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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The conservation of paper and other cellulosic materials has importance for libraries and for archives. Paper deteriorates mechanically primarily because of either the intrinsic acid nature of the pulp, or the introduction of acids during processing. Over time, the acid promotes hydrolysis of the cellulose, reducing its strength and causing embrittlement. The neutralization or deacidification of paper has been seen as a necessary requirement for lengthening the useful life of paper that is initially acidic.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods have been proposed for the deacidification of paper. The simplest consists of the immersion of the paper in an aqueous solution of alkali, followed by drying, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,033,452, Schierholtz, O. J., and Barrow, W. J., "Deacidification and Lamination of Deteriorated Documents", American Archivist 28,285-290 (1965). Aqueous alkaline sprays have also been proposed by W. J. Barrow Research Laboratory, "Permanence/Durability of the Book", Dietz Press Inc., Richmond, Virginia, p.22 (1963). Both these methods suffer from the problem of requiring the handling of sheets in the wet state, with the consequent risk of damage, as well as introducing effects such as curl and cockle caused by uneven wetting and drying. To overcome this, various non-aqueous solvent treatments have been proposed. The earliest of these is a treatment with a solution of barium hydroxide in methanol developed by Baynes-Cope, "The Non Aqueous Deacidification of Documents", Restaurator 1(1) 2-9 (1969). Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,182 discloses a method of using a magnesium alkoxide in an organic solvent such as alcohol or a Freon (Trade Mark for fluorocarbons). Kelly in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,091 discloses a method using methyl magnesium carbonate in methanol or a halogenated hydrocarbon. Kaminski and Wediger in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,997 discloses a method using magnesium or zinc alkoxides dissolved in various hydrocarbon or halocarbon solvents. Williams and Kelly in U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,276 discloses a treatment using certain organo-metallic compounds, specifically diethyl zinc, in an organic solvent. Kundrot in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,843 discloses a method of treatment using particles of inorganic alkaline hydroxides or carbonates dispersed in air or in Freon.
Gaseous methods have also been proposed. The simplest, neutralization with ammonia, is described by Barrow, above, and is claimed not to be effective. While a pH of an originally acid paper could be brought to neutrality using ammonia vapor, the deacidification was temporary presumably because of the volatility of ammonia and its weak alkalinity. The paper became acid again after a few weeks. Other stronger less volatile alkalis have been proposed such as morpholine disclosed by Kusterer and Sproull in U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,958. Langwell in U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,611 discloses a treatment in which a carbonate or acetate of one of the amines such as cyclohexamine is prepared and deposited on paper which is interleaved between the sheets to be treated. As the salt slowly decomposes, the cyclohexamine vapor is made available to the paper and neutralizes it over a period of weeks. It is part of the disclosure that the cyclohexamine salt does not need to be in contact with the paper to be treated since the transmission of the cyclohexamine occurs through the vapor phase.
Although some of these methods are in use, none has been widely accepted. There is uncertainty that the treatments are entirely benign especially towards the adhesives, the bindings and the printing inks. Moreover some of the treatments use chemicals that are increasingly suspect as health hazards, or as threats to the environment, as described by Smith, R. D., "Deacidification Technologies--State of the Art", in "Paper Preservation", TAPPI Press, Ed. P. Luner (1990). Finally the treatment methods are expensive, requiring specialized treatment equipment, expensive chemicals and trained operators.
It has been known for some time that free acid in paper can migrate to paper in contact with it, under air dry conditions, as described by Kozak, J. J. and Spatz, R. E., "Deacidification of Paper by the Bookkeeper Process", in "Paper Preservation", TAPPI Press, Ed. P. Luner (1990). This occurs even when the acid is non volatile, for example sulphuric acid.
The migration of ions in air-dry paper is also known from evidence of electrical conductivity. At 50% relative humidity, paper with a moisture content of about 6% can have an electrical conductivity several orders of magnitude higher than that of bone dry paper as described by Baum, G. A., "Electrical Properties: I. Theory", in "Handbook of Physical and Mechanical Testing of Paper and Paperboard", Ed. R. Mark, Marcel Dekker, New York, p. 175-178 (1984), and this is attributed to the freedom of cations such as calcium, magnesium or sodium to migrate through the anionic, water-swollen fibres.
In a sheet of mechanical or chemical pulp, deacidification cannot be achieved simply by the migration of free acid. These pulps always contain acidic groups bound within the cell walls of the pulp, with counter ions associated with them. For deacidification to be achieved, and to meet the condition of electrical neutrality, hydrogen counter-ions must be replaced by other cations such as calcium, magnesium or sodium which must migrate into the sheet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention overcomes the afore-mentioned problems in a method that deacidifies paper in an essentially air-dry state, without the use of gaseous reagents but instead using materials that are commonly available, benign and inexpensive.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a process for deacidifying acidic papers comprising: holding at least one acidic paper in an assembly with a source of an alkaline solid, said assembly being under a mechanical pressure and at an elevated humidity effective to promote migration of ions between said alkaline solid and the acid of said paper.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a deacidification paper sheet containing at least 0.1%, by weight, of an alkaline solid. The deacidification paper sheet may additionally contain an electrolyte salt, which may function to promote the migration of the ions.
The alkaline solid is, in particular, a material which reacts with an acid to deacidify or neutralize it, and form reaction products which are benign to paper. Such materials include the carbonates and bicarbonates of alkali and alkaline earth metals, for example, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and mixtures thereof.
Relatively weak alkaline material are preferred, for example, the carbonates.
Thus in accordance with the invention a process is provided by which paper can be deacidified in a simple way.
This process may include holding an acidic paper sheet to be treated in close contact under mechanical pressure with a sheet of paper containing calcium or magnesium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate. The moisture content both in the acidic paper sheet to be treated and in the contacting paper sheet are made sufficiently high, by using an adequately high relative humidity to allow the migration of ions across the region of contact between the two sheets.
The time taken for migration to be essentially complete depends on the moisture content of the paper, the higher the humidity the more rapid the change. The time also depends upon the pressure under which the sheets are pressed together, the higher the pressure the faster the change.
Alternatively the same effect may be achieved by dusting the paper with the alkaline solid, for example, calcium or magnesium carbonate. Neutralization of the sheet is achieved with the passage of time, depending on the moisture content of the sheet.
Completion of the deacidification is determined from the measurement of the pH of the treated paper, for example by interleaving samples of pH indicator paper, in contact with the paper being treated, but out of contact with the alkaline sheet or by using a pH indicator pen.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
i) Deacidification
The deacidification process of the invention can be carried out in a number of ways.
One book deacidification procedure of this invention would consist of humidifying the book to a high humidity, and inserting between the pages, sheets of paper containing calcium carbonate also at a high humidity. Sheets can be placed between every page, or less frequently, depending on the acceptable length of the treatment. The book would be closed under mechanical pressure and the humidity maintained until deacidified as indicated by non-destructive tests such as indicator papers placed between the pages of the book. It is a part of this invention that while the time taken to achieve deacidification may vary from book to book and according to the relative humidity chosen, there is no danger to the book of over treatment. Once an equilibrium has been reached the book can rest safely almost indefinitely. After treatment the calcium carbonate loaded sheets can be removed and the book returned to use.
In an alternative procedure, the book may be treated at ambient air humidity, but using calcium carbonate loaded sheets conditioned to a very high humidity and rapidly interleaved between its pages. The book may then be sealed in a plastic bag and held under mechanical pressure. The moisture in the carbonate sheet redistributes throughout the book, bringing the book to a moisture content high enough for migration of the ions to occur.
In an alternative procedure, the book is simply interleaved with thin sheets containing calcium or magnesium carbonate and placed in storage under mechanical pressure. This mechanical pressure may be the pressure resulting from the weight of adjacent pages, or books. This procedure is suitable for collections of books or documents in environments that naturally experience very high humidities. Again completion of deacidification can be estimated by measurement of pH by for example, inspection of indicator papers interleaved in the book.
In an alternative procedure the humidified book is dusted with a cloud of dry particulate calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, or sodium bicarbonate, closed and stored pressed, under mechanical pressure, as before.
Loose paper sheets may be treated in a manner similar to that described for books.
It is considered important in conservation science to ensure that not only is deacidification achieved but that an acid neutralizing reserve is introduced. While this may be achieved by dusting of acid neutralizing material onto the sheet only a small reserve will be transferred by contact with carbonate-containing paper. A method of providing this reserve is to insert some carbonate-containing sheets permanently into a book.
A sheet of acid paper generally requires of the order of 0.1-1% by weight of calcium carbonate to neutralize it. Since calcium carbonate containing papers are readily made with a carbonate filler content of 20% or even higher, each sheet is capable of deacidifying many pages. The calcium carbonate sheets may therefore either be placed infrequently in the book, or if placed frequently, may be used many times. When exhausted they can be recycled as clean white waste.
A major advantage of the process over earlier processes is the use of totally innocuous or benign materials and conditions. The risk of damage to the book is negligible and this is an important aspect for rare and valuable books. The work can be carried out by workers not specifically trained in handling chemicals. In addition paper containing calcium carbonate is widely available, and inexpensive.
The humidity employed in the process of the invention is preferably at least 75%, more preferably greater than 90%, and most preferably about 97%.
The mechanical pressure is preferably at least 0.1 psi, more preferably at least 1 psi, still more preferably at least 10 psi and most preferably at least 50 psi. It will be understood that the mechanical pressure should not be so high as to damage fragile or aged papers.
It is probable that migration of ions across the interface between papers is facilitated by the formation of a continuous pathway resulting from the condensation of water in small capillaries at the contact regions, in accordance with the Kelvin equation:
RT ln (P/P°)=2γV/r
in which P° is the normal vapor pressure of the liquid, P is the vapor pressure over a curved surface, T is the temperature, V is the molar volume of water, r is the radius of the curved surface, and γ is the surface tension.
The alkaline solid should be present in an amount of at least 0.1% , by weight, and generally at least 0.1 to 1%, by weight, of the deacidifying paper sheet, to effect deacidification. Of course, the deacidifying paper sheet may contain much higher amounts of the alkaline solid, such that it can be subjected to repeated use.
ii) Measurement of Deacidification
The progress of deacidification is evaluated in the following way. A sample of paper is dispersed in deionized water and the pH of the paper is measured according to the standard test of TAPPI (T 509 OM-88). Solid sodium chloride is then added so as to raise the average concentration of the liquor to 0.1 molar and the pH is remeasured (hereafter referred to as the "salt pH"). The acid content of the paper is then measured by titration of the same suspension with 0.01 molar sodium hydroxide. The amount of alkali required to reach pH 7.5 is used to calculate the acid content of the paper in the units of milliequivalents per kilogram of dry paper. On occasion the surface pH of a paper is measured using the TAPPI test (T 529 OM-88) but using 0.1M sodium chloride instead of deionized water. However, even in the presence of salt, this measurement reads somewhat high and less reproducibly than the other tests-probably due to inadequate mixing of the liquid with the fibres. Nevertheless, it is a non-destructive test and is therefore frequently used by conservationists.
The presence of a neutral salt, such as sodium chloride as described above, is essential for accurate evaluation of the acidity of cellulosic fibres. In aqueous suspensions of fibres of low ionic strength, the hydrogen ions are much more concentrated inside the fibre walls than in the external liquor and the pH of the suspension as measured in the external liquor is erroneously high as a measure of the total acid present. The addition of sufficient salt makes the hydrogen ions more evenly distributed between the fibre walls and the external solution and this, in turn, leads to a realistic evaluation of acid content as determined by pH measurement and by titration. The use of salt in titrations of cellulose fibres was first suggested by Neale and Stringfellow in "The Determination of the Carboxylic Acid Group in Oxycelluloses", and it has been subsequently adopted by most workers. The importance of salt during titration or pH measurement is still not appreciated by all workers on the conservation of papers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 demonstrates graphically the effect of relative humidity on the deacidification of handsheets of unbleached kraft pulp (1 psi, 2 side contact).
FIG. 2 demonstrates graphically the effect of pressure on the deacidification of handsheets of unbleached kraft pulp (RH 97%, 2 side contact).
FIG. 3 demonstrates graphically the deacidification of a pile of three sheets of newsprint by one alkaline sheet (RH 97%, 50 psi).
FIG. 4 demonstrates graphically the deacidification of a pile of three handsheets of unbleached kraft pulp by one alkaline sheet (RH 97%, 50 psi).
FIG. 5 demonstrates graphically the deacidification of handsheets of unbleached kraft pulp by alkaline sheets to which small amounts of various salts have been added (RH 85%, 1 psi, 2 side contact).
FIG. 6 demonstrates graphically the loss of folding strength under accelerated ageing conditions of samples of newsprint before and after deacidification.
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE 1
A red litmus paper was placed in contact with a paper containing calcium carbonate filler and held under a pressure of 10 psi. Both papers had previously been conditioned at a relative humidity of 85% and this humidity was maintained. In one day the red litmus paper turned blue indicating its deacidification by ions originating from the alkaline sheet.
EXAMPLE 2
Example 1 was repeated except that the relative humidity was 50%. The litmus paper failed to turn blue even after two months demonstrating the very strong effect of relative humidity on the time needed to achieve deacidification.
EXAMPLE 3
Piles of sheets were constructed consisting of a handsheet of unbleached kraft pulp sandwiched between two sheets of commercial paper containing 20% calcium carbonate. All sheets in any given pile had previously been conditioned at a certain humidity and this humidity was maintained by confining each pile to a sealed plastic bag. The piles were then pressed at 1 psi. At various times, sheets were removed from the piles and were titrated by the procedure already described. The original acid content was 46 meq/kg and FIG. 1 shows in a quantitative manner the fraction to which this acid content was reduced at various humidities. The rate of deacidification is slow at 50%--a barely resolvable decrease in acid content being observed in 30 days. The rate is however increased as the humidity is raised especially to humidities in excess of 75%. At 97% RH, the residual acid content was 10% after 15 days and 0% after 40 days.
EXAMPLE 4
Piles of sheets were constructed as described in the previous example except that the humidity of all piles was 97% and the pressure was varied from pile to pile within the range of 0.01 to 50 psi. The rate of deacidification was evaluated as in the previous example and found to be very dependent on pressure. The results are shown in FIG. 2. The original acid content of 46 meq/kg was reduced to 10% of this value after 2 days at 50 psi, after 10 days at 10psi and after 15 days at 1 psi. At these same times, the salt pH had risen from 4.0 to over 6.0 in all cases. At the other extreme, at 0.01 psi the acid content was still 70% of the original value after 30 days.
EXAMPLE 5
Piles of sheets were constructed consisting of three sheets of commercial newsprint above one sheet of commercial paper containing 20% calcium carbonate. These had previously been conditioned at 97% relative humidity and this humidity was maintained by confining the piles to sealed plastic bags while the piles were pressed at 50 psi. Piles were removed from the pressure at various times and the acidic sheets were evaluated by the described techniques. The results are shown in FIG. 3. The initial acid content was 66 meq/kg. After one day, the sheets were (in order of closeness to the alkaline sheet) 12, 23 and 29 meq/kg in acid content. After 4 days, all sheets had acid contents of about 10 meq/kg and a salt pH of about 6.3. This example demonstrates that the alkaline sheets in our process need not necessarily be placed alternately in a paper document but may, for example, be inserted after every six pages. Clearly, if the alkaline sheets are placed less frequently, deacidification of all the sheets will take longer.
EXAMPLE 6
Example 5 was repeated using handsheets of unbleached kraft with an initial acid content of 46 meq/kg. As shown in FIG. 4, the sheets deacidified in a manner similar to those of Example 4 but it took 10 days rather than 4 days for the three sheets to deacidify to the same extent. This example confirms the applicability of the process features suggested in Example 5 to other kinds of paper but illustrates that times of treatment will vary somewhat from paper to paper.
EXAMPLE 7
Sheets of a commercial coated newsprint and handsheets of chemi-thermomechanical pulp were treated by the deacidification process described in Example 5. Along with the newsprint of Example 5, surface pH was measured, before treatment, immediately after treatment, and two months after treatment, the results are shown in Table I below.
The results further confirm wide applicability of the treatment and demonstrate that, unlike the results obtained by Barrow, see above, using ammonia for neutralization, the deacidification is stable after two months storage of the treated samples at room humidity.
TABLE I______________________________________Test of the permanence of the deacidification treatment News- Coated CTMP print Newsprint Handsheets______________________________________Surface pH (initial) 4.7 4.7 3.8Surface pH (after 7.0 7.6 7.2treatment)Surface pH (two 7.1 7.3 7.1months aftercompletion oftreatment)______________________________________
EXAMPLE 8
Piles of sheets were prepared, each pile consisting of a handsheet of unbleached kraft pulp sandwiched between two sheets of commercial paper containing 20% calcium carbonate. Prior to setting up the piles, the alkaline sheets were dipped in a solution of a salt and were then blotted, a treatment estimated to put 100 meq/kg of salt into each sheet, and dried. These sheets and the kraft sheets were then conditioned at 85% relative humidity and this humidity was maintained by confining each pile to a sealed plastic bag. The piles were then pressed at a pressure of 1 psi. At various times sheets were removed from the piles and the progress of deacidification evaluated. The results given in FIG. 5 show that deacidification (relatively slow at 1 psi and 85% relative humidity in the example given) can be speeded up by the addition of electrolytes and soluble alkalies to the treatment sheets.
EXAMPLE 9
Pile of sheets was constructed of two sheets of commercial newsprint between two sheets of paper containing 20% calcium carbonate. All sheets were previously conditions to 97% relative humidity and this humidity was maintained while the sheets were pressed at 2 psi. The colour change of pH indicator papers interleaved between the two newsprint sheets (this is a simple way of monitoring the process) showed substantial deacidification after 12 days. The salt pH was subsequently measured and found to have risen from 4.0 to 6.2.
Untreated and treated newsprint were then subjected to 20 days of accelerated ageing by exposure to an atmosphere at 80 deg C and a relative humidity of 75%. Various paper properties were measured and found to show that improved permanence had resulted from the deacidification. FIG. 6, for example, shows that the folding strength of the treated paper deteriorated at a much lower rate than that of the untreated paper.
EXAMPLE 10
The deacidification treatment of Example 9 was repeated by inserting carbonate sheets in a paperback book after every two pages. The pages of the book, published in 1962, had a salt pH of 3.7. After 8 weeks at a relative humidity of 97% and under a pressure of 2psi, the salt pH was found to be 6.9.
EXAMPLE 11
A deacidification of pages from a second paperback book was carried out by alternating the pages with sheets of commercial paper containing 20% calcium carbonate. All sheets had previously been conditioned at 97% RH and this humidity was maintained while the pile was pressed at 50 psi. Sheets were removed and evaluated at various times. The pages of the book (published in 1971) had an initial acid content of 109 meq/kg and a salt pH of 4.0. After one day the acid content had dropped to 30 meq/kg and the salt pH had risen to 6.1. After 15 days, the acid content was 5 meq/kg and the salt pH was 7.1.
EXAMPLE 12
Samples of the unbleached kraft paper deacidified by contact with a commercial paper containing calcium carbonate and added calcium chloride as described in Example 8 were analysed for sodium and calcium ions. As shown in Table II, below, deacidification was accompanied by an increase in the concentration of calcium ions thus demonstrating the migration of ions from one sheet of paper to another.
TABLE II______________________________________Demonstration of the movement of calcium ionsduring deacidification.Time Hydrogen Ions Calcium Ions Sodium IonsDays meq/kg meq/kg meq/kg______________________________________ 0 44 17 18 2 41 22 20 6 37 29 2014 30 52 1931 27 72 1842 19 94 16______________________________________
EXAMPLE 13
A pile of sheets was constructed consisting of acidic unbleached kraft handsheets alternating with unbleached kraft handsheets containing 8% magnesium carbonate as a filler. The sheets were previously conditioned at 97% RH and this humidity was maintained while the sheets were pressed at 1 psi. The acid content of the unfilled sheets was reduced from 38 meq/kg to 0.4 meq/kg after 10 days contact thus indicating the effectiveness of magnesium carbonate sheets in bringing about deacidification.
EXAMPLE 14
The upper surface of a sheet of newsprint with a surface pH of 4.7 was dusted with precipitated calcium carbonate and was then covered with a second sheet of newsprint. A pH indicator paper was placed above this pile and a second one was placed below. The materials had previously been conditioned at 97% RH and this was maintained while the pile was pressed at 10 psi. The indicator papers indicated an acid pH after 24 hours but changed colour after 3 days indicating an alkaline pH. This example demonstates that, in addition to alkaline sheets, alkaline powders may be used to bring about deacidification.
EXAMPLE 15
The experiment of Example 14 was repeated using powdered sodium bicarbonate in place of calcium carbonate. The indicator paper turned alkaline after twenty-four hours.
EXAMPLE 16
The experiment of Example 14 was repeated but using three sheets of newsprint on each side of the calcium carbonate powder. The indicator paper turned to an alkaline pH after 5 days. The sandwich was dismantled and the salt pH of the outer layer of newsprint was measured at 6.6. | Acidic papers, books, and other sheets of cellulosic material may be deacidified and so given a prolonged life by bringing the papers, books, or other sheets of cellulosic material to be treated in intimate contact with a source of solid alkali such as calcium carbonate filled paper, at an elevated humidity and under mechanical pressure for a period long enough to produce deacidification; the process differs from other processes in that it is carried out in the solid state without the use of liquid or gaseous reactants. | 3 |
GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, sold, imported, and licensed by or for the Government of the United States of America without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a method of measuring small changes in mass using quartz crystal microbalances and more particularly to a method which calculates a change in mass from a combination of the changes in a mass sensing frequency and a temperature sensing frequency.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Quartz crystal microbalances used to sense small mass changes are well known in the prior art. Typical microbalances based on quartz technology are described in a treatise by C. Lu and A. W. Czanderna, Applications of Piezoelectric Ouartz Microbalances, Elsevier, (1984). Microbalances are usually used to sense changes in mass during thin film and vapor deposition fabrication of solid-state electronic devices to ensure that such devices are fabricated according to specified tolerances. Microbalances are also used to sense absorbates and warn of chemical contamination.
A microbalance typically consists of an AT-cut or BT-cut crystal resonator. Mass added to or removed from the resonator results in a frequency change. The change in mass can be calculated from this frequency change. For small changes in mass, the frequency change is linearly proportional to the change in mass, provided that the temperature remains constant during deposition.
Although the frequency of a quartz crystal resonator is highly sensitive to changes in mass, it is also sensitive to changes in temperature. Thus, the frequency change measured by a microbalance is effected by both changes in mass and temperature. Resonators used in conventional microbalances, such as those employing an AT-cut, have a zero temperature coefficient at only two temperatures called the "turnover temperatures." Consequently, the further away the operating temperature of a microbalance is from the nearest turnover temperature, the more sensitive is the microbalance to temperature changes, i.e., the larger is the uncertainty in the mass change indicated by the microbalance.
Conventional methods used to control the effects of temperature on a microbalance include: 1) controlling the temperature of the crystal by cooling it; 2) attaching a thermocouple to the crystal to measure the frequency vs. temperature characteristics and then compensating for the temperature effects; 3) using two identical crystals, one of which is exposed to mass changes, the other of which is not; 4) forming two resonators on one crystal plate and exposing only one of them to the mass change; 5) using multiple resonators to allow compensation for different quantities, such as mass, temperature, stress, etc.; and 6) using an "electrode-tab" resonator, on which at least one additional single electrode, the "tab", is deposited with the additional mass only being deposited on the tab. All of these methods suffer from the drawbacks of being cumbersome and inaccurate. For example, the sixth method listed has the disadvantage of a mass range limitation. Moreover, the electrode-tab microbalance is not easily reproduced because the slight differences in the electrode-gap-tab geometries may particularly effect the mass dependence of the resonant frequencies. Therefore, the mass coefficients obtained from earlier calibrations may differ from later ones. Further, with all these methods it is very difficult to determine the temperature of the crystal itself because all these methods require a separate determination of the temperature of the crystal which requires measuring the temperature where the temperature sensor is mounted at some distance from the crystal. Since it is nearly impossible to avoid spatial temperature variations, especially at higher temperatures, the observed temperature generally differs from the temperature of the crystal. Chapter 5 of the treatise by C. Lu and A. W. Czanderna, Applications of Piezoelectric Quartz Micro-balances, Elsevier, (1984), cited above, discusses various ways prior art devices have attempted to solve the temperature dependency of microbalances based on quartz crystal technology.
Accordingly, in the microbalance art, there exists a need to eliminate this temperature dependency problem. This invention addresses such a need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved method for sensing mass changes using a quartz crystal microbalance which can automatically compensate for variations in ambient temperature without effecting the accuracy of the microbalance.
Specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a mass sensor that is insensitive to temperature changes and that is easily manufactured with methods known in the art.
This is accomplished by forming a quartz crystal resonator which can be excited in two different modes at the same time such that the mass change and the temperature change can be measured independently. This can be done, for example, by selecting a doubly rotated quartz crystal cut such as an SC-cut. The SC-cut crystal may be excited simultaneously on a b-mode and a c-mode, the b-mode being highly sensitive to temperature and the c-mode being temperature compensated. Alternatively, the SC-cut crystal may be excited on the fundamental mode and third overtone, and a temperature sensitive beat frequency can be derived from these two modes by subtracting three times the fundamental mode frequency from the third overtone frequency, or by subtracting one third of the third overtone frequency from the fundamental mode frequency. The frequencies of both the b-mode and the beat frequency derived from the two c-modes are monotonic and nearly linear functions of temperature. Therefore, these can be used to sense changes in temperature of the microbalance. In using such a method, the change in frequency due to mass loading and temperature changes can be easily calculated from the changes in mass sensing frequency and a temperature sensing frequency in real time. Thus the microbalance can accurately sense mass changes, without the interfering effects of the temperature induced frequency changes which occur in conventional microbalances.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the invention will be better understood in view of the following Detailed Description of the Invention and the attached figure wherein:
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a quartz crystal microbalance used according to the method of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown an exemplary embodiment of microbalance 10 used according to the method of this invention. Microbalance 10 is preferably an SC-cut quartz crystal 11 having a front electrode 12, a back electrode 13, and an electrical connection 14. Although an SC-cut quartz crystal is the preferred material and cut, other materials and cuts may be used according to the present invention, the only requirements being that the crystal can be excited in two modes simultaneously and that the temperature and mass change sensitivities be known. Those skilled in the art will be able to design any such crystal microbalance given the following description.
Two methods of simultaneously exciting a resonator on two modes in a dual mode oscillator are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,765 issued to Schodowski on Oct. 10, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,280 issued to Kusters et al in March 1978, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. These methods provide a temperature sensing device which is useful in stabilizing the output frequency of the oscillator.
The benefits of using an SC-cut quartz crystal are described below. An SC-cut quartz crystal 11 has mechanical resonances of the thickness-shear vibrational modes near those frequencies that satisfy:
f.sub.N =Nv/(2t) (1)
where N=1,3,5, . . . , v is the velocity of sound in the thickness direction, and t is the thickness of crystal 11. These resonance frequencies can be measured through appropriate passive or active RF excitation provided via electrical connection 14. Since both v and t are sensitive to temperature and mass change, it follows that the resonant frequencies are sensitive to these parameters. In addition, v is also a function of the acoustic mode polarization, i.e., the direction of particle motion.
Employing the method of the present invention, microbalance 10 utilizes two different frequencies to measure changes in mass. The mass sensing frequency is represented by f m , the temperature sensing frequency is represented by f t , a, b, c and d are appropriate coefficients, Δf m and Δf t are the changes in f m and f t respectively, and Δm and ΔT are small changes in the microbalance's mass and temperature, respectively. Then, for small changes in mass and temperature:
Δf.sub.m =aΔm+bΔT (2)
and
Δf.sub.t =cΔm+dΔT (3).
It therefore follows that: ##EQU1## For larger changes in mass and temperature, higher order approximations must be used to relate said changes to frequency changes. Equations (6) and (7) become nonlinear for large changes in temperature and mass. However, since microbalance 10 can include a microprocessor, even large changes in temperature and mass, and thus nonlinear equations can be solved accurately.
The mass change coefficients a and c are well known and remain constant for a given resonator design. The temperature coefficients b and d must be obtained for each resonator during a frequency vs. temperature calibration measurement, although the d coefficient remains fairly constant for a given design. Calibrating f m in terms of f t instead of T also allows more accurate measurements as f t can be measured much more accurately than can T. As mass accumulates on the resonator, this increase in mass can affect the calibration of the resonator thereby requiring compensation or periodic recalibration in order to ensure the most accurate measurements possible.
The values of f m and f t should be recorded immediately before and after a mass deposition. Recording the two frequencies during deposition is also desirable as it allows more accurate curve fitting.
To obtain the best results, the method which is the subject of this invention is preferably performed using a stress compensation cut (SC-cut) resonator excited on the fundamental and third overtone c-mode frequencies. The f m can be either of the c-mode frequencies, and the f t , can be the beat frequency obtained from the third overtone frequency minus three times the fundamental mode frequency. This beat frequency is a monotonic and nearly linear function of temperature, the frequency vs. temperature slope of which is typically about 80 parts per million per °C. A suitable SC-cut crystal to use is a 10 MHz third overtone, with a crystal plate diameter of 14 millimeters and a contour of 2.5 to 3.0 diopters. The SC-cut resonator is more resistant to thermal shock, and to the stress effects from electrodes, mounting and acceleration than are the more common AT and BT-cut resonators. The SC-cut is a doubly-rotated cut whereas both the AT-cut and the BT-cut are singly-rotated cuts. The use of the second rotation of the quartz resonator provides an additional degree of freedom so that stress effects can be minimized along with the temperature effects. There are temperature effects at the resonant frequency of the SC-cut which are similar to the behavior found in resonators having an AT-cut or BT-cut. However, the second rotation of the resonator has been chosen to also minimize frequency shifts caused by some important types of stresses. The absence of frequency shifts induced by thermal shock offers an important advantage of the SC-cut over the AT-cut or BT-cut and permits certain microbalance experiments to be performed that can not be performed using the AT-cut or BT-cut without unacceptable interpretive ambiguity due to transient frequency shifts.
It will be understood that the method as described herein is merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications to the described embodiment utilizing functionally equivalent elements to those described. Any variations or modifications to the invention just described are intended to be included within the scope of said invention as defined by the appended claims. | A quartz crystal resonator is excited in two different modes at the same time such that the mass change and the temperature change can be measured independently. In using such a quartz crystal the change in mass can be calculated accurately and in real time, independent of temperature effects. | 8 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/132,388 filed on May 4, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of packaging for respiring or biochemically active agricultural products such as fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, and flowers (herein referred to collectively as fresh produce) and more particularly to registered microperforations in packaging materials for use in modifying or controlling the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and/out of a fresh produce container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The quality and shelf life of many food products is enhanced by enclosing them in packaging that modifies or controls the atmosphere surrounding the product. Increased quality and longer shelf life result in fresher products for the consumer, less waste from spoiled produce, better inventory control, and appreciable overall savings for the food industry at both the retail and wholesale levels.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere packaging (CAP) are often used interchangeably in the industry, and much confusion exists on their exact meanings. Both refer to methods to control the atmosphere in the package. In the processed foods area, MAP is considered a static method for controlling the atmosphere whereby an initial charge of a specific gas composition, e.g. 30% CO 2 and 70% N 2 , is introduced into a barrier container before sealing.
The oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of a film is expressed as cc O 2 /m 2 -day-atmosphere, where one atmosphere is 101325 kg/ms 2 . Generally, a barrier container is one that has an OTR of <70 cc/m 2 -day-atm. The units describing the flow of a particular gas through a film are “flux”, expressed as cc/day-atm.
For fresh produce, the primary means to extend quality and shelf life is temperature control. However, more than 50 years of evidence from industry practices on bulk storage of fresh fruits and vegetables in refrigerated controlled atmosphere storage rooms has shown that atmosphere control can contribute greatly to quality retention and shelf life. The use of MAP/CAP for fresh produce was a natural progression once packaging technology had advanced to include the production of non-barrier (often referred to in the industry as “breathable”) materials.
The goal in fresh fruit and vegetable packaging is to use MAP/CAP to preserve produce quality by reducing the aerobic respiration rate but avoiding anaerobic processes that lead to adverse changes in texture, flavor, and aroma, as well as an increased public health concern. Aerobic respiration can be defined by the following equation:
(CH 2 O)n+nO 2 →nCO 2 +nH 2 O+heat
where O 2 from the air is used to metabolize carbohydrate ((CH 2 O)n) reserves and in the process, CO 2 , and H 2 O are produced and heat is generated. For each respiring item, there is an optimum O 2 and CO 2 level that will reduce its respiration rate and thereby, slow aging and degradative processes. Different fresh produce items have different respiration rates and different optimum atmospheres for extending quality and shelf life.
The concept of passive MAP became common with the development of packaging materials with OTRs of 1085 to 7000 cc/m 2 -day-atm for fresh-cut salads. In passive MAP, the produce is sealed in packages made from these low barrier materials and allowed to establish its own atmosphere over time through produce respiration processes. Sometimes the package is gas-flushed with N 2 or a combination of CO 2 and N 2 , or O 2 , CO 2 , and N 2 before sealing to rapidly establish the desired gas composition inside the package. Alternately, a portion of the air may be removed from the pack, either by deflation or evacuation, before the package is sealed, to facilitate rapid establishment of the desired gas content.
In CAP, the atmosphere in the package is controlled at well-defined levels throughout storage. CAP can take many forms, and may even involve enclosing gas absorber packets inside processed food barrier packages. For example, CO 2 absorber sachets may be sealed inside coffee containers to absorb and control the level of CO 2 that continues to be generated by the ground coffee. Sachets containing iron oxides are enclosed in barrier packages of fresh refrigerated pasta to absorb low levels of O 2 entering the package through the plastic material.
CAP of fresh produce is just a more controlled version of MAP. It involves a precise matching of packaging material gas transmission rates with the respiration rates of the produce. For example, many fresh-cut salad packages use passive MAP as described herein. If the packages are temperature-abused (stored at 6-10° C. or higher), O 2 levels diminish to less than 1%, and CO 2 levels can exceed 20%. If these temperature-abused packages are then placed back into recommended 3-4° C. storage, the packaging material gas transmission rates may not be high enough to establish an aerobic atmosphere (<20% CO 2 , >1-2% O 2 ) so fermentation reactions cause off-odors, off-flavors, and slimy product. If the salad was in a CAP package, the O 2 levels would decrease and CO 2 levels increase with temperature abuse, but would be re-established to desired levels within a short time after the product is returned to 4° C. storage temperatures.
Today, films made from polymer blends, coextrusions, and laminate materials with OTRs of 1085 to 14,000 cc/100 m 2 -day-atm are being used for packaging various weights of low respiring produce items like lettuce and cabbage. These OTRs, however, are much too low to preserve the fresh quality of high respiring produce like broccoli, mushrooms, and asparagus. In addition, existing packaging material OTRs for bulk quantities (>1 kg) of some low respiring produce are not high enough to prevent sensory quality changes during storage. Therefore, several approaches have been patented describing methods to produce packaging materials to accommodate the higher respiration rate requirements and higher weights of a wide variety of fresh produce items.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,875, U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,703, U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,032, U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,078, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,650 describe the use of a breathable microporous patch placed over a opening in an essentially impermeable fresh produce container to control the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and out of the container during storage. Although this method works effectively, the breathable patch must be produced by normal plastic extrusion and orientation processes, whereby, a highly filled, molten plastic is extruded onto a chill roll and oriented in the machine direction using a series of rolls that decrease the thickness of the web. During orientation, micropores are created in the film at the site of the filler particles. Next, the microporous film must be converted into pressure sensitive adhesive patches or heat-seal coated patches using narrow web printing presses that apply a pattern of adhesive over the microporous web and die-cut the film into individual patches on a roll. These processes make the cost of each patch too expensive for the wide spread use of this technology in the marketplace. In addition, the food packer has to apply the adhesive-coated breathable patch over a hole made in the primary packaging material (bag or lidding film) during the food packaging operation. To do this, the packer must purchase hole-punching and label application equipment to install on each packaging equipment line. These extra steps not only increase packaging equipment costs, but also greatly reduce packaging speeds, increase packaging material waste, and therefore, increase total packaging costs.
An alternative to microporous patches for MAP/CAP of fresh fruits and vegetables is to microperforate polymeric packaging materials. Various methods can be used to microperforate packaging materials: cold or hot needle mechanical punches, electric spark and lasers. Mechanical punches are slow and often produce numerous large perforations (1 mm or larger) throughout the surface area of the packaging material, making it unlikely that the atmosphere inside the package will be modified below ambient air conditions (20.9% O 2 , 0.03% CO 2 ).
Equipment for spark perforation of packaging materials is not practical for most plastic converting operations, because the packaging material must be submerged in either an oil or a water bath while the electrical pulses are generated to microperforate the material. The most efficient and practical method for making microperforated packaging materials is using lasers.
UK Patent Application No. 2 200 618 A and European Patent Application No. 88301303.9 describe the use of a mechanical perforating method to make perforations with diameters of 0.25 mm to 60 mm in PVC films for produce packaging. Rods with pins embedded into the surface of the cylinder are used to punch holes in the film. For each produce item to be packaged, the rod/pin configuration is manually changed so that the number of perforation rows in the film, the distance apart of the rows, the pitch of the pins used to make the holes, and the size of the holes are adjusted to meet the specific requirements of the produce. The produce requirements are determined by laboratory testing produce packed in a variety of perforated films. The invention does not disclose any mathematical method to determine the appropriate size or number of perforations to use with different produce items. In addition, the hole sizes, 20 mm to 60 mm, that are claimed would be too large to effectively control the atmosphere inside packages containing less than several kilograms of produce. Furthermore, the complicated perforation method would cause lost package production time due to equipment (perforation cylinder) change-overs for different perforation patterns. In addition the invention cautions that the produce should be placed in the package so that the perforations are not occluded and care should be taken to prevent taping over the perforations in the film. Since the perforations are not registered in a small area on the package, but are placed throughout the main body of the plastic film, the likelihood is high that perforations will be occluded by the produce inside the package or by pressure sensitive adhesive labels applied on packages for marketing purposes. When holes are blocked, the principal route for gas transmission through the film is blocked which leads to anaerobic conditions and fermentative reactions. The result is poor sensory properties, reduced shelf life and possible microbiological safety concerns. Therefore, it is important that perforations be registered in a well-defined area of the package where the likelihood of their occlusion during pack-out, storage, transportation, and retail display is minimized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,699, UK Patent Application 2 221 692 A, and European Patent Application 0 351 116 describe a method of packaging plant material using perforated polymer films having 10 to 1000 perforations per m 2 (1550 in 2 ) with mean diameters of 40 to 60 microns but not greater than 100 microns. The patents recommend the use of lasers for creating the perforations, but do not describe the equipment or processes necessary to accomplish this task. The patents describe the limits of the gas transmission rates of the perforated film: OTR no greater than 200,000 cc/ m 2 -day-atm (12,903 cc O 2 /100 in 2 -day-atm), and MVTR no greater than 800 g /m 2 -day-atm (51.6 g /100 in 2 -day-atm). However, the OTR of a film does not define the total O 2 Flux (cc O 2 /day-atm) needed by a fresh produce package to maintain a desired O 2 and CO 2 internal atmosphere based on the respiration rate of the specific produce item, the weight of the produce enclosed in the package, the surface area of the package, and the storage temperature. A 50-micron perforation has a very small surface area (1.96×10 −9 m 2 ) and a low O 2 Flux (about 80 cc/day-atm) compared to its very high OTR (>200,000 cc O 2 /m 2 -day-atm). Therefore, one 50-micron perforation would exceed the OTR limit of this invention. Furthermore, fresh produce items such as fresh spinach are very susceptible to moisture that accumulates inside packages so produce weights greater than 0.5 kg require 2-3 times more moisture vapor transmission than the upper limit described in this patent.
The above inventions do not address the issue of microperforation occlusion by produce inside the package when microperforations are placed throughout the length and width of the film. Since 20 to 100 micron holes cannot be readily seen with the naked eye, it is impossible to prevent occlusion of the microperforations either by the produce or by adhesive labels applied to the packages when microperforations are placed across and along the entire film. Finally, the size and location of the microperforations in the film also makes it impossible for the packaging user to quickly inspect the films for consistency of perforation size and number. These deficiencies have been roadblocks in the wide spread commercialization of films made according to this invention.
As indicated, the current practices of producing microperforated materials for modifying or controlling the atmosphere inside fresh produce packages are not satisfactory. There is a need for packaging in which the microperforations are registered in a small identifiable area that will not be blocked by adhesive labels or adjacent packages during package stacking or handling. The fresh produce should be placed in a product-specific package where the microperforation size, location, and number of microperforations are optimally selected to obtain the desired film gas transmission rates and gas flux for maintaining the quality of that specific produce item. In addition, a method is needed for accurately predicting the size and number of microperforations required by a particular weight of respiring produce at a specified temperature to maintain a pre-selected atmosphere inside the package during storage. And, there needs to be a cost-effective method of manufacturing microperforated packaging materials according to the requirements of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a registered microperforated polymeric packaging material with the microperforations situated in well-defined target areas of the packaging material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means of calculating gas transmission requirements of respiring foods contained in registered microperforated polymeric packaging materials with microperforations having specific size, shape, location, and number in order to optimize the shelf life and quality of respiring foods.
A further object is to provide a packaging system, wherein registered microperforated polymeric packaging materials wherein specific size, type and location of the microperforations is matched to specific characteristics of respiring fresh produce to optimize storage life.
Another object of the invention is the method of manufacturing registered microperforated polymeric packaging materials, using a laser mounted above a stationary or moving polymer film web. The web-handling equipment can be a bagmaking machine, a slitter/rewinder, a printing press, a stand-alone web stopper, or a thermoforming unit. The system of the present invention employs a photoelectric sensor or other electrical means to signal the laser to ensure the microperforations are placed in a small identifiable area on the polymer web. There is a system controller, either a PLC (programmable logic controller), a PC (personal computer) or a combination of both, that takes the input from the sensor or other electrical signal and commands the laser to fire. The controller may also control the moving web.
This invention is directed to the specification, production, and use of product-specific, registered microperforated polymeric packaging materials selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, polystyrene, styrene butadiene copolymers, cellophane, and polyvinyl chloride, in monolayers, coextrusions, or laminates, for extending the quality and shelf life of respiring foods, particularly fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, and fresh flowers, contained within the packaging.
Another object of the invention is a means of calculating the number of microperforations of a preferred size, for example, 120 to 160 microns, specified for the polymer packaging material to maintain pre-selected levels of O 2 , CO 2 , and H 2 O inside packages containing respiring fresh produce. The calculations can establish the optimal number of microperforations required in the packaging material for each microperforation size and shape.
And yet a further object of the invention is to provide a packaging system for the industry, wherein there is a matching of the packaging material gas transmission rates and the respiration rates of the fresh produce to maintain pre-selected atmospheres inside the packages during storage. The packaging is optimized for a particular item, extending the freshness and quality of the produce.
The present invention is an improved packaging for establishing optimal atmospheric conditions for respiring fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, comprising a polymeric material with a set of microperforations in the polymeric material to control the atmosphere within specified O 2 and CO 2 concentrations in the presence of the respiring fresh produce, wherein the set of microperforations are placed in a registered target area on the polymeric material. The improved packaging material can be used to form a bag or a lidding film or a semi-rigid container.
The present invention is susceptible to many variations, including where the polymeric material is a heat-sealable film. Or where the polymeric material is formed into a semi-rigid container with a thickness in the range of 0.025 cm to 0.076 cm. And, where the polymeric material is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, polystyrene, styrene butadiene, cellophane, and polyvinyl chloride, their blends, coextrusions, and laminates.
The present invention also includes a means of calculating the total O 2 Flux (cc O 2 /day-atm) required by a particular product based on produce weight, respiration rate, storage temperature, and desired gas composition inside the package. The total O 2 Flux of the package is satisfied by calculating the O 2 Flux provided by the breathable, non-perforated surface area of the packaging material and determining the size, shape, and number of microperforations required to meet the total O 2 Flux requirements of the package. In the preferred embodiment, the optimal size, shape and number of the set of microperforations for the particular product is used for the registered target area. In most cases, the target area is a small identifiable area in an upper third or quarter of the package. More preferably, the registered microperforations are placed in any area that will not be occluded by produce or other packages during shipping and storage.
Each of the microperforations has a preferred average diameter between 110 and 400 microns, and more preferably 120-160 microns. It is further desired that the polymeric material that is microperforated have a CO 2 transmission rate that is 2.4 to 5.0 times greater than the film OTR, preferably 3.4 to 4 times greater than the film OTR.
The aspects of the present invention include a system of packaging fresh produce comprising the steps of calculating the total O 2 Flux required for a given weight of respiring produce item, package surface area, storage temperature, and a pre-selected O 2 and CO 2 atmosphere. Next, determining an optimal packaging material with a desired CO 2 ,/ O 2 transmission rates wherein the packaging material contains registered microperforations designed for said O 2 Flux, placing the produce in the container derived from the packaging material, and hermetically sealing said container.
A further object of the invention is a microperforated packaging for a given quantity of respiring food produced by the process of calculating the number of microperforations for the given quantity of said respiring food, locating a target area for the microperforations, positioning laser over said target area, and drilling the microperforations in the target area.
Still another object is a microperforation system for making microperforations in a target area of packaging material, comprising a polymeric web, having a laser mounted over the web, a sensor means to identify the target area on the packaging material, and a means to control the laser to drill the microperforations in the target area. Laser drilling software is used to increase efficiency.
The microperforation system can be used on a stationary (stopped) web where the laser beam moves over the packaging material to drill the holes. The laser system is interconnected to a two-axis beam scanner, which directs the laser beam to drill holes in the desired location. Alternatively, the microperforation system can consist of a stationary laser beam and a moving polymer web. The laser is a CO 2 laser in the preferred embodiment. In order to provide registration of perforations, a photoelectric sensor is used to find the eye mark on the polymeric film or an electrical signal from the web-handling equipment is used to signal the laser to fire at a preselected location on the film.
A basic intent of the present invention is to make a system for computing an optimal number and size of microperforations to control a package atmosphere within specified O 2 and CO 2 concentrations. This system also has a means of computing an optimal number of microperforations to control package moisture vapor transmission rates while maintaining pre-selected O 2 and CO 2 concentrations.
An object of the invention is an improved packaging for establishing optimum atmospheric conditions for respiring fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, comprising a polymeric material, a set of microperforations on the polymeric material, wherein the set of microperforations are calculated to control the optimum atmospheric conditions within specified O 2 and CO 2 concentrations for the respiring fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, and wherein the set of microperforations are placed in a registered target area on the polymeric material.
A further object is an improved packaging for establishing optimum atmospheric conditions for respiring fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers wherein the polymeric material is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, polystyrene, styrene butadiene, cellophane, and polyvinyl chloride, in monolayers, coextrusions, and laminates. Furthermore, an improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material is heat-sealable.
Other objects include an improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material has a thickness in the range of 0.4 to 8 mil. An improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material provides a total O 2 Flux ranging from 150 cc/day-atm to 5,000,000 cc/day-atm. An improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material provides a total O 2 Flux ranging from 200 cc/day-atm to 1,500,000 cc/day-atm.
And yet another object of the invention is an improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material forms a bag. Also, an improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material is a heat sealable lidding film. An improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material is formed into a semi-rigid container with a thickness greater than 8 mil.
An object of the invention is an improved packaging material further comprising a means of calculating an optimal number of the set of microperforations in the registered target area. An improved packaging material further comprising a means of calculating an optimal size of the set of registered microperforations. Also including an improved packaging material wherein the registered target area is a small identifiable area in an upper quarter of the package. Further objects include an improved packaging material wherein the registered target area is a small identifiable area in an upper third of the package. An improved packaging material wherein the registered target area is located in an area that prevents occlusion of the microperforations by product or other packages. Additionally, an improved packaging material wherein each of the microperforations has an average diameter between 110 and 400 microns, preferably 120-160 microns. Finally, an improved packaging material wherein the polymeric material has a CO 2 transmission rate that is 2.5 to 5.0 times greater than the O 2 transmission rate, most preferably 3.4 to 4.0 times greater.
Yet a further object is a system of packaging fresh produce comprising the steps of calculating the total oxygen flux of the polymeric material required for a given weight of respiring produce item, package surface area, storage temperature, and a pre-selected O 2 and CO 2 atmosphere, determining an optimal packaging material, wherein the packaging material contains registered microperforations designed for the O 2 and CO 2 transmission, placing the produce in the container derived from the packaging material and closing the container.
An object of the invention is a process of producing a microperforated packaging system for a given quantity of respiring food comprising the steps of selecting a polymeric packaging material for optimal O 2 and CO 2 transmission rates, calculating a number of microperforations required in the packaging material for the given quantity of the respiring food, locating a target area for the microperforations, positioning a laser over the target area, and drilling the microperforations in the target area.
An object includes a microperforation system for making microperforations in a registered target area of packaging material, comprising, a polymeric web, a laser mounted over the web, a sensor means to identify the target area on the packaging material, a means to control the laser to drill the microperforations in the target area. Additionally, a microperforation system wherein the laser is a CO 2 laser. Also, a microperforation system wherein the sensor is selected from the group comprising a through-beam photoelectric sensor and a photoelectric proximity sensor.
And yet another object is a microperforation system wherein the laser is triggered to drill holes in the target area with the target area identified using an electrical signal from the web-handling equipment. And, a microperforation system wherein the web is moving and the laser is stationary. It being understood that the term laser refers to the laser beams eminating from the laser delivery head or similar delivery device, and the laser optical system controls the firing of the laser beams.
A final object of the invention is a microperforation system further comprising a means of computing an optimal number and size of microperforations to control a package atmosphere within specified O 2 and CO 2 concentrations. Also, a microperforation system further comprising a means of computing an optimal number of microperforations to control package moisture vapor transmission rates while maintaining pre-selected O 2 and CO 2 concentrations. A microperforation system wherein the web is stationary and the laser is moving. And also, a microperforation system wherein the laser comprises a two-axis beam scanner mounted over the web.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein only a preferred embodiment of the invention is described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:
FIG. 1 depicts a microperforation system of a stationary film web wherein the moving laser beam drills the microperforations in the target area of what will be a finished bag.
FIG. 2 shows a bag produced by the stationary web microperforation process.
FIG. 3 depicts a microperforation system wherein the stationary laser beam drills the microperforations in the target area of the film as the web is moving.
FIG. 4 shows a bag produced by the moving web microperforation process.
FIG. 5 shows a Type I microperforation with an aspect ratio of 1 to 1.2, and shows Type II microperforations with an aspect ratio >1.2.
FIG. 6 depicts the oxygen and carbon dioxide contents inside 3-lb. packages of broccoli florets sealed in registered microperforated bags having 36, 150-micron perforations. Storage temperature was 4-5° C.
FIG. 7 depicts carbon dioxide content inside 3-lb. packages of broccoli florets sealed in registered microperforated bags having 36, 150-micron perforations with base packaging films having different carbon dioxide transmission rates. Storage temperature was 4-5° C.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the following description, the units applied to terms used in reference to the O 2 , and CO 2 transmission rates of a packaging material, i. e., “OTR and CO 2 TR”, respectively, are expressed as cc/m 2 -day-atmosphere at 25° C., 75% RH. In the pressure units, one atmosphere (atm) is 101,325 kg/ms 2 . The units describing the flow of a particular gas through a packaging material are “flux”, expressed as cc/day-atm. The units applied to moisture vapor transmission (“MVTR”) of a film are expressed as g H 2 O/m 2 -day-atm at 25° C., 75% RH.
As shown in FIG. 1, a CO 2 laser drilling system can be used to drill microperforations in a stopped polymer web (hereafter called “stopped web method”). This is essentially a low speed (50-150 ft/min) method for microperforating packaging materials using lasers mounted over the web-handling equipment. A controller 20 operates with input from the through-beam photoelectric sensor 30 to position the polymer film sheeting or tubing 40 and locate the target area 50 . The polymer film 40 has an eye mark 60 which is detectable by the sensor 30 . Once the eye mark 60 is detected, the registration of the film 40 is determined and the controller 20 sends a signal to the laser/optics power supply 70 which directs the laser beam to the scan head 80 where the laser beam 90 is directed onto the film 40 creating microperforations 100 in a pre-selected array defined by a computer program. The registered microperforated film 40 is then 20 converted into bags using bagmaking machines known to the industry. As an example, a polymer bag 120 with side seals is shown in FIG. 2, and the microperforations 100 are in a specific target area 50 of the bag 120 .
For example, a simple drilling system consists of a 10-watt sealed beam air-cooled CO 2 laser with a controller 20 , a power supply and focusing optics 70 , and a two-axis beam scanner 80 mounted horizontally above the packaging material 40 web on a bagmaking machine, a slitter/rewinder, a print station or a stand-alone web stopper. The horizontal position of the laser system mounted over the web can be adjusted by mechanical or electronic methods so that the laser beam 90 is positioned over the area of the web to be microperforated 50 . The laser system 70 is linked to a controller 20 which is also linked to a photosensor 30 or a mechanical timer on the web-handling equipment. In a preferred embodiment, all components are interfaced to a computer that uses laser drilling software to direct the laser to microperforate the packaging material in a pre-selected array.
Registered microperforations are produced by linking the laser drilling process to a signal from a photosensor 30 mounted on a bagmaking machine, a web stopper, a slitter/rewinder, or a printing press. When the photosensor 30 detects a printed eye mark 60 on the packaging material 40 , this signal is used to direct the controller 20 to fire the laser 70 to drill a specified number of perforations in the packaging material in a pre-determined array, e.g. in 1 cm 2 with 150-micron perforations at each comer of the square, at a specific location on the web. Microperforation arrays 100 are normally positioned near what will become the upper one-quarter or one-third of the bag, as shown in FIG. 2, so when filled packages are placed in case cartons they are not occluded by adjacent packages in the carton. For heat-sealable lidding films used with rigid plastic trays, the perforations 100 are registered in areas of the lid that will not be occluded during stacking.
The photosensor detection process uses a printed eye mark on the packaging material. Photoelectric sensors detect an object when it interrupts the sensing path. For example, the edge of a film is printed with a colored eye mark (a small, solid rectangular bar, usually black in color) at defined locations along the web to designate where microperforations are to be drilled in the film. A photoelectric sensor is mounted on the web-handling equipment. When the sensor beam passes over the eye mark on the film, the eye mark interrupts the beam and therefore, it is sensed by the photoelectric sensor. This beam interruption is detected by the controller which then directs the laser to drill a specified number of perforations in the film directly acoss from the eye mark or at a defined distance from the eyemark in a location where the laser head is positioned above the plastic web. The location of the microperforations from the eye mark can be varied by moving the laser housing, either mechanically or electrically, over the target area of the plastic web.
For other photoelectric sensing modes, it is not necessary to have a printed eye mark to detect the object. In the photoelectric proximity mode, an object is sensed when the sensor's own transmitted energy is reflected back from the object's surface. If there is no object present, this reflection does not occur. Proximity sensors could be used to signal the laser to microperforate semi-rigid plastic trays for fresh produce packaging.
A wide range of polymer materials (monowebs, coextrusions, and laminates), can be microperforated with lasers, including polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polystyrene, styrene butadiene copolymers, nylon, cellophane, or polyvinyl chloride. The preferred drilling method uses CO 2 lasers mounted over stationary or moving polymer webs. Photoelectric sensor methods or other electrical signals can be used to register microperforations in polymer materials. The photoelectric sensor method is accurate and reliable and is the preferred method of this invention.
When the stopped web method is used on a bagmaking machine, the drilling can occur during the heat-sealing portion of the bagmaking cycle, because in this short time span (about 400 msec), the web is essentially stationary. In effect, the web is stopped, an electrical signal from the bagmaking machine timer directs the laser to commence the drilling. Alternatively, a stand alone web stopper can be used to stop the web (using a series of accumulator rolls) for the drilling operation.
From 1 to over 200 microperforations can be drilled into the packaging material during a single stop phase (stopped web method) with the beam scanner perforating in a serpentine pattern to minimize total perforation time. The more holes that are drilled, the longer the drilling operation takes. For most applications 1-100 microperforations are needed with 1-7 msec drilling time for each microperforation. If drilling occurs through two thickness of material at the same time, as would be the case when microperforating plastic tubing, then the number of holes drilled per laser firing doubles.
For the stopped web method that uses a two-axis beam scanner, the microperforations can be drilled in a variety of different patterns or arrays, e.g., straight lines, rectangles, squares, and circles. The most time-efficient method is to place the microperforations in a straight line or square. If microperforations are placed in a square or a rectangular array, the most time-efficient drilling occurs when the laser follows a serpentine pattern. The size of the microperforations is determined by adjusting the laser power (30-100% of the maximum power) and drilling duration.
Higher power and longer duration give larger microperforations than lower power and shorter duration. Preferably, the laser should be set at 70% of maximum power and the duration should be varied to produce the desired perforation size. As the perforation size increases the OTR of the perforation also increases.
Registered microperforations 100 can be drilled in moving packaging material webs, as shown in FIG. 3, using higher power CO 2 lasers. Hereafter this process will be referred to as “microperforating on the fly.” A controller 20 for the moving web receives input from the photoelectric sensor 30 , and controls the power supply 200 to the laser optics. As the polymer film 40 moves through the web-handling equipment, the sensor 30 detects the eye mark 60 , and the signal is communicated to the controller 20 . The controller 20 operates the laser power supply and optics 200 , which, in turn, powers the laser and directs the laser beam to the stationary laser delivery head 210 to drill a specific number of microperforations 100 in the target area 50 . As an example, a polymer bag 120 with side seals is shown in FIG. 4, and the microperforations 100 are in the specific target area 50 of the bag 120 .
The power requirements (25-watt to >700-watt) depend on the speed the web will be traveling, and the composition and the thickness of the materials to be drilled. Faster speeds and thicker packaging materials require higher power lasers than slower speeds and thinner packaging materials. For microperforating on the fly, a stationary laser beam delivery head mounted on a printing press, slitter/rewinder, or bagmaking machine is used to produce a specified number of microperforations, usually one to 50, in a short line, generally 7 cm or less, running in the machine direction of the moving film web. When the photosensor 30 detects a printed eye mark on the packaging material, this signal is used to trigger the laser to drill a specified number of perforations 100 in a straight line on the material in the target area 50 of the impression. In this application, the laser power and the speed of the web determine the size and shape of the microperforations that are made. The faster the speed, the more elongated the microperforations become. If multiple segments of the same bag or package impression (boundaries of the package) must be microperforated to provide the necessary O 2 Flux, then multiple eye marks 60 are needed to signal the laser 200 to fire at each location in the bag or package impression.
If more than one lane of microperforations is needed for microperforating on the fly, as would be the case for microperforating two side-by-side printed impressions of a packaging material or two microperforation lanes in the same impression, multiple lasers can be mounted on the web handling equipment or a beam splitter can be used to split the beam from one laser to multiple delivery heads.
Various hole sizes and shapes are created when plastic materials are perforated with lasers. Whatever laser drilling method is used, either stopped web or microperforating on the fly, the packaging material composition, degree of orientation, and structure (monolayer, coextrusion, or laminate) affect the size, shape and O 2 Flux of the resulting microperforations. Computer software that directs the laser perforating process can affect the shape of the perforation, i.e., the time delay between each hole in the perforation. However, software factors can be easily changed to alter the perforation shape. In contrast, polymer materials have inherent physical/chemical characteristics that will impact the hole size and shape for any given power and pulse duration. For example, stationary monowebs of polyethylene films perforated with a beam from a 10-watt CO 2 laser (stopped web), produce perforations that are elongated, having -aspect ratios (ratio of the longest to the shortest diameter) greater than 1.2. In contrast, when heat-seal coated polyester films are perforated under identical conditions, the perforations are nearly spherical with aspect ratios of 1-1.2. When lasers drill moving polymer webs, faster speeds (>300 ft/min) may produce more elongated perforations, with aspect ratios of 1.8, depending on the polymer film composition and speed of the web. These differences in microperforation shape affect the O 2 Flux . Perforations with the same size long diameter but different size short diameters have different O 2 Flux. That is, microperforations with aspect ratios (ratio of the longest to the shortest diameter) of close to 1 have higher O 2 Flux than perforations with aspect ratios >1.
A wide range of microperforation sizes can be used to control the atmosphere inside fresh produce packaging. However, in the preferred embodiment, microperforations in the range of 110-400 microns (longest diameter), preferably, 120-160 microns, offer the most benefits in controlling desired O 2 and CO 2 levels inside the package. Based on our research with a wide range of polymer materials, microperforation shapes can be classified into two broad categories. Type I category consists of holes with an aspect ratio (the ratio of the longest diameter to the shortest diameter) of 1-1.2, as shown in FIG. 5 . This is typical for polyesters and polypropylene films with heat-seal coatings.
Type II category of microperforations, observed in polyethylene monowebs and polyethylene coextrusions, has an aspect ratio >1.2, illustrated in FIG. 5 . There is an elongation (slight to exaggerated) of the microperforation, often in the direction of the film orientation, forming an oval or elliptical shape.
An analytical method using an oxygen sensor was used to determine the O 2 Flux through microperforations of individual, 150-micron (longest diameter) perforations from the two categories of microperforations describe above. The average values for O 2 Flux for one, 150 micron perforation are as follows:
Type I microperforation (aspect ratio 1.0-1.2) is 250 cc/day-atm.
Type II microperforation (aspect ratio >1.2) is 200 cc/day-atm.
Experimental results showed that the range of O 2 Flux values for these microperforations varies by +/−6% of the stated value. The O 2 Flux of the microperforations is not dependent on the thickness of the film that is microperforated.
The range of O 2 Flux that can be created by registering microperforations, in polymer materials by the laser methods described above, is very broad. Although microperforated films, according to the present invention, can be made with an O 2 Flux ranging from 150 cc/day-atm to over 5,000,000 cc/day-atm, the preferred range is 200 to 1,500,000 cc/day-atm for controlling or modifying the atmosphere inside fresh produce packages varying in weights from 19 g to several thousand kg.
Knowing the O 2 Flux of individual microperforations makes it a relatively simple task to calculate the size and number of microperforations needed to establish a desired atmosphere inside a package containing fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, fresh flowers or other biochemically active foods.
EXAMPLE 1
To determine the number and size of microperforations needed for each produce item in a particular package, the gas transmission requirements (O 2 , CO 2 , moisture vapor transmission rate—MVTR) for the total package is first determined. The contribution the microperforations must make to the total gas transmission properties of the package is affected by:
produce respiration rate,
weight of produce to be packaged,
desired atmosphere in the package,
breathable surface area of the package,
gas transmission properties (O 2 , CO 2 , MVTR) of the packaging material to be microperforated, and
expected storage temperatures during the life of the product.
Different fresh produce items, whether whole or fresh-cut, have different respiration rates. Cutting the produce item generally increases the respiration rate by 2-fold or more.
Equations (1), (2), and (3) below can be used to determine the total O 2 Flux (Flux O2-Total ) requirements of a fresh produce package, including the O 2 Flux of the breathable area of the packaging film (Flux O2-film ), and the O 2 Flux of the microperforations (Flux O2-MP ), required to maintain a desired atmosphere inside a package containing a specific fresh fruit, fresh vegetable, fresh herb or fresh flower.
OTR T =[(M×RR)/(A s P(0.21−IntO 2 ))]×24 hrs/day (1)
where, OTR T = total OTR required for the package in cc O 2 / m 2 - day - atm M = mass of produce ( kg ) RR = respiration rate ( cc O 2 / kg / hr ) @ the expected storage temperature A S = breathable surface area of the package ( m 2 ) P = atmospheric pressure ( atm ) , assumed to be 1 Int O 2 = desired O 2 atmosphere inside the package stated as a volume fraction ( i . e . , if the desired O 2 is 8 % , the volume fraction is 0.08 ) .
The value 0.21 represents the volume fraction of O 2 in ambient air.
For example: To establish an atmosphere at 5° C. of 8% O 2 and 10-15% CO 2 inside a 25.4 cm wide ×40.6 cm long ×50 micron thick polyethylene bag (OTR base-film =3100 cc/m 2 -day-atm) containing 1.36 kg of broccoli florets, with an O 2 respiration rate of 31 cc/kg/hr, the OTR T required by the package would be: OTR T = [ ( 1.36 kg × 31 cc / kg / hr ) / ( 2 ( 0.254 m × 0.356 m ) ) × 1 atm ( 0.21 - 0.08 ) ] × 24 hr / day = 43 , 038 cc / m 2 - day - atm
Note that the breathable surface area is less than the total dimensions of the bag because the top seal and the film skirt beyond the seal are subtracted since they do not contribute to the OTR T .
Once the OTR T requirements for a particular item and package size are determined from equation (1), then the O 2 flow through the breathable surface area of the bag per day (Flux O2-film in cc/day-atm), is calculated using equation (2):
Flux O2-film (cc/day-atm)=OTR base-film (cc/m 2 -day-atm)×A s (m 2 ) (2)
For example: The dimensions of the breathable area of a plastic bag used to package 1.36 kg of fresh-cut broccoli are 25.4 cm ×35.6 cm (×2 for 2 sides), and the OTR of the base film is 3100 cc/m 2 -day-atmosphere. The Flux O2-film (cc/day-atm) through the breathable area of the bag is: Flux O2 - film ( cc / day - atm ) = ( 3100 cc / m 2 - day - atm ) × 0.181 m 2 = 561 cc / day - atm
However, a total Flux O2-Total of 7790 cc/day-atm is needed for this package:
Flux O2-total =OTR T cc/m 2 -day-atm×A S (m 2 )
Flux 02-total =43,038 cc/m 2 -day-atm×0.181 m 2 =7790 cc/day-atm
Therefore, the majority of Flux O2-Total must be supplied by the microperforations (Flux O2-MP ): ( 3 ) Flux O2 - MP = Flux O2 - Total - Flux O2 - film = 7790 cc / day - atm - 561 cc / day - atm = 7229 cc / day - atm
The number of 150 micron (longest diameter) perforations required in this 2 mil polyethylene package is equal to:
(7229 cc/day-atm)/(200 cc/day-atm per Type II microperforation)=36
For this film, if the longest diameter of the average microperforation is smaller or larger than 150 microns, the number of perforations can be adjusted to meet the required Flux O2-Total for the package. For example, if the microperforations made in the polyethylene film were 120 microns (Type II) in the longest diameter, then each 120 micron perforation would have a Flux O2-120μ of 160 cc/day-atm:
Flux O2-120μ perf=(120 micron×200 cc/day-atm)/(150 microns)=160 cc/day-atm
To maintain an 8% O 2 and 10-15% CO 2 atmosphere inside a 0.181 m 2 polyethylene bag containing 1.36 kg broccoli florets stored at 5° C., it would require 45, 120-micron perforations to give the same Flux O2-MP as 36, 150-micron perforations.
To test the accuracy of the method to predict the size and number of microperforations required to maintain a desired atmosphere inside a package containing a respiring produce item, 50 micron polyethylene tubing was blown by standard extrusion methods and used to make 25.4 cm wide ×40.6 cm long bags which were microperforated in-line on a bagmaking machine using a 10-watt CO 2 laser and the stopped web method. Thirty-six, 150 micron perforations were registered in a 6.45 cm 2 (1 in 2 ) array located 7.6 cm from the open end of the bag and 5 cm from the side seal. An electrical signal from the bagmaking machine was used to trigger the laser to fire at the same time the heat sealing bar made the bag side seal.
Broccoli florets were prepared at 4° C. in a commercial processing plant and 1.36 kg was packaged into each bag (25.4 cm wide ×40.6 cm long, 50 micron thick). Filled bags were packed vertically into corrugated cartons with the registered microperforations at the top of the carton. Cartons were stored at 4-5° C. for 14 days. FIG. 6 represents the % headspace gas concentration over time, in microperforated bags (36 microperforations with an average size of 150 microns) containing 1.36 kg of broccoli florets. A steady state atmosphere of 8-10% O 2 and 8-12% CO 2 was reached after 60 hrs at 5° C. After 2 weeks at 5° C., floret color remained bright green, there was little or no evidence of browning at the cut ends, and no off-odors were observed on opening the bag.
EXAMPLE 2
Equations (1), (2), and (3) were used to determine the size and number of microperforations needed to maintain an atmosphere of 10-12% O 2 and 8-10% CO 2 inside a polyethylene pallet bag (125 cm wide×102 cm full gusset×203 cm long×100 micron thick) containing 217.9 kg of fresh sweet cherries at 1.1 C. The OTR base =1085 cc/m 2 -day-atm. Ninety-one cm of the bag length will be used to seal the bag by gathering the plastic at the top of the pallet, twisting it, doubling over the neck, and closed tightly with an electrical tie. Therefore, the breathable area of the bag will be 125 cm wide×102 cm gusset×112 cm long.
The equations for this package are: ( 1 ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - hr - atm ) = ( 217.9 kg × 5 cc / kg / hr ) / ( 2.54 m 2 × 1 atm ( 0.21 - 0.11 ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - day - atm ) = 4289 cc / m 2 - hr - atm × 24 hr / day = 102 , 936 cc / m 2 - day - atm ( 2 ) Flux O2 - film ( cc / day - atm ) = 1085 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 2.54 m 2 = 2756 cc / day - atm ( 3 ) Flux O2 - MP = ( 102 , 936 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 2.54 m 2 ) - 2756 cc / day - atm = 258 , 701 cc / day - atm
Microperforations were drilled into a 58 cm 2 area 86 cm up from the bottom seal and in the middle of the front panel of the bag (125 cm wide×102 cm gusset×203 cm long, 100 micron thick). Both sides of the bag were microperforated with a laser using the stopped web method. The total number of 300-micron microperforations drilled into each bag was 646 (323 in the front panel and 323 in the back panel):
(258,701 cc/day-atm)/(400 cc/day-atm for each 300 micron Type II microperforation)=647
Twenty four boxes of cold Bing cherries, each containing 9.1 kg of cherries, were stacked inside the microperforated pallet bag that was draped over a 102 cm×122 cm wooden pallet. The filled bag was pulled over the top of the cartons, it was hermetically sealed, and the pallet was stored at 1.1 C. After 8 weeks at 1.1 C, headspace gas analysis of the sealed pallet bag indicated that the cherries had established an atmosphere of 12% O 2 and 8% CO 2 . Sensory evaluation of the cherries showed that flesh color was maintained, cherry stems were green and had not darkened during storage, there was no evidence of mold growth, and eating quality was good.
EXAMPLE 3
Equations (1), (2) and (3) were used to determine the size and number of microperforations needed to maintain an atmosphere of 10% O 2 and 10-15% CO 2 (at 5° C.) inside a 15-cm diameter semi-rigid bowl (0.056 cm thick polyester/PE laminate) containing 227 g fresh-cut cantaloupe and sealed with a flexible heat-sealable lidding film made from a laminate of oriented polypropylene and polyethylene (OTR base =1550 cc/m 2 -day-atm). The OTR of the bowl does not contribute significantly to the Flux O2-Total .
The equations for this package are: ( 1 ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - hr - atm ) = ( 0.23 kg × 6 cc / kg / hr ) / ( 1.8 × 10 - 2 m 2 × 1 atm ( 0.21 - 0.10 ) ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - day - atm ) = 697 cc / m 2 - hr - atm × 24 hr / day = 16 , 728 cc / m 2 - day - atm ( 2 ) Flux O2 - film ( cc / day - atm ) = 1550 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 1.8 × 10 - 2 m 2 = 28 cc / day - atm ( 3 ) Flux O2 - MP = ( 16 , 728 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 1.8 × 10 - 2 m 2 ) - 28 cc / day - atm = 273 cc / day - atm
One, Type II 205-micron perforation (produced with a stationary laser beam and a moving polypropylene/polyethylene laminate film web) is needed to provide the necessary OTR for 227 g cantaloupe stored in a semi-rigid tray at 5° C.
Samples of polypropylene/polyethylene lidding film were microperforated using a stationary laser and a moving polymer film web (microperforating on the fly). One microperforation, with an average diameter of 200-210 micron, was drilled into each impression at the eye mark. The microperforated lidding film was used to seal fresh-cut cantaloupe inside the 15 cm diameter bowls. Bowls were stored at 5° C. for 10 days and evaluated for headspace gas contents and changes in quality.
Headspace analysis showed that, one, 200 to 210-micron perforation controlled the atmosphere inside 227 g packages of fresh-cut cantaloupe at desired O 2 and CO 2 levels and maintained satisfactory product quality for 10 days at 5° C. Having at least one microperforation in the package also prevented the package seals from rupturing due to changes in pressure when such packages were shipped over mountains in refrigerated trucks.
EXAMPLE 4
The moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) of a packaging material is also important in maintaining the quality of packaged produce. The relative humidity inside most produce packages is between 96 and 99%. High relative humidity, in combination with excess free water in the package, can limit fresh produce shelf life by fostering microbial growth that leads to watery/slimy deterioration of plant tissues. Most non-perforated polyethylene or polypropylene films have a MVTR of less than 15 g/m 2 -day. Microperforating the package can increase the MVTR range from 30 to >600 g/m 2 -day. The increase in film MVTR caused by microperforations improves shelf life of water sensitive produce.
Packaged spinach deteriorates quickly if excess moisture accumulates in the package during storage. Therefore, the most important goal in spinach packaging is to use microperforations to increase the package MVTR without causing the leaves to dehydrate and lose their turgor. O 2 levels should be held just below ambient air (i.e., O 2 =16-19%) and CO 2 levels slightly elevated above ambient air (CO 2 =2-5%).
Equations (1), (2), and (3), were used to determine the size and number of microperforations needed to maintain an atmosphere of 17-19% O 2 and 2-3% CO 2 inside bags containing 284 g spinach and stored at 5° C. Bags size was 25.4 cm wide×40.6 cm long (breathable area=25.4 cm×35.6 cm×2 sides) and film composition was 76-micron polyethylene (OTR base= 3255 cc/m 2 -day-atm): ( 1 ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - hr - atm ) = ( 0.284 kg × 46 cc / kg / hr ) / ( 0.181 m 2 × 1 atm ( 0.21 - 0.17 ) ) = 1804 cc / m 2 - hr - atm OTR T ( cc / m 2 - day - atm ) = 1804 cc / m 2 - hr - atm × 24 hr / day = 43 , 296 cc / m 2 - day - atm ( 2 ) Flux O2 - film ( cc / day - atm ) = 3255 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 0.181 m 2 = 589 cc / day - atm ( 3 ) Flux O2 - MP = ( 43 , 296 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 0.181 m 2 ) - 589 cc / day - atm = 7248 cc / day - atm
Lasers make Type II microperforations in polyethylene. Therefore, this 284 g bag requires 36, 150-micron perforations, i. e., (7248 cc/day-atm)/(200 cc/day-atm per 150-μ perforation).
Thirty-six laser microperforations, with an average diameter of 150 microns, were registered in a 6.45 cm 2 area, 7.6 cm from the bag open end and 7.6 cm from the side seal of the 25.4 cm wide ×40.6 cm long bags using the stopped web method. Bags were filled with freshly washed and spun-dried spinach in a commercial 4° C. processing room before heat-sealing and storing at 5° C. for 14 days. After 3 days, the headspace O 2 and CO 2 ranged from 17-20% and 3%, respectively, which was maintained throughout the 14-day storage study. Spinach leaves maintained their bright green color and turgor and did not show signs of dehydration or watery deterioration. Water loss from the package was about 2-3% after 14 days at 5° C.
EXAMPLE 5
The OTR and MVTR of packaging material are not the only important gas transmission rates in maintaining produce quality in MAP/CAP packages. CO 2 TR determines the internal CO 2 atmosphere in the package and also affects package appearance. A low CO 2 TR and a low CO 2 /O 2 ratio film may cause package puffing (distention). If CO 2 TR is too high, a collapsed package may result. The CO 2 /O 2 ratio of microperforations is 1. However, the following example shows the importance of selecting base polymer films for microperforating that have sufficient CO 2 TR to maintain an acceptable package appearance and internal CO 2 concentration.
Three polymer films with similar base film OTRs and different CO 2 TRs were microperforated by the stopped web method, registering 36 microperforations in a 6.45 cc 2 area in the top quarter of the formed bag. Fresh-cut broccoli florets (1.36 kg) were sealed in the bags and stored at 5° C. As shown in FIG. 7, the O 2 atmosphere inside packages made from the different polymers equilibrated at 8-10% after 48 hrs and maintained that level throughout storage. However, the content of CO 2 inside the packages varied with the CO 2 TR of the film. Packages with the lowest CO 2 TR became distended during storage, and those with the highest CO 2 TR collapsed, looking more like a vacuum package than a pillow pack. The base polymer film with a CO 2 TR of 13,950 cc/m 2 -day-atm and a CO 2 TR/OTR of 3.6 to 4.0 was optimum for preventing discoloration of broccoli cut ends and off-odors and for maintaining an acceptable package appearance.
EXAMPLE 6
Polymeric packaging materials used to make semi-rigid containers, range in thickness from 0.025 cm to 0.076 cm. Delicate fruits like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are routinely packaged in containers having two semi-rigid parts: a rigid tray and a rigid lid. We tested the hypothesis that a semi-rigid container with registered microperforations in the semi-rigid lid could be used to control the atmosphere within a fresh produce package, thereby extending shelf life.
Polyvinyl chloride sheeting was thermoformed into a tray (0.143 m wide×0.197 m long×0.057 m deep, 0.056 cm thick) and rigid lid (0.143 m wide×0.197 m long×0.013 m deep) for packaging 0.454 kg sliced strawberries. This 0.056 cm thick package is essentially impermeable, having an OTR of <7 cc/m 2 -day-atm. Therefore, all the O 2 Flux for maintaining a desired atmosphere of 8 to 10% O 2 and 10 to 15% CO 2 at 4° C. must come from the microperforations. The microperforations will be placed in a 1 cm 2 (0.0001 m 2 ) area on the lid, essentially the only breathable portion of the package. Equations (1) and (3) were used to determine the size and number of microperforations needed in the lid to maintain the desired atmosphere inside the package: ( 1 ) OTR T ( cc / m 2 - hr - atm ) = ( 0.454 kg × 22 cc / kg / hr ) / ( 0.0001 m 2 × 1 atm ( 0.21 - 0.10 ) ) = 908 , 000 cc / m 2 - hr - atm OTR T ( cc / m 2 - day - atm ) = 908 , 000 cc / m 2 - hr - atm × 24 hr / day = 21 , 792 , 000 cc / m 2 - day - atm ( 3 ) Flux O2 - MP = 21 , 792 , 000 cc / m 2 - day - atm × 0.0001 m 2 = 2179 cc / day - atm
Laser drilling of polyvinyl chloride sheet produces Type I microperforations. Therefore, 9, 150-micron perforations, each with a Flux O2 of 250 cc/ day-atm, are needed to maintain the desired atmosphere in the package at 4° C.:
2179 cc/day-atm /250 cc/day-atm for each Type I microperforation=9 microperforations
Rigid polyvinyl chloride lids were microperforated using a 10-watt laboratory laser with a scan head (stopped web method). Nine, 150-micron perforations were drilled into each lid. Freshly sliced strawberries (0.454 kg) were placed in containers, microperforated lids were applied, and a band of shrink tape was applied over the flange area to achieve a hermetic seal. Packages were stored at 4° C. for 14 days.
Within 48 hrs, the atmosphere inside the packages had equilibrated to the desired O 2 and CO 2 levels. The strawberries maintained their color and turgor, and there was no obvious mold growth on the fruit during a 14 day storage period at 4° C.
The present invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments of features. However, it should be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The objects and advantages of the present invention may be further realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. | Microperforated packaging materials for use in modifying or controlling the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and/out of a fresh produce container, where the microperforations are specifically tailored in size, location and number for the specific produce. A packaging system of designating specifically tailored microperforated containers for particular fresh produce to optimally preserve the produce. A method of making the registered microperforations on the packaging material using a CO 2 laser and a sensor mechanism. | 1 |
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/777,658 filed on Mar. 12, 2013 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/783,510 filed on Mar. 14, 2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to rapid construction methods for building construction. Traditional framing methods required construction workers to cut building materials on-site to serve as the frame of a building. A need for more efficient methods for building customized structures has been shown, including the use of standardized parts that can be easily customized for different structures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a light weight, quick fastening building system which allows rapid construction of modular structures as an improvement to traditional framing using both steel and wood. The modular system allows builders to customize a framing system to a variety of architectural layouts. The modular nature of the system also saves weight, time, and space in construction efforts.
The invention comprises a number of panels that are fastened together with fasteners and connectors. The panels may be placed to form the roof and walls of a structure. A set of fasteners may be placed near the ends of each panel to fasten one or more panels to a connector. The connectors of each system may be customized to form a particular architectural shape. Although this system comprises many types of building layouts, one embodiment described is a traditional roofed house structure. In this embodiment, one or more continuously-connected modular structures are formed. Depending on the width of the connectors and panels, several matching sets of modular structures may be placed in rows to form the shape of the building, or one wide set of modular structures can be used alone to form the shape of the building.
The roof of the modular structure is formed by roof panels that are connected to the tops of the exterior wall panels and headers with roof panels to exterior wall panel connectors. The roof panels are connected together by a roof ridge connector. A modified double mount may be used in the system to add extra strength to the roof and supporting structures. Headers may be placed at the floor and at the tops of the exterior wall panels of the modular system. The headers may be connected at both upper and lower ends of the exterior wall panels by sets of fasteners.
The roof panels are connected to the exterior wall panels of the structure via two sets of roof to wall connectors. The exterior walls may be formed from a number of panels stacked together with their ends flush and their vertical surfaces aligned. Additionally, the panels of the exterior walls may be held together through the use of interior tongue and groove connections.
The exterior walls may connect to rigid slabs at the base of a building via two sets of wall to slab connectors. The rigid slabs may serve as a foundation for the building. In this way, the connectors support a continuous structure which lends strength and ensures water tightness and insulation integrity.
The invention is a modular building system that has a plurality of rigid connectors and a plurality of prefabricated exterior panels. Each of the rigid connectors is fixedly attached to one or more of the prefabricated exterior panels. Plural fasteners are included for fixedly attaching the rigid connectors to the prefabricated exterior panels by passing one or more of the fasteners through at least one of the rigid connectors and the prefabricated exterior panels. The plurality of rigid connectors include rigid wall connectors for interconnecting some of the prefabricated exterior panels as wall panels, rigid connectors for connecting the wall panels to others of the prefabricated exterior panels as roof panels, and roof ridge connectors for connecting two or more of the roof panels.
A plurality of the angled connectors is connected to the wall panels, the roof panels, and the roof ridge connectors connected to the roof panels form a rigid roof truss and rigid exterior walls, with the exterior walls giving support to said roof truss. The exterior wall panels are connected to the roof truss to form a continuous rigid structure that serves as the support structure of a building.
The rigid angled connectors include comprise a first set of rigid flanges, shelves, and risers which form an “L” shape with a rigid 90 degree angle, and a continuous second set of rigid roof support plates with angles to the risers. The roof truss has a peaked shape formed by two of the prefabricated panels which are connected together by the roof ridge connectors. The prefabricated exterior wall panels comprise stacks of prefabricated exterior panels that comprise two or more of the panels vertically connected.
The stacks of the panels are connected together with the wall connectors, the edges of each of the panels being flush together, and vertical surfaces of each of the panels being aligned. The stacks of panels are held together by sets of wall panels having corresponding tongue and groove connectors, wherein the rigid connectors further compose rigid footer connectors. The wall panels are fastened to footings with the rigid footing connectors.
The roof ridge connectors are made from two identically shaped side plates welded together at the inner edges.
These and further and other objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure, which includes the above and ongoing written specification, with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows the total modular system with prefabricated panels, roof ridge connectors, roof connectors, wall to roof connectors, footer to wall connectors, and footing connectors.
FIG. 2 schematically shows roof ridge connectors, roof connectors, a wall to roof connector, and a footer to wall connector.
FIG. 3 shows a roof connector.
FIG. 4 shows a wall to roof connector.
FIG. 5 shows a footer connector.
FIG. 6 shows a connector boxing a wall to door or wall to window.
FIG. 7 shows a footer to wall connector.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Dimensions are shown on some figures are used as examples, and may vary to facilitate different building shapes and sizes. Prefabricated panels are used to form side walls and roofs of structures. In one embodiment, the prefabricated panels forming the roof may be longer than the prefabricated panels forming the side walls. Alternatively, the prefabricated panels forming the roof and side walls may have similar or equal lengths. Shaped connectors connect panels to each other and to footings.
FIG. 1 shows an overview of the total modular system 1 . FIG. 2 shows cross-sections of various connectors 10 attached to side wall panels 12 and roof panels 14 with screws 16 . Footer connector 20 is positioned between a wall panel 12 and a footer 22 that may be composed of poured concrete. Fastener 23 secures the footer connector 20 to footer 22 before the wall panel is erected. The roof to wall connector 30 has a lower flange 32 that is attached to the inside of one or more wall panels 12 with screws 16 . One or more wall panels 12 may be connected together through the use of internal tongue and groove connections to create a desired wall height and thickness. In one embodiment, four wall panels 12 are connected together, and screws 16 pass through all four wall panels and into the tongue and groove connections at the point where the panels slide together.
A roof to wall connector 30 has a flange 32 connected along a top inner portion of a side wall panel 12 . Roof to wall connector 30 has a shelf 34 that overlies the top of the wall panel 12 . Shelf 34 is connected to flange 32 , and a riser 36 is connected to the shelf 34 . A roof support plate 38 extends at an angle to the riser 36 and is connected to an inside surface of the roof panel 14 with screws 16 . The roof to wall connector 30 extends continuously along one or more wall panels 12 and one or more roof panels 14 .
A roof ridge connector 40 is made of two identically shaped side plates 42 welded together at the inner edges 43 . The plates 42 in connector 40 have continuous roof connection plates 44 which extend between welded edges 43 and lower edges 45 . Flanges 46 extend inwards from the bottom side of roof panels 14 . A ceiling beam 48 extends between the flanges 46 . The plates 42 have roof end plates 50 which cover upper edges 15 of roof panels 14 . Extensions 52 that extend in an inward and upward direction may be joined and welded at their tops or may be covered by roof ridging material. Roof ridge beams 54 extend between edges 55 formed between the roof end plates 50 and the extension 52 .
FIG. 3 shows a roof ridge connector 40 that that runs along part of the length of the roof. The roof ridge connector 40 may be made of 16 gauge red iron steel or other material. The roof ridge connector 40 comprises components 56 and 57 that are similar in shape and may have identical dimensions. Components 56 and 57 are connected together by ceiling beam 48 and roof ridge beam 54 . The roof ridge connector is made of continuous 16 ga metal. Two are required for each beam. The connector is made of 16 ga red iron metal and runs the full length of the roof cove. It is made of two components. The drawing above shows both components. It takes two of these to make the beam. As you can see on the lower drawing, two of these beams are welded together to make the beam. A ¼″ by 1″ flat strap is welded to the components for support, one on the bottom and one on the top as see above. They are made to fit whatever roof pitch is needed for the structure. The top end of the panels are screwed through the beam into the 4 layers of the multiply in the panel to secure the panel to the structure.
The dimensions of the roof ridge connector 40 are customizable to fit whatever roof pitch desired for the structure. The roof plates 44 are connected by screws 16 which pass through the ceiling beam 48 into the four layers of the multiple roof panels to secure the roof ridge connector 40 to the roof panel 14 . FIG. 2 shows to the connection of the roof ridge connector 40 to the roof panels 14 . Two or more screws 16 connect the wall panels 12 together. In one embodiment, these screws 16 are high tech 2,000 lb. shear strength screws measuring ¼″×1½″.
FIG. 4 shows a roof to wall connector 30 that may be composed of 16 gauge red iron or other material. The position of the roof to wall connector 30 can be seen in relation to the wall panels 12 and roof panels 14 in FIG. 2 . Roof to wall connector 30 sits on the top of the wall panel 12 and connects the wall panel 12 to the roof panel 14 . The roof to wall connector 30 may run the total length of the wall panel 12 or a portion of the length of the wall panel 12 . The top linear portion of the roof to wall connector 30 is bent at an angle that facilitates the desired roof pitch of the building. The connector is made of 16 ga red iron. It sits on the top of the wall and connects the wall to the roof panel. The connector usually comes in 16 feet lengths and runs the total length of wall. The 5″ side is bent at the angle, depending on what the roof pitch is. There are ¼″×1½″ tech screws that are screwed through the multiply of the panel. The screws go through 4 layers of the tongue and groove at the point where the panels slide together.
The footer connector 20 in FIG. 5 forms an “L” shape and may be made of 16 gauge red iron or other material. The position of the footer connector 20 can be seen in relation to the wall panels 12 and footer 22 in FIG. 2 . The footer connector 20 is used to connect the wall panels 12 to the footer 22 and runs the total length or a part of the length of the wall panels 12 . The footer connector 20 is secured to the wall panels 12 on the interior surface of the structure by several screws 16 . The footer connector 20 is also connected to the footer 22 with bolts 23 which may be pre-installed in the footer, for example when the concrete of the footer is being poured. In one embodiment, the footer 22 has a 1½″×3″ step down to keep water from penetrating the foundation. Footer connectors 20 of varying dimensions may be used to prevent water ingress on buildings with varying dimensions.
Additionally, the footer connector 20 is used to connect the gable ends of the walls to the roof. The footer connector 20 runs the full length or a portion of the length of the walls panels 12 from the side wall to roof connector 40 to the ridge connector 50 . Footer connector 20 is secured to the wall panels 12 on the inside of the structure by screws 16 , which may have the same dimensions as the screws used to affix the wall panels 12 together.
FIG. 6 shows connector 60 that may be made of 16 gauge red iron. Connector 60 is made in the shape of a c-channel and is used to cap the top of the walls panels 12 and runs the total length of the wall panels 12 . Connector 60 is also used to box in window openings and door openings in the walls of the structure. Connector 60 is secured to the wall panels 12 on the interior surface of the modular structure with screws 16 . The connector is made of 16 ga red iron. It is made in the shape of a c-channel and is used to cap the top of the walls and runs the total length of the walls. It is also used to box in window openings and door openings. It is secured to the panels on the inside of the structure by ¼″×1½″ tech screws. These screws are inserted through 4 layers of the multiply, the area where the panels are slid together in the tongue and groove areas.
FIG. 7 shows footer to wall connector 70 that may be made of gauge red iron or other material. Footer to wall connector 70 is made in the shape of an “L” and is used to connect the wall panels 12 to other walls in the running vertical corners. Footer to wall connector 70 may run the entire length or a part of the length of each wall corner. Footer to wall connectors 70 are secured to the wall panels 12 on the inside of the structure with screws 16 . The connector is made of 16 ga red iron. It is made in the shape of a L and is used to connect the walls to the footer and runs the total length of the walls. It is secured to the panels on the inside of the structure by ¼″×1½″ tech screws. These screws are inserted through 4 layers of the multiply, the area where the panels are slid together in the tongue and groove areas. It is also connected to the footer with bolts pre-installed in the footer when the footer is being poured. The footer has a 1½″×3″ step down to keep water from penetrating the foundation.
This same connector is used to connect the gable ends of the walls the roof. It runs the full length of the walls from the side wall/roof connector to the ridge beam. It is secured to the panels on the inside of the structure by ¼″×1½″ tech screws. hese screws are inserted through 4 layers of the multiply, the area where the panels are slid together in the tongue and groove areas.
While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention. | A light weight, modular building fastening apparatus which allows rapid construction of custom modular buildings as an improvement to traditional framing systems is provided. The modular fastening system comprises a set of panels that form the roof and walls of the structure which are connected to a set of panels thorough the use of fasteners. | 4 |
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 07/315,619, filed Feb. 24, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,893.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to molten metal pumps and, more particularly, to a compact pump having a drive shaft of indefinite life.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the processing of molten metals, it often is necessary to pump the molten metal from one place to another. When it is desired to remove molten metal from a vessel, a so-called transfer pump is used. When it is desired to circulate molten metal within a vessel, a so-called circulation pump is used. When it is desired to purify molten metal disposed within a vessel, a so-called gas injection pump is used. In each of these pumps, a rotatable impeller is disposed within the molten metal and, upon rotation of the impeller, the molten metal is pumped as desired. Molten metal pumps of the type referred to are commercially available from Metaullics Systems, 31935 Aurora Road, Solon, Ohio 44139 under the model designation M28-C et al.
In each of the pumps referred to, the impeller is disposed within a cavity formed in a base member. The base member is suspended within the molten metal by means of refractory posts. The impeller is supported for rotation in the base member by means of a rotatable refractory shaft. The base member includes an outlet passageway in fluid communication with the impeller. Upon rotation of the impeller, molten metal is drawn into the impeller, where it then is discharged under pressure through the outlet passageway.
Although the pumps in question operate satisfactorily to pump molten metal from one place to another, certain problems have not been addressed. One of these problems relates to the durability of the drive shaft. Typically the drive shaft is made of a material such as graphite. Graphite is a preferred material for molten metal applications because of its relative inertness to corrosion and also because of its thermal shock resistance. Graphite can be protected from high temperature oxidation and erosion by various sleeves, coatings, and treatments, but it nevertheless deteriorates with time. Another problem with graphite is that it is not very strong, and a graphite drive shaft can be fractured if it is handled roughly or if a large torque load is imposed on the shaft. Desirably, a technique would be found that would increase the longevity of the drive shaft.
Another problem that is not addressed by the pumps in question is that of stirring the molten metal by means of the drive shaft. That is, because the drive shaft rotates in the molten metal, the drive shaft itself stirs the molten metal, causing surface dross formation (metal oxide) which sticks to the shaft and which ultimately can cause imbalance and dynamic failure. Desirably, the molten metal pump would move the molten metal only under the influence of the impeller.
The pumps in question fail to address various other concerns. For example, the pumps are relatively large and heavy, in part because the base member is large, and because the base member must be supported by means of a number of stationary refractory posts. Due to the configuration of the pump, it is difficult or impossible to change the discharge point of the pump relative to the vessel within which the pump is disposed. In the transfer pump embodiment, the outlet portion of the pump sometimes will be broken if the users of the pump do not take proper precautions to avoid undue loading of the outlet. Yet an additional problem relates to difficulties associated in removing the drive shaft and impeller from the pump when replacement of the shaft or the impeller is necessary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a new and improved molten metal pump that overcomes the foregoing difficulties. In its most basic form, the invention includes an elongate, hollow refractory post having first and second ends, the first end adapted to extend out of the molten metal and the second end adapted to extend into the molten metal. An elongate drive shaft is disposed within the post for rotation therein, the drive shaft having a first end adapted to extend out of the first end of the post, and a second end adapted to be disposed adjacent the second end of the post.
An impeller is connected to the second end of the drive shaft, the outer surface of the drive shaft and the inner surface of the post being spaced relative to each other such that inert gas can be conveyed therebetween for discharge into the molten metal in the vicinity of the impeller. By virtue of the foregoing construction, the drive shaft is shielded from the molten metal by the refractory post, and it is cooled by the inert gas. Accordingly, the drive shaft can be made of a material such as steel having an indefinite life. Moreover, because the post does not rotate relative to the molten metal, the molten metal is pumped only under the influence of the impeller.
In the preferred embodiment, a stator is connected to the second end of the post. The stator includes a cavity within which the impeller is disposed, an inlet into which molten metal can be drawn, and an outlet through which molten metal can be discharged, the impeller being spaced from the stator a distance such that gas can be conveyed therebetween. The stator preferably also includes an outlet through which gas can be discharged into the molten metal. It has been found that the gap between the impeller and the stator is important to proper functioning of the device, which gap should be approximately 0.015 inches.
The invention includes a variety of other advantageous features. These features include an adjusting mechanism for the stator that permits the output of the pump to be directed in any desired radial direction. A quick-disconnect coupling is provided for the first end of the drive shaft so that the drive shaft can be quickly connected to, and disconnected from, a drive motor. Spaced collars are secured to the first end of the drive shaft to permit (a) an adjustment of the gap between the impeller and the stator and (b) a maximum axial displacement of the drive shaft relative to the post upon initial disassembly of the pump.
A transfer pump embodiment of the invention includes a riser tube that is configured identically to the post. A hollow extension projects from the upper end of the riser tube for connection to a stationary support member. A flange is disposed about the hollow extension to permit a user's plumbing to be connected to the hollow extension in any desired radial position.
The molten metal pump according to the invention is exceedingly compact and lightweight compared with prior art pumps. It has an extremely effective pumping action, a drive shaft of essentially indefinite life, and adjustment capabilities that are exceedingly flexible and easy to use. The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and are described in more detail in the specification and claims that follow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic, perspective view of a molten metal pump according to the invention as it might be used in practice;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pump of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the pump of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the pump of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the pump of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the pump of FIG. 3 showing a modified form of impeller; and
FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the pump of FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a molten metal pump according to the invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. The pump 10 is adapted to be immersed in molten metal contained within a vessel 12. The vessel 12 can be any container containing molten metal; in the embodiment illustrated, the vessel 12 is the external well of a reverberatory furnace.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, an alternative embodiment of the invention is indicated by the reference numeral 20. The embodiments 10 and 20 share many common features, and like reference numerals will be used where appropriate. The principal difference between the two embodiments is that the pump 10 is a so-called transfer pump, that is, it transfers metal from the vessel 12 to another location, whereas the pump 20 is a so-called circulation pump, that is, it circulates metal within the vessel 12.
Referring to the various Figures, the pumps 10 and 20 are supported by means of elongate angle irons 22 between which a support plate 24 is suspended. Insulation batts 26 are disposed atop the plate 24. The pumps 10, 20 include a vertically oriented, elongate, hollow refractory post 28 within which a drive shaft 30 is supported for rotation. The post 28 typically is made of graphite, and is protected by means of a layer of intumescent paper 32 and a refractory coating 34 of silicon carbide or similar material. The upper, or first end of the post 28 is surrounded by an insulation collar 36. The second, or lower end of the post 28 carries a base member, or stator 38. The stator 38 is secured to the post 28 by means of an internal threaded connection. A cement fillet is disposed at the interface between the refractory coating 34 and the upper end of the stator 38. The end face of the second end of the post 28 is disposed adjacent a flat, counterbored surface within the stator 38. A facing gasket 39 of intumescent paper is disposed in the gap between the end of the post 28 and the flat, counterbored surface.
An impeller 40 is threadedly secured to the end of the drive shaft 30. A first bearing ring 42 of silicon carbide or other material having bearing properties at high temperature is disposed about the lowermost end of the impeller 40. A second bearing ring 44 of silicon carbide or other material having bearing properties at high temperature is disposed at the lowermost end of the stator 38 in facing relationship to the first bearing ring 42.
As will be apparent from the foregoing description, the impeller 40 is rotatable relative to the stator 38. The bearing rings 42, 44 will prevent friction-related wear of the stator 38 and the impeller 40 from occurring. The stator 38 includes a cavity 46 within which the impeller 40 is disposed and a pumping chamber 47 that surrounds the impeller 40. The stator 38 includes an outlet 48 through which molten metal can be pumped under pressure, the outlet 48 being in fluid communication with the chamber 47. The stator 38 also includes three passageways 50 for the discharge of gas, as will be described subsequently.
The post 28 and the shaft 30 are spaced a small distance from each other so that inert gas can be pumped therebetween. At the lower end of the post 28, at that point where the upper surface of the impeller 40 comes closest to contacting the uppermost surface of the cavity 46, a small gap is maintained. Although the gap changes on heating of the parts, it desirably is maintained at approximately 0.015 inch. The passageways 50 are in communication with the impeller-stator gap and serve to bleed gas from the cavity 46 into the vessel 12.
A cylindrical extension 52 projects from the upper end of the post 28 and is connected thereto by means of an internal threaded connection. The upper, or first end of the drive shaft 30 projects from the first end of the post 28 into the volume defined by the extension 52. A vertically extending plate, or support member 54 is connected to the angle irons 22. A pair of U-bolts 55 are passed about the extension 52 and are secured to the support member 54 by means of spacers 56 and nuts 58. A drive motor 60 is secured to the upper end of the extension 52. In the embodiment illustrated, the motor 60 is an air motor, although it can be any type that may be desired. With particular reference to pump 20, if the U-bolts 55 are loosened, the pump 20 can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft 30. In turn, the outlet 48 can be oriented in any desired direction. Upon tightening the U-bolts 55, the pump 20 will be locked in the selected radial position.
The motor 60 includes a splined drive shaft 62. The upper end of the drive shaft 30 includes a cavity 64 having longitudinal grooves formed in its inner surface that mate with the splines of the drive shaft 62, thereby providing a driving connection between the motor 60 and the drive shaft 30. The upper end of the shaft 30 is supported for rotation by means of a bearing 66. The bearing 66 is supported atop a radially inwardly directed flange 68. An O-ring 70 is carried by the upper end of the shaft 30 in order to create a fluid-tight seal between the shaft 30 and the bearing 66. The fluid-tight seal thus created separates the lower portion of the pumps 10, 20 from the upper portion of the pumps 10, 20. Because of the seal, the lower portion can be pressurized without pressurizing the upper portion.
An opening 72 is formed in the side of the extension 52 at a vertical location below the flange 68. The opening 72 permits compressed gas to be directed into the gap between the post 28 and the drive shaft 30. Another opening 73 is formed in the side of the extension 52 at a vertical location above the flange 68. The opening 73 permits the user to have access to the upper interior portion of the extension 52 and the pump components disposed therein.
A first collar 74 is disposed about the drive shaft 30 on the side of the bearing 66 opposite the impeller 40. The first collar 74 is adjustably connected to the drive shaft 30 such that the axial position of the drive shaft 30 relative to the post 28 can be adjusted. Because the impeller 40 is rigidly secured to the end of the shaft 30, the adjustment of the shaft 30 thus described permits the gap between the stator 38 and the impeller 40 to be adjusted.
A second collar 76 is disposed about the drive shaft 30 on the side of the first collar 74 opposite the impeller 40. The second collar 76 is rigidly secured to the drive shaft 30. Whenever it is desired to remove the drive shaft 30 and the impeller 40 from the pump, the first collar 74 can be loosened in order to permit the drive shaft 30 to be moved to a lowered position. The second collar 76 will prevent the drive shaft 30 from falling out of the pump. After the impeller 40 has been removed, the drive shaft 30 can be retracted upwardly through the extension 52.
With particular reference to FIG. 2, the pump 10 includes an elbow 80 that is connected to the base member 38 by means of an internal sleeve 82. The elbow 80 includes a passageway 84 that is in fluid communication with the outlet passageway 48. A riser tube 86 is connected to the upper end of the elbow 80. The riser tube 86 is protected by a layer of intumescent paper 88 and a refractory coating 90. The upper end of the riser tube 86 is surrounded by an insulating collar 92. It is expected that the riser tube 86, intumescent paper 88, and refractory coating 90 will be substantially identical to the post 28, intumescent paper 32, and refractory coating 34.
A short cylindrical extension 94 projects from the upper end of the riser tube 86 and is connected thereto by means of an internal threaded connection. A second hollow extension 96 projects upwardly from the first extension 94. A sleeve 98 having a radially extending flange 100 at its upper end is fitted about the extension 96. The lower end of the sleeve 98 extends into the upper end of the extension 94. A paper gasket 102 is compressed between the upper end of the riser tube 86 and the lower end of the extension 96 and the sleeve 98.
A flange 104 is loosely disposed about the sleeve 98. The flange 104 includes openings 106 (FIG. 4) that enable the extension 96 to be connected to a spout (not shown) or other type of conduit by means of bolts (not shown) that compress the spout against the exposed upper surface of the flange 100. Because the flange 104 is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the extension 96, the spout or other conduit can be radially positioned as may be desired.
The extension 94, and the sleeve 98 are connected to the support member 54 by means of U-bolts 108, spacers 110, and nuts 112. This construction is substantially identical to that previously described for support of the extension 52.
Referring particularly to FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7 the impeller 40 is a generally cup-like structure defining a cavity 120 that is exposed along the lower surface of the pump. A plurality of laterally extending cylindrical openings 122 extend through the side wall of the impeller 40. The openings 122 provide fluid communication between the cavity 120 and the chamber 47. In the embodiment illustrated, six openings 122 are provided. The openings are equidistantly spaced from each other about the periphery of the impeller 40. The centerlines of the openings 122 do not project radially from the center of the impeller 40, but rather are parallel to a first line 124 extending radially from the center of the impeller 40, the first line being located at an angle A from a second line 126 bisecting the impeller 40. In the embodiment illustrated, the angle A is 60° and the centerlines of the openings 122 are spaced approximately 0.375 inch from the line 124.
The passageways 50 are positioned equidistantly about the stator 38. The centerlines of the passageways 50 are inclined approximately 30° from the horizontal.
Referring to FIG. 6, a modified form of the impeller 40 is shown. The impeller 40 is identical to the impeller 40 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 except that the impeller 40 shown in FIG. 6 includes, near its upper end, a plurality of radially extending vanes 130. The vanes 130 are disposed within the cavity 46. It is expected that the impeller 40 having vanes 130 will be used if it is desired to inject purifying gases into the molten metal being pumped by the impeller 40. The vanes 130 will act as shearing vanes that will break up bubbles of gas being discharged into the molten metal into very fine bubbles that will be intimately mixed with the molten metal immediately upon their discharge from the passageways 50. If intimate mixing of the gas with the molten metal is not of concern, then the shearing vanes 130 can be eliminated.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the molten metal pump according to the invention is exceedingly compact and lightweight. Because the drive shaft 30 is encased within the stationary post 28, and because inert gas is pumped between the post 28 and the drive shaft 30, the drive shaft 30 is well protected from the molten metal in which the pump is immersed. In turn, the drive shaft 30 can be made of metal such as steel, thereby having an essentially indefinite life. Moreover, because the post 28 is stationary, the molten metal is pumped only by the action of the impeller 40.
The invention has a number of other advantages that will be apparent from the foregoing description. These advantages include the use of a drive shaft that cannot be fractured upon the application of high torsion loads as sometimes occurs during the operation of molten metal pumps. In the transfer pump embodiment, the connection between the user's plumbing and the extension 96 is such that there is no stress load applied to the riser tube 86 or the extension 96. Accordingly, potential damage to the riser tube 86 or the extension 96 due to rough handling by the user is minimized or eliminated.
Additional advantages of the invention include the capability of rotating the outlet passageway 48 of the pump 20 in any desired direction. In the transfer pump embodiment, the use of the same element for the post 28 and the riser tube 86 minimizes expense. The particular manner in which the drive shaft 30 is supported within the post 28, and the technique by which the drive shaft 30 is prevented from falling out of the post 28 upon disassembly, provides advantages of efficiency of operation and ease of assembly and disassembly.
Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it will be understood that the present disclosure of the preferred embodiment has been made only by way of example and that various changes may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentably novelty exist in the invention disclosed. | An impeller for a molten metal pump having a cup-shaped body comprised of a sidewall and a closed end portion that define a cavity. A plurality of shear vanes extend radially from the outer surface of the impeller, particularly from the end portion of the impeller. The impeller also has a plurality of openings extending laterally through its sidewall, wherein the openings have center lines disposed parallel to lines extending radially from the center of the cavity. The openings may be equidistantly spaced about the periphery of the sidewall. The impeller may also be comprised of a bearing member forming a portion of the sidewall. | 5 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a medium transfer device of an automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine installed in financial institutions and the like and receiving and paying paper currency.
BACKGROUND ART
The conventional automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine performs money withdrawal processing of currency, such as paper currency, from an internal safe by customer's operation and money deposit processing of storing, in the internal safe, paper currency and the like received from a customer. In the money withdrawal processing, paper currency is transferred from the internal safe to a customer section through a paper currency transfer section. In the money deposit processing, paper currency is transferred from the customer section to the internal safe through the paper currency transfer section.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are side views schematically showing a paper currency transfer section of the conventional automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine. FIG. 8A is a side view schematically showing a transfer unit of the paper currency transfer section. A paper currency transfer passage 80 includes transfer rollers 82 a , 82 b , 83 a , and 83 b and transfer belts 84 a and 84 b . The upper transfer belt 84 a is stretched between the transfer rollers 82 a and 83 a and rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source (not shown). As with the upper transfer belt 84 a , the lower transfer belt 84 b is stretched between the transfer rollers 82 b and 83 b and rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source (not shown). The upper and lower transfer belts 84 a and 84 b rotate while interposing paper currency P in between to thereby transfer the paper currency P in the arrow direction.
FIG. 8B is a side view showing delivery between transfer units of the paper currency transfer section. A sending-side paper currency transfer passage 81 shown in FIG. 8B and a receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 having the same constitution as that of the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 81 are provided respectively on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transfer direction of the paper currency P. A delivery section for delivering the paper currency P is constituted between a transfer unit as the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 81 and a transfer unit as the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 . Those transfer units and the delivery section are continuously constituted between constitutive units such as the customer section and the internal safe in the automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine to constitute the paper currency transfer section. In the paper currency transfer section, the paper currency P is sent out from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 81 to be received in the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 , and, thus, to be transferred between each of the transfer units from the upstream to the downstream in the transfer direction.
The transferred paper currency P has no rigidity and is thin and soft. Since, in particular, paper currency to be received is used under various conditions, many of the paper currencies may be deformed. FIGS. 9A , 9 B, and 9 C are explanatory view showing a transfer state of paper currency in the conventional paper currency transfer section. FIG. 9A is an explanatory view showing the paper currency P with a bent and deformed front end P- 1 . FIG. 9B is an explanatory view showing the paper currency P generally curved including the front end P- 1 . As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B , when the paper currency P is transferred in the arrow direction, there is the paper currency P with the deformed front end P- 1 in the transfer direction.
FIG. 9C is a side view showing delivery of the deformed paper currency between the transfer units of the paper currency transfer section. When the deformed paper currency P is transferred, and in particular when the paper currency P is sent out from the sending-side transfer belts 84 a and 84 b , the constraint to the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P disappears between the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 81 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 , and therefore, the state of the front end P- 1 becomes unstable. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 9C , the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is abutted against the receiving transfer belt 94 a and 92 a of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 to be further deformed or buckled, so that the paper currency P cannot be finally transferred to the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 91 due to jamming of paper currency.
In order to solve the above problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-200923 discloses a technique for preventing the paper currency jamming at the paper currency delivery portion. Namely, in JP-A No. 7-200923, a paper currency guide member performing swinging motion is provided at the paper currency delivery portion, and a delivery passage is enlarged or reduced by the swinging motion of the paper currency guide member.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
However, in JP-A No. 7-200923, since the paper currency guide member performing swinging motion is required to be provided at the paper currency delivery portion, the structure is complicated. Further, a dedicated drive source for making the paper currency guide member perform the swinging motion is required to be provided.
The present invention provides a medium transfer device, which prevents jamming of paper currency in a paper currency transfer section constituted of plural transfer units, and, at the same time, does not complicate the structure, and has a paper currency transfer section requiring no dedicated drive source.
Solution to Problem
An aspect of the present invention is a medium transfer device, which delivers a medium from a first transfer passage to a second transfer passage, including: a receiving-side transfer roller of the second transfer passage; and a bladed wheel provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
According to the present invention, there can be obtained a medium transfer device, which prevents jamming of paper currency in a paper currency transfer section constituted of plural transfer units, and, at the same time, does not complicate the structure, and has a paper currency transfer section requiring no dedicated drive source.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view showing delivery between transfer units of a paper currency transfer section according to a first exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a receiving-side paper currency transfer passage as viewed from the upstream side;
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a variation of the delivery between the transfer units of the paper currency transfer section according to the first exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a side view showing delivery between the transfer units of a paper currency transfer section according to a second exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a partially omitted front view of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage as viewed from the upstream side;
FIG. 7 is a front view of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage as viewed from the upstream side;
FIG. 8A is a side view schematically showing a paper currency transfer section of the conventional automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine;
FIG. 8B is a side view schematically showing a paper currency transfer section of the conventional automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine;
FIG. 9A is an explanatory view showing a transfer state of paper currency in the conventional paper currency transfer section;
FIG. 9B is an explanatory view showing a transfer state of paper currency in the conventional paper currency transfer section; and
FIG. 9C is an explanatory view showing a transfer state of paper currency in the conventional paper currency transfer section.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
First Exemplary Embodiment
Hereinafter, a first exemplary embodiment is described. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment. In FIG. 2 , a customer section 1 stores paper currency P to be given to customers in money withdrawal processing and takes the paper currency P, received from customers, into the device in money deposit processing. A discrimination section 2 determines the authenticity of the deposited or withdrawn paper currency P and, at the same time, determines the number of the paper currencies P. A temporary holding section 3 accumulates the deposited paper currency P and temporarily reserves the paper currency P. A storage section 4 is operated as an internal safe for storing the paper currency P to be withdrawn.
A reject cassette section 5 stores the paper currency P unfit for handling by the automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine 10 . A supply/collection section 6 supplies the paper currency P in the storage section 4 and collects the received paper currency P. A paper currency transfer section 7 is disposed to connect the constitutive units each other and transfers the paper currency P between the constitutive units.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing delivery between the transfer units of the paper currency transfer section 7 according to the first exemplary embodiment. A sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 as a first transfer passage includes transfer rollers 12 a , 12 b , 13 a , and 13 b and transfer belts 14 a and 14 b . The upper transfer belt 14 a is stretched between the transfer rollers 12 a and 13 a and rotated in the arrow direction at a predetermined rotation speed by a drive source (not shown). As with the upper transfer belt 14 a , the lower transfer belt 14 b is stretched between the transfer rollers 12 b and 13 b and rotated in the arrow direction at a predetermined rotation speed by a drive source (not shown). The upper and lower transfer belts 14 a and 14 b rotate while interposing the paper currency P in between to thereby transfer the paper currency P in the arrow direction that is the downstream of the paper currency transfer section 7 . The sending-side transfer rollers 13 a and 13 b of the transfer rollers 12 a , 12 b , 13 a , and 13 b send and give the paper currency P to a receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 next to the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 .
The receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 as a second transfer passage is provided on the downstream side in the transfer direction of the paper currency P. The delivery section of the paper currency P is constituted between the transfer unit as the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the transfer unit as the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 . Each of the transfer units and the delivery section are continuously constituted between each of the constitutive units such as the customer section 1 and the storage section 4 in the automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine 10 to constitute the paper currency transfer section 7 . The paper currency P is sent out from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 to be received in the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 , and, thus, to be transferred between each of the transfer units from the upstream to the downstream in the transfer direction.
The receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 includes transfer rollers 22 a , 22 b , 23 a , and 23 b , transfer belts 24 a and 24 b , and a bladed wheel 25 . The upper transfer belt 24 a is stretched between the transfer rollers 22 a and 23 a and rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source (not shown). As with the upper transfer belt 24 a , the lower transfer belt 24 b is stretched between the transfer rollers 22 b and 23 b and rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source (not shown). The upper and lower transfer belts 24 a and 24 b rotate while interposing the paper currency P in between to thereby transfer the paper currency P in the arrow direction that is the downstream of the paper currency transfer section 7 . The receiving-side transfer rollers 22 a and 22 b of the transfer rollers 22 a , 22 b , 23 a , and 23 b receive the paper currency P sent from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 on the upstream side.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the bladed wheel 25 is provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller 22 a . The bladed wheel 25 has plural blades 25 - 1 formed of an elastic body and is rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source to be described later. When the paper currency P sent from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 on the upstream side has the deformed front end P- 1 , the blades 25 - 1 of the rotated bladed wheel 25 force the front end P- 1 downward. According to this constitution, the deformed front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is forced downward by the blades 25 - 1 of the rotated bladed wheel 25 before being abutted against the receiving-side transfer roller 22 a . The front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is then introduced in between the receiving-side transfer rollers 22 a and 22 b and, in other words, between the upper and lower transfer belts 24 a and 24 b , so that the transfer in the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 is facilitated.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 as viewed from the upstream side. The roller shafts 31 a and 31 b and a gear shaft 32 are supported in parallel by right and left support frames 40 . The transfer belts 24 a and 24 b are stretched respectively over the transfer roller 22 a and 22 b , and the transfer roller 22 a and 22 b are provided so as to be fixed at two positions of the roller shafts 31 a and 31 b . The upper transfer roller 22 a is rotated by the roller shaft 31 a through a drive gear 30 by a drive source (not shown).
The bladed wheel 25 is coaxial with the transfer roller 22 a and is provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 a through a bearing. The bladed wheels 25 and the transfer rollers 22 a are alternately provided. The bladed wheels 25 are provided at three positions in a direction vertical to the transfer direction of the paper currency P. The bladed wheel 25 is rotated at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a by the rotation of the roller shaft 31 a . In order to obtain the rotation of the bladed wheel 25 , the rotation of the roller shaft 31 a is transmitted to a roller shaft gear 31 - 1 and a gear shaft gear 32 - 1 to the gear shaft 32 to be further transmitted to a gear shaft gear 32 - 2 and a bladed wheel gear 25 - 2 . The bladed wheel gear 25 - 2 is formed integrally with the bladed wheel 25 . The drive source of the bladed wheel 25 is used in common with the drive source of the transfer roller 22 a.
According to the above constitution, the bladed wheel 25 starts rotating simultaneously with the rotation of the transfer roller 22 a . The bladed wheel 25 can rotate at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a by a gear ratio between the roller shaft gear 31 - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 - 2 , and the bladed wheel gear 25 - 2 . Since the bladed wheel 25 rotates at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a , the blades 25 - 1 of the bladed wheel 25 force downward the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P.
The number of rotations of the bladed wheel 25 is experimentally obtained. The bladed wheel 25 is provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 a through the bearing. However, since the bladed wheel 25 is regulated by a regulating member (not shown), the bladed wheel 25 does not move in the axial direction of the roller shaft 31 a . A transfer guide (not shown) regulating the paper currency P in a direction vertical to the transfer direction of the paper currency P may be provided according to need.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a variation of the delivery between the transfer units of the paper currency transfer section 7 according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 4 shows that there is a gap between the roller shafts 33 a and 33 b supporting the sending-side transfer rollers 13 a and 13 b in the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 . Namely, the roller shaft 33 b of the lower transfer roller 13 b is located on the more downstream side than the roller shaft 33 a of the upper transfer roller 13 a by a gap D 1 . According to this constitution, the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is slightly twisted upward as shown by the arrow, and the blades 25 - 1 of the bladed wheel 25 exercise the effect of forcing the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P downward.
According to the first exemplary embodiment, in the paper currency transfer section 7 constituted of the plural transfer units, the bladed wheel 25 is provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller 22 a as the second transfer passage. Thus, even if the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is folded, the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P is not abutted against the transfer roller 22 a and the transfer belt 24 a , and the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P can be easily introduced in between the transfer belts 24 a and 24 b in the second transfer passage. Consequently, there can be obtained a medium transfer device which can prevent jamming of paper currency from occurring in the paper currency delivery section between the units, and, at the same time, does not complicate the structure, and has the paper currency transfer section 7 requiring no dedicated drive source.
Second Exemplary Embodiment
Next, a second exemplary embodiment is described. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the delivery between the transfer units of the paper currency transfer section 7 according to the second exemplary embodiment. Since the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 as the first transfer passage is similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment, the description of the first exemplary embodiment is incorporated.
Further, as in the first exemplary embodiment, also in the second exemplary embodiment, a delivery section of paper currency P is constituted between the transfer unit as the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the transfer unit as a receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 , and each of the transfer units and the delivery section are continuously constituted between each of the constitutive units such as the customer section 1 and the storage section 4 in the automatic paper currency deposit/withdrawal machine 10 . Thus, the description of the first exemplary embodiment is incorporated.
The receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 includes transfer rollers 22 a , 22 b , 23 a , and 23 b , transfer belts 24 a and 24 b , and bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b . The upper transfer belt 24 a is stretched between the transfer rollers 22 a and 23 a and rotated in the arrow direction at a predetermined rotation speed by a drive source (not shown). As with the upper transfer belt 24 a , the lower transfer belt 24 b is stretched between the transfer rollers 22 b and 23 b and rotated in the arrow direction at a predetermined rotation speed by a drive source (not shown). The upper and lower transfer belts 24 a and 24 b rotate while interposing the paper currency P in between to thereby transfer the paper currency P in the arrow direction that is the downstream of the paper currency transfer section 7 . The receiving-side transfer rollers 22 a and 22 b of the transfer rollers 22 a , 22 b , 23 a , and 23 b receive the paper currency P sent from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 on the upstream side.
In the second exemplary embodiment, the bladed wheel 25 a is provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller 22 a provided on the upper side. The bladed wheel 25 b is provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller 22 b provided on the lower side. The bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b respectively have plural blades 25 a - 1 and 25 b - 1 formed of an elastic body and are rotated in the arrow direction by a drive source to be described later. When the paper currency P sent from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 on the upstream side has the front end P- 1 deformed upward, the blades 25 a - 1 of the upper bladed wheel 25 a force the front end P- 1 downward before the front end P- 1 is abutted against the receiving-side transfer roller 22 a . Meanwhile, when the paper currency P has a front end P- 2 deformed downward, the blades 25 b - 1 of the lower bladed wheel 25 b force the front end P- 2 upward before the front end P- 2 is abutted against the receiving-side transfer roller 22 b . According to this constitution, the deformed front end P- 1 or P- 2 of the paper currency P is introduced in between the receiving-side transfer rollers 22 a and 22 b and, in other words, between the upper and lower transfer belts 24 a and 24 b , so that the transfer in the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 is facilitated.
According to the above constitution, when a bundle of the paper currencies P is transferred, even if the front ends P- 1 and P- 2 of the paper currencies P are deformed upward or downward, the paper currencies P can be introduced in between the transfer belts 24 a and 24 b by the blades 25 a - 1 and 25 b - 1 of the bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b.
FIG. 6 is a partially omitted front view of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 as viewed from the upstream side. In FIG. 6 , a drive system is omitted. The upper roller shaft 31 a has the two fixed transfer rollers 22 a , and the transfer belts 24 a are stretched over the transfer rollers 22 a . The roller shaft 31 a has the three bladed wheels 25 a rotatably provided through a bearing so as to be coaxial with the transfer rollers 22 a . As with the upper roller shaft 31 a , the lower roller shaft 31 b also has the two fixed transfer rollers 22 b , and the transfer belts 24 b are stretched over the transfer rollers 22 b . The roller shaft 31 b has the three bladed wheels 25 b rotatably provided through a bearing so as to be coaxial with the transfer rollers 22 b . In order to prevent the blades 25 a - 1 and the blades 25 b - 1 from interfering with each other, a gap D 2 is provided between the positions where the upper and lower bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b are provided, as shown in FIG. 6 .
FIG. 7 is a front view of the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 as viewed from the upstream side. The roller shafts 31 a and 31 b and gear shafts 32 a and 32 b are supported in parallel by support frames 40 . The transfer belts 24 a and 24 b are stretched respectively over the transfer roller 22 a and 22 b , and the transfer roller 22 a and 22 b are provided respectively around the roller shafts 31 a and 31 b . The upper transfer roller 22 a is rotated by the roller shaft 31 a through a drive gear 30 a by a drive source (not shown). Likewise, the lower transfer roller 22 b is rotated by the roller shaft 31 b through a drive gear 30 b.
The upper bladed wheel 25 a is coaxial with the transfer roller 22 a and provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 a through a bearing. The upper bladed wheels 25 a and the transfer rollers 22 a are alternately provided. The upper bladed wheels 25 a are provided at three positions of the roller shaft 31 a in a direction vertical to the transfer direction of the paper currency P. The upper bladed wheels 25 a are rotated at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a by the rotation of the roller shaft 31 a . The rotation of the upper bladed wheels 25 a is transmitted from a roller shaft gear 31 a - 1 and a gear shaft gear 32 a - 1 to a gear shaft 32 a by the rotation of the roller shaft 31 a to be then transmitted to a gear shaft gear 32 a - 2 and a bladed wheel gear 25 a - 2 . The bladed wheel gear 25 a - 2 is formed integrally with the bladed wheel 25 a . The drive source of the upper bladed wheel 25 a is used in common with the drive source of the transfer roller 22 a . According to this constitution, the bladed wheel 25 a starts rotating simultaneously with the rotation of the transfer roller 22 a . The bladed wheel 25 a can rotate at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a by a gear ratio between the roller shaft gear 31 a - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 a - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 a - 2 , and the bladed wheel gear 25 a - 2 . Since the bladed wheel 25 a rotates at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 a , the blades 25 a - 1 of the bladed wheel 25 a force the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P downward.
Meanwhile, the lower bladed wheel 25 b is coaxial with the transfer roller 22 b and provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 b . The lower bladed wheels 25 b and the transfer rollers 22 b are alternately provided. The lower bladed wheels 25 b are provided at three positions of the roller shaft 31 b in a direction vertical to the transfer direction of the paper currency P. The lower bladed wheels 25 b is rotated at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 b by the rotation of the roller shaft 31 b . The rotation of the lower bladed wheels 25 b is transmitted from a roller shaft gear 31 b - 1 and a gear shaft gear 32 b - 1 to a gear shaft 32 b by the rotation of the roller shaft 31 b to be then transmitted to a gear shaft gear 32 b - 2 and a bladed wheel gear 25 b - 2 . The bladed wheel gear 25 b - 2 is formed integrally with the bladed wheel 25 b . The drive source of the lower bladed wheel 25 b is used in common with the drive source of the transfer roller 22 b . According to this constitution, the bladed wheel 25 b starts rotating simultaneously with the rotation of the transfer roller 22 b . The bladed wheel 25 b can rotate at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 b by a gear ratio between the roller shaft gear 31 b - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 b - 1 , the gear shaft gear 32 b - 2 , and the bladed wheel gear 25 b - 2 . Since the bladed wheel 25 b rotates at higher speed than the transfer roller 22 b , the blades 25 b - 1 of the bladed wheel 25 b force the front end P- 1 of the paper currency P upward.
The numbers of rotations of the bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b are experimentally obtained. The bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b are provided rotatably respectively around the roller shafts 31 a and 31 b . However, since the bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b are regulated by a regulating member (not shown), the bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b do not move respectively in the axial directions of the roller shafts 31 a and 31 b.
In the second exemplary embodiment, the lower transfer roller 22 b is fixedly provided around the roller shaft 31 b , and the bladed wheel 25 b is provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 b . However, the invention is not limited to this constitution. Namely, the bladed wheel 25 b may be fixedly provided around the roller shaft 31 b , and the transfer roller 22 b may be provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 b . The rotating force of the roller shaft 31 b (in this case, the shaft of the bladed wheel) is transmitted from another roller shaft through a belt (not shown), and the transfer roller 22 b is rotatably axially supported through a bearing. The bladed wheel 25 a may be fixedly provided around the roller shaft 31 a , and the transfer roller 22 a may be provided rotatably around the roller shaft 31 a.
As described above, according to the second exemplary embodiment, the bladed wheels 25 a and 25 b are provided coaxially with the receiving-side upper and lower transfer rollers 22 a and 22 b . According to this constitution, even if the deformed front ends P- 1 and P- 2 of the paper currency P are folded upward or downward, the paper currency P can be introduced in between the transfer belts 24 a and 24 b . Accordingly, there can be obtained a medium transfer device which prevents the paper currency jamming, and, at the same time, does not complicate the structure, and has a paper currency transfer section requiring no dedicated drive source.
The first and second exemplary embodiments have described the example in which the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 are located horizontally. However, the invention is not limited to this example, and the invention is also applicable to an example in which the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 are located vertically. The first and second exemplary embodiments have further described the example in which the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 are disposed linearly. However, the invention is not limited to this example, and the invention is also applicable to an example in which the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 are disposed with a certain angle.
As the paper currency transfer section 7 , when the paper currency is transferred from the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 to the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 in one direction, the invention is not limited to the constitution in which the bladed wheel 25 is provided coaxially with the receiving-side transfer roller 22 . Namely, when the paper currency is delivered bi-directionally between the sending-side paper currency transfer passage 11 and the receiving-side paper currency transfer passage 21 , the bladed wheels 25 may be provided around both the receiving-side transfer roller 22 and the sending-side transfer roller 23 .
As a medium to be transferred, although the paper currency P has been described as an example, the invention is not limited to this example and is applicable to all paper sheets. | Provided is a paper-currency transfer device, which prevents paper-currency clogging in a paper-currency transfer unit composed of a plurality of transfer units and which neither has a complicated structure nor needs a dedicated drive source. A medium transfer device transfers a medium from a sending-side paper-currency transfer passage as a first transfer passage to a receiving-side paper-currency transfer passage as a second transfer passage. The medium transfer device comprises a runner mounted coaxially with a transfer roller on a receiving side of the receiving-side paper-currency transfer passage. The runner is rotated at a higher speed than that of the transfer roller on the receiving side. The drive source of the runner is common to that of the transfer roller. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dual-band bandpass filter adopted for use in wireless communication and particularly to a dual-band bandpass filter with stepped-impedance resonators.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wireless communication has had a tremendous growth in recent years. Developments of wireless transceivers have been gradually directed to multiple bandwidths to provide more flexibility. By means of this technology, users can access different services through one multi-mode, multi-band terminal. In the previous technology, GSM and WCDMA communication systems achieve the dual-band operation by switching two separated transceivers. Such architecture requires two transceivers operating in different frequency. Hence, it requires higher cost, greater circuit area, and more power consumption. To overcome these drawbacks, a so-called concurrent dual-band architecture has been introduced. In this architecture, one transceiver can simultaneously operate in two passbands, where the key building blocks, such as low noise amplifier and bandpass filter, have two concurrent passbands and adequate the stop-band suppression. The concurrent dual-band low noise amplifier has been designed to achieve the required effect, but the dual-band bandpass filter is still not yet reported H. Miyake, S. Kitazawa, T. Ishizaki, T. Yamada, and Y. Nagatomi, “A miniaturized monolithic dual band filter using ceramic lamination technique for dual mode portable telephones,” 1997 IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., vol. 2, pp. 789–792, June 1997, a dual-band bandpass filter was fabricated in low temperature co-fired ceramic processes. However, its structure actually included two separated filters. The filter layout at the upper four layers was designed for the pass-band of 900 MHz and layout at the lower four layers was for the pass-band of 1800 MHz. Although these two circuits were fabricated at the same low temperature co-fired ceramic chip, they had individual output and input ports, hence required additional input and output combination circuits to transmit the signal through a single pair of input and output ports. In practice, it still does not effectively reduce the circuit area and cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To resolve the foregoing problems, a dual-band bandpass filter with stepped-impedance resonators was provided and it requires only one circuit to generate a concurrent dual-passband effect.
The dual-band bandpass filter with stepped-impedance resonators according to the invention includes a circuit board, input end, output end and at least two stepped-impedance resonators. The input end, output end and resonators are mounted onto the circuit board. The input end receives signals and the output end output signals respectively. Each resonator includes a connecting section which had two ends connected respectively to a coupling section.
Moreover, the coupling sections of the resonators are coupled with each other. One coupling section is coupled respectively with the input end and the output end to filter input signals. Also, the multi-layer broadside-coupled parallel lines structure can be applied to implement dual-band filters with broader bandwidth and less loss.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams of the invention.
FIG. 2A is a chart showing the relationship between impendence ratio and first two resonant frequencies of the resonator according to the invention.
FIG. 2B is a chart showing a full-wave simulation result of the filter of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagrams of the invention adopted on a two-layer circuit board.
FIGS. 4A , 4 B and 4 C are schematic diagrams of a second embodiment of the resonator of the invention.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic views of a third embodiment of the resonator of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the invention adopted on a multi-layer circuit board.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1A , the dual-band bandpass filter equipped with stepped-impedance resonators according to the invention includes a circuit board 10 , an input end 21 , an output end 22 , a first resonator 30 and a second resonator 40 . The input end 21 , the output end 22 , the first resonator 30 and the second resonator 40 are mounted onto the circuit board 10 . The input end 21 receives signals to be filtered. After the signals have been filtered, they are transmitted outwards through the output end 22 .
The first resonator 30 has a first coupling section 31 coupling with the input end 21 and a second coupling section 32 coupling with a third coupling section 41 of the second resonator 40 . The second resonator 40 has a fourth coupling section 42 coupling with the output end 22 . Hence signals received from the input end 21 are transmitted outwards through the output end 22 through the coupling relationships set forth above. Meanwhile, each of the coupling sections can be in a broadside-coupled structure to increase the coupling. The first resonator 30 and the second resonator 40 have the same structure. The first resonator 30 is used as an example below for more details.
The first resonator 30 includes two symmetrical coupling sections 31 and 32 at two ends, and a connecting section 33 to bridge the two coupling sections. They are all transverse electromagnetic wave (TEM) or quasi-TEM transmission lines. Referring to FIG. 1B , define the impedance ratio of the transmission line is: Z 2 /Z 1 =R and total electric length is: θ T =2(θ 1 +θ 2 )
By means of the even-mode and odd-mode analysis method, the odd resonance condition at first resonance frequency f 1 is as follows:
θ
T
=
2
tan
-
1
[
1
1
-
R
(
R
tan
θ
1
+
tan
θ
1
)
]
(
1
)
θ
1
=
tan
-
1
(
R
)
(
2
)
The even resonance condition at second resonance frequency f 2 is as follows:
tan
θ
1
=
∞
θ
1
=
n
2
π
,
n
=
1
,
2
,
3
…
(
3
)
When θ 1 =θ 2 , the relationship of the ratio of first resonance frequency and the second resonance frequency and the impendence ratio R can be further derived as below:
f 2 f 1 = θ 1 S θ 1 = π 2 tan - 1 R ( 4 ) ⇒ R = ( tan π f 1 2 f 2 ) 2 ( 5 )
where f 2 is the second resonance frequency of the resonator, and f 1 is the first resonance frequency. Hence altering the value of R may control the frequencies of two passbands, and the required dual passbands may be achieved (referring to FIG. 2A ). Take the dual-band bandpass filter used in the wireless local area network (WLAN) of 2.4/5.2 GHz for example:
f 2 f 1 = 5.2 2.4 = π 2 tan - 1 R hence R = 0.785 .
When θ 1 =½θ 2 , the relationship of the ratio of first resonance frequency and the second resonance frequency and R may be indicated as follow:
f 2 f 1 = tan - 1 R + 2 R tan - 1 R R + 2
When the circuit is complemented with a two-layer circuit board 10 , there is a first layer 11 and a second layer 12 (referring to FIG. 3 ). The input end 21 and output end 22 are located on the first layer 11 , while the first resonator 30 and the second resonator 40 are located on the second layer 12 . The coupling relationship is still maintained. The difference between structures in FIG. 3 and FIG. 1 is that the input end 21 is coupled with the first coupling section 31 of the first resonator 30 through the circuit board 10 , and the fourth coupling section 42 of the second resonator 40 is coupled with the output end 22 through the circuit board 10 . As seen from the top view, the input end 21 and the first coupling section 31 , the output end 22 and the fourth coupling section 42 alike, can be fully overlapped to reduce insertion loss.
Besides the example set forth above where the connecting section 33 of the first resonator 30 is collinear with the coupling sections 31 and 32 , a design of U-shaped resonator may also be formed as shown in a second embodiment in FIGS. 4A , 4 B and 4 C. Namely, the connecting section 33 is bent and located on one side of the coupling sections 31 and 32 . The first resonator 30 and the second resonator 40 are coupled together in the same orientation (referring to FIG. 4A ), or in the opposite orientation (as shown in FIG. 4B ). Furthermore, the coupling sections 31 and 32 can be also located respectively on opposite sides of the connecting section (as shown in FIG. 4C ). Refer to FIGS. 5A and 5B for a third embodiment of the invention. The first coupling section 31 of the first resonator 30 is located on a first layer 11 and connecting section 33 located on both the layer 11 and the layer 12 , the second coupling section 32 is located on the second layer 12 of the circuit board 10 , and the coupling sections 31 and 32 are unoverlapped (referring to FIG. 5A ) or overlapped—(referring to FIG. 5B ).
The invention can be adopted on a multi-layer circuit board 10 as shown in third embodiment in FIG. 6 (also referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B ). The input end 21 is coupled with the first coupling section 31 of the first resonator 30 on a third layer 13 , the second coupling section 32 of the first resonator 30 is coupled with the third coupling section 41 of the second resonator 40 on a second layer 12 , and the fourth coupling section 42 of the second resonator 40 is coupled with the output end 22 on a first layer 11 .
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments, which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A dual-band bandpass filter with stepped-impedance resonators uses only one circuit to generate dual-band effect. It adopts the principle of stepped-impedance resonator, which contains a connecting section and two coupling sections. The impedance and electrical length of the connecting section and coupling sections conforms to a selected condition to generate two passbands at desired frequencies. A multi-layer broadside-coupled parallel lines structure may be applied to increase coupling-amount between the parallel lines so that the dual-band bandpass filters have broader bandwidth and less loss. | 7 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 515,023 filed Oct. 15, 1974 and now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of Ser. No. 371,872 filed June 20, 1973, both of which are now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods of producing articles having alternating magnetic and non-magnetic portions from continuous metal blanks.
Such articles are widely used as machine and instrument components. These articles are usually manufactured (joined together) from metals featuring different (contrasting) properties, such as, magnetic and non-magnetic properties high and low electric resistance, different coefficients of thermal expansion, different Curie points and different strength and plasticity characteristics. The metals featuring the above-specified properties are typically either bonded by welding, soldering, cementing together, pouring, cladding or by making use of mechanical connections, such as, riveting. They can be also joined together by hot or cold pressure shaping.
However, when metal articles are produced by the above-described methods, they suffer from deterioration of the properties of the metals which contribute to the formation of the magnetic and non-magnetic portions. Moreover, the fabrication of the articles composed of separate parts is associated with a number of technological problems. Thus, metals having different crystalline structures, such as, steels belonging to an austenitic (non-magnetic) and martensitic (magnetic) class can be bonded together by welding. In order to prevent hot cracking, austenitic steels are welded with a low arc heat input and a maximum possible cooling rate. Martensitic steels, to prevent cold cracking they are welded with high arc heat inputs and with an accompanying tempering or preheating steps to prevent the formation of cold cracks. However, when welding magnetic and non-magnetic metals, the use of the above-specified techniques adversely affects the properties of one of the metals being connected, and results in a reduction in strength, plasticity and impact toughness. In addition, the metals joined together by welding are subjected to temperatures approaching their melting points thus ensuing the alteration of their initial structures and with the magnetic properties of the article being uncontrollable in the welding zone. Local mixing of the metal is also conducive to uncontrollable properties at the metal weld. As a rule, a weld joint is inferior in strength to the base metal. For certain constructions welding is not applicable and the welding of heterogeneous metals presents certain problems or is not feasible.
Joining metals together by a combined hot and cold pressure treatment or by pouring one metal into another enables the production of a strong article. However, such a monolithic article consists of metals differing in their crystalline structures, such as, one metal having an austenitic non-magnetic structure and another metal having a martensitic magnetic structure. Heat treatment of a bimetallic blank results in a sharp deterioration of the magnetic and mechanical characteristics of one of the metals from which the articles has been fabricated so that it is difficult and sometimes impossible to improve the properties of the magnetic and non-magnetic portions with the aid of heat treatment.
Mechanical connecting and cementing of magnetic and non-magnetic metals cannot ensure high reliability, stress-rupture properties and serviceability of the articles thus produced.
The inventors have disclosed in application Ser. No. 515,663 filed Oct. 17, 1974 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,252 a method of producing metal articles having magnetic and non-magnetic portions, comprising heat treating separate portions of a continuous metal blank manufactured from a metal of a specified chemical composition to a temperature ranging from 450° to 1000° C. and heating the other portions to a temperature exceeding 1000° C to the melting point of the blank with the integrity of the blank being undisturbed.
The results of the above method were superior to those attainable heretofore.
It is common knowledge that certain alloys upon being subjected to an appropriate heat treating operation acquire or lose their magnetic properties. An alloy containing, in percent by weight: 12-14 vanadium and 50-52 cobalt and featuring low magnetic properties, and upon being subjected to cold working, acquires the properties of a magnetically hard material. (E. Gudreman "Special Steels", USSR, Metallurgia Publishers, 1966, Vol. 2, p.967).
The inventors have taken into account these phenomena in their containing research aimed at selecting the proper material for the blanks and the proper combination of heat treatment and deformation. In addition, blanks of different configuration have been studied and subjected to different kinds of deformation.
The known methods do not allow for the changing of the configuration of the magnetic and non-magnetic portions by local heat treatment.
Components having magnetic and non-magnetic portions find application in electronic computers. However, the components manufactured by cementing together magnetic and non-magnetic materials have inadequate life periods.
In cybernetics use is made of parts having magnetic and non-magnetic portions, the parts being fabricated by depositing magnetic powders on a non-magnetic substratum (a matrix, strip or backing, e.g. in plastics). To this end the matrix portions which are to remain non-magnetic are covered with an impervious film, whereas those portions which are to become magnetic remain exposed. However, the deposited magnetic layer does not have the requisite longevity.
The lack of procedure which would enable the production of strong metal articles having magnetic and non-magnetic portions creates difficulties in a number of industries.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principal object of the invention is to provide a method of producing articles having alternating magnetic and non-magnetic portions from a continuous metal blank which method ensures the fabrication of strong monolithic articles.
Another, no less important, object of the invention is to provide a method which would give the requisite configuration to the magnetic and non-magnetic portions by subjecting them to local heat treatment and plastic deformation.
These and other objects are achieved by providing a method of producing articles having alternating magnetic and non-magnetic portions from continuous metal blanks, wherein, according to the invention, the blank whose metal has an unstable austenitic structure is subjected to plastic deformation with a reduction degree varying from 0.1 to 99.9% over a temperature range of from 0° to 800° C including the portions which are to be imparted the properties of a magnetic material.
The above method ensures the production of strong monolithic articles having magnetic and non-magnetic portions which may be exposed to power loads (i.e. can be subjected to extension, compression and bending).
Initially the entire blank can be subjected to plastic deformation and then the portions which are to be made non-magnetic can be heated at least once to a temperature ranging from 1000° to 1350° C.
The herein-proposed method of producing articles having magnetic and non-magnetic portions can be accomplished most easily and makes it possible to preclude the decomposition of the austenitic non-magnetic structure.
It is desirable that the blank portions subjected to the plastic deformation be heated within a temperature range of from 450° to 850° C and held for from 0.5-200 hrs. This enhances the magnetic characteristics of the magnetic material.
The above-described articles may be manufactured from a blank whose metal has the following chemical composition, by weight: 0.03-0.3%, carbon; 12-17%, chromium; 30-55% cobalt, up to 7%, molybdenum and the balance being iron.
The metal has an unstable austenitic structure and upon being subjected to plastic deformation acquires the properties of a magnetic material.
The blank portions which are to become magnetic may have a cross section exceeding that of the portions which are to remain non-magnetic by the reduction step the blank being reduced so as to equalize its cross section over its entire length.
In this case an article produced from a sheet, bar or pipe blank, upon being subjected to plastic deformation on a rolling mill, will have a smooth external surface with alternating magnetic and non-magnetic portions.
Illustrative examples of the embodiment of the hereinproposed method of producing metal articles having magnetic and non-magnetic portions are given hereinbelow.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
EXAMPLE 1
A continuous blank from a metal containing 0.03 wt % of carbon, 13.4 wt % of chromium, 37.3 wt % of cobalt, 0.37 wt % of manganese, 0.02 wt % of silicon, 0.39 wt % of vanadium and the balance being iron was used. The blank was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 1150° to 800° C.
Then the blank portion (one end) which was to be made magnetic was exposed to plastic deformation (drawing through dies). Prior to this the specified portions had a cross section exceeding that of the non-magnetic portions, after which the blank was drawn through the dies. The last die was fitted with an opening corresponding in size with the cross section of the non-magnetic portions, so that the non-magnetic portions were not subjected to plastic deformation.
Tests showed that the blank portions subjected to the local plastic deformation had the following magnetic properties depending on the reduction degree: saturation induction B s of up to 21,000 gsec, residual induction B r of up to 6,500 gsec and coercive force H c of up to 230 oersteds.
In this case the portions not subjected to plastic deformation were non-magnetic.
EXAMPLE 2.
A continuous blank from a metal containing 0.2 wt % of carbon, 13.6 wt % of chromium, 37.5 wt % of cobalt, 0.38 wt % of manganese, 0.28 wt % of silicon and the balance being iron, was used. The blank was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 1150° to 800° C. Then it was heated to a temperature of 1100° C, held to equalize the temperature over its cross section and cooled. Part of the blank was taken exposed to plastic deformation (drawing through dies) and then heated to a temperature of 650° C, held for 1 hour and cooled. This enabled the residual induction and coercive force of the magnetic portions to be enhanced (subjected to local plastic deformation), with the remaining portions preserving their non-magnetic properties.
EXAMPLE 3
A continuous blank from a metal containing 0.2 wt % of carbon, 13.6 wt % of chromium, 37.5 wt % of cobalt, 0.38 wt % of manganese, 0.28 wt % of silicon and the balance being iron was used. The blank was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 1150° to 800° C and cold plastic deformation, whereupon it was heated to 650° C, held at this temperature for an hour then cooled.
The blank acquired the properties of a magnetic material. The portions which were to be made non-magnetic were heated by high-frequency currents or laser beams to a temperature of 1200° C and then cooled.
The above heating permitted the non-magnetic portions to have small surface areas, such as points, lines, symbols and spots.
Magnetic portions having small surface areas and a given shape may be produced as a result of deformation (impact loads).
EXAMPLE 4.
A continuous blank from a metal containing 0.25 wt % of carbon, 12.1 wt % of chromium, 37.5 wt % of cobalt, 0.45 wt % of manganese, 0.32 wt % of silicon and the balance being iron was used. The blank was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 1120° to 800° C, whereupon it was heated to a temperature of 1150° C, held at this temperature to equalize the temperature along the entire article cross section and then cooled. The portions which were to be made magnetic were subjected to plastic deformation (drawing through dies) with subsequent heating to a temperature of 650° C. Then they were held for an hour at this temperature and then cooled. This made it possible to improve the magnetic properties of the portions being subjected to local deformation whereas those not exposed to deformation remained practically non-magnetic.
EXAMPLE 5
A blank from a metal containing 0.21 wt % of carbon, 0.26 wt % of manganese, 0.1 wt % of silicon, 12.45 wt % of chromium, 38.00 wt % of cobalt and the balance being iron was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 1180° to 850° C. Then the blank was heated to 1050° C, held at this temperature to heat the metal throughout and then cooled in water to fix the austenitic structure. After that underwent cold plastic defomation which resulted in the formation of a martensitic structure, whereafter it was heated to a temperature of 600° C to enhance its magnetic characteristics and held at this temperature for 3 hrs. The specified portions of the blank were subjected to local heating to 1200° C so that they acquired a non-magnetic austenitic structure.
EXAMPLE 6
A blank from a metal containing 0.03 wt % of carbon; 0.36 wt % of manganese; 0.12 wt % of silicon; 12.7 wt % of chromium; 33.1 wt % of cobalt; 6.2 wt % of molybdenum and the balance being iron was subjected to hot plastic deformation within a temperature range of from 850° to 1180° C, then it was heated to 1100° C, held at this temperature to heat throughout the blank and then cooled in water. Following that the portions which were to be magnetic were exposed to plastic deformation. The portions subjected the deformation acquired magnetic properties and those which did not undergo deformation remained non-magnetic.
An article produced by the above-described method and having both magnetic and non-magnetic portions may function as a component part of a measuring instrument. | A method of producing articles having alternating magnetic and non-magnetic portions from a continuous metal blank includes plastic deformation of the blank portions which are to have magnetic properties imparted thereto. The blank for the articles is manufactured from a metal having an unstable austenitic structure. | 2 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/410,043, filed Nov. 4, 2010, entitled “MUZZLE BRAKE”, the aforementioned application being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to firearms and, more particularly, to a flash hider muzzle device or muzzle brake for firearms that reduces the noise signature of the firearm, concussion, perceived recoil of the firearm, dust signature of the firearm, and muzzle flash.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] When a firearm is discharged, the propellant gases that eject the projectile out of the muzzle of the firearm accumulate behind the projectile and, upon exiting the firearm, create a recoil force back towards the shooter. In higher-powered rifles this recoil force may cause discomfort and fatigue to the shooter. In certain cases, this perceived recoil force is sharp and heavy enough to affect the shooter's accuracy. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a firearm having the capability of reducing the recoil force perceived by the shooter.
[0004] This discharge of propellant gases may also cause the muzzle end of the barrel to undesirably rise up subsequent to firing. This rising up or climbing effect of the muzzle end of the barrel is commonly known as “muzzle rise” or “muzzle climb.” The primary reason for muzzle climb is the inherent configuration of most firearms. In the majority of firearms, the firing axis of the barrel is above the center of contact between the shooter and the firearm's grip and stock. The forces generated from the projectile being fired, and the propellant gases exiting the muzzle, act directly down the barrel/firing axis of the firearm, back toward the shooter. If this force is above the center of the shooter's contact point on the firearm, this creates a torque, which causes the firearm to rotate about the point of contact and the muzzle end of the barrel to rise upwards.
[0005] Muzzle climb is especially undesirable in instances where multiple rounds of ammunition are fired in quick succession, due to the tendency of the firearm to be completely misaligned with respect to the target. As a result of muzzle climb in such instances, the firearm must be re-aimed at the target after each shot as quickly as possible to ensure accuracy. As will be readily appreciated, such re-aiming can cost the shooter precious time. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a firearm where muzzle climb is substantially eliminated or directionally controlled so as to aid, rather than hamper, efficient and accurate rapid firing.
[0006] In addition to the above, other undesirable discharge effects are noise and muzzle flash. As a firearm is discharged and a projectile exits the muzzle end of the barrel, hot, high pressure gases are also released from the muzzle behind the projectile. This release of gases is known as muzzle blast. Muzzle flash is the term used to describe the light emitted during the muzzle blast, which can be both visible and infrared. The blast and flash are caused by the combustion products of the gunpowder, and any remaining unburned powder, mixing with ambient air. The size and shape of the muzzle flash is dependent on the type of ammunition being used and the individual characteristics of the firearm.
[0007] This discharge of combustion gases also results in a loud noise or concussion propagating in all directions. This noise may be injurious to the shooter and may also be heard by persons or listening devices around the shooter, thereby potentially giving away a shooter's position. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a firearm whose noise signature, concussion, and flash signature is substantially reduced.
[0008] To reduce the aforementioned undesirable effects of discharge, “muzzle devices” such as a muzzle brake, may be employed in combination with a firearm. Most known muzzle devices comprise an attachment secured to the muzzle end of a firearm to reduce recoil by redirecting and dissipating propellant gases radially away from the direction of the barrel of the firearm through a series of openings within the attachment. In redirecting the propellant gases to the side and upward from the barrel, some of the gases are directed to the side and rearward towards the shooter. Thus, firearms equipped with conventional muzzle devices can sound much louder to the shooter than the same firearm with no muzzle device. Hence, one must choose a either a firearm with substantial recoil force or firearm with a muzzle device that exhibits increased noise. What is needed, therefore, is a muzzle device that functions to reduce the recoil force felt by the shooter without a substantial increase in noise perceived by the shooter or concussion to those near the shooter.
[0009] In addition, while there are known muzzle devices that optimize flash suppression, such muzzle devices are not good for optimizing noise suppression or concussion. Likewise, while there are known muzzle devices that optimize noise suppression, such muzzle devices are not sufficient to optimize flash suppression. As will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, and as evidenced by existing muzzle devices, it is difficult to optimize both flash suppression, concussion, and noise suppression simultaneously. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved muzzle device that can accomplish these sometimes competing objectives simultaneously.
[0010] Finally, known firearms, and even firearms with muzzle devices, also tend to create a dust signature when fired, especially when fired in the prone position. As the pressure wave ahead of the projectile propagates in all directions, and as propellant gases behind the projectile exit the muzzle end of the barrel behind the bullet and combust, they impact the ground and kick up dust, dirt and other particulate matter, thereby potentially revealing and compromising the shooter's position. This is especially undesirable in military operations or other instances in which the shooter must remain concealed from the target or others around him.
[0011] In view of the problems associated with known firearms and known muzzle devices, there is a need for an improved muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces the recoil, muzzle flash, noise signature, concussion, and dust signature of the firearm with which it is used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces the noise signature of the firearm.
[0013] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces the perceived recoil of the firearm.
[0014] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces muzzle climb.
[0015] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces muzzle flash.
[0016] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that optimizes muzzle flash suppression, concussion, and noise suppression simultaneously.
[0017] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that reduces the dust signature of the firearm, especially when the firearm is fired from the prone position.
[0018] It is another object of the present invention to provide a muzzle device for use with a firearm that aids in protecting the operator when firing the firearm into glass or other material at close range.
[0019] According to one aspect of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a muzzle device having a generally cylindrical housing adapted for attachment to the muzzle of a firearm. Alternatively, the muzzle device may be integrally formed with the barrel of the firearm. The housing generally defines at least one, but preferably two, internal chambers for permitting passage and exit of a projectile. The housing is further formed to define a plurality of vent ports which collectively define a desired chamber bleed off area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure, and together with a general description of the disclosure given above, and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art muzzle device.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the prior art muzzle device of FIG. 1 .
[0023] FIG. 3 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the prior art muzzle device of FIG. 1 .
[0024] FIG. 4 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the prior art muzzle device of FIG. 1 .
[0025] FIG. 5 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the prior art muzzle device of FIG. 1 .
[0026] FIG. 6 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the prior art muzzle device of FIG. 1 .
[0027] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a muzzle device in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 showing a top and right side thereof.
[0029] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 showing a bottom and left side thereof.
[0030] FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0031] FIG. 11 is a right side view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0032] FIG. 12 is a front plane view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0033] FIG. 13 is a rear plane view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0034] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the muzzle device taken along line 14 - 14 of FIG. 12 .
[0035] FIG. 15 is a front plane view of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0036] FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the muzzle device taken along line 16 - 16 in FIG. 7 ;
[0037] FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the muzzle device taken along line 17 - 17 in FIG. 7 ;
[0038] FIG. 18 is an upper plane view of the muzzle device taken along line 18 - 18 in FIG. 7 ;
[0039] FIG. 19 is a side plan view of the muzzle device taken along line 19 - 19 in FIG. 7 ;
[0040] FIG. 20 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0041] FIG. 21 is a high-speed movie picture showing the flash signature of the muzzle device of FIG. 7 .
[0042] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principals of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0043] As used herein, the directional terms “front,” “forward,” “rear,” “rearward,” “upward,” “downward,” “right,” “left,” “top” and “bottom” refer to the firearm when held in the normal firing position, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.
[0044] A prior art muzzle device 100 for a M4/M16 line of rifles is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . As shown therein, the muzzle device 100 projects powder gases to the top and directly to the sides to reduce recoil and muzzle rise through the use of slots. In doing so, however, other personnel to the side of the rifle experience substantial noise and concussion as the rifle is being fired from the escaping powder gases. While muzzle device 100 does reduce flash as compared to a bare muzzle with no flash suppressor, there is a need to have the flash reduced even more to conceal the shooter from enemy personnel when firing at night. As will be readily appreciated, improved flash suppression aids night vision equipment operation. The prior art muzzle device 100 , shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , also experiences a second flash or “bloom” 102 , as best shown in FIG. 5 , several inches in front of the muzzle. As will be readily appreciated, the bloom is very undesirable, as it can reveal a shooter's position. The bloom is caused by the burning of the high pressure combustion gases that trail the projectile and expand outwards from the muzzle of the firearm. The burning of these combustion gases in front of the muzzle also creates a loud noise, which is also undesirable, as discussed above. The flash signature of the prior art muzzle device is shown in FIGS. 3-6 .
[0045] Referring generally to FIGS. 7-19 , a muzzle device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown therein, the muzzle device 10 comprises a generally cylindrical housing 12 having a first (or rearward) end, which is adapted to be threaded or otherwise attached to the muzzle portion of a barrel of a firearm, and a second (or forward) end. Preferably, the first end of the muzzle device 10 is provided with a female threaded engagement means 14 , as shown in FIG. 14 , for engaging a complimentary male threaded engagement means (not shown) on the muzzle end of a barrel of a firearm (not shown). As will be readily appreciated, the male and female threaded engagement means may be male and female threaded portions, respectively, although other joining or attachment means known in the art may be used. Alternatively, however, the muzzle device 10 may be integrally formed with the barrel of the firearm. Moreover, while the muzzle device 10 of the present invention is preferably cylindrical in shape, although any shape that accomplishes the intended purpose may be used. As best shown in FIGS. 7-9 , the first end of the muzzle device 10 is provided with flats 11 , that provide a surface which a wrench or the like can engage to secure the muzzle device 10 to the muzzle of a firearm.
[0046] With reference to FIG. 14 , the generally cylindrical housing 12 defines two internal chambers, a first chamber 16 located nearest to the threaded engagement means 14 , and a second chamber 18 located adjacent the distal end of the muzzle device 10 and opposite the threaded engagement means 14 . As shown therein, the first chamber 16 is generally cylindrical in shape and is sized so as to permit passage of a projectile there through. In the preferred embodiment, for use with the M4 family of firearms in which the ammunition used is 5.56×45 mm NATO ammunition (or 0.223 Remington ammunition) the diameter of the first chamber 16 is approximately 0.25 inches. It will be readily appreciated, however, that this dimension may be varied depending on the particular firearm with which the muzzle device 10 is intended to be used and the caliber of ammunition to be fired therefrom. In any case, it is preferred that the diameter of the first chamber 16 closely match the caliber of the ammunition used.
[0047] As further shown in FIGS. 7-9 and 14 a plurality of ports 20 extend from the first chamber 16 to ambient air at an approximate forward angle of 50 degrees. The ports are preferably cylindrical in shape, have a diameter of approximately 0.094 inches and are reduced in length. As shown therein, there are preferably 5 ports arranged radially along the periphery of the housing 12 of the muzzle device. A first port 20 is positioned at an uppermost portion of the muzzle device, to direct combustion gases substantially upwards and forwards. A pair of ports 20 are positioned to either side of this first port 20 such that each of the ports 20 are spaced approximately 30 degrees apart from one another, as shown in FIG. 12 . As best shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 , the exit opening of the ports 20 are positioned within an annular groove 22 provided in the housing 12 . As will be readily appreciated, the presence of this annular groove 22 has the effect of shortening the length of the ports 20 to a length that is shorter than would otherwise be the case without the groove 22 . It has been found that the shortened length of the ports 22 optimizes both flash suppression and noise suppression simultaneously, by dispersing and breaking up the combustion gas/fuel mixture to substantially prevent detonation and production of a secondary flash or substantial noise, as discussed in detail below. That is, the reduced length and orientation of the ports 22 has been found to be optimal to disrupt the combustion gas mixture to substantially prevent detonation and, therefore, flash and noise.
[0048] Importantly, as discussed in detail below, and as best shown in FIG. 9 , there are no ports 20 oriented along a bottom portion of the muzzle device 12 . It will be readily appreciated that while five ports 20 are used in the preferred embodiment, more or less than five ports may also be used.
[0049] As shown in FIG. 14 , the second chamber 18 has a first section 26 of generally cylindrical shape and a second section 28 of a generally tapered cone shape. The first section 26 is located adjacent the first chamber 16 . In the preferred embodiment, the first section 26 is approximately 0.520 inches in diameter and is approximately 0.50 inches in length. The second section 28 is located adjacent the first section 26 and extends from the first section 26 to the distal end of the muzzle device 10 . In the preferred embodiment, the second section 28 is approximately 1.250 inches in length. As best shown in FIG. 14 , the walls of the second section 28 extend at an angle of approximately 6 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis 24 of the muzzle device 10 . At its narrowest point, adjacent the first section 26 , the second section 28 of the second chamber 18 is approximately 0.520 inches in diameter. At its widest point, adjacent the distal end of the muzzle device 10 , the second section 28 is approximately 0.864 inches in diameter.
[0050] As best shown in FIGS. 7-11 and 14 - 19 , the second chamber 18 has a plurality of slot openings 30 that extend through the cylindrical body 12 from the second chamber 18 to ambient air. Preferably, the plurality of slot openings 30 of the second chamber 18 are in longitudinal alignment with the ports 20 of the first chamber 16 . That is, in the preferred embodiment, a first slot opening 30 is aligned longitudinally on the extreme top of the muzzle device 10 with the first port 20 and the first, while a pair of slot openings 30 are disposed to either side of the first slot opening 30 and spaced apart equidistant at an angle of approximately 30 degrees. As with the ports 20 , there are preferably 5 slot openings 30 . Preferably, the slot openings 30 are ovular in shape, having a longitudinal aspect and a lateral aspect, with the longitudinal aspect being greater than the lateral aspect, although other shapes such as square, circular and the like are possible. In the preferred embodiment, the lateral aspect of the slot openings 30 ranges from approximately 0.188 inches to 0.250 inches. The forward most portion of the slot openings 30 terminates approximately 0.17 inches from the distal end of the muzzle device. It will be readily appreciated that while five slot openings 30 are contemplated by the present invention, more or less than five slot openings 30 may also be used.
[0051] Each chamber 16 , 18 has filleted edges 32 where the interior walls of the housing 12 meet the ends of each chamber 16 , 18 . These filleted edges provide for increased strength of the muzzle device 10 as a whole and minimize areas of potential weakness.
[0052] As shown in FIGS. 7-9 , the forward end of the muzzle device 10 opposite the threaded engagement means 14 features a chamfered edge 34 that opens to allow for the exit of a projectile (not shown). In the preferred embodiment, the chamfered edge 34 forms an angle of approximately 45 degrees with the longitudinal axis 24 , although other chamfer configurations may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0053] In operation, when the firearm is fired, the projectile passes through the thread relief 15 and the first chamber 16 . The propellant gases behind and pushing the projectile enter the thread relief zone 15 and are disrupted to retard gas movement. The propellant gases then enter the first chamber 16 partially exit through the five ports 20 before the majority of gas enters the large tapered cone of the second chamber 18 where the five slot openings 30 disperse the majority of the remaining propellant gases upwards and to the sides of the muzzle device 10 . In particular, the five ports 20 direct high pressure gas over the corresponding five slot openings 30 of the larger tapered cone of the second chamber 18 , such that as the accumulation of hot gases and sound energy following the projectile enter the second chamber 18 , such gases are further dispersed radially away from the firing axis 24 through slot openings 30 . As will be readily appreciated, the slot openings 30 allow passage of powder gases such that they exit from the second chamber 18 upward and to the sides, but not at the bottom of the muzzle device.
[0054] Importantly, the ports 20 and slot openings 30 are configured and positioned substantially along the top half of the muzzle device 10 such that the gases are substantially prevented from exiting the muzzle device 10 in a downwards direction. Such a port configuration prevents a dust signature from being created by shooting the firearm close to the ground. In addition, venting the powder gases in a generally upward, vertical direction reduces the recoil of the firearm, as well as aids in reducing muzzle climb.
[0055] As noted above, the five oblique ports 20 in the first chamber 16 direct the initial high-pressure gases forward and over the top of the larger elongated slot openings 30 of the second chamber 18 . This is done to bias the powder gases from the second chamber forward and upward, away from the shooter and away from anyone to the sides of the shooter, which reduces the noise signature for the shooter and concussion and noise for those to the side of the firearm. These five oblique ports 20 also disrupt the gases from the slot openings 30 and disperse them quicker than existing designs, thereby reducing the flash signature of the firearm and help prevent secondary flash or “blooming.”
[0056] Turning now to FIGS. 20 and 21 , the flash signature of an M4 firearm employing the muzzle device 10 in accordance with the preferred embodiment is shown. As shown therein, the flash signature of an M4 firearm employing the muzzle device 10 is greatly reduced as compared to the flash signature shown in FIGS. 3-6 of the prior art muzzle device 102 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . In particular, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 , there is substantially no secondary flash (in contrast to the secondary flash of the prior art muzzle device shown in FIG. 5 ) and the time duration of the flash event is substantially cut in half. As will be readily appreciated, these features provide an advantage to the operator and to those in the vicinity of the firing of the firearm.
[0057] Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of skill 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, 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 in the above detailed description, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of this disclosure. | A muzzle device for use on a firearm to reduce noise signature and muzzle flash includes a cylindrical housing. The cylindrical housing defines a first chamber and a second chamber with a longitudinal axis extending therethrough. The first chamber has at least one port that extends outward therefrom. The second chamber has at least one slot that extends outward therefrom. The at least one port forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis that extends forward toward the slot. The angle formed by the at least one port and the longitudinal axis being about 50 degrees. The cylindrical housing defines an outer annular groove being in communication with the at least one port. The at least one port is in communication with an aft surface of the annular groove. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention pertains to a novel shoe construction that provides a unique fit and feel to the shoe-wearer's foot. In particular, the present invention pertains to a novel variation in what is typically called vulcanized shoe construction.
[0003] In the conventional vulcanized shoe construction, bands of flexible material are adhered or vulcanized to the shoe sole and to the upper of the shoe. In the novel shoe construction of the invention, upper sections of the bands are left unattached to the shoe upper. In addition, a toe cap of the shoe and a heel backstay or heel counter of the shoe are secured to the shoe sole, but left unattached to the shoe upper. This construction results in a shoe that not only has a unique appearance, but also has a unique feel to the shoe-wearer's foot with the upper surrounding the foot being free floating along the sides of the foot as well as across the toes and heel of the foot. This shoe construction provides a feel of less confinement and enhanced movement that is akin to wearing a sock having a cushioned and supporting sole secured to only the underside of the sock.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] The construction of a shoe often referred to as a “sneaker” is basically comprised of an upper of a flexible material such as canvas, and a sole of rubber or other similar synthetic material. The upper is secured around the perimeter of the sole and extends upwardly from the sole. The upper is designed to extend around the heel area of the shoe-wearer's foot and around the opposite sides of the shoe-wearer's foot. In addition, a tongue portion of the upper extends over the top of the shoe-wearer's foot.
[0006] In the interior of the shoe, an insole or liner is typically provided on the top surface of the shoe sole to provide cushioning for the shoe-wearer's foot. The opposite, bottom surface of the shoe sole serves as the traction surface of the shoe.
[0007] Many shoes of the type described above are also constructed with a foxing or a band of flexible material that extends around the shoe sole and further secures the shoe sole to the upper. The band of flexible material is typically a thin, flexible strip of material that extends completely around the perimeter of the shoe sole and around the portion of the upper that is adjacent the shoe sole. The band is secured to both the shoe sole and the portion of the upper adjacent the shoe sole to securely connect the shoe sole and the upper. The band can be secured to the shoe sole and upper by adhesives and/or by vulcanization.
[0008] In the typical vulcanization shoe construction, the foxing or band of flexible material is wrapped around the bottom of the shoe with the band overlapping the side of the shoe sole and a portion of the upper adjacent the shoe sole. Vulcanizing machinery then applies pressure and heat to the band to “vulcanize” the band to the sole and upper. In this manner, the sole and upper are secured together.
[0009] Shoes manufactured in this manner, i.e. with a foxing or band extending around the shoe sole and a portion of the upper, are disadvantaged in that the band reduces the flexibility of the upper in the area where the upper attaches to the shoe sole. Thus, any comfort to the foot achieved by the flexibility of the upper material extending around and over the foot is sacrificed in the area where the band secures the upper to the shoe sole. In this area, the upper is much more rigid due to the attachment of the band to the upper.
[0010] Additionally, shoes constructed in the manner described above often also include a toe cap that is secured over the material of the upper at the toe end of the shoe sole, and a heel slip or heel counter that is secured over the material of the upper at the heel end of the shoe sole. The toe cap secured to the material of the upper and the heel counter secured to the material of the upper both reduce the flexibility of the upper in these areas of the shoe and thereby reduce the comfort in these areas of the shoe.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art shoe constructions discussed earlier by providing a novel shoe construction with a free floating upper. The novel shoe construction provides free floating areas along the sides of the upper as well as across the toe and heel areas of the upper, providing the shoe wearer with a sense of less confinement and enhanced movement of the foot in the shoe of the invention.
[0012] The shoe of the invention has a construction that is similar to that of prior art shoe constructions in that the shoe is basically comprised of a shoe sole, an upper, and at least one band of flexible material that secures together the sole and upper. In the description of the concept of the invention to follow, the invention is described as being used in the construction of a typical “sneaker” type shoe. However, this should not be interpreted as limiting the concept of the invention to this shoe construction.
[0013] The sole of the shoe is constructed as a conventional shoe sole. The shoe sole basically has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a side wall that surrounds the shoe sole. The sole bottom surface is the traction surface of the shoe.
[0014] The upper of the shoe is constructed of a flexible material that is secured to the shoe sole and extends upwardly from the perimeter of the shoe sole. The material of the upper covers the heel area of the shoe-wearer's foot and extends forwardly along opposite sides of the foot. The upper material also includes a tongue that extends over the top of the shoe-wearer's foot.
[0015] A band of flexible material is secured to the shoe sole and the upper and secures together the shoe sole and upper.
[0016] In one embodiment of the invention, one or more bands are secured to the shoe sole and the upper to secure the shoe sole and upper together. Each of the bands has a length that extends entirely around the shoe sole. Each of the bands has an upper section and a lower section. The lower sections of the bands are secured to the shoe sole at the perimeter of the shoe sole. The bands are arranged so that they overlap each other. The outer most or exterior band of the plurality of bands is positioned so that its bottom edge is aligned with the bottom surface or traction surface of the shoe sole. Each successive band of the plurality of bands positioned inside the exterior band is positioned higher up on the shoe sole so that each successive band reaches higher up over the material of the upper. The lower sections of each of the bands is secured to the shoe sole and/or the shoe upper, and the upper sections of each of the bands is unattached to the shoe sole or the adjacent band. This gives the shoes a unique appearance with the upper sections of each of the overlapping bands being unattached to the shoe. In addition, a toe cap of the shoe and a heel slip or heel counter of the shoe are secured to the shoe sole, but portions of the toe cap and heel counter that overlap the material of the upper are left unattached to the upper.
[0017] This construction results in a shoe that is not only unique in appearance, but also has a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with the upper surrounding the foot being free floating along the sides of the foot as well as across the toes and heel of the foot. The shoe construction provides a feel of less confinement and enhanced movement to the foot.
[0018] In a further embodiment, the plurality of bands is replaced by a single band that extends around the shoe sole and around the portion of the upper adjacent the shoe sole. The single band is also provided with an upper section and a lower section. Only the lower section of the band is secured to the shoe sole and to a portion of the upper adjacent the shoe sole. The upper section of the bank is unattached to the upper. As in the previously described embodiment, a toe cap of the shoe and a heel counter of the shoe are secured to the shoe sole, but left unattached to the shoe upper. This construction also results in a shoe that has a unique appearance, and also has a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with the upper surrounding the foot being free floating along the sides of the foot as well as across the toes and the heel of the foot.
[0019] In a still further embodiment, the single band embodiment of the shoe described above is provided with one or more additional bands that have a smaller length than the single band that entirely surrounds the shoe sole. An additional band is positioned at the toe area of the shoe sole with the lower section of the additional band secured to the shoe and the upper section of the additional band being unattached to the shoe. Alternatively or in addition to the additional band at the toe area of the shoe, a further additional band is attached at the heel area of the shoe. The further additional band has a lower section that is attached to the shoe and an upper section that is unattached to the shoe. This further additional band could also be provided as a tag attached to the heel of the shoe that displays a trademark.
[0020] In each embodiment of the shoe, the upper section of the band or bands that surround the shoe sole and portions of the upper adjacent the shoe sole that are left unattached to the upper give the shoe a unique appearance, and also provide a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with there being less confinement and enhanced movement of the foot in the shoe compared to prior art shoe constructions of this type.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] Further features of the invention are described in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and in the drawing figures.
[0022] FIG. 1 is a left side elevation view of a shoe employing the novel construction of the invention, with the right side elevation view of the shoe being a substantial mirror image of FIG. 1 .
[0023] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the shoe construction of FIG. 1 .
[0024] FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the shoe construction of FIG. 1 in a plane positioned along the line 3 - 3 of FIG. 1 .
[0025] FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the shoe shown in FIG. 1 in a plane positioned along the line 4 - 4 of FIG. 1 .
[0026] FIG. 5 is a left side elevation view of a further embodiment of the shoe.
[0027] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the shoe shown in FIG. 5 .
[0028] FIG. 7 is a left side elevation view of a still further embodiment of the shoe.
[0029] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the shoe shown in FIG. 7 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0030] FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a first embodiment of the shoe 12 of the invention. In the embodiment of the shoe 12 shown in these drawing figures, the shoe 12 is a high-top oxford basketball shoe. However, it should be understood that the novel concept of the invention could be employed on other types of shoes. Because much of the construction of the shoe 12 is the same as that of a conventional oxford laced-up shoe, the conventional features of the construction of the shoe 12 will be described only generally herein.
[0031] The shoe 12 has a sole that is constructed of resilient materials that are typically employed in the constructions of shoes. The sole is shown constructed with an outsole 14 having a top surface 16 and opposite bottom surface 18 and a sidewall 22 . The sidewall 22 separates the sole top surface 16 from the sole bottom surface 18 and extends completely around the periphery of the sole. The outsole bottom surface 18 is the traction surface of the shoe. In addition to the outsole 14 , the shoe construction includes a midsole 24 on the top surface 16 of the outsole 14 , and an insert 26 on top of the midsole 24 . A length of the shoe sole extends from a toe area 28 of the sole to a heel area 32 of the sole. As stated earlier, the construction of the shoe sole 14 described above is only one example of a shoe sole with which the concept of the invention may be employed.
[0032] The shoe upper 34 is secured to the shoe sole 14 adjacent the perimeter of the shoe sole that is defined by the sole sidewall 22 . The shoe upper 34 extends upwardly from the shoe sole top surface 16 , as is conventional. The upper 34 is constructed of a flexible material, for example, leather or a fabric such as canvas. The upper 34 includes a heel portion 36 that extends around the heel area 32 of the sole. From the heel portion 36 , the upper 34 has a right side portion 38 and a left side portion 42 that extend forwardly along the opposite sides of the shoe sole. The upper right side portion 38 and left side portion 42 extend forwardly to a toe portion 44 of the upper that covers over the toe area 28 of the shoe sole 14 . The upper includes a tongue 46 that extends rearwardly from the upper toe portion 44 and covers a portion of the access opening of the shoe. The construction of the upper 34 described here is only one example of the construction of a shoe upper with which the concept of the invention may be employed.
[0033] In the embodiment of the shoe shown in FIGS. 1-4 , the upper 34 is further secured to the shoe sole 14 by foxing bands that are constructed according to the concept of the invention. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-4 , the plurality of the bands include an inner band 52 , a middle band 54 , and an outer band 56 .
[0034] The inner band 52 is a thin strip of flexible material, for example, rubber, that has an elongate length. The length of the inner band 52 is formed in a continuous loop that extends entirely around the perimeter of the shoe sole 14 . The length of the inner band 52 has a top section 62 and an opposite bottom section 64 . As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the inner band bottom section 64 is secured to the shoe sole 14 and a potion of the shoe upper 34 that is immediately adjacent the shoe sole. The inner band bottom section 64 can be secured to the shoe sole 14 by any conventional method, for example, by adhesives and/or vulcanization. The inner band top section 62 is not secured to the shoe sole 14 or to the portion of the upper 34 overlapped by the inner band top section 62 . The inner band top section 62 has an exterior surface 66 that forms a portion of the exterior surface of the shoe, and an opposite interior surface 68 that faces towards the portion of the upper 34 overlapped by the inner band top section 62 . The interior surface 68 of the inner band top section 62 is left unattached to the shoe for the entire length of the inner band 52 that extends entirely around the shoe sole 14 . Thus, the inner band top section 62 does not restrict the movement of the portion of the upper 34 overlapped by the inner band top section 62 .
[0035] The middle band 54 is also formed as a thin strip having a length with a top section 72 and a bottom section 74 . The length of the middle band 54 is formed in a continuous loop that extends entirely around the perimeter of the shoe sole 14 . The middle band bottom section 74 is secured to the shoe sole 14 and to a portion of the inner band bottom section 64 by any conventional method, for example, by adhesives and/or vulcanization. The middle band top section 72 is left unattached to the exterior surface of the inner band 52 and is free to move relative to the inner band 52 and the shoe upper 34 . The middle band top section 72 has an interior surface 76 that is separate from and faces toward the shoe upper 34 and the exterior surface of the inner band 52 , and an opposite exterior surface 78 that forms a portion of the exterior surface of the shoe. In a similar manner to the inner band 52 , the middle band top section 72 being unattached to the upper 34 does not restrict the movement of the upper 34 relative to the shoe sole 14 .
[0036] The outer band 56 is also formed as an elongate thin strip. The length of the outer band 56 is formed as a continuous loop that extends entirely around the shoe sole 14 . The outer band 56 also has a top section 82 and an opposite bottom section 84 . The bottom section 84 is secured directly to the sidewall 22 of the shoe sole 14 . As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 , a bottom edge of the outer band bottom section 84 is coplanar with the bottom surface 18 of the outsole. A portion of the outer band bottom section 84 overlaps and is secured to the exterior surface of the middle band 54 . The outer band top section 82 is left unattached to the middle band 54 and is flexibly moveable relative to the shoe upper 34 , the inner band 52 and the middle band 54 . The outer band top section 82 has an interior surface 86 that is unattached to and opposes the middle band 54 , and an opposite exterior surface 88 that forms a portion of the exterior surface of the shoe. Thus, as with the inner band 52 and the middle band 54 , the outer band top section 82 does not restrict the free movement of the portion of the shoe upper 34 overlapped by the three bands.
[0037] The constructions of the three bands 52 , 54 , 56 function to further secure the shoe sole 14 to the shoe upper 34 , but the unattached top sections 62 , 72 , 82 of the three bands give the shoe a unique appearance and a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with the upper 34 surrounding the foot being free floating along the sides of the foot.
[0038] A toe cap 92 having a dome-shaped configuration is attached to the toe area 28 of the sole 14 . The toe cap 92 is secured to the sole 14 in substantially the same manner as a conventional toe cap. The dome-shaped configuration of the toe cap 92 has a top edge 94 that extends over the shoe upper 34 and an opposite bottom edge 96 that is secured to the shoe sole 14 . Apart from the toe cap bottom edge 96 , the toe cap 92 is left unattached to the shoe upper 34 allowing the portion of the shoe upper overlapped by the toe cap 92 to move freely from the toe cap.
[0039] A heel counter or heel backstay 102 is also secured to the shoe sole 14 in substantially a conventional manner. A bottom edge of the counter 102 is secured to the shoe sole 14 with the counter 102 extending upwardly from the shoe sole and overlapping a portion of the shoe upper 34 . The portion of the heel counter 102 that overlaps the upper 34 is left unattached to the upper. Thus, the counter 102 does not restrict the free floating movement of the portion of the upper 34 overlapped by the heel counter 102 .
[0040] The construction of the shoe described above and shown in FIGS. 1-4 provides a shoe that not only has a unique appearance, but also has a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with the upper surrounding the foot being free floating from the shoe sole 14 , the toe cap 92 , and the heel counter 102 . This enables the upper 34 to be free floating along the sides of the shoe wearer's foot as well as across the toes and heel of the foot. This construction provides a feel of less confinement and enhanced movement to the foot.
[0041] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a variant embodiment of the shoe 12 ′ in which the three bands 52 , 54 , 56 of the previously described embodiment have been replaced by a single band 104 . The single band 104 has a length that is formed as a continuous loop that extends entirely around the shoe sole 14 . The length of the band 104 also has a top section 106 and an opposite bottom section 108 . Only the bottom section 108 of the band 104 is secured the shoe sole 14 and to a portion of the upper 34 immediately adjacent to the shoe sole. The top section 106 of the single band 104 is unattached to the shoe upper 34 and is freely flexible relative to the shoe upper. Thus, as in the previously described embodiment, the construction of the shoe shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 provides the shoe with a unique appearance and also with a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot.
[0042] FIGS. 7 and 8 show a still further embodiment of the shoe. In FIGS. 7 and 8 the three bands 52 , 54 , 56 of the first described embodiment have been replaced by two bands 112 , 114 . This construction of the shoe basically eliminates the middle band 54 of the first described embodiment. Apart from the absence of the middle band 54 , the construction of the two bands 112 , 114 of the shoe shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is substantially same as that of the inner band 52 and outer band 56 of the first described embodiment of the shoe.
[0043] In addition to their being only two bands 112 , 114 extending entirely around the shoe of FIGS. 7 and 8 , the shoe is provided with an additional band 116 . The additional band 116 is formed as a thin elongate strip as in the previous embodiments. However, the length of the additional band 116 is significantly smaller than the lengths of the bands of the previously described embodiments. The length of the additional band 116 extends only around the toe area 28 of the shoe sole 14 . The additional band 116 is also provided with a top section 118 and a bottom section 122 . Like the previously described embodiments, only the bottom section 122 of the additional band 116 is secured to the shoe, with the top section 118 being left to flex freely relative to the shoe.
[0044] The embodiment of the shoe shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is also provided with a further additional band 124 . The length of this further band 124 is significantly smaller than the lengths of the bands that entirely surround the shoe, and the length of the additional band 116 . This further band 124 is also provided with a top section 126 and a bottom section 128 . Only the bottom section 128 is secured to the shoe, with the top section 126 being left to flex freely relative to the shoe. The further band 124 could be employed as a display for a shoe manufacturer's trademark.
[0045] As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. | A novel shoe construction provides a unique fit and feel to the shoe wearer's foot. The shoe construction is a variation in what is typically called vulcanized shoe construction. Wherein the conventional vulcanized shoe construction bands of flexible material are permanently adhered or vulcanized to the shoe sole and to a portion of the upper adjacent the shoe sole, in the shoe construction of the invention upper sections of the bands are let loose by being unattached to the shoe upper. In addition, a toe cap of the shoe and a heel counter of the shoe are secured to the shoe sole, but are unattached to the shoe upper. This construction results in a shoe that not only has a unique appearance, but also has a unique feel to the shoe wearer's foot with the upper surrounding the foot being free floating along the sides of the foot as well as across the toes and heel of the foot. | 0 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Methods and apparatus for controlling downhole drilling and completion configurations are growing more complex and there is an ever increasing need for downhole control systems which include downhole computerized modules employing downhole computers for commanding downhole tools such as packers, sliding sleeves, valves, etc. based on input from downhole sensors. It will be appreciated that these control systems utilize downhole devices and circuits that require electrical power. Because of shortcomings associated with providing electricity via a wireline from the surface or via batteries housed in the downhole environment, downhole electric power generators have been suggested for use to provide power for downhole electronics. When turbines are employed as the downhole electric power generator, the turbine blades are provided within the flow path of the borehole, obstructing full bore access so that wireline or other operations cannot be performed, such as entry of completion equipment and other objects into the tubing, downhole of the level of the turbine. Other downhole electric power generators including turbines have been provided on a side of the bore so as not to significantly obstruct the main flow, but require a diversion of flow to move the blades. The diverted flow may not be as powerful as the flow through the main flow and the size of the electric power generator must be smaller to fit on the side of the tubing, both of which inevitably reduce the potential capacity for electric power generation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0002] A downhole electrical generating apparatus providing power to downhole electronics, the apparatus includes a tubular having a wall forming a tubular space which receives a flow in a flow direction; and, a retractable electrical generating apparatus positionable in a first condition facing the flow and in a second condition substantially opening the tubular space.
[0003] A method of providing power to downhole electronics, the method includes providing a retractable electrical generating apparatus within a flow passageway of a tubular, the retractable electrical generating apparatus positioned substantially perpendicular to a flow direction in a first condition and producing electricity using the retractable electrical generating apparatus in the first condition; and moving at least a portion of the retractable electrical generating apparatus to a position towards a wall of the tubular and providing a substantially clear borehole in the second condition.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:
[0005] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a retractable power turbine apparatus;
[0006] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary retractable power turbine apparatus of FIG. 1 within a tubular;
[0007] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of a retractable power turbine apparatus within a tubular;
[0008] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I′ of FIG. 3 ;
[0009] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a retractable power turbine apparatus;
[0010] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary retractable power turbine apparatus of FIG. 5 within a tubular;
[0011] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of still another exemplary embodiment of a retractable power turbine apparatus;
[0012] FIGS. 8A and 8B are partial cross-sectional views of an exemplary turbine blade of FIG. 7 in extended and retracted positions, respectively; and
[0013] FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of the retractable turbine apparatus of FIG. 7 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.
[0015] A downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 in accordance with exemplary embodiments is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for use in a borehole, such as a production well for producing oil, gas, or the like, for example. Such wells include a well casing, not shown, which may be positioned in the earth, and production tubing, not shown, connected to a tubular 12 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 . An uphole section of production tubing is connectable to a first end 14 , such as one of an uphole or downhole end of the tubular 12 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 , and a downhole section of production tubing is connectable to second end 16 , such as the other of an uphole or downhole end of the tubular 12 , of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 . The tubular 12 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 includes a flow passageway that communicates with, and is generally in alignment with, uphole and downhole sections of production tubing. The tubular 12 includes a wall 18 providing a tubular space 20 for the flow passageway that has a first inner diameter 22 , substantially the same as a diameter of at least the connecting portions of the upper and lower sections of production tubing, for connecting therewith. The tubular space 20 also has a second inner diameter 24 , larger than the first inner diameter 22 , for providing a wall pocket 26 or side pocket that receives a retractable power turbine 30 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 when a full bore is required in the production tubing and tubular 12 so that wireline or other operations can be performed downhole of the level of the retractable power turbine 30 . The longitudinal section of the tubular 12 that includes the wall pocket 26 may have different widths depending on the cross-section taken along the section.
[0016] With further reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the retractable power turbine 30 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 includes turbine blades 32 , which are positioned, in a first condition, within the flow 34 of the flow passageway in the tubular space 20 . The turbine 30 may have a smaller diameter than the first diameter 22 of the tubular 12 . The turbine 30 may be less than half of the first diameter 22 , but may be larger, as long as it is sized to fit within the wall pocket 26 in the second condition of the turbine 30 . That is, the turbine 30 folds down into the wall pocket 26 in the side of the tubular 12 in the second condition and substantially out of the flow 34 . The wall pocket 26 forms an upset on the outside of the tubular 12 which provides the necessary wall thickness and second diameter 24 to substantially remove the turbine 30 from the flow 34 in the second condition. Thus, the turbine 30 is provided substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow 34 in the first condition, and substantially parallel to the direction of flow 34 in the second condition.
[0017] During a production operation, production fluid flowing upwardly through the production tubing and the tubular 12 (or during injection operation, fluid flowing downwardly through the tubing) will rotate the turbine blades 32 when the turbine 30 is positioned in the first condition within the flow 34 . The blades 32 are connected to a center bearing 36 , and the turbine blades 32 rotate around the center bearing 36 due to the force of fluid in the flow 34 pushing past the blades 32 . The center bearing 36 is supported by a support rod 38 connected to the tubular wall 18 by a pivot 40 . The support rod 38 folds with the turbine 30 into the wall pocket 26 . Surrounding the turbine blades 32 is a sealed unit 42 , which contains coils for a generator. The blades 32 are provided with magnets 44 at ends thereof that interact with the coils of the sealed unit 42 when the blades 32 are rotated. That is, the movement of the magnets 44 near the coil creates a flow of electrons, which can be harnessed into electricity in a known manner. The turbine 30 , including the coils within the sealed unit 42 , the turbine blades 32 having the magnets 44 , the bearing 36 , and the support rod 38 , all move together from the first condition within the flow 34 for electricity production to the second condition substantially out of the flow 34 for providing a clear borehole. The movement from the first condition to the second condition, and from the second condition to the first condition, may be performed by a pushing or pulling force from a downhole tool inserted through the tubular 12 and physically engaging the turbine 30 , or alternatively by remote actuation.
[0018] While a coil containing sealed unit 42 has been disclosed as surrounding the turbine blades 32 of the turbine 30 of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 10 , it would also be within the scope of these embodiments to utilize the central bearing 36 as a rotor by connecting the central bearing 36 to a generator positioned outside of the flow 34 , such as within the wall pocket 26 or a separate upset within the wall 18 . Rotation of the bearing 36 may provide the necessary rotation for the generation of electricity in a generator. In such an embodiment, the central bearing 36 may transmit rotational energy via the support rod 38 to the generator.
[0019] Also, in yet another exemplary embodiment, instead of providing the coil containing sealed unit 42 as part of the retractable portion that is folded into the wall pocket 26 , the coils may remain fixed around or inside a circumference of the wall 18 , similar to coil containing unit 126 as will be further described below with respect to FIG. 3 . In such an embodiment, the turbine blades 32 and the magnets 44 spin in the flow 34 in the first condition, and are retractable together into the wall pocket 26 in the second condition, but the coils remain fixed around the circumference of the wall 18 in both conditions. Also in such an embodiment, the support rod 38 may be positioned such that the turbine blades 32 are pulled into the wall pocket 26 , that is, the support rod 38 may be connected to an opposite side of the central bearing 36 , such as a downhole side of the central bearing 36 instead of an uphole side of the central bearing 36 , so that the support rod 38 does not interfere with the coils when the turbine is in the first condition.
[0020] Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4 , in another exemplary embodiment, a downhole electrical generating apparatus 100 includes a turbine 102 that rotates on an annular bearing 104 with no support in the center 106 . In such an embodiment, the blades 108 of the turbine 102 are mounted on pivot or swivel attachment 110 along the annular bearing 104 and can rotate back to the wall 112 of a tubular 114 housing the turbine 102 to provide a clear path. The blades 108 include a first end 116 pivotally attached, such as by but not limited to a swivel attachment 110 , the annular bearing 104 and a second end 118 closer to a central area 106 of the tubular space 120 within the tubular 114 . In a first condition, the blades 108 are extended so as to be substantially perpendicular to the direction of the flow 122 , so that the force of the flow 122 rotates the blades 108 about the annular bearing 104 . In a second condition, to substantially remove the blades 108 from the flow passageway through the tubular space 120 , the blades 108 may be pivoted downwardly so as to lie substantially flush with the wall 112 of the tubular 114 and parallel with a direction of the flow 122 . For electricity production, the turbine 102 may be surrounded by a coil containing unit 126 , as in the first embodiment, where magnets may be provided in the annular bearing 104 and/or ends 116 of the turbine blades 108 . As in the first embodiment, actuation from the first condition to the second condition may occur using a downhole tool or via remote actuation. While the annular bearing 104 and sealed unit 126 are shown embedded within the wall 114 of the tubular 112 , it would also be within the scope of these embodiments to form upsets within the wall 114 or other supporting structures about the wall 114 to support the annular bearing 104 and/or the sealed unit 126 .
[0021] Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6 , in yet another exemplary embodiment, a downhole electrical generating apparatus 200 includes a turbine 202 that rotates on an annular bearing 204 with no support in the center 206 , similar to the turbine 102 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 . Unlike the turbine 102 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the turbine 202 is pivotally connected to tubular 208 , as is the turbine 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Thus, the downhole electrical generating apparatus 200 includes a combination of features shown in the previous embodiments, and additional details and alternatives of the downhole electrical generating apparatus 200 may be derived from a review of the detailed descriptions of those embodiments. With reference again to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the turbine 202 includes turbine blades 210 connected to the annular bearing 204 which may be rotatably supported within a sealed unit 212 for electricity production in a first condition when a flow 214 of fluid pushes past the turbine blades 210 causing rotation thereof The turbine 202 is pivotally connected, such as by using a support rod 216 to the tubular 208 to fold the turbine 202 into wall pocket 218 in a second condition to provide a substantially clear borehole within the tubular 208 .
[0022] With reference to FIGS. 7 , 8 A- 8 B, and 9 , in still another exemplary embodiment, a downhole electrical generating apparatus 300 includes a turbine 302 that rotates on an annular bearing with no support in the center, similar to the previously described turbines 102 and 202 . Unlike the turbines 102 and 202 , however, the turbine blades 304 swivel sideways towards the wall of the tubular in the second condition instead of swiveling towards the wall in a downhole or uphole direction. The blades 304 are mounted on a rotor 306 on a swivel or pivot 308 . Magnets 310 are also positioned on the rotor 306 . When the flow through the tubular causes the blades 304 to spin, the rotor 306 spins relative to a coil-containing stator 312 containing coils 314 , where the stator 312 may be positioned in the tubular, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 . FIG. 8A shows the turbine blade 304 extended in the first condition within the flow for rotating the rotor 306 relative to the stator 312 . FIG. 8B show the turbine blade 304 retracted in the second condition, substantially out of the flow, or at least substantially out of the central region of the tubular, to provide a substantially clear borehole in the second condition. As shown in FIG. 9 , the blade 304 is pivotally connected to an uphole end 316 and a downhole end 318 of the rotor 306 . In an exemplary embodiment, a magnet 310 is extended between the uphole end 316 and the downhole end 318 of the rotor 306 , and between each adjacent pair of blades 304 . Alternatively, each turbine blade 304 may include a magnet at each rotor side end thereof.
[0023] While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material or blade shape to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. | A downhole electrical generating apparatus providing power to downhole electronics. The apparatus includes a tubular having a wall forming a tubular space which receives a flow in a flow direction. A retractable electrical generating apparatus positionable in a first condition facing the flow and in a second condition substantially opening the tubular space. Also included is a method of providing power to downhole electronics | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to roofing membranes. More specifically, the present invention relates to non-asphaltic peel-and-stick roofing membranes for quicker and easier installation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A single-ply building membrane is a membrane typically applied in the field using a one layer membrane material (either homogeneous or composite) rather than multiple layers built-up. These membranes have been widely used on low slope roofing and other applications. The membrane can comprise one or more layers, have a top and bottom surface, and may include a reinforcing scrim or stabilizing material. The scrim is typically of a woven, nonwoven, or knitted fabric composed of continuous or discontinuous strands of material used for reinforcing or strengthening membranes.
[0003] These single-ply membranes typically comprise base (bottom) and cap (top) polyolefin-based sheets (layers) with a fiber reinforcement scrim (middle) sandwiched between the other two layers. The scrim is generally the strongest layer in the composite. Other materials from which the membranes may be formed, include but are not limited to, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE or CSM), chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), and ethylene propylene diene polymer (EPDM).
[0004] Current non-asphaltic roll membranes which are self adhering, such as those based on TPO and PVC membrane, require cleaning of side laps areas. Often this is followed by a solvent-based priming step. Both the cleaning step and the priming step together significantly slow down the installation of these self-adhering products.
[0005] The side lap is the continuous longitudinal overlap of neighboring like materials. Presently, side lap preparation requires the application of cleaners or primers on to the side lap of the membrane by brushing and/or rolling. Additionally, many primers and cleaners are caustic and can irritate or burn the roofer's hands and skin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention is directed to a non-asphaltic single-ply roofing membrane in which the side lap area is factory modified such that the surface modification consists one or more of the following:
a. Application of a cleaning step, which may or may not, involve organic solvents such as toluene, heptane, xylene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), ethylbenzene, naphtha or other hydrocarbons, etc. or a mixture thereof. In many cases (depending on the nature of substrate), only a dry wipe cleaning (with a cloth) is satisfactory to rid the surface of dust, foreign matter and even oil stains; b. Application of a primer consisting of any of the above-mentioned organic solvents or a mixture thereof; c. Application of a hot adhesive over a dust-free side lap area.
[0010] With regard to the application of a hot adhesive, priming is generally unnecessary as the hot adhesive forms excellent bond with the substrate (weather side of single-ply membrane) without primer. In this case, a release liner may be necessary over such a factory-modified seam so as to prevent unintended sticking to the back side of the roll. The adhesive application in the side lap area (on the weather side) can be favorably and more preferably achieved by coating the melted adhesive by any of the common methods (such as roll coating, slot die coating, doctor blade coating, etc.) well known to those practicing the art.
[0011] Any one or more of these steps are accomplished at the factory during the manufacture of finished roll products. A combination of steps (a) and (b) or steps (a) and (c) above allows elimination of the following during installation over the roof:
[0012] (1) cleaning and/or priming the seam;
[0013] (2) applying an adhesive tape or spraying an adhesive with the intention to form a side-lap
[0014] The membrane according to the present invention comprises a single-ply membrane having a lower surface and an upper surface, the upper surface having side lap area defined at diametrically opposite borders of the membrane, a primer and/or cleaner applied on the side lap area, an adhesive coated on the primer and/or cleaner applied on the side lap area; and a removable release liner applied on the adhesive.
[0015] The preparation of the membrane in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of pre-cleaning/pre-priming the side lap of a single-ply membrane having an adhesive layer and release liner on its deck side, coating the side lap with an adhesive material, applying a release liner on the adhesive material, and rolling the membrane for storage and later application on a roof substrate.
[0016] The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular device embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE
[0017] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the apparatus and methods of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of one embodiment of the membrane in accordance with the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a second embodiment of the membrane in accordance with the present invention; and
[0020] FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a third embodiment of the membrane in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Although this invention is applicable to numerous and various roofing structures, it has been found particularly useful in the environment of single-ply roofing membranes. Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the invention to single-ply roofing membranes, the invention will be described in such environment.
[0022] As used herein, the term “roofing membrane” generally refers to refers to the conventional meaning of the term roofing membrane, i.e. a water impermeable sheet of polymeric material that is secured to a roof deck. A roofing membrane may use polymeric materials such as ethylene propylene diene polymer rubber (EPDM), chlorinated polyethylene, PVC, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), etc. The roofing membrane may be made from a blended composite polymer having additives, such as UV screeners, UV absorbers or stabilizers, fire retardants, etc. to improve weatherability.
[0023] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the layers of the non-asphaltic membrane in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1 , sheet 10 includes a substrate or membrane 12 , which may be TPO or PVC, but is not limited thereto. Membrane 12 has a deck side 14 , which is the side of membrane 12 that is applied on a roof substrate (not shown). The opposite side of membrane 12 is referred to as the weather side 16 , which is the side that exposed to the environment when deck side 14 of membrane 12 is applied to a roof substrate. A first adhesive layer 18 is coated on deck side 14 of membrane 12 . A release liner 20 is then placed upon first adhesive layer 18 . When sheet 10 is to be applied to a roof substrate, release liner 20 is peeled off first adhesive layer 18 . Sheet 10 is then positioned on the roof substrate and is adhered thereto by first adhesive layer 18 . This type of sheet is thus commonly referred to as a “peel and stick” membrane.
[0024] The border/edge of membrane 12 is commonly earmarked as the side lap area 22 . Side lap 22 extends lengthwise along the entirety of membrane 12 . Depending upon the type of membrane, side lap 22 generally has a width in the range of approximately 1 inch to 20 inches. More preferably, the width of side lap 22 is in the range of approximately 3 to 6 inches. As explained hereinabove, side lap 22 is a generally a continuous longitudinal overlap of neighboring like materials, i.e. sheets 10 . In accordance with the present invention, side lap 22 is cleaned and/or primed with commonly used roofing cleaners and/or primers. The cleaners and/or primers are coated directly on side lap 22 on weather side 16 of membrane 12 . A second layer of adhesive 24 , which may be the same or different from first adhesive layer 18 , is then coated on the pre-cleaned/pre-primed side lap 22 . A release liner 26 is preferably applied upon second adhesive layer 24 coated on side lap 22 . Depending upon the cleaner/primer applied on side lap 22 , liner 26 may be optional. For example, certain adhesives are heat-activated or pressure sensitive. Such adhesives may not be immediately tacky and thus there is no need for a liner.
[0025] Adhesive layer on 24 that is applied on side lap 22 of weather side 16 of membrane 12 allows for overlapping one roll over another lengthwise when applied on a roof substrate.
[0026] In another embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , sheet 10 is provided as described immediately above, and wherein side lap 22 having cleaner and/or primer thereon (indicated by 24 ) has 10-90% of thickness of first adhesive layer 18 .
[0027] In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 3 , sheet 10 is provided as discussed immediately above in the second embodiment. In this embodiment, however, first adhesive layer 18 in the area corresponding to side lap 22 on deck side 14 of membrane 12 is reduced more than, less than or equal to the thickness of second adhesive layer 24 applied on side lap 22 on weather side 16 of membrane 12 . The reduced area is indicated at 30 .
[0028] In all of the embodiments in accordance with the present invention, membrane 12 is preferably a thermoplastic single-ply membrane but is not limited in this regard. Membrane 12 may be modified bitumen or thermoset or thermoplastic membrane preferably polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other resinous compositions containing polyvinyl chloride, chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE or CSM), chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), ethylene propylene diene polymer (EPDM), APP modified bitumen, SBS modified bitumen, or a thermoplastic olefin (TPO).
[0029] In accordance with the present invention, the side lap area is factory modified such that the surface modification consists one or more of the following:
a. Application of a cleaning step, which may or may not, involve organic solvents such as toluene, heptane, xylene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), ethylbenzene, naphtha or other hydrocarbons, etc. or a mixture thereof. In many cases (depending on the nature of substrate), only a dry wipe cleaning (with a cloth) is satisfactory to rid the surface of dust, foreign matter and even oil stains; b. Application of a primer consisting of any of the above-mentioned organic solvents or a mixture thereof; c. Application of a hot adhesive over a dust-free side lap area.
[0033] With regard to the application of a hot adhesive, priming is generally unnecessary as the hot adhesive forms excellent bond with the substrate (weather side of single-ply membrane) without primer. In this case, a release liner may be necessary over such a factory-modified seam so as to prevent unintended sticking to the back side of the roll. The adhesive application in the side lap area (on the weather side) can be favorably achieved by coating the melted adhesive by any of the application methods commonly used in applying roofing materials, such as roll coating, slot die coating, doctor blade coating, etc.
[0034] Any one or more of the above-mentioned steps are accomplished at the factory during the manufacture of finished roll products.
[0035] In preparing sheet 10 at a factory in accordance with the described embodiments, a long strip of membrane 12 is extended along a surface. A side lap area 22 is defined on weather side 16 of membrane 12 . Side lap 22 is then cleaned and pre-primed. Second adhesive layer 24 is then coated upon the cleaned and pre-primed side lap 22 . Release liner 26 is then placed on second adhesive layer 24 . Sheet 10 is then rolled for storage and later application on a roof substrate.
[0036] First and second adhesive layers 18 and 24 may be any adhesive or glue commonly used in the roofing industry for applying membranes to a roof substrate. Nonlimiting examples of adhesives include, but are not limited to, polyurethane, ethylene-butylene-styrene, and other known deal load shear capable adhesives such as Adco PSA-3™, manufactured by Adco Products, Inc. Other common pressure sensitive adhesives are butyl rubber based (containing polyisobutene and/or polyisoprene or polybutenes) or styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene (SEBS), styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS), acrylics, etc.
[0037] First and second adhesive layers 18 , 24 , in accordance with the present invention, has excellent tack and quick stick properties. The adhesive resists extreme heat and cold. Additionally, the adhesive may be used with a roofing article such as EPDM rubber or TPO to provide a watertight seal. The adhesive may be used in a variety of weather conditions, and no special equipment is required. Additionally, the adhesive poses no environmental hazard and does not require hazardous solvents.
[0038] The primers and/or cleaners which may be applied on side lap 22 include, but are not limited to, Heptanes, Toluene, Methyl Alcohol, Hexane, Xylene, Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate, Polymethylene Polyphenol Isocyanate, Ethylbenzene, Naphtha, Hydrocarbon Resins and Halogenated Butyl or a suitable mixture thereof. These liquids can be used individually or in various mixtures with each other or with additional ingredients.
[0039] Release liners 20 and 26 may be any suitable release liner material such as waxed paper, polycoated paper, film based paper or a plastic commonly associated with silicon chemistry. Release liners 20 , 26 facilitate acceptable package, storage, and installation performance. The release system exhibits little or no affinity for the adhesive and exhibits no negative impact on the initial tackiness of the adhesive, and on the subsequent utility of the adhesive in application and long term performance. In addition, the release system permits ready manual separation of the shingles or tiles at ordinary ambient temperatures. Practically, release liners 20 , 26 include, for example, sheet materials including various films (i.e., cellophane, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinylalcohol and polyvinylchloride), paper, foil and the like which have been subjected to surface-treatment such as coating and/or impregnating with synthetic resins having high release properties (e.g., silicone resins and fluorocarbons). Release liners 20 , 26 may optionally be treated with a release agent such as silicone resin and fluorine containing resins).
[0040] While there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims. | The present invention provides a non-asphaltic peel-and-stick roofing membrane for quicker and easier installation to a roof substrate, as well as a method of manufacturing the membrane. | 4 |
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a packaging method and more particularly to the packaging of financial transaction instruments, such as e.g. stored value cards.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Stored value cards of different kinds, such as gift cards, are commonly used as a means of payment against a pre-paid account. Used in this way, they are referred to as debit cards.
Debit cards are commonly printed and sold with a face value, say $25. The purchaser pays for the card, which is then good for 25 dollars' worth of the goods or services promoted by the card. When the card is used to make a purchase, the card number is used to identify an associated account. If sufficient funds remain in the account, the account is debited with the value of the purchase, otherwise the purchase is refused. It is becoming increasingly common to sell such cards from open retail spaces. Cards sold in this way are ‘activated’ (i.e. associated to an account having a positive balance) only after they have been paid for. Prior to sale, they are associated with an inactive account: one that has, in effect, a balance of zero. This arrangement has two significant advantages: first, the retailer does not have to pay for the card until it is sold; and second, there is no incentive to steal cards on display, as they have no value.
There are a several ways of providing for the activation of accounts. Patent application WO 97/39 899 describes a packaging system where the code required to initiate the activation procedure is held on a magnetic stripe on the card. The card is packaged in such a way as to leave its magnetic stripe exposed, so that it can be read by point of sales equipment without removing the card from the packaging. The packaging is arranged to hide the card number and Personal Identification Number (PIN) that will be used for carrying out transactions once the card has been activated. Any attempt to view these numbers surreptitiously, leaves a trace on the packaging. The sales clerk checks the integrity of the packaging before initiating the authorization procedure. There are two disadvantages of this system: first, the packaging is complex and relatively expensive to produce, and second, the exposed magnetic stripe is easily damaged during transport and handling.
These disadvantages are partially addressed by US patent application No. 2002/043 558, which describes a packaging system with an aperture through which a number carried on the card, possibly the card number, is visible. An exterior surface of the packaging is provided with a magnetic stripe. The card is enclosed and sealed inside the packaging, and then an encoding derived from the exposed number is written onto the magnetic stripe. This has the advantage that the card is protected from damage during transport and handling, but it has the disadvantage that the card number is exposed to view.
US patent application No. 2006/0273153 discloses a secure packaging system for stored value cards, where no part of the card is visible through the sealed packaging. However, the '153 application does not disclose a practical system for bringing cards and packaging together. High speed production systems need to be able to package thousands of cards per hour. There is a need for a method of bringing cards and packaging together that reconciles the speed and reliability requirements of a modern production environment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method of packaging financial transaction instruments comprising the following steps is provided:
1.a). a step of preparing a batch of cards, where each card is provided with a first piece of machine readable information, and where the cards in the batch are in an order, 1.b). a step of preparing a batch of packaging blanks, where each packaging blank is provided with a second piece of machine readable information, 1.c). a step where each packaging blank is provided with a third piece of machine readable information, which is recorded onto a magnetic stripe carried by said packaging blank, and where the third piece of information is at least part of an activation code of a corresponding card, and where the packaging blanks are ordered, such that the packaging blank at a given ordinal position is the packaging blank associated with the card at a corresponding ordinal position in the card order, 1.d). a step of picking a card from a first ordinal position in the batch of prepared cards, 1.e). a step of picking a packaging blank from a position, corresponding to said first ordinal position, in the batch of prepared packaging blanks, 1.f). a step of reading the first piece of information from the card, and the second piece of information from the packaging blank, 1.g). a step of verifying a matching condition between the first piece of information and the second piece of information, 1.h). a step of enclosing the picked card in the picked packaging blank if and only if said matching condition is verified.
These steps are not necessarily processed in the order just mentioned. Step c) may for instance be implemented at various stages, as described below.
Cards and packaging are uniquely associated: a given packaging is prepared for, and only for, a given card. The cross check between the packaging identifier and the card identifier thus advantageously occurs exactly at the point where the card and packaging are brought together.
As the cards and packaging are at least within a batch uniquely associated, the method guarantees that this association is preserved, whilst at the same time allowing adequate throughput.
Furthermore, thanks to the proposed verification, packaging blanks do not have to be prepared on the same production line that is used to join cards and packaging, which allows more flexible production scheduling.
The first piece of information is for instance an identification number, unique at least within the batch of cards.
In a possible embodiment, the package blank is folded before the step of recording the third piece of information, and opened before the step of enclosing the picked card on the picked packaging blank.
The prepared packaging blank may e.g. be opened after the step of recording the third piece of information.
In a preferred embodiment second piece of information is in the form of a bar code, which is an interesting practical way to unambiguously identify the card for which the packaging blank is prepared.
In an alternative embodiment, the step of recording the third piece of information is carried out after the step of sealing the folded packaging blank. The process is thus flexible.
In a possible embodiment, during the step of enclosing the card in the folded packaging blank, the card is fully enclosed in the folded and sealed packaging blank.
Thanks to this solution, the service-access information carried on the card may be unviewable after the packaging blank has been folded and sealed.
All the information carried on the card may even be unviewable after the packaging blank has been folded and sealed.
In the same order of thinking, the third piece of information is not viewable after the packaging blank has been folded and sealed.
The third piece of information may also be positioned in such a manner that it is destroyed by opening the sealed package.
According to a possible embodiment, the second piece of information (used for checking the card and packaging blank match each other) is the third piece of information (relating to activation of the card).
A further advantage of the proposed embodiments is that the same edge, or fold line, on the packaging is used to align the packaging with the recording apparatus during the recording of the activation code on the magnetic stripe, as is used to align the packaging with the point of sale reader when the activation code is read at the point of sale.
It is also proposed to render the service access information unviewable after the packaging has been folded and sealed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The drawings are not to scale. They are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Where the same element appears in more than one drawing, for example the magnetic stripe, which appears in FIGS. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 , it is numbered similarly, in this case: 102 , 202 , 302 , 402 and 502 .
FIG. 1 shows the exterior surface of a first embodiment of a packaging blank.
FIG. 2 shows the exterior surface of a first embodiment of the packaging according to the present invention, after encoding the magnetic stripe, before attaching the card, before folding and before sealing.
FIG. 3 shows the packaging of FIG. 2 after folding.
FIG. 4 shows the exterior surface of a second embodiment of the packaging according to the present invention, after encoding the magnetic stripe, before attaching the card, before folding and before sealing.
FIG. 5 shows the packaging of FIG. 4 after attaching the card, after folding and after sealing.
FIG. 6 is a table showing the structure of the records used in the preparation of a batch of packaging blanks, according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method according to the present invention of preparing a batch of packaging from packaging blanks, prior to joining the prepared packaging to the personalized cards.
FIG. 7A is a flowchart showing an alternative method when the second embodiment of the packaging blank is used.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a method according to the present invention of joining a batch of stored value cards to a batch of prepared packaging.
FIG. 9 shows a possible embodiment of an apparatus for joining prepared packaging blanks and cards.
FIG. 10 shows a possible embodiment of an apparatus for preparing package blanks.
FIG. 11 A is a front view of a third embodiment of a packaging blank.
FIG. 11 B is a side view of a third embodiment of a packaging blank.
TERMINOLOGY
The present invention relates to a method of packaging financial transaction instruments, such as e.g. stored value cards. In this respect, it may be noted that a transaction account can be thought of as a space associated with an identifier. The identifier will normally be an account number, and the space will normally be some kind of computer storage structure. The space may have other attributes, such as the name of the account holder, or the state of the account, active or inactive, for example. The space stores records of monetary transactions, or at least the running balance of the account, a record is at least a monetary value, but may include other information such as the date, time and place that the transaction took place. The financial transaction instrument is a physical representation of a transaction account. Typical examples of financial transaction instruments are telephone cards, gift cards, credit cards, and debit cards, i.e. generally speaking stored value cards. In the context of the description below, the magnetic stripe data 603 which is recorded onto the magnetic stripe 302 is understood to contain part or all of the information required to identify and activate the transaction account associated with the financial transaction instrument enclosed in the packaging. The magnetic stripe data is typically used, possibly with complementary data such as a merchant identification number or a complementary key or both, to activate a transaction account, in which case the data is referred to as an activation code.
Once an account has been activated, the financial transaction instrument allows its holder to purchase goods or services up to the value represented in the associated account. In order to make a payment, the holder must provide at least enough information to allow that account to be identified. In many cases, additional information, such a personal identification number, will be required. Whatever the case, this information is referred to as service-access information. Typically, some or all of the service-access information is held, in one form or another, on the financial transaction instrument.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A first embodiment of the method of the present invention is described below. The description is with reference to FIGS. 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 .
The packaging material is preferably card stock, but it may be any other suitable material or composite. The card stock is cut to form the package blank 100 . The package blank, preferably rectangular in outline, is divided into three parts: the top flap 100 , the top panel 104 , and the bottom panel 107 . Exemplary dimensions (expressed in millimeters, “mm”) for the packaging blank 100 are as follows:
X, the height of the top flap 101 is, for example, approximately 25 mm. W, the height of the top and bottom panels 104 and 107 is, for example, approximately 94 mm. Y, the width of the packaging blank 100 is, for example, approximately 127 mm. The thickness of the card stock is, for example, approximately 0.25 mm.
The packaging blank is provided with a magnetic stripe 102 , which may be applied by any of the methods well known in the art. The procedure for recording data onto the magnetic stripe is described in detail below. The area 106 is the area on the interior surface of the package blank onto which the card is placed during the packaging process, it may be adhesively bonded to the package or left free to move within the sealed package.
Cards and packaging are prepared in batches. A batch of cards is placed in a known sequence in a dispenser 901 , preferably a hopper feeding system (see FIG. 9 ). The sequence of cards in the dispenser reflects the sequence of records in a table 600 (to be further described later), such that the first card in the dispenser corresponds to the first card in the table, and the next card in the dispenser corresponds to the next card in the table. This sequence is referred to hereafter as the ‘packaging sequence’. The packaging sequence is defined with reference to the table; furthermore, the cards in a batch are ordered, there is a first, second, third, and so on, up to a last card. A batch of cards retains the same order throughout the packaging process.
According to a possible alternative embodiment, it is possible to avoid the use of a table: the cards are ordered in a sequence corresponding to a sequence of the packaging blanks, and the cards and packaging blanks contain information that can be matched without reference to a table, as described below.
A packaging blank is prepared for a particular card in order to ensure coherence between data to be held by the packaging blank (on its magnetic stripe) and data held by the card, as further explained below. It is thus proposed that the prepared packaging blanks are ordered such that the packaging blank for a card in a given ordinal position, for example, the seventeenth card, is to be found within the batch of packaging blanks at a corresponding position, which may be the same ordinal position, in this example, the seventeenth packaging blank.
A batch of prepared packaging blanks is placed, in packaging sequence, in a dispenser 908 . This batch is prepared according to the following procedure, described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 1 .
In the initial state, START, the next record in table 600 is the first record. A machine control computer 1005 reads the next record 604 from table 600 , this record thus becoming the ‘current record’. At step 702 , a packaging blank is fed from a dispenser 1001 to a folding station 1002 , where it is folded, step 703 . The folding station may, for example, be a plough folder. The folding sequence, step 704 , is as follows:
The bottom panel 107 is folded along the line 105 towards the interior surface of the top panel 104 . The top flap 101 is then folded along the line 103 towards the exterior surface.
The folded package blank 300 is fed into an encoding station 1003 , which is connected via a data line 1010 to the computer 1005 . The feed system ensures that the line 303 is firmly registered against a guide or datum 1009 , right through from its entry into the encoding station to its exit from the bar code read-back station 1007 . Rollers, not shown, ensure that the package blank is advanced at the appropriate speed for encoding the magnetic stripe 302 . The magnetic stripe data 603 from the current record is read from table 600 and written (or recorded) onto the magnetic stripe 302 , step 704 . The magnetic stripe data includes at least part of the activation code. This part may, for example, be a cryptographic code, which when combined with further information, allows the account associated with the card to be activated. A particularity of this arrangement is that the edge on the sealed package that is used to guide the magnetic stripe while the magnetic stripe is being read by a point of sale card-reader, is the same edge, namely the fold line 303 , that is used to guide the magnetic stripe while it is being recorded during the preparation of the packaging blank. This reduces the number of packages that have to be rejected due to read failures at the point of sale. The package blank is fed from the encoding station 1003 into a printing station 1004 , the packaging number 602 from the current record is printed as a bar code onto the package blank 308 , step 705 . Other graphical data, for example, a product code, may be printed during this step. The packaging number is printed as a bar code, but it may equally be printed as another kind of graphical representation. The package blank is fed from printing station 1004 into the magnetic stripe read-back station 1006 . The magnetic strip is read and the value read is compared with the value of the magnetic stripe data 603 in the current record (step 706 ). If the two values are not identical, the process is halted, otherwise it continues at step 707 . The package blank is fed from the magnetic stripe read-back station 1006 to the bar code read-back station 1007 . The bar code is read and the value is compared with the value of the packaging number 602 in the current record. If the two values are not identical, the process is halted, otherwise it continues at step 708 . The two read-back checks 706 and 707 are fidelity checks meant to show up any inconsistency in the quality of the magnetic stripe or bar code. The finished package blank is fed via rollers to an output hopper 1011 , step 708 . Alternatively it may be fed onto an output conveyor, and from there, to the process for joining the cards to the prepared packaging blanks, which is described below.
In a second embodiment, the printing station and the bar code read-back station, are placed directly after the dispenser in that order, and before the folding station. The graphical representation of the packaging number is then printed in a different position, as shown at 408 in FIG. 4 . The package blanks are then prepared according to the procedure shown in FIG. 7A . This has the advantage that it is hidden when the packaging is sealed, as shown at 508 in FIG. 5 . By using a suitable adhesive when sealing the package, it is possible to ensure that the packaging number is unusable after the package has been opened, which eliminates any ill-intentioned use of the packaging number. Hiding the bar code from view on the sealed package also leaves greater scope for a pleasing graphic design on the exterior surface of the package.
In a third embodiment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B , the packaging blank 1100 is formed from a back panel 1101 and a front panel 1107 . The front panel is provided with a hinge, preferably formed by scoring or pre-folding along the line 1103 . The inner surface of the back panel 1104 is attached to the inner surface of the hinge support 1105 , preferably by means of an adhesive. The packaging blank is provided with a magnetic stripe 1102 . The area 1106 is the area on the inner surface of the back panel to which the card is attached, or within which it is placed. As an alternative, the inner surface of the front panel could be used instead. Exemplary dimensions (expressed in millimeters, “mm”) for the packaging blank 1100 are as follows:
X, the width of the package blank 1100 is, for example, approximately 100 mm. Y, the height of the package blank 1100 is, for example, approximately 140 mm
In this third embodiment, a batch of packaging blanks is prepared as described for the first embodiment except that step 704 , in which the packaging blank is folded, is omitted and there is no folding station 1002 in the apparatus for preparing packaging blanks ( FIG. 10 ).
Whatever the embodiment of the three embodiments just described, the process continues as now described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 . The two dispensers mentioned above, 901 and 908 for the cards and packaging blanks respectively, are loaded at this stage of the process. The process of joining the cards to the prepared packaging blanks begins as follows.
A machine control computer 909 , which may be independent or linked to the machine control computer 1005 , reads the next record 604 from table 600 , this record becomes the ‘current record’, step 801 . A prepared packaging blank is fed out of, or picked from the dispenser 908 , unfolded by means of arms provided with suction cups, and conveyed by means of rollers and guides, its interior surface uppermost, to the stop point 907 , step 802 . (Where the first or second embodiment of the prepared packaging blanks is used, the dispenser 908 includes a mechanism for unfolding the prepared packaging blanks. Where the third embodiment of the prepared packaging blanks is used, this mechanism is not required.)
A card is conveyed, or picked from the dispenser 901 , by means of rollers and guides, to the stop point 902 , step 803 . A first reader 903 transmits the card number to the machine control computer 909 via the data line 911 , step 804 .
The card number is any identification number that is unique at least within the batch of cards. It may be in a variety of different forms, for example, embossed characters on the surface of the card, optical characters on the surface of the card, characters recorded on a magnetic stripe on the surface of the card, characters stored in a microcircuit embedded in the card.
A second reader 906 , situated to allow it to read the bar code from underneath package blank, transmits the graphical representation of the packaging number 208 to the machine control computer via the data line 910 , the machine control computer derives the packaging number from this data, step 805 .
The machine control computer checks that the card number from step 804 and the packaging number from step 805 match the card number 601 and the packaging number 602 of the current record. Generally speaking, there is a check to verify that the number read from the card and the packaging number read from the packaging blank match each other. In the alternative embodiment mentioned above where no table is used, this check could consist in verifying that the numbers read are linked by a given function, e.g. that the numbers are identical (the function then being the identity function). If they do, the prepared packaging blank and the card are conveyed, by means of rollers and guides, to the card joining station 904 ; otherwise the process is halted, step 806 .
This cross-check or verification, directly at the point where the card is joined to its corresponding package, reduces the probability of a card-to-package matching error to practically zero.
It would, of course, be possible to obtain the same result by cross checking the card number with the magnetic stripe data from the package blank, in which case the bar code could be dispensed with.
The card is then attached to, or placed in, the prepared packaging, step 807 . The card and prepared packaging are then conveyed to a folding station, not shown. Where the first or second embodiment of the prepared packaging blanks is used, the folding sequence is as follows:
The bottom panel 107 is folded along the line 105 towards the interior surface of the top panel 104 . A seal is made, preferably by means of an adhesive, between the interior surfaces of the top and bottom panels. The top flap 101 is folded along the line 103 towards the exterior surface of the now sealed bottom panel. A seal is made, preferably by means of an adhesive, between the interior surface of the top flap and the exterior surface of the bottom panel.
Where the third embodiment of the prepared packaging blanks is used, an adhesive, which may be heat or pressure sensitive, is disposed on the inner surface of the back panel 1104 . The front panel 1107 is then closed against the back panel 1104 and sealed by applying pressure or heat or both. | A method of packaging financial transaction instruments includes preparing a batch of cards, where each card is provided with a first piece of machine readable information, and where the cards in the batch are in an order. A batch of packaging blanks is prepared, where each packaging blank is provided with a second piece of machine readable information. Each packaging blank is provided with a third piece of machine readable information, which is recorded onto a magnetic stripe carried by the packaging blank. A card is picked from a first ordinal position in the batch of prepared cards. A packaging blank is picked from a position, corresponding to the first ordinal position, in the batch of prepared packaging blanks. The picked card in the picked packaging blank is enclosed if and only if a matching condition is verified between the first and second pieces of information is verified. | 6 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/773,998 filed on Mar. 7, 2013 and is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/625,158 filed Sep. 24, 2012 now abandoned claiming priority to U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/539,016 filed Sep. 26, 2011; and Ser. No. 61/570,555 filed Dec. 14, 2011, all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to an apparatus for performing phacoemulsification and fluid infusion and maintenance within the eye. The apparatus includes a sleeve with lateral outlets or ports for ejecting fluid into the eye in a predetermined pattern selected to prevent detritus resulting from the phacoemulsification to migrate away from the site and, possibly into the eye. The apparatus may also include a needle having a tip with several prongs directing sonic waves at the site of interest. The apparatus includes stabilizers incorporated within a silicone (or other pliant material) sleeve surrounding and maintaining the phacoemulsification needle in a stable, relatively central position within the sleeve, (Alternatively the stabilizers may be attached to the outer wall of the needle.) The stabilization of the needle relative to the infusion ports associated with the distal portion of the sleeve is intended to “normalize” flow from the sleeve and into the eye, and thereby mitigating the impact of sudden and forceful infusion flow against various anatomical elements within the eye,
B. Description of the Prior Art
Phacoemulsification is a procedure used to break up and remove the natural lens from the capsular bag within the eye of a person. Most often the procedure is used as a means of treating a person having cataracts. The procedure involves making a small incision in the eye and introducing a thin needle formed on a horn through the incision. The horn is coupled to an ultrasonic generator that vibrates the needle in a predetermined ultrasonic frequency range causing the natural lens to fragment and become emulsate. The nuclear emulsate within capsular bag is aspirated during this process and simultaneously irrigation (infusion) produces a stabilizing effect in the anterior and posterior chambers, keeping the eye inflated.
To complete the operation an intraocular lens implant is then inserted into the capsular bag (usually through the same incision incorporating the ultrasonic handpiece).
While the technology has for the most part been broadly accepted as the community norm presently available equipment is noted to have several disadvantages. One these disadvantages is that in a typical equipment for performing phacoemulsification, the infusion (delivered by the surrounding sleeve) and aspiration functions (via the central bore of the phacoemulsification needle) are inherently in close proximity. Due to the unfettered ability for the phaco needle to make wide excursions within the surrounding infusion sleeve, under certain conditions the infusion fluid stream within the eye may interact in a deleterious manner tending to drive lens detritus away from the aspiration flow. Because of this phenomenon the phacoemulsification process is not only inherently less efficient but nuclear or other lens material may be driven far afield of the hand-piece, become lost to the surgical field, and at times remain in the eye in various hidden anatomical locations. Additionally fluid, forcefully entering the eye via the ports adjacent to the tip of the phaco needle tends impact on the iris under certain conditions as well as driving fluid into the back if the eye, inviting a form of intraocular glaucoma known as misdirected aqueous.
Another disadvantage of the existing apparatus is that the ultrasonic generator and the needle being vibrated has a tendency to generate excessive heat and must be cooled by infusion fluid to insure that the heat thus generated does not cause any internal injuries in the eye. A further disadvantage of existing phacoemulsification apparatus is that the needle ends in a ring-shaped end that is not a very effective emitter of ultrasonic sound waves and therefore the apparatus ultrasonic waves of relatively large amplitudes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an apparatus that overcomes, or at least alleviates the disadvantages discussed above. An apparatus for removing the natural or crystalline lens (usually with cataracts) from a patient's eye includes a hand-held body with horn-shaped portion terminating in a needle. The horn-shaped portion provides mechanical energy for breaking up the natural lens.
An appropriate irrigating fluid (typically a salient aqueous solution) is provided through the handle and flows along the outside of the needle, within the (silicone) sleeve) and exits through one or more lateral opening (known as ports) into the anterior portion of the eye. The lens detritus resulting from the emulsification process is aspirated through a central orifice in the needle tip. The tip is fabricated of a metallic material (titanium is customary but could be other suitable metal). A transducer acts as a sound generator and generates ultrasonic or sub-sonic sound waves that drive and vibrate the tip of the needle.
As previously mentioned, the hand piece is coupled to a suitable vibrating mechanism that vibrates the tip of the needle. The conventional practice until now has been to apply sound waves at an ultra-sonic range (typically 30-60 KHz) and normally do not contact the natural lens.
However the present inventor has found that, alternatively, the needle can be driven within the normal sonic range (typically 40-400 Hz). In this embodiment, the prongs preferably contact the lens nucleus and epinucleus and their vibration through both mechanical means and ultrasonic cavitation causes the lens to break up and form an emulsate.
The needle is preferably made of titanium and is attached to the horn. The needle is formed of a plurality of prongs arranged in a circumferential symmetrically or asymmetrically configuration defining the tip of the needle about an aspiration orifice.
In one embodiment it has between two and five (or more) prongs that extend either in parallel with the needle axis or may be bent to as much 15-20 degrees toward the center of needle and its orifice. The prongs may be rounded at their ends to provide a potentially salutary effect on the capsule if they engage the capsule inadvertently.
Depending on the configuration selected, the apparatus provides a number of advantages to the present state of the art:
1. The low frequency embodiment requires no coolant since no heat is generated. In the high frequency embodiment, less coolant may be required. 2. Visibility using a multiple pronged-needle fragmenting system may be enhanced making the risk of misjudging emulsification depth less likely. 3. An apparatus with a multi-pronged tip uses the cumulative effect of the energy delivered through the prongs to the fragmentation process; in association with the re-directed fluidics described herein which this may make for an efficient and less chaotic process at the needle tip. The needle prongs may be angled to increase efficient cutting. 4. Tips may be energized to act in transverse, oscillatory longitudinal or rotational modes. 5. The lateral flow of the irrigating fluid from the needle results in a more efficient procedure with less repulsion of lens material away from the cutting process and towards the posterior section of the eye. 6. The needle terminating in the tips is stabilized within the sleeve thereby eliminating or reducing the relative movement between the needle and the sleeve. 7. Stabilizing the needle within the sleeve further insures that orifices in the sleeve near the tip do not blocked by the needle and therefore the fluid from the sleeve is free to flow outwardly, preferably in a predetermined plume or other shape.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 1 shows an enlarged side orthogonal sectional view of the needle tip for one embodiment of the apparatus of FIG. 1A ;
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged orthogonal section of an alternate embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2A shows a side sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 ;
FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show various alternate configurations for the needle of FIG. 1 and its prongs;
FIG. 4 shows an orthogonal view of an irrigation aperture with a flap constructed in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 5 shows an orthogonal view of another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6A shows a somewhat diagrammatic side view of a needle tip without stabilization;
FIG. 6B shows the needle of FIG. 6A being deflected during a procedure and its effect on the fluid flow in the sleeve;
FIG. 6C shows a modified needle tip with stabilizers to prevent needle deflection; and
FIG. 6D shows a cross sectional view of the needle tip of FIG. 6C .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIG. 1A , an apparatus 100 constructed in accordance with this invention includes a handle 10 that includes a vibrating mechanism 12 and is connected to a fluid source 14 that provides irrigating fluid and a vacuum source 16 . One end of the handle 10 is provided with a horn 18 terminating with a needle 20 . The needle 20 is preferably bent, as at 22 . The needle 20 includes a tip 24 . In one embodiment, the tip 24 is formed of a plurality of prongs 26 extending generally coaxially along needle 20 . The prongs 26 are terminated in one embodiment with crowns 28 . The prongs 26 are disposed circumferentially around a central aspiration aperture 30 . Tip 24 further includes a plurality of irrigation apertures 32 .
The vibrating mechanism 12 may be, for example, a transducer that provides excitation for the mechanical vibration of the tip 24 (at either a sonic, e.g. 40-400 Hz or ultrasonic, e.g. 30-60 KHz, frequency range) to cause the natural lens in the capsular bag of an eye (not shown) to break up, as discussed in more detail below. This vibration is transmitted to prongs (described in more detail below) through a metal tube and these elements cooperate to cause the prongs to move in at least one of a translational motion, rotational motion, etc.
The horn 18 is typically a housing incorporating an integrated metal tube which tapers to fit the casing as it approaches the cut-outs that represent the emulsifying needle prongs. The needle prongs are attached to the horn assembly and are disposable. In one embodiment, the needle prongs could be sectioned elements of the integrated tube attached to the horn or independent metallic materials designed for this purpose.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the tip 24 includes a central tube 40 (typically made of titanium) preferably made of a metallic or other similar relatively stiff material. The tube 40 is surrounded by a sleeve 42 . The sleeve is often manufactured of silicone but may be of other materials, and is provided with either an annular cannula 44 or one or more tubular longitudinal openings extending from the handle to the irrigation apertures 32 . The sleeve is attached tightly around the central tube 40 past the irrigation apertures 32 .
As mentioned above, preferably the tip 24 is formed of a plurality of prongs 26 having crowns 28 . The vibrating mechanism 12 and tube 40 cooperate to cause the prongs 26 to vibrate in one of a series of controlled motions. The optimal efficiency mode of vibration of these prongs is dependent on the length, thickness and material of the prongs, the size and weight of the crowns 28 and the angle of the prongs 26 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tube 40 . The multiple pronged tip is configured and arranged to increase the efficiency of emulsification (as compared to previous devices) through contact to lens material.
The apparatus is used as follows. A small opening is first made in the capsular bag of the eye. The lens is either engaged within the capsular bag or the lens is dislocated anteriorly. Either way in the next steps, the tip 24 of the needle 20 is made to have contact with the nucleus of the lens. This step is facilitated by the bent 22 formed in the needle.
Next, the vibrating mechanism is started coincidentally with the infusion of irrigating fluid 50 which is introduced through the cannula 44 .
Preferably the irrigation apertures 32 are covered or closed by flexible baffles or other designs meant to redirect fluid to a more lateral of tangential direction 46 so the sleeve 42 (made, for example, from silicone) presents a substantially continuous outer surface as the needle 20 is juxtaposed or in contact to the lens nucleus. However, once the tip 24 has engaged the nuclear lens material either outside or within the capsular bag, irrigation fluid usually under the force of gravity from source fluid 14 through the cannula 44 . The fluid pushes the baffles 46 open and then exits into the eye forming a plume 50 that extends at an angle away from the prongs 26 forming an angle of 90 degrees or more or less with the longitudinal axis of tube 40 . As the prongs 26 vibrate, the natural or crystalline lens of the eye is broken up and emulsified. The central aperture 30 is connected through central tube 40 to the vacuum source 16 causing fluid and emulsate to flow through the central aperture 30 and out the eye to the machine console. Using the invention and its redirected infusion apertures 32 , the lens nuclear fragments are readily emulsified by the vibrating prongs 26 and detritus is more efficiently removed from the eye and is less likely to be lost to aspiration and left in the eye.
In prior art devices, irrigation fluid exits between or close to the prongs (for cooling the prongs) and is directed axially along the prongs forming a fluid flow in direction X in FIG. 1 . Detritus formed at or by the prongs is caught up in this flow and is carried away from the tip into remote zones often beyond the capsular bag and to other parts of the eye. As a result of the inefficiencies of prior art emulsification of nuclear lens may take longer, and in some cases the removal may be incomplete, especially when the detritus reaches other parts of the eye. In the present invention, instead a toroidal flow Y is established that is salutary to the aspiration functions of the device and since it is less repulsive to fragmenting lens material will allow for greater efficiency of ultrasonic or subsonic emulsification. Therefore detritus is more directly aspirated towards the aperture 30 and not towards remote areas of the eye. As a result, the detritus is removed more efficiently and/or faster than in prior art devices.
For the low frequency embodiment, the configurations shown are even more advantageous because fluid is not required to cool the prongs, since at such frequencies, and without significant cavitation, damaging heat is not produced.
In one embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , the tip 24 A is somewhat bullet shaped with a round nose 26 A rather than several prongs. Excitation for breaking up the lens is provided at the nose 26 A. In this embodiment, irrigation fluid is still provided through several apertures 32 A (with flaps 46 A) at a position axially recessed from the tip 22 A. The fluid then picks up the detritus and is vacuum out from the capsular bag through the aperture 30 A.
The prongs and the needle 20 can be arranged into several configurations. In FIG. 1 the needle is provided with bend 20 and the prongs 26 are disposed generally axially. In other embodiments, the prongs may be angled (for example, by 10-20 degrees) toward the axis of the needle thereby increasing their effectiveness. This angulation is balanced to the need for efficient aspiration versus requirements for cutting. FIG. 3A shows an embodiment in which needle 20 and the prongs 26 extend coaxially with no bend in the needle or the prongs. In the embodiment of FIG. 3B , the needle includes bend 22 and the prongs 26 are angled radially inwardly. In FIG. 3C the prongs 26 are angled radially inwardly as discussed above, but the needle has no band.
The multiplicity of needle prongs may have various degrees of arc and length to the longitudinal perspective from the hand-piece. As cut from a tubular device the needle prongs, as described, would be partial elements of the classic circumferential phacoemulsification needle (consider a half pipe as the minimal design resulting in two needle prongs). Additionally the needle-prongs could be bent to varying degrees according to the inherent power described by that advantage.
The following are approximate dimensions of the various elements discussed.
Needle 18 may have a circular or ovoid cross-section at its tip 24 would vary from 0.8 mm to 1.5 mm.
The ID of tube 40 is approximately 0.5 to 0.9 mm.
The aperture 30 has a diameter of about 0.65 mm to 1.4 mm.
The OD of the sleeve 42 is in the range of 1.4 mm to 1.8 mm.
In a flared tip design the OD of a circle defined by the prongs 26 is approximately 0.95 mm.
The prongs 26 would vary from approximately 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm in length.
The plume formed by the irrigation fluid as it exits from the irrigation apertures is disposed at an angle of at least 90 degrees with the axis of the tube 40 , and preferably greater than 90 degrees.
The silicone sleeve is drawn down along the shaft of the hand-piece stopping with a tight seal above the needle prongs and positioned in such a way as to provide the most efficient maintenance of the anterior chamber without setting up undue turbulence in relation to nuclear lens material at the lumen of the needle prong arrangement.
In a preferred embodiment, the irrigation apertures 32 through which fluid is expelled into the anterior chamber are provided with deflecting, collapsible flaps acting as the baffles 46 set along the silicone sleeve as shown in FIG. 4 . Each flap includes a central portion 46 C connected at one point with a hinge 46 B to an edge of irrigating aperture 32 , and one or more leashes 46 A that are either very flexible and expand when fluid pressure is applied to the portion 46 C to allow the portion 46 C to separate from the aperture 32 , or are connected only to main portion 46 C and are provided to position the main portion 46 C properly within the aperture 32 . In this latter configuration, the central portion is biased toward the aperture 32 by the hinge 46 B.
When infusion fluid is directed down the sleeve 42 surrounding the tube 40 , the flaps 46 are made to inflate outward or otherwise open as a clam-like design while still partially fixed by hinge 46 B. Further the flaps may be partially leashed proximally to the proximal edges of the port at the sleeve (more than one leash may be considered depending on the port size) in order to limit the excursion of the flap. Importantly, when no infusion fluid is provided, the flaps are folded along the sleeve 42 to act as a ramp to smooth insertion or removal of the instrument through the corneal or scleral wound. When fluid is not actively flowing in a vigorous manner, the flap will be collapsed or partially collapsed facilitating removal of the hand-piece from the eye. Aiding in the directing infusion flow a circumferential hub of thickened silicone just at the margin of distal port position would act to abruptly redirect fluid flow towards the ports.
In one embodiment, foot-pedal (not shown) coupled to the hand piece 10 , can be placed in one of several positions (a standard arrangements for a generic phacoemulsification device) fluid flowing is initiated with some degree of force opens the flap to a prescribed degree allowing deflected fluid to flow across the capsular bag relatively lateral to the port.
The flap may have a central portion that is round, ovoid or some other distinguishable shape of silicone or some other flexible material continuous at both the hinge and leash across the distal and proximal edges of the edges of the irrigation apertures respectively which may be round or oval (or variously shaped) along the silicone sleeve just proximal to the metallic phacoemulsification tip 24 . The 42 sleeve is tightly fit at its distal end, preventing or limiting fluid flow directly across the tip which would otherwise be directed into the posterior chamber.
The outer diameters of the irrigation apertures may be variously sized (e.g. 1.5-2 mm) in association with the intended rate of flow into the chambers of the eye.
As previously mentioned, the tongs 26 can be created from a tube by making longitudinal cuts. The corners of the prongs can be rounded as illustrated in FIG. 5 .
FIG. 6A shows a partial, somewhat diagrammatic view of the tip of an apparatus for performing phacoemulsification. The end prongs have been omitted for the sake of clarity. The tip includes a needle 40 and a somewhat flexible sleeve 42 . As previously described, a fluid 44 is injected into the sleeve, it flows around the needle 40 and is ejected through apertures 30 . Preferably, several apertures 30 are provided around the sleeve 40 , preferably with flaps (not shown) for directing the fluid flow outside the sleeve in a predetermined direction or shape, as indicated by arrows A.
The present inventor has found that during the operation of the device, needle 40 does not stay in a concentric position, equidistant from the sleeve 42 , but instead it deflects in one direction or another. Moreover, during the procedure, the deflection may change, so that, referring to FIG. 6B , the needle 40 can be deflected downwardly within, the sleeve, sideways, upward, or in any other random direction. This deflection may be a result of the surgeon moving his hand or wrist during the procedure due to the fulcrum defined at the corneal or scleral entry wound. As a result, some of the apertures (for example, aperture 30 B in FIG. 6B can be either partially or fully occluded by the needle 40 . As a result, the fluid flow from this aperture 30 B, indicated by arrow B may be very weak or even-non-existent while the fluid flow C through aperture 30 A may be much stronger than the normal flow A in FIG. 6A . The reduced flow of arrow B is not very desirable because it produces in an imbalance in the flow of the fluid. The stronger fluid flow C is even more undesirable because it may cause the iris to flap around and move unpredictably (potentially damaging iris and blood vessels). It also forces the lens detritus and infused fluid to run forcefully to the edges of the crystalline lens and through lens zonules and into the back of the eye (vitreous cavity).
In order to solve this problem, in one embodiment shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D , stabilizers 53 are provided on the inner walls of the sleeve 42 as shown. The stabilizers 53 are disposed at axially spaced intervals along the sleeve 42 . The positioning, numbers, and height of the stents/stabilizers is determined by the constituency of the sleeve material, its thickness, diameter, and length along the needle that it encases. For example, in FIG. 6D four stabilizers 53 are shown, spaced at about 90 degrees around the central needle 40 . In one embodiment, the stabilizers have the same size and shape. In another embodiment, some of the stabilizers may be larger than others. As can be seen in FIG. 6D , the stabilizers need not come in permanent contact with the needle so that they will not interfere with its vibration. Preferably, the stabilizers are sized and shaped so that they do not block a significant portion of the annular space between the sleeve and the needle, and hence do not interfere with the fluid flowing therein. In one embodiment, they may be placed near the apertures and direct the fluid flow toward the apertures thereby reducing turbulence in the sleeve.
The purpose of the stabilizers is to prevent the needle 40 from deflecting by a large angle and therefore prevent the needle 40 from occulting any of the apertures (ports) 30 .
In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the stabilizers 53 are disposed on, or attached to the outer wall of the needle 40 rather than the inner wall of the sleeve 42 .
Obviously numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims. | An apparatus provides mechanical energy to vibrate a tip. The tip preferably formed of multiple prongs positioned approximately circumferentially (either symmetrically or asymmetrically) around an orifice of a needle. The tip is designed to emulsify a cataractous lens and to collect the resulting detritus through an aspiration aperture. An irrigating sleeve whose apertures/ports are protected from relative occlusion by untoward excursions of the phaco needle by a system of elevated stabilizing devices rising from within the inner wall of the sleeve (or from the outer wall of the phaco needle); this results in a plume or river of irrigating fluid exiting the sleeve that mitigates untoward dispersion of infusion fluid and material caught in its path including lens detritus, iris and other anatomical structures. This also provides for a more efficient process at the needle tip and therefore enhances aspirations of lens detritus in a more efficient and salutary manner as it flows to the aspiration aperture, said plume extend around the prongs. The prongs can be driven at either subsonic frequencies or ultrasonic frequencies. A stabilizer is provided to prevent the needle from interfering with the flow of the irrigating fluid during operation. | 0 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 08/967,546 filed Nov. 10, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,674, issued Mar. 9, 1999, which is a division of U.S. Ser. No. 08/478,868 filed Jun. 7, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,235, filed Jun. 7, 1995, which is a division of U.S. Ser. No. 08/092,772 filed Jul. 16, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,579, filed Jul. 16, 1993.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved adjustable support mechanism for a computer keyboard or the like. Heretofore, there have been various mechanisms for supporting keyboards associated with computer terminals. One such device is disclosed in Smeenge, U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,798, entitled: ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR CRT KEYBOARD, wherein the keyboard support mechanism comprises first and second sets of parallel, equal length articulating arms which link first and second brackets associated respectively with a keyboard platform and a sliding plate attached beneath a desk top. The parallel arms move in a generally vertical plane and maintain the keyboard support platform in a generally horizontal position regardless of the position of the platform relative to the desk top. These arms are connected to brackets located in the central portion of the platform remote from the edges of the keyboard support platform. During storage of the keyboard support platform, the arms articulate and the platform is thereby lowered to a retracted position beneath the level of the desk top. During use, the platform is pivoted forward to an extended position. the brackets supporting the inside ends of the arms beneath the desk may be slidably attached to a support plate attached to the bottom side of the desk. In this manner, the assembly may slide beneath the desk for storage.
Other keyboard supports are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,657; U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,349; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,919; U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,284; U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,123; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,978. Each of these patents describes a support mechanism designed for carrying a computer keyboard or the like. Each employs a parallel arm type mechanism that allows adjustment of the keyboard support.
Another keyboard support mechanism is disclosed in McConnell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,054, entitled: ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR A KEYBOARD PLATFORM. U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,054 teaches a keyboard support mechanism that employs nonparallel arms to support the keyboard platform. This mechanism does not maintain the keyboard platform in a horizontal position as the arms articulate. This mechanism thus has the benefit that when the keyboard platform is stored under the table, the platform is reoriented to supply greater access to the kneehole of a desk.
The prior art mechanisms have proven to be useful in conjunction with standard desk equipment. However, many desks contain lateral supports which interfere with the operation and/or storage of the prior art keyboard support mechanisms. Moreover, many of the prior art mechanisms tended to bounce when in use, resulting in an unstable work surface. Therefore, there developed the need for a computer keyboard support mechanism which provides the ability to adequately support a computer keyboard, to store the computer keyboard and to provide improved access to the kneehole opening in the desk to which the computer keyboard platform is attached. Further, there is a need for an improved computer keyboard support device which can provide unlimited positioning of the orientation of the keyboard platform and at the same time, provide a stable surface for the keyboard.
It should also be appreciated that there has recently been much attention paid to repetitive strain injury (RSI), including carpal tunnel syndrome. These injuries have been associated with extended typing on computer keyboards. It has been suggested that the ability to type with less bend in the wrist may reduce the risk of injury. Therefore, there remains a need for a keyboard support that is adjustable, to potentially reduce the risk of repetitive strain injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a principal aspect, the computer keyboard support assembly of the present invention comprises a platform suitable for supporting a keyboard mechanism having one end of an arm pivotally mounted to the platform and the other end pivotally mounted to a mounting bracket which is attached to the underside of a work surface. A compensating mechanism utilizes a driving mechanism interacting with the pivot mountings for the arm and controls the orientation of the platform as the platform is moved to and from a storage and use position. Various compensating mechanisms are taught.
As another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mechanism that allows the platform to be tilted and locked in a tilted position. This tilt can create either a positive or a negative slope with respect to the platform.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a mechanism for locking a keyboard to the platform. This mechanism allows the keyboard to be securely attached to the platform as the support arms are moved from an extended position to a storage position.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is a slide mechanism associated with the mounting bracket that allows the entire support assembly to be moved inwardly or outwardly with respect to the front edge of the work surface.
In still a further aspect of the invention, the keyboard support assembly can be swung into a storage position substantially adjacent to the underside of the work surface. Thus, when the support arms of the mechanism are pivoted from the extended position to the storage position, the keyboard platform is stored beneath the work surface in a manner that does not limit the access to the kneehole opening of the desk.
Yet a further aspect of the invention utilizes a pair of support arms connecting the edges of the platform and a bracket attached to the underside of a desk.
In yet a further aspect, this invention provides a keyboard support mechanism that is adjustable to positions both above and below the level of the top of the desk to which it is mounted.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved adjustable support assembly for a keyboard platform.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved platform support assembly that has a lateral support.
Another object of the invention is to provide a computer keyboard support assembly that maintains the orientation of the keyboard platform as the support arms positioned at either end of said platform are pivoted through an arc in a vertical plane.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a computer keyboard support assembly that can be stored easily under a work surface and still maintain access to the kneehole.
A further object of the invention is to provide a computer keyboard support assembly which allows for orientation of the computer keyboard to alleviate strain upon the operator and potentially reduce the incidence of repetitive strain injury.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a computer keyboard support assembly of simplified and rugged construction easily manufactured to be both durable and useful.
These and other objects, advantages and features will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the detailed description which follows, reference will be made to the drawings comprised of the following figures:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment of the keyboard support assembly of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the preferred embodiment of the keyboard support assembly of the invention attached to the underside of a work surface, illustrating the motion of the invention in phantom lines;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the support mechanism of the invention, illustrating the location of the tilt adjustment mechanism and showing the platform and desk in phantom lines;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tilt adjustment mechanism;
FIG. 5 is a partial front cross-section of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the compensating mechanism associated with the support rm;
FIG. 7 is an exploded drawing, illustrating the compensating mechanism;
FIG. 8 is a side elevation, illustrating an embodiment with a slide mechanism;
FIG. 9 is a cross-section of FIG. 8 along line IX--IX;
FIG. 10 is a side view of the cam locking mechanism;
FIG. 11 is a cross-section of FIG. 10 along line X--X;
FIG. 12 is a cross-section of an alternative compensating mechanism associated with the support arm;
FIG. 13 is a cross-section of FIG. 12 along line XII--XII;
FIG. 14 is a perspective of the present invention with an alternative support arm configuration;
FIG. 15 is a detail of an alternative locking mechanism associated with the embodiment of FIG. 14; and
FIG. 16 is a detail of a second alternative locking mechanism for use in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Before describing the component parts of the invention, a brief description of the manner in which the assembly operates will be beneficial in illustrating the construction of the assembly. Reference is thus directed to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a keyboard 10 is mounted on a keyboard platform 12. The keyboard platform 12 is supported by a pair of spaced support arms 21, 22. The first ends of support arms 21, 22 are pivotally mounted to opposite sides of the keyboard platform 12 and the second ends of the support arms 21, 22 are pivotally mounted to a mounting bracket 24. The mounting bracket 24 is associated with or attached to the underside of a work surface 16. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the support arms 21, 22 pivot about a first horizontal pivot axis 25 passing through the mounting bracket 24. As the support arms 21, 22 pivot about the first horizontal pivot axis 25, the computer keyboard 10 and the platform 12 are moved from a work position to a storage position under the work surface 16. As the support arms 21, 22 pivot about the first horizontal pivot axis 25, the keyboard platform 12 pivots about a second horizontal pivot axis 27 with respect to the support arms 21, 22 thereby maintaining the keyboard platform 12 in the same orientation with respect to the work surface 16, the second horizontal pivot axis 27 being substantially parallel to the first horizontal pivot axis 25.
The orientation of the keyboard platform 12 is generally horizontal. However, the keyboard platform 12 is also adjustable and can be tilted about a horizontal axis. In a preferred embodiment, this horizontal axis corresponds with the second horizontal pivot axis 27. This tilt allows the angle of the keyboard platform 12 and the associated keyboard 10 to be altered to the preferred position of the user. FIG. 1 illustrates in phantom lines how the keyboard platform 12 can be tilted with either a positive or a negative tilt. This tilt feature, in combination with the pivoting motion of the support arms 21,22 allows the keyboard 10 to be efficiently stored under the work surface 16, even if the work surface 16 has an obstruction such as a lateral support 18.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention (shown in FIGS. 8 and 9) includes a sliding mechanism 23 which allows the mounting bracket 24 to be moved in a direction perpendicular to the front edge 29 of the work surface 16. Such a slide mechanism 23 permits further adjustment for the computer platform 12 and the associated keyboard 10. The bracket 24 and slide mechanism 23 may also be associated with a vertical axis, pivot mechanism (not shown) allowing the entire assembly to pivot about the vertical axis.
FIG. 3 illustrates the basic components of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The keyboard platform 12 (shown in phantom) is mounted upon a casing 28. Any appropriate means for mounting is acceptable. In the preferred embodiment screws or bolts are used depending on the material used for the keyboard platform 12. A pivot shaft or rod 26 passes through the casing 28 in a manner that permits rotation of the casing 28 about the shaft 26. The shaft 26 is pivotally associated at its ends with the first ends of the support arms 21, 22. The second ends of the support arms 21, 22 are, in turn, pivotally associated with a mounting member which is shown in FIG. 3 as the mounting bracket 24. The mounting bracket 24 is mounted on the underside of the work surface 16. As stated above, the mounting member may also include a slide mechanism 23 which allows the bracket 24 to move in a direction perpendicular to the front edge of the work surface 16.
The preferred embodiment of FIG. 3 illustrates two support arms 21, 22 spaced apart about the same distance as the width of the keyboard platform 12. The width of the keyboard platform 12 is defined by its two opposite sides 31. It should be appreciated that the support arms 21, 22 can be located intermediate the opposite sides 31 of the keyboard platform 12. Indeed, the present invention includes an embodiment wherein only one support arm 22 is utilized, said support arm 22 being associated with the central portion of the keyboard platform 12. Such a single support arm assembly is, however, less preferred as it does not provide the stability of an assembly with two spaced apart support arms 21, 22.
FIG. 3 further illustrates a locking lever 20 which actuates a locking mechanism within casing 28. As more fully described below, this locking mechanism preferably fixes the angle of tilt about the second horizontal pivot axis 27 and controls the rotation of platform 12 about the first horizontal pivot axis 25.
FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the relationship of the support arm 22 with both the mounting bracket 24 and the pivot shaft 26. As shown, the support arm 22 is pivotally mounted on the inside surface of the mounting bracket 24. Any appropriate pivotal mount will suffice. In the preferred embodiment, the pivotal mount is a bolt 63 positioned along the first horizontal pivot axis 25 associated with both the mounting bracket 24 and the support arm 22. The mounting bracket 24 is supplied with a first spring post 60 which extends from the bracket 24 and is adapted to receive one end of a tension spring 52. The support arm 22 likewise includes a second spring post 61 which extends in a direction substantially the same as the first spring post 60 and is adapted to receive the opposing end of tension spring 52. Tension spring 52 acts to counterbalance the weight of the support arms 21, 22 and the computer keyboard platform 12, thereby keeping the platform 12 and the support arms 21, 22 in a home position. This home position may be substantially horizontal or it may be set at any other desirable angle by altering the size and tension of the spring 52.
FIGS. 6 and 7 further illustrate a compensating mechanism that maintains the orientation of the keyboard platform 12 while the support arms 21, 22 are pivoted about the first horizontal pivot axis 25. Referring specifically to FIG. 7, the compensating mechanism of the preferred embodiment comprises a fixed sprocket 54, a rotating sprocket 55, and an endless compensating belt 50 keyed to the sprockets 55, 54. The fixed sprocket 54 is non-rotatably attached to the mounting bracket 24. The non-rotatably attachment may be done by a spline or any other appropriate attaching means. The compensating belt 50 is associated with the non-rotating sprocket 54. In the preferred embodiment, the belt 50 consists of a perforated tape where the perforations are associated with the teeth of the fixed sprocket 54. An appropriate perforated tape is commercially available under the trade name Dymetrol. The compensating belt 50 is also associated with the rotating sprocket 55. In a similar manner, in a preferred embodiment, the perforations of the belt 50 are associated with the teeth of the rotating sprocket 55.
The rotating sprocket 55 is mounted upon the pivoting shaft 26 in a manner such that when the shaft 26 pivots, the rotating sprocket 55 also pivots. An example of such a mounting is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The pivot shaft 26 is comprised of three components, an inner shaft 34, a right outer shaft 32, and a left outer shaft 33 (shown in FIG. 4). The rotating sprocket 55 is mounted on one of the outer pivot shafts 32, 33 and secured by washer 58 and clip 48. Thus, when the support arms 21, 22 are rotated about the first horizontal pivot axis 25, the compensating belt 50 will be wrapped around the fixed sprocket 54 which, in turn, will cause rotation of the rotating sprocket 55 and his, in turn, would cause a corresponding rotation of the outer pivot shaft 32, 33. Because the orientation of the keyboard platform 12 is related to the position of the outer shaft 32, 33 as the pivot shaft 26 rotates, so will the keyboard platform 12. This rotation keeps the orientation of the keyboard platform 12 unchanged.
The compensation mechanism is preferably further supplied with clutch plate 56 to avoid slippage and/or movement of the rotating sprocket 55 due to external pressures. The clutch plate 56 is affixed to the outside of rotating sprocket 55. In a preferred embodiment, the clutch plate 56 is an integral part of the rotating sprocket 55. The clutch plate 56 is designed to engage the washer 58 and thereby keep the rotating sprocket 55 from rotating and resulting in the position of the keyboard platform 12 being fixed.
It is desirable that the compensating belt 50 of the compensating mechanism be taut at all times. To facilitate this the compensating mechanism may include an idler assembly. An example of an idler assembly may include an idler wheel which rides on compensating belt 50. The idler wheel is spring biased to apply pressure to the compensating belt 50. In this manner, the compensating belt 50 is kept taut during operation even though it may stretch during use. Other types of idler systems could also be used, including a set screw capable of tightening the belt.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, there is a separate compensating mechanism associated with each of the support arms 21, 22. Such a design reduces the stress on the components of the compensating mechanism. Each compensating mechanism would be enclosed in an arm housing 64 to isolate the sprockets 54, 55 and the compensating belt 50 from the operator.
The compensating mechanism of the present invention can have alternative constructions. For example, the sprockets 54, 55 and belt 50 may be replaced with a gear and chain assembly or a gear and belt assembly wherein the belt is adapted to associate with the cogs of the gear. As a further example, the compensating mechanism could incorporate a planetary gear system in which one planet gear or a series of planet gears rotates about another fixed sun gear(s). In each such assembly, the appropriate compensating movement can be accomplished.
Another alternative embodiment of the compensating means is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. In this alternative embodiment, a fixed beveled gear 66 is non-rotatably mounted on the mounting bracket 24. The fixed beveled gear 66 is associated with a first pinion gear 70. The first pinion gear 70 is positioned at and engages one end of a pinion shaft 74. The opposing end of pinion shaft 74 engages a second pinion gear 72. The second pinion gear 72 is associated with a rotating beveled gear 68. The opposing ends of the pinion shaft 74 are associated with a first pinion shaft bearing 76 and a second pinion bearing 78, respectively. These pinion shaft bearings 76, 78 allow for rotation of the pinion shaft 74 while pinion gears 70, 72 are in operative engagement with the respective bevel gears 66, 68. In addition, the pinion shaft bearings 76, 78 are affixed to the keyboard tray support arm 22.
In operation, the keyboard tray support arm 22 is pivoted about the first substantially horizontal axis 25. This pivot action causes the first pinion gear 70 to move around fixed beveled gear 66. This motion results in the rotation of the pinion shaft 74 and a corresponding rotation of the second pinion gear 72. The rotation of the second pinion gear 72 drives the second beveled gear 68, which in turn, rotates the outer shaft 32. The rotation of the outer shaft 32 acts to keep the orientation of the keyboard platform 12 unchanged with respect to horizontal, as the support arm 22 is pivoted.
The lock mechanism within the casing 28 is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. The lock mechanism is actuated by movement of locking lever 20 in a guideway 30. The lock mechanism performs two functions: first, it provides a means for locking the assembly in a selected vertical position; second, it provides a means for locking the keyboard platform 12 at a particular tilt angle. Preferably both of these locking functions are actuated by the single locking lever 20.
The assembly is locked in a selected vertical position by moving the locking lever 20 laterally from one extreme of guideway 30 to the other. The locking lever 20 has two settings: a locked position preventing the pivoting of the support arms 21, 22 about the first horizontal pivot axis 25; and free moving position allowing the support arms 21, 22 to pivot about the first horizontal pivot axis 25.
Locking at a particular vertical position is accomplished through the association of a locking cam 42 with pivot shaft 26. The interaction of the pivot shaft 26 and the locking cam 42 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 10 and 11. The inner shaft 34 spans the distance between the two support arms 21, 22 and passes through the locking cam 42. The inner shaft 34 provides support for both outer shafts 32,33. The two outer shafts 32, 33 are positioned concentrically around the inner shaft 34. Each outer shaft 32, 33 has a cam bearing end 41. This cam bearing end 41 defines a cam bearing surface 36. This cam bearing surface 36 may be created in any appropriate way such as a washer or an integral flange. The movement of the locking lever 20 in guideway 30 causes the locking cam 42 to engage or disengage the cam bearing surface 36 of the outer shafts 32, 33 and the surface of the inner shaft 34. When the locking cam 42 engages the respective cam bearing surfaces 36, the clutch plate 56 is forced into contact with washer 58 fixing rotating sprocket 55 in place. As a result, the support arms 21, 22 cannot pivot about the first horizontal pivot axis 25 and the vertical position of the keyboard platform 12 is locked. Conversely, when the locking cam 42 disengages the respective surfaces, the clutch plate 56 disengages the washer 58, the rotating sprocket 55 is free to rotate and thus the support arms 21, 22 are free to pivot and the vertical position of the keyboard platform 12 can be adjusted.
The tilt of the keyboard platform 12 is preferably also controlled by the locking lever 21, although a separate actuator may be employed. The locking lever 20 is associated with a locking plate 44. The locking plate 44 engages a clutch surface 40 of the pivot shaft 26. When locking plate 44 engages the clutch surface 40, it locks the tilt angle of the keyboard platform 12. The locking plate 44 is disengaged from the clutch surface 40 when the locking lever 20 is lifted out of a notched portion 43 of the guideway 30. More specifically, in a preferred embodiment, the locking lever 20 passes through a slot 45 in the locking plate 44. The locking plate 44 is biased by spring 46 to engage the clutch surface 40. As the locking lever 20 is lifted out of the notch portion 43 of the guideway 30, it lifts the locking plate 44 by engaging the upper surface of the slot 45. This lifting causes the locking plate 44 to pivot about a fulcrum 47, counteracting the biasing force of spring 46 and resulting in disengagement of the clutch surface 40. With this disengagement, the casing 28 is free to pivot about the second horizontal pivot axis 27 a defined by the pivot shaft 26.
The tilt mechanism is also supplied with torsion springs 38 which interact with the casing 28 around the pivot shaft 26 such that the keyboard platform 12 has a tilt home position. This tilt home position may be horizontal or may be adjusted to any desired angle. More specifically, when the keyboard platform 12 is tilted, the torque upon the springs 38 is increased and that torque is maintained by locking the locking plate 44 against the clutch surface 40, thereby maintaining the computer keyboard platform 12 at the appropriate tilt. When the locking plate 44 is released from the clutch surface 40, the springs 38 will bring the keyboard platform 12 to the tilt home position.
An alternative preferred embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15. The operation of this embodiment is essentially the same as the prior embodiments of this invention. However, FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a different arm configuration. The support arms 21, 22 of FIG. 14 are configured to form an angle 82. The angle 82 may be any appropriate angle, however, in a preferred embodiment, the angle 82 is between 60° and 150° and more preferably between 85° and 110°. This configuration allows the computer keyboard platform 12 to be swung into a position above the surface of the work surface 16. This may provide an advantage in some working environments especially with respect to RSI.
Because of the different arm configuration, the compensating mechanism associated with the support arms 21, 22 has a slightly different structure. As with the other embodiments of the present invention, the compensating mechanism may be associated with either only one or both of the support arms 21, 22. It is preferred, however, that both support arms 21, 22 be associated with a compensating mechanism, thus such an embodiment is shown in FIG. 14 and described herein. Similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, in the embodiment of FIG. 14 a fixed beveled gear 66 is non-rotatably mounted on the mounting bracket 24. The fixed beveled gear 66 is associated with a first pinion shaft 75. The opposing end of first pinion shaft 75 engages a first intermediate pinion gear 73. The intermediate pinion gear 73 is associated with an intermediate rotating beveled gear 84. The intermediate rotating beveled gear 84 is also associated with a second intermediate pinion gear 86. The second intermediate pinion gear 86 is positioned at and engages one end of a second pinion shaft 88. The opposing end of the second pinion shaft 88 engages a second pinion gear 72. The second pinion gear is, in turn, associated with a rotating beveled gear 68.
The opposing ends of the first and second pinion shafts 75, 88 are associated with a first pinion shaft bearing 76, a second pinion shaft bearing 78, and intermediate pinion shaft bearings 90, 92 respectively. These pinion shaft bearings 76, 78, 90, 92 allow for rotation of the pinion shafts 75, 88 while the pinion gears 70, 72, 73, 86 are in operative engagement with the respective bevel gears 66, 68, 84. In addition, the pinion shaft bearings 76, 78, 90, 92 are affixed to the keyboard tray support arms 21, 22.
As stated earlier, it will be appreciated that other compensating means such as the sprocket and perforated tape mechanism of FIG. 1 or a planetary gear system could be substituted for the pinion shaft/gear mechanism without varying from the scope of the present invention.
FIGS. 14 and 15 also illustrate an alternative locking system for the present invention. As best illustrated in FIG. 15, the locking system is activated by a pull handle assembly 94. The pull handle assembly 94 is connected to one end of a cable 96. The other end of the cable 96 is connected to a rotating cam 98. When the pull handle assembly 94 is pulled, the cable 96 causes the rotating cam 98 to rotate about a horizontal axis defined by shaft 99. The rotating cam 98 is also operatively attached to a tension spring 100. The tension spring 100 acts to return the cam 98 to its original or home position once the pull handle assembly 94 is released.
The cam 98 engages a crammed engaging surface 102 of a first brake disc 104. The first brake disc 104 defines a braking surface 103 that is adapted to cooperate with a brake surface 106 on a keyboard platform mounting bracket 108 and a second brake disc 110. The second brake disc 110 defines a braking surface on each of its opposing sides. One such brake surface is adopted to engage the braking surface 103 of the first braking disc 104. The opposing braking surface is adopted to engage a braking surface defined by the support arm 22. Both first brake disc 104 and the second brake disc 110 are non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 99. The second beveled gear 68 is also non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 99. When the first brake disc 104, the braking surface 106 of the keyboard platform mounting bracket 108, the second brake disc 110 and the braking surface defined by the support arm 22 are engaged, the assembly is locked and the position of the keyboard platform 12 cannot be adjusted. when the rotating cam 98 is rotated such that the first brake disc 104, the brake surface 106 of the keyboard platform mounting bracket 108, and the second brake disc 110 are disengaged and the assembly can be adjusted between a storage position and a work position and the keyboard platform 12 can be tilted. Once adjusted, the assembly can be locked in place by releasing the pull handle assembly 94.
FIG. 16 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the locking system. In the alternative embodiment, the cam 98 has two cammed surfaces on its opposing faces and is positioned between the cooperates with the cammed surface 102 of two brake discs 112, 114. These discs 112, 114 cooperate with the brake surface 106 on the keyboard platform mounting bracket 108 and a brake surface 116 on the support arm 21, 22. The rotating cam 98 interacts with a pull handle assembly 94, in the same manner as described above. In this manner, the assembly can be locked and unlocked for adjustment.
In one embodiment of the present invention, it is also advantageous to supply the keyboard platform 12 with a keyboard clamp 14. The keyboard clamp 14 operates to secure the keyboard 10 to the keyboard platform 12. The keyboard clamp 14 is shown in FIG. 1. It is mounted on the keyboard platform 12 and acts upon the front and rear of the keyboard 110. The clamp 14 applies pressure to the keyboard 10, forcing it down onto the keyboard platform 12, thereby securing it to the keyboard platform 12 during adjustment or storage. In one embodiment of the present invention, the clamp 14 may be integral to the platform 12. Such an embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 1.
The present invention can also be supplied with power assist to aid in the adjustment of the device. Examples of such power assist would be a servo motor or an actuating cylinder that would act upon the support arms 21, 22 in a manner that would cause them to pivot about the first substantially horizontal axis 25. Such power assist provides the advantage of not requiring the operator to lift any weight and may provide the convenience of push button control.
It is possible to vary the construction of the invention by providing additional elements or eliminating other elements, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. For example, as mentioned above, the assembly could include a slide mechanism 23 associated with the underside of the work surface 16, thereby allowing the entire assembly to be moved inwardly and outwardly with respect to the front edge 29 of the work surface 16. In addition, it is foreseeable that a vertical pivot could be associated with the keyboard platform 12, such that the computer keyboard platform 12 itself could pivot about a vertical axis passing through or near the platform 12. Such vertical pivot mechanisms are taught in the prior art and are well known to one skilled in the art. Thus, while there has been set forth here the preferred embodiment of the invention; it is understood that the invention is to be limited only by the following claims or their equivalents. | The present computer keyboard support assembly comprises a platform suitable for supporting a keyboard mechanism having one end of an arm pivotally mounted to the platform and the other end pivotally mounted to a mounting bracket which is attached to the underside of a work surface. A compensating mechanism utilizing a driving mechanism interacting with the pivot mountings for the arm and controlling the orientation of the platform, as the platform is moved to and from a storage and use position. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
In some embodiments this invention relates to implantable medical devices, their manufacture, and methods of use. More particularly some embodiments of this invention relate to delivery systems for intravascular stents, such as catheter systems of all types, which are utilized in the delivery of such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A stent is a medical device introduced to a body lumen and is well known in the art. Typically, a stent is implanted in a blood vessel at the site of a stenosis or aneurysm endoluminally, i.e. by so-called “minimally invasive techniques” in which the stent in a radially reduced configuration is delivered by a stent delivery system or “SDS” to the site where it is required.
In some circumstances however, a stent or other medical device which is tracked through body vessels ultimately is not implanted and needs to be removed. Non-implantation may result from a number of causes including but not limited to lack of success in reaching the intended target lesion. When the stent will not be implanted its removal becomes necessary. Stent removal can involve both pulling the stent back in the opposite direction of its insertion as well as possibly pushing the stent further into a body vessel. The already tracked device at this point however could have experienced flexing which can cause flaring at one or more ends of the stent. This can result in the flared end(s) of the stent catching on portions of the body vessel upon further movement in either direction and thus cause embolization or vessel damage.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56(a) exists.
All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Some embodiments of the invention are directed to features that can be incorporated into catheters in general, and particularly stent delivery systems (SDS) to facilitate proximal and distal (if desired) edge protection to the stent in the event of aborting stent delivery and/or deployment. This invention contemplates a number of embodiments where any one, any combination of some, or all of the embodiments can be incorporated into a stent delivery system and/or a method of use.
At least one of the embodiments of the inventive concept is directed to an SDS having an outer neck which extends distally into the balloon cone or distally into the balloon working region. The inventive concept also contemplates at least one embodiment directed to an SDS having a tapered outer neck. At least one embodiment encompassed by the inventive concept is directed to an SDS having one or more aperture extending through the side walls of the outer neck. In at least one embodiment these apertures facilitate the inflation or deflation of a balloon.
One or more embodiments of the inventive concept are directed to a second reinforcing member located at the distal end of the SDS which protrudes into the distal cone of the balloon, protrudes into the distal side of the working region of the balloon, has one or more inflating or deflating apertures, has a tapered shape, or any combination thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is best understood from the following detailed description when read in connection with accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is an image of a Stent Delivery System (SDS) in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected to facilitate easy removal from a body vessel.
FIG. 2 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected and has longitudinal slots.
FIG. 3 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected and the outer lumen has circumferential slots.
FIG. 4 is an image of an SDS in which both the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent and the region immediately distal to the crimped stent have been edge protected.
FIG. 5 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected and the outer lumen has a plurality of apertures.
FIG. 6 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected and the outer lumen has a plurality of longitudinally displaced slots.
FIG. 7 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected, the outer lumen has a plurality of apertures, and the outer lumen has a distally widened conical shape.
FIG. 8 is an image of an SDS in which the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent has been edge protected, the outer lumen has a plurality of apertures, and the outer lumen has a proximally widened conical shape.
FIG. 9 is an image of an SDS after the balloon has been inflated in which both the region immediately proximal to the crimped stent and the region immediately distal to the crimped stent have been edge protected.
FIG. 10 is an image of an SDS with a common circumferential surface.
FIG. 11 is an image of an SDS with an outwardly protruding balloon.
FIG. 12 is an image of an SDS with an outwardly folded balloon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will next be illustrated with reference to the figures wherein the same numbers indicate similar elements in all figures. Such figures are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting and are included herewith to facilitate the explanation of the apparatus of the present invention. For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated. Depicted in the figures are various aspects of the invention. Elements depicted in one figure may be combined with, or substituted for, elements depicted in another figure as desired.
Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a stent delivery system (SDS) ( 1 ) in an unexpanded configuration. The SDS ( 1 ) comprises an unexpanded stent ( 4 ) crimped about a catheter or shaft ( 3 ). The stent ( 4 ) has a proximal edge ( 5 ) and a distal edge ( 11 ) and is constructed to have a tubular structure with a diameter ( 20 ). The diameter ( 20 ) has a first magnitude which permits intraluminal delivery of the tubular structure into the body vessel passageway, and a second expanded and/or deformed magnitude (as shown in FIG. 9 ) which is achieved upon the application of a radially, outwardly expanding force.
The SDS ( 1 ) also comprises an outer tube or shaft ( 34 ) which defines an outer lumen. Within the outer tube ( 34 ) is a portion of an inner tube ( 14 ). The inner tube ( 14 ) defines an inner lumen. A portion of the inner tube ( 14 ) extends beyond the outer tube ( 34 ) and the crimped stent ( 4 ) is disposed about at least a portion of the inner tube ( 14 ). Sandwiched between the stent ( 4 ) and the portion of the inner tube ( 14 ) extending out of the outer tube ( 34 ) is a portion of an expansion balloon ( 6 ). The expansion balloon ( 6 ) extends longitudinally beyond both edges ( 5 , 11 ) of the stent ( 4 ) and is functionally engaged to both the outer tube ( 34 ) and the inner tube ( 14 ) forming a substantially fluid tight seal between the outer and inner lumens. The portion of the balloon ( 6 ) engaged to the outer tube ( 34 ) is the waist ( 7 ) of the balloon. At times, positioned at or near the longitudinal position on the SDS ( 1 ) adjacent to the proximal end of either the balloon ( 6 ) or the stent ( 4 ) are one or more marker bands ( 9 ). The marker band ( 9 ) can contain a radiopaque material used for following the progress of the SDS ( 1 ) through the body vessel and/or can be used to block off unwanted longitudinal movement of the stent ( 4 ) along the catheter ( 3 ). Although FIGS. 1-12 illustrate the marker bands ( 9 ) as cylindrically trapezoidal, it is contemplated by the inventive concept that they be rectangular or in any other shape.
The SDS ( 1 ) of FIG. 1 is shown in its expanded state in FIG. 9 . During a stent implantation, the SDS ( 1 ) is positioned adjacent to an implantation site of a body vessel and fluid is injected through the outer lumen ( 34 ) into the balloon ( 6 ). The injected fluid causes the balloon ( 6 ) to radially expand. A balloon ( 6 ) will typically have a proximal end region ( 15 ), a distal end region ( 17 ) and a working region ( 19 ) extending between the proximal end ( 15 ) and distal end ( 17 ) regions. As the balloon ( 6 ) expands, the working region ( 19 ) in turn expands the stent ( 4 ) which when fully expanded to the second magnitude diameter ( 20 ), is then implanted at the implantation site.
In at least one embodiment, the proximal and distal end regions ( 15 , 17 ) are respectively proximal and distal cones ( 15 , 17 ). The proximal and distal cones ( 15 , 17 ) comprise those portions of the balloon ( 6 ) which longitudinally spans from the waist ( 7 ) to a portion of the working region ( 19 ) which is both closest to the waist ( 7 ) and most distant from the inner lumen ( 14 ) when in the second expanded state. The cones ( 15 , 17 ) are so named because when expanded, those portions of the balloon ( 6 ) progressively expand away from the catheter ( 3 ) in a tapered or conical manner.
On some occasions however, the stent implantation will be aborted and the stent ( 4 ) must be removed from either the implantation site or from whichever body vessel the SDS ( 1 ) has tracked the stent ( 4 ) within. FIG. 1 illustrates at least one embodiment of the present invention where the end ( 5 ) of the stent ( 4 ) is reinforced by the extension of the outer neck ( 35 ) to a position considerably within the proximal balloon cone ( 15 ). The outer neck ( 35 ) comprises a portion of the outer tube ( 34 ) immediately proximal to the crimped stent ( 4 ). The outer neck ( 35 ) has two regions, a second region ( 22 ) and a third region ( 23 ) which is distal to the second region ( 22 ). The outer neck ( 35 ) is engaged to the balloon waist ( 7 ) at the second region ( 22 ). Both regions of the outer neck ( 35 ) are narrower than the main portion or first region ( 21 ) of the outer tube ( 34 ).
As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the protrusion of the outer neck ( 35 ) into the balloon cone ( 15 ) provides reinforcement to the SDS ( 1 ) by limiting the flexibility of the unexpanded balloon ( 6 ). This decrease in balloon ( 6 ) flexibility reduces the amount the stent ( 4 ) can be bent when being tracked in any direction through body vessels while disposed about the balloon ( 6 ). By reducing the amount that the stent ( 4 ) can bend, it becomes less likely that the ends ( 5 , 11 ) of the stent ( 4 ) will flex and flare outwards and snag or catch onto a wall of a body vessel and potentially cause damage or embolization. The reinforcement also makes it less likely that compressive forces encountered while tracking the SDS ( 1 ) through body vessels would deform the balloon and prevent proper inflation
The protrusion of the outer neck ( 35 ) into the cone ( 15 ) has other benefits as well. The reinforcement provided by the protrusion, helps the SDS ( 1 ) resist bending in response to torque from levering forces applied along the length of the SDS ( 1 ) by movements of the mass at the end of the guide tip ( 29 ). By reducing bending of the SDS ( 1 ), misaligning of the balloon ( 6 ) and increased the flaring of the stent ( 4 ) is avoided. In addition, the protrusion of the outer neck ( 35 ) into the cone ( 15 ) also facilitates balloon ( 6 ) inflation. This is because the inflating fluid fed into the balloon ( 6 ) exits the third region ( 23 ) much closer to the working region ( 19 ) of the balloon preventing excessive accumulation of fluid in the cone ( 15 ) and providing more inflating pressure against the working region ( 19 ). The protrusion also protects the balloon material while it is folded onto the SDS ( 1 ) and while the stent ( 4 ) is crimped to the SDS ( 1 ). Lastly, the reinforcement makes the balloon ( 6 ) better able to avoid deformation in response to interacting with the force of the impact between the expanding stent ( 4 ) and the walls of the body vessel at the site of the stenosis.
There are a number of embodiments according to which the outer neck ( 35 ) can protrude into the cones ( 15 ). In at least one embodiment as shown in FIG. 4 , the outer neck ( 35 ) extends radially past the marker band ( 9 ). In at least one embodiment, the outer neck ( 35 ) extends longitudinally past the marker band ( 9 ) to a position longitudinally closer to the stent ( 94 ). Alternatively the marker band ( 9 ) can be closer to the stent than the outer neck ( 35 ). In at least one embodiment as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9 a second reinforcing member ( 40 ) analogous to the protruding outer neck ( 35 ) can also be positioned adjacent to the distal end of the stent ( 11 ) and protrude into the distal cone ( 17 ) providing similar reinforcing properties at the distal end of the SDS ( 1 ).
In at least one embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 12 , the outer neck ( 35 ) can longitudinally protrude so far into (or past) the cone ( 15 ) that it longitudinally extends to a position substantially flush with the edge of the stent ( 4 ). In at least one embodiment, the flush positioning causes a balloon bulge ( 24 ) to abut the stent end ( 5 ) which extends further radially than the stent end ( 5 ). This more radial extension causes the bulge ( 24 ) to block any radially vectored impacts or interactions between the stent edge ( 5 ) and body vessels. In addition, positioning the outer neck ( 35 ) almost flush against the stent end ( 5 ) can wedge the stent ( 4 ) into place and pinion the stent to resist any outward flaring caused by torque being applied to the stent ( 4 ).
Referring now to FIG. 10 there is shown at least one embodiment of the inventive concept directed to an SDS ( 1 ) which can remove a non-implanted stent ( 4 ). In this SDS ( 1 ), the main portion ( 21 ) of the outer tube ( 34 ), the balloon waist ( 7 ) about the second region ( 22 ), and the crimped stent ( 4 ) are all sized such that their outer surfaces share a substantially similar circumference ( 12 ) relative to an axis ( 16 ) extending longitudinally through the center of the SDS ( 1 ). This common circumference ( 12 ) provides the SDS ( 1 ) a generally uniform surface facing the body vessel the SDS is tracked through. This uniform surface limits the likelihood of a portion of the SDS ( 1 ) becoming snagged against a portion of the body vessel whether the SDS is being moved in a proximal or distal direction.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the inventive concept also contemplates at least one embodiment in which a gap ( 8 ) between the proximal edge ( 5 ) of the stent ( 4 ) and the distal end of the third region ( 23 ) of the outer neck ( 35 ) helps protects against harmful contact between the SDS ( 1 ) and a body vessel it is being tracked through. Within this gap ( 8 ), the material of the balloon ( 6 ) flows radially and longitudinally outward from beneath the stent ( 4 ) to a position outside of the outer neck ( 35 ). The folded balloon material within the gap will have a diameter smaller than that of the stent ( 4 ). This outward flowing balloon material wraps a portion of the balloon ( 6 ) around the proximal edge ( 5 ) of the stent ( 4 ) reducing the exposure of any irregular surface of the stent edge ( 5 ) to the body vessel the SDS ( 1 ) is being tracked through.
The gap ( 8 ) is properly spaced to accommodate balloon materials of a specific thickness such that the outer surface of the balloon ( 6 ) curves or arcs along an optimal path. In at least one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the balloon material curves out from beneath the stent ( 4 ) to a position which is substantially flush and smooth with the common circumferential perimeter ( 12 ) without any bulging of either the stent ( 4 ) or the balloon ( 6 ).
In at least one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 , the gap ( 8 ) is spaced such that it causes the outer surface of the balloon ( 6 ) to have an outward bulge ( 24 ) which protrudes beyond the circumferential perimeter ( 12 ) of the stent ( 4 ). Because the outward bulge ( 24 ) protrudes further in a radial direction than the stent end ( 5 ), the bulge ( 24 ) prevents the stent end ( 5 ) from coming into contact with any of the body vessels when the SDS ( 1 ) impacts against body vessels it is being tracked through. As illustrated in FIG. 4 , at least one embodiment of the inventive concept is directed to a distal gap ( 8 ) between the distal end of the stent ( 11 ) and the proximal side of a second reinforcing member ( 40 ). The inventive concept contemplates a distal gaps as that of FIG. 4 in which there is no bulge protruding further in a radial direction than the stent end ( 5 ) as well as a spaced distal gap ( 8 ) allowing for an arced bulge similar to that of FIG. 11 at the distal side of the stent ( 4 ).
Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8 there is shown an SDS ( 1 ) with a tapered outer neck ( 35 ). As FIG. 7 shows, at least a portion of the outer neck is tapered or conically shaped with a wider proximal area. In the alternative as shown in FIG. 8 , at least a portion of the outer neck ( 35 ) is tapered with a wider distal area. The inventive concept also contemplates non-linear outer necks ( 35 ) including but not limited to outer necks ( 35 ) which are arced, slanted, waved, irregularly shaped, or which have one or more angled portions between distal and proximal ends with substantially similar or the same circumferences, and any combination thereof. In at least one embodiment, the angling of the tapering in the outer neck ( 35 ) reinforces the stent edge(s) by being directed opposite to the flare causing flexing that the stent ( 1 ) encounters. In at least one embodiment, a second reinforcing member at the distal side of the SDS ( 1 ) is similarly tapered.
FIGS. 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 illustrate SDSs ( 1 ) in which there are one or more cavities or apertures ( 18 ) extending through the wall of the outer necks ( 35 ). Because these illustrations disclose details of at least the outer surface of the outer neck ( 35 ), they do not explicitly show the inner tube ( 14 ) or guide wire ( 33 ) passing through the outer neck ( 35 ). It would be clear however, to practitioners of ordinary skill in the art however that these illustrations disclose embodiments in which one, both, or none, of the guide wire ( 33 ) and the inner lumen ( 14 ) pass through the outer neck ( 35 ) of the outer tube ( 34 ). Similarly, the inventive concept contemplates embodiments in which the various apertures ( 18 ) of FIGS. 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 are also present on the distal side of the SDS ( 1 ) positioned on a second reinforcing member (such as ( 40 ) in FIG. 4 ) analogous to the outer neck ( 35 ).
Sometimes an SDS ( 1 ) having an already inflated or partially inflated balloon ( 6 ) needs to be removed. FIG. 2 illustrates at least one embodiment in which an SDS ( 1 ) has at least one aperture ( 18 ) through which the fluid which previously inflated the balloon ( 6 ) can be drained or suctioned through. These apertures ( 18 ) can be one or more rectangular slots (as shown in FIG. 2 ) as well as circles, ellipse, squares, or any other known shape in the art. Similarly the apertures 15 can have their opening extend in a longitudinal manner (as in FIG. 2 ), in a circumferential manner (as in FIG. 3 ), diagonally, or in any possible combination of longitudinal, diagonal, or circumferential extension.
The number of the apertures ( 18 ), their size, and their distribution across the outer neck ( 35 ) can vary depending on the desired rate of fluid flow. In at least one embodiment, at least one aperture ( 18 ) extends longitudinally across a majority of the length of the outer neck ( 35 ). Similarly, in at least one embodiment, at least one aperture ( 18 ) extends circumferentially across a majority of the circumference of the outer neck ( 35 ). Also, in at least one embodiment one or more of the apertures ( 18 ) have one way openings or valves which reduce or prevent fluid flow while the balloon ( 6 ) is either being inflated or deflated, but allows fluid flow when the balloon ( 6 ) is being respectively deflated or inflated. Embodiments in which the end of the aperture ( 18 ) facing the outer lumen may have a different width or circumference than the end of the aperture ( 18 ) on the outer surface of the outer neck ( 35 ) and/or of any point along the length of the aperture ( 18 ) between these two ends are contemplated by this inventive concept. In addition, embodiments in which the apertures ( 18 ) facilitate a balloon ( 18 ) to be inflated more rapidly or easily than to be deflated or vice versa are contemplated by this inventive concept.
The apertures ( 18 ) can be of particular utility during the deflation of a balloon ( 6 ). During deflation, because the apertures ( 18 ) are positioned within the cones ( 15 , 17 ) they can directly drain or suction fluid from the cones ( 15 , 17 ). This helps to remove fluid that otherwise does not drain well from the narrow confines of the proximal and distal tips of the cones ( 15 , 17 ). The drainage or suction provided by the apertures combined with the drainage or suction that the distal end of the third region ( 23 ) applies to the working region ( 19 ) assures that fluid is effectively drained from all portions of the balloon ( 6 ).
In at least one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , at least one aperture ( 18 ) is positioned on the outer neck ( 35 ) longitudinally adjacent to the tip of the proximal cone ( 15 ) which is located at the waist-cone transition point ( 39 ). Because the tip of the cone ( 15 ) is so narrow it is a harder location to apply a suction force to and it retains fluid with a greater surface tension. The positioning of at least one aperture ( 18 ) at the waist-cone transition point ( 39 ) allows for targeted drainage from the tip of the cone. In at least one embodiment, there are at least two apertures located on opposite sides of the outer neck ( 35 ).
In some embodiments the stent, the SDS, or other portion of an assembly may include one or more areas, bands, coatings, members, etc. that is (are) detectable by imaging modalities such as X-Ray, MRI, ultrasound, etc. In some embodiments at least a portion of the coating of the stent and/or adjacent assembly is at least partially radiopaque.
In addition, any coating can also comprise a therapeutic agent, a drug, or other pharmaceutical product such as non-genetic agents, genetic agents, cellular material, etc. Some examples of suitable non-genetic therapeutic agents include but are not limited to: anti-thrombogenic agents such as heparin, heparin derivatives, vascular cell growth promoters, growth factor inhibitors, Paclitaxel, etc. Where an agent includes a genetic therapeutic agent, such a genetic agent may include but is not limited to: DNA, RNA and their respective derivatives and/or components; hedgehog proteins, etc. Where a therapeutic agent includes cellular material, the cellular material may include but is not limited to: cells of human origin and/or non-human origin as well as their respective components and/or derivatives thereof. Where the therapeutic agent includes a polymer agent, the polymer agent may be a polystyrene-polyisobutylene-polystyrene triblock copolymer (SIBS), polyethylene oxide, silicone rubber and/or any other suitable substrate. It will be appreciated that other types of coating substances, well known to those skilled in the art, can be applied to the stent as well.
In some embodiments at least a portion of the stent is configured to include one or more mechanisms for the delivery of a therapeutic agent. Often the agent will be in the form of a coating or another layer (or layers) of material placed on a surface region of the stent, which is adapted to be released at the site of the stent's implantation or areas adjacent thereto.
This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. The various elements shown in the individual figures and described above may be combined, substituted, or modified for combination as desired. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to”.
Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the invention such that the invention should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims. For instance, for purposes of claim publication, any dependent claim which follows should be taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from all prior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependent claim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within the jurisdiction (e.g. each claim depending directly from claim 1 should be alternatively taken as depending from all previous claims). In jurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted, the following dependent claims should each be also taken as alternatively written in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependency from a prior antecedent-possessing claim other than the specific claim listed in such dependent claims below. | A system to deliver or remove an inflation expandable stent in a body vessel. The system avoids causing damage or embolisms to a body vessel it is traversing by restraining the edges of the stent from scraping against the walls of the body vessel. The edges are restrained by balloon folds, compressive wedging, and angled reflective resistance. In addition the device can also inflate or deflate the balloon more efficiently. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority to and the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. CN 201410070214.6, filed on Feb. 27, 2014, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to the technology of driving display panels, more specifically, to a gate driving circuit and a display panel using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display devices commonly comprise of display panels and driving circuits. A plurality of display units are arranged on a display panel, which compose a pixel matrix. The driving circuits are applied to liquid crystal display devices, which forms images displayed on display panels.
Thin Film Filed Effect Transistors (“TFT”, hereinafter) are frequently used as the basic elements of the driving circuits in display panels. Compared with traditional TFTs with silicon substrates, Oxide Thin Film Transistors (“Oxide TFT”, hereinafter) have the characteristics of high mobility and high transmittance and have the advantages of low cost of manufacture and good uniformity. The Oxide TFT LCD using Oxide TFTs has the advantages of swiftly responding, high resolution and low power consumption, which meets the requirement of the display terminal with high definition and high capacity. Hence, Oxide TFTs are considered to be the first choice of the next generation of display panels.
Currently, Oxide TFTs are depletion modes. When the voltage between the gate and the source of a TFT, as shown in FIG. 1 , e.g., Vgs=0V, there is a large drain current I ds . FIG. 2 is a structure schematic of an gate driving circuit in related art; FIG. 3 is the sequence chart of the driving circuit shown in FIG. 2 . Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 , in the driving circuit, drain current Ioff 1 will occur on Transistor T 6 , drain current Ioff 2 will occur on Transistor T 5 , and drain current Ioff 3 will occur on Transistor T 3 . Therefore, the gate driving circuit is failed to output the effect gate driving waveform, which will cause the circuit malfunction. The output of the gate driving circuit connects to the scanning line of the pixel driving circuit to realize the writing control of data signals into the pixel driving circuit. If the gate driving circuit is filed to output the defined gate driving waveform, the data writing of the pixel driving circuit will be influenced.
FIG. 4 is a structure schematic of a revised gate driving circuit in related art. As shown in FIG. 4 , the repeatedly arranged TFT (Tfg) and capacitor (Ccouple) on each TFT (Target TFT) is used to avoid the circuit malfunction problem caused by the existence of the drain current in TFT device. FIG. 5 is a structure schematic of the GOA (Gate Driver on Array) circuit having the circuit shown in FIG. 4 . However, as shown in FIG. 5 , it is necessary to add a TFT and a capacitor for each TFT in the original circuit, which will increase TFTs and capacitors. Therefore, the circuit will become more complex and the area occupied by the circuit will increase, which is not beneficial to the design of the narrow frame of display panels and is not beneficial to the cost control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure is directed toward a gate driving circuit capable of avoiding the drain current occurred in circuit devices which may influence the input of the circuit. Another aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure is directed toward for a display panel using the gate driving circuit.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a gate driving circuit comprising:
a control unit controlling the driving circuit to work orderly and recurrently in a first cut-off state, a first driving state, a second driving state and a second cut-off state.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the gate driving circuit further comprises:
a driving unit for driving the gate driving circuit;
a first negative voltage input for defining the voltages output from the driving unit;
a driving voltage input providing voltages to the driving unit; and
a control signal input for switching on the driving unit;
wherein,
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state, the control unit controls the first negative voltage input to connect to the driving unit;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state, the control unit controls the driving voltage input and the control signal input to connect to the driving unit respectively; and the control unit controls the first negative voltage input to disconnect to the driving unit;
when the driving unit works in the second driving state, the control unit controls the driving voltage input to connect to the driving unit; and the control unit controls the control signal input disconnect to the driving unit;
when the driving unit works in the second cut-off state, the control unit controls the first negative voltage input to connected to the driving unit; and the control unit controls the driving voltage input to disconnect to the driving unit.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the driving unit comprises a driving element and a voltage storage element;
the driving element comprises a control end, a first electrode for inputting driving voltage and a second electrode for outputting voltages; the voltages outputted from the driving element are adjusted according to voltage change on the control end.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the first electrode is a first input end of the driving unit;
a node connecting one end of the voltage storage element with the control end in parallel is a second input end of the driving unit;
a node connecting the other end of the voltage storage element with the second electrode in parallel is a third input end as well as a output end of the driving unit.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the gate driving circuit further comprises a first cut-off unit stopping the driving element outputting voltages;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state or the second cut-off state, the first cut-off unit is controlled by the control unit to connect to the second input end;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state or the second driving state, the first cut-off unit is controlled by the control unit to disconnect to the second input end.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit comprises: an NMOS switching transistor connected between the first negative voltage input and the third input end;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state or the second cut-off state, the first NMOS switching transistor turns on;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state or the second driving state, the first NMOS switching transistor turns off.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit comprises:
a second NMOS switching transistor connected between the first cut-off unit and the second input end;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state or the second cut-off state, the second NMOS switching transistor turns on;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state or the second driving state, the second NMOS switching transistor turns off.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit comprises:
a second NMOS switching transistor connected between the first cut-off unit and the second input end;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state or the second cut-off state, the second NMOS switching transistor turns on;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state or the second driving state, the second NMOS switching transistor turns off;
the first NMOS switching transistor and the second NMOS switching transistor are connected to a first control level input; the on-off state of the first NMOS switching transistor is identical to that of the second NMOS switching transistor.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit comprises a third NMOS switching transistor connected between the second input end and the control signal input;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state, the second driving state or the second cut-off state, the third NMOS switching transistor turns off;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state, the third NMOS switching transistor turns on.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit further comprises:
a fourth NMOS switching transistor connected between the control signal input and the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor; and
a second control level input connected to the gate of the fourth NMOS switching transistor;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state or the second cut-off state, the second control level input controls the fourth NMOS switching transistor to turn off;
when the driving unit works in the first driving state, the second control level input controls the fourth NMOS switching transistor to turn on.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the control unit further comprises:
a fifth NMOS switching transistor, a third control level input, and a second cut-off unit;
the fifth NMOS switching transistor is connected between the second cut-off unit and the control end of the third NMOS switching transistor; and the third level input is connected to the control end of the fifth NMOS switching transistor;
when the driving unit works in the second driving state, the third control level input controls the fifth NMOS switching transistor to turn on;
when the driving unit works in the first cut-off state, the first driving state or the second cut-off state, the third control level input controls the fifth NMOS switching transistor to turn off.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the first cut-off unit is formed by a second negative voltage input.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the second cut-off unit is formed by a third negative voltage input.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the voltage storage element is formed by a capacitor.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein voltage input from the first negative voltage input is −5V.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein voltage input from the second negative voltage input is −10V.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein voltage input from the third negative voltage input is −12V.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic of the drain current of the Oxide TFT with different voltages on source and gate;
FIG. 2 shows a structure schematic of a gate driving circuit in related art;
FIG. 3 is a sequence chart of the circuit shown in FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is a structure schematic of a revised circuit based on the circuit shown in FIG. 2 in the related art;
FIG. 5 shows a structure schematic of gate driving circuit using the circuit shown in FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 6 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit of a gate driving circuit in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit in a first cut-off state in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit in a first driving state in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit in a second driving state in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit in a second cut-off state in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 shows a structure schematic of the gate circuit in an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a sequence chart of the circuit shown in FIG. 11 ;
FIG. 13 is a test chart of the gate driving waveform based on the gate driving circuit shown in FIG. 11 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary 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. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” or “has” and/or “having” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
As used herein, “around”, “about” or “approximately” shall generally mean within 20 percent, preferably within 10 percent, and more preferably within 5 percent of a given value or range. Numerical quantities given herein are approximate, meaning that the term “around”, “about” or “approximately” can be inferred if not expressly stated.
As used herein, the term “plurality” means a number greater than one.
Hereinafter, certain exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention discloses a gate driving circuit. The gate driving circuit comprises a driving unit, a control unit, a first negative voltage input, a driving voltage input, and a control signal input.
FIG. 6 shows a structure schematic of the driving unit of a gate driving circuit in an embodiment of the present invention. What should be indicated is that the specific devices shown in the figure just aims at illustrating instead of limiting the technical solutions of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6 , Driving Unit 1 comprises a Driving Element 2 and a Voltage Storage Element 3 . Driving Element 2 comprises a control end, a first electrode for inputting driving voltage, and a second electrode for outputting voltage. Driving Element 2 adjusts the output voltage based on the voltage loaded on the control end of Driving Element 2 . The first electrode of Driving Element 2 forms a First Input End I 1 of Driving Unit 1 . One end of Voltage Storage Element 3 connects to the control end of Driving Element 2 in parallel to form a Second Input End I 2 of Driving Unit 1 . Another end of Voltage Storage Element 3 connects to the second electrode of Driving Element 2 in parallel to form a Third Input End I 3 and Output End O of Driving Unit 1 . Driving Unit 1 receives external inputs through First Input End I 1 , Second Input End I 2 and Third Input End I 3 , and outputs gate signals through Output End O, such as outputting gate signals to a pixel driving circuit (not shown in the figure) or to a gate driving circuit in lower level (not shown in the figure). In a specific embodiment, Voltage Storage Element 3 is formed mainly by capacitors. Furthermore, the capacitors may be the ones whose polarities are not distinguished.
With the help of the control unit, Driving Unit 1 works circularly and orderly in first cut-off state, first driving state, second driving state and second cut-off state, in different working states, the connection between an input end of Driving Unit 1 and a driving voltage input, the connection between an input end of Driving Unit 1 and a control signal input, and the connection between an input end of Driving Unit 1 and a first low voltage input, are changed. FIGS. 7 to 10 are structure schematics of Driving Unit 1 in different working states.
As shown in FIG. 7 , when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state, though a control unit (not shown in the figure), First Negative Voltage Input VGL is controlled to connect to Third Input End I 3 of Driving Unit 1 , Control Signal Input Vgn−1 in Driving Unit 1 is controlled to disconnect to Second Input End I 2 , and Driving Voltage Input VDD is controlled to disconnect to First Input End I 1 .
As shown in FIG. 8 , when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first driving state, though a control unit (not shown in the figure), Driving Voltage Input VDD is controlled to connect to First Input End I 1 , Control Signal Input Vgn−1 is controlled to connect to Second Input End I 2 , and Third Input End I 3 is controlled to disconnect to First Negative Voltage Input VGL.
As shown in FIG. 9 , when Driving Unit 1 is working in the second driving state, though a control unit (not shown in the figure), First Input End I 1 is controlled to connect to Driving Voltage Input VDD, Control Signal Input Vgn−1 is controlled to disconnect to Second Input End I 2 , and Third Input End I 3 is controlled to disconnect to First Negative Voltage Input VGL.
As shown in FIG. 10 , when Driving Unit 1 is working in the second cut-off state, though a control unit (not shown in the figure), First Negative Voltage Input VGL is controlled to connect to Third Input End I 3 , First Input End I 1 is controlled to disconnect to Driving Voltage Input VDD, and Second Input End I 2 is controlled to disconnect to Control Signal Input Vgn−1.
The gate driving circuit further comprises a First Cut-Off Unit 4 for stopping outputting voltage from Driving Element 2 . As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10 , when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state and the second cut-off state, First Cut-Off Unit 4 is controlled to connect to Second Input End I 2 by the control unit (not shown in the figures). Simultaneously, when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first driving state and the second driving state, First Cut-Off Unit 4 is controlled to disconnect to Second Input End I 2 by the control unit. Driving Element 2 is closed based on the connection between First Cut-Off Unit 4 and Driving Unit 1 , e.g., based on the connection between First Cut-Off Unit 4 and the control end of Driving Element 2 . In a specific embodiment of the present invention, Driving Unit 2 is formed mainly by a driving transistor. Further, as the mainly technical filed of the present invention is the gate driving circuits in display panels, preferably, Oxide TFT may be adopted. When Driving Element 2 is an Oxide TFT, preferably, First Cut-Off Unit 4 may formed mainly by a Second Negative Voltage Input, the value of the negative voltage of which may be adjusted based on the Threshold Voltage Vth of the driving transistor of Driving Element 2 . In a preferred embodiment, the negative voltage of the second negative voltage input may be set as −10V. To adjust the output of the second negative voltage to adapt to the Oxide TFT with different threshold voltage (Vth) will avoid the situation that drain current which will influence the voltage output of Driving Unit 1 was generated by the voltages loaded on the gate and the source of Driving Element 2 in Oxide TFT are identical.
Based on the above technical solution, the control unit further comprises a first NMOS switching transistor which is connected between First Negative Voltage Input VGL and Third Input End I 3 . When Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state and the second cut-off state, the first NMOS switching transistor is conductive, which makes it possible to connect Third Input End I 3 of Driving Unit 1 to First Negative Voltage Input VGL; when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first driving unit and the second driving unit, the first NMOS switching transistor is cut-off, which makes it possible to disconnect Third Input End I 3 of Driving Unit 1 to First Negative Voltage Input VGL. The use of First Negative Voltage Input VGL is to define the value of the low voltage output by the driving unit. First Negative Voltage Input VGL can be adjusted based on the value of the output low voltage which is required.
Based on the above technical solution, the driving unit further comprises a second NMOS switching transistor which is connected between First Cut-Off Unit 4 and Second Input End I 2 . When Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state and the second cut-off state, the second NMOS switching transistor turns on, which makes it possible to connect Second Input End I 2 of Driving Unit 1 to First Cut-Off Unit 4 ; when Driving Unit 1 is working in the first driving state and the second driving unit, the second NMOS switching transistor turns off, which makes it possible to disconnect Second Input End I 2 of Driving Unit 1 to First Cut-Off Unit 4 .
Based on the above technical solution, as the first NMOS switching transistor and the second NMOS switching transistor are on in the first cut-off state and the second cut-off state, and are off in the first driving state and second driving state, in a preferred embodiment, the first NMOS switching transistor and the second NMOS switching transistor could be connected to the first control level input in the control unit, which reduces the level input of pixel driving circuit panels and is beneficial to simple layouts. The first control level input is connect to the gates of the first NMOS switching transistor and second NMOS switching transistor to control the states of the first NMOS switching transistor and the second NMOS switching transistor. Therefore, the first control level input is positive voltage input during the first cut-off state and the second cut-off state; the first control level input is negative voltage input during the first driving state and the second driving state. Further, the positive voltage input of the first control level input could be 15V, and the negative voltage input of the first control level input could be −15V.
Based on the above technical solution, the control unit comprises a third NMOS switching transistor which is connected between Second Input End I 2 and Control Signal Input Vgn−1 to control the conductive/cut-off states of Second Input End I 2 and Control Signal Input Vgn−1 in Control Unit 1 during different states. When Control Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state, the second driving state or the second cut-off state, the third NMOS switching transistor turns off; when Control Unit 1 is working in the first driving state, the third NMOS switching transistor turns on.
Based on the above technical solution, the control unit further comprises a fourth NMOS switching transistor and a second control level input. The fourth NMOS switching transistor is connected between the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor and the Control Signal Input Vgn−1. The second control level input is connected to the gate of the fourth NMOS switching transistor to control the on-off states of the fourth NMOS switching transistor. When Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state, the second driving state or the second cut-off state, the second control level input inputs negative voltage to cut-off the fourth NMOS switching transistor. Hence, the control signals will not go through the fourth NMOS switching transistor to the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor. When Driving Unit 1 is working in the first driving state, the second control level input inputs positive voltage to make the fourth NMOS switching transistor be conductive. Meanwhile, the Control Signal Input Vgn−1 could go through the fourth NMOS switching transistor to the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor, which makes the third NMOS switching transistor on and makes Control Signal Input Vgn−1 go through the third NMOS switching transistor to make Second Input End I 2 of Driving Unit 1 on. In a specific embodiment, the positive voltage input of the second control level input could be 15V, and the negative voltage input of the second control level input could be −15V. With the help of the fourth NMOS switching transistor, the on-off states of the third NMOS switching transistor could be controlled effectively.
Based on the above technical solution, the control unit further comprises a fifth NMOS switching transistor, a control level input and a second cut-off unit. The fifth NMOS switching transistor is connected between the second cut-off unit and the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor. The third control level input is connected to the gate of the fifth NMOS switching transistor. When Driving Unit 1 is working in the second driving state, the third control level input makes the fifth NMOS switching transistor on. When the fifth NMOS switching transistor is conductive, the second cut-off unit is connected to the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor. When Driving Unit 1 is working in the first cut-off state, the first driving state or the second cut-off state, the third control level makes the fifth NMOS switching transistor on, and makes the second cut-off unit disconnect the gate of the third NMOS switching transistor. With the help of the second cut-off unit and the controlling method thereof using fifth NMOS switching transistor can realize the entirely close of the third NMOS switching transistor while in the cut-off state, which avoids the circuit malfunction problem caused by drain current. In a preferred embodiment, a third negative voltage input can be applied to the second cut-off unit. The third negative voltage input can be adjusted to adapt the third NMOS switching transistors with different threshold voltage (Vth). Preferably, the third negative voltage input could be −12V. In another embodiment, the positive voltage of the above third control level input could be 15V, and the negative voltage of the above third control level input could be −15V.
In the embodiments of the present invention, there also comprises a display panel which uses the above gate driving circuit. There is a plurality of gate driving circuits which constitute a driving circuit wherein the output of each level of the gate driving circuits acts as the control signal input of next level of the gate driving circuits.
FIG. 11 shows a structure schematic of the gate driving circuit in an embodiment of the present invention. What should be indicated is that the specific devices shown in the figure just aims at illustrating instead of limiting the technical solutions of the present invention. In practical applications, integrated gate driving circuit comprises a plurality of gate driving circuit disclosed in the present invention, to indicate the technical solution simply, FIG. 11 only shows the structure schematic of one level of the gate driving circuits. Rload and Cload in FIG. 11 respectively denote the loads of the gate scanning circuit. Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12 , the circuit comprises a Driving Transistor M 1 and a Capacitor C which form the above driving unit, a First NMOS Switching Transistor T 1 which forms the above control unit, a Second NMOS Switching Transistor T 2 , a Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 , a Fourth NMOS Switching Transistor T 4 , a Fifth NMOS Switching Transistor T 5 , a Driving Voltage Input VDD, a Control Signal Input Vgn−1, a First Negative Voltage Input VGL (−5V), a Second Negative Voltage Input VL 1 (10V) which forms the first cut-off unit, a Third Negative Voltage Input VL 2 (−12V) which forms the second cut-off unit, a Second Control Level Input CLK 2 (±15V), and a Third Control Level Input CLK 3 (±15V). The connections among the above elements are shown in FIG. 11 .
When the driving unit is working in the first cut-off state, the positive voltage which is 15V is loaded on the gate of Second NMOS Switching Transistor T 2 by First Control Level Input CLK 1 , which makes Second NMOS Switching Transistor T 2 be conductive. Therefore, voltage (−10V) is loaded on the gate of Driving Transistor M 1 by Second Negative Voltage Input VL 1 , i.e., the value of the voltage on Point Q is −10V, which makes the Driving Transistor M 1 off and makes Driving Voltage Input VDD not go through Driving Transistor M 1 . Meanwhile, positive voltage (15V) is loaded on the gate of First NMOS Switching Transistor T 1 by First Control Level Input CLK 1 , which makes First NMOS Switching Transistor T 1 be conductive. Therefore, First Negative Voltage Input VGL is connected to Point O of the driving unit, which makes Output Voltage Vgn be −5V when the driving unit is working in the first cut-off state.
When the driving unit is working in the first driving state, Second Control Level Input CLK 2 output high voltage to Fourth NMOS Switching Transistor T 4 , which makes Control Signal Input Vgn−1 connect to the gate of Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 in Point S with the help of Fourth NMOS Switching Transistor T 4 . In the meantime, the voltage Vs loaded on Point S equals to Vgn−1 whose value is 15V, i.e., Vs=Vgn−1=15V. Hence, Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 is conductive, which makes Control Signal Input Vgn−1 connect to Point Q with the help of Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 , and then the voltage V Q loaded on Point Q equals to Vgn−1 whose value is 15V, i.e., V Q =Vgn−1=15V, in the meantime, Driving Transistor M 1 is conductive. As Driving Transistor M 1 becomes conductive during the time when the driving unit is working in an initial phase of the first driving state, the initial voltages loaded on the both sides of Capacitor C shown as V Q and Vgn are 15V and 0V respectively, i.e., the voltage difference between the two ends of Capacitor C is 15V, which makes it possible to charge Capacitor C. In the meantime, as Driving Transistor M 1 is conductive, the value of the Vgn increases little by little. Voltage bootstrap occurs to maintain the voltage difference (15V) between the two ends of Capacitor C, that is, with the increase of the value of Vgn, the value of V Q on the other end of the capacitor will rise accordingly, which makes the voltage difference between the two ends of Capacitor C always be 15V. With the increase of the value of V Q , Driving Transistor will turn on more swiftly, which will boost the more rapid increase of Output Voltage Vgn on Point O in the driving unit. When Driving Transistor M 1 is conductive completely, the value of Vgn is increased to the value of Driving Voltage Input VDD which is 15V. In the meantime, with the help of the voltage bootstrap of Capacitor C, the voltage of V Q is about 30V.
When the driving unit is working in the second driving state, First Control Level Input CLK 1 and Second Control Level Input CLK 2 both are negative voltage inputs which are −15V, Third Control Level Input CLK 3 is positive voltage input which is 15V. Hence, Third Negative Voltage Input VL 2 go through the fifth NMOS switching transistor, and the voltage loaded on Point S becomes −12V, which promotes the rapid cut-off of the Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 , and Control Signal Input Vgn−1 can not go through Third NMOS Switching Transistor T 3 . There is a voltage difference between the two ends of Capacitor C which charges Capacitor C when the driving unit is working in the first driving state. Therefore, when the driving unit is working in the second driving state, Capacitor C discharges to maintain the high voltage on Point Q, which makes Driving Transistor M 1 works in the conductive state and makes Driving Voltage Input VDD go through Driving Transistor M 1 continuously. Hence, the Output Voltage Vgn at Point O in the driving unit can be hold to 15V.
When the driving unit is working in the second cut-off state, First Control Level Input CLK 1 becomes positive voltage input which is 15V, in the meantime, Second Control Level Input CLK 2 and Third Control Level Input CLK 3 is negative voltage input which is −15V. As Second NMOS Switching Transistor T 2 is conductive, Second Negative Voltage Input VL 1 is input to the gate of Driving Transistor M 1 , Driving Transistor M 1 will turn off rapidly, the Output Voltage Vgn of Output End O in the driving unit decreases rapidly to −5V which equals to First Negative Voltage Input VGL.
FIG. 13 is a test chart of the gate driving waveform based on the gate driving circuit shown in FIG. 11 . The X direction indicates test time, and the Y direction indicates the gate signal voltage input from gate driving circuit. As shown in the figure, each squiggle indicates an output of a level of the gate driving circuit. The adjacent three squiggles indicate the output from the pre-level of the gate driving circuits, the output from the present level of the gate driving circuits and the output from the next level of the gate driving circuits respectively. There is a time difference between the two adjacent squiggles of the three, which is in correspondence with Vgn−1 and Vgn shown in FIG. 12 . To illustrate simply, FIG. 13 just shows the waveforms of the driving outputs from the initial three levels and the last three levels of the gate driving circuits in the driving circuit integrated by gate driving circuits with multiple levels. It is understandable that there are other waveforms of the driving outputs between the initial three levels and the last three levels. As shown in FIG. 13 , the gate signal can be pulled up to the required gate output signal and can be pulled down to the required low level state. Hence, the gate driving circuit discloses in the embodiment of the present invention can output ideal gate driving waveform, which avoids the circuit malfunction caused by the drain current possibly existed in the driving unit.
The gate driving circuit and display panel disclosed in the present invention will not generate drain current on Oxide TFT working in exhausting modal so that the circuit malfunction will not occur. In the meantime, the structure of the gate driving circuit disclosed in the embodiments according to the present invention is simple so that the area on the display panel occupied by the circuit is small, which will be beneficial for controlling the panel to make it possible to form a narrow frame. Moreover, the gate driving circuit can adjust the voltage input according to the threshold voltage of the TFT transistors, which enlarges the scope of the present invention.
While the present disclosure has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof. | An embodiment according to the present invention discloses a gate driving circuit and display panel using the same. The circuit includes a driving unit, a control unit, a first negative voltage input, a driving voltage input and a control signal input. Three inputting ends of the driving unit are connected to the different inputs when the status of the driving unit is changed according to the sequence of first cut-off st atus/first driving status/second driving status/second cutoff status. The benefit of the solution is to prevent circuit invalid due to the drain current generating when the oxide thin film transistor works in the depletion mode. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally a knife, and more particularly a rotating knife for trimming a plastic container.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Current knives used for trimming plastic containers have a single or dual D-shaped blade. Such blades have a point formed where the curved edge meets the straight edge. When used in a trimming operation, the point first encounters the container, piercing the plastic. As a result, there is significant wear-and-tear on the knife point(s). The chipping of the knife point leads to a reduction in the life of the knife. Further, depending on the thickness of the plastic, a particular knife would not be suitable for all cutting/trimming jobs. Additionally, the device must be very carefully positioned so that the knife point meets the plastic at each rotation and the curved portion cuts through the entire thickness of the plastic.
[0005] Since existing knives only cut at a single point, proper positioning can be tedious take a significant amount of time to complete. An improperly positioned blade can dent the container instead of cutting it. This not only damages the appearance of the container, but can also result in an ineffective seal when a lid is placed on the container, due to the gap that now exists between the container and the lid. Ultimately, the denting creates a defective product, causing a loss in productivity.
[0006] What is needed then is an improved knife, with a blade less susceptible to chipping, which lasts longer than knives that are currently available in the art. What is further needed is a knife that can penetrate plastic containers of varying thickness, without having to be meticulously positioned in order to ensure proper cutting.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention is a rotating knife comprising a circular blade which is fixed to a base, such as a flange, at a point away from the center of the blade. For the purpose of this specification, the term knife includes the blade and any additional related components. The blade can optionally include an opening for attachment to the base. This off-center attachment results in an eccentric rotation of the blade.
[0008] This invention improves over prior art knives in having no single knife point. Rather, the invention utilizes an eccentrically rotating circular blade, which cuts along the entire blade circumference. This eliminates the problem of chipping of the knife point. The blade also allows for flexibility in positioning. In the prior art, the knife must be positioned such that the knife point meets the object to be cut. The present invention has no such positioning requirement because the blade cuts along a wider path.
[0009] This invention satisfies a long felt need for a knife used for trimming plastic that does not chip, can be used to cut plastic of varying thicknesses, and need not be strictly positioned in order to accomplish cutting.
[0010] The present invention speaks to an apparatus having a circular blade attached to a rotating flange, and a means for rotating the flange. The flange can be driven by a motor through a direct connection, or the flange also can be connected to the motor by a belt and pulley arrangement, for example. The apparatus can further include a conveyor to position an object within the rotational path of the blade. The blade, in conjunction with the flange and a rotating means, is referred to in this specification as a knife system.
[0011] In another embodiment of the invention, the apparatus utilizes a dual knife system with a second circular blade attached to a second rotatable flange at a point away from the center of the blade. The two blades are substantially parallel and can be positioned to define opposite ends of a cylinder. Alternative positions are possible and are also contemplated by the invention. Further, the apparatus can contain more than two knife systems. Additionally, the apparatus can include a conveyor for positioning a container log in the rotational path of the two blades.
[0012] The container log can be composed of a first and second container joined by a moil region and can be positioned by the conveyor such that the two containers are simultaneously separated from the moil by the two blades. Alternatively, single or multiple blades can be used to separate the two containers sequentially.
[0013] The apparatus in any of its embodiments can be used for trimming or demoiling a plastic container, and further can be used to trim or demoil containers of varying thicknesses. The term trimming as used in this specification includes separating an object from a waste portion, for example demoiling a plastic container, cutting, making an incision, and other similar actions.
[0014] The invention further speaks to a knife for trimming, including a circular blade adapted for attachment to a rotating flange at a point away from the center of the blade. Thus, the blade rotates eccentrically when the flange is rotated.
[0015] The present invention also speaks to a method for trimming or demoiling containers of varying thicknesses by eccentrically rotating a circular blade. This method can further involve attaching the blade to a rotatable flange at point away from the center of the blade, and rotating the flange to rotate the blade.
[0016] The method can also include positioning an object in the rotational path of the blade to trim an object. This object can be a plastic container or a container log comprising multiple containers, each separated by a waste portion. This method can additionally include removing the waste portion by simultaneously or sequentially separating the containers. The waste portion can further contain a moil, and the claimed method of demoiling includes separating each container from the moil.
[0017] Further objectives and advantages, as well as the structure and function of preferred embodiments will become apparent from a consideration of the description, drawings, and examples.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.
[0019] FIG. 1 depicts a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a blade according to the present invention and a plastic container;
[0020] FIG. 2 depicts a side view of an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 3 depicts the trimming process according to an exemplary embodiment the present invention; and
[0022] FIG. 4 depicts the trimming process according an exemplary embodiment the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] Embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below. In describing embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected. While specific exemplary embodiments are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations can be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference as if each had been individually incorporated.
[0024] FIG. 1 depicts the knife 100 of the present invention cutting a plastic container log, 110 . A container log is one or more containers with scrap or waste material attached. Typically the container log is brought into contact with the blade using a conveyor (not shown), which positions the container log 110 and knife 100 for contact throughout the trimming process. The blade 102 has an area of attachment 103 to a flange 104 (see FIG. 2 ). As the flange rotates, the blade pivots about the point of attachment. A locating dowel, S, is present to keep the blade and flange together and prevent slippage of the blade as it rotates.
[0025] Because the blade 102 is circular, the blade can cut into the container 110 at every point of contact. This eliminates the strict knife positioning requirement of the prior art, thus decreasing the amount of time it takes to change or mount knives in a trimmer apparatus.
[0026] During the trimming process, the plastic object/container, 110 also rotates. This way the blade 102 does not have to penetrate through the entire container; the blade 102 need only cut through a path greater than the thickness T of the container ( FIG. 3D ). The knife can penetrate plastic containers of varying wall thickness because the blade is positioned off-center. Hence, the cutting path of the circular blade is greater than in the prior art, and a greater effective “knife length” can be achieved (See FIG. 3A -C).
[0027] After the container 110 has completed a minimal number of rotation cycles, the trimming process is complete, i.e., the container 110 is separated from any waste or moil portion.
[0028] In FIG. 2 , the rotation of the knife blade 102 is driven by the flange 104 through its connection to a shaft 106 . The shaft can be directly rotated by a motor (not shown) or the shaft 106 can be connected to the flange 104 by a belt 111 . In another embodiment, the belt can be driven by the motor to turn a pulley connected to the shaft.
[0029] FIG. 3A-3C illustrate sequentially the trimming process as the plastic container, is moved into the rotational path of the blade 107 . As the container 110 moves along its own rotational path 109 , the container enters the rotational path of the blade 107 ( FIG. 3A ). However, the blade and the container are not yet in contact.
[0030] The distance between the point of attachment 103 and the rotational path of the blade defines the blade length, L 1 . As a result of the blade's eccentric rotation, blade length varies and is referred to as the effective blade length. Note that in FIG. 3A , L 1 is not long enough to penetrate the container.
[0031] A conveyor is typically used to bring the knife 100 and container 110 into contact. Thus the conveyor is responsible for the positioning of the container and knife for contact throughout the trimming process.
[0032] Due to the eccentric rotation of the knife blade 102 , the container 110 can be within the rotational path without being in contact with the blade itself. As the blade rotates ( FIG. 3B ), the container 110 contacts the blade and is trimmed. Here the effective length of the blade, L 2 , is sufficient to penetrate the container 110 .
[0033] Unlike prior art knives, the present knife does not have a point and therefore does not pierce the container by jabbing or stabbing, but cuts with a slicing motion. This smoothing of the initial cutting results in force being extended over a larger surface of the blade and container. As a result there is less tendency to chip the blade or cause deformation of the container.
[0034] When the container 110 is positioned for deepest penetration ( FIG. 3C ), the blade is fully engaged, and at its longest effective length, L 3 . The blade is at its deepest penetration point, which extends beyond the inner wall 112 of the container 110 . D notes the portion of FIG. 3C that is enlarged (see FIG. 3D ) to more clearly show the extension of the knife through the inner wall 112 of the container 110 . Because of the eccentric nature of the blade, the blade can be adjusted to move more deeply within the container, and thus can be used to trim containers with varying thicknesses. In a preferred embodiment, the plastic object is a plastic bottle that is separated from a waste portion, such as a moil.
[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the invention having a dual knife system. In this embodiment two knife systems are arranged in parallel and define opposite ends of a cylinder. Other parallel placements (i.e. where the knives are not directly opposite each other) are contemplated by the invention. Each knife system contains a circular blade, a flange, and means for rotating the flange to rotate the blade. The illustrated embodiment contains a first circular blade 402 attached at an off-center point 403 to a rotating flange 404 , coupled to a means for rotating 406 . Directly opposite the first knife system is a second knife system having a second circular blade 422 attached to a second flange 424 at an off-center point 423 , where the second flange 424 is coupled to the same means for rotating 406 the flange 424 and blade 422 . Alternatively, the knives can be driven by a member 426 between the blades 402 and 422 . The member 426 can be rotated by, for example, a belt or other drive mechanism connected to a motor. In another embodiment, each blade flange can be coupled to a separate rotating means. In the dual-knife system depicted in FIG. 4 , container log 430 includes a first container 410 and a second container 420 connected by a moil region 418 . As the container log 430 approaches the rotational paths of the blades, the container log 430 rotates and continues to do so until both the first container 410 and second container 420 are each separated from the moil region 418 . Using this arrangement, the first container 410 and second container 420 are separated simultaneously from the moil.
[0036] The embodiments illustrated and discussed in this specification are intended only to teach those skilled in the art the best way known to the inventors to make and use the invention. Nothing in this specification should be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention. All examples presented are representative and non-limiting. The above-described embodiments of the invention may be modified or varied, without departing from the invention, as appreciated by those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the claims and their equivalents, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. | A knife for trimming comprising a circular blade adapted for attachment to a rotating flange at a point away from the center of the blade, such that said blade rotates eccentrically when said flange is rotated. | 8 |
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/726,473 abandoned, filed Jul. 8, 1991.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There is an increasing diversity of requirements for intelligent power ICs, which have to provide protection for thermal limit, transients, overvoltage and short circuit loads. Since the requirements are in addition to the normal requirements for proper functioning of an integrated circuit, there is a need for circuitry which accomplishes the above requirements without being overly complex and which requires a minimum of area on an integrated circuit chip.
A recent requirement has arisen specifically for a short circuit current limit on an intelligent power IC which has an intentional and controlled reduction in current limit as the device temperature increases.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram showing the output of the invention of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
There is a need for a current limited circuit with a short circuit operation having a negative temperature coefficient, allowing more current to pass at low temperatures before a short circuit condition occurs, than is allowed to pass at high temperatures.
Referring to FIG. 1, the circuit of the present invention is shown and is referred to generally with a reference numeral 10. The limit circuit 10 has a DMOS supply voltage shown as VTRIP in FIG. 1. An internal logic voltage supply is also supplied at VINT, as well as references voltages P20IM and N20IM. The DMOS supply voltage VTRIP is provided to the gates of DMOS output device DM2, as well as to the gate of a sensefet structure DM1 embedded within DM2. The DMOS supply voltage is supplied through device R14, which may be either a resistor or an inductor. The drains of DM1 and DM2 are connected to the output node as well as to ground. The emitter of DM2 is connected to capacitor 2, the drain of DM2 and to ground. The source of DM1 is coupled to ground through a resistor R13. A pair of NPN transistors Q15 and Q16 are connected in a Darlington configuration, with their collectors coupled to the gates of DMOS transistors DM1 and DM2 as well as to gate voltage terminal N15. The emitter of transistor Q 15 is connected to the base of transistor Q16, while the emitter of transistor Q16 is connected to ground.
A comparator circuit consisting of matched NPN transistors Q13 and Q14 is also provided. The emitters of transistor Q13 and Q14 are connected to ground through resistors R12 and R13, respectively. The bases of transistors Q13 and Q14 are connected together, as well as to the collector of transistor Q13. The collectors of transistors Q13 and Q14 are connected to the outputs of current sources consisting of P-channel transistors MP11 and MP12. The drains of MOS transistors MP11 and MP12 are connected to VINT while their gates are coupled together and connected to P20IM, a reference voltage. A PNP bipolar transistor Q12 has its emitter connected to VINT, and its collector coupled to the drain of an N-channel field effect transistor MN11. The source of transistor MN11 is connected to ground, while its gate is connected to N20IM, a reference voltage source. The base of transistor Q 12 is coupled to VINT through resistor R11 and to the emitter of PNP transistor Q11. The collector of transistor Q11 is coupled to the emitter of transistor Q13, while the base of transistor Q11 is coupled to the collector of transistor Q12.
Transistors Q13 and Q14 are a matched comparator, monitoring the voltage difference at the heads of matched resistors R12 and R13. Q11 and Q12, with resistor R11 are the temperature-dependent current source, which create a voltage at resistor R12. At the point where the current through DM1 (which is proportional to the current through DM2) reaches a critical value the comparator switches, and the Darlington configuration of transistors Q15 and Q16 pull the gate voltage of DM1 and DM2 down, limiting the current. In the preferred embodiment the critical value of current through DM1 is approximately 4 milliamps. The current limit variation over temperature depends upon the base emitter voltage variation of Q12 over temperature, and the resistance variation of resistor R11 over temperature. Since base emitter voltage coefficient is normally negative and resistance coefficient is normally positive a net reduction in current is accomplished using the configuration of the preferred embodiment.
Transistors Q11, Q12 with resistor R11 and N-channel FET MN11 create a variable reference current, which flows out of the collector of Q11. The current is generated when MN11 sinks current from the base of Q11 and the collector of Q12. This enables Q11 to turn on, sinking current through resistor R11 and the base of Q12. As Q12 turns on more current for the current sink MN11 is sourced from Q12, until an equilibrium point is reached. With high gain transistors, this equilibrium is the point where the current through R11 defines the Q11 collector current. This current is highly temperature dependent. As temperature increases the base emitter voltage across Q12 is reduced, typically by about 2 millivolts per degree centigrade of temperature increase. In addition the resistance of the diffused resistor R11 increases with temperature, in the preferred embodiment by about 0.2% per centigrade degree. The resulting effect is a temperature dependent reference current.
The section of the circuit comprising the current source consisting of P-channel field effect transistors MP11 and MP12, bipolar transistors Q13 and Q14, and resistors R12 and R13 create a comparator. The comparator is capable of detecting voltage differences very close to the ground rail of the integrated circuit, and provides a gained up output at node N14. P-channel field effect transistors MP11 and MP12 provide equal currents into transistors Q13 and Q14 respectively at the balance point. Resistor values R12 and R13 are chosen such that the current from transistors MP11 and MP12 do not significantly effect the voltages at the emitters of transistors Q13 and Q14. Variation of the voltages at the emitters of Q13 and Q14 are created by the reference current from transistor Q11, feeding into resistor R12 and current from the sensefet DM1 feeding into resistor R13. Resistors R12 and R13 have matched temperature coefficients and are laid out in the IC to be closely matched. The ratio of resistors R12 to R13 gives the ratio of the sensefet current to that of the reference current for comparator balance. The output structure of the limit circuit 10 consists of a passive device (a resistor or inductor) R14 and DMOS devices DM1 and DM2. The voltage supplied through VTRIP is at a high level (approximately 10 volts in the preferred embodiment) when the DMOS output at DM2 is on, and low at other times. Resistor R14 is provided so current can be sunk through the Darlington configuration of transistors Q15 and Q16 during short circuit operation. The sensefet DM1 is a part of the DMOS output, and produces a current proportional to DM2 approximately in the ratio of the number of cells in the sensefet to the number of cells in the DMOS.
The output at node N14 drives the Darlington combination Q15 and Q16, which in the event of the sensefet (DM1) current exceeding the value which causes the voltage at resistor R13 to exceed that across resistor R12 will cause the voltage at node N14 to rise, turning transistors Q15 and Q16 on. This pulls the gate voltage at DM1 and DM2 down, reducing the current capability of DM2 and thus limiting the current. The feedback loop maintains the current limit until the short circuit is removed or the voltage at VTRIP is removed.
This circuit is especially beneficial when combined with loads which are expected to reduce in the current at higher temperatures, when the circuit described can switch into short circuit limit operation at a reduced current level.
The current limit variation over temperature is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the output voltage is held at ten volts, with VINT at 7 volts. The output shown in FIG. 2 represents the current levels at the drain of DM2 for various temperatures. As shown in FIG. 2, the current level during the current limit at 180 degrees is 1.27 amps, while the current limit at -50 degrees is approximately 4.38 amps.
While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompass any such modifications or embodiments. | A current limit circuit is provided, with a DMOS output transistor DM2. A second DMOS transistor DM1 is provided in parallel with DM2. A pair of matched resistors R12 and R13 are connected to a reference current source and to DM1. If the voltage across R13 exceeds the voltage across R12, a control circuit sinks current away from DM1. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/044,951, filed Sep. 2, 2014.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to ammunition magazines for multiple shot firearms, and particularly to a firearm magazine capacity limiter enabling the user to set or limit the maximum number of rounds or cartridges to be carried in the magazine.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Most sporting firearms and handguns are capable of firing multiple shots before reloading if equipped with a magazine holding at least a few rounds of ammunition. This is true of semiautomatic hunting rifles, pump and semiautomatic shotguns, and many handguns. Detachable box-type magazines are generally capable of holding a relatively large number of rounds of ammunition, e.g., ten to thirty rounds in the case of many rifles. Even larger capacity magazines are available for many firearms. Even shotguns having tubular magazines are typically capable of holding perhaps five shells, more or less, depending upon the gun, if the magazine can receive its full capacity.
[0006] However, many jurisdictions and controlling bodies have laws or regulations controlling or limiting the number of shots that may be fired from a firearm before reloading. This may be due to hunting or game conservation laws or regulations, firearm protection laws, or for other reasons. While these various laws and regulations are generally consistent with one another, there can be some variation from state to state, region to region within a state, and even from season to season, and may be dependent upon the specific type of game being hunted. A firearm owner or user may have a firearm with a magazine capacity that is permissible under a given set of regulations or laws, but that may exceed the permissible capacity in other circumstances or areas, e.g., when traveling to a different state or area for hunting, or when hunting a different species of game.
[0007] Thus, a firearm magazine capacity limiter solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The firearm magazine capacity limiter comprises a rigid rod that is installed through a modified floor plate of a detachable box-type magazine, or through the forward cap of a tubular magazine. In the case of box-type magazines, the rod extends through the follower spring in the magazine to limit the travel of the follower, and thus limit the amount of ammunition that may be loaded into the magazine above the follower. In the case of tubular magazines, the rod extends generally axially through the tube to limit the number of shells that may be loaded into the tube.
[0009] A number of different attachment means may be used to secure the capacity limiter in the magazine. One embodiment provides a thickened boss having an internally threaded passage. The boss is installed in the floor plate of a box-type magazine or in the forward cap of a tubular magazine. The capacity limiter comprises a rigid rod with a follower contact end and an opposite magazine attachment end having an externally threaded portion that threads into the internally threaded boss of the magazine. Alternatively, the floor plate passage may be threaded and the thickened boss eliminated, if the plate is sufficiently thick to provide sufficient mounting strength for attachment of the rod,
[0010] Another embodiment has a keyhole-shaped flange that fits through a congruent passage in the floor plate or cap of the magazine. The flange has an extension that captures the edge of the passage of the magazine when turned through a partial revolution. Still another embodiment utilizes the keyhole-shaped passage, but provides a circular flange at the attachment end of the rod. The circular flange passes through the larger portion of the keyhole-shaped passage and slides laterally to capture the edge of the narrower extension of the keyhole-shaped passage between the circular flange and the outer portion of the attachment end of the rod.
[0011] Any of the above-described embodiments may be provided with capacity limiting rods of any desired length in order to limit the magazine capacity as needed or required by applicable laws and/or regulations.
[0012] These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, the wall of the box-type magazine being broken away and partially in section to show internal details of the magazine, the capacity limiter rod being removed therefrom.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the firearm magazine capacity limiter of FIG. 1 with the wall of the box-type magazine being broken away and partially in section to show internal details of the magazine, but showing the rod of the capacity limiter installed in the magazine.
[0015] FIG. 3A is an exploded elevation view of a long rod embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing the rod of the capacity limiter separated from a detachable box-type magazine.
[0016] FIG. 3B is an exploded elevation view of a medium-length rod embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing the capacity limiter separated from a detachable box-type magazine.
[0017] FIG. 3C is an exploded elevation view of a short rod embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing the capacity limiter separated from a detachable box-type magazine.
[0018] FIG. 4A is an exploded partial perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing a detachable box-type magazine broken away and partially in section, the attachment end of the rod having a keyhole-shaped flange and the floor plate of the magazine having a mating keyhole-shaped passage.
[0019] FIG. 4B is an exploded partial perspective view of another alternative embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing a detachable box-type magazine broken away and partially in section, the attachment end of the rod having a circular flange and the floor plate of the magazine having a cooperating passage for a sliding fit of the rod attachment end therein.
[0020] FIG. 5A is an exploded partial perspective view of another alternative embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing with the muzzle end of a firearm having a tubular magazine, illustrating the installation of the magazine capacity limiter through the magazine closure cap of the firearm.
[0021] FIG. 5B is an exploded partial perspective view of another alternative embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter according to the present invention, showing the muzzle end of a firearm having a tubular magazine, illustrating installation of the magazine capacity limiter directly into the forward end of the tubular magazine of the firearm.
[0022] Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] The firearm magazine capacity limiter includes several embodiments, each comprising a rigid rod that is inserted into the magazine and extends through the internal volume of the magazine to limit the travel of the follower within the magazine. The limited travel of the follower, in turn, limits the number of cartridges or rounds of ammunition that may be placed in the magazine.
[0024] FIG. 1 of the drawings provides an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a firearm magazine capacity limiter 10 , shown with one side of the magazine 50 removed in order to show the internal structure. FIG. 2 illustrates the same embodiment of the capacity limiter 10 completely installed in the magazine 50 . The magazine 50 is a detachable box-type magazine having an open cartridge insertion end 52 , an opposite closure plate 54 , the magazine 50 defining an internal ammunition capacity volume 56 between the ends of the magazine 50 . A follower 58 slides within the internal volume 56 . A compression spring 60 captured between the closure plate 54 and the follower 58 urges the follower 58 toward the cartridge insertion end 52 of the magazine 50 , but may be compressed toward the closure plate 54 as cartridges are inserted through the open cartridge insertion end 52 .
[0025] In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the closure plate 54 includes a thickened or projecting boss 62 having an internally threaded capacity limiter passage 64 that extends through the closure plate 54 . The magazine capacity limiter 10 comprises the boss 62 in combination with a rigid, elongate magazine insert rod 12 having a follower contact end 14 and an opposite closure plate attachment end 16 . The two ends 14 and 16 define a length 18 therebetween. A closure plate attachment fitting 20 is installed upon the closure plate attachment end 16 of the rod 12 . The fitting 20 has an externally threaded portion 22 that threads into the capacity limiter passage 64 (threaded bore) defined by the boss 62 . A knob or handle 24 is preferably provided adjacent to the threaded portion 22 to facilitate installation and removal of the limiter rod 12 in the magazine 50 . The knob 24 may be formed integrally with the threaded portion 22 , or may be formed as a separate component and attached to the closure plate attachment end 16 of the capacity limiter 10 by any suitable means, e.g., a setscrew 26 , etc. The knob 24 may be knurled to facilitate grasping and twisting the rod 12 .
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates the installation of the magazine capacity limiter rod 12 into the magazine 50 by threading the fitting portion 22 into the mating passage 64 of the boss 62 . It will be seen in FIG. 2 that the installation of the magazine capacity limiter 10 into the magazine 50 results in the shaft of the elongate magazine insert rod 12 extending partially through the internal ammunition capacity volume 56 of the magazine 50 toward the cartridge insertion end 52 thereof. As more rounds or cartridges are inserted into the magazine 50 , the follower 58 is pushed toward the closure plate 54 . However, well before reaching the closure plate 54 , the follower 58 is stopped by contact with and bearing against the follower contact end 14 of the capacity limiter rod 12 , thus limiting the number of rounds or cartridges that may be inserted into the magazine 50 .
[0027] FIGS. 3A through 3C provide side elevation views of similar firearm magazine capacity limiters 100 a, 100 b, and 100 c, respectively, and a corresponding magazine 150 . The magazine 150 is the same in each of FIGS. 3A through 3C . The various magazine capacity limiters 100 a through 100 c are configured much like the capacity limiter 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , including magazine insert rods 102 a through 102 c having follower contact ends 104 a through 104 c and opposite closure plate attachment ends 106 a through 106 c defining rod lengths 108 a through 108 c, closure plate attachment fittings 110 a through 110 c having externally threaded portions 112 a through 112 c extending from the respective attachment ends 106 a through 106 c of the rods, and knobs 114 a through 114 c extending beyond the threaded portions.
[0028] The primary difference between the three magazine capacity limiters 100 a through 100 c of FIGS. 3A through 3C is in the lengths of their respective insert rods 102 a through 102 c, both their absolute lengths and their lengths relative to the height or depth of the magazine 150 . The insert rod 102 a of FIG. 3A is longer than rods 102 b and 102 c of FIGS. 3B and 3C in order to limit the internal ammunition capacity of the magazine 150 to a greater extent than the other capacity limiters 100 b and 100 c. The insert rod 102 b of FIG. 3B has an intermediate length 108 b, while the insert rod 102 c of FIG. 3C has the shortest length 108 c in order to provide a greater internal ammunition volume for the magazine 150 , while still limiting the capacity to less than its unrestricted volume. The various magazine capacity limiters 100 a through 100 c may be provided individually, or as a kit containing two or more capacity limiters, enabling the shooter to use the appropriate magazine capacity limiter 100 a , 100 b, or 100 c according to the laws or regulations in effect at the time and place.
[0029] The magazine 150 of FIGS. 3A through 3C is similar to the magazine 50 of FIGS. 1A and 1B , except for the capacity limiter installation passage. In the magazine 150 of FIGS. 3A through 3C , the thickened boss has been eliminated and the threaded passage 164 has been formed directly through the closure plate 154 . As the closure plate of a detachable box-type magazine is generally relatively thin, it is preferred that some additional thickness be provided for structural strength for the threaded passage. However, in certain circumstances it may be acceptable to eliminate the boss and provide only a threaded aperture through the thickness of the closure plate 154 , as shown in FIGS. 3A through 3C .
[0030] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate alternative attachment mechanisms for installing the magazine capacity limiter in the magazine. The magazines 250 are identical to one another and only partially shown in each of the drawings. FIG. 4A illustrates a firearm magazine capacity limiter 200 including a magazine insert rod 212 having a follower contact end 214 , an opposite closure plate attachment end 216 , and a length 218 defined between the ends 214 , 216 . The capacity limiter 200 differs from other embodiments in that the closure plate attachment fitting 220 comprises an unthreaded bushing 222 a having a tab 222 b extending radially therefrom, the tab 222 b being spaced apart from the knob 224 to define a slot having a height slightly greater than the thickness of the plate 254 . The bushing 222 a is fixed to the rod 212 by friction or pressure fit or otherwise so that the tab 22 b rotates with the rod 212 .
[0031] The closure plate 254 of the magazine 250 has an unthreaded passage 264 a formed therein having a slot 264 b extending radially therefrom. The passage 264 a and its slot 264 b are substantially congruent to the bushing 222 a and tab 222 b of the magazine capacity limiter 200 . The magazine capacity limiter 200 is secured in the magazine 250 by inserting the bushing 222 a through the passage 264 a of the magazine 250 with the tab 222 b aligned with the slot 264 b of the magazine 200 and above the closure plate 254 . The capacity limiter 200 is then rotated through a partial revolution to position the tab 222 b beyond the edge of the closure plate passage 264 a and out of alignment with the slot 264 b, thereby locking the magazine capacity limiter 200 in place in the magazine 250 .
[0032] FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 4A . The firearm magazine capacity limiter 300 of FIG. 4B is installed in the same magazine configuration 250 as that of FIG. 4A . The capacity limiter 300 has a magazine insert rod 312 having a follower contact end 314 , an opposite closure plate attachment end 316 , and a length 318 defined between the ends 314 , 316 . The rod 312 differs from other embodiments in that the closure plate attachment fitting 320 comprises an annular flange 322 b defining a slot 322 a between the flange 322 b and the knob 324 , the rod 312 having a diameter slightly smaller than the width of the slot or passage extension 264 b and the slot 322 a having a height slightly greater than the thickness of the plate 254 . The passage of the magazine closure plate 254 comprises an insertion portion 264 a having a diameter substantially equal to, or very slightly larger than, the flange 322 b of the rod 312 . The insertion portion 264 a and its extension 264 b are the same as the unthreaded passage 264 a and slot 264 b described further above in the discussion of the magazine capacity limiter 200 of FIG. 4A . The capacity limiter 300 is secured in the magazine 250 by inserting the flange 322 b through the passage 264 a of the magazine 250 until the slot 322 a is coplanar with the closure plate 254 . The rod 312 is then slid laterally to position the shaft of the rod 312 in the slot or extension 264 b, the closure plate 254 being captured in the slot 322 a between the flange 322 b and the knob 324 , thereby locking the rod 312 in place in the magazine 250 .
[0033] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate further embodiments of the firearm magazine capacity limiter, wherein the limiter is adapted for use with firearms having tubular magazines, such as shotguns. FIG. 5A illustrates the muzzle end of a firearm having a tubular magazine 450 installed beneath the barrel. The magazine 450 has a hollow tubular interior 452 and an internally threaded end 454 a and an external rim 454 b that is normally closed by a cap threaded therein. The cap provides a closure plate for the tubular magazine. The magazine capacity limiter 400 is similar to other embodiments, including a magazine insert rod 412 having a follower contact end 414 , an opposite closure plate attachment end 416 , and a length 418 defined between the ends 414 , 416 . A threaded closure plate attachment fitting 420 extends from the closure plate attachment end 416 , and a knob 424 extends from the attachment fitting 420 .
[0034] The closure plate 456 of the tubular magazine 450 comprises a cap having an externally threaded portion 458 adapted to thread into the internally threaded end 454 of the tubular magazine 450 , and a larger diameter knob portion 460 extending concentrically therefrom. An internally threaded boss 462 extends concentrically from the knob 460 , i.e., the knob 460 is located between the externally threaded portion 458 and the internally threaded boss 462 .
[0035] The rod 412 is installed in the tubular magazine 450 by first threading the externally threaded portion 458 of the closure plate or cap 456 into the threaded end 454 of the magazine 450 , and then threading the closure plate attachment fitting 420 into the internally threaded boss 462 of the closure plate or cap 456 . The magazine insert rod 412 extends substantially concentrically down the tubular magazine 450 to limit the travel of a follower or shells placed in the magazine from its opposite end, as such magazines are conventionally loaded.
[0036] FIG. 5B illustrates another embodiment of the firearm magazine capacity limiter, designated as capacity limiter 500 . The tubular firearm magazine 450 and its internally threaded forward end 454 a and its external rim or lip 454 b are the same as the magazine and internally threaded end thereof shown in FIG. 5A . However, it will be seen in FIG. 5B that the magazine 450 does not have a closure plate in this embodiment. The magazine capacity limiter 500 includes a magazine insert rod 512 having a follower contact end 514 , an opposite closure plate attachment end 516 , and a length 518 defined between the ends 514 , 516 . An externally threaded bushing 520 is mounted on the closure plate attachment end 516 by pressure or friction fit, and a manipulation knob 524 extends from the attachment bushing 520 .
[0037] The closure plate attachment bushing 520 threads directly into the internally threaded end 454 a of the tubular magazine 450 . The rod 512 is installed in the tubular magazine 450 by threading the closure plate attachment bushing 520 into the internally threaded end 454 a of the magazine 450 . The external rim 454 b of the magazine 450 serves as a limiting stop for the rod 512 in the magazine 450 . The magazine insert rod 512 extends substantially concentrically down the tubular magazine 450 to limit the travel of a follower or shells placed in the magazine from its opposite end, as such magazines are conventionally loaded.
[0038] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. | The firearm magazine capacity limiter selectively limits the capacity of the magazine to comply with applicable laws or regulations. The capacity limiter has a rod including a follower contact end and an opposite attachment end that secures removably in a passage provided through a closure plate at one end of the magazine. The rod may have any length desired to limit the maximum capacity of the magazine as desired. Various attachment configurations are provided, including threaded attachment, quarter turn attachment, and sliding attachment via a capture flange on the attachment end of the rod. The capacity limiter may be used with detachable box-type magazines where the closure plate is the floor plate of the magazine, or with tubular magazines where the closure plate is the forward plug at the end of the magazine. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to barbeque grills and more particularly to a collapsible barbeque grill.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention bears a certain similarity to charcoal grills known as "hibachis" wherein a heavy cast iron receptacle is provided for receiving charcoal, and at one side of the receptacle are heavy upstanding members having vertically spaced notches for receiving the end of a grill and support it in cantilever fashion at a selected distance above the charcoal. The problem with such grills is that they are heavy and unwieldly, and because nothing on them is collapsible, they are difficult to store, and the removal of the residue of the charcoal always presents a problem.
An object of the present invention is to provide a barbeque grill which is lightweight, collapsible and thus easily stored, and provides all the advantages of a conventional hibachi including the ability to position a cooking grill at a selected height above a charcoal bed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The grill of the invention consists of first and second frames preferably of welded rigid wire construction pivoted together at adjacent ends. The first frame has folding supports which may be opened to support the grill above a suitable support surface. The supports fold under the first frame and the second frame folds down over the first frame for storage. When the supports are extended and the second frame raised and is releasably retained in place, a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal bars on the second frame are designed to receive hooks on the end of a third grilling frame which also has downwardly extending legs to engage a lower bar on the second frame to support the third frame in cantilever fashion at a selected height above the first frame which is adapted to support a receptacle for charcoal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the grill of the invention set-up in readiness for use;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the invention; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing collapsible parts of the invention in their collapsed position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings the numerals 10 and 12 designate a pair of frames. The frame 10 comprises a pair of rigid, parallel, laterally spaced side members 14, 16 and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rigid cross members 18 joined at their opposite ends, as by welding, to the respective side members 14, 16. In like fashion, the frame 12 also comprises a pair of rigid, parallel, laterally spaced side members 20, 22, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rigid cross members 24 integrally joined at their opposite ends to the respective side members 20, 22.
The frames 10, 12 are hinged together at their adjacent ends, conveniently, by the provision of loops 26 at the ends of the side members 20, 22 of the frame 12 which encircle the cross member 18a at one end of the frame 10. Desirably the cross member 18a is elevated slightly above the plane of the frame 10 by upturned bends 28 at the ends of the side members 14, 16 to facilitate movement of said frame 12 between a first collapsed position wherein the frames 10, 12 are substantially parallel to each other and a second raised position, as shown in FIG. 1, wherein the second frame 10 is substantially normal to the first frame.
Strut means such as the arms 30 are pivotally connected to one of the frames 10, 12 as by loops 32 at one end of each arm encircling a cross member 24 of the second frame 12, and are releasably connectable to the other of the frames 10, 12. In accordance with the invention, the releasable connection comprises downturned parts 34 at the ends of the arms 30 opposite the loops 32. A pair of cross members 18b, 18c on the frame 10 are closely spaced apart a distance to receive frictionally therebetween the downturned end part 34 of the arms 30. Desirably the downturned end parts 34 are integrally connected together by a cross bar 36 of a size to pass between the closely spaced cross bars 18b, 18c of the frame 10 as clearly seen in FIG. 1.
The assembly so far described is provided with support means 38 pivoted to the frame 10 for movement between a first collapsed position substantially parallel to the underside of the first frame 10, as shown in FIG. 4 to a second extended position, as shown in FIG. 1, for engagement with a support surface with means being provided for releasably retaining the support means in their extended position.
In accordance with the invention, each of the support means 38 comprises a pair of arms 40, 42, one pair on each of the respective sides of the first frame 10. The inner ends of each are pivotally connected to the frame as by loops 44 encircling short rods 46 welded to the underside of a pair of cross members 18 parallel to but spaced inwardly from the side members 14, 16 of the frame 10. A bar 47 rigidly interconnects the outer ends of each pair of arms 40, 42 and is adapted to engage a support surface 49 as shown in FIG. 3. The means for retaining the support means in their extended positions of FIG. 1 comprise stop means carried by at least one arm of each pair for engaging a side member 14 of the first frame to limit the movement of the interconnected arms in an extended direction. Conveniently the stop means comprise bent parts 48 adjacent the upper ends of the arms 40, 42 which engage the respective side members 14, 16 of the frame 10 to limit the opening movement of the interconnected arms 40, 42. The angle of the bent parts 48 and the rest of the arms 40, 42 is selected such that when the arms are in their supporting position, they extend downwardly and outwardly at a sufficiently wide angle with respect to the plane of the frame 10 that it and the components attached thereto or carried thereon during use, are stably supported with little danger of the supports suddenly collapsing inwardly beneath the frame 10. Alternatively, the described support means could be pivoted to cross members 18 spaced inwardly from the end cross members, the bent parts 48 engaging the end cross members 18 exactly as they engage the side cross members 14 as shown in FIG. 1.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be observed that the ends on opposite sides of the frame 10 of at least some of the cross members 18 have upstanding parts 50 which serve as retaining guides for a charcoal receptacle 52 placed on the first frame 10 after the first and second frames and the supports have been moved to their second open position. Desirably the upper ends of adjacent upstanding parts 50 are integrally joined together by bars 54.
As best seen in FIG. 2, the grill includes a third frame 56 composed of laterally and longtidunally spaced rigid members 58, 60 integrally connected together at their crossing points to define an open-mesh food product support grid having opposed sides and ends defined by the outer most grid members 58, 60, respectively. Downwardly open hooks 62 are fixed to one end of the frame 56 as by welding to the end member 60 and are adapted to engage a selected one of the cross members 24 of the second frame 12 when the latter is in its second open position of FIG. 1. Downwardly extending leg means 64 are also rigidly fixed to the third frame at the same end as the hooks 62 and are of a length to engage a cross member 24 of the second frame member below the selected cross member engaged by the hooks in order to support the third frame 56 in cantilever fashion over and substantially parallel to the first frame 10. Conveniently, the leg means 64 are integral extensions of the hooks 62, the lower ends of the leg means being rigidly connected to the frame 56 by struts 66 which may be bent continuations of the combined hooks and leg means and whose inner ends are welded to an inner cross member 60 as clearly shown in FIG. 3.
In use, the frames 10, 12 and supports are moved to their open position and the receptacle 52 with charcoal therein is placed on the frame 10 between the upstanding guides 50. After the charcoal is ignited and in condition for broiling, the food to be broiled, say a steak, is placed on the third frame which may then be picked-up by a lifting tool 68 shown best in FIG. 2. The tool 68 comprising a U-shaped member having diverging arms 70 defining a handle 71 and whose outer ends 72 are bent upwardly to define laterally spaced hooks 74 adapted to be inserted from the top of the frame 56 between adjacent laterally spaced members 58 defining the grid of the third frame for engagement under a cross member 60a specially located in a convenient position for engagement by the hooks 74. During lifting, the undersides of the tool arms 70 engage the upper side of the outer-most cross member whereby the third frame 56 is supported by the tool in cantilever fashion as should be clear from FIG. 3. After being thus lifted by the tool, it is a simple task to engage the hooks 62 at the opposite end of the frame 56 with a selected one of the cross members 24 on the second frame which vertically positions the third frame and a food product thereon a proper distance above the charcoal bed in the receptacle 52, as should be clear from FIG. 3.
As an aid in centering the third frame over the first frame and over the charcoal recepticle, the second frame may have welded thereto an inverted U-shaped member 76 whose side arms 78 are spaced inwardly from the side members 20 of the second frame 12. This arrangement provides positioning spaces 80 between the arms 78 and side members 20 into which the hook are first inserted before being engaged with the selected cross member. As can be seen the cross member 82 of the positioning member 76 extends above the upper-most cross member 24 as do the upper ends of the side members 20 to provide guide spaced 80 for the hooks when they are to be engaged with the upper-most cross member.
Upon completion of cooking, the third frame 56 is lifted by the tool 68 to disengage the hooks 62 from the second frame 12. The charcoal receptacle 52 is removed and the ends 34 of the strut arms 30 are lifted from between the closely spaced cross members 18b, 18c of the first frame 10 to permit the second frame 12 to be folded to a substantially parallel position over the first frame as shown in FIG. 4. The supports 38 are then folded inwardly towards each other beneath the frame 10, the arms 40, 42 of the supports 38 desirably having a length such that the connecting rods 47 of the supports, when the arms are folded to the position of FIG. 4, lie side-by-side rather than overlap. The folded assembly may then be conveniently placed on the third frame 56 for storage in a suitable receptacle. The charcoal receptacle 52 may be a conventional commercially available lightweight aluminum pan which may be discarded after use or it may be a prepackaged charcoal container intended to be discarded after a single use, though the use of a permanent heavy gauge metal receptacle is not excluded.
Having now described the invention it will be apparent that the invention is susceptible of a variety of changes and modifications, without, however, departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. | A collapsible charcoal grill has two frames pivoted together at one end. One frame is retained in a vertical position by struts and the other frame has folding support means. A broiling grill has hooks at one end for engagement over one of a number of spaced horizontal rods on the second frame and legs at that same end engage a lower horizontal rod to support the broiling grill in cantilever fashion over the other frame which is designed to support a receptacle for burning charcoal. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a measuring instrument for intracardial acquisition of the blood oxygen saturation of a patient, and in particular to such a measuring instrument for use in controlling the pacing rate of a heart pacemaker implanted in the patient.
2. Related Application
The subject matter of the present application is related to the subject matter of copending application Ser. No. 051,857 (Roland Heinze and Hakan Elmqvist) filed May 20, 1987.
3. Description of the Prior Art
German OS No. 31 52 963 discloses a measuring probe for generating a signal corresponding to the blood oxygen saturation of a patient including a measuring current path with a light transmitter and a light receiver arranged such that the light receiver receives light emitted by the light transmitter and reflected by the blood. This known device undertakes a useful signal measurement and a reference measurement independent of the blood reflection through the measuring probe. The measuring probe is connected to an evaluation circuit through two lines, the evaluation circuit charging the measuring probe with a current or with a voltage, and thereby permitting separate evaluation of the signals arising during useful signal measurement and reference signal measurement. The light emitter in this known device is a light emitting diode, and the light receiver is a phototransistor. The light emitting diode and the phototransistor are connected in parallel such that the conducting state current through the light emitting diode is superimposed with the current through the phototransistor caused by the incident light. If the measuring probe is driven with a constant current or with a constant voltage, the light reflected by the blood, dependent on the blood oxygen saturation thereof, triggers a current flow in the phototransistor which effects a current (or voltage) modification at the measuring probe. The voltage or current modification generated by the light reflection is identified in an evaluation circuit by comparing the measured signal, which is obtained when the light emitting diode and the phototransistor are driven, with a reference signal. The reference signal is formed by a pulse of the same operating voltage, but having an inverted operational sign in comparison to the voltage used for the useful signal measurement. This pulse is supplied through a diode connected with opposite plurality to the pularity of the light emitting diode. The operating characteristics of the diode in the reference circuit and the characteristics of the light emitting diode are preferably identical.
In this known measuring instrument, therefore, only two electrical leads are necessary for obtaining the useful signal measurement and the reference measurement. This is an advantage because such leads must be accomodated in a catheters having the smallest possible diameter and great flexibility, both of which are decreased by the presence of more electrical leads. Moreover, every additional electrical lead increases the probability of a failure.
A disadvantage of this known device, however, is that the voltage used for obtaining the measured signal must be reversed in polarity in order to make the reference measurement. Given the standard format for the voltage supply of heart pacemakers, wherein one pole of the supply voltage is rigidly connected to the housing, a substantial circuit outlay is required in order to make this polarity reversal. Additionally, the same current is used for the reference measurement as for the useful signal measurement.
Other commercially available devices are known wherein an infrared emitting diode is connected for making the reference measurement, with the receiver remaining in operation during the reference measurement as well. The wavelength of the infrared emitting diode is selected such that the reflection of the blood is independent of its oxygen saturation. A reference measurement is thereby obtained which permits deposits on the measuring probe to be taken into account.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a measuring instrument for the intracardial acquisition of the blood oxygen saturation of a patient for use in controlling the pacing rate of a heart pacemaker implanted in the patient wherein only two electrical leads are needed and wherein a reference measurement is made without the necessity of reversing the polarity of the voltage used to obtain the measured signal.
The above object is achieved in a first embodiment wherein a current or voltage of a selected polarity is supplied to the measuring probe, and wherein the supplied current is used chronologically offset in the measuring probe for making the useful signal measurement and for making the reference measurement. A useful signal measurement and a reference measurement independent thereof are thus possible without reversing the polarity of (repolarizing) the measuring voltage. Moreover, only one common measuring pulse for reference measurement and useful signal measurement is required. As a result, transient responses occur only once, and this common measuring pulse can be made shorter in duration than measuring pulses in conventional devices. A saving in current is thereby achieved.
The above object is achieved in a second embodiment wherein the reference measurement is made in the measuring probe for as long a time as the measuring probe is charged with a current or voltage below a limit value, and a useful signal measurement is made in the measuring probe as soon as the current or voltage exceeds this limit value. A separation of the useful signal measurement and the reference measurement without changing the polarity of the current or voltage is thus possible because these two measurement are made with different currents. An advantage of this embodiment is that a lower current is required for the reference measurement than for the useful signal measurement, again resulting in a current saving.
In one embodiment, the measured current path contains a series circuit including a resistor and a light-sensitive diode, with a transistor being connected in parallel with this series circuit. The base of the transistor is connected to the junction of the resistor and the light-sensitive diode. The capacitance of the light-sensitive diode is sufficient to delay turning on of the transistor, and thus of the measuring current circuit.
In a further embodiment, a switching means driven by a time delay element connects an infrared-emitting diode to the input terminals of the measuring probe before expiration of the delay time, and connects the infrared-emitting diode to the input terminals of the measuring probe after expiration of the delay time. The time delay element responds to the application of a voltage or a current to the measuring probe, so that the measuring current path remains switched on in both positions of the switching means. The reference measurement using the infrared-emitting diode can thus be made in a simple way.
In a circuit realizing this embodiment, a first switch is connected in series with a reference current path which is activated during the reference measurement, and a second switch is in series with the measuring series path. The first switch is closed and the second switch is opened when the measuring probe is charged with a low current, and the second switch is closed when the measuring probe is charged with a higher current. An evaluation circuit charges the measuring probe with a low current for reference measurement and charges the measuring probe with a higher current of the same polarity for useful signal measurement.
In the embodiment wherein an infrared-emitting diode is used for making the reference measurement, the measuring probe can include the parallel circuit of an infrared-emitting diode, a conventional light-emitting diode, and a measuring current path, with a first switch connected in series with the infrared-emitting diode and a second switch connected in series with the light-emitting diode. The first switch is closed and the second switch is opened when the measuring probe is charged with a low current, and the second switch is closed when the measuring probe is charged with a higher current. An evaluation circuit again charges the measuring probe with a low current for reference measurement, and charges the measuring probe with a higher current of the same polarity for useful signal measurement.
A bipolar EKG signal measurement can be made by disposing the measuring probe in a bipolar lead in an electrode arrangement having a stimulation (active) electrode and a passive electrode, such that the electrode arrangement is in parallel with the measuring probe. A switch is disposed in the connecting line to one of the two electrodes, this switch being opened as soon as the measuring probe is charged with voltage by the evaluation circuit. The switch may be an n-channel field effect transistor having a source-drain path in the lead to the passive electrode, and having a gate controlled by a threshold switch which monitors the voltage at the measuring probe.
As used herein, the term "applied signal" refers to the signal which is applied to the measuring probe by the evaluation circuit. In the first embodiment described above, this applied signal may be either a voltage pulse or a current pulse. In the second embodiment, the applied signal may be a continuously rising voltage or current. All embodiment have in common, however, the use of a single applied signal to make both a reference measurement and a useful signal measurement, the use of only two leads connected to the measuring probe, and the avoidance of a polarity reversal of the applied signal during the measuring process.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic showing of the manner of arranging a measuring probe, connected to a heart pacemaker, in the heart of a patient.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a first embodiment of a measuring instrument constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a voltage/time diagram for explaining the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a second embodiment of a measuring instrument constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a current/voltage diagram for explaining the operation of the circuit of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a further embodiment of a measuring instrument constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of a measuring instrument constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIG. 1, a heart pacemaker H has a catheter K containing two electrical leads which is introduced into the superior vena cava HV and extends through the right atrium RV and into the right ventrical RHK of a heart H. A measuring probe M for measuring the blood oxygen saturation of the patient is disposed within the right heart ventricle RHK. The heart muscle is excited by a stimulation electrode 14. A passive electrode 13 is also provided.
A first embodiment of circuitry for the measuring probe M is shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, a series circuit consisting of a light-emitting diode 1 operating as a light transmitter and a resistor 3, the series circuit of a resistor 2d and a light-sensitive diode 2a operating as a light receiver, and a transistor 2c are connected in parallel to the leads from the electrodes 13 and 14. The conducting directions of the light emitting diode 1 and the light-sensitive 2a are opposite. The junction of the resistor 2d and the light sensitive diode 2a is connected to the base of the transistor 2c.
When the measuring probe M is charged with a voltage or current pulse by an evaluation circuit A disposed in the heart pacemaker H, current initially flows only through the series circuit consisting of the resistor 3 and the light emitting diode 1, which serves as a reference current path. A resulting test voltage U R thus depends only on the resistance of the light-emitting diode 1, the resistor 3, and the lead resistances. The transistor 2c is still inhibited, because a capacitor 2b has not yet been charged. The capacitor 2b may be simply formed by the internal capacitance of the light-sensitive diode 2a, and is therefore shown connected by dashed lines. Following a delay time t v , the capacitor 2b is charged through the resistor 2d, and only then does the transistor 2c become conducting so that the measuring probe M is charged with an impressed current. This defines the measuring voltage U M , as shown in FIG. 3.
The conductivity of the transistor 2c is dependent on the conductivity of the light-sensitive diode 2a. The light-sensitive diode 2a is arranged so as to receive light emitted by the light-emitting diode 1 and reflected by the blood dependent on the oxygen saturation of the blood. The test or measuring voltage U M thus represents a measure of the oxygen saturation of the blood. The test voltage U M , however, is also dependent on the resistance of the connecting lines and on the temperature of the measuring probe M. These sources of error, however, can be compensated by the use of the previously identified reference voltage U R , which also contains these errors. For this purpose, the difference ΔU F =U R -U M is used, this difference ΔU F representing the actual measured signal which can be analyzed in the manner described, for example, in the aforementioned German OS No. 31 52 963 .
In an analogous manner, the measuring probe M can alternatively be charged with an impressed voltage, in which case the current is then used as the measured quantity.
In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a field effect transistor 4 is connected to the lead 15 from the passive electrode 13. The gate of this field effect transistor 4 is connected to a threshold circuit 17, which monitors the voltage at the measuring probe M. As soon as the evaluation circuit A charges the measuring probe M with a voltage, the field effect transistor 4 is inhibited, so that the passive electrode 13 is essentially disconnected from the lead 15. This results in the following advantage.
A two electrode arrangement, such as a passive electrode 13 and stimulation electrode 14, is preferable for obtaining an EKG signal from the heart which is free of disturbances. If, however, the passive electrode 13 were not disconnected during a measuring procedure using the measuring probe M, the voltage charging of the measuring probe M by the evaluation circuit A would always result in an undesired stimulation pulse to the heart. This is avoided in the circuit of FIG. 2 because the passive electrode 13 is disconnected from the measuring probe M during voltage charging thereof. Also avoided are measuring errors caused by the resistance between the passive electrode 13 and the stimulation electrode 14 formed by body tissue.
A disruption of the EKG measurement by the measuring probe M does not occur because the EKG voltages are below the threshold voltages of the measuring probe circuit.
An alternative embodiment operating in accordance with the principles of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. For this embodiment, the dependency of the current I S in the measuring probe M on the applied voltage U S is shown in FIG. 5. A series connection of a diode 8, a resistor 9, and a transistor 10 is connected between the leads 15 and 16. A light-emitting diode 1 with a resistor 11 connected in parallel therewith, a resistor 12, and the collector-emitter path of a transistor 2e are connected in series across the leads 15 and 16. A phototransistor 2a' is connected between the lead 15 and the junction of the resistor 12 and the transistor 2e. This junction is also connected to the base of the transistor 10. A voltage divider consisting of resistors 6 and 7 is connected between the junction of the diode 8 and the resistor 9, and the lead 16. The tap of this voltage divider is connected to the base of the transistor 2e.
When the current I S flowing through the connecting lines 15 and 16 rises, the transistor 10 becomes conducting through the resistors 11 and 12, while the transistor 2e is still non-conducting. The current path through the diode 8, the resistor 9 and the transistor 10 therefore determines the voltage at the measuring probe M. This portion of the current/voltage curve is referenced I in FIG. 5. The current path consisting of the diode 8, the resistor 9 and the transistor 10 serves as a reference current path, with the reference measurement being made, for example, at an operating point references P1 in FIG. 5. The resistance of the leads and the temperature of the measuring probe is first acquired with this reference measurement.
When the voltage U S at the measuring probe continues to increase, the transistor 2e is switched to a conducting state via the voltage divider comprising the resistors 6 and 7. The voltage value U s1 or the current value I S1 resulting therefrom is defined by the division ratio of the resistors 6 and 7 and by the value of the resistance of the resistor 9. As soon as the transistor 2e is switched on, the transistor 10 becomes inhibited because its base-emitter voltage is shorted. The current I S supplied to the measuring probe is thus switched from the reference current path to the measuring current path consisting of the light-emitting diode 1 and the phototransistor 2a'. This portion of the current/voltage curve is referenced II in FIG. 5. The current exhibits a hysteresis, i.e., switching back to the reference circuit is not undertaken even though the current I S decreases, until significantly lower values occur than those which occurred given a rising current, as can be seen in FIG. 5.
After switching to the measuring circuit, the measuring current or measuring voltage can again be acquired, because the conductivity of the phototransistor 2a' is dependent on the portion of the light from the light-emitting diode 1 which is reflected by the blood oxygen. For example, measurement may be made around an operating point referenced P2 in FIG. 5. As in the case of the previous embodiment, the preceding reference measurement is used in the evaluation circuit for correction of the influences of temperature and lead resistance.
As in the embodiment of FIG. 2, a field effect transistor 4 can be connected in the lead 15 to the passive electrode 13 as a switch for disconnecting the passive electrode 13 during the measuring procedure. As in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the control electrode (gate) of the transistor 4 is connected to the threshold circuit 17.
A further embodiment is shown in FIG. 6 wherein a reference measurement is made using an infrared emitting diode 22. A light emitting diode 1 or the infrared emitting diode 22 are optionally connectable across the leads 15 and 16 through a resistor 18 and a switch 20.
An RC element comprising a capacitor 21 and a resistor 23 is series is also connected across the leads 15 and 16, with the capacitor 21 being connected to the lead 16. A threshold switch 19, which controls the switch 20, is connected to the tap of the RC element. A measuring circuit is also connected between the leads 15 and 16 consisting of a transistor 2c and the series connection of a resistor 2d and a light-sensitive diode 2a, the resistor 2d and the diode 2a being connected in parallel to the transistor 2c. The base of the transistor 2c is connected to the junction of the resistor 2d and the light sensitive diode 2a. A threshold switch 17 connected to the gate of a field effect transistor 4 is also provided in the embodiment of FIG. 6, functioning as in the previously-described embodiments.
When the measuring probe M is charged with a current or voltage pulse, the switch 20 initially is connected in the position shown in FIG. 6, so that the infrared emitting diode 22 is energized, and the emitted infrared radiation is received by the light-sensitive diode 2a. The transistor 2c is thereby driven in accord with the conductivity of the diode 2a.
The wavelength of the infrared radiation is selected such that the reflection thereof is independent of the blood oxygen saturation. A reference signal is thus obtained which includes factors corresponding to the lead resistance, the temperature of the device, and reflections caused by possible deposits on the measuring probe.
Additionally, a timing element consisting of the RC element (resistor 23 and capacitor 21) and the threshold element 19 is also set simultaneously with the charging of the measuring probe M with a current or voltage pulse. This timing element causes the switch 20 to switch position after the expiration of a prescribed delay time. The light emitting diode 1 thus becomes energized, and its reflected light is received by the light-sensitive diode 2a.
In all of the embodiments discussed above, the light emitted by the light-emitting diode 1 has a wavelength at which reflection thereof is dependent on the blood oxygen saturation, so that a useful signal measurement can be undertaken. By comparison with the reference measurement, the aforementioned sources of error (lead resistance, temperature of the device and reflection due to deposits) can be eliminated.
Another embodiment constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7 wherein, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 4, a reference measurement and useful signal measurement can be discriminated by the height of the applied voltage or current. In comparison to the embodiment of FIG. 4, the diode 8 is replaced in the embodiment of FIG. 7 by an infrared diode 22. Furthermore, in FIG. 7, the phototransistor 2a' receiving the reflected light is directly connected between the leads 15 and 16.
Switching from the infrared emitting diode 22 operated during reference measurement to the light-emitting diode 1 operated during the useful signal measurement is made in the manner already described in connection with FIG. 4.
In contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 4, however, the light emitted by the infrared-emitting diode 22 and received by the phototransistor 2a' is also received in the embodiment of FIG. 7 during the reference measurement. This is for the purpose, as in the embodiment of FIG. 6, to additionally take into account reflections due to deposits on the measuring probe M in the reference measurement.
Although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art. | A measuring instrument for the intracardial acquistion of the blood oxygen saturation of a patient for use in controlling a heart pacemaker implanted in the patient has a measuring probe with a measuring current path which includes a light transmitter and a light receiver which receives light emitted by the light transmitter and reflected by the blood. The measuring probe is connected to an evaluation circuit via two lines. A useful signal measurement and a reference measurement, independent of the blood reflection, are made and the blood oxygen saturation is identified by comparing the two signals. A separate evaluation of the useful signal measurement and the reference signal measurement is enabled by making the useful signal measurement chronologically offset with respect to the reference measurement in one embodiment, or by using the amplitude of the current from the light receiver to make one measurement, and using the voltage amplitude to make the other measurement in another embodiment. | 0 |
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to German application 10 2004 002 778.1 filed 20 Jan. 2004, issued Mar. 27, 2008 as German Patent 102004002778.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention under consideration concerns a method for the maintenance of metallization baths in electroplating and electroforming technology. In particular, the invention concerns a method for the maintenance of metallization baths in the deposition of metals without a current.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the deposition of metals without an outside current, such as in the chemical deposition of copper from corresponding electrolytes without an outside current, a reducing agent is added to the electrolyte, which agent as an interior voltage source makes possible the deposition of the metal.
The basic principle of metal deposition without an outside current will be explained here with the example of a copper electrolyte.
As a rule, electrolytes for chemical copper deposition without an outside current contain complex- or chelate-bound copper ions, such as copper tartrate complexes or copper-EDTA chelates. Formaldehyde or a comparable reducing agent, which, as the result of an oxidation reaction to the formate or to the corresponding anion, provides the electrons needed for the reduction of the copper, is used, as a rule, as the reducing agent.
Formaldehyde, however, is able to act as a sufficiently strong reducing agent on divalent copper ions, as they are used, as a rule, in electrolytes for the deposition of copper without an outside current, and to make possible a metal deposition, only in a highly alkaline pH range such as between about pH 11 and about pH 14. From this, it follows that the copper ions present in the electrolyte are so strongly complexed or chelated that they cannot form hard-to-dissolve metal hydroxides.
Moreover, copper is introduced into the electrolyte, as a rule, in the form of sulfates. As a consequence of the reaction of divalent copper ions to elementary copper, the electrolyte is enriched with sulfate anions. This sulfate anions enrichment, produced by the oxidation of the formaldehyde in combination with the concentration increase of formate anions, leads to a lowering of the pH value. In order to continue to hold the electrolyte in a workable pH range, alkali hydroxides, such as sodium hydroxide, are added. Moreover, the consumed quantities of copper sulfate and formaldehyde are subsequently metered to the electrolyte. As a result of the foregoing, the chemical and physical characteristics of the electrolyte therefore change, which leads to a limited durability and applicability of the electrolyte.
Nickel baths without a current work mostly in an acidic pH range. There, bath maintenance by means of electrodialysis is already known from documents EP 1 239 057 A1, DE 198 49 278 C1, and EP 0 787 829 A1. The process described there and the combination of methods and membranes cannot be used, however, for copper without a current, or for others in alkaline metallization baths working without a current.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, a goal of the invention is to make available a method which is able to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and guarantee a longer electrolyte use and operability for the deposition of metals without a current.
This goal is attained, in accordance with the invention, by a method for the regeneration of electrolyte baths for metallization without a current by means of the following method steps:
a) carrying off at least a partial flow of the electrolyte from the process vessel; b) regeneration of the carried-off electrolyte flow; c) addition of components used in the metallization process; d) return of regenerated electrolyte flow to the process vessel;
characterized in that for the regeneration, the carried-off partial flow is supplied to a dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit, in which the anions released during the metallization process without a current are exchanged via an ion-selective membrane.
In an advantageous manner, the anions released in the metallization process are exchanged for hydroxide ions in the dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit in the method of the invention.
For this purpose, the dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit in the method of the invention advantageously has an anion-selective membrane.
As a counter-solution to the dialysis and/or electrodialysis of the electrolyte, alkali hydroxide-containing and/or alkaline earth hydroxide-containing solutions can be used in the method of the invention.
Such an invention is suitable for electrolytes for the deposition of copper, nickel, ternary nickel alloys, and gold, without a current.
The ions to be exchanged by means of dialysis and/or electrodialysis can be sulfate ions, formate ions, hypophosphite ions, phosphite ions, phosphate ions, chloride ions, and other anions which dissolve well.
Briefly, therefore, the invention is directed to a method for the regeneration of alkali, cyanide-free, zinc- and nickel-containing electrolyte baths for metallization without a current. The method of the invention has the following steps: the carrying-off of at least a partial flow of the electrolyte from the process vessel into a regeneration unit, the return of the regenerated electrolyte flow to the process vessel, wherein the regeneration unit has a dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit with an anion-selective membrane and in which the anions formed during the process of the metallization without a current are exchanged for hydroxide ions. The electrolyte current thus regenerated can be supplemented by the consumed components.
In another aspect, the invention is a method for the regeneration of an electrolyte bath used for a metallization process without a current in a process vessel comprising removing at least a partial flow of the electrolyte from the process vessel; regenerating said at least partial flow removed in step (a) via an operation selected from the group consisting of dialysis and electrodialysis; c) adding metallization components to the at least partial flow; and d) returning the at least partial flow to the process vessel. The anions released during the metallization process are exchanged via an ion-selective membrane during said regeneration; and as a counter-solution for the regeneration, a solution is used which is selected from the group consisting of an alkali hydroxide-containing solution and an alkaline earth hydroxide-containing solution.
The invention is also directed to a method for the regeneration of an electrolyte bath used for a metallization process without a current in a process vessel comprising removing at least a partial flow of the electrolyte from the process vessel; regenerating said at least partial flow removed in step (a) via an operation selected from the group consisting of dialysis and electrodialysis involving exchange of anions selected from the group consisting of sulfate ions, formate ions, hypophosphite ions, phosphite ions, phosphate ions, and chloride ions released during the metallization process for hydroxide ions via an anion-selective membrane and a counter-solution selected from the group consisting of an alkali hydroxide-containing solution and an alkaline earth hydroxide-containing solution; replenishing to the at least partial flow a metallic source for deposition of a metal selected from the group consisting of copper, nickel, a ternary nickel alloy, and gold; d) replenishing to the at least partial flow a reducing agent; and e) returning the at least partial flow to the process vessel.
In a further aspect the invention is directed to a method for the regeneration of an electrolyte bath used for an electroless copper metallization process in a process vessel comprising removing at least a partial flow of the electrolyte from the process vessel; regenerating said at least partial flow removed in step (a) via an operation selected from the group consisting of dialysis and electrodialysis involving exchange of sulfate ions released during the metallization process for hydroxide ions via an anion-selective membrane and a counter-solution selected from the group consisting of an alkali hydroxide-containing solution and an alkaline earth hydroxide-containing solution; replenishing copper sulfate to the at least partial flow as a metallic source for deposition of a copper; replenishing a reducing agent to the at least partial flow; and returning the at least partial flow to the process vessel.
In another refinement of the method of the invention, the alkali hydroxide-containing and/or alkaline earth hydroxide-containing solutions, used as a counter-solution in the dialysis and/or electrodialysis and/or electrodialysis process, are regenerated according to the dialysis process. This can occur, according to the invention, by suitable oxidation agents. Following such a regeneration, the alkali and/or alkaline-earth solutions can optionally be concentrated.
Another possibility for regenerating the used alkali and/or alkaline earth solutions in the method of the invention is the precipitation of the anions received in the dialysis and/or electrodialysis process as hard-to-dissolve salts. Such a salt can be, for example, the hard-to-dissolve barium sulfate, in the case of sulfate ions, which can be precipitated by the addition of barium hydroxide to the alkali hydroxide-containing and/or alkaline earth hydroxide-containing counter-solutions of the dialysis and/or electrodialysis processes to be regenerated. Other suitable salts are, for example, calcium hydroxide or, in general, other substances forming hard-to-dissolve compounds with sulfates.
Formate ions can be reacted in CO 2 and water by oxidation agents suitable for the regeneration of the counter-solutions. Suitable oxidation agents for such a reaction are hydrogen peroxide, peroxide sulfates or the product known as Caroat from the Degussa Company.
Prerequisite for the use of a dialysis and/or electrodialysis method for the regeneration of electrolytes for the deposition of metals without an outside current, is the use of anion-selective membranes in the dialysis and/or electrodialysis steps.
Suitable anion-selective membranes for a method in accordance with the invention are, for example, commercial mono- and bivalent anion-exchanger membranes from Tokuyama Soda Co. Ltd., Asaki Glass Co. Ltd., Purolite International, Polymerchemie Altmeier, or Reichelt Chemietechnik.
The application of an electric field in the dialysis step of the method of the invention advantageously accelerates the separation process.
In principle, the electrolyte to be regenerated and the alkali- and/or alkaline earth-containing counter-solution can be conducted in a parallel flow, as well as in a counter-flow, both when using a dialysis stage and also when using an electrodialysis stage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic illustrations of variations of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
This application claims priority from German application 10 2004 002 778.1, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional method for the metallization of substrates without a current. In the case of a copper deposition without a current on a substrate ( 3 ) to obtain a metallized substrate ( 7 ), a partial flow ( 5 ) is removed from the electrolyte ( 4 ), which partial flow is enriched with, for example, copper sulfate ( 1 ) and formaldehyde ( 2 ), as a function of the consumed quantity of metal ions and reducing agent, and is again supplied to the electrolyte ( 4 ). The electrolyte ( 4 ) is enriched, in the course of the method, with formate and sulfate ions ( 6 ).
FIG. 2 shows the method of the invention for the regeneration of electrolytes for the deposition of metals without a current. A partial flow is removed from the electrolyte ( 4 ), for example, via a pump ( 8 ), and supplied to a dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit ( 11 ). The dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit has anion-selective membranes ( 19 ). The counter-solution for the dialysis/electrodialysis ( 9 ) is also supplied to the dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit ( 11 ), for example, via a pump ( 8 ). This can occur in a parallel flow or also in a counter-flow to the electrolyte ( 4 ) to be regenerated. The branched-off electrolyte partial flow ( 5 ) is enriched again with metal ions and reducing agents, following the regeneration in the dialysis and/or electrodialysis unit ( 11 ). These can be, for example, copper sulfate ( 1 ) and formaldehyde ( 2 ). In the case of copper sulfate and formaldehyde, formate and sulfate ions are received by the counter-solution ( 9 ) in the dialysis and/or electrolysis unit ( 11 ) via the anion-selective membrane ( 19 ). For the regeneration of the counter-solution, precipitation agents ( 12 ), such as barium hydroxide, can then be added to it for sulfate precipitation ( 13 ). The precipitated sulfates ( 14 ) can be separated. The formate ions received in the counter-solution can be reacted by the addition of oxidation agents ( 15 ) in an oxidation ( 16 ) to carbon dioxide ( 17 ) and water. The regenerated counter-solution ( 18 ) can be returned, with the addition of alkali and/or alkaline earth hydroxides ( 10 ).
REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST
1 Addition of copper sulfate
2 Addition of formaldehyde
3 Substrate to be metallized
4 Electrolyte for copper deposition without a current
5 Partial flow
6 Enrichment in formate and sulfate ions
7 Metallized substrate
8 Pump
9 Counter-solution for the dialysis/electrodialysis
10 Alkali-/Alkaline earth hydroxide addition
11 Dialysis/Electrodialysis unit
12 Addition of precipitation agent
13 Sulfate precipitation
14 Precipitated sulfates
15 Addition of oxidation agents
16 Oxidation of formate ions
17 Carbon dioxide
18 Return regenerated counter-solution
19 Anion-selective membrane
When introducing elements of the present invention or the preferred embodiment(s) thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.
As various changes could be made in the above methods and products without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in any accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. | A method for the regeneration of an electrolyte bath used for an electroless metallization process. A partial flow of electrolyte is removed from the process vessel and regenerated by dialysis or electrodialysis. Metallization components are replenished. The partial flow is returned to the process vessel. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to clothing hangers, and more specifically, to a container for stacking, storing, carrying, or dispensing a plurality of clothes hangers. The invention further relates to a container for storing clothes hangers comprising triangularly arranged pillars upending from the base of the container, so that a variety of differently-sized or -shaped hangers may be stacked over the pillars.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] In the dry cleaning business, retail businesses, and in home use, it is important to have a storage device for excess hangers. Do to the unusual shapes and sizes of clothing hangers, many become interlocked and tangled when stored loosely in a box. Often the box in which hangers are stored can be aesthetically unpleasing, and may take up valuable under-counter or other storage space. In an effort to provide an effective means for storing clothing hangers, many clothing hanger storage devices have been patented.
[0005] Issued patents relating to clothes hanger storing and carrying devices are reviewed hereinafter.
[0006] Peterson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,968) discloses a collapsible carton member for the storage of clothes hangers.
[0007] Hildt (U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,981) discloses a rack for storing clothes hangers having a single neck portion and two shoulder portions wherein the rack comprises a base and a plurality of elongated posts extending upwardly and perpendicular to the upper surface of the base.
[0008] Keen (U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,905) discloses a device for organizing, storing and dispensing garment hangers comprising a vertically disposed glide rod for engaging the hanger hook and two vertically disposed guide rods positioned on opposite sides of said glide rod and spaced forward thereof for engaging the respective outer shoulder portions of the garment hanger. The bottom ends of the guide rods and glide rod are mounted to a base.
[0009] Scola (U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,184) discloses a clothes hanger carrying device for neatly stacking and storing a plurality of conventional wire type clothes hangers. The carrying device includes a bottom base flange having a greater perimeter than the triangular body of the clothes hanger to provide a support for a plurality of the hangers, and a stacking body extending upwardly from the base flange.
[0010] Dahnke (U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,457) discloses a hanger guide attached to a base wherein the clothes hangers are received on the hanger guide.
[0011] Licari (U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,904) discloses a hanger package and display assembly comprising a top and bottom platform, and at least two spaced-apart rods vertically disposed between the platforms.
[0012] Design applications relating to clothes hanger storage devices are as follows: Kiggens et al. (U.S. Pat. No. D237,442); Pawuk et al. (U.S. Pat. No. D382,402); Shawhan (U.S. Pat. No. 392,818); Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 403,862); Spurgeon et al. (U.S. Pat. No. D417,802); Wacks (U.S. Pat. No. D421,686); and, Kim (U.S. Pat. No. D465,352).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention is a clothes hanger storage device, and more specifically, a clothes hanger storage device comprising a container and a plurality of pillars inside said container for retaining a multitude of variously-sized and -shaped hangers. The plurality of pillars may be arranged as two sets of pillars, or two elongated pillar units, wherein large triangular hangers extend around both sets of pillars or around the two elongated pillar units, and small triangular hangers only extend around one set of pillars or one elongated pillar unit. Non-triangular hangers, such as hangers only comprising two shoulders, may be stored in the container by being trapped between the container wall and the pillars, but not extending around the pillars.
[0014] The preferred clothes hanger storage device may be adapted to be hung from a door, stored underneath a counter or in a closet, or attached to the door of a cabinet. In an optional embodiment, the container may be fitted with a releasable lid that fits over the top of the container. The preferred lid may be moved to a dispensing position, which leaves room between the container and the lid through which one or more hangers may be removed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1A is a front view of an example of a large triangular hanger.
[0016] FIG. 1B is a front view of an example of a small triangular hanger.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invented clothes hanger storage device.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 .
[0019] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invented clothes hanger storage device, wherein the container is fitted with brackets for attaching the clothes hanger storage device to a door, and wherein hangers are shown positioned inside the container.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , wherein a large triangular hanger is shown positioned inside the container.
[0021] FIG. 6 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , wherein a small triangular hanger is shown positioned inside the container.
[0022] FIG. 7 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .
[0023] FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of one embodiment of a lid that may cooperate with the containers shown in FIGS. 1-7 .
[0024] FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the lid shown in FIG. 8 .
[0025] FIG. 10A is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invented clothes hanger storage device, wherein the lid of FIGS. 8 and 9 is shown in combination with the container of FIGS. 4 and 7 and the lid is in a closed position.
[0026] FIG. 10B is a detail of the latch of FIG. 10 in the closed position.
[0027] FIG. 11A is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10A , wherein the lid is shown in a raised position.
[0028] FIG. 11B is a detail of the latch of FIG. 11 in the raised position.
[0029] FIG. 12 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the invented clothes hanger storage device, wherein the front pillars are shown as one elongated unit, and the rear pillars are shown as one elongated unit.
[0030] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11A , wherein the clothes hanger storage device is shown hung from a door, and the lid is in the raised position.
[0031] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11A , wherein the clothes hanger storage device is shown attached to the underside of a counter-top, and the lid is in the raised position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0032] Referring to the figures, there are shown some, but not the only embodiments of the invented clothes hanger storage device. In the preferred embodiment, the clothes hanger storage device 100 is used to stack, store, and carry a plurality of differently-shaped and -sized hangers. The clothes hangers comprise a hook H, a neck N, two shoulder sections S′, S″, and some hangers may comprise a base B′, B″ connecting the shoulder sections to form a triangular hanger (see FIGS. 1A and 1B ).
[0033] In the preferred embodiment, the clothes hanger storage device 100 is a generally rectangular container 10 comprising a plurality of side walls—a base 12 , a front wall 14 , a rear wall 16 , and two end walls 18 . The base 12 and the side walls define an interior space 70 , as shown in FIG. 2 . Preferably, the two end walls 18 are of equal length and the front 14 and rear 16 walls are of equal length. The front wall 14 comprises an elongated slot 22 that extends from the base 12 of the container to the top edge 20 of the front wall 14 for receiving the clothes hanger hooks H. The container 10 may comprise additional neck structure that extends from the elongated slot 22 and encloses the necks N and hooks H of the hangers. The container 10 is preferably of a height that will carry a reasonable number of hangers, for example 6″-10″, so that the container is not too heavy to carry (see FIGS. 4 and 7 ). Larger containers may also be desired for clothing stores, dry cleaners, or laundry mats, for example. In the preferred embodiment, the container 10 is rectangular in shape; however, the inventor envisions that other shapes, such as a triangle, might be used so long as the entire hanger fits within the container. Additionally, handles with apertures 21 may be provided in the top edge 20 of the two end walls 18 for grasping the container 10 or for securing a lid 30 to the container 10 .
[0034] The preferred embodiment further comprises a plurality of pillars extending upward and generally perpendicular to the base 12 of the container 10 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the plurality of pillars are preferably arranged as two sets of pillars in a triangular fashion—two pillars 22 , 23 are positioned toward the front wall 14 of the container 10 and two pillars 24 , 25 are positioned toward the rear wall 16 of the container 10 . The rear pillars 24 , 25 are in a plane parallel to the front pillars 22 , 23 , but spaced out a distance, so that the respective rear pillars 24 , 25 are closer to the end walls 18 than are the front pillars 22 , 23 .
[0035] In the preferred embodiment, the pillars are integral with the base 12 of the container 10 meaning they are formed as an extension of the base, preferably by molding. The pillars are preferably not solid, so that there is a detent corresponding to each pillar in the bottom of the base of the container, so that the containers may be stacked one on top of the other with the pillars from one container sliding into the detents created by the hollow pillars of the other container. To accommodate the stacking of the containers, the pillar sides are sloped, as shown to best advantage in FIGS. 2 and 3 , so that the tops 26 of the pillars are preferably smaller in dimension than the bottoms 28 of the pillars. The front pillars 22 , 23 are generally cylindrical in shape, and the rear pillars 24 , 25 are generally kidney-shaped; however, other shapes may be used, such as, conical, rectaganol, or other aesthetically pleasing or easy-to-mold shapes.
[0036] The sets of pillars are spaced-apart in a triangular arrangement, so that they can accommodate different shapes and sizes of hangers. The spacing between the two sets of pillars is sufficient, so that when a large triangular hanger (shown in FIG. 1A ), having a base length between 12″ and 14″, and a height (from the base B′ to the top of the hook H) between 9″ and 10″, is placed in the container, the two sets of pillars 22 , 23 and 24 , 25 are completely contained within the framed-space FS of the hanger, and the neck N and the hook H of the hanger extend out through the elongated slot 22 in the front wall 14 of the container 10 (see FIG. 5 ). Additionally, when a small triangular hanger (shown in FIG. 1B ), having a base length between 9″ and 12″ and a height between 7″ and 9″, is placed in the container, only the front pillars 22 , 23 are completely contained within the framed-space FS of the hanger, and the base B″ of the smaller hanger is trapped in the space between the front pillars 22 , 23 , and the rear pillars 24 , 25 (see FIG. 6 ). Further, the spacing between the front pillars 22 , 23 and the front wall 14 of the container 10 is sufficient to accommodate a hanger comprising only a hook H, a neck N, and two shoulders, without a base connecting the two shoulders, so that the front pillars 22 , 23 engage the underside of the neck portion and the rear pillars 24 , 25 engage the underside of the two shoulders S. Thus, the hanger is trapped between the front wall 14 of the container 10 and the two sets of pillars 22 , 23 and 24 , 25 ; however, none of the hanger extends around the pillars (see FIG. 7 ).
[0037] In the preferred embodiment, the relationship between the container 10 , the elongated slot 22 , and the pillars 22 , 23 and 24 , 25 is such that they are oriented to accommodate a wide variety of hangers. The front 14 and rear 16 walls of the container 10 are preferably between 12″-14″ in length from corner C to corner C, and the end walls 18 are preferably between 6″-10″ long from corner C to corner C, but in the preferred embodiment, they are 7″ long (see FIG. 2 ). The elongated slot 22 , in the front wall 14 , is between 1″-2″ in width between its generally vertical walls W (see FIG. 3 ). The elongated slot 22 must be wide enough to fit differently-sized and -shaped hanger necks, but not too wide that the hanger necks move around significantly. The space between the front most extremities of the front pillars 22 , 23 and the front wall 14 is preferably between 2.5″-4″. The space between the rear most extremities of the rear pillars 24 , 25 and the rear wall 16 is between 0.5″-4″. Preferably, the relationship between the pillars and the respective walls is close enough in order to tightly retain the hangers around the pillars, or between the walls of the container and the pillars. As shown in FIG. 3 , the two front pillars 22 , 23 are spaced apart a distance d, between 2″-3″, and the two back pillars 24 , 25 are spaced apart a distance d 2 between 8″-10″. The distance d 3 between one front pillar and one rear pillar is preferably between 0.5″-1″; however, this distance needs to be only as wide as the thickest small triangular hanger base.
[0038] In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of pillars may be a set of two elongated pillars/units, one elongated pillar 60 being positioned toward the front wall 14 of the container 10 and the second elongated pillar 62 being positioned toward the rear wall 16 of the container 10 (see FIG. 12 ). Preferably, the two elongated pillars 60 , 62 are parallel to each other, and the rear pillar 62 is longer in length than the front pillar 60 . The two elongated pillars 60 , 62 still resemble a triangular shape, so that they can accommodate a variety of hangers. The distance d 3 between the front pillar 60 and the back pillar 62 is preferably between 0.5″-1″. In the alternative embodiment, the elongated pillars 60 , 62 comprise ends 64 , 66 that are slanted relative to the elongated pillar lengths, contributing to the triangular shape of the outer perimeter of the pillar grouping.
[0039] In an especially preferred embodiment, the container 10 is fitted with a lid 30 . The lid 30 is adapted to be secured to the top edge 20 of the container 10 (see FIGS. 10A and 10B ). Preferably, the lid 30 is the same shape as the container 10 and the lid 30 is also substantially flat or planar, so that multiple containers could be stacked upon one another with their lids on, and so that the lid may be attached to the underside of a table or countertop (see FIG. 14 ). Further, the lid 30 may be adapted to include latches 40 for further securing the lid 30 to the container 10 . In the preferred embodiment, the latches 40 are attached to the short ends 31 of the lid 30 . The latches 40 comprise a plurality of spaced connection members that may be releasably connected to the container 10 . Preferably, the connection members comprise a single protrusion 42 near the top of the latch 40 and a set of two protrusions 44 , 46 near the bottom of the latch 40 (see FIGS. 10B and 11B ).
[0040] The latches 40 permit the lid 30 to moved from a closed position, as shown in FIG. 10A , to a raised or dispensing position, as shown in FIG. 11A . When the lid 30 is in the closed position (see FIGS. 10A and 10B ), the latches 40 are slid all the way into the apertures 21 in the top edge 20 of the container 10 , so that the lid 30 is fitted entirely around the top edge 20 of the container 10 , and the single protrusion 42 abuts against the edge 21 ′ of the aperture 21 preventing the lid 30 from coming off of the container 10 . When the lid 30 is in the raised or dispensing position (see FIGS. 11A and 11B ), the lid 30 is positioned above the container 10 , so that it is generally parallel to, but slightly distanced from the container 10 , and the lower set of protrusions 44 , 46 are positioned around the edge 21 ′ of the aperture 21 . As shown in FIG. 11B , protrusion 44 is positioned above the edge 21 ′, and protrusion 46 is positioned below the edge 21 ′, so that the edge 21 ′ is trapped between the lower two protrusions 44 , 46 . Thus, the protrusions 42 , 44 , 46 act as stops or grips, which retain the latches 40 , and hence, the lid 30 in either of the two desired positions. The protrusions 42 , 44 , 46 may themselves snap onto or around the edge 21 ′, or may simply abut against the edge 21 ′, but preferably there is some resilience in either the protrusions 42 , 44 , 46 or the latch hinges, in order to retain the latches 40 in the selected position once the user has moved the latches 40 (as discussed below), and/or purposely snapped the protrusions around the edge 21 ′.
[0041] In order to move the lid 30 from the closed position to the raised or dispensing position, the user must press the latches 40 toward the end walls 18 of the container 10 , and then raise the lid 30 until the protrusions 44 , 46 snap around the edge 21 ′ securing the lid 30 in the raised position. The latches 40 may be designed to create, in the raised position, a space 50 that is 2″-4″ from the bottom of the lid 30 to the top edge 20 of the container 10 . When the lid 30 is in the raised position, the user may remove one or more hangers by sliding the hangers off of the pillars 22 , 23 and/or 24 , 25 , and out through the space 50 between the top edge 20 of the container 10 and the lid 30 . Preferably, 1-3 hangers may be lifted up and forward out of the device through the space 50 . The latches 40 are preferably made of a sturdy material, so as to support the lid 30 above the container 10 . Additionally, other latch mechanisms may be used, such as a latch mechanism that wraps or snaps around the outside of the container wall instead of going through an aperture in the container, such as arm(s), rod(s), or other fasteners that can hold the lid in multiple positions relative to the container.
[0042] The lid 30 and/or container 10 may be adapted to include mechanisms for aiding in storing or carrying the clothes hanger storage device 100 . For example, in order to attach the lid 30 to the underside of a table or countertop, holes 34 may be molded into the lid 30 , or otherwise provided, in order to screw the lid 30 into a table or countertop. Other means of attaching the lid 30 or container 10 without the lid 30 to a table or countertop may be used, such as adhesive strips, chain links, or the lid 30 and/or container 10 may cooperate with glide rails that allow the clothes hanger storage device to be slid out from underneath the table or countertop. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 , the lid 30 has apertures 32 that act as a handle for gripping the container and carrying it. The lid 30 may be adapted to have other handle structures, such as a handle that is raised above the lid; however, this would be less preferable because it would be difficult to stack the containers. Additionally, the lid 30 may be adapted to not include a handle and the user could carry the clothes hanger storage device 100 by gripping the sides of the container 10 and the lid 30 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 , the container 10 may also be fitted with holes 39 in a side wall for attaching brackets 38 . The brackets 38 preferably have a hooked end 38 ′ allowing the container 10 to be hung from a door, cabinet door, or other structure comprising an edge (see FIG. 13 ). Alternatively, the container 10 may be attached to a door or cabinet by drilling through the holes 39 and securing the container with screws. Further, the clothes hanger storage device 100 may be stored in a closet or cabinet with no additional securement mechanism.
[0043] Although this invention has been described above with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed particulars, but extends instead to all equivalents within the scope of the following claims. | A clothes hanger storage device includes a container and a plurality of pillars inside the container for retaining a multitude of variously-sized and -shaped hangers. The plurality of pillars may be arranged as two sets of pillars, or two elongated pillar units, wherein large triangular hangers extend around both sets of pillars or around the two elongated pillar units, and small triangular hangers extend around only one set of pillars or one elongated pillar unit. Non-triangular hangers, such as hangers only comprising two shoulders, may be stored in the container by being trapped between the container wall and the pillars, but not extending around the pillars. The clothes hanger storage device may be adapted to be hung from a door, stored underneath a counter or in a closet, or attached to the door of a cabinet. In an optional embodiment, the container may be fitted with a releasable lid that fits over the top of the container. The preferred lid may be moved to a dispensing position, which leaves room between the container and the lid through which one or more hangers may be removed. | 0 |
GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DAAK-10-78-C-0027 awarded by the Department of the Army.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to fin assemblies and, in particular, to assemblies having a plurality of fins that rotate from a folded to an extended position during flight.
It is desirable to stabilize a projectile that is fired from a gun tube. One known technique for projectile stabilization is to provide rifling on the inside of the gun tube to impart a spin to the projectile as it is launched through the gun tube. Other known projectiles have included fins that stabilize the projectile by either preventing yaw aerodynamically or by also imparting a spin to the projectile. Such spin ameliorates any deviations from axisymmetrical weight distribution. By rotating the projectile at an appropriate speed, these weight imbalances can be compensated.
A risk when including moving parts on a gun-fired projectile is the danger that these moving parts will be damaged by the extreme forces applied during setback. These is the possibility that a moving part will either move prematurely or its joints will be damaged during setback.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved fin assembly for stabilizing a projectile without running the risk of damaging moving parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the illustrative embodiments demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided a fin assembly adapted for rear mounting on a projectile. The assembly includes a body having a longitudinal axis. The body has a front adapted for mounting to the projectile. The assembly includes a plurality of angularly spaced fins, pivotally mounted on the body for rotating outwardly from an axial to an extended position. Each of the fins has a pivot point and a center of gravity. The center of gravity for each fin in the axial position, is spaced radially inward from the pivot point, and the fin hub of the body has fin retention grooves or slots formed therein for lateral stabilization of the fins in their initial vented positions. The fin retention grooves or slots assure that the fins are not twisted, dislodged or subjected to excessive force during firing.
The fins are mounted in such a way that their center of gravity is radially inward from their pivot points when folded. Thus during setback, axial forces tend to drive the fins inwardly. Thus the fins are kept cradled in their supporting slot and do not tend to deploy prematurely. Of course, premature deployment could cause a fin to extend and bear against the gun tube. Thus premature extension would result in excessive forces that would likely damage the fin.
The preferred fins are bevelled on one side of their leading edges to spin the projectile in a predetermined direction. The outer part of the leading and trailing edges are swept to provide appropriate aerodynamics characteristics and also to assure an appropriate fit inside the body slots.
In the preferred embodiment each fin is pivoted between a pair of parallel tabs. The fin can be mounted by a screw and bushing or other appropriate means to provide a rigid and reliable mount.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above brief description as well as other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiments in accordance with the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fin assembly mounted on a projectile in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows the fin assembly and projectile of FIG. 1 while in flight;
FIG. 3 is an end view of the body of the fin assembly of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an axially sectioned view along lines 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a side view of one of the fins of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a side view along line 6--6 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is an end view along lines 7--7 of FIG. 5; and
FIGS. 8-11 illustrate additional modifications of the invention where a fin retention groove is formed in a fin hub of a projectile body (FIG. 11 is believed to be in the prior art).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a projectile P having mounted to its rear, fin assembly FA. Assembly FA includes a body 10 having projecting from its aft section a plurality of tabs 12. Tabs 12 are shown as a parallel pair of tabs. Mounted between each pair is one of a plurality of fins 14. Fins 14 are pivotally secured with screws S and bushing (not shown).
The combined projectile P and fin assembly FA is mounted into a cartridge case 16, which may be filled with a propellant (not shown). After the entire cartridge assembly of FIG. 1 is loaded into a gun tube, the propellant may be ignited to propel the projectile P and fin assembly FA in a well understood manner.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, previously illustrated body 10 is shown having a fin hub including a midsection 18 integral with a flared front section 20. Front section 20 includes a generally frusto-conical portion having six slots 22, disposed equiangularly, that is, every 60 degrees. (See also slots 22 in FIG. 1.) Slots 22 are shown cutting only into the flared portion of front section 20, but in other embodiments the slot may continue into the midsection 18. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the front section 20 need not be slotted, but may include holders, clips or tabs of various types for embracing the fins in a folded position. The end 24 of section 20 is generally cylindrical with external threads for mounting body 10 onto the previously mentioned projectile.
Tabs 12 are shown arranged in six pairs equiangularly distributed every 60 degrees. Each tab 12 has a mounting hole 28 that acts as a pivot point. As explained hereinafter, hole 28 provides a pivot point that is at a position that is more radially remote than the center of gravity of a fin that is mounted on tab 12 and placed in a folded position. Each tab has on its outside face a leading bevel 30. An outer portion 32 of the leading bevel is shown swept back. The tab 12 also has a trailing bevel 34.
Referring to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, fin 14 is shown with a leading edge with a bevelled middle portion 36. A bevelled distal portion 38 is shown swept back. A trailing edge 40 is also shown bevelled. In this embodiment, an inner portion 42 of the leading edge is also shown bevelled, but at a steeper angle. The outside portion 46 of the trailing edge 44 is shown swept forward to intercept the swept distal portion 38.
Hole 48 acts as a pivot point for fin 14. The inner end of fin 14 has a square butt 44 that is at right angles to the length of fin 14. The forward corner of butt 44 is rounded. Accordingly, fin 14 is free to rotate until it extends at approximately a right angle to the flight path, at which time butt 44 will engage the previously illustrated body to prevent further rotation.
To facilitate an understanding of the principles associated with the foregoing apparatus, its operation will now be briefly described. Before firing, body 10 is threaded onto projectile P with the fins 14 folded as shown in FIG. 1. Consequently, fins 14 have their leading swept portion 38 lodged in slots 22 (FIG. 4) to support them during setback. Cartridge case 16 is partially filled with propellant which surrounds fin assembly FA. The cartridge case 16 is sealed to the projectile P to form a readily transportable round.
This round can be loaded into a gun tube (not shown) and fired in a conventional manner. A fuze assembly (also not shown) can be mounted in the base of cartridge case 16 for this purpose. Upon ignition, the propellant is quickly consumed to cause extreme pressure that bears against the projectile P and fin assembly FA, driving them along the gun tube.
During setback rather high pressure is applied to all of the components of fin assembly FA. Also the consequentially high forward acceleration places significant stress on the screws S holding fin assembly FA together. This stress, however, is moderated by the fact that the swept leading edge 38 of each fin is supported by slots 22. Also, because the center of gravity of each fin 14 when folded is disposed radially inward with respect to the pivot point of each screw S, the acceleration forces tend to hold the fins 14 against the body 10.
As the projectile travels through the gun tube, leaving the cartridge case 16 behind, there is no tendency for fins 14 to deploy and destructively engage the inside surface of the gun tube.
Once the projectile P leaves the gun muzzle (not shown) air turbulence naturally bears on fins 14 driving them outwardly as shown in FIG. 2. Thus fins 14 rotate about screws S until butt 44 (FIG. 5) comes into contact with body 10, at which time fins 14 can no longer rotate and then stay deployed with their lengths approximately perpendicular to the length of body 10.
Fins 14 are installed with the bevel on their leading edge 36 facing in a counterclockwise direction to cause clockwise rotation (when viewed from the rear). Thus as the projectile with its fins extended as shown in FIG. 2 travels, the aerodynamic effect of the bevel spins projectile P. Such spinning insures any weight asymmetries are balanced by the spinning phenomenon.
It is to be appreciated that various modifications may be implemented with respect to the above described preferred embodiments. For example, the fins 14 can be reshaped so that the sweep can be modified or eliminated. In addition, the angle of the beveling can be altered depending upon aerodynamic considerations. While the tabs supporting the fins are shown aerodynamically beveled, in other embodiments such beveling may be altered or eliminated. In addition, the shape of the body can be altered to match the amount of sweeping designed into the corresponding fin. While a threaded front end is shown, the body may have alternate means of connecting to the projectile. Furthermore, the type of projectile can be varied and include various pay loads. In addition, the number and placement of fins can be changed, depending upon aerodynamic considerations. Also, the fins can deploy by turning through an angle other than 90 degrees and if an angle greater than 90 degrees is employed, this feature may cause the leading edge of the fin to be effectively swept back. In such an embodiment or others embodiments, the mid portions of the leading and trailing edges need not be parallel. Also, the body supporting the fins can be fabricated from a plurality of discrete elements or can be machined from unitary cylindrical stock.
FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are various modifications illustrating the general invention. In each of these, a fin retention groove is formed in a fin hub of the projectile body. FIG. 11 shows a believed prior art practice which includes lateral retention tabs which extend radially on opposite sides of the fin in its initial folded position. The Figures show how a fin 51, can fold along a fin mount 52, for retention into fin grooves 53, in a fin hub 50 (part of the body of a projectile). In FIG. 11, a tab arrangement is used for fin retention.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the spirit and scope of the disclosure, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described, and also includes therein all substitutions, modifications or variations as may occur to one skilled in this art. | A fin assembly is adapted for rear mounting on a projectile. The assembly s a body with a longitudinal axis and a front adapted for mounting to the projectile. A plurality of angularly spaced fins are pivotally mounted on the body for rotating outwardly from an axial to an extended position. Each of these fins has a pivot point and a center of gravity. The center of gravity for each fin in the axial position is spaced radially inward from the pivot point. Slots formed within the projectile body aid in retaining the fins in their axial position. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing a flat spiral link assembly in which left-hand and right-hand heices are alternately meshed and interlocked by pintle wires so that each pintle wire is disposed in the passages formed by the overlap of at least three helices. The helices are produced from synthetic resin monofilament and conventionally have an oval cross section.
According to German Patent DE-A No. 2,938,221, the helices generally do not exhibit any tension or compression spring bias, i.e., when taken out of the assembly they retain the pitch they have in the spiral link assembly. Spiral link assemblies in which each pintle wire is disposed in the interior of at least three helices or, in other words, in which at least three pintle wires are disposed in the interior of each helix are known from EP-A No. 18,200; GB-A No. 19,045; DE-A No. 3,416,234; U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,030; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,856, and DE-A No. 3,402,620. A similar spiral link assembly is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,366, but in this patent all the helices are wound in the same sense of direction and the winding arcs of the helices are mutually intertwined, thereby holding between them the pintle wire.
Helices made of synthetic resin monofilament are normally wound in closely packed windings since only in this state can they be stored in cans or containers. They have a pitch corresponding to twice the diameter of the synthetic resin monofilament. If helices are made with a higher pitch, there is the risk that they will become inextricably entangled in the storage container. While conventional spiral link belts, such as disclosed in German De-A No. 2,938,221, in which each helix encloses only two pintle wires, can be made from narrowly wound helices and also from helices having a pitch corresponding to twice the diameter of the synthetic resin monofilament, i.e., a pitch which later on results automatically in the spiral link belt, spiral link belts in which each helix encloses at least three pintle wires cannot be made from narrowly wound helices since the meshing helices would develop such a high contractive force that after assembly they could only be shifted relative to their longitudinal axes with great difficulty and then the insertion of the pintle wires into spiral link belts of greater width would become impossible. For such spiral link belts it therefore has hitherto been possible only to produce the helices on the winding machine with accordingly high pitch and then to directly feed the helices to the assembling device where the helices are then meshed. Intermediate storage was not possible because then the helices would have become entangled in an inextricable mess.
Apparatus for meshing a plurality of helices and for inserting the pintle wires are known from EP-A No. 36,972 and EP-A No. 54,930, and WO No. 82/03097. However, in these embodiments each pintle wire connects only two helices each. These apparatus are not suited to produce spiral link assemblies from helices of high pitch, i.e., of spiral link assemblies with three or more pintle wires passing through each helix.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has the object of providing a method of producing spiral link assemblies in which three or more pintle wires pass through each helix without the need of feeding the helices directly from the helix winding machine, and an apparatus for carrying out such a method.
The object of the present invention is realized by simultaneously supplying at least two left-hand and two right-hand helices closely wound winding to winding by stretching the helices prior to assembly at least three times their length and thermosetting the helices in stretched condition.
The present invention offers the advantages of permitting economical and efficient manufacture of such spiral link belts. In the manufacture of spiral link belts with only two pintle wires within each helix, the helices, after having been made to mesh in zipper fashion already exhibit a certain coherence due to the widening of the winding heads and can be handled in this form. Helices having a pitch equal to three times the helix wire diameter, as used in the method of this invention will come apart again immediately unless secured by pintle wires and therefore are difficult to handle. The method of the invention eliminates this problem in that the helices are stretched to the required pitch in a continuous process, meshed, and connected by pintle wires. The method of the invention is suited for the production of spiral link assemblies of an even number of helices, e.g., four, six, or eight helices.
The helices preferably consist of monofilaments of a thermosettable synthetic resin. The synthetic resin is selected according to the end use of the spiral link belt. In general polyester or polyamide monofilament is used for the helices. The helices may alternatingly consist of different materials, e.g., alternatively of polyester monofilament and polyamide-6,6 monofilament. Hellices of multifilament may also be used and in that case the helices may consist alternatingly of monofilimentary wire and multifilimentary wire.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view showing a first form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective schematic view showing a second form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic view showing a third form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic view showing a third form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective schematic view showing a fourth form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective schematic view showing a fifth form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective schematic view showing a sixth form of an apparatus for producing a spiral link assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective schematic view showing the shunt for meshing the helices in which, for reasons of clarity, the upper draw-off roll is omitted and the passages in the shunt not visible from the outside are shown in broken lines.
FIG. 8 is a perspective schematic view showing the front end of the passageway receiving the spiral link assembly during the introduction of the pintle wires.
FIG. 9 is a section view taken along the line A-B in FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conveyor spindle.
FIG. 11 is a section along line 11--11 in FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a section through a twin conveyor spindle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, two left-hand helices 1 and two right-hand helices 1' are withdrawn from containers 2 in which they are loosely deposited. The left-hand and right-hand helices 1 and 1' are wound closely, winding to winding, and in this state they are deposited and stored in containers 2. Closely wound helices can be withdrawn without the risk that the helices become entangled. The helices 1 and 1' are withdrawn without the risk that the helices become entangled. The helices 1 and 1' are withdrawn by feed rolls 3, 3', for example, at a rate V of 1 m/min. The feed rolls 3, 3' are followed by a heating chamber 5 in which the helices are heated to a temperature required for thermosetting. The heating chamber 5 is followed by draw-off rolls 4 and 4' whose surface speed is adjustable at a certain ratio to the surface speed of the feed rolls 3, 3'. In the illustrated example the surface speed of the draw-off rolls 4, 4' is three times the surface speed of the feed rolls 3, 3'. Consequently, in the heating chamber 5 the helices are continuously stretched by the factor 3. From the draw-off rolls 4, 4' the still hot helices 1 pass into a cooling means 6 where the helices are cooled to room temperature.
From the cooling means 6 the helices 1, 1' travel into a shunt 7 where they are meshed in zipper fashion. The shunt 7 consists of a number of tunnels 25 corresponding to the number of helices 1, 1' of a cross section receiving and guiding the helices 1, 1' with minor clearance. The tunnels converge at acute angles and combine to form a channel of about twice the width (FIG. 7) of an individual helix 1, 1'.
A further pair of draw-off rolls 8, 8' coupled mechanically or electrically to the draw-off rolls 4, 4' draws the meshing helices 1, 1' out of the shunt 7 and conveys them into a channel 9 of a height slightly exceeding the minor cross sectional dimension of the helices 1, 1' and of a width about twice the major cross sectional dimension of the helices 1, 1'. The upper roll 8 is omitted in FIG. 7 for better clarity. The channel 9 has a length substantially exceeding the width of the spiral link belt to be produced from the spiral link assemblies to allow for extension of the helices 1, 1' during the insertion of pintle wires 10, When the meshing helices 1, 1' have arrived at the end of the channel 9 the pintle wires 10 are pushed into the helices 1, 1'. The pintle wires 10 are moved by a pair of rolls 11 in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the helices 1, 1' and are thereby inserted into the passageways formed in the interior of the helices 1, 1' by the overlap thereof. In the illustrated example in which four helices are meshed to form a spiral link assembly two passages are formed by each three helices 1, 1' of overlapping cross sections. If six or eight helices 1, 1' are combined to form a spiral link assembly they form four or six passages, respectively, in the interior of the helices by the mutual overlap of three helices 1, 1' into each of which pintle wires 10 are inserted. Before their insertion into the helices 1, 1' the pintle wires are withdrawn from coils 13 and straightened in a heating chamber 12.
Below or above the channel 9 an extending means 14 is mounted which permits extension of the helix strands 1 and 1' in the X-direction during insertion of the pintle wires 10 (FIGS. 8 and 9). The extension of the helices 1 and 1' in the X-direction amounts to about five percent and is so selected that the pintle wires 10 can be pushed into the helices 1, 1' with a minimum of resistance. The extending means 14 comprises a rotating perforated belt 15, a chain, or a toothed belt, on which a catch 16 is provided. The catch 16 engages the helices and for this purpose its leading end is so designed that it can enter into the pitch of the helices 1, 1'. As will be seen from FIG. 8 the catch 16 is designed in the manner of a relatively low rib extending perpendicularly from the belt 15. In FIG. 1 the catch 16 is designed in the manner of a rake. The perforated belt 15 passes over rolls 17 and 18 driving it at a speed of three times V plus about five percent. The belt 15 is driven by the toothed roll 17 electrically coupled via a timer/regulator unit to the draw-off rolls 8 and 8'. When the helices 1, 1' reach a position above the center of the roll 18, the roll 17 is actuated and drives the belt 15, and the catch 16 engages the leading end of the helices 1, 1' and draw them through the channel 9. Automatic actuation can be effected, for example, by a light barrier, now shown, positioned above the channel 9. By way of a further light barrier the drive of roll 17 is inactivated when the helices 1, 1' have reached their foremost position.
Simultaneously with the elongation of the helices 1, 1' the insertion of the pintle wires 10 commences. As soon as the helices 1, 1' have reached their full length, i.e., when they have reached the forward end of the channel 9, the insertion of the pintle wires 10 by way of rolls 11 is also terminated. The now completed spiral link assembly is cut off at the rear end of the channel 9 by a pneumatically actuated cutter 19. The pintle wires 10 are simultaneously cut off by a means, not shown, between the forward end of the channel 9 and the roll 11, and the belt 15 with the catch 16 is returned to its initial position by the timer/regulator unit. The final spiral link assembly can now be removed from the channel 9 and the working cycle is repeated. A plurality of spiral link assemblies produced in this way can now be likewise combined in zipper fashion by means of their marginal helices and the required number of pintle wires 10 are inserted along the individual junction lines.
Along each junction two pintle wires are inserted and, here too, they are inserted into passages formed by the overlap of three helices in cross section. The individual spiral link assemblies are thereby assembled to form a spiral link belt in the same way as previously done in the assembly of spiral link belts from individual helices.
FIG. 2 shows an example similar to that of FIG. 1 except that the draw-off rolls 4, 4' are disposed between heating chamber 5 and cooling means 6. Therefore, both thermosetting and stretching of the helices 1, 1' takes place between the feed rolls 3, 3' and the draw-off rolls 4, 4'.
In the example of FIG. 3 heating chamber 5 and cooling means 6 are also arranged in direct succession, and within the heating chamber 5 embossing rolls 20, 20' are provided which have a surface making positive engagement with the right-hand and left-hand helices 1, 1'. The embossing rolls 20, 20' are coupled mechanically or electrically to the feed rolls 3, 3' and the draw-off rolls 4, 4' and 8, 8'. The embossing rolls 20, 20' rotate at equal surface speeds, which is about three times the surface speed of the feed rolls 3, 3'.
The example illustrated by FIG. 4 is suited especially for helices made from monofilaments of larger diameter because the latter requires longer exposure to heat up the helices 1, 1' to be stretched. The cooling means 6 in this example is disposed downstream of the draw-off rolls 4, 4' so that the helices are cooled after having passed through the nip of draw-off rolls 4, 4'. The embossing rolls 20, 20' are again arranged within the heating chamber 5.
In the example shown in FIG. 5 the feed rolls are replaced by revolving belts 22, 22' with chain-like toothing withdrawing the helices from the containers 2 and forwarding them to revolving belts 23, 23' within the heating chamber 5. The belts 22, 22' and 23, 23' are made of heat resistant material. The belts 23, 23' at the same time replace the draw-off rolls 4, 4' so that the cooling means 6 is arranged directly behind the heating chamber 5. The cooling means 6 is followed by the shunt 7 from which the helices 1, 1' are withdrawn by the draw-off rolls 8, 8'. The means for driving the belts 22, 22' and 23, 23' are mechanically or electrically coupled so that predetermined fixed speed ratios can be adjusted. The surface speeds of the draw-off rolls 8, 8' and of the belts 23, 23' are equal and are three times the surface speed of the belts 22, 22'.
The example of FIG. 6 is substantially identical with that of FIG. 2. However, in the heating chamber 5 conveyor screws or spindles 24, 24' are provided which stretch the helices 1, 1' to the desired length while the latter are being heated and thus increase the pitch of the helices 1, 1' in the desired manner. The conveyor spindles 24, 24' are arranged horizontally in the heating chamber 5 and their pitch is so selected that it corresponds to the desired pitch of the helices 1, 1'. For each helix 1, 1' an upper conveyor spindle 24 and a lower conveyor spindle 24' are provided which grasp the helices 1, 1' between them. The helices are withdrawn from the heating chamber 5 through the cooling means 6 and through the shunt 7 by the draw-off rolls 8, 8'. For smooth operation of the apparatus it is important that a predetermined pitch is precisely imparted to the helices 1, 1'. Preferably the helices 1, 1' are also advanced through the cooling means 6 by way of conveyor screws or spindles. Suitably, the conveyor screws or spindles 24, 24' extend from the entrance into the heating chamber 5 to the exit from the cooling means 6, so that the helices 1, 1' are advanced by one conveyor spindle 24, 24' through the heating chamber 5 and the cooling means 6.
FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conveyor spindle 24. The conveyor screw or spindle 24 has a diameter of 46 mm and 15 turns, for example. It is installed in a heat treating chamber comprising a heating zone 25 and a cooling zone 26. The direction of advance in FIG. 10 is from left to right and is indicated by arrows. From FIG. 10 it is discernible that the oncoming helix 1 is wound in closely packed right-hand windings. The conveyor spindle 24 has left-hand threads. From the section shown in FIG. 11 it can be seen that the helix 1 is advanced along a path confined on the underside by the screw turns of the conveyor spindle 24 and on the upper side by a top guide 27 in the form of a simple guide rail. The top guide 27 is omitted in FIG. 10 for clarity reasons. The top guide 27 extends along the entire length of the conveyor spindle 24. On the sides the helix 1 is guided by nozzles 28. The nozzles 28 serve for lateral guidance of the helix 1 and, furthermore, serve to heat and cool the helix 1 by blowing hot air or cold air, respectively, through nozzle passages 29 about the first half to three fourths of the conveyor spindle 24 to form the heating zone 25 within which hot air or hot gas flows through the nozzle passages 29 to the helix 1, thereby heating the same to the heat setting temperature. After a short transitional region 30 the cooling zone 26 follows the heating zone 25 occupying up to one fourth of the length of the conveyor spindle 24. In the cooling zone 26 air of room temperature or cool air is directed through the nozzle passages 29 onto the helix 1.
The use of such a conveyor screw 24 obviates the feed rolls 3 and the draw-off rolls 4. While FIGS. 10 and 11 show a conveyor means which forwards each helix 1, 1' by an individual conveyor screw or spindle 24, in the conveyor means shown in FIG. 12, lower and upper conveyor screw or spindles 24, 24' are associated with each helix 1, 1'. A right-hand helix is carried along by two left-hand conveyor spindles 24, 24' and, vice versa, a left-hand helix is carried along by two right-hand conveyor spindles 24, 24'. Right-hand conveyor spindles, in this system, perform a left-hand rotation, and left-hand conveyor spindles perform a right-hand rotation, and the two conveyor spindles of a conveyor means rotate in the same direction. After disengaging from the conveyor spindle 24, 24' the helices 1, 1' are meshed in the shunt 7, as described in the preceding examples.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof it will be understood by those in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | The method produces a flat spiral link assembly from at least four synthetic resin monofilament helices wound winding to winding which are simultaneously supplied for meshing engagement. Before being meshed the helices are stretched to at least three times their length and are thermoset in stretched condition. The alternatingly right-hand and left-hand helices are caused to mesh in zipper fashion and are interlocked by pintle wires. In order to facilitate the insertion of the pintle wires the helices are extended by about five percent. The apparatus for performing the method comprises two feed rolls forming a first roll nip through which helices are passed to a heating chamber. Draw-off rolls withdraw the helices from the heating chamber at least at three times the peripheral speed of the feed rolls. The apparatus also comprises a shunt for joining the helices and a device for inserting the pintle wires. | 3 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to systems for wireless delivery of media content to mobile devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to wireless delivery of media contextual content to mobile devices that is relevant to media content streamed or served to a user concurrently.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Downloads of content, particularly ringtones and games, have been a profitable means for obtaining additional revenue for mobile operators. Content for mobile devices has been sold to end users via dedicated storefronts. For example, content has been sold via a storefront available on the “wireless deck” (or portal) resident on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-enabled devices such as mobile or cellular phones when the user opens the wireless browser on the mobile device. Similar content has also been sold on dedicated web portals for downloadable content including polyphonic ringtones, graphics and games. An example of such a web portal is Zingy.com. Such content is typically organized according to various categories and taxonomies (e.g., entertainment, sports, etc.). They are sorted by device type and type of content, such as ringtones, graphics, games.
Premium text messaging allows the mobile customer to pay for content by receiving a text message and having the downloaded content billed on monthly cell phone bills. Jamster, which is a subsidiary of VeriSign, is one of the pioneers in selling mobile content via premium short message service (SMS) shortcodes in which Jamster purchases advertising on television networks and in magazines to promote a specific piece of mobile content. The user sends a text message to a shortcode, such as 75555, along with a promotional code from the advertisement. This text message sends a server request to Jamster, which then directs a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) push message back to the user that, upon being clicked on and opened, facilitates device detection and triggers the download of the content to the mobile device.
The Wireless Application Protocol is a layered protocol making transmissions of WAP content possible over almost any available wireless network. These networks include those based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) among other technologies. WAP-enabled devices include a microbrowser that enables content browsing at a web server that serves requested files in Wireless Markup Language (WML) to the WAP-enabled device via a WAP gateway. Unlike Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that downloads a new HTML file with each link that is clicked on a web page, WML files contain a deck of pages each representing a separate screen.
There is a need for a mobile content delivery system and methods that can access (discover) and deliver media contextual content directly to a user's mobile device during a program broadcast or an interactive online session without the requirement for the user to access an electronic storefront that provides user-selected media content.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to targeting of mobile content based on the context of where and how a user discovers the content. In the case of music videos played as part of a television program, rather than advertising content during commercial breaks, the present invention contextually targets the mobile content to the specific music video as it plays. This “contextual targeting” will lead to a significantly higher frequency of conversions and downloads. Similarly, mobile content can be contextually integrated into a user's online experience, either via an online experience on a computer or mobile device, in which links to the contextual mobile content can be integrated with a search engine or within the content of web pages. The relevance and integration of mobile content with online usages will lead to higher download rates.
Mobile content as used in the present invention refers to any content that can be delivered to a mobile device, including content that is downloaded or streamed. By way of example, mobile content includes, but is not limited to, ringtones, games, graphics, music (e.g., MP3 files), and video. Media contextual content as used herein refers to mobile content that is relevant to content received by a user through any electronic medium, including, but not limited to, a television, a set-top box, a computer, a handheld device and a mobile phone.
In one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device during a media stream broadcast. A media stream in the context of the present invention includes network television, cable television, and satellite transmissions of programming content including music videos, sporting events, news, or any other type of broadcast programming. A media stream broadcast is transmitted to a media stream receiver. During at least a portion of the media stream broadcast, a display on the television or other screen associated with the media stream receiver displays text instructions for enabling a viewer to request media contextual content during transmission of the media stream. A mobile content delivery platform receives a text message from a mobile device complying with the onscreen text messaging instruction and determines if the mobile carrier associated with that mobile device is supported by the mobile content delivery platform and if the requested media contextual content is supported for that mobile device. The media contextual content is then delivered to the mobile device. The text messaging instructions include a short code and an associated text message to be sent by the mobile device to the mobile content delivery platform, or other transmission method which facilitates a request from the mobile device to the mobile content delivery server. The contextual content can include a ringtone, a game, a graphic, an MP3 file or other file format for delivering music, a video file, or any combination thereof.
In another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device in conjunction with a search request directed to an online search engine. The search request is received by the search engine, which transmits a response to the search request, including a hyperlink to relevant media contextual content. The user then transmits a request for specific media contextual content, which is received by the mobile content delivery platform. If the mobile content delivery platform determines that the associated mobile carrier is supported, the media contextual content is delivered to the mobile device.
In another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device in conjunction with the serving of a web page to a user. The web page served to the user contains content (e.g., entertainment news, sports news, etc.) including a keyword hyperlink to media contextual content. The hyperlinks are displayed based on the content of the web page. The user can click on the keyword hyperlink to request specific media contextual content. The request is received at the mobile content delivery platform, which then presents a purchase information display to the user. The media contextual content is delivered to the mobile device in response to a purchase request. The keyword hyperlink can be appended to content on the served web page or can be embedded into the content on the web page. The keyword hyperlink appended to the web page can also be localized based on a user profile. The web page, including the keyword hyperlink can be served to a mobile device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer or other web-enabled device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is better understood by reading the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 illustrates the processing logic for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device during a media screen broadcast in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates the processing logic for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device in conjunction with a search request directed to an online search engine in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate text messaging instructions displayed concurrently with a content broadcast in a screen pop-up in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate exemplary displays having media contextual content hyperlinks in a response to a user's search query using a search engine.
FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate exemplary screen displays of media contextual links that are associated with the user's search request.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary screen display for enabling a user to purchase various items of media contextual content.
FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate exemplary displays of content on a web-enabled device in which key words representing media contextual content are attached to articles displayed on the device.
FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary display of content on a web-enabled device in which key words representing media contextual content are embedded in the displayed content.
FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary display of content delivered to a web-enabled device in which the keyword attached to the content is localized based on the user's profile.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description of the invention is provided as an enabling teaching of the invention in its best, prominently known embodiment. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that many changes can be made to the embodiments described, while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present invention. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present invention can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present invention without utilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations to the present invention are possible and may even be desirable in certain circumstances, and are a part of the present invention. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present invention and not in limitation thereof, since the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.
In a first embodiment of the invention, contextual content is delivered to mobile devices and targeted to television programming. The contextual content can be ringtones, games, graphics, and is extensible to full-track music downloads such as MP3 files and video files, and which corresponds to the user's specific mobile device. The contextual content delivery is integrated with billing on the wireless carrier's billing statements to a user via premium SMS.
FIG. 1 illustrates the processing logic for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device during a media stream broadcast. Processing starts as indicated in logic block 100 with a broadcaster transmitting a media stream schedule to the mobile content delivery platform of the invention. A media stream broadcast can be a television network broadcast, a cable television program, or a satellite-delivered program, including music videos, sporting events, news, or any other type of broadcast programming. The media stream schedule is downloaded to the mobile content delivery platform server where a ringtone library and other mobile contextual content, such as graphics and games, are stored. According to the program schedule, the media stream is then delivered via a broadcast or cable medium to program viewers as indicated in logic block 108 . The mobile content delivery platform determines if contextual content (e.g., ringtone, game, graphic) is available for any portion of the media stream (e.g., a music video) as indicated in decision block 112 . If contextual content is available, then a screen popup is displayed on the screen associated with a media stream receiver providing instructions for obtaining the media content associated with the program portion as indicated in logic block 116 . The text messaging instruction included in the screen pop-up includes an SMS shortcode, along with the text message to be entered by the user on the user's mobile device. If the viewer of the media stream decides to download the available media contextual content, he sends a text message to the mobile content delivery platform that complies with the instructions in the screen pop-up. The text message is received at the mobile content delivery platform as indicated in logic block 120 . In decision block 124 , the mobile content delivery platform determines if the mobile carrier that is used to send the text message is supported by the platform. If the user's mobile carrier is not supported, the contextual content cannot be delivered to the user's mobile device and processing exits at block 150 . The mobile content delivery platform detects the mobile device type that is being used to send the text message as indicated in logic block 128 . The mobile device type represents the specific manufacturer of the mobile device and a specific model. If there is a match between the mobile device type and the contextual content as determined in decision block 132 , the contextual content is delivered over the air (“OTA”) to the user's mobile device as indicated in logic block 136 . Concurrently, the delivery of the contextual content to the user is billed to the user's mobile device account as indicated in logic block 140 . In decision block 132 , if it is determined that contextual content is not available for the detected mobile device type, the mobile content delivery platform delivers merchandise offers to the user based on content that is similar to the originally requested content as indicated in logic block 144 .
FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate exemplary displays presented on a media stream receiver display during broadcast of the media stream. In these exemplary displays, the media stream receiver is a television and the media stream includes music videos. FIG. 3A depicts a scene from broadcast of a music video performed by performance artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson on the BET network in which the pop-up indicates the instructions to obtain the ringtone associated with the music video. The shortcode to which the text message (50c1) is to be sent is also shown on the pop-up (e.g., 238 88). FIG. 3B illustrates another example of a scene from a Green Day music video broadcast on MTV with the text messaging instructions (text GD1) including the shortcode (e.g., 688 88). If the text message from the mobile device passes compatibility tests for the wireless carrier and mobile device type, the ringtone is downloaded to the mobile device and billed to the user's mobile device account.
In another embodiment of the invention, when a user conducts a search on a web-based search engine (e.g., Ask.com), such as a search for “Led Zeppelin,” there is an integration with the mobile content delivery platform to search for any content relevant to Led Zeppelin. If there is a match, the search results display a link to “Get the Ask Jeeves ring tone for Led Zeppelin” or a similar link. Unlike sponsor links currently available on search engines, the present invention is targeted to “mobile” content (i.e., contextual content that can be delivered to a mobile device). In addition, unlike sponsor links currently available on search engines, the method involves integration between the search engine and the mobile content delivery platform, and the search engine receives a share of revenues from actual downloads of content to mobile devices, rather than revenues from each click on the link to content. While this embodiment involves integration into an online site instead of television, it also changes the content discovery paradigm to one that is contextual and integrated into an existing media distribution point.
FIG. 2 illustrates the processing logic for delivering media contextual content to a mobile device in conjunction with a search request directed to an online search engine. The present invention can interoperate with any web-based search engine such as Ask Jeeves, Yahoo and Google. Processing starts in logic block 200 with the mobile content delivery platform associating search request keywords with relevant media contextual content. The association can link popular search keywords such as movie titles, entertainers, athletes, etc., with media contextual content relevant to the key words. The media contextual content can include ringtones, graphics, games, and MP3 files that are associated with the particular key words used. In logic block 204 , a user transmits a search request to a search engine such as Ask Jeeves. In decision block 208 , the mobile content delivery platform determines whether contextual content is available based on the keyword search request. If contextual content is available, the search engine returns search results to the user that includes hyperlinks to the media contextual content as indicated in logic block 212 .
Next, as indicated in logic block 216 , the mobile content delivery platform receives a request from the user for media contextual content. The mobile content delivery platform determines carrier and phone compatibility as indicated in logic block 220 . In decision block 224 , the mobile content delivery platform determines if the mobile carrier is supported. If the mobile carrier is not supported, the media contextual content cannot be delivered to the mobile device and processing ends as indicated in block 250 . The mobile content delivery platform detects the mobile device type as indicated in logic block 228 . The mobile content delivery platform then determines if the request for contextual content can be delivered to the detected mobile device type as indicated in decision block 232 . If the content is found to be deliverable, the contextual content is delivered over the air to the mobile device as indicated in logic block 236 . The contextual content download is concurrently billed to the user's mobile device account as indicated in logic block 240 . If a product match is not found between the media contextual content and the mobile device type in decision block 232 , the mobile content delivery platform delivers merchandise offers to the user as indicated in logic block 244 .
FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate exemplary windows 400 , 420 , 430 having media contextual content hyperlinks included in a response to a user's search query using a search engine. In window 400 , depicted in FIG. 4A , a user has entered a search query for “Star Wars” in the search box 405 for the Ask.com portal. In window 410 , depicted in FIG. 4B , a screen display resulting from the user's selection of a particular search result is shown. In this example, the user has selected “Star Wars Episode III.” The screen display 410 is similar to the customary search result display on Ask.com, but has additional hyperlinks for ringtones, graphics and games on the line 420 labeled “Mobile.” A “Mobile” link 425 has also been added to the Ask.com toolbar 415 . The window 430 shown in FIG. 4C displays the results of a “mobile” ringtone search listing selections that can be downloaded to the user's mobile device. The search results 440 include various polyphonic tones, music tones, sound effects and voice tones.
FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate exemplary windows 510 , 520 having media contextual links that are associated with the user's search request. In FIG. 5A , the user has selected the “Pictures” link 515 on the Ask.com toolbar, and is presented with the display 510 showing picture results 505 and matching mobile content picture results 525 that can be downloaded to the user's mobile device. In FIG. 5B , the user has selected the “Products” link 535 on the Ask.com toolbar, and is presented with the display 520 showing various product categories (e.g., graphics, movies, toys, music, games and related searches) 530 and matching mobile content results (e.g., graphics, ringtones, music and games) 540 that can be downloaded to the user's mobile device.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary display 610 for enabling a user to preview and/or purchase various items of media contextual content. The user has selected the “Mobile” link 615 on the Ask.com toolbar and is presented with the display 610 that includes matching mobile ringtones 620 , mobile graphics 625 and mobile games 630 that can be downloaded to the user's mobile device.
In another embodiment of the invention, links to purchase and download “mobile” content can be displayed on web pages based on contextual relevance. The web pages can be both online/hypertext markup language (HTML), and wireless/WAP pages. The mobile content delivery platform of the present invention analyzes the content of a web page, and based on the content displayed on that page, provides a list of contextually relevant links to enable the user to purchase and download mobile contextual content. As an example, on a web page that contains a news article about a particular performance artist, the mobile content delivery platform would provide the content publisher with links to purchase ringtones or graphics or other mobile content that are associated with the performance artist.
FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate exemplary displays 710 , 770 of content on a web-enabled device in which keywords representing media contextual content are attached to articles displayed on the device. In FIG. 7A , an exemplary display 710 of an entertainment news article is presented to a subscriber to the Alltel portal on a mobile device using WML. Following the news article, the user has the options to view a previous article 715 or the next article 720 available on the portal. In FIG. 7B , a mobile content keyword search based on the article headline 730 results in media contextual content links 735 , 740 being appended to the news article 770 . The keyword content link will appear before the previous article/next article links. Selecting keyword link 735 results in media content detail display 745 (e.g., ringtone detail, including title, artist, ringtone type, price and purchase link). There is also a link to further relevant media content that results in the further display 755 . Likewise, selecting keyword link 740 results in media content detail display 750 and further search results 760 .
FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary display of content 810 on a web-enabled device in which keywords representing media contextual content are embedded in the displayed content. In the article display 810 accessed on the Alltel portal and presented on a mobile device to a non-subscriber, the headline 815 includes a hyperlink that can be selected to access mobile content search results 825 . The search results 825 include various ringtones that can be downloaded to the user's mobile device. Also shown in display 810 is a link 820 to information 830 on subscribing to news article on the Alltel portal.
FIG. 9 illustrate exemplary displays of content 900 , 930 delivered to a web-enabled device in which the mobile content keyword link 915 , 935 attached to the content is localized based on the user's profile information gathered on a web portal. For example, the sports news article 900 delivered to a New York area subscriber would have a link 915 to the mobile contextual content for the New York team that is a subject of the news article. Likewise, the same sports news article 930 delivered to a Boston area subscriber would have a link 935 to the mobile contextual content for the Boston team that is a subject of the news article. Selecting links 915 or 935 , as appropriate, would results in the additional search results 920 , 940 , respectively.
The mobile content delivery platform of the present invention has been described as computer-implemented processes. It is important to note, however, that those skilled in the art will appreciated that the mechanisms of the present invention are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media utilized to carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, without limitation, recordable-type media such as diskettes or CD ROMs, and transmission type media such as analog or digital communications links.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means plus function elements in any claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or acts for performing the function in combination with other claim elements as specifically claimed.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications to the exemplary embodiment are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, it is possible to use some of the features of the present invention without the corresponding use of the other features. Accordingly, the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment is provided for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present invention and not in limitation thereof since the scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appended claims. | A system and methods for targeting mobile content to a mobile device based on the context of where and how a user discovers the content. Instead of advertising content during commercial breaks of a television program, the invention contextually targets the mobile content to specific program content (e.g., music video) as it is being broadcast in the form of a screen pop-up containing text messaging instructions to obtain the mobile content concurrently with, or following the broadcast of the specific program content. Such “contextual targeting” leads to a significantly higher frequency and profitability of conversions and downloads. Similarly, the invention contextually integrates mobile content into a user's online experience using a web-enabled device in which the contextual content can be integrated with a search engine or a contextual link can be placed on web pages that are served to the user. | 7 |
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 810,513, filed Dec. 18, 1985, and now abandoned.
The present invention involves a method for suppression of excess immune reaction, produced iatrogenically or autochthonously in a subject, via administration of ciamexone, i.e., (2-cyano-1-[2-methoxy-6-methylpyridin-3-yl)-methyl]-aziridine. This compound is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,532 (Bosies, et al.), which discloses N-substituted aziridine-2-carboxylic acid derivatives in general, and which is incorporated by reference herein. Also incorporated by reference is U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,848, also to Bosies, et al. which also teaches N-substituted aziridine-2-carboxylic acids.
The surprising feature of this invention is that ciamexone has been found to work as an immunosuppressant.
Both the '532 and '848 patents describe the compounds referred to therein as immunostimulants.
It is important to understand the meaning of the terms "immunostimulant" and "immunosuppressant" as employed herein. "Immunostimulants" are substances which strengthen normal or suppressed immune systems in a specific manner such as by activating macrophages, T-lymphocytes, or B-lymphocytes. Immunostimulation is desirable whenever a stronger immunological response is necessary.
"Immunosuppression" on the other hand, involves suppression of immune reactions. Such suppression is dosage related, and involves all immunecompetent cells. An example of an immunosuppressant is cyclosporin (i.e., "Cyclosporin A), which suppresses adjuvant T-lymphocytes, as well as other T-lymphocytic immune reactions, and, when administered in large dosages, immune processes which are not T-cell related.
Yet a third group of drugs which act on the immune system are the immunomodulators. This last group strengthens some immune reactions, but suppresses others. Immunomodulation is extremely difficult to provie experimentally. See, e.g., Kirk Othmer: Encyclopedia of Chem. Tech. 13: 171 et seq. (1981; John Wiley and Son, N.Y.).
Immunosuppression, as defined herein, is useful, e.g., in preventing the body's normal rejection response to grafts of foreign tissue. Additionally, immunostimulation is desirable in connection with diseases which involve elevated levels of antibody production or monocyte-lymphocyte reactivity, occurring as a result of a hyperreactive immunoregulatory network. Such hyperreactivity is associated very closely with auto-immune diseases. See, in this regard, Mellbye, et al. Clin. Exp. Immunol 8: 889 (1971), (rheumatoid arthritis); Tourtellote, et al., Science 154: 1044 (1966) (multiple sclerosis); Abdou, et al., Clin, Immunol Immunopath 6: 192 (1976) (systemic lupus erythematosis); Witeboky, et al., J. Immunol 103: 708 (1969) (thyroiditis); Sharp, et al., Am. J. Med. 52: 148 (1972) (mixed connective tissue disease); Venables, et al., Ann. Rheum. Dis. 40: 217 (1981) (dermato/poly-myositis); Charles, et al., J. Immunol 130: 1189 (1983) (insulin dependent diabetes).
An immunosuppressant, if it is to be useful, must suppress only pathologically augmented immune processes. Suppression of normal immune processes, or immune processes that are functioning at levels below normal, such as in ARC/HIV infected persons, can be fatal.
Hence it is an object of this invention to provide a method for selectively immunosuppressing pathologically augmented immune processes without affecting other immune processes, by administering an immunosuppressive effective amount of ciamexone (2-cyano-1-[(2-methoxy-6-methylpyridin-3-yl)-methyl]-aziridine) to a subject, such as a human, in need of selective immunosuppression. The method is useful in treating those conditions associated with hyperreactive immunoactivity, including all of those conditions listed supra. How the objectives of the invention are achieved will become clear in the description which follows.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
It has now been found that ciamexone specifically suppresses excess autochthonic or iatrogenic immune reactions without interfering with normal immunoactivity, in a dosage related manner. It does so by inhibiting excess B-cell proliferation in the subject.
B-cells, it will be recalled, are antibody producers, and are involved in the branch of the immune system known as the humoral immune system, as compared to the cell mediated immune system, principally the domain of T-cells.
B-cell proliferation is caused by B-cell growth factor; hence, it may be said that ciamexone suppresses BCGF-induced B-cell proliferation.
B-cell proliferation requires stimulation of resting B-cells. This stimulus involves two signals. See, e.g., Falkoff, et al., J. Immunol 129: 97 (1982); Ford, et al., Nature 294: 261 (1981); Maizel, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 5047 (1983); Kehrl, et al., Immunol. Rev. 78: 75 (1984). The first signal is an activation signal, mediated by an antigen, e.g. The activation signal results ultimately in expression of cell surface receptors for BCGF by the B-cells. BCGF is known as a soluble, T-cell derived lymphokine, having a molecular weight of from 17,000 to 18,000. See, e.g., Muraguchi, et al., J. Immunol 129: 2486 (1982); Butler, et al., J. Immunol. 133: 251 (1984); Maizel, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79: 5998 (1982). Expression of BCGF receptors provides the B-cell with the capacity to respond to the proliferation signal delivered by the BCGF. Thus, normal B-cells are driven from resting state to proliferative state by this two signal process. See, e.g., Perri, et al., Eur. J. Immunol 16: 350 (1986).
An experimental model which shows the effect of a given substance in an iatrogenically or autochthonously induced overshooting immune reaction is the local graft vs. host (GvH) reaction in mice, or the local host versus graft (HvG) reaction. This model was used in the following experiments, which showed that ciamexone suppresses hyperreactive immune systems by suppressing B-cell proliferation.
EXAMPLE
Local GvH reactions were induced in (C57B1/6×Balb/c)F1 hybrid mice by injecting 5×10 6 parental (Balb/c) spleen cells into the foot pad of one hind leg. As a control, the same number of F1 spleen cells were injected into the control foot pad on the contralateral side. To study local HvG reactions, the same protocol is followed for parental Balb/c mice, only now the test foot pad was injected with spleen cells of the hybrid F1 mice, and the control was spleen cells of parental generation mice (Balb/c). The same number was used.
The existence and extent of either GvH or HvG reaction was measured using the popliteal lymph node assay. On either the fifth day (for the GvH reaction), or the third day (for the HvG reaction) after the injection of the foreign cells, the subjects popliteal lymph nodes were removed and weighed. Weight increase of the node on the experimental side as compared to the weight of the node on the control side shows the extent of the reaction of the immune cells to the foreign tissue, it being understood that increases in lymph node size result from B-cell proliferation. In order to test the drug ciamexone, it was administered to the animals at daily doses of 0.1 to 100 mg/kg, and compared to cyclosporin, administered in the same dosage. The treatment period was either for two days (for HvG tests), or four days (for GvH tests), i.e. one day before animal sacrifice.
______________________________________ Δ Lymph node weight (mg × 10.sup.-1)Dose GvH HvGCompound mg/kg - x s.sub.x.sup.- - x s.sub.x.sup.-______________________________________Control PBS 45.2 8.3 35.5 10.3Ciamexone 0.1 36.3 6.1 35.5 4.8 1.0 25.7 10.5 21.5 4.8 10.0 11.3* 4.1 12.7* 3.1 100.0 3.5* 1.9 7.5* 3.7Control Olive Oil 36.3 8.5 43.3 9.4Ciciosporin 0.1 35.7 10.8 36.2 6.0 1.0 17.7* 4.2 26.7* 11.4 10.0 8.5* 3.8 10.7* 5.7 100.0 2.3* 1.6 2.5* 1.9______________________________________ *p ≦ 0.05 (student's ttest)
These results show that ciamexone suppressed the GvH and HvG reaction in the same way as did cyclosporin. This is evidenced by the reduced increase in lymph node size when ciamexone is administered, as compared to the control. Note that the effect is dosage dependent--i.e., as the dose increases, the suppression does also, as is evidenced by the decrease in lymph node weight.
This is direct evidence of the suppression of B-cell proliferation, because it is known that the GvH and HvG models used herein result in the infiltration of B-lymphocytes into the popliteal lymph node. It is this infiltration that causes the weight increase of the node. Other possible modes of suppression are not possible, because the total number of spleen cells in the subject animals did not increase.
For the preparation of pharmaceutical agents, ciamexone is mixed in a manner that in itself with suitable pharmaceutical vehicle substances, granulated if desired, and, for example, pressed to tablets or dragee cores. The mixture can also be packed into capsules. If suitable adjuvants are added, a solution or suspension can be prepared in water or oil (e.g., olive oil) and used to make injection solutions, soft gelatine capsules, syrup or drops.
Since the active substance is acid-labile, the preparations are either provided with a coating that is soluble only in the environment of the small intestine, or adjuvants (antacids, e.g., magnesium oxide) are incorporated into the formulas, which are capable of reducing the stomach acid to a pH above 6.
The solid vehicle substance can be, for example, starches or starch derivatives, sugar, sugar alcohols, celluloses and cellulose derivatives, tensides, talc, highly disperse silicic acids, fatty acids of high molecular weight or their salts, gelatins, agar-agar, calcium phosphate, animal and vegetable fats or waxes, and solid polymers of high molecular weight (such as polyethylene glycols or polyvinyl pyrrolidone) can be used. If liquid active substances are to be made into tablets or capsules, vehicles such as phosphates, carbonates and oxides can also be used in addition to highly disperse silicic acid. Preparations suitable for oral administration can contain flavoring and sweetening substances if desired.
EXAMPLE
An especially suitable medicament as proven to be a film-coated tablet of the following composition:
______________________________________ Weight each [mg]______________________________________ciamexone 100,000lactose.H.sub.2 O 63,000poly(0-carboxymethyl)starch, sodium salt 7,000poly(1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) 25,000 4,000poly(0-carboxymethyl)starch, sodium salt 3,000microcrystalline cellulose 20,000silicon dioxide, highly disperse 1,500magnesium stearate 1,500Core weight 200,000______________________________________
The film-coated tablets are then prepared in the usual manner by film dredging the ciamexone cores.
Film-coated tablets containing, e.g., 10 mg, 50 mg, 200 mg or 500 mg of the active agent are prepared in like manner.
The dosage of the ciamexone active agent depends on the age and sex of the individual and on the kind of treatment that is to be given.
In general about 0.1 to 100 mg of ciamexone per kilogram of body weight is administered daily. Preferred, however, are amounts of 5 to 40 mg/kg of body weight and especially 5 to 20 mg/kg. These amounts of active agent can be administered 1 to 3 times daily.
It will be understood that the specification and examples are illustrative but not limitative of the present invention and that other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. | A method of selectively suppressing the excess immune reaction produced iatrogenically or autochthonously by administering 0.1 to 100 mg of ciamexone per kg of body weight. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to speed-reduction/differential gear apparatuses for motor-driven electric vehicles, and in particular to one which has decreased loss in torque thereby having improved transmission efficiency leading to increased mileage per electric charge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles is typically constituted by a combination of an electric motor, a planetary-gear speed reducer and a planetary-gear differential device. The speed reducer includes an input shaft which is integral with a motor shaft of the electric motor, and the differential device receives speed-reduced output from the speed reducer, as an input (Patent Literature 1).
In the differential device, an output is differentially distributed to two distribution members, i.e., the sun gear and the carrier. At the center of the sun gear, there is inserted and connected a first output shaft. The first output shaft coaxially penetrates the speed reducer's input shaft and the motor shaft which is integral with the reducer input shaft, connects to a motor-side constant-velocity joint, which is connected one of the driving wheels. On the other hand, the carrier is connected to a second output shaft. The second output shaft is connected to a differential-side constant-velocity joint, which is connected to another driving wheel.
In the above-described speed reducer and differential device, needle roller bearings are generally used for pinion gears which are included in the planetary gear mechanisms, as described in Patent Literature 1 and 2. An example is shown in FIG. 7 .
FIG. 7 relates to a support structure for a pinion gear 1 in a speed reducer. A needle roller bearing 3 is placed between the pinion gear 1 and a pinion shaft 2 . The pinion shaft 2 has its two ends supported by a carrier 4 and by a disc region 5 of a differential-side ring gear respectively. Thrust washers 6 , 6 are placed between an end surface of the pinion gear 1 and the carrier 4 , and between another end surface and a disc region 5 . Lubrication to the needle roller bearing 3 is performed through an oil hole 7 which is made in the pinion shaft 2 .
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
Patent Literature 1: JP-A H08-42656 Gazette
Patent Literature 2: JP-A H06-323404 Gazette
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Problem
According to the Patent Literature 1, the speed reducer's planetary gear mechanism has a carrier support structure in which the speed-reducer-side carrier is only connected to a speed-reducer-side pinion pin. In other words, it is not supported by a casing via a bearing. Although the speed-reducer-side carrier is integral with the differential-side ring gear, the differential-side ring gear is engaged only with a differential-side pinion gear.
Therefore, neither the speed-reducer-side carrier nor the differential-side ring gear is not positively positioned at any specific radial locations, and therefore there can be cases where they make eccentric rotation. This also results in tilt, causing undesirable gear engagement which may lead to excessive wear in teeth surface.
In addition, in the support structure for the pinion gear 1 in the speed reducer shown in FIG. 7 , the thrust washers 6 , 6 make contact with end surfaces of the retainer of the needle roller bearing 3 , end surfaces of the pinion gear 1 , the carrier 4 , and the disc region 5 , resulting in slip loss at these regions of contact.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce various losses occurring in the apparatus as described above, thereby to improve transmission efficiency of the driving force and to increase travel distance of the electric vehicle per battery charge.
2. Solution to the Problem
In order to achieve the above-stated object, the present invention provides a speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles, which includes: an electric motor; a planetary-gear speed reducer and a planetary-gear differential device which are disposed coaxially with the motor; a casing which houses the above-mentioned components; and a coaxially disposed first and second output shafts. The first output shaft penetrates a motor shaft of the electric motor, has its two end portions supported by the casing via respective output shaft support bearings. Driving force from the electric motor receives speed reduction by the speed reducer and is outputted to the differential device. The speed-reduced driving force is outputted to two distribution members by the differential device in accordance with a size of load; one of the distribution members is connected with the first output shaft whereas the other of the distribution members is connected with the second output shaft. With the arrangement described above, the speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles further includes a speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing between a speed-reducer-side carrier which constitutes part of a planetary gear mechanism of the speed reducer, and the casing.
According to the arrangement described above, the speed-reducer-side carrier is positively positioned radially, and is prevented from making eccentric rotation. This provides proper mesh between gear teeth, leading to decrease in loss torque.
Specifically, this can be achieved by the following arrangement; the speed-reducer-side carrier has a boss; the speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing is placed between an outer diameter surface of the boss and the casing; and a motor shaft support bearing is placed between an inner diameter surface of the boss and the motor shaft of the electric motor.
Further, there may be another arrangement; interior space of the casing is divided by a partition wall into an electric motor encasing section and a speed reducer and differential device encasing section; the partition wall has a shaft hole through which the motor shaft is inserted; the boss of the speed-reducer-side carrier is inserted between the shaft hole and the motor shaft; and the carrier support bearing is between an outer diameter surface of the boss and the shaft hole.
Also, where the planetary gear mechanism of the speed reducer includes pinion gears and pinion gear shafts, there may be an arrangement that a deep groove ball bearing is placed between each pair of the speed-reducer-side pinion gear and the speed-reducer-side pinion gear shaft. The arrangement enables to supply lubricant oil from a width surface of the deep groove ball bearing. Thus, it is no longer necessary, unlike in cases where a needle roller bearing is utilized, for supplying lubricant from the pinion shaft. Where oil bath lubrication is employed, the above arrangement makes it possible to lower the height of oil surface, which leads to decreased agitation torque of the lubricant oil.
Another arrangement may be that the speed-reducer-side pinion shaft has one end supported by a speed-reducer-side carrier and another end supported by a disc region of a differential-side ring gear; a side plate is placed between the speed-reducer-side carrier and an end surface of an inner ring of the deep groove ball bearing, and a sideplate is placed between a disc region of the differential-side ring gear and another end surface of the inner ring of the deep groove ball bearing.
The side plates as described above do not make sliding contact with the speed-reducer-side pinion gear or bearing's outer ring. This makes it possible to reduce torque loss caused by the sliding contact.
3. Advantageous Effects of the Invention
As understood from the above, the present invention reduces various losses occurring in the apparatus, and therefore the invention is capable of improving transmission efficiency of the driving force and increasing travel distance of the electric vehicle per battery charge.
Another arrangement is that a speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing is placed between a speed-reducer-side carrier which constitute part of the planetary gear mechanism in the speed reducer, and the casing. This provides positive radial positioning and prevents eccentric rotation of the speed-reducer-side carrier. This provides proper mesh between each gear teeth, leading to decrease in loss torque. Actual measurements of the transmission efficiency revealed improvement by a one percent at a maximum.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of Embodiment 1.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the same.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken in lines X 1 -X 1 in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of a speed-reducer-side pinion support structure in Embodiment 1.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a portion of a variation made to the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken in lines X 2 -X 2 in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of a conventional speed-reducer-side pinion support structure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the attached drawings.
Embodiment 1
A speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles according to Embodiment 1 includes, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , an electric motor 11 , a planetary-gear speed reducer 12 and planetary-gear differential device 13 which are disposed coaxially with each other; a casing 14 which houses the above-listed components; and a first output shaft 15 a and a second output shaft 15 b which are disposed coaxially with each other. The first output shaft 15 a is connected to an outer ring 16 (hereinafter called motor-side outer ring 16 ) of a motor-side constant-velocity joint whereas the second output shaft 15 b is connected to an outer ring 17 (hereinafter called differential-side outer ring 17 ) of a differential-side constant-velocity joint.
The motor-side outer ring 16 and the differential-side outer ring 17 respectively have cups 16 a , 17 a and stems 16 b , 17 b . Spaces between the respective pair of cups 16 a , 17 a and the stems 16 b , 17 b are partitioned by cup bottom plates 16 c , 17 c . The stem 16 b and the stem 17 b have axially penetrating serrated holes 18 , 19 respectively.
The first output shaft 15 a penetrates a hollow motor shaft 21 of the electric motor 11 . The first output shaft 15 a has an end on the electric motor 11 side, which is inserted into the serrated hole 18 in the stem 16 b of the motor-side outer ring 16 , thereby integrally connected therewith by serration connection. Further, at the end portion of the stem 16 b where the first output shaft 15 a is inserted, an anti-backoff pin 20 is inserted radially to prevent the first output shaft 15 a from backing off.
Also, the first output shaft 15 a has an end on the differential device 13 side, which is inserted into a bearing hole 48 b made in a boss 48 a in a differential-side carrier 48 to be described later (see FIG. 2 ). Between an inserting end of the second output shaft 15 b and an inner diameter surface of the bearing hole 48 b , there is disposed an output shaft support bearing 22 which is provided by a needle roller bearing.
The casing 14 is an assembly of a motor casing 14 a which houses the electric motor 11 ; a speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b which houses the speed reducer 12 and the differential device 13 ; and a casing lid 14 c on the differential device 13 side.
Each of the motor casing 14 a and the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b has their one end closed and another end open. The closed end of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b is coaxially and sealingly fitted and connected to the open end of the motor casing 14 a whereas the casing lid 14 c is sealingly fitted and connected to the open end of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b.
The closed end of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b serves as a partitioning wall 14 d which divides an interior space of the casing 14 ; i.e. the partitioning wall 14 d divides the space into an encasing section for the electric motor 11 , and an encasing section for the speed reducer 12 and the differential device 13 . The partitioning wall 14 d has a center with a bearing hole 14 e.
The closed end (left end) of the motor casing 14 a has a center with a shaft hole 23 . Inside the shaft hole 23 , there is provided an axially protruding boss 24 . The motor shaft 21 has its end inserted into an inner end's inner diameter surface of the boss 24 , via a motor shaft support bearing 25 , which is provided by a deep-groove ball bearing, disposed between the two members.
At the motor shaft support bearing 25 , the first output shaft 15 a comes out of the end of the motor shaft 21 to protrude to the outside of the motor casing 14 a , and to this protrusion the stem 16 b of the motor-side outer ring 16 is connected. Also, between an inner diameter surface of the boss 24 and the first output shaft 15 a , there is placed a first output shaft support bearing 26 , and on an outer side thereof, an oil seal 27 is provided. The oil seal 27 provides sealing against lubricant oil inside the motor casing 14 a.
The electric motor 11 housed in the motor casing 14 a is constituted by a stator 28 which is fixed to an inner circumferential surface of the motor casing 14 a , and a rotor 29 which is inside the stator and is assembled integrally with the motor shaft 21 . The motor shaft 21 has its one end supported by the motor shaft support bearing 25 .
The motor shaft 21 has another end supported by a motor shaft support bearing 31 which is provided by a deep groove ball bearing placed between the shaft and the partitioning wall 14 d , i.e., the closed wall of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b . From this motor shaft support bearing 31 , an end of the motor shaft 21 protrudes toward the speed reducer 12 , serving as a speed reducer input shaft 30 .
The speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b coaxially houses the speed reducer 12 and the differential device 13 in this order from the partitioning wall 14 d side.
The speed reducer 12 is constituted by a speed-reducer-side sun gear 35 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 ) which is provided integrally with the speed reducer input shaft 30 around an outer circumferential surface of a tip-end of the shaft; a speed-reducer-side ring gear 36 which is on the outer diameter side of the sun gear and is coaxially fixed to an inner diameter surface of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b ; and speed-reducer-side pinion gears 37 and a speed-reducer-side carrier 38 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 ) which are disposed between the sun gear 35 and the ring gear 36 , along the circumferential direction at three equidistant locations.
The speed-reducer-side pinion gears 37 engage with the sun gear 35 and the ring gear 36 . Also, each pinion gear 37 is supported by the speed-reducer-side pinion shaft 41 via a deep groove ball bearing 39 . The pinion shaft 41 has an axially penetrating lubrication hole 42 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , the speed-reducer-side pinion shaft 41 has its one end supported by the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 , and another end supported by a disc region 44 a of a differential-side ring gear 44 which will be described later. Side plates 32 , 33 are placed, i.e., one between the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 and an end surface of an inner ring 39 a (see FIG. 4 ) of the deep groove ball bearing 39 , and the other between the other end surface of the inner ring and the disc region 44 a of the differential-side ring gear 44 (see FIG. 4 ).
These side plates 32 , 33 have an outer diameter which is smaller than that of the inner ring 39 a , so as to avoid contact with an outer ring 39 b or with the pinion gear 37 . Also, none of the inner ring 39 a , the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 and the differential-side ring gear 44 makes relative rotation with respect to the side plates 32 , 33 , so there is no slip loss at the side plates 32 , 33 .
If the side plates 32 , 33 are not employed, then slip loss may be avoided by a different arrangement. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5 , the inner ring 39 a is given a greater width than that of the speed-reducer-side pinion gear 37 so as to avoid contact between the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 and the disc region 44 a of the differential-side ring gear 44 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 is fitted between the partitioning wall 14 d , which represents the closed end of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b , and the speed-reducer-side pinion gear 37 , with a radial gap around the speed reducer input shaft 30 . In its inner diameter section, the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 has a boss 38 a protruding toward the electric motor 11 , and this boss 38 a is inserted between the speed reducer input shaft 30 which is integral with the motor shaft 21 , and the bearing hole 14 e of the partitioning wall 14 d.
A carrier support bearing 43 which is provided by a deep groove ball bearing is disposed between an outer diameter surface of the boss 38 a and the bearing hole 14 e . Also, the motor shaft support bearing 31 is disposed between an inner diameter surface of the boss 38 a and the speed reducer input shaft 30 . The carrier support bearing 43 positions the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 with respect to the casing 14 . Also, the motor shaft support bearing 31 positions the motor shaft 21 with respect to the casing 14 via the carrier support bearing 43 .
The speed-reducer-side carrier 38 has an outer circumferential edge, which has a plurality of connection tabs 40 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 ) each bent toward the differential device 13 , at a space along its circumferential direction. These connection tabs 40 are inserted into the ring gear disc region 44 a of the differential-side ring gear 44 , to fasten the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 and the differential-side ring gear 44 with each other.
As shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 , the differential device 13 is constituted by: the differential-side ring gear 44 ; a differential-side sun gear 45 which is radially inside thereof and is coaxially therewith; double-pinion differential-side pinion gears 46 a , 46 b engaged with each other and disposed between the ring gear 44 and the sun gear 45 ; differential-side pinion shafts 47 , 47 b which support these pinion gears 46 a , 46 b ; and a differential-side carrier 48 which supports these pinion shafts 47 a , 47 b.
The differential-side ring gear 44 includes a disc region 44 a ; a circumferential region 44 b which is an outer circumferential edge of the disc region 44 a bent outward (toward the casing lid 14 c ); and a gear region 44 c formed on an inner diameter surface of the circumferential region 44 b . The disc region 44 a is fittingly disposed coaxially around an outer circumference of the first output shaft 15 a , with a radial gap (see FIG. 2 ). A thrust bearing 63 is disposed between the disc region 44 a and the differential-side sun gear 45 .
The differential-side sun gear 45 has a serrated hole 50 in its center, into which the first output shaft 15 a is inserted, thereby integrated with the first output shaft 15 a by means of serration connection.
An end of the first output shaft 15 a which protrudes outward from the serration connection is inserted into the bearing hole 48 b in the boss 48 a of the differential-side carrier 48 . Between this inserting region and an inner diameter surface of the bearing hole 48 b , there is disposed a first output shaft support bearing 22 which is provided by a needle roller bearing. The boss 48 a is supported by the casing 14 which includes the casing lid 14 c , via a differential-side carrier support bearing 54 to be described later. The differential-side sun gear 45 has an axial lubrication hole 62 .
The double-pinion gears 46 a , 46 b have the same size and the same number of teeth as each other. As shown in FIG. 6 , they engage with each other. One pinion gear 46 a of the two has a greater PCD than the other pinion gear 46 b , and engages with the ring gear 44 whereas the other pinion gear 46 b which has a smaller PCD engages with the sun gear 45 . Needle roller bearings 58 a , 58 b are disposed between each pair made by the pinion gears 46 a , 46 b and the pinion shafts 47 a , 47 b . Each of the pinion shafts 47 a , 47 b has an oil hole 66 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , the differential-side carrier 48 is disposed along an inner side surface of the casing lid 14 c and provides support, together with a differential-side carrier assist member 49 which is disposed along the disc region 44 a of the differential-side ring gear 44 , to two ends of both pinion shafts 47 a , 47 b . The differential-side carrier 48 includes an outer circumferential edge which has a plurality of locations each having a fastening protrusion 59 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 ) protruding toward the differential-side carrier assist member 49 . Each of the fastening protrusions 59 has a tip formed with a small projection 60 (see FIG. 1 ), which is inserted into a fastening hole 61 in the differential-side carrier assist member 49 . This fastens the differential-side carrier 48 and the differential-side carrier assist member 49 with each other.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the boss 48 a is at a center of the differential-side carrier 48 , protruding outward. The axial bearing hole 48 b in the boss 48 a is at an inner end (at the end of the differential device 13 side), and as has been described earlier, the end of the first output shaft 15 a is inserted into the bearing hole 48 b , in a rotatable manner via the first output shaft support bearing 22 .
The boss 48 a has a closed outer end, at a center of which there is integrally provided the second output shaft 15 b which was described earlier. The second output shaft 15 b is inserted into the serrated hole 19 in the stem 17 b of the differential-side outer ring 17 , and therefore fastened with the stem by means of serration connection. Also, in the stem 17 b , an anti-backoff pin 70 penetrates the second output shaft 15 b radially, to prevent the shaft from backing off.
A differential-side carrier support bearing 54 which is provided by a deep groove ball bearing is placed between the boss 48 a in the differential-side carrier 48 and a boss 53 in the casing lid 14 c , so that the differential-side carrier 48 and the second output shaft 15 b are supported by the casing 14 including the casing lid 14 c.
The differential-side carrier support bearing 54 has a holding ring 55 which is fastened by a bolt 56 to an outer side surface of the boss 53 of the casing lid 14 c . An oil seal 57 is placed between the holding ring 55 and the boss 48 a , sealing the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b , thereby keeping lubrication oil inside.
The speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles according to Embodiment 1 has the arrangement as described thus far. Next, description will cover functions thereof.
As the electric motor 11 (see FIG. 1 ) is driven, the motor shaft 21 rotates. Simultaneously, the speed reducer input shaft 30 and the speed-reducer-side sun gear 35 , which are integral with the motor shaft 21 , rotate. The speed-reducer-side pinion gears 37 which are engaged with the speed-reducer-side sun gear 35 , rotates while revolving. This revolving movement causes the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 to make rotation at a reduced speed, and this slower rotation is outputted to the differential-side ring gear 44 on the differential device 13 side.
Where the number of teeth in the speed-reducer-side sun gear 35 is represented by Zs and the number of teeth in the speed-reducer-side ring gear 36 is represented by Zr, the speed reduction is made at a ratio of Zs/(Zs+Zr) as is well known.
A load received by one of the wheels of the vehicle is applied to the differential-side sun gear 45 via the motor-side constant-velocity joint which includes the motor-side outer ring 16 and the first output shaft 15 a whereas a load received by the other wheel is applied to the differential-side carrier 48 via the differential-side constant-velocity joint which includes the differential-side outer ring 17 and the second output shaft 15 b . When the loads applied to the two wheels are equal to each other, the differential-side sun gear 45 , the pinion gears 46 a , 46 b and the carrier 48 rotate in an integral fashion, i.e., there is no relative rotation amongst them in response to the rotational input from the ring gear 44 . Thus, the rotational input is distributed evenly, i.e., a portion thereof is passed on the differential-side sun gear 45 and the first output shaft 15 a , to the motor-side outer ring 16 while another portion is passed on the differential-side carrier 48 and the second output shaft 15 b , to the differential-side outer ring 17 , causing the left and the right wheels to turn at the same speed via their respective constant-velocity joints.
On the other hand, when there is a difference between the loads which are applied to the left and the right wheels, the rotational input resulting from rotation and revolution of the pinion gears 46 a , 46 b is differentially distributed to the left and the right wheels through the above-mentioned routes, and then through the motor-side outer ring 16 or through the differential-side outer ring 17 , in accordance with a load difference.
In other words, in a case where the load which is passed on to the motor-side outer ring 16 and is applied to the first output shaft 15 a becomes relatively larger, causing the sun gear 45 which is integral with the shaft to rotate at a number of rotations Ns and this number is smaller than a number of input rotations Nr of the ring gear 44 by ΔN, the carrier 48 rotates at a number of rotations Nc, which is expressed as:
Nc=Nr +λ/(1−λ)·Δ N
In other words, the second output shaft 15 b rotates at a higher speed. In the above equation, λ represents gear ratio (=Zs/Zr) whereas Zs represents the number of teeth in the sun gear 45 , and Zr represents the number of teeth in the ring gear 44 .
On the other hand, in a case where the load which is passed on to the differential-side outer ring 17 and is applied to the second output shaft 15 b becomes relatively larger, causing the carrier 48 which is integral with the shaft to rotate at a number of rotations Nc and this number is smaller than the number of input rotations Nr by ΔN, the sun gear 45 rotates at the number of rotations Ns which is expressed as:
Ns=Nr +(1−λ)/λ·Δ N
In other words, the first output shaft 15 a rotates at a higher speed.
During these operations, the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 and the differential-side ring gear 44 which is integrally fastened thereto make their rotations under a positively positioned state, being supported by the casing 14 via the speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing 43 . The arrangement, therefore, prevents each gear in each planetary gear mechanism in the speed reducer 12 and the differential device 13 from making eccentric rotation.
Also, the speed-reducer-side pinion gears 37 and their support bearings, i.e., the deep groove ball bearings 39 are prevented from making slip loss which may otherwise caused by the side plates 32 , 33 .
The speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles according to Embodiment 1 utilizes oil-bath lubrication. Specifically, lubrication oil for both of the motor casing 14 a and the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b fills inside the casing 14 to the level indicated by an oil surface level symbol L. The stator 28 of the electric motor 11 is below the oil surface L but the rotor 29 is not. In this arrangement, rotation of the rotor 29 will not agitate the lubricant oil, so the arrangement decreases loss caused by the agitation.
In the speed reducer 12 , the speed-reducer-side carrier 38 has the connection tabs 40 and the speed-reducer-side pinion gear 37 on its outer circumference, and they splash the lubricant oil during their rotation as they pass through the body of lubricant oil below the oil surface L. The lubricant oil is splashed inside the speed reducer 12 and lubricates the parts inside. Part of the oil finds a way to a lubrication hole 42 in the speed-reducer-side pinion shaft 41 and moves axially.
Since the speed-reducer-side pinion gear 37 is supported by the deep groove ball bearing 39 , splashed lubrication oil is supplied from the width surface of the deep groove ball bearing 39 . For this reason, there is no need for an arrangement to provide lubrication from inside the speed-reducer-side pinion shaft 41 .
In the differential device 13 , the differential-side carrier 48 has the fastening protrusions 59 , the differential-side pinion gears 46 a , 46 b , etc., on its outer circumference, and they splash lubrication oil. The lubricant oil is splashed inside the differential device 13 and lubricates the parts inside. Part of the oil finds a way to a lubrication hole 62 made in the differential-side sun gear 45 and moves axially.
During the above-described operation, the oil seals 27 , 57 on both of the left and right sides prevent the lubrication oil from leaking out of the casing 14 . Also, lubricant oil which reached the motor casing 14 a and the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b communicate with each other inside the casing 14 through a communication hole 65 in the closed wall of the speed-reduction/differential casing 14 b.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
11 electric motor
12 speed reducer
13 differential device
14 casing
14 a motor casing
14 b speed-reduction/differential casing
14 c casing lid
14 d partitioning wall
14 e bearing hole
15 a first output shaft
15 b second output shaft
16 motor-side outer ring
16 a cup
16 b stem
16 c cup bottom plate
17 differential-side outer ring
17 a cup
17 b stem
17 c cup bottom plate
18 serrated hole
19 serrated hole
20 anti-backoff pin
21 motor shaft
22 first output shaft support bearing
23 shaft hole
24 boss
25 motor shaft support bearing
26 first output shaft support bearing
27 oil seal
28 stator
29 rotor
30 speed reducer input shaft
31 motor shaft support bearing
32 side plate
33 side plate
35 speed-reducer-side sun gear
36 speed-reducer-side ring gear
37 speed-reducer-side pinion gear
38 speed-reducer-side carrier
38 a boss
39 deep groove ball bearing
39 a inner ring
39 b outer ring
40 connection tab
41 speed-reducer-side pinion shaft
42 lubrication hole
43 speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing
44 differential-side ring gear
44 a disc region
44 b circumferential region
44 c gear region
45 differential-side sun gear
46 a , 46 b differential-side pinion gear
47 a , 47 b differential-side pinion shaft
48 differential-side carrier
48 a boss
48 b bearing hole
49 differential-side carrier assist member
50 serrated hole
52 serration-connected region
53 boss
54 differential-side carrier support bearing
55 holding ring
56 bolt
57 oil seal
58 a , 58 b needle roller bearing
59 fastening protrusion
60 small projection
61 fastening hole
62 lubrication hole
63 thrust bearing
65 communication hole
66 oil hole
70 anti-backoff pin | An object is to reduce various losses occurring in a speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles including a planetary-gear speed reducer and a differential device, thereby improving transmission efficiency of the driving force and increasing travel distance of the electric vehicle per battery charge. A speed-reduction/differential gear apparatus for electric vehicles includes a planetary-gear speed reducer and a differential device. A planetary gear mechanism in the speed reducer includes a speed-reducer-side carrier which has its inner diameter surface supported by a speed-reducer-side carrier support bearing. The invention provides proper mesh between in the pair of engaging teeth, leading to decrease in loss torque. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device, a method, a control device for side impact recognition, and a pressure sensor.
2. Description of Related Art
From published German patent document DE 102 10 925, a method is already known for testing the operability of a pressure sensor. In this method, the measurement values of the pressure sensor that is to be tested are compared to measurement values of another pressure sensor over a defined observation time period. The pressure sensor is recognized as defective if its measurement values differ by more than a prespecified amount from the measurement values of the at least one additional pressure sensor.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The device according to the present invention, the method according to the present invention, the control device for side impact recognition in a vehicle according to the present invention, and the pressure sensor according to the present invention provide the advantage that the additional pressure sensor can be avoided by oversampling, and then filtering, the signal of the pressure sensor system to be tested. The resulting test signal is compared to a reference value, and the operability of the at least one pressure sensor system is recognized as a function of this comparison. Advantageously, the oversampling and the subsequent filtering can achieve a high resolution, so that the acceleration sensitivity of the pressure sensor can be used. This is because a pressure membrane, preferably used as a sensor element, always has a mass inertia and thus an acceleration sensitivity. According to the present invention, this acceleration sensitivity is used, on the basis of the acceleration that occurs during driving operation of the vehicle, to test the movement of the membrane and the entire subsequent signal path. The mass inertia of the pressure sensor should however be as small as possible, because in case of a crash the pressure signal should not be damaged. For example, mass inertias of the pressure sensors used in passenger protection systems result in acceleration sensitivity values of 3-10 mbar/100 g. In order to recognize an acceleration of 0.1 g, a resolution of 0.003-0.1 mbar is required. With the aid of the test device according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve this resolution, even for less dynamic signals. The accelerations that occur during normal driving operation tend to last somewhat longer than those that occur in the case of a crash.
An acceleration process of 0-100 km/h in 20 seconds results in an acceleration of 0.1-0.2 g. A full braking from 100 km/h over 50 meters lasts about 3.6 seconds, with a negative acceleration of −0.8 g.
The device according to the present invention makes possible a resolution of 0.1 g in a frequency range of 0.1-10 hertz. Depending on the driving dynamics, this signal would be compared with the other pressure sensor situated opposite, or with the central acceleration sensors.
The device according to the present invention can have at least one pressure sensor and a control device that evaluates the signal of the pressure sensor. However, it is possible for the device to form a compact unit and to be installed in the side of the vehicle. Additional pressure sensors in the side parts can then also be installed as a device, or they can be connected to the device, so that the device alone carries out the evaluation. This also holds for the test device.
With its sensor element, the pressure sensor produces the signal that is supplied to the sigma-delta converter. In this way, a one-bit measurement signal is produced. Furthermore, the pressure sensor has a filter that causes an increase in the resolution of the one-bit measurement signal, thus producing the test signal. This signal can then be transmitted to a control device in order to control passenger protection devices.
The method according to the present invention is executed on the control device. The interface can be realized as hardware or as software.
It is particularly advantageous that the test device according to the present invention has at least one SIGMA-DELTA converter for oversampling and filtering. The SIGMA-DELTA converter technology is particularly suitable for this purpose and is easy to implement.
Advantageously, the reference value with which the test signal is compared is stored in a storage device, so that the reference value is preset. Alternatively, it is possible for the reference value to be produced by a sensor system.
In addition, it is advantageous that the pressure sensor system has a measurement bridge in order to produce the signal. This makes possible a particularly secure signal production, provided with a large signal level swing.
Advantageously, the SIGMA-DELTA converter is configured for the production of a measurement signal, a low-pass and/or band-pass filtering being provided for the one-bit measurement signal.
For the production of the signal, a low-pass filtering is advantageously provided, and an additional band-pass filtering is then provided for the production of the test signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of the device according to the present invention in the vehicle.
FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show various directions of acceleration.
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a pressure sensor.
FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a SIGMA-DELTA converter.
FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a SIGMA-DELTA modulator.
FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a digital part of a SIGMA-DELTA converter.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a SIGMA-DELTA converter.
FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of a method according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A pressure sensor system is used for impact sensing of side impacts in vehicles by situating the pressure sensor system in side parts of the vehicle, which system very quickly produces a signal when there is an adiabatic pressure increase caused by an impact. In order to ensure functioning of the pressure sensor system over a long period of time, a continuous monitoring of the operability of the pressure sensor system is necessary. For this purpose, according to the present invention a test device is proposed that carries out an oversampling and a subsequent filtering of the signal produced by the pressure sensor system. The SIGMA-DELTA converter technology is particularly well-suited for this purpose.
An analog-digital converter that operates according to the SIGMA-DELTA principle converts, in two steps, an analog signal into a digital signal having a prespecified word length B. In the first stage, called the modulator, the sampling of the analog signal having bandwidth f B takes place with a high oversampling rate
O S R = f A 2 f B ,
where f A is the sampling frequency. In the modulator, the difference between the input and the output signal over one or more feedback loops is formed and integrated. The result of the integration is evaluated by a quantizer. Given a sufficiently high oversampling, between two sampling time points there occurs only a slight signal change, so that it is possible to use a simple binary quantizer, i.e. a one-bit converter. The resulting serial bit sequence represents a pulse-density-modulated signal having the high sampling frequency f A . Respectively succeeding bits of this data stream contain the information that is required according to the Nyquist criterion in order to reliably describe a signal having frequency f B . This serial bit sequence forms the signal that is communicated to the second module, a digital filter. Its task is to suppress the resulting high-frequency noise portions, and to convert the serial data stream into the digital word having length B bits, outputted with the frequency of twice the bandwidth of the input signal f N =2·f W (Nyquist frequency).
FIG. 5 shows, in a first block diagram, the modules of a SIGMA-DELTA converter. In a modulator 50 , an analog input signal is inputted with frequency f B 51 . From this, as indicated above, modulator 50 forms a serial bit sequence having high sampling frequency f A , designated with reference character 52 . In block 53 there takes place the digital filtering that suppresses the high-frequency noise portions, and outputs the serial data stream into the corresponding digital words having the frequency of twice the bandwidth of the input signal, so that in block 54 the decimator outputs this digital word.
FIG. 6 shows, in another block diagram, the design of the SIGMA-DELTA modulator, in which the analog signal 60 is supplied to an adder 61 , in which a signal fed back from a digital-analog converter 64 is subtracted from analog signal 60 . The resulting signal is supplied to an integrator 62 and then to a quantizer 63 . Digital-analog converter 64 is realized as a one-bit converter. The output signal, converted back to analog, represents either the maximum input voltage or the minimum input voltage, and thus simultaneously prespecifies the input voltage range of the converter. The larger the input signal is, the more often the comparator outputs a ‘one.’ Given a low input level, the outputted values are predominantly zeroes. If the input voltage is in the middle between maximum and minimum voltage, the output constantly alternates between zero and one. As a result of the integrating modulator function, the magnitude of the input voltage is contained in the mean value of the outputted serial bit stream. This represents a relative value with regard to the two boundary values of the maximum and minimum voltage. The constancy and the precision of the output level of digital-analog converter 64 are thus decisive with respect to the absolute precision of the formed mean value.
FIG. 7 shows a digital part of the SIGMA-DELTA converter, which includes a low pass filter 71 for suppressing the high-frequency portion in the quantization noise, and a decimator 74 for the reduction of the sampling frequency of the output signal to the minimally doubled bandwidth of the input signal. Here, the serial bit stream of the modulator output is converted into digital words having word length B, as formed in standard analog-digital converters. In the simplest case, low-pass filter 71 can be described by the formation of the floating mean value over the output signal of the modulator. The reduction of the sampling rate corresponds to the removal of each m th value of the filter output signal. This is then signal 75 . The possible size of the length of the data word results from the signal-noise ratio achievable in the modulator, as well as additional noise portions possibly caused in the digital part.
FIG. 8 shows a simple realization of a SIGMA-DELTA converter. The analog input signal is fed in at input connection 80 . For adaptation, there then follows an impedance converter 81 that is followed by a pre-resistance R 1 . Resistor R 1 is connected at a capacitor C 1 to the negative input of a comparator I, and is connected to a resistor R 2 . A prespecified voltage VCC is connected to the positive input of operational amplifier I via a resistor R 4 . In addition, there is connected to this positive input a parallel circuit of a capacitor C 2 and a resistor R 3 , which are connected to ground at the other side. Operational amplifier I is switched as an integrator by this connection pattern. On the other side, resistor R 2 is connected to a switch 82 , and to an output 83 that leads to the digital filter. On the other side, switch 82 is connected to the output of a comparator K whose positive output is connected to capacitor C 1 and to the output of operational amplifier I. Fixed voltage value VCC is half-connected to the negative input of comparator K. Thus, comparator K and switch 82 form a one-bit quantizer.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of the device according to the present invention. A microcontroller μC as an evaluation circuit receives, via an interface IF, signals from pressure sensor systems PPS 1 and PPS 2 , which are respectively situated on opposite side parts of the vehicle, in order to determine an adiabatic pressure increase in the side part in the case of an impact. In the present case, interface IF is fashioned as an integrated switching circuit. It can alternatively be fashioned from individual modules, or as a software module on microcontroller μC. Interface IF thus provides the signals from the pressure sensor system.
In addition, vehicle 10 has an acceleration sensor system B that also supplies its signal to microcontroller μC. Microcontroller μC receives from pressure sensor systems PPS 1 and PPS 2 the test signal produced by the sigma-delta converter. That is, the sigma-delta converter is situated in pressure sensor PPS 1 or PPS 2 . Alternatively, it is possible for this sigma-delta converter also to be situated in a control device in which microcontroller μC is situated. Acceleration sensor system B is used for comparison purposes if a stored value is not used. Acceleration sensor system B can be situated in a control device, or can also be situated externally in a sensor box, or in distributed fashion in vehicle 10 .
FIGS. 2 and 3 show possible situations of the device according to the present invention. In FIG. 2 , the surfaces show normal vectors 1 of the pressure membrane in direction of travel 1 . The acceleration produced by the driving dynamics is detected with the aid of the acceleration sensitivity and pressure sensors 2 , and the signals from the pressure sensors are compared either to one another or to acceleration sensors in airbag control device 3 . FIG. 3 shows a system for detecting signals in the Z direction 4 , such as those that occur when traveling on bad stretches of road. Again, the acceleration sensitivity signals of pressure sensors 5 are compared with one another or with an acceleration measurement in airbag control device 6 . For this system, the bandpass filter has to be adapted, because these signals have a greater dynamic range and amplitude.
If present, the signals for the braking control device (ESP) can also be used, because these are already present in high-resolution form (10-50 mg).
FIG. 4 shows a possible design of the pressure sensor, divided into functional blocks. The original pressure signal is recorded with the aid of a measurement bridge 40 . A sigma-delta converter 41 converts the resulting voltage signal into a high-frequency one-bit measurement signal. The subsequent low-pass filtering 42 increases the resolution. After the 400 hertz low-pass filtering, the signal has a resolution of 12-14 bits, corresponding to a resolution of approximately 0.1-0.5 mbar. This signal is used to calculate the useful signal
Δ
P
P
.
A further bandpass filtering 43 increases the resolution, so that the resolution of 0.003-0.01 mbar is achieved. Because bandpass 43 also removes the direct portion of the signal, i.e. the ambient absolute pressure, only a small representation width of the test signal is still required, which is here indicated for example by 4 bits. The useful signal is designated here by reference character 44 .
In the normal case, a logic circuit 45 with an interface to the airbag control device is then alternating useful signal and test signal communicated to the control device via line 46 . The airbag control device now compares either the signals of the two pressure sensors to one another or to the acceleration measured in the control device, and can thus plausibilize the signal via the overall signal chain of the pressure sensor.
In case of a crash, i.e. the case in which the useful signal crosses a threshold, only the useful signal is then transmitted.
The rotation of the membrane in the direction of travel or in the Z direction has the advantage that the accelerations that occur during a side crash no longer act perpendicular to the membrane, so that the degradation of crash signal 44 due to the acceleration sensitivity of the membrane is significantly reduced.
FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of the method according to the present invention on the device according to the present invention. In method step 900 , the measurement bridge produces the pressure signal. In method step 901 , the sigma-delta converter produces a high-frequency one-bit data stream, which in method step 902 is subjected to a low-pass filtering in order to increase the resolution. After the low-pass filtering, the useful signal is then present. A further bandpass filtering in method step 903 produces the test signal, so that in method step 904 the useful signal and the test signal can then be communicated in alternating fashion to the control device. In the control device, a provision of this signal through interface IF takes place. In method step 905 , a comparison then takes place in the control device, in order to test in method step 906 whether the comparison results in a value that is higher than a prespecified reference value. If this is the case, in method step 907 a warning is emitted, for example by controlling a display such as a light. If this is not the case, the method terminates in method step 908 . Instead of a light, a corresponding display can also be made on a display device in a vehicle. | In device for side impact recognition in a vehicle, at least one pressure sensor system that produces a signal is provided in a side part of the vehicle, and an evaluation circuit is provided that recognizes a side impact as a function of the signal. In addition, a test device is provided for the at least one pressure sensor system, the at least one test device being configured such that the at least one test device oversamples the signal and then filters it in order to produce a test signal, the test device comparing the signal with a reference value and, as a function of this comparison, recognizing the operability of the at least one pressure sensor system. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a division of Ser. No. 654,333, filed Sept. 25, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,120 issued June 16, 1987.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to tag attaching method and apparatus and tag fasteners.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The following patents are made of record: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,331,252; 3,012,484; 3,022,508; 3,385,498; 3,595,460; 3,598,025; 3,734,375; 3,880,339; 3,896,713; 3,898,725; 3,948,128; 4,040,555; 4,049,179; 3,237,779; 4,315,587; 4,323,183; European patent application No. 83850056.9, Publication No. 0 901 410 published Oct. 12, 1983; Japanese patent application No. 54-20935, patent laid-open No. 55-116544, laid open Sept. 8, 1980; Japanese patent application No. 50-120766, publication No. 57-16824 published Apr. 8, 1982; and Japanese patent publication No. 53-38998, published Oct. 18, 1978 based on application 49-563507 filed May 14, 1974, now patent No. 958,794 registered June 14, 1979.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having a needle for dispensing plastic fasteners and a tag hopper disposed rearwardly of the front end of the tag attacher to facilitate attachment of the tag to merchandise, wherein a tag in the hopper is adapted to be fed to a position behind the needle, and a fastener is adapted to be driven through the tag and merchandise.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, in which a manually operable actuator is disposed at the handle and is operated twice to complete a cycle which involves feeding a tag to an attaching position, advancing a fastener to a position to be disposed, and operating a push rod to dispose a fastener through the tag and merchandise.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher wherein a knife is used to weaken a tag and wherein a bar section of a fastener is inserted through the weakening in the tag and through a needle.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having a hopper, wherein the hopper is arranged to hold the tags at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the attacher to promote ready maneuverability of the attacher with respect to merchandise.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher in which a push rod is used to push a bar section of a fastener through a hollow needle, wherein the attacher has a handle and an actuator disposed at the handle, and wherein a toggle mechanism movable in response to movement of the actuator moves the push rod to push a bar section of a fastener through the needle.
It is a further feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having an improved gear drive for a feed pawl.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having a hopper and mechanism including gearing for moving a tag from the hopper to an attaching position.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a hand-held tag attacher having a hopper adapted to receive a stack of tags, wherein the hopper includes improved rear and side guides for the stack.
It is a further feature of the invention to provide a clip of fasteners having generally cylindrical bar sections, wherein one of the end faces of each bar section is truncated at an oblique angle.
It is another object of the invention to provide methods for accomplishing tag feeding, fastener advance and the pushing of a bar section through a hollow needle to attain the above-described fastener in a hand-held tag attacher.
Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand-held tag attacher in accordance with the invention; with a tag having been fed from a stack in a hopper to a waiting position, a needle having been pushed through merchandise, and a bar section of a fastener having been almost completely rejected from the needle;
FIG. 2 is an end view of a clip of fasteners in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 is a partially exploded view of the attacher shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a partly broken away elevational view of the attacher with solid lines indicating the initial position;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the advanced or actuated position;
FIG. 6 is another partially exploded view of the attacher shown in FIGS. 1 and 3;
FIG. 7 is a partially broken away top plan view showing the initial position of a tag feeder and mechanism for moving the latching the tag feeder;
FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the tag feeder in its retracted position and the mechanism for moving and latching the tag feeder as having moved so that the tag feeder is latched;
FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGS. 7 and 8, but showing the tag feeder moved to its extended or advanced position;
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the hopper and its stack of tags, with the tag feeder shown in its advanced position;
FIG. 11 is a view taken generally along line 11--11 of FIG. 7;
FIG. 12 is a view taken generally along line 12--12 of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a view taken generally along 13--13 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 14 is a view taken generally along line 14--14 of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a view taken generally along line 15--15 of FIG. 9;
FIG. 16 is a view taken generally along line 16--16 of FIG. 15;
FIG. 17 is an enlarged elevational view showing the tag-piercing action of the knife when the push rod is actuated; and
FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a tag attached to merchandise M by a fastener.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a hand-held tag attacher generally indicated at 20. The tag attacher 20 has a body 21 with a hopper 22 adapted to receive and hold a stack S of tags T. The body 21 also a handle 23. The body 21 has a front end portion 24 at which a hollow needle 25 is removably mounted. The needle 25 terminates at a pointed end 26 and has an elongate needle bore 27 (FIG. 4) and an elongate side slot or side opening 28 (FIG. 5) which communicates with the needle bore 27. A one-piece molded clip 29 of fasteners 30 is shown in FIG. 1 to be loaded into a guideway 21' of the tag attacher 20. Each fastener 30 includes a bar section 31 and a button section 32 joined by a filament section 33. A rod or runner 34 is connected to each bar section 31 by a connector or neck 35. FIG. 1 shows an endmost tag TE in a waiting or attaching position with the needle 25 having passed through merchandise M.
With reference to FIG. 3, the body 21 is shown to include body sections 36 and 37 secured together by screws 38. An actuator generally indicated at 39 is shown to comprise a lever 40 pivotally mounted to a lower end portion 43 of the handle 23 on pins 41 received in tubular projections 42 at lower end portion 43 of the lever 40. A compression spring module or assembly 44 includes a compression spring 45 and bears against a pocket 46 in the handle 23 and against the lever 40 to urge the lever 40 counterclockwise (FIG. 3) to an initial or unactuated position.
A stationary bracket 47 has a projection 48 received in a pocket 49 and a pin 50 received in aligned holes 51 in the body sections 36 and 37. The bracket 47 has spaced walls 52 which straddle a lever 53. A pin 54 received in holes 55 in walls 52 passes through a hole 56 in the lever 53. One end portion of the lever 53 has a pin 57 received in slots 58 formed in spaced wall portions 59 of the lever 40. The lever 53 has an elongate slot 60.
A push rod or ejector 61 is mounted to a slide 62. The slide 62 and another slide 63 are slidably received in a guideway 64. The slides 62 and 63 mount respective pivot pins 65 and 66. The pivot pin 65 is received in one end portion of a link 67 and extends into an annular guide 68. The pivot pin 66 is received in one end portion of a link 69 and extends into an annular guide 70. The other end portion of the link 69 mounts a pin 71 which passes through a hole 72 in the other end portion of the link 67 and through the slot 60. A guide roller 73 is rotatably mounted on the pin 71. The guides 68 and 70 are guided for straight line movement in a straight guide slot or track 74 in the body section 37 and the roller 73 is guided for movement along an arcuate path in arcuate guide slot or track 75 which opens into the slot 74 and is also guided in the track 74.
A slide 76 is slidably mounted to the body section 36 for straight line movement by guides 77 and 78 which define a slot 79. The slides 62 and 63 are spaced apart and can slide relative to each other on the slide 76. The slide 76 has a slot 80 which receives a projection 81 having spaced abutment faces 82 and 83. The slot 80 is longer than the distance between abutment faces 82 and 83 so that the slide 63 is able to move through a limited distance relative to the slide 76.
A slide 84 having a rack 85 is slidably mounted on the slide 76 in a slot 86 having abutment faces 87 and 88 (FIGS. 4 and 5). The slide 84 has abutment faces 89 and 90 (FIG. 3) which alternately cooperate with respective abutment faces 87 and 88. The rack 85 is in mesh with a pinion 91 rotatably mounted to the body section 36 by a pin 92. A rack 93 slidably mounted by the guide 77 and a guide 94 meshes with the pinion 91. The rack 93 carries a flexible resilient finger 95 which is cooperable with a toothed feed wheel 96. The feed wheel 96 is rotatable and meshes with the connectors 35 and can advance the clip 29 when the toothed wheel 96 rotates. An anti-backup pawl 97 having an integrally formed spring finger 98 is pivotally mounted on a pin 99. A plate 100 suitably pinned in place is disposed between the push rod 61 and the toothed feed wheel 96.
The push rod 61 is aligned with a bar section 31 of a fastener 30 and with the needle bore 27. The connector 35 is aligned with a knife generally indicated at 101 (FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 7 and 17). The knife 101 has a sharp, narrow V-shaped knife edge 102, an upstanding portion 103 with a knife edge 101', a guide 104, and an abutment face 105 for a spring 106. The spring 106 is shown to be received in a recess or pocket 107. When the push rod 61 pushes forwardly against a bar section 31, the associated connector 35 bears against the cutting edge 101' of the knife 101 and pushes the knife 101 from the solid line position in FIG. 17 to the phantom line position without cutting through the connector 35. In so doing, the rod 34 deflects and pointed end 107 of the knife 101 pierce through the tag T and makes a vertical slit. Upon continued movement of the push rod 61, the connector 35 is severed by cutting edge 101'.
It is noted in FIG. 2 that the bar section 31 is a right circular cylinder which terminates at one end portion at a flat end surface 31' perpendicular to centerline CL. The push rod 61 can push against the end surface 31'. The other end of the bar section 31 is truncated at an angle A oblique to the centerline or axis CL of the bar section 31 to provide a truncated surface or end 31" terminating at a sharp point 31p. The point 31p is generally aligned with the slit in the tag T made by the knife edge 102. The knife edge 102 weakens the tag T locally and the pointed end 31p enters the slit and the bar section 31 makes a hole as the push rod 61 drives the bar section 31 into the needle bore 27. As the bar section 31 is pushed through the needle bore 27, the associated filament section 33 extends through the slot 28 and through a slot 108 at the side of the front end portion 24. When the bar section 31 reaches open end portion 25' of the needle 25, the push rod 61 can eject the bar section 31.
The operation of the portion of the tag attacher described above will now be described. It will be assumed that a clip 29 of fasteners 30 has been loaded into the tag attacher 20 as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. The operator grasps the handle 23 in one hand and wraps the fingers about the actuator 39. By squeezing the actuator 39, the actuator 39 pivots clockwise (FIGS. 1 and 4) about pins 41. This causes the lever 53 to be driven counterclockwise (FIGS. 1 and 4) about pivot pin 54 and in turn guide roller 73 moves along the slot 75. The link 67 pivots counterclockwise and the link 69 pivots clockwise. In that the abutment face 83 is already against abutment face 80' of the slide 76, the slide 62 is moved forward (to the left in FIGS. 1 and 4) as the links 67 and 69, which form a toggle or toggle mechanism TM, straighten out. Forward movement of the slide 62 moves the push rod 61 forward and the slit in the tag T is made by the knife edge 102 and thereafter the connector 35 is severed by the knife edge 101' as described above. As the slide 62 is driven forward and the links 67 and 69 became straight and the slide 63 moves to the left until its abutment face 82 abuts abutment face 80" on the slide 76. As leftward movement of the slide 63 continues, the roller 73 moves along the straight guide track 74 and the slide 63 imparts leftward movement to the slide 76. It is apparent that the movement of the slide 63 relative to the slide 76 until the abutment face 82 contacts the abutment face 80" constitutes a lost-motion connection. As the slide 76 moves to the left, the abutment face 90 is spaced from abutment face 88 of the slide 76. However, as movement of the slide 76 continues, the abutment face 88 contacts the abutment 90 of the slide 84 and thus the slides 76 and 84 move as a unit. Leftward movement of the rack 85 rotates the pinion 91 clockwise and the pinion 91 moves the rack 93 to the right. Thus, the pawl 95 moves from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5.
When the actuator 39 is released, the return spring 45 pivots the actuator 39 counterclockwise (FIGS. 3 and 5) and in turn the lever 53 is pivoted clockwise to return the roller 73 rearwardly along the track 74 and thereafter downwardly and rearwardly along track 75 and to cause the link 67 to pivot clockwise and to cause the link 69 to pivot counterclockwise. Slides 62 and 63 move to the right or rearwardly and the abutment face 83 contacts the abutment face 80' to drive the slide 76 rearwardly. To assure that the slide 76 is driven fully to the right or rearwardly, the lever 53 has an extension 53' which acts on a projection 76' on the slide 76 near the very end of return movement of the lever 53. As soon as abutment face 89 of the slide 84 is contacted by the abutment face 87, the slide 84 is driven to the right or rearwardly and thus the rack 85 and the pinion 91 move to move the rack 93 to the left or forwardly from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 4 to cause the pawl 95 to advance the toothed feed wheel 96 by one pitch or one bar-section-to-bar-section distance.
With reference now to FIG. 6, there is shown the hopper 22 having a bottom or floor 109, a side wall 110 and a front wall 111. The front wall 111 slidably mounts a tag feeder generally indicated at 112. The hopper 22 has an elongate generally T-shaped guide 112' received in a matching undercut groove 113 in a slide 114 of the tag feeder 112. The slide 114 replaceably mounts a pointed needle 115 in a hub 116. A pin 117 passes through the hub 116 and into the slide 114 to releasably hold the hub 116 and its needle 115 in place.
The side wall 110 and a side wall 126 of a support 124 have downwardly extending L-shaped members 118 upwardly facing L-shaped members 119 which lock onto flanges 120' of a plate 120.
The plate 120 has a pair of vertically spaced horizontal slots 121 with tabs 122. With the plate 120 locked to the side walls 110 and 126, the plate 120 is positioned in proximity to the outside of the body section 36 so that L-shaped projections 123 project through the slots 121 adjacent the tabs 122. By shifting the plate 120 relative to the body section 36, the projections 123 engage tabs 122 and hold the hopper 22 to the body 21.
The tags T are positioned against the front wall 111 and the side wall 110 in a rhombodial configuration as best shown in FIG. 10. The support 124 is box-like and also has a rear wall 125, a front wall 127 and a top 128. The top 128 mounts downwardly depending posts 129 and 130. A pair of side-by-said flat, rolled springs 131 and 132 of the type sold under the trademark Negator are received on the post 129. The spring 131 passes partially about the post 130 and is secured by a pin 133 received in a hole 134 in the spring 131. A side guide or pressure plate generally indicated at 135 has a side wall 136, a rear wall 137 and a guide 138. The spring 131 has an end portion 139 which extends in a groove 140 in a rear wall 137. The hopper 22 has a subfloor 141 spaced below the floor 109 to define a guideway 142. The guide 138 extends into the guideway 142 and guides the pressure plate 135 so that the wall 136 applies slight pressure against side S1 of the stack S under the urging of the spring 131 as best shown in FIG. 10. The rear wall 137 is guided along the front wall 127 of the support 124. The wall 137 has a clearance slot 143 which receives the floor 109. The wall 136 terminates at a ledge 109' which is coplanar with the floor 109 and also supports the tags T.
A pressure plate generally indicated at 144 has a rearwardly extending member 145 with a T-shaped projection 146. The projection 146 has a head 147 and bar 148 which connects the head 148 and the member 145. The bar 148 is received in a guideway 149 in the walls 110 and 126. The pressure plate 144 and the member 145 are positioned against and slide along the inner surface of the walls 110 and 126. A flexible connector 150 extends about a semi-circular direction-changing projection 110' on the wall 110. The connector 150 is shown to have bar sections 151 and 152 and a filament section 154. The bar section 152 is assembled into the spring 132 by fitting through a hole 153 in the spring 132. The filament section 154 is received in a groove 155 and the bar 152 and fits against an inclined shoulder 156 which urges the bar section against the bar 148. Thus, the pressure plate 144 is pulled forward. The flat spring 132 enables a relatively uniform force to be applied to the pressure plate 144. The pressure plate 144 acts on the stack S to urge endmost tag TE against the front wall 111. As best shown in FIG. 10, the pressure plate 144 acts against endmost tag TE1. As shown, the pressure plate 144 is inclined relative to AX axis of the attacher 20 at the same angle as the front wall 111, and the side wall 136 of the pressure plate 135 is parallel to the wall 110 and to the axis AX. The front wall 111, the pressure plate 144 and the tags T are inclined at an acute angle A1.
With reference to FIG. 3, the slide 76 is shown to have a projection 157. Referring now also to FIG. 6, the projection 157 extends through a slot 36' and is snugly received in a pocket or recess 158 in an arm 159. The arm 159 has an upstanding pin 160 and a tooth 161. The arm 159 also has a pair of downwardly depending parallel guides 162 guided in parallel guide grooves 163 in a housing member 164.
A slide 165 is slidably mounted on the housing member 164. The slide 165 has an integral rack 168 which meshes with a spur gear 169. The gear 169 is rotatably mounted on a pin or pivot 170. The gear 169 meshes with a spur gear 171 mounted on a pin or pivot 172. The gear 171 meshes with a gear sector or gear section 173 mounted on a pin or pivot 174. The arm 175 having an elongate slot 176 is joined to the gear section 173. The gear section 173 has a projection 177. A spiral spring 178 wrapped about the pin 174 has an arm 179 which bears against the projection 177 and an arm 180 which bears against a wall 181. The spring 178 urges the gear sector 173 and the slotted arm 175 counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 7 for example. A pin 182 passes through a spur gear 183 and is received in the slot 176. The gear 183 meshes with a rack 183' on the subfloor 141 and with a rack 184 on the slide 114.
FIG. 7 shows the initial position of the components for moving the tag feeder 112. The pin 160 is against end surface 184 of a slot 185. When the actuator 39 is operated, the arm 159 and its pin 160 are moved to the left in FIG. 7 to move the slide 165 and its rack 168 to the left. This causes clockwise rotation of the gear 169, counterclockwise rotation of the gear 171, and clockwise rotation of the gear section 173 and its arm 175. This in turn causes the gear 183 to rotate clockwise. In that the rack 183' is stationary, the gear 183 moves the tag feeder 112 from its extended or advanced position shown in FIG. 7 in the direction of arrow 185 to the retracted position shown in FIG. 8. It should be noted that the tag feeder 112 moves twice as far as the pin 182.
A cam 186 secured to the gear 169 and a lever generally indicated at 187 cooperate to provide a latch generally indicated at 188. The lever 187 has an arm 189 with a tooth 190, an arm 191 with an upstanding projection 192, an arm 193, and a spring finger 194. The tooth 190 and the spring finger 194 are on opposite sides of the cam 186. The spring finger 194 urges the tooth 190 into continuous contact with the surface of the cam 186.
A toothed member 195 having three downwardly depending teeth 196 is connected to a leaf spring 197 which in turn is connected to the arm 193 by a member 198 by a pin 199. Thus, the toothed member 195 is cantilevered to the arm 193 through the leaf spring 197. The leaf spring 197 urges the toothed member 195 downwardly into the position shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 13, 14, 15 and 16. However, in the initial position shown in FIGS. 7, 11 and 12 the projection 192 cooperating with a cam face 200 on the toothed member 195 holds the toothed member 195 in the raised or disengaged position, and thus the teeth 161 and 196 do not engage or cooperate in any way. However, as the gear 169 and the cam 186 rotate clockwise, the tooth 190 rides on the surface of the cam 186 until the tooth 190 falls in behind the tooth 201. The latch 188 is how latched and the tooth 190 is against the low point of the cam 186, and the lever 187 has now moved clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. The projection 192 has now moved from the position shown in FIG. 11 to the position shown in FIG. 13.
When the actuator 39 is released, the return spring 45 causes the slide 76 to be moved to the right (FIG. 5) and thus the arm 159 and its pin 160 also move to the right from the solid line position to the phantom line position in FIG. 8. The latch 188, however, remains latched and the tag feeder 112 remians in its retracted position. As the arm 159 moves to the right, the ramp or cam surface 161' of the tooth 161 cooperate with the ramp or cam surfaces 196' of the teeth 196, and the toothed member 195 is cammed upwardly as the arm 159 moves rearwardly. Partial actuation of the actuator from its initial or unactuated position will again cause the pin 184 to be moved to the left (FIG. 8). In so doing the pin 160 moves in the slot 185 toward the end 184. As soon as drive face 161" encounters a face 196" of any tooth 196 it causes the toothed member 195 to be moved to the left, thereby pivoting the lever 187 counterclockwise to the phantom line position shown in FIG. 9. This results in the latch 188 being tripped and in the toothed member 195 being raised by the projection 192 cooperating with the cam surface 200. The latch 188 is tripped when the tooth 190 clears the shoulder 201. As soon as the latch 188 is tripped, the spring 178 rotates the gear section 173 and the arm 175 counterclockwise, and this causes the gear 171 to be rotated clockwise, the gear 183 to be rotated counterclockwise, and in turn the slide 114 is moved in the direction of arrow 202 from its retracted position shown in FIG. 8 to its extended or advanced position shown in FIGS. 7 and 9. Also, counterclockwise rotation of the gear 169 moves the slide 165 and its rack 168 to the right from the position shown in FIG. 8 to the position shown in FIGS. 7 and 9. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 the tag TE is shown in its advanced or waiting position still impaled by the pin 115.
In considering the overall operation of the attacher 20, let it be assumed that a stack S of tags T has been loaded into the hopper 22, with side S2 of the tags T against the wall 110, with the endmost tag TE against the front wall 111 with the pressure plate 135 against S1 of the stack S and with the pressure plate 144 against the endmost tag TE1. Assume also that a clip 29 of fasteners 30 is inserted to a position in which a bar section 31 is aligned with the needle bore 27 and the push rod 61. The actuator 39 is fully operated by manually squeezing the actuator and the actuator 39 moves from its initial position (FIG. 4) to its actuated position (FIG. 5). In so doing, the push rod 61 pushes on the bar section 31 and as the rod 34 flexes to the position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 17, and the knife edge 101' severs the bar section 31 from its respective connector 35. Continued movement of the push rod 61 pushes the bar section 31 through the needle bore 27 while the filament section 33 extends through the slot 108 in the body 21 and the side opening 28 in the needle 25. Also the rack 93 has moved to retract the pawl 95 away from the toothed wheel 96. When the actuator 39 is released, the spring 45 causes the toggle mechanism TM to operate to return the push rod 61 to its initial position. Near the end of the return of the push rod 61, the rack 85 rotates the gear 91 to move the rack 93 and the pawl 95 to the left to the FIG. 4 position to advance the wheel 96 to bring the next bar section 31 into alignment with the bore 27 and the push rod 61.
During the time the actuator 39 was being moved for its initial position to its actuated position, the tag feeder 112 moved from its advanced position (FIG. 7) to its retracted position (FIG. 8) and the latch 188 became latched. Now the actuator 39 is manually actuated again, but this time only partially from the initial (solid line) position in FIG. 4 to the phantom line position 39PL also shown in FIG. 4. This slight movement causes the latch 188 to be tripped so that the tag feeder 112 is driven in the direction of the arrow 202 to its advanced position with needle 115 impaled in the endmost tag TE so that the endmost tag is fed to the attaching or waiting position shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10. The attacher 10 is now ready to attach its first tag T to merchandise M. With a tag T in the attaching position in alignment with the push rod 61, the actuator 39 is operated fully to the FIG. 5 position, but this time as the push rod 61 pushes on a bar section 31, the knife 101 is pushed forward by the respective connector 35 against the action of the return spring 106. This causes the knife 101 to move from the solid line position shown in FIG. 17 to the phantom line position in FIG. 17 and thereupon the knife edge 102 makes a slit in the tag T. As the push rod 61 continues to push on the bar section 31 the knife edge 101', acting against the connector 35 immediately adjacent the bar section 31, causes the bar section 31 to be severed from the connector 35 and thereafter the push rod proceeds to push the bar section 31 through the needle bore 27. Once the bar section 31 is severed, the return spring 106 returns the knife 101 to its original position. Release of the actuator against causes the pawl 95 to advance the toothed feed wheel 96 and hence the clip 29. Partial re-actuation of the actuator 39 causes the latch 188 to be tripped and hence the tag feeder 112 feeds the next tag to the waiting position.
Other embodiments and modifications of this invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and all such of these as some within the spirit of this invention are included within its scope as best defined by the appended claims. | There is disclosed a hand-held tag attacher having a manually engageable handle and a hopper for holding a stack of tags, a feeder for feeding tags one-at-a-time from the stack in the hopper to an attaching position, the hopper being constructed to position the stack at an acute angle relative to the axis of the attacher, the attacher having a hollow needle and a push rod for pushing a bar section of a fastener through a tag at the attaching portion behind the needle and into and through the needle, a mechanism for feeding fasteners one-at-a-time into alignment with the needle, and an actuator disposed at the handle and operable twice to complete a cycle of operating the tag feeder, the push rod and the feeding mechanism. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned with paint brushes. Conventionally a paint brush is made up by having a plurality of bristles extending outwardly and mounted in a ferrule containing a binder or plastic composition for maintaining the bristles and attached to a handle. The problem with most brushes is that it is difficult to clean the bristles after painting. This becomes increasingly more so after each painting, since the paint tends to dwell in the ends of the bristles where the bristles join the binder. After a number of paintings the paint forms a hardened mass. The result is that the bristles are no longer flexible and a good paint job becomes difficult.
Mechanical cleaning of the brushes has been achieved by use of pressurized fluid introduced at the base of the bristles. A most recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,773, has apparently produced very good results by having internal cleaning means incorporated in the brush. In this patent the bristles are incorporated into a block where the block has a plurality of apertures supporting the bristles, and the apertures act as conduits communicating with the bristles to which cleaning fluid is introduced. While the efficiency of this apparatus is not to be denied, the invention in the paint brush of this application is of a much simpler as well as different design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has been found that after painting, the paint that settles and gathers near the bristles at the point where the bristles join the binder is not uniformly distributed, that is, the paint has a tendency to build up more or less in the shape of a dome. Now this shape results even after the brush is subjected to conventional cleaning procedures such as with a cleansing agent and interpostion of a wire brush between the bristles. In fact it has been found that cleaning with a wire brush accentuates the dome shape. Accordingly, it was determined that cleaning the brush could be facilitated by applying a dome shaped member between the lower ends of the bristles and the ferrule. This dome shaped member is not a perfect hemisphere and is fashioned to reproduce as closely as possible what has been observed to occur as a natural phenomenon. As can be seen with reference to the drawings, rather than a consistent regular increase in the slope there is only a very slight inclination of the dome at the juncture with the ferrule, followed by a more rapid ascent to the peak which would be somewhat less than the peak of a true dome. Accordingly, instead of the conventional method of directly fastening the bristles to a binder within a ferrule, a dome-like shaped member is first fastened to the binder in the ferrule with the bristles extending uniformly through the dome-like shaped member and then being imbedded in the binder. Alternatively and preferably in place of binder and adhesively bound dome shaped member, a unitary plastic member dome-like shaped at the top and descending into a lower rectangular section that is fitted into the ferrule can be designed. The handle is further secured within the ferrule and spaced a distance from the binder in a conventional manner. The dome shaped member will now be the repository of paint that remains on the brush on the completion of the job and any paint present therein can easily be removed by scraping with a wire brush or any other scraping element. The dome-like shaped plastic member facilitates cleaning per se, since the interposition of a rectangular block of plastic between the lower ends of the bristles and the ferrule has little effect in so far as cleaning of the brush with a scraping implement. While the use of dome shaped members for brushes is not new as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,160,370 and 2,240,547, these dome shaped members have no relationship to the functioning or design of the dome shaped member in the present invention.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to make available a novel paint brush having a flat rectangular end portion 2a and a narrow portion 2b medial of said rectangular portion and extending vertically thereof a dome-like shaped member that joins the bristles at the point of junction with the ferrule so as to facilitate cleaning of the brush and preventing paint from lodging in the lower end of the bristles.
It is a further of the invention to provide a novel paint brush simple in design and so configured as to enable efficient cleaning with a minimal amount of cleaning fluid.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a further understanding of the invention reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the enumerated drawings wherein:
FIG. 1--is an end view of the paint brush showing the dome-like shaped member.
FIG. 2--is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing details of the construction.
FIG. 3--is a plan view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1 showing the dome-like shaped member with perforated holes for insertion of the bristles.
FIG. 4--is a modification of the sectional view of FIG. 2 showing a unitary plastic member.
FIG. 5--is a front view showing the dome-like shaped member.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a paint brush 1 that includes a wooden handle 2 having a flat rectangular end portion 2a and a narrow portion 2b medial of said rectangular portion and extending vertically thereof, a metal ferrule 3, a plastic dome shaped member 4 of substantial depth and having a flat lower end 4a as seen in FIGS. 2 and 5 and bristles 5. As seen in FIG. 3, there appear two curves symmetrically located about an imaginary horizontal axis, located medially thereof and enclosed in a rectangle. In the cross sectional view of FIG. 2 the bristles are shown extending through perforations 6 in the dome shaped member with their butt ends 7 embedded in a binder 8 which may be a plastic composition such as an epoxy resin. The dome shaped plastic member may be any machineable hard plastic such as polyethylene, an ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) resin, a polycarbonate, etc. The dome shaped member is adhesively bonded to the binder after the butt ends of the bristles are embedded therein. The metal ferrule extends from the juncture of the dome with the binder to the rectangular lower end portion of the handle. The ferrule has grooves 9 for securing the binder. The lower end portion of the handle is spaced from the binder and is secured within the lower portion of the ferrule by rivets 10. The embodiment of FIG. 4 shows a unitary plastic member 11 dome shaped at the top, an intermediate portion, descending into a lowermost rectangular portion 11a that is inserted into the ferrule. Perforations extend throughout the dimension of the plastic member for the insertion of the bristles. The butt ends of the bristles are adhesively bonded to the plastic member at the end of the rectangular section and the rectangular section is secured in the ferrule by the aforementioned grooves. As can be seen, there is only one novel feature of the invention and that is the dome shaped plastic member. As stated above, the tendency of paint to settle in the lower end of the bristles with consequent buildup of a heavy sediment which prevents flexibility of the bristles is overcome by simply placing a dome shaped member between the lower end of the bristles and their butt ends. Therefore, any paint that settles will accumulate on the plastic member which can then be readily scraped off.
While this invention has been designed primarly with paint brushes in mind, it is obvious that its application could be extended to any type of brush wherein a liquid media is to be applied and such liquid has a tendency to harden. | A paint brush configured to facilitate cleaning, prevent stiffening of the bristles and extend the life of the brush having a dome shaped member positioned between the lower end of the bristles and ferrule. | 0 |
This is a division, of application Serial No. 218,048, filed Dec. 19, 1980 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,256.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In order to more fully understand the invention disclosed and claimed herein, a brief discussion of polarization of light is considered helpful. Light generally travels in a transverse direction with electric vibrations perpendicular to the line of propogation of the light waves. Light is polarized linearly and horizontally when the electrical vibrations are horizontal; and when the vibrations are vertical, the light is considered to be polarized linearly and vertically. Thus, if a beam of light is passed through a first polarizer which divides the light into two components, one transmitted or passed through the polarizer while the other one is blocked, the remaining light has either horizontal or vertical polarization. If this polarized light subsequently is passed through a second polarizer maintained parallel to the first one, the polarized light all is transmitted through the second polarizer. If, however, the second polarizer is rotated, the amount of light passed through it decreases proportional to the amount of rotation of the second polarizer. When the polarizers are at right angles to one another, all of the light theoretically is absorbed by the second polarizer.
This phenomenon is employed to substantial advantage in the use of polarized sunglasses to substantially reduce the annoying effects of glare, since reflected sunlight (glare) has its polarization rotated ninety degrees or at right angles to direct sunlight. The most common polarized sunglasses are made of stretched plastic material which has long, thin, parallel chains of iodine or similar material embedded in it to permanently polarize it. Sunglasses made of this material have become very popular, but suffer from a number of inherent disadvantages. The plastics have a low hardness, and therefore, a poor scratch resistence; so that unless a great deal of care is taken to avoid scratching them, lenses made of such plastics rapidly deteriorate to the point where they are unusable or should not be used by the wearer. In addition, these plastics have a low refractive index which prevents manufacture of prescription polarized sunglasses from them.
Prescription sunglasses have been developed using photochromic glasses, which include submicroscopic crystals of silver halides, such as silver chloride, silver chromide, or slver iodide, which become darker in color when the glass is subjected to actinic radiation, but which regain their original color (or clarity) when the radiation is removed or reduced. Such a photochromic glass is disclosed in the patent to Armistead et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,860. A later patent to Hares et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,451, discloses a photochromic glass which is described as also having the capability of being either thermally tempered or chemically strengthened to comply with present regulations in existence for use in opthalmic applications. The glasses disclosed in both of these patents, however, are not polarized glasses, but simply exhibit the characteristics of becoming darker when exposed to actinic radiation, and then fading or returning to their original color when such radiation is removed.
The formation of photochromic glass of the type disclosed in the Armistead and Hares et al patents requires the deliberate introduction of silver halides into the glass along with small amounts of reducing agents. Bulk processing of the glass takes place since the silver halide crystals and the reducing agents are uniformly dispersed throughout the glass.
An improvement in the photochromic glasses described above is disclosed in the patents to Simms, U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,582, and 3,920,463. These patents both disclose processes for permanently tinting photochromic glass by heating the photochromic material in a reducing atmosphere, and while it is at an elevated temperature, irradiating it with ultraviolet irradiation. The change in the tint of the photochromic material is caused by the heating and is emphasized or darkened by the subsequent ultraviolet irradiation. The formation of the glasses described in the Simms patents includes the introduction of silver halides into the glass batch in a manner similar to the production of the photochromic glasses described in the Armistead and Hares et al patents. The improvement is in the introduction of a permanent overriding tint of varying intensity coupled with the photochromic characteristics of the glasses.
An effort to combine photochromic characteristics with polarization in ophthalmic lenses, and the like, is disclosed in the patent to Araujo, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,863. The glass described in the Araujo patent is made by introducing crystalline silver halide into the glass batch along with a small amount of low temperature reducing agents in the batch. When the batch is subjected to heat, the reducing agents are catalyzed and operate to reduce the silver halides to metal. Submicroscopic droplets are formed; and as the glass remains at elevated temperatures after the reduction, these droplets agglomorate to form larger balls or masses of silver (silver halide) droplets. The glass then is stretched to elongate the particles causing elongated fibrils all aligned in the same direction to be formed throughout the glass bulk.
Because a bulk process is employed in the Araujo patent, it is somewhat difficult to control the transmission characteristics of the completed lens. For example, it is possible for several fibrils of the elongated droplets to be aligned with or nearly aligned with one another throughout the thickness of the lens. The only fibrils, however, required for the polarization effect are the outer-most ones where the light enters the lens. The remaining fibrils simply reduce the transmission of light through the lens due to scattering and the like. This difficulty is inherent in the bulk effect technique which is employed in the Araujo method. The aligned lines of polarizing material are noncontributors to the polarizing effect and simply contribute to transmission losses. All of this is particularly significant if the intent is to manufacture a "clear", high transmission prescription ophthalmic lens or a photochromic lens where ranges of transmission have to be carefully controlled as the photochromic lens in a sunglass.
Accordingly, it is desirable to manufacture polarized ophthalmic lenses of high quality without the above disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved polarized glass.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for making an improved polarized ophthalmic glass.
It is yet another object of this invention to make polarized ophthalmic glass using the same composition ordinarily employed for non-polarized ophthalmic glasses.
It is a further object of this invention to provide surface polarization for ophthalmic glasses.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, a method of making polarized ophthalmic glass includes the step of first heating a sheet of ophthalmic glass, which includes a reducible metal oxide as part of its composition, to its softening point in a reducing atmosphere for a period of time sufficient to reduce the metal oxide to metal to a predetermined depth on at least one surface of the sheet. The glass sheet then is stretched in one direction to elongate the metal particles in parallel lines. After the stretching has been completed, the glass is cooled to set the elongated metal particles in the glass.
In a more specific embodiment for making ophthalmic lenses, the glass sheet is placed over a shaping fixture while the glass sheet is still at the softening temperature to permit the sheet to sag and conform to the curvature of the shaping fixture. The shaping fixture itself has a number of curved surfaces on it to form the curvature necessary for a corresponding number of lens blanks. After the sheet has conformed to the shaping fixture, the individual lenses are cut from the fixture. The glass then is permitted to cool to set the elongated metal particles in the glass of each of the individual lenses thus formed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In accordance with the method of the present invention, any glass batch containing a reducible oxide and suitable for making opthalmic lenses may be polarized without changing the starting composition of the ophthalmic glass batch in any manner whatsoever from present commonly used commercial glass compositions. A typical glass, which is well known, has the following composition:
______________________________________ PERCENT BY WEIGHTCOMPONENT (APPROXIMATELY)______________________________________SiO.sub.2 32Na.sub.2 O 1K.sub.2 O 6Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 4ZnO 1TiO.sub.2 2BaO 1PbO 51ZrO 1AS.sub.2 O.sub.3 0.5Sb.sub.2 O.sub.3 0.5______________________________________
Without degrading the ophthalmic characteristics of the glass in any way and without altering the desirable light transmission characteristics of such glass, it has been found that such standard ophthalmic glass (and other similar standard ophthalmic glass compositions) can be permanently polarized in a controlled and effective manner by heating the glass in a reducing atmosphere, permitting the reduced metal oxides (particularly lead oxide reduced to lead metal) which are formed to nucleate, and then stretching the glass ten to thirty times the original length while it is in a softened state to elongate the reduced metal particles. After this, the glass is allowed to cool and the stretched metal particles cause permanent surface polarization to take place.
The temperature to which the glass must be heated varies dependent upon the characteristics of the glass batch itself. Typically, such a temperature is between 300° C. to 600° C., or perhaps even above. The nucleation occurs at all of these temperatures, but the nucleation is faster at the higher temperatures. Ideally, the elongation or stretching of the glass to form the polarization lines of stretched lead typically is done at the minimum softening temperature for the particular glass formulation which is used.
The exact identity of the reducing atmosphere is not particularly critical (so long as it is gaseous at the processing temperature, of course), and reducing atmospheres of the type commonly used in the art are used with success in accomplishing the reduction of the metal oxides in the glass. Similarly, the temperature is not particularly critical, except that at higher temperatures the reduction and nucleation occurs more rapidly than at lower temperatures. As stated above, it also is desirable to effect the stretching of the glass at or near its lowest softening temperature in order to most effectively utilize the shear characteristics of the glass in stretching the metal particles.
In selecting the particular reducing atmosphere which is used, cost and safety are primary factors. Preferred reducing gases include hydrogen, carbon monoxide, cracked ammonia, and similar gases which may be used in pure form or mixed with an inert carrier gas. Because of its ready availability, hydrogen generally is employed as the reducing atmosphere. Although it is apparent that pure hydrogen may be used, the high danger of explosion and the relatively high cost of pure hydrogen as compared to many inert carrier gases, generally dictates the use of hydrogen in combination with an inert carrier gas. For practical purposes, the inert gas used is generally nitrogen because, again, it is readily available at relatively low cost. Obviously, oxygen should be kept out of the system to avoid the danger of explosion even when an inert gas carrier is used in conjunction with the hydrogen gas.
The ratio of the reducing gas to the inert gas carrier is not critical so far as the manner in which the process functions is concerned. From a practical standpoint, however, if extremely low porportions of reducing gas are employed, the process time is significantly increased without any accompanying benefit and results. Because of the time increase for low proportions of reducing gas, the cost of processing a given batch of glass is also increased and this is undesirable. It has been found that a ten percent (10%) hydrogen/ninety percent (90%) nitrogen (by volume) reducing atmosphere offers good results at reasonable processing times with a minimum of safety hazards. Actually, a range of five percent (5%) hydrogen/ninety percent (90%) nitrogen to fifteen percent (15%) hydrogen/eighty-five percent (85%) nitrogen is probably an ideal working range for the reducing atmosphere.
To minimize the danger of hydrogen build-up, if hydrogen is used as the active reducing component, and further to avoid temperature variations over the surface of the glass being processed, it is preferable to flow the reducing atmosphere over the surface of the glass under a slight positive pressure in either a semicontinuous or continuous system. Consequently, the excess reducing atmosphere is used to constantly flush the processing apparatus, avoiding hot spots on the surface of the glass and at the glass/reducing atmosphere interface. Highly turbulent conditions should be avoided, since these might cause "hot spots" or "cold spots" on the glass surface. To accomplish this, the pressure of the reducing atmosphere generally is maintained only slightly in excess of atmospheric pressure to ensure an even flow over the glass articles being processed.
The method of making ophthalmic polarized glass in accordance with the teachings of this invention can be practiced in batch, semicontinuous, or a continuous manner. Initially, the invention has been practiced in batch operations; but in full scale commercial operations, continuous processing is preferred.
By processing the glass as discussed above, it should be noted that the reduction process is confined to the immediate surface of the unitary glass sheet or blank. Penetration typically is on the order of three to five microns; so that for the completed article, the stretched aligned polarizing medium is also confined to the surface of the unitary sheet. Typically, ophthalmic lenses are formed from ophthalmic blanks having the general overall lens shape. To complete a lens, the blank then needs contouring, either a prescription contour or a plano-plano contour, grinding and polishing; and, finally, the overall lens is shaped to a particular frame geometry to create the finished glasses.
Because of the substantial working of the surface of ophthalmic lens blanks, the polarizing process cannot be applied to either a prefinished blank or the finished lens. In the case of the blank, the grinding and polishing operations required for finishing would eliminate the surface polarizing medium from the lens. For finished lenses, the stretching step which necessarily must be made in order to create the polarizing lines in the glass would grossly distort the finely processed curvature of the lens.
Consequently, it has been found that the reduction and stretching of the glass must be introduced into the ophthalmic glass at a unique point in its processing. Instead of working on the lens blanks, the process is applied to planar sheets of ophthalmic glass. The thickness of these glass sheets is ected so that after it is stretched, the final necessary thickness for lens blanks is maintained. In addition, it should be noted that since there is always a grinding and finishing step necessary for the creation of prescription lenses, one surface of the planar sheet must be finished in a manner which precludes the necessity of any further polishing on that surface. Consequently, one surface (selected to be the inner surface of the finished lenses) is already provided with a final polished finish prior to the heating of the sheet in a reducing atmosphere and its subsequent stretching. Then at the proper temperature, the polarized sheet is placed with this surface over forming molds which shape the inner contour for the lens blanks. This inner contour, of course, is polarized and is the finished side of the sheet glass. The other or outer surface also is polarized; but since it is processed further by grinding and polishing prescription lenses, the polarization is removed from that surface for the creation of prescription lenses. The back or inner finished surface, however, remains polarized to accomplish the desired purposes.
In the case of the forming of plano-plano ophthalmic lenses or even plain sunglasses, the final finish can be applied to both surfaces of the sheet glass prior to its heating in a reducing atmosphere, stretching, and shaping over the mold; so that both surfaces will be polarizing surfaces in the completed lenses.
The process also may be applied to photochromic ophthalmic lenses of the types disclosed in the prior art.
A variation of the above manufacturing technique which may be employed is to polarize a very thin unitary sheet of plate glass separately from the prescription lens blanks. This very thin polarized glass sheet then is formed to the inner layer of the prescription semifinished lens, or it may be formed to the final outer surface, or both surfaces. The final processing step in such a method would be to fuse the thin polarized glass sheet to the ophthalmic lens by a suitable technique.
The invention is further illustrated by the following examples:
EXAMPLE I
A rectangularly shaped sample of glass three inches (3") by three inches (3") by one-fourth inch (1/4") was obtained having the following glass composition:
______________________________________INGREDIENT WEIGHT PERCENT______________________________________SiO.sub.2 55.9AL.sub.2 O.sub.3 9.0B.sub.2 O.sub.3 16.2LiO 2.65NaO 1.85PbO 5.05BaO 6.7ZnO 2.3Ag 0.16Cl 0.29Br 0.72CuO 0.036F 0.2______________________________________
The sample was polished to a finished surface on its lower side. The sample was heated to a temperature of 500° C. and then subjected to a reducing atmosphere consisting of ten percent (10%) hydrogen and ninety percent (90%) nitrogen for a period of ten (10) minutes.
The ten percent (10%) hydrogen/ninety percent (90%) nitrogen atmosphere was then removed and replaced by a non-reducing atmosphere purge of one hundred percent (100%) nitrogen, and the sample was held in this atmosphere at the same temperature (500° C.) for another period of two (2) hours to nucleate the reduced oxides.
The glass sample was clamped to a fixed clamp at one end and heated to its softening temperature range (approximately 600° C.) at which range it began to deform (stretch) under its own weight. This stretching was allowed to continue until the sample was stretched to an overall length of forty (40) inches.
The stretched glass then was placed over a lens shaping fixture, heated to near the softening temperature of the glass, and was permitted to sag to conform to the desired lens curvation provided by the shaping fixutre. The lens blanks then were cut from the fixture and permitted to cool.
Polarization efficiency was measured and found to be forty percent (40%) effective.
EXAMPLE II
The rectangularly shaped sample of glass, having the dimensions and composition of the glass used in Example I, was prepared by polishing its lower side to a finished surface. The sample then was clamped to a fixed clamp at one end.
The sample then was heated to a temperature of 550° C. and subjected to a reducing atmosphere consisting of ten percent (10%) hydrogen and ninety percent (90%) nitrogen for a period of forty (40) minutes.
The sample temperature was next increased to 600° C. at which temperature it began to deform (stretch) under its own weight. This stretching was allowed to continue until the sample was stretched to an overall length of forty (40) inches.
The stretched glass then was placed over a lens shaping fixture, heated to near the softening temperature of the glass, and was permitted to sag to conform to the desired lens curvation provided by the shaping fixture. The lens blanks then were cut from the fixture and permitted to cool.
Polarization efficiency was measured and found to be forty-three percent (43%) effective.
EXAMPLE III
A rectangularly shaped sample of glass, having the dimensions and compositions of Example I, was prepared by polishing its lower surface to a finished surface. The sample then was clamped to a fixed clamp at one end.
The sample then was heated to its softening temperature range (approximately 600° C.) and, simultaneously, subjected to a reducing atmosphere consisting of ten percent (10%) hydrogen and ninety percent (90%) nitrogen for a period of thirty (30) minutes. At the end of thirty (30) minutes the reducing atmosphere was replaced by a non-reducing nitrogen atmosphere, and the sample heating was continued until it had stretched to a length of forty (40) inches.
The sample next was placed over a lens shaping fixture, and heated to near the softening temperature of the glass. The glass was permitted to sag to conform to the desired lens curvation provided by the shaping fixture. The lens blanks were cut from the fixture and permitted to cool.
Polarization efficiency was measured and found to be twenty-eight percent (28%) effective.
Measurement of polarization efficiency in the foregoing examples was done in the following manner. A conventional polarizing filter (a Kalt p.1 0 52) was placed in front of a light source and rotated; so that the transmitted light was a minimum. This meant that the transmitted light was polarized. The sample produced in each of the above Examples then was located in the beam of this polarized light and rotated through 360°. The transmission of light passing through the sample was plotted as a function of the angle of rotation to determine the maximum polarization efficiency according to the following formula: ##EQU1## where T1 equals the maximum light transmitted through the sample, and T2 equals the minimum light transmitted through the sample, as detected by a conventional light meter. No efforts were made in the foregoing Examples to process the glass sample for its optimum degree of polarization. The samples were made to determine and illustrate the concept of the invention.
To ascertain the depth of the penetration of the reducing agent and, therefore, the depth of the elongated polarizing elements in the completed stretched sample, the samples were broken to expose a cross-section through the optical axis. A high powered microscope with a calibrated reticle then allowed the measurement of the depth of penetration which, as stated previously, was found to be on the order of three to five microns.
The invention has been specifically described in conjunction with preferred embodiments as set forth in both the general description and in the specific Examples. It is to be understood, however, that the Examples given are to be considered illustrative of the invention and not as limiting. These Examples were not optimized for maximum polarization efficiency. For example, various changes in the specific dimensions and compositions of the glass will occur to those skilled in the art. Similarly, various temperatures may be employed without departing from the concepts of the invention. For example, a relatively wide range of temperatures may be utilized to practice the invention, and nucleation of the reduced metal oxides occur at all of these temperatures. The higher temperatures, however, result in faster nucleation than occurs at the lower temperatures. Also, various types of and compositions of reducing atmospheres may be employed to reach the same results which are attained in the Examples specifically discussed above. Such variations will not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention. | Polarized ophthalmic glass lenses are made from conventional ophthalmic glass. This is accomplished by heating a sheet of ophthalmic glass, which includes a reducible metal oxide as part of its composition, to its softening point in a reducing atmosphere for a time interval sufficient to reduce the metal oxide to metal to a predetermined depth on at least one surface of the sheet. Following this reduction of the metal oxide, the sheet is held at an elevated temperature to permit the reduced oxides to nucleate. Then, the sheet is stretched in one direction to elongate the nucleated metal particles in parallel lines. The glass then is shaped, cut into lenses, permitted to cool, and the outer surface of the lens blanks are ground and polished in a conventional manner, leaving the stretched elongated metal particles on the inner surface thereof to create polarized ophthalmic lenses. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention is directed to the delivery of a combination drug therapy for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A combination of a long-acting corticosteroid and a long-acting beta-agonist has been available for years for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly abbreviated as COPD, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Particularly, the combination of budesonide, a long-acting corticosteroid, and formoterol, a long-acting beta-agonist, is available under the brand name Symbicort® and is recommended by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program of the National Institute of Health for long-term control and prevention of symptoms of moderate and severe persistent asthma. The combination is offered in a dry powder inhaler device marketed as Turbuhaler® by AstraZeneca.
[0003] Formoterol, a beta-agonist directly stimulates the lungs to open by binding to beta-receptor sites on smooth muscle. It is used as a rescue medication in Europe; however, the only FDA-approved indication in the US is as a preventative long-acting beta agonist. The typical dose is 12 to 24 μg administered twice daily. Budesonide is a corticosteroid that prevents and decreases inflammation. It is used as an inhalation therapy to minimize the side effects associated with the oral ingestion of steroids. This long-acting steroid is not appropriate as a rescue medication. Its typical dose is 0.25 to 0.5 mg administered twice daily.
[0004] The Northeast Essex Medicines Management Committee in the United Kingdom recommends the use of tiotropium with Symbicort® for severe COPD sufferers, those with forced expiratory volume in one second of less than 30%. Tiotropium is a long-acting antimuscarinic agent, or anticholinergic. It is supplied as a capsule containing 18 μg of tiotropium in a lactose carrier for a once daily dose that is delivered via an inhaler device trademarked as the HandiHaler®. An in vitro study of the delivery of this medication under standard conditions used a flow rate of 39 L/min for 3.1 seconds to deliver 10.4 μg of tiotropium. Unfortunately, a normal elderly patient or a patient with severe CODP cannot achieve such a flow rate.
[0005] A nebulizer is a delivery device that was designed to overcome the pulmonary limitations of patients. Sometimes called a “breathing treatment,” a nebulizer creates a mist containing the drug, which makes it easy and pleasant to breath the drug into the lungs. A nebulizer requires formulations in liquid form to function properly. Nebulizers work by forcing air through a cup containing the liquid medicine. This produces tiny mist-like particles of the liquid so that they can be inhaled deeply into the airways. Other nebulizers use an ultrasonic mechanism to generate the mist.
[0006] No dosage form that combine the three agents for treating asthma or COPD has been available or described. A desired triple therapy would include a long-acting antimuscarinic agent, or anticholinergic, with the long-acting corticosteroid and a long-acting beta-agonist combination described above. All three medications are presently available commercially with the delivery mode almost exclusively that of inhaling a dry powder using an inhaler, as in the case of Symbicort® and Forabil®. Budesonide is also available to be delivered as an aqueous solution via a hand held pump. The ability to prepare a stable saline solution of dry powder formoterol and administer it via a nebulizer has been reported but formoterol is not presently marketed in this form. The sole manufacturer of Spiriva®, the brand name of tiotropium by Boehringer Ingelheim, issued a drug information letter on Feb. 8, 2005 that concluded that “this product cannot to be used in a nebulizer”. In spite of the desire to use the three drugs in combination, no description of a convenient dosage form of the drugs with a delivery method that enables a patient with a compromised pulmonary system to inhale has been realized and the ability to achieve this goal is questionable since the possibility of putting the anticholinergic in a vehicle for use with a nebulizer has been discouraged. To this end, a vehicle to deliver a combination therapy having a long-acting corticosteroid with a long-acting beta-agonist and a long-acting anticholinergic remains highly desirable for patients in need of such therapy. The method of delivery should be one that is effective for the patient that can benefit from the therapy. An improvement over delivery with an inhaler is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention is directed to a method to deliver a combination therapy to the pulmonary system where a nebulizer is provided with a fluid containing a long-acting corticosteroid, a long-acting beta-agonist, and a long-acting anticholinergic in a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle and the solution is administered to the patient using the nebulizer. A preferred corticosteroid is budesonide. A preferred beta-agonist is formoterol, and a preferred anticholinergic is tiotropium. The preferred vehicle is an aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion.
[0008] In one embodiment, the fluid contains approximately 3 to approximately 24 μg, preferably approximately 5 to approximately 7 μg, most preferably approximately 6 μg of formoterol; preferably 1.5 to approximately 15 μg, preferably approximately 3.5 to approximately 5.5 μg, most preferably at approximately 4.5 μg of tiotropium; and 0.1 to approximately 0.6 mg, preferably approximately 0.2 to approximately 0.3 mg, most preferably 0.25 mg of budesonide per 2 mL of the fluid. The fluid may also contain approximately 0.01 to approximately 0.04 mL, preferably approximately 0.02 to approximately 0.03 mL Polysorbate 80; and approximately 50 to approximately 400 μg Trisodium EDETATE to stabilize the fluid. The vehicle can be a 0.9% sodium chloride solution. The fluid has a pH of less than approximately 8.4 and has a preferred pH of between approximately 5.2 and approximately 6.8.
[0009] The fluid is packaged in vials such that one, two or more vials can be used to achieve the prescribed dosage where the contents of the vials are used sequentially or are combined into the nebulizer for administration in a single dosage session.
[0010] The invention is also directed to a pharmaceutical composition that is an aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion having a mixture of effective amounts of formoterol, budesonide, and tiotropium in any physiologically acceptable salts of these medications such that the composition is suitable for delivery by inhalation for the treatment of asthma and COPD.
[0011] The composition provides tiotropium as tiotropium bromide and formoterol as formoterol fumarate. The ranges of the amount of these drugs include formoterol at approximately 3 to approximately 24 μg, preferably approximately 5 to approximately 7 μg, most preferably approximately 6 μg per 2 mL of aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion. Tiotropium may be included at approximately 1.5 to approximately 15 μg, preferably approximately 3.5 to approximately 5.5 μg, most preferably at approximately 4.5 μg per 2 mL of aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion. Budesonide at approximately 0.1 to approximately 0.6 mg, preferably approximately 0.2 to approximately 0.3 mg, most preferably 0.25 mg per 2 mL of aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion. To achieve this dosage form, approximately 0.01 to approximately 0.04 mL, preferably approximately 0.02 to approximately 0.03 mL Polysorbate 80, approximately 50 to approximately 400 μg Trisodium EDETATE, and approximately 9 to approximately 30 mg, preferably approximately 15 to approximately 20 mg, and most preferably approximately 18 mg of sodium chloride per 2 mL of aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion. It will be appreciated that Polysorbate is not required, and that the dosage form may be achieved using sterile water. This aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion has a pH of less than 8.4 and preferrably has a pH of 5.2 to 6.8. This composition is suitable for delivery by inhalation using a nebulizer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The present invention is directed to an effective treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Treatment involves the delivery of the needed drug to the pulmonary system. The drugs delivered to the lungs are of three types: a beta-agonist to stimulate beta-receptors in the autonomic nervous system to open the airways by relaxing the muscles around the airways that may tighten during bronchospasms and relieve dyspnea; a corticosteroid to reduce or prevent inflammation; and an anticholinergic, specifically an antimuscarinic agent, to operate on the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors reducing the effects mediated by acetylcholine in the nervous system and acting as a bronchiodilator. In some instances, the desired dosage form is intended for use by patients with severe conditions. The invention is also directed to a regimen of dosing that maintains the appropriate levels of the drugs and is administered in a form that a patient with a weakened condition can achieve the intended dosage during a single delivery session.
[0013] The required drugs can be relatively long-acting such that delivery of the drug does not require an unreasonable regimen of the patient with respect to the portion of the day which must be dedicated to the delivery of the therapy. The drugs must also be compatible with each other. A vehicle by which they may be mixed and co-administered is required. A triple combination that achieves these goals is that of: formoterol, budesonide, and tiotropium, the beta-agonist, corticosteroid, and anticholinergic, respectively. The choice of these drugs achieves the goal for a minimally inconveniencing of the patient. In at least one embodiment, the dosages of these medications can be packaged for administration only twice daily. The most desired vehicle is water but can include alcohols or other co-solvents or any combination thereof. Buffers or other components to adjust and control the pH and metal complexing agents to enhance the miscibility of the active components can be included in the formulation. Other ingredients can be included to adjust other properties of the solution such as viscosity and emulsion stability while maintaining the desired chemical compatibility and stability of the mixture.
[0014] Formoterol is the common name for rel-N-[2-Hydroxy-5-[(1R)-1-hydroxy-2-[[(1R)-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-methylethyl]amino]ethyl]phenyl]formamide with the molecular formula C 19 H 24 N 2 O 4 and is normally provided as the fumarate dihydrate in powder form. The molecular formula of the fumarate salt is (C 19 H 24 N 2 O 4 ) 2 .C 4 H 4 O 4 .2H 2 O. Budesonide is the common name for (11β,16α)-16,17-[Butylidenebis(oxy)]-11.12-dihydroxypregna- 1,4-diene-3,20-dione with the molecular formula C 25 H 34 O 6 . Tiotropium is provided as tiotropium bromide which is a common name for (1α,2β,4β,5α,7β)-7-[(hydroxydi-2-thienylacetyl)oxy]-9,9-dimethyl-3-oxa-9-azoniatricyclo[3.3.1.0 2.4 ]nonane bromide with molecular formula C 19 H 22 BrNO 4 S 2 .
[0015] Patients needing this combination of pharmaceutical agents often do not have a sufficient physical condition, particularly in their pulmonary system, to achieve the desired dose of some of these medications, particularly the tiotropium, when used individually in inhalers. The present invention is directed to overcoming the limitations of the inhalation methods available. The drugs are combined as an aqueous solution for delivery by a nebulizer. There are several advantages to the use of a nebulizer for medications. In some embodiments, the primary advantage is that its use requires only simple tidal breathing to receive the designed dose of the pharmaceutical. Although literature by the manufacturer of tiotropium has reported that it is inappropriate to use a nebulizer with their product, it has been discovered that the preparation of a mixture of these medications in an aqueous solution is possible.
[0016] An exemplary dosage form for delivery by a nebulizer is formulated as given below. It is designed to deliver 6 μg formoterol, 4.5 μg tiotropium and 0.25 mg budesonide when 2 mL of the aqueous solution is used with a nebulizer. Although many different commercially available nebulizers may be used, a Pari LC Plus® with a Pari Ultra® compressor was used in for the administration in the studies leading to this application. It is useful for a therapy where two ampules are used two times a day to deliver the recommended doses of the three components. This nebulizer delivered regimen has given vastly superior results with COPD sufferers to that of the administration of the medications separately via the normal inhalers with which they are provided.
EXAMPLE 1
[0017]
Dosage Form
μg/vial
Active Ingredient
Tiotropium
4.5
Formoterol
6.0
Budesonide
250
Inactive Ingredient
Polysorbate 80
0.02
mL/vial
Trisodium EDETATE
200
μg/vial
0.9% Sodium Chloride solution
quantity sufficient
up to 2 mL
pH
5.2-6.8
[0018] To prepare the formulation above 0.501 g Tiotropium powder from capsules containing 18 μkg tiotropium/capsule is combined with 1 L of sterile sodium chloride for irrigation, 0.9% NaCl and homogenized to assure dispersion. To the dispersion is added 0.1 g Trisodium EDETATE, a complexing agent, and 10 mL of sterile Polysorbate 80 NF, a polyether emulsifier. To this suspension is added 0.125 g Budesonide, micronized which is then heated in a autoclave at 121-34° C. for 20 minutes and then stirred. To this solution is added 5 mL Formoterol 0.6 mg/mL solution through a 0.22 micron filter. The mixture is then separated, placing 2 mL in sterile vials. The pH ranges from 5.2 to 6.8 for this formulation as prepared above. The formulation can be outside of this range but cannot be greater than 8.4 to avoid degradation of ingredients, particularly the tiotropium. The pH can be adjusted using hydrochloric acid solution or sodium hydroxide solution as needed.
[0019] The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of this invention. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention. | A method of delivery of a combination therapy to the pulmonary system that includes providing a nebulizer and a fluid comprising a long-acting corticosteroid, a long-acting beta-agonist, and a long-acting anticholinergic in a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle, and administering the solution to the patient using the nebulizer. The corticosteroid is budesonide, the beta-agonist is formoterol and the anticholinergic is tiotropium in a an aqueous solution, suspension or emulsion suitable for administration with the nebulizer. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Originally, the milky liquid obtained from rubber trees was called "latex"; now this term refers to an aqueous dispersion of polymeric substances whether they are natural or synthetic. Latexes can be made by emulsion polymerization from the monomer or by emulsification of resins.
Due to environmental and energy problems, water-based systems are becoming more and more desirable. Nowadays, latexes are widely used in adhesives, textiles, inks, plastics, coatings, photographic applications, pharmaceuticals, and paper industries. In addition, monodisperse latexes also have important applications in the fields of medical, biological, and fundamental research studies. Latexes are required to be stable during preparation, storage, formulation, and applications. The stability of latexes is dependent on the total interaction energies between the particles. This has been described by the DLVO theory.
Polystyrene latexes have been used as pigment particles in paper coating, and the coating prepared from monodisperse polystyrene latex particles of different sizes has been tested for light scattering efficiency.
It has been found that a plastic pigment of polystyrene latex can meet most of the criteria for an ideal pigment. The criteria are: (1) low specific gravity, (2) high brightness, (3) high refractive index, (4) controlled particle size, (5) easily dispersible, (6) chemically inert, (7) compatible with other pigments, (8) nonabrasive, (9) low adhesive demand, (10) high price/performance efficiency. Usually plastic pigments are white in color, and the opacity can be changed by the variation of the particle size, but no satisfactory colored plastic pigments have yet been made.
Colored latexes have been made from polymerizable dyestuffs. Colored copolymers have been suggested in latex form for coating of leather. It has also been reported that colored latexes can be made by the reaction of an aqueous dispersion of microgel with hydrogen bromide through the unsaturated double bond and then followed by a nucleophilic substitution reaction with dye-molecules (Kolthoff et al, J. Polymer Sci. 15 459 (1955)).
The chemical modifications of reactive microgels cannot be carried out in aqueous solution, but involve the use of organic solvent systems. Besides, the particle sizes of microgels are usually between 5 nm and 50 nm which are too small to be used as pigments in coating applications. One of the major problems in the preparation of highly crosslinked reactive microgels is the occurrence of agglomeration phenomena, which leads to total coagulation. For polymerizable dyestuffs, the copolymerization reactivity ratios must be considered in copolymerization with styrene in addition to the solubility problem.
Generally there are three methods described in the prior art for the incorporation of dyes into a polymer latex. In "The Applications of Synthetic Resin Emulsions" by H. Warson, Ernest Benn Ltd., London, 1974 beginning on Page 848 it is stated:
"It is possible to obtain colored copolymers, even in emulsion by copolymerizing dye-stuffs including unsaturated groups, azo dyes and anthraquinone dyes being particularly suitable. These groups may be a vinyl group on an ester, an acrylate on a base, a vinylsulfonamide derivative and so on. A range of colors are available. Various specifications quote the method of preparing the colored copolymers (G. Krehbiel (to BASF), Brit. No. 877,402 (1961); H. Wilhelm (to BASF), Brit. No. 914,354 (1961); K. H. Beyer et al (2 BASF), Brit. No. 964,757 (1964)). Graft copolymers including polymerizable dyestuffs are also known (BASF, Brit. No. 965,627 (1964)).
These colored copolymers may be used directly in emulsion form for the coating of leather, thereby avoiding the numerous difficulties which have to be overcome when the leather is dyed independently. The dyestuff monomer is present at 1-15 percent by weight of the solids content of the emulsion, and a crosslinking agent such as N-methylolmethacrylamide is preferably present. This will have the effect of chemically combining the colored copolymer with the leather during the curing process on drying at the normal elevated temperature (F. Ebel et al. (to BASF), Brit. No. 998,550 (1965); H. Wilhelm et al. (to BASF), Brit. No. 1,063,219 (1967)).
Since this type of polymerization is novel some examples will be quoted here . . . " Warson then goes on to describe in a table "emulsion polymerization with colored monomers (F. Ebel et al. (to BASF), Brit. No. 998,550 (1965))." The table lists the following polymerizable dyestuffs.
2,4,5-trichloro-4'-(N-ethyl-N-acryloylhydroxyethyl)-aminoazobenzene
2,4-dichloro-4'-(N-ethyl-N-acryloylhydroxyethyl)-aminoazobenzene
2-methoxy-4-nitro-4'-(N-ethyl-N-acryloyhydroxyethyl)-aminoazobenzene
2-cyano-4-nitro-4'-(N-ethyl-N-acryloylhydroxyethyl)-aminoazobenzene
In the polymerization, 20 parts ethyl acrylate are emulsified in 50 parts water containing 0.3 parts potassium persulfate initiator, as well as emulsifier comprising 2.0 parts 20% aqueous sodium salt of a sulfonated iso-octylphenol-polyoxyethylene adduct with 25 moles ethylene oxide and 0.24 parts 50% aqueous sodium salt of sulfonated castor oil. Another emulsion is prepared comprising 7 parts polymerizable dyestuff, 40 parts ethyl acrylate, 23 parts isobutyl acrylate, 7.5 parts acrylic acid, and 5.5 parts 45% aqueous N-methylolacrylamide in 68.5 parts water containing 8.0 parts of the same sulfonated iso-octylphenol-polyoxyethylene adduct and 0.6 parts of the same sulfonated castor oil emulsifiers. The first emulsion is heated with stirring to 80° and the second emulsion is added continuously over a one-hour period; at the same time, 1.2 parts potassium persulfate initiator in 20 parts of water are added continuously in a second stream. The polymerization is continued at the same temperature for a total time of 4 hours.
Other references from the same text include page 179, "The addition of dyestuffs (in the compounding of the emulsion) as distinct from pigments is sometimes desired. If water soluble, direct addition of a concentrate is possible, but the dyestuff ion must have the same charge as the dispersant, e.g., the cationic methyl violet types should not be used with anionic surfactants. An oil soluble dye should be dissolved in a small quantity of solvent or plasticizer before addition to the emulsion."
Also, page 888 states that, "There seems to be no reason why dyestuffs should not be added to emulsion polish compositions based on polymers, just as they are added to solvent-based products, and to direct wax polish emulsions. Compatibility, especially with the emulsifier system, as well as with the organic components, would have to be studied. An oil-soluble dye, probably in the wax component of the polyethylene would seem to be the most probable method of incorporation. The plasticizer could possible be used. A water-based dye, even if acid is likely to cause difficulty, due to bleeding, when any water is poured on to the polish, although it is possible that some types might be strongly absorbed onto the alkali-soluble resin, and thus be reasonably permanent."
Finally, page 857 describes the use of the red dyestuff, Waxolin OS, an azo dye, in the polymerization mixture, where it functions as a chain transfer agent, thus incorporating dyestuff endgroups into the polymer chain.
Another reference work, "Chemical Reactions of Polymers," E. M. Fettes, editor, Interscience, New York, 1964, describes on page 284 the nitration of polystyrene and its subsequent reduction (W. E. Hanford (to E. I. du Pont de Nemours), U.S. Pat. No. 2,396,786, Mar. 19, 1946; G. B. Bachman, H. Hellman, K. R. Robinson, R. W. Finholt, E. J. Kahler, L. J. Filar, L. V. Heisey, L. L. Lewis, and D. D. Micucci, J. Org. Chem. 12, 108 (1947)) to give polyaminostyrene, which is then diazotized and coupled with phenols and amines to give dyes which are insoluble in all solvents. Similar reactions with styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers are also reported (W. O. Kenyon, L. M. Minsk, and G. P. Waugh (to Eastman Kodak), U.S. Pat. No. 2,274,551, Feb. 24, 1942)). These reactions, however, were carried out on polymers dissolved in solvents rather than on emulsion polymers. The high electrolyte concentrations needed for the nitration and reduction reactions would almost certainly either dissolve the latex copolymer or flocculate the latex.
In the same book, D. Taber, E. E. Renfrew, and H. E. Tiefenthal, Chapter XV "Fiber-Reactive Dyes", pages 1113-64, describe the dyeing of textile fibers in some detail and review (pages 1143-7) the evidence for the formation of covalent bonds between reactive dyes and fibers.
As set out above the three general methods described in the prior art for coloring latexes are:
1. simple addition of water-soluble or oil-soluble dyes;
2. use of copolymerizable dyes; and
3. use of dyes that act as chain transfer agents.
This invention provides a different, improved method for coloring latexes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide new stable, colored latexes, methods of preparing such latexes as well as the colored latex in finely divided solid form.
It is another object of this invention to provide stable, colored synthetic latexes which may be used to provide a compatible color base for other latexes (colored or uncolored).
It is still another object of this invention to provide colored latexes which may be employed to prepare colored films and coatings.
It is a further object of this invention to provide colored latexes which serve as a source of solid colored latex particles, e.g. pigments.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a stable latex which has chemically bonded thereto a color moiety.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a stable latex which has chemically bonded thereto an azo moiety providing thereby a colored latex.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a stable latex which has a protein moiety linked to the latex material by means of an azo linkage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide processes for making the foregoing products.
Still another object is to provide an azo color producing linkage in polymeric products in finely divided form.
Other objects will appear hereinafter as the description proceeds.
The foregoing and other objects are accomplished by providing a latex containing a reactive grouping which can be further reacted to produce a structure which is capable of coupling with an aromatic diazonium compound to produce an azo linkage whereby a colored latex is effected. The reactive grouping is present in a polymerizable compound (hereinafter also referred to as RGC monomer) which is, preferably an α,β monoethylenically unsaturated compound. The preferred reactive grouping is halomethyl. The base latex is prepared so that it is derived from at least one monomer which contains a reactive grouping. This monomer may constitute the entire latex particles or the monomer may be a minor component of the latex particles and thus be one of at least two copolymerizable monomers. A most preferred embodiment involves the preparation of provision of a "seed" latex which may be a poly- or mono-disperse system wherein Dw/Dn=1.001 to 1.1 for a monodisperse system and Dw/Dn=1.5 to about 5.0 for a polydisperse system and most preferably a monodisperse system of Dw/Dn smaller than 1.05, and wherein
Dw=weight average particle diameter
Dn=number average particle diameter
The "seed" latex (or core) may be any polymerizable monomer or mixture of monomers. Styrene is a most preferred "seed" monomer. In the seed latex environment there is then conducted the "shell" polymerization including in the monomer(s) being polymerized the reactive group-containing (RGC) monomer. In this most preferred embodiment the polymerized RGC monomer is produced as a shell on the surface of the latex seed particles. This technique is highly advantageous. Firstly one can obtain a final colored latex of monodispersivity in a simple manner. Secondly the RGC monomer is utilized to its maximum capability since it is not "buried" in the latex particle; this, obviously, maximizes the economics of the procedure as well.
The general procedure for the preparation of the colored polymers involves chemically reacting the necessary components in an aqueous environment to produce a colored latex, and then, if it is desired to obtain the polymer in dry, particulate (i.e. solid) form, to isolate the polymer from the latex.
The general chemical reactions may be divided into two paths. On the one hand the reactive-group (e.g. CH 2 Cl) containing monomer (RGC) may be emulsion polymerized and the resultant latex then treated with a compound (A) which will make the so modified latex particles couplable to a diazonium salt to produce a colored azo compound (latex). Preferred compounds (A) are aromatic amines capable of coupling. With aromatic amines, for example, the amination of the latex polymer particles proceeds with facility at room temperature. To the aminated latex there is then added a selected diazonium salt whereafter coupling to the latex and, if desired, isolation of the resultant colored latex particles, is accomplished in known manner. It is, of course, obvious that in addition to the RGC monomer(s) other monomers may be co-polymerized therewith. In general, it is preferred that the RGC monomer(s) comprise(s) at least about 5 or more mole % of the total monomers to be polymerized and may indeed comprise all of the polymer product (i.e. homopolymerization with 100 mole % of RGC monomer).
It is also possible to utilize an already prepared polymer containing an RGC monomer in polymerized form and produce a fine aqueous suspension thereof. This suspension can then be aminated and coupled similarly to the emulsion polymerizate. Where the final desired product is latex, it is preferred to employ the first mentioned technique. Where the colored polymer particles are to be recovered as a fine powder, both techniques are suitable.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, a second path of operation is provided. In this technique the RGC monomer(s) with or without additional copolymerizable monomer(s) is polymerized in an existing polymer latex or aqueous polymer dispersion environment whereby a "shell" or surface coating of the RGC monomer(s) in polymerized form is obtained, with the environmental latex polymer particle as the "core". This is referred to as a "structured-particle". The shell polymer may be merely physically bonded to the core or chemically grafted thereon, the latter obtaining depending on polymerization conditions as well as particularly where a cross linking (e.g. difunctional) agent or monomer is used.
In addition to the use of conventional diazotizable aromatic amines as precursors for the diazonium salt one may also use protein material containing diazotizable primary amine groups to azo-link proteins to the latex particle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The essential feature of one aspect of the present invention involves the provision of reactive sites on a polymer particle which are readily reactable with a reagent to produce a modified polymer capable of coupling after such reaction to an aromatic diazonium salt, whereby the azo chromophore is chemically introduced into the modified polymer and a colored polymer results.
The reactive site in the polymer is preferably provided by a reactive halogen atom which may be haloalkyl and may be designated as ##STR1## wherein n is 1 to 10; R 1 and R 2 are independently hydrogen, alkyl, halo, cyano, hydroxy, alkoxy or the like; X is halo; m is an integer from 1 to 2n; and at least one of R 1 and R 2 on a carbon vicinal to a halogen is hydrogen. However lower haloalkyl is preferred especially halomethyl and haloethyl. The reactive halogen may be any of fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine, with fluorine least desirable due to its minimal reactivity, and chlorine the most preferred because of acceptable reactivity, availability in monomers, and economic feasibility.
Suitable but merely representative reactive group-containing (RGC) monomers include p-vinyl benzyl chloride, p-vinyl benzyl bromide, bromomethyl acrylate, bromethylacrylate, chloromethyl acrylate, chloromethyl methacrylate, chlorethyl acrylate, chloroethyl methacrylate, chloroethyl chloroacrylate, bromoethyl α-chloroacrylate, iodoethyl acrylate, p-vinyl benzyl iodide, 2-chloroalkyl acetate, 2-chloroalkyl alcohol, 2-chloroalkyl chloride, 2-chlorobenzal acetophenone, 1-chloro-1-bromoethylene, 2-chloro-1, 3-butadiene, beta-chloroethyl itaconate, 2-chloroethylitaconate, 1-chloro-1-propene, 2-chloro-1-propene and α-chlorovinyltriethoxy silane. Mixtures of any of the foregoing may also be used.
As optional comonomers for cojoint polymerization with one or more of the foregoing RGC monomers one may use any of the well known classes of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated compounds. Mention may be made of the vinyl benzenes such as styrene, vinyl toluene, tert-butyl styrene, α-methyl styrene, and divinyl benzene; vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide and vinyl fluoride; vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate and vinyl butyrate; vinyl pyridine; vinyl lactams, e.g. N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone; vinyl ethers such as methyl vinyl ether, ethyl vinyl ether, tert-butyl vinyl ether, iso-octyl vinyl ether; acrylonitrile, acrylamide, ethylene, propylene, vinylidene halides (e.g. vinylidene chloride), acrylic acid, methacrylic acid; acrylate, methacrylate and chloracrylate esters, butadiene, isoprene, chloroprene and the like. Mixtures of any of these monomeric substances can also be used. Of preferred status are the vinyl benzenes, the vinyl esters of C 1 to C 8 aliphatic acids, the C 1 to C 8 alkyl acrylates, methacrylates and α-chloracrylates, acrylonitrile, acrylamide, ethylene and propylene. The choice of monomers will be largely dependent upon the desired physical properties of the colored particles. For the production of coatings and films one would prefer polymers which are film-formers whereas for use as pigment particles and for other uses such as for immunological tests (e.g. using a proteinated polymer particle), hard non-film-forming particles are preferred.
Any amount of these additional monomers may be used, from a trace, if desired, to 99+ mole % based on total monomer present. It is preferred when used to employ from about 5 to 95 mole % of these other monomers. This group of monomers will hereinafter be referred to as N.R.G. (non-reactive group) monomers.
Where a "structured particle" is to be prepared utilizing a first "seed" latex, the monomers for the "seed" polymer can be any of the RGC monomers as well as the NRG monomers mentioned above. In addition the "seed" polymer can be any combination of the NRG monomers to produce copolymers (including interpolymers of a multitude of monomers) or any combination of RGC monomers and finally any combination of both NRG and RGC monomers. As previously mentioned, in preparing "seed" latex for "structured particles" the preferred latex is based on styrene monomers.
It is, of course, understood and well-known in the polymerization art that not all monomers copolymerize well with each other and consequently the selection will obviously be based on such considerations particularly where economic feasibility is a major factor.
The reagents useful to modify the polymer so that it is capable of coupling to an aromatic diazonium salt are generally the couplable moieties well known in the azo dye art. These fall into 6 classes which are (1) phenols and napthols; (2) aromatic amines; (3) naphthol-, naphthylamine-, and aminonaphthol-sulfonic acids; (4) substances containing reactive methylene groups; and under exceptional conditions or with specific diazo compounds one can add (5) phenol ethers and (6) hydrocarbons. The preferred group of couplers are the aromatic amines. As a general guide it is well to bear in mind that the coupling reaction is fairly pH sensitive. Thus for amines the coupling reaction is best conducted at about pH 3.5 to pH 7.0, due ostensibly to the need for the diazonium salt to hydrolyze to the diazohydroxide which is believed to be the active coupling form. On the other hand as the pH rises the stability of the diazo-compound falls. Consequently, coupling must be viewed and considered as a race between azo-compound formation and decomposition of the diazo-compound.
Another factor to consider is that as negative substituents increase in the diazo-compound so is it able to couple in increasingly acid solution.
All couplers will per se vary as to their power to couple depending on the presence and position of negative and positive substituents. In the case of amines, coupling generally takes place in the aromatic ring para to the amine group provided there is a free replaceable (labile) hydrogen in the para position. Also, generally, substitution of primary aminohydrogen atoms by alkyl or aryl groups enhances coupling.
The preferred polymer-modifying agents to effect or insert a coupling moiety are the mono- and bicyclic aromatic primary and secondary amines which may have the variety of substituents found in such amines conventionally used as couplers in the azo dye field. Generally such other substituents are preferably hydroxyl and amino, although in many couplers chlore and nitro groups, if not promoting coupling, do not adversely affect it.
Particularly effective amine polymer-modifying reagents capable of coupling (nucleophiles) are aniline, N-methyl aniline, m-toluidine, N-methyl m-toluidine, N-methyl-o-toluidine, N-ethyl aniline, N-allyl aniline, p-hydroxyaniline, p-methoxyaniline, N-phenylenediamine, p-acetamido aniline, p-xylidene, B-naphthylamine, α-naphthylamine, Gamma-acid, J-acid and H-acid.
The preferred mono- and bicyclic amines may be depicted by the following general formulae ##STR2## wherein R is hydrogen or C 1 to C 6 alkyl and Y is hydroxyl, amino or C 1 to C 6 alkyl; ##STR3## R is hydrogen, C 1 to C 6 alkyl or SO 3 Na, and Z 1 and Z 2 are --SO 3 H, OH or NR 1 R 2 where R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen or C 1 to C 6 alkyl.
As will be apparent from the above, these coupling moieties or compounds contain an N-bonded H atom reactive with the reactive halogen atom in the modified polymer particle, and a labile H atom in position for coupling with the subsequently applied color-producing diazonium salt. Naturally, when the reactive group in the polymerized RGC monomer is other than halogen, the coupling moiety must contain a group or atom reactive with such other reactive group.
The diazotizable primary aromatic amines useful herein include substantially all those well known in the dye art. Of particular value are those of the following formulae: ##STR4## wherein X, Y and Z are independently hydroxyl, sulfo, nitro, H, chloro, bromo, --COONa, C 1 to C 6 alkoxy, C 1 to C 6 alkyl, acylamido (e.g. --NHCOCH 3 ), --SO 2 CH 2 CH 2 OSO 3 Na, --SO 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 Cl, etc.
Examples of compounds of Formulae IV, V and VI include aniline, p-nitroaniline, p-aminobenzoic acid, sulfanilic acid, 2-hydroxy sulfanilic acid, 2,5-dimethylaniline, p-aminoacetanilide, anisidine, 2,5-dichloro-4-nitroaniline, 5-hydroxy-7-sulfo-B-naphthylamine, 4,8-disulfo-B-naphthylamine, etc.
In addition to the foregoing preferred color-producing diazotizable amines, another preferred class includes proteins which contain diazotizable primary amine groups.
The general procedures for preparing the colored products of this invention have been described earlier herein. In more specific terms, where the product is of the "structured particle" type one may utilize any previously prepared latex, especially a latex prepared by an emulsion polymerization method following general procedures well known in the art. The main chemical reaction is the known free radical polymerization. The polymerization is preferably initiated by the decomposition of nonionic type initiators (without release of polar groups) or cationic types, such as peroxides, hydroperoxides, or azo compounds, as well as by use of the redox mechanism or by irradiation. There are three stages for free radical polymerization: initiation, propagation and termination. The number of particles initiated depends inter alia on the type and concentration of emulsifiers, type and concentration of electrolyte, the rate of free radical generation, temperature, and type and intensity of agitation.
When using an emulsifier the main site of polymerization initiation is the monomer-swollen micelles; without the emulsifier, the polymerization usually starts in the aqueous phase and as the radicals grow in size, they may become surface-active and combine to form the polymer particles. If a monodisperse latex is to be prepared the surfactant concentration must be below the critical micelle concentration (CMC). Examples of preferred surfactants include hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HDTMAB) and other conventional cationic, generally quaternary ammonium, surfactants, the nonionic and anionic surfactants being progressively less preferred especially when an amine coupler reactant is to be employed which optimally calls for a cationic surface charge on the polymer particle.
Suitable cationic surfactants preferred herein for use as emulsifiers in the polymerization steps and as post-stabilizers of the aqueous media resulting from the reaction of the modified polymer particles (i.e. the polymerized RGC monomer) with the primary or secondary amine capable of coupling (e.g. N-methylaniline) include generally the quaternary ammonium compounds which may be described as containing, in addition to the usual halide (chloride, bromide, iodide, etc.) sulfate, phosphate or other anion, aliphatic and/or alicyclic radicals, preferably alkyl and/or aralkyl, bonded through carbon atoms therein to the remaining 4 available positions of the N atom, 2 or 3 of which radicals may be joined to form a heterocycle with the N atom, at least one of such radicals being aliphatic of at least 10 up to 22 or more carbon atoms. As illustrative of such cationic surfactants there may be mentioned the above HDTMAB, distearyldimethyl ammonium chloride, stearyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, coconut alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, dicoconut alkyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, cetyl pyridinium iodide, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and the like. Other cationic emulsifiers include laurylamine hydrochloride, diethylaminoethyloleylamide HCl, the diethylcyclohexylamine salt of cetyl sulfuric ester, and the like.
Suitable "modifiers" or chain transfer agents include the primary, secondary and tertiary aliphatic mercaptans, e.g. n-dodecylmercaptan and similar alkyl mercaptans, thiophenol, alpha and beta thionaphthol and the like.
Examples of azo initiators include 2,2' azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and 2,2' azobis (2-amido) propane hydrochloride (AAP). Other initiators include hydrogen peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, p-menthane hydroperoxide, and redox systems such as ethylene diamine and sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, augmented optionally by heavy metal ions such as ferrous in small amounts.
The amounts of surfactant, catalysts and chain transfer agent will generally vary between about 0.5% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 5% and most preferably from about 0.1% to about 2% based on monomer(s) weight.
The various reaction temperatures will range as follows. For the emulsion polymerization it is customary to carry out the polymerizations at from about room temperature to about 100° C. A preferred range is from about 25° C. to about 85° C., and usually about 70° C. For the polymer-modification procedure (e.g. amination), reaction temperatures may vary from about room temperature (e.g. 20° C.) to about 100° C. with 20° C. to about 70° C. being preferred.
This reaction at about room temperature may take up to 1 to 35 days for completion, at elevated temperatures less than a day, and in hours with the further assistance of catalysts such as pyridine, tertiary amines, etc.
In the reactions involving the RGC monomer (polymerization) and between the polymerized RGC monomer and the reactive coupler (e.g. amination), the latex polymer solids concentration is preferably below 5 or 10%, usually about 2%, at which concentrations cleanup by serum replacement (see Example 1C below) is most efficient. Higher concentrations of 10-50% could be employed using other less efficient cleanup procedures such as centrifugation, decantation, etc. The latex polymer average particle size during and resulting from the process of this invention is generally about 0.03 to 3, preferably about 0.1 to 0.3, microns (μm). Extremely small particle size requires unduly high amounts of emulsifier surfactant for stabilization. On the other hand, this invention is operative with larger particle sizes even up to beads and other polymer substrates.
In the reaction between the polymerized RGC monomer particles and the reactive coupler (e.g. amination with N-methylaniline), it will be understood that at least a stoichiometric amount of said coupler, based on the reactive groups in the said polymerized RGC monomer particles, should be employed up to a relatively small excess thereover since unreacted coupler must be thereafter removed, e.g. by serum replacement.
Similar considerations as to stoichiometric amounts and excess amounts thereover apply with respect to the coupling reaction with the diazonium salt. The diazotization of the diazotizable aromatic primary amine with sodium nitrite, and the coupling thereof with the coupler-surfaced polymer particles is conducted by procedures conventional in the azo dye art, generally at low temperatures of 5° to 0° C. or less, the coupling reaction generally being completed in from about 1 to 48 hours. The surface charge on the final azo-colored polymer latex particles will depend on the type of diazonium compound employed, e.g. anionic with a sulfonic diazonium compound, cationic with a quaternary ammonium or aminodiazonium compound.
If desired, the colored polymer particles may be isolated from the final latex as a pigment suitable for many uses as in latex paints, colored films, etc. The optimum particle size for any desired use and color intensity is readily determinable by routine trial of a suitable range of particle sizes in such use. For example, an average particle size of about 0.25 μm is considered effective for hiding a TiO 2 pigmented polymer.
In addition to the many uses of colored latexes described above, films produced with the products of this invention may, with proper selection of coupler and diazonium salt, be employed as pH indicators.
The following examples are only illustrative and not limitative. All amounts and proportions referred to herein and in the appended claims are by weight, and temperatures in °C., unless otherwise indicated.
EXAMPLE I
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex of the formula shown in FIG. 1. ##STR5## A. Seed latex preparation.
The seed latex is prepared by bottle polymerization. The bottle is charged with 0.1 g of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMAB), 200 g of water, 40 g of styrene, 0.2 g of 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), 0.004 g of dodecyl mercaptan, and 0.012 g of sodium chloride with grade 5 nitrogen bubbled through the gasket for 20 minutes. The capped bottle with its contents is then rotated end-over-end at 30 r.p.m. in a thermostated water bath for 24 hours at 70° C. The latex is filtered to remove all coagulum formed during polymerization. The conversion is 66%.
B. Structured-particle latex preparation.
The shell-layer polymerization is carried out in a 3 neck 1000 ml flask. 300 g of 6.67% solids content of the above seed latex and 0.26 g of HDTMAB are added to the flask. Nitrogen is bubbled through the latex in the flask. A mixture of 2 g of styrene monomer, 6 g of vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), and 0.32 g of AIBN solution is added to the flask drop by drop over a two hour period. The mixture is agitated at a moderate rate throughout the polymerization, which is carried out for 7 hours. Unreacted monomer is removed by steam distillation under vacuum. The conversion is found to be over 96% with a particle size of 160 nm (nanometers). At this state, the polymer particles would look like FIG. II. ##STR6## C. Amination
355 g of 2% solids content of the above structured-particle latex is then reacted with 4.2 g of the N-methylaniline nucleophile for 10 days at room temperature. Most of the unreacted N-methylaniline is removed by "serum replacement" using a pH 2.3 hydrochloric acid solution first and then followed by distilled deionized water. After serum replacement, 0.2 g of HDTMAB is added as a post-stabilizer. Serum replacement in this case means agitating the latex in a cell above a filter disc that would allow an aqueous phase to pass but not the latex particles. After this step the modified latex particles are as depicted in FIG. III. ##STR7## D. Colorant production
1.73 g of sulfanilic acid is dissolved in a 5% sodium carbonate solution. A solution of 0.69 g of sodium nitrite in about 2 ml of water is added to the solution of sodium sulfanilate. The mixture is cooled to almost 0° C. and dropped with stirring into an ice-cold solution of 0.98 g of concentrated sulfuric acid in water. The white diazonium salt separates instantaneously. The precipitate is filtered by suction. The diazonium salt is then added to 300 g of 2% solid content aminated latex from C above in a 500 ml round-bottom flask which is kept between 0° to 5° C. A yellow color forms gradually, and the reaction temperature is kept 0° to 5° C. for 48 hours. The decomposed diazonium salt and the absorbed dye-stuff can be removed by distilled deionized water and 95% alcohol. After the coupling reaction, the modified latex has the structure depicted in FIG. I.
The cleaned yellow latex has a zeta potential of 54 mV in distilled deionized water and a maximum absorption at wavelength of 440 mμ measured by a KCS-40 spectrophotometer. A pure white acrylic latex paint can be tinted with the yellow latex very easily. The yellow latex can also be blended with 60:40 poly(styrene-butadiene) (Dow LS-1176-B) to make a particle volume concentration 40% including 0.5% of methyl cellulose as the thickener.
A K303 coater is used to drawdown the uniform film thickness of the paint. Good yellow dry films are obtained. The yellow films can be changed to red color in strong acid solution and change back to yellow color in basic solution. Thus, the colored latex can be a pigment and a pH indicator.
EXAMPLE 2
This example illustrates the preparation of the red-orange latex with the formula depicted in FIG. IV. ##STR8## A. Seed latex preparation
Same as Example 1-A.
B. Structured-particle preparation
The shell-layer polymerization is carried out in the 3 neck 1000 ml flask. 300 g of 6.67% solids content seed latex, 0.26 g of HDTMAB, and 0.32 g of 2,2'-azobis(2-amido) propane hydrochloride (AAP), are added to the flask and allowed to come to a reaction temperature of 70° C. Nitrogen is bubbled through the latex in the flask. A mixture of 2 g of styrene monomer, and 6 g of VBC is added to the flask drop by drop over a two hour period. The mixture is agitated at a moderate rate throughout the polymerization which is carried out for 7 hours. Unreacted monomer is removed by steam distillation under vacuum. The conversion is found to be over 99% with a particle size of 160 nm. The structure is the same as previously depicted in FIG. II.
c. Amination
Same as Example 1-C.
D. Colorant production
0.69 g of p-nitroaniline is added to a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid and water. 0.35 g sodium nitrite is added with stirring. The diazonium salt solution thus formed is added to 300 g of 2% solid content aminated latex from C in a 500 ml round-bottom flask which is kept between 0° to 5° C. The red-orange color appears gradually. The latex has a maximum absorption at wavelength of 480 mμ measured by KCS-40 spectrophotometer. After the coupling reaction, the modified latex has the structure depicted in FIG. IV.
EXAMPLE 3
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow latex, but cationic initiator AAP is used (see Example 2B)
A. Seed latex preparation
The seed latex is prepared by bottle polymerization. The bottle is charged with 0.4 g of HDTMAB, 156 g of water, 40 g of styrene, 0.04 g dodecyl mercaptan, and 0.01 g of sodium chloride with grade 5 nitrogen bubbled through the gasket for 5 minutes. 4 ml of 0.2 g of AAP aqueous solution is injected through the cap by a syringe. The capped bottle with the above contents is then rotated end-over-end at 30 r.p.m. in a thermostated water bath for 24 hours at 70° C. The latex is filtered to remove all coagulum formed during polymerization. The conversion is 97%.
B. Structured-particle latex preparation
The shell-layer polymerization is also carried out by bottle polymerization. 200 g of 5% solids content seed polystyrene latex is swollen with a mixture of 1 g of styrene and 3 g of VBC for 30 minutes. 0.16 g of AAP aqueous solution is injected through the cap. The capped bottle is rotated end-over-end at 30 r.p.m. in a thermostated water bath for 24 hours at 70° C. The conversion is over 99% with particle size 62 nm. Unreacted monomer is removed by steam distillation under vacuum.
C. Amination
300 g of 2% solids content of structured-particle latex is then reacted with 2 g of N-methylaniline for 4 days at room temperature. Most of the unreacted N-methylaniline is removed by serum replacement with a hydrochloric acid solution in deionized water of pH 2.3. 0.2 g of HDTMAB is added as a post-stabilizer.
D. Colorant production
Same as Example 1D.
EXAMPLE 4
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex with the formula shown in FIG. I.
A. Seed latex preparation
The bottle is charged with 0.8 g of HDTMAB, 160 g of water, 80 g of styrene, 1.6 g of AIBN, and 0.06 g of dodecyl mercaptan with grade 5 nitrogen bubbled through the gasket for 20 minutes. The capped bottle with its contents, is then rotated end-over-end at 30 r.p.m. in a thermostated water bath for 24 hours at 70° C. The latex is diluted and filtered to remove all coagulum formed during polymerization. The particle size is 94 nm.
B. Structured-particle latex preparation
The shell-layer polymerization is also carried out by bottle polymerization. 150 g of 6.67% solids content seed polystyrene latex and 0.13 g of HDTMAB is added to a mixture of 2 g of styrene, 3 g of VBC, and 0.16 g of AIBN. Grade 5 nitrogen is bubbled through the gasket for 5 minutes. The capped bottle is rotated end-over-end at 30 r.p.m. in thermostated water bath for 24 hours at 70° C. Unreacted monomer is removed by steam distillation under vacuum. The particle size is 108 nm.
C. Amination
300 g of 2% solids content of structured-particle latex is then reacted with 2.6 g of N-methylaniline for 6 days at room temperature. Most of the unreacted N-methylaniline is removed by "serum replacement" using a pH 2.3 hydrochloric acid solution first then followed by distilled deionized water. 0.2 g of HDTMAB is added as a post-stabilizer.
D. Colorant production
A yellow latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 1-D.
EXAMPLE 5
A yellow latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 1 except that the time for amination is 60 hours instead of 10 days, and the temperature for the reaction is 70° C. rather than 25° C.
EXAMPLE 6
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex with the formula shown in FIG. 1.
A. Seed latex preparation
Same as Example 1-A.
B. Structured-particle latex preparation
Structured-particle latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 4-B except that 0.5g of styrene and 3.5 g of VBC are used instead of 2 g of styrene and 3 g of VBC.
C. Amination
Same as Example 1-C except that reaction time is 14 days instead of 10 days.
D. Colorant production
Same as Example 1-D.
EXAMPLE 7
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex with the formula shown in FIG. I.
A. Seed latex preparation
Seed latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 1-A except that 0.05 g of HDTMAB is used instead of 0.1 g of HDTMAB. The particle size is 198 nm.
B. Structured-particle latex preparation
Same as Example 6-B.
C. Amination
Same as Example 1-C.
D. Colorant production
Same as Example 1-D.
EXAMPLE 8
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex with the formula shown in FIG. I.
A. Seed latex preparation
Same as Example 7-A.
B. Structured-particle latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 1-B except that 6 g of styrene and 2 g of VBC are used instead of 2 g of styrene and 6 g of VBC.
C. Amination
Same as Example 1-C except that 1.4 g of N-methylaniline is used instead of 4.2 g of N-methylaniline.
D. Colorant production
Same as Example 1-D.
EXAMPLE 9
This example illustrates the preparation of a yellow colored latex with the formula shown in FIG. I.
A. Seed latex preparation
Same as Example 7-A. The particle size is 198 nm.
B. Structure-particle latex preparation
Same as Example 1-B. The particle size is 240 nm.
C. Amination
Same as Example 1-C.
D. Colorant production
Same as Example 1-D.
EXAMPLE 10
A yellow latex is prepared substantially as described in Example 9 except that the time for amination is 35 days instead of 10 days.
EXAMPLES 11-20
Examples 1-10 are each separately repeated except that the seed latex preparation (Step A) is omitted and colored polymer is formed from the Step B latex alone (i.e. particles of styrene-p-vinylbenzyl chloride polymer). Colored latexes are obtained in each instance excellently.
EXAMPLES 21 and 22
Examples 1 and 11 are repeated except that the monomer in Step B is all (5 gm) p-vinylbenzyl chloride.
EXAMPLES 23-26
Examples 1, 11, 21 and 22 are each repeated separately utilizing 2 chloroethyl acrylate monomer in place of p-vinylbenzyl chloride.
EXAMPLE 27-30
Examples 1, 11, 21 and 22 are each again repeated utilizing the following monomers in place of p-vinylbenzyl chloride:
(a) 2-chlorallyl acetate
(b) 2-chloroethyl itaconate
(c) 2-chloromethyl methacrylate
(d) 2-chlorobenzal acetophenone
The latexes produced in the foregoing examples not only have excellent color but in addition, they are extremely stable products. The modified polymer latexes, as well, (i.g. Step C in the foregoing examples) also have enhanced stability. | The present invention relates to colored latex products, and especially to colored synthetic polymer emulsions, the finely divided colored polymers obtainable therefrom, and methods for making the colored polymer emulsions as well as the polymers as colored, finely divided solids. | 2 |
This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 08/137,496, filed Oct. 15, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,455, issued on Sep. 19, 1995, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/769,222, filed Oct. 1, 1991.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multilayered highly transparent biaxially oriented polypropylene film having excellent twist properties, which is suited, in particular, for twist wrapping. The invention is also directed to a process for producing such films and to their use.
Polypropylene (PP) films distinguished by good twist properties are known. For example, GB-A-1,231,861 discloses a biaxially oriented polypropylene (boPP) film which is produced by means of the bubble process and which can be readily twisted. Twistability is imparted to the film by adding to the PP homopolymer a low molecular weight hydrocarbon resin and by orientating the film in the machine direction. To facilitate processing on high-speed wrapping machines, the film additionally comprises an antistatic agent. Due to its principal orientation in the longitudinal direction, the film tends to split during the wrapping, for example, of candies, i.e., the twirled end may tear off at the twisting point. Furthermore, the film has unsatisfactory running properties on high-speed wrapping machines, and the optical properties and the shrink of the film are not completely satisfactory.
Moreover, the process for producing a film having a predominant orientation in the longitudinal direction, as described in the above publication, is very complicated, requiring balanced orientation by means of bubble process and subsequent stretching/shrinking in an off-line process. This makes the film relatively expensive.
DE-A-35 35 472 also relates to a film which is well suited for twist wrapping. By the addition of siloxanes and anti-blocking agents to the top layers, the desired favorable processing properties on automated high-speed twist-wrapping machines are imparted to the film. A disadvantage of these films is that relatively high resin contents are required for good twistability. Exemplary contents of 25% are mentioned. This drastically increases the price of the film. If the resin content of the above film is reduced, the required twisting properties are not achieved. Moreover, the film does not, in all cases, meet the desired standards with respect to shrinkage and optical properties.
EP-A-317,276 relates to a film for twist wrapping. Due to the stretching parameters indicated (λ 1 =3.5, λ t =9-10), the film is more highly oriented in the transverse direction. Films of this type leave much to be desired with respect to their twisting properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the instant invention to provide a multilayered, coextruded, highly transparent, biaxially oriented polypropylene film which has good twisting properties and is suitable for twist wrapping, and which can be produced in a more cost-saving manner than the films of this generic type presently known, and which additionally is distinguished by good optical properties and low shrink values. The films of the invention are furthermore distinguished by good mechanical properties, with the strength values being about the same in the longitudinal and in the transverse direction, i.e., the film has a balanced orientation.
This object is accomplished by providing a biaxially oriented, transparent, multilayered film comprising:
(a) a base layer comprising a mixture of a propylene polymer and a low molecular weight resin having a softening point between about 130° to about 180° C., and
(b) at least one additional layer comprising a material which can be readily subjected to corona treatment.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a process for producing the above film.
In accordance with this object there is provided, a process comprising the steps of:
(i) coextruding through a slot die the individual layers of the film so as to produce a multilayer film,
(ii) solidifying said mulitlayer film by chilling, and
(iii) orienting said multilayer film by stretching in the longitudinal and transverse directions, such that the film is imparted with isotropic properties in each direction.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments that follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 is a chart showing permanent elongation percentage as a function of force as used to evaluate the exemplified films.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The polypropylene preferably employed in the base layer is an isotactic propylene homopolymer or a copolymer which is predominantly composed of propylene units. Such polymers preferably have a melting point of not less than about 140° C., and more preferably of not less than about 150° C. Isotactic polypropylene having an n-heptane-soluble fraction of less than about 15% by weight, copolymers of ethylene and propylene having an ethylene content of less than about 10% by weight, and copolymers of propylene with other alpha-olefins of 4 to 8 carbon atoms and containing less than about 10% by weight of these alpha-olefins are typical examples of the preferred thermoplastic polypropylene of the base layer.
The preferred thermoplastic polypropylene polymers have a melt flow index in the range of about 0.5 g/10 min. to about 8 g/10 min. at 230° C. and 2.16 kg load (DIN 53,735 corresponding to ASTM-D 1238), and more preferably from about 1.0 g/10 min. to about 5 g/10 min.
The low molecular weight resin contained in the base layer is any natural or synthetic resin, preferably having a softening point of about 130° to about 180° C., more preferably of about 140° to about 160° C. (determined according to DIN 1995-U 4), and preferably having a molecular weight of 200 to 1,000. Among the numerous low molecular weight resins, hydrocarbon resins are preferred, in particular, petroleum resins, styrene resins, cyclopentadiene resins, and terpene resins (these resins are described in Ullmanns Enzyklopaedie der Techn. Chemie (Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry), 4th edition, volume 12, pages 525 to 555.
The petroleum resins are hydrocarbon resins which are prepared by polymerization of deep-decomposed petroleum materials in the presence of a catalyst. These petroleum materials usually contain a mixture of resin-forming substances such as styrene, methylstyrene, vinyltoluene, indene, methylindene, butadiene, isoprene, piperylene, and pentylene.
The styrene resins are low molecular weight homopolymers of styrene or copolymers of styrene with other monomers, such as alpha-methyl-styrene, vinyltoluene, and/or butadiene. The cyclopentadiene resins are cyclopentadiene homopolymers or cyclopentadiene copolymers which are obtained from coal-tar distillates and fractionated natural gas. These resins are prepared by keeping the cyclopentadiene-containing materials at a high temperature for a long period. Dimers, trimers, or oligomers can be obtained, depending on the reaction temperature.
The terpene resins are polymers of terpenes, i.e., of hydrocarbons of the formula C 10 H 16 , which are present in almost all ethereal oils or oil-containing resins in plants, and phenol-modified terpene resins. Alphapinene, β-pinene, dipentene, limonene, myrcene, camphene, and similar terpenes may be mentioned as specific examples of the terpenes. The hydrocarbon resins can also be so-called modified hydrocarbon resins. Preferably, modification is effected by reaction of the raw materials before polymerization, by introduction of special monomers, or by reaction of the polymerized product, with hydrogenations or partial hydrogenations, in particular, being performed.
Preferred hydrocarbon resins employed include sytrene homopolymers, styrene copolymers, cyclopentadiene homopolymers, cyclopentadiene copolymers and/or terpene polymers having, in each case, a softening point of 130° to 180° C., preferably of 140° to 160° C. In the case of the unsaturated polymers, the hydrogenated product is particularly preferred.
The low molecular weight resin is added to the base layer in an amount effective to improve the mechanical properties of the film. The preferred amount of low molecular weight resin is about 5 to about 30% by weight, and more preferably about 10 to about 25% by weight, based on the total weight of polypropylene and low molecular weight resin.
By the addition of a low molecular weight resin the mechanical properties of the film, such as modulus of elasticity and tear resistance, are improved. Furthermore, the elongation at break is clearly reduced by the resin addition, i.e., the film becomes brittle. This is a property desirable for twist wrapping.
It is advantageous to use as the low molecular weight resin, a resin having a high softening temperature, preferably of more than about 140° C. Thus, stretching in the transverse direction can be performed at a higher temperature, which reduces the shrink of the film. Low shrink values are desirable, since otherwise, the film may lose its flatness when it is dried at elevated temperatures following printing. Moreover, the twisting properties are impaired as a result of film shrinkage. When a resin having the indicated high softening temperature is used, stretching can be performed at a preferred temperature of about 140° to about 150° C. However, if a resin having a lower softening temperature of, e.g., 120° C., is stretched at these high temperatures, it will lose its clearity and transparency.
The additional layers preferably comprise two layers, one on either side of the base layer. Preferably, the additional layers are the two outer layers of the film.
Like the base layer, the additional layer or layers may be comprised of a propylene homopolymer or of a copolymer including a predominant proportion of propylene units. Polymers of this kind preferably have a melting point of at least about 140° C., more preferably of at least about 150° C. Isotactic polypropylene having a fraction soluble in n-heptane of less than about 15% by weight, copolymers of ethylene and propylene having an ethylene content of less than about 10% by weight, and copolymers of propylene and other alpha-olefins having 4 to 8 carbon atoms, where the content of these alpha-olefins is less than 10%, are typical examples of preferably employed thermoplastic polypropylene.
The preferred thermoplastic polypropylene polymers of the additional layer(s) have a melt flow index of about 0.5 g/10 min. to about 8 g/10 min., most preferably of about 1.5 g/10 min. to about 4 g/10 min., each measured at 230° C. and under a load of 2.16 kg (DIN 53 735).
In order to improve certain properties of a film, the base layer as well as the cover layer(s) may contain customary additives in usual amounts, which do not otherwise negatively effect the desired film properties.
An anti-blocking agent may be added to one or more of the additional layers. Preferably the anti-blocking agent has a particle size of about 2 to about 5 μm. Silica is a preferred anti-blocking agent.
A polydialkylsiloxane may be added to one or more of the additional layers as an additive. A preferred polydiorganosiloxane is a polydialkylsiloxane having 1 to 4 carbon atoms in its alkyl group, with polydimethylsiloxane being particularly preferred. The polydialkylsiloxane preferably has a kinematic viscosity of about 1,000 to about 100,000 mm 2 /s, more preferably of about 5,000 to about 50,000 mm 2 /s, measured at 25° C. The amount of polydialkylsiloxane employed in the additional layer or additional layers is preferably about 0.2 to 1.5% by weight, more preferably about 0.3 to about 1.0% by weight, relative to the weight of the additional layer comprising the additive. The thickness of the additional layer is preferably as small as possible. The thicker the layers are, the poorer is the twistability of the film. Accordingly, the layer thickness should preferably be less than about 0.5 μm, most preferably between about 0.3 and about 0.4 μm.
The low molecular weight resin described above in connection with the base resin may also be present in one or more of the additional layers. This in particular improves the optical properties of the film. These resins may be present in any amount which provides the desired improved properties, preferably about 5 to 30 % by weight based on the additional layer's weight.
The multilayered film of the invention may be produced by any known process. A preferred process of the invention comprises first producing a cast film by coextrusion through a slot die, solidifying said cast film by passing it over a chill roller, and then orienting it by stretching in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The conditions for stretching in the longitudinal and transverse directions are chosen such that the stretched film has isotropic properties in both directions, i.e., the stretched film possesses a balanced orientation. A balanced orientation is generally a prerequisite for obtaining excellent twisting properties. Furthermore, it has been found that the twistability of the film is favorably influenced by the longitudinal stretch factor. In accordance with this invention, the stretch ratio in the longitudinal direction is preferably about 6 to about 9, more preferably about 6.5 to about 8.0. The stretch ratio in the transverse direction must be matched to the stretch ratio in the longitudinal direction. A range of between about 6.5 to about 8.0 has been found to be adequate. Unlike other packaging films, it is generally not expedient to choose a high degree of stretching in the transverse direction. If, for example, the longitudinal stretch ratio λ 1 is 5 and the transverse stretch ratio λ t is 10, the twistability of the resulting film is poor, even if large amounts of resin are added.
The twistability of a film can be characterized with the aid of two physical quantities. The greater the permanent deformation in the longitudinal and in the transverse directions, (for method of measurement see Examples) and the smaller the elongation at break in the longitudinal direction, the higher is the twistability. The above quantities should assume about the same values in both directions. A good twist can be achieved when the values for the permanent deformation are greater than about 60% in both directions.
The elongation at break is determined in accordance with DIN 53 455, as are the modulus of elasticity, and the tensile strength. The values for the elongation at break of the films according to this invention are preferably less than 100%, more preferably, less than 90%, in both directions. Their mutual difference should preferably not be more than about 10%.
Surprisingly, the optical properties of the films according to this invention are excellent. Their gloss preferably is more than about 110, more preferably of more than about 120, measured according to DIN 67,530, at an angle of 20°. Their haze is preferably less than about 2%, determined in accordance with Gardner (ASTM-D 1003-52).
The shrink level of the film is measured after storage of the film in a circulating air cabinet at 120° C. for 15 minutes.
Easy printability of the film is achieved by subjecting the film to any of the conventional surface treatments prior to winding, such as a flame treatment or an electrical corona discharge treatment. Corona treatment employing any of the conventional methods is expediently carried out by passing the film between two conductor elements serving as electrodes, whereby a voltage, generally an alternating voltage, sufficiently high, generally about 10,000 V and 10,000 Hz, to effect spray or corona discharges is applied between the electrodes. Due to these spray or corona discharges the air above the film surface is ionized and combines with the molecules on the film surface, so that polar inclusions are formed in the essentially non-polar polymer matrix.
The treatment intensities are within the usual limits. Preference is given to intensities between about 38 and about 42 mN/m.
The invention is further illustrated by the following examples without being limited thereby.
EXAMPLE 1
A three-layered film having a total thickness of 25 μm is produced by coextrusion and subsequent stepwise orientation in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The two outside layers each have a thickness of.0.4 μm. The compositions of the layers are as follows:
A: Base layer
71.6% by weight of isotactic polypropylene,
28.0% by weight of hydrogenated cyclopentadiene resin having a softening temperature of 140° C,
0.2% by weight of N,N-bis-ethoxyalkylamine, and
0.2% by weight of erucic acid amide.
The melt flow index of the mixture is:
I 2 =10 g/10 min. or
I 5 =50 g/10 min.
B: Each outside layer
99.2% by weight of a random ethylene/propylene copolymer having a C 2 content 4.5%,
0.3% by weight of SiO 2 having an average particle size of 3 μm, as an antiblocking agent, and
0.5% by weight of a polydimethylsiloxane having a viscosity of 30,000 mm 2 /s.
The melt flow index of each outside layer is:
I 2 =12 g/10 min or
I 5 =60 g/10 min
The film is produced under the following conditions:
______________________________________Extrusion: Temperature of layer A: 190° C. Temperature of layers B: 270° C. Temperature of chill roller: 30° C.Longit. stretching: Temperature = 110° C. Stretch ratio = 6.5Transv. stretching: Temperature = 150° C. Stretch ratio = 7.3 Convergence = 25%Heat setting: Temperature = 110° C.______________________________________
The properties of the film produced in this way are compiled in the Table below. Prior to winding, the film is subjected to a corona treatment in order to ensure its printability. Due to this treatment, the film has a surface tension of 40 mN/m.
EXAMPLE 2
A three-layered film having a total thickness of 25 μm with outside layers each having a thickness of 0.4 μm is produced as described in Example 1, with the exception that the resin content in the base layer is adjusted to 20% by weight. The extrusion temperatures are the same as in Example 1. Due to the lower resin content, the conditions for the longitudinal and transverse stretching are changed as follows:
______________________________________Longit. stretching: Temperature = 115° C. Stretch ratio = 7.2Transv. stretching: Temperature = 152° C. Stretch ratio = 7.2 Convergence 20%______________________________________
The properties of the resulting film are also compiled in the Table below.
EXAMPLE 3
A film is produced as in Examples 1 and 2, except that the resin content is reduced to 15% by weight. The stretching conditions are as follows:
______________________________________Longit. stretching: Temperature = 120° C. Stretch ratio = 7.7Transv. stretching: Temperature = 153° C. Stretch ratio = 7.2______________________________________
EXAMPLE 4
A film is produced as in Example 1, except that the outside layers comprise polypropylene with 20% (relative to the total weight of the top layers) of the low molecular weight resin. As can be seen from the Table below, the permanent elongation and especially the optical properties are improved.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1
A film is prepared in accordance with Example 1, with the exception that the softening temperature of the resin is 120° C. The table reveals that this, in particular, impairs the optical properties and the shrink behavior of the film.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2
A film is produced in accordance with Example 1, with the exception that the film is not subjected to a "balanced" orientation, but to a "conventional" orientation. The resin content of the base layer is 25%. The stretching conditions are as follows:
______________________________________Longit. stretching: Temperature = 110° C. Stretch ratio = 5.5Transv. stretching: Temperature = 150° C. Stretch ratio = 10______________________________________
Although the moduli of elasticity are more than 3,000 N/mm 2 in both directions and although the resin content is 25% the twist properties are very poor.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 3
A film containing 20% by weight of low molecular weight resin in its base layer is produced in accordance with Example 1. The top layers have a thickness of 0.8 μm each. The Table shows that the twist behavior and the optical properties of the resulting film are inferior to those of the film according to the invention.
Evaluation
The twist behavior (last column of the Table) of the films is evaluated by running tests on candy wrapping machines. The tests are carried out on a low-speed wrapping machine (500 cycles/1 minute, available from Messrs. Haensel) and on a high-speed wrapping machine (1,200 cycles/1 minute, available from Messrs. Nagema). The properties tested are the undesired untwisting of twisted candy wrappers, i.e., without external influence, the untwisting behavior of candies during unwrapping, and the degree of filling of candy bags of identical sizes. Evaluation of the properties measured is carried out as follows:
Determination of the permanent elongation
A 15 mm wide strip of film is cut off from the film perpendicularly to the machine direction and clamped into a tensile strength tester, with the clamping length being 200 mm. The sample is stretched at a rate of 20 mm/min, i.e., of 10%/min. When an elongation of 10% is achieved, i.e., when the clamping length of the sample is 220 mm, the sample is de-tensioned at the same rate. The determination of the permanent elongation is shown diagrammatically in the attached Figure I. The permanent elongation (E p ) is calculated as follows: ##EQU1##
The quality of the twist is judged as follows:
++=very good
o=moderate
--=insufficient
TABLE__________________________________________________________________________Perm. elong. Modulus of elast. Tear strength Elong. at break ShrinkExamplelongit./transv. longit./transv. longit./transv. longit./transv. longit./transv. Haze QualityNo. % N/mm.sup.2 N/mm.sup.2 % % Gloss % of__________________________________________________________________________ twist1 61 62 3200 3400 205 215 95 78 11 7 118 1.5 ++2 63 65 3500 3700 225 210 85 90 8 5 115 1.6 ++3 62 62 3250 3300 215 210 80 85 6 3 113 1.7 ++4 62 63 3300 3400 210 210 90 80 11 8 123 1.4 ++C 1 61 61 3150 3400 200 210 100 82 13 10 110 2.0 ++C 2 63 47 3050 4700 190 360 120 50 18 12 117 1.5 --C 3 59 57 3100 3400 195 220 105 85 12 8 105 2.3 ∘__________________________________________________________________________ | A process for producing a biaxially oriented, transparent, multilayered film having a base layer comprising a mixture of a propylene polymer and a resin having a softening point of about 130° to about 180° C., and at least one additional layer comprising a material which can be readily subjected to corona treatment, comprising the steps of (i) coextruding through a slot die the layers of the film so as to produce a multilayer film, (ii) solidifying the multilayer film by chilling, and (iii) orienting the multilayer film by stretching in the longitudinal and transverse directions. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a calibration device and more specifically to a device which is used to calibrate inertial sensor systems which are used in navigation or target tracking.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Inertial sensor systems or inertial navigation units generally include inertial sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, i.e., gyros. The sensors are generally rigidly and precisely mounted within an enclosure along with related electronics and hardware. In turn, the enclosure is rigidly and precisely mounted to a support frame in a vehicle, such as an aircraft, missile, or satellite. Precision mounting of these components is required so that the alignment of the sensor relative to the support frame as well as the enclosure is known, and the sensor outputs are utilized by a system computer as is well known in the art.
The sensor system generally includes a plurality of inertial sensors and a navigational computer. The inertial sensors provide inertial data, such as linear acceleration and rotational velocity or angular information, to the navigational computer which processes the information for a variety of purposes such as flight control, navigation or pointing. For proper performance of a sensor system, the geometrical relationship between each of the inertial sensors must be known, and the relationship between each of the inertial sensors and the vehicle support frame must also be known so that the navigational computer may provide a user with correct information.
Inertial systems data, measured along the input axes of the gyros and accelerometers must be compensated and transformed to coordinates defined by the ultimate user of the sensor system. For optimum performance of inertial sensor systems, precise alignment or orientation of the inertial sensors relative to the vehicle must be known and held to tight tolerances. Most vehicles are provided with a shelf or rack which allows for installation of the sensor systems according to reference edges or surfaces on the enclosure. For example, with a reference surface on the enclosure as well as a reference edge defined, a 3-D axis system can be determined for the inertial sensor system which is transferable to the vehicle. However, before the inertial sensor system can be installed on a vehicle, a 3-D reference system must be established between the exterior of the enclosure and the sensors themselves.
The output data reference frame of the sensors with respect to the enclosure is called the "mounting frame", or M-frame. The definition of the M-frame varies greatly between applications, and is often overlooked until late in the design, or is specified in a casual and inadequate manner. The reason for the difficulty is that the mounting reference involves both the inertial sensor enclosure design, as well as the equipment in which the inertial sensor system is to be installed.
In the past, an M-frame was established through some sort of optical reference, such as an optical cube, mirrors, or a combination of a mirror and a porro prism The disadvantage of using these optical methods is that surveying is required by both the inertial system manufacturer and the customer. High skill levels are required and the process is subject to error. The calibration must be checked and rechecked. Further, there are many situations in which an optical line-of-sight is not available.
Another approach is to use one mounting surface on the enclosure and a mirror as a reference. Although this reduces some of the complex optical measurements required, it does not eliminate them entirely. Therefore, it is the desire to establish a simpler procedure for calibrating an inertial sensor assembly while retaining a high level of accuracy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention herein described is a calibration device for an inertial sensor system mounted within an enclosure. The calibration device is comprised of a primary mounting member having a primary mounting surface as well as a secondary mounting member with a secondary mounting surface. The secondary mounting surface is substantially perpendicular to the primary mounting surface. The enclosure for the inertial sensor system has a reference surface as well as a secondary surface used to define a reference edge. The enclosure is mounted on the calibration device with the reference surface flush against the primary mounting surface. Two points extend from the secondary mounting surface and contact the secondary surface of the enclosure to define the reference edge. Means are provided to hold the sensor assembly on the calibration device.
The calibration of the inertial sensor system is done through the use of a rate table. The enclosure is first mounted on the calibration device and then positioned on the rate table so that the turn axis of the table is perpendicular to the primary mounting surface. The calibration device and the enclosure mounted upon it are then rotated which establishes an X-axis for the inertial sensor assembly. The calibration device is then repositioned on the rate table so that the enclosure rotates about an axis perpendicular to the secondary mounting surface. This rotation establishes a directional vector whose cross product with the X-axis establishes a Y-axis for the inertial sensor system. The cross product of the already established X-axis and Y-axis determines the Z-axis for the inertial sensor system.
The present invention offers the advantages of a simple method and apparatus for establishing a mounting frame for an inertial sensor system. High accuracy is maintained without the use of complex optical surveying equipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation showing the inertial reference axes of the inertial sensor assembly.
FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the first embodiment of the calibration device.
FIGS. 3a and 3b are views of the inertial sensor assembly mounted upon the calibration device.
FIGS. 4a and 4b shows the calibration device and the inertial sensor assembly rotated about two perpendicular axes on the rate table.
FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the second embodiment of the calibration device.
FIGS. 6a and 6b are views of the inertial sensor assembly mounted on the second embodiment of the calibration device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Shown in FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the inertial sensor assembly 10. Contained within the assembly are inertial sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes along with related electronics and hardware. The sensors provide inertial data, such as linear acceleration and rotational velocity or angular information to a computer which uses the information for a variety of purposes such as navigation, flight control, attitude reference, or target tracking support. When the sensor assembly is installed, the sensors within the enclosure must be oriented with respect to the vehicle in which the assembly is to be installed in order to provide meaningful output information. To make the assembly easily installable in a vehicle, the inertial sensors are calibrated with respect to exterior surfaces on sensor assembly 10. Once the sensor assembly is calibrated, mutually orthogonal reference axes are established for the assembly. These three axes are known as the mounting frame or M-frame. The mounting frame is established with respect to enclosure reference surface 12 and a reference edge parallel to enclosure secondary surface 14. In order to provide the mounting frame for inertial sensor assembly 10, a calibration procedure must be performed.
One way to perform the calibration procedure is through use of the calibration device 20 shown in FIG. 2. The calibration device is comprised of primary mounting member 21 and secondary mounting member 24. On primary mounting member 21 is primary mounting surface 22. Also on primary mounting member 21, parallel to primary mounting surface 22, is surface 23. On secondary mounting member 24 is secondary mounting surface 25 which is substantially perpendicular to primary mounting surface 22. Secondary mounting member 24 also includes reference edge protrusions 26 which are designed to make contact at two points with sensor assembly 10 when installed on calibration device 20. These two points of contact are called the reference edge points. The reference edge points are designed to be in a plane parallel to secondary mounting surface 25. The intersection between this plane and the primary mounting surface 22 is called the alignment reference line. Reference edge forcing device 28 is located on primary mounting surface 22 and provides a force in which to hold the sensor assembly 10 against reference edge protrusions 26 when it is positioned on calibration device 20.
FIG. 3a and 3b show the inertial sensor assembly 10 mounted on calibration device 20. Enclosure reference surface 12 is flush against primary mounting surface 22 while the enclosure secondary surface 14 contacts the reference edge protrusions 26. Contact between reference surface 12 and primary mounting surface 22 is maintained by a fastening device (not shown). Contact between the reference edge protrusions 26 and enclosure secondary surface 14 is maintained through use of the reference edge forcing device 28. The attachment forces must be sufficient to overcome thermal and vibration effects, but must not cause adverse deformation of the inertial sensor assembly. The attachment means of the inertial sensor assembly 10 to the calibration device 20 is exactly the same as the attachment means of the inertial sensor assembly 10 to the vehicle support frame. With the inertial sensor assembly mounted on the calibration device, the actual process of calibration can then begin.
In FIGS. 4a and 4b, the calibration device 20 and the sensor assembly 10 are positioned on rate table surface 44. The rate table 40 employed in this calibration procedure is of the kind that is well known in the art. The rate table surface is perpendicular to the turn axis of the table in order to establish a turn axis which is perpendicular to either the primary or the secondary mounting surfaces depending on how the calibration device 20 is positioned on the rate table. Rotation of rate table surface 44 is driven by rate table motor 42.
The calibration procedure begins by positioning surface 23 against the table surface 44 as shown in FIG. 4a. If the table surface is perpendicular to the turn axis, and if the primary mounting surface 22 is parallel to surface 23, then the X-axis of the M-frame is parallel to the turn axis of the rate table. Rotation of the sensor assembly 10 about the turn axis establishes the X-axis of the sensor system in gyro coordinates. In the next step, the assembly is tested with surface 25 against the table surface 44 as shown on FIG. 4b. In this case, the turn axis is known to be perpendicular to the reference edge. This vector is also measured in gyro coordinates. The cross product of this vector with the previously determined X-axis produces a vector in gyro coordinates defined as the Y-axis. The Y-axis is parallel to the intersection of the primary and secondary reference surfaces, previously defined as the alignment reference line. The cross product of the X-axis with the Y-axis produces the Z-axis. This procedure produces the direction cosines of the M-frame axes, called X, Y, and Z, in gyro coordinates.
The accuracy of this method of calibration is controlled through the specifications of the rate table. On the better tables, nonorthogonality in the table surface is controlled to 5-10 μrad, typically. Machining of a flat parallel surface is well established technology with typical surfaces in the range of 50 μinch. For mounting feet spans of 6 inches, this would imply alignment errors in the range of 8 μrad. Surface cleanliness and the use of torque wrenches and careful installation procedures controls errors due to random obstructions on the mounting surfaces and compliance errors associated with tie down torques. It is especially important in this calibration procedure that all contact surfaces be clean and free of any obstructions. With a reasonable build up of tolerances, accuracy's in the range of 20 μrad are possible with somewhat larger values to be expected from most situations. This kind of performance compares well with optical techniques.
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 5. As is seen, the reference edge points have been removed and alignment pins 50 and 52 have been positioned on the secondary mounting surface. For this embodiment of the invention a hole and slot combination are manufactured into the sensor assembly to receive pins 50 and 52. The sensor assembly 10 is installed on the calibration device 20 as shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b. The hole and slots fit over the pins when the sensor assembly is installed on the calibration device. As shown in FIG. 6b a line tangent to the alignment pins (called "pin reference line") can be measured relative to the alignment reference line (which is defined by the intersection of the primary and secondary reference surfaces). The angle between the pin reference line and the alignment reference line must be measured as a part of the building process of the calibration device. Once the sensor assembly 10 is mounted on the calibration device 20, the calibration procedure continues as was described above.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the calibration device 20 is only used to establish the Y and Z axes. The X-axis for the inertial sensor system is provided through use of a simple flat plate. The inertial sensor assembly 10 is first mounted with enclosure reference surface 12 flush against the plate. The plate and assembly are then positioned on the rate table and rotated to establish the X-axis. The assembly is then mounted on the calibration device 20 and the Y and Z axes are established as was described above. One advantage of this embodiment is that surfaces 22 and 23 need no longer be parallel, thus simplifying the manufacture of the calibration device 20.
The calibration process described above is not limited to a particular configuration of the inertial sensor system. The process can be used for systems with one gyro or multiple gyros, and the system may or may not include accelerometers. Also, the present calibration system is not limited to calibration of one inertial sensor system at a time. During the calibration process, multiple inertial sensor assemblies can be mounted on the calibration device so that the exterior surfaces of the enclosures are oriented properly with respect to the reference surfaces on the calibration device. To accommodate more sensor assemblies, additional reference protrusions and reference edge forcing devices would be provided.
The foregoing is a description of a novel and nonobvious method and apparatus for calibrating an inertial sensor system. The applicant does not intend to limit the invention through the foregoing description, but instead to define the invention through the claims appended hereto. | A calibration device for establishing a 3-D reference frame for an inertial sensor system. A secondary mounting surface on the calibration device is used to provide a measurement of the reference line required for inertial system installation alignment. This device provides a means for establishing a highly accurate alignment of inertial system sensors relative to the output coordinates, called the "mounting frame", without a requirement for optics or a manual transfer of data. By rotating the inertial sensor system through use of a rate table into planes which are substantially perpendicular to each other, the mounting frame for the sensor system can be established. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENT
[0001] The present application claims priority from CN 201310218482.3 filed on Jun. 4, 2013 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to Light-Emitting Diode (LED) supply and control circuits, and more specifically to current ripple canceling LED supply and control circuits. The first embodiment is designed for the second stage of an Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) LED driver.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
[0003] FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a diagram of one traditional LED driver circuit. An Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) LED driver 10 provides a constant current output for the LED load. The output current of the APFC LED driver 10 contains a ripple current, while its average current is regulated and kept constant.
[0004] The ripple current is usually twice the input AC line frequency, for example, if the line frequency is 60 Hz, the constant current output of APFC LED driver 10 contains a 120 Hz current ripple.
[0005] A filtering capacitor C 1 filters the output current of the APFC LED driver 10 and reduces the ripple current in the LED load. However, since the ripple current frequency is low (120 Hz), even with a large size capacitor, the LED load current still contains a ripple current of 120 Hz frequency.
[0006] Since the LED load current contains a line frequency ripple, the luminance output of the LED lamp also contains a line frequency flicker. The line frequency flicker may interfere with video equipment such as cameras and video recorders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A current ripple canceling light-emitting diode (LED) driver is disclosed. The input current source contains a current ripple. The LED load is connected to the drain of a power switch. The source of the power switch is connected a current sensing resistor. The gate of the power switch is connected to the output of an operational amplifier. The operational amplifier compares the voltage signal across the current sensing resistor with a dynamic reference voltage. The dynamic reference voltage is adjusted according to the gate or drain voltage of the power switch. The LED load current is controlled to be a nearly no ripple DC current.
[0008] Other structures and methods are described in the detailed description below. This summary does not purport to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.
[0010] FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a diagram of one traditional constant current LED driver circuit.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a first embodiment of a current ripple canceling LED driver in accordance with the novel aspect.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram that illustrates the operation of the current ripple canceling LED driver of FIG. 2
[0013] FIG. 4 is a diagram of a second embodiment of the current ripple canceling LED driver in accordance with the novel aspect.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a flyback structure embodiment of the current ripple canceling LED driver
[0015] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a high side buck structure embodiment of the current ripple canceling LED driver
[0016] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a low side buck structure embodiment of the current ripple canceling LED driver
[0017] FIG. 8 is a diagram of a buck-boost structure embodiment of the current ripple canceling LED driver
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a current ripple canceling LED driver in accordance with a first embodiment. In the embodiment, the input current source comes from a first stage LED driver, such as an Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) converter. The first stage LED driver delivers a constant input current to the current ripple canceling LED driver. The input current source contains a current ripple that need to be eliminated in the LED load by the disclosed circuits.
[0019] A filtering capacitor C 1 is implemented. The filtering capacitor C 1 is connected between the input current source and the system ground. The positive terminal of the LED load is connected to the positive node of the filtering capacitor C 1 . The LED load could be a number of series-connected or parallel-connected LEDs.
[0020] A power switch M 1 is implemented. The drain D of the power switch M 1 is connected to the negative terminal of the LED load. The power switch M 1 could be a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) or a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT). Although the MOSFET device is illustrated here, it is appreciated that other types of transistors may be used as well.
[0021] A current sensing resistor R 1 is implemented. The source S of the power switch M 1 is connected to the current sensing resistor R 1 . The current sensing resistor R 1 senses the information of the LED load current. The voltage across the current sensing resistor is proportional to the LED load current.
[0022] An operational amplifier 20 is implemented. The negative input of the operational amplifier 20 is connected to the current sensing resistor R 1 . The positive input of the operational amplifier 20 is connected to a dynamic reference voltage REF. The output of the operational amplifier 20 is connected to the gate G of the power switch M 1 .
[0023] A comparator 30 is implemented. One input terminal of the comparator 30 is connected to the gate G of the power switch M 1 . Another input terminal of the comparator 30 is connected to a threshold voltage V 1 . The output of the comparator is connected to a discharge switch S 1 .
[0024] A dynamic reference generating circuit is implemented. The discharge switch S 1 is in series with a discharge circuit R 2 . An integrating capacitor C 2 is connected to the discharge switch S 1 and the discharge circuit R 2 . A charge circuit 40 is connected to the integrating capacitor C 2 . The charge circuit 40 is usually a current source or a resistor. The voltage on the integrating capacitor C 2 is scaled by the proportional convertor 50 . The output of the proportional convertor 50 is the dynamic reference voltage REF and is fed into the positive input of the operational amplifier 20 .
[0025] FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram that illustrates the operation of the current ripple canceling LED driver. The input current source contains a current ripple. For example, the first stage APFC LED driver delivers a current source containing a current ripple with twice of the AC line frequency. The filtering capacitor C 1 stores the ripple current of the input current source and a ripple voltage is established on the filtering capacitor C 1 .
[0026] The current in the LED load flows into the drain D of the power switch M 1 and flows out from the source S of the power switch M 1 . The current in the current sensing resistor R 1 is equal to the current in the LED. The voltage CS on the current sensing resistor is proportional to the LED load current. The operational amplifier 20 compares the voltage CS and the dynamic reference voltage REF. The output of the operational amplifier 20 controls the gate G voltage of the power switch M 1 .
[0027] Since the LED load voltage drop is almost constant, the drain D voltage of the power switch M 1 also contains a voltage ripple. When the drain D voltage of the power switch M 1 is higher than the dynamic reference voltage REF, the LED load current is closed loop regulated. The LED load current is a flat shape current without ripple. The LED load current is
[0000]
I
LED
=
V
ref
R
CS
,
[0000] where V ref is the dynamic reference voltage and R Cs is the value of the current sensing resistor R 1 . When the drain D voltage is lower than the dynamic reference voltage REF, the above loop cannot be closed, the output of the operation amplifier 20 will saturate, the gate G voltage of the power switch M 1 will increase, and the LED load current will be less than
[0000]
V
ref
R
CS
.
[0028] The gate G voltage of the power switch M 1 is fed into the comparator 30 . The comparator 30 compares the gate G voltage of the power switch M 1 with the threshold voltage V 1 . When the gate G voltage is higher than the threshold voltage V 1 , it means the LED load current is less than
[0000]
V
ref
R
CS
,
[0000] and it indicates that the LED load current is no longer flat and current ripple occurs. At this time, the comparator 30 turns on the discharge switch S 1 , the integrating capacitor C 2 voltage and dynamic reference voltage REF decrease, and the LED load current is reduced. Since the average value of the input current of the LED driver is a constant, when the LED load current is reduced, the average input current is higher than the LED load current, and the average voltage of the filtering capacitor and the average voltage of drain D of the power switch M 1 increases.
[0029] When the average voltage of drain D of the power switch M 1 is higher, the on-time of the discharge switch S 1 is reduced, and the average discharge current of the integrating capacitor C 2 is reduced. Thereafter, the integrating capacitor C 2 voltage, dynamic reference voltage REF, and LED load current increases. When the average LED load current is higher than the average input current, the average voltage of filtering capacitor C 1 decreases, and the average voltage of drain D is reduced. A slow voltage loop is closed resulting in the average LED load current to be equal to the average input current, and resulting in the drain D voltage of the power switch M 1 to be higher than the dynamic reference voltage REF for a majority of the time. The LED load current is an almost flat waveform, and the drain D voltage of the power switch M 1 is as low as possible, minimizing the power loss on the power switch M 1 .
[0030] In other words, there is a fast current loop and a slow voltage loop. The fast current loop is formed by the operational amplifier 20 , current sensing resistor R 1 and power switch M 1 resulting in a flat LED load currentwhen drain D voltage of the power switch is sufficient. The slow voltage loop is formed by the comparator 30 , discharge switch S 1 , discharge circuit R 2 , charge circuit 40 , integrating capacitor C 2 and proportional convertor 50 , allowing the drain D voltage of the power switch to be sufficient for a majority of the time.
[0031] In the embodiments, the charge circuit 40 could be a current sourceor a resistor. Discharge switch S 1 could be a transistor or a controlled current source. Discharge circuit R 2 could be a resistor or a current source. The place of the discharge switch S 1 and the discharge circuit R 2 can be interchanged. The proportional convertor 50 can also be omitted.
[0032] FIG. 4 is a diagram of a second embodiment of the disclosed current ripple canceling LED driver. The difference between the second embodiment and first embodiment is that the input signal of the comparator 30 is changed to the drain D voltage of the power switch M 1 . When the drain D voltage is lower than the threshold V 1 , the dynamic reference voltage REF and LED load current is reduced, thereby increasing the average voltage of the filtering capacitor C 1 and increasing the average voltage of the drain D of the power switch M 1 . The voltage loop can be closed to make the LED load current almost flat and to minimize the power loss of the power switch M 1 .
[0033] FIG. 5 is the flyback structure embodiment of the disclosed current ripple canceling LED driver together with the first stage flyback convertor 15 .
[0034] FIG. 6 is the high side buck structure embodiment of the disclosed current ripple canceling LED driver together with the first stage high side buck convertor 16 .
[0035] FIG. 7 is the low side buck structure embodiment of the disclosed current ripple canceling LED driver together with the first stage low side buck convertor 17 .
[0036] FIG. 8 is the buck-boost structure embodiment of the disclosed current ripple canceling LED driver together with the first stage buck-boost convertor 18 .
[0037] Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. | A current ripple canceling light-emitting diode (LED) driver is disclosed. The input current source contains a current ripple. The LED load is connected to the drain of a power switch. The source of the power switch is connected to a current sensing resistor. The gate of the power switch is connected to the output of an operational amplifier. The operational amplifier compares the voltage signal across the current sensing resistor with a dynamic reference voltage. The dynamic reference voltage is adjusted according to the gate or drain voltage of the power switch. The LED load current is controlled to be a nearly no ripple DC current. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to a process for the polymerization of ethylene for obtaining a polymer with a broad molecular-weight distribution. Specifically, the objective of the invention is to obtain high and low density linear polyethylene. The result is obtained due to the particular treatment, prior to its use with a cocatalyst in the polymerization of the ethylene, of the catalytic component. Prior to its use, the catalytic component comprising at least one magnesium derivative and a chlorine-containing derivative of titanium mainly at the oxidation state 3 and/or 4 undergoes a reduction by a metallic compound possessing at least one metal-carbon or metal-hydrogen bond, followed by a treatment by a transition metal halogen compound.
The invention also pertains to the process for treating the catalytic component.
As used herein the phrase "polymerization of ethylene" means not only the homopolymerization of the ethylene, but also the copolymerization of the ethylene with an alpha-olefin, such as propylene, 1-butene or 1-hexene.
The polymers with a broad molecular-weight distribution, industrially employed in particular in extrusion-blow molding techniques, are distinguished by their polydispersity and their fluidity index from the polymers with a narrow molecular-weight distribution, industrially employed, in particular, for injection molding.
The polymers with a narrow molecular-weight distribution possess, on an average, a polydispersity of about 4 to 6, the polydispersity being the ratio of the molar weight by weight to the molar weight by number. These polymers with high fluidity posses a fluidity index ratio MFR 5-2 less than 3.3, MFR 5-2 being, according to the ASTM standard D1238, the MI 5 /MI 2 ratio of the fluidity index under 5 kg to the fluidity index under 2.16 kg; the MFR 21-5 ratio of the fluidity indices under 21.6 kg to the fluidity index under 5 kg, MI 21 /MI 5 according to the ASTM standard D 1238, is less than 10. These products are obtained in a single reactor by the polymerization of the ethylene in suspension in solution, or in the gaseous phase in the presence of a specific Ziegler-type catlyst comprising a cocatalyst, in general an alkylaluminum, and a catalytic component containing Ti, Mg, Cl and possibly an electron donor. The products obtained with a narrow distribution possess a limited elasticity which avoids the very negative phenomenon of injection shrinkage.
Due to their lack of elasticity, these products are unsuitable for techniques requiring a high mechanical resistance in the melted state, as, for example, in the case of extrusion-blow molding. When these properties are in demand, one employs polymers with a broad molecular-weight distribution, preferably possessing a fluidity index ratio MFR 21-5 greater than 16 for a fluidity index MI 5 of about 1 to 1.5, or a MI 5 /MI 2 ratio greater than 3.5 for MI 2 >1.
The industrial manufacture of these products in a single reactor presents great difficulties in the presence of a Ziegler-type catalyst.
According to Zucchini, U. and G. Cecchin: "Control of Molecular-Weight Distribution in Polyolefins Synthesized with Ziegler-Natta Catalyst Systems," Adv. in Polymer Science 51, 101-153 (1983), a document which reflects the prior art in this matter, the best means for obtaining a polymer with a broad molecular-weight distribution in the presence of a Ziegler-type catalyst is to carry out the polymerization in several stages or in a series using at least two successive reactors. However, even under these best conditions, it is not easy to manufacture a polyethylene with a MFR 21-5 greater than 16, a necessary condition being to proceed with catalysts that yield broad distributions in a single reactor. Moreover, this process presents the disadvantage or requiring at least two reactors which leads to a loss in productivity with regard to the significance of the installation and a delicate control due to the activity of several reactors instead of just one.
According to FR-A-2,596,398, it is possible to obtain, by the polymerization of ethylene in a single reactor, a polymer with a broad molecular-weight distribution with a MFR MI 21 /MI 5 greater than 16. To obtain this result, a mixture of M g Cl 2 and TiCl 4 obtained by joint pulverization is employed as the catalytic component. In addition to the joint pulverization of the components, which requires industrially complex rules, the process presents the disadvantage of using a component with a poorly defined structure, which leads to the manufacture of a polymer with a heterogeneous granular distribution.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The advantage of the process of this invention is that it uses a catalytic component with a controlled structure, capable of manufacturing a polymer with a broad molecular-weight distribution, the MI 21 /MI 5 ratio being greater than 16 and possibly exceeding 25 for products with high molecular weight, in particular for products, the fluidity index MI 2 of which is less than 0.5 and the MI 5 /MI 2 ratio being greater than 3.5. Moreover, the performances of the component obtained according to FR 2,596,398 are improved.
To obtain these results, the ethylene is polymerized in the presence of a catalyst comprising a cocatalyst selected from among the alkylaluminums and of a catalytic component based on at least Mg, Ti and Cl treated under the conditions set forth below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The characteristic of the invention consists, in a first stage, of subjecting the catalytic component to a reducing treatment, then in a second stage, treating the product obtained with a transition metal chlorine-containing compound.
The initial catalytic compound before treatment is a product that is known in itself and is extensively described in the literature. It is usually the result of the combination of at least one titanium compound, one magnesium compound, one chlorine compound and possibly an electron donor or acceptor and any other compound that can be used in these types of components.
The titanium compound is usually selected from among the compounds having the formula Ti(OR) x Cl 4-x , in which:
(i) R is a C 1 to C 14 aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, or COR 1 with R 1 being a C 1 to C 14 aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, and
(ii) x is a number from 0 to 3.
The magnesium compound is usually selected from among the compounds having the formula Mg(OR 2 ) n Cl 2-n , in which R 2 is hydrogen or a cyclic or linear hydrocarbon radical and n is a number less than or equal to 2.
The chlorine can result directly from the halide of titanium and/or the halide of magnesium, but it can also result from an independent chlorinating agent such as hydrochloric acid or an organic halide such as butyl chloride.
The optional electron donor or acceptor is a liquid or solid organic compound known for entering into the composition of these catalytic components. The electron donor can be a mono- or polyfunctional compound advantageously selected from among aliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acids and their alkyl esters, aliphatic or cyclic ethers, ketones, vinyl esters, acrylic derivatives, in particular alkyl acrylates or methacrylates and silanes. Compounds such as methyl paratoluate, ethyl benzoate, ethyl or butyl acetate, ethyl ether, ethyl paraanisate, dibutylphthalate, dioctylphthalate, diisobutylphthalate, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, acetone, methyl isobutyl ketone, vinyl acetate, metyl methacrylate and silanes such as phenyltriethoxysilane, aromatic or aliphatic alkoxysilanes are especially suitable as electron donors.
The electron acceptor is a Lewis acid preferably selected from among aluminum chlorides, boron trifluoride, chloranil or alkylaluminums and alkylmagnesiums.
The catalytic component is used in the form of a complex of at least Mg, Ti, Cl, the chlorinated titanium being mainly in the form of TI IV , Ti III or a mixture of both, optionally with an electron donor or acceptor. The catalytic component can be in the form of a complex, but also in the form of a deposit on a mineral support such as SiO 2 or Al 2 O 3 or an organic support, for example, of the polymer type.
In a first stage, the catalytic component as defined above is treated with a reducing agent. It involves a compound that is gaseous, liquid or soluble in hydrocarbons, capable, as it is generally known in chemistry, or reducing the degree of oxidation of the Ti IV and/or Ti III . The reducing agent employed is preferably a metallic compound possessing at least one metal-carbon or metal-hydrogen bond. The metallic compounds possessing at least one metal-carbon bond are usually selected from among the compounds MQ y Cl z-y , M being a metal of groups I, II and III of the Periodic Table, and more particularly, Al and Mg; Q being a cyclic or linear hydrocarbon radical, z being a number corresponding to the maximum valence of the metal; and y being a number less than or equal to z. Also included in the definition of these compounds are the addition products of these compounds between themselves such as, for examples: NaAl(C 2 H 5 ) 4 or the products obtained by bridging two metallic compounds defined above by an oxygen such as, for example, aluminoxanes and aluminosiloxanes. Among these metallic compounds, one preferes aluminoxanes, aluminosiloxanes, dialkylmagnesiums and alkylaluminums of the type Al(R 3 ) c X d where
(i) X is Cl, and
(ii) R 3 represents a C 1 to C 14 saturated hydrocarbon radical, or (OR 4 ) with R 4 which is a C 1 to C 14 saturated hydrocarbon radical with 0<d>1.5 and c+d=3.
Al(C 2 H 5 ) 3 , Al(C 2 H 5 ) 2 Cl, Al(C 4 H 9 ) 3 , A 12 (C 2 H 5 ) 3 Cl 3 , Al(C 6 H 13 ) 3 , Al(C 8 H 17 ) 3 and Al(C 2 H 5 ) 2 (OC 2 H 5 ) can be cited as examples.
The metallic compounds possessing at least one metal hydrogen bond are usually selected from among the compounds MQ' c X d H e where M is a metal as defined above, Q' is a cyclic or linear hydrocarbon radical, X is Cl or is selected from among the preceding Q' radicals with 0<d<1.5, 1<e<z and c+d+e=z, z corresponding to the maximum valence of M. Hydrides such as Al(C 4 H 9 ) 2 H, Al(C 2 H 5 ) 2 H, (C 2 H 5 ) 4 B 2 H 2 and mixed hydrides such as aluminum-lithium, AlLiH 4 , can be cited among these compounds. The combination of the hydrides with one another or with the organometallic compounds defined above is obviously possible.
In this stage, the component is treated under an inert atmosphere with the reducing agent, as is, or in the presence of a diluent both as solvent of the reducing agent and inert to it as well as to the component. The hydrocarbons among others are suitable for this application. Even though the reaction temperature is not critical, for reasons of reasonable reaction duration, the reduction is preferably carried out from ambient temperature to 150° C. under atmospheric pressure or under pressure, preferably between 40° and 100° C. under atmospheric pressure for reaction durations of about ten minutes to 24 hours.
The reduction reaction is stopped when at least 50% by weight of the initial titanium has its degree of oxidation reduced by at least one unit, for example, when 50% of the Ti IV is reduced to Ti III or 50% of the Ti III is reducted to Ti II . However, it is preferable to continue the reduction of titanium as much as possible, but it is recommended to stop the reduction when the mean degree of reduction of the titanium is closest to II. In this reduction stage, the molar ratio of reducing-agent metal to titanium is preferably greater than two and especially between 10 and 50.
The reduction reaction is stopped by cooling and washing the product obtained, preferably with a hydrocarbon, to eliminate the excess reducing agent. The resulting product can be dried.
In the second stage, the reduced product obtained is treated with a transition metal chlorine-containing compound. This chlorine-containing compound is most often a chloride, an alkoxychloride or an oxychloride of a transition metal selected from among titanium, vanadium, chromium, zirconium such as, for example, TiCl 4 or VCl 4 . To facilitate the chlorination reaction, it is preferable to employ a chlorine-containing compound that is liquid or is soluble in a solvent that is inert to the products brought into contact. The treatment is carried out by bringing into contact, in an inert atmosphere, the reduced product of the first stage with the chlorine-containing compound. The contact temperature, once again, is not critical. For practical reasons, it is recommended to treat the products in contact at a temperature ranging between the ambient temperature and 150° C. and preferably between 60° and 100° C. for treatment durations ranging between several minutes and four hours. The amount of transition-metal chlorine-containing compound used is preferably at least half of the stoichiometry, especially close to the stoichimetry or in excess with regard to the titanium content of the product obtained at the end of the first stage. After treatment, the component is finally recovered under an inert atmosphere after washing and optionally drying.
The catalytic component obtained after these two treatment stages is employed in the classical manner with a commonly known cocatalyst, generally selected from among the alkylaluminums, in the suspension or gaseous-phase polymerization processes of olefins.
In a suspension polymerization process of ethylene, one operates in the usual manner in a liquid hydrocarbon medium at temperatures capable of reaching up to 120° C. and under pressures capable of reaching up to 250 bars.
The gaseous-phase polymerization of ethylene in the presence of hydrogen and inert gas can be carried out in any reactor capable of gaseous-phase polymerization and in particular in an agitated-bed or fluidized-bed reactor. The implementation conditions are known from the prior art and are conventional. One generally operates at a temperature lower than the melting point Tf of the polymer or copolymer to be synthesized and more particularly between 20° C. and (Tf -5° C.) and under a pressure such that the ethylene and possibly the other hydrocarbon monomers present in the reactor are essentially in vapor phase.
The polymerization can be carried out in two stages. In a first stage, it is possible to consolidate the catalytic system by carrying out a prepolymerization based on ethylene in the presence of the constituents of the catalytic system and a cocatalyst, then in a second stage, by continuing the polymerization by adding ethylene or a mixture of ethylene and an alpha-olefin such as mentioned above. The prepolymerization stage produces a polymer formation not exceeding 10% by weight of the total polymer becoming formed. This prepolymerization stage is carried out in suspension in the presence of a hydrocarbon diluent, in the gaseous phase or in a combination of suspension and gaseous phase.
The invention will be further described in connection with the following examples which are set forth for purposes of illustration only.
EXAMPLE 1
a) Preparation of the Catalytic Component
8.3 g of anhydrous MgCl 2 are pulverized for six hours; 0.7 mL or TiCl 4 is added and the mixture is pulverized for four hours. The solid recovered is extracted from the pulverization bowl with heptane and dried under vacuum. A product A containing 3% by weight of titanium is obtained. Four grams of A are treated in heptane with triethylaluminum at the concentration of 0.85 M/1 (Al/Ti=14) for three hours at 80° C. The solid obtained is rinsed three times, protected from air, with 50 ml of heptane and is dried under vacuum. The product recovered is brought into contact, protected from air, with 40ml of TiCl 4 for four hours at 100° C. After five washings with heptane, the solid obtained is dried under vaccum. A solid B containing 4.4% by weight of titanium and 0.7% by weight of aluminum is obtained.
b) Polymerization of Ethylene in Suspension
The catalytic component B is used for the polymerization of ethylene in suspension. In a stainless steel 2.5-liter reactor provided with agitation by a blade turning at 650 rpm, one introduces in the following order at ambient temperature under an inert atmosphere: one liter of heptane, trihexylaluminum (3mM) and the catalytic component B in an amount corresponding to 2.5mg of Ti.
Hydrogen is added up to a partial pressure of 4.3 bars (test 1) and 5 bars (test 2), and one completes with the ethylene by adjusting the pressure to reach 9 bars absolute of total pressure after heating at 80° C. This total pressure is kept constant for one hour by adding ethylene.
After one hour, one stops the injection of ethylene, one cools at ambient temperature, the catalyst is deactivated by adding a methanol solution slightly acidified by 10% hydrochloric acid. The polymer suspension is filtered and then dried.
By way of comparison, test 1 is repeated with the product A.
The results obtained on the final polymer are follows:
______________________________________ ProductivityCom- in g of PE/g MI.sub.21 / MI.sub.5 /ponent TEST of component MI.sub.5 MI.sub.21 MI.sub.5 MI.sub.2______________________________________B 1 2,800 0.5 13 26 NSA 1 775 0.87 14.2 16.3 NS comparisonB 2 1,500 4.3 NS NS 5______________________________________ NS = not significant. Either I.sub.2 is too low to be measured or I.sub.2 is too high to be measured correctly.
EXAMPLE 2
a) Preparation of the Catalytic Component
The component C is prepared under the conditions for obtaining the component A in Example 1, except for the duration of joint pulverization which is eight hours.
______________________________________Amount of anhydrous MgCl.sub.2 : 10 gAmount of TiCl.sub.4 : 0.66 ml______________________________________
A product C containing 2.5% by weight of titanium is obtained.
On the one hand: 3.6 g of solid C are treated in heptane with ClAl(C 2 H 5 ) 2 at the concentration of 0.7 M/1 (Al/Ti=17.7) for two hours at 80° C. After four washings each with 60 ml of heptane protected from air, the solid is brought into contact with 30 ml of TiCl 4 for two hours at 100° C. After washings with heptane and drying under vacuum, the solid D containing 3.8% by weight of titanium and 0.8% by weight of aluminum is obtained.
On the other hand: 3 g of solid C are treated in heptane with triethylaluminum at the concentration of 1.2 M/1 (Al/Ti=15) for two hours at 80° C. After washings with heptane and drying under vacuum, the solid is brought into contact with 30ml of TiCl 4 for two hours at 100° C. After washings with heptane and drying under vacuum, the solid E containing 11.5% by weight of titanium and 1.5% by weight of aluminum is obtained.
b) Polymerization of Ethylene in Suspension
The components D, E and C, by way of comparison, are each used in the homopolymerization of ethylene under the condition in Example 1 except that pertaining to the hydrogen pressures.
The results obtained for the final polymer are as follows:
______________________________________ H2 Productivity pressure in g of PE/G MI.sub.21 /Component in bars of component MI.sub.5 MI.sub.21 MI.sub.5______________________________________D 4.3 2,500 0.77 18 23.4E 4 1,100 0.60 13 21.7C 4.3 2,500 1.33 22.8 17______________________________________
EXAMPLE 3
a) Preparation of the Catalytic Component
10 g of anhydrous MgCl 2 and 1.15 ml of TiCl 4 are treated under the condition of Example 1, except for the duration of joint pulverization which is 16 hours.
The product obtained is treated in heptane with triethylaluminum at the concentration of 0.5 M/1 (Al/Ti=2) for two hours at 90° C. After washing with heptane, the solid is treated with 1.5 ml of VCl 4 for 30 minutes at 80° C. After washing with heptane and then drying under vacuum, a solid F containing 3.7% by weight of Ti, 4.4% by weight of V and 1.72% by weight of Al is obtained.
b) Copolymerization of Ethylene and 1-Butene in Vapor Phase
For the vapor-phase polymerization, one employs a stainless-steel 2.5 liter, spherical reactor, provided with agitation by a blade turning at 250 rpm. The temperature is regulated at 85° C. At 85° C., one introduces into the reactor the reagents in the following order: trihexylaluminum (0.7 mM), butene up to a partial pressure of 1.8 bars, ethylene 8.2 bars and hydrogen 2 bars.
The component F, in an amount corresponding to 2.5 mg of Ti, is injected into the reactor, the total pressure (12 bars) is kept constant by continuously adding an ethylene-butene mixture with 3.7 mol% butene. After one hour of reacting, the reactor is degassed and cooled; one recovers a polymer powder with a composition of 17.8 ethyl branchings per 1,000 carbons. The other characteristics are as follows:
______________________________________ Productivity in g of poly-Component ethylene per g of component MI.sub.2 MI.sub.5 /MI.sub.2______________________________________F 3,000 1.54 4.9______________________________________
EXAMPLE 4
a) Copolymerization of Ethylene and 1-Butene in Vapor Phase
The component E of Example 2 is used in the copolymerization of ethylene and butene under the same conditions as in Example 3, except for the partial pressure of hydrogen 7.5 bars, partial pressure of butene 0.8 bar and partial pressure of ethylene 4.2 bars. The temperature is regulated at 65° C. and the composition of the ethylene-butene gaseous mixture feeding the reactor is 3.54 mol% of butene.
By way of comparison, the test with the component C is repeated:
______________________________________ Productivity in g of poly-Component ethylene per g of component MI.sub.2 MI.sub.21 /MI.sub.2______________________________________E 1,500 1 65C 2,000 1.8 35______________________________________
EXAMPLE 5
A solution of dibutylmagnesium 0.5 M/l, tetraisobutyaluminoxane 0.015 M/l and disecbutyl ether (EDSE) 0.03 M/l is introduced into a reactor under inert atmosphere. This solution is maintained under agitation at 50° C. for about 16 hours. One then slowly adds into the reactor a mixture of tertiobutyl chloride (tBuCl) in an amount such that the tBuCl/Mg weight ratio=3 and disecbutyl ether in an amount such that the EDSB/Mg weight ratio=0.6 at the end of the addition. The temperature and the agitation are maintained for three hours. The solid obtained is filtered and washed with hexane and then returned to suspension in hexane. Anhydrous HCl is bubbled for 30 minutes at ambient temperature. After washing and filtration, the solid is returned to suspension in TiCl 4 and maintained at 90° C. for two hours. After filtration, washing and drying under inert atmosphere, a component G with spherical morphology containing 3.1% by weight of titanium is obtained.
The catalytic component G is treated in heptane with triethylaluminum at the concentration of 600 mM/l, with an Al/Ti molar ratio=23, for one hour at 60° C. After washing with heptane and drying in an inert medium, the intermediate solid obtained is treated with TiCl 4 at 90° C. for two hours. After washing and drying in an inert medium, the component H obtained has preserved its spherical morphology and possesses a titanium content of 7.3% by weight.
b. Polymerization of Ethylene in Suspension
The component H is used in the polymerization of ethylene in suspension under the conditions of Example 1 except for the cocatalyst: triisobutylaluminum 2.5 mM/l, diluent: hexane, temperature: 75° C., partial pressure of hydrogen: 4.2 bars: partial pressure of ethylene: 6.4 bars: and duration of the polymerization: three hours.
By way of comparison, the test with the component G is repeated. The results obtained are as follows:
______________________________________ Productivity in g of MI.sub.21 /Component PE/G of component MI.sub.5 MI.sub.21 MI.sub.5 MV.sub.A______________________________________G 12,000 1.2 14.1 11.7 0.4H 17,000 1 24 24 0.42______________________________________
EXAMPLE 6
a) Preparation of the Catalytic Component
The catalytic component G is treated in heptane with dibutylmagnesium 150 mM/1, with a Mg/Ti molar ratio=5, for two hours at 80° C. After washing and siphoning the solvent, the intermediate solid is treated with TiCl 4 at 90° C. for two hours. The component I obtained after washing and drying has preserved a spherical morphology and contains 3.9% by weight of titanium.
b) Polymerization of Ethylene in Suspension
The catalytic component I is used in the polymerization of ethylene under the conditions of Example 5. By way of comparison the results obtained with component G are repeated.
______________________________________ Productivity in g of MI.sub.21 /Component PE/g of component MI.sub.5 MI.sub.21 MI.sub.5 MV.sub.A______________________________________G 12,000 1.2 14.1 11.7 0.4H 17,900 1.3 22.8 17.5 0.4______________________________________
EXAMPLE 7
a) Preparation of the Catalytic Component
The catalytic component J is prepared in a similar manner to the catalytic component G in Example 5. The component J has a spherical morphology and contains 1.6% by weight of titanium.
The catalytic component J is treated in heptane with diethylaluminum hydride at the concentration of 180 mM/l and an Al/Ti molar ratio=2.5 for two hours at 80° C. After washing and siphoning the solvent, the intermediate solid is treated with TiCl 4 at 90° C. for two hours. The component K obtained after washing and drying possesses the following characteristics: Ti=5.7% by weight and spherical morphology.
b) Polymerization of Ethylene in Suspension
The components J and K are used in the polymerization of ethylene under the conditions of Example 5.
______________________________________ Productivity of g of MI.sub.21 /Component PE/g of component MI.sub.5 MI.sub.21 MI.sub.5 MV.sub.A______________________________________J 17,700 1.15 13.2 11.4 0.42K 26,400 0.48 7.8 16.2 0.4______________________________________
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form to set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | A catalytic component having controlled strucuture for use in combination with a cocatalyst for the polymerization of ethylene, and being the product of the process of subjecting a component consisting essentially of titanium, magnesium, and chlorine to a reduction treatment and after such treatment contacting the component with a transition metal chlorine-containing compound and process of polymerizing ethylene using such catalytic component to produce polymers having a broad molecular weight distribution. | 2 |
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to sewing machines and in particular to a new and useful thread cutting device for lockstitch sewing machines having a rotary hook rotating in a horizontal plane with a bobbin case mounted in the rotary hook, a thread catcher and a cutting tool cooperating with the thread catcher to cut a needle and bobbin thread and, at the same time hold the bobbin thread.
A thread cutting device for a sewing machine in disclosed in German Pat. No. 23 25 609. That device comprises a thread catcher which is pivotable in a horizontal plane above a rotary hook and is designed with a separating finger formed on an arm, and a catch shoulder provided below the finger. At the underside of the separating finger, close to a pointed end thereof, a hook for catching the bobbin thread is mounted, permitting a long bobbin thread end portion extending to the thread supply.
To effect a cutting operation, the thread catcher is moved upon the instant at which the needle thread loop is passed around about one half the bobbin case, in a first pivotal step, from an initial position into a catch position, with the separating finger penetrating into the needle thread loop below the loop at the supply side, but above the bobbin thread, and the catch hook taking hold of the bobbin thread. After this first pivotal step, the thread catcher stops until the needle thread loop is passed around the entire bobbin case and pulled upwardly, by the take-up lever on the sewing machine, up to the thread catcher. Only after the needle thread loop is engaged on the separating finger and the legs of the needle thread loop come into a firm, controlled position, the thread catcher is moved farther in a second pivotal step, in the direction of the stationary cutting knife.
At the start of the second pivotal step, the catch shoulder applies against the needle thread loop, whereby, in the course of this second pivotal step, the needle thread is pulled off the thread supply, in addition to pulling off the bobbin thread. Since during this operation, the needle thread loop is firmly engaged on the separating finger so that still another deflection point is present in addition to the almost rectangular deflection at the stitch hole edge, and the other deflection points by which the pulling of the needle thread off the thread supply is anyway braked, namely the needle eye, the take-up lever, the thread tightener, and the various eyelets for the thread, a relatively strong force is required for performing the second pivotal step of the thread catcher, even with the tightener in an open position. With thick threads having unfavorable frictional properties, it may even be necessary to equip the thread cutting device with an auxiliary drive, agumenting the driving force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a thread cutting device which requires only a very small force for effecting a cutting operation.
Upon starting a cutting operation, and with the thread catcher pivoted into its catching position, the needle thread loop, upon being passed around the bobbin case, is caught up and retained by the retaining shoulder, so that only a small portion of the needle thread loop, which has been enlarged while being passed around the bobbin case, can be pulled upwardly by the take-up lever through the stitch hole. Only after the catch shoulder, in the course of further pivotal motion of the thread catcher, bumps against the needle thread loop, does the loop slip off the retaining shoulder, so that the catch shoulder is capable of deflecting the freed portion of the needle thread loop without an appreciable resistance in the direction of the cutting tool.
By suitably dimensioning the retaining shoulder in relation to the path of motion of the thread catcher, namely by providing a height of the retaining shoulder substantially corresponding to the distance between the needle thread catching position and the cutting position of the catch shoulder, the length of the thread portion temporarily retained by the retaining shoulder is made substantially equal to the thread length which is pulled sidewardly out during the motion of the thread catcher into its cutting position. Since the thread length required for this purpose has earlier been retained below the needle plate, and is released only as wanted, the thread catcher need not pull off any needle thread from the thread supply. Consequently, no particular force is required for performing the cutting operation.
According to one feature of the invention, the retaining shoulder is formed by a step-like portion of the arm. The stepped shape of the retaining shoulder, with an edge portion extending substantially concentrically of the pivotal axis of the thread catcher, makes it possible to catch and firmly retain the needle thread loop safely even in instances where the needle thread is twisted and, upon being passed around the bobbin case, tends to perform uncontrollable movements.
According to another feature of the invention, the point of the separating finger is provided at the arm side remote from the cutting tool. Due to this design, the thread catcher can penetrate into the needle thread loop already during its first pivotal motion, from its cutting or rest position. There is no need for pivoting it first into an initial position wherefrom it would penetrate into the needle thread loop.
With rotary hooks rotating in a horizontal plane, the bobbin thread end must be firmly retained in a thread clamp retained during the first stitch, to ensure that it will be engaged by the needle thread loop and that, consequently, after cutting the thread, the needle thread and the bobbin thread become securely locked with each other at the start of a new sewing operation. Therefore, prior to cutting the thread, the thread portion close to the thread supply of the bobbin thread must be introduced into a thread clamp and it must be made sure that up to its engagement by a needle thread loop, this portion remains in the clamp. This requirement means that the needle thread must be prevented from being caught in the thread clamp along with the bobbin thread since in such a case, a risk would be run that by pulling the needle thread end out of the thread clamp, the bobbin thread end would be pulled out too and could no longer be engaged by the needle thread loop subsequently to be formed.
This risk may be avoided by forming the thread catcher to have the effect that, immediately before the cutting operation, the needle and bobbin thread portions leading to the respective thread supplies extend in mutually different directions or are spaced from each other, so that with a suitable arrangement or design of a thread clamp, only the bobbin thread is clamped, as desired.
According to another feature, the retaining shoulder of the thread catcher extends in the plane of the inner longitudinal side of the catch shoulder. With a thread catcher of such design, the leg at the thread supply side of the needle thread loop extends close to the inner longitudinal side of the catch shoulder before the cutting operation. The bobbin thread portion between the front edge of the catch shoulder and the thread supply, on the contrary, extends at an angle of about 35° relative to the leg adjacent the catch shoulder of the needle thread loop. This divergence in directions of the threads makes it possible to mount a stationary two-legged thread clamp having horizontally extending clamping surfaces and known per se, in such a way that the clamp legs do cross the bobbin thread portion leading to the thread supply, and yet the free ends of the clamp legs terminate at a location frontally spaced from the needle thread loop leg adjacent the catch shoulder. The thread catch thus pulls the bobbin thread into the thread clamp, while the needle thread remains outside the thread clamp.
According to still another feature of the invention, the underside of the retaining shoulder forms a part of a thread clamp. In this design, the adjustment of the clamping means is particularly simple, since the extension of the bobbin thread is determined by the thread catcher.
In another embodiment of the thread catcher, the retaining shoulder terminates at the rounded bottom of a slot which bottom is spaced from the catch shoulder. Because of this slot, during the period of time just before the cutting operation, the portion of the needle thread loop leg extending from the leading edge of the catch shoulder to the thread supply, extends below the thread catcher arm substantially transversely to the longitudinal sides of the catch shoulder. The bobbin thread portion running from the thread supply to the leading edge of the catch shoulder extends substantially at the same angle to the inner longitudinal side of the catch shoulder is indicated above in connection with the first embodiment of the thread catcher. This portion therefore extends between the catch shoulder and the needle thread loop portion extending below the thread catcher, transversely of the longitudinal sides thereof, so that in this embodiment again, the threads extend in mutually different directions.
According to a feature of the second embodiment of the thread catcher, the inner longitudinal side of the catch shoulder forms a part of a thread clamp. In this design, prior to the cut, the bobbin thread becomes clamped between the catch shoulder and a resilient part of the clamp. Since the needle thread loop portion passing below the arm extends substantially transversely to the vertically aligned clamping surfaces of the thread clamp, there is no risk that this portion would also be introduced into the threaded clamp.
To further ensure that the needle thread loop will properly be caught, a catch hook is formed on the arm at a location horizontally spaced from the retaining shoulder.
According to another feature of this embodiment of a thread catcher with a catch hook, the underside of the catch hook forms a part of the thread clamp. In this design, the needle thread loop leg leading to the thread supply extends on the leading edge of the catch shoulder below the thread catcher to the rounded bottom of the slot and therefrom above the catch hook to the stitch hole of the needle plate. With a thread clamp formed by the catch hook and a subjacent clamp spring, the pivotal motion of the thread catcher into its cutting position produces the effect that the needle thread loop portion extending below the thread catcher is pulled through the thread clamp. At the same time, it is ensured that at the instant of thread cutting, this portion will again extend outside the clamp. On the other hand, the bobbin thread portion running from the thread supply to the leading edge of the catch shoulder and extending below the catch hook is safely introduced into the thread clamp and firmly retained therein even after the thread cutting operation.
Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide a thread cutting device for a lockstitch sewing machine having a rotary hook rotating at a horizontal plane in which a bobbin case is mounted, a thread catcher which is pivotable in a horizontal plane and cooperates with a cutting tool to cut a needle and bobbin thread, and including a separating finger formed on an arm and with a catch shoulder extending beneath the arm, comprising the thread catcher formed with a retaining shoulder by which a needle thread loop, after being passed around the bobbin case, is caught and released prior to being cut, with a height of the shoulder being determinative of the retained length of the needle thread, substantially corresponding to a distance between a needle thread catch positioned and a cutting position of the catch shoulder.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following the invention is explained with reference to two embodiments shown in the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a sewing machine used with the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the rotary hook, the needle plate, and the thread catcher used with the invention;
FIG. 3A is a top plan view of the thread cutting device and the rotary hook, with the thread catcher in the cutting or rest position at the start of the first stitch formation in a new sewing operation;
FIG. 3B is a top plan view of a driving mechanism for the connecting bar of a thread catcher shown in FIG. 3A;
FIGS. 4 to 7 are top plan views and show consecutive phases of the thread catcher motion;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the thread catcher in the cutting position, showing another embodiment of the thread clamp; and
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing another embodiment of the thread catcher in the cutting position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIG. 1, the sewing machine comprises a bed plate 1, a standard 2, and an arm 3 with a head 4. An arm shaft 5 mounted within arm 3 is operatively connected to a needle bar 7 which is movable up and down in head 4 and carries a thread guiding needle 6. Also mounted in head 4 is a take-up lever 8 which cooperates, in a manner known per se, with needle 6 and is driven by arm shaft 5 to perform an up and down movement. Head 4 further accommodates a thread tightener 9 which can be switched into an open position by means of the mechanism known per se (not shown).
Secured to arm shaft 5 is a belt pulley 10 transmitting the rotation of arm shaft 5 through a belt 11 and another belt pulley 12, with a reduction of one or two, to a shaft 13 which is mounted within bed plate 1 and drives the rotary hook. Secured to hook driving shaft 13 is a bevel gear 14 meshing with a mating gear 16 which is mounted on the vertically extending shaft 15 of the rotary hook. The lockstitching hook 17 is carried on the upper end of shaft 15 and driven for rotation in a horizontal plane.
Lockstitch hook 17, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises a hook body 18 and a hook point 19 formed thereon. A bobbin case 20 is mounted in the hook body 18. In a known manner, bobbin case 20 accommodates a bobbin (not shown) carrying the bobbin thread G which is run out of case 20 through an outlet 21 provided on the top thereof. On its side close to needle 6, case 20 is provided with a stop finger 22 extending laterally and upwardly.
Stop finger 22 projects into a cutout 25 which is provided in an extension 23 of needle plate 24 (FIG. 2) and thus prevents bobbin case 20 from following the rotary motion. In the upward direction, cutout 25 is deepened by another cutout 26 of about half the width, which reaches up close to the underside of needle plate 24. The two cutouts 25,26 form together a stepped recess in extension 23. Needle plate 24 is provided with a stitch hole 27 forming a passage for needle 6.
Laterally of hook shaft 15, a thread catcher 29 is secured to an also vertically extending shaft 28. Thread catcher 29 comprises an arm 30 which is movable in a horizontal plane in the space between the underside of needle plate 24 and the top of bobbin case 20. On its free end, arm 30 is formed with a separating finger 31 terminating in a point 32 (FIG. 4). Beneath separating finger 31, a catch shoulder 33 is provided which extends in a vertical plane and whose leading edge 34 forms together with separating finger 31 a V-shaped indentation. The path of motion of catch shoulder 33 extends between the central outer surface of bobbin case 20 and the upper end of stop finger 22. The path of motion of point 32 of separating finger 31 extends above the upper horizontal boundary of cutout 25.
Arm 30 of thread catcher 29 is further formed with a step-like retaining shoulder 35 which extends in a horizontal plane. One edge 36 of shoulder 35 extends substantially perpendicularly to arm 30 (FIG. 4), while the other edge 37 extends substantially parallel to arm 30. Another portion formed on arm 30 is a catch hook 38 which again extends in a horizontal plane and is uniformly spaced from retaining shoulder 35. A slot 39 is thereby formed therebetween, terminating in a rounded bottom 40 at a location laterally spaced from leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33. Catch hook 38 is formed with a tip 41 extending parallel to edge 36, and merges, at its opposite side, into point 32 of separating finger 31. The length of edge 37 is understood to be the height A of retaining shoulder 35 as shown in FIG. 5.
On the outer longitudinal side opposite stitch hole 27 of thread catcher 29, a groove 42 is provided (FIG. 2) extending from leading edge 34 substantially parallel to the path of motion of thread catcher 29, and terminating in a cross bore 43. The terminal edge 44 of groove 42 forms a counterblade for a cutting knife 45 cooperating with thread catcher 29 and carried on a support 46 which is secured to the underside of base plate 1. The shape of thread catcher 29 is such that only the portion extending in the zone of terminal edge 44 of its side face opposing stitch hole 27 can come into contact with cutting knife 45.
Further secured to support 46 is a leaf spring 47 which extends laterally of cutting knife 45 in a vertical plane and has an angled portion 48 on its free end. With thread catcher 29 in the cutting or rest position (FIGS. 3A, 3B and 7), leaf spring 47, along with the inner longitudinal side 49 (FIG. 4) of catch shoulder 33, forms a thread clamp 50 for bobbin thread G.
FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of a thread clamp. In this design, a substantially horizontally extending leaf spring 51 is provided which, along with the underside of catch hook 38 and with thread catcher 29 in the cutting or rest position, forms the thread clamp 52 for bobbin thread G.
To the lower end of shaft 28 of thread catcher 29, a crank 53 (FIGS. 3A and 3B) is secured having its free end hinged to a connecting bar 54. On the other end of connecting bar 54 a double lever 55 is provided whose one end is hinged by a pin 56 to a forked head 57, while its other end is hinged by a pin 58 to a forked head 59. Forked head 57 is connected to a connecting rod 60 of an electromagnet 62 which is secured through a support 61 to bed plate 1. Between support 61 and a set ring 63, a compression spring 64 is provided on connecting rod 60. Forked head 59 is connected to a connecting rod 65 of an electromagnet 67 which also is secured by means of a support 66 to base plate 1. Between support 66 and set ring 68, a compression spring 69 is provided on connecting rod 65.
Of the second embodiment of a thread catcher 70 shown in FIG. 9, only a portion of arm 71 is shown. On the free end of arm 71, a separating finger 72 is formed terminating in a point 73. Beneath separating finger 72, a catch shoulder 74 is provided extending in a vertical plane and having a front edge 75. On the outer longitudinal side of catch shoulder 74, a groove 76 is provided terminating in a cross bore 77. The terminal end 78 of groove 76 forms a counterblade for a cutting knife 79 cooperating with thread catcher 70.
Arm 71 is formed with a step-like retaining shoulder 80 which extends in a horizontal plane. One edge 81 of shoulder 80 extends substantially perpendicularly to arm 71 and has a length identical with that of edge 36 in the first embodiment, i.e. of thread catcher 29. The position of edge 81 relative to leading edge 75 of catch shoulder 74 also corresponds to the position of edge 36 relative to leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33. Edge 81 extending substantially transversely to arm 71 is followed by an obliquely extending edge 82 which in turn is followed by an edge 83 extending substantially parallel to arm 71. Edge 83 terminates directly at the inner longitudinal side 84 of catch shoulder 74. The spacing between edge 81 and the inner longitudinal side 84 of catch shoulder 74 is understood to be the amount A' which is the height of retaining shoulder 80.
A leaf spring 85 extending substantially horizontally is provided in spaced relationship with a cutting knife 79. With thread catcher 70 in the cutting or rest position, spring 85 along with the underside of retaining shoulder 80, forms a thread clamp 86 for bobbin thread G. The free end of leaf spring 85 is spaced from the inner longitudinal side 84 of catch shoulder 74 by a distance which exceeds the maximum possible thickness of the needle thread.
The thread cutting device operates as follows:
At the end of a sewing operation, the sewing machine is stopped, by means of a positioning motor known per se, with the needle 6 in the lowermost position. This is followed by half a revolution of arm shaft 5, to pull needle 6 out of the workpiece.
After the point of needle 6 comes into a position about 10 mm above needle plate 24, the circuits of both electromagnets 62 and 67 are simultaneously closed. Electromagnets 62, 67 are thereby energized and move thread catcher 29, through double lever 55, connecting bar 54, and crank 53, from its cutting or or rest position shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B into its catching position shown in FIG. 4.
During this pivotal motion of thread catcher 29, the sewing threads come about into positions shown in FIG. 2. Bobbin thread G extends from outlet 21 at a very flat angle to cutout 25 and therefrom upwardly to stitch hole 27. At this time, the needle thread still forms a needle thread loop N embracing bobbin case 20 and having a leg NV leading to the thread supply and a leg NN leading to the work. Since the loop leg NV leading to the thread supply extends through cutout 26 which reaches close up to the underside of needle plate 24, this loop portion extends relative to needle plate 24 at a much steeper angle than bobbin thread G. Consequently, within the two cutouts 25,26, bobbin thread G and loop leg NV leading to the thread supply become vertically spaced.
During the pivotal motion of thread catcher 29 into its catching position, point 32 of separating finger 31 moves beyond bobbin thread G and, below loop leg NV leading to the thread supply, into the enlarged needle thread loop N. Thread catcher 29 remains in its catching position until needle thread loop N is passed around bobbin case 20 and pulled up to thread catcher 29 by take-up lever 8. This causes needle thread loop N to be engaged by retaining shoulder 35. As soon as needle thread loop N is pulled tight on retaining shoulder 35, electromagnet 62 is de-energized, so that double lever 55 is pivoted by compression spring 64 about pin 58. As a result, thread catcher 29 is pivoted through connecting bar 54 and crank 53 from its catching position into its position shown in FIG. 5. This means that thread catcher 29 moves in the same direction in which take-up lever 8 pulls needle thread loop N farther out of the zone below needle plate 24. In this way, the pivotal motion of thread catcher 29 does not encounter any resistance. Since needle thread loop N might have loosened during the pivotal motion, take-up lever 8 pulls the loop tight once more in the position shown in FIG. 5, about retaining shoulder 35, to get the legs NV and NM of the loop always into a fixed controlled initial position for the following cutting operation. Simultaneously, thread tightener 9 opens, so that take-up lever 8 is able to pull the needle thread from the supply during its next upward motion.
Immediately after de-energizing electromagnet 62, the circuit of electromagnet 67 is also interrupted, whereupon double lever 55 is pivoted by compression spring 69 about pin 56 which now is the axis of rotation. Thereby, immediately upon reaching its position shown in FIG. 5, thread catcher 29 is further pivoted in the direction of cutting knife 45, during which motion leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33 engages bobbin thread G and pulls it along on this way. At the same time, needle thread loop N slides along edge 36 of leading shoulder 35 and drops from this shoulder 35 into slot 39 about at the instant at which leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33 engages needle thread loop N. Consequently, during its further pivotal motion too, thread catcher 29 is capable of penetrating against no appreciable resistance into the needle thread loop N becoming free, and of deflecting it in the direction of cutting knife 45.
Toward the end of the pivotal motion of thread catcher 29, the portion of bobbin thread G extending from leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33 to outlet 21 is introduced into thread clamp 50, i.e. clamped between inner longitudinal side 49 of catch shoulder 33 and leaf spring 47. Simultaneously, the portion extending from leading edge 34 to the work, of bobbin thread G, and loop leg NN, engage groove 42, while needle thread loop N gets pulled tight at the bottom 40 of slot 39. Since the loop portion running from leading edge 34 to bottom 40 extends transversely to the clamping surfaces of thread clamp 50, there is no risk of clamping this portion inadvertently.
At the end of the pivotal motion of thread catcher 29, upon take-up lever 8 has reached its upper dead center position, the portions engaged in groove 42 of the needle and bobbin threads are cut by cutting knife 45 at the terminal edge 44.
Since the height A of retaining shoulder 35 substantially corresponds to the distance between the needle thread catch position and the cutting position of catch shoulder 33, retaining shoulder 35 temporarily retains a thread portion of such length which subsequently is needed during the motion of thread catcher 29 toward cutting knife 45 for pulling or deflecting needle thread loop N in the sideward direction. Thus, since no needle thread is pulled off the thread supply by thread catcher 29 during the entire pivotal motion thereof, no particular force is need at any instant for effecting this motion.
During the start of the subsequent sewing operation, thread catcher 29 remains in its cutting or rest position shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 7, so that the bobbin thread portion leading to the thread supply remains clamped until, in the course of the first stitch formation of the sewing operation, this portion is pulled out from thread clamp 50.
Referring now to FIG. 8, with the thread clamp 52 formed by catch hook 38 and leaf spring 51, the leg portion NV of needle thread loop N running from leading edge 34 of catch shoulder 33 to slot bottom 40 and extending below thread catcher 29, is pulled past the free end of leaf spring 51 and thus pulled through thread clamp 52, as thread catcher 29 is moved into its cutting position. Still prior to reaching the cutting position, the needle thread leaves the zone of leaf spring 51, so that at the instant of cutting, the needle thread extends outside thread clamp. The portion running from the thread supply to leading edge 34 of the bobbin thread G, on the contrary, is safely introduced into thread clamp 52 and firmly retained therein also after the cutting operation.
With the thread catcher 70 shown in FIG. 9, the operation is similar to that with thread catcher 29. In the catch position of thread catcher 70, retaining shoulder 80 engages needle thread loop N which is passed around bobbin case 20, and retains it until loop N is engaged by leading edge 75 of catch shoulder 74. Then, needle thread loop N slides along oblique edge 82. The angle between edge 82 and catch shoulder 74 is chosen to the effect of always releasing only a needle thread length which at the same time is laterally pulled off or deflected by the pivotal motion of thread catcher 70.
Toward the end of the pivotal motion of thread catcher 70, needle thread loop N drops entirely from retaining shoulder 80, whereupon loop leg NV running from the thread supply to leading edge 75 snugly applies against inner longitudinal side 84 of catch shoulder 74. The retaining shoulder 80 terminates in a plane of the inner longitudinal side 85 of the catch shoulder 74. Then, the portion extending from leading edge 75 to the thread supply of bobbin thread G is introduced into thread clamp 86, i.e. clamped between the underside of retaining shoulder 80 and leaf spring 85. Since the free end of leaf spring 85 is spaced from inner longitudinal side 84 of catch shoulder 74 by a distance which exceeds the maximum possible thickness of the needle thread, no risk is run of inadvertently clamping at the same time the portion of needle thread loop N applying against the inner longitudinal side 84. At the end of the pivotal motion of thread catcher 70, the portions engaged in groove 76 of the needle and bobbin threads are cut by cutting knife 79 at terminal edge 78.
In the same way as with thread catcher 29, thread catcher 70 remains in its cutting or rest position during the start of the subsequent sewing operation, so that the portion extending from the thread supply of bobbin thread G remains clamped until during the formation of the first stitch of the following sewing operation, this portion is pulled out fo thread clamp 86 by the needle thread loop.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. | A thread cutting device for a lockstitch sewing machine having a rotary hook rotating in a horizontal plane, comprises a thread catcher which is pivotable in a horizontal plane and designed with a catch shoulder for needle and bobbin threads. The catcher cooperates with a stationary cutting tool as well as with a leaf spring which serves as a clamp for the end portion of the bobbin thread. The thread catcher is designed with a retaining shoulder by which the needle thread loop, upon being passed around the bobbin case, is caught and then released before being cut. The temporarily retained thread length substantially corresponds to the thread length which is pulled out sidewards while the thread catcher moves into its cutting position. Since no needle thread is thereby pulled off the thread supply by the thread catcher, only a minimum force is needed for moving the catcher. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a lens system, and more particularly to a miniaturized four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system applicable to electronic products.
[0003] Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Nowadays digital imaging technology is constantly innovating and changing, in particular, digital carriers, such as, digital camera and mobile phone and so on, have become smaller in size, so CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor is also required to be more compact. In addition to be used in the field of photography, in recent years, infrared focusing lens has also be used in infrared receiving and sensing field of the game machine, and in order to make the scope of game machine induction user more broader, wide-angle lens group has become the mainstream for receiving infrared wavelength at present.
[0005] The applicant has also put forward a number of lens groups related to infrared wavelength reception, such as the single focus wide-angle lens modules disclosed in TW Appl. Nos. 098100552, 098125378 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,031,413, 8,369,031, however, at present, the game machine is based on a more three-dimensional, real and immediate 3D game, the current or the applicant's previous lens groups are all 2D plane games, which cannot meet the 3D game focusing on the deep induction efficacy.
[0006] Special infrared receiving and induction lens groups for game machines are made of plastic for the pursuit of low cost, however, poor material transparency is one of the key factors that affect the depth detection accuracy of the game machine, and plastic lenses are easy to overheat or too cold in ambient temperature, so that the focal length of the lens group will be changed and cannot focus accurately. Therefore, the current infrared receiving and induction lens groups cannot meet the 3D game depth precise induction requirement.
[0007] The present invention mitigates and/or obviates the aforementioned disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention is aimed at providing a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system which has a wide field of view, high resolution, short length and less distortion.
[0009] Therefore, a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the present invention comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element with a positive refractive power, having an object-side surface being convex near an optical axis and an image-side surface being concave near the optical axis, at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the first lens element being aspheric; a stop; a second lens element with a refractive power, having an object-side surface being convex near the optical axis and an image-side surface being concave near the optical axis, at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the second lens element being aspheric; a third lens element with a positive refractive power having an object-side surface being concave near the optical axis and an image-side surface being convex near the optical axis, at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the third lens element being aspheric; and a fourth lens element with a negative refractive power having an object-side surface being concave near the optical axis and an image-side surface being concave near the optical axis, at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the fourth lens element being aspheric and provided with at least one inflection point.
[0010] A focal length of the first lens element is f1, a focal length of the second lens element and the third lens element combined is f23, and they satisfy the relation: 0.05<f1/f23<1.8.
[0011] When the above relation is satisfied, a wide field of view can be obtained and the resolution can be improved evidently.
[0012] Preferably, the focal length of the first lens element is f1, a focal length of the second lens element is f2, and they satisfy the relation: −0.15<f1/f2<0.25, so that the refractive power of the first lens element and the second lens element are more suitable, it will be favorable to obtain a wide field of view and avoid the excessive increase of aberration of the system.
[0013] Preferably, the focal length of the second lens element is f2, a focal length of the third lens element is f3, and they satisfy the relation: −14<f2/f3<46, so that the refractive power of the second lens element and the third lens element are more balanced, it will be favorable to correct the aberration of the system and reduce the sensitivity of the system.
[0014] Preferably, the focal length of the third lens element is f3, a focal length of the fourth lens element is f4, and they satisfy the relation: −16<f3/f4<−1.0, so that the refractive power of the system can be balanced effectively, it will be favorable to reduce the sensitivity of the system, improving the yield of production.
[0015] Preferably, the focal length of the first lens element is f1, the focal length of the third lens element is f3, and they satisfy the relation: 0.05<f1/f3<1.8, so that the positive refractive power of the first lens element can be distributed effectively, so as to reduce the sensitivity of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0016] Preferably, the focal length of the second lens element is f2, the focal length of the fourth lens element is f4, and they satisfy the relation: −65<f2/f4<20, so that the positive refractive power of the system is more suitable, it will be favorable to correct the aberration of the system and improve the image quality.
[0017] Preferably, a focal length of the first lens element and the second lens element combined is f12, the focal length of the third lens element is f3, and they satisfy the relation: 0.05<f12/f3<1.8.
[0018] Preferably, the focal length of the first lens element and the second lens element combined is f12, a focal length of the third lens element and the fourth lens element combined is f34, and they satisfy the relation: −1.0<f12/f34<−0.2, which is favorable to obtain a wide field of view and effectively correct image distortion.
[0019] Preferably, the focal length of the first lens element is f1, a focal length of the second lens element, the third lens element and the fourth lens element combined is f234, and they satisfy the relation: −1.0<f1/f234<−0.2, which is favorable to obtain a wide field of view and effectively correct image distortion.
[0020] Preferably, the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a maximum view angle FOV, and it satisfies the relation: 50<FOV<80, so that the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system will have an appropiately large field of view.
[0021] Preferably, a central thickness of the second lens element along the optical axis is CT2, a distance along the optical axis between the second lens element and the third lens element is T23, and they satisfy the relation: 0.4<CT2/T23<1.0, so that the thickness of the second lens element and the distance between the lens elements are more suitable, which can effectively reduce the total length of the lens system.
[0022] Preferably, the distance along the optical axis between the second lens element and the third lens element is T23, a central thickness of the third lens element along the optical axis is CT3, and they satisfy the relation: 0.2<T23/CT3<1.3, so that the height of the off-axis incident light passing through the second and third lens elements is relatively large, and the third lens element has sufficient capacity to correct the field curve, distortion and coma aberration of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, which is favorable to correct the image quality.
[0023] Preferably, the central thickness of the third lens element along the optical axis is CT3, a distance along the optical axis between the third lens element and the fourth lens element is T34, and they satisfy the relation: 0.5<CT3/T34<3.3, so that the thickness of the third lens element and the distance between the lens elements are more suitable, which can effectively reduce the total length of the lens system.
[0024] Preferably, an Abbe number of the first lens element is V1, an Abbe number of the second lens element is V2, and they satisfy the relation: 30<V1−V2<42, which can reduce the chromatic aberration of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system effectively.
[0025] The present invention will be presented in further details from the following descriptions with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] FIG. 1A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 1B shows the longitudinal spherical aberration curve, the astigmatic field curve and the distortion curve of the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 2A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 2B shows the longitudinal spherical aberration curve, the astigmatic field curve and the distortion curve of the second embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 3A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 3B shows the longitudinal spherical aberration curve, the astigmatic field curve and the distortion curve of the third embodiment of the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 4A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 4B shows the longitudinal spherical aberration curve, the astigmatic field curve and the distortion curve of the fourth embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 5A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and
[0035] FIG. 5B shows the longitudinal spherical aberration curve, the astigmatic field curve and the distortion curve of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0036] Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B , FIG. 1A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B shows, in order from left to right, the longitudinal spherical aberration curves, the astigmatic field curves, and the distortion curve of the first embodiment of the present invention. A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a stop 100 and a lens group. The lens group comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element 110 , a second lens element 120 , a third lens element 130 , a fourth lens element 140 , an IR cut filter 170 , and an image plane 180 , wherein the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a total of four lens elements with refractive power. The stop 100 is disposed between an image-side surface 112 of the first lens element 110 and an image-side surface 122 of the second lens element 120 .
[0037] The first lens element 110 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 111 being convex near an optical axis 190 and the image-side surface 112 being concave near the optical axis 190 , the object-side surface 111 and the image-side surface 112 are aspheric, and the first lens element 110 is made of plastic material.
[0038] The second lens element 120 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 121 being convex near the optical axis 190 and the image-side surface 122 being concave near the optical axis 190 , the object-side surface 121 and the image-side surface 122 are aspheric, and the second lens element 120 is made of plastic material.
[0039] The third lens element 130 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 131 being concave near the optical axis 190 and an image-side surface 132 being convex near the optical axis 190 , the object-side surface 131 and the image-side surface 132 are aspheric, and the third lens element 130 is made of plastic material.
[0040] The fourth lens element 140 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 141 being concave near the optical axis 190 and an image-side surface 142 being concave near the optical axis 190 , the object-side surface 141 and the image-side surface 142 are aspheric, and the fourth lens element 140 is made of plastic material, and at least one of the object-side surface 141 and the image-side surface 142 is provided with at least one inflection point.
[0041] The IR cut filter 170 made of glass is located between the fourth lens element 140 and the image plane 180 and has no influence on the focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0042] The equation for the aspheric surface profiles of the respective lens elements of the first embodiment is expressed as follows:
[0000]
z
=
ch
2
1
+
[
1
-
(
k
+
1
)
c
2
h
2
]
0.5
+
Ah
4
+
Bh
6
+
Ch
8
+
Dh
10
+
Eh
12
+
Gh
14
+
…
[0043] wherein:
[0044] z represents the value of a reference position with respect to a vertex of the surface of a lens and a position with a height h along the optical axis 190 ;
[0045] c represents a paraxial curvature equal to 1/R (R: a paraxial radius of curvature);
[0046] h represents a vertical distance from the point on the curve of the aspheric surface to the optical axis 190 ;
[0047] k represents the conic constant;
[0048] A, B, C, D, E, G, . . . : represent the high-order aspheric coefficients.
[0049] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, a focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system is f, a f-number of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system is Fno, the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a maximum view angle (field of view) FOV, and they satisfy the relations: f=4.437 mm; Fno=2.4; and FOV=69 degrees.
[0050] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, a focal length of the first lens element 110 is f1, a focal length of the second lens element 120 and the third lens element 130 combined is f23, and they satisfy the relation: f1/f23=0.617.
[0051] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the first lens element 110 is f1, a focal length of the second lens element 120 is f2, and they satisfy the relation: f1/f2=0.147.
[0052] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the second lens element 120 is f2, a focal length of the third lens element 130 is f3, and they satisfy the relation: f2/f3=3.473.
[0053] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the third lens element 130 is f3, a focal length of the fourth lens element 140 is f4, and they satisfy the relation: f3/f4=−2.027.
[0054] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the first lens element 110 is f1, the focal length of the third lens element 130 is f3, and they satisfy the relation: f1/f3=0.510.
[0055] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the second lens element 120 is f2, the focal length of the fourth lens element 140 is f4, and they satisfy the relation: f2/f4=−7.039.
[0056] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, a focal length of the first lens element 110 and the second lens element 120 combined is f12, the focal length of the third lens element 130 is f3, and they satisfy the relation: f12/f3=0.448.
[0057] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the first lens element 110 and the second lens element 120 combined is f12, a focal length of the third lens element 130 and the fourth lens element 140 combined is f34, and they satisfy the relation: f12/f34=−0.449.
[0058] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the focal length of the first lens element is f1, a focal length of the second lens element 120 , the third lens element 130 and the fourth lens element 140 combined is f234, and they satisfy the relation: f1/f234=−0.320.
[0059] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, a central thickness of the second lens element 120 along the optical axis 190 is CT2, a distance along the optical axis 190 between the second lens element 120 and the third lens element 130 is T23, and they satisfy the relation: CT2/T23=0.817.
[0060] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the distance along the optical axis 190 between the second lens element 120 and the third lens element 130 is T23, a central thickness of the third lens element 130 along the optical axis 190 is CT3, and they satisfy the relation: T23/CT3=0.901.
[0061] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the central thickness of the third lens element 130 along the optical axis 190 is CT3, a distance along the optical axis 190 between the third lens element 130 and the fourth lens element 140 is T34, and they satisfy the relation: CT3/T34=0.718.
[0062] In the first embodiment of the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, an Abbe number of the first lens element 110 is V1, an Abbe number of the second lens element 120 is V2, and they satisfy the relation: V1-V2=32.03.
[0063] The detailed optical data of the first embodiment is shown in table 1, and the aspheric surface data is shown in table 2.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Embodiment 1
f(focal length) = 4.437 mm, Fno = 2.4, FOV = 69 deg.
Curvature
Focal
surface
Radius
Thickness
Material
Index
Abbe #
length
0
object
infinity
800.000
1
infinity
0.000
2
Lens 1
1.311
(ASP)
0.728
plastic
1.544
56.000
4.421
3
2.361
(ASP)
0.230
4
stop
infinity
0.020
5
Lens 2
3.989
(ASP)
0.351
plastic
1.636
23.970
30.131
6
4.911
(ASP)
0.429
7
Lens 3
−2.304
(ASP)
0.477
plastic
1.636
23.970
8.676
8
−1.737
(ASP)
0.663
9
Lens 4
−3.525
(ASP)
0.596
plastic
1.544
56.000
−4.281
10
6.977
(ASP)
0.895
11
IR-filter
infinity
0.210
glass
1.510
64.167
—
12
infinity
0.075
13
Image
infinity
0.000
plane
[0000]
TABLE 2
Aspheric Coefficients
surface
2
3
5
6
K:
1.5275E−01
−5.2423E+00
−3.6456E+01
1.4391E+00
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−1.0141E−02
5.5191E−02
−3.1672E−03
−1.5782E−02
C:
2.8477E−03
−2.1654E−02
−1.8133E−02
−1.0686E−01
D:
4.1395E−03
−1.0322E−02
−2.1030E−01
2.9937E−01
E:
−2.9832E−02
7.8199E−02
3.2802E−01
−5.0325E−01
F:
2.6228E−02
1.5643E−02
−3.6030E−02
4.3308E−01
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
surface
7
8
9
10
K:
−3.3566E+01
−8.0934E−01
−1.0649E+00
2.6389E+00
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−3.2793E−01
4.3562E−02
−9.1622E−02
−1.0074E−01
C:
5.4027E−01
−7.9936E−02
5.7737E−02
3.6252E−02
D:
−8.5200E−01
2.1179E−01
−1.0913E−02
−1.0129E−02
E:
8.0629E−01
−1.7691E−01
4.9966E−04
1.4882E−03
F:
−4.1792E−01
6.3594E−02
3.3172E−05
−8.5898E−05
G
−5.4280E−03
−9.9235E−03
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
[0064] The units of the radius of curvature, the thickness and the focal length in table 1 are expressed in mm, the surface numbers 0-13 represent the surfaces sequentially arranged from the object-side to the image-side along the optical axis. In table 2, k represents the conic coefficient of the equation of the aspheric surface profiles, and A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H . . . : represent the high-order aspheric coefficients. The tables presented below for each embodiment are the corresponding schematic parameter and aberration curves, and the definitions of the tables are the same as Table 1 and Table 2 of the first embodiment. Therefore, an explanation in this regard will not be provided again.
[0065] Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B , FIG. 2A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B shows, in order from left to right, the longitudinal spherical aberration curves, the astigmatic field curves, and the distortion curve of the second embodiment of the present invention. A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention comprises a stop 200 and a lens group. The lens group comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element 210 , a second lens element 220 , a third lens element 230 , a fourth lens element 240 , an IR cut filter 270 , and an image plane 280 , wherein the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a total of three lens elements with refractive power. The stop 200 is disposed between an image-side surface 212 of the first lens element 210 and an image-side surface 222 of the second lens element 220 .
[0066] The first lens element 210 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 211 being convex near an optical axis 290 and the image-side surface 212 being concave near the optical axis 290 , the object-side surface 211 and the image-side surface 212 are aspheric, and the first lens element 210 is made of plastic material.
[0067] The second lens element 220 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 221 being convex near the optical axis 290 and the image-side surface 222 being concave near the optical axis 290 , the object-side surface 221 and the image-side surface 222 are aspheric, and the second lens element 220 is made of plastic material.
[0068] The third lens element 230 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 231 being concave near the optical axis 290 and an image-side surface 232 being convex near the optical axis 290 , the object-side surface 231 and the image-side surface 232 are aspheric, and the third lens element 230 is made of plastic material.
[0069] The fourth lens element 240 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 241 being concave near the optical axis 290 and an image-side surface 242 being concave near the optical axis 290 , the object-side surface 241 and the image-side surface 242 are aspheric, and the fourth lens element 240 is made of plastic material, and at least one of the object-side surface 241 and the image-side surface 242 is provided with at least one inflection point.
[0070] The IR cut filter 270 made of glass is located between the fourth lens element 240 and the image plane 280 and has no influence on the focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0071] The detailed optical data of the second embodiment is shown in table 3, and the aspheric surface data is shown in table 4.
[0000]
TABLE 3
Embodiment 2
f(focal length) = 4.445 mm, Fno = 2.4, FOV = 68 deg.
Curvature
Focal
surface
Radius
Thickness
Material
Index
Abbe #
length
0
object
infinity
800.000
1
infinity
0.000
2
Lens 1
1.274
(ASP)
0.780
plastic
1.544
56.000
3.722
3
2.767
(ASP)
0.264
4
stop
infinity
0.092
5
Lens 2
29.428
(ASP)
0.329
plastic
1.636
23.970
81.482
6
70.818
(ASP)
0.451
7
Lens 3
−3.463
(ASP)
0.435
plastic
1.544
56.000
56.796
8
−3.246
(ASP)
0.662
9
Lens 4
−6.030
(ASP)
0.671
plastic
1.544
56.000
−4.048
10
3.525
(ASP)
0.529
11
IR-filter
infinity
0.210
glass
1.510
64.167
—
12
infinity
0.077
13
Image
infinity
0.000
plane
[0000]
TABLE 4
Aspheric Coefficients
surface
2
3
5
6
K:
3.6889E−01
−2.4207E+00
4.6622E+01
−5.0705E+01
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−6.2078E−03
8.5293E−02
−2.9603E−02
−5.0669E−02
C:
−6.7200E−02
−1.6764E−01
−1.6155E−01
−4.6051E−02
D:
1.1158E−01
8.0729E−01
6.1796E−01
2.0741E−01
E:
−1.0965E−01
−1.4196E+00
−8.6181E−01
−4.0841E−01
F:
3.4886E−02
1.2978E+00
6.6529E−01
4.3669E−01
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
surface
7
8
9
10
K:
−7.2612E+00
4.0417E+00
−3.6141E+01
−4.0876E+01
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−2.2125E−01
−7.8337E−02
−2.2157E−01
−9.8465E−02
C:
1.2355E−01
7.5000E−02
1.3687E−01
3.3099E−02
D:
−4.0046E−01
−3.4062E−02
−3.6937E−02
−7.3378E−03
E:
4.1312E−01
1.5471E−02
4.9224E−03
8.1625E−04
F:
−3.4437E−01
−2.8597E−03
−2.6314E−04
−3.2649E−05
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
[0072] In the second embodiment, the equation of the aspheric surface profiles of the aforementioned lens elements is the same as the equation of the first embodiment. Also, the definitions of these parameters shown in the following table are the same as those stated in the first embodiment with corresponding values for the second embodiment, so an explanation in this regard will not be provided again.
[0073] Moreover, these parameters can be calculated from Table 3 and Table 4 as the following values and satisfy the following conditions:
[0000]
Embodiment 2
f
4.445
f12/f3
0.063
Fno
2.4
f12/f34
−0.851
FOV
68
f1/f23
0.108
f1/f2
0.046
f1/f234
−0.814
f2/f3
1.435
CT2/T23
0.731
f3/f4
−14.031
T23/CT3
1.037
f1/f3
0.066
CT3/T34
0.656
f2/f4
−20.129
V1 − V2
32.030
[0074] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B , FIG. 3A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3B shows, in order from left to right, the longitudinal spherical aberration curves, the astigmatic field curves, and the distortion curve of the third embodiment of the present invention. A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention comprises a stop 300 and a lens group. The lens group comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element 310 , a second lens element 320 , a third lens element 330 , a fourth lens element 340 , an IR cut filter 370 , and an image plane 380 , wherein the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a total of four lens elements with refractive power. The stop 300 is disposed between an image-side surface 312 of the first lens element 310 and an image-side surface 322 of the second lens element 320 .
[0075] The first lens element 310 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 311 being convex near an optical axis 390 and the image-side surface 312 being concave near the optical axis 390 , the object-side surface 311 and the image-side surface 312 are aspheric, and the first lens element 310 is made of plastic material.
[0076] The second lens element 320 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 321 being convex near the optical axis 390 and the image-side surface 322 being concave near the optical axis 390 , the object-side surface 321 and the image-side surface 322 are aspheric, and the second lens element 320 is made of plastic material.
[0077] The third lens element 330 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 331 being concave near the optical axis 390 and an image-side surface 332 being convex near the optical axis 390 , the object-side surface 331 and the image-side surface 332 are aspheric, and the third lens element 330 is made of plastic material.
[0078] The fourth lens element 340 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 341 being concave near the optical axis 390 and an image-side surface 342 being concave near the optical axis 390 , the object-side surface 341 and the image-side surface 342 are aspheric, and the fourth lens element 340 is made of plastic material, and at least one of the object-side surface 341 and the image-side surface 342 is provided with at least one inflection point.
[0079] The IR cut filter 370 made of glass is located between the fourth lens element 340 and the image plane 380 and has no influence on the focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0080] The detailed optical data of the third embodiment is shown in table 5, and the aspheric surface data is shown in table 6.
[0000]
TABLE 5
Embodiment 3
f(focal length) = 4.491 mm, Fno = 2.4, FOV = 68 deg.
Curvature
Focal
surface
Radius
Thickness
Material
Index
Abbe #
length
0
object
infinity
800.000
1
infinity
0.000
2
Lens 1
1.372
(ASP)
0.843
plastic
1.544
56.000
4.361
3
2.606
(ASP)
0.162
4
stop
infinity
0.105
5
Lens 2
4.095
(ASP)
0.350
plastic
1.636
23.970
36.627
6
4.839
(ASP)
0.433
7
Lens 3
−2.660
(ASP)
0.389
plastic
1.636
23.970
9.612
8
−1.938
(ASP)
0.573
9
Lens 4
−4.383
(ASP)
0.663
plastic
1.636
23.970
−4.269
10
6.960
(ASP)
0.895
11
IR-filter
infinity
0.210
glass
1.510
64.167
—
12
infinity
0.075
13
Image
infinity
0.000
plane
[0000]
TABLE 6
Aspheric Coefficients
surface
2
3
5
6
K:
8.1160E−02
−7.4271E+00
−4.9678E+01
−1.1307E+01
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−8.6497E−03
3.9108E−02
−2.1013E−02
−3.6265E−02
C:
−6.0209E−03
−4.4722E−02
−4.1191E−02
−1.3270E−01
D:
9.8734E−03
4.5570E−03
−2.0905E−01
2.9832E−01
E:
−1.6709E−02
7.0047E−02
3.9413E−01
−4.8983E−01
F:
8.0128E−03
−4.7047E−02
−1.1814E−01
4.0681E−01
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
surface
7
8
9
10
K:
−5.4696E+01
−3.7927E−01
−5.3525E−02
−1.5617E+00
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−3.4334E−01
8.2219E−03
−1.1857E−01
−1.0495E−01
C:
5.2882E−01
4.8017E−03
7.7436E−02
3.8599E−02
D:
−8.7206E−01
6.0831E−02
−1.8065E−02
−1.0410E−02
E:
7.6893E−01
−3.9802E−02
1.7800E−03
1.4348E−03
F:
−3.9038E−01
4.7576E−03
−5.2416E−05
−7.4041E−05
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
[0081] In the third embodiment, the equation of the aspheric surface profiles of the aforementioned lens elements is the same as the equation of the first embodiment. Also, the definitions of these parameters shown in the following table are the same as those stated in the first embodiment with corresponding values for the third embodiment, so an explanation in this regard will not be provided again.
[0082] Moreover, these parameters can be calculated from Table 5 and Table 6 as the following values and satisfy the following conditions:
[0000]
Embodiment 3
f
4.491
f12/f3
0.407
Fno
2.4
f12/f34
−0.491
FOV
68
f1/f23
0.543
f1/f2
0.119
f1/f234
−0.388
f2/f3
3.811
CT2/T23
0.808
f3/f4
−2.251
T23/CT3
1.114
f1/f3
0.454
CT3/T34
0.679
f2/f4
−8.579
V1 − V2
32.030
[0083] Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B , FIG. 4A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B shows, in order from left to right, the longitudinal spherical aberration curves, the astigmatic field curves, and the distortion curve of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention comprises a stop 400 and a lens group. The lens group comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element 410 , a second lens element 420 , a third lens element 430 , a fourth lens element 440 , an IR cut filter 470 , and an image plane 480 , wherein the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a total of four lens elements with refractive power. The stop 400 is disposed between an image-side surface 412 of the first lens element 410 and an image-side surface 422 of the second lens element 420 .
[0084] The first lens element 410 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 411 being convex near an optical axis 490 and the image-side surface 412 being concave near the optical axis 490 , the object-side surface 411 and the image-side surface 412 are aspheric, and the first lens element 410 is made of plastic material.
[0085] The second lens element 420 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 421 being convex near the optical axis 490 and the image-side surface 422 being concave near the optical axis 490 , the object-side surface 421 and the image-side surface 422 are aspheric, and the second lens element 420 is made of plastic material.
[0086] The third lens element 430 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 431 being concave near the optical axis 490 and an image-side surface 432 being convex near the optical axis 490 , the object-side surface 431 and the image-side surface 432 are aspheric, and the third lens element 430 is made of plastic material.
[0087] The fourth lens element 440 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 441 being concave near the optical axis 490 and an image-side surface 442 being concave near the optical axis 490 , the object-side surface 441 and the image-side surface 442 are aspheric, and the fourth lens element 440 is made of plastic material, and at least one of the object-side surface 441 and the image-side surface 442 is provided with at least one inflection point.
[0088] The IR cut filter 470 made of glass is located between the fourth lens element 440 and the image plane 480 and has no influence on the focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0089] The detailed optical data of the fourth embodiment is shown in table 7, and the aspheric surface data is shown in table 8.
[0000]
TABLE 7
Embodiment 4
f(focal length) = 5.152 mm, Fno = 2.4, FOV = 60 deg.
Curvature
Focal
surface
Radius
Thickness
Material
Index
Abbe #
length
0
object
infinity
3500.000
1
infinity
0.000
2
Lens 1
1.629
(ASP)
0.940
plastic
1.544
56.000
4.621
3
3.798
(ASP)
0.212
4
stop
infinity
0.202
5
Lens 2
5.467
(ASP)
0.397
plastic
1.651
21.500
−58.294
6
4.624
(ASP)
0.739
7
Lens 3
−3.342
(ASP)
0.673
plastic
1.651
21.500
4.654
8
−1.682
(ASP)
0.423
9
Lens 4
−2.547
(ASP)
0.398
plastic
1.544
56.000
−3.298
10
6.097
(ASP)
1.040
11
IR-filter
infinity
0.300
glass
1.510
64.167
—
12
infinity
0.075
13
Image
infinity
0.000
plane
[0000]
TABLE 8
Aspheric coefficients
surface
2
3
5
6
K:
4.1677E−02
−1.1787E+01
−7.3391E+01
−1.3302E+01
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−4.4462E−03
1.7241E−02
−1.4376E−02
−2.7514E−02
C:
3.6939E−04
−1.2258E−02
−5.4798E−02
−1.2222E−02
D:
−2.7547E−04
1.4958E−03
9.8825E−03
1.3654E−02
E:
−7.0930E−04
6.4545E−03
3.6441E−02
−7.9882E−03
F:
4.0972E−04
−3.6931E−03
−2.1053E−02
1.4253E−02
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
surface
7
8
9
10
K:
−1.6471E+01
−8.3310E−01
−1.4832E+01
4.6380E+00
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−8.1916E−02
7.3770E−02
−1.7799E−02
−5.0973E−02
C:
2.2476E−03
−3.3017E−02
5.7906E−03
8.7924E−03
D:
−1.9998E−02
1.1462E−02
3.9734E−04
−1.7400E−03
E:
9.3137E−03
−1.9769E−03
−3.2079E−04
1.7056E−04
F:
−8.9328E−03
4.5253E−06
3.1683E−05
−7.3552E−06
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
[0090] In the fourth embodiment, the equation of the aspheric surface profiles of the aforementioned lens elements is the same as the equation of the first embodiment. Also, the definitions of these parameters shown in the following table are the same as those stated in the first embodiment with corresponding values for the fourth embodiment, so an explanation in this regard will not be provided again.
[0091] Moreover, these parameters can be calculated from Table 7 and Table 8 as the following values and satisfy the following conditions:
[0000]
Embodiment 4
f
5.152
f12/f3
1.016
Fno
2.4
f12/f34
−0.376
FOV
60
f1/f23
0.911
f1/f2
−0.079
f1/f234
−0.449
f2/f3
−12.527
CT2/T23
0.537
f3/f4
−1.411
T23/CT3
1.099
f1/f3
0.993
CT3/T34
1.591
f2/f4
17.678
V1 − V2
34.500
[0092] Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B , FIG. 5A shows a four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B shows, in order from left to right, the longitudinal spherical aberration curves, the astigmatic field curves, and the distortion curve of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention comprises a stop 500 and a lens group. The lens group comprises, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens element 510 , a second lens element 520 , a third lens element 530 , a fourth lens element 540 , an IR cut filter 570 , and an image plane 580 , wherein the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system has a total of four lens elements with refractive power. The stop 500 is disposed between an image-side surface 512 of the first lens element 510 and an image-side surface 522 of the second lens element 520 .
[0093] The first lens element 510 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 511 being convex near an optical axis 590 and the image-side surface 512 being concave near the optical axis 590 , the object-side surface 511 and the image-side surface 512 are aspheric, and the first lens element 510 is made of plastic material.
[0094] The second lens element 520 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 521 being convex near the optical axis 590 and the image-side surface 522 being concave near the optical axis 590 , the object-side surface 521 and the image-side surface 522 are aspheric, and the second lens element 520 is made of plastic material.
[0095] The third lens element 530 with a positive refractive power has an object-side surface 531 being concave near the optical axis 590 and an image-side surface 532 being convex near the optical axis 590 , the object-side surface 531 and the image-side surface 532 are aspheric, and the third lens element 530 is made of plastic material.
[0096] The fourth lens element 540 with a negative refractive power has an object-side surface 541 being concave near the optical axis 590 and an image-side surface 542 being concave near the optical axis 590 , the object-side surface 541 and the image-side surface 542 are aspheric, and the fourth lens element 540 is made of plastic material, and at least one of the object-side surface 541 and the image-side surface 542 is provided with at least one inflection point.
[0097] The IR cut filter 570 made of glass is located between the fourth lens element 540 and the image plane 580 and has no influence on the focal length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0098] The detailed optical data of the fifth embodiment is shown in table 9, and the aspheric surface data is shown in table 10.
[0000]
TABLE 9
Embodiment 5
f(focal length) = 4.403 mm, Fno = 2.4, FOV = 70 deg.
Curvature
Focal
surface
Radius
Thickness
Material
Index
Abbe #
length
0
object
infinity
3500.000
1
infinity
0.000
2
Lens 1
1.595
(ASP)
0.890
plastic
1.544
56.000
4.819
3
3.355
(ASP)
0.121
4
stop
infinity
0.156
5
Lens 2
5.024
(ASP)
0.365
plastic
1.651
21.500
128.762
6
5.206
(ASP)
0.470
7
Lens 3
−9.806
(ASP)
1.467
plastic
1.636
23.970
2.904
8
−1.600
(ASP)
0.468
9
Lens 4
−1.667
(ASP)
0.445
plastic
1.651
21.500
−2.036
10
6.097
(ASP)
0.544
11
IR-filter
infinity
0.300
glass
1.510
64.167
—
12
infinity
0.075
13
Image
infinity
0.000
plane
[0000]
TABLE 10
Aspheric coefficients
surface
2
3
5
6
K:
3.4283E−02
−8.7586E+00
−5.8159E+01
−1.9890E+01
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
1.1032E−04
1.8469E−02
−2.5303E−02
−2.9337E−02
C:
4.7704E−03
−1.0791E−02
−6.3546E−02
−1.7596E−02
D:
−2.9726E−03
−8.6025E−03
−1.8315E−02
3.4571E−03
E:
2.9195E−03
2.3480E−02
6.5390E−02
6.2710E−03
F:
2.6712E−05
−2.2376E−02
−4.2075E−02
1.1995E−02
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
surface
7
8
9
10
K:
−3.6186E+01
−9.1698E−01
−5.5972E+00
3.7657E+00
A:
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
B:
−3.8366E−02
6.8827E−02
−1.5878E−02
−3.9438E−02
C:
5.1598E−03
−2.4100E−02
8.6910E−03
9.4188E−03
D:
−1.2022E−02
1.0584E−02
−2.6359E−04
−1.9771E−03
E:
−4.0816E−04
−2.0709E−03
−2.0253E−04
2.2033E−04
F:
1.9043E−03
9.4568E−05
1.7584E−05
−1.0637E−05
G
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
H
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
0.0000E+00
[0099] In the fifth embodiment, the equation of the aspheric surface profiles of the aforementioned lens elements is the same as the equation of the first embodiment. Also, the definitions of these parameters shown in the following table are the same as those stated in the first embodiment with corresponding values for the fifth embodiment, so an explanation in this regard will not be provided again.
[0100] Moreover, these parameters can be calculated from Table 9 and Table 10 as the following values and satisfy the following conditions:
[0000]
Embodiment 5
f
4.403
f12/f3
1.573
Fno
2.4
f12/f34
−0.392
FOV
70
f1/f23
1.631
f1/f2
0.037
f1/f234
−0.354
f2/f3
44.343
CT2/T23
0.777
f3/f4
−1.426
T23/CT3
0.320
f1/f3
1.660
CT3/T34
3.134
f2/f4
−63.243
V1 − V2
34.500
[0101] In the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, the lens elements can be made of plastic or glass. If the lens elements are made of plastic, the cost will be effectively reduced. If the lens elements are made of glass, there is more freedom in distributing the refractive power of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system. Plastic lens elements can have aspheric surfaces, which allow more design parameter freedom (than spherical surfaces), so as to reduce the aberration and the number of the lens elements, as well as the total track length of the four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system.
[0102] In the present four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system, if the object-side or the image-side surface of the lens elements with refractive power is convex and the location of the convex surface is not defined, the object-side or the image-side surface of the lens elements near the optical axis is convex. If the object-side or the image-side surface of the lens elements is concave and the location of the concave surface is not defined, the object-side or the image-side surface of the lens elements near the optical axis is concave.
[0103] The four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system of the present invention can be used in focusing optical systems and can obtain better image quality. The four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system of the present invention can also be used in electronic imaging systems, such as, 3D image capturing, digital camera, mobile device, digital flat panel or vehicle camera.
[0104] While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. | A four-piece infrared single wavelength lens system includes, in order from the object side to the image side: a first lens element with a positive refractive power, a stop, a second lens element with a refractive power, a third lens element with a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens element with a negative refractive power. The focal length of the first lens element is f1, the focal length of the second lens element and the third lens element combined is f23, and they satisfy the relation: 0.05<f1/f23<1.8. When the above relation is satisfied, a wide field of view can be obtained and the resolution can be improved evidently. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/564,776, filed Apr. 23, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is directed to pressure vessels, and more particularly to a hybrid pressure vessel formed of an inner liner and outer composite layer with a protective jacket disposed thereon.
2. Background of the Related Art
Pressure vessels come in all sizes and shapes, and are made from a variety of materials. The need for light weight pressure vessels has existed and still exists as there have been many attempts to make light weight pressure vessels that are able to store fluids under high pressures for long periods of time, maintain structural integrity, sustain repeated pressurization and depressurization, be substantially impermeable and corrosive free and easy to manufacture, among other things.
Increased use of alternative fuels to fuel vehicles, such as compressed natural gas and hydrogen, and the requirement for ever greater fuel range, has created a need for lightweight, safe tanks with even greater capacity and strength. Increasing the capacity and strength of a pressure vessel can be achieved by increasing the amount or thickness of materials used for structural support. However, this can result in a significant increase in the size and/or weight of the vessel, which, among other things, typically increases the cost of the tank due to increased material costs and the costs associated with transporting the heavier vessels.
Clearly, there is a need in the art for a lightweight pressure vessel that is impermeable, corrosive free and can handle the increasing capacity and pressure demands. Furthermore, there is a need for a method of forming this pressure vessel so it can be sold at a competitive price.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is directed to a unique pressure vessel, which satisfies the aforementioned needs in the art, among other things. In accordance with the subject invention, the thickness of the liner and outer layer are minimized to reduce the cost associated with vessel production without compromising the vessel strength or making the vessel unsuitable for its intended use, particularly with respect to any applicable regulatory standards, such as those promulgated by the Department of Transportation. Thus, the liner and outer layer of the present invention are advantageously optimized by, among other things, a planning process that includes balancing material and production cost versus vessel integrity.
In particular, the present invention provides a pressure vessel with protective jacket that includes a vessel formed by an inner tank defining an upper end portion and a lower end portion, and an outer reinforcing layer disposed on the inner tank. The outer reinforcing layer is fabricated of a thermoplastic material, preferably polypropylene, commingled with glass fibers. A protective jacket configured and dimensioned to engage the vessel is disposed thereon. The protective jacket includes an upper support rim, a lower support rim and a plurality of longitudinal ribs connecting the upper support rim and lower support rim, and a handle protruding from the upper support rim. The protective jacket may be separable into at least two sections.
Preferably, the inner tank is formed of a material having a higher modulus of elasticity and a lower elastic strain limit than the material used to form the outer reinforcing layer.
Preferably, the lower support rim includes a bottom portion disposed over the lower end portion of the vessel, which preferably further includes an inner shoulder. The protruding handle can include a support structure for forming a non-permanent engagement with the bottom portion of the lower support rim.
The present invention is also directed to a method of manufacturing a pressure vessel with protective jacket comprising the steps of securing a first endcap and a second endcap to an inner liner to form a tank, heating glass filaments, commingling the filaments with a thermoplastic material, winding the thermoplastic material and commingled filaments onto the tank while heating to form a vessel, and attaching a protective jacket to the vessel, where the protective jacket includes an upper support rim, a lower support rim and a plurality of longitudinal ribs connecting the upper support rim and lower support rim, and a handle protruding from the upper support rim.
These and other aspects of the pressure vessel of the subject invention will become more readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
So that those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will more readily understand how to make and use the pressure vessel with protective jacket of the present invention, embodiments thereof will be described in detail hereinbelow with reference to the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pressure vessel with protective jacket constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the subject invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial cross section view of the pressure vessel with protective jacket shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is another partial cross-section view of the pressure vessel with protective jacket shown in FIG. 1 , illustrating the separable sections of the jacket;
FIG. 4 is a top view of the pressure vessel with protective jacket shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-section view taken of more than one pressure vessel with protective jackets shown in FIG. 1 stacked together;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary process for forming a pressure vessel with protective jacket in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a front view of a tank constructed in accordance with the present invention prior to the outer layer being disposed thereon; and
FIG. 8 is a front view of the tank shown in FIG. 7 after the outer layer has been applied thereon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar aspects and/or features of the subject invention there is illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 a pressure vessel 10 configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the subject invention and designated generally by reference numeral 10 . A pressure vessel constructed in accordance with the present invention is suitable applications including, but not limited to, storing propane, refrigerant gas, and liquids or gases at low or high pressure.
Pressure vessel 10 includes a generally cylindrical inner liner 12 , first and second dome-shaped, semi-hemispherical endcaps 14 and 16 , respectively. Endcaps 14 and 16 may be of any size or shape, such as frustro-conical or flattened, and may be identical or different. First and second endcaps 14 and 16 are secured to first and second end rims 18 and 20 of inner liner 12 , respectively, which may be accomplished by any conventional welding techniques known in the art, such as laser welding. Liner 12 and first and second endcaps 14 and 16 cooperate to define defining a vessel storage cavity 22 .
In this embodiment, first endcap 14 includes a central aperture 24 defined therein for receiving a valve boss 26 , which is secured to aperture 24 by any conventional welding techniques known in the art. Valve boss 26 is configured to receive a valve fitting assembly 28 therein, and together permits the ingress or egress of fluids to cavity 22 .
Preferably, liner 12 , first and second endcaps 14 and 16 , and valve boss 26 (collectively referred to herein after as the “tank”) are constructed of an inert, impermeable and non-corrosive material having a high modulus of elasticity, generally 10 million psi or greater, and a low elastic strain generally ranging from about 0.05% to about 1%. The tank and valve assembly 28 are preferably made of steel, but may also be fabricated of metals such as, but not limited to, aluminum, steel, nickel, titanium, platinum, or any other material which would provide suitable structural support in accordance with the present invention.
A reinforcing layer 30 fabricated of one or more layers of a material having a higher elastic strain limit than that of the material used for the tank is disposed over the tank. Layer 30 can consist of a composite that includes a skeleton that imparts desireable mechanical properties to the composite, such as a high tensile strength, and a matrix of material having high ductility that can bind the composite to render it stiff and rigid, among other things. Layer 30 reinforces and provides impact resistance to vessel 10 .
Preferably, the composite material in layer 30 consists of fibers or filaments which are commingled or impregnated with a thermoplastic resin. The impregnated filaments may consist of, but are not limited to, combinations of glass, metal, aramid, carbon, graphite, boron, synthetics, resins, epoxies, polyamides, polyoelfins, silicones, and polyurethanes, among other things. Preferably, the filaments are a composite of thermoplastic resin, such a vinyl epoxy or polypropylene, and glass fiber. The filaments can be formed from a commingled thermoplastic and glass fiber fabric sold as TWINTEX, commercially available from Saint-Gobain Vetrotex America Inc. The outer surface of layer 30 may include an additional layer of gel coating (not shown) or other finishing coatings. Preferably, the composite material used in layer 30 is a recyclable material.
An exemplary method of making vessel 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 6 . In this embodiment, glass filaments 32 are drawn from a supply 34 onto tension controlling rollers 36 and heated in oven 38 before being impregnated or commingled with a thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene, supplied by an extruder 39 . Filaments 32 are preferably heated to a temperature sufficient to melt the thermoplastic resin, which assists the impregnation process. The tank is supported on a mandrel 40 which preferably rotates the tank while the impregnated filaments are wrapped continuously thereon using a hot wind technique in which the internal layers are heated by heating element 42 . Preferably, heating element 42 heats the filaments to a temperature sufficient to melt the impregnated thermoplastic material, which becomes sticky and assists in adhering each layer applied onto the tank. Upon cooling, the thermoplastic impregnated filaments wrapped about the tank consolidate to form layer 30 . A gel coating may be applied to layer 30 . Valve fitting assembly 28 is secured to valve boss 26 to form vessel 10 .
In accordance with the present invention, the advantages of the materials selected for liner 12 , endcaps 14 and 16 and layer 30 are optimized in that the materials used to construct vessel 10 and amount or thickness thereof are advantageously selected based on achieving a desired structural integrity (e.g., capable of withstanding repeated pressurizations and depressurizations at pressures ranging from about 0 psi to about 10,000 psi without leaking fluid stored therein), while also minimizing the expense and weight of vessel 10 . FIG. 7 illustrates liner 12 , with endcaps 14 and 16 secured thereto without outer layer 30 disposed thereon and FIG. 8 illustrates vessel 10 after application of outer layer 30 in an exemplary configuration.
In the preferred embodiment, a protective jacket 44 having an upper support rim 46 disposed substantially about the periphery of an upper portion 48 of the tank and a lower support rim 50 disposed substantially about the periphery of a lower portion 52 of the tank to form vessel 10 . Upper and lower support rims 46 and 50 are preferably configured to fit onto the tank to restrict movement of the tank within the confines of protective jacket 44 . Protective jacket 44 is preferably constructed of a rigid, lightweight material, such as a hard plastic.
Upper support rim 46 is connected with lower support rim 50 by a plurality of longitudinal ribs 56 disposed substantially adjacent a middle portion 54 of vessel 10 . Preferably, and as shown in this embodiment, longitudinal ribs 56 are of thickness and spaced apart in a configuration to provide gaps 57 that permit visual inspection of reinforcement layer 30 .
Upper support rim 46 includes a handle 58 configured to permit access to valve fitting assembly 28 . Preferably, handle 58 is ergonomically designed to assist transport of vessel 10 . In the embodiment shown herein, handle 58 includes substantially symmetrical protruding support arms 60 a,b and 62 a,b . Support arms 60 a,b are connected at distal ends thereof by gripping bar 64 a , and support arms 62 a,b are connected at distal ends thereof by gripping bar 64 b , respectively.
Preferably, protective jacket 44 is configured to separate longitudinally into half sections 44 a and 44 b. Half sections 44 a and 44 b may be held together by any conventional engagement, such as snap-fitting portions, or other corresponding non-permanent connections, and disengaged accordingly.
Preferably, handle 58 is configured to form a non-permanent engagement with lower support rim 50 to facilitate transporting and stacking a plurality of vessels 10 . In this embodiment, gripping bars 64 a and 64 b are curved and configured to fit about the outer periphery of an inner shoulder 66 defined on lower support rim 50 to form an engagement.
Although the pressure vessel of the subject invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject invention as defined by the appended claims. | A pressure vessel with a protective jacket disposed thereon, wherein the vessel is formed of a metal liner surrounded by a layer of thermoplastic composite filament winding and a protective jacket disposed thereon that facilitates stacking and portability of the vessel, while also providing sufficiently sized openings for visual inspection of the composite layer integrity. | 5 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Recently, technologies have arisen that allow near field coupling (such as wireless power transfers (WPT) and near field communications (NFC)) between electronic devices in close proximity to each other and more particularly, thin portable electronic devices. Both near field coupling functions use radio frequency (RF) antennas in each of the devices to transmit and receive electromagnetic signals. Because of user desires (and/or for esthetic reasons) many of these portable devices are small, are becoming smaller as markets evolve, and have exaggerated aspect ratios when viewed from the side (i.e., they are “thin). As a result, many of these thin devices incorporate flat antennas which use coils of conductive material as their radiating (or radiation receiving) antennas for use in near field coupling functions.
[0002] However, the small form factor of many devices interferes with the ability of the coils to couple. For instance, objects within the devices and near the coils might divert the flux of the magnetic field away from the coils. Notably, metallic objects tend to divert magnetic flux around themselves and, thus, away from the coils. Moreover, it might be the case that users want to transfer power and/or communicate using the devices without generating a strong magnetic field. Instead, users might prefer to use the often-limited onboard power of these devices to affect other functions (for instance, placing phone calls, receiving phone calls, accessing data/internet over wireless wide area networks (WWAN), such as the 3G (3 rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), etc.).
[0003] In addition, users tend to prefer to hold certain devices and/or to set them down in certain orientations. For instance, some devices provide NFC functions by “bumping” the backs of two devices together. This back-to-back bumping is intended to place the coils in the two devices in close proximity to each other and in such a relative orientation that the coils couple relatively well. In some cases the location, shape, etc. of the two coils correspond to each other relatively closely during back-to-back bumps. Yet, for ergonomic reasons, users holding these devices might find it awkward to hold them in an orientation suitable for back-to-back bumping. In other instances, users might wish to affect WPT between the devices while using (or having available for use) one or both devices. Thus, to perform WPT from a laptop computer to a cellular telephone (for instance) users often do not wish to lay the cellular telephone on top of the keyboard of the laptop device (where the relative orientation and proximity of the coils facilitates their coupling). In many cases, users instead prefer to orient the devices involved in a side-by-side configuration. In other words, users often want to bump one side of one device to a side of another device in NFC scenarios and want to leave one device next to another in lengthier WPT scenarios which often require some time to occur.
[0004] Unfortunately, with many small form factor (and, more specifically, “thin”) devices, side-by-side device orientations limit the ability of the coils in the devices to couple. In such relative orientations, the coils might be rather distant from one another and/or one coil might sense only the fringing field generated at the edge of the other coil. Thus, placing such devices side-by-side might limit the rate at which WPT occurs because the portion of the field which the receiving coil happens to be in is so weak (or the relative orientation of the flux is such) as to limit the coupling of the receiving antenna with the magnetic field. In NFC scenarios, the operating volume (communication distance) and bit rate associated with the communication can be similarly limited by the weak coupling of the coils. Similar considerations also apply to the transmitting coil and its ability to propagate the field in the presence of tightly integrated objects within the transmitting device. Yet users desire WPT and NFC functionality in an increasing number (and variety) of thin devices and they desire those functions with side-by-side operability.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate perspective views of various devices in differing exemplary near field coupling arrangements.
[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of a partially disassembled device.
[0007] FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a pair of devices.
[0008] FIG. 3B is a schematic view of transmission and reception coils of a pair of devices.
[0009] FIG. 4 illustrates a flux pattern associated with a pair of transmitting and receiving coils.
[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates a flux pattern of another pair of transmitting and receiving coils.
[0011] The following Detailed Description is provided with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number usually identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] This document discloses one or more systems, apparatuses, methods, etc. for coupling antennas of devices and more particularly for coupling coil antennas of thin portable electronic devices for (among other uses) improving near field coupling capabilities of the devices. Near field coupling includes (by way of illustration and not limitation) wireless power transfer (WPT) and/or near field communications (NFC) capabilities of the devices.
[0013] FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate perspective views of various devices in differing near field coupling arrangements. More particularly, many users have a desire to operate near field coupling enabled portable electronic devices and/or other devices in certain ergonomically convenient manners. Examples of such device include (but are not limited to) phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, tablet computers, netbook computers, laptop computers, ultrabook computers, and various potentially wireless devices such as pointing devices (mice), keyboards, wireless disks, and the like.
[0014] For example, FIG. 1A shows a so-called “NFC bump” where two users 100 A and 100 B “bump” their NFC-enabled devices 102 A and 102 B together in an edge-to-edge or head-to-head manner to perform NFC-related information sharing functions. With conventional NFC-enabled devices, the near field coupling would be inefficient or ineffective because of reasons discussed in the Background section. In addition, FIG. 1B shows an often desired side-by-side arrangement of devices (such as laptop 102 C and smartphone 102 D) for NFC and/or WPT purposes. However, the mechanical integration of near field coupling components in conventional devices constrains the ability of users to effectively employ these desired arrangements. With reference to at least these constraints and/or others, exemplary implementations described herein free users to operate devices as they desire.
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of a partially disassembled device. The emerging technologies related to near field coupling enable many appealing experiences for users of portable electronic devices. Providers of these devices typically include flat coil antennas in their design so that (in part) the devices can possess the thin aspect ratios and small form factors often sought by users. Moreover, these flat coil antennas allow for mechanical integration into these thin devices with comparative ease (when considering mechanical factors in isolation from other considerations such as the ability of the coils of different devices to couple with one another). For instance, integrating a flat printed circuit board (PCB), which incorporates a coil antenna, into a thin device usually minimizes the increase in the thickness of the device 202 due to the antenna itself.
[0016] With continuing reference to FIG. 2 , the drawing illustrates a device 202 with its back cover 204 removed (and shown with its inside up). In the current embodiment, the device 202 happens to be a smart phone. However, the device 202 could be any of the variety of available portable electronic devices. With the back cover 204 removed, FIG. 2 illustrates an antenna of this particular device 202 mounted on, embedded in, or otherwise associated with the back cover 204 . In the current embodiment the antenna happens to include a flat coil 206 and a pair of contacts 208 which are in electrical communication with the coil 206 and which positioned to electrically communicate with a corresponding pair of contacts 210 on a chassis 212 of the device 202 (shown face down).
[0017] FIG. 2 also illustrates that within the chassis 212 of the device 202 , the device 202 includes a battery 214 , and other metallic components 216 (or components including metallic structures) such as a printed circuit board (PCB) 218 , a camera 220 , etc. As is disclosed further herein with reference to at least FIG. 3B , when the back cover 204 is placed on the chassis 212 , it places the coil 206 in electrical communication with other functional components of the device 202 . But it also places the coil 206 in close proximity to some or all of the metallic components 216 (such as the battery 214 ). Of course, other device 202 configurations are within the scope of the disclosure. For instance, the coil 206 could be on the chassis 212 instead of the back cover 204 . In many devices 202 the metallic components 216 deflect the flux of magnetic fields (that might otherwise couple with the coil 206 ) away from the coil 206 .
[0018] As a result, when users attempt to perform near field coupling (e.g., WPT and/or NFC) functions between conventional devices, the presence of the metallic components 216 and the relative orientation and distance between the coils 206 inhibits the ability of the coils 206 to couple with the coils of the other device. In turn, the inability of the coils 206 to couple efficiently in conventional scenarios limits the ability to perform near field coupling (e.g., WPT and/or NFC) functions with these devices 202 . Accordingly, users cannot use conventional devices in many desired ways or must accept the back-to-back operability limitations of the conventional devices.
[0019] With reference again to FIGS. 1A and 1B , the drawing illustrates ways in which the users would like to use the devices 102 . In general, users 100 A and 100 B desire to bump devices 102 A and 102 B along the sides as illustrated by FIG. 1A . However, due to the constraints imposed on the relative orientation of conventional devices during the bump by the inability of the coils 206 to couple efficiently, users often find that they must bump the conventional devices along their respective backs to enable NFC functions. For some devices, such as cellular telephones, this might be ergonomically feasible. However, for other devices (for instance, tablets) it might not be practicable. In contrast, side-to-side bumping (as shown in FIG. 1A ) of devices 102 A and 102 B allows users 100 A and 100 B to hold the devices 102 A and 102 B in ergonomically desirable manners.
[0020] Moreover, users often desire to cause WPT functions to occur by placing devices side-by-side with other devices as illustrated in FIG. 1B . In contrast, the inability of the coils 206 to couple efficiently with conventional devices forces users to place such devices on the top of another device (perhaps a charging mat) to cause a WPT function to occur. In some cases, as with a smart phone, users would find it inconvenient to place one device on top of another device (like a laptop computer). Instead, users often prefer placing devices side-by-side so that their sides (as shown in FIG. 1B ) are generally proximate to one another. In such situations, the side-by-side placement of devices 102 C and 102 D allow users to use both devices even while WPT functions might be occurring.
[0021] Various embodiments described herein allow users to bump devices side-to-side and to place devices side-by-side for near field coupling functions (such as NFC and WPT) by improving the coupling between the coils 206 of one or more of such devices. More specifically, embodiments provide devices with strategically shaped, and placed, ferrite materials which provide for better coupling of coils 206 . Devices of the current embodiment therefore enable new uses of devices 102 in regard to WPT, NFC, and other near field coupling functionality.
[0022] As disclosed further herein, devices that implement near field coupling-related functions use the coupling achieved by the coils 206 in those devices. Each of these coils 206 has an inductance associated with it, which can be chosen in conjunction with the resistive, capacitive, and other features of devices 202 to enable a common resonant frequency for the devices 202 . In such systems, the transmission efficiency n of power transfers from the transmitting coil 206 to the receiving coil 206 is often described in terms of the quality factors Q of each of the coils and a coupling coefficient k associated with the overall system.
[0023] More specifically, Equation 1 describes one such relationship:
[0000]
n
=
(
1
-
1
kQ
)
2
Equation
1
[0024] Where:
[0000] Q =SQRT( Q TX Q RX )
[0000]
Q
TX,RX
=wL
TX,RX
/R
TX,RX
[0000] and
[0025] TX indicates the transmitting coil, RX indicates the receiving coil, k is a coupling coefficient, and w is a frequency of interest.
[0026] Often, in small and/or thin devices 202 , mechanical volume constraints restrict the size, shape, etc. of the transmitting and receiving coils 206 . For instance, FIG. 2 illustrates that coil 206 deviates from its otherwise generally oblong shape near its upper, left corner. Moreover, the sidebands generated during NFC functions complicate the design of the transmitting and receiving coils 206 further by increasing the range of frequencies associated with those sorts of functions. As a result, the quality factors Q TX and Q RX of the transmitting and receiving coils 206 , as well as the system level quality factor Q, might not be optimized for either WPT functions, NFC functions, or both types of functions. Thus, electrical designers of such devices 202 sometimes find that they have little ability to influence the various quality factors Q TX , Q RX , and Q.
[0027] Nevertheless, embodiments provide systems characterized, in part, by coupling coefficients k designed with WPT and NFC functions in mind. Furthermore, in some embodiments, systems 300 possess coupling coefficients k that enable relatively higher power transmission efficiencies n for WPT functions and frequency ranges sufficiently broad for NFC functions. As is further disclosed herein, these coupling coefficients k depend on how much magnetic flux generated by the transmitting coil 206 penetrates the receiving coil 206 thereby inducing electrical current through that coil. While coupling coefficients k often depend on the geometry of the coils 206 , their relative locations, and the number and location of surrounding objects, embodiments provide flux guides, flux shields, flux guides, etc. that influence (and sometimes increase) the coupling coefficients k at frequencies w such as those used in WPT and/or NFC functions. With reference now to FIGS. 3A and 3B , various considerations are disclosed.
[0028] FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a pair of devices. More specifically, FIG. 3A illustrates a system 300 which includes two devices 302 TX and 302 RX . System 300 might arise when a user brings one of the devices 302 into close proximity with the other device 302 as suggested by near field coupling-related protocols. Indeed, one or the other device 302 TX might reside in a particular location for relatively long periods. In contrast, the other device 302 RX might be designed to be relatively more mobile and might reside in some location for relatively shorter periods. For instance, device 302 TX might be a laptop computer and device 302 RX might be a smart phone as illustrated by FIG. 3A .
[0029] Thus, system 300 generally arises as desired by the user or as it might otherwise happen that the devices 302 come into close proximity with each other. In many cases, though, users will want to use both devices 302 while they are in close proximity without constraints imposed by the ability of coils 306 within the devices to couple. Moreover, as is illustrated in FIG. 3A , the locations, orientations, etc. of transmitting and receiving coils 306 TX and 306 RX in the transmitting and receiving devices 302 TX and 302 RX might not facilitate use of both devices 302 while near field coupling-related functions are occurring. Indeed, to enable such functions, previously available systems 300 often require that receiving device 302 RX be place on top of the transmitting device 302 TX to at least partially align and overlap the coils 306 RX and 306 TX .
[0030] In the scenario illustrated by FIG. 3A , the transmitting device 302 TX includes the transmitting coil 306 TX near its bottom and toward its front most, right corner. The receiving device 302 RX includes a coil 306 RX situated near its geometric center with portions of the receiving device 302 RX extending outwardly there from. To align and overlap the coils 306 therefore requires that the receiving device 302 RX be placed on or near the front, right corner of the transmitting device 302 TX . However, in that position it blocks access to much of the keyboard of the transmitting device 302 TX . It also leaves receiving device 302 RX prone to slipping off transmitting device 302 TX and in an awkward location for its use. That being said it might now be beneficial to turn to FIG. 3B .
[0031] FIG. 3B is a schematic view of transmission and reception coils of a pair of devices. Moreover, FIG. 3B illustrates that with the smaller of the two devices 302 RX the coil 306 RX happens to be positioned in close proximity to various components of the receiving device 302 RX as is often the case. These components, and particularly metallic components 316 such as batteries, PCBs, etc., can significantly interfere with coupling between the transmitting coil 306 TX and the receiving coil 306 RX . Moreover, it is noted here that such situations can arise because of the often-felt desire to mechanically integrate the physical components of the devices 302 in small and/or thin housings or chasses.
[0032] FIG. 4 illustrates a corresponding flux pattern associated with a pair of transmitting and receiving coils. FIG. 4 also illustrate the results of a simplified simulation of how metallic components 416 (and other objects) can divert flux 408 of a magnetic field 410 away from coils 406 in various devices such as thin electronic devices (not shown). However, it is seen in FIG. 4 that the corresponding devices are side-by-side each other. In the simplified simulation, transmitting and receiving coils 406 TX and 406 RX of typical thin devices were modeled in close enough proximity to one another so that WPT and NFC (non-limiting near field coupling) functions could occur according to the corresponding protocols. In addition, a typical metallic component 416 was modeled as a metallic box at a distance and relative orientation to the receiving coil 406 RX typically found in thin devices.
[0033] On the left side of FIG. 4 , a generally undisturbed pattern of flux 408 is observed near the transmitting coil 406 TX, as those skilled in the art will recognize. However, the presence of the metallic component 416 in the right side of the magnetic field 410 alters the magnetic field 410 and thus the flux in its vicinity. More specifically, near the center of the transmitting coil 406 TX (and at a relatively large distance from the metallic component 416 ) the flux 408 flows upwardly from the transmitting coil 406 and begins to arc over to the right in a more or less mirror image of the left side of the magnetic field 410 . However, eddy currents (not shown) in the metallic component 416 generate their own magnetic fields (not shown) which influence diverted flux 412 to deviate from that mirror image of the magnetic field 410 associated with the left side of the transmitting coil 406 TX . Indeed, under the influence of these eddy-current-induced magnetic fields, the diverted flux 412 tends to flow around the metallic component 416 until it reaches the far end of the metallic component 416 . Whereupon, the diverted flux 412 arcs downwardly and thence around the surface of the metallic component 416 opposite the transmitting coil 406 TX until it returns to the vicinity of the transmitting coil 406 TX . At that general location, the influence of the eddy currents in the metallic component 416 begin to fade and the diverted flux 412 returns to the center of the transmitting coil 406 TX as illustrated. Thus, the metallic component 416 therefore lowers the apparent inductance of the receiving coil 406 RX and weakens its coupling with the transmitting coil 406 TX . Of course, as with many devices 402 , many metallic components 416 could be in the proximity of either or both coils 406 .
[0034] In the meantime, the flux 414 of the relatively strong fringing field generated at the edge 418 of the transmitting coil 406 TX far from the receiving coil 406 (hereinafter “fringing flux 414 ”) follows a similar pattern but on a smaller scale. At the edge 418 of the transmitting coil 406 TX adjacent to the edge 420 of the receiving coil 406 RX much of the fringing flux 414 departing the edge 418 encounters the metallic component 416 (or the influence of its eddy currents) and diverts around the same. Thus, the metallic component 416 also blocks and/or limits much of the fringing flux 414 that might have otherwise reached and perhaps have even penetrated the receiving coil 406 RX .
[0035] As a result, little or no flux 408 , diverted flux 412 , or fringing flux 414 can reach much less penetrate the receiving coil 406 RX . Accordingly, the coupling coefficient k of such an arrangement tends to be low perhaps being as little as 0.016 (or worse) with a correspondingly limited system level quality factor Q. With such a low coupling coefficient k, power transfer efficiencies n drop to such low levels that little if any power can be transferred from the transmitting coil 406 TX to the receiving coil 406 RX . Likewise, the low-efficiency coupling of these coils 406 (in such situations) creates a correspondingly weak electric signal in the receiving coil 406 RX . Thus, if information was encoded into the electrical current driving the transmitting coil 406 TX it becomes unlikely and/or difficult to recover that signal and hence the information appearing in the electrical current induced in the receiving coil 406 RX . As mechanically integrated into the receiving device 402 RX , metallic components 416 therefore inhibit both WPT and NFC functions. Embodiments, which improve the coupling coefficients k of various side-by-side systems, are disclosed with reference to FIG. 5 .
[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates another pair of transmitting and receiving coils. FIG. 5 also illustrates a ferrite guide 500 in accordance with various embodiments. As is disclosed further herein, the ferrite guide 500 acts to guide flux into the receiving coil 506 RX (and/or out of transmitting coils 506 TX ) in close proximity to metallic components 516 . Moreover, ferrite guides 500 of embodiments need not be made from ferrite. Rather, they can be made of any material having suitable properties such as electrical conductivity/resistivity, magnetic permeability, etc. As is disclosed further herein, some of these flux guides wrap around one or more metallic components in various devices. And, more specifically, wrap from being in planes generally parallel with the receiving coils into planes that project away from and/or intersect those planes. As a result, embodiments provide devices and systems with coupling coefficients k, efficiencies n, and quality factors Q suitable for side-by-side near field coupling (WPT and NFC) functions.
[0037] In the current embodiment, the ferrite guide 500 defines three portions: a planar portion 504 and shield portions 503 and 505 . In alternative embodiments, the ferrite guide 500 may have just two portions, such a planar portion 504 and one of the shield portions 503 or 505 . In some embodiments, the ferrite guide 500 is made of one continuous sheet of ferrite and is formed into a channel or bowl shape with the shield portions 503 and 505 forming approximately 90-degree angles with the adjoining planar portion 504 . However, other angles and configurations are envisioned and within the scope of the disclosure. For instance, ferrite guides of some embodiments only have one shield portion 503 or 505 although some embodiments provide ferrite guides 500 with as many shield portions as might be desired to correspond to the shape of the metallic component(s) 516 with which it will cooperate as disclosed further herein. In some embodiments, the ferrite guides 500 are made from discrete, separate shield portions 503 and 505 and planar portions 504 .
[0038] With continuing reference to FIG. 5 , in the current embodiment, the receiving coil 506 RX is illustrated as being positioned toward the bottom or base of the receiving device (not shown). Of course, terms used herein such as “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “right,” left,” “base,” “bottom,” “top,” etc. merely indicate arbitrarily chosen surfaces of the devices and are not intended to limit the disclosure to any particular orientation or orientations of such devices. The surfaces may be two adjoining planes, such as the base (or bottom) of the housing and the side of the housing. In other words, a plane associated with one surface of the metallic component projects from a plane associated with another surface of the metallic component. Of course, this disclosure is not limited to embodiments having metallic components with strictly planar surfaces. Rather, the surfaces of the metallic components could be non-planar (for instance, curved). However, at least a portion of one surface of the metallic components define a plane which is “out of plane” (that is, non-parallel) to the plane associated with the corresponding receiving coil. Moreover, while FIG. 5 illustrates the ferrite guide 500 being positioned in a receiving device, no such limitation is implied. Indeed, ferrite guides 500 can be positioned in transmitting devices and such embodiments are within the scope of the disclosure.
[0039] With reference still to FIG. 5 , the ferrite guide 500 of the current embodiment is generally adjacent to the receiving coil 506 RX . More particularly, the planar portion 504 of the ferrite guide 500 is generally adjacent to and aligned with the receiving coil 506 RX or at least a portion thereof. Moreover, planar portions 504 of some embodiments correspond in shape and size to the shape and size of the receiving coil 506 RX . However, planar portions 504 with shapes, sizes, etc. different from the shapes, sizes, etc. of the receiving coil 506 RX are envisioned and are within the scope of the disclosure. It is also noted here that the term “generally planar” indicates that the pertinent object is generally flat although it might have some irregularities associated therewith. For instance, an offset of a few millimeters between one portion of a generally planar object and another portion of that same object would not render it non-planar. Nor would a small amount of curvature, surface irregularities, etc. of the sort typically found in available “flat” coils and/or PCBs and particularly as these objects might be mechanically integrated into thin devices.
[0040] That being said, in the current embodiment, the metallic component 516 is positioned in at least one angle of the ferrite guide 500 and can therefore said to be “wrapped” by the same. In accordance therewith, the shield portions 503 and 505 extend at least partially along the corresponding edges of the metallic object. Thus, FIG. 5 illustrates ferrite guide 500 wrapping at least partially around the metallic component 516 and thus generally paralleling or corresponding in shape to at least one out of plane portion or surface of the metallic component 516 . While FIG. 5 illustrates ferrite guide 500 conforming closely to the shape of the metallic component 516 , no such limitation is implied. Instead, embodiments include ferrite guides 500 which allow gaps between themselves and metallic components 516 and which do not correspond in shape, or conform to, the metallic components 516 . Even with such deviations, the ferrite guide 500 of the current embodiment would “wrap” the metallic component 516 as is meant within the current disclosure. In the current embodiment, though, the metallic component 516 and the receiving coil 506 RX sandwich the planar portion 504 of the ferrite guide 500 between themselves perhaps with some gaps there between. In addition, FIG. 5 illustrates the resulting assembly positioned in a side-by-side orientation relative to transmitting coil 506 TX .
[0041] As is disclosed further herein (with reference to FIG. 4 ), the eddy currents in the metallic component 516 usually do not significantly affect the magnetic field 510 in the volume illustrated on the left side of FIG. 5 . However, on the side of the transmitting coil 506 TX toward the receiving coil 506 RX , the magnetic field 510 behaves differently with the ferrite guide 500 in place than as disclosed with reference to FIG. 4 . While some of the diverted flux 512 and/or fringing flux 514 still flows around the metallic component 516 , some of the diverted flux 512 and fringing flux 514 encounter the shield portion 503 on the side of the ferrite guide 500 positioned toward the transmitting coil 506 TX .
[0042] Because of the relatively high magnetic permeability of the ferrite (or other material) from which the ferrite guide 500 is made, at least some of the diverted flux 512 and/or fringing flux 514 impinging on the shield portion 503 flows into the shield portion 503 of the ferrite guide 500 . Furthermore, once therein, that portion of the diverted flux 512 and/or fringing flux 514 tends to follow the shape of the ferrite guide 500 from the shield portion 503 (where it entered) and into the planar portion 504 . Thus, the shield portion 503 of the ferrite guide 500 blocks that portion of the diverted flux 512 and/or fringing flux 514 from encountering the metallic component 516 and therefore shields the metallic component(s) 516 behind it. Furthermore, that portion of the diverted flux 512 and/or fringing flux 514 that enters the shield portion 503 (and any flux that enters the planar portion 504 through its edge facing the transmitting coil 506 TX ) becomes concentrated in and flows along the planar portion 504 of the ferrite guide 500 . But, it is believed that much more of that flux in the planar portion 504 is able to flow there from in a direction (downwardly) enabling it to penetrate the coil 504 (which is in relatively close proximity to the planar portion 504 ).
[0043] It is also believed that the foregoing effect is due at least in part to the shape of the ferrite guide 500 , which facilitates the concentrated flux flowing in the planar portion 504 penetrating the receiving coil 506 RX . As a result, more of that flux couples with the receiving coil 506 RX and induces electrical current therein then would otherwise have been the case without the ferrite guide 500 . The coupling coefficient k, efficiency n, and system level quality factor Q of the overall system (the transmitting coil 506 TX and receiving coil 506 RX ) increases accordingly.
[0044] Moreover, in embodiments with more than one shield portions 503 and 505 , additional coupling can be achieved between the transmitting and receiving coils 506 TX and 506 RX . For instance, near the shield portion 505 on the side of the ferrite guide 500 opposite the transmitting coil 506 TX , additional coupling can be achieved. In this situation, some of the diverted flux 512 will begin to arc downward as it flows passed the corresponding corner of the metallic component 516 . Some of that diverted flux 512 will continue downwardly passed the shield portion 505 . However, some of that diverted flux 512 will continue turning back toward the shield portion 505 and (because of its relatively high magnetic permeability) will enter therein. Again, the ferrite guide 500 guides that portion of the diverted flux 512 into the generally planar portion 504 of the ferrite guide 500 where it can couple with the receiving coil 506 RX . It is noted here that both shield portions 503 and 505 of the current embodiment are out of plane with receiving coil 506 TX thereby facilitating their ability to capture flux that would otherwise evade coupling with the receiving coil 506 TX .
[0045] Embodiments also provide systems in which both the transmitting coils 506 TX and receiving coils 506 RX have ferrite guides 500 associated therewith. Indeed, in some embodiments, only the transmitting coil 506 TX has a ferrite guide associated with it. Moreover, it is envisioned that instead of a coil antenna being used for the transmitting antenna, a quarter torus antenna may be employed.
[0046] No matter the type of antenna used as the transmitting antenna, the flux flowing through the portion of the planar portion 504 of the ferrite guide 500 nearest the transmitting coil 506 TX and the flux flowing through the opposite side of the planar portion 504 will have different directions. However, the directions of the flux in each of those portions of the planar portion 504 will (because of the mirrored geometry involved) correspond to the desired flux direction associated with the corresponding side of the receiving coil 506 RX . Accordingly, the effects of having another shield portion 505 of the ferrite guide 500 include further increasing the coupling of the coils 506 TX and 506 RX , the coupling coefficient k, the efficiency n, and the system level quality factor Q. WPT and NFC functions (as well as other near field coupling-related functions) should therefore be facilitated by embodiments. It is noted here that simulations of such systems showed that such effects should result. Indeed, improvements in coupling coefficients k, efficiencies n, and system level quality factors Q ranged by factors between about 2.5 and about 3.0 for typical thin devices 500 with flux guides 500 with thicknesses of between 1 and 3 mm and with coils simulated at center-to-center distances between 45 mm and 65 mm.
[0047] Some embodiments provide portable devices, which include housings, metallic components, coils, and flux guides. Typically, the metallic components are positioned within the housing and define at least two surfaces one, or more, of which is out of plane as compared to the coils. The coils define generally planar portions which are positioned in the housings and in close proximity to the metallic components. In the current embodiment, portions of the flux guides are positioned between the metallic components and the generally planar portions of the coils. In addition, the flux guides wrap at least partially around at least one out of plane surface of the metallic components.
[0048] In some embodiments, the portable devices are configured to be positioned side-by-side with other devices to perform near field coupling functions including wireless power transfer (WPT), near field communication (NFC), and a combination thereof. These portable devices can be (among others) mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, tablet computers, netbooks, notebook computers, laptop computers, multimedia playback devices, (digital) music players, (digital) video players, navigational devices, or digital cameras. In addition, the devices can be charging mats.
[0049] Moreover, in some embodiments, the coils can be configured to receive flux from fringing fields of transmission coils. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the coil can be configured to generate fringing fields (for coupling flux to receiving coils). These coils can be configured to resonate at either 6.78 MHz and 13.56 MHz or other frequencies. Various embodiments provide flux guides which are continuous and/or made of ferrite. In addition, or in the alternative, the flux guides can wrap at least partially around two, three, or more out of plane surfaces of the metallic components.
[0050] Some embodiments provide portable devices which include housings, metallic components, coils, and flux guides. Typically, the metallic components are positioned within the housing and define first and second adjoining surfaces at least one of which is out of plane with the coils. The coils are positioned in the housings and in close proximity to the metallic components and define generally planar portions. Furthermore, the flux guides define generally planar flux guide portions positioned between the generally planar coil portions and the metallic components. These flux guides also define shield portions positioned adjacent to the out of plane surfaces of the metallic components.
[0051] Various embodiments therefore provide more user-friendly information and power sharing arrangements. For instance, embodiments improve the ability of electronic devices to perform WPT and NFC functions with fewer data dropouts, with fewer communication interruptions, with increased efficiency, etc. Some embodiments, moreover, allow for side-to-side bumping of devices for communicating information between the devices. For instance, embodiments allow side-to-side bumping for peer-to-peer NFC-based information sharing between tablet computing devices which would otherwise be ergonomically awkward if users had to comply with back-to-back bumping. In the alternative, or in addition, some embodiments allow for side-by-side power transfers as shown in FIG. 1B among other capabilities. For instance, embodiments provide demonstrated side-by-side wireless charging of smart phones from notebook computers.
[0052] Although the subject matter has been disclosed in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts disclosed above. Rather, the specific features and acts described herein are disclosed as illustrative implementations of the claims. | Described herein are techniques related to near field coupling (e.g., wireless power transfers (WPF) and near field communications (NFC)) operations among others. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. | 7 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 07/267,023, filed Nov. 4, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,281.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a press roll which serves for treating material in web form, preferably for the removal of water from a fiber web, and which press roll forms a press nip with a mating press roll, and in particular relates to the mounting of a press shell to the press roll.
A press roll is typically used for the treatment of a web, and preferably in the dewatering of a fiber web. The press roll forms a press nip, for example, with a mating roll. The press roll includes a support body which is either stationary or is rotatable along with the roll. There is an endless beltlike, flexible, liquid tight press shell which is disposed around the support body and is supported by it. Axially outward of the support body at at least one end there is a press shell support element in the form of a disk, ring or the like, and that shell support element is rotatable, because the press shell is secured to it to rotate with it.
The press shell has at at least the one end, and preferably at both ends, an edge zone which first extends out over and past the shell support element and is then turned radially inward to be fastened to the axially outwardly facing, face side of the shell support element. The edge zone of the press shell has an annular face side sealing surface which can be pressed by a clamping flange, or the like, against the face side of the shell support element. There are distributed along the edge zone of the press shell a plurality of uniformly distributed axially outwardly projecting tongues which extend toward the axis of the press roll when the edge zone is turned inwardly. The tongues are shaped and spaced so that there is a respective cutout in the press shell between neighboring tongues.
Various centering elements may be disposed on the outwardly facing, face side of the shell support element, and these projecting centering elements extend into the cutouts between the tongues of the shell and position the shell with respect to the shell support element. In particular, the centering elements rest against the bases of the cutouts.
Holding elements are also provided, which may comprise a pin, bolt, or the like, extending out of the outwardly facing, face side of the shell support element. In an alternate embodiment, those holding elements may be defined at the annular clamping flange that clamps the edge zone of the press shell to the face side of the shell support element.
The holding elements and the centering elements are respectively radially so placed that with the tongues supported on the respective holding elements, the centering elements press into the bases of the cutouts and those centering elements tension the press shell as the tongues are tightened by being placed upon the holding elements.
The shell support elements are normally axially outwardly biased from the support body thereby to axially tension the press shell. Means for temporarily pushing the shell support elements axially inwardly against the normal outward bias are provided on the support body, and with the shell support elements pushed axially inwardly, is easier to mount to the press shell on the holding elements. Thereafter, the shell support elements are again permitted to be biased outwardly.
The invention also concerns a method of mounting the press shell on the apparatus described. The press shell is drawn over the support body and over the shell support elements, so that the edge zones are brought to extend beyond the shell support elements and are then turned radially inwardly so that the tongues extend inward and are mounted to the holding elements while the centering elements move into the bases of the cutouts between neighboring tongues. For facilitating the mounting of the press shell, the shell support elements are temporarily moved axially inwardly until the tongues are mounted to the holding elements.
Such a press roll is known from Federal Republic of Germany Published Application DE-OS No. 35 01 635, which is equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,376.
For known press rolls, as well as for rolls according to the present invention, there are two different types of construction. In the one type, the support beam, which extends through the surrounding press shell, is stationary. In the other type, the support body is mounted for rotation in a manner similar to the press shell.
With a stationary support body that does not rotate, in the region of the press nip, the flexible belt like press shell slides over the support body in the circumferential region where the support body presses the press shell against the mating roll. A radially movable press shoe over which the press shell slides is preferably provided on the support body for this purpose, in accordance with Federal Republic of Germany Published Application DE-OS No. 33 11 996, which corresponds to U.S Pat. No. 4,555,305. The slide surface of the press shoe is usually concave, generally in accordance with the curvature of the mating roll, so that the press nip has a certain longitudinal length in the direction of travel of the web, i.e., an elongate press nip is formed. The cross-sectional shape of the support body can in this case be of any desired shape, for instance rectangular, tubular or I-shaped.
If the support body is of the type that is mounted for rotation and has the shape of a circular cylindrical roll body, then when the support body presses the press shell against the mating roll, it travels on the inside of the press shell in the region of the press nip.
In known press rolls, as well as of the press roll of the invention, the press shell is always developed liquid tight since the inside of the press shell must be wetted with lubricant, but none of the lubricant should penetrate to the outside from the inside of the press roll. If the lubricant did penetrate to the outside, there is a danger that the web to be treated would be dirtied.
For these reasons, it is also very important that the ends of the press shell be connected in absolutely liquid tight manner to the two press shell support elements, which are mounted rotatably on the support body. Furthermore, it is important that this connection can be both made and opened within a short time, because after a period of operation, it must be expected that the press shell will have to be replaced by a new one. When the press roll is used, for instance, in a paper making machine, it is important that the press shell be replaced in the shortest possible time, in order to reduce the machine standstill time as much as possible.
Furthermore, with the known press shell roll, as well as with the press roll of the invention, the press shell is preferably made of a reinforced and relatively hard plastic, for instance polyurethane. A fabric is preferably provided as reinforcement.
Known measures for liquid-tight attachment of the ends of the press shell to the shell support elements in the known press roll have proven worthwhile in practice. However, difficulties are still at times encountered in attaching a new press shell to the shell support elements within the shortest possible time. For example, during this mounting, it is important to center the ends of the press shell as accurately as possible on the shell support element, since the smooth travel of the press shell in operation depends upon this.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention, therefore, is to improve the press roll described above in such a manner that the centering and attachment of the ends of the press shell to the shell support elements can be carried out more dependably and faster than up to the present time.
Other objects and features will be explained below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a radial partial section through an end of a press roll with a fixed support body and a press shell support element or disc, seen along line I--I of FIG. 2
FIG. 2 shows a sector of the shell support disc seen in the direction of the arrow II of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows the press shell by itself in an oblique view.
FIG. 4 shows an intermediate stage during the mounting of the press shell of the roll shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a press roll with a rotating support body and a shell support ring.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The press roll shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a nonrotating support body or beam 24 which is supported at its two ends, only one of which is visible. Each end of the support body rests through its journal 24a in a bearing block 25. On its outside, the support region of the support body is provided in known manner with a cutout region 24b in which a known press shoe 26 is arranged. The axial length of that shoe corresponds approximately to the width of the web of paper to be treated. An endless, tubular, press shell 10 of known construction travels around the support body 24 and over the press shoe 26. By the action (not shown) of a pressure fluid on it, the press shoe 26 can press the press shell 10 against a mating roll, like that roll 50 in FIG. 5.
On each end of the press roll, a bearing ring 11 is mounted in an axially displaceable, but nonrotatable, manner on the axially projecting journal 24a. A shell support disc 12 is rotatably mounted by means of an antifriction bearing 13 on the bearing ring 11. On the axially outer face side of the shell bearing disc 12, the radially inwardly bent edge zone of the press shell 10 is fastened by means of an annular clamping flange 15 which clamps on the edge zone and screws 16 which tighten flange 15 to disc 12. In order to facilitate the mounting and clamping, the clamping flange 15 can be divided into arcuate segments of convenient size. Furthermore, the segments can have axially projecting noses 17 which fit in respective annular grooves 18 in the shell support disk 12 to position the segments.
It is desirable to seal off the inside of the press roll, which is limited by the press shell 10 and the shell support discs 12, from the outside. For this purpose, the press shell 10 essentially is comprised of a liquid tight plastic, for instance, polyurethane. That plastic material is preferably reinforced with a support fabric which is formed in known manner of both circumferential and longitudinal threads. The axially outer face side of the shell support disc 12 and the overlapped edge zone of the press shell 10 together form a pair of sealing surfaces having the width B in FIG. 1. In order to assure tightness and seal with still greater certainty, an annular groove can be provided in the outer face of the shell support disc, with an O sealing ring 23 contained in the groove. Finally, on the outside of the antifriction bearing 13, there is provided a shaft packing ring 19 which rests in a housing ring 20 fastened to the shell support disc 12.
For axially tensioning the press shell 10, compression coil springs 21 are clamped between the support body or beam 24 and a flange 14 of the bearing ring 11. To facilitate the mounting of the press shell 10, the bearing block 25 has at least one pressure screw 22. By means of that screw, the bearing ring 11, together with the shell support disc 12, can be pushed temporarily somewhat closer to the support body 24.
FIG. 3 shows the condition of the press shell 10 before it has been pulled onto the support member 24. In this case, it has an elongate, approximately cylindrical, basic shape. The two axial ends are formed with numerous approximately triangular cutouts 29, which are circumferentially spaced and have such an internal angle that approximately trapezoidal tongues 28 remain, each extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the press shell. Instead of the trapezoidal tongues, however, rectangular cutouts may be formed to define rectangular tongues (not shown). For simplification of the drawing, the press shell has been shown in FIG. 3, in oblique view, as a circular cylinder. Actually, in view of the flexibility of its material, its cross-section will deviate to a greater or lesser extent from a circular shape The circumferential length of the inside of the press shell (corresponding to the inside diameter d shown in FIG. 3) is selected to be large enough that there will be a certain radial distance present between the press shell and the support body 24. Furthermore, as a rule, the outside diameter of the shell support discs 12 will be selected to be slightly smaller than the inside diameter d of the press shell 10. In this way, during its installation on the support body, the press shell 10 can be pulled over the support body 24 and the shell support discs 12 with the exertion of only slight force.
The length L of the main part of the press shell which is free of cutouts 29 depends on the approximate distance A (FIG. 1) between the outer face surfaces of the shell support discs 12 and the width B of their sealing surfaces Due to the aforementioned displaceability of the bearing ring 11, the distance A can be varied. The length z of the tongues 28 of the press shell, and thus the total length G of the press shell 10, is also selected so that the tongues 28 in the final mounted condition of the press shell extend radially inward beyond the radially inward edge of the clamping flange 15. This assures that the distance s from the axis of the press roll to the free ends of the tongues 28 is less than the distance r from the axis of the press roll to the radially inner limitations of the clamping flange 15 (FIG. 2).
For transforming the press shell 10 from the elongated shape shown in FIG. 3 into the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the edge zones of the part of the press shell having the length L extend inward in the manner of a flange and form a smooth sealing surface, the following procedure is employed.
The clamping flange segments 15 are either removed entirely from or are set to the greatest possible distance from the shell support discs 12. One tongue 28 after the other (or simultaneously two tongues lying radially opposite each other in pairs) is (or are) bent over radially inward around the rounded outer edge or corner 12a of the shell support disc 12. At the tip of each tongue 28 there is a tongue mounting hole 31.
Located radially to the inside of the screws 16 i.e., in the radial region between the screws 16 and the center line of the press roll, a bolt or a cylinder pin 30 is provided in the shell support disc 12 for mounting each tongue 28. This bolt or pin extends approximately parallel to the axis of the roll or is slightly inclined toward the center axis from the outer face side of the shell support disc 12. Preferably, each tongue 28 is mounted on a respective cylindrical pin or bolt 30. Tensile forces are exerted, by means of the large number of tongues, around the entire edge zone of the press shell so that the three-dimensionally curved shape of the edge zone shown in FIG. 1 is formed. In this connection, the material is compressed in the circumferential direction in the region of the width B of the sealing surface, while the material bulges somewhat bead-like outside the sealing surface.
As seen in FIG. 2, each projection 27, which is in the form of a bolt, is arranged in the outer face side of the shell support disc 12 between two screws 16. The number of screws 16 and of bolts 27 together is equal to the number of tongues 28 and cutouts 29, respectively. The arrangement of the screws 16 and bolts 27 is selected so that they fit precisely into the bottoms of the cutouts 29. Preferably, the screws 16 and the bolts 27 are arranged on the same pitch circle so that the depth z (FIG. 3) of all the cutouts 29 can be made the same. However, one can also deviate from this. It is also advantageous, as shown in FIG. 2, to provide the same number of screws 16 and bolts 27 and distribute them alternatingly around the circumference. Furthermore, it is advisable to insert one sleeve 32 into each of the threaded bores intended for the screws 16, and to make the outside diameter of the sleeves 31 and the bolts 27 the same. In this way, all cutouts 29 of the press shell 10 can be shaped the same.
With the above described reshaping of the edge zone of the press shell 10, the tongues 28 are pulled radially inward so far in the direction of the axis of the roll that the base 9 (FIG. 3) of the cutouts 29 rests against the bolts 27 and against the sleeves 31. This very rapidly provides a centered seat of the press shell 10, and thus good concentric travel in operation. After placing all of the tongues onto their cylindrical pins 30, the edge zone of the press shell 10 is clamped between the shell support disc 12 and the clamping flange 15 by tightening the screws 16. Finally, a pressure screw 22 is loosened from the bearing ring 11, which frees that ring to move outward so that the compression springs can tension the press shell 10 in the axial direction. An alternate technique, described further in connection with FIG. 5, of securing the tongues 28 is to provide projections on the inside of the clamping flange 15 and corresponding holes in the tongues to receive those projections, wherein the holes are placed so that the projections hold and uniformly and adequately tension the press shell axially.
FIG. 4 shows how each of the tongues 28 can be pulled in the direction toward the axis of the press roll by means of a tubular tool 33 which acts like a lever. FIG. 4 shows the shell support disc 12 with the sealing ring 23, one of the sleeves 32 and one of the cylindrical pins 30. The clamping flange segments 15 and their fastening screws 16 are removed. The tool 33 is passed through the hole 31 at the tip of the tongue 28 and is placed onto the cylindrical pin 30 which then serves as its fulcrum. The tool 33 can now be swung toward the axis of the roll in the direction indicated by the arrow P and the tongue 28 is then pushed onto the cylindrical pin 30.
This method has various advantages over the previous method described in Federal Republic of Germany Application DE-OS No. 35 01 635 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,376). The tension springs, which previously had to be removed after the mounting and clamping by arcuate clamping segments was concluded, are no longer necessary. The mounting can therefore be effected in a shorter period of time. It further leads with greater certainty than previously to accurate centering of the press shell.
FIG. 5 shows the use of the invention on a press roll which is rotatable as a whole unit and which has a loose covering in the form of the above described press shell 10. Differing from the other embodiment, the support body 44 is a rotatably mounted and circular-cylindrical roll body 44. The journal 44a of that body can, if necessary, be connected to a drive. The basic shape of the press shell 10 is the same as shown in FIG. 3. The liquid tight closing off of the inner space defined by the press shell 10 could, in principle, be developed in the same way as in FIGS. 1 and 2, that is with a bearing ring 11 displaceable on the journal 44a and a shell support disc 12 mounted thereon. Differing from this, in FIG. 5 a bearing ring 51 is developed on the roll body 44. An annular shell support element, concentric to the roll body 44, is mounted by an antifriction bearing 43 and a sealing ring 49 on the ring 51. On the outer face surface of the shell support element 42, the press shell 10 is fastened by clamping ring 45 and screws 16'. This attachment and the preceding shaping of the press shell 10 are effected in a similar manner to that described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
For centering the press shell 10, sleeves 32' are provided as in FIG. 1, but these sleeves are inserted, in accordance with FIG. 5, in the clamping flange 45. Different from FIG. 1, the cylindrical pins 30', which serve for the clamping of the tongues 28, are inserted into and extend axially into the tongues from the clamping flange The tongues 28' are longer and/or extend slightly further in the direction toward the axis of the roll than the tongues in FIG. 1. In this way, it is possible to provide two holes 31 and 34 in each tongue. A tool (not shown) like a post, can be connected to the hole 34 present in the tip of the tongue. That tool is rested against the inner shell surface. By means of the tool, the tongue 28' can be pulled in the direction toward the axis of the roll until the tongue can be placed, via the hole 31 located radially outward further toward the inside of the shell 35, onto the cylindrical pin 30'. It is evident that this method can be employed also in the case of the structural form with stationary support member shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
At the top of FIG. 5, a small portion of a mating roll 50 can be noted. It forms a press nip with the press roll. Circumferentially outside the press nip, there is a small distance a between the press shell 10 and the roll body 44 because the inside diameter d (FIG. 3) of the press shell 10 is greater than the outside diameter of the roll body 44. Axial tensioning of the press shell 10 has been dispensed with in FIG. 5. If necessary, however, the bearing ring 51 can be made axially displaceable relative to the roll body 44.
The roll body 44 in FIG. 5 can be entirely metallic and can be without the firm covering, for instance, of rubber, plastic, or the like, which as frequently been necessary. The function of that covering is now assumed by the press shell 10, which rotates loosely with the roll body. On the other hand, to obtain special effects upon passage of the web to be treated through the press nip, there is the possibility of providing the roll body 44 in addition with a firm covering 48, as indicated in dot-dash lines, in FIG. 5. There are many possible variations, in this connection, through selection of specific pairings of materials for the press shell 10 and the firm covering 48.
The conduits for feeding and removing lubricating and/or cooling liquid, for instance, for the cooling of the roll body 44, which are generally necessary, have been omitted in all of the Figures. The lubrication of the inside of the press shell 10, particularly upon its passage through the press nip, is indispensable in the case of a stationary support body 24, 26 (FIG. 1). However, it may also be advisable in the case of a rotating support body as in FIG. 5. If lubrication of the press shell is dispensed with in the case of FIG. 5, then a liquid tight closing off of the inside is nevertheless still advantageous to avoid the penetration of water, and the resulting corrosion.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with a plurality of preferred embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications will now become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims. | A press roll for a web includes a support body which is either stationary or rotatable and a press shell which is rotatable over the support body and against a mating roll. A respective shell support element or disc is disposed axially outward of both ends of the support body and the support element has an axially outward, face side. The flexible, liquid impervious endless belt press shell has lateral edge zones. Each edge zone has a respective plurality of outwardly projecting tongues and has cutouts between neighboring tongues. The edge zone is turned radially inward and its tongues are each respectively mounted on a holding element projecting from the face side of the shell support element. Centering elements also ono the face side of the shell support element are placed each for extending into and contacting the base of the cutouts between neighboring tongues for positioning the tongues. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to systems for controlling automatically the engine power of an aircraft during its final approach to the airfield.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Most commercial transport aircraft are equipped with an automatic flight control system. The capability of the airborne equipment and the electronic and visual ground aids defines to what extent automatic approaches and landings are allowed by the airworthiness authorities with regard to the weather conditions. Because of the difference in operations between short haul commuter and business turboprop airplane and the bigger long range turbojet airplanes, the commuters have in general a less costly automatic flight control system.
Typically the system of a turboprop commuter provides in the phase of the approach to the runway of an airfield an automatic control and stabilisation of the airplane about all three axes, but there is no autothrottle. In such a flight practice when the pilot has selected the landing gear, the wing flaps and with the power levers an engine power to accomplish a nominal speed during approach, the autopilot tracks at the glideslope and the localizer beam from the runway landing system.
Meanwhile the pilot holds the nominal recommended approach speed by manual resetting the power lever to avoid that the airplane deviates too much from the ideal descend path by speed variations. In the case of an excessive deviation between the position of the airplane with regard to the beam, a warning is given at the primary flight display by pointers. It is possible that such a warning occurs in the final phase of the approach at the official minimum height for the particular airplane to decide about enough visibility to perform a safe landing. When the visibility is below the limit, the pilot shall decide to discontinue the approach and execute a go-around.
In general the performance of speed corrections to obtain a minimum deviation between actual and theoretical descent path depends on variable human factors. Therefore a first disadvantage of a manual correction method is the dependancy of the performance by the pilot. The quality of the performance can be influenced in an abnormal situation during approach if the pilot does not reset the power lever frequent enough, or, in normal approach situations, if the pilot's resetting of the power lever is brusque.
Another disadvantage is that manual approach power settings are not always symmetrical, thus causing instable localizer tracking. A further disadvantage of the method is that the pilot has to monitor the speed indicator, and react on significant deviations by moving the power lever and watch after a while the result at the speedometer. The given attention increases the workload of the pilot especially during landings with windshear or bad visibility.
Yet another disadvantage of the system is caused by the rapid growth or drop of the power of a modern electronic controlled turboprop engine upon an incremental adjustment of the power lever. In the case of more power and hence an increase of the speed of the aircraft, the increased slipstream of the propeller rises the lift of the wing and makes the aircraft to diverse from the ideal flight path.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The shortcomings of manual speed control during final approach are overcome by a novel approach speed control system provided by this invention, which system comprises an electronic approach speed control unit of which the adjustment signal influences the engine control device keeping the speed of the airplane during approach at a selected value whereby said manual operating device has a fixed setpoint. During the approach to the airfield, the system holds the speed of the airplane at the value commanded by the pilot through a power lever setting before starting the approach, or, at the value adjusted by him during the approach. Typically the system controls the power of the engine electronically only and thus leaving the power lever where it is, namely the last position selected by the pilot.
The flight control systems according to the state of the art usually contain means for comparing the actual airspeed with the desired airspeed and for generating an error signal.
In embodiments employing such flight control systems, the invention further provides the advantage of smooth transitions during speed changes when the extreme rates of speed changes authorized by the system are determined by the magnitude of said speed error and by the time that the speed error exists.
Preferably, the extreme rate of the adjustments signal is higher for increasing power and lower for decreasing power. In this preferred embodiment, the flight control system offers a behaviour which closely resembles the way a pilot would handle the aircraft during approach.
Finally, the approach speed control unit may be carried out as an add on device for retrofitting on an automated flight control system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art engine and propeller control system.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, implemented in the prior art engine and propeller control system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the system of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an example of the non-symmetric diagram shown in FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is applicable for a turboprop airplane with electronic controlled engines. Such a control system (1), as shown in FIG. 1, will comprise in general per engine of three main components, a (2) Mechanical Fuel Control Unit (MFU), an (3) Engine Electronic Control Unit (EEC), a (4) Torque Indicator and the power plant (10), with gear box and propeller pitch control system. There is an electrical harness to link these together with engine sensors, actuators and airframe signals. The main function of these three components will be pointed out first in order to describe how the add-on system of the invention fits into the power-and propeller speed control system.
The MFU (2) is actuated by the pilot through the Power Lever (PL, 5) and Fuel Shut-off Lever (FL, 6) on the flight compartment pedestal via associated cable/rod connecting systems (7 and 8).
The mechanical power lever setting is transformed by a sensor in the MFU to an electronic signal representing the Power Lever Angle, and this signal is hereinafter referred to as the PLA or (PLA 14). It is this signal which is used in a preferred embodiment of the invention. The MFU (2) provides essential fuel metering from the fuelpump to the engine thus determining engine power output. The PL(5) and FL(6) also operate the Propeller Pitch Control Unit (PCU). The PCU (1) is a microprocessor controlled machine which provides signals for accurate propeller speed control and phase synchronisation. The EEC (3) modulates the MFU's fuel metering of the particular engine in accordance with certain power management functions to reduce pilot workload, to compensate for ambient condition and to provide some engine parameter indications.
The engine speed is selected by the pilot at the Speed Rating Panel (9). The EEC (3) is microprocessor controlled and compares inputs to referenced data stored in its memory. It continuously calculates the rated torque corresponding to the pilot selected target torque or power rating, based on changes in ambient pressure, engine inlet temperature and aircraft speed. The target torque rating and the actual torque are displayed in the flight compartment. For optimal flight operation the pilot uses the information to adjust the power lever in order to maintain the actual torque level at the computed torque level.
For approach the pilot chooses an appropriate airspeed and engine torque. By setting the Power Lever the selected torque can be read from the above mentioned Torque Indicator.
GENERAL LAY-OUT OF THE SYSTEM OF THE INVENTION
Turning now to FIG. 2 for a general description of the Approach Speed Control Unit. Shown in FIG. 2 is a preferred embodiment for a two engined airplane. The system (20) can be activated by the pilot during the final approach phase. The system (20) will electronically vary both power lever angle signals sensed from Power Levers (5a and 5b) only electronically only within built-in authority limits through separate power lever modulators seen by the EEC's (3a and 3b). The system (20) comprises filters and limiters to remove unwanted frequencies from the input signals and to limit the amplitude thereof to avoid the system reacting to small irregularities in acceleration and speed.
The Approach Speed Control System (20) is an add-on system that interfaces electrically with the above mentioned MFU (2) and the EEC (3). The system (20) comprises a Control Unit (21), and a central Flight Deck Panel (23) in the cockpit. It is connected through line 22 with the airplane's Integrated Alerting Unit (IAU), not shown. The Control Unit (21) receives through line 30 the Indicated Airspeed Signal (IAS) from the Air Data Computer, not shown, and through line 31 the airplane pitch angle signal from the Heading and Reference System, not shown. The Flight Deck Panel (23) is used by the pilot to pre-select the desired speed, to arm and to engage/disengage the Approach Speed Control System. The flight deck panel (23) comprises a pushbutton (29) for arming and disarming the Approach Speed Control System (20), an armed indicator light (25), a speed display (27), a speed select knob (24) which is rotatable to indicate a speed and releasably depressible to select that speed and a select indicator light (26).
The system is armed by depressing the push button (29) on the Flight Deck Panel (23). The ARM light (25) comes on and the SPEED-display (27) indicates the default speed. The pilot may select then any desired approach, speed by rotating the Speed Select Knob (24). There is a minimum selectable speed for safety reasons, and there is a maximum selectable speed which is limited by the Air Data Computer of the airplane. After the desired approach speed is selected, the Power Levers (5) are manually retarded to an appropriate marking on the power level quadrant representing the nominal PL position for approach. Subsequently the approach system (20) is engaged by pushing Speed Select Knob (24) and the SELECT light (26) will come on. From then on the airplane will decelerate while the deceleration is limited by the system. When the selected speed is reached, the approach control system (20) will hold that speed.
However, if the PL's (5) are not retarded and thus not in range with the selected speed, the system can not be engaged. Engagement by the pilot is also not possible when a fault is detected by the system during arming. In that case a display (28) would indicate FAULT while the Speed Display (27) remains blank. When the system (20) is control in after engaging and a system fault is detected, an alert will be generated by the airplane's Integrating Alerting Unit. The system will disconnect smoothly, automatically the SPEED-display (27) will become blank and the select light (26) will be off.
If the pilot prefers to make the approach at different selected speed, he changes the selected speed by means of the select knob 24.
The system is switched off automatically when the pilot moves one or both power levers towards or backwards outside the PLA-select range for the Approach Speed Control System, or when the pilot pulls the power levers back to idle just before touch down. The system goes down also when the air data computer becomes invalid, or when a system fault is detected by the Integrating Alerting Unit.
DESCRIPTION IN MORE DETAIL OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to FIG. 3 for a description in detail of a preferred embodiment of the Approach Speed Control System, the Indicated Airspeed (30) and the Selected or Reference Airspeed (27) are compared in the summing point (32). In case there is a difference, the error signal (33) is delivered to a first and a second control circuit, (34) and (38). The control circuits were designed after ample observation of the pilots' manual response by moving the power lever, to deviations of the indicated airspeed from the selected airspeed. While shaping the diagram (see FIG. 4) the influence at the airspeed of the corrections by the autopilot of the approach trajectory was taken into account also. The observations showed for example that the graphic relation between the speed error and the reset of the power lever (PLA) should be asymmetric, in order to obtain that the Approach Speed Control System responds more reactive to a too low airspeed than when the airspeed is too high. Another observation was that the response of the Approach Speed Control System should be limited for example to +/-10 degrees PLA and 2 degrees PLA per second. The first control circuit (34) which reacts to short term fluctuations of the error signal, while the second circuit (38) calculates a mean value of the error signal on a much longer period of time than the first circuit, for example 15 times longer.
The first control circuit (34) comprises a non-linear proportional function (35) and an asymmetric dynamic rate limiter (36). The error signal (33) is transformed by the circuit (34) to provide a first PLA-adjustment input signal (37) of the electronic signal PLA to of the summing point (45). The second control circuit (38) comprises an asymmetric fixed rate limiter (39) and a integrator (40). The rate limiter (39) ensures that the rapidity with which a maximum PLA-correction is executed is limited, so that a PLA-correction of a too-low airspeed is executed faster than the PLA-correction of the same value in the case of a too-high airspeed. The first and the second control circuit, respectively (37) and (41), are added in the summing point (45).
The third input signal (31) to the summing point (45) compensates for the contribution of a component of the mass of the airplane in the direction of the speed of the airplane. During the descent trajectory the component of the airplane mass in the direction of the speed vector differs with the pitch attitude of the aircraft. For compensation the pitch angle (31) is deducted or added to the above mentioned speed error (33). The output signal (43) of the authority limiter (37) is supplied to the EEC (3) of each engine.
The signals 37, 41 and 31 are summed in the junction (45) and the resulting signal is led to the authority limiter (42). For reasons of safety the limiter (42) prevents the Approach Speed Control System from providing the EEC (3) with a PLA-correction signal above for example +/-10 degrees. | A flight control system of a turboprop airplane includes electronic controlled engines, which are governed by a manual operating device for setting the engine power in order to obtain a certain airspeed, a device for selecting a desired airspeed, and an engine control system for computing and controlling the required engine torque and speed as a function of ambient and engine conditions, the selected engine speed and the setting of said operating device. For automatically controlling the engine speed during the final approach to an airfield, the system includes an electronic approach speed control unit of which the adjustment signal influences the engine control device keeping the speed of the airplane during approach at a selected value whereby said manual operating device has a fixed setpoint. This electronic speed control unit may be carried out as an add-on device for retrofitting on a flight control system. | 5 |
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a process for preparation and application of a novel strong base catalyst. The strong base is useful in conversion of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from alkyl esters of C1-C5 alkanols derived from oils rich in linoleic acid and conjugated linolenic acids from alkyl esters of C1-C5 alkanols derived from oils rich in linolenic acid. The reaction with alkyl esters of linoleic acid produces approximately equal amounts of the CLA isomers 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid and 10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid. The reaction with alfa-linolenic acid produces a mixture of 9,13,15 Z,E,Z-octadecatrienoic acid, 9,11,15-Z,E,Z-octadecatrienoic acid and 10,12,14-E,Z,E-octadecatrienoic acid The reaction is unique in the reaction proceeds rapidly at temperatures as low as 20° C. and requires only catalytic amounts of the strong base and polyether alcohol.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In synthetic organic chemistry base catalysts may be divided into classes of base strength. Depending on the base strength different catalyzed reactions are possible with each class of base. Metal carbonates and hydroxides such as sodium and potassium hydroxide are efficient catalysts for transesterification and have been used to produce sucrose polyesters and alkyl esters. Strong base catalysts such as metal alkoxides (egs. Sodium methylate, potassium tertiary butryate) are broadly used in commercial organic syntheses and often preferred in specific reactions. The strong bases are often capable of catalyzing reactions at lower temperatures and in less expensive solvent systems. While some of these bases are prone to oxidation all are prone to inactivation by reaction with water.
[0003] Conjugated linoleic acid is the trivial name given to a series of eighteen carbon diene fatty acids with conjugated double bonds. Applications of conjugated linoleic acids vary from treatment of medical conditions such as anorexia (U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,066) and low immunity (U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,901) to applications in the field of dietetics where CLA has been reported to reduce body fat (U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,646) and to inclusion in cosmetic formulae (U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,043). CLA shows similar activity in veterinary applications. In addition, CLA has proven effective in reducing valgus and varus deformity in poultry (U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,083), and attenuating allergic responses (U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,400). CLA has also been reported to increase feed conversion efficiency in animals (U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,072). CLA-containing bait can reduce the fertility of scavenger bird species such as crows and magpies (U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,114).
[0004] Industrial applications for CLA also exist where it is used as a lubricant constituent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,711). CLA synthesis can be used as a means to chemically modify linoleic acid so that it is readily reactive to Diels-Alder reagents (U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,534). In one method linoleic acid was separated from oleic acid by first conjugation then reaction with maleic anhydride followed by distillation (U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,640).
[0005] Conjugated linoleic acid occurs naturally in ruminant depot fats. The predominant form of CLA in ruminant fat is the 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid which is synthesized from linoleic acid in the rumen by micro-organisms like Butryvibrio fibrisolvens. The level of CLA found in ruminant fat is in part a function of dietary 9Z,12Z-octadecadienoic acid and the level of CLA in ruminant milk and depot fat may be increased marginally by feeding linoleic acid (U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,247).
[0006] CLA may also be prepared by any of several analytical and preparative methods. Pariza and Ha pasteurized a mixture of butter oil and whey protein at 85° C. for 5 minutes and noted elevated levels of CLA in the oil (U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,104). CLA produced by this mechanism is predominantly a mixture of 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid and 10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid. CLA has also been produced by the reaction of soaps with strong alkali bases in molten soaps, alcohol, and ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,389,260; 2,242,230 & 2,343,644). These reactions are inefficient, as they require the multiple steps of formation of the fatty acid followed by production of soap from the fatty acids, and subsequently increasing the temperature to isomerize the linoleic soap. The CLA product is generated by acidification with a strong acid (sulfuric or hydrochloric acid) and repeatedly washing the product with brine or CaCl 2 .
[0007] Iwata et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,116) overcame the need for an intermediate step of preparation of fatty acids by reacting oils directly with alkali catalyst in a solvent of propylene glycol under low water or anhydrous conditions. Reaney et al. (Reaney, Liu and Westcott (1999) Commercial production of CLA. In Yurawecz, Mossaba, Kramer, Pariza and Nelson Eds. Advances in conjugated linoleic acid research, Vol. 1 pp.) identified that CLA products prepared in the presence of glycol and other alcohols may transesterify with the glycerol and produce esters of the glycol. Such esters have been identified by Reaney (unpublished work) in commercial products and in CLA prepared in propylene glycol by the method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,116. The biological activity of esters of CLA containing fatty acids and propylene glycol is relatively high and therefore their presence in the CLA product is undesirable.
[0008] CLA has been synthesized from fatty acids using SO 2 in the presence of a sub-stoichiometric amount of soap forming base (U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,264). The reaction with this catalyst produced predominantly the all trans configuration of CLA.
[0009] Baltes, Wechmann and Weghorst (U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,658) achieved the conjugation of distilled methyl esters of soybean oil by the addition of 10 percent potassium methylate at 120° C. in five hours. The reaction produced 97% conjugation of the available double bonds.
[0010] Ritz and Reese (U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,444) found that aprotic solvents were suitable for the formation of conjugated bonds in soybean oil. They report mixing 500 g of soy oil with 500 g of DMSO at 50° C. and then adding 5 grams of finely divided potassium methylate. The reaction produced 97% conjugation of the available double bonds
[0011] Efficient synthesis of 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic from ricinoleic acid has been achieved (Russian Patent 2,021,252). This synthesis, although efficient, uses expensive elimination reagents such as 1,8-diazobicyclo-(5,4,0)-undecene. For most applications the cost of the elimination reagent increases the production cost beyond the level at which commercial production of CLA is economically viable.
[0012] Of these methods alkali isomerization of soaps is the least expensive process for bulk preparation of CLA isomers, however, the use of either monohydric or polyhydric alcohols in alkali isomerization of CLA can be problematic. Lower alcohols are readily removed from the CLA product but they require the production facility be built to support the use of flammable solvents. Higher molecular weight alcohols and polyhydric alcohols are considerably more difficult to remove from the product and residual levels of these alcohols (e.g. ethylene glycol) may not be acceptable in the CLA product.
[0013] Water may be used in place of alcohols in the production of CLA by alkali isomerization of soaps (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,350,583 and 4,164,505). When water is used for this reaction it is necessary to perform the reaction in a pressure vessel whether in a batch (U.S. Pat. No. 2,350,583) or continuous mode of operation (U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,505). The process for synthesis of CLA from soaps dissolved in water still requires a complex series of reaction steps. Bradley and Richardson ( Industrial and Engineering Chemistry February 1942 vol 34 no 2 237-242) were able to produce CLA directly from soybean triglycerides by mixing sodium hydroxide, water and oil in a pressure vessel. Their method eliminated the need to synthesize fatty acids and then form soaps prior to the isomerization reaction. However, they reported that they were able to produce oil with up to 40 percent CLA. Quantitative conversion of the linoleic acid in soybean oil to CLA would have produced a fatty acid mixture with approximately 54 percent CLA.
[0014] In order to overcome the high cost of alkali and solvent often encountered in CLA production Reaney (U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,649) developed a method for utilizing the waste alkaline glycerol from biodiesel synthesis as a catalyst and medium for CLA production. Similarly Reaney (U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,171) describe the direct conversion of soapstock from the alkaline treatment of vegetable oils to CLA. This conversion has the advantage of using water as the reaction medium and the presence of large amounts of alkali in the soap. Though inexpensive, both reactions require heating the reaction mixture to temperatures above 190° C.
[0015] Commercial conjugated linoleic acid often contains a mixture of positional isomers that may include 8E,10Z-octadecadienoic acid, 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid, 10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid, and 11Z,13E-octadecadienoic acid (Christie, W. W., G. Dobson, and F. D. Gunstone, (1997) Isomers in commercial samples of conjugated linoleic acid. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 74, 11, 1231).
[0016] The present invention describes a method of production of CLA using polyethylene glycol alone or with a co-solvent as a reaction medium and a vegetable oil containing more than 60% linoleic acid. The reaction products in polyether glycol containing solvent are primarily 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid and 10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid in equal amounts. The reaction product is readily released by acidification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] In the present invention a strong base solution is prepared which is suitable for catalyzing numerous reactions. The strong base is produced by the mixture of simple commercially available starting materials including both alkali hydroxide base and a polyether alcohol solvent. When this mixture is heated under vacuum a reaction takes place wherein water is released and viscosity rises. Surprisingly the product of this reaction is an unusually powerful base that has advantageous properties in chemical synthesis using base catalyst. The strong base is non-volatile and non-toxic. It has greater potency than many conventional strong base solutions as the ether alcohol solvents act as a phase transfer solvent to assist in the reaction.
[0018] Thus, by one aspect of the invention there is provided a process for producing a polyethylene alkylate catalyst comprising reacting an alkali base, selected from the group consisting of hydroxide, alkoxide, metal and hydride, with a polyether alcohol solvent, under vacuum at a temperature in the range of 100° C.-150° C., so as to produce a non volatile, non toxic polyether alkylate catalyst.
[0019] By another aspect of this invention there is provided a strong base catalyst composition comprising a non volatile, non toxic polyether alkylate produced by reaction between an alkali base, selected from the group consisting of hydroxide, alkoxide, metal and hydride, and polyether alcohol.
[0020] By yet another aspect of this invention there is provided a process for producing an isomeric conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)-rich alkyl ester mixture comprising reacting a linoleic acid-rich oil in the presence of a catalytic amount of a strong base comprising a non volatile non toxic polyether alkylate at a temperature above 50° C. and separating said CLA-rich alkyl ester mixture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0021] FIG. 1 is a sketch illustrating the reaction of metal hydroxides with polyethylene glycol (238 grams per mole) with the release of one water molecule.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a sketch illustrating the reaction of metal ethoxides with polyethylene glycol (238 grams per mole) with the release of one ethanol molecule.
[0023] FIG. 3 is a sketch illustrating the reaction of metal with polyethylene glycol (238 grams per mole) with the release of hydrogen.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a sketch illustrating production of a preferred polyether alcohol that may generate a tertiary base.
[0025] FIG. 5 ( a ) is a gas chromatogram of sunflower oil methyl esters; FIG. 5 ( b ) is a gas chromatogram of sunflower oil methyl esters reacted according to example 11; FIG. 5 ( c ) is a gas chromatogram of sunflower oil methyl esters reacted according to counter example 13.
[0026] FIG. 6 ( a ) is an IR spectrum of PEG 300; and FIG. 6 ( b ) is an IR spectrum of PEG 300 after formation of strong base catalyst as described in example 1.
[0027] FIG. 7 ( a ) is an NMR spectrum of PEG 300; FIG. 6 ( b ) is an NMR spectrum of PEG 300 after formation of strong base catalyst as described in example 1.
[0028] FIG. 8 is a bar graph showing materials consumed in production of CLA using (a) the catalyst used in Reaney et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,104) (Example 13) and (b) the catalyst according to the present invention (Example 11).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] In the current art a strong base catalyst is produced by the reaction of a weaker base with a polyether alcohol using the art of the present invention to greatly increase the activity of the base. In a preferred process the base of the current invention is prepared by dissolving an amount of alkali hydroxide of a Group I alkali earth metal in the polyether alcohol and then heating the mixture under vacuum ( FIG. 1 ). One skilled in the art would recognize that the same end product could result from a number of other potential process steps ( FIGS. 2,3 ). For example, addition of the Group I alkali metal directly to poly ether alcohol would liberate hydrogen and result in the same product base material ( FIG. 3 ). Although this process is less desirable due to the production of explosive hydrogen and reactive metals it is a part of the current art. The catalyst may also be produced by the reaction of alkoxides derived by reaction of Group I alkali metals with lower alkanols ( FIG. 2 ). The alkoxides produce catalyst of the same efficacy but again they are highly sensitive to inactivation by water.
[0030] The polyether alcohol is chosen because of its low toxicity, its stability during storage and its ready ability to form an alkoxide by reaction with base. Once formed the polyether alcohol base can be used in a number of reactions to displace alkoxides of the lower alcohols in similar applications.
[0031] Formation of the catalyst may be determined by the loss of water, alcohol or hydrogen depending on the source of base used in catalyst synthesis. The accurate measurement mass loss during the synthesis can indicate the formation of the catalyst. The production of the catalyst increases the viscosity of the catalyst solution in polyether alcohol. Furthermore, the catalyst can be identified by changes both the IR and NMR spectrum of the solution. Using combined analytical methods it may be shown that the catalyst produced by reaction of aqueous alkali hydroxide solution, solid alkali hydroxide, alkoxide of lower alcohol and metal were equivalent in chemical composition.
[0032] It is known by those skilled in the art that the strength of alkoxide catalysts may be affected by the nature of the alcohol. It is known, for example, that primary alcohols such as ethanol form weaker base than do tertiary alcohols like tertiary butanol. The current art includes bases made from polyether alcohols that contain primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols. FIG. 4 depicts the synthesis of a polyether alcohol that contains a tertiary alcohol group.
[0033] The catalyst is also characterized by its unique ability to facilitate difficult chemical reactions under mild conditions. In a preferred reaction the catalyst was utilized to conjugate the fatty alkyl esters of a linoleic acid rich oil to form conjugated linoleic acid. The conditions of this reaction are mild and produce and advantageous isomer mixtures. Reaction progress in determining the efficacy of the catalyst was determined by gas liquid chromatography and NMR spectroscopy. FIG. 5A is the chromatogram of alkyl methyl esters produced from sunflower oil. FIG. 5B is chromatogram of the product of reaction of sunflower ethyl esters according to example 11 and FIG. 5C is a chromatogram of the reaction of sunflower methyl esters according to counter example 13. As may be concluded from FIG. 5 the reaction in the current art produces primarily the preferred 9Z,11E-octadecadienoic acid and 10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid isomeric mixture leaving little unreacted material and little of the trans, trans CLA isomer.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Peg 300 and Metal Hydroxides
[0034] Hydroxides of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium (solution) and cesium (monohydrate) were placed in round bottom flasks and heated to 110° C. in a vacuum oven under vacuum (29″) for 1 hour. With the exception of the rubidium hydroxide in solution there was no appreciable weight change. The rubidium solution lost a small amount of water. The color of the hydroxides remained constant with the treatment. Similarly polyethylene glycol 300 MW was placed in a round bottomed flask at the same time under vacuum. The peg solution remained clear and colorless throughout the treatment. The flasks were then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. There was no change in weight of the solution. The infrared spectrum of the PEG and the PEG alkylates were recorded on samples placed between KBr salt blocks both before and after the vacuum treatment. The NMR spectra of the PEG and the PEG alkylates were recorded on samples both before and after treatment. The spectra of the untreated and treated materials were highly similar. Vacuum treatment alone did not change the composition of the PEG solution.
[0035] To each flask containing a metal hydroxide was added 10 times the weight of PEG 300. The flasks were placed in the vacuum oven at room temperature and the temperature was raised slowly to 110° C. All of the solutions boiled vigorously under the heat and vacuum treatment. All of the solutions turned to amber and then to dark brown. After vacuum treatment for 18 hours most boiling had ceased and no residual solid catalyst was present in the solutions of KOH, rubidium and cesium. Significant amounts of undissolved sodium catalyst remained in the bottom of the flask. The weight of each flask was recorded after the vacuum treatment. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions prepared under treatment with heat and vacuum were recorded by placing the samples between salt blocks. It was observed that each sample lost weight as would be consistent with the formation of an alkali metal alkoxide of the polyethylene glycol. The vacuum treatment substantially increased the viscosity of the PEG solution as well.
[0036] The FT-IR showed significant changes in peak absorbance. The primary difference was the lessening or disappearance of the hydroxyl absorbance at 3364 cm −1 ( FIG. 6 ) Most other peaks were unaffected but due to light scattering there was some degradation of the baseline. The NMR spectra of PEG 300 revealed a complex peak at 3.63 ppm (area=10) and a broad singlet at 2.9 ppm (area=1; FIG. 7 ). PEG 300 is a mixture of isomers with an average molecular weight of 300 grams per mole. The expected area ratio of peaks at 3.63 to 2.9 ppm is 13:1. This indicates that the PEG 300 signal is as it is expected. However, the NMR spectra of solutions of metal hydroxides indicated that the singlet at 2.9 ppm had disappeared.
[0037] Taken as a whole the weight loss on reaction and the disappearance of the IR and NMR peaks at 3364 cm −1 and 2.9 ppm respectively are consistent with the formation of PEG alkylate.
Example 2
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Peg 300 and Aqueous Solutions of Metal Hydroxides
[0038] Two grams of a solution of 45% potassium hydroxide in water or two grams of a solution of 50% sodium hydroxide in water were added to 13 grams of polyethylene glycol 300 in a pre-weighed round bottom flask containing a Teflon coated stirring bar. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) with stirring until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0039] Weight loss was recorded for PEG and each base separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss of greater than the sum of the loss of the two separate ingredients was assumed to be due to formation of the strong base PEG alkylate catalyst with the concomitant loss of water. FT-IR showed a decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of PEG solutions observed at 3365 cm −1 .
Example 3
Strong Base Catalyst is not Produced by Reaction of Peg 300 and Potassium Carbonate
[0040] Either 0.95 g of sodium carbonate or 1.41 g of potassium carbonate were added to 13 grams of polyethylene glycol 300 in a pre-weighed round bottom flask containing Teflon coated stirring bar. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0041] Weight loss was recorded for PEG and each base separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss was minor and it was assumed that the strong base metal alkylate catalyst did not form. FT-IR showed a no decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of PEG solutions at 3365 cm −1 .
Example 4
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Peg 300 and Potassium Ethoxide
[0042] One gram of freshly prepared potassium ethoxide was added to 13 grams of polyethylene glycol 300 in a pre-weighed round bottom flask containing a Teflon coated stirring bar. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0043] Weight loss was recorded for PEG and potassium ethoxide separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss of greater than the sum of the loss of the two separate ingredients was assumed to be due to formation of the PEG alkylate strong base catalyst with the concomitant loss of alcohol. FT-IR showed a similar decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of PEG solutions at 3365 cm −1 consistent with the formation of the catalyst.
Example 5
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Peg 300 and Metal
[0044] Polyethylene glycol 300 (13 g) was added to a pre-weighed round bottom flask containing a Teflon coated stirring bar. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. Subsequently either 0.41 g of sodium or 0.70 g of potassium was added to the dry PEG. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0045] Weight loss was recorded for PEG and each base separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss of greater than the sum of the loss of the two separate ingredients was assumed to be due to formation of the strong base catalyst with the concomitant loss of hydrogen. FT-IR showed a similar decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of PEG solutions at 3365 cm −1 consistent with the formation of the catalyst.
Example 6
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Calcium Hydroxide and Potassium Carbonate
[0046] Potassium carbonate (1.41 g) and calcium hydroxide (0.66 g) were added to 13 grams of polyethylene glycol 300 in a preweighed round bottom flask containing a teflon coated stirring bar. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the heat and vacuum sources and the weight of the flask recorded. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0047] Weight loss was recorded for PEG and each base separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss of greater than the sum of the loss of the two separate ingredients was assumed to be due to formation of the strong base catalyst with the concomitant loss of alcohol. FT-IR showed a similar decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of PEG solutions at 3365 cm −1 .
Example 7
Preparation of Strong Base Catalyst from Polyether Alcohols and Metal Hydroxides
[0048] Potassium hydroxide (1.0 g) was added to 13 grams of each of several polyether alcohols in a preweighed round bottom flask containing a teflon coated stirring bar. The polyether alcohols included PEG 200, 300, 1500, 3000, Brij 92, Brij 72 and polypropylene glycol. The flask was equipped with a vacuum adaptor and heated to 130° C. under vacuum (0.01 mm Hg) until all bubbling ceased. The flask was then removed from the evaporator and the weight of the flask recorded. The FT-IR spectra of the basic solutions were recorded by placing the samples between KBr windows.
[0049] Weight loss was recorded for each polyether alcohol and each base separately and the weight loss of the reactants together was also determined. Weight loss of greater than the sum of the loss of the two separate ingredients was assumed to be due to formation of the strong base catalyst with the concomitant loss of water. FT-IR showed a similar decrease in the characteristic OH stretch absorbance of solutions between at 3365 cm − .
Example 8
Preparation of Safflower Oil Methyl Esters with Potassium Hydroxide
[0050] Methyl esters were prepared for other examples of strong base isomerization. Methyl ester of safflower oil was prepared by alkali catalyzed alcoholysis with methanol. The base alcohol catalysis solution was prepared by mixing 200 grams of methanol with 10 grams of potassium hydroxide in a covered glass beaker. Mixing of the solid hydroxide was facilitated by adding a Teflon coated magnet and placing the beaker on a stirrer hot plate. Once the mixture was dissolved 120 grams of the solution was transferred to 1000 grams of safflower oil. This mixture was agitated for 1 hour at room temperature using a Teflon coated bar magnet on a stirrer hotplate. After 1 hour the contents of the reaction vessel were transferred to a 2 liter glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate for 4 hours. After 4 hours the lower layer containing primarily glycerin was drained and set aside the upper layer was returned to a beaker for a second stage of reaction.
[0051] The second stage of reaction was accomplished by adding the remaining catalyst alcohol solution (90 g) to the safflower oil and agitating with a Teflon stirring bar as described above for 1 hour. The reaction contents were transferred to a 2 liter glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate overnight. After settling the lower layer containing glycerin, potassium hydroxide and alcohol was removed. The upper layer was placed on a rotary evaporator to substantially remove all remaining methanol. After the alcohol was removed the methyl ester was filtered on a glass fiber filter to remove residual glycerol catalyst and soaps. The residual material was used as a safflower oil methyl ester substrate in further reactions.
Example 9
Preparation of Safflower Oil Ethyl Esters with Potassium Hydroxide
[0052] Ethyl ester of safflower oil was prepared by alkali catalyzed alcoholysis with ethanol. The base alcohol catalysis solution was prepared by mixing 350 grams of ethanol with 10 grams of potassium hydroxide in a covered glass beaker. Mixing of the solid hydroxide was facilitated by adding a Teflon coated magnet and placing the beaker on a stirrer hot plate. Once the mixture was dissolved it was transferred to 1000 grams of flax oil. This mixture was agitated for 2 hours at room temperature using a Teflon coated bar magnet on a stirrer hotplate. After 2 hours the contents of the reaction vessel were transferred to a 2 liter glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate for 4 hours. The lower layer containing glycerin unreacted ethanol and potassium hydroxide was removed. The upper layer was placed on a rotary evaporator to substantially remove all remaining ethanol. After the alcohol was removed the ethyl ester was filtered on a glass fiber filter to remove residual glycerol, catalyst and soaps. The residual material was used as a safflower oil ethyl ester substrate in further reactions.
Example 10
Preparation of Flax Oil Methyl Esters with Potassium Hydroxide
[0053] Methyl ester of flax oil was prepared by alkali catalyzed alcoholysis with methanol. The base alcohol catalysis solution was prepared by mixing 200 grams of methanol with 10 grams of potassium hydroxide in a covered glass beaker. Mixing of the solid hydroxide was facilitated by adding a Teflon coated magnet and placing the beaker on a stirrer hot plate. Once the mixture was dissolved 120 grams of the solution was transferred to 1000 grams of flax oil. This mixture was agitated for 1 hour at room temperature using a Teflon coated bar magnet on a stirrer hotplate. After 1 hour the contents of the reaction vessel were transferred to a 2 liter glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate for 4 hours. After 4 hours the lower layer containing primarily glycerin was drained and set aside the upper layer was returned to a beaker for a second stage of reaction.
[0054] The second stage of reaction was accomplished by adding the remaining catalyst alcohol solution (90 g) to the safflower oil and agitating with a Teflon stirring bar as described above for 1 hour. The reaction contents were transferred to a 2 liter glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate overnight. After settling the lower layer containing glycerin, potassium hydroxide and alcohol was removed. The upper layer was placed on a rotary evaporator to substantially remove all remaining methanol. After the alcohol was removed the methyl ester was filtered on a glass fiber filter to remove residual glycerol catalyst and soaps. The residual material was used as a flax oil methyl ester substrate in further reactions.
Example 11
Isomerization of Safflower Methyl Ester with Peg 300 Potassium Alkylate
[0055] One hundred grams of safflower methyl ester (prepared according to example 8) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 1) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 12
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Potassium Alkylate Prepared from Aqueous Potassium Hydroxide and Peg 300
[0056] One hundred grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 2) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 13
No Isomerization of Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 and Potassium Carbonates
[0057] One hundred grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium carbonate in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was not altered by the treatment. This is consistent with the observation that no PEG alkylate catalyst formed using the metal carbonate as a source of base.
Example 14
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Potassium Alkylate Prepared from Potassium Ethoxide and Peg 300
[0058] One hundred grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 4) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 15
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Potassium Alkylate Prepared from Potassium Metal and Peg 300
[0059] One hundred grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 4) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 16
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Cesium Alkylate Prepared from Cesium Hydroxide Monohydrate and Peg 300
[0060] Twenty five grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 13 g of PEG cesium alkylate (prepared according to example 1) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 17
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Rubidium Alkylate Prepared from Rubidium Hydroxide Solution and Peg 300
[0061] Twenty five grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 3.25 g of PEG rubidium alkylate (prepared according to example 1) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm had disappeared and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 18
Isomerization of Flax Methyl Ester with Peg 300 Potassium Alkylate
[0062] One hundred grams of flax methyl ester (prepared according to example 8) was added to 13 g of PEG potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 1) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that a complex pattern of new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared between 5.5 and 6.5 ppm.
Example 19
Isomerization Safflower Ethyl Esters with Peg 300 Tetramethyl Ammonium Alkylate Prepared from Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Solution and Peg 300
[0063] Tetramethyl ammonia hydroxide (488 mg) and PEG 300 (3.0 g) were mixed in a round bottom flask under vacuum at 110° C. for 2 hours. Twenty five grams of safflower ethyl ester (prepared according to example 9) was added to 3.25 g of the PEG tetramethyammonium alkylate in the flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm had disappeared and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm.
Example 20
Isomerization of Safflower Methyl Ester with Polypropylene Glycol (Arcol® Polyol PPG 425) Potassium Alkylate
[0064] One hundred grams of safflower methyl ester (prepared according to example 8) was added to 13 g of polypropylene glycol potassium alkylate (prepared according to example 7) in a round bottom flask. A Teflon coated stirring bar was added to the flask to afford agitation. The flask was placed in a constant temperature bath and stirred while it was held at 110° C. Vacuum (27″) was applied to the flask through a condenser. The reaction mixture bubbled vigorously for the first minutes due to the release of methanol. After two hours the vacuum was released and a sample of the reaction mixture was taken and added to deuterated chloroform in an NMR sample tube. The 400 MHz NMR spectrum was recorded. It was found that the methylene interrupt signal normally found at 2.78 ppm was greatly diminished and that new signals attributable to conjugated lipids had appeared at 6.25, 5.90, and 5.60 ppm. | Methods for preparation of a unique superbase catalyst consisting of mixture of polyether alcohol and base in which a polyether alcohol superbase is produced by the removal of water or alcohol at elevated temperatures to form a polyether alcohol alkoxide. The superbase catalyst is useful in, but not limited to, quantitative isomerization of alkyl esters of vegetable oils containing interrupted double bond systems to yield esters with conjugated double bond systems. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-133319 filed on Jul. 2, 2015.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The present invention relates to a droplet driving control device and an image forming apparatus.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] In an apparatus which ejects droplets of ink etc. to form an image, such as an inkjet continuous feed printer, a driving frequency for controlling timing of droplet ejection is set in accordance with image formation speed.
SUMMARY
[0006] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a droplet driving control device comprising: an output unit which outputs, at droplet ejection timing, a driving waveform for ejecting each droplet at a requested droplet ejection period, the waveform being a reference driving waveform including a plurality of pulse signals which can be set ON or OFF individually; a determination unit which determines whether the droplet ejection period has to be changed or not; an adjustment unit which sets each of the pulse signals of the reference driving waveform ON or OFF selectively based on a determination result of the determination unit to adjust the reference driving waveform to an adjusted driving waveform; and a droplet ejection control unit which ejects each droplet by use of the adjusted driving waveform adjusted by the adjustment unit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a main configuration portion of a droplet ejection type recording apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment;
[0009] FIGS. 2A and 2B are a plan view of a head according to the first exemplary embodiment and a sectional view showing an internal structure of each droplet ejecting element in the head respectively;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control portion according to the first exemplary embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing blocked parts of period adjustment control in the control portion according to the first exemplary embodiment;
[0012] FIGS. 5A and 5B are a droplet ejection driving frequency to droplet speed fluctuation amount characteristic graph and a droplet ejection period to droplet speed fluctuation amount characteristic graph respectively;
[0013] FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D are a reference driving waveform graph and waveform graphs after selection of pulses, a timing chart of adjusted driving periods, a timing chart of each steady driving period, and a timing chart showing a positional relation between the adjusted driving periods and the steady driving period, according to the first exemplary embodiment, respectively;
[0014] FIGS. 7A and 7B are flow charts showing the flows of droplet ejection period adjustment control routines according to the first exemplary embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing details of correction of a driving waveform in a step 120 of FIG. 7 ;
[0016] FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D are a reference driving waveform graph and waveform graphs after selection of pulses, a timing chart of adjusted driving periods, a timing chart of each steady driving period, and a timing chart showing a positional relation between the adjusted driving periods and the steady driving period, according to a second exemplary embodiment, respectively;
[0017] FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are a reference driving waveform graph and waveform graphs after selection of pulses, a timing chart of adjusted driving periods, and a timing chart of each steady driving period (continuous ejection mode), according to a third exemplary embodiment, respectively; and
[0018] FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are a reference driving waveform graph and waveform graphs after selection of pulses, a timing chart of adjusted driving periods, and a timing chart of each steady driving period (continuous ejection mode+adjustment of each continuously ejected droplet landing position), according to a fourth exemplary embodiment, respectively.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0000]
10 droplet ejection type recording apparatus
12 ( 12 A, 12 B) image forming portion
14 control portion
16 paper supplying roll
18 discharging roll
20 feeding roller
22 ( 22 A, 22 B) head driving portion
24 ( 24 A, 24 B) head
26 ( 26 A, 26 B) drying device
24 AC, 24 AM, 24 AY, 24 AK head
24 BC, 24 BM, 24 BY, 24 BK head
30 droplet ejecting member
32 nozzle
34 pressure chamber
36 supply port
38 common passage
40 diaphragm
42 piezoelectric element
40 A common electrode
42 A individual electrode
50 CPU
52 RAM
54 ROM
56 I/O
58 bus
60 microcomputer
62 user interface (UI)
64 hard disk (HDD)
66 communication I/F
70 image formation instruction information accepting portion
72 image information importing portion
74 designated image formation speed information extracting portion
76 reference driving waveform reading portion
78 droplet ejection period calculating portion
80 determination portion
82 image formation speed setting range storage portion
84 droplet ejection period to droplet speed characteristic table storage portion
86 reference driving waveform storage portion
88 image formation pattern generating portion
90 change necessity information generating portion
92 driving waveform correcting portion
94 driving instruction portion
95 acceptance portion
96 pulse selecting portion
97 ON/OFF pattern table storage portion
98 ejection period adjusting portion
99 ejection execution control portion
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
First Exemplary Embodiment
Outline of Apparatus
[0066] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main configuration portion of a droplet ejection type recording apparatus 10 as an example of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment.
[0067] For example, the droplet ejection type recording apparatus 10 is provided with two image forming portions 12 A and 12 B, a control portion 14 , a paper supplying roll 16 , a discharging roll 18 , and a plurality of feeding rollers 20 . The two image forming portions 12 A and 12 B can form images on opposite surfaces of a paper sheet P in one feeding.
[0068] In addition, the image forming portion 12 A is provided with a head driving portion 22 A as an example of a droplet ejection control unit. Further, the image forming portion 12 A includes heads 24 A and a drying device 26 A.
[0069] Similarly, the image forming portion 12 B is provided with a head driving portion 22 B as an example of a droplet ejection control unit. Further, the image forming portion 12 B includes heads 24 B and a drying device 26 B.
[0070] Incidentally, there is a case where indication of a suffix “A” and a suffix “B” at the ends of signs may be omitted below when it is not necessary to distinguish between the image forming portion 12 A and the image forming portion 12 B and between common members included in the image forming portion 12 A and the image forming portion 12 B.
[0071] The control portion 14 drives a not-shown paper feeding motor to control rotation of the feeding rollers 20 which are, for example, connected to the paper feeding motor through a mechanism of gears etc.
[0072] A long paper sheet P is wound as a recording medium around the paper supplying roll 16 . The paper sheet P is fed in a direction of an arrow A (paper feeding direction) in FIG. 1 in accordance with rotation of the feeding rollers 20 .
[0073] Upon acceptance of image information, the control portion 14 controls the image forming portion 12 A based on color information for each pixel of an image contained in the image information. Thus, the image corresponding to the image information is formed on one image formation surface of the paper sheet P.
[0074] Specifically, the control portion 14 controls the head driving portion 22 A. The head driving portion 22 A drives the heads 24 A connected to the head driving portion 22 A in accordance with droplet ejection timings instructed from the control portion 14 , so as to eject droplets as an example of droplets from the heads 24 A and form the image corresponding to the image information on the one image formation surface of the fed paper sheet P.
[0075] Incidentally, the color information for each pixel of the image included in the image information includes information expressing the color of the pixel uniquely. In the first exemplary embodiment, assume that the color information for each pixel of the image is represented by respective concentrations of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), or black (K). Another representation method for expressing the colors of the image uniquely may be used.
[0076] The heads 24 A include four heads 24 AC, 24 AM, 24 AY and 24 AK corresponding to the four colors, i.e. the Y color, the M color, the C color and the K color, respectively. Droplets of the corresponding colors are ejected from the respective heads 24 A.
[0077] The control portion 14 controls the drying device 26 A to dry the droplets of the image formed on the paper sheet P to thereby fix the image to the paper sheet P.
[0078] Then, the paper sheet P is fed to a position opposing to the image forming portion 12 B in accordance with rotation of the feeding rollers 20 . On this occasion, the paper sheet P is turned inside out and fed so that the other image formation surface different from the image formation surface on which the image has been formed by the image forming portion 12 A can face the image forming portion 12 B.
[0079] The control portion 14 also executes, on the image forming portion 12 B, similar control to the aforementioned control on the image forming portion 12 A. Thus, an image corresponding to the image information can be formed on the other image formation surface of the paper sheet P.
[0080] The heads 24 B include four heads 24 BC, 24 BM, 24 BY and 24 BK corresponding to the four colors, i.e. the Y color, the M color, the C color and the K color, respectively. Droplets of the corresponding colors are ejected from the respective heads 24 B.
[0081] The control portion 14 controls the drying device 26 B to dry the droplets of the image formed on the paper sheet P to thereby fix the image to the paper sheet P.
[0082] Then, the paper sheet P is fed to the discharging roll 18 and wound around the discharging roll 18 in accordance with rotation of the feeding rollers 20 .
[0083] Incidentally, the configuration of the apparatus for forming images on front and back surfaces of a paper sheet P in one feeding starting at the paper supplying roll 16 and ending at the discharging roll 18 has been described as the droplet ejection type recording apparatus 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is however a matter of course that the droplet ejection type recording apparatus 10 may be a droplet ejection type recording apparatus for forming an image on a single surface.
[0084] In addition, ink as an example of a droplet includes water-based ink, oil-based ink serving as ink containing a solvent which can be evaporated, ultraviolet-curable type ink, etc. However, assume that water-based ink is used in the first exemplary embodiment. When it is mentioned as “ink” or “droplet” simply in the first exemplary embodiment, it may imply “water-based ink” or “water-based ink droplet”.
(Head 24 )
[0085] As shown in FIG. 2A , each of the heads 24 applied to the image forming portion 12 has droplet ejecting members 30 which are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the head. Incidentally, the longitudinal direction of the head is a direction intersecting with a feeding direction of the paper sheet P (a direction of an arrow A in FIG. 2A ), and may be referred to as main scanning direction. In addition, the feeding direction of the paper sheet P (the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 2A ) may be referred to as sub-scanning direction.
[0086] The layout of the droplet ejecting members 30 is not limited to a single array line in the main scanning direction. In some dot pitch (resolution), a plurality of array lines of droplet ejecting members 30 provided in the sub-scanning direction may be arrayed two-dimensionally in accordance with predetermined rules so that ejection timing in each array line can be controlled in accordance with the array line pitch and feeding speed of the paper sheet P.
[0087] As shown in FIG. 2B , the droplet ejecting members 30 are provided with nozzles 32 and pressure chambers 34 corresponding to the nozzles 32 respectively.
[0088] A supply port 36 is provided in each of the pressure chambers 34 . The pressure chambers 34 are connected to a common passage (common passage 38 ) through the supply ports 36 .
[0089] The common passage 38 has a role of receiving supply of ink from an ink supply tank (not shown) as an ink supply source and distributing the received supply of the ink to the respective pressure chambers 34 .
[0090] A diaphragm 40 is attached to an upper surface of a ceiling portion of the pressure chamber 34 in each droplet ejecting member 30 . In addition, a piezoelectric element 42 is attached to the upper surface of the ceiling portion of the pressure chamber. The diaphragm 40 is provided with a common electrode 40 A. The piezoelectric element 42 is provided with an individual electrode 42 A. When a voltage is selectively applied between the individual electrode 42 A of the piezoelectric element 42 and the common electrode 40 A, the selected piezoelectric element 42 is deformed so that a droplet can be ejected from the nozzle 32 and new ink can be supplied from the common passage 38 to the pressure chamber 34 .
[0091] Each of the head driving portions 22 ( 22 A and 22 B) is controlled by the control portion 14 (see FIG. 1 ) based on the image information to generate a driving signal for applying a voltage to each of the individual electrodes 42 A of the piezoelectric elements 42 independently.
[0092] To eject each droplet, image formation speed (droplet ejection period) which can guarantee designated image quality can be set in a predetermined setting range (particularly with a maximum image formation speed Vmax as an upper limit).
[0093] Incidentally, a lower limit of the setting range is not particularly limited. Theoretically, it will go well as long as the lower limit of the setting range is a positive number (a number larger than 0). In addition, the setting may include one or both of paper feeding speed and the resolution in addition to the image formation speed. The term “image formation speed” which will be referred to simply may include one of the droplet ejection period, the paper feeding speed and the resolution, or all combinations of two or more of the droplet ejection period, the paper feeding speed and the resolution, but do not include any combination incompatible with circumstances.
[0094] When there is a change in the setting of the image formation speed, frequency control (droplet ejection period control) is executed on each of the heads 24 by the head driving portion 22 .
[0095] As shown in FIG. 3 , the control portion 14 is equipped with a microcomputer 60 . The microcomputer 60 is provided with a CPU 50 , an RAM 52 , an ROM 54 , an I/O 56 , and a bus 58 . The bus 58 such as a data bus or a control bus connects the CPU 50 , the RAM 52 , the ROM 54 and the I/O 56 to each other.
[0096] A user interface (UI) 62 , a hard disk (HDD) 64 , and a communication I/F 66 which is performed by radio (or cable) are connected to the I/O 56 . In addition, a device I/F 68 which serves as a connection terminal to any of external devices (the head driving portions 22 and the drying devices 26 in the first exemplary embodiment) is connected to the I/O 56 .
[0097] Here, in a specific high-frequency band exceeding the upper limit (Vmax) which can guarantee the image quality, droplet speed or a droplet amount fluctuates in accordance with residual pressure vibration (see a frequency band fm in FIG. 5A and a period range width Tm in FIG. 5B ) of each piezoelectric element 42 . Therefore, the image formation speed is limited to the setting range (upper limit) which is not affected by the pressure vibration.
[0098] In other words, at an image formation speed exceeding a frequency corresponding to the maximum image formation speed Vmax serving as the upper limit, a landing position of the droplet on the paper sheet P or the size of the landed droplet varies to thereby lower the image quality.
[0099] On the other hand, in the first exemplary embodiment, control for suppressing the fluctuation in the droplet speed or the droplet amount is constructed in the frequency band in which the droplet speed or the ink droplet amount fluctuates (the specific high-frequency band exceeding the frequency corresponding to the maximum speed Vmax).
[0100] That is, in the first exemplary embodiment, period adjustment control is executed in the following control procedures in the control portion 14 and the head driving portion 22 .
[0101] (Control Procedure 1) When a droplet ejection frequency (droplet ejection period) is determined in accordance with the image formation speed which is set to exceed the upper limit of the setting range, determination is made as to whether residual pressure vibration is less than ±5% or not, based on FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B .
[0102] (Control Procedure 2) As shown in FIG. 6A , a pulse 1 or a pulse 2 is suitably selected (ON/OFF) in a reference driving waveform of a reference driving waveform period (Tf 0 ) including the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms are generated.
[0103] As shown in FIG. 6A , the reference driving waveform has the period Tf 0 (reference driving waveform period). The reference driving waveform is a waveform in which the pulse 1 of a droplet ejection time T 1 is outputted in a rising edge, and the pulse 2 of a droplet ejection time T 3 is then outputted after a lapse of an interval time T 2 .
[0104] Here, there is a case where a pulse signal (see a dotted line in FIG. 6A ) which is set to have a width of a time T 4 and is convex reversely to the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 may be outputted immediately after the pulse 2 .
[0105] In the reference driving waveform in FIG. 6A , the pulse signal of the aforementioned dotted line portion is intended to reduce vibration caused by droplet ejection. In other words, since the pulse signal is unnecessary in view of droplet ejection, it is designated by the dotted line in FIG. 6A .
[0106] Incidentally, although the pulse of the dotted line portion for reducing the vibration is not shown in FIG. 6B , FIG. 6C and FIG. 8 which will be described later, it is preferable that practical driving waveforms are used as driving waveforms including the pulses of the dotted line portions.
[0107] In the first exemplary embodiment, each of the droplet ejection times T 1 and T 3 is equal to a time Tc/2. The interval time T 2 between the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 is a time Tc/4. The time T 4 of the pulse for reducing the vibration is set as a time Tc. As shown in FIG. 5B , the time Tc is a period of fluctuation with respect to a requested value of the droplet speed so as to be consistent with the reference driving waveform period Tf 0 .
[0108] Here, the pulse 1 (P 1 ) or the pulse 2 (P 2 ) is selected (ON/OFF) in the reference driving waveform in FIG. 6A . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms can be generated.
[0109] Incidentally, in the first exemplary embodiment, as an example for generating each of the driving waveforms, the reference driving waveform is outputted to the head driving portion 22 from the control portion 14 regardless of the condition of the control procedure 1, and then, the pulse 1 or the pulse 2 is selected to be ON/OFF in the head driving portion 22 based on the condition of the control procedure 1.
[0110] (Control Procedure 3 “not Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0111] A driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF and the pulse 2 is set ON in the reference driving waveform and a driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set ON and the pulse 2 is set OFF in the reference driving waveform are generated and outputted alternately. Thus, a period Tf 1 shorter by (Tc/4)×n than the droplet ejection period Tf 0 and a period Tf 2 longer by (Tc/4)×n than the designated droplet ejection period Tf 0 are repeated (see FIG. 68 ). Incidentally, Tc is the period for the residual pressure vibration in FIG. 5B so as to be consistent with Tf 0 . In addition, n is an odd number among integers. In the first exemplary embodiment, the relation n=3 is established (that is, ±3Tc/4).
[0112] As a result, the periods are shifted from the designated period Tf 0 by ±3Tc/4 respectively. Accordingly, the period for the residual pressure vibration is secured to be less than ±5% and the designated period Tf 0 is secured in the entire period (see FIG. 6D ).
[0113] (Control Procedure 4 “Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0114] A single driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF and the pulse 2 is set ON in the reference driving waveform is generated and outputted. Thus, the droplet ejection period Tf 0 is maintained (see FIG. 6C ).
[0115] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing blocked parts of period adjustment control in the control portion 14 for suppressing fluctuation in the droplet speed or the droplet amount in control concerned with ejection control of a droplet from each droplet ejecting member 30 . Incidentally, the respective blocked parts of the functional block diagram of FIG. 4 do not limit the hardware configuration of the control portion 14 .
[0116] An image formation instruction is accepted from the UI 62 (see FIG. 3 ) by an image formation instruction information accepting portion 70 . The image formation instruction information accepting portion 70 is connected to an image information importing portion 72 and a designated image formation speed information extracting portion 74 .
[0117] The image information importing portion 72 imports image information from the communication I/F 66 or the HDD 64 (see FIG. 3 ) based on the image information importing instruction received from the image formation instruction information accepting portion 70 , and sends the imported image information to a reference driving waveform reading portion 76 .
[0118] A reference driving waveform storage portion 86 is connected to the reference driving waveform reading portion 76 . Upon acceptance of the image information from the image information importing portion 72 , the reference driving waveform reading portion 76 reads a reference driving waveform from the reference driving waveform storage portion 86 and sends the read reference driving waveform to an image formation pattern generating portion 88 .
[0119] By the image formation pattern generating portion 88 , an image formation pattern (presence/absence of droplet ejection based on main scanning and sub-scanning) is generated based on the image information and an ejection period, and sent to a driving instruction portion 94 . The driving instruction portion 94 serves as an example of an output unit.
[0120] On the other hand, designated image formation speed (which may include paper feeding speed and/or resolution) is extracted from the image formation instruction information by the designated image formation speed information extracting portion 74 . The extracted image formation speed is sent to a droplet ejection period calculating portion 78 and a determination portion 80 . The determination portion 80 serves as an example of a determination unit.
[0121] By the droplet ejection period calculating portion 78 , a droplet period (droplet ejection period) is calculated based on the image formation speed accepted from the designated image formation speed information extracting portion 74 , and sent to the determination portion 80 . Incidentally, although the calculation result may be a droplet ejection frequency (a reciprocal number of the period), it is assumed here that the period is calculated in conformity with FIG. 5B .
[0122] An image formation speed setting range storage portion 82 and a droplet ejection period to droplet speed characteristic data table storage portion 84 are connected to the determination portion 80 . Determination about the following two conditions is made by the determination portion 80 .
[0123] (Determination 1) Determination is made as to whether the designated image formation speed is within a setting range or not (particularly exceeds a maximum speed Vmax as an upper limit or not)
[0124] (Determination 2) Determination is made as to whether fluctuation in droplet speed is within a permissible range or not (for example, less than ±5% shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B or not). Incidentally, the determination 2 may be made when the designated image formation speed exceeds the setting range in the determination 1.
[0125] The determination result made by the determination portion 80 is sent to a change necessity information generating portion 90 . Adjustment necessity information required for selection of the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 included in the reference driving waveform is generated by the change necessity information generating portion 90 .
[0126] The change necessity information generating portion 90 is connected to a driving waveform correcting portion 92 .
[0127] The driving waveform correcting portion 92 executes correction of each landing position on a paper sheet P. The correction is an event occurring in the case where determination has been made that the ejection period has to be adjusted and the ejection period has been adjusted. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8 , the driving waveform is corrected to thereby change the droplet speed for ejecting a droplet from each nozzle 32 (see FIG. 2B ).
[0128] The driving waveform correcting portion 92 is connected to the driving instruction portion 94 .
[0129] The image formation pattern generated by the image formation pattern generating portion 88 and the adjustment necessity information (including correction information added if necessary) are sent to the head driving portion 22 (see FIG. 1 ) by the driving instruction portion 94 .
[0130] The image formation pattern and the adjustment necessity information (including the correction information of the droplet speed added if necessary) are accepted by an acceptance portion 95 of the head driving portion 22 .
[0131] The adjustment necessity information is extracted and sent to a pulse selecting portion 96 by the acceptance portion 95 .
[0132] An ON/OFF pattern table storage portion 97 is connected to the pulse selecting portion 96 .
[0133] As shown in FIG. 4 , a table indicating the relation between adjustment necessity and ON/OFF patterns of the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 is stored in the ON/OFF pattern table storage portion 97 .
[0134] By the pulse selecting portion 96 , the pulse 1 and/or the pulse 2 included in the reference driving waveform are/is selected based on the ON/OFF pattern table, and sent to an ejection period adjusting portion 98 . The ejection period adjusting portion 98 serves as an example of an adjustment unit.
[0135] A reference driving waveform which is an image formation pattern is extracted from the acceptance portion 95 by the ejection period adjusting portion 98 .
[0136] Therefore, when adjustment is determined to be unnecessary as an adjustment necessity determination result, a single driving waveform with a steady ejection period Tf 0 in which the pulse 1 is set ON and the pulse 2 is set OFF is generated by the ejection period adjusting portion 98 .
[0137] On the other hand, when adjustment is determined to be necessary as an adjustment necessity determination result, a driving waveform with an adjusted ejection period Tf 1 in which the pulse 1 is set OFF and the pulse 2 is set ON and a driving waveform with an adjusted ejection period Tf 2 in which the pulse 1 is set ON and the pulse 2 is set OFF are generated by the ejection period adjusting portion 98 .
[0138] An ejection execution control portion 99 serving as an example of a droplet ejection control unit is connected to the ejection period adjusting portion 98 to thereby execute ejection of each droplet based on an ejection period set as either the steady ejection period or one of the adjusted ejection periods.
[0139] An effect of the first exemplary embodiment will be described below in accordance with flow charts of FIGS. 7A and 7B .
[0140] FIG. 7A is the flow chart showing the flow of period adjustment control performed by the control portion 14 for suppressing fluctuation in droplet speed or droplet amount in control concerned with ejection control of a droplet from each droplet ejecting member 30 . FIG. 7B is the flow chart showing the flow of period adjustment control performed by the head driving portion 22 for suppressing fluctuation in droplet speed or droplet amount in control concerned with ejection control of a droplet from the droplet ejecting member 30 .
(Control on Control Portion 14 Side)
[0141] As shown in FIG. 7A , determination is made as to whether there is an image formation instruction or not in a step 100 . When the determination results in NO, the routine is terminated. In addition, when the determination results in YES in the step 100 , the routine goes to a step 102 in which image information is imported by the image information importing portion 72 . Then, the routine goes to a step 104 in which an image formation pattern is generated. Then, the routine goes to a step 106 .
[0142] In the step 106 , designated image formation speed information is extracted. Then, the routine goes to a step 108 .
[0143] In the step 108 , each droplet ejection period is calculated based on the image formation speed. Next, in a step 110 , image formation speed setting range information (table) is read from the image formation speed setting range storage portion 82 . The routine goes to a step 112 in which determination is made as to whether the image formation speed is within the setting range or not.
[0144] When the determination results in YES in the step 112 , the routine goes to a step 116 .
[0145] In addition, when the determination results in NO in the step 112 , conclusion is made that the image formation speed is out of the setting range. Then, the routine goes to a step 114 in which a “droplet ejection period to droplet speed” characteristic table is read from the “droplet ejection period to droplet speed” characteristic table storage portion 84 . Then, the routine goes to the step 116 .
[0146] In the step 116 , adjustment necessity information of the droplet ejection period depending on the image formation speed is generated.
[0147] That is, when the image formation speed is within the setting range, adjustment of the droplet ejection period is unnecessary (adjustment is unnecessary). When the image formation speed is out of the setting range and an error of the residual vibration is not less than ±5%, information indicating that the adjustment is necessary (adjustment is necessary) is generated.
[0148] In a next step 118 , determination is made as to whether correction of the driving waveform is necessary or not. That is, when determination is made that adjustment of the droplet ejection period is unnecessary, correction of the driving waveform is unnecessary. On the other hand, when determination is made that adjustment of the droplet period is necessary, it is necessary to correct the driving waveform using the droplet speed correspondingly to a deviation in the ejection timing.
[0149] Therefore, when determination is made that correction is necessary in the step 118 , the routine goes to a step 120 in which correction information of the driving waveform (correction of the droplet speed) is added to the adjustment necessity information (see FIG. 8 , and details will be given later). Then, the routine goes to a step S 122 .
[0150] On the contrary, when determination is made that correction is unnecessary in the step 118 , correction information is not added to the adjustment necessity information. Then, the routine goes to the step 122 .
[0151] In the step 122 , the image formation pattern information (the step 104 ), the adjustment necessity information (the step 116 ) and the correction information of the droplet speed if necessary (the step 120 ) are sent as driving instruction information to the head driving portion 22 . Then, the routine is terminated.
[0152] Incidentally, control of the head driving portion 22 which will be described below may be executed in a lump by the control portion 14 .
(Control on Head Driving Portion 22 Side)
[0153] As shown in FIG. 7B , determination is made in a step 150 as to whether a driving instruction has been accepted or not. When the determination results in NO, the routine is terminated.
[0154] In addition, when the determination results in YES in the step 150 , the routine goes to a step 152 in which adjustment necessity information is extracted from the driving instruction information. Then, the routine goes to a step 154 .
[0155] In the step 154 , a pulse ON/OFF pattern table is read from the pulse ON/OFF pattern table storage portion 97 . Next, the routine goes to a step 156 .
[0156] In the step 156 , a period kind (steady ejection period or adjusted ejection period) is determined based on the adjustment necessity information. Then, the routine goes to a step 158 .
[0157] When determination is made in the step 158 that the period kind is adjusted ejection period, the routine goes to a step 160 in which a reference driving waveform is read from the driving instruction information. Next, the routine goes to a step 162 in which an adjusted ejection period Tf 1 and an adjusted ejection period Tf 2 are generated based on the reference driving waveform with reference to the pulse ON/OFF pattern table. Then, the routine goes to a step 168 (see FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B ).
[0158] On the other hand, when determination is made in the step 158 that the period kind is steady ejection period, the routine goes to a step 164 in which a reference driving waveform is read from the driving instruction information. Next, the routine goes to a step 166 in which a steady ejection period Tf 0 is generated based on the reference driving waveform with reference to the pulse ON/OFF pattern table. The routine goes to the step 168 (see FIG. 6A and FIG. 6C ).
[0159] In the step 168 , droplet ejection is executed based on the generated ejection period or periods (the steady ejection period or the adjusted ejection periods). Then, the routine is terminated.
[0160] Here, correction of the driving waveform in the step 120 in FIG. 7A will be described in detail.
[0161] As shown in FIG. 8 , when the adjusted ejection periods Tf 1 and Tf 2 are generated for ejecting droplets, every second droplet is ejected earlier by a period (3Tc/4)×2 (see FIG. 6D ). When every second droplet is ejected earlier by a period (3Tc/4)×2, droplets ejected at the period Tf 2 can reach a paper sheet P earlier than droplets ejected at the period Tf 1 , as designated by dotted line positions in FIG. 8 . The paper sheet P is fed in a direction of an arrow A in FIG. 8 .
[0162] In this case, unstable fluctuation in ejection timing among droplets can be avoided due to the ejection timing control based on the period adjustment. However, for example, in accordance with some threshold for determining whether the image quality is good or poor, the image quality may be determined to be poor.
[0163] Therefore, correction is performed in such a manner that an ejection speed VTf 2 of the period Tf 2 whose ejection timing is earlier by the period (3Tc/4)×2 with respect to the period Tf 1 is made slower than an ejection speed VTf 1 of the period Tf 1 . The speed correction is set based on a distance (T.D. “Throw Distance”) between the nozzle and the paper sheet.
[0164] Due to the correction, the droplets ejected at the period Tf 2 are displaced to solid line positions from the dotted line positions in FIG. 8 on the paper sheet P so that an interval between adjacent ones of the droplets can be constant.
[0165] Incidentally, the invention is not limited to the case where one of the ejection speeds is adjusted to the other ejection speed. To describe in an extreme manner, the two speeds may be corrected so that the sum of added values of correction ratios can reach 100%.
[0166] For example, with reference to an intermediate point, the ejection speed VTf 1 of the period Tf 1 may be made slower by 50% of an amount to be corrected and the ejection speed VTf 2 of the period Tf 2 may be made faster by 50% of the amount to be correct.
Second Exemplary Embodiment
[0167] A second exemplary embodiment will be described below. Incidentally, in the second exemplary embodiment, the same portions as those in the first exemplary embodiment will be referred to by the same signs respectively and correspondingly, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0168] The second exemplary embodiment is characterized in the following point. That is, a period (Tf 1 ) shorter by 5Tc/4 than a steady ejection period Tf 0 (i.e. corresponding to a fluctuation period Tc) used as a reference and a period (Tf 2 ) longer by 5Tc/4 than the designated droplet ejection period Tf 0 are set as adjusted ejection periods Tf 1 and Tf 2 .
[0169] In the second exemplary embodiment, period adjustment control is executed in the following control procedures in a control portion 14 .
[0170] (Control Procedure 1) When a droplet ejection frequency (droplet ejection period) is determined in accordance with an image formation speed which is set to exceed an upper limit of a setting range, determination is made as to whether residual pressure vibration is less than ±5% or not, based on FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B .
[0171] (Control Procedure 2) As shown in FIG. 9A , a pulse 1 or a pulse 2 is suitably selected (ON/OFF) in a reference driving waveform of a reference driving waveform period (Tf 0 ) including the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms are generated.
[0172] As shown in FIG. 9A , the reference driving waveform has the period Tf 0 (reference driving waveform period). The reference driving waveform is a waveform in which the pulse 1 of a droplet ejection time T 1 is outputted in a rising edge, and the pulse 2 of a droplet ejection time T 3 is then outputted after a lapse of an interval time T 2 .
[0173] Here, there is a case where a pulse signal (see a dotted line in FIG. 9A ) which is set to have a width of a time T 4 and is convex reversely to the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 may be outputted immediately after the pulse 2 .
[0174] In the reference driving waveform in FIG. 9A , the pulse signal of the aforementioned dotted line portion is intended to reduce vibration caused by droplet ejection. In other words, since the pulse signal is unnecessary in view of droplet ejection, it is designated by the dotted line in FIG. 9A .
[0175] Incidentally, although the pulse of the dotted line portion for reducing the vibration is not shown in FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C , it is preferable that practical driving waveforms are used as driving waveforms including the pulses of the dotted line portions.
[0176] In the second exemplary embodiment, each of the droplet ejection times T 1 and T 3 is equal to a time Tc/2. The interval time T 2 between the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 is a time 3Tc/4. The time T 4 of the pulse for reducing the vibration is set as a time Tc. As shown in FIG. 5B , the time Tc is a period of fluctuation with respect to a requested value of a droplet speed so as to be consistent with the reference driving waveform period Tf 0 .
[0177] Here, the pulse 1 (P 1 ) or the pulse 2 (P 2 ) is selected (ON/OFF) in the reference driving waveform in FIG. 9A . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms can be generated.
[0178] Incidentally, in the second exemplary embodiment, as an example for generating each of the driving waveforms, the reference driving waveform is outputted to one of head driving portions 22 from the control portion 14 regardless of the condition of the control procedure 1, and then, the pulse 1 or the pulse 2 is selected to be ON/OFF in the head driving portion 22 based on the condition of the control procedure 1.
[0179] (Control Procedure 3 “not Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0180] A driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF and the pulse 2 is set ON in the reference driving waveform and a driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set ON and the pulse 2 is set OFF in the reference driving waveform are generated and outputted alternately. Thus, a period Tf 1 shorter by (Tc/4)×n than the droplet ejection period Tf 0 and a period Tf 2 longer by (Tc/4)×n than the designated droplet ejection period Tf 0 are repeated (see FIG. 9B ). Incidentally, Tc is the period for the residual pressure vibration in FIG. 5B so as to be consistent with Tf 0 . In addition, n is an odd number among integers. In the second exemplary embodiment, the relation n=5 is established (that is, ±5Tc/4).
[0181] (Control Procedure 4 “Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0182] A single driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF and the pulse 2 is set ON in the reference driving waveform is generated and outputted. Thus, the droplet ejection period Tf 0 is maintained (see FIG. 9C ).
[0183] As a result, the periods are shifted by ±5Tc/4 from the designated period Tf 0 . Accordingly, the period for the residual pressure vibration is secured to be less than ±5% and the designated period Tf 0 is secured in the entire period (see FIG. 9D ).
Third Exemplary Embodiment
[0184] A third exemplary embodiment will be described below. Incidentally, in the third exemplary embodiment, the same portions as those in the first exemplary embodiment will be referred to by the same signs respectively and correspondingly, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0185] The third exemplary embodiment is characterized in the following point. That is, a driving waveform for continuous ejection driving is used as a modification of the driving waveform for droplet ejection so that the problem (maintenance of quality at an image formation speed out of a permissible range) described in the first exemplary embodiment can be solved even when, for example, two “large droplets” are landed.
[0186] Incidentally, the continuous ejection driving is driving by which a plurality of droplets can be landed in one and the same position (strictly the positions which can be regarded as one and the same dot though not concentric because a paper sheet P is fed). In the aforementioned modification, two “large droplets” are landed on one and the same dot.
[0187] In the third exemplary embodiment, period adjustment control is executed in the following control procedures in a control portion 14 .
[0188] (Control Procedure 1) When a droplet ejection frequency (droplet ejection period) is determined in accordance with an image formation speed which is set to exceed an upper limit of a setting range, determination is made as to whether residual pressure vibration is less than ±5% or not, based on FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B .
[0189] (Control Procedure 2) As shown in FIG. 10A , a pulse 1 , a pulse 2 or a pulse 3 is suitably selected (ON/OFF) in a reference driving waveform of a reference driving waveform period (Tf 0 ) including the pulse 1 , the pulse 2 and the pulse 3 . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms are generated.
[0190] As shown in FIG. 10A , the reference driving waveform has the period Tf 0 (reference driving waveform period). The reference driving waveform is a waveform in which the pulse 1 of a droplet ejection time T 1 is outputted in a rising edge, the pulse 2 of a droplet ejection time T 3 is then outputted after a lapse of an interval time T 2 , and the pulse 3 of a droplet ejection time T 5 is then outputted after a lapse of an interval time T 4 .
[0191] Here, there is a case where a pulse signal (see a dotted line in FIG. 10A ) which is set to have a width of a time T 6 and is convex reversely to the pulse 1 , the pulse 2 and the pulse 3 may be outputted immediately after the pulse 3 .
[0192] In the reference driving waveform in FIG. 10A , the pulse signal of the aforementioned dotted line portion is intended to reduce vibration caused by droplet ejection. In other words, since the pulse signal is unnecessary in view of droplet ejection, it is designated by the dotted line in FIG. 10A .
[0193] Incidentally, although the pulse of the dotted line portion for reducing the vibration is not shown in FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C , it is preferable that practical driving waveforms are used as driving waveforms including the pulses of the dotted line portions.
[0194] In the third exemplary embodiment, each of the droplet ejection times T 1 , T 3 and T 5 is equal to a time Tc/2. The interval time T 2 between the pulse 1 and the pulse 2 is a time Tc/4. The interval time T 4 between the pulse 2 and the pulse 3 is a time Tc/2. The time T 6 of the pulse for reducing the vibration is set as a time Tc. As shown in FIG. 5B , the time Tc is a period of fluctuation with respect to a requested value of a droplet speed so as to be consistent with the reference driving waveform period Tf 0 .
[0195] Here, the pulse 1 (P 1 ), the pulse 2 (P 2 ) or the pulse 3 (P 3 ) is selected (ON/OFF) in the reference driving waveform in FIG. 10A . Thus, two kinds of driving waveforms can be generated. In the third exemplary embodiment, a driving waveform having a combination (P 2 and P 3 ) of the pulse 2 and the pulse 3 and a driving waveform having a combination (P 1 and P 3 ) of the pulse 1 and the pulse 3 are generated for “large droplet” use.
[0196] Incidentally, in the third exemplary embodiment, as an example for generating each of the driving waveforms, the reference driving waveform is outputted to one of head driving portions 22 from the control portion 14 regardless of the condition of the control procedure 1, and then, the pulse 1 , the pulse 2 or the pulse 3 is selected to be ON/OFF in the head driving portion 22 based on the condition of the control procedure 1.
[0197] (Control Procedure 3 “not Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0198] A driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF, the pulse 2 is set ON and the pulse 3 is set ON in the reference driving waveform and a driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set ON, the pulse 2 is set OFF and the pulse 3 is set ON in the reference driving waveform are generated and outputted alternately. Thus, a period Tf 1 shorter by (Tc/4)×n than the droplet ejection period Tf 0 and a period Tf 2 longer by (Tc/4)×n than the designated droplet ejection period Tf 0 are repeated (see FIG. 10B ). Incidentally, Tc is the period for the residual pressure vibration in FIG. 5B so as to be consistent with Tf 0 . In addition, n is an odd number among integers. In the third exemplary embodiment, the relation n=7 is established (that is, ±7Tc/4).
[0199] (Control Procedure 4 “Less than Range of ±5%”)
[0200] A single driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is set OFF, the pulse 2 is set ON and the pulse 3 is set ON in the reference driving waveform is generated and outputted. Thus, the droplet ejection period Tf 0 is maintained (see FIG. 10C ).
[0201] As a result, the periods are shifted by ±7Tc/4 from the designated period Tf 0 . Accordingly, the period for the residual pressure vibration is secured to be less than ±5% and the designated period Tf 0 is secured in the entire period.
[0202] Incidentally, although two “large droplets” have been shown as an example of continuous ejection in the third exemplary embodiment, the invention may be applied to continuous ejection of two or more droplets including “small droplets” and “intermediate droplets”.
Fourth Exemplary Embodiment
[0203] A fourth exemplary embodiment will be described below. Incidentally, in the fourth exemplary embodiment, the same portions as those in the third exemplary embodiment will be referred to by the same signs respectively and correspondingly, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0204] The fourth exemplary embodiment is characterized in the following point. That is, correction of a deviation in landing timing (correction of droplet speed in the first exemplary embodiment) is taken into consideration when each droplet is ejected in an adjusted ejection frequency in continuous ejection driving which has been described in the third exemplary embodiment.
[0205] As shown in FIG. 11A , a reference driving waveform applied in the fourth exemplary embodiment has the same time widths (T 1 to T 6 ) as the reference driving waveform (see FIG. 10A ) in the third exemplary embodiment.
[0206] The fourth exemplary embodiment is different from the third exemplary embodiment in the amplitude of a pulse 2 (voltage value). The pulse 2 is smaller in amplitude than a pulse 1 and a pulse 3 . Accordingly, at the pulse 2 , droplet speed is slower and landing timing is later correspondingly.
[0207] The pulse 2 is a pulse which is selected in an adjusted ejection period Tf 1 and not selected in an adjusted ejection period Tf 2 .
[0208] Therefore, when the ejection period does not have to be adjusted, a single driving waveform in which the pulse 1 is not selected is repeated as shown in FIG. 11C . Accordingly, droplet ejection speed is not affected but all the droplets are outputted at the same droplet speed.
[0209] On the other hand, when the ejection period has to be adjusted and the adjusted ejection period Tf 1 and the adjusted ejection period Tf 2 are outputted alternately, the driving waveform in which the pulse 2 is selected and the driving waveform in which the pulse 2 is not selected are outputted alternately. Accordingly, control consistent with the speed adjustment (see FIG. 8 ) according to the first exemplary embodiment is performed. As a result, the landing positions can be corrected.
[0210] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention defined by the following claims and their equivalents. | A droplet driving control device includes: an output unit which outputs, at droplet ejection timing, a driving waveform for ejecting each droplet at a requested droplet ejection period, the waveform being a reference driving waveform including a plurality of pulse signals which can be set ON or OFF individually; a determination unit which determines whether the droplet ejection period has to be changed or not; an adjustment unit which sets each of the pulse signals of the reference driving waveform ON or OFF selectively based on a determination result of the determination unit to adjust the reference driving waveform to an adjusted driving waveform; and a droplet ejection control unit which ejects each droplet by use of the adjusted driving waveform adjusted by the adjustment unit. | 1 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The subject matter of this Application relates to the invention of Application Ser. No. 306,921, filed Nov. 15, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,652, of common assignment.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally, this invention comprises a mixing method and system for liquids of widely different viscosities incorporating one or more perforated plates interposed in the line of flow of the liquids during their supply under pressure to conventional mixing apparatus of static design.
DRAWINGS
The following drawings detail a preferred embodiment of the invention and the physical principles of operation, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a partially schematic longitudinal sectional view of a preferred embodiment of apparatus constructed according to this invention for the mixing of two liquids of widely different viscosities in which three perforated plates in series were utilized in conjunction with a plurality of static mixer elements,
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a preferred design of perforated plate for the apparatus of FIG. 1,
FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views of second and third alternative designs of perforated plates utilized as elements for the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 to obtain an operational comparison with the FIG. 2 plate design, and
FIGS. 5-10, inclusive, are plan views of additional designs of perforated plates which were all tested and found to be of varying effectiveness as hereinafter reported.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Continuous mixing of widely different viscosity liquids, and gases with liquids, is difficult to achieve. A wide variety of dynamic (power-driven) mixers have been employed in this service, including multiple-blade turbines, multistage helical ribbon designs, torpedo designs, and two-shaft, wiped surface mixers. Such mixers are relatively expensive and, for very intimate mix uniformities, require lengthy periods of operation and high power consumption.
Recently, various designs of static mixers have become available commercially, these including warped deflection plate types such as those disclosed in Armeniades et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,992 and Potter U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,444, which operate by successive stream division followed by a folding recombination of ingredients. The static mixers are less expensive in first and operational costs but they, too, have been less than completely effective, especially unless used in large numbers in series flow circuit.
I have now discovered that very substantial mixing advantages can be obtained by interposing one or more perforated plates in series flow disposition with respect to the fluids to be mixed while they are fed under pressure to static mixing apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of system according to my invention, utilizing static mixer elements of the general design taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,286,992 and 3,635,444 supra, comprises a tubular flow conduit 10 which is supplied at entrance and 10a with the high viscosity liquid to be mixed from a pump or other pressure source not shown. The low viscosity liquid component is supplied under pressure through a line 11 terminating in a discharge outlet 11a oriented generally axially of conduit 10 with its vent opening downstream of the flow of high viscosity liquid.
In the system of FIG. 1 three perforated plate elements 12a, 12b and 12c are utilized in series arrangement spaced approximately one conduit 10 diameter apart, with the first perforated plate, 12a, disposed approximately 0.5 to 2.0 conduit 10 diameters downstream from the vent 11a of conduit 11. For convenience in mounting the perforated plates 12a, 12b and 12c, flanged sections of conduit were assembled in prolongation one with another as shown in FIG. 1 to provide the continuous flow conduit 10 in the plate region.
Deferring description of the plate perforation details until later, the static mixer elements disposed in seriatim one with another and with perforated plates 12a, 12b and 12c consist of 20 to 30 warped plate pairs 15a, 15b to 15n, 15n', alternate members of each pair having opposite directions of twist, mounted fixedly in place within conduit 10 with the entrance end of the first static mixer pair preferably spaced not more than about 10 conduit 10 diameters downstream from the last perforated plate element 12c. After traversing the last plate pair, 15n, 15n', the intimately combined liquid mixture discharges from the system via outlet 10b.
Turning now to FIG. 2, an actual design of perforated plate element 12, which in this instance was a 1inch diameter perforated area size (surrounded by an annular flange section of 2 inch outside diameter), consisted of a 1/8inch thick steel plate provided with 85 holes 13 each 0.07 inch in diameter spaced uniformly at center-to-center distances of 0.100 inch ±0.017 inch taken parallel with respect to lines inclined 60° counter-clockwise from the horizontal and 0.0867 inch ±0.015 inch taken normally with respect to lines drawn 60° counter-clockwise with respect to the horizontal. The twelve holes denoted 14 were each approximately tangent to the inside wall of conduit 10 which, for the design portrayed, had a 1 inch inside diameter.
A less preferred alternate design of perforated plate 12' is detailed in FIG. 3, wherein the construction is generally the same as for FIG. 2, consisting again of a 1/8inch thick steel plate provided, in this instance, with 43 holes 13', 0.07 inch diameter, distributed in alternate rows along the ordinate at 0.134 inch hole-to-hole vertical spacing and at 60° inclination 0.116 inch ±0.020 inch spacing. Six holes 14' were disposed tangent to the inside wall of the conduit 10 which, for this design, also was 1 inch inside diameter.
An oversize perforated plate 12 inches is detailed in FIG. 4, this being a 2 inch diameter perforated area (4 inches outside diameter flange size) 1/8 inch thick steel plate provided with 241 drilled holes, each 0.07 inch diameter, spaced 0.120 inch between hole centers and 0.104 inch ±0.01 inch between adjacent parallel rows of hole centers the six holes denoted 14 inches being tangent to the supply conduit 10 which, in this instance, was 2 inches inside diameter. This perforated plate was provided immediately downstream with a 4 inch transition length conventional pipe reducer, not shown, constricting the flow to 1 inch prior to introduction into static mixers 15a, 15b - 15n, 15n' for the comparative performance tests hereinafter reported.
Additional designs of perforated plates (of thicknesses reported in TABLE I) had hole dispositions and sizes as indicated in FIGS. 5-10, respectively, as to which all perforated area diameters were 1 inch diameter, some plates being of 2 inches outside diameter flange design, whereas others were secured, in place in the flow conduit by cementing around the peripheries, none of this detail being further provided because it has no bearing on the operation of the perforated plates.
The mixing action of apparatus constructed according to this invention, using glass conduits 10 permitting visual observation of the mixing obtained, appears to be as follows: Perforated plates 12, 12' and 12" divide the single stream of low viscosity liquid into many smaller streams and thus greatly increase the interfacial area between the low and high viscosity liquids. Downstream of each perforated plate 12 there is created a multiplicity of wakes in which the pressure is lower than that in the liquid more remote from these wakes. The low viscosity liquid preferentially accumulates in the flow wakes and, moreover, the lower viscosity liquid appears to be able to move laterally across the higher viscosity liquid streamlines within the wakes. The lower viscosity liquid leaves the wakes in sheets or threads where streamlines of high viscosity liquid meet again downstream of the wakes.
From the foregoing, it will be understood that perforated plates 12 provide preliminary break-up, subdivision and distribution of low viscosity liquids in high viscosity liquids. Completion of the mixing of the liquids to obtain a uniform effluent, when they are miscible or soluble, is dependent on molecular diffusion plus the action of subsequent mixing devices such as the static laminar mixers hereinafter described.
My tests have revealed the following:
1. The plan view shapes of holes 13, 13', 13" can be widely varied: circular, square, triangular, hexagonal and other configurations being all operable; however, circular holes are preferred because of ease of fabrication.
2. Hole diameters can be anywhere in the range of about 1/4 to 1/100 of the conduit 10 diameter; however, 1/8 to 1/32 is preferred.
3. The ratio of total cross-sectional area of all holes 13, 13', 13" divided by the cross-sectional area of conduit 10 can be from about 1/20 to about 3/4, but 1/3 to 1/2 is preferred.
4. The number of plates 12 utilized can range from one to about ten, with two to four being preferred.
5. Plates 12 can be disposed all upstream of the mixers, or they can be interspersed between successive mixer elements, such as the ones denoted 15a, 15b - 15n, 15n', FIG. 1. If the plates 12 are located upstream from the mixers, the spacing between adjacent plates should be in the range of about 1/4 to about 10 conduit 10 diameters, with 1-3 diameters being preferred.
6. The supply of lower viscosity liquid to be mixed can be via one or more holes in a conventional distributor ring, but a single injection tube such as that detailed at 11, 11a, FIG. 1, is preferred.
7. The distance between the lower viscosity liquid injection point and the first downstream perforated plate 12 should be in the range of about 1/8 to 10 or more conduit 10 diameters, with 1/2 to 2 diameters preferred.
8. Mixing according to this invention is effective where the proportion of low viscosity liquid to be mixed with high viscosity liquid is in the volumetric flow ratio range of about 0.01 to 0.2, and where the ratio of viscosities of high viscosity liquid to low viscosity liquid is in the range of about 4 × 10 3 to 10 6 .
A vertically oriented test apparatus was constructed generally resembling that shown in FIG. 1. Corn syrup (Corn Products Co. Code 1132) was utilized as the high viscosity liquid to be blended, this material having a viscosity of 1050 poises at 20° C. and 450 poises at 30° C. Water dyed with 0.5 gm of methylene blue for each 5 gallons volume was utilized as the low viscosity liquid.
The corn syrup was stored in a 30 gal. Binks tank under air pressure, which could be adjusted to vary the corn syrup flow rate. The syrup was supplied to the apparatus via an 18 inch long horizontal 1 inch dia. pipe, thence through a pipe tee and vertically upwards for 12 inches of 1 inch dia. pipe to the first perforated plate 12.
The dyed water was stored in a 5 ga. Binks tank under air pressure. A rotameter and needle valve were used to adjust and measure the water flow rate. Water was injected into the syrup through a 1/8 inch outside diameter, 1/16 inch inside diameter tube pointed upwards (i.e., downstream) near the center of the syrup flow pipe 10. The point of water injection was 1 inch to 2 inches upstream of the first perforated plate 12. After the sixteenth test tabulated in the following TABLE III, i.e., after Test 2-7-14, the feed tanks were wrapped with 1/4 inch tubing for circulation of constant temperature water, and then encased in insulation.
Perforated plates 12, disposed transverse conduit 10, were followed downstream by static spiral mixers of the Kenics Static® design, which generally resembled those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,992 supra, arranged in series sequence up conduit 10. Four, four-element edgesealed Kenics® modules were employed in most of the mixing tests herein reported. The mixer elements were fabricated from stainless steel, whereas conduit 10 was 1 inch i.d. glass.
The effluent flow rate discharged from outlet 10b was determined by weighing the effluent for a measured period of time.
The characteristics of the perforated plates 12 utilized are given in TABLE I, with typical hole arrangements shown in FIGS. 2-10, inclusive. The characteristics of any screens employed in supplementation are given in TABLE II.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________PERFORATED PLATE DIMENSIONS__________________________________________________________________________Hole diameter, in. 1/4 3/16 1/8 3/32 1/16 0.070 0.070 0.070 0.070Drawing FIGURE 5 7 8 9 10 3 not shown 2 4Number of holes 3 7 19 19 19 43 61 85 241Plate diam.*, in. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2Fraction open area 0.19 0.25 0.30 0.17 0.07 0.21 0.30 0.44 0.30Thickness, in. 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 0.04 0.04 0.04 1/8__________________________________________________________________________ *Diameter of circle tangent to outer holes.
TABLE II______________________________________WIRE SCREENS______________________________________Mesh 35 60 150 270Wire diameter, in. 0.012 0.009 0.0026 0.0016Weave Plain Plain Plain TwillOpening, in. 0.017 0.008 0.004 0.002Fraction open area 0.34 0.21 0.37 0.32______________________________________
TABLE III__________________________________________________________________________ Syrup Effluent Total Temp (° C.) Per Cent Rate (lbs/hr) ApparatusTest Viscosity, Water in Viscosity, Pressure Drop, ΔP,No. Equipment poises Effluent poises p.s.i. Observations__________________________________________________________________________1-6-3020 Kenics.sup.® (31) 0.6 (42) -- A few 1/16"Mixer elements 385 -- water globulesin a 1" glass were observedpipe. in the effluent.No perforatedplates.2-6-30 " 2.1 (47) -- 21 1/8"-1/4" water globules in the effluent.1-7-3In series, in 1" (31) 9.8 (42.7) 10 A few 1/8" waterglass pipe: 385 12 globules wereA perforated plate observed afterthick provided 10 Kenics.sup.®with 3-1/4" holes elements, but(FIG. 5) + 4 mostly striations.Kenics.sup.® elements + No water globulesa perforated plate and only a fewwith 7 1/8" holes trace striations(FIG. 6) + 4 observed afterKenics.sup.® elements + 20 Kenics.sup.®a perforated plate elements.with 19 1/8" holes(FIG. 8) + 12Kenics.sup.® elements.2-7-3In series, in 1" (31) 2.5 (41.4) 14.5 No water globulesglass pipe: 385 94 and very attenuatedA perforated plate striations observed1/8" thick provided after 14 Kenics.sup.®with 3-1/4" holes elements. No stria-(FIG. 5) + 4 tions seen after 20Kenics.sup.® elements + Kenics.sup.® elements.a perforated platewith 7 1/8" holes(FIG. 6) + 4Kenics.sup.® elements +a perforated platewith 19 1/8" holes(FIG. 8) + 12Kenics.sup.® elements.1-7-5In series in a 1" 15.3 (27.5) 48 Water spread acrossglass pipe: all of down streamOne perforated plate side of plate.thick, provided with Channeling was ob-19 1/16" (FIG. 10) served thru first 8holes + 16 Kenics® Kenics.sup.® elements.elements. Water globules re- formed. Extreme striations and water globules after 16 elements.2-7-5In series in 15 (27) 48 Same as Testa 1" glass pipe: #1-7-5, except thatOne perforated water globules didplate 1/8" thick pro- not reform.vided with 19 1/16"(FIG. 10) holes + 4Kenics.sup.® elements +one perforatedplate with 19 1/8"holes (FIG. 8) +12 Kenics.sup.®elements.1-7-7In series in a 10 (42) 19 Same observations1" glass pipe: as Test 1-7-5.Three perforatedplates having (1)3 1/4" holes (FIG.5), (2) 7 3/16" holes(FIG. 7), (3) 191/8" holes (FIG. 8)+ 16 Kenics®elements.1-7-114 Perforated 400 (ap- 8.1 (51.6) 13 Water layer seenplates each hav- prox.) downstream ofing 19 1/8" each plate.holes (FIG. 8), Channeling occurredplates spaced 1" after first 4apart + 16 Kenics.sup.® elements.Kenics.sup.® No channeling inelements. 9th-12th elements. Weak striations ob- served after 12th element.2-7-11 " 400 (ap- 2.2 (48.5) 16 No segregated water prox.) 150 seen after 4th plate. No channeling in Kenics.sup.® ele- ments. No stria- tions observed after 8th element.3-7-11Same apparatus (26) 2.4 (43.3) 17 Same observationsas Test 1-7-11, 400 (ap- 177 as Test 2-7-11.except that 3/32" prox.)holes (FIG. 9) weresubstituted.4-7-11Same apparatus 400 (ap- 8.4 (50.2) 12 No channeling inas Test 1-7-11, prox.) 22 Kenics.sup.® elements.except that 3/32" Very weak stria-holes (FIG. 9) tions observed - were substituted. after 12th element.1-7-12 " (26) 8.8 (47.5) 16 Same observations 400 (ap- 24 as Test 4-7-11. prox.)2-7-12 " (27) 9.6 (23.4) 9 Same observations 400 (ap- 20 as Test 4-7-11, prox.) except that syrup fragments were de- tected in 12th ele- ment effluent.1-7-13Same apparatus (26) 9.2 (45.8) 13 1/8" water layer ob-as Test 3-7-11, 400 (ap- 25 served on back-except that 61 prox.) sides of 3rd and 4th0.07" holes were plates. There wassubstituted. some channeling in first 4 Kenics.sup.® elements. 1/32"-1/16" syrup fragments ob- served after 12 elements.1-7-14Same apparatus (25) 2.3 (45.7) 19 1/16" wateras Test 3-7-11, 400 (ap- 138 layer on thirdexcept that 61 prox.) plate but none0.07" holes were on fourth.substituted. No channeling in Kenics.sup.® elements. No syrup frag- ments after 12 elements.2-7-14Same apparatus 400 (ap- 2.3 (46.5) 15 No water onas Test 1-7-14, prox.) first plate,except that per- <1/8" onforated plates third and nonewere spaced on fourth. No6" apart. channeling in Kenics.sup.® ele- ments. No striations or syrup fragments after 8th element.1a-8-3Four plates (20) 7.8 (25.4) 9 Water layers onwith 19 1/8" 1046 27 4 plates.holes in each Channeling after(FIG. 8) 4th plate and forfollowed by 16 4 Kenics.sup.® ele-Kenics.sup.® ments. No syrupelements. fragments after 16 Kenics.sup.® elements. Occa- sional water glob- ules after 16 Kenics.sup.® elements.2-8-3Four plates (20) 9.1 (46.0) 17 Less channeling,with 61 0.07" 1046 22 less pulsing,dia. holes in smaller scale non-each + 16 uniformities thanKenics.sup.® those in Testelements. 1a-8-3. 1/32" syrup fragments after 16 Kenics.sup.® elements. No globules.1c-8-3Same as (20) 4.5 (26.6) 9 No pulsing above1a-8-3 1046 60 4th plate. Stria- tions but no syrup fragments after 16th Kenics.sup.® element. No water globules after 16th element.1-8-25Three per- (20) 11.5 (48.8) 17 Good water distri-forated 1046 -- bution across whole ofplates, 4" of first 2" plate.separation, 1/4" water layer on241 0.07" 1st plate, 1/8" onholes in each 2d, none on 3d. No(FIG. 4), 2" dia. water pulsing abovetubing + 16 2d plate. 1/32"Kenics.sup.® elements syrup fragments andin 1" pipe. Kenics.sup.® elements.1-9-27Four 43 hole (20) 7.1 (26.2) 36 Relatively uniform(0.07" dia) -- water distributionplates, spaced past plates, without2" apart, pulsing above anyfollowed by plate. No channel-16 Kenics® ing in Kenics.sup.®elements. elements. A few 1/16"-1/8" syrup fragments after 16 elements.2-9-27Same as Test (20) 6.8 (27.3) 24 Some maldistribu-1-9-27 except 1046 -- tion on 1st plate,85 0.07" holes cleared up after 3dused in all plate. Manyplates. 1/32-1/16" syrup fragments after 16th Kenics.sup.® element. Syrup jets above 1st plate didn't "snake" as much as those in Test 1-9-27.4-9-27Four 85 hole (20) 33.2 (25.1) 15 Pulsing through 3d(0.07" dia) 1046 -- plate. Plug flowplates followed between 1st 4 plates.by 4 43 hole Channeling between(0.07" dia) 5th-8th plates andplates, followed first 6 Kenics.sup.®by 4 Kenics.sup.® elements. Screenselements then A refined syrup frag-70 mesh screen ments to smallerwith elements + size. Many stria-screen repeated tions and some syruptwice more and fragments after 16terminated with elements.4 Kenics.sup.®elements.5-9-27Same as Test (20) 42 (19.6) -- No syrup fragments4-9-27 1046) -- after 16 Kenics.sup.® elements, but many striations. Flow in elements was erratic, with some backflow due to settling syrup agglomerates.__________________________________________________________________________
Study of the recorded observations for Tests 3-6-30 and 1-7-3 in TABLE III shows that the addition of perforated plates interspersed between Kenics® mixing elements provided more complete mixing than Kenics® elements alone.
A similar improvement in performance was noted in Tests 2-7-3 and 2-7-11 relative to Test 2-6-30 at a lower water rate.
The mixing superiority of multiple perforated plates over a single perforated plate is shown by comparision of the results of Tests 2-7-5 and 1-7-5.
Smaller 0.070 inch dia. holes provided better mixing than 1/8 inch dia. holes. Occasionally, the last Kenics® element effluent would show a water globule(Test 1a-8-3) when the larger holes were used, but never when the smaller 0.070 inch holes were used (Test 2-8-3).
When screens were disposed after the 4th, 8th and 12th Kenics® elements, the syrup fragments were reduced to a smaller size (Test 4-9-27). Also, a higher ratio of water to corn syrup could be tolerated. as shown by Tests 1-10-10, 3-10-10 and 2-10-18. | A mixing method and system for the thorough intermixing of liquids of widely different viscosities in which there is interposed at least one perforated plate in the line of flow ahead of a conventional static mixer. | 3 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a connector for connecting the elements of an electric installation to a test device, in particular in the case of the equipment of a protective installation, without having to remove the elements from the installation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When the proper operation of an electric installation e.g. a protective installation is to be checked, it is necessary to carry out a number of operations in a well-determined order. An example of a protective device is that which comprises:
A current transformer supplying an image of the line current of the protected devices, a device for measuring this image current and a trigger circuit operating if the measurement of the image current exceeds a threshold. It is necessary, in order to check the trigger circuit to:
(A) Inhibit the trigger circuit;
(B) Short-circuit the current transformer;
(C) Open the current measuring circuit;
(D) Connect the trigger and current measuring circuits to a test equipment.
These various phases of the checking operation must be carried out successively.
Devices have already been proposed which comprise a blade contact box which is connected to the installation to be checked and in which test plugs designed to break some contacts and to establish others for test purpose can be fitted.
But this type of contact is fragile and can become dirty and hence lead to faulty operation.
One aim of the invention is to produce a device enabling the testing of all types of protection without disturbing the operation of the installation. Another aim of the invention is to produce a device which is equipped with contact parts having high specific pressures, which are insensitive to foreign bodies which may enter the test device; they ensure excellent operation of the test device as well as avoiding any disturbance in the installation to be checked itself.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a connector for connecting a protective device of an electric installation during operation to a test device without removing it. Said connector comprises a first half connected to the electric installation and a second half, which is portable, connected to a test device. The two halves carry an assembly of pairs of co-operating elements, one element of each pair being installed on one of the halves, the other element on the other of the halves. The one element emerging by a height from a mating surface of its half, the other element being inside its half at a depth from a mating surface of its half. It is possible to bring the second half into contact with the first half, bringing said mating surfaces against each other; a position in which switching operations are effected by the pairs of co-operating elements to enable a test. These pairs of co-operating elements are of two types: a first type in which the two elements are contact parts constituted, the one by a socket, the other by a pin and a second type in which one of the elements is a bridge member disposed, in the first half, on the terminals of a normally-closed bridge contact and the other of the elements is a protruding finger installed in the second half and wherein the difference between said height and said depth of the elements of a pair is not the same for all the pairs of co-operating elements and produces time shifts between the switching operations effected by bringing said mating surfaces against each other.
Preferably, all the sockets are carried by the first half and all the pins are installed on the second half. Further, all the protruding fingers have the same height and advantageously all the sockets are disposed at the same depth.
In particular, the invention provides a device wherein the co-operating elements of the second half form a stack of identical stages each of which is disposed perpendicularly to the stack and comprises the succession of a short pin, a protruding finger, a first long pin and a second long pin, these two pins being interconnected and wherein the co-operating elements of the first half (sockets and bridge members) are disposed in rows corresponding to the stages of the second half.
In one of the rows of the first half, the sockets of one row, co-operating with a short pin and a first long pin of the second half can in particular be connected to the terminals of the bridge contact of the same row; the row can be of two types: the deep type and the shallow type, the deep type being able to form groups of successive rows in each of which the sockets co-operating with a second long pin of the second half are interconnected, so as to enable short-circuiting of the sockets co-operating with a first long pin, through the long pins of the second half.
In the application of the test connected to a protective installation, the bridge contacts of the rows having deep bridge members are installed between a current supply source and the relay system which it supplies, while the bridge contacts of the rows having shallow bridge members are installed in the triggering circuit.
The second connector half is constituted so as to facilitate the gripping thereof, e.g. it is in the form of a handle for carrying, according to requirements, against various first connector halves, only one second half being used for checking the operation of the elements of several installations, whose connections with their first connector half are established as a function of the constitution of the elements to be checked.
The invention further provides means rendering it impossible to apply said faces of the first and second connector halves against each other by simple pushing of the second half against the first half, the halves being brought closer together or further apart by a nut and bolt system. Thus excessive manipulation speed and ensuing errors which could arise are avoided. Further, this nut and bolt system advantageously has non-return operation, i.e. the slope of the thread is sufficiently gentle for it to be impossible to tighten or untighten the connector under the effect of forces tending to move the two halves towards or away from each other.
Embodiments of the invention are described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an elevation in partial section showing two halves of a test connector;
FIG. 2 is an end view of the plug or male half of the connector, i.e. the half shown on the left of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an end view of the receptacle or female half of the connector, i.e. the half shown on the right of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a partial horizontal cross-section of a stage of the plug;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are horizontal cross-sections of the receptacle showing different varieties of row;
FIGS. 7a and 7b are variants of FIGS. 5 and 6;
FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the co-operating elements of a row of a receptacle and of a stage of a plug;
FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the co-operating elements of two rows of a receptacle and of two stages of a plug enabling a short-circuit to be established;
FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a relay showing a mode of application of the invention; and
FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing the application of the invention to the relay of FIG. 10.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a test connector with its two halves brought close together but not yet touching each other. On the right of the figure, a first connector half 1 (which forms a part of a plug-in module of an assembly of plug-in modules of an installation which is not shown) is shown with its top part sectioned along a column of sockets 2 (only one of which has been shown) and with its bottom part, sectioned along a column of bridge contacts 3 (only one of which has been shown). The connections of these elements with the remainder of the installation have not been shown.
On the left of the figure, a second connector half 4 which can be in the form of a moulded handle is connected by connections which are not shown to various items of test equipment which have not been shown. This half has three columns of pins (e.g. column 7) projecting from a face 5 which is applied to a face 6 of the first half 1. The second connector half 4 also has a column 8 of push fingers 9 which can be formed by moulding simultaneously with the handle itself.
A system comprising a bolt 10 on the plug half 4 and a nut 11 on the receptacle half 1 makes it possible to finish bringing the halves 1 and 4 together or to separate them by turning a knob 12 integral with the bolt 10. When the surfaces 5 and 6 are against each other, the fingers 9 have opened the bridge contacts by pushing against their bridging members and the pins 7 are in the sockets 2 with which they co-operate, a position in which all the necessary switching operations for the tests are effected.
In FIG. 1, all the sockets 2 are at the same depth P1 behind the surface 6 while the pins 7 do not all have the same length, i.e. do not project the same height H1 from the surface 5. In contrast, the fingers 9 all have the same length, i.e. all protrude to the same height H2 from the surface 5 while the bridge members of the bridge contacts 3 can be at various depths P2 behind the surface 6 which are not the same for all the bridge contacts.
It will be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 that connector halves 1 and 4 comprise four columns of elements: two columns of pins 13 and 14 placed on either side of the column of fingers 8 and another column of pins 15, for the plug half 4; two columns of sockets 16, 17 placed on either side of a column of bridge contacts 18 and another column of pins 19 for the receptacle half 1.
But from a functional point of view, the elements must be considered as forming a vertical stack of horizontal stages in the plug 4 and a vertical stack of horizontal rows in the receptacle 1.
In FIG. 4, it is seen that each plug stage is formed by a short pin 20 (column 13), a finger 9, a first long pin 21 and a second long pin 22, these two long pins being electrically interconnected.
A row of the receptacle half 1 can comprise four co-operating elements, although some rows need not include all of the elements. These elements are: a socket 23 intended to co-operate with a short pin 20, a socket 24 intended to co-operate with a first long pin 21, a socket 25 intended to co-operate with a second long pin 22 and a bridge contact whose bridge member is resiliently biased to be normally applied against the terminals of the bridge contact and which is moved away therefrom by the push-finger 9 which it engages when the plug 4 is fitted in the receptacle 1. The two terminals of the bridge contact are electrically connected respectively to the socket 23, and to the socket 24.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show two such rows. These rows differ in the depths at which are located the bridge members 27 and 29 of their respective bridge contacts 26 and 28. The bridge member 27 of FIG. 5 is nearer to the front surface 6 of the receptacle 1 and consequently has generally S-shaped contacts 261 and 262 while the bridge member 29 of FIG. 6 is further from the surface 6 and has generally flatter contacts 281 and 282. The type of row in FIG. 5 will be designated by the reference numeral 30 and the type of row in FIG. 6 will be designated by the reference numeral 31, while a stage of the plug will be designated by the reference numeral 32.
FIG. 7a shows another embodiment of a row of sockets of the receptacle. The elements common to this figure and to FIG. 5 have been designated by the same reference numerals. The embodiment of FIG. 7a differs from the one in FIG. 5 in that the bridge member 27 is integral with an insulating push rod 270 fixed by a circlip 271.
The push rod can have two lengths: a long length and a short length. The long length has been shown in FIG. 7a (270), and the short length (270') has been shown in the partial view in FIG. 7b.
This embodiment makes it possible to fit the receptacle 1 with sockets all placed at the same depth in relation to the surface 6, if so desired.
The action of the finger 9 on the push rod 270 having a longer length will be equivalent to the action of this push rod on the shallower bridge members 27 of FIG. 5.
The action of the finger 9 on the push rods 270' having a short length will be equivalent to the action of this push rod on the deeper bridge members 29 of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 shows that when a stage 32 enters a deep bridge row 31, the first long pin 21 comes into contact with the socket 24 before the finger 9 pushes back the bridge member 29 and opens the contact 28 and that finally, the short pin 20 comes in contact with the socket 23.
The terminals 281 of a group of several consecutive deep bridge rows 31 can be short-circuited by the pins 21 and 22 entering respectively into the sockets 24 and 25. For that purpose, the sockets 25 of the rows of the group are connected together by a vertical strap (see FIG. 9).
FIG. 9 shows this embodiment in the case of a group of two rows 31, 31'. The sockets 25, 25' of the rows in question are electrically interconnected by a connection 33 so that the pins 21, 21' and 22, 22' of the stages in question 32, 32' interconnect the sockets 24, 24' previously to the opening of the contacts 28, 28'.
Besides the connector halves 1 and 4, the device can also include a cover fitted with short-circuit elements to ensure the protection of the receptacle 1 against accidental operation and to ensure the continuity of its electric circuits.
The fingers can be brought together to form a single plate, the receptacle 1 then having its push rods in a groove for receiving the plate.
By way of example, a connector may have the following characteristics:
16 rows of contacts per half.
Receptacle 1: on each row bridge members with push rods 2 or 7 mm from the front surface.
Plug 4: on each stage two pins having a length of 14 mm from the front surface, one pin having a length of 9 mm from the front surface, one finger having a length of 16 mm from the front surface.
It will be shown how the device can be used to test the operation of a relay such as the one in FIG. 10. This relay, shown in the rectangle formed by dashed lines in FIG. 10, comprises a winding 35 fed across a current transformer 37 by the circuit 36 to be protected. When the operation threshold of the relay is reached, a normally open contact 38 closes a trigger circuit 39 such as a circuit-breaker.
To test the relay, it is necessary to: Inject current in its winding 35; but to carry out this test, it is necessary previously to have:
Disconnected the trigger circuit 39;
Short-circuited the current transformer 37;
Opened the circuit of the winding 35.
Only then is it possible to switch on a test circuit such as the one schematically illustrated by the rectangle 40 and comprising an auxiliary current source and measuring equipment.
The connector of the invention makes it possible to produce this succession of operations with only one plugging in operation. To do this, it is necessary to effect previously the following connections:
Three rows of contacts are used as shown in FIG. 11.
The pins of a plug 4 shown under the bracket A are connected to the test equipment 40 and the sockets of a receptacle 1 shown under the bracket B are connected to the relay 10 whose operation is to be tested.
The pins A1, A2, A4, A5, A7 and A8 are long and are connected electrically in pairs as shown in FIG. 11.
The pins A3, A6 and A9 are short.
The sockets B2 to B9 co-operate respectively with the pins A2 to A9, and the sockets B4 and B7 are electrically interconnected.
A bridge member C1 is shallow (or is fitted with a long push rod) and is disposed across the sockets B2 and B3 while bridge members C2 and C3 are at a greater depth (or are fitted with short push rods) and are disposed respectively across the sockets B5 - B6 and B8 - B9.
The connection previous to the test is as follows:
Points B2 and B3 of the connector are inserted in series in the trigger circuit 39;
The poles of the secondary winding of the current transformer 37 are connected to B5 and B8;
The winding 35 of the relay 10 is connected across B6 and B9;
The test circuit 40 is connected at A6 and A9.
Operation is as follows:
When the connector halves 1 and 4 are brought together, the finger D1 operates first, moving the bridge member C1 away from the sockets B2 and B3, this causing the disconnection of the trigger circuit; Then, the long contacts A2, A4, A5, A7, A8 enter the corresponding sockets this electrically connecting the sockets B5, B4, B7 and B8, causing the short-circuiting of the current transformer 37;
Then, the fingers D2 and D3 operate the bridge members C2 and C3, this opening the circuit of the winding 35;
Lastly, the short pins A3, A6 and A9 enter their corresponding sockets, this making it possible to connect the winding 35 and the contact 38 to the test circuit.
The example which has just been given has no limiting character. The man in the art could make the connections of the connector for testing other types of relays.
For example, in the case where a relay equipped with a current transformer but having a trigger contact which opens to operate.
Likewise, it would be possible to use the connector to test a relay equipped with a voltage transformer. | A connector for testing an electric installation by means of a mobile test connector half which is applied to a fixed test connector half, wherein the mobile half carries pins and push fingers and the fixed half carries sockets and mobile bridge contacts and wherein different distances between co-operating elements of the two halves enable switching operations to be graduated during mating. The invention applies in particular to protection installations. | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/490,122, filed Jul. 12, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,809, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/311,598, filed Sep. 23, 1994, now abandoned, which in turn is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/094,539, filed Jul. 20, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,199.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to an apparatus and method for treating a cardiac arrhythmia such as ventricular tachycardia. More particularly, this invention is directed to an improved apparatus and method whereby there is faster identification of an active site to be ablated.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cardiac arrhythmias are the leading cause of death in the United States. The most common cardiac arrhythmia is ventricular tachycardia (VT), i.e., very rapid and ineffectual contractions of the heart muscle. VT is the cause death of approximately 300,000 people annually.
In the United States, from 34,000 to 94,000 new patients are diagnosed annually with VT. Patients are diagnosed with VT after either (1) surviving a successful resuscitation after an aborted sudden death (currently 25-33% of sudden death cases) or (2) syncope, i.e., temporary loss of consciousness caused by insufficient cerebral circulation. The number of VT patients is expected to increase in the future, estimated to range between 61,000 and 121,000 patients annually in five years, as a result of early detection of patients at risk for sudden death by newly developed cardiac tests, advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better medical management of acute myocardial infarction patients, and the demographic shift to a more aged population.
Without proper treatment most patients diagnosed with VT do not survive more than two years. The most frequent current medical treatment consists of certain antiarrhythmic drugs or implantation of an automatic implantable cardiac defibrillator (AICD). Drug treatment is associated with an average life span of 3.2 years, a 30% chance of debilitating side effects, and an average cost of approximately $88,000 per patient. In contrast, AICD implantation is associated with a life expectancy of 5.1 years, a 4% chance of fatal complications, and a cost of approximately $121,000 per patient.
In a majority of patients VT originates from a 1 to 2 mm lesion that is located close to the inner surface of the heart chamber. A treatment of VT in use since 1981 comprises a method whereby electrical pathways of the heart are mapped to locate the lesion, i.e., the "active site," and then the active site is physically ablated. In most instances the mapping and ablation are performed while the patient's chest and heart are open. Also, the mapping procedure has been carried out by sequentially moving a hand-held electrical recording probe or catheter over the heart and recording the times of arrival of electrical pulses to specific locations. These processes are long and tedious.
Attempts to destroy, i.e., ablate, the critical lesion are now quite successful, but are currently limited to a small number of patients who can survive a prolonged procedure during which they have to remain in VT for almost intolerable periods of time. The time-consuming part of the treatment is the localization, i.e., identifying the site, of the target lesion to be ablated. Another limitation preventing the wide-spread use of catheter ablation for VT is poor resolution of target localization, which in turn compels the physician to ablate a large area of the patient's heart. The reduction in heart function following such ablation becomes detrimental to most patients with pre-existing cardiac damage. However, once the target is correctly identified, ablation is successful in almost all patients.
An improved procedure for treatment of VT must include a faster, more efficient and accurate technique for identifying, or "mapping", the electrical activation sequence of the heart to locate the active site.
In electrophysiologic examinations, and in particular in those using invasive techniques, so-called electrical activation mapping is frequently used in combination with an x-ray transillumination. The local electrical activity is sensed at a site within a patient's heart chamber using a steerable catheter, the position of which is assessed by transillumination images in which the heart chamber is not visible. Local electrical activation time, measured as time elapsed from a common reference time event of the cardiac cycle to a fiducial point during the electrical systole, represents the local information needed to construct the activation map data point at a single location. To generate a detailed activation map of the heart, several data points are sampled. The catheter is moved to a different location within the heart chamber and the electrical activation is acquired again, the catheter is repeatedly portrayed in the transillumination images, and its location is determined. Currently catheter location is determined qualitatively or semi-qualitatively by categorizing catheter location to one of several predetermined locations. Furthermore, the transillumination method for locating the catheter does not convey information regarding the heart chamber architecture.
The present technique requires the use of a transillumination means during each of the subsequent catheter employments. This means that if the subsequent catheter locating is achieved by ionizing radiation, the patient and the physician must be subjected to a radiation exposure beyond that which would be required only for producing the basic image of the heart chamber architecture.
A catheter which can be located in a patient using an ultrasound transmitter allocated to the catheter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,595 and in the technical note "Ultrasonically marked catheter, a method for positive echographic catheter position identification." Breyer et al., Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing. May, 1985, pp. 268-271. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,486 discloses a catheter which can be located in a patient using non-ionizing fields and superimposing catheter location on a previously obtained radiological image of a blood vessel. There is no discussion in either of these references as to the acquisition of a local information, particularly with electrical activation of the heart, with the locatable catheter tip and of possible superimposition of this local information acquired in this manner with other images, particularly with a heart chamber image.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative method for the permanent portrayal of the catheter during mapping procedures by a method making use of non-ionizing rays, waves or fields, and thus having the advantage of limiting the radiation exposure for the patient and the physician.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a catheter locating means and method that will offer quantitative, high-resolution locating information that once assimilated with the sensed local information would result a high-resolution, detailed map of the information superimposed on the organ architecture.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mapping catheter with a locatable sensor at its tip.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the discussion below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram for acquiring a basic image;
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram representing a computerized endocardial mapping algorithm;
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram representing a computerized pace mapping algorithm;
FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram representing output device configuration of an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the mapping catheter with the sensor at its tip and a locating method in accordance with the principles of the present invention making use of a transmitting antenna at the catheter tip;
FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram representing use of the invention for pace mapping;
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram representing the algorithm used to calculate the cross-correlation index while pace-mapping;
FIG. 8A is a diagram representing the catheter used for mapping arrhythmias;
FIGS. 8B and 8C represent enlarged section of the distal and proximal portions, respectively, of the catheter of FIG. 8A.
FIGS. 9 and 10 are each a schematic block diagram representing an aspect of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A trackable mapping/ablation catheter, for use with reference catheters in a field such as an electromagnetic or acoustic field, has (i) a transmitting or receiving antenna for the relevant field within its tip, (ii) a sensor at its tip for acquiring local information such as electrical potentials, chemical concentration, temperature, and/or pressure, and (iii) an appropriate port for delivering energy to tissue. Receiving or transmitting antennas for the respective field are attached to the patient in which the catheter is disposed. A receiver or transmitter is connected to these antennas and converts the field waves received into electrical locating or image signals. The sensed local information of each site can be portrayed on a display at the respective locations and combined with an image of the structure acquired in a different manner such as by x-ray, NMR, or ultrasound. The resulting information can be used to map the electrical pathways of the heart to determine the situs of a lesion to be ablated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The above objects of the invention are achieved in a method for real-time portrayal of a catheter in the heart chamber, which makes use of a transmitter for electromagnetic or acoustic waves located at the tip of a catheter, these waves being acquired by a receiving antenna attached to the patient and being converted into electrical image signals. The image of the catheter can then be superimposed on a heart chamber image disclosing wall architecture acquired by same or other means of imaging. In an alternative embodiment, the catheter tip may be a receiving antenna, and the externally applied antennas may be transmitting antennas. The sensor in the catheter tip is designed to acquire the information of interest, and the acquisition of local activity at sites located by the tracking methods is used to map the organ under study.
The aforementioned known electromagnetic or acoustic technology permits a simple portrayal of the catheter, because the catheter differs greatly from its environment (biological tissue) with respect to the interaction of x-rays. The catheter locating technique can be employed with an imaging method and with a corresponding, real-time imaging system which makes use of non-ionizing radiation. The non-x-ray image which portrays the catheter can be combined with an image disclosing heart chamber architecture acquired in an appropriate way. The problem of excess radiation exposure is thus overcome; however, the demands made on the non-ionizing imaging system with respect to its applicability and resolution are rather high.
A further possibility, therefore, is to use the non-ionizing field as part of a locating method, as opposed to an imaging method. Locating methods differ from imaging methods in the following ways: Imaging methods are primarily used to topically correctly portray and resolve a number of subjects or subject points within an image within specific limits. This property is known as the multi-target capability in radar technology and is not present in locating methods. Locating methods operate precisely and unambiguously only in the case wherein a single subject is to be portrayed, i.e., to be located. As an example, the catheter tip is a suitable subject point. The advantage of the locating method is that wave fields can be used wherein the employed wave-length, which is defined by the frequency and phase velocity of the surrounding medium (tissue), can be relatively high, and need not be on the order of magnitude of the locating precision. As is known, range decreases greatly with increasing frequency given non-ionizing waves, such as electromagnetic waves and acoustic waves.
It is thus possible, given the use of a locating method, to make use of relatively long wavelengths, and thus lower frequencies. Moreover, the outlay for signal bandwidth and aperture is much smaller in locating methods than in imaging methods, particularly in view of the spectral (signal) and spatial (aperture) occupation density. It is sufficient to bring the subject point to be located into interaction with only a few extracorporeal aperture support points, for example, three to five transmitters or receivers, given a few discreet frequencies, for example, three to five frequencies. On the basis of this interaction, ranges or range differences with reference to the subject position and the various aperture supporting points, the combination of which makes an unambiguous and exact positional identification (locating) of the subject point possible, are determined by measuring phase relationships or transit time relationships. The subject point, i.e., the catheter tip, must be marked for this purpose in a suitable manner.
As in conventional pathfinder technology, it is necessary that the catheter image and the heart chamber image be combined with each other in a proper three-dimensional correspondence, and it is also necessary that the heart chamber architecture does not displace or deform during the treatment. To correct for displacement of the heart chamber that occurs during the cardiac cycle the catheter location is sampled at a single fiducial point during the cardiac cycle. To correct for displacement of the heart chamber that may occur because of breathing or patient movement, a set of more than two locatable catheters is placed at specific points in the heart chamber during the mapping procedures. The location of these reference catheters supplies the necessary information for proper three-dimensional correspondence of the heart chamber image and the mapping catheter location.
The above principles can be applied for mapping other structures of the body, for example, of the urinary bladder, brain, or gastrointestinal tract. Dependent upon the examination technique, the catheter may be replaced by a needle whose tip is the locatable sensor port.
In a broader perspective the invention encompasses four aspects: the first is intended to process locating information; the second processes sensed electrical information; the third integrates previously processed information; and the fourth processes the integrated information to generate a topographical map of the sensed variable. These aspects are described in more detail below.
Catheters will be introduced percutaneously into the heart chambers. Each catheter will be trackable (using the previously described methodology). Preferably three reference catheters will be left in known landmarks, and a fourth catheter will be used as the mapping/ablation catheter. The locations of the three reference catheters will be used to align the location of the heart chamber relative to its location on the "basic image."
1. Image and Location Processor
Image acquisition: A method and device to acquire images of the heart chambers from available imaging modalities (e.g., fluoroscopy, echo, MRI, etc.). The image is to be acquired with sufficient projections (e.g., bi-plane fluoroscopy, several longitudinal or transverse cross-sections of echocardiography) to be able to perform 3-dimensional reconstructions of the cardiac chambers' morphology.
Images will be acquired at specific times during the ablation procedure: the basic image will be recorded at the beginning of the procedure to allow determination of the cardic chamber anatomy and of the positions of reference catheters in the heart. This image will be used thereafter as the basic source of information to describe the heart chamber morphology.
The image and location processor identifies (i) the location of chamber boundaries using the methods of edge enhancement and edge detection, (ii) catheter locations relative to the chamber boundaries, and (iii) the dynamics of chamber morphology as a function of the cardiac cycle.
By analyzing the displacement of the catheter tips during the cardiac cycle the image processor will calculate the regional contractile performance of the heart at a given moment during the mapping/ablation procedure. This information will be used to monitor systolic contractile functions before and after the ablation procedure.
The location processor identifies the locations of catheters. The locations of the reference catheters are used to align the current position of the heart chamber with that of the "basic image." Once current location data is aligned with the "basic image," location of the mapping and ablation catheter is identified and reported.
2. Electrophysiologic (EP) Processor
The electrophysiologic signal processor will acquire electrical information from one or more of the following sources:
A. ECG tracings (by scanning the tracing);
B. Body surface ECG recordings, either from a 12-lead system (X,Y,Z orthogonal lead system) or from a modified combination of other points on the patient's torso; and
C. Intra-cardiac electrograms, from the ablation/recording catheter, and/or from a series of fixed catheters within the heart chambers.
At each of the mapping/ablation stages, namely, sinus rhythm mapping, pace mapping and VT mapping, the EP processor will determine the local activation time relative to a common fiducial point in time. The local activation time recorded at each stage will furnish part of the information required to construct the activation map (isochronous map).
The electrophysiologic processor will also perform the following signal processing functions:
2.A. Origin site Determination
Determine the most likely origin site of the patient's arrhythmia based upon the body surface ECG tracings during VT. The most likely VT origin site will be detected by analyzing the axis and bundle morphology of the ECG, and by using the current knowledge of correlation between VT morphology and VT origin site.
2.B. Sinus Rhythm Mapping
2.B.1 Delayed Potential Mapping
Using intracardiac electrograms recorded from the mapping catheter tip during sinus rhythm the EP processor will detect and then measure the time of occurrence of delayed diastolic potentials. Detection of late diastolic activity either by (1) ECG signal crossing a threshold value during diastole; or by (2) modelling the electrical activity at a user-defined normal site and then comparing the modelled signal with the actual signal, ahd estimating the residual from the normal activity; or by (3) using a band pass filter and searching for specific organized high-frequency activities present during diastole; or by (4) using cross-correlation and error function to identify the temporal position of a user-defined delayed potential template. This analysis will be performed on a beat-by-beat basis, and its results will be available to the next stage of data processing and referred to as the time of delayed potential occurrence.
2.C. Pace Mapping
2.C.1 Correlation Map
In a "pace mapping mode" the ECG processor will acquire ECG data while the patient's heart is paced by an external source at a rate similar to the patient's arrhythmia cycle length. The ECG data will be acquired from the body surface electrograms, and the signal will be stored as a segment of ECG with a length of several cycles. The signal acquired will then be subjected to automatic comparison with the patient's own VT signal (see FIG. 7). The comparison between arrhythmia morphology and paced morphology will be performed in two stages: First, the phase shift between the template VT signal and the paced ECG morphology would be estimated using minimal error or maximal cross-correlation for two signals. Then, using this phase shift estimated from an index ECG channel, the similarity of the VT and the paced ECG morphology will be measured as the average of the cross-correlation or the square error of the two signals of all channels recorded.
This two-stage calculation will be repeated each time using a different ECG channel as the index channel for determining the phase shift.
At the end of this procedure the minimal error or the maximal cross-correlation found will be reported to the operator as a cross-correlation value (ACI) of this pacing site.
2.C.2 Local Latency
The ECG processor will measure the pacing stimulus to ventricular activation. The earliest ventricular activation will be measured from the earliest zero crossing time of the first derivative signal generated from each of the body surface ECG recordings acquired while pacing. This interval will be reported to the operator and will be later used in the process of judging the suitability of the site for ablation.
2.D. VT Mapping
2.D.1 Pre-potential Map
During spontaneous or induced VT the ECG processor will search for a pre-potential present on the mapping/ablation electrode electrogram. The potential will be marked either automatically (by a threshold crossing method, by band pass filtering, or by modelling normal diastolic interval and subtracting the template from the actual diastolic interval recordings) or manually by the user-defined fiducial point on the pre-potential signal. The processor will measure the interval between the time of the pre-potential (PP) signal and that of the earliest ventricular (V) activation as recorded from the body surface tracings, and the interval will be calculated and reported to the user. The ECG processor will report on a beat-by-beat basis the value of the PP-V interval.
2.D.2 Premature Stimuli Local Latency
During VT, when premature extrastimuli will be delivered to the mapping catheter, the ECG processor will detect the time of a single premature signal delivered to the mapping/ablation catheter and the earliest local activation (judged by the presence of non-diastolic activity following a predetermined interval at the mapping/ablation catheter and the presence of a different signal morphology shape and value at the body surface electrograms when compared to their value at one cycle length before that event). The presence of electrical activity on the mapping/ablation electrode and the presence of an altered shape of the body surface morphology will be termed as a captured beat. In the presence of a captured beat the ECG processor will calculate the intervals between the stimulus and the preceding earliest ventricular activation (termed V-S) and the interval between the stimulus and the following earliest activation of the ventricle (termed S-V'). The ECG processor will report these intervals to the user after each extrastimulus delivered. Also, the intervals V-S and S-V' will be graphically plotted as a function describing their dependence. The ECG processor will update the plot after each extrastimulus.
2.D.3 Phase Shifting of VT by Premature Stimuli
The ECG processor will identify the effects of the extra-stimulus on the phase shifting of the VT as recorded by body surface electrograms. A user-defined body surfaced channel electrogram of non-paced VT morphology will be used as a template (segment length equal to twice VT cycle length), and the electrogram of the same channel acquired for the same duration following the delivery of an extrastimulus during VT will be used as a test segment. The ECG analyzer will compare the template and the test signal morphologies (using minimal error function or maximal cross correlation) to assure that the VT was not terminated or altered. If VT persists, the ECG analyzer will calculate the phase shift caused by the extrastimulus. Phase shift will be calculated as a part of the VT cycle length needed to be added or subtracted to regularize the VT time series.
2.D.4 VT Termination by Premature Stimuli
The ECG processor will look for a non-capture event following the extrastimulus. In that event the ECG processor will look for alteration in the VT following the extrastimulus delivered. If the VT was terminated (as defined by returning to normal ECG morphology and rate), a note of non-capture termination will be generated by the ECG processor. In case there was no capture but VT morphology did not change, the operator will be notified to change the coupling interval for the coming extrastimuli.
3. Image, Catheter Location and Electrophysiologic Information Integrator
This processor will receive information from the devices described earlier and will attribute the processed electrical information to the specific locations of the heart chamber from which it was recorded. This process will be performed in real time and transferred to the next processor.
Processed electrical information, when combined with its location, generates a map. By use of the previously described variables, the following maps will be generated:
(1) Spatial location of the endocardium;
(2) Sinus rhythm activation map (isochronous map);
(3) Diastolic potential occurrence time isochronal map for sinus rhythm mapping;
(4) Correlation map for pace mapping;
(5) Local latency isochronal map during pace mapping;
(6) Activation time isochronal map during VT; and
(7) Pre-potential isochronal map during VT mapping.
Also, the sites where VT was terminated by a non-captured premature stimulus will be presented.
At each stage (sinus rhythm mapping, pace mapping and VT mapping) after each data point is acquired, all available information is reassessed for two purposes: first, to suggest to the operator the next site for data acquisition, and second, to test the available information to propose a site for ablation.
Two algorithms are running simultaneously to perform this procedure:
(1) Mapping guidance algorithm (see Evaluate Activation Map (17) in FIG. 2 and Evaluate Auto-Correlation Map (3a) in FIG. 3). This algorithm uses as an input the available mapped information of a certain variable (e.g., local activation time during sinus rhythm). The algorithm calculates the spatial derivative of the mapped variable (i.e., activation time in this example) and calculates the next best location for adding another data point when the objective function is regularizing the spatial gradients of the mapped variable. For example, this algorithm will suggest that more data points be acquired in areas in which the mapped variable is changing significantly over a short distance.
The location suggested by the algorithm will be presented to the operator as a symbol on the display. The same display already shows the basic image of the heart chamber and the current location of the mapping/ablation catheter. Therefore, the operator will move the mapping/ablation catheter to reach the suggested location for further data acquisition.
This algorithm will become most beneficial during VT mapping, where the available time for data acquisition is limited by the adverse hemodynamic effects of the arrhythmia. Therefore, such an algorithm which examines the available data points of a map in real-time and immediately suggests the next site for acquisition is greatly needed.
(2) Prognosing likelihood of successful ablation algorithm. This algorithm is a user-defined set of hierarchical rules for evaluating the acquired information. The operator is expected to grade the importance of the specific information acquired in the mapping/ablation procedure, as to its likelihood to identify the correct site for ablation. An example of such an algorithm is described in the following section.
Grading of mapping results suggesting the likelihood of successful ablation at that site (A=highly likely successful and D=least likely successful):
(a) The identification of a typical re-entrant pathway on VT mapping with an identifiable common slow pathway--Grade A;
(b) The identification of a site with over 90% correlation index in the pace map--Grade B;
(c) The identification of a site where VT was terminated with a non-capture premature stimulus--Grade C; and
(d) The identification of pre-potential maps recorded during VT, which are similar to diastolic potential maps recorded during sinus rhythm--Grade D.
4. Integrated (Image and Electrical) Processor and Display
The output device will use a computer screen or a holographic imaging unit that will be updated on a beat-by-beat base. The output will include the following information: superimposed on the basic image the position of the catheter will be represented as a symbol on the ventricular wall. The maps will be plotted and overlaid on the same image.
The output device at the mode of guided map acquisition would mark on the ventricular wall image the next best place to position the catheter to acquire ECG information based on the results of the previous analysis.
5. Locatable Catheter Mapping and Ablation Catheters
The catheters used for mapping are critical to the invention. The catheters have a locatable, sensing and/or ablation tip. For locating using electromagnetic fields, locating of the catheter tip is achieved by an antenna disposed at the catheter tip, with an antenna feed guided in or along the catheter. An electrical antenna (dipole) or a magnetic antenna (loop) can be used. The antenna can be operated as a transmission antenna or as a reception antenna, with the extracorporeal antennas located at the skin surface correspondingly functioning as reception antennas or transmission antennas. Given multi-path propagation between the catheter tip and the external antennas, the path between the relevant antennas can be calculated by a suitable multi-frequency or broadband technique. It is also possible to employ the locating method using acoustic waves. The problem of the contrast of the biological tissue is significantly less critical when acoustic waves are used than in the electromagnetic embodiment. The problem of multi-path propagation in the case of acoustic waves, however, will be greater for this embodiment because of the lower attenuation offered by the biological tissue. Both problems, however, can be solved as described above in connection with the electromagnetic embodiment.
A ceramic or polymeric piezoelectric element can be used as the antenna at the catheter tip. Due to the high transmission signal amplitudes, operation of the catheter antenna as a reception antenna is preferred for the case of acoustic locating. Because the transmission paths are reciprocal relative to each other, the locating results are equivalent given reversal of the transmission direction.
The sensor at the catheter tip is constructed with respect to the property to be sensed and the interaction with the locating field waves. For example, a metal electrode for conducting local electrical activity may interact with locating techniques using electromagnetic waves. This problem can be solved in the preferred embodiment by using composite material conductors.
The delivery port at the tip of the catheter is designed with respect to the energy characteristic to be delivered. In the present embodiment the delivery port is the sensing electrode and can function either as an electrode for sensing electrical activity or an antenna to deliver radiofrequency energy to perform ablation of tissue in close contact to the delivery port.
The invention can perhaps be better understood by making reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the acquisition of the basic image. Using a transesophageal echocardiograph (1) in the preferred embodiment, a multiplane image of the heart chambers is acquired prior to the mapping study. The image is acquired only during a fiducial point in time during the cardiac cycle. In the preferred embodiment the image is acquired at end-dia-stole (2). A three-dimensional image of the heart chambers is reconstructed indicating the endocardial morphology and the location of the reference catheters within the heart chamber (3).
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the computerized endocardial activation mapping algorithm (used during sinus rhythm mapping and during ventricular tachycardia mapping). A visible or audible indicator indicates the beginning of a data point acquisition (4). Data is acquired for each point in the map from two sources. The catheter is in steady and stable contact with the endocardium. The mapping catheter tip is localized (5). The localization of the catheter tip involves the localization of the three reference catheters (7). All locating signals are synchronized to end-diastole (8). The transformation of the three reference catheters relative to their original location in the basic image is calculated (9), and the transformation values in the X,Y, and Z as well as the three orientation movements are applied to the measured location of the mapping/ablation catheter (10), the correction of which yields the location of the mapping/ablation catheter with respect to the basic image (11). Electrical activation acquired with the mapping/ablation catheter tip is analyzed in the electrophysiologic signal processor (6). The local electrogram (12), after being filtered, is analyzed to detect the local activation (14) (by one or more of the techniques for amplitude, slope, and template fitting, or by manual detection by the user). The interval elapsed from previous end-diastole to the present local activation is the local activation time (T, 15). The association of the location of the sensor with the activation time generates a single data point for the activation map (16). The process of data acquisition can be terminated by the user, or can be evaluated by the "evaluate activation map" algorithm (17) that examines the already acquired activation map for the density of information relative to the spatial gradient of activation times. This algorithm can indicate the next preferable site for activation time detection (18). The catheter should be moved by the user to the new site, and the process of mapping continues.
During VT a data point is determined about every 4 to 6 beats. Thus, approximately 15 to 25, typically about 20, data points can be determined each minute. This factor, in combination with the remainder of the system described herein, permits faster mapping.
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the computerized pace mapping algorithm. A visible or audible indicator indicates the beginning of a data point acquisition (20). Data is acquired for each point in the map from two sources. The mapping/ablation catheter is in steady and stable contact with the endocardium, and the mapping/ablation catheter tip is localized (21). The localization of the catheter tip involves the localization of the three reference catheters (22). All locating signals are synchronized to end-diastole (23). The transformation of the three reference catheters relative to their original location in the basic image is calculated (24), and the transformation values in the X,Y, and Z as well as the three orientation movements are applied to the measured location of the mapping catheter (25), the correction of which yields the location of the mapping/ablation catheter with respect to the basic image (26). Body surface ECG acquired is analyzed in the electrophysiologic signal processor (22) according to the pace mapping algorithm. The association of the location of the pacing electrode with the cross-correlation index (ACI, 28) of that site yields a single data point of the pace map (29). The process of data acquisition can be terminated by the user, or can be evaluated by the "evaluate pace map" algorithm (30) that examines the already acquired activation map for the density of information relative to the spatial gradient of cross-correlation index, as well as the presence of circumscribed maxima points in the map. This algorithm can indicate the next preferable site for pacing (31). The catheter should be moved by the user to the new site, pace the heart from that new site and calculate the associated cross-correlation index.
FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the output device configuration (45) of the present embodiment. A quasi-static picture of the heart chambers (40) is presented as 3-D reconstruction of a basic image (41) acquired prior to or during the study. Superimposed on the image (40) will be the location of the mapping/ablation catheter (42), locations of the reference catheters (43), and the current and previous information acquired from the mapping study (44). This information may include, when appropriate, the activation times (presented using a color code at each acquisition site) or cross-correlation index for each point in the pace map. Furthermore, the map can represent in the color coding the duration of the local electrograms, the presence of fragmented activity as well as various other variables calculated by the electrophysiologic processor.
FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the instrument while being used for VT mapping. As shown, a catheter (51) is introduced into the heart chamber (52) in the body of a patient. The catheter (51) has an antenna (53) at its tip, which is supplied with energy by a transmitter (54). The transmitting antenna (53) may be, for example, a dipole. The receiver (55) is provided for locating the position of the tip (53). A receiver (55) receives the electromagnetic waves generated by the antenna (53) by means of a plurality of receiving antennae (58a, 58b, and 58c) placed on the body surface (57) of the patient. A sensor (59) placed on the catheter tip receives local electrical activity of the heart chamber muscle. The signals from the sensor electrode (59) are supplied to an electrophysiologic signal processor (60) which calculates the local activation time delay by subtracting the absolute local activation time from the absolute reference time measured from the body surface electrogram (61) of the present heart cycle. A display (66) permits visual portrayal of the local activation times at the location of the catheter tip as described earlier, for example, by superimposition with an ultrasound image showing the heart chamber architecture. The signals from the receiver (55) and output of electrophysiologic signal processor (60) are supplied to a signal processor (69) which constructs an image of the activation time map.
Information regarding the heart chamber architecture is supplied to the signal processor (69) via a separate input (70). The images are superimposed and are portrayed on the display (66). As noted above, the transmitter and receiver may be an ultrasound transmitter or receiver, instead of electromagnetically operating devices.
FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the instrument while being used for pace mapping. The methods for locating catheter tips used in this example are similar to those represented by FIG. 5. Pacing poles (81) are placed on the catheter tip and are connected to a pacemaker (82) source. The pacemaker source activated either by the user or by the electrophysiologic signal processor (84), activates the heart starting at the site of contact of the heart and the pacing poles. Simultaneously acquired ECG (83) is saved and processed in the electrophysiologic signal processor (84). Cross-correlation analysis is carried out in the signal processor (84), and the resulting cross-correlation index (ACI) is transferred to the display unit and associated with the location of the catheter tip to be superimposed on the image of the heart chamber at the appropriate location.
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram for illustrating the algorithm used to calculate the cross-correlation index while pace mapping. Body surface ECG data is acquired at two stages. First, during spontaneous or pacing induced VT, and second during pacing the endocardium at different sites. The ECG data acquired during VT are signal averaged, and a template is constructed (T ch , for each channel recorded). During endocardial pacing the ECG data is acquired, and the same number of beats (N) is acquired to calculate the signal averaged QRS (P ch , for each channel recorded). The algorithm then calculates the phase shift between P ch and T ch , which yields for the first channel the maximal cross-correlation. This time shift is used to shift the remaining channels and calculate for them the cross-correlation. All cross-correlations for all channels are summarized and stored. The algorithm then uses the next channel recorded to calculate the time shift that will cause maximal cross-correlation in this channel. Now this time shift is applied for all cross-correlations between P ch and T ch , and again all cross-correlations are summarized. This procedure is repeated for all channels, and the maximal cross-correlation achieved is used as the value of the cross-correlation of the T ch and the P ch at this site on the endocardium.
FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating a catheter (90) used for mapping arrhythmias. The distal catheter tip (91), as shown in FIG. 8B, has a conducting material on its outer surface that is the sensing/pacing pole (92) connected to lead (93). In close proximity to pole (92), but separated by insulating material (94), is pole (95), which comprises an annular conducting ring connected to lead (96). The receiver/transmitter antenna (97) of the locating device is placed inside the catheter tip (91), with at least two leads (98) and (99). At least four electrical connections corresponding to leads (93), (96), (98), and (99) exit the catheter: two for the two conducting poles of the sensing/pacing poles and at least two for the locating device antenna. This is shown in FIG. 8C.
Although a multitude of catheters (91) could also be used as reference catheters, a catheter (not shown) having only the receiver/transmitter antenna with leads (98, 99) could function suitably. Also, a mapping/ablation catheter (not shown) could be similar in structure to catheter (90) with an additional lumen or structure or leads to conduct or transmit ablation energy.
An alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 9, wherein the antenna (101) is a receiving antenna. In this embodiment, the antenna (101) is connected to a receiver (102), and the antennas (103a), (103b) and (103c) located at the body surface (57) are transmitting antennas. The transmitter (105) transmits signals to the transmitting antennas (103a), (103b), and (103c). Operation of the method is otherwise identical to that described in connection with FIG. 5. The embodiment of FIG. 9 can be operated as well using acoustic transmission and reception components instead of electromagnetic transmission and reception components.
FIG. 10 describes a preferred embodiment of a method for proper three-dimensional correspondence of the catheter tip location and the heart chamber image. Three reference locatable catheters (110), (111), (112), as described in the previous sections of this disclosure are placed in fixed positions in the heart, for example, the right ventricular apex, the right atrial appendage, and the pulmonary artery at the level of the pulmonary valve, respectively. The operation method is similar to that described earlier. The location of these three reference catheters is used by the signal processor (69) for proper three-dimensional correspondence of the heart chamber image and the mapping catheter location.
In one embodiment of the invention the mapping procedure can proceed as follows:
1. Insertion of more than two reference catheters (locatable) to fixed positions in the heart.
2. Acquisition of a "basic image" by an imaging modality such as echocardiogram or MR imaging. Image acquired and 3-D reconstructed at end-diastole.
3. Insertion of mapping/ablation catheter (locatable) and positioning of the catheter in the area suspected by VT morphology to include the "active site."
4. Sinus rhythm mapping to construct sinus rhythm activation maps and diastolic potential isochronal maps.
5. Pace Mapping:
(a) Construction of ACI map.
(b) Construction of local latency map.
6. VT Mapping
(a) Activation mapping: Construction of activation map during VT.
(b) Pre-potential isochronal map.
(c) Extrastimuli pacing during VT.
7. Ablation
(a) Detection of optimal location of ablation from the data acquired with the above mapping.
(b) Positioning the mapping/ablation catheter on top of the endocardial site;
(c) Measuring systolic contractile function at that site;
(d) Delivering ablative energy to the preferred site;
(e) Repeating step (c)
As can be appreciated, the overall mapping procedure to determine an "active site" is complex and includes several stages, none of which is mandatory. Dependent upon the results obtained in each stage, mapping may continue.
Specific aspects of the procedure can be performed in the following sequence:
Through a percutaneous venous access three reference catheters are introduced into the heart and/or the large vessels. The three reference catheters are positioned so that the respective distal tips are at least 2 cm, preferably 4 to 8 cm, apart. Next, A 3-D image of the chamber of interest is reconstructed using, for example, transesophegeal ultrasonography. Then, the locations of the distal tips of the reference catheters are marked.
Through another vascular access port a mapping/ablation catheter is introduced to the area of interest, and then the location of its distal tip as well as the sensed electrical activity are recorded. The location of the mapping/ablation catheter is measured relative to the location of the reference catheters.
In a modified embodiment of this invention the map previously described can be superimposed on the mapped organ image.
Once the operator identified an active site, the mapping/ablation catheter is positioned so that the active site can be ablated. The ablation is performed by radiofrequency energy. Other known methods could be used instead (e.g., laser, cryotherapy, microwave, etc.).
Although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventor to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art. | This invention concerns an apparatus and method for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. More particularly, this invention is directed to a method for ablating a portion of an organ or bodily structure of a patient, which comprises obtaining a perspective image of the organ or structure to be mapped; advancing one or more catheters having distal tips to sites adjacent to or within the organ or structure, at least one of the catheters having ablation ability; sensing the location of each catheter's distal tip using a non-ionizing field; at the distal tip of one or more catheters, sensing local information of the organ or structure; processing the sensed information to create one or more data points; superimposing the one or more data points on the perspective image of the organ or structure; and ablating a portion of the organ or structure. | 0 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The disclosed invention relates generally to a strategy for controlling engine on and off time in a vehicle. More particularly, the disclosed invention relates to a strategy for controlling engine on and off time to optimize cabin comfort and fuel economy. Engine off time is based on variables including cabin temperature, contemporary ambient weather conditions and engine coolant temperature. Engine on time is based on variables including HVAC status, temperature control setting and various heating and cooling outputs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Increased motor vehicle fuel efficiency is a long-standing objective of automobile designers and producers. Various approaches to increasing fuel efficiency have been taken including improving vehicle aerodynamics, reducing vehicle weight and improving vehicle operating efficiency. This latter approach includes devoting greater attention to drive train engineering. It also includes focusing on the vast array of peripheral devices provided with the modern automobile to improve driver and passenger comfort and looking for ways to increase efficiency in the design, use and operation of such peripheral devices.
In the conventional motor vehicle, the climate control heating and cooling systems depend on the engine being on for a certain amount of time (ON time) in order to provide thermal comfort in the vehicle cabin. When not needed, the vehicle's engine is turned off. According to known technology, the vehicle ON and OFF times are not managed and are subject only to the random choices of the vehicle operator without consideration of fuel economy.
Accordingly, if the engine OFF time is not managed properly, the balance between optimized cabin thermal comfort and fuel economy will not be achieved. As is often the case, there is room for improvement in the art of controlling vehicle operation and control to achieve maximum passenger cabin comfort for the vehicle occupants while at the same time optimizing vehicle fuel economy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The disclosed invention provides a Start-Stop strategy for optimizing a selected set of parameters to provide an ideal balance between cabin thermal comfort and fuel economy performance. Particularly, the disclosed Start-Stop strategy includes several defined parameters to manage how long and when the engine OFF time will occur. These parameters include, but are not limited to, outside ambient temperature (Tambient), cabin temperature (Tincar), cabin humidity, engine coolant temperature (ECT), and evaporator thermistor temperature (Tevap).
More particularly, the disclosed system has utility in both electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) systems as well as in manual temperature control (MTC) systems. When used in conjunction with an EATC system, variables include Tambient, Tset point (that is, the temperature door position), engine coolant temperature (ECT), Tcabin, cabin humidity (typically as a percentage), evaporative thermistor temperature, and sunload. Similarly (but not the same), when used in conjunction with an MTC system, variables include Tambient, Tset point (that is, the temperature door position), engine coolant temperature (ECT), Tcabin, cabin humidity (typically as a percentage), and evaporative thermistor temperature.
Whether an EATC system or an MTC system other inputs include, for example, the demands of the wiper(s), the heated windshield, the heated back light, the HVAC blower, the temperature control setting. Other variables are possible.
The disclosed Start-Stop strategy generally includes the following steps. First, the selected cabin thermal comfort needs to be achieved before the engine can be turned OFF. The cabin thermal comfort can be based upon either the slope of Tincar/time or on Tincar at the given cabin thermal load.
In the event that the cabin thermal comfort is based upon the slope of Tincar/time, if the slope of Tincar/time is flat then the cabin thermal comfort has reached a steady state condition.
If, instead, the cabin thermal comfort is based on Tincar at the given cabin thermal load, then the cabin thermal load can be determined from an established look-up table.
The control logic also ensures that Tevap does not exceed a certain value since odor may occur in the event of a hot ambient temperature. In addition, if the control logic determines that the Tevap reaches a certain temperature then engine ON request will be sent. Next, the control logic monitors cabin humidity for any fogging probability risk. If the fogging probability is very high, the control logic will also send an engine ON request.
Other factors for the engine ON request include the status of the wiper, the heated back light, and the heated windshield. In addition, any detected change in additional variables (such as, but not limited to, the HVAC blower, the temperature control setting, and the A/C setting) will initiate the sending of an engine ON request.
The disclosed Start-Stop strategy provides an effective and efficient method of optimizing cabin thermal comfort and fuel economy performance depending on certain variables.
Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should now be made to the embodiment illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawing and described below by way of examples of the invention wherein:
FIG. 1 is a is a block diagram illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for an electronic automatic temperature control system;
FIGS. 2A and 2B represent a flow chart illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for an electronic automatic temperature control system.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for a manual control head temperature control system; and
FIGS. 4A and 4B represent a flow chart illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for a manual control head temperature control system according to a first embodiment of the disclosed invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the following figures, the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components. In the following description, various operating parameters and components are described for different constructed embodiments. These specific parameters and components are included as examples and are not meant to be limiting.
In general, the system and method for providing vehicle OFF and ON times is discussed in detail hereinafter. The disclosed Start-Stop control strategy enables the achievement of a good balance between thermal comfort control within the vehicle and maximum fuel economy. According to the disclosed system and method, users will achieve an optimum cabin thermal comfort without compromising fuel economy. Control management may be by way of either electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) or manual temperature control (MTC). Regardless of whether the control arrangement is by way of automatic temperature control or manual temperature control the system and method of the disclosed Start-Stop strategy uses a control logic which responds to various input parameters and responds with engine OFF or ON instructions.
The selected cabin thermal comfort needs to be achieved before the engine can be turned OFF. The cabin thermal comfort can be based upon either on the slope of Tincar/time or on Tincar at the given cabin thermal load. In the event that the cabin thermal comfort is based upon the slope of Tincar/time, if the slope of Tincar/time is flat then it means that the cabin thermal comfort has reached a steady state condition. If instead the cabin thermal comfort is based on Tincar at the given cabin thermal load, then the cabin thermal load can be determined from an established look-up table.
FIGS. 1 , 2 A and 2 B relate to a method and system for a Start-Stop strategy using an electronic automatic temperature control system. FIGS. 3 , 4 A and 4 B relate to a method and system for a Start-Stop strategy for use with a manual control head temperature system.
Referring first to the Start-Stop strategy using an electronic automatic temperature control system of the disclosed invention and with reference to FIG. 1 , a block diagram illustrating a representative Start-Stop strategy for an electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) system is shown, generally illustrated as 10 . The system 10 includes various sensors that provide signals representative of ambient (outside) air temperature (Tambient) 12 , engine coolant temperature (ECT) 14 , the vehicle cabin temperature (Tcabin) 16 , the vehicle cabin humidity (as a percentage) 18 , the evaporator thermistor temperature 20 , and the sunload 22 . In addition, an occupant interface allows the occupant to provide a desired temperature or temperature range (Tset Point) 24 . The sensor and interface signals are provided to the electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) 26 which is operatively associated with the engine 28 .
The inputs provided to the EATC 26 from the ambient air temperature 12 , the engine coolant temperature 14 , the cabin temperature 16 , the vehicle cabin humidity 18 , the evaporator thermistor temperature 20 , the sunload 22 , and the temperature or temperature range 24 in general enable the EATC 26 to establish engine ON and OFF times as required for desired cabin thermal comfort and maximum fuel economy. However, other inputs may provide information to the control logic of the EATC 26 . These include, without limitation, the windshield wiper(s) 30 , the heated windshield 32 , the heated back light 34 , the HVAC blower 36 , the temperature control setting 38 , and the A/C request 40 .
With respect to FIGS. 2A and 2B , a flow chart illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for an electronic automatic temperature control system according to an embodiment of the disclosed invention is set forth. According to the illustrated flow chart, the engine is first confirmed to be in its OFF condition. An initial inquiry is made as to system status. Specifically, one or more of the following queries may be made: Is the blower voltage (“Blower V”) up? OR has the blend door position been changed (“Blend Door [position] changed”)? OR is the air conditioning turned on (“AC Request=ON) coupled with the outside ambient temperature (“OAT”) being greater than a predetermined value? If any one of these events has occurred then the vehicle engine is turned to its ON condition.
If, on the other hand, none of these events has occurred an inquiry is made as to whether or not the HVAC system is in the defrost mode. If the system is in the defrost mode, then reference is made to a look up table the engine will be turned to its ON condition. In addition, an engine ON request may also be initiated depending on the status of the AC which is dependent upon the choice of the user or, if the system is in the “auto” mode, then the request is ON.
If the system is not in the defrost mode, then one or more of the ambient air temperature 12 , the engine coolant temperature 14 , the cabin temperature 16 , the vehicle cabin humidity 18 , the evaporator thermistor temperature 20 , the sunload 22 , and the temperature or temperature range 24 will be evaluated to determine engine pull up or pull down (“EPUD”). The EPUD may be based on the Tcabin according to the outside ambient temperature versus the Tset point (whether there is low/no sunload or whether there is high sunload). As an alternative, the EPUD may be based on the slope of Tincar/time according to the outside ambient temperature versus the Tset point for high sunload. As a further alternative, the EPUD may be based on engine coolant temperature according to the outside ambient temperature versus the Tset point. As yet a further alternative, the EPUD may be based on the evaporator thermistor temperature according to the outside ambient temperature versus the Tincar.
Once the EPUD is determined based upon one or more of the inquiries set forth above, the following query is made: Is the engine coolant temperature less than a temperature specified in a look-up table? Is the Tincar less than the Tcabin (based on the look up table in the heating mode) or is the Tincar greater than the Tcabin (based on the look up table in the cooling mode)? Is the Tincar/time slope less than an absolute temperature (to be determined)? If the determination of any of these is found to be “yes,” then an engine ON request is made.
If no “yes” determination is made, then the engine remains OFF and an assessment of fogging probability is made. If the risk of fogging probability is determined to be very high, then the control logic of the EATC 26 will send an engine ON request. On the other hand, if the risk of fogging probability is determined not to be very high, then the following inquiry is made: Is K1 (a calibratable value) greater than the ambient temperature and is the ambient temperature greater than the freezing point? If this inquiry is answered “yes,” then a further determination is made. Specifically, if fogging probability (“Fog Prob”) is determined to be greater than a certain predetermined value or if the wiper(s) 30 , heated windshield 32 , or heated back light 34 are “on” coupled with the AC request being “on” (depending on the user's choice or the auto mode being set to “on” as described above), then an engine ON request is made.
On the other hand, if the answer is “no” to the inquiry “Is K1 greater than the ambient temperature and is the ambient temperature greater than the freezing point?”, then an additional inquiry is made: Is K2 (a calibratable value) less than the outside ambient temperature? If the answer to this inquiry is “yes,” then a further determination is made. Specifically, if the percentage of relative humidity (“% RH”) is found to be greater than a determined level or if the temperature of evaporation (“Tevap”) is found to be greater than an evaporator thermistor temperature table (“Tevap Table”) or if the wiper(s) 30 , the heated windshield 32 , or the heated back light 34 are “on” coupled with the AC request being “on” (again depending on the user's choice or the auto mode being set to “on” as described above), then an engine ON request is made.
If the answer is “no” to the inquiry “Is K2 (a calibratable value) less than the outside ambient temperature?”, then the control logic finishes its inquiries and no further requests for either engine ON or engine Off are made.
The discussion above regarding FIGS. 1 , 2 A and 2 B relates to a method and system for a Start-Stop strategy using an electronic automatic temperature control system. As an alternative to this approach, the method and system for a Start-Stop strategy according to the disclosed invention may also employ a manual control head system as set forth in FIGS. 3 , 4 A and 4 B.
Referring Start-Stop strategy using a manual control head system of the disclosed invention, and with reference to FIG. 3 , a block diagram illustrating a representative Start-Stop strategy for a manual temperature control system (MTC) is shown, generally illustrated as 50 . The system 50 includes various sensors that provide signals representative of ambient (outside) air temperature (Tambient) 52 , engine coolant temperature (ECT) 54 , the vehicle cabin temperature (Tcabin) 56 , the vehicle cabin humidity (as a percentage) 58 , and the evaporator thermistor temperature 60 . (No sunload sensor is provided with the manual temperature control system.) In addition, an occupant interface allows the occupant to provide a desired temperature or temperature range (Tset Point) 62 . The sensor and interface signals are provided to the manual temperature control (MTC) 64 which is operatively associated with the engine 66 .
The inputs provided to the MTC 64 by the ambient air temperature 52 , the engine coolant temperature 54 , the cabin temperature 56 , the vehicle cabin humidity 58 , the evaporator thermistor temperature 60 , and the temperature or temperature range (Tset Point) 62 in general enable the MTC 64 to establish engine ON and OFF times as required for desired cabin thermal comfort and maximum fuel economy. However, as with the EATC system set forth above, other inputs may provide information to the control logic of the MTC 64 . These include, without limitation, the windshield wiper(s) 68 , the heated windshield 70 , the heated back light 72 , the HVAC blower 74 , the temperature control setting 76 , and the A/C request 78 .
With respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B , a flow chart illustrating a Start-Stop strategy for a manual temperature control system according to an embodiment of the disclosed invention is set forth. According to the illustrated flow chart, the engine is first confirmed to be in its OFF condition. An initial inquiry is made as to system status. Specifically, one or more of the following queries may be made: Is the blower voltage (“Blower V”) up? OR has the blend door position been changed (“Blend Door [position] changed”)? OR is the air conditioning turned on (“AC Request=ON) coupled with the outside ambient temperature (“OAT”) being greater than a predetermined value? If any one of these events has occurred, then the vehicle engine is turned to its ON condition.
If, on the other hand, none of these events has occurred, an inquiry is made as to whether or not the HVAC system is in the defrost mode. If the system is in the defrost mode, then reference is made to a look up table the engine will be turned to its ON condition. In addition, an engine ON request may also be initiated depending on the status of the AC which is dependent upon the choice of the user or, if the system is in the “auto” mode, then the request is ON.
If the system is not in the defrost or max defrost mode, then one or more of the ambient air temperature 52 , the engine coolant temperature 54 , the cabin temperature 56 , the vehicle cabin humidity 58 , the evaporator thermistor temperature 60 , and the temperature or temperature range (Tset Point) 62 will be evaluated to determine engine pull up or pull down (“EPUD”). The EPUD may be based on the Tcabin according to the outside ambient temperature versus the temperature door position being between, for example, 0% closed (full cold) and 100% open (full hot). As an alternative, the EPUD may be based on engine coolant temperature according to the outside ambient temperature versus the temperature door position being between, for example, 0% and 100% of full heat. As a further alternative, the EPUD may be based on the slope of Tincar/time according to the outside ambient temperature versus the temperature door position being between, for example, 0% and 100% of full heat. As yet a further alternative, the EPUD may be based on the evaporator thermistor temperature according to the outside ambient temperature versus the Tincar.
Once the EPUD is determined based upon one or more of the inquiries set forth above, the following query is made: Is the engine coolant temperature less than a temperature specified in a look-up table? Is the Tincar less than the Tcabin (in heating mode) or is the Tincar greater than the Tcabin (in cooling mode)? Is the Tincar/time slope less than an absolute temperature (to be determined)? If the determination of any of these is found to be “yes,” then an engine ON request is made.
If no “yes” determination is made, then the engine remains OFF and an assessment of fogging probability is made. The following inquiry is made: Is K1 (a calibratable value) greater than the ambient temperature and is the ambient temperature greater than the freezing point? If this inquiry is answered “yes,” then a further determination is made. Specifically, if fogging probability (“Fog Prob”) is determined to be greater than a certain predetermined value or if the wiper(s) 68 , heated windshield 70 , or heated back light 72 are “on” coupled with the AC request being “on” (based on the user's choice or the auto mode being set to “on” as described above), then an engine ON request is made.
On the other hand, if the answer is “no” to the inquiry “Is K1 (a calibratable value) greater than the ambient temperature and is the ambient temperature greater than the freezing point?”, then an additional inquiry is made: Is K2 (another calibratable value) less than the outside ambient temperature? If the answer to this inquiry is “yes,” then a further determination is made. Specifically, if the percentage of relative humidity (“% RH”) is found to be greater than a determined level or if the temperature of evaporation (“Tevap”) is found to be greater than an evaporator thermistor temperature table (“Tevap Table”) or if the wiper(s) 68 , the heated windshield 70 , or the heated back light 72 are “on” coupled with the AC request being “on” (again depending on the user's choice or the auto mode being set to “on” as described above), then an engine ON request is made.
If the answer is “no” to the inquiry “Is K2 (another calibratable value) less than the outside ambient temperature?”, then the control logic finishes its inquiries and no further requests for either engine ON or engine Off are made.
The above-described logic is only exemplary and it is to be understood that many variations may be made without deviating from the invention as disclosed and described. For example, the climate load demand values can be modified as required. Preferably, the control logic is implemented primarily in software executed by a microprocessor-based controller. Of course, some or all of the control logic may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware depending upon the particular application. When implemented in software, the control logic is preferably provided in a computer-readable storage medium having stored data representing instructions executed by a computer to control the heating/cooling of the vehicle cabin. The computer-readable storage medium or media may be any of a number of known physical devices which utilize electric, magnetic, and/or optical devices to temporarily or persistently store executable instructions and associated calibration information, operating variables, and the like.
The above-described control logics are only exemplary and it is to be understood that many variations may be made without deviating from the invention as disclosed and described. For example, the climate load demand values can be modified as required.
In addition, the control logic set forth above generally represents control logic for the described embodiments of a system or method according to the disclosed invention. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the diagrams may represent any one or more of a number of known processing strategies such as event-driven, interrupt-driven, multi-tasking, multi-threading, and the like. As such, various steps or functions illustrated may be performed in the sequence illustrated, in parallel, or in some cases omitted. Likewise, the order of processing is not necessarily required to achieve the features and advantages of the invention, but is provided for ease of illustration and description. Although not explicitly illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the illustrated steps or functions may be repeatedly performed depending upon the particular processing strategy being used.
While the best mode for carrying out the invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims. | A Start-Stop method and system for optimizing a selected set of parameters to provide an ideal balance between cabin thermal comfort and fuel economy performance is disclosed. The method and system include several parameters to manage how long and when the engine OFF time will occur. Such parameters include, but are not limited to, outside ambient temperature, cabin temperature, cabin humidity, engine coolant temperature, and evaporator thermistor temperature. A control logic monitors inputs such as cabin humidity and, under certain conditions, sends a request for the engine to be ON. Other factors influencing engine ON time include inputs from the wiper(s), the heated windshield, the heated back light, the HVAC blower, and the temperature control setting. The disclosed system has utility in both electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) systems as well as in manual temperature control (MTC) systems. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process and equipment used in the forming of a paper web. More particularly, the invention relates to a process in the forming of paper web and in the dewatering of the pulp web and of the paper web formed.
The invention further relates to a twin wire former intended for carrying out the process of the invention. The former comprises a loop of a carrying wire guided by the breast roller, the forming roller and the guide rollers, as well as a loop of a covering wire guided by the breast roller, the forming roller and the guide rollers. The wire loops together form a forming gap between and in connection with the breast rollers. The pulp suspension jet is supposed to be fed into the forming gap. The forming gap is followed by a joint twin-wire forming and dewatering zone of the wires. The web is arranged after the zone, so as to follow along with the carrying wire, from which the web is detached and passed into the drying section of the paper machine.
As the running speeds of paper machines are increased, several problems in the forming of the web are accentuated even further. Phenomena that act in the forming section of a paper machine upon the fiber mesh and upon the water that is still relatively free in connection with said mesh, in particular the force effects, are usually intensified in proportion to the second power of the web speed. The maximum web speeds of the present newsprint machines are of the order of 1200 meters per minute. Newsprint machines are, however, being planned in which a web speed of up to about 1500 m/min is aimed at. Such increase in speed causes several problems, which will be discussed in the following.
A so-called hybrid former is a former in which the forming zone has a single-wire initial portion, onto which the headbox feeds the pulp suspension jet. A twin wire forming zone follows the single-wire portion. A problem of hybrid formers, as of four-drinier formers, is that at high web speeds splashes occur in the pulp web. These splashes result from the collision angle between the pulp jet and the forming board and, on the other hand, from the scattering of the highly turbulent pulp jet as said jet meets the forming board. The reach of the splashes in the direction of the pulp web is quite long, and these splashes cause marks in the pulp web being formed and thereby deteriorates the quality of the paper produced. On the other hand, the foil pulses used for the removal of water from a fourdrinier former become so high at high speeds that this causes splashing which deteriorates the formation of the web. As is well known, the foil pulsation increases proportionally to the second power of the speed. In order that the pulsation be maintained below the splashing limit at a high speed, the foil angles must be made so small (approaching the angle 0°) that an adequate dewatering capacity is not obtained.
It is a further drawback of a fourdrinier former that transverse profile defects present in the discharge jet may be accentuated further on the fourdrinier wire, for example, due to diagonal flow components in the pulp slurry (so-called plowings on the wire board), or in the form of stronger longitudinal streaks.
It is a common opinion that the variations in grammage in twin gap formers remain lower than in fourdrinier formers or hybrid formers. This is due to the fact that in gap formers, the jet is supplied straight into the gap, wherein the pulp jet is immediately "supported" between two wires, so that no transverse flows can arise, which transverse flows would intensify the defects in profile.
When the speeds of paper machines, in particular of newsprint machines, increase, uniformity of the web is, besides being a factor of paper quality, also important, since uniformity of the web has an ever higher effect on the running quality of the paper machine, because the weakest portions of the web are, as a rule, the cause of the breaks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principal object of the invention is to provide a process and equipment in the forming of a paper web which are suitable for high web speeds up to 1500 m/min, and even higher speeds.
An object of the invention is to provide a process and a former that are particularly well suitable for the production of low-grammage printing papers, such as newsprint and LWC-paper, in particular when the grammage of the papers is within the range of 30 g/m 2 to 60 g/m 2 . Developmental progress is continuously lowering the grammages, which imposes ever higher requirements on the uniformity of paper. At the present time, 45 g/m 2 is common for newsprint, but, in the near future, it will be 40 g/m 2 and lower.
Another object of the invention is to provide a web forming process and a former via which an improved formation and sheet forming is achieved, but in which, nevertheless, a retention of at least equal standard is accomplished as in the prior art formers.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a web forming process and a former via which a uniform distribution of fines and fillers is obtained, so that the opposite surfaces of the web are as equal to each other as possible.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a web forming process and a former via which the porosity of the paper produced is low whereby there are no so-called pinholes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a web forming process and a former via which the offset printing properties of the paper produced are good.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a web forming process and a former via which a sufficiently high dry solids content is accomplished after the wire section.
The foregoing objects are achieved by the web forming process and the former, whose most important characteristics are described as follows.
The process of the invention comprises the following steps carried out in the following sequence.
(a) The pulp suspension jet is fed from the slice of the headbox of the paper machine into a gap formed by two wires. The gap becomes narrower in the direction of feed of the pulp suspension jet. Water is removed from the pulp web when said web is in compression between the carrying wire and the covering wire within the twin-wire forming zone, which is immediately after the feeding gap.
(b) The twin-wire forming zone is made curved with a relatively large curve radius towards the loop of the carrying wire. The curve radius is selected large enough so that the wire tensioning pressure resulting from it and acting upon the pulp web becomes low and the water removed from the pulp web is not, at least not to a disturbing extent, splashed from the inside surface of the wire loop, by the effect of centrifugal force dependent on the curve radius, within the twin-wire forming or dewatering zone.
(c) The joint run of the wires is passed over an open-surfaced forming roller, so as to be curved within a relatively small angle towards the loop of the covering wire.
(d) The joint run of the wires is further passed over a forming roller within a certain sector, so as to be curved towards the loop of the carrying wire.
(e) The formed web is detached from the wire and, in a manner known in itself, is transferred into the press section of the paper machine.
The former of the invention comprises a combination of the following components.
(a) Dewatering equipment is fitted within the twin-wire portion substantially immediately after the forming gap inside the loop of the carrying wire. The dewatering equipment is fitted so as to guide the joint run of the wires, so that such run is curved with a curve radius towards the carrying wire loop. The curve radius is within the range of R=5 m to 50 m, preferably R=10 m to 20 m.
(b) An open-surfaced forming roller is fitted substantially immediately after the dewatering equipment inside the loop of the covering wire. The twin-wire run is arranged on the forming roller so as to be curved within a small angle towards the loop of the covering wire.
(c) A forming roller is fitted in proximity with the forming roller inside the loop of the carrying wire. The joint run of the wires is arranged on the forming roller, so as to be curved towards the loop of the carrying wire within a certain angle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of the invention, in which the twin-wire forming zone is substantially horizontal;
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of the invention, in which the twin-wire forming zone rises diagonally upward;
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of still another embodiment of the invention, in which the twin-wire forming zone rises vertically;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the twin-wire forming section and an embodiment of dewatering equipment placed inside the carrying wire loop in the twin-wire forming zone;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the dewatering equipment;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of twin-wire dewatering equipment in a twin-wire forming zone which rises diagonally upward, as shown in FIG. 2;
FIGS. 7a, b and c are cross-sectional views of different embodiments of deck ribs which are placed in the twin-wire forming zone and which determine the running of the wires; and
FIGS. 8a, b, c, d and e are schematic diagrams of different arrangements of the forming gaps into which pulp suspension is fed.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The former shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 includes a carrying wire 10 and a covering wire 20, which have a joint twin-wire forming zone D. The former of the invention is a so-called gap former, in which the wires, converging towards each other as guided by breast rollers 11 and 21, define a forming gap K between the wires. The slice portion 60 of the head box feeds a pulp suspension jet J directly into the forming gap K. A forming roller 12, provided with a suction zone 12a, is inside the loop of the carrying wire 10. The return run of the wire 10, guided by the guide rollers 14, is after the wire 10 drive roller 13. A forming roller 22 is inside the loop of the covering wire 20, after the breast roller 21. The forming roller 22 is a dandy-roller type forming roller provided with a very open surface 23. A dewatering trough 24, which covers the sector b of the roller 12, is provided after the forming roller 22. In the sector b, the wires 10, 20 are curved downwards as guided by the forming roller 12. The covering wire 20 is passed to its return run, which is guided by the guide rollers 26, via the reversing roller 25.
A forming board 30 is provided after the forming gap K between the wires 10 and 20, inside the loop of the carrying wire. The forming board is denoted in FIG. 1, by reference numeral 30a, in FIG. 2, by reference numeral 30b, and in FIG. 3, by reference numeral 30c. The forming board 30 extends from the range of the gap K to the forming roller 22. The forming board 30, which is all the aforementioned forming boards 30a, 30b and 30c, has a certain relatively large curve radius R, whose center of curvature is placed at the side of the carrying wire 10. The dewatering equipment at the forming board 30 may vary within quite wide limits, and some examples of different embodiments of equipment are shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7. The centrifugal forces are relatively low at the forming board due to the large curve radius R, so that there is no splashing. As is well known, the dewatering pressure between the wires 10 and 20 is calculated from an equation P=T/R, wherein T=tension of the covering wire 20, and R=the curve radius of the forming board 30.
Regarding the operation of the forming board 30, the details of which are hereinafter discussed, it should be stated in this connection that water is removed from the pulp web being formed onto the surface of the covering wire 20. However, with a large curve radius R, the water does not fly apart from the wire in the position of the forming board shown in FIG. 1, because the gravitation and surface tensions of the liquid outweigh the centrifugal force. This "floating" of water may, in certain paper qualities, be favorable for the structure and properties of the upper portions of the web. The length L of the forming board 30 is, as a rule, within the range of 2 to 5 m. The curve radius R is usually within the range of R=5 to 50 m; most commonly the applications are found within the range of R=10 to 20 m.
The foregoing curvature R of the twin-wire forming zone D at the forming board 30 also has the important effect that the wires 10 and 20 maintain their posture in the lateral direction, and said wires are not formed into wavelike bag formations, which might occur in a straight twin-wire run.
The former of the present invention is a so-called full-gap former, and does not have a single-wire initial portion, which provides certain advantages. When the pulp suspension jet J is fed straight into the gap K, no detrimental transverse flows are generated, but the jet is immediately "supported" between the wires 10 and 20. The orientation of the fibers may be controlled by adjustment of the speed of the jet J relative to the speed of the wires 10, 20.
Dewatering occurs via the carrying wire 10 after the gap K, within the twin-wire portion D. Dewatering usually occurs via both wires 10 and 20, due to the tensioning pressure of the wire 10, in the sector a of the forming roller 22, the magnitude of this sector being within the range of a=1° to 50°, usually within the range of 5° to 25°. Most of the water running along in the meshes of the covering wire 20 and on the inside surface of its meshes, has access through the open surface 23 of the forming roller 22, and this water flies from the forming roller 22 into the dewatering trough 24 due to the effect of centrifugal force. The magnitude of the sector b of the forming roller 12 is within the range of 10° to 90°, usually within the range of 30° to 60°. The water drained within the sector b is passed into the trough 24, and from there to the sides of the forming section. The suction zone 12a of the forming roller 12 ensures that the web W follows along with the carrying wire 10.
If the forming roller 12 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is not provided with a suction zone 12a, but operates as an open-surfaced or smooth-surfaced forming roller, a separate wire-suction roller with a corresponding wire coverage is required inside the wire loop 10 before the web is transferred into the press section (cf. the suction roller 15 in FIG. 3). In such case, it is possible to use dry suction boxes inside the wire loop 10 on the wire run between the forming rollers 12 and the separate suction roller, in order to ensure the transfer of the web and to increase the dry solids content.
The twin-wire portion, that is, the wires 10 and 20 run substantially together, starts at line A and ends at line B. The web W is detached from the carrying wire 10 in the suction zone 70a of the pick-up roller 70 and transferred to the pick-up felt 71, on which the web W is passed further, in a known manner, into the press section of the paper machine.
The aforedescribed forming roller 22, which is preferably a dandy-roller type forming roller, improves the base of the web W by causing an increase in the pressure in the web and shear forces out of the web, as well as removing water in the aforedescribed manner. The combined forming and suction roller 12 removes water, by the effect of the tension of the wire 20, through both of the wires and, by the effect of the suction 12a, through the wire 10. If required, it is possible to use suction boxes on the straight run of the carrying wire 10 between the forming and suction roller 12 and the drive roller 13.
The diameter of the forming roller 22 is preferably rather large, 1 to 2 m. The diameter of the forming and suction roller 12, which affects the centrifugal force by which water is removed through the covering wire 20, is usually smaller than that of the forming roller 22, that is, within the range of 0.2 m to 1.5 m. These diameters also depend upon the mechanical strains, for example, on the covering angles a and b.
The length L of the twin-wire draining or forming zone D between the forming gap K and the forming roller 22, in which zone the dewatering equipment 30 is placed, is usually within the range of L=2 m to 6 m. A so-called wedgewise narrowing gap is usually used as the gap K. The length of the gap K, as calculated from a plane extending through the axes of rotation of the breast rollers 11 and 21, up to the line A, may be from less than 0.5 m to about 1 m.
The operation of the gently curved forming zone D placed at the forming board 30 and the dewatering equipment provided within the zone D are hereinafter described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. Generally speaking, the zone D consists of one or several deck surfaces tensioning the wires 10, 20 with a curve radius R. The openness of the deck surface varies from an almost closed curved deck to a highly open deck construction, assembled from rib-like members, for example. In any case, even the individual ribs or deck surfaces are grouped so as to provide the wires 10, 20 in the forming zone D with a relatively gentle curve radius R, which is as hereinbefore stated, usually within the range of R=5 m to 50 m, preferably 10 m to 20 m. Thus, the centrifugal forces acting in the forming zone D remain low even at high velocities v. The dewatering and formation are promoted in the zone D by the pressure pulsation generated by the alternate open spaces and closed deck surfaces.
The forming board 30a, shown in FIG. 4, and placed in the forming zone D, comprises a forming shoe 31 of a large curve radius R immediately after the gap K. The forming shoe 31 is provided with a smooth-surfaced closed deck 32. After the forming shoe 31, is a forming board 33 having a curve radius R, which is provided with a rib deck 34. Open slots are provided between the ribs of the deck 34. The water may be removed through the slots downwards through the carrying wire 10. A third dewatering member of the forming board is a suction box 35, which is connected to a vacuum system and is provided with a rib deck 36 having transverse slots.
In FIG. 5, the forming board 30a in the forming zone D comprises a rib deck 37 of a certain curve radius R, which is placed immediately after the gap K. The rib deck 37 is provided with transverse open slots between the ribs. A curved shoe, consisting of narrow scraping ribs 38, is provided on the deck 37. A deflector 40 is provided after the shoe 38, inside the loop of the covering wire 20. The deflector 40 is connected via the duct 41 to a suction box 42, which, in turn, is connected to the vacuum system of the paper machine.
In FIG. 6, the upwardly slanting forming zone D, rising at an angle of about 40° to 60°, comprises a closed-surface forming deck 43 inside the carrying wire 10 and thereinafter forming ribs. Deflectors 45 are provided at the forming ribs, inside the loop of the covering wire 20, and curved guide surfaces 46 are connected to said deflectors and guide water drained through the meshes in the wire 20 into the collecting trough 47. There is a rib deck 48 after the deflectors 45, inside the wire 10.
The curve radius R does not have to remain unchanged throughout the entire length of the forming zone D. In one possible embodiment, the curve radius is changed continuously or stepwise so that at the end of the forming zone D, next to the gap K, the curve radius is near the upper limit of the range of variation of R=5 to 50 m, and at the final end of said zone, closer to the lower limit. In this way, the dewatering pressure can be increased gradually, and the dewatering made very gentle.
When the run of the wire is closer to horizontal (FIG. 1) than to vertical, the water passing through the covering wire 20 can be collected by a separate collecting device, such as a suction box 42 connected with a deflector 40, as in FIG. 5, or the water passing through the wire 20 may be allowed to "float" on said wire and pass through the former roller 22 of a very open surface structure 23, whereupon the water flies, as thrown by centrifugal forces, into dewatering troughs or collecting basins 24 (FIG. 1). The latter mode of removal of the water is possible, because the initial dewatering zone constructed with a larger curve radius R, as compared with the solutions accomplished in the prior art, does not, by means of its centrifugal force, throw the water drained upwards, so that it flies high up. Thus, with a radius R=30 m, for example, the limit velocity at which the centrifugal force surpasses the force of gravitation is ##EQU1##
In reality, the limit speed v is even somewhat higher than that calculated above, because the surface tension and capillary forces of water in the meshes of the wire 20 increase the adhesion of the water to said wire considerably. It can be estimated that the water does not start flying apart from the wire with a radius R=30, even at a speed of almost 25 m/s.
Another advantage that is obtained with the large curve radius R at the same time is the very gentle dewatering, due to the low dewatering pressure P=T/R. The gentle dewatering is for the purpose of attaining high retention and, at the same time, versatile control of the formation process, because the dewatering has been timed on a relatively long distance. As in known in the prior art, the more highly pressurized dewatering in gap formers occurs within such a short distance that the process cannot be controlled in practice. However, the process is self-controlling, that is, it depends only on pulp conditions and grammage, for example.
The dewatering pressure P=T/R, and P=5/20 kPa=0.25 kPa, when R=20 m and T=5 kN/m. Ordinarily, in the prior art embodiments of gap formers, the pressure is 1 to 10 kPa, and even the negative foil pressures used in fourdrinier machines are of the same order of magnitude.
The elements of the forming boards 30 may be at least partly adjustable so that the pressing of the individual members perpendicularly against the wires 10, 20 may be varied, so that the pressure pulse of the member concerned may be adjusted thereby. Likewise, the positions of successive members can be varied, so that the main curve radius of the wire run is changed to some extent. Relatively little plays are required in order to change the curvature of large curve radii, within the range of R=5 m to ∞, for example. The length of the straight portion is, however, limited by the necessity for tensioning the wires 10, 20 in arch form, required as the posture for preventing wrinkling of said wires.
If desired, the dewatering effect can also be intensified by negative pressure by using auxiliary suction in a box provided with a slotted deck, or by placing ribs at the foil angles, as is done, in a manner known in the prior art, with fourdrinier wires. It is also possible to use so-called deflectors at one or both sides of the wires 10, 20, as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A deflector is defined to be a relatively narrow-tipped rib or doctor pressing the wire. As shown in FIG. 5, auxiliary suction in the form of the suction box 42 is used in the deflector 40 placed inside the loop of the covering wire 20 in order to facilitate the collecting of water. A curved forming surface may also be constructed of wider unified solid or slotted decks and of different combinations of same, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. When deflectors 40 and 45 are used inside the loop of the covering wire 20, the main curvature of the wires 10, 20 at said deflectors momentarily becomes a straight line, or even a negative curvature (R<0), wherein the center of curvature is shifted to the side of the loop of the covering wire 20, within this limited area.
FIG. 7 shows some examples of the deck ribs forming a curved wire run. Pressure peaks and additional pulsations can be produced in the pulp web W formed, due to the effect of an angular run of the wires 10, 20. This angular run is illustrated in FIG. 7a by the angles c 1 and c 3 , in FIG. 7b by the angle c 2 , and in FIG. 7c by the angle c 1 . As shown in FIG. 7a, the rib 52 has a uniformly curved guide surface. The rib is affixed to the forming board by a groove 53, for example. The rib 51 of FIG. 7b is provided with an edged guide surface. FIG. 7c shows a narrower rib 50 of the deflector type, which is affixed to the forming board by a dovetail portion 54.
The gap K is preferably adjustable, so that the penetration of the headbox jet J between the wires 10, 20 can be controlled.
In FIG. 8a, the gap K is formed by a light wire nip against the breast roller 11. The upper wire 20 contacts the breast roller 11 of the lower wire 10. The gap K can be adjusted by a height adjustment of the breast roller 21 of the upper wire 20, as indicated by an arrow V. The breast roller 11 of the lower wire 10, constituting the counter roller of the wire nip or gap, may be open or smooth-surfaced.
As is shown in FIG. 8b, the breast roller 21 of the upper wire 20 forms the gap or nip against the lower wire 10. The gap K is adjusted by a height adjustment of the upper and/or lower wire 10, 20.
The gap arrangement shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b may also be modified so that the roller forming the gap K does not quite contact the opposite wire, but a gap-like slot remains between the roller an the wire. The slot is completely filled by the discharge jet, whereby pressure is produced, or the nip proper and the formation of pressure start slightly after this position (FIG. 8e). In FIGS. 8a and 8b, in addition to the aforedescribed modes, the narrowing of the wires 10, 20 in the gap K can be adjusted by rib-shaped members 62 and 63, as shown in FIG. 8c, considerably more sharply curved than the beginning dewatering and forming zone D, either from one or both sides of the wires 10, 20. In this case, the wires 10, 20 are brought close to each other to form a gap K narrowing in accordance with the draining of water, and the starting point of the nip, that is, the point at which the tension of the wires 10, 20 starts producing pressure on the pulp web, can be adjusted. The direction of the headbox jet J may be adjusted to the side of either one of the wires 10, 20, or to the middle of the gap K, besides the controls shown in the FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 8d, a rib-shaped, curved member 61 is in the gap, against the loop of the wire 20. After the rib-shaped curved member 61, against the inside surface of the wire 10, is a member 49 provided with a closed deck, at least in the initial part, within the area of the gap K.
The invention is by no means restricted to the aforementioned details which are described only as examples; they may vary within the framework of the invention, as defined in the following claims.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. | A process in the forming of a paper web, the dewatering of the pulp web, and of the paper web being formed comprises feeding the pulp suspension jet from the slice of the headbox into a gap formed by two wires, the gap becoming narrower in the feeding direction of the pump suspension jet. Water is removed from the pulp web when the web is in compression between the carrying wire and the covering wire within the twin-wire forming zone, which begins immediately after the feeding gap. The twin-wire forming zone is curved towards the loop of the carrying wire with a curve radius which is selected large enough so that the wire tensioning pressure resulting from it and acting upon the pulp web becomes low and the water removed from the pulp web is not splashed from the inside surface of the wire loop by the effect of centrifugal force dependent upon the curve radius. The joint run of the wires is passed over an open-surfaced forming roller, so as to be curved within a relatively small angle towards the loop of the covering wire. The joint run of the wires is passed over a forming roller, so as to be curved towards the loop of the carrying wire. The formed web is detached from the wire and transferred into the press section of the paper machine. A specifically structured twin wire former carries out the process. | 3 |
This application claims the benefit under 35USC 119 of the filing date of provisional application 60/610,178 filed Sep. 16, 2004.
This application is a continuation in part of patent application Ser. No. 11/225,881, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and now issued to U.S. Pat. No. 7,882,850.
The invention provides a new door and frame assembly to replace the common zipper door on camping tents, outdoor dining tents and screen rooms.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The common camping, dining or screen tent typically utilizes a zippered flap of material or screen to act as the doorway into and out of the tent. To enter or exit the tent it is necessary to bend down, open the zipper, bend over and pass through the doorway, and then turn around and close the zipper. Because of the loose material, it often requires two hands, and is often difficult if a person is carrying something.
Considered broadly, tents disclosed herein are of a portable type, comprised of fabric roofs and walls and often including waterproof fabric floors. The tents are usually supported by rigid metal, fiberglass, or composite poles and frame. The entry method into and out of the tent is by means of a fabric zippered door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the invention to provide an improved fabric enclosure with an improved door construction providing an opening with a closure panel in one wall.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a fabric structure comprising:
a fabric wall panel of the fabric structure defining a plane of the panel and defining side edges of the wall panel and a bottom of the wall panel for resting along a ground surface;
an opening in the fabric wall panel;
a fabric closure panel for closing the opening having a hinge line along one side connecting the closure panel to the wall panel;
wherein the fabric wall panel at the opening and the fabric closure panel each define an edge thereof opposite to the hinge line with the edge of the fabric closure panel overlapping the edge of the fabric wall panel at the opening for closure thereon;
wherein the edge is curved;
a flexible bowing strip attached to the edge of the fabric closure panel opposite to the hinge line, which bowing strip is forced into a bowed shape from an initial different shape such that the flexible bowing strip tends to return to the initial shape generating forces in the bowing strip biasing ends of the bowing strip apart;
and wherein the flexible bowing strip is attached to the edge of the closure panel such that the forces in the bowing strip biasing the ends of the bowing strip apart act to apply tension to the closure panel tending to maintain the panel flat.
According to an important aspect, the curved edge extends from a top end at the hinge line around to an opposite end at position at a floor of the fabric wall panel, which position is spaced from the hinge line.
Preferably there is provided a straight non-flexible, stiff brace attached to the bottom edge of the closure panel from said position to the hinge line.
Preferably there is provided a connecting member attached to the closure panel at the position to receive an end of the brace and an end of the bowing strip.
Preferably the connecting member is a molded piece having a first receptacle for the end of the brace and a second receptacle for the end of the bowing strip.
Preferably the brace is attached to the edge of the closure panel by at least one sleeve on the edge of the closure panel.
Preferably there is provided a fabric door sweep attached to the bottom edge of the closure panel which engages the ground surface in the closed position.
Preferably the fabric wall panel is arranged to have no sill portion thereof extending upwardly from the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
Preferably the fabric wall panel is arranged to lie substantially flat against the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
Preferably the fabric wall panel includes a strap lying substantially flat against the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
Preferably there is also a second flexible bowing strip attached to the edge of the opening opposite to the hinge line, which second bowing strip is forced into a bowed shape from an initial different shape such that the flexible bowing strip tends to return to the initial shape.
Preferably the flexible bowing strip is attached to the edge of the closure panel by a sleeve on the edge of the closure panel.
Preferably each end of the bowing strip is contained in a respective top and bottom retainer pockets attached to the fabric wall panel so as to transfer the tension from the bowing strip into the fabric wall panel.
Preferably the top retainer pocket is mounted on the fabric wall panel for pivotal movement of the retainer pocket relative to the fabric wall panel about the hinge line, where the hinge line lies at an angle to the bowing strip at the end of the bowing strip.
Preferably the bottom retainer pocket is attached to the fabric wall panel and defines a rigid pocket into which an end of the flexible bowing strip is inserted so as to be rigidly connected to the straight non-flexible door brace which is inserted into the other side of the pocket.
Preferably there is provided a fastening system for releasably fastening the overlapping edges together.
Preferably the hinge line lies in a plane of the fabric wall panel and is inclined in that plane in a direction such that, when viewed in a front elevation of the fabric closure panel, the hinge line is inclined to the vertical in a direction such that a top end of the hinge line is located to a side of a bottom end of the hinge line toward the closure panel.
The arrangement described in more detail hereinafter utilizes a fabric door panel with a rigid frame comprising straight and arched segmented metal, fiberglass, or composite rods. The door frame, as part of the tent wall, also utilizes a segmented metal, fiberglass, or composite rod to provide opening shape. The rods are assembled into one piece and when attached to the tent fabric form a combined straight and bent segment-of-a-circle arch. The rod is attached to the tent fabric by hoops of fabric around the periphery of the door and door opening. Overlapping fabric edges between the door and the frame in the tent wall prevent fly and mosquito egress. The door pivots on a reinforced fabric hinge. The door is opened in a conventional fashion, by pulling on a handle on one side, stepping through the doorway and closing the door behind. Velcro or magnetic closures keep the door closed. On most sloped wall tents, the door is also self-closing.
One variation of this invention would be the use of compressed gas tubes to provide the arched shape to the fabric door panel and door frame.
There is referenced a number of times herein the use of segmented rods for use as the bowing strip. Another variation would be the use of a continuous rod that rolled up for travel (somewhat like a tape measure). Another variation of this invention would be the use of non-segmented metal, fiberglass or composite flat bar to provide the arched shape to the fabric door panel and door frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a conventional pole supported tent showing the tent door and frame on one side of the tent and including the closure according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the opening tension hoop with the door tension hoop not shown for clarity.
FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the opening tension hoop and top bowing strip retainer, viewed from inside the tent looking out.
FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the door tension hoop and top bowing strip retainer.
FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the door tension hoop and bottom bowing strip retainer.
FIG. 6 is a section view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the door tension hoop and bottom bowing strip retainer along the lines 6 - 6 of FIG. 5 .
FIG. 7 is a section through the opening tension hoop and door tension hoop along the lines 7 - 7 of FIG. 1 and showing the general relationship between the two when the door is closed.
FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a tent showing a second embodiment of the closure.
FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the door bottom brace and door bottom brace retainer.
FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the door tension hoop, door bottom brace and corner bowing strip retainer.
FIG. 11 is an elevational view of the opening in the tent showing the tension hoop and bottom bowing strip retainer, viewed from inside the tent looking out.
FIG. 12 is a cross-section along the lines 12 - 12 of FIG. 8 .
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The embodiment comprises a number of components attached to the fabric tent wall 1 , which include:
1 —fabric tent wall,
2 —fabric door,
3 —stiffening fabric at hinge line;
4 —flexible bowing strip-opening frame;
5 —tension hoop—opening frame;
6 —stiffened edge—opening frame;
7 —bowing strip retainer—opening frame (one at the top of the door and one at the bottom);
8 —bowing strip hook and loop restraint—opening frame (one at the top of the door and one at the bottom);
9 —flexible bowing strip—door frame;
10 —tension hoop—door frame
11 —stiffened edge—door frame;
12 —bowing strip retainer—door frame top;
13 —bowing strip retainer—door frame bottom;
14 —hook and loop/magnetic closure;
15 —ground spike loop—side wall;
16 —handle;
17 —ground spike loop—corner;
18 —conventional tent;
19 —fabric hinge centerline;
20 —reinforcement pad.
The invention provides a door assembly and an opening assembly. A general arrangement of the two assemblies is shown in FIG. 1 .
The door assembly provides a straight segmented flexible bowing strip door frame 9 (constructed of metal, fiberglass or composites), which is inserted into a semi-circle-shaped door frame tension hoop 10 (constructed of fabric) attached to the fabric door 2 . The ends of the flexible bowing strip door frame 9 are positioned and restrained by the bowing strip retainers 12 and 13 (constructed of reinforced plastic or fabric) at the top and bottom of the door. Insertion of the bowing strip 9 into the semi-circle shaped tension hoop 10 and bowing strip restraint by the bowing strip retainers 12 and 13 causes the door fabric to be stretched tight and maintain the shape bowing strip 9 into the semi-circle-shaped door frame tension hoop 10 . A fabric handle 16 provides a convenient grasp for opening the door.
The opening assembly consists of a straight segmented flexible bowing strip opening frame 4 (constructed of metal, fiberglass or composites), which is inserted into a semi-circle-shaped opening frame tension hoop 5 (constructed of fabric) attached to the tent wall. The ends of the flexible bowing strip opening frame 4 are positioned and restrained by the bowing strip retainers 7 (constructed of reinforced plastic or fabric) and bowing strip hook and loop restraints 8 at the top and bottom of the door opening. Insertion of the straight bowing strip 4 into the semi-circle-shaped opening frame tension hoop 5 and bowing strip restraint by the bowing strip retainers 7 and bowing strip hook and loop restraints 8 causes the tent wall to be tight and the door opening to match the shape and size of the door. A reinforcement pad 20 provides additional strength to the fabric of the assembly.
The door assembly has a stiffened edge 11 which is a band of stiffer material fastened to the fabric extending around the semi-circle defined by the inside of the door frame tension hoop 10 which mates with a stiffened edge 6 on the outside of the opening frame tension hoop 5 . The purpose of the stiffened edge is to restrict mosquito and fly egress into the tent. At intervals along the stiffened edge, hook and loop/magnetic closures 14 provide attachment of the door assembly to the opening assembly in order to resist the wind from opening the door assembly. A stiffening fabric at the hinge line 3 allows the door to rotate about the plane of the tent wall. Side wall ground spike loop 15 allows attachments of the stiffening fabric to the ground to maintain the position of the door frame tension hoop 10 relative to the opening frame hoop 5 .
The embodiment herein has the following features:
In a camping, dining or screen tent, the use of a rigidly framed door assembly and rigidly framed opening assembly, the combination of which provides convenient hinged door access to and from the tent.
The rigidly framed door assembly comprising of a straight segmented flexible bowing strip door frame 9 , held in tension in a semi-circle shape by bowing strip retainers 12 and 13 .
The rigidly framed opening assembly comprising of a straight segmented flexible bowing strip opening frame 4 , held in tension in a semi-circle shape by bowing strip retainers 7 and bowing strip hook and loop restraints 8 .
The door frame tension hoop 10 and opening frame tension hoop 5 which give shape to the door and tent wall fabric.
The stiffened edges 6 and 11 to resist mosquitoes and flies from entering the tent.
The hook and loop/magnetic closures 14 to prevent the unintended opening of the door assembly.
The arrangement of FIGS. 8 to 12 is similar to that described above so that only the important differences will be described as follows.
The door assembly provides a straight segmented flexible bowing strip door frame 30 constructed of metal, fiberglass or composites similar to that previously described. This is inserted into an arc-shaped door frame tension hoop 31 constructed of fabric attached to the fabric door 2 . The top end of the flexible bowing strip door frame 30 is positioned and restrained by the bowing strip retainer at the top of the door as shown in the previous embodiment in FIG. 2 .
The bottom of the bowing strip 30 as shown in FIG. 10 is inserted into a cylindrical receptacle 33 in a bottom stiff retainer 32 constructed of reinforced plastic or metal at the bottom of the door. The door assembly also provides a straight segmented non-flexible or stiff door bottom brace 34 , constructed of tubular metal, fiberglass or composites so as to be resistant to flexing, which is received in a receptacle 35 in the retainer 32 . The retainer 32 is attached to the door 2 at the bottom corner by stitching or adhesive so as to provide a holder for the bowing strip and the brace. The retainer 32 is relatively stiff so as to prevent twisting at the bottom corner and to hold the brace and bowing strip connected at a fixed angle at the bottom corner allowing them to move together as the door is opened.
The brace 34 is inserted into a straight door frame tension hoop or sleeve 36 constructed of fabric and attached to the fabric door 2 along the bottom edge of the door. At the other end of the brace 34 , the brace is received in a receptacle 37 of a retainer 38 . The retainer 38 is stitched to the fabric of the tent at the hinge line so as to allow the end of the brace to pivot about the hinge line 19 .
The ends of the door bottom brace 34 are therefore positioned and restrained by the bowing strip retainers 32 and 38 at the bottom of the door. Insertion of the door bottom brace 34 into the straight tension hoop 36 causes the door fabric to stay flat upon the ground surface when in the closed position.
Insertion of the bowing strip 30 into the arc-shaped tension hoop 31 and bowing strip restraint by the bowing strip retainers 32 and 5 causes the door fabric to be stretched tight and maintain the shape of the door panel. A fabric handle 16 shown in FIG. 8 provides a convenient grasp for opening the door.
In this way the curved edge defined by the bowings strip at the edge of the door extends from a top end at the hinge line around to an opposite end at position defined by the retainer 32 at the floor of the fabric wall panel where the position defined by the retainer is spaced from the hinge line by the length of the brace.
The bowing strip is curved sufficiently that it meets the retainer 32 at an angel to the brace which is greater than 90 degrees. This provides a sufficient curvature on the bowing strip to hold the door tensioned and its fabric flat and to provide tension on the fabric attached to the brace. Also the retainer 32 is sufficiently rigid that it maintains the spatial relationship between the brace and the bowing strip, both in angle rotation and planar position. It effectively couples the brace to the bowing strip, so that the two in combination act much like the original sprung hoop. The brace is held in place in the retainers attached to the door panel fabric by the fact that its length is slightly greater than the distance between the retainers.
The opening in the tent 1 shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 is defined by an edge 40 of the fabric tent 2 which is shaped to match the door with a bottom edge 41 matching the length of the brace 34 and an arched top portion 42 extending from the bottom 41 upwardly and around to the hinge line 19 shown in FIG. 3 at the top. A second bowing strip 43 similar in construction to the first is inserted into an arc-shaped fabric hoop 44 at the edge 42 . The ends of the second flexible bowing strip 43 are positioned and restrained by the bowing strip retainers 45 at the bottom and 7 shown in FIG. 3 at the top.
The bowing strip 43 is also held in place by a hook and loop restraint 46 at the bottom and by a similar element 8 at the top. These are located adjacent the retainers and act to hold the bowing strip in place when inserted in the retainers. Other arrangements for holding the bowing strip in place can be provided. Bending of the straight bowing strip 43 into the arc-shaped opening frame tension hoop 44 and bowing strip restraint by the bowing strip retainers 45 and bowing strip hook and loop restraints 46 causes the tent wall to be tight and the door opening to match the shape and size of the door.
A reinforcement pad 47 at the bottom edge of the door opening on the side away from the hinge line 19 provides additional strength to the fabric of the assembly and carries the forces from the retainer 45 . A door sill strap 48 lays flat on the ground and connects the left side fabric tent wall 1 to the right side fabric tent wall 1 and provides integrity in the opening size and holds the tent wall 1 in a generally planar orientation. Thus the opening assembly and door assembly are held coplanar by ensuring alignment of and maintaining spacing between the bottom left and bottom right sides of the door opening. The ends of the strap 48 are held in place by ground spike loops 50 .
The door assembly has a stiffened edge 51 which is a band of stiffer material fastened to the fabric extending around the arc defined by the inside of the door frame tension hoop 31 which mates with a stiffened edge 53 on the outside of the opening frame tension hoop 44 . The purpose of the stiffened edge is to restrict mosquito and fly egress into the tent. At intervals along the stiffened edge, closures 14 shown on FIG. 7 provide attachment of the door assembly to the opening assembly in order to resist the wind from opening the door assembly. These can be of the hook and loop or magnetic type. A door sweep 52 constructed of reinforced fabric rests on the ground at the bottom strap 48 and helps to restrict mosquito and fly egress into the tent. A stiffening fabric at the hinge line 19 allows the door to rotate about the plane of the tent wall. The side wall ground spike loop 50 allows attachment of the stiffening fabric to the ground to maintain the position of the door frame tension hoop 31 relative to the opening frame hoop 44 .
The embodiment herein has the following features:
In a camping, dining or screen tent, the use of a rigidly framed door assembly and rigidly framed opening assembly, the combination of which provides convenient hinged door access to and from the tent.
The rigidly framed door assembly comprises a flexible bowing strip door frame, held in tension in an arc shape by bowing strip retainers in combination with a non-flexible door bottom brace, held in place by bowing strip retainer and door bottom brace retainer.
The rigidly framed opening assembly comprises a flexible bowing strip opening frame, held in tension in an arc shape by bowing strip retainers and bowing strip hook and loop restraints.
The door frame tension hoop, opening frame tension hoop, and door sill strap which give shape to the door and tent wall fabric.
The stiffened edges and door sweep to resist mosquitoes and flies from entering the tent.
The hook and loop/magnetic closures to prevent the unintended opening of the door assembly.
The fabric wall panel is arranged to have no sill portion thereof extending upwardly from the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
The fabric wall panel is arranged to lie substantially flat against the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
The fabric wall panel includes a strap lying substantially flat against the ground surface at the bottom edge at the opening.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the Claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. | In a fabric enclosure such as a tent wall there is provided an opening in the fabric panel with a fabric closure panel for closing the opening having a hinge line along one side connecting the closure panel to the wall panel. The opening and the closure panel each define an edge thereof opposite to the hinge line which is curved from an end at the hinge line around to an opposite end separated from the hinge line by a non-flexible rod with the edge of the closure panel overlapping the edge of the opening for closure thereon and a flexible bowing strip attached to the edge of the closure panel which is forced into a bowed shape to apply tension to the closure panel tending to maintain the panel flat. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is related to the following co-pending U.S. patent applications all having the same inventive entity and being assigned to the same assignee:
Ser. No. 564,134, titled, "A Remote Data Link Controller;"
Ser. No. 564,135, titled, "A Remote Data Link Receive Data Reformatter;"
Ser. No. 564,133, titled, "A Remote Data Link Transmit Data Formatter;"
Ser. No. 564,136, titled, "A Remote Data Link Address Sequencer and Memory Arrangement for Accessing and Storing Digital Data;"
Ser. No. 564,137, titled, "A Data Format Arrangement for Communication Between the Peripheral Processors of a Telecommunications Switching Network."
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to data transmission between the switching systems of a telecommunication network and more particularly to a remote data link controller for formatting, transmitting and receiving control data between the peripheral processors of a plurality of switching systems.
In modern digital telecommunication switching systems a concept of network modularity has been designed allowing the interconnection of small switching systems remote to a larger host system. These remote switching systems have capacities to handle between a few hundred and a few thousand telephone subscribers. The remote switching systems are normally used in areas where the installation of a large switching system would be uneconomical.
A high speed digital data link typically interfaces the host switching system to the remote system through which large amounts of voice and control data are exchanged. The voice data normally comprises subscriber calls switched through either the host or the remote system. The control data may be status exchanges between the host and the remote, i.e. centralized administration, billing and maintenance, or the direct control of the operation of the remote by the host.
The control data exchanges are originated in the sending system peripheral processor transmitted over the high speed digital data link to the receiving system peripheral processor where the data is interpreted. In order to relieve each peripheral processor from the burden of controlling the data link a remote data link controller is implemented in each system which performs all tasks involved in the formatting, transmission and reception of the control data.
The remote data link controllers are connected to each other via digital spans. These digital spans may be T1, T2 or T1C, T3 carriers using DS1, DS2 or DS1C, DS3 data formats, respectively. These digital spans transmit data at high speeds serially at a rate of approximately 1.5-45 megabits per second.
One method presently used in the industry for controlling a data link is the serial data link controller (SDLC) protocol developed by IBM INCORPORATED. The SDLC protocol requires the SDLC circuitry to handle one link on a dedicated basis. That is, in a system where the host connects to for instance, 16 remote units, a single SDLC circuit would be required for each link. Because of the complexity of the SDLC circuitry it is impractical to control all 16 data links with a single SDLC circuit.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a single remote data link controller which can be shared among a plurality of data links for formatting, transmitting and receiving control data between the peripheral processors of a host and a plurality of remote switching systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accomplishing the object of the present invention there is provided a telecommunications switching system including a peripheral processor and a plurality of digital data links for sending data messages in the form of message bytes to a plurality of remotely located telecommunications switching systems. The remote data link controller of the present invention is used to process control data in each telecommunications switching system using one controller to handle the servicing of all of the digital data links.
The remote data link controller is comprised of a peripheral processor output buffer connected to the peripheral processor. The peripheral processor output buffer includes a plurality of transmit buffers with each transmit buffer associated with one of the digital data links. Each transmit buffer is arranged to store a plurality of control data normally in the form of data words from the peripheral processor.
The peripheral processor output buffer is connected to a formatter circuit which is arranged to process sequentially one data word from each of the transmit buffers assembling each data word into a message byte. The formatting circuit is further connected to a temporary memory which includes a plurality of memory location areas. Each memory location area is associated with one of the digital data links. After one message byte has been formatted by the formatting circuit the message byte is transferred to a specific memory location in the temporary memory associated with the digital data link being serviced at the time. The formatter may also contain a partially completed message byte which is also output to the memory location area associated with that particular digital data link.
A counter circuit connected to the temporary memory is arranged to count the number of message bytes assembled for each of the digital data links and the number of data bits contained in a partially completed message byte. After one message byte has been formatted, the counter outputs its counting of data to the temporary memory location area associated with the digital data link.
Finally, a plurality of data link output buffers are connected to the temporary memory with each of the data buffers connected to a plurality of digital data links. Each data link output buffer is arranged to receive from the temporary memory in sequential order, starting with the first digital data link and ending with the last digital data link, a message byte to be transmitted to an associated remotely located telecommunications switching system.
In receiving data from the remotely located telecommunications switching systems, the remote data link controller operates substantially in the same manner as described previously. A plurality of data link input buffers are each connected to a plurality of digital data links. Each data link input buffer is arranged to receive from its respective digital data links a message byte of a data message transmitted from an associated and respective remotely located telecommunications switching system. The data link input buffers are connected to a temporary memory and its plurality of memory location areas. The temporary memory is arranged to receive and store in each memory location area a message byte received over an associated digital data link.
A reformatting circuit connected to the temporary memory processes sequentially the message bytes from each of the memory location areas. One data word is reformatted for each digital data link. It should be noted, that in the reformatting process as was the case in the formatting process, a partial data word may be assembled which is output to the temporary memory for storage. The partially reformatted data word is later re-input to the reformatter circuit where new bits from a newly arrived message byte are added to form a new data word. Each memory location area in the temporary memory also receives from the counter circuit a count of the number of data words assembled for each digital data link as well as a count of the number of data bits contained in a partially assembled data word.
Finally, a peripheral processor input buffer is connected to the reformatting circuit. The peripheral processor input buffer includes a plurality of receive buffers with each receive buffer associated with one of the digital data links. Each receive buffer is arranged to receive and store a plurality of reformatted data words allowing the peripheral processor to access the data words and read the control data.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications switching system including the remote data link controller of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a bit map of a channel and frame of a T1 data span.
FIG. 3 is a bit map representation of the message format developed by the remote data link controller.
FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the remote data link controller of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a detailed time utilization diagram of the bit map of a data byte and a remote data link channel represented in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a remote data link controller transfer timing diagram.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, a time-space-time digital switching system along with the corresponding common control is shown. Telephone subscribers, such as subscribers 1 and 2, are shown connected to analog line unit 13. Analog line unit 13 is connected to both copies of the analog control unit 14 and 14'. Originating time switches 20 and 20' are connected to a duplex pair of space switch units 30 and 30' which are in turn connected to a duplex pair of terminating time switches 21 and 21'. Terminating time switches 21 and 21' are connected to analog control units 14 and 14' and ultimately to the telephone subscribers 1 and 2 via analog line circuit 13. Digital control units 15, 15' and 16, 16' connect the digital spans to the switching system. Digital span equipment may be implemented using a model 9004 T1 digital span, manufactured by GTE Lenkurt, Inc. Similarly, analog trunk unit 18 connects trunk circuits to the digital switching system via analog control units 17 and 17'.
A peripheral processor CPU 70 controls the digital switching system and digital and analog control units. Analog time unit 13 and a duplex pair of analog control units 14 and 14' interface to telephone subscribers directly. A duplicate pair of digital control units 15, 15' and 16, 16' control the incoming PCM data from the digital spans. Similarly, the analog trunk unit 18 and a duplex pair of analog control units 17 and 17' interface to trunk circuits. The analog and digital control units are each duplicated for reliability purposes.
The network of FIG. 1 also includes a REMOTE DATA LINK CONTROLLER (RDLC) 100 which provides formatting and control of data transmitted and received between the peripheral processors of two or more switching systems. The RDLC can provide up to 16, 64 kilobits per second data links arranged for full duplex operation and is configured so that it can provide one full duplex data link for each of the 16 T1 spans. RDLC 100 can operate together with one or two digital control units (DCU), with each DCU capable of providing up to eight T1 carrier facilities.
RDLC 100 includes a duplicated data link processor and control 80 and 80' and a duplicated peripheral processor (PP) I/O buffer 60 and 60'.
Prior to examining the detailed operation of the RDLC 100, it is helpful to understand the format and protocol of the messages which are transmitted and received by the RDLC. Each message consists of eight, 8-bit bytes of data for a total of 64 bits. The peripheral processor I/O buffer provides four transmit message buffers and four receive message buffers for each of the 16 possible data links.
Normally, peripheral processor software writes a message into a transmit message buffer of PP I/O buffer 60 and 60' associated with a data link and then issues a transmit command to data link processor and control 80 and 80'. The data link processor and control 80 and 80' responds by taking the message out of the transmit message buffer, formatting the data so that it can be transmitted over a T1 carrier and then transmits the message to the distant end of the data link through the appropriate DCU and digital span.
When a message is received, the data link processor and control 80 and 80' reformats the received data and places the message into an appropriate receive message buffer in the PP I/O buffer 60 and 60'. Data link processor and control 80 and 80' then causes an interrupt, alerting peripheral processor 70 and 70' to the fact that a message has been received. The RDLC will queue up to three received messages for each data link. It should be noted that under normal conditions the RDLC functions in a duplex configuration, that is, it matches all outgoing signals performed in the DCUs. With this arrangement there is one RDLC circuit for each of the two copies of the DCUs.
The nature of a T1 data and its format is shown in FIG. 2. Normally, each T1 span transmits and receives voice samples organized together into a frame. Each frame includes 24 voice samples with each voice sample associated with one channel of voice (or data). The channels are numbered 0-23. Normally, the RDLC will insert its data bytes in channel 0. The S bit carries a periodic pattern which, when detected, is used to identify the beginning of each frame of data.
Turning to FIG. 3, the complete data format for one message is shown. The data format is byte oriented with one 8-bit byte being transmitted during each T1 data frame for each data link. When the link is idle and not transmitting the transmitter sends idle patterns consisting of all ones. The beginning of a message is indicated by sending a control byte containing one or more zeros which may contain information conveying the sequence number of messages transmitted or received and/or acknowledgements between the RDLCs. As can be seen in FIG. 3 only six control bits are used (XC, XB, XA, RC, RB, RA) in the control byte. The first data bit to be transmitted is inserted in the bit 1 position of the control byte. The control byte further includes an odd parity bit in bit position 0. The next nine bytes contain the remaining 63 bits of data, each byte containing seven bits of data plus an odd parity bit. The final message byte contains seven vertical parity bits plus an odd parity bit for the vertical parity byte. Each vertical parity bit provides even parity for ten of the preceding bits, i.e. P1 for bit 1 in each of the preceding ten bytes, P2 for bit 2, P3 for bit 3, etc. The next byte will contain idle pattern.
It should be noted that the idle pattern is unique in that it has even parity. This makes it easy for the receiver to synchronize with the incoming data stream and greatly reduces the chance that a receiver would accept an incorrect message because of improper synchronization.
Turning now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of the Data Link Processor and control 80, 80' of RDLC 100 is shown. The link processor complex 81 includes an Intel 8085A microprocessor together with associated read only memory (ROM), address and data latches and timing and control circuitry. The processor under control of the program in ROM simply controls the operation of the RDLC. Main memory 82 is a 256×8 bipolar random access memory (RAM) arranged for shared access by the link processor complex 81, the peripheral processor (PP) and the address sequencer 84. The link processor complex 81 uses main memory 82 as its primary read/write memory. The PP uses it for a status and control function.
Both the PP and the address sequencer 84 do a prefetch of a 2-bit page address from the main memory 82 prior to accessing the I/O buffers 60. This page address is used to identify which of the four buffers associated with a single data link will actually be accessed during the I/O buffer access.
Buffer access multiplexers 61 are a set of multiplexers and tri-state drivers which allow the RDLC hardware to share access to the I/O buffers 60 with software access from the PP. The I/O buffers 60 are a 1K random access memory (RAM) containing the four transmit and the four receive message buffers for each of the 16 data links.
Intermediate data is stored in scratch pad memory 83 with which is addressed by counters in address sequencer 84. Address sequencer 84 also provides control hardware sequencing to the rest of the RDLC. Bit and byte control counters 85 determine which bit of which byte is actually being processed at any given instant by the transmit formatter and receive reformatter.
The transmit formatter comprises elements 91 through 95 and is the circuitry that takes the 8-bit bytes from the I/O buffer 60 transmit buffers and converts them to the 7-bit plus parity format that is transmitted. The receive reformatter elements 101 through 105 is the circuitry that takes the incoming data and converts it back into the 8-bit bytes placed into the receive buffers of I/O buffer 60.
The timing circuit 86 is a read only memory driven, finite state machine arranged to generate periodic signals used for timing and synchronization within the RDLC.
Turning now to FIG. 5, the overall timing that repeats for every frame is shown. As can be seen the frame is divided into three intervals. Interval A, interval B and interval C. During interval A, the RDLC devotes all resources to the task of transferring data to and from the DCUs. Data for all 16 data links is exchanged during this 5.184 microsecond interval. No processing of data occurs during this time, however the peripheral processor may access the I/O buffer 60 or the main memory 82 for status information. During interval B, the RDLC devotes its time to processing data; handling link 0, then link 1 and so on for all 16 links. Within each frame, each link handles one transmit and one receive data byte. The RDLC takes 6.48 microseconds to process both transmit and receive data for one link, requiring about 104 microseconds for all 16 links. During interval C, the RDLC reformatters do nothing except wait for the beginning of the next frame. This waiting period lasts approximately 16 microseconds. Therefore, the entire RDLC channel within each frame lasts approximately 125 microseconds.
Turning to FIG. 6 and FIG. 4, a closer look at the timing during interval A is shown. During interval D, data is valid from the even DCU and is transferred to the even DCU input buffer (DCUIB) 202. Simultaneously, a read access to the scratch pad memory 83 extracts the next output byte which is transferred to the even DCU output buffer (DCUOB) 200. During inverval E, a received input byte from the even DCU input buffer DCUIB 202 is transferred to the scratch pad memory 83 for the appropriate data link. Simultaneously, the odd DCU will extract data from a DCU output buffer DCUOB 200 in preparation for transmitting it. During interval F, a transmitter output byte is transferred from the scratch pad memory 83 to the odd DCU output buffer DCUOB 200. Simultaneously, data is transferred from the odd DCU into the associated odd DCU input buffer DCUIB 203. During interval G, the even DCU takes data from its associated DCU output buffer DCUOB 200 in preparation for transmitting it. Simultaneously, a receive input byte from the odd DCU input buffer DCUIB 203 is transferred into the scratch pad memory 83.
Much of the activity on the RDLC takes place during the reformatting interval (Interval B). This interval is divided into 16 reformatting cycles. During each reformatting cycle, one byte of transmit data and one byte of received data is reformatted for one data link. During the 16 cycles data for each of the 16 data links is processed one data link per cycle. Therefore, the RDLC processes one transmit and one receive message byte per reformatting cycle for one data link. It stores any intermediate results in the scratch pad memory 83 and then proceeds to serve the next data link. Fetching intermediate results from the scratch pad memory, processing the data, and storing the next intermediate results and so on until the RDLC has served all 16 data links. The scratch pad memory 83 therefore provides storage for the transient state information (intermediate results) that is necessary to keep track of what each of the individual data links is doing. This information is updated once every frame or 125 microseconds.
With renewed reference to FIG. 4, a detailed explanation will be given for the transmit and receive reformatters. Transmit data from the PP is processed in the following manner. A message byte from the PP is loaded into the I/O buffer 60 and eventually transferred into the transmit read buffer (XRB) 91 via the I/O buffer bus 62 where it is available for further processing. The XRB provides an asynchronous interface between I/O buffer 60 and the transmit parallel to serial converter (XP2SC) 92. The XRB 91 ensures that data is always immediately available to the XP2SC 92 without any contention with PP accesses. The XRB 91 may be thought of as providing a look ahead or data prefetch for the XP2SC 92. Data left over from a previous reformatting cycle is loaded into XP2SC 92 from the scratch pad memory 83.
The remaining bits of a byte of data is transferred into XP2SC 92 from XRB 91. Simultaneously, the transmit bit counter in the bit and byte control counters 85 is reset to 0. Each time a bit is shifted out of the XP2SC 92, the transmit bit counter is incremented. When the transmit bit counter counts up to eight, it indicates that XP2SC 92 is empty and the above explained process repeats itself.
Data shifted out of XP2SC 92 is transferred to the transmit serial to parallel converter (XS2PC) 93 and horizontal and vertical parity is generated for them by HPG 94 and VPG 95 respectively. When seven data bits have been accumulated in the XS2PC 93 the contents of the HPG 94 is appended to the seven data bits to form an 8-bit byte which is transferred to the scratch pad memory 83 via the scratch pad bus 87. During channel 0 of the appropriate frame the data byte in the scratch pad memory 83 is written into the appropriate DCUOB 200, 201 and passed to the DCU and subsequently transmitted over the T1 carrier.
The inverse of this process takes place in the receiver reformatter. Data from the T1 carrier is stored in the DCU input buffer (DUCIB) from which it is transferred to the scratch pad memory 83 via bus 87. At the appropriate time this data is transferred to the receiver parallel to serial converter RP2SC 103. Horizontal parity checks and vertical parity checks are performed by the horizontally parity checker (HPC) 104 and the vertical parity checker (VPC) 105 before the data is transferred to the receiver serial to parallel converter RS2PC 102.
When eight data bits are accumulated in the RS2PC 102 they are transferred to the receive write buffer (RWB) 101 and then into the I/O buffer 60 via bus 62. The RWB 101 provides the same kind of asynchronous interface that the XRB 91 provides in the transmit section. The receive bit counter in the bit and byte control counter 85 keeps track of the number of data bits in the RS2PC 102. The above description covers the generation and reception of data bytes.
Idle pattern is generated by jamming the input of the XS2PC 93 to "1". The vertical parity byte is transmitted by selecting the vertical parity generator (VPG) 95 output as an input to the XS2PC 93.
The control byte is transmitted by disabling the XRB 91 outputs and loading the XP2SC with six bits of control data. The transmit bit counter is preset to a count of 2. When the six control bits have been shifted out the transmit bit counter will initiate the transfer of the first data byte into the XS2SC 93. The first data bit D0 will then be shifted out as part of the control byte.
A detailed description of one reformatting cycle of the RDLC will now be given. During this cycle 19 steps are performed each step lasting approximately 324 ns. During the first 324 ns, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and stored in the receiver bit and byte counters 85, thereby loading the counters. The receiver bit and byte counters indicate how many bits of a valid data are contained in the receiver serial to parallel to converter (RS2PC) 102 and how many bytes of the complete packet have already been received and stored into the receive buffers of I/O buffer 60.
During the next 324 ns period, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and written into RS2PC 102. This normally consists of part of one byte of received data. The rest of the byte will be filled in during the remainder of this reformatting cycle.
During the next 324 ns period data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and stored into the vertical parity checker (VPC) 105. This data consists of a partially completed check sum of the data in the received data message or packet.
During the next 324 ns period, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and stored into the receiver parallel to serial converter (RP2SC) 103. This data is the data byte that was most recently been received on the data link.
During the next 324 ns period, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and written into the transmit bit and byte counters 85. Again, these counters indicate how many bits of valid data remain in the transmit parallel to serial converter (XP2SC) 92 and how many bytes of the complete data message have already been transmitted. Coincident with this and the next three 324 ns periods the data which has just been loaded into the receiver circuitry will be shifted by seven or eight bit positions, as appropriate. At the end of this shifting process, the receive data byte will have been reformatted.
During the next 324 ns period, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and written into the XP2SC 92. This data normally consists of one or more bits which need to be transmitted.
During the next 324 ns period, data is read out of the scratch pad memory 83 and written into the transmit vertical parity generator (VPG) 95. This data normally consists of a partially computed check sum for the data message which is being transmitted. Coincident with the preceding operation, the cue pointer byte for the link which is being processed is read out of the main memory 82 and the appropriate cue pointer bits are extracted and stored into a latch in preparation for an I/O buffer 60 access which will take place during the next 324 ns period.
During the next 324 ns period, no access occurs to the scratch pad memory 83. The I/O buffer 60 is accessed and the next data byte which must be transmitted is fetched and stored into the transmit receive buffer (XRB) 91. During the transmit reformatting operation one or more bits of data from this byte may be merged with the data bits in XP2SC 92 to form the actual data byte which will be transmitted.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of the receiver bit and byte counters 85 is stored into the scratch pad memory 83 to be saved until the next occurrence of a reformatting cycle for the same data link. Coincident with this period and the three succeeding 324 ns periods the contents of the transmit circuitry are shifted by seven or eight bit positions as appropriate. At the end of this period of shifting, the transmit data will have been reformatted and a data byte will be ready for transmission.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of the RS2PC 102 is stored into the scratch pad memory 83 and will be saved until the next reformatting cycle for the same data link.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of VPC 105 is stored into the scratch pad memory 83 to be saved until the next reformatting cycle for this same data link.
During the next 324 ns period, an arbitrary number is written into the scratch pad memory 83 which during the next period will be overwritten with valid data.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of the transmit bit and byte counters 85 is stored into the scratch pad memory 83 where it will be saved until the next reformatting cycle for the same data link.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of the XP2SC 92 is stored into the scratch pad memory 83 where it will be saved until the next reformatting cycle for the same data link.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of VPG 95 is written into the scratch pad memory 83 where it will stored until the next reformatting cycle for the same data link. Coincident with the preceding step the cue pointer byte for this data link will be read out of the main memory 82 and the appropriate cue pointer bits will be extracted and latched in preparation for an I/O buffer memory 60 access which will take place during the next 324 ns period.
During the next 324 ns period, the contents of XS2PC 93 is written into the scratch pad memory 83. It is this data byte which will be transferred to the appropriate DCUOB during the next transfer period. Coincident with the preceding 324 ns period the I/O buffer memory 60 is accessed and the data byte which was recovered during the previous receiver reformatting interval is transferred from RWB 101 and written into I/O buffer 60 at the appropriate receiver buffer location.
Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, and that form described in detail, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims. | A remote data link controller is disclosed for formatting, transmitting and receiving control data over high speed digital data links between the peripheral processors of a plurality of telecommunications switching systems. The remote data link controller includes a microprocessor controlled data link processing circuit which is time shared among all of the digital data links. The remote data link controller processes one transmit and one receive message byte during a reformatting cycle for each digital data link. It stores any intermediate results in a temporary memory than proceeds to service the next digital data link. The remote data link controller fetches intermediate results from the temporary memory, processes the data and stores the next intermediate results in the temporary memory until it has completely serviced all of the digital data links. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/NL/02/00318, filed on May 17, 2002, designating the United States of America, and published, in English, as PCT International Publication No. WO 02/092827 A2 on Nov. 11, 2002, the contents of the entirety of which is incorporated by this reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates generally to biotechnology and medicine and more particularly to the field of coronaviruses and diagnosis, therapeutic use and vaccines derived therefrom.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Coronavirions have a rather simple structure. They consist of a nucleocapsid surrounded by a lipid membrane. The helical nucleocapsid is composed of the RNA genome packaged by one type of protein, the nucleocapsid protein N.
[0004] The viral envelope generally has 3 membrane proteins: the spike protein (S), the membrane protein (M), and the envelope protein (E). Some coronaviruses have a fourth protein in their membrane, the hemaglutinin-esterase protein (HE). Like all viruses coronaviruses encode a wide variety of different gene products and proteins. Most important among these are obviously the proteins responsible for functions related to viral replication and virion structure.
[0005] However, besides these elementary functions, viruses generally specify a diverse collection of other proteins, the function of which is often still unknown but which are known or assumed to be in some way beneficial to the virus. These proteins may either be essential—operationally defined as being required for virus replication in cell culture—or dispensable.
[0006] Coronaviruses constitute a family of large, positive-sense RNA viruses that usually cause respiratory and intestinal infections in many different species. Based on antigenic, genetic and structural protein criteria they have been divided into three distinct groups: group I, I, and III. Actually, in view of the great differences between the groups their classification into three different genera is presently being discussed by the responsible ICTV Study Group. The features that all these viruses have in common are a characteristic set of essential genes encoding replication and structural functions. Interspersed between and flanking these genes sequences occur that differ profoundly among the groups and that are, more or less, specific for each group.
[0007] To successfully initiate an infection, viruses need to overcome the cell membrane barrier. Enveloped viruses achieve this by membrane fusion, a process mediated by specialized viral fusion proteins. Most viral fusion proteins are expressed as precursor proteins, which are endoproteolytically cleaved by cellular proteases giving rise to a metastable complex of a receptor binding and a membrane fusion subunit.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides methods and means to interfere with fusion of corona viruses. According to the invention, a receptor binding at the cell membrane, the fusion proteins undergo a dramatic conformational transition. A hydrophobic fusion peptide becomes exposed and inserts into the target membrane. The free energy released upon subsequent refolding of the fusion protein to its most stable conformation is believed not only to facilitate the close apposition of viral and cellular membranes but also to effect the actual membrane merger (1, 46, 54).
[0009] The present invention provides methods and means to use the biochemical and functional characteristics of the HR regions of the corona virus spike proteins. We show here that peptides corresponding to the HR regions assemble into a thermostable, oligomeric, alpha-helical rod-like complex, with the HR1 and HR2 helices oriented in an anti-parallel manner.
[0010] Furthermore, the invention teaches that HR2 of the corona virus spike protein such as MHV-A59 spike protein is a strong inhibitor of both virus-cell and cell-cell fusion.
[0011] The present application also provides the amino acid sequences of the HR regions of a corona virus belonging to another group such as Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus spike protein, and of the inhibition of cell-to-cell fusion in FIPV infected cells by administration of HR2 of viruses such as FIPV. Also demonstrated is that the same mechanism is valid in different groups of coronaviruses.
[0012] The present invention also provides the amino acid sequences of the HR regions of the spike protein of a coronavirus which causes a severe acute respiratory syndrome in humans and which has been designated provisionally as sudden severe respiratory syndrome (SARS).
[0013] The invention makes use of the discovery that, in coronaviruses, the energy necessary for the membrane fusion process is at least partly provided by the formation of an anti-parallel coiled coil structure by folding of the spike protein and combination of the HR1 and HR2 repeat region.
[0014] Decreasing the contact of the heptad repeat regions in the spike protein results in a less optimal fit of the coiled coil and thus in less energy for the fusion of membranes. Therefore, this disclosure teaches a method for at least in part inhibiting anti-parallel coiled coil formation of a coronavirus spike protein comprising decreasing the contact between heptad repeat regions of the protein. Of course, blocking the coiled coil formation by occupying the sequence of either HR1 or HR2 is a good way of decreasing, or even preventing coiled coil formation.
[0015] The contact of the heptad repeat regions can be disturbed by a molecule or compound that binds to HR1 or HR2 and by binding to these regions, or in close proximity, the compound blocks the site for binding to another HR site. This will result in decreasing or inhibiting the ability of the coronavirus to fuse with a membrane and enter a cell. Of course, if binding of a compound occurs in the vicinity of these regions, contact of the heptad repeat regions may also be decreased and/or inhibited. Such a compound may for example be a peptide and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof with an amino acid sequence as shown in FIG. 1.
[0016] A functional fragment of a protein or peptide is defined as a part which has the same kind of biological properties in kind, not necessarily in amount. A functional equivalent of a peptide is defined as a compound be it a peptide or proteinaceous or non-proteinaceous molecule with essentially the same functional properties in kind, not necessarily in amount. A functional equivalent can be provided in many ways, for instance through conservative amino acid substitution.
[0017] A person skilled in the art is well able to generate analogous equivalents of a protein. This can for instance be done through screening of a peptide library. Such an equivalent has essentially the same biological properties of the protein or peptide in kind, not necessarily in amount.
[0018] Therefore, this disclosure teaches a method for at least in part inhibiting anti-parallel coiled coil formation of a coronavirus spike protein comprising decreasing the contact between heptad repeat regions of the protein, wherein the decreasing is provided by a peptide and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof.
[0019] Decreasing contact between heptad regions may also be provided by a peptide comprising a heptad repeat region of a coronal spike protein and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof. Therefore, the invention includes a method to decrease and/or inhibit contact between heptad regions wherein the decreasing and/or inhibiting is provided by a peptide comprising a heptad repeat region of a coronal spike protein and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof. The disclosure of the amino acid sequence of HR2 of SARS enables the production and/or selection of peptides comprising SARS HR2 of spike protein and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof
[0020] In another embodiment, the decreasing can be achieved by providing an antibody directed against a part of HR1 or HR2. The antibody will inhibit the binding of a heptad repeat region to another heptad repeat region, thus preventing at least in part the formation of an anti-parallel coiled coil. Of course, binding of an antibody to a region in close proximity to the heptad region may also disturb the correct fit of the heptad repeat regions in a coiled coil. Therefore, the present application teaches a method for at least in part inhibiting anti-parallel coiled coil formation of a coronavirus spike protein comprising decreasing the contact between heptad repeat regions of the protein, wherein the decreasing is provided by an antibody and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof.
[0021] The present application shows comparative data on the amino acid sequences of the HR1 and HR2 region of a number of coronaviruses (FIG. 1) and of SARS coronavirus (FIG. 10). The human coronavirus HCV-229E and the feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), which both belong to the group 1 coronaviruses show an insertion of 14 amino acids in the HR1 and in the HR2 region, which the other coronaviruses like mouse hepatitis virus and another human coronavirus (HCV-OC43) (group 2), and infectious bronchitis virus of poultry (group 3) do not have. This insertion of 14 amino acids in each heptad region may generate more electrostatic power for the fusion of a membrane, once the coiled-coil is formed, because the total length of each heptad alpha helix is elongated by 2 coils. The fact that FIPV and HCV-229E have these extra 2 coils per heptad repeat region may indicate that these viruses need extra energy to fuse the membranes of their host cells. Decreasing this energy by inhibiting at least in part the formation of a coiled coil will effectively decrease the penetrating power of the viruses. Therefore, this disclosure teaches a method for at least in part inhibiting anti-parallel coiled coil formation of a coronavirus spike protein comprising decreasing the contact between heptad repeat regions of the protein, wherein the coronavirus comprises a feline coronavirus and/or a human coronavirus, and/or a mouse hepatitis virus MHV and/or a SARS virus.
[0022] After infection of a cell by a coronavirus, the infected cell exhibits coronaviral protein on its surface. Coronaviral spike protein present on the cell membrane surface facilitates the fusion of cell membranes of other cells, thus allowing cell-to-cell fusion and allowing the virus to passage from the infected cell to a neighboring cell without the need to leave the cell. An important step in decreasing viral infection of cells is by preventing the cell-to-cell fusion. By providing a compound such as a peptide or an antibody that decreases and/or inhibits the contact of heptad regions, cell-to-cell fusion will be decreased and/or inhibited. The present invention teaches a method for inhibiting fusion of coronavirus spike protein mediated cell-to-cell fusion, comprising decreasing and/or inhibiting the contact between heptad repeat regions of the spike protein.
[0023] The present invention also provides methods for selecting further inhibitors of coiled coil formation in corona viruses. For example, the HR1 and HR2 peptides may be used in vitro to select binding compounds from libraries of molecules. Any compound that binds to at least part of an HR1 or HR2 peptide is selected and is used as an inhibitor of the formation of an anti-parallel coiled coil in a spike protein of coronavirus. Therefore, this application teaches a method to select a binding compound to a heptad repeat region of a coronavirus spike protein, comprising contacting in vitro at least one heptad region of a coronavirus spike protein with a collection of compounds and measuring the formation of an anti-parallel coiled coil in the protein.
[0024] The present invention also teaches a compound selected by contacting in vitro at least one heptad region of a coronavirus spike protein with a collection of compounds and measuring the formation of an anti-parallel coiled coil in the protein. With this method, non-proteinaceous compounds, proteinaceous compounds and antibodies are selected for their capacity to bind to the heptad repeat regions. Of course, a functional fragment and/or equivalent of an antibody may also bind to heptad repeat regions. Therefore, this application also teaches an antibody or a functional fragment and/or equivalent thereof, capable of decreasing and/or inhibiting the contact between heptad repeat regions of a coronavirus spike protein. The aforementioned compound and/or antibodies may be incorporated into a pharmaceutical composition with a suitable diluent and/or or carrier compound. Therefore, the application teaches a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound and/or the antibody or a functional fragment and/or equivalent thereof, and a suitable diluent and/or carrier. Administration of the pharmaceutical composition to a cell or a subject with a corona viral infection will inhibit the infection of cells and at least in part decrease the coronaviral infection. Therefore, the application teaches a method of treatment of coronavirus infections comprising providing to a subject the pharmaceutical composition.
[0025] In another embodiment, the compounds and/or antibodies may be used to detect the presence of coronavirus in a cell or in a subject by contacting a sample of the cells or of the subject to the compound or the antibody and visualizing any binding of the coronavirus to the compound and/or the antibody. The visualizing may be performed by any method known in the art, for example by ELISA techniques or by fluorescence or histochemistry. Therefore, the present invention also teaches a diagnostic kit for detecting coronavirus infection in a sample of a subject comprising the compound or the antibody, further comprising a means of detecting binding of the compound or antibody to the coronavirus. In yet another embodiment, the compound may be used to measure antibody titers of a subject. This may be done to diagnose whether a subject is undergoing a coronaviral infection, or has undergone a coronaviral infection in the past. This may be useful, not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for assessing the possible risk of a subject for a coronaviral infection, and for evaluating vaccination efficiency and strategy. Therefore, the present application also teaches a diagnostic kit for detecting coronavirus antibodies in a sample of a subject comprising the compound, further comprising a means of detecting binding of the compound to the antibodies.
[0026] In another embodiment of the invention, the amino acid sequence of the heptad repeat regions is manipulated by recombination, insertion, or deletion techniques that are known in the art. Such a manipulation of the coronaviral genome in or around the heptad repeat regions will result decreased and/or inhibited contact of the heptad repeat regions, it will result in attenuation of the coronavirus. Therefore, the invention teaches a method to attenuate a coronavirus comprising decreasing and/or inhibited the contact between heptad repeat regions of the spike protein of the coronavirus. The method enables the production of an attenuated coronavirus with a decreased contact between the heptad repeat regions. Therefore, the invention teaches an attenuated coronavirus characterized in that the contact between heptad repeat regions of the spike protein of the coronavirus is decreased and/or inhibited.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0027] [0027]FIG. 1. (A) Schematic representation of the coronavirus MHV-A59 spike protein structure. The glycoprotein has an N-terminal signal sequence (SS) and a transmembrane domain (TM) close to the C-terminus. The protein is proteolytically cleaved (arrow) in an S1 and S2 subunit, which are non-covalently linked. S2 contains two heptad repeat regions (hatched bars), HR1 and HR2, as indicated. (B) Sequence alignment of HR1 and HR2 domains of MHV-A59 with those of HCoV-OC43 (human coronavirus strain OC43), HCoV-229E (human coronavirus strain 229E), FIPV (feline infectious peritonitis virus strain 79-1146) and IBV (infectious bronchitis virus strain Beaudette). HCV-229E and FIPV, MHV-A59 and HCV-OC43 and IBV are representatives of groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, the three coronavirus subgroups (56). Dark shading marks sequence identity while lighter shading represents sequence similarity. The alignment shows a remarkable insertion of exactly two heptad repeats (14 a.a.) in both HR1 and HR2 of HCV-229E and FIPV, a characteristic of all group 1 viruses. The predicted hydrophobic heptad repeat ‘a’ and ‘d’ residues are indicated above the sequence. The frame shifts in the predicted heptad repeats in HR1 are caused by a stutter (50). Asterisks denote conserved residues, dots represent similar residues. The amino acid sequences of the peptides HR1, HR1a, HR1b, HR1c and HR2 used in this study are presented in italics below the alignments. N-terminal residues derived from the proteolytic cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein are between brackets. A conserved N-glycosylation sequence in the HR2 region is underlined.
[0028] [0028]FIG. 2. Hetero-oligomeric complex formation of HR1 and HR1a with HR2. (A) HR1 and HR2 on their own or as a preincubated equimolar (80 μM) mix were subjected to 15% tricine SDS-PAGE. Before gel loading, samples were either heated at 100° C. or left at RT. Positions of HR1, HR2 and HR1-HR2 complex are indicated on the left, while the positions of molecular mass markers are indicated at the right. (B) Same as (A) but with peptide HR1a instead of HR1.
[0029] [0029]FIG. 3. Temperature stability of HR1-HR2 complex. An equimolar mix of HR1 and HR2 (80 μM) was incubated at RT for 1 h. Samples were subsequently heated for 5 min at the indicated temperatures in 1× tricine sample buffer and analyzed by SDS-PAGE in a 15% tricine gel, together with HR1 and HR2 alone. Positions of HR1, HR2 and HR1-HR2 complex are indicated on the left, while the molecular mass markers are indicated at the right.
[0030] [0030]FIG. 4. Circular dichroism spectra (mean residue eliplicity) of the HR1 (25 μM; open square) peptide, the HR2 (25 μM; filled triangle) peptide, and of the HR1-HR2 complex (25 μM; filled square) in water at RT. Note that the HR1 and HR2 spectra virtually coincide.
[0031] [0031]FIG. 5. Electron micrographs of HR1-HR2 complex.
[0032] [0032]FIG. 6. Proteinase K treatment of HR peptides. The peptides HR2, HR1, HR1 a, HR1b and HR1c were subjected to Proteinase K either individually in solution or after mixing of the different HR1 peptides with HR2 at equimolar concentration followed by a 1 h incubation at 37° C. Proteolytic fragments were separated and purified by HPLC and characterized by mass spectometry. Peptides are schematically indicated by bars. Hatched bars indicate the protease sensitive part(s) of the peptide. N and C-terminal position of the peptide and the amino acid numbering are indicated.
[0033] [0033]FIG. 7. Inhibition of virus-cell and cell-cell fusion by HR peptides. (A) Virus-cell inhibition by HR peptides using a luciferase gene expressing MHV. LR7 cells were inoculated with virus at an MOI of 5 in the presence of varying concentrations of peptide ranging from 0.4-50 μM. At 5 h p.i. cells were lysed and luciferase activity was measured. (B) Inhibition of spike mediated cell-cell fusion by HR peptides. BSR T7/5 effector cells—BHK cells constitutively expressing T7 RNA polymerase (3), were infected with vaccinia virus for 1 h and subsequently transfected with a plasmid containing the S gene under a T7 promotor. Three hours post transfection, LR7 target cells transfected with a plasmid carrying the luciferase gene behind a T7 promoter, were added to the effector cells. Cells were incubated for another 4 h in the presence or absence of HR peptide. Cells were lysed and luciferase activity was measured.
[0034] [0034]FIG. 8. Schematic representation (approximately to scale) of the viral fusion proteins of six different virus families; MHV-A59 S (Coronaviridae), Influenza HA (Orthomyxoviridae), HIV-1 gp160 (Retroviridae), SV5 F, (Paramyxoviridae), Ebola Gp2 (Filoviridae) and SeMNPV F (Baculoviridae). Cleavage sites are indicated by triangles; the black bars represent the (putative) fusion peptides, the vertically hatched bars the HR1 domains and the horizontally hatched bars the HR2 domains. Transmembrane domains are indicated by the vertical, dashed lines. For each polypeptide the total length is given at the right.
[0035] [0035]FIG. 9. GST-FIPV fusion protein sequences of HR1 and HR2.
[0036] [0036]FIG. 10. (A) Schematic representation of the coronavirus MHV-A59 spike protein structure. The glycoprotein has an N-terminal signal sequence (SS) and a transmembrane domain (TM) close to the C-terminus. The protein is proteolytically cleaved (arrow) in an S1 and S2 subunit, which are non-covalently linked. S2 contains two heptad repeat regions (hatched bars), HR1 and HR2, as indicated. (B) Sequence alignment of HR domains of MHV-A59 with those of HCoV-OC43 (human coronavirus strain OC43), HCoV-229E (human coronavirus strain 229E), FIPV (feline infectious peritonitis virus strain 79-1146) and IBV (infectious bronchitis virus strain Beaudette) and the SARS-associated coronavirus. The alignment shows a remarkable insertion of exactly two heptad repeats (14 a.a.) in both HR1 and HR2 of HCV-229E and FIPV, a characteristic of all group 1 viruses. The predicted hydrophobic heptad repeat ‘a’ and ‘d’ residues are indicated above the sequence. Asterisks denote conserved residues, dots represent similar residues. Note that the numbering of the amino acid sequence of the SARS-associated coronavirus refers to the amino acid sequence as deduced from the sequenced RT-PCR fragment from this virus. The amino acid sequences of the peptides HR1, HR1a, HR1b, HR1c and HR2 used in this study are presented in italics below the alignments. N-terminal residues derived from the proteolytic cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein are between brackets. A conserved N-glycosylation sequence in the HR2 region is underlined.
[0037] [0037]FIG. 11 SARS nucleotide and deduced protein sequence as derived from the RT-PCR fragment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0038] For polyclonal antisera, the peptides or antigens may, if desired, be coupled to a carrier protein, such as KLH as described in Ausubel et al, supra. The KLH-peptide is mixed with Freund's adjuvant and injected into guinea pigs, rats, goats or preferably rabbits. Antibodies may be purified by any method of peptide antigen affinity chromatography.
[0039] Alternatively, monoclonal antibodies may be prepared using a SARS polypeptide (or immunogenic fragment or analog) and standard hybridoma technology (see, e.g., Kohler et al., Nature 256:495, 1975; Kohler et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 6:511, 1976; Kohler et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 6:292, 1976; Hammerling et al., In: Monoclonal Antibodies and T Cell Hybridomas, Elsevier, N.Y., 1981; Ausubel et al., supra).
[0040] In vitro methods are also suitable for preparing monovalent antibodies. Digestion of antibodies to produce fragments thereof, particularly, Fab fragments, can be accomplished using routine techniques known in the art. For instance, digestion can be performed using papain. Examples of papain digestion are described in WO 94/29348 published Dec. 22, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,566. Papain digestion of antibodies typically produces two identical antigen binding fragments, called Fab fragments, each with a single antigen binding site, and a residual Fe fragment. Pepsin treatment yields a fragment that has two antigen combining sites and is still capable of cross-linking antigen.
[0041] The fragments, whether attached to other sequences or not, can also include insertions, deletions, substitutions, or other selected modifications of particular regions or specific amino acids residues, provided the activity of the antibody or antibody fragment is not significantly altered or impaired compared to the non-modified antibody or antibody fragment. These modifications can provide for some additional property, such as to remove/add amino acids capable of disulfide bonding, to increase its bio-longevity, to alter its secretory characteristics, etc. In any case, the antibody or antibody fragment must possess a bioactive property, such as specific binding to its cognate antigen. Functional or active regions of the antibody or antibody fragment may be identified by mutagenesis of a specific region of the protein, followed by expression and testing of the expressed polypeptide. Such methods are readily apparent to a skilled practitioner in the art and can include site-specific mutagenesis of the nucleic acid encoding the antibody or antibody fragment. (Zoller, M. J. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 3:348-354, 1992).
[0042] In addition antibody fragments which contain specific binding sites for SARS peptides and antigens may be generated. For example, such fragments include, but are not limited to, the F(ab′) 2 fragments which can be produced by pepsin digestion of the antibody molecule and the Fab fragments which can be generated by reducing the disulfide bridges of the F(ab′) 2 fragments: Alternatively, Fab expression libraries may be constructed to allow rapid and easy identification of monoclonal Fab fragments with the desired specificity (Huse, W. D. et al (1989) Science 256:1275-1281).
[0043] Once produced, the polyclonal or monoclonal antibody is tested for specific recognition by Western blot or immunoprecipitation analysis (by the methods described in Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual , (eds. E. Harlow and D. Lane, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1988)). Lysis and fractionation of SARS protein-harboring cells prior to affinity chromatography may be performed by standard methods (see, e.g., Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual , supra). In another example, an anti-SARS protein antibody (for example, produced as described herein) may be attached to a column and used to isolate the SARS protein.
[0044] The compositions can be used for example as targets in combinatorial chemistry protocols or other screening protocols to isolate molecules that possess desired functional properties related to, for example, SARS antigens. The disclosed compositions or antibodies can be used as either reagents in micro arrays or as reagents to probe or analyze existing microarrays. The disclosed compositions can be used in any known method for isolating or identifying SARS related antigens or polypeptides. Alternatively, the compositions can be used in any known method for isolating or identifying SARS related antibodies, for example by detecting the presence of SARS antibodies in a sample. The compositions can also be used in any known method of screening assays, related to chip/micro arrays. The compositions can also be used in any known way of using the computer readable embodiments of the disclosed compositions, for example, to study relatedness or to perform molecular modeling analysis related to the disclosed compositions.
[0045] The compositions can be used for example as targets in combinatorial chemistry protocols or other screening protocols to isolate molecules that possess desired functional properties related to, for example, SARS antigens. The disclosed compositions or antibodies can be used as either reagents in micro arrays or as reagents to probe or analyze existing microarrays. The disclosed compositions can be used in any known method for isolating or identifying SARS related antigens or polypeptides. Alternatively, the compositions can be used in any known method for isolating or identifying SARS related antibodies, for example by detecting the presence of SARS antibodies in a sample. The compositions can also be used in any known method of screening assays, related to chip/micro arrays.
[0046] It is understood that when using the disclosed compositions in combinatorial techniques or screening methods, molecules, such as macromolecular molecules, will be identified that have particular desired properties such as inhibition or stimulation or the target molecule's function. The molecules identified and isolated when using the disclosed compositions, such as, a SARS gene product, or homologs and ortholog gene products or fragments of the same are used as targets, or when they are used in competitive inhibition assays are also disclosed. Thus, the products produced using the combinatorial or screening approaches that involve the disclosed compositions are also considered herein disclosed.
[0047] Combinatorial chemistry includes but is not limited to all methods for isolating small molecules or macromolecules that are capable of binding either a small molecule or another macromolecule, typically in an iterative process. Proteins, oligonucleotides, and sugars are examples of macromolecules. For example, oligonucleotide molecules with a given function, catalytic or ligand-binding, can be isolated from a complex mixture of random oligonucleotides in what has been referred to as “in vitro genetics” (Szostak, TIBS. 19:89, 1992). One synthesizes a large pool of molecules bearing random and defined sequences and subjects that complex mixture, for example, approximately 10 15 individual sequences in 100 μg of a 100 nucleotide RNA, to some selection and enrichment process. Through repeated cycles of affinity chromatography and PCR amplification of the molecules bound to the ligand on the column, Ellington and Szostak (1990) estimated that 1 in 10 10 RNA molecules folded in such a way as to bind a small molecule dyes. DNA molecules with such ligand-binding behavior have been isolated as well (Ellington and Szostak, 1992; Bock et al, 1992). Techniques aimed at similar goals exist for small organic molecules, proteins, antibodies and other macromolecules known to those of skill in the art. Screening sets of molecules for a desired activity whether based on small organic libraries, oligonucleotides, or antibodies is broadly referred to as combinatorial chemistry. Combinatorial techniques are particularly suited for defining binding interactions between molecules and for isolating molecules that have a specific binding activity, often called aptamers when the macromolecules are nucleic acids.
[0048] There are a number of methods for isolating proteins which either have de novo activity or a modified activity. For example, phage display libraries have been used to isolate numerous peptides that interact with a specific target. (See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,031,071; 5,824,520; 5,596,079; and 5,565,332 which are herein incorporated by reference).
[0049] Techniques for making combinatorial libraries and screening combinatorial libraries to isolate molecules which bind a desired target are well known to those of skill in the art. Representative techniques and methods can be found in but are not limited to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,084,824, 5,288,514, 5,449,754, 5,506,337, 5,539,083, 5,545,568, 5,556,762, 5,565,324, 5,565,332, 5,573,905, 5,618,825, 5,619,680, 5,627,210, 5,646,285, 5,663,046, 5,670,326, 5,677,195, 5,683,899, 5,688,696, 5,688,997, 5,698,685, 5,712,146, 5,721,099, 5,723,598, 5,741,713, 5,792,431, 5,807,683, 5,807,754, 5,821,130, 5,831,014, 5,834,195, 5,834,318, 5,834,588, 5,840,500, 5,847,150, 5,856,107, 5,856,496, 5,859,190, 5,864,010, 5,874,443, 5,877,214, 5,880,972, 5,886,126, 5,886,127, 5,891,737, 5,916,899, 5,919,955, 5,925,527, 5,939,268, 5,942,387, 5,945,070, 5,948,696, 5,958,702, 5,958,792, 5,962,337, 5,965,719, 5,972,719, 5,976,894, 5,980,704, 5,985,356, 5,999,086, 6,001,579, 6,004,617, 6,008,321, 6,017,768, 6,025,371, 6,030,917, 6,040,193, 6,045,671, 6,045,755, 6,060,596, and 6,061,636, which are herein incorporated by reference.
[0050] A large number of methods exist to detect the binding or interaction of two or more molecules, including, but are not limited to, immunoprecipitation (Kang et al. (1997) Mol. Cells, 7:237-243; Gharbia et al. (1994) J. Peridontol. 65:56-61), immunohistology (Navarro et al., (1998) Neurosci. Lett. 254:17-20; Nitta et al. (1993) Biol. Reprod. 48:110-116; Heider and Schroeder, (1997) J. Virol. Methods, 66:311-316), immunoblotting (Beesley, J. E., Immunochemistry: A Practical Approach (IRL Press, Oxford, England, 1993), ELISA (Macri and Adeli (1993) B. Eur. J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem. 31:441-446; Rodriguez et al. (1990) J. Dairy Res. 57:197-205), immunoelectrophoresis, immunofluorescence (Avarameas et al (1978) J. Immunol. 8, suppl. 7:7; Wilson and Nakane, Immunofluorescence and Related Staining Techniques , p215 (Elsevier/North Holland Biomedical Press Amsterdam, 1978), chromatography (for example, chromatography may use denaturing and/or non-denaturing conditions, and my involve, the use of any kind of resin, such as, Nickel Affinity, hydroxyapatite, silica, amino acids, carbohydrate binding matrices, carbohydrate matrices, chelating resins, ion exchange, anion exchange, HPLC, Liquid chromatography, immunoaffinity matrices and other specialized resins), western blotting, far western blotting, radioisotope labeling, luciferase assays, two-hybrid based assays (numerous two-hybrid based assays systems are commercially available), Phage display assays, chemiluminescence assays and/or fluorescence assays. The molecules may be labeled or detected with radioisotopes (for example, 32 , 3 H, 13 C and/or 125 I), Biotin Fluorescent molecules (for example,CY3, CY5, Fluorescein, DAPI, R-PPhycoerythrin, PKH2, PKH26, PKH67, Propidium Iodide, Quantum Red™, Rhodamine, Texas Red or others known in the art), Protein G, or A (which bind the Fe region of many mammalian IgG molecules) or protein L (which binds to the kappa light chains of various species), gold (for example, colloidal gold) and/or enzymes (Preferably SARS peptides or antigens, where desirable and appropriate, are “tagged” with an epitope having available one or more antibodies or molecules which specifically bind (commercially available antibodies, specific to enzymes, molecules and epitope tags, are well known in the art)). A molecule having a “tag” (Pretorius et al. (1997) Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res. 64:201-203), includes, but not limited to, myc-, HA-, GST-, V-5-, Lex-A-, cI-, DIG-, Maltose binding protein-, Cellulose binding domain-, streptavidin, Alkaline phosphatase (O'Sullivan et al. (1978) FEBS Lett. 95:311-313), Horseradish Peroxidase, green fluorescent protein, 3×FLAG®-, HIS-Select™-, EZView™—S-Gal™-tags (available from Sigma, Life Science Research).
[0051] With a positive stranded RNA genome of 28-32 kb, the Coronaviridae are the largest enveloped RNA viruses. Coronaviruses exhibit a broad host range, infecting mammalian and avian species. They are responsible for a variety of acute and chronic diseases of the respiratory, hepatic, gastrointestinal and neurological systems (56). Recently, coronavirus induced pneumonia (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or “SARS”) has spread rapidly from China via Hong Kong to the rest of the world. The spike (S) protein is the sole viral membrane protein responsible for cell entry. It binds to the receptor on the target cell and mediates subsequent virus-cell fusion (6). Spikes can be seen under the electron microscope as clear, 20 nm large, bulbous surface projections on the virion membrane (14). The spike protein of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV-A59) is a 180 kDa heavily N-glycosylated type I membrane protein which occurs in a homodimeric (37, 66) or homotrimeric (16) complex. In most murine hepatitis strains, the S protein is cleaved intracellularly into an N-terminal subunit (S1) and a membrane anchored subunit (S2) of similar size, which are non-covalently linked and have distinct functions. Binding to the MHV receptor (MHVR) (74) has been mapped to the N-terminal 330 amino acids (a.a.) of the S1 subunit (62), whereas the membrane fusion function resides in the S2 subunit (78). It has been suggested that the S1 subunit forms the globular head while the S2 subunit constitutes the stalk-like region of the spike (15). Binding of S1 to soluble MHVR, or exposure to 37° C. and an elevated pH (pH 8.0) induces a conformational change which is accompanied by the separation of S1 and S2 and which might be involved in triggering membrane fusion (21, 27, 60). Cleavage of the S protein into S1 and S2 has been shown to enhance fusogenicity (25, 61) but cleavage is not absolutely required for fusion (2, 26, 59, 61).
[0052] The ectodomain of the S2 subunit contains two regions with a 4,3 hydrophobic (heptad) repeat (15), a sequence motif characteristic of coiled coils. These two heptad repeat (HR) regions, designated here as HR1 and HR2, are conserved in position and sequence among the members of the three coronavirus antigenic clusters (FIG. 1). A number of studies have shown that the HR1 and HR2 regions are involved in viral fusion. First, a putative internal fusion peptide has been proposed to occur close to (7) or within (40) the HR1 region. Second, viruses with mutations in the membrane-proximal HR2 region exhibited defects in spike oligomerization and in fusion ability (39). Third, it has been suggested that the MHV-4 (JHM) strain can utilize both endosomal and nonendosomal pathways for cell entry but does not require acidification of endosomes for fusion activation (48). However, mutations found in murine hepatitis viruses which do require a low pH for fusion, appeared to map to the HR1 region (23).
[0053] HR regions appear to be a common motif in many viral fusion proteins (57). There are usually two of them; one N-terminal HR region (HR1) adjacent to the fusion peptide and a C-terminal HR region (HR2) close to the transmembrane anchor. Structural studies on viral fusion proteins reveal that the HR regions form a six-helix bundle structure implicated in viral entry (reviewed in (18)). The structure consists of a homotrimeric coiled coil of HR1 domains in the exposed hydrophobic grooves of which the HR2 regions are packed in an anti-parallel manner. This conformation brings the N-terminal fusion peptide in close proximity to the transmembrane anchor. Because the fusion peptide inserts into the cell membrane during the fusion event, such a conformation facilitates a close apposition of the cellular and viral membrane (reviewed in (18)). Recent evidence suggests that the actual six-helix bundle formation is directly coupled to the merging of the membranes (46, 54). The similarities in the structures of the six-helix bundle complexes elucidated for influenza virus HA (4, 11), human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1, SIV) gp41 (5, 8, 41, 63, 69, 76), Moloney murine leukemia virus type 1 (MoMLV) gp21 (19), Ebola virus GP2 (42, 68), human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1) gp21 (32), Visna virus TM, (43), simian parainfluenza virus (SV5) F1 (1), and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) F1(80), all point to a common fusion mechanism for these viruses.
[0054] Based on structural similarities, two classes of viral fusion proteins have been distinguished (36). Proteins containing HR regions and an N-terminal or N-proximal fusion peptide are classified as class I viral fusion proteins. Class II viral fusion proteins (e.g., the alphavirus E1 and the flavivirus E fusion protein) lack HR regions and have an internal fusion peptide. Their fusion protein is folded in tight association with a second protein as a heterodimer. Here, fusion activation takes place upon cleavage of the second protein.
[0055] The coronavirus fusion protein (S) shares several features with class I virus fusion proteins. It is a type I membrane protein, synthesized in the ER, and is transported to the plasma membrane. It contains two heptad repeat sequences, one located downstream of the fusion peptide and one in close proximity to the transmembrane region.
[0056] However, despite its similarity to class I fusion proteins, there are several characteristics that make the coronavirus S protein exceptional. One is the absence of an N-terminal or even N-proximal fusion peptide in the membrane-anchored subunit. Another peculiarity is the relatively large sizes of the HR regions (˜100 and ˜40 a.a.). Third, cleavage of the S protein is not required for membrane fusion; rather, it does not occur at all in the group 1 coronaviruses. For these reasons, it is not likely to assume that coronavirus fusion protein is a class 1 fusion protein.
[0057] Heptad repeat regions play an important role in viral membrane fusion. Fusion proteins from widely disparate virus families have been shown to contain two such regions, one located close to the fusion peptide, the other generally in the vicinity of the viral membrane ((7); summarized in FIG. 8). Distances between the HR regions vary greatly, from some 50 a.a. as in HIV-1 to about 300 residues in Spodoptera exigua multicapsid nucleopolyhedrosis virus (71). The crystal structures resolved for influenza HA (4, 10, 75) HIV-1 and SIV gp41 (5, 8, 41, 63, 69, 76), MuMLV gp21 (19), Ebola virus GP2 (42, 68), HTLV-1 gp21 (32), Visna virus TM, (43), SV5 F1 (1), HRSV F1 (80) and NDV F (13) all show a central trimeric coiled coil constituted by three HR1 regions. In some of these structures (e.g. HIV-1 and SIV gp41, SV5 F 1, Ebola virus gp2, Visna virus TM and HRSV F1) a second layer of helices or elongated peptide chains was observed contributed by HR2 domains which were packed in an anti-parallel manner into the hydrophobic grooves of the HR1 coiled coil, forming a six-helix bundle. In the full-length protein such a conformation brings the fusion peptide present at the N-terminus of HR1 close to the transmembrane region that occurs at the C-terminal of HR2. With the fusion peptide inserted in the cellular membrane and the transmembrane region anchored in the viral membrane, such a hairpin-like structure facilitates the close apposition of cellular and viral membrane and enables subsequent membrane fusion (reviewed in (18)). Combined with the findings that peptides derived from these HR domains can act as potent inhibitors of fusion (reviewed in (18)), the biological relevance of the heptad repeat regions in the viral life cycle is obvious. Our studies of the heptad repeat motifs in coronavirus spike protein presented here show that coronaviruses use coiled coil formation for membrane fusion and cell entry mechanisms comparable to some other viruses, probably allowing coronavirus spike proteins to be classified as class I viral fusion proteins (36).
[0058] The coronavirus (MHV-A59) derived HR peptides exhibited a number of typical class I characteristics. First of all, the purified HR1 and HR2 peptides assembled spontaneously into unique, homogeneous multimeric complexes. These complexes were highly stable surviving, for instance, high concentrations (2%) of SDS and high temperatures (70-80° C.). The peptides apparently associate with great specificity into an energetically very favorable structure. Another typical feature was the observed secondary structure in the peptides. The CD spectra of both the individual and the complexed HR1 and HR2 peptides showed patterns characteristic of alpha-helical structure. Alpha-helix contents were calculated to be about 89% for the separate peptides and about 82% for their equimolar mixture. Consistent with these observations, the HR complex revealed a rod-like structure when examined by electron microscopy. The length of this structure (˜14.5 nm) correlates well with the length predicted for an alpha-helix the size of HR1 (96 a.a.). Similar rod-like structures have been observed for other class I virus fusion proteins such as the influenza virus HA protein (12, 53), portions of the HIV-I gp41 protein (70), and the Ebola virus GP2 protein (67) but the length of the MHV-A59 derived structures is substantially larger. This is presumably even more so for type I coronaviruses which have an insertion of two heptad repeats (14 a.a.; see FIG. 1) in both HR regions. These insertions into otherwise conserved areas suggest these additional sequences to associate With each other in the HR1-HR2 complex thereby extending the alpha-helical complex by exactly four turns. The significance of the exceptional lengths of coronavirus HR complexes may be that the higher energy gain of their formation corresponds with higher energy requirements for membrane fusion by these viruses.
[0059] Another important characteristic of class I viral fusion proteins is the formation of a heterotrimeric six-helix bundle during the membrane fusion process, resulting in a close allocation of the fusion peptide and the transmembrane domain. Consistently, protein dissection studies using proteinase K demonstrated an anti-parallel organization of the HR1 and HR2 alpha-helical peptides in the MHV-A59 HR complex. So far, no fusion peptides have been identified in any coronavirus spike protein but predictions for MHV S have located such fusion sequences at (7) or in (40) the N-terminus of HR1. In both cases an anti-parallel orientation of the HR1 and HR2 alpha-helices ensures that the fusion peptide is brought into close proximity to the transmembrane region. Sequence analysis reveals that the ‘e’ and ‘g’ positions in the HR1 regions of all coronaviruses are primarily occupied by hydrophobic residues, unlike the ‘e’ and ‘g’ positions in the HR2 regions which are mostly polar (see FIG. 1). The HR2 region also contains a strictly conserved N-linked glycosylation sequence, indicating its surface accessibility. Preliminary X-ray data on the HR1-HR2 complex show a six-helix bundle structure in the electron dense region (Bosch, B. J., Rottier, P. J. M, and Rey F. A., unpublished results). The combined observations suggest a packing analogous to the fusion proteins of other class I viruses (e.g. HIV, SV5), where the. HR1 and HR2 peptides can form a six-helix bundle with the long HR1 peptide centered in the middle as a three-stranded coiled-coil with the hydrophobic ‘a’ and ‘d’ residues in its inner core. The shorter HR2 peptide packs with its apolar interface in the hydrophobic grooves of the HR1 coiled coil, which expose the mostly hydrophobic residues on ‘e’ and ‘g’ positions.
[0060] Peptides derived from the heptad repeat regions of retrovirus (28, 30, 38, 47, 49, 58, 72, 73) and paramyxovirus (29, 35, 51, 77, 79) fusion proteins have been shown to strongly interfere with the fusion activity of these proteins. We observed the same effect when we tested the HR2 peptide of the MHV-A59 spike protein. Using a recombinant luciferase-expressing MHV-A59 the peptide acted as an effective inhibitor of virus entry at micromolar concentrations. Cell-cell fusion inhibition was even more efficiently blocked by the peptide as tested in a cell fusion luciferase assay system. However, peptides derived from the HR1 region had no or only a minor effect on virus entry and syncytia formation. HIV-1 gp41 derived HR peptides that inhibit membrane fusion have been shown not to bind to the native protein or to the six-helix bundle. They can only bind to an intermediate stage of gp41 occurring during the fusion process (9, 20, 31). Repeated passage of HIV in the presence of the inhibitory peptide DP 178, which is derived from the C-terminal gp41 HR region, resulted in resistant viruses containing mutations in the N-terminal HR region (52). Inhibition of membrane fusion by the MHV HR2 peptide most likely takes place during an intermediate stage of the fusion process by binding of the peptide to the HR1 region in the spike protein. This binding, which may occur before, during or after the association of the HR1 regions into the inner trimeric coiled coil, presumably inhibits the subsequent interaction with native HR2 and, consequently, membrane fusion. For the HIV-1 gp41 and SV5 F protein also peptides corresponding to the HR1 region show membrane fusion inhibition, supposedly by binding to the native HR2 region (29, 72). It has been reported previously for HIV-1 that the HR1 peptide aggregates in solution (38) and that its inhibitory activity could be enhanced by fusing it to a designed soluble trimeric coiled coil, making the HR1 peptide more soluble (17). The MHV-A59 HR1 peptide is soluble in water but appeared to precipitate in salt solutions (data not shown). This solubility feature may have obscured the inhibitory potency of our HR1 derived peptides and accounts for the negative results with these peptides in our fusion assays. The HR2 peptide (as well as, soluble forms of HR1) provides powerful antivirals for the therapy of coronavirus induced diseases both in animals and man.
[0061] Membrane fusion mediated by class I fusion proteins is accompanied by dramatic structural rearrangements within the viral polypeptide complexes (18). Though little is known of the coronavirus membrane fusion process (for a review, see (22)), the occurrence of conformational changes induced by various conditions has been described for MHV spikes (45). While MHV-A59 is quite stable at mildly acidic pH it is rapidly and irreversibly inactivated at pH 8.0 and 37° C. (60). Under these conditions the S1 subunit dissociates from the virions and the S2 subunit aggregates concomitantly resulting in the aggregation of the particles. Due to the structural rearrangements in the spike, virions can bind to liposomes and the S2 protein becomes sensitive to protease degradation (27). Similar conformational changes can apparently also be induced at pH 6.5 by the binding of spikes to the (soluble) MHV receptor (21, 27) as this interaction enhances liposome binding and protease sensitivity as well (27). Virion binding to liposomes is presumably caused by the exposure of hydrophobic protein surfaces or of the fusion peptide as a result of the conformational change. It appears that the structural rearrangements in the spikes, whether elicited by elevated pH or soluble receptor interaction, reflect the process that naturally gives rise to the fusion of viral and cellular membranes. Accordingly, cell-cell fusion induced by MHV-A59 was maximal at slightly basic pH (60).
[0062] A number of studies on the MHV spike protein have shown the importance of the HR regions in membrane fusion. Three codon mutations (Q1067H, Q1094H and L1114R) in or close to the HR1 region of the spike protein were found to be responsible for the low pH requirement for fusion of some MHV-JHM variants isolated from persistently infected cells (23). Analysis of soluble receptor-resistant variants of this virus also pointed to an important role in fusion activity of the HR1 region and suggested that it interacts somehow with the N-terminal domain (S1N330-III; a.a. 278-288) of the spike protein (44). In yet another MHV-JHM. variant a great reduction in cell-cell fusion was attributed to the occurrence of two mutations in the spike protein one of which again located in the HR1 region (A1046V), the other (V870A) in a small non-conserved HR region (N helix) close to the S cleavage site (33). Acidification resulted in a clear enhancement of fusion by this double mutant. It was speculated that the three predicted helical regions (N helix, HR1 and HR2) all collapse into a low-energy coiled-coil during the process of membrane fusion (33). Herein we provide evidence that the HR1 and HR2 regions indeed can form such a low-energy coiled coil. Studies with the MHV-A59 S protein showed that mutations introduced at ‘a’ and ‘d’ positions in an N-terminal part of the HR1 region, a fusion peptide candidate, severely affected cell-cell fusion ability (40). This effect was not due to defects in spike maturation or cell surface expression. Finally, also codon mutations in the HR2 region were found to significantly reduce cell-cell fusion (39). Though these mutant spike protein were apparently impaired in oligomerization their surface expression was hardly affected.
[0063] In conclusion, our structural and functional studies show that the coronavirus spike protein can be classified as a class I viral fusion protein. The protein has, however, several unusual features that set it apart. An important characteristic of all class I virus fusion proteins known so far, is the cleavage of the precursor by host cell proteases into a membrane-distal and a membrane-anchored subunit, an event essential for membrane fusion. Consequently, the hydrophobic fusion peptide is then located at or close to the newly generated N-terminus of the membrane anchored subunit, just preceding the HR1 region. In contrast, the MHV-A59 spike does not have a hydrophobic stretch of residues at the distal end of S2, but carries a fusion peptide internally at a location that has yet to be determined (7, 40). Unlike other class I fusion proteins cleavage of the S protein into S1 and S2 has been shown to enhance fusogenicity (25, 61) but not to be absolutely required (2, 26, 59, 61). Rather, spikes belonging to group 1 coronaviruses are not cleaved at all.
[0064] The invention is further explained with the aid of the following illustrative examples.
EXAMPLE I
[0065] Materials and Methods
[0066] Plasmid constructions. For the production of peptides corresponding to amino acid residues 953-1048 (HR1), 969-1048 (HR1a), 1003-1048 (HR1b), 969-1010 (HR1c) and 1216-1254 (HR2) of the MHV-A59 spike protein, PCR fragments were prepared using as a template the plasmid pTUMS which contains the MHV-A59 spike gene (64). Primers were designed (see Table 1) to introduce into the amplified fragment an upstream BamHI site, a downstream EcoRI site as well as a stop codon preceding the EcoRI site. The fragments corresponding to a.a. 953-1048 and 1216-1254 were additionally provided with sequences specifying a factor Xa cleavage site immediately downstream the BamHI site. Fragments were cloned into the BamHI/EcoRI site of the pGEX-2T bacterial expression vector (Amersham Bioscierice) in frame with the GST gene just downstream of the thrombin cleavage site.
TABLE 1 Primers used for PCR of HR regions Primer Polarity Sequence (5′-3′) HR product 973 + GTGGATCCATCGAAGGTCGTCAAT HR1 ATAGAATTAATGGTTTAG (SEQ ID NO:_) 974 + GTGGATCCATCGAAGGTCGTAATG HR1b CAAATGCTGAAGC (SEQ ID NO:_) 975 − GGAATTCAATTAATAAGACGATCT HR1, HR1a, ATCTG HR1b (SEQ ID NO:_) 976 − CGAATTCATTCCTTGAGGTTGATG HR2 TAG (SEQ ID NO:_) 990 + GCGGATCCATCGAAGGTCGTGATT HR2 TATCTCTCGATTTC (SEQ ID NO:_) 1151 + GTGGATCCAACCAAAAGATGATTG HR1a, HR1c C (SEQ ID NO:_) 1152 − GGAATTCAATTGAGTGCTTCAGCA HR1c TTTG (SEQ ID NO:_)
[0067] To establish a cell-cell fusion inhibition assay, the firefly luciferase gene was cloned under a T7 promoter and an EMCV IRES. The luciferase gene containing fragment was excised from the pSP-luc+vector (Promega) by digestion with NcoI and EcoRV, treated with Klenow, and ligated into the BamHI-linearized, Klenow-blunted pTN3 vector (65) yielding the pTN3-luc+reporter plasmid.
[0068] Bacterial protein expression and purification. Freshly transformed BL21 cells (Novagen) were grown in 2×YT (yeast-tryptone) medium to log phase (OD600˜1.0) and subsequently induced by adding IPTG (GibcoBRL) to a final concentration of 0.4 mM. Two hours later cells were pelleted, resuspended in 1/25 volume of 10 mM Tris (pH 8.0), 10 mM EDTA, 1 mM PMSF and sonicated on ice (5 times 2 min). Cell homogenates were centrifuged at 20,000×g for 60 min at 4° C. To each 50 ml of supernatant 2 ml glutathione-sepharose 4B (Amersham Bioscience; 50% v/v in PBS) was added and incubated overnight (O/N) at 4° C. under rotation. Beads were washed three times with 50 ml PBS and resuspended in a final volume of 1 ml PBS. Peptides were cleaved from the GST moiety on the beads using 20 U of thrombin (Amersham Bioscience) by incubation for 4 h at room temperature (RT). Peptides in the supernatant were purified by high pressure reversed phase chromatography (RP-HPLC) using a Phenyl-5PW RP column (Tosoh) with a linear gradient of acetonitrile containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid. Peptide containing fractions were vacuum-dried O/N and dissolved in water. Peptide concentration was determined by measuring the absorbance at 280 nm (24) and by BCA protein analysis (Micro BCA™ Assay Kit, Pierce).
[0069] Temperature stability of HR1-HR2 complex. An equimolar mix of peptides HR1 and HR2 (80 μM each) in H 2 O was incubated at RT for 1 h. After addition of an equal volume of 2×tricine sample buffer (0.125 M Tris pH 6.8, 4% SDS, 5% β-mercaptoethanol, 10% glycerol, 0.004 g bromophenol blue) (55), the mixtures were either left at RT or heated for 5 min at different temperatures and subsequently analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in 15% tricine gel (55).
[0070] CD spectroscopy. CD spectra of peptides (25 μM in H 2 O) were recorded at RT on a Jasco J-810 spectropolarimeter, using a 0.1 mm path length, 1 nm bandwidth, 1 nm resolution, 0.5 s response time and a scan speed of 50 nm/min. The alpha-helix content was calculated using the program CDNN (http://bioinformatik.biochemtech.uni-halle.de/cd_spec/).
[0071] Electron Microscopy. A preincubated equimolar mix of the peptides HR1 and HR2 was subjected to size-exclusion chromatography (Superdex™ 75 HR 10/30, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). A sample from the HR1-HR2 peptide complex containing fraction was adsorbed onto a discharged carbon film, negatively stained with a 2% uranyl acetate solution and examined with a Philips CM200 microscope at 100 kV.
[0072] Proteinase K treatment. Stock solutions (1 mM) of the peptides HR1, HR1a, HR1b, HR1c and HR2 in water were diluted to 80 μM in PBS. Peptides on their own (80 μM) or after preincubation for 1 h at 37° C. with HR2 (80 μM each) were subsequently subjected to proteinase K digestion (1% wt/wt, proteinase K/peptide) for 2 h at 4° C. Samples were immediately subjected to tricine SDS-PAGE analysis. Protease resistant fragments were also separated and purified by RP HPLC and characterized by mass spectrometry.
[0073] Virus-cell fusion assay. The potency of HR peptides in inhibiting viral infection was determined using a recombinant MHV-A59, MHV-EFLM that expresses the firefly luciferase gene (C. A. M. de Haan and P. J. M. Rottier, manuscript in preparation). LR7 cells (34) were maintained as monolayer cultures in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS; GIBCO BRL). LR7 cells grown in 96-wells plates were inoculated with MHV-EFLM in DMEM at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 5 in the presence of varying concentrations of peptide ranging from 0.4-50 μM. After 1 h, cells were washed with DMEM and medium was replaced with DMEM containing 10% FCS. At 5 h post infection (p.i.) cells were harvested in 50 μl 1× Passive Lysis buffer (Luciferase Assay System, Promega) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Upon mixing of 10 μl cell lysate with 40 μl substrate, luciferase activity was measured using a Wallac Betalumino meter.
[0074] Cell-cell fusion assay. 2×10 6 LR7 cells, used as target cells, were washed with DMEM and overlayed with transfection medium consisting of 0.2 ml DMEM containing 10 μl of lipofectin (Life Technologies) and 4 μg of the plasmid pTN3-luc+. After 10 min at RT, 0.8 ml DMEM was added and incubation was continued at 37° C. BSR T7/5 cells—BHK cells constitutively expressing T7 RNA polymerase (3); a gift from Dr. K. K. Conzelmann—were grown in BHK-21 medium supplemented with 10% FCS, 100 IU of penicillin/ml and 1 mg/ml geneticin (GIBCO BRL). 1×10 4 BSR T7/5 cells, designated as effector cells, were infected in 96-wells plates with wild-type vaccinia virus at an MOI of 1 in DMEM at 37° C. After 1 h, the cells were washed with DMEM and incubated for 3 h at 37° C. with transfection medium consisting of 50 μl DMEM containing 1 μl lipofectin and 0.2 μg of the plasmid pTUMS (65), which carries the MHV-A59 spike gene under the control of a T7 promoter. Then, 3×10 4 of target cells in 100 μl DMEM were added and the cells were incubated for another 4 h in the presence or absence of HR peptide. Cells were lysed and luciferase activity was measured as mentioned above.
[0075] Results
[0076] HR1 and HR2 Regions in Coronavirus Spike Proteins.
[0077] The S2 subunit ectodomain of coronaviruses contains two heptad repeat domains HR1 and HR2, which are conserved in sequence and position (15) (diagrammed in FIG. 1A). HR2 is located adjacent to the transmembrane domain while HR1 occurs at about 170 a.a. upstream of HR2. FIG. 1B shows a protein sequence alignment of the HR1 and HR2 regions for 5 coronaviruses from the three antigenic clusters. The sequence alignment reveals a remarkable insertion of exactly two heptad repeats (14 a.a.) in both the HR1 and the HR2 domain of the spike protein of the group 1 coronaviruses HCV-229E (human coronavirus strain 229E) and FIPV (feline infectious peritonitis virus strain 79-1146). Alignment of all known coronavirus spike protein sequences shows these insertions in all group 1 coronaviruses. Another characteristic feature is that the length of the linker region between the HR2 region and the transmembrane region is strictly conserved in all coronavirus spike proteins.
[0078] HR1 and HR2 can Form an Hetero-Oligomeric Complex.
[0079] To study the heptad repeat regions in the S2 subunit of MHV-A59, peptides corresponding to the heptad repeat residues 953-1048 (HR1), 969-1048 (HR1a), 969-1048 (HR1b), 969-1003 (HR1c) and 1216-1254 (HR2) (FIG. 1B) were produced in bacteria as GST fusion proteins. Peptides were affinity purified using glutathione-sepharose beads, proteolytically cleaved from the resin and purified to homogeneity by reversed-phase HPLC. Masses of the peptides, as determined by mass spectrometry, matched their predicted Mw (HR1, 10,873 Da; HR1a, 8,653 Da; HR1b, 5,631 Da; HR1c, 4,447 Da; and HR2, 5,254 Da). To study an interaction between the two HR regions, the purified peptides HR1 and HR2 were incubated alone (80 μM) or in an equimolar (80 μM each) mixture for 1 h at 37° C. and the samples were subjected to SDS-PAGE either directly or after heating for 5 min at 95° C. (FIG. 2A). While the peptides migrated according to their molecular weight after separate incubation, most of the protein of the preincubated mixture of HR1 and HR2-migrated as a higher molecular weight complex with a slightly lower mobility than the 29 kDa marker. Upon heating, the complex dissociated giving rise to the individual subunits HR1 and HR2. We also tested the other HR1 peptides for interaction with HR2. While we did not observe complexes upon mixing of HR2 with HR1b or HR1c (data not shown), a higher molecular weight species co-migrating with the 29 kDa marker was found when HR1a was incubated with HR2 (FIG. 2B), though the extent of complex formation appeared to be lower than with peptide HR1. Higher molecular weight species were not seen. The results indicated that the HR1 region contains the information to associate with the HR2 region into a hetero-oligomeric complex and that this complex was stable in the presence of 2% SDS.
[0080] HR1-HR2 Complex is Highly Temperature Resistant.
[0081] Next we determined the stability of the HR1-HR2 complex at increasing temperatures. An equimolar (80 μM each) mix of the two peptides was again incubated for 1 h at 37° C. and subsequently heated for 5 minutes at different temperatures in 1× tricine sample buffer or left at RT. The complexes were analyzed by SDS-PAGE in 15% gel. As FIG. 3 demonstrates, the high molecular weight complexes remained intact up to 70° C., dissociated partly at 80° C. and fully at 90° C. The stability of the complex at high temperatures indicates that the peptides are held together by strong interaction forces in an energetically favorable conformation.
[0082] HR1, HR2 and the HR1-HR2 Complex are Highly α-Helical.
[0083] The secondary structure of the HR peptides was examined—by circular dichroism. The CD spectra of HR1, HR2 and of an equimolar mixture of HR1 and HR2 were recorded (FIG. 4). The spectra showed clear minima at 208 nm and 222 nm, which is characteristic of alpha-helical structure. Calculations revealed that the alpha-helical contents of the individual HR1 and HR2 peptides and of the mixture of the two peptides were 89.2%, 89.3% and 81.9%, respectively.
[0084] The HR1-HR2 Complex has a Rod-Like Structure.
[0085] The overall shape of the HR1-HR2 complex was examined by electron microscopy. Complexes were purified and viewed after negative staining. Electron micrographs revealed rod-like structures (FIG. 5). Based on measurements of 40 particles, an average length of 14.5 nm (±2 nm) was calculated. This length is consistent with an alpha-helix of approximately 90 a.a. in length, which corresponds approximately-to the predicted length of the HR1 coiled coil region. Similar rod-shaped complexes have been reported for the influenza virus HA protein (12, 53), for portions of the HIV-1 gp41 protein (70) and for the Ebola virus GP2 protein (67).
[0086] HR1 and HR2 Helices Associate in an Anti-Parallel Manner.
[0087] The relative orientation and position of HR2 with respect to HR1 in the complex was examined by limited proteolysis using proteinase K in combination with mass spectrometry. Complexes were generated by incubation of the HR2 peptide with each of peptides HR1, HR1a, HR1b and HR1c. The reaction mixtures as well as the individual peptides were then treated with proteinase K. Samples from each reaction were analyzed by tricine SDS-PAGE (data not shown). Using RP HPLC the protease resistant fragments were purified and their molecular weight (MW) was determined by mass spectrometry, which allowed us to identify the protease resistant cores of the peptides. For each protease resistant core a unique amino acid composition could be deduced that allowed the unequivocal identification of the peptides in the different samples. FIG. 6 gives a schematic overview of the proteinase K resistant fragments. Digestion of HR1 alone left a protease-resistant fragment with a MW of 6,801 Da corresponding to residues 976-1040. Although CD spectra had indicated a folded structure, HR2 was completely degraded by proteinase K. However, in the presence of HR1 HR2 was fully protected from proteolytic degradation. HR2 was able to rescue 18 additional residues at the N terminus of HR1, leaving a fragment of 8,675 Da corresponding to residues 958-1040.
[0088] Proteolysis of the HR1a peptide alone generated the same fragment (residues 976-1040) as obtained with HR1. In the HR1a-HR2 mixture, the HR2 peptide was completely protected against degradation by HR1a, while HR2 fully shielded the N-terminus of HR1a for proteolysis, including the glycine and serine residues originating from the thrombin cleavage site.
[0089] Although a higher molecular weight species could not be detected by tricine SDS-PAGE (data not shown), the protease treatment of the HR1c-HR2 complex left a protease resistant core. HR1c was fully sensitive for proteinase K, but was completely protected in the presence of HR2. HR2 itself was partly protected against proteolysis by HR1c, yielding a fragment of 3,583 Da that represents residues 1225-1254. Importantly, this HR2 fragment has an intact C-terminus but is degraded at its N-terminus. HR1 c has the same N-terminus as HR1a but is truncated at its C-terminus. Thus, its inability to protect the HR2 N-terminus combined with the full protection provided by HR1a implies an anti-parallel association of the HR1 and HR2 helices in the hetero-oligomeric complex. The peptide HR1b was fully sensitive to proteinase K both by itself and when mixed with HR2. HR1b could not prevent proteolysis of HR2 either. Altogether the proteolysis results suggest the anti-parallel association of HR2 and HR1 to occur in the middle part of HR1.
[0090] HR2 Strongly Inhibits Viral Entry and Syncytium Formation.
[0091] The formation of stable HR complexes is supposedly an essential step in the process of membrane fusion during viral cell entry. Thus, we evaluated the potency of our HR peptides in inhibiting MHV entry making use of a recombinant MHV-A59, MHV-EFLM that expresses the firefly luciferase reporter gene. Cells were inoculated with MHV-EFLM in the presence of different concentrations of the peptides HR1, HR1a, HR1b, HR1c and HR2. After 1 h, the cells were washed and culture medium without peptide was added. At 0.4 h p.i., i.e. before syncytium formation takes place, cells were lysed and tested for luciferase activity (FIG. 7A). HR1, HR1a and HR1b were not able to inhibit virus entry up to concentrations of 50 μM. In contrast, HR2 blocked viral entry in a concentration-dependent, manner inhibition being almost complete at a concentration of 50 μM.
[0092] We also studied the ability of the HR peptides in blocking cell-cell fusion. To this end we established a sensitive fusion assay based on the co-culturing of BHK cells expressing the bacteriophage T7 polymerase as well as the MHV-A59 spike protein, with murine L cells transfected with a plasmid carrying a luciferase gene cloned behind a T7 promoter. Fusion of the cells was determined by measuring luciferase activity. The effects of adding the HR peptides during the co-culturing of the cells are compiled in FIG. 7B. The HR2 peptide again appeared to be a potent inhibitor able to efficiently block cell-cell fusion. A 1000× reduction in luciferase activity was measured at a concentration of 10 μM, whereas essentially no activity was observed at a concentration of 50 μM. Of the HR1 peptides only the HR1b peptide had a minor effect at the highest concentration of 50 μM.
EXAMPLE II
[0093] The amino acid sequence of HR1 and HR2 of FIP is shown in FIG. 9.
[0094] Inhibition of cell-cell fusion after FIPV infection
[0095] FCWF cells were infected with FIPV strain 79-1146 with an moi of 1. 1 hour after infection, the cells were washed and medium was replaced by medium containing the GST-FIPV fusion proteins at different concentrations. 8 hours after infection, cells were fixed and scored for syncytia formation (see, Table 2).
TABLE 2 Inhibition of cell-to-cell fusion FCFW cells/FIPV infected GST-HR1 GST-HR2 10 ng +++ − 1 ng +++ + 0.1 ng +++ ++ 0 ng +++ +++
REFERENCES
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1
28
1
42
DNA
Artificial
Primer 973
1
gtggatccat cgaaggtcgt caatatagaa ttaatggttt ag 42
2
37
DNA
Artificial
Primer 974
2
gtggatccat cgaaggtcgt aatgcaaatg ctgaagc 37
3
29
DNA
Artificial
Primer 975
3
ggaattcaat taataagacg atctatctg 29
4
27
DNA
Artificial
Primer 976
4
cgaattcatt ccttgaggtt gatgtag 27
5
38
DNA
Artificial
Primer 990
5
gcggatccat cgaaggtcgt gatttatctc tcgatttc 38
6
25
DNA
Artificial
Primer 1151
6
gtggatccaa ccaaaagatg attgc 25
7
28
DNA
Artificial
Primer 1152
7
ggaattcaat tgagtgcttc agcatttg 28
8
102
PRT
Mouse Hepatitis Virus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(102)
Amino acids 947 to 1048, corresponding to
heptad repeat region one (HR1)
8
Pro Phe Ser Leu Ser Val Gln Tyr Arg Ile Asn Gly Leu Gly Val Thr
1 5 10 15
Met Asn Val Leu Ser Glu Asn Gln Lys Met Ile Ala Ser Ala Phe Asn
20 25 30
Asn Ala Leu Gly Ala Ile Gln Asp Gly Phe Asp Ala Thr Asn Ser Ala
35 40 45
Leu Gly Lys Ile Gln Ser Val Val Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn
50 55 60
Asn Leu Leu Asn Gln Leu Ser Asn Arg Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ala Ser
65 70 75 80
Leu Gln Glu Ile Leu Thr Arg Leu Glu Ala Val Glu Ala Lys Ala Gln
85 90 95
Ile Asp Arg Leu Ile Asn
100
9
102
PRT
Human Coronavirus strain OC43
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(102)
Amino acids 981 to 1082, corresponding to
heptad repeat region one (HR1)
9
Pro Phe Tyr Leu Asn Val Gln Tyr Arg Ile Asn Gly Leu Gly Val Thr
1 5 10 15
Met Asp Val Leu Ser Gln Asn Gln Lys Leu Ile Ala Asn Ala Phe Asn
20 25 30
Asn Ala Leu Tyr Ala Ile Gln Glu Gly Phe Asp Ala Thr Asn Ser Ala
35 40 45
Leu Val Lys Ile Gln Ala Val Val Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn
50 55 60
Asn Leu Leu Gln Gln Leu Ser Asn Arg Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ala Ser
65 70 75 80
Leu Gln Glu Ile Leu Ser Arg Leu Asp Ala Leu Glu Ala Glu Ala Gln
85 90 95
Ile Asp Arg Leu Ile Asn
100
10
116
PRT
Human Coronavirus strain 229E
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(116)
Amino acids 768 to 883, corresponding to
the HR1 region
10
Pro Phe Ser Leu Ala Ile Gln Ala Arg Leu Asn Tyr Val Ala Leu Gln
1 5 10 15
Thr Asp Val Leu Gln Glu Asn Gln Lys Ile Leu Ala Ala Ser Phe Asn
20 25 30
Lys Ala Met Thr Asn Ile Val Asp Ala Phe Thr Gly Val Asn Asp Ala
35 40 45
Ile Thr Gln Thr Ser Gln Ala Leu Gln Thr Val Ala Thr Ala Leu Asn
50 55 60
Lys Ile Gln Asp Val Val Asn Gln Gln Gly Asn Ser Leu Asn His Leu
65 70 75 80
Thr Ser Gln Leu Arg Gln Asn Phe Gln Ala Ile Ser Ser Ser Ile Gln
85 90 95
Ala Ile Tyr Asp Arg Leu Asp Thr Ile Gln Ala Asp Gln Gln Val Asp
100 105 110
Arg Leu Ile Thr
115
11
116
PRT
Feline Infectious Peritonitis virus strain 79-1146
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(116)
Amino acids 1041 to 1156, corresponding to
the HR1 region
11
Pro Phe Ala Val Ala Val Gln Ala Arg Leu Asn Tyr Val Ala Leu Gln
1 5 10 15
Thr Asp Val Leu Asn Lys Asn Gln Gln Ile Leu Ala Asn Ala Phe Asn
20 25 30
Gln Ala Ile Gly Asn Ile Thr Gln Ala Phe Gly Lys Val Asn Asp Ala
35 40 45
Ile His Gln Thr Ser Gln Gly Leu Ala Thr Val Ala Lys Ala Leu Ala
50 55 60
Lys Val Gln Asp Val Val Asn Thr Gln Gly Gln Ala Leu Ser His Leu
65 70 75 80
Thr Val Gln Leu Gln Asn Asn Phe Gln Ala Ile Ser Ser Ser Ile Ser
85 90 95
Asp Ile Tyr Asn Arg Leu Asp Glu Leu Ser Ala Asp Ala Gln Val Asp
100 105 110
Arg Leu Ile Thr
115
12
102
PRT
infectious bronchitis virus strain Beaudette
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(102)
Amino acids 770 to 871, corresponding to
the HR1 region
12
Pro Phe Ala Thr Gln Leu Gln Ala Arg Ile Asn His Leu Gly Ile Thr
1 5 10 15
Gln Ser Leu Leu Leu Lys Asn Gln Glu Lys Ile Ala Ala Ser Phe Asn
20 25 30
Lys Ala Ile Gly His Met Gln Glu Gly Phe Arg Ser Thr Ser Leu Ala
35 40 45
Leu Gln Gln Ile Gln Asp Val Val Ser Lys Gln Ser Ala Ile Leu Thr
50 55 60
Glu Thr Met Ala Ser Leu Asn Lys Asn Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ser Val
65 70 75 80
Ile Gln Glu Ile Tyr Gln Gln Phe Asp Ala Ile Gln Ala Asn Ala Gln
85 90 95
Val Asp Arg Leu Ile Thr
100
13
102
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(6)
amino acids derived from the proteolytic
cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein
13
Gly Ser Ile Glu Gly Arg Gln Tyr Arg Ile Asn Gly Leu Gly Val Thr
1 5 10 15
Met Asn Val Leu Ser Glu Asn Gln Lys Met Ile Ala Ser Ala Phe Asn
20 25 30
Asn Ala Leu Gly Ala Ile Gln Asp Gly Phe Asp Ala Thr Asn Ser Ala
35 40 45
Leu Gly Lys Ile Gln Ser Val Val Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn
50 55 60
Asn Leu Leu Asn Gln Leu Ser Asn Arg Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ala Ser
65 70 75 80
Leu Gln Glu Ile Leu Thr Arg Leu Glu Ala Val Glu Ala Lys Ala Gln
85 90 95
Ile Asp Arg Leu Ile Asn
100
14
82
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(2)
amino acids derived from the proteolytic
cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein
14
Gly Ser Asn Gln Lys Met Ile Ala Ser Ala Phe Asn Asn Ala Leu Gly
1 5 10 15
Ala Ile Gln Asp Gly Phe Asp Ala Thr Asn Ser Ala Leu Gly Lys Ile
20 25 30
Gln Ser Val Val Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn Asn Leu Leu Asn
35 40 45
Gln Leu Ser Asn Arg Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ala Ser Leu Gln Glu Ile
50 55 60
Leu Thr Arg Leu Glu Ala Val Glu Ala Lys Ala Gln Ile Asp Arg Leu
65 70 75 80
Ile Asn
15
52
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(6)
amino acids derived from the proteolytic
cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein
15
Gly Ser Ile Glu Gly Arg Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn Asn Leu
1 5 10 15
Leu Asn Gln Leu Ser Asn Arg Phe Gly Ala Ile Ser Ala Ser Leu Gln
20 25 30
Glu Ile Leu Thr Arg Leu Glu Ala Val Glu Ala Lys Ala Gln Ile Asp
35 40 45
Arg Leu Ile Asn
50
16
49
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(2)
amino acids derived from the proteolytic
cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein
16
Gly Ser Asn Gln Lys Met Ile Ala Ser Ala Phe Asn Asn Ala Leu Gly
1 5 10 15
Ala Ile Gln Asp Gly Phe Asp Ala Thr Asn Ser Ala Leu Gly Lys Ile
20 25 30
Gln Ser Val Val Asn Ala Asn Ala Glu Ala Leu Asn Asn Leu Leu Asn
35 40 45
Gln
17
48
PRT
Mouse Hepatitis Virus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(48)
Amino acids 1215 to 1262 from mouse hepatitis
virus, corresponding to heptad repeat region two
17
Pro Asp Leu Ser Leu Asp Phe Glu Lys Leu Asn Val Thr Leu Leu Asp
1 5 10 15
Leu Thr Tyr Glu Met Asn Arg Ile Gln Asp Ala Ile Lys Lys Leu Asn
20 25 30
Glu Ser Tyr Ile Asn Leu Lys Glu Val Gly Thr Tyr Glu Met Tyr Val
35 40 45
18
46
PRT
Human Coronavirus strain OC43
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(46)
Amino acids 1249 to 1294 from human corona
virus strain OC43, corresponding to heptad repeat region two
18
Pro Asp Leu Ser Leu Asp Tyr Ile Asn Val Thr Phe Leu Asp Leu Gln
1 5 10 15
Val Glu Met Asn Arg Leu Gln Glu Ala Ile Lys Val Leu Asn Gln Ser
20 25 30
Tyr Ile Asn Leu Lys Asp Ile Gly Thr Tyr Glu Tyr Tyr Val
35 40 45
19
60
PRT
Human Coronavirus strain 229E
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(60)
Amino acids 1053 to 1112 from human corona
virus strain 229E, corresponding to heptad repeat region two
19
Pro Asp Leu Val Val Glu Gln Tyr Asn Gln Thr Ile Leu Asn Leu Thr
1 5 10 15
Ser Glu Ile Ser Thr Leu Glu Asn Lys Ser Ala Glu Leu Asn Tyr Thr
20 25 30
Val Gln Lys Leu Gln Thr Leu Ile Asp Asn Ile Asn Ser Thr Leu Val
35 40 45
Asp Leu Lys Trp Leu Asn Arg Val Glu Thr Tyr Ile
50 55 60
20
60
PRT
Feline Infectious Peritonitis virus strain 79-1146
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(60)
Amino acids from feline peritonitis virus,
corresponding to heptad repeat region two
20
Pro Glu Phe Thr Leu Asp Ile Phe Asn Ala Thr Tyr Leu Asn Leu Thr
1 5 10 15
Gly Glu Ile Asp Asp Leu Glu Phe Arg Ser Glu Lys Leu His Asn Thr
20 25 30
Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asp Asn Ile Asn Asn Thr Leu Val
35 40 45
Asn Leu Glu Trp Leu Asn Arg Ile Glu Thr Tyr Val
50 55 60
21
46
PRT
infectious bronchitis virus strain Beaudette
misc_feature
(1)..(46)
Amino acids 1045 to 1090 from Beaudette
strain, corresponding to heptad repeat region two
21
Pro Asp Phe Asp Lys Phe Asn Tyr Thr Val Pro Ile Leu Asp Ile Asp
1 5 10 15
Ser Glu Ile Asp Arg Ile Gln Gly Val Ile Gln Gly Leu Asn Asp Ser
20 25 30
Leu Ile Asp Leu Glu Lys Leu Ser Ile Leu Lys Thr Tyr Ile
35 40 45
22
45
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(6)
amino acids derived from the proteolytic
cleavage site of the GST-fusion protein
22
Gly Ser Ile Glu Gly Arg Asp Leu Ser Leu Asp Phe Glu Lys Leu Asn
1 5 10 15
Val Thr Leu Leu Asp Leu Thr Tyr Glu Met Asn Arg Ile Gln Asp Ala
20 25 30
Ile Lys Lys Leu Asn Glu Ser Tyr Ile Asn Leu Lys Glu
35 40 45
23
336
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(336)
GST-HR1 fusion protein
23
Met Ser Pro Ile Leu Gly Tyr Trp Lys Ile Lys Gly Leu Val Gln Pro
1 5 10 15
Thr Arg Leu Leu Leu Glu Tyr Leu Glu Glu Lys Tyr Glu Glu His Leu
20 25 30
Tyr Glu Arg Asp Glu Gly Asp Lys Trp Arg Asn Lys Lys Phe Glu Leu
35 40 45
Gly Leu Glu Phe Pro Asn Leu Pro Tyr Tyr Ile Asp Gly Asp Val Lys
50 55 60
Leu Thr Gln Ser Met Ala Ile Ile Arg Tyr Ile Ala Asp Lys His Asn
65 70 75 80
Met Leu Gly Gly Cys Pro Lys Glu Arg Ala Glu Ile Ser Met Leu Glu
85 90 95
Gly Ala Val Leu Asp Ile Arg Tyr Gly Val Ser Arg Ile Ala Tyr Ser
100 105 110
Lys Asp Phe Glu Thr Leu Lys Val Asp Phe Leu Ser Lys Leu Pro Glu
115 120 125
Met Leu Lys Met Phe Glu Asp Arg Leu Cys His Lys Thr Tyr Leu Asn
130 135 140
Gly Asp His Val Thr His Pro Asp Phe Met Leu Tyr Asp Ala Leu Asp
145 150 155 160
Val Val Leu Tyr Met Asp Pro Met Cys Leu Asp Ala Phe Pro Lys Leu
165 170 175
Val Cys Phe Lys Lys Arg Ile Glu Ala Ile Pro Gln Ile Asp Lys Tyr
180 185 190
Leu Lys Ser Ser Lys Tyr Ile Ala Trp Pro Leu Gln Gly Trp Gln Ala
195 200 205
Thr Phe Gly Gly Gly Asp His Pro Pro Lys Ser Asp Leu Val Pro Arg
210 215 220
Gly Ser Gln Ala Arg Leu Asn Tyr Val Ala Leu Gln Thr Asp Val Leu
225 230 235 240
Asn Lys Asn Gln Gln Ile Leu Ala Asn Ala Phe Asn Gln Ala Ile Gly
245 250 255
Asn Ile Thr Gln Ala Phe Gly Lys Val Asn Asp Ala Ile His Gln Thr
260 265 270
Ser Gln Gly Leu Ala Thr Val Ala Lys Ala Leu Ala Lys Val Gln Asp
275 280 285
Val Val Asn Thr Gln Gly Gln Ala Leu Ser His Leu Thr Val Gln Leu
290 295 300
Gln Asn Asn Phe Gln Ala Ile Ser Ser Ser Ile Ser Asp Ile Tyr Asn
305 310 315 320
Arg Leu Asp Glu Leu Ser Ala Asp Ala Gln Val Asp Arg Leu Ile Thr
325 330 335
24
277
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(227)
GST-HR2 fusion protein
24
Met Ser Pro Ile Leu Gly Tyr Trp Lys Ile Lys Gly Leu Val Gln Pro
1 5 10 15
Thr Arg Leu Leu Leu Glu Tyr Leu Glu Glu Lys Tyr Glu Glu His Leu
20 25 30
Tyr Glu Arg Asp Glu Gly Asp Lys Trp Arg Asn Lys Lys Phe Glu Leu
35 40 45
Gly Leu Glu Phe Pro Asn Leu Pro Tyr Tyr Ile Asp Gly Asp Val Lys
50 55 60
Leu Thr Gln Ser Met Ala Ile Ile Arg Tyr Ile Ala Asp Lys His Asn
65 70 75 80
Met Leu Gly Gly Cys Pro Lys Glu Arg Ala Glu Ile Ser Met Leu Glu
85 90 95
Gly Ala Val Leu Asp Ile Arg Tyr Gly Val Ser Arg Ile Ala Tyr Ser
100 105 110
Lys Asp Phe Glu Thr Leu Lys Val Asp Phe Leu Ser Lys Leu Pro Glu
115 120 125
Met Leu Lys Met Phe Glu Asp Arg Leu Cys His Lys Thr Tyr Leu Asn
130 135 140
Gly Asp His Val Thr His Pro Asp Phe Met Leu Tyr Asp Ala Leu Asp
145 150 155 160
Val Val Leu Tyr Met Asp Pro Met Cys Leu Asp Ala Phe Pro Lys Leu
165 170 175
Val Cys Phe Lys Lys Arg Ile Glu Ala Ile Pro Gln Ile Asp Lys Tyr
180 185 190
Leu Lys Ser Ser Lys Tyr Ile Ala Trp Pro Leu Gln Gly Trp Gln Ala
195 200 205
Thr Phe Gly Gly Gly Asp His Pro Pro Lys Ser Asp Leu Val Pro Arg
210 215 220
Gly Ser Glu Phe Thr Leu Asp Ile Phe Asn Ala Thr Tyr Leu Asn Leu
225 230 235 240
Thr Gly Glu Ile Asp Asp Leu Glu Phe Arg Ser Glu Lys Leu His Asn
245 250 255
Thr Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asp Asn Ile Asn Asn Thr Leu
260 265 270
Val Asn Leu Glu Trp
275
25
582
DNA
SARS-associated coronavirus
CDS
(1)..(582)
Protein sequence derived from RT-PCR fragment
25
gaa atc hcg sct tct gct aat ctt gct gct act aaa atg tct gag tgt 48
Glu Ile Xaa Xaa Ser Ala Asn Leu Ala Ala Thr Lys Met Ser Glu Cys
1 5 10 15
gtt ctt gga caa tca aaa aga gtt gac ttt tgt gga aag ggc tac cac 96
Val Leu Gly Gln Ser Lys Arg Val Asp Phe Cys Gly Lys Gly Tyr His
20 25 30
ctt atg tcc ttc cca caa gca gcc ccg cat ggt gtt gtc ttc cta cat 144
Leu Met Ser Phe Pro Gln Ala Ala Pro His Gly Val Val Phe Leu His
35 40 45
gtc acg tat gtg cca tcc cag gag agg aac ttc acc aca gcg cca gca 192
Val Thr Tyr Val Pro Ser Gln Glu Arg Asn Phe Thr Thr Ala Pro Ala
50 55 60
att tgt cat gaa ggc aaa gca tac ttc cct cgt gaa ggt gtt ttt gtg 240
Ile Cys His Glu Gly Lys Ala Tyr Phe Pro Arg Glu Gly Val Phe Val
65 70 75 80
ttt aat ggc act tct tgg ttt att aca cag agg aac ttc ttt tct cca 288
Phe Asn Gly Thr Ser Trp Phe Ile Thr Gln Arg Asn Phe Phe Ser Pro
85 90 95
caa ata att act aca gac aat aca ttt gtc tca gga aat tgt gat gtc 336
Gln Ile Ile Thr Thr Asp Asn Thr Phe Val Ser Gly Asn Cys Asp Val
100 105 110
gtt att ggc atc att aac aac aca gtt tat gat cct ctg caa cct gag 384
Val Ile Gly Ile Ile Asn Asn Thr Val Tyr Asp Pro Leu Gln Pro Glu
115 120 125
ctt gac tca ttc aaa gaa gag ctg gac aag tac ttc aaa aat cat aca 432
Leu Asp Ser Phe Lys Glu Glu Leu Asp Lys Tyr Phe Lys Asn His Thr
130 135 140
tca cca gat gtt gat ctt ggc gac att tca ggc att aac gct tct gtc 480
Ser Pro Asp Val Asp Leu Gly Asp Ile Ser Gly Ile Asn Ala Ser Val
145 150 155 160
gtc aac att caa aaa gaa att gac cgc ctc aat gag gtc gct aaa aat 528
Val Asn Ile Gln Lys Glu Ile Asp Arg Leu Asn Glu Val Ala Lys Asn
165 170 175
tta aat gaa tca ctc att gac ctt caa gaa ttg gga aaa tat gag caa 576
Leu Asn Glu Ser Leu Ile Asp Leu Gln Glu Leu Gly Lys Tyr Glu Gln
180 185 190
tat att 582
Tyr Ile
26
194
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
misc_feature
(3)..(3)
The ′Xaa′ at location 3 stands for Thr, Pro,
or Ser.
26
Glu Ile Xaa Xaa Ser Ala Asn Leu Ala Ala Thr Lys Met Ser Glu Cys
1 5 10 15
Val Leu Gly Gln Ser Lys Arg Val Asp Phe Cys Gly Lys Gly Tyr His
20 25 30
Leu Met Ser Phe Pro Gln Ala Ala Pro His Gly Val Val Phe Leu His
35 40 45
Val Thr Tyr Val Pro Ser Gln Glu Arg Asn Phe Thr Thr Ala Pro Ala
50 55 60
Ile Cys His Glu Gly Lys Ala Tyr Phe Pro Arg Glu Gly Val Phe Val
65 70 75 80
Phe Asn Gly Thr Ser Trp Phe Ile Thr Gln Arg Asn Phe Phe Ser Pro
85 90 95
Gln Ile Ile Thr Thr Asp Asn Thr Phe Val Ser Gly Asn Cys Asp Val
100 105 110
Val Ile Gly Ile Ile Asn Asn Thr Val Tyr Asp Pro Leu Gln Pro Glu
115 120 125
Leu Asp Ser Phe Lys Glu Glu Leu Asp Lys Tyr Phe Lys Asn His Thr
130 135 140
Ser Pro Asp Val Asp Leu Gly Asp Ile Ser Gly Ile Asn Ala Ser Val
145 150 155 160
Val Asn Ile Gln Lys Glu Ile Asp Arg Leu Asn Glu Val Ala Lys Asn
165 170 175
Leu Asn Glu Ser Leu Ile Asp Leu Gln Glu Leu Gly Lys Tyr Glu Gln
180 185 190
Tyr Ile
27
49
PRT
SARS-associated coronavirus
MISC_FEATURE
(1)..(49)
Amino acids 146 to 194, corresponding to
heptad repeat region two from SARS
27
Pro Asp Val Asp Leu Gly Asp Ile Ser Gly Ile Asn Ala Ser Val Val
1 5 10 15
Asn Ile Gln Lys Glu Ile Asp Arg Leu Asn Glu Val Ala Lys Asn Leu
20 25 30
Asn Glu Ser Leu Ile Asp Leu Gln Glu Leu Gly Lys Tyr Glu Gln Tyr
35 40 45
Ile
28
60
PRT
Feline Infectious Peritonitis virus strain 79-1146
MISC_FEATURE
(1331)..(1390)
Heptad repeat region 2 sequence
28
Pro Glu Phe Thr Leu Asp Ile Phe Asn Ala Thr Tyr Leu Asn Leu Thr
1 5 10 15
Gly Glu Ile Asp Asp Leu Glu Phe Arg Ser Glu Lys Leu His Asn Thr
20 25 30
Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asp Asn Ile Asn Asn Thr Leu Val
35 40 45
Asn Leu Glu Trp Leu Asn Arg Ile Glu Thr Tyr Val
50 55 60 | The invention relates to the field of coronaviruses and diagnosis, therapeutics, and vaccines derived thereof. Methods are shown for at least in part inhibiting anti-parallel coiled coil formation of a coronavirus spike protein wherein the methods include decreasing the contact between heptad repeat regions of the protein. The invention provides a peptide including a heptad repeat region of a corona viral spike protein and/or a functional fragment and/or an equivalent thereof. The invention also provides antibodies and inhibiting compounds. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods for efficiently treating fluoride-containing waste.
RELATED ART
Fluoride found in wastewater generated by semiconductor fabrication plants (or other industrial plants) must be removed before the wastewater may be safely disposed. In many cases fluoride-containing wastewater is treated by a calcium salt addition process, followed by precipitation of calcium fluoride and further dewatering by filter press. The cost of chemicals (e.g., calcium salt) is a significant part of total cost of waste treatment. Precise and complicated control of the chemical dosing is typically required due to variations in fluoride concentration in the wastewater feed.
Application of adding calcium salt for the removal of fluoride is known in waste treatment. For example, a system and method for removing fluoride from wastewater by the addition of calcium salts is described by G. A. Krulik, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,385. Krulik et al. teach a single fluoride sensing electrode disposed at the reaction tank for measuring a concentration of fluoride in the influent wastewater, and a programmable controller that defines a setpoint of fluoride concentration in the reaction tank, and automatically controls the addition of calcium salts based on the setpoint and an output signal provided by the single fluoride sensing electrode.
Another method of treating fluoride-containing wastewater is described by Hsein et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,182,873. Hsein et al. teach that a primary fluoric ion concentration detection process is initially performed upon the wastewater. The wastewater is then introduced into a first reaction tank, and a primary calcium salt addition process is performed to add calcium salt into the first reaction tank, wherein the dosage of the calcium salt is determined according the fluoric ion concentration detected during the primary fluoric ion concentration detection process. The wastewater and calcium fluoride are then delivered into a second reaction tank, and a secondary calcium salt addition process is performed. A solid-liquid separation process is then performed, and a secondary fluoric ion concentration detection process is then performed upon the wastewater. The dosage of the calcium salt in the secondary calcium salt addition process is determined in a feed back control manner according to a fluoric ion concentration detected in the secondary fluoric ion concentration detection process.
Both Krulik et al. and Hsein et al. only consider the use of calcium salts for use in fluoride waste treatment. Moreover, both Krulik et al. and Hsein et al. require the measuring of fluoride concentration in the influent wastewater, and dosing with calcium salt with a known concentration based on the measured fluoride concentration of the influent wastewater. This undesirably results in relatively complicated and costly fluoride treatment systems.
It would therefore be desirable to have an improved system and method for treating fluoride-containing wastewater, which does not exhibit the above-described deficiencies of conventional fluoride treatment systems.
SUMMARY
Accordingly, the present invention provides an efficient system for treating fluoride-containing wastewater that uses the waste produced by a regeneration cycle in an ion exchange water softener, instead of calcium salts. The waste (brine) produced by the regeneration cycle of an ion exchange water softener contains both calcium and magnesium salts, which react with fluoride present in the fluoride-containing wastewater. The brine produced by the regeneration cycle of an ion exchange water softener (hereinafter referred to as regeneration process brine) is readily available and inexpensive. For example, regeneration process brine is typically available from an ultrapure water (UPW) plant that softens raw water at a semiconductor fabrication facility.
In accordance with one embodiment, the regeneration process brine is initially neutralized to a pH up to about 7. The fluoride-containing wastewater is pumped into a reaction tank, and the regeneration process brine is then added to the reaction tank. The regeneration process brine has varying concentrations and ratios of calcium and magnesium salts. As a result, the dose of the regeneration process brine cannot be predetermined based on the fluoride concentration of the influent fluoride-containing wastewater. Consequently, the fluoride ion concentration of the influent fluoride-containing wastewater is not measured in accordance with the present invention.
Rather, the dose of the regeneration process brine is defined by a predetermined setpoint of the residual concentration of fluoride in treated effluent only. That is, regeneration process brine is added to the reaction tank until a predetermined setpoint of residual fluoride concentration is achieved in the reaction tank.
The pH of the contents of the reaction tank is also adjusted to have a value greater than 9, thereby providing efficient clarification (i.e., low turbidity) of the effluent, a high settling rate of the resulting sludge, and a high dewater ability of the resulting sludge.
The present invention results in cost savings associated with the purchase of calcium salts, as well as the ability to eliminate the system required for the storage and dosing of these calcium salts. In addition, cost savings are realized because there is no need to dispose of regeneration process brine as a waste product. Moreover, the dosing system is simplified, as there is no need to measure the fluoride concentration of the influent wastewater.
The present invention will be more fully understood in view of the following description and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a system and method for treating fluoride-containing wastewater in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a system and method for treating fluoride-containing wastewater in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a system and method for treating fluoride-containing wastewater in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The ion exchange water softener is one of the most common tools used in water treatment. The function of an ion exchange water softener is to remove scale-forming calcium and magnesium ions from hard water, thereby ‘softening’ the water. An ion exchange water softener typically includes a tank that contains small beads of synthetic treated resin. The resin is initially treated to adsorb hydrogen or sodium ions. Hard water containing calcium and magnesium ions are passed through the resin. The resin has a greater affinity for multi-valent ions, such as calcium and magnesium ions, than it does for hydrogen or sodium ions. As a result, the calcium and magnesium ions adhere to the resin, releasing the hydrogen or sodium ions. In this manner, the water softener exchanges the hydrogen or sodium ions for the calcium and magnesium ions present in the water.
After equilibrium has been reached (i.e., after the quantity of calcium and magnesium ions adsorbed by the resin is large enough that ion exchange no longer takes place), the resin can be regenerated. During the regeneration process, HCl or NaCl solution is passed through the resin, exchanging the calcium and magnesium ions previously adsorbed by the resin with the hydrogen or sodium ions. The resin's affinity for the calcium and magnesium ions is overcome by using a highly concentrated HCl or NaCl solution. At the end of the regeneration process, the resin has adsorbed hydrogen or sodium ions, and may be re-used to treat hard water in the manner described above. The waste product of the regeneration process is brine (hereinafter referred to as “regeneration process brine”) that includes both calcium and magnesium salts. Regeneration process brine is typically generated at a UPW plant that softens raw water at a semiconductor fabrication facility. Regeneration process brine can also be obtained inexpensively from other industrial plants that implement water softening.
The present invention implements fluoride waste treatment without use of costly chemicals and complicated control systems. Regeneration process brine is used as a chemical for precipitation of fluoride from fluoride-containing wastewater. Process control is based on measurement of residual fluoride concentration and pH in a reaction tank. Regeneration process brine is added to fluoride-containing wastewater until achieving a setpoint of residual fluoride concentration in a reaction tank. The pH is then adjusted to an optimal range of greater than 9 to provide efficient separation of solids from effluent and for obtaining sludge with a high dewater ability.
In accordance with the present invention, the regeneration process brine has varying concentrations of both calcium and magnesium salts. Moreover, the ratio of calcium salts to magnesium salts within the regeneration process brine is variable. As a result, the dose of the regeneration process brine cannot be predetermined based on the concentration of fluoride in the influent fluoride-containing wastewater. Instead the dose of the regeneration process brine is defined only by a setpoint of residual concentration of fluoride in the treated effluent wastewater. Optimizing the pH range assures a high settling rate of the sludge, low turbidity of the effluent, and high de-water ability of the sludge.
By treating the fluoride containing wastewater with regeneration process brine, it is unnecessary to purchase costly calcium salts. Moreover, it is unnecessary to provide a system for storage and dosing of these calcium salts. In addition, cost savings are realized because there is no need to dispose of the already available regeneration process brine.
Furthermore, maintaining an optimal pH range (pH>9) provides additional savings because there is no need to provide additional chemicals for coagulation and flocculation of solids, or a control system for introducing such additional chemicals.
Several specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fluoride wastewater treatment system 100 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , regeneration process brine (obtained from the regeneration process of an ion exchange softener used for pretreatment of raw water in a UPW plant of a semiconductor fabrication facility) is added to accumulation and neutralization tank 101 . Hydrochloric acid, which is inherently present in the regeneration process brine, causes this brine to have a relatively low pH. The regeneration process brine is neutralized with a basic agent to create a neutralized brine solution having a pH of up to about 7. In accordance with one embodiment, the basic agent added to tank 101 is NaOH. However, it is understood that other basic agents can be used in other embodiments.
Influent fluoride wastewater is pumped into reaction and settling tank 102 . In the described embodiment, this fluoride wastewater contains about 30,000 ppm of fluoride, mostly in sodium form, and the pH of this fluoride wastewater is about 10. The neutralized brine solution is then added to the reaction and settling tank 102 through a flow control device 110 , while a mixer is controlled to mix the contents of this tank 102 . During this process, pH controller 115 monitors the pH level of the mixture in the tank 102 . PH controller 115 causes a basic agent (e.g., NaOH) to be added to the reaction and settling tank 102 , as necessary, to maintain a pH greater than 9. Note that because the regeneration process brine is initially neutralized to a pH of about 7 (in tank 101 ), the regeneration process brine added to the reaction and settling tank 102 does not drastically reduce the pH of the influent fluoride wastewater. As a result, it becomes easier for pH controller 115 to maintain a pH greater than 9 within tank 102 .
During the above-described process, a fluoride monitor 120 detects the residual fluoride ion concentration of the contents of the reaction and settling tank 102 . In response to detecting that the residual fluoride ion concentration of the mixture in tank 102 has been reduced to a predetermined level (for example 20 ppm), fluoride monitor 120 activates a control signal (STOP), which causes flow control device 110 to stop the flow of neutralized brine solution to the reaction and settling tank 102 (i.e., to stop the dosing of the neutralized brine solution). At this time, the mixer within the reaction and settling tank 102 is switched off, and sludge, comprising mostly of calcium fluoride (CaF 2 ) and magnesium fluoride (MgF 2 ), is separated from the effluent by sedimentation. The separated effluent can be safely discarded from the tank 102 into the sewer system 190 .
After the separated effluent has been removed from the reaction and settling tank 102 , the remaining sludge is transferred from tank 102 into a thickener tank 103 , wherein further concentration of the sludge occurs. Liquid removed from the sludge within the thickener tank 103 can be safely discarded into the sewer system 190 . The sediment remaining in the thickener tank 103 is transferred from the thickener tank 103 to a filter press 104 , wherein de-watering of the sludge is performed. The filtrate extracted from the sludge within the filter press 104 can be safely discarded into the sewer system 190 . The de-watered sludge remaining in the filter press 104 is disposed of in an appropriate manner. For example, the de-watered sludge can be used in the manufacturing of cement or disposed of according to environmental requirements.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, maintaining a pH greater than 9 within the reaction and settling tank 102 advantageously provides a clear effluent, a high settling rate, and a sludge with a high de-water ability, without requiring the use of coagulants and/or flocculants.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a fluoride wastewater treatment system 200 in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. Because system 200 is similar to system 100 , similar elements in FIGS. 1 and 2 are labeled with similar reference numbers. System 200 replaces the reaction and settling tank 102 of system 100 with two separate tanks. Thus, system 200 includes reaction tank 201 and settling tank 202 . Processing proceeds in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 1 , wherein the influent fluoride-containing wastewater is pumped into reaction tank 201 , and the neutralized regeneration process brine is then added to the reaction tank 201 , while a mixer is controlled to mix the contents of reaction tank 201 . During this process, pH controller 115 monitors the pH level of the mixture in the reaction tank 201 . Again, pH controller 115 adds a basic agent (e.g., NaOH) to the reaction 201 , as necessary, to maintain a pH greater than 9.
During the above-described process, the fluoride monitor 120 detects the residual fluoride ion concentration of the contents of the reaction tank 201 . In response to detecting that the residual fluoride ion concentration of the mixture in the reaction tank 201 has been reduced to a predetermined level (for example 15 ppm), fluoride monitor 120 activates the control signal (STOP) to stop the flow of neutralized brine solution to the reaction tank 201 . At this time, the mixer within the reaction tank 201 is switched off, and the suspension of CaF 2 and MgF 2 within the reaction tank 201 is transferred to settling tank 202 . Within the settling tank 202 , the sludge (CaF 2 and MgF 2 ) is separated from the effluent by sedimentation. The separated effluent is safely discarded from the settling tank 202 into the sewer system 190 , and the sludge is processed in thickener tank 103 and filter press 104 in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 1 . If the available capacity of the settling tank 202 and/or the filter press 104 is limited, coagulants and/or flocculants can be added to the suspension to facilitate the separation of the sludge from the effluent. By separating the reaction tank 201 and the settling tank 202 as set forth in system 200 , the capacity of system 200 is advantageously increased (with respect to system 100 ).
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fluoride wastewater treatment system 300 in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. Because system 300 is similar to systems 100 and 200 , similar elements in FIGS. 1 , 2 and 3 are labeled with similar reference numbers. System 300 eliminates the thickener tank 103 and the settling tank 202 from system 200 . Processing proceeds in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 2 , wherein the suspension of CaF 2 and MgF 2 from the reaction tank 201 is transferred directly to the filter press 104 . The filtrate from the filter press 104 is safely disposed into the sewer system 190 , while the dewatered sludge from the filter press 104 is properly disposed.
If the available capacity of the filter press 104 is limited, coagulants and/or flocculants can be applied to the suspension to facilitate the separation of the sludge from the filtrate. Eliminating the settling tank 202 and the thickener tank 103 from system 300 advantageously allows system 300 to simplify batch treatment process or, if required, continuously treat the fluoride wastewater. That is, there is no need to wait for sedimentation or thickening of the suspension, so the process steps can be performed with fewer delays for a more continuous process flow.
Although the invention has been described in connection with several embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of various modifications, which would be apparent to a person skilled in the art. Thus, the invention is limited only by the following claims. | A method and system for processing fluoride-containing wastewater includes treating the wastewater with brine (waste) created by the regeneration process implemented by in ion exchanging water softener. The brine, which is typically disposed of, contains both calcium and magnesium salts, in varying concentrations and ratios. The regeneration process brine is added to the fluoride-containing wastewater within a reaction tank, and the fluoride ion concentration is monitored. When the fluoride ion concentration falls below a predetermined level (e.g., 15 ppm), the flow of regeneration process brine is stopped. A pH controller monitors the pH within the reaction tank, and adds a basic agent to ensure that the pH remains above a predetermined level (e.g., pH>9). The pH control results in a clear effluent, and a sludge having a high settling rate and a high dewater ability. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a polylactic acid composition and, more particularly, to a polylactic acid composition having stable crystallinity and good physical characteristics.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Currently, many people have been aware of that conventional plastic products are difficult to dispose in a biodegradable manner. Once these plastic products are discarded, they will cause environmental burdens and become a major source of environmental pollution. With the rise of environmental protection awareness, industries have begun to introduce, improve, and develop biodegradable products. Hence, biodegradable materials have gradually been applied in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and civil construction, disposable plastic bags, food containers and packaging materials, stationery, daily necessities and so on. Because biodegradable materials are used to protect the natural environment, the research also focuses on the recovery of these biodegradable materials.
[0005] Generally, biodegradable materials mean materials capable of being degraded into water and carbon dioxide in the natural environment. Among them, polylactic acid (PLA) is a novel biodegradable material, and it can be applied in the manufacture of textiles, cold drink cups and plastic bags, and so forth. However, heating (for example, repeated recrystallization) makes PLA transform into a transparent meta-stable structure, and thereby influences physical properties of PLA. In other words, after textile materials made of PLA are reeled and melt-blown into fabrics, the unstable PLA decreases the strength of the fibers as the storing period extends, resulting in fracture of the fabrics. Furthermore, since the textile materials having hydrophobic PLA added thereto have an increased hydrophobicity, they are difficult to bind with hydrophilic dyes, leading to inconsistency in textile dyeing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings, the object of the present invention is to provide a polylactic acid composition having improved hydrophilicity, dyeability, and dye-leveling. Compared with a single component of polylactic acid, the composition of the present invention has better physical properties. Besides, the crystallization behavior of the polylactic acid is stable in the composition of the present invention, and thereby is suitable for the reeling process and the melt-blowing process to yield textiles with stable strength.
[0007] To achieve the object, the present invention provides a polylactic acid composition comprising a polylactic acid; a polyvinyl alcohol; and a grafted polylactic acid, which is grafted with a C 3 ˜C 8 organic acid or acid anhydride.
[0008] In the above-mentioned polylactic acid composition, the organic acid can be represented by R 1 —COOH. When R 1 is C 2 ˜C 7 alkenyl, the organic acid is an organic monoacid, for example acrylic acid, 3-butenic acid, crotonic acid, cis-2-methylbutenoic acid, hydrosorbic acid, and sorbic acid. When R 1 is C 2 ˜C 7 alkenylcarboxyl, the organic acid is an organic diacid or polyacid, or formed from acid anhydride due to dissociation or bond breaking, for example maleic acid, fumaric acid, and glutaconic acid.
[0009] In the above-mentioned polylactic acid composition, the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol can be in the range of 3˜50 wt %, and preferably is in the range of 15˜40 wt % based on the polylactic acid. The amount of the grafted polylactic acid can be in the range of 1˜99 wt %, and preferably is in the range of 20˜70 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol. More preferably, the amount of the grafted polylactic acid is in the range of 35˜55 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol. The average molecule weight of the polylactic acid is not limited, but preferably is in the range of 5,000˜900,000. The average molecule weight of the polyvinyl alcohol is not limited, but preferably is in the range of 22,000˜24,500. Besides, the amount of the organic acid in the grafted polylactic acid is preferably in the range of 0.001˜1 wt %.
[0010] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1( a ) is an electronic microscope picture showing fracture surface of the blend in the Comparative example;
[0012] FIG. 1( b ) is an electronic microscope picture showing fracture surface of the composition in Example 2 of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 2( a ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of neat polylactic acid;
[0014] FIG. 2( b ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of the blend in the Comparative example;
[0015] FIG. 2( c ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of the composition in Example 2 of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 3( a ) is a top view of the test specimen made of neat polylactic acid after the dyeing test;
[0017] FIG. 3( b ) is a side view of the test specimen made of neat polylactic acid after the dyeing test;
[0018] FIG. 3( c ) is a top view of the test specimen made of the composition of the present invention after the dyeing test; and
[0019] FIG. 3( d ) is a side view of the test specimen made of the composition of the present invention after the dyeing test.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0020] The present invention will be described in more detail with the accompanying drawings.
[0021] The present inventors added polyvinyl alcohol into polylactic acid for the purpose of improving the physical properties of the polylactic acid. However, because polylactic acid is hydrophobic and polyvinyl alcohol is hydrophilic, the compatibility of polylactic acid and polyvinyl alcohol is poor. In order to improve the compatibility, the present inventors prepared a compatilizer, which is polylactic acid grafted with organic acid. When the compatilizer is added in the mixture of polylactic acid and polyvinyl alcohol, the compatibility of polylactic acid and polyvinyl alcohol can be increased. Therefore, the strength and stability of the textiles made of the above-mentioned can be promoted.
[0022] The present invention provides a polylactic acid composition, which comprises a polylactic acid; a polyvinyl alcohol; and a grafted polylactic acid, which is grafted with a C 3 ˜C 8 organic acid or acid anhydride.
[0023] In the above-mentioned polylactic acid composition, the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol is preferably in the range of 3˜50 wt % based on the polylactic acid. For example, the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol can be 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, or 45 wt % based on the polylactic acid. If the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol is less than 3 wt % (i.e. the lower limit of the range), the physical properties of the polylactic acid composition, for example hardness, fragility and so on, can not be improved. If the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol is more than 50 wt % (i.e. the upper limit of the range), the incompatibility of the composition dramatically deteriorates physical and mechanical properties of the polylactic acid composition.
[0024] In the above-mentioned polylactic acid composition, the amount of the grafted polylactic acid is preferably in the range of 1˜99 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol. For example, the amount of the grafted polylactic acid can be 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 wt % based on the polylactic acid. If the amount of the grafted polylactic acid is less than 1 wt % (i.e. the lower limit of the range), the polylactic acid is not compatible with the polyvinyl alcohol in the composition. If the amount of the grafted polylactic acid is more than 99 wt % (i.e. the upper limit of the range), the polylactic acid composition easily becomes fragile, thereby narrowing the utility range of the polylactic acid composition.
[0025] In the above-mentioned polylactic acid composition, the grafted polylactic acid is grafted with an organic acid. Preferably, the organic acid has a carbon-carbon double bond (C═C), and it can be represented by R 1 —COOH. When R 1 is C 2 ˜C 7 alkenyl, the organic acid is an organic monoacid, for example acrylic acid, 3-butenic acid, crotonic acid, cis-2-methylbutenoic acid, hydrosorbic acid, and sorbic acid. When R 1 is C 2 ˜C 7 alkenylcarboxyl, the organic acid is an organic diacid or polyacid, or is formed from acid anhydride due to dissociation or bond breaking, for example maleic acid, fumaric acid and glutaconic acid.
[0026] The foregoing polylactic acid composition can be prepared by any well-known method in the art. For example, the method includes electrochemical deposition, in situ chemical polymerization, power dispersion, solution blending, melt blending and so forth.
[0027] Since polylactic acid belongs to the class of polyester, it is difficult to bind with dyes after reeling, and thereby level-dyeing textiles can not be easily obtained. However, the polylactic acid composition of the present invention comprises not only polyvinyl alcohol capable of improving the polarity of the composition, but also organic acid-grafted polylactic acid conducive to enhancing basic dyes of the adhesion to the composition. For example, if maleic acid-grafted polylactic acid is used, the carboxyl group of the maleic acid will increase the dyeing intensity of the whole composition, as shown in the following formula 1.
[0000]
[0028] Because of the specific embodiments illustrating the practice of the present invention, a person having ordinary skill in the art can easily understand other advantages and efficiency of the present invention through the content disclosed therein. The present invention can also be practiced or applied by other variant embodiments. Many other possible modifications and variations of any detail in the present specification based on different outlooks and applications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
EXAMPLE
Synthesis of Grafted Polylactic Acid
[0029] The grafted polylactic acid can be made of maleic acid and polylactic acid. For example, to a torque rheometer at 190° C., polylactic acid (for example, any commercial polylactic acid having average molecular weight in the range of 5,000˜900,000) and an initiator (having the amount of 0.01˜5 wt % based on the polylactic acid) were added. After free radicals released, maleic acid (having 5˜20 times the amount of the initiator) was added to the torque rheometer. Under stirring at the speed of 20 rpm for 10 mins, maleic acid-grafted polylactic acid was obtained, as shown in the following scheme 1. The used initiator is not limited, and includes 2,2-azobis-isobutyrionitrile (AIBN), dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO), for example.
[0000]
[0030] According the above-mentioned scheme, polylactic acid can be grafted with maleic acid. However, in the present invention, the organic acid grafted to polylactic acid is not limited to maleic acid, but includes any organic monoacid, diacid or polyacid having a short carbon chain (i.e. C 3 ˜C 8 ) with C═C bonds, or any acid anhydride dissociated or bond-broken into the foregoing organic acids.
EXAMPLE 1
Preparation of the Polylactic Acid/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Grafted Polylactic Acid Composition 1
[0031] Polylactic acid (for example, any commercial polylactic acid having average molecular weight in the range of 5,000˜900,000), polyvinyl alcohol (having average molecular weight of 22,000˜24,500) and the prepared grafted polylactic acid mentioned above were blended by single-screw extruder at 160° C., and then the polylactic acid/polyvinyl alcohol/grafted polylactic acid composition was obtained. In the composition, the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol was 5 wt % based on the polylactic acid, and the amount of the grafted polylactic acid was 5wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol.
EXAMPLE 2
Preparation of the Polylactic Acid/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Grafted Polylactic Acid Composition 2
[0032] The composition of the present example is prepared in the same manner as Example 1, except the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol was 25 wt % based on the polylactic acid and the grafted polylactic acid was 45 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol.
EXAMPLE 3
Preparation of the Polylactic Acid/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Grafted Polylactic Acid Composition 2
[0033] The composition of the present example is prepared in the same manner as Example 1, except the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol was 50 wt % based on the polylactic acid and the grafted polylactic acid was 99 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol.
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE
Preparation of the Polylactic Acid/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend
[0034] The blend of the present Comparative example is prepared in the same manner as Example 1, except the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol was 50 wt % based on the polylactic acid and the grafted polylactic acid was not added therein.
EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 1
Observation of the Fracture Surface
[0035] The fracture surfaces of the compositions and the blend prepared according to the above-mentioned were observed by using an electronic microscope.
[0036] First, FIG. 1( a ) is an electronic microscope picture of the fracture surface of the blend prepared in Comparative example. In Comparative example, the blend contains only polylactic acid and polyvinyl alcohol without grafted polylactic acid. However, owing to the hydrophobicity of the polylactic acid (belonging the class of polyester) and the hydrophilicity of the polyvinyl alcohol (having hydroxyl groups, i.e. —OH), interface debonding and spalling occur obviously on the fracture surface of the polylactic acid/polyvinyl alcohol blend. Therefore, many large pores occur on the fracture surface as shown in FIG. 1( a ).
[0037] FIG. 1( b ) is an electronic microscope picture of the fracture surface of the composition prepared in Example 2. In Example 2, the composition comprises not only polylactic acid and polyvinyl alcohol, but also grafted polylactic acid. Even though the hydrophobic polylactic acid is blended with the hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol, the presence of the organic acid-grafted polylactic acid can assist the blending of the polylactic acid and the polyvinyl alcohol, and thereby improve interface debonding and spalling occurring in the blend of Comparative example. It can be evidenced in the comparison between FIGS. 1( a ) and 1 ( b ) that the size and the number of the pores occurring in the composition of Example 2 both are obviously lower than those occurring in the blend of Comparative example.
[0038] In view of the above-mentioned, the grafted polylactic acid used in the composition of Example 2 can efficiently improve the compatibility of the polylactic acid and the polyvinyl alcohol, and thereby reduce the spalling of the polyvinyl alcohol particles.
EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 2
Analysis of the Crystallization
[0039] The neat polylactic acid, the blend of Comparative example and the composition of Example 2 were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for 3 cycles. The results are shown as FIG. 2( a ), FIG. 2( b ) and FIG. 2( c ), respectively.
[0040] FIG. 2( a ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of neat polylactic acid. As shown in FIG. 2( a ), the neat polylactic acid tends toward uncrystallization and has no melting peak after three times of the heating-cooling cycles.
[0041] FIG. 2( b ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of the blend of Comparative example. As shown in FIG. 2( b ), the smooth recrystallizing and melting peaks occur during the second and third cycles of the blend of Comparative example. It is understood that polyvinyl alcohol is beneficial for recystallization of polylactic acid during the heating-cooling cycles.
[0042] FIG. 2( c ) is a 3-cycle differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) graph of the composition of Example 2. As shown in FIG. 2( c ), the obvious recrystallizing and melting peaks occur during three cycles of the composition of Example 2. Besides, two melting peaks appear during the first cycle, and they respectively are 153° C. and 147° C. which are helix α-phase and sheet β-phase according to the scientific literature. However, these two peaks are combined into a single peak during the second and third cycles. In other words, the composition develops from a meta-stable system into a stable system. That is to say, the α-phase and β-phase of the polylactic acid can occur by controlling the added amount of the grafted polylactic acid (i.e. 1˜99 wt % based on the polyvinyl alcohol), and they tend towards a stable system during several times of the healing-cooling cycle. Hence, the composition of Example 2 can still maintain its crystallized structure in the stable system after several cycles.
[0043] The polylactic acid composition of the present invention can have improved crystallization of the polylactic acid, and also have good physical properties. Therefore, the composition of the present invention can be used in diversified and extensive application.
EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 3
Dyeing Test
[0044] The polylactic acid/maleic acid-grafted polylactic acid/polyvinyl alcohol composition of the present invention and the neat polylactic acid were used as a material to prepare a test specimen (3 cm×3 cm×0.4 cm), respectively. The test specimens were dipped in a solution of a black basic dye at 100° C. for 45 mins, and then dried.
[0045] FIGS. 3( a ) and 3 ( b ) illustrate that expansion and deformation occur in the dyed test specimen made of the neat polylactic acid. FIGS. 3( c ) and 3 ( d ) show that the specimen made of the composition of the present invention exhibits stable size and uniform color. Hence, the composition of the present invention can overcome the shortcomings such as expansion, deformation, difficult dyeing and so on occurring in neat polylactic acid.
[0046] Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. | The present invention relates to a polylactic acid composition, which comprises a polylactic acid, a polyvinyl alcohol, and a grafted polylactic acid. In the present invention, the polylactic acid composition has an improved dyeing property, physical strength, crystal stability, and so forth. Hence, the composition of the present invention can be manufactured into textile fabrics having good strength by melt blowing or reeling. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to managing the evaporative purge system for a vehicle having a fuel tank connected to an internal combustion engine.
2. Prior Art
Various techniques for controlling the evaporative purge are known. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,664,087, 4,677,956; and 4,715,340.
There is also a desire to control all emissions emanating from vehicles. To this end it is desirable to be able to test the flow path of the gasoline vapors in the vehicle for leaks. These are some of the problems this invention overcomes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention tests the mechanical integrity of an evaporative purge system by applying a vacuum to a fuel tank and measuring the extent to which this vacuum bleeds down over a time period. That is, this system is an onboard diagnostic system wherein the integrity of the evaporative purge system can be tested by forming a differential pressure check on the system. To this end, the vacuum is applied to the evaporative purge flow path and the fuel tank pressure is monitored by a sensor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of three functions, FIG. 1A being the vapor management valve state with respect to time, FIG. 1B being the canister vent valve state with respect to time and FIG. 1C being the tank pressure with respect to time;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the configuration of a canister purge leak detection system in accordance with an embodiment of this invention, wherein a pressure transducer is directly mounted on a fuel tank;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the configuration of a canister purge leak detection system in accordance with another embodiment of this invention, wherein a pressure transducer is mounted remotely from a fuel tank; and
FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C are logical flow diagrams of a test in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a canister purge leak detection system 20 includes a fuel tank 21 which is connected to an evaporative purge line 22 coupled to a charcoal canister 23 and in turn coupled to an evaporative purge line 24 connected to an engine 25 through a valve 26. Canister 23 also is connected to atmosphere through a valve 27. FIG. 2 illustrates a system where a pressure sensor 29 is installed directly into the fuel tank 21. FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative system where a pressure sensor 29 is remotely mounted and connected by a line 30 to the fuel tank 21.
A fuel tank vacuum indicator or a pressure transducer 29 monitors fuel tank pressure or vacuum and provides an input to an electronic engine control. Fuel tank 21 is fashioned to accommodate fuel tank pressure transducer 29. Advantageously there is a flat depression and hole in the top of the tank for receiving the fuel tank pressure transducer subassembly. The evaporative canister vent vacuum solenoid has a solenoid required to close the evaporative canister atmospheric vent during a leak down rate test. The solenoid is controlled by the electric engine control as an output from the controller. The canister vent solenoid is normally opened and high flowing when opened and has very low leakage when closed. A vacuum relief valve 40, integral with the fuel tank cap, prevents excessive vacuum from being applied to the fuel tank system. It is not controlled by an electric engine controller. Typically the vacuum leak valve is integrated into the fuel tank re-fill cap. Vapor management valve 26 and engine purge strategy compensates for additional vapor injected into the engine as a result of performing the vacuum leak down rate test.
A vacuum leak down test of the canister purge system identifies any leak in the fuel/canister purge system that would cause fuel vapor to escape to atmosphere. The test is run by closing valve 27 providing the atmospheric vent for canister 23, then applying a vacuum to the fuel system and observing if the vacuum is held. The test passes if the system can successfully hold the applied vacuum for a predetermined period of time.
The test will begin if all of the following entry conditions are met: 1) the test has not yet been run this trip; 2) powertrain load is within a calibrated window; 3) air charge temperature and engine coolant temperature are below a calibrated maximum value; 4) fuel tank pressure before testing is within a calibrated window; 5) time since the beginning of closed loop air/fuel control operation is greater than a calibrated minimum value; 6) vehicle speed before testing is within a calibrated window.
If desired, an electronic engine control can monitor fuel tank pressure sensor to determine pressure or vacuum conditions during engine operation. Additionally, referring to FIG. 3 a vacuum relief valve 40 can be used to prevent excessive vacuum on the tank.
There are four test phases in addition to a pre-test phase. The pre-test phase is simply the time between engine start-up and the time when the purge system test is begun, but prior to the first purge sequence and prior to enabling adaptive fuel control. The first phase is a pressure build phase. In this portion of the test, the system is sealed by closing both the Vapor Management Valve and the Canister Vent Valve. The pressure is monitored and the increase in tank pressure is calculated over a period of time. This part of the test will indicate the extent to which pressure is increasing in the tank due to vapor generation. If the increase in pressure is above a calibrated maximum value, the test will not be conducted since the "bleed" rate will be skewed by vapor generation. If the pressure increase is below the calibrated maximum value, phase 2 of the test is entered.
In operation, referring to FIG. 1, vapor management valve 26 and canister vent valve 27 are closed, sealing the fuel system from the atmosphere. Any pressure in fuel tank 21 is monitored by the fuel tank pressure transducer 29 to track pressure increases due to vapor generation. The test is discontinued if the pressure increase is too high for reliable results.
The second phase is a fuel system vacuum application phase. An attempt is made to apply a vacuum of a calibrated value to the fuel system. Vapor management valve 26 is opened to apply engine vacuum to the fuel system. At this time, a canister vent valve 27 remains closed and continues to isolate canister 23 from the atmosphere. As valve 26 is opened, the engine will see vapor that is very rich with fuel vapor. For this reason, an engine control strategy for compensating for the fuel rich vapor must be enabled to allow the engine to consume the vapor. If the target vacuum is not reached in a calibrated amount of time, it must be assumed that this is the result of a fuel system leak so the test fails and an error code is stored. If desired, a malfunction light can be illuminated for the driver to see. If the target vacuum is reached, valve 26 is closed and phase 3 is entered.
Phase three is the vacuum hold phase. This phase tests the capability of the fuel and evaporative purge system to hold a vacuum. Both vapor management valve 26 and canister vent valve 27 are held closed in order to hold the vacuum for a calibrated period of time. At the end of the time period, the change in fuel tank pressure is calculated and this value is compared to a calculated maximum acceptable pressure change. This maximum acceptable pressure change is calculated as a calibrated base value, mathematically modified to compensate for the pressure rise seen during Phase 1. The test passes if the pressure change is below the maximum allowable value and fails if it is above the maximum.
Thus, fuel system vacuum retention capability is checked. Fuel tank 21 vacuum can be monitored by fuel tank pressure transducer 29 to track any reduction or "bleed up" of vacuum. If, after a predetermined time period, the vacuum in fuel tank 21 is held to a acceptable predetermined amount, the test is considered to have been passed. On the other hand, if fuel tank 21 is unable to retain a vacuum, a fault is recorded in an electronic engine control memory and, if desired, a malfunction light can be illuminated.
Phase four is the end of test. This final phase of the test returns the purge system to normal engine purge. The canister vent solenoid opens valve 27 at a calibrated ramp rate to the full open position. The engine control system is allowed to return to either purge or adaptive fuel learning, whichever the engine strategy is requesting at the present time.
The test includes early exit conditions when no error code is stored. Over the duration of the test, several occurrences are possible that may require the early termination of the test. These occurrences are those that would, in high probability, result in a false error code, such as, operation out of a load window or vehicle speed window. The test will be aborted if the vehicle is taken out of the calibrated load window after the test is begun.
Referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C, an evaporative purge monitor strategy flow chart begins at an enter block 400. Logic flow then goes to a decision block 401 where it is questioned if the system is in the pressure build phase. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a decision block 402 wherein it is asked if this is the first time through. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 403 wherein a timer is initialized, the beginning pressure is reported, and the canister vent solenoid and canister vent valve are closed. If the answer in decision block 402 is no, logic flow goes to a decision block 404 wherein it is asked if the pressure build time has elapsed. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to an exit. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 405 wherein the pressure build is calculated. Logic flow then goes to a decision block 406 wherein it is asked if the pressure build is small enough to continue the test. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to a block 407 wherein there is recorded a code indicating a test cannot be run due to excessive pressure build. Logic flow from block 407 goes to an end of test. If the answer at decision block 406 is yes, logic flow goes to a block 408 wherein logic proceeds to a vacuum application phase of the test. Logic flow from block 408 goes to an exit.
If the answer at decision block 401 is no indicating that the system is not in a pressure build phase, logic flow goes to a decision block 409 wherein it is asked if the system is in a vacuum application phase. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 410 where it is asked if it is the first time through. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 411 wherein the time is initialized and the vapor management valve ramping is enabled. Logic flow then goes to an exit. If the answer at decision block 410 is no indicating that this is not the first time through, logic flow goes to a decision block 412 where it is asked has the vacuum application time elapsed. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 413 wherein the error indicating vacuum cannot be applied to the evaporative system in the allotted time is recorded and normal purge is enabled. Logic flow then goes to an end of test. If at decision block 412 the answer is no indicating that vacuum application time has not elapsed, logic flow goes to a decision block 414 wherein it is asked if the target vacuum has been reached. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to an exit. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to block 415 wherein the actual vacuum for beginning of the bleed up phase is recorded, the vapor management valve is closed, disabling purge for the remainder of the test, and the vacuum bleed up phase of the test is begun. Logic flow then exists.
If at decision block 409 the answer is no indicating that the system is not in the vacuum application phase, logic flow goes to a block 416 where it is asked if the system is in the pressure bleed up phase. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a decision block 417 where it is asked if this is the first time through. If the answer is yes, logic flow goes to a block 418 wherein the timer is initialized, fuel tank pressure is recorded, and then to an exit. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to a decision 419 where it is asked if the time has timed out. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to an exit. If the answer is yes at block 419, logic flow goes to a block 420 wherein the tank pressure change is calculated, the compensation for vapor generation measured in pressure build up phase is subtracted. Logic flow then goes to a decision block 421 where it is asked, is the compensated delta pressure less than the maximum acceptable bleed. If the answer is no, logic flow goes to a block 422 wherein there is recorded the code indicating a test failed during the bleed up phase, and logic proceeds to a test ending phase. If the answer at decision block 421 is yes indicating that the compensated delta pressure is less than the maximum acceptable bleed, logic flow goes to a block 423 wherein a code indicating system as ok is recorded and logic proceeds to a test ending phase. Logic flow goes to an exit from block 423 and similarly, from block 422.
If at decision block 416 the answer is no indicating that the system was not in the pressure bleed up phase, logic flow goes to a block 424 which opens the canister vent valve and then subsequently logic flow goes to an end of test.
Logic flow into enter block 400 is done approximately at 40 millisecond intervals until the entire purge monitor test is complete. When the purge monitor test routine reaches an exit point, the test is in progress and will reenter after approximately 40 milliseconds at block 400. When the evaporative purge monitor routine reaches an end of test point, the test is complete and the routine will not be executed again during the current vehicle trip.
If desired, there can be a tank pressure (TPR) sensor input and self test. This module reads and converts the tank pressure sensor input. The A/D is read and the raw counts (TPR -- CNTS) are converted into engineering units (TPR -- ENG). TPR -- ENG is the value used when performing any input testing. And, it is this value that will be later used for service diagnostics. Next, the TPR -- ENG value is tested for "out of range" or other failure conditions. If a failure is present for a sufficient amount of time, the appropriate malfunction flag (PxxxMALF) is set. Finally, a timer is checked to see if the component has been sufficiently monitored for this trip.
Various modifications and variations will no doubt occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. For example, the means for applying the vacuum may be varied from that disclosed herein. This and all other variations which basically rely on the teachings through which this disclosure has advanced the art are properly considered within the scope of this invention. | This invention tests the mechanical integrity of an evaporative purge system and fuel system by applying a vacuum to a fuel tank and measuring the extent to which this vacuum bleeds down over a time period. Included in the test method are the steps of closing the vapor management valve positioned between the engine manifold and the evaporative purge flow path of the fuel tank; waiting a predetermined period of time; and obtaining an indication of the extent to which pressure is increasing in the fuel tank due to vapor generation. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/410,897, filed Sep. 13, 2002, which is expressly incorporated fully herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to processes for the synthesis of chiral cyclic β-aminoesters, such compounds being useful as intermediates for matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE) inhibitors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to processes for the preparation of chiral cyclic β-aminoesters, which are useful as intermediates in the preparation of MMP and TACE inhibitors. In particular, the present invention provides a process for the preparation of 4-amino-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate. The general processes disclosed in the art (e.g., C. Cimarelli et al. Tetrahedron - Asymmetry 1994, 5, 1455) provide 4-amino-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate in low and inconsistent yields of the desired stereoisomer. In contrast to the previously known processes, the present invention provides more practical and economical methodology for the preparation of (3R,4R)-4-aminotetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate in relatively high yield and isomeric purity.
The present invention provides access to such β-aminoesters with increased selectivity in the reduction step, resulting in higher yields and isomeric purity of products. In contrast to protocols known in the art using borohydrides as reducing agents (D. Xu et al. Tetrahedron - Asymmetry 1997, 8, 1445), throughput has been increased significantly due to low process volumes. Chiral cyclic β-aminoester products can now be isolated by salt formation directly from the filtered reaction mass, thereby obviating the need for aqueous work-up procedures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides novel processes for making chiral cyclic β-aminoesters.
The present invention provides novel hydrobromide salts of the chiral cyclic β-aminoesters.
These and other objects, which will become apparent during the following detailed description, have been achieved by the inventors' discovery that compounds of formula II can be formed from compounds of formula I (* denotes a chiral center).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In an embodiment, the present invention provides, inter alia, a novel process of forming a compound of formula II, comprising:
(a) contacting a compound of formula I with sub-stoichiometric amounts of a platinum catalyst in the presence of a solvent under hydrogen pressure and super-stoichiometric amounts of an acid; wherein:
the platinum catalyst is platinum on charcoal (Pt/C) or Adam's catalyst (platinum(IV)-dioxide, PtO 2 );
the solvent is a protic solvent or a mixture of protic and aprotic solvents;
ring B is a 4-7 membered non-aromatic carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring consisting of: carbon atoms, 0-3 carbonyl groups, 0-3 double bonds, and 0-2 ring heteroatoms selected from O, N, NR 6 , and S(O) p , provided that ring B contains other than a S—S, O—O, or S—O bond;
R 1 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, or —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q;
R 2 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a R a1 , —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —(CR a R a1 ) r SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
Q is, independently at each occurrence, H, a C 3-6 carbocycle substituted with 0-3 R d , or a 5-10 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and substituted with 0-3 R d ;
R 3 is H, Cl, F, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, —(CH) r -phenyl substituted with 0-3 R d , or —(CH) r -5-6 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and substituted with 0-3 R d ;
alternatively, when R 2 and R 3 are attached to the same carbon atom, they form a 3-8 membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic spiro ring C substituted with 0-2 R c and consisting of carbon atoms, 0-4 heteroatoms selected from O, N, and S(O) p , and 0-2 double bonds, provided that ring C contains other than a S—S, O—O, or S—O bond;
alternatively, when R 2 and R 3 are attached to adjacent carbon atoms, together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached they form a 5-7 membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring D substituted with 0-2 R c and consisting of carbon atoms, 0-2 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and 0-3 double bonds;
R 4 is H, C 1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-1 R b , C 2-6 alkenyl substituted with 0-1 R b , or C 2-6 alkynyl substituted with 0-1 R b ;
R 5 is —CH 2 OR a or —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)—C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a R a1 , —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —(CR a R a1 ) r SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
R a is, independently at each occurrence, H, C 1-6 alkyl, phenyl, or benzyl;
R a1 is, independently at each occurrence, H or C 1-6 alkyl;
R a2 is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, phenyl, or benzyl;
R b is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-1 R c , —OR a , —SR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CN, NO 2 , —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(S)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)NR a R a1 , —OC(O)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)OR a , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —NR a S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —OS(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 , —CF 2 CF 3 , —CHF 2 , —CH 2 F, or phenyl;
R c is, independently at each occurrence, H, C 1-4 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CF 3 , CN, NO 2 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a , or —S(O) p R a ;
R d is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CN, NO 2 , —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(S)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)NR a R a1 , —OC(O)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)OR a , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —NR a S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —OS(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 , —CF 2 CF 3 , C 3-10 carbocycle, or a 5-6 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p ;
p, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, and 2;
r, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4; and
s, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process of forming a compound of formula II, wherein:
ring B is:
R 1 is phenyl substituted with 0-3 R d ;
R 2 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkynylene-Q, —C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
Q is, independently at each occurrence, H, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl, or phenyl substituted with 0-2 R d ;
R 4 is C 1-4 alkyl;
R 5 is —CH 2 OR a or —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkynylene-Q, —C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q; and
R d is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, ═O, —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 or phenyl.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process of forming a compound of formula II, wherein:
ring B is:
R 1 is phenyl;
R 4 is C 1-4 alkyl;
R 5 is —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is H, methyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, neopentyl, allyl, 3-butenyl, 2-propynyl, 2-butynyl, 3-butynyl, acetyl, t-butylcarbonyl, 4-pentenoyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, methoxycarbonyl, methylsulfonyl, propylsulfonyl, isopropylsulfonyl, butylsulfonyl, phenyl, 4-F-phenyl, 4-methoxy-phenyl, cyclopropylmethyl, cyclopentyl, or tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl; and
R a is C 1-4 alkyl.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process further comprising:
(b) contacting the product from (a) with a hydrogen bromide solution in an acid to yield compound III;
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process further comprising:
(c) contacting the product from (b) with palladium on charcoal catalyst (Pd/C) in the presence of a solvent under hydrogen pressure to yield compound IV; wherein the solvent is a protic solvent or a mixture of protic and aprotic solvents;
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the protic solvent is methanol, ethanol, propanol, 2-butanol, water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, or butylene glycol; and
the aprotic solvent is tetrahydrofuran, dibutyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, dimethoxymethane, or diethoxymethane.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the protic solvent is selected from: methanol, ethanol, propanol, and 2-butanol; and
the aprotic solvent is selected from: tetrahydrofuran and dimethoxymethane.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the protic solvent is methanol; and
the aprotic solvent is tetrahydrofuran.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the hydrogen pressure is 10 to 400 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the hydrogen pressure is 100 to 300 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the hydrogen pressure is 250 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the acid is selected from: formic acid, acetic acid, chloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, hydrochloric acid, and sulfuric acid.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (a):
the acid is acetic acid.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (b):
the acid is acetic acid or formic acid.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (b):
the acid is acetic acid.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the protic solvent is selected from: methanol, ethanol, propanol, 2-butanol, water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and butylene glycol; and
the aprotic solvent is selected from: tetrahydrofuran, dibutyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, dimethoxymethane, and diethoxymethane.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the protic solvent is selected from: methanol, ethanol, propanol, and 2-butanol; and
the aprotic solvent is selected from: tetrahydrofuran and dimethoxymethane.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the protic solvent is methanol; and
the aprotic solvent is tetrahydrofuran.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the hydrogen pressure is 20 to 300 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the hydrogen pressure is 50 to 150 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel process, wherein in (c):
the hydrogen pressure is 100 psig.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides the diastereomeric ratio of the product of (a), Compound of formula II, at least 60%.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides the diastereomeric ratio of the product of (a), Compound of formula II, at least 80%.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides the diastereomeric ratio of the product of (c), Compound of formula IV, at least 60%; and, the enantiomeric ratio of the product of (c), Compound of formula IV, at least 60%.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides the diastereomeric ratio of the product of (c), Compound of formula IV, at least 80%; and, the enantiomeric ratio of the product of (c), Compound of formula IV, at least 80%.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel compound of formula III or IV:
wherein:
ring B is a 4-7 membered non-aromatic carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring consisting of: carbon atoms, 0-3 carbonyl groups, 0-3 double bonds, and 0-2 ring heteroatoms selected from O, N, NR 6 , and S(O) p , provided that ring B contains other than a S—S, O—O, or S—O bond;
R 1 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, or —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q;
R 2 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a R a1 , —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —(CR a R a1 ) r SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
Q is, independently at each occurrence, H, a C 3-6 carbocycle substituted with 0-3 R d , or a 5-10 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and substituted with 0-3 R d ;
R 3 is H, Cl, F, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, —(CH) r -phenyl substituted with 0-3 R d , or —(CH) r -5-6 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and substituted with 0-3 R d ;
alternatively, when R 2 and R 3 are attached to the same carbon atom, they form a 3-8 membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic spiro ring C substituted with 0-2 R c and consisting of carbon atoms, 0-4 heteroatoms selected from O, N, and S(O) p , and 0-2 double bonds, provided that ring C contains other than a S—S, O—O, or S—O bond;
alternatively, when R 2 and R 3 are attached to adjacent carbon atoms, together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached they form a 5-7 membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring D substituted with 0-2 R c and consisting of carbon atoms, 0-2 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p , and 0-3 double bonds;
R 4 is H, C 1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-1 R b , C 2-6 alkenyl substituted with 0-1 R b , or C 2-6 alkynyl substituted with 0-1 R b ;
R 5 is —CH 2 OR a or —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-6 alkynylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)—C 2-6 alkenylene-Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a R a1 , —(CR a R a1 ) r C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —(CR a R a1 ) r S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —(CR a R a1 ) r SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
R a is, independently at each occurrence, H, C 1-6 alkyl, phenyl, or benzyl;
R a1 is, independently at each occurrence, H or C 1-6 alkyl;
R a2 is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, phenyl, or benzyl;
R b is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-1 R c , —OR a , —SR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CN, NO 2 , —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(S)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)NR a R a1 , —OC(O)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)OR a , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —NR a S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —OS(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 , —CF 2 CF 3 , —CHF 2 , —CH 2 F, or phenyl;
R c is, independently at each occurrence, H, C 1-4 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CF 3 , CN, NO 2 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a , or —S(O) p R a ;
R d is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, I, ═O, CN, NO 2 , —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(S)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)NR a R a1 , —OC(O)NR a R a1 , —NR a C(O)OR a , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —NR a S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —OS(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 , —CF 2 CF 3 , C 3-10 carbocycle, or a 5-6 membered heterocycle consisting of: carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S(O) p ;
p, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, and 2;
r, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4; and
s, at each occurrence, is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4;
provided that ring B is other than cyclohexane.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a compound of formula III or IV, wherein:
ring B is selected from:
R 1 is phenyl substituted with 0-3 R d ;
R 2 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkynylene-Q, —C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q;
Q is, independently at each occurrence, H, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl, or phenyl substituted with 0-2 R d ;
R 4 is C 1-4 alkyl;
R 5 is —CH 2 OR a or —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is Q, —C 1-6 alkylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkenylene-Q, —C 2-4 alkynylene-Q, —C(O)(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)O(CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —C(O)NR a R a1 , —C(O)NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, —S(O) p (CR a R a1 ) s -Q, or —SO 2 NR a (CR a R a1 ) s -Q; and
R d is, independently at each occurrence, C 1-6 alkyl, —OR a , Cl, F, Br, ═O, —NR a R a1 , —C(O)R a , —C(O)OR a , —C(O)NR a R a1 , —S(O) 2 NR a R a1 , —NR a S(O) 2 R a2 , —S(O) p R a2 , CF 3 or phenyl.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a novel compound of formula II or IV; wherein:
ring B is:
R 1 is phenyl;
R 4 is C 1-4 alkyl;
R 5 is —C(O)OR a ;
R 6 is H, methyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, neopentyl, allyl, 3-butenyl, 2-propynyl, 2-butynyl, 3-butynyl, acetyl, t-butylcarbonyl, 4-pentenoyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, methoxycarbonyl, methylsulfonyl, propylsulfonyl, isopropylsulfonyl, butylsulfonyl, phenyl, 4-F-phenyl, 4-methoxy-phenyl, cyclopropylmethyl, cyclopentyl, or tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl; and
R a is C 1-4 alkyl.
Definitions
The present invention can be practiced on multigram scale, kilogram scale, multikilogram scale, or industrial scale. Multigram scale, as used herein, is preferable in the scale wherein at least one starting material is present in 10 grams or more, more preferable at least 50 grams or more, even more preferably at least 100 grams or more. Multikilogram scale, as used herein, is intended to mean the scale wherein more than one kilo of at least one starting material is used. Industrial scale as used herein is intended to mean a scale which is other than a laboratory sale and which is sufficient to supply product sufficient for either clinical tests or distribution to consumers.
As used herein, the following terms and expressions have the indicated meanings. It will be appreciated that the compounds of the present invention may contain an asymmetrically substituted carbon atom, and may be isolated in optically active or racemic forms. It is well known in the art how to prepare optically active forms, such as by resolution of racemic forms or by synthesis from optically active starting materials. All chiral, diastereomeric, and racemic forms and all geometric isomeric forms of a structure are intended, unless the specific stereochemistry or isomer form is specifically indicated.
As used herein, equivalents are intended to mean molar equivalents unless otherwise specified.
As used herein, psig (pounds per square inch, gauge) is intended to mean pounds per square inch above ambient atmospheric pressure. Therein, one pound per square inch equals 0.070 kilograms per square centimeters of pressure.
The reactions of the synthetic methods claimed herein are carried out in suitable solvents which may be readily selected by one of skill in the art of organic synthesis, the suitable solvents generally being any solvent which is substantially non-reactive with the starting materials (reactants), the intermediates, or products at the temperatures at which the reactions are carried out, i.e., temperatures which may range from the solvent's freezing temperature to the solvent's boiling temperature. A given reaction may be carried out in one solvent or a mixture of more than one solvent. Depending on the particular reaction step, suitable solvents for a particular reaction step may be selected.
Suitable protic solvents may include, by way of example and without limitation, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, butanol, particularly 2-butanol, water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol and a mixture thereof.
Suitable aprotic solvents may include, by way of example and without limitation, aliphatic hydrocarbons, ether solvents, tetrahydrofuran (THF), dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 1,2-dimethoxyethane, diethoxymethane, dimethoxymethane, dimethylacetamide (DMAC), benzene, toluene, 1,3-dimethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2(1H)-pyrimidinone (DMPU), 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI), N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP), formamide, N-methylacetamide, N-methylformamide, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, propionitrile, ethyl formate, methyl acetate, hexachloroacetone, acetone, ethyl methyl ketone, ethyl acetate, sulfolane, N,N-dimethylpropionamide, tetramethylurea, hexamethylphosphortriamide, or a mixture thereof.
As used herein, an alcohol solvent is a hydroxy-substituted compound that is liquid at the desired temperature (e.g., room temperature). Examples of alcohols include, but are not limited to, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-propanol, and i-propanol.
Suitable esters may include, by way of example and without limitation, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, amyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, benzyl acetate, phenyl acetate, methyl propionate, ethyl propionate, propyl propionate, isopropyl propionate, butyl propionate, isobutyl propionate, amyl propionate, isoamyl propionate, benzyl propionate, phenyl propionate, methyl butyrate, ethyl butyrate, propyl butyrate, isopropyl butyrate, butyl butyrate, isobutyl butyrate, amyl butyrate, isoamyl butyrate, benzyl butyrate, and phenyl butyrate.
As used herein, the term “amino protecting group” (or “N-protected”) refers to any group known in the art of organic synthesis for the protection of amine groups. As used herein, the term “amino protecting group reagent” refers to any reagent known in the art of organic synthesis for the protection of amine groups that may be reacted with an amine to provide an amine protected with an amine-protecting group. Such amine protecting groups include those listed in Greene and Wuts, “ Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis ” John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1991 and “ The Peptides: Analysis, Synthesis, Biology”, 1981, Vol. 3, Academic Press, New York, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Examples of amine protecting groups include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) acyl types such as formyl, trifluoroacetyl (TFA), phthalyl, and p-toluenesulfonyl; 2) aromatic carbamate types such as benzyloxycarbonyl (cbz) and substituted benzyloxycarbonyls, 2-(p-biphenyl)-1-methylethoxycarbonyl, and 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc); 3) aliphatic carbamate types such as tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc), ethoxycarbonyl, diisopropylmethoxycarbonyl, and allyloxycarbonyl; 4) cyclic alkyl carbamate types such as cyclopentyloxycarbonyl and adamantyloxycarbonyl; 5) alkyl types such as triphenylmethyl and benzyl; 6) trialkylsilane such as trimethylsilane; and 7) thiol containing types such as phenylthiocarbonyl and dithiasuccinoyl.
Amine protecting groups may include, but are not limited to the following: 2,7-di-t-butyl-[9-(10,10-dioxo-10,10,10,10-tetrahydrothioxanthyl)]methyloxycarbonyl; 2-trimethylsilylethyloxycarbonyl; 2-phenylethyloxycarbonyl; 1,1-dimethyl-2,2-dibromoethyloxycarbonyl; 1-methyl-1-(4-biphenylyl)ethyloxycarbonyl; benzyloxycarbonyl; p-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl; 2-(p-toluenesulfonyl) ethyloxycarbonyl; m-chloro-p-acyloxybenzyloxycarbonyl; 5-benzyisoxazolylmethyloxycrbonyl; p-(dihydroxyboryl)benzyloxycarbonyl; m-nitrophenyloxycarbonyl; o-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl; 3,5-dimethoxybenzyloxycarbonyl; 3,4-dimethoxy-6-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl; N′-p-toluenesulfonylaminocarbonyl; t-amyloxycarbonyl; p-decyloxybenzyloxycarbonyl; diisopropylmethyloxycarbonyl; 2,2-dimethoxycarbonylvinyloxycarbonyl; di(2-pyridyl)methyloxycarbonyl; 2-furanylmethyloxycarbonyl; phthalimide; dithiasuccinimide; 2,5-dimethylpyrrole; benzyl; 5-dibenzylsuberyl; triphenylmethyl; benzylidene; diphenylmethylene; and methanesulfonamide.
Preferably, the molecular weight of compounds of the present invention is less than about 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750, 800, 850, 900, 950, or 1000 grams per mole. More preferably, the molecular weight is less than about 950 grams per mole. Even more preferably, the molecular weight is less than about 850 grams per mole. Still more preferably, the molecular weight is less than about 750 grams per mole.
The term “substituted,” as used herein, means that any one or more hydrogens on the designated atom is replaced with a selection from the indicated group, provided that the designated atom's normal valency is not exceeded, and that the substitution results in a stable compound. When a substituent is keto (i.e., ═O), then 2 hydrogens on the atom are replaced. Keto substituents are not present on aromatic moieties.
The present invention is intended to include all isotopes of atoms occurring in the present compounds. Isotopes include those atoms having the same atomic number but different mass numbers. By way of general example and without limitation, isotopes of hydrogen include tritium and deuterium. Isotopes of carbon include C-13 and C-14.
When any variable (e.g., R 6 ) occurs more than one time in any constituent or formula for a compound, its definition at each occurrence is independent of its definition at every other occurrence. Thus, for example, if a group is shown to be substituted with 0-2 R 6 , then said group may optionally be substituted with up to two R 6 groups and R 6 at each occurrence is selected independently from the definition of R 6 . Also, combinations of substituents and/or variables are permissible only if such combinations result in stable compounds.
When a bond to a substituent is shown to cross a bond connecting two atoms in a ring, then such substituent may be bonded to any atom on the ring. When a substituent is listed without indicating the atom via which such substituent is bonded to the rest of the compound of a given formula, then such substituent may be bonded via any atom in such substituent. Combinations of substituents and/or variables are permissible only if such combinations result in stable compounds.
As used herein, “alkyl” is intended to include both branched and straight-chain saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon groups having the specified number of carbon atoms. C 1-6 alkyl, is intended to include C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , C 5 , and C 6 alkyl groups. Examples of alkyl include, but are not limited to, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, s-butyl, t-butyl, n-pentyl, and s-pentyl. “Cycloalkyl” is intended to include saturated ring groups, such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, or cyclopentyl. C 3-7 cycloalkyl is intended to include C 3 , C 4 , C 5 , C 6 , and C 7 cycloalkyl groups. Alkenyl” is intended to include hydrocarbon chains of either straight or branched configuration and one or more unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds that may occur in any stable point along the chain, such as ethenyl and propenyl. C 2-6 alkenyl is intended to include C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , C 5 , and C 6 alkenyl groups. “Alkynyl” is intended to include hydrocarbon chains of either straight or branched configuration and one or more triple carbon-carbon bonds that may occur in any stable point along the chain, such as ethynyl and propynyl. C 2-6 Alkynyl is intended to include C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , C 5 , and C 6 alkynyl groups.
“Halo” or “halogen” as used herein refers to fluoro, chloro, bromo, and iodo; and “counterion” is used to represent a small, negatively charged species such as chloride, bromide, hydroxide, acetate, and sulfate.
As used herein, “carbocycle” or “carbocyclic residue” is intended to mean any stable 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7-membered monocyclic or bicyclic or 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13-membered bicyclic or tricyclic, any of which may be saturated, partially unsaturated, or aromatic. Examples of such carbocycles include, but are not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, adamantyl, cyclooctyl, [3.3.0]bicyclooctane, [4.3.0]bicyclononane, [4.4.0]bicyclodecane, [2.2.2]bicyclooctane, fluorenyl, phenyl, naphthyl, indanyl, adamantyl, and tetrahydronaphthyl.
As used herein, the term “heterocycle” or “heterocyclic system” is intended to mean a stable 5, 6, or 7-membered monocyclic or bicyclic or 7, 8, 9, or 10-membered bicyclic heterocyclic ring which is saturated, partially unsaturated or unsaturated (aromatic), and which consists of carbon atoms and 1, 2, 3, or 4 heteroatoms independently selected from the group consisting of N, NH, O and S and including any bicyclic group in which any of the above-defined heterocyclic rings is fused to a benzene ring. The nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms may optionally be oxidized. The heterocyclic ring may be attached to its pendant group at any heteroatom or carbon atom that results in a stable structure. The heterocyclic rings described herein may be substituted on carbon or on a nitrogen atom if the resulting compound is stable. A nitrogen in the heterocycle may optionally be quaternized. It is preferred that when the total number of S and O atoms in the heterocycle exceeds 1, then these heteroatoms are not adjacent to one another. It is preferred that the total number of S and O atoms in the heterocycle is not more than 1. As used herein, the term “aromatic heterocyclic system” or “heteroaryl” is intended to mean a stable 5, 6, or 7-membered monocyclic or bicyclic or 7, 8, 9, or 10-membered bicyclic heterocyclic aromatic ring which consists of carbon atoms and 1, 2, 3, or 4 heteroatoms independently selected from the group consisting of N, NH, O and S. It is to be noted that total number of S and O atoms in the aromatic heterocycle is not more than 1.
Examples of heterocycles include, but are not limited to, acridinyl, azocinyl, benzimidazolyl, benzofuranyl, benzothiophenyl, benzoxazolyl, benzthiazolyl, benztriazolyl, benzisoxazolyl, benzisothiazolyl, benzimidazolinyl, carbazolyl, 4H-carbazolyl, carbolinyl, chromanyl, chromenyl, cinnolinyl, decahydroquinolinyl, 2H,6H-1,5,2-dithiazinyl, dihydrofuro[2,3-b]tetrahydrofuran, furanyl, furazanyl, imidazolidinyl, imidazolinyl, imidazolyl, 1H-indazolyl, indolenyl, indolinyl, indolizinyl, indolyl, 3H-indolyl, isobenzofuranyl, isochromanyl, isoindazolyl, isoindolinyl, isoindolyl, isoquinolinyl, isothiazolyl, isoxazolyl, methylenedioxyphenyl, morpholinyl, naphthyridinyl, octahydroisoquinolinyl, oxadiazolyl, 1,2,3-oxadiazolyl, 1,2,4-oxadiazolyl, 1,2,5-oxadiazolyl, 1,3,4-oxadiazolyl, oxazolidinyl, oxazolyl, oxazolidinyl, pyrimidinyl, phenanthridinyl, phenanthrolinyl, phenazinyl, phenothiazinyl, phenoxathiinyl, phenoxazinyl, phthalazinyl, piperazinyl, piperidinyl, piperidonyl, 4-piperidonyl, piperonyl, pteridinyl, purinyl, pyranyl, pyrazinyl, pyrazolidinyl, pyrazolinyl, pyrazolyl, pyridazinyl, pyridooxazole, pyridoimidazole, pyridothiazole, pyridinyl, pyridyl, pyrrolidinyl, pyrrolinyl, 2H-pyrrolyl, pyrrolyl, quinazolinyl, quinolinyl, 4H-quinolizinyl, quinoxalinyl, quinuclidinyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, tetrahydroisoquinolinyl, tetrahydroquinolinyl, tetrazolyl, 6H-1,2,5-thiadiazinyl, 1,2,3-thiadiazolyl, 1,2,4-thiadiazolyl, 1,2,5-thiadiazolyl, 1,3,4-thiadiazolyl, thianthrenyl, thiazolyl, thienyl, thienothiazolyl, thienooxazolyl, thienoimidazolyl, thienyl, triazinyl, 1,2,3-triazolyl, 1,2,4-triazolyl, 1,2,5-triazolyl, 1,3,4-triazolyl, xanthenyl, 1,1-dioxido-2,3-dihydro-4H-1,4-benzothiazin-4-yl, 1,1-dioxido-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzothiopyran-4-yl, 3,4-dihydro-2H-chromen-4-yl, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridinyl, imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinyl, and pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridinyl. Also included are fused ring and spiro compounds containing, for example, the above heterocycles.
The phrase “pharmaceutically acceptable” is employed herein to refer to those compounds, materials, compositions, and/or dosage forms which are, within the scope of sound medical judgment, suitable for use in contact with the tissues of human beings and animals without excessive toxicity, irritation, allergic response, or other problem or complication, commensurate with a reasonable benefit/risk ratio.
“Stable compound” and “stable structure” are meant to indicate a compound that is sufficiently robust to survive isolation to a useful degree of purity from a reaction mixture, and formulation into an efficacious therapeutic agent.
Synthesis
By way of example and without limitation, the present invention may be further understood by the following schemes and descriptions. Scheme 1 exemplifies how a desired end product can be formed using the presently claimed processes and intermediates.
Starting Material: chiral cyclic β-enaminoesters can be obtained commercially or prepared by methods known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Reaction 1: Reaction 1 generally involves catalytic hydrogenation of chiral cyclic β-enaminoesters by contacting Compound I with sub-stoichiometric amounts of a platinum catalyst in the presence of a solvent under hydrogen pressure and super-stoichiometric amounts of an acid. Preferably, the platinum catalyst is platinum on charcoal (Pt/C) or Adam's catalyst (platinum(IV)-dioxide, PtO 2 ). Preferably, the solvent is a protic solvent or a mixture of protic and aprotic solvents. The catalyst is preferably removed by filtration, rinsing with a protic solvent or a mixture of a protic and aprotic solvent. The filtrate is preferably evaporated to a low volume and co-evaporated with an ester solvent.
Preferably, the protic solvent is methanol, ethanol, propanol, 2-butanol, water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, or a mixture thereof. More preferably, the protic solvent is methanol, ethanol, propanol, or 2-butanol. Even more preferably, the protic solvent is methanol.
Preferably, the aprotic solvent used in the mixture of protic and aprotic solvents is an ether solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), dibutyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), dimethoxymethane or diethoxymethane. More preferably, the aprotic ether solvent is THF or 1,2-dimethoxyethane. Even more preferably, the aprotic ether solvent is THF.
Preferred acids used in conjunction with the platinum catalyst (i.e., Pt/C or PtO 2 ) include, but are not limited to, formic acid, acetic acid, chloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, hydrochloric acid, and sulfuric acid. A more preferred acid is acetic acid.
Preferred esters used in co-evaporation with compound II include, but are not limited to, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, tert-butyl acetate and isobutyl acetate. A preferred ester is isopropyl acetate.
Preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 10 to 400 psig. More preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 100 to 300 psig. Even more preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 250 psig (17.5 bar).
Compound II resulting from Reaction 1 has three stereocenters. Preferably, the diastereoselectivity (i.e., diastereomeric ratio, d.r.) for the newly formed chiral centers with respect to the existing stereocenter is equal to or greater than 60% d.r. More preferably the diastereomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 80% d.r. Even more preferably the diastereomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 85% d.r.
Reaction 2: Optionally, isomeric purity of chiral cyclic β-aminoesters can be further enhanced by crystallization of a suitable salt (compound III) of compound II by methods known to those of skill in the art of organic synthesis. For example, compound II can be treated with a hydrogen bromide solution in an acid to yield compound III.
Preferred solvents used for the hydrogen bromide solution include, but are not limited to, acetic acid and formic acid. A more preferred acid is acetic acid.
Reaction 3: Reaction 3 involves cleavage of the auxiliary by methods known to those of skill in the art of organic synthesis. For example, this can be achieved by contacting Compound III with palladium on charcoal catalyst (Pd/C) in the presence of a solvent under hydrogen pressure. Preferably, the solvent is a protic solvent or a mixture of protic and aprotic solvents. The catalyst is preferably removed by filtration. The filtrate is typically evaporated to a low volume and co-evaporated with an anti-solvent, such as an ester solvent.
Preferably, the protic solvent is methanol, ethanol, propanol, 2-butanol, water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, or a mixture thereof. More preferably, the protic solvent is methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. Even more preferably, the protic solvent is methanol.
Preferably, the aprotic solvent used in the mixture of protic and aprotic solvents is an ether solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), dibutyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), dimethoxymethane or diethoxymethane. More preferably, the aprotic ether solvent is THF or 1,2-dimethoxyethane. Even more preferably, the aprotic ether solvent is THF.
Preferred esters used in co-evaporation with compound II include, but are not limited to, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, tert-butyl acetate and isobutyl acetate. A preferred ester is isopropyl acetate.
Preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 20 to 300 psig. More preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 50 to 150 psig. Even more preferably, the hydrogen pressure is 100 psig.
Compound IV resulting from Reaction 3 has two stereocenters. Preferably, the diastereomeric ratio between the two chiral centers is equal to or greater than 60% d.r. More preferably the diastereomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 80% d.r. Even more preferably the diastereomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 85% d.r.
Preferably, the enantioselectivity (i.e., enantiomeric ratio e.r.) is equal to or greater than 60% e.r. More preferably the enantiomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 80% e.r. Even more preferably the enantiomeric ratio is equal to or greater than 85% e.r.
Preferably, the temperature range for Reactions 1-3 is 5 to 100° C. More preferably the temperature range is 10 to 50° C. Even more preferably the temperature range is 20 to 45° C.
Other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following descriptions of examplary embodiments which are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof.
EXAMPLES
Abbreviations used in the Examples are defined as follows: “1 x” for once, “2 x” for twice, “3 x” for thrice, “° C.” for degrees Celsius, “eq” for equivalent or equivalents, “g” for gram or grams, “mg” for milligram or milligrams, “mL” for milliliter or milliliters, “μL” for microliter or microliters, “ 1 H” for proton, “h” for hour or hours, “M” for molar, “min” for minute or minutes, “MHz” for megahertz, “MS” for mass spectroscopy, “NMR” for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, “rt” for room temperature, “tlc” for thin layer chromatography, “v/v” for volume to volume ratio. “α”, “β”, “R” and “S” are stereochemical designations familiar to those skilled in the art.
Example 1
Compound 3: Methyl (1′S,3S,4S) 4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of methyl (1′S) 4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-3-carboxylate (1) (25 g, 95.7 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (40 mL), methanol (60 mL), and glacial acetic acid (7.5 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of Adam's catalyst (PtO 2 , 325 mg, 1.4 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (100 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to a low volume (approx. 60 mL) and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (2×200 mL). Selectivity (HPLC): 89.2% d.r. Isopropyl acetate (100 mL) was again added, followed by 30% (w/w) hydrogen bromide solution in glacial acetic acid (22.3 g, 82.7 mmol) and n-heptane (80 mL). The crystalline, white solid 3 (22.9 g, 69.4 mmol, 70%) which formed was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. Isomeric purity (HPLC): 98.9% d.r. IR (KBr pellet) 2945, 2860, 2790, 2480, 1750, 1580, 1465, 1235, 1095, 770, 710 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.43 (2H, s, br.), 7.84-7.78 (2H, m), 7.50-7.40 (3H, m), 4.57 (1H, dq, J=6.1, 6.6 Hz), 4.45 (1H, m), 3.99 (1H, dd, J=4.5, 12.1 Hz), 3.88 (3H, s), 3.60 (1H, m), 3.45-3.35 (3H, m), 2.29 (1H, m), 2.12 (1H, dq, J=5.0, 12.6 Hz), 1.98 (3H, d, J=7.0 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 172.6 (s), 135.9 (s), 129.8 (d), 129.7 (d, 2C), 127.9 (d, 2C), 68.0 (t), 66.6 (t), 57.1 (d), 54.1 (d), 53.5 (q), 41.2 (d), 26.7 (t), 20.5 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd. for C 15 H 21 NO 3 (M + ) 263.152, found 263.152.
Compound 4: Methyl (3S,4S) 4-amino-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of methyl (1′S,3S,4S) 4-[1-phenylethyl]amino-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrogen bromide salt (3) (20 g, 58.1 mmol) in methanol (110 mL) was hydrogenated in the presence 10% palladium on charcoal catalyst (50% wet, 3.7 g, 1.7 mmol) under pressure (7 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (100 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to a low volume and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (3×100 mL). The crystalline, white solid 4 (13.3 g, 54.6 mmol, 94%) which formed was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. IR (KBr pellet) 3095, 2975, 2885, 1730, 1715, 1475, 1245, 1095 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 8.17 (3H, s, br.), 4.10 (1H, dd, J=2.8, 12.1 Hz), 3.84 (1H, dt, J=3.5, 11.1 Hz), 3.67 (3H, s), 3.6 (1H, dd, J=3.0, 11.6 Hz), 3.55 (1H, dt, J=4.5, 11.1 Hz), 3.43 (1H, dt, J=2.5, 11.6 Hz), 3.3 (1H, m), 1.94 (1H, ddd, J=5.0, 11.1, 12.6 Hz), 1.75 (1H, dq, J=2.8, 12.6 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 171.4 (s), 67.5 (t), 65.5 (t), 52.4 (q), 47.1 (t), 42.6 (d), 27.5 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd. for C 7 H 13 NO 3 (M + ) 159.090, found 159.090.
Example 2
Compound 7: Methyl (1′R,3R,4R) 4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of methyl (1′R) 4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-3-carboxylate (5) (2.4 kg, 9.18 mol) in tetrahydrofuran (4.8 L), methanol (7.2 L), and glacial acetic acid (0.72 kg) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (31.2 g, 0.14 mol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (2.4 L). The filtrate was evaporated to a low volume (approx. 7.0 L) and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (2×6.0 L). Selectivity (HPLC): 89.8 d.r. Isopropyl acetate (7.2 L) was again added, followed by 33% (w/w) hydrogen bromide solution in glacial acetic acid (2.26 kg, 9.2 mol) and n-heptane (5.8 L). The crystalline, white solid 7 (2.21 kg, 6.31 mol, 69%) which formed was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. Isomeric purity (HPLC): 98.3% d.r. IR (KBr pellet) 2945, 2860, 2970, 2480, 1750, 1580, 1465, 1435, 1225, 1095, 770, 710 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.43 (2H, s, br.), 7.84-7.78 (2H, m), 7.50-7.40 (3H, m), 4.57 (1H, dq, J=6.1, 6.6 Hz), 4.45 (1H, m), 3.99 (1H, dd, J=4.5, 12.1 Hz), 3.88 (3H, s), 3.60 (1H, m), 3.45-3.35 (3H, m), 2.29 (1H, m), 2.12 (1H, dq, J=5.0, 12.6 Hz), 1.98 (3H, d, J=7.0 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 172.6 (s), 135.9 (s), 129.8 (d), 129.7 (d, 2C), 127.9 (d, 2C), 68.0 (t), 66.6 (t), 57.1 (d), 54.1 (d), 53.5 (q), 41.2 (d), 26.7 (t), 20.5 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 15 H 21 NO 3 (M + ) 263.152, found 263.152.
Compound 8: Methyl (3R,4R) 4-amino-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of methyl (1′R,3R,4R) 4-[1-phenylethyl]amino-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-pyran-3-carboxylate hydrogen bromide salt (7) (2.0 kg, 58.1 mol) in methanol (10.6 L) was hydrogenated in the presence 10% palladium on charcoal catalyst (50% wet, 380 g, 0.17 mol) under pressure (7 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (6.6 L). The filtrate was evaporated to a low volume (approx. 10.0 L) and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (2×10.0 L). Isopropyl acetate (6.6 L) was again added and the crystalline, white solid 8 (1.37 kg, 57.1 mol, 98%) was obtained after filtration and dried in vacuo at 50° C. overnight. IR (KBr pellet) 3095, 2975, 2885, 2610, 2050, 1730, 1715, 1590, 1475, 1245, 1095 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 8.17 (3H, s, br.), 4.10 (1H, dd, J=2.8, 12.1 Hz), 3.84 (1H, dt, J=3.5, 11.1 Hz), 3.67 (3H, s), 3.6 (1H, dd, J=3.0, 11.6 Hz), 3.55 (1H, dt, J=4.5, 11.1 Hz), 3.43 (1H, dt, J=2.5, 11.6 Hz), 3.3 (1H, m), 1.94 (1H, ddd, J=5.0, 11.1, 12.6 Hz), 1.75 (1H, dq, J=2.8, 12.6 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 171.4 (s), 67.5 (t), 65.5 (t), 52.4 (q), 47.1 (t), 42.6 (d), 27.5 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 7 H 13 NO 3 (M + ) 159.090, found 159.090.
Example 3
Compound 11: Ethyl (1′R,1S,2R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-cyclohexane-1-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of ethyl (1′R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-1-cyclohexene-1-carboxylate (9) (35 g, 128.0 mmol) in ethanol (105 mL), and glacial acetic acid (10.0 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (130 mg, 0.657 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (80 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to a low volume (approx. 60 mL) and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (2×150 mL). Selectivity (GC): 93.0% d.r. Isopropyl acetate (200 mL) was again added, followed by 30% (w/w) hydrogen bromide solution in glacial acetic acid (31.5 g, 116.8 mmol). The crystalline, white solid 11 (37.6 g, 105.5 mmol, 83%) which formed was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. Isomeric purity (GC): >99% d.r. IR (KBr pellet) 2940, 2795, 2505, 1730, 1580, 1460, 1185, 1030, 765, 705 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.40 (1H, s, br.), 9.07 (1H, s, br.), 7.84-7.79 (2H, m), 7.48-7.37 (3H, m), 4.50 (1H, dq, J=6.1, 6.6 Hz), 4.38-4.21 (2H, m), 3.43 (1H, m), 3.22 (1H, m), 2.42 (1H, m), 2.33 (1H, m), 1.95 (3H, d, J=7.0 Hz), 1.84 (1H, m), 1.68 (1H, dt, J=4.0, 12.6 Hz), 1.59 (1H, m), 1.39-1.10 (4H, m), 1.33 (3H, t, J=7.0 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 174.23 (s), 136.1 (s), 129.4 (d, 2C), 129.3 (d), 127.7 (d, 2C), 61.9 (t), 56.3 (d), 55.9 (d), 39.5 (d), 26.9 (t), 25.6 (t), 23.9 (t), 21.5 (t), 19.8 (q), 13.8 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 17 H 25 NO 2 (M + ) 275.189, found 275.189.
Compound 12: Ethyl (1S,2R) 2-amino-cyclohexane-1-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of ethyl (1′R,1S,2R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-cyclohexane-1-carboxylate hydrogen bromide salt (11) (20 g, 56.1 mmol) in methanol (150 mL) was hydrogenated in the presence 10% palladium on charcoal catalyst (50% wet, 3.7 g, 1.7 mmol) under pressure (7 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with ethanol (80 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to an oil and co-evaporated with isopropyl acetate (3×200 mL). The crystalline, white solid 12 (12.9 g, 51.2 mmol, 91%) which formed was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. IR (KBr pellet) 3815, 3110, 2940, 2875, 2580, 2490, 1715, 1600, 1470, 1230, 1025 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 7.97 (3H, s, br.), 4.18-4.04 (2H, m), 3.38 (1H, dt, J=4.0, 8.6 Hz), 2.94 (1H, dt, J=4.5, 6.1 Hz), 1.96-1.86 (1H, m), 1.83-1.55 (4H, m), 1.45-1.25 (3H, m), 1.19 (3H, t, J=7.0 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, d 6 -DMSO) δ 171.9 (s), 60.5 (t), 48.7 (d), 41.9 (d), 26.9 (t), 25.0 (t), 22.0 (t), 21.6 (t), 13.9 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 9 H 17 NO 2 (M + ) 171.126, found 171.126.
Example 4
Compound 14: Methyl (1′R,1S,2R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-cyclopentane-1-carboxylate
A solution of methyl (1′R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-1-cyclopentene-1-carboxylate (13) (20 g, 81.5 mmol) in methanol (70 mL), and glacial acetic acid (6.4 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (460 mg, 2.0 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (80 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to an oil (22.0 g). Selectivity (HPLC): 84.6% d.r. A sample was converted to free base and analyzed. IR (film) 3345, 3085, 3060, 3025, 2960, 2870, 1730, 1600, 1450, 1195, 1170, 760, 705 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.36-7.28 (5H, m), 7.24 (1H, s, br.), 3.81 (1H, q, J=6.5 Hz), 3.74 (3H, s), 3.10 (1H, m), 2.95 (1H, m), 2.00-1.87 (1H, m), 1.82-1.70 (3H, m), 1.60-1.49 (1H), 1.48-1.35 (1H), 1.27 (3H, d, J=6.6 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 175.6 (s), 145.9 (s), 128.4 (d, 2C), 126.99d), 126.6 (d, 2C), 60.2 (d), 56.6 (d), 51.4 (q), 46.3 (d), 32.4 (t), 27.9 (t), 24.9 (t), 22.0 (q). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 15 H 21 NO 2 (M + ) 247.157, found 247.157.
Example 5
Compound 16: Methyl (1′R,1S,2R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-cycloheptane-1-carboxylate
A solution of methyl (1′R) 2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-1-cycloheptene-1-carboxylate (15) (10.0 g, 36.6 mmol) in methanol (100 mL), and glacial acetic acid (2.9 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (15 mg, 0.50 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 40° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (100 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to an oil (11.9 g). Selectivity (HPLC): 96.0% d.r. A sample was converted to free base and analyzed. IR (film) 3345, 3085, 3060, 3025, 2925, 2860, 1730, 1600, 1450, 1195, 760, 700 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.39-7.20 (5H, m), 3.86 (1H, m), 3.72 (3H, s), 2.98 (1H, m), 2.91 (1H, m), 1.91-1.60 (5H, m), 1.59-1.46 (2H, m), 1.45-1.25 (4H, m), 1.33 (3H, d, J=6.5 Hz). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 175.7 (s), 145.4 (s, br.), 128.5 (d, 2C), 127.0 (d), 126.7 (d, 2C), 56.5 (d), 55.5 (d), 51.5 (q), 47.3 (d, br.), 32.9 (t, br.), 27.9 (t), 26.5 (t), 26.0 (t), 24.6 (t), 23.9 (q, br.). HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 17 H 25 NO 2 (M + ) 275.189, found 275.189.
Example 6
Compound 17: Methyl (1′R) 1,4-Dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-7-ene-8-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-7-carboxylate
To a solution of methyl 8-oxo-1,4-dioxaspiro[4,5]decane-7-carboxylate (500 g, 2.34 mol) and (R)-α-methylbenzylamine (283 g, 2.34 mol) in toluene (4.0 L) was charged ytterbium triflate (7.3 g, 11.7 mmol) at ambient temperature. The solution was heated to 95-100° C. for 3 h and water was azeotropically removed using a Dean-Stark trap. The reaction mixture was cooled to ambient temperature and filtered through a pad of silica gel (1″ thick). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give a yellow oil. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.45 (1H, d, J=4.2 Hz), 7.32 (2H, m), 7.26 (3H, m), 4.63 (1H, m), 3.94 (4H, m), 3.71 (3H, s), 2.57 (3H, m), 2.22 (1H, m), 1.67 (2H, m), 1.50 (3H, d, J=6.9 Hz), 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) 170.8, 158.2, 145.6, 128.9, 127.2, 125.6, 107.6, 87.5, 64.7, 64.6, 52.6, 50.7, 33.9, 30.4, 25.7, 25.6. HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 18 H 23 NO 4 (M + ) 317.163, found 317.163.
Compound 19: Methyl (1′R,7R,8S) 1,4-Dioxaspiro[4.5]decane-8-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-7-carboxylate hydrobromide
A solution of methyl (1′R) 1,4-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-7-ene-8-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-7-carboxylate (17) (550 g, 1.73 mol) in methanol (5.5 L) and glacial acetic acid (208 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (31.4 g, 0.657 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at 20-22° C. for 16 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with methanol (1.0 L). The filtrate was evaporated to a viscous oil. Selectivity ( 1 H NMR): 90% d.r. The oil was taken into isopropyl acetate (500 mL) and was filtered through a pad of silica gel (150 g). To the filtrate was added 30% hydrogen bromide in acetic acid (126 g). Once a solid was observed, n-heptane (2.0 L) was added and the mixture was cooled to 0° C. and stirred for 2 h. The crystalline, white solid 19 (416 g, 1.04 mol, 60%) was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo for 2 h. A second crop was taken by distilling the liquors to one fifth volume adding n-heptane (1.0 L) and stirring over night (90.0 g, 0.225 mol, 13%). Isomeric purity ( 1 H NMR): >95% d.r. (single isomer observed). IR (KBr pellet) 3440, 2950, 2790, 2485, 1740, 1580, 1455, 1170, 1085, 770, 705 cm −1 . 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 9.20 (2H, Br s), 7.83 (2H, d, J=7.1 Hz), 7.47-7.38 (3H, m), 4.54-4.49 (1H, q, J=7.1 Hz) 4.00-3.74 (7H, m), 3.58-3.52 (1H, m), 3.40-3.30 (1H, m), 2.49-2.36 (2H, m), 2.19-2.00 (1H, m), 1.96 (3H, d, J=7.1 Hz), 1.89-1.78 (1H, m), 1.68-1.56 (2H, m). 13 C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 174.4, 136.1, 129.8, 128.1, 106.3, 64.9, 64.3, 57.6, 54.8, 52.7, 38.9, 34.4, 33.2, 23.6, 20.3. HRMS (ESI) calcd for C 18 H 25 NO 4 (M + ) 319.178, found 319.178.
Example 7
Compound 23: Ethyl (1′R,3R,4R) 4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-piperidine-3-carboxylate
A solution of ethyl (1′R) 1-[(1,1-dimethyl)ethyl]-4-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyridinecarboxylate (21) (5.3 g, 914.2 mmol) in ethanol (80 mL) and glacial acetic acid (1.7 g) was hydrogenated in the presence of PtO 2 (80 mg, 0.35 mmol) under pressure (17.5 bar) at rt for 30 h. The catalyst was removed by filtration over Celite®, followed by rinsing with ethanol (100 mL). The filtrate was evaporated to an oil, taken into CH 2 Cl 2 and washed twice with 10% NaOH, dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated to an oil (4.81 g, 12.8 mmol, 90.3%). The crude product was not characterized due to a complex NMR spectrum as a result of the presence of rotamers. The N-Boc protected amino ester (2.03 g, 5.39 mmol) was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (20 mL) and TFA (1 mL) was added. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 16 h. The mixture was extracted with 10% aqueous NaOH solution, dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated to give an oil. Selectivity ( 1 H NMR): 83% d.r. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ 7.37-7.15 (5H, m); 4.18 (1.7H, q, J=7.6 Hz [4.09 (0.3H, q, J=7.1 Hz)]; 3.76 (1H, q, J=6.6 Hz) 3.07-2.98 (1H, m); 2.94 (1H, dd, J=4.0, 12.6); 2.75 (1H, dd, J=4.5, 12.1); 2.61 (1H, dt, J=4.0, 10.6); 2.51 (2H, dt, J=3.1, 12.7); 1.95-1.75 (3H, m); 1.63-1.53 (1H, m); 1.40-1.20 (6H, m).
Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. | A novel process for the asymmetric synthesis of substituted cyclic β-amino-carboxylates of the type shown in the specification from appropriate β-enamino-ester starting materials is described. These compounds are useful as intermediates for MMP and TACE inhibitors. | 2 |
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/307,262 filed Feb. 23, 2010 which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/970,445, filed on Sep. 6, 2007, entitled, “ Morinda Citrifolia Based Formulations for Regulating T Cell Immunomodulation in Neonatal Stock Animals,” is a continuation in part of U.S. patent Ser. No. 11/034,505, filed Jan. 13, 2005, entitled “Profiles of Lipid Proteins and Inhibiting HMG-COA Reductase,” which claims priority to Provisional Application No. 60/536,663, filed Jan. 15, 2004 and claims priority to Provisional Application No. 60/552,144, filed Mar. 10, 2004, is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,089, filed Apr. 17, 2001, entitled “ Morinda Citrifolia (Noni) Enhanced Animal Food Product”, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 7,244,463, filed Oct. 18, 2001, entitled “ Garcinia Mangostana L. Enhanced Animal Food Product” and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/396,868, filed Mar. 25, 2003, entitled “Preventative And Treatment Effects Of Morinda Citrifolia As An Aromatase Inhibitor” and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/458,353, filed Mar. 28, 2003, entitled “The Possible Estrogenic Effects Of Tahitian Noni Puree Juice Concentrate-Dry Form”, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/360,550 filed Feb. 23, 2006, entitled “Preventative and Treatment Effects of Morinda Citrifolia on Osteoarthritis and Its Related Conditions” which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/285,359, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,624, filed Oct. 31, 2002, entitled “Preventative and Treatment Effects of Morinda Citrifolia on Osteoarthritis and Its Related Conditions” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/335,343 filed Nov. 2, 2001, entitled, “Methods for Treating Osteoarthritis” and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/006,014 filed Dec. 4, 2001, entitled “Tahitian Noni Juice On Cox-1 And Cox-2 And Tahitian Noni Juice As A Selective Cox-2 Inhibitor”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/251,416 filed Dec. 5, 2000, entitled “Cox-1 and Cox-2 Inhibition Study on TNJ” and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,323, filed Oct. 26, 2006, entitled “Preventative and Treatment Effects of Morinda Citrifolia on Diabetes and its Related Conditions” which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/993,883, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,186,422 filed Nov. 19, 2004, entitled “Preventative And Treatment Effects Of Morinda Citrifolia On Diabetes And Its Related Conditions” which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/286,167, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,345 filed Nov. 1, 2002, entitled “Preventative And Treatment Effects Of Morinda Citrifolia On Diabetes And Its Related Conditions,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/335,313, filed Nov. 2, 2001, and entitled, “Methods for Treating Conditions Related to Diabetes.”
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] Embodiments of the invention relate to fortified food and dietary supplement products which may be administered to produce desirable physiological improvement. In particular, embodiments of the invention relates to the administration of products enhanced with iridoids.
[0004] 2. Background
[0005] Nutraceuticals may generally be defined as dietary products fortified to provide health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. Nutraceutical products include a wide range of goods including isolated nutrients, dietary supplements, herbal products, processed foods and beverages. With recent breakthroughs in cellular-level nutraceuticals agents, researchers, and medical practitioners are developing therapies complimentary therapies into responsible medical practice and maintenance of good health. Generally, nutraceutical include a product isolated or purified from foods, and are generally sold in forms that demonstrate a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease.
[0006] There are multiple types of products that fall under the category of nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals may be manufactured as dietary supplements, functional foods or medical product. A dietary supplement is a product that contains nutrients derived from food products that are concentrated in liquid, powder or capsule form. A dietary supplement is a product taken by mouth that contains a dietary ingredient intended to supplement the diet. Dietary ingredients in these products may include: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, and substances such as enzymes and metabolites. Dietary supplements can also be extracts or concentrates, and may be found in many forms such as tablets capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids or powders.
[0007] Functional foods include ordinary food that has components or ingredients added to give it a specific medical or physiological benefit, other than a purely nutritional effect. Functional foods may be designed to allow consumers to eat enriched foods close to their natural state, rather than by taking dietary supplements manufactured in liquid or capsule form. Functional foods may be produced in their naturally-occurring form, rather than a capsule, tablet, or powder, can be consumed in the diet as often as daily, and may be used to regulate a biological process in hopes of preventing or controlling disease.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Some embodiments relate to formulations that provide a specific physiological benefit. Some embodiments relate to formulations designed to prevent or control disease. Some embodiments comprise a processed plant products and a source of iridoids and methods for manufacturing the same.
[0009] Some embodiments provide a processed plant product selected from a group consisting of: extract from the leaves of the selected plant, leaf hot water extract, processed leaf ethanol extract, processed leaf steam distillation extract, fruit juice, plant extract, dietary fiber, puree juice, plant puree, fruit juice concentrate, plant puree juice concentrate, freeze concentrated fruit juice, seeds, seed extracts, extracts from defatted seeds and evaporated concentration of fruit juice, in combination with an amount of iridoids sourced from at least one of a variety of plants.
[0010] Preferred embodiments are formulated to provide a physiological benefit. For example some embodiments may selectively inhibit COX-1/COX-2, regulate TNF and Nitric oxide and 5-LOX, increases IFN- secretion, inhibit histamine release, inhibit human neutrophils, regulate elastase enzyme activity, inhibit the complement pathway, inhibits the growth microbials including gram− and gram+ bacteria, inhibit DNA repair systems, inhibit cancer cell growth & cytotoxic to cancer cells, inhibits platelets aggregations, provide DPPH scavenging effects, provide antiviral activity including anti-HSV, anti-RSV, and anti-VSV activity, provide antispasmodic activity, provide wound-healing and neuroprotective activities.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] In order that the matter in which the above-recited and other advantages of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 depicts the structural formula for common iridoids according to some embodiments of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 depicts the structural formula for common iridoids according to some embodiments of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 depicts results from studies demonstrating the DNA protective activity of iridoid containing plant products according to some embodiments of the invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 depicts the chemical structures of deacetylasperulosidic acid and asperulosidic acid;
[0016] FIG. 5 depicts HPLC chromatograms of iridoid analysis in the different parts of noni plant; and
[0017] FIG. 6 depicts a comparison of iridoid contents in the methanolic extracts of noni fruits collected from different tropical areas worldwide.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of embodiments of the compositions and methods of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
[0019] Embodiments of the present invention feature methods and compositions designed to provide a physiological benefit comprising a combination of a processed plant product and a source of iridoids. The physiological benefit arising from the synergistic combination of a component derived from the selected plant and a source of iridoids.
[0020] Embodiments of the present invention comprise plant compositions, each of which include one or more processed plant products. The plant product preferably includes plant fruit juice, which juice is preferably present in an amount capable of maximizing the desired physiological benefit without causing negative side effects when the composition is administered to a mammal. Products from the selected plant may include one more parts of the plant, including but not limited to the: fruit, including the fruit juice and fruit pulp and concentrates thereof, leaves, including leaf extract, seeds, including the seed oil, flowers, roots, bark, and wood.
[0021] Some compositions of the present invention comprise plant extracts present between about 1 and 5 percent of the weight of the total composition. Other such percentage ranges include: about 0.1 and 50 percent; about 85 and 99 percent; about 5 and 10 percent; about 10 and 15 percent; about 15 and 20 percent; about 20 and 50 percent; and about 50 and 100 percent.
[0022] In some plant compositions of the present invention, plant fruit juice evaporative concentrate is present, the evaporative concentrate having a concentration strength (described further herein) between about 8 and 12 percent. Other such percentage ranges include: about 4 and 12 percent; and about 0.5 and 12 percent.
[0023] In some plant compositions of the present invention, fruit juice freeze concentrate is present, the freeze concentrate having a concentration strength (described further herein) between about 4 and 6 percent. Other such percentage ranges include: about 0.5 and 2 percent; and about 0.5 and 6 percent.
[0024] One or more plant extracts can be further combined with other ingredients or carriers (discussed further herein) to produce a pharmaceutical plant product or composition (“pharmaceutical” herein referring to any drug or product designed to improve the health of living organisms such as human beings or mammals, including nutraceutical products) that is also a plant of the present invention. Examples of pharmaceutical plant products may include, but are not limited to, orally administered solutions and intravenous solutions.
[0025] Methods of the present invention also include the obtaining of plant compositions and extracts, including fruit juice and concentrates thereof. It will be noted that some of the embodiments of the present invention contemplate obtaining fruit juice pre-made. Various methods of the present invention shall be described in more detail further herein.
[0026] The following disclosure of the present invention is grouped into subheadings. The utilization of the subheadings is for convenience of the reader only and is not to be construed as limiting in any sense.
Processing the Selected Plant Leaves
[0027] The leaves of the selected plant are one possible component of the plant that may be present in some compositions of the present invention. For example, some compositions comprise leaf extract and/or leaf juice as described further herein. Some compositions comprise a leaf serum that is comprised of both leaf extract and fruit juice obtained from the selected plant. Some compositions of the present invention comprise leaf serum and/or various leaf extracts as incorporated into a nutraceutical product (“nutraceutical” herein referring to any product designed to improve the health of living organisms such as human beings or mammals).
[0028] In some embodiments of the present invention, the leaf extracts are obtained using the following process. First, relatively dry leaves from the selected plant are collected, cut into small pieces, and placed into a crushing device—preferably a hydraulic press—where the leaf pieces are crushed. In some embodiments, the crushed leaf pieces are then percolated with an alcohol such as ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, or other alcohol-based derivatives using methods known in the art. Next, in some embodiments, the alcohol and all alcohol-soluble ingredients are extracted from the crushed leaf pieces, leaving a leaf extract that is then reduced with heat to remove all the liquid therefrom. The resulting dry leaf extract will herein be referred to as the “primary leaf extract.”
[0029] In some embodiments, the primary leaf extract is subsequently pasteurized. The primary leaf extract may be pasteurized preferably at a temperature ranging from 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and for a period of time sufficient to destroy any objectionable organisms without major chemical alteration of the extract. Pasteurization may also be accomplished according to various radiation techniques or methods.
[0030] In some embodiments of the present invention, the pasteurized primary leaf extract is placed into a centrifuge decanter where it is centrifuged to remove or separate any remaining leaf juice therein from other materials, including chlorophyll. Once the centrifuge cycle is completed, the leaf extract is in a relatively purified state. This purified leaf extract is then pasteurized again in a similar manner as discussed above to obtain a purified primary leaf extract.
[0031] Preferably, the primary leaf extract, whether pasteurized and/or purified, is further fractionated into two individual fractions: a dry hexane fraction, and an aqueous methanol fraction. This is accomplished preferably in a gas chromatograph containing silicon dioxide and CH2Cl2-MeOH ingredients using methods well known in the art. In some embodiments of the present invention, the methanol fraction is further fractionated to obtain secondary methanol fractions. In some embodiments, the hexane fraction is further fractionated to obtain secondary hexane fractions.
[0032] One or more of the leaf extracts, including the primary leaf extract, the hexane fraction, methanol fraction, or any of the secondary hexane or methanol fractions may be combined with the fruit juice of the fruit of the selected plant to obtain a leaf serum (the process of obtaining the fruit juice to be described further herein). In some embodiments, the leaf serum is packaged and frozen ready for shipment; in others, it is further incorporated into a nutraceutical product as explained herein.
Processing the Selected Fruit
[0033] Some embodiments of the present invention include a composition comprising fruit juice of the selected plant. In some embodiments the fruit may be processed in order to make it palatable for human consumption and included in the compositions of the present invention. Processed fruit juice can be prepared by separating seeds and peels from the juice and pulp of a ripened fruit; filtering the pulp from the juice; and packaging the juice. Alternatively, rather than packaging the juice, the juice can be immediately included as an ingredient in another product, frozen or pasteurized. In some embodiments of the present invention, the juice and pulp can be pureed into a homogenous blend to be mixed with other ingredients. Other processes include freeze drying the fruit and juice. The fruit and juice can be reconstituted during production of the final juice product. Still other processes may include air drying the fruit and juices prior to being masticated.
[0034] In a currently preferred process of producing fruit juice, the fruit is either hand picked or picked by mechanical equipment. The fruit can be harvested when it is at least one inch (2-3 cm) and up to 12 inches (24-36 cm) in diameter. The fruit preferably has a color ranging from a dark green through a yellow-green up to a white color, and gradations of color in between. The fruit is thoroughly cleaned after harvesting and before any processing occurs.
[0035] The fruit is allowed to ripen or age from 0 to 14 days, but preferably for 2 to 3 days. The fruit is ripened or aged by being placed on equipment so that the fruit does not contact the ground. The fruit is preferably covered with a cloth or netting material during aging, but the fruit can be aged without being covered.
[0036] The ripened and aged fruit is preferably placed in plastic lined containers for further processing and transport. The containers of aged fruit can be held from 0 to 30 days, but preferably the fruit containers are held for 7 to 14 days before processing. The containers can optionally be stored under refrigerated conditions prior to further processing. The fruit is unpacked from the storage containers and is processed through a manual or mechanical separator. The seeds and peel are separated from the juice and pulp.
[0037] The juice and pulp can be packaged into containers for storage and transport. Alternatively, the juice and pulp can be immediately processed into a finished juice product. The containers can be stored in refrigerated, frozen, or room temperature conditions. The juice and pulp are preferably blended in a homogenous blend, after which they may be mixed with other ingredients, such as flavorings, sweeteners, nutritional ingredients, botanicals, and colorings. The finished juice product is preferably heated and pasteurized at a minimum temperature of 181° F. (83° C.) or higher up to 212° F. (100° C.). Another product manufactured is fruit puree and puree juice, in either concentrate or diluted form. Puree is essentially the pulp separated from the seeds and is different than the fruit juice product described herein.
[0038] The product is filled and sealed into a final container of plastic, glass, or another suitable material that can withstand the processing temperatures. The containers are maintained at the filling temperature or may be cooled rapidly and then placed in a shipping container. The shipping containers are preferably wrapped with a material and in a manner to maintain or control the temperature of the product in the final containers.
[0039] The juice and pulp may be further processed by separating the pulp from the juice through filtering equipment. The filtering equipment preferably consists of, but is not limited to, a centrifuge decanter, a screen filter with a size from 1 micron up to 2000 microns, more preferably less than 500 microns, a filter press, a reverse osmosis filtration device, and any other standard commercial filtration devices. The operating filter pressure preferably ranges from 0.1 psig up to about 1000 psig. The flow rate preferably ranges from 0.1 g.p.m. up to 1000 g.p.m., and more preferably between 5 and 50 g.p.m. The wet pulp is washed and filtered at least once and up to 10 times to remove any juice from the pulp. The resulting pulp extract typically has a fiber content of 10 to 40 percent by weight. The resulting pulp extract is preferably pasteurized at a temperature of 181° F. (83° C.) minimum and then packed in drums for further processing or made into a high fiber product.
[0040] The filtered juice and the water from washing the wet pulp are preferably mixed together. The filtered juice may be vacuum evaporated to a brix of 40 to 70 and a moisture of 0.1 to 80 percent, more preferably from 25 to 75 percent. The resulting concentrated juice may or may not be pasteurized. For example, the juice would not be pasteurized in circumstances where the sugar content or water activity was sufficiently low enough to prevent microbial growth.
[0000] Processing Seeds from the Selected Plant
[0041] Some compositions of the present invention include seeds from the plant. In some embodiments of the present invention, seeds are processed by pulverizing them into a seed powder in a laboratory mill. In some embodiments, the seed powder is left untreated. In some embodiments, the seed powder is further defatted by soaking and stirring the powder in hexane—preferably for 1 hour at room temperature (Drug:Hexane-Ratio 1:10). The residue, in some embodiments, is then filtered under vacuum, defatted again (preferably for 30 minutes under the same conditions), and filtered under vacuum again. The powder may be kept overnight in a fume hood in order to remove the residual hexane.
[0042] Still further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the defatted and/or untreated powder is extracted, preferably with ethanol 50% (m/m) for 24 hours at room temperature at a drug solvent ratio of 1:2.
[0000] Processing Oil from the Selected Plant
[0043] Some embodiments of the present invention may comprise oil extracted from the plant. The method for extracting and processing the oil is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/384,785, filed on Aug. 27, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,351 on Apr. 10, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein. The oil typically includes a mixture of several different fatty acids as triglycerides, such as palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic fatty acids, and other fatty acids present in lesser quantities. In addition, the oil preferably includes an antioxidant to inhibit spoilage of the oil. Conventional food grade antioxidants are preferably used.
Iridoids
[0044] Embodiments of the present invention comprise plant source and/or a source of iridoids compositions, each of which include one or more processed plant or naturally occurring. Iridoids are a class of secondary metabolites found in a wide variety of plants and in some animals. Iridoids represent a large and still expanding group of cyclopenta[c]pyran monoterpenoids found in a number of folk medicinal plants used as bitter tonics, sedatives, hypotensives, antipyretics, cough medicines, remedies for wounds and skin disorder. Typical structural formulas for common iridoids are depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 . There are at least three different types of Iridoids: Glycosidic iIridoids with a sugar molecule attach to the monoterpene cyclic ring; Non-Glycosidic Iridoids without a sugar molecule attach to the monoterpene cyclic ring; and Secoiridoid iridoids known for its bitterness and function as deterrence for herbivores but it is simply a class of Iridoids derived from deoxyloganic acid via oxidation to carboxyl at C 11 .
[0045] The plant and/or iridoid source may be selected from a variety of plant families and species including (referred to as “List A” below in the formulations section of this application): Scrophylariaceae, Rubiaceae, Gentianaceae, Apocynaceae, Adoxaceae, Lamiaceae, Bignoniaceae, Oleaceae, Verbenaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Orobancaceae, Eucommiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Acanthaceae, Galium verum, Morinda officinalis, Galium melanantherum, Pyrola calliatha, Radix Morindae, Pyrola xinjiangensis, Pyrola elliptica, Coussarea platyphylla, Craibiodendron henryi, Crotalaria emarginella, Cranberry, Saprosma scortechinii, Galium rivale, Arbutus andrachne, G. humifusum, G. paschale, G. minim, G. macedonicum, G. rhodopeum, G. aegeum, Galium aparine, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium bracteatum , Bilberry, Blueberry, Olive, Morinda lucida , Lingonberries, Morinda parvifolia, Saprosma scortechinii, Arbutus andrachne, Cornus Canadensis, Cornus suecica, Galium species, Liquidambar formasans, Arbutus andrachne, Rhododendron luteum, Arbutus unedo , Subfamily Rubioideae, S. sagittatum, S. convolvulifolium, Arctostaphylos uva - ursi, Andromeda polifolia, Tripetaleia paniculata, Asperula adorata, Randia canthioides, Tecomella undulate, Thunbergia alata, Thunbergia fragrans, Mentzelia albescens, Deutzia scabra, Verbascum lychnitis, Mentzelia linleyi, Mentzelia lindleyi, Mentzelia lindbeimerii, Mentzelia involucrate, Randia canthioides, Lamiastrum galeobdolon, Teucrium bircanicum, Teucrium arduini, Betonica officinalis, Barleria prionitis, Harpagophytum procumbens, Ajuga decumbens, Anarrhinum orientale, Linaria clementei, Kickxia spuria, Veronicastrum sibiricum, Physostegia virginiana, Betonica officinalis, Clerodendrum thomsonae, Rebmannia glutinosa, Ajuga reptans, Rebmannia glutinosa, Penstemon nemorosus, Capraria biflora, Rogeria adenophylla, Ajuga spectabilis, Avecennia officinalis, Plantago asiatica, Vitex negundo, Penstemon cardwellii, Tecoma cbrysantha, Odontites verna, Verbascum sinuatum, Verbascum nigrum, Verbascum laxum, Buddleja globosa, Vitex agnuscastus, Penstemon eriantberus, Vitex rotundifolia, Euphrasia rostkoviana, Tecoma beptaphylla, Plantago media, Castilleja wightii, Rebmannia glutinosa, Tecoma beptaphylla, Castilleja rbexifolia, Utricularia australis, Verbascum saccatum, Verbascum sinuatum, Verbascum georgicum, Premna odorata, Premana japonica, Verbascum pulverulentum, Scrophularia scopolii, Scropbularia ningpoensis, Veronica officinalis, Besseya plantaginea, Veronicastrum sibiricum, Catalpa speciosa, Tabebuia rosea, Picrorbiza kurrooa, Veronica bellidioides, Penstemon nemorosus, Globularia alypum, Pinguicula vulgaris, Globularia Arabica, Antirrbinum orontium, Retzia capensis, Pbaulopsis imbricate, Macfadyena cynancboides, Paulownia tomentosa, Asystasia bella, Rebmannia glutinosa, Erantbemum pulcbellum, Hygropbila difformis, Boscbniakia rossica, Linaria cymbalaria, Satureja vulgaris, Lamium amplexicaule, Viburnum betulifolium, Viburnum bupebense, Tecoma stans, Plantago arenaria, Campsidium valdivianum, Campsis chinensis, Tecoma capensis, Penstemon pinifolius, Eupbrasia salisburgensis, Clerodendrum incisum, Clerodendrum incisum, Clerodendrum ugandense, Lamourouxia multifida, Nepeta cataria, Argylia radiate, Linaria cymbalaria, Monocbasma savatieri, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, Avicennia offinalis, Avicennia marina, Gentian, pedicellata, Alangium platanifolium, Lonicera coerulea, Swertica japonica, Melampyrum cristatum, Monochasma savatieri, Vitex negundo, Avicennia marina, Tarenna graveolens, Argylia radiate, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, Castilleja integra, Galium verum, Arbutus unedo, Galium mollugo, Andromeda polifolia, Gelsemium sempervirens, Verbena brasiliensis, Gelsemium sempervirens, Randia dumetorum, Penstemon barbatus, Odontites verna, Gentiana verna, Erytbraea centaurium, Gentiana pyrenaica, Desfontainia spinosa, Lonicera periclymenum, Strycbnos roborans, Pedicularis palustris, Penstemon nitidus, Citbarexylum fruticosum, Fouquieria diguetii, Nyctantbes arbortristis, Mussaenda, Besseya plantaginea, Stacbytarpbeta jamaicensis, Cantbium subcordatum, Barleria lupulina, Barleria prionitis, Plectronia odorata, Salvia digitaloides, Stacbytarpbeta mutabilis, Penstemon strictus, Duranta plumeri, Sesamum angolense, Rebmannia glutinosa, Parentucellia viscose, Melampyrum arvense, Gardenia jasminoides, Randia Formosa, Oldenlandia diffusa, Castilleja integra, Eupbrasia rostkoviana, Fouquieria diguetii, Penstemon nitidus, Feretia apodantbera, Randia cantbioides, Asystasia bella, Viburnum urceolatum, Gentiana depressa, Syringa reticulate, Deutzia scabra, Eccremocarpus scaber, Cistanche salsa, Rebmannia glutinosa, Catalpa ovate, Myoporum deserti, Teucrium marum, Gelsemium sempervirens, Viburnum urceolatum, Argylia radiate, Morinda lucida, Thunbergia gandiflora, Thunbergia alata, Thunbergia laurifolia, Mentzelia cordifolia, Angelonia integerrima, Linaria genstifolia, Caryopteris mongholica, Linaria arcusangeli, Leonurus persicus, Tubebuia impetiginosa, Phyllarthron madagascariense, Phsostegia virginiana, Harpagophytum procumbens, Caryopteris clandonensis, Cymbalaria muralis, Scrophularia buergeriana, Caryopteris mongholica, Caryopteris clandonensis, Verbascum undulatum, Globularia dumulosa, Pedicularis artselaeri, Utricularia vulgaris, Pedicularis chinensis, Verbascum phlomoides, Plantago subulata, Clerodendrum inerme, Scrophularia lepidota, Globularia davisiana, Globularia cordifolia, Holmskioldia sanguine, Gmelina philippensis, Scrophularia nodosa, Picrorhiza kurroa, Gmelina arborea, Penstemon newberryi, Asystasia intrusa, Catalpa fructus, Scrophularia scorodonia, Premna subscandens, Catalpa ovate, Verbascum spinosum, Scrophularia auriculata, Scrophularia lepidota, Veronica hederifolia, Tabebuia impetiginosa, Veronica pectinata var. glandulosa, Baleria strigosa, Pedicularis procera, Crescentia cujete, Thunbergia grandiflora, Thunbergia laurifolia, Viburnum suspensum, Pedicularis kansuensis, Nepeta Cilicia, Euphrasia pectinata, Penstemon parryi, Penstemon barrettiae, Tecoma capensis, Pedicularis plicata, Vitex altissima, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, Clerodendrum inerme, Vitex agnus-castus, Dipsacus asperoides, Chioccoca alba, Alangium lamarckii, Cornus capitata, Strychnos nux-vomica, Alangium platanifolia var. trilobum, Gentiana linearis, Swertia franchetiana, Picconia excels, Clerodendrum inerme, Verbenoxylum reitzii, Leonurus persicus, Avicennia germinans, Canthium berberidifolium, Clerodendrum inerme, Avicennia officinalis, Lippia graveolens, Ajuga pseudoiva, Barleria lupulina, Calycophyllum spruceanum, Phlomis capitata, Phlomis nissolii, Premna barbata, Plantago alpine, Avicennia marina, Galium humifusum, Morinda coreia, Saprosma scortechinii, Plantago atrata, P. maritime, P. subulata, Erinus alpines, Paederia scandens, Tocoyena Formosa, Fagraea blumei, Hedyotis chrysotricha, Paederia scandens, Jasmium hemsleyi, Eucnide bartonioides, Rauwolfia serpentine, Picconi, excels, Gentiana kurroo, Nepeta cadmea, Gmelina philippensis, Penstemon mucronatus, Citharexylum caudatum, Phlomis aurea, Eremostachys glabra, Phlomis rigida, P. tuberose, Pedicularis plicata, Duranta erecta, Bouchea fluminensis, Phlomis brunneogaleata, Barleria lupulina, Zaluzianskya capensis, Thevetia peruviana, Plantago lagopus , Gardenoside (and its acid hydrolysis product), Asperuloside (and its acid hydrolysis product), Canthium schimperianum, Plantago arborescens, P. ovate, P. webbii, Plantago cornuti, Plantago hookeriana, Plantago altissima, Penstemon secudiflorus, Viburnum luzonicum, Galium lovcense, Nyetanthes arbor - tristis, Rothmania macrophylla, Myxopyrun smilacifolium, Nepeta racemosa, Linaria japonica, Viburnum ayavacense, Viburnum tinus, Viburnum rhytidophyllum, Viburnum lantana var. discolor, Viburnum prunifolium, Centranthus longiflorus, Viburnum sargenti, Plumeria obtuse, Dunnia sinensis, Morinda morindoides, Caryopteris clandonensis, Vitex rotundifolia, Globularia dumulosa, Pedicularis artselaeri, Cymbaria mongolica, Pedicularis kansuensis f. albiflora, Phlomis umbrosa, Dunnia sinensis, Gelsemium sempervirens, Verbena littoralis, Syringia afghanica, Tabebuia impetiginosa, Patrinia scabra, Catalpa fructus, Scrophularia lepidota, Lasianthus wallichii, Crescentia cujete, Kickxia elatine, K. spuria, K. commutate, Linaria arcusangeli, L. flava, Coelospermum billardieri, Randia spinosa, Asperula maximowiczii, Wulfenia carinthiaca, Fagraea blumei, Daphniphyllum calycinum, Penstemon ricbardsonii, Nardostachys chinensis, Sambucus ebulus, Penstemon confertus, Sambucus ebulus, Penstemon serrulatus, Penstemon birsutus, Viburnum furcatum, Viburnum betulifolium, Viburnum japonicum, Allamanda neriifolia, Plumeria acutifolia, Allamanda catbartica, Alstonia boonei, Actinidia polygama, Patrinia villosa, Patrinia gibbosa, Posoqueria latifolia, Strycbnos spinosa, Kigelia pinnata, Centrantbus ruber, Cerbera mangbas, Mentzelia spp., Teucrium marum, Eucommia ulmoides, Aucuba japonica, Gelsemium sempervirens, Syringa amurensis, Strychnos spinosa, Lonicera alpigena, Nauclea diderrichii, Olea europaea, Ligustrum japonicum, Swertia japonica, Swertia mileensis, Crucksbanksia verticillata, Gentiana asclepiadea, Jasminum multiflorum, Menyantbes trifoliate, Jasminum mesnyi, Jasminum azoricum, Jasminum sambac, Centaurium erythraea, Centaurium littorale, Gentiana gelida, Gentiana scabra, Jasmium bumile var. revolutum, Syring a vulgaris, Osmantbus ilicifolius, Ligustrum ovalifolium, Ligustrum obtusifolium, Gentiana pyrenaica, Isertia baenkeana, Olea europaea, Osmantbus fragrans, Exacum tetragonum, Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrangea scandens, Abelia grandiflora, Dipsacus laciniatus, Scaevola racemigera, Erytbraea centaurium, Lisiantbus jefensis, Alyxia reinwardtii, Desfontainia spinosa, Patrinia saniculaefolia, Plantago asiatica, Plantago species, Gentiana species, Hapagophytum species, Pterocephalus perennis subsp. Perennis, Morinda citrifolia, Campsis grandiflora, Heracleum rapula, Syringa dilatata, Bartsia alpine, Hedyotis diffusa, Sickingia williamsii, Buddleja cordobensis, Borreria Verticillata and combinations thereof.
[0046] Some embodiments may utilize an iridoid source from any of the parts of the listed plants plant alone, in combination with each other or in combination with other ingredients. For example the leaves including leaf extracts, fruit, bark, seeds including seed oil, roots, oils, juice including the fruit juice and fruit pulp and concentrates thereof, or other product from the list of plants may be utilized as an iridoid source. Thus, while some of the parts of the plants are not mentioned above, some embodiments may use of one or more parts selected from all of the parts of the plant.
[0047] Some compositions of the present invention comprise a source of iridoids present between about 1 and 5 percent of the weight of the total composition. Other such percentage ranges include: about 0.01 and 0.1 percent; about 0.1 and 50 percent; about 85 and 99 percent; about 5 and 10 percent; about 10 and 15 percent; about 15 and 20 percent; about 20 and 50 percent; and about 50 and 100 percent.
[0048] In some embodiments the source of iridoids may be combined with other ingredients or carriers (discussed further herein) to produce a pharmaceutical grade source of iridoids (“pharmaceutical” herein referring to any drug or product designed to improve the health of living organisms such as human beings or mammals, including nutraceutical products).
[0049] In some embodiments various extracts may be utilized from one or more of the plants listed above. In some embodiments the extracts may comprise 7b-Acetoxy-10-O-acetyl-8a-hydroxydecapetaloside (Compound 2),10-Acetoxymajoroside, 7-O-Acetyl-10-O-acetoxyloganin, 6-O-Acetylajugol, 6-O-(2_-O-Acetyl-3_-O-cinnamoyl-4_-O-p-methoxy cinnamoyl-a-Lrhamnopyranosyl) catalpol, 6-O-(3_-O-Acetyl-2-O-trans-cinnamoyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl catalpol, 8-O-Acetylclandonoside, 8-O-Acetyl-6_-O-(p-coumaroyl)harpagide, 8-O-Acetyl-6-O-trans-p-coumaroylshanzhiside, 6-Acetyl deacetylasperuloside, 8-O-Acetyl-1-epi-shanzhigenin methyl ester, Acetylgaertneroside, 10-O-Acetylgeniposidic acid, 10-O-Acetyl-8a-hydroxydecapetaloside, 8-O-Acetyl-6b-hydroxyipolamide, 2-O-Acetyllamiridoside, 3-O-Acetylloganic acid, 4-O-Acetylloganic acid, 6-O-Acetylloganic acid, 6b-Acetyl-7b-(E)-p-methoxycinnamoyl-myxopyroside, 6b-Acetyl-7b-(Z)-p-methoxycinnamoyl-myxopyroside, 10-O-Acetylmonotropein, 8-O-Acetylmussaenoside, 10-O-Acetylpatrinoside, 3-O-Acetylpatrinoside 6-O-Acetylplumieride-p-E-coumarate, 6-O-Acetylplumieride-p-Z-coumarate, 6-O-Acetylscandoside, 8-O-Acetylshanzhigenin methyl ester, 8-O-Acetylshanzhiside, Acuminatuside, Agnucastoside A (6-O-Foliamenthoylmussaenosidic acid), Agnucastoside B (6-O-(6,7-Dihydrofoliamenthoyl)-mussaenosidic acid), Agnucastoside C (7-O-trans-p-Coumaroyl-6-O-trans-caffeoyl-8-epi-loganic acid), Alatoside, Alboside I, Alboside II, Alboside III, Alpinoside, Angeloside, 6-O-b-D-Apiofuranosylmussaenosidic acid, 2-O-Apiosylgardoside, Aquaticoside A (6-O-Benzoyl-8-epi-loganic acid), Aquaticoside B (6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl-8-epi-loganic acid), Aquaticoside C (6-O-Benzoylgardoside), Arborescoside, Arborescosidic acid, Arborside D, Arcusangeloside, Artselaenin A, Artselaenin C, Artselaenin B, Asperuloide A, Asperuloide B, Asperuloide C, Asperulosidic acid ethyl ester, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-Benzoyl, 3-O-trans-p-coumaroyl) rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 10-O-Benzoyldeacetylasperulosidic acid, 6-O-Benzoyl-8-epi-loganic acid, 6-O-Benzoylgardoside, 10-O-Benzoylglobularigenin, 10-Bisfoliamenthoylcatalpol, Blumeoside A Blumeoside B, Blumeoside C, Blumeoside D, Boucheoside, Brunneogaleatoside, 3b-Butoxy-3,4-dihydroaucubin, 6-O-Butylaucubin, 6-O-Butyl-epi-aucubin, 6-O-Caffeoylajugol, 10-O-Caffeoylaucubin, 6-O-trans-Caffeoylcaryoptosidic acid, 10-O-trans-p-Caffeoylcatalpol, 10-O-E-Caffeoylgeniposidic acid, 2-Caffeoylmussaenosidic acid, 6-O-trans-Caffeoylnegundoside, Caryoptosidic acid, Caudatoside A, Caudatoside B, Caudatoside C, Caudatoside D, Caudatoside E, Caudatoside F, Chlorotuberoside, 10-O-(Cinnamoyl)-6-(desacetyl-alpinosidyl)catalpol, 10-O-E-Cinnamoylgeniposidic acid, 8-O-Cinnamoylmussaenosidic acid, 8-Cinnamoylmyoporoside, 7b-Cinnamoyloxyugandoside (Serratoside A), 7-O-trans-p-Coumaroyl-6-O-trans-caffeoyl-8-epi-loganic acid, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-trans-Cinnamoyl)-rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-a-L-(3-O-trans-Cinnamoyl)-rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-a-L-(4-O-trans-Cinnamoyl)-rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, Citrifolinin A, Citrifolinoside A, Clandonensine, Clandonoside, Clandonoside II, Coelobillardin, 6-O-trans-p-Coumaroyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 6-O-cis-p-Coumaroyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 6-O-(p-Coumaroyl)antirrinoside, 10-O-cis-p-Coumaroylasystasioside E, 10-O-trans-p-Coumaroylasystasioside E, 6-O-p-Coumaroylaucubin, 6-O-p-trans-Coumaroylcaryoptosidic acid, 6-O-cis-p-Coumaroylcatalpol, 10-O-cis-p-Coumaroylcatalpol, 6-O-trans-p-Coumaroyl-7-deoxyrehmaglutin A, 6-O-cis-p-Coumaroyl-7-deoxyrehmaglutin A, 2-trans-p-Coumaroyldihydropenstemide, 2-O-Coumaroyl-8-epi-tecomoside, 10-O-trans-Coumaroyleranthemoside, 10-O-E-p-Coumaroylgeniposidic acid, 7-O-Coumaroylloganic acid, Crescentin I, Crescentin II, Crescentin III, Crescentin IV, Crescentin V, 6-O-trans-p-Coumaroylloganin, 6-O-cis-p-Coumaroylloganin, 7-O-p-Coumaroylpatrinoside, 2-O-Coumaroylplantarenaloside, 6-O-(4-O-p-Coumaroyl-b-D-xylopyranosyl)-aucubin, 7b-Coumaroyloxyugandoside, Crescentoside A, Crescentoside B, Crescentoside C, Cyanogenic glycoside of geniposidic acid, Daphcalycinosidine A, Daphcalycinosidine B, Davisioside, Deacetylalpinoside (Arborescosidic acid), Dehydrogaertneroside, Dehydromethoxygaertneroside, 5-Deoxyantirrhinoside, 4-Deoxykanokoside A, 4-Deoxykanokoside C, 6-Deoxymelittoside, 5-Deoxysesamoside, Desacetylhookerioside, Des-p-hydroxybenzoylkisasagenol B, 2,3-Diacetylisovalerosidate, 2,3-Diacetylvalerosidate, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-,3-O-Dibenzoyl, 4-O-cis-p-coumaroyl) rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-,3-O-Dibenzoyl, 4-O-trans-p-coumaroyl) rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-,3-O-Dibenzoyl)rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6a-Dihydrocornic acid, 6b-Dihydrocornic acid, 6-O-(6,7-Dihydrofoliamenthoyl)-mussaenosidic acid, 3,4-Dihydro-3a-methoxypaederoside, 3,4-Dihydro-3b-methoxypaederoside, 3,4-Dihydro-6-O-methylcatalpol, 5,6b-Dihydroxyadoxoside, 2-(2,3-Dihydroxybenzoyloxy)-7-ketologanin, 5b,6b-Dihydroxyboschnaloside, Dimer of paederosidic acid, Dimer of paederosidic acid and paederoside, Dimer of paederosidic acid and paederosidic acid methyl ester, 6-O-(3,4-Dimethoxybenzoyl)crescentin IV 3-O-b-D-glucopyranoside, 10-O-(3,4-Dimethoxy-(E)-cinnamoyl)-aucubin, 10-O-(3,4-Dimethoxy-(Z)-cinnamoyl)-catalpol, 10-O-(3,4-Dimethoxy-(E)-cinnamoyl)-catalpol, 6-O-[3-O-(trans-3,4-Dimethoxycinnamoyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl]-aucubin, Dumuloside, Dunnisinin, Dunnisinoside, Duranterectoside A, Duranterectoside B, Duranterectoside C, Duranterectoside D, 6-epi-8-O-Acetylharpagide, 6-O-epi-Acetylscandoside, 6,9-epi-8-O-Acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 8-epi-Apodantheroside, 1,5,9-epi-Deoxyloganic acid glucosyl ester, 5,9-epi-7,8-Didehydropenstemoside, (5a-H)-6a-8-epi-Dihydrocornin, 8-epi-Grandifloric acid, 7-epi-Loganin, 8-epi-Muralioside, 5,9-epi-Penstemoside, 3-epi-Phlomurin, 1-epi-Shanzhigenin methyl ester, 8-epi-Tecomoside (7b-Hydroxyplantarenaloside), 7b,8b-Epoxy-8a-dihydrogeniposide, 7,8-Epoxy-8-epi-loganic acid, 6b,7b-Epoxy-8-epi-splendoside, Epoxygaertneroside, Epoxymethoxygaertneroside, Erinoside, 8-O-Feruloylharpagide, 7-O-E-Feruloylloganic acid, 7-O-Z-Feruloylloganic acid, 6-O-E-Feruloylmonotropein, 10-O-E-Feruloylmonotropein, 6-O-trans-Feruloylnegundoside, 6-O-a-L-(4-O-cis-Feruloyl)-rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-Foliamenthoylmussaenosidic acid, 2-O-Foliamenthoylplantarenaloside, Formosinoside, 10-O-b-D-Fructofuranosyltheviridoside, Gaertneric acid, Gaertneroside, 6-O-a-D-Galctopyranosylharpagoside, 6-O-a-D-Galactopyranosylsyringopicroside, Gelsemiol-6-trans-caffeoyl-1-glucoside, Globuloside A, Globuloside B, Globuloside C, 3-O-b-D-Glucopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-(4-O-b-Glucopyranosyl)-trans-p-coumaroyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 6-O-a-D-Glucopyranosylloganic acid, 3-O-b-Glucopyranosylstilbericoside, 6-O-a-D-Glucopyranosylsyringopicroside, 3-O-b-D-Glucopyranosylsyringopicroside, 4-O-b-D-Glucopyranosylsyringopicroside, 3-O-b-D-Glucopyranosyltheviridoside, 6-O-b-D-Glucopyranosyltheviridoside, 10-O-b-D-Glucopyranosyltheviridoside, 4-O-Glucoside of linearoside (7-O-(4-O-Glucosyl)-coumaroylloganic acid), Glucosylmentzefoliol, Gmelinoside A, Gmelinoside B, Gmelinoside C, Gmelinoside D, Gmelinoside E, Gmelinoside F, Gmelinoside G, Gmelinoside H, Gmelinoside I, Gmelinoside J, Gmelinoside K, Gmelinoside L, Gmephiloside (1-O-(8-epi-Loganoyl)-b-D-glucopyranose), Grandifloric acid, GSIR-1, Hookerioside, 6a-Hydroxyadoxoside, 6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoylasystasioside, 2-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl-6-O-trans-caffeoyl-8-epi-loganic acid, 2-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl-6-O-trans-caffeoylgardoside, 6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoylcatalposide, 3-O-(4-Hydroxybenzoyl)-10-deoxyeucommiol-6-O-b-D-glucopyranoside, 2-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl-8-epi-loganic acid, 6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl-8-epi-loganic acid, 2-O-p-Hydroxybenzoylgardoside, 6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoylglntinoside, 7-O-p-Hydroxybenzoylovatol-1-O-(6_-O-p-hydroxybenzoyl)-b-D-glucopyranoside, 8-O(-2-Hydroxycinnamoyl)harpagide, 5-Hydroxydavisioside, 10-Hydroxy-(5a-H)-6-epi-dihydrocornin, 1b-Hydroxy-4-epi-gardendiol, 6b-Hydroxy-7-epi-loganin, (5a-H)-6a-Hydroxy-8-epi-loganin, 7b-Hydroxy-11-methylforsythide, 6b-Hydroxygardoside methyl ester, 6a-Hydroxygeniposide, 4-Hydroxy-E-globularinin, 7b-Hydroxyharpagide, 5-Hydroxyloganin, 7b-Hydroxyplantarenaloside, Humifusin A, Humifusin B, Inerminoside A, Inerminoside A1, Inerminoside B, Inerminoside C, Inerminoside D, Ipolamiidic acid, Iridoid dimer of asperuloside and asperulosidic acid, Iridolactone, Iridolinarin A, Iridolinarin B, Iridolinarin C, Iridolinaroside A, 6-O-Isoferuloyl ajugol, 10-O-trans-Isoferuloylcatalpol, Isosuspensolide E, Isosuspensolide F, Isounedoside, Isovibursinoside II, Isoviburtinoside III, Jashemsloside A, Jashemsloside B, Jashemsloside C, Jashemsloside D, Jashemsloside E (6S-7-O-{6-O[b-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-b-Dglucopyranosyl]menthiafolioyl}-loganin, Kansuenin, Kansuenoside, 7-Ketologanic acid, Kickxin, Lamidic acid, Lantanoside, Linearoside (7-O-Coumaroylloganic acid), Lippioside I (6-O-p-trans-Coumaroylcaryoptosidic acid), Lippioside II (6-O-trans-Caffeoylcaryoptosidic acid), Loganic acid-6-O-b-D-glucoside, Lupulinoside, Luzonoid A, Luzonoid B, Luzonoid C, Luzonoid D, Luzonoid E, Luzonoid F, Luzonoid G, Luzonoside A, Luzonoside B, Luzonoside C, Luzonoside D, Macedonine, Macrophylloside, 7-O-(6-O-Malonyl)-cachinesidic acid (Malonic ester of 8-hydroxy-8-epiloganic acid), Melittoside 3-O-b-glucopyranoside, 5-O-Menthiafoloylkickxioside, 6-O-Menthiafoloylmussaenosidic acid, Mentzefoliol, 6-O-(4-Methoxybenzoyl)-5,7-bisdeoxycynanchoside, 6-m-Methoxybenzoylcatalpol, 6-O-(4-Methoxybenzoyl)crescentin IV (3-O-b-D-glucopyranoside), 10-O-(4-Methoxybenzoyl)impetiginoside A, 7-O-(p-Methoxybenzoyl)-tecomoside, 6-O-p-Methoxy-trans-cinnamoyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 6-O-p-Methoxy-cis-cinnamoyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester, 10-O-trans-p-Methoxycinnamoylasystasioside E, 10-O-cis-p-Methoxycinnamoyl asystasioside E, 10-O-cis-p-Methoxycinnamoylcatalpol, 10-O-trans-p-Methoxycinnamoylcatalpol, 8-O-Z-p-Methoxycinnamoylharpagide, 6-O-Z-p-Methoxycinnamoylharpagide, 8-O-E-p-Methoxycinnamoylharpagide, 6-O-E-p-Methoxycinnamoylharpagide, 1b-Methoxy-4-epi-gardendiol, 1b-Methoxy-4-epi-mussaenin A, 1a-Methoxy-4-epi-mussaenin A, Methoxygaertneroside, 1b-Methoxygardendiol, 4-Methoxy-Z-globularimin, 4-Methoxy-Z-globularinin, 4-Methoxy-E-globularimin, 4-Methoxy-E-globularinin, 6-O-[3-O-(trans-p-Methoxycinnamoyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl]-aucubin, 1b-Methoxylmussaenin A, 6-O-Methyl-epi-aucubin, Muralioside (7b-Hydroxyharpagide), Myxopyroside, Nepetacilicioside, Nepetanudoside, Nepetanudoside B, Nepetanudoside C, Nepetanudoside D, Nepetaracemoside A, Nepetaracemoside B, Ningpogenin (revision of 1-dehydroxy-3,4-dihydroaucubingenin), Officinosidic acid (5-Hydroxy-10-O-(p-methoxycinnamoyl)-adoxosidic acid), Ovatic acid methyl ester-7-O-(6-O-p-Hydroxybenzoyl)-b-D-glucopyranoside, Ovatolactone-7-O-(6-O-p-hydroxybenzoyl)-b-D-glucopyranoside, 7-Oxocarpensioside, Paederoscandoside, Paederosidic acid methyl ester, Patrinioside, Pedicularis-lactone, Phlomiside, Phlomoidoside (6-O-(4-O-p-Coumaroyl-b-D-xylopyranosyl)-aucubin), Phlomurin, Phlorigidoside A (2-O-Acetyllamiridoside), Phlorigidoside B (8-O-Acetyl-6b-hydroxyipolamide), Phlorigidoside C (5-Deoxysesamoside), Picconioside 1, Picroside IV, Picroside V (6-m-Methoxybenzoylcatalpol), Pikuroside, Plicatoside A, Plicatoside B, Premnaodoroside D, Premnaodoroside E, Premnaodoroside F [isomeric mixture of A and B in ratio (1:1)], Premnaodoroside G (isomeric mixture of (C) and (D)), Premnosidic acid, Proceroside (7-Oxocarpensioside), Randinoside, Saletpangponoside A [6-O-(4-O-b-Glucopyranosyl)-trans-p-coumaroyl-8-O-acetylshanzhiside methyl ester], Saletpangponoside B, Saletpangponoside C, Sammangaoside C (Melittoside 3-O-b-glucopyranoside), Saprosmoside A, Saprosmoside B, Saprosmoside C, Saprosmoside D, Saprosmoside E, Saprosmoside F, Saprosmoside G, Saprosmoside H, Scorodioside (6-O-(3-O-Acetyl-2_-O-trans-cinnamoyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl catalpol), Scrolepidoside, Scrophuloside A1, Scrophuloside A2, Scrophuloside A3, Scrophuloside A4, Scrophuloside A5, Scrophuloside A6, Scrophuloside A7, Scrophuloside A8, Scrophuloside B4 [6-O-(2_-O-Acetyl-3_-O-cinnamoyl-4_-O-p-methoxy cinnamoyl-a-L rhamnopyranosyl)catalpol], Scrovalentinoside, Senburiside III, Senburiside IV, Serratoside A, Serratoside B, Shanzhigenin methyl ester, 6-O-Sinapoyl scandoside methyl ester, Sintenoside, Stegioside I, Stegioside II, Stegioside III, Syringafghanoside, 7,10,2,6-Tetra-O-acetylisosuspensolide F, 7,10,2,3-Tetra-O-acetylisosuspensolide F, 7,10,2 — ,3_-Tetra-O-acetylsuspensolide F, Thunaloside, 7,10,2-Tri-O-acetylpatrinoside, 7,10,2_-Tri-O-acetylsuspensolide F, 6-O-a-L-(2-O-,3-O-,4-O-Tribenzoyl)-rhamnopyranosylcatalpol, 6-O-(3 — ,4 — ,5_-Trimethoxybenzoyl)ajugol, Unbuloside (6-O-[(2_-O-trans-Feruloyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl]-aucubin), Urphoside A, Urphoside B, Verbaspinoside (6-O-[(2_-O-trans-Cinnamoyl)-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl]-catalpol), Viburtinoside I, Viburtinoside II, Viburtinoside III, Viburtinoside IV, Viburtinoside V, Viteoid I, Viteoid II, Wulfenoside [(10-O-(Cinnamoylalpinosidyl)-6-(desacetyl-alpinosidyl)-catalpol)], Yopaaoside A, Yopaaoside B, Yopaaoside C, Zaluzioside (6b-Hydroxygardoside methyl ester), Abelioside A, Abelioside A dimethyl acetal, Abelioside B, 10-Acetoxyoleuropein, 2′-O-Acetyldihydropensternide, 2′-O-Acetylpatrinoside, 13-0-Acetylplurnieride, 7-0-Acetylsecologanol, 2′-O-Acetylswert˜amain1, 10-0-Acetylviburnalloside, Actinidialactone, Allarnancin I, Allarncidin A, Allarncidin B, Allamcidin B P-c-glucose, Allarncin, Allaneroside, Allodolicholactone, 3-0-AllosylcerberidoI, 3-O-Allosylcyclocerberidol, 3-0-Allosylepoxycerbeeridol, Alpigenoside, Arnarogentin, Amaroswerin, 6′-O-Apiosylebuloside m, Azoricin, 3, IO-Bis-O-allosylcerberidol, Boonein, 13-0-Caffeoylplurnieride, Centauroside, Cerberic acid, Cerberidol, Cerberinic acid, Cerbinal, Confertoside, 4′-O-cis-p-Cournaroyl-7a-rnorronisi, 4′-O-truns-p-Coumaroyl-7a-rnorronisi, 4′-O-cis-p-Cournaroyl-7P-rnorronisi, 4′-O-truns-p-Cournaroyl-7-morronisi, 13-O-Coumaroylplurnieride, Cyclocerberidol, Decentapicrin A, kentapicrin B, Decentapicrin C, Deglucoserrulatoside, Deglucosyl plumieride, Dehydroiridodialo-P-D-gentiobioside, Dehydroiridomyrrnecin, 5,6-Dehydrojasrninin, Demethyloleuropein, 1-Deoxyeucomrniol, 9′-hxyjasrninigenin, 10-Deoxyptrinoside, 10-Deoxyptrinoside aglycone, 10-Deoxypensternide, 13-Deoxyplumieride, Desacetylcentapicrin, Desfontainic acid, Desfontainoside, 2′,3′-O-Diacetylfurcatoside C, 8,9-Didehydro-7-hydroxydolichodial, Diderroside, 7,7-O-Dihydroebuloside, Dihydrcepinepetalactone, Dihydrofoliamenthin, 8,9-Dihydrojasrninin, Dihydropensternide, P-Dihydroplurnericinic acid glucosyl ester, Dihydroserruloside, Dolichodial, Dolicholactone, Ebuloside, 8-epi-Dihydropensternide, 7-epi-Hydrangenoside A, 7-epi-Hydrangenoside C, 7-epi-Hydrangenoside E, 8-epi-Kingiside, 8-epi-Valerosidate, 7-rpt-Vogeloside, Epoxycerberidol, I 1-Ethoxyviburtinal, Eucommioside 1, Eucornmioside II, Fliederoside I, 2′-O-Foliarnenthoyldihydropensternide, Furcatoside A, Furcatoside B, Furcatoside C, Gelidoside I, Gelserniol, Gelserniol-I-glucoside, Gelsemiol-3-glucoside, Gentiogenal, Gentiopicral, Gentiopicroside, 7-O-Gentiroylsecologanol, Gibboside, G′-O-˜-˜-Glucosylgentiopicrosid, (7iR)-Haenkeanoside I, (7S)-Haenkeanoside I, Hiiragilide, Hydrangenoside A Hydrangenoside B, Hydrangenoside C, Hydrangenoside D, Hydrangrnoside E, Hydrangenoside F, Hydrangenoside G, 9″-Hydroxy˜asrnesoside, 9″-Hydroxyjasrnesosldic acid, (7R)-IO-Hydroxyrnorroniside, (7s)-IO-Hydroxymorroniside, 10-Hydroxyoleoside dimethyl ester, 10-Hydroxyoleuropein, Ibotalactone A, Ibotalactone B, Iridodialo-P-D-gentiobioside, Lsoactinidialactone, lsoallarnandicin, lsodehydroiridornyrmecin, Isodihydroepinepetalacton, Isodolichodial, Isoepiiridomyrmecin, (7R)-lsohaenkeanoside, (7S)-lsohaenkeanoside, Lsoligustroside, isoneonepetalactone, Isonuezhenide, Lsooleuropein, 8-lsoplumieride, Isosweroside, Jasrnesoside, Jasminin-lO″-O-glucoside, Jasminoside, Jasmisnyiroside, Jasmolactone A, Jasmolactone B, Jasmolactone B dimethylare, Jasmolactone C, Jasmolactone D, Jasmolactone D tetramethylare, Jasmoside, Jiofuran, Jioglutolide, Kingiside aglycone, Laciniatoside V, Latifonin, Ligustaloside A, Ligusraloside B, Ligusraloside B dimethyl acetal, Ligustrosidic acid, Ligustrosidic acid methyl ester, Lilacoside, Lisianthoside, Menthiafolin, Mentzerriol, 7a-Methoxysweroside, 3-0-Methylallamancin, 3-0-Mrthylallamcin, Methyl glucooleoside, Methylgrandifloroside, (7R)-O-Methylhaenkeanoside, (7S)-O-Methylhaenkeanoside, (7R)-O-Methylisohaenkeanosidel, (7S)-O-Mrthylisohaenkranoside, (7R)-O-Methylmorronisidr, (7S)-O-Methylmorroniside, Methyl syramuraldehydate, 6′-O-[(2R)-Methyl-3-veratroyloxypropanoyl, 6′-0-[(2R)-MethyI-3-veratroyloxypropanoyl, 7a-Morroniside, 7P-Morroniside, Nardosrachin, Neonuezhenide, Neooleuropein, 4aa,7a,7aa-Nepetalactone, 4aa, 7a, 7a P-Nepetalactone, 4ap, 70,7a P-Nepetalactone, Nepetariasidc, Nepetaside, Norviburtinal, Oleoactcosidr, 7a-morroniside, 7P-morronisidr, Olebechinacoside, Olmnuezhenide, Oleoside dimethyl ester, Oleuropeinic acid, Oleuropeinic acid methyl ester, Oleuroside, Oruwacin, Oxysporone, Patrinalloside, Penstebioside, Penstemide aglycone, Plumenoside, Plumiepoxide, 1a-Plumieride, Plumieride coumarare, Plumieride coumarate glucoside, Plumieridine, Posoquenin, 1a-Protoplumericin A, Protoplumericin A, Protoplumericin B, Pulorarioside, Rehmaglutin, Sambacin, Sambacolignoside, Sambacoside A, Sambacoside E, Sambacoside F, Scabraside, Scaevoloside, Secologanin dimethyl acetal, Secologanol, Secologanoside, Secologanoside dimethyl ester, Secoxyloganin, Serrulatoloside, Serrulatoloside aglycon, Serrulatoside, Serruloside, Stryspinolactone, Suspensolide A, Suspensolide A aglycone, Suspensolide B, Suspensolide C, Swertiamarin, Syringalactonr A, Syringalactonr B, 6′-0-Vanilloyl-8-ept-kingiside, Viburnalloside, Villosol, Villosoloside, Adoxoside, Agnuside, Allarnnndin, Allamdin, Amaropentin, Antirride, Antiminoside, Asperuloside, Asperulosidic acid, Aucubin, Aucubin Acetate, Aucuboside, Aucubieenin-1-P-i˜onialtopidc, Haldrinal, Darlerin, Dartsioeide, Iloschnalosiile, Cantleyoside, Caryoptoeide, Catalpol, Catalpol Yonoacetate, Catalposide, Centapicrin, 7-Chlorodeutziol, Cornin, Uaphylloslde, Deacetyl-Asperuloside, Decaloside, Decapetaloside, 5-9 Dehydro-nepetalactcne, Deoxl-amaropentin, 10-Deoxy Aucubin, Deoxyloeanin, Deutziol, Didrovaltrate, Dihydrofoliamenthin, Dihydropenstemide, Dihydroplumericin, 8-Dihydro Plumericinic acid, Durantoride-I, Elenolide, Epoxydeculoside, Erythroccntaurine, IO-Ethylapodanthoside, Eucommiol, Eustomoruside, Eustomoside, Eustoside, Feretoside, Foliamenthin, Forsythide, Forsythide Methyl Ester, llethyl Grandiiloroside, 11-llethyl Isoside, Lllneroeide, Jlioporoeide, 3lononielittoeirle, 316notropein, Monotronein, Jlorroniside, 3luesaenoside, Saucledd, Seomatatabiol, Sepetalactcne, Suzhenide, Jdontoride, Odontosidc Aretate, I Jleuropein, Opulus Iridoid, Opului lridoid, Onin-arin, 7-Clxologanin, I′aederoelde, I′nederoaidic, I′atrinoside, I′lumericin, Lieptoside, Sarracenin, Scabroside, Scandoside, Scandoride, Srrophularioride, Cutellariosid, ecoealioside, Secologanir, Secolopanin, Ecoivloeanin, Shanzhiside llethyl Ester, Specioside, Stilberiecside, Strictoside, Sn-eroside 1, Swertiamnrin, S-lvestroside-I, yl-estroside-II, Svl-estroside-III, Svrineoside, TLretnoeide, Tecomoside, Tecoside, Teucrium, Teucriuni Lactone B, Teucrium I.actone C, Teucriuni Lactone D, Vaccinioside, Valechlorine, Valeridine, Valerosidate and Taltrate, Haqnlpol.
[0050] Methods of the present invention comprise the administration and/or consumption of a combination of a processed plant product and a source of iridoids in an amount designed to produce a desirable physiological response. It will be understood that specific dosage levels of any compositions that will be administered to any particular patient will depend upon a variety of factors, including the patient's age, body weight, general health, gender, diet, time of administration, route of administration, rate of excretion, drug combination, and the severity of the particular diseases undergoing therapy or in the process of incubation.
[0051] Studies performed have revealed that Iridoids in combination with a processed Plant product exhibit unexpected synergistic bioactivity including; neuroprotective, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, cardiovascular, anti-hepatotoxic, choleretic, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antispasmodic, antiviral, antimicrobial, immunomodulator, antiallergic, anti-leishmanial, and molluscicidal effect.
[0052] Preferred embodiments are formulated to provide a physiological benefit. For example, some embodiments may provide an anti-inflammatory activity selectively inhibit COX-1/COX-2 and/or by regulating regulate TNF□, Nitric oxide and 5-LOX; regulate immunomodulation by increases IFN- secretion; provide antiallergic activity by inhibiting histamine release; provide anti-arthritic activity by inhibiting human neutrophils, regulating elastase enzyme activity, inhibiting the complement pathway; provide antimicrobial activity by inhibiting the growth of various microbials including gram− and gram+ bacteria; providing antifungal activity by inhibiting DNA repair systems; provide anticancer activity by inhibiting cancer cell growth and by being cytotoxic to cancer cells; provide anticoagulant activity by inhibiting platelets aggregations; provide antioxidant activity by providing DPPH scavenging effects; provide antiviral activity including anti-HSV, anti-RSV, and anti-VSV activity; provide antispasmodic activity; provide wound-healing activity by stimulating the growth of human dermal fibroblasts; and provide neuroprotective activities by blocking the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and enhancing Nerve Growth Factor-potentiating (NGF) activity.
[0053] Methods of the present invention also include manufacturing a composition comprising an iridoid source and/or extracts. Each of the methods described above in the discussion relevant to processing the plant products may likewise be utilized to process the constitutive elements of plant being utilized as a source of iridoids.
[0054] For example the leaves of one or more of the plants listed above may be processed. For example, some compositions comprise leaf extract and/or leaf juice. Some compositions comprise a leaf serum that is comprised of both leaf extract and fruit juice obtained from one or more plants. Some compositions of the present invention comprise leaf serum and/or various leaf extracts as incorporated into a nutraceutical product (“nutraceutical” herein referring to any product designed to improve the health of living organisms such as human beings or mammals).
[0055] In some embodiments of the present invention, the leaf extracts are obtained using the following process. First, relatively dry leaves from the selected plant or plants are collected, cut into small pieces, and placed into a crushing device—preferably a hydraulic press—where the leaf pieces are crushed. In some embodiments, the crushed leaf pieces are then percolated with an alcohol such as ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, or other alcohol-based derivatives using methods known in the art. Next, in some embodiments, the alcohol and all alcohol-soluble ingredients are extracted from the crushed leaf pieces, leaving a leaf extract that is then reduced with heat to remove all the liquid therefrom. The resulting dry leaf extract will herein be referred to as the “primary leaf extract.”
[0056] In some embodiments, the primary leaf extract is subsequently pasteurized. The primary leaf extract may be pasteurized preferably at a temperature ranging from 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and for a period of time sufficient to destroy any objectionable organisms without major chemical alteration of the extract. Pasteurization may also be accomplished according to various radiation techniques or methods.
[0057] In some embodiments of the present invention, the pasteurized primary leaf extract is placed into a centrifuge decanter where it is centrifuged to remove or separate any remaining leaf juice therein from other materials, including chlorophyll. Once the centrifuge cycle is completed, the leaf extract is in a relatively purified state. This purified leaf extract is then pasteurized again in a similar manner as discussed above to obtain a purified primary leaf extract.
[0058] Preferably, the primary leaf extract, whether pasteurized and/or purified, is further fractionated into two individual fractions: a dry hexane fraction, and an aqueous methanol fraction. This is accomplished preferably in a gas chromatograph containing silicon dioxide and CH 2 Cl 2 -MeOH ingredients using methods well known in the art. In some embodiments of the present invention, the methanol fraction is further fractionated to obtain secondary methanol fractions. In some embodiments, the hexane fraction is further fractionated to obtain secondary hexane fractions.
[0059] One or more of the leaf extracts, including the primary leaf extract, the hexane fraction, methanol fraction, or any of the secondary hexane or methanol fractions may be combined with the processed plant product(s) to obtain a leaf serum. In some embodiments, the leaf serum is packaged and frozen ready for shipment; in others, it is further incorporated into a nutraceutical product as explained herein.
[0060] Some embodiments of the present invention include a composition comprising fruit juice from one or more of the listed plants. Each of the methods described above in the discussion relevant to processing the juice products may likewise be utilized to process the fruit of the plant being utilized as a source of iridoids.
[0061] Some embodiments comprise the use of seeds from the list of plants provided. Each of the methods described above in the discussion relevant to processing seeds from the plant may likewise be utilized to process the seeds of plant being utilized as a source of iridoids.
[0062] Some embodiments of the present invention may comprise oil extracted from the plant and/or plants selected as the source of iridoids. Each of the methods described above in the discussion relevant to processing the plant to produce an oil extract may likewise be utilized to process the constitutive elements of plant being utilized as a source of iridoids.
[0000] Compositions and their Use
[0063] The present invention features compositions and methods for providing a desirable physiological effect. Several embodiments of the plant and iridoid compositions comprise various different ingredients, each embodiment comprising one or more forms of a processed plant and a source of iridoids as explained herein.
[0064] Compositions of the present invention may comprise any of a number of plant components such as: extract from the leaves of the selected plant, leaf hot water extract, processed leaf ethanol extract, processed leaf steam distillation extract, fruit juice, plant extract, dietary fiber, plant puree juice, plant puree, fruit juice concentrate, puree juice concentrate, freeze concentrated fruit juice, seeds, seed extracts, extracts taken from defatted seeds, and evaporated concentration of fruit juice in combination with a source of iridoids. Compositions of the present invention may also include various other ingredients. Examples of other ingredients include, but are not limited to: artificial flavoring, other natural juices or juice concentrates such as a natural grape juice concentrate or a natural blueberry juice concentrate; carrier ingredients; and others as will be further explained herein.
[0065] Any compositions having the leaf extract from the plant or plants being utilized a as source of iridoids and the selected plant leaves, may comprise one or more of the following: the primary leaf extract, the hexane fraction, methanol fraction, the secondary hexane and methanol fractions, the leaf serum, or the nutraceutical leaf product.
[0066] In some embodiments of the present invention, active ingredients from the plant or plants being utilized as a source of iridoids and the selected plant may be extracted out using various procedures and processes. For instance, the active ingredients may be isolated and extracted out using alcohol or alcohol-based solutions, such as methanol, ethanol, and ethyl acetate, and other alcohol-based derivatives using methods known in the art. These active ingredients or compounds may be isolated and further fractioned or separated from one another into their constituent parts. Preferably, the compounds are separated or fractioned to identify and isolate any active ingredients that might help to prevent disease, enhance health, or perform other similar functions. In addition, the compounds may be fractioned or separated into their constituent parts to identify and isolate any critical or dependent interactions that might provide the same health-benefiting functions just mentioned.
[0067] Any components and compositions of and/or ingredients from the plant or plants being utilized as a source of iridoids may be further incorporated into a nutraceutical product (again, “nutraceutical” herein referring to any product designed to improve the health of living organisms). Examples of nutraceutical products may include, but are not limited to: topical products, oral compositions and various other products as may be further discussed herein.
[0068] Oral compositions may take the form of, for example, tablets, lozenges, aqueous or oily suspensions, dispersible powders or granules, emulsions, syrups, or elixirs. Such compositions may contain one or more agents such as sweetening agents, flavoring agents, coloring agents, and preserving agents. They may also contain one or more additional ingredients such as vitamins and minerals, etc. Tablets may be manufactured to contain one or more components and ingredient(s) from the plant or plants being utilized as a source of iridoids in admixture with non-toxic, pharmaceutically acceptable excipients that are suitable for the manufacture of tablets. These excipients may be, for example, inert diluents, granulating and disintegrating agents, binding agents, and lubricating agents. The tablets may be uncoated or they may be coated by known techniques to delay disintegration and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and thereby provide sustained action over a longer period. For example, a time delay material such as glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate may be used.
[0069] Aqueous suspensions may be manufactured to contain the components and ingredient(s) from the plant or plants being utilized as a source of iridoids in admixture with excipients suitable for the manufacture of aqueous suspensions. Examples of such excipients include, but are not limited to: suspending agents such as sodium carboxymethyl-cellulose, methylcellulose, hydroxy-propylmethycellulose, sodium alginate, polyvinyl-pyrrolidone, gum tragacanth and gum acacia; dispersing or wetting agents such as a naturally-occurring phosphatide like lecithin, or condensation products of an alkylene oxide with fatty acids such as polyoxyethylene stearate, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with long chain aliphatic alcohols such as heptadecaethylene-oxycetanol, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with partial esters derived from fatty acids and a hexitol such as polyoxyethylene sorbitor monooleate, or condensation products of ethylene oxide with partial esters derived from fatty acids and hexitol anhydrides such as polyethylene sorbitan monooleate.
[0070] Typical sweetening agents may include, but are not limited to: natural sugars derived from corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, potatoes, tapioca, or other starch-containing sources that can be chemically or enzymatically converted to crystalline chunks, powders, and/or syrups. Also, sweeteners can comprise artificial or high-intensity sweeteners, some of which may include aspartame, sucralose, stevia, saccharin, etc. The concentration of sweeteners may be between from 0 to 50 percent by weight of the composition, and more preferably between about 1 and 5 percent by weight.
[0071] Typical flavoring agents can include, but are not limited to, artificial and/or natural flavoring ingredients that contribute to palatability. The concentration of flavors may range, for example, from 0 to 15 percent by weight of the composition. Coloring agents may include food-grade artificial or natural coloring agents having a concentration ranging from 0 to 10 percent by weight of the composition.
[0072] Typical nutritional ingredients may include vitamins, minerals, trace elements, herbs, botanical extracts, bioactive chemicals, and compounds at concentrations from 0 to 10 percent by weight of the composition. Examples of vitamins include, but are not limited to, vitamins A, B1 through B12, C, D, E, Folic Acid, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, etc. Examples of minerals and trace elements include, but are not limited to, calcium, chromium, copper, cobalt, boron, magnesium, iron, selenium, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, iodine, zinc, phosphorus, etc. Herbs and botanical extracts may include, but are not limited to, alfalfa grass, bee pollen, chlorella powder, Dong Quai powder, Echinacea root, Gingko Biloba extract, Horsetail herb, Indian mulberry, Shitake mushroom, spirulina seaweed, grape seed extract, etc. Typical bioactive chemicals may include, but are not limited to, caffeine, ephedrine, L-carnitine, creatine, lycopene, etc.
[0073] The ingredients to be utilized in a topical dermal product may include any that are safe for internalizing into the body of a mammal and may exist in various forms, such as gels, lotions, creams, ointments, etc., each comprising one or more carrier agents.
[0074] In one exemplary embodiment, a composition of the present invention comprises one or more of a processed plant component present in an amount by weight between about 0.01 and 100 percent y weight, and preferably between 0.01 and 95 percent by weight in combination with a processed iridoid source present in an amount by weight between about 0.01 and 100 percent by weight, and preferably between 0.01 and 95 percent by weight. Several embodiments of formulations are included in U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,351, issued on Apr. 10, 2001, which are herein incorporated by reference. However, these compositions are only intended to be exemplary, as one ordinarily skilled in the art will recognize other formulations or compositions comprising the processed product.
[0075] In another exemplary embodiment, the internal composition comprises the ingredients of: processed fruit juice or puree juice present in an amount by weight between about 0.1-80 percent; a processed source of iridoids present in an amount by weight between about 0.1-20 percent; and a carrier medium present in an amount by weight between about 20-90 percent.
[0076] The processed product and/or processed source of iridoids is the active ingredient or contains one or more active ingredients, such as quercetin, rutin, scopoletin, octoanoic acid, potassium, vitamin C, terpenoids, alkaloids, anthraquinones (such as nordamnacanthal, morindone, rubiandin, B-sitosterol, carotene, vitamin A, flavone glycosides, linoleic acid, Alizarin, amino acides, acubin, L-asperuloside, caproic acid, caprylic acid, ursolic acid, and a putative proxeronine and others. Active ingredients may be extracted utilizing aqueous or organic solvents including various alcohol or alcohol-based solutions, such as methanol, ethanol, and ethyl acetate, and other alcohol-based derivatives using any known process in the art. The active iridoid ingredients and/or quercetin and rutin may be present in amounts by weight ranging from 0.01-10 percent of the total formulation or composition. These amounts may be concentrated as well into a more potent concentration in which they are present in amounts ranging from 10 to 100 percent.
[0077] The composition comprising a selected plant and a source of iridoids may be manufactured for oral consumption. It may contain one or more agents selected from the group consisting of sweetening agents, flavoring agents, coloring agents, preserving agents, and other medicinal agents as directed.
[0078] The following compositions or formulations represent some of the preferred embodiments contemplated by the present invention. “Fruit” is utilized to refer to the fruit of a plant selected from List A above and “Plant” is utilized to refer to a plant selected from List A above.
Formulation One
[0079]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
30-90
Purified Water
1.0-60
Fruit Juice
0.5-30
Grape Juice Concentrate
0.5-30
Blueberry Juice Concentrate
0.01-3
Olive Leaf Extract
0.1-35
Plant's Extract from List A
Formulation Two
[0080]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredients
40-80
Purified Water
1.0-50
Fruit Juice
0.5-30
Apple Juice Concentrate
0.5-25
Mango Juice Concentrate
0.5-20
Passion Fruit Juice Concentrate
0.001-1.0
Natural Flavor
0.001-1.0
Natural Color
0.001-1.0
Oligofructose
0.001-1.0
Fructose
0.001-1.0
Konjac/Xanthan Gum
0.001-1.0
Vegetable Protein Isolate
0.1-35
Plant's Extract from List A
Formulation Three
[0081]
[0000]
% Range
B Version
Ingredients
1.0-90
1.0-50
Purified Water
1.0-90
1.0-50
Fruit Juice
0.5-50
0.5-50
Leaf Tea
Formulation Four
[0082]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
1.0-90
Purified Water
10.-50
Fruit Juice
0.5-50
Leaf Tea
0.1-35
Plants Extract from List A
Formulation Five
[0083]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
40-80
Purified Water
1.0-50
Fruit Juice
0.5-35
Grape Juice Concentrate
0.5-35
Concord Grape Juice Concentrate
0.001-2
Natural Grape Type Flavor
0.001-3
Konjac/Xanthan Gum
0.1-35
Plant's Extract from List A
Formulation Six
[0084]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
1.0-90
Purified Water
1.0-90
Fruit Juice
0.5-60
Grape Juice Concentrate
0.5-90
Concord Grape Juice Concentrate
0.001-2
Natural Grape Type Flavor
0.001-3
0.001-1.0
Formulation Seven
[0085]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
1.0-90
Purified Water
1.0-9
Fruit Juice
0.5-60
Apple Juice Concentrate
0.5-60
Mango Juice Concentrate
0.5-60
Passion Fruit Juice Concentrate
0.001-1.0
Natural Flavor
0.001-1.0
Natural Color
0.001-1.0
Oligofructose
0.001-1.0
Fructose
0.001-1.0
Konjac/Xanthan Gum
0.001-1.0
Vegetable Protein Isolate
Formulation Eight
[0086]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
fruit nectar
3-30%
Natural Grape Juice Concentrate
3-30%
Natural Blueberry Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Vitis vinifera (White Grape) Juice Concentrate
0-5%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Olea europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract
0-15%
Vaccinium macrocarpum (Cranberry) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Gum Arabic*
0-15%
Xanthan Gum*
*some sizes exclude these ingredients
Formulation Nine
[0087]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Fruit Nectar
10-75%
Vitis labrusca (Concord Grape) Juice Concentrate
5-50%
Vitis vinifera (White Grape) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Gum Arabic*
0-15%
Xanthan Gum*
0-5%
Natural Flavor
*some sizes exclude these ingredients
Formulation Ten
[0088]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Fruit Nectar
10-75%
Malus pumila (Apple) Juice Concentrate
5-50%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Juice Concentrate
3-30%
Passiflora edulis (Passionfruit) Juice Concentrate
0-5%
Natural Flavor
0-15%
Natural Color or Concentrates (apple, cherry,
radish, sweet potato)
0-15%
Gum Arabic*
0-15%
Xanthan Gum*
0-15%
Oligofructose
0-15%
Fructose
0-15%
Vegetable Protein Isolate
*some sizes exclude these ingredients
Formulation Eleven
[0089]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Fruit Puree
10-75%
Leaf Tea
Formulation Twelve
[0090]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Fruit Nectar
3-30%
Natural Grape Juice Concentrate
3-30%
Natural Blueberry Juice Concentrate
0-5%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Gum Arabic*
0-15%
Xanthan Gum*
*some sizes exclude these ingredients
Formulation Thirteen
[0091]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Nectar
15-60%
Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry) Puree
5-50%
Cornus officinalis Reconstituted Juice
5-50%
Vitis vinifera (White Grape) Juice Concentrate
5-50%
Vaccinium corymbosum (Blueberry) Juice from Concentrate
0-15%
Prunus cerasus (Red Sour Cherry) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Vitis labrusca (Concord Grape) Juice Concentrate
0-5%
Natural Flavor
0-15%
Olea europea (Olive) Leaf Extract
0-15%
Vaccinium macrocarpum (Cranberry) Juice Conc.
*some sizes exclude these ingredients
Formulation Fourteen
[0092]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Nectar
5-50%
Vitis vinifera (White Grape) Juice Concentrate
3-30%
Malus domestica (Apple) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Ribes nigrum (Black Currant) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Vitis labrusca (Concord Grape) Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Vaccinium corymbosum (Blueberry) Juice Concentrate
0-5%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Rubus idaeus (Red Raspberry) Juice Concentrate
Formulation Fifteen
[0093]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-95%
Water (Aqua/Eau)
0-15%
Polymethylsilsesquioxane
0-20%
Glycerin
0-20%
Propanediol
0-20%
Cyclopentasiloxane
0-20%
Cyclotetrasiloxane
0-20%
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
0-20%
Sodium Polyacrylate
0-20%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Hydrogenated Polydecene
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Cyclohexasiloxane
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
PEG/PPG-14/4 Dimethicone
0-15%
Dimethiconol
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Tropaeolum majus Flower Extract
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Sodium PCA
0-15%
Ethylhexylglycerin
0-15%
Panthenol
0-5%
Trideceth-6
0-5%
Hexylene Glycol
0-5%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-5%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-5%
Carbomer
0-5%
Polysorbate 20
0-5%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-5%
Methylparaben
0-5%
Ethylparaben
0-5%
Propylparaben
0-5%
Butylparaben
0-5%
Isobutylparaben
0-5%
Vegetable Oil
0-5%
Tocopherol
0-5%
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide
0-5%
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7
0-5%
Phospholipids
0-5%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf
Extract
0-5%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-5%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-5%
Ascorbyl Palmitate
0-5%
Quaternium-15
0-5%
EDTA
Formulation Sixteen
[0094]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-95%
Water (Aqua/Eau)
3-30%
Aloe barbadensis Leaf Juice
0-15%
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
0-15%
Sinorhizobium meliloti Ferment Filtrate
0-15%
Propanediol
0-15%
Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Prunus armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-5%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-5%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-5%
Sodium Polyacrylate
0-5%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-5%
Phenoxyethanol
0-5%
Cyclopentasiloxane
0-5%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-5%
Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate
0-5%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-5%
Cyclotetrasiloxane
0-5%
Ceteareth-20
0-5%
Sodium PCA
0-5%
Hordeum distichon (Barley) Extract
0-5%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-5%
Ethylhexylglycerin
0-5%
Santalum album (Sandalwood) Extract
0-5%
Phellodendron amurense Bark Extract
0-5%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-5%
Dimethiconol
0-5%
Hexylene Glycol
0-5%
Seed Oil
0-5%
Disodium EDTA
0-5%
Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose
0-5%
Lecithin
0-5%
Sodium Benzoate
0-5%
Potassium Sorbate
0-5%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-5%
Trisodium EDTA
0-5%
Tocopherol
0-5%
Vegetable Oil
0-5%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf
Extract
Formulation Seventeen
[0095]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-95%
Water (Aqua/Eau)
3-30%
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Bis-PEG-15 Methyl Ether Dimethicone
0-15%
Behenyl Alcohol
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Pentylene Glycol
0-15%
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl
Taurate Copolymer
0-15%
Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate
0-15%
Beheneth-5
0-15%
Silica
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-10%
Seed Oil
0-5%
Phenoxyethanol
0-5%
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
0-5%
Polysorbate 60
0-5%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-5%
Titanium Dioxide
0-5%
Leaf Juice
0-5%
Ethylhexylglycerin
0-5%
Hexylene Glycol
0-5%
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate
0-5%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-5%
Gardenia jasminoides Meristem Cell Culture
0-5%
Olea europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract
0-5%
Disodium EDTA
0-5%
Steareth-20
0-5%
Camellia oleifera Leaf Extract
0-5%
Iron Oxides
0-5%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-5%
Chlorhexidine Digluconate
0-5%
Xanthan Gum
0-5%
N-Hydroxysuccinimide
0-5%
Vegetable Oil
0-5%
Tocopherol
0-5%
Potassium Sorbate
0-5%
Chrysin
0-5%
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide
0-5%
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7
0-5%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Eighteen
[0096]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
10-75%
Sugar
3-30%
Inulin (Contains Fructooligosaccharides)
3-30%
Cocoa (processed with alkali)
3-30%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Whey Protein Isolate
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Milk Protein Concentrate
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Mono & Diglycerides
0-15%
Stevia
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Pea Protein Isolate
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Tocopherols
Formulation Nineteen
[0097]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
10-75%
Sugar
3-30%
Inulin (Contains Fructo-oligosaccharides)
3-30%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
3-30%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Whey Protein Isolate
0-15%
Milk Protein Concentrate
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Mono & Diglycerides
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Stevia
0-15%
Beta Carotene
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Pea Protein Isolate
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Tocopherols
Formulation Twenty
[0098]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
10-75%
Sugar
3-30%
Inulin (Contains Fructo-oligosaccharides)
3-30%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
3-30%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Whey Protein Isolate
0-15%
Milk Protein Concentrate
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Mono & Diglycerides
0-15%
Stevia
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Pea Protein Isolate
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Tocopherols
Formulation Twenty-One
[0099]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Apple Juice
10-75%
Coconut Water
5-50%
Mango Puree
5-50%
Pineapple Juice
3-30%
Orange Juice
3-30%
Prune Juice
0-15%
Polydextrose
0-15%
Acerola Cherry Juice
0-15%
Passion Fruit Juice
0-15%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe Vera ) Gel
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice
0-15%
Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion)
Root
Formulation Twenty-Two
[0100]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Sugar
5-50%
Psyllium Husk Fiber
5-50%
Oat Seed Fiber (contains Beta Glucan)
0-15%
Inulin (from Chicory Root)
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Beet Juice (Natural Color)
0-15%
Stevia
0-15%
Turmeric (Natural Color)
0-15%
Dehydrated Lemon Juice
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
Formulation Twenty-Three
[0101]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Sugar
5-50%
Psyllium Husk Fiber
5-50%
Oat Seed Fiber (Contains Beta Glucan)
0-15%
Inulin (from Chicory Root)
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Beta Carotene (Natural Color)
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Stevia
0-15%
Dehydrated Orange Juice from
concentrate
Formulation Twenty-Four
[0102]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-50%
Rolled Oats
3-30%
Soy Protein Isolate
3-30%
Rice Flour
3-30%
Salt
0-15%
Coconut
0-30%
Corn Syrup
5-35%
Brown Rice Syrup
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sea Salt
0-75%
Sugar
0-30%
Chocolate Liquor
0-30%
Cocoa Butter
0-30%
Soya Lecithin (an emulsifer)
0-30%
Vanilla Extract
0-15%
Brown Sugar
0-20%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-30%
Fruit Juice
0-30%
Natural Grape Juice Concentrate
0-30%
Natural Blueberry Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Molasses
5-50%
Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil
5-50%
Cocoa Processed with Alkali
5-50%
Lactose
5-50%
Palm Oil
5-50%
Soy Lecithin (an emulsifer)
5-50%
Vanilla
0-15%
Soy Protein Isolate
0-15%
Lecithin
0-15%
Whey Protein Isolate
0-15%
Whey Protein Concentrate
0-15%
Calcium Caseinate (a milk derivative)
Formulation Twenty-Five
[0103]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
0-30%
Soy Protein Isolate
0-30%
Rice Flour
0-30%
Salt
0-40%
Rolled Oats
5-50%
Brown Rice Syrup
5-50%
Corn Syrup
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sugar
5-50%
Peanuts
0-15%
Peanut Salt
0-15%
Peanut Flour
0-15%
Peanut Oil
0-30%
Glucose
3-30%
Sugar
3-30%
Modified Palm Kernel Oil
3-30%
Water
3-30%
Skim Milk Powder
3-30%
Glycerin
3-30%
Soy Lecithin
3-30%
Artificial Flavor
3-30%
Salted Butter
3-30%
Sodium Citrate
3-30%
Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil
3-30%
Cocoa Processed with Alkali
3-30%
Lactose
3-30%
Palm Oil
3-30%
Soy Lecithin (an emulsifer)
3-30%
Vanilla
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavor
0-30%
Fruit juice
0-30%
Natural Grape Juice Concentrate
0-30%
Natural Blueberry Juice Concentrate
0-30%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Soy Protein Isolate
0-15%
Lecithin
0-15%
Whey Protein Isolate
0-15%
Whey Protein Concentrate
0-15%
Calcium Caseinate (a milk derivative)
Formulation Twenty-Six
[0104]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
5-50%
Calcium Carbonate
5-50%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
5-50%
Ascorbic Acid
3-30%
Magnesium Oxide
3-30%
Stearic Acid
3-30%
Zinc Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
d-alpha Tocopheryl Succinate
0-15%
Selenium Chelate
0-15%
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCl)
0-15%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate)
0-15%
Pantothenic Acid (d-Calcium Pantothenate)
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Riboflavin
0-15%
Beta Carotene
0-15%
Croscarmellose Sodium
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Dicalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Coating (Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose,
0-15%
Dextrin, Dextrose, Medium Chain Triglycerides)
0-15%
Niacinamide
0-15%
Chromium Chelate
0-15%
Copper Gluconate
0-15%
Vitamin K1 (Phytonadione)
0-15%
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
0-15%
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
0-15%
Fruit pulp
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Cellulose
0-15%
Biotin
0-15%
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamine)
Formulation Twenty-Seven
[0105]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
5-50%
Calcium Carbonate
5-50%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
5-50%
Ascorbic Acid
3-30%
Magnesium Oxide
3-30%
Stearic Acid
3-30%
Selenium Chelate
0-15%
Zinc Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
d-alpha Tocopheryl Succinate
0-15%
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCl)
0-15%
Ferrous Chelate
0-15%
Pantothenic Acid (d-Calcium Pantothenate)
0-15%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate)
0-15%
Riboflavin
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Beta Carotene
0-15%
Niacinamide
0-15%
Croscarmellose Sodium
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Dicalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Coating (Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose,
0-15%
Dextrin, Dextrose, Medium Chain Triglycerides
0-15%
Sodium Citrate)
0-15%
Vitamin K1 (Phytonadione)
0-15%
Chromium Chelate
0-15%
Copper Gluconate
0-15%
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
0-15%
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
0-15%
Fruit Pulp
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Cellulose
0-15%
Biotin
0-15%
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
Formulation Twenty-Eight
[0106]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Puree
5-50%
Purified Water
5-50%
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)
3-30%
Glucosamine HCl
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Flaxseed Oil
0-15%
Priopionic Acid
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Twenty-Nine
[0107]
[0000]
%
Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Puree
10-75%
Purified Water
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Flaxseed Oil
0-15%
Priopionic Acid
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty
[0108]
[0000]
%
Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Polyacrylamide
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
2-Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
C13-14 Isoparaffin
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Laureth-7
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
FD&C Red #33
0-15%
Ethanol
0-15%
FD&C Blue #1
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Leaf Extract
Formulation Thirty-One
[0109]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Purified Water
10-75%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Natural Mesquite Smoke Flavor
0-15%
Fish Oil
0-15%
Safflower Oil
0-15%
Flaxseed Oil
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Oil (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Microalgae Oil
0-15%
Glucosamine HCl
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Priopionic Acid
0-15%
Cetyl Myristoleate
0-15%
L-Threonine
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty-Two
[0110]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Purified Water
10-75%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Natural Mesquite Smoke Flavor
0-15%
Fish Oil
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Safflower Oil
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Oil (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Flaxseed Oil
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Microalgae Oil
0-15%
Priopionic Acid
0-15%
Cetyl Myristoleate
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty-Three
[0111]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Water
5-50%
Wheat Flour
5-50%
Fruit Puree
5-50%
Chicken Meat
3-30%
Corn Flour
3-30%
Wheat Gluten
0-15%
Sugar
0-15%
Gelatin, tech grade
0-15%
Natural Smoke Flavor
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Dextrose
0-15%
Garlic Powder
0-15%
Safflawer Seed Oil
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Phosphoric Acid
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Onion Powder
0-15%
Fish Oil
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Flax seed Oil
0-15%
Caramel Color
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Propionic Acid
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty-Four
[0112]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Puree
10-75%
Purified Water
0-15%
pulp
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Oil (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Propionic Acid
0-15%
Flaxseed Oil
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty-Five
[0113]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Puree Organic
10-75%
Water
Formulation Thirty-Six
[0114]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
dl-alpha Tocopheryl Oil (Vitamin E)
0-15%
Microalgae Oil
0-15%
Propionic Acid
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Rosemary Extract
Formulation Thirty-Seven
[0115]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Puree Organic
10-75%
Water
Formulation Thirty-Eight
[0116]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Clarified Fruit Puree
Formulation Thirty-Nine
[0117]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Clarified Fruit Puree
Formulation Fourty
[0118]
[0000]
%
Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Clarified Fruit Puree
Formulation Fourty-One
[0119]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Clarified Fruit Puree
Formulation Fourty-Two
[0120]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Plant Sterols
5-50%
Calcium Carbonate
5-50%
Vegetable Capsules
3-30%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
3-30%
Acerola Extract ( Malpighia glabra linne )
3-30%
Magnesium Oxide
0-15%
Niacinamide Yeast
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Zinc Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Biotin Yeast
0-15%
Folic Acid Yeast
0-15%
Pantothenic Acid Yeast
0-15%
Leaf
0-15%
Fruit
0-15%
Selenium Chelate
0-15%
Organic Rice Flour
0-15%
Silica
0-15%
d-alpha Tocopheryl Succinate
0-15%
Kelp ( Laminaria digitata )
0-15%
Manganese Chelate
0-15%
Berry Blend (see formula or label for list)
0-15%
Quercetin
0-15%
Riboflavin Yeast
0-15%
Copper Gluconate
0-15%
Modified Food Starch
0-15%
Vitamin B6 Yeast
0-15%
Daikon Sprout ( Raphanus sativus )
0-15%
Kale Sprout ( Brassica oleracea )
0-15%
Broccoli Sprout ( Brassica oleracea )
0-15%
Cabbage Sprout ( Brassica oleracia )
0-15%
Garlic Bulb ( Allium Sativum )
0-15%
Thiamin Yeast
0-15%
Chromium Chelate
0-15%
Vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol)
0-15%
Natural Beta Carotene
0-15%
Molybdenum Chelate
0-15%
Vitamin B12 Yeast
0-15%
Water
0-15%
Ethyl Cellulose
0-15%
dl-Alpha Tocopherol
Formulation Fourty-Three
[0121]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Camellia sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf
5-50%
Leaf Tea
5-50%
Jasminum odoratissimum (Jasmine) Flowers
Formulation Fourty-Four
[0122]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
0-100%
Leaf
Formulation Fourty-Five
[0123]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water (Aqua)
10-75%
Leaf Juice
3-30%
Pentylene Glycol
0-15%
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Hydroxide
0-15%
Alcohol
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis (Vanilla) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
PEG-8 Laurate
0-15%
Laureth-4
0-15%
Sodium Dehydroacetate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
Formulation Fourty-Six
[0124]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water (Aqua)
10-75%
Leaf Juice
3-30%
Pentylene Glycol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
PEG 8 Laurate
0-15%
Laureth-4
0-15%
Sodium Dehydroacetate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Sodium Citrate
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis (Vanilla) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Methylparaben
0-15%
Propylparaben
Formulation Fourty-Seven
[0125]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Fourty-Eight
[0126]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Milk Protein Isolate
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolated
10-75%
Whey Protein Isolate
5-50%
Dutch Cocoa
5-50%
Inulin
5-50%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Cereal Solids/Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Cellulose Gel
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Lecithin (from Soy and Egg)
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (A milk derivative)
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Sucralose
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Magnesium Carbonate
Formulation Fourty-Nine
[0127]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Fructose
5-50%
Isolated Soy Protein
5-50%
Milk Protein Isolate
5-50%
Whey Protein Isolate
3-30%
Dutch Cocoa
0-15%
Inulin
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Cereal Solids/Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Cellulose Gel
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (A milk derivative)
0-15%
Mono-and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Malto-dextrin
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
0-15%
Magnesium Carbonate
Formulation Fifty
[0128]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Milk Protein Isolate
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
10-75%
Whey Protein Isolate
5-50%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
3-30%
Cereal Solids/Corn Syrup Solids
3-30%
Inulin
0-15%
Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Cellulose Gel
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (A milk derivative)
0-15%
Lecithin (from Soy and Egg)
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Malto-dextrin
0-15%
Sucralose
0-15%
Pulp
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
Formulation Fifty-One
[0129]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Fructose
5-50%
Milk Protein Isolate
5-50%
Soy Protein Isolate
5-50%
Whey Protein Isolate
3-30%
Inulin (contains Fructooligosaccharides)
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Cellulose Gel
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Lecithin
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Fruit Powder
0-15%
Tocopherols
Formulation Fifty-Two
[0130]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Corn Syrup
35-90%
Sugar
3-30%
Palm Oil
0-15%
Fruit juice, Natural Grape Juice Concentrate,
Natural Blueberry Juice Concentrate, Natural
Flavors
0-15%
Mono-and Diglycerides
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Natural Colors
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Salt
Formulation Fifty-Three
[0131]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Corn Syrup
35-90%
Sugar
3-30%
Palm Oil
0-15%
Fruit juice, Natural Grape Juice Concentrate, Natural
Blueberry Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavors
0-15%
Mono-and Diglycerides
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Natural Colors
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Salt
Formulation Fifty-Four
[0132]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Juice
5-50%
Hypericum perforatum (St. Johns Wort) Extract
5-50%
Passiflora incarnata (Passion Flower) Extract
3-30%
Fruit Pulp
0-15%
Citric acid
Formulation Fifty-Five
[0133]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Fruit Juice
3-30%
Panax ginseng Root Extract
3-30%
Eleutherococcus senticosus Root Extract
0-15%
Schisandra chinensis Fruit Extract
0-15%
Grape Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Apple Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Pear Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Dextrin
0-15%
Citric acid
Formulation Fifty-Six
[0134]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Juice
5-50%
Fruit Pulp
3-30%
Crataegus pinnatifida (Chinese Hawthorn) Berry Extract
0-15%
Commiphora mukul (Guggul) Resin Extract
0-15%
Zingiber officinale (Ginger) Rhizome Extract
0-15%
Coenzyme Q10 (Ubiquinone)
0-15%
Citric acid
Formulation Fifty-Seven
[0135]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Juice
5-50%
Fruit Pulp
5-50%
Glucosamine HCL
0-15%
Curcuma longa ( Curcumin) Root Extract
0-15%
Citric acid
Formulation Fifty-Eight
[0136]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
0-100%
Fruit Juice Concentrate
Formulation Fifty-Nine
[0137]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fruit Juice
5-50%
Fruit Pulp
3-30%
Bacopa monnieri (Bacopa) Plant Extract
0-15%
Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo) Leaf Extract
0-15%
Lycopodium serratum (Huperzine) Plant Extract
0-15%
Citric acid
Formulation Sixty
[0138]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-95%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
Formulation Sixty-One
[0139]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-95%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis Fruit Extract
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Two
[0140]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-95%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Bougainvillea glabra (Bougainvillea) Flower
Extract
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
Formulation Sixty-Three
[0141]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-95%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Prunus persica (Peach) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis ( Vanilla ) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Four
[0142]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Acrylates Copolymer
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Glycol Stearate
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Stearamide AMP
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Tropical Fern) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Pantolactone
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Five
[0143]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Acrylates Copolymer
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Glycol Stearate
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Stearic Acid
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis ( Vanilla ) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Pantolactone
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Six
[0144]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Acrylates Copolymer
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Glycol Stearate
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Stearic Acid
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Bougainvillea glabra (Bougainvillea) Flower
Extract
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Pantolactone
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Seven
[0145]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Acrylates Copolymer
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Glycol Stearate
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Stearic Acid
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Prunus persica (Peach) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis ( Vanilla ) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Pantolactone
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Eight
[0146]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Water (Aqua)
5-50%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
5-50%
Elaeis guineensis (Palm) Oil
3-30%
Cyclomethicone
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
3-30%
Glycerin
3-30%
Glyceryl Stearate
3-30%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Citris Aurantium dulcis (Orange) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Oil
0-15%
PEG-150 Distearate
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Benzoic Acid
0-15%
Cananga odorata (Ylang Ylang) Oil
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia ternifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Jasminum officinale (Jasmine) Oil
0-15%
Calophyllum tacamahaca (Tamanu) Seed Oil
0-15%
Riboflavin
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Sixty-Nine
[0147]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Cocos nucifora (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Quaternium-91
0-15%
Cinnamidopropyltrimonium Chloride
0-15%
Cetrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Hydroxyethylcellulose
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Sodium Acetate
0-15%
Starches/Sugars in situ
0-15%
DL-Lactone
0-15%
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Aminopropanol
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Cellulose
0-15%
Citrus grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Ethanedial
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Seventy
[0148]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Quaternium 91
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Cetrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Cinnamidoproplytrimonium Chloride
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Hydroxyethylcellulose
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Sodium Acetate
0-15%
Hedychium coronium (Awapuhi) Root Extract
0-15%
dl-Lactone
0-15%
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Starches/Sugars in situ
0-15%
Aminopropanol
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Cellulose
0-15%
Pearl Powder
0-15%
Maris Sal (Sea Salt)
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Extract
0-15%
Plumeria rubra (Plumeria) Flower Extract
0-15%
Colocasia antiquorum (Taro) Root Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Ethanedial
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
Formulation Seventy-One
[0149]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Quaternium-91
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Cetrimonium Methosulfate
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Cinnamidopropyltrimonium Chloride
0-15%
Hydroxyethylcellulose
0-15%
Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter
0-15%
Pantethine
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Sodium Acetate
0-15%
Starches/Sugars in Situ
0-15%
Ficus carica (Fig) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Hedychium coronarium (Awapuhi) Root Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
dl-Lactone
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Aminopropanol
0-15%
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Cellulose
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Ethanedial
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Seventy-Two
[0150]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Hexylene Glycol
0-15%
Polyquaternium 10
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Starch/Sugar
0-15%
Citrus grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Hedychium coronarium (White Ginger) Root Extract
0-15%
Saponaria officinalis (Soapwort) Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
Formulation Seventy-Three
[0151]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Glycol Distearate
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Polyquaternium-10
0-15%
Hexylene Glycol
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Coco-Glucoside
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Rice
Protein
0-15%
Cocos nucifora (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Glyceryl Oleate
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Hedychium coronarium (Awapuhi) Root Extract
0-15%
Saponaria officinalis (Soapwort) Root Extract
0-15%
Benzoic Acid
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Pearl Powder
0-15%
Maris Sal
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Extract
0-15%
Plumeria rubra (Plumeria) Flower Extract
0-15%
Colocasia antiquorum (Taro) Root Extract
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Seventy-Four
[0152]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Polyquaternium-10
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Hexylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
0-15%
Pantethine
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Starches/Sugars in Situ
0-15%
Hedychium coronarium (Awapuhi) Root Extract
0-15%
Ficus carica (Fig) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Aminopropanol
0-15%
dl-Lactone
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Ananas sativus (Pineapple) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Seventy-Five
[0153]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
3-30%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
0-15%
Elaeis guineensis (Palm) Oil
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-15%
Tetrasodium EDTA
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Vitis vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis Flower
0-15%
Ascorbyl Palmitate
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Ash
Formulation Seventy-Six
[0154]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
SD Alcohol-40
10-75%
Hydrofluorocarbon 152A
5-50%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
Dimethyl Ether
0-15%
Acrylates Copolymer
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Linoleamidopropyl Ethyldimonium Ethosulfate
0-15%
Triethyl Citrate
0-15%
AMP-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
0-15%
Cyclomethicone
0-15%
PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Cinnamidopropyltrimonium Chloride
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Pyrus malus (Apple) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
Formulation Seventy-Seven
[0155]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Polyimide-1
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Polysilicone-15
0-15%
Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Aminomethyl Propanol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Phytantriol
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Pyrus malus (Apple) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Chlorphenesin
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Seventy-Eight
[0156]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
5-50%
Milk Protein Isolate
5-50%
Inulin (Contains Fructooligosaccharides)
5-50%
Soy Protein Isolate
3-30%
Dutch Cocoa
3-30%
Citrus Fiber (From Peel & Pulp)
3-30%
Oat Fiber (From Seed)
3-30%
Whey Protein Isolate
3-30%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Gum Acacia (From Sap)
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Soybean Fiber
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Cellulose Gum
0-15%
Guar Gum
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Malto-Dextrin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (A Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Mono-and Diglycerides
0-15%
Carrageenan
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Potassium Chloride
0-15%
Sucralose (Sweetener)
0-15%
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbyl Palmitate)
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Vitamin E (as dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate and Mixed
Tocopherols)
0-15%
Dicalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Magnesium Oxide
0-15%
Vitamin A (as Vitamin A Palmitate and Beta-Carotene)
0-15%
Niacin (as Niacinamide)
0-15%
Zinc (as Zinc Oxide)
0-15%
Iron (as Iron Electrolytic)
0-15%
Copper (as Copper Gluconate)
0-15%
Pantothenic Acid (as d-Calcium Pantothenate)
0-15%
Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol)
0-15%
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
0-15%
Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride)
0-15%
Sucrose
0-15%
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
0-15%
Thiamin (as Thiamine Mononitrate)
0-15%
Vitamin B12 (as Cyanocobalamin)
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Biotin
0-15%
Iodine (as Potassium Iodide)
0-15%
Sodium Ascorbate
Formulation Seventy-Nine
[0157]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
5-50%
Milk Protein Isolate
5-50%
Inulin (Contains Fructooligosaccharides)
5-50%
Soy Protein Isolate
3-30%
Oat Fiber (From Seed)
3-30%
Citrus Fiber (From Peel & Pulp)
3-30%
Whey Protein Isolate
3-30%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
3-30%
Gum Arabic (From Sap)
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Soybean Fiber
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Cellulose Gum
0-15%
Guar Gum
0-15%
Egg Albumin
0-15%
Malto-Dextrin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate (A Milk Derivative)
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Mono-and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Carrageenan
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Potassium Chloride
0-15%
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbyl Palmitate,
and Sodium Ascorbate)
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Vitamin E (as dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate and Mixed
Tocopherols)
0-15%
Dicalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Sucralose (a Sweetener)
0-15%
Magnesium Oxide
0-15%
Vitamin A (as Vitamin A Palmitate and Beta-Carotene)
0-15%
Niacin (as Niacinamide)
0-15%
Zinc (as Zinc Oxide)
0-15%
Iron (as Iron Electrolytic)
0-15%
Copper (as Copper Gluconate)
0-15%
Dextrin
0-15%
Pantothenic Acid (as d-Calcium Pantothenate)
0-15%
Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol)
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride)
0-15%
Sucrose
0-15%
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
0-15%
Thiamin (as Thiamine Mononitrate)
0-15%
Vitamin B12 (as Cyanocobalamin)
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Biotin
0-15%
Iodine (as Potassium Iodide)
Formulation Eighty
[0158]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Garcinia Cambogia Fruit Extract
3-30%
Gelatin
3-30%
L-Carnitine
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Chromium Chelate
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
Formulation Eighty-One
[0159]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-00%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
Progesterone
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Stearic Acid
0-15%
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Triethanolamine
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Hydrogenated Lecithin
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Tocopherol
Formulation Eighty-Two
[0160]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Calcium Carbonate
5-50%
Magnesium Oxide
5-50%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Calcium Citrate
0-15%
Croscarmellose Sodium
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Water
0-15%
HPMC, Maltodextrin, Fractionated Coconut Oil
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
0-15%
Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol)
Formulation Eighty-Three
[0161]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water
0-15%
TNJ Concentrate
0-15%
Iti White Guava Puree #3100
0-15%
Encore Orange Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Milne Cranberry Juice Conc. Essence Ret. 50 Brix
0-15%
NW Naturals Pineapple Ju. Conc #19666
0-15%
Milne Concord Grape Ju. Conc. 68 Brix Essnce Ret.
0-15%
Tree Top Apple Juice Conc. TTA01
0-15%
Tree Top Pear Juice Conc. TTP01
0-15%
Roche Vitamin Premix # XR13338000 no biotin/Vit E
Beta Carotene (Vitamin A)
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3)
Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1)
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
Folic Acid (Vitamin B9)
Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)
Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5)
Maltodextrin (Carrier)
Formulation Eighty-Four
[0162]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Fish Oil (300/200 EPH/DHA
5-50%
Seed Oil
5-50%
Flax Seed Oil
0-15%
Borage Oil
0-15%
Vitamin E (d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate)
0-15%
Evening Primrose Oil
0-15%
Black Currant Seed Oil
Formulation Eighty-Five
[0163]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Soy Protein Concentrate
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
3-30%
Dutch Cocoa
0-15%
Calcium Carbonate
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Calcium Phosphate
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate
0-15%
Sucralose
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Malic Acid
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
Formulation Eighty-Six
[0164]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Soy Protein Concentrate
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
0-15%
Calcium Carbonate
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Natural and Artificial Flavors
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate
0-15%
Sucralose
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Silicon dioxide
0-15%
Malic Acid
0-15%
Vitamin A (from beta-carotene
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
Formulation Eighty-Seven
[0165]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Soy Protein Concentrate
10-75%
Soy Protein Isolate
0-15%
Calcium Carbonate
0-15%
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
0-15%
Calcium Phosphate
0-15%
Corn Syrup Solids
0-15%
Maltodextrin
0-15%
Natural Flavors
0-15%
Soy Lecithin
0-15%
Salt
0-15%
Sodium Caseinate
0-15%
Mono and Diglycerides
0-15%
Dipotassium Phosphate
0-15%
Tricalcium Phosphate
0-15%
Sucralose
0-15%
Malic Acid
0-15%
Fruit Fiber
0-15%
Mixed Tocopherols
Formulation Eighty-Eight
[0166]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Maltodextrin (tableting excipient)
5-50%
Microcrystalline cellulose (tableting excipient)
5-50%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha-tocopherol Acid Succinate)
3-30%
Vegetable oil and Cellulose (coating excipient)
3-30%
Ascorbic Acid
0-15%
Coral Calcium
0-15%
Croscarmellose sodium (tableting excipient)
0-15%
Dicalcium Phosphate (carrier)
0-15%
Red clover Extract ( Trifolium pratense )
0-15%
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide (excipient)
0-15%
Chasteberry Extract ( Vitex agnus - catus )
0-15%
Inositol
0-15%
P-Amino Benzoic Acid (PABA)
0-15%
Choline Bitartrate
0-15%
Magenesium oxide
0-15%
Black Cohosh Dry Extract ( Cimicifuga racemosa )
0-15%
Selenium Yeast
0-15%
Calcium D-pantothenate
0-15%
Stearic Acid (tableting excipient)
0-15%
Ferric Fumarate
0-15%
Calendula Flower Extract ( Calendula officinalis )
0-15%
Coating agent (dextrin, dextrose, lecithin, SCMC,
sodium citrate)
0-15%
Boron Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Zinc oxide
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Copper gluconate
0-15%
Manganese Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Beta carotene
0-15%
Niacinamide
0-15%
Niacin
0-15%
Vanadium Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Coating agent (Methylcellulose and glycerin)
0-15%
Retinyl palmitate
0-15%
Cholecalciferol
0-15%
Fruit pulp
0-15%
Chromium Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Molybdenum Amino Acid Chelate
0-15%
Thiamine Mononitrate
0-15%
Riboflavin
0-15%
Cyanocobalamin
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Biotin
0-15%
Potassium Iodide
Formulation Eighty-Nine
[0167]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Ricinus communis (Castor) Seed Oil
5-50%
Ozokerite
5-50%
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
3-30%
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate **Octinoxate
3-30%
Euphorbia cerifera (Candelilla) Wax
3-30%
Sorbitan Oleate
0-15%
Benzophenone-3 **Oxybenzone
0-15%
Flavor
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia ternifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Sodium Saccharin
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
0-15%
Menthol
0-15%
Camphor
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Ninety
[0168]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Ricinus communis (Castor) Seed Oil
5-50%
Ozokerite
5-50%
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
3-30%
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate **Octinoxate
3-30%
Euphorbia cerifera (Candelilla) Wax
3-30%
Sorbitan Oleate
0-15%
Benzophenone-3 **Oxybenzone
0-15%
Flavor
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia ternifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Sodium Saccharin
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
0-15%
Menthol
0-15%
Camphor
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Ninety-One
[0169]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Ricinus communis (Castor) Seed Oil
5-50%
Ozokerite
5-50%
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
3-30%
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate **Octinoxate
3-30%
Euphorbia cerifera (Candelilla) Wax
3-30%
Sorbitan Oleate
0-15%
Benzophenone-3 **Oxybenzone
0-15%
Flavor
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia ternifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Sodium Saccharin
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
0-15%
Menthol
0-15%
Camphor
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Ninety-Two
[0170]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetyl Alcohol
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
Progesterone
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Stearic Acid
0-15%
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Hydrogenated Lecithin
0-15%
Triethanolamine
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
0-15%
Diethanolamine
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation Ninety-Three
[0171]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Sodium Cocoate
10-75%
Glycerin
5-50%
Deionized Water
5-50%
Sodium Castorate
3-30%
Sodium Safflowerate
3-30%
Sorbitol
3-30%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe ) Leaf Juice
Formulation Ninety-Four
[0172]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Sodium Cocoate
10-75%
Aqua (Water)
10-75%
Glycerin
5-50%
Sodium Castorate
3-30%
Sodium Safflowerate
0-15%
Sorbitol
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Puree
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe ) Leaf Juice
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Extract
0-15%
Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum
0-15%
Methyl Paraben
0-15%
Sodium Benzoate
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Metabisulfate
0-15%
Titanium Dioxide
0-15%
Aluminum Hydroxide
0-15%
Silica
Formulation Ninety-Five
[0173]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Sodium Cocoate
10-75%
Water (Aqua)
10-75%
Glycerin
5-50%
Sodium Castorate
3-30%
Sodium Safflowerate
0-15%
Sorbitol
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe ) Leaf Juice
0-15%
Carica papaya ( Papaya ) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Propylene Glycol
0-15%
Methylparaben
0-15%
Sodium Benzoate
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Metabisulfite
0-15%
Titanium Dioxide
0-15%
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
0-15%
Lecithin
0-15%
Beta-Carotene
0-15%
Hydrogenated Vegetable Glycerides Citrate
0-15%
Ascorbic Acid
0-15%
Ascorbyl Palmitate
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Aluminum Hydroxide
0-15%
Hydrated Silica
Formulation Ninety-Six
[0174]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Sodium Cocoate
10-75%
Water (Aqua)
10-75%
Glycerin
5-50%
Sodium Castorate
3-30%
Sodium Safflowerate
0-15%
Sorbitol
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe ) Leaf Juice
0-15%
Laminaria digitata (Seaweed) Extract
0-15%
Propylene Glycol
0-15%
Methylparaben
0-15%
Sodium Benzoate
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Metabisulfite
0-15%
Titanium Dioxide
0-15%
Chlorophyllin-Copper Complex
0-15%
Aluminum Hydroxide
0-15%
Hydrated Silica
Formulation Ninety-Seven
[0175]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Sodium Cocoate
10-75%
Water (Aqua)
10-75%
Glycerin
5-50%
Sodium Castorate
3-30%
Sodium Safflowerate
0-15%
Sorbitol
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Fruit Puree
0-15%
Aloe barbadensis ( Aloe ) Leaf Juice
0-15%
Laminaria digitata (Seaweed) Extract
0-15%
Propylene Glycol
0-15%
Methylparaben
0-15%
Sodium Benzoate
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Sodium Metabisulfite
0-15%
Titanium Dioxide
0-15%
Chlorophyllin-Copper Complex
0-15%
Aluminum Hydroxide
0-15%
Hydrated Silica
Formulation Ninety-Eight
[0176]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
*Octinoxate (Ethylhexylmethoxycinnamate)
3-30%
*Homosalate
3-30%
*Octisalate (Ethylhexyl Salicylate)
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate SE
0-15%
*Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3)
0-15%
C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
*Avobenzone (Butylmethoxydibenzoylmethane)
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Elaeis guineensis (Palm) Oil
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Ascorbyl Palmitate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-15%
Vitis vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
Formulation Ninety-Nine
[0177]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Sea Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Ascorbic Acid
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-15%
Tocopherol
Formulation One Hundred
[0178]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Sea Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Ascorbic Acid
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-15%
Tocopherol
Formulation One Hundred One
[0179]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
3-30%
Decyl Glucoside
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
0-15%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
0-15%
Cocamide MIPA
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
0-15%
Sodium Chloride
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Hexylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Methylchloroisothiazolinone and
Methylisothiazolinone
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair) Extract
0-15%
Citrus aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract.
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Honey Extract
0-15%
Tocopheryl Acetate
0-15%
Ascorbic Acid
0-15%
Retinyl Palmitate
0-15%
Tocopherol
Formulation One Hundred Two
[0180]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Polyacrylate
0-15%
Salicylic Acid
0-15%
Allyl Methacrylates crosspolymer
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Polyisobutene
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Salix nigra (Willow) Bark Extract
0-15%
Modified Amorphophallus Konjac ( Konjac ) Root Extract
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Zinc PCA
0-15%
Bisabolol
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Curcuma longa (Tumeric) Root Extract
0-15%
Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Three
[0181]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate
3-30%
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Chondrus crispus (Carrageenan)
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Salix nigra (Willow) Bark Extract
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Amorphophallus konjac ( Konjac ) Root Powder
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Glucose
0-15%
Ocimum basilicum (Basil) Leaf Extract
0-15%
Citrus grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Moringa pterygosperma ( Moringa ) Seed Extract
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
Formulation One Hundred Four
[0182]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
3-30%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
3-30%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Laureth-4
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Calophyllum inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil
0-15%
Moringa oleifera Seed Oil
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Laminaria digitata (Algae) Extract
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Fruit Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Five
[0183]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water/Aqua
5-50%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
3-30%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterol
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Bisabolol
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Ceramide NP
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Beta-Glucan
0-15%
Pantolactone
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
1,2-Hexanediol
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Benzoic Acid
0-15%
Sodium Benzoate
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis ( Rosemary ) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Six
[0184]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterols
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Bisabolol
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Calophyllum inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil
0-15%
Ethylhexylglycerin
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Ceramide NP
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Musa sapientum (Banana) Flower Extract
0-15%
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyl) Extract
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Seven
[0185]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Octinoxate (7.50%)** Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate
3-30%
Octisalate (5%)** Ethylhexyl Salicylate
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Avobenzone (2%)** Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Moringa oleifera Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterol
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Ceramide 3
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Root Extract
0-15%
BHT
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis ( Vanilla ) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyl) Extract
0-15%
Musa sapientum (Banana) Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
Formulation One Hundred Eight
[0186]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Octinoxate (7.50%)** Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate
0-15%
Octisalate (5%)** Ethylhexyl Salicylate
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Avobenzone (2%)** Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Moringa oleifera Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterol
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Ceramide 3
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Root Extract
0-15%
BHT
0-15%
Vanilla tahitensis (Vanilla) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyl) Extract
0-15%
Musa sapientum (Banana) Extract
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
Formulation One Hundred Nine
[0187]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Hordeum distichon (Barley) Extract
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Squalane
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Santalum album (Sandalwood) Extract
0-15%
Phellodendron amurense Bark Extract
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterols
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Bisabolol
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Ethylhexylglycerin
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Ceramide NP
0-15%
Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Musa sapientum (Banana) Flower Extract
0-15%
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyl) Extract
Formulation One Hundred Ten
[0188]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water/Aqua
5-50%
Kaolin
3-30%
Bentonite
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
Silica
0-15%
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)
0-15%
Boron Nitride
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Ceteareth-20
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Carbon
0-15%
Bisabolol
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Boric Oxide
0-15%
Plumeria rubra Flower Extract
0-15%
Colocasia antiquorum (Taro) Root Extract
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
Formulation One Hundred Eleven
[0189]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Moringa oleifera ( Moringa ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Boron Nitride
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Glucosamine HCl
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pisum sativum (Pea) Extract
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Bambusa vulgaris (Bamboo) Extract
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Steareth-20
0-15%
Chlorhexidine Digluconate
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Boric Oxide
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
N-Hydroxysuccinimide
0-15%
Chrysin
0-15%
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide
0-15%
EDTA
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Twelve
[0190]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water (Aqua)
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Moringa oleifera Seed Oil
0-15%
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Tropaeolum majus (Nasturtium) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Fragrance (Parfum)
0-15%
Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
0-15%
Arctostaphylos uva ursi (Bearberry) Leaf Extract
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Diacetyl Boldine
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Thirteen
[0191]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water (Aqua)
5-50%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
5-50%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
3-30%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Cetearyl Glucoside
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Dimethicone
0-15%
Biosaccharide Gum-1
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Seed Extract
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Glycine soja (Soybean) Sterols
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Xanthan Gum
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Pikea robusta (Red Algae) Extract
0-15%
Glucosamine HCl
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Pisum sativum (Pea) Extract
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Ulva lactuca Extract
0-15%
Calophyllum inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Chlorella vulgaris Extract
0-15%
Bambusa vulgaris (Bamboo) Leaf/Stem Extract
0-15%
Macrocystis pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
0-15%
Ceramide NP
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Musa sapientum (Banana) Flower Extract
0-15%
Centella asiatica (Hydrocotyl) Extract
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Fourteen
[0192]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
35-90%
Water (Aqua)
3-30%
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate
3-30%
Bambusa arundinacea (Bamboo) Stem Powder
0-15%
Glyceryl Stearate
0-15%
PEG-100 Stearate
0-15%
Cetearyl Alcohol
0-15%
Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Glycerin
0-15%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
0-15%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
0-15%
Squalane
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Chondrus crispus (Carrageenan)
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Citric Acid
0-15%
Macadamia ternifolia ( Macadamia ) Seedcake
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Shell Powder
0-15%
Fragrance
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Allantoin
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Maris Sal
0-15%
Pearl Powder
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Vegetable Oil
0-15%
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract
Formulation One Hundred Fifteen
[0193]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
10-75%
Macadamia integrifolia ( Macadamia ) Seed Oil
10-75%
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
5-50%
Synthetic Beeswax
3-30%
Aleurites moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil
3-30%
Mangifera indica (Mango) Seed Butter
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil
0-15%
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Tribehenin
0-15%
Sorbitan Isostearate
0-15%
Seed Oil
0-15%
Gardenia tahitensis (Tiare) Flower
0-15%
Tocopherol
0-15%
Ananas sativus (Pineapple) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Colocasia antiquorum (Taro) Root Extract
0-15%
Carica papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Fruit Juice Concentrate
0-15%
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide
Formulation One Hundred Sixteen
[0194]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
50-100%
Water/Aqua
0-15%
Fruit Juice
0-15%
Polysorbate 20
0-15%
Phenoxyethanol
0-15%
Caprylyl Glycol
0-15%
Carbomer
0-15%
Glucosamine HCl
0-15%
Leaf Juice
0-15%
Ethoxydiglycol
0-15%
Pisum sativum (Pea) Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hydroxide
0-15%
Potassium Sorbate
0-15%
Bambusa vulgaris (Bamboo) Extract
0-15%
Panthenol
0-15%
Hydrolyzed Lupine Protein
0-15%
Disodium EDTA
0-15%
Butylene Glycol
0-15%
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Flower Extract
0-15%
Chondrus crispus (Carrageenan) Extract
0-15%
Sodium Hyaluronate
0-15%
Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Juice
0-15%
Glucose
0-15%
Leaf Extract
0-15%
EDTA
0-15%
Sorbic Acid
Formulation One Hundred Seventeen
[0195]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredients
0-15%
Leaf Tea Powder
0-15%
Terminalia chebula , Terminalia belerica and
Embilica officinalis (Triphala) Fruit Extract
0-15%
Tinospora cordifolia (Indian Tinospora) Stem Extract
50-100%
Honey Powder
0-15%
Firmenich Natural Orange Flavor #860100 TD0991
0-15%
Allspice
0-15%
Cinnamon
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
Formulation One Hundred Eighteen
[0196]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
0-15%
Vitamin A Palmitate
0-15%
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
0-15%
Calcium Ascorbate
0-15%
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
0-15%
Vitamin E Acetate
0-15%
Vitamin E Acetate
0-15%
Vitamin B5 (d-Calcuim Pantothenate)
0-15%
Vitamin H
Calcium from Calcium Ascorbate, d-
Calcium
Pantothenate, Dibasic Calcium
Phosphate, Calcium
Chelate
0-15%
Calcium Chelate
10-75%
Dibasic Calcium Phosphate Dihydrate
0-15%
Atlantic Kelp ( Laminaria digitata ) Iodine
0-15%
Ferrous Fumarate
0-15%
Alfalfa Grass
0-15%
Apple Pectin
0-15%
Astragalus Root
0-15%
Barley Grass
0-15%
Bee Pollen Powder
0-15%
Betaine Hydrochloride
0-15%
Broccoli Powder
0-15%
Cabbage Powder
0-15%
Carrot Powder
0-15%
Choline Bitartrate
0-15%
Citrus Pectin
0-15%
Curcumin
0-15%
Echinacea Root
0-15%
Garlic Powder
0-15%
Hesperdin Complex
0-15%
Horsetail
0-15%
Inositol
0-15%
Korean Panex Ginseng Powder
0-15%
Phosphatidylcholine
0-15%
Lemon Bioflavonoids
0-15%
Ligustrum Berry
0-15%
Oat Bran Flour
0-15%
Parsley Powder
0-15%
Quercetin Dihydrate
0-15%
Raspberry Leaf Powder
0-15%
Rose Hips
0-15%
Rutin
0-15%
Schizandra Berry
0-15%
Shiitake Mushroom
0-15%
Eleuthero Root
0-15%
Spinach Powder
0-15%
Suma Powder
0-15%
Tomato Powder
0-15%
Watter Cress Powder
0-15%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
Formulation One Hundred Nineteen
[0197]
[0000]
% Range
Ingredient
0-15%
Beta Carotene
5-50%
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
5-50%
Vitamin E Acetate
0-15%
Thiamine mononitrate
0-15%
Riboflavin
0-15%
Niacin
0-15%
Niacinamide
0-15%
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride
0-15%
Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate
0-15%
Folic Acid
0-15%
Cyanocobalamin
3-30%
Magnesium Oxide
0-15%
Magnesium Glycinate Chelate
0-15%
Zinc Gluconate
0-15%
Zinc Methionine
0-15%
Zinc Glycinate
0-15%
Selenium Methionate
0-15%
Selenium Glycinate
0-15%
Copper Gluconate
0-15%
Copper
0-15%
Manganese Citrate
0-15%
Manganese Gluconate
0-15%
Manganese Glycinate Chelate
0-15%
Chromium Nicotinyl Glycinate Chelate
0-15%
Potassium Chloride
0-15%
Potassium Glycinate Chelate
0-15%
Potassium Iodine
0-15%
Ferrous Bis-Glycinate
0-15%
Molybdenum
0-15%
Bilberry
0-15%
Calcium Casienate
3-30%
Enzyme Blend
0-15%
Glutamic Acid
0-15%
Glutathione L.
0-15%
Grape Seed
0-15%
Green Tea Leaf
0-15%
Methionine L.
0-15%
Liver Spray Dried
0-15%
Papaya Leaf
0-15%
Pineapple Fruit
0-15%
Pine Bark
0-15%
Red Wine
0-15%
Silica
0-15%
Vanadium
5-50%
Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate
5-50%
Phosphorus from Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate
3-30%
Microcrystalline Cellulose
0-15%
Magnesium Stearate
0-15%
Silicon Dioxide
EXAMPLES
[0198] The following example illustrates some of the embodiments of the present invention comprising the administration of a composition comprising components of the Indian Mulberry or Morinda citrifolia L. plant. These examples are not intended to be limiting in any way, but are merely illustrative of benefits, advantages, and remedial effects of some embodiments of the Morinda citrifolia compositions of the present invention.
[0199] As illustrated by the following Example, embodiments of the present invention have been tested. Specifically, the Example illustrates the results of in-vitro studies that confirmed that concentrates of processed Morinda citrifolia products (“TNJ” is an evaporative concentrate) and processed plants selected as sources of iridoids have unexpected beneficial physiological effects. The percentage of concentration refers to the concentration strength of the particular concentrate tested; that is, the strength of concentration relative to the processed product from which the concentrate was obtained.
Example One
[0200] A human clinical trial of TAHITIAN NONI® Juice in heavy smokers revealed that ingestion of noni juice has DNA protective activity. Phytochemical analysis of TAHIITIAN NONI® Juice has revealed iridoids, specifically deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA) and asperulosidic acid (AA) are the major phytochemcial constituents of noni fruit. DAA and AA were isolated from noni fruit puree from French Polynesia to evaluate their DNA protective potentials in vitro and make an assessment of their role in the results observed in the clinical trial.
[0201] The SOS-chromotest in E. coli PQ37 was used to determine the potential for iridoids in noni fruit from French Polynesia to prevent primary DNA damage. E. coli PQ37 was incubated at 37° C. in the presence of deacetylasperulosidic acid and asperulosidic acid at a concentration of 250 ug mL −1 in a 96-well plate. Replicate samples were evaluated. The samples were also incubated with 1.25 ug mL −1 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). Blank replicates were also prepared, where cells were not incubated with to iridoids or 4NQO. Additionally, a 1.25 ug mL −1 4NQO positive control was included in this assay. Following incubation with the samples, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactopyranoside was added to the wells to detect β-galactosidase enzyme activity, which is induced during SOS repair of damaged DNA. The samples were again incubated for 90 minutes and the absorbances of the samples, blank and positive control were measured at 620 nm with a microplate reader. The β-galactosidase enzyme activity induction factor of each material was calculated by dividing the absorbance of the sample at 620 nm by that of the blank, while also correcting for cell viability. Induction factors of the blank, which by definition is 1, the positive control, and the sample wells containing DAA, plus 4NQO, and AA, plus 4NQO, were compared.
[0202] The β-galactosidase enzyme activity induction factor of 1.25 ug mL −1 4NQO was 6.09, indicating a six-fold increase in DNA damage in the cells. The induction factors (mean±standard deviation) of the DAA and AA samples, each containing 1.25 ug mL −1 4NQO, were 0.98±0.02 and 1.04±0.01, respectively. The results are compared graphically in FIG. 6 . The results reveal that the DNA damaging ability of 4NQO was abolished by the addition of the iridoids.
[0203] The iridoids, DAA and AA, in noni fruit have the potential to protect DNA against 4NQO, a well known genotoxin. TAHITIAN NONI® Juice has also been shown to provide some level of DNA protection in humans against cigarette smoke, also a well known genotoxin. Further, chemical analysis has revealed that the major phytochemicals in noni fruit and TAHITIAN NONI® Juice are iridoids, specifically DAA and AA. Therefore, it can be concluded that these iridoids are responsible for, or at least have a prominent role in, the DNA protective effects of noni juice observed in the human clinical trial involving heavy smokers.
Example Two
[0204] Analytical method to determine the quantity of iridoids in noni plant, as well as other fruits and their juices were developed. Major iridoids were isolated from the Morinda citrifolia plant as follows:
Chemicals and Standards
[0205] Acetonitrile (MeCN), methanol (MeOH), and water (H 2 O) of HPLC grade were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo., USA). Formic acid of analytical grade was purchased from Spectrum Chemical Mfg. Corp. (New Brunswick, N.J., USA). The chemical standard deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA, 1) and asperulosidic acid (AA, 2) were isolated from noni fruits in our laboratory. Their purities were determined by HPLC and NMR to be higher than 99%. The chemical structures of DAA and AA are listed in FIG. 1 . They were accurately weighed and then dissolved in an appropriate volume of MeCN to produce corresponding stock solutions. The working standard solution of 1 and 2 for the calibration curve was prepared by diluting the stock solution with MeOH in seven concentration increments ranging from 0.00174-1.74 and 0.0016-0.80 mg/mL, respectively. All stock and working solutions were maintained at 0° C. in a refrigerator. The calibration curves of standards were plotted after linear regression of the peak areas versus concentrations.
Materials and Sample Preparation
[0206] Tahitian noni fruit puree as used in this example is the mashed whole fruit, excluding seeds and pericarp. The fruits were originally collected from the Tahitian Islands. One gram of the puree was diluted with 5 mL of H 2 O—MeOH (1:1) and mixed thoroughly. The solution was then filtered through a nylon microfilter (0.45-μm pore size); the solution was collected into a 5 mL volumetric flask for HPLC analysis. Four batches of noni puree were analyzed in the experiments. Voucher specimens of the noni fruit puree are deposited in our lab. To test iridoid stability, a DAA solution of 0.5 mg/mL was prepared with MeOH. This solution was heated in a water-bath at 90° C. for 1 min, cooled to room temperature, and analyzed by HPLC.
Chromatographic Conditions and Instrumentation
[0207] Chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters 2690 separations module coupled with 996 PDA detectors, and equipped with an Atlantis C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm; 5 Waters Corporation, Milford, Mass., USA). The pump was connected to two mobile phases: A; MeCN, and B; 0.1% formic acid in H 2 O (v/v), and eluted at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The mobile phase was programmed consecutively in linear gradients as follows: 0-5 min, 0% A; and 40 min, 30% A. The PDA detector was monitored in the range of 210-400 nm (235 nm was selected for quantitative analysis). The injection volume was 10 μL for each of the sample solutions. The column temperature was maintained at 25° C. Data collection and integration were performed using Waters Millennium software revision 32.
Method Validation
[0208] The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) were defined as the lowest concentrations of analytes in a sample that can be detected and quantified. These LOD and LOQ limits were determined on the basis of signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. The working solutions of standards 1 and 2 for LOD and LOQ were prepared by diluting them sequentially. The intra- and inter-day precision assays, as well as stability tests were performed by following the method applied to the sample analysis for 3 consecutive days. Accuracy of the method (recovery) was assessed by the recovery percentage of iridoids 1 and 2 in the spiked samples. The noni fruit puree samples were spiked with standards at 3 different concentrations (equivalent to 50%, 100% and 150% concentration of 1 and 2 in the samples). The recovery percentage was calculated using the ratio of concentration detected (actual) to those spiked (theoretical). Variation was evaluated by the relative standard deviation (RSD) of triplicate injections in the HPLC experiments.
Samples Analyzed
[0209] Several fruits and fruit juice products, such as purees, were prepared and analyzed according to the methods described above. Samples of various commercial brand name fruit juices were also analyzed. Samples of noni leaves and seeds were also analyzed. The analytical results are provided in the following tables.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Iridoids analysis of fruit puree and juice concentrates (mg/mL-blueberry, all
others-mg/g)
Other
Samples/
lot# or note
DAA a
AA b
iridoids
Total iridoids
Tahitian noni fruit
P06151-2429
1.308 ± 0.110
0.276 ± 0.003
0.0535
1.638
puree
16523
1.441 ± 0.027
0.218 ± 0.009
0.0570
1.716
16524
1.274 ± 0.014
0.256 ± 0.017
0.0535
1.584
7807
1.531 ± 0.057
0.296 ± 0.057
0.0520
1.879
blueberry juice
n.d. c
0.0612*
0.061
concentrate
grape juice
n.d. c
concentrate
acai puree
n.d. c
mongosteen whole
extracted with
n.d. c
fruit
MeOH
extracted with
n.d. c
H2O
mangosteen fruit
n.d. c
puree
pear puree
n.d. c
goji juice
n.d. c
cupuacu puree
n.d. c
a deacetylasperulosidic acid (daa);
b asperulosidic acid(aa);
c not detected;
*monotropein from blueberry.
[0000]
TABLE 2
Iridoids analysis of commercial brand name fruit juice blends (mg/mL)
Other
Total
Samples/Sources (note)
DAA a
AA b
iridoids
iridoids
TNJ
TNI
0.462 ± 0.016
0.030 ± 0.001
0.0667
0.568
Acai blend juice
Monavie
n.d. c
0.0126*
0.013
n.d. c
0.00809*
0.008
Xango juice
Xango,
n.d. c
0.0289*
0.029
330 ml
pouch
Xango,
n.d. c
0.0178*
0.0178
bottled
n.d. c
0.0155*
0.0155
GoChi ™ Goji
Freelife Intl.
n.d. c
0.0531**
0.0531
juice
Le'Vive juice
Ardyness
0.0147
n.d. c
0.0183**
0.0330
intl.
Zrii juice
Zrii
n.d. c
G3
Nuskin
n.d. c
Kyani fruit juice
Kyani
n.d. c
a deacetylasperulosidic acid (daa);
b asperulosidic acid(aa);
c not detected;
*monotropein from blueberry;
**tentatively identified as iridoids based on its UV, further confirmation needed.
[0000]
TABLE 3
Iridoids analysis of noni different plant parts (mg/g)
Other
Total
Samples
Notes
DAA a
AA b
iridoids
iridoids
Tahitian noni fruit puree (wet)
1.441 ± 0.027
0.218 ± 0.009
0.0570
1.716
Tahitian noni whole fruit (dried)
grounded into
3.741 ± 0.016
1.253 ± 0.0051
0.420
5.414
Tahitian noni leaf
powder,
0.338 ± 0.028
0.539 ± 0.0075
0.388
1.265
Tahitian noni root
extracted
0.0873 ± 0.008
0.326 ± 0.0309
1.714*
2.127
Tahitian noni seed
with
1.303 ± 0.050
0.148 ± 0.0106
n.d. c
1.451
MeOH/EtOH
(1:1)
Noni blossom
extracted
0.88
0.421
1.268
2.569
with MeOH
(1:100) 30′
sonicated
a deacetylasperulosidic acid (daa);
b asperulosidic acid(aa);
c not detected;
*tentatively identified as iridoids based on its UV, further confirmation needed.
[0210] Major phytochemical component of noni fruit and TAHITIAN NONI® Juice are iridoids, specifically deacetylasperuloside and asperulosidic acid. A small quantity of another iridoid is found in blueberry fruit juice concentrate, at approximately 3.8% of the total iridoid content of noni fruit puree. The other fruits and non-noni fruit products did not contain iridoids.
[0211] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit of essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
Example Three
[0212] The proximate nutritional, vitamin, mineral, and amino acid contents of processed noni fruit puree were determined. The phytochemical properties were evaluated, as well as an assessment made on the safety and potential efficacy of the major phytochemicals present in the puree. Processed noni fruit puree is a potential dietary source of vitamin C, vitamin A, niacin, manganese, and selenium. Vitamin C is the major nutrient present, in terms of concentration. The major phytochemicals in the puree are iridoids, especially deacetylasperulosidic acid, which were present in higher concentrations than vitamin C. The iridoids in noni did not display any oral toxicity or genotoxicity, but did possess potential anti-genotoxic activity. These findings suggest that deacetylasperulosidic acid may play an important role in the biological activities of noni fruit juice that have been observed in vitro, in vivo, and in human clinical trials.
1. Introduction
[0213] Morinda citrifolia , commonly known as noni, is a widely distributed tropical tree. It grows on the islands of the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Central America, Indian subcontinent, and in the Caribbean. Knowledge of the phytochemical profile of processed noni fruit puree is important in understanding potential bioactivities, as well as in understanding the compounds responsible for health effects already demonstrated in human clinical trials. Iridoids constitute the major phytochemical component of noni fruit, with a few other compounds, such as scopoletin, quercetin, and rutin have occurring in significant, although much less, quantities. Previous analyses have been limited in the amount of nutrient data provided. Further, they have not been representative of the commercially processed noni fruit puree, as processing conditions do alter the nutritional and phytochemical profiles of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the current chemical analyses were performed to provide more complete and accurate nutritional data. Analyses of the major phytochemicals in noni fruit were also carried out to provide an important reference for quality control and identity testing of these raw materials.
[0214] As the iridoids are present in significant quantities in noni fruit puree, genotoxicity and acute toxicity tests were performed to better understand their individual safety profiles. Therefore, the anti-genotoxic activities of the iridoids were evaluated in vitro, to investigate their potential roles in this reported DNA protection.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Experimental Materials
[0215] Noni fruits were harvested in French Polynesia and allowed to fully ripen. The fruit was then processed into a puree by mechanical removal of the seeds and skin via micro-mesh screen in a commercial fruit pulper, followed by pasteurization (87° C. for 3 seconds) at a good manufacturing certified fruit processing facility in Mataiea, Tahiti. The pasteurized puree is filled into aseptic containers, or totes containing 880 kg of noni fruit puree, and stored under refrigeration. Samples were obtained from 10 totes, from different batches, for the chemical analyses in this study.
[0216] For the acute oral toxicity test, an iridoid enriched fruit extract was prepared. This was done by removal of seeds and skin from the fruit flesh, followed by size reduction with a 0.65 mm sieve. An aqueous extract was prepared with the remaining fruit pulp, at ambient temperature, which was then freeze-dried, resulting in a total iridoid concentration of 1690 mg/100 g extract.
[0217] Freeze-dried noni fruit powder (36 g) was extracted with 1 L of methanol by percolation to produce 10 g of methanol extract. Following addition of water, the methanol extract was partitioned with ethylacetate (150 mL three times) to remove non-polar impurities. The aqueous extract was further partitioned with n-butanol (150 mL three times) to yield 3 g n-butanol extract. The extract was subjected to flash column chromatography on silica gel, eluting with a stepwise dichloromethane:methanol (20:1→1.5:1) gradient solvent system to yield sixty-two primary fractions. Among these, the presence of two major compounds was indicated by a preliminary HPLC analysis. The iridoid containing fractions were combined and subject to further purification by using reverse phase preparative HPLC (Symmetry Prep™ C18 column, Waters Corp.), eluting with an isocratic solvent system of MeCN—H2O (35:65) at a flow rate of 3 mL/min, resulting in the isolation of DAA and AA.
2.2 Chemical Analyses
[0218] Proximate nutritional analyses of noni fruit puree were carried out to determine moisture, fat, protein, ash, and carbohydrate contents. Protein content was determined by the Kjedahl method, Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) Method 979.09 (AOAC, 2000 a). Total moisture was determined gravimetrically by loss on drying at 100° C. in a vacuum oven. Fat determination involved continuous extraction by petroleum ether in a Soxhlet apparatus, AOAC Method 960.39 (AOAC, 2000 b). Ash was determined gravimetrically following combustion in a furnace at 550° C. Carbohydrate was then calculated by difference. Total dietary fiber was determined according to AOAC Method 991.43 (AOAC, 2000 c). Fructose, glucose, and sucrose contents were determined according to AOAC method 982.14 (AOAC, 2000 d).
[0219] Minerals were determined by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectrometry (AOAC, 2000 e; AOAC, 2000 f). Vitamin A, as β-carotene, was determined by a modified AOAC official method 941.15 for an HPLC system (AOAC, 2000 g). Vitamin C was determined by titration with 2,6-dichloroindophenol, by the microfluorometric method, or by HPLC and UV detection of oxidized ascorbic acid (AOAC, 2000 h; AOAC, 20001). Niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin E, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid were determined by AOAC and United States Pharmacopoeia methods (AOAC, 2000 j; AOAC, 2000 k; AOAC, 2000 l; AOAC, 2000 m; AOAC, 2000 n; AOAC, 2000 o; AOAC, 2000 p; United States Pharmacopeia, 2005; Scheiner & De Ritter, 1975). Vitamin E was determined by HPLC similar to a previously reported method (Omale and Omajali, 2010), but with direct organic solvent extraction and use of a 2-propanol:H 2 O (60:20, %:%) mobile phase. Vitamin K was determined according to AOAC method 992.27 (AOAC, 2000 p). Amino acids were determined with an automated amino acid analyzer, following acid hydrolysis, except for tryptophan which involved hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide (AOAC, 2000 q).
[0220] The iridoid content, inclusive of deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA) and asperulosidic acid (AA), was determined by HPLC, according to a previously reported method (Deng et al., 2010 b). Other significant secondary metabolites, such as scopoletin, rutin, and quercetin, were also determined by HPLC (Deng et al., 2010 a).
2.4 Acute Toxicity Test of Iridoids
[0221] Twenty healthy Sprague-Dawley rats (10 males, 10 females, body weight 181-205 g) were selected for the tests. An iridoid enriched fruit extract was dissolved in water to produce a total iridoid concentration of 8.5 mg/mL. A dose of 340 mg total iridoids/kg body weight (bw) was given to each animal by gastric intubation (20 mL/kg bw twice per day). For 14 days following the administration of the iridoid solution, animals were observed daily for occurrences of death and symptoms of toxicity, including convulsions, irregular breathing, piloerection, and paralysis. As decreased weight is a typical symptom of toxicity, body weights were recorded for each animal on days 0 and 14. The acute toxicity test was carried out in accordance with EC Directive 86/609/EEC (European Communities, 1986).
[0000] 2.5 Primary DNA Damage Test in E. coli PQ37
[0222] The SOS-chromotest in E. coli PQ37 was used to determine the potential for DAA and AA to induce primary DNA damage. This test was carried out according to the previously developed method (Fish et al., 1987). DAA and AA were isolated from noni fruits from Tahiti and purified to >98%. E. coli PQ37 was incubated in LB medium in a 96-well plate at 37° C. in the presence of DAA or AA for 2 hours. The DAA and AA concentrations tested were 7.81, 15.6, 31.2, 62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 μg mL −1 . Samples were evaluated in triplicate. Following incubation with the samples, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactopyranoside was added to the wells to detect β-galactosidase enzyme activity, which is induced during SOS repair of damaged DNA. Nitrophenyl phosphate is also added to the wells to measure alkaline phosphatase activity, an indicator of cell viability. The samples were again incubated and the absorbances of the samples, blanks and controls were measured at 410 and 620 nm with a microplate reader. Vehicle blanks and positive controls, 1.25 μg mL −1 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO), were included in this test. The induction factor of each material was calculated by dividing the absorbance of the sample at 620 nm by that of the blank, while also correcting for cell viability. Induction factors less than two indicate an absence of genotoxic activity.
[0000] 2.6 Anti-Genotoxicity Test in E. coli PQ37
[0223] The primary DNA damage test was performed again, similar to the method described above. However, the method was modified to include incubation of E. coli PQ37 in the presence of both 1.25 μg mL −1 4NQO and 250 μg mL −1 DAA or AA. Induction factors were calculated in the same manner as described above. The percent reduction in genotoxicity was determined by dividing the difference between the induction factor of 4NQO and the blank (induction factor of 1) by the difference between the induction factor of 4NQO plus DAA or AA and the blank.
2.7 Statistical Analyses
[0224] Means and standard deviations were calculated for each set of analytical results obtained from the different batches. In both the primary DNA damage test and the anti-genotoxicity test, intergroup comparisons were made with Student's t-test.
3. Results and Discussion
[0225] The nutrient composition of processed noni fruit puree is summarized in Table 4. Proximate nutritional parameters are within the typical ranges for fruits in general. Processed noni fruit puree contains 2 g 100 g −1 dietary fiber. Noni fruit does not contain a significant quantity of protein or fat. However, all but one essential amino acid, tryptophan, as well as histidine, essential for infants, were detected in the puree (Table 5). Aspartic acid was the most predominant amino acid.
[0000]
TABLE 4
Nutrient content of processed noni fruit puree.
Assay
Mean
S.D.
Protein (g/100 g)
0.55
0.11
Fat (g/100 g)
0.10
0.12
Moisture (g/100 g)
91.63
1.98
Ash (g/100 g)
0.54
0.19
Carbohydrate (g/100 g)
7.21
1.81
Fructose (g/100 g)
1.07
0.39
Glucose (g/100 g)
1.30
0.36
Sucrose (g/100 g)
<0.1
—
Kilojoules/100 g
135.56
31.73
Dietary fiber (g/100 g)
2.01
0.27
Ca (mg/100 g)
48.20
16.04
K (mg/100 g)
214.34
56.91
Na (mg/100 g)
16.99
5.98
Mg (mg/100 g)
26.10
8.33
P (mg/100 g)
20.35
6.78
Fe (mg/100 g)
0.74
0.06
Cu (mg/100 g)
0.08
0.07
Mn (mg/100 g)
0.47
0.62
Se (mg/100 g)
0.01
0.01
Zn (mg/100 g)
0.06
0.07
β-carolene (μg/g)
19.09
12.15
Niacin (mg/g)
0.03
0.01
Vitamin C (mg/g)
1.13
0.77
Thiamin (mg/g)
<0.018
—
Riboflavin (mg/g)
<0.018
—
Vitamin B6 (mg/g)
<0.018
—
Vitamin B12 (μg/g)
<0.0012
—
Vitamin E (μg/g)
10.96
6.62
Folic acid (μg/g)
<0.06
—
Biotin (μg/g)
0.02
0.00
Pantothenic acid (mg/g)
<0.018
—
Vitamin K (μg/g)
<0.10
—
S.D.—standard deviation.
[0000]
TABLE 5
Amino acid profile of processed noni fruit puree.
Amino acid
Mean
S.D.
Alanine (mg/g)
0.45
0.04
Arginine (mg/g)
0.32
0.04
Aspartic acid (mg/g)
0.80
0.08
Cystine (mg/g)
0.23
0.03
Glutamic acid (mg/g)
0.64
0.05
Glycine (mg/g)
0.36
0.04
Histidine (mg/g)
<0.1
—
Isoleucine (mg/g)
0.29
0.01
Leucine (mg/g)
0.38
0.02
Lysine (mg/g)
0.25
0.04
Methionine (mg/g)
<0.1
—
Phenylalanine (mg/g)
0.21
0.05
Proline (mg/g)
0.26
0.03
Serine (mg/g)
0.27
0.02
Threonine (mg/g)
0.27
0.03
Tryptophan (mg/g)
<0.1
0.00
Tyrosine (mg/g)
0.25
0.03
Valine (mg/g)
0.36
0.03
[0226] Vitamin C is the most prominent vitamin in noni fruit puree, with a mean content of 1.13 mg −1 g. At this concentration, 100 g of puree provides 251% of the recommended daily vitamin C requirement for adults (FAO/WHO, 2001). Noni fruit puree contains appreciable quantities of β-carotene. As calculated from β-carotene concentration, the mean vitamin A content per 100 g of puree is 318.17 retinol equivalents (RE). The joint FAO/WHO recommendation for average vitamin A daily intake by adults is 270 RE for females and 300 RE for males (FAO/WHO, 1998). As such, noni fruit puree appears to have the potential to be a significant dietary source of vitamin A. The niacin content of processed noni fruit is great enough to have some nutritional impact, but will only be significant when larger quantities are consumed. At 100 g, the puree provides 18 to 21% of the recommended niacin intake for adults (FAO/WHO, 2001). Thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and vitamin K were below detection limits. Processed noni fruit puree contains, but is not a significant source of, vitamin E and biotin.
[0227] Potassium appears to be the most abundant mineral in processed noni fruit puree. It is more than four times the concentration of calcium, the next most abundant mineral, although neither is present in nutritionally significant quantities. Only two minerals are present in nutritionally significant amounts. In 100 g of noni puree, manganese and selenium contents would meet approximately 18 to 26% of the recommended daily allowance for adults (Institute of Medicine, 2000; Institute of Medicine, 2001).
[0228] The phytochemical analyses reveal that iridoids are the major secondary metabolites produced by noni fruit and are present in significant quantities following processing (Table 6). Scopoletin, rutin, and quercetin were also present after processing. The total iridoid content was 20 times greater than the combined concentrations of the other three phytochemicals. Deacetylasperulosidic acid accounted for 78% of the total iridoid content. Due to their prevalence in noni fruit, both iridoids may be used as markers for identification of products containing authentic noni ingredients. Bioactivities of iridoids from noni fruit juice and noni fruit extracts may include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, and hypolipidemic activities.
[0229] No deaths or symptoms of toxicity were observed in the acute toxicity test. Animals also gained appropriate weight (Table 7). The LD 50 of noni iridoids was determined to be >340 mg/kg bw. In the primary DNA damage test in E. coli PQ37 (Table 8), the mean induction factors for DAA and AA, at 1000 μg mL −1 , were 1.07 and 1.09, respectively. At all concentrations tested, DAA and AA did not induce any SOS repair at a frequency significantly above that of the blank. Statistically, induction factors were no different than that of the blank, and all results remained well below the two-fold criteria for genotoxicity. SOS-chromotest results have a high level of agreement (86%) with those from the reverse mutation assay (Legault et al., 1994). Therefore, the SOS-chromotest has some utility in predicting potential mutagenicity, in addition to primary DNA damage. The lack of DAA and AA toxicity in these tests are consistent with the results of toxicity tests of noni fruit juice (West et al., 2009 a; West et al., 2009 b; Westendorf et al., 2007).
[0000]
TABLE 6
Phytochemical content of processed noni fruit purec.
Assay
Mean
S.D.
Deacetylasperulosidic acid (mg/100 g)
137.61
13.69
Asperulosidic acid (mg/100 g)
38.79
9.18
Scopoletin (mg/100 g)
5.68
1.58
Rutin (mg/100 g)
1.42
0.84
Quercetin (mg/100 g)
1.59
0.71
[0000]
TABLE 7
Acute toxicity test of noni iridoids.
Animal
Body weight (g)
LD SD (mg
Animal
Sex
number
Before
After
iridoids/kg hw)
S.D. rat
Male
10
191.2 ± 5.9
216.1 ± 8.3
>340.0
Female
10
192.8 ± 12.3
289.4 ± 12.3
>340.0
[0230] In the anti-genotoxicity test, 4NQO, exhibited obvious genotoxicity, inducing SOS repair more than 8-fold above that of the vehicle blank. But the induction factors of 4NQO plus DAA or AA, were the same as those of DAA or AA alone (Table 9), with no statistical difference from that of the vehicle blank. The reductions in genotoxicity from 250 μg DAA and AA were 98.96 and 99.22%, respectively. Therefore, the genotoxic activity of 4NQO was almost entirely abolished by the addition of either iridoid.
[0231] A double-blind human clinical trial revealed that ingestion of noni fruit juice reduced the amount of aromatic DNA-adduct formation in the lymphocytes of current heavy cigarette smokers. 4NQO exhibits genotoxic activity in E. coli through the formation of 4NQO-guanine and 4NQO-adenine adducts. These DNA lesions lead to the induction of the SOS repair mechanism. As such, the reduction in 4NQO genotoxicity by DAA and AA equates to a reduction in DNA adduct formation. Therefore, the results of the current anti-genotoxicity test suggest the possible involvement of these iridoids in noni juice's DNA protective effects.
4. Conclusion
[0232] Processed noni fruit puree is a potential dietary source of vitamin C, vitamin A, niacin, manganese, and selenium. Vitamin C is the major nutrient present, in terms of concentration. The major phytochemicals in the puree are iridoids, especially DAA. The iridoids in noni did not display any toxicity. On the other hand, these iridoids did display potential anti-genotoxic activity. Even though processed noni fruit puree contained an appreciable quantity of vitamin C, the average DAA content was approximately 22% greater than that of vitamin C. These findings suggest that DAA may play an important role in the biological activities of noni fruit juice that have been observed in vitro, in vivo, and in human clinical trials.
[0000]
TABLE 8
Primary DNA damage assay in E. coli PQ37.
Compound
Concentration (μg mL −1 )
Induction factor
Deacetylasperulosidic acid
1000
1.07 ± 0.14
500
1.03 ± 0.02
250
1.06 ± 0.06
125
1.00 ± 0.08
62.5
1.05 ± 0.07
31.2
1.04 ± 0.08
15.6
1.03 ± 0.16
7.81
0.93 ± 0.13
Asperulosidic acid
1000
1.09 ± 0.03
500
1.07 ± 0.04
250
1.11 ± 0.16
125
1.02 ± 0.08
62.5
1.04 ± 0.13
31.2
0.99 ± 0.06
15.6
1.04 ± 0.11
7.81
1.01 ± 0.05
4NQO
1.25
8.69 ± 3.69*
*P < 0.05, compared to vehicle blank.
[0000]
TABLE 9
Anti-genotoxicity test in E. coli PQ37.
Concentration
Compound
(μg mL −1 )
Induction factor
Positive control (4NQO)
1.25
8.69 ± 3.69**
4NQO + deacetylasperulosidic acid
250*
1.08 ± 0.12
4NQO + asperulosidic acid
250*
1.06 ± 0.03
*DAA or AA concentration; 4NQO concentration is 1.25 μg mL −1 .
**P < 0.05, compared to vehicle blank.
Example Four
[0233] Noni is a medicinal plant with a long history of use as a folk remedy in many tropical areas, and is attracting more attention worldwide. A comprehensive study on the major phytochemicals in different noni plant parts, such as fruit, leaf, seed, root and flower is of great value for fully understanding their diverse medicinal benefits. Moreover, the diversity of geographic environments may contribute to the variation of noni's components.
[0000] Objective—This study quantitatively determines the major iridoid components in different parts of noni plants, and compares iridoids in noni fruits collected from different tropical areas worldwide.
Methodology—The optimal chromatographic conditions were achieved on a C 18 column with gradient elution using 0.1% formic acid aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile at 235 nm. The selective HPLC method was validated for precision, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), and accuracy.
Results—Deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA) was found to be the major iridoid in noni fruit. In order of predominance, DAA concentrations in different parts of the noni plant were dried noni fruit>fruit juice>seed>flower>leaf>root. The order of predominance for asperulosidic acid (AA) concentration was dried noni fruit>leaf>flower>root>fruit juice>seed. DAA and AA contents of methanolic extracts of noni fruits collected from different tropical regions were 13.8-42.9 mg/g and 0.7-8.9 mg/g, respectively, with French Polynesia containing the highest total iridoids and the Dominican Republic containing the lowest.
Conclusion—Iridoids are found to be present in leaf, root, seed, and flower of noni plants, and were identified as the major components in noni fruit. Given the great variation of iridoid contents in noni fruit grown in different tropical areas worldwide, geographical factors appear to have significant effects on fruit composition. The iridoids in noni fruit were stable at temperatures used during pasteurization and, therefore, may be useful marker compounds for identity and quality testing of commercial noni products.
Introduction
[0234] Noni ( Morinda citrifolia Linn.) is a popular medicinal plant indigenous to a wide range of tropical areas, such as southern Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. This study aims to quantitatively determine the major iridoids in different parts of noni (fruit, leaf, root, seed, and flower), and comparatively analyze the iridoids in different noni fruits cultivated and collected worldwide, by using a validated HPLC-PDA method.
Chemicals and Standards
[0235] HPLC grade acetonitrile (MeCN), methanol (MeOH), and water (H 2 O) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo., USA). Analytical grade formic acid was purchased from Spectrum Chemical Mfg. Corp. (New Brunswick, N.J., USA). The chemical standards deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA) and asperulosidic acid (AA) were isolated from authentic noni fruit in our laboratory. Their identification and purities were determined by HPLC, Mass spectrometry, and NMR to be higher than 99% (data not shown). The chemical structures of DAA and AA are listed in FIG. 4 . They were accurately weighed and then dissolved in an appropriate volume of MeOH to produce corresponding stock solutions. The working standard solution of DAA and AA for the calibration curve was prepared by diluting the stock solution with MeOH in seven concentration increments ranging from 0.00174-1.74 and 0.0016-0.80 mg/mL, respectively. All stock and working solutions were maintained at 0° C. in a refrigerator. The calibration curves of the standards were plotted after linear regression of the peak areas versus concentrations.
Conditions and Instrumentation
[0236] Chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters 2690 separations module coupled with 996 PDA detectors, equipped with an C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm; 5 μm, Waters Corporation, Milford, Mass., USA). The pump was connected to two mobile phases: A; MeCN, and B; 0.1% formic acid in H 2 O (v/v), and eluted at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The mobile phase was programmed consecutively in linear gradients as follows: 0-5 min, 0% A; and 40 min, 30% A. The PDA detector was monitored in the range of 210-400 nm. The injection volume was 10 μL for each of the sample solutions. The column temperature was maintained at 25° C. Data collection and integration were performed using Waters Millennium software revision 32.
Materials and Sample Preparation
[0237] Fresh noni fruit juice (sample A, FIG. 5 ) was squeezed from the noni fruit originally collected from the French Polynesia (Tahitian islands). One gram of the fresh fruit juice was diluted with 5 mL of H 2 O—MeOH (1:1), and mixed thoroughly; the solution was collected into a 5 mL volumetric flask for HPLC analysis. Dried fruit, seed, root, leaf, and flower (samples B-F, FIG. 5 ) were collected from the Tahitian islands. These were grounded into powder, and extracted with MeOH-EtOH (1:1) twice with a sonicator for 30 min each time. The extracts were combined, filtered and then dried in a rotary evaporator under vacuum at 50° C. The dried extracts were re-dissolved with MeOH for HPLC analysis.
[0238] The raw noni fruit samples ( FIG. 6 ) were collected from different areas, including the Tahitian islands, Tonga, Dominican Republic, Okinawa, Thailand, and Hawaii. The fruit samples were stored below 0° C. before use. The fruits were thawed and mashed. Two g of each mashed fruit was extracted twice with MeOH (125 mL, 30 min each) using a sonicator. The MeOH extract was dried under vacuum in a rotary evaporator. The dried MeOH extracts were re-dissolved with 10 mL of MeOH. Voucher specimens of noni samples are deposited in our lab.
Analytical Method Validation
[0239] The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) were defined as the lowest concentrations of analytes in a sample that can be detected and quantified. These LOD and LOQ limits were determined on the basis of signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. The working solutions DAA and AA standards, for LOD and LOQ determinations, were prepared by serial dilution. The intra- and inter-day precision assays, as well as stability tests were performed by following the method applied to the sample analysis for 3 consecutive days. Repeatability is the degree of agreement between results, when experimental conditions are maintained as constant as possible, and is expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD) of replicates.
[0240] In the study, intra- and inter-day precisions of the HPLC method were measured by triplicate injections of samples on 3 consecutive days. Accuracy of the method (recovery) was assessed by the recovery percentage of DAA and AA in the spiked samples. The noni fruit juices were spiked with standards at three different concentrations (equivalent to 50%, 100% and 150% concentration of DAA and AA in the samples). The recovery percentage was calculated using the ratio of concentration detected (actual) to those spiked (theoretical). Variation was evaluated by the relative standard deviation (RSD) of triplicate injections in the HPLC experiments.
Results and Discussion
Analytical Method Validation
[0241] The validation of the developed HPLC chromatographic method was conducted on the fresh noni juice to determine LOD, LOQ, linearity, intra-day and inter-day precisions, and accuracy (Tables 10-13). The selected MeCN—H 2 O gradient exhibited a good separation and symmetrical peak shapes of target analytes in the HPLC chromatograms. The LODs (S/N=3) and LOQs (S/N=10) for DAA and AA are 10.6 and 9.7 ng, and 34.8 and 32.0 ng, respectively. The linear regression equations for DAA and AA were calculated as: y=1.443×10 7 −17342.2 and y=1.537×10 7 −40804.7, respectively, where x is the concentration and y is the peak area. The results showed good linearity with correlation coefficients of 0.9994 and 0.9999 for DAA and AA, within the range of concentrations investigated. The intra- and inter-day precisions, as RSD's, of DAA and AA were less than 0.86% and 3.0%, respectively, indicating that DAA and AA were stable during investigation period. Under the established experimental conditions, percent recoveries of analytes DAA and AA were from 90.49% to 105.32%, with RSD ranging from 0.40-2.66% (Table 12). The results of the experiments are within tolerance ranges recommended in the guideline for dietary supplement issued by the Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC International, 2002). The characterization of iridoids DAA and AA in noni samples were conducted by comparing their HPLC retention times and UV maximum absorptions with these of standards (Table 10).
[0000]
TABLE 10
Table 1. Chromatographic and spectroscopic
characteristics of the iridoids
UV λ max
R t
Linearity range
Compounds
(nm)
(min)
LOD (ng)
LOQ (ng)
(mg/mL)
DAA a
235.5
15.94
10.6
34.8
0.00174-1.74
AA b
235.5
26.08
9.7
32.0
0.0016-0.80
a Deacetylasperulosidic acid;
b asperulosidic acid.
[0000]
TABLE 11
Table 2. Intra- and inter-day precisions and stability assays for the quantitative determination
of iridoids in noni by HPLC-PDA
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Inter-day
Amount
Amount
Amount
Amount
Samples
detected a
RSD (%)
detected a
RSD (%)
detected a
RSD (%)
detected a
RSD (%)
DAA b
1.308
0.86
1.291
0.43
1.291
0.62
1.297
0.86
AA c
0.276
1.16
0.281
3.00
0.287
1.84
0.281
2.49
a Mean ± SD, n = 3, mg/mL;
b deacetylasperulosidic acid;
c asperulosidic acid.
[0000]
TABLE 12
Table 3. Accuracy assays for the quantitative determination
of iridoids in noni by HPLC-PDA
Concentration
Concentration
Recovery
Samples
spiked a
detected a,b
Percentage (%)
RSD %
DAA c
0.66
0.619 ± 0.016
93.84
2.66
1.32
1.271 ± 0.019
96.29
1.53
2.00
2.106 ± 0.009
105.32
0.40
AA d
0.146
0.132 ± 0.002
90.49
1.58
0.291
0.273 ± 0.004
93.93
1.39
0.437
0.433 ± 0.004
99.25
0.93
a Unit, mg/mL;
b mean ± SD;
n = 3;
c deacetylasperulosidic acid;
d asperulosidic acid.
[0000]
TABLE 13
Table 4. The concentration of major iridoids in different
parts of noni
Samples
DAA a
AA b
Fruit juice (mg/mL)
1.441 ± 0.027
0.218 ± 0.009
Fruit (dried) (mg/g)
3.741 ± 0.016
1.253 ± 0.005
Leaf (mg/g)
0.338 ± 0.028
0.539 ± 0.007
Root (mg/g)
0.087 ± 0.008
0.326 ± 0.031
Seed (mg/g)
1.303 ± 0.050
0.148 ± 0.011
Flower (mg/g)
0.880 ± 0.040
0.421 ± 0.021
a Deacetylasperulosidic acid;
b asperulosidic acid;
mean ± SD;
n = 3.
Characterization and Quantitation of DAA and AA in Noni Different Plant Parts
[0242] Iridoids have been identified in noni fruit, leaf, and root previously. In our preliminary experiments, DAA and AA appear to be the major iridoids in most parts of the noni plant. As such, these two iridoids were employed for the quantitation and comparison of iridoid contents in different noni parts. The typical HPLC chromatograms of noni fruit, leaf, root, seed, and flower are shown in FIG. 5 . The experimental results (Table 13) indicated that the DAA content in various parts of the plant are, in order of predominance, dried noni fruit>fruit juice>seed>flower>leaf>roots. For AA contents, the rank is dried noni fruit>leaf>flower>root>fruit juice>seed. Among the different plant parts, noni fruit (juice) seems a good source of iridoids. Iidoids, specifically deacetylasperulosidic acid and asperulosidic acid are the major secondary metabolites in noni fruit. As such, these may be responsible for its diverse health effects. For example, DAA and AA may have many biological activities, including anticlastogenic, antiarthritic, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, cancer-preventive, and anti-tumor effects. Toxicity tests suggested DAA and AA are non-genotoxic in mammalian cells.
[0000] Comparison of Iridoid Contents in Noni Fruits from Different Areas
[0243] To evaluate the impact of geographical environments (soil, sunlight, temperature, precipitation, etc.) on the iridoid contents in noni fruit, analyses were performed on noni fruits cultivated and collected from different tropical regions worldwide. Ripe noni fruit samples were kept frozen during shipment. Further, MeOH extracts were analyzed to control for moisture variations. FIG. 6 shows a comparison of DAA, AA, and total iridoids (DAA+AA) in different noni fruits. The concentration ranges of DAA and AA in the MeOH extracts were 13.8-42.9 mg/g and 0.7-8.9 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, noni fruit collected from French Polynesia had the highest amount of the total iridoids, and noni fruit from the Dominican Republic contained the least. The results showed that geographical factors have significant effects on the iridoid contents in noni fruits. As such, different pharmacological activities may be expected to noni fruits collected from various areas.
The Impact of Pasteurization on DAA Content
[0244] Noni fruit juice is usually subjected to heat pasteurization during commercial processing. Pasteurization is usually employed in noni industry, i.e., heating up to 87.7° C. for several seconds. In this study, the stability of DAA was conducted. DAA was exposed to 90° C. at pH 3.3 for one minute to determine its thermal stability at acidic conditions. The results indicated that there was no difference in the DAA contents before and after heating, indicating that DAA is stable under the pasteurization conditions.
CONCLUSIONS
[0245] A selective analytical HPLC method has been developed and validated for analysis of iridoids in noni. Iridoids, specifically deacetylasperulosidic acid and asperulosidic acid, are identified as the major components in noni fruit, and also present in leaf, root, seed, and flower of the noni plant. Geographical factors seem to influence iridoid content of the fruit. Noni iridoids are stable during pasteurization. Therefore, the method reported herein may provide an accurate and rapid tool in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of noni and its commercial products. | Embodiments of the invention relate to fortified food and dietary supplement products which may be administered to produce desirable physiological improvement. In particular, embodiments of the invention relates to the administration of products enhanced with plant products and iridoids. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hydraulic control systems for supplying pressure to servo motors associated with the gear change mechanism for a multi-speed transmission.
Synchronizing arrangements for gear change mechanisms in vehicle transmissions are known in which the synchronization of the transmission elements to be coupled together during a shifting operation is accomplished by a preferably electronic engine speed control after disengagement of the old speed rather than by the traditional mechanical synchronizer integrated with the transmission. With such electronic control arrangements, special synchronizing elements are no longer required. In such electronic control arrangements, however, it is necessary that the transmission elements to be coupled together are actuated as rapidly and smoothly as possible when the synchronizing point is reached, and suitable servo motors are provided for this purpose.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved control arrangement for activating servo motors in an electronically controlled transmission.
Another object of the invention is to provide a control arrangement of this type which has a very compact construction and provides a prompt application of pressure to the servo motors associated with the transmission elements to be shifted.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing a hydraulic control arrangement having a plurality of servo motors and a three-position slide valve arranged so that, in each position of the slide valve, two of the servo motors are connected to separate pressure delivery lines, each of which is connectable by a pilot valve to a main pressure supply line. With this arrangement, a durable and reliable control system can be provided at low cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic hydraulic circuit diagram showing a representative embodiment of the invention and illustrating an arrangement for actuation of two of the servo motors; and
FIG. 2 is a chart showing the operational settings of a slide valve and of two pilot valves in order to actuate servo motors to provide several speeds.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the schematic illustration of a typical embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, a hydraulic circuit diagram of the control arrangement includes a pressure medium supply tank 1, a filter 2, a pump 3, a check valve 4 and another filter 5. A pressure-limiting valve 6, arranged in a return line 7, opens when a selected pressure in a central pressure medium supply line 8 is exceeded, returning some of the pressure medium back to the intake side of the pump 3. A pressure medium reservoir 9, for example, a diaphragm reservoir, is connected to the supply line 8.
From the supply line 8, two pressure medium delivery lines 10 and 11 lead to a slide valve arrangement 12. Two valves 13 and 14 are disposed in the pressure medium delivery lines 10 and 11, respectively. In the illustrated arrangement, the valves 13 and 14 are dual-port pilot valves. These pilot valves 13 and 14, which are electromagnetically actuable against the force of a spring, open the corresponding pressure medium delivery line 10 or 11 to the central pressure medium supply line 8 when actuated, or close off that connection when de-energized. In the position shown in the drawing, both of the pilot valves 13 and 14 are in their deenergized position, in which they prevent communication between the delivery lines 10 and 11 and the central pressure medium supply line 8. When current is applied to one of the pilot valves 13 and 14, the valve will shift into a position where the central pressure medium supply line 8 is connected to the corresponding pressure medium delivery lines 10 or 11.
The pressure medium delivery lines 10 and 11, as previously mentioned, lead to the slide valve 12, which in the illustrated embodiment is adjustable from both ends by two electromagnetic servo devices 15 and 16 which move the valve in opposite directions from a central position against the action of either of two springs 17 and 18. In the central position of the slide valve 12 shown in the drawing, neither of the electromagnetic servo means 15 and 16 is energized, so that the valve position is determined solely by the force of the springs 17 and 18. In this central position of the slide valve 12, the pressure medium delivery line 10, which branches ahead of the slide valve 12, communicates by way of one branch with a pressure line 19 leading to a servo motor 20. This servo motor 20, in the illustrated embodiment, actuates a brake B which acts upon the drive motor in such a way that, if the drive train is disconnected, the transmission elements to be engaged, which are not shown in the drawing, are synchronized before engagement.
The second pressure medium delivery line 11 is connected by the slide valve 12 through one of its branches to a pressure line 21 connected to a servo motor 22 for actuating the fifth speed of the transmission. As may also be seen in the drawing, there are four further pressure lines 27-30 leading from the slide valve 12 to four servo motors 23, 24, 25 and 26, respectively. In the valve position shown in the drawing, all of these lines are connected to an outlet line 31 to return the pressure medium to the supply tank 1, which is at atmospheric pressure. Consequently, the servo motors to which those lines are connected are inactive in this valve position.
When the slide valve 12 is moved to either end position by impressing current on one of the electromagnetic servo devices 15 and 16, two other servo motors are connected to the pressure medium delivery lines 10 and 11. The table shown in FIG. 2 specifies which of the other servo motors is subject to pressure for each of the different settings of the slide valve 12 and the pilot valves 13 and 14. This table shows that, in the righthand end position of the slide valve 12, the servo motors 23 and 26 for actuating the fourth and first speeds are connected to the pressure medium delivery lines 10 and 11, respectively. Consequently, upon opening of the pilot valve 13, the servo motor 23 will receive pressure to actuate the fourth speed whereas, upon opening of the pilot valve 14, the servo motor 26 for the first speed is activated.
In the lefthand end position of the slide valve 12, the servo motors 25 and 24 for the second and third speeds are connectable to the pressure medium delivery lines 19 and 15, respectively. Accordingly, upon opening of the pilot valve 13, the servo motor 25 for the second speed is supplied with pressure medium and, upon opening of the pilot valve 14, the servo motor 24 for the third speed is actuated. In each of these positions of the slide valve 12, the servo motors which are not connected to the pressure medium delivery lines are joined to the outlet line 31 and consequently are inactive.
Moreover, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a valve device composed of two further pilot valves 32 and 33 to actuate an additional servo motor 34. This servo motor may be provided, for example, to operate a start and shift clutch K by pressure from the central medium supply line 8 received by way of a pressure medium delivery line 35. To disengage the clutch K, the pilot valve 32 is moved into the open position and the pilot valve 33 into the closed position, so that the servo motor 34 opens the clutch against the force of a spring tending to engage the clutch. The pilot valves 32 and 33 are also electromagnetically actuated with circuits arranged so that, in the absence of current, the valve 32 will be in the closed position and the valve 33 will be in the open position. This ensures that, if the pilot valve 32 happens to be defective, the clutch K will not be opened by actuation of the servo motor 34, which would prevent continued operation of the vehicle. Preferably, the pilot valve 32 is triggered by electrical impulses arranged so that a certain pulse-pause ratio will permit a very fine matching of differential rotational speed at the clutch.
In the control device according to the invention, the use of dual-port valves for the pilot valves 13 and 14 and 32 and 33 is especially advantageous because this permits a very rapid pressure response. This is especially important to provide the shortest possible switching times. The arrangement of the connections provided by the slide valve 12 is so chosen that a speed change with a small differential, in this case, for example, from the fifth speed to the fourth, will require valve action times which are as short as possible.
The storage capacity of the pressure medium reservoir 9 is selected so that, in the event of failure of the pump 3, a clutch actuation and a speed change will be possible using the pressure medium reservoir alone. In this way, moreover, the power required for the pump 3 can be kept very low, thus reducing its power loss, especially at high rotational speed of the drive system.
As is also shown by the typical embodiment described above, the invention, in addition to providing a compact and rapidly operating transmission control system, also advantageously addresses the problems of economy and safety.
Although the invention has been described herein with reference to specific embodiments, many modifications and variations therein will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, all such variations and modifications are included within the intended scope of the invention. | In the embodiments described in the specification, a hydraulic control system for supplying pressure to a plurality of servo motors associated with shift elements of the several speeds of a transmission includes a slide valve having three positions arranged so that, in each position, two of the servo motors at a time are connectable alternatively with two separate pressure medium delivery lines. Valves are provided in the pressure medium delivery lines for alternate connection of the lines to a central pressure medium supply line. | 5 |
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/110,525, filed Dec. 1, 1998, which is herein incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a system and method for detecting materials concealed within, or on, a vehicle, particularly for inspecting the undercarriage of a vehicle when personnel are present within the vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is desirable to determine the presence of objects, such as contraband, weapons, or explosives, that have been concealed, for example, in a moving vehicle, or, additionally, under the moving vehicle, in either case, without requiring the subjective determination of a trained operator. The determination should be capable of being made while the container is in motion. In case a detection is made, a visual image should be available for verification. The use of images produced by detection and analysis of penetrating radiation scattered from an irradiated object, container, or vehicle is the subject, for example, of U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,247 (Annis et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,683 (Swift et al.), where are herein incorporated by reference. The techniques taught in the prior art, however, require that the motion of the inspected object relative to the source of radiation be at a controlled rate, either by moving the inspected object on a conveyor, by sweeping the orientation of the source, or by mounting both source and detector arrangement on a single movable bed and driving them past the inspected object at a known or determinable rate.
The use of x-rays traversing a moving railway car or other large shipping container has been taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,973, issued Jun. 8, 1999, incorporated herein by reference. The '973 patent taught embodiments wherein transmitted x-rays are detected by one or more detectors placed on the side of the car distal to the source of irradiation. Disadvantages of the inspection systems based on transmitted x-rays include their typical insensitivity to organic materials having low attenuation, especially those in sheet form.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, in one of its embodiments, there is provided an inspection system for inspecting an underside of a vehicle. The system has a source of radiation for providing an upwardly directed beam of specified cross-section, and a detector arrangement, disposed beneath the surface, for detecting radiation from the beam scattered by any material disposed on the underside of the moving vehicle and for generating a scattered radiation signal. The inspection system also has a controller for characterizing the material disposed on the underside of the vehicle based at least on the scattered radiation signal.
In accordance with alternate embodiments of the invention, the vehicle may be a train car, an automobile, or a truck. The source of penetrating radiation may be an x-ray source and may additionally have a beam scanning mechanism, mechanical or electromagnetic, and the beam direction may be substantially vertically upward. The inspection system may include a display for displaying a scatter image of the material disposed on the underside of the vehicle and may further include a sensor for associating pre-stored characteristics of the vehicle such that the scattered radiation signal may be compared with the pre-stored characteristics.
In accordance with further alternate embodiments of the invention, the source of penetrating radiation of the inspection system may emit x-rays with an end-point energy between 50 and 225 keV, and particularly with an end-point energy of 80 keV, having no appreciable penetration of the underside of the vehicle. The inspection system may have a ramp disposed above the source of penetrating radiation and the detector arrangement such that the vehicle may be driven over the source of radiation and the detector arrangement. The inspection system may have a velocity sensor for registering the velocity of the vehicle with respect to the inspection system and an optical camera for providing an image in visible light of any material disposed on the underside of the moving vehicle. In accordance with yet further embodiments of the invention, the beam of penetrating radiation may have a variable energy spectrum and the controller may characterize the material disposed on the underside of the vehicle based at least on a combination of the scattered radiation signal under conditions of illumination with a first energy spectrum and conditions of illumination with a second energy spectrum.
In accordance with yet further embodiments of the invention, an inspection system is provided for inspecting contents of a vehicle moving at a grade of travel over a surface. The system has a source for providing a beam of penetrating radiation of specified cross-section directed in a beam direction having a dominant vertical component that may be directed upward or downward. The system has a detector arrangement for detecting radiation scattered from the beam by the contents of the moving vehicle and for generating a scattered radiation signal and a velocity sensor for registering the velocity of the vehicle with respect to the inspection system. Finally the system has a controller for characterizing the contents of the vehicle based at least on the scattered radiation signal and the velocity of the vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing features of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 provides a rear view in cross-section of an inspection system employing a beam for irradiating a piece of rolling stock from below or from above and a detection arrangement for inspection of the rolling stock in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a side view in cross-section of an undercarriage inspection system deployed beneath a ramp in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a rear view in cross-section of the elements of an inspection system, designated generally by numeral 10 . A source 12 emits penetrating radiation in a beam 14 having a cross-section of a specified shape. Beam 14 of penetrating radiation, may be, for example, a beam of x-rays such as a polychromatic x-ray beam. Source 12 of penetrating radiation is preferably an x-ray tube, for example, however other sources of penetrating radiation such as a LINAC, are within the scope of the present invention. The energy range of the penetrating radiation emitted by source 12 is discussed further below.
A scanning mechanism 20 is provided for scanning beam 14 across one axis of bottom surface 16 of a vehicle 18 or other object that is to be inspected. Scanning mechanism may be a flying spot rotating chopper wheel as known to persons skilled in the art. Alternatively, electromagnetic scanners may be employed. In accordance with one embodiment, an electromagnetic scanner includes a charge particle beam that may be accelerated towards, and electromagnetically scanned across, a target, thereby generating x-rays that emanate from a succession of points on the target. The emitted x-rays may pass through one or more collimator apertures, thereby creating a sequence of beams have distinct orientations. Various embodiments of an electromagnetic scanner are described in co-pending U.S. Provisional Application 60/140,767, filed Jun. 24, 1999 and entitled “Method And Apparatus For Generating Sequential Beams of Penetrating Radiation,” which is incorporated herein by reference.
Inspected object or container 18 may be self-propelled through beam 14 or may be pulled by a mechanized tractor, or by a conveyor of any sort. Container 18 is typically a train car, and is depicted as such in FIG. 1, where cargo car 18 of a train is shown being pulled along a track in a direction into the page. It is to be recognized that, equivalently, beam 14 may move with respect to object 18 in a direction into the page.
Beam 14 will be referred to in the present description, without limitation, as an x-ray beam. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, rotating chopper wheel 20 is used to develop a pencil beam 14 which may be swept in a plane substantially parallel to that of the page. The formation of pencil beam 14 by a series of tubular collimators 13 distributed as spokes on rotating wheel 20 is known in the art. The cross section of pencil beam 14 is of comparable extent in each dimension and is typically substantially rectangular, although it may be many shapes. The dimensions of pencil beam 14 typically define the scatter image resolution which may be obtained with the system. Other shapes of beam cross section may be advantageously employed in particular applications, and all shapes, including, in particular, fan beams, are within the scope of the present invention as described herein and in any appended claims. Fan beams may be employed, particularly, in an application of imageless contraband detection.
A detector arrangement is disposed beneath the plane or grade of locomotion of vehicle 18 . X-rays 22 scattered by Compton scattering out of beam 14 in an essentially backward direction are detected by one or more backscatter detectors 24 placed either at or below grade level 34 . Grade level, as used herein, refers to the plane 46 above which container 18 is traveling at the time of inspection. Grade level may thus refer to the ground level, in the case of inspection systems permanently installed below ground level, or to the upper level of a ramp, where the inspection system, disposed beneath the ramp, may advantageously be moved from one site to another. Grade level, when referring to inspection of rolling stock refers to the top of the track. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention in which a track 40 or other form of ramp is provided to allow vehicle 18 to be driven above inspection system 10 . Container 18 may be pulled or self-propelled in traversing the inspection site. As discussed above, an x-ray source 12 and a scanning mechanism 20 provide a beam 14 of penetrating radiation that has a vertically-directed component as it traverses plane 46 above which container 18 is disposed as the inspection is conducted. Inspection system 10 may be configured within a ground cavity 42 (shown in FIG. 1) or, otherwise, above the ground 43 and beneath ramp 40 , as shown in FIG. 2 .
Within the scope of the invention, any x-ray detection technology known in the art may be employed for backscatter detector arrangement 24 . The detectors may be scintillation materials, either solid or liquid or gaseous, viewed by photo-sensitive detectors such as photomultipliers or solid state detectors. Liquid scintillators which may be doped with tin or other metal. Respective output signals from the scatter detectors 24 are transmitted to a processor 26 , and processed to obtain images of object 28 on the underside of bottom surface 16 of vehicle 18 or of object 30 on the floor inside the vehicle.
Other characteristics may be obtained using backscatter techniques, such, for example, as mass, mass density, mass distribution, mean atomic number, or likelihood of containing targeted threat material, all as known to persons skilled in the art of x-ray inspection.
In accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention, two modes of operation may be employed. In accordance with a first mode of operation, x-rays are employed having a distribution of energies with a maximum energy (end-point energy) low enough such that no significant amount of radiation penetrates the undercarriage. For cars with relatively thin sheet metal flooring, the end-point energy may be restricted to 50 keV or 80 keV. For trains with heavy steel flooring, the end point energy may be as high as 150 keV. Only materials concealed in the undercarriage are detected, and there is no radiation dose to the driver. In this mode of operation, the driver may be within the vehicle during inspection of the underside of the vehicle.
A second operating mode uses x-ray energies up to about 160 keV. At this energy, there is more penetration into the vehicle, and large organic objects that have been placed on the floor inside the vehicle can be detected. End-point energies of between 50 and 225 keV may advantageously provide undercarriage inspection without excessive penetration of upper regions of the inspected vehicle.
Under certain circumstances, inspection of vehicle 18 by means of penetrating radiation directing from above the vehicle may be advantageous. In cases where inspection from above is performed, an x-ray source 54 is provided above the vehicle and a scanning mechanism 52 such as the mechanical chopper wheel 52 shown in FIG. 1 . As wheel 52 is rotated, x-ray beam 58 emerges from hollow spokes of wheel 52 in the same manner as described with respect to wheel 20 . The illuminating x-ray beam 58 sweeps across top 62 of container 18 . X-rays 60 scattered by objects 50 within vehicle 18 are detected by scatter detectors 56 disposed either side of scanning mechanism 52 .
The top of a cargo van is typically thinner and more easily penetrated by radiation than either the sides or bottom of the van. Thus the ceiling may provide the least interference to a backscatter view of the interior. Protection of personnel may be provided by the thicker gauge steel of the roof of the cab, or, alternatively, scanning may be initiated only during passage of the trailer.
Various methods known in the art may be employed for determining the location in three dimensions of the contents 50 of container 18 . For example, the use of detector elements 64 and 66 asymmetrically disposed with respect to source 54 may be used to determine the depth of scattering material in accordance with an algorithm described in co-pending U.S. Provisional patent application, Ser. No. 60/112,102, filed Dec. 14, 1998, which is herein incorporated by reference.
As vehicle 18 passes the inspection point, an inspection is performed, resulting either in the triggering of an alarm, under specified conditions, or a two-dimensional scatter image may be displayed to an operator, at console 32 . Additionally, an alarm may be triggered and an image displayed. The motion of vehicle 18 may be monitored by known sensor means to provide a scaling of the axis of the image along the direction of motion. In particular, a measure of the instantaneous speed may be obtained by means of any sort of velocity sensor 38 such as a microwave Doppler sensor, for example. Knowledge of the instantaneous speed of the vehicle allows undistorted images of the undercarriage of the vehicle to be obtained by adjusting pixel width and position (registration) according to vehicle speed, as known to persons skilled in imaging.
In accordance with alternate embodiments of the invention, automatic algorithms may be used to detect regions of enhanced backscatter in the image or regions meeting other specified criteria with respect to size, shape or composition. When such a region is detected, the operator is alerted, and the suspicious area is high-lighted for the operator on the backscatter image. For checkpoints into controlled facilities, in accordance with a further embodiment, a sensor, such as a bar-code reader, enables the backscatter image to be compared by a processor with a pre-stored features of the vehicle undergoing inspection which may correspond to a spatial regularity of highly scattering members, for example.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a dual-energy technique is employed for obtaining two views (or a combined view) of the vehicle undercarriage in order to detect organic contraband automatically. A dual-energy backscatter technique is especially useful when the end point energy of the x-ray beam may exceed about 80 keV. Referring again to FIG. 1, a 160 kV x-ray source 12 with a tungsten anode may be employed, for example, with a beam-forming chopper wheel with six spokes 13 . An energy-selective x-ray absorber 15 is placed in alternate arms so as to absorb out the lower-energy components of the x-ray spectrum thereby producing an x-ray beam having a spectrum in which most of the intensity of the beam is at energies greater than about 80 keV. The backscatter view taken with the absorber-filled spokes is thus produced by the high-energy radiation in the x-ray beam.
A view taken with the energetic beam (through an absorber-filled spoke) may be combined, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, with a view taken with a beam containing a more substantial fraction of low-energy photons. Combination may be performed using one or more of a variety of algorithms known in the art for combining scatter images. For example, the ratio of the intensities of corresponding pixels may be taken, thereby providing a higher level of confidence in a determination of atomic number than may be obtained in either view taken alone. The high-energy view is dominated by Compton scattering, which is substantially independent of the scattering material. The low-energy view may be dominated by the photoelectric effect, which is strongly material-dependent. The ratio of the two views thus provides a measure of the material qualities substantially independent of geometrical effects and changes in signal output having their origin in temperature of component variability. Thus, source-object and detector-object variations may be normalized out, using algorithms known in the art. Additionally, data or images obtained from detected scattered radiation may be combined with optical images, obtained with a video camera 36 (shown in FIG. 1 ), for example, so that images of suspected contraband, obtained with modest spatial resolution, may be superposed on a high-resolution optical image for evaluation by an operator.
The described embodiments of the invention are intended to be merely exemplary and numerous variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. All such variations and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. | An inspection system for inspecting a vehicle moving at a grade of travel over a surface and for detecting material disposed within or on the underside of the vehicle. The system has a source for providing a generally upward or downward pointing beam of penetrating radiation of specified cross-section so as to illuminate vehicles driven above or below the source of radiation. A detector arrangement, disposed below the grade of travel, detects radiation from the beam scattered by any material disposed on the underside of the moving vehicle and generates a scattered radiation signal that may be used for characterizing the material disposed on the underside of the vehicle. Similarly, a detector arrangement disposed above the vehicle generates a scattered radiation signal that may be used for characterizing the material disposed within the vehicle. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/167,045 filed Oct. 5, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,595, such patent being hereby incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to operations performed in conjunction with subterranean wells and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides an annulus pressure referenced circulating valve.
It is well known in the art to operate a valve positioned in a subterranean well by applying fluid pressure to the valve. The fluid pressure may exist by virtue of the weight of fluid in the well, the fluid pressure may be applied to the valve by, for example, a pump at the earth's surface or in the well, and the fluid pressure may be a combination of these. When the valve is interconnected in a tubular string positioned in a wellbore of the well, the fluid pressure may exist in the tubular string, in an annulus formed between the tubular string and the wellbore, or the valve may be operated by a difference between fluid pressure in the tubular string and fluid pressure in the annulus.
Where a valve is operated by absolute fluid pressure in a tubular string or in an annulus exterior to the valve, the valve typically includes a chamber at atmospheric pressure or an elevated precharged pressure at the earth's surface. After positioning in the well, a fluid pressure differential (equal to the difference between the chamber pressure and the pressure in the tubular string or annulus) is generally created across a member releasably secured against displacement by, for example, one or more shear pins. When a predetermined fluid pressure differential is reached, the member is released and displaced by the differential pressure, thereby operating the valve. Unfortunately, however, it is often uncertain what pressure conditions will be experienced in the well prior to installing the valve in the tubular string, so there is a danger that the valve will be inadvertently operated due to an unexpected pressure increase in the tubular string or annulus.
Where the valve is operated in response to a pressure differential between the tubular string and the annulus, the member is typically released for displacement when the predetermined fluid pressure differential is created. While, strictly speaking, operation of this type of valve does not require prior knowledge of absolute fluid pressures in either the tubular string or annulus, it does requires prior knowledge of fluid pressures to be experienced in both the tubular string and the annulus, so that the fluid pressure differential may be determined and the valve may be set up to avoid inadvertent operation of the valve.
Solutions to the problem of inadvertent operation of pressure responsive valves have been implemented. For example, it is common for a valve to include a chamber at an elevated pressure and a member displaceable in response to a difference in pressure between the chamber and the tubular string, the annulus, or a difference between the tubular string and annulus pressures. By manipulating the tubular string pressure, the annulus pressure, or the difference between the tubular string and annulus pressures, the member is made to displace repeatedly, the member displacing sufficiently to operate the valve after a predetermined number of the pressure manipulations. The number of pressure manipulations is usually determined by a ratchet or J-slot mechanism. Unfortunately, this type of valve requires numerous pressure manipulations, and a complex and expensive ratchet or J-slot mechanism.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a valve responsive to fluid pressure in a well, which does not require numerous pressure manipulations or precise prior knowledge of fluid pressures to be experienced in the well, and which is relatively uncomplicated in its construction and use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In carrying out the principles of the present invention, in accordance with an embodiment thereof, a circulating valve is provided which is annulus pressure referenced. The valve stores annulus pressure in an internal chamber as a variable reference. A subsequent relatively rapid increase in annulus pressure relative to that previously stored in the chamber causes the valve to operate. The valve is nonresponsive to fluid pressure in an axial flow passage formed therethrough.
In one aspect of the present invention, the valve includes a specially configured hydraulic circuit. The hydraulic circuit includes two portions interconnected in series between a fluid pressure source external to the valve, and a fluid pressure storage chamber within the valve. As fluid pressure external to the valve gradually increases and decreases, the hydraulic circuit permits the fluid pressure to be stored in the chamber. The hydraulic circuit portions permit substantially restricted fluid flow from the valve exterior to the chamber, and permit substantially unrestricted fluid flow from the chamber to the valve exterior.
However, when the external fluid pressure is relatively rapidly increased, one of the hydraulic circuit portions opens to permit substantially unrestricted flow therethrough from the valve exterior, while the other hydraulic circuit portion continues to substantially restrict fluid flow therethrough, thereby causing displacement of the hydraulic circuit portions relative to each other. Since one of the hydraulic circuit portions is incorporated in a housing assembly of the valve, and the other hydraulic circuit portion is incorporated in a structure displaceable relative to the housing assembly, displacement of the hydraulic circuit portions relative to each other causes displacement of the structure relative to the housing assembly.
In another aspect of the present invention, a structure selectively blocks and permits fluid flow through a sidewall of a housing assembly. The structure is sealingly engaged and displaceable within the housing assembly. A first hydraulic circuit portion regulates fluid flow between a fluid pressure source and a second hydraulic circuit portion across a portion of the housing assembly sealingly engaged with the structure. The second hydraulic circuit portion regulates fluid flow between the first circuit portion and a fluid pressure storage chamber across a portion of the structure sealingly engaged with the housing assembly. The second circuit portion is displaceable with the structure relative to the housing assembly.
These and other features, advantages, benefits and objects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the detailed description of a representative embodiment of the invention hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A&1B are quarter-sectional views of successive axial portions of an annulus pressure referenced circulating valve embodying principles of the present invention, the circulating valve being shown in a closed configuration thereof;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hydraulic circuit of the circulating valve of FIGS. 1A&1B;
FIGS. 3A&3B are quarter-sectional views of successive axial portions of the circulating valve of FIGS. 1A&1B, the circulating valve being shown in an open configuration thereof; and
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a method of using the circulating valve of FIGS. 1A&1B, the method embodying principles of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Representatively illustrated in FIGS. 1A&1B is an annulus pressure referenced circulating valve 10 which embodies principles of the present invention. In the following description of the circulating valve 10 and other apparatus and methods described herein, directional terms, such as “above”, “below”, “upper”, “lower”, etc., are used for convenience in referring to the accompanying drawings. Additionally, it is to be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention described herein may be utilized in various orientations, such as inclined, inverted, horizontal, vertical, etc., without departing from the principles of the present invention.
The circulating valve 10 includes an outer housing assembly 12 , a generally tubular structure or sleeve 14 , and a hydraulic circuit 16 . The hydraulic circuit 16 is representatively illustrated in FIG. 2 apart from the remainder of the circulating valve 10 , and is described in more detail hereinbelow.
An annular chamber 18 is formed between the sleeve 14 and the housing assembly 12 . The annular chamber 18 is in fluid communication with the exterior of the valve 10 via a port 20 formed through a sidewall of the housing assembly. When the circulating valve 10 is interconnected in a tubular string and positioned within a wellbore (see FIG. 4 ), the port 20 permits fluid flow between the chamber 18 and an annulus formed between the tubular string and the wellbore. An annular piston 22 sealingly and reciprocably disposed between the housing assembly 12 and the sleeve 14 isolates wellbore fluids from the hydraulic circuit 16 , while still permitting transfer of fluid pressure from the annulus to the hydraulic circuit. For this purpose, a clean fluid, such as oil, silicone fluid, etc., is contained in the chamber 18 between the piston 22 and the hydraulic circuit 16 .
Another annular chamber 24 is formed between the sleeve 14 and the housing assembly 12 . The chamber 24 receives fluid flowed through the hydraulic circuit 16 from the chamber 18 . An annular piston 26 sealingly and reciprocably disposed in the chamber 24 between the sleeve 14 and the housing assembly 12 isolates the fluid flowed through the hydraulic circuit 16 from a volume of compressible fluid, such as Nitrogen, in the chamber 24 below the piston.
The valve 10 is representatively illustrated in FIGS. 1A&1B in a configuration in which the valve is run into a well as a part of a tubular string. The piston 26 is illustrated in FIG. 1B as being downwardly spaced apart from a radially enlarged portion 28 of the sleeve 14 . This downward displacement of the piston 26 is due to fluid pressure greater than that of the compressible fluid in the chamber 24 entering the port 20 , forcing fluid from the chamber 18 through the hydraulic circuit 16 and into the chamber 24 above the piston 26 , and compressing the compressible fluid in the chamber 24 , for example, due to increased hydrostatic pressure in the annulus surrounding the valve.
Such transfer of fluid from the upper chamber 18 to the lower chamber 24 through the hydraulic circuit 16 , due to increasing hydrostatic pressure as the valve 10 is lowered in a well, is at a relatively low flow rate. This is because hydrostatic pressure increases very gradually as the valve 10 is lowered in the well. The hydraulic circuit 16 permits such low flow rate transfers of fluid from the upper chamber 18 to the lower chamber 24 , without causing any change in the configuration of the valve 10 .
In the configuration of the valve 10 depicted in FIGS. 1A&1B, the sleeve 14 prevents fluid flow through openings 30 formed through a sidewall of the housing assembly 12 . If the sleeve 14 is downwardly displaced relative to the housing assembly 12 , the openings 30 will no longer be blocked by the sleeve, and fluid flow will be permitted through the openings. In this manner, fluid communication is established between the exterior of the valve 10 and an inner axial flow passage 32 formed through the valve. It will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that such downward displacement of the sleeve 14 relative to the housing assembly 12 will also permit fluid communication between the annulus and an axial flow passage of a tubular string, when the valve 10 is interconnected in the tubular string and positioned in a well, thereby permitting fluid circulation through the tubular string and annulus in the well.
The sleeve 14 is releasably retained in its position blocking fluid flow through the openings 30 by a generally C-shaped snap ring 34 . The snap ring 34 is received in an annular groove 36 formed internally in the housing assembly 12 . The snap ring 34 is also engaged with a radially reduced portion 38 formed on the sleeve 14 . It will be readily appreciated that a sufficiently large downwardly biasing force must be applied to the sleeve 14 to radially enlarge the snap ring 34 and permit the sleeve to displace downwardly. Of course, other means of releasably retaining the sleeve 14 , such as shear pins, a shear ring, a releasable latch, etc., could be utilized in place of the snap ring 34 , without departing from the principles of the present invention.
Another snap ring 40 is positioned in the housing assembly 12 for engagement with an annular groove 42 formed externally on the sleeve 14 . The snap ring 40 could be similar to the snap ring 34 , but is depicted in FIG. 1A as being of the conventional type which is circumferentially segmented and biased radially inward by springs encircling the segments. When the sleeve 14 is downwardly displaced relative to the housing assembly 12 to open the valve 10 and permit fluid flow through the openings 30 , the snap ring 40 radially inwardly retracts into the groove 42 and thereby prevents further displacement of the sleeve relative to the housing assembly. Thus, the valve 10 as representatively illustrated in FIGS. 1A&1B is a “one-shot” valve that is actuated only once to open the valve, and the valve is not subsequently closed. However, it is to be clearly understood that principles of the present invention may be incorporated in apparatus other than a “one-shot” circulating valve.
Note that a portion 44 of the hydraulic circuit 16 is disposed within a threaded coupling 46 of the housing assembly 12 , and that another portion 48 of the hydraulic circuit is disposed within the radially enlarged portion 28 of the sleeve 14 . Thus, when the sleeve 14 displaces relative to the housing assembly 12 , the hydraulic circuit portion 48 also displaces relative to the other hydraulic circuit portion 44 . In addition, note that, since the sleeve 14 is sealingly engaged with the housing assembly 12 within the coupling 46 and at the radially enlarged portion 28 , the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 regulates fluid flow between the upper chamber 18 and the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 , and the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 regulates fluid flow between the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 and the lower chamber 24 .
Referring additionally now to FIG. 2, the hydraulic circuit 16 is schematically and representatively illustrated apart from the remainder of the valve 10 . The hydraulic circuit 16 includes the portions 44 , 48 , the upper chamber 18 and the lower chamber 24 . A fluid pressure source 50 is shown in FIG. 2, but it may or may not be considered a part of the hydraulic circuit 16 , depending upon the configuration of the valve 10 . For example, in the embodiment of the valve 10 depicted in FIGS. 1A&1B, the fluid pressure source 50 is the exterior of the valve, which is an annulus between the valve and a wellbore when the valve is positioned in the wellbore. The fluid pressure source 50 may also include a pump, such as a mud pump at the earth's surface, which may be used to apply fluid pressure to the annulus, or a downhole pump connected to the valve 10 within the well. Thus, the fluid pressure source 50 shown in FIG. 2 may be any means of introducing fluid pressure to the valve 10 .
As shown in FIG. 2, fluid pressure from the fluid pressure source 50 enters the chamber 18 . In the valve 10 , the fluid pressure enters the chamber 18 via the port 20 . Note that the chamber 18 is not necessary in an apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, since fluid pressure could be transmitted directly from the fluid pressure source 50 to the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 .
Fluid flows from the chamber 18 through the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 to the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 , the circuit portions being interconnected in series between the chambers 18 and 24 . The upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 includes three parallel flowpaths 52 , 54 , 56 . Fluid flows from the upper chamber 18 to the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 through the flowpath 54 , which includes a flow restrictor 62 , such as a choke or an orifice.
A check valve 58 prevents fluid flow from the chamber 18 to the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 through the flowpath 52 . A rupture disk 60 or other releasable fluid pressure barrier prevents fluid flow from the chamber 18 to the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 through the flowpath 56 until a predetermined fluid pressure differential is created across the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 , at which time the rupture disk 60 ruptures, permitting substantially unrestricted fluid flow through the flowpath 56 . A screen 64 or other filtering device prevents fragments of the rupture disk 60 from entering the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 after the rupture disk 60 ruptures.
The restrictor 62 and rupture disk 60 are selected so that fluid may flow 20 through the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 from the upper chamber 18 to the lower hydraulic circuit portion 48 at a relatively low flow rate, without creating a sufficient fluid pressure differential across the upper hydraulic circuit portion 44 to cause the rupture disk 60 to rupture. This permits fluid pressure to be transmitted from the fluid pressure source 50 to the lower chamber 24 , where the fluid pressure is stored as a reference pressure. For example, when the valve 10 is conveyed into a well as a part of a tubular string, gradually increasing hydrostatic fluid pressure in an annulus between the wellbore and the valve is stored in the lower chamber 24 , without causing rupture of the rupture disk 60 . Additionally, fluid pressure in the annulus (or other fluid pressure source) may increase above hydrostatic pressure, without causing rupture of the rupture disk 60 , as long as the restrictor 62 can meter fluid flow through the flowpath 54 and prevent a sufficiently great differential pressure from being created across the upper circuit portion 44 . Or, stated differently, fluid pressure increases are transmitted from the upper chamber 18 to the lower circuit portion 48 exclusively through the flowpath 54 , until the rate of fluid pressure increase is sufficiently great to cause the predetermined pressure differential to be created across the upper circuit portion 44 , at which time the rupture disk 60 ruptures, permitting a relatively high rate of fluid flow through the flowpath 56 .
The lower circuit portion 48 includes two parallel flowpaths 66 , 68 . A check valve 70 prevents fluid flow from the upper circuit portion 44 to the chamber 24 through the flowpath 66 . A flow restrictor 72 restricts fluid flow through the flowpath 68 .
Recall that the lower circuit portion 48 is disposed in the sleeve 14 . The restrictor 72 is sized so that when the rupture disk 60 ruptures, a fluid pressure differential is created across the lower circuit portion 48 sufficiently great to bias the sleeve 14 downwardly, radially expanding the snap ring 34 and downwardly displacing the sleeve relative to the housing assembly 12 . Thus, the restrictor 72 preferably permits fluid flow therethrough at a relatively low flow rate for storing fluid pressure in the chamber 24 , but when the rupture disk 60 ruptures, the resulting pressure differential across the lower circuit portion 48 requires a relatively high rate of fluid flow through the restrictor 72 . This differential pressure biases the sleeve 14 downward relative to the housing assembly 12 .
The check valves 58 , 70 permit substantially unrestricted flow of fluid from the chamber 24 to the chamber 18 through the circuit portions 44 , 48 . Thus, when fluid pressure of the fluid pressure source 50 decreases, the reference fluid pressure stored in the chamber 24 is also permitted to readily decrease therewith. However, it will be readily appreciated that the check valves 58 , 70 are not necessary in the valve 10 if a pressure relief valve is used instead of a rupture disk since fluid may also flow through the restrictors 62 , 72 from the chamber 24 to the chamber 18 .
It will now be fully appreciated that fluid pressure stored in the chamber 24 corresponds to fluid pressure external to the housing assembly 12 . When the valve 10 is interconnected in a tubular string positioned in a wellbore of a well, this stored fluid pressure corresponds to fluid pressure in an annulus between the valve and the wellbore. When fluid pressure in the annulus is gradually increased, due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure and/or due to fluid pressure otherwise applied to the annulus, the increased fluid pressure is transmitted through the hydraulic circuit 16 for storage in the chamber 24 . When fluid pressure in the annulus is decreased, fluid in the chamber 24 is transmitted through the hydraulic circuit 16 to the chamber 18 , thereby permitting a corresponding decrease in the stored fluid pressure. In this manner, the circulating valve 10 is annulus pressure referenced.
However, when fluid pressure in the annulus is relatively rapidly increased, for example, due to fluid pressure being applied to the annulus by a pump, this increased fluid pressure relative to the fluid pressure stored in the chamber 24 causes a pressure differential to be created across the upper circuit portion 44 , rupturing the rupture disk 60 . When the rupture disk 60 ruptures, a pressure differential is created across the lower circuit portion 48 , which biases the sleeve 14 downwardly to open the valve 10 .
Referring additionally now to FIGS. 3A&3B, the valve 10 is representatively illustrated in a configuration in which it has been opened as described above. The rupture disk 60 has been ruptured and a differential pressure has been created across the lower circuit portion 48 sufficiently great to radially enlarge the snap ring 34 and downwardly displace the sleeve 14 relative to the housing assembly 12 . The openings 30 are now open to fluid flow therethrough between the flow passage 32 and the exterior of the housing assembly 12 . The snap ring 40 has radially inwardly retracted into the groove 42 , thereby substantially preventing further displacement of the sleeve 14 relative to the housing assembly 12 .
Note that the piston 26 has displaced further downward in the chamber 24 . Prior to running the valve 10 , the chamber 24 below the piston 26 should be charged with a compressible fluid, such as Nitrogen, at a pressure somewhat less than the expected hydrostatic pressure in the well at the depth the valve 10 is to be installed, compensated for temperature. It is preferred that the volume of the chamber 24 below the piston 26 be decreased by approximately 10% when the valve 10 is properly positioned in the well. The volume of the chamber 24 below the piston 26 should permit the sleeve 14 to displace downwardly to its position shown in FIGS. 3A&3B, for example, so that a pressure differential still exists across the radially enlarged portion 28 of the sleeve (and, thus, across the lower circuit portion 48 ) when the snap ring 40 retracts into the groove 42 . It is preferred that the remaining pressure differential across the lower circuit portion 48 produces a downwardly biasing force at least about 25% greater than that needed to displace the sleeve 14 at the time the snap ring 40 retracts into the groove 42 .
Referring additionally now to FIG. 4, a method 80 of controlling fluid flow within a subterranean well is representatively illustrated. In the method 80 , a circulating valve 82 is interconnected in a tubular string 84 . The valve 82 may be the valve 10 described above, or it may be another differently constructed annulus pressure referenced circulating valve. The tubular string 84 may be a string of production tubing, a drill stem test string, etc.
An internal axial flow passage of the tubular string 84 extends axially through the valve 82 . If the valve 82 is similar to the valve 10 described above, the flow passage 32 is in fluid communication with the remainder of the flow passage in the tubular string 84 . The valve 82 initially prevents fluid communication between the flow passage of the tubular string 84 and an annulus 86 formed between a wellbore 88 of the well.
As the tubular string 84 is lowered into the well, hydrostatic pressure in the annulus 86 increases. The valve 82 stores this fluid pressure internally as a reference. When the valve 82 is appropriately positioned in the wellbore 88 , additional fluid pressure is applied to the annulus 86 , for example, by a pump connected to the annulus via a wellhead at the earth's surface. This additional fluid pressure is applied to the annulus 86 relatively rapidly, as compared to the increase in hydrostatic pressure due to lowering of the tubular string 84 in the wellbore 88 .
The relatively rapid increase in fluid pressure in the annulus 86 causes the valve 82 to open, thereby permitting fluid communication between the annulus 86 and the internal axial flow passage of the tubular string 84 . Fluid may now be circulated from the annulus 86 , in through the valve 82 and into the tubular string 84 . Of course, this fluid flow could be reversed, as well.
It may now be fully appreciated that the valve 10 and the method 80 permit valve actuation without requiring prior knowledge of the precise fluid pressures in the annulus 86 or tubular string 84 , or both of them. Additionally, it is not necessary for multiple fluid pressure applications to be accomplished to actuate the valve 10 or 82 . Instead, the valve 10 or 82 carries an internal fluid pressure reference, which may increase or decrease depending upon the actual fluid pressure in the annulus 86 . The valve 10 or 82 is actuated only by a relatively rapid increase in fluid pressure in the annulus 86 , and is insensitive to fluid pressure in the tubular string.
Of course, many modifications, additions, deletions, substitutions, and other changes may be made to the valve 10 and method 80 described above, which changes would be obvious to one skilled in the art, and these changes are contemplated by the principles of the present invention. For example, the valve 10 could be easily configured to selectively permit and prevent fluid flow through the flow passage 32 by connecting the sleeve 14 to a conventional ball valve mechanism, so that displacement of the sleeve causes actuation of the ball valve mechanism. Accordingly, the foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as being given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited solely by the appended claims. | A circulating valve and associated methods of using same provide control of fluid flow within a subterranean well. In a described embodiment, a circulating valve includes a fluid pressure storage chamber in fluid communication with the exterior of the valve. When positioned in a wellbore, fluid pressure in an annulus between the valve and the wellbore is stored in the storage chamber. A subsequent, relatively rapid, increase in the annulus fluid pressure causes the valve to operate. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to materials used for forming photorefractive holographic recording media. The invention relates in particular to a method for producing a photorefractive holographic media which has good sensitivity and good transparency to enable thick samples to be used for multiplexing multiple pages of data.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0002] Data storage based on two-dimensional (2D) memories, such as optically read/write pits, grooves or magnetic domains are reaching the theoretical limits of the given materials. New techniques are being sought in order to decrease the price per megabyte and increase the data storage capacity and speed of data recording and retrieval of near-future disk drives by several orders of magnitude. The technical solutions to the problem are essentially three-fold. Firstly, decreasing the pit and groove sizes to several nanometres would reach the limit of 10 10 -10 12 bits/mm 2 . Such a solution is, however, inevitably limited by costly precision mechanics, need for special environments (high-vacuum or pure liquid state) and most importantly, extra long access time to stored data due to the inherent disadvantage of 2D technology- very slow, serial reading.
[0003] The second technical solution to the increasing demands for data-storage systems is being developed on the basis of three-dimensional optical writing of pits and grooves into a series of multi-layers. Instead of one layer in today's CDs or two layers in today's DVDs, multi-layer disks are being considered using, for example, photorefractive polymers as discussed by D. Day, M. Gu and A. Smallridge (Use of two-photon excitation for erasable-rewritable three-dimensional bit optical data storage in a photorefractive polymer, Optics Letters 24 (1999) 948) or fluorescent materials. This technical solution to the data-storage problem also has severe disadvantages such as the limited number of sensitive layers due to overlapping problems (noise due to interference and scattering) and still, most importantly, slow serial data processing.
[0004] The third category of technical approach to data-storage systems for future recording media is in holographic data recording and retrieval. There has been growing interest in the use of holography for information storage due to its massively parallel data processing and prospect of reaching the ultimate theoretical limits of the material used for the storage. Used for storage of digital information, holography is now regarded as a realistic contender for functions now served by opto-magnetic materials or optically written phase-change CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs.
[0005] Much research has been carried out to find a suitable and commercially viable recording medium. Virtually any photo-sensitive material can be used for holographic recording; however, long-time data storage, sensitivity, cost, speed of recording and developing of the holograms are only some of the issues which limit the available materials to a few which are potentially useful in the field of holographic data storage. Typical materials extensively used in, for example, art holography, such as silver-halide materials, dichromated gelatin, bacteriorhodopsin etc. are generally unsuitable for data storage, as they typically require additional processing steps such as wet development. Thus, there are, in principle, three major groups of materials being extensively studied at present.
[0006] Ion-doped inorganic photorefractive crystals, such as lithium niobate, have served for laboratory use for many years. Interfering light beams of suitable wavelength generate bright and dark regions in the electro-optic crystal and charge carriers—usually electrons—are excited in the bright regions and become mobile. They migrate in the crystal and are subsequently trapped at new sites. By these means, electronic space-charge fields are set up that give rise to a modulation of refractive index via the electro-optic effect.
[0007] Disadvantages of these materials include high cost and poor sensitivity resulting in a need for very high light power densities, limited refractive index changes (less than 10 −3 ), restriction to small samples (single crystals), the volatility of the stored data and the necessity of thermal fixing by heating the crystal to 100-129° C. after recording and the danger of noise due to damage inflicted during read-out.
[0008] Polymer recording is promising and is gaining increased popularity due to the simple method of preparation and relatively low cost. Several physical principles are utilised in polymer recording. Photopolymers or photoaddressable polymers react to light with a refractive index change caused by a change in their molecular configuration resulting from polymerisation. Photorefractive polymers utilise the same electro-optic effect as described above in the case of photorefractive crystals.
[0009] The major disadvantage of the monomer-polymer type material is the significant distortions of the holograms due to polymer shrinkage during polymerisation. Photoaddressable—photochromic and photodichroic polymers that undergo a change in isomer state after two-photon absorption are the subject of extensive study. These materials are reversible and relatively fast (msec); however, disadvantages typically include relatively fast dark relaxation, short dark storage time and the requirement of coherent UV light sources. Photorefractive polymers exhibit quite a high dynamical range with low intensity illumination, but still suffer from disadvantages like problematic preparation of thick samples, need for development of non-destructive readout and the necessity to apply a high electrical field for the transport and charge separation.
[0010] Organic polymers are generally also limited in having relatively low light intensity thresholds due to possible overheating (resulting in chemical decomposition).
[0011] The final class of materials that can be used for holographic data storage are chalcogenide glasses, and these form the subject of this application.
[0012] There are six basic phenomena exhibited by chalcogenide glasses, which can be potentially used for data storage eg. holographic recording:
[0013] 1. the phase change (photocrystallisation),
[0014] 2. photodoping of chalcogenides with metallic materials which are in direct contact with the sample (e.g. silver, copper etc.)
[0015] 3. photoinduced expansion and contraction of the glassy matrix,
[0016] 4. wet etching of the exposed/nonexposed areas of the chalcogenide glass in solvents
[0017] 5. photoinduced anisotropy (the change of refractive index (birefringence) and absorption coefficient (dichroism) upon absorption of polarized light),
[0018] 6. Scalar photodarkening/photobleaching (the change of absorption coefficient and refractive index upon absorption of unpolarized light),
[0019] The first group consists of optical recording media, which exhibit a phase-change (amorphous-to-crystal, or vice versa) upon illumination or heating. It is well known that some kinds of Te-based alloy film undergo comparatively easily a reversible phase transition on irradiation by a laser beam. Since, among them, compositions rich in Te-component makes it possible to obtain an amorphous state by illumination with a relatively low laser power, their application as a recording medium has been proposed. For example, S. R. Ovshinsky et al. had first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,441 that thin films such as Te 85 Ge 15 and Te 81 Ge 15 S 2 Sb 2 produce a reversible phase-transition when exposed to light with a high energy density such as a laser beam. A. W. Smith has also disclosed a film of Te 92 Ge 3 As 5 as a typical composition, and he has clarified that it could undergo about 10 4 recording (amorphization) and erasing (crystallization) cycles (Applied Physics Letters, 18 (1971) p. 254). However, since the crystalline phase causes a high degree of light scattering, these materials are generally not well suited for holographic recording.
[0020] Many studies have been made on light-sensitive materials, which make use of the photodoping phenomenon. When a light-sensitive recording material comprising laminated layers of a chalcogenide film and a metallic layer are subjected to appropriate irradiation, a metal diffusion in the chalcogenide (photodoping) is caused in the irradiated areas, thus yielding an image corresponding to the light irradiation pattern. [Soviet Physics Solid State, Vol. 8, p. 451 (1966), U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,637,381 and 3,637,383, Japanese Patent Publication 6,142/72]. The resulting image can either be used as such, utilizing the absolute contrast between fully opaque (non-irradiated) and transparent areas (illuminated) of the sample (amplitude image), or make use of the diffusion implicated differences in the solubility of the exposed and non-exposed areas in suitable solvents. Although this is potentially interesting in write-once-read-many (WORM) type of memories, this effect is generally slow and mostly limited to surface relief holograms. Another disadvantage of these materials is firstly the high mobility of the small metal-ions (mostly Ag) in the host material, which causes a relatively fast degradation of the optical properties of the sample. Secondly, in order to make use of the refractive index changes in the material, the non-dissolved metal at the non-illuminated areas of the sample has to be removed in an additional process step [C. W. Slinger, A. Zakery, P. J. S. Ewen and A. E. Owen, Photodoped chalcogenides as potential infrared holographic media, Applied Optics 31 (1992) 2490].
[0021] The photoinduced expansion/contraction of the glassy matrix can be used for the formation of relief holographic gratings in thin chalcogenide films. Though it might play an important role in fundamental understanding of photostrucural changes, it is rather a negative effect affecting the process of holographic recording in chalcogenide glasses. Fortunately it requires high exposure energies (200-300 J/mm 2 ) to significantly affect the surface relief of the sample. [V. Paylok, Appl. Phys. A 68 (1999) 489, S. Ramachandran, IEEE Photonics Tech. Lett.,8, 1996].
[0022] Wet etching of photo-induced holograms in chalcogenide glasses is another approach—T. Sakai and Y. Utsugi [Opt. Comm. 20 (1977) 59] copied holograms using amorphous chalcogenide semiconductor films as a master, utilizing the feature of a chalcogenide glass to act as an effective inorganic photoresist, where illuminated or unilluminated areas of the sample are vulnerable to solvents (both positive and negative processes being used). This effect has the potential for use in making holographic master elements for polymer endorsing; however, it is generally unsuitable for holographic data storage, as it requires long times for the development of the recorded data.
[0023] Photoinduced anisotropy, i.e.optical changes under illumination with polarized light (i.e. optically induced birefringence and dichroism) are the next group of optical properties in chalcogenide glasses that can be used for hologram writing. A change of refractive index of about ˜3.10 −3 in an amorphous As 2 S 3 film was first observed in 1977 by Zhdanov and Malinovsky [V. G. Zhdanov and V. K. Malinovsky, Pisma Zh. Tehn. Fiz. 3 (1977) 943], and nearly 100 research papers have been published on the subject since. The structural changes associated with photoinduced anisotropy are the subject of speculations; however, it is generally accepted that the structural origin of the photoinduced anisotropy is different in nature from that of scalar photodarkening. Reorientation of charged atomic defects, orientation of molecular or other structural units in the glassy matrix and a change in bond-angle distributions are all being equally considered as the origin of photoinduced anisotropy. The first holographic recording in chalcogenide glasses based on photoinduced anisotropy was performed by Kwak at al [C. H. Kwak, J. T. Kim and S. S. Lee, Scalar and vector holographic gratings recorded in photoanisotropic amorphous As 2 S 3 thin films, Optics Lett. 13 (1988) 437]. The maximum diffraction efficiency (˜0.2%) obtained with an Ar-ion laser beam (514 nm) and 50 mW/cm 2 light intensity, was reached in the order of tens of seconds in C. H.Kwak, J. T. Kim and S. S.Lee, Scalar and vector holographic gratings recorded in a photoanisotropic amorphous As 2 S 3 thin films, Optics Lett.13 (1988) 437. The effect is essentially reversible and this is achieved by changing the orientation of the linearly polarized light to the orthogonal direction to that of the original inducing beam. Similar characteristic performances of holographic writing of diffraction elements (diffraction efficiency of order of <5%) with polarized light have been reported later.
[0024] Scalar photodarkening/photobleaching (i.e. a photoinduced change in optical properties independent of the polarization of the inducing light) is believed in the related art to be caused by one or more combinations of the following processes: atomic bond scission, change in atomic distances or bond-angle distribution, or photoinduced chemical reactions such as
2 As 2 S 3 <->2 S+As 4 S 4
[0025] Most recording materials for holograms based on chalcogenide glasses take advantage of differences in the light absorption between irradiated areas and non-irradiated areas [Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 19, p. 205 (1971) U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,512, UK Patent GB-1387 177]. The method comprises exposing a chalcogenide layer to a pattern of light having wavelengths less than that corresponding to the bandgap of the material whereby the optical density of the material is increased or decreased in the areas exposed to light to form a visible image.
[0026] The changes in absorption coefficient are mainly accompanied by a change in refractive index. This is typically greater than that in photorefractive crystals or polymers and can reach up to Δn˜0.2-0.3 (for comparison Fe-doped LiNbO 3 ferroelectric crystals have Δn˜10 −4 ). In the early 1970s, reversible photoinduced shifts of the optical absorption of vitreous As 2 S 3 films were reported and used for hologram storage in these materials [U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,512, Ohmachi, Appl. Phys. Lett., 20 1972, J. S.,Berkes J.Appl.Phys, 42, 5908, K. Tanaka, Solid St. Commun., 11,1311]. Typical diffraction efficiencies of several percent for exposure with 15 mW laser power (Ar-ion laser) in 10 sec, with stable dark data storage over 2,500 hours, were reported in As 2 S 3 films [S. A.Keneman, Appl.Phys.Lett. 19 (6) 1971]. Similar results of holographically written gratings (or other holographic elements) based on the principle of photodarkening/photobleching in chalcogenide glasses were later reported by various researchers [PNr.SU474287, SU697958-1980, SU704396-1982, SU-1100253, SU1833502-1995, O.Salminen, Opt. Commun.116 (1995) 310, ].Since the maximum diffraction efficiency of an amplitude grating (based on changes in optical density) is principally much lower than that of a phase grating, it is desirable to minimize the light attenuation caused by a high degree of optical absorption of the chalcogenide layer.
[0027] As the required data storage density rapidly increases, the need for thick recording media becomes inevitable. The effective areal storage density can be significantly increased by recording of multiple, independent pages of data in the same recording volume. This process, in which the holographic structure for one page is intermixed with the recorded structure of each of the other pages, is referred to as multiplexing. Retrieval of an individual page with minimum crosstalk from the other pages is a consequence of the volume nature of the recording and its behavior as a highly tuned diffracting structure. This so called Bragg effect is the cause of a decrease in diffraction intensity by changing the angle or wavelength between different recording and playback beams. The point at which the diffraction efficiency becomes zero depends on the recording angles, initial wavelength and optical thickness of the recording material. For a given recording configuration, altering the thickness plays the central role. As the thickness increases, the recorded structure becomes more highly tuned such that smaller mismatches among individual holograms can be tolerated.
[0028] According to Kogelnik's coupled wave theory [H. Kogelnik, Bell.Syst. Tech. J.48, 2909 (1996)] multiple holograms can be stored in a 10 μm thick recording medium (λ=532 nm, θ ext (object beam)=θ ext (reference beam)=45°, n=1.5 in angular increments of 3° 0 while a 100 μm thick medium allows storage in 0.3° angular increments. Since the diffraction efficiency η of a hologram is defined as the ratio of the diffracted power to the incident power, a small value of the optical absorption coefficient α is also desirable to achieve high diffraction efficiencies by minimising absorption losses and maximising optical transmission. The major drawback of the proposed recording media utilising chalcogenide glasses is their high optical absorption (compositions from the systems As—S, As—Se, As—Ge—S, As—Ge—Se, Ge—Se) or low sensitivity (compositions from the systems Ge—S, Ge—Sb—S) for the wavelength of the commercially most available Nd-YAG laser (λ=532 nm). If this problem were to be overcome, chalcogenides could be used for optical data storage in future optical discs.
[0029] If most known chalcogenide glasses were to be used in a commercial holographic drive (“holodrive”) they would require the use of very expensive tunable pulsed lasers emitting light having a relatively low energy (ie longer wavelength). This is due to these materials having relatively small values of energy band gaps, thereby exhibiting high optical absorption of the output of higher energy, shorter wavelength lasers. The laser system would need to be tuned to bandgap or near the bandgap of the chalcogenide material, while at the same time retaining a high value of optical transmission—two conditions which are in principle contradictory and almost impossible to achieve in optically thick media (above 100 μm thick). Pulsing of the write laser is crucial for commercial applications of holographic data storage, as fast writing speeds are dependent on pulsing of the laser if the response time of the storage medium is to be fast enough. It is a non-trivial task to construct a pulsed laser operating at an arbitrary wavelength (or energy). There are fundamental limitations which, in principle, limit the choice to only a few distinct wavelengths. It is believed that the strongest contender for commercially suitable holodrives is the frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser (λ=532 nm).
[0030] In our co-pending British patent application number 0121726.4, we disclose a holographic recording medium comprising a sulphur based chalcogenide glass containing phosphorus. This material has been found to be superior to previously used chalcogenide glasses , in that the sensitivity of the glass to a Nd:YAG laser is high and at the same time the optical absorption at λ=532 nm of Nd:YAG laser light is comparatively low, enabling samples of >100 μm to be produced which have an optical transmissivity greater than 50%. The low value of optical absorption is due to the material having a larger bandgap than previously used chalcogenide glasses, and moreover the bandgap can be tuned to a slightly shorter wavelength than 532 nm to decrease the absorption of Nd:YAG laser light without substantially affecting the sensitivity. Nd:YAG lasers are relatively cheap and can be pulsed. The use of phosphorus containing sulphur based chalcogenide glass potentially can achieve the fast writing speeds which are essential in a commercially viable holographic storage medium. However, even with the use of this new chalcogenide material, it would still be desirable to obtain even thicker samples (of the order of 0.5 mm) to increase the multiplexing capability.
[0031] WO01/45111 discloses a rewriteable chalcogenide based holographic recording medium which particularly utilises an As—Se based chalcogenide material. This recording medium requires the use of a He—Ne laser (λ=632.8 nm) as the bandgap of the material is rather small and the optical absorption of a Nd:YAG laser beam would be too high to obtain the necessary depth of optical penetration for recording multiple pages of data in thick samples.
[0032] The object of this invention is the utilization of a highly photosensitive composition of an amorphous chalcogenide material in the form of a relatively thick film (d>100 μm) for the preparation of a volume holographic recording medium with high diffraction efficiency, which allows multiple holograms to be stored, the material having a high level of optical transmission at the wavelength of interest.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0033] According to the present invention, a holographic recording medium comprises an amorphous mixture of a chalcogenide glass dispersed in a filler material, the filler material being substantially transparent to visible light, wherein the chalcogenide glass undergoes a photostructural change in response to illumination resulting in a change of refractive index of the chalcogenide glass.
[0034] According to the present invention, a method of producing a holographic recording medium comprises the step of:
[0035] co-depositing a chalcogenide material and a filler material onto a substrate to form an amorphous film comprising an amorphous mixture of a chalcogenide glass and a filler material, the filler material being substantially transparent to visible light.
[0036] According to the present invention, a method of holographic recording comprises the steps of:
[0037] providing a holographic recording medium comprising an amorphous mixture of a chalcogenide glass and a filler material, the filler material being substantially transparent to visible light;
[0038] selectively illuminating the holographic recording medium thereby inducing a photostructural change resulting in a change of refractive index of the chalcogenide glass.
[0039] The combination of a transparent filler material which is optically inert with the chalcogenide material has the effect of diluting the active chalcogenide material, and thus reducing the overall optical absorption of the mixture to allow a high degree of multiplexing in thick films. This does, of course, reduce the overall sensitivity, but not enough to affect the function of the material as a holographic recording medium. The filler material is optical inert in that it does not exhibit the photostructural effect in response to illumination. For instance, with the type of large bandgap phosphorus and sulphur based chalcogenide glass disclosed in our above-referenced co-pending British Patent application, the transparency is already good at 532 nm (for 100□m thick films), and the sensitivity is very high. The amount of dilution required to obtain thicker samples does not critically affect the sensitivity. This material, when diluted according to the present invention, can achieve sample thicknesses of the order of 0.5 mm with approximately 50% transmissivity at 532 nm.
[0040] Furthermore, the dilution of the chalcogenide material leading to a reduction of the overall optical absorption can enable the use of smaller bandgap chalcogenides such as As 2 S 3 or materials as described in WO01/45111 such as As—Se glasses enabling the use of higher frequency light which would otherwise be practically impossible (due to very high absorption). This enables the use of frequency doubled Nd:YAG lasers with these materials and at the same time potentially significantly increases the sensitivity of the holographic material. In the diluted material, the 532 nm light can penetrate more deeply, allowing the multiplexing of more pages of data stored holographically.
[0041] In the method of producing the holographic recording medium of the present invention, preferably the step of codepositing comprises coevaporating the chalcogenide material and the filler material from separate receptacles and condensing the vapour on the substrate to form the amorphous mixture.
[0042] Preferably, the chalcogenide material and the filler are evaporated from separate receptacles, such as crucibles. This prevents chemical reactions taking place in the melt.
[0043] Preferably, the filler material comprises a glass. More preferably an oxide, fluoride or chalcogenide glass and most preferably ZnS, YF 3 , B 2 O 3 or GeO 2 .
[0044] The glass filler must be transparent to visible light, and preferably has a band gap of at least 2.6 eV.
[0045] Preferably, the amorphous chalcogenide mixture contains molecules of A 4 B 3 and/or A 4 B 4 where A is either phosphorus or arsenic and B is either sulphur, selenium or tellurium. These molecules can be particularly responsible for the photorefractive effect, either by being reoriented in response to illumination by polarised light or by being broken up.
[0046] In a preferred embodiment, the chalcogenide glass consists of sulphur, phosphorus and arsenic. The illuminating light causes a breakdown of P 4 S 4 and/or P 4 S 3 molecules in the glass, producing an irreversible change. This material is useful to produce a WORM (write once read many) type recording medium.
[0047] In an alternative, rewriteable medium, molecules of As 4 Se 3 are reorientated in response to illumination by polarised light when the medium is heated above the temperature at which a phase change of the molecular units takes place. Cooling sets the reorientated molecule. The recorded data can be erased by heating the recording medium or by using the polarised light with an electric field vector in the orthogonal direction to that used for recording.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0048] Examples of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0049] [0049]FIG. 1 shows a ternary diagram of As—P—S compositions;
[0050] [0050]FIG. 2 illustrates diffraction efficiency of a sample of As 28 S 66 P 6 ;
[0051] [0051]FIG. 3 a shows an x-ray diffraction pattern of a thin film of As 4 Se 3 ;
[0052] [0052]FIG. 3 b shows a Raman spectra of a thin film of As 4 Se 3 ;
[0053] [0053]FIG. 4 shows a holographic recording medium in accordance with the present invention;
[0054] [0054]FIG. 5 shows a holographic image of the US Air Force military resolution target recorded in a thin film of As 2 S 3 diluted with ZnS;
[0055] [0055]FIG. 6 shows an apparatus used for recording the holographic image of FIG. 5.
[0056] [0056]FIG. 7A illustrates the absorption profile, chalcogenide content and refractive index change for a homogeously diluted film;
[0057] [0057]FIG. 7B illustrates the Bragg selectivity of a homogeneously diluted film;
[0058] [0058]FIG. 7C illustrates the absorption profile, chalcogenide content and refractive index change for a inhomogeously diluted film; and
[0059] [0059]FIG. 7D illustrates the Bragg selectivity of a inhomogeneously diluted film.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0060] [0060]FIG. 1 is a ternary diagram of an As—P—S system, on which approximate boundaries of the glass-forming region are marked. Six example compositions are illustrated, As 12 S 72 P 16 , As 22 S 70 P 8 , As 24 S 68 P 8 , As 28 S 64 P 8 , As 28 S 66 P 6 and As 32 S 64 P 4 . As 2 S 3 is also illustrated. All the example compositions which include a component of phosphorus were found to have higher bandgaps and increased sensitivity to a Nd:YAG laser compared to the known and well studied As 2 S 3 glass. All the examples also had good transparency at 532 nm.
[0061] [0061]FIG. 2 illustrates the diffraction efficiency of one example, As 28 S 66 P 6 for three different exposure times of 20 s, 40 s and 60 s using a Nd:YAG laser of intensity 80 mW/cm 2 . As can be seen, the maximum diffraction efficiency reaches a value of about 15% at an exposure of 4.8 J/cm 2 . The maximum diffraction efficiency obtained with As 2 S 3 is typically 0.2% with an Ar-ion laser beam (514 nm) and 50 mW/cm 2 light intensity, in an exposure time of the order of tens of seconds.
[0062] The sensitivity S' of a sample can be calculated as:
S'={square root}{square root over (η)}/I.t
[0063] where I is the intensity of the light source, t is the exposure time, and η is the maximum diffraction efficiency. Sensitivities of about 0.1 cm 2 /J were obtained for the P containing materials. Typical sensitivity values for As 2 S 3 samples are in the range 0.02-0.03 cm 2 /J.
[0064] It is believed that the increased sensitivity is related to the formation of thermodynamically stable P 4 S 4 and P 4 S 3 molecules in the glass. Each of these molecules, due to their inherent atomic structure, possesses a strong dipole moment (inherent or photo-induced). At first, these dipole moments are randomly oriented in the amorphous network. However, it is believed that during the illumination with light, those dipole moments (or molecules) being favorably oriented would couple with interacting photons and the coupling would lead to breakage or reorientation of the molecules. Atoms of these broken molecules would subsequently integrate into the amorphous structure and would then not contribute to a strong overall dipole moment (being the sum of all dipole moments of all molecules and atoms in the amorphous network). During the course of illumination, preferential depletion of the molecules in one direction, would thus result in strong inhomogeneity in the refractive index, the refractive index being strongly linked to dipoles.
[0065] The above discussed phosphorus and sulphur based chalcogenide materials are suitable for use in a WORM type recording medium, as the photo-induced change in refractive index is substantially irreversible. Although the raw material has good transparency to an Nd-YAG laser, for samples above 100 μm in thickness, it would be preferable to obtain even thicker samples of the order of 0.5 mm for improved multiplexing purposes and with further improved transparency.
[0066] A type of chalcogenide material suitable for a re-writeable holographic data storage medium is discussed in WO 01/45111. Such a material contains molecular cluster compounds of the type A 4 B 3 or A 4 B 4 (A=P,As and B=S, Se, Te) embedded in an amorphous chalcogenide host material. When an interference pattern is formed within this medium via means of illumination with coherent linearly polarized light, in the light areas of this interference pattern the molecular units orient themselves with respect to the electric field vector of the linearly polarized light, thereby causing a preferential overall redistribution of refractive index in the illuminated areas, forming a volume phase hologram and other holographic elements within the medium. An example of such a medium can be prepared via thermal evaporation of a melt of As and Se elements with a respective molar ratio of 4:3. Evaporation of the melt onto an amorphous silica substrate in high vacuum with an evaporation rate of 1-3 nanometers per second produces a thin film material consisting of an amorphous network with embedded molecular units of As 4 Se 3 . The concentration of the molecular unit phase is dependent on conditions such as temperature of the melt, temperature of the substrate, molar ratio of the elements in the melt, rate of evaporation, subsequent thermal treatment of the treated film etc.
[0067] For example, at sufficiently slow evaporation rates (approximately 0.1 nm/s), it is possible to obtain nearly 100% crystalline phase composed of As 4 Se 3 molecules. FIG. 3 a shows an x-ray diffraction pattern of a thin film prepared by very slow evaporation (<<1 nm/sec) of As 4 Se 3 bulk material. Compared with the result of Blachnik and Wickel, (1984 Thermochimica acta 81, 185), it is found that the major substance in the prepared film are the α-As 4 Se 3 molecules. FIG. 3 b shows corresponding Raman spectra of the As 4 Se 3 film prepared with a very slow evaporation rate. Also, comparison with literature values shows that the major substance in the prepared films are the As 4 Se 3 molecular crystals (Bues W., Somer M. and Brockner W. 1980 Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung, 35b, 1063-1069).
[0068] When subjected to increased temperatures, crystals consisting entirely of a packing of the As 4 Se 3 or As 4 Se 4 molecules transform into the plastically crystal-like state. The intermolecular forces in the plastic phase are weakened in such a way that these molecules can be relatively freely oriented within the medium under the influence of an external field of typically thermal or mechanical origin. It has now been found that it is possible, repeatedly and reversibly, or permanently if desired, directionally to orient and align the molecules in such a plastic phase of a corresponding molecule containing glass by illumination with polarized light. This preferential reorientation of the molecular units can be preserved in the glass after cooling the holographic medium to temperatures below the temperature associated with the plastic phase change of the molecules. Hence, this medium can be used as a rewritable holographic recording medium.
[0069] He—Ne laser light (633 nm) is generally required to achieve the necessary optical penetration in this material in order to multiplex multiple pages of data. This is because the As—Se material has a much lower bandgap than the above described phosphorous and sulphur-based material. In the arsenic and selenium based material, absorption of 532 nm light from a Nd:YAG laser is very high and writing with such a laser is not practicable unless the medium is effectively diluted.
[0070] [0070]FIG. 4 illustrates the construction of a holographic recording medium according to the present invention having a substrate 1 which may be any suitable transparent material such as a polymer (eg. polycarbonate) or optical glass and an amorphous layer 2 of a chalcogenide material, which may be any of the above examples diluted with a filler material. The present invention concerns the dilution of the above mentioned compositions to achieve optically thick amorphous layers which are sufficiently transparent to light from a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser to allow multiplexing of multiple pages of data.
[0071] It is by no means straightforward to dilute active chalcogenide film. The inert matrix must have a similar physical and chemical characteristic to the chalcogenide film. For example, substantially different thermal expansion coefficients could cause cracking in the film. The matrix would also need to adapt to potential products of the photoinduced reaction of the chalcogenide atoms. Also, isolated regions of chalcogenide material randomly distributed in the matrix of the inert material might even be prohibited from undergoing a photoinduced structural change if the matrix is a very rigid material.
[0072] As well as achieving an increase of the optical transmission of diluted chalcogenide-containing thick films, the codeposition method can be used to maximise the particular chalcogenide entities within the material which are optically active. These include the A 4 B 3 and A 4 B 4 molecules.
[0073] It is not possible to prepare amorphous films containing only these molecules as these films have a very strong tendency to crystallize, as in the above discussed example of an As 4 Se 3 film formed with a low evaporation rate. This is undesirable in a holographic recording medium, as crystal boundaries in the material cause appreciable light scattering which degrades holographic read out efficiency. A film of the same As 4 Se 3 material diluted with YF 3 has been found to be perfectly amorphous.
[0074] Possible filler materials include YF 3 , ZnS, GeO 2 and B 2 O 3 . Another example can be a chalcogenide glass having a larger bandgap (and hence different composition) than that of the molecular species. The preferred method of preparation is by coevaporation of the chalcogenide bulk material and a filler in two separate crucibles, and depositing the mixture as an amorphous layer onto the substrate. The means of evaporation may be thermal evaporation, chemical vapour deposition electron beam evaporation, or laser ablation, or a combination such as e-beam for the filler and thermal for the chalcogenide. The principle is to evaporate both entities from separate crucibles to prevent chemical reaction in the melt. The mixing of the active material with the filler occurs in the vapour phrase inside the evaporation chamber or on the substrate itself.
[0075] A holographic recording medium was prepared using YF 3 and As 4 Se 3 using a ratio between 1:10 to 1:100 (As 4 Se 3 :YF 3 ). Both substances were evaporated from molybdenem boats in vacuum of approximately 3×10 −4 Pa at evaporation rates of about 1 nm/sec. The mixture was condensed onto a silica substrate.
[0076] It has been found that ratios of 1:1 or 1:2 (chalcogen:filler) are not possible as the stresses in the material are too great due to differences in thermal expansion coefficients. Also, such ratios seem to lead crystallisation of the molecular units. Ratios of 1:4 or 1:5 and less appear generally to work well.
[0077] As well as co-evaporation, a possible method is to use in sputtering two (or more) separate targets or a target wherein the two substances are mixed in powders and sputtered.
[0078] [0078]FIG. 5 is a hologram recorded in a film comprising active As 2 S 3 glass diluted with ZnS filler. FIG. 6 illustrates the apparatus used to record the hologram of FIG. 5. A beam from an Nd:YAG laser 3 is split by beam splitter 4 into object beam 5 and reference beam 6 , which are reflected by mirrors 7 a, 7 b. The object beam 5 passes through the image plate 9 , in this case being the US Air Force military resolution target. Both beams are focused by lenses 10 a, 10 b and the interference pattern of the two intersecting light beams is recorded in the medium 8 . Lens 11 focuses the read-out image onto a CCD camera 12 to record the image.
[0079] The present inventors have found that a further improved holographic recording medium can be produced by inhomogenously diluting the chalcogenide material. The principle behind the nonhomogenous dilution is illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7 D. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a homogenously diluted film. In FIG. 7A, the x axis shows the thickness of the material (in this case 100 micrometers) and the y axis is normalised to the appropriate curves. Curve (a) shows the exponential absorption losses of the incident light intensity throughout the thickness of the material. Curve (b) shows a concentration profile of the chalcogenide glass through the thickness of the material, which in this case is constant. Curve (c) shows the resulting exponential refractive index modulation throughout the thickness. If a diffraction grating (a hologram) is written in the homogenously diluted film, the angular diffraction efficiency shown in FIG. 7B is recorded.
[0080] [0080]FIGS. 7C and 7D show equivalent results for an inhomogenously diluted film. Curve (b) shows that the chalcogenide content of the film substantially hyperbolically increases throughout the thickness of the film. The result is that the refractive index change upon illumination within incident light remains substantially constant through the thickness of the film (c). FIG. 7D shows the resulting angular diffraction efficiency of a diffraction grating written in such a film. It should be noted that the total concentration of absorbing species (chalcogenide glass) in both the homogenously and inhomogenously diluted films are the same i.e. the average absorption coefficient is the same.
[0081] Any concentration profile having an increase in concentration with depth will have some effect in compensating for absorption, but the present inventors have found a generally hyperbolic increase to be most effective.
[0082] Comparing FIGS. 7B and 7D, it can be seen that the minima in Bragg selectivity curves are shifted to zero in the case of the inhomogenously distributed chalcogenide film. The increase of the level of the minima in FIG. 7B is a major contributor to noise in multiplexed holograms and in principal can limit the minimum distance (in the case of shift multiplexing) or angle (in the case of angle multiplexing) at which subsequent holograms are recorded in the media. In other words it is a limiting factor in overall data density. By inhomogenously diluting the film to compensate for absorption as illustrated in FIG. 7C, it is possible to make highly absorbing holographic media that are much thicker with a better signal to noise ratio than a homogenously diluted film. The thicker medium allows a much higher Bragg selectivity, again allowing higher data density. By increasing the thickness, and hence the absorption, the sensitivity is also increased. In order to achieve a given absorption, a certain concentration of active species is required, but the absorption cannot be increased too much as the film would not be transparent and the Bragg minima would be too high for any effective multiplexing. By varying the concentration profile, the transmission is effectively decreased by increasing the concentration of active species without being bound by the 50% limit because the Bragg minima would not be uplifted any more. Therefore, by increasing the concentration the sensitivity is increased.
[0083] The concentration profile can be achieved by varying the evaporation rates of chalcogenide material and filler material during deposition of the film. As deposition begins, the rate of evaporation of chalcogenide material is high, and the rate is decreased as the films thickness increases. Conversely, the rate of evaporation of filler starts low and increases as the rate of evaporation of chalcogenide material decreases. | A holographic recording medium comprising an amorphous host material which undergoes a phase change from a first to a second thermodynamic phase in response to a temperature rise about a predetermined transition temperature; a plurality of photo-sensitive molecular units embedded in the host material and which can be orientated in response to illumination from a light source; whereby said molecular units may be so orientated when said host material is at a temperature equal to or above said transition temperature but retain a substantially fixed orientation at temperatures below said transition temperature. | 6 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to a cell scheduling method of input and output buffered ATM or packet switch, and more specifically, to a cell scheduling method using an input and output buffered switch architecture with multiple switching planes, thereby making large capacity switching and increasing switch performance and to a cell scheduling method using simple iterative matching algorithm, thereby making high-speed operation and being easily implemented with hardware.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Input buffered asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or packet switch has worse switch performance than an output buffered switch since Head-Of-Line (HOL) blocking occurs in the input buffered ATM or packet switch. One of techniques that mitigate HOL blocking is a virtual output queuing (VOQ) of which each input port maintains a buffer for each output port. In VOQ, there are N input ports and each input port has N queues to the corresponding output ports. And then, in VOQ, there are N 2 input queues in total. Transfer has to be made for just N queues among the N 2 queues. Therefore, contention occurs among the input queues in VOQ. The well-known methods for achieving contention control include PIM (Parallel Iterative Matching), iSLIP, and 2DRR (Two-Dimensional Round-Robin) schemes.
PIM consists of 3 phases; request, grant and accept phases. In the request phase, each of N 2 queues sends request to output ports. In the grant phase, each of the output ports grants one request among its own receiving requests using a random selection and notifies the result of grant to each of the input ports. An input port may receive several grants from each output port at the same time so that in the accept phase each of input port accepts one grant among its own receiving grants using a random selection. And several request-grant-accept phases are iteratively performed. In the PIM , although the performance of the PIM is enhanced with several request-grant-accept phases being iteratively made, it is difficult to achieve high-speed operation because of using random selection in the grant and accept phases.
The iSLIP has an architecture that discards the operation of the random selection of PIM and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,858, which is granted on Mar. 16, 1996, to N. McKeown, entitled “Method and apparatus for scheduling cells in an input queued switch” and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The iSLIP uses a round-robin operation instead of a random selection in the grant and accept phases of the PIM. That is, in the iSLIP , one request among several requests and one grant among several grants are selected using round-robin pointers without using any random selection. However, in the iSLIP algorithm, as the number of input ports and output ports increases, the number of requests and accepts which must be searched in the grant and accept phases within one unit time also increases. As the result, it is difficult to achieve high-speed operation as the number of input ports and output ports in the iSLIP increase.
2DRR algorithm is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,190, which granted on Mar. 29, 1994 to R. O. LaMaire et al., entitled “Two-dimensional round-robin scheduling mechanism for switches with multiple input queues”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In the 2DRR algorithm, request is determined with searching a request matrix in just N steps, which is a two-dimensional N×N matrix representing N 2 requests. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,190, “basic 2DRR algorithm” searches request matrix in accordance with a searching sequence defined in a pattern sequence matrix and determines request to be transmitted. And “enhanced 2DRR algorithm” makes improvement of “fairness property” for specific traffic pattern.
In the above mentioned 2DRR algorithm, if the number of input ports and output ports is large, a large number of search steps are needed to perform the 2DRR algorithm so that high-speed operation is not easily made.
Meanwhile, if the number of input ports and output ports increases, the number of FIFO queues existing in one input buffer module also increases. The number of input buffer modules increases as well. And then during the contention control, required amount of information is increasing so that the hardware implementation is difficult to be achieved.
To solve the above drawbacks of hardware implementation and at the same time to improve switch performance, there is an enhanced architecture, that is, input and output buffered architecture. In the input and output buffered switch, input ports and output ports are grouped by several of input ports and output ports to reduce the number of input buffer modules and the number of FIFO queues in each input buffer modules so that hardware implementation is easily achieved. However, since, in the input and output buffered architecture, a large number of FIFO queues in each input buffer module are served at the same time, a large number of switching planes necessarily exist. In the above-mentioned PIM, iSLIP, and 2DRR algorithms, selection of multiple FIFO queues in one input buffer module is not available and then these algorithms are not applicable to the input and output buffered architecture.
Meanwhile, 2DRRMS as a cell scheduling algorithm for the input and output buffered architecture is described in M. S. Han et al, entitled “Fast scheduling algorithm for input and output buffered ATM switch with multiple switching planes” (Electronics Letters, Vol.35, No.23, pp.1999-2000, November 1999). 2DRRMS uses request matrix and searches pattern matrix. In 2DRRMS, request matrix is searched in accordance with a sequence as defined in search pattern matrix and a request to be transmitted is determined. In the 2DRRMS method, assume that the size of group of input ports and output ports is k, and then m(=N/k) search steps are needed. According to the 2DRRMS method, operation speed k times higher than 2DRR algorithm which requires N search step may be achieved. However, in the case that N is relatively larger than k, a high-speed operation is not easily achieved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional techniques in the art, an object of the present invention is to provide a cell scheduling method as a contention control type cell scheduling method to make high speed operation to be applicable to large capacity input and output buffered switch, to select multiple FIFO queues in one input module using multiple selection type simple iterative matching, which makes high speed operation with the small number of iterations.
In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a cell scheduling method of input and output buffered switch using simple iterative matching, the method comprising: a request step, wherein when a unmatched FIFO queue Q(i, j) has HOL cell, each of unmatched input round-robin pointers A(i, h) sending a request signal to output round-robin pointers G(j, h); and a grant step, wherein when a unmatched output round-robin pointer G(j, h) receives said request signal, said unmatched output round-robin pointer G(j, h) searching said request signal from g(j, h)-th element of said request signal and selecting nearest request, granting, and sending a grant signal notifying whether or not it is granted to each of input round-robin pointers A(i, h); and an accept step, wherein when an unmatched input round-robin pointer A(i, h) receives said grant signal, searching from a(i, h)-th element of said grants, and selecting nearest grant. In the i-th input buffer module, n input round-robin pointers IRP A(i, h) are allocated. IRP A(i, h) is associated with the h-th switching plane, where i=1, . . . , m and h=1, . . . , n. And the j-th output buffer module, n output round-robin pointers ORPs G(j, h) are allocated. ORP G(j, h) is associated with the h-th switching plane, where j=1, . . . , m and h=1, . . . , n. a(i, h) is an element that represents one of IRPs A(i, h) that firstly attempts matching operation during a matching operation, where i=1, . . . , m and h=1, . . ., n. g(j, h) is an element that represents one of ORPs G(j, h) that firstly attempts matching operation during a matching operation , where j=1, . . . , m and h=1, . . . , n. The m is a number of the input and output buffered modules and n is a total number of switching planes.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a cell scheduling method for simple iterative matching operation in several times in one cell time.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of input and output buffered switch having multiple switching planes applied by cell scheduling method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an example of request.
FIGS. 3A-3F are a schematic diagram illustrating a first iterative operation in a method of cell-scheduling input and output buffered switch using simple iterative matching (SIM) according to the present invention.
FIGS. 4A-4F are a schematic diagram illustrating a second iterative operation in a method of cell-scheduling input and output buffered switch using simple iterative matching according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating performance of cell delay mean of simple iterative matching according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating performance of cell delay variation of simple iterative matching according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating performance of cell delay mean of simple iterative matching according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating performance of cell delay variation of simple iterative matching according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described referring to the drawings.
FIG. 1 illustrates N×N input buffered switch in accordance with the present invention.
Generally, the architecture of the switch is similar to the architecture described in M. S. Han et al, “Fast scheduling algorithm for input and output buffered ATM switch with multiple switching planes” (Electronics Letters, Vol.35, No.23, pp.1999-2000, November 1999). The architecture with grouping input ports makes the total number of input buffered modules reduced and the number of FIFO queues to be considered during contention control decreased, so that it can be applied to high-speed and large capacity switching.
Firstly, the configuration and operation of the input and output buffered switch of the present invention is schematically described.
The input and output buffered switch includes m (=N/k) input buffer modules of k×n input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k, n space-division switch modules of m×m space-division switch modules 14 - 1 ˜ 14 -n having n switching planes, m output buffer modules of n×k output buffer modules 16 - 1 ˜ 16 -N/k, and contention control module 19 .
The number of input ports 11 - 1 ˜ 11 -N is N, and the input ports are grouped by k to be connected to the corresponding input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k. In each input buffer module 12 -i, i=1, . . . , m, m FIFO queues Q(i, j), j=1, . . . , m exist. The cells that are transmitted from input ports are routed to one of the m FIFO queues of the corresponding destination output port. Cells are served in the FIFO queue Q(i, j), and have output ports as a destination belonged to output buffer module 16 -j. For example, the input ports 11 - 1 to 11 -k are connected to input buffer module 12 - 1 . In the input buffer module 12 - 1 , m FIFO queues Q( 1 , 1 )˜Q( 1 , N/k) are provided. FIFO queues Q( 1 , 2 ) receive cells which have output port 18 -(k+1) to 18 - 2 k belonged to output buffer module 16 - 2 as destinations.
A contention control module 19 is provided to receive a binary information from each of input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k, in which the binary information (0 or 1) represents whether a cell is or not in the HOL position of each of FIFO queues in each of input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k. And then, a FIFO queue and a switching plane allocated to the FIFO queue with SIM method is determined using the binary information to transmit cells to space-division switch modules 14 - 1 ˜ 14 -n. And, the results of determination are to be notified to each of input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k. Using the transmitted results, each of the input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k transmits HOL cell of the FIFO queue for which transmission is granted to a switching plane allocated to the corresponding FIFO queue. In the moment, maximum of n cells can be transmitted to the space-division switch modules 14 - 1 ˜ 14 -n, in each of input buffered modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 N/k.
A space-division switch is m×m non-blocking switch and is composed of n switching planes. The switch includes input links 13 - 1 ˜ 13 -Nn/k and output links 15 - 1 ˜ 15 -Nn/k. Each of cells is routed from input links 13 - 1 ˜ 13 -Nn/k to output links 15 - 1 ˜ 15 -Nn/k, using only a cell destination information. Output links 15 - 1 ˜ 15 -Nn/k of the switch are grouped by n, and connected to each of output buffer modules 16 - 1 ˜ 16 -N/k. The cell in each of the switch output links 15 - 1 ˜ 15 -Nn/k is routed to one queue among FIFO queues in accordance with its own destination output ports in the output buffer modules 16 - 1 ˜ 16 -N/k. In each of output buffer modules 16 - 1 ˜ 16 -N/k, k FIFO queues exist. And the FIFO queue is connected to each of output ports. When a cell exists in a queue, one cell of HOL position is transmitted to the output port. For example, in the output buffered module 16 - 1 , there are k FIFO queues 17 - 1 ˜ 17 -k, and k output ports 18 - 1 ˜ 18 -k are connected thereto, so that FIFO queues 17 -i are connected to output ports 18 -i, where i=1, . . . , k. Therefore, in every cell time, if a cell exists in the HOL position of FIFO queue, the cell is transmitted to the corresponding output port 18 -i.
Now, cell scheduling method in accordance with the present invention using simple iterative matching (SIM) which can be applied to the above mentioned input and output buffered switch is described.
In every cell period, each input buffer module ( 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k) transmits a binary information which represents whether a cell is or not in the HOL position of each of FIFO queues in each of input buffer modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k to a contention control module 19 . The contention control module 19 performs scheduling for the binary information in accordance with SIM method and notifies a matched FIFO queue and a switching plane to be used by the FIFO queue to each input buffer module 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k. The SIM method makes use of input-robin pointers (IRP) and output round-robin pointer (ORP). Now the input-robin pointers (IRP) and the output round-robin pointers (ORP) are described.
In an i-th input buffer module, n IRPs A(i, h) are allocated. An IRP A(i, h) is associated with the h-th switching plane, where h=1, . . . , n. And the j-th output buffer module, n ORPs G(j, h) are allocated. An ORP G(j, h) is associated with a h-th switching plane. The SIM method is a method for matching IRP to ORP. IRP A(i, h) can be matched to one of ORPs G(j, h), j=1, . . . , m. When IRP A(i, h) is matched to G(j, h), it is referred to “Q(i, j) is matched” and during cell transmission the h-th switching plane can be used. IRP A(i, h) uses a(i, h), which is an element that represents one of ORPs G(j, h), j=1, . . . , m to which IRP A(i, h) firstly attempts matching operation during a matching operation. If the element is p, that is, a(i, h)=p, then IRP A(i, h) attempts matching operation in accordance with a sequence of G(p, h), G(p+1, h), . . . , G(m, h), G(1, h), . . . , and G(p−1,h). The element a(i, h) is referred to a pointer value of IRP A(i, h) and denotes the priority element of IRP A(i, h). Similarly, ORP G(j, h) uses en element g(i, h) that represents one of IRPs A(j, h), j=1, . . . , m to which ORP G(i, h) firstly attempts matching operation during a matching operation. If the element g(i, h)=p, ORP G(i, h) attempts matching operation in accordance with a sequence of A(p, h), A(p+1, h), . . . , A(m, h), A(1, h), . . . , and A(p−1,h). The element g(i, h) is referred to a pointer value of ORP G(i, h) and denotes the priority element of ORP G(i, h).
And now the SIM method is described. At the beginning of each cell time, all IRPs and ORPs are not matched. In the SIM method, 3 phases of request, grant and accept phase are used and the 3 phases are processed in parallel in each IRP and each ORP at the same time.
1. Request Phase:
In the request phase, each of the unmatched IRPs A(i, h) sends a corresponding request signal to ORPs G(j, h) when an unmatched FIFO queue Q(i, j) has HOL cell.
2. Grant phase:
In the grant phase, when an unmatched ORP G(j, h) receives requests, the ORP G(j, h) searches the requests from g(j, h)-th element among the requests and selects the nearest one of the requests. And then the ORP G(j, h) provide “grant” to the nearest one of the requests. The ORP G(j, h) notifies the grant to each of IRPs A(i, h), i=1, . . . , m.
3. Accept Phase:
In the accept phase, when an unmatched IRP A(i, h) receives grant signals, the IRP A(j, h) searches the grant signals from a(j, h)-th element among the grants and selects the nearest one of the grants. In the SIM method, the 3 phases are iterated in several times in one cell time so that matching efficiency can be increased.
Also, in the SIM method, each of pointer values a(i, h) and g(j, h) is varied in a variety of manners at the beginning of every cell period so that fairness property of matching operation can be enhanced. For example, pointer value a(i, 1) is incremented or decremented by 1 and pointer value g(j, 1) is incremented or decremented by 1 at the beginning of every cell period so that fairness property of matching operation can be enhanced. In this manner, the real values of the pointer values a(i, 1) and g(j, 1) are calculated by module m where if the pointer value is equal to or less than 0, m is added, and if the pointer value is equal to or greater than m+1, m is subtracted. The combinations of the pointer values a(i, h) and g(j, h) are available as follows:
1. a(i, 1)←a(i, 1)−1, g(j, 1)←g(j, 1)−1 2. a(i, 1)←a(i, 1)−1, g(j, 1)←g(j, 1)+1 3. a(i, 1)←a(i, 1)+1, g(j, 1)←g(j, 1)−1 a(i, 1)←a(i, 1)+1, g(j, 1)←g(j, 1)+1
Note that there is a problem that if the pointer values of some IRPs are equal such as a(1,1)=a(2,1)=, . . . , =a(m,1), the increment and the decrement of the pointer values do not have an effect to improve the fairness property. In order to solve the problem, the initial values a(i, 1), i=1, . . . , m, that is a value in the first cell time must be different values one another. Similarly, g(j, 1), j=1, . . . , m, that is value in the first cell time must be different values one another. For example, when i=1, . . . , m, and j=1, . . . , m, the initial value of each pointer value can be defined as follows:
1. a(i, 1)=i, g(j, 1)=j, 2. a(i, 1)=m−i+1, g(j, 1)=m−j+1
In the case that the initial values of pointer values are defined in a manner that one IRP pointer initial value is identical to one ORP pointer initial value, fairness property for matching operation is substantially enhanced. For example, the initial value is defined as a(i, 1)=g(j, 1)=j, i=j, HOL cell of each FIFO queue can be served at least one in m cell times.
In order to enhance matching efficiency in the SIM method, a(i,d), d=1, . . . , n, must have different values and also g(i, d), d=1, . . . , n, must have different values one another at the beginning of every cell period a(i, d).
For example, in d=2, . . . , and n, each of IRP pointer values and each of ORP pointer value can have different value, as follows:
1. a(i, d)=a(i, 1)+d−1, g(j, d)=g(j, 1)+d−1 2. a(i, d)=a(i, 1)−d+1, g(j, d)=g(j, 1)−d+1
The real values of the pointer values are calculated by module m.
A preferred embodiment of the cell scheduling method using SIM in accordance with the present invention is described referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 . The embodiment is the case that m=4 and n=2, that is the number of switching plane is 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of request. 20 is a HOL cell information matrix representing an information of HOL cell Q(i, j). If Q(i, j)=1, there is a HOL cell. And if Q(i, j)=0, there is not a HOL cell. The binary information in the HOL cell information matrix 20 is transmitted to a contention control module 19 . In the contention control module 19 , the transmitted binary information is used and cell is scheduled with SIM method using the transmitted binary information and the result is notified to each of input buffered modules 12 - 1 ˜ 12 -N/k.
FIG. 3 illustrates the first iterative operation of the SIM method.
In FIG. 3 , ( a ) and ( b ) are request phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively, ( c ) and ( d ) are grant phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively, and ( e ) and ( f ) are accept phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively.
In the first iterative operation of SIM, requests 21 and 24 for each switching plane are the same as 20 in FIG. 2 . That is, the requests 21 and 24 are matrices representing information of HOL cells. 22 represents g(j, 1), where g(j, 1)=j, j=1, . . . , m. 23 represents a(i, 1), where a(i, 1)=i, i=1, . . . , m. g(j, 1), j=1, . . . , m, have different values, and also a(i, 1), i=1, . . . , m have different values. 25 represents g(j, 2) and 26 represents a(i, 2). g(j, 2) and a(i, 2) are calculated as follows:
g(j, 2)=g(j, 1)−1, and a(i,2)=a(i, 1)−1
And then real values are calculated by module 4 .
In the grant phase, ORP G(j, 1) searches from g(j, 1) position of the j-th column of matrix 27 and selects the nearest request. Similarly, ORP G(j, 2) searches from g(j, 2) position of the j-th column of 30 and selects the nearest request. In matrices 27 and matrix 30 of FIG. 3 , circles in boxes represent granted requests.
In the accept phase, IRP A(j, 1) searches from a(i, 1) position of the i-th column of matrix 33 and selects the nearest grant. Similarly, IRP A(j, 2) searches from a(i, 2) position of the j-th column of matrix 36 and selects the nearest grant. In matrices 33 and 36 of FIG. 3 , gray circles in boxes represent accepted grants.
FIG. 4 illustrates the second iterative operation of SIM. In FIG. 4 , ( a ) and ( b ) are request phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively, ( c ) and ( d ) are grant phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively, and ( e ) and ( f ) are accept phases for switching plane 1 and 2 , respectively. IRP and ORP matched in the first iterative operation, and the associated FIFO queues are represented with gray boxes. As shown in boxes 40 and 43 , matched IRPs send no request. The grant and accept phases of the second iterative operation are similar to those of the first iterative operation. However, the second iterative operation is different from the first iterative operation in that the only unmatched IRPs and ORPs attempt matching operation. In the second iterative operation, there are not any additional grant and accept for switching plane 1 . For switching plane 2 in the second iterative operation, A(2, 2) and G(4,2) are matched and then Q(2,4) is accepted, as shown in (d) and (f) FIG. 4 .
The pointer value a(i, 1) is incremented or decremented by 1 and the pointer value g(j, 1) is incremented or decremented by 1 at the beginning of every cell period so that fairness property of matching operation can be enhanced. In this manner, the real values of the pointer values a(i, 1) and g(j, 1) are calculated by modulo m where m is added if the pointer value is equal to or less than 0, and m is substituted if the pointer value is equal to or greater than m+1.
At the beginning of subsequent cell period, g(j, 1) and a(i, 1) are incremented or decremented by 1 and the real values are calculated by module 4 . For example, g(j, 1) is incremented by 1 and a(i, 1) is or decremented by 1. And then, g(j, 1)=j+1, and a(i, 1)=i−1. And also, g(j, 2) and a(j, 2) are calculated so that g(j, 2)=g(j, 1, and a(i, 2)=a(i, 1)−1 at the beginning of subsequent cell period and the real values are calculated by module 4 .
Performance of SIM in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is calculated with computer simulation.
In the computer simulation, method for updating the pointer value of SIM is described. Firstly, the initial value of each of pointers are g(j, 1)=j, j=1, . . . , m and a(i, 1)=i, i=1, And, at the beginning of each cell period, the updating operation is made such as g(j, 1)←g(j, 1)+1, a(i, 1)←a(i, 1)−1 and the real values are calculated by module m. And, at the beginning of each cell period, the updating operation is made such as g(j, d)=g(j, 1)−d+1 and a(i, d) =a(i, 1)−d+1 and then the real values are calculated by module m where d=2, . . . , n.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are graphs illustrating comparison of performances among output buffered switch (OBS), iSLIP, and SIM methods in 64×64 switch. FIG. 5 is graph illustrating cell delay mean values of these methods, and FIG. 6 is graph illustrating cell delay variation values of these methods. The traffic model used in the performance comparison is Bernoulli arrival process. In the process, destination of each cell is evenly distributed with respect to output ports of each cell. The simulations of cell mean delay and cell delay variation are made as the input load of the traffic is increased. The simulation is performed during 100,000 cell times. In iSLIP, the iSLIP algorithm is iterated 4 times in one cell time. In SIM, the size of group is 4 that is, k=4, and then m 16. And in SIM, the number of switching plane is 2, that is, n=2. SIM methods are iterated 4 times in one cell time for the comparison to iSLIP. As shown in FIG. 5 and 6 , SIM has better performance than iSLIP .
FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are graphs illustrating comparison of performances among output buffered switch (OBS), iSLIP, and SIM methods in 64×64 switch. FIG. 7 is graph illustrating cell mean delay values of these methods, and FIG. 7 is graph illustrating cell delay variation values of these methods. The traffic model used in the performance comparison is Bernoulli arrival process, and destination of each cell is evenly distributed with respect to output ports of each cell. The simulations of cell mean delay and cell delay variation are made increasing the input load of the traffic. The simulations are performed during 100,000 cell times. In iSLIP, the iSLIP algorithm is iterated 4 times in one cell time. In SIM, the size of group is 1, that is, k=1. And in SIM, the number of switching plane is 2, that is, n=2. SIM methods are iterated 2 times in one cell time. As shown in FIG. 7 and 8 , the performance of SIM applied to input buffered switch is as good as that of output buffered switch.
The cell scheduling method using simple iterative matching in accordance with the present invention having multiple selection ability makes higher speed operation and has better performance than the conventional scheduling methods.
And, the cell scheduling method using simple iterative matching in accordance with the present invention incorporated with architecture for grouping input ports and output ports can make a process in large capacity switching.
Moreover, the cell scheduling method using simple iterative matching in accordance with the present invention using multiple small capacity switching planes and having large capacity process can be easily implemented.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. | A method for scheduling an input and output buffered ATM or packet switch and, more particularly, to a method for cell-scheduling an input and output buffered switch that is adapted to a high-speed large switch is provided. The input and output buffered switch has multiple switching planes, and its structure is used to compensated for decreasing performance of the input buffered switch resulting from HOL (head-of-line) blocking of the input buffered switch. The input and output buffered switch consists of input buffer modules grouping several input ports and output ports and output buffer modules, and each input buffer module has several FIFO queues for the associated module output buffer modules. In the input and output buffered switch having multiple switching planes, cell scheduling is carried out using a simple iterative matching (SIM) method. The SIM method consists of three operations, those are, request operation, grant operation, and accepting operation, and in the SIM method, the operations are iteratively carried out several times in one cell period, thereby matching efficiency can be increased. Each input buffered module determines simultaneously multiple FIFO queues served in one cell period, so that the SIM method with multiple selection ability has higher speed operations and better performance than conventional scheduling methods. | 7 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/320,630, filed Mar. 8, 1989 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,125.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a reinforced soil retaining wall for earthen formations and, more particularly, is directed to such a wall having concrete face panels and attached soil reinforcing elements. In its more specific aspects, the invention is concerned with an improved face panel having a cantilevered base portion which assists in retaining it in place and provides for plumbing of the panel during initial placement. The invention is also concerned with an improved connector for securing soil reinforcing elements to the face panels.
In the prior art it is well known to provide retaining walls for earthen embankments by reinforcing the soil of the embankments with elongated reinforcing elements. The reinforcing elements may take any number of forms, such as: welded wire mats, polymer geogrids, metal straps, or rods provided with lateral extensions. Although such walls make the earthen formation essentially self-sustaining, they are also often provided with face panels which serve both a decorative architectural function and to prevent erosion at the face of the embankment. The panels are generally secured to at least certain of the reinforcing elements. The most common means of securing has taken the form of loops formed on the elements which are in some way fastened to the panels, as for example by means of pins or bolts. Since the panels of such walls do not carry a significant load, they are generally relatively thin and simply stacked upon one another. In some cases, they have been provided with enlarged bases which serve to assist in stacking and to maintain the panels in an upright condition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The concrete face panel of the invention comprises a vertically extensive planar body section with top and bottom edges so formed that the top edge of one panel is mutually engagable with the bottom edge of a like panel stacked thereabove. A cantilever section is fixed to and extends laterally from one side of the body section adjacent the bottom edge for extension into a soil embankment being reinforced. A soil reinforcing element is secured to the side of the planar body section from which the cantilever section extends at a level intermediate the top and bottom edges of the face section.
In constructing a reinforced soil embankment, the panels are stacked in tiers at the face of the embankment with the cantilever sections extending toward the embankment. Soil is backfilled behind each successive tier of panels and over the cantilever sections thereof to the level of the soil reinforcing elements. The soil reinforcing elements are then extended from the panels and over the backfill, and then the backfilling is continued to the level of the top of the panels in the tier. The next successive tier of panels is then stacked and plumbed by inserting wedges beneath the cantilevered sections of its panels and the backfill soil therebeneath. The steps of backfilling and extending the soil reinforcing elements are repeated for each successive tier until the embankment reaches the desired height.
The resulting embankment comprises a plurality of tiers of face panels, each of which has the cantilevered sections and reinforcing elements of the panels therein formation. The soil reinforcing elements may be secured to the panels either by being cast in place therein during manufacture, or by being attached to the panels at the situs of the embankment. For the latter purpose, mutually engagable connecting elements are provided on the panels and the elements.
The connecting elements on the panels comprise horizontally disposed anchor eyes fixed to and extending laterally from the panels. The connectors on the soil reinforcing elements comprise vertically disposed loops extensible through the eyes. Once extended through the eyes, rods may be extended through the loops to secure the eyes and loops against separation.
A principal object of the invention is to provide an improved soil reinforced embankment and method of constructing the same wherein precast panels at the face of the embankment have cantilevered sections which serve to both plumb the panels during erection of the embankment and secure the panels in place within the embankment.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an embankment wherein soil reinforcing elements are secured intermediate the height of the face panels and extended into the embankment during the course of its construction to both secure the panels in place and reinforce the soil within the embankment.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved connector for securing soil reinforcing elements to face panels wherein connection is provided by simple loops on the elements which are received within eyes extending from the panels.
Still another object related to the latter object is to provide such a connector which serves to orient the soil reinforcing elements in a horizontal disposition and which may also be used to secure plural soil reinforcing elements to one another.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a face panel component for use in constructing a soil reinforced embankment which includes a polymer geogrid secured in embedded condition within the panel.
Still another object related to the latter object is to provide such a component wherein a cantilever section extends from the panel and the geogrid may be rolled into a cylinder and temporarily stored on the cantilever section.
Yet another object is to provide such a component wherein the face panel is precast concrete and the geogrid is secured in place by being attached to steel reinforcing rods within the concrete.
These and other objects will become more apparent when viewed in light of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment panel and the connectors therefor, with one alignment pin shown in exploded perspective;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing one of the connectors of the first embodiment panel in exploded condition;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing one of the connectors of the first embodiment panel in condition securing a reinforcing element to the panel;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a prior art connection;
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the prior art connector of FIG. 4 in condition securing an element to a panel;
FIG. 6A-6H are cross-sectional side elevational views showing the steps of constructing a soil reinforced embankment through use of the inventive method;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane designated by line 7--7 of FIG. 6C;
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view, with parts thereof broken away, showing an alternative construction of the connector for use in securing a soil reinforcing mat to a face panel;
FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the connector of FIG. 8, showing the mat secured in place;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing how the connector of the first embodiment panel could be used to secure the panel to swiggle-like soil reinforcements of the type shown in co-pending application Ser. No. 118,317, filed Nov. 6, 1987;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the face panel of the invention wherein the soil reinforcing elements take the form of polymer geogrids having one end thereof cast in place within the panel;
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional elevational view illustrating the panel of FIG. 11 in the process of being used to construct a soil reinforced embankment, with phantom lines showing a like panel stacked thereabove;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating how the geogrids of the second embodiment face panel are secured to the reinforcing steel within the face panel;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating how an alternative form of plastic geogrid mat could be secured to the reinforcing steel within the second embodiment face panel;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view, with parts thereof broken away, showing another alternative embodiment connector for use in securing a metallic soil reinforcing element to a face panel; and,
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the looped end of the soil reinforcing wire of the FIG. 15 connector.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, the first embodiment face panel is designated in its entirety by the letter "P". The panel is formed of reinforced concrete and comprises a planar body section 10 and an integrally formed cantilever section 12. The planar body section 10 has flat top and bottom edge surfaces 14 and 16, respectively. As will become more apparent from the subsequent discussion, the top edge 14 is mutually engagable with the bottom edge of a like panel stacked thereabove. Cylindrical sockets 20 and 22, respectively, are formed in the surfaces 14 and 16 for the receipt of alignment pins 24. The sockets 20 and 22 are vertically aligned and, when the panels are stacked, the pins are received in the sockets to maintain the stacked panels in alignment. As shown in phantom in FIG. 1, the panel "P" is reinforced by an internal gridwork "G" of reinforcing steel. During casting of the panel, the sockets 20 and 22 are formed by plastic sleeves secured to the gridwork by wire hangers 26.
The panel "P" also includes connectors "C" cast in place within the face section 10. The connectors are disposed in horizontal alignment and each comprise a generally U-shaped wire segment 28 having legs which extend into the face panel and lateral extensions 30 which extend to the front side of the gridwork (as viewed in FIG. 1). To minimize the likelihood of galvanic corrosion within the concrete of the panel, the wire segments 28 preferably are spaced from the gridwork "G". The wire segment 28, together with the inner surface of the panel 10, defines an eye 34 having a distal end segment 35. The distal end segment 35 extends downwardly at approximately 25 to 30 from horizontal.
The ends of the panel "P" are designated by the numerals 36 and 38. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, these ends are of a tongue and groove configuration so that when arranged in horizontally aligned tiers the ends of adjacent panels will mate. From FIG. 1, it will be seen that the ends of the cantilever section 12 are spaced inwardly from the panel ends 36 and 38. This spacing is provided so that a filter fabric may be extended over the mating ends of the panels to the inside of the body sections 10.
In a typical embodiment, the panel "P" would have the following proportions
Length: 121/2 feet
Height: 21/2 feet
Thickness of body section 10: 5 inches
Depth of cantilever section (measured from back of body section): 6 inches
Distance between ends of body section 10 and ends of cantilever section 12: 8 inches
Distance between bottom of section 10 and level of connectors "C": 15 inches
From this example, it will be seen that the ratio of the distance between the bottom of the panel and the level of the connectors "C", to the depth of the cantilever section 12, is 15:6. This ratio is chosen so that the cantilever section will hold the panel against tilting during the backfilling operation until such time as soil reinforcements are secured to the connectors "C" and anchored within the backfill.
The soil reinforcing elements depicted in FIG. 1 take the form of welded wire gridworks 40. Each gridwork comprises spaced generally parallel longitudinally extending wires "W 1 " and spaced generally parallel transversely extending wires "W 2 ". The wires "W 1 " and "W 2 " are welded together at their intersections. The ends of the wires "W 1 " adjacent the panel "P" are formed with extensions in the form of vertically disposed loops 42 extending downwardly from and generally normal to the body of the wire "W 1 ", and proportioned for receipt in the eyes 34 of the connectors "C".
From FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that the connectors "C" are spaced and positioned so as to align with the longitudinal wires "W 1 " of the gridworks 40. In use, a gridwork is secured to a panel by extending the loops 42 thereof through the connectors "C" of the panel (see FIG. 2) to pass the loops through the eyes 34 from one side of the connectors to the other (see FIG. 3). A retaining rod "R" is then extended through the loops 42 to the bottom side of the connectors "C" (see FIG. 4), thus securing the gridwork against separation from the connectors. Due to the downward inclination of the distal end segments 35 of the eyes, tension applied to the wires "W 1 " functions to draw the rod "R" against the segments.
The retaining rod "R" has an elongate body section 46 with an L-shaped handle 48 at one end and a smooth head 50 at the other end. The head 50 is proportioned to slide through the loops 42 to guide the rod into place. A hook section 51 is formed on the distal end of the handle 48. After the rod "R" is passed fully through the loops, the handle 48 is turned to engage the hook section over one of the wires "W 1 ", thus securing the rod against displacement from the loops.
From the above described description of the structure and mode of operation of the connector "C", it will be appreciated that the connectors provide for the securing of soil reinforcing elements to the panels with a minimum of modification of the structure of the elements. In the FIG. 1 embodiment, the modification involves forming the downwardly extending loops 42 on the wires "W 1 ", with the distal ends 53 of the wire forming the loops folded against the underside of the wires "W 1 ". No weld between the ends 53 and the wires "W 1 " is required. When the wires "W 1 " are subjected to tension, the ends 53 frictionally bind between the eyes 34 and the wires "W 1 " to prevent the loops straightening out. This frictional binding is aided by the drawing of the rod "R" against the inclined segments 35 of eyes as the result of such tension.
FIG. 4 and 5 show a prior art arrangement for securing soil reinforcements to panels. In this arrangement, each connection requires a pair of vertically disposed loops 52 secured to and extending from the panel and a closed loop 54 formed on the end of the soil reinforcing element. In use, the loop 5 is first positioned between a pair of loops 52 and a rod 56 is then extended through the aligned loops to secure the loop 54 to the loops 52. A spot weld 58 secures the distal end of the loop to wire from which it extends to hold the loop against opening. The connection is dependent on the integrity of this weld.
FIG. 6 depicts the steps used to construct a reinforced soil embankment from panels and soil reinforcing gridworks of the type illustrated in FIG. 1. In step A a first tier of panels "P" is placed at the foot of the earthen formation "F" where the embankment is being constructed. Step B shows backfill soil placed behind the first tier of panels "P" and over the cantilever sections 12 thereof to the level of the connectors "C". Step C shows the welded wire soil reinforcing gridworks 40 secured to the connectors "C" and extended over the backfill soil. Step D shows the backfill continued to the level of the upper edge of the panels "P" and the alignment pins 24 placed in the sockets in the top edge surfaces of the first tier of panels. Step E shows a second tier of panels "P" stacked above the first tier with the bottom surfaces of the second tier panels resting on the top surfaces of the panels in the first tier and the alignment pins 24 engaged in the opposed sockets of the stacked panels. As shown in step E, wedges 60 have been inserted between the cantilever sections 12 of the second tier of panels and the backfill soil therebeneath to plumb the second tier of panels relative to the first tier. Step F shows backfill placed behind the second tier of panels and over the cantilever sections 12 thereof to the level of the connectors "C". Step G shows welded wire gridworks 40 secured to the connectors "C" of the second tier and placed over the backfill therebeneath. Step H shows backfill placed over the gridworks 40 extending from the second tier of panels and, in phantom, the placement of a third tier of panels over the second tier.
The embankment is erected to the desired height by placing successive tiers of panels and the reinforcing gridworks and backfill therefor through steps corresponding to steps E through H for each successive tier. The resulting embankment is comprised of soil reinforced by the gridworks 40, with panels "P" at the face thereof. The panels are held in place both by the cantilever sections 12 and the gridworks 40. During erection of the embankment, the cantilever sections 12 of each tier of panels "P" serve to secure the panels in vertical orientation as backfill is placed and compacted to the level of the connectors "C" extending from the panels. Once the gridworks 40 are extended from the panels and backfill is placed thereover, the primary force retaining the panels in vertical orientation is provided by the gridworks.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified connector "C 1 ". This connector differs from that of FIGS. 1 to 3 only in that the distal end designated 53a, of the wire "W 1 ", forming the loop 42 is bent downwardly to form a hook 53b proportioned for engagement over the wire segment forming the eye 34. The hook 53b functions to further secure the loop 42 against movement relative to the eye 34. Other than this difference, the connector "C 1 " functions and is used in the same way as the "C". The retaining rod "R" functions in the FIGS. 8 and 9 embodiment in the same manner in which it functioned in the FIGS. 1 to 3 embodiment.
FIG. 10 illustrates a connector "C" identical to that of FIGS. 1 to 3 in use in securing a swiggle soil reinforcement "S" to a panel "P". From this figure, it will be seen that the connector "C" and the loop 42 formed on the end of the soil reinforcement "S" serve both to secure the reinforcement to the panel and to horizontally orientate the swiggles of the soil reinforcement.
The second embodiment face panel illustrated in FIGS. 11 to 13 is designated "P 2 ". This panel differs from the first embodiment panel "P" only in the manner in which the soil reinforcements are secured thereto. In the case of the panel "P 2 ", the soil reinforcements take the form of polymer geogrids 76 having aligned rows of slots 78 extending therethrough. The geogrids are cast in place within the planar body sections of the panel and connected to reinforcing steel therein as shown in FIG. 13. There it can be seen that the ends of the geogrids are bent upon themselves so as to extend the slots therein around the vertical wires of the reinforcing steel gridwork "G". A rod 80 is extended through the bent over ends of the geogrids to one side of the vertical wires of the gridwork "G" to secure the wires and geogrids together. The geogrids 76 and the gridwork "G" are so assembled prior to formation of the concrete body of the face panel. Once the body of the panel is formed, the geogrid is locked in place relative to the panel.
FIG. 14 shows an alternative geogrid 82 which may be used in place of the geogrid 76. The geogrid 82 functions in a manner identical to that of the geogrid 76 and is similarly secured to the reinforcing steel gridwork "G". The geogrid 82 differs from the geogrid 76 primarily in that it is made up of intersecting bands that are welded together, whereas the geogrid 76 is a monolithic structure. In the case of the geogrid 82, the slots therein are formed between adjacent transverse bands.
The elements of the panel "P 2 " corresponding to those of the panel "P" are designated by like numerals. During transport and storage of the panels, the geogrids 76 are rolled up and stored in place on top of the cantilever section 12 (see FIG. 20).
The panels "P 2 " are used in the construction of earthen embankments in essentially the same manner as the panels "P 1 ". The steps employed correspond to steps A through H of FIG. 6. FIG. 20 shows the one relatively minor difference, namely that the geogrid soil reinforcements are placed above the fill therebeneath by rolling the geogrids over the fill.
FIGS. 15 and 16 show a modified connector for securing metallