controlled by the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2 so that the selector 514 selects the input buffer 119, and the selector 516 selects the RAM bus 124.
The original data is read from Y -- ADDRESS in Step S23 (I -- DT) and then output to the RAM bus 124. The constant held by the register 113 is added to the original data (I -- DT) on the RAM bus 124 by the adder 500 in Step S24, and the addition result is output to the bus 501. The dark current data (DK -- DT) of the latch 510 is subtracted from the data of the bus 501 by the subtracter 502, and the subtraction result is output to the bus 503. The operation result is held by the latch 513. At this time, if the operation result is zero or less, the minus flag becomes the HIGH level, and the latch 513 is cleared to zero.
If the operation result overflows, and the OVERFLOW flag is the High level, or if the original data is greater than a predetermined value, and the BRIGHT signal 508 is the HIGH level, the output 512 of the OR gate 509 become the HIGH level, and the latch 513 is set to a predetermined value (3 FF).
The selection signals 517 and 518 shown in FIG. 12 are controlled by the controller 116 shown in FIG. 2 so that the selector 514 selects the RAM bus 124, and the selector 516 selects the output buffer 120 in Step S25. The data of the latch 513 is rewritten in the Y -- ADDRESS on the memory. Namely, the original data of the Y -- ADDRESS on the memory is rewritten by the data obtained by subtraction of the dark current from the original data.
The values of the original data address (Y -- ADDRESS) and the dark current address (X -- ADDRESS) are incremented for processing the data at the next address on the memory in Step S26. If the incremented address values are different from the end address (A -- END) of the region A shown in FIG. 8 in Step S27, the flow returns to Step S22 in which the data of the updated address is processed by the same method as that described above. If X -- ADDRESS is not equal to A -- END in Step S27, it is decided that operation is completed for the all pixels of one image plane.
The above operation is applied to the case where noise enters the dark current image, as shown in FIGS. 14(a)-(g). Since a predetermined value is first added to the original data of FIG. 14(a) , the original data FIG. 14(a) is offset as shown by FIG. 14(e). If noise as shown by FIG. 14(b) is subtracted from the data shown in FIG. 14(e), data as shown in FIG. 14(f) is obtained. After the data shown by FIG. 14(f) is passed through a low pass filter, the noise is offset to leave the original data shown by FIG. 14(g). Although, in the above embodiment, the data obtained by subtracting the dark current data is rewritten in the memory region where the original data is previously stored, the data may be written in another region. In this case, additional address registers ZS and ZE may be provided in addition to the address registers XS, XE, YS and YE respectively shown by reference numerals 101 to 104 in FIG. 2. The start and end addresses of an address region in which the data after subtraction is stored may be set in the registers ZS and ZE. Accordingly, a pair of steps for addressing and updating may be added to the operation shown in FIG. 13.
Although, in the above embodiments, the pixel data of the solid state image sensor is quantized with 10 bits, the number of bits may be set to any desired value and an optimum value for the system. In this case, the data bus width of each of the sections may be changed, and the gist of the present invention can be realized, as in the above embodiments. In addition, the dark current may be stored in the memory before the object image is photographed. In the case of a continuous pickup mode, the dark current may be stored after continuous image pickup. In any case, the dark current may be stored with optimum timing for the system.
A third embodiment of the present invention is described below.
The third embodiment has the same configuration as that of each of the above embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and is characterized by the flowchart shown in FIG. 15.
When data for several images is transferred to the hard disk at a time, new data cannot be read from the solid state image sensor until transfer is completed. Thus, a predetermined amount of data may be transferred to the hard disk at a time. An example in which an image is photographed, and a next image is immediately photographed is described below with reference to FIG. 15.
The image pickup trigger is checked by the switch 11 shown in FIG. 1 in Step S31. If the switch is pushed (turned on), the memory is checked for a space capacity sufficient to photograph one image plane in Step S32. If there is a space capacity, an address region (for example, the region A shown in FIG. 8) of data for one image plane is set in Step S33. The image pickup operation is performed (charge is stored in the solid state image sensor by controlling the shutter and the diaphragm) in Step S34, and the data of the image sensor is transferred to the memory in Step S35. The flow then returns to Step S31. If the image pickup trigger is turned on, and if there is a space in the memory, the image pickup operation (Step S33) is performed. A new address is set in a region (for example, the region B shown in FIG. 8) which is not superposed on the previous image pickup data in Step S34. The pickup data is stored in Step S35. If the memory becomes full, the flow moves from Step S32 to Step S36. If the image pickup trigger is turned off, the flow moves from Step S31 to Step S36.
The memory is checked in Step S36 to see if untransferred data remains. If the untransferred data remains, an address for a predetermined capacity of data is set in Step S37 (to an intermediate portion of the region A shown in FIG. 8, for example, to RAS address 100H and CAS address 200H). A predetermined amount of data is transferred from the memory to the hard disk in Step S38. The flow again returns to Step S31. If the image pickup is triggered, and if there is a space in the memory, the image pickup operation is performed in Step S33, a new address is set in Step S34, and the pickup data is stored in Step S35.
Since the pickup data remains in Step S36, the flow moves to Step S37.
An address is set to be continued from the portion from which data was previously transferred (RAS 101H, CAS 00H) in Step S37. The data is transferred to the hard disk in Step S38, and the flow returns to Step S31.
If the image pickup trigger is turned off in Step S31, the flow moves to Step S36. The processing in Steps S31, S36, S37 and S38 is repeated unless the trigger is turned on. When all data is transferred, the sequence is terminated.
If there is no space in the memory in Step S32, the image pickup operation is not performed, and the flow moves to Step S36. The data is transferred to the hard disk until a sufficient space capacity is produced.
As described above, the image pickup trigger is checked each time data is transferred, and data may be transferred to the memory until no space is present. When all data is completely transferred in Step S36, the operation of this embodiment is terminated.
Although, in the embodiments, the A/D converter has two channels, the A/D converter may have one channel or two or more channels. The memory may have a structure other than the X4 structure. Namely, the number of bits of data from the A/D converter and the number of bits of data transferred to the memory may be determined according to the system concerned. In addition, the memory is not limited to the DRAM, other memory such as SRAM or the like can be used if the cost and circuit scale of the system can be neglected. Further, the present invention can be applied to a system such as HDTV which handles a large amount of data, and usual TV systems such as NTSC and PAL. The second storage medium may be either a hard disk or any one of various types memory cards including DRAM, SRAM, EEPROM and FLASH. The second storage medium may also be fixed to the body or detachable therefrom.
As described above, in the first embodiment, since the DRAM is refreshed immediately after data for several lines is read from the solid state image sensor, read from the solid state image sensor is not stopped in the course of reading of an image, thereby obtaining a good image without the remarked unevenness caused by variations in the storage time of the solid state image sensor.
In the second embodiment, since the dark current is subtracted after a predetermined value is added to the original image, even if noise enters the dark current image, the noise is offset, and the dark current can be subtracted without an adverse effect on the original image. When a pixel of the original image is saturated, since a predetermined value is written at a corresponding address on the memory, the saturated pixel can easily be discriminated in reproduction of the recorded image. The reproduction processing can thus easily be realized for suppressing the color of a high-brightness portion. In addition, dark current data may be stored either before or after an object is photographed according to the system, and the sequence design can be realized with little limitation. Since the object image data is rewritten in the same address region on the memory after the dark current is subtracted from the object image data, a new memory region need not be provided, and the memory capacity can effectively utilized.
In the third to fifth embodiments, since the start and end addresses for the memory are specified, partial write and read can easily performed, and data can thus be divided and then transferred to a medium such as a hard disk or the like. This prevents the shutter chance from being lost by the interruption of image pickup due to data transfer to the hard disk. The embodiments of the present invention can be applied to many other solid state image sensors having different pixel numbers simply by changing the addressing contents for write and read. In this way, since the memory is appropriately controlled while being related to the image sensor and other peripheral devices, the embodiments can easily be applied to a high-definition camera which requires a large volume of data. | An image processing apparatus having a solid state image sensor for inputting an optical image thereto and converting the image into an electrical signal; an image memory having a general-purpose DRAM formed by at least one chip and required to control the refresh operation from the outside of the memory chip; a timing signal generator for generating timing of read from the solid state image sensor; a transfer/storage control device for horizontally reading data from the solid state image sensor synchronously with the horizontal read timing signal generated from the timing signal generator, transferring the read data and storing the data in the DRAM; a first refresh signal generator for refreshing the DRAM at predetermined time intervals when no data is read from the solid state image sensor; and a second refresh signal generator for refreshing the DRAM a predetermined number of times during the dormant period of the horizontal read timing signal. In the apparatus, the second refresh signal generator is made effective synchronously with the horizontal read timing signal during the time of read from the solid state image sensor, and the first refresh signal generator is made effective during a time other than the time of read from the solid state image sensor. | 6 |
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lumen output control of a light source. More particularly, the invention provides a method and system for increasing and decreasing a ballast output power, which is connected a light source, to provide a constant light output during the life of the light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over time, the lumen output of a lamp continually decreases Lumen output can be defined as a unit of luminous flux equal to the light emitted in a unit solid angle by a uniform point source of one candle intensity. As related to power, a lumen is 1/683 watts of radiant power at a frequency of 540×10 12 Hertz. The lumen output degradation in the lamp can occur for a variety of reasons, for example, lamp lumen depreciation, the lamp's interaction with a ballast, supply voltage variations, dirt or dust on the lamp, and the ambient temperature in a fixture. FIG. 1 illustrates a lumen degradation curve for a typical quartz metal halide high intensity discharge (HID) lamp that uses a conventional ballast. FIG. 1 is a chart 100 illustrating two curves in relation to an X-axis 102 (lamp operating hours) and a Y-axis 104 (lumens per lamp watt). The curve 106 illustrates the degradation curve for a magnetic constant wattage autotransformer (CWA) lamp and the curve 108 illustrates a degradation curve for a Prismatron™ lamp. As lamp operating hours increase for the lamp, the lumen output of the lamp decreases.
The decrease in lumen output occurs due to a variety of processes that occur within the lamp. One factor contributing to this decrease is a loss of chemicals that contributing to light output. These chemicals can be lost through portions of the lamp structure, for example, an arc container Another factor contributing to light degradation is metal being deposited on an arc tube wall of the lamp. An HID lamp is started by applying a very high voltage across an arc tube to break down high pressure gasses within the lamp into a conduction state. Following this breakdown, high current normally flows across a relatively low-voltage arc that heats the electrodes, which subsequently enter into thermionic emission. This tends to eject molecules of the metal electrode material that eventually condense on the wall of the arc tube, causing “blackening” and lowering the light transmission of the arc tube.
Due to such degradation in lumen output, many lighting applications are designed using a mean light level. The mean light level, or lamp's lumen, is defined when a HID lamp is at forty percent of its rated life. Typically to achieve a minimum light level emission, a lighting system designer will design a lighting system at the mean light level. Once the lamp is at a point past the mean light level, replacement of the lamp is usually necessary to maintain a desired light output level.
In HID applications, a ballast is used to control the operating power delivered to a lamp. FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating a typical ballast 202 . The ballast 202 regulates the power to the lamp 204 which is received as an input voltage from a power source (not shown). The ballast 202 also provides proper starting conditions for the lamp 204 at start-up
Some ballast designs use magnetic transformers. As a result, the output level of a lamp cannot be varied and is limited to an output of full power or some fixed output level lower than full power. Other ballast designs, such as electronic ballasts, provide for continuous variation of lamp voltage between full power and a predetermined lower limit.
However, a problem with conventional ballast systems, using the mean light level to set a desired lamp output, is that the ballast initially consumes additional power for the time period prior to achieving the mean light level. Powering the lamp at full output prior to achieving the mean light level causes an output higher than is necessary which consumes more power than necessary to provide the desired light output.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for a ballast having a power regulation technique for outputting power to a lamp, which will create a constant lumen output from the lamp, thereby decreasing the power consumption of the lamp system.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a constant output lumen control system that has the ability to provide a continuous lumen output from a lamp over the lifetime of the lamp. The lighting system initially reduces the power to the lamp, and subsequently varies the power delivered to the lamp to compensate for light-reducing mechanisms that will affect the lumen output of the lamp over time. By properly adjusting the power delivered to the lamp, the lighting system provides a constant light output from the lamp.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a chart illustrating a lumen degradation curve for a typical standard metal halide HID lamp,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a typical ballast design,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a ballast design including lumen control circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 4 is a chart illustrating lamp output degradation as a function of the number of lamps starts,
FIG. 5 is a chart illustrating a re-lamp cycle for an HID lamp for lamp replacement detection,
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the process steps of an embodiment of the control circuitry of the invention,
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illumination system for implementing a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 8 is a chart illustrating power consumption of a conventional ballast and a ballast according to an embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 9A is a chart illustrating a re-ignition peak voltage as the lamp voltage vanes with time, and
FIG. 9B is a chart illustrating the relationship between a voltage crest factor and lamp life.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which is shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are 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, logical, and programming changes may be made without departing from scope of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary illumination control system 300 employed in a ballast 302 . The ballast 302 includes a power factor correction circuit 304 , a power supply 306 , a ballast control circuit 308 , a lamp driver 310 , sense circuits 312 , and an illumination control system 315 . The illumination control system 315 includes a computational control circuit 314 and a non-volatile storage device 316 . Non-volatile storage device 316 may use any comparable non-volatile memory format, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. Computational control circuit 314 may utilize a microprocessor or any other comparable processing device to conduct mathematical processing for adjusting power supplied to the lamp 330 to achieve a constant lumen output from the lamp 330 . Non-volatile storage device 316 provides storage for various computational equations, mathematical constants, ballast operational software 318 , timers 317 , counters 319 and information regarding various lamp types, and their specific operational requirements which are used by the computational control circuit 314 during processing. The lamp 330 can be any type of high intensity discharge lamp (HID), such as HID lamps that use high pressure mercury, high pressure sodium, or some other suitable gas.
The ballast control circuit 308 adjusts the power received from the power supply 306 for use by the lamp 330 . The ballast control circuit 308 receives a lamp power setting signal and a lamp operational control signal from the computational control circuit 314 . The ballast control circuit 308 also receives a lamp feedback signal from the sense circuits 312 and provides operating power to the lamp driver 310 . The lamp driver 310 starts the lamp 330 , receives operating power from ballast control circuit 308 , and provides operating power to the sense circuits 312 . The lamp driver 310 receives a lamp on/off control signal from the computational control circuit 314 for use in discontinuing power being supplied to the lamp 330 . The sense circuits 312 monitor the supply power input to the lamp 330 and provide feedback about the operation of the lamp 330 to the computational control circuit 314 and the ballast control circuit 308 . The sense circuits 312 send a lamp current feedback signal and a lamp voltage feedback signal to the computational control circuit 314 . The sense circuits 312 also send a lamp feedback signal to the ballast control circuit 308 to monitor other important lamp operational parameters.
The illumination control system 315 utilizes various factors and parameters to determine a rate of degradation for a particular type of lamp 330 . The parameters and factors are used to control the output of the lamp 330 over its lifecycle. For example, illumination control system 315 may utilize operating hours (total hours the lamp has been operating) and lamp starts (total number of starting sequences for the lamp) to determine a rate of degradation of the lumen output of the lamp 330 . Other parameters may be considered in determining the degradation rate. For example, a stabilized lamp operating voltage, lamp re-ignition voltage, voltage crest factors, current crest factors, or combination thereof may be used. Based upon the rate of degradation of the lamp 330 , the illumination control system 315 adjusts the power supplied to the lamp 330 to provide a constant lumen output from the lamp 330 .
The ballast operational software 318 resides in non-volatile storage 316 and provides a variety of timers 317 . For example, the timers 317 include an accumulated lamp timer for measuring the number of operating hours for the lamp 330 , and a lamp warm-up timer for determining when the lamp 330 has achieved a stable state after starting for use by the computational control circuit 314 . The ballast operational software 318 also provides counters 319 for measuring the number of lamp starts for the lamp 330 . The ballast operational software 318 also controls the operation of the ballast 302 and the power output by the ballast 302 .
FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram 400 , which compares the number of lamp starts to a percentage of lamp output power for the lamp 330 . The X-axis 402 represents a number of lamp starts for the lamp 330 and the Y-axis 404 represents a percentage of output of the lamp 330 . The output of the lamp 330 , which is illustrated using curve 406 , degrades due to lamp lumen depreciation as the number of starts for the lamp 330 increases.
In calculating degradation due to the number of hours that the lamp 330 is in operation, the computational control circuit 314 uses what is referred to as a burnloss equation to determine lamp degradation due to operating hours for use in calculating a dim level setting for the lamp 330 . The following second order polynomial equation determines the value for burnloss
Burnloss= A ×Hours 2 +B ×Hours+ C Eq 1
The burnloss equation is stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 along with constants A, B and C which are associated with the particular type of lamp 330 being powered by the ballast 302 . The constants A, B & C are derived from a least squares curve fitting using experimental data, based on light loss due to the number of operating hours of the lamp 330 . The process of deriving the constants A, B and C could also be done using a look-up table relating the variables, but such an approach would require additional storage space in non-volatile storage device 316 .
In calculating degradation due to the number of lamp starts, the computational control circuit 314 uses what is referred to as a startloss equation to determine lamp degradation due to the number of lamp starts for use in calculating a dim level setting for the particular type of lamp 330 . The following second order polynomial equation determines the value for startloss.
Startloss= D ×Hours 2 +E× Hours+ F Eq 2
The startloss equation is stored in non-volatile storage device 316 along with constants D, E and F which are associated with a particular type of lamp 330 being powered by the ballast 302 . The constants D, E and F are derived and stored in non-volatile storage device 316 in a similar manner as constants A, B and C.
The burnloss and startloss values for the lamp 330 are combined to calculate an overall expected level of light loss at a given point in the lifecycle of the lamp 330 . A ratio is then calculated using the expected level of light loss at a given point in the lifecycle of the lamp 330 and a predetermined lumen output target is stored in non-volatile storage 316 . For example, an expected lamp output for a given point (2000 hours) may be 95% of the initial lamp output, while the predetermined lumen output target is 85%. Thus, the output wattage to the lamp 330 is decreased by an appropriate amount to reduce the light output of the lamp 330 to the predetermined lumen output target. Although the target lumen output of the lamp 330 may be set to any reasonable lumen output, two meaningful output settings which may be used are an end of life lumen output and a mean lumen output. The mean lumen output is typically the average light output after 40% of the expected life of the lamp 330 has elapsed and is usually set by the manufacturer of the lamp 330 .
By using the ratio of expected lumen output to current lumen output, the power supplied to the lamp 330 may be adjusted by the illumination control system 315 to set an appropriate source wattage for the lamp 330 . For example, if the lamp 330 is a quartz metal halide HID lamp, a lumen output for the illumination control system 315 would be varied 1 8 times a change in wattage due to the relationship between the lamp wattage and the delivered light output for the particular type of lamp 330 . Therefore, the wattage from the ballast 302 to the lamp 330 is changed by a ratio of 1/18 to obtain a desired constant lumen output. Thus, as the number of operating hours and lamp starts accumulate, the illumination control system 315 continually evaluates the degradation of the lamp 330 to compensate for lamp lumen degradation by increasing the wattage output supplied from the ballast 302 to the lamp 330 . When the lamp 330 degrades to a point at which the lamp 330 requires more power than its maximum power rating (100%) to maintain the desired lumen output level, the illumination control circuit 315 will limit the power output by the ballast 302 to the maximum power rating of the lamp 330 . By limiting the lamp 330 to its maximum power rating, safety is improved because the lamp 330 is not overdriven which could damage the circuitry within the ballast 302 and the lamp 330 . Once the lifecycle of the lamp 330 is completed, the lamp 330 is subsequently replaced.
After the lamp 330 is replaced, values such as the number of operating hours and the number of lamp starts stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 are reset. Although it is possible to reset the non-volatile storage device 316 manually, a reset means using a form of lamp replacement detection may be employed. The lamp replacement detection technique may be employed using software included in ballast operational software 318 which is stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 for use by the computational control circuit 314 . By comparing the measured lamp voltage of the lamp 330 to the lamp voltage stored in memory, the computational control circuit 314 determines if a change in lamp voltage has occurred which would indicate that the lamp 330 has been replaced.
Thus, a lamp replacement detection technique may utilize the fact that as a lamp ages, many electrical variables associated with the lamp change. For example, a root mean squared (RMS) voltage across the lamp 330 and a re-ignition voltage for the lamp 330 change over time. The lamp replacement detection technique uses the software included in ballast operational software 318 to store these voltages and other variables in the non-volatile storage device 316 . Each time the lamp 330 is started, a stabilized lamp voltage is compared to a stored stabilized lamp voltage setting. If a step in voltage is greater than a predetermined threshold level stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 , then it is determined that the lamp 330 has been replaced. For example, if a decrease of 5 volts in lamp voltage is determined by the computational control circuit 314 after the lamp voltage has stabilized, the lamp 330 is determined to have been replaced. After such a determination, the number of operating hours and the number of lamps starts are reset in the non-volatile storage device 316 .
FIG. 5 illustrates the above described replacement technique using the comparison of lamp start voltages. The chart 500 graphs a percent relamp cycle 502 versus a lamp start voltage 504 using curve 506 . During each start, the voltage of the lamp 330 is obtained and compared to a lamp voltage stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 from the previous lamp start. If the lamp voltage step between starts is greater than the predetermined threshold, for example, a step from 160 volts ( 508 ) to 100 volts ( 510 ), the illumination control system 315 determines that the lamp 330 has been replaced since the stabilized lamp voltage is reduced by 60 volts from a previous lamp operation. Subsequently, the number of operating hours and the number of lamp starts stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 are reset. Those skilled in the art will recognize there are many other comparable means to perform the lamp replacement detection described above.
FIG. 6 is flow diagram 600 of process steps implemented by the illumination control system 315 . The blocks in the flow diagram 600 may be performed in the order shown, out of the order shown, or may be performed in parallel. At step 602 , power is applied to the ballast 302 turning on the lamp 330 . Next, at step 604 , the lamp 330 is adjusted to full power At step 606 , ballast 302 obtains a variety of constant lumen output control (CLO) values, for example, total lamp starts, historic lamp voltage and lamp life constants based on the particular type of lamp 330 used from the non-volatile storage device 316 . At step 608 , the ballast 302 starts a lamp warm-up timer having a predetermined warm-up time setting, for example, 20 minutes. At step 610 , the accumulated lamp timer is started. The lamp warm-up timer and accumulated lamp timer are created using the timers 317 which are stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 for use by the computational control circuit 314 . Next, at step 612 , the ballast 302 increments the counter 319 ( FIG. 3 ) measuring the number of lamp starts and stores the new lamp start value in the non-volatile storage device 316 . At step 614 , the ballast 302 determines whether the predetermined warm-up time period has elapsed to assure the lamp wattage and voltage has stabilized. If the warm-up time period has not elapsed, the process returns to step 614 At step 616 , if the warm-up time period has elapsed, the ballast 302 determines whether the lamp 330 has been replaced using the technique described in FIG. 5 .
If the lamp 330 has been replaced, then, at step 618 , the ballast 302 resets the number of operating hours and the number of lamp starts to their predetermined reset values. For example, operating hours are assigned a value of 10 and the number of starts is assigned a value of 1. If the lamp 330 has not been replaced, the process proceeds to step 620 where the ballast 302 writes the current value for the number of operating hours, the number of lamp starts and a lamp start voltage being used by the lamp 330 into the non-volatile storage device 316 .
At step 622 , the ballast 302 determines the projected lamp lumen output for the lamp 330 based on the degradation curve stored in the non-volatile storage device 316 for the particular lamp type. Subsequently, at step 624 , the degradation of the lamp due to the number of starts is derived from the stored compensation curve for the particular type of lamp 330 being utilized At step 626 , the target output lumens of the lamp 330 is ratioed to the calculated current lumens to adjust the power supplied to the lamp 330 to maintain a constant lumen output from the lamp 330 At step 628 , the ballast 302 determines the actual power setting, in watts, to which the lamp 330 should be adjusted to provide the target lumens by converting output lumens to watts. The conversion is calculated from a light output versus power curve for the lamp type 330 being utilized. At step 630 , the ballast 302 adjusts the output wattage to the lamp 330 by setting an internal reduced power level setting.
Thus, by using the ballast 302 which can adjust power input to the lamp 330 , an illumination system may be implemented which is efficient and cost-effective.
As mentioned above, the ballast 302 may also utilize the stabilized lamp operating voltage to maintain a constant lumen output for the lamp 330 . Instead of combining the results of the burnloss and startloss equations, the computational control circuit 314 calculates a value for what is referred to as Slov, and combines the Slov and startloss equations to maintain a constant lumen output for the lamp 330 . Slov represents the stabilized lamp operating voltage and could be determined by using the following second order polynomial equation
Slov= G ×Hours 2 +H ×Hours+ I
The value for Slov is stored in non-volatile storage device 316 along with constants G, H and I which are associated with a particular type of lamp 330 being powered by the ballast 302 . The constants G, H and I are derived and stored in non-volatile storage device 316 in a similar manner as constants A, B and C.
FIG. 7 illustrates an illumination system 700 using multiple ballasts 302 . Illumination system 700 includes multiple ballasts 302 each connected to power supply 702 for controlling the lumen output of a lamp 330 connected to each ballast 302 . Thus, illumination system 700 utilizes multiple ballasts 302 and lamps 330 to illuminate larger areas which could be used in a variety of lighting applications.
FIG. 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating power consumption of a lamp 330 using a conventional ballast and the ballast 302 . In FIG. 8 , a time component (X-axis 802 ) and a percent lamp power component (Y-axis 804 ) are used to compare a constant light output 806 produced by the lamp 330 using supply power from the ballast 302 versus light output 808 from the lamp 330 using supply power from a conventional ballast. Because a conventional ballast cannot adjust power input to the lamp 330 , the conventional ballast provides full power to the lamp 330 when full power is not needed. The area indicated at 810 between curves 806 and 808 illustrates power wasted when a lamp 330 is conventionally controlled. Thus, power consumed by a lamp 330 that is controlled by a conventional ballast exceeds the power consumed by a lamp 330 that is controlled by the ballast 302 . By adjusting the power output from the ballast 302 , the lamp 330 is provided with only enough power to maintain an established lumen output level. Thus, power costs are reduced since the ballast 302 does not overdrive the lamp 330 by supplying more power than is required.
As mentioned with reference to FIG. 3 , another alternative to burning hours and lamp starts utilizes the re-ignition voltage, or more specifically the voltage crest factor (VCF). The re-ignition of the lamp discharge occurs each time the lamp current changes polarity. As a result, the arc and electron flow must be re-established, which takes a finite amount of time. This time creates a resultant arc impedance change, which results in an instantaneous rise in lamp voltage that is limited by the instantaneous open circuit voltage of the ballast. The time and voltage necessary to re-establish the arc is dependent on the ability of the electrode to supply electrons and continue the recombination process. As the HID lamp 330 ages, the ability of the electrode and fill gas to provide and transport electrons decreases. The resultant magnitude of the voltage peak, measured at zero current crossing, is called the re-ignition voltage, which subsequently increases. Turning now to FIG. 9A , the peak re-ignition voltage for a new HID lamp is shown at reference numeral 910 . After some time, the peak re-ignition voltage for this aged HID lamp is shown at reference numeral 920 . Hence the peak re-ignition voltage is a factor that vanes with lamp age.
The VCF is defined using the peak re-ignition and rms lamp operating voltage that can be used for monitoring lamp life. More specifically, the VCF is the ratio of the peak re-ignition voltage to the rms voltage of the lamp operating voltage. Because the VCF changes as the peak re-ignition voltage changes with lamp age, the VCF vanes with lamp age. The graph 930 in FIG. 9B illustrates the variation of the VCF with lamp life. Thus, monitoring of the VCF can be used as a parameter to estimate the burning hours of the lamp 330 and provide data to the computational control 314 to adjust the power to the lamp 330 for maintaining constant lumen output.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with an exemplary embodiment, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above-disclosed embodiment. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alternations, substitutions, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spent and scope of the invention. In particular, the specific embodiments of the constant lumen output control system described should be taken as exemplary and not limiting. For example, the ballast 302 may also determine lumen degradation of lamp 330 by measuring the change in the RMS voltage, voltage and current crest factors, re-ignition voltage or combination of these parameters of lamp 330 or by monitoring the lumens emanating from the lamp 330 , by lumens received at a task being illuminated by the lamp 330 . Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the foregoing description or drawings, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims. | A constant lumen output control system for providing a constant lumen output throughout the life of a lamp at the mean or preset lumen level. The lumen con system ( 315 ) coupled to a lamp driver ( 310 ) initially reduces the power to the lamp ( 330 ) to prevent the lamp from being operated at power levels that result excess mean or preset lumen levels. With increased lamp usage, the lumen control system gradually increases power to the lamp to compensate for lamp lumen depreciation due to light-reducing mechanisms. By compensating for lamp lumen depreciation the lamp is operated at a constant mean or preset lumen output throughout the life of the lamp. | 7 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the general class of toys wherein the child is permitted to steer a toy vehicle from a remote position. In particular, the present invention utilizes a constant frequency handheld sound wave generating unit to transmit sonic waves to a transducer within the vehicle which is responsible for translating the sound waves into proportional electrical signals which energize an electromagnet which is responsible for actuating a system which changes the front wheels from a straight ahead direction to a turning direction and vice versa. In this manner, the necessity of electrically connecting the toy vehicle to the remote control station with wiring is eliminated. Moreover, the toy vehicle disclosed herein utilizes a simplified electro-mechanical sonic responsive system for actuating the steering system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy vehicle with the casing thereof removed so as to illustrate the arrangement of the working parts;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the toy vehicle with the casing thereof removed illustrating the arrangement of the gearing systems when the front wheels are turned to the right for steering purposes, and also the relationship between the sonic responsive electromagnet and that portion of the gearing system responsible for performing the steering function;
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the relationship between the handheld sound wave generating unit, the crystal microphone within the toy vehicle, the amplification circuit, the electromagnet for engaging that part of the gearing system responsible for turning the front wheels, and the power plant for operating the gearing system;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the operating relationship between the handheld sound wave generating unit and the toy vehicle which is provided with a sonic transducer mounted in the top roof thereof;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the handheld sound wave generating unit with part of the casing thereof removed so as to illustrate operation of the fingerpiece which is responsible for causing a resilient metal plate to produce the desired sound waves;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of that part of the gearing and steering system of the toy vehicle that is responsible for rotating the front wheels in predetermined direction and degree when the electromagnet is energized in response to operation of the handheld sound wave generating unit;
FIG. 6a is a perspective view illustrating one of the rods that operably connects the front wheels to both the chassis and the movably mounted support responsible for permitting the front wheels to rotate with respect to the chassis in response to operation of a gearing system that moves the support in response to energization of the electromagnet;
FIG. 6b is a perspective view illustrating the relationship between the flat spling and the prongs projecting outwardly from the actuating member whereby the front wheels of the vehicle are rotated between predetermined positions;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of the vehicle illustrating in particular the miniature electric motor, the gearing system responsible for rotating the rear wheels of the vehicle, and a portion of the auxiliary gearing system which when operative is responsible for rotating the front wheels for steering;
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a portion of the vehicle illustrating the gearing system responsible for both rotating the rear wheels as well as transmitting power to the auxiliary gearing system that is responsible for turning the front wheels; and
FIG. 9 is an electrical diagram illustrating the circuit for connecting the power source to the electromagnet in response to the transformation of sound waves to electrical signals, including the pulse amplifier, one-shot circuit and power amplifier.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The toy vehicle, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is provided with a chassis 10 having a compartment 12 within which a plurality of transistor batteries 14 are located. Also mounted to the chassis 10 is a housing 16 within which a miniature electric motor 18 is located. By appropriate electrical circuitry, described hereinafter, the batteries 14 are electrically connected to the motor 18 to energize same causing the shaft 20 to rotate (see FIG. 7).
As illustrated in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8, a rear axle 22 is suitably journalled within the chassis 10 and gear wheels 24 and 26 rigidly secured thereto. The shaft 20 of the motor terminates in a pinion wheel 28 which engages a further gear wheel 30 that is mounted with gear wheel 32 to rotate about a shaft 34 which is journalled within the motor housing 16. As the gear wheel 32 meshes with gear wheel 24 it is apparent that as the motor 18 is energized the rotation of the shaft 20 causes the pinion wheel 28 to rotate in turn meshing with and rotating the gears 30 and 32, the rotation of the gear wheel 32 thereby rotating the gear wheel 24 which in turn rotates the rear axle 22 in turn imparting rotation to the rear wheel 36, it being noted from FIG. 7 that the clamp 38 rigidly secures the rear wheel 36 to the rear axle 22, while rear wheel 37 is free to turn on rear axle 22.
It will be further apparent from FIG. 8 that there is a shaft 40 positioned above the rear axle 22 and appropriately journalled within the motor housing 16. Gear wheels 42 and 44 are rigidly mounted to the shaft 40 while the gear wheel 26 which is mounted to the rear axle 22 meshes with and thus rotates the gear wheel 42 to which is connected a smaller gear 44. The operation of the gear wheels 42 and 44 will be explained in detail hereinafter.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 6, it is apparent that at the front of the vehicle there is provided a support 46 which is provided with openings 48 at each end thereof. A bracket 52 is suspended above the chassis 10 by legs 54 and at each end thereof there are provided openings 56. As will be apparent from FIG. 6a, there is provided on each side of the vehicle a connection rod 58 including a first arm 60 which is disposed within the opening 56 within the bracket 52, a second arm 61 which is disposed within the opening 48 of the support 46, and a third arm 62 that is positioned within a suitable opening provided within the chassis 10. Furthermore, each connecting rod 58 is provided with an axle 64 extending outwardly therefrom to which the front wheel 66 is rotatably mounted. It will therefore be apparent that each of the front wheels 66 is free to pivot about an axis defined by the upper and lower arms 60 and 62 of the rod 58 which, as previously explained, are appropriately journalled within the bracket 52 and the support 46. It will be further apparent that the support 46 is provided with an abutment 67 while the chassis is provided with a similar abutment 68. The spring 72 is attached to the arm 69 extending upwardly from the abutment 67 and the arm 70 extending upwardly from the chassis 10 such that the support 46 to which the wheels 66 are secured is normally urged in a clockwise direction to assume a straight position when the abutments 67 and 68 engage.
Turning now to the mechanism for rotating the front wheels 66, it will be noted from FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 that the shaft 78 has one end thereof appropriately journalled within a portion of the chassis 10 and a gear wheel 80 fixedly secured thereto near the mid portion thereof. The other end of the shaft 78 is journalled within the front portion 82 of the bracket 52. Rigidly secured to the shaft 78 is a generally oblong actuating member 84 as can best be seen in FIG. 6. The front end of member 84 is provided with four outwardly extending cylindrical prongs 86, while a resilient leaf spring 88 is mounted at one end to the top of the bracket 52 such that the other end thereof is generally held in abutting relationship against the prongs 86. It is to be noted that the force of the spring 88 is sufficiently great to force the actuating member 84 and the shaft 78 to rotate to a position such that the flat edge of the spring 88 aligns itself with two of the prongs 86 and retains the member 84 in such position until moved. When the actuating member 84 is in a generally vertical position, the spring 72 is operable to rotate the support 46 and the front wheels 66 attached thereto in a generally counterclockwise direction as illustrated in FIG. 2. When the actuating member 84 is in a generally horizontal position, however, the edge thereof engages the side wall of the upwardly extending abutment 90 which is formed as a part of the support 46 and thus urges the support 46 to the left, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the result of which is to rotate the front wheels 66 in a generally clockwise direction. It is apparent, therefore, that the front wheels 66 may only assume two positions; a first position wherein the wheels 66 are aligned in a forward direction and a second position wherein the wheels 66 are rotated clockwise so as to turn the vehicle to the right.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, there is also provided a shaft 92 terminating at one end thereof in a crown gear 94 and at the other end thereof in a spur gear 96. Note that the chassis 10 is provided with an upstanding abutment 98 to which one end of the spring 100 is secured. The other end of the spring 100 is secured to the shaft 92. In this manner, the spring 100 normally urges the shaft 92 towards the side wall of the chassis 10 such that the spur gear 96 is not in engagement with the gear 80 mounted to the shaft 78. As the crown gear 94 engages the gear 44, previously described, it is apparent that the shaft continuously rotates. Since, however, the spring 100 normally urges the shaft 92 to the side the gears 96 and 80 do not mesh thus preventing the rotation of the shaft 92 from being translated to the shaft 78.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6, there is mounted within the chassis 10 an electromagnet 102 of conventional construction and suitably wired to the batteries 14 as will be explained hereinafter. At this juncture it is only necessary to point out that the effective face 104 of the electromagnet 102 is spaced from the metal shaft 92 in such a manner that when the electromagnet 102 is energized the metal shaft 92 will be attracted towards the effective face 104 against the force of the spring 100 at which time the spur gear 96 will be moved into engagement with the gear wheel 80 of the shaft 78 at which time the rotary motion of the shaft 92 will be translated to rotary motion of the shaft 78 which in turn rotates the actuating member 84 resulting in the support 46 and the wheels 66 being turned.
Turning now to FIG. 5, the reference numeral 106 designates generally a constant frequency hand-held sound wave generating unit comprising a housing 108 within which there is mounted a resilient metal plate 110, the ends of which are secured within the arms 112 of the housing 108. The plate 110 is provided with an outwardly extending actuating member 114 which normally engages the shoulder 116 of a fingerpiece 118 mounted to rotate about the shaft 120 which is suitably journalled within the housing 108. It will be apparent that the engagement of the actuating member 114 against the shoulder 116 of the fingerpiece 18 normally urges the fingerpiece outwardly to its inoperative position. When the fingerpiece 118 is depressed against the force of the actuating member 114 the effect is to move both the actuating member 114 and the sound producing plate 110 inwardly to the position illustrated in dotted lines which eventually produces a sharp "clicking" sound. As will be explained in detail hereinafter, this sound is responsible for actuating the electromagnet 102 which in turn is responsible for rotating the front wheels 66 of the toy vehicle. The general organization and operation of the sonic, electrical and mechanical systems is schematically illustrated in FIG. 3.
As illustrated in FIG. 4 there is provided within the top of the toy automobile a sonic transducer generally designated with the reference numeral 124, it being apparent that such transducers are well known in the art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,439,128; 3,654,402; 3,472,972 and 3,749,854 and may comprise, for example, a crystal microphone compatible with the sound wave generating unit 106 capable of translating sound waves into proportional electrical signals. Since such microphone construction is well known in the art it will suffice to note that the microphone may comprise a housing provided with a sound wave admitting aperture and a diaphragm adjacent thereto. A bimorph, secured to the diaphragm, may consist of a pair of oppositely polarized ceramic wafers having electrodes on each of the faces of the wafers and an electrode connecting the inner faces of the wafers.
FIG. 3 is a basic block diagram of the electrical energizing and timing circuit which provides for the intermittent energization of the electromagnet 102 for driving the steering mechanism through its mechanical linkage as described above. As previously explained, the frequency of the output oscillations of the pulser 106 is selected to be compatible with a sonic/electrical transducer generally illustrated at 124 as a crystal microphone which is frequency selective in response to the received sonic vibrations. The selectivity of course is not critical, it being sufficient that an output pulse from the pulser 106 is effective to produce a recognizable electrical pulse at the output of the transducer 124.
The output signal from transducer 124 is supplied to a pulse amplifier 126 which suitably amplifies the electrical signal from the transducer 124 and provides a pulse of proper wave shape to a one-shot circuit 128. The one-shot circuit 128 then supplies a pulse of a desired duration and amplitude to a power amplifier 130. The power amplifier in turn energizes the winding 132 of the electromagnet 102 for a suitable time duration to actuate the steering mechanism.
The general block diagram of the energizing circuit shown in FIG. 3 is shown in more detail in FIG. 9 in an illustrative circuit embodiment. The input terminals 140 and 142 correspond to the inputs to the pulse amplifier 126, shown in dotted outline in FIG. 9; the one-shot circuit 128 and the power amplifier 130 are as well shown in dotted outline in FIG. 9. Electromagnet winding 132 also is shown in FIG. 9. Terminals for a suitable DC bias source Vcc 144 and a ground terminal 146 as well are indicated.
The pulse amplifier 126 includes the usual input coupling capacitor 150 and biasing and load resistors 152 and 154 for driving the input transistor Q1 of the pulse amplifier. Coupling capacitor 156 connects the output of transistor Q1 to the base of transistor Q2, the latter having its collector connected to the base of transistor Q3 of the one-shot circuit 128. An RC timing circuit comprising capacitor 158 and resistor 160 couple the output from the collector of transistor Q3 to the base of transistor Q2.
Finally, resistor 162 couples the output of transistor Q3 of the one-shot circuit 128 to the base of transistor Q4 of the power amplifier 130.
Transistor Q1 is normally non-conducting, with the result that the collector terminal thereof is at the positive source potential, rendering the transistor Q2 normally conducting and, in turn, the transistor Q3 normally non-conducting. Transistor Q4 thereby is maintained in a normally non-conductive state. Solenoid winding 132 therefore is normally de-energized.
The electrical signal generated in response to a received sonic pulse from the transducer 124 renders transistor Q1 of the input pulse amplifier 126 conductive, the negative going potential at the collector terminal thereof thereby rendering transistor Q2 non-conductive. The collector of transistor Q2 thereupon is positive-going, turning on transistor Q3. Collector transistor Q3 thereupon becomes clamped to ground potential, rendering Q4 conductive and completing an energizing circuit from the positive power supply terminal 144 (Vcc) through the transistor Q4 and electromagnet winding 132 to ground potential terminal 146 thereby energizing the solenoid winding 132. The RC circuit 158, 160 of the one-shot circuit 128 determines the period of energization of the transistor Q3 in its feedback circuit configuration, thereby turning on transistor Q2 once again and turning off transistor Q3. The collector of transistor Q3, no longer clamped to ground potential, results in transistor Q4 being turned off thereby terminating energization of the solenoid winding 132.
With reference to the above description of the mechanics of the steering mechanism, it will be appreciated that various alternatives may be employed as to the time duration set by the RC circuit 158, 160 for the energization of the solenoid 132. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the duration of energization of the solenoid winding is sufficient to assure only that the driving gear 96 engages the gear 80 on the shaft 78 of the turning mechanism for a sufficient time that the two gears come into binding engagement. Thereafter, the mechanics of the driving gear and turning gear assure maintenance of the engagement and hence driving of the latter gear through the over center position of the spring mechanism 88. At that point, the rapid acceleration of the steering gear 80 ejects the driving gear 96 from the engaged position, permitting the spring 100 to return the driving gear to its disengaged position. In an alternative embodiment, if desired, the time duration of the one-shot circuit 128 may be such as to maintain the engagement of the driving gear 96 with the steering mechanism gear 80 for a time duration corresponding to the time required to drive the steering mechanism beyond the over center spring position, at which time the pulse output of the one-shot circuit 128 terminates, the electromagnet 102 is de-energized, and the over center spring mechanism 88 completes the rotation of the steering mechanism shaft through 90° to complete the steering operation. The latter type of system, however, does require more precise control of the pulse output of the one-shot circuit 128, although the mechanical relationship of the driving and the steering gears then is not required since the electromagnet 102 itself assures maintenance of the engagement of these gears for the prescribed time duration, as above described. The reliance on the mechanical configuration to assure maintenance of the engaged position, however, is desirable in that a shorter duration of energization of the solenoid 102 is permitted, with the concomitant reduction in the energy consumed to accomplish the steering operation. | The present invention relates to a toy vehicle provided with a chassis, front and rear wheels mounted to the chassis for rotation, a support mounted for movement with respect to the chassis and to which the front wheels are also mounted, a miniature electric motor operatively connected through a first gearing system to the rear wheels for rotating same, a second gearing system normally inoperative but when actuated being driven by the first gearing system to move the support to which the front wheels are connected predetermined directions to turn the front wheels for steering, a handheld sound wave generating unit remote from the vehicle, a sonic transducer within the vehicle for translating the sound waves generated by the handheld unit to electrical signals for energizing through a pulse amplifier, one-shot circuit and power amplifier, an electromagnet within the vehicle which activates the aforementioned second gearing system. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention is water flow meters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In arid areas of the world water is becoming one of the most precious natural resources. Meeting future water needs in these arid areas may require aggressive conservation measures. Each individual living or working in these arid areas should take the initiative to start conserving water. Most individuals are aware of some of the steps they can take to conserve water, such as installing low or ultra low flush toilets, installing water saving shower heads, sweeping rather than hosing off the driveway, checking for leaks in the water system and irrigation system, and irrigating the landscape efficiently. However, with the last two steps, many individuals may not be aware of leaks in their water lines or irrigation systems and/or they are not aware of what measures they can take to irrigate their landscapes more efficiently.
Signature data is data that is specific to a certain individual or thing and is based on a particular characteristic or quality that is specific to that individual or thing. Signature analysis (also known as flow trace analysis) was used by government agencies to obtain information about water use patterns in residences. Flow trace analysis is described in various publications, including DeOreo, W. B., J. P. Heaney, and P. W. Mayer. 1996a. Flow Trace Analysis to Assess Water Use. Jour. AWWA, 88 (1):79–90, Dziegielewski, B., E. M. Opitz, J. C. Kiefer, D. D. Baumann, M. Winer, W. Illingworth, W. O. Maddaus, P. Macy, J. J. Boland, T. Chestnutt, and J. O. Nelson. 1993b. Evaluating Urban Water Conservation Programs: A Procedure's Manual . Denver, Colo.: AWWA, and Mayer, P. W. and W. B. DeOreo. 1995. Process Approach for Measuring Residential Water Use and Assessing Conservation Effectiveness. Proc. Of 1995 Annual Conference . Anaheim, Calif.: AWWA. The government agencies generally gathered this information to assist them to better understand the water use patterns in residences. However, this information was not fed back to individuals nor used for feedback to an irrigation controller and/or was not easily accessible to individuals to assist them in achieving greater efficiency in their water use.
The present invention uses signature data, generated from water using devices that are executed from start to finish, to assist individuals to improve water use efficiency. The signature data for all devices at a given water using site is preferably obtained from only a single water meter, which may advantageously comprise the meter installed by the water district to service the site.
There are methods, other than signature data, used to determine the water used during execution of water using devices. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,383 issued February 1998 to Franklin, et al. A flow meter is put on each water line that transfers water to the water using device. However, due to the cost, this flow meter system would likely only be used for research purposes since it would not be feasible for homeowners to install flow meters for each of their water using devices.
Water system leaks can result in water waste of as high as 100 gallons per day. Various apparatus have been patented to detect leaks in water lines and irrigation systems. A leak detection device is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,409 issued August 1991 to Kiewit. An acoustic sensor and associated electronic circuitry are used to determine when a catastrophic leak occurs in an irrigation system. This apparatus would only detect catastrophic leaks and many leaks are not of a catastrophic nature but still may result in a substantial waste of water over an extended period of time.
Another leak detection device is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,011 issued October 1999 to Price. Information is supplied to a microprocessor, which determines a maximum allowable quantity of water that may flow over a specified period of time. If the maximum amount of water is exceeded, during the set period of time, then the flow of water is automatically shut off. The shut off device has to be manually reset to allow the water to flow again. As with the patent, mentioned in the previous paragraph, so also with this patent, it would most likely only shut off the flow of water when a catastrophic leak occurred. Individuals would not want the flow of water shut off unless a leak had likely occurred. Therefore, they would set the water quantity amount high so activation of the automatic shutoff didn't occur when only slightly excessive water was used during the specific set time period.
A better leak detection method would be able to detect small leaks as well as catastrophic leaks, and would feed this information back to individuals so they are aware that there is a leak and provide feedback to an irrigation controller. The present invention meets these requirements.
To irrigate their landscapes more efficiently requires individuals to schedule the watering of their landscapes when the plants need the water. This is being addressed by the manufacture and sale of irrigation controllers that apply water based on potential evapotranspiration (ETo). However, such irrigation controllers are frequently quite expensive and therefore the irrigation users will not replace their present controllers until they have flow anomalies with them. Therefore, to try achieve efficient watering of their landscapes, irrigation users will manually vary the settings on their presently installed irrigation controllers.
To achieve efficient watering, with many of the automatic systems installed today, requires knowledge of the amount of water required to maintain plants in a healthy condition, and the application rate of the irrigation system. Some states are now providing, via radio and other media, the quantity of water required to maintain plants in a healthy condition. To use this information irrigation users must know what the application rate of their irrigation system is. This can be determined by catching the water and determining, from the amount of water caught over a period of time, what the application rate is. The application rate can also be determined by checking at the meter the amount of water flowing through the water meter over a period of time and knowing the area irrigated. However, because of the time and work involved in determining the application rate, by either of the above methods, very few individuals will determine the application rate of their irrigation system.
The present invention will assist individuals to easily determine the application rate, which they can then use, with ETo data, to improve the efficiency in the irrigating of their landscapes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides systems and methods that identify a flow anomaly to an operator or other person by: executing a first device of a plurality of water using devices; receiving flow data on a quantity of water used by the first device during a time period required to generate a first water use signature from the first device; comparing a future water use pattern against the first water use signature to identify a flow anomaly with the first device; and providing information regarding the flow anomaly to the person. Identifying anomalies can be useful in numerous ways, including discovering problems that need fixing, reducing waste, and even calculating appropriate irrigation application rates.
All water using devices are contemplated, including those employed at residential, commercial, industrial or other types of sites. With respect to households, for example, contemplated devices include internal devices such as showers, toilets, faucets, and home appliances such as washing machines, as well as external devices such as irrigation systems, pools and spas, and so forth. Of course, the various anomalies that can be detected depend in part on the types of water using devices in the system. Leaks and improperly closed valves can be detected for any of the devices, while broken irrigation sprinklers, plugged irrigation sprinkler heads, and so forth are usually specific to irrigation systems. It is especially contemplated that signatures are identified for multiple devices coupled to a common water supply system, with two or more of signatures compared against the same future water use pattern. Such multiple signature comparison can be especially useful where multiple devices may be operating concurrently.
In another aspect of preferred embodiments apparatus to accomplish these tasks is housed in an irrigation controller, which may be advantageously coupled to a flow meter so that flow data is transmitted from the flow meter directly to the irrigation controller. It is especially contemplated that the controller can operate a display that provides real time flow data, and a warning signal generator that provides an alert upon determination of the existence of a flow anomaly. All of the functions are preferably executed by an electronic processor executing software code.
An additional embodiment of the present invention is the providing of real time flow data to an individual so the individual may use the real time flow data to calculate the application rate of an irrigation system. Individuals may then use the application rate, with ETo data, to improve efficiency in the irrigating of their landscapes.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of steps involved in the determination of a water use signature according to a preferred embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a graph of a water use signature derived from operation of an irrigation system.
FIG. 3 is a graph of a water use signature derived from flushing of a toilet, and operation of a clothes washer.
FIG. 4 is a graph of microprocessor generated information provided to an individual to assist in improving water use efficiency.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of steps in generating information, including production of a warning signal.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of steps in generating real time flow data for use in improving efficiency in an irrigation system.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of steps involved in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In FIG. 1 a method for determining a water use signature for a water using devise generally comprises the following steps: executing a water using device 100 ; measuring water flow used by the device 110 ; measuring the corresponding water pressure 120 , transmitting flow data and pressure data to a microprocessor 130 ; and the microprocessor generating a water use signature 140 . The microprocessor is programmed to store the water use signature, and compare that signature to a future water use pattern to identify a flow anomaly.
In a preferred embodiment water use signature 140 is obtained from a single water meter that was preferably installed during original construction at the site. The single meter is used to monitor water usage of all devices on the system, including, for example, usage inside and outside a residence, business or other water use site. This is best accomplished by running one device at a time, thereby generating successive “clean” signature for each device. Alternatively, it is contemplated to install multiple flow meters, each of which may be coupled to one or more devices.
In FIG. 2 an irrigation system has four stations 210 , 220 , 230 and 240 controlled by an irrigation controller. In this particular example, the initial start time for the first station of the irrigation system is at 4:20 a.m., with the various stations being set to run for different lengths of time. As indicated by the graph, the quantity of water applied per minute varies for the different stations, and results in different water use signatures. Of course, water use signatures are preferably obtained when the irrigation system is operating without leaks or restrictions in the water lines or spray heads. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that water pressure can be an important factor in application rate, and therefore water pressure is advantageously measured and incorporated into the various water use signatures.
FIG. 3 depicts exemplary water use signatures from flushing of a toilet 310 and operation of a clothes washer 320 . As mentioned earlier, accurate water use signatures are preferably generated for water using devices when there is no leakage in the system, and no water being used by other devices.
FIG. 4 is an example of microprocessor generated information that may be provided to an operator or other individual. The term “operator or other individual” is used herein in a very broad sense to include all those persons having an interest in the water usage. This specifically includes home or business owners, and any others who are responsible for paying water usage charges. It also includes water district personnel and other employees and consultants at relevant government or private agencies.
In FIG. 4 , the information is displayed in a graphical format, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information may alternatively or additionally be displayed in tabular or other formats. With respect to specific signatures, the constancy of water use signature 430 most likely indicates the existence of a slow leak somewhere in the water system. A leaky faucet can result in water waste of 20 to 100 gallons per day. A leaky toilet can result in water waste of 40 plus gallons per day. Signatures 220 and 240 may well correspond to water use by successive stations of an irrigation system, with signature 230 corresponding to water usage by a broken line or broken head of the irrigation system. A broken line or head can easily result in a waste of 5 to 10 gallons of water per minute or more. Signature 420 has a flow rate that corresponds to usage of a toilet, (see e.g., toilet signature 310 in FIG. 3 ), except that the time frame is too long. In this particular instance, the toilet did not shut off properly. There is an indication of an additional water flow 410 occurring at the same time that station 210 is operating. However, the water flow pattern indicates that the additional water usage was not related to the flow of water through the irrigation system since the start and end time for the water flow pattern 410 was different than for station 210 . When compared to signature 310 in FIG. 3 , it is evident that the water flow pattern 410 , FIG. 4 is due to the flushing of a toilet.
In FIG. 5 , steps in generating information that assist individuals in the detection of water leaks, plugged irrigation sprinkler heads, and other flow anomalies include: the microprocessor generating flow information 510 ; and identifying a potential flow anomaly 520 ; which may include one or more of a leak in the water system 531 , a leak in the irrigation system 532 , a plugged irrigation sprinkler head 533 , and a toilet that didn't shut off 534 ; the microprocessor being programmed to warn one or more individuals 540 when flow anomalies occur 550 – 554 .
The warning may be through any suitable means, including, for example, a flashing display, an alarm mechanism, microprocessor generated information with highlighted water use patterns that do not fit water use signatures that were generated at the water use site, and other warning methods.
In FIG. 6 a preferred embodiment assists a water user to improve water efficiency in the irrigation of his or her landscape, with steps including measuring the total area that is being irrigated 610 ; obtaining flow data on the quantity of water used during a typical irrigation period 620 ; calculating amount (e.g., inches) of water applied to the landscape based on the present irrigation control settings 630 ; obtaining actual or historic ETo 640 ; comparing water actually applied against ETo 650 ; and adjusting (e.g. increasing or decreasing) run time of one or more of the stations 660 .
Following is a preferred formula for determining the inches of water being applied by a current setting of an irrigation controller.
A/B= 0.6242 X
A=quantity of water applied during a complete irrigation cycle measured in gallons B=total area irrigated measured in square feet 0.6242 is a constant calibration factor X is the unknown water application rate in inches per a given period of time
For example, if the landscaped area irrigated was 5000 square feet and the gallons of water measured by the flow meter during a complete irrigation cycle was 750 gallons then X would equal 0.24 inches of precipitation for the complete irrigation cycle. In this example, 750/5000=0.6242X or 0.15=0.6242X or X=0.15/0.6242, and therefore X=0.24 inches of precipitation for the complete irrigation cycle.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the ability to obtain historic or actual ETo data for a given irrigation site depends at least in part on where one lives. California provides daily and/or weekly information on ETo in printed media, over the Internet and sometimes through radio and television broadcast. Some other states do not provide any information on ETo, whereas still others provide information similar to that available in California. It may also be possible to obtain ETo data by referencing other weather factors, such as temperature and solar radiation.
Where individuals can obtain ETo data, they can readily determine the approximate irrigation controller settings to use to provide efficient irrigation of their landscape. For example, during the month of September in Merced, Calif., based on historic data, ETo equals approximately 0.175 inches each day. Therefore, in the example above if an individual had determined that his or her irrigation system was applying 0.24 inches per day, then that individual should reduce the irrigation run times so that 0.175 inches are applied each day.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of basic steps involved in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. There are daily executions of water using devices at water use sites 700 . These water use sites can be residential, commercial, industrial or other water use sites. The water using devices may be any presently known or unknown device. At a residential site, water using devices include home appliances such as dish washers and clothes washers; other indoor water using devices such as toilets, showers and faucets, and outdoor devices such irrigation systems, outdoor faucets that may, for example, be used to wash a car or clean off a driveway. Commercial and industrial sites may use some or all of the same devices as may be present at a residential site, but may alternatively or additionally include water cooled machinery, particulate collectors, and so forth.
Other steps in FIG. 7 include a water meter measuring water flow 710 and water pressure 720 during the execution of the water using devices, and transmitting that information to a microprocessor 730 . In a preferred embodiment the microprocessor is an integral part of a computer system, and more preferably of an irrigation control system. If the microprocessor is part of an irrigation controller the microprocessor generated information may advantageously be displayed on the irrigation controller display unit. Alternatively, the microprocessor may be part of a separate unit that has a visual display and/or other means to provide water users or other interested parties with information on flow anomalies. It is especially preferred that the microprocessor receives the water flow and water pressure data directly from the measuring devices. As used herein, the term “directly” means by a direct connection such as through an electric wire. However, the microprocessor may receive the data by other means that does not require a direct connection between the microprocessor and the measuring devices, such as by radio, pager and telephone.
Among contemplated alternative steps, the microprocessor may generate real time water flow data 740 , and that data may be used to improve water efficiency in the irrigating of the landscape 750 . Improved water efficiency in the irrigation of the landscape may advantageously be accomplished by irrigating plants based on water requirements of plants as indicated by steps 610 – 660 .
The microprocessor may also generate water use patterns from the daily water flow and water pressure data 760 . In such circumstances the microprocessor is preferably programmed to store the water use signature 140 , and compare the signature against a future water use pattern 770 to identify a flow anomaly with a specific water using device 780 , and provide information regarding the flow anomaly to an operator or other individual 790 .
It is especially contemplated that the microprocessor generated information may be utilized in helping an operator or other individual to recognize excessive water usage 791 . In one study, water consumption was reduced by as much as 20 gallons per day per individual by regular water consumption feedback (William H. Bruvold, Municipal Water Conservation, California Water Resources Center, 1988, P. 40). The microprocessor generated information may also help in identifying possible leaks 792 , plugged sprinkler heads 793 , and toilets that don't shut off 794 . Further, the microprocessor may warn individuals when these or other anomalies are present 540 – 554 .
Thus, specific methods and apparatus for using water use signatures in improving water use efficiency have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are contemplated without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. | The present invention provides systems and methods that identify a flow anomaly to an operator or other person by: executing a first device of a plurality of water using devices; receiving flow data on a quantity of water used by the first device during a time period required to generate a first water use signature from the first device; comparing a future water use pattern against the first water use signature to identify a flow anomaly with the first device; and providing information regarding the flow anomaly to the person. Identifying anomalies can be useful in numerous ways, including discovering problems that need fixing, reducing waste, and even calculating appropriate irrigation application rates. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to air filters and more particularly to an improved grease trap air filter to be used as a heat transfer mechanism. The present invention relates to a combined system which simultaneously filters grease and particulate from hot fumes and transfers heat to a fluid circulating inside the system. The heated fluid may then be used to supply heat for other purposes, such as heating water or air.
During the operation of commercial or institutional kitchens, a significant amount of valuable heat energy is lost as a result of hot fumes and/or air being vented to the atmosphere. These hot fumes are generated from cook stoves, hot plates, deep fat fryers, and other cooking apparatus. As a result of such extreme heat and variety of particulates generated during cooking, it is necessary for the comfort and health of kitchen workers to exhaust these fumes, usually on a continuous basis, through flue chimneys or similar venting devices. This process effectively replaces the hot kitchen air with cooler, clean outside air. Although this circulation process is necessary to provide a constant source of clean air to the kitchen environment, this venting practice is both inefficient and uneconomical, especially in colder climates where the cost to heat internal air and water is significant.
A further problem encountered in commercial kitchens is the filtering of grease and other particulates entrained in the hot fumes generated during the cooking of foods. If improperly filtered, this grease can cause fouling and the eventual malfunction of air ventilation systems, as well as create fire hazards if allowed to accumulate. Accordingly, hot fume air filters, which are normally located in fume hoods over cooking surfaces, are generally required to be cleaned daily, or at a minimum of 2-3 times a week. This tedious cleaning process is both time consuming and expensive.
The use of heat exchangers to capture thermal energy above cooking surfaces has been known for years. These designs, however, position the heat exchangers substantially downstream of existing grease filters. This approach is unfavorable for at least three reasons. First, these designs are inefficient since the heat exchanger is located downstream of the grease filter and a significant distance from the heat source. Thus, valuable thermal energy is lost by absorption into the grease filter and through general dissipation prior to the heat reaching the exchanger. Second, the grease filters currently being used upstream of the heat exchangers significantly impede air flow, especially when congested with grease, hence reducing the efficiency of the air ventilation system and heat transfer efficiency. Third, when the heat source is turned off, the grease quickly solidifies on the prior filters, which usually include heat exchange fins, and requires cleaning for both safety and efficiency. Finally, despite the existence of these kinds of heat exchangers generally, many existing kitchens fail to incorporate any kind of heat exchanger due to integration costs. Retrofitting existing kitchen equipment with heat exchanger systems may require an entirely new flue hood assembly and substantial piping and accessories. This conversion is both time consuming and expensive. While some improvements have been made to combine a filter and heat exchanger, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,244, there remains room for improvement in the art. For instance, there is room for a filter unit having simplified construction, using less material and providing more complete heat transfer than prior devices.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods related to filter units having simplified construction, using less material and providing more complete heat transfer than prior devices.
An embodiment of a filter unit according to the present invention comprises a housing including a cavity, and a heat exchanger disposed substantially within the cavity. Through the housing is provided at least one entrance aperture provided on an upstream side of the heat exchanger. On the downstream side of the heat exchanger, opposite the upstream side, at least one baffle is provided on the housing. Also on the downstream side of the heat exchanger, at least one exit aperture is provided through the housing. The at least one baffle is aligned with the at least one entrance aperture, such that when a gas is drawn through the at least one entrance aperture and across the heat exchanger, the baffle redirects the gas towards the heat exchanger prior to the gas leaving the cavity through the at least one exit aperture.
According to one aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, the housing comprises a base and a cover. The base may include a substantially planar base wall having a base wall perimeter and a plurality of lateral sidewalls coupled to the base wall perimeter substantially encircling the base cavity. The at least one entrance aperture may be formed through the base wall. The base wall perimeter may be substantially rectilinear.
According to another aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, the base may further include at least one fin member extending at least partially across one of the at least one entrance aperture into the cavity at an oblique angle relative to the base wall. The base may include a pair of fin members extending partially across each entrance aperture into the cavity at an oblique angle relative to the base wall.
According to yet another aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, the cover may include a substantially planar cover plate having a cover plate perimeter and at least one lateral cover sidewall coupled to and extending at an oblique angle from the cover plate, the at least one lateral cover sidewall adapted to extend into the housing cavity, where the at least one exit aperture is formed through the cover plate.
According to still another aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, wherein the heat exchanger may include a first header pipe extending between a first end and a second end and a second header pipe spaced from the first header pipe, the second header pipe extending between a third end and a fourth end. At least one of the first and second ends and/or at least one of the third and fourth ends may be closed. At least one fluid flow conduit may be disposed between and in fluid communication with the first header pipe and the second header pipe, wherein the header pipes and at least one fluid flow conduit define a fluid cavity. A first fluid port may be provided on the first header pipe in fluid communication with the fluid cavity, and a second fluid port may be provided on the second header pipe in fluid communication with the fluid cavity.
According to a further aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, the first and second header pipes may be substantially longitudinally straight pipes disposed at least substantially parallel to each other.
According to a still further aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, a plurality of fluid flow conduits may be provided at least substantially parallel to each other and at least substantially orthogonal to the header pipes.
According to another aspect of a filter unit according to the present invention, a heat exchanger may include a heat-conductive material at least partially coated with a reduced friction material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene.
A system according to the present invention includes a cooking surface including a heat source and an exhaust system adapted to draw in gasses that are disposed above the cooking surface, the exhaust system providing a gas flow path for the gasses. Disposed in the gas flow path is a filter unit that includes a housing including a cavity and a first heat exchanger disposed substantially within the cavity, the first heat exchanger including a fluid input port and a fluid output port. At least one entrance aperture may be provided through the housing on an upstream side of the first heat exchanger, and at least one baffle may be provided on the housing on a downstream side of the first heat exchanger, the downstream side being oppositely disposed of the upstream side. Through the housing, on the downstream side of the first heat exchanger, at least one exit aperture is provided. The at least one baffle is aligned with the at least one entrance aperture, such that when the gasses are drawn through the at least one entrance aperture and across the first heat exchanger, the baffle redirects the gasses towards the first heat exchanger prior to the gasses leaving the cavity through the at least one exit aperture. The system further includes fluid supply coupled to the input port and a drain line coupled at a drain upstream end to the output port and at a drain downstream end to one or more of a storage tank and a second heat exchanger.
According to another aspect of a system according to the present invention, the second heat exchanger is selected from the group consisting of: a radiator adapted to heat an indoor space, a length of heat-conductive tubing disposed in or below a walking surface, and a length of heat-conductive tubing disposed on a roof of a building.
According to yet another aspect of a system according to the present invention, the drain line is coupled to the second heat exchanger and a third heat exchanger. Each of the second heat exchanger and the third heat exchanger may be selected from the group consisting of: a radiator adapted to heat an indoor space, a length of heat-conductive tubing disposed in or below a walking surface, and a length of heat-conductive tubing disposed on a roof of a building.
According to a further aspect of a system according to the present invention, the cooking surface may be disposed substantially parallel to horizontal level, the filter unit further comprising a substantially planar base wall arranged at an oblique angle relative to the cooking surface. The angle is preferably from about 10 degrees to about 60 degrees, and more preferably about 12 degrees to about 45 degrees.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a filter unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial assembly view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 cross-sectional view taken along line 3 - 3 of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger included in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bottom filter housing included in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a top filter housing included in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 7A is a partial cutaway view of a first embodiment of an open system utilizing an embodiment of a filter unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 7B is a partial cutaway view of a second embodiment of an open system utilizing an embodiment of a filter unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a partial cutaway view of a first embodiment of a closed system utilizing an embodiment of a filter unit according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structures. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.
Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment 100 of a filter unit, or cartridge, according to the present invention. The filter unit 100 comprises a housing 110 and a heat exchanger 170 . The housing 110 generally surrounds the heat exchanger 170 and may be comprised of one or more pieces. The preferred housing is preferably two pieces including a base 112 and a cover 114 . The base 112 may be formed in a configuration that is substantially a parallelepiped with an open top 116 . If formed as such, the base 112 includes a base wall 118 and a plurality of lateral sidewalls 120 . The base 112 may be formed from a cruciform shape that is stamped or otherwise formed out of a generally planar sheet material, such as sheet stainless steel of a desired thickness. Once stamped, the lateral sidewalls 120 may be bent towards each other, thus forming a base cavity 122 . Alternatively, the sidewalls 120 may be coupled to the base wall 118 , such as by welding. There may be a gap 122 a between adjacent sidewalls 120 or the gap 122 a may be closed with a sealant or welded. Additionally or alternatively, the plurality of sidewalls 120 may be formed as a unitary member, such as in a ring formation, and coupled to the base wall 118 .
The base wall 118 is preferably perforate, including one or more air portals 124 formed therethrough, to allow air to pass into the base cavity 122 through the base wall 118 . Various shapes of the base wall 118 are contemplated, although a generally planar, rectilinear shape is preferred for ease of manufacture and installation. In addition, such shape is easily adaptable to be utilized with filter assembly units, or exhaust hoods, that are presently provided in commercial cooking settings. Furthermore, it is preferred that the shape of the filter unit 100 be at least laterally symmetrical, such that the unit may be inserted into a given hood or exhaust assembly in a plurality of orientations, so as to provide ease of connectivity. Indeed, the filter unit is preferably rotationally symmetrical in at least one plane.
The openings 124 formed in the base wall 118 of the base 112 preferably perform at least a slight nozzling function on air entering the housing 110 . This may be accomplished by an arrangement of pairs of fins 126 adapted to extend from the openings 124 towards each other. In other words, a pair of fins 126 a , 126 b may be provided for each aperture 124 , wherein each fin 126 extend into the base cavity 122 and toward the associated fin 126 in the respective pair. Thus, each opening is preferably wider at its upstream side 124 a and narrower at its downstream side 124 b . The fins 126 may be formed from the same material as the base wall 118 , and indeed may be stamped and formed from the same piece of material as the base wall 118 , and then bent into the base cavity 122 . Additionally or alternatively, the fins 126 may be provided as separate components that are preferably stationarily coupled with respect to the base wall 118 . If provided as separate components, two fins 126 may be provided as coupled together, perhaps as a unitary member including a fin plate 126 c disposed between the two fins 126 . The fin plate 126 c may be include a substantially planar surface extending along a length, proximate end portions of which are secured to the base wall 118 . The preferred nozzling function provided by the arranged fins 126 focuses the airflow towards a baffle 138 that is included on the cover 114 , or that is at least disposed on the opposite side of the heat exchanger 170 from the fins 126 , and therefore assist in the collection of grease particles. Also as later discussed, the direction of airflow creates a turbulent airflow to increase exposure time of the air with the heat exchanger 170 . Accordingly, it is preferred that no direct airflow path is created through the filter assembly 110 , or a majority of the airflow therethrough is not direct. Rather, one or more tortuous airflow paths 201 are created thereby allowing for a turbulent flow that exposes the heated air to the heat exchanger 170 for a sufficient amount of time to allow for adequate heat exchange to a fluid contained therein.
Also on the base 112 , one or more retainer tabs 128 are preferably formed on at least one of the lateral side members 120 , preferably on two opposing lateral side members 120 . A preferred retainer tab 128 is a punched extrusion from the lateral side member 120 so as to form a spring type retention force. Also provided on the base 112 is at least one and preferably a plurality of handles 130 , which may be formed in a variety of ways. Preferably, the handles 130 are provided in opposing positions on the assembly 100 to allow for balanced insertion and removal of the filter unit 100 . The preferred handles 130 are full or partial wire loop handles that are suspended from handle brackets 132 that may be formed integrally with or coupled to the base wall 118 .
In addition to acting as a heat exchanger, a filter unit 100 according to the present invention may serve as an air filter which assists in the collection of grease particles, which is especially advantageous to be used over commercial cooking surfaces. To aid in the drainage of collected grease particles, the base 112 may be provided with one or more drain holes 133 formed therethrough. A plurality of drain holes 133 is preferred, and they may be formed along the juncture of one or more of the lateral side members 120 and the base wall 118 .
The cover 114 preferably generally comprises a plate 134 , and may further include one or more lateral side members 136 extending from the plate 134 . The side members 136 may be provided in a length 136 a that allows insertion of the side members 136 between header pipes 172 of the heat exchanger 170 . Furthermore, the side members 136 may be formed with one or more heat exchanger interfaces 136 b , which may contact and/or surround a portion of the heat exchanger 170 to maintain position during and after installation. The cover 114 may be formed as a symmetrical shape that may be inserted into the base 112 in a plurality of orientations. Formed integrally with or coupled to the plate 134 are one or more baffles 138 that are disposed opposite the apertures 126 formed in the base 112 so as to assist in creating the tortuous air flow path through the filter unit 100 . The baffles 138 are preferably arranged to act as a one or more diffusers, such that the upstream side 140 a of openings 140 disposed between the baffles 138 is smaller than the downstream side 140 b . The baffles 138 may be formed similar or identical to the unitary fin members, discussed above. It is thought that the nozzle effect provided by the base 112 and the diffuser effect on the cover 114 actually assist in the creation of the tortuous airflow path 150 to aid in the collection of grease and to maximize or assist in the heat transfer to fluid in the heat exchanger 170 .
The filter base 112 and cover 114 assemblies are preferably formed from stainless steel, though other materials are certainly contemplated, such as aluminum, copper, steel and others. A plastic housing could also be used, but is not generally preferred due to a desirability of durability in cleaning and repair. Further, plastic has demonstrated affections for grease, which may be caused by its insulative properties, and therefore it may require more frequent cleaning.
The heat exchanger 170 is preferably formed from two header pipes 172 , which may be provided in a parallel arrangement, and a plurality of fluid flow conduits 174 , which also may be provided in a parallel arrangement, extending between the two header pipes 172 . The heat exchanger 170 is preferably sized so as to be positioned substantially within the base cavity 122 . Such arrangement provides a fluid flow chamber 176 within the header pipes 172 and conduits 174 , through which a preferred fluid may be caused to flow. A preferred fluid may be a potable fluid, such as water or propylene glycol. Alternatively, a serpentine fluid flow chamber arrangement could be used. However, in the provided embodiment, less structural material may be required due to increased air exposure time to the heat exchanger 170 caused by the tortuous airflow paths. While the heat exchanger 170 could be formed asymmetrically, it is preferably at least rotationally symmetrical in at least one plane, such that it may be inserted into the base cavity 122 in a plurality of orientations. In a preferred embodiment, each header 172 is provided with a fluid port 178 in fluid communication with the fluid flow chamber 176 . The ports 178 may be provided with threads 179 or other coupling mechanism, such as a standard fluid quick connect coupling, to be connected to a fluid supply or drain. Preferably, as shown, the ports 178 are provided on opposite ends of their respective header 172 . Vibration pads 180 may be provided on one or more components of the filter unit 100 . Preferably, a plurality of pads 180 is adhered to each header pipe 172 in the heat exchanger 170 . The vibration pads 180 are adapted to cooperate with the base wall 118 to prevent a rattling of two or more of the components.
A preferred material for one or more, and preferably a majority, of the components of the heat exchanger is copper, which may be coated with a non-stick material, such as a paint including polytetrafluoroethylene, available as a Teflon® material, available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del. The non-stick material may be painted onto the desired heat exchanger components. Another acceptable material for the heat exchanger headers 172 and conduits 174 is steel tube, which may also be painted with a non-stick material.
In use, a filter unit 100 according to the present invention is inserted into a filter housing or holding unit above a cooking surface. As can be seen in the cross section of FIG. 3 , the combination of the fins 126 and baffles 138 create tortuous, or non-sightline fluid flow paths 150 for exhaust air to enter through the base wall 118 and exit through the cover plate 134 . The air paths 150 are directed around the fluid flow conduits 174 included in the heat exchanger 170 . Accordingly, a majority of the conduits 174 are exposed directly to heated air flow, and not just a portion thereof. Such exposure combined with the turbulent nature of the airflow mechanism helps with the efficiency of the device.
Generally, systems and methods according to the present invention may be used to collect heat generated by a cooking surface, which would otherwise be wasted as exhaust, and transfer such heat to other locations for use in an open or closed circulation system. As can be seen in FIG. 7A , one or more filter units 100 may be installed in an exhaust housing 200 , preferably above a cooking surface 202 . While the filter 100 could be installed at any desirable angle, such as parallel to horizontal level, it is preferably installed at an angle 204 relative to horizontal level, the angle 204 being disposed at between about 12 degrees and about 45 degrees for most efficient drainage of collected oil particles, thus disposing the longitudinal dimension of the fins 124 and baffles 138 at approximately such angle.
Collected oil may drain out of the provided drain holes 133 and into one or more grease traps 203 . As further shown in FIG. 7 , a plurality of filter units 100 may be coupled together to form an expanded filter unit. The units 100 may be coupled in series, as shown, or in parallel. If coupled in series, a coupler 205 may be connected at one end to a drain port 178 of one filter unit 100 A and at the other end to a supply port 178 of a subsequent filter unit 100 B, and so on. If coupled in parallel, a supply port 178 on each unit 100 is coupled to a fluid supply line and a drain port 178 on each unit 100 can be coupled to a drain line.
A system utilizing the filter unit(s) 100 of the present invention may be an open system, such as when the heated fluid is removed from the system and put to some other use, such as dishwashing, or it is stored for future use. FIG. 7A depicts an open system. Water or other desirable fluid may be provided by gravity pressure, such as from an elevated supply tank 210 or municipal water supply, or it may be pumped to the system. Conduit 212 and standard connections may be used to couple the water supply to a first filter unit 100 A. The fluid is allowed to flow through one or more filter units 100 , and then drain into a storage tank 214 for future use, such as being pumped to a dishwasher, hot water supply in a restroom, or used for other purposes.
An enhanced open system can be seen in FIG. 7B . In addition to the storage tank 214 , the enhanced system may include a water heating tank 216 and a recirculating pump 218 . The plumbing diagram of FIG. 7 B will be readily understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art, as including various check valves 220 and shut-off valves 222 in desired positions. One advantage to this enhanced system is that if fluid usage is not keeping up with the supply of heated fluid, fluid stored in the storage tank 214 may be recirculated to keep it warm in the event of demand increase. The recirculating pump 218 may be selectively activated and deactivated, such as on a time schedule or based upon a measured temperature of the fluid in the storage tank 214 falling below a predetermined threshold.
Additionally or alternatively, the system may be a closed system, where the goal may be to transfer the heat from the exhaust gases and put the heat to use elsewhere. An example of a closed system is shown in FIG. 8 . In this system, water or other fluid is introduced into the closed system and substantially all of any residual air is purged. The fluid may be pumped through the system by an inline pump 310 , through conduit 212 and through one or more filter units 100 . After traveling through the one or more filter units 100 , in which the fluid was heated by exhaust from the cooking surface 202 , the fluid may then be caused to travel through one or more additional heat exchangers. For instance, the fluid may be pumped through a radiator 312 to heat a room. Additionally or alternatively, the fluid may be pumped through a roof heat exchanger 314 disposed along the edge of the roof 316 of the building in which the system is housed, to prevent ice damming. Additionally or alternatively, the fluid may be pumped through a sidewalk heat exchanger 318 disposed beneath or embedded in a concrete or other external walkway 320 to reduce the buildup of ice thereon. It is to be appreciated that the function of a system according to the present invention may be changed depending upon the time of year. For instance, in summer months, it may not be desirable to use a closed system for heating purposes as described. In such situations, the fluid may remain static and the filter units 100 may simply be used to collect oil particulates from the exhaust air. Alternatively, the closed system could be changed to an open system in the summer months, thereby providing hot water for use.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims. | An embodiment of filter unit heat exchanger according to the present invention provides improved operability and manufacturability. Such device may include a housing substantially surrounding a heat exchange assembly. Provided through the housing are one or more tortuous fluid flow paths used to direct airflow therethrough around portions of the heat exchange assembly for efficient operation. The tortuous path(s) may be provided by one or more nozzle apertures on an input side of the housing and one or more diffuser apertures on an output side of the housing, where the nozzle apertures and diffuser apertures are offset to cause desired airflow deflection. The filter unit may include desired symmetries so as to improve manufacturability and/or installation. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to forms or documents preferably of paper on which is printed variable data such as personal details for example names, addresses and other individual information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a form having front and reverse sides and incorporating a removable portion therein, the form incorporating a sheet of printable material, preferably paper and being adapted to have variable data printed on at least one side, the removable portion having a first sealing layer applied to its front side and a second sealing layer applied to its reverse side, and data means being provided on at least one side of the removable portion for recordably receiving machine readable data.
In some embodiments said data means comprises a strip of magnetic recording tape. In other embodiments said data means comprises a chip.
Conveniently said data means is applied externally of the sealing layer, but with some arrangements said data means is disposed between the sheet and one of the sealing layers.
Preferably the sealing layers comprise polyester films.
Sometimes, however, one sealing layer comprises a varnish coating applied to the outward facing surface of the sheet on the other side of the removable portion to the data means, the sealing layer on said one side comprising a polyester film. In some arrangements a base sheet is provided on said other side of the removable portion and extends beyond the removable portion.
Ideally, the removable portion is defined by a die cut which penetrates the form through to, but not including, the base sheet where such a base sheet is provided. It is a further preferred feature that one or both polyester films are printer compatible such that variable data can be printed thereon.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a form having front and reverse sides, the method comprising the steps of applying sealing layer to the front and reverse sides of a predetermined area of a sheet of printable material, preferably paper, said predetermined area in use defining a removable portions applying data means on at least one side of said predetermined area, printing variable data on to one or both sides of the form and recording machine readable data on to the data means.
Preferably the sealing layers are polyester film but in some methods there is the step of applying a varnish layer to the outward facing surface of the sheet on the side of the predetermined area which does not have the data means.
In preferred methods there is the further step of having a base sheet on the side of the predetermined area which does not have the data means.
Ideally the removable portion is defined by die cutting around said predetermined area through to but not including the base sheet if provided.
With some preferred methods the variable data is printed before the application of the polyester films but in others, the polyester films may be printer compatible.
The printing of the variable data may be on both sides of the form and may include variable data on the removable and non-removable portions of the form.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a paper form according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a reverse side of the FIG. 1 arrangement,
FIG. 3 is an exaggerated section on lines III—III of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 shows a section similar to FIG. 3 of an alternative embodiment, and
FIG. 5 shows a section similar to FIG. 3 of a further alternative embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the figures there is shown a paper form 10 which may be an A4 sheet of paper but could be of any size or shape. The form 10 has a front side 11 and a reverse side 12 . In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is indicated by lines 13 an area which in the finished form will be a removable, credit card shaped portion 14 although it will be appreciated that the card portion 14 could be of any shape or size.
Starting with a plain sheet 10 , the sheet 10 may be printed on front and/or reverse sides 11 , 12 with static information 15 which will not chance such as the letterhead, logo and graphics of the company sending the form. This static information 15 will not alter depending on the recipient of the form. The static information 15 could even include the contents of a standard letter. Static information is also likely to be printed within the lines 13 .
Variable information or data 16 can then be printed on to the front side 11 probably including the area within the lines 13 and possibly on to the reverse side 12 as well. This variable data 16 changes depending on the recipient of the form and can include names, addresses, policy or account numbers or other personalised information relevant to the intended recipient.
A patch 17 is then applied to the reverse side 12 of the form 10 , covering the area defined by the lines 13 . The patch 17 is of laminar construction and comprises a layer 18 of non-peelable adhesive, a polyester film layer 19 , an optional varnish coating 20 , a non-peelable adhesive layer 21 and a base sheet 22 which in use is the remotest layer from the paper form 10 . The base sheet 22 may be paper or a transparent or opaque sheet.
On the front of the form 10 a further polyester film layer 23 with a non-peelable adhesive layer 24 is secured over the area defined by the lines 13 . Data means in the form of a length of magnetic recordal tape 25 is then attached over at least part of the area defined by the lines 13 using a suitable non-peelable adhesive 26 . The polyester film layers may be transparent, semi-transparent or opaque.
The form 10 is then passed through a die-cut machine which produces cuts 27 through all layers except the base sheet 22 , following the path defined by the lines 13 so as to produce a removable card 14 , the non-peelable adhesive layer 21 allowing removal from the base sheet 22 . If this card 14 has variable data printed on the paper, the variable data is effectively being sealed in by the polyester film layers 19 and/or 23 so that the data cannot be tampered with.
It will be appreciated that in the drawings the thickness of the layers of the card 14 have been exaggerated so as to clarify the construction. In one envisaged use the card 14 may be used as a loyalty card for a shop, the tape 25 containing personal customer details, the card also showing corporate graphics relating to the shop (static information).
Other uses will also be apparent to the reader such as credit cards, travel cards, parking permits as well as many other applications.
The forms 10 may be produced as individual sheets or as part of a continuous system with a number of forms detachably connected in series.
Also the polyester film layers 19 , 23 may be printing compatible so that the variable data can be applied after the components of the card have been attached to the paper form 10 . The actual printing of all variable data may be by any known printing means such as laser, ink jet, digital and the formation of the label could be by cutting methods other than die cutting.
In the specific arrangement described above the following materials have been found to be suitable for the layers but it will be appreciated that variations and modifications in composition and thickness will be possible.
Base sheet ( 22 )—45 micron paper sheet/film
Non-peelable adhesive ( 21 )—E326 adhesive produced by PCP (Precision Coated Products)
Polyester film ( 19 )—50 micron transparent polyester film
Non-peelable adhesive ( 18 )—E326 adhesive produced by PCP
Paper form ( 10 )—Printer paper
Non-peelable adhesive ( 24 )—E326 adhesive produced by PCP
Polyester film ( 23 )—50 micron transparent polyester film
Magnetic tape ( 25 )—10 micron to ISO7811 standard
A throw away liner would also be attached to the patch 17 prior to attachment to the form 10 .
In alternative arrangements the magnetic recordal tape 25 could be applied between the form 10 and the further polyester film layer 23 to give some protection to the tape 25 . This is shown in FIG. 4 . The tape 25 could also be formed as part of the polyester film layer 23 .
In the further alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the base sheet 22 and the non-peelable adhesive layer 21 are omitted. Also the die-cuts 27 are such that small unbreakable tabs retain the card shaped portion 14 attached to the remainder of the form until such time as it is needed. It can then be simply pressed out by hand breaking the retaining tabs.
Once the complete form has been assembled the personalised data can be recorded on to the tape 25 so as to relate to the intended recipient of the form 10 . The recipient, on receipt, can then peel off the card 14 or press it out in the case of the FIG. 5 embodiment and use it for its intended purpose. It will of course be understood that the tape 25 is located on the card 14 in a position that allows the tape 25 to be read in a conventional manner using a suitable machine.
The printing of the variable data and the recordal of the tape need to be synchronised so that the personal details in the variable data relates to the information put on the tape 25 . It is possible that a single machine could be used to print and record in one pass of the form 10 .
It is also envisaged that the magnetic recordal tape 25 which is “read only” could be replaced by another type of recording medium. One such example would be a chip of the type which is now becoming used on smart cards such as store loyalty cards etc. The chips are more expensive than tape but are “read and write” in nature so as to provide a two-way communication with a compatible machine such that the information contained on the chip is able to be changed as the card 14 is used.
In other alternative arrangements the removable portion is double sized and has adhesive on its rear side when removed from the form 10 . Once removed the double size removed portion is folded in half so that the rear sides are stuck together thereby forming a normal sized card. With such an arrangement variable data can be printed on to both sides of the card with only a single pass through a printer.
Further embodiments may involve the polyester film on the opposite side to the recordal tape being revealed and folded over by the intended recipient. Such an arrangement could enable a signature to be applied and then protected by the polyester film. | A form 10 has a portion 14 laminated on both sides with polyester film and defined by die cuts along lines 13. The portion 14 is, therefore, removable, and has a magnetic recordal tape 25 incorporated therein. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention broadly relates to novel heterodimers of tetrahydroacridines and tetrahydroquinolinones and their uses. In particular, the invention describes heterodimers which are capable of acting as both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. The heterodimers may be used in the improvement of cognitive defects in both humans and non-humans. Such improvement can be in the form of both treatment and prevention of cognitive defects.
BACKGROUND
Within the central and peripheral nervous systems, neurons conduct nerve impulses by releasing neurotransmitters, chemicals that enable nerve cells to communicate. Acetylcholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter which transmits nerve impulses in cholinergic neurons. ACh plays a crucial role in learning and memory. Decreased presence of acetylcholine has been found in Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia due to multiple strokes, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and is a major characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, autopsy studies on patients with AD have revealed lesions in the cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis. Thus, the loss of ACh is thought to account for the loss of cognitive functions such as learning and memory that is a characteristic of many forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease-related dementia.
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are ligand-gated ion channels located primarily within the central nervous system (CNS). They belong to the family of ionotropic glutamate receptors and exist as multiple subtypes due to the different combinations of subunits—NR1, NR2 (NR2A, NR2B, NR2C, NR2D) and NR3—that can be expressed. They exhibit multiple distinct binding sites. Therefore, in addition to the agonist binding site, there are binding sites for various compounds that enhance, modulate and inhibit the activation of the receptor.
NMDA receptors are involved in neuronal communication and play important roles in synaptic plasticity and mechanisms that underlie learning and memory. Under normal conditions, the NMDA receptors engage in synaptic transmission via the neurotransmitter, glutamate. However, abnormally high levels of glutamate (due to a diseased state) lead to over-activation of these receptors resulting in an excess of Ca 2+ influx. This results in neuronal damage through the generation of free radicals such as nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), loss of ATP, and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Decreased nerve cell function and neuronal cell death eventually occur. Known as excitotoxicity, this process also occurs if the cell's energy metabolism is compromised.
NMDA over-activation is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and other pathological conditions as it causes neuronal loss and cognitive impairment. In fact, NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity plays a part in the final common pathway leading to neuronal injury in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease, as well as conditions such as stroke and neuropathic pain. In fact, recent findings have implicated NMDA receptors in many more neurological disorders than previously thought such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy (periventricular leukomalacia), and spinal cord injury, as well as in chronic and severe mood disorders (Mathew et al., 2005)
Compounds currently known in the art exhibit either cholinergic activity or NMDA antagonist activity—but not both. A number of tacrine derivatives (bis-tacrines, chloro-substituted bis-tacrines, chloro-substituted tacrines, etc.) have also been developed to treat Alzheimer's disease. While these compounds are reported to be highly potent and selective against AChE, no NMDA antagonist activity has been detected.
Cholinergic compounds exhibiting acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity are known and available in the market. Donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine are recognized and readily prescribed cholinergic drugs that have received FDA approval for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. While these drugs show slightly different pharmacological properties, they all work by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine. The major difference between these compounds and those of the present invention is that they exert their influence via a single mechanism of action only, i.e. the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. They are not NMDA receptor antagonists. Thus, their therapeutic purpose is focused primarily on enhancing the cholinergic effect. Furthermore, these compounds are only suitable for early stage dementia in AD.
Due to recent findings of the involvement of NMDA receptors in a variety of neuropathic disease states and conditions, NMDA antagonists as therapeutic drugs have become more commonly researched. One obstacle to the development of NMDA antagonists as neurotherapeutic drugs is that despite their significant neurotherapeutic potential, many promising NMDA antagonists also exhibit psychotogenic and neurotoxic properties. For example, MK-801 (dizocilpine maleate) has been shown to confer a degree of neuroprotection in ischemic stroke. MK-801, however, is also associated with pyschotropic and adverse motor effects. A few NMDA antagonists have been approved for clinical use for a variety of neuro-pathological conditions such as epilepsy and neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Memantine is a non-competitive NMDA antagonist recently approved (in 2004) for the treatment of vascular dementia and dementia symptoms in moderate to severe cases of Alzheimer's disease. Memantine is the only compound in this class of compounds that has successfully received FDA-approval for AD. The mechanism of inhibiting glutamate-induced neurotoxicity is similar to that of the novel compounds. However, unlike the novel compounds, memantine does not affect the cholinergic synaptic pathway.
However, recently the known potent AChE inhibitor, bis-9-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine (also known as bis(7)-tacrine), has also been shown to interact with NMDA receptors to reduce glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, a mechanism independent of its AChE inhibitory and cholinergic transmission activities (Li et al, 2005).
Huperzine A, another known potent anti-cholinesterase inhibitor isolated from the Chinese club moss Huperzia serrata , also has the ability to interact with the NMDA receptor in a non-competitive manner (Gordon et al, 2001). Huperzine A can protect against excitotoxicity by blocking NMDA ion channels and unlike MK-801 and other NMDA antagonists, does so in the absence of psychomimetic side-effects. This makes Huperzine A an ideal candidate for treating acute and chronic neuro-related disorders. However, as Huperzine A is derived from a naturally occurring herb, it is not patentable and thereby has little chance of being developed into a therapeutic drug by biopharmaceutical companies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved or alternative compounds useful for the treatment or prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention broadly comprises a compound which comprises amino-tetrahydroquinolinone and tetrahydroacridine moieties.
More specifically the invention broadly comprises compounds of Formula I:
Wherein
X 1 , X 2 are independently selected from H, alkyl, halo, alkoxy;
L1, L2, L3, L4 are bonds independently selected from bivalent C 1-5 alkylene; 1,4-cyclohexylene, 1,4-phenylene, —CO—, —O—, —S— and —NR—;
R is selected from hydrogen, an unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, an unsubsituted or substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted alkenyl, or unsubstituted or substituted aryl;
with the proviso that when the tetrahydroquinolone is connected at 5-amino position, and L1-L2-L3-L4 is a C 3-12 methylene linker, then one of X 1 or X 2 is not H.
In a preferred embodiment, X 1 or X 2 is Cl.
In yet a further preferred embodiment the tetrahydroquinolinone moiety is connected at either the 5 or 6 positions.
The invention also comprises stereoisomers of compounds according to Formula 1.
In a further aspect the invention broadly comprises a method of inhibiting a cholinesterase comprising exposing the cholinesterase to a compound of Formula 1.
In a preferred embodiment the cholinesterase is selected from acetylcholinesterase or butyrylcholinesterase. In a particularly preferred embodiment the cholinesterase is in an animal and the compound of Formula 1 is administered to said animal. Preferably the cholinesterase to be inhibited is acetylcholinesterase or butyrylcholinesterase.
The invention also describes a method of inhibiting an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in an animal comprising administering to said animal an amount of a compound of Formula 1.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is described a method of inhibiting cholinesterase and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in an animal comprising administering to said animal an amount of a compound of Formula 1. Preferably the cholinesterase to be inhibited is acetylcholinesterase or butyrylcholinesterase.
In a further aspect the invention describes a method of treating a disease or disorder of the nervous system of an animal comprising administering an amount of a compound according to Formula 1. In a preferred embodiment the disease is a neurodegenerative disease. In a particularly preferred embodiment the neurodegenerative disease is Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease.
In an alternative embodiment the disorder of the nervous system is caused by a stroke or epileptic fit.
In a further aspect the invention broadly describes a method of treating Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, or dementia in an animal comprising administering an amount of a compound according to Formula 1.
The invention also describes a method of preventing stroke, epilepsy or brain trauma in an animal comprising administering an amount of a compound according to Formula 1.
Also described by the invention is a method of improving cognitive ability in an animal comprising administering a compound according to Formula 1.
The methods of the invention are preferably carried out on mammals, more preferably humans.
In a further aspect the invention describes the use of a compound according to Formula 1 in the manufacture of a medicament useful for the treatment of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease; the prevention of stroke, epilepsy or brain trauma; and the improvement of cognitive ability.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a graph comparing the NMDA receptor antagonist activity of compounds of the present invention with known NMDA antagonists.
FIG. 2 is a graph showing the ability of the claimed compounds to protect rat cortical neurons against NMDA excitotoxicity.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the ability of a claimed compound to protect cortical neurons against NMDA insults (measured by cell death percentages).
FIGS. 4 a to 4 f are graphs showing the ability of the claimed compounds to reverse scopolamine-induced performance deficits in Morris Water Maze tests.
FIGS. 5 a to 5 h are graphs showing the ability of the claimed compounds to protect subjects against neurological damage.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
To date, the most successful approach in reducing the rate of cognitive decline in AD patients has been based on blocking the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). AChE is responsible for breaking down ACh after it is released into the synaptic cleft as a result of nerve impulses. By temporarily blocking the activity of AChE via acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), the concentration of ACh in the bram and spinal cord is increased and its effects sustained. This mechanism of action (also known as the cholinergic effect) enhances the function of central cholinergic neurons which govern the process of learning and memory. In clinical evaluation, AChEIs have shown to improve cognition and memory in Alzheimer's patients. In fact, the FDA-approved drugs for first-line treatment of mild-moderate AD—donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine—are reversible AChEIs. The memory and learning attributes of the compounds of the present invention have been demonstrated in animal models.
In addition to the classical role of AChE, recent reports have implicated AChE in a non-classical role of action in the brain. Although both AChE and BChE are found in the neuritic plaques of AD brains, only AChE has been found to promote the amyloid-beta (A□) fibrils assembly and accelerate the deposition of plaques (Inetrosa et al., 1996). In contrast, BChE attenuates amyloid fibril formation in vitro (Diamant et al., 2006). Inhibitors against the catalytic binding site of AChE increase the level of acetylcholine in brain while inhibitors to the peripheral anionic binding site (PAS) of the enzyme can prevent the pro-aggregating activity of AChE towards A□ (Piazzi et al., 2003).
The novel compounds of Formula I also have the ability to confer neuroprotection. In particular, they are useful for protecting nerve cells and tissues subjected to glutamate-induced stress from damage by blocking the actions of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (as opposed to simply treating damage thereof).
In light of the role of NMDA receptors in neuron-pathological conditions, NMDA receptor antagonists have been identified as therapeutic agents for excitotoxicity to alleviate symptoms of its associated neuronal disorders, conditions that currently have few, if any, effective treatments. Compounds of the present invention are therefore potential therapeutic agents for acute and chronic disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), such as neurodegenerative diseases, chronic pain, stroke and epilepsy.
By preventing efficient receptor activation and synapse transmission by glutamate, the compounds encompassing the invention can prevent excitotoxicity and its associated downstream events that lead to neuronal tissue injury and death, and diseased states.
The compounds of Formula I exhibit two modes of action. Like the cholinergic drugs, they inhibit acetylcholinesterase in neuronal synapses of cholinergic neurons to enhance the cholinergic effect, thus playing an important role in enhancing cognitive deficits in dementia and AD-related dementia. They also act as NMDA receptor antagonists and protect against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity which has been implicated in many neuropathic diseases and disorders.
The compounds of Formula I thus represent a new generation of compounds that both protect against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity as well as enhance cognitive deficits in diseased brains. They are novel in the sense that they encapsulate two key mechanisms of activity both of which play important roles in the progression of diseases such as AD. In fact, recent research suggests that AChE inhibitors that exhibit the ability to prevent glutamate-induced neuronal apoptosis may be of greater therapeutic value in the treatment of AD than pure AChE inhibitors (Li et al, 2005).
Furthermore, in clinical practice on the management of AD, studies are underway on determining the efficacy of combination treatments—administration of both an NMDA antagonist (memantine) and a cholinergic drug (donepezil, galantamine or rivastigmine). Therefore, compounds such as the invention may harbour greater therapeutic benefits than those found in existing AD drugs.
The compounds of Formula I also exhibit a strong selectivity towards AChE over BChE. This selectivity enables AChEI to inhibit AChE induced aggregation of A□. Tacrine, on the other hand, is a non-selective mixed-type AChE inhibitor which binds more tightly to BChE. Thus, tacrine has no effect on AChE-promoted A□ aggregation. Another example is the PAS binding inhibitor, propidium, which is less selective towards BChE compared to AChE, and thus, strongly inhibits the AChE-promoted A□ aggregation. Therefore, the selectivity of inhibitors to AChE then BChE is suggested to be an important factor when searching for novel potential therapeutic candidates (Bolognesi et al., 2005).
Schematic methods for producing the compounds of the invention are as follows.
The invention will now be described with reference to a number of working examples. These are provided as a guide to the skilled reader to performing the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims in any way.
EXAMPLES
A number of compounds of the invention were subjected to experimental procedures to test their respective abilities to confer neuroprotection and to reverse or hinder neurological damage in animal subjects. The tested compounds had the following formulas:
Example 1
In Vitro Inhibition of AChE and BChE
The in vitro inhibition of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) were assessed. BChE, like AChE, breaks down acetylcholine (ACh) but is found in plasma and other organs such as the liver, skin and gastrointestinal tract. Since BChE inhibition may lead to unwanted side-effects, the compounds of Formula I were evaluated for: (i) potent inhibition of AChE and (ii) a strong selectivity for AChE over BChE.
The anti-acetylcholinesterase activity of the compounds was demonstrated by performing a cholinesterase assay and measuring enzyme inhibition using a spectrophotometric method based on the Ellman method. The enzymes, AChE and BChE, used in the inhibition studies were prepared from the cortex and serum of decapitated rats, respectively. The concentration required to yield 50% enzyme inhibition (IC 50 ) was determined for each of the novel compounds of Formula I. The results are presented in Table 1.
TABLE 1
AChE inhibitory activity of novel compounds of Formula 1
AChE
BChE
Selectivity
Tested compound
IC 50 (nM)
IC 50 (nM)
AchE*
Compound A
0.2497 ± 0.05
56.74 ± 25
227.23
Compound B
0.0068 ± 0.003
31.09 ± 1.96
4563
Compound C
0.0127 ± 0.002
637.9 ± 121.6
50317.32
Compound D
13.64 ± 1.76
429.87 ± 46.72
31.52
Compound E
11.95 ± 1.66
610.11 ± 43.99
51.11
Tacrine
143.3 ± 32.5
44.43 ± 15.3
0.31
bis(7)-tacrine
13.2 ± 1.4
404 ± 21
30.6
*Selectivity for AChE is defined as IC 50 (BChE)/IC 50 (AChE)
Tacrine and bis(7)-tacrine, both known AChE inhibitors, were included for comparison. Bis(7)-tacrine is a potent and selective inhibitor of AChE but as the data in Table 1 indicates, compounds A, B and C exhibited higher potency and selectivity towards AChE than tacrine or bis(7)-tacrine. Compound A, B and C were ˜200, 20471, and 11000 times more potent than tacrine, respectively, and ˜53, 1885 and 1039 times more potent than bis(7)-tacrine.
Example 2
NMDA Receptor Antagonist Activity
Whole cell patch clamp studies were conducted to measure the ion current across the surface of hippocampal neurons in the presence and absence of the novel compounds to demonstrate NMDA receptor activity. The NMDA receptor is a gated ion channel, which allows inflow of current during a nerve impulse. Antagonists to the receptor would prevent the inflow of current. Memantine, a known NMDA antagonist was used as the positive control.
Hippocampal neurons from embryonic day 18 rats were isolated, trypsinized, plated onto 35-mm plates at a density of 3×10 4 cells/plate and cultured in Neurobasal medium (NB) supplemented with B27 nutrient. DIV10-14 rat hippocampal neurons were treated with NMDA (50 μM) in the absence or presence of the novel compounds (Cpd A, B and C) (10 μg/mL). Data is presented as % of NMDA-induced current. DMSO is the solvent control. FIG. 1 shows that compounds A, B, and C decreased NMDA-induced current in hippocampal neurons.
Example 3
Novel Compounds Protect Rat Cortical Neurons Against NMDA Excitotoxicity
The compounds were subjected to NMDA survival assays to investigate their ability to prevent NMDA receptor-induced excitotoxicity. The NMDA survival assay was performed to measure the degree of protection provided to cortical neuronal cells when treated with the compounds prior to an ischemic insult.
DIV10 cortical neurons were treated with NMDA (20 μM) in the presence of compound (cpd) B or C (μg/mL). LDH release in the medium was detected at 24 hr after treatment. DMSO was used as the solvent control, while MK-801 (10 μM) is a known NMDA antagonist. FIG. 2 demonstrates that cpds B and C were able to protect rat cortical neurons against NMDA excitotoxicity.
DIV11 rat cortical neurons were treated with NMDA (20 μM) in the absence or presence of compounds (MK-801, 10 μM; compound A, 0.001-10 μg/mL). LDH release in the medium was detected at 24 hr after treatment. DMSO was used as the solvent control. FIG. 3 demonstrates that compound (cpd) A is capable of protecting cortical neurons against NMDA insults.
Example 4
Novel Compounds Enhance Learning and Memory in In Vivo Studies
The effect of the compounds on spatial learning and memory in young adult rats was demonstrated using a Morris water maze task, the favored test to study hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. The Morris water maze consists of a water pool with a hidden, submerged escape platform. The rats must learn, over a period of consecutive days, the location of the platform using either contextual or local cues. The time taken to locate the hidden platform (escape latency) is a measure of the animal's cognitive abilities.
For compound B ( FIG. 4 a ), the test subjects in the control group (sham) took ˜20 seconds to detect the platform after 4 days of training. In contrast, the scopolamine-induced memory-impaired group required more than twice the amount of time to locate the platform after an identical training period. Subsequent administration of compound B reversed the increased escape latency induced by scopolamine at a concentration of 0.1 mg/kg more efficiently than 1.5 mg/kg of tacrine (THA).
Scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) was first i.p. administered to young adult rats to impair their memories. Scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats were then orally administered one of three different doses of compound B (0.025, 0.050, or 0.100 mg/kg) and subjected to the Morris water maze over a period of 4 days. On each day, the time taken for the rats to detect the hidden platform in the water maze was measured, in seconds. For comparison purposes, tacrine (1.5 mg/kg) was similarly administered to scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats but was less effective in shortening escape latency. FIG. 4 a demonstrates that compound B reverses scopolamine-induced performance deficits in the Morris Water Maze test.
For the compound designated C ( FIG. 4 b ), the test subjects in the control group (sham) took less than 20 seconds to detect the platform after 4 days of training, while the scopolamine-induced memory-impaired group took ˜40 seconds. Compound C significantly reversed the increased escape latency induced by scopolamine at the concentration of 0.4 mg/kg. Compound C at concentrations of 0.2 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg was more effective that 1.5 mg/kg tacrine (THA).
Scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) was first i.p. administered to young adult rats to impair their memories. Scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats were then orally administered one of three different doses of compound C (0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 mg/kg) and subjected to the Morris water maze over a period of 4 days. On each day, the time taken for the rats to detect the hidden platform in the water maze was measured, in seconds. For comparison purposes, tacrine (1.5 mg/kg) was similarly administered to scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats but was less effective in shortening escape latency. FIG. 4 b demonstrates that compound C reverses scopolamine-induced performance deficits in the Morris Water Maze test.
For compound A ( FIG. 4 c ), the test subjects in the control group (sham) took less than 20 seconds to detect the platform after 4 days of training, while the scopolamine-induced memory-impaired group took ˜50 seconds. Compound A significantly reversed scopolamine-induced performance deficits at concentrations of 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg.
Scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg) was first i.p. administered to young adult rats to impair their memories. Scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats were then orally administered one of three different doses of compound A (0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 mg/kg) and subjected to the Morris water maze over a period of 4 days. On each day, the time taken for the rats to detect the hidden platform in the water maze was measured, in seconds. FIG. 4 c demonstrates that compound A reversed scopolamine-induced performance deficits in the Morris Water Maze test.
A spatial bias (% of total distance swum in the training quadrant during spatial probe trial) for the region of the apparatus where the platform was positioned during training was also measured for compounds B and C. Scopolamine-induced memory impaired rats exhibited ˜25% spatial bias in contrast to 40% observed in non memory-impaired control rats. Administration of compound B ( FIG. 4 d ), C ( FIG. 4 e ) or A ( FIG. 4 f ) to memory-impaired rats, however, significantly increased spatial bias.
The spatial bias for the region of the testing apparatus where the hidden platform was positioned during training was measured. Administration of compound B resulted in increased spatial bias compared to the memory-impaired group with no drug administration (black bar). Compound B (0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg) exhibited spatial bias close to control levels (sham: non memory-impaired rats). Tacrine (THA) was included for comparison purposes. FIG. 4 d shows the effect of oral administration (p.o.) of compound B on scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg)-treated mice on spatial bias (% of total distance swum in the training quadrant during spatial probe trial).
FIG. 4 e shows the effect of compound C on scopolamine-induced (0.1 mg/kg) spatial bias (% of total distance swum in the training quadrant during spatial probe trial). Administration of compound C increased spatial bias compared to the memory-impaired group with no drug administration (black bar). Compound C at dosages of 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg exhibited spatial bias close to control levels (sham: non memory-impaired rats). Tacrine (THA) was included for comparison purposes.
FIG. 4 f shows the effect of compound A on scopolamine-induced (0.1 mg/kg) spatial bias (% of total distance swum in the training quadrant during spatial probe trial). Administration of compound A increased spatial bias compared to the memory-impaired group with no drug administration (black bar). Compound A at dosages of 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg exhibited spatial bias close to control levels (sham: non memory-impaired rats).
Example 5
Investigation of Protective Effects Conferred on Test Subjects
The MCAO (middle carotid artery occlusion model) was performed to investigate the protective effects of compounds A, B and C on the brain when the brain was exposed to transient focal ischemia (lack of oxygen), emulating brain conditions during a stroke. Three main types of data were obtained from this investigation.
(i) Neurological deficits were observed in mice after 22 hours of reperfusion. The ability of the novel compounds to protect against the appearance of these neurological deficits was examined using a four-point scale neurological scoring system (Mann Whitney U test). For each of the following observable signs, the distribution of test subjects was noted (with and without treatment with the invention after ischemia): (0) no observable neurological deficits (normal); (1) failure to extend the left forepaw fully (mild); (2) circling to the contralateral side (moderate); and (3) loss of walking and righting reflex (severe). (ii) The brains of the test subjects slices were sectioned into five pieces and the infarct area and volume of each slice was measured. The % of infarct area in test subjects treated with the invention after ischemia was compared to that of the control group for each brain slice. (iii) Hemispheric brain swelling and infarct volume (the area of dead tissue caused by inadequate blood supply) was measured for test subjects treated with the invention after ischemia, and compared to that of the control group. All three compounds effectively reduced infarct volume (the area of dead tissue caused by inadequate blood supply) and hemispheric brain swelling during ischemic conditions.
The compounds were administered 5 minutes after ischemia, 5 minutes after reperfusion, or 6 hours after ischemia. FIGS. 5 a to 5 f show results for the heterodimers compound B, C or A respectively, when administered 5 minutes after ischemia or reperfusion. FIGS. 5 g and 5 h show the results when the novel heterodimers were administered 6 hours after ischemia.
Table 2 indicates that compound B reduced neurological deficits induced by ischemia.
TABLE 2 Observed n Neurological Deficits Compound (dead/total) 0 1 2 3 Mean ± SEM vehicle 10 (0/10) 0 2 8 0 1.8 ± 0.1 Compound B 9 (2/11) 0 8 1 0 1.1 ± 0.1* (0.05 μg/kg) Compound B 4 (4/8) 0 2 2 0 1.5 ± 0.3 (0.5 μg/kg) *P < 0.01 when compared with vehicle
Compound B was administered at 5 minutes after ischemia. Distribution of neurological scores based on a four-point scale neurological scoring system (Mann Whitney U test): (0) no observable neurological deficits (normal); (1) failure to extend the left forepaw fully (mild); (2) circling to the contralateral side (moderate); and (3) loss of walking and righting reflex (severe).
FIG. 5 a demonstrates that compound (cpd) B reduced the infarct area in brain slices #2 and #3 after administration at 0.05 μg/kg. The raw data for FIG. 5 a is found in Table 3.
TABLE 3
% Infarct area in brain slice #
(n)
1
2
3
4
5
vehicle
10
15.7 ±
55.1 ± 3.3
54.9 ± 2.6
45.5 ±
0.5 ±
2.5
5.4
0.7
Compound B
9
11.5 ±
42.6 ± 4.8*
40.0 ± 6.6*
34.0 ±
0.1 ±
(0.05 μg/kg)
3.0
6.5
0.5
*P < 0.05
The brain was sectioned into five pieces, each 2-mm thick. The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. The percentage of infarct area and volume were calculated and presented as the percentage of the infarct area of the contralateral hemisphere to eliminate the contribution of edema to the ischemic lesion.
FIG. 5 b shows that administration of compound (cpd) B reduces infarct volume but not hemispheric swelling. The raw data for FIG. 5 b is found in Table 4.
TABLE 4
Compound
n
Infarct volume (%)
Hemispheric swelling (%)
vehicle
10
41.7 ± 1.9
8.2 ± 0.9
Compound B
9
31.2 ± 4.6*
6.5 ± 1.5
(0.05 μg/kg)
*P < 0.05
The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. Hemispheric brain swelling was calculated as follows (ipsilateral volume−contralateral volume)/contralateral volume×100%.
Table 5 indicates that compound C reduced neurological deficits induced by ischemia.
TABLE 5
Observed
n
Neurological Deficits
Compound
(dead/total)
0
1
2
3
Mean ± SEM
vehicle
7 (4/11)
0
1
5
1
2.0 ± 0.2
Compound C
9 (1/10)
0
9
0
0
1.0 ± 0.0
(0.005 μg/kg)
Compound C
6 (1/7)
0
4
2
0
1.3 ± 0.2
(0.05 μg/kg)
Compound C was administered 5 minutes after reperfusion. Distribution of neurological scores based on a four-point scale neurological scoring system (Mann Whitney U test): (0) no observable neurological deficits (normal); (1) failure to extend the left forepaw fully (mild); (2) circling to the contralateral side (moderate); and (3) loss of walking and righting reflex (severe). Note that it was not possible to compute P value (veh vs. 0.005) since SEM for 0.005 μg/kg is 0.
FIG. 5 c shows that there was a reduction in infarct area of brain slices #4 after administration of compound (cpd) C 5 minutes after reperfusion. The raw data for FIG. 5 c is found in Table 6.
TABLE 6
% Infarct area in brain slice #
Compound
(n)
1
2
3
4
5
vehicle
7
11.8 ± 3.4
48.1 ± 3.6
52.6 ± 4.1
43.2 ± 8.6
−1.6 ± 1.1
Compound C (0.005 μg/kg)
9
18.8 ± 3.3
47.8 ± 3.0
45.4 ± 1.8
18.5 ± 3.8*,#
0.6 ± 0.5
Compound C (0.05 μg/kg)
6
12.8 ± 3.3
54.0 ± 4.1
51.4 ± 3.1
26.2 ± 6.7
−1.0 ± 0.8
*P < 0.01 when compared with vehicle alone (t-test)
#P < 0.05 when compared among 3 groups and then with vehicle (ANOVA followed by Bonferroni's post test)
The brain was sectioned into five pieces, each 2-mm thick. The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. The percentage of infarct area and volume were calculated and presented as the percentage of the infarct area of the contralateral hemisphere to eliminate the contribution of edema to the ischemic lesion.
FIG. 5 d shows the effect of compound (cpd) C administration 5 minutes after reperfusion reduced infarct size and hemispheric swelling. The raw data for FIG. 5 d is found in Table 7.
TABLE 7
Compound
n
Infarct volume (%)
Hemispheric swelling (%)
vehicle
7
38.4 ± 3.2
9.9 ± 0.7
Compound C
9
30.1 ± 1.5*
7.1 ± 1.0§
(0.005 μg/kg
Compound C
6
34.5 ± 3.7
7.4 ± 1.0#
(0.05 μg/kg)
*P < 0.02 when compared to vehicle alone (t-test);
§P < 0.04 when compared to vehicle alone (t-test);
#P = 0.0595 when compared with vehicle (t test)
The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. Hemispheric brain swelling was calculated as follow (ipsilateral volume−contralateral volume)/contralateral volume×100%.
Table 8 indicates that compound A reduced neurological deficits induced by ischemia.
TABLE 8
Observed
n
Neurological Deficits
Compound
(dead/total)
0
1
2
3
Mean ± SEM
vehicle
10 (8/18)
0
2
7
1
1.9 ± 0.2
Compound A
5 (5/10)
0
2
3
0
1.6 ± 0.2
(0.005 mg/kg)
Compound A
6 (1/7)
0
5
1
0
1.2 ± 0.2*
(0.05 mg/kg)
Compound A
9 (4/13)
0
7
2
0
1.2 ± 0.1*
(0.1 mg/kg)
Compound A
7 (4/11)
0
2
4
1
1.9 ± 0.7*
(0.2 mg/kg)
*P < 0.05 when compared with vehicle.
Compound A was administered 5 minutes after ischemia. Distribution of neurological scores based on a four-point scale neurological scoring system (Mann Whitney U test): (0) no observable neurological deficits (normal); (1) failure to extend the left forepaw fully (mild); (2) circling to the contralateral side (moderate); and (3) loss of walking and righting reflex (severe).
FIG. 5 e shows the improvement in the infarct area after administration of compound (cpd) A at dosages of 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg. The raw data for FIG. 5 e is found in Table 9.
TABLE 9
% Infarct area in brain slice #
Compound
(n)
1
2
3
4
5
vehicle
(10)
0.8 ± 2.0
55.9 ± 1.8
53.6 ± 2.1
33.5 ± 2.2
−7.1 ± 1.5
Compound A
(5)
2.2 ± 2.0
48.8 ± 4.3
49.3 ± 4.4
26.5 ± 9.3
−4.3 ± 0.6
(0.005 mg/kg)
Compound A
(6)
−0.4 ± 2.2
39.1 ± 2.4**
44.5 ± 0.9**
17.1 ± 3.2**
−6.3 ± 2.8
(0.05 mg/kg)
Compound A
(9)
2.0 ± 1.8
49.5 ± 2.0*
48.4 ± 1.8*
10.4 ± 3.3**
−9.9 ± 1.7
(0.1 mg/kg)
Compound A
(7)
1.3 ± 0.7
44.7 ± 6.6
49.0 ± 3.8
37.3 ± 3.8
−3.3 ± 1.6
(0.2 mg/kg)
(*P = 0.05, **P < 0.01, t test when compared with vehicle)
Compound A was administered 5 minutes after ischemia. The brain was sectioned into five pieces, each 2-mm thick. The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. The percentage of infarct area and volume were calculated and presented as the percentage of the infarct area of the contralateral hemisphere to eliminate the contribution of edema to the ischemic lesion.
FIG. 5 f shows that administration of compound (cpd) A 5 minutes after ischemia (at dosages of 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg) decreases infarct volume but not hemispheric swelling. The raw data for FIG. 5 f is found in Table 10.
TABLE 10
Compound
n
Infarct volume (%)
Hemispheric swelling (%)
vehicle
(10)
36.0 ± 1.4
13.4 ± 0.8
Compound A
(5)
31.3 ± 4.3
10.3 ± 0.4
(0.005 mg/kg)
Compound A
(6)
24.8 ± 1.1**
15.5 ± 1.1
(0.05 mg/kg)
Compound A
(9)
26.5 ± 1.4*
12.5 ± 1.1
(0.1 mg/kg)
Compound A
(7)
33.8 ± 1.6
15.2 ± 1.2
(0.2 mg/kg)
*P < 0.005;
**P < 0.001 (t test when compared with vehicle)
The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. Hemispheric brain swelling was calculated as follow (ipsilateral volume−contralateral volume)/contralateral volume×100%.
Table 11 shows that compound B or C reduced neurological deficits upon administration 6 hours after ischemia
TABLE 11 Observed Neurological n Deficits Compound (dead/total) 0 1 2 3 Mean ± SEM vehicle 10 (0/10) 0 1 7 2 2.1 ± 0.2 Compound B 9 (0/9) 0 7 2 0 1.2 ± 0.2** (0.005 μg/kg) Compound B 8 (3/12) 0 5 3 0 1.4 ± 0.2* (0.05 μg/kg) Compound C 8 (1/9) 0 6 2 0 1.3 ± 0.2* (0.005 μg/kg) Compound C 8 (1/9) 0 6 2 0 1.3 ± 0.2* (0.05 μg/kg) *P < 0.03, **P < 0.01, Mann Whitney test when compared with control.
Compound B or C was administered 6 hours after ischemia. Distribution of neurological scores based on a four-point scale neurological scoring system (Mann Whitney U test): (0) no observable neurological deficits (normal); (1) failure to extend the left forepaw fully (mild); (2) circling to the contralateral side (moderate); and (3) loss of walking and righting reflex (severe).
FIG. 5 g shows that there was an improvement in the infarct area after the administration of compound (cpd) B or C 6 hours after ischemia. The raw data for FIG. 5 g is found in Table 12.
TABLE 12
% Infarct area in brain slice #
Compound
(n)
1
2
3
4
5
vehicle
(10)
18.3 ± 2.9
52.5 ± 2.8
50.3 ± 3.6
30.6 ± 5.1
−0.7 ± 0.6
Compound B
(9)
11.9 ± 4.3
43.4 ± 6.5
40.1 ± 4.7**
24.3 ± 7.5
−1.4 ± 1.0
(0.005 μg/kg)
Compound B
(8)
15.7 ± 2.9
50.5 ± 7.2
41.7 ± 6.0
25.2 ± 8.2
−1.3 ± 1.7
(0.05 μg/kg)
Compound C
(8)
15.9 ± 4.0
40.2 ± 7.9
35.5 ± 5.3**
12.5 ± 4.9**
−0.8 ± 0.8
(0.005 μg/kg)
Compound C
(8)
11.7 ± 3.3
38.0 ± 6.8*
32.5 ± 6.6**
16.8 ± 6.0
0.5 ± 0.4
(0.05 μg/kg)
*P < 0.05,
**P < 0.03, t test when compared with control.
The brain was sectioned into five pieces, each 2-mm thick. The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. The percentage of infarct area and volume were calculated and presented as the percentage of the infarct area of the contralateral hemisphere to eliminate the contribution of edema to the ischemic lesion.
FIG. 5 h demonstrates that the administration of compound (cpd) B or C 6 hours after ischemia decreases infarct volume. The raw data for FIG. 5 h is found in Table 13.
TABLE 13
n
Infarct volume (%)
Hemispheric swelling (%)
vehicle
(10)
35.8 ± 2.9
7.0 ± 0.8
Compound B
(9)
28.5 ± 3.4
7.3 ± 1.2
(0.005 μg/kg)
Compound B
(8)
31.1 ± 4.8
7.0 ± 1.5
(0.05 μg/kg)
Compound C
(8)
23.9 ± 4.3*
6.2 ± 1.2
(0.005 μg/kg)
Compound C
(8)
23.5 ± 4.4*
5.0 ± 1.2
(0.05 μg/kg)
*P < 0.03 t test when compared with control.
The infarct area of each posterior surface was analyzed by an image analysis program. Hemispheric brain swelling was calculated as follow (ipsilateral volume−contralateral volume)/contralateral volume×100%.
Example 6
The following demonstrates specific methods used in the synthesis of the compounds according to the invention.
6,9-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridine: To a mixture of 2-amino-4-chlorobenzoic acid (4.5 g, 26.23 mmol) and cyclohexanone (2.72 mL, 26.23 mmoL) was added 22 mL phosphorus oxychloride. The mixture was heated to reflux for 3 hours. The excess phosphorus oxychloride was distilled off and the resulting mixture was treated with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The light brown precipitate was filtered, rinsed with water and dried under vacuum to give the desired product 6.50 g (25.77 mmoL, 98.2%).
6,8,9-Trichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridine: A mixture of 3,5-dichloro-phenylamine (3.0 g, 18.7 mmoL) and 2-oxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid ethyl ester (3.3 mL, 20.5 mmoL) was heated to 90 degree Celsius for 24 h under nitrogen. Phenyl ether (15 mL) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux. The ethanol generated from the reaction was removed by a Dean-Stark trap. After the reaction was completed as shown by TLC, the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature. Hexane was added and the resulting solid was collected by filtration. Recrystallization of the solid from ethanol afforded the desired product 6,8-dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ol (2.4 g, 48%).
A solution of 6,8-dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ol (18 g, 6.7 mmoL) in phosphorus oxychloride (45 mL) was heated to 135 degree Celsius for 45 min. After the excess phosphorus oxychloride was distilled under vacuum, the remaining mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and treated with saturated sodium bicarbonate. The resulting suspension was extracted with diethyl ether (×3). The combined ether extract was washed with brine, dried with sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. Recrystallization from ethanol afforded the desired product (1.3 g, 68%) as a white solid.
N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-propane-1,3-diamine: To a sealed tube was charged a mixture of 6,9-dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine (1.0 g, 3.97 mmoL), 1,3-diaminopropane (1.67 mL, 19.83 mmoL) and 4 mL 1-pentanol. The mixture was heated to 160 degree Celsius for 24 h. After cooled down and saturated sodium bicarbonate was added, the mixture was extracted with dichloromethane three times. The combined extract was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The resulting residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel with 10-20% MeOH/CH 2 Cl 2 (1% ammonium hydroxide) to give the desired product as brown oil (1.0 g, 87%).
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 7.92 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H), 7.21 (dd, J=9.2, 2.4 Hz, 1H), 3.61 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 2.98 (m, 2H), 2.88 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 2.62 (m, 2H), 1.87 (m, 4H), 1.77 (m, 2H).
13 CNMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): 159.1, 150.7, 147.8, 133.5, 127.1, 124.5, 123.6, 118.0, 115.3, 48.3, 40.4, 33.9, 33.8, 24.9, 22.9, 22.6.
The following compounds were prepared according to the procedure described as above by using appropriate diamines and chloro acridines in 80-95% yield:
N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-butane-1,4-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-pentane-1,5-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-hexane-1,6-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-heptane-1,7-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-octane-1,8-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-nonane-1,9-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-decane-1,10-diamine; N 1 -(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-dodecane-1,12-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-propane-1,3-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-butane-1,4-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-pentane-1,5-diamine N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-hexane-1,6-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-heptane-1,7-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-octane-1,8-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-nonane-1,9-diamine; N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-decane-1,10-diamine; and N 1 -(6,8-Dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-dodecane-1,12-diamine.
3-Amino-cyclohex-2-enone: To a 1 L two-necked flask charged 200 g (1.78 moL) of 1,3-cyclohexanedione and 600 mL benzene, attached a Dean-Stark apparatus with a condenser and an ammonia inlet. The mixture was heated to reflux and ammonia gas was bubbling into the reaction. The water generated from the reaction was trapped in the Dean-Stark apparatus. The mixture formed two layers and the bottom layer was solidified after refluxing for 4 h. The reaction was then stopped and cooled down to room temperature. The benzene was decanted and the remaining solid was triturated with 300 mL chloroform and filtered to give the desired product as a yellow solid (167.1 g, 1.51 moL, 86%).
1HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 5.23 (s, 1H), 3.20 (bs, 1H), 2.37 (m, 2H), 2.28 (m, 2H), 1.97 (m, 2H).
7,8-Dihydro-1H,6H-quinoline-2,5-dione: To a 500 mL flask, added 3-amino-cyclohex-2-enone (110 g, 0.99 moL) and ethyl propiolate (100 mL, 0.99 moL) and attached a condenser. The mixture was heated to 100 degree Celsius. The reaction started slowly at beginning and accelerated as the reaction progress. After the reaction was refluxed at 120 degree Celsius for 4 h, the mixture was heated up to 150 degree Celsius to remove any liquid. Finally, the mixture was heated up to 190 degree Celsius and remained for 1 h. The reaction was cooled to room temperature and 300 mL methylene chloride was added. The mixture was trituated and filtered to give the desired product (34 g, 21%).
5-[3-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-propylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one: To a flask was added N1-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-propane-1,3-diamine (116 mg, 0.40 mmoL), 7,8-dihydro-1H,6H-quinoline-2,5-dione (85 mg, 0.52 mmoL), benzene (4 mL) and one drop of acetic acid, and the resulting mixture as heated to reflux under nitrogen. The water generated from the reaction was removed by Dean-Stark apparatus. After refluxing for 24 h, the benzene was distilled off and methanol (2 mL) was added, followed by sodium borohydride (30 mg, 0.80 mmoL). After stiring at room temperature for 24 h, the reaction was stopped and concentrated. The mixture was treated with saturated sodium bicarbonate and methylene chloride. The layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with methylene chloride twice. The combined methylene chloride extract was combined, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The resulting residue was purified by preparative TLC using 15% MeOH/1% ammonium hydroxide in methylene chloride to give the desired product (102 mg, 0.23 mmoL, 58%).
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.86 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H), 7.41 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.19 (dd, J=9.0, 1.8 Hz, 1H), 6.36 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 3.62 (t, J=6.0 Hz, 2H), 3.53 (m, 1H), 2.96 (m, 2H), 2.89 (m, 1H), 2.75 (m, 1H), 2.63 (m, 4H), 1.74-1.83 (m, 10H).
13 CNMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 164.8, 159.1, 150.9, 147.7, 144.2, 143.1, 133.8, 127.1, 124.5, 123.9, 118.1, 116.9, 116.8, 115.5, 53.2, 48.6, 45.4, 33.8, 31.8, 27.2, 26.8, 25.0, 22.9, 22.6, 17.3.
The following compounds were prepared according to the procedures described above:
5-[5-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-pentylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-100)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.89 (m, 2H), 7.51 (m, 1H), 7.35 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 6.37 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (bs, 1H), 3.59 (m, 1H), 3.50 (m, 3H), 3.03 (m, 2H), 2.66 (m, 6H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.67-1.79 (m, 4H), 1.57 (m, 2H), 1.25 (m, 2H).
5-[6-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-hexylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-101)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.90 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.52 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (m, 1H), 6.40 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (brs, 1H), 3.55 (m, 1H), 3.49 (m, 3H), 3.03 (m, 2H), 2.68 (m, 4H), 2.60 (m, 2H), 1.92 (m, 6H), 1.78 (m, 2H), 1.67 (m, 2H), 1.50 (m, 2H), 1.41 (m, 4H)
5-[7-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-heptylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-102)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.88 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.48 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (m, 1H), 6.39 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (brs, 1H), 3.53 (m, 1H), 3.47 (m, 3H), 3.02 (m, 2H), 2.66 (m, 4H), 2.58 (m, 2H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.77 (m, 2H), 1.65 (m, 2H), 1.46 (m, 2H), 1.34 (m, 6H).
13 CNMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 164.8, 159.2, 150.5, 147.9, 144.0, 143.1, 133.6, 127.3, 124.3, 123.9, 118.2, 117.2, 116.7, 115.5, 52.9, 49.5, 46.9, 34.0, 31.7, 30.4, 29.2, 27.5, 27.2, 26.8, 26.8, 24.5, 22.9, 22.6, 17.4.
5-[8-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-octylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-103)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.88 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.48 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (m, 1H), 6.39 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 4.05 (brs, 1H), 3.59 (m, 1H), 3.48 (m, 3H), 3.03 (m, 2H), 2.67 (m, 6H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.78 (m, 2H), 1.65 (m, 2H), 1.50 (m, 2H), 1.32 (m, 8H)
5-[9-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-nonylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-104Lh)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.89 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.48 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.26 (m, 1H), 6.40 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (brs, 1H), 3.54 (m, 1H), 3.48 (m, 2H), 3.02 (m, 2H), 2.67 (m, 4H), 2.59 (m, 2H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.78 (m, 2H), 1.65 (m, 2H), 1.48 (m, 2H), 1.32 (m, 10H)
5-[10-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-decanylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-105Lh)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.90 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.49 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.26 (m, 1H), 6.40 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (brs, 1H), 3.55 (m, 1H), 3.47 (m, 2H), 3.02 (m, 2H), 2.67 (m, 4H), 2.59 (m, 2H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.75 (m, 2H), 1.64 (m, 2H), 1.47 (m, 2H), 1.32 (m, 12H)
5-[12-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-dodecanylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (he-3-109)
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.90 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.49 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.26 (m, 1H), 6.40 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 3.95 (brs, 1H), 3.55 (m, 1H), 3.48 (m, 2H), 3.02 (m, 2H), 2.67 (m, 4H), 2.59 (m, 2H), 1.91 (m, 6H), 1.75 (m, 2H), 1.64 (m, 2H), 1.47 (m, 2H), 1.32 (m, 16H)
1,5,7,8-Tetrahydro-quinoline-2,6-dione 6-ethylene glycol ketal: A mixture of 1,4-cyclohexanedione mono-ethylene ketal (10 g, 64 mmoL) and methyl propiolate (6.8 mL, 76.8 mmoL) in 60 mL ammonium saturated methnol was heated to 110 degree Celsius in a sealed pressure vessel for 24 h. The reaction was cooled to room temperature and concentrated. Purification by column chromatography on silica gel with 5% methanol in methylene chloride provided the desired product (4.1 g, 19.6 mmoL, 31%).
1 HNMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.18 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.42 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 4.01 (s, 4H), 2.91 (t, J=6.6 Hz, 2H), 2.71 (s, 2H), 1.92 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H).
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 164.9, 143.5, 141.9, 117.2, 112.2, 107.3, 64.6, 36.2, 30.1, 25.7.
MS (ESI) 208.26 (M+H).
1,5,7,8-Tetrahydro-quinoline-2,6-dione: A mixture of 1,5,7,8-Tetrahydro-quinoline-2,6-dione 6-ethylene glycol ketal (2 g, 9.66 mmoL) and p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (184 mg, 0.97 mmoL) in 30 mL water was heated to reflux for 3 h. TLC showed all the starting ketal disappeared. The mixture was cooled down to room temperature, and sodium bicarbonate was added. The mixture was concentrated and silica gel was added. Purification by column chromatography on silica gel with 5% methanol/methylene chloride provided the desired product in 90% yield.
1 HNMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.25 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 6.49 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 3.36 (s, 2H), 3.11 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 2H), 2.65 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 2H).
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 207.1, 165.0, 142.8, 142.2, 118.1, 111.2, 40.3, 36.9, 26.0.
MS (ESI): 164.20 (M+H).
6-[3-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-propylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one: To a mixture of N1-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-propane-1,3-diamine (50 mg, 0.17 mmoL), 1,5,7,8-Tetrahydro-quinoline-2,6-dione (31 mg, 0.19 mmoL) in 5 mL methylene chloride, was added sodium triacetoxyborohydride (110 mg, 0.52 mmoL) and a catalytic amount of acetic acid. After stiring at room temperature for 24 h, the reaction was stopped by adding saturated sodium bicarbonate. The mixture was extracted with methylene chloride three times. The combined methylene chloride extract was dried, filtered and concentrated. Purification by column chromatography on silica gel column with 10% MeOH/1% ammonium hydroxide in methylene chloride provided the desired product (27.6 mg, 0.063 mmoL, 37%).
Mp: 98-100 C.
IR(KBr): 3422, 2931, 1633, 1605, 1447, 1361, 1092, 831.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 1.72 (m, 1H); 1.88 (m, 6H); 2.07 (m, 1H); 2.42 (m, 1H); 2.53-2.61 (m, 6H); 2.93-2.99 (m, 4H); 3.75 (m, 2H); 6.37 (d, 1H, J=8.8 Hz); 7.20 (d, 1H, J=9.2 Hz); 7.25 (dd, J=9.2, 2.4 Hz, 1H); 7.84 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H); 7.99 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H).
13 C NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 21.9; 22.5; 23.9; 24.9; 26.9; 29.0; 30.5; 31.9; 32.5, 34.4; 45.3; 52.9; 65.0; 112.4; 114.3; 116.8; 117.0; 124.3; 125.0; 135.2; 141.6; 143.7; 144.1, 145.1; 152.2; 156.8; 164.0.
MS(ESI): 437.31 (M+H).
The following compounds were prepared according to the procedure described above:
6-[9-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-nonylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one
Mp: 163-165 C.
IR(KBr): 3418, 2929, 2854, 1630, 1449, 1092, 832.
1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 1.30 (m, 6H); 1.58-1.69 (m, 8H); 1.92 (m, 6H); 2.12 (m, 1H); 2.47 (m, 1H); 2.65-2.82 (m, 8H); 3.00 (m, 2H); 3.58 (m, 2H); 6.37 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.23 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.30 (dd, J=9.2, 2.4 Hz, 1H); 7.85 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 1H); 7.98 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H).
13 C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 22.0; 22.5; 24.2; 25.0; 26.3; 26.6; 27.0; 28.6; 29.0; 29.1; 29.2; 31.3; 32.3; 46.3; 48.4; 49.2; 52.6; 112.1; 114.4; 117.0; 117.1; 124.2; 124.7; 124.8; 134.8; 141.3; 143.6; 145.8; 151.8; 157.5; 163.8.
MS(ESI): 521.46 (M+H).
6-[8-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-octylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one
Mp: 185-187 C.
IR(KBr): 3400, 2990, 2856, 1649, 1630, 1605, 1518, 1452, 1357, 1179, 1092, 830.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 1.33 (m, 8H); 1.58-1.69 (m, 6H); 1.92 (m, 4H); 2.12 (m, 1H); 2.47 (m, 2H); 2.65-2.83 (m, 7H); 3.01 (br, 3H); 6.37 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.22 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.30 (m, 1H); 7.87 (m, 1H); 7.98 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H).
13 C NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 22.0; 22.5; 24.3; 25.0; 26.3; 26.6; 26.9; 28.6; 29.0; 29.1; 31.3; 31.4; 32.3; 46.4; 48.6; 52.7; 112.1; 114.5; 117.1; 117.2; 124.3; 124.8; 124.8; 135.0; 141.2; 143.7; 145.7; 151.9; 157.4; 163.8.
MS(ESI): 507.38 (M+H).
6-[7-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-heptylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one
Mp: 126-127 C.
IR(KBr): 3423, 2930, 1629, 1450, 1092, 831.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 1.38 (br, 6H); 1.59-1.70 (m, 6H); 1.92 (br, 4H); 2.12 (m, 1H); 2.47 (m, 2H); 2.66-2.78 (m, 7H); 3.01 (br, 3H); 6.37 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.22 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.30 (m, 1H); 7.86 (s, 1H); 7.98 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H).
13 C NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ22.0; 22.5; 24.3; 25.0, 26.3; 26.6; 26.9; 28.5; 28.9; 31.2; 31.4; 32.2; 46.3; 48.5; 52.7; 112.1; 114.5; 117.0; 117.2; 124.4; 124.7; 124.8; 135.0; 141.2; 143.6; 145.6; 151.9; 157.4; 163.8.
MS(ESI): 493.37 (M+H).
6-[6-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-hexylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one
Mp: 147-149 C.
IR(KBr): 3423, 2930, 1634, 1459, 1092, 829.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 1.42 (m, 4H); 1.59-1.71 (m, 5H); 1.92 (m, 5H); 2.11 (m, 2H); 2.43 (m, 1H); 2.67-2.73 (m, 8H); 3.00 (br, 3H); 3.57 (m, 3H); 6.38 (d, 1H, J=8.8 Hz); 7.23 (d, 1H, J=9.2 Hz); 7.30 (m, 1H); 7.85 (m, 1H); 7.97 (d, 1H, J=9.2 Hz).
13 C NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 22.1; 22.5; 23.9; 24.3; 25.0; 26.5; 26.7; 28.9; 31.2; 31.8; 32.5; 34.3; 46.3; 52.7; 112.3; 114.7; 117.0; 124.2; 124.7; 125.0; 134.7; 141.4; 143.7; 146.1; 146.0; 151.6; 157.7; 163.9
MS(ESI): 479.36 (M+H).
6-[10-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-decanylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one
Mp: 161-163 C.
IR(KBr): 3411, 2929, 2854, 1630, 1450, 1360, 1092, 832.
1 H NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ1.28 (m, 12H); 1.58-1.68 (m, 5H); 1.91 (m, 5H); 2.14 (m, 1H); 2.47 (m, 1H); 2.65-2.78 (m, 6H); 3.01 (br, 3H); 3.55 (m, 3H); 6.36 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.20 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H); 7.29 (m, 1H); 7.87 (m, 1H); 7.95 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H).
13 C NMR (CDCl 3 /CD 3 OD): δ 22.2; 22.7; 24.3; 25.1; 26.4; 26.8; 27.1; 28.8; 29.2; 29.3; 29.3; 29.3; 29.3; 29.3; 31.5; 31.5; 32.7; 46.5; 52.7; 112.1; 114.6; 117.2; 117.3; 124.3; 124.7; 125.4; 134.7; 141.3; 143.7; 146.3; 151.6; 158.0; 164.0.
MS (ESI): 535.37 (M+H).
6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamine: 2-Amino-4-chlorobenzonitrile (5.0 g, 33 mmolL), cyclohexanone (30 ml) and Zinc chloride (4.8 g, 35 mmoL) were mixed in a round bottomed flask and heated up to 120 degree Celsius for 3 hours. After cooling to room temperature, the solvent was decanted off. The resulting residue was triturated with ethyl acetate (30 ml). The solid was collected by filtration and added into 10% aqueous NaOH (50 ml). After stiring for 2 hours, the mixture was filtered and the filter cake was washed thoroughly with water. The filter cake was then extracted with methanol. The combined methanolic extract was concentrated to produce the desired product (3.8 g, 16 mmoL) in 48% yield.
1 HNMR (300 MHz, CD 3 OD): δ 8.06 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (d, J=2.1 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (dd, J=9.0, 2.1 Hz, 1H), 2.92 (t, J=6.0 Hz, 2H), 2.61 (t, J=6.0 Hz, 2H), 1.94 (m, 4H).
MS (ESI): 233 [M+1]
(7-Bromo-heptyl)-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-amine: Potassium hydroxide (95 mg, 1.7 mmoL) was added to a solution of 6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamine (395 mg, 1.7 mmoL) in dimethylsulfoxide (15 ml) and the mixture was stirred vigorously under nitrogen at room temperature for 2 h. 1,7-Dibromoheptane (438 mg, 1.7 mmoL) was added, and the reaction was continued to stir at room temperature for 12 h. The reaction mixture was poured into ice-water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined ethyl acetate extract was dried, filtered and concentrated. The resulting residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel using hexane/ethyl acetate/triethyl amine (8/2/1) to provide the desired product (244 mg, 0.60 mmoL) in 35% yield.
1 HNMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.87 (m, 2H), 7.24 (dd, J=9.0, 2.1 Hz, 1H), 3.62 (t, J=6.9 Hz, 2H), 3.54 (t, J=6.6 Hz, 2H), 3.18 (bs, 2H), 2.81 (bs, 2H), 1.23˜2.04 (m, 14H);
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 159.4, 150.6, 148.0, 133.7, 127.5, 124.5, 123.9, 118.3, 115.6, 49.4, 33.9, 33.7, 32.5, 31.5, 28.3, 27.8, 26.6, 24.4, 22.8, 22.5.
The following compounds were prepared according to the procedure described above:
(8-Bromo-octyl)-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-amine
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.88 (m, 2H), 7.26 (dd, J=9.3, 1.9 Hz, 1H), 3.46 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 3.39 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 3.02 (brs, 2H), 2.65 (brs, 2H), 1.25˜1.91 (m, 16H);
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 159.3, 150.5, 147.9, 133.7, 127.4, 124.4, 123.9, 118.2, 115.5, 49.5, 34.0, 33.9, 32.7, 31.7, 29.1, 28.6, 28.0, 26.8, 24.6, 23.0, 22.7.
(9-Bromo-nonyl)-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-amine
1 H-NMR (400 MHz CDCl 3 ): δ 7.87 (m, 2H), 7.24 (dd, J=9.0, 2.0 Hz, 1H), 3.45 (m, 2H), 3.38 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 3.01 (brs, 2H), 2.64 (brs, 2H), 1.23˜1.90 (m, 17H).
13 C-NMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 159.1, 150.5, 147.8, 133.6, 127.2, 124.4, 123.8, 118.1, 115.4, 49.5, 34.0, 33.9, 32.7, 31.7, 29.2, 29.1, 28.6, 28.0, 26.8, 24.5, 22.9, 22.6.
2-Benzyloxy-7,8-dihydro-6H-quinolin-5-one: A mixture of 7,8-dihydro-1H,6H-quinoline-2,5-dione (20.4 g, 125.0 mmoL), benzyl bromide (17.8 mL, 150 mmoL) and 20.8 g, 75 mmoL) in toluene (250 mL) was stirred at room temperature for 3 days under the protection from light. The reaction was stopped, filtered through celite and rinsed with a mixture of methylene chloride and methanol. The filtrate was concentrated and trituated in petroleum ether (150 mL). Filtration of the mixture provided the desired product (29.4 g, 92%).
O-Benzyl-N-(2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-hydroxylamine: To the mixture of 2-benzyloxy-7,8-dihydro-6H-quinolin-5-one (37.8 g, 149 mmoL) in pyridine (300 mL) was added O-benzylhydroxylamine hydrochloride (26.2 g, 164 mmoL) and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 h. The reaction was concentrated, diluted with methylene chloride and washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate (×2) and brine (×2). The methylene chloride layer was dried, filtered and concentrated. Purification by column chromatography on silica gel with 5% ethyl acetate in hexane provided the desired product (51.0 g, 96%) as an offwhite solid.
2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine: A solution of O-benzyl-N-(2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-hydroxylamine (51.0 g, 142 mmoL) dissolved in dry THF (65 mL) was cooled in ice-water bath under nitrogen. Borane (1.0 M in THF, 427 mL) was added dropwise in 30 min via an addition funnel. The reaction was allowed to warm up to room temperature and stirred for overnight. The mixture was then heated to reflux. After 2 h, the heating was stopped and the reaction was allowed to cool to room temperature. Water (120 mL) was added dropwise via an addition funnel. The mixture was then concentrated, and 20% aqueous sodium hydroxide (200 mL) was added. The resulting mixture was heated to reflux for 2 h. The reaction was allowed to cool to room temperature, and extracted with methylene chloride (×3). The combined methylene chloride extract was dried, filtered and concentrated. Purification by column chromatography on silica gel with 20% methanol/1% ammonium hydroxide/methylene chloride provided the desired product (32.0 g, 89%) as colorless oil.
(S)-2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine
Resolution: To a solution of R-(−)-mandelic acid (26.64 g, 104.8 mmoL) dissolved in 700 mL methanol, was added a solution of racemic 2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine (15.95 g, 104.8 mmoL) dissolved in 100 mL methanol. After addition was completed, additional methanol was added until the total volume is 0.95 L. The solution was swirled and allowed to sit at room temperature overnight. The salt of R-(−)mandelic acid and (S)-2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine was crystallized. The crystals (15.8 g, 36.6%) were collected by filtration and rinse with methanol. Its optical purity was determined to be 94% ee. The crystals were dissolved again in 760 mL methanol upon heating and the resulting solution was allowed to sit at room temperature overnight. The needle crystals (9.6 g, 22%, 97% ee) were collected by filtration. Another crop (3.6 g, 8.5%, 98% ee) was obtained from the mother liquor.
Releasing: The salt of R-(−)mandelic acid and (S)-2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine (13.29 g, ˜98% ee) was added to into a solution of aqueous sodium hydroxide (82 mL, 2 N), and the resulting mixture was heated to 50 degree Celsius for 30 min. The mixture was extracted with methylene chloride (×3). The combined methylene chloride was washed with brine (×1), dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give the desired product (8.3 g) as colorless oil.
(R)-2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine: According to the procedure described as above, using S-(+)-mandelic acid as resolution reagent, the desired (R)-enantiomer was obtained.
(R)—N-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-heptane-1,7-diamine: A solution of (7-bromo-heptyl)-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-amine (180 mg, 0.43 mmoL) and (S)-2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-ylamine (108 mg, 0.43 mmoL) in dried N,N-dimethylformamide (2.1 ml) was heated up to 120 degree Celsius under nitrogen for 5 h. After cooling to room temperature, the reaction mixture was poured into icy water. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined ethyl acetate was dried, filtered and concentrated. The resulting crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica gel using hexane/ethyl acetate/triethyl amine (8/2/1) to give the desired product (80 mg, 0.14 mmoL) in 33% yield.
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.88 (m, 2H), 7.24˜7.56 (m, 7H), 6.58 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 5.33 (s, 2H), 3.68 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1H), 3.45 (d, J=5.6 Hz, 2H), 3.01 (brs, 2H), 2.56˜2.82 (m, 6H), 1.31˜1.98 (m, 18H).
13 C-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 161.5, 159.4, 154.5, 150.6, 148.0, 139.5, 137.5, 133.7, 128.2 (2C), 127.9 (2C), 127.5, 127.4, 127.2, 124.4, 124.0, 118.3, 115.6, 108.2, 67.4, 54.6, 49.6, 47.0, 34.1, 32.4, 31.8, 30.5, 29.3, 28.2, 27.4, 27.0, 24.6, 23.0, 22.7, 18.9.
The following compounds were prepared according to the procedure described above.
(S)—N-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-heptane-1,7-diamine
(S)—N-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-Octane-1,8-diamine
(R)—N-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-Octane-1,8-diamine
1 HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.24˜7.89 (m, 9H), 6.59 (dd, J=8.3, 5.6 Hz, 1H), 5.33 (s, 2H), 3.68 (t, J=4.6 Hz, 1H), 3.46 (m, 2H), 3.01 (brs, 2H), 2.61˜2.83 (m, 6H), 1.25˜1.96 (m, 20H);
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 161.5, 159.3, 154.4, 150.6, 148.0, 139.5, 137.5, 133.7, 128.2 (2C), 127.9 (2C), 127.5, 127.4, 127.2, 124.4, 124.0, 118.3, 115.6, 108.2, 67.4, 54.6, 49.6, 47.1, 34.1, 32.4, 31.8, 30.6, 29.5, 29.3, 28.2, 27.4, 26.9, 24.6, 23.0, 22.7, 18.9.
(S)-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-nonane-1,9-diamine
(R)-(2-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-nonane-1,9-diamine
NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 7.24˜7.89 (m, 9H), 6.59 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 5.33 (s, 2H), 3.69 (m, 1H), 3.47 (t, J=7.1 Hz, 2H), 3.01 (brs, 2H), 2.61˜2.82 (m, 6H), 1.25˜1.96 (m, 22H);
13 CNMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 161.5, 159.3, 154.4, 150.6, 148.0, 139.5, 137.5, 133.7, 128.2 (2C), 127.9 (2C), 127.5, 127.4, 127.2, 124.5, 124.0, 118.3, 115.5, 108.2, 67.4, 54.6, 49.6, 47.1, 34.1, 32.4, 31.8, 30.6, 29.5 (2C), 29.3, 28.2, 27.4, 26.9, 24.6, 23.0, 22.7, 18.9.
(6R)-5-[7-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-heptylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one: To a solution of 30% hydrogen bromide in acetic acid (4 mL) cooled at 0° C., was added (R)—N-(2-benzyloxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-quinolin-5-yl)-N′-(6-chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-yl)-heptane-1,7-diamine (105 mg, 0.18 mmoL) in one portion. This mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 1 hour, and was allowed to warm up to room temperature. After 5 h, the reaction was quenched with 10% NaOH until pH value was up to 13. The mixture was then extracted with ethyl acetate (8 mL×3). The organic layers were combined, dried, filtered and concentrated. The resulting residue was purified by column chromatography using 2:3:0.5:0.5 (CH 2 Cl 2 /petroleum ether/MeOH/triethylamine) as eluent, to afford the desired product (33 mg, 0.0652 mmoL, 68% yield).
The following enantiomerically pure compounds were prepared according to the procedure described as above:
(6S)-5-[7-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-heptylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one; (6R)-5-[8-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-octylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one; (6S)-5-[8-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-octylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one; (6R)-5-[9-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-nonylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one; and (6S)-5-[9-(6-Chloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-acridin-9-ylamino)-nonylamino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-quinolin-2-one. | Novel heterodimers of tetrahydroacridines and tetrahydroquinolinones are disclosed. The heterodimers are capable of acting as both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. The heterodimers may be used to improve cognitive defects via treatment or prevention in both humans and non-humans. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention disclosed herein relates generally to filters for removing particulates from liquids. More particularly the invention relates to a filter in which the filter element or bag may be snap fit into the filter vessel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It is known to have a filter assembly including a vessel that contains a filter element interposed between fluid flow between an inlet and an outlet in the vessel. In such an arrangement it is common for a filter element to include two basic parts: a filter bag of a generally fibrous material for filtering out particulates from the fluid, and a bag ring secured to the edges of the bag for retaining the filter bag in position within the filter vessel. It is also common to have a porous rigid basket within the vessel between the bag and the outlet in order to support the bag.
[0003] A problem with the current art as described, however, is that the filter element and basket often tend to float out of position when fluid flow is stopped through the filter assembly. This problem is exacerbated when the basket is composed of plastic instead of a heavier metal. Therefore it would be advantageous to have a filter assembly which can be economically manufactured and which includes a filter element that will maintain its position within the vessel when fluid flow is stopped.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] A filter assembly is disclosed in which a filter element is snap fit into the filter vessel wall. The snap fit is obtained by means of a protrusion or ridge on the exterior side of the filter bag ring which may be resiliently snap fitted into a complementary recess or groove on the interior side of the vessel sidewall. The snap fitted bag ring retains both the filter element and the filter basket in position.
[0005] An object of the invention is to provide a filter assembly of economical construction which includes a filter element that will not float out of position within the filter vessel when fluid flow has stopped. Another object of the invention is to provide a filter element that will maintain its position within a filter vessel independently of the vessel lid or cover.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, with reference to the figures in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a partial cut away side view of a filter assembly showing the filter element and filter basket in position within the filter vessel;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a side view in partial cross section of the filter bag ring of the filter element of FIG. 1 ;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a top view of the filter bag ring;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a detailed cross section of the bag ring and vessel wall before the filter element is fully inserted;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a detailed cross section showing the filter element fully inserted without fluid flow through the vessel; and
[0012] FIG. 6 shows the bag ring in position within the vessel wall with fluid flow through the vessel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Turning now to the figures, a filter assembly 9 as depicted in FIG. 1 includes a vessel 10 , a filter element 12 , and a rigid basket 14 . Vessel 10 includes a sidewall 16 , bottom wall 18 , and removable cover or lid 20 . An inlet 22 and an outlet 24 in vessel 20 allow fluid flow through the vessel. Vessel sidewall 16 has a generally smooth interior surface except for a shoulder 26 and a groove or notch 28 . Shoulder 26 extends around the inner periphery of sidewall between inlet 22 and outlet 24 and is upwardly inclined near its inner or central edge. Groove 28 is recessed into sidewall 16 slightly below shoulder 26 and extends around the inner periphery of the sidewall.
[0014] Basket 14 supports filter element 12 within the vessel. Basket 14 is of porous construction for allowing flow of liquid therethrough and is preferably made of plastic. Basket 14 is carried within vessel 10 below shoulder 26 . The upper rim 15 of basket 14 is preferably located next to the interior surface of sidewall 16 below groove 28 with the basket extending toward outlet 24 .
[0015] Filter element 12 includes a filter bag 30 and a bag ring 32 . Filter bag 30 is composed of a porous cloth-like filtration material such as woven cloth or blow-molded resins. The mouth of filter bag 30 is secured around its upper edge to bag ring 32 by any suitable process such as heat sealing or gluing.
[0016] Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3 , bag ring 32 is of generally circular form sized to fit against the inner surface of vessel sidewall 16 at shoulder 26 to form a liquid seal between the bag ring and the vessel sidewall. Bag ring 32 is preferably made of a pliable or flexible, yet shape retaining or resilient material such as nylon or polypropylene. Bag ring 32 has a stepped sidewall defining a horizontal shoulder 34 extending between an upper sidewall 33 and a lower sidewall 35 . An outer peripheral flange 36 is downwardly angled from upper ring sidewall 33 . Annular ribs 38 extend about the outer periphery of upper ring sidewall 33 . Upper ring sidewall 33 is sized to seat against vessel sidewall 16 below shoulder 26 . Ribs 38 are co-planar and angularly spaced intermittently around bag ring, but a single continuous circumferential rib could also be used. In the depicted embodiment, four ribs 38 angularly spaced at right angles from each other extend intermittently about the upper ring sidewall 33 . Flange 36 forms a recess 40 between the flange and upper ring sidewall 33 . A pair of handles 42 for gripping the filter element span across interior portions of bag ring 32 .
[0017] With basket 14 placed within vessel 10 below shoulder 26 , filter element 12 is pushed into vessel 10 with its flange 36 seating upon shoulder 26 and ribs 38 in bag ring 32 snap-fitting into groove 28 . As filter element 12 is inserted into vessel 10 ( FIG. 4 ), ribs 38 cause upper ring sidewall 33 be flexed inwardly as the ribs pass over the vessel side wall below shoulder 26 . When ribs 38 reach groove 28 , upper ring sidewall 33 flexes back against vessel sidewall 16 with ribs 38 projecting into groove 28 and with bag ring flange 36 being slightly flexed against shoulder 26 to urge ribs 38 into contact with the upper edge of the groove as shown in FIG. 5 . Ribs 38 prevent bag ring 32 and basket 14 from floating out of position when fluid flow through the filter assembly is terminated. The upper interior edge 39 of inclined shoulder 26 fits into recess 40 with flange 36 overlying and contacting the shoulder. The upper rim 15 of basket 14 is located below shoulder 34 and preferably between vessel sidewall 16 and lower bag ring sidewall 35 . The snap fit bag ring 32 with its ribs 38 fitted into side wall grooves 28 prevents basket 14 from floating out of position without requiring other retaining means for the basket or the bag ring.
[0018] During fluid flow through the vessel ( FIG. 6 ), bag ring flange 36 is urged fully downwardly against shoulder 26 , causing the inclined edge 39 of the shoulder to nest within bag ring recess 40 to create a liquid seal between bag ring 32 and vessel sidewall 16 and to assist in maintaining the bag ring in position during fluid flow through the filter assembly.
[0019] To remove filter element 12 from vessel 10 , bag ring 32 is pulled out of vessel 10 by using handles 42 to urge ribs 38 out of groove 28 and past shoulder 26 .
[0020] The above subject invention is not to be limited to the details given above for the preferred embodiment, but may be modified within the scope of the impending claims. | A filter element includes a bag ring which is snap fitted into the filter vessel sidewall and retains both the filter element and a filter basket in the desired location in the vessel until removed. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/736,244, filed on Dec. 12, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic data collection. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a gateway for facilitating data interoperability and portability.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Data is collected in various industries for various purposes. Assessment data may be collected, for example, to determine a student's comprehension of particular subject matter studied in a classroom, to determine whether an individual is qualified to receive a particular credential, and so on. Administering an assessment in digital form enables more efficient collection, storage, and analysis of data. Digital data may also be easily shared with between various users and systems.
[0004] Assessment data may be collected from multiple distributed sources. The various distributed sources, however, may not all provide data in the same format. Collecting, storing, and analyzing data in multiple formats may be inefficient and time consuming. Additionally, sharing data may be inefficient and time consuming if the various users and systems require data in different formats.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A dynamic data gateway comprises at least one processor, at least one computer-readable tangible storage device, and program instructions stored on the at least one storage device for execution by the at least one processor. The program instructions comprise first program instructions configured to receive data comprising a first format. The program instructions further comprise second program instructions configured to convert the received data to a second format. The program instructions further comprise third program instructions configured to store the converted data. The program instructions further comprise fourth program instructions configured to receive a request to provide the stored data in a requested format. The program instructions further comprise fifth program instructions configured to convert the stored data to the requested format.
[0006] In a method for sharing data, a computer receives data comprising a first format. A computer translates the data to a second format. A computer saves the translated data. A computer receives a request to provide the stored data in a requested format. A computer translates the stored data to the requested format. A computer communicates the requested data.
[0007] A computer program product for facilitating data exchange comprises at least one computer-readable tangible storage device and program instructions stored on the at least one storage device. The program instructions comprise first program instructions configured to aggregate data from a plurality of sources, the data comprising a plurality of secondary field names. The program instructions further comprise second program instructions configured to map the secondary field names of the receive data to predefined primary field names. The program instructions further comprise third program instructions configured to store the mapped data. The program instructions further comprise fourth program instructions configured to receive a request to provide the stored data in a requested format. The program instructions further comprise fifth program instructions configured to map the predefined primary field names, mapped to the stored data, to requested field names defined by the requested format.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] In the accompanying drawings, structures are illustrated that, together with the detailed description provided below, describe exemplary embodiments of the claimed invention. Like elements are identified with the same reference numerals. It should be understood that elements shown as a single component may be replaced with multiple components, and elements shown as multiple components may be replaced with a single component. The drawings are not to scale and the proportion of certain elements may be exaggerated for the purpose of illustration.
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for aggregating and sharing data.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example gateway for aggregating and sharing data.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of an example method for aggregating and sharing data.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example computing system for implementing an example gateway for aggregating and sharing data.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] The following includes definitions of selected terms employed herein.
[0014] “API,” or an “application programming interface,” is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications.
[0015] An “assessment” or a “test” is any single question or group of questions.
[0016] “Computing device,” as used herein, refers to a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, a tablet computer, or the like.
[0017] “Computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to a medium that participates in directly or indirectly providing signals, instructions, or data. A computer-readable medium may take forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, and so on. Volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, dynamic memory, and the like. Transmission media may include coaxial cables, copper wire, fiber optic cables, and the like. Transmission media can also take the form of electromagnetic radiation, like that generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications, or take the form of one or more groups of signals. Common forms of a computer-readable medium include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, other magnetic media, a CD-ROM, other optical media, punch cards, paper tape, other physical media with patterns of holes, a RAM, a ROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, or other memory chip or card, a memory stick, a carrier wave/pulse, Phase Change Memory, and other media from which a computer, a processor, or other electronic device can read. Signals used to propagate instructions or other software over a network, like the Internet, can be considered a “computer-readable medium.”
[0018] “Data Element” is an atomic unit of data that has precise meaning or precise semantics.
[0019] “Data Mapping” is a process of creating data element mappings between two distinct models.
[0020] “Education Data” are unique types of data that comes from learning environments, which include both student and adult learners.
[0021] “Interoperability” of data enables unconnected data portals to exchange data effectively and connect system components together seamlessly.
[0022] “Logic” includes but is not limited to hardware, firmware, software and/or combinations of each to perform a function(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function or action from another component. For example, based on a desired application or need, logic may include a software controlled microprocessor, discrete logic such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmed logic device, memory device containing instructions, or the like. Logic may also be fully embodied as software.
[0023] “Portability” is the ability to reuse data across interoperable applications.
[0024] The definitions include various examples or forms of components that fall within the scope of a term and that may be used for implementation. The examples are not intended to be limiting. Both singular and plural forms of terms may be within the definitions.
[0025] “Software,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to, one or more computer or processor instructions that can be read, interpreted, compiled, or executed and that cause a computer, processor, or other electronic device to perform functions, actions, or behave in a desired manner. The instructions may be embodied in various forms like routines, algorithms, modules, methods, threads, or programs including separate applications or code from dynamically or statically linked libraries. Software may also be implemented in a variety of executable or loadable forms including, but not limited to, a stand-alone program, a function call (local or remote), a servelet, an applet, instructions stored in a memory, part of an operating system, or other types of executable instructions. The form of software may depend, for example, on requirements of a desired application, the environment in which it runs, or the desires of a designer/programmer or the like. Computer-readable or executable instructions can be located in one logic or distributed between two or more communicating, co-operating, or parallel processing logics and, thus, can be loaded or executed in serial, parallel, massively parallel, and other manners.
[0026] Suitable software for implementing the various components of the example systems and methods described herein may be produced using programming languages and tools like Haskell, Java, Java Script, Java.NET, ASP.NET, VB.NET, Cocoa, Pascal, C#, C++, C, CGI, Perl, SQL, APIs, SDKs, assembly, firmware, microcode, or other languages and tools. Software, whether an entire system or a component of a system, may be embodied as an article of manufacture and maintained or provided as part of a computer-readable medium. Another form of the software may include signals that transmit program code of the software to a recipient over a network or other communication medium. Thus, in one example, a computer-readable medium has a form of signals that represent the software/firmware as it is downloaded from a web server to a user. In another example, the computer-readable medium has a form of the software/firmware as it is maintained on the web server. Other forms may also be used.
[0027] “User,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to one or more persons, software, computers or other devices, or combinations of these.
[0028] Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a sequence of operations that produce a result. The operations may include physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, the physical quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a logic and the like.
[0029] It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it is appreciated that throughout the description, terms like processing, computing, calculating, determining, displaying, or the like, refer to actions and processes of a computer system, logic, processor, or similar electronic device that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities.
[0030] FIG. 1 is an example diagram of a system 100 for collecting and sharing data using a Dynamic Data Interoperability Gateway (hereinafter referred to as “the gateway”) 102 . The gateway 102 enables and regulates data collection, storage, aggregation, standardization, and transmission. The gateway 102 is configured to be a bridge between data providers 104 a , 104 b , 104 c , and 104 d (hereinafter referred to as data provider 104 ) and data consumers 106 a , 106 b , 106 c , and 106 d (hereinafter referred to as data consumer 106 ) who desire to share or transfer similar sets of data but that produce and consume the data in different formats. Rather than enforce a data standard or format on all entities, the gateway 102 functions as a data translator that allows data to seamlessly flow between data providers 104 and data consumers 104 , regardless of the individual entity's preference for data format. This allows the gateway 102 to deliver uniform data such that a variety of entities or systems may be engaged to share the data with little impact to individual entity's processes or systems.
[0031] A data provider 104 may be an individual, a non-profit, an organization, or a government, for example. Data provider 104 may communicate data to the gateway 102 via a tablet computer, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or other similar computing device configured to communicate data.
[0032] A data consumer 106 may be an end user, hardware, a software application, a software developers kit, or anyone or anything capable of consuming data via a tablet computer, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or other similar computing device configured to consume data.
[0033] The gateway 102 is configured to collect, store, and share student testing data. More particularly, the data can be divided into three different categories. First, the gateway 102 is configured to collect, store, and share information about students. For example, data includes student names, student identification numbers, demographic information, and other relevant information about students. The student data may also include identification information about testing devices used by the students to participate in a test. Testing devices used by students may include laptop computers, smartphones, or various types of audience response devices, for example. Second, the gateway 102 is configured to collect, store, and share test related content including questions, responses and answer keys. Third, the gateway 102 is configured to collect, store, and share data about how students perform on given tests. In other words, a combination of the first two types of data is collected and stored to indicate how specific students responded to specific questions.
[0034] It should be understood that, although the gateway 102 is described in the context of collecting, storing, and sharing student educational data, the gateway 102 may similarly be used in other applications for other types of data. For example, the gateway 102 may be used in the context of collecting, storing and sharing healthcare data, financial data, and so on.
[0035] The gateway 102 is implemented as a web-based solution. For example, the gateway 102 may be implemented as a cloud service that is accessible by a web browser or by another type of application or interface capable of communicating over the internet 108 . In another example, the gateway 102 is configured to deliver services via web services using an appropriate interface. Protocols commonly used by web services are employed to exchange data amongst various software elements comprising the gateway 102 .
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example gateway 102 for aggregating and sharing data. The gateway 102 is configured to function as a web-based repository for student educational data. The gateway 102 includes a gateway database 202 for storing student data. In one example, the Gateway may be defined to also include hardware configured to host the software and the database.
[0037] The gateway 102 further includes data aggregation logic 204 configured to provide the data aggregation functionality. In order to facilitate comprehensive data interoperability and in turn to promote data portability among multiple third party systems, data aggregation logic 204 encapsulates each participating third party system element and compensates for differences in naming conventions of each data element. Data aggregation logic 204 accomplishes this by mapping data elements in data sets received from third party systems to a standard format, or primary name, defined at the gateway 102 . Data fields of various data sets often represent a single data element but may be named differently in those data sets, depending on the system or organization from which they originated. This is a significant barrier to data transfer between two independent systems. Data collected by the gateway 102 is automatically mapped by data aggregation logic 204 to universal, or primary, data field names. For example, a third party system may refer to a particular data element as “Student Number” while the gateway 102 may be configured to identify such a data element as “Student ID.” Accordingly, data aggregation logic 204 is configured to map the “Student Number” data field of a data set received from a third party system to the “Student ID” data element when storing the received data sets. This translation process provides a standardization of data elements that will enable data to be collected by the gateway 102 and to be seamlessly transferred to any other connecting portal of the gateway 102 .
[0038] Within gateway database 202 , a certain number of data element fields are predefined and designated with primary names. The gateway database 202 is also configured to store mapping rules which define how data aggregation logic 204 maps data elements from third party systems to these primary names. Like fields, or mapped fields received from third party systems, can be referred to as secondary names. Thus, there can only be one primary name for a data field but there can be unlimited number of secondary names for a data field.
[0039] It should be understood that although secondary data field names of received data sets are mapped to primary data field names, the secondary field names are still maintained by the gateway 102 in gateway database 202 . Having records of secondary field names enables data aggregation logic 204 to automatically map an unidentified field name for which a mapping rule does not yet exist, by comparing the unidentified field name to the stored secondary field names.
[0040] Data aggregation logic 204 may perform mapping either automatically or manually. Specifically, data aggregation logic 204 may map a data element automatically when a mapping rule has been previously defined for that particular data element. Alternatively, data aggregation logic 204 may request a user or a systems administrator to create a new mapping rule. Data mapping rules may be defined by a gateway 102 systems administrator or by users and administrators of a third party system. Mapping rules may be predefined or may be added over time, or a combination of both. For example, a systems administrator may add a new mapping rule to the set of rules maintained in gateway database 202 upon discovering that a data element in a data set received from a third party system is not already associated with a mapping rule. Thus, the gateway mapping rules will grow dynamically over time as more third party systems contribute data to the gateway 102 and more data element definitions become available.
[0041] In one example, data aggregation logic 204 is configured to attempt to automatically map unknown or unidentified data elements as well. For example, data aggregation logic 204 may be configured to analyze an unknown data element or secondary data field name and to map the data element to a defined standard data element, or a primary data field name, by identifying similarities between the secondary field name and a primary field name or by identifying similarities between the secondary data field name and another secondary data field name for which a mapping rule already exists.
[0042] Thus, data aggregation logic 204 may be configured to recognize standard data formats such as Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), Shareable Content Object Reference Model (Scorm), Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), Basic Learning Tools Interoperability (BLTI), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Common Education Data Standards (CEDS), Application Integration Framework (AIF), and so on. However, data aggregation logic 204 is also configured to accommodate non-standard data formats.
[0043] Third party systems or entities connecting with the gateway 102 are expected to have common capabilities having common data elements. However, these capabilities may be presented in disparate fashion and there may be some feature differences from one party or system to another. For example, two different systems may both communicate a student identification number to the gateway 102 . However, a first system may refer to the identification number as “Student ID” while a second system may refer to the same data as “ID Number.” Accordingly, data aggregation logic 204 is configured to interpret both data elements to convey the same information even though they are referred to differently by the providing system.
[0044] In one example, data aggregation logic 204 may be configured to identify missing data elements within a data set and to continue to process the data set. For example, data aggregation logic 204 may automatically assign a unique student identification number to a student upon determining that the data set is missing a data element indicative of a student identification number. Alternatively, data aggregation logic 204 may be configured to process the data set despite the missing data element. For example, data aggregation logic 204 may be configured to assign a null value, a “not applicable” value, or something similar to a particular data element in response to determining that a data set does not contain the particular data element.
[0045] In one example, gateway 102 encrypts student data before storing the data in gateway database 202 . Gateway 102 may encrypt data using any method commonly known and used in the data storage and encryption industry. For example, the gateway 102 may secure data transfers by requiring use of public/private key cryptography. In one example, the gateway 102 may also require manual authentication by a user by prompting a user for access credentials. In one example, the gateway 102 also manages and archives the data after storing the data in gateway database 202 . For example, the gateway 102 may be pre-set to receive or transfer data automatically based on an assigned schedule.
[0046] The gateway 102 further includes interface logic 206 for interfacing with data providers 104 and data consumers 106 . Particularly, interface logic 206 receive and communicate data and to receive requests for stored data. Student data may be uploaded to the gateway 102 through a variety of means, including direct input, web services, manual upload, via radio frequency devices, and so on. In addition, student data may be uploaded from a variety of sources, including learning management systems such as Blackboard, virtual learning environments, or learning content management systems, for example. Data may be provided to these systems by individuals, organizations, non-profits, and government entities, for example. These sorts of entities communicate with the gateway 102 through interface logic 206 .
[0047] It should be understood that a data provider 104 may also act as a data consumer 106 . In other words, the same types of systems that provide data to the gateway 102 may also consume data from the gateway 102 . For example, end users, as well as user applications such as TurningPoint and ResponseWare may consume data from the gateway 102 , via interface logic 206 .
[0048] In order to facilitate communication between the gateway 102 and third party systems and portals, the interface logic 206 includes Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs. The APIs of interface logic 206 enable third party systems and portals to transfer data to and receive data from the gateway 102 in a standardized manner without requiring those third party systems to have specific knowledge of the gateway's 102 functionality. Rather, the third party systems simply require knowledge of how to interact with the published APIs.
[0049] Interface logic 206 includes both proprietary and open APIs, published for third party use. Open APIs may not require encryption or may require less stringent encryption techniques while the proprietary APIs require third party systems to utilize more strict encryption techniques. The APIs do not allow for users to interact with data stored in gateway database 202 directly. Rather, the APIs only enable third party systems to interact with the data indirectly in order to ensure security and integrity of the data.
[0050] The interface logic 206 may include a variety of interface layers including interfaces for configuration of data connections, custom data mapping, scheduling or deploying data transfers, management of data to include editing or deleting, data management specific to proprietary software, reporting and/or analytics, billing and so on.
[0051] The gateway further includes data access logic 208 configured to enable user access to data stored in gateway database 202 . Data access logic 208 does not allow a user or system to add new data to gateway database 202 . In one example, data access logic 208 only enables a user to view current data. In one example, data access logic 208 may enable a user to edit currently stored data as well as to view the data. Data access logic 208 provides a variety of components which in turn provide access to various stored data. For example, an organizational component provides access to information about organizations that the gateway 102 is configured to interface with. A content component provides access to the test content such as questions and answer keys. Other similar types of components such as payment component, inventory component, assessment data component, direct marketing component, and registration component all provide access to view and edit respective stored data as well. In one example, the data access logic 208 may provide a single component or application for viewing and editing all stored data.
[0052] The gateway 102 further includes data output logic 210 for converting stored data to a requested format. By mapping, standardizing, and encrypting received data, the gateway 102 is able to securely and efficiently port data to third party systems or portals. In other words, the data stored in gateway database 202 is designed for portability. Specifically, data output logic 210 is able to accommodate requests for data submitted by third party systems by mapping the requested data from the standardized form, or the primary field names, to the secondary field names as defined by the third party system. Data output logic 210 determines a format required by the third party system and maps the stored data accordingly. Data output logic 210 can perform the mapping automatically if a mapping rule has already been defined for the data format required by the third party system requesting the data or if a mapping rule can be determined by comparing the secondary field names of the format required by the requesting third party to already known secondary field names. Otherwise, data output logic 210 may perform the mapping according to manual input by a systems administrator.
[0053] In one example, the gateway 102 included data metering logic 212 configured to meter data consumption by third party systems. Data metering logic 212 monitors how much data is being consumed or received by a third party system. This enables an administrator of the gateway 102 to track the amount of data being consumed, to charge a fee for consuming data, to set limits on the amount of data being consumed, and so on. Data metering logic 212 may monitor data usage based on individual data records consumed, or based on the size and amount of data being consumed.
[0054] It should be understood that providers of data may or may not also be consumers of data. Accordingly, data metering logic 212 may initiate data monitoring either when the gateway 102 ports data back to the original provider of the data or when the gateway 102 ports data to third party systems consuming data.
[0055] The gateway 102 also includes a roles and permissions logic 214 configured to grants certain permissions to users or third party systems based on authentication of credentials provided by the user or third party system. For example, permissions logic 214 may grant student access to a response device being used by a student to answer questions on a test. Student access level granted by permissions logic 214 may limit the response device to only transmit data to the gateway 102 but not to view or edit the data. A computer being used by an instructor or a proctor to administer a test, however, may be granted instructor access level by permissions logic 214 which may allow the instructor to view response submitted by his students, for example. Other access roles may include an Admin level, a Super Admin level, or other suitable roles deemed appropriate.
[0056] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the steps for collecting and sharing data using a dynamic data interoperability gateway. At step 302 , the gateway 102 receives data comprising a first format. At step 304 , the gateway 102 translates the data into a second standard format. At step 306 , the gateway 102 saves the translated data. At step 308 , the gateway 102 receives a request to provide the stored data in a requested format. At step 310 , the gateway 102 determines the format requested and translates the stored data to the requested format. At step 312 , the gateway communicates or ports the translated data to the requesting user or system. In one example, the gateway 102 also meters the amount of data being consumed or requested.
[0057] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example computing system 400 for implementing an example gateway for aggregating and sharing data. The example computing system 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, including laptops, desktops, handheld computers, smartphones, tablet computers, servers, and other similar types of computing devices. As shown, computing system 400 includes a processor 402 , memory 404 , a storage device 406 , and a communication port 422 , operably connected by an interface 408 via a bus 410 .
[0058] Processor 402 processes instructions, via memory 404 , for execution within computing system 400 . In an example embodiment, multiple processors along with multiple memories may be used.
[0059] Memory 404 may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Memory 404 may be a computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk. Storage device 406 may be a computer-readable medium, such as floppy disk devices, a hard disk device, optical disk device, a tape device, a flash memory, phase change memory, or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network of other configurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium such as memory 404 or storage device 406 .
[0060] Computing system 400 may be coupled to one or more input and output devices such as a display 414 , a printer 416 , a scanner 418 , and a mouse 420 .
[0061] To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is used in the specification or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both.” When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (2d. Ed. 1995). Also, to the extent that the terms “in” or “into” are used in the specification or the claims, it is intended to additionally mean “on” or “onto.” Furthermore, to the extent the term “connect” is used in the specification or claims, it is intended to mean not only “directly connected to,” but also “indirectly connected to” such as connected through another component or components.
[0062] While the present application has been illustrated by the description of embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the application, in its broader aspects, is not limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the applicant's general inventive concept. | A dynamic data gateway comprises at least one processor, at least one computer-readable tangible storage device, and program instructions stored on the at least one storage device for execution by the at least one processor. The program instructions comprise first program instructions configured to receive data comprising a first format. The program instructions further comprise second program instructions configured to convert the received data to a second format. The program instructions further comprise third program instructions configured to store the converted data. The program instructions further comprise fourth program instructions configured to receive a request to provide the stored data in a requested format. The program instructions further comprise fifth program instructions configured to convert the stored data to the requested format. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of imaging devices and stands therefor, and, more specifically, to adapters for supporting projectors or recording devices on stands.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Imaging devices such as projectors or recording devices (e.g. still cameras and video cameras/recorders) have typically been mounted on stands such as tripods utilizing a male threaded bolt-type fastener and corresponding female threaded hole arrangement. The bolt-type fastener is usually positioned at a platform of the stand while the female threaded hole is usually positioned at the bottom of the imaging device. However, the positioning of the female threaded hole takes up valuable real estate within the housing of the imaging device. As a result, the housing must be made larger to accommodate the female threaded hole and associated parts supporting the female threaded hole.
[0003] Thus, it is desirable to provide an system which is able to overcome the above disadvantages.
[0004] Therefore, a need exists to provide an imaging system that comprises a stand, adapter and imaging device that allows for a imaging device's housing bottom to be free of female threaded holes for attaching to the stand, by positioning the female threaded hole within an adapter which is exterior of the imaging device's housing. The adapter does not occupy precious imaging device housing interior real estate thereby allowing the housing to be extremely compact.
[0005] These and other advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the detailed description of the invention hereinbelow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention is directed to an imaging system. The imaging system comprises a stand including a platform and an upwardly extending threaded male fastener provided at the platform. The imaging system also comprises an adapter comprising a main body, wherein the main body comprises a main body bottom and a main body top, and wherein the main body bottom includes a threaded hole that threadably mates with the male fastener of the stand. The adapter also comprises a flange provided at the main body top. The imaging system further comprises an imaging device comprising a housing including a housing bottom and a mating system that removably secures the adapter. The imaging device is removably secured to the stand via the adapter. The housing bottom and mating system are free of female threaded holes that threadably mate with the male fastener of the stand. A removable platform battery having a battery mating system provided at the battery bottom is also contemplated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] For the present invention to be clearly understood and readily practiced, the present invention will be described in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is an elevated perspective view of an imaging system that includes a projector, adapter, and stand, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a perspective bottom view of the projector and the adapter shown in FIG. 1 , wherein a mating system is provided at the bottom of the projector for removably securing the adapter, and wherein a process of inserting the adapter within the mating system is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a perspective bottom view of the projector, adapter, and mating system shown in FIG. 2 , wherein completed insertion of the adapter within the mating system is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 4 is an enlarged, elevated and slightly different perspective view of the adapter and mating system shown in FIG. 3 .
[0012] FIG. 5 is a side view of the projector, adapter, and mating system shown in FIG. 3 .
[0013] FIG. 6 is an enlarged, elevated perspective bottom view of the adapter shown in FIGS. 1-5 .
[0014] FIG. 7 is an enlarged, elevated perspective top view of the adapter shown in FIGS. 1-5 .
[0015] FIG. 8 is a front view of a projector mounted on a platform battery, wherein the bottom of the platform battery includes thereat a battery mating system for removably securing an adapter, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 9 is a perspective bottom view of the projector, platform battery, and battery mating system shown in FIG. 8 , wherein completed insertion of the adapter within the battery mating system is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 10 is an elevated perspective top view of the platform battery shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
[0018] FIG. 11 is an elevated perspective bottom view of the platform battery shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention may have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements found in a typical imaging device and stand therefor. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other elements may be desirable and/or required in order to implement the present invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein. It is also to be understood that the drawings included herewith only provide diagrammatic representations of the presently preferred structures of the present invention and that structures falling within the scope of the present invention may include structures different than those shown in the drawings. Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like structures are provided with like reference designations.
[0020] FIG. 1 is an elevated perspective view of an imaging system 100 that includes a projector 80 , adapter 20 , and stand 10 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The stand 10 may be a tripod (as depicted in FIG. 1 ) which is typically used in supporting imaging devices such as still cameras or video cameras/recorders. A stand having any number of legs may alternatively be employed. The stand could also be a mount with no legs.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a perspective bottom view of the projector 80 and the adapter 20 shown in FIG. 1 . A mating system 83 is provided at the bottom of the projector 80 for removably securing the adapter 20 . A process of inserting the adapter 20 within the mating system 83 is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The mating system is preferably made of plastic. Other materials such as metal can also be employed.
[0022] FIG. 3 is a perspective bottom view of the projector 80 , adapter 20 , and mating system 83 shown in FIG. 2 , wherein completed insertion of the adapter 20 within the mating system 83 is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A clip-on arrangement is thereby realized.
[0023] FIG. 4 is an enlarged, elevated and slightly different perspective view of the adapter 20 and mating system 83 shown in FIG. 3 . An elastic tongue 87 is preferably provided to abut the main body 21 of the adapter 20 while the adapter 20 is inserted within the mating system 83 . The mating system 83 also includes a slot system 84 that removably secures the flange 25 of the adapter 20 while the adapter 20 is inserted within the mating system 83 . The slot system preferable removably secures opposite edges of the flange 25 . However, any number of flange edges may alternatively be removably secured by the slot system 84 .
[0024] FIG. 5 is a side view of the projector 80 , adapter 20 , and mating system 83 shown in FIG. 3 .
[0025] FIG. 6 is an enlarged, elevated perspective bottom view of the adapter 20 shown in FIGS. 1-5 .
[0026] FIG. 7 is an enlarged, elevated perspective top view of the adapter 20 shown in FIGS. 1-5 .
[0027] FIG. 8 is a front view of a projector 80 mounted on a platform battery 90 , wherein the bottom 90 b of the platform battery 90 includes thereat a battery mating system 93 for removably securing an adapter 20 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 9 is a perspective bottom view of the projector 80 , platform battery 90 , and battery mating system 93 shown in FIG. 8 , wherein completed insertion of the adapter 20 within the battery mating system 93 is illustrated, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 10 is an elevated perspective top view of the platform battery 90 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
[0030] FIG. 11 is an elevated perspective bottom view of the platform battery 90 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
[0031] The imaging system 100 comprises a stand 10 including a platform 11 and an upwardly extending threaded male fastener 12 provided at the platform 11 . The imaging system 100 also comprises an adapter 20 comprising a main body 21 , wherein the main body 21 comprises a main body bottom 21 b and a main body top 21 t , and wherein the main body bottom 21 b includes a female threaded hole 22 that threadably mates with the male fastener 12 of the stand 10 . The adapter 20 also comprises a flange 25 provided at the main body top 21 t . The imaging system 100 further comprises an imaging device 80 comprising a housing 81 including a housing bottom 81 b . The imaging device 80 also comprises a mating system 83 that removably secures the adapter 20 . The imaging device 80 is removably secured to the stand 10 via the adapter 20 .
[0032] The mating system 83 is provided at the housing bottom 81 b . The housing bottom 81 b and mating system 83 are free of female threaded holes that threadably mate with the male fastener 12 of the stand 10 . The mating system 83 includes a slot system 84 that removably secures the flange 25 of the adapter 20 while the adapter 20 is inserted within the mating system 83 .
[0033] The mating system 83 includes an elastic tongue 87 that abuts the main body 21 of the adapter 20 while the adapter 20 is inserted within the mating system 83 and while the elastic tongue 87 is in an unstressed position. The mating system 83 includes an elastic tongue 87 that is in a stressed position during the insertion of the adapter 20 within the mating system 83 and during removal of the adapter 20 from the mating system 83 . The elastic tongue 87 and slot system 84 combination thus enables a snap-fit securement.
[0034] The main body 21 may optionally be rotatable with respect to the flange 25 via a circular slidable interface 29 . Interface 29 may be located within any axial distance from the female threaded hole 22 and may extend cylindrically from the main body top 21 t to the main body bottom 21 b . Interface 29 may comprise any low friction interface/material such as Teflon® or ball bearings. When the adapter is removably secured to the stand via the threaded arrangement (i.e. female threaded hole 22 and threaded male fastener 12 ), the female threaded hole 22 is stable while the interface 29 allows for the flange 25 to be rotatable with respect to the female threaded hole 22 , thereby allowing the imaging device 80 to rotate on the stand while being secured to the stand via the adapter 20 .
[0035] The imaging device 80 may further comprise a removable platform battery 90 having a battery top 90 t a battery bottom 90 b , and wherein the mating system is a battery mating system 93 which is provided at the battery bottom 90 b.
[0036] Alternatively, the imaging device 80 may further comprise a removable platform battery 90 having a battery top 90 t a battery bottom 90 b , and wherein a battery mating system 93 that removably secures the adapter is provided at the battery bottom 90 b . The battery top 90 t preferably includes a recess 95 , wherein the mating system 83 provided at the housing bottom 81 b resides at least partly within the recess 95 when the battery 90 is connected to the housing bottom 81 b.
[0037] The battery mating system 93 preferably comprises the same structure and preferably provides the same function as that of the mating system 83 at the housing bottom 81 b . Either or both the battery mating system 93 (i.e. when employing a platform battery 90 ) or the mating system 83 at the housing bottom 81 b may be employed.
[0038] The imaging device 80 may be a projector or a recording device such as a still camera or video camera/recorder.
[0039] The contemplated modifications and variations specifically mentioned above and below are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0040] Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, although the threaded arrangement is described above as comprising a female threaded hole 22 and threaded male fastener 12 provided within the adapter 20 and at the platform 11 of the stand 10 , respectively, the female threaded hole 22 and threaded male fastener 12 arrangement may be reversed. In other words, the female threaded hole 22 may be provided at the platform 11 of the stand 10 , while the threaded male fastener 12 may be provided on the adapter. It is therefore to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed above, but it is intended to cover such modifications and variations as defined by the following claims. | An imaging system is provided. The imaging system comprises a stand, adapter, and imaging device that allows for a imaging device's housing bottom to be free of female threaded holes for attaching to the stand, by positioning the female threaded hole within an adapter which is exterior of the imaging device's housing. The adapter does not occupy precious imaging device housing interior real estate thereby allowing the housing to be extremely compact. The imaging device comprises a mating system that removably secures the adapter. The imaging device is therefore removably secured to the stand via the adapter. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/021,257 filed on Jan. 15, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
For the past 150 years, lighting technology has been mainly limited to incandescence and fluorescence. While derivative technologies such as high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps have emerged, none have achieved energy efficiencies exceeding 25%, with incandescent lighting achieving an efficiency of less than 2%. With the advent of commercial light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the 1960s, however, the door was opened for a different and exciting form of lighting technology. Unlike conventional lighting, LEDs consume less electricity and have largely avoided the parasitic by-products of its predecessors, namely heat. Early LEDs were red in color, with yellow and orange variants following soon thereafter. To produce white light, however, a blue LED was needed. In 1993, Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemical Industries produced a blue LED using gallium nitride (GaN). With this development, it was now possible to create white light by combining the light of separate LEDs (red, green, and blue), or by creating white LEDs themselves by means of doping.
Solid state lighting (SSL) refers to a type of lighting that utilizes LEDs, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments or gas. Unlike traditional lighting, SSL creates visible light with very little heat or parasitic energy dissipation. Additionally, the solid-state nature provides for greater resistance to shock, vibration, and wear, thereby increasing lifespan significantly. SSL has been described by the United States Department of Energy as a pivotal emerging technology that promises to alter lighting in the future. It is the first new lighting technology to emerge in over 40 years and, with its energy efficiencies and cost savings, has the potential to be a very disruptive technology in the marketplace as well.
A single LED can produce only a limited amount of light, and only a single color at a time. To produce the white light necessary for SSL, light spanning the visible spectrum (red, green, and blue) must be generated in correct proportions. To achieve this effect, three approaches may be used for generating white light with LEDs: wavelength conversion, color mixing, and most recently homoepitaxial ZnSe.
Wavelength conversion involves converting some or all of the LED's output into visible wavelengths. There are a number of techniques that may be used for wavelength conversion. One method is to deposit a yellow phosphor on a blue LED. This is considered an inexpensive method for producing white light. Blue light produced by an LED excites a phosphor, which then re-emits yellow light. This balanced mixing of yellow and blue lights results in the appearance of white light.
Wavelength conversion may also be accomplished by providing additional phosphors on a blue LED. This is similar to the process involved with yellow phosphors, except that each excited phosphor re-emits a different color. Similarly, the resulting light is combined with the originating blue light to create white light. The resulting light, however, has a richer and broader wavelength spectrum and produces a higher color-quality light, albeit at an increased cost.
Yet another technique to accomplish wavelength conversion is by using an ultraviolet (UV) LED coated with doped phosphors which, upon excitation, emit light in the red, green and blue wavelengths. The UV light is used to excite the different phosphors, which are doped at measured amounts. The colors are mixed resulting in a white light with the richest and broadest wavelength spectrum.
Another technique for wavelength conversion uses a thin layer of nanocrystal particles, called quantum dots, containing 33 or 34 pairs of atoms, primarily cadmium and selenium, which are coated on top of a blue LED. The blue light excites the quantum dots, resulting in a white light with a wavelength spectrum similar to UV LEDs.
Color mixing involves utilizing multiple colored LEDs in a lamp and adjusting the intensity of each LED to produce white light. For example, the lamp may contain a minimum of two LEDs (blue and yellow), but can also have three (red, blue, and green) or four (red, blue, green, and yellow). As no phosphors are used, there is no energy lost in the conversion process, thereby exhibiting the potential for higher efficiency. The intensity of the LEDs are configured such that the combination of the emitted light results in white light.
Wavelength conversion provides benefits versus color mixing. A SSL device contains many LEDs placed close together in a lamp to amplify their illuminating effects. This is because an individual LED produces only a limited amount of light, thereby limiting its effectiveness as a replacement light source. In the case where white LEDs are utilized in SSL, this is a relatively simple task, as all LEDs are of the same color and can be arranged in any fashion. When using the color-mixing method, however, it is more difficult to generate equivalent brightness when compared to using white LEDs in a similar lamp size. Furthermore, degradation of different LEDs at various times in a color-mixed lamp can lead to an uneven color output. Because of the inherent benefits and greater number of applications for white LED based SSL, most designs focus on utilizing them exclusively.
Currently, there is no SSL available that can be offered as a true replacement for incandescent or fluorescent lamps, even though several manufacturers have gone forward with the introduction of such products. White LEDs produced today are too expensive to be considered affordable, and the lumens produced by the LEDs today are not as bright as traditional lighting. Based on research conducted by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA), it is expected that by the year 2025, SSL will be the preferred method of illumination in homes and offices.
What is apparent to the end user is the low color rendering index (CRI) of current LEDs. The CRI is widely used to measure how accurately a lighting source renders the color of objects. For example, sunlight and incandescent lamps have a CRI of 100, while fluorescent lamps generally have a CRI>75. The current generation of LEDs, which employs mostly blue LED chip and yellow phosphor, has a CRI of about 70, which is much too low for widespread use in lighting, particularly indoor lighting applications. In order for SSL to effectively replace incandescent lamps, more research must be done on developing alternatives to the techniques currently used that address these concerns.
There are several advantages to the use of the nano-silicon converter in a white LED. Silicon nanoparticles play a dual role of UV blockers and down converters of the UV radiation emitted by the LED. Silicon nanoparticles are highly absorbant of the UV with a quantum conversion larger than 50%. In fact, silicon nanoparticles may act as a total UV filter, resulting in a safe light source. The silicon nanoparticles stay cool because they convert the UV radiation to visible light. The silicon nanoparticles are highly photostable under UV excitation giving a long safe working lifetime.
Further, a film comprised of silicon nanoparticles acts an excellent antireflection coating preventing light from going back into the LED housing causing damage due to heating or direct interaction. The silicon nanoparticle film is transparent in the visible allowing the visible light to go through.
The nanoparticles within each color group are identical, allowing the formation of high optical quality films of closely-packed nanoparticles (solid density). This is beneficial because the emission, transmission and losses of wavelength converter depends sensitively on thickness uniformity and composition of the converter on the chip.
The nanoparticles can be functionalized (doped) to shift their luminescence under the same UV source. Producing a Si—C termination on the particles, for example, shift the spectrum to the silicon carbide emission. This may provide means to improve on filling the white spectrum to achieve a high CRI ratio in the upper nineties.
SUMMARY
The white light emitting diode of the present disclosure includes an ultraviolet/blue light emitting diode (LED) and a converter layer disposed upon an active region of the ultraviolet/blue light emitting diode. The converter layer includes a cascade of silicon nanoparticles configured to fluoresce when exposed to light from the ultraviolet/blue light emitting diode such that the combination of wavelengths of light emitted from the ultraviolet/blue light emitting diode and emitted by fluorescence of the converter layer produces white light. The converter layer includes a number of silicon nanoparticle sublayers, wherein each sublayer is configured to emit fluoresced light in a predetermined wavelength range of the visible spectrum.
For example, the converter layer may have a first sublayer of silicon nanoparticles configured to emit fluoresced light having a first wavelength such that the light emitted from the first sublayer is in the red portion of the visible spectrum. The converter layer may also have a second sublayer of silicon nanoparticles configured to emit fluoresced light having a second wavelength such that the light emitted from the second sublayer is in the green portion of the visible spectrum. Additionally, the converter layer may have a third sublayer of silicon nanoparticles configured to emit fluoresced light having a third wavelength such that the light emitted from the third sublayer is in the blue portion of the visible spectrum. The combination of the wavelengths of the emitted light from the first, second, and third sublayers along with the light emitted from the LED producing white light.
The white LED of the present disclosure may also include a dichroic film layer located between the UV/blue LED and the converter layer. The dichroic film allows UV radiation and visible light emitted from the UV/blue LED to pass through while reflecting visible light emitted by the converter layer away from the LED.
The white LED of the present disclosure may be produced by providing a UV/blue LED and providing a converter layer of silicon nanoparticles onto an active surface of the UV/blue light emitting diode. The converter layer is produced by providing a colloidal suspension of silicon nanoparticles in isopropyl alcohol, spreading the colloidal suspension onto the active surface of the LED, and allowing the isopropyl alcohol to evaporate, resulting in a layer of closely-packed nanoparticles. This process may be repeated to produce a number of sublayers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure will be described hereafter with reference to the attached drawings which are given as a non-limiting example only, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional representation of the LED of the present disclosure; and
FIGS. 2-5 show the down converted spectrum under UV in the range 330-400 nm of a variety of silicon nanoparticle populations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The white light emitting diode (LED) 10 of the present disclosure includes a gallium nitride (GaN) ultraviolet (UV)/blue LED 12 and a wavelength converter 14 disposed on an active region of the UV/blue LED, as shown in FIG. 1 . The converter layer 14 includes one or more nanoparticle sublayers 16 , 18 , 20 in a cascade configuration. The nanoparticles in sublayers 16 , 18 , and 20 allow blue visible light emitted by the LED to pass through while absorbing the UV radiation emitted by the LED. The absorbed UV radiation excites the nanoparticles which then fluoresce light in wavelengths of the visible spectrum. The nanoparticle sublayers are configured such that wavelengths of fluoresced light combine to produce white light.
In the exemplary embodiment shown, wavelength converter 14 is configured such that each sublayer 16 , 18 , 20 is tuned to a different section of the spectrum by choice of the size of the nanoparticle, namely red 16 , green 18 , and blue 20 resulting in a red-green-blue (RGB) wavelength converter. The wavelength converter 14 is configured in a cascade arrangement to produce red light, which is then transmitted through the blue and green layers; green light, which is transmitted through the blue layer; and blue light; the combination being white light 22 .
In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 , the wavelength converter 14 includes a first sublayer 16 having relatively large silicon nanoparticles tuned to fluoresce light in the red wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Wavelength converter 14 also includes a second sublayer 18 having relatively mid-sized silicon nanoparticles tuned to fluoresce light in the green wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Wavelength converter 14 also includes a third sublayer 20 having relatively small silicon nanoparticles tuned to fluoresce light in the blue wavelengths of the visible spectrum.
FIGS. 2-5 gives the down converted spectrum under UV in the range 330-400 nm of a variety of silicon nanoparticle populations, showing that it is possible to cover the entire visible spectrum of the solar white light (from 400 nm-750 nm) with the device of the present disclosure. In addition, the primary blue component from the GaN LED can be used to further enrich the mixture of emitted light.
The emerging colored light from the sublayers 16 , 18 , 20 along with some of the remaining LED blue mix together, resulting in a white light with the richest and broadest wavelength spectrum. The thickness of the sublayers are chosen in conjunction with their characteristics absorption/conversion/eye sensitivity to achieve the feel of a sunlight light source.
The white LED of the present disclosure is produced by starting with a gallium nitride (GaN) LED. A colloidal suspension of silicon nanoparticles is prepared in isopropyl alcohol. The active region of the GaN LED is then covered with a layer of silicon nanoparticles by spreading a volume of the particle colloid on the active face. The isopropyl alcohol is allowed to dry under ambient conditions, resulting in the formation of a thin layer of closely packed particles. The response of the GaN LED is measured before the particle layer is formed and after it has been coated. Additional volume of the colloid is then placed on the device and another measurement is taken. This procedure is repeated several times to allow direct correlation of the response with the increase in the thickness of the nanoparticle active layer.
The nanoparticles may also be mixed or functionalized with organic pigments to broaden the color composition. The particles may boost the interaction of UV with the pigment by energy transfer or cascade excitation.
The active nanoparticle sublayers not only improve the conversion of UV radiation to visible light but also act as a filter that protects an end user from the UV radiation emitted from the GaN LED. Also, the nanoparticle film acts as an anti-reflecting coating that stops the UV radiation from reflecting back to the LED, which, if it happens, may cause some damage and shorten the working life of the overall device. Less UV radiation striking back upon the LED device reduces the heat generated in the device and hence prolongs the working life.
In addition to the evaporation-based method for deposit of silicon nanoparticles on the GaN LED, other methods such as spin coating, or electrodeposition may be used. Moreover, alternative methods may be used to dry the nanoparticle colloidal suspension including mild heating and ultraviolet drying, in addition to drying under ambient conditions, as previously described herein.
The down conversion spectra of single silicon nanoparticle color samples in colloids was recorded under irradiation from a 365 nm Hg source. The conversion efficiency of thin films of single color samples was examined under irradiation from a 365 nm Hg source.
Because fluorescence of the silicon nanoparticle sublayers 16 , 18 , 20 is radiated in all directions equally, half of the response of the particles to the UV irradiation escapes backward, toward the LED. This visible fluoresced light may be reflected away from the LED, and thus increase the visible light output of the white LED of the present disclosure, by using a dichroic thin film 24 . This may be done by placing an appropriate coating between the nanoparticles of the wavelength converter 14 and the LED 12 , as shown in FIG. 1 , which allows UV light to pass through the dichroic film 24 while reflecting the photoluminescence to the outside, away from the LED. Thus efficiency of the LED is further improved by eliminating this loss by redirecting this light outward.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the claimed invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the claimed invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the claimed invention. | Multiple films of red-green-blue (RGB) luminescent silicon nanoparticles are integrated in a cascade configuration as a top coating in an ultraviolet/blue light emitting diode (LED) to convert it to a white LED. The configuration of RGB luminescent silicon nanoparticle films harnesses the short wavelength portion of the light emitted from the UV/blue LED while transmitting efficiently the longer wavelength portion. The configuration also reduces damaging heat and/or ultraviolet effects to both the device and to humans. | 2 |
The present invention relates generally to battery powered devices and specifically to a method for displaying on the battery powered device an indicator of the battery discharge.
BACKGROUND
The proliferation of wireless data transfer technologies, including cellular technology, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for example, has resulted in an explosion in the number of portable devices available to consumers. Examples of such portable devices include personal entertainment devices, such game, music and video players, personal communication devices, such as smart phones and personal digital assistants, data collection devices and portable computers.
The vast majority of these portable devices are powered by rechargeable batteries. The batteries may be off-the-shelf batteries or comprise a prepackaged battery pack. In use, a portable device user charges the batteries using a standard power source, such as an electrical outlet. The batteries may be charged while remaining within the portable device or via an external battery charger. Once the batteries are charged they are used to power the portable device so it can move freely. Once the batteries are drained, they are recharged and the process begins anew.
However, rechargeable batteries have a fixed life-cycle. That is, they have a limited number of charge cycles before they can no longer be effectively recharged. This is referred to as battery degradation. Therefore, as rechargeable batteries are used it only becomes possible to recharge them to a maximum capacity that is a fraction of their original capacity. Once this maximum capacity falls below a certain threshold, the batteries will no longer be practically useful.
However, it is difficult for the user to know when the rechargeable batteries will need to be replaced. Typically, the user will not know that the rechargeable batteries need to be replaced until they fail to last for a usable time period. Accordingly, a number of extra batteries need to be kept on hand to ensure that replacement batteries are available when the rechargeable batteries can no longer effectively be recharged. The more portable devices one has, the larger the inventory and associated costs for storing the replacement batteries. Furthermore, the replacement batteries also have a limited life span and degrade when they are in storage.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method that facilitates determination and display of the battery degradation so that the user can make an informed decision when to purchase new rechargeable batteries.
SUMMARY
As described above, a common problem among portable device users is not knowing when to replace the device's batteries. Some users are aware that batteries should typically be replaced after two years, but this depends on how the batteries are actually being used and charged. Replacing batteries prematurely results in users wasting money as the batteries could still be utilized. Conversely, users who do not attempt to manage this have no indication and a false expectation as to how long the battery will last. Accordingly, a visual indication of the batteries degradation is provided in an easy to understand format is provided so that the user does not need to understand battery terminology.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for presenting battery degradation of a rechargeable battery to a user of an electronic device , the method comprising the steps of: obtaining an initial capacity and a remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery; determining the battery degradation as a proportion of a difference between the initial capacity and the remaining capacity to the initial capacity; visually presenting the battery degradation on a display of the electronic device as a battery gauge.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device configured to present battery degradation of a rechargeable battery to a user, the electronic device comprising: a display; a power supply; memory for storing computer readable code; and a processor configured to execute the computer readable code, thereby implementing the steps of: obtaining an initial capacity and a remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery; determining the battery degradation as a proportion of a difference between the initial capacity and the remaining capacity to the initial capacity; and visually presenting the battery degradation on the display of the electronic device as a battery gauge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a drawing of a sample portable computer using a rechargeable battery;
FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a battery information scree;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart describing steps for determining battery discharge for smart batteries; and
FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing steps for determining battery discharge for dumb batteries.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
For convenience, like numerals in the description refer to like structures in the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1 , a portable computer is illustrated generally by the numeral 100 . The portable computer 100 comprises a main body 102 , a display 104 , a keyboard 106 and a battery compartment 108 for housing a rechargeable battery (not shown). For ease of explanation, the rechargeable battery will simply be referred to as the battery. The portable computer 100 and the battery are in communication using a battery interface (not shown). The battery interface may use known or proprietary protocols for communication. The portable computer 100 also comprises a plurality of optional components such as a barcode scanner or radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, for example.
As will be appreciated, battery software is provided on the portable computer 100 that determines the battery degradation and presents the information on the screen 104 . In the present embodiment, the battery degradation information is displayed graphically as a “battery gauge”. Referring to FIG. 2 , a screen shot illustrating a battery information screen is shown generally by numeral 200 . The battery information screen 200 includes a battery gauge 202 , a battery type 204 , a battery status indicator 206 and a charge status indicator 208 .
The charge status indicator 208 indicates whether or not the battery is being charged. This provides the user with a quick check to verify that the battery is being charged when the portable computer 100 is placed in a cradle, docking station, or otherwise connected to a power source. The battery status indicator 206 indicates whether or not the battery has been authorized. A battery is considered to be authorized if it contains the necessary credentials. Each battery includes a battery memory having predefined credentials, which are read by the battery software. The credentials can be authenticated using known or proprietary encryption methods, which are beyond the scope of the present invention. The battery type 204 indicates the type of battery, also retrieved from the predefined credentials on the battery memory.
The battery gauge 202 is bar-shaped in the present embodiment and comprises three different condition sections. A critical condition section 202 a , is located at the left-most portion of battery gauge 202 . The critical condition section is relatively small. It is used to indicate to the user that, due to battery degradation, the battery discharge is critical and the portable computer 100 will likely not function effectively, even with a fully charged battery. Thus, the battery should be replaced. A good condition section 202 c is located at the right-most portion of the battery gauge 202 . The good condition section 202 c is relatively large and is used to indicate to the user that battery degradation is not a concern. A warning condition section 202 b is located between the critical condition section 202 a and the good condition section 202 c. The warning condition section 202 b is mid-sized. It is used to indicate to the user that battery degradation is becoming a concern and that a new battery should be obtained, as it will soon be needed. The portable computer 100 will likely work just long enough to be efficient.
Battery degradation is illustrated on the battery gauge 202 by a degradation indicator 202 d. The degradation indicator 202 d begins at the right-most edge of the battery gauge 202 and moves to the left as the battery degrades. Accordingly, the degradation indicator 202 d can be seen to increasingly occupies a greater portion of the battery gauge as the battery degrades
In the present embodiment the critical condition section 202 a is coloured red, the warning condition section 202 b is coloured yellow and the good condition section 202 c is coloured green. The degradation indicator 202 d is in the form of a black bar that covers an increasing portion of the battery gauge 202 as the battery degrades. Accordingly, the user will quickly be able determine the level of degradation by the visible colours. That is, for example, if all three colours are visible then the battery is in good condition. As less green becomes visible then the user knows that battery is degrading. Once green is no longer visible then user should consider obtaining a replacement battery. Once yellow is no longer visible then the user should consider replacing the battery with the replacement battery.
As will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the size of each of the good section 202 c , the warning section 202 b and the critical section 202 a depends on how much charge the battery contains and how much charge the portable computer 100 needs to be considered efficient. Thus, the proportion of each of the sections 202 a , 202 b and 202 c may vary for different implementations. For example, a portable computer 100 that is used three hours between recharging will have different requirements for a portable computer 100 that is used eight hours between recharging.
The following describes how the battery degradation is determined by the software. There are two general types of batteries: smart batteries and dumb batteries. Smart batteries include intelligence to monitor certain parameters and determine the remaining battery capacity. These parameters are used by the battery software to generate the battery gauge 202 . Dumb batteries lack the intelligence present in the smart batteries but still include parameters that can be used by the battery software to determine and generate the battery gauge 202 .
In the present embodiment, the battery gauge 202 is displayed to the user via a battery utility screen. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the battery gauge 202 can be displayed as part of other utility or status screens. In an alternate embodiment, the battery gauge 202 could be displayed on the main screen of the portable computer 100 , either constantly or intermittently.
Referring to FIG. 3 , a flow chart illustrating a method for determining battery degradation of a smart battery is shown generally by numeral 300 . In the present embodiment, the battery degradation is determined after each charge cycle. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the frequency of determining battery degradation can vary depending on the implementation.
Smart batteries generally provide a battery degradation calculation, but do not provide it as a total percentage of the maximum capacity. At step 302 , a battery identifier is retrieved. Each battery identifier is unique and is used for identifying the battery.
At step 304 , a chemistry or type for the battery is retrieved. In the present embodiment, this information is retrieved from the battery itself. Alternatively, the chemistry or type information may be able to be determined based on a portion of the battery identifier. The chemistry or type of battery is used to determine which of a plurality of predefined degradation factors to use when calculating battery degradation.
At step 306 , further battery information is retrieved from the battery. This information includes date of manufacture, voltage, temperature, and the maximum battery capacity and the calculated battery capacity. The maximum battery capacity represents the maximum capacity of the battery when new. The calculated battery capacity represents the capacity of the battery remaining after the battery has calculated the degradation.
At step 308 , the battery percentage decay is calculated. The battery percentage decay refers to the degradation and represents a percentage of the battery that can no longer be used. Specifically, Battery Percentage Decay=(Maximum Battery Capacity−Calculated Battery Capacity)/Maximum Battery Capacity.
At step 310 , it is determined whether or not the battery percentage decay has changed since the previous calculation. If the battery percentage decay has not changed, then the method continues to step 312 and the operation is complete. If the battery percentage decay has changed, then the method continued to step 314 and the degradation progress bar on the battery gauge is updated to represent the change in degradation. The method then continues to step 312 .
Referring to FIG. 4 , a flow chart illustrating a method for determining battery degradation of a dumb battery is shown generally by numeral 400 . In the present embodiment, the battery degradation is determined after each charge cycle. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the frequency of determining battery degradation can vary depending on the implementation.
At step 402 , the battery identifier is retrieved. Each battery identifier is unique and is used for identifying the battery. At step 404 , the chemistry or type for the battery is retrieved.
At step 406 , further battery information is retrieved from the battery. This information includes date of manufacture, voltage, temperature and the maximum battery capacity. This information also includes a charge current accumulator (CCA), a discharge current accumulator (DCA) and the degradation factor. The CCA is a count of how many times the battery has been charged. The DCA is a count of how many times the battery has been discharged. The degradation factor is used in calculating the battery degradation by adjusting the CCA and DCA as different battery chemistries will have a different discharge curve when charging and discharging.
At step 408 , the battery percentage decay is calculated in several steps. At step 408 a , a degraded maximum capacity of the battery is determined as Degraded Maximum Capacity=Maximum Battery Capacity−(CCA+DCA)/Degradation Factor. The degraded maximum capacity represents the maximum capacity of the battery after degradation has been factored.
At step 408 b , a battery percent life left is determined as Battery Percent Life Left=(Degraded Maximum Capacity*100)/Maximum Battery Capacity. The battery percent life left reflects the degraded maximum capacity as a percentage of the maximum battery capacity.
At step 408 c , the battery percentage decay is determined as Battery Percentage Decay=100−Main Battery Percent Life Left.
At step 410 , depending on the capacity at which the battery started charging the CCA and DCA are updated accordingly. That is, in order to increase the CCA or DCA count the battery should complete approximately one full charge or discharge, respectively. In order to determine whether one full charge or discharge has occurred the capacity of the battery needs to be analyzed. If the battery for example has 90% of its capacity and is then charged, then the CCA will not be updated as this is not close enough to be considered a full charge. On the other hand if the battery has 20% capacity and is charged then the CCA will be updated. The same applies to discharging but opposite is considered for the capacity. Similarly, if only 10% of the battery capacity is used before a charge, then the DCA will not be updated as this is not close enough to be considered a full discharge. On the other hand if 80% of the battery capacity is used before a charge, then the DCA will be updated.
At step 412 , it is determined whether or not the battery percentage decay has changed since the previous calculation. If the battery percentage decay has not changed, then the method continues to step 414 and the operation is complete. If the battery percentage decay has changed, then the method continued to step 416 and the degradation progress bar on the battery gauge is updated to represent the change in degradation. The method then continues to step 414 .
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that in both embodiments described above, the battery gauge is updated to graphically display the battery degradation to the user.
In an alternate embodiment once the battery percentage decay reaches a predefined threshold, a new battery is automatically ordered. This threshold, referred to for clarity as an order threshold, can be determined based on a number of different criteria. For example, the order threshold can be based on an estimated time to receive the new battery once it has been ordered. Thus, the longer the estimated time to receive the battery, the lower the order threshold and vice versa. In another example, the order threshold can be based on the estimated usage of the mobile computer. Thus, the more frequently, or longer, the portable computer 100 is expected to be used, the lower the order threshold and vice versa. In yet another example, the order threshold can be based on the number of batteries already in inventory. Thus, the greater the number of batteries in inventory, the higher the order threshold and vice versa. Further examples, and combinations thereof, will become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Once the order threshold is crossed, the battery degradation software executing on the portable computer 100 contacts a predefined supplier to order the new battery. In the present embodiment, the portable computer 100 is equipped with Wi-Fi access and the battery degradation software attempts to connect with a supplier server via a Wi-Fi network to order the battery. Alternatively, the portable computer 100 is equipped with radio technology and the battery degradation software attempts to connect with a supplier server via a cellular network, such as a 3G network for example, to order the battery. In yet an alternate embodiment, the portable computer 100 , may wait until it is docked and communicate with a supplier server via a wired network connection. In yet an alternate embodiment, the portable computer 100 may communicate with a local server rather than directly with the supplier server. In this embodiment, the local server is configured to accumulate parts requests and submit an order at predefined intervals.
Although described with specific reference to portable devices, such as the portable computer 100 , it will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art that the invention can be implemented on other electronic devices that use rechargeable batteries including, for example, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, portable media devices, such as mp3 players, digital image recording devices, such as cameras and camcorders, battery powered vehicles and the like.
Further, although described with reference to a bar-shaped indicator, the battery gauge can be displayed differently to the user. For example, a pie-shaped indicator may also be used. As another example, a multiple-bar graph may also be used that takes other factors, such as temperature, into consideration. Other graphical representations will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.
Yet further, although the embodiments described above are described with specific reference to determining battery degradation for the battery of the electronic device itself, the invention may also be applied to batteries external to the electronic device.
For example, rechargeable batteries are often charged in external charging stations. An electronic device, such as the portable computer 100 described above, can be used to communicate with a plurality of batteries via RFID. In order to facilitate this communication, each battery is configured with a writable RFID tag. At predefined intervals, such as after each charge cycle for example, the battery writes its battery information to the RFID tag. Also, the battery identifier included in the battery information, or at least a portion thereof, is clearly labeled on the battery so that it is visible to the user.
The battery software is configured to represent a plurality of battery gauges 202 , one of each battery. The batter identifier is presented along with each of the battery gauges so that the user can easily reconcile a battery gauge with its corresponding battery. As will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the number of battery gauges 202 that can be accommodated on the display 104 depends on the size and resolution of the display 104 . Accordingly, if there are too many battery gauges 202 to be easily accommodated on the display, multiple pages can be used .
Although the embodiment described above uses RFID technology to communicate between the battery and the portable computer 100 , other wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth or even a wired interface can be used.
Using the foregoing specification, the invention may be implemented as a machine, process or article of manufacture by using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce programming software, firmware, hardware or any combination thereof.
Any resulting program(s), having computer-readable instructions, may be embodied within one or more computer-readable media such as memory devices, thereby making a computer program product or article of manufacture according to the invention. As such, the terms “software” and “application” as used herein are intended to encompass a computer program existent on any computer-readable medium such as on any memory device.
Examples of memory devices include, hard disk drives, diskettes, optical disks, magnetic tape, semiconductor memories such as FLASH, RAM, ROM, PROMS, and the like.
A machine embodying the invention may involve one or more processing systems including, for example, a CPU, memory/storage devices, communication links, communication/transmitting devices, servers, I/O devices, or any subcomponents or individual parts of one or more processing systems, including software, firmware, hardware, or any combination or subcombination thereof, which embody the invention as set forth in the claims.
Using the description provided herein, those skilled in the art will be readily able to combine software created as described with appropriate general purpose or special purpose computer hardware to create a computer system and/or computer subcomponents embodying the invention, and to create a computer system and/or computer subcomponents for carrying out the method of the invention.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | A method is provided for presenting battery degradation of a rechargeable battery to a user of an electronic device. The method comprising the following steps. An initial capacity and a remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery are obtained. The battery degradation is determined as a proportion of a difference between the initial capacity and the remaining capacity to the initial capacity. The battery degradation is visually displayed on a display of the electronic device as a battery gauge. A system to implement the method is also provided. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates generally to the construction of masonry structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fastening element for attaching two or more standardized masonry units together into a structure such as a wall.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Standardized masonry units (eg. cinderblocks) have been used in construction for many years. They are durable, strong, able to resist large compressive forces, and relatively inexpensive. For these and other reasons they are widely used, particularly in building foundations and as load bearing walls. Typically, the masonry units are joined together into a unitary structure using mortar or cement. As one may imagine, such construction techniques are rather labor intensive. That is, a site must be prepared; footings must be planned, framed up, and poured; masonry units must be delivered to a site; and, mortar must be mixed and transported to various locations at the worksite during construction, etc. Moreover, specialized training and skills are required to construct a straight and true structure. Traditionally, this type of construction has been the province of bricklayers and masons. All of this adds to the time and cost needed to assemble a structure; and this tends to offset the low cost of material. An advantage and a drawback to such a construction is that once completed, the structure is more or less permanent. Changes or alterations after-the-fact can be extremely difficult and expensive, and imperfections or mistakes are usually left as is.
[0003] There are instances, however, where it might not be possible to obtain or use mortar, or where skilled, trained workers are not available, or even where there is a limited budget. Alternatively, there might be instances where it might not be desirable or advantageous to assemble a permanent structure, or where future changes or reconfigurations are anticipated. For example, a person may wish to construct a skirting wall around an elevated structure such as a mobile home. In such a situation, it is often not necessary or desirable to assemble the structures using mortar or cement. It follows, then, that the need for skilled craftsmen is obviated. Yet, without the use of mortar or cement, such structures are unable to resist any appreciable transverse forces and are susceptible to premature failure and collapse.
[0004] There is a need for a way to operatively connect conventionally sized and formed masonry units together in a variety of structures without the use of mortar or cement. There is also a need for a way to operatively connect two or more standardized masonry units together without modifications or alterations thereto. There is also a need for a way in which to easily modify or disassemble structures formed from standardized masonry units without having to destroy the structure. And, there is a need for a way to increase the utilization of standardized masonry units by reducing the amount of time and skill needed for site preparation and assembly.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention is a fastening element for operatively connecting two or more masonry units together in a fixed relation. The fastening element comprises a generally planar web having opposing surfaces, and a plurality of projections that extend in a generally perpendicular direction therefrom. These projections may extend from one or both opposing surfaces of the generally planar web, and they define slots that are configured to receive segments of masonry units. Preferably, the projections are walls. And preferably, the masonry units are conventional cinderblocks. However, it will be appreciated that fastening elements need not be restricted to cinderblocks, and that the fastening element may be configured to operatively connect other masonry units together.
[0006] In a preferred embodiment, the fastening element has projections that extend in a generally perpendicular direction from each of the opposing surfaces of the web. In this form, the projections define oppositely opening slots that are in coplanar alignment with each other. These slots are sized to receive segments of a masonry unit, preferably the longitudinal and transverse walls of a conventional masonry unit such as a cinderblock. The slots need not be the same width, nor do they have to be aligned along a common plane. For example, the slots could have different widths and be aligned with each other along a center plane. Or, the slots could have the same width and be offset with respect to each other in a collateral relation. It should be apparent that the fastening element may be installed in a variety of locations relative to a particular masonry unit. And it should also be apparent with this embodiment, that by varying the widths of the slots and the web, it is possible to operatively connect two, three, or four masonry units together in a fixed relation.
[0007] In another preferred embodiment, the projections extend from one surface of the web of a fastening element. In this embodiment, the projections form at least two, and preferably three collaterally aligned slots. As with the slots in the above embodiment, these slots are configured to receive segments of masonry units such as the longitudinal and transverse walls of a cinderblock. This embodiment may be used primarily to operatively connect adjacent masonry units together in a horizontal relation, and may be used a bed upon which the first course of masonry units is laid, or used a cap that is installed on the uppermost course of masonry units.
[0008] In yet another preferred embodiment, the fastening element comprises a generally planar web having opposing surfaces, and at least three and preferably four projections that extend in a generally perpendicular direction from each opposing surface of the web. As with the abovementioned projections, these projections define slots that are configured to receive segments of masonry units. Thus, for example, three projections extending from one surface of the web will define two slots, while four projections, extending from on surface of the web will define three slots. With the preferred four-projection arrangement, each surface of the web will have three slots. This allows the fastening element to be installed in a variety of locations on a masonry unit, and it also allows two, three, or four masonry units to be operatively connected to each other. For example, a fastening element may be used to construct vertical structure such as a column. Alternatively, the fastening element may be used to join adjacent masonry units together in a horizontal relation, or in both vertical and horizontal relations.
[0009] The use of the fastening elements obviates the need for mortar between the masonry units. This mortarless system is advantageous over traditional brick and mortar constructions for obvious reasons. First, fewer materials are required to build a structure. Thus, the cost of transporting the materials to a site is reduced. Second, less strength and stamina are required because the total amount of materials used is reduced. Moreover, since less stamina is required, a person is able to work for longer periods without breaks. Moreover, because of the relative reduction in the total amount of materials used, on the job injuries die to overexertion and/or fatigue are reduced. Third, no special skills are required to assemble a structure. Fourth, a mortarless structure may be constructed by one person. Thus, the need for an additional person to mix and deliver mortar at a site is eliminated—further reducing the cost of construction. Fifth, since there are no time constraints imposed by drying mortar, a person can assemble a structure at their own pace. Sixth, a mortarless structure may be constructed under conditions, which, for a conventional brick and mortar structure, would be extremely difficult or impossible. It will be appreciated that the use of the fastening elements allows masonry structures to be constructed on a wide variety of surfaces, including soils such as sand or gravel, and construction elements such as beams, flooring, sills, thresholds, etc.—it is not necessary to pour a foundation.
[0010] The fastening elements also allow a structure to be disassembled and reassembled. This not only gives flexibility during initial construction, but also allows later renovations to be made easily and inexpensively. For instance, it may be desirable to replace a damaged masonry unit in a structure such as a skirting wall. This may be easily accomplished by removing the appropriate fastening elements and replacing the damaged masonry unit with an undamaged masonry unit.
[0011] An object of the invention is to reduce the amount of time and skill needed to assemble concrete masonry units into a structure.
[0012] Another object of the invention is to simplify installation of concrete masonry units by eliminating the need for mortar.
[0013] A feature of the present invention is that it allows masonry units to be connected to each other in different patterns.
[0014] Another feature of the invention is that the device may be installed at various of locations on a masonry unit.
[0015] An advantage of the present invention is that a structure of masonry units may be assembled and disassembled with equal facility.
[0016] Another advantage of the invention is that essentially all of the components from one structure may be reused or recycled in other structures.
[0017] Additional objects, advantages and 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 the instrumentalities and combination particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of preferred embodiments of the invention as they are used to operatively connect masonry units together in a fixed relation;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 2 is a partial, sectional view of some of the preferred embodiments of the invention as they are used to operatively connect masonry units together in a fixed relation;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0024] [0024]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0025] [0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention; and,
[0026] [0026]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0027] Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment depicts a type of structure that may be assembled using the fastening elements of the present invention. Here the structure is a wall structure S comprising a plurality of masonry units 10 . As depicted, the masonry units 10 are of the type having a plurality of longitudinal walls 12 a , 12 b and plurality of transverse walls 14 a , 14 b , 14 c , such as a cinderblock. It will be appreciated, however, that other types of masonry units may be used. The wall structure S has a first course 16 a and a second course 16 b , with the first and second courses arranged in a running bond pattern. Note that the masonry units 10 may be arranged at angles to each other, as with the first course 16 a of the wall structure “S.”
[0028] Starting with the upper surface of the second course 16 b , several preferred fastening elements 20 , 40 , and 130 are depicted. These fastening elements 20 , 40 , 130 are operatively connected to masonry units 10 of the second course 16 b and are ready to engage and operatively connect masonry units 10 of a third course thereto (not shown). The third course of masonry units need not be in the running bond pattern of the first and second courses. That is, the masonry units of the third course may be stacked into columns, if desired. Moving now to the joint between the first 16 a and second courses 16 b , several preferred fastening elements 20 and 80 are depicted. And, at the bottom surface of the first course 16 a , another preferred fastening element 60 is depicted.
[0029] Referring now to FIG. 2, a preferred embodiment of the fastening element 20 will now be discussed. As shown, the fastening element 20 comprises a generally planar web 22 having opposed surfaces 23 a , 23 b . A plurality of projections, 24 and 26 , 28 and 30 extend from the opposed surfaces 23 a and 23 b , respectively. These projections extend in a generally perpendicular direction to define oppositely opening slots 32 and 34 , which are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit such as a cinderblock. As depicted, the slots 32 , 34 are substantially the same width and are In a coplanar alignment with each other. Moreover, they are symmetrically arranged with respect to the web 22 . It will be appreciated that by fabricating a fastening element having slot widths roughly the same width of the transverse and/or longitudinal walls of a masonry unit, it is possible to operatively connect two masonry units together. It will also be appreciated that by fabricating a fastening element having slot widths that are greater than one or more transverse and/or longitudinal walls of a masonry unit, it is possible to operatively connect four masonry units together in a variety of juxtapositions, for example, multiple courses of end-to-end, side-by-side, or end-to-side masonry units.
[0030] Referring now to FIG. 3, a structure S′ comprising courses 18 a , and 18 b connected by some of the preferred embodiments of the fastening elements of the present invention is depicted. Note that the masonry units 10 of this structure S′ are operatively connected to each other by fastening elements in either a direct or indirect fashion. Starting with the first, or bottom course 18 a , a fastening element 60 having a plurality of projections that extend from one surface of a web is used to operatively connect two masonry units together in an end-to-end relation. With this fastening element 60 there are three slots, and the two outermost slots engage the lowermost edges of transverse walls 14 c and 14 a of adjacent masonry units. Moving up from the fastening element 60 , another fastening element 40 , having two differently sized opposing slots, is used to operatively connect the masonry units together. The larger of the slots operatively connects two masonry units together in an end-to-end fashion, while the smaller of the slots operatively engages a transverse wall 14 b of masonry unit positioned thereabove. Next, a fastening element 180 is used to operatively connect two adjacent masonry units together in an end-to-end fashion. Then, a fastening element 100 is used to operatively connect two masonry units together in an end-to-end fashion. In addition, this fastening element 100 operatively engages a tranverse wall 14 b of a masonry unit positioned therebelow. Finally, a fastening element 20 operatively connects adjacent masonry units together by engaging them at their respective longitudinal walls 12 a . As will be appreciated, the number, location and style of the particular fastening element used may vary from application to application.
[0031] Referring now to FIGS. 4 - 9 , some of the preferred embodiments of the invention will be briefly discussed. Starting with FIG. 4, the fastening element 40 comprises a generally planar web 42 having opposed surfaces 43 a , 43 b . A plurality of projections, 44 and 46 , 48 and 50 extend from the opposed surfaces 43 a and 43 b , respectively. These projections extend in a generally perpendicular direction to define oppositely opening slots 52 and 54 , which are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit such as a cinderblock. As depicted, the slots 52 , 54 have different widths and are collaterally aligned with each other. They are also symmetrically arranged with respect to the web 42 . It will be appreciated that by fabricating a fastening element having different slot widths, it is possible to operatively connect three masonry units together (see also, FIGS. 1 and 3).
[0032] Referring now to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the fastening element 60 includes a web 62 with opposing surfaces 63 a , 63 b and a plurality of projections 64 , 66 , 68 , and 70 that extend from one of the opposing surfaces of the web 62 in a generally perpendicular direction. In this embodiment, the projections 64 , 66 , 68 , and 70 form at least two, and preferably three collaterally aligned slots 72 , 74 , and 76 . As with the slots in the above embodiment, these slots 72 , 74 , 76 are configured to receive segments of masonry units such as the transverse walls to enable adjacent masonry units to be operatively connected to each other in an end-to-end relation (see, FIGS. 1 and 3). The fastening element 60 may receive segments of masonry units such as longitudinal walls to enable adjacent masonry units to be operatively connected to each other in side-by-side, and end-to side relations (not shown). While this preferred embodiment may be used between courses of masonry units, the preferred use is that of a bed or cap for lower and upper courses of masonry units, respectively.
[0033] Referring now to FIG. 6, the fastening element 80 comprises a generally planar web 82 having opposed surfaces 83 a , 83 b . A plurality of projections, 84 and 86 , 88 and 90 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from the opposed web surfaces 83 a and 83 b , respectively. These projections extend in a generally perpendicular direction with respect to the web 82 , to define oppositely opening slots 92 and 94 , which are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit as described above As depicted, the slots 92 , 94 have different widths and are asymmetrically aligned with respect to each other. With this embodiment, it is possible to operatively connect multiple courses of three masonry units together in end-to-end, and side-to-end relations (see, for example, FIG. 1).
[0034] Referring now to FIG. 7, the fastening element 100 comprises a generally planar web 102 having opposed surfaces 103 a , 103 b . Here, a plurality of projections, 104 and 106 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 103 a and define a slot 116 , while a plurality of projections 108 , 110 , 112 , and 114 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 103 b and define slots 118 , 120 , and 122 , respectively. The oppositely opening slots 116 , and 118 , 120 , 122 are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit as described above As depicted, the slots are symmetrically aligned with respect to each other. With the fastening element of this embodiment, it is possible to operatively connect multiple courses of three masonry units together in end-to-end, and side-to-end relations (see, for example, FIG. 3).
[0035] Referring now to FIG. 8, the fastening element 130 comprises a generally planar web 132 having opposed surfaces 133 a , 133 b . Here, a plurality of projections, 134 , 136 , 138 and 140 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 133 a and define slots 150 , 152 , 154 , while a plurality of projections 142 , 144 , 146 , and 148 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 133 b and define slots 156 , 158 , and 160 , respectively. The oppositely opening slots 150 , 152 , 154 , and 156 , 158 , 160 are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit as described above. As depicted, the slots are symmetrically aligned with respect to each other. With the fastening element of this embodiment, it is possible to operatively connect multiple courses of two, three, or four masonry units together in end-to-end, side-by side, and side-to-end relations.
[0036] Referring now to FIG. 9, the fastening element 180 comprises a generally planar web 182 having opposed surfaces 183 a , 183 b . Here, a plurality of projections, 184 and 186 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 183 a and define a slot 194 , while a plurality of projections 188 , 190 , and 192 extend in a generally perpendicular direction from web surface 183 b and define slots 196 , and 198 , respectively. The oppositely opening slots 194 , and 196 , 198 are configured and arranged to receive segments of a masonry unit as described above. As depicted, the slots are aligned with respect to each other. With the fastening element of this embodiment, it is possible to operatively connect multiple courses of two or more masonry units together in various relations (see, for example, FIG. 3). It is also envisioned that the fastening element 180 be provided with an additional projection 200 (shown in dashed lines) to form two slots from the single slot 194 .
[0037] The present invention having thus been described, other modifications, alterations or substitutions may present themselves to those skilled in the art, all of which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the present invention be limited in scope only by the claims attached below: | A fastening element for operatively connecting masonry units together in a fixed relation. The fastening element comprises a body with a web having opposing surfaces, and a plurality of projections that extend in a generally perpendicular direction therefrom. The projections are spaced apart from each other and configured to engage portions of masonry units therebetween in a constrained relation. The fastening element permits two, three, or four masonry units to be operatively connected together in variety of configurations without the use of mortar. | 4 |
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/458,757, filed Mar. 28, 2003 which is hereby fully incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to detection and identification of airborne biological and chemical threats in real time at distances from a few meters to several kilometers. Advanced compact femtosecond terawatt laser technology is combined with state-of-the-art spectroscopic and computational methods. These methods are implemented in a unique mobile standoff detection system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,664 to Diels et al. describes a method and arrangement for discharge of lightning using ultra-short laser pulses. This proposed method enables discharges of electricity transmitted via conductive ionized channels produced by one or more first laser pulses of wavelengths essentially within the ultraviolet (UV) range. The preferred wavelength of operation is about 248 nm and the pulse duration of the laser is of the order of 100 fs. In accordance with this invention, lightning is triggered by creating an ionized channel by one or more femtosecond UV pulses and simultaneously sending one or more laser pulses of longer wavelength and duration through the same path. In this way the conductivity of the laser induced channel can be maintained long enough for discharges and lightning to occur. However, this patent does not address applications associated with atmospheric spectral sensing of atmospheric gases, pollutants and biological agents using femtosecond terawatt laser generated filaments as light sources.
One other related reference is U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,855 to Mourou et al., entitled “Apparatus and Method for Enabling the Creation of Multiple Extended Conduction Paths in the Atmosphere” which claims an apparatus and method for the creation of multiple extended conduction paths in the atmosphere using high peak-power ultra-short laser pulses. Furthermore, the same group published addressing long range self-channeling of intense femtosecond pulses in air in 1994 by Mourou and co-workers. The focus of their patent is centered on an apparatus for controlling the discharge of lightning strikes and grounding means using a grounding tower. Also no claims are made regarding spectroscopic optical sensing and identification of bio-agents using multiple extended conduction paths in the atmosphere.
It will therefore be appreciated that there remains a need for an improved system and technique for determining whether certain molecules, such as bioaerosols and chemical agents, may be found within a sample.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Early warning of biological attack and plume prediction for biological aerosols require the capability to detect bio-agents over large distances. Thus, the present invention relates to a complex bio-agent sensing system based on the principle of using femtosecond terawatt lasers, preferentially titanium sapphire laser systems in conjunction with chirp-pulse amplification and compression. The propagation of such ultra-short laser pulses gives rise to strongly non-linear optical processes in the atmosphere, leading to filamentation of the laser pulse at a specific distance. Conducting plasma channel produce a white-light supercontinuum spanning the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) and infrared (IR). Wavelength region. This novel atmospheric lamp can be used for spectroscopic analysis of bio-agents by means of a Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) system. The supercontinuum can be generated directly in a particle cloud and hence is suitable for multi-spectral long-range detection and identification of bio-aerosols as well as chemical pollutants and radioactive isotopes. According to the invention, compact femtosecond terawatt laser technology is applied in combination of state-of-the-art spectroscopic and computational methods for spectral sensing of bio-aerosols with molecular specificity.
The current invention permits real time detection, discrimination, and identification of the full spectrum of threats including; toxins, spores, bacteria and virus. The sensing range spans up to 10,000 meters and can be applied to airborne versions together with stand alone trigger devices at strategically vital locations on sea, air or land.
This invention presents a promising new trigger sensor and a standoff detection system that can identify airborne biological, chemical, and nuclear agents within a few seconds at distances from a few meters to several kilometers. The biological agent-sensing device is based on the principle of remote differential time resolved monitoring of the atmosphere using ultrashort terawatt laser pulses. According to this invention, concept of advanced compact femtosecond Terawatt (fs-TW) laser technology is combined with state-of-the-art spectroscopic and computational methods. The stand off sensing technology permits real time detection, discrimination, and identification of the full spectrum of threats including; toxins, spores, bacteria and virus. The sensing range spans up to 10,000 meters and can be applied to airborne versions together with stand alone devices at strategically vital locations on sea, air or land. This system would reduce the probability of false alarm and time for detection by more than one order of magnitude. The minimum anticipated range would be of the order of 5-10 spores per liter of air.
In one embodiment, the invention is provided in a system for determining the constituents of a sample, the system comprising, a femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source configured to emit laser radiation through a sample, an optical unit configured to receive light backscattered from the sample, and a detection and analysis unit coupled to the optical unit for analyzing a spectral signature of the sample. The system may also an optical fiber cable coupling the optical unit to the detection and analysis unit.
In some variations, the detection and analysis unit comprises an integrated diagnostic unit having one or more infrared and UV/VIS spectrometers with gated detection capability, two photo-multipliers attached to an air transient digitizer, and a data acquisition control unit. In addition, or in the alternative, the detection and analysis unit may further comprise a real-time computing system for identification and discrimination of at least one of the group comprising aerosols, airborne bacteria, viruses, toxins, dust particles, pollen, water droplets, gaseous agents, and pollutants.
The femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source may be amplified by a variety of techniques such as chirped pulse amplification. It may also be, in some examples, a laser such as a Ti:Sapphire laser that is configured to emit energy of approximately 300 mJ per pulse. The femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source may have a pulse power of about approximately 3 and 4 TW with a pulse duration approximately of the order of 80 to 100 fs and a repetition rate of approximately 10 Hz. It may emit light within a spectral range approximately centered at 800 nm or 267 nm with a spectral width of approximately 20 nm. In addition, the femtosecond laser radiation source may emits laser pulses at a center wavelength of approximately 800 nm and spectral width of 20 nm to create plasma filaments as well as at a wavelength of approximately 267 nm.
The detection and analysis unit may configured to detect airborne biological, chemical agents and water droplets by at least one technique chosen from the group comprising: differential absorption, Raman Raleigh and Mie scattering, fluorescence, fluorescence LIDAR measurements, ground-based LIDAR measurements, air-based LIDAR measurements, and Raman LIDAR measurements. The detection and analysis unit may also be configured to provided 3D maps or other representations of detected molecules to further assist with their identification.
In another variation, the invention is embodied in a method for determining the constituents within a sample, the method comprising the steps of providing a femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source configured to emit laser radiation through a sample, capturing light backscattered from the sample, and analyzing a spectral signature of the sample to determine its constituents.
The analyzing step may determine whether the constituents include least one of the group comprising: aerosols, airborne bacteria, viruses, toxins, dust particles, pollen, water droplets, gaseous agents, and pollutants.
The method may also include the step of amplifying the femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source using chirped pulse amplification.
In some variations, the femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source is a laser such as a Ti:Sapphire laser configured to emit energy of approximately 300 mJ per pulse. The method may also include the step of pulsing the femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source at a power of about approximately 3 and 4 TW with a pulse duration approximately of the order of 80 to 100 fs and a repetition rate of approximately 10 Hz. The femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source may emit light within a spectral range approximately centered at 800 nm or 267 nm with a spectral width of approximately 20 nm.
Optionally, the femtosecond laser radiation source may emit laser pulses at a center wavelength of approximately 800 nm and spectral width of 20 nm to create plasma filaments as well as at a wavelength of approximately 267 nm.
Depending on the desired implementation, the analyzing step may use at least one technique chosen from the group comprising: differential absorption, Raman Raleigh and Mie scattering, fluorescence, fluorescence LIDAR measurements, ground-based LIDAR measurements, air-based LIDAR measurements, and Raman LIDAR measurements for determining which constituents are present within a sample.
The method may also include the step of generating a 3D map or image of the detected constituents. The constituents may be determined, in part, by the step of comparing at least one of detected vibrational bands, detected Raman spectra, and fluorescence spectra, with previously measured spectral data to identify the constituents within the sample.
A mobile femtosecond terawatt LIDAR system and/or trigger sensor for long-range analysis with high temporal and spatial resolution and spectroscopic identification of airborne biological and chemical agents is also provided. Such a system includes a femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source based on the principle of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), preferably a Ti:Sapphire laser system having an energy of approximately 300 mJ per pulse resulting in a pulse power of about 3 and 4 TW with a pulse duration of the order of 80 to 100 fs and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The laser source emits light in the spectral range of approximately 800 nm with a spectral width of approximately 20 nm or laser pulses with a wavelength of about 267 nm corresponding to third harmonic generation (SHG). The system also includes an optical system coupled to the laser radiation source including sending and receiving telescopes, an integrated diagnostic system embracing infrared and UV/VIS spectrometers with gated detection capability, two photo-multipliers attached to air transient digitizer and data acquisition control system, and a real-time computing system (using techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy logic and other advanced computational techniques) for identification and discrimination of at least one of the group comprising: aerosols, airborne bacteria, viruses, toxins, dust particles, pollen, water droplets, gaseous agents, and pollutants.
The system may provide for remote monitoring of the atmosphere using ultra-short terawatt laser pulses giving rise to strongly nonlinear optical processes in the air thus generating plasma channel type of filaments encompassing: NIR femtosecond laser pulses at a center wavelength of approximately 800 nm and spectral width of 20 nm creating plasma filaments caused by self-channeling/guiding effects and producing a supercontinuum atmospheric light source ranging for optical sensing applications from the UV to the MIR and UV femtosecond laser pulses operating at a wavelength of approximately 267 nm corresponding to the SHG creating no new wavelengths but propagating with much lower losses up to several km through the plasma channel when compared to the NIR laser pulses.
Femtosecond laser pulses centered at 800 nm may be used to produce a broadband supercontinuum light source in the atmosphere for sensing of airborne biological, chemical agents and water droplets by means of differential absorption and/or fluorescence LIDAR measurements. In addition or in the alternative, femtosecond laser pulses centered at 267 nm are used for sensing of airborne biological, chemical agents and water droplets by means of fluorescence and/or Raman LIDAR measurements. Femtosecond laser pulses centered at 800 nm and 267 nm may be used for sensing of airborne biological, chemical agents and water droplets by means of ground based and air based LIDAR measurements. Femtosecond laser pulses centered at 800 nm and 267 nm may be used for sensing of airborne biological, chemical agents and water droplets by means of ground based and air based LIDAR measurements.
The system may also compare the most significant vibrational bands (fingerprint regions) of these bio-aerosols, chemical agents and water droplets with existing laboratory spectral data to rapidly detect and identify such agents for multi-spectral long-range atmospheric agent detection of clouds and plumes. In other variations, the system compares the most significant Raman and fluorescence spectra (fingerprint regions) of bio-aerosols, chemical agents and water droplets with existing laboratory spectral data to rapidly detect and identify such agents for multi-spectral long-range atmospheric agent detection of clouds and plumes.
One aspect of the invention is that it provides high range resolution over long distances to record the signal of the backscattered light due to Raleigh and Mie scattering from gaseous molecules, bio-aerosols and water droplets in the clouds and plumes. It combines the advantages of the remote sensing techniques and their broadband spectral resolution, with 3D mapping capability. This permits the simultaneous measurement of several bio-aerosol compounds, even with overlapping spectral signatures.
Furthermore, the invention provides sophisticated differential absorption, fluorescence, Raman Raleigh and Mie scattering, multi-channel, multi-wavelength, multi-spectral LIDAR system for ground based and air based monitoring of bio-aerosols and chemical agents in real time with high accuracy and reduced false alarms for long range detection from about a few meters to 10 km.
The invention may also be embodied in a complex trigger sensor/standoff system with substantially improved performance requirements for probability of detection, probability of false alarm, time for detection and threat level when compared to existing technologies. The invention may be used in a variety of settings including water treatment plants, environmentally sensitive areas e.g. subways, airports, government buildings, military facilities, industrial complexes and cities as mobile trigger points, area sensors and standoff systems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the femtosecond LIDAR system for long-range detection of bio-aerosols;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of different spectroscopic excitation and de-excitation channels in the infrared and ultraviolet including scattering processes;
FIG. 3 is a bacillus subtilis extinction aerosol spectrum in the MIR and far IR region;
FIG. 4 is a bacillus subtilis absorption aerosol spectrum in the MIR region;
FIG. 5 is an example of a mobile ground based standoff LIDAR system useful for understanding and implementing the invention;
FIG. 6 is an example of a mobile air-based LIDAR system useful for understanding and implementing the invention;
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to this invention, an fs-TW laser system is comprised of a femtosecond laser ( 10 ), pulse stretcher ( 11 ), pulse amplifier ( 12 ) and chirp generator ( 13 ). The final pulse duration is approximately 80 to 100 fs and the energy is of the order 300 mJ per pulse resulting in a pulse power between approximately 3 and 3.5 TW. The pulse shape is analyzed by a pulse diagnostic system ( 14 ) and then directed to an off-axis telescope ( 15 ). The slightly focused laser beam ( 16 ) then creates a channel (filament) in the atmosphere ( 17 ) and the emitted light from the filament interacts with the bio-aerosol cloud ( 18 ). The backscattered light ( 19 ) is collected by means of a receiving telescope ( 20 ) and then analyzed by different types of spectrometers ( 21 and 22 ) and photo-multipliers ( 23 and 24 ), where the IR spectrometer ( 21 ) measures the differential absorption in the bio-cloud and the VIS/UV spectrometer ( 22 ), the absorption and/or fluorescence of the cloud. As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the photo-multiplier signals ( 23 24 ) are fed to transient digitizer ( 25 ). Finally the data acquisition and control system ( 26 ) receives signals from the different detection devices.
The diagrammatic view ( 100 ) of FIG. 1 represents a standoff laser system with a complex integrated detection setup that can be used as a biological chemical and environmental agent monitoring arrangement. This system is based on the principle of remote sensing and monitoring of the atmosphere using ultra short terawatt laser pulses. The propagation of these laser pulses gives rise to strong nonlinear optical processes in air maybe producing filamentation type of conducting plasma channels where in-turn a white-light supercontinuum ( 16 ) is created. This supercontinuum can be located directly in a bio-pathogen cloud ( 24 ), and its wavelength extends from the ultraviolet (UV) to the infrared (IR).
The present invention relates to currently available fs-TW laser systems based on the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique using Titanium: Sapphire as the active laser crystal. These lasers provide a broadband spectral distribution of light centered at a wavelength of about 800 nm. The aim of the invention is detecting and specifying bio-aerosols using different approaches such as: (a) detection through differential absorption and UV fluorescence and (b) detection through modification of the optical characteristics of the plasma channels generated in air at different locations. In either case, light emitted in the near-backward region from an aerosol source is spectroscopically and temporally analyzed in the vicinity of the laser beam propagation. The receiver systems are capable of yielding spectra from the UV through the VIS into the MIR region (from about 270 to 5500 nm). Field test experiments will be used for different types of aerosols including water droplets, inorganic atmospheric aerosol (ammonium sulphate), common non-biological organic atmospheric aerosol (i.e., organic carbon), common biological atmospheric aerosol (e.g., pollen), airborne bacteria, viruses, toxins, dust particles, pollen, water droplets, diesel dust, gaseous agents and other biological aerosol serving as surrogate.
An object of this invention is complex plume prediction schemes and early warning systems for biological attacks. As shown in schematic ( 200 ) of FIG. 2 , an fs-TW laser ( 27 ) creates a two-colored filament ( 28 ) at a specific location in the atmosphere with the wavelength of approximately 800 nm, where the laser pulses interact with specific aerosols at different distances ( 29 ). As indicated in FIG. 2 the third harmonic generation (THG) component of the laser propagating inside the filament channel ( 28 ) can also be used as a new diagnostic technique. Different strategies are used to understand and interpret complex threats/attacks, namely due to simultaneously analysis of infrared differential absorption channels ( 30 ) and UV and visible channel fluorescence ( 31 ) produced by the long distance UV filaments created by 800 nm laser pulses. In addition, light scattering channels including Rayleigh, Mie and Raman scattering ( 32 ) will be observed to shed more light on the composition of different atmospheric constituents and background radiation.
The invention may also be used to study and identify micro-droplets, which represent a major part of atmospheric aerosols. They are attractive systems for the study of several nonlinear optical effects using fs-TW laser devices. They may act as lenses focusing the incident radiation onto some small regions inside the droplets and they also induce morphology dependent resonances, which can further enhance the laser intensity in the droplet. Hence, at the areas of high laser intensity the efficiency for nonlinear optical processes is strongly enhanced. The scattered wave and the internal intensity distribution depend on the refractive index of the droplet medium and on the size parameter, which is the ratio of the droplet circumference to the wavelength of the incident light. When studying the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with these micro-droplets, the large spectral bandwidth of the ultra short pulses has to be taken into account.
Another object of the present invention is to utilize vibrational spectroscopy of bio-agents. This approach includes extinction and scattering measurements to characterize the spectral fingerprints and change of conformation of the biological molecular systems. Therefore, the aim of this invention also is to compare the most significant vibrational bands (fingerprint regions) of such aerosols with existing laboratory spectral data to rapidly detect and identify such bio-agents. As described in FIG. 3 , a characteristic IR spectrum ( 300 ) of aerosolized Bacillus subtilis var. niger (BG) spores in the 2.3-to 12-μm wavelength regions is shown. The bio-agent spectrum is composed of an absorption part superimposed on a Mie scattering background ( 33 ). The absorption spectrum exhibits specific spectral features at approximately 2.9-3.6 μm ( 34 ). The spectral peak at about 3.1 μm can be partially identified as the Amide A band. Moreover, the spectral features located in the 5.5 to 6.6 μm region are associated with the Amide I and Amide II bands ( 35 ). Additional important fingerprint regions occur in the range 6.6-8 μm ( 36 ). Moreover spectral features between 8-II μm can be associated with Amide III band, phosphate groups and peptide backbone structures ( 37 ). In order to extract the most important spectral features (peak positions, widths, band structures, intensity ratios etc.), the noise associated with the spectral data has to be removed. Then an appropriate non-linear function due to Mie scattering will be used to fit the residual background following a peak fitting analysis. A typical resulting absorption spectrum ( 400 ) is displayed in FIG. 4 between 3-4 μm. Two different cases are considered here. In the first case, two substantially different atmospheric transmission channels ( 38 and 39 ) with similar absorption cross sections are examined. One can see here that there is a valley at the channel with lower atmospheric transmission ( 38 ) and a peak is achieved at the channel with higher atmospheric transmission ( 39 ). In the second case, constant atmospheric transmissions are considered although the absorption cross sections differ substantially. For example, channel ( 40 ) has a higher absorption cross section than channel ( 41 ) with a lower absorption cross-section. These patterns comprise the vibrational characters of the constituents such as DNA/RNA, proteins and cell wall components. Owing to the multitude of cellular components, broad and superimposed spectral bands are observed in the MIR range.
Another example ( 500 ) useful for understanding and implementing the invention is shown in FIG. 5 . A schematic view of a ground based differential Mobile Multiple Wavelength Trigger Sensor system and/or Teramobile Lidar system is exhibited housed in a single mobile container ( 42 ). The setup consists of a tabletop terawatt femtosecond laser ( 43 ) and detection system with high spatial, spectral, and time resolution. The system is comprised of sending and receiving telescopes ( 44 ) with the vertical beam direction ( 45 ) and a horizontal beam direction ( 46 ). The mobile container also has additional monitoring telescopes for trigger sensors ( 47 ). The reflected and scattered light is fed to the different UV, VIS, NIR and MIR spectrometers and associated detection systems ( 48 ). For the amplification the system also houses control boards ( 49 ) and power supplies ( 50 ). For the data interpretational and computational purposes the system has an advanced data acquisition control system with several attached parallel computers ( 51 ) for real time data reduction, modeling and discrimination. The temperature conditions are controlled inside the mobile container with the help of air-cooling system ( 52 ). This system is driven with a power generator ( 53 ), which is placed separately outside the mobile container to minimize the evasive effect from vibrations.
In FIG. 6 an up looking airborne differential absorption femtosecond terawatt laser system ( 600 ) is shown. Such an airborne LIDAR system would be capable of a broad range of high priority measurements for use in an aircraft. This system could also be operated looking downwards from the aircraft compared with the system looking upwards from the ground. This improvement makes the LIDAR system an attractive airborne tool for both daytime and nighttime conditions. In the schematic diagram, a femtosecond terawatt laser ( 54 ) with adaptive optical elements ( 5 S) direct the laser beam towards a bio-aerosol cloud ( 56 ) and backscattered light ( 57 ) is collected by a telescope mirror ( 58 ) and directed via an optical fiber cable ( 59 ) to time resolved spectrometer setup ( 60 ). The airplane ( 61 ) contains all the necessary power supplies, electronics, data acquisition control systems and parallel computers for real time modeling and discrimination.
The main advantage of this ultrafast ground based and air-based Lidar technique over other remote sensing methods (such as differential optical absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and satellite based spectroscopy) is the high resolution over long distances, which is achieved by the use of short-pulse lasers and fast detection systems to record the signal of the backscattered light arising from gaseous molecules and aerosols femtosecond white-light Lidar combines the advantages of those remote sensing techniques and their broadband spectral resolution, with 3D mapping capability. This permits the simultaneous measurement of several bio-aerosol compounds, even with overlapping spectral signatures. Moreover, since the whole spectrum can be simultaneously acquired, the laser shot-to-shot fluctuations do yield much less systematic errors as commonly in the case for traditional Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) systems.
Such nonlinear effects induced by ultra short, high-power laser pulses in aerosols rely either on the micro cavity behavior of spherical micro-droplets, providing strong feedback for stimulated processes, or on the internal focusing of the incident light, providing high intensity hot spots where the efficiency for nonlinear optical processes is strongly enhanced.
High-intensity laser pulses can cause water droplets to emit white light. This technique can potentially be used to analyze the composition of clouds and shed more light on how clouds may contain bio-aerosols. This approach would also provide more information on cloud-aerosol interactions. The possibility of identifying the fingerprints of chemical components inside an individual water droplet may open up new ways to diagnose aerosol clouds and more localized sources.
The present invention also relates to pattern recognition procedures of the data consisting of four steps: i) cluster the feature vectors from a population of entities into classes via the robust fuzzy clustering algorithm, ii) compute a prototype for each class, iii) compute an inverse covariance matrix for each prototype and center a Gaussian fuzzy set membership function on it to construct a fuzzy classifier and place it on-line to receive incoming feature vectors. The 1-sigma (standard deviation) regions under each Gaussian are ellipsoidal in N dimensions (for N features), so a class may contain one or more ellipsoidal groups.
An alternative method related to this invention is to use the clustered signatures to train the powerful new radial basis functional link net, which learns faster and more efficiently than other types of neural networks (NN's). While there are NN's that learn, or self-organize themselves, they are relatively slow and do not learn robustly, so clustering should be done first and then supervised training should be done for the best results.
FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system embodiment ( 700 ) of the current invention for determining the constituents of a sample ( 720 ). The system includes a femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source ( 710 ) configured to emit laser radiation through the sample ( 720 ), an optical unit ( 730 ) configured to receive light backscattered from the sample, and a detection and analysis unit ( 740 ) coupled to the optical unit for analyzing a spectral signature of the sample. This system may be used in connection with any of the above techniques and sub-systems to further enhance the detection and analysis of molecules or constituents of interest within the sample ( 720 ).
Similarly, FIG. 8 illustrates a process flow diagram of a method embodiment ( 800 ) of the current invention useful for determining the constituents of a sample. At step ( 810 ), a femtosecond terawatt laser radiation source configured to emit laser radiation through sample is provided. Next, backscattered light from the sample is captured at step ( 820 ). The method ends, at step ( 830 ), with the analysis of the spectral signature of the sample as captured to determine its contents. As can be appreciated, the method may be implemented with any one of the above laser radiation systems as well as detection and analysis sub-systems.
The drawings and foregoing description are not intended to represent the only form of the invention in regard to the details of the construction and manner of operation. In fact, it will be evident to one skilled in the art that modifications and variations may be necessary without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Although specific terms have been employed, they are intended in generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purpose of limitation. | The present invention relates to a system for detection and identification of airborne biological, chemical and/or nuclear threats such as toxins, spores, bacteria, and viruses in real time at distances from a few meters to several kilometers. Compact femtosecond terawatt laser technology is combined with spectroscopic and mathematical methods for spectral sensing of airborne warfare agents such as bio-aerosols. Trigger sensors and standoff devices based on mobile terawatt femtosecond laser systems are provided that may be placed at strategic monitoring locations. Furthermore, the invention relates to the propagation of airborne ultra-short, ultra-intense laser pulses giving rise to plasma channels (filamentation) producing white light supercontinuum ranging from the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), near infra-red (NE) and middle infra-red (MIR). According to this invention, the supercontinuum can be directly produced in a particle cloud and hence is uniquely suitable for multi-spectral long-range atmospheric agent and radioactive isotope detection. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to provisional application No. 61/177,390, filed on May 12, 2009, and incorporates that application, in its entirety, by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC
[0003] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND
[0004] In 2008, a U.S. Department of Labor report found that traffic fatalities are the top cause of worker deaths in work zones, accounting for at least a quarter of workplace deaths. The good news is that the number of traffic fatalities has decreased since highway construction crews started using safety orange barrels. The safety orange barrel has been successful in reducing deaths for two reasons.
[0005] First, the color, safety orange, alerts a driver. Safety orange is a hue that is a complementary contrast to the azure color of the sky. Second, the size of the safety orange barrel is more noticeable than the traditional traffic cone and provides some barrier between a vehicle and a worker.
[0006] Although the safety orange barrel increases worker safety, it is time consuming to place and remove the safety orange barrel from the site of construction. Generally, to place barrels in position, a vehicle moves along the site where the barrels are to be placed while one worker hands barrels down, from the vehicle, to a second worker walking along side the truck. The second worker places the barrels in position. This method is slow and requires at least 2 workers and a driver. A second method to place barrels requires a worker to drop barrels from the truck onto the site. Although this method only takes 1 driver and 1 worker, it can be ineffective. For example, if the barrels are not weighted, they may tip over when being dropped onto the location.
[0007] Retrieving the barrels from the road more difficult. Generally, a truck moves along the road from which the barrel must be collected and at least one worker walks alongside the truck lifting barrels onto the truck. In this scenario, the worker lifting barrels may place the barrels directly on the truck or hand the barrel to another worker on the truck. If the barrels are weighted, it may take more than one worker to lift the barrels onto the truck. In either one of these scenarios, at least one worker is fighting against gravity.
[0008] The methods discussed above for placing and removing barrels from a road makes for dangerous work conditions. The worker working on top of the truck can easily fall off. The worker walking along side the truck may be hit by oncoming traffic or may be injured by a misstep.
[0009] The main object of the current invention is to provide an apparatus, that can be installed on a flat bed truck, pre-market or post-market, which allows barrels to efficiently and safely placed or removed from a work site.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The main object of the current invention is to provide an apparatus, that can be installed on a flat bed truck, pre-market or post-market, which allows barrels to efficiently and safely placed or removed from a work site.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a front side elevational view of the invention attached to a truck;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a back side elevational view of the invention attached to a truck;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a front on view of a barrel catcher;
[0015] FIG. 4 is front elevational view of the invention attached to a truck.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The following description generally refers to FIG. 1 through FIG. 5 and like parts are numbered similarly.
[0017] This invention is concerned with the placement and removal of barrels at construction sites, highways, and other places where barrels may be used. The current invention may be utilized on any commercially available powered and wheeled chassis of a suitable type that has the basic construction features allowing the invention to be mounted on it. In the preferred embodiment, the invention is mounted on a flat bed truck.
[0018] The invention, an apparatus to place and remove barrels from a road comprising a conveyer system ( 10 ) and at least one barrel catcher ( 20 ). The conveyer system ( 10 ) is comprised of a conveyor belt, rollers, or a combination thereof (hereinafter referred to, individually and collectively, as “roller deck”) ( 11 ). In the preferred embodiment, the roller deck ( 11 ) runs the width of the truck bed, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 .
[0019] The apparatus further comprises a hydraulic system. In the preferred embodiment, the hydraulic system sits below the roller deck ( 11 ). A portion of the system is shown as ( 12 ). The hydraulic system ( 12 ) is used to operate the roller deck ( 11 ) and the at least one barrel catcher ( 20 ).
[0020] The roller deck ( 11 ) is attached to a truck bed. Normally, a truck bed has two ends; at the first end the truck bed end is attached to a truck cab and at the second end the truck bed is generally open. In one embodiment, the roller deck ( 11 ) is removably attached by a hinge system to the second end of the truck bed. In another embodiment, the roller deck ( 11 ) is attached to the second end of the truck bed so that the roller deck ( 11 ) can be moved towards or away from the truck by at least one hydraulic cylinder that runs of a power take off (“PTO”) which works off the truck's transmission.
[0021] In the preferred embodiment, the at least one barrel catcher ( 20 ) is attached to the roller deck ( 11 ) using at least one hinge system ( 13 ). The at least one hinge ( 13 ) allows the at least one barrel catcher ( 20 ) be folded onto the roller deck ( 11 ) when not in use. In another embodiment, the at least one barrel catcher ( 20 ) can be removed from the roller deck ( 11 ) when not in use.
[0022] The barrel catcher ( 20 ) comprises at least a back side ( 21 ), a left side ( 23 ), and a front side ( 24 ); where the left side ( 23 ) is attached to both the back side ( 21 ) and the front side ( 24 ) generally forming a “U” shape. The back side ( 21 ) defines a slit ( 30 ). The barrel catcher ( 20 ) also comprises a paddle ( 22 ). The paddle ( 22 ) is attached to the left side ( 23 ) and to a hydraulic cylinder through the slit ( 30 ). The barrel paddle ( 22 ) is sloped, as shown in drawings, so that it a barrel can be lifted from its underside. The hydraulic cylinder moves the paddle ( 22 ) downward allowing the a barrel to be place onto the road or upward allowing a barrel to be picked up off the road.
[0023] The barrel catcher ( 20 ) further comprises a bar ( 25 ) and a telescoping rod ( 27 ). The bar ( 25 ) and rod ( 27 ) is moved to and fro utilizing the system's hydraulic system. When a barrel is dropped into the barrel catcher ( 20 ) the rod ( 27 ) pushes the barrel out onto the road off the paddle ( 22 ). When the barrel catcher ( 20 ) is removing barrels from the road, the barrel catcher ( 20 ) scoops the barrel and lifts it toward the truck then the bar ( 25 ) pushes the barrel back onto the truck.
[0024] It should be noted here that when multiple barrel catchers ( 20 ) are being used on one truck, the barrel catchers can operate to unload barrels only, up-load barrels only, or in some combinations thereof.
[0025] In a preferred embodiment, the back side ( 21 ) comprises at least two wheels ( 26 ). In another preferred the back side ( 21 ) comprises at least two wheels ( 26 ) and the front side ( 24 ) comprises at least 2 wheels ( 26 ). | The main object of the current invention is to provide an apparatus, that can be installed on a flat bed truck, pre-market or post-market, which allows barrels, to efficiently and safely, placed or removed from a road or other work site. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Canadian Application No. 2,387,003, entitled: “METHOD FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCIES IN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION”, filed May 21, 2002. The foregoing applications, and all documents cited therein or during their prosecution (“appln cited documents”) and all documents cited or referenced in the appln cited documents, and a 11 documents cited or referenced herein (“herein cited documents”), and all documents cited or referenced in herein cited documents, together with any manufacturer's instructions, descriptions, product specifications, and product sheets for any products mentioned herein or in any document incorporated by reference herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, and may be employed in the practice of the invention. This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/442,662 filed on May 21, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a method of managing livestock animals according to their genotypes and, more specifically, is directed to a method of managing livestock in groups having predictably more uniform fat deposition than is presently possible.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Leptin and the ob Gene: Leptin, a 16-kDa adipocyte-specific polypeptide is expressed predominantly in fat tissues of those animals in which it has been detected, which animals include livestock species such as cattle, pigs, and sheep. Leptin is encoded by the ob (obese) gene and appears to be involved in the regulation of appetite, basal metabolism and fat deposition. Increased plasma concentrations of leptin in mice, cattle, pigs and sheep have been associated with decreased body fat deposition and appetite, and increased basal metabolism levels (Blache et al., 2000; Delavaud et al., 2000; Ehrhardt et al., 2000). Similar phenotypic characteristics have also been found to be associated with leptin mRNA levels in adipose tissue (Ramsay et al., 1998; Robert et al., 1998). Consistent with those observations, it has been shown that administration of exogenous leptin dramatically reduces feed intake and body mass of mice, chickens, pigs and sheep (Barb et al., 1998; Halaas et al., 1995; Henry et al., 1999; and Raver et al., 1998)
[0004] The ob gene that has been mapped to chromosome 6 in mice (Friedman and Leibel, 1992), chromosome 7q31.3 in humans (Isse et al., 1995) chromosome 4 in cattle (Stone et al. 1996), and chromosome 18 in swine (Neuenschwander et al., 1996; Saskai et al., 1996). Sequences have been determined for the said gene from mice (Zhang et al., 1994), cattle (U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,027 to Spurlock), pigs (U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,592 to Bidwell and Spurlock; Neuenschwander et al., 1996), and humans (U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,857 to Friedman et al.) and there is significant conservation among the sequences of ob DNAs and leptin polypeptides from those species (Bidwell et al. 1997; Ramsay et al. 1998).
[0005] Mutations in the coding sequences of the ob gene causing alterations in the amino acid sequence of the leptin polypeptide, have been associated with hyperphagia, hypometabolic activity, and excessive fat deposition; i.e., a phenotype characterized by larger body size; a fat phenotype (Zhang et al., 1994).
[0000] ob-Gene Genotypes: Fitzsimmons et al., (1998) reported evidence of three alleles of a microsatellite marker located proximal to the ob gene in cattle that occurred with significant frequency in bulls of several breeds (Angus, Charolais, Hereford and Simmental) and comprising 138, 147 and 149 base pairs (bp). The 138-bp and 147-bp alleles, respectively, occurred most frequently. Further, it was determined that occurrence of the 138-bp allele was positively associated with certain carcass characteristics; increased average fat deposition, increased mean fat deposition, increased percent rib fat, and decreased percent rib lean. Thus, bulls homozygous for the 138-bp allele exhibited greater average fat deposition than heterozygous animals and such heterozygotes exhibited greater average fat deposition that bulls homozygous for the 147-bp allele.
[0006] Subsequently, Buchanan et al. (2002) identified a cytosine (C) to thymine (T) transition within an exon (exon 2) of the ob gene, corresponding to an arginine (ARG) to cysteine (CYS) substitution in the leptin polypeptide. The presence of the T-containing allele in bulls was associated with fatter carcasses than those from bulls with the C-containing allele.
[0007] Single nucleotide polymorphisms have also been detected in the procine ob gene and certain of those polymorphisms have been found to be associated with feed intake and carcass traits (Kennes et al. 2001; Kulig et al. 2001).
[0000] ob-Gene Genotype Determination: Means of selective amplification of bovine gene are in U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,027 to Spurlock. It is possible to distinguish ob genotypes by cloning and sequencing DNA fragments from individual animals, or by other methods known in the art. For example, it is possible to distinguish ob genotypes by employing synthetic oligonucleotide primed amplification of ob gene fragments followed by restriction endonuclease digestion of the amplified product using a restriction enzyme that cuts such product from different ob alleles into discrete product fragments of differing length. Such discrete product fragments could then be distinguished using electrophoresis in agarose or acrylamide, for example. The ob alleles identified by Buchanan et al. (2002) were distinguished by such means using a mismatch PCR-RFLP strategy wherein, the C-containing allele (as above) yields DNA fragments of 75 and 19 bp following digestion of the amplimer with Kpn 21, and the T-containing allele (as above) is not cut.
The Development of Desired Body Condition in Livestock Animals
[0008] Body condition is a determinant of market readiness in commercial livestock feeding and finishing operations. The term body condition is used in livestock industry in reference to the state of development of a livestock animal that is a function of frame type or size, and the amount of intramuscular fat and back fat exhibited by an animal. It is typically determined subjectively and through experienced visual appraisal of live animals. The fat deposition, or the amount of intramuscular fat and back fat on an animal carcass, is important to industry participants because carcasses exhibiting desired amounts and proportions of such fats can often be sold for higher prices than carcasses that exhibit divergences from such desired amounts and proportions. Furthermore, the desired carcass fat deposition often varies among different markets and buyers, and also often varies with time in single markets and among particular buyers in response to public demand trends with respect to desired of fat and marbling in meat. Weight gain by a livestock animal during its growth and development typically follows a tri-phasic pattern that is carefully managed by commercial producers, and finishers. The efficiency of dietary caloric (feed) conversion to weight gain during an increment of time varies during three growth phases; a first phase of growth comprises that portion of a livestock animals life from birth to weaning, and is not paid much heed by commercial feeding and finishing operators.
[0009] A second growth phase comprises that portion of a livestock animal's life from weaning to attainment of musculo-skeletal maturity. Feed conversation efficiency is low during this phase; livestock producers usually restrict caloric intake, which has the effect of causing this phase to be prolonged but also typically results in animals with larger frames, which is the aim of dietary management during this phase. During the second growth phase weight gain is associated with skeletal mass and muscle mass accumulation primarily.
[0010] During a third growth phase, after a animal has attained musculo-skeletal maturity, the efficiency of feed conversion is reduced, such that it requires more feed to increase an animal's weight. For example with cattle, during the second phase of growth, a typical steer could convert 5 to 6 pounds of feed into one pound of weight gain. Upon entering the third phase, feed conversion efficiency typically decreases, such that 7 up to 10 or more pounds of feed are required to produce one pound of gain. During the third phase livestock feeders significantly increase the caloric content of animals' rations. During the third growth phase weight gain is associated with fat accumulation primarily. Again using cattle as an example, with a steer weighing 900 pounds at the end of the second phase, of that 900 pounds, typically 350 pounds will be red meat. At the end of the third phase, the steer would typically weigh 1400 pounds and typically 430 pounds will be red meat.
[0011] Keeping the cattle industry as an example, initially a cow/calf operator will breed bulls to cows, birth calves from the cows, and allow the calves to feed on their mother's milk until they are weaned some months after birth. This is the first phase of growth of the calf. After weaning, the calf enters the second stage of growth where it is fed to grow to its full skeletal size. This commonly called the “backgrounding” phase during which musculo-skeletal maturity is achieved.
[0012] When the animal has reached its full size, it enters the third phase of growth where the fully grown animal puts on weight. Typically it is at the start of the third stage of growth that the animal enters a finishing feed lot. In the feed lot the object is to feed the animal the proper ration so that it will most quickly obtain the proper market characteristics that are desired at that given time. At present, for instance it is desirable to have beef that is well marbled, ie it has considerable intramuscular fat in the meat. At other times it may be desirable to have lean meat with very little intramuscular fat. The price the feed lot owner attains for his cattle, when he sells to the packer can vary significantly depending on marbling of the meat.
[0013] Presently, cattle entering a feed lot are divided into groups according to estimated age, frame size, breed, weight and so forth. By doing this the feed lot owner is attempting to group the cattle so that the group can be penned together and fed the same ration and will be ready for market at the same time. Weight and visual clues are the only means possible to sort cattle for feed lot grouping.
[0014] Once the cattle are sold from the feed lot to the packer they are slaughtered and the carcasses are hung on a rail where they can be graded according to the amount of fat measured at certain defined and standardized points on the carcass. This fat measurement is accepted as correlating to the amount of intramuscular fat in the carcass. A carcass with a fat measurement at or above a certain standard measurement will be graded AAA in Canada, corresponding to Choice Grade in the United States. A carcass with a fat measurement less than that set for AAA grade, but above the standard set for AA grade, will grade AA, while those with fat measurements below the standard set for AA be graded correspondingly lower through the range of grades.
[0015] The most desirable grade in the present market is AAA, because fat is equated with palatability, lending juiciness and tenderness to the meat, and is presently seeing demand from consumers. Significant premiums are presently being paid for carcasses grading AAA. In contrast, premiums have been historically been seen for leaner beef. At any given time then, the consumer will indicate his preference at the retail shelf, and this will send signals back through the chain to the packer, feeder, and cow/calf operators to aim for more or less fat.
[0016] Conventionally, the chain has reacted to these signals by switching breeds. Broadly speaking, European breeds such as Charolais and Limousin have bigger frames and leaner meat than British breeds such as Hereford and Angus. When lean beef is in demand, the feed lot will pay premiums for cattle bearing traits of European breeds, and when fat beef is in demand, premiums are paid for cattle bearing traits of British breeds.
[0017] Another major factor in the price realized by the feed lot operator is the yield grade, which is the percentage of usable meat that is derived from a carcass. Yield grade is dictated by a maximum fat measurement, but is a grade that is independent of the palatability grade. While the minimum fat measurement for AAA grade may be achieved, exceeding that measurement can cause a reduction in yield grade, and therefore a reduction in price. For each yield grade there is a maximum fat measurement, such that exceeding a maximum fat measurement for Yield Grade 1 drops the carcass to a Yield Grade 2, and exceeding a maximum fat measurement for Yield Grade 2 drops the carcass to a Yield Grade 3, and so forth. Essentially the yield grade accounts for excessive fat on the carcass that must be trimmed prior to sale, and is therefore waste.
[0018] Thus to realize the maximum price for a carcass in a market like that at present where the AAA grade is in demand, the feed lot operator must meet the minimum fat measurement for AAA grade, and yet not exceed the maximum fat measurement for Yield Grade 1. Present methods used to achieve this goal comprise visually grouping cattle according to frame type, estimated age and estimated weight at the time the cattle enter the feed lot. The animals of a particular group are fed and otherwise maintained substantially uniformly until it is estimated, again on the basis of experienced visual inspection, that the mean body condition of animals in the group is such that the measurement of fat will exceed the minimum required for AAA grade, yet be below the maximum allowed for Yield Grade 1.
[0019] In addition to palatability and yield grades, other factors also influence the price received for a carcass. For example the weight of the carcass should fall in a desired range that provides the most popular size of cuts of meat.
[0020] Regardless of the particular market preference at any given time, the feed lot operator will be trying to tailor his cattle to meet some similar standard that will cause a meat packer or like commercial purchaser to pay the highest price in accordance with currently prevailing market preferences.
[0021] Invariably some carcasses from the animals in a group fall in the desired range, while many are outside the desired range. Thus some of the carcasses will bring the maximum price because they are in the desired range, but a great many will bring a reduced price because they are outside the desired range. The price reduction generally increases in steps as variation from the desired range increases.
[0022] The feed lot operator's costs include the costs of operating the feed lot, such as labor, capital, maintenance, etc., plus the cost of feeding the cattle. While the cost of acquiring each animal in a group can vary somewhat, the feed lot operator's costs are the same for each animal in the group since they are fed the same amount of feed and occupy space in the feed lot for the same amount of time. Thus the price reductions for carcasses falling outside the desirable range fall directly to the feed lot operator's bottom line, reducing profits.
[0023] The feed lot operator has a very complex set of factors to consider when making decisions regarding feeding and marketing cattle. The longer the animal is in the feed lot before sale, the more it has cost the feed lot operator. At some times, keeping animals longer might be an attractive option if by doing so a more profitable grade can be achieved. For instance when body fat is in demand, the feed lot might keep the animals longer to fatten them more in order to have more cattle reach the AAA grade. This is especially true where yield grade deductions for excess fat are less than premiums for sufficient fat, and even more so at times when sufficient animals are not available to bring into the feed lot, or when the price for same is high. The variability in the propensity of cattle to accumulate fat significantly reduces the efficiency and profitability of feed lots.
[0024] Presently packers predict the carcass grade of the animals they buy based on visual clues and experience. Packers take orders for assorted quantities of AAA and other grades of beef which they must then fill from the cattle that they buy from feed lots. The grading mix of these animals can vary considerably and thus the packer faces considerable difficulty in predicting what his supply of the various grades of carcasses will be at any given time. The packer is often required to go out and buy on short notice more cattle to a fill an order for a particular grade, again basing his decision on which cattle to buy on visual clues as to how the carcass will grade when it is finally hanging on the rail in his plant.
[0025] After cattle are slaughtered, the carcasses are brought into a cooler where they hang for 20 or more hours prior to grading to allow a proper fat measurement to be taken. Once graded the carcasses are left to hang for typically 14-21 days. The cooler thus contains, at any given time, a considerable number of un-graded carcasses. As the carcasses are graded the packer must continually assess his inventory against his orders, and then buy cattle appropriately. Depending on the inventory and orders, a packer will typically be seeking to buy fatter or leaner cattle. A surplus of one or the other will typically require a price reduction in order to move the surplus out of the cooler on a timely basis. Such price reductions reduce the packer's profits. Increased accuracy in predicting the carcass grade of cattle purchased would reduce the occurrence of surpluses, and increase the packer's profit.
[0026] As discussed above, cow/calf operators breed bulls to cows, choosing the mating based on signals received through the chain of supply from consumers for those traits that are in demand, for example fat beef or lean beef. European breeds provide carcasses that are typically leaner than British breeds, therefore the cow/calf operator will typically lean to one or the other as demand changes. They also select breeding animals based on visual traits, such as frame size, and anecdotal traits, such as easy calving history. Again, the object is to provide cattle that will command the highest price from the eventual purchaser, such a backgrounder or feed lot operator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0027] It is the object of the present invention to provide a method for improving efficiencies in livestock production. In one embodiment of the present invention such a method comprises grouping livestock animals, such as cattle and pigs, during the period of their retention in a feeding facility according to the genotype of individual livestock animals to deposit fat, and then feeding the animals in each group substantially uniformly.
[0028] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method comprising meeting particular body fat acquisition expectations. In one embodiment, homozygosity or heterozygosity of each animal is determined with respect to alleles of a gene encoding an adipocyte-specific polypeptide, termed leptin, which gene is hereinafter referred to as ob, and segregating such animals into groups based on genotype, e.g., ob genotype, and optionally, phenotype.
[0029] In one embodiment, animals are segregated by phenotype, e.g., frame type and genotype, e.g., homozygosity in respect of a first ob allele, homozygosity in respect of a second ob allele, or heterozygosity in respect of the first and second ob alleles. The feeding and otherwise maintaining animals in a group together and apart from other groups of animals, and ceasing to feed the animals in the group at the time is sustained until the median body fat condition of the animals of that group is of a desired body fat condition.
[0030] Yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of managing cattle entering a feed lot, by determining homozygosity or heterozygosity of animals with respect to alleles of the ob gene, and sorting the cattle accordingly into three groups, one group homozygous in respect of a first ob allele and therefore having the most propensity to deposit fat, a second group homozygous in respect of a second ob allele and therefore having the least propensity to deposit fat, and a third group heterozygous in respect of the first and second ob alleles and therefore having an intermediate propensity to deposit fat. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method wherein the three groups are further divided according to weight or frame size.
[0031] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method comprising, for groups of animals having the least genetic predisposition to produce fat, feeding to achieve an animal carcass having a low median body fat.
[0032] A further embodiment of the present invention to provides a method to packers to increase predictability of the fat deposition in groups of livestock purchased. In particular, this embodiment allows cow/calf operators to respond to market signals from the feed lot more accurately by producing animals having greater or lesser genetic predisposition to lay down fat.
[0033] In the method of the present invention, individual animals, among assemblies of animals received at feeding facilities, are segregated into groups based conventionally on weight and frame type, and additionally based on ob genotype. Preferably and most efficiently the animals are tested to determine homozygosity or heterozygosity with respect to alleles of the ob gene as they are received at the receiving facility, and are grouped accordingly with little interruption in the normal flow of animals through the facility.
[0000] Animals of such groups will, when maintained together on a uniform diet, exhibit greater body fat condition uniformity at any particular time after such segregation than is exhibited among animals grouped together using current practices.
[0034] Individual animals within such a group will attain a desired body condition closer to the time that other individual animals of the same group attain the desired body condition. Such temporal uniformity exceeds that exhibited in groups of otherwise similarly situated animals maintained and fed together using current grouping practices.
[0035] It will be advantageous to feed cattle to achieve a high fat grade when they are most genetically predisposed to lay down fat (hereafter TT cattle, i.e., cattle homozygous for the T SNP). As to those cattle least genetically predisposed to lay down fat (hereafter CC cattle, i.e., homozygous for the C SNP), it will be advantageous to feed these cattle so as to achieve a lower fat grade, or a lean grade, rather than feed them longer to achieve the high fat grade. Those cattle intermediately genetically predisposed to lay down fat, (hereafter CT cattle, i.e. heterozygous for the SNP), can be fed longer to achieve a high fat grade, or shorter to achieve a lean grade, depending on considerations such as market prices, price trends, feed costs, availability of further feeder cattle to bring into the feed lot, and other like external considerations. On occasion such external considerations may dictate that CC cattle should be fed for a fat grade, however this will most often be so inefficient that such feeding would not be cost effective.
[0036] A further advantage of feeding CC cattle for a lean grade would be realized by the packer who buys the cattle. Packers receive orders for fat beef and lean beef. Presently packers faced with an order for fat AAA beef are very often forced to buy considerably more cattle than they actually need in order to ensure that they have sufficient high fat AAA carcasses to meet the order. They thus have an excess of lean AA or A grade beef that they sell off at reduced prices. If a packer was confident that when buying a certain number of market ready TT cattle, he would get 55%-65% AAA grade, then he could fill the AAA grade order with less cattle, and properly fill his lean AA beef requirements from CT or CC animals fed to the leaner grade. CT cattle would be somewhat more mixed, however it is foreseen that CC cattle could be fed efficiently such that 80% or more would grade lean.
[0037] It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims, terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, “comprising” and the like can have the meaning attributed to it in U.S. Patent law; e.g., they can mean “includes”, “included”, “including”, and the like; and that terms such as “consisting essentially of” and “consists essentially of” have the meaning ascribed to them in U.S. Patent law, e.g., they allow for elements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found in the prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of the invention.
[0038] In another of its aspects, the invention provides a method of producing a progeny livestock animal with a predictable propensity to accumulate body fat during growth comprising: (a) determining genetic predisposition of potentially parental male and potentially parental female livestock, or germinal material thereof, by determining ob genotype; and (b) selectively breeding individuals from among potentially parental male and potentially parental female livestock animals, or germinal material thereof, based on ob genotype; thereby obtaining a progeny livestock animal with a predictable propensity to accumulate body fat during growth.
[0039] In yet another aspect the inventions provides a method wherein selectively breeding comprises (i) producing a progeny livestock animal, with a first propensity to accumulate body fat during growth, by selectively breeding potentially parental male and potentially parental female livestock animals wherein at least one of the potentially parental livestock animals is a TT animal and the other of the parental animals is either a TT animal homozygous with respect to the mutant allele of the ob gene or a CT animal heterozygous with respect to the T-allele and the C-allele of the ob gene; or (ii) producing a progeny livestock animal, with a second propensity to accumulate body fat during growth, by selectively breeding potentially parental male and potentially parental female livestock animals wherein at least one of the potentially parental livestock animals is a CC animal and the other of the parental animals is either a CC animal homozygous with respect to the wild type allele of the ob gene or a CT animal heterozygous with respect to the T-allele and the C-allele of the ob gene.
[0040] These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention become further apparent in the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of this invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0041] A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification, including reference to the accompanying figures, wherein:
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates the growth curve of production animals, such as poultry, pigs, sheep, and cattle, wherein the phase of growth is correlated with the weight of the animal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0043] Other objects, features and aspects of the present invention are disclosed in, or are obvious from, the following Detailed Description. It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present discussion is a description of exemplary embodiments only and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present invention, which broader aspects are embodied in the exemplary construction. In fact, 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 scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. It is intended that the present invention cover such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
[0044] For convenience, certain terms employed in the Specification, Examples, and appended Claims are collected herein as follows:
[0045] The term “animal” is used herein to include all vertebrate animals, including humans. It also includes an individual animal in all stages of development, including embryonic and fetal stages.
[0046] As used herein, the term “production animals” is used interchangeably with “livestock animals” and refers generally to animals raised primarily for food. For example, such animals include, but are not limited to, cattle (bovine), sheep (ovine), pigs (porcine or swine), poultry (avian), and the like.
[0047] As used herein, the term “cow” or “cattle” is used generally to refer to an animal of bovine origin of any age. Interchangeable terms include “bovine”, “calf”, “steer”, “bull”, “heifer” and the like.
[0048] The term “avian” as used herein refers to any species, subspecies or race of organism of the taxonomic class ava, such as, but not limited to, such organisms as chicken, turkey, duck, goose, quail, pheasants, parrots, finches, hawks, crows and ratities including ostrich, emu and cassowary.
[0049] As used herein, the term “pig” or is used generally to refer to an animal of porcine origin of any age. Interchangeable terms include “piglet”, “sow” and the like.
[0050] As used herein, the term “Genome” refers to all the genetic materials in the chromosomes of a particular organism. Its size is generally given as its total number of base pairs. Within the genome, the term “gene” refers to an ordered sequence of nucleotides located in a particular position on a particular chromosome that encodes specific functional product (e.g., a protein or RNA molecule). For example, it is known that the protein leptin is encoded by the ob (obese) gene and appears to be involved in the regulation of appetite, basal metabolism and fat deposition in general, an animal's genetic characteristics, as defined by the nucleotide sequence of its genome, are known as its “genotype”, while the animal's physical traits are described as its “phenotype.”
[0051] As used herein, the term “locus” or “loci” refers to the site of a gene on a chromosome. Pairs of genes, also known as “alleles” control the hereditary traits, each in the same position on a pair of chromosomes. These alleles, which also may be described as an animal's “allelotype” may both be dominant or recessive in expression of that trait. In either case, the individual is said to be homozygous for the trait controlled by that gene pair. If the gene pair (alleles) consists of one dominant and one recessive trait, the individual is heterozygous for the trait controlled by the gene pair.
[0052] The term “Nucleotide” generally refers to a subunit of DNA or RNA consisting of a nitrogenous base (adenine, guanine, thymine or cytosine in DNA; adenine, guanine, uracil, or cytosine in RNA) a phosphate molecule, and a sugar molecule (deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA). Thousands of nucleotides are linked to form a DNA or RNA molecule. A “Single Nucleotide Polymorphism” or SNP is used herein to refer to the most common type of genetic variation in a gene consisting of a change at a single base in a DNA molecule. One example of a SNP is the cytosine (C) to thymine (T) transition within exon 2 of the ob gene, corresponding to an arginine (ARG) to cysteine (CYS) substitution in the leptin polypeptide (Buchanan et al. (2002).
[0053] As used herein, the term “Protein” generally refers to a large molecule composed of one or more chains of amino acids in a specific order. The order is determined by the base sequence of nucleotides in the gene coding for the protein. Proteins are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body's cells, tissues, and organs. Each protein has a unique function.
[0054] A typical growth curve for production animals is illustrated in FIG. 1 . Present production practices vary among the specific industries as to the point on the curve at which the animal is considered ready for slaughter. For poultry and pigs, for example, present practice is to slaughter near the beginning of phase three where the growth curve begins to flatten out. At this portion of the curve, the amount of time and feed required to produce a pound of gain increases, and so economics dictates that the animal should be slaughtered at that time, and replaced in the feeding facility with an animal in the second phase where weight gain is much more rapid and efficient in terms of feed conversion. For cattle however, present practice is to slaughter well into phase three. During phase 3, cattle accumulate fat, which lends palatability to meat. Presently cattle are grouped according to weight and visual clues such as frame size and breed traits. The group is then penned together and from that point each animal is substantially fed and otherwise maintained uniformly. When it is determined that the average body condition of the group is a desired body condition, all animals in the group are slaughtered.
[0055] In cattle production, for example, it is known to use ultrasound devices to measure the back fat on some live animals in an attempt to predict intramuscular fat to better judge when the desired body fat condition has been attained. While accurate measurements of back fat can be made on a live animal, back fat is known to not correlate with any degree of accuracy to intramuscular fat which is marbled through the meat, and which is accepted as adding palatability, and thus brings a premium price. Actual intramuscular fat can only be accurately assessed after the animal is slaughtered, when the animal's carcass is graded. Thus, cattle feeders are limited in the success that they can attain in providing slaughter animals that meet the desired palatability grade AAA. Presently, a feedlot operator feeds all the cattle in an attempt to most economically ensure that the maximum number achieve the most optimum grade, for example, grade AAA.
[0056] Genotype testing of feeder cattle in a typical feedlot situation by the present inventor showed a direct correlation between genotype and fat deposition. The cattle were confined in conventional pens, fed conventional rations, and slaughtered when discerned by conventional means to be market ready. The cattle were tested to determine the genotype, and were traced to the shipping point to determine the palatability grade achieved. Each pen contained a mix of unsegregated CC, CT, and TT cattle.
[0057] Results of the first test (Test 1) showed that, of 73 Hereford steers tested for genotype, 36 were CT, 37 were TT, while none were CC. The 73 cattle were then slaughtered, 48.5% of the TT carcasses graded AAA, and 19.4% of the CT carcasses graded AAA.
[0058] In Test 2, of the 50 Charolais—Angus cross steers tested for genotype, 9 were determined to be CC, 28 were CT, and 13 were TT. When slaughtered, 62% of the TT carcasses graded AAA, 29% of the CT carcasses graded AAA, and 11% of the CC carcasses graded AAA.
[0059] In Test 3, 13 Charolais cattle in each of 5 pens, or a total of 65 animals, were tested for allellotype. Of the 65 cattle, 29 were CC, 24 were CT, and 12 were TT. There was a high degree of breeding in the 65 cattle. When slaughtered, 58.3% of the TT carcasses graded AAA, 45.5% of the CT carcasses graded AAA, and 38.5% of the CC carcasses graded AAA.
[0060] The method of the present invention contemplates grouping production animals according to their genotype or, more specifically, allelotype in addition to using the phenotypic criteria currently employed in feedlot practice. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, feedlot operators who currently group cattle according to size and frame structure, among other phenotypic traits, would group animals according to allelotype, i.e., CC, TC, or TT, which correlate with the animal's propensity to deposit fat, in order to more efficiently manage production. Thus the feeder is presented with opportunities for considerable efficiencies in livestock production.
[0061] Presently, the feeder feeds all his cattle the same, incurring the same costs for each animal, and typically, with excellent management practices, perhaps 40% will receive an optimal grade, such as AAA, and receive the premium price for the palatability grade. Of these, a significant number will have excess fat and will thus receive a reduced yield grade.
[0062] The balance of the cattle, 60%, will grade less than AAA, and thus receive a reduced price, although the feed lot costs incurred by the feeder are substantially the same for these cattle receiving the lesser grade. Grouping and feeding the cattle by genotype and, more specifically, allelotype allows the feeder to treat each group differently with a view to optimizing management strategies and increasing profit.
[0063] For example, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a group of CC cattle will have the least propensity to deposit fat, and so it could be more profitable to slaughter this group earlier in the growth curve, near the start of phase 3 where the growth curve flattens, since they have the least chance of meeting the fat requirements of the optimum or AAA grade. Such a group slaughtered early would have a very high percentage of lean carcasses, and this predictability could itself draw premiums from packers seeking to fill orders requiring lean carcasses. On the other hand, a group of TT cattle will have the most propensity to deposit fat, and so it could be more profitable to keep these on feed longer, since it is predictable that a high percentage would accumulate sufficient intramuscular fat so that the carcass would grade AAA and thus receive a premium price. Likewise, knowing that CT cattle deposit fat at an intermediate rate will allow the feed lot operator to manage this group more efficiently and profitably as well.
[0064] It is contemplated that, regardless of the desirability and premium paid for any particular body fat condition at any given time, providing the packer with a more uniform group that is predictably fat or lean will provide the feeder with the opportunity to demand and receive a premium, relative to the less uniform groups of cattle presently available. The packer will be able to buy more of the cattle with a body fat condition that he actually needs, while buying less cattle in total. The packer can thus be much better able to manage his inventory, reducing surpluses of carcasses with less desirable body fat conditions that would ordinarily be sold at a reduced price.
[0065] Thus the present invention provides a method which, in one embodiment, reduces the inventory of carcasses in beef packing operations by reducing the total number of cattle purchased in order to obtain a desired number of carcasses of a desired grade. The method comprises determining whether animals available for purchase are TT animals (i.e., homozygous with respect to the T-allele of the ob gene), CC animals (i.e., homozygous with respect to the C-allele of the ob gene), or CT animals (i.e., heterozygous with respect to the T-allele and the C-allele of the ob gene). Where the desired grade requires fat carcasses, the packer purchases TT animals, and where the desired grade requires lean carcasses, the packer purchases CC animals.
[0066] The predictability of fat deposition allows the feed lot operator to consider the premiums available for fat or lean carcasses, and tailor his decisions to maximize returns. Where production costs are high, as when feed costs are high, the feedlot operator might profit from slaughtering early. When costs are low, it might be more profitable to slaughter later. The feed lot operator can more accurately predict the particular body fat condition of a group of animals at any given point on the growth curve, and thus more effectively make decisions regarding when to slaughter any particular group.
[0067] It is also contemplated by the method of the present invention that feed rations could be tailored to more specifically achieve a desired body fat condition for each group by managing production animals' genotype generally, and, in particular, the TT/CC/CT allelotype.
[0068] Among animals of the same species and substantially the same age and weight, where other determinants of growth such as health condition and diet are equivalent, smaller framed animals will reach a stage of maturity exemplified by the start of the third phase of growth earlier than larger framed animals. Therefore, substantial leptin effects will be evidenced earlier in such smaller framed animals than in larger framed animals.
[0069] Where other determinants of growth such as health condition and diet are equivalent, a group of animals of the same species, sharing substantially the same age, weight, and frame type will attain the stage of maturity exemplified by the start of the third phase of growth at a substantially more uniform time than an otherwise equivalent group of animals, the individual members of which do not share substantially the same frame type. Therefore, where other determinants of growth are equivalent, substantial leptin effects will begin to be evidenced at a more uniform time in animals of a group segregated on the basis of frame type than in animals of a group not so segregated.
[0070] Importantly, grouping otherwise similar animals based on frame size is a more accurate means of achieving body condition uniformity than grouping otherwise similar animals based on body weight. When compared to large-framed animals, small-framed animals that are of substantially the same age and weight will attain the third phase of growth earlier, begin to accumulate significant amounts of body fat earlier and, thus, attain a desired body fat condition earlier. If individual animals so grouped have different ob genotypes, substantial evidence of such difference will be exhibited at substantially uniform times. Among animals sharing substantially the same weight and frame type, TT animals will accumulate fat faster during the third phase of growth than CT animals, and ob heterozygotes will accumulate fat faster during the third phase of growth than CC animals.
[0071] One embodiment of the present invention provides a method to facilitate attainment of greater efficiency in a commercial livestock feeding and finishing facility by providing a method comprising determining the genetic predisposition of each animal to deposit fat by determining ob genotype and segregating individual animals into subgroups based upon the ob genotype. Thus, using the method of the present invention allows an operator to produce a livestock animal group comprising a plurality of individual animals of the same species wherein a median body fat condition of the individual animals is a desired body condition and wherein actual body fat conditions of the individual animals are improvedly uniform.
[0072] The method of the present invention also provides a packer with a more uniform group that is predictably fat or lean ensuring the feed lot operator with the opportunity to demand and receive a premium, relative to the less uniform groups of cattle presently available. For example, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the packer will be able to buy more cattle with a body fat condition that he actually needs, while buying less cattle in total. The packer can thus be much better able to manage his inventory, reducing surpluses of carcasses with less desirable body fat conditions that would ordinarily be sold at a reduced price. The predictability of fat deposition allows the feed lot operator to consider the premiums available for fat or lean carcasses, and tailor his decisions to maximize returns for each group. Where costs in the feedlot are high, as when feed costs are high, the operator might profit from slaughtering early. When costs are low, it might be more profitable to slaughter later. The feed lot operator, using the method of the present invention is able to more accurately predict the particular body fat condition of a group of animals at any given point on the growth curve, and thus can more effectively make decisions regarding when to slaughter any particular group.
[0073] It is also contemplated that, where demand for optimum grade, such as AAA, beef is high, feed lot operators will pay a first price for cattle homozygous with respect to the T-allele of the ob gene, and pay a second price lower than the first price for cattle heterozygous with respect to the T-allele and C-allele of the ob gene, and pay a third price lower than the second price for cattle homozygous with respect to the C-allele of the ob gene. Packers can also set premiums for cattle based upon predicted carcass grade by genotype.
[0074] The above-stated embodiments of the present invention are achieved by collecting an assembly of individual animals of substantially similar weights and frame types that have lower percentages of body fat than are required to exemplify the desired body fat condition. Prior to or upon collection of such assembly at the site of a livestock feeding facility, it is determined whether the animal is homozygous with respect to the T-allele of the ob gene, homozygous with respect to the C-allele of the ob gene, or heterozygous with respect to both T- and C-alleles.
[0075] A tissue sample containing chromosomal DNA can be collected from each individual animal to determine ob genotype. Known means can be used to disrupt animal c ells and process animal tissue samples consistent with the maintenance of chromosomal DNA integrity in such tissue samples. Standard molecular biology textbooks such as Sambrook et al. eds “Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual” 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press (1989) (the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) may be consulted to design suitable protocols for the isolation of DNA samples from tissues of choice. It should be recognized, however, that the choice of a suitable tissue or sample for the isolation of DNA suitable for determining ob genotype depends upon multiple factors including the ease of obtaining the sample from the animal and the quantity of DNA present in the sample. Tissues of choice include, but are not limited to, hair, epithelial cells, blood, nasal and vaginal swabs and the like.
[0076] Each sample is processed by conventional methods such that the chromosomal DNA is purified or partially purified. The purified DNA is then assayed to distinguish the presence therein of a wild-type allele of the ob gene and a mutant allele of the ob gene using methods known to one skilled in the art of molecular biology. Any method for determining genotype can be used for determining the ob genotype in the present invention. Such methods include, but are not limited to, DNA sequencing, RFLP analysis, microsatellite analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), ligase chain reaction (LCR), amplimer sequencing, nucleic acid hybridization, FRET-based hybridization analysis, size chromatography (e.g., capillary or gel chromatography), high throughput screening, mass spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy, all of which are well known to one of skill in the art. In particular, methods for determining nucleotide polymorphisms, particularly single nucleotide polymorphisms, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,514,700; 6,503,710; 6,468,742; 6,448,407; 6,410,231; 6,383,756; 6,358,679; 6,322,980; 6,316,230; and 6,287,766 and reviewed by Chen and Sullivan, Pharmacogenomics J 2003; 3(2):77-96, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
[0077] One conventional means for distinguishing allelles is by mismatch PCR-RFLP. For example, as applied to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, synthetic oligonucleotide-primed amplification of the exon 2 of the ob gene followed by restriction endonuclease treatment of the amplified DNA product thereof using Kpn 21 results in a cut of the amplimer corresponding to the C allele of the ob gene, but the amplimer corresponding to the T allele is not cut. Genotyping of genotype may be carried out by testing at the intake of a feeding facility or at any time during the life of the animal and recorded, conveniently on an ear tag or the like that moves with the animal so that it is readily available.
[0078] Once the genotype is determined, individual animals are segregated into groups wherein each animal shares the same ob genotype, ie. ob − (a TT animal), ob (a CT animal), or ob + (a CC animal), according to the method of the present invention. The animals of each group are maintained and fed together, such that the environmental, health, nutritional, and other conditions and needs of all such animals are maintained and satisfied to a substantially equivalent extent and by substantially equivalent means. Because a TT animal, exhibits an increased rate of body fat deposition compared to a C T animal, which in turn exhibits an increased rate of body fat deposition compared to a CC animal, feedlot operators are able to treat each group differently with a view to optimizing management strategies and increasing profit.
[0079] The invention also provides a method of breeding a livestock animal with a propensity to accumulate body fat as a proportion of total body weight at a rate that is: (i) predictable; (ii) either greater than or lesser than other livestock animals of the same species when such individual livestock animal and such other individual livestock animals are fed and maintained under conditions of substantial equivalence; and (iii) shares a substantially similar temporal time-course with animals of the same or determinably similar parentage. This object is achieved by collecting male and female livestock animals of the same species and known frame types, or germinal tissue therefrom; collecting from each above-said animal a tissue sample containing chromosomal DNA; and genotyping each tissue sample according to the means above-described, or according to equivalent means known in the art. Individual male and female livestock animals are selecting for breeding with one another based on frame type and genotype such that:
(a) large, intermediate or small frame-type progeny animals that exhibit a higher, intermediate or lower total body weight at maturity relative to each other can, with a useful degree of certainty, be predicted to be produced by mating large, intermediate, or small frame-type parental animals respectively; (b) CC or TT or CT progeny (which can, with a useful degree of certainty, be predicted to evidence, respectively, relatively, lower, higher or intermediate rates of body fat accumulation during the third growth phase of such progeny) can be produced by mating parental animals with known ob genotypes according known principals of inheritance; and (c) by selecting parental animals based on frame type and ob genotype together, a multiplicity of progeny can be produced that, with a useful degree of certainty according to known principals of inheritance, can be predicted to, when fed and maintained substantially under conditions of substantial equivalence, attain a desired body fat condition with relatively greater temporal uniformity than animals selected according to existing breeding protocols.
[0083] Progeny from parental TT or CT animals will have a propensity to accumulate during growth body fat at a rate greater than the average rate of body fat accumulation by other individual livestock animals of the same species and age maintained in conditions of substantial equivalence but bred according to other protocols which would include CC animals. As the occurrence of the T-allele in the offspring increases, so will the propensity of the offspring to accumulate fat.
[0084] Furthermore, once the ob genotype of a particular progeny is known based upon the ob genotype of the parents, which can be confirmed by determining the ob genotype of the progeny, further progeny of a particular genotype can be propagated according to the methods of the invention. Thus, an additional utility of the present invention is the selective breeding for a particular ob genotype once the ob genotypes of the parents are determined, i.e., according to the principles of Mendelian genetics.
[0085] The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact operation shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or modifications in operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention.
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Barb, C. R., Yan, X., Azain, M. J., Kraeling, R. R., Rampacek, G. B., and Ramsay, T. G. (1998) 10 Recombinant porcine leptin reduces feed intake and stimulates growth hormone secretion in swine. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. 15: 77-86.
Bidwell, C. A., Ji, S., Frank, G. B., Cornelius, S. G., Willis, G. M., and Spurlock, M. E. (1997) Cloning and expression of the porcine obese gene. Anim. Endocrinol. 8: 191-206.
Blache, D., Tellam, R. L., Chagas, L. M., Blackbery, M. A., Vercoe, P. E., and Martin G. B. (2000) Level of nutrition affects leptin concentration in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid in sheep. J. Endrocrinol. 165: 625-637.
Buchanan, F. C., C. J. Fitzsimmons, A. G. Van Kessel, T. D. Thue, D. C. Winkelman-Sim, and S. M. Schmutz (2002) A missense mutation in the bovine leptin gene is correlated with carcass fat content and leptin mRNA levels. (in press)
Delavaud, C., Bocquier, F., Chilliard, Y., Keisler, D. H., Gertler, A., and Kann G. (2000) Plasma leptin determination in ruminants: effect of nutritional status and body fatness on plasma leptin concentration assessed by a specific RIA in sheep. J. Endocrinol. 165: 519-526.
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Halaas, J. L., Gajiwala, K. S., Maffie, M., Cohen, S. L., Chait, B. T., Rabinowitz, D., Lallone, R. L., Burley, S. K., and Freidman, J. M. (1995) Weight-reducing effects of the plasma protein encoded by the obese gene. Science 269: 543-546.
Henry, B. A., Goding, J. W., Alexander, W. S., Tilbrook, A. J., Canny, B. J., Dunshea, F., Rao, A., Mansell, A., and Clarke, I. J. (1999) Central administration of leptin to ovariectomized ewes inhibits food intake without affecting the secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland: evidence for a dissociation of effects on appetite and neuroendocrine function. 140: 1175-1182.
Isse, N., Ogawa, Y., Tamura, N., Maxuzaki, H., Mori K. et al (1995) Structural organization and chromosomal assignment of the human obese gene. J. Bio. Chem. 270: 2772827733.
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Kulig, H., Grzesiak, W., and Szatkowska, I. (2001) Effect of leptin gene polymorphism on growth and carcass traits in pigs. Arch. Tierz. Dummorscorf 44: 291-296.
Neuenschwander, S., Rettenberger, G., Meijerink E. J Org, H, and Stranzinger, G. (1996) Partial characterization of porcine obesity gene (OBS) and its localization to chromosome 18 by somatic cell hybrids Anim. Genet. 27: 275-278.
Ramsay, T. G., Yan, X., and Morrison, C. (1998) The obesity gene in swine: sequence and expression of porcine leptin. J. Anim. Sci. 76: 484-490.
Raver, N., Taouis, M., Dridi, S., Derouet, M., Simon, J., Robinzon, B., Djiane J., and Gertler, A. (1998) Large-scale preparation of biologically active recombinant chicken obese protein (leptin). Protein Expression and Purification 14: 403-408.
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Saskai, S., Clutter, A. C., and Barendse, W. (1996) Assignment of the porcine obese (leptin) gene to Chromosome 18 by linkage analysis of a new PCR-based polymorphism. Mamm. Genome 7: 471-471.
Stone, R. T., Kappes, S. M., and Beattie, C. W. (1996) The bovine monologue of the obese gene maps to chromosome 4. Mamm. Benome 7: 399-400.
Zhang, Y., Proenca, R., Maffei, M., Barone M., Leopold, L. and Friedman, J. M. (1994) Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue. Nature 372: 425-432 | A method for improving efficiencies in livestock production comprises grouping livestock animals, such as cattle and pigs, during the period of their retention in a feeding facility according to the genetic predisposition of individual livestock animals to deposit fat, and then feeding the animals in each group substantially uniformly. Such genetic predisposition is determined by determining homozygosity or heterozygosity of each animal with respect to alleles of a gene encoding an adipocyte-specific polypeptide, termed leptin, which gene is hereinafter referred to as ob, segregating such animals into groups based on genotype and optionally phenotype, feeding and otherwise maintaining animals in a group together and apart from other groups of animals, and ceasing to feed the animals in the group at a time when the median body fat condition of the animals of that group is a desired body fat condition. Packers can also more accurately predict the fat deposition in carcasses of live animals it purchases, leading to increased efficiencies. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a method and a device for drying a moving material web, and, more particularly, to a method and a device for drying a coated paper or cardboard web.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] It is generally known that, in the production of paper and cardboard webs that are coated with coating colour, dryer systems are used for drying the webs following the coating application that include infrared radiators or air dryers utilizing hot air. In this context it is common practice to utilize the waste heat from an infrared radiator in a downstream air dryer. In the article by Sommer and Aust “IR Drying Concepts for High Energy Yield” (Weekly paper for Paper Production 22, 1997) a so-called integral dryer is featured, whereby an air dryer that utilizes the waste heat from the infrared radiators is located immediately following an infrared dryer, thereby increasing the drying efficiency. To this end, air is blown against the web in the location of the IR radiators and subsequently sucked off. This heated air that is loaded with water vapor is subsequently used as dryer air in the following air dryer.
[0005] In drying coated paper or cardboard webs it became evident that problems occur in the finished product, for example with regard to printability, if the evaporation rate during drying exceeds predetermined values.
[0006] What is needed in the art is a drying method and a dryer device permitting intensive drying at a high level of efficiency, over as short as possible a web length of coated paper or cardboard webs, without impairing the quality of the finished product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention provides operating the air dryer in such a manner that the coefficient of heat transfer between the dryer air and the web, viewed in direction of web travel progresses in an ascending way.
[0008] The present invention comprises, in one form thereof, a method and apparatus for drying a moving material web, including pre-drying the web in an infrared dryer including at least one infrared radiator and drying the web in an air dryer including dryer air, the air dryer operated such that a heat transfer coefficient between the dryer air and the web progresses in an ascending way as viewed in the direction of web travel.
[0009] On passing the web through the air dryer, the drying process is initially carried out at a low and then at a successively increasing heat transfer coefficient. The relatively low heat transfer coefficient at the beginning of the drying process (convection drying) results in that the sudden increase in the evaporation rate at the beginning of the convection drying process in known integral dryers turns out to be considerably lower. Exceeding the limiting value of the evaporation rate that would affect the quality of the finished product is hereby avoided. After the evaporation rate has decreased sufficiently due to the reduction in web temperature, drying is carried out with an increased heat transfer coefficient, so that the same drying rate is achieved, compared to the dryer length of known dryer systems.
[0010] Convection drying in the air dryer is preferably conducted in several stages. The air dryer includes several nozzles extending transversely across the web and positioned in tandem, viewed in direction of web travel, that are operated in such a manner so that the heat transfer coefficient increases gradually.
[0011] The increase of the heat transfer coefficient is preferably brought about in that the area specific air stream, that is the air volume per time and web surface, increases in each stage of the air dryer.
[0012] Alternatively, other parameters that influence the heat transfer coefficient can be changed, for example the air flow velocity.
[0013] An advantage of the present invention is high intensity drying at a high level of efficiency, over as short as possible a web length of coated paper or cardboard webs, without impairing the quality of the finished product.
[0014] Yet another advantage is that the heat transfer coefficient increases gradually in the direction of web travel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a known integral dryer;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a dryer according to the present invention;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 3 is a graph showing the progression of the evaporation rate during drying, as a comparison between known drying methods (curve 1) and drying methods (curve 2) according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4 is a graph showing a corresponding comparison of web temperatures during drying for known drying methods (curve 1) and drying methods (curve 2) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 2, there is shown an embodiment of the dryer system according to the present invention including infrared dryer 1 , followed by air dryer 2 viewed in direction of web travel L (from left to right in the drawings). Infrared dryer 1 includes several ( 4 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2) dryer units 3 , that each contain rows of infrared radiators 4 that are provided with aligned radiating surfaces 4 a . Infrared radiators 4 are heated with a fluid-air mixture, preferably with a gas-air mixture. At each of dryer units 3 air is blown in the direction of web B through nozzles 5 on one side. The air that is loaded with exhausts from the radiators 4 and with water vapor is sucked off through suction ports 6 at the other side of each dryer unit 3 .
[0022] The downstream air dryer 2 includes several ( 4 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2) air nozzles 7 that are positioned in direction of web travel L at a distance from each other and extend transversely across the width of web B. Dryer air 8 that is supplied via a common air hood 9 is blown from the air nozzles 7 against the web surface. Suction ports 12 through which the air that is loaded with water vapor is sucked off are located on the underside of air hood 9 , between air nozzles 7 . Air dryer 2 for drying a coated web B should preferably be in the embodiment of a floatation dryer. In a floatation dryer air nozzles 7 are located above and below web B, through which drying air 8 is blown against the free floating web B. Single sided installations are also possible.
[0023] Integral dryer 20 including infrared dryer 1 and air dryer 2 is operated in a manner so that the exhaust air AL from infrared dryer 1 is utilized as dryer air 8 in air dryer 2 . Air dryer 2 in the design example does not feature its own air heating apparatus, so that the total drying energy is produced by radiators 4 .
[0024] Alternatively, it is also possible to equip air dryer 2 with its own air heating apparatus and to mix exhaust air AL from infrared dryer 1 with the produced hot hair HL.
[0025] Integral dryer 30 illustrated in FIG. 1 is known and is described in the article by Sommer and Aust “IR Drying Concepts for High Energy Yield” (Weekly paper for paper production 22, 1997). In integral dryer 30 the same flow of dryer air 8 is emitted from each air nozzle 7 of air dryer 2 . This is indicated in FIG. 1 by the arrows 8 that are of consistent length, in contrast with an embodiment of the present invention wherein, in the direction of web travel L, increasing flow of dryer air 8 is emitted from air nozzles 7 as shown by arrows 8 of increasing length in FIG. 2.
[0026] With the exception of the differences described below, integral dryer 20 according to the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is consistent with the already known integral dryer 30 in FIG. 1. Integral dryer 20 according to the present invention includes air dryer 2 that is equipped with adjustment elements to adjust the heat transfer coefficient between dryer air 8 and web B in direction of web travel L progressively increasing. An increasing heat transfer coefficient during drying is achieved preferably by progressively increasing the area specific flow of dryer air 8 (that is the air volume per time and m 2 of web surface) over the length of air dryer 2 . For this purpose air nozzles 7 that are positioned behind each other are equipped with adjustment elements permitting adjustment of the flow of dryer air 8 that is emitted from them as shown by the extending arrow lengths at dryer air 8 in FIG. 2 thereby providing an ascending gradient 18 . Preferably, adjustment elements take the form of each air nozzle 7 equipped at its air intake with air valve 10 that serves to adjust the stream of dryer air 8 flowing from air hood 9 into air nozzle 7 , and thereby also the volume of dryer air 8 flowing from air nozzle 7 . Alternatively, or in addition, it is possible to configure the outlet cross section 14 of nozzles ports 11 of each air nozzle 7 variably, so that the flow of dryer air 8 can be progressively increased along the length of the air dryer 2 as shown by the extending arrow lengths at 8 .
[0027] If it is advantageous for the drying characteristics, air stream 13 that is sucked off between air nozzles 7 and taken away from web B can be adapted to the inlet air coming from air nozzles 7 . This can be realized for example by mounting perforated plates 12 a that are equipped with suction ports 12 between air nozzles 7 on the underside of air hood 9 . The suction port cross section 15 of suction ports 12 and/or the number of suction ports 12 might increase in direction of web travel L to achieve an increased suction cross section 16 .
[0028] [0028]FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the different drying progression between the already known dryer 30 according to FIG. 1 (curve 1) and an embodiment of dryer 20 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2 (curve 2). FIG. 3 illustrates the evaporation rate along the dryer length (shown in machine direction MD) and FIG. 4 illustrates the web temperature along the dryer length.
[0029] As can be seen from FIG. 3, in the already known dryer 30 the evaporation rate increases suddenly at the beginning of air dryer 2 and then drops off continuously. In contrast, in dryer 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention, drying occurs at a relatively low heat transfer coefficient at the beginning of air dryer 2 , so that the evaporation rate increases considerably less and remains below the predetermined limits, for example 250 kg/hm 2 . Subsequently drying occurs at an increased heat transfer coefficient in second air nozzle 7 due to the increased flow of dryer air 8 , so that the evaporation rate increases in this area. Correspondingly, the heat transfer coefficient in the subsequent air nozzles 7 is increased through a further increased flow of dryer air 8 , so that a saw tooth type declining progression of the evaporation rate occurs. Since higher evaporation rates occur in dryer 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention toward the end of air dryer 2 , compared to the already known dryer 30 , the total efficiencies of the two dryers essentially coincide. FIG. 4 shows that the web temperature in dryer 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention drops at a slower rate than in the already known dryer 30 of FIG. 1.
[0030] While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims. | A method and apparatus for drying a moving material web, including pre-drying the web in an infrared dryer including at least one infrared radiator and drying the web in an air dryer including a dryer air, the air dryer operated such that a heat transfer coefficient between the dryer air and the web progresses in an ascending way as viewed in the direction of web travel. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates generally to the conversion of biomass to oxygenated hydrocarbons. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved biomass feed system or process for conveying biomass to a reactor for conversion to oxygenated hydrocarbons.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Pyrolysis, in particular flash pyrolysis, has been proposed as a process for converting solid biomass material to liquid products. Pyrolysis in general refers to a process in which a feedstock is heated in an oxygen-poor or oxygen-free atmosphere. If solid biomass is used as the feedstock of a pyrolysis process, the process produces gaseous, liquid, and solid products.
[0005] Charging solid biomass to a reactor in an even and continuous manner poses numerous technical challenges. One such challenge is the pulsing of the biomass due in part to feed compaction during conveyance. Another challenge concerns the continuous re-charging of the biomass feed hopper in a pressurized system.
[0006] Thus, it is desirable to develop improved methods/systems for charging solid biomass to a reactor in an even and continuous manner.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a process is provided including the steps of:
a) providing a spool piece having a pressure vent, an inlet valve and an outlet valve; wherein the outlet valve is connected in fluid flow communication with a reactor; b) closing the outlet valve; c) opening the inlet valve; d) charging a quantity of the solid particulate biomass material to the spool piece through the inlet valve at a pressure P 1 ; e) closing the inlet valve; f) pressurizing the spool piece to a pressure P 2 , wherein P 2 is greater than P 1 ; g) opening the outlet valve and conveying the quantity of the solid particulate biomass material to the reactor operated at or below pressure P 2 ; h) closing the outlet valve; i) opening the pressure vent to reduce the pressure in the spool piece to P 1 ; and j) closing the pressure vent.
[0018] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a process/system is provided including the steps of:
a) providing a spool piece having a pressure vent, an inlet valve and an outlet valve; b) providing a vibratory feeder connected in fluid flow communication with the outlet valve; c) providing a reactor-mounted solids conveyer connected in fluid flow communication with the vibratory feeder and with a reactor; d) closing the outlet valve; e) opening the inlet valve; f) charging a quantity of the solid particulate biomass material to the spool piece through the inlet valve at a pressure P 1 ; g) closing the inlet valve; h) pressurizing the spool piece to a pressure P 2 , wherein P 2 is greater than P 1 ; i) opening the outlet valve and conveying the quantity of the solid particulate biomass material to the vibratory feeder; j) conveying the quantity of the solid particulate biomass material to the reactor-mounted solids conveyer for charging to the reactor operated at a pressure at or below P 2 ; k) opening the pressure vent to reduce the pressure in the spool piece to P 1 ; and l) closing the pressure vent.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] The features and advantages of the invention will be appreciated upon reference to the following drawings, in which:
[0032] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
[0034] FIG. 3 is a section taken across line 3 - 3 of FIG. 2 showing in greater detail certain features and details of the feed system/process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0035] The biomass material useful in the current invention can be any biomass capable of being converted to liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.
[0036] Preferred are solid biomass materials comprising cellulose, in particular lignocellulosic materials, because of the abundant availability of such materials, and their low cost. Examples of suitable solid biomass materials include forestry wastes, such as wood chips and saw dust; agricultural waste, such as straw, corn stover, sugar cane bagasse, municipal waste, in particular yard waste, paper, and'card board; energy crops such as switch grass, coppice, eucalyptus; and aquatic materials such as algae; and the like.
[0037] An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 .
[0038] A process/system 100 is provided and comprises, consists of, or consists essentially of:
a) providing a spool piece 102 having a pressure vent 104 , an inlet valve 106 , and an outlet valve 108 connected in fluid flow communication with a reactor 112 via a conduit 114 ; b) closing outlet valve 108 ; c) opening inlet valve 106 ; d) charging a quantity of solid particulate biomass material to spool piece 102 through conduit 110 and inlet valve 106 at a pressure P 1 ; e) closing inlet valve 106 ; f) pressurizing spool piece 102 to a pressure P 2 , wherein P 2 is greater than P 1 ; g) opening outlet valve 108 and conveying the quantity of solid particulate biomass material to reactor 112 via conduit 114 , wherein reactor 112 is operated at or below pressure P 2 ; h) closing outlet valve 108 ; i) opening pressure vent 104 to reduce the pressure in spool piece 102 to P 1 ; and j) closing pressure vent 104 .
[0049] Steps c) through j) are preferably repeated at least once.
[0050] Pressure P 1 can be equal to or less than atmospheric pressure. Pressure P 2 can be greater than atmospheric pressure, and can be greater than 20 psia.
[0051] The process/system 100 can also include a hopper 116 connected in fluid flow communication with a solids conveyer 118 which is connected in fluid flow communication with inlet valve 106 via conduit 110 . Solid particulate biomass material can be passed from hopper 116 to spool piece 102 by solids conveyer 118 and conduit 110 . Solids conveyer 118 can be a screw feeder.
[0052] The process/system 100 can also include the measurement of the mass flow rate of the solid particulate biomass material to reactor 112 . Hopper 116 and solids conveyer 118 can rest on a mass measuring device 120 selected from the group consisting of a scale or a load cell, and the mass flow rate can be measured by monitoring the weight of the solid particulate biomass material entering hopper 116 and leaving solids conveyer 118 using mass measuring device 120 .
[0053] Conduit 114 can be a screw feeder for conveying the solid particulate biomass into reactor 112 . A pressurized gas stream can be charged to conduit 114 to provide a constant flow of gas to reactor 112 . Reactor 112 can be a riser reactor, a fluid bed reactor, a moving bed reactor, or a cyclone reactor.
[0054] An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 .
[0055] A process/system 200 is provided and comprises, consists of, or consists essentially of:
a) providing a spool piece 202 having a pressure vent 204 , an inlet valve 206 , and an outlet valve 208 ; b) providing a vibratory feeder 210 connected in fluid flow communication with outlet valve 208 via a conduit 212 ; c) providing a reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 connected in fluid flow communication with vibratory feeder 210 and with a reactor 218 (optionally, reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 is connected in fluid flow communication with reactor 218 via a conduit 220 ); d) closing outlet valve 208 ; e) opening inlet valve 206 ; f) charging a quantity of solid particulate biomass material to spool piece 202 through conduit 214 and inlet valve 206 at a pressure P 1 ; g) closing inlet valve 206 ; h) pressurizing spool piece 202 to a pressure P 2 , wherein P 2 is greater than P 1 ; i) opening outlet valve 208 and conveying the quantity of solid particulate biomass material to vibratory feeder 210 via conduit 212 ; j) closing outlet valve 208 ; k) conveying the quantity of solid particulate biomass material to reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 for charging to reactor 218 operated at a pressure at or below P 2 ; l) opening pressure vent 204 to reduce the pressure in spool piece 202 to P 1 ; and m) closing pressure vent 204 .
[0069] Steps e) through m) are preferably repeated at least once.
[0070] Pressure P 1 can be equal to or less than atmospheric pressure. Pressure P 2 can be greater than atmospheric pressure, and can be greater than 20 psia.
[0071] The process/system 200 can also include a hopper 222 connected in fluid flow communication with a hopper-mounted solids conveyer 224 connected in fluid flow communication with inlet valve 206 via conduit 214 . Solid particulate biomass material can be passed from hopper 222 to spool piece 202 by hopper-mounted solids conveyer 224 and conduit 214 . Hopper-mounted solids conveyer 224 can be a screw feeder.
[0072] The process/system 200 can also include the measurement of the mass flow rate of the solid particulate biomass material to reactor 218 . Hopper 222 and hopper-mounted solids conveyer 224 can rest on a mass measuring device 226 selected from the group consisting of a scale or a load cell, and the mass flow rate can be measured by monitoring the weight of the solid particulate biomass material entering hopper 222 and leaving solids conveyer 224 using mass measuring device 226 .
[0073] The vibratory feeder can comprise a bowl 228 and an outlet spout 230 extending tangentially from said bowl 228 , which are both subjected to vibration. In such embodiment, the outlet valve 208 is connected in fluid flow communication with bowl 228 , and the outlet spout 230 is connected in fluid flow communication with reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 . The bowl 228 can be an open bowl. Also, the outlet valve 208 , vibratory feeder 210 , and reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 can be sealed together in a pressure zone.
[0074] As shown in FIG. 3 , the conveying of the quantity of solid particulate biomass material to vibratory feeder 210 in step i) can comprise charging the quantity of solid particulate biomass material 232 to bowl 228 . The vibration of bowl 228 causes at least a portion of the quantity of solid particulate biomass material 232 to migrate to the edge of bowl 228 and to circumferentially travel about the edge of bowl 228 , forming into a substantially uniform annular thickness of solid particulate biomass material prior to removal from bowl 228 through spout 230 .
[0075] Reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 can be a screw feeder for conveying the solid particulate biomass into reactor 218 . A pressurized gas stream can be charged to reactor-mounted solids conveyer 216 to provide a constant flow of gas to reactor 218 . Reactor 218 can be a riser reactor, a fluid bed reactor, a moving bed reactor, or a cyclone reactor.
[0076] Vibratory feeder 210 can oscillate at a frequency between 1 and 60 hertz.
[0077] The variation in mass flow rate of the solid particulate biomass material, at steady state conditions, can be within plus or minus about 10%, or within plus or minus about 5%, or within plus or minus about 2.5%.
[0078] A solid inorganic material, which can be a catalyst, can be mixed with the solid particulate biomass material prior to feeding to spool piece ( 102 or 202 ).
[0079] The catalyst can be selected from the group consisting of: a solid base, a clay, an inorganic oxide, an inorganic hydroxide, a zeolite, a supported metal, and combinations thereof. The solid base can be selected from the group consisting of: hydrotalcite; a hydrotalcite-like material; a clay; a layered hydroxy salt; a metal oxide; a metal hydroxide; a mixed metal oxide; or a mixture thereof.
[0080] The catalyst can also be an equilibrium catalyst (“E-cat”) from a fluid catalytic cracking (“FCC”) unit of an oil refinery. The term refers to catalyst material that has, on average, circulated in the FCC unit for a considerable length of time. The term is used to distinguish fresh catalyst, which has not been exposed to the environment of the FCC unit, and which has much greater catalytic activity than the E-cat. The term E-cat also refers to catalyst material that is removed from the FCC unit, to be replaced with fresh catalyst. This spent catalyst is a waste product from oil refineries, and as such abundantly available at low cost. It has been found that the reduced catalytic activity of E-cat is in fact of particular advantage in the pyrolysis process.
[0081] Preferably, the mean particle diameter of the solid particulate biomass material is less than about 500 μm, and more preferably less than about 125 μm.
[0082] The solid particulate biomass material can also be subjected to pretreatment prior to charging to the spool piece ( 102 or 202 ). The pretreatment can comprise a method selected from the group consisting of: a) drying; b) heat treatment in an oxygen-poor or oxygen-free atmosphere; c) solvent explosion; d) mechanical treatment with catalyst particles which can be carried out in a mixer, a mill, a grinder, or a kneader; e) demineralization; f) swelling in an aqueous solvent; g) impregnation of catalytic agents, mineral acids, organic acids, mineral bases; or h) a combination thereof.
[0083] Demineralization may be accomplished by swelling the solid particulate biomass material with an aqueous solvent, and subsequently removing at least part of the aqueous solvent by mechanical action. Examples of suitable mechanical action include kneading, and pressing, such as in a filter press.
[0084] Suitable examples of mechanical action include kneading, grinding, milling, and shredding. In a preferred embodiment the mechanical action is carried out in the presence of a particulate inorganic material, preferably a catalyst for the subsequent pyrolysis reaction.
[0085] The mechanical treatment described above can form an activated feed: a) coated with said catalyst particles, or b) having said catalyst particles embedded therein, or c) both a) and b).
[0086] The term “solvent explosion” refers to a process by which the solid particulate biomass material is contacted with a solvent in its liquid form, under pressure, at a temperature which is above the normal boiling point of the solvent. After the solvent is allowed to penetrate the solid particulate biomass material, the pressure is released precipitously, resulting in a rapid evaporation of the solvent. The resulting pressure build-up in the pores of the solid particulate biomass material can result in a rupturing of the structure of the solid particulate biomass material, making it more susceptible to the subsequent size reduction and pyrolysis reaction.
[0087] The heat treatment can be at a temperature in the range of from 90 to 300° C. In one preferred embodiment the heat treatment is at a temperature in the range of from 90 to 200° C., more preferably from 110 to 160° C. The heat treatment results in a modification of the structure of the solid particulate biomass material, making it significantly more susceptible to mechanical action.
[0088] Examples of suitable materials for impregnation into the biomass include sulfuric acid; ammonia; alkali metal and earth alkaline hydroxides; alkali metal and earth alkaline carbonates; hydrochloric acid; acetic acid; and the like. It should be noted that acetic acid, together with the other lower carboxylic acids (formic acid; propionic acid), although organic materials, are considered inorganic acids in this context.
[0089] While the technology has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims. | Disclosed is a process for conveying solid particulate biomass material to a reactor including: charging a quantity of solid particulate biomass material to a spool piece at a pressure P 1 ; pressurizing the spool piece to a pressure P 2 , wherein P 2 is greater than P 1 ; conveying the solid particulate biomass material either directly to a reactor operated at or below P 2 or first to a vibratory feeder and then to such reactor; isolating the spool piece from the vibratory feeder and or reactor and reducing the pressure in the spool piece to P 1 ; and repeating these steps at least once. The vibratory feeder can include a bowl and an outlet spout extending tangentially from the bowl. Optionally, a hopper and a hopper-mounted solids conveyer, both resting on a mass measuring device, can be used to feed the solid particulate biomass material to the spool piece. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This Application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/495,109, filed May 6, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,607,572, which is a 371 of PCT/US02/36644, having a filing date of Nov. 12, 2002, and which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/358,996, filed Feb. 21, 2002 and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/338,427, filed Nov. 9, 2001.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to network management technology. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method of policy publication, diffusion and enforcement for management of large-scale networks of computational devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Information technology (IT) administrators in enterprises everywhere face a daunting task of managing the software and hardware on tens, hundreds, or thousands of machines in their domains. With so many incompatibilities, patches, and policy advisories announced daily, the task is much more than just acquisition and installation. Even simply keeping aware of all potentially problematic situations on hardware and software products used in an enterprise requires more than a full-time job. Dealing with those situations in response to user complaints adds still further taxing demands. Thus it is required that IT managers must anticipate the situations which may soon arise in a specific enterprise and make plans to deal with those before they cause major problems. This creates an urgent need of a technique which enables the IT managers to understand the configuration of the hardware and software in a given intranet, to keep track of the policy advisories, updates, incompatibilities and patches relevant to the specific enterprise, and to match those policy advisories, updates, and patches with the specific equipment in the enterprise.
Donoho et al disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,664 a technique which enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process. This process allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols because, for example, under other protocols the targeting requires each potential recipient to reveal sensitive information, or under other protocols the targeting requires each potential recipient to reveal information obtainable after extensive calculations using data available only upon intimate knowledge of the consumer computer, its contents, and local environment.
This process enables efficient solutions to a variety of problems in modern life, including the automated technical support of modern computers. In the technical support application, the disclosed invention allows a provider to reach precisely those specific computers in a large consumer population which exhibit a specific combination of hardware, software, system settings, data, and local environment, and to offer the users of those computers appropriate remedies to correct problems known to affect computers in such situations.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a communications system for computed relevant messaging according to the prior art. A user directs an advice reader running on his computer 101 to subscribe to three advice provider sites 103 - 105 . The corresponding advice is brought into his computer in the form of digital documents, where the advice reader inspects the advisories for relevance. These digital documents are called advisories. The transfer from Internet 102 to computer is entirely one-way. No information about the user's machine goes back to the advice provider. An advice typically comprises three parts: (1) a relevance clause written in relevance language which is evaluated by the advice reader to determine the relevance of the advice; (2) a message body for providing explanatory material explaining to an advice consumer as to what condition is relevant, why the advice consumer is concerned, and what action is recommended; and (3) an action button for providing the advice consumer with the ability to invoke an automatic execution of a recommended action.
Whereas in the consumer setting it is acceptable for the computer user to be in control of the process, learning which problems exist and applying the fixes, in the enterprise setting it is often the case that end user administration of computers is frowned upon. Instead, computers are often managed centrally, and a system administrator is in charge of keeping configurations workable and avoiding enterprise-wide problems.
What is desired is a technique that provides centralized advice management in a large-scale network of computers.
What is further desired is that such technique provides a management interface that can display relevant advisories of all computers in the network and deploy suggested actions to all relevant computers.
What is still further desired is that such management interface allows a system administrator to manage subscription of advice provider sites, monitor status of deployed actions and monitor status of computers in the network.
What is still further desired is that such technique can automatically apply the required management tasks to fix problems on susceptible machines before they occur.
SUMMARY
A system and method for centralized advice management of large-scale networks is provided, wherein a number of distributed clients run on registered computers, gathering advisories and report relevance to a central server. A system administrator may view the relevant messages through a management interface and deploy suggested actions to distributed clients where the actions are executed to apply the solutions of the advisories.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a centralized advice management system is disclosed, which includes a plurality of distributed clients, a central server, a central database, and a management interface. The distributed clients gather advisories from a plurality of advice provider sites and report relevance of advisories to the central server. A system administrator may view the details of relevant advisories and deploy the suggested actions to distributed clients of relevant computers, where the actions are executed to apply solutions provided by the advisories.
In another equally preferred embodiment, a centralized advice management system is disclosed, which includes a plurality of distributed clients, a mirror server, a central server, a central database, and a management interface.
In another equally preferred embodiment, a centralized advice management system having a distributed client is disclosed, in which the distributed client comprises various components performing functions such as gathering advisories, authenticating advisories, evaluating relevance of advisories, registering a computer to a central server, reporting relevance to the central server, listening messages from the central server, gathering deployed actions from the central server, and executing deployed actions.
In another equally preferred embodiment, a method for providing centralized advice management for large-scale computer networks is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of:
The distributed clients on the computers register to a central server; A system administrator subscribes registered computers to advice provider sites; The distributed clients gather advisories from subscribed advice provider sites; The distributed clients report relevance to the central server; The system administrator views relevant advisories using a management interface; The system administrator deploys actions suggested by the advisories to the distributed clients; and The distributed clients execute the deployed actions to apply the solutions of the advisories.
The method may further comprise a step to manage subscription of advice provider sites to the distributed clients. It may further comprise a step to monitor the status of deployed actions. Alternatively, it may further comprise a step to monitor the status of registered computers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a communications system for computed relevant messaging;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a typical advice management system in large-scale computer networks according to the invention;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another advice management system in large-scale networks according to the invention;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of a distributed client according to the invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of a management interface according to the invention;
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 600 for providing centralized advice management according to the invention;
FIG. 6A is a flow diagram illustrating an additional step for the method 600 according to the invention;
FIG. 6B is a flow diagram illustrating another step for the method 600 according to the invention; and
FIG. 6C is a flow diagram illustrating another step for the method 600 according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Centralized Advice Management System
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an advice management system in large-scale computer networks according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. The centralized advice management system comprises a plurality of distributed clients 201 - 203 ; a central server 222 , a central database 223 , and a management interface 224 .
A distributed client is installed on every machine to manage under the system. Each of the distributed clients accesses a plurality of advice provider sites 211 - 213 through the Internet 221 and receives a pool of advisories that specify known problematic conditions. The client also monitors the configuration and status of the computer on which it is installed to see if any of predefined conditions arises, and sends to the central server 222 a message when such a condition arises. The distributed client communicates with the central server 222 on a regular basis, according to several defined interactions, and may obtain messages from the central server 222 specifying actions that the distributed client needs to perform, modifying the computer. Ordinarily, the distributed client operates silently, without any direct intervention from the end user of the computer.
The central server 222 comprises a collection of interacting applications including a Web server, CGI-BIN applications, and a database server. The central server coordinates the relay of information to and from individual computers, the storage and retrieval of information about individual computers, and the presentation of information for the system administrator. Ordinarily, the central server components operate silently, without any direct intervention from the administrator. In the moderate-sized deployments, the server processes are hosted by a single server. In the large-scale deployments, it may be useful to segment the server into processes running on separate servers, or to separate the network into several administrative sub-domains.
The central database 223 stores data about individual computers, about advisories that are actively being monitored, and about the history and action status. The central server's interactions primarily affect this database, which typically is a standard Microsoft product (based on the MSDE or SQL Server database engine).
The management interface 224 is an application that constitutes the only visible part of the management system in ordinary operation. It gives the system administrator an overview of the status of the computers in the network, identifying which, if any, of them might exhibit a certain problem or condition, and mandating that those computers, or a subset or them, take actions to correct the situation. The management interface 224 can run on any machine with network access to the central server 222 .
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an advice management system in large-scale networks of computers according to another preferred embodiment of the invention. The system includes a plurality of distributed clients 301 - 303 , a mirror server 304 , a central server 322 , a central database 323 , and a management interface 324 .
A distributed client is installed on every machine to manage under the system of the invention. Each of the distributed clients 301 - 303 accesses the mirror server 304 to gathering advice messages. The distributed client also monitors the configuration and status of the computer on which it is installed to see if any of the predefined conditions arises, and sends the central server 322 a message when such a condition arises. The distributed client communicates with the central server 322 on a regular basis, according to several defined interactions, and may obtain messages from the central server 322 specifying actions that the distributed client needs to perform to modify the computer. Ordinarily, the distributed client operates silently, without any direct intervention from the computer end user.
The mirror server 304 gathers advice messages from a plurality of advice provider sites 311 - 313 through the Internet 321 and receives a pool of advisories that specify known problematic conditions.
The central server 322 is a collection of interacting applications including a Web server, CGI-BIN applications, and database server. The central server coordinates the relay of information to and from individual computers, the storage and retrieval of information about individual computers, and the presentation of information for the system administrator.
The central database 323 stores data about individual computers, about advisories that are actively being monitored, and about the history and action status. The central server's interactions primarily affect this database, which typically is a standard Microsoft product (based on the MSDE or SQL Server database engine).
The management interface 324 is an application that constitutes the only visible part of the management system in ordinary operation. It is basically a management interface that gives the system administrator an overview of the status of the computers in the network, identifying which, if any, of them might exhibit a certain problem or condition, and mandating that those computers, or a subset or them, take actions to correct the situation.
The Distributed Client
The distributed client is installed on every machine managed under the advice management system. It is responsible for gathering advisories, studying the configuration of the machine on which it is running, and determining whether any of the advisories is relevant to that computer's configuration. The distributed client communicates relevance status to the central server and executes actions mandated from the management interface. Yet in spite of its power and sophistication, the distributed client is typically a small application, for example, approximately 2MB, intended to place an imperceptible load on managed computers, to use few network resources, to be secure and reliable, and to require essentially no management, e.g., certainly no end-user or on-site management.
The distributed client has eight distinguishable functions in the advice management system according to the invention. These functions are summarized in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Functions of Distributed Client
Gather
Gather advisories from advice provider sites.
Authenticate
Verify message authenticity.
Evaluate
Check advisories against computer configuration for
relevance.
Register
Identify computer to central server.
Report
Report computer relevance event to central server.
Listen
Listen for messages from central server.
Gather actions
Gather action requests from central server.
Act
Execute action to change computer configuration.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of a distributed client 400 according to another preferred embodiment of the invention. The functions include: gather advisories 401 , authenticate advisories 402 , evaluate relevance 403 , register 404 , report 405 , listen 406 , gather actions 407 , and perform actions 408 .
Gather Advisories 401
The system administrator uses the management interface to subscribe computers in the organization to various advice provider sites. It is the job of the distributed client to connect to the sites periodically and synchronize its local advice content with the content at those sites. To do so, the distributed client looks in each site's masthead file. The masthead files are kept on the computer in the folder in which the distributed client is installed. From the masthead file, the distributed client extracts the URL for the location from which content is served. It then uses HTTP commands to obtain any new advice content.
Authenticate Messages 402
The distributed client checks that the advice content is authentic, i.e. digitally signed by the true owner of the advice provider site.
Evaluate Relevance 403
The distributed client parses the advisories and learns what aspects of the computer configuration need to be evaluated to determine the relevance of those advisories. Then the distributed client scans the computer configuration to determine whether the actual configuration matches the relevance clause. It is important to note that this scanning takes place periodically, so that as the system configuration changes, the result of relevance evaluation can change as well.
Register 404
The computer running the distributed client needs not be restricted to be always on or to be in one place, or even within one virtual LAN. To accommodate such dynamic behavior, the management system needs the distributed client to identify itself to the central server when it is running and ready to communicate. This process is called registration. The management system assigns the distributed client a unique computer ID to identify itself in communications.
Report 405
When the distributed client detects that some advice has become relevant, it reports to the central server that a relevance event has occurred. It identifies the advice that became relevant along with its own computer ID.
Listen 406
The distributed client listens to the messages sent to it from the central server (by default on port 6603). These messages can contain either the computer ID from the registration process or certain process requests, such as a request to “gather actions now,” as described below.
Gather Actions 407
In response to receiving information indicating a relevance event from the distributed client, the system administrator sees a recommended action at the management interface. If the administrator decides to propagate the action, action requests are placed at the action site. Distributed clients gather action requests from the action site on a periodic basis, and sometimes, in response to prompts from the central server, can also gather requests outside the usual schedule.
Perform Actions 408
Upon receiving an authenticated action request, the distributed client performs the requested action.
Note that the distributed client goes beyond the consumer procedure to include the steps of registration, reporting, listening, and gathering actions. These reflect the needs and desires of system administrators in the enterprise setting.
The Management Interface
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of a management interface 500 according to another preferred embodiment of the invention. The management interface 500 is the visible component of the management system, used by the system administrator to maintain the computers throughout the enterprise. The main functions include: manage subscriptions 501 , display advice messages 502 , deploy actions 503 , monitor actions 504 , and monitor computer status 505 .
Manage Subscriptions 501
The advice management system accesses advice content that has been created by a content provider outside the enterprise, for example a hardware or software supplies, and brings it from the advice provider site into the enterprise. The advice management system may subscribe to some predefined sites during initial setup. For access to any other advice provider sites besides those that are set up automatically, a system administrator has to initiate subscriptions to those sites.
There are presently two ways to initiate a subscription to an advice provider site. The first way is to provide, through advisories delivered from already subscribed sites, recommendations of enterprise advice provider sites appropriate to the computers in the enterprise. The system administrator can then simply double-click the appropriate action link in the advice message body, and the subscription is to be initiated.
The other way to initiate a subscription requires more conceptual understanding. In general, initiating a subscription requires that a masthead file for that advice provider site be obtained from the intended content provider, and that the file be appropriately announced to the management interface. As with the central server masthead file, the masthead file for the advice provider site contains information about the URL of the server and the frequency of the site operations and it is to be digitally signed. However, unlike the central server masthead file, the masthead file is signed not by the enterprise but rather by the content provider organization.
If the system administrator knows of an advice provider site that offers content for the distributed client and wants to subscribe the management system to use that content, he can obtain the masthead file through a Web browser download. There is generally a Web page, at a well-known Web site or at the content provider's Web site, containing a hyperlink to the masthead file. By double-clicking the link, the masthead file is downloaded from the site to the computer running the Web browser.
The administrator is now ready to initiate the subscription using the management interface. The administrator then selects to which computers in the enterprise he wants to subscribe as the advice provider site. He may subscribe all distributed clients to the site, or a subset based on machine characteristics. He may select a frequency for the distributed clients to check in with the advice provider site and gather new advisories, which typically is daily synchronization, but other options are also available.
The subscription of distributed clients to advice provider sites can be modified through the management interface along with the advice gathering frequency. If a subscription is not useful, the system administrator may also cancel it by removing the advice provider site from the list of those subscribed to.
Display Advisories 502
When advisories become relevant somewhere on the network, the management interface can be used to view summary information about these messages. The summary information may include: (1) The advice name and numeric advice ID, both assigned to the advice message by the advice author; (2) The advice provider site from which the advice originated; and (3) The number of computers in the network to which this message is relevant.
The administrator may also look at the detailed information of a message using the management interface, which typically includes the list of relevant computers, an English-language explanation of the problem and an action providing an automatically solution.
Deploy Actions 503
When the administrator chooses to take a proposed action, he is given several options concerning its deployment which includes: target of action, action message, schedule of action, and execution control.
The target of action specifies the computers on which the action is to be deployed. The administrator may choose to deploy to all computers on the enterprise network, or all relevant computers, or manually selected computers. The action message requires an active user present when the action is run, to alert the user with a specified message, and to offer certain interactive features on the message display. The user may be able to look at the details of the proposed action and may cancel the proposed action.
The schedule of action allows the administrator to control when the deployed action runs on the targeted computers. The administrator may also specify an expiration time to impose a limitation on the lifetime of the action.
The execution control allows the administrator to control status of the action after invocation, retry of actions and certain post-action tasks. Once the administrator specifies these options, he enters the signing password to deploy the action.
Monitor Actions 504
After actions are scheduled, the central server attempts to signal individual computers that actions are waiting for them. Ideally, the distributed client gathers the action information from the action server and carries it out. In reality, some computers may be powered off and others may be mobile at the time of the signal, so at least some actions may not be executed immediately.
The management interface can be used to observe the status of deployed actions, whether pending, running, completed successfully or failed. The administrator can also view detailed information of the deployed actions such as the various options he specifies when the action is deployed. He can also stop a previously deployed action that has not yet finished running.
Monitor Computer Status 505
Although the advice management system is typically deployed as a mass preventive maintenance tool, it also has several features that allow for analysis and display of computer configuration information. In effect, the management interface can query computers in the enterprise network about a very large range of characteristics as configured by the administrator, and get real-time responses about those selected characteristics across all machines in the domain. The administrator can use relevance language to write expressions that can name a rather rich collection of properties of the software and hardware on the machine, and he can direct computers in the enterprise network to evaluate those expressions and return the resulting value.
The following example demonstrates that an “OS” computer property is actually generated by the relevance clause:
Name of operating system & “ ” & release of operating system & “ ” & build number of operating system as string.
It means that this property is actually a concatenation of three strings of information produced by suitable relevance expressions and separated by spaces.
The administrator can specify that new computer properties be added to the central database by specifying a name for the new property and entering the appropriate relevance clause, yielding an expression that each distributed client is then routinely evaluated. This may be very useful because it can access not only hardware characteristics but also registry entries and even data in specific files on the end-user computer.
After the new property is added, the distributed clients in the domain automatically compute the value of the corresponding relevance expression and return it to the central database.
The management interface can access a list of all the computers on the network. For each specific computer, the administrator may view retrieved properties, as well as information of subscription, relevance, relevant history, or action. The subscription information includes the advice provider sites to which the computer has subscribed. The relevant information includes a listing of advice messages that are currently relevant to the computer. The relevant history information includes a listing of all advice messages that have ever been relevant to the computer. The action information includes a listing of all actions that have ever been deployed to the computer.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method 600 for providing centralized advice management of large-scale computer networks according to one embodiment of the invention. A typical implementation of the method comprises the steps of:
Step 601 : The distributed client running on each computer registers to the central server; Step 602 : The administrator subscribes the computers to a plurality of advice provider sites using the management interface; Step 603 : The distributed client running on each computer gathers advisories from advice provider sites; Step 604 : The distributed client running on each computer reports relevant advisories to the central server; Step 605 : The administrator views details of relevant messages; Step 606 : The administrator deploys the actions to the distributed clients which are relevant to the advice; and Step 607 : The distributed client receiving the actions performs the action to follow the advice.
In another equally preferred embodiment, the method further comprises a step as showing in FIG. 6A :
Step 620 : The administrator monitors the status of actions deployed to each computer.
In another equally preferred embodiment, the method further comprises a step as showing in FIG. 6B :
Step 640 : The administrator monitors the status of each computer.
In another equally preferred embodiment, the method further comprises a step as showing in FIG. 6A :
Step 620 : The administrator manages the subscription of advice provider sites to each of the computers in the network.
Client/Server Communications
There are several modes of communication between the distributed client and various servers such as the advice provider servers, the mirror server, the registration server, the reporting server, and the action server.
The advice provider servers are Web servers offering advice provider site subscriptions. They can be either local to the enterprise network or external to the network provided the direct external Web access is allowed.
In many enterprises, direct Web access is not available. Instead, a proxy server is used. In many cases, the proxy requires password-level authentication. For such enterprises, the embodiment of the system requires installing and running a mirror server. This also provides bandwidth management advantages.
The registration server is a component of the central server, which processes the registration requests from distributed clients and the server-to-client communication requests from other components of the central server. Reporting server is also a component of the central server, which processes reports of relevance events from individual computers and passes them on to the central database.
The action server is also a component of the central server, which receives action requests from the management interface and serves them up to individual distributed clients.
Although these components are described separately here, they are often physically hosted on one machine. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the system can be easily reconfigured so that, for example, the mirror server, the reporting server, and the action servers are on their own server box. The ability to decompose the system in this way can be an important feature for scalability in terms of both network bandwidth use and the number of supported computers within a deployment, and can also be useful for administrative segmentation.
For the advice provider site URLs, the distributed client looks in the masthead files located in its install folder. The other servers are all reached through URLs recorded in the central server masthead file, located in the registry. These masthead files are all under the control of the management interface.
The specific modes of communication between the distributed client and these servers include advice gather traffic, registration traffic, reporting traffic and action traffic.
When mirroring is disabled, the distributed client uses HTTP to access each advice provider server directly. Mirroring involves first a request for a directory listing that tells the distributed client what content is available at the site; the distributed client requests whatever content is new, and the advice provider server sends a single advice digest containing all requested content. The typical size of such a message is no more than about 2 kilobytes per advice.
When mirroring is enabled, the distributed client uses HTTP to access the mirror server directly, making a request for the content that would have been delivered by a (hypothetical) direct access over the Internet to the specific advice provider site. If the mirror server is internal to the LAN, this saves on Internet access charges and offers what is considered improved security. In a network in which computers are not allowed to access the Internet directly without password authorization, mirroring must be enabled.
The distributed client uses HTTP to send to the registration server the distributed client's previous computer ID and ancillary information. The distributed client sends its previous computer ID and ancillary information to the registration server via HTTP. The registration server responds by sending a UDP message to the distributed client (by default to port 6603), indicating the distributed client's new computer ID and ancillary information.
The distributed client sends the reporting server a simple text file using an HTTP POST operation. The text file contains, in a transparent format, a list of all changes in relevance status on that computer since the previous relevance evaluation.
The distributed client uses HTTP requests containing the computer ID to gather action requests addressed specifically to it from the advice provider server.
Note that because the client/server traffic is directed via URLs, it is possible to reconfigure any or all of the HTTP requests to become HTTPS requests, or to reconfigure the URL, so that HTTP requests use port numbers other than the default ports 80 and 81. This may provide extra security benefits. In the system, the distributed client initiates most of the communications. It maintains a schedule that is controlled by parameters in the masthead files. For example, an advice provider site masthead file contains the recommended frequency of gathering for that site, and the central server masthead file contains the recommended frequency for registration, and for gathering of actions.
However, there are exceptions. The central server can send, via the reporting server, a UDP message to a specific distributed client telling the distributed client to gather actions immediately or gather advisories immediately. Moreover, the management interface allows the system administrator to override advice provider site subscription policies of the site publisher, for example increasing or reducing the frequency of gathering or constraining gathers to take place at only certain times of day.
When if there is no network connection, the distributed client simply performs another evaluation loop, checking for the relevance of any advice message in the current advice pool on that computer. At the end of that loop, if any advisories are relevant at that time, it then attempts to communicate relevance back to the reporting server.
Message Authentication
The management system authenticates certain messages using secure public-key infrastructure (PKI) signature mechanisms based on digital encryption technology. In fact, PKI technology is deployed to protect the integrity of both advice content and action content.
The site author signs the communications from an advice provider site to a distributed client digitally. The signature must match the site's masthead file, which was placed in the distributed client install folder when the system administrator subscribed the distributed client to that site.
The action server signs every message digitally. Thus if the signature validation fails on the distributed client side, the message is ignored and discarded. This signature must match the action site's masthead file, which was placed in the Windows registry when the distributed client was installed.
To propagate any action request from the central server to the distributed client, the person operating the management interface must enter the signing password. This requirement is designed to prevent unauthorized users from using the management interface to propagate inappropriate actions.
Because of the important role played by the PKI and the signing password, it is very important to guard the public/private key pair and the password well, revealing them only to specially trusted people.
Action Capabilities
The distributed client performs actions on the computer at the request of the management interface operator. These actions can address process management issues, such as changing the advice provider sites to which the computer is subscribed, or system management tasks, such as changing the clock on the computer to agree with the central server clock, or they can involve downloading and installing a file. Such actions are specified in an Action Scripting Language, which enables the specification of actions that affect the computer as follows:
Files: Delete, move, or copy specific files; Registry: Set or delete registry entries; Commands: Run DOS commands or Visual Basic or JavaScript commands; and DLLs: Delete, add, or commit various DLL modules. Actions that offer management of the process can also be specified: Advice Ops: Delete, close, or restore an advice message; Site Ops: Subscribe or unsubscribe to an advice provider site; Gather Ops: Change the gathering schedule or force an immediate gathering; and Evaluation: Force an immediate relevance evaluation of advisories. As a scripting language, this language contains flow control facilities that enable conditional execution: Continue if {condition}: Continue if the condition is true. Pause while {condition}: Do not continue until the condition is false. The Action Scripting Language further offers a variety of user interface tools that enable the distributed client to interact with the user—for example, browseto, which opens a browser window at a specified URL. In many embodiments of the advice management system, system administrators do not want to involve the user in the process, although it is easy to imagine situations in which such involvement would be valuable, particularly because it can be pinpoint-directed to computers having specific attributes.
In addition, the action can be relevance-mediated, so that they are only applied on a certain computer if they are still relevant at the moment they are being considered for execution. This avoids the problem of fixing a problem that is no longer present on the machine at the time the action request to fix the problem is received.
The action can be scheduled, so that they are only applied on a certain computer at a certain time of day, local time. This makes it possible to run actions after everyone has gone home for the night, in whatever time zone “night” might be.
In short, the distributed client offers a powerful set of actions within a sensible context of scheduling and attention to continued relevance.
Network Traffic Considerations
The embodiment described above has been designed to be a lightweight client/server process which is highly responsive, giving the system administrator an up-to-the-minute view of the state of the network, while at the same time keeping host computer performance high and network traffic low. To understand how this is accomplished, the following factors must be considered.
First, the advice management system reacts only to changes in state of the computer. Every effort is made to report only how relevance is different now than it was in the previous evaluation loop. Because very few relevance events occur every day, most of the time the distributed client is not reporting anything to the server. In fact, if there are no relevance events in a specific day, the only interactions are likely to be a registration, hourly action gathers, and one or two advice gathers per subscribed site. The total network traffic associated with the registration and the action gathers may be less than a few kilobytes on that day.
Second, the advice gathering process likewise reacts only to changes in state of the advice provider site, so that every effort is made to report only new advisories that were not previously downloaded by the distributed client. If there are no new messages on a given day, the total network traffic associated with the advice gathering may be less than a few kilobytes on that day.
Third, the method described overhead, i.e. total bandwidth consumption when there are no issues that need to be dealt with, is absolutely minimal and beneath the radar even for computers operating on intermittent dial-up connections.
Fourth, when there are issues to be dealt with, the method described above is likewise efficient. Individual messages are very compact: an advice message is typically less than 2 kilobytes in size, a registration request less than 200 bytes, a registration response less than 400 bytes, and a relevance report less than 2 kilobytes. In addition, data compression is used where possible in the advice provider server, including both standard text compression algorithms and client-side include procedures.
Finally, in large organizations, where saving percentages of network bandwidth leads to appreciable benefits, it would be worth the extra effort to use mirroring to avoid the need for each distributed client to reach the public Internet and download all of its content over the Internet.
In summary, in most enterprise environments, the bandwidth use per distributed client by the method described above is negligible compared to existing bandwidth use for processes, such as e-mail, Web surfing, and Web-based data entry.
Security Considerations
Because the distributed client can change the configuration of the computer on which it is running, including removing and updating files, its security must be considered.
The distributed client reports only to the reporting server and honors only action requests from the action server. It is not easy to tamper with the URLs naming these servers because they are contained in digitally signed masthead files that are essentially forgery-proof. Furthermore, the content from these servers is digitally signed and thus is also essentially forgery-proof. These factors suggest that IP spoofing or DNS spoofing attacks are unlikely to be effective. Corporate networks with firewalls and other security measures are in all likelihood be far more secure.
Although it seems unnecessary, increasing the security of the communication process between the distributed clients and the central server is possible through several well-understood precautions that we only sketch here.
This invention comprehends two strategies. The first strategy is the closing off public access. This prevents any direct interactions between the distributed client and the public Internet. The system administrator has several choices. He can operate a mirror server, so that no individual distributed client needs to access to the public Internet. Alternatively, he can rewrite the URLs in the central server masthead file and the advice provider site masthead files so that they use port numbers which are not well known, or he can block firewall ports that correspond to the newly assigned set of distributed client port numbers.
The second strategy is secure public access. This strategy allows the use of the public Internet but makes access more secure by guaranteeing, not only the authenticity of the documents being delivered over the Internet, but also the privacy and security of the actual connection. The system administrator can rewrite the URLs in the central server masthead file to use HTTPS rather than HTTP. Then all transactions between the distributed clients and the central server are digitally encrypted and so are protected in the same way that modern e-commerce transactions are protected.
Although the invention is described herein with reference to the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the claims included below. | An apparatus and method for centralized policy management of large-scale networks ( 221 ) of computational devices is disclosed. The apparatus includes a number of distributed clients ( 400 ) run on registered computers ( 201 - 203 ), gathering policy advisories ( 401 ) and reporting ( 405 ) relevance ( 403 ) to a system administrator ( 224 ). The system administrator may view the relevant messages ( 505 ) through a management interface ( 500 ) and deploy suggested actions to distributed clients ( 503 ), where the actions are executed to apply the solutions of the advisories ( 408 ). | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATION
This patent application is based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/610,747 filed Sep. 17, 2004, pending, by Frank William Dean, entitled “Urea Phosphite.”
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new chemical compositions of matter having utility as industrial chemicals, fertilizers, and, fungicides. This invention particularly relates to phosphite compositions.
2. Description of Relevant Art
In greenhouses, nurseries, and, gardens, or other intensive horticulture environments, best results are attained when fertilizers and pesticides are carefully delivered to the soil or growing plants. Many growers choose to utilize blended high analysis water-soluble fertilizers and fungicides. These fertilizers and fungicides are marketed as liquids or solids, which are dissolved or diluted, to prepare concentrated stock solutions; these fertilizer/fungicide solutions may again then be diluted by irrigation water by means of proportional or injection devices.
In agriculture most excellent results are also achieved when fertilizers and pesticides are carefully delivered to the soil or growing plants. Many growers choose to utilize blended high analysis water-soluble fertilizers and fungicides. These fertilizers and fungicides are marketed either as solids or liquids; the fertilizers and/or fungicides are dissolved in spray tanks for foliar applications, or are used to prepare concentrated stock solutions for ground application.
It is also desired that fertilizer and fungicide formulations have good long-term stability as stock solutions so as not to form precipitates, which can clog spray rigs, proportioners, and irrigation lines. This has been a limitation with known water-soluble fertilizer and fungicide formulations commercially available.
Mineral salts are important nutrients which are called for in many plant nutrition formulations, but, mineral salts cannot be used together with conventional phosphorus sources. For instance, ammonium and potassium phosphates in solution alter pH and do not allow adequate solubility to mineral salt ions, giving rise to precipitation of the mineral salts in the stock solution which clog equipment.
Potassium phosphate or sodium phosphate can be used as soluble phosphorous sources but these can be expensive or not conducive to plant growth. Phosphoric acid can be used but is a liquid and hazardous to handle and toxic to plants. Therefore, a grower wishing to fertilize with both mineral salts and phosphorus, without resorting to the use of an alkali metal or ammonium phosphate, or, liquid phosphoric acid, will need to inject these compounds separately.
Additionally, the use of chelated trace nutrients have been widely postulated in order to keep these trace nutrients dissolved in stock solutions that contain the ammonium and potassium phosphates. If non-chelated mineral salts are added with the conventional phosphorus sources, the phosphate minerals will precipitate from the solution. Chelated minerals increase the cost of the fertilizer and fungicide formulations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns new fertilizer and/or fungicide compositions; I have found liquid and solid fertilizer and fungicide compositions useful for preparing aqueous solutions and fertilizer solids for plant nutrition and plant fungicides.
The present invention employs Urea Phosphite as a liquid for fertilizer and fungicide formulations. Until now Urea Phosphite was an unknown material.
Urea Phosphite is an improved concentrated material for use as a fertilizer and fungicide, the urea phosphite, which dissolves completely in water, or forms solids in the presence of other materials, to give a nitrogen and phosphorus-containing substance, has now been produced. This fertilizer and/or fungicide is characterized by being a liquid produced in an unprocessed reaction, and by having phosphite as a phosphorus source and urea as a nitrogen source.
The present invention generally relates to a new composition of matter and to uses for that composition. These uses include agricultural, industrial, and, commercial uses of these compounds. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the reaction product formed by reacting phosphorous acid crystals (a solid) with urea (a solid) to form the new compound Urea Phosphite (a concentrated liquid), to methods for conducting that reaction, and, to uses of the reaction product. The present invention is directed to uses for new compositions of matter comprising the reaction product of a phosphorous acid and a urea, including substituted ureas such as the thioureas and phenylureas. The reaction products may be separated, blended with an admix and spray dried, or, dissolved in water.
Urea, being approximately 46% by weight nitrogen, has long been preferred as a nitrogen source for fertilizing soils to stimulate plant growth. Phosphorous acid, being approximately 86.5% by weight P 2 O 5 , and its salts has been used as a fungicide and a fertilizer. Urea, phosphorus acid and urea phosphite are compared in Table I below.
TABLE I
Solubility
Compound
MW
MP ° C.
(g/100 ml)
Density
Phosphorous acid
82
73.6
309
1.651
Urea
60.06
135
100
1.32
Urea phosphite
142.06
0
Infinite
1.4
Urea Phosphite, CO(NH 2 ) 2 .H 3 PO 3 , is believed to have the following chemical structure:
Often time's fertilizer and fungicides are used with buffers. The buffering prevents the alkaline hydrolysis of insecticides, fungicides, and, herbicides, therefore, insuring greater efficacy to their pesticide applications. Urea Phosphite will serve as an excellent low pH buffer thereby protecting the applicators pesticide investment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Urea undergoes a reaction with phosphorous acids. These products have not been known until now. The agricultural industry has felt the need for ways to protect plants from fungal attack, improve early seedling vigor, and to increase plant biomass, all resulting in improved yield and quality. There has been a long felt but unfulfilled need in the industry for improved methods for achieving these goals. The present invention works to solve those needs.
Being a clear colorless liquid with low moisture content this invention allows producers to deliver a high analysis and concentrated fertilizers and fungicides. When the urea phosphite is compared to other liquid products the urea phosphite will be substantially less expensive to manufacture, transport, ship, store and warehouse, package, and deliver to end-users than many if not all prior art products.
In a preferred embodiment phosphorous acid is reacted with urea in a molar ratio of about 1:1 to produce Urea Phosphite. While the reaction may be conducted at any temperature between about 15° C. and about 140° C., it is preferably conducted within the range of about 15° C. to about 100° C. The reaction may conveniently be conducted at room temperature. Preferably the reactants are stirred until the reaction mixture is clear. The liquid reaction product will form and may be dissolved in water, packaged as is, or blended with an admix to produce liquids and solids, or further compounded/reacted with an admix and spray dried.
The reaction product of the present invention, most preferably Urea Phosphite, will be found to produce enhanced growth in plants when used in a variety of ways. The reaction product Urea Phosphite will produce enhanced growth when applied to seeds or soil prior to or at planting, when applied to the soil surrounding the plant at or after planting or when applied to the foliage of the plant. Alternatively, a solution or dry matter of urea phosphite may be applied to the soil surrounding the seed and/or emerging plant. All application methods will deliver fertilization and fungal protection.
When applied to the foliage, those skilled in the art may include a conventional admix in the solution to improve the retention of reaction product on the leaves so that the plant may more readily absorb it.
Solutions containing mineral salts or non-chelated micronutrient trace metals, such as: calcium, magnesium, cobalt, iron, manganese, copper, boron, zinc and molybdenum, may be made available to the plant by dissolving them completely in water with urea phosphite without precipitate formation initially or upon prolonged standing, such as for 24 hours or longer. In one embodiment, this invention provides a mineral salts-containing solid complex fertilizer and fungicide, which dissolves completely in water to give a water-based precipitate-free, stable aqueous stock solution. A liquid fertilizer and/or fungicide containing Urea Phosphite will provide phosphite as a phosphorus, and, urea as a nitrogen source for plant protection and nutrition.
In another embodiment, this invention provides a trace metal-containing solid blended fertilizer and/or fungicides that dissolve completely in water to give a water-based, precipitate free, stable aqueous stock solution.
In another embodiment, this invention provides a fertilizer and/or fungicide comprising or containing urea phosphite as a phosphorus source and chelated, partially chelated, complexed, or non-chelated micronutrient trace metal nitrates, chlorides, carbonates, oxides or sulfate salts. This material may contain magnesium and/or calcium as well. It also may contain any mineral salt.
In still another embodiment, this invention provides a method for preparing a stable phosphorus-containing fertilizer and fungicides with an admix. Please see the text below for the Discussion of Possible Admixes. For aqueous stock solutions this method involves blending or adding a fertilizer and fungicide admix to Urea Phosphite. For blended liquid and solid fertilizer and fungicide products this method includes compounding or blending an admix with the liquid urea phosphite. These same general processes can be used to prepare a non-chelated mineral salt blended with the urea phosphite containing fertilizer and fungicide.
The inclusion of urea Phosphite in a dry blended mixture of nutrient sources which include calcium salts, and/or, magnesium with or without trace metals such as iron and the like in non-chelated forms such as nitrates and/or sulfates offers several advantages. For one, the Urea Phosphite establishes a low pH condition when the blended mixture is added to water to make a concentrated stock solution. A stock solution pH in the range of 0 to 2 may be achieved. This low solution pH maintains solubility and clarity of the concentrated stock solution. Urea Phosphite, by the effect it has on solution pH, prevents the formation of mineral salts of phosphite that are not soluble.
Similarly, the low pH helps prevent mineral salts from precipitating in the presence of sulfate ions, which may be present. Therefore, when Urea Phosphite is used as a phosphorus source, it will make possible the inclusion of phosphorus and the mineral salts in one compound fertilizer and/or fungicide, without the use of chelates, or the disadvantage of a precipitate forming.
This allows the end user to prepare and apply a complete fungicidal and/or nutrient solution using one stock solution and utilizing one injector. It also makes possible the inclusion of non-chelated trace nutrients into phosphorous-containing nutrient solutions without precipitation. It also allows the fertilizer and fungicide solution to have an increased acidifying effect on the growing medium if needed. In summary, the advantages of using Urea Phosphite as a phosphorus source in a compound fertilizer and/or fungicide are:
The ability to purchase, prepare and apply a complete fungicidal and/or nutrient solution with one stock solution. The ability to use non-chelated mineral salts without a reduction in solubility in the stock solution as is observed using conventional dry phosphorus sources. The ability to formulate acidic fertilizer and/or fungicides that are sold as dry solids or liquids and thus are less hazardous to the end user than liquid phosphoric acid-based materials.
The fertilizer and fungicide compositions of this invention contain Urea Phosphite. The amount of Urea Phosphite will vary depending upon the nitrogen and phosphorous analysis desired for the formulated composition. Typically, the Urea Phosphite is used with an Admix—this includes other nutrient sources. Since Urea Phosphite contributes nitrogen as well as phosphorus in a stoichiometric ratio to the fertilizer and fungicide mix it may be necessary to add additional potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources to alter the ratio provided by Urea Phosphite alone.
The molar ratios between the urea and phosphorous acid are between 2:1 and 1:2; an excess of either material may be present without interfering in the direct preparation of the liquid Urea Phosphite.
Of course, any suitable mixer system can be used and it is not necessary that the mixing be done simultaneously with the onward conveying; the reactants may dwell in the mixer for a time and the entire product then be discharged from the mixer at once.
In order to improve the free-flowing properties of the Urea Phosphite liquid, a common anti-caking agent such as amorphous silica, bentonite, flour, etc., may be added. The amount of the anti-caking agent is in the usual range utilized for this purpose such as between 1.50-3% by weight.
The process is very simple to carry out; after mixing phosphorous acid with the urea, the reaction system may be heated in view of the endothermic reaction, which takes place. The reaction is accomplished once the blend is clear and colorless and liquid Urea Phosphite formed in the reaction vessel is ready for use without any further operation.
The urea to be used as a starting material in the reaction according to the invention may be any urea form commercially available such as prills, crystals, or diluted liquids. The phosphorous acid to be used as a starting material in the reaction according to the invention may be any form commercially available such as crystals, or diluted liquids.
When the urea phosphite is for fertilizer or fungicide use, desired micronutrients such as Mg, Co, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, etc., may be incorporated in the initial phosphorous acid prior to the reaction with the solid urea without interfering with the course of reaction. This is an additional advantage where a reliable dosage of micronutrients is not possible.
If desired to obtain compounds with a higher ratio of N:P or N:P:K for fertilizers, the urea phosphite may be transformed into prills by an admix. It can also be used in various compound fertilizers.
A solid product of the invention may contain about 0.01% by weight (total solids) of urea phosphite that, by itself, will contribute about 0.005% weight phosphorous as P 2 O 5 , and about 0.002% weight nitrogen as N. The liquid product can contain up to about 100% by weight of Urea Phosphite that would by itself contribute about 50% weight phosphorus as P 2 O 5 and about 20% weight nitrogen as N.
Higher P or N assays can be achieved by the addition of phosphorus sources or various nitrogen sources, such as urea, ammonium, or, nitrate sources. In cases where urea phosphite is not the sole phosphorus source, other phosphates such as the potassium phosphates' and ammonium phosphates' can make up the balance.
In addition to the phosphorous and nitrogen content the blend may include potassium. Similarly, it may be of advantage to include an admix discussed below.
Experiments
The invention may be further understood from the examples below.
EXAMPLE 1
White Crystal Sample—Sample 1
325 grams 70% phosphorous acid solution was blended with 175 grams of urea and heated at temperatures greater then 100° C. where it became fluid syrup. The exothermic reaction between the two reactants started immediately. The reaction mixture was removed from heat and allowed to proceed spontaneously. The reaction mixture became a non-transparent fluid syrup that expelled gas and bubbled from which crystalline material resulted as the reaction cooled.
Because of the faint smell of ammonia, some of the urea is believed to have decomposed and products other than urea phosphite may have also been formed.
EXAMPLE 2
Sample 2
For a mole ratio of 1:1 (phosphorous acid: urea), 57 grams phosphorous acid crystals were blended with 45 grams urea mini-pills and stirred at 80° C. in a covered container for 1 hour. The blend of 2 solids produced a clear, colorless liquid urea phosphite. The liquid is stable upon heating to 90° C. or cooling to 0° C. the solution has a fertilizer value of 20% N and 50% P 2 O 5 .
EXAMPLE 3
55 grams phosphorous acid crystals were blended with 42 grams urea pills and stirred in a covered container. The blend of 2 solids produced a clear, colorless liquid urea phosphite. The liquid is stable upon heating to 90° C. or cooling to 0° C.
EXAMPLE 4
For a mole ratio of 1:2 (phosphorous acid: urea) 55 grams phosphorous acid crystals were blended with 84 grams urea pills and stirred in a covered container. The blend of 2 solids heated to temperatures greater than the melting point of the phosphorous acid (73° C.) and stirred; a clear, colorless liquid Urea Phosphite was formed. The liquid is stable upon heating to 90° C. and crystals formed upon cooling.
EXAMPLE 5
Diammonium phosphate crystals and monopotassium phosphate crystals were blended with urea phosphite liquid to produce a free flowing dry soluble product.
EXAMPLE 6
Sample 3
For a mole ratio of 2:1 (phosphorous acid: urea), 73 grams phosphorous acid crystals were blended with 27 grams urea pills and stirred in a covered container. The blend of 2 solids produced a clear, colorless liquid Urea Phosphite.
EXAMPLE 7
For a mole ratio of 1:1 (phosphorous acid: urea) 114 grams phosphorous acid crystals were blended with 86 grams urea pills and stirred at 80° C. in a covered container for 1 hour. The blend of 2 solids produced a clear, colorless liquid Urea Phosphite. From this 50 g of the Urea Phosphite was blended with 100 ml of water, and 30 grams of calcium nitrate was added. The blend produced a clear 8-14-0, 3% Ca liquid fertilizer or fungicide with soluble phosphorus, nitrogen and calcium available for plant nutrition. Although the calcium was not chelated, the calcium did not precipitate in the presence of the phosphorus compound.
EXAMPLE 8
50 g of Urea Phosphite liquid was blended with 100 ml of water and 30 grams of magnesium nitrate was added. The blend produced a clear 7-14-0, 2.7% Mg liquid fertilizer or fungicide with soluble phosphorus, nitrogen and magnesium available for plant nutrition. Although the magnesium was not chelated, the magnesium did not precipitate in the presence of the phosphorus compound.
EXAMPLE 9
To demonstrate the fungicidal qualities of Urea Phosphite a trial was set up to measure it's effectiveness against Downey Mildew fungus on lettuce. After two applications the following ratings set forth in Table II were found:
TABLE II
DOWNEY MILDEW LETTUCE TRIAL (Rating scale is 1 to 10;
with 10 being no control of the fungal disease)
Mean of 4
Product
Replications
Ranking
1 (potassium phosphite)
4.62
3
2 (potassium phosphite)
4.81
4
Urea Phosphite
3.93
1
Aliette ® (aluminum tris
4
2
ethyl phosphonate)
Control
6.25
5
Aliette ® is a trademark of Rhone-Poulenc, France.
EXAMPLE 10
A dry soluble blend of fertilizers, micronutrients, plant growth regulators, carbon sources, chelating agents, surfactants, and seaplant extract was produced as itemized below in Table III.
TABLE III
Fertilizer Analysis of 7 - 24 - 17 with 2% Mn & 0.5% B
Batch Size:
1,000
Grams
Ingredients and order of addition
%
Grams
Manganese sulfate
6.25%
63
EDTA ACID (chelating agent)
11.10%
111
Mono Potassium Phosphate (0-52-30)
25.00%
250
Diammonium Phosphate
22.50%
225
Potassium Chloride
15.0%
150
Siponate-50 (anti caking Agent)
4.00%
40
Boric acid
2.90%
29
Table sugar
2.00%
20
Acadian seaplant extract
0.50%
5
(Extracted from Ascophyllum
nodosum, comprising short-
chain carbohydrates (such as β-
glucans), a range of specialized
amino acids (betaines), plus
regular amino acids, a low
level mix of over 60 chelated
micro-and macronutrients,
and organic compounds)
Growth regulators and surfactants
1.25%
13
(including Gibberillic acid,
6-Benzylamino Purine, Indole-3-
butyric acid, alkyl phenol
ethoxyaltes, Phosphate Esters, and
antifoaming agents.)
Urea Phosphite liquid
9.50%
95
Total
100.00%
1,000
The liquid Urea Phosphite was poured over the dry fertilizer blend. This blend is suitable for sale and distribution as a dry soluble fertilizer—fungicide combination. That fact that Urea Phosphite as a liquid can be used as an ingredient in a dry soluble composition or compound, with free flowing capabilities, demonstrates the uniqueness of Urea Phosphite. If another liquid fungicide or fertilizer material known in the prior art had been used, the entire blend would have turned into a solid mass not suitable for packaging and distribution as a dry soluble fertilizer. Also, if a solid compacted material is needed to produce a slow release fertilizer/fungicide, removing the anticaking agent from this blend comprising Urea Phosphite would fulfill this need.
Discussion of Possible Components for Admixes:
For their practical application, the Urea Phosphite compounds according to this invention are rarely used on their own. Instead they generally form part of formulations which also comprise a support and/or a surfactant in addition to active materials
In the context of the invention, a support is an organic or mineral, natural or synthetic material with which the active material is associated to facilitate its application, for example, in the case of fertilizer and fungicides, to the plant, to seeds or to soil, or to facilitate its transportation or handling. The support can be solid (e.g., clays, natural or synthetic silicates, resins, waxes, solid fertilizer and fungicides) or fluid (e.g., water, alcohols, ketones, petroleum fractions, chlorinated hydrocarbons, liquefied gases, liquid fertilizer and fungicides).
The surfactant can be an ionic or non-ionic emulsifier, dispersant or wetting agent such as, for example, salts of polyacrylic acids and lignin-sulphonic acids, condensates of ethylene oxide with fatty alcohols, fatty acids or fatty amines.
The compositions comprising the compounds of the present invention can be prepared in the form of wettable powders, soluble powders, dusting powders, granulates, solutions, emulsifiable concentrates, emulsions, suspended concentrates and aerosols.
The wettable powders according to the invention can be prepared in such a way that they contain the active material, and they often or typically contain, in addition to a solid support, a wetting agent, a dispersant and, when necessary, one or more stabilizers and/or other additives, such as, for example, penetration agents, adhesives or anti-lumping agents, colorants etc.
Aqueous dispersions and emulsions, such as, for example, compositions comprising the compounds of this invention obtained by diluting with water a wettable powder or an emulsifiable concentrate are also included within the general scope of the invention. These emulsions can be of the water-in-oil type or of the oil-in-water type, and can have a thick consistency resembling that of a “mayonnaise”.
The compositions comprising the Urea Phosphite compounds of the present invention can contain other ingredients, for example protective colloids, adhesives or thickeners, thixotropic agents, stabilizers or sequestrants, as well as other active materials. A modest list of examples of possible formulation components for inclusion with the compositions of this invention follows without limitation.
Carbon Skeleton/Energy (CSE) Components:
The supposed function of this component is to supply carbon skeleton for synthesis of proteins and other molecules or to supply energy for metabolism. Water-soluble carbohydrates such as sucrose, fructose, glucose and other di- and monosaccharides are suitable, commonly in the form of molasses or other by-products of food manufacture. Commercially available lignosulfonates, discussed below under the heading “Complexing Agents,” are also suitable as a CSE source inasmuch as they commonly contain sugars. A more detailed listing of common CSE components follows, although this list, while extensive, in not intended to be exhaustive or limiting:
CSE Components:
Sugar—mannose, lactose, dextrose, erythrose, fructose, fucose, galactose, glucose, gulose, maltose, polysaccharide, raffinose, ribose, ribulose, rutinose, saccharose, stachyose, trehalose, xylose, xylulose, adonose, amylose, arabinose, fructose phosphate, fucose-p, galactose-p, glucose-p, lactose-p, maltose-p, mannose-p, ribose-p, ribulose-p, xylose-p, xylulose-p, deoxyribose, corn steep liquor, whey, corn sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, grape sugar, grape syrup, beet sugar, sorghum molasses, cane molasses, mineral salts lignosulfonate sugar alcohol—adonitol, galactitol, glucitol, maltitol, mannitol, mannitol-p, ribitol, sorbitol, sorbitol-p, xylitol xxxx acids—glucuronic acid, a-ketoglutaric acid, galacturonic acid, glutaric acid, gluconic acid, pyruvic acid, poly galacturonic acid, saccharic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, oxaloacetic acid, aspartic acid, phosphoglyceric acid, fulvic acid, ulmic acid, humic acid, glutamic acid.
More CSE Components:
Nucleotides and bases—adenosine, adenosine-p, adenosine-p-glucose, uridine, uridine-p, uridine-p-glucose, thymine, thymine-p, cytosine, cytosine-p, guanosine, guanosine-p, guanosine-p-glucose, guanine, guanine-p, NADPH, NADH, FMN, FADH
The Macronutrient Components:
The macronutrients are essential to nutrition and growth of plants. The most important macronutrients are N, P and K.
Some example nitrogen compounds are: ammonium nitrate, monoammonium phosphate, ammonium phosphate sulfate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphatenitrate, diammonium phosphate, ammoniated single superphosphate, ammoniated triple superphosphate, nitric phosphates, ammonium chloride, aqua ammonia, ammonia-ammonium nitrate solutions, mineral salts ammonium nitrate, mineral salts nitrate, mineral salts Cyanamid, sodium nitrate, urea, urea-formaldehyde, urea-ammonium nitrate solution, nitrate of soda potash, potassium nitrate, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids.
Examples of Phosphate sources include: superphosphate (single, double and/or triple), phosphoric acid, ammonium phosphate, ammonium phosphate sulfate, ammonium phosphate nitrate, diammonium phosphate, ammoniated single superphosphate, ammoniated single superphosphate, ammoniated triple superphosphate, nitric phosphates, potassium pyrophosphates, sodium pyrophosphate, nucleic acid phosphates and phosphonic and phosphorous acid derivatives.
The potassium ion for example can be found in: potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, potassium gluconate, sulfate of potash magnesia, potassium carbonate, potassium acetate, potassium citrate, potassium hydroxide, potassium manganate, potassium phosphate, potassium molybdate, potassium thiosulfate, potassium zinc sulfate and the like.
Sources of mineral salts include for example: mineral salts ammonium nitrate, mineral salts nitrate, mineral salts Cyanamid, mineral salts acetate, mineral salts acetylsalicylate, mineral salts borate, mineral salts borogluconate, mineral salts carbonate, mineral salts chloride, mineral salts citrate, mineral salts ferrous citrate, mineral salts glycerophosphate, mineral salts lactate, mineral salts oxide, mineral salts pantothenate, mineral salts propionate, mineral salts saccharate, mineral salts sulfate, mineral salts tartrate and the like.
Magnesium can be found for example in: magnesium oxide, dolomite, magnesium acetate, magnesium benzoate, magnesium bisulfate, magnesium borate, magnesium chloride, magnesium citrate, magnesium nitrate, magnesium phosphate, magnesium salicylate, magnesium sulfate.
Sulfur containing compounds include for example: ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate sulfate, mineral salts sulfate, potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sulfuric acid, cobalt sulfate, copper sulfate, ferric sulfate, ferrous sulfate, sulfur, cysteine, methionine and elemental sulfur.
Micronutrient Components:
The most important micronutrients for plants are or comprise: Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B, Co, and Mo.
Vitamin/Cofactor Components:
The most important vitamin/cofactor components for plants are folic acid, biotin, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid, riboflavin and thiamine. More specific examples of these components are listed as follows without limitation: Thiamine—thiamine pyrophosphate, thiamine monophosphate, thiamine disulfide, thiamine mononitrate, thiamine phosphoric acid ester chloride, thiamine phosphoric acid ester phosphate salt, thiamine 1,5 salt, thiamine tri phosphoric acid ester, thiamine tri phosphoric acid salt, yeast, yeast extract; Riboflavin—riboflavin acetyl phosphate, flavin adenine dinucleotide, flavin adenine mononucleotide, riboflavin phosphate, yeast, yeast extract; Nicotinic acid—nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide, nicotinic acid amide, nicotinic acid benzyl ester, nicotinic acid monoethanolamine salt, yeast, yeast extract, nicotinic acid hydrazide, nicotinic acid hydroxamate, nicotinic acid-N-(hydroxymethyl)amide, nicotinic acid methyl ester, nicotinic acid mononucleotide, nicotinic acid nitrile; Pyridoxine—pyridoxal phosphate, yeast, yeast extract; Folic acid—yeast, yeast extract, folinic acid; Biotin—biotin sulfoxide, yeast, yeast extract, biotin 4-amidobenzoic acid, biotin amidocaproate N-hydroxysuccinimide ester, biotin 6-amidoquinoline, biotin hydrazide, biotin methyl ester, d-biotin-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester, biotin-maleimide, d-biotin p-nitrophenyl ester, biotin propranolol, 5-(N-biotinyl)-3 aminoallyl)-uridine 5′-triphosphate, biotinylated uridine 5′-triphosphate, N-e-biotinyl-lysine; Pantothenic acid—yeast, yeast extract, coenzyme A; Cyanocobalamin—yeast, yeast extract; Phosphatidylcholine-soybean oil, eggs bovine heart, bovine brain, bovine liver, L-a-phosphatidylcholine, B-acetyl-g-O-alkyl, D-a-phosphatidylcholine(PTCn), B-acetyl-g-O-hexadecyl, DL-a-PTCh, B-acetyl-g-O-hexadecyl, L-a-PTCh, B-acetyl-g-O-(octadec-9-cis-enyl), L-a-PTCh, B-arachidonoyl, g-stearoyl, L-a-PTCh, diarachidoyl, L-a-PTCh, dibehenoyl (dibutyroyl, dicaproyl, dicapryloyl, didecanoyl, dielaidoyl, 12 diheptadecanoyl, diheptanoyl), DL-a-PTCh dilauroyl, L-a-PTCh dimyristoyl (dilauroyl, dilinoleoyl, dinonanoyl, dioleoyl, dipentadeconoyl, dipalmitoyl, distearoyl, diundecanoyl, divaleroyl, B-elaidoyl-a-palmitoyl, B-linoleoyl-a-palmitoyl) DL-a-PTCh di-O-hexadecyl (dioleoyl, dipalmitoyl, B-O-methyl-g-O-hexadecyl, B-oleoyl-g-O-hexadecyl, B-palmitoyl-g-O-hexadecyl), D-a-PTCh dipalmitoyl, L-a-PTCh, B-O-methyl-g-O-octadecyl, L-a-PTCh, B-(NBD-aminohexanoyl)-g-palmitoyl, L-a-PTCh, B-oleoyl-g-O-palmitoyl (stearoyl), L-a-PTCh, B-palmitoyl-g-oleoyl, L-a-PTCh, B-palmitoyl-a-(pyren 1-yl) hexanoyl, L-a-PTCh, B(pyren-1-yl)-decanoyl-g-palmitoyl, L-a-PTCh, B-(pyren-1-yl)-hexanoyl-g-palmitoyl, L-a-PTCh, B-stearoyl-g-oleoyl; Inositol—inositol monophosphate, inositol macinate, myo-inositol, epi-inositol, myo-inositol 2,2′anhydro-2-c-hydroxymethyl (2-c-methylene-myoinositol oxide), D-myo-inositol 1,4-bisphosphate, DL-myo-inositol 1,2-cyclic monophosphate, myo-inositol dehydrogenase, myo-inositol hexanicotinate, inositol hexaphosphate, myo-inositol hexasulfate, myo-inositol 2-monophosphate, D-myo-inositol 1-monophosphate, DL-myo-inositol 1-monophosphate, D-myo-inositol triphosphate, scyllo-inositol; PABA—m-aminobenzoic acid, O-aminobenzoic acid, p-aminobenzoic acid butyl ester, PABA ethyl ester, 3-ABA ethyl ester.
Complexing Agents:
The function of this component, particularly in agricultural applications, aside from its proposed use as a carbon skeleton agent, is to solubilize other components of the composition which otherwise may precipitate and become assailable or may immobilize minerals in the soil which might otherwise be unavailable to flora and fauna. Complexing agents such as, for example, citric acid, humic acids, lignosulfonate, etc. serve to tie up ions such as iron and prevent them from forming precipitates. In some cases this complexing is by way of chelation. These agents may form complexes with the following compounds for example: Citric acid; Ca, K, Na and ammonium lignosulfonates, fulvic acid, ulmic acid, humic acid, Katy-J, EDTA, EDDA(ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid), EDDHA, HEDTA, CDTA, PTPA, NTA, MEA, IDS, EDDS, and 4-phenylbutyric acid.
Other complexing agents include for example: Al and its salts; Zn—zinc oxide, zinc acetate, zinc benzoate, zinc chloride, zinc citrate, zinc nitrate, zinc salicylate, ziram; Fe—ferric chloride, ferric citrate, ferric fructose, ferric glycerophosphate, ferric nitrate, ferric oxide (saccharated), ferrous chloride, ferrous citrate ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, ferrous succinate; Mn—manganese acetate, manganese chloride, manganese nitrate, manganese phosphate; Cu—cupric acetate, cupric butyrate, cupric chlorate, cupric chloride, cupric citrate, cupric gluconate, cupric glycollate, cupric nitrate, cupric salicylate, cuprous acetate, cuprous chloride; B—mineral salts borate, potassium borohydride, borax, boron trioxide, potassium borotartrate, potassium tetraborate, sodium borate, sodium borohydride, sodium tetraborate and boric acid; Mo—molybdic acid, mineral salts molybdate, potassium molybdate, sodium molybdate; Co—cobaltic acetate, cobaltous acetate, cobaltous chloride, cobaltous oxalate, cobaltous potassium sulfate, cobaltous sulfate.
Growth Regulators
Still another component suitable for use in fertilizer and fungicide compositions comprising Urea Phosphite include the following growth regulators. Seaweed extract—kelp extract, Kinetin, Kinetin riboside, benzyladenine, zeatin riboside, zeatin, extract of corn cockle, isopentenyl adenine, dihydrozeatin, indoleacetic acid, phenylacetic acid, IBA, indole ethanol, indole acetaldehyde, indoleacetonitrile, indole derivitives, gibberellins (e.g. GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA7, GA38 etc.) polyamines, monoethanolamine, allopurinol, GA inhibitors, ethylene inducing compounds, ethylene biosynthesis inhibitors, GABA, anticytokinins and antiauxins, ABA inducers and inhibitors. Again, as with the other listings above and below of suitable components that may be used with or in Urea Phosphite fertilizers and fungicides, this listing is without limitation and other known growth regulators not listed herein might also be used.
Gum Components:
The following example gum components may be used in fertilizer and fungicide compositions comprising Urea Phosphite: Xanthan gum—guar gum, gum agar, gum accroides, gum arabic, gum carrageenan, gum damar, gum elemi, gum ghatti, gum guaiac, gum karya, locust bean gum, gum mastic, gum pontianak, gum rosin, gum storax, gum tragacanth/
Microbialstats, Proprionic Acid, Benzoic Acid, Sorbic Acid and Amino Acids.
Further suitable additives that might be used with Urea Phosphite include microbialstats, proprionic acid, benzoic acid, sorbic acid and amino acids.
Buffers
Buffers may also be used with compositions comprising Urea Phosphite. Example buffers include without limitation: phosphate buffer, formate or acetate buffer, AMP buffer, mineral salts tartrate, glycine buffer, phosphate citrate buffer, tris buffer, and ECT.
If desired, a formulation or composition of the present invention may also include beneficial microorganisms. The compositions comprising the compounds of the present invention thus defined may be applied to plants by conventional methods including seed application techniques, as well as foliar methods.
The foregoing description of the invention has been directed in primary part to particular preferred embodiments in accordance with the requirements of the Patent Statutes and for purposes of explanation and illustration. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many modifications and changes in the specifically described methods may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.
One non-limiting example of such a modification would be the combining of an excess of one reactant to change the mole ratios in creating Urea Phosphite. Such a modification could be practiced by one skilled in the art from the teachings herein, and such practice would be within the true scope and spirit of the invention.
Therefore, the invention is not restricted to the preferred embodiments described and illustrated but covers all modifications, which may fall within the scope of the following claims. | Urea Phosphite is a new composition of matter useful as a fertilizer and as a fungicide. It is made by reacting phosphorous acid with urea. Urea Phosphite is characterized by being a liquid produced in an unprocessed reaction, and by having phosphite as a phosphorus source and urea as a nitrogen source. The reaction products may be separated, blended with an admix and spray dried, or, dissolved in water. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed provisional patent application No. 60/338,893, filed Dec. 10, 2001 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/833,556, filed Apr. 28, 2004, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/659,575, filed Sep. 10, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/315,336, filed Dec. 10, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a new assembly for providing a housing for use in conjunction with a high intensity LED lighting assembly. More specifically, this invention relates to an assembly for housing a high intensity LED flashlight that includes integrally formed vent openings for enhancing the thermal performance of the entire packaged device.
[0003] Currently, several manufacturers are producing high brightness light emitting diode (LED) packages in a variety of forms. These high brightness packages differ from conventional LED lamps in that they use emitter chips of much greater size, which accordingly have much higher power consumption requirements. In general, these packages were originally produced for use as direct substitutes for standard LED lamps. However, due to their unique shape, size and power consumption requirements they present manufacturing difficulties that were originally unanticipated by the LED manufacturers. One example of a high brightness LED of this type is the Luxeon™ Emitter Assembly LED (Luxeon is a trademark of Lumileds Lighting, LLC). The Luxeon LED uses an emitter chip that is four times greater in size than the emitter chip used in standard LED lamps. While this LED has the desirable characteristic of producing a much greater light output than the standard LED, it also generates a great deal more heat than the standard LED. If this heat is not effectively dissipated, it may cause damage to the emitter chip and the circuitry required to drive the LED.
[0004] Often, to overcome the buildup of heat within the LED, a manufacturer will incorporate a heat dissipation pathway within the LED package itself. The Luxeon LED, for example, incorporates a metallic contact pad into the back of the LED package to transfer the heat out through the back of the LED. In practice, it is desirable that this contact pad in the LED package be placed into contact with further heat dissipation surfaces to effectively cool the LED package. In the prior art attempts to incorporate these packages into further assemblies, the manufacturers that used the Luxeon LED have attempted to incorporate them onto circuit boards that include heat transfer plates adjacent to the LED mounting location to maintain the cooling transfer pathway from the LED. While these assemblies are effective in properly cooling the LED package, they are generally bulky and difficult to incorporate into miniature flashlight devices. Further, since the circuit boards that have these heat transfer plates include a great deal of heat sink material, making effective solder connections to the boards is difficult without applying a large amount of heat. The Luxeon LED has also been directly mounted into plastic flashlights with no additional heat sinking. Ultimately however, these assemblies malfunction due to overheating of the emitter chip, since the heat generated cannot be dissipated.
[0005] There is therefore a need for an assembly that is inexpensive to manufacture while providing sufficient heat dissipation capability to facilitate the use of a high intensity LED package. Further, there is a need for a housing that is formed from a polymer material that includes integrated heat management features that are related to the needs of high intensity LED packages while allowing the flashlight to be manufactured at a price that makes the light desirable from a consumer stand point.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In this regard, the present invention provides an assembly that incorporates a high intensity LED package, such as the Luxeon Emitter Assembly described above, into an integrated head assembly that received into the unique housing of the present invention to form a highly useful flashlight assembly. The present invention primarily includes two components for forming the head assembly, namely an inner mounting die, and an outer enclosure. The inner mounting die is formed from a highly thermally conductive material. While the preferred material is brass, other materials such as thermally conductive polymers or other metals may be used to achieve the same result. The inner mounting die is cylindrically shaped and has a recess in the top end. The recess is formed to frictionally receive the mounting base of a high intensity LED assembly. A longitudinal groove is cut into the side of the inner mounting die that may receive an insulator strip or a strip of printed circuitry, including various control circuitry thereon. Therefore, the inner mounting die provides both electrical connectivity to one contact of the LED package and also serves as a heat sink for the LED. The contact pad at the back of the LED package is in direct thermal communication with the inner surface of the recess at the top of the inner mounting die thus providing a highly conductive thermal path for dissipating the heat away from the LED package.
[0007] The outer enclosure of the present invention is preferably formed from the same material as the inner mounting die. In the preferred embodiment, this is brass but may be thermally conductive polymer or other metallic materials. The outer enclosure slides over the inner mounting die and has a circular opening in the top end that receives the clear optical portion of the Luxeon LED package therethrough. The outer enclosure serves to further transfer heat from the inner mounting die and the LED package, as it is also highly thermally conductive and in thermal communication with both the inner mounting die and the LED package. The outer enclosure also covers the groove in the side of the inner mounting die protecting the insulator strip and circuitry mounted thereon from damage.
[0008] Another feature of the outer enclosure of the present invention is that the end that receives the optical portion of the LED package also serves as a reflector for collecting the light output from the LED package and further focusing and directing it into a collimated beam of light. After assembly, it can be seen that the present invention provides a self contained packaging system for the Luxeon Emitter Assembly or any other similar packaged high intensity LED device. Assembled in this manner, the present invention can be incorporated into any type of lighting device.
[0009] In particular, the assembled package is then placed into a flashlight housing. The flashlight housing of the present invention is further modified in accordance with the present disclosure to further enhance the heat management of the overall flashlight assembly in that the housing has vent openings in the side wall thereof. The vent openings are provided in the side wall at locations adjacent the outer enclosure of the package. In this manner, improved air circulation and heat dissipation is provided by facilitating the circulation of free air around the heat dissipating surfaces of the outer enclosure.
[0010] Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is the provision of an assembly for packaging a high intensity LED. Another object of the present invention is the provision of an assembly for packaging a high intensity LED that includes integral heat sink capacity. A further object of the present invention is the provision of an assembly for packaging a high intensity LED that includes integral heat sink capacity while further providing means for integral electrical connectivity and control circuitry. Yet a further object of the present invention is the provision of an assembly for packaging a high intensity LED that includes integral heat sink capacity, a means for electrically connectivity and an integral reflector cup that can creates a completed flashlight head for further incorporation into a flashlight housing or other lighting assembly.
[0011] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the LED lighting assembly of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a front view thereof;
[0015] FIG. 3 is rear view thereof;
[0016] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective thereof;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 5 - 5 of FIG. 1 ;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram generally illustrating the operational circuitry of present invention as incorporated into a complete lighting assembly.
[0019] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a first alternate embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 8 - 8 of FIG. 7 ;
[0021] FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a second alternate embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 10 - 10 of FIG. 9 ;
[0023] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a third alternate embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 12 - 12 of FIG. 11 ;
[0025] FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a fourth alternate embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 14 - 14 of FIG. 13 ;
[0027] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the LED lighting assembly installed into the ventilated housing of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 16 - 16 of FIG. 15 ;
[0029] FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the LED head assembly removed from the ventilated housing of the present invention; and
[0030] FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view thereof as taken along line 18 - 18 of FIG. 17 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] Referring now to the drawings, the light emitting diode (LED) lighting assembly of the present invention is illustrated and generally indicated at 10 in FIGS. 1-5 . Further, a schematic diagram is shown in FIG. 6 generally illustrating the present invention incorporated into a flashlight circuit. As will hereinafter be more fully described, the present invention illustrates an LED lighting assembly 10 for further incorporation into a lighting device. For the purposes of providing a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device 10 will be shown incorporated into a flashlight, however, the present invention also may be incorporated into any other lighting device such as architectural specialty lighting or vehicle lighting. In general, the present invention provides a means for packaging a high intensity LED lamp that includes integral heat sink capacity, electrical connectivity and an optical assembly for controlling the light output from the LED. The present invention therefore provides a convenient and economical assembly 10 for incorporating a high intensity LED into a lighting assembly that has not been previously available in the prior art.
[0032] Turning to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , the LED package assembly 10 can be seen in a fully assembled state. The three main components can be seen to include a high intensity LED lamp 12 , an inner mounting die 14 and an outer enclosure 16 . In FIGS. 1 and 2 , the lens 18 of the LED 12 can be seen extending through an opening in the front wall of the outer enclosure 16 . Further, in FIG. 3 a rear view of the assembled package 10 of the present invention can be seen with a flexible contact strip shown extending over the bottom of the interior die 14 .
[0033] Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5 , an exploded perspective view and a cross sectional view of the assembly 10 of the present invention can be seen. The assembly 10 of the present invention is specifically configured to incorporate a high intensity LED lamp 12 into a package that can be then used in a lighting assembly. The high intensity LED lamp 12 is shown here as a Luxeon Emitter assembly. However, it should be understood that the mounting arrangement described is equally applicable to other similarly packaged high intensity LED's. The LED 12 has a mounting base 20 and a clear optical lens 18 that encloses the LED 12 emitter chip (not shown). The LED 12 also includes two contact leads 22 , 24 that extend from the sides of the mounting base 20 , to which power is connected to energize the emitter chip. Further, the LED lamp 12 includes a heat transfer plate 26 positioned on the back of the mounting base 20 . Since the emitter chip in this type of high intensity LED lamp 12 is four times the area of a standard emitter chip, a great deal more energy is consumed and a great deal more heat is generated. The heat transfer plate 26 is provided to transfer waste heat out of the LED lamp 12 to prevent malfunction or destruction of the chip. In this regard, the manufacturer has provided the heat transfer plate 26 for the specific purpose of engagement with a heat sink. However, all of the recommended heat sink configurations are directed to a planar circuit board mount with a heat spreader or a conventional finned heat sink. Neither of these arrangements is suitable for small package integration or a typical tubular flashlight construction.
[0034] In contrast, the mounting die 14 used in the present invention is configured to receive the LED lamp 12 and further provide both electrical and thermal conductivity to and from the LED lamp 12 . The mounting die 14 is fashioned from a thermally conductive and electrically conductive material. In the preferred embodiment the mounting die 14 is fashioned from brass, however, the die 14 could also be fabricated from other metals such as aluminum or stainless steel or from an electrically conductive and thermally conductive polymer composition and still fall within the scope of this disclosure. The mounting die 14 has a recess 28 in one end thereof that is configured to frictionally receive and retain the base 20 of the LED lamp 12 . While the base 20 and the recess 28 are illustrated as circular, it is to be understood that this recess is intended to receive the housing base regardless of the shape. As can be seen, one of the contact leads 22 extending from the base 20 of the LED lamp 12 must be bent against the LED lamp 12 base 20 and is thus trapped between the base 20 and the sidewall of the recess 28 when the LED lamp 12 is installed into the recess 28 . When installed with the first contact lead 22 of the LED 12 retained in this manner, the lead 22 is in firm electrical communication with the mounting die 14 . A channel 30 extends along one side of the mounting die 14 from the recess to the rear of the die 14 . When the LED lamp 12 is installed in the mounting die 14 , the second contact lead 24 extends into the opening in the channel 30 out of contact with the body of the mounting die 14 . The heat transfer plate 26 provided in the rear of the LED lamp 12 base 20 is also in contact with the bottom wall of the recess 28 in the mounting die 14 . When the heat transfer plate 26 is in contact with the die 14 , the heat transfer plate 26 is also in thermal communication with the die 14 and heat is quickly transferred out of the LED lamp 12 and into the body of the die 14 . The die 14 thus provides a great deal of added heat sink capacity to the LED lamp 12 .
[0035] An insulator strip 32 is placed into the bottom of the channel 30 that extends along the side of the mounting die 14 . The insulator strip 30 allows a conductor to be connected to the second contact lead 24 of the LED lamp 12 and extended through the channel 30 to the rear of the assembly 10 without coming into electrical contact with and short circuiting against the body of the die 14 . In the preferred embodiment, the insulator strip 32 is a flexible printed circuit strip with circuit traces 34 printed on one side thereof. The second contact lead 24 of the LED lamp 12 is soldered to a contact pad 36 that is connected to a circuit trace 34 at one end of the insulator strip 32 . The circuit trace 34 then extends the length of the assembly and terminated in a second contact pad 38 that is centrally located at the rear of the assembly 10 . Further, control circuitry 40 may be mounted onto the flexible circuit strip 32 and housed within the channel 30 in the die 14 . The control circuitry 40 includes an LED driver circuit as is well known in the art.
[0036] With the LED lamp 12 and insulator strip 32 installed on the mounting die 14 , the mounting die 14 is inserted into the outer enclosure 16 . The outer enclosure 16 is also fashioned from a thermally conductive and electrically conductive material. In the preferred embodiment the outer enclosure 16 is fashioned from brass, however, the outer enclosure 16 could also be fabricated from other metals such as aluminum or stainless steel or from an electrically conductive and thermally conductive polymer composition and still fall within the scope of this disclosure. The outer enclosure 16 has a cavity that closely matches the outer diameter of the mounting die 14 . When the mounting die 14 is received therein, the die 14 and the housing 16 are in thermal and electrical communication with one another, providing a heat transfer pathway to the exterior of the assembly 10 . As can also be seen, electrical connections to the assembly 10 can be made by providing connections to the outer enclosure 16 and the contact pad 38 on the circuit trace 34 at the rear of the mounting die 14 . The outer enclosure 16 includes an aperture 42 in the front wall thereof through which the optical lens portion 18 of the LED lamp 12 extends. The aperture 42 is fashioned to provide optical control of the light emitted from the LED lamp 12 . The aperture 42 in the preferred embodiment is shaped as a reflector cone and may be a simple conical reflector or a parabolic reflector. The walls of the aperture 42 may also be coated with an anti-reflective coating such as black paint or anodized to prevent the reflection of light, allowing only the image of the LED lamp 12 to be utilized in the finished lighting assembly.
[0037] Finally, an insulator disk 44 is shown pressed into place in the open end of the outer enclosure 16 behind the mounting die 14 . The insulator disk 44 fits tightly into the opening in the outer enclosure 16 and serves to retain the mounting die 14 in place and to further isolate the contact pad 38 at the rear of the mounting die 14 from the outer enclosure 16 .
[0038] Turning now to FIG. 6 , a schematic diagram of a completed circuit showing the LED assembly 10 of the present invention incorporated into functional lighting device is provided. The LED assembly 10 is shown with electrical connections made thereto. A housing 46 is provided and shown in dashed lines. A power source 48 such as a battery is shown within the housing 46 with one terminal in electrical communication with the outer enclosure 15 of the LED assembly 10 and a second terminal in electrical communication with the circuit trace 38 at the rear of the housing 16 via a switch assembly 50 . The switching assembly 50 is provided as a means of selectively energizing the circuit and may be any switching means already known in the art. The housing 46 of the lighting device may also be thermally and electrically conductive to provide additional heat sink capacity and facilitate electrical connection to the outer enclosure 16 of the LED assembly 10 .
[0039] Turning to FIGS. 7 and 8 , an alternate embodiment of the LED assembly 100 is shown the outer enclosure is a reflector cup 102 with an opening 104 in the center thereof. The luminescent portion 18 of the LED 12 is received in the opening 104 . The reflector cup 102 includes a channel 106 that is cleared in the rear thereof to receive the mounting base 20 of the LED 12 wherein the rear surface of the mounting base 20 is substantially flush with the rear surface 108 of the reflector cup 102 when the LED in 12 is in the installed position. The mounting die is replaced by a heat spreader plate 110 . The spreader plate 110 is in thermal communication with both the heat transfer plate on the back of the LED 12 and the rear surface 108 of the reflector cup 102 . In this manner when the LED 12 is in operation the waste heat is conducted from the LED 12 through the spreader plate 110 and into the body of the reflector cup 102 for further conduction and dissipation. The spreader plate 110 may be retained in its operative position by screws 112 that thread into the back 108 of the reflector cup 102 . Alternatively, a thermally conductive adhesive (not shown) may be used to hold the LED 12 , the reflector cup 102 and the spreader plate 110 all in operative relation.
[0040] FIGS. 7 and 8 also show the installation of a circuit board 114 installed behind the spreader plate 110 . The circuit board 114 is electrically isolated from the spreader plate 110 but has contact pads thereon where the electrical contacts 22 of the LED 12 can be connected. Further a spring 116 may be provided that extends to a plunger 118 that provides an means for bringing power from one battery contact into the circuit board 114 . Power from the second contact of the power source may be conducted through the outer housing 120 and directed back to the circuit board. While specific structure is shown to complete the circuit path, it can be appreciated that the present invention is primarily directed to the assembly including merely the reflector cup 102 , the LED 12 and the spreader plate 110 .
[0041] Turning now to FIGS. 9 and 10 , a second alternate embodiment is shown where the slot is replaced with a circular hole 202 that receives a Luxeon type LED 12 emitter. Further, a lens 204 is shown for purposes of illustration. In all other respects this particular embodiment is operationally the same as the one described above. It should be note that relief areas 206 are provided in the spreader plate 208 that are configured to correspond to the electrical leads 22 of the LED 12 being used in the assembly. In this manner, the contacts 22 can be connected to the circuit board 210 without contacting the spreader plate 208 .
[0042] Turning to FIGS. 11 and 12 , a third alternate embodiment of the LED assembly 300 is shown. The reflector cup 302 includes both a circular hole 304 and a slot 206 in the rear thereof. The important aspect of the present invention is that the spreader plates 110 , 210 or 308 are in flush thermal communication with both the rear surface of the LED 12 and the rear surface of the reflector cups 102 , 200 and 302 to allow the heat to be transferred from the LED 12 to the reflector cup 102 , 200 and 302 .
[0043] Turning to FIGS. 13 and 14 , a fourth alternate embodiment of the LED assembly 400 is shown. The reflector cup 402 is configured to receive the entire LED 12 within the front of the reflector cup 402 . The important aspect of the present invention is that the reflector cup 402 is metallic and thermal and electrically conductive. The rear surface of the LED 12 and one contact 22 thereof are in contact rear wall 404 of the reflector cup 402 . In this manner, the reflector cup 402 provides both means for heat transfer from the LED 12 and electrical conductivity to one lead 22 of the LED 12 . The second lead 24 of the LED 12 extends through a hole 406 in the reflector cup 402 and is in electrical communication with the circuit board 408 . A battery contact 410 and spring 412 transfer electricity from one terminal of the power source to the rear of the circuit board 408 while power from the other terminal is introduced into the reflector cup 402 and to the front of the circuit board 408 . The entire subassembly is connected together using plastic retainers 414 and 416 and heat staked together to provide a completed assembly 400 .
[0044] FIGS. 15-18 illustrate another alternate embodiment of the LED assembly 500 with improved heat management of the present invention. This embodiment utilizes any one of the foregoing packaged head assemblies and incorporates the head assembly 500 into a novel housing 502 for use in a finished device such as a flashlight. Similarly, while FIG. 15 illustrates a flashlight it can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that a variety of housings 502 could be utilized to allow the assembly to be incorporated into any lighting environment. Further, the housing 502 may be thermally conductive and formed from a material such as aluminum or stainless steel. Further, by manufacturing the housing 502 and LED assembly 500 in accordance with the present disclosure, by including the vent openings 402 , the housing 502 may be a non-conductive material such as a polymer. The important feature of the housing 502 , as can be best seen in FIG. 15 , is the provision of vent openings 504 in the side walls of the housing 502 . The vent openings 504 in the side of the housing 502 are placed in a location so as to correspond to and align with the outer enclosure 506 of the LED assembly 500 . In this manner, the heat being dissipated by the outer enclosure 506 of the LED assembly 500 is exposed to free and circulating air. Specifically, air is allowed to flow freely into the flashlight housing 502 via the vent openings 504 provided therein to conduct waste heat away from the LED head assembly 500 . This feature allows for enhanced heat management and dissipation thereby providing a high intensity LED lighting assembly with increased performance and reliability.
[0045] FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view take through the flashlight of the present invention. As can be seen, the housing 502 is configured to receive a LED lighting assembly 500 into one end thereof. The opposite end of the housing 502 receives and encloses a power source 508 such as batteries and an end cap 510 that also includes the operable elements necessary to provide multi-function switching. As was stated above, while a flashlight is shown, the present invention can also be utilized in other environments that may include hard wired connections. In those cases the rear of the housing 502 would be modified to accommodate power connections to line voltage such as 120 volt residential supply voltage or the low voltage supply side of a transformer.
[0046] Turning now to FIGS. 17 and 18 , the particularly novel features associated with the present invention are shown and illustrated. A fifth alternate embodiment of the LED assembly 500 is shown. As described above, a mounting die 512 is provided as the central element of the assembly. The mounting die 512 is at least thermally and may also be electrically conductive. The mounting die 512 may be metallic or thermally conductive polymer and includes a receiving end to which the high powered LED 514 is mounted with the heat transfer plate in contact with the mounting die 512 . In this manner, heat is conducted directly from the LED 514 into the mounting die 512 . The exterior enclosure 506 is a thermally conductive material that includes an opening in the rear to receive the mounting die 512 with the LED 514 mounted thereon. The exterior enclosure 506 includes an opening in the opposite end thereof to allow the optical element 516 of the LED 514 to extend therethrough. Further, the exterior enclosure 506 is configured to surround the entire mounting die 512 providing a large contact surface area for heat transfer. As stated above with respect to the mounting die 512 , the exterior enclosure 506 may also be metallic or thermally conductive polymer. The outer surface of the exterior enclosure 506 is further modified with surface area enhancements 518 . The surface area enhancements 518 are shown as substantially concentric disk shaped fins extending outwardly from the wall of the exterior enclosure 506 . While the surface area enhancements 518 are shown as disk shaped fins, clearly they also could be spiral, longitudinal or oblique fins. Further the surface area enhancements 518 could also be pins or ribs and still fall within the present disclosure. The surface area enhancements 518 are placed on the outer wall of the exterior enclosure 506 so as to correspond with the vent openings 504 in the side wall of the outer housing 502 . In this manner, cooling air is allowed to circulate in through the openings 504 in the side wall 502 , around the surface area enhancements 518 to collect waste and then back out through the vent openings 504 . In this manner the heat management properties of the present invention are greatly enhanced as compared to the flashlights of the prior art. It is the placement of the vent openings 504 in close proximity adjacent to the thermally conductive exterior enclosure 506 that allows free air flow and effective cooling of the LED assembly 500 that makes the present invention more effective that similar devices found in the prior art.
[0047] It can therefore be seen that the present invention 10 provides a compact package assembly for incorporating a high intensity LED 12 into a lighting device. The present invention provides integral heat sink capacity and electrical connections that overcome the drawbacks associated with prior art attempts to use LED's of this type while further creating a versatile assembly 10 that can be incorporated into a wide range of lighting devices. For these reasons, the instant invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art, which has substantial commercial merit.
[0048] While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims. | The present invention provides a lighting assembly that incorporates a high intensity LED package into an integral housing for further incorporation into other useful lighting devices. The present invention primarily includes three housing components, namely an inner mounting die, an outer enclosure and an outer housing that cooperate to enhance the heat management of the overall assembly. The inner and outer components cooperate to retain the LED package, provide electrical and control connections, provide integral heat sink capacity and includes an integrated reflector cup. Surface area enhancements on the outer surface of the outer enclosure are aligned with openings in the outer housing to allow efficient air flow around the LED assembly to enhance cooling. In this manner, high intensity LED packages can be incorporated into lighting assemblies with reduced risk of overheating and malfunction. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to methods of making electric motors.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
When a small mass-produced permanent magnet electric D.C. motor is manufactured, it will have a certain amount of shaft endplay, meaning that the shaft can be displaced axially relative to the housing. Heretofore it has been the typical practice to perform an endplay adjustment as a separate step after the shaft has been assembled to the housing. Such an adjustment can be internal or external. It involves measuring the amount of endplay, selecting a device of appropriate thickness, such as a clip, washer, etc., and assembling the device onto the motor such that the device will limit the shaft endplay to a tolerable amount.
The present invention relates to a method of making a motor which eliminates the need for a separate endplay adjustment. The invention relies in part upon a certain positioning of the motor's permanent magnets during their assembly into one part of the motor housing which results in the magnets' force acting on the motor shaft in a manner that urges the shaft in one direction along the shaft's axis so that the entire endplay is caused to appear at only one end of the shaft. In this way the shaft is properly axially located so that the existence of endplay in whatever amount is actually present will not result in the axial position of the shaft relative to the housing being outside a specified tolerance during motor operation. The elimination of a separate endplay adjustment saves on time, labor, and materials in the assembly of such motors.
The invention will be disclosed with reference to the ensuing description which is accompanied by drawings illustrating the best mode contemplated at this time for carrying out the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section through a motor which embodies the inventive principles, and it also illustrates a blower wheel as the motor's load.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross section taken during the process of making the motor.
FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrows 3--3 in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows a motor and blower wheel assembly 10 of the type that is used in the climate control system of an automotive vehicle. The assembly comprises an electric D.C. motor 12 of the permanent magnet type and a blower wheel 14 of the squirrel cage type.
Motor 12 comprises a housing 16 and a shaft assembly 18. Housing 16 is composed of two parts 20 and 22 that are drawn from sheet metal and assembled together. Part 20 comprises an end wall 24, a cylindrical side wall 26 extending from end wall 24, and an annular flange 28 extending around the outside of side wall 26 at the end opposite end wall 24. Part 22 comprises an end wall 30, a cylindrical side wall 32 extending from end wall 30, and an annular flange 34 extending around the outside of side wall 32 at the end opposite end wall 30. Flanges 28 and 34 are disposed in abutment and the two housing parts 20 and 22 are suitably joined so that the two side walls 26, 32 and the two end walls 24, 30 form a cylindrical enclosure.
Shaft assembly 18 comprises a shaft 36, a commutator 38, and a lamination stack 40. Commutator 38 and stack 40 are internal of the motor. One end portion of shaft 36 is journaled in a bearing 42 on end wall 24. The opposite end portion is journaled in a bearing 44 on end wall 30. Shaft 36, bearings 42, 44, and end walls 24, 30 are all coaxial and their co-axis is designated by the numeral 46.
The end portion of shaft 18 that is journaled in bearing 44 on end wall 30 passes through that end wall via a suitable hole therein, and it is to the external portion of shaft 18 that the hub of wheel 14 is fitted and secured.
The interior of the enclosure also contains spring-loaded brushes 48, 50 that are mounted in conventional fashion to ride against commutator 38 and convey electric current to armature coils (not shown in the interest of clarity of FIG. 1) wound on stack 40 in a conventional manner. The brushes are connected by electric wires (not shown) passing through the enclosure to a plug that is accessible from the exterior of the motor to enable electric current to be delivered to the motor.
Identical permanent magnets 52, 54 are also disposed within the interior of the enclosure and are held in place in the manner shown by identical metal clips 56, 58. Each permanent magnet has an arcuate shape, as viewed transversely (FIG. 3), for conformal fitting against the inside of side wall 26.
It is to be observed in FIG. 1 that although stack 40 is circumferentially bounded by permanent magnets 52, 54, it is disposed closer to one axial end of the magnets than the opposite axial end of the magnets. Because a large part of the shaft assembly is ferromagnetic, particularly the laminations, a magnetic force is exerted on shaft assembly 18 via the stack, and it will try to position the entire shaft assembly axially relative to housing 16 such that the laminations are centered lengthwise of the magnets. In the illustrated embodiment this causes the entire shaft assembly to be urged axially relative to housing 16 in one direction along axis 46, this direction being toward bearing 44. Before this urging can attain lengthwise centering of the stack however, it causes a shoulder 60 of shaft assembly 18 to abut the face of bearing 44 that is toward the interior of the enclosure. The result is that the shaft is caused to bear lightly against the bearing.
The shaft assembly has a shoulder 62 at the opposite end which faces bearing 42. The axial dimension "A" along the shaft assembly between shoulders 60 and 62 is a toleranced dimension. The two housing parts are fabricated with tolerance such that when they are assembled together, the distance between the confronting inner faces of bearings 42 and 44 is a toleranced dimension "B" that is more than the toleranced dimension "A" along the shaft assembly between shoulders 60 and 62. The difference between these two toleranced dimensions "A" and "B" represents the endplay that exists in the assembled motor.
By virtue of the arrangement of the permanent magnets on the motor housing which causes the magnetic force acting to urge the shaft assembly toward bearing 44, the entire endplay is caused to appear between shoulder 62 and bearing 42. This assures that the shaft is located in relation to the housing in a predetermined manner. By controlling the manufacturing tolerances on the several parts involved, the endplay may be kept within a desired tolerance, and therefore there is no need to perform a separate endplay adjustment. FIG. 3 shows how the magnets are accurately axially located.
The two clips 56, 58 and the two permanent magnets 52, 54 are placed upright on an anvil 64 which includes suitable means 66 for locating the four parts. Housing part 20 is axially aligned with the four parts and the open end of the housing part is advanced downwardly over the four upright parts to cause the latter to be inserted into the former. Housing part 20 continues to be advanced downwardly until its flange 28 abuts a shoulder 68 surrounding the anvil. This provides a limit stop that thereby limits the extent to which the four upright parts can be inserted into the housing part. Because the housing part has a toleranced dimension from its flange 28 to its bearing 42 so that when assembled with the other housing part 22 the distance between the two bearings 42, 44 is the toleranced dimension "B", the precise positioning of the inserted magnets into housing part 20 will assure the positioning of the magnets such that in the assembled motor, they urge shaft assembly 18 to abut shoulder 60 with bearing 44, as described above.
The direction of the urging force may be changed by changing the relative axial position of the magnets. In other words by inserting the magnets further into the housing, the shaft assembly could be urged to abut shoulder 62 with bearing 42 so that the endplay would appear between bearing 44 and shoulder 60. The direction of the magnetic force in any given motor depends on the nature of the load imposed on the motor. Some blower wheels cause an axial force to be exerted on the motor shaft in one direction and others in the opposite direction. The usual practice will be to design a motor to urge the shaft in the same direction as the axial force that will be exerted on it by the load.
It should also be mentioned that the shoulders that have been referred to above at the opposite ends of the shaft may be shoulders formed directly in the shaft or separate washers that are fitted onto the shaft. | A method of making an electric motor which eliminates the need for a separate endplay adjustment wherein permanent magnets act on the armature laminations to urge the motor shaft in one direction so that the entire endplay appears at only one end of the shaft. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to transistors such as thin film transistors and methods of fabricating the same, and more particularly to gate structures for transistors including thin film transistors and methods of fabricating the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels are widely used flat panel display devices. As the integration density and size of the TFT-LCD panels increase, it may become increasingly important to provide low resistivity gate lines and data lines for the panel. Accordingly, aluminum is being widely investigated for the gate lines and data lines of the TFT-LCD panels.
Currently, 22" diagonal size panels may be obtained from 370×470 mm 2 mother glass panels. It has been confirmed that aluminum can be used for these panels without degradation of display quality. See the publication entitled "Limitation and Prospects of a-Si:H TFTs", by W. E. Howard, Journal of the SID, Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 127 (1995). In this publication, it is estimated that pure aluminum can be used for up to 30" diagonal size panels. This suggests that aluminum metalization can be used for even larger size panel fabrication, such as third generation mother glass panels of 550×650 mm 2 in size.
Unfortunately, pure aluminum may have problems which may limit its suitability for TFT-LCD panels. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when a pure aluminum layer 3 is deposited on a substrate 1, for example a transparent substrate for a TFT-LCD, using sputtering, the grains 3a of pure aluminum may grow in a columnar grain structure. During subsequent fabrication steps, subsequent layers or subsequent fabrication conditions may place the aluminum layer 3 under compressive stress, as shown by arrows 4. As a result of the compressive stress, grains 3a may extend from the planar surface of the pure aluminum layer 3 and may thereby form hillocks thereon.
Moreover, in subsequent processing, the pure aluminum layer 3 may be subject to a wet etch of an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, which is generally used as a transparent conductive layer in a TFT-LCD. This etch may cause a chemical attack on the pure aluminum layer. Moreover, since the pure aluminum layer has a strong affinity for oxygen, electrochemical corrosion may occur between the pure aluminum layer and the ITO layer. Accordingly, the pure aluminum layer should not directly contact the ITO layer. One or more of these shortcomings can therefore degrade the quality and yield of the TFT-LCDs. As such, pure aluminum is often not used, despite the potential advantages thereof.
In order to obviate one or more of the above shortcomings, it is known to carefully select the gate insulator that overlies the aluminum layer. Generally, the gate insulator includes a double insulator structure to protect the surface of the aluminum layer. The double insulator structure is generally formed of a first gate insulator of anodized aluminum and a second insulator of a chemical vapor deposited nitride film.
FIGS. 2A through 2F, illustrate a conventional method for fabricating a TFT-LCD in which an anodization is used. As shown in FIG. 2A, a transparent substrate 1 for a TFT-LCD, such as a glass substrate, is provided. Thereafter, a pure Al layer 3 is deposited on the substrate 1 to a predetermined thickness by sputtering. The deposition of the pure Al is followed by respectively patterning the pure Al layer 3 to form a TFT gate pattern 3b, a gate line pattern and a first contact pattern 3c in a gate pad area. It will be understood that the gate pattern 3b and the first contact pattern 3c are interconnected by the gate line pattern to form a TFT-LCD body.
Thereafter, a photoresist layer 5 that serves as an anodized mask layer is formed only on the first contact pattern 3c of the gate pad area by a conventional photo-imaging process, as shown in FIG. 2b. An anodized layer 7 of Al 2 O 3 is formed to a thickness ranging from 1500Å to 2000Å only on the surface of the gate pattern 3b and on the gate line by anodizing. The anodization layer 7 is used for the first gate insulator.
As shown in FIG. 2C, after removing the photoresist layer 5, amorphous nitride 9 that is used for the second gate insulator, amorphous silicon 11 and n + amorphous silicon 13 are successively deposited on the substrate using CVD. Thereafter, photolithography is used to form the active layer only on the gate pattern 3b, which includes an amorphous silicon layer 11 and an n + amorphous silicon layer 13. As a result, only the amorphous nitride 9 is left on the contact pattern 3b.
As shown in FIG. 2D, the amorphous nitride 9 on the first contact pattern 3c is then patterned to leave only an inner portion thereof, using a photolithographic process. As a result, the outer portion of the first contact pattern 3c, from which the amorphous nitride is removed, is exposed.
As shown in FIG. 2E, a metal layer 15, such as a chrome layer, is deposited to a predetermined thickness by sputtering. The metal layer 15 is patterned to form a data line pattern 15a and a second contact pattern 15b on the n + amorphous silicon layer 13 and on the first contact pattern 3c, respectively, using photolithography. This divides the data line pattern 15a into a source line pattern and a drain line pattern. The surface of the n + amorphous silicon layer 13 between the divided patterns of the data line pattern 15a is exposed. The second contact pattern 15b of chrome comes into direct contact with the first contact pattern 3c of Al.
Thereafter, the exposed area of the n + amorphous silicon layer 13 is etched. The amorphous silicon 11 may also be etched to a predetermined depth.
As shown in FIG. 2F, a protective layer 17, such as a nitride layer, is deposited on the substrate 1 by CVD. A contact hole 18 is then formed in the protective layer 17 by a photolithographic process. Upon completion of the contact hole 18, an ITO layer 19 or other transparent conductor is deposited on the protective layer 17. Thereafter, the transparent conductor 19 is patterned by photolithography to form a pixel electrode pattern. As a result, the transparent conductor 19 comes into direct contact with the data line pattern 15a through the contact hole 18.
The resultant TFT-LCD has a thick and dense anodized layer 7 such as an Al 2 O 3 ceramic insulator having a thickness ranging from 1500Å to 2000Å on the surface of the gate pattern 3b. This anodized layer can suppress hillock formation.
However, if the Al layer of the contact pattern of the gate pad is anodized during the anodization process, the Al layer may not directly contact the ITO layer in the contact pattern. An additional photolithography process may be required to prevent the Al layer of the contact pattern from anodizing, which can complicate the fabrication process and can result in increased cost. Moreover, the anodized layer may have a relatively high resistance.
Accordingly, to simplify the process of the gate line formation for TFT-LCD, the use of double layered gate metals having an Al-alloy and a refractory metal is being considered. Al-Zr, Al-Ta and/or Al-Ti can be used for the Al-alloy, and Mo, Cr, Ta and other refractory metals can be used. The double layered gate metals are nearly hillock free and can have resistance of approximately 10μΩCm after annealing at 400° C.
However, the double layered gate metals may have more than three times the resistivity of pure Al, and are especially chemically vulnerable against photoresist stripper and ITO etchant. Moreover, a so called "splash" problem may produce alloy clusters in the deposited Al-alloy film. Thus, double layered gate metals are capable of suppressing hillock formation in an Al gate line to some extent, but may not be suitable for the next generation TFT-LCD panels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide aluminum gates and thin film transistors which can reduce hillock formation therein.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods of fabricating aluminum gates and thin film transistors having reduced susceptibility to hillock formation.
These and other objects are provided, according to the present invention, by implanting ions into the exposed surface of an aluminum gate layer. The ions are preferably selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and boron ions. The ions may be implanted into the face of the aluminum gate layer, opposite the substrate, and also may be implanted into the pair of sidewalls in the aluminum gate layer between the face and the substrate. The aluminum gate layer may be pure aluminum or aluminum alloys.
The implanted ions form a composite layer of aluminum and nitrogen, aluminum and carbon, aluminum and boron, or aluminum and oxygen. As is well known to those having skill in the art, a composite layer is a mixture or mechanical combination on a macro scale of two or more materials that are solid in the finished state, are mutually insoluble, and differ in chemical nature. See Hawley 's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 12 th Edition, 1993, p. 303.
The composite layer can suppress hillock formation, to thereby increase the reliability and yield of the TFT-LCD. Moreover, a photolithography process for masking the contact pattern of the gate pad area can be eliminated, to thereby simplify the process. Finally, the ceramic composite layer that is formed on the aluminum gate can suppress the formation of a high resistivity oxidation layer between the aluminum layer and the indium tin oxide layer which was previously caused when the ITO layer was in direct contact with the aluminum layer. Therefore, the gate contact pattern can be in direct contact with the ITO layer.
It is known that Al can be modified by ion implantation for various applications where high wear resistance and low weight are desired. See the publications entitled "Nitrogen Plasma Source Ion Implantation of Aluminum" and "Structure and Wear Behavior of Nitrogen-Implanted Aluminum Alloys", J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 12(2), March/April 1994. These publications note that engineering applications of Al are often limited by aluminum's low hardness, strength and corresponding low wear resistance, but surface modification of Al by ion implantation offers the possibility of using Al in applications where a combination of high wear resistance and low weight is required. Furthermore, ion implantation, a near room temperature process, may be able to independently optimize surface properties without changing the bulk properties because of the low melting point (600° C.) of Al and Al-alloys. However, ion implanted aluminum does not appear to have been heretofore considered for gates of TFT-LCD structures to solve the hillock formation and other problems described above.
Thin film transistors according to the invention include a thin film transistor substrate and an aluminum gate on the thin film transistor substrate. The aluminum gate includes an exposed surface and contains ions therein adjacent the exposed surface. The ions may form a composite layer of aluminum and at least one other element on the aluminum layer. A channel layer is included on the exposed surface, opposite the substrate, and spaced apart source and drain regions are included on the channel layer opposite the aluminum layer. The ions are selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and boron ions, as already described, and may be included on the face and optionally on the sidewalls. High performance, high reliability aluminum gate transistors are thereby provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an illustration of columnar grain growth and hillock formation in a conventional TFT-LCD Al gate;
FIGS. 2A through 2F, illustrate a conventional method for fabricating a TFT-LCD to which an anodization is applied;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of TFT Al gate structures that can suppress hillock formation according to the present invention;
FIGS. 4A through 4C illustrate methods of fabricating TFT Al gate structures of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an illustration of columnar grain growth and hillock formation in TFT Al gates according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of TFT Al gate structures that can suppress hillock formation according to the present invention; and
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate methods for fabricating the TFT Al gate structure of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It will also be understood that when a layer is referred to as being "on" another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may also be present. Moreover, each embodiment described and illustrated herein includes its complementary conductivity type embodiment as well.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of TFT Al gate structures that can suppress hillock formation according to the present invention. As shown in the drawing, a gate pattern 23a is included on the pixel area of substrate 21. A composite ceramic insulating layer 27a that can suppress hillock formation is included on gate pattern 23a. A contact pattern 23b is included on the gate pad area of the substrate 21. A composite ceramic insulating layer 27b is included on the surface of the Al contact pattern 23b.
The gate pattern 23b and the contact pattern 23b are formed of pure Al or Al-alloy. The ceramic insulating layers 27a and 27b are formed of a material selected from the group consisting of Al-N, Al-C, Al-B and Al-O composite materials.
Methods for fabricating TFT Al gate structures are shown in FIGS. 4A through 4C. Referring to FIG. 4A, a transparent substrate 21, such as a glass substrate for a TFT-LCD, is prepared. A pure Al layer 23 is deposited to a predetermined thickness on the surface of the substrate 21 by sputtering. During the deposition, the grains of the pre Al layer 23 grow in columnar grain structures as shown in FIG. 5. Al-alloys may also be used instead of pure Al.
Thereafter, the Al layer 23 is patterned by a photolithographic process to form a TFT gate pattern 23a, a gate line pattern (not shown) and a contact pattern 23b in the gate pad area, respectively. It will by understood by those of skill in the art that the gate pattern 23a and the first contact pattern 23b are interconnected by the gate line pattern to form a TFT-LCD body.
As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, nitrogen ions are implanted into the surface of the substrate 21 including the gate pattern 23a and the contact pattern 23b. Implantation may be performed at room temperature by a general linear beam ion implantation technique, by an ion shower technique, or by a Plasma Source Ion Implantation (PSII) technique. As a result, composite ceramic insulating layers of Al-N 27a and 27b are respectively formed on the surface of the gate pattern 23a, the gate line pattern and the contact pattern 23b. As shown in FIG. 4C, composite layer 27a is formed on the face of the aluminum gate pattern 23a opposite substrate 21, and on the sidewalls of the aluminum gate pattern 23a, between the face and the substrate.
More particularly, the implanted nitrogen ions mix the columnar grain boundaries on the surface of the gate pattern 23a, on the gate line (not shown) and on the contact pattern 23b, as illustrated by dotted arrows in FIG. 5. Therefore, although the pure Al layer 23 is placed under compressive stress 24 by various overlaying layers (not shown) during or after the deposition process, extrusion of the columnar grains may be suppressed, and hillock formation can also be reduced.
The nitrogen generally has a Gaussian distribution from the surface of the gate pattern 23a, the gate line and the contact pattern 23b to the inside thereof. Thus, most of the nitrogen ions exist at the surface. As a result, the surface of the gate pattern 23a, the gate line and the contact pattern 23b are nitrified.
The surface hardness and resistance against oxidation of the Al layer 23, and the resistivity of the composite layer 27 may be controlled by ion implantation dose and ion implantation energy. It is preferable that the total ion implantation dose is in the range of 10 16 -10 18 /Cm 2 and the ion implantation energy is in the range of 10-100 KeV. The temperature of the substrate 21 is not limited to ambient temperature, and it can be varied within the TFT-LCD process temperature limitations.
As the total nitrogen ion implantation dose and the energy increase, or the temperature of the substrate goes up, the Al-N composite layer generally grows thicker and denser. This may result in high surface hardness, but may also result in increased electric resistance. Therefore, ion implantation should be controlled so that the Al-N layer is capable of suppressing hillock formation, but does not exceed the limitation of contact resistance of the contact pattern 23b and the following chrome layer or other metal layer.
The rest of the fabrication process for the TFT is the same as conventional processes, and need not be described again.
Carbon, oxygen, boron, as well as nitrogen and combinations thereof can be used for the ion implantation. The composite ceramic insulating layers 27a and 27b thus can be Al-C, Al-O and/or Al-B instead of Al-N.
Another embodiment of TFT Al gate structures for suppressing hillock formation and methods for fabricating the same according to the invention will now be described. Referring to FIG. 6, the structure is the same as the structure in FIG. 3 except that a ceramic insulating layer 27c is formed only on the face (the top in FIG. 6) of the Al gate pattern 23a. The ceramic insulating layer 27c is not formed on the sidewalls of the gate pattern 23a.
Methods for fabricating such TFT Al gate structures will be described referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Referring to FIG. 7A, a pure Al layer 23 is deposited a predetermined thickness on a substrate 21 by sputtering. Thereafter, nitrogen ions are implanted into the surface of the Al layer 23, for example using a linear beam ion implantation technique, an ion shower technique or a PSII technique as was described in connection with FIG. 4B.
As shown in FIG. 7B, the ion implanted Al layer 23 is patterned to respectively form a TFT gate pattern 23a, a gate line pattern (not shown) and a contact pattern 23b of a gate pad area in the same photolithographic process used for forming the structure in FIG. 4B. Thus, a composite ceramic insulating layer of AlN 27c is formed only on the face of the gate pattern 23a and on the surface of the gate line. The remaining process steps are the same as conventional TFT fabricating methods, and need not be described again.
As before, carbon, oxygen, boron, as well as nitrogen may be used for the ion implantation. Thus, the composite ceramic insulating layers 27b and 27c may be formed of Al-C, Al-O and/or Al-B instead of Al-N.
As aforementioned, nitrogen ions, carbon ions, boron ions, and oxygen ions may be implanted into the Al layer either after or before patterning the Al layer to form a gate pattern, a contact pattern of a gate pad area and a gate line pattern. As a result, a composite ceramic insulating layer such as Al-N, Al-C, Al-B and Al-O is formed on the surface of the Al layer.
Accordingly, the invention can enhance the reliability of TFT-LCD by forming a composite ceramic insulating layer such as Al-N, Al-C, Al-B and Al-O that can suppress hillock formation and can have low resistance on the surface of the Al gate line. It is also possible to simplify the process by omitting an additional photolithography step for masking a contact pattern of the gate pad area. Moreover, direct contact between the contact pattern of the gate pad area and the ITO layer is possible, because the ceramic insulating layer on the surface of the Al gate may have high resistance against oxidation.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims. | An aluminum gate for a thin film transistor is fabricating by implanting ions into the exposed surface of the aluminum gate. The ions are preferably selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and boron ions. A composite layer of aluminum and the implanted ions thereby formed at the exposed surface of the aluminum layer. Gates for thin film transistors, including an aluminum layer and a composite layer of aluminum and another element at the surface thereof can suppress hillocks in the aluminum gate which may be caused by compressive stresses during subsequent fabrication steps. The composite layer can have a low resistance and can allow a direct contact with an indium tin oxide conductive layer. | 7 |
[0001] This is a division of application Ser. No. 09/442,631 filed Nov. 18, 1999.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention related to two cDNA clones, designated to PepDef (pepper defensin protein gene) and PepThi (pepper thionin-like protein gene) and individual component; thereof including its coding region and its gene product; modification thereto; application of said gene, coding region and modification thereto; DNA construct, vectors and transformed plants each comprising the gene or part thereof.
[0003] Plants have developed defense mechanisms to defend themselves against phytopathogens. Plants' first responses to pathogen infection include fortification of cell walls for physical barriers by deposition of lignin (Dean and Kuc, 1988) and by oxidative cross-linking (Brisson et al., 1994) as well as the hypersensitive reaction (HR). HR causes a rapid cell death of infected tissues to halt further colonization by pathogens (Goodman and Novacky, 1994). The next array of defense strategies includes the production of antimicrobial phytoalexins (van Etten et al., 1989), pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins (Linthorst, 1991; Ponstein et al., 1994), and cysteine (Cys)-rich proteins, such as lipid transfer protein (Garcia-Olmedo et al., 1995) and thionins (Bohlmann, 1994).
[0004] Thionins are small, highly basic, Cys-rich proteins that show antimicrobial activity and seem to have a role in plant defense against fungi and bacteria. The overexpression of the THI2. 1 thionin in Arabidopsis enhanced resistance to a phytopathogenic fungus (Epple et al., 1997). The overexpression of a-hordothionin in tobacco also enhanced resistance to a phytopathogenic bacterium (Carmona et al., 1993). In addition, during barley and powdery mildew interactions, the accumulation of thionins was higher in the incompatible interaction than in the compatible one (Ebrahim-Nesbat et al., 1993).
[0005] The thionins contain a signal sequence, the thionin domain and an acid polypeptide domain as well as the conserved Cys residues (Bohlmann et al., 1994). A new class of Cys-rich antimicrobial protein, γ-thionin, has a similar size (5 kD) and the same number of disulfide bridges as thionins. However, since γ-thionins do not have significant sequence homologies with thionins, they have been described as plant defensins (Terras et al., 1995). Both defensin and thionin genes in Arabidopsis are inducible via a salicylic acid-independent pathway different from that for PR proteins (Epple et al., 1995; Penninckx et al., 1996).
[0006] Fruit ripening represents a genetically synchronized process that involves developmental events unique to plant species. Generally, ripe fruits are susceptible to pathogen attack (Swinburne, 1983; Prusky et al., 1991). Therefore, fruit as one of the reproductive organs of the plants must be protected from pathogens to maintain their integrity and seed maturation. Several antifungal proteins that are responsible for protection against pathogens during fruit ripening have been identified (Fils-Lycaon et al., 1996; Meyer et al., 1996; Salzman et al., 1998). Also, PR proteins are developmentally expressed during the formation of flowers (Lotan et al., 1989; Cote et al., 1991).
[0007] [0007] Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) causes anthracnose diseases in many plant species (Daykin, 1984; Dodds et al., 1991; Prusky et al., 1991). C. gloeosporioides is the most prevalent species among C. acutatum, C. coccodes, C. dematium, C. gloeosporioides, and G. cingulata to cause anthracnose diseases on pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) (Kim et al., 1986; Manandhar et al., 1995). In previous study, we found that the unripe-mature-green fruit of pepper cv. Nokkwang interacted compatibly with C. gloeosporioides, whereas the interaction of the ripe-red fruits with fungus was incompatible (Oh et al., 1998). To investigate the activation of defense-related genes from the incompatible-pepper fruit upon C. gloeosporioides infection, we isolated a defensin gene and a thionin-like gene by using mRNA differential display. The regulation of these Cys-rich protein genes was studied during fruit ripening and in the initial infection process during the compatible and incompatible interactions. We report here what appears to be the first case of a defensin gene and a thionin-like gene induced via different signal transduction pathways in a plant and fungus interaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention relates to two cDNA clones, designated to a defensin gene, PepDef, and a thionin-like gene, PepThi, the sequences of which are depicted in SEQ ID No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. The anthracnose fungus, C. gloeosporioides, interacts incompatibly with ripe fruits of pepper ( Capsicum annuum ). It interacts compatibly with the unripe-mature fruits. We isolated PepDef and PepThi expressed in the incompatible interaction by using mRNA differential display method. Both genes were developmentally regulated during fruit ripening, organ-specifically regulated, and differentially induced during the compatible and incompatible interactions. The expression of PepThi gene was rapidly induced in the incompatible-ripe fruit upon fungal infection. The fungal-inducible PepThi gene is highly inducible only in the unripe fruit by salicylic acid. In both ripe and unripe fruits, it was induced by wounding, but not by jasmonic acid. The expression of PepDef gene is enhanced in the unripe fruit by jasmonic acid, while suppressed in the ripe fruit. These results suggest that both small and cysteine-rich protein genes are induced via different signal transduction pathways during fruit ripening to protect the reproductive organs against biotic and abiotic stresses. The PepDef and PepThi car be cloned into an expression vector to produce a recombinant DNA expression system suitable for insertion into cells to form a transgenic plant transformed with these genes. In addition, the PepDef and PepThi genes of this invention can be also used to produce transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced resistance against phytopathogens, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematode, mycoplasmalike organisms, parasitic higher plants, flagellate protozoa, and insects.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] [0009]FIG. 1. Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequences from PepDef (GenBank accession number X95363) and PepThi cDNAs (AF112443) of pepper (Meyer et al., 1996) with other thionins from tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum, U20591; Milligan and Gasser, 1995), Nicotiana excelsior (AB005266), tobacco ( N. tabacum, Z 11748; Gu et al., 1992), and N. paniculata (AB005250). The conserved cysteine arrangement —C( . . . )C—X—X—X—C( . . . )G-X—C( . . . )C—X—C— is indicated by arrows.
[0010] [0010]FIG. 2. Expression and induction of PepDef and PepThi genes from various organs of pepper by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides infections and wounding. RNAs were isolated from ripe fruit (R), unripe fruit (U), leaf, stem, and root at 24 h after the treatments of fungal infection (FI) and wounding (W). In addition, RNAs of both ripe and unripe fruits at 48 h after wounding (R48 and U48) were isolated. Ten μl at 5×10 5 conidialml of C. gloeosporioides was used for the inoculation of various pepper organs. Organs treated with 10 μl sterile-water except fungal spores for 24 h were used as the controls (C).
[0011] [0011]FIG. 3. Differential induction of PepDef and PepThi genes from both ripe and unripe fruits of pepper by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides infections. RNAs were isolated from both ripe (incompatible interaction) and unripe fruits (compatible interaction) after the fungal infection with time course. Time is indicated in h after infection.
[0012] [0012]FIG. 4. Induction and suppression of PepDef and PepThi genes from both ripe and unripe fruits of pepper by exogenous salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) treatments. RNAs were isolated from both ripe (R) and unripe fruits (U) treated with SA (1=0.5 mM, 2=5 mM) and JA (3=4 μM, 4=40 μM) for 24 h. Fruits treated with 10 μl sterile-water except fungal spores for 24 h were used as the control (C).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention has identified two cDNA clones, designated to PepDef and PepThi, from the incompatible interaction between pepper and the pepper anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides using MRNA differential display and cDNA library screening.
[0014] The PepThi cDNA is 506 bp in length with 9 bp of 5′-untranslated region and 245 bp of 3′-untranslated region including the poly(A) tail (GenBank AF 112443). The PepThi clone represented a full-length cDNA of the 0.5 kb transcript identified by RNA gel blot analysis. The cDNA contained one open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 9.5 kDa with 84 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of PepThi(SEQ ID No. 4) contained an N-terminal secretory signal peptide that was cleaved after glycine at position 25 (FIG. 1). PepThi is a Cys-rich polypeptide containing the consensus Cys arrangement —C( . . . )C—X—X—X—C( . . . )G-X—C( . . . )C—X—C—.
[0015] The PepDef cDNA is 225 bp except 5′-untranslated region and 3′-untranslated region including the poly(A) tail (X95363). The PepDef clone represented a full-length cDNA of the 0.45 kb transcript identified by RNA gel blot analysis. The cDNA contained one open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 8.5 kDa with 75 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of PepDef(SEQ ID No. 3) contained an N-terminal secretory signal peptide that was cleaved after alanine at position 27 (FIG. 1). PepDef is also a Cys-rich polypeptide containing the consensus Cys arrangement —C( . . . )C—X—X—X—C( . . . )G-X—C( . . . )C—X—C—.
[0016] The expression of PepThi gene was observed in ripe fruits, leaves, stems, and roots of pepper, respectively. The basal and non-induced level of PepThi gene was higher in the leaves and roots than in the fruits and stems. In the fruits, the PepThi mRNA was highly induced by fungal infection and wounding. Also, the accumulation of the PepThi mRNA increased in the stems with fungal infection and wounding. However, the level of PepThi mRNA was not significantly changed in the leaves and roots by the treatments.
[0017] The PepDef mRNA was not detected in leaves, stems, and roots even after fungal infection and wounding. However, the basal level of PepDef gene was very high in the ripe fruit, and undetectably low in the unripe fruit. Interestingly, the level of PepDef mRNA was reduced in the ripe fruit by fungal infection and wounding. This phenomenon was also observed in the ripe fruit by JA treatment. The accumulation of PepDef mRNA was not significantly induced in the unripe fruit by fungal infection and wounding for 24 h or 48 h. These results suggest that PepDef and PepThi genes are developmentally and organ-specifically regulated, and the induction by fungal infection and wounding is also subject to developmental regulation.
[0018] To examine the time course of the induction of PepDef or PepThi mRNAs in response to the fungal infection, RNA gel blot analysis was performed with the ripe and unripe fruits at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after inoculation (HAI) using PepDef and PepThi cDNAs as probes. The uninoculated incompatible-ripe fruit contained a basal level of PepThi mRNA. However, the expression of PepThi was rapidly induced in the ripe fruit upon fungal infection and reached a maximum at 48 and 72 HAIs. In compatible-unripe fruits, the accumulation of PepThi mRNA was late, at 12 HAI, and reached its maximum level at 72 HAI.
[0019] Accumulation of PepDef mRNA in the unripe fruit was very low. PepDef expression was suppressed by fungal infection in the ripe fruit. The transcript levels dropped until 48 HAI, and had begun to increase again 72 HAI. Since PepDef gene was highly expressed in the ripe fruit and PepThi gene was induced in the ripe fruit by the fungal infection, these genes may be involved in the defense mechanism during fruit ripening against the phytopathogen.
[0020] To identify inducers of PepDef and PepThi gene expression from fruits, RNA gel blot analysis was performed with unripe and ripe fruits treated with exogenous jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) for 24 h. The PepThi mRNA was highly accumulated in the unripe fruit compared to in the ripe fruit by SA at 5 MM (FIG. 4). However, JA could not significantly induce the PepThi mRNA in both ripe and unripe fruits. The expression level of PepDef mRNA was not changed in both ripe and unripe fruits by SA. Interestingly, the expression of PepDef mRNA by JA increased in the unripe fruit, but decreased slightly in the ripe fruit. Taken together, these results suggest that the PepThi and PepDef genes are expressed via different signal transduction pathways during ripening.
[0021] The PepDef and PepThi genes can be cloned into an expression vector to produce a recombinant DNA expression system suitable for insertion into cells to form a transgenic plant transformed with these genes. In addition, the PepDef and PepThi genes of this invention can be also used to produce transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced resistance against phytopathogens, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematode, mycoplasmalike organisms, parasitic higher plants, flagellate protozoa, and insects.
EXAMPLES
[0022] Fungal Inoculum and Plant Material
[0023] Monoconidial isolate KG13 of C. gloeosporioides was cultured on potato dextrose agar (Difco, USA) for 5 days in darkness at 27° C. Sterile distilled water was added and conidia were harvested through four layers of cheesecloth to remove mycelial debris. Ten μl at 5×10 5 conidia/ml of C. gloeosporioides was used for the inoculation of both unripe and ripe pepper fruit as described (Oh et al., 1998).
[0024] Both ripe-red and unripe-mature-green fruits of pepper cv. Nokkwang were grown and harvested under green-house conditions. For wound treatments, five healthy ripe and unripe fruits were deeply scratched by a knife and incubated under relative humidity of 100% at 27° C. in the dark. Ten μl of SA (0.5 and 5 mM) and JA (4 and 40 μM) was applied to both ripe and unripe sets of five fruits. After incubation under the condition described above, the fruits were excised to 1 cm 2 at the application site and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Leaf, root, and stem samples were harvested from 3-week-old plants and handled as described above for fungal inoculation and wounding.
[0025] mRNA Differential Display
[0026] Total RNA was extracted from healthy and infected ripe and unripe fruits using RNeasy Plant kit (Qiagen, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instruction. We used total RNA as template for the reverse transcriptase reaction and performed differential display with [α 33 P]dATP instead of [α 35 S]dATP (Liang and Pardee, 1992). Anchored primers and random-arbitrary primers were purchased from Operon Technologies (Alameda, Calif., USA). PCR-amplified cDNA fragments were separated on denaturing 5% polyacrylamide gels in Tris-borate buffer. cDNAs were recovered from the gel, amplified by PCR, and cloned into pGEM-T easy vector (Promega, USA) as described (Oh et al., 1995).
[0027] Construction and Screening of cDNA Library
[0028] Poly(A) + mRNA was purified from total RNA of unripe fruits at 24 and 48 h after inoculation with C. gloeosporioides using Oligotex mRNA Kit (Qiagen, Germany). The cDNA library (2.5×10 5 plaque-forming unit with the mean insert size of 1.2 kb) was constructed in the cloning vector XZAPII (Stratagene, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instruction.
[0029] A partial cDNA, designated pddThi, from the differential display was used as a probe to screen the C. gloeosporioides -induced pepper cDNA library. After three rounds of plaque hybridization, positive plaques were purified. The pBluescript SK phagemid containing cDNAs was excised in vivo from the ZAP Express vector using the ExAssit helper phage.
[0030] DNA Sequencing and Homology Search
[0031] The cDNA sequencing was performed with an ALFexpress automated DNA sequencer (Pharmacia, Sweden). Analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequences was performed using the DNASIS sequence analysis software for Windows, version 2.1 (Hitachi, Japan). The multiple sequence alignment was produced with the Clustal W program. For a homology search, cDNA sequence was compared to the NCBI non-redundant databases using the BLAST electronic mail server (Altschul et al., 1997).
[0032] RNA Blot and Hybridization
[0033] Total RNA (10 μg/lane) from each plant tissue used in this study was separated on 1.2% denaturing agarose gels in the presence of formaldehyde. RNA gel-blotting, hybridization and washing were conducted as described by the manufacturer of the positively charged nylon membrane employed (Hybond N + ; Amersham, UK). Radiolabeled probes were prepared with [α 32 P]dCTP (Amersham) using a random primer-labeling kit (Boehringer Mannheim, Germany).
[0034] Cloning and Characterization of Thionin-Like cDNAs
[0035] [0035] C. gloeosporioides showed the incompatible interaction with ripe-red fruits of pepper and the compatible interaction with unripe-mature-green fruits (Oh et al., 1998). We isolated several cDNAs induced from the ripe fruit, but not from the unripe fruit by the fungal infection using mRNA differential display. By nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNAs, two cDNA fragments were identified to be thionin homologs. One cDNA was full length and was similar to j1-1 cDNA that encodes a fruit specific defensin (Meyer et al., 1996). We named the defensin as PepDef ( pep per def ensin). Another cDNA fragment, designated pddThi, showed homology to γ-thionin from tobacco (Gu et al., 1992). In preliminary RNA gel blot analysis, the two mRNAs accumulated to high levels in the incompatible interaction. A full-length cDNA clone of pddThi was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from pepper fruits 24 and 48 h after inoculation with the fungus. The full-length clone was designated pPepThi ( pep per thi onin) and sequenced.
[0036] The pPepThi cDNA is 506 bp in length with 9 bp of 5′-untranslated region and 245 bp of 3′-untranslated region including the poly(A) tail (GenBank AF112443). The pPepThi clone represented a full-length cDNA of the 0.5 kb transcript identified by RNA gel blot analysis. The cDNA contained one open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 9.5 kDa with 84 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of PepThi contained an N-terminal secretory signal peptide that was cleaved after glycine at position 25 (FIG. 1). PepThi is a Cys-rich polypeptide containing the consensus Cys arrangement —C( . . . )C—X—X—X—C( . . . )G-X—C( . . . )C—X—C—.
[0037] A sequence alignment showed that the PepThi shared significant homology (identity and similarity: 50% and 64%, respectively) to a flower-specific y-thionin from tobacco (Gu et al., 1992) and to several other γ-thionins from Nicotiana species and tomato (Milligan and Gasser, 1995; FIG. 1). PepThi protein showed 29% identity for the whole coding region to a pepper defensin protein PepDef. PepThi did not have nucleotide sequence homology to thionins and was different from other γ-thionins. Thus, we assigned PepThi as a thionin-like protein.
[0038] Expression Pattern and Induction by Fungal Infection and Wounding
[0039] To examine the PepThi gene expression in various organs and its inducibility by fungal inoculation and wounding, RNA gel blot analysis was performed using total RNAs prepared from fruits, leaves, stems, and roots of pepper plants at 24 h after treatments. The expression of Peplhi gene was observed in ripe fruits, leaves, stems, and roots (FIG. 2). The basal and non-induced level of PepThi gene was higher in the leaves and roots than in the fruits and stems. In the fruits, the PepThi mRNA was highly induced by fungal infection and wounding. Also, the accumulation of the PepThi mRNA increased in the stems with fungal infection and wounding. However, the level of PepThi mRNA was not significantly changed in the leaves and roots by the treatments.
[0040] We hybridized the PepDef cDNA to the same blot that was used for the hybridization of PepThi cDNA. The basal level of PepDef gene was very high in the ripe fruit, and undetectably low in the unripe fruit (FIG. 2). The PepDef mRNA was not detected in leaves, stems, and roots even after the treatments. PepDef protein is wound-inducible in the unripe fruit at 3 days after treatment (Meyer et al., 1996). However, the accumulation of PepDef mRNA was not significantly induced in the unripe fruit by fungal infection and wounding for 24 h or 48 h. Interestingly, the level of PepDef mRNA was reduced in the ripe fruit by fungal infection and wounding. These phenomena were also observed in the ripe fruit by fungal infection and JA treatment (see FIGS. 3 and 4). These results suggest that PepThi and PepDef genes are developmentally and organ-specifically regulated, and the induction by fungal infection and wounding is also subject to developmental regulation.
[0041] Differential Induction by Fungal Infection During Fruit Ripening
[0042] In our previous study for fungal morphogenesis on the surface of fruits, conidial germination, initial and mature infection hypha were observed at 2, 12, and 24 h after inoculations (HAIs), respectively (Oh et al. 1998). The initial anthracnose symptoms were detected only on the unripe fruit at 2 days after inoculation, resulting in typical sunken necrosis within 5 days after inoculation. To examine the time course of the induction of PepThi or PepDef mRNAs in response to the fungal infection, RNA gel blot analysis was performed with the ripe and unripe fruits at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 HAI using PepThi and j1-1 cDNAs as probes. The uninoculated incompatible-ripe fruit contained a basal level of PepThi mRNA (FIGS. 2 and 3). However, the expression of PepThi was rapidly induced in the ripe fruit upon fungal infection and reached a maximum at 48 and 72 HAIs (FIG. 3). In compatible-unripe fruits, the accumulation of PepThi mRNA was late, at 12 HAI, and reached its maximum level at 72 HAI.
[0043] Accumulation of PepDef mRNA in the unripe fruit was very low (FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 2, PepDef expression was suppressed by fungal infection in the ripe fruit. The transcript levels dropped until 48 HAI, and had begun to increase again 72 HAI. Since PepDef gene was highly expressed in the ripe fruit and PepThi gene was induced in the ripe fruit by the fungal infection, these genes may be involved in the defense mechanism during fruit ripening against the phytopathogen.
[0044] Induction and Suppression During Fruit Ripening by JA and SA
[0045] To identify the inducers of PepThi and PepDef gene expression from fruits, RNA gel blot analysis was performed with the unripe and ripe fruits treated with exogenous JA and SA for 24 h. The PepThi mRNA was highly accumulated in the unripe fruit compared to in the ripe fruit by SA at 5 mM (FIG. 4). However, JA could not significantly induce the PepThi mRNA in both ripe and unripe fruits. The expression level of PepDef mRNA was not changed in both ripe and unripe fruits by SA. Interestingly, the expression of PepDef mRNA by JA increased in the unripe fruit, but decreased slightly in the ripe fruit. Taken together, these results suggest that the PepThi and PepDef genes are expressed via different signal transduction pathways during ripening.
[0046] Discussion
[0047] Fungal-inducible thionin genes were identified in several plant/fungus interactions, such as in Arabidopsis/Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. matthiolae (Epple et al., 1995), barley/ Stagonospora nodorum (Titarenko et al., 1993; Stevens et al., 1996), and barley/the mildew fungus (Boyd et al., 1994; Bohlmann et al., 1998). Relevant to these findings, the accumulation of barley leaf thionin in papillae and in the cell wall surrounding the infection peg was higher in the incompatible interaction than that in the compatible one (Ebrahim-Nesbat et al., 1989, 1993). Similar phenomena have been reported for many other plant and pathogen interactions. The induction of PepThi mRNA was observed to be faster in the incompatible interaction of ripe pepper fruits with the fungus (FIG. 3).
[0048] The PepThi gene was induced during the early conidial germination of the fungus, before infection hyphae formation (Oh et al., 1998) and even before appressorium formation (Kim et al., 1999). These results suggest that signaling compounds released/produced during fungal germination result in the expression of PepThi gene in the epidermal cells of the incompatible-ripe fruit. Since the PepThi gene is expressed in various organs of pepper plants and its expression level is enhanced by fungal inoculation and wounding (FIG. 2), PepThi thionin-like protein could play a role in conferring systemic protection for the plants against both biotic and abiotic stresses. Also, the induction of PepThi gene in the unripe fruit by SA (FIG. 4) is consistent with a systemic protection role. SA plays an important role in the signal transduction pathway leading to the systemic acquired resistance (Gaffney et al., 1993).
[0049] The expression of the PepDef gene is regulated during fruit ripening. Similarly, several defensins and thionins are specifically expressed in reproductive organs, such as flowers in tobacco (Gu et al., 1992) and Arabidopsis (Epple et al., 1995), pistils in petunia (Karunanandaa et al., 1994), and seeds in radish (Terras et al., 1995). These findings suggest that both defensins and thionins are possibly involved in the defense mechanism for protecting the reproductive organ against pathogens or wounds. Further, thionins and other Cys-rich proteins exhibit synergistically enhanced antifungal activity (Terras et al., 1993). Therefore, the concerted expression of both PepDef and PepThi genes during ripening could confer disease resistance in the ripe fruit during the early fungal infection process.
[0050] The responses to exogenous JA and SA treatments in pepper during fruit ripening are different for both PepDef and PepThi genes. JA as a chemical elicitor induces thionin genes in Arabidopsis (Epple et al., 1995; Vignutelli et al., 1998) and barley (Andresen et al., 1992), and defensin genes in Arabidopsis (Penninckx et al., 1996), in addition to other wound inducible genes (Hildmann et al., 1992; Reinbothe et al., 1994). SA also induces a thionin gene in barley leaf (Kogel et al., 1995) as well as PR proteins (Ward et al., 1991; Uknes et al., 1992). A JA-independent wound induction pathway that shows opposite regulation to the JA-dependent one was identified in Arabidopsis (Rojo et al., 1998). In the present study, the PepThi gene is strongly inducible in the unripe fruit by SA and wounding, but not by JA (FIG. 4). These data indicate that the PepThi gene is expressed via a JA-independent wound signal transduction pathway.
[0051] Since the PepDef gene is induced in the unripe fruit by JA, it is probably regulated via the octadecanoid pathway (Peña-Cortés et al., 1995; Bergey et al., 1996). The slightly suppression of the PepDef gene in the ripe fruit by JA and wounding is puzzling, since both JA in the unripe fruit result in the induction of PepDef RNA. The possible explanation is that JA may elicit other signals that are able to activate genes in response to JA. These additional signals may result in the inhibition of PepDef expression in the ripe fruit.
[0052] This present study shows that a defensin and a thionin-like protein that may have defensive roles are deployed via different signal transduction pathways and may protect pepper fruits against the anthracnose fungus.
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[0079] 27. Kogel K-H, Ortel B, Jarosch B, Atzom R, Schiffer R, Wastemack C: Resistance in barley against the powdery mildew fungus ( Erysiphe graminis f.sp. hordei ) is not associated with enhanced levels of endogenous jasmonates. Eur J Plant Pathol 101: 319-332 (1995).
[0080] 28. Liang P, Pardee A B: Differential display of eukaryotic messenger RNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction. Science 257: 967-971 (1992).
[0081] 29. Linthrost H J M: Pathogenesis-related proteins of plants. Crit Rev Plant Sci 10: 123-150 (1991).
[0082] 30. Lotan T, Ori N, Fluhr R: Pathogenesis-related proteins are developmentally regulated in tobacco flowers. Plant Cell 1: 881-887 (1989).
[0083] 31. Manandhar J B, Hartman G L, Wang T C: Conidial germination and appressorial formation of Colletotrichum capsici and C. gloeosporioides isolates from pepper. Plant Dis 79: 361-366 (1995).
[0084] 32. Meyer B, Houlné G, Pozueta-Romero J, Schantz M-L, Schantz R: Fruit-specific expression of a defensin-type gene family in bell pepper. Upregulation during ripening and upon wounding. Plant Physiol 112: 615-622 (1996).
[0085] 33. Milligan S B, Gasser C S: Nature and regulation of pistil-expressed gene in tomato. Plant Mol Biol 28: 691-711 (1995).
[0086] 34. Oh B J, Balint D E, Giovannoni J J: A modified procedure for PCR-based differential display and demonstration of use in plants for isolation of gene related to fruit ripening. Plant Mol Biol rep 13: 70-81 (1995).
[0087] 35. Oh B J, Kim K D, Kim Y S: A microscopic characterization of the infection of green and red pepper fruits by an isolate of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. J Phytopathol 146: 301-303 (1998).
[0088] 36. Peña-Cortés H; Fisahn J, Willmitzer L: Signals involves in wound-induced proteinase inhibitor II gene expression in tomato and potato plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92: 4106-4113 (1995).
[0089] 37. Penninckx I A, Eggermont K, Terras F R, Thomma B P, De Samblanx G W, Buchala A, Metraux J P, Manners J M, Broekaert W F: Pathogen-induced systemic activation of a plant defensin gene in Arabidopsis follows a salicylic acid-independent pathway. Plant Cell 8: 2309-2323 (1996).
[0090] 38. Ponstein A S, Bres-Vloemans S A, Sela-Buurlage M B, van den Elzen P J M, Melchers L S, Comelissen B J C: A novel pathogen- and wound-inducible tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) protein with antifungal activity. Plant Physiol 104: 109-118 (1994).
[0091] 39. Prusky D, Plumbley R A, Kobiler I: The relationship between the antifungal diene levels and fungal inhibition during quiescent infections of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in unripe avocado fruits. Plant Pathol 40: 45-52 (1991).
[0092] 40. Reinbothe S, Mollenhauer B, Reinbothe C: JIP and RIPs: the regulation of plant gene expression by jasmonates in response to environmental cues and pathogens. Plant Cell 6: 1197-1209 (1994).
[0093] 41. Rojo E, Titarenko E, León J, Berger S, Vancanneyt G, Sanchez-Serrano J J: Reversal protein phosphorylation regulates jasmonic acid-dependent and—independent wound signal transduction pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J 13: 153-165 (1998).
[0094] 42. Salzman R A, Tikhonova I, Bordelon B P, Hasegawa P M, Bressan R A: Coordinate accumulation of antifungal proteins and hexoses constitutes a developmentally controlled defense response during fruit ripening in grape. Plant Physiol 117: 465-472 (1998).
[0095] 43. Stevens C, Titarenko E, Hargreaves J A, Gurr S J: Defense-related gene activation during an incompatible interaction between Stagonospora ( Septoria ) nodorum and barey ( Hordeum vulgare L.) coleoptile cells. Plant Mol Biol 31: 741-749 (1996).
[0096] 44. Swinbume T R: Post-Harvest Pathology of Fruits and Vegetables. Academic Press, NY, USA (1983).
[0097] 45. Terras F R G, Egermont K, Kovaleva V, Raikhel N V, Osborn R W, Kester A, Rees S B, Torrekens S, Van Leuven F, Vanderleyden J, Cammue B P A, Broekaert W F: Small cystein-rich antifungal proteins from radish: their role in host defense. Plant Cell 7: 573-588 (1995).
[0098] 46. Terras F R G, Schoofs H M E, Thevissen K, Osborn R W, Vanderleyden J, Cammue B P A, Broekaert W F: Synergistic enhancement of the antifungal activity of wheat and barley thionins by radish and oilseed rape 2S albumins and by barley trypsin inhibitors. Plant Physiol 103: 1311-1319 (1993).
[0099] 47. Titarenko E, Hargreaves J, Keon J, Gurr S J: Defense-related gene expression in barley coleoptile cells following infection by Septoria nodorum. In Mechanisms of Plant Defense responses, Fritig B and Legrand M (eds), pp. 308-311. Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht (1993).
[0100] 48. Uknes S, Mauch-Mani B, Moyer M, Potter S, Williams S, Dincher S, Chandler D, Slusarenko A, Ward E, Ryals J: Acquired resistance in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 4: 645-656 (1992).
[0101] 49. Van Etten H D, Mattews D E, Mattews P S: Phytoalexin detoxification: Importance for pathogenicity and practical implications. Annu Rev Phytopathol 27:143-164 (1989).
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[0103] 51. Ward E R, Uknes S J, Williams S C, Dincher S S, Wiederhold D L, Alexander D C, Ahl-Goy P, Metraux J-P, Ryals J A: Coordinate gene activity in response to agents that induce systemic acquired resistance. Plant Cell 3: 1085-1094 (1991).
1
4
1685 base pairs
nucleic acid
single
linear
cDNA
Arabidopsis thaliano
CDS
57..1511
/note= “amino acid transporter”
1
CTTAAAACAT TTATTTTATC TTCTTCTTGT TCTCTCTTTC TCTTTCTCTC ATCACT 56
ATG AAG AGT TTC AAC ACA GAA GGA CAC AAC CAC TCC ACG GCG GAA TCC 104
Met Lys Ser Phe Asn Thr Glu Gly His Asn His Ser Thr Ala Glu Ser
1 5 10 15
GGC GAT GCC TAC ACC GTG TCG GAC CCG ACA AAG AAC GTC GAT GAA GAT 152
Gly Asp Ala Tyr Thr Val Ser Asp Pro Thr Lys Asn Val Asp Glu Asp
20 25 30
GGT CGA GAG AAG CGT ACC GGG ACG TGG CTT ACG GCG AGT GCG CAT ATT 200
Gly Arg Glu Lys Arg Thr Gly Thr Trp Leu Thr Ala Ser Ala His Ile
35 40 45
ATC ACG GCG GTG ATA GGC TCC GGA GTG TTG TCT TTA GCA TGG GCT ATA 248
Ile Thr Ala Val Ile Gly Ser Gly Val Leu Ser Leu Ala Trp Ala Ile
50 55 60
GCT CAG CTT GGT TGG ATC GCA GGG ACA TCG ATC TTA CTC ATT TTC TCG 296
Ala Gln Leu Gly Trp Ile Ala Gly Thr Ser Ile Leu Leu Ile Phe Ser
65 70 75 80
TTC ATT ACT TAC TTC ACC TCC ACC ATG CTT GCC GAT TGC TAC CGT GCG 344
Phe Ile Thr Tyr Phe Thr Ser Thr Met Leu Ala Asp Cys Tyr Arg Ala
85 90 95
CCG GAT CCC GTC ACC GGA AAA CGG AAT TAC ACT TAC ATG GAC GTT GTT 392
Pro Asp Pro Val Thr Gly Lys Arg Asn Tyr Thr Tyr Met Asp Val Val
100 105 110
CGA TCT TAC CTC GGT GGT AGG AAA GTG CAG CTC TGT GGA GTG GCA CAA 440
Arg Ser Tyr Leu Gly Gly Arg Lys Val Gln Leu Cys Gly Val Ala Gln
115 120 125
TAT GGG AAT CTG ATT GGG GTC ACT GTT GGT TAC ACC ATC ACT GCT TCT 488
Tyr Gly Asn Leu Ile Gly Val Thr Val Gly Tyr Thr Ile Thr Ala Ser
130 135 140
ATT AGT TTG GTA GCG GTA GGG AAA TCG AAC TGC TTC CAC GAT AAA GGG 536
Ile Ser Leu Val Ala Val Gly Lys Ser Asn Cys Phe His Asp Lys Gly
145 150 155 160
CAC ACT GCG GAT TGT ACT ATA TCG AAT TAT CCG TAT ATG GCG GTT TTT 584
His Thr Ala Asp Cys Thr Ile Ser Asn Tyr Pro Tyr Met Ala Val Phe
165 170 175
GGT ATC ATT CAA GTT ATT CTT AGC CAG ATC CCA AAT TTC CAC AAG CTC 632
Gly Ile Ile Gln Val Ile Leu Ser Gln Ile Pro Asn Phe His Lys Leu
180 185 190
TCT TTT CTT TCC ATT ATG GCC GCA GTC ATG TCC TTT ACT TAT GCA ACT 680
Ser Phe Leu Ser Ile Met Ala Ala Val Met Ser Phe Thr Tyr Ala Thr
195 200 205
ATT GGA ATC GGT CTA GCC ATC GCA ACC GTC GCA GGT GGG AAA GTG GGT 728
Ile Gly Ile Gly Leu Ala Ile Ala Thr Val Ala Gly Gly Lys Val Gly
210 215 220
AAG ACG AGT ATG ACG GGC ACA GCG GTT GGA GTA GAT GTA ACC GCA GCT 776
Lys Thr Ser Met Thr Gly Thr Ala Val Gly Val Asp Val Thr Ala Ala
225 230 235 240
CAA AAG ATA TGG AGA TCG TTT CAA GCG GTT GGG GAC ATA GCG TTC GCC 824
Gln Lys Ile Trp Arg Ser Phe Gln Ala Val Gly Asp Ile Ala Phe Ala
245 250 255
TAT GCT TAT GCC ACG GTT CTC ATC GAG ATT CAG GAT ACA CTA AGA TCT 872
Tyr Ala Tyr Ala Thr Val Leu Ile Glu Ile Gln Asp Thr Leu Arg Ser
260 265 270
AGC CCA GCT GAG AAC AAA GCC ATG AAA AGA GCA AGT CTT GTG GGA GTA 920
Ser Pro Ala Glu Asn Lys Ala Met Lys Arg Ala Ser Leu Val Gly Val
275 280 285
TCA ACC ACC ACT TTT TTC TAC ATC TTA TGT GGA TGC ATC GGC TAT GCT 968
Ser Thr Thr Thr Phe Phe Tyr Ile Leu Cys Gly Cys Ile Gly Tyr Ala
290 295 300
GCA TTT GGA AAC AAT GCC CCT GGA GAT TTC CTC ACA GAT TTC GGG TTT 1016
Ala Phe Gly Asn Asn Ala Pro Gly Asp Phe Leu Thr Asp Phe Gly Phe
305 310 315 320
TTC GAG CCC TTT TGG CTC ATT GAC TTT GCA AAC GCT TGC ATC GCT GTC 1064
Phe Glu Pro Phe Trp Leu Ile Asp Phe Ala Asn Ala Cys Ile Ala Val
325 330 335
CAC CTT ATT GGT GCC TAT CAG GTG TTC GCG CAG CCG ATA TTC CAG TTT 1112
His Leu Ile Gly Ala Tyr Gln Val Phe Ala Gln Pro Ile Phe Gln Phe
340 345 350
GTT GAG AAA AAA TGC AAC AGA AAC TAT CCA GAC AAC AAG TTC ATC ACT 1160
Val Glu Lys Lys Cys Asn Arg Asn Tyr Pro Asp Asn Lys Phe Ile Thr
355 360 365
TCT GAA TAT TCA GTA AAC GTA CCT TTC CTT GGA AAA TTC AAC ATT AGC 1208
Ser Glu Tyr Ser Val Asn Val Pro Phe Leu Gly Lys Phe Asn Ile Ser
370 375 380
CTC TTC AGA TTG GTG TGG AGG ACA GCT TAT GTG GTT ATA ACC ACT GTT 1256
Leu Phe Arg Leu Val Trp Arg Thr Ala Tyr Val Val Ile Thr Thr Val
385 390 395 400
GTA GCT ATG ATA TTC CCT TTC TTC AAC GCG ATC TTA GGT CTT ATC GGA 1304
Val Ala Met Ile Phe Pro Phe Phe Asn Ala Ile Leu Gly Leu Ile Gly
405 410 415
GCA GCT TCC TTC TGG CCT TTA ACG GTT TAT TTC CCT GTG GAG ATG CAC 1352
Ala Ala Ser Phe Trp Pro Leu Thr Val Tyr Phe Pro Val Glu Met His
420 425 430
ATT GCA CAA ACC AAG ATT AAG AAG TAC TCT GCT AGA TGG ATT GCG CTG 1400
Ile Ala Gln Thr Lys Ile Lys Lys Tyr Ser Ala Arg Trp Ile Ala Leu
435 440 445
AAA ACG ATG TGC TAT GTT TGC TTG ATC GTC TCG CTC TTA GCT GCA GCC 1448
Lys Thr Met Cys Tyr Val Cys Leu Ile Val Ser Leu Leu Ala Ala Ala
450 455 460
GGA TCC ATC GCA GGA CTT ATA AGT AGT GTC AAA ACC TAC AAG CCC TTC 1496
Gly Ser Ile Ala Gly Leu Ile Ser Ser Val Lys Thr Tyr Lys Pro Phe
465 470 475 480
CGG ACT ATG CAT GAG TGAGTTTGAG ATCCTCAAGA GAGTCAAAAA TATATGTAGT 1551
Arg Thr Met His Glu
485
AGTTTGGTCT TTCTGTTAAA CTATCTGGTG TCTAAATCCA ATGAGAATGC TTTATTGC 1611
AAACTTCATG AATCTCTCTG TATCTACATC TTTCAATCTA ATACATATGA GCTCTTCC 1671
AAAAAAAAAA AAAA 1685
485 amino acids
amino acid
linear
protein
2
Met Lys Ser Phe Asn Thr Glu Gly His Asn His Ser Thr Ala Glu Ser
1 5 10 15
Gly Asp Ala Tyr Thr Val Ser Asp Pro Thr Lys Asn Val Asp Glu Asp
20 25 30
Gly Arg Glu Lys Arg Thr Gly Thr Trp Leu Thr Ala Ser Ala His Ile
35 40 45
Ile Thr Ala Val Ile Gly Ser Gly Val Leu Ser Leu Ala Trp Ala Ile
50 55 60
Ala Gln Leu Gly Trp Ile Ala Gly Thr Ser Ile Leu Leu Ile Phe Ser
65 70 75 80
Phe Ile Thr Tyr Phe Thr Ser Thr Met Leu Ala Asp Cys Tyr Arg Ala
85 90 95
Pro Asp Pro Val Thr Gly Lys Arg Asn Tyr Thr Tyr Met Asp Val Val
100 105 110
Arg Ser Tyr Leu Gly Gly Arg Lys Val Gln Leu Cys Gly Val Ala Gln
115 120 125
Tyr Gly Asn Leu Ile Gly Val Thr Val Gly Tyr Thr Ile Thr Ala Ser
130 135 140
Ile Ser Leu Val Ala Val Gly Lys Ser Asn Cys Phe His Asp Lys Gly
145 150 155 160
His Thr Ala Asp Cys Thr Ile Ser Asn Tyr Pro Tyr Met Ala Val Phe
165 170 175
Gly Ile Ile Gln Val Ile Leu Ser Gln Ile Pro Asn Phe His Lys Leu
180 185 190
Ser Phe Leu Ser Ile Met Ala Ala Val Met Ser Phe Thr Tyr Ala Thr
195 200 205
Ile Gly Ile Gly Leu Ala Ile Ala Thr Val Ala Gly Gly Lys Val Gly
210 215 220
Lys Thr Ser Met Thr Gly Thr Ala Val Gly Val Asp Val Thr Ala Ala
225 230 235 240
Gln Lys Ile Trp Arg Ser Phe Gln Ala Val Gly Asp Ile Ala Phe Ala
245 250 255
Tyr Ala Tyr Ala Thr Val Leu Ile Glu Ile Gln Asp Thr Leu Arg Ser
260 265 270
Ser Pro Ala Glu Asn Lys Ala Met Lys Arg Ala Ser Leu Val Gly Val
275 280 285
Ser Thr Thr Thr Phe Phe Tyr Ile Leu Cys Gly Cys Ile Gly Tyr Ala
290 295 300
Ala Phe Gly Asn Asn Ala Pro Gly Asp Phe Leu Thr Asp Phe Gly Phe
305 310 315 320
Phe Glu Pro Phe Trp Leu Ile Asp Phe Ala Asn Ala Cys Ile Ala Val
325 330 335
His Leu Ile Gly Ala Tyr Gln Val Phe Ala Gln Pro Ile Phe Gln Phe
340 345 350
Val Glu Lys Lys Cys Asn Arg Asn Tyr Pro Asp Asn Lys Phe Ile Thr
355 360 365
Ser Glu Tyr Ser Val Asn Val Pro Phe Leu Gly Lys Phe Asn Ile Ser
370 375 380
Leu Phe Arg Leu Val Trp Arg Thr Ala Tyr Val Val Ile Thr Thr Val
385 390 395 400
Val Ala Met Ile Phe Pro Phe Phe Asn Ala Ile Leu Gly Leu Ile Gly
405 410 415
Ala Ala Ser Phe Trp Pro Leu Thr Val Tyr Phe Pro Val Glu Met His
420 425 430
Ile Ala Gln Thr Lys Ile Lys Lys Tyr Ser Ala Arg Trp Ile Ala Leu
435 440 445
Lys Thr Met Cys Tyr Val Cys Leu Ile Val Ser Leu Leu Ala Ala Ala
450 455 460
Gly Ser Ile Ala Gly Leu Ile Ser Ser Val Lys Thr Tyr Lys Pro Phe
465 470 475 480
Arg Thr Met His Glu
485
1740 base pairs
nucleic acid
single
linear
cDNA
Arabidopsis thaliana
CDS
80..1558
/product= “amino acid transporter”
3
CTATTTTATA ATTCCTCTTC TTTTTGTTCA TAGCTTTGTA ATTATAGTCT TATTTCTCTT 60
TAAGGCTCAA TAAGAGGAG ATG GGT GAA ACC GCT GCC GCC AAT AAC CAC CGT 112
Met Gly Glu Thr Ala Ala Ala Asn Asn His Arg
1 5 10
CAC CAC CAC CAT CAC GGC CAC CAG GTC TTT GAC GTG GCC AGC CAC GAT 160
His His His His His Gly His Gln Val Phe Asp Val Ala Ser His Asp
15 20 25
TTC GTC CCT CCA CAA CCG GCT TTT AAA TGC TTC GAT GAT GAT GGC CGC 208
Phe Val Pro Pro Gln Pro Ala Phe Lys Cys Phe Asp Asp Asp Gly Arg
30 35 40
CTC AAA AGA ACT GGG ACT GTT TGG ACC GCG AGC GCT CAT ATA ATA ACT 256
Leu Lys Arg Thr Gly Thr Val Trp Thr Ala Ser Ala His Ile Ile Thr
45 50 55
GCG GTT ATC GGA TCC GGC GTT TTG TCA TTG GCG TGG GCG ATT GCA CAG 304
Ala Val Ile Gly Ser Gly Val Leu Ser Leu Ala Trp Ala Ile Ala Gln
60 65 70 75
CTC GGA TGG ATC GCT GGC CCT GCT GTG ATG CTA TTG TTC TCT CTT GTT 352
Leu Gly Trp Ile Ala Gly Pro Ala Val Met Leu Leu Phe Ser Leu Val
80 85 90
ACT CTT TAC TCC TCC ACA CTT CTT AGC GAC TGC TAC AGA ACC GGC GAT 400
Thr Leu Tyr Ser Ser Thr Leu Leu Ser Asp Cys Tyr Arg Thr Gly Asp
95 100 105
GCA GTG TCT GGC AAG AGA AAC TAC ACT TAC ATG GAT GCC GTT CGA TCA 448
Ala Val Ser Gly Lys Arg Asn Tyr Thr Tyr Met Asp Ala Val Arg Ser
110 115 120
ATT CTC GGT GGG TTC AAG TTC AAG ATT TGT GGG TTG ATT CAA TAC TTG 496
Ile Leu Gly Gly Phe Lys Phe Lys Ile Cys Gly Leu Ile Gln Tyr Leu
125 130 135
AAT CTC TTT GGT ATC GCA ATT GGA TAC ACG ATA GCA GCT TCC ATA AGC 544
Asn Leu Phe Gly Ile Ala Ile Gly Tyr Thr Ile Ala Ala Ser Ile Ser
140 145 150 155
ATG ATG GCG ATC AAG AGA TCC AAC TGC TTC CAC AAG AGT GGA GGA AAA 592
Met Met Ala Ile Lys Arg Ser Asn Cys Phe His Lys Ser Gly Gly Lys
160 165 170
GAC CCA TGT CAC ATG TCC AGT AAT CCT TAC ATG ATC GTA TTT GGT GTG 640
Asp Pro Cys His Met Ser Ser Asn Pro Tyr Met Ile Val Phe Gly Val
175 180 185
GCA GAG ATC TTG CTC TCT CAG GTT CCT GAT TTC GAT CAG ATT TGG TGG 688
Ala Glu Ile Leu Leu Ser Gln Val Pro Asp Phe Asp Gln Ile Trp Trp
190 195 200
ATC TCC ATT GTT GCA GCT GTT ATG TCC TTC ACT TAC TCT GCC ATT GGT 736
Ile Ser Ile Val Ala Ala Val Met Ser Phe Thr Tyr Ser Ala Ile Gly
205 210 215
CTA GCT CTT GGA ATC GTT CAA GTT GCA GCG AAT GGA GTT TTC AAA GGA 784
Leu Ala Leu Gly Ile Val Gln Val Ala Ala Asn Gly Val Phe Lys Gly
220 225 230 235
AGT CTC ACT GGA ATA AGC ATC GGA ACA GTG ACT CAA ACA CAG AAG ATA 832
Ser Leu Thr Gly Ile Ser Ile Gly Thr Val Thr Gln Thr Gln Lys Ile
240 245 250
TGG AGA ACC TTC CAA GCA CTT GGA GAC ATT GCC TTT GCG TAC TCA TAC 880
Trp Arg Thr Phe Gln Ala Leu Gly Asp Ile Ala Phe Ala Tyr Ser Tyr
255 260 265
TCT GTT GTC CTA ATC GAG ATT CAG GAT ACT GTA AGA TCC CCA CCG GCG 928
Ser Val Val Leu Ile Glu Ile Gln Asp Thr Val Arg Ser Pro Pro Ala
270 275 280
GAA TCG AAA ACG ATG AAG AAA GCA ACA AAA ATC AGT ATT GCC GTC ACA 976
Glu Ser Lys Thr Met Lys Lys Ala Thr Lys Ile Ser Ile Ala Val Thr
285 290 295
ACT ATC TTC TAC ATG CTA TGT GGC TCA ATG GGT TAT GCC GCT TTT GGA 1024
Thr Ile Phe Tyr Met Leu Cys Gly Ser Met Gly Tyr Ala Ala Phe Gly
300 305 310 315
GAT GCA GCA CCG GGA AAC CTC CTC ACC GGT TTT GGA TTC TAC AAC CCG 1072
Asp Ala Ala Pro Gly Asn Leu Leu Thr Gly Phe Gly Phe Tyr Asn Pro
320 325 330
TTT TGG CTC CTT GAC ATA GCT AAC GCC GCC ATT GTT GTC CAC CTC GTT 1120
Phe Trp Leu Leu Asp Ile Ala Asn Ala Ala Ile Val Val His Leu Val
335 340 345
GGA GCT TAC CAA GTC TTT GCT CAG CCC ATC TTT GCC TTT ATT GAA AAA 1168
Gly Ala Tyr Gln Val Phe Ala Gln Pro Ile Phe Ala Phe Ile Glu Lys
350 355 360
TCA GTC GCA GAG AGA TAT CCA GAC AAT GAC TTC CTC AGC AAG GAA TTT 1216
Ser Val Ala Glu Arg Tyr Pro Asp Asn Asp Phe Leu Ser Lys Glu Phe
365 370 375
GAA ATC AGA ATC CCC GGA TTT AAG TCT CCT TAC AAA GTA AAC GTT TTC 1264
Glu Ile Arg Ile Pro Gly Phe Lys Ser Pro Tyr Lys Val Asn Val Phe
380 385 390 395
AGG ATG GTT TAC AGG AGT GGC TTT GTC GTT ACA ACC ACC GTG ATA TCG 1312
Arg Met Val Tyr Arg Ser Gly Phe Val Val Thr Thr Thr Val Ile Ser
400 405 410
ATG CTG ATG CCG TTT TTT AAC GAC GTG GTC GGG ATC TTA GGG GCG TTA 1360
Met Leu Met Pro Phe Phe Asn Asp Val Val Gly Ile Leu Gly Ala Leu
415 420 425
GGG TTT TGG CCC TTG ACG GTT TAT TTT CCG GTG GAG ATG TAT ATT AAG 1408
Gly Phe Trp Pro Leu Thr Val Tyr Phe Pro Val Glu Met Tyr Ile Lys
430 435 440
CAG AGG AAG GTT GAG AAA TGG AGC ACG AGA TGG GTG TGT TTA CAG ATG 1456
Gln Arg Lys Val Glu Lys Trp Ser Thr Arg Trp Val Cys Leu Gln Met
445 450 455
CTT AGT GTT GCT TGT CTT GTG ATC TCG GTG GTC GCC GGG GTT GGA TCA 1504
Leu Ser Val Ala Cys Leu Val Ile Ser Val Val Ala Gly Val Gly Ser
460 465 470 475
ATC GCC GGA GTG ATG CTT GAT CTT AAG GTC TAT AAG CCA TTC AAG TCT 1552
Ile Ala Gly Val Met Leu Asp Leu Lys Val Tyr Lys Pro Phe Lys Ser
480 485 490
ACA TAT TGATGATTAT GGACCATGAA CAACAGAGAG AGTTGGTGTG TAAAGTTTAC 1608
Thr Tyr
CATTTCAAAG AAAACTCCAA AAATGTGTAT ATTGTATGTT GTTCTCATTT CGTATGGT 1668
CATCTTTGTA ATAAAATTTA AAACTTATGT TATAAATTAT AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA 1728
AAAAAAAAAA AA 1740
493 amino acids
amino acid
linear
protein
4
Met Gly Glu Thr Ala Ala Ala Asn Asn His Arg His His His His His
1 5 10 15
Gly His Gln Val Phe Asp Val Ala Ser His Asp Phe Val Pro Pro Gln
20 25 30
Pro Ala Phe Lys Cys Phe Asp Asp Asp Gly Arg Leu Lys Arg Thr Gly
35 40 45
Thr Val Trp Thr Ala Ser Ala His Ile Ile Thr Ala Val Ile Gly Ser
50 55 60
Gly Val Leu Ser Leu Ala Trp Ala Ile Ala Gln Leu Gly Trp Ile Ala
65 70 75 80
Gly Pro Ala Val Met Leu Leu Phe Ser Leu Val Thr Leu Tyr Ser Ser
85 90 95
Thr Leu Leu Ser Asp Cys Tyr Arg Thr Gly Asp Ala Val Ser Gly Lys
100 105 110
Arg Asn Tyr Thr Tyr Met Asp Ala Val Arg Ser Ile Leu Gly Gly Phe
115 120 125
Lys Phe Lys Ile Cys Gly Leu Ile Gln Tyr Leu Asn Leu Phe Gly Ile
130 135 140
Ala Ile Gly Tyr Thr Ile Ala Ala Ser Ile Ser Met Met Ala Ile Lys
145 150 155 160
Arg Ser Asn Cys Phe His Lys Ser Gly Gly Lys Asp Pro Cys His Met
165 170 175
Ser Ser Asn Pro Tyr Met Ile Val Phe Gly Val Ala Glu Ile Leu Leu
180 185 190
Ser Gln Val Pro Asp Phe Asp Gln Ile Trp Trp Ile Ser Ile Val Ala
195 200 205
Ala Val Met Ser Phe Thr Tyr Ser Ala Ile Gly Leu Ala Leu Gly Ile
210 215 220
Val Gln Val Ala Ala Asn Gly Val Phe Lys Gly Ser Leu Thr Gly Ile
225 230 235 240
Ser Ile Gly Thr Val Thr Gln Thr Gln Lys Ile Trp Arg Thr Phe Gln
245 250 255
Ala Leu Gly Asp Ile Ala Phe Ala Tyr Ser Tyr Ser Val Val Leu Ile
260 265 270
Glu Ile Gln Asp Thr Val Arg Ser Pro Pro Ala Glu Ser Lys Thr Met
275 280 285
Lys Lys Ala Thr Lys Ile Ser Ile Ala Val Thr Thr Ile Phe Tyr Met
290 295 300
Leu Cys Gly Ser Met Gly Tyr Ala Ala Phe Gly Asp Ala Ala Pro Gly
305 310 315 320
Asn Leu Leu Thr Gly Phe Gly Phe Tyr Asn Pro Phe Trp Leu Leu Asp
325 330 335
Ile Ala Asn Ala Ala Ile Val Val His Leu Val Gly Ala Tyr Gln Val
340 345 350
Phe Ala Gln Pro Ile Phe Ala Phe Ile Glu Lys Ser Val Ala Glu Arg
355 360 365
Tyr Pro Asp Asn Asp Phe Leu Ser Lys Glu Phe Glu Ile Arg Ile Pro
370 375 380
Gly Phe Lys Ser Pro Tyr Lys Val Asn Val Phe Arg Met Val Tyr Arg
385 390 395 400
Ser Gly Phe Val Val Thr Thr Thr Val Ile Ser Met Leu Met Pro Phe
405 410 415
Phe Asn Asp Val Val Gly Ile Leu Gly Ala Leu Gly Phe Trp Pro Leu
420 425 430
Thr Val Tyr Phe Pro Val Glu Met Tyr Ile Lys Gln Arg Lys Val Glu
435 440 445
Lys Trp Ser Thr Arg Trp Val Cys Leu Gln Met Leu Ser Val Ala Cys
450 455 460
Leu Val Ile Ser Val Val Ala Gly Val Gly Ser Ile Ala Gly Val Met
465 470 475 480
Leu Asp Leu Lys Val Tyr Lys Pro Phe Lys Ser Thr Tyr
485 490 | The present invention related to two cDNA clones, designated to PepDef (pepper defensin protein gene) and PepThi (pepper thionin-like protein gene) and individual component; thereof including its coding region and its gene product; modification thereto; application of said gene, coding region and modification thereto; DNA construct, vectors and transformed plants each comprising the gene or part thereof. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present system and method relate generally to the reduction of pollutants from emissions released by automotive engines, and more particularly to the optimization of reduction of pollutants in exhaust emissions where parameters for operation of the engine and an after-treatment device are adjusted according to the cost of operation.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Due to very high thermal efficiencies, the diesel engine offers good fuel economy and low emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO). Despite these benefits, more efficient operation of diesel engines results in higher emissions of nitrogen oxides, i.e., NO or NO 2 , known collectively as NOx. In diesel engines, the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber is compressed to an extremely high pressure, causing the temperature to increase until the fuel's auto-ignition temperature is reached. The air-to-fuel ratio for diesel engines is much leaner (more air per unit of fuel) than for gasoline engines, and the larger amount of air promotes more complete fuel combustion and better fuel efficiency. As a result, emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are lower for diesel engines than for gasoline engines. However, with the higher pressures and temperatures in the diesel engine, NOx emissions tend to be higher, because the high temperatures cause the oxygen and nitrogen in the intake air to combine as nitrogen oxides.
[0005] NOx emissions from diesel engines pose a number of health and environmental concerns. Once in the atmosphere, NOx reacts with volatile organic compounds or hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight to form ozone, leading to smog formation. Ozone is corrosive and contributes to many pulmonary function problems, for instance.
[0006] Due to the damaging effects, governmental agencies have imposed increasingly stringent restrictions for NOx emissions. Two mechanisms can be implemented to comply with emission control regulations: manipulation of engine operating characteristics and implementation of after-treatment control technologies.
[0007] In general, manipulating engine operating characteristics to lower NOx emissions can be accomplished by lowering the intake temperature, reducing power output, retarding the injector timing, reducing the coolant temperature, and/or reducing the combustion temperature.
[0008] For example, cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is well known and is the method that most engine manufacturers are using to meet environmental regulations. When an engine uses EGR, a percentage of the exhaust gases are drawn or forced back into the intake and mixed with the fresh air and fuel that enters the combustion chamber. The air from the EGR lowers the peak flame temperatures inside the combustion chamber. Intake air dilution causes most of the NOx reduction by decreasing the O 2 concentration in the combustion process. To a smaller degree, the air also absorbs some heat, further cooling the process.
[0009] In addition to EGR, designing electronic controls and improving fuel injectors to deliver fuel at the best combination of injection pressure, injection timing, and spray location allows the engine to burn fuel efficiently without causing temperature spikes that increase NOx emissions. For instance, controlling the timing of the start of injection of fuel into the cylinders impacts emissions as well as fuel efficiency. Advancing the start of injection, so that fuel is injected when the piston is further away from top dead center (TDC), results in higher in-cylinder pressure and higher fuel efficiency, but also results in higher NOx emissions. On the other hand, retarding the start of injection delays combustion, but lowers NOx emissions. Due to the delayed injection, most of the fuel is combusted at lower peak temperatures, reducing NOx formation.
[0010] Engine control modules (ECM's), also known as engine control units (ECU's), control the engine and other functions in the vehicle. ECM's can receive a variety of inputs to determine how to control the engine and other functions in the vehicle. With regard to NOx reduction, the ECM can manipulate the parameters of engine operation, such as EGR and fuel injection.
[0011] Reducing NOx by manipulating engine operation generally reduces fuel efficiency. Moreover, the mere manipulation of engine operation may not sufficiently reduce the amount of NOx to mandated levels. As a result, after-treatment systems also need to be implemented. In general, catalysts are used to treat engine exhaust and convert pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, as well as NOx, into harmless gases. In particular, to reduce NOx emissions, diesel engines on automotive vehicles can employ a catalytic system known as a urea-based Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system. Fuel efficiency benefits of 3 to 10% can result from using SCR systems to reduce NOx rather than manipulating engine operation for NOx reduction which negatively impacts fuel efficiency. Urea-based SCR systems can be viewed according to four major subsystems: the injection subsystem that introduces urea into the exhaust stream, the urea vaporization and mixing subsystem, the exhaust pipe subsystem, and the catalyst subsystem. Several SCR catalysts are available for diesel engines, including platinum, vanadium, and zeolite.
[0012] ECM's can also control the operating parameters of catalytic converters, such as urea injection in an SCR system. For instance, the ECM can meter urea solution into the exhaust stream at a rate calculated from an algorithm which estimates the amount of NOx present in the exhaust stream as a function of engine operating conditions, e.g. vehicle speed and load.
[0013] The diesel vehicle must carry a supply of urea solution for the SCR system, typically 32.5% urea in water by weight. The urea solution is pumped from the tank and sprayed through an atomizing nozzle into the exhaust gas stream. Complete mixing of urea with exhaust gases and uniform flow distribution are critical in achieving high NOx reductions.
[0014] Urea-based SCR systems use gaseous ammonia to reduce NOx. During thermolysis, the heat of the gas breaks the urea (CO(NH 2 ) 2 ) down into ammonia (NH 3 ) and hydrocyanic acid (HCNO). The ammonia and the HCNO then meet the SCR catalyst where the ammonia is absorbed and the HCNO is further decomposed through hydrolysis into ammonia. When the ammonia is absorbed, it reacts with the NOx to produce water, oxygen gas (O 2 ), and nitrogen gas (N 2 ). The amount of ammonia injected into the exhaust stream is a critical operating parameter. The required ratio of ammonia to NOx is typically stoichiometric. The ratio of ammonia to NOx must be maintained to assure high levels of NOx reduction. However, the SCR system can never achieve 100% NOx reduction due to imperfect mixing, etc. In addition, too much ammonia cannot be present. Ammonia that is not reacted will slip through the SCR catalyst bed and exhaust to the atmosphere. Ammonia slip is a regulated parameter which may not exceed a fixed concentration in the SCR exhaust.
[0015] Urea-based SCR catalysts can be very effective in reducing the amount of NOx released into the air and meeting stringent emissions requirements. However, the use of urea-based SCR is met with infrastructure and distribution considerations. As described above, diesel vehicles employing urea-based SCR generally carry a supply of aqueous solution of urea, so a urea distribution system is required to allow vehicles to replenish their supplies of urea. The United States currently has no automotive urea infrastructure. The cost of urea is likely to be volatile in the U.S. even as the first pieces of an infrastructure are put in place, because the development of the urea infrastructure is likely to be slow.
[0016] In areas, such as Europe, where the price of diesel fuel is generally much higher than the expected price of urea, the SCR system can use as much urea as necessary to reduce NOx and achieve maximum fuel economy during combustion in the engine, notwithstanding any problems with urea distribution. In contrast, the use of urea in the U.S. will probably be more measured, because the price of urea will be closer to the price of diesel. Moreover, the problems with urea distribution and pricing are coupled with fluctuations in diesel fuel prices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] As discussed previously, reducing the content of NOx in exhaust emissions by controlling aspects of engine operation, such as EGR or fuel injection, generally reduces fuel efficiency, because these methods attempt to lower the temperature at combustion to prevent the formation of NOx. This is disadvantageous when the price of fuel is very high and a premium is placed on fuel efficiency. On the other hand, reducing NOx emissions by increasing the use of a urea-based SCR system, requires more urea, and this is disadvantageous when the price of urea is very high. Because the prior art does not dynamically adjust the use of fuel and reductants, such as urea, to achieve cost-effective operation of the vehicle, the present invention is a system and method that determines the optimal operating parameters for an engine and an emissions after-treatment device according to the cost of operating the engine and the emissions after-treatment device.
[0018] An embodiment of the invention employs a combustion engine which produces exhaust emissions after combustion of fuel according to engine operating parameters, an exhaust after-treatment device which acts on the exhaust emissions according to after-treatment parameters, and an engine controller, such as an ECM, which controls the engine and the after-treatment device. The engine controller determines a cost to operate the engine and a cost to operate the after-treatment device. The engine controller then adjusts the engine operating parameters and/or the after-treatment parameters, at least partially based on a comparison of the cost to operate the engine with the cost to operate the after-treatment device. The engine controller may also adjust the engine operating parameters and/or the after-treatment parameters based on emissions requirements which specify limits on parts of the overall system exhaust.
[0019] The engine controller may receive the price of fuel and the price of reductant as inputs. Moreover, the engine controller may receive data from sensors in the engine and the after-treatment system in order to calculate fuel consumption and urea consumption. The engine controller can then determine the costs of operating the engine and the after-treatment device through an algorithm which combines the price inputs and the consumption calculations to derive the cost of fuel consumption and urea consumption.
[0020] In an exemplary embodiment, the engine is a diesel engine and the after-treatment device is a urea-based SCR system using urea as a reductant to reduce NOx emissions. When the cost of fuel consumption is higher than urea consumption, the engine controller changes operating parameters in favor of using the SCR system to reduce NOx and to maintain a high combustion temperature for higher fuel efficiency. When the cost of urea consumption is higher than the cost of fuel consumption, the engine-controller changes operating parameters in favor of using the engine to reduce the use of urea while sacrificing some fuel efficiency. While the present invention may be discussed particularly in terms of implementing an ECM and a urea-based SCR system to reduce NOx exhaust emissions, the present invention contemplates any after-treatment device for reducing any component of exhaust emissions. The embodiments described here are examples to provide a better understanding of the present invention.
[0021] If the cost of operating the engine is less than the cost to operate the after-treatment device, the engine controller may adjust the engine operating parameters and/or the after-treatment parameters by retarding the fuel injector timing, decreasing the air-to-fuel ratio, decreasing the fuel injection pressure, increasing the cooled exhaust gas recirculation airflow, and/or decreasing from the reductant injection volume. On the other hand, if the cost of operating the engine is greater than the cost to operate the after-treatment device, the engine controller may adjust the engine operating parameters and/or after-treatment parameters by advancing the fuel injector timing, increasing the air-to-fuel ratio, increasing the fuel injection pressure, decreasing the cooled exhaust gas recirculation airflow, and/or increasing the reductant injection volume. However, the present invention contemplates any means for controlling parameters for the operation of the engine and the after-treatment device.
[0022] In many cases, the engine controller must also ensure that the supply of reductant, such as urea, is not completely depleted. Thus, in another embodiment, the engine controller monitors the level of reductant in the reductant supply and reduces reductant usage when the level falls below a critical threshold. In yet another embodiment, the engine controller determines an optimal rate of reductant usage, which represents the greatest rate of reductant consumption that will allow the vehicle to travel a certain number of miles starting with a specific amount of reductant without depleting the supply. The optimal rate of reductant usage can be calculated from input data such as the number of route miles to be driven and the starting supply of reductant. Thus, the engine controller can ensure that its output signals to the after-treatment device do not require the after-treatment device to use more than this optimal rate of reductant usage.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIG. 1 provides a chart illustrating how the overall system NOx is created according to various characteristics of the engine and a urea-based SCR system.
[0024] FIG. 2 provides a chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment with the data that are input into an ECM and how output signals are directed.
[0025] FIG. 3 provides a chart illustrating exemplary output signals from the ECM to maximize fuel efficiency when the cost of operating the engine is higher than the cost of operating the SCR system.
[0026] FIG. 4 provides a chart illustrating exemplary output signals from the ECM to minimize urea usage when the cost of operating the engine is lower than the cost of operating the SCR system.
[0027] FIG. 5 provides a chart illustrating another embodiment of the present invention which utilizes additional input regarding the urea supply.
[0028] FIG. 6 provides a chart illustrating exemplary output signals from the ECM to minimize urea usage when the supply of urea usage drops below a critical threshold level.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] Engine controllers, such as ECM's, currently do not account for the monetary cost of operating the engine and the monetary cost of operating an after-treatment system. More specifically, price inputs for fuel and reductants, such as urea, are not currently specified for ECM algorithms. As a result, no ECM's, or the vehicles that use them, are able to dynamically adjust the use of fuel and reductants, such as urea, to achieve cost-effective operation of the vehicle while complying with emissions regulations.
[0030] The following presents a detailed description of a system and method that determines the optimal operating parameters for an engine and an emissions after-treatment device according to the cost of operating the engine and the after-treatment device. To demonstrate the features of the present invention, the present invention is discussed in terms of an exemplary embodiment implementing an ECM to reduce total NOx exhaust emissions from a diesel engine by determining appropriate operating parameters for engine components and for a urea-based SCR system according to the price of diesel fuel and the price of urea. However, this preferred embodiment is not meant to limit the present invention.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, overall system NOx 400 represents the amount of total NOx exhaust emissions from the entire vehicle, which must fall at or below mandated environmental regulations. Engine NOx 200 represents the NOx exhaust emissions from the operation of the engine 100 . The overall system NOx 400 also represents the NOx exhaust emissions that result after the engine NOx 200 passes through the urea-based SCR system 300 .
[0032] Various characteristics of the engine 100 which can affect the amount of engine NOx 200 include, but are not limited to, the EGR system 110 , the injection timing 120 , the injection pressure 130 , and the coolant temperature 140 . These engine attributes are merely representative of the different ways that the engine NOx 200 can be controlled and are provided only as an illustration of how the present invention may be implemented. Moreover, the engine in the present invention generally covers all aspects of the vehicle, not just those related to fuel delivery and combustion, that occur before emissions are exhausted to the after-treatment device, which in turn specifically acts to reduce the pollutants in the emissions.
[0033] Various characteristics of the urea-based SCR system 300 which can affect the level of reduction of NOx in the engine NOx 200 include, but are not limited to, the urea injection volume 310 , the catalyst temperature 320 , and the age of the catalyst 330 . These SCR system attributes are merely representative of how the operation of the SCR system 300 can be influenced and are provided only as an illustration of how the present invention may be implemented.
[0034] Thus, as summarized in FIG. 1 , the operation of engine 100 produces the engine NOx 200 , and the amount of engine NOx 200 depends on various characteristics of the engine 100 . The engine NOx 200 is then introduced into the SCR system 300 which reduces the amount of NOx in the engine NOx 200 according to the various characteristics of the SCR system 300 . The final amount of NOx emissions is the overall system NOx 400 .
[0035] As shown in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2 , an ECM 610 is employed for the present invention. The ECM 610 can be one or more microprocessors and other associated components, such as memory devices which store data and program instructions. The ECM 610 generally receives input signals from various sensors throughout the vehicle as well as possible external input data from end users. The ECM 610 then reads the program instructions and executes the instructions to perform data monitoring, logging, and control functions in accordance with the input signals and external input data. The ECM 610 sends control data to an output port which relays output signals to a variety of actuators controlling the engine or the SCR system, generally depicted by the engine controls 800 and the SCR system controls 900 . In general, the present invention can be implemented with most commercially available ECM's and no changes to the ECM will be required. Although this exemplary embodiment includes an ECM, any system of controlling operation of engine components and after-treatment devices according to specified instructions may be employed to implement the present invention.
[0036] According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the end user or some input mechanism transmits the unit price of diesel fuel 500 and the unit price of urea 510 as input parameters into the ECM 610 through the input device 600 . The input device 600 may include, but is not limited to, a computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), or other entry device with a data link connected physically, wirelessly, or by any data transmission method, to the ECM 610 . Moreover, the input device 600 may include an automated system or network which transmits data to the ECM 610 . Automatic updates are particularly advantageous where the unit price of diesel fuel 500 and the unit price of urea 510 may change frequently. If no input parameters are entered, the ECM can use default settings that reflect the most likely prices for diesel fuel and urea.
[0037] After receiving the unit price of diesel fuel 500 and the unit price of urea 510 , the ECM 610 determines whether it is more cost-effective to increase NOx reduction with the engine 100 or with the SCR system 300 . The engine sensor data 700 from the engine 100 and the SCR system sensor data 710 from the SCR system 300 provide additional input for the ECM 610 to determine optimal operating parameters and to allow the system to change the parameters dynamically according to changing conditions. The engine sensor data 700 provides the ECM 610 with data, such as engine speed and load, required to calculate current fuel consumption, so that the ECM 610 can compute the current cost of fuel consumption using the unit price of diesel fuel 500 . In addition, the SCR sensor data 710 provides the ECM 610 with data required to calculate current urea consumption, such as the amount of engine NOx 200 , so that the ECM 610 can compute the current cost of urea consumption using the unit price of urea 510 . Moreover, the ECM 610 receives data from a sensor in the SCR system outflow that indicates overall system NOx to ensure that the operating parameters are adjusted in compliance with environmental regulations. Based on the cost calculations, the ECM 610 then sends output signals to the engine controls 800 and the SCR system controls 900 directing how the engine 100 and the SCR system 300 should operate to optimize NOx reduction. As the engine sensor data 700 and the SCR system sensor data 710 change, the cost calculations may change requiring the ECM 610 to adjust its output signals.
[0038] If the current cost of fuel consumption is higher than the current cost of urea consumption, the ECM 610 will attempt to maximize fuel efficiency by maintaining a high temperature at combustion. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the ECM 610 can maximize fuel efficiency by reducing the flow of cooled exhaust air back into the combustion chamber. The ECM 610 monitors signals from sensors indicating the RPM of the turbocharger in EGR system 810 and sensors indicating engine speed and directs the EGR system 810 to adjust the airflow to increase fuel efficiency.
[0039] In addition, the ECM 610 can send signals to calibrate the fuel system 820 to maximize fuel efficiency. The ECM 610 can control the rate of fuel delivery and the timing of injection through actuators. The ECM 610 can also control the pressure at which the fuel is injected. Advancing the fuel injection, increasing the pressure of injection, and making the air-fuel mixture leaner can be controlled alone or in combination to effect an increase in fuel efficiency. An engine speed signal may be a necessary sensor input for the ECM 610 to properly regulate the fuel system 820 .
[0040] Meanwhile, since the higher temperatures during combustion increase the engine NOx 200 , the ECM 610 can direct the SCR system injection controls 910 to increase the amount of urea injected into the SCR system 300 to reduce overall system NOx 400 and ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
[0041] On the other hand, if the current cost of urea consumption is higher than the current cost of fuel consumption, the ECM 610 will attempt to minimize the need for urea by lowering the temperature at combustion and reducing the engine NOx 200 . For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the ECM 610 can minimize the engine NOx 200 by increasing the flow of cooled exhaust air back into the combustion chamber. The ECM 610 monitors signals from sensors indicating the RPM of the turbocharger in EGR system 810 and sensors indicating engine speed and directs the EGR system 810 to adjust the airflow to decrease the formation of NOx in the combustion chamber.
[0042] In addition, the ECM 610 can calibrate the fuel system 820 to minimize the need for urea. The ECM 610 can control the rate of fuel delivery and the timing of injection through actuators. The ECM 610 can also control the pressure at which the fuel is injected. Retarding the fuel injection, decreasing the pressure of injection, and making the air-fuel mixture less leaner all help to increase fuel efficiency. An engine speed signal may be a necessary sensor input for the ECM 610 to properly regulate the fuel system 820 .
[0043] Since the lower temperatures during combustion minimize the engine NOx 200 , the ECM 610 can direct the SCR system injection controls 910 to reduce the amount of urea injected into the SCR system 300 since less urea is needed to comply with environmental regulations. It is also understood, however, that urea usage likely cannot be completely avoided, since there may be limits to the amount that the engine NOx 200 can be reduced.
[0044] A sensor may also be required to monitor ammonia slip to make sure that too much urea is not being introduced and to ensure compliance with regulations governing ammonia slip.
[0045] FIGS. 3 and 4 are only exemplary in nature. Controlling the EGR system and the fuel system in the manner described above are only examples of how to affect the combustion temperature and thereby control the amount of NOx. There are also other ways of controlling the amount of urea needed in the SCR system. The examples provided are not intended to limit the methods by which combustion temperature or urea usage are controlled. Moreover, the ECM 610 does not have to adjust all the available operating parameters that affect fuel efficiency and NOx emissions. For instance, the ECM 610 may be able to increase fuel efficiency without having to increase urea usage if the SCR sensor data 710 indicates that the overall system NOx 400 will remain at or below mandated limits after the adjustment. Thus, the ECM 610 might only send signals to adjust engine controls 800 . Similarly, if the overall system NOx 400 will remain at or below mandated limits, the ECM can send signals to the SCR system injection controls 910 to reduce the amount of urea injected into the SCR system 300 without having to reduce fuel efficiency.
[0046] FIG. 5 illustrates an additional embodiment of the present invention where the route miles 520 and the starting supply of urea 530 may also be entered via input device 600 into ECM 610 . The ECM 610 determines an optimal rate of urea usage 620 which represents the greatest rate of urea consumption that will allow the vehicle to travel the route miles 520 with the starting supply of urea 530 without completely depleting the supply. The ECM 610 can then prevent complete depletion of urea by ensuring that its output signals to the SCR system do not require the SCR system to use more urea than this optimal rate of urea usage 620 . Preventing complete depletion eliminates the need to rely on an unreliable urea distribution infrastructure to refill urea tanks or to make unscheduled stops to replenish. Moreover, it is likely to be more cost-effective for fleets to utilize their own supplies of urea.
[0047] Additionally, the ECM 610 can also receive sensor data regarding the level of urea in the tank 720 so that when the amount of available urea reaches a critical level, the ECM 610 minimizes urea consumption in order to prevent complete depletion, which may cause the engine to derate. If the urea level falls below a critical threshold level, the ECM 610 can reduce the use of urea and maintain a certain level of NOx emissions by adjusting the engine operating parameters and as depicted in FIG. 6 . For example, the EGR airflow is increased, the fuel injection timing is retarded, the air-to-fuel ratio is decreased, and/or the fuel injection pressure is decreased, while the volume of urea injected by the SCR system is decreased. The actions illustrated in FIG. 6 can override the operating parameters that take the cost of fuel and urea into account. Indeed, reducing the use of urea according to the level of the urea supply or measuring urea usage according to an optimal rate of urea usage can be implemented without determining the costs of operating the engine or the SCR system.
[0048] It should be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from, or reasonably suggested, by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements. | An engine controller determines the cost of operating a combustion engine and the cost of operating an emissions after-treatment device. Accordingly, the engine controller adjusts parameters for operation of the engine and the after-treatment device to ensure cost-effective use of the engine and the after-treatment device while complying with exhaust emissions requirements. In particular, the engine controller receives the price of fuel consumed by the engine and the price of reductant used by the after-treatment device to determine the respective cost of operation. Specifically, the fuel is diesel fuel used in a diesel engine; the reductant is urea use in a urea-based Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system; and the regulated exhaust emissions is nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The engine operating parameters may include cooled exhaust gas recirculation airflow, fuel injection timing, fuel injection pressure, and air-to-fuel ratio. The SCR system operating parameters may include the volume of urea injected. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is in the field of forced warm air furnaces. Specifically, it is in the field of forced warm air furnaces for zone controlled heating.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Forced air furnaces for zone controlled systems generally utilize external controls to determine when the furnace will be on and off. In this case, the furnace is generally in either a standby condition, or in an on condition in which it is running at full capacity. No direct control of the heat output rate of the furnace is made at the furnace. This causes duct noise and erratic temperature changes within the zones. The object of Applicants' invention is to control the pressure in the heat exchanger for a more constant output over the normal range of the heating loads. This is accomplished by allowing the furnace to run well below the full firing rate and have the circulation blower running at a reduced speed. The result will be less duct noise, a more constant temperature in the living space, and at low loads the greater on time per cycle will improve air circulation. For example, an electrically-commutated motor (ECM) keeps high efficiency at low speeds, and since the power required varies as the square of the speed, the energy efficiency improves at reduced speeds. It is also expected that the life of the motor and heat exchanger will improve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a system which utilizes analog sensors to control furnace operation to obtain the following benefits: improved economy; simplified and improved zone control; more uniform temperature control; improved air circulation when heating load is low; low noise operation; and increased furnace life.
The primary control in this system is an analog pressure sensor in the heat exchanger that holds heat exchanger pressure to a setpoint that can be controlled according to the heating load. A pressure sensor alone can regulate the air delivery to the load, but by itself it could cause the heat exchanger to overheat. Therefore, the system also uses an analog sensor to measure heat exchanger temperature and that information is used to control the firing rate. A similar system is utilized in a single zone system described in co-pending, commonly owned, patent application entitled, "Adaptive Furnace Control using Analog Temperature Sensing", Ser. No. 07/973,794, filed on the same date as the present application, and hereby incorporated by reference. A microprocessor utilizes an A/D convertor to measure the sensors and pulse width modulation to control the actuators. One function of the microprocessor is to keep history of duty cycles and to use that information to adjust heat exchanger pressure setpoint to provide proper heat delivery for varying heat loads.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical furnace which incorporates the invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the controller.
FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram showing the operation of the furnace.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 illustrates the implementation of Applicants' invention into a furnace design for zoned heating. The furnace comprises circulation blower 10, burner 20, induced draft blower 30 and valve 44. In general, the operation of Applicants' invention is similar to a standard furnace; wherein returned air is brought through return duct 12 and pressurized using blower 10 so that it is forced through warm air ducts 14 and delivered to the zones to be heated. As the air passes through the furnace, it passes through heat exchanger 16 where it is heated before entering warm air duct 14. Heat exchanger 16 is heated utilizing burner 20. Burner 20 generally utilizes either natural gas or oil. Burner 20 mixes and burns fuel and air which is brought through the heat exchanger by induced draft blower 30. These combustion product gases are then expelled out of the furnace through exhaust chimney 32. In a zoned application of a conventional furnace, burner 20 is turned on whenever a request for heat is received at controller 60 from an outside control unit. When no request for heat is provided, valve 44 does not provide fuel to burner 20. When a request for heat is received, burner 20 runs at a preset level and blower 10 will run at full speed, providing forced warm air to the zone until the request for heat is satisfied. In normal operation, the furnace has little or no control over the circulation air pressure.
In zone controlled heating systems, the pressure within the ducts is affected by the number of zones requesting heat and whether any of the ducts are blocked. Applicants' invention is able to monitor the pressure level at heat exchanger 16 utilizing pressure sensor 45. Pressure sensor 45 detects a pressure at heat exchanger 16 and provides this information to controller 60. Controller 60 sends a control signal to motor control 62 which regulates the speed of blower 10, so as to keep pressure constant at heat exchanger 16. Pressure sensor 45 is a Honeywell Microbridge Flow Sensor calibrated to measure differential air pressure relative to ambient air pressure. Blower 10 utilizes an ECM variable speed motor that is controlled by pulse width modulation provided by motor control 62. Honeywell Microbridge Flow Sensor is manufactured by Honeywell Inc., Microswitch Division.
In the operation of Applicants' invention, a temperature sensor 40, a thermistor, measures the air temperature in heat exchanger 16 and provides a signal to Modureg 42. Although Applicants use a thermistor for temperature sensor 40, any temperature sensitive means may be used, including, but not limited to, variable resistive means, thermocouples, and bimetal sensors. If a temperature sensor is not used, the system may overheat, opening high limit contact 66. Modureg 42 regulates burner 20 to maintain a constant temperature at heat exchanger 16. Modureg 42, regulates valve 44 and thereby modulates burner 20 such that heat exchanger 16 is held at a constant 120° F. during the "on" portion of the cycle. Modureg 42 is a product that is made to take an input from a thermistor and control a modulating gas valve. The valve control signal in this case is a variable current provided by Modureg 42. The Modureg circuit utilized in this application is manufactured by Honeywell Inc., Home and Building Controls Division. Valve 44 controls the fuel flow which is provided to burner 20 and to pilot 50. Pilot 50 is ignited by ignition module 52. Although Applicants' invention utilizes Modureg 42, Modureg 42 could be replaced by any control system that will modulate valve 44 proportional to heat exchanger 16 temperature.
A voltage proportional to heat exchanger 16 temperature is fed to a comparator to create an on/off signal to controller 60 for blower 10. Controller 60 will not allow blower 10 to operate until heat exchanger 16 temperature is over 90° F. This allows blower 10 to run only when the air in duct 14 is warm enough to be comfortable.
The ignition and primary safety of this system is provided by ignition module 52 Although most ignition modules known to persons skilled in the art will work satisfactorily for this invention, Applicants utilized a Model S89 ignition module produced by Honeywell Inc., Home and Building Controls Division.
Pressure switch 64 measures the differential pressures at induced draft blower 30. Pressure switch 64 measures the differential air pressure created by induced draft blower 30 with respect to the ambient air pressure. In this manner, the furnace is able to determine whether there is an adequate induced air flow to operate the furnace. If an insufficient induced air flow is present, contact 67 will open cutting off power to an ignition module 52 and closing valve 44. Contact 66 opens if heat exchanger 16 temperature increases dramatically over the setpoint temperature, generally 120° F. Similar to contact 67, contact 66 shuts down ignition module 52 and closes valve 44.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of controller 60. Heat exchanger 16 pressure is input at node 202 into microbridge 205. The output of microbridge 205 is amplified by amplifier 206. Atmospheric pressure is input into node 203. Microbridge 205 then converts this to a differential pressure. This differential pressure is transmitted through buffer 210, which is made up of two LM324 operational amplifiers, manufactured by National Semiconductor Inc., and the necessary resistors. The output of buffer 210 is fed to a pulse modulation circuit 220. Pulse modulation circuit 220 is made up of free running oscillator 221, counter 222, shift register 223, sequential output 224, and "nand" gates 225, 226 and 227. Sequential output 224 utilizes an LM3914, manufactured by National Semiconductor Inc., which is a circuit that was initially designed for sequential lighting of segments of a LED light bar according to an analog signal on pin 5. Buffer 210 inputs the differential pressure signal into pin 5 of sequential output 224. The outputs of sequential output 224 are parallel loaded into shift register 223 which is then shifted out as a pulse width modulated signal that is proportional to the analog pressure signal. This signal is fed to darlington array 260 which is an MC1413, manufactured by Motorola Inc., and then to the opto isolator on ECM motor control 62. The induced draft blower 270 utilizes an MOC2A40, manufactured by Motorola Inc., which is an optically isolated triac with zero crossing detect. Node B is an input from Modureg 42 which is provided directly to darlington array 260 and further provided to motor control 62. The signal from node B is provided to comparator 207. If the input from node B represents a temperature of 90° F. or more, an enable signal is provided to motor control 62 in order to prevent blower 10 from circulating air through the system until heat exchanger 16 reaches an operating temperature.
FIG. 3 is the flow chart for operation of the system. During standard operation, the system will be in standby until a call for heat is received from the external controller. Upon receiving a call for heat, controller 60 energizes induced air draft blower 30. Ignition module 52 is then energized and valve 44 provides fuel to pilot 50. A thirty second period is then timed out while the system checks to see if a pilot flame has been proven at pilot 50. If no flame is proven after thirty seconds, valve 44 closes and the system shuts down. Upon a pilot flame being proven at pilot 50, main valve 44 provides fuel to burner 20. A high fire period (to minimize condensation) then follows while heat exchanger 16 is heated. Upon heat exchanger 16 reaching an initial temperature of 90° F., circulation blower 10 is energized by controller 60. Pressure sensor 45 provides a constant differential pressure to controller 60, such that the pressure located within heat exchanger 16 is held constant. Burner 20 continues to heat, heat exchanger 16 until heat exchanger 16 reaches an operating temperature of 120° F. Upon heat exchanger 16 reaching an operating temperature of 120° F., temperature sensor 40 alerts Modureg 42 which modulates valve 44 to burner 20 in order to keep a constant temperature of 120° F. at heat exchanger 16. Heat exchanger 16 pressure is also monitored in order to keep a constant air pressure in heat exchanger 16. Upon the external control being satisfied, main valve 44 is turned off to both burner 20 and pilot 50. Induced draft blower 30 is then de-energized by controller 60. Heat exchanger 16 then cools to 90° F., at which time, circulation blower 10 is de-energized and the furnace returns to a standby condition.
In the event that the history recorded in a microprocessor located in controller 60 indicates increasing or decreasing average duty cycles for the furnace, heat exchanger 16 pressure setpoint will be correspondingly increased or decreased, accordingly. This average should be over several days to avoid errors due to setup or setback. A second alternative to adjusting pressure setpoint based on duty cycle is to time the current "on" time of the furnace. If the current "on" time recorded by a microprocessor located in controller 60 is longer than a preselected time, controller 60 will increase the pressure setpoint. In this manner, as the heating load increases due to the change in seasons, the furnace will increase output accordingly. A minimum "on" time will also be maintained to account for decreases in heat load. | Furnace control for a forced air furnace utilized in multi-zone heating. The forced air furnace is made up of return ducts, a heat exchanger, warm air ducts, a circulation blower, and a burner. The forced air furnace receives heating requests from external control means wherein the furnace provides heat to a zone or multiple zones to be heated. The control for the furnace comprises a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the heat exchanger, a regulator for regulating the burner to hold the temperature at the heat exchanger constant during the on cycle of the furnace, a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the heat exchanger and a controller for controlling the circulation blower in order to maintain a constant pressure within the heat exchanger. | 5 |
This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09/397,811, filed Sep. 17, 1999, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the operation of a furnace for the treatment of objects (substrates) such as wafers with a reactive gas. Such a reactive gas can comprise hydrogen or another gas that, if it comes into contact with air, can form an explosive mixture.
In the prior art this problem is avoided by providing an additional tube surrounding the process tube hermetically and purging the gap between the process tube and the outer tube with an inert gas. However, in case an event results in heavy damage of the process tube, and consequently, in escape of reactive gas from the process tube, it is likely that the same event results also in heavy damage of the outer tube because both tubes are closely connected together and both tubes are made of refractory materials like quartz or silicon carbide which are susceptible to breakage upon mechanical impact. Such an event can be an earthquake which are regular phenomena is some of the worlds most important semiconductor manufacturing areas. Also it is possible that, because of the close connection of the tubes, breakage of one tube induces breakage of the other tube.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for the treatment of an object in a furnace, wherein it is possible to use a high concentration of reactive gas without the risk of an explosion.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a furnace in combination with conduits (system) with which the treatment of a substrate with a reactive gas in a comparatively high concentration is possible.
Is a further object of the present invention to carry out such a treatment at a comparatively high temperature.
According to a further object of the present invention it is intended, after the treatment at a comparatively high temperature, to comparatively quickly and uniformly realize cooling of the process space and thus of the substrate.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method is provided for purging a furnace comprising a closable processing tube defining in its interior a closable processing space, a purging gas being flowed along the outer surface of the processing tube separated from the processing gas flow inside the processing tube, wherein said processing gas flow comprises a gas being reactive with air at elevated temperature and said purging gas comprises at least 90 vol. % of an inert gas.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the purging gas comprises at least 99% by volume of an inert gas. Nitrogen can be used as the inert gas. Furthermore the purging gas can comprise at least 100 ppm by volume of an oxidizing gas and preferably at least 0.1% by volume of an oxidizing gas. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the reactive gas comprises at least 6% by volume of hydrogen.
The oxidizing gas can comprise oxide, H 2 O, CO 2 or N 2 O alone or in any combination. Preferably oxygen or air (compressed) is used.
The pressure in the furnace or other treatment room is preferably atmospheric. According to a further aspect of the invention, the purging gas is not only used for purging the furnace as well as the space around it, but the purging gas also acts as a cooling medium.
Optimal safety is achieved if the treatment space is also purged, this purging preferably taking place after the treatment has finished, but before the treatment room is brought into contact with the environment.
If the purging gas is used for cooling, according to a special embodiment of the invention, the direction of movement of this gas is periodically reversed so that an even cooling occurs from the inlet to the outlet.
According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a method for treating a substrate in a furnace at elevated temperature with a processing gas, said processing gas being reactive with air at processing temperature of said substrate, wherein after said substrate is introduced in said furnace, the processing chamber thereof is purged with an inert gas before reactive processing gas is introduced in said processing chamber.
Moreover, the invention relates to a furnace assembly comprising a furnace having a processing chamber surrounded by heating means, said processing chamber having a removable closure, at least a gas inflow and gas outflow opening, said gas inflow opening being connected to at least two supply conduits each comprising a controller controlled valve and connected to a source of reactive and inert gas respectively, a controller for controlling said valves such that only after placing said closure in the closing position in said processing chamber the valve in the supply conduit for reactive gas can be opened and said closure can only be removed from said closing position after said valve in supply conduits for reactive gas has been closed.
Preferably the space through which the purge gas is conducted is defined by the heating element and/or the isolation thereof.
Moreover, safety measures are present. These are implemented such that the continuous purging during a certain period of time is guaranteed before the reactive gas is brought into the treatment space (while it is closed) or before the treatment space is brought into contact with the environment. Likewise (constant) checks are made on the purging gasses for the presence of oxygen to detect any leaks in the system.
According to a further aspect of the invention there are various valves for the supply of process gas and inert respectively purging gas, implemented such that when the energy supply fails, the supply of the inert/purging gas is still guaranteed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will be explained below with reference to two embodiments, schematically shown in the attached drawing, wherein the advantages and particular qualities of the invention are elucidated, and wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing of a furnace;
FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the system according to the invention as a schematic diagram; and
FIG. 3 a shows second embodiment of the system according to invention, whereby the furnace is provided with quick cooling.
In FIG. 2, a first embodiment of the system according to the invention is indicated as a whole by 1 . This consists of a furnace 2 , of which details are shown in FIG. 1 . Furnace 2 is built up of processing tube 3 , which preferably consists of quartz or silicon carbide material. In the processing tube a boat 13 is schematically shown, filled with wafers 14 . The furnace is heated with heating elements 4 , around which a thermal insulation 5 is fitted. Processing tube 3 is provided with an inflow opening 6 and an outflow opening 29 . The processing tube is open on the underside and can be closed off by the door plate 7 from the sluice space and carousel space which are situated under the furnace. The space between processing tube 3 and the heating elements 4 and insulation 5 , respectively, is indicated by 8 . This is provided with inlets 9 and outlets 10 . A sluice space 11 is situated under the furnace 2 , under which, for example, a carousel space 12 can be fitted. As an extra precaution, to prevent process gas from getting into the carousel space 12 , the sluice space 11 is purged with nitrogen during the execution of process.
The aim is to carry out a process within processing tube 3 , wherein a reactive gas such as hydrogen is used. This gas is used in such a quantity, that, at the elevated temperature at which this reaction is carried out, the possible presence of oxygen (air) leads to a real danger of explosion.
To prevent such risks wherever possible, a number of measures are taken. According to the invention it is proposed, that as long as the above described real danger of explosion exists, space 8 be purged with nitrogen. To that end, the inlets 9 are connected to a conduit 15 , which in turn is connected to a source of nitrogen 16 . A valve 17 is present in conduit 15 . This is connected to controller 18 . Source 16 is also connected to carousel space 12 via conduit 19 . Dosing is controlled by a valve 20 , which is connected to controller 18 . The sluice space 11 can also be provided with nitrogen. This has a higher purity, however, and the corresponding nitrogen source is indicated by 21 and the supply conduit 22 .
At the outer circumference, space 8 is delimited by the heating elements. When, with a view to the safety, space 8 is purged with a pure inert gas like nitrogen, the lifetime of the heating element will be severely affected. This is caused by the fact that by exposure of the metal heating wire of the heating elements to air at elevated temperatures a film of metal oxide is formed on the wire surface. This metal oxide appears to be very essential for the mechanical stability of the heating wire and serves as a protective film against evaporation of the metal wire at high temperature. During temperature cycling of the furnace, cracks can form in the protective metal oxide film, locally exposing the metal surface and leading to localized aging of the wire. Therefore, continuous presence of a minimum concentration of oxidizing gas in space 8 during high temperature operation of the furnace is essential to ensure a long life time of the heating element. A minimum concentration of 100 ppm by volume, and more preferably 0.1% by volume is required to maintain the metal oxide film in good condition. This minimum concentration of oxidizing gas can be achieved by providing the heating element, which forms the enclosing shell of space 8 , by an amount of leaks that, on the one hand, allows a sufficient amount of indiffusion of air and, on the other hand, allows to maintain a gas atmosphere in space 8 that is predominantly composed of inert gas. As an alternative, a small flow of air can be mixed with the large nitrogen flow that is fed into space 8 in order to achieve the required low concentration of oxidizing gas. For this purpose, a conduit 55 is connected to inlets 9 , which conduit 55 is connected to a source of compressed air 56 . A valve 57 is present in conduit 55 which valve is connected to controller 18 .
Controller 18 consists of a combination of hardware and software. In general, the aim according to invention is to implement in hardware as many as possible of the controls that are important for the security of the system. In this way, the effect of problems in the software can be avoided, as far as possible. It should be understood that, depending on the development of the software and the inherent security thereof, some parts can be implemented in software. In the controller 18 , at least one timer is present for controlling the time period during which purging is carried out, in the method described below.
The outlets 10 are connected to the outlet 24 of the system. Connected onto here in parallel are an oxygen analysing apparatus 23 to detect the presence of oxygen in parallel with a special analysing apparatus 43 for analysing the presence of the reactive process gas. Each analyser is connected to controller 18 .
The outlet 24 is connected to a central extraction system, not shown in FIG. 2 and not belonging to the system as such. The operational safety is increased by providing the drain 24 with dilution by nitrogen gas and with an extra pump action and further dilution by air through the nitrogen, originating from source 16 , to be introduced by means of an inlet 26 working using the venturi principle. Air is let in via conduit 25 and is discharged to conduit 24 . The drain of outlet 10 connects onto conduit 24 directly upstream of venturi-inlet 26 .
A further oxygen analysing apparatus is indicated by 27 . An amount of gas is continuously pumped around in the carousel space 12 by means of a pump, not shown in the drawing.
The outlet of sluice space 11 is indicated by 28 . This also ends up in the discharge conduit 24 . When the furnace is working, the spaces around the processing tube are purged with nitrogen. This relates to both the purging of space 8 and the sluice space 11 and carousel space 12 . Clearly, for the purging of space 8 , a comparatively small amount of gas will be used, which does not or barely influences the warming of processing tube 13 . With the help of the above described oxygen analysing apparatus, the presence of oxygen in the various spaces is continuously checked. The outflow opening of processing tube 13 is indicated by 29 (FIG. 1) and ends up in the conduit 30 . This conduit 30 leads on one side to conduit 24 , while part of the gas flowing through there is branched off to oxygen analysing apparatus 31 connected to controller 18 .
A source of argon is indicated by 32 , and 33 indicates a source of treatment gas such as hydrogen. Valves 34 , 35 are present to regulate the flow of the argon and nitrogen. The outlets of these valves are connected by the conduit 36 , which is connected to the inlet 6 of the processing tube.
A door switch is indicated by 38 which passes on to controller 18 whether or not the door plate 7 is open. If one or more wafers in processing tube 13 have to be treated with a reactive gas, such as one originating from source 33 , a boat 13 with wafers 14 is introduced under an inert atmosphere. Such an inert atmosphere can be obtained when valve 34 is open and valve 35 is closed. Purging with nitrogen is possible by operating valve 37 .
After the introduction of the objects to be treated and closing of the door plate 7 , a signal is sent via door switch 38 to controller 18 . Consequently a timing cycle is started. Purging of the space around the processing tube with nitrogen takes place. During a minimum purging time of 10 minutes with a minimum flow of nitrogen of 5 slm (Standard liters per minute) it is not possible to open the valve 35 of the reactive process gas. Only after the minimal purging requirements are met is the valve 35 again released for use. After completion of the purging cycle, valve 34 is closed and valve 35 is opened by controller 18 .
Consequently, the process can take place in processing tube 3 . Gas originating from the outflow opening 29 of the processing tube is continuously discharged to outlet 24 . By the introduction of nitrogen via the venturi-inlet and the air carried along by the venturi-action, any unused hydrogen present is diluted to such an extent that there is no longer an explosive mixture. The presence of oxygen is continuously monitored with the help of an analysis apparatus 31 . Should any irregularities arise, then the supply of gas from source 33 is immediately stopped and valve 34 is opened. It has been implemented such that, at the loss of flow, a similar situation occurs.
After the process with hydrogen is completed, by the continual purging of the space around the processing tube 3 with nitrogen, which took place during the whole treatment, the supply of hydrogen is blocked by closing valve 35 . Then either argon is let into the processing tube, or extremely pure nitrogen.
During a minimum purging time of 10 minutes with a minimum stream of argon or nitrogen of 5 slm (Standard liters per minute), it is not possible to open door plate 7 . Only after the minimum purging requirements are met can the door plate 7 be opened again.
For the quick cooling of the processing tube it is possible to move an increased amount of nitrogen from inlet 9 to outlet 10 . This absorbs the heat of the objects situated in processing tube.
With the apparatus described above it is guaranteed that during the stage in which the reactive gas such as hydrogen is introduced, an atmosphere of nitrogen is continuously present around the treatment space, while likewise the presence of oxygen in the various drains is checked. Moreover, the process can only be started up after a certain period of purging with inert gas has taken place and the same holds for the removal of the wafers from the processing tube.
In FIG. 3 a variant of the apparatus of FIG. 2 is shown, wherein the furnace is used according to FIG. 1 .
The most important difference is that a particular system is included to be able to cool the processing tube quicker after the reaction with the reactive gas.
The parts corresponding to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are provided with the same reference numbers. The whole system shown in FIG. 3 is indicated by 41 . Space 8 in the shown embodiment is filled with an inert gas originating from source 16 via conduit 15 controlled by valve 17 . However, in contrast to the embodiment described above, no continuous complete discharge of the gas takes place. Only a small amount of the gas is discharged via conduit 42 .
A special analysing apparatus 43 for detecting the presence of reactive process gas is fitted in conduit 42 and connected to controller 18 . In parallel to special analysing apparatus 43 , an oxygen analysing apparatus, connected to controller 18 , is provided.
In this embodiment, the inlets 9 and the outlets 10 are connected to each other via conduit 46 , in which a pump 44 is fitted. A heat exchanger 45 is also fitted. This can be a gas—gas heat exchanger, which is connected on the other side to the ambient air. This can also be a gas-liquid heat exchanger. Working of pump 4 is regulated by controller 18 .
With the system 41 according to FIG. 3, in principle, the same working is possible as in system 1 that is described above. However, for the quick and even cooling of the processing tube 3 , gas in space 8 is moved at increased speed from inlet 9 to outlet 10 by the effects of pump 44 , whereby the heat exchanger 45 removes the absorbed heat. An even cooling is achieved by the periodic reversing of the direction of movement of the gas by means of a valve system (not shown). For details of the method of working reference is made to WO 98/00151.
Also for this embodiment it is essential that during the process, processing tube 3 is continuously enclosed in a “shell” of a gas that is inert with respect to the reactive gas which is applied in the processing tube 3 .
While the invention above is described with reference to a preferred embodiment, for the persons skilled in the art it is clear that numerous changes are possible which are clear after reading the description above and are within the scope of the attached claims. | Method for purging a furnace comprising a closable processing tube defining in its interior a closable, processing space, a purging gas being flowed along the outer surface of the processing tube separated from the processing gas flow inside the processing tube, wherein said processing gas flow comprises a gas being reactive with air at elevated temperature and said purging gas comprises an inert gas. A furnace assembly for realizing this method is proposed comprising a controller for controlling force connected in a conduit connected to a source of reactive and inert gas respectively. This controller is realized such that only after placing the closure of the processing chamber in the closing position the valve in the supply conduit for reactive gas can be opened and said closure can only be removed from said closing position after said valve in supply conduits for reactive gas has been closed. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This product is designed for the health industry. It will be available to all health organizations: Hospitals, Doctors, Clinics, Pharmacies, Professional, Collegiate, and High School Athletic teams, and to everyone over the counter.
[0002] This product will be used to help reduce/decrease, prevent and avoid swelling/edema to all joints and soft tissue areas of the body, which maybe as a result of surgery, athletic injury, slip and fall or systemic medical disorders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] An embodiment of the invention is a cooling system to help reduce/decrease prevents and avoids swelling/edema to all joints and soft tissue areas of the body. The cooling system includes a chemical solution that can cool up to 30 minutes. The product will fit a number of body parts; shoulders, back, head, feet, arms, neck, fingers, legs, toes and ankle.
[0004] Another embodiment of the invention is it ability to be put into a refrigeration device to cool the chemical solution into a gel. This flexible device is easily traveled friendly.
[0005] Yet another embodiment of the invention is it ability stretch and fit the body part need for the cooling treatment. Cooling pockets help treat the body part needed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying figures, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates a front, perspective view of a rehabilitation device, including a inner liner chemical gel, such as a cool pack providing reduce swelling/edema in muscles and joints or other operations and functions, according to certain embodiments of the invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates a back, perspective view of the rehabilitation device of FIG. 1 , showing the neoprene stretch type material and Velcro components, according to certain embodiments of the invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates a side perspective view rehabilitation device, for providing particular layers and functionality, according to certain embodiments of the invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective of the gel pack, which provides cooling functional elements required for operations according to certain embodiments of the invention; support, and exploded and unitization of internal elements of the alternative protocol module and encasement thereof in a housing, according to certain embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Referring to FIG. 1 , a rehabilitation device cool gel shoulder 100 . 101 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 102 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 103 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness, 104 add stretching to help contour to body parts.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 2 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 200 of FIG. 2 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 201 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 3 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 300 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 301 is also illustrated in side view.
[0014] Referring to FIG. 4 , the cool gel packet 400 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 401 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0015] Referring to FIG. 5 , a rehabilitation device cool gel elbow support 500 . 501 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 502 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 503 show elements of Velcro type strips and buckle 504 to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness, 505 add stretching to help contour to body parts.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 6 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 600 of FIG. 5 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 601 shows Velcro straps and 602 buckle to close and lock device to body parts.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 7 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 700 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 701 is also illustrated in side view.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 8 , the cool gel packet 800 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 801 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 9 , a rehabilitation device cool gel knee support 900 . 901 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 902 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 903 show elements of Velcro type strips and buckle 904 to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness, 905 add stretching to help contour to body parts.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 10 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 1000 of FIG. 9 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 1001 shows Velcro straps and 1002 buckle to close and lock device to body parts.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 11 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 1100 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 1101 is also illustrated in side view.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 12 , the cool gel packet 1200 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 1201 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 13 , a rehabilitation device cool gel footy support and cool gel ankle support shoulder 1300 and 1304 . 1301 and 1305 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 1302 and 1306 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 1303 and 1307 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness, 104 add stretching to help contour to body parts.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 14 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 1400 and 1402 of FIG. 13 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness, that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 1401 and 1403 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 15 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 1500 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 1501 is also illustrated in side view.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 16 , the cool gel packet 1600 and 1602 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 1601 and 1603 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 17 , a rehabilitation device cool gel foot toes support 1700 . 1701 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 1702 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 1703 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness, 1704 add stretching to help contour to body parts.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 18 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 1800 of FIG. 17 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 1801 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 19 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 1900 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 1901 is also illustrated in side view.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 20 , the cool gel packet 2000 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 2001 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 21 , a rehabilitation device cool gel thigh support and cool gel calf support 2100 and 2104 . 2101 and 2105 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 2102 and 2106 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 2103 and 2107 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm thickness.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 22 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 2200 and 2202 of FIG. 21 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness, that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 2201 and 2203 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0033] Referring to FIG. 23 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 2300 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 2301 is also illustrated in side view.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 24 , the cool gel packet 2400 and 2402 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 2401 and 2403 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 25 , a rehabilitation device cool gel head and face support 2500 . 2501 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 2502 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 2503 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm in thickness.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 26 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 2600 of FIG. 2 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 2601 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0037] Referring to FIG. 27 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 2700 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 2701 is also illustrated in side view.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 28 , the cool gel packet 2800 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 2801 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0039] Referring to FIG. 29 , a rehabilitation device cool gel back support, 2900 . 2901 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 2902 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 2903 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm in thickness.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 30 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 3000 of FIG. 29 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 3001 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 31 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 3100 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 3101 is also illustrated in side view.
[0042] Referring to FIG. 32 , the cool gel packet 3200 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 3201 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0043] Referring to FIG. 33 , a rehabilitation device cool gel wrist support 3300 . 3301 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 3302 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 3303 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm in thickness.
[0044] Referring to FIG. 34 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 3400 of FIG. 33 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 3401 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 35 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 3500 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 3501 is also illustrated in side view.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 36 , the cool gel packet 3600 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 3601 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0047] Referring to FIG. 37 , a rehabilitation device cool gel finger support 3700 . 3701 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 3702 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 3703 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm in thickness.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 38 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 3800 of FIG. 37 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 3801 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 39 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 3900 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 3901 is also illustrated in side view.
[0050] Referring to FIG. 40 , the cool gel packet 4000 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 4001 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 41 , a rehabilitation device cool gel thumb support 4100 . 4101 which includes an inner bag with 3 to 5 mm thickness elements durability for use on swollen body parts, as rehabilitation support latex type material 4102 cool gel substance. The rehabilitation device 4103 show elements of Velcro type strips to keep device together. Neoprene type material 4 to 6 mm in thickness.
[0052] Referring to FIG. 42 , a back-side of the rehabilitation device 4200 of FIG. 41 shows the back of the device. Neoprene type material in 4 to 6 mm in thickness that stretches and forms to the body to give maximum support, 4201 shows Velcro straps to close and lock device to body parts.
[0053] Referring to FIG. 43 , an exemplary embodiment of the device illustrated in simplified view for purposes of showing the material layers. 4300 shows the Neoprene type material from the side view. The cooling packet 4301 is also illustrated in side view.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 44 , the cool gel packet 4400 of the health care device is a latex material 3 to 5 mm in thickness with separate chambers 4401 that holds the chemical solution providing a cooling sensation that can sustain itself for 15 to 30 minutes. | This product will be used to help reduce/decrease, prevent and avoid swelling/edema to all joints and soft tissue areas of the body, which maybe as a result of surgery, athletic injury, slip and fall or systemic medical disorders. The product will have a variety of specific body part covers, which will be provided in different sizes to address the injury in which the product is needed. The product will wrap around the body part and will hold together by Velcro. The product made of neoprene will have the capability to be placed in a 32 degree environment to turn the inner latex bag of liquid in to a cooling gel. | 0 |
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electromagnetic test device for characterizing materials in terms of electromagnetic properties and localized anomalies. More specifically, the invention relates to eddy current probe core that serves to focus the electromagnetic field and is flexible to allow scanning of curved or irregular surfaces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Historically eddy current methods have been used to detect surface, or near surface, anomalies. When applied to carbon fiber reinforced composite materials, eddy current methods can be used to detect and measure a wide variety of anomalies, including the broken fibers associated with impact damage, misaligned fibers, and incomplete densification in carbon/carbon materials. Because many composite materials have high resistivities, inspection is not limited to the surface.
The depth to which a material can be inspected effectively depends on the dimensions of the anomaly to be detected. The diameter of the probe must be at least twice the depth to which the material is to be inspected, and ideally should be 4.5 times the depth. Sensitivity to small anomalies is inversely proportional to the size of the probe. Since significant anomalous regions in composites tend to be much larger than the small pits and cracks of interest in the inspection of metals, this larger size generally is not a drawback with respect to defect sensitivity.
In the past, ferrite cup core eddy current probes used to measure resistivity have been effective in inspecting carbon fiber reinforced composites such as is taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,924,182 and 4,922,201 issued to Vernon et al. on 8 May 1990 and 1 May 1990 respectively. These ferrite cup cores are effective on planar surfaces.
Size is a factor when the composite material to be inspected has a curved surface. Eddy current probes should conform to the surface of the test material. When the thickness of the material to be inspected is large relative to the radius of curvature of the test material, the large probe that is required, if flat, will not conform to the surface. Commercially available axisymmetric cores can be ground to fit an inside diameter surface; grinding to fit an outside diameter surface is next to impossible. Elongated probes, fabricated by gluing together C-shaped or E-shaped cores, can be more easily made to conform to both outside diameter and inside diameter surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,422 issued to deWalle et al on Jan. 12, 1988 teaches a single purpose eddy current probe that is fabricated on a backing of flexible material, shaped to fit an irregular surface, and then made rigid. This results in a single purpose device which can be used to test a particularly shaped test material. When the radius of curvature varies over the surface to be scanned, such as in a rocket nozzle, a rigid probe cannot be used.
An important characteristic of braided carbon/carbon tubes is the exact alignment of carbon fiber toes. Eddy current methods could be useful if resistivity were measured as an elongated probe was rotated from the 0° direction (long axis of probe parallel to tube axis) to the 90° direction (long axis of probe parallel to circumferential direction). Resistivity values would be expected to correlate with fiber alignment between the 0° and 90° directions. The requirement that all parts of the active surface of the probe be equidistant from the surface of the test material, prevents the use of a single rigid elongated probe; when rotated from the 0° to the 90° position increasingly more of the probe surface would not be in contact with the tube. A set of probes would be required, each probe conforming to the surface at the particular orientation.
Adjustable radius probes have potential application to the inspection of components varying in both thickness and resistivity (aircraft wing skins, for example). This type of probe would allow both the separation of these effects and the inspection of a range of thicknesses using the optimum probe size without the need to physically change probes. Adjustable radius probes are made up of concentric ferrite rims and are difficult to fabricate using commercially available ferrite cores. The techniques of constructing an adjustable radius probe are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,738, issued to Vernon et al. on Jun. 4, 1991.
Conventional rigid core eddy current probes either are inefficate in inspecting curved or irregular surfaces or must be specially fabricated to conform to the irregular surface and are thus limited to the particular shape of the test material and quite expensive as a single application item.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention teaches an eddy current probe that is flexible and its active surface can be conformed in shape to the surface of the test material. This flexibility makes the invention particularly effective in the testing of irregularly shaped or curved carbon fiber reinforced composites. The core may be formed of a polymer or other flexible material which is loaded with a powdered magnetic material.
Eddy current probes fabricated with cores made of ferrite-loaded silicone rubber RTV or other flexible binding material are flexible; they can be used to scan components with contours of varying radii. A typical application would be the inspection of rocket nozzles; the radius of curvature changes between the throat and the base, with additional curvature in the axial direction. Flexible binding material can be shaped into cores of any size and configuration, thus eliminating reliance on commercially available cores, designed for other purposes.
Cores of any size or configuration can be made by pressing the loaded binding material into a mold and allowed to cure. Alternatively, flat sections can be cured; the appropriate shapes cut out, and the pieces glued together with binding material. The flexibility of the probes permits the inspection of convex and concave surfaces with axisymmetric probes and the scanning of surfaces of varying curvature with both elongated and axisymmetric probes.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to teach an eddy current core probe that is effective in testing curved or irregular surfaces.
It is a further object of the invention to teach an eddy current probe core that is flexible and may be manipulated to conform to the surface of the test material.
In a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further objects and advantages thereof, references may be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective of a rectangular elongated cup core geometry of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective of an axisymmetric geometry of the flexible eddy current probe core of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective of the flexible eddy current probe core shaped in a "C" geometry.
FIG. 4 is an eddy current probe using the flexible core of the present invention in the geometry of an "E" core.
FIG. 5 is a perspective of one geometry of the eddy current core shown flexing to conform to a curved test surface.
FIG. 6 is the present invention fabricated as an adjustable radius flexible eddy current probe.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the eddy current cup core of FIG. 2 showing the placement of a coil and the potting holding the coil in place.
FIG. 8 is a graph of the normalized impedance versus the distance between the edge of a probe and the edge of a test material.
FIG. 9 is a plot of the coupling coefficient versus percent ferrite by weight.
FIG. 10 is the present invention shown flexing around a test material.
FIG. 11 is a graph showing the percent change in inductance versus test angle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The binding material in the prototype probes was a silicone rubber compound, General Electric RTV700 with 10% Beta-1 silicone curing agent. The manufacturer is the General Electric Company, Silicone Products Division, Waterford, N.Y. 12188. Other elastomeric polymers could also be used. If the issue is not flexibility but rather the fabrication of an inexpensive single-application ferrite core probe, the binding material could be a polymer that was rigid after cure.
Two types of fired 13 micron ferrite powders, type 33 and type 28, were recommended and provided by D. M. Steward Manufacturing Co., P.O. Box 510, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37401-0510. There are many other suppliers of ferrite and iron alloy materials which are suitable. The materials must have high resistivity. In initial tests the two types of powder tested had no discernable differences in their effects on probe characteristics and they were used interchangeably.
The ferrite powder was gradually mixed into the RTV700-Beta-1 mixture until the desired percent by weight of ferrite was achieved. 88% was the maximum amount of ferrite powder that could be mixed into the RTV binder without the latter losing its binding property. Since the purpose of the core is to provide maximum shielding and thus maximum focusing of the electromagnetic field with a flexible medium, 88% ferrite would be considered the best mode of practicing the invention. In instances where the probe is large (lowering the resonant frequency of the probe) and the high material resistivity requires a high inspection frequency, it might be useful to have less ferrite to lower the permeability of the core, thereby increasing the resonant frequency. The actual percentage of the ferrite powder/binding material depends upon the required size and operating frequency.
Cores of any size or configuration can be made by pressing the loaded binder into a mold and allowed to cure. Alternatively, flat pieces of the material can be cured; the appropriate shapes cut out, and the pieces glued together with binder. With RTV700-Beta-1 material used as the binder, curing takes place at room temperature.
Among those probes tested were the elongated cup core probe of FIG. 1 and the axisymmetric cup core of FIG. 2. Turning now to FIG. 1, the elongated cup core embodiment 20 of the present invention is shown wherein a center post 22 is surrounded by a rectangular frame 24. Both center post 22 and frame 24 are held in place by a backing plate 26. All three of these elements are fabricated from the binding material and the ferrite powder discussed above. These three sections may be formed as a single unit in a mold without departing from the scope of the invention. Alternatively, these three sections, 22, 24 and 26 may be fabricated separately and affixed together with the binding material. The center post 22, rectangular frame 24 and backing plate 26 define a trough 28 with a depth 29 wherein a coil of wire will be disposed and held in place by a quantity of binding material mixed with an equal amount, by volume, of talc. The coil of wire should be ASW 33 or higher and will have leads exiting through access holes in the back plate 26 (holes not shown).
In the elongated probe core tested, the center post was 1.6 inches long and 0.2 inches wide with a depth of 0.075 inches. The frame 24 surrounding center post 22 was 2.5 inches long and 0.75 inches wide. Each side of the rectangle was 0.1 inches thick with the same depth as the center post 22 defining a trough depth of 0.075 inches surrounding center post 22. This results in a trough 28 having a width of 0.175. inches. The elongated cup core 20 of FIG. 1 is particularly applicable when directional properties of either an isotropic material or an anomalous region of a material are of interest.
The embodiment of FIG. 2 is an axisymmetric cup core 30 used when the anisotropic properties of the test material are not of interest. The embodiment of the axisymmetric core built and tested comprised a center post 32, an outer frame 34 and a backing plate 36 which defined a trough 38. The relative dimensions generally conform to those of conventional axisymmetric solid ferrite cup cores. The trough 38 will contain the coil of wire held in place with a mixture of binding material and talc as described above, but not shown in FIG. 2. Another embodiment can be fabricated by leaving the center post out of FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention formed in the geometry of a rectangular "C" core 40. The embodiment of FIG. 3 is shown with a rectangular unipiece body 42 which defines the shape and trough 44. A coil of wire 41 is shown disposed in a conventional manner for a "C" cup core probe. Likewise, FIG. 4 depicts an "E" geometry cup core 50 formed of a unibody 52 wrapped with a coil 51 in a conventional manner.
FIG. 5 shows the elongated cup core 20 of FIG. 1 as it is flexed to conform to a test environment where it is necessary to conform the probe around a cylindrical test material with the probe oriented with its long axis at a 45 degree angle to the axis of the cylinder.
FIG. 6 shows an adjustable radius eddy current coil probe 60 comprised of a variable radius cup core 62 containing multiple coils 61 held in place by a mixture of binding material and talc 63. The parameters and geometry of adjustable radius eddy current coil probes is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,738 by Vernon et al. issued Jun. 4, 1991. U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,738 is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the axisymmetric embodiment of FIG. 2, item 30, showing a center post 32, an outer frame 34 and a backing plate 36. A coil of wire 31 is shown in trough 38 where it is potted in place with a mixture of talc and binding material 33.
The various embodiments illustrated by FIGS. 1-7 are by way of example and do not limit the scope of the invention. The number of turns of wire used in coils is determined by the inspection frequency and the impedance requirements of the impedance measurement device. The prototypes contained between 3 and 10 turns. The cup of the core containing the coil is filled with binding material mixed with an equal amount (by volume) of talc. The talc serves to stiffen the potting material so the bending of the coil conformed to the bending of the core. Wire sizes of ASW #33, or smaller, are required as larger wire was found to be stiffer than the core. Coil leads are brought out through small holes in the back plate section and soldered to a flexible lead attached to a BNC connector. A little binding material placed on the top of the back plate where the leads emerge provides some additional support to the leads.
Several tests were performed to measure the relative focusing capability and relative efficiency of the flexible core probes versus air-core and solid ferrite (100% ferrite) cores. The test materials were a titanium panel and a 2" outside diameter titanium cylinder. Data were collected at 7 frequencies from 12.5 kHz to 400 kHz. Measurements were made with a Hewlett Packard 4192A low frequency impedance analyzer.
The relative focusing effects of the flexible core (88% ferrite), an air-core probe (no core), and a solid ferrite core were estimated in terms of the edge effect. The greater the shielding provided by the core, the more focused the field and the less the distance between the edge of the probe and the edge of the material before the field is disturbed by the edge of the material. The change in probe impedance, normalized with respect to the impedance of the probe far from the edge of the material, was measured as a function of the distance between the edge of the material and the edge of the probe normalized by the radius of the axisymmetric probe. In FIG. 8 normalized impedance is plotted against the distance between the edge of the probe and the edge of the material divided by the radius of the probe. It can be seen that the field of the air core probe illustrated by curve 1 seems to extend beyond the edge of the coil by a distance almost equal to the radius of the coil. In contrast, the field of the 88% ferrite core illustrated by curve 2 extends about a third of its radius, while the field of the 100% ferrite core, curve 3, does not extend beyond the edge of the probe.
The effect of the amount of ferrite powder in the cores on the efficiency with which the probe transmits energy to the test material was determined by measuring the coupling coefficient of a coil under four conditions. Two elongated cores, having 49% and 88% ferrite by weight were fabricated. A 10-turn coil to fit the trough was wound and set in unloaded binding material. The coupling coefficient was measured with the coil alone, in each of the flexible cores, and in a solid ferrite core of the same dimensions. The results, shown in FIG. 9, indicate that the 88% ferrite core, data point 1, is about 20% less efficient than the 100% ferrite core, data point 2, while the air core, data point 3, is about 30% less efficient.
Flexing or bending a probe would be expected to change the inductance of the probe since the relative positions of the turns of wire change during bending. Tests were performed to determine the extent of these effects and to determine if they could be compensated via normalization. The effects of flexing were determined under worse-case conditions. A 2.5-inch long probe was tested in conjunction with 2" diameter cylinders. A cycle consisted of a rotation of the probe from an initial 0° position with the long axis of the probe aligned along the long axis of the cylinder to a 90° position where the probe was wrapped around the cylinder, covering over a third of its circumference. The real and imaginary components of the impedance were measured every 10° from 0° to 90°. Data were collected alternately on a plexiglass cylinder and a titanium cylinder.
FIG. 10 shows the flexing that occurs when an elongated probe 20 such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, is rotated on the surface of a cylinder 10. Therein, elongated probe 20 is shown with 0° between the long axis of probe 20 and axis of cylinder 10 illustrated at point 25 in FIG. 10. Point 27 shows the probe 20 rotated 45° and point 29 illustrates probe 20 rotated 90° to the axis of the cylinder. It is intuitive that probe 20 must flex and contort to remain flush with the surface of cylinder 10 throughout the rotation.
The effect of flexing the elongated probe from the 0° (aligned along the axis of the cylinder) to the 90° position (wrapped around the cylinder) on probe reactance is illustrated in FIG. 11. The percent change in normalized reactance both in air 71 and on titanium 72 is plotted against angle. This quantity varies from between approximately plus and minus 2% for both the air and titanium values. Scatter in titanium data is attributed to difficulties in maintaining constant pressure over the surface of the probe when it is in contact with the test material. The problem would probably be solved by the use of an effective mount rather than finger pressure as was the case for these data. To compensate for the inherent effects of bending the material, data can be normalized against data collected in air with the same degree of probe flexure. The real component varied less than 1% and the variation was random. There was no systematic change in reactance resulting from the number of times the probe was flexed. The change was less than 0.5 percent.
The flexibility of eddy current probes having ferrite-loaded binding material cores allows them to scan curved surfaces. The data must be normalized against air data collected as the probe is scanned over the surface of an identical nonconductive surface. These probes can be custom designed to any size and geometry. They should be used with a fixture that provides constant pressure over the surface of the probe.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. | A flexible core eddy current probe is disclosed for testing of curved or egular surfaces. The core is comprised of a flexible binder loaded with a powdered magnetic material and then formed into a specific flexible core shape continuously adaptable to irregular or curved surfaces. The flexible core probe has specific application to carbon fiber reinforced composite components having contoured surfaces. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. §371 and claims priority to Patent Cooperation Treaty Application Number PCT/US2012/059899 filed on Oct. 12, 2012, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/549,526 filed on Oct. 20, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD
This application relates to methods and apparatus to control and optimize flow control valves in the oil field services industry.
BACKGROUND
In the operation of oil wells, a critical issue is how to control the flow rate of oil such that revenue from the well is maximized. In long horizontal or multi-lateral wells, it may be advantageous to separately control rates in different parts of the well, e.g., to delay water incursions. Such control can be achieved through downhole flow control valves. The flow control valves (FCVs) are installed underground in wells to regulate the flow of crude oil. A typical example is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B (prior art), where there are three horizontal boreholes in a well, with an FCV at the head of each borehole. In practice, operators closely monitor the geophysical properties of the well and dynamically adjust the FCVs such that maximum revenue from the well can be attained. Here we are concerned about expected revenue because the evolution of the geophysical nature of the well is a stochastic process, with grid, aquifer strength and oil-water contact as the uncertainty in the system. For a risk-neutral operator, the difference between the expected revenue of the well without FCVs and the expected revenue of the well with FCVs installed and optimally controlled with future measurements gives the value of the FCV itself. Our task is to find the optimal control strategy and hence the value of the FCVs.
There are two major obstacles before us, the curse of dimensionality and the non-Markovian property of the problem. To derive the optimal value, we model the downhole flow control problem as a dynamic programming problem and solve for the optimal control policy backwardly. In order to derive the maximum production, the operator has to be forward-looking in decision-making. The decision made in the current period will affect the measurements observed in the future and hence the decisions made in the future. The operator must therefore take future measurements and decisions into account when setting the valves in the current period. In other words, the operator learns from future information. The fundamental theory and standard computational technique for dynamic programming can be found in the literature. However, application of dynamic programming to real world problems is often hindered by the so-called curse of dimensionality, which means that the state space grows exponentially with the number of state variables. To get rid of this obstacle, various approximate methods have been proposed, and a detailed and comprehensive description can be found in the literature.
Another obstacle we face is the non-Markovian property of the problem. The payoff of the well is associated with the operation of valves and the successive measurements. It can be difficult/wrong to encode the payoff as a function of only current measurements, when the payoff depends on the system trajectory or history, and not on the current state alone. In other words, the payoff not only depends on the current measurements and valves setting, but also on previous measurements and valve settings. This non-Markovian property of the problem poses a major difficulty in the valuation problem, since previous actions enter into the problem as the states for later periods, exacerbating the curse of dimensionality effect. Theoretically, to exactly solve a non-Markovian problem, we need to enumerate all possible settings for FCVs and, under each possible setting, we generate the evolution of geophysical properties and revenue by simulation. After all possible results have been obtained, we can search for the optimal value using standard backward induction. While this method is straightforward and accurate, it is hardly feasible in reality due to its immense computational demand. Consider the case in FIG. 1 . Even for a simplified case where the FCVs are adjusted only three times throughout the life of the well, it took us a couple of months to generate all those simulations on a small Linux cluster. In fact, if we use eight Eclipse grids, three time periods, four settings for each valve, fixed setting for one valve, two aquifer strength samples, three oil-water contact samples, we need a total of 8×4×(42)3×2×3=786,432 Eclipse simulations. If each simulation takes an average of four minutes, it would require 2184 days to complete all simulations on a single computer. Detailed discussion of the optimal policy in this three-period model is presented in Section 2.
FIGURES
FIGS. 1A and 1B (PRIOR ART) provide an example of previous methods.
FIG. 2 is a plot of data from a training set.
FIG. 3 is an example of valuation of a single flow control valve. This example illustrates that using smaller bins does not necessarily earn the operator higher values. This FIG. 3 relates to FIG. 9 below.
FIG. 4 is a plot of payoff as a function of time.
FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the performance of the rolling-static policy under different bin sizes. We use hierarchical clustering to group measurements together. We use three measurements in the computation: FOPR, FWPR, and FGPR. When the bin size is 1, the optimal value is $423.18M while the value generated by the rolling-static policy is $421.56M.
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C provide histograms of measurements t=1 under rolling-static strategy.
FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D compare different measurements under the rolling-static strategy. FIG. 7D shows the percentage of learning value captured under different measurements. The percentage of learning value captured is defined as (V rs −V s )/(V o −V s ).
FIGS. 8A and 8B show the performance of the rolling-flexible policy under different bin sizes. We use hierarchical clustering to group measurements together. We use three measurements in the computation: FOPR, FWPR, and FGPR. When the bin size is 1, the optimal value is $423.18M while the value generated by the rolling-flexible policy is $422.39M.
FIGS. 9A and 9B compare flexible valuation, optimal valuation, and 1-neighbor approximate valuation. Here we plot the different valuation strategies for different bin sizes. FIG. 9A shows the results with learning from FOPR. FIG. 9B shows the results with learning from FGPR. In the 1-Neighbor approximation approach, the set T requires 12,288 simulation scenarios. The scenarios are chosen such that s 22 =3−s 21 , s 32 =3−s 31 , and s 23 =3−s 22 . The total number of simulations needed by the 1-Neighbor policy is 49,152, including the T-set simulations. This is 93.5 percent fewer than in optimal valuation.
FIG. 10 provides 1-Neighbor approximation valuation with small bins. In this 1-Neighbor approximation approach, the set T contains 12,288 simulation scenarios. The scenarios are constructed such that s 22 =3−s 21 , s 32 =3. The total number of simulations needed by the 1-Neighbor policy is 49,152, including the T-set simulations. This is 93.5 percent fewer than in optimal valuation.
SUMMARY
Embodiments herein relate to apparatus and methods for controlling equipment to recover hydrocarbons from a reservoir including constructing a collection of reservoir models wherein each model represents a realization of the reservoir and comprises a subterranean formation measurement, estimating the measurement for the model collection, and controlling a device wherein the controlling comprises the measurement estimate wherein the constructing, estimating, and/or controlling includes a rolling flexible approach and/or a nearest neighbor approach.
Some embodiments use a simulator for estimating and/or an optimizer for controlling the device. In some embodiments, the optimizer resets the measurements and operates in a rolling fashion.
In some embodiments, the controlling flow rates includes a decision resolution. In some embodiments, the estimating includes the decision resolution, a basis-function regression and/or a k-neighbor approach.
In some embodiments, the geophysical measurements are surface sensors, downhole sensors, temporary sensors, permanent sensors, well logs, fluid production, well tests, electromagnetic surveys, gravity surveys, nuclear surveys, tiltmeter surveys, seismic surveys, water, oil, or gas flow measurements, and/or separated or combined flow measurements.
Some embodiments also include flooding with oil, gas, water, or carbon dioxide, EOR, static or controllable downhole valves, well placement, platform type and placement, drilling, heating the formation, or geosteering.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The long-term expected oil production from a well can be optimized through real-time flow rate control. Ideally, operators can dynamically adjust the flow rates by setting downhole flow control valves conditional on information about geophysical properties of the well. The valuation of flow-control valves must take into account both the optimization problem and the future measurements that will be used to guide valve settings. The optimization of flow rate can be modeled as a dynamic programming problem. However, it is impractical to solve for the optimal policy in this model due to the long time horizon in reality and the exponentially growing state space. To tackle the problem, we use several approximate approaches and demonstrate the performance of these approaches in a three-period model. We present the standard dynamic programming approach to derive the optimal policy below. Approximate policies are also discussed below, where our focus is on the discussion of two approximate approaches.
We test these policies under various situations and show there is a significant value in adopting approximate approaches. Furthermore, we compare these approaches under different situations and show under which condition approximate approaches can achieve near-optimal performance. Among all approaches discussed, the rolling-flexible approach and the nearest neighbor approach stand out for their computational efficiency and performance.
The valuation of production optimization through real-time flow control can be formulated as a dynamic programming problem. However, the numerical solution of this problem is nearly always computationally intractable because of the huge computational complexity for problems of realistic size. In order to solve this problem, we studied a set of approximate optimization policies with application to an example FCV problem whose size allowed the optimal solution to be computed for comparison with the various approximations. Among these strategies, the rolling-flexible and the 1-neighbor approximation policies are most effective with respect to our example problem. The rolling-flexible policy achieves nearly optimal results for a broad range of bin sizes with a 92 percent reduction in required simulations over the optimal policy. The 1-neighbor policy has at 93.8 percent reduction in required simulations over the optimal policy, but demonstrated acceptable accuracy only when the bin size was very small.
Other findings are summarized as follows and are provided in more detail below.
Using smaller bins (higher decision resolution) generally, but not always, leads to higher valuation. In the k-neighbor policy, setting k=1 usually results in the best performance. The 1-neighbor policy with learning from a single measurement outperforms the fixed valuation for most scenarios. Using more measurements results in equal or higher values. This is true for both optimal valuation and approximate valuation. The valuation is highest when all three measurements FOPR/FWPR/FGPR are taken into account. The 1-Neighbor approach provides the lower bound of the optimal value.
In order to solve this predicament, we use several approaches to approximately derive the value of an FCV installation in an efficient and time-manageable manner. In terms of the usage of measurements, these approaches can be divided into two groups, those using measurements and those not using measurements. The first group of approaches does not involve any learning. Approaches in this group include the wide-open policy, the static policy and the optimal non-learning policy. The second group of approaches involves learning from measurement information, including the rolling-static policy, the rolling-flexible policy, the nearest neighbor policy and the feature-based policy. The rolling-static and rolling-flexible policies are based on their non-learning counterparts, the static and optimal nonlearning policies. The nearest-neighbor and the feature-based approaches are more advanced methods. While these two approaches are different in implementation, they are driven by the same motivation; instead of searching for the optimal FCV settings, π, by enumerating all possible simulation scenarios in set L, we generate a significantly smaller set of simulation scenarios T. We search for the optimal FCV control strategy {tilde over (π)} in this smaller set T of scenarios and apply this strategy to value the FCV installation. In other words, we estimate the optimal strategy using incomplete data. The two approaches vary in the structure of the estimator. The first approach is non-parametric and is based on the K-Neighbor method. In the second approach, we approximate the optimal setting by a linear combination of basis functions.
In terms of the target of approximation, there are two streams of approximate dynamic programming methods: value function approximation and policy approximation. The value function approximation usually tries to decompose the value function as a linear combination of a few basis functions, thus overcoming the curse of dimensionality. Our approximate method employs the policy approximation instead of value function approximation. The reason is that the policy approximation method yields a lower bound for simulation-based valuation and facilitates comparison among different approaches. Furthermore, our tests of the value function approximation method show that its performance is not as promising.
There are two approaches among the approaches mentioned above that merit closer attention, the rolling-flexible approach and the nearest-neighbor approach. In the application of the rolling-flexible approach, we first fix the FCV settings across different periods and run the optimizer to find the best setting. We apply the best setting we found for the current period and use the simulator to generate the measurement for the next period. Given the measurement, we reset the settings by running the optimizer again. In other words, we run the optimizer in a rolling fashion. This process continues until we reach the last period. This rolling-flexible approach features the following aspects.
First, instead of solving the dynamic programming problem in a backward fashion, it optimizes in a forward manner. While there are forward approaches in dynamic programming in previous literature, these approaches assume that we are fully aware of the dynamics of the state. However, in our approach, we do not have to use any information about these dynamics. In the numerical part, we replace the optimizer by using the optimized results from full enumeration that had previously been computed in order to evaluate the optimal dynamic programming policy most widely used distance in classifiers is the Euclidean distance. However, when there is a large number of data points, finding the nearest neighbors in terms of Euclidean distance can be extremely cumbersome. In this paper, we propose a novel way to find nearest neighbors based on a specific definition of distance.
The nearest-neighbor policy approximation is essentially a classifier-based approximation. Lagoudakis and Parr use a support vector machine (SVM) as the classifier for Markov decision processes. Langford and Zadrozny describe a classifier-based algorithm for general reinforcement learning problems. The basic idea is to leverage a modern classifier to predict the value/policy for unknown states. However, none of these references explore the nearest-neighbor approach. Moreover, our nearest-neighbor approach depends on a special way of defining the distance between states.
According to this method, we rank states by first coding them as multi-digit numbers and then applying the comparison rule of multi-digit numbers. The distance between two states is defined as the difference of indexes in the table. This method does not involve complex calculations and nearest neighbors can be found very easily. Numerical study indicates this nearest neighbor approach provides excellent approximation in some situations. Clearly, this nearest-neighbor approximate approach can be extended to other dynamic programming problems.
An important step in solving the problem is the binning of measurements. Although measurement variables are typically continuous, we need to bin them to evaluate expectations when making decisions. Valves are adjusted based on the measurements, but presumably one would not change settings based on an infinitesimal change in the measurements. The measurement change must be large enough to motivate the decision maker to adjust valve settings. This change threshold is called the decision resolution. It is impacted in part by the measurement resolution, but also by the “inertia” against making a change. This decision resolution determines the bin size to be used in our approach. Valve-control decisions are not directly based on the absolute measurements, but on the bins the measurements fall in. Smaller bins mean that we are more confident in making valve changes based on smaller changes in the measurements. We investigate how the bin size affects the valuation under different strategies.
The rest of the application is organized as follows. First, we illustrate the backward induction approach for valuation which is only suitable when we can afford to simulate valves for all uncertainties and control states. The value thus derived is the optimal value and serves as the benchmark for our approximate approaches. Next, we describe several approaches that derive the value approximately, including one approach that is based on basis-function regression and another that utilizes the k-neighbor approach in machine learning. Finally, we test these methods, compare their performances, and summarize the results.
Backward Induction
This section describes the standard method used for valuation, which works not only for a complete enumeration of the simulation state space but for an incomplete set as well. For the complete set, the value derived is the true optimal value and will be used as the benchmark subsequently. Understanding how the simulation results are used under this methodology may also help us to design a better optimization.
We study an (N+1)-period model with w FCVs installed in a well. Each FCV has g possible settings. The FCVs are set at t=0, 1, . . . , N−1, measurements are taken at t=1, . . . , N−1, and final payoff of the well is realized at t=N. Note that no information about uncertainty has been disclosed when the FCVs are set at time 0. We use a vector St=[sit, . . . , Swt]T to denote the setting decisions of all w FCVs at t, and a vector Aft to denote all measurements collected at t. Further, let H t ={(S o , M 1 , S 1 , . . . , M t )} denote the set of historical settings and measurements up to t. Decision S t is made conditional on a specific history h t εH t . The optimal strategy π is a mapping, π: H t →S t . Let U denote the uncertainty factors in simulation, including oil-water contact, aquifer strength, and the simulation grids containing samples of porosity and permeability.
A dynamic programming algorithm is developed to maximize the expected value of the well using backward induction. Let V t (h t ) denote the expected final payoff conditional on history h t at time t. The algorithm follows.
At time N−1, given history h N−1 εH N−1 , we search for the optimal setting S* N−1 such that the expected value at N−1 is maximized,
V N - 1 ( h t ) = max S N - 1 E U [ V N ( h N ) ] , ( 1 )
where h N =(h N−1 , S N−1 ) and V N (h N ) is the final value generated by simulation for the scenario h N at N.
At t, given h t εH t , we search for the optimal setting S* t such that the expected value at t is maximized,
V t ( h t ) = max S t E M t + 1 [ V t + 1 ( h t + 1 ) ] , ( 2 )
where h t+1 =(h t , S t , M t+1 ) and the function V t+1 (h t+l ) has been already obtained from the last step in induction.
Finally at t=0, we search for the optimal setting S 0 * such that the expected value is maximized,
V 0 = max S 0 E M 1 [ V 1 ( h 1 ) ] , ( 3 )
where h 1 =(S o , M 1 ).
As we can see, the above method is a general method. It can compute the optimal control strategy and optimal value for any data set. When the data set is complete, it yields the true optimal value; when the data set is incomplete, it yields the control strategy and value for the incomplete set, which may be suboptimal for the complete set.
Approximation Policies
To compute the exact optimal value is time-consuming because simulations under all possible settings are required. We first consider some basic approximate approaches. Later, we consider two advanced approximate approaches. Consistent throughout this numerical study, our test case is based on a three-period model, with eight Eclipse grids, three time periods, four settings for each valve, fixed setting for one valve, two aquifer strength samples, three oil-water contact samples. Thus, in order to derive the exact value, we need a total of 8×4×(4 2 ) 3 ×2×3=786,432 Eclipse simulations to sample each state.
Policy 1: Wide Open Policy (No Learning)
We optimize under the condition that all FCVs are wide open throughout the life of the well. We need to run 48 simulations to obtain the value of vwo:
V wo =E U ( V ( S 0 ,M 1 ,S 1 ,M 2 ,S 2 )| S 0 =S 1 =[3,3,3] T ).
Policy 2: Static Policy (No Learning)
We optimize the expected payoff under the condition S o =S 1 =S 2 , i.e., the settings are static throughout the time, but can differ between valves. To derive the static policy, we need to run 48×64=3072 simulations to fully evaluate all relevant states, or an optimizer may be used to reduce the number of evaluations. Denote the value of V s by
V 8 = max a E U { V ( S 0 , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 ) | S 0 = S 1 = S 2 = a } .
Policy 3: Flexible Policy (No Learning)
Different from the static policy, where the settings remain the same through-out the time, the flexible policy allows the settings to change from period to period. But the setting is fixed within a single period. To derive the flexible policy, we need to run all 786,432 simulations, or an optimizer may be used to reduce the number of evaluations. Denote the value V f by the following.
V f = max a 0 , a 1 , a 2 E U { V ( S 0 , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 ) ❘ S 0 = a 0 , S 1 = a 1 , S 2 = a 2 } .
Policy 4: Rolling-Static Policy (Learning)
We dynamically adjust the static settings in order to account for learning from measurements. At t=0, we solve the problem by searching for the optimal setting S 0 * under the condition S 0 =S 1 =S 2 . This is the same optimization as in the static (no learning) policy. At t=1, conditional on the setting of S 0 * and the measurements forecast at t=1 by the simulator, we re-optimize for the remaining two periods under the static condition S 1 =S 2 . Finally at t=2, conditional on previous settings and measurements forecast up to t=2, we search for the optimal setting of S 2 . The number of simulations required depends on how we bin the measurements. We can derive an upper bound on the number of required simulations under the condition of no binning as 48×64+48×16+48×16=4608 simulations.
Denote the rolling-static valuation, V rs , by
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denoting the optimal setting as a 2 *;
V rs E U V ( a 0 *,M 1 ,a 1 *,M 2 ,a 2 *),
Policy 5: Rolling-Flexible Policy (Learning)
Here, we dynamically update the flexible policy to account for learning from future measurements. At t=0, we solve the problem by searching for the optimal setting S 0 * as in the flexible policy. At t=1, conditional on the setting S 0 * and measurements forecast at t=1 by the simulator, we re-optimize for the remaining two periods according to the flexible policy. Finally, at t=2, conditional on previous settings and the measurements forecast up to t=2, we search for the optimal setting of S 2 . An upper bound on the required number of simulations is 786,432, equal to simulating all possibilities in the state space. In practice, an optimizer would be used to carry out each optimization and re-optimization step, thus reducing the number of required simulations at the expense of perhaps missing the globally optimal solution at each step. Denote the rolling-flexible valuation, V rf , by
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denoting the optimal setting as a 1 *;
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denoting the optimal setting as a 2 *;
V rf E U V ( a 0 *,M 1 ,a 1 *,M 2 ,a 2 *).
The optimal policy is based on backward induction, which provides the exact solution to the valuation problem. Unfortunately, this policy is computationally impractical (“Curse of Dimensionality”) because it requires an enumeration over the entire state space, resulting in the expensive reservoir simulator being run over every possible uncertainty case and valve setting. In our limited example, this required 786,432 simulations but the limitations imposed by the need to make this a practical number of simulations made this example an impractical representation of the real-world decision problem at hand. Even a modest improvement allowing 10 decision periods and 10 valve settings enlarged the number of simulation cases to over 1023, grossly impractical from a computational point of view. However, as a limiting case, this exact solution, denoted by V 0 , can be used to denote the maximum value we aim to achieve in our approximation policies.
The above approximate policies, excluding the optimal policy, can be divided into two categories: those with re-optimization and those without re-optimization. The wide-open policy, static policy, and flexible policies are in the former category, and the rolling policies (that re-optimize in each period conditional on new information) are in the latter.
Lemma 1
We have the following relationships among different values:
V wo ≦V s ≦V f ≦V rf ≦V o and V s ≦V rs ≦V o . (4)
Lemma 2 The expected payoff generated by the rolling-static policy never decreases, e.g., the expected final payoff conditional on the second {resp. third) period information is no less than the payoff conditional on the first {resp. second) period payoff.
Proof.
The proofs of Lemmas 1 and 2 follow directly from the definitions of these policies.
In this section, we describe two advanced approximation approaches based on the notion that in order to estimate the FCV control strategy for all simulations, one can derive a strategy derived from a small set of states (simulations) and then apply this strategy to the full set of states. We assume H denotes the set of simulations under all possible states and 1r denotes the optimal strategy for adjusting the valve settings. Let T⊂H denote the set of simulations we have already obtained and that will be used to estimate future decisions. We derive a strategy {tilde over (π)} from the set T and then approximate π from {tilde over (π)}. If ∥T∥<<∥H∥, we will be able to significantly reduce the number of required simulations.
Specifically, suppose we have obtained the set T of m scenarios by simulation. What we need to do is to find some strategy ft from the above scenarios, perhaps by using backward induction, and then use it to approximate it from which we can approximate the optimal solution using backward induction. Assume a new (m+1)th scenario h N−1,m+l =(S o,m+1 , . . . , M N−1,m+1 ) has been generated and our objective is to find optimal setting S* N−1,m+1 (h N−1,m+1 ) from our approximate strategy {tilde over (π)}. There are w g possible settings for S* N−1,m+1 that would need to be considered, and the conventional backward induction method requires that we find the optimal setting by enumerating all w g settings. In the approximate approach, we choose the optimal well setting according to S* N−1,m−1 =f({tilde over (π)}, T, h N−1, m+1 ), where f is the estimator function that estimates the optimal control S N−1,m+1 based on T and {tilde over (π)}. There are various ways to design the estimator f. Here we propose two different estimators, a feature-based approach and a non-parametric approach.
Feature-Based Approach
Several references provide a detailed description about the feature-based approach. In a typical dynamic programming problem, the size of a state space normally grows exponentially with the number of state variables. Known as the curse of dimensionality, this phenomenon renders dynamic programming intractable in the face of problems of practical scale. One approach to dealing with this difficulty is to generate an approximation within a parameterized class of functions or features, in a spirit similar to that of statistical regression. In particular, to approximate a function V* mapping the state space to reals, one could design a parameterized class of functions {tilde over (V)}, and then compute a parameter vector r to fit the cost-to-go function, so that {tilde over (V)} (., r)≈V*(.)
The method described above is the conventional approach. Different from the conventional approach where the cost-to-go function is approximated by linear combination of basis functions, we approximate the decision instead. The reason is that value should be obtained from simulation rather than approximation. In other words, linear approximation is employed and f can be written as
f ( π ~ , T , h N - 1 , m + 1 , r ) = ∑ k = 1 K r k ϕ k ( π ~ , T , h N - 1 , m + 1 ) ,
where each ¢ is a “basis function” and the parameters r1, . . . , rk represent basis function weights. Given the linear approximation scheme, we just need to simulate for certain decisions and derive the weights r k through least square method. Then, the decisions for other scenarios can be approximated by a linear combination of basis functions. Possible choices of basis functions include polynomial, Laguerre, Hermite, Legendre, and Jacobi polynomial.
The Non-Parametric Approach
This method requires no model to be fit. Given a query scenario h N−1,m+1 , we approximate S N−1,m+1 from the optimal decisions made on the k nearest scenarios in T. To begin with, let us focus on decisions at the last period t=N−1. For a given history h N−1 εH N−1 , there are 16 possible settings for the two active valves: S 2 ε{(0,0), . . . , (3,3)}. This approximation approach is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 . Each point in the figure represents a distinct scenario. The red points mark the optimal decisions made for scenarios in T. If a point falls into a square, it means that the optimal setting S* N−1 is given by the horizontal and vertical axes of the square. The blue points correspond to approximate solutions that were identified based on the optimal solutions of their k nearest neighbors in T. In other words, we know the history for each red point and its optimal decision S* N−1 and, based on what we know about the red points, we need to develop a strategy to value all the blue points. For the blue points, instead of testing all 16 possible settings, we run the simulation for the chosen setting directly. Now the number of simulations required is about 1/16 of the original enumeration method. A natural question is how to define the distance between two scenarios h N−1,i and h N−1,j . Such details are discussed in more detail below.
In the non-parametric approach, the mapping f is treated non-parametrically. Here we focus on the local regression method, where f(S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ) is fitted by using those observations close to the target point (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ). This method, in a general form, is as follows.
f ^ ( S 0 , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ) = ∑ i = 1 N w i S 2 i , ( 5 )
where S i 2 , indicates the optimal setting for the i-th points in T, and W i is the weight of that setting. The weight is determined by a kernel method, i.e., for points x o =(S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ) and x i =(S i O , M i 1 , S i 1 , M i 2 ), the kernel is
K ( x o ,x i )= D (| X o −X i |), (6)
where |x o −x i | is the distance between the two points, and D( ) is a function of the distance. The weights are then defined by
w i = K ( x 0 , x i ) ∑ i = 1 N K ( x 0 , x i ) . ( 7 )
Cross Validation
In the description of both methods, we take some parameters as exogenous, e.g., the set of the basis functions and the number of neighbors used. In a robust algorithm, instead of using exogenous parameters, we should fit those parameters to the model. Further, given a small set of simulation results, we would like to estimate how accurately our method can recover the optimal policy. The simplest and most widely used approach to addressing these two issues is cross-validation.
Ideally, if we have enough data, we would set aside a validation set and use it to assess the performance of the valuation model. In the K-fold cross-validation, we split the training set T into K roughly equal-sized parts. For the k-th part, we fit the model to the other K−1 parts of the data and calculate the prediction error of the fitted model when predicting the k-th part of the data. We do this for k=1, 2, . . . , K and combine the K estimates of the prediction error. We choose the weights such that the prediction error is minimized. Please refer to the literature for detailed description of cross validation.
Numerical Results
Data
The simulation data set is generated by a simplified three-period model. We use eight Eclipse grids, three time periods, four settings for each FCV, fixed setting for one specific FCV after the first period, two aquifer strength samples, three oil-water contact samples. The data set consists of a complete enumeration and valuation of the state space, namely 8×4×(4 2 ) 3 ×2×3=786,432 Eclipse simulations, with 62 data entries in each scenario. Among the entries in each scenario, one element is the scenario index, three elements represent the simulation environment, seven elements represent the control, and the remaining are the simulation measurements. The measurements are taken at three dates after well operation starts: 600 days, 1200 days, and 2400 days, while the FCVs are set at time 0, 600 days and 1200 days. Note that at time 0, no information has been disclosed when valves are set. For notational convenience, we use tε{0, 1, 2, 3} to represent 0, 600, 1200 and 2400 days after operation starts. Valves are set at t=0, 1, 2 immediately after measurements are made, except for t=0. The i-th (i=1, 2, 3) valve at time t has four possible settings, s it ε{0, 1, 2, 3}, where 0 means closed,
3 means fully open, and 1 and 2 are intermediate states. To reduce the state space, we have imposed the simplification that s 11 =s 12 =s 13 , i.e., once valve 1 is set in period 1, it will remain in that setting at all later times. We use a vector S t (t=0, 1, 2) to denote the aggregate setting of all three valves at t, and a vector M t (t=1, 2, 3) to denote all measurements taken at t.
Methodology
We employ the following valuation strategies that were initially described above: the wide-open policy, the static policy, the flexible policy, the rolling-static policy, the rolling-flexible policy, the optimal dynamic policy, the k-nearest-neighbor policy and the feature-based policy. The difference between the valuation achieved with the optimal dynamic policy (a learning-based approach) and the flexible (non-learning) policy represents the value of learning. The approximate learning-based approaches are presented here as more practical proxies for the optimal dynamic policy, with the goal of demonstrating that an approximate policy can achieve valuation results close to the optimal value.
Measurement Binning
Although measurement values typically belong to the class of real numbers, we discretize each measurement by aggregating similar measurement values into bins such that all measurements in the same bin are considered to be equal. We then compute the valuation based on these binned measurements.
Another aspect of binning is the connection between the number of states in a bin and the remaining uncertainty at that juncture of the decision tree. If a particular bin contains only one measurement at t=t*, then the sequence of decisions and measurements for t≦t* have completely resolved all uncertainty for that state for all t>t*. This complete solution of uncertainty based on a limited set of measurements is artificial in the sense that it is only possible because of the finite set of states being used to represent all uncertainty in the problem.
Here, we consider two approaches for doing this binning. The simplest approach is to divide the space of measurements into equal-sized intervals and then assigning all measurements within each interval to the same bin. A disadvantage of this approach is that when measurements possess a natural clustering pattern, the measurements composing a cluster may be artificially divided into different bins, even if the bin size is large enough to accommodate all of the cluster within a single bin. An alternative approach is to perform cluster analysis, in which the measurement values are divided into natural clusters with respect to proximity and the maximum range of measurement values within each bin. When decisions are made based on multiple measurements, cluster analysis is done on each measurement separately. We use hierarchical clustering analysis to bin the measurements according to the given decision resolution. Specifically, we do cluster analysis on the measurements and adjust the clusters until the size of the biggest cluster is smaller than the bin size.
We demonstrate that the concept of using smaller bins always leads to higher valuation is not true through the following counter-example. We consider the valuation of a single valve based on the three scenarios shown in FIG. 3 . There are three possible measurement values {10, 15, 17}. The valve has two possible settings Sε{1, 2}. For each setting, the payoff is shown at the end of the branch. Consider two possible bin sizes, 4 and 6. If bin size is 4, then the three scenarios can be grouped in terms of the measurement as {10} and {15, 17}. The optimal setting is 1 for both {10} and {15, 17}. Taking the three scenarios as being equally likely, the expected payoff from these three scenarios is 700/3. If the bin size is 6, then the scenarios can be grouped as {10, 15} and {17}. The optimal setting is 2 for {10, 15} and the optimal setting is 1 for {17}. The expected payoff is 800/3. Hence the payoff under bin size 6 is higher than the payoff under bin size 4. It is easy to see that other groupings are possible for the above two bin sizes in this example, and these lead to different payoffs.
Attention to the binning issue is important for achieving consistent valuation. Bins essentially specify a partition H=H 1 ∪H 2 ∪ . . . ∪H m of the state space. As indicated by the counterexample, a new partition H=H′ 1 ∪H′ 2 ∪ . . . ∪H′ n with n≧m does not necessarily correspond to higher valuation. However, if the new partition ∪ n i=1 H′ i is a refinement of ∪ m i=1 H i (i.e., every element of {H i ′} i=1 n is a subset of some element in {H′ i } n i=1 ), then it does lead to higher value. The use of appropriate clustering algorithms that lump together measurements with a proximity priority should serve to preserve this refinement condition, thus leading to more consistent valuation.
Advanced Approximation Methods
In both k-neighbor and the feature-based valuation, we need to choose simulation scenarios to construct the set T. We then derive a strategy π based on T. The construction of T is a critical step since a proper choice of T can result in better approximation. To derive the optimal value, we still need to generate some (but not all) scenarios out of H. Specifically, for a given history (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ), there are 16 possible settings for S 2 . To compute the optimal value in the conventional approach, we must obtain all 16 scenarios corresponding to the 16 different settings. In the approximation approach, we just pick one setting S′ 2 and run a single simulation (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S′ 2 ). How S′ 2 is chosen is based on what we know about (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 ), T and π. The number of scenarios we need is ∥T∥+∥H−T∥/16. Also note that, by definition, the approximate value is always lower than the optimal value and serves as a lower bound. The k-neighbor algorithm is outlined in Table 1.
The critical issue in the approximation approach is how to define the “distance” among the simulation scenarios. We first arrange simulation scenarios in an ordered table according to the following rule. A scenario (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 ) is treated like a “multi-digit number” with S o being the first digit and S 2 being the last digit. We compare another scenario (S′ o , M′ 1 , S′ 1 , M′ 2 , S′ 2 ) to (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 ) in the spirit of number comparison: if S o >S′ 0 , then we say (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 )>(S′ o , M′ 1 , S′ 1 , M′ 2 , S′ 2 ) and insert (S′ o , M′ 1 , S′ 1 , M′ 2 , S′ 2 ) before (S o , M 1 , S 1 , M 2 , S 2 ); if S o <S′ 0 , do the opposite. If S o =S′ 0 , we move forward and compare the next digit M 1 and M′ 1 . This procedure is repeated until the ordering relationship is determined. After the table is obtained, the “distance” between two scenarios is then defined as the difference between their positions in the table. This definition of “distance” assigns more weights to early settings and measurements. A natural question is, when we face a decision-making problem in later periods, how can we use scenarios with similar elements in early periods to estimate the setting? We demonstrate below that not only does this strategy work well, but there is also a sound explanation behind it.
Results
The valuation results of the 7 policies are summarized in Table 2. The numbering is in order of increasing valuation, with the first three policies being non-learning policies of increasing control complexity, and the last four policies benefiting from learning from the three co-mingled measurements of FOPR, FGPR, and FWPR. Note that these latter four policies may all be thought of as providing approximations of the optimal learning value, with the approximation complexity (number of required simulations) increasing with the policy number. In this section, we describe the results of the latter four policies in more detail.
Rolling-Static Policy
While the optimal policy requires that all possible model states be simulated in order to perform the valuation using the backward-induction algorithm, the rolling-static policy requires only forward optimization with a static forward model of the future valve states. This greatly reduces the number of required simulations, in this case to ≦4608 simulations. The number of simulations has its maximal value when the state space is exhaustively searched for the optimal value, but further savings can be achieved when an optimizer is used to seek the optimal value using fewer simulations.
FIG. 4 shows the performance of the rolling-static policy on each of the 48 prior models as a progression over the first and second period time steps. Note that the optimal value is achieved on the first time step on many of the models. For the remaining models, the value at each step improves monotonically with successive time steps, consistent with Lemma 2.
The performance of the rolling-static policy versus bin size, when learning from the measurements FOPR, FGPR and FWPR, is illustrated in FIG. 5 . For comparison, valuation curves are provided for the static and optimal policies. Note that the rolling-static valuation generally, but not strictly, increases with decreasing bin size. As an approximation of the optimal policy, the rolling-static policy recovers between about 50% and 80% of the value of the optimal policy, depending on bin size, with a better level of approximation provided with smaller bin sizes.
So far, we have examined the validity of the rolling-static approximation versus bin size. Another aspect of valuation is to determine which measurements add the most value to the FCV installation. FIG. 6 shows the histograms of the reservoir simulator output parameters FOPR, FWPR, and FGPR under the rolling-static policy at t=1 when there is no binning. The prior uncertainty in the model is described by the 48 reservoir model configurations discussed previously. Under the rolling-static policy at t=1, the optimum S O has already been set, resulting in 48 possible measurements at t=1. Measurements that vary widely at early times with respect to the prior model uncertainty are better at resolving model uncertainty because each measurement bin will contain only a few models, meaning that there is less uncertainty in the next step of the algorithm. Conversely, measurements whose values cluster tightly into a few small bins have resolved little model uncertainty. Since the distribution of FGPR, shown in FIG. 6 , is less concentrated compared to FOPR and FWPR, it should contribute more value to the FCV installation, and thus is the measurement upon which to focus.
The valuation of the individual measurements using the rolling-static policy is illustrated in FIG. 7 along with valuations for the flexible, rolling-flexible and optimal policies. As anticipated, the FGPR measurement achieves the highest valuation under the rolling-static policy. The rolling-static policy also predicts that FOPR provides no additional value above that predicted by the non-learning flexible policy and provides an intermediate valuation for FWPR. However, an examination of the optimal valuation curves for these three measurements shows that the measurement valuation provided by the rolling-static policy is spurious, even when considered in a relative sense. With the optimal policy (the exact solution), all three measurements add about $4.5×106 to the non-learning valuation. This indicates that the rolling-static policy cannot be trusted to provide accurate measurement valuation, even in a relative sense.
Rolling-Flexible Policy
The rolling-flexible policy is an extension of the rolling-static policy that allows the optimizer a bit more freedom in choosing the best valve-adjustment strategy based on learning. While in the rolling-static policy the optimizer holds all of the future valve states to be equal to the valve states chosen for the current time step, the rolling-flexible policy allows these future valve states to be free to be adjusted to achieve the best possible valuation. The resulting valuation for single measurements versus bin size is plotted in FIG. 7 . The rolling-flexible policy surmounts all of the deficiencies identified above in the rolling-static policy, and captures most of the value in the optimal policy. The rolling-flexible valuation for three combined measurements versus bin size is further explored in FIG. 8 , where it is clear that this policy captures most of the value of the optimal policy over a broad range of bin sizes.
The rolling-flexible policy is clearly superior to the rolling-static policy in all but one aspect, namely, that it requires many more simulations than the rolling-static policy. In the worst-case scenario in which the optimization is done using full enumeration of the state space, the rolling-flexible policy requires full enumeration of the entire state space (768,432 simulations), while the rolling-static policy enumerates a reduced state space (4,608 simulations). In practice, one would use an optimizer that explores the state space more efficiently, and thus the actual number of simulations incurred during optimization would be much smaller. However, this reduction is achieved with the possible consequence of finding a suboptimal solution.
An alternative to the rolling-flexible policy that reduces the state space to be explored during optimization is what we call a rolling-flexible-k policy. In this policy, only valve states up to k steps in future are allowed to be flexible during optimization. This is a generalization that encompasses both the rolling-state and rolling-flexible policies. The rolling-static policy is equivalent to a rolling-flexible-0 policy because the valve states in future steps are not flexible and are set to be equal to the states in the current time step. The rolling-flexible policy is equivalent to a rolling-flexible-0 policy because the valve states in all future steps are allowed to be flexible. Although no valuation results were produced in this study for these rolling-flexible-k policies, we have examined the reduced size of the resulting state space. A rolling-flexible-1 policy requires 62,208 simulations for full enumeration, a 92% reduction is state-space size. This reduction grows exponentially with the number of periods in the problem.
1-Neighbor Approximation Policy
Our numerical tests indicate that setting k=1 usually leads to the best performance in the k-neighbor approach. FIG. 9 plots the performance of different valuation strategies under different bin sizes with learning from FOPR and FGPR, respectively. The 1-neighbor approximation policy required 12,288 simulations to be run to construct the set T, and a total of 49,152 simulations to be run to complete the optimization. This is a reduction 93.8% compared to the 786,432 simulations required by the optimal policy. The flexible policy value does not depend on bin size by definition and is a constant $418.3×106. Consistent with the discussion above, the optimal value is generally monotonically increasing with respect to smaller bin sizes. For both panels, the best performance of the optimal/approximation approach is achieved at the smallest bin size considered, where the optimal values are $422.6×106 and $422.7×106 respectively and the 1-neighbor approximate values are $420.2×106 and $421.2×106.
A comparison of these 1-neighbor approximation values ( FIG. 9 ) with the rolling-flexible valuations in FIG. 7 for FOPR and FGPR shows that the rolling-flexible policy significantly outperforms the 1-neighbor policy in the quality of the valuation approximation, while the required number of simulations is nearly the same. The quality of the 1-neighbor approximation for small bin sizes is illustrated in FIG. 10 , where the accuracy of the approximation is seen to improves significantly for very small bin sizes. This is a consequence of the high degree of clustering in the measurements. Table 3 shows a portion of the complete measurement table organized in the “multi-digit” comparison way described above. The optimal setting 82 (the last two columns) displays a significant clustering structure. Clustering is not obvious for some scenarios. But for a majority of measurements, clustering is strong. The 1-Neighbor approach exploits this clustering property to achieve near-optimal performance, but only for small bin sizes where the rolling-flexible policy also achieves good performance.
Overall, these results support a recommendation of the rolling-flexible policy in this example. In the case of very small bin size, the 1-neighbor policy becomes competitive. | Apparatus and methods for controlling equipment to recover hydrocarbons from a reservoir including constructing a collection of reservoir models wherein each model represents a realization of the reservoir and comprises a subterranean formation measurement, estimating the measurement for the model collection, and controlling a device wherein the controlling comprises the measurement estimate wherein the constructing, estimating, and/or controlling includes a rolling flexible approach and/or a nearest neighbor approach. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to water skis, and more particularly to a water ski having a floodable fluid chamber to permit change in the weight distribution when the water ski is in motion or stationary.
Conventional water skis are made of uniform, solid buoyant material, such as wood, fiberglass or other plastic compositions, with a weight distribution such that when the ski is stationary in the water, it floats flat on top of the water. When the ski is in skiing position moving forward through the water, it has the same weight distribution as it does when it is stationary, except that it asumes a planing attitude, with the forward end of the ski slightly raised.
However, when a skier attempts to place the skis on his feet in the water, the aft sections of the skis must be manually forced downward into the water so that the ski assume a substantially upright positions to permit the skier to insert his feet in the foot supports or foot harness on the respective skis. Sometimes it is difficult enough to insert each foot into a separate ski, much less maintain the buoyant aft section of the ski depressed under water while the foot is being inserted. After the skis have been assembled upon the feet of the skier, then the skier must still force the buoyant aft sections of the skis downward and simultaneously maintain the skis substantially parallel and upright until the skier is drawn forward by the ski rope pulled by the towing motor boat.
Furthermore, after a skier becomes separated from his skis, such as by falling or loss of control, sometimes, it is difficult for the skier to relocate the separated skis which are floating flat on top of the water, particularly where waves are present which conceal the skis from view of the skier whose eyes are substantially at water level.
Applicant is aware of only two instances of prior attempts to solve the above problems. One is the water ski disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,697 to Klein, in which the front or fore portion of the ski is made buoyant, while the aft or rear section of the ski is provided with a fixed lead weight in order to provide a permanent weight variation between the fore and aft sections of the ski. Although the Klein U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,697 provides a solution for maintaining the water ski in an upright position when it is in a relatively stationary position, nevertheless, the skier must contend with the same weight variation between the fore and aft sections when the skis are in their skiing position. In other words, the Klein water ski is provided with a permanent unbalanced weight distribution in the fore-aft direction, whether the ski is in motion or stationary.
The U.S. Wright U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,511 discloses a water ski having an elongated air chamber extending throughout the middle section of the ski with a large air inlet in the top of the fore section of the ski. The rear end portion of the air chamber has a discharge aperture 28 in the bottom surface of the ski communicating with the water supporting the ski. A transverse skag 11 is mounted on the ski beneath the discharge aperture 28 to create a Venturi effect beneath the bottom surface of the ski. Moreover, the passage of fluid, either water or air, through the discharge aperture 28 is controlled by a vane 32 journaled about a transverse axis and normally biased to an open position when the ski is in a substantially stationary position. In the stationary position, with the pivotal vane open, the air chamber 25 is flooded to cause the ski to attain an upright position. When the ski is in forward motion, the rearward movement of the water closes the pivotal vane 32 to close the air chamber 25. However, the vane is provided with a plurality of small nozzles 33 which will permit limited passage of first water, and then air, from the air chamber downward beneath the ski, as the ski moves forward through the water.
Since the air chamber 25 in the Wright U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,511 is disclosed in substantially the mid-section of the ski and there is a solid aft portion of the ski located behind the air chamber, then the solid aft portion must have a density greater than that of water in order to facilitate the downward movement of the aft section of the ski when the air chamber 25 is flooded. If this is true, then there will be a permanent imbalance between the fore and the aft densities of the ski, even when the water from the air chamber has been discharged during the forward skiing motion of the ski. Furthermore, it is noted in the Wright patent that the rearward movement of the water within the chamber 25 when the ski begins to plane, has to change direction from rearward to downward, as well as having to pass through the constricted nozzles 33.
Furthermore, it is noted in the Wright patent that the transverse strength of the ski is diminished across the rear portion of the air chamber 25 where the pivotal vane 32 is located, an area where the stress is substantially great.
Other skis having fluid passages are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.
2,382,150, Hartman, Aug. 14, 1945
3,284,823, Steffel, Nov. 15, 1966
3,318,609, Ross, May 9, 1967
3,874,315, Wright, Apr. 1, 1975
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a water ski in which the weight distribution throughout the length of the ski is balanced during its operative skiing position and the weight distribution is unbalanced toward the aft section when the ski is in an inoperative stationary position in the water.
A further object of this invention is to provide a water ski having a buoyant fore section and a fluid chamber in the aft section adapted to be flooded with water when the ski is in an inoperative stationary position and quickly purged of water during its operative skiing position.
Another object of this invention is to provide a water ski having a floodable aft chamber for unbalancing the weight toward the aft section to position the ski in an upright position, not only for better visibility of the ski in the water, but also to facilitate mounting the ski by the skier.
The water ski made in accordance with this invention includes an elongated body member having a buoyant fore section and a hollow fluid chamber within the aft section communicating with a plurality of rear ports formed in the rear end of the ski and also communicating with a plurality of air ports formed in the top surface of the fore section of the ski.
A further object of this invention is to provide a water ski having closed fluid chambers in its fore section to provide buoyancy and open fluid chambers in its aft section to permit rapid entry and discharge of water in order to change the weight distribution in the ski for its operative skiing position and its inoperative stationary position.
A further object of this invention is to provide a water ski having a substantially uniform weight distribution when the ski is in its substantially level operative position, and having a means for increasing the weight in the aft section of the ski only when the ski is inoperative, in order to dispose the ski in an upright position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the water ski made in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the ski disclosed in FIG. 1, with the top panel removed, but illustrating the location of the air ports, in phantom;
FIG. 3 an enlarged, fragmentary, top perspective view of the rear portion of the ski disclosed in FIG. 2, without the top panel, and with a portion of the rear end wall broken away;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged section taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged section taken along the line 6--6 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the water ski in its upright inoperative position in a body of water, shown at a reduced scale.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings in more detail, FIGS. 1 and 7 disclose a water ski 10 made in accordance with this invention, including an elongated body member 11 having a fore section 12 and an aft section 13. The fore section 12 terminates in an upwardly curved front tip portion 14 in a conventional manner for water skis.
The elongated body member 11 is predominantly hollow, and includes an elongated top panel 15 having a top surface 16 and an elongated bottom panel 17 having a bottom planing surface 18. The top wall 15 and bottom wall 17 are separated by elongated side walls 19 and 20 extending the fulllength of the body member 11 and merging in the tip portion 14. The rear ends of the side walls 19 and 20 terminate in a transverse rear end wall 22. The rear end wall 22 is preferably perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 23 of the body member 11, extending front-to-rear.
Extending through the rear end wall 22 are a plurality of transversely spaced fluid ports 24 having longitudinal front-to-rear flow axes.
Formed within the hollow aft section 13 of the body member 11, as best disclosed in FIGS. 2, 3, and 6, is a fluid chamber 25 divided into a plurality of substantially parallel fluid channels 26 by a plurality of transversely spaced elongated straight rib members 27. As best disclosed in FIG. 2, in the forward portion of the aft chamber 25 are a pair of extra shorter side rib members 28 which provide additional side fluid channels 26.
The front ends of the rib members 27 and 28 terminate in a forward space 30functioning as a manifold chamber which is confined by the forward and inward projecting manifold walls 31, which converge and merge into an elongated central connector channel 32 having side walls 33. The connectorchannel 32 extends forwardly and terminates in a forward cross wall 34. Thefront portion of the connector channel 32 is in fluid communication with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures or air ports 35 extending through the top wall 15 of the body member 11. In FIG. 2, the top wall or panel 16 has been removed in order to show the interior structure of the body member 11 and also the relative location of the air ports 35.
Filling the hollow spaces in the fore section 12 around the connector channel 32 may be any type of buoyant material to render the fore section 12 buoyant, that is having a specific gravity less than that of water. As disclosed in the drawings, such space is divided into small air pockets orcompartments 36 by a plurality of longitudinal walls 37 and transverse walls 38. The pockets 36 could be filled with buoyant material other than air, such as plastic foam material.
As best disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 7, fixed to the top surface 16 of the top panel or wall 15 is a foot support 40 including a toe pocket 41 and a heelsupport 42 of conventional construction.
The rib members 27 and 28 and the channel walls 33 not only function to channel the fluid, whether water or air, in substantially straight paths in order to expedite the movement of the fluid longitudinally of the ski in either direction, depending upon whether the chamber 25 is being flooded or exhausted, but also functions to reinforce the structure of theski body member 11. Likewise, the longitudinal and transverse walls 37 and 38 used to confine the air chambers or pockets 36 in the fore section 12, also function to reinforce the structure of the ski body member 11. The particular pattern for the number and arrangement of the walls 37 and 38 is not particularly material, so long as these walls provide adequate strength and rigidity for the ski as well as to contain a sufficient amount of buoyant material to render the fore section 12 buoyant.
It will be noted in the drawings, that the transverse cross sectional structure of the body member 11 is a box beam structure, that is a hollow structure confined by continuous top, bottom, and side members, namely thetop wall 15, the bottom wall 17 and the two side walls 19 and 20 to give adequate rigidity throughout the entire length of the ski body member 11.
The structure, weight and location of the rib members 27, 28, 33, 37, and 38 are such that when the water ski 10 is in its skiing position or resting flat in a substantially horizontal or planing position upon the water, there is substantially equal weight distribution fore and aft of the ski body member 11. Only when water is introduced into the aft chamber25 will there be a substantial imbalance in the longitudinal weight distribution.
Although only a single water ski is disclosed in the drawings, nevertheless, it will be understood that the skier will utilize a pair of skis, each of which is either identical to the other, or the mirror image of the other, in construction. On the other hand, it is also possible to incorporate the structure of the above ski in a single slalom ski.
In commencing the use of a pair of water skis 10 made in accordance with this invention, the skier places both skis on the surface of the water in front of the skier, pointing forward. Since the rear end wall 22 is slightly submerged, water immediately enters the fluid ports 24 to rapidlyfill the chamber 25, passing through all of the longitudinal channels 26. As the fluid chamber 25 fills with water, the center of gravity of each ski 10 shifts rearward causing the rear end of each ski 10 to submerge andthe tip portion 14 to rise until the ski 10 attains its over-balanced or overweighed weighted upright position disclosed in FIG. 7. The flooded skis 10 are then maintained in their stable upright position by the flooded chambers 25 while the skier inserts each foot into the corresponding foot support 40, without having to manhandle the skis 10 andhold the aft end portions of the skis in a submerged position while mounting the skis.
After the skier has mounted the skis 10 and grasps the tow rope which is pulled through the water by a towing boat, not shown, the skis 14 supporting the skier are moved forward through the water toward a planing position. The inertia and gravity of the water within the chamber 25 causes the water 25 to rapidly discharge through the channels rearward through the rear fluid ports 24 to empty the chamber 25. The flow of the water through the rear ports 24 is facilitated by the relative rearwardly moving air through the air ports 35, into the aft chamber 25 through the connector channel 23 to eliminate any vacuum created in the front portion of the aft chamber by the relative rearward movement of the water. Consequently, the air displaces the water in the chamber 25, to substantially equalize the longitudinal weight distribution of the ski 10.
The rearward movement of the water through the rear fluid ports 24 sucks air from the atmosphere through the air ports 35 and the connector channel32 into the trunk portion and ultimately the entire fluid chamber 25, to eliminate all the water from the body member 11 while the ski 10 is movingforward across the surface of the water.
At any time when the ski 10 ceases to move forward through the water, the submerged rear end wall 22 permits water to be introduced into the chamber25 through the rear ports 24 to again flood the aft chamber 25 and again restore the ski to its inoperative upright stable position disclosed in FIG. 7.
The rear ports 24 are located in the rear end wall 22 of the ski body member 11 so that each port 24 has a front-to-rear flow axis. The straightparallel arrangements of the fluid channels 26 and the connector channel 32permit a direct flow of fluid, either air or water, longitudinally of the ski when the ski 10 is changing from an upright inoperative position to a substantially flat or horizontal operative skiing position, or vice versa.
It will be seen in FIG. 7, that the submerged attitude of each ski 10 not only facilitates the attachment of the skis 10 to the feet of the skier without the undue burden of forcing the aft ends of the skis into the water, but also the tip portion 14 of each ski rises above the water a substantially greater distance than it would if it were lying flat on the water to provide greater visibility and location of the ski. The tip portions 14 of each ski 10 may also be painted a bright and clearly visible color to facilitate detection in the water. | A water ski including a buoyant fore section and an elongated hollow, fluid aft chamber in fluid communication with rear ports in the rear end of the ski and air ports in the top surface of the fore section of the ski whereby the aft section of the ski is flooded when the ski is relatively stationary in the water to cause said ski to assume an upright position in the water and which chamber is rapidly purged of water when said ski is in forward motion to assume a balanced, substantially horizontal skiing position on the water. | 1 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY
[0001] The present invention relates generally to Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts and, more particularly, to methods and systems for controlling reductant levels in SCR catalysts.
[0002] Selective catalytic reduction is an important tool in efforts to meet increasingly strict engine emissions standards. Certain techniques for reducing CO emissions result in greater production of nitrogen oxides, also referred to as NOx. SCR is a means of converting NOx with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen, N2, and water, H2O. A gaseous reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia, aqueous ammonia or urea, is added to a stream of flue or exhaust gas and is absorbed onto a catalyst. Carbon dioxide, CO2 is a reaction product when urea is used as the reductant.
[0003] A controlled level of NH3 storage buffer in the catalyst is desired in order to maintain high NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx ), defined here by
[0000]
μ
NOx
=
NOx
(
inlet
)
-
NOx
(
outlet
)
NOx
(
inlet
)
,
(
1
)
[0000] where NOx(inlet) is the NOx level proximate an inlet of the SCR catalyst and NOx(outlet) is the NOx level proximate and outlet of the SCR catalyst. As seen in the schematic graph of FIG. 1A , NOx conversion efficiency can be reduced due to too low or too high an amount of stored NH3.
[0004] The known technique for controlling NH3 levels is not considered to produce acceptable results. By this technique, a device such as an electronic control unit (ECU) (various suitable devices are hereinafter referred to generically as a controller) estimates the amount of NH3 stored in the SCR catalyst by keeping track of how much NH3 has been added to the system via dosing and estimating how much NH3 has been consumed by reaction with NOx. The first component—addition of NH3—is quite simple because the amount of NH3 added is directly proportional to urea dosing because the urea decomposes to NH3 and CO2 under high temperature conditions with adequate humidity. The second component—consumption—can be somewhat more difficult because it uses an estimated exhaust mass flow in addition to NOx sensor measurements both before and after the SCR to estimate how much NOx is reduced. The technique assumes that the amount of NH3 that is used is directly proportional to the NOx that is reduced.
[0005] A problem with the known technique is that error accumulates over time in the stored NH3 calculation, which leads to reduced NOx conversion efficiency. The controller uses the modeled stored NH3 mass as a feedback to a controller that tries to maintain stored NH3 at the target. However with nothing to correct this model over time, there is a risk that the model will diverge from actual NH3 levels. In this case failure to properly control stored NH3 directly leads to reduced NOx conversion efficiency.
[0006] The only mechanism to keep the modeled stored NH3 from diverging from actual NH3 levels is to periodically start over by using all up of the NH3 in the SCR and then resetting the model. In addition to having a direct impact on emissions from the time the SCR begins to operate at low efficiency as the actual stored NH3 approaches zero, emissions control can be dramatically compromised if the model diverges from actual levels before the calibration is triggered.
[0007] It is desirable to provide a method and a system for controlling NH3 levels to better ensure NH3 levels in an SCR catalyst are kept within a desired range.
[0008] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst comprises measuring a change of NOx conversion efficiency (dμ NOx ) across the SCR catalyst, measuring a change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst, comparing a measured ratio dμ NOx /dB to a target ratio, and adjusting reductant injection to cause the measured ratio to approach the target ratio.
[0009] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst comprises an injector for injecting reductant upstream of the SCR catalyst, and a controller arranged to measure a change of NOx conversion efficiency (dμ NOx ) across the SCR catalyst, measure a change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst, compare a measured ratio dμ NOx /dB to a target ratio, and control the injector to adjust reductant injection to cause the measured ratio to approach the target ratio.
[0010] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst comprises a) calculating a quantity of reductant in the SCR catalyst as a function of an amount of reductant injected over a first period of time minus an amount of NOx reduced over the first period of time, b) determining a first NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx1 ) at an end of the first period of time, c) changing reductant injection by a first change amount for a second period of time to a second injection rate different from an injection rate at the end of the first period of time, d) determining a second NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx2 ) at the end of the second period of time and, if μ NOx2 >μ NOx1 , maintaining the second injection rate, and if μ NOx2 <μ NOx1 , changing reductant injection by a second change amount
[0011] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst comprises an injector for injecting reductant upstream of the SCR catalyst, and a controller arranged to calculate a quantity of reductant in the SCR catalyst as a function of an amount of reductant injected over a first period of time minus an amount of NOx reduced over the first period of time, determine a first NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx1 ) at an end of the first period of time, control the injector to change reductant injection by a first change amount for a second period of time to a second injection rate different from an injection rate at the end of the first period of time, determine a second NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx2 ) at the end of the second period of time and, if μ NOx2 >μ NOx1 , control the injector to maintain the second injection rate, and if μ NOx2 <μ NOx1 , control the injector to change reductant injection by a second change amount in a direction opposite a direction of the change amount.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The features and advantages of the present invention are well understood by reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in which like numerals indicate similar elements and in which:
[0013] FIG. 1A is a schematic graph of NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx ) versus reductant level in a SCR catalyst;
[0014] FIG. 1B is a schematic graph of a ratio of change of NOx conversion efficiency to change of reductant level in an SCR catalyst versus reductant level in an SCR catalyst;
[0015] FIG. 1C is a schematic graph of a ratio of a ratio of change of NOx conversion efficiency to change of reductant level in an SCR catalyst to NOx conversion efficiency versus reductant level in an SCR catalyst;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a system for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst according to an aspect of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating steps in a method for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst according to an aspect of the present invention; and
[0018] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating steps in a method for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst according to an aspect of the present invention. [0000]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] FIG. 2 shows features of a system 21 for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst 23 according to an aspect of the present invention. The system 21 includes an injector 25 for injecting reductant at a point upstream of the SCR catalyst 23 . The reductant is typically stored in a reservoir 26 and the injector includes a suitable pump 28 for injection. The system 21 also includes a NOx sensor 27 proximate an inlet 29 of the SCR catalyst 23 for measuring inlet NOx levels (NOx(inlet) and a NOx sensor 31 proximate an outlet 33 of the SCR catalyst for measuring outlet NOx levels (NOx(outlet)). The system 21 further comprises a controller 35 , such as an electronic control unit (ECU) (various suitable devices are hereinafter referred to generically as a controller).
[0020] The system 21 and SCR catalyst 23 are part of an exhaust aftertreatment system of a diesel engine 37 such as might be used as a vehicle engine or for other purposes. Typically, the system 21 and SCR catalyst 23 are arranged downstream of a diesel particulate filter 39 in the aftertreatment system. The aftertreatment system may include other features not illustrated.
[0021] The controller 35 can be arranged to determine NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx ) by the equation
[0000]
μ
NOx
=
NOx
(
inlet
)
-
NOx
(
outlet
)
NOx
(
inlet
)
.
(
1
)
[0000] The controller 35 can also be arranged to measure an amount of reductant injected over time (Bi) and measure an amount of NOx reduced (NOx red ) over time. The controller 35 can also be arranged to measure a change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst as a function of the amount of reductant (Bi) added over a period of time and the amount of NOx reduced (NOx red ) over the period of time.
[0022] In an aspect of the invention referred to as “perturbation control”, the controller 35 can also be arranged to measure a change of NOx conversion efficiency (dμ NOx ) across the SCR catalyst 23 and to measure a change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst. The controller 35 can be arranged to compare a measured ratio
[0000] dμ NOx /dB (2)
[0000] to a target ratio, usually “0” (zero) in the graph of FIG. 1B , and to control the injector 25 to adjust reductant injection to cause the measured ratio to approach the target ratio.
[0023] The controller 35 can further be arranged to compare a second measured ratio of the first measured ratio to the NOx conversion efficiency
[0000]
μ
NOx
dB
μ
NOx
(
3
)
[0000] to a second target ratio, usually “0” (zero) in the graph of FIG. 1C , and to control the injector 25 to adjust reductant injection to cause the second measured ratio to approach the second target ratio. In this way, it is possible to better ensure that feedback control will converge to a stable limit cycle.
[0024] A method of controlling reductant levels in the SCR catalyst 23 will be further described in connection with the flow chart seen in FIG. 3 . In the method, step 101 includes measuring NOx levels proximate the inlet 29 (NOx(inlet)) and proximate an outlet 33 (NOx(outlet)) of the SCR catalyst 23 and determining NOx conversion efficiency by the equation (1), above.
[0025] In step 103 , an amount of reductant (Bi) injected over time is measured, and in step 105 , an amount of NOx reduced (NOx red ) over time is measured. In step 107 , the change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst 23 is measured as a function of B and NOx red . Technically, the change of reductant level in the SCR catalyst 23 can only be estimated or modeled with the inputs of amount of reductant (B) injected over time and the amount of NOx reduced (NOx red ) over time, however, for purposes of the present discussion, the change of reductant level (dB) in the SCR catalyst 23 shall be referred to as being measured using these inputs.
[0026] In a perturbation control aspect, in step 109 , a change of NOx conversion efficiency (dμ NOx ) across the SCR catalyst 23 is determined. In step 111 , the measured ratio
[0000] dμ NOx /dB (2)
[0000] is compared to a target ratio. In step 113 , reductant injection is adjusted, if necessary, to cause the measured ratio to approach the target ratio.
[0027] If desired (as reflected by dotted lines), in step 115 , the second measured ratio
[0000]
μ
NOx
dB
μ
NOx
(
3
)
[0000] is compared to a second target ratio and, in step 117 , reductant injection is adjusted, if necessary, to cause the second measured ratio to approach the second target ratio. Also, if desired (as reflected by dotted lines), in step 119 , the third measured ratio
[0000] ƒ(dμ NOx /dB) (4)
[0000] is compared to a third target ratio and, in step 121 , reductant injection is adjusted, if necessary, to cause the third measured ratio to approach the third target ratio. ƒ(dμ NOx /dB) is a function of dμ NOx /dB that is defined such that it has a near constant negative slope across the buffer level (similar to the one shown in FIG. 1C ).
[0028] A system 21 for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst 23 according to another aspect of the present invention referred to as “storage correction” can be structurally similar to the system described above, but is arranged to operate differently. In the system according to this further aspect of the invention, an amount of NOx reduced over a first period of time is determined at step 201 and an amount of reductant required for the reduction is subtracted from an amount of reductant injected (Bi) over a first period of time determined at step 203 , and, at step 205 , the controller 35 is arranged to calculate a quantity of reductant (B) in the SCR catalyst as a function of the values determined at steps 201 and 203 according to a conventional technique for measuring (or, perhaps more accurately, estimating or modeling) reductant levels in an SCR.
[0029] The controller 35 is arranged to determine a first NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx1 ) at an end of the first period of time at step 207 while the injector 25 injects reductant at a rate R 1 . At step 209 , the controller 35 is arranged to control the injector 25 to change reductant injection by a change amount X 1 for a second period of time to a second injection rate R 2 (R 2 =R 1 −X) different from the injection rate R 1 at the end of the first period of time. At step 211 , the controller 35 is arranged to determine a second NOx conversion efficiency (μ NOx2 ) at the end of the second period of time.
[0030] At step 213 , the controller 35 is arranged to compare μ NOx2 and μ NOx1 . If μ NOx2 >μ NOx1 , at step 215 , the controller 35 is arranged to control the injector 25 to maintain the second injection rate R 2 . If μ NOx2 ≦μ NOx1 , at step 217 , the controller 35 controls the injector to change reductant injection a second amount X 2 in a direction opposite a direction of the change amount (i.e., if the change amount X 1 was a reduction of injection rate, then the change amount X 2 will be an increase of injection rate). If, by a comparison at step 219 , the NOx conversion efficiency μ NOx3 at this further dosing rate R 3 is better than μ NOx1 , i.e., μ NOx3 >μ NOx1 , then, at step 221 , dosing remains at this changed rate and if, at step 223 , μ NOx3 ≦μ NOx1 , then, at step 225 , dosing will return to R 1 and, ordinarily, the process will repeat to attempt to obtain increased NOx conversion efficiency. Typically, change amount X 2 will be twice change amount X 1 . For example, if the injector 25 injects reductant at a rate of 1 unit reductant per unit time, the controller 35 might reduce the rate of reductant injection by 10%, or 0.1 units reductant per unit time, and, if NOx conversion efficiency decreases, the controller might then increase the rate of reductant injection by 0.2 units reductant per unit time.
[0031] The method for using the system 21 according to this aspect can be triggered to operate so as to change injection and, as appropriate, maintain injection at the changed level or change injection again in an opposite direction by any number of events, such as automatically after a predetermined period of operation or when NOx conversion efficiency falls below a target value. The method permits the conventional mass-based model of calculating reductant level in the SCR as shown in steps 201 - 205 to be substantially maintained, however, it provides for a correction that will permit the system to be operated for a substantially longer period of time than is typical in a conventional system without resetting the entire system.
[0032] It will be appreciated that perturbation control and storage control as described above are not mutually exclusive and can be run at the same time.
[0033] In the present application, the use of terms such as “including” is open-ended and is intended to have the same meaning as terms such as “comprising” and not preclude the presence of other structure, material, or acts. Similarly, though the use of terms such as “can” or “may” is intended to be open-ended and to reflect that structure, material, or acts are not necessary, the failure to use such terms is not intended to reflect that structure, material, or acts are essential. To the extent that structure, material, or acts are presently considered to be essential, they are identified as such.
[0034] While this invention has been illustrated and described in accordance with a preferred embodiment, it is recognized that variations and changes may be made therein without departing from the invention as set forth in the claims. | Methods and systems for controlling reductant levels in an SCR catalyst are provided. In one aspect, reductant levels are adjusted in response to a ratio of change of NOx conversion efficiency to a change of reductant level. In another aspect, reductant injection levels are periodically adjusted to see if NOx conversion efficiency is better or worse at the adjusted levels. | 8 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 385,319, filed Aug. 3, 1973, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to in situ recovery by retorting organic carbonaceous values from carbonaceous deposits, as oil from oil shale, and, in particular, to a method for producing uniform retorting gas flow throughout a retort during the extraction of organic carbonaceous values.
There are vast untapped reserves of organic carbonaceous deposits which have not heretofore been exploited because it has not been economical to do so.
One type of unexploited organic carbonaceous deposit is oil shale. Vast reserves of oil bearing shale deposits exist throughout the world. One of the biggest of these deposits is in the Rocky Mountains of the United States.
The Piceance Creek Basin in Colorado is one reserve typical of many others. In the Piceance Creek Basin oil shale averaging 25 gallons per ton is found in seams varying from 50 feet vertical thickness to over 1,000 feet. However, in the areas where the oil shale is most accessible the seam thickness is invariably less than 150 feet, normally between about 100 to about 150 feet. It is in these accessible, relatively thin seam areas where commercial interest is presently being focused.
One of the most attractive methods of extracting oil from oil shale beds is by in situ retorting. In situ retorting envisions extracting the oil by heating it sufficiently to decompose kerogen, solid organic matter in the shale, into gas, oil and carbon. The oil values are collected from the in situ retort and processed further into saleable products.
The shale is fractured to produce a chimney of broken shale; i.e., a rubble pile, and is heated in place either by establishing a combustion zone in the bed or by using a retort fluid which is sufficiently hot to do the same job. In either event a retorting fluid is used. In the first case the retorting fluid, typically air, provides the oxygen necessary to support combustion in the combustion zone (thermal decomposition of residual carbon from the oil shale providing the fuel). In the second case the retorting fluid itself provides the heat energy required to retort the shale oil values. Combinations of these two types of retorting fluids and techniques have also been proposed.
The formation of a rubble-filled chimney is needed to provide passages for the retorting fluid, good heat transfer conditions to the shale, and paths for the retorted values. A broken-up bed of oil shale which is to be retorted is called a rubble pile.
An extreme method for developing a shale rubble pile is by a nuclear explosion. A nuclear explosion vaporizes some of the shale to create a void and the energy of the blast fractures the shale which will then collapse into the void. The collapsed shale occupies a larger volume than before the explosion and therefore passages are created for the retorting fluid. A nuclear created in situ retort has a length dimension running vertically which is much larger than the diameter. Typically, the length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) of a nuclear device created retort will be 2.2/1, and often greater. But nuclear created retorts must be used where there is a considerable amount of overburden or in very deep deposits to confine the effects of the nuclear blast in the ground. As such, the nuclear approach is of limited applicability even if nuclear devices were to become generally available.
A second method for developing an in situ retort and shale rubble pile envisions excavating or undercutting a large area at the base of the oil shale seam. The resulting exposed oil shale ceiling is allowed to collapse by itself.
Theoretically it is possible to mine out almost any thickness zone under the shale to create a rubble pile having almost any desired length-to-diameter ratio. But the most accessible and attractive areas are where the seams are relatively thin. In the accessible and attractive areas the undercutting technique has resulted in very low length-to-diameter ratios. One of the reasons for this is that a considerable area is necessary for free collapse of the ceiling over the excavated area. Moreover if the length is increased to obtain a high length-to-diameter ratio, it is increased only by caving low grade oil shale which is not economical to cave and retort. Consequently, retorting is horizontal when the rubble pile is developed by this method.
A third method for creating the rubble pile and an underground retort uses conventional explosives with or without natural roof failure and collapse. With natural roof collapse, the collapse is initiated by the removal of roof support pillars. After the roof fails, explosives are detonated in the remaining roof to cause further breakage and formation of the desired rubble pile. Since this method also requires free fall of a ceiling, it too requires a large cross-sectional area below the seam to produce free fall. The result, again, is a low length-to-diameter ratio. Therefore, this method also results in retorting in an essentially horizontal direction.
In the development of rubble piles it is extremely difficult to avoid voids, say, at the top of the rubble pile, where horizontally directed retorting fluids can short circuit. The result is poor retorting efficiency. Even if the broken shale "bulks full" and there is no void at the top of the retort, differences in bulk porosity at different retort heights are probable. With differences in bulk porosity in the vertical, most of the retorting fluids will pass through the zone having the greatest porosity because the resistance to flow is less. Again, poor retorting efficiencies are the result. Consequently, it is probable that very poor retorting efficiency is to be expected in horizontal in situ retorts.
Retorting in a vertical direction overcomes the difficulties in horizontal retorting because the retort gasses must pass through all vertical zones in any event and therefore will pass through any void zones.
While vertical retorting is attractive because it overcomes the problems with channeling of retorting fluids encountered in horizontal retorting, channeling is still possible in low length-to-diameter retorts. Channeling is possible because it is not always practical to provide enough retorting fluid inlets and outlets from the retort at the locations necessary to overcome the tendency of the retorting fluid to take the path of least resistance, typically the shortest path between inlet and outlet. In other words, with a limited number of retorting fluid inlets and outlets it is necessary for retorting fluids to traverse various length paths if the entire rubble pile in the retort is to be effectively contacted by the fluids. Because the techniques heretofore proposed for developing rubble piles and in situ retorts result in rubble piles which in any vertical zone have about the same bulk permeability for the retorting fluids, the problem of selective channeling exists even in vertical retorting.
Therefore, there is a need for developing rubble piles for in situ retorting of carbonaceous material, particularly in the vertical direction, which overcomes the problem of retorting fluid channeling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method for avoiding channeling of retorting fluids in in situ carbonaceous value retorting by selectively controlling the bulk permeability of a retort rubble pile to promote fluid flow throughout the entire retort. More particularly, the present invention provides a method for controlling the distribution of bulk permeability of a rubble pile in an in situ retort by progressively increasing the bulk permeability from the shortest to the longest path between a retorting fluid entrance and an exit.
A specific embodiment of the present invention contemplates developing an in situ rubble pile of the carbonaceous deposit to be retorted. Communication is established between the rubble pile and a source of retorting fluid. Communication is also estblished between the rubble pile and a carbonaceous value collector. The communication to the rubble pile for the collector is spaced by at least a portion of the rubble pile from the retorting fluid entrance into the pile. At an exit for the retorting fluid from the rubble pile, communication is established for the retorting fluid to a destination for the fluid. The radial distribution of the bulk permeability of the rubble pile is developed in such a manner that the resistance to retorting fluid flow through the rubble pile along retorting fluid paths through the pile is at least approximately equal along each path. The rubble pile thus developed is retorted to extract organic carbonaceous values with the retorting fluid, or at least with the aid of the retorting fluid. The retorted carbonaceous values are then collected in the collector.
The present invention is particularly suitable for recovering values from the kerogen in oil shale. In this context the present invention will be further summarized.
The retort is preferably vertical to avoid the problems attendant with horizontal retorting of channeling due to void development at the top of the retort and vertical bands of debris having different bulk permeabilities.
The problem of vertical channeling is particularly acute in in situ retorts having low length-to-diameter ratios and it is here, therefore, that the present invention finds its greatest application.
To take advantage of gravity and prevent retorted liquid values from entering a combustion zone in the retort, retorting is accomplished progressively from the top to the bottom of the retort.
The retorting fluid is typically air to provide oxygen for a combustion zone within the retort. Within the combustion zone shale oil value residuals, say, carbon, are burned to develop heat energy which retorts shale ahead of it in a retorting zone. The retorting fluid can also be superheated steam, recycled flue gas from the retort, or flue gas from an adjoining retort. The retorted values will collect at the bottom of the retort where they are transferred to the value collector as by a pump. Typically, the retorted values will be freed from the shale in both gas and liquid states. Vaporized values will condense on the cold rubble into droplets at the base of the retort. The liquid droplets will agglomerate there.
Communication between the source of the retorting fluid and the rubble pile and from the rubble pile to the destination of the retorting fluid is conveniently accomplished by conduits. These conduits enter the top of the retort for the entering retorting fluid and leave the base of the retort for the exiting retorting fluid. A conduit may also be provided between the base of the retort and the collector, which is typically located on the surface above the subterranean deposit being retorted.
The rubble pile is developed by undercutting. The deposit to be retorted is undercut to promote a condition where the remaining roof is susceptible to free collapse, explosively induced collapse, or both. However, because of the adjustment in the resulting pile's bulk permeability the easiest technique is through explosives. With the material removed from the undercut, the volume of the deposit to be retorted is free to expand into a larger volume constituted of its original volume and the volume of the undercut. The bulk permeability of the rubble pile may be controlled through explosive charge placement or by leaving a dome of rubble at the terminus of the shortest path between the retorting fluid entrance and exit. The size of the individual fragments of shale can also be controlled by the explosive charges and can be used to develop the desired bulk permeability variation. It is possible, of course, to use combinations of these. Typically, the floor of the undercut is contoured to provide collection drainage for the retorted values.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, appended claims and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of an idealized retort shown in elevation;
FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction in elevation showing a technique for developing void volume;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating a technique for developing a larger void volume than shown there;
FIG. 4 is a depiction of an idealized retort in elevation illustrating one way of controlling bulk permeability; and
FIG. 5 is a depiction of an idealized retort in elevation illustrating a second way of controlling bulk permeability.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The detailed description of the present invention is directed to shale oil retorting and improving the gas flow and the efficiency of retorting of vertically oriented underground rubble piles having low length-to-diameter ratios.
FIG. 1 illustrates the problem for an idealized underground retort having a single inlet 10 and a single outlet 12, both located on the axis of a cylindrical in situ retort 14. Air from a compressor 16 is forced through inlet 10, through an expanded shale rubble pile 18, and out through outlet 12. The air and flue gasses from retort 14 are passed through a conduit 20 for recycling, removal of entrained values and the like. Retorted condensed and agglomerated liquid values are removed from outlet 12 by a pump 22 to a collector 24. Ideally, the air will spread out radially from inlet 10 and descend through retort 14 throughout the entire volume of the retort. The air and retort generated gasses will travel paths typified by paths A, B, C and D, as shown in FIG. 1. The four paths indicated show that as the gas moves out radially from the inlet port the overall path length increases. If pressure drop caused by the resisting shale per unit length of each path is equal, most of the gas flow will follow path A because it is the shortest path. However, because pressure drop is a function of velocity, as the velocity increases along axial path A the pressure drop will, as well, also increase and cause some diversion of gas away from the longitudinal axis of the retort. The net result is that most of the gas flow will be concentrated near the longitudinal axis with lower and lower flow rates obtaining as the radial distance from this axis increases. Pressur drop is also a function of the bulk porosity or permeability, usually expressed as percent void volume, of the broken shale bed. Within limits, it can be stated that the greater the void volume the lower the pressure drop. Without adjustment the bulk volume is essentially equal at any elevation in the retort. Consequently, without adjustment of the bulk volume, less than optimum air flow usually results even in vertical retorts. The problem of uneven air and flue gas passage through a vertical insitu retort increases as the horizontal zones served by a single inlet and outlet increase in area. In retorts which are long relative to their diameter the problem is not as acute because with increasing length the flow paths become parallel and are essentially equal to one another.
The purpose of this invention is to so alter the void volume or bulk permeability characteristics of the rubble pile, especially in low length-to-diameter ratio in situ retorts, that the total pressure drop for any path is the same length. Since path A through the center of the idealized retort of FIG. 1 is the shortest, the pressure drop per unit length along this path must be greater than elsewhere in the retort. The converse is true when considering path D in FIG. 1.
Rubble pile 18 is developed by undercutting the deposit to be retorted prior to the initiation of retorting and then allowing the ceiling of the resulting undercut to collapse by itself or with the aid of explosives. In either case the deposit to be retorted is expanded into a larger volume than it originally occupied. The roof can be supported by pillars which themselves are expanded by explosives during the creation of the rubble pile.
The void volume for the overall retort is determined by the amount of material removed in the undercut mining in relation to the amount of oil shale subsequently caved or expanded. If the total seam over the mined out area shown in FIG. 2 is caved, the resultant void volume would be, say, 6.25 percent while in FIG. 3 where more underlying rock has been removed, the void volume would be, say, 16.67 percent. In either event, if the seam is expanded evenly the void volume will be evenly distributed. If the shale at the bottom of the retort expands more than the top, the void volume will not be evenly distributed from top to bottom but still may have even radial distribution. With this constancy in void volume, uneven passage of retort gas and flue gas along different longitudinal paths will occur. By varying either or both the shape of the mined out zone or the shape of the zone being expanded to cause zones of different void volume to be created upon expansion of the bed, it is possible to develop uniform air and flue gas flow along the length of the retort and across the retort.
The bulk permeability of an oil shale rubble pile can be calculated from a formula appearing in D. B. Lombard, "The Particle Size Distribution and Bulk Permeability of Oil Shale Rubble," UCRL - 142.94 (1965). ##EQU1## Where k ≡ bulk permeability, ft 2
φ ≡ bulk porosity or void volume, % ##EQU2## n i ≡ the number of particles with the diameter D i i ≡ the number of particles
1nD n ≡ arithmetic mean
σ1nD 2 ≡ variance
The solution of this equation for one particle size distribution typical of caved shale gives the following bulk permeability as a function of void volume:
Void Volume (φ) Bulk Permeability (K)______________________________________ 5 0.026 × 10.sup..sup.-410 0.2 × 10.sup..sup.-415 0.9 × 10.sup..sup.-420 2.4 × 10.sup..sup.-425 5.3 × 10.sup..sup.-4______________________________________
As can be seen from the above table, void volume changes in the practical range for in situ retorting result in bulk permeability variations of over two orders of magnitude. This variation is related to pressure drop in packed beds by the following equation: ##EQU3## Where V o ≡ superficial velocity, ft./sec.
μ ≡ viscosity of the gas, No. sec./ft. 2
k ≡ bulk permeability
ρ ≡ gas density
g ≡ acceleration due to gravity = 32.1740 ft./sec. 2
Δ σ ≡ pressure drop, psf/ft. retort length
The second term is a gravity term and can be neglected since the retorting gas flow is returned to the starting elevation at the surface. The use of these two relationships will be more clearly shown in the following example.
EXAMPLE
A cylindrical underground rubble pile of oil shale is to be created with a 1.5 length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) with the long axis being vertical and having a length of 150 ft. The room diameter is 100 ft. and the overall void volume is 15 percent. Retorting gas enters at the top center of the retort, as at entrance 10, and for purposes of this example is considered to exit at a single centrally located outlet as shown in FIG. 1 at 12. The gas then returns to the surface through an adjacent retort or the conduit shown in FIG. 1. The gas flowing through the retort will have a composition similar to air. The gas flow rate is 32 million SCF/day. At average temperature and pressure conditions in the retort, a superficial velocity of 0.0853 ft./sec. and a viscosity of 0.0334 × 10 - 5 No. sec./ft. 2 results.
Path A in FIG. 1 represents the shortest path and is 150 ft. Path B is 1.1 times as long as path A, path C is 1.2 times as long, and path D is 1.4 times as long as path A. The approximate average path length is the path that equally divides the rubble pile in half. This is approximately 171 ft. and corresponds with an arc which passes through a point 35.5 ft. from the longitudinal axis of the retort (path A). The longest path is approximately 192 ft. The ratios of the average path length to the shortest and the longest paths are 1.14 and 0.89 respectively. By use of the relationship between permeability pressure drop, gas velocity and viscosity, k is calculated to be as follows:Shortest path: 0.79 × 10.sup. -4 Average path: 0.9 × 10.sup. -4 Longest path: 1.01 × 10.sup. -4
The void volumes corresponding to these bulk permeabilities are:
Shortest path (longitudinal axis): 14.4%Average path (35.5 ft. radius): 15.0Longest path (periphery): 15.5
To achieve the void volume variations required for most efficient retorting, the shale must be more densely packed along the longitudinal axis of the retort in FIG. 1 than at its periphery. This can be accomplished by restricting the mined void volume (undercut) or by restricting the shape of the shale seam to be caved. The first approach necessitates a sloped floor of the undercut with the high point in the center. However, since this would restrict oil drainage to the outlet, the floor is sloped toward the center but some broken shale is left in the floor before caving to give the effect of a reverse slope on the void volume. This is shown in FIG. 4 at 30. FIG. 5 shows a slight doming of the ceiling at 32 (exaggeratd in the Figure for illustration) to cave less shale at the periphery than in the center.
Actual retorting will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As previously mentioned, retorting requires a retorting fluid and depending on the nature of the retorting process the retorting fluid may be a combination of air and flue gas, or steam and volatile gasses generated in the shale, flue gasses from adjoining retorts, recycled flue gas, and the like. In the example presented here, the retorting gas is air and flue gas is generated in the retort during the retorting process. Air is introduced from compressor 16 to the top of the retort through inlet 10. Typically at the initiation of the retorting process a startup fuel will be introduced with the air, though if flue gas is used as the retorting gas the starting fuel may not be necessary because of the temperature of the flue gas. In any event, after the startup fuel has been injected into the retort with the incoming air, it is ignited. Flue gas is generated from the resulting combustion front at the very top of the retort. When combustion becomes self-sustaining the startup fuel is discontinued. Retorting in a retorting front will proceed ahead of the combustion front, with the burning in the combustion zone providing the heat energy required for retorting. The two zones will descend through the retort more or less together. In the retorting zone heat from the combustion zone causes decomposition of kerogen in the oil shale to yield shale oil values which are carried down through the retorting bed with the moving retorting gasses and by gravity. Residual carbon left on the shale in the retorting zone becomes a fuel in the combustion zone and combines with oxygen to provide the heat for the retorting process. The retorted values collect at the base of the retort typically in liquid, vapor and gaseous states. Much of the gas and the vapor will condense on the cold material at the base of the retort and become liquid product. The liquid will agglomerate at the base. The resultant values are pumped through outlet 12 by pump 22 into collector 24. The retorting gas may be recycled, sent to a second retort to constitute at least a portion of that retort's retorting gas, itself processed to extract values or the like. The oxygen used in the retorting process is only enough to react with the residual carbon left on the retorted shale. Gas velocity during retorting is relatively low being in the neighborhood of from about 1 to about 4 SCF/min./ft. 2 retort cross-sectional area.
The present invention has been described with reference to a simplified retort. In actual practice the gas outlets will not normally be in the center but will consist of one or more peripheral outlets. Similarly, the inlet may consist of more than one entry and the retort shape may approach a square cross section instead of the circular cross section shown. Also, the retorts can be developed either with or without a void zone at the top of the broken shale. Nevertheless, the same basic concept of varying the void volume distribution or bulk permeability may be utilized to obtain even radial distribution of gas flow throughout the retort's length and throughout the width of the retort. Of course, each retort design will require its own peculiar void volume variations. Thus, a square retort with a single gas entry point and multiple peripheral exit ports would require a different distribution of the void volume than determined for the example given. | The rubble pile in an in situ reactor, which has a low length-to-diameter ratio and limited retorting gas inlets and outlets, has a radial bulk permeability distribution controlled to provide retort working gas flow paths from the inlets to the outlets with substantially even overall flow resistance. Channeling of retort gas along paths of low resistance is therefore avoided. An example of the controlled radial distribution of bulk permeability is a cylindrical, vertical in situ retort having a retort gas inlet and outlet on its longitudinal axis. The bulk permeability of the rubble pile progressively increases from the center to the wall of the reactor. The rubble pile is created by undercutting a carbonaceous deposit and expanding, as by explosives, the unexcavated deposit overlying the undercut. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to insulating double-glazing glass and refers in particular to a device for the mounting thereof on a fixed frame, more preferably onto a preformed border structure defining an opening in a building.
In the following description, the expression "insulating glass" will be also used to include "insulating double-glazing".
Double-glazing according to the present invention is intended to be applied on fixed windows, always to be kept locked shut.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Insulating windows known in the art are conventionally constructed by two sheets of glass between which a metal frame is interplaced and bonded together by a sealant along their peripheral edges.
The frame serves to define an air space between the sheets of glass and also contains dehydrating substances on the inside. The frame is usually employed as a spacer and this term will be used in the following description.
The sheets of glass and the spacer are bonded together by two sealing agents. The first sealant is butyl-based in order to prevent moisture seepage into the air space and avoid internal misting of the sheets of glass. The second sealant acts to bond together the components of the insulating glass and protect them from the outside atmospheric conditions.
Insulating double-glazing thus prepared is then mounted, by methods already known in the art, on pre-constructed frames which are in turn mounted on building walls.
In a modified embodiment, the double-glazing can be fixed directly onto the window structure with fastening members, thereby improving its appearance in that none of the components of the structure are shown apart from the glass.
The sealant used for securing the insulating glass onto the building structure is a commercially available high-strength adhesive, particularly suited to such applications, which is commonly known as structural silicone. This term will hereinafter used.
As said hereinbefore, the inner sheet of the insulating glass is secured to the building structure by bonding, whereas the outer sheet is held fast by the cohesive force exerted by the structural silicone inserted into the peripheral cavity between the outer edges of the two sheets of glass and the spacer.
Consequently, under particularly severe environmental conditions, such as a strong winds or heavy rain, or in the event of excessive structural strain impairted there to by the building, a partial or total breaking of the structural silicone junctions between the sheets could occur thereby detaching the insulating glass from the building face.
It should also be noted that following the above indicated assembly procedure, the quantity of structural silicone required to hold together the sheets forming the insulating glass and to bond the insulating glass to the building structure is rather large. In fact, each element is bonded to the adjacent one and these bonds must also ensure the required sealing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.
To achieve the above object, the present invention comprises mechanical members which act to secure the insulating glass to the building structure without bonding and at the same time provide a pivotal connection between the insulating glass and the building structure.
The advantages provided by this device are self-evident.
The pivotal connection prevents structural stress or external pressure applied on the sheets of glass from being transmitted to the spacer in the insulating glass, which is the weakest point of the system as it has to hold fast the first sealant which prevents moisture seepage. With the pivotal connection one can extend the durability of the insulating glass by preventing the breaking of the first sealant and consequent moisture seepage. This would result in irreversible damage to the glass and, in more serious cases, in the detachment of the outer sheet due to the breaking of the sealant. Providing a connecting member between the two sheets of insulating glass is a further mechanical safety measure against the detachment of the inner sheet from the building structure. A further advantage is that a considerably lower quantity of structural silicone is required, as the silicone is applied only along the outer periphery of the insulating glass. Moreover, the assembly of the insulating glass can be carried out off-site. This leaves only one of the two connecting members to be applied with only one peripheral sealing operation.
The above-mentioned advantages therefore result in an extended durability of the double-glazing, in a reduced likelyhood of the glass detaching from the building under particularly severe environmental conditions and in an overall reduced manufacturing cost.
In view of the above, the objects of the present invention are realized by the provision of a device for mounting insulating double-glazing onto a fixed frame of a border structure preformed in an opening in a building wall, the double-glazing insulating glass being formed by two sheets of glass held in place by a spacer bonded thereto, and the first sealant filling the space between the spacer and the edges of the sheets of glass, the device comprising: a first elongated connecting member placed along at least one pair of opposite peripheral edges of the glass, formed with a strip portion at least partially embedded edgewise in said first sealant so as to be bonded to the edges of the sheets of glass, and a pivot portion integral with the strip portion on the free edge thereof, which defines a pivotal axis parallel to the peripheral edges of the glass; a second elongated connecting member formed with a receiving portion including a longitudinallly extending bore for housing said pivot portion of the first connecting member, and a mounting portion coextensive to the receiving portion; and means for fixing the mounting portion to the frame, whereby the insulating double-glazing is fixedly mounted to the border structure through a pivotal connection, to allow a partial relative deformation of the glass and the structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter by reference to the drawings showing a preferred embodiment thereof.
FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of insulating glass mounted on a building face using a prior art method;
FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of insulating glass mounted on a building face using a device according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, the double-glazing is formed of a sheet of glass 1 and a sheet of glass 2 held apart by a spacer 3 which define an air space 19.
Each sheet of glass is bonded to the spacer with an adhesive 4, preferably a butyl-based adhesive, acting as a moisture barrier to prevent any inner misting of the sheets of glass.
The inner glass 1 is bonded to a frame 5 by a commercially available sealant 6 known in the art as structural silicone, which is particularly suited to such applications.
Structural silicone is applied to the outer peripheral cavity 21 defined between sheets 1, 2 and the spacer 3, in order to hold the two sheets together. In fact, whereas the butyl adhesive 4 is suited to act as a moisture barrier, it cannot ensure a sufficiently strong cohesive force under strong tensile and/or torsional stress.
In FIG. 2, according to the present invention, the insulating glass comprises a sheet of glass 7, a sheet of glass 8 and a spacer 9 bonded between the two sheets of glass by a butyl adhesive 10, which acts as a moisture barrier.
The inside space 11 of the spacer 9 contains dehydrating substances for eliminating any moisture possibly present in the air space 19 between the two sheets.
A film of insulating material 12, preferably polyethylene or a non-adhesive paint, coats the outer surface of the spacer 9. The film 12 is adhered by means of a glue of low cohesive strength, separating the spacer and the structural silicone 18 filling the outer peripheral cavity 22. In such a way the spacer 9 remains independent of any stress transmitted to the structural silicone 18.
A metal member 13 is secured in the cavity 22 and bonded therein by the structural silicone 18. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the member 13 has a strip configuration having a cylindrical pivot 14 on one of its edges.
A second metal member 15 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore 23 for housing the cylindrical pivot 14, so that the metal member 15 may rotate about an axis defined by bore 23, adjusting to any slight relative movement.
Bolts 16 are provided to fasten the member 15 to a fixed frame 17.
Positioning blocks 20, preferably of plastic material, are placed between the lower edge of the sheets and the member 15, so as to prevent any direct contact between glass and metal which could damage the glass.
A silicone adhesive 24, particularly suited for exposure to the outside environment, seals the remaining apertures.
The connecting member 15 follows the entire peripheral profile of the insulating glass and receives the pivot 14 in the bore 23. In a preferred embodiment the pivot 14 also extends around the entire periphery of the glass.
In both these arrangements, any stress brought to bear on the insulating glass is transmitted from the member 13, along its entire peripheral profile, to the member 15 and any torsional stress is neutralized along the contact surface between pivot 14 and metal member 15 of bore 23 in the connecting member 15 and the building structure.
The connecting members can be made of any suitable material, provided that the material has mechanical properties capable of withstanding stress and corroding action from the outside environment, and provided that the materials of which the connecting members made, are will provide a sliding contact that allows for their relative reciprocal pivotal movement. Preferably metal materials are used, such as steel or stainless steel, aluminum or aluminum alloys, brass and the like.
Having described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is understood that modifications and variations thereto can be devised within the spirit and the scope of the invention.
For example, in a modified embodiment of the present invention, the pivot 14 can be placed only on two of the four sides of the insulating glass, typically on two vertical or two horizontal sides. Moreover the pivot 14 can be discontinuous, provided adequate strength conditions allow it.
In an additional embodiment, the connecting pivot 14 can be formed of a plurality of spheres integral with the strip portion, which are received in the housing provided by the connecting member 15. In such a case, any stress on the glass will be transmitted to the contact points of the connecting members.
In a further modification, the insulating glass is formed by an inner sheet of glass having a smaller surface area the outer sheet. In this case the member 13 is placed in the step formed between the outer and the inner sheet and is bonded only to the edge of the outer glass by structural silicone. | A device for mounting double-glazing onto a fixed frame is formed by two distinct members, the first of which at which is mechanically bonded to the double-glazing and the second is secured to the frame. The two members are coupled together by a pivotal connection. This device enables any stress applied to the glass to be considerably reduced, thus prolonging the life thereof and reducing the quantity of adhesive required. | 4 |
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a divider block assembly that is made from one material, such as steel. Other than this invention, there is no current technology that enables anyone to make a complicated lubrication system (with the sophistication and exactness that is required in high performance industries) without breaking the lubrication system into modules. Technology involving divider blocks have not changed much in the last 75 years. For example, a lubricating system patent that was published in Jan. 27, 1953 shows a divider block, (the term “divider block” is to be used interchangeably with “divider valve” and “distribution block” that is used in the industry) having U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,847 issued to Harter and assigned to Trabon Engineering Corp (“Trabon”). Trabon currently manufactures a divider block that is very similar to technology that was developed in the mid-1900's. And a search in respective patent classification (both US and internationally) shows very little progress made in this field. FIG. 1 shows Trabon's patent figure showing the lubrication system and is marked as “prior art.”
[0002] FIG. 2 shows a current model of a divider block currently sold by Trabon and sold as Trabon® MSP Modular Divider Valves. The manual for this model is L10102 and is available at http://www.graco.com/content/dam/graco/led/literature/flyers/l10102/L10102EN-B.pdf. Going back to FIG. 1 , this particular prior art system discloses a flow-reversing valve 33 that includes a piston 41 adapted to move from one end of the cylinder 36 to the other end for reversing the direction of the flow. See FIG. 1 . Comparing this system with the current system in FIG. 2 , the divider block 200 has modular sections 201 . The modular sections each have pistons (not shown) in end of the ends 202 . These pistons are not much different than the pistons disclosed in FIG. 1 .
[0003] The current system is dependent on modular sections. There are many reasons why traditional divider blocks require modular sections. The first reason is because these lubrication systems require high levels of proficiency at high speeds and the modular sections allow for the manufacture of internal components and alignment of the pistons in a precise manner. Industrial tools and machines, such as compressors, rely on proper lubrication, to ensure the proper operation and longevity of components. Without proper lubrication internal components risk serious damage. The divider block allows pressurized lubricant to distribute to multiple lubrication points. In traditional divider blocks, the pressurized lubricant causes a set of pistons to move back and forth within the piston bores. The moving pistons open and close internal fluids channels, which allows the user to know the precise volume of fluid that is distributed in the multiple outlet channels. Because the pistons in the divider block are powered by the pressure of the fluid being distributed, no additional source of power is necessary to operate the divider block. These are the divider blocks shown in prior art U.S. Pat. in FIG. 1 and the Trabon model that is currently available.
[0004] As shown in FIG. 3 , a typical prior art MJ series divider block 300 consists of an inlet section 301 and three to eight valve sections 302 . Each single section 302 can have an outlet on either side but the outlet on one side must be plugged for the section to operate properly. There are two manifold bolts 303 , 304 that run from the top to the bottom through each of the divider blocks. Each divider block section 305 includes an internal piston (not shown) within a bore (not shown). The manifold bolts 303 , 304 connect each of the divider blocks 305 . These blocks are held and sealed with gaskets between the inlet, ends, and between each block. The precise manufacture of the internal piston and the valve sections require that the manufacture of these components be made is sections and assembled and tested. The traditional methods of manufacture require the alignment of the pistons for each modular section. The traditional methods of manufacture and using divider blocks require modular sections so that the pistons can be positioned and aligned.
[0005] Because these blocks are held together in multiple pieces or sections, the amount of pressure that can be held in the valves is about 3500 PSI. During use, if any problems persisted in any of the blocks, the user is first required to remove the tubing from the divider block. Then, the user is required to remove the complete block assembly from the compressor. Next, the user must disassemble and replace the problem block(s).
[0006] This type of assembly eventually led to the innovations of baseplates 306 and manifold bolts 303 , 304 . Base plate section 306 includes internal channels (not shown) for fluid movement and holes for moving fluid between adjacent sections. Each base plate section 306 also includes an outlet (not shown) for dispensing the fluid, and holes for moving fluid in and out of the corresponding divider block sections 305 .
[0007] One of the problems with the use of multiple divider block sections is that with time the variations of pressure put on different parts of the divider block assembly eventually wears out the divider block. For example, the manifold bolts 103 , 104 are deliberately placed outside the center line of the divider block section 105 , because centered bolt holes would interfere with internal fluid passages. But with tightening of the mounting fasteners and the end plugs, there are changes in the divider blocks that will eventually result in faulty and imprecise delivery of lubricants. The current mounting fasteners have specific directions to not overturn the screws [not shown]. These mounting fasteners are frequently overturned by users, however, which results in eventual crushing or egg-shaping of the piston bore because of the variation in pressure that results with overturned mounting fasteners The bolts that go through the divider block when overtightened will distort the cylindrical hole that runs lengthwise in the divider block. The precisely drilled hole then becomes egg shaped and causes the piston bore to wear out prematurely or fail immediately. When the bore is egg-shaped it allows lubricant to flow around the piston to the point of least resistance injecting too much lubricant in some areas and starving (reducing) the needed oil in other areas.
[0008] What is needed is a lubrication system that allows for higher amounts of pressure in the valves and in the whole system. What is needed is a way to view traditional divider block models and question why they are built in modular sections. What is needed is a way to prevent wear of these divider blocks when users over-tighten screws or change settings within the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] An object of the invention is to provide a divider block assembly that is stronger, more efficient, and capable of being repaired upon any failure to the system. Currently, there are no divider blocks in the industry that can be repaired. All of them must be replaced with a new valve section when the piston to bore clearance becomes excessively worn. An object of the invention is to make these divider blocks repairable.
[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide an innovative method of delivering lubricants by using a divider block made substantially from one material and in one piece, such as steel, which alters the flow of lubricant in the divider block in a surprisingly beneficial manner.
[0011] Another object of the invention is to provide a new method of manufacturing and using one divider block made from one piece and one material.
[0012] Another object of the invention is to eliminate the need for O-ring seals which become hardened and fail with extensive service in high temperature applications and disintegrate with exposure to certain types of lubricants.
[0013] Another object of the invention is to overcome the challenges of precise alignment of pistons by adding a replaceable sleeve to the system, which holds pistons that are already aligned with the sleeves. These sleeves contain ends that connect with end plugs so that when the user turns the ends, the sleeves get exactly aligned with the flow path. With this new design the end user cannot distort the piston bore because there are no mounting bolts to over tighten.
[0014] The embodiments of the current invention disclose a high pressure divider block assembly that is capable of being used under high pressure.
[0015] The embodiments of the current invention disclose a replaceable sleeve and piston assembly that acts to replace the traditional pistons within the divider block. By adding this replaceable sleeve to the current divider block system, the end user do not have to replace the complete divider block when a piston becomes worn. Sleeves will act to bring the divider block back to new condition in lieu of replacing the complete traditional modular sections.
[0016] The embodiments of the current invention disclose a lubricant delivery assembly made from one material and one piece, such as one piece of steel. Such an assembly can use a replaceable sleeve and piston system that allows for the manufacture and use of a divider block in such a manner.
[0017] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] For a more thorough understanding of the present invention, and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective of a prior art divider block.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a perspective of a more recent prior art divider block.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a side view of a prior art divider block showing multiple sections.
[0022] FIG. 4 is side perspective of one embodiment of the current invention showing a mono-block.
[0023] FIG. 5 is an x-ray perspective of one embodiment of the current invention showing a mono-block.
[0024] FIG. 6 is a close-up perspective of the piston and sleeve that is utilized in one embodiment of the current invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0025] The current invention allows for the use of a divider block made from one piece and one material. This “mono-block” (trademark pending) divider block introduces a new type of technology using replaceable and alignable sleeves. FIG. 4 shows a divider block 400 in accordance with one embodiment of the current invention. As shown by the body 401 , the divider block is made from a single integral and gapless continuous piece of material. Although at first blush, it may seem that the invention is only making separate, traditional elements into one integral piece, such is not the case. Such integration have traditionally not been patent worthy, but the prior art is significantly different. The inventor in the current case is eliminating the need to calibrate each of the pistons, which led to the multiple segregation of the modular pieces in the first place. The prior art also is perceived with challenges to make a divider block with higher and higher capabilities to deliver precise amounts of lubricant. The mono-block allows a user to achieve pressures much higher than 3500 psi, which has been considered the capable modern limit. According to embodiments of the current invention, pressures as high as 10,00 psi is capable with the monoblock divider.
[0026] The manufacture of a one piece assembly has surprising and potentially commercially-significant benefits. Because the manufacture of the divider blocks can be made from one material, such as carbon steel or stainless steel, the use of traditional O-rings is removed. The removal of O-rings reduces a large percentage of the errors that often result with traditional divider blocks. The use of modular sections also required a sophisticated maze of lubrication pathways so that each modular section matches exactly with another. By making a mono-block, these lubrication pathways are shorter and much more efficient (not shown and subject to design patents).
[0027] Other materials are contemplated for the mono-block assembly, including but not limited to, aluminum, magnesium, copper, tin, zinc, lead alloy, graphite and other composite materials. Because the process involves the manufacture of only one piece made from one material, different and simpler processes to manufacture the divider blocks are contemplated, such as the ability to use special molds (or moulds) and casting processes. Although it is one piece and generally one material, more than one alloy can be used in the manufacture of a one piece divider block. The divider block 400 can be made from a permanent mold casting methods and forging methods that are used for current manufacture of automobile pistons or internal combustion engine pistons.
[0028] FIG. 5 shows an X-ray view of the mono-block 500 in accordance with one embodiment of the current invention. The system includes replaceable sleeves 501 that are calibrated precisely to hold and align pistons 502 within its body. The sleeves 501 and the pistons 502 allow for the interchangeability of these components without having to dissemble any of the modular sections. In the past, when any of the pistons proved faulty, the whole divider block required disassembly and reassembly with a new divider block. The current invention allows a user to interchange any of the sleeves and pistons without having to disconnect tubing lines and tube fittings from the divider block or dissemble the divider block. The sleeves 501 enter the piston bore 503 . The sleeves are lined with a set of O-rings to stabilize and seal and separate the hydraulic circuits and the sleeves in the divider block bore.
[0029] FIG. 6 shows a close-up model of sleeve and piston system 600 . Sleeve 601 is configured to fit pistons 602 in a precise fit. The manufacture of these materials can be steel or alloy as discussed above regarding the body of the mono-block. The sleeve is sized to fit within the piston bore 603 . Once positioned inside the channel of piston bore 603 , the sleeve sits comfortably on a bed of O-rings 604 . Although this invention purports to remove the use of O-rings, it is the O-rings in the base plate and divider block section that the invention eliminates the need for. These O-rings traditionally ensured a seal within the base plate and divider block sections (not shown), but since no base plates are necessary, no such O-rings are necessary. This area has in the past been a source of frequent problems that led to leaks under various conditions. The invention of the mono-block eliminates the need to secure leakages due to the design enabling the use of one solid piece of material.
[0030] The mono-block assembly provides many benefits. There is the ease and simplicity of manufacturing one component (steel block) rather than multiple components that must be bolted together. Further, the amount of pressure that the assembly can handle during the cycle of lubrication is much higher than the standard pressure. The mono-Block is made from one piece of material, such as steel, and the stress strain expansion is thus reduced. The replaceable sleeves and pistons allow for a more efficient usage and ease of fixing during any type of malfunction. And perhaps the largest benefit comes from the reduced cost and maintenance due to the reusability of the divider block housing with interchangeable pistons and sleeves.
[0031] FIGS. 7A-7C show how sleeves 701 are interchangeable even within its own system 700 . Sleeve 701 fits within piston bore 702 , 703 , and 704 . The interchangeability of these sleeves proves to have beneficial results that far exceeded performance expectations when compared to other similar technology. Unlike previous systems that required the replacement of the whole system during repairs, users are now only required to open the piston bore and replace the sleeve having a piston. This far reduces time, cost and efficiency of a production line and field replacement.
[0032] In an industry that currently removes and disposes the divider blocks when the pistons become worn and when pistons start to bypass, the current invention is less wasteful and less costly to the end user. The replaceable sleeves and pistons are estimated to cost 75% less to manufacture. Further, the disposal of the steel divider blocks creates tons of waste steel that cannot be reused while replaceable sleeves and pistons would produce only a fraction of such waste.
[0033] The use of a monoblock divider also eliminates distortion in the piston bore, which are often caused by over-tightening of the mounting bolts on individual divider block sections. These mounting bolts often come with specific directions directing users not to over-tighten, but the torque values are only 60 inch pounds which is very minimal so users have a natural tendency to tighten more than necessary, which always results in the distortion in the piston bore. The monoblock divider also eliminates leak paths caused by the use of O-ring seals which are used in all industry standard divider blocks and allows for fewer machined components.
[0034] The configuration of the sleeves 701 and pistons allows for the user to replace the internal piston and not the complete divider block. It enables the operator to easily change the piston. It also has the ability to reconfigure the output capacities of each individual piston. Each replaceable piston and sleeve assembly is replaceable with a different assembly with different output capacities. The size of the replaceable pistons can be altered with different desired applications. Each sleeve combination 701 is designed and with specific sizes of pistons to allow the accurate output of lubricant capacity and honed scientifically honed for piston to sleeve clearances of 80,000,000 (millionths) of an inch) to move back and forth with lubricant pressure.
[0035] According to one embodiment of the current invention and FIG. 8 , a close up of the replaceable sleeve 800 is shown. The stainless steel sleeve has a precise center cavity 801 that enables the piston to be hone fitted to tolerances of 80 millionths of an inch. The sleeve 800 sits precisely within the divider block bore resting on a number of O-rings 802 .
[0036] FIG. 9 shows a system 900 in accordance with one embodiment of the current invention wherein the alignment of the sleeve 901 is shown.
[0037] FIG. 10 shows a complete mono-block assembly 1000 shown with the inside components. In accordance with the methods of using a monoblock divider described in this specification, a user can install a sleeve 1001 with the piston 1002 into sleeve channels in the divider block 1003 . The sleeve 1001 and piston 1002 assembly comes with the lubricant preinstalled on the sleeve, so no lubricant is needed. According to one embodiment of the invention, the user then slides an O-ring compressor over the top of the sleeve 1001 assembly and tightens a wing nut on the O-ring compressor (not shown). The user then slides the sleeve 1001 into sleeve channel 1003 until it reaches the end of the divider block body. The sleeve 1001 sits firmly on the machined indention on the end of the divider block body (not shown). Once that is finished, the user pushes on the end of the sleeve 1001 and piston 1002 assembly with a wooden rod (or some form of pushing device) until the sleeve 1001 and piston 1002 assembly bottoms out on the opposite end of the divider block body. A second O ring 1004 is sealed to the end plug 1005 and both end plugs replaced The O-ringed sleeve channel 1003 that houses the piston 1002 is installed using a compression device that compresses the O-rings so the operator can install the sleeve without cutting the O-rings. This is similar to the compression device used to compress the rings on a piston to eliminate breaking the piston rings in the automobile industry when a mechanic is installing them in an engine block.
[0038] As shown by the end plug 1005 , the exact alignment precision that is necessary was traditionally made by fitting the pistons into an exactly aligned piston tube. By using the sleeve system, the alignment is made by the connection made between the piston and the sleeve and from the end plugs 1005 . The end plugs 1005 tighten over the end of each of the sleeves. By connecting (either by screw or by physical alignment) the end plugs 1005 place the sleeve 1001 and the pistons 1002 in exact perfect alignment of the hydraulic circuit every time during installation.
[0039] Because of the replaceable sleeve, there are no gaskets and no O-rings (except for the O-rings that seal the end plugs). This allows for a much faster and efficient method of repairing the divider block system and less likely to cause any type of error. In addition, the use of these replaceable piston/sleeves allows for the manufacture of only one size piston block housing. Conventional multiple divider blocks allows for about 3000 PSI of operating pressure due to stress strain expansion. At most, the current multiple divider blocks allow for about 3500 PSI. With the use of the monoblock, operating pressures up to 8,000 psi can be reached.
[0040] Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps. | The invention is directed to a divider block assembly made from one piece of material. Traditional divider blocks require modular sections so that piston alignment can be calibrated precisely. The current invention uses replaceable pistons and sleeves that are suitable for use at high fluid pressures. The use of these pistons also allows for a single, bodied, one-piece, metal divider body, rather than the conventional multiple block divider blocks, which allows for a more efficient manufacturing method and stronger, more reliable, and more efficient lubricant dispensing system. The use of any of these aspects separately can improve performance, and not all are required in every embodiment. | 5 |
This application claims priority of U.S. provisional application No. 61/053,904 filed May 16, 2008.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to systems for the automated opening of packages such as shrink wrapped bundles of flat mail pieces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The time consuming task of opening wrapped packages of mail, media or other similar items without damaging the contents within is currently performed manually. The specific tasks of piercing an entry point into the wrapper, enlarging the entry point, loosening the wrapper surrounding the contents and then removing the wrapper from the contents and placing the removed wrapper in a waste receptacle or dunnage takeaway is today laboriously performed manually. Improvements to aid this task have been proposed as in Redford et al. United States Patent Application 20050120675, Jun. 9, 2005. According to this publication a method of preparing flat articles for sorting includes the steps of: (1) receiving a bundle of flat items to be sorted, the bundle being wrapped with a flexible film such that the film forms an enclosed package of flat items, (2) placing the bundles on a substantially horizontal, substantially frictionless work surface, moving the bundle adjacent at least one film opener, the film opener being automatically activated when the bundle is moved adjacent the film opener, (3) removing the cut film from the flat items, and (4) stacking the unbundled flat items in a cartridge. This is still fundamentally a manual process.
While automated systems for opening boxes and the like are known, plastic wrapped bundles of flat items like mail are particularly difficult to unwrap by machine. The plastic conforms closely to the contents and an operation of cutting it away with blades or the like would inevitably damage the contents. The present invention attempts to resolve this problem and enable automated unwrapping of plastic wrapped bundles. See for example the system of Porter et al. U.S. Patent Pub. 2009/0113853. In this system content damage is likely during opening, and unwrapping is manual.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for automatic bundle transport, positioning, wrapper entry, wrapper opening, wrapper loosening, wrapper removal, and wrapper dunnage takeaway. The wrapper is made from pliable material, thin film or similar material and which can comprise a variety of package types and sizes of mail, media or other items. Additionally the method and apparatus of the invention performs the tasks of wrapper removal and discharge without damaging the item contents within. A bundle unwrapping machine according to the invention includes a conveyor by which bundles are presented to the unwrapping machine for opening. An opening mechanism includes a pair of openers positioned to engage a bundle on opposite sites. The bundle is transported into an opening zone in which it is supported for engagement with the openers.
According to one aspect of the invention, a machine for removing plastic wrapping from a bundle of flat articles wrapped in plastic includes a conveyor for transporting a wrapped bundle through the machine, a first blade assembly including a pointed blade mounted on a holder provided with a mechanical actuator that slides the blade point first along the surface of the outer face of the bundle, such that the point of the blade pierces the plastic causing the blade to move beneath the plastic wrapping while sliding along the outer surface of one of the flat articles without damaging it, and the blade stretches and tears the plastic as it continues to move beneath the plastic wrapping; and an automated removal and disposal system which separates the torn plastic from the flat articles. In a preferred form a vacuum system includes a vacuum head that applies suction to an outer face of the bundle, drawing the plastic film towards the vacuum head and creating a bulge in the plastic wrap which the blade is positioned to pierce.
An automated method for removing plastic wrapping from a bundle of flat articles wrapped in plastic or similar sheet material comprises transporting a wrapped bundle on a conveyor into an automated unwrapping machine. The machine slides a first blade assembly including a pointed blade mounted on a holder point first along the surface of the outer face of the bundle, such that the point of the blade pierces the plastic causing the blade to move beneath the plastic wrapping while sliding along the outer surface of one of the flat articles without damaging it.
continuing movement of the blade continues after piercing of the wrapping to stretch and tear the plastic as it continues to move, and then the torn plastic is automatically separated from the flat articles.
A wrapper or wrapping according to the invention can be shrink wrap or a bag that encloses the articles completely, but could also be a less than complete covering such as a band. Plastic is the most common material for the wrapper, but paper or other similar material could be used. These and other aspects of the invention are further discussed in the detailed description that follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawing, wherein like numerals denote like elements:
FIG. 1 is a simplified perspective view of an unwrapping machine according to the invention in an initial position;
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an actuation system for the front end gates shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an actuation system for the rear end grippers shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of an actuation system for the upper and lower blade assemblies shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a second position;
FIG. 3 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a third position;
FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a fourth position;
FIG. 5 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a fifth position;
FIG. 6 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a sixth position;
FIG. 7 is a simplified perspective view of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 in a seventh position;
FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of an actuation system for moving the wrapper takeaway belts of the unwrapping machine of FIG. 1 ; and
FIG. 8 is a side view of engagement between the suction head and the plastic film during piercing of the film according to the invention.
For like elements referred to by both a number and letter (rod 52 A, rod 52 B etc.), references to plural parts without a letter mean some or all are referred to as indicated by the context.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As used herein, an operation that occurs “automatically” is performed by a machine, not a human being. In the description that follows a bundle unwrapping machine 10 according to the invention includes a number of moving parts, many of which are arranged in pairs for simultaneous coordinated movement. For the opener blades, vacuum heads, unwrapping fingers, grippers and the various movable stops, basic actuation components include linear actuators in the form of electric solenoids with extendable rods that are connected to the part to be moved by extension or retraction of the solenoid. Where needed to account for variations in position, the moving parts can be provided with proximity or contact sensors connected to the control system. In some cases a spring may be sufficient to bias the part in the desired position. Examples of these actuation systems are discussed further below. Movement is gradual, that is, at a low enough speed to avoid damage to the bundle. The control system could be a computer or PLC programmed to carry out the steps as described hereafter. The system may or may not need to be reprogrammed for bundles of different types and sizes, or can be provided with sensors that tell the control system process parameters to use.
The apparatus and method of the invention are described with reference to an example showing the sequence of operations undertaken. Referring to FIG. 1 , a bundle unwrapping machine 10 according to the invention includes a pair of horizontal, parallel spaced belt conveyors 12 A for transporting a plastic wrapped bundle 14 . A second pair of conveyors 12 B accept bundle 14 from conveyors 12 A and take it further into machine 10 as described below. Bundle 14 is typically flat on opposite top and bottom faces an most often rectangular in shape. It comprises a stack of magazines, catalogs or the like wrapped with a thin plastic film on all sides. In the process of the invention as practiced in a commercial environment, bundles 14 are removed from a pallet and placed on a roller conveyor for manual inspection. Exception bundles such as ones damaged in transit are removed for manual opening. Bundles 14 suitable for automated opening are placed one at a time on conveyors 12 A centered in the widthwise direction so that the underside of the bundle 14 can be accessed from below through the gaps between conveyors 12 A, and between conveyors 12 B.
As or before bundle 14 moves forward on conveyors 12 A, one or more retractable stop gates 16 are moved into position to stop bundle 14 at a desired forward position for opening. Each gate 16 in this example pivots into and out of position by means of a pivotably mounted linear actuator 17 as shown in FIG. 1A . However, gates 16 could also be configured to rise and drop vertically.
One or more grippers 18 are provided to grip the trailing end of bundle 14 once it engages gates 16 . Grippers 18 are L-shaped brackets with an upper horizontal beam 19 and one or more downwardly depending arms or flanges 21 . Each gripper 18 is raised or lowered by means of a first linear actuator 17 A, and the assembly of gripper 18 and actuator 17 A can be moved horizontally by a second linear actuator 17 B ( FIG. 1B ). Grippers 18 start in the up position so that bundle 14 can pass beneath them, are lowered using actuator 17 A, then drawn forward by actuator 17 B so that fingers 21 engage the rear end of bundle 14 . Complete engagement can be detected by means of a pressure sensor 22 that tells the control system that the bundle 14 has been firmly held between gates 16 in front and grippers 18 behind.
Once bundle 14 is in position and held as described, the operation of opening and removing the outer plastic wrap begins. A vacuum assembly 24 A is suspended above the mid-portion of machine 10 and is preferably centered on bundle 14 . Assembly 24 A may be raised and lowered by any suitable means, such as a linear actuator or an electric pulley operated by the control system. An inverted U-shaped rectangular frame 26 retains a hose 27 which extends through an opening in its top wall. Frame 26 provides a pair of control pads 28 on opposite sides of its bottom edge that move down ahead of a central vacuum head 29 at the end of hose 27 . Pads 28 move into engagement with the upper surface of the bundle 14 before suction is applied, and optionally may be biased by a coil spring 31 that exerts force against the upper surface of frame 26 .
This engagement acts to control the differential deflection range of the plastic film relative to the surface of the underlying article once vacuum head 29 exerts suction against the plastic beneath it on the upper side of bundle 14 . Differential deflection refers to the difference between the distance the plastic deflects under suction as compared to the distance the underlying item deflects. Unless a sufficient differential is maintained, the first page of the top item of the bundle contents will be pulled up by the suction along with the plastic wrap. Heating as described below helps avoid this problem. With the plastic film held down by pads 28 , suction from vacuum head 29 A causes the plastic wrap to deflect upwardly, creating an upwardly extending bulge in the plastic covering that is positioned for piercing. For this purpose vacuum head 29 A may be lowered into contract with the top of bundle 14 and then raised a short distance once vacuum has been applied. A lower vacuum head 29 B of a second vacuum assembly 24 B engages the underside of bundle 14 in the same manner and is actuated at the same time and controlled in the same manner but in reverse orientation.
In a preferred embodiment, heat is applied to the area of the plastic wrap that the vacuum head is about to engage. A stream of forced air is suitable, which air is heated to a temperature sufficient to soften the plastic wrap without damage to the underlying contents. This may be done manually or automatically. A temperature of up to 150° F. is usually suitable, causing the plastic wrap to deflect more than the paper of an underlying page or magazine cover. The vacuum aids this process because it draws the heated air directly to the site where the bulge is to be created.
A pair of upper and lower piercing blade assemblies 32 A and 32 B are provided above and below the space reserved for bundle 14 . As shown in FIG. 1C , assemblies 32 are each configured for horizontal and vertical movement and may be essentially identical although reverse in orientation relative to each other. Each assembly 32 includes a plastic blade 33 with a pointed tip 34 but lacking a sharp side cutting edge. Blades 33 are made of a smooth surfaced molded plastic, although other materials could be used, including metal. Plastic however is preferred because it is less likely to catch on and damage the contents of the bundle under the plastic wrap.
Blades 33 are mounted to extend forwardly, flat, slightly rounded side down, from a tang or mounting block 35 that also can be made of plastic. As with other parts that need to move both horizontally and vertically at different times, the blade assemblies 32 A,B each include a vertical linear actuator 36 and a horizontal linear actuator 37 . The plunger of actuator 37 is connected to block 35 so that operation of actuator 37 extends or retracts blade 33 . A frame 38 connects actuator 37 to the operative end (plunger) of actuator 36 . By this means extension or retraction of actuator 36 raises or lowers the assembly of blade 33 , block 35 , actuator 37 and frame 38 . If needed proximity or contact sensors can be provided if needed to prevent over extension of the actuators 36 and 37 , or the cycle timing may be used to control these actuators. Once vacuum head 29 A moves into proximity to the upper surface of bundle 14 , the suction is sufficient to stretch and hold the underlying plastic wrap. A similar event takes place in the underside of bundle 14 using the bottom vacuum head 29 B. Some bundle types have voids therein on the top and bottom that the blades 33 of the invention can readily penetrate, and for bundles of this kind, vacuum assemblies 24 A, 24 B need not be used.
FIG. 2 shows the bundle 14 in position for piercing the plastic wrap before the blade assemblies start to advance. Both sets of actuators 36 and 37 are then actuated so that blades 33 A and 33 B move to the correct vertical position relative to the bulges created in the plastic wrap, and the blades 33 A, 33 B advance simultaneously towards the upper and lower bulges 40 . Points 34 of the blades readily pierce the plastic wrap and slide along the surface of the topmost flat item in bundle 14 , such as a magazine. The speed of movement of blades 33 A,B is preferably slow enough to minimize the likelihood of damage to the bundle contents, for example from 0.1 m/sec to 10 m/sec, preferably 0.5 m/sec to 2 m/sec. Once the plastic film has been pierced by blades 33 A,B then suction from vacuum assemblies 24 A, 24 B is discontinued and assemblies 24 A, 24 B are moved vertically back to their starting positions. Frames 26 mounted on the vacuum heads 29 A, 29 B move far enough to avoid mechanical interference with parts moving below and above.
FIG. 2 shows the bundle 14 in position for piercing the plastic wrap before the blade assemblies start to advance. This operation may be timed and pre-programmed based on the known length of bundles 14 , or based on the horizontal spacing, between stop gate 16 and grippers 18 .
As shown in FIGS. 2-3 , the sides of blades 33 A, 33 B taper towards the tip 34 to provide plow-like forces that stretch-tear the plastic wrap along the path of movement of each blade 33 A,B. This is not the same as cutting the film with a sharp edge of the blade and has the advantage of creating a wider opening in the top layer of plastic film and stretching the wrapping which relieves hoop stresses, making contents removal easier in later steps. FIG. 3 shows blades 33 A, 33 B at the front edge of bundle 14 , which has now been partially torn open on top and bottom. The plastic wrap 41 has gathered at the front of block 35 and is stretched away from the contents of the bundle 14 . Block 35 has moved into position below a vertical opener 42 . Opener 42 includes a pin 43 that is lowered by a linear actuator thorough a hole 44 in block 35 . With pin 43 extended through the stretched film at a position in front of the bundle contents, block 35 of blade 33 A is then driven further forward by its horizontal actuator 37 carrying pin 43 with it. For this purpose it may be useful to use a hold and release style of robotic vertical actuator for openers 42 that grips, moves and then releases the head of pin 43 .
As shown in FIG. 4 , when the forward travel of pin 43 is completed, it has completely torn through the front end wall of the plastic wrap 41 . Bundle 14 has been opened on three sides and is ready for unwrapping. In this example one vertical opener 42 is provided, and this is sufficient for relatively thin bundles. For thicker bundles, a counterpart opener 42 on the underside, in reverse orientation, is preferred.
For peeling the wrap away from the underlying contents, an unwrapping system 50 includes two pairs of parallel rods 52 A, 52 B above and 52 C, 52 D below the position where bundle 14 is supported on second conveyors 12 B. In the starting position shown in FIG. 4 , rods 52 each end in a horizontally extending curved finger 53 . Finger 53 of rod 52 A is mounted on the end of rod 52 A by means of a holder 54 and extends to the left in FIG. 4 from the left side of machine 10 . Holders 54 are preferably spring loaded to hold the fingers 53 lightly against the surface of the underlying article. Finger 53 of upper rod 52 B is offset horizontally a short distance from rod 52 A and extends to the right in FIG. 4 from the right side of machine 10 . Finger 53 of lower rod 52 C extends in the same direction as finger 53 of rod 52 A, and finger 53 of lower rod 52 D extends in the same direction as finger 53 of rod 52 B.
Linear actuators for moving rods 52 are at the ends opposite to the fingers 53 . During the unwrapping cycle rods 52 move to the positions shown in FIG. 5 so that a pair of fingers 53 are positioned side by side facing in opposite directions above bundle 14 as shown, and below bundle 14 in the same manner. The curved ends of fingers 53 preferably present a convex outer surface that aids fingers 53 in sliding under the open edges 55 of the wrap 41 . Rods 52 are then actuated so that they assume the position shown in FIG. 6 . Fingers 53 pull edges 55 in opposite directions on both the top and bottom of bundle 14 . By this means forward side portions 56 of wrap 41 are pulled outwardly both right and left in FIG. 6 .
The front end of bundle 14 is now free of wrap, and bundle 14 is moved further forward for the final stage of wrap removal shown in FIG. 7 . To aid in this process pairs of driven vertical belts 60 , such as timing belts are provided on the left and right sides of machine 10 . Each belt has a gripping pad 61 on its outer surface. Belts 60 are arranged in opposing pairs with gripping pads 61 in opposing positions. The left side front belt 60 A faces left side rear belt 60 B, and the same is true of belts 60 C and 60 D on the right. Belts 60 are spaced from each other initially but must move together at the appropriate time so that pads 61 of each pair 60 A,B and 60 C,D come close to one another as shown in FIG. 7 . One or both belts 60 of a pair can move for this purpose.
As shown in FIG. 7A , belts 60 of each pair can be driven by any suitable means such as power rollers 62 . At least one belt is provided with one or more linear actuators 63 for moving the belt assembly horizontally so that its pad 61 comes close to the pad 61 of the belt 60 facing it. By this means wrap 41 is gripped on both sides by two pairs of pads 61 .
With wrap 41 held in this manner, a pair of underlying forward belt conveyors 12 C similar to conveyors 12 B move the contents 70 of bundle 14 forward into contact with a stop or stops 65 at the front end of machine 10 . Wrap 41 held on both sides by pairs of pads 61 is removed from contents 70 as contents 70 moves forward. Once stop 65 is contacted, it is possible then to drive each of belts 60 in tandem with each other so that pads 61 move out of contact by passing around the next belt pulley, allowing wrap 41 to drop free into a collection container beneath machine 10 . Contents 70 can then be removed manually or continue to be conveyed on an extension of conveyor 12 C upon removal of stop 65 . All moving parts are then reset for the next unwrapping cycle back tot the positions shown in FIG. 1 as another bundle 14 is presented for unwrapping. Actuators 36 , 37 are used to return blades 33 A, 33 B to their starting positions when the tearing stroke is completed.
The described system thus provides for fully automated unwrapping of a plastic wrapped bundle of flat items such as magazines, catalogs or the like. Unlike known systems for opening boxes or cartons, the system of the invention does not use knives or cutting blades to open packaging. The blades of the present invention are configured to pierce the plastic film with a thrusting motion, not cut it along a line with a sharp edge or the like. The latter approach is not suitable for automated opening of plastic wrapped bundles of flat mail which could be easily damaged by a metal knife or razor blade.
It will be understood that the invention can be employed in other configurations and environments. For example, for better control of bundles 14 , both upper and lower drive belts can be provided which clamp the bundle. a) The throat of the upper/lower drive belts can be configured to spread to a distance adequate to accept various wrapped bundle heights. Position and dimension sensors may be deployed as needed so that a computerized control system can adjust the positions of moving parts to accommodate bundles of different sizes. And detectors such as photocells can be used to indicate when the bundle has reached a position at which a further operation should begin. The vacuum system may be provided with a valve for turning suction off and on when required and vacuum powered suction cups may be used to assist in the removal of the plastic wrap, such as to hold it when the bundle contents are removed. It is also possible, although difficult, to omit actuators for moving the blades along the outside of the bundle and instead hold the blades stationary while moving the bundle to producing the relative motion for piercing the wrapping. These and other modifications are within the scope of the appended claims. | A method and apparatus are provided for automatic bundle transport, positioning, wrapper entry, wrapper opening, wrapper loosening, wrapper removal and wrapper dunnage takeaway. The wrapper is made from pliable material, thin film or similar material and which can comprise a variety of package types and sizes of mail, media or other items. Additionally the method and apparatus of the invention performs the tasks of wrapper removal and discharge without damaging the item contents within. A bundle unwrapping machine according to the invention includes a conveyor by which bundles are presented to the unwrapping machine for opening. An opening mechanism includes a pair of openers positioned to engage a bundle on opposite sites. The bundle is transported into an opening zone in which it is supported for engagement with the openers. | 1 |
This invention relates generally to reflective-type visual marker or display devices, and more particularly, to such devices which are moveable to produce a distinctive visual pattern.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The moveable reflector-type marker or display devices of the prior art have provided a constant visual image. As a consequence, such prior devices lacked the ability to attract, or to sustain if initially attracted, the attention of a casual observer.
The present invention overcomes this and other deficiencies in the prior art and provides a visual marker or display device which appears to flash on and off and to do so at different locations, which flashes on and off at variable rates depending on its rotational speed, which may be simply and economically powered by the passing flow of air, which is especially suitable for use on a bicycle, and which is relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture, package and distribute. These and other attributess of the present invention, and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will become more readily apparent from a perusal of the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of one embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of another embodiment of the present invention, and
FIG. 3 is a top plan view, also partly in section, of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a device according to the present invention, indicated generally at 10, having a pair of lower arms 12 and 14 secured to a lower tube 16 and arranged at right angles to each other. A bushing 18 is retained in the lower tube 16 and rotatably engages a vertical support post 20, which has a larger diameter lower portion 22 forming an outward-extending shoulder to position and support the tube 16 vertically. Similarly, a pair of upper arms 24 and 26 are secured to an upper tube 28 with a bushing 30 retained therein for rotationally engaging the post 20. The upper arms 24 and 26 are arranged at right angles to each other, with the arms 24 and 26 oriented at 180 degrees from the arms 14 and 12 respectively. The position of the upper arms 24 and 26 relative to the arms 12 and 14 is maintained, and the upper tube 28 is supported by vertical members 32 and 34 which extend from and are secured to the lower arms 12 and 14 respectively and are secured at their upper ends to the upper tube 28.
A pair of hemispherical or cup-shaped air scoops 36 and 38 are attached to the lower arm 14. A disk 40 of material capable of reflecting light, such as standard automotive-type reflectors composed of multi-plane prisms, is secured near the bottom of each of the air scoops 36 and 38. A similar pair of air scoops 42 and 44 with reflector disks are secured to the lower arm 12 on the side thereof opposite the arm 14. The upper arms 24 and 26 are also provided with air scoops 46 and 48, and 50 and 52, respectively, with the scoops 46 and 48 positioned on the upper arm 24 on the side thereof opposite the side of the lower arm 14 on which the scoops 36 and 38 are secured, and the scoops on the arms 12 and 26 also being on opposite sides. With this relationship, the scoops always catch the air flowing past the device 10, regardless of the direction of that air flow, on one side of the post 20 creating a net force causing the device 10 to rotate on the post 20. The turning force is created because the air scoops are exposed to the air flow on one side of the post 20 while the smooth, plain side of the arms is exposed to the air flow on the other side of the post 20. Since the scoops catch the air and the smooth side of the arms do not, a greater force will be exerted on the scoop side than on the smooth side. The device 10 will therefore be rotated on the post 20.
As the device 10 rotates, the reflector disks 40 in the scoops 38 and 40 will be visible through approximately 90 degrees of rotation at the lower right of the device 10 to a viewer having a line of sight essentially at the elevation of the device. The reflector disks 40 in the scoops 42 and 44 on the lower arm 12 will then become visible at the lower right for essentially the same arc of the revolution. During the remaining portion of each revolution, the disks 40 on both arms 14 and 12 will be hidden from view. Thus, the disks on arms 14 and 12 will alternately appear to a viewer in succession followed by a period of time when no disks are visible. Since the human eye can distinguish images that occur at about 1/15 of a second or longer, the disks on the arms 14 and 12 may be individually distinguished at rotational speeds as high as 225 revolutions per minute (rpm). However, maximum visual effect is achieved when rotational speeds are in the range of 50 to 70 rpms.
Since the upper arms 24 and 26 are 180 degrees out of phase with the arms 14 and 12, the disks on arms 24 and 26 will alternately be visible at the upper right of the post 20 during that period of time when the disks on the lower arms 14 and 14 are not visible. The disks on the upper and lower arms will, therefore, appear alternately. Thus, there will be two flashes of reflected light at one elevation followed by two flashes of reflected light at a different elevation. If the disks on the two arms at the same elevation are of different colors, the visual effect of the two flashes at that elevation will be enhanced.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a device, indicated generally at 50, which is similar to that of FIG. 1, but which is suitable for packaging and mass distribution. The post 52 has a circumferential groove for accepting a snap ring 54, although it could have a larger diameter lower portion to form a shoulder in the same manner as the post in FIG. 1. A washer 56 is positioned atop the snap ring 54. A cylindrical body 58 having a central, longitudinal-extending bore for rotational mounting on the post 52 is supported by the washer 56. A washer 60 rests on top of the body 58 with a snap ring 62 seated in a groove in the post 52 retains the body 58 thereon. The distance between the snap rings 54 and 60 must be greater the combined length of body 58 and the thickness of the two washers 56 and 60 so that the body 58 may freely rotate. A pair of longitudinal peripheral slots 64 and 66 are provided in the body 58. These slots are positioned 90 degrees from each other and extend through the upper end of the body 58. A similar pair of slots 68 and 70 are positioned 180 degrees from the slots 64 and 66 respectively and extend through the bottom of the body 58. Each of the slots has an offset keyway extending in the same direction angularly to accept and radially retain the complementary shaped end of an arm 72. The arm 72 has a plurality of cup-shaped air scoops 74 formed therein with a reflective disk secured in the bottom of each scoop. Since the slots are identically shaped and are complementary to the end of the arm 72, the arms 72 are also identical, except perhaps for the color of the disk 76, to simplify the manufacture of the device 50. The device 50 may be packaged and distributed in a disassembled state, with the final assembly being done by the purchaser. This may be easily accomplished by sliding an arm 72 into each of the slots 64, 66, 68 and 70 in the body 58 and positioning the body on the post 52, with the snap ring 54 and washer 56 having previously been seated and positioned. The assembly is completed by positioning the washer 60 and then seating the snap ring 62. The washers 56 and 60 have an outer diameter sufficient to overlap the slots 64, 66, 68 and 70 and thus hold the arms in place.
While two embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims. | A device for attracting the attention of an observer having first and second pairs of arms mounted on a body at different elevations and at right angles to each other with air scoops and light reflectors on each of the arms so that the motion of air relative to the device will produce flashes of light alternately in the planes of the first and second pairs of arms. | 6 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to U.S. applications Ser. No. 783,131, filed 3/31/77, by S. O. Hutchison and G. W. Anderson and U.S. application Ser. No. 783,135, filed 3/31/77, by S. O. Hutchison and G. W. Anderson.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a steam injection system which includes steam deflectors connectable into a tubing string located in a well. The steam deflectors are adapted to pass a portion of the steam through the tubing fitting and to also divert a portion of the steam from the interior of the tubing string into the well liner-tubing annulus at one or more vertical intervals and in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Steam injection is a standard technique for improving oil recovery from a well. It is often desirable to inject steam into a well at a location other than the bottom of the tubing. This is particularly true in thick formations or in formations having more than one producing interval. Heretofore the practice was to simply direct the steam into a well liner-tubing annulus in the form of a jet at right angles to the tubing string. This, however, caused damage to the liner and uniform and certain placement of the steam was not certain utilizing the prior art placement methods. The present invention provides a steam deflector injection system which overcomes these problems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a steam injection system for proportioning steam flow to more than one injection interval in a well and which includes steam deflectors connectable into a tubing string for passing a portion of the steam down the interior of the tubing string and for diverting a portion of the steam from the interior of the tubing string out into the well liner-tubing annulus in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string to prevent damage to the well liner. The steam deflectors are provided with both a central opening for stream flow down the interior of the tubing string and bypass openings for steam flow to the outside of the steam deflector. The total cross-section flow area of the bypass opening of all the steam deflectors is maintained at a value of between one-third and two-third the cross-sectional flow area of the tubing string. A plurality of steam deflectors having different sizes of bypass openings may be used to proportion the steam going to a number of steam injection intervals.
PRINCIPAL OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a steam injection system for directing steam into a well from the tubing string in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string at a plurality of different vertical intervals in proportioned quantity without using packers in the well liner-tubing annulus. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings which are incorporated herein and made a part of this specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a steam deflector assembled in accordance with the present invention having highly restricted bypass flow openings for directing steam into the well liner-tubing annulus;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken at line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of a steam deflector assembled in accordance with the present invention having less restrictive bypass flow path openings for directing steam into the well liner-tubing annulus;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken at line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view of a steam deflector assembled in accordance with the invention having still less restrictive bypass flow path openings for directing steam into the well liner-tubing annulus;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken at line 6--6 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is an elevation view partially in section and illustrates steam deflectors positioned on tubing located in a well;
FIG. 8 is an elevation view partially in section and illustrates steam deflectors positioned on tubing located in a well; and
FIG. 9 is an elevation view partially in section and illustrates steam deflectors positioned on tubing located in a well.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a steam deflector indicated generally by the numeral 20 useful in the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken at line 2--2 of FIG. 1. The steam deflector 20 is used to proportion steam flow down the tubing string and steam flow from the interior of the tubing string into the well annulus in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string. Thus, it may be desirable to inject steam both through the tubing string out the bottom thereof and to divert steam through the steam deflector into the well at a higher interval. The steam deflector 20 includes an outer tubular skirt section 30. Means, such as adapter collar 32, are provided for connecting the upper end of skirt section 30 to the tubing string 19. An inner mandrel section 34 having a central opening 36 through its entire length is arranged with its upper portion extending coaxially interiorly of the lower portion of the skirt section 30. The outer tubular skirt 30 and the mandrel section 34 are fixedly connected together such as by welds 45, 46, 47, 48. The lower end of the inner mandrel section 34 is provided with threads 37 for connecting it to the tubing string. Four bypass flow openings 40, 41, 42, 43 are formed in the mandrel section 34 and provide for diverting a portion of the steam from the interior of the deflector into the well annulus. When steam is directed into the well through the bypass openings 40--43 it enters the well in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string. The channels which form the bypass openings 40--43 are equally spaced apart on the outer surface of the mandrel section 34. The total cross-sectional flow area of the bypass openings 40--43 is substantially less than the cross-sectional flow area of the interior to tubing string 19.
FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken at line 4--4 of FIG. 3 showing an embodiment of the present invention with less restrictive bypass openings than the FIG. 1 embodiment. Thus steam deflector, indicated generally by 120, includes an outer tubular skirt member 130 which is fixedly connected to an inner mandrel section 134 by suitable welds 145, 146, 147, 148. A plurality of restrictive bypass openings 140, 141, 142, 143 are formed by channels equally spaced apart on the outer surface of the mandrel section 134. These openings 140--143 have greater total cross-sectional flow area than the openings of FIG. 1 embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken at line 6--6 of FIG. 5 showing an embodiment of the present invention with less restrictive bypass openings than the FIG. 1 or the FIG. 3 embodiments. Thus steam deflector, indicated generally by 220, includes an outer tubular skirt member 230 which is fixedly connected to an inner mandrel section 234 by suitable welds 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250. A plurality of restrictive bypass openings 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244 are formed by channels equally spaced apart on the outer surface of the mandrel section 234. These openings 239--244 have greater total cross-sectional flow area than either the openings of the FIG. 1 or FIG. 3 embodiments.
As noted above the cross-sectional flow area of restrictive bypass openings is adjusted with limits of between one-third and two-third of the cross-sectional flow area of the tubing string to give desired steam placement at different intervals in the well. For example 23/8 inch of tubing has a cross-sectional flow area of 3.1416 square inches. Useful total bypass flow areas for the FIG. 1, FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 embodiments with this size tubing are 0.43 square inch (20); 0.60 square inch (120); and 0.90 square inch (220). The larger bypass flow areas will permit more steam to flow into the well liner-tubing annulus. Any combination of steam deflectors may be spaced apart on the tubing string so long as the total bypass flow area is equal to between one-third to two-thirds of the tubing cross-sectional flow area. It has been found that the deflector should be positioned in the well adjacent to top of a sand into which steam is to be injected. One deflector will provide steam for about the 50 vertical feet of formation immediately below its placement position.
FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 are elevation views partially in section and show steam deflectors assembled on a tubing string in a well in accordance with the present invention. Thus, in FIG. 7 a tubing string 19 is run into a well adjacent producing intervals 10, 11, 12. A production liner 14 having suitable slots or perforations is positioned adjacent the producing formations. A bull plug 50 closes off the bottom of the tubing string to flow. The tubing string is for example 23/8 inch O.D. and has a flow area of 3.1416 square inches. Thus, in accordance with the invention, the total area of the bypass openings of the deflectors should be a value from 3.1416 times 1/3 to 3.1416 times 2/3, or 1.03 square inches to 2.07 square inches. As noted above with this type of tubing string, the number 20 deflector would preferably have a bypass flow opening area of 0.43 square inch; the number 120 deflector would preferably have a bypass flow opening area of 0.60 square inch; and the number 220 deflector would preferably have a bypass flow opening of 0.90 square inch. Thus, the FIG. 7 configuration contains one 20 deflector; one 120 deflector and one 220 deflector having a total bypass flow area of 1.93 square inches. FIG. 8 illustrates, for example, a situation where it may be desirable to steam only the upper interval 10 and the lower interval 12. Therefore, two 220 deflectors are suitable. These two deflectors have a total bypass flow area of 1.8 square inches. FIG. 9 illustrates a situation where four intervals can be simultaneously steamed. In this embodiment the bull plug 50 is provided with a downwardly pointing jet nozzle having a flow area of 0.50 square inch. The three 20 deflectors plus the 0.50 square inch jet total 1.96 square inches ot toal steam flow area.
The present invention thus provides for steaming a plurality of vertical levels in a well simultaneously without the need for packers on the tubing string. Although certain embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail the invention is not to be limited to only such embodiments but rather by the scope of the appended claims. | A steam injection system including steam deflectors connectable into a tubing string positioned in a well which steam deflectors provide for distribution of steam through the tubing string to a plurality of intervals in the well without the use of packers and from which steam enters into the well liner-tubing annulus in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubing string. | 4 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. provisional patent application entitled “Unequal Margin Assignment in the Bit Loading Process for DMT Transceivers” filed on Jun. 1, 1998 and afforded Ser. No. 60/087570.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of discrete multi-tone (DMT) data communication, and, more particularly, to the field of optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio margin of DMT channels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In data communications using discrete mulitone (DMT) technology, a serial data bit stream to be communicated is distributed among multiple channels and transmitted in parallel from a transmitting modem to a receiving modem. These channels are contained in bandwidth of approximately 1.104 megahertz. Each channel has a bandwidth of 4 kilohertz. The center frequencies of each band are separated by 4.3125 kilohertz.
It is often the case that interference with each channel may vary depending on the precise frequency band occupied by the particular channel. Some channels may experience little or no interference, while the interference on others may be so great as to make that particular channel unusable.
Because interference with individual channels may vary, conventional DMT modems establish a bit loading configuration in which the bit rate of individual channels varies based upon the signal-to-noise ratio of each channel. In order to determine the individual bit rates for each channel, the signal-to-noise ratio for each channel is ascertained. This is typically accomplished at the start up of data communication by transmitting a tone at the center frequency of each channel from the transmitting modem and then measuring the signal-to-noise ratio for each channel at the receiving modem.
After the signal-to-noise ratio is measured for each channel, it is a typical practice to subtract a common margin, typically 6 dB, from the measured signal-to-noise ratio of each channel to obtain a transmission signal-to-noise ratio at which to achieve a bit error rate of approximately 10 −7 . An appropriate bit rate is assigned to the channel based upon the transmission signal-to-noise ratio obtained.
Such conventional approaches suffer from the subtraction of a common margin from all of the measured signal-to-noise ratios of each channel. It is automatically assumed that the common 6 dB margin is appropriate to compensate for the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio for each channel. However, some channels may experience greater variation in the signal-to-noise ratio than others. Thus, in some cases the common margin may be too great, resulting in a bit rate that is unnecessarily slow. In other cases the common margin may be too small, resulting in a bit rate that is too high which translates into an unnecessarily high bit error rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an objective of the present invention to provide for a DMT modem which establishes an optimum margin for each DMT channel. In furtherance of this objective, the present invention entails a discrete multi-tone (DMT) transceiver which comprises a processor and a memory. Stored on the memory is operating logic which directs the function of the processor. The operating logic includes bit allocation logic and signal-to-noise (SNR) variation logic. The SNR variation logic determines an variation in the signal-to-noise ratio for each channel. The bit loading logic then determines a bit loading configuration based upon the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio ascertained by the SNR variation logic. The SNR variation logic preferably includes logic to determine the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio by means of statistical analysis, however, other approaches to determining the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio may be employed.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for establishing the bit loading configuration of a discrete multi-tone (DMT) transceiver comprising the steps of determining a variation in a signal-to-noise ratio for each of the channels, and, determining bit loading configuration for each of the channels based on the a variation in the signal-to-noise ratio for each of the channels.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features and advantages be included herein within the scope of he present invention, as defined by the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
FIG. 1 is a graph showing conventional signal-to-noise ratio margins for a plurality of discrete multi-tone channels;
FIG. 2 is a graph showing the signal-to-noise ratio margins for a plurality of discrete multi-tone channels according an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a discrete multi-tone data link according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a discrete multi-tone modem according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the bit allocation logic executed by the discrete multi-tone modem of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a first alternative of the signal-to-noise ratio variation logic executed by the discrete multi-tone modem of FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a second alternative of the signal-to-noise ratio variation logic executed by the discrete multi-tone modem of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a third alternative of the signal-to-noise ratio variation logic executed by the discrete multi-tone modem of FIG. 4 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a graph 50 which details the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the channels of a conventional discrete multi-tone (DMT) data link. For each DMT channel, a measured SNR 53 is shown. A common SNR margin 56 is subtracted from the measured SNR 53 for each DMT channel resulting in an SNR threshold 59 . The SNR threshold 59 is the signal-to-noise ratio employed to achieve a 10 −7 bit error rate at the selected bit rate per each DMT channel.
Turning then, to FIG. 2, shown is a graph 60 which details the SNR of the channels of a DMT data link according to the present invention. Once again, for each DMT channel, a measured SNR 53 is shown. However, the SNR margins employed vary from channel to channel, depending upon the potential SNR variation experienced during the connection. For example, a large margin 63 is used in channel 4 , whereas a small margin 66 is used for channel 9 . The varying margins allow the DMT channels to be used with a maximum of efficiency, while ensuring a low bit error rate.
Referring to FIG. 3, shown is a block diagram showing the functionality of a discrete multi-tone (DMT) data link 100 according to the present invention. The DMT data link 100 includes the functionality of a transmitter 103 and a receiver 106 which communicates across a communications channel 109 . It is understood that the functionality of the transmitter 103 and receiver 106 are generally combined in a single DMT modem so that it may transmit and receive data communication to and from other modems and that the transmit and receive functions are shown individually herein for purposes of illustration and clarity. The transmitter 103 includes a data input 113 which is coupled to a bit allocation block 116 . The bit allocation block 116 is further coupled to quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) blocks 119 1−n which in turn are coupled to the tone scaling block 123 . The tone scaling block 123 is coupled to the inverse fast fourier transform block 126 . The output of the inverse fast fourier transform block 126 is coupled to the communications channel 109 .
The receiver 106 is coupled to the communications channel 109 and receives the DMT signal from the inverse fast fourier transform block 126 at the time domain equalizer block 129 . The time domain equalizer block 129 is coupled to the fast fourier transform block 133 which in turn is coupled to multiple frequency domain equalizer blocks 136 1−n . Each frequency domain equalizer block 136 1−n is coupled to a respective slicer block 139 1−n , data adder block 146 1−n , and to a data recovery circuitry block 143 . The output of each slicer block 139 1−n is provided to a respective adder block 146 1−n which, in turn, provides an output to a signal-to-noise estimation block 149 . The noise estimation block 149 provides outputs to both a signal-to-noise variation storage block 153 and a bit loading block 156 . The bit loading block 156 provides bit allocation information to a bit allocation table 166 and tone scaling information to a tone scaling table 169 .
To explain the functionality of the discrete multi-tone (DMT) data link 100 as shown by the block diagram of FIG. 3, a serial data stream enters the bit allocation block 116 where the serial data is distributed among multiple DMT channels, each DMT channel corresponding to an individual quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) block 119 1−n . Note that the bit rates of the individual DMT channels may vary depending on the interference experienced by each DMT channel. In cases of greater interference, the bit rate is slower and vice versa. The actual bit rates of the DMT channels are determined from the bit allocation table 166 .
The QAM blocks 119 1−n generally produce a modulated tone which is then scaled based upon a desired signal-to-noise ratio for each individual DMT channel in the tone scaling block 123 according to the tone scaling table 169 . The multiple DMT channels are then combined by the inverse fast fourier transform block 126 and transmitted across the channel 109 to the time domain equalizer block 129 of the receiver 106 . The time domain equalizer (TEQ) block 129 serves to shorten the channel, thereby minimizing distortion due to the channel 109 in the time domain. The output of the TEQ block 129 is coupled to a fast fourier transform block 133 which converts the output of the TEQ block 129 into the frequency domain and distributes the multiple DMT channels among the frequency domain equalizer (FEQ) blocks 136 1−n . The FEQ blocks 136 1−n correct any phase and amplitude distortion in the frequency domain. The output of the individual FEQ blocks 136 1−n are provided to respective slicer blocks 139 1−n and the data recovery block 143 . In the data recovery block 143 , the serial data signal is reconstructed from the DMT channels in a process which is generally the reverse of that performed by the bit allocation block 116 .
The slicer blocks 139 1−n decide which QAM signal is transmitted by the QAM blocks 119 1−n . The output of the FEQ blocks 136 1−n is subtracted from the estimated QAM signal in the adder blocks 146 1−n , resulting in an output from which an estimate of the signal-to-noise ratio of the individual DMT channels is determined in the signal-to-noise (SNR) estimator block 149 . The SNR estimator block 149 provides the SNR estimate for each DMT channel to the SNR variation storage block 153 . The SNR variation storage block 153 uses this information to maintain SNR variation information over time such as, for example, a maximum and minimum SNR for each DMT channel. The SNR variation information is provided to the bit loading block 156 . The SNR estimate for each DMT channel is also provided to the bit loading block 156 from the SNR estimator block 149 .
In accordance with the present invention, the precise bit allocation and tone scaling is determined based upon the SNR estimate and the optimum margin estimate determined from the SNR variation in the bit loading block 156 at the startup of data communication. The bit allocation and tone scaling information is transmitted across the communications channel 109 to the transmitter 103 to the bit allocation table 166 and the tone scaling table 169 . The SNR estimate is determined at startup or during data communication by transmitting a tone at the center frequency of each DMT channel and the SNR estimate is determined. The SNR variation is stored in memory and is updated over time during multiple uses of the data link 100 .
The actual distribution of the data input 113 among the multiple DMT channels by the bit allocation block 116 is performed pursuant to the bit allocation table 166 . Likewise, the actual tone scaling performed on each DMT channel by the tone scaling block 123 is performed pursuant to the tone scaling table 169 .
Turning to FIG. 4, shown is a DMT modem 200 which combines the functions of the transmitter 103 (FIG. 3) and receiver 106 (FIG. 3) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The DMT modem 200 includes a processor 203 , a memory 206 , a data input/output 209 , and a modulated data input/output 213 , all electrically coupled to a common data bus 216 . The processor 203 operates according to the operating logic 219 stored on the memory 206 . The operating logic 219 includes bit allocation logic 223 and the SNR variation logic 226 . A data signal 229 is received or transmitted by the data input/output 209 to a peripheral device which processes the data itself. Likewise, a modulated data signal is received and transmitted through the modulated data input/output 213 to and from a second DMT modem 233 linked by a telephone channel.
To describe the operation of the DMT modem 200 , the operating logic 206 is executed by the processor 203 to conduct DMT data communication. In particular, at start up, the bit allocation logic 223 is executed, thereby establishing the bit loading configuration to be used by the second DMT modem 233 in transmitting a modulated data signal to the DMT modem 200 . The SNR variation logic 226 is executed at predetermined times to ascertain the variation of the signal-to-noise ratio for each individual DMT channel from which the margin for each channel is calculated.
Turning then, to FIG. 5, shown is a flow diagram of the bit allocation logic 223 . Note that the bit allocation logic 223 discussed herein is an example of any number of bit allocation approaches which may be employed. The bit allocation logic 223 begins with block 253 in which the initial parameters are set. In particular, the parameters include an overall margin γ 0 which is set to 0 dB, a total number of used DMT channels N USED which is set equal to the actual number of DMT channels which is 256 in the preferred embodiment, and a total bit rate b 0 which is an assumed bit rate of the DMT modem 200 (FIG. 4 ). The overall margin is an average of the margins for each channel in the timed domain. Next, the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 256 in which the bit rate b′(i) for each DMT channel is calculated using the equation
b ′( i )=log 2(1+10 (SNR(i)−(9.8+γ(i)))/10 ),
where SNR(i) is the signal-to-noise ratio of each DMT channel, respectively, and γ(i) is defined by the equation
γ( i )=γ 0 ΔSNR ( i )dB,
where γ 0 is the overall margin and ΔSNR(i) is defined as the variation of the signal-to-noise ratio for each DMT channel. The determination of the signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) is discussed later. Note, however, that the signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) may be employed in other approaches used to calculate the bit allocation, the above equations being an example.
The bit allocation logic 223 then proceeds to block 259 in which those DMT channels with a calculated bit rate b′(i) that are less than a predetermined threshold are eliminated from consideration. In the preferred embodiment, the i th DMT channel is eliminated where b′(i)<2. When a DMT channel is eliminated, the total number of used DMT channels is adjusted where N USED =N USED −1. Next, the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 263 where the overall margin γ 0 is recalculated using the equation γ 0 = γ 0 + 10 log 10 ( 2 ∑ i ∈ A b ′ ( i ) - b 0 N USED ) dB ,
where the set A is defined as the number of active DMT channels used. Thereafter, in block 266 , a determination is made as to whether the overall margin γ 0 is stabilized such that γ 0 (n+1) −γ 0 (n)<δ, where δ is a predetermined value. If the overall margin is not stabilized, then the bit allocation logic 223 reverts back to block 256 . If the overall margin γ 0 is stabilized, then the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 269 in which the calculated bit rate b′(i) for each of the i DMT channels are truncated to the nearest integer toward zero so that b(i)=[b′(i)].
Next the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 273 in which the collective bit rate achieved by adding the truncated bit rates b(i), i.e. ∑ i ∈ A b ( i ) ,
is subtracted from the total bit rate b 0 to obtain the shortfall N SHORT in the bit rate as compared to the total bit rate b 0 using the equation N SHORT = b 0 - ∑ i ∈ A b ( i ) .
Next, in block 276 the bit rates b(i) are supplemented by 1, where b(i)=b(i)+1 for those DMT channels in which the truncate error b′(i)−b(i) is smallest to make up for the shortfall N SHORT . After the bit rates b(i) have been supplemented in block 276 , the bit rates b(i) are employed in the bit allocation for the DMT channels.
Once the bit allocation for the DMT channels is finally determined in block 276 , the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 276 in which the signal-to-noise ratio required for each DMT channel in light of the supplementation of block 279 . The required signal-to-noise ratio for each DMT channel SNR(i) is calculated using the equation
SNR ′( i )=10 log 10(2 b(i) −1)+9.8+γ( i ).
Next, in block 283 , SNR′(i) is realized for each DMT channel by adjusting the transmitter power of the individual DMT channels accordingly. The magnitude of the power adjustment ΔP(i) for each DMT channel is calculated using the equation
Δ P ( i )= SNR ′( i )− SNR ( i )+α,
where α is defined by α = 10 log 10 ( N ∑ i ( SNR ′ ( i ) - SNR ( i ) ) )
to ensure that the total transmitter power is unchanged where N is equal to the total number of channels. Finally, the bit allocation logic 223 proceeds to block 286 in which the bit allocation is communicated to the bit allocation table 166 (FIG. 3) and the power adjustments ΔP(i) are communicated to the tone scaling table 169 (FIG. 3 ). The bit allocation is then used by the transmitter 103 (FIG. 3) in configuring the DMT transmission. Note that the resulting overall margin can be found by the equation γ a = γ 0 + α + 1 N ∑ i Δ SNR ( i ) .
Turning back to FIG. 4, note that in block 256 (FIG. 5) the calculation employs the variation of the signal-to-noise ratio ΔSNR(i). Consequently, the operating logic 219 includes the SNR variation logic 226 to determine the signal-to-noise ratio variation ΔSNR for each DMT channel.
Referring to FIG. 6, shown is a flow chart which details a first alternative SNR variation logic 226 A. In block 303 , measurements for SNR(i) are taken. The SNR variation logic 226 A assumes that a predetermined number of M SNR measurements are taken for each channel over time and stored in a memory array which holds the predetermined number of measurements M for each channel, denoted by
SNR ( i,n ), n= 1, 2, . . . , M
where i is the channel index, and n is a time index which includes a total number of time periods M. Next, in block 306 , the new values measured for SNR(i) are stored in the memory array on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis so as to maintain the last M number of SNR measurements taken for each channel. The amount of memory necessary to store the SNR(i,n) is equal to M×N, where N is equal to the number of channels. The actual number M of time periods stored is application specific, depending in part on the amount of memory available for storage and the number of samples one wishes to maintain in memory for each channel for the following statistical calculations.
Then, in block 309 , the mean averages {overscore (SNR(i))} of the signal-to-noise ratios are calculated where SNR ( i ) _ = 1 M ∑ n = 1 M SNR ( i , n )
Next, in block 313 , the variance σ(i) 2 is calculated where σ ( i ) 2 = 1 M ∑ n - 1 M ( SNR ( i , n ) - SNR ( i ) _ ) 2
In block 316 , the variation in the signal to noise ratio ΔSNR(i) is calculated by the equation
ΔSNR ( i )=({square root over (σ( i +L ) 2 +L )}) C
where C is a predetermined confidence variable C which is specified based on prior experience with the particular channel. For greater reliability, C is larger, and vice versa.
Finally, in block 319 , it is determined whether an interrupt has occurred. If so, then the SNR variation logic 226 A ends. If not, then the SNR variation logic 226 A reverts back to block the variation in the signal to noise ratio ΔSNR(i). Thus, updated values for the variation in the signal to noise ratio ΔSNR(i) may be determined on an ongoing basis.
Turning then, to FIG. 7, shown is a flow chart which details a second alternative SNR variation logic 226 B. In block 353 , the SNR variation logic 226 B determines initial values for {overscore (SNR(i))} and places them in memory. The determination of {overscore (SNR(i))} may be calculated in a manner similar the calculations of the SNR variation logic 226 A (FIG. 6 ). In block 356 , values for SNR(i) are measured and stored in memory. Thereafter, in block 359 , an updated estimate of {overscore (SNR(i))} is calculated using the equation
{overscore ( SNR +L ( i +L ))}=(1−α){overscore ( SNR +L ( i +L ))}+α SNR ( i, n )
where α is a positive time constant much smaller than 1. Thereafter, in block 363 , an estimate of the variances σ(i) 2 is calculated according to the equation
σ( i ) 2 =(1−β)σ( i ) 2 +β( SNR ( i, n )−{overscore ( SNR +L ( i +L ))}) 2
where β is a positive time constant much smaller than 1. Next, in block 366 , the variation in the signal to noise ratio ΔSNR(i) is calculated by the equation
ΔSNR ( i )=({square root over (σ( i +L ) 2 +L )}) C
where, once again, C is a predetermined confidence variable C which is specified based on prior experience with the particular channel. For greater reliability, C is larger, and vice versa. The second embodiment is advantageous in requiring less memory than the first alternative in that there is no need to store the number of time periods M to obtain updated values for {overscore (SNR(i))}. Instead, only initial values for {overscore (SNR(i))} are necessary. The SNR variation logic 226 B is repeated for each subsequent measurement of the signal-to-noise ratios SNR(i,n).
Finally, in block 369 , it is determined whether an interrupt has occurred. If so, then the SNR variation logic 226 B ends. If not, then the SNR variation logic 226 B reverts back to block 356 . Thus, updated values for the variation in the signal to noise ratio ΔSNR(i) may be determined on an ongoing basis.
With reference to FIG. 8, shown is a flow chart which details a third alternative SNR variation logic 226 C. Given that the signal-to-noise ratio of a particular DMT channel may vary over time, the SNR variation logic 226 C periodically samples the signal-to-noise ratio for each DMT channel and stores the maximum signal-to-noise ratio SNR HIGH and the minimum signal-to-noise ratio SNR Low experienced on each DMT channel. The SNR variation ΔSNR for each DMT channel is calculated by subtracting SNR LOW from SNR HIGH .
With this in mind, the SNR variation logic 226 C begins with block 403 in which the time is set for periodic sampling of the signal-to-noise ratios of each DMT channel while the DMT modem 200 (FIG. 4) is used. Note that another approach may be used in which periodic sampling is not employed, but the sampling of the each DMT channel is accomplished only at startup or according to some other predetermined criteria.
The SNR variation logic then proceeds to block 406 in which initial values are determined for SNR HIGH (i) and SNR LOW (i) for each DMT channel if they have not been previously stored from prior use of the DMT modem 200 . This may be accomplished by sampling the signal-to-noise ratios of each DMT channel until two unequal values are obtained and then assigning the greater of the two to be SNR HIGH (i) and the lower value to be SNR LOW (i).
Once initial values are determined for SNR HIGH (i) and SNR LOW (i), the SNR variation logic 226 C proceeds to block 409 in which a sample of the signal-to-noise ratio SNR(i) of each DMT channel is acquired. Thereafter, in block 411 , a loop variable i which corresponds to the individual DMT channels is set to zero and the SNR variation logic proceeds to block 413 , where the acquired signal-to-noise ratio SNR(i) is compared with SNR HIGH (i). If SNR(i) is greater than SNR HIGH (i), then the SNR variation logic 226 C proceeds to block 416 . If SNR(i) is less than or equal to SNR HIGH (i), then the SNR variation logic 226 C proceeds to block 419 . In block 416 , SNR HIGH (i) is set equal to the acquired signal-to-noise ratio SNR(i). If the SNR variation logic 226 C proceeds to block 419 , then the acquired signal-to-noise ratio SNR(i) is compared with SNR LOW (i). If SNR(i) is less than SNR LOW (i), then the SNR variation logic 226 C moves to block 423 in which SNR LOW (i) is set equal to SNR(i). On the other hand, if SNR(i) is greater than or equal to SNR LOW (i), then the SNR variation logic 226 C progresses to block 426 .
From blocks 416 or 423 , the SNR variation logic 226 C progresses to block 429 in which the a new signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) is calculated where ΔSNR(i)=SNR HIGH (i)−SNR LOW (i). The new value for ΔSNR(i) is then stored for use as described previously. Thereafter, the SNR variation logic 226 C moves to block 426 in which the loop variable i is incremented by 1. The SNR variation logic 226 C then proceeds to block 433 in which it is determined if the loop variable i has reached a value equal to the number of DMT channels, which is preferably 256 . If the loop variable i has not yet been incremented beyond the number of DMT channels, then the SNR variation logic 226 C reverts back to block 413 to repeat the process with the next DMT channel. If the loop variable i has been incremented beyond the number of DMT channels, then the SNR variation logic 226 C proceeds to block 436 in which it is determined if the sample acquisition time period is tolled. When the time period tolls, the SNR variation logic 226 C reverts back to block 409 where the above process is repeated. If the sample acquisition time period is not tolled, the then SNR variation logic 226 C stays at block 436 until this condition occurs. Note if there is no sample acquisition time period to toll, such as would be the case if the SNR variation logic 226 C was only applied at the startup of data communication, then the SNR variation logic 226 C would end at block 436 .
Note that the DMT modem 200 advantageously includes a reset which, when activated, erases the values SNR HIGH (i), SNR LOW (i), and ΔSNR(i) for each DMT channel, replacing them with zero. This allows the DMT modem 200 to adapt values for ΔSNR(i) for a new communications channel 109 (FIG. 3) when the DMT modem 200 is moved.
The SNR variation logic 226 may determine the signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) for each channel using further approaches. For example, ΔSNR(i) can simply be preset based on measurements of the channel at installation or some subsequent time or based upon other a priori knowledge of the behavior of the channel. Additionally, the measured values for ΔSNR(i) can be stored to from which to determine a running average. In this case, a backlog of a predetermined number of values for ΔSNR(i) for each channel is stored in a shifted memory which acts as a first-in-first-out storage device. When a new value for ΔSNR(i) is determined, the backlog is shifted, throwing out the oldest value and shifting in the newest measurement. An average of the new set of values is then taken to determine an updated value for ΔSNR(i).
The decision of the precise version of the SNR logic 226 to employ is application specific. The adaptive approaches to determining the signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) as discussed herein provides an advantage in that the signal-to-noise variation ΔSNR(i) is continually updated over time so that the DMT modem 200 may use this updated information to establish the data link using accurate values for ΔSNR(i). As a result, the optimum margins are calculated for each DMT channel, which in turn translates into an optimum bit rate for each DMT channel while ensuring a desired bit error rate which is, for example, 10 −7 .
Many variations and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the following claims. | A system and method which establishes an optimum margin for each channel in a discrete multi-tone (DMT) transceiver. The present system entails a discrete multi-tone transceiver which comprises a processor and a memory. Stored on the memory is operating logic which directs the function of the processor. The operating logic includes bit allocation logic and signal-to-noise (SNR) variation logic. The SNR variation logic determines an variation in the signal-to-noise ratio for each channel. The bit loading logic then determines a bit loading configuration based upon the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio ascertained by the SNR variation logic. The SNR variation logic preferably includes logic to determine the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio by means of statistical analysis, however, other approaches to determining the variation in the signal-to-noise ratio may be employed. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to a chip package, which is miniaturized and more simply manufactured by attaching a substrate provided with conductive via holes to both surfaces of a chip, and a method of manufacturing the chip package.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As well known to those skilled in the art, semiconductor elements such as diodes or transistors are packaged and these packaged elements are then mounted on a printed circuit board. Structurally, this package easily connects terminals of the semiconductor chip to corresponding signal patterns of the printed circuit board and serves to protect the semiconductor chip from external stresses, thereby improving reliability of the package.
[0005] In order to satisfy recent trends of miniaturization of semiconductor products, the semiconductor chip packages also have been miniaturized. Therefore, a chip scale package has been introduced. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional chip scale package. The structure of the chip scale package 10 of FIG. 1 employs a ceramic substrate 1 and is applied to a diode with two terminals.
[0006] With reference to FIG. 1, two via holes, i.e., a first via hole 2 a and a second via hole 2 b , are formed on the ceramic substrate 1 . The first and the second via holes 2 a , 2 b are filled with a conductive material so as to electrically connect the upper and the lower surfaces of the first and the second via holes 2 a , 2 b . Then, a first and a second upper conductive lands 3 a , 3 b are formed on the upper surfaces of the first and the second via holes 2 a , 2 b , respectively. A first and a second lower conductive lands 4 a , 4 b are formed on the lower surfaces of the first and the second via holes 2 a , 2 b , respectively. The second upper conductive land 3 b is directly connected to a terminal formed on the lower surface of the diode 5 , i.e., a mounting surface of the diode 5 on a printed circuit board, and the first upper conductive land 3 a is connected to the other terminal formed on the upper surface of the diode 5 by a wire 7 . A molding part 9 using a conventional resin is formed on the upper surface of the ceramic substrate 1 including the diode 5 in order to protect the diode 5 from the external stresses. Thereby, the manufacture of the package 10 is completed.
[0007] [0007]FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional chip package array.
[0008] As shown in FIG. 2, the manufactured chip package 10 is mounted on the printed circuit board 20 by a reflow soldering. The diode package 10 is electrically and mechanically connected to the printed circuit board 20 by arranging the upper conductive lands 3 a , 3 b and the lower conductive lands 4 a , 4 b of the package 10 on the corresponding signal patterns of the printed circuit board 20 and by then connecting the upper conductive lands 3 a , 3 b and the lower conductive lands 4 a , 4 b to the signal patterns with a solder 15 .
[0009] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the diode usually has terminals on its two opposite surfaces, these terminals should be interconnected by wires. However, these wires require a rather large space on the upper surface of the chip, thereby increasing the overall height of the package. Further, since two or three via holes, corresponding to the number of the terminals of the chip, are formed on the ceramic substrate, an area as large as the total diameters of the via holes is further required. Moreover, in order not to connect the conductive lands formed on the upper and the lower surfaces of the via holes to each other, the conductive lands are spaced from each other by a designated interval. Therefore, the size of the substrate imposes a limit in miniaturizing the package.
[0010] Accordingly, a packaging technique, which can minimize the size of the package and simplify its manufacturing process, has been demanded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a stable chip package, which is miniaturized, more simply manufactured and improves its reliability by attaching a substrate provided with conductive via holes to two opposite surfaces of a chip and by forming a resin molding part in a space between two substrates.
[0012] It is another object of the present invention to provide a chip package assembly, which is mounted on a printed circuit board by a innovative method according to the structure of the chip package.
[0013] It is a yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing the chip package.
[0014] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a chip package comprising a chip having a first surface provided with a first terminal and a second surface provided with at least one second terminal, the second surface being opposite to the first surface, a first substrate arranged on the first surface of the chip and having a first conductive via hole connected to the first terminal, and a second substrate arranged on the second surface of the chip and having at least one second conductive via hole connected to the second terminal.
[0015] In preferable embodiment according to the present invention, the chip package further comprises a resin molding part formed around the chip between the first substrate and the second substrate.
[0016] Also, the first substrate may have the same size and shape as those of the second substrate, and the resin molding part may have the same size and shape as those of the first substrate and the second substrate, thereby further miniaturizing the package. Further, the chip package may be hexahedral-shaped.
[0017] Further, preferably, the first and the second substrates may be made of a printed circuit board.
[0018] Moreover, preferably, each of the first and second conductive via holes of the first and second substrates may be formed on at least one side of each substrate in an approximately semicircular shape, or on at least one corner of each substrate in an approximately quarter-circular shape.
[0019] Preferably, the chip package may be applied to a diode element with two terminals or to a transistor element with three terminals. In case of the transistor element, the second substrate attached to the second surface of the transistor comprises two second conductive via holes to correspond to two terminals.
[0020] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chip package assembly comprising a chip package and a printed circuit board. The chip package comprises a chip having a first surface provided with a first terminal and a second surface provided with at least one second terminal, the second surface being opposite to the first surface, a first substrate arranged on the first surface of the chip and having a first conductive via hole connected to the first terminal, and a second substrate arranged on the second surface of the chip and having at least one second conductive via hole connected to the second terminal. The printed circuit board comprises a plurality of signal patterns formed on the upper surface of the printed circuit board and connected to the terminals of the chip package, and a plurality of conductors for connecting the first and second conductive via holes to the signal patterns. Herein, the chip package is vertically mounted on the upper surface of the printed circuit board so that the outer surfaces of the first and second substrates become side surfaces. Preferably, the conductor may be solder.
[0021] In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a plurality of chip packages. The method comprises the steps of preparing a plurality of chips, each having a first surface with a plurality of terminals and a second surface provided with a plurality of terminals, the second surface being opposite to the first surface, preparing a first substrate and a second substrate, each having a plurality of via holes, attaching the second surfaces of the chips to the second substrate so that the terminals of the second surfaces of the chips are connected to the conductive via holes of the second substrate, attaching the first surfaces of the chips to the first substrate so that the terminals of the first surfaces of the chips are connected to the conductive via holes of the first substrate, and sawing the chip assembly into a plurality of unit chip packages.
[0022] Preferably, the step of attaching the first and the second surfaces of the chips to the first and the second substrate may comprise the sub-steps of coating the upper surfaces of the conductive via holes of the first and second substrate or the upper surfaces of chips with a conductive adhesive, and compressing the chips on the upper surface of the second substrate or the first substrate on the first surfaces of the chips.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0024] [0024]FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional chip package;
[0025] [0025]FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional chip package array;
[0026] [0026]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a chip package in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0027] [0027]FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a chip package array in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] [0028]FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a chip package array in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] [0029]FIGS. 6 a to 6 d are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing the chip package of the present invention; and
[0030] [0030]FIGS. 7 a and 7 b are schematic views, each illustrating a different shape of the via holes and the substrates using the via holes in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0031] [0031]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a chip package in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0032] With reference to FIG. 3, the package 40 includes a chip 35 and two substrates, i.e., a first substrate 31 a formed on the upper surface of the chip 35 and a second substrate 31 b formed on the lower surface of the chip 35 . The chip 35 includes a first terminal (not shown) formed on the upper surface and a second terminal (not shown) formed on the lower surface. The first terminal and the second terminal are generally opposite to each other. Herein, the first substrate 31 a is attached to the upper surface of the chip 35 with the first terminal and the second substrate 31 b is attached to the lower surface of the chip 35 with the second terminal.
[0033] A first conductive via hole 32 a is formed on the first substrate 31 a and a second conductive via hole 32 b is formed on the second substrate 31 b , respectively. The first and the second conductive via holes 32 a , 32 b are filled with a conductive material so as to electrically connect the upper surfaces of the first and the second via holes 32 a , 32 b to the lower surfaces of the first and the second via holes 32 a , 32 b . Herein, the first and the second conductive via holes 32 a , 32 b are formed on a designated area of the first and the second substrates 31 a , 31 b , corresponding to the terminals of the chip 35 . Therefore, the terminals of the chip 35 are electrically connected to an external device through the first and the second conductive via holes 32 a , 32 b . The locations of the first and the second conductive via holes 32 a , 32 b are not limited, and will be further described in detail in FIG. 7.
[0034] A resin molding part 37 for protecting the chip 35 is formed between the first substrate 31 a and the second substrate 31 b . Herein, resin used as the resin molding part 37 is the same as that of the molding part of the conventional package.
[0035] The package 40 of this embodiment of the present invention does not need any wire requiring large area. Further, since it is unnecessary to form at least two via holes and at least two conductive lands on a single ceramic substrate, a area for spacing the conductive lands is not required, thereby achieving a small-sized package, which is almost as much as the size of the chip.
[0036] These characteristics of the chip package of the present invention are more apparent by mounting the chip package on a printed circuit board. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a chip package array 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The chip package 50 is mounted on a printed circuit board 110 . Herein, the chip package assembly refers to an assembly including a chip package and the printed circuit board on which the chip package is mounted.
[0037] With reference to FIG. 4, the printed circuit board 110 includes signal patterns (not shown) formed on its upper surface. The signal patterns of the printed circuit board 110 include signal patterns to be connected to the terminals of the chip 35 . The chip package 50 is vertically mounted on the printed circuit board 110 so that the outer surfaces of the first and the second substrates 41 a , 41 b attached to the upper and the lower surfaces of the chip 35 become side surfaces. That is, differing from the conventional mounting method, in which the upper and the lower surfaces of the chip package with terminals are horizontal to the printed circuit board, the chip package 50 of the present invention is turned at an angle of 90 degrees and this turned chip package 50 is then mounted on the printed circuit board 110 . In this chip package 50 mounted on the printed circuit board 110 , the first substrate 41 a is opposite to the second substrate 41 b . Therefore, the conductive via holes 42 a , 42 b formed on the first and the second substrates 41 a , 41 b are located on the side of the chip package assembly 100 . Herein, solder parts 115 for connecting the signal patterns corresponding to each terminal to the first and the second conductive via holes 42 a , 42 b are formed on the printed circuit board 110 . As shown in FIG. 3, since the first and the second conductive via holes 32 a , 32 b are connected to the corresponding terminals of the chip 35 , the chip package 50 is electrically connected to the signal patterns of the printed circuit board 110 .
[0038] In the chip package assembly of FIG. 4, in order to obtain a proper size of the chip package 50 being proper to the interval of the signal patterns, the size of the chip package 50 is changeable by adjusting the thickness of the first and the second substrates 41 a , 41 b attached to the upper and the lower surfaces of the chip package 50 . Therefore, the chip package 50 of the present invention may be used without changing or modifying the signal patterns on the printed circuit board 110 .
[0039] [0039]FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a chip package array in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The chip package array of this embodiment of the present invention is a transistor package array formed by packaging a transistor and mounting the packaged transistor 105 on a printed circuit board. One terminal is formed on the upper surface of the transistor 105 and two terminals are formed on the lower surface of the transistor 105 . Therefore, one upper terminal of the upper surface of the transistor 105 is connected to the printed circuit board 91 by connecting a conductive via hole 102 a of the first substrate 101 a to a signal pattern of the printed circuit board 91 by a solder 115 . On the other hand, since two lower terminals are formed on the lower surface of the transistor 105 , an additional method of connecting two lower terminals to the printed circuit board 91 is required.
[0040] The lower surface of the transistor 105 with two lower terminals is attached to a second substrate 101 b provided with two conductive via holes 102 b , 102 c for connecting the upper and the lower surfaces of the second substrate 101 b . A conductive layer is formed on the upper and the lower surfaces of the second substrate 101 b with two conductive via holes 102 b , 102 c . A non-conductive area A is formed on the upper and the lower surface of the second substrate 101 b between the conductive via holes 102 b , 102 c , thereby connecting two lower terminals of the chip 105 to corresponding wiring circuits of the printed circuit board 91 . Two conductive via holes 102 b , 102 c are connected to the wiring circuits of the printed circuit board 91 by the solder 115 b , 115 c through the conductive layer of the lower surface of the second substrate 101 b.
[0041] [0041]FIGS. 6 a to 6 d are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing the chip package of the present invention.
[0042] As shown in FIG. 6 a , the first substrate 201 a and the second substrate 201 b are prepared. A plurality of first conductive via holes 202 a are formed on the first substrate 201 a and spaced by a designated interval, and a plurality of second conductive via holes 202 b are formed on the second substrate 201 b and spaced by a designated interval. Preferably, a conductive adhesive is used as attaching means of the chip. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6 a , the conductive adhesives 203 a , 203 b are coated on the conductive via holes 202 a , 202 b . By using the conductive adhesives 203 a , 203 b , the terminals of the chip is mechanically fixed to the substrates as well as electrically connected to the conductive via holes of the substrates.
[0043] As shown in FIG. 6 b , a plurality of the chips 205 are mounted on the upper surface of the second substrate 201 b so that the lower terminals of the chips 205 are connected to the corresponding conductive via holes 202 b of the second substrate 201 b . Then, the first substrate 201 a is mounted on the chips 205 so that the upper terminals of the chips 205 are connected to the corresponding conductive via holes 202 a of the second substrate 201 a . Herein, the chips 205 may be fixed to the first and the second substrates 201 a , 201 b by the aforementioned conductive adhesive 203 coated on the conductive via holes 202 a , 202 b , as shown in FIG. 6 a.
[0044] As shown in FIG. 6 c , a space between the first substrate 201 a and the second substrate 201 b is filled with a resin, thereby forming a resin molding part 207 . The resin molding part 207 serves to protect the chip 205 .
[0045] The manufactured assembly is sawed and cut into a plurality of the chip packages 200 as shown in FIG. 6 d.
[0046] As described above, these chip packages 200 of the present invention may be easily manufactured using the substrates with the conductive via holes.
[0047] In the chip package of the present invention, the conductive via holes act to electrically connect the terminals of the chip to the signal patterns of the printed circuit board by the soldering. This conductive via hole is not limited to its shape.
[0048] [0048]FIGS. 7 a and 7 b show various shapes of the via holes and the substrates using the via holes, which can be used on the chip packages 210 , 220 of the present invention.
[0049] As shown in FIG. 7 a , a conductive via hole 213 is formed at each corner of the substrate 211 . These conductive via holes 213 are obtained by forming initial via holes 213 ′ on a crossing area of scribe lines of an initial substrate 211 ′, in forming the initial via hole 213 ′ on the initial substrate 211 ′. After sawing and cutting the initial substrate 211 ′ of FIG. 7 a into a plurality of unit substrates 211 , 4 quartered circular-shaped via holes 213 are formed at each corner of a single substrate 211 . Two quartered circular-shaped via holes 213 may be formed at two corners of the same side of the substrate 211 and this side with two quartered circular-shaped conductive via holes 213 may be mounted on the printed circuit board.
[0050] As shown in FIG. 7 b , a conductive via hole 223 is formed at two opposite sides of substrate 221 . These conductive via holes 223 are obtained by forming initial via hole 223 ′ on a central area of scribe lines of an initial substrate 221 ′, in forming the initial via hole 223 ′ on the initial substrate 221 ′. After sawing and cutting the initial substrate 221 ′ of FIG. 7 b into a plurality of unit substrate 221 , 2 semicircular-shaped via holes 223 are formed at two opposite sides of a single substrate 221 . One semicircular-shaped via hole 223 may be formed at a side of the substrate 221 and this side with a semicircular-shaped conductive via hole 223 may be mounted on the printed circuit board.
[0051] In case of using the conductive via holes of FIGS. 7 a and 7 b , when the manufactured chip package is turned at an angle of 90 degrees and the turned chip package is mounted on the printed circuit board, the conductive via holes can be more closed to the surface of the printed circuit board, thereby more easily connecting these conductive via holes of FIGS. 7 a and 7 b to the signal patterns of the printed circuit board by the soldering step.
[0052] As apparent from the above description, in accordance with the present invention, the chip package is more miniaturized and the manufacturing method of the chip package is more simplified by attaching a substrate provided with conductive via holes to two opposite surfaces of a chip and by forming a resin molding part in a space between two substrates. Further, the reliability of the chip package can be improved, thereby manufacturing a more stable package.
[0053] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. | A chip package includes a chip having a first surface provided with a first terminal and a second surface provided with at least one second terminal, the second surface being opposite to the first surface, a first substrate arranged on the first surface of the chip and having a first conductive via hole connected to the first terminal, a second substrate arranged on the second surface of the chip and having at least one second conductive via hole connected to the second terminal, and a resin molding part formed around the chip between the first substrate and the second substrate. And the present invention provides a chip package assembly including the chip package. Further, a method of manufacturing the chip package and an assembly including the chip package are provided. The chip package does not use a bonding wire and additional conductive lands, thereby reducing the size of the package and simplifying the manufacturing process. | 7 |
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 12/078,390 filed Mar. 31, 2008, incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to gas turbine combustion technology and, more specifically, to an insert for transition piece air dilution holes that facilitates the use of changeable orifice plates for adjusting the flow of air into the transition piece.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current dry low NO x combustion systems require tuning to achieve correct combustor temperatures. This is achieved in some instances by means of air dilution holes provided in the transition piece extending between the turbine and the first combustor stage. The air flowing through the holes serves as bypass and dilution air, but occasionally needs to be adjusted after turbine commissioning in the field. The current designs utilizing simple dilution holes require a lengthy and costly down time so that the transition pieces can be removed and resized. Specifically, the transition pieces must be stripped of their thermal barrier coating, patch welded, machined to add new holes, heat treated and recoated with the thermal barrier coating. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,993, owned by the assignee of this invention, there is provided a mechanical arrangement enabling external access to the combustion chamber which facilitates changeover of combustor dilution hole areas to adjust the NO x levels without disassembly of the combustors. More specifically, the assembly is provided with a boss, an orifice plate, and a retaining ring. The retaining ring is tapered, and in cooperation with a matching taper in the ring grooves, provide a wedging method for holding the orifice plate tightly in place. The boss design does not, however, have a flexible-weld distortion tolerant feature, which can lead to distortion of the undesirable distortion in the boss hole and orifice plate dimensions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one exemplary and non-limiting aspect of this invention, there is provided a combustor assembly having a transition piece and at least one orifice assembly in the transition piece, the orifice assembly comprising: a boss having an outside periphery and an inside periphery, the inside periphery including an annular seat and an upstanding flange formed with an annular, inwardly facing retaining ring groove, the boss fixed within an opening in the transition piece; an orifice plate having a bottom surface that is adapted to be received on the annular seat; and a retaining ring located in the retaining ring groove and at least partially engaged with the orifice plate.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a boss and orifice plate assembly comprising an annular boss adapted to be secured in a hole formed in a combustor component, the boss formed with an annular seat supporting a replaceable orifice plate, and an annular retaining ring groove adjacent the seat, the seat extending radially inwardly of the annular retaining ring groove; and a wave spring seated in the groove and at least partially and resiliently engaged between a surface of the groove and a surface of the orifice plate.
In still another aspect, a method of adjusting the size of dilution air holes in a turbine combustor component comprising: (a) inserting a boss into a dilution air hole having a first diameter and welding the boss in place; (b) locating an orifice plate on an annular seat formed in the boss, the orifice plate having a center hole formed with a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; and (c) securing a retaining ring in a groove in the boss, in overlying and at least partially engaging relationship with the orifice plate, wherein the retaining ring resiliently braces the orifice plate against the seat.
The invention will now be described in connection with the drawings identified below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a turbine transition piece having replaceable orifice plate in accordance with a non-limiting, exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a boss employed in FIG. 1 to hold a replaceable orifice plate;
FIG. 3 is a cross section through the boss in FIG. 2 , but with an orifice plate and retaining ring installed;
FIG. 4 is a cross section taken through a boss in accordance with another non-limiting exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a cross section through a boss in accordance with yet another non-limiting exemplary embodiment; and
FIG. 6 is a more detailed perspective view of the boss shown in FIG. 2 installed in a transition piece.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , a gas turbine transition piece 10 is designed to connect to a turbine combustor (not shown) at an upstream end 12 and to the first turbine stage (not shown) at an opposite downstream end 14 . At various predetermined locations along the transition piece 10 , dilution flow holes are provided for flowing compressor discharge air into the combustion system in a combustor tuning process to achieve correct combustor temperatures. For purposes of this disclosure, two locations indicated by reference numerals 16 and 18 , have been designated as locations where a new orifice plate boss 20 may be welded in place to facilitate the tuning process. This is not to be interpreted, however, to mean that these are the only dilution holes present, or that the new orifice plate boss can only be used in these locations.
FIGS. 2 , 3 and 6 illustrate the annular boss 20 , preferably constructed of Nimonic 263 alloy material. A base portion 22 of the boss defines an OD surface (or outside periphery) 24 and an ID surface (or inside periphery) 26 that are substantially parallel. Using FIGS. 2 and 3 as references for orientation purposes, the surfaces 24 and 26 are substantially vertical, with surface 24 chamfered at opposite ends 28 , 30 . Chamfer 30 connects to the lower base surface 32 that is formed in part by an upwardly tapered surface 34 that joins with the ID surface 26 .
The upper chamfer 28 joins to a radially inwardly tapered annular surface (or groove) 36 that, in turn, joins to an annular radiused corner 38 from which an upstanding, generally cylindrical wall or flange 40 extends upwardly, terminating at an annular flat top surface 42 . An internal wall 44 is formed with an upper chamfer 46 , an annular retaining ring groove 48 , and a radially inwardly extending shoulder or seat 50 that joins with the ID surface 26 .
Seat 50 is adapted to receive and support an annular and substantially-planar orifice plate 52 , preformed with a center hole 54 that defines the new diameter for the dilution hole. Plate 52 may be constructed of Hastalloy X (or other suitable) material with a substantially-uniform thickness in the exemplary but non-limiting embodiment of 0.125 inch.
The annular orifice plate 52 is held in place by an annular, undulated retaining ring 58 , i.e., the ring is formed as a wave spring, with undulations in the peripheral or circumferential direction. The groove 48 is sized, in conjunction with the selected thickness of the orifice plate 52 , such that when the retaining ring is forced into the groove 48 , it exerts a downward force on the orifice plate 52 of, for example, 35 lbs., sufficient to hold the plate in place during operation of the turbine. Note in this regard that the retaining ring 58 has a greater diameter than the orifice plate, and thus the groove 48 has a greater diameter than the seat 50 .
At the same time, the arrangement of the groove 48 and seat 50 in an upstanding center portion of the boss substantially isolates the groove shape and dimensions from any distortion that might otherwise be caused by welding the boss into a dilution hole, e.g., hole 16 , in the transition piece. In other words, the upstanding portion of the boss is able to flex during welding without permanent distortion, and thus, post-weld machining of the groove 48 and seat 50 is not necessary.
In a variation of the above boss design, the OD surface 24 may be made substantially vertical along its entire height (eliminating the chamfers 28 , 30 similar to the OD surface 76 in FIG. 5 ), with chamfers formed instead, on the surface defining the TP hole(s). It is understood that the chamfers on the OD surface of the boss, or alternatively, on the edges of the holes in the transition piece, facilitate the use of full penetration welds to fix the boss to the transition piece. In this case, the thickness of the base portion of the boss would exceed the thickness of the transition piece. This is helpful in that the transition piece is formed of a complex shape, and the thicker boss may be machined after welding to blend smoothly with the TP surface, leaving no “sunken” edges that could give rise to unwanted stresses.
FIG. 4 illustrates a boss 60 similar to boss 20 , but with a solid center portion 62 . With the retaining ring groove 64 machined into the upstanding portion 66 of the boss, the boss may be welded in place in a dilution hole in the TP. Thereafter, the solid center portion is removed along the circular dotted line 68 , leaving a seat 70 for the orifice plate. Leaving the center portion 62 in place during welding helps maintain the correct, round orientation of both the groove 64 and resulting seat 70 .
FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative boss design intended to even further isolate the retaining ring groove and orifice plate seat from welding stresses. In this embodiment, the boss 72 includes a base portion 74 having a substantially vertical OD surface or edge 76 that joins to top and bottom surfaces 78 , 80 , respectively. Top surface 78 merges with an inwardly and downwardly angled surface (or groove) 82 , while lower surface 80 joins to an inwardly and upwardly angled surface 84 that joins with a horizontal bottom surface 86 .
A substantially inverted U-shaped loop 88 is joined to the base portion 74 . Specifically, a first outer vertical wall 90 extends upwardly from the base portion 74 and, via horizontal top surface 94 , reverses direction to form an inner vertical wall 96 that extends downwardly from the top surface 94 to a radially inwardly turned free end 98 . The radially inner side of the wall 96 is machined to incorporate the shoulder or seat 100 for supporting the orifice plate (not shown in FIG. 5 ) as well as the retaining ring groove 102 in a manner similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4 . Here, however, the inverted loop 88 serves to further isolate the snap ring groove 102 and orifice plate seat 100 from welding distortion.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | A boss and orifice plate assembly comprising an annular boss adapted to be secured in a hole formed in a combustor component, said boss formed with an annular seat supporting a replaceable orifice plate, and an annular retaining ring groove adjacent said seat, said seat extending radially inwardly of said annular retaining ring groove; and a retaining ring seated in said retaining ring groove and at least partially and resiliently engaged between a surface of said groove and a surface of said orifice plate. | 8 |
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to the formation of source/drain regions in integrated circuits, particular to the formation of such regions using pulsed laser doping, and more particularly to a doping sequence for forming ultra shallow source/drain junctions through a silicide contact layer using patterned pulsed laser energy.
As lateral dimensions shrink in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) technology, it has become increasingly more difficult to fabricate source/drain regions with acceptable electrical characteristics at high yields. Specifically, the source/drain junctions must have very shallow vertical depth (<100 nm), very low sheet and contact resistance, and low reverse bias leakage currents.
Several technologies for shallow junction formation are actively being investigated. These include low energy ion implantation, plasma immersion ion implantation, and rapid thermal diffusion, either from a solid source or the vapor phase. Each of these technologies has its limitations. All require photo-resist masking and high temperature anneals. Implant processes induce damage in the semiconductor crystal and present difficulties when sub-100-nm p-type junctions are desired; whereas rapid thermal diffusions require complex masking layers and very tight control of the wafer temperature and diffusion times. As a result, these technologies make IC processing more complex, the antithesis to the inductries desired goals of process simplification.
Recently excimer laser annealing for MOS devices of less than a quarter micron has been investigated, wherein an excimer laser having a wavelength of 308 nm was utilized to form shallow junctions of depths less than 100 nm. See H. Tsukamoto et al, Selective Annealing Utilizing Single Pulse Excimer Laser Irradiation for Short Channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors, Jpn.J Appli Phys., Vol. 32, pp L967-970, Part 2, No. 713, 15 Jul. 1993.
Also, an alternative deep-submicrometer doping technology is being developed, known as Projection Gas Immersion Laser Doping (P-GILD), which is a more attractive solution to advanced MOS source/drain fabrication, and involves a marriage of lithography and diffusion. P-GILD is a resistless, step-and-repeat doping process that utilizes excimer laser light patterned by a dielectric recticle to selectively heat and, thereby, dope regions of an integrated circuit. See K. H. Weiner et al, Fabrication of Sub-40-nm p-n Junctions for 0.18 μm MOS Device Applications Using a Cluster-Tool-Compatible, Nanosecond Thermal Doping Technique, September 1993. This excimer laser based process eliminates the need for photoresist masking during the doping sequence, saving many steps. Junctions formed by this process are also ideal for deep-submicrometer (<0.1 μm) transistor operation. However, the standard P-GILD process relies on melting of the silicon in the source/drain region to both incorporate and diffuse the impurity or dopant atoms. The melting process may introduce special problems that make the technique hard to integrate seamlessly into standard production technologies. First, when melting the source drain region, it may be difficult not to melt the gate which can result in catastrophic failure of the device. Also, a typical MOS device structure incorporates many thin dielectric films which interfere, optically, with the laser irradiation. If the interference is constructive, a significant amount of energy can be coupled into regions of the device where no energy is actually desired. Again, catastrophic failure of the device can occur. Finally, topology in the region of the melting silicon will tend to self-planarize, again inducing poor device performance. Each of these problems can be addressed, but this requires specific changes in device structure that are not directly related to the doping process. Such changes are difficult to justify economically and also with respect to technology risk.
Thus, it is seen that there is a need in that art to enable the formation of ultrashallow source/drain junctions and which reduces the cost and complexity of forming source/drain regions in MOS integrated circuits. The present invention provides a solution to the above-referenced problems, constitutes a variation of the P-GILD approach, and can be effectively utilized to fabricate source/drain junctions equivalent or superior in performance to alternative technique or superior in performance to alternative techniques with a process and equipment that is much less complex than that used for the or P-GILD or other, more conventional technologies. The fabrication approach of this invention can be integrated seemlessly into standard production processes. No melting processes are used so no changes are required in device structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for shallow junction formation in IC components.
A further object of the invention is to provide source and drain junctions of a submicron depth using silicided regions and pulsed laser processing.
A further object of the invention is to provide for the formation of utlrashallow source/drain junctions of equivalent or superior performance to those produced by the P-GILD process.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variation of P-GILD process which introduces dopants into the silicon from a deposited glass saturated with the desired dopant species.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for shallow junction formation wherein the dopants are driven into the silicon through an existing silicide contact layer using laser energy that is sufficient to heat, but not melt, the silicide.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method for forming ultrashallow source/drain junctions utilizing a spin-on glass having a controllable thickness, allowing constructive interference of the laser light over the source/drain region and destructive interference over the gate.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings. The present invention is basically a doping sequence that reduces the cost and complexity of forming source/drain regions in MOS integrated circuits. The doping sequence combines the use of patterned excimer laser annealing, dopant-saturated spin-on glass, silicide contact structures and interference effects created by thin dielectric layers to produce source and drain junctions that are ultrashallow in depth (<100 nm) but exhibit low sheet and contact resistance. The doping sequence of this invention uses no photolithography. More specifically, the method of the present invention is a precontacted, solid-source variation of the P-GILD process and introduces the dopants into the silicon from a deposited glass that is saturated with the desired dopant species. The impurities (dopants) are driven into the silicon through an existing silicide contact layer using pulsed laser energy that heats, but does not melt, the silicide. The use of doped spin-on glass having a controlled thickness ensures that no region of the wafer receives more energy than the source/drain regions and that the gate region receives significantly less energy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the disclosure, illustrate a doping sequence in accordance with the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
FIGS. 1-4 illustrate in cross-section or schematically an n-type doping sequence in accordance with the invention for shallow junction formation in a - type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) through silicided regions.
FIG. 5 illustrates in cross-section of a completed NMOS made via the doping sequence of FIGS. 1-4 followed by annealing to drive the n-type dopants from the silicide into the silicon source/drain regions.
FIGS. 6-7 illustrate in cross-section or schematically a p-type doping sequence, similar to FIGS. 1-3, for shallow junction formation in a + type metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS).
FIG. 8 illustrates a cross-section of a completed PMOS made via the doping sequence of FIGS. 6-7 followed by annealing to drive the p-type dopants into the silicon source/drain regions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improved method for shallow junction formation through silicided regions. The method involves a precontacted, solid source variation of the above-referenced Projection Gas Immersion Laser Doping (P-GILD) process. The method of this invention involves the combined use of spin-on glass as the dopant source, projection GILD to achieve ultrafast, area-selective annealing, doping through a performed silicide layer, and this film interference to maximize absorption over the source/drain regions compared to other regions of the wafers. This method simplifies the source/drain fabrication sequence in metal-oxide-semiconductors (MOS) technologies by: 1) eliminating photoresist mask processing, 2) forming the junctions after contact metallization, and 3) eliminating all vacuum processing during the doping sequence.
The doping sequence for producing NMOS components is illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, while the doping sequence for producing a PMOS components is partially illustrated in FIGS. 6-8. Referring first to the NMOS components processing, the initial device described in the following method is shown in cross-section in FIG. 1. Up to this point in the state-of-the-art of integrated circuit (IC) process, no specific consideration has been taken for the laser doping step. The device or wafer, generally indicated at 10 includes a source 11 and a drain 12 of an n-LDD (- type Lightly Doped Drain), and a gate 13, with gate 13 being positioned between sidewall spacers 14 and 15, while source 11 and drain 12 extend from contact with a sidewall spacer to an end wall 16 and 17 respectively, of a wafer on which device 10 is fabricated. The source 11 and drain 12 may be composed of silicon, for example, or other materials such as silicon-germanium, gallium-arsenic, and silicon-carbide, while the gate 13 may be composed of polycrystalline silicon for example, or aluminum, molybdenum, and silicon-germanium. As shown in FIG. 1, the source, drain, and gate are each capped by an undoped silicide layer 18, 19, and 20, respectively, typically composed of titanium, tungsten, platinum or cobalt, and having a thickness of 10 to 100 nm. It is recognized that an overall fabrication process may include the formation of the source, drain, gate and silicide layers on a silicon wafer as shown in FIG. 1, for example, or an off-the-shelf device or wafer 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, may be processed as follows:
1. a heavily n-doped spin-on glass (dielectric, oxide) layer or film 21 is deposited onto the device 10, as shown in FIG. 2. By way of example the n-doped glass layer or film 21 has a 1/4 wave thickness and is composed of silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) and an n-type dopant. The dielectric may also be composed of silicon-nitride, aluminum-oxide, or any other dielectric, either transparent or semi-transparent, in the UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum (λ 50 nm≦λ≦380 nm). The n-dopant of glass layer 21 may include arsenic, phosporous, or antimony. The thickness of the film on layer 21 is preferably: (2j+1)×0.25×λ/n, where j=0,1,2, . . . , λ is the wavelength of the laser light, and n is the refractive index of the dielectric layer 21. The layer or film 21 may be deposited, for example, by alternative techniques including chemical vapor deposition or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The thickness of the layer 21 is chosen so as to produce constructive interference in the layer and raise the light absorption in the silicide layers 18-20 to the highest level possible.
2. The spin-on glass layer 21 as cured to remove the residual solvents. Curing is accomplished, for example by heating at 100°-400° C. for a period of 1-30 minutes.
3. The spin-on glass layer on film 21 is then annealed by being exposed to a patterned pulsed laser beam, such as an excimer laser beam indicated at 22 in FIG. 3. While the device 10 may have NMOS regions, (FIGS. 1-4) and PMOS regions (FIGS. 6-7), as described hereinafter, only the NMOS regions are exposed during this operational step, as shown in FIG. 3. The exposed regions of the layer 21 absorb the laser light, heating the silicide layers 18-20 to near melting and allowing dopant (impurities) present in the n-doped glass 21 to diffuse into the silicide, such that the silicide layers 18-20 become N + -doped silicide layers. Using multiple (1 to 1000) laser pulses, high levels of dopants can be diffused into the silicide layer 18-20. However, the extremely short (10 to 100 nsec) thermal cycles induced by the pulsed laser (<100 ns) do not allow for diffusion of the dopants from the silicide layers 18-20 into the underlying silicon of the source 11, drain 12, and gate 13. Because the thin, film layer of silicide and the film or layer 21 of doped spin-on glass above the source/drain regions (11 and 12) have been tailored to maximize the amount of energy absorbed no other region in the device 10 can receive more energy, thereby eliminating the problem with anomalous melting due to the thin film interference elsewhere on the device 10. The patterned laser light 22 may be produced, for example, by a pulsed XeCl excimer laser, having an energy fluence of 0.7 to 2.0 J/cm 2 , and a wavelength of 308 nm. However, other pulsed energy source may be used, such as copper vapor, YAG, and dye lasers
4. Following the laser anneal, as described above, the spin-on glass film or layer 21 is removed as shown in FIG. 4, with the silicide layers 18-20 now being composed of N + -doped silicide, as shown by legend. The removal of the glass layer 21 is carried out by dipping the wafer in a liquid etchant composed of diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF) for a period of time sufficient to completely remove the oxide from the un-laser-annealed region. The high removal rate of the spin-on glass 21 as compared to thermal or densified liquid phase chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) oxide allows selective removal of only the spin-on glass. One constraint on the etchant is that it does not etch the silicide (layers 18-20).
At this point of the fabrication process, only the silicide for the NMOS components (such as transistors) has been doped. Because heating of the spin-on glass and silicide is achieved selectively using the patterned laser (excimer) energy, none of the n-type dopants diffuse into the silicide over the PMOS components. One caveat to the spin-on glass (oxide) removal process is that the glass over the NMOS components has seen extremely high temperatures and may thus densify. Once densified the etch rate will be more comparable to that of thermal oxide. However, this does not present a problem in the overall processing sequence, as the densified glass (oxide) can be left over the NMOS components and selectively removed from the over the PMOS components because no thermal excursions have been realized in these areas thanks to the patterning of the laser (excimer) light prior to illumination of the substrate.
The doping sequence for PMOS components of the device of FIG. 1, as illustrated in FIGS. 6-7, is generally similar to the sequence described above, and illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 for the NMOS components, and is set forth as follows:
1. A heavily p-doped spin-on glass (dielectric, oxide) layer 21' is deposited onto the device or wafer 10 to cover undoped silicide layers 18', 19', and 20', as shown in FIG. 6, to a thickness, such as 1/4 wave, as in the n-doped glass layer 21. The dopant (impurities) for the p-doped glass layer 21' may be composed of boron, gallium, or aluminum. The spin-on glass layer 21' is deposited in the same manner as described above with respect to FIG. 2.
2. The spin-on glass layer 21' is cured as described above to remove the residual solvents.
3. Spin-on glass layer 21' is then annealed by exposure to a patterned pulsed laser energy beam 22', which as produced the by the above described excimer laser, as shown in FIG. 7. The exposed regions of glass layer 21' absorb the laser light, heating the silicide layers 18', 19', and 20' to near melting and allowing the p-type dopant present in the glass layer 21' to diffuse into the silicide, resulting in the layers 18'-20' becoming composed of P + -doped silicide. The etching process may be carried out as described above.
This completes the doping sequence for both the NMOS and PMOS components of the device 10. At this point the device 10 is subjected to a bulk thermal anneal process which drives dopants, both n-type and p-type from the silicide layers (18-19 and 18'-19') into the silicon forming source 11 or 11' and drain 12 or 12', resulting in the formation of thin (<100 nm) junctions or layers 23 and 24 of N + -silicon, see FIG. 8. The junction thickness may vary from about 20 nm to about 100 nm. Note that the dopant from the silicide layer 20 or 20' is not driven into the material of gate 13 or 13' due to the exposure of only silicide layers 18-19 and 18'-19' being subjected to bulk thermal annealing. The bulk thermal annealing may be carried out in a conventional furnace for a period of time between 1-30 minutes at a temperature of 850°-1100° C., or in a rapid thermal annealer at the same temperature but with a cycle time of 1-300 seconds.
It has thus been shown that the invention lies in the combined use of spin-on glass as the dopant source, projection GILD to achieve ultrafast, area-selective annealing, doping through a performed silicide layer, and then film interference to maximize absorption over the source/drain regions compared to other regions of the wafer or device. This invention eliminates photoresist masking and simplifies the source/drain fabrication by forming the junctions after contact metallization, and eliminating all vacuum processing during the doping sequence.
A variation of the fabrication process described above can be used in the case of a technology where the gate silicide (layer 20 or 20') is formed before the source/drain silicide (layers 18-18'/19-19'). This variation involves forming the gate silicide layer on undoped polysilicon, then using a processing sequence similar to that described above, doping the gate silicide only, with an n-type dopant in the NMOS regions and a p-type dopant in the PMOS regions. After removal of the annealed spin-on glass (oxide) is complete, a quarter-wave thickness on the gate, the interference with the laser light goes from constructive to destructive, so the gate absorbs much less energy-than the source/drain regions. This widens the margins for the process significantly.
In a second variation of the method illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 or FIGS. 6-8, the same process step described in FIGS. 1-8 and in the first variation described above can be executed without silicide on the source/drain regions and/or the gate region. Under these circumstances diffusion of the impurities (dopants) is directly into the silicon of the source and drain or the polysilicon of the gate, and the junctions must subsequently be connected by some means.
The present invention can be utilized by manufacturers of integrated circuits within their fabrication cycle to reduce the complexity and, thereby the cost of production. Manufactures of silicon-TFT-based active matrix substrates for high performance active matrix liquid crystal displays may also use this process to reduce the cost and complexity, while increasing the performance of the product.
While specific doping sequences, materials, parameters, etc. have been illustrated and/or described, to exemplify and set for the principles of the principles of the present invention, such are not intended to be limiting. Modifications and changes may become apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is indicated that the invention only be limited by the scope of the appended claims. | A doping sequence that reduces the cost and complexity of forming source/drain regions in complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) integrated circuit technologies. The process combines the use of patterned excimer laser annealing, dopant-saturated spin-on glass, silicide contact structures and interference effects creates by thin dielectric layers to produce source and drain junctions that are ultrashallow in depth but exhibit low sheet and contact resistance. The process utilizes no photolithography and can be achieved without the use of expensive vacuum equipment. The process margins are wide, and yield loss due to contact of the ultrashallow dopants is eliminated. | 8 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 62/270,786 filed Dec. 22, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A tracheal tube is a catheter that is inserted into the trachea for the primary purpose of establishing and maintaining a patient's airway and to ensure the adequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. An endotracheal tube (ET) is a specific type of tracheal tube. An endotracheal tube is nearly always inserted through the mouth (orotracheal) or nose (nasotracheal). During surgical procedure, the endotracheal tube is typically secured in place by relatively complex devices. However, after the procedure the endotracheal tube is often simply taped in place on the patient's face. It is desirable to provide a new endotracheal tube securing device and method that is quick and easy to use, that is comfortable for the patient, and that minimized the chances of infection due to tape contamination.
SUMMARY
[0003] The present disclosure provides a device that can be used to secure an endotracheal tube. In one embodiment, the device is a one-time use device that has a flexible construction with an adhesive side. The device is configured to be adhered to the endotracheal tube and subsequently secured onto the patient's face. The device is quick and easy to deploy, reliably secures the endotracheal tube, is comfortable for the patient, and minimizes the chances of infection due to contamination.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0004] FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of an endotracheal tube securing device according to the principles of the present disclosure;
[0005] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a step of securing the endotracheal tube with the endotracheal tube securing device of FIG. 1 ; and
[0006] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a step of securing the endotracheal tube with the endotracheal tube securing device of FIG. 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0007] Referring to the FIGS. 1-3 , embodiments of the endotracheal tube securing device according to the present disclosure are described in further detail. In the depicted embodiment, the endotracheal tube securing device 10 includes a first member 12 , the first member including a first side 14 , and a second side 16 , and a first end portion 18 , a mid-portion 20 , and a second end portion 22 . In the depicted embodiment, the second side 16 of the first member 12 includes adhesive thereon. In the depicted embodiment, a semi-rigid member 36 connected to the first member 12 extends from the first end portion 18 to the second end portion 22 . In the depicted embodiment, the semi-rigid member 36 provides structural rigidity to the first member 12 such that the first member 12 retains a shape under its own weight. It should be appreciated that many other configurations are also possible. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the first member may not include a semi-rigid member.
[0008] In the depicted embodiment, the endotracheal tube securing device 10 includes a second member 24 . The second member 24 includes a first side 26 , and a second side 28 , and a first end portion 30 , a mid-portion 32 , and a second end portion 34 . In the depicted embodiment, the second side 28 of the second member 24 includes adhesive thereon. It should be appreciated that many other configurations are also possible. It is also possible for alternative embodiments not to include a second member and/or have the function of the second member integrated in the first member.
[0009] In the depicted embodiment, the first and second members 12 , 24 are provided in an individual seal package 38 . In the depicted embodiment, the first and second members 12 , 24 are connected together in the sealed packaged 38 and are configured to be separated from each other by hand prior to use. In the depicted embodiment, the first and second members 12 , 24 are connected together by a perforated portion 40 . The sealed package can be arranged in strips, on a roll or individual units. The packaging configuration minimizes infection due to contamination. It should be appreciated that many other suitable packaging configurations are also possible.
[0010] In the depicted embodiment, the first and second members 12 , 24 include a fabric based construction. In the depicted embodiment, the first and second members 12 , 24 include a hypoallergenic and latex free construction. Also, in the depicted embodiment, both the first and second members include an antimicrobial agent. It should be appreciated that many other constructions are possible including ones with less or more additives and ones with non-fabric based constructions.
[0011] In the depicted embodiment, the semi-rigid member 36 provides structural rigidity to the first member 12 such that the first member 12 retains a longitudinal shape prior to application such that the first member 12 does not inadvertently fold onto itself during application. In some embodiments, the semi-rigid member 36 plastically deforms when bent. In such embodiments, the semi-rigid member can be, for example, a metal wire. In other embodiments, the semi-rigid member 36 elastically deforms when bent. It should be appreciated that many other configurations are possible.
[0012] In the depicted embodiment, the first member 12 includes a first enlarged tab portion 42 at its first end portion 18 and a second enlarged tab portion 44 at its second end portion 22 . Each of the first and second enlarged tab portions includes a width that is greater than the width of the mid-portion 20 of the first member 12 . It should be appreciated that many other configurations are possible including configurations that do not include tab portions or have tabs of other shapes.
[0013] In the depicted embodiment, the second member 24 has a length that is between 60 to 120 percent the length of the first member 12 . In the depicted embodiment, the second member 24 is slightly shorter than the length of the first member 12 . In some embodiments, a semi-rigid member 46 is connected to the second member 24 and provides structural rigidity to the second member such that the second member retains a shape. In such embodiments, the semi-rigid member 46 may extend from the first end portion 30 to the second end portion 34 of the first second member 24 .
[0014] The present disclosure provides a new method of securing an endotracheal tube to a patient comprising the steps of: first, removing endotracheal tube securing mechanism from a sealed package; second, securing the first member to a section of the endotracheal tube; third, adhering a first end tab and a second end tab of the first member to the patient's face; and fourth, adhering a second member across the patient's face such that the second member overlaps over the top of the first end tab and the second end tab. In some embodiments, the method also includes the step of separating the first member from the second member by tearing them apart at a perforation line. Also, the method can include the step of removing a backing material from the first member to expose the adhesive surface. It should be appreciated that in alternative embodiments the method can include more or less steps or the order of the steps could be different.
[0015] In the above described method, the step of securing the first member to the section of the endotracheal tube includes wrapping a portion of the first member that include adhesive thereon to the section of the endotracheal tube. The step of wrapping can include wrapping the first member 360 degrees around the endotracheal tube. It should be appreciated that the method may include other steps and sub steps.
[0016] In the depicted embodiment, the step of securing the first member to the section of the endotracheal tube includes forming a V-shaped structure with the first member to stabilize laterally the endotracheal tube. In the described embodiment, the step of adhering a first end tab and a second end tab of the first member to the patient's face includes adhering the first end tab and the second end tab to the patient's cheeks. In the above described method, the patients head is stabilized such that the step of securing the first member and the second member does not involve lifting the patents head. In addition, the step of securing the first member and the second member does not involve accessing the back of the patient's head.
[0017] The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
LIST OF PARTS
[0018] 10 endotracheal tube securing device
[0019] 12 first member
[0020] 14 first side
[0021] 16 second side
[0022] 18 first end portion
[0023] 20 mid-portion
[0024] 22 second end portion
[0025] 24 second member
[0026] 26 first side
[0027] 28 second side
[0028] 30 first end portion
[0029] 32 mid-portion
[0030] 34 second end portion
[0031] 36 semi-rigid member
[0032] 38 individual sealed package
[0033] 40 perforated portion
[0034] 42 first enlarged tab portion
[0035] 44 second enlarged tab portion | The present disclosure provides a device that can be used to secure an endotracheal tube. In one embodiment, the device is a one-time use device that has a flexible construction with an adhesive side. The device is configured to be adhered to the endotracheal tube and subsequently secure unto the patient's face. The device is quick and easy to deploy, it reliably secure the endotracheal tube, is comfortable for the patient, and that minimized the chances of infection. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to ceramic precursor compositions and chemically bonded ceramic (CBC) materials, especially calcium aluminate-based, and composite biomaterials suitable for orthopaedic applications and dental applications.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Injectable non-resorbable biomaterials for orthopaedic applications, especially in the spine or in hip replacements, and dental applications are based upon resin containing formulations, e.g. BIS-GMA or MMA as described in [G. Lewis, Injectable bone cements for use in Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty: state-of-the-art review, J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 76 B: 456-468, 2006]. The injected material is intended to stabilise and/or help augment/reinforce the bone void defect. For increased visibility under the injection and after hardening, the biomaterial needs to have a high radio-opacity. This is achieved by the use of radio-opaque filler particles. A resin-based material for the use in orthopaedics is normally a combination of a resin (monomer and accelerator) and one or more radio-opaque fillers. The components are mixed together into a paste and injected into the bone void defect, where it hardens through a polymerisation process and a solid body is formed.
[0003] For an improved stabilisation or augmentation of the bone void defect it is important to obtain a close contact with the bone tissue surrounding the defect. The presently used resin-based materials shrink during hardening as described in [F. N. K. Kwong, R. A. Power, A comparison of the shrinkage of commercial bone cements when mixed under vacuum, J Bone Joint Surg 2006; 88-B: 120-2]. The amount of shrinkage is reported to be more than 3 percent of the initial volume. The injected biomaterial does not have an optimal contact to the bone void defect, resulting in non-optimal stabilisation or augmentation of the defect. The hydrophobic nature of the resin-based biomaterials also results in less contact with the hydrophilic bone tissue.
[0004] General aspects of using CBC materials based on Ca-aluminates related to manufacturing, dimensional stability and mechanical strength in dental and orthopaedic applications have earlier been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,424 B2, WO 2004 37215, WO 2004 58124 and WO 2003 55 450.
[0005] It is desired to find a bone replacement material that exhibits a high degree of contact with bone tissue even after hardening of the material. Said material should also provide stability, exhibit a high radio-opacity and be applicable in orthopaedic, as well as dental applications, in particular vertebroplasty and endodontics, respectively.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention relates to a bone replacement material that possesses all of the above-mentioned properties, and which may suitably be used in orthopaedic applications, such as vertebroplasty, and dental applications, such as endodontics (orthograde and retrograde fillings).
[0007] The present invention relates in particular to a biomaterial that exhibits no shrinkage during setting and curing, but a slight expansion. This is property, in combination with the hydrophilic nature of the material (due to the ability to bind water), yields a material that during curing forms a hardened chemically bonded material in close contact with a bone or body tissue (hereinafter only the term bone tissue will be used, even if the same contact will also be achieved with other body tissues), i.e. a gap-free contact. If inserted or injected into a cavity or bone void, this close contact with the bone results in a higher stability and strength of the bone void compared to that of resin-based systems.
[0008] The above-mentioned advantageous properties are achieved by a ceramic system comprising a hydraulic ceramic precursor powder which is hydrated using a specific hydration liquid that together form said cured ceramic material exhibiting increased dimensional stability during hardening. The ceramic precursor powder may comprise additives (a high density additive) imparting high radio-opacity in order to improve the X-ray visibility for the user during injection.
[0009] The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing said cured material, bioelements, implant, or a carrier material based on said precursor powder or said cured material, a kit comprising the ceramic precursor powder and hydration liquid, as well as the use of said ceramic precursor powder and hydration liquid, or said cured material, for orthopaedic and dental applications.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The inventors have surprisingly found that by using calcium aluminate in combination with micro-silica (and may also comprise a high density additive for radio-opacity) mixed with a hydration liquid containing water, methyl cellulose, polycarboxylic compounds (i.e. polymeric compounds based on polycarboxylic acid) with a molecule weight in the interval 10,000-50,000 and lithium chloride the above-mentioned properties may be obtained.
[0011] The precursor powder according to the invention comprises in a basic embodiment:
Calcium aluminate as hydraulic precursor Micro-silica as precursor additive
[0014] Said precursor powder are mixed with the hydration liquid according to the invention, which comprises:
[0000] mixed with, LiCl and
water methyl cellulose, and polycarboxylic compound
[0018] More specifically, the components of the precursor powder have the following characteristics:
Calcium Aluminate
[0019] The calcium aluminate may have a grain size of below 40 micrometer, preferably below 20 micrometer, and more preferably below 15 micrometer. The grain size is determined as d99 (99%<cited value) using laser diffraction and calculated from the volume distribution, i.e. 1% of the powder may be of greater grain size.
[0020] The calcium aluminate is in glass phase and is to more than 50 atomic % comprised of CaO(Al 2 O 3 ), preferably to more than 90%, and to less than 50 atomic % comprised of one or more of the phases (CaO) 12 (Al 2 O 3 ) 7 , (CaO) 3 Al 2 O 3 , CaO(Al 2 O 3 ) 2 , CaO(Al 2 O 3 ) 6 , and CaO(Al 2 O 3 ) glass phase. The calcium aluminate constitutes 40-70 wt-%, preferably 57-63 wt-%, of the total amount of precursor powder. The calcium aluminate is the reactive phase (binder phase).
Micro-Silica
[0021] The micro-silica (SiO 2 ) may have a grain size of below 30, preferably below 20 nm. The micro-silica is added in an amount of 0.5-5 wt-%, preferably 0.7-1.3 wt-%, of the total amount of the precursor powder.
Zirconium Dioxide
[0022] Zirconium dioxide may be added as an inert precursor additive for increased radio-opacity. The zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) may have a grain size of below 20 micrometer, preferably below 10 micrometer, as determined as d99 (99%<cited value) using laser diffraction. The zirconium dioxide is added to achieve extra radio-opacity and is considered as a non-reacting, inert phase. The ZrO 2 is added in an amount of 20-50 wt-%, preferably 38-42 wt-%, of the total amount of the precursor powder.
[0023] If radio-opacity is not a desired property of the material, the zirconium dioxide may be replaced by or mixed with another inert phase of the same grains size and amount.
Optional Additives
Calcium Silicate
[0024] Calcium silicate may also be added to the precursor powder as an additional hydrating phase (also a reactive phase), in the form of C 3 S or C 2 S or combinations thereof, in the amount of below 10 wt-%. of the total amount of the precursor powder. The grain size should be below 40 micrometer, preferably below 20 micrometer. The calcium silicate also helps controlling the expansion of the material.
[0025] More specifically, the components of the hydration liquid have the following characteristics:
Water
[0026] 90-95 wt-% preferably 92-94 wt-% of the hydration liquid is constituted by water.
Polycarboxylic Compound
[0027] The polycarboxylic compound may have a molecular weight within the interval 10000-50000, and constitutes 3-5 wt-%, preferably 3.7-4.3 wt-% of the hydration liquid. The compound is added to control the viscosity of the paste.
Methyl Cellulose
[0028] The methyl cellulose constitutes 1-5 wt-% of the hydration liquid, preferably 2.5-3.5 wt-%. The compound is added to control viscosity and cohesion of a paste.
Lithium Chloride
[0029] Lithium chloride (LiCl) constitutes 0.05-0.4 wt-% of the hydration liquid. LiCl is added to control the setting time.
[0030] When mixed, the precursor powder and the hydration liquid may form a paste or a slurry, depending on the water-to-cement (liquid-to-powder) ratio. The powder-to-liquid ratio should be kept within 3-6, preferably 4-4.5. For orthopaedic applications, where injectability is required, the higher ratios are applicable. The lower w/c ratios are used primarily for dental applications, such as permanent restorative fillings. For the higher w/c ratio, a higher zirconium dioxide content and the rheological additives may be required.
[0031] When said compositions and w/c ratios are correctly chosen, the Ca-aluminate precursor yields setting and curing reactions suitable both for orthopaedic and dental applications. This includes handling aspects and the establishment of an improved contact zone between the cured biomaterial and the bone tissue. The improved contact zone between the cured material and the bone tissue (see Example 2), is not just related to the dimension stability obtained by the said systems, but also to the hydrophilic nature of the precursor material used in the present application, and the reaction mechanisms which involve a specific phenomenon suitable for achieving close contacts, even gap free contacts between the cured material and the bone tissue.
[0032] This is related to the cement reaction used in the present invention, involving dissolution of the precursor cement phases and repeated precipitation in voids and upon bone tissue walls. This means that no shrinkage occurs and no extra pressure or contact forces are necessary for establishment of close contacts between the biomaterial and the bone tissue wall. The precipitated phases, i.e. hydrates, have been found to be of nano-size. This contributes to an optimised closure of gaps. Thus the hardening process must be controlled with regard to the type of reaction mechanism involved, reaction rate, setting, gelling and hydration and the resulting crystal size of precipitates, i.e. when and how the hydrates are formed.
[0033] The present application thus discloses the requirements for and the solution to two of the most important aspects of injectable biomaterials, namely a reduction of both the movement between the biomaterial and bone tissue (dimensional stability) during curing, and a reduction of the pressure or tension between the biomaterial and the bone tissue (low compression), i.e. establishment of stable contact between injected biomaterial and the surrounding bone tissue.
[0034] The material when injected into a cavity, creates a gap-free contact with the boundries of said cavity by exhibiting a linear expansion of 0-0.5 linear percent and/or a total expansion pressure of 0-4 MPa while curing (measured in a closed cavity by a photo technique based on Newton rings).
[0035] Complementary aspects with regard to injectability is presented in a separate application, filed Mar. 1, 2007 as patent application Ser. No. ______ .
EXAMPLE 1
[0036] Compositions A to E as shown in Table 1 were used to evaluate the dimensional expansion during setting and curing. As a reference material E, a commercial PMMA material for vertebroplasty was included in the test. The hydration liquid had in all tests with Ca-aluminate the following composition:
Water=92.5 wt-%, Polycarboxylic compound=4.2 wt-%, molecular weight 30000, Methyl cellulose 3.1 wt-%, and LiCl 0.2 wt-%.
[0041] The micro silica was kept constant at 1.5 wt-%. ZrO 2 was added to improve the radio-opacity.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Chemical composition of the Ca-aluminate materials tested
CaO(Al 2 O 3 )
ZrO 2
Ca-silicate
Hydration liquid
Sample
Weight-%
Weight-%
Weight-%
with
A
75 (too high)
20
3.5
w/c ratio = 0.33
B
60
35
3.5
w/c ratio = 0.45
C
55
40
3.5
w/c ratio = 0.45
D
35 (too low)
55
8.5
w/c ratio = 0.62
(too high)
E = PMMA
Ref. matrl.
NB.
Samples A and D represent compositions where one or more of the parameters are outside the intervals claimed in this application.
[0042] The materials according to Table 1 were evaluated with regard to dimensional stability using linear dimensional change and expansion/shrinkage stress (i.e. pressure exerted by the material on the cavity or adjacent tissues), and the results are presented in Table 2.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Dimensional stability of the material tested
Dimensional
Dimensional
change -
Dimensional
Dimensional
change -
Exerted
change -
change - Exerted
in linear
pressure -
linear
pressure -
percent, after
as pressure in
percent, at 7
as pressure in
Sample
2 h
MPa, after 2 h
days
MPa, at 7 days
A
+0.2
<2
+1
+6
B
+0.1
<2
+0.4
+3.5
C
+0.1
<2
+0.3
+2.9
D
0
<2
−0.2
<2
E
−2
−3
−1.7
−2.1
Sample A (outside a desired interval) exhibits a too high expansion and related pressure, and Sample D (also outside the desired interval) exhibits a shrinkage.
[0043] The table indicates (discloses) the boundaries for optimal contact pressure and reduced dimensional change, two important aspects of establishment of stable and tight contact between a biomaterial and bone tissue.
EXAMPLE 2
[0044] Material C in Example 1 was evaluated with regard to the microstructure obtained at the contact zone between the material and bone tissue. The precipitated hydrate size was determined by use of high resolution FIB-TEM technique (see Engqvist et al, Biomaterials 25 (2004) p 2781-2787). It was shown that the size of precipitates was of nano-size, i.e. 20-50 nm, and that precipitation upon the biological bone tissue occurs. | The present invention relates to ceramic precursor compositions and chemically bonded ceramic (CBC) materials, especially Ca-based, and composite biomaterials suitable for orthopaedic and dental applications with improved setting and curing properties resulting in stable close contact between biomaterial and bone tissue. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing said cured material, a bioelement and carrier material for drug delivery made by said cured material, a kit comprising the ceramic precursor powder and hydration liquid, as well as the use of said ceramic precursor powder and hydration liquid, or said cured material, for orthopaedic and dental applications. | 2 |
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 07/876,930, filed May 5, 1992, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An arrangement of layers with an oxide between a conducting layers and another conductor or semiconductor is usable as a portion of many of the structures used in semiconductor circuitry, such as capacitors, MOS transistors, pixels for light detecting arrays, and electrooptic applications. High-dielectric oxide materials provide several advantages (e.g. ferroelectric properties and/or size reduction of capacitors). Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric materials are convenient because of their relative low annealing temperatures and, as they retain desirable properties in the small grains preferred in thin films.
The integration of non-SiO 2 based oxides directly or indirectly on Si is difficult because of the strong reactivity of Si with oxygen. The deposition of non-SiO 2 oxides have generally resulted in the formation of a SiO 2 or silicate layer at the Si//oxide interface. This layer is genre ally amorphous and has a low dielectric constant. These properties degrade the usefulness of non-SiO 2 based oxides with Si. High-dielectric constant oxide (e.g. a ferroelectric oxide) can have a large dielectric constant, a large spontaneous polarization, and a large electrooptic properties. Ferroelectrics with a large dielectric constant can be used to form high density capacitors but can not deposited directly on Si because of the reaction of Si to form a low dielectric constant layer. Such capacitor dielectrics have been deposited on "inert" metals such as Pt, but even Pt or Pd must be separated from the Si with one or more conductive buffer layers.
Putting the high dielectric material on a conductive layer (which is either directly on the semiconductor or on an insulating layer which is on the semiconductor) has not solved the problem. Of the conductor or semiconductor materials previously suggested for use next to high dielectric materials in semiconductor circuitry, none of these materials provides for the epitaxial growth of high dielectrical materials on a conductor or semiconductor. Further, the prior art materials generally either form a silicide which allows the diffusion of silicon into the high dielectric materials, or react with silicon or react with the high dielectric oxide to form low dielectric constant insulators.
The large spontaneous polarization of ferroelectrics when integrated directly on a semiconductor can also be used to form a non-volatile, non-destructive readout, field effect memory. This has been successfully done with non-oxide ferroelectrics such as (Ba,Mg)F 2 but much less successfully done with oxide ferroelectrics because the formation of the low dielectric constant SiO 2 layer acts to reduce the field within the oxide. The oxide can also either poison the Si device or create so many interface traps that the device will not operate properly.
Ferroelectrics also have interesting electrooptic applications where epitaxial films are preferred in order to reduce loss due to scattering from grain boundaries and to align the oxide in order to maximize its anisotropic properties. The epitaxial growth on Si or GaAs substrates has previously been accomplished by first growing a very stable oxide or fluoride on the Si or GaAs as a buffer layer prior to growing another type of oxide. The integration of oxides on GaAs is even harder than Si because the GaAs is unstable in O 2 at the normal growth temperatures 450 C.-700 C.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
While Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric materials are convenient because of their relative low annealing temperatures and their desirable properties in the small grains, Pb and Bi are very reactive and have been observed to diffuse into and through metals such as Pd or Pt.
A Ge buffer layer on Si oxidizes much less readily and can be used to prevent or minimize the formation of the low dielectric constant layer. An epitaxial Ge layer on Si provides a good buffer layer which is compatible with Si and also many oxides. Unlike other buffer layers, Ge is a semiconductor (it can also be doped to provide a reasonably highly conductive layer) and is compatible with Si process technology. The epitaxial growth of Ge on top of the ferroelectric or high-dielectric constant oxide is also much easier than Si which makes it possible to form three dimensional epitaxial structures. The Ge buffer layer can be epitaxially gown on the Si substrate allowing the high dielectric constant oxide to be epitaxially gown on the Ge and hence epitaxially aligned to the Si substrate. The epitaxial Ge layer allows ferroelectrics to be directly gown on Si wafers to form non-volatile non-destructive read out memory cells. The Ge buffer layer will also increase the capacitance of large dielectric constant oxide films compared to films gown directly on Si. A Ge buffer layer on the Si or GaAs substrate allows many more oxides to be epitaxially gown on it because of the much smaller chemical reactivity of Ge with oxygen compared to Si or GaAs with oxygen.
However, not all oxides are stable next to Ge. For example, all ferroelectrics containing Pb such as Pb(Ti,Zr)O 3 (PZT) are not thermodynamically stable next to Ge (since PbO is not stable). A thin layer of SrTiO 3 or other stable ferroelectric can, however, be used as a buffer layer between the Pb containing ferroelectric and the Ge coated Si substrate. The SrTiO 3 not only acts as a chemical barrier, but also nucleates the desired perovskite structure (instead of the undesirable pyrochlore structure).
As noted, the integration of oxides on GaAs is even harder than Si because the GaAs is unstable in O 2 at the normal growth temperatures of high-dielectric constant oxide (450 C.-700 C.). An epitaxial Ge and non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric material buffer layers solves this problem and simplifies the integration of Pb/Bi-containing ferroelectrics on GaAs for the same applications as listed above.
This is a method for fabricating a structure useful in semiconductor circuitry. The method comprises: growing a buffer layer of non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer directly or indirectly on a semiconductor substrate; and depositing a Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide on the buffer layer.
Preferably a germanium layer is epitaxially gown on the semiconductor substrate and the buffer layer is grown on the germanium layer. The non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer is preferably less than about 10 nm thick.
A second non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer may be grown on top of the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide and a conducting layer may also be grown on the second non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer.
Preferably both the high-dielectric constant oxides are ferroelectric oxides and/or titanates, the non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide is barium strontium titanate, and the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide is lead zirconate titanate. Both the non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide and the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide may be epitaxially grown.
Alternately this may be a structure useful in semiconductor circuitry, comprising: a buffer layer of non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer directly or indirectly on a semiconductor substrate; and a Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide on the buffer layer. When the substrate is silicon, a germanium layer, preferably less than about 1 nm thick is preferably used on the silicon. Both the non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide and the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide may be single-crystal. A second non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer may be used on top of the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from a description of the fabrication process and structure thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of one embodiment of a multi-layer structure using a BST buffer layer,
FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of an alternate embodiment of a multi-layer structure using a BaZrO3 (BZ) buffer layer; and
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of an embodiment of a multi-layer structure using a second buffer layer and a top electrode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As noted, Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric materials are convenient but Pb and Bi are very reactive and diffuse into and through even noble metals and growth of oxides on Si generally results in the oxidation of the Si and the formation of SiO 2 or a silicate layer. Further, this SiO 2 layer prevents the epitaxy of the deposited oxide and has a low dielectric constant and the integration of ferroelectrics and other large dielectric constant materials directly on Si is degraded by the formation of the low dielectric constant SiO 2 layer (on metal). Also as noted, putting the high dielectric material on a metallic layer (which is either directly on the semiconductor or on an insulating layer which is on the semiconductor) has not solved the problem with PbBi diffusion. The diffusion of lead or bismuth from ferroelectrics such as Pb(Ti,Zr)O (PZT) into an adjacent metal can, however, be controlled by a thin layer of SrTiO 3 or other stable high-dielectric oxide used as a buffer layer between the Pb/Bi containing ferroelectric and the metallic layer or the Si substrate.
Preferably a Ge buffer layer is used between high-dielectric oxides and Si or metal reduces the reactivity at the surface and in general enhances the epitaxy and at least reduces the reaction layer between the deposited oxide and the substrate. The epitaxial growth of Ge on Si is compatible with current Si process technology. The main difficulty with Ge on Si is the 4% lattice mismatch which results in misfit dislocation on Ge films thicker than 1 nm. On silicon, the Ge layer is preferably very thin to avoid the misfit dislocations (however a thicker layer may be used for some devices if that is not detrimental to the performance of the device in question). In still other embodiments, polycrystalline Ge may be formed over polycrystalline Si (thus using the Ge as a chemical buffer layer between a deposited oxide and the Si substrate). Depending on the application the choice of materials may be very different. For large density capacitors, currently the best linear dielectric appears to be (Ba 1-x ,Sr x )TiO 3 (BST). BaTiO 3 (BT) or SrTiO 3 (ST) when deposited directly on Si forms a low dielectric constant layer, and thus BT and ST are not thermodynamically stable next to Si. Ge, however, has a much smaller free energy of oxidation and BT and ST are thermodynamically stable next to Ge. It is also possible to deposit BT and ST in a H 2 +O 2 gas mixture such that Ge is stable and also BT or ST is stable while GeO 2 is not stable.
As noted above, not all oxides are stable next to Ge. For example, all ferroelectrics containing Pb such as Pb(Ti,Zr)O (PZT) are much less stable next to Ge (since PbO is not stable). A thin layer of SrTiO 3 or other stable ferroelectric can, however, be used as a buffer layer between the Pb containing ferroelectric and the Ge coated Si substrate. The SrTiO 3 not only acts as a chemical barrier, but also nucleates the desired perovskite structure (instead of the undesirable pyrochlore structure).
There has been little investigation of the use of a second ferroelectric layer as a chemical buffer layer. Others have deposited a thin layer of PbTiO 3 , or (Pb,La)TiO 3 prior to the deposition of PZT in order to help nucleate the perovskite structure and avoid the formation of pyrochlore, but apparently have not used the depositing of a stable ferroelectric buffer layer to act as a diffusion barrier.
SrTiO 3 (ST0) or BaTiO 3 (BT), for example, can be used as a buffer layer between Pt and PZT. The ST or BT improve the properties for several reasons. The first is that Pb is very reactive and it has been observed to diffuse into and through Pt. ST or BT is much less reactive and forms a good diffusion barrier to Pb. Because ST has the same perovskite structure, the Pb will slowly react with the ST and form (Pb,Sr)TiO 3 . This reaction is believed to be by bulk diffusion which is fairly slow. The ST will also act as a nucleation layer for the perovskite structure of PZT. ST also has a very low leakage current and a thin layer tends to improve the leakage properties of the PZT. Such a buffer layer needs to be structurally compatible with the ferroelectric (perovskite structure for PZT), and chemically compatible with both layers. Materials like BaZrO 3 (BZ) satisfy these requirements for PZT. In addition, the buffer layer must not significantly degrade the electrical properties. ST, BST, and BT have large dielectric constants which helps share the electric field and hence are preferred to materials with a somewhat lower dielectric constant (like BZ). What matters is the properties after the deposition of the second (lead-containing) ferroelectric layer. This deposition can change the properties of the buffer layer.
It is also important to avoid problems between the non-lead-containing high-dielectric material and the substrate. An epitaxial Ge buffer layer was used in experiments on a (100) Si substrate to deposit epitaxial BST. Without the Ge buffer layer, the BST was randomly oriented polycrystalline. With the Ge buffer layer, most of the BST has the following orientation relationship (110) BST∥(100) Si. This showed that the Ge buffer layer has prevented the formation of a low dielectric layer at the interface prior to epitaxy since that layer would prevent epitaxy.
The deposition of a ferroelectric directly on a semiconductor has been used by others to create a non-volatile nondestructive readout memory. This device is basically a MOS transistor where the SiO 2 has been replaced with a ferroelectric (metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor or MFS). One memory cell consists of a MFS transistor and a standard MOS transistor. This type of memory has many advantages including very fast read/write as well having nearly the same density as a standard DRAM cell. The remnant polarization in the ferroelectric can be used induce a field into the semiconductor and hence the device is non-volatile and non-destructive. This device has been successfully made by others using a (Ba,Mg)F 2 ferroelectric layer epitaxially grown by MBE on the Si substrate. Oxide perovskites such as PZT have also been studied for non-volatile memories but these materials can not be deposited directly on Si without reacting with the Si. A Ge buffer layer will allow many stable ferroelectrics, such as BaTiO 3 , to be used in a RAM. A second buffer layer of SrTiO 3 or some other stable ferroelectric should allow even most chemically reactive ferroelectric oxides to be used to try to form a RAM. The Ge buffer layer would also allow this type of memory to be fabricated on GaAs and other III-V compounds in addition to Si. It also might be possible to fabricate a thin-film MFS transistor by depositing the Ge on top of the ferroelectric. The ferroelectric might be epitaxial on the GaAs or Si substrate or it might be polycrystalline. The compatibility of Ge with a stable ferroelectric buffer layer allows this structure to be manufactured, including with a lead-containing high-dielectric material.
In FIG. 1 there is shown one preferred embodiment (in all figures, an arrangement of layers is shown which is usable as a portion of many structures used in semiconductor circuitry, such as capacitors, MOS transistors, pixels for light detecting arrays, and electrooptic applications. FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor substrate 10, on which a doped polycrystalline germanium layer 12 has been deposited (the germanium can be highly doped to provide a highly conductive layer). The germanium can be polycrystalline or single-crystal. A ferroelectric barium strontium titanate layer 14 (which also can be polycrystalline or single-crystal) is deposited on the germanium layer, and a lead zirconium titanate layer 16 is deposited atop the barium strontium titanate 14. As noted, such an arrangement of layers is usable in many semiconductor structures and the ferroelectric or high dielectric properties of a non-lead-containing buffer layer such as barium strontium titanate provides advantageous properties over most other insulating materials.
While optimum properties of non-lead-containing high dielectric materials are not generally obtained without a relatively high temperature anneal and are not generally obtained in submicron sized gains, the fine gained material without a high temperature anneal, still has material properties substantially superior to alternate materials. Thus while barium strontium titanate with a high temperature anneal and with gain size of 2 microns or more, generally has a dielectric constant of greater than 10,000, a fine gained low temperature annealed barium strontium titanate might have a dielectric constant of 200-500. Thus, when used as a buffer layer for lead zirconium titanate (with a similar gain size and firing temperature, might have a dielectric constant of 800-1,000), such that the composite film dielectric constant lowered only slightly from the dielectric constant of the lead zirconium titanate. Thus, a composite dielectric is provided which provides good dielectric constants with fine grained and relatively low fired material.
FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment, utilizing a gallium arsenide substrate 18 with a platinum-titanium-gold layer 20 and a BaZrO 3 buffer layer 22 (again note that such a barium zirconate layer provides a somewhat lower dielectric constant, but this is less of a problem in very thin layers). In FIG. 2, the top layer is (Pb,La)TiO 3 .
While, top electrodes can be applied directly over the lead-containing high dielectric material, (as lead migration into the top electrode does not cause the very serious problems caused by lead diffusing into a semiconductor substrate), a top buffer layer is preferred between the lead containing high dielectric material and the top electrode. FIG. 3 illustrates such an arrangement. A germanium layer 12 is utilized on top of the silicon substrate 10, with a SrHfTiO 3 layer 26 on top of the germanium layer 12. A Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 layer 28 is on the SrHfTiO 3 layer 26 and a top buffer layer of BaSrTiO 3 30 is on top of the Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 28. A titanium tungsten top electrode 32 is then deposited atop the second buffer layer 26. To provide a structure which is even more stable, a second germanium layer (not shown) could be inserted between the BaSrTiO 3 30 and the titanium tungsten top electrode 32.
The use of a second germanium layer allows the usage of a wider variety of conductors for the top electrode and allows higher temperature processing during and after the deposition of the top electrode, as the germanium generally prevents reaction between the top electrode material and the ferroelectric material.
While a number of materials have been previously been suggested for use next to high dielectric materials (such as barium strontium titanate or lead zirconium titanate), none of these materials provides for the epitaxial growth of high dielectrical materials on a conductor or semiconductor. Further, the prior art materials generally either form a silicide (e.g. of palladium, platinum or titanium) which allows the diffusion of silicon into the high dielectric materials, or react with silicon (e.g. tin dioxide) or react with the high dielectric oxide to form low dielectric constant insulators (e.g. titanium monoxide or tantalum pentoxide). Thus the prior art conductive materials suggested for interfacing with high dielectric constant oxides with semiconductors either have reacted with the high dielectric constant oxides or with the semiconductor and/or metal have not provided a diffusion barrier between the high dielectric constant oxides and semiconductor material. At the annealing temperatures necessary to produce good quality high dielectric constant oxide material, such reactions generally form low dielectric constant insulators, which being in series with the high dielectric constant oxide material, dramatically lowers the effective dielectric constant. Only germanium (doped or undoped) gives a conductor or semiconductor which reacts neither with the semiconductor substrate nor the high dielectric constant oxide at the required annealing temperatures, and only germanium provides for epitaxial growth of a conductive or semiconductive material on a semiconductor substrate, in a matter compatible with growing and annealing of a high dielectric constant oxide in a non-reactive manner, such that a metal oxide metal or metal oxide semiconductor structure can be fabricated without the effective dielectric constant being significantly lowered by a low dielectric constant material between the high dielectric constant material and the underlying conductor or semiconductor. Even using germanium, however, does not completely eliminate problems with the Pb/Bi diffusion, and thus a non-Pb/Bi high-dielectric oxide containing buffer layer is still needed.
Since various modifications of the semiconductor (e.g. silicon or gallium arsenide) structure, and the methods of fabrication thereof, are undoubtedly possible by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, the detailed description is thus to be considered illustrative and not restrictive of the invention as claimed hereinbelow. For example, much of the discussion has generally used the term "ferroelectric" materials, however, the invention is generally applicable to any "high-dielectric constant oxide" and, while many are ferroelectric titanates, some such materials are not ferroelectric and some not titanates. The term "high-dielectric constant oxides" as used herein is to mean oxides with dielectric constants of greater than 100, and preferably greater than 1,000 (barium strontium titanate can have dielectric constants greater than 10,000). Many such non-Pb/Bi oxides can be considered to be based on BaTiO 3 and includes oxides of the general formula (Ba,Sr,Ca)(Ti,Zr,Hf)O 3 . Many other oxides of the general formula (K,Na,Li)(Ta,Nb)O 3 will also work. Pb/Bi oxides, for the purpose of this invention, generally include perovskites whose component oxides are thermodynamically unstable next to germanium metal and non-Pb/Bi high-dielectric oxides for these purposes generally include perovskites whose component oxides are thermodynamically stable next to germanium metal (even if a germanium layer is not used). Pb/Bi oxides include materials such as (Pb,La)ZrTiO 3 or (Pb,Mg)NbO 3 or Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 . All these oxides can also be doped with acceptors such as Al, Mg, Mn, or Na, or donors such as La, Nb, or P. Other semiconductors can also be used in addition to silicon and gallium arsenide. | This is a method for fabricating a structure useful in semiconductor circuitry. The method comprises: growing a buffer layer of non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer directly or indirectly on a semiconductor substrate; and depositing a Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide on the buffer layer. Alternately this may be a structure useful in semiconductor circuitry, comprising: a buffer layer 26 of non-lead-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer directly or indirectly on a semiconductor substrate 10; and a lead-containing high-dielectric constant oxide 28 on the buffer layer. Preferably a germanium layer 12 is epitaxially grown on the semiconductor substrate and the buffer layer is grown on the germanium layer. When the substrate is silicon, the non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer is preferably less than about 10 nm thick. A second non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer 30 may be grown on top of the Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide and a conducting layer (top electrode 32) may also be grown on the second non-Pb/Bi-containing high-dielectric constant oxide layer. | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of priority of provisional application No. 60/377,964 filed May 7, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to medicine and biomedical research. More specifically, the present invention relates to expression systems to produce small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) or interfering RNAs (siRNAs), collectively called siRNA in this application, in eukaryotic cells and methods for expressing siRNAs in eukaryotic cells. The present invention also relates to the use of the expression systems as medicinal products.
2. Related Art
RNA interference (RNAi) is a process of sequence-specific, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in animals and plants initiated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that is homologous to the silenced gene. It is an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon and a multi-step process that involves generations of active siRNAs in vivo through the action of a mechanism that is not fully understood. RNAi has been used as a reverse genetic tool to study gene function in multiple model organisms, such as plants, Caenorhabditis elegants and Drosophila , where large dsRNAs efficiently induce gene-specific silencing. In mammalian cells dsRNAs, 30 base pairs or longer, can activate antiviral response, leading to the nonspecific degradation of RNA transcripts and to a general shutdown of host cell protein translation. As a result, the long dsRNA is not a general method for silencing specific genes in mammalian cells. Recently, various siRNAs that were synthesized chemically or generated biologically using DNA templates and RNA polymerases have been used to down regulate expression of targeted genes in cultured mammalian cells. Among approaches used, it is highly desirable to use DNA constructs that contain promoters of transcriptions and templates for siRNAs to generate siRNAs in vivo and in vitro. Though several different promoters have been adapted in such DNA constructs, types of promoters used remain limited to, Type III RNA polymerase III (Pol III) promoters, such as the U6 promoter and the H1 promoter, and promoters that require viral RNA polymerases, such as the T7 promoter. The present invention provides methods and designs to produce gene expression suppression agents that greatly expand potential usages of siRNAs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods to produce gene expression suppression agents for expression of siRNAs in mammalian cells. Such agents contain RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcription promoter elements, template sequences for siRNAs, which are to be transcribed in host cells, and a terminator sequence.
The promoter is any native or engineered transcription promoter. As examples of such promoters (not intended on being limiting), in one embodiment, the promoter is a Type I Pol III promoter, while in another embodiment, the promoter is a combination of Type I Pol III promoter elements and Type III Pol III promoter elements. In other embodiments other types of promoters are present.
The targeted region of siRNA is anywhere on a transcript of any sequence in eukaryotic or viral genomes. The terminator is any native or engineered sequence that terminates the transcription by Pol III or other types of RNA polymerases.
Such gene expression suppression agents are delivered into eukaryotic cells, including (but not limited to) mammals, insects, worms and plants, with any routes, procedures or methods, such as (but not limited to), in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, electroporations, transfections or viral vector transduction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using vertebrate Type I Pol III promoters. Specifically, FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a strategy for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using vertebrate Type I Pol III promoters (5S rRNA gene promoter and others). “A Box”, “C Box”, “D Box” and “IE” are Pol III promoter elements, “+1” is an initiation site of transcription, “Tn” is a termination site of the Pol III promoter transcript, and the arrow indicates the orientation of transcription. The siRNA template consists of sense, spacer, antisense and terminator sequences, and generates a hairpin dsRNA when expressed. “Sense” is a 17-23 nucleotide (nt) sense sequence that is identical to that of the target gene and is a template of one strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Spacer” is a 4-15 nt sequence and is a template of the loop of the strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Terminator” is the transcriptional termination signal of five thymidines (5 Ts).
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using vertebrate Type III Pol III promoters (U6 gene promoter, H1 RNA gene promoter, Y1 gene promoter, Y3 gene promoter, RNase P gene promoter and others). DSE, distal sequence element of Pol III promoter: PSE, proximal sequence element of Pol III promoter; TATA, a promoter element; +1, initiation site of transcription; the arrow indicates the orientation of transcription; siRNA Template, a 43-66 nt engineered insert that is the template for generating a hairpin dsRNA against a target gene; Sense, a 17-23 nt sense sequence from the target gene, template of one strand of stem in the hairpin; Spacer, a 4-15 nt sequence, template of loop of the hairpin; Antisense, a 17-23 nt antisense sequence, template of the other strand of stem in hairpin; Terminator, the transcriptional termination signal of 5 thymidines (5 Ts).
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using an engineered Pol III promoter containing the elements in both Type I and Type III promoters. “DSE” is a distal sequence element of Type III Pol III promoter. “PSE” is a proximal sequence element of Type III Pol III promoter, “TATA” is a Type III Pol III promoter element. “A Box,” “C Box” and “IE” are Type I Pol III promoter elements. “+1” is an initiation site of transcription. “Tn” is a termination site of the Type III Pol III promoter transcript. The arrow indicates the orientation of transcription. The siRNA template consists of sense, spacer, antisense and terminator sequences, and generates a hairpin dsRNA when expressed. “Sense” is a 17-23 nt sense sequence that is identical to that of the target gene and is a template of one strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Spacer” is a 4-15 nt sequence and is a template of the loop of the hairpin dsRNA. “Antisense” is a 17-23 nt antisense sequence and is a template of the other strand of stem in hairpin dsRNA. “Terminator” is the transcriptional termination signal of five thymidines (5 Ts).
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using two vertebrate Type I Pol III promoters that drive transcriptions of sense siRNA and antisense siRNA separately. “A Box”, “C Box”, “D Box” and “IE” are Pol III promoter elements. “+1” is an initiation site of transcription. “Tn” is a termination site of the Pol III promoter transcript. The arrow indicates the orientation of transcription. “Sense siRNA Template” is a 22-28 nt engineered insert that is the template for generating a sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) against a target gene, and consists of sense and terminator sequences. “Antisense siRNA Template” is a 22-28 nt engineered insert that is the template for generating an antisense ssRNA against a target gene, and consists of antisense and terminator sequences. “Sense” is a 17-23 nt sense sequence that is identical to that of the target gene and is a template of one strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Spacer” is a 4-15 nt sequence and is a template of loop of hairpin dsRNA. “Antisense” is a 17-23 nt antisense sequence and is a template of the other strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Terminator” is the transcriptional termination signal of five thymidines (5 Ts).
FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating siRNA in mammalian cells using an engineered T7 polymerase and T7 promoter. “Promoter” is a constitutive or context-dependent promoter such as an inducible promoter or a cell type specific promoter; “T7 Polymerase Gene” is a sequence coding for T7 polymerase. T7 promoter is a T7 promoter. “+1” is an initiation site of transcription. The arrow indicates the orientation of transcription. The siRNA template consists of sense, spacer, antisense and terminator sequences, and generates a hairpin dsRNA when expressed. “Sense” is a 17-23 nt sense sequence that is identical to that of the target gene and is a template of one strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Spacer” is a 4-15 nt sequence and is a template of the loop of the hairpin dsRNA. “Antisense” is a 17-23 nt antisense sequence and is a template of the other strand of stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Terminator” is an engineered terminator for T7 polymerase.
FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the embodiment for generating multiple siRNAs in mammalian cells using a single multiple transcription unit construct. “Unit” is a transcription unit that contains a vertebrate Type I Pol III promoter and a siRNA template. “A Box”, “C Box”, “D Box” and “IE” are Pol III promoter elements. “+1” is an initiation site of transcription. “Tn” is a termination site of the Pol III promoter transcript. The arrow indicates the orientation of transcription. The structure of siRNA template consists of sense, spacer, antisense and terminator sequences, and is an engineered insert that is the template for generating a hairpin dsRNA against a target gene. “Sense” is a 17-23 nucleotide (nt) sense sequence that is identical to that of the target gene and is a template of one strand of the stem in the hairpin dsRNA. “Spacer” is a 4-15 nt sequence and is a template of the loop of the hairpin dsRNA. “Antisense” is a 17-23 nt antisense sequence and is a template of the other strand of stem in hairpin dsRNA. “Terminator” is the transcriptional termination signal of five thymidines (5 Ts). The multiple siRNAs may target a single region on one gene, different regions on one gene, or one region on each of many genes.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following detailed description is provided to aid those skilled in the art to use the present invention. It should not be viewed as defining limitations of this invention. The present invention is directed to selectively suppress expression of genes targeted within mammalian cells by making and using DNA constructs that contains RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcription promoter elements, template sequences for siRNAs, which are to be transcribed in host cells, and a terminator sequence. The promoter is any native or engineered transcription promoter. In one embodiment, the promoter is a Type I Pol III promoter. The essential elements of Type I promoter, such as “A Box”, “C Box”, “D Box” and “IE” are included in the DNA construct. In this embodiment, siRNA template is arranged between the “D Box” and “A Box”. In another embodiment, the promoter is a combination of Type I Pol III promoter elements and Type III Pol III promoter elements. In this embodiment, the essential elements of both types of promoters, such “A Box”, “C Box”, and “IE” of Type I promoter, as well as “DSE”, “PSE” and “TATA” of Type III promoter are included in the DNA construct, with “DSE”, “PSE” and “TATA” in the upstream region of “+1” position, “A Box”, “C Box”, and “IE” in the down stream region of the “+1” position. Any promoter that is functioned in the mammalian cells is suitable to be used in this invention. Modifications, such as adding inducible or enhancing elements to exiting promoters, is suitable to be used in this invention.
The targeted region of siRNA is anywhere on a transcript of any sequence in mammalian or viral genomes. In some embodiments, templates for siRNA code for RNA molecules with “hairpin” structures contains both sense and antisense sequences of targeted genes. In other embodiments, the template for sense sequence and the template for antisense sequences are driven by different promoters.
The terminator is any native or engineered sequence that terminates the transcription by Pol III or other types of RNA polymerases, such as, but without being limited to, a stretch of 4 or more thymidines (T) residues in a DNA molecule.
Any transcriptional unit containing a promoter, a template for RNA and a terminator, is suitable to be constructed with one other unit, or multiple units, in a DNA molecule as an agent. In one embodiment, a multiple units construct is showed. More than one kind of the gene expression suppression agents (DNA molecules) are suitable to be introduced into mammalian cells together. The siRNAs generated within the same mammalian cell by these multiple units or co-introduction approaches provide agents ability to target one specific region in one targeted RNA molecule, multiple regions in one targeted RNA molecule, or multiple regions in more than one RNA molecules.
Such DNA constructs as indicated above can be constructed as a part of any suitable cloning vectors or expression vectors. Then the agents can be delivered into cells, tissues or organisms with any routes, procedures or methods, such as in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, injection, electroporations, transfections or viral vector transduction.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Cloning of the Human 5S rDNA Regulatory Sequences
The promoter chosen for the experimental design proposed below is the human 5S rRNA gene. The sequence is available in the database: Genbank Accession Number X12811. 5S rRNA promoter contains downstream Boxes A and C and upstream Box D. In FIG. 1 , the 49 nt sequence between the initiation site of the 5S rRNA and Box A is proposed to be replaced with interfering RNA sequence. Generation of a cassette containing both upstream and downstream boxes will be carried out in two steps. Cloning of the Box A and C can be achieved by chemical synthesis. The upstream Box D is done by PCR.
Cloning of the recombinant 5S rDNA Box D is carried out through PCR using forward primer (AACggatccaaacgctgcctccgcga) (Seq. 1) and reverse primer (TAGACGCTGCAGGAGGCGCCTGGCT) (Seq. 2), which can then be subcloned into BamHI and Pstl sites of pBS2SK. The Box A/C can be synthesized as top strand (AGAAGACGAagctaagcagggtcgggcctggttagtacttggatgggagaccgcctgggaataccggg tgctgtaggcttttg) (Seq. 3) and bottom strand (TCGACAAAAAGCCTACAGCACCCGGTATTCCCAGGCGGTTCTCCCATCCAA GTACTAACCAGGCCCGACCCTGCTTAGCTTCGTCTTCT) (Seq. 4), which are then annealed and subloned into EcoRFV and SalI sites downstream of the cloned Box D. The annealed DNA fragment is engineered with a BbsI site.
Example 2
Insertion and Cloning of RNAi Sequence
The RNAi cassette will be synthesized as two strands and cloned between Pstl and BbsI sites. The RNAi cassette is designed as follows:
(Seq. 5) 5′ GC(N19)TTTCGG(61N)TTTTT 3′ (Seq. 6) 3′ ACGTCG(61N)AAAGCC(N19)AAAAATCGA 5′
N19 is the 19 nt target DNA sequence selected from the transcribed region of a target gene. 61N is the reverse and complementary strand of N19. Transcription is initiated from the first base of N19 target sequence and terminated at the poly T.
Example 3
Targeting ErbB2/Her2 in Breast Cancers
ErbB2/Her2 gene is amplified in about 30% of breast cancers in humans, causing fast growth and metastasis of cancer cells. Herceptin, an antibody made by Genentech that blocks ErbB2 functions, is the only agent used by ErbB2-positive breast cancer patients that slows progression of metastatic breast disease and increases overall survival for patients given the drug along with standard chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone. Generation of siRNAs targeting ErbB2 developed with this invention should provide an alternative treatment.
Example 4
Targeting BCR-Abl tyrosine kinase in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and other cancers. BCR-Abl is a fusion gene product that frequently occurs in CML. STI571, also called Gleevec developed by Novartis, is a newly approved anticancer agent to target BCR-Abl in CML. Generation of siRNAs against the fusion gene BCR-Abl, without interfering with the normal expression of either BCR or Abl gene, developed with this invention should have great potential for gene therapy to treat CML.
Example 5
Targeting Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)
Using this invention to target different sites of the HBV genome will provide a potent gene therapy to treat hepatitis B infected patients.
Example 6
Targeting Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)
Using this invention to target different sites of the HIV genome will provide a potent gene therapy for HIV infected patients. A multiple units agent simultaneously targeting multiple sites, such as env, gag, pol, vif, nef, vpr, vpu and tat, may be suitable to address resistances resulted from mutations of the HIV genome. | A method is provided for making gene suppression agents to be used in eukaryotic cells by using a recombinant DNA construct containing at least one transcriptional unit compromising a transcriptional promoter, a template sequence for making a RNA molecule, and a transcriptional terminator. Mechanisms of the RNA mediated gene suppression include, but are not limited to, RNA interferences (RNAi). The use of the agents as tools for biomedical research as well as medicinal products is also disclosed. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display box, i.e. a box intended to house, protect and retain a cylindrical container with a portion of its lateral surface positioned in front of a window provided in the box in such a manner that trademarks, writings, descriptions and the like present on said lateral surface portion of the container are visible through said window.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many types of display boxes are known provided with elements which retain and protect a container housed therein such that the base of the container is kept raised from the base of the box to protect it from possible impacts while transporting or storing the boxes with the containers therein or while moving them from one place to another. A box of this type is illustrated, for example, in EP-B-0642977 and in the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,330; it is formed from a single piece of punched and crease-lined cardboard having projecting flaps at one end, these flaps being automatically folded about themselves (on shaping the box) to form supports which are only partly glued onto the side walls of the box and perform the effective function of keeping the container housed in the box raised and spaced from the adjacent base of the box.
EP-A-0761550 describes a display box also formed from a single piece of punched and crease-lined cardboard which differs from the box claimed in the aforesaid patents by the fact that one of the flaps projecting from an end of the cardboard sheet is very long and, in addition to forming a portion for supporting the container base (by keeping it raised in front of a window provided in the side wall of the box), extends (while remaining adhering to a side wall of the box) beyond the opposite end of the box and is partly glued to a flap projecting from said opposite end: in this manner, when the cardboard sheet is folded to form the finished box, the said very long flap forms two separate supports, one for the lower end of the container and the other for the upper end of the container, which is hence securely retained in the box and is protected against those impacts which may be transmitted to the two lids or ends of the box.
The main drawback of known display boxes is that nothing effectively prevents the containers from rotating (as a result of the handling and transport to which the finished boxes are subjected) about their longitudinal axis, so that any portion of the cylindrical surface of the containers can appear visible through the windows provided in the box, rather than only and always that portion carrying trademarks, writings, labels or the like which are required to remain positioned in front of the windows provided in the boxes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is therefore to provide a display box in which a substantially cylindrical container can be enclosed and protected against impacts both against its base and against its top and, in particular, in which the container is substantially prevented from rotating about its longitudinal axis.
Another object is to provide a box having the aforesaid functional characteristics, while being easily and economically obtainable from a single piece of punched, crease-lined and glued cardboard.
These and further objects are attained by a box comprising four side walls having lower ends and, respectively, upper ends from which there project a bottom lid and respectively a top lid, and elongate flaps in which creasing lines, cuts or holes are provided along which said flaps are folded so that at least one portion thereof is in contact with and glued onto the inner surface of the side wall from which each flap projects, at least one of the lower flaps forming for the container a support which is spaced from the bottom lid of the box, while the upper flaps form, for the top of the container, a pressing structure which is spaced from the top lid of the box, characterised in that each of the upper flaps is folded and partly glued onto itself such as to lie substantially flat and coplanar with that side wall of the box from which it projects when said flap is in its extended position with a portion thereof projecting from the upper end of the box but, by simply turning the flap over towards the box interior, to undergo deformation and to automatically form a surface arranged to rest and press on the top of a container inserted into the box, causing the substantially semiarch-shaped edge of an aperture provided in a portion of said flap to simultaneously project towards the interior of the box, such that the cylindrical upper lateral surface of a container inserted into the box is securely retained laterally by said semiarch-shaped edges of the upper flaps and at the same time is pressed by said flaps towards and against the support for the container base.
Preferably, each of said upper flaps is divided into eight separate consecutive flap portions separated from each other by parallel folding lines, in the first two flap portions closest to that side wall of the box from which they project there being provided a large profiled hole extending on both sides of the folding line which separates said first two flap portions from each other, an elongate aperture being provided in the fourth and fifth flap portion on one and on the other side of the folding line which separates them, said aperture being bounded by said substantially semiarch-shaped edge which is provided in said fifth flap portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the box is shown by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a spread-out plan view, seen from that surface thereof intended to remain inside the box, of a punched, knurled and crease-lined cardboard sheet;
FIGS. from 2 to 5 show the same cardboard sheet in its various successive stages of folding and gluing;
FIGS. 6 , 7 and 8 are perspective views of the finished box, with a portion of the side wall of the box removed to show the attitude which one of the upper flaps of the box assumes as the flap is being folded from its extended flat position to its folded position in the interior of the box;
FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the box, with a portion of its side wall omitted, in the attitude which it assumes at the moment in which a cylindrical container is about to be inserted into the box; and
FIG. 10 is a cross-section through the box on the line 10 — 10 of FIG. 8 but assuming that the box has been closed after a container, the profile of which is represented simply by dashed lines, has been inserted into it.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
To understand the structure of the cardboard sheet and the method of forming the display box obtainable therefrom, reference is firstly made to Figures from 1 to 5 from which it can be seen that the punched, crease-lined and knurled cardboard sheet (shown in plan view on the side forming its inner surface in FIG. 1 ) comprises four side walls 1 – 4 and a tab 5 which are separated from each other by parallel creasing lines 6 – 9 . From the lower end of the wall 1 and from the upper end of the wall 3 there project two panels 10 , 11 intended to form the lower and respectively the upper lid of the box in traditional manner.
From the lower ends of the side walls 2 , 4 there project respective elongate flaps (identical in the illustrated embodiment) each divided into separate flap portions 12 – 15 by folding lines or creasing lines 17 – 19 , they being separated from the respective side walls 2 , 4 by creasing lines 16 : the creasing lines 16 – 19 are mutually parallel and are perpendicular to the creasing lines 6 – 9 . In both the flap portions 12 there is provided a cut bounding a tab 20 which is separated from the adjacent flap portions 13 by a knurling 21 which incises the folding line 17 , its purpose being to facilitate the turning of the tab 20 onto the adjacent flap portion 13 , as explained hereinafter.
From the upper (with respect to the drawing) ends of each of the walls 2 and 4 there projects an elongate flap (identical) divided into flap portions 22 – 29 by folding lines 31 – 37 and separated from the respective wall 2 , 4 by a creasing line 30 , these folding and creasing lines 30 being parallel to each other and perpendicular to the creasing lines 6 – 9 .
In particular from FIG. 1 it can be seen that the folding line 36 is interrupted in its central part by a thin profiled cut defining a tooth 38 which projects from the flap portion 27 , and that in the flap portions 25 , 26 a profiled hole 39 is provided, the upwardly (with respect to FIG. 1 ) facing free edge of which is shaped substantially as a semiarch (interrupted at its centre by an undercut which extends as far as the folding line 35 ), along the folding lines 32 , 37 there being provided elongate holes the purpose of which is to facilitate the folding of the flap portions about said folding lines, a large profiled hole 40 being provided in the flap portions 22 , 23 which interrupts the folding line 31 and is of substantially rhomboidal shape.
Finally, it can be seen that in the walls 2 – 4 there is provided a large elongate hole 41 intended to form the window through which the writings reproduced on the cylindrical outer surface of the container to be housed and retained in the made-up box, will be visible.
Starting with the cardboard sheet of FIG. 1 , glue spots 50 , 51 are firstly applied to the flap portions 29 , 24 and glue spots 52 , 53 to the tabs 20 and to the lower flap portions 15 . Each upper flap is then turned over about the folding line 35 to fix the flap portion 28 onto the flap portion 24 and the flap portion 29 onto the flap portion 23 ; then the lower flaps are turned over about the folding lines 17 , 21 to fix the tab 20 onto the flap portion 13 and the flap portion 15 onto the respective wall 2 , 4 , as can be seen from FIG. 2 from which it can be seen that the end edge of the flap portions 29 presents an undercut, in order to be aligned with the underlying portion of the free edge bounding the large profiled hole 40 , which hence remains free ( FIG. 2 ).
Glue spots 54 are then applied to the surface of the portion 27 of each upwardly facing upper flap ( FIG. 2 ), then each said flap is turned over about the folding line 31 so that the flap portion 27 adheres (and is fixed by the glue) to the inner surface (facing upwards in FIGS. 1–4 ) of the respective side wall 2 , 4 , as seen in FIG. 3 : under these conditions, each of the two upper flaps is turned over onto itself and assumes a flattened form intuitable from the aforestated and as can be clearly seen from FIGS. 6 and 9 which will be described hereinafter.
At this point the cardboard sheet is folded about the creasing line 8 , to superpose the already turned-over upper flaps on the side wall 3 of the box ( FIG. 4 ).
A strip of glue (represented by dots) is then applied to the upperly facing surface of the tab 5 ( FIG. 4 ), then the side wall 1 of the box is turned over by rotating it about the creasing line 6 and superposing it on the already folded upper flaps resting on the wall 2 , in order to glue the free longitudinal edge of said wall 1 to the tab 5 ( FIG. 5 ).
The task of the cardboard processing firm which has produced the box is hence terminated, and packs of flattened boxes are dispatched to the box user firms which, using automatic machines of known type and common use, firstly press the creasing line 6 towards the creasing line 8 (hence causing the box to assume a tubular shape with a square or rectangular cross-section), then rotate the lower flaps of the box towards the box interior and finally close the bottom lid: the box hence assumes the appearance shown in perspective view seen frontally from below (with part of the side walls of the box removed to allow a clear view of its interior structure) in FIG. 6 .
In FIG. 6 , in which the lower part of the box possesses its final shape (whereas its upper end is open), i.e. the shape which it must have to be ready for inserting a cylindrical container (shown schematically in FIGS. 9 and 10 by the letter C) into it, as clearly represented in FIG. 9 in which for clarity the box is drawn as it appears if seen rotated through 180° about its longitudinal axis with respect to Figures from 6 to 8 .
Starting from the conditions of FIGS. 6 and 9 and assuming that the container c has already been inserted into the box (the container is not however shown in Figures from 6 to 8 ), the upper flaps are folded towards the box interior, passing through the intermediate position of FIG. 7 (in which only the left upper flap is shown partly folded into the box), to reach the final position of FIG. 8 (where the flap portion 24 assumes an attitude parallel both to the parts 14 of the lower flaps and to the two lids 10 , 11 when in their closed position) in which the container C (see FIG. 10 ) rests on the horizontal parts 14 and is supported by the two vertical parts 13 and by the tabs 20 glued thereto and deriving from the lower flaps of the box, the container being permanently urged downwards by the parts 24 of the upper flaps and being laterally retained, positioned and locked 25 securely by the semiarch-shaped free edges of the holes 39 in the said upper flaps, said shaped edges being pressed against the cylindrical surfaces of the upper part of the container C which is securely retained by said shaped edges by friction so that the container cannot rotate freely about its axis.
It follows that as the window 41 and the upper and lower edges of the box are shaped and dimensioned such that in front of and through the window 41 there is positioned and visible that portion of the container cylindrical surface carrying the trademarks or writings which are to remain always easily visible by the purchaser of the products enclosed in the container C, once the containers have been correctly positioned in the boxes their attitude cannot be accidentally changed during box handling and storage.
An important characteristic of the described box is the considerable ease with which the container C can be inserted, correctly positioned and locked inside the box.
To understand this, reference will be made to FIG. 9 in which the upper flaps and the lid 11 are completely aligned with those side walls of the box from which they project: the container C can be rested on the portions 14 of the lower flaps which are flat and spaced from the bottom lid 10 .
After the container C has been inserted into the box, when the upper flaps are rotated about the folding line 30 to pass in succession through the intermediate position of FIG. 7 to the completely turned-over position of FIGS. 8 and 10 , the shaped edges of the apertures 39 firstly move downwards and at the same time towards the centre of the box to interfere with the cylindrical surface of the container C and hence position it correctly in the centre of the box, and then securely lock it in this position in which it is finally retained by the portions 24 , 28 of the upper flaps which at the same time have been lowered to press on the top of the container and urge it and lock it onto the portions 13 , 14 , 20 of the lower flaps ( FIG. 10 ).
The container C is hence automatically protected against impacts received both against the top and against the side walls of the box, and in addition the container cannot rotate accidentally about its axis. | Display box for housing a cylindrical container with a side portion thereof visible through a window provided in at least one of the side walls of the box, including elements which interfere with the container, to lock the container, protect the container within the box, and to prevent the container from accidentally rotating about an axis. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hand-operated device providing mechanical means for generating, designing, creating and/or composing musical rhythm patterns.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Composing rhythm patterns can be a very tedious task. Available rhythm patterns may be present in textbooks, method books, handbooks, lengthy charts, etc. When selecting a rhythm pattern for a given composition, one must refer to one or more of such books or lengthy charts. This can be a rather clumsy procedure. This becomes even more difficult when rhythm patterns become more complex due to two, three or more rhythm lines. For example, when writing rhythm for a snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals, not only must the rhythm pattern of each individual instrument be considered but also the combination thereof. Thus, for each different rhythm pattern for the cymbal, there may be an infinite number of rhythm patterns for the bass drum and snare drum.
It can thus be seen that the designing of rhythm patterns can be quite complex and may require the continuous writing and modification of notes in order to eventually obtain the desired rhythm pattern.
When a percussionist desires to practice various rhythm patterns, he must either find a source having various rhythm patterns written out, or he must write them out himself beforehand and then practice playing them. It is very important for percussionists, and particularly drum set percussionists, to rehearse various rhythm patterns in order to be comfortable with the coordination between snare drum, bass drum and cymbals, and to become more comfortable in sight reading percussion rhythm patterns.
No method has previously been available for easily creating countless numbers of rhythm patterns which can be read for the purpose of practicing, or which can be read for the purpose of composing music.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the deficiencies of the prior art, such as those set forth hereinabove.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvement to increase the ease of practicing and composing rhythm patterns.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device for generating musical rhythm patterns.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand operated device for mechanically generating musical rhythm patterns.
It is yet another object of the present invention to eliminate the need for lengthy charts which list available rhythm patterns.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new quick technique for developing rhythm patterns.
It is still another object of the present invention to eliminate the need for continually writing notes when designing rhythm patterns.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device which makes modification of rhythm patterns quick and efficient.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand musical rhythm generator capable of displaying a plurality of different musical rhythm patterns on each of at least two portions of the musical staff such that each of the rhythm patterns on each of the portions of the staff can be displayed in conjunction with each of the rhythm patterns on the opposite portion of the staff.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand rhythm pattern generator having two discs, the periphery of one disc having printed thereon a plurality of bass drum and snare drum rhythm patterns, and the periphery of the second disc having printed thereon a plurality of cymbal rhythm patterns, the device having a window to display a predetermined number of beats of the rhythm patterns on each disc shown in conjunction with one another.
Still other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description of embodiments constructed in accordance therewith, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the rhythm pattern generator of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on the line 2--2 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one of the discs used in the device of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a front elevation of another of the discs used in the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The presently preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings as comprising a holder 8 having a front face 10 and a rear face 18 which may be connected together at the top and bottom edges 9 and 11. Between the front and rear faces 10 and 18 of the holder 8 are disposed two flat circular discs 12 and 14. Disc 14 is larger than disc 12. Discs 12 and 14 are arranged adjacent one another on a common rotational axis 20. Between the discs 12 and 14 is a stationary sheet 16 which may be connected to front and rear sheets 10 and 18 in such a manner as to permit rotatability of the discs 12 and 14. A stationary axle 22 is connected to front and rear sheets 10 and 18 of the holder 8. The discs 12 and 14 are rotatable therearound.
Holder 8 is specifically shaped in order to aid in the independent rotation of discs 12 and 14. On one side of holder 8, front and back faces 10 and 18 are cut away at 50 to expose the outer periphery of disc 14. Front face 10, however, is not cut away so far as to expose the outer peripheral edge 13 of disc 12. At this cutaway portion 50 on one side of the holder 8, the outer edge 15 of disc 14 can be easily contacted by the finger of the user to cause rotation of disc 14.
On the opposite side of holder 8, front face 10 is cut away at 52 so as to expose the outer periphery of disc 12. Between discs 12 and 14, center sheet 16 of the holder is exposed in a manner such that it totally covers and therefore hides from view disc 14 in the area of cutout 52. It can be seen that in the area of cutout 52, the outer edge 13 of disc 12 can be easily contacted by the finger of the user to cause rotation of disc 12.
Except in areas of cutouts 52 and 50, as well as the windows which will be described hereinbelow, front face 10 completely covers and hides from view both discs 12 and 14.
Disc 14 is shown in FIG. 3 in its entirety, and disc 12 in its entirety is shown in FIG. 4. It can be seen that the outer circumference of each of the two discs 12 and 14 contain note patterns arranged on lines or spaces of the musical staff. The lines 24, 26, 28 of the musical staff are arranged in concentric circles on the outer circumference of each disc. When the two discs 12 and 14 are in operative position, the lines appear to be equidistant from one another so as to form a full five line musical staff, or a portion thereof, as a continuous circle around the superimposed discs. In the embodiment illustrated, three lines of the musical staff are shown. The bottom and middle lines 24 and 26 are printed on disc 12, and top line 28 is printed on disc 14. While the second and fourth lines of the musical staff are not illustrated, they may be added if desired.
In accordance with conventional percussion notation, bass drum notes are written on the first space of the staff and snare drum notes are written on the third space of the staff. Notes for the cymbals may be written on the space above the fifth line of the staff. In accordance with this conventional notation, in the embodiment illustrated it can be seen that bass drum notes 30 in the rhythm patterns are illustrated on the space above line 24, and snare drum notes 32 are written on the space above line 26 on disc 12. The cymbal notes 34 are written on the space above line 28 on disc 14.
Note patterns for the snare drum, bass drum and cymbals are written on the staff lines around the entire outer periphery of discs 12 and 14. The rhythm patterns indicated by these notes can be of a very large number of different types. The rhythm patterns are arranged such that a predetermined number of beats are present for every predetermined length of arc of the circumference. For example, discs 12 and 14 have four beats (equivalent to four quarter notes) for every 45° of arc. Thus, all the notes making up one beat of rhythm are preferably placed within 111/4° of arc on the circumference of the disc. Depending on the particular rhythm pattern being written, this single beat appearing in the 111/4° of arc may be a single quarter note, two eighth notes, four sixteenth notes, a combination of eighth and sixteenth notes making up one beat, etc.
On the front face 10 of the holder is placed a window 46. The window 46 is in the shape of an arc of a circle concentric with discs 12 and 14. The window is located in the vicinity of the muscial staff lines 24,26, 28 and notes 30, 32, 34 written on the circumference of discs 12 and 14. Window 46 has a radial width sufficient to display the notes printed on both discs 12 and 14 but not so wide as to show the extreme outer edge 15 of larger disc 14.
In the illustrated embodiment, the length of the arc of window 46 is such as to expose eight beats (90° of arc). A bar 48, non-rotatably connected to front face 10 of the holder 8, bisects the arc of the window 46 and thus divides it into two portions of four beats each (45°), thereby creating a display of two measures of music in four-four time.
Front cover 10 of the holder 8 further has cut out therefrom two small windows 40 and 42. Window 40 is located between window 46 and axle 22, preferably near the bottom of window 46. Disc 12 has a plurality of numbers written thereon along the circumference of a circle of a radius equal to the distance between axle 22 and window 40. The numbers are of a size which can be displayed through window 40. Thus, as disc 12 is rotated about axis 20, each of the numbers 36 sequentially come into view through window 40.
Window 42 is cut out from front face 10 of the holder 8 on the side of window 46 distal from axle 22. Window 42 is positioned so as to display thereunder a portion of the periphery of disc 14 between notes 34 and the outer edge 15 of disc 14. In the illustrated embodiment window 42 is an extension of window 46.
Disc 14 further has printed thereon a plurality of numbers 38 along the circumference of a circle having a diameter equal to the distance between axis 20 and window 42. The numbers are of a size which can be displayed through window 42. Thus, in a manner similar to window 40 and numbers 36, the numbers 38 sequentially come into view within window 42 as disc 14 is rotated about its axis.
The distance between adjacent numbers 36 on disc 12 and adjacent numbers 38 on disc 14 is set such that a predetermined number of beats or portions of a beat will pass in window 46 as the discs 12 and 14 are rotated from one number to another. In the illustrated embodiment, passing from one number to the adjacent number in either windows 40 or 42 causes the discs 12 or 14 to shift one beat or 111/4°. The numbers 36, 38 are aligned with respect to the notes 30, 32, 34 on the respective discs 12, 14 such that when the disc 12 is aligned such that a number 36 is centered in window 40, exactly eight beats will be displayed in window 46 with four beats displayed to the left side of bar 48, and four beats displayed on the right side thereof. The same is true with respect to numbers 38, window 42, and notes 34 on disc 14.
The number 36 displayed in window 40, is denominated the "snare-bass rhythm number". Since there is a substantial variation in the rhythm patterns throughout the circumference of discs 12 and 14, each snare-bass rhythm number 36 will cause a new two-measure rhythm pattern to be exposed in window 46. The number 38 exposed in window 42 is denominated the "cymbal rhythm number". Each cymbal rhythm number 38 also causes a new two-measure cymbal rhythm pattern to be exposed in window 46.
It can readily be seen that the discs 12 and 14 may be independently rotated to display any given cymbal rhythm number 38 in opposition to any given snare-bass rhythm number 36. Therefore, by rotating either or both discs 12, 14 to any given number 36, 38, a new note or notes are exposed and a new rhythm pattern is generated and exposed. It can readily be seen that a total of 1,024 (32×32) rhythm patterns can be easily and quickly generated by means of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention.
It should be understood that while one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated, it is not intended that the present invention be limited thereto. For example, while the illustrated embodiment shows four beats for every 45° of arc, a musical rhythm pattern generator in accordance with the present invention can be designed having any given number of beats in each predetermined length of arc, limited only by the size of the device and the legibility of the notes thereon. Similarly, while the arc of window 46 in the illustrated device exposes eight beats or two measures, the length of arc of window 46 may be selected to expose any predetermined number of beats. Furthermore, window 46 may be designed to have a variable arc length so that the number of beats per measure can be manually set. To vary the arc length of window 46, slidable shutters (not shown) can be placed behind front face 10 of holder 8.
Furthermore, while the illustrated embodiment shows one rhythm number in windows 40 and 42 for every beat of the rhythm patterns, the distance between rhythm numbers may clearly be varied to allow a change of more or less than one beat between rhythm numbers.
It should further be understood that while two discs are shown, the device could easily be designed to have three or more discs. For example, the bass drum line could be on a separate disc from the snare drum line, thereby allowing the bass drum beat to be independently set from both the cymbal and snare drum rhythm patterns. This would allow an even greater number of rhythm patterns to be generated and exposed. Further discs for other rhythm lines, such as the hi hat cymbal, may also be present.
While the illustrated embodiment is specifically directed toward rhythm patterns for bass drum, snare drum and cymbal, for particular use by a drum set percussionist, similar musical rhythm pattern generators may be devised for use by any instrument or group of instruments in which varied rhythm patterns are desirable.
The holder 8 and discs 12, 14, may conveniently be made of any suitable material including, but not limited to paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, etc. The windows 46, 40 and 42 may be apertures in the holder 8 or may be transparent portions thereof.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification. | A hand-operated musical rhythm pattern generator includes two independently rotatable discs mounted in a holder. The discs have complementary rhythm patterns printed on the peripheries thereof, a portion of which is visible through a window in the holder. The rhythm patterns displayed may be randomly changed by rotating one or both discs any desired angular amount. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hinges are subject to weathering, daily wear and abuse over the years, leading to eventual failure. Outdoors they rust and are subject to being removed for unauthorized entry by the simple expediency of pulling the pins. When the pins are removed or stolen, they are often replaced by nails or other stop-gap means, resulting in their less than optimal performance.
Most outdoor hinges do not have a self-closing feature, and most that do close with a weighted rope on a pulley or with a spring. The vast majority of gates and even more doors have lo no self-closing feature at all despite the many cases in which clearly either the open or the closed position should be established as the default mode, especially when infants and small children are about.
Hinges have been designed which are self-closing, and there are also hinges assembled from two identical halves. Most require a separate hinge pin and some have structure which avoids the use of a pin. However, often these are not designed for outdoor use, and no known one-piece hinge is automatically self-closing
Some are made of plastic or nylon rather than metal, and thus avoid the corrosive effects of weather over time. By and large however, they require the use of additional structure to make a complete unit, such as a hinge pin or a clip to hold the halves together. Or, alternatively there is a one-piece hinge of the "living hinge" variety, having a limited life as at the bend line of the material is repeatedly worked back and forth until it parts.
There is a need for a weatherproof, durable, simply and rugged hinge made from two identical parts that require the use of no additional structure, the two parts of which axially migrate with respect to one another when mutually rotated such that a swing-closed feature is inherent in the design without additional components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention fulfills the above-stated need by providing a hinge that is assembled from two identical parts molded in nylon or other tough plastic. The two pieces together define the hinge pin and the sleeves that engage the hinge pin, all as integrally molded parts, with each piece providing half of the pin. The pins and sleeves alternate from one half to the other so that they matingly interengage. Joinder of the two hinge halves is made possible by the reduced thickness dimension of the hinge pins in one direction, due to a flat defined in the side of the cylindrical pin, and a slot in the sleeve which permits the passage therethrough of the hinge pin when the flat is properly oriented. After the hinge is swung into operative position, the pin can no longer escape through the slot in the sleeve.
In an important version of the invention the pin sleeve structure is helically cut (or molded) to build in a swing-shut feature, and in any of the embodiments the hinge material could be o phosphorescent to provide night-time delineation of the door or gate frame, and impregnated with a permanently bleeding lubricant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIRST EMBODIMENT: FIGS. 1 THROUGH 13, DRAWING SHEET NO. 1
FIG. 1 is an end elevation view of the first embodiment of the hinge showing it in its engaged, 180° extended mode;
FIG. 2 illustrates the two hinged halves of FIG. 1 separated;
FIG. 3 is the front elevation view showing the hinge halves engaged;
FIG. 4 is identical to FIG. 3 but showing the hinged halves separated;
FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the rear of the hinge configuration shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of the separated configuration shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is an end view of the hinge shown in its closed (0°) position;
FIG. 8 illustrates the orientation of the hinged halves necessary to mate them together for deployment as a complete hinge;
FIG. 9 is an elevation view of the closed pin configuration of FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is an end view of the closed pin configuration of FIG. 7 as seen from the right end;
FIG. 11 is a section taken along line 11--11 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 12 is a section taken along line 12--12 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 13 is a section taken along line 13--13 of FIG. 4;
SECOND EMBODIMENT: FIGS. 14 THROUGH 28, DRAWING SHEETS NO. 2 & 3
FIG. 14 is a front elevation view of a modification of the hinge wherein the sleeve and pin structure is helically defined to make the hinge inherently self-closing;
FIG. 15 is a side elevation view of the hinge of FIG. 14; FIG. 16 is a section taken along line 16--16 of FIG. 14;
FIG. 17 is a top plan view of the modification of the hinge;
FIG. 18 is a rear elevation view of the modification;
FIG. 19 is a front elevation of the modified hinge swung rearwardly into the 0-degree position;
FIG. 20 is a rear elevation of the folded hinge;
FIG. 21 is a rear elevation view of the hinge halves separated;
FIG. 22 is a section taken along line 22--22 of FIG. 14;
FIG. 23 is a section taken along line 23--23 of FIG. 14;
FIG. 24 is a section similar to FIG. 22 but with the right hinge half shown in phantom;
FIG. 25 is section similar to FIG. 23 but with the left hinge half shown in phantom;
FIG. 26 is a top plan view of the hinge mounting a door swung into its zero-degree orientation;
FIG. 27 is a top plan view of the hinge mounting a door swung into its one-hundred-eighty-degree orientation; and,
FIG. 28 is an elevation view of a left-handed hinge.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The first embodiment of the invention in the simplest form is shown on the first sheet of drawings in FIGS. 1 through 13. The hinge is comprised of a single piece indicated at 10, which is molded in a tough plastic such as polycarbonate to produce a rigid, resilient and durable part. Each part includes both the hinge pin sleeve and the hinge pin itself, which engage the corresponding structure of the other part so that the single part, used in pairs, defines a complete hinge unit.
Each part mounts to a respective one of the members to be hinged such as a door and frame, and defines whatever mounting interface configuration is appropriate, which in this disclosure is the mounting plate 12 with mounting screw holes 14. Any other convenient mounting configuration could be used or the hinge could be produced integrally with the structure to be hinged.
Each of the halves has a pin-mounting sleeve portion or boss 16 which is essentially identical in overall external configuration to the pin-engaging sleeves 18, which engage over the pin segments 20. When the two halves are coupled, the boss 16 and the sleeve define a smooth exterior which looks like a conventional hinge. Otherwise, it need not be the exact same configuration as the sleeves, as its function is to provide strong support for the pin segment 20 and prevent axial motion.
The pin segment 20 which extends from the pin-mounting boss extends across the open gap 22 as shown in FIG. 5, and terminates at the projected plane defined by the flat planar surface 24 of the sleeve 18. The pin segment is molded with a flat 26 on one side. This flat defines a dimension of reduced thickness indicated at 28 in FIG. 8, which permits the pin to slide through the entry slot 30, also shown in FIG. 8, but as soon as the two halves are mutually rotated from the coupling configuration they are locked and restricted to one-dimensional pivotal action as the effective thickness of the pin is now greater than the slot dimension. The hinge halves are now secured together as an integral unit and remain positively engaged provided they are not swung into the separable position shown in FIG. 8, which is about 270° degrees from the fully closed position shown in FIG. 7. It would be difficult or impossible to swing the hinge 270° in a properly installed door or gate installation, which would generally require only 90° swing clearance, or 180° at the most, as shown in the movement between FIGS. 26 and 27. Accidental dislodgement would therefore not ordinarily be a problem.
Since both halves are identical, when they are inverted relative to one another as shown in FIG. 6, oriented as shown in FIG. 8 and moved together, they engage as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Each pin segment projects from its pin mount into the sleeve of the other hinge half. No secondary structure such as a pin is required. This hinge is self-contained, tough, durable, light-weight and very inexpensive to make as it requires only a single mold cavity. Replacement and stocking cost are comparably reduced, and several sizes of the hinge should fit any outdoor purpose, with inside doors being similarly accommodated with the possible cosmetic re-configuration of the hinge externally to produce an aesthetic appearance integrated with the decor of the room.
A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 14 through 28 in the second sheet of drawings. This embodiment is conceptually substantially identical to the first, but is designed as a "self-closing" hinge. Self-closing is accomplished by the expedient of molding the sleeves in segments which do not define right circular cylinders as the sleeves of the first embodiment, but rather helically-cut cylinders as best shown in FIGS. 14-16 that ride up on one another in use. The simplest embodiment would be similar to FIGS. 1-13 but with an interface between the two halves that is helical.
However, partly with the goal of producing an interesting-looking hinge but also for increased vertical support strength at the hinge axis, the sleeves of the illustrated embodiment have been defined not as monolithic blocks as the first embodiment, but as multiple sleeve ribbons or segments 34 which act as spacers and are mutually spaced and parallel to accept in interstitial relation the complementing rib structure 36 extending from the pins of the other half. This configuration multiplies the horizontal component of the interface several times with an accompanying increase in support strength to the hinged member. In this instance pin endcaps 32 mount the hinge pin 20, which is molded integrally with the spaced helical ribs 36 which also support the pin as they are integral with the mounting plate 12.
The helical sleeve segments 34 are similar to the ribs 36 except that there is a void where the pin would otherwise be and the slot 30 admits the pin when properly oriented just as in the first embodiment. The effect is similar to the result that would be achieved by hellically cutting a hollow cylinder such that there are two side-by-side ribbons axially alternating along the length of the cylinder, one being attached to a first mount and the other to a second, with the mounts being pulled apart to slidably separate the two ribbons. The difference is, the sleeve segments 34 are internally void to accept the pin from the other half but the ribs 36 have the internal pin which engages the sleeve in the same way as in the first embodiment. Also, since the two halves cannot quite be pulled apart laterally like ribbons as described above, as that would require some axial separation of the two ribbons. Therefore the halves will have to be forced together and will thus require slight temporary deformation of the plastic.
Once assembled, the helical segments axially alternate with ribs as shown in FIG. 20 and have the effect of causing each half to migrate axially with respect to the other half as the door or gate swings on the hinge. The gate or door will have a default preference for swinging in the direction that results in the swinging structure being the closest to the ground, and the hinge should be arranged if possible such that the two halves move into horizontal alignment when in the stable default (closed or open) position. Also, although each hinge is still made of two identical parts, left-and right-handed hinges will be needed for the second door of a swinging door pair. FIG. 28 illustrates a left-handed unit.
A gap 38 between the pin sand the sleeve segments of each half provides the clearance that the structure needs to accommodate the axial migration necessary to achieve the displacement illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 18. This gap migrates to one end or the other of the sleeve as the hinge is operated between its extreme positions.
The mold of the second embodiment is more expensive to make than in the first embodiment, but once made, innumerable pieces can be generated at a nominal per-unit cost. This hinge can be made according to a wide range of specifications regarding thickness, durability and strength. Any gate that should normally be closed or door that should be shut in its default mode, could be equipped with this hinge and although easily openable against the slight closing force of the hinge, would definitely have a preferred closed (or open) mode.
Lubricant can be impregnated into the hinge material, an advantage of elastomeric or polymeric materials over metal. The unit would last indefinitely, having a smooth operating motion. Provided the hinge is accurately mounted, the hinged member will smoothly swing into its default mode for a long time before friction finally, inevitably, interferes. The plastic materials from which the hinge could be made are available in an endless variety of colors and could also be made with an integral phosphor to assist in night navigation. It will not rust or produce sparks. Although a standard hinge configuration is shown, the hinge could be made long and thin like a piano wire hinge, with any number of sleeve segments and comparable pin segments. There is virtually no hinge specification which could not be met by a hinge of this design in one of the illustrated and exemplary modifications or in a logical extrapolation therefrom. | A simple hinge is defined from a single-part component which is used in pairs as hinge halves which mutually engage to define a tough, long-lasting hinge. The hinge pin, and hinge sleeve which engages the pin, are in effect separated into component lengths defined on alternate sides of the hinge line on the respective hinged halves so that each hinge half defines a portion of the entire pin and a portion of the sleeve. These sleeve/pin lengths engage the pin/sleeve lengths of the identical, but reversed, mating half. In one important form, the hinge sleeves are helically cut to interstitially engage ribs defined on the pin segments so that the sleeve halves axially migrate as they rotate about the hinge axis, forming a self-closing hinge. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
Generally, the present invention relates to an electronic accelerator pedal system with a foot pressure-adjusting function. More particularly the electronic accelerator pedal incorporates a system that provides variable resistance with respect to the stroke of the pedal arm during depression and release of the accelerator pedal.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typically, an accelerator manipulation device is either a mechanical device or an electronic device. The mechanical accelerator pedal system includes a pedal that is pivotally mounted on the driver's side floorboard, a throttle mechanism installed in the intra-engine suction system, and a cable connecting the accelerator pedal to the throttle mechanism that transmits a manipulation force. An electronic accelerator pedal system includes an accelerator pedal pivotally mounted on the driver's side floorboard and a detection sensor installed on the accelerator pedal that detects the position of the accelerator pedal on a real time basis.
A conventional mechanical accelerator pedal system generates a foot pressure hysteresis effect, and thus, no special problem occurs in the foot pressure tuning of the accelerator pedal. The foot pressure hysteresis effect refers to a phenomenon where a driver's passive reaction force (about 2 kgf), caused from friction of the cable during the releasing of the pedal, is small compared to the driver's passive reaction force (about 3.5˜4.5 kgf) during the depressing of the pedal. In contrast, in a conventional electronic accelerator pedal system the driver's passive reaction force, during depression, steady state, and release of the pedal, is determined only by the inherent elasticity of a return spring. The quantitative degree of the reactive force of the return spring is determined on the basis of depression of the pedal for acceleration. However, a drawback of this system is that there is no resistance in the system which counteracts the spring's reactive force while a driver holds a steady accelerator position. As a result, the driver's ankle is subjected to fatigue after repetitive depressions of the pedal. Consequently, the manipulability of the accelerator is aggravated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an electronic accelerator pedal system with a foot pressure-adjusting function. The pivoting of the pedal is electrically detected to determine the degree of acceleration requested by the driver. The reactive foot pressure felt by the driver is made variable during the depressing and releasing of the pedal. Therefore, the driver's fatigue during frequent manipulation of the pedal is reduced, thereby improving the manipulability of the accelerator.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic accelerator pedal system with a foot pressure-adjusting function comprises a pedal arm pivotally installed within a car interior. Additionally, a detection sensor for detecting the degree of pedal arm movement and a foot pressure-adjusting means is installed on the pedal arm for varying the foot pressure in accordance with the pivoting direction of the pedal arm. Furthermore, a contact member for contacting the foot pressure-adjusting means during the pivoting of the pedal arm is included.
In an alternative embodiment the electronic pedal system comprises a pedal arm pivotally coupled with a structural body and a detector sensor for detecting an amount of movement of the pedal arm. An elastic member generates a return force against movement of the pedal arm. Also included is a pressure-adjusting system that comprises a first friction member coupled to the pedal arm and a second friction member coupled to the structural body. The second friction member is configured and dimensioned to contact the first friction member and the contact between the friction members opposes movement of the pedal arm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the electronic accelerator pedal system of the present, invention with a foot pressure-adjusting function;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the assembled state of the electronic accelerator pedal system of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 illustrates an enlarged view of the coupling portion between the pedal arm and the foot pressure-adjusting means of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a contact member that accommodates and contacts the foot pressure-adjusting means of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 5 illustrates the contact state between the foot pressure-adjusting means and the contact member during the depressing and releasing of the accelerator pedal;
FIG. 6 is a graphical illustration showing the variation of the foot pressure with respect to the accelerator pedal stroke;
FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means according to the present invention;
FIG. 8 illustrates still another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means according to the present invention; and
FIG. 9 illustrates yet another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the electronic accelerator pedal system with a foot pressure-adjusting function according to the present invention includes a housing 10 secured to a lower panel within a car's interior. A pedal arm 12 is pivotally installed on the housing 10 and a detection sensor 14 , such as a potentiometer, is secured on one side of the housing 10 . The detection sensor 14 electrically detects the degree the pedal arm 12 is pivoted during use. A foot pressure-adjusting means is installed on the pedal arm 12 for varying the foot pressure in accordance with the pivoting direction of the pedal arm 12 . Also, a contact member 16 is formed on the leading end of the housing 10 for contacting the foot pressure-adjusting means during the pivoting of the pedal arm.
A pivot-supporting fastening pin 18 is coupled to the housing 10 and the pedal arm 12 provide pivot of the pedal arm 12 with respect to the housing 10 . A pair of torsion springs 20 are fitted to the fastening pin 18 to elastically pivot the pedal arm 12 in relation to the housing 10 . On one end of the pivot-supporting fastening pin 18 , there is a securing pin 22 for preventing the fastening pin 18 from becoming separated from the housing 10 and the pedal arm 12 .
As shown in FIG. 3 , the foot pressure-adjusting means includes a friction plate 24 that is detachably coupled to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 . The friction plate 24 includes an elastic installation part 24 a having a pair of inclinedly spread protuberance parts 24 b that couple to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 to maintain an elastic supporting force. A contact part 24 c integrally extends from the elastic installation part 24 a to contact the contact member 16 . Also included is pair of securing support parts 24 d that integrally extend from both ends of the contact part 24 c . The pair of securing support parts 24 d couple to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 and generate a securing strength.
The leading end of the pedal arm 12 has a mounting slot 12 a for elastically receiving the friction plate 24 . The mounting slot 12 a receives the elastic installation part 24 a of the friction plate 24 . The mounting slot 12 a is formed by a pair of elastic protuberances 12 b which are inclinedly spread out to be contacted to the elastic installation part 24 a of the friction plate 24 . Furthermore, two auxiliary protuberance parts 12 d are formed outside two auxiliary mounting slots 12 c for receiving the securing and supporting parts 24 d of the friction plate 24 .
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the leading end of the pedal arm 12 is pivotally installed into the contact member 16 which projects upward on the housing 10 . The contact member 16 includes a space of an opening part 16 a that opens in the front and receives the leading end of the pedal arm 12 . A contact face 16 b is vertically formed for contacting the friction plate 24 that functions as the foot pressure-adjusting means. The friction plate 24 , which is coupled to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 , maintains contact with the contact face 16 b of the contact member 16 during the pivoting of the pedal arm 12 .
In use, if the driver depresses the pedal arm 12 during acceleration, the pedal arm 12 pivots around the fastening pin 18 upon the housing 10 . Under this condition, the contact part 24 c of the fiction plate 24 sustains contact with the contact face 16 b of the contact member 16 and generates friction.
The degree of the driver's foot pressure that is transmitted to the pedal arm 12 varies depending on the direction of the friction force generated between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 . That is, the degree of foot pressure required is variable depending on whether the driver is depressing the accelerator or releasing the accelerator, as graphically illustrated in FIG. 6 . When the driver depresses the accelerator pedal, the variation of the foot pressure with respect to the stroke of the pedal arm 12 is equivalent to the sum of the inherent restoring force of the torsion spring 20 and the friction force generated between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 . This is represented in graph A of FIG. 6 .
If the driver releases the acceleration (this refers to the state where the driver releases the pedal arm to cause deceleration, or the driver maintains a constant velocity of the car), then the variation of the foot pressure is ascertained by the difference between the inherent elastic restoring force of the torsion springs 20 and the friction force (between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 ). This is represented in graph B of FIG. 6 . That is, during a constant velocity, the direction of the friction force between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 is opposite to the direction of the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 20 . Therefore, if the driver desirers to maintain a constant car velocity, a foot pressure greater than the difference between the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 20 and the friction force (between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 ) must be transmitted to the pedal arm 12 .
Thus, during the depressing and releasing of the pedal arm, the reaction force which is received by the driver is different. Therefore, a foot pressure hysteresis can be formed, similar to the conventional mechanical cable-type accelerating system. Following adjustment to the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 20 and the friction force between the friction plate 24 and the contact member 16 , the foot pressure of the acceleration system can be set as desired.
The mounting slots 12 a and the elastic protuberance part 12 b together with the engaged elastic protuberance part 24 b of the friction plate 24 forms an elastic restoring force which maintains contact between the friction plate 24 and the contact force 16 b even following wear of the components. Therefore the foot pressure hysteresis is maintained. If grease or another lubricant is applied between the contact part 24 c of the friction plate 24 and the contact face 16 b of the contact member 16 , noise generated by this contact can be prevented during the depressing and releasing of the pedal arm 12 .
FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means according to the present invention. The foot pressure-adjusting means includes a contact plate 28 with its rear face elastically supported to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 through a return spring 26 . In this embodiment, the contact plate 28 is substituted for the friction plate 24 of the earlier embodiment. Furthermore, a closed space is formed in the leading end of the pedal arm 12 for accommodating the return spring 26 . An engaging part 28 a is provided on the rear face of the contact plate 28 for preventing the return spring 26 from departing from the closed space.
FIG. 8 illustrates still another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means of the present invention. The foot pressure-adjusting means includes a hollow elastic plate 32 with its rear face secured to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 by means of a fastening pin 30 . The front face faces toward the contact face 16 b of the contact member 16 . In this embodiment, the elastic plate 32 can be substituted for the friction plate 24 of the earlier embodiment.
FIG. 9 illustrates yet another embodiment of the foot pressure-adjusting means of the present invention. The foot pressure-adjusting means includes an elastic member 36 made of rubber, with its rear face secured to the leading end of the pedal arm 12 by means of a fastening pin 34 . In this embodiment the elastic member 36 can be substituted for the friction plate 24 of the earlier embodiment of the present invention.
In the later described embodiments, the contact plate 28 , the elastic plate 32 and the elastic member 36 , which can be substituted for the friction plate 24 of the first embodiment, cause variations in the degree of foot pressure with respect to the stroke of the pedal arm 12 in the same manner as that of the earlier embodiment.
Many modifications and variations of the described embodiments will be apparent to one skilled in the art. The embodiments described in this application are intended for descriptive purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. | An electronic accelerator pedal system with a foot pressure-adjusting function. The foot pressure is variably adjusted with respect to the pedal arm stroke during the depressing and releasing of the accelerator pedal to improve the accelerator manipulation sensation. A foot pressure-adjusting means is installed on the pedal arm that causes a foot pressure to be varied in accordance with the pivoting direction of the pedal arm. | 6 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to formation of webs by condensing air entrained particles or fibers or both on a foraminous condensing screen and in particular, forming composite webs which vary in shape in directions transverse and perpendicular to the machine direction.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Nonwoven fiber webs frequently consist of a random yet homogeneous agglomeration of long and short fibers. Long fibers are fibers of both natural and synthetic origin that are suitable for textiles. They are longer than 0.25 inches and generally range between 0.5 and 2.5 inches in length. Short fibers are suitable for paper-making and are generally less than about 0.25 inches long, such as woodpulp fibers or cotton linters. It is known in the art that strong nonwoven webs can be made by rapidly and reliably blending inexpensive short fibers with strong long fibers.
Nonwoven fabrics are less costly than woven or knitted material, yet are more or less comparable in physical properties, appearance, and weight. Thus, inexpensive nonwoven fabrics are available for a wide variety of products, including, hand towels, table napkins, sanitary napkins, hospital clothing, draperies, cosmetic pads, etc. These nonwoven webs can be particularly advantageous when formed as a layered or composite material having a varying area in horizontal cross-section at various vertical locations.
Methods and machines for making nonwoven fluff pulp pads and pre-shaped absorbent products are known, but do not provide for selective blending and layering of pulp, textile, and particulate materials. In particular, providing webs with a shaped profile and/or layered construction is a desirable yet unattained attribute of web forming apparatus.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,294 discloses an apparatus for airforming of webs. The apparatus includes a striking mechanism which feeds fiberized material into a web forming zone. A gas delivery system forces a gas stream along the fiberizing mechanism and into the web forming zone. The gas-fiber stream induces a supplementary gas flow and a steering mechanism guides the induced flow to direct the fibers toward selected areas of a condensing surface. This apparatus is inefficient in its operation. After passing the vanes which make up the steering mechanism, the air flow tends to return to a more even flow thus reducing the effect of the steering vanes. Therefore, sharp, even transitions cannot be made without placing the vanes directly above the condensing surface, which in turn increases the resistance to air flow to the condensing surface and turbulence at the condensing surface. Furthermore, the apparatus is limited to the use of a single fiber input, thus not permitting a blend of entrained fibers of differing types.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to improve web structures and overcome the deficiency of prior methods and apparatus, the invention comprises modifying the air flow within the web forming zone of a nonwoven webber. An improved suction plate beneath a moving foraminous condensing belt is used to provide the modified air flow. For example, the plate may be provided with more free area or open area in one part as compared to another part of the suction plate.
As used herein, free area or open area refers to that portion of a given area which permits passage of air. For example, in a perforated plate, the free area or open area is the total area of perforation in a given area, that is the ratio of unoccluded area to total area and is often expressed as a percentage (i.e. 25% open area means 1/4 of the total area is unoccluded).
The plate may have varying amounts of open area in different zones across the suction plate. The variation may range from 100% open down to a complete blockage. Thus, increased flow is provided through areas having the highest percentage open area and thereby causing an attendant increase in the amount of fiber condensed thereabove. By appropriate positioning of these zones, shaped structures may be formed which have sharp transitions. That is, shapes having step-like shape changes across the transverse width of the web.
The variation in percentage open area may be provided by masking portions of the suction plate. By masking the flow through the foraminous condensing screen, fiber deposition above the mask is virtually eliminated and fiber quantity condensing thereupon is negligible. Alternatively, masks may be provided above the screen and the masks may move with the screen.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a webber for use in the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-section of the webber of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a web produced according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a web produced according to a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a web produced according to a third embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a product produced according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a product produced according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a product produced according to a sixth embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a product produced according to a seventh embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 15;
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a product produced according to an eighth embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the suction plate for forming the product of FIG. 17.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a transverse webber 1 as shown in copending, commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 99,875, filed Sept. 22, 1987 (ABT-19). The apparatus has a pair of fiber forming units such as lickerins 2,3. The lickerins 2,3 are fed fiber supplies 4,5 such as pulp board or the like. The fiber supplies 4,5 are fed past nose bars 6,7 and into contact with lickerins 2,3. The lickerins have a plurality of protrusions (not shown) which impact the supplies 4,5 to open and individualize the fibers thereof. The lickerins spin at speeds which optimize the opening and individualization of the particular fibers as known in the art. The supplies 4,5 are preferably of different fibers such that a blending occurs in duct 8.
The fibers exit the lickerins at openings 9,10 and are entrained in air moving through duct 8 until they condense on a foraminous surface formed by condensing screen 11.
The air flow through duct 8 is caused in part by a vacuum created in vacuum box 12. The vacuum is created in a known manner by, for example, a vacuum pump (not shown). This vacuum pulls air through the duct 8 and condensing screen 11 into the vacuum box 12. This air entrains fibers which flow with the air until obstructed by screen 11. The initial fibers impact the screen 11 and condense thereon. Subsequent fibers condense upon the initial fibers and entangle therewith building up a web of fibers having some degree structural integrity. Multiple feeds may be provided in order to produce a blended or multi-component structure.
Between condensing screen 11 and vacuum box 12 is a suction plate 13. The suction plate 13 supports the condensing screen 11 to prevent deflection of the screen in response to the forces of the vacuum and weight of the web formed by condensing of the fibers. The suction plate is perforated.
The amount of any particular fiber condensing at a particular location is dependent upon the amount of the particular fiber entrained in the air, the amount of air moving through the screen (condensing surface) and the speed that the screen moves in the machine direction.
In order to vary the amount of fiber condensed on the screen, in a direction transverse to the machine direction, the present invention provides suction plate 13 having varying opening sizes, number and shape in both the machine direction and transverse to the machine direction. Thus, the amount of air passing through the screen varies according to the variation in the openings of the suction plate.
Accordingly, a web 14 may be formed having ribs 15 (FIG. 3). The ribs extend parallel to each other and extend the length of the web 14 in the machine direction.
In order to form the ribbed structure of FIG. 3, a suction plate of the type shown in FIG. 4 is used. The suction plate has a number of small openings 16 which permit the passage of entraining air. The suction plate also defines a number of slots 17 which extend in the machine direction and parallel to one another. Slots 17 are, for example, 100% open to permit air passage to be free as compared to the non-passage of air through the solid remainder of the plate. In the area of slots 17 the only restriction to air passage is the condensing screen 11. Due to the lower resistance to air passage there will be an increased volume rate of flow of entraining air through the slots. As the fibers are entrained in the air in a substantially uniform amount, the increased volume rate of flow of air increases the amount of fibers condensed on the screen above the slots by selecting a separation between the slots which is smaller than the staple length of at least one of the fibers being deposited, some of the fibers will be deposited in a position crossing the separation and linking adjacent zones over the slots. Thus, the ribbed structure is formed having ribs formed by the increased fiber deposits over slots 17. As the ribs get thicker, they restrict flow a greater amount than the thin "valleys". Therefore, at a point defined by the size of the slots, the pressure differential across the screen 11 and the fiber type, the fibers begin to condense more uniformly.
A further embodiment of the product is shown in FIG. 5. A web 14 is formed having a rounded shape in transverse cross-section. This shape is built up from the center out by layering which forms a structure looking much like the rings of a tree trunk. Thus, a fiber or fiber blend may be entrained in air at the beginning of the condensing zone which will form a core 18. With different fibers entrained in different portions of the air in the machine direction causing a build up of layers. As will be seen, the arcuate layers shown in FIG. 5 would not have a sharp line of demarcation unless discrete supplies of entrained fibers are used.
The suction plate used to form web 14 of FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. 6. The suction plate 13 defines a zone 19 which is triangular in shape. If the suction plate is foraminous, the openings outside the zone 19 are masked. The apex 20 of the triangle is at the earliest point in the condensing zone, that is upstream along the machine direction. Thus, fibers will begin to condense only in the center of the screen over the apex. As the screen moves in the machine direction, the open portion tapers outward according to the shape of the triangle, and fibers begin to condense at the newly widened edge while fibers in the middle condense on top of the previously condensed fibers. In this embodiment, the geometry of the triangular zone determines the web shape. A long triangle which tapers slowly will create a web cross-section having a short radius of curvature. A shorter and more quickly tapering triangle creates a web having a gentler curve to its cross-section, that is, a longer radius of curvature. If desired, the ringed cross-section of the web may be created by placing baffles in duct 8 which extend transverse to the machine direction to separate the duct 8 into different zones. By feeding different fibers (type or color) into the different zones created by the baffles, a layered effect is created.
A strikingly different cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 7 may be obtained by simply rotating the suction plate of FIG. 6 180°. In this structure, the arcuate overall shape of the web is maintained, however, the internal structure differs. Rather than the rings of FIG. 5, the structure has the material laid down in flat layers 21. By placing the base 22 of the triangular zone at the initial point of the condensing zone, a broad base layer is laid down first. As the screen advances a narrower and narrower portion of the suction plate is open. Therefore, narrower layers are deposited creating the curved shape. Masked portions 23 need not be wholly occluded. Rather, the masked portions may just have a smaller amount of free area thus reducing the flow but not eliminating it. In this way the separation of the layers are less defined at their transitions. In fact, some open area across the entire web width may be necessary to prevent scavenging of already deposited fibers once the suction beneath the fibers is removed. It is preferred, however, to modify duct 8 so that the walls are positioned above the transition between the opened and closed portions of the plate. Thus, the already deposited portions are moved out of the suction zone as the open portion beneath them is removed thus preventing scavenging of the already deposited fibers. This result may also be obtained by blocking the duct 8 over the non-open portion of the plate.
A further variation of the web is shown in FIG. 9. In this instance, an hourglass-like shape (for example) is provided. The web has bulges 24 along each longitudinal edge. The bulges 24 may be aligned on each edge, or may be offset to form a zig-zag form. The bulges 24 are depicted as recurring at equal distances and amplitudes, however, the pattern is determined by the masks of FIG. 10.
In FIG. 10, a pair of variable width masks are shown. These masks are similar to those described above except they ride on top of and move with the condensing screen. A uniformly foraminous suction plate supports the condensing screen 11 and the moving masks 25 are synchronized for movement with the screen. Thus, the same portion of the screen 11 is masked during a given pass through the condensing zone. Because the portion is masked, only negligable amounts of fiber condense thereon and the web takes the shape of the unmasked portion. The moving masks 25 may take a number of shapes and are preferably continuous. Thus, the masks may be mounted to pass through the condensing zone out of the webber and around to the beginning. The shape of the mask may be non-repetitive along its length thus causing the web shape to repeat at a period determined only by the length of the continuous mask. The mask may be a flexible plastic or rubber strip, and may be made of a chain of metal links. The mask does not need to be as thick as the web created, rather it need only be thick enough to mask the suction plate and hold up under continuous use. However, a thicker mask will better define the product edge. In an extreme case, the moving masks along either edge of the screen are joined at points across the screen. In this manner, individual molded products are formed between the junctions without the need for thick and heavy molds. In such a case, the mask must recirculate in the same plane as the condensing screen.
A further modification may be made in keeping with the invention to provide a structure as shown in FIG. 11. There, the web is formed with a central longitudinal trough 26. The trough 26 is bounded by ridge 27 extending lengthwise along the edges of the web.
The structure of FIG. 11 is created by varying the open area across the width of the suction plate 13. Center 28 has fifty percent of the open area per unit area as compared with the marginal portions 29. That is, the ratio of open area to total area of center 28 is half the ratio of open area to total area of marginal portions 29. Thus, the volume rate of flow of entraining air per unit area is less in the center 28 than marginal portions 29. Therefore, a larger amount of fiber condenses along the edges forming ridges 27 which define trough 26.
From combinations of the above-described embodiments compound structures may be formed. In FIG. 13 a composite structure is shown having a base layer 30 which has a part cylindrical outer surface 31. However, the external shape of the web is a common rectangle formed by cover layer 32. This is particularly advantageous when layers having different properties are desirable. The base layer may be an absorbent core with a hydrophobic cover layer 32.
The structure of FIG. 13 may be formed using the suction plate structure of FIG. 14. There the plate is divided which is the initial section passed over by the screen, the suction plate is masked except for triangle 33a. This creates the curved structure for the base layer as described above in connection with FIG. 6.
In section B, the triangle 33b is only partially opened, however, marginal triangles 34 are fully open. Thus, the cover layer 32 is formed by the increased flow along the edges and partial flow along the center. As the screen passes through section B, an increasing distance in from the edges is fully open thus increasing the width which has the highest rate of condensing. This is an inversion of section A thus providing a rectangle when sections A and B combine. Different fibers may be fed to form the base layer and cover layer It may be convenient to separate the duct between sections A and B when different fibers are fed, however, it is preferred to leave the duct unseparated in order to provide a blending of the fibers at the transition between A and B. Thus, a transition layer is formed to provide a more integral structure. In this way a composite product may be made for example having a cupped hydrophobic layer (section B) of fibers and an absorbent core (section A).
FIG. 15 shows a more complex composite structure which may be formed according to the present invention. The product has marginal wall 35 of a wicking or hydrophobic fiber, a central absorbent core 36 and a facing or backing layer 37. This structure forms an encased absorbent core for items such as sanitary napkins or diapers. The marginal walls 35 may be of a material which prevents lateral leakage of the fluid absorbed by absorbent core 36. The layer 37 can either be a wicking facing layer or a hydrophobic backing layer.
The product of FIG. 15 may be formed by a suction plate modified as in FIG. 16. The plate is divided into three zones, the first zone forms marginal walls 35, the second zone forms absorbent core 36 and the third zone forms layer 37. In the first section, a rectangular central portion 38 is masked leaving two rectangular open section 39. As the foraminous screen passes over this portion, the marginal walls 35 of the product are formed. Because of the masking of central portion 38, little, if any, fiber condenses at the center of the screen. In the second section of the screen the absorbent core is formed. The suction plate is open over the entire length and breadth of this section. The duct 8 is narrowed, either by closer spacing of the walls or insertion of blocks, to a width approximately equal to that of section 38. Thus, the fibers condense over the narrowed center section. If an absorbent fiber such as wood pulp is fed into the webber at this portion, the absorbent fibers would condense over the central section thus forming absorbent core 36. In the final portion of the suction plate, the full width is open and the duct extends the full width of the plate. This causes the fibers to condense across the full width of the web. In this manner, layer 37 may be formed.
FIG. 17 depicts a further embodiment of the product where a top and bottom layer are both formed. The product has an absorbent core 36 and marginal walls 35 as described in the previous embodiment. However, this product has both a top layer 37 and a bottom layer 40. Top layer 37 may, for example, be formed of fibers having desirable wicking qualities while bottom layer 40 is formed of hydrophobic fibers and, therefore, forms a barrier. Advantageously, bottom layer 40 may be formed of the same fibers as marginal walls 35.
To form the product of FIG. 17, a webber including the suction plate of FIG. 18 is used. The suction plate of FIG. 18 is similar to that of FIG. 16, however, it is divided into four portions; a first portion for the bottom layer, a second portion for the marginal walls, a third portion for the core and a fourth portion for the top layer.
In the first portion of the suction plate 13 of FIG. 18, the plate is open across the width of the desired web. Thus, the bottom layer 40 of the product is formed as the screen passes over the first portion of the suction plate. In the second portion F, the plate has rectangular full flow edge zones 41. The portion of the plate between the edge zones 41 is partial flow zone 42. Partial flow zone 42 has less open area per square inch than edge zones 41. Thus, fibers condense over edge zones 41 while the partial flow in partial flow zone 42 is sufficient to hold the already condensed fibers of layer 37 and thereby prevent the scavenging of fibers from the screen over partial flow zone 42 by the flow through edge zones 41.
In the third portion G of suction plate 13 of FIG. 18, the edges of the suction plate are substantially masked to lower air flow while center zone 43 is open, that is center zone 43 has open area. The duct is narrowed to prevent scavenging as described above in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 16. The fibers, therefore, condense in the web center forming the core. Partial flow to maintain marginal walls 35 may be provided but is not necessary. Walls 35 provide sufficient integrity themselves to prevent an appreciable amount of scavenging.
In the fourth portion H of FIG. 18, the full width of the suction plate has open area, thus the top layer condenses evenly across the width of the web. In this way, an outer cover layer or backing layer may be formed by condensing appropriate fibers in a thin top layer. The open area across the plate in portion H may have to vary to take into account the different resistance to flow of the air provided by walls 35 and core 36. | Apparatus for forming three dimensional shaped webs. The apparatus controls the flow of entraining air for an air laid web by restricting passage of the air through selected zones of a condensing surface. By limiting the open area in a zone of a suction plate the amount of fibers condensed over the zone is reduced permitting control of location of and amount of deposit. The duct work defining the conduit for the entraining air may also be shaped or provided with blocks to prevent scavenging of fibers which have already been deposited. | 3 |
DEDICATORY CLAUSE
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for Governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalties thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the laser fuels, hydrogen or deuterium, and to solid propellant compositions from which the fuels can be produced.
Hydrogen gas contained in compressed gas cylinders has been widely used in industry as a source of hydrogen for many industrial processes and has been considered and evaluated as a fuel for chemical lasers. However, the handling of high pressure hydrogen gas or hydrogen under cryogenic conditions is not desirable from a logistic consideration for use in a mobile chemical laser system. Thus, it would be desirable to have a storable solid propellant composition that can be employed in a method to yield either hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and low molecular weight inert gases. Also this propellant should be based on a self-sustaining chemical reaction once the reaction is initiated. Therefore, a desirable method is one that includes a reaction initiation step which does not introduce deactivating species or undesirable contaminants with the liberated hydrogen.
Therefore, an object of this invention is to produce a solid propellent composition that is employed in a method for generating hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen for use in the HF/DF chemical laser (hydrogen fluoride/deuterium fluoride chemical laser).
Another object of this invention is to provide a composition and a method for generating deuterium or a mixture of deuterium and nitrogen for use in chemical lasers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A predetermined amount of a complex metal borohydride of the general formula: M(BH 4 ) x or M(BD 4 ) x , (where M equals a metal and X equals the valence of the metal M; M is an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal; H is hydrogen, and D is deuterium) and a predetermined amount of an ammonium salt of the general formula (NH 4 ) n Y or a predetermined amount of a deuteroammonium salt of the general formula (ND 4 ) n Y deuteroammonium (where Y represents an anion with a total charge n, preferably, Y is SO 4 or Cr 2 O 7 with a charge of 2;N is nitrogen, H is hydrogen, and D is deuterium) are combined either stoichiometrically or in varying molar ratios to form a mixture by mixing in a mixer or blending mill designed for mixing powders until a uniform mixture is obtained. The uniformly mixed powder is then compacted by dead pressing into pellets or into metal canisters with a press using pressures of at least 500 pounds total load and up to about 10,000 pounds total load. The pellets or canisters can be made in any diameter and length to produce small or large volumes of gas. Total volume of gas per second being evolved is determined by the diameter of the propellent grain and its burning rate.
Initiation of reaction to produce the desired gas is accomplished by using a nickel-chromium ignition wire (80% nickel and 20% chromium). The desired gas to be generated is determined by selection of the appropriate propellant. For example, when deuterium gas or a mixture of deuterium and nitrogen is desired, a complex metal borodeuteride and deuterated ammonium salt are employed in the reaction in place of a complex metal borohydride and hydridic ammonium salt.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following specific examples illustrate this invention and preferred embodiments used for generation of hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen. The molar concentration of reactants either in a stoichiometric amount or in a near stoichiometric amount yields the highest percent hydrogen and less nitrogen or trace amount of ammonia.
SPECIFIC EXAMPLE I
2.28 g NaBH 4 are weighed out and mixed with 2.0 g of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . The mixture is then uniformly blended in a small blending mill. Using a hydraulic press and approximately one inch diameter die, the powder is pressed into a pellet under 2000 pounds total load. The pellet is then placed in a reaction vessel which can be purged by evacuation or by an inert gas (e.g. nitrogen) to remove substantially all air and water vapor. For yield determinations, the vessel should have a known volume and should be fitted with a pressure gauge. Inside the vessel the pellet is rested on or placed in direct contact with a nickel-chromium ignition wire (80% nickel and 20% chromium), to which 10 volts at about 10 amperes are applied to produce enough heat to initiate a reaction in the pellet which is self-sustaining, once started. After the pellet reacts and the vessel is cooled to room temperature, the pressure is recorded and the amount of hydrogen and nitrogen mixture is calculated using the known volume, pressure, and temperature. Samples of the product gases may be analyzed for hydrogen, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, and ammonia using the standard techniques of gas-solid or gas-liquid chromatography.
The above formulation contains NaBH 4 and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 in a 4 to 1 molar ratio. This formulation produces approximately 830 ml gas at STP per gram of propellant which was analyzed to contain 90% hydrogen and 10% N 2 and NH 3 . The NaBH 4 /(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 molar ratio can be varied from 2/1 to 6/1. At the lower ratios the gas mixture contains more nitrogen than at the higher molar ratios. A 4/1 molar ratio appears to be the optimum ratio for these reactants to produce the greatest hydrogen yield. The 4/1 molar ratio is based on the following reaction equation No. 1:
REACTION EQUATION 1
4NaBH.sub.4 + (NH.sub.4).sub.2 SO.sub.4 → 2NaBO.sub.2 + 2NaBO.sub.2 + 2BN + Na.sub.2 S + 12H.sub.2
the Reaction Equation 1 produces hydrogen gas at about 650° C. The higher temperature would offer advantages for direct utilization or production of gases at a high temperature and pressure for incremental utilization. The system where used should be constructed of materials having the design suitable for this reaction which produces effluent gas in this temperature range.
Reaction Equation No. 2 represents the production of deuterium gas from the stoichiometric amounts of the reactants specified.
REACTION EQUATION 2
4NaBD.sub.4 + (ND.sub.4).sub.2 SO.sub.4 → 2NaBO.sub.2 + 2BN + Na.sub.2 S + 12D.sub.2
for a lower temperature hydrogen gas the reactants specified under Specific Example II yield a hydrogen gas at about 240° C. Again the advantage of the lower temperature gas as generated can be utilized in the selection and design of a system constructed of materials that would not have to meet high temperature requirements.
SPECIFIC EXAMPLE II
A pellet containing 2.65 g NaBH 4 and 5.04 g (NH 4 ) 2 Cr 2 O 7 was prepared as in Specific Example I. It was fired as in Specific Example I under similar conditions. This formulation contains NaBH 4 and (NH 4 ) 2 Cr 2 O 7 in a 7/2 molar ratio. This formulation produces approximately 700 ml gas at STP per gram of propellant which was analyzed to contain 94% hydrogen and 6% N 2 and NH 3 . The molar ratio of these reactants can be varied from the 7/2 ratio to produce varying amounts of hydrogen and nitrogen. The 7/2 molar ratio which produces the greatest hydrogen yield is base on the following Reaction Equation No. 3.
REACTION EQUATION 3
7NaBH.sub.4 + 2(NH.sub.4).sub.2 Cr.sub.2 O.sub.7 → 3NaBO.sub.2 + 4BN + 2Na.sub.2 O + 2Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 + 22H.sub.2.
when a deutroammonium salt is used reaction equation No. 4 is as follows:
REACTION EQUATION 4
7NaBD.sub.4 + 2(ND.sub.4).sub.2 Cr.sub.2 O.sub.7 → 3NaBO.sub.2 + 4BN + 2Na.sub.2 O + 2Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 = 22D.sub.2
The production of hydrogen by equation No. 1 reaction shows a somewhat greater theoretical weight yield than the production of hydrogen by equation No. 3 reaction. Each reaction, however, produces 3 or more moles of hydrogen gas for each mole of the complex metal boron compound illustrated. Since the reaction temperatures do vary between the reaction equations 1 and 3, the type residual clinker would vary somewhat. In either reaction the residual clinder does remain intact and in a form that proposes no problem that is detrimental to a laser system. Of upmost consideration, the ratio of reactants should be adjusted to achieve a steady self-sustaining reaction once the reaction is initiated. The specified ranges of the reactant material achieves the desired results which include a high yield of hydrogen and a residual clinker which does not melt under the conditions or add contaminants to the reaction vessel and system where used.
The self-sustaining reaction of the complex metal borohydride and the ammonium salt (e.g. (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , (NH 4 ) 2 Cr 2 O 7 ), which results in a high yield of hydrogen, is unexpected since such ammonium salts would not be expected to be reactive as described, particularly to undergo a selfsustaining reaction after reaction initiation which continues until the propellant charge is used up when the reaction is completed.
The propellants and method of this invention are not limited to producing hydrogen or deuterium for use in the various laser systems, but may be used to generate fuel hydrogen or deuterium for other uses. Other known uses or contemplated uses would include hydrogen gas for fuel cell use, hydrogen gas as an expulsion gas for control purposes of in-flight rocket vehicles, hydrogen gas as a coolant in nuclear reactor systems, and hydrogen gas as a reducing gas for laboratory or industrial use. The hydrogen gas could be generated on an incremental basis as may be needed for the various contemplated uses or it may be employed in a system which requires hydrogen under high pressure. In the latter case, the predetermined quantity of reactants could be added to a reactant chamber where the reactant could be initiated whereby the hydrogen gas could be expelled to a storage-pressure vessel. The pressure vessel could be drawn from continuously or incrementally until the pressure is exhausted or until the pressure drops to a predetermined pressure valve required for effective use. Of potential and particular advantage would be the hydrogen gas system of this invention in combination with a space vehicle using a nuclear reactor which by design has a high heat source. The hydrogen gas could be used to absorb heat as a coolant or it could be used to absorb a high quantity of heat after which the hydrogen can be ejected as a propulsion gas for propelling a space vehicle by the monopropellant action of hydrogen or the high temperature hydrogen could be combined with an oxidizer to yield gases for propelling a space vehicle by a bipropellant system. | Disclosed are storable solid propellant compositions based on complex metaloron compounds of the general formula M(BH 4 ) x or M(BD 4 ) x , (where M equals a metal and x equals the valence of the metal M; M is an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal; H is hydrogen, and D is deuterium) and ammonium salts of the general formula (NH 4 ) n Y or deuteroammonium salts of the general formula (ND 4 ) n Y (where Y represents an anion with a total charge of n; N is nitrogen, H is hydrogen, and D is deuterium) combined stoichiometrically or in varying molar ratios. The stoichiometric blend is employed in a method for producing hydrogen or deuterium that contains nitrogen as an inert diluent and is acceptable for use in HF/DF chemical lasers, the gas dynamic laser (GDL), or as a source to generate hydrogen containing an inert diluent. | 2 |
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/937,933, filed Sep. 10, 2004 which claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 60/502,436, filed Sep. 12, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to risk and its assessment. In particular, the invention relates to a system and methods by which the risk associated with a new opportunity or a new or ongoing relationship may be assessed, such as by businesses and institutions including those in the banking, thrift securities, insurance and credit industries, as well as the credit union movement. Among other applications, the system and methods may be used, for example, to assess whether a candidate for employment should be hired, and, if so, what responsibilities should the new hire be provided, the scope of responsibilities that a new or ongoing employee may be provided, whether a possible new customer should be taken on as a customer and, if so, to what extent should the full range of account benefits be provided to the new customer, and whether the range of account benefits previously provided to a customer should be eliminated altogether, narrowed, or expanded.
[0003] The present invention may also be used to assess risk in a landlord tenant relationship. The landlord can assess the risk of a prospective tenant in order to determine whether or not to rent to the prospective tenant and, if so, the amount of the security deposit.
[0004] Another application may be used in the insurance industry to assess casualty loss and/or repayment risk. Oftentimes after a loss, for example, a dwelling fire, the insurance company reimburses the homeowner for expenses as they are incurred. The present invention allows the insurance company to assess risk and allow reimbursement payments to be made in advance in the appropriate cases expediting the process and lower costs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Risk is a generally quantifiable measure of the likelihood of loss or less than expected results. Risk assessment is the process of analyzing such likelihood of loss or less than expected results or threats to and vulnerabilities of a system. Businesses and institutions assess risk on a daily basis and in a variety of contexts. For example, whether to engage a contractor to provide the services that the contractor claims it can provide involves an assessment of risk. The business must try to answer questions such as what is the likelihood that the contractor will be able to provide the services to the degree or quality requested or at the price or in the time frame stated. Whether to hire an individual as a new employee also involves an assessment of risk. Will the individual be able to perform as expected? Risk analysis with respect to potential new hires does not end there. While the individual may be suitable as a new hire, how much responsibility should the individual be given is another question the employer must try to answer. Should the new hire be given responsibility to handle the accounts of, for example, the employer's best customers? What about confidential or trade secret information? Should the new hire be given access to the some or all of the confidential information of the customers or access to sensitive or valuable inventory? Should the new hire be given access to the only certain or all of the confidential information of the employer.
[0006] Employers can also use the present invention to assess risk for new employees and the level of inventory security or access. Employers often have varying levels of inventory access such that some inventory is easily accessible while other inventory, such as inventory that is prone to loss, may be accessed only through additional security access. The present invention can assess the risk of each new employee to determine the level of inventory access.
[0007] Businesses and institutions in the banking, thrift securities, insurance and credit industries, and the credit union movement also assess risk with respect to a variety of services and financial instruments. For purposes of this application, the term “financial institution” will refer to banks, businesses and institutions in the banking, thrift securities, insurance and credit industries, and the credit union movement. A check is a commercial device intended for use as a temporary expedient for actual money. It is generally designed for immediate payment and not for circulation. A check is drawn on a bank or credit union. Immediately on presentment of the check, the financial institution is required to pay from a previous deposit of funds. Further, for purposes of this application, the term “check” will broadly signify any means by which the transfer of property from an account will be requested and will include those transfers also known by the terms “draft” and “sharedraft” and “negotiable instrument” and instruments and transfers that are within the definition provided by Section 3-104 of the Uniform Commercial Code. In the broad sense used within this application, the term “check” will also signify the requests processed by automatic clearing houses, electronic presentations and debit card and ATM transactions and all electronic presentations.
[0008] From time to time, checking account holders may accidentally or intentionally misuse the account. The term “checking account” is generally recognized as including the terms Demand Deposit Account (“DDA”), electronic account, paper account, reservable/non-reservable transaction account, interest bearing account, sharedraft account, Negotiable Order of Withdrawal account (“NOW”), deposit account, Money Market Deposit Account (“MMDA”), Automatic Transfer Service account (“ATS”), escrow account, or any type of transaction account, or for purposes of this application will identify also any account in which funds are deposited or withdrawn.
[0009] The financial institution may allow the customer to draw one or more financial institution checks against the customer's account when the total amount of the check or checks exceed the amount in the account available for such purposes. A checking account, however, in its simplest form does not contractually obligate the financial institution to honor checks written by the customer that overdraw the account. For purposes of this application, the term “overdraft” will identify that which results when a transfer of property is requested but for which the account from the transfer is requested does not have the property in the amount or type identified in the request.
[0010] A financial institution has a number of options when a check is presented to it for which the customer does not have sufficient funds in the designated account. Some of the options require the financial institution to have an agreement in place with the requesting party before the financial institution can exercise the option.
[0011] One of the options that a financial institution may employ with respect to an overdraft is that the financial institution may transfer property from another account. The account may be one in which money is held so that a request for the payment of money can be handled without another step. The account may be one also in which one or more forms of equities are held so that a request to pay money requires that one or more equities be sold first. This option is one which is pre-arranged by the customer and the financial institution.
[0012] Another option that a financial institution may employ with respect to an overdraft is that the financial institution may transfer property according to a prearranged line of credit or a loan account of any loan account type. The decision to allow a line of credit on an individual account as well as the amount of the line of credit is determined through generally accepted loan underwriting criteria as well as factors applied by the financial institution through an employee who has expertise in such areas, for example a loan officer.
[0013] A third option that a financial institution may employ is simply to return the overdraft without making the requested transfer. This may be termed the “not sufficient funds”, or “NSF” approach. The returned request may be considered as being “bounced”. Often times, a financial institution charges a fee to the customer that drew the overdraft. This fee, at the very least, is intended to cover the administrative costs associated with handling the request. If it exceeds the costs associated with the handling the overdraft, the fee may be a punitive measure. The payee that did not receive the intended transfer may also charge the drawor a fee that may, at least, cover the drawee's administrative cost in seeking and obtaining the designated payment.
[0014] As a fourth option, a financial institution that is confronted with an overdraft can also cover it with the financial institution's own funds—thereby causing the account to be overdrawn. The financial institution will employ this option only when the financial institution is confident that the customer will be able to cover the deficit in the not too distant future. Such treatment is typically reserved for the financial institution's better customers, such as those having a long term relationship with the financial institution and possible other accounts. Even with this option, the financial institution usually charges a fee for the overdraft.
[0015] A financial institution that does cover an overdraft typically does so in one of two ways: (1) at the item level such that a bank employee analyzes each item presented that would overdraw an individual's account and makes a determination to pay or not, or (2) at the account level, but only up to an amount that is pre-set across the board for all overdrafts. For example, the financial institution may adopt a policy that provides that only those overdrafts that total no more than $500. in excess of the funds available in the customer's checking account are to be honored. Such a policy is advantageous to the financial institution in that it limits the risk it has to any one customer to a set low level. Such a policy, however, may be disadvantageous to the customer who is keenly interested in ensuring that, if any overdrafts are honored, those that may be larger in amount (than the low limit set by the financial institution) and are directed to important debts are honored. The typical size of payments to cover larger debts varies from location to location. For example, while a typical mortgage or real estate tax payment in a rural area may be a small amount (say less than $1000.), the same type of payment in a developed or developing urban area would likely be greater in amount (say more than $1000.). Thus, an overdraft service set by a national financial institution of, for example, $500, may be meaningless for critical payments, such as those for rent, mortgage, car, tax, and insurance purposes. For purposes of this application, payments that are needed to maintain some property right or benefit are termed “critical payments”.
[0016] A financial institution that does adjust its overdraft limit for an individual customer does so but only generally after the financial institution has some extended experience in working with the customer and learning the customer's check writing habits. This requires the financial institution to expend critical resources (such as the time of the account representative assigned to handle the customer's account or the operations person assigned to handle the customer's account). It is certainly an approach that a financial institution can take only with respect to a few customers. Also, while the account representative may believe it is clear what the check writing habits of the customer are, this takes the financial institution time.
[0017] Rather than addressing the matter on an ad hoc basis, the financial institution may anticipate that the customer may draw an overdraft from time to time. For example, the financial institution and customer may enter into an expanded relationship under which the financial institution provides the customer a line of credit tied to the customer's checking account. The financial institution would then be obligated to pay on checks up to the maximum amount of the line of credit provided for this purpose. This expanded relationship with customers is commonly marketed by financial institutions under designations such as “overdraft protection”, “check-protection”, or “checking-plus” personal financial banking accounts. For drawing checks for which the checking account has insufficient funds, and employing the designated line of credit, a customer typically pays, at the least, on a per transaction basis and the interest for the credit actually extended to the customer.
[0018] The customer may avoid overdrafts also by pre-authorizing the financial institution to tie the customer's checking account to one or more of the customer's other accounts such as the customer's deposit accounts. The financial institution, when presented with a check that exceeds the amount in a customer's checking account, “sweeps” the necessary funds to cover the check from the designated deposit account or accounts.
[0019] While a number of different options are available to customers by which the customer may have overdrafts handled automatically, most customers do not take advantage of them. Customers are attracted to financial institutions by the low fees associated with simple checking accounts. Customers are wary of the fees associated with any extra services that financial institutions are capable of rendering such as those with lines of credit or sweep accounts. Also, customers do not wish to spend the small amount of time needed to set up the lines of credit or sweep accounts. Further, customers may not have the funds to establish another account—or may not have the funds in a “liquid” form. “Liquid means cash or the equivalent that can be converted to cash within a specified time limit. For example, a CD is not liquid because it cannot be converted to cash prior to its due date without a substantial penalty. Most customers additionally do not anticipate overdrawing their checking account.
[0020] Accordingly, financial institutions find themselves in the position of how to handle overdrafts for a large number of customers. Without a protocol in place for such customers not covered by one of the financial institution's other account programs designed to cover overdrafts—such as a sweep account or a checking account with a line of credit—, the financial institution must determine whether in all cases to simply refuse to honor the check or to pass the matter to the customer's account representative who must determine whether it is in the long term best interest of the financial institution to cover the check. Again, this item by item approach in handling such matters diverts the resources of the financial institution that may be better spent on other matters. Having to handle such matters on an ad hoc basis makes it difficult for a financial institution to allocate their resources. For example, an account representative may go for a long period of time without having to handle issues concerning an overdraft or overdrafts, then have to handle many of them on one day. Other issues that the account representative had to handle on that day may have to be sacrificed in order to handle the overdrafts. Given the limited amount of information that may be available to the account representative, it may be difficult for the representative to assess the risk and determine whether it is in the best interest of the financial institution to cover the overdraft. The shorter amount of time that a customer has been with the financial institution, the more speculative this estimate is, and the higher the risk to the financial institution. Also, because this process is judgmental, the risk assessment may not be uniform or consistent from one service representative to another. This opens the additional risk of discrimination through unequal or disparate treatment of account holders.
[0021] To decrease some of the risk, the financial institutions look to the information presented to them when the customer opened the account. Before a financial institution opens a demand deposit or a checking account for a prospective customer, the financial institution ordinarily requires that the prospective customer supply a certain amount of information. Such information is required to verify personal identification and to provide an alert against any negative information, such as lack of steady employment, lack of extended time at any one residence, or past poor relationships with other financial institutions. A preliminary screening of prospective customers serves to increase the predictability and reliability of subsequent transactions and thus allows the financial institution to better manage the account. A customer that provides information that satisfies the standards of the financial institution to open a checking account is said to be “qualified”. Standards of a financial institution include the presentment of a government issued photo identification card that confirms the individual's identity, and successfully passing an assessment of prior checking performance at other financial institutions, for example, screening for no negative past checking performance. Although, these are generally minimal requirements, financial institutions have the discretion to further require satisfactory credit history.
[0022] However, the information provided to the financial institution to qualify for an account typically does not provide the financial institution with specific information on the normal check writing habits of the particular customer or other customers similarly situated as the particular customer. Does the customer typically maintain a minimum amount of money in the checking account to cover certain payments while other money is, for example, kept in a deposit account? Does the customer typically write checks to cover the customer's rent or mortgage payment or automobile payment just before or contemporaneously with making a deposit so that the financial institution is often presented with one or more checks before the deposit funds have cleared? Does the customer, when contacted by the customer's account representative about the possible overdraft, immediately rectify the situation such as by authorizing amounts to be shifted from, for example, a deposit account to the checking account?
[0023] With only the scant qualifying information, and without specific information concerning the customer's behavior, the financial institution must make a decision whether to cover the check. Financial institutions, therefore, are in need of a system and methods to assist them in determining for what customers to pay on unsupported checks and the extent to which such checks should be covered. The present invention satisfies the demand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] The invention relates to a system and methods by which the risk associated with a new opportunity or new or ongoing relationship may be assessed. One example of such new opportunity or new relationship for which the present invention may be used to assess the risk is that concerning a potential new customer of a financial institution. The present invention may be used to assess whether a new customer should be taken on as a customer and, if so, to what extent should the possible full range of account benefits be provided to the new customer.
[0025] Another example of such new opportunity or new relationship is that concerning a candidate for employment. The system and methods may be used, for example, to assess whether a candidate for employment should be hired, and, if so, what responsibilities should the new hire be given.
[0026] An example of an ongoing relationship for which the present invention may be used to assess the associated risk is that concerning a current customer of a financial institution. The system and methods of the present invention may be used to determine whether the range of account benefits previously provided to the customer should be eliminated altogether, narrowed, or expanded. The present invention provides a system and methods that assist those that are presented with a property transfer request to make more fully informed decisions whether to honor the transfer request when the property in a customer's account are insufficient to cover the request. The system and methods may be employed by the financial institution at the time the customer first establishes a relationship with the financial institution or later.
[0027] The present invention may also be used to assess risk in a landlord tenant relationship. The landlord can assess the risk of a prospective tenant in order to determine whether or not to rent to the prospective tenant and, if so, the amount of the security deposit. Further, a landlord may use the present invention's system and methods to assess the original security deposit at the time of renewal of the lease. For example, the landlord may return partial or all of the original security deposit enticing the tenant to renew the lease, or increase the amount of the security deposit to discourage the tenant from renewing the lease.
[0028] The system and methods are used, in part, to set a monetary standard or standards below which an overdraft or overdrafts would be honored. Unlike existing overdraft systems—which utilize an overdraft service that is set at a low level in order that the financial institution may assume the least amount of financial risk and apply it at individual financial institutions widely dispersed over a large geographic area—the system and methods according to the present invention do not set this standard or standards wholly based upon the individual personal characteristics of a customer or financial institution customer; rather, the system and methods set this standard, in part, by depersonalized statistical third party information for the geographic region in which the financial institution is located. The depersonalized statistical third party information includes the shelter and transportation costs for the area where the financial institution is located. Transportation costs include the monthly payment or other payment for the purchase or lease of an automobile. Shelter costs include the monthly payment or other payment for the purchase or lease of a dwelling.
[0029] The system includes three components, some or all of which the financial institution may use depending on whether the customer is an existing customer or a new customer.
[0030] For purposes of utilizing the system, the financial institution may decide that an “existing customer” is a customer that has had a checking account with the financial institution for any period of time—no matter how small—or one that has had a checking account with the financial institution for greater than a certain minimum period of time (for example, three months).
[0031] One embodiment of the system utilizes both a check verification report and a credit rating score to determine whether to accept overdrafts from a new customer that do not exceed an overdraft service for new customers. Other embodiments of the system utilize personal and depersonal information from third party sources.
[0032] For purposes of this application, third party sources includes credit bureaus such as Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, check reporting agencies—such as ChexSystems and TeleCheck, apartment rental tracking agencies, and public records such as criminal records.
[0033] A new customer may be considered by the financial institution to be a customer that seeks to open a checking account (and, therefore, is not actually a checking account customer yet) or one that has had a checking account but for a period of time less than that certain minimum period of time set to qualify the customer as an “existing customer” (described above). The overdraft service for a new customer may be the same or different (for example, higher) as that for an existing customer. The credit rating score is obtained for the new customer from a provider of such services, such as Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. The financial institution obtains also a check verification report from a provider of such services. One such provider is “ChexSystems™”. The financial institution may choose to honor overdrafts only for those new customers that obtain both an acceptable credit rating score and a satisfactory check verification report. However, if the check verification report shows, for example, that the new customer has engaged in past fraudulent or other behavior deemed by the financial institution to be entirely unacceptable, the financial institution can refuse to open a checking account for those new customers. If the check verification report shows, for example, that the new customer has committed certain acts (such as abuse of checking privileges) but had not engaged in past fraudulent or other behavior deemed by the financial institution to be entirely unacceptable, the financial institution can open a checking account for the new customer provided the customer's credit rating score is at or above a designated cut-off.
[0034] Differing overdraft amounts can also be determined on an account-by-account or customer-by-customer basis. For example, one customer would be allowed an overdraft of $1,000 while another customer would be allowed an overdraft of $2,000.
[0035] In order to address overdrafts written by existing customers of the financial institution (“overdraft service”), the financial institution decides what the maximum amount of overdrafts that customers having a certain credit rating score will be honored by the financial institution. The amount of overdrafts could be a set amount for all customer accounts or could vary from customer to customer depending on their individual risk profile. For existing customers of the financial institution—such as those that had a checking account with the financial institution for more than three months—a credit rating score is obtained for the customer, for example, from Equifax, although it is within the financial institution's discretion to first obtain a check verification report for the existing customer.
[0036] In order to ensure that the decisions made with respect to new customers and existing customers were sound decisions, the system and methods may be used to check on a periodic basis (such as annually) whether those to whom overdraft service was not extended can now be extended or whether overdraft service should continue to be provided to those to whom were provided such protection and whether the limit is to be increased, decreased or remain the same. In addition, the system and methods may be used to modify the amount of the overdraft service that will be honored.
[0037] The financial institution may adjust the standards with time to increase or decrease those to whom overdraft service is extended such as by adjusting the designated cut-off of the credit rating score of the system and methods.
[0038] A financial institution that uses the system and methods will honor one or more overdrafts written by a customer to whom overdraft service was extended by the financial institution, provided the sum total of the one or more overdrafts does not exceed the overdraft service limit. For covering the overdraft or overdrafts, the financial institution will assess a fee and notify the customer that the payment of the overdraft is due. The customer must deposit sufficient funds to cover the overdraft or overdrafts within a stated period of time. If the customer does not deposit the required funds within the stated period of time, the financial institution may provide a second notice and/or take other steps such as closing the customer's checking account and/or turning the matter over to a collection agency.
[0039] As a result of using the system and methods, the financial institution will have four options available to it. First, the checking account will be opened and an overdraft service established for the account. As a result, the financial institution may honor overdrafts, up to the amount of the overdraft service limit. Second, the checking account will be opened without any overdraft service. The financial institution will be left to decide on an ad hoc basis whether to honor the overdraft. If, for example, an account representative is unable to decide, the financial institution would likely not honor the overdraft. Third, the financial institution may choose not to open the checking account for the new customer or lastly, for an existing customer, close the account, reduce the limit, increase the limit, or add an overdraft capability if the account did not already have it.
[0040] One advantage of the system is that it permits financial institutions to make more fully informed decisions with respect to overdrafts and risk assessment in advance of the actual presentation of a check that overdraws an account.
[0041] Another advantage is that it permits financial institutions to maintain or improve customer relationships by not refusing to honor checks that are critical to the customer such as those that are more sizeable in amount and are drawn to pay the customer's rent, mortgage, or car payment. Financial institutions, like other businesses in services industries are always trying to maintain and improve customer satisfaction.
[0042] An added advantage of the present invention is that it provides a protocol by which overdrafts are handled automatically and uniformly. Therefore, costly resources—such as the time of account representatives—need not be diverted on an ad hoc basis. The expenses associated with handling overdrafts are decreased. In addition, the invention avoids the possibility that different decisions will be made by account representatives—thus, eliminating the possibility that standards will be applied inconsistently. Furthermore, the use of a risk-based system better allows a financial institution to manage risk based on objective data, and to determine the level of risk, in a quantifiable way, that the institution wants to accept.
[0043] An additional advantage of the present invention is that by providing this service to customers even for a fee, customers are more likely to use it, thereby providing an additional source of revenue for financial institutions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0044] FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the system and method according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 2 is a Market Limit Score Worksheet according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0046] FIG. 3 is an Institutional Limit Score Worksheet according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0047] FIG. 4 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for new checking accounts according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0048] FIG. 5 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for existing checking accounts according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
[0049] FIG. 6 is a summary matrix of the overdraft service according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0050] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to one of many possible embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
[0051] In accordance with one application of the present invention, improved risk assessment techniques are provided that optimize financial institution revenue while controlling losses resulting from the financial institution covering an overdraft or overdrafts. Unlike prior art risk assessment techniques, which typically employ only historical payment data for financial risk assessment purposes, the present invention assesses risk in part by depersonal information for the geographic region in which the financial institution is located. The financial institution evaluates depersonal information in addition to personal information to determine the amount of overdraft service, if any, to offer a particular customer. Depersonal information and personal information can include, for example, shelter and transportation costs. Personal information, in addition, can include credit rating score and check history.
[0052] Fees are typically charged if a customer's withdrawal exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. The individual financial institution will assess the applicable fee established in advance by that institution; although, whether a financial institution charges a fee is within the discretion of each financial institution. The embodiment of the present invention described is a method of assessing risk to determine which customer's receive overdraft service and the amount of the benefit.
[0053] When a customer writes a check or withdraws in excess of the amount within the customer's account, the financial institution is presented with several options. The financial institution may provide overdraft service by advancing funds to the customer to cover the deficit, such as an electronic fund transfer (“EFT”) from another account if the customer has one (such as a deposit account, checking account or money market account) or from a line of credit, such as a credit card. The financial institution may refuse to pay the deficit. Finally, the financial institution may offer overdraft service where the financial institution voluntarily covers the deficit determined by the method of the present invention.
[0054] To determine whether a customer is offered overdraft service and the amount of the benefit, a Market Limit Score Worksheet and Institutional Limit Score Worksheet are completed in addition to consulting a Checking Account Approval Matrix. The Market Limit Score Worksheet provides a market limit score based on depersonal information for the location where the financial institution is located. An institutional limit score is then calculated. While the market limit score is based on depersonal information, the institutional limit score is based on personal information. The depersonal information and personal information includes shelter, utilities and transportation costs, although various other variables can be considered.
[0055] After the market limit score and institutional limit score are determined, a recommended limit score is calculated. The recommended limit score, or check limit, is the amount the financial institution offers customers to optimize its revenue while controlling losses. The financial institution can adjust the check limit upon the financial institution's discretion. Adjusting the check limit above the recommended limit score increases the level of risk and revenue generated. Adjusting the check limit below the recommended limit score reduces the level of risk and revenue generated. Adjustments may be made according to the business practices and objectives of the financial institution. Thus, the limits defined by large corporate financial institution entities, having multiple branch offices and locations, may be differentially adjusted from smaller financial institutions or independent credit unions.
[0056] FIG. 1 illustrates, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a flow chart of the system and method of assessing financial risk 100 to determine which customer accounts to approve for overdraft services and the amount of approval. The market limit score is calculated in step 102 . The market limit score is calculated from depersonal information, including the annual expenses of shelter, utilities and transportation, determined by socioeconomic data estimated for the region where the financial institution is located. The data is obtained from cost of living indices collected by the United States Census Bureau, Consumer Price Index and other publicly available statistical data sources. Shelter, utilities and transportation can be determined to at least a proper approximation by estimating ordinary and expectable price levels for basic commodities from socioeconomic data.
[0057] In step 104 , the institutional limit score is calculated from personal information of the customers in the financial institution's market. The institutional limit score is the true median or average value of shelter, utilities and transportation for the actual customers of the financial institution. The data is collected by assessing the institution's loan portfolio for mortgage loans, car loans, and credit card loans. The median and mean average payment for each of these categories with respect to the market area where the institution is located is compared to the financial institution's customers actual data.
[0058] The recommended limit, or check limit, is objectively determined in step 106 based on the market limit score and institutional limit score. The check limit is the amount the financial institution offers customers to optimize its revenue while controlling losses. Optimal risk reward tradeoff occurs by selecting a check limit between the institutional limit score and market limit score. The check limit is entered into the Checking Account Approval Matrix (step 112 ).
[0059] In step 108 , a customer's check verification report is obtained from a provider of such services. ChexSystem™ and TeleCheck™ are providers of check verification reports. The ChexSystem™ network is made up of member financial institutions and credit unions that regularly contribute information on mishandled checking and deposit accounts to a central location. This information is shared with financial institutions to help them assess the risk of opening new accounts or the risk of offering an existing customer overdraft service. ChexSystem™ provides verification services to aid financial institutions in identifying account applicants who may have a history of account mishandling, for example, people whose accounts were overdrawn (NSF activity) and then closed by them or by their financial institution. Other verification factors include debit card revocation, repeated drawings on uncollected funds, overdraft service abuse, deposit account abuse, writing a check on a closed account, ATM machine abuse, and providing false information when opening an account. The financial institution, within its discretion, may decide not to consult ChexSystem™ data for existing customers, although, ChexSystem™ data is always obtained on new customers. The ChexSystem™ data obtained is compared to corresponding data in the Checking Account Approval Matrix (step 112 ).
[0060] Check verification reports include negative information and abuse information, further explained below. If the customer's check verification report contains certain negative information, the new customer is not offered a checking account (no account opens) or an existing customer's checking account is closed in step 114 .
[0061] Existing customers and new customers may be defined within the discretion of the financial institution. For example, if a checking account has not been open for three or more months, the customer is considered a new customer. A checking account that has been open for three months or more defines an existing customer.
[0062] After the ChexSystem™ data is obtained, and if no certain or pre-defined negative information was revealed, the customer's credit rating score is obtained in step 110 . Credit rating scores can be obtained from providers such as Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. The credit rating score obtained for a particular customer is compared to corresponding data in the Checking Account Approval Matrix (step 112 ).
[0063] The Checking Account Approval Matrix, in step 112 , is reviewed. The customer's ChexSystem™ data and credit rating score are found on the matrix to reveal an alphabetic designation code that defines the financial institution's option.
[0064] One of three results is obtained from the Checking Account Approval Matrix in step 114 . First, the financial institution provides a checking account with overdraft service, in which case the financial institution covers an overdraft or overdrafts, up to the check limit, when a customer withdraws an amount that exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. Second, the financial institution provides a sub-prime checking account, in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts. A sub-prime checking account is a basic or standard checking account without “frills” or additional benefits. Lastly, the financial institution does not provide a checking account—a checking account is not opened for a new customer or the checking account is closed for an existing customer.
[0065] FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a Market Limit Score Worksheet 200 according to the invention. Through the use of the Market Limit Score Worksheet 200 , a market limit score 202 based on depersonal information may be calculated. Depersonal information includes information such as the annual expenses of shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 , determined by socioeconomic data estimated for the region where the financial institution is located. Shelter 204 includes, for example, mortgage or rent data. Utilities 206 include, for example, data for telephone, cable, gas, electric, water, garbage and fuel for transportation. Transportation 208 includes, for example, car payment or lease payment data. The socioeconomic data is compiled from sources such as Bureau of Labor, Census Bureau, Customer Price Index (CPI), or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) data. Information from such sources estimates the costs of shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 . This depersonal information is typically assessed for the region where the financial institution is located, for example, East 216 , Midwest 218 , South 220 , and West 222 for the United States. The geographical areas of East 216 , Midwest 218 , South 220 , and West 222 are defined by the Census Bureau.
[0066] After the annual expenses of shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 are estimated for the region where the financial institution is located, they may be subjected to an adjustment percentage 214 , if necessary. The adjustment percentage 214 is determined from Customer Price Index data. It is a percent of the standard or base line values of shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 for the particular area where the financial institution sits. The baseline values are determined by location. There are four baselines, one for each region of the country: East, Midwest, South, and West. The adjustment percentage 214 may be different for each value of shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 . An actual value 224 is determined after the adjustment percentage 214 is applied. Each actual value 224 for shelter 204 , utilities 206 , and transportation 208 are summed to obtain total annual value 210 . The total annual value 210 is divided by twelve for a monthly market limit score 202 .
[0067] FIG. 3 is an Institutional Limit Score Worksheet according to the invention. The Institutional Limit Score Worksheet 300 provides the institutional limit score 302 calculated from personal information of the customers in the financial institution's market. The institutional limit score is the true median or average value 312 of shelter 304 , utilities 306 , and transportation 308 for the actual customers of the financial institution. The true median or average annual value (or commonly statistical value) 312 of shelter 304 and transportation 308 can be obtained, for example, through actual financial statements of the customer, from information the customer presented to the financial institution when the customer opened the account, or from the average of all the financial institution's customers for which they have payment information. The true median or average annual value of utilities 306 can be obtained, for example, through a customer's credit card. A customer's credit card data provides a valuable correlation or proxy for utilities 306 , which is typically two times the median or average annual credit card payment. The true median or average value 312 for shelter 304 , utilities 306 , and transportation 308 are summed to obtain total annual value 310 . The total annual value 310 is divided by twelve for a monthly institutional limit score 302 .
[0068] A recommended limit score, or check limit, is objectively or subjectively determined based on the values of the market limit score 202 and institutional limit score 302 . The recommended limit score, or check limit, is the amount the financial institution covers customer overdrafts to optimize its revenue while controlling losses. The financial institution optimizes the risk reward tradeoff by selecting a check limit between the institutional limit score 302 and market limit score 202 . An example of objectively determining the check limit is calculating an average of the market limit score 202 and institutional limit score 302 . An example of subjectively determining the check limit is interpolating a value between the market limit score 202 and institutional limit score 302 .
[0069] The financial institution can adjust the check limit upon the financial institution's discretion and based on tolerance and risk policy. Factors a financial institution would adjust the check limit include: market conditions, number of branches the financial institution comprises, number of markets the financial institution serves, location of the financial institution and appetite for risk. The financial institution may opt to tier the check limit, for example, the check limit could be incremented and/or decremented by one hundred dollars $100 before it is inserted into the Checking Account Approval Matrix. The increment or decrement of the check limit is entirely up to the financial institution's discretion. For example, the financial institution may increment the check limit because they want to attract a more affluent customer than they currently have and a higher limit would be more attractive.
[0070] The check limit is inserted into the Checking Account Approval Matrix. FIG. 4 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for new checking accounts according the invention and FIG. 5 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for existing checking accounts according the invention. The check limit is inserted into the Checking Account Approval Matrix from which the overdraft service is determined. The matrix determines if a customer will receive overdraft service, and, if so, for what amount. The amount can be the same for all customers or different for each customer based upon the risk analysis of the matrix. The matrix is used by the financial institution at the time the customer opens an account or to evaluate an existing customer.
[0071] Based on review of the matrix, one of three conclusions will be reached by the financial institution for a particular customer, either a new or existing customer. First, the financial institution provides a checking account with overdraft service, in which case the financial institution covers an overdraft or overdrafts, up to the check limit, when a customer withdraws an amount that exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. Second, the financial institution provides a sub-prime checking account, in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts. Lastly, the financial institution does not provide a checking account—a checking account is not opened for a new customer or the checking account is closed for an existing customer. A new customer may be defined as having a checking account with the financial institution for three months or less. An existing customer may be defined as having a checking account with the financial institution for three months or more.
[0072] FIG. 4 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for new sharedraft accounts according the invention. The Checking Account Approval Matrix for new checking accounts 400 includes personal sharedraft history data 402 , or ChexSystem™ classification data. Sharedraft history verification data can be obtained from providers including ChexSystem™ or TeleCheck™. The Checking Account Approval Matrix 400 also includes Consumer Reporting Agency or credit bureau (CRA) score 408 and the check limit 410 .
[0073] The CRA score 408 values are inserted into the matrix 400 . The CRA scores are empirically derived using proven statistical methodology and predicts the likelihood of loss at given check limits 410 . For example, a high score may have a statistical prediction of low loss but as the score decreases the likelihood of loss increases. The CRA score 408 is used to determine the amount of the overdraft or check limit 410 allowed. Customers with a higher score (low risk), may be entitled to a higher check limit while customers with a lower score (high risk) may be offered a lower check limit. Overdraft is not offered typically where the risk is too great. The CRA score 408 column may consist of differing values including varying increments. For example, Checking Account Approval Matrix 400 includes CRA score 408 values of 800, 614, less than 500, and no score.
[0074] The check limit 410 is based on the values of the market limit score 202 and institutional limit score 302 . The financial institution may opt to tier the check limit within the Checking Account Approval Matrix. For example, the check limit could be incremented and/or decremented by one hundred dollar $100 amounts. Checking Account Approval Matrix 400 includes check limit 410 of, for example, $1200, non-sufficient funds (NSF), and zero. The check limit 410 can be tiered, such that the check limit is incremented and/or decremented by one hundred dollar $100 amounts using the market limit score and the institutional limit score statistical average as a base. For example, a Consumer Reporting Agency score 408 of 660 corresponds to a check limit 410 of $1300. and a Consumer Reporting Agency score 408 of 680 corresponds to a check limit 410 of $1400.
[0075] This ChexSystem™ classification data 402 includes negative information 404 and abuse information 406 . Negative information 404 includes, for example, writing checks on a closed account, false information used in opening an account, excessive drawing on uncollected funds, automatic teller machine (ATM) abuse, transactions involving forgery, transactions involving draft returned stop payment, or transactions involving items belonging to a deceased party. The negative information 404 listed above corresponds to a code within the ChexSystem™ report. For example, a customer's ChexSystem™ report that reveals a negative code of B defines that the customer wrote checks on a closed account.
[0076] Abuse information includes, for example, non-sufficient funds (NSF), abuse of overdraft protection, share account abuse, debit card revoked, account abuse of electronic transfer account (ETA), unsatisfactory handling, drawing against uncollected funds, transactions involving items or checks returned as uncollectable, overdrafts and unintentional account abuse. The abuse information 406 listed above corresponds to a code within the ChexSystem™ report. For example, a customer's ChexSystem™ report that reveals an abuse code of F defines that the customer abused overdraft protection.
[0077] When a new customer applies for a checking account, the financial institution obtains ChexSystem™ classification data 402 for the customer. If a new customer's ChexSystem™ classification data 402 , or personal sharedraft history data, includes negative information 404 , the financial institution does not offer the new customer a checking account.
[0078] If a new customer's ChexSystem™ classification data 402 includes abuse information 406 , the financial institution either offers the new customer a checking account with overdraft service, a checking account without overdraft service or no checking account opens. To determine what type of account to offer the new customer, the customer's credit rating score 408 is obtained. Credit rating scores can be obtained from Consumer Reporting Agencies such as Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. The higher the credit rating score the better the customer's credit. The customer's credit rating score is compared the Consumer Reporting Agency score 408 of the matrix 400 .
[0079] The overdraft service offered to the customer is determined by locating the abuse information 406 from the customer's ChexSystem™ report in addition to the customer's credit rating score in the matrix 400 . Again, if the customer's ChexSystem™ report shows any negative information 404 that is considered serious, the customer is not offered a checking account and the customer's credit rating score is not obtained. After locating the customer's abuse information 406 in the matrix 400 , the customer's credit rating score is located within the Credit Reporting Agency score 408 column. An alphabetic designation code is obtained in the matrix 400 where the abuse information 406 column meets the customer's credit rating score within the Credit Reporting Agency score 408 column. Depending on the alphabetic designation code obtained, the financial institution either offers the new customer a checking account with overdraft service, a sub-prime checking account, in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts, or the financial institution does not open a checking account for the new customer. For example, an alphabetic designation code of S defines that the financial institution provides a sub-prime checking account, in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts. An alphabetic designation code of N defines that the financial institution does not provide a checking account—a checking account is not opened for the new customer. An alphabetic designation code of R defines that the financial institution provides a checking account with overdraft service, in which case the financial institution covers an overdraft or overdrafts, up to the check limit, when a customer withdraws an amount that exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. If the alphabetic designation code is R, the check limit 410 column is consulted for the overdraft service amount. This is the amount the financial institution covers an overdraft or overdrafts when a customer withdraws an amount that exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. Examples are presented below.
[0080] If a new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals negative information 404 such as a negative code B (the customer wrote checks against a closed account), the matrix reveals a N. The customer is not offered a checking account with the financial institution, therefore, the customer's credit rating score does not need to be obtained.
[0081] If a new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 406 such as an abuse code W (the customer drew against uncollected funds), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the customer's credit rating score is 680, the corresponding alphabetic designation code within the matrix 400 reveals a R. Therefore, the financial institution would offer the new customer a checking account with an overdraft service. Referencing the check limit 410 , the financial institution would cover up to $1200. if the customer withdraws more than the amount of funds in the customer's account.
[0082] If a new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 406 , such as an abuse code A (non-sufficient fund (NSF) activity), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the Credit Reporting Agency does not have a credit rating score for the customer (the customer's credit rating score is “no score”), the customer is offered a sub-prime checking account without overdraft service (since the matrix 400 revealed an alphabetic designation code of S).
[0083] As another example, if the new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 406 , such as unsatisfactory handling (abuse code U), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the customer's credit rating score is 480, the corresponding alphabetic designation code within the matrix 400 reveals a N. Therefore, the financial institution would not offer the new customer a checking account.
[0084] If a new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 406 such as an abuse code 4 (previous overdrafts), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the customer's credit rating score is 613, the corresponding alphabetic designation code within the matrix 400 reveals a S. Therefore, the financial institution would offer the new customer a sub-prime checking account without overdraft service. The financial institution would return drafts, designated NSF, if the customer withdraws more than the amount in the customer's account.
[0085] As a final example, if the new customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals negative information 404 , such as ATM abuse (negative code of H) the customer's credit rating score is not obtained since the financial institution would not open or offer the customer a checking account.
[0086] FIG. 5 is a Checking Account Approval Matrix for existing checking accounts according the invention. The Checking Account Approval Matrix for existing checking accounts 500 includes personal sharedraft history data 502 , or ChexSystem™ classification data. The ChexSystem™ classification data 502 includes negative information 504 and abuse information 506 described above. The Checking Account Approval Matrix 500 also includes Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) score 508 and the check limit 510 . Again, the check limit 510 can be tiered, such that the check limit is incremented and/or decremented by $100 amounts using the market limit score and the institutional limit score statistical average as a base.
[0087] The financial institution may assess an existing customer's account annually to determine if the financial institution should provide overdraft service. With an existing customer account, it is within the financial institution's discretion to obtain the existing customer's ChexSystem™ report or rely solely on the customer's credit rating score.
[0088] If the customer's ChexSystem™ report shows any negative information 504 that is considered serious, the existing customer's account is closed and the customer's credit rating score is not obtained. If an existing customer's ChexSystem™ classification data 502 includes abuse information 506 , the financial institution either offers the existing customer an overdraft service on their checking account or no overdraft service is extended to the customer.
[0089] The overdraft service offered to the customer is determined by reviewing the matrix 500 for the negative information 504 and abuse information 506 obtained from the customer's ChexSystem™ report. If no negative information 504 is returned in the customer's ChexSystem™ report, the customer's credit rating score is obtained.
[0090] After locating the customer's abuse information 506 in the matrix 500 , the customer's credit rating score is located within the Credit Reporting Agency score 508 column. An alphabetic designation code is obtained in the matrix 500 where the abuse information 508 column meets the customer's credit rating score within the Credit Reporting Agency score 508 column. Depending on the alphabetic designation code obtained, the financial institution either offers the existing customer overdraft service with their existing checking account (alphabetic designation code of R), a sub-prime checking account without overdraft service (alphabetic designation code of S), in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts or the financial institution closes the existing customer's checking account (alphabetic designation code of N). If the alphabetic designation code is R, the check limit 510 column is consulted for the overdraft service amount. This is the amount the financial institution covers an overdraft or overdrafts when a customer withdraws an amount that exceeds the amount of funds in the customer's account. Several examples are presented below.
[0091] The overdraft service is determined from all data in the Checking Account Approval Matrix 500 . If an existing customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals negative information 504 such as a negative code B (the customer wrote checks against a closed account), the matrix reveals a N. The existing customer's checking account is closed with the financial institution, therefore, the customer's credit rating score does not need to be obtained. Additional examples are presented below.
[0092] If an existing customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 506 such as drawing against uncollected funds (abuse code W), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the customer's credit rating score is 680, the corresponding alphabetic designation code within the matrix 500 reveals a R. Therefore, the financial institution would offer the existing customer an overdraft service on the checking account. Referencing the check limit 510 , the financial institution would cover up to $1200. if the customer withdraws more than the amount of funds in the customer's account.
[0093] If an existing customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 506 , such as an abuse code A (non-sufficient fund (NSF) activity), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the Credit Reporting Agency does not have a credit rating score for the customer (the customer's credit rating score is “no score”), the customer is not offered overdraft service (since the matrix 500 revealed an alphabetic designation code of S). The existing customer maintains a sub-prime checking account without overdraft service.
[0094] If an existing customer's ChexSystem™ report reveals abuse information 506 , such as debit card revocation (abuse code K), the customer's credit rating score is obtained. If the customer's credit rating score is 488, the corresponding alphabetic designation code within the matrix 500 reveals a S. Therefore, the financial institution would offer the existing customer a checking account without overdraft service. The financial institution would return the draft designated NSF if the customer withdraws more than the amount in the customer's account.
[0095] FIG. 6 is a summary matrix of the overdraft service according to the invention. The summary matrix 600 illustrates the possible outcomes described by the Checking Account Approval Matrix for new checking accounts and a Checking Account Approval Matrix for existing checking accounts. The summary matrix 600 illustrates a new customer as having a checking account with the financial institution for three months or less and an existing customer as having a checking account with the financial institution for three months or more.
[0096] The ChexSystem™ report 604 is determined either good or bad. A good ChexSystem™ report is when the customer has no negative information. Although, the customer may have abuse information in their ChexSystem™ report. A bad ChexSystem™ report is when a customer has negative information, such as possible forgery. The Consumer Reporting Agency credit rating scores 602 are listed in the summary matrix 600 . The credit rating scores are split according to the financial institutions discretion. Depending on the credit rating scores and the Consumer Reporting Agency used, the same credit rating score can be associated with different levels of potential risk, for example, a loss to the financial institution.
[0097] Generally, a CRA score of 700 and above is considered low risk, a CRA score of 600 to 699 is moderate risk and 500 to 599 is high risk. A CRA score below 500 is extremely high risk. While most CRA providers have score sets that range from 1 to 800 there are some that range from 100 to 900. The financial institution determines the credit ranges based on the likelihood of loss within each range. The likelihood of loss is derived from the CRA's statistical studies of the performance of customers within each range. For example, one CRA may show that in the range of 700 to 720, the institution could expect losses to be less than one half of one percent, an acceptable loss for that particular institution. The same data may also show that in the range of 500 to 520, the institution could expect losses to be two percent, an unacceptable amount for the institution, thus, customers within the 500 to 520 category would not receive the overdraft feature. For example, the credit rating scores are divided into five ranges: (1) 614-800 (2) 500-613 (3) 1-499 (4) 0 (5) 1-800.
[0098] Depending on the customer's ChexSystem™ report 604 and credit rating score 602 , the summary matrix 600 reveals whether the financial institution provides a checking account with overdraft service, the financial institution provides a sub-prime checking account, in which case the financial institution does not cover an overdraft or overdrafts or the financial institution does not provide a checking account—a checking account is not opened for a new customer or the checking account is closed for an existing customer. To illustrate, an existing customer has a good ChexSystem™ report 604 and a credit rating score 602 of 518, therefore, the financial institution should offer overdraft service to the customer. The amount of the privilege is determined from the recommended limit, or check limit. As another example, a new customer has a bad ChexSystem™ report 604 and a credit rating score 602 of 700, thus, the financial institution should not open or offer a checking account to the customer.
[0099] While the present inventions and what is considered presently to be the best modes thereof have been described in a manner that establishes possession thereof by the inventors and that enables those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the inventions, it will be understood and appreciated that there are many equivalents to the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein and that myriad modifications and variations may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventions, which are to be limited not by the exemplary embodiments but by the appended claims. | The present invention relates to a system and methods by which the risk associated with a new opportunity or new or ongoing relationship may be assessed. An example of such new opportunity or new relationship for which the present invention may be used to assess the risk is that concerning a potential new customer of a financial institution. The risk assessment of the present invention may be used to assess whether a new customer should be taken on as a customer and, if so, to what extent should the possible full range of account benefits be provided to the new customer. Other applications include assessing risk regarding a candidate for employment, assessing casualty loss and/or repayment risk in the insurance industry, and assessing risk in a landlord tenant relationship to determine whether or not to rent to the prospective tenant and if so, the amount of the security deposit. | 6 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 214,453 filed Dec. 8, 1980, now abandoned.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for adjusting the temperature of a parison which can, simultaneously with the adjustment of the temperature of the parison, heat also a border between a part of the parison neck held on a neck mold, that is, a main portion of the parison subjected to stretch blow molding and the parison neck.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 (I) is a longitudinal sectional view of a parison neck and a neck mold for explanation of phenomenon produced when the parison is subjected to stretching blow molding.
FIG. 1 (II) is a longitudinal sectional view of an upper portion of a molded bottle.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a neck mold and a parison neck used in this invention.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a parison neck and a neck mold showing another embodiment of a lower end portion of the neck mold.
FIG. 4 is a partial view in longitudinal section showing the lower end portion of the neck mold and a heating means above a heating device with the lower end portion of the neck mold placed in contact therewith.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In case where bottles and hollow molded products are manufactured by stretching blow molding, there involves a disadvantage that an annular constriction is produced in a border between a neck and a body depending on the shape and wall thickness of the neck of the molded products. This annular constriction is produced due to a temperature difference between a neck molded by the neck mold and held in that condition and a body subjected to secondary heating by means of a temperature adjusting device, and because a portion in contact with the end of the neck mold of a parison is not sufficiently stretched.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, in the molding method of this type, an upper portion 1a of a parison 1 is normally in a state where the upper portion 1a is held by a neck mold 2 which opens and closes to left and right, the parison 1 is transferred together with the neck mold 2 to a temperature adjusting device, and a body 1b is inserted into the temperature adjusting device for secondary heating. Thereafter, in the blow molding mold, a portion to be adjusted in temperature is stretched and blow molded to form a hollow molded product 3 such as a bottle.
In this case, an annular constriction A shown in FIG. 1 (II) is almost always produced in a portion close to the lower opening of the neck mold 2. The present inventor has measured a temperature distribution of the body 1b after adjustment of temperature and found that a portion upwardly of a part of approximately 1.5 mm from the lower surface of the neck mold 2 greatly decreases, which is not suitable for stretching blow molding. It is considered that such decrease in temperature is due to the presence of the neck mold 2. A temperature in portion close to the neck mold 2 escapes towards the low neck mold 2 due to the temperature difference so that an area of radius B (approximately 1.5 mm) as shown including a portion exposed from the neck mold 2 lowers in temperature.
From the above-mentioned reasons, an attempt has been made to apply heat insulation to the circumference of a lower opening of the neck mold to prevent the lowering of temperature in said portion before stretching blow molding is taken place, and as a consequence, an annular constriction A was not produced but a sore-like portion was newly produced in a portion in contact with the heat insulating material due to poor cooling.
It is an object of this invention is to provide a method of heating the circumference of a lower opening of the neck mold 2 so as not to produce the above-mentioned annular constriction A and not to produce a sore-like portion due to overheating.
It is another object of the invention is to provide a method of heating a parison neck in which a lower end of a neck mold is heated to a predetermined temperature by contact thereof with a heating body to prevent escape of heat from a neck of a parison in contact with the circumference of a lower opening and avoid formation of an annular constriction in a molded product by stretching blow molding due to the lowering of temperature as encountered in the prior art, and since partial heating is applied to the neck mold, the product is easily cooled after stretching blow molding and heat is rarely accumulated thereby producing no sore-like portion in the surface of a parison neck due to overheating.
It is a further object of this invention is to provide an method of heating a parison neck in which a heating body is disposed in a temperature adjusting device of parison to effect heating of the parison neck continuous to the temperature adjustment of the parison, and which affords advantages that the method can be applied even to conventional stretching blow molding because of a simple construction in which the heating body is merely mounted on the temperature adjusting device.
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, reference numeral 11 designates a parison, and 12 designates a neck mold. A parison neck 11a forming an upper part of a hollow molded product is held in close contact with the neck mold 12 similar to the case of the above-mentioned prior art, and a body 11b is projected from the lower surface of the neck mold.
The circumference of a lower opening of the neck mold 12 is formed from a heating member 14 of metal material which is fitted through a thin layer of a heat insulating material 13 (for example, heat insulating paper) and fixed by means of screws 15, said heating member 14 having the desired height, and the neck 11a of the parison 11 is formed by an inner side of the heating member 14 and the inner surface of the neck mold.
It should be noted that the heat insulating material 13 may be removed as the case may be. The reason is that this heat insulating material 13 is provided to prevent the whole neck mold from being heated by repetitive heating, and the heat insulating material 13 is not particularly provided to act on and heat the parison neck 11a.
Also, the neck mold 12 is always partly heated, and if such heating should be extended over the whole neck mold, such partly applied heat is absorbed by the neck mold and a constitutional member holding the neck mold when such heat is moved away from the heating body and there is no room that preheat remains.
Further, the heating member 14 is formed of a metal having better heat transfer than that of metal of which is formed a neck mold 12, and fitting may be accomplished directly in a state as shown in FIG. 3.
Thus, prior to transfer of the neck mold 12 to a blow molding mold, the prearranged heating body and heating member 14 are brought into contact and the circumference of a lower opening of the neck mold 12 is maintained at a suitable temperature by the heating member 14 to prevent a portion close to the lower surface of the parison 11 from being lowered in temperature.
Most preferably, application of temperature to the heating member 14 by the aforementioned heating body is effected by an adjusting device in which the body 11b of the parison 11 is subjected to secondary heating from the process of stretching blow molding, to a temperature suitable for stretching blow molding.
FIG. 4 shows a device for adjusting parison temperature in which heating elements 16 and heat insulating materials 17 are alternately stacked to form a parison inserting hole 18, and an iron fram 19 mounted on the uppermost one of said heating elements 16 is fastened to a support post 20. The heating body 21 is vertically movably mounted on the temperature adjusting device with a spring 23 being interposed in a pin 22 provided on the iron frame 19, the upper surface therof being formed so as to be fitted into the lower portion of the neck mold 12 into contact with the heating member 14, and thus, a parison is always heated at a suitable temperature by means of a heater 24 which is mounted on the outer peripheral side and can be adjusted in temperature, and in a state where the lower surface of the neck mold 12 moved down together with the parison 11 is in contact with the heating body 21, the body 11b of the parison 11 is subjected to secondary heating and at the same time, the heating member 14 applied with temperature by contact with the heating body 21 partially heats the parison neck 11a in contact with the inner surface thereof to prevent the parison in the circumference of the lower opening of the neck mold 12 from being lowered in temperature. | A method of heating a parison neck by stretching blow molding, wherein an injection molded synthetic resin parison is adjusted in temperature while holding a parison neck, by a neck mold for molding a parison neck, after which the parison is stretched and expanded to form a container such as a bottle, the method comprising at the time of adjusting temperature of said parison, heating a lower end of the neck mold and applying heat enough to prevent formation of an annular constriction in a molded product, to a border between a parison neck covered by the neck mold through the end of said neck mold and a body. | 1 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 622,990, filed June 21, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,973.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
This apparatus is protective equipment to be used with a completed well. This particularly finds application in wells completed at offshore locations. Assume for explanatory purposes that a well is drilled from a jackup drilling rig or perhaps a semi-submersible drilling rig. Assume that the well is drilled in 50 feet of water or more. The vessel which supports the drilling rig remains on location during the drilling process. After the drilling process has been completed, the drilling vessel is then moved to another location to drill another well. At the time that the vessel is on location, the well may be completed, and production verified so that a production platform can be fabricated on shore to be towed to the location later.
Assume that the well is sufficiently productive that it justifies the installation of some type of production platform. In addition, well production equipment can be devised and assembled onshore and subsequently moved to the site of the well for installation onto the production platform at the well site. Without regard to the particular shape or form of the equipment or platform to be subsequently installed, it takes months, typically about one year or so, to get equipment constructed onshore and moved to the offshore location. If the water is 50 feet deep, this might require fabrication of a production platform which stands about 125 feet tall and which weighs several hundred tons. Clearly, such equipment cannot be fabricated quickly and it must be fabricated carefully, typically tailored to the precise circumstances of the particular well so that it can be towed to the location and installed. Sometimes, between 12 and 18 months will pass between the completion of the well and the installation of a permanent production platform.
It is not economically feasible to maintain the drilling rig on location until the platform has been installed. Rather, the drilling rig is moved to another well site to initiate drilling at that location. This requires that the drilling rig leave the scene and leave the well. The departure of the drilling equipment marks the end of drilling activities at the well. It is expedient for the drilling equipment, including the vessel, to be moved to another drilling site immediately after well completion so that it can economically be used in drilling another well. Preferably, the well is left with suitable casing in the hole extending to some selected depth. Production tubing is also typically installed. A conductor pipe typically surrounds the casing and extends into the seabed. For instance, the conductor pipe might be 30 inch diameter pipe and have a length of about 200 or 300 feet. The conductor pipe is typically positioned so that the top of the conductor pipe extends a distance of between 15 and 45 feet above the still water line.
The well is then shut in by installing suitable closed valves or plugs in the well. The drilling vessel departs the area and hence leaves the well substantially unprotected wherein the casing located in the larger conductor pipe is exposed to some degree of risk until the production platform can be fabricated and installed. The conductor pipe may be unsupported for a length of between 30 and 125 feet inclusive, or even longer.
Various methods have been employed to protect and support offshore wells during the period between drilling and installing a permanent platform. Some wells are cut off just above the mud line and then completed after the permanent platform has been set. Others are supported by large diameter caissons or conductor pipe. Some prior art methods include the installation of a caisson before the well is drilled. If a dry hole is drilled, the cost of the caisson in addition to the normal dry hole expenses are incurred. Other prior art methods include the installation of mud line suspension equipment, leaving the wells free standing and virtually unprotected and unsupported until a permanent platform can be installed. A well left unprotected for a long period of time can be severely damaged from hurricanes or winter storms which may occur while the well is unprotected.
The equipment of the present disclosure is a protective structural system for the otherwise free-standing conductor pipe which visibly extends from the mud line to a predetermined point above the water line. Assume that the conductor pipe protrudes from the seabed, perhaps standing 30 feet above the water line. It is vulnerable to damage from navigating ships in the area, and particularly can be damaged by extreme lateral loads caused by winter storms and summer hurricanes when left unprotected. The present apparatus is a protective structural system which fastens temporarily or permanently onto the conductor pipe. The conductor pipe is typically in the range of about 26 to about 30 inches in diameter and has wall thickness of about one inch. It is susceptible to bending and damage when left unprotected. The conductor pipe is encased and structurally supported by the present system.
The well support system of the present disclosure incorporates a steel tubular split vertical clamp, adapted to securely clamp to the protruding conductor pipe. The conductor clamp is divided into two similar pieces, split along the length thereof, and the two pieces have edge located flange plates which are joined by suitable nuts and bolts. Moreover, the conductor clamp at the lower end is connected with and braced to a rectangular frame suitably fastened to the seabed or to a supporting substructure. It is held in place by piles which are driven through the corners. Moreover, the upper end of the conductor clamp is laterally supported by diagonally positioned braces, the braces extending from the top of the clamp to the pile anchor sleeves at the corner and anchored to the seabed. The clamp is split into two halves along its diameter and the two halves are bolted together surrounding the conductor pipe.
In an alternate embodiment, the well support system of the present disclosure incorporates a permanent support frame for single or multiple wells. The completed well support system is constructed with fabricated modules which clamp tightly around the well conductor pipe. The components of the system include modules for forming a boat landing which may be secured or clamped about the conductor pipe. For multi well configurations, the system can support a deck large enough to accommodate wireline or through-tubing workover units plus a crane large enough to lift such units from a supply boat onto the deck. Thus, eliminating the need for a jackup unit for most routine well workover and maintenance operations. A miniplatform may also be supported on a single well. A cantilevered halideck supported on single or multi well configurations simplifies transportation to and from the location for site supervision and work.
The well support system of the present disclosure may also be used as a temporary support incorporating outrigger modules which may be secured to the support frame clamped about the conductor pipe. Cables secured to the outrigger module and the bottom of the boat landing temporarily provide lateral support while a permanent platform or support system is being fabricated. This system is particularly useful for temporary support of well sites being developed for installation of a complete production platform.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the above recited 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 embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.
It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing the protective apparatus of this disclosure installed around a conductor pipe protruding from the bottom of a body of water;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2--2 showing the rectangular base frame of the apparatus which anchors the apparatus at the bottom;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3--3 in FIG. 1 showing details of construction of the vertically positioned conductor clamp of this disclosure;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3 showing construction of the conductor clamp in mating halves which fasten together;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial side view of one corner of the frame depicting a steel tubular pile that is driven through a pile sleeve at the corner to anchor the apparatus temporarily or permanently in position;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the line 6--6 of FIG. 5 showing details of construction of a pile clamp which fastens around the piling;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view along the line 7--7 of FIG. 5 showing details of construction of the pile sleeve guide mechanism;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view along the line 8--8 of FIG. 2 showing a means for joining adjacent halves together to assemble the apparatus;
FIG. 9 is a side view showing an alternate embodiment of the well support system of the present disclosure, including a boat landing and miniplatform installed on a conductor pipe;
FIG. 10 is a sectional view along the line 10--10 of FIG. 9 showing the octagonal frame of the boat landing components of the well support system;
FIG. 11 is a sectional view along the line 11--11 of FIG. 9 showing the rectangular base frame which anchors the well support system to the seabed;
FIG. 12 is a sectional view along the line 12--12 of FIG. 11 showing details of construction of the telescoping frame members of the well support system;
FIG. 13 is a sectional view along the line 13--13 of FIG. 12 showing details of construction of the clamp mounted about the telescoping frame members;
FIG. 14 is a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the telescoping frame members;
FIG. 15 is a sectional view along the line 15--15 of FIG. 14 showing construction of the clamp in FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a sectional view of one corner of the base frame depicting an alternate embodiment of the pile clamp which fastens around the piling;
FIG. 17 is a sectional view of those leg members of the base frame jointed together;
FIG. 18 is a sectional view along the line 18--18 of FIG. 17;
FIG. 19 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the well support system of the disclosure for use in deep water;
FIG. 20 is a sectional view along the line 20--20 of FIG. 19 showing the rectangular base frame of the well support system of FIG. 19;
FIG. 21 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the well support control system installed about two adjacent wells;
FIG. 22 is a sectional view along the line 22--22 of FIG. 21 showing the expanded rectangular base frame of the well support system of FIG. 21;
FIG. 23 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the well support system of the disclosure for temporarily supporting a conductor pipe protruding from the seabed;
FIG. 24 is a sectional view along line 24--24 of FIG. 23 showing the base frame of the well support system in FIG. 23;
FIG. 25 is an enlarged partial side view of one corner of the base frame of FIG. 23 depicting the split sleeve connection of the outrigger module to the base frame;
FIG. 26 is an end view along the line 25--25 of the outrigger anchoring component of the well support system shown in FIG. 21; and
FIG. 27 is an alternate embodiment of the well support system of the disclosure for temporarily supporting a conductor pipe;
FIG. 28 is an enlarged partial sectional view depositing a tubular pile that is driven through an alternate embodiment of a pile sleeve; and
FIG. 29 is a sectional view along the line 29--29 of FIG. 28.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Attention is directed to FIG. 1 of the drawings. In FIG. 1, the protection apparatus 10 of this disclosure is shown installed at a well. Assume that the well has been completed and is evidenced primarily by conductor pipe 12 extending from the seabed 14. Assume further that the conductor pipe is typically quite long, perhaps being a few hundred feed in length. It is typically fabricated of pipe up to about 30 inches in diameter. Assume further that it stands about 20 feet or more above the water line. The conductor pipe 12 is more or less perpendicular to the seabed. It may enclose various and sundry safety or cutoff valves and the like. Primarily, the conductor pipe 12 protrudes vertically above the water and is normally unsupported and is exposed to damage during the interval after the vessel supporting the drilling rig departs the area, and is best protected by the protective apparatus 10 until a permanent production platform can be installed at the wellhead.
The apparatus 10 is therefore a safety device, temporarily installed. It is installed on the conductor pipe 12 for an interval. It is divided into two halves as shown in FIG. 2. In the assembled state, it includes four identical radial frame members 16. The frame members 16 are horizontal, and extend radially outwardly from the center of the equipment to the four corners. At each corner, there is a piling sleeve 18. They are preferably identical. A suitable piling 20 is driven through each corner and extends into the seabed 14. The piling is sufficiently long to be driven sufficiently deep into the seabed 14 to enable each corner of the structure to be anchored. The piling 20 is installed to fasten and later removed to free the safety apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the piling sleeve 18 is adjacent to a typical angle reinforced mudmat 22 to prevent the device 10 from sinking into the soft seabed before adequate support piles 20 are installed. The frame member 26 is full length, extending from corner to corner of the structure as shown in FIG. 2. The frame member 24 is short, and terminates at a flange fastener. The frame member 24 aligns with a similar frame member 28. The two frame members are joined together by the flanged structure shown in FIG. 8. There, it will be observed that the flange 31 is on the end of the tubular bracing member 28. The flange 31 aligns with a similar flange on the frame member 24. The two flanges are positioned adjacent to one another and are fastened together by suitable nut and bolts 32. The two flange plates assemble the frame member 24 and 28 so that they collectively have a length approximately equal to the length of the frame member 26.
One advantage of the flange connection between the members 24 and 28 is to enable the structure to be broken into two similar halves for ease of shipping, ease of installation, and so the structure can be componentized. This also enables it to protect multiple wells at a single offshore location. In the case of multiple well protection, it is necessary to add a center component to the system to bolt or fasten between halves.
When viewed from above, the frame members define a rectangle which is centered about the conductor pipe 12. The rectangle is constructed with four corners to position four piling sleeves at the respective corners. Thus, the assembled equipment is a rectangle having four sides which are preferably approximately equal, thereby defining a square. The four corners are anchored by suitable pilings 20 which are driven through the four corners which temporarily or permanently stake the apparatus to the bottom. This holds the equipment in location for the time that it is installed. Moreover, it is held stable at the anchored location. The four sides are preferably rectangular, and can even be square so that the sides 24 and 28 are fastened together. The device divides into two halves to enable it to be easily positioned about the conductor pipe 12.
The structure incorporates the radially positioned frame members 16. They extend to the four corners and hence are connected to the four piling sleeves 18. The radially positioned frame members 16 fasten at the lower ends of the conductor clamp 30. The conductor clamp 30 is shown in better detail in FIG. 3. There, the conductor clamp comprises a hollow, elongated, split structure also shown in sectional view in FIG. 4. It is formed of identical halves. One half is identified by the numeral 32 and comprises a semicircular sleeve member. it is supported at the bottom by the radial frame members 16. These frame members hold the conductor clamp in an upright position. Moreover, the conductor clamp incorporates edge located flanges 34 and 36. The flanges 34 and 36 are positioned adjacent to mating flanges on the symmetrical half so that the conductor clamp can be fabricated and joined together. The flanges 34 and 36 are stiffened by suitable reinforcing gussets 38. The reinforcing gussets 38 are incorporated for the purpose of stiffening the connecting flanges 34 and 36 so that they will not bend. At suitable locations, the flanges 34 and 36 are drilled with matching sets of holes to enable fasteners such as nuts and bolts to assemble the two halves into the conductor clamp. In FIG. 4, nuts and bolts are identified at 40 for fastening the two halves together. This assembles the conductor clamp 30.
It will be observed in FIG. 1 that the conductor clamp 30 is designed so that it fits snugly around the conductor pipe. When the nuts and bolts are used to assemble the two halves, they are pulled tightly together and bolted around the conductor pipe. Moreover, this conductor clamp extends slightly below the radial frame members 16. This enables the lower end of the device to embed into the mud. The upper end typically stands shorter than the conductor pipe just below the water line, and reduces the unbraced length of the conductor pipe to enable it to carry greater lateral loads than if standing alone. The conductor clamp may, however be secured about the full length of the conductor pipe, if desired, for additional reinforcement. The conductor pipe is thus stiffened and reinforced by the conductor clamp 30. The conductor pipe is firmly held within the conductor clamp 30. As an example, assume that the conductor pipe has a 30 inch OD and that the conductor clamp 30 has a 30 inch ID. It is fastened around the conductor pipe and made snug against the pipe by tightening the nuts and bolts along the flanges. This enables assembly of the sleeve around the conductor pipe in the field. The conductor clamp may be loosened and stabbed over the well conductor, or it may be disassembled and installed onto the well conductor pipe in two pieces. If the device is installed in two pieces or halves, one half is first positioned adjacent to the conductor pipe 12 and set on the seabed 14, and the second half is thereafter positioned on the opposite side. Once they are in positioned, suitable nuts and bolts are used to fasten the two halves together, thereby securing the conductor clamp around the conductor pipe and holding it securely in position. The conductor clamp 30 is sized so that it fits snugly around the conductor pipe 12 so that the two are fastened together in concentric relationship, thereby anchoring the device. This aids and assists in stability of the safety device fastened around the conductor pipe 12.
Attention is directed momemtarily to FIG. 5 of the drawings where the piling sleeve 18 is shown in greater detail. It comprises an upstanding sleeve 44 which is located at each corner of the rectangular frame as shown in FIG. 2. The steel mudmats and support angles 22 are affixed to the sleeve 44 and lower bracing member 24 and 26 (FIG. 2). The sleeve 44 is approximately perpendicular to the plane. The four corners of the frame are thus all equipped with similar sleeves, and they are preferably parallel to one another so that pilings 20 can be driven through them in parallel fashion. Each piling 20 shown in FIG. 5 has a set of two protruding lifting eyes at 46 to enable the piles to be removed at a later date. The lifting eyes are located at a distance from the upper end of the piling so as not to interfere with the pile driving apparatus. The piling 20 is typically driven by suitable means into the soil below the sleeve 44 so that it is anchored.
The piling is first driven through the sleeve 44. After that, it is fastened. It is held in place relative to the equipment by means of a fastener better shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Briefly, the sectional view of FIG. 7 is through a flanged pile clamp 48 secured above the sleeve 44. The flanged pile clamp 48 supports a protruding flange plate 50 shown in FIG. 5. On the bottom side, it fastens to a matching flange plate 52 which is attached to the upper end of the sleeve 44. On the top side, the flange 50 is supported by a set of reinforcing gussets 54. Bolt holes in the flange plates 50 and 52 are slotted to enable installation tolerances. The pile clamp 48 is split into two halves, the two halves being shown in FIG. 6. The halves are identical to one another and bolt together. They constitute a clamp mechanism for fastening around the piling 20. The clamp mechanism is thus formed of a first upstanding sleeve half 60 and a mating sleeve half 62. They are constructed with edge located flanges in the same fashion as shown in FIG. 3 and are pulled together and clamped by nuts and bolts. The two halves are thus pulled together and fastened snugly around the piling 20. Assume for purposes of discussion that the piling is 70 feet in length. Assume further that it is necessary to install the piling with about 52 feet protruding into the seabed. In that event, the piling is driven through the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 with the sleeve halves 60 and 62 loosely fastened or removed temporarily. After the piling has been driven to the predetermined penetration into the mud, the sleeve halves shown in FIG. 6 are fastened together and are pulled together to clamp around the piling. This typically is accomplished by first tightening the nuts and bolts indicated at 64. After that has been completed, the nuts and bolts at 66 are anchored to fix the sleeve snugly, firmly and tightly, around the piling. At this point, the pile clamp 48 may be welded to the pile around the top of the clamp if the installation is to be permanent or long term.
This apparatus is installed by moving it to the offshore location of the in-place conductor pipe. At the time of installation, it is installed by positioning separate halves adjacent to the conductor pipe 12, or by stabbing over the conductor pipe. Each half stands upright and is braced vertically by means of upstanding diagonal braces 70 and horizontal braces 16. Diagonal braces fasten at the upper ends to the top of the conductor clamp 30. They fasten at the lower ends to the respective corner located pile sleeves 18. The upstanding diagonal braces define a triangular construction as viewed from the side in FIG. 1 to produce a rigid structure. This rigid structure supports the conductor clamp in fixed relationship to the remainder of the structure so that the conductor pipe is not bent. Viewing FIG. 2, the two halves are thus installed so that they are located on opposite sides of the conductor pipe 12. The two halves are then bolted together at the conductor clamp 30 shown in FIG. 3. The nuts and bolts used to accomplish the fastening are tightened, but not snugly. The edge located frame members 24 and 28 are fastened tightly together, this occurring at two locations as shown in FIG. 2. This then assembles the structure around and adjacent to the conductor pipe. At this time, the pilings 20 are driven through the respective four corners. They are driven to a suitable depth to assure that the protective device 10 is anchored. The four corners are then made fast by tightening the bolts 64 and 66 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This anchors the four corners. The conductor clamp 30 is then bolted tightly along its length to pull snug around the conductor pipe. This completes installation of the anchor equipment, and secures the device snugly to the conductor pipe. At the time of removal, it is disassembled in the reverse sequence so that the two halves can be installed and removed in relative rapid order. After installation, the conductor pipe and hence the well for the pipe is reasonably secure against unintended damage. Moreover, this installation can be left at an offshore well location indefinitely to protect the well for a long period of time.
Referring now to FIG. 9, an alternate embodiment of the well support system of the present disclosure is shown. The well support system comprises the conductor pipe structural support frame extending from the seabed 14 about the conductor pipe 12 and generally identified by the reference numeral 80. The boat landing 90 is secured to the conductor pipe 12 at the water line. A miniplatform 100 is secured to the upper end of the conductor pipe 12 generally about 30 feet above the still water line to complete the well support system of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.
The support frame 80 shown in sectional view in FIG. 11 is structurally substantially identical to the support frame 20 described and shown in FIGS. 1-4 above, and therefore, the same reference numerals have been used to identify substantially identical structural elements. The conductor clamp 30 is positioned to clamp about the conductor pipe 12 as previously described. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 9, the conductor clamp 30 is designed so that it does not directly contact the conductor pipe 12. When the nuts and bolts are used to assembly the two halves of the clamp 30 about the conductor pipe 12, an annular space is defined between the clamp 30 and the pipe 12. The annular space is filled with grout 82 as shown in FIG. 11. The annular space is filled with grout by extending a tube (not shown in the drawings) in the annular space to the bottom thereof adjacent the seabed 14. Air is pumped through the tube to remove the water in the annulus. Thereafter, grout 82 or a similar substance is pumped into the annulus and filled to the top of the clamp 30. A neoprene seal 84 clamped between the flanges of the clamp 30 seals the annulus so that the clamp is airtight enabling the removal of water from the annulus. The lower end of the clamp 30 is extended a short distance so that it is embedded in the seabed 14 to seal off the bottom of the annulus. The configuration of the clamp 30 in FIG. 9 is adapted for use with different size conductor pipe. The diameter of conductor pipe will typically be in the range of 26-30 inches. The design of FIG. 9 permits the use of stock material instead of specially rolled pipe to fabricate the clamp 30, thus reducing the cost of fabrication. In addition, the grout 82 increases the cross sectional area of support provided to the conductor pipe 12 and thus increasing section modulus, and thereby further reducing the effects of lateral forces on the conductor pipe 12.
The piling sleeve 18 shown in FIG. 9 also incorporates an internal diameter which is greater than the outside diameter of the piling 20. The piling 20 is driven into the seabed 14 as discussed above, so that upon installation of the piling 20 through the sleeve piling 18, an annular space is formed therebetween. A flange clamp 86 is provided which includes a cylindrical body open at both ends to loosely fit about the pile 20. The clamp 86, best shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, supports a protruding flange plate 50 for fastening to the matching plate 52 attached to the upper end of the pile sleeve 18. A tapped hole 88 is provided adjacent the lower end of the piling sleeve 18 permitting access to the annular space between the sleeve 18 and pile 20. The tapped hole 88 is plugged to close off the annular space after air is pumped in to remove the water and grout is pumped in to fill the annular space. The open end of the clamp 86 is closed by a slip ring 87 slipped about the pile 20 prior to driving it through the pile sleeve 18. The slip ring 87 fits snugly about the pile 20 and includes a vulcanized rubber ring for sealing engagement with the pile 20. The slip ring is adjusted along the pile 20 to engage the top edge of the clamp 86 and screwed thereon in threaded holes spaced about the top edge of the clamp 86 to seal the annular space between the sleeve 18 and pile 20.
Referring again to FIG. 11, it will be observed that the legs 24 and 28 are joined together by a horizontally adjustable clamp 110. The clamp 110, shown in sectional view in FIG. 13, is a split clamp comprising two identical halves 112. The halves 112 are semiconductor members terminating at edge located flanges 114 and 116. The flanges 114 and 116 are joined together by nuts and bolts 118 and are reinforced by gussets 120.
The clamp 110 secures two horizontally adjustable frame members 122 and 124. The frame member 122 telescopes within the frame member 124 permitting horizontal adjustments to be made to the side of the frame structure formed by the leg members 24 and 28. At times, it may not be possible to anchor the frame of the invention to the seabed 14 to form a true rectangle or square. The clamps 110 permit two sides of the support frame to be adjusted so that the conductor clamp 30 may be securely mounted about the conductor pipe 12.
The frame members 122 and 124 terminate at flange fasteners for alignment and connection to the flange members of the leg members 24 and 28, respectively. The two flanges are positioned adjacent to one another and are fastened together by suitable nuts and bolts. The leg member 124 is slotted about of about one end to define a plurality of fingers 126. The slots extend inwardly from the open end 128 of the leg member 124 a sufficient distance so that the fingers 126 may flex inwardly and grab the leg member 122 which is telescoped within the leg member 124. The clamp 110, as shown in FIG. 12, encloses the slotted portion of the leg member 124. The clamp 110 is designed so that upon assembly the two halves 112 are pulled together by the nuts and bolts 118 around the fingers 126 forcing them into gripping engagement with the leg member 122. The two clamps 110 and telescoping leg members 122 and 124 connect the leg members 24 and 28 to complete the assembly of the structural support anchored to the seabed 14.
The well support system of the present disclosure comprises a number of modules or components which are typically assembled below the water surface. It will be observed that the components of the invention are assembled with nuts and bolts which requires the alignment of matching sets of holes drilled in the components. To enable quick and easy alignment of components, leg members terminating in a flange connection are provided with an extension 130, best shown in the sectional views of FIGS. 17 and 18. The extension 130 permits the divers to easily stab the hollow leg member 122 and guide the mating flange plates into engagement for connection by nuts and bolts. The extension 130 in side view presents a cone-like profile formed by at least two angular members at right angle to each other.
In FIG. 14 and 15, an alternate clamp for joining the leg members 122 and 124 is shown. The leg member 124 is hollow as in FIG. 12 and terminates at a flange connection 132. The end of the leg member 122 which telescopes within the leg member 124 is externally threaded for threadably receiving a nut 134. Upon adjusting the leg members 122 and 124 for the proper alignment required, the nut 134 which incorporates a mating flange 136 is advanced so that the flanges 132 and 136 are in contact. It will be observed in FIG. 15 that the flange 132 incorporates a plurality of slots 138 to insure alignment with the drilled holes in the flange 136. The nuts and bolts 140 fasten the flange plates 132 and 136 together.
Referring now to FIG. 16, an alternate embodiment of the pile guide flange connection is shown. Recall that the corners of these support frames are anchored to the seabed 14 by piles 20 driven through the pile sleeves 18. In the embodiment of FIG. 16, the pile 20 includes an externally threaded portion at 210. A nut 212 is threaded about the pile 20 prior to installation. The nut 212 terminates at a flange 214 for mating engagement with the flange 52 of the pile sleeve 18. A plurality of weld stops 216 are welded on the interior of the pile sleeve 18 adjacent the flange 52. The pile stops 216 limit the passage of the pile 20 through the pile sleeve 18 by engaging the lower end of the threaded portion 210 which is formed on an enlarged portion of the pile 20. The pile stops 216 enable positioning of the threaded portion 210 so that the nut 212 may be advanced for connection to the flange 52. Nuts and bolts 218 are used to connect the flanges together. A socket 220 is provided on the nut 212 for receiving a lever handle to aid making up the connection.
Referring again to FIG. 9, the boat landing 90 mounted to the conductor pipe 12 is of similar modular design. That is, the frame of the boat landing 90 is split into two halves and welded to a semicircular clamp 89 as shown in FIG. 10. The clamp 89 is designed so that it fits snugly around the conductor pipe 12. Nuts and bolts are used to assemble the two halves of the clamp 89. They are pulled tightly together and bolted around the conductor pipe 12, thereby mounting the boat landing 90 to the conductor pipe 12 at a predetermined level so that the boat landing 90 extends above the water line. The boat landing 90 comprises a frame work formed by a multiplicity of frame members. For illustrative purposes only, in FIG. 10, the boat landing 90 is shown as being hexagonal in shape. Other shapes, such as rectangular or square may also easily be formed. The outer perimeter of the boat landing 90 is defined by horizontally extending members 91 connected to vertical members 92. An inner perimeter is formed by a plurality of horizontal members 93 which are parallel to the outer members 91. Horizontal connecting members 94 complete the frame work for supporting a grate 95 which forms the boat landing platform. A plurality of angularly extending members 96 connect the upper end of the vertical members 92 to the clamp halves 89 mounting the boat landing 90 to the conductor pipe 12. The lower ends of the legs 92 are welded to the clamp halves 89 by horizontal members 97 so that the legs 92 are substantially parallel to each other and to the longitudinal axis of the conductor pipe 12.
Positioned on the conductor pipe 12 above the boat landing 90 is a miniplatform 100. The platform 100 mounts to support brackets 102 which are first installed on the conductor pipe 12. The support brackets 102 incorporate a plurality of upwardly and angularly extending support members 104. The platform is lowered onto the support members 104 and bolted or welded thereto. Additional support brackets 106 may be welded to the conductor pipe 12 to provide additional support for the deck of the miniplatform 100. Production equipment may be preinstalled on the miniplatform 100 so that all that remains after completion of the installation procedure is to connect the well to the production equipment.
Well fluids are produced through the conductor pipe 12 and directed to onshore or offshore production facilities through a riser pipe 108. Sections of the riser pipe 108 may be prefabricated or preinstalled on one half of the conductor clamp 30 as shown in FIG. 9. After installation of the boat landing 90 and the miniplatform 100, the upper end of the riser 108 is connected to the wellhead equipment on the miniplatform. The lower end of the riser 108 is connected to a production line or flow line (not shown in the drawings) to a remote production facility.
Referring now to FIGS. 19 and 20, a deep water configuration of the invention is disclosed. It will also be observed that the conductor clamp 30 in FIG. 19 extends above the boat landing 90. The modular components forming the boat landing 90 are mounted directly to the conductor clamp 30. The clamp 30 may extend up to any desired height about the conductor pipe 12 as required. In deep water, it may be desirable to incorporate a subplatform, generally identified by the reference numeral 150. The subplatform 150 incorporates radially positioned frame members 152 which extend to the four corners of the subplatform 150 frame structure and connect to piling sleeves 154. The inner ends of the radially extending frame members 152 connect to a split clamp which clamps about the conductor pipe 12. The split clamp is formed by two identical halves 156 and extends a short distance above and below the seabed 14. The split clamp 156 may be extended to meet the lower end of the conductor clamp 30, if desired. However, to reduce expense the weight of the modular components of the substructure 150, the clamp halves 156 in FIG. 19 do not completely enclose the full length of the conductor pipe 12. The frame member 157 is full length, extending from corner to corner of the substructure 150 shown in FIG. 20. The frame members 158 and 160 are short and terminate at mating flange connections which are joined together to complete the asembly of the substructure 150. Vertical bracing is provided by diagonal braces 162 which extend from the the corner pilings 154 to connect to the frame members 157, 158 and 160.
In the embodiment of FIG. 19, the substructure 150 is first installed about the conductor pipe 12, then the two halves of the conductor clamp 30 are lowered and the corners thereof are aligned with the four corners of the substructure 150. The lower end of the piling sleeves 18 terminate in mating flange plates 155 which are bolted to the flange plates 159 of the pile sleeves 154. The piles 164 are then driven through the aligned pile sleeves 18 and 154 into the seabed 14 and anchored to the upper end of the piling sleeves 18 as previously described. Installation of the conductor clamp 30 is completed in the manner described regarding FIGS. 1-4.
In FIGS. 21 and 22, a multi well embodiment of the well support system is shown. The modular design of the well support system permits the modules to be clamped together to support multiple wells. In FIG. 21, two vertical wells have been completed in a known manner. Recall that multiple wells are spaced closely and typically deviate below the seabed 14 by known directional drilling techniques. At the seabed 14, the wells may have similar conductor pipes 12 only a few feet apart. A conductor clamp 30 is mounted about each conductor pipe 12 in the manner previously described. Additional support is provided by the horizontally adjustable clamps 110 described in FIGS. 11-13. The horizontally adjustable clamps 110 are secured between the two conductor pipes 12 along the vertical length thereof to maintain a substantially constant spacing the full length of the conductor pipes 12. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, three horizontally adjustable clamps 110, vertically spaced along the conductor pipes 12, are shown. It is understood, however, that additional clamps may be employed if desired. In the two well design, a larger deck may be mounted to the conductor pipes 12. The large deck 230 shown in FIG. 21 provides sufficient space for light workover units and limited production facilities. A cantilevered helideck may also be incorporated in the design of the deck providing accessibility to the well site by helicopter.
In FIGS. 23-27, a temporary well support system is shown. The well support system of FIGS. 23-27 is of particular usefulness for well sites requiring a complete production facility and require support for only a short period of time. In this embodiment, the conductor clamp 30 is installed in the manner described heretofore, however, an outrigger module 170 is incorporated in the design. One outrigger module 170 is secured to each corner as shown in FIG. 24. The piling sleeve at each corner comprises a split sleeve including split halves 172 and 174. The split half 172 is one half of the pile sleeve 18 shown in FIG. 1 and is connected to the diagonal and horizontal structural members of the conductor clamp 30. The mating split half 174 is connected to the outrigger module 170 which comprises horizontal and vertical structural members forming two spaced triangular frames. The triangular frames are parallel and spaced from each other. One point of the triangular members is connected to the sleeve half 174 and the remaining two points are connected to the outrigger legs 178 and 180. Angularly extending brace members 182 provide additional structural strength to form a rigid outrigger structure. Lifting eyes 184 are provided for lifting the outrigger modules 170 during assembly or disassembly of the temporary well support system. At the upper end of each of the legs 178 and 180, a cable securing eye 185 is provided. Upon installation of the conductor clamp 30, previously described, the outrigger modules 170 are positioned and the clamp halves 172 and 174 are bolted together about the piling anchoring the conductor clamp 30. The piling provides additional anchoring support and may be eliminated if desired. Sufficient anchoring support will be provided by the legs 178 and 180 of each outrigger module 170. Legs 178 and 180 may extend any desired distance into the seabed 14, as for example, 12-20 feet below the mud line. After the outrigger modules 170 are installed, cables 186 are secured to the cable securing eyes 185 and extended to the bottom of the boat landing 190 and connected thereto. Adjustable turn buckle connectors may be used to adjust the tension in the cables 186.
In the embodiment of FIG. 27, the outrigger modules have been eliminated and the conductor clamp 30 provided with anchor legs at each corner. The anchor legs 200, extend below the mud line to rigidly anchor the conductor clamp 30 in position. Cable eyelets 202 are provided at the upper end of the anchor legs which may extend up to ten feet or more above the seabed 14. Adjustable cables 204 are then connected between the cable eyelets 202 and the boat landing 190 to temporarily support the conductor pipe 12.
The temporary support systems shown in FIGS. 23-27 are easily and inexpensively fabricated, and include components of the well support system described heretofore. The system provides temporary and inexpensive support at a well site.
While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims which follow. | For use with a subsea well incorporating an external conductor pipe extending upwardly above the seabed, a well support miniplatform is set forth. In the preferred and illustrated embodiments, the preferred embodiment describes a longitudinally split, flange equipped, bolt joined elongate conductor clamp supported on a frame at the bottom thereof and having a plurality of appended upstanding braces. The support frame is adapted to be rested on a seabed and held in place by a number of anchors driven into the seabed at corners. The support frame is selectively installed after completion of a well wherein the conductor pipe extends above the seabed. The support frame may subsequently be removed after installation of a permanent platform. In alternate embodiments, the support frame may be installed as a permanent structure. A boat landing and miniplatform may be mounted on the conductor pipe or the conductor clamp supported by the support frame. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composite for improving the mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity and a method for producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Attempts have been made to add and mix a clay to an organic polymer material for the purpose of improvement in its mechanical properties. For example, methods for dispersing clay in nylons, vinylic polymers, a thermosetting polymer such as epoxy resins or in rubbers have been disclosed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-74957, No. 1-198645, etc.). In these arts, the following methods are used to disperse the clay: rendering the clay compatible with an organic material by using an organic onium ion to start the polymerization of the monomer between layers of the clay; combining the clay with a growth seed; and inserting a polymerized material between interlayer sections of clay by kneading them together.
However, a clay composite obtained by any of the conventional methods described above suffered from the poor affinity of the clay with a non-polar polymer. Accordingly, the non-polar polymer was not readily intercalated between the layer of the clay for the purpose of expanding the layer. Therefore, it was difficult to disperse the clay uniformly throughout the non-polar polymer.
In order to overcome such problems, we previously proposed, as shown in FIG. 8, to derivatize a clay 7 by means of an organic onium ion 6 into an organophilic clay 3, which is then dispersed in guest molecules 91 having polar groups 910 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-333114).
Nevertheless, the guest molecule having an ionic group such as an ionomer resin failed to give sufficient dispersion and satisfactory improvement in mechanical properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a resin composite comprising: an organophilic clay; and an ionomer resin. Since ionic crosslinking points of the ionomer resin are highly affinitive with the organophilic clay, the organophilic clay is uniformly dispersed in the ionomer resin. Further, as molecular motion of the ionomer resin is prevented by the organophilic clay, mechanical properties of the resin composite can be highly improved.
The organophilic clay 3 referred to here is a clay (clay mineral) which is derivatized organically by means of an ionic bond of an organic onium ion 6 with the surface of a clay 7 (see FIG. 5). In other words, the organophilic clay is clay which is treated with organic compounds so that the organic compounds could be adsopted or bound or the surface of the clay. Organic onium ions are preferably employed as the organic compound.
In producing a resin composite, a method comprises the steps of:
adding an organophilic clay to an ionomer resin;
melting the mixture of the clay and the ionomer resin by heating; and
shearing the mixture.
In the method according to the present invention, the treatment described above serves to provide a resin composite having excellent mechanical properties. Especially, the mechanical properties such as modulus and strength are improved.
Further, since an organophilic clay undergoes fine-dispersion throughout the matrix of an ionomer resin, an resin composite having a high gas barrier ability can be obtained.
These advantages may be achieved because of the following possible reasons.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, an ionomer resin 1 is a polymer which has ionic groups 10 in a side chain or a main chain of a polymer 11 (for example, COOH - group and a metal ion (M + )). In the ionomer resin 1, ionic groups 10 aggregate to form an ionic crosslinking.
As shown in FIG. 2, the ionomer resin 1 having ion crosslinking points 100 is admixed with an organophilic clay 3 having a multi-layer structure and gets intercalated into the layers of the organophilic clay 3 thereof. Since the ion crosslinking points 100 of the ionomer resin 1 are highly affinitive with the surfaces of the organophilic clay 3, the ionomer resin is held stably between the layers of the organophilic clay 3. As a result, an intercalation compound 4 having the ionomer resin 1 sandwiched between the layers of the organophilic clay 3 is obtained.
Subsequently, by subjecting the intercalation compound 4 to a shearing force, the silicate layers of the organophilic clay 3 are dispersed on a molecular level. As a result, a resin composite 5 having the organophilic clay 3 dispersed uniformly in the ionomer resin 1 as shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained.
Molecular motion of the ionomer resin 1 is prevented by the organophilic clay 3. Accordingly, the resin composite 5 having excellent mechanical properties can be obtained.
As described above, the present invention provides a resin composite which has excellent mechanical properties and contains an organophilic clay dispersed uniformly therein, and a method for producing the same.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an ionomer resin according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a method for producing a resin composite according to Embodiment 1.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the resin composite according to Embodiment 1.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing types of ionomer resins in the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an organophilic clay according to Embodiment 1.
FIG. 6 is a formula showing a chemical structure of HIMIRAN 1555 and 1601 according to Embodiments 1-3.
FIG. 7 is a formula showing a chemical structure of HIMIRAN 1554 according to Embodiment 4.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a resin composite in the prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An ionomer resin means an ion-containing polymer having an ion in the side chain or in the main chain of the polymer. As shown in FIG. 4, examples of such ionomer resins are those of a side chain type having side-chain ionic group (COO - M + ) 10 partly in the main chain of a polymer 11 (FIG. 4 (a)), a telechelic type in which cations (such as metal ion M 2+ ) are inserted between the polymers 11 or oligomers having anionic groups (such as carboxylic groups) on their both terminals whereby neutralizing and establishing the chain (FIG. 4 (b)), and a ionene wherein anions X - are bound to cations N + present in the main chain of the polymer 11 (FIG. 4 (c)).
Various ionomer resins are available depending on various combinations of polymers with their counterions.
A polymer is generally hydrophobic. Examples of the polymer which can be employed are polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-propylene copolymers, ethylene-butene copolymers, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, ethylene-propylene-diene copolymers, ethylene-butene-diene copolymers, acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymers, butyl rubbers, polystyrene, styrene-butadiene copolymers, polymethyl(meth)acrylate, poly(tetrafluoroethylene), polyurethane, ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymers, butadiene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymers, styrene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymers and the like.
An ionic group of a polymer typically has the characteristics of an ionic bond. Accordingly, an ionic aggregation is formed in a hydrophobic polymer matrix. Especially in the case where the ionic groups consist of a divalent metal ion and an anionic group, a crosslinking is formed readily between the molecular chains, resulting in an ionic aggregation.
Examples of the ionic group which can be employed are anionic groups such as carboxylate (COO - ), sulfonate (SO 3 - ) and phosphonate (PO 3 - ) as well as cationic groups such as ammonium salt, pyridinium salt and phosphonium salt.
As the counterions to the anionic ion groups listed above, alkaline metal ions such as Li + , Na + , Rb + and Cs + , alkaline earth metal ions such as Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Sr 2+ , Ba 2+ and Al 3+ and transition metal ions such as Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ , Mn 2+ , Ni 2+ , Co 2+ , C 3+ , Fe 3+ and Cr 3+ can be employed. An organic ammonium salt represented by general formula NH m R n + (wherein R is an alkyl group and m+n=4), organic ammonium salts such as ethylene diamine and 1,3-bis(aminomethyl cyclohexane) (BAC), or ammonium (NH 4+ ) may also be employed.
Examples of the counterions to the cationic ion groups listed above are anions such as Cl - , Br - and I - .
The content of an ionic group in an ionomer resin is favorably within the range from 0.05 to 50 mol %. This range enables to improve the dispersibility of an organophilic clay in an ionomer resin. With a content less than 0.05 mol %, it may be difficult to finely disperse the organophilic clay. With a content exceeding 50 mol %, the viscosity of an ionomer resin may become too high, which may cause a poor moldability.
The content of an ionic group in an ionomer resin is more favorably within the range from 0.1 to 30 mol %. This range serves to provide a further improved dispersibility of an organophilic clay. Most favorably, the content is 0.2 to 20 mol %, with which the dispersibility of the organophilic clay is highly improved.
An ionic group may be introduced into a polymer by means of, for example, (i) copolymerization of a monomer having a functional group which serves as a precursor for the ionic group with a monomer followed by ionization, (ii) copolymerization of a monomer having the ionic group with a polymeric monomer, and (iii) modification of a polymer.
Examples of a monomer having a functional group which serves as a precursor for the ionic group employed in procedure (i) described above are acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride, sulfonated styrene, phosphonated styrene and the like. Examples of a monomer having the ionic group employed in procedure (ii) described above are those obtained by ionization of the precursor monomers employed in procedure (i). A polymerizable monomer employed in procedure (i) or (ii) may be a hydrocarbon-based monomer having a double bond such as ethylene, propylene, butene, pentene, butadiene, isoprene and norbornene, a styrenic monomer such as styrene, methylstyrene and chlorostyrene, an acrylic monomer such as methyl (meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, propyl (meth)acrylate, butyl (meth)acrylate and acrylamide, as well as a haloganated monomer such as fluoroethylene and chloroethylene.
The modification of a polymer in procedure (iii) described above can be conducted by introduction of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride and the like into a polymer, or, sulfonation using sulfonic acid or phosphonation using phosphonic acid to introduce into a polymer a functional group serving as the precursor for an ionic group followed by ionization of this functional group.
Examples of the ionomer resin commercially available are those employing an ethylenic ionomer such as ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer as a polymer described above and Na, Zn, Mg or Zn-amine complex ion as an ion. Other commercial products employ elastic ionomers such as butadiene-acryl acid copolymer, telechelic (COOH) - polybutadiene, ethylene-methylacrylate-maleic acid, terpolymer, sulfonated EPDM, carboxylated NBR and the like, fluorinated resin-based ionomer for membrane filters such as sulfonated poly(tetrafluoroethylene), carboxylated poly(tetrafluoroethylene) and the like as the polymer described above and a metal ion as an ion.
The clay mentioned above is preferably derivatized organically by means of an ionic bond with the organic onium ion having 6 or more carbon atoms. An organic onium ion having less than 6 carbon atoms may be hydrophilic and may cause reduced compatibility with the ionomer resin. Examples of the organic onium ion which may be employed are hexyl ammonium ion, octyl ammonium ion, 2-ethylhexyl ammonium ion, dodecyl ammonium ion, lauryl ammonium ion, octadecyl ammonium ion, stearyl ammonium ion, dioctyldimethyl ammonium ion, trioctyl ammonium ion, distearyl dimethyl ammonium ion and lauric acid ammonium ion.
It is preferable to use the clay mineral having a large surface area to which an ionomer resin contacts, with which the interlayer distance of the clay mineral is sufficiently expanded. Specifically, the cation exchange capacity of a clay is preferably within the range from 50 to 200 meq/100 g. A capacity less than 50 meq/100 g may prevent sufficient exchange of the onium ion, thus failing to expand the interlayer distance of the clay mineral. On the other hand, if the capacity exceeds 200 meq/100 g, the bonding strength between the clay mineral layers becomes too high to expand the interlayer distance of the clay mineral.
Examples of such clay are smectite-based clays such as montmorillonite, saponite, hectorite, beidellite, stevensite and nontronite as well as vermiculite, halloysite and mica. They may be naturally-occurring or synthetic clays.
An organic onium ion is used favorably in an amount of 0.3 to 3 equivalents based on the ion exchange capacity of the employed clay. An amount less than 0.3 equivalent may result in difficulty in expanding the interlayer distance of the clay, while an amount exceeding 3 equivalents may cause deterioration of the employed ionomer resin, leading to discoloration of a resin composite.
More favorably, an organic onium ion is used in an amount of 0.5 to 2 equivalents based on the ion exchange capacity of the clay employed. With such an amount, the region sandwiched between the layers of the clay can further be swollen, and prevention from deterioration and color change of the resin composite can further be ensured.
The amount of an organophilic clay to be added is favorably 0.01 to 200 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of an ionomer resin. Such an amount enables to improve the mechanical properties of a resin composite. With an amount less than 0.01 parts by weight, almost no improvement in mechanical properties due to the addition of the organophilic clay may be observed. On the other hand, an amount exceeding 200 parts by weight may cause a too high viscosity of the resin composite, resulting in a reduced moldability.
More favorably, the amount of the organophilic clay to be added is within the range from 0.1 to 100 parts by weight. With such an amount, a resin composite having well-balanced mechanical properties and moldability can be obtained. An amount of 0.1 to 30 parts by weight is particularly preferred.
The temperature at which the ionomer resin admixed with an organophilic clay is heated is preferably the softening point of the ionomer resin or higher. Such temperature allows the organophilic clay to be finely dispersed uniformly in the matrix of the ionomer resin.
The ionomer resin described above is subjected to a shearing force. The shearing force is applied to the ionomer resin described above preferably during the heating. The shearing force serves to allow the organophilic clay to be dispersed uniformly in the ionomer resin. It is especially preferable to use an extruder to give a shearing force during kneading. By such a procedure, the dispersibility of the organophilic clay can further be improved.
The resin composite obtained by the method described above may be a resin composite characterized by an organophilic clay dispersed in an ionomer resin as described above.
Since a resin composite according to the present invention contains the organophilic clay 3 finely dispersed on a molecular level in the matrix of the ionomer resin 1 as shown in FIG. 3, it exhibits marked improvement in mechanical properties such as elastic modulus and gas barrier ability.
The size of an organophilic clay dispersed in an ionomer resin is favorably 5 μm or less. With such a size, the mechanical properties of the resin composite is improved. A size of the dispersed clay not greater than 1 μm is further preferred, and further improves the mechanical properties of the resin composite.
It is also favorable that an ionomer resin gets intercalated into the layers of an organophilic clay. With such a structure, the organophilic clay can be dispersed uniformly as monolayers to increase the ratio of the ionomer resin trapped by the organophilic clay, resulting in increased reinforcing effect of the organophilic clay.
The state that an ionomer resin gets intercalated into the layers of an organophilic clay refers to the condition in which a distance between the layers of the clay is longer than its initial distance, and such condition can be analyzed and identified by means of X-ray diffractometry.
The distance between the layers of an organophilic clay is preferably longer by 10 Å or more than that before getting intercalated into an ionomer resin. Such distance provides improved mechanical properties of the resin composite. More favorably, the distance is longer by 30 Å or more. Such distance provides further improved mechanical properties of the resin composite. Most preferably, the distance between the layers of an organophilic clay is longer by 100 Å or more than that before being getting intercalated into an ionomer resin. Such distance provides remarkably improved mechanical properties of the resin composite.
It is further favorable that the multi-layer structure of an organophilic clay is lost and the molecules of the organophilic clay 3 are dispersed as monolayers (FIG. 3). In such structure, the organophilic clay 3 crosslinks the ion aggregations (ion clusters) of the ionomer resin 1 to restrict the molecular movement of the ionomer resin 1, resulting in a great improvement in mechanical properties in spite of adding a small amount of the organophilic clay 3.
A resin composite according to the present invention may suitably be applied to injection mold articles, extrusion molded articles and films.
EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment 1
The resin composites according to the embodiments of the present invention are illustrated referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5.
A resin composite 5 according to this embodiment contains an organophilic clay 3 dispersed in an ionomer resin 1 as shown in FIG. 3. This resin composite can be obtained by adding the organophilic clay 3 to the ionomer resin 1 and melting by heating while being subjected to a shearing force as illustrated in FIG. 2.
The organophilic clay is constituted of a clay 7 which is laminar and has a hydrophilic surface and to which an organic onium ion 6 is ionically-bonded, as shown in FIG. 5.
A method for producing said resin composite is described below.
As an ionomer resin, HIMIRAN 1555 manufactured by MITSUI DUPONT CHEMICAL CO., LTD. was provided. This resin is an ethylene-methacryl acid copolymer into which a metal ion of Na is introduced as shown in FIG. 6.
An aqueous dispersion of ammonium salt prepared from 31.1 g of stearylamine and 11.5 ml of concentrated HCl was added to an aqueous dispersion of 80 g of montmorillonite (KUNIPIA F manufactured by KUNIMINE KOGYO CO., LTD.) to obtain an organophilic clay.
Subsequently, 300 g of the ionomer resin and 8 g of the organophilic clay obtained as above were admixed, and then melted and kneaded at 150° C. using a twin screw extruder. After injection molding, a molded article of a resin composite was obtained.
The resin thus obtained was observed with a transmission electron microscope. The organophilic clay was proven to be dispersed in a size of the order of nanometer.
Further, the dynamic viscoelasticity of the resin composite was also determined to calculate the storage modulus. The storage modulus of the resin composite at 40° C. was twice higher than that containing no organophilic clay.
The composite resin was molded into a film and its nitrogen permeability was determined. The film obtained from the resin composite had the reduced permeability which was 0.66 times that of an ionomer resin containing no organophilic clay, exhibiting a high gas barrier.
Embodiment 2
In this embodiment, a resin composite was produced by increasing the amount of the organophilic clay twice larger than that used in Embodiment 1.
Thus, 16 g of montmorillonite (organically-derived by stearyl ammonium) was added to 300 g of HIMIRAN 1555, and then melted and kneaded at 150° C. using a twin screw extruder. After infection molding, a molded article of the resin composite was obtained.
The molded article thus obtained was observed with a transmission electron microscope. The organophilic clay was proven to be dispersed in the ionomer resin in a size of the order of nanometer.
The storage modulus of the resin composite at 40° C. was 3.5 times higher than that containing no organophilic clay.
Embodiment 3
The resin composite according to this embodiment employed HIMIRAN 1601 as an ionomer resin unlike to that used in Embodiment 1.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, HIMIRAN 1601 manufactured by MITSUI DUPONT CHEMICAL CO., LTD., which is obtained by introducing a metal ion of Na into an ethylene-methacryl acid copolymer, has the physical properties such as melt index different from those of HIMIRAN 1555 employed in Embodiment 1.
8 g of montmorillonite which was ion-exchanged with stearyl ammonium was added to 300 g of HIMIRAN 1601, and then melted and kneaded at 150° C. using a twin screw extruder.
The molded article thus obtained was observed with a transmission electron microscope. As a result, the organophilic clay was proven to be dispersed in the ionomer resin in a size of the order of nanometer.
The storage modulus of the resin composite at 40° C. was 1.8 times higher than that containing no organophilic clay.
Embodiment 4
The resin composite according to this embodiment employed HIMIRAN 1554 as an ionomer resin unlike to that used in Embodiment 1.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, HIMIRAN 1554 manufactured by MITSUI DUPON CHEMICAL CO., LTD. is an ethylene-methacryl acid copolymer into which a metal ion of Zn is introduced.
Then, 8 g of montmorillonite which was ion-exchanged with stearyl ammonium was added to 300 g of HIMIRAN 1554, and then melted and kneaded at 150° C. using a twin screw extruder.
The molding article thus obtained was observed with a transmission electron microscope. As a result, the organophilic clay was proven to be dispersed in the ionomer resin in a size of the order of nanometer.
The storage modulus of the resin composite at 40° C. was 1.6 times higher than that containing no organophilic clay.
Comparative Example
In this comparative example, a resin composite was obtained by using polyethylene instead of the ionomer resin.
Thus, 8 g of montmorillonite which was ion-exchanged with stearyl ammonium was added to 300 g of polyethylene, and then melted and kneaded at 150° C. by using a twin screw extruder to obtain a molded article of the resin composite.
The molded article was observed with a transmission electron microscope. The organophilic clay was in a size of 1 mm to 10 μm in polyethylene. Polyethylene containing no ionic groups did not get intercalated into the layers of the organophilic clay and the clay was not finely dispersed therein.
The storage modulus of the resin composite at 40° C. was 1.03 times higher than that containing no organophilic clay. Namely, practically neither increase of the storage modulus nor the reinforcing effect by adding the clay was observed.
Further, the resin composite was molded into a film and its nitrogen permeability was determined. The nitrogen permeability was 1.02 times higher than that of the polyethylene, meaning not exhibiting satisfactory improvement of a gas barrier. | A resin composite comprising an organophilic clay and an ionomer resin is provided. The organophilic clay is dispersed in the ionomer resin to have excellent mechanical properties. A method for producing a resin composite comprises the steps of adding an organophilic clay to an ionomer resin, melting the mixture of the clay and the ionomer resin by heating and shearing the mixture. | 2 |
PRIORITY CLAIM
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/663,004, filed Mar. 18, 2005, which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to ignition systems for internal combustion engines. More specifically, the invention relates to an ignition system of the inductive type having certain novel features.
Inductive ignition systems are well-known in the art. Conventionally, such systems use a primary coil and a secondary or ignition coil. The primary coil is connected such that a current can flow through it. At a predetermined point in the piston's stroke, a transistor in series with the primary coil circuit opens. As a result, the current through the primary coil quickly goes to zero.
This rapid change in current through the primary coil induces a voltage across the secondary coil sufficient to arc across a spark plug gap on a spark plug attached to the secondary coil circuit. The number of windings in the primary and secondary coils is such that the voltage induced in the secondary coil is high enough to arc across the spark plug gap.
An example of a conventional inductive ignition system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,191, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
While conventional inductive ignition systems have been successful at firing a spark plug at approximately the same time during successive rotations of a piston-cylinder engine, there is a need for more precise control over the exact time of firing and the duration/intensity of the spark. Such a new ignition system would have the further benefit of reducing emissions and reducing wear on the engine due to combustion at a non-ideal time in the engine cycle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention recognizes the foregoing and other disadvantages of prior art systems and methods.
In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for producing an ignition spark in an internal combustion engine. The apparatus comprises an inductive ignition device having a primary coil and a secondary coil, flow of current through the primary coil being controlled by an electronic switching element (e.g., a transistor) responsive to a triggering signal. A rotatable body (e.g., the engine flywheel) having detectable features on a periphery thereof is also provided. A sensor device is located adjacent to the rotatable body at a fixed position and is operative to produce an output in response to the detectable features. The apparatus also includes a controller operative to receive an output from the sensor device and responsively produce the triggering signal so as to have a selected dwell time and ignition position.
In some exemplary embodiments, the detectable features comprise a plurality of projections located on the periphery of the rotatable body. In this regard, the projections are preferably located at a plurality of index positions evenly spaced such that one of the index positions is without a corresponding projection. For example, the projections may be teeth situated on the periphery of the rotatable body.
It will often be desirable for the controller to synchronize against the detectable features in order to chronologically locate the ignition position. Preferably, the controller may be further operative to ascertain engine speed and mechanical position by sensing the detectable features and then determine the dwell time and ignition position based thereon. The controller may chronologically locate the ignition position by predicting engine position between two of the detectable features.
In many preferred embodiments, the dwell time is determined at least in part based on average engine speed. The controller may also sample battery voltage as a factor in determination of the dwell time. If the internal combustion engine is a four stroke engine, the controller may be operative not to produce a triggering signal during the power/exhaust stroke thereof.
Other aspects of the present invention are provided by a method for determining time at which an ignition spark will be produced in an internal combustion engine. One step of the method involves providing a rotatable body that turns in synchronism with operation of the engine, the rotatable body having detectable features on a periphery thereof. According to a further step, the detectable features on the rotatable body are sensed so as to ascertain a mechanical position of the engine. A triggering signal is produced so as to yield the ignition spark at a selected ignition position. For example, the ignition spark may be produced on a trailing edge of the triggering signal. In addition, a dwell time of the triggering signal may be varied.
Additional aspects of the present invention are provided by an apparatus for producing an ignition spark in an internal combustion engine. The apparatus comprises an inductive ignition device having a primary coil and a secondary coil, flow of current through the primary coil being controlled by an electronic switching element responsive to a triggering signal. A sensor device is operative to produce an output indicative of engine speed and mechanical position. The apparatus further includes a controller operative to receive an output from the sensor device. The controller produces the triggering signal so as to have variable dwell time and ignition position based on the engine speed and mechanical position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an inductive ignition system constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a controller for use with the ignition system of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 diagrammatically shows a sensor adjacent to the engine flywheel so as to detect the mechanical position thereof;
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a typical ignition coil circuit that may be used with the present invention;
FIG. 5 illustrates a firing signal that may be generated in accordance with the present invention; and
FIGS. 6 through 15 are flowcharts describing various processes executed by a microprocessor for use with an ignition system of the present invention.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made in detail to presently preferred embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment, an ignition system of the present invention may be used on a single cylinder engine such as are often utilized for small motorcycles. It should be appreciated, however, that principles of the present invention could be used with other types of internal combustion engines.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an ignition system 10 in accordance with the present invention. Ignition system 10 includes controller 12 , ignition coil 14 , and spark plug 16 . A 12VDC power source 18 is connected to both controller 12 and ignition coil 14 by wires 20 and 22 , respectively. Ignition system 10 includes a conventional ignition switch 24 . A second switch 26 optionally is provided in the illustrated embodiment. For example, switch 26 could be a side stand switch or seat pressure switch in a motorcycle application of the present invention.
A temperature sensor 28 is provided for sensing the temperature of the engine block. Preferably, the temperature sensor is a thermistor that outputs a linearly changing voltage as temperature changes. One skilled in the art will appreciate, however, that any other device for sensing temperature could also be used. The temperature of the engine block is used as an input to the control logic of the system; different timing curves may be used for warm-up and steady state operation of the engine.
An appropriate transducer 30 is provided to sense the mechanical position of the flywheel, and thus the piston, during operation. Referring now also to FIG. 3 , transducer 30 (which is a variable reluctance transducer in this embodiment) is positioned adjacent the outer diameter of engine flywheel 29 . Flywheel 29 has a series of teeth positions (e.g., twenty-four) (such as those indicated at 31 ) around its circumference. One of the positions (indicated at G) is missing a tooth, while the remaining positions have a metal tooth. Transducer 30 detects the presence or absence of the teeth as the flywheel turns. This position information is sent from transducer 30 to controller 12 . In this embodiment, the teeth are positioned around the flywheel, but one skilled in the art will appreciate they could also be on the crankshaft or another location that provides a mechanical indication of engine position.
Referring again to FIG. 1 , a throttle position sensor 32 also communicates with controller 12 . The throttle position sensor could be a linear variable displacement transducer, a potentiometer (as in the preferred embodiment), or any other suitable sensor. The throttle position determines the load request from the operator. The timing curve utilized by controller 12 may be changed depending on the load request.
Ground lugs 34 and 36 are provided to connect the controller and ignition coil to vehicle ground. An ignition coil input wire 38 runs from controller 12 to ignition coil 14 . As shown in FIG. 4 , wire 38 carries a signal to an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) 35 within the ignition coil 14 and acts as a trigger input to that transistor. The operation of the primary and secondary coils (indicated at 37 and 39 , respectively) within the ignition coil 14 is essentially the same as for traditional inductive ignition systems and should be understood by those of skill in the art.
Referring now to FIG. 2 , a preferred embodiment of controller 12 includes ground fault and transient protector 40 , voltage regulator 42 , input signal conditioner 44 , and main processor 46 . A signal from transducer 30 is provided to signal conditioner 44 at line 48 . In this case, signal conditioner 44 conditions the signal from a variable sine curve into a block-shaped wave form for input into main processor 46 . Ground fault and transient protector 40 and voltage regulator 42 protect the controller's electronics from voltage spikes in the system. Regulator 42 further provides a stable 5-volt signal to main processor 46 and signal conditioner 44 .
In this embodiment, resistors 50 and 52 are configured and valued such that the voltage entering main processor 46 through wire 54 is one-third of the voltage at line 20 . In this manner, processor 46 samples the battery voltage as one factor used in the timing calculations. Other inputs to the main processor include throttle position sensor 32 , temperature sensor 28 , and switch 26 .
General Considerations
The controller uses a processor to provide a signal to ignition coil 14 to fire spark plug 16 . Referring now to FIG. 5 , this signal (indicated at 55 ) consists of a single digital pulse with prescribed starting and ending positions (relative to the engine crank position) and a duration (referred to as dwell time). The signal timing and position is determined by a number of factors, including engine speed, throttle position, engine temperature, and battery voltage.
In a preferred embodiment, the instantaneous engine speed of a single-cylinder four cycle motorcycle engine varies considerably within a firing cycle (due to the use of a light flywheel), perhaps up to a 1000-RPM variation. This variation in engine speed makes it very difficult to predict the position of an appropriate ignition pulse. As noted above, a series of gear teeth 31 are used around flywheel 29 to help closer specify the engine position for controller 12 ( FIG. 3 ).
Controller 12 , through the transducer 30 , detects gear teeth 31 , which in a preferred embodiment are spaced 15 degrees apart on the flywheel's periphery. (While the preferred embodiment uses 15 degrees, that can be modified, based on accuracy requirements by adding more or less gear teeth) For a 15 degree spacing, there should be 24 teeth around the wheel, but there is one tooth missing (as indicated at G in FIG. 3 ) for position synchronization. Typically, the first tooth after the missing tooth gap may be located at 120 degrees Before Top Dead Center (BTDC) in the flywheel's rotation.
Each gear tooth 31 is sensed as it passes by transducer 30 , which ultimately produces a digital signal that is input to processor 46 . The appropriate edge (either rising or falling) of the digital pulse is used as a timing and position reference for engine speed and rotation, based on the polarity of the sensor.
Since each tooth represents only 15 degrees of engine rotation and better accuracy is needed for the trigger signal (less than 1 degree), processor 46 uses both engine position and the time between pulses to correctly position the spark pulse. The controller accomplishes this by counting a prescribed number of tooth pulses (i.e. engine position) to get close to a firing position. Then, the controller switches to a time-based routine that interpolates the correct amount of time delay until firing.
Referring now also to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6-15 , one methodology of achieving the desired ignition timing and duration will be described.
Background Routines
The background routines are a set of subroutines which are executed once per engine revolution. They are run after the Top Dead Center engine position is detected, since the spark plug has been fired before this occurs. This is also in a region before the next ignition pulse will be generated.
These subroutines read the throttle position, battery voltage, and engine temperature, computing the present engine speed in RPM, based on the most current period measurement (the time for one engine revolution). The average engine speed is also calculated, based on the current and the previous revolution's engine speed, since there can be variations between the intake/compression and the power/exhaust strokes of the engine cycles.
The desired dwell time is selected from an internal table, based on battery voltage and average engine speed. Also, the desired ignition advance is selected from an internal table, based on throttle position, engine temperature, and average engine speed. Ignition advance is the time between top dead center and the desired firing point. These values are used to compute the correct timing for the next engine cycle.
Also along with the background routines, an adaptive dwell routine is run to maintain the desired dwell time, and the power and intake/compression cycles of the engine are detected. Separate advance values are maintained for each type of engine cycle because of the wide variation in engine speed between the power and intake/compression strokes.
Tooth Interrupt Routine
The tooth interrupt routine is invoked whenever a pulse is presented at the External Input pin of processor 46 . When this pin is driven to a logic high, the program that is running at that time is suspended, and the tooth interrupt routine is started. When this routine is finished, the interrupted program resumes from where it was stopped.
The interrupt routine records a time stamp (EDGETIME) at each tooth pulse event. It uses this information to compute the time for the most recent pulsewidth, the previous pulsewidth, and the time difference between these two pulsewidths. It also detects synchronization at startup and continues to check this on each revolution of the engine. If the controller loses synchronization for any reason, it resets and starts over.
In addition, the routine also maintains a counter which is used to track engine position at each tooth. Since each tooth represents 15 degrees of engine rotation, each count in the counter equals 15 degrees. Spark and dwell advance values are stored as 2-bytes, one representing an integer value in 15-degree “tooth” counts and the other representing a fractional value of a tooth. These integer and fractional values of dwell and spark advance are computed based on the desired advance relative to the actual tooth position on the flywheel. At each interrupt, a tooth counter is incremented and compared to the integer values of each type of advance. When the counter and the integer values are equal, a subroutine is run to either create the leading or trailing edge of the ignition pulse.
This subroutine (similar for the leading and trailing edges of the ignition pulse) uses the present EDGETIME as a reference time. It also uses the present pulsewidth time and the difference between that pulsewidth and the previous pulsewidth to predict a time in the future at which to create an edge. During the background loop, this computed time is compared to an internal real-time clock. When the times are equal, the appropriate edge is output to create the ignition pulse.
Adaptive Dwell Routine
It is desired to maintain a specified dwell time for each ignition pulse. During this dwell time, the current through the primary coil continues to rise. The dwell time is based on engine speed and battery voltage and defines the actual width of the ignition pulse. As the leading and trailing edges of the ignition pulse are generated, the actual dwell time is computed and is compared to the desired dwell time. If the actual and desired dwell times differ by greater than a small dead-band value, the dwell advance is adjusted by a small amount in the appropriate direction to bring the two dwell times to a value within the dead-band.
Power and Compression Cycles
In a four-cycle engine, a complete engine sequence consists of two engine revolutions. The first one consists of the intake and compression strokes; the second consists of the power and exhaust strokes. In normal operation, the engine will tend to slow down incrementally during the compression stroke, then speed up as the spark is generated and ignites the fuel/air mixture during the power stroke. As the processor is continually monitoring engine speed at each revolution, it can decide whether the engine is running in the compression or the power cycles and adjust the dwell and spark advance values accordingly. This is done because there can be a wide variation in the engine speed and hence instantaneous engine position between the two cycles. Differentiating between the compression and power cycles and adjusting spark and dwell advances independently increases the accuracy.
As the spark plug only needs to be fired during the intake/compression stroke, it is possible to eliminate the firing of the plug on the power/exhaust stroke (commonly called “waste spark”) by detecting these engine cycles. Also, speed differences between adjacent engine cycles can be used to determine an engine “loading” value. This value can be used to adjust spark advance in relation to throttle position, engine speed, and other factors.
It can thus be seen that the present invention provides a novel timing control system for an inductive ignition. While one or more preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it should be understood that any and all equivalent realizations of the present invention are included within the scope and spirit thereof. The embodiments depicted are presented by way of example and are not intended as limitations upon the present invention. Thus, those of ordinary skill in this art should understand that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments since modifications can be made. Therefore, it is contemplated that any and all such embodiments are included in the present invention as may fall within the scope and spirit of the following appended claims. | An apparatus for producing an ignition spark in an internal combustion engine. The apparatus comprises an inductive ignition device having a primary coil and a secondary coil, flow of current through the primary coil being controlled by an electronic switching element (e.g., a transistor) responsive to a triggering signal. A rotatable body (e.g., the engine flywheel) having detectable features on a periphery thereof is also provided. A sensor device is located adjacent to the rotatable body at a fixed position and is operative to produce an output in response to the detectable features. The apparatus also includes a controller operative to receive an output from the sensor device and responsively produce the triggering signal so as to have a selected dwell time and ignition position. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to textile open-end yarn spinning operations and, more particularly, to a device for opening sliver into individual fibers and feeding the fibers to an open-end spinning device.
In open-end spinning operations, a textile sliver consisting of individual fibers, which through previous processing have been substantially parallelized with respect to one another, are opened, i.e. separated into essentially individual fibers, and fed to the spinning chamber of an open-end spinning device. Various devices exist for performing this sliver opening and feeding operation. One basic type of feeding and opening device essentially includes a housing in which a sliver opening roller is rotatably mounted, in combination with a sliver delivery member, a feed roller and some form of spring-biased pivotable or otherwise movable guide member or plate associated with the feed roller for cooperatively directing incoming sliver to the opening roller through a suitable sliver intake opening in the housing. The housing and the opening roller are cooperatively arranged to define a fiber guide pathway through the opening device through which the associated open-end spinning device applies a vacuum, for directing the individualized fibers into the spinning chamber of the open-end spinning device. In sliver feeding and opening devices of this type, an opening may be provided in the housing through which dirt and debris in the sliver may be separated from the individual fibers during the opening operation.
As will be understood, the individual fibers are relatively fine with a rather small diameter so that the fibers may tend to settle and become lodged at various locations within the housing, even at very small or fine joints or areas of unevenness at the junctures between adjacent components of the housing as well as at housing edges and corners. Fibers so caught then may pose an impediment to the normal movement of other fibers which may catch on the previously-caught fibers. In time, a flock or tuft of fibers may accumulate and significantly disturb the normal fiber flow through the housing. Further, errors or even a breakage of the yarn produced by the spinning device may occur if such a flock ultimately dislodges and passes into the spinning chamber of the open-end spinning device.
As aforementioned, sliver feeding and opening devices for open-end spinning operations are known wherein a separating opening is provided in the housing through which debris in the sliver, e.g. husk remnants, sand, dirt, finish, etc., may be expelled. One example of this type of opening and feeding device is disclosed in West German Patentschrift 19 14 115, wherein the wall surface of the housing which surrounds the opening roller to define the fiber flow pathway is provided with a separating edge which defines a separating opening at a downstream spacing from the sliver intake location to allow debris to be separated from the fibers of the sliver during the opening process under the effects of centrifugal force created.
Such a separating opening also makes possible the separation and discharge of a dislodged flock of accumulated fibers, but the separating opening cannot serve to prevent the accumulation of fibers and fiber tufts within the housing. In the known sliver feeding and opening devices, fibers typically tend to settle in joints or corners at several locations within the housing of the opening roller, e.g. between the guide plate and the housing as well as at corners formed between housing walls at the lateral sides and about the circumference of the opening roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,539 (and its counterpart West German Offenlegungsschrift 23 12 169) discloses a sliver feeding and opening device for open-end spinning applications wherein a movable sliver guide member is biased with pressure against the sliver feed roller and further includes an arcuate continuation segment which surrounds a portion of the opening roller. However, the pressure feed member is not pivotably mounted but instead is movably arranged so that the arcuate portion of the pressure feed member is movable only in a generally circular path about the opening roller and, further, the spacing of the feed member from the side walls of the housing is very small so as to form a narrow slot in which fibers may tend to settle and accumulate. If a relatively thick area of the sliver is drawn into the opening device, a danger exists that the device will become overfilled and the opening roller will catch since the arcuate portion of the feed member cannot move away from the opening roller if excess fiber is drawn in by the opening roller.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a sliver feeding and opening device for open-end spinning application which will considerably diminish or entirely avoid the settling and accumulation of fibers at joints or corners in the housing, thereby to assure a trouble-free spinning operation.
Briefly summarized, the opening and feeding device of the present invention includes a housing in which a sliver opening roller is rotatably mounted, a sliver feed roller rotatably mounted adjacent the opening roller, suitable means for sliver delivery to the sliver feed roller, and a unitary one-piece guide plate pivotably mounted for movement toward and away from the sliver feed and opening rollers and spring-biased toward the rollers. According to the present invention, the guide plate has a sliver guide portion associated with the sliver feed roller, a fiber guide portion extending from the sliver guide portion along a portion of the circumferential periphery of the opening roller in the direction of its rotation, and a debris guide portion extending from the fiber guide portion outwardly away from the opening roller to terminate outside the fiber transport zone along the periphery of the opening roller. The debris guide portion defines with the housing a debris discharge opening for separation therethrough of debris from the fibers of sliver being opened. Further, the fiber and debris guide portions of the guide plate define with the housing slots therebetween of a dimension which is a multiple of the thickness of the fibers of sliver being opened.
As a result of the described one-piece design and configuration of the guide plate, no joints exist between the constituent portions thereof in which fibers could settle and accumulate. Moreover, the spacing between the guide plate and the housing to form slots of a multiple of the thickness of the sliver fibers also aids in preventing fibers from settling in separating joints of individual parts, at edges or corners of the housing or between relatively movable parts. The possible accumulation of fibers and formation of fiber tufts or flocks, as well as the resultant yarn errors and breaks produced thereby, are avoided.
The formation of the fiber guide portion of the guide plate to partially surround the opening roller along a portion of its circumference provides the considerable advantage of forming an extended guide surface for the sliver fed to the feed roller which holds the sliver against the opening roller as the individual fibers are combed thereby resulting in a uniform combing of the fibers with a constant fiber amount over time.
In the preferred embodiment of the present device, the fiber guide portion of the guide plate is of a width corresponding at least to the axial dimension of the fiber opening extent of the opening roller, i.e. the dimension between end flanges that may be provided on the opening roller, to assure that the fiber flow is guided without disturbance in the housing and that the fibers do not escape out of the housing laterally through the slots between the guide plate and the housing.
The outward extension of the debris guide portion of the guide plate away from the opening roller advantageously positions the debris guide portion outside the vacuum air flow through the housing, which avoids the possibility that the air flow may reentrain debris which has already been separated from the opened fibers.
Preferably, the guide plate includes a relatively sharp edge portion at the juncture between its fiber guide portion and its debris guide portion, which advantageously results in a break in the vacuum air flow through the housing causing small air vortices to form behind the edge portion. These air vortices promote the separation out of small dirt and debris particles from the opened sliver, this effect being designated as air sifting. The flow path of such small debris and dirt particles is disturbed allowing them to fall as a result of gravity with the coarser debris particles into a separation chamber or removal device which may be provided for this purpose.
It is additionally preferred that the sharp edge portion exhibit a back or reverse taper or undercut to prevent a settling of debris or dirt on the edge and thereby also prevent any adverse influence on the vacuum air flow and the fiber transport thereby in this area of the opening roller.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the guide plate may include another debris discharge opening in the fiber guide portion, the opening being of a width corresponding at least to the axial dimension of the opening roller. Relatively coarser debris particles, e.g. sand, husks and the like, may be separated through this opening in advance of the first-mentioned debris discharge opening since the heavier relatively coarse particles are rapidly accelerated radially outwardly from the opening roller due to their relatively greater mass. Thus, this discharge opening in the fiber guide portion of the guide plate enables the opening roller to tangentially cast out the heavier debris particles to achieve an early cleaning of coarse impurities from the opened fibers and better enable centrifugal discharge of smaller debris particles outwardly from the opening roller in an unimpeded manner. The width of the discharge opening in the fiber guide portion enables the coarser debris to be separated out over the entire width of the fiber opening extent of the opening roller.
Advantageously, the debris guide portion of the guide plate is disposed to define a side of the discharge opening in the guide plate, whereby the first-mentioned discharge opening defined between the debris guide portion and the housing and the second-mentioned discharge opening in the fiber guide portion of the guide plate are located in series with one another as viewed in the direction of fiber transport through the housing as determined by the rotational direction of the opening roller. Thus, the separation of the smaller debris and dirt particles performed by air sifting, as aforementioned, is considerably more effective as a result of this arrangement of the discharge openings because the smaller particle separation does not occur simultaneously with, and is therefore not disturbed by, the separation of the coarser debris. Additionally, the collection and removal of the relatively coarse and relatively fine debris particles through the serially adjacent discharge openings is considerably simplified by this arrangement.
It is further preferred that the debris guide portion of the guide plate include a sharp edge at the discharge opening defined in the fiber guide portion of the guide plate to achieve a good separation of the coarse and fine debris particles. The relatively sharp edge essentially divides the portion of the air flow charged with the heavier and coarser debris particles from the remainder of the fiber transporting air flow surrounding the opening roller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a sliver feed and opening device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the sliver feeding and opening device of FIG. 1, taken through the housing along line A-B with the opening roller being unsectioned; and
FIG. 3 is another vertical cross-sectional view of a sliver feeding and opening device according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the accompanying drawings and initially to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the sliver feeding and opening device of the present invention is illustrated, having a housing 1 in which an opening roller 2 is rotatably mounted. The opening roller 2 is provided with a fiber combing component 3 of a saw tooth configuration, which may be formed integrally with the opening roller 2 or as a band affixed to the outer periphery thereof.
A sliver 4 to be opened is fed to the opening roller 2 through an intake opening 7 in the housing 1 via a funnel-like compressor member 5 by a sliver feed roller 6 rotatably mounted adjacent the opening roller 2 at the intake opening 7. A guide plate 8 is pivotably mounted about a shaft 9 and includes a first sliver guide portion 8' extending from the shaft 9 toward the opening roller 2 alongside the sliver feed roller 6, a second fiber guide portion 12 extending from a terminal edge 11 of the sliver guide portion 8' arcuately along a portion of the circumferential periphery of the opening roller 2 in the direction of the rotation thereof, and a third debris guide portion 13 extending from the fiber guide portion 12 outwardly away from the opening roller 2. According to the present invention, the guide plate 8 is of a unitary one-piece construction, whereby its guide portions 8', 12, 13 pivot unitarily toward and away from the sliver feed roller 6 and the opening roller 2, the guide plate 8 being spring-biased as representatively indicated by the spring 10, toward the feed roller 6 and the opening roller 2. In this manner, the sliver 4 is pressed by the sliver guide portion 8' of the guide plate 8 against the serrated surface of the feed roller 6 which, in turn, causes the sliver 4 to be fed along the sliver guide portion 8' to the opening roller 2 which operates to draw the fibers of the sliver 4 from the edge 11 of the sliver guide portion 8' in a combing-like manner.
The debris guide portion 13 of the guide plate 8 cooperates with the housing 1 to define a debris discharge opening 14 through which dirt and debris in the sliver may be separated from the individual fibers thereof, as hereinafter described. Since the sliver, fiber and debris guide portions 8', 12, 13 of the guide plate 8 are formed as aforementioned as an integral one-piece component, no joints exist between the differing guide portions 8', 12, 13 in which individual fibers could catch and cause an accumulation of a flock of fibers. The unitary pivotability of the sliver, fiber and debris guide portions 8', 12, 13 of the guide plate 8 is illustrated in FIG. 1 by the representation in broken lines of a moved position of the guide plate 8. The juncture between the fiber guide portion 12 and the debris guide portion 13 of the plate 8 is formed as a relatively sharp edge 15 exhibiting a reverse or back taper 16.
As the teeth of the combing component 3 of the opening roller 2 grasp and comb individual fibers 17 from the sliver 4 at the terminal edge 11 of the sliver guide portion 8', the individualized fibers 17 are entrained by the air flow prevailing in the housing 1 generated by the vacuum in the spinning chamber of the associated open-end spinning device (not shown). While the relatively lighter fibers 17 follow the vacuum air flow, the heavier and coarser dirt and debris particles 18 as well as smaller dust-like particles 19 which nevertheless are heavier than the fibers 17 tend to be discharged tangentially outwardly from the opening roller 1 and from the housing 1 through the discharge opening 14 under the centrifugal force created by the rotation of the opening roller 2. The discharged debris particles 18, 19 pass from the opening 14 into a suitable device for catching or removing the debris, which device is not shown or described in greater detail herein. The individualized combed fibers 17 continue through the housing 1 past the discharge opening 14 under the entrainment of the vacuum air flow and are discharged via a guide conduit 20 os the housing 1 into the spinning chamber of the associated open-end spinning device.
As seen in FIG. 2, the opening roller 2 is rotatably mounted in the housing 1 by a shaft 21 in a suitable manner which need not be shown or described in greater detail herein. As illustrated, the opening roller 2 is provided on its circumference with a spirally arranged saw tooth band 3, as aforedescribed. Lateral flanges 22 are affixed to the opposite axial ends of the opening roller 2 to prevent the individualized fibers from escaping from the opening roller 2 and settling between the roller 2 and the sidewalls of the housing 1. As seen in FIG. 2, the fiber guide portion 12 of the guide plate 8 not only extends arcuately along a portion of the circumference of the opening roller 2 but also is of a lateral widthwise dimension slightly greater than the fiber opening extent of the opening roller 2 to extend laterally within the housing 1 to approximately the middle of each flange 22 while still being spaced from the sidewalls of the housing 1 sufficiently to define slotted openings 23 between each lateral side of the guide portion 12 and the housing 1 of a lateral dimension which is a multiple larger than the diameter of the individualized fibers 17. Accordingly, the fiber guide portion 12 of the guide plate 8 is sufficiently wide to substantially retain the individualized fibers 17 entrained within the air flow to pass through the housing 1 into the associated open-end spinning device, while the slots 23 are sufficiently wide at each side of the fiber guide portion 12 to prevent fibers from being able to settle and accumulate in the slots 23.
Referring now to FIG. 3, another embodiment of the sliver feeding and opening device of the present invention is illustrated, wherein corresponding components are identified by the same reference numerals as utilized in FIGS. 1 and 2. The feeding and opening device of FIG. 3 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1 in that the fiber guide portion 12 of the guide plate 8 is formed with an additional debris discharge opening 24. Hereagain, the guide plate 8 is unitarily formed so that the fiber guide portion 12 is an integral part of the guide plate 8 without any joints being formed between the fiber guide portion 12 and other portions of the guide plate 8. The fiber guide portion 12 of the guide plate 8 has a sufficient extent from the sliver guide portion 8' circumferentially along the opening roller 2 to the discharge opening 24 to insure that the opening roller 2 is enabled to engage and comb the fibers 17 from the sliver guide portion 8' in parallelized fashion for entrainment in the vacuum air flow within the housing 1. At the same time, this circumferential extent of the fiber guide portion 12 insures that any debris particles in the sliver 4 are accelerated sufficiently by the rotation of the opening roller 2 to be centrifugally carried outwardly toward the fiber guide portion 12. As will be understood, coarser and heavier debris particles 18, e.g. sand and husk remnants, are centrifugally accelerated more vigorously than lighter and finer dust-like particles 19 so that the coarser and heavier particles 18 are centrifugally directed outwardly into the area of the fiber guide portion 12 earlier than the lighter, finer particles 19 so that the coarser and heavier particles 18 will separate from the fibers 17 and the finer and lighter particles 19 through the discharge opening 24 in the fiber guide portion 12 after traveling only a short distance along the opening roller 2 from the sliver guide portion 8' of the guide plate 8. Finer and lighter dust-like particles 19 will be separated through the opening 14 by the aforedescribed air-sifting technique. In this manner, the coarser, heavier particles 18 may be collected and removed separately from the finer, lighter particles 19.
In this embodiment of the present invention, the debris guide portion 13 of the guide plate 8 should be oriented at a relatively acute angle with respect to a tangent to the opening roller 2, as indicated by the angle 26 in FIG. 3, in order to achieve a proper debris discharge through each of the discharge openings 14 and 24. If the angle 26 is greater than 90 degrees, a danger exists that coarser and heavier debris particles 18 discharged through the opening 24 may rebound off the debris guide portion 13 back into the housing 1 and possibly be reentrained in the fiber air flow.
A particularly good separation of coarser and heavier debris particles 18 from the fiber entraining air flow is achieved by orientation of the debris guide portion 13 to define the downstream side of the debris discharge opening 24 and formation of the debris guide portion 13 with a sharpened knife-like edge 25 at the juncture between the debris guide portion 13 and the fiber guide portion 12. The sharpened knife-like edge 25 substantially divides the entraining air flow through the housing to divert the outer air flow along the fiber guide portion 12, wherein the coarser and heavier debris particles 18 are carried, from the remainder of the fiber entraining air flow and the debris guide portion 13 then directs the divided portion of the air flow with the coarser and heavier particles 19 through the opening 24 and out of the housing 1. For optimal functioning of the sharpened edge 25 in this manner, an appropriate spacing between the edge 25 and the opening roller 2 should be established, the spacing being readily determinable through experimentation.
It will therefore be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of a broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof. | A silver feed and opening device for open-end spinning applications comprises a housing having a rotatable opening roller associated with a pivotable guide plate having a first sliver guide portion for directing incoming sliver to the opening roller, a second arcuate fiber guide portion extending along a portion of the opening roller circumference in its direction of rotation, and a third debris guide portion extending outwardly from the opening roller and defining with the housing a debris discharge opening. The guide plate is of a unitary one-piece construction without joints between individual portions to prevent undesirable fiber accumulation which tends to occur in conventional devices. Each of the fiber and debris guide portions of the guide plate are spaced sufficiently from the sidewalls of the housing to form side slots which are a multiple of the thickness of the fibers, thereby to prevent accumulation thereof between the guide plate and the housing. | 3 |
Process for the preparation of organically modified aerogels by using alcohols, in which process the salts formed are precipitated.
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of organically modified SiO 2 aerogels with the use of alcohols, in which process the salts formed are precipitated.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Aerogels, particularly those having porosities over 60% and densities below 0.6 g/cm 3 have an extremely low thermal conductivity and for this reason are used as thermal insulating materials, as described e.g. in EP-A-0 171 722.
2. Discription of the Related Art
Aerogels in the broader sense of the term, i.e. in the sense of a "gel with air as dispersing agent," are prepared by drying a suitable gel. Understood by the term "aerogel" in this sense are aerogels considered in the narrow sense, xerogels and cryogels. A dried gel is considered an aerogel in the narrow sense of the term when the liquid of the gel is removed at temperatures above the critical temperature and starting from pressures above the critical pressure. However, if the liquid of the gel is removed under subcritical conditions, e.g. with the formation of a liquid-vapor boundary phase, then the resulting gel is designated as a xerogel. It should be noted that the gels according to the invention are aerogels in the sense of gels with air as dispersing agent.
SO 2 aerogels can be prepared e.g. by acid hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate in ethanol. During the hydrolysis a gel is formed whose structure is determined, among other things, by the temperature, the pH and the duration of the gelation process. However, during the drying of the wet gel the gel structure generally collapses because the capillary forces resulting during drying are extremely great. Collapse of the gel can be prevented by carrying out the drying above the critical temperature and critical pressure of the solvent. Since in this range the liquid/gas phase boundary disappears, the capillary forces also vanish and the gel does not change during the drying process, i.e. no shrinking of the gel during drying will occur, either. Methods of preparation based on this drying technology are disclosed e.g. in EP-A-0 396 076 or WO 92/03378. However, e.g. when ethanol is used, this technique requires a temperature of about 240° C. and pressures over 60 bar. Although the exchange of ethanol against CO 2 before drying does reduce the drying temperature to about 30° C., the pressure required is then over 70 bar.
An alternative for the above drying method is offered by a process of subcritical drying of SiO 2 gels, if, before drying, the latter are reacted with a chlorine-containing silylating agent. In that case the SiO 2 gel can be obtained e.g. by acid hydrolysis of tetraalkoxysilanes, preferably tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a suitable solvent, preferably ethanol, by means of water. In a further step, after exchange of the solvent against a suitable organic solvent, the resulting gel is reacted with a chlorine-containing silylating agent. Used as silylating agents, because of their reactivity, are preferably methylchlorosilanes (Me 4-n SiCl n , with n=1 to 3). Thereupon the resulting SiO 2 gel whose surface has been modified by methylsilyl groups, can be dried in air from an organic solvent. In this way aerogels having densities of less than 0.4 g/cm 3 and porosities over 60% can be obtained. WO 94/25149 gives a detailed description of the method of preparation based on this drying technique.
Furthermore, before drying, the above-described gels can be treated in the aqueous alcoholic solution with tetraalkoxysilanes, and then aged, in order to increase the strength of the gel network, as disclosed e.g. in WO 92/20623.
However, the tetraalkoxysilanes used as starting materials in the above-described process are extremely expensive. Furthermore, during silylation with chlorine-containing silylating agents hydrogen chloride (HCL) and a plurality of side products associated therewith will necessarily form, which in some cases require a very expensive and cost-intensive purification of the silylated SiO 2 gels by repeated washing with a suitable organic solvent. The particularly corrosion-resistant installations required in this operation are also very expensive. The safety risks associated with the formation of very large amounts of HCl gas will additionally require a very involved technique, and is thus also very cost-intensive.
A first, not inconsiderable cost reduction can be achieved by using water glass as the starting material for the preparation of the SiO 2 gels. To this end, a silicic acid can be prepared from an aqueous water glass solution with the aid of ion exchanger resins, which acid will polycondense to a SiO 2 gel upon the addition of a base. Then in a further step, after exchange of the aqueous medium against a suitable organic solvent, the resulting gel is reacted with a chlorine-containing silylating agent. Used as silylating agents, because of their reactivity, are preferably methylchlorosilanes (Me 4-n SiCl n with n=1 to 3). The resulting SiO 2 gel surface-modified with methylsilyl groups can then also be dried in air from an organic solvent. The method of preparation based on this technique is described e.g. in DE-A-43 42 548.
However the above-described problems of extremely high production costs associated with the use of chlorine-containing silylating agents are not solved by the use of water glass as starting material.
German Patent Application P 19502453.2 describes the use of a chlorine-free silylating agent. This method starts out from the silicate-type lyogel obtained with the above-described process by different methods, and reacted with a chlorine-free silylating agent. Preferably used in this case as silylating agents are methylisopropenoxysilanes (Me 4-n Si(OC(CH 3 )CH 2 ) n with n=1 to 3). Thereupon, the thus resulting SiO 2 gel surface-modified with methylsilyl groups can again be dried in air from an organic solvent.
Although the use of chlorine-free silylating agents will solve the problem of HCl formation, the chlorine-free silylating agents used also represent an extremely high cost factor.
WO 95/06617 discloses hydrophobic silicic acid aerogels obtainable by the reaction of a water glass solution with an acid at a pH of from 7.5 to 11, extensive freeing of the resulting silicic acid hydrogel from ionic components by washing with water or dilute aqueous solutions of inorganic bases, --with the pH of the hydrogel maintained in the range of 7.5 to 11--displacement of the aqueous phase contained in the hydrogel by an alcohol, and subsequent supercritical drying of the resulting alcogel.
In this process suitable alcohols for the water exchange are C 1 -C 5 alcohols, preferably C 3 -C 5 alcohols, and isopropanol in particular.
It is known that when the above-mentioned alcohols are used under supercritical conditions (WO 95/06617), esterification of the alcohols with the surface OH groups of the lyogel will take place. As a result, alkoxy-modified aerogels, e.g. isopropoxy-modified aerogels are obtained, which have hydrophobic surface groups.
However, a disadvantageous aspect of the method of preparation disclosed in WO 95/06617 is that the drying requires supercritical conditions which, e.g. for isopropanol, are at a temperature in the range of 240 to 280° C. and at a pressure of about 55 to 90 bar.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
A further unsolved problem are the aqueous salt solutions which are obtained in the preparation of aerogels from water glass. In order to convert a water glass solution into a silicic acid sol capable of condensation, the cations (mostly sodium and/or potassium ions) must be exchanged against protons in the water glass solution. For this purpose, organic and/or inorganic acids may be used. The salts of the above-mentioned cations (e.g. NaCl or Na 2 SO 4 ) which will also necessarily be formed in the dissolved state must be washed out from the gel before, during or after gel aging. At present, these highly dilute aqueous salt solutions constitute a great disposal problem, because they can no longer be discharged into rivers or lakes in relatively large quantities. A final disposal which meets current regulations represents an extremely high cost factor.
Hence the object of the present invention was to provide a process for the preparation of aerogels having hydrophobic surface groups, a process which does not have any of the above-described problems known in the prior art. In particular, the process according to the invention should be economical and capable of being carried out in a technically simple manner.
A further object of the present invention was to provide a process for the preparation of organically modified SiO 2 aerogels in which no dilute aqueous salt solutions will be formed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These objects are met by a process for the preparation of organically modified aerogels, comprising
a) the preparation of a silicic acid sol having a pH of ≦4.0 from an aqueous water glass solution with the aid of at least one organic and/or inorganic acid;
b) polycondensation of the resulting silicic acid sol to a SiO 2 gel by the addition of a base;
c) washing the gel obtained in Step b) with an organic solvent until the water content of the gel is ≦5% by weight;
d) modifying the surface of the gel obtained in Step c) with at least one C 1 -C 6 alcohol; and
e) drying the surface-modified gel obtained in Step d), characterized in that at least one acid forms difficultly soluble salts with the cations of the water glass in the silicic acid sol, and that before Step b), the resulting difficultly soluble salts are extensively precipitated and separated from the silicic acid sol.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Used as water glass solution in Step a) is generally a 6 to 25% by weight (calculated on the SiO 2 content) sodium and/or potassium water glass solution. A 17 to 20% by weight water glass solution is preferred. Furthermore, the water glass solution may also contain up to 90% by weight (calculated on SiO 2 ) of zirconium, aluminum and/or titanium compounds capable of condensation.
The acids used are generally 15 to 50% by weight acids, which form difficultly soluble salts with sodium and/or potassium ions. Mixtures of suitable acids can also be used. Sulfuric, phosphoric, hydrofluoric and oxalic acid are preferred. Sulfuric acid is especially preferred.
To achieve an as complete precipitation and good separation of the difficultly soluble salts formed in Step a) as possible, the silicic acid sol should have a temperature between 0 and 30° C., preferably between 0 and 15° C., and by particular preference between 0 and 5° C. This can be achieved by bringing the water glass solution, the acid and/or the silicic acid sol to a temperature between 0 and 30° C., preferably between 0 and 15° C., and by particular preference between 0 and 5° C. If, in so doing, a supersaturated salt solution should form, the salt can be precipitated by suitable seeding with appropriate seeding crystals. The salts formed are separated by means known to persons skilled in the art, e.g. by filtration, suction filtration, membranes or crystallization vessels. Semi-continuous or continuous processes are preferred.
After the salts have been separated off, the silicic acid sol is adjusted with water to a concentration between 5 and 12% by weight (calculated on the SiO 2 content). A 6 to 9% by weight silicic acid solution is particularly preferred.
The polycondensation of the silicic acid sol obtained in Step a) to form a SiO 2 gel takes place in Step b) by the addition of a base in a pH region of between 3.0 and 7.0, preferably between 4.0 and 6.0. Used as base is generally NH 4 OH, NaOH, KOH, Al(OH) 3 , colloidal silica and/or an alkaline water glass solution. NH 4 OH, NaOH and KOH are preferred, with NaOH especially preferred. Mixtures of the aforementioned can also be used.
Step b) is generally carried out at a temperature between the freezing point of the solution and 100° C. Optionally, a shaping step, such as spray forming, extrusion or drop formation can simultaneously be carried out.
Before Step c) the gel is preferably aged, an operation generally carried out at 40 to 100° C., preferably at 80 to 100° C., and at a pH of 4 to 11, preferably 5 to 7. The duration of this operation is generally 1 second to 12 hours, preferably 1 second to 5 hours.
Optionally, the aged hydrogel can be washed with water until it is free of electrolytes.
In Step c), the gel obtained in Step b) is washed with an organic solvent until the water content of the gel is ≦5% by weight, preferably ≦2% by weight, and by particular preference ≦1%. Used as solvent are generally aliphatic alcohols, ethers, esters or ketones, as well as aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons.
Preferred solvents are C 1 -C 5 alcohols, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, dioxane, n-hexane and toluene. Particularly preferred solvents are isopropanol, isobutanol, tert.-butanol and acetone. Mixtures of the aforementioned solvents can also be used. Furthermore, the water can first be washed out with a water-miscible alcohol, and the latter can then be washed out with a hydrocarbon.
Furthermore, the gel obtained in Step c) can additionally be subjected to a solvent exchange. In case of solvent exchange the same solvents may be used, in principle, as in the washing operation of Step c). The solvents preferred for washing are preferred also for the solvent exchange.
Understood by the term "solvent exchange" is not only a one-time exchange of the solvent, but also an optional multiple repetition with different solvents.
The lyogel obtained in Step c) can also be subjected to a further aging process. This is generally done between 20° C. and the boiling point of the organic solvent. Optionally, the aging may also be carried out also under pressure at elevated temperatures. The duration is generally 1 second to 48 hours, preferably 1 second to 24 hours. Such an aging can optionally be followed by a further solvent exchange with the same or different solvent. This additional aging step may optionally be repeated several times.
In Step d) the gel obtained in Step c) is surface-modified with at least one C 1 -C 6 alcohol ion such a way that it is kept in a pressure vessel or autoclave under pressure and elevated temperature.
C 3 -C 5 alcohols, such as isopropanol, isobutanol, tert.-butanol, sec.-pentanol and tert.-pentanol are preferentially used. Isopropanol, isobutanol and tert.-butanol are particularly preferred.
In so doing, the alcohol is generally used in an amount of from 1 to 100% by weight, calculated on the total amount of solvent.
The alcohols may be used alone, in mixtures or with other nonreactive organic solvents or solvent mixtures, such as acetone, tetrahydtrofuran, dioxane, n-hexane or toluene.
The temperatures and pressures for surface modification depend on the respective solvent or solvent mixture used. However they are clearly below the critical temperature and critical pressure of the alcohols used.
A temperature between 25° C. and 220° C., and by particular preference between 150° C. and 220° C. is used.
The pressure is preferably between 1 and 50 bar, and by particular preference between 20 and 50 bar,
The times during which the lyogel is maintained under these conditions are preferably between 30 minutes and 20 hours, and by particular preference between 30 minutes and 10 hours.
Small amounts of a silylating agent may be optionally be added. Suitable as silylating agents are generally silanes of formulas R 1 4-n SiCl n or R 14-n Si (OR 2 ) n (with n =1 to 3), where R 1 and R 2 , independently of one another, are C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, cycloalkyl or phenyl. Isopropenoxysilanes and silazanes are also suitable. Trimethylchlorosilane is preferably used. Furthermore, all silylating agents known to persons skilled in the art may be employed, e.g. even those disclosed in DE-A-44 30 669.
The quantities are generally between 0 and 1% by weight (calculated on the lyogel); the concentrations are preferably between 0 and 0.5% by weight, and with particular preference between 0 and 0.2% by weight.
To speed up the surface-modifying process, water may additionally be present in the system In that case concentrations between 0 and 10% by weight (calculated on the lyogel) are preferred. Moreover, to speed up the process, catalysts known to persons skilled in the art, such as acids, bases or organometallic compounds, may also be present in the system
Optionally, the surface-modified gel obtained in Step d) may be subjected to a solvent exchange before Step e). Solvents generally used for this purpose are aliphatic alcohols, ethers, esters or ketones, as well as aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons. Mixtures of the aforementioned solvents may also be used. Preferred solvents are methanol, ethanol, i-propanol, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, dioxane, n-hexane, n-heptane and toluene. Particularly preferred, as solvent, is i-propanol.
In Step e), the surface-modified and preferably after-washed gel is dried under subcritical conditions, preferably at temperatures of from -30° C. to 200° C., and particularly between 0 to 100° C. The pressures used for drying are preferably between 0.001 to 20 bar, and by particular preference between 0.01 and 5 bar.
The gel obtained in Step d) may be dried also under supercritical conditions. Depending on the solvent used, this requires temperatures higher than 200° C. and/or pressures higher than 20 bar. This is possible without any problems, but is more expensive and affords no significant advantages.
In general, the drying is continued until the gel has a residual solvent content of less than 0.1% by weight.
In another embodiment the gel may, after the shaping polycondensation in Step b) and/or in any subsequent step, be comminuted by techniques known to persons skilled in the art, e.g. by grinding.
Furthermore, in order to reduce the contribution of radiation to thermal conductivity, the gel may be treated before the gel preparation with IR-opacifying agents, such as carbon black, titanium oxide, iron oxides and/or zirconium oxides.
Furthermore, it is possible to treat the sol with fibers before preparation of the gel, in order to increase its mechanical stability. Suitable for use as fiber materials are inorganic fibers such as glass fibers or mineral fibers, organic fibers such as polyester fibers, aramide fibers, Nylon fibers or fibers of vegetable origin, as well as mixtures thereof. The fibers may also be coated, e.g. polyester fibers metallized with a metal such as aluminum.
In another embodiment the gel, depending on its use, may be subjected before surface modification to an additional network reinforcement. This is done by reacting the resulting gel with a solution of an alkyl and/or aryl orthosilicate capable of condensation and having the formula R 1 4-n Si (OR 2 ) n , where n=2 to 4, and R 1 and R 2 , independently of one another, are linear or branched C 1 -C 6 -alkyl groups, cyclohexyl groups or phenyl groups, or with an aqueous silicic acid solution. This network reinforcement can be carried out before and/or after every aging step or solvent exchange.
In another preferred embodiment the gel has, before drying, an E-modulus of more than 3 MPa, a BET surface area of more than 400 m 2 /g and a pore radius distribution in the range of from 2 to 20 nm, preferably in the range of from 5 to 10 nm, so that the aerogels obtained after subcritical drying preferably have a density of ≦200 kg/m 3 , and by particular preference a density of ≦150 kg/m 3 .
Below, the process according to the invention is described in greater detail by means of an embodiment, without thereby limiting said process in any way.
EXAMPLE 1
236 g of 25% H 2 SO 4 cooled to 0° C. is dropwise treated, under continuous cooling to 0° C., with 707 g of a sodium water glass solution cooled to 7° C. (containing 17% by weight of SiO 2 and a Na 2 O:SiO 2 ratio of 1:3.3). A pH of 1.6 is obtained. The precipitating Na 2 SO 4 .10 H 2 O is separated at 0° C. from the silicic acid sol by suction filtration, and the silicic acid sol is diluted with 280 mL of H 2 O. The resulting silicic acid sol is treated at 5° C. and under stirring with 26 mL of a 1 N NaOH solution, to bring the pH to 4.7. The resulting hydrogel is then aged for 2.5 hours at 85° C.
The modulus of elasticity of the aged hydrogel is 15.5 MPa. It is washed with 2 L of warm water and then extracted with isopropanol, until the water content of the gel is below 2.0% by weight. The isopropanol-containing lyogel is then heated in isopropanol in an autoclave to 220° C. and a pressure of 40 bar, and maintained under these conditions for 3 hours. The gel is dried in air (3 hours at 40° C., then 2 hours at 50° C. and 12 hours at 150° C.).
The resulting transparent aerogel has a density of 0.15 g/cm 3 . Its specific surface area according to BET is 500 m 2 /g. The λ value is 0.018 W/mK.
The thermal conductivity was measured by a hot wire method (see e.g. 0. Nielsson, G. Ruschenpohler, J. Gross and J. Fricke, High Temperatures--High Pressures, Vol. 21, 267-274 (1989)). | The invention concerns a process for preparing organically modified aerogels, in which a) a silicic acid sol with a pH ≦4.0 is produced from an aqueous potassium silicate solution using at least one organic and/or inorganic acid; b) the resultant silicic acid sol is polycondensed by the addition of a base to form SiO 2 gel; c) the gel produced in step b) is washed with an organic solvent until the water content of the gel is ≦5 wt %; d) the gel obtained in step c) is surface-modified with at least one C 1-6 alcohol; and e) the surface-modified which are difficult to dissolve in the silicic acid sol. Before step b), the resultant salts, which are difficult to dissolve, are precipitated to the greates possible extent and separated from the silicic acid sol. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire bonding method and apparatus and more particularly to a lead-pressing method and apparatus for pressing leads which are installed on lead frames, substrates.
2. Prior Art
In cases where wires are bonded to electrodes on pellets and leads which are provided on lead frames, substrates, etc. (hereafter, both lead frames and substrates will be referred to in general as "lead frames"), the leads are pressed against a heating block by a lead-pressing plate.
In conventional lead-pressing devices, a lead pressing plate has a square window formed in it (so that the tips of the respective leads are exposed) and is installed above the lead frame. All of the leads are pressed against the heating block by this lead-pressing plate.
One example of lead-pressing devices of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-5976.
In this and other prior art, if the lead pressing positions change due to differences in the type of articles being processed, the pressing plate must be replaced with a new pressing plate which has a square window of an appropriate size for the lead frames. As a result, the wire bonder must be stopped during the operation, thus dropping working efficiency of the wire bonder. Since a multiple number of pressing plates must be prepared in order to handle various types of articles, storage and control become complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to improve the working efficiency of a wire bonding method and apparatus wherein electrodes on pellets and leads on lead frames are bonded to each other by means of wire bonder.
The object of the present invention is accomplished by a wire bonding method which is characterized by the fact that when bonding to the leads (that are to be wire-bonded) is performed, portions of the leads that are away from the bonding points of the leads are pressed down by pressing sections of pressing arms which are movable in X and Y directions and in a vertical direction.
The object of the present invention is also achieved by a wire bonding apparatus that includes a lead-pressing device which has (i) a pressing arm with a pressing section that presses against a portion of the leads that is away from the bonding points of the leads and (ii) a pressing head which drives the pressing arm so that the arm moves in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction. Thus, bonding is performed while the portions of the leads that are away from the bonding points are being pressed down by the pressing sections.
The leads that are to be bonded are pressed down by the pressing sections of the pressing arms which are driven in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction. The positions to which these pressing sections are moved are programmed in advance in a computer which controls the lead-pressing device. Accordingly, changes in the type of article to be processed do not affect working efficiency of the bonding.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-section thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
A lead frame 2 to which a pellet 1 is attached is guided by guide grooves 3a formed in a pair of parguide rails 3. The guide rails are installed to face each other. The lead frame 2 is intermittently fed and positioned by a feeding device (not shown).
A heating block 4 is provided between the guide rails 3. The heating block 4 is driven up and down by a vertical driving means (not shown).
A bonding arm 12 which is raised and lowered by a vertical driving means (not shown) is attached to a bonding head 11, and a bonding tool 13 which performs wire bonding is fastened to the tip of the bonding arm 12.
The movement of the bonding head 11 in the X and Y directions and the movement of the bonding arm 12 in the vertical direction are controlled by a computer (not shown).
The bonding tool 13 is driven in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction so that a wire 14 which passes through the bonding tool 13 is bonded to respective pairs of electrodes 1a on the pellet 1 and leads 2a on the lead frame 2. Thus, wire segments 14a are connected between the electrodes 1a and leads 2a.
Since the structure and operation described above are generally known, further description is omitted here.
In the present invention, two lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B are provided on either side of the bonding head 11. The driving systems of the lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B have more or less the same construction as the driving system of the wire bonder 10. Specifically, pressing arms 22A and 22B which are moved up and down by vertical driving means (not shown) are fastened to pressing heads 21A and 21B which are movable in the X and Y directions. Pressing sections 22a which press against the leads 2a are formed at the tips of the pressing arms 22A and 22B.
The lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B thus constructed are controlled by a computer (not shown) in the same manner as the wire bonder 10 is controlled.
Specifically, the lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B are controlled in accordance with data which is programmed beforehand in the computer so that the pressing sections 22a press against portions of the leads 2a that are away from the bonding points of the leads 2a. Two lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B are used in this embodiment, and the devices 20A and 20B are controlled as follows: the leads 2a in the left-hand half region 23A (surrounded by a two-dot chain line) are pressed by the left-side lead pressing device 20A, and the leads 2a in the right-hand half region 23B are pressed by the right-side lead-pressing device 20B.
More specifically, when a wire segment 14a is to be connected to the electrode 1a 1 and lead 2a 1 in the region 23A, the lead-pressing device 20A is moved in the X and Y direction and the pressing arm 22A is moved in the vertical direction. Thus, a portion of the lead 2a 1 which is away from the bonding point of the lead 2a 1 is pressed down by the pressing section 22a of the pressing arm 22A. Then, the bonding tool 13 is driven in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction, so that with the wire 14 passing through the bonding tool 13, bonding is performed.
Similarly, when bonding is performed between the electrode 1a 1 and lead 2a 2 in the region 23B, the lead-pressing device 20B is moved in the X and Y directions and the pressing arm 22B is moved in the vertical direction so that the pressing section 22a of the pressing arm 22B presses against a portion of the lead 2a 2 which is away from the bonding point of the lead 2a 2 .
Thus, the leads 2a (i.e., 2a 1 , 2a 2 ) that are to be bonded are pressed down by the pressing sections 22a of the pressing arms 22A and 22B which are driven in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the time required for change-over of the type of article being processed can be greatly reduced by preprogramming the movements of the pressing sections 22a in the computer in accordance with the type of article to be processed.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, two lead-pressing devices 20A and 20B are used. However, it goes without saying that only one lead-pressing device, or three or more lead pressing devices can also be used.
In the present invention, as is clear from the above description, leads that are to be bonded are pressed down by pressing sections of pressing arms which are driven in the X and Y directions and in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the time required for change-over of the type of article being processed is greatly reduced. As a result, the working efficiency of the wire bonder is improved. | In a wire bonding method and apparatus to bond electrodes on pellets to leads on lead frames, substrates, when such a bonding is performed, a portion of the lead away from bonding point of the lead is pressed by a pressing section of pressing arm which is moved vertically and horizontally by lead pressing device. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a control system for hydraulics, and, more particularly, to a control system for auxiliary hydraulics of a ground engaging machine.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Work machines, such as backhoes, skid loaders and other similar equipment typically have an operator station connected to a frame that is attached to movable elements that are hydraulically controlled. The moveable portions of the machine may include arms that are connected to tools, such as buckets, post hole diggers, rotating brushes, scraper blades, and/or any kind of assembly that is power driven or positioned by the hydraulic system of the work machine.
[0005] Work machines commonly include an engine which drives a hydraulic pump that provides power to various components of the work machine. Attachments to the work machine typically include their own hydraulic motor for driving the attachment, yet are dependent upon the hydraulic system of the work machine to provide the pressurized fluid in the hydraulic system for driving the hydraulic motor of the attachment. Control systems of the work machine are often configured to provide operational control for the auxiliary hydraulic motors of the auxiliary systems.
[0006] It is known to provide control levers in the form of joysticks with the joysticks including additional switches, triggers and other input devices for controlling electrical and/or hydraulic systems on the work machine.
[0007] What is needed in the art is an improved hydraulic control system for controlling auxiliary systems attached to the work machine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a control system for auxiliary hydraulic systems attached to a ground engaging vehicle.
[0009] The invention in one form is directed to a ground engaging vehicle including a tool having a moving member and a control system controlling a speed of the moving member. The control system includes an adjustable proportional control and a triggering control. The adjustable proportional control creates a signal to thereby select a direction and a speed of the moving member. The triggering control setting the direction and/or the speed dependent upon the signal resulting in a set direction and a set speed, the triggering control subsequently setting the speed to zero.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a partially schematic side view of a work machine including an embodiment of an operator control system according to the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an operator control system used in the work machine of FIG. 1 ;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an operator input assembly used in the operator control system of FIG. 2 ;
[0014] FIG. 4 is another embodiment of an operator input assembly of the present invention used in the operator control system of FIG. 2 ;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a method utilized by the control system of FIGS. 1-4 ;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a schematical block diagram of the control system that utilizes the method of FIG. 5 and represents the control systems of FIGS. 1-4 ; and
[0017] FIG. 7 a schematical block diagram illustrating another method utilized by the control system of FIGS. 1-4 .
[0018] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 , there is shown a ground engaging vehicle 10 configured, for example, as a backhoe with an auxiliary attachment attached thereto. It is understood that ground engaging vehicle 10 can be any type of work machine, including, but not limited to, machines utilized in the construction, forestry and agricultural industries. Ground engaging vehicle 10 includes a moving member 12 , illustrated herein as a rotating brush 12 that is driven by a hydraulic system 14 of vehicle 10 . Rotating brush 12 includes an auxiliary hydraulic system 16 that is interconnected with hydraulic system 14 . Auxiliary hydraulic system 16 includes a motor that is driven by hydraulic system 14 from which pressurized fluid is routed. Ground engaging vehicle 10 additionally includes a control system 18 and an operator seating system 20 . Operator seating system 20 includes control devices that interact with control system 18 to provide electrical and hydraulic controls to ground engaging vehicle 10 . In addition to providing control to the elements of ground engaging vehicle 10 , control system 18 additionally controls auxiliary hydraulic system 16 by controlling the fluid flow and pressure to the hydraulic motor of auxiliary hydraulic system 16 .
[0020] Now, additionally referring to FIGS. 2-4 there is shown operating seating system 20 and includes a first control joystick 22 and a second control joystick 24 . The elements contained on one joystick 22 and/or 24 may be located on either joystick and the functions described hereafter will, for the sake of clarity and ease of understanding, be illustrated as existing on joystick 22 , although it is merely done for convenience and it is to be understood that the elements described may exist in combination between joysticks 22 and 24 . Joystick 22 includes a proportional controller 26 and a trigger 28 . Proportional control 26 can be in the form of a roller 26 that provides a proportional output based on its relative position. Trigger 28 can be thought of as an on/off switch that provides a triggering control and is energized when depressed and not energized when released. Proportional control 26 includes an extend range 30 , a retract range 32 and a neutral range 34 . Extend range 30 can also be understood to be a forward direction 30 and retract range 32 can be understood to be a reverse range 32 . This concept can be easily understood by considering the type of auxiliary attachment that may be connected to ground engaging vehicle 10 . For example, brush 12 rotates in either a forward or reverse direction hence reference to a forward range 30 and a reverse range 32 makes sense in this illustration. Alternatively, if moving member 12 had a linear motion portion it would be considered an extend range 30 and a retract range 32 that would be applicable thereto. For ease of illustration, the ranges for proportional control 26 will be referred to as forward range 30 , reverse range 32 and neutral range 34 .
[0021] When proportional control 26 is released it is biased to return to a neutral position. A signal is produced by proportional control 26 that is analogous to the position of proportional control 26 throughout its range in both directions. A predetermined neutral range 34 is selected by control system 18 that is utilized to indicate that no input is being received from proportional control 26 . Proportional control 26 as it is positioned in this range may still be providing a signal but it is a signal that is interpreted as no input. The signal from proportional control 26 is altered when proportional control 26 is rotated in either direction. When proportional control 26 is rotated into forward range 30 , control system 18 interprets the position as a desired speed output as well as a forward direction. When proportional control 26 is moved into reverse range 32 , control system 18 interprets the positioning of proportional control 26 as a reverse command and the amount or relative position determines the speed that is to be provided to moving member 12 .
[0022] Now, additionally referring to FIG. 5 there is shown schematic illustration of method 100 that illustrates an embodiment of the present invention in the interoperation of proportional control 26 and trigger 28 in the control of moving member 12 . At step 102 a direction and speed to be applied to moving member 12 is selected by the positioning of proportional control 26 . Proportional control 26 is positioned either in forward range 30 or reverse range 32 and the relative positioning of proportional control 26 establishes the speed of motion to be applied to moving member 12 . When a desired speed and direction is achieved by moving member 12 trigger 28 is set at step 104 by depressing trigger 28 . This sets the direction and speed at step 106 that will then be repeated each time trigger 28 is depressed at step 110 to thereby use the direction and speed at step 108 . Alternatively, trigger 28 may act as a toggle in which one depressing of trigger 18 causes moving member 12 to operate at the selected direction and speed with the next depressing of trigger 28 toggling control system 18 to remove all power from moving member 12 . Additionally, the positioning of proportional control 26 may, apart from trigger 28 , cause the operation of moving member 12 in the direction and speed proportional to the positioning of proportional control 26 .
[0023] Once trigger 28 is depressed at step 104 to set the direction selected by proportional control 26 , the speed of moving member 12 may be selected to be a predetermined speed different than that set by proportional control 26 , the predetermined speed may be a maximum speed of moving member 12 . The maximum speed being determined by the maximum hydraulic flow provided to auxiliary hydraulic system 16 . In this alternate operating method proportional control 26 effectively operates as a direction selecting device only with the speed already determined by control system 18 .
[0024] The direction and speed selected is utilized at step 108 depending on trigger commands of trigger 28 interpreted at step 110 . At step 112 control system 18 is checking to see if proportional control 26 has been moved from a neutral position to a non-neutral position. Step 112 is only functional once proportional control 26 is returned to a neutral position after setting the direction and speed in step 102 . In step 112 control system 18 determines whether proportional control 26 is moved to a range other than neutral range 34 . If proportional control 26 remains in neutral range 34 then method 100 returns to step 110 . When proportional control 26 is moved to a position other than neutral range 34 , then at step 114 the speed and direction of moving member 12 is no longer controlled by trigger 28 . Trigger 28 is effectively deactivated so that it no longer controls the direction and/or speed of moving member 12 , until it is again set by the sequence of steps 102 , 104 and 106 . Method 100 then will reinitiate once proportional control 26 is again returned to neutral range 34 and at that point proportional control 26 controls the direction and speed of moving member 12 by positioning proportional control 26 into forward range 30 or reverse range 32 .
[0025] Now, additionally referring to FIG. 6 , there is shown a schematical block diagram of control system 18 including control unit 36 and proportional valves 38 and 40 . When proportional control 26 is centered in neutral range 34 , channel 1 and channel 2 can be thought of as each providing a two and a half volt signal to control unit 36 . The selection of the actual voltage levels on channel 1 and channel 2 are arbitrary, but for ease of illustration the levels are understood to be half of the five volt level relative to the ground line. The mathematical total of the voltage on channel 1 and channel 2 are substantially equal to the difference between the five volt and ground line values, which are references for control unit 36 , and can be simply thought of as 5 volts. By requiring the total voltage on channels 1 and 2 to be approximately 5 volts electronic control unit 36 can evaluate the validity of the signals received from proportional control 26 . For example, if the total voltage on channel 1 and 2 is inside of a predetermined value, which for the sake of discussion will be plus or minus ½ volt the signal is considered valid and it is assumed that no signal line is broken from proportional control 26 to control unit 36 . However, if either channel 1 or channel 2 is interrupted or if an additional voltage is supplied thereon, then it is extremely unlikely that the voltage on channel 1 and 2 will be within the plus or minus one half volt window, thereby indicating that the signal from proportional control 26 is invalid and should be ignored by control unit 36 . The determination of an invalid signal can cause moving member 12 to stop. As proportional control 26 is moved from neutral position 34 the voltage on channel 1 moves opposite to the voltage on channel 2 , which may be accomplished with mechanically linked potentiometers that are wired to respectively increase and decrease the voltage on channels 1 and 2 relative to the position of proportional control 26 .
[0026] As previously discussed, when the direction and/or speed of moving member 12 has been set at step 106 , each time trigger 28 is used to engage moving member 12 or disengage moving member 12 then proportional valves 38 and 40 are appropriately commanded based upon the signal received from trigger 28 . For example, proportional valve 38 operates in forward range 30 and is opened to the set position to replicate the flow to auxiliary hydraulic system 16 when trigger 28 is depressed. When trigger 28 is released proportional valve 38 will close. Valve 40 is used in a similar fashion if a reverse direction is selected from reverse range 32 . Proportional valves 38 and 40 may be operated to completely open in response to a command if maximum flow is required based on the foregoing discussion of the control of auxiliary hydraulic system 16 .
[0027] Advantageously the present invention allows an operator to select the direction and the speed, depending upon the implementation, and once selected by a proportional control the auxiliary hydraulic unit can be alternately powered and disengaged by operation of a trigger switch. This allows for repeatability in the motion of a hydraulic unit and even though described as being an auxiliary control the same method can be utilized for hydraulic systems of ground engaging vehicle 10 , such as an extendable portion of a backhoe.
[0028] Now, additionally referring to FIG. 7 there is shown another schematic illustration of a method 200 that illustrates an embodiment of the present invention relative to the operation of proportional control 26 , also known as a bi-directional proportional control 26 or simply as a bi-directional control 26 , and trigger 28 in the control of moving member 12 . At step 202 , it is determined what the direction and speed that is being selected by bi-directional control 26 as it is positioned by an operator. Proportional control 26 is positioned either in forward range 30 or reverse range 32 and a relative positioning of proportional control 26 establishes the direction and speed of motion to be applied to moving member 12 . When the desired speed and direction is achieved by moving member 12 , trigger 28 is depressed at step 204 to set the speed and direction of moving member 12 so that the speed and direction or at least the direction can then be activated by subsequent action of trigger 28 .
[0029] If trigger 28 is not depressed the method returns to step 202 . If trigger 28 has been depressed then at step 206 the output is set to thereby establish the direction and speed set by bi-directional/proportional control 26 . At step 208 , the output is active and method 200 checks at step 210 to see if there is an additional movement of bi-directional control 26 . If there is additional movement then method 200 returns to step 202 . If no further positioning of bi-directional control 26 takes place then method 200 proceeds to step 212 to check for the activation of trigger 28 . If trigger 28 has not been activated then method 200 returns to step 208 . If trigger 28 is activated at step 212 it toggles the output off at step 214 thereby stopping moving member 12 . If bi-directional control remains unmoved at step 216 then method 200 again checks for the actuation of trigger 28 at step 218 . If trigger 28 is triggered this causes method 200 to go to step 208 again activating moving member 12 . In this manner the actuation of trigger 28 toggles moving member 12 between no output and returning to the selected output direction and speed. The toggling aspect continues until bi-directional control 26 is actuated thereby returning method 200 to step 202 .
[0030] While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims. | A ground engaging vehicle including a tool having a moving member and a control system controlling a speed of the moving member. The control system includes an adjustable proportional control and a triggering control. The adjustable proportional control creates a signal to thereby select a direction and a speed of the moving member. The triggering control setting the direction and/or the speed dependent upon the signal resulting in a set direction and a set speed, the triggering control subsequently setting the speed to zero. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a Continuation - In - Part of an application filed Feb. 6, 1973 titled "Applicator With Effective Translatory-Vibratory Drive Unit" having Ser. No. 330,694 now abandoned.
Many types of vibrating machines, including hand-held models have been developed and marketed. Nearly all of these prior art devices include an electric motor and most of them include an eccentrically driven element of considerable mass to provide the vibratory motion, usually to the whole assembly in the case of hand-held devices. Different pads or applicators have been employed previously, some for body massage, others for scalp massage, shampooing of the hair, or brushing the teeth. But the design of the vibrator is usually based on a rotating imbalance or a vibrating mass that imparts its vibration to the massager. A circular motion is caused by a rotating imbalance and a back and forth type of vibration by a simple oscillation of a mass. None of these prior art devices has a primary direction of movement at the contact surface. Consequently, there is a need for a drive unit which drives a massage or brushing applicator with an effectively unidirectional lapping motion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a hand-held machine which meets the abovementioned need and comprises a casing functioning as a handle and motor holder, the motor being preferably a variable speed electric motor with transmission means including one or more shafts each carrying a pair of opposed eccentrics which drive an exchangeable applicator or pad. The applicator is driven in such a manner that during the part of the operative cycle in which the maximum pressure is exerted against the body of the user the applicator is moving primarily in one direction. In one general embodiment of the invention designed for massage and hair grooming several interchangeable applicators may be provided which include a massage pad, a hair brush, and an applicator having specially designed projections which effectively clean the hair and massage the scalp. In another embodiment the drive unit is modified for use in an electric tooth brush and the applicator is provided with bristles, the movement of the brush portion being the unidirectional motion described above which has long been endorsed by the dental profession as the optimal brushing technique but has not been incorporated in any of the units currently on the market.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ORAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the vibratory drive unit;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a view of an alternative applicator;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view, partially cut away, of a tooth brush adaptation of the mechanism;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8--8 of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9--9 of FIG. 7; and
FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10--10 of FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Although the item can be constructed in different forms while retaining the principal features of a unique applicator movement with cooperative interchangeable applicators, two representative forms are illustrated, FIGS. 1 through 6 being a massage and grooming embodiment and FIGS. 7 through 10 indicating a tooth brush variation. Referring first to the first embodiment in FIGS. 1 through 6, the casing 10 is a cylindrical shell dimensioned for snug reception of one end of an electric motor 12, preferably of variable speed type and dimensioned to be hand-held so that it may function, if that is desired, as a handle for the device.
The inner end of the casing 10 has a wall 14 which supports a bearing 16 for the drive shaft 18 of the motor and for ease of assembly the casing 10 may be made in two complementary shell parts which abutt along a line indicated at 20 in FIGS. 2 and 3, the two shells being held together by bolts 22 adjacent to the bearing 16 and by end plate 24. This construction also facilitates mounting of two parallel cross shafts 26, one on either side of a secondary drive shaft 28 driven by miter gears 30, 32 on the motor drive shaft 18 and on the secondary drive shaft 28, respectively.
The cross shafts 26 have bearings 34 and the secondary drive shaft has bearings 36, all mounted in the extending portions 38 of said complementary shell portions of the casing 10 as already described. A drive gear 40 on the secondary drive shaft 28 meshes with gears 42 on each of the cross shafts 26.
To complete the transmission means each cross shaft has at each end a disc identified at 44, with an eccentrically mounted journal 46 and these journals must be in phase so that the applicator mounting bracket, generally indicated at 48, will be operated with the required lapping motion. The discs 44 are eccentrically weighted as by being relieved or cut away as at 47 and additionally a counterweight indicated at 49 can be carried by the shafts 26 to offset the mass of the applicators and mounting bracket. The illustrated applicator comprises a generally planar backing 50 with hair engaging projections 52, hereinafter described more fully, and the mounting bracket 48 comprises a plate 54 which will ordinarily be metal and wall structure 56, shown as two parallel opposed angles secured to the plate 54 by screws 58 and carrying bearings 60 in which the eccentric journals 46 are received. The applicator is removably engaged on the plate 54 by slightly resilient detents 59 which snap over the plate in conventional fashion, it being understood that any suitable quick-release attachment means could be used. It will thus be made clear that the applicator is made to move with said lapping motion, each part of the applicator moving in a circle with the effective radius of the eccentric, that is, with a translatory component which may be thought of as horizontal in the representation in FIG. 1, the effective portion of the translatory component being as to the left in that figure, the following portion of the movement being a withdrawal, upwardly in that figure, and the reverse translatory portion of the movement being considerably less significant in the actual functional operation of the machine.
This lapping movement is necessarily related with the configuration of the hair-engaging projections 52 of the applicator illustrated. These projections have a cross-sectional shape defining a tapered or streamlined forward face 62 and a cavitation-inducing rear face 64 flat or concave. One very simple configuration is that represented in FIG. 4 wherein the streamlined face is continued to the edges of the cavitation inducing face which latter is shown as a simple flat surface. The projections may be staggered if desired. It is preferable that the projections 52 shall be somewhat flexible and that these projections be inclined relative to the backing 50. It is also preferable that the inclination be in the direction of the effective, or outer translatory movement, that is, to the left as represented in FIG. 1. The projections may be longitudinally arcuate when a more gentle action is required as indicated at 53 in FIG. 6.
The device has a dual function in massaging the scalp in a particularly effective, and agreeable manner and in cleaning the hair. The motion imparted to the hair by the applicator 48 is transmitted to the scalp producing a gentle overall massage in a natural way without necessarily touching the scalp. The rapid effective translatory movement of the projections 52 is related functionally with the cavitation of particular matter onto face 64 where it remains and is withdrawn in situ with the applicator when the user removes the machine from his or her hair. This matter is easily removed from the applicator after use and the applicator can be used repeatedly and indefinitely.
The drive unit, by reason of its effectively unidirectional translatory component in the applicator, is ideally suited to blood circulation therapy, that is, stimulation of circulation of blood in or close to the skin. This also applies to the stimulation of the medically accepted tree flow pattern, up the right side and down the left side of the body. An applicator such as those illustrated in the drawing may be used for grooming or the applicator may be varied according to the dictates of comfort and preference. It is contemplated that applicators having massage pads, bristles for brushing the hair, or possibly a plurality of rollers to reduce sliding friction on the skin during massage be provided for use in the alternative, the clip-on design of the applicators enabling the rapid exchange of the various applicator types and the effective unidirectional motion being advantageous in all applicators.
Reference is now made to the embodiment of the invention modified for use on a toothbrush illustrated in FIGS. 7 through 10, in which elements which are counterparts to the first embodiment are similarly numbered but in the one hundred series. The casing 110 is elongated and includes a shank or handle portion (not shown) typical of electric toothbrushes. The operative end 66 of the casing is dimensioned to fit within the mouth and is provided with a pair of bearing members 136 in which is journalled a shaft 128. The shaft extends from a conventional electric motor in the handle (not shown) and is provided with a pair of eccentric crank portions 68 which carry a toothbrush mounting bracket 154 which is preferably journalled to the cranks through two crank bearings 160.
In order to substantially preserve the desired translational motion, a pair of resilient rods 126 are centrally captured in a pair of opposed supports 134 which are molded integrally with the end 66 of the casing. The ends of the rods are engaged by the brush mounting bracket 154 as shown such that each rod exerts a restraining force on the bracket which increases with the amount of deformity experienced by the rod so that the opposite sides have a tendency to be equally displaced in any given direction by the shaft 128, thereby retaining the translatory motion.
The variation in the transmission means in the second embodiment is suggested by the space limitations associated with an electric toothbrush as opposed to the larger massage unit. However, the single shaft design could clearly be used as an alternative in the first embodiment as well as the toothbrush. It should also be noted that the resilient rods 126 could be replaced with other restraining means, the crucial feature of the restraining means being their ability to bias the opposite sides of the mounting 154 toward the center of their circular motion during all phases of the operating cycle.
Mounted in the brush mounting bracket 154 is an applicator in the form of a brush element 150 which is preferably releasible for purposes of cleaning and exchange and is retained on the mounting by detents 159 which seat in appropriate sockets on the brush elements. Any other convenient releasible mounting means could be used.
One feature which should be present in the second embodiment of the invention but not necessarily in the first is reverse capability of the motor. This is desirable because otherwise the desired brushing motion, which is away from the gums, would be possible for only half of the tooth surfaces to be cleaned. The need for reversability could be obviated by the use of two brush mechanisms mounted side-by-side in the casing and having opposite motions such that the effective directions of translation would be toward one another. This arrangement would have the added advantage that one side of both the upper and lower rows of teeth could be brushed simultaneously. A single shaft comparable to the shaft 128 could be used to drive both brushes, with a simple gear mechanism to achieve appropriate motion. | A drive unit operates an applicator for massage, brushing, cleaning, and the like. The drive unit moves the applicator in a unique translatory motion in which the plane of the applicator maintains an unchanging orientation relative to the drive unit and has a lapping or stroking action on the body of the user which is effectively unidirectional at the body surface. This motion is very effective for many applications in which reciprocating or rotational movement is less appropriate, such as stimulating the blood circulation, brushing the teeth, and hair grooming, and different applicators as well as drive units are provided which are particularly adapted to accomplish these functions. | 0 |
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/334,159 filed on Apr. 6, 1989, now abandoned, which is a division of Ser. No. 06/902,456 filed Aug. 14, 1986 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,591.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hollow body (e.g. a container) whose axially directed wall(s) comprise(s) oriented and/or crystallized plastic material, in addition to which the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reshaping a primarily tubular preform of plastic material into the hollow body by means of mechanical shaping devices.
PRIOR ART
It has been previously known to reshape blanks of thermoplastics material into a container, where the blank includes portions of axially oriented material. The reshaping takes place by means of a blowing process, during which the material of the blank is blown against mold walls whose shape corresponds to the shape of the container being produced. Patent publication GB 2.076.731 A describes such a technique for the manufacture of a bottle-shaped container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,279 describes a technique where a blank of oriented thermoplastics material is reshaped by a blowing process into a container. Also this patent discloses a technique to remold an oriented blank into a container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,908 reveals a technique where a stretched and oriented blank of thermo plastic material is reshaped into a container by means of one or more mechanical shaping processes. In accordance with the technique revealed in the patent the circumference of the body of the container is reduced during the reshaping of the blank into the container.
There is a considerable need for containers of plastic materials suitable for high-temperature applications and/or storage of liquids under pressure, e.g. storage of soft drinks, beer, etc. High-temperature applications means e.g. that the contents of filled and sealed containers are pasteurized (60°-70° C.), that the liquid is filled directly into the containers at boiling temperature (warm filling) or that the contents of filled and sealed containers are sterilized (at least 121° C.).
Further requirements in respect of containers of plastic material are that it should be possible to manufacture containers in which the body of the container and its mouth section have cross-sections independent of each other, e.g. the body has a polygonal cross-section while the mouth of the container is circular. The circular shape of the mouth is, as a rule, desirable in order to facilitate sealing of the container.
In order to reduce the unit cost of the containers it is further necessary to adapt the distribution of materials in the individual container to estimated mechanical stresses in various parts of the container (mouth, container body and bottom). Additionally, it is also important that in each region (part) of the container material distribution should be as even as possible, since the thinnest and thus the weakest section of each such region determines the stresses which the container is able to withstand. In addition to the material thickness, the mechanical strength of the containers is naturally also determined by the orientation of the material and/or its crystallization. It is especially in the case of thermoplastic material that the thermal crystallization is of importance.
A further requirement for containers of the kind envisaged here and especially for a container intended for high-temperature applications is that the shrinkage which occurs during heating of stretched and oriented thermoplastic material is eliminated or reduced to acceptable values.
In storing liquids under pressure in a container of bottle or can type, it is true in purely physical terms that with an inner pressure in the container its wall material is subjected to a stress that is approximately twice as large in the circumferential direction than in the axial direction. In order to improve the strength of the material in the case of orientable thermoplastic material, the container is molded in accordance with a known and generally applied technique, by means of a blowing process, at the same time as the temperature of the material is adapted to the properties of the material in question, in order to stretch the material during the blowing process and thereby orientate the same.
The blowing technique possesses the disadvantage that the distribution of material during the molding of the container is not fully controllable since, during the expansion of the blank into the container, it is not possible to determine and control exactly where and how the stretching of the material, and thus its orientation, will proceed. Normally, the stretching begins at a number of starting points, whose positions are determined by the prevailing temperature distribution in the material, in addition to stretching forces arising therein. The propagation of expansion, and the stretch ratio obtained are furthermore temperature-dependent, which results in a varying material thickness of the molded container, i.e. even in a section at right-angles to the axial direction the thickness of the container wall varies in the circumferential direction. The additional heating of the material which takes place when it crystallizes through the stretching, achieves in the material an additional uneven temperature distribution which results in an increase in variations in the thickness of the wall in the molded container. Corresponding variations also occur in the axial direction of the container, i.e. in axial sections through regions of primarily equally large circumference, alternately thinner and thicker material portions are present. The wall thickness of the blank is thus selected in accordance with known techniques with regard to the aforementioned uncertainty in the stretching and thinning out of the material, which implies an overdimensioning of the blank, and thus also a surplus of material in the molded container.
In order to attain temperature stability in containers of orientable thermoplastic material, it is known to temperature-stabilize the containers in that during the blowing of the containers the container material is allowed to touch hot mold walls against which the material abuts for a relatively long period (of the order of magnitude of 1-2 minutes). This abutment is realized in that after blowing, an inner overpressure is maintained inside the blown container, whereby the wall material is pressed against the walls of the mold. Long cycle times, however, make this an expensive technique.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique where all of the aforementioned disadvantages are eliminated. In accordance with the invention one starts with a preform of orientable and/or crystallizable material from which a container is manufactured with high mechanical strength and temperature stability and with a considerably improved material distribution, compared with previously known techniques, in that this is fully controlled. In accordance with the invention, the time requirement for the manufacture of each individual container is also reduced in comparison with that in previous known techniques, in addition to which the invention allows a simplified construction of the production equipment. By means of the invention the quantity of material in each container is thus reduced, the desired temperature stability is achieved, and costs are reduced in comparison to previously known and used techniques.
In accordance with the invention, a preform of plastic material is reshaped, which has the property of being able to be oriented and/or crystallized by a mechanical processing, into a container in a number of consecutive reshaping processes which, in a preferred embodiment, take place in distinctly separate sub-stages. In every such process or stage the material is stretched (extended) preferably in either the axial or the circumferential direction of the future container. By stretching the material every time to a controlled extent, the material accumulates a total stretching (extension) and a reduction in thickness equivalent to that which is required in order to supply the material with the desired and pre-determined orientation or crystallization and thus the necessary strength properties. The controlled stretching and the controlled reduction of the material thickness causes the molded container to have the same material thickness in sections at right-angles to the axis of the container, thereby avoiding the variation in thickness, which containers manufactured in accordance with known techniques have in axial sections through regions of primarily equally large circumference.
In mechanical stretching of the preform or stretching of an intermediate preform formed from the preform in the circumferential direction, there are certain difficulties present in achieving a required degree of stretching in each individual stage of stretching, unless special measures are taken. In accordance with the invention, a primarily ribbon-shaped, circumferential region in the vicinity of the mouth edge of the preform or the intermediate preform is fixed between mechanical devices which displace the preform or the intermediate preform in its axial direction across a mandrel during simultaneous expansion of the article. Since the material of the article is thus subjected to stretching forces, the tendencies towards folding of the material, when the expansion is made in the circumferential direction, are avoided. Especially, the stretching forces are of importance, when reshaping thin-walled articles. It is, in accordance with the invention, also possible in many applications to achieve a required increase of the dimensions in the circumferential direction in a single reshaping stage.
In some embodiments, the tractive forces are supplemented by compressive forces which are applied in the vicinity of the bottom section of the preform, and which are directed towards the mouth of the preform. This technique is employed when the increase in the dimensions in the circumferential direction is large.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preform or the intermediate preform is reshaped into the container in all sub-stages by use of mechanical reshaping devices. The mechanical stretching (extension or expansion, respectively) takes place in every stage with the material at a specific and controlled temperature which can be selected within a wide range. The choice of temperature is determined however by the special effect which it is required to achieve in the molding stage in question. For materials with a distinct glass transition temperature, hereinafter abbreviated as TG, e.g. the temperature of the material in the initial molding stages, is generally lower than TG, while in the concluding stage or stages the temperature generally exceeds TG. In the case of the material, polyethylene terephthalate, hereinafter abbreviated as PET, the material attains, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, temperatures within the range of 70°-180° C., in connection with the concluding shaping stages, while in the initial shaping stages it generally has a lower temperature.
In certain applications of the invention, e.g. where one intends to obtain a container with a shape which is difficult to achieve by means of mechanical shaping devices, at least one of the shaping stages, and preferably the last one, comprises a blow molding stage. In connection herewith the temperature of the material is, as a rule, set to a temperature close to the maximum temperature at which the material was previously shaped mechanically.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The invention is described in greater detail in connection with a number of figures of the drawing, in which:
FIGS. 1-5 show the shaping of a preform into an intermediate preform by extension of the preform in its axial direction when the preform passes through a gap that reduces the material thickness,
FIGS. 6-9 show successive stages of the expansion of the preform in its circumferential direction, and
FIGS. 10-13 show successive stages of the reshaping of the expanded preform into a container.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a preform 10 with a bottom section 11, a mouth 12, a ribbon-shaped, circumferential mouth edge region 13, a mouth edge 14, and an axially directed wall 15, located between the mouth and the bottom section. The central axis of the preform is denoted by reference numeral 16. The preform is, in FIG. 2, placed in an apparatus for temperature setting of the preform material. The apparatus includes a sleeve 91, a mandrel 92 and a bottom support 93. All these devices are provided with channels 97 through which a fluid, such as a liquid passes for individual setting of each device to a certain working temperature. The devices are adjustable to positions where there is formed between them a cavity whose shape substantially corresponds to that of the preform. A preform which is placed in the cavity is thus enclosed on both the inside and the outside by the devices and assumes a temperature which in every part of the preform is determined by the temperatures of the adjoining devices and the time the preform stays in the cavity.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show a basic apparatus for reduction of the material thickness of the preform during its simultaneous extension in the axial direction. The apparatus includes a bottom support 94, a mandrel 95 and a traction device 96 which surrounds the mandrel and is displaced in its axial direction by displacement devices (not shown in the Figures). Between the mandrel and the traction device there is defined a slot 90 the breadth of which is less than the material thickness of the axially directed wall of the preform. The traction devices and/or the mandrel as well as the bottom support are, as a rule, provided with channels 98 through which fluid, such as a liquid passes for regulation of the temperature of the devices. Depending on the application, heat is either supplied or removed by means of the liquid. There is a preform 10a,b located in the apparatus, and its wall 15a,b, has undergone an axial stretching (extension) and associated crystallization.
FIG. 5 shows an intermediate preform 10b, formed by axial stretching of preform 10. The intermediate preform has a bottom section 11b, a mouth 12b, a ribbon-shaped mouth edge region 13b, a mouth edge 14b, an axially directed wall 15b and a center axis 16, i.e. the parts of the intermediate preform have reference numerals directly equivalent to those used for the preform 10 described in connection with FIG. 1.
FIGS. 6-9 show a basic embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention. These Figures show an upper sleeve 30 and a lower sleeve 40 provided with channels 42 for temperature setting of the respective sleeve is assumed to occupy a spatially fixed position, e.g. sleeve 40 is affixed to a frame (not shown). The upper sleeve 30 is provided with channels 33 for flow of a fluid for temperature setting of the sleeve, in addition to which there is disposed inside the sleeve a mandrel 50 which by drive means (not shown in the Figure) is displaceable relative to the upper sleeve in the axial direction of the sleeve. The part 55 of the mandrel facing the lower sleeve 40, hereinafter termed the bottom section, has a shape mainly adapted to the shape of the bottom 11b of the intermediate preform 10b, and is in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 thermally insulated from the rest of the mandrel, hereinafter termed the upper section 151 of the mandrel. The bottom section has, in turn, a central section 56 which is thermally insulated from the outer circumferential portion 57 of the bottom section. In the bottom section there are disposed channels 58,59 for temperature setting of the central section of the bottom section and its circumferential portion, respectively. The upper section 151 of the mandrel is also provided with channels 53 for temperature setting. The upper section of the mandrel, the central section of the bottom section, and its circumferential portion are thus individually adjustable to required temperatures. A channel 52 for a pressure medium is disposed in the mandrel and is joined in the upper section of the mandrel via a connection device 54 to a pressure source 160, and is disposed in the lower section of the bottom section in order to open into the lower limiting surface 150 of the bottom section. Inside the lower sleeve 40 there is disposed an inner sleeve 60, displaceable in the axial direction of the sleeve 40 by drive means (not shown in the Figures), the inner surface 64 of which has a shape primarily in correspondence with the outer surface of the intermediate preform. Channels 61 are provided for temperature setting of the inner sleeve.
A bottom support 75 is disposed inside the inner sleeve 60 for axial displacement therein by drive means (not shown in the Figures). In certain embodiments the bottom support is divided into a central section 78 and an outer circumferential section 79, thermally insulated from the former, corresponding to what has been shown in respect of the bottom section 55 of the mandrel. Channels 76,77 for temperature setting of the bottom support are disposed therein, for which reason the central section of the bottom support and its circumferential section are also individually adjustable to required temperatures.
The upper sleeve 30 is provided with an upper stop device 32 which engages with an upper check (stop) device 99 e.g. adjustably affixed to the aforementioned frame and placed in a position such that when the upper stop device 32 abuts the upper check device 99 there is formed between the upper sleeve 30 and the lower sleeve 40 a columnar cavity 21a the breadth of which (the distance between the upper and the lower device in the Figure) exceeds the wall thickness of the circumferential mouth edge region 13b,c of the intermediate preform 10b,c. In the vicinity of the outer end region of the columnar cavity there is a device 23 which blocks cavity 21a entirely or partially.
The upper check device 99 can be displaced by the displacement devices (not shown in the Figures) to assume a position where it engages the stop device 32 and a position where the stop device 32 can at least partly travel therepast, whereby the upper sleeve 30 can be moved nearer to the lower sleeve 40 (cf. arrows A in FIG. 7).
The inner sleeve 60 is provided with stop devices 62 which in the upper position of the sleeve abut check (stop) devices 46 in the lower sleeve 40. The stop device 62 and the check device 46 establish during abutment, that the upper limitation surface 63 of the inner sleeve 60, which surface has a shape substantially corresponding to that of the bottom section 55 of the mandrel, forms with said bottom section a columnar cavity 22 with a breadth somewhat exceeding the wall thickness in the mouth edge region of the preform. The cavity 22 connects with the cavity 21a so that the two cavities together comprise a linked slot 21a-22 the width of which somewhat exceeds the thickness of the mouth of the preform edge region. The bottom section 55 of the mandrel has a design such that its lower limitation surface 150, in a region 51 adjacent the upper limitation surface 63 of the inner sleeve 60, has a downwards and outwards directed location with the result that the limitation surface in this region comprises a guide surface delimitating the columnar cavity 22. In the case of a divided bottom section the guide surface is located on the circumferential outer portion 57 of the bottom section.
The upper sleeve 30 is provided with another stop device 31 which engages a check (stop) device 41 disposed on the lower sleeve 40. The stop device 31 and the check device 41 have a mutual location such that when the stop device 31 abuts against the check device 41 a cavity 21b (FIG. 9) is formed between the upper sleeve and the lower sleeve, the cavity being of a slotlike shape having a width somewhat less than the wall thickness of the intermediate preform. In FIGS. 6-9, the stop device 31 also forms the device 23 which blocks the columnar cavity 21b outwards. Finally, it should be mentioned that in FIGS. 6-9 the intermediate preform has reference characters 10c to 10f, which refer to the actual reshaping stage of the preform.
FIGS. 10-13 show a reshaped intermediate preform 10g which, compared with the intermediate preform 10c in FIG. 6, has an increased cross-section. In FIG. 11 the ribbon-shaped mouth edge region 13g of the reshaped intermediate preform has been inserted into a slot-shaped recess 111 in a heating device 110.
FIGS. 12-13 show an outer sleeve 120 having an inner surface 127 which in the upper section 121 of the sleeve, continuously merges into an inner mouth surface 122 with a reduced circumference. A bottom support 130 is supported for displacement within the sleeve by drive means (not shown in the Figures) in the axial direction of the sleeve. In addition, FIGS. 12-13 shown an upper mandrel 140 with a lower, primarily cylindrical section 141 and an upper section 142 with a greater circumference than the cylindrical section. The lower cylindrical section of the mandrel is adapted to the mouth surface 122 of the outer sleeve such that there is formed between the outer limitation surface 145 of the mandrel and inner mouth surface 122, a slot 125 with a breadth somewhat exceeding the material thickness of the mouth edge region 13g of the preform. The outer surface 145 of the mandrel has, in the transition between the lower section 141 and the upper section 142, a shape adapted to the shape of the upper surface 126 of the outer sleeve 120 and forms after the transition a surface 146 primarily parallel to the upper surface of the sleeve in order to form a cavity or a slot 147 between the upper section 142 of the mandrel and the upper section 121 of the sleeve 120, when the mandrel is in its lower position; the cavity 147 forms a continuation of the slot 125, having a breadth that allows the edge region 13g of the reshaped intermediate preform to be inserted into the cavity. The outer sleeve 120 and the mandrel 140 are provided with stop surfaces 123 and 143 respectively, which guarantee the intended distance in the axial direction between the sleeve and the mandrel and thus the intended breadth of the cavity or slot 147. The upper mandrel is, in certain embodiments, also provided with a channel 144 which, in certain applications, is used in order to supply a pressure medium to the interior of the preform 10g during its reshaping.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preform 10 is inserted in apparatus 91-93 for setting of the material of the preform, at least in its primarily cylindrical section, to a suitable shaping temperature, preferably to a temperature exceeding the glass transition temperature of the material (cf. FIG. 2). The heated preform is then moved to the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the wall thickness of the preform is reduced during simultaneous axial extension of the wall as well as orientation and/or crystallization of its material (cf. FIGS. 3 and 4) for formation of the intermediate preform 10b, the primarily cylindrical section of which consists of stretched and oriented and/or crystallized material. FIG. 3 shows the preform during reshaping into the intermediate preform 10b. In the orientation/crystallization, the material passes through the slot 90, by which means the material in a preferred embodiment of the invention obtains an orientation equivalent to that which occurs during material flow. As it moves into the slot, the material generally has a temperature exceeding its TG.
The intermediate preform 10b thus formed is then placed in the reshaping device 30,40,50,60,75 illustrated in FIGS. 6-9. The intermediate preform is reshaped into an expanded intermediate preform 10f in the reshaping device. In order to allow reshaping, the intermediate preform 10b is first placed in a position where it is enclosed by the inner sleeve 60 and abuts the bottom support 75. In this position, a temperature conditioning of the intermediate preform 10b generally takes place, in that the inner sleeve has a temperature generally somewhat exceeding the glass transition temperature of the material (cf. FIG. 6). If this temperature conditioning is performed at a temperature which exceeds the temperature which the material has when passing through the slot 90, the intermediate preforms shrinks axially. In FIG. 6 these two alternatives are denoted in that the intermediate preform has reference characters 10b and 10c, respectively, where 10c indicates that the intermediate preform has shrunk during the temperature conditioning.
The bottom support 75 is subsequently displaced upwards (cf. FIG. 7) at the same time as the interior 10d of the intermediate preform is pressurized by a pressure medium supplied via the channel 52 from the pressure source 160. In certain applications, the pressure medium is heated in order to maintain or at least contribute towards maintaining the material of the intermediate preform at the required temperature. The inner sleeve 60 and lower sleeve 40 thus have, relative to the mandrel 50 and upper sleeve 30 respectively, positions such that the previously described linked slot 21a,22 is formed. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the invention where this positional setting is achieved by the upper stop device 32 when engaging the upper check device 99 and by the lower stop device 62 when engaging the lower check device 46. The relative locking between the devices means that during the upwards motion of the bottom support, the mouth edge 14b,14c of the intermediate preform as well as the adjoining mouth edge region 13b,13c are displaced into the slot during simultaneous increase of the circumference of the intermediate preform in its mouth 12b,12c. This displacement of the bottom support 75 and thus the intermediate preform continues until the mouth edge 14d reaches the stop device 31 of the upper sleeve 30. In certain embodiments, the circumferential outer portion 57 of the bottom section has an elevated temperature (a temperature exceeding TG) in order to make the material more adapted to expand in the circumferential direction.
The upper check device 99 is subsequently displaced to the position where it can be passed by the stop device 32 (cf. FIG. 8), after which the upper sleeve 30 is displaced towards the lower sleeve 40 until the stop device 31 of the upper sleeve abuts against the check device 41 of the lower sleeve. In this position, the material portions 13d are clamped in place next to the expanded mouth edge of the intermediate preform (i.e. equivalent to the ribbon-shaped circumferential mouth edge region 13d) between the upper sleeve and the lower sleeve. In the abutment regions for the material portions, the sleeves have temperatures in excess of TG.
The inner sleeve 60 is subsequently displaced downwards as shown in FIG. 8 at the same time as the mandrel 50 which successively expands the intermediate preform in its circumferential direction. The mandrel thus has, at least in the region 51 where it abuts the material of the intermediate preform, a temperature above the TG of the material. As a rule, the downwards movements of the mandrel 50 and the inner sleeve 60 are synchronized so that the aforementioned slot 22 is maintained between the bottom section of the mandrel and the upper portions of the sleeve. By retaining the material in the mouth region of the intermediate preform in place, the intermediate preform is kept fixed between the upper sleeve 30 and the lower sleeve 40 whereby during the expansion the material in the intermediate preform is also subjected to axially directed stretching forces through the movement of the mandrel. As a rule, the bottom support 75 is simultaneously allowed to exert an upwardly directed force on the intermediate preform to reduce the magnitude of the stretching forces in the material of the intermediate preform, when this material is pressed upwards over and expanded by the mandrel. Practically, it has been shown that the retention of the edge portions of the intermediate preform achieves a good result in production and a high production capacity. In those applications where the retention effect is supplemented by an upwardly directed pressing force from the bottom support 75, both a further improved result and a shortened cycle time are generally achieved. FIG. 9 shows the shaping devices after a completed movement and the expanded intermediate preform 10f.
Immediately after expansion, the expanded material of the intermediate preform abuts against the outer surface of the mandrel 50, and as a rule also the inner surface of the lower sleeve 40. These two surfaces preferably have a temperature exceeding the TG of the material and as a rule one considerably exceeding the TG, whereby, the material is temperature-stabilized while retaining the shape that was determined by the lower sleeve 40 and the mandrel 50. The selected temperature of both the sleeve and the mandrel and thus the temperature up to which temperature stability is achieved is determined by the maximum temperature at which the product which is being shaped is intended to be used. Thus, for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), containers have been manufactured which are temperature-stable up to approximately 160° C. in that the inner surface had a temperature exceeding 160° C. In certain applications, the mandrel 50 is also given a corresponding increased temperature. As will be evident from FIG. 9 the expanded intermediate preform 10f has in its mouth section an outwards-facing edge flange 17. In certain applications this is cut off, whereby the expanded intermediate preform 10 g is formed (cf. FIG. 10).
As will be evident from the above description, the bottom section 55 of the mandrel 50 also includes both the central bottom section 56 and the circumferential outer portion 57, which are adjustable to specific temperatures independently of each other. The bottom support 75 is likewise disposed with similarly separated sections 78, 79. In certain applications this enables separate heat treatment of the material in the bottom section 11f,11g of the expanded intermediate preform so that when the material has a low crystallization it is possible to thermally increase the same in order to achieve temperature-stable and shape-stable material portions. Thus, it is possible in accordance with the invention to obtain in the bottom section of the intermediate preform annular opaque material portions or disc-like ones.
FIGS. 10-13 illustrate an embodiment of the invention where the expanded intermediate preform 10g after its mouth flange has been cut is reshaped in its mouth section. For this purpose, the ribbon-shaped circumferential mouth edge region 13g of the intermediate preform is inserted into the slot-shaped recesses 111 in the heating device 110. The material is thus heated to a temperature somewhat exceeding the aforementioned maximum temperature at which the container which is being manufactured is intended to be used.
The intermediate preform expanded in this manner is subsequently introduced into the sleeve 120 for reshaping of the mouth 12g of the intermediate preform. By means of relative motion between the bottom support 130 and the sleeve 120 the heated material is pressed into the slot 125 between the mandrel 140 and the upper section 121 of the sleeve 120 of a reduced diameter, whereby the circumference of the expanded intermediate preform in the mouth section is reduced. By means of a subsequent relative movement between the mandrel 140 and the sleeve 120 while simultaneously supporting the intermediate preform by the bottom support 130 (with the interior of the intermediate preform being pressurized if necessary or required) upper edge portions of the intermediate preform are folded outwards and move into the slot 147 between the upper section 142 of the mandrel and the upper section 121 of the sleeve for the formation of an outwards-facing flange 18. Thus, an embodiment of a hollow body (container) 19 in accordance with the invention is completed.
In the above description the expressions upper, lower, vertical, etc. have been used, which should, however, be considered solely as a means of facilitating the description. It is evident that in accordance with the invention the apparatus can assume arbitrary orientations. It is also possible, within the scope of the invention, to allow the preform, intermediate preform, and the finished container to have an arbitrary cross-section which may also have a different shape in different sections of both preform, intermediate preform, and finished container. The reshaping of the mouth section described in the preceding paragraph is also applicable to intermediate preforms of non-circular cross-section. The technique is also applicable to shape non-circular into circular mouth portions.
The above detailed description has solely referred to a limited number of embodiments of the invention, but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, that the invention includes a large number of embodiments within the scope of the following claims. | Apparatus for shaping a tubular preform into a hollow body in which an axially directed wall of the preform primarily comprises oriented and/or crystallized plastic material. The tubular preform (10d) is fixed in a circumferential region (13d) in the vicinity of the mouth edge (14d) of the preform between mechanical forming devices (30,40), after which the devices, during continued clamping of the circumferential region, are displaced in the axial direction of the preform relative to a mandrel (50). Thus, the mandrel is displaced into the preform during simultaneous expansion thereof and the material is oriented and/or crystallized. In a preferred embodiment, there is compensation of the stretching forces, which arise in the material when inserting the mandrel, by applying a force to the bottom of the preform by a bottom support (75). | 8 |
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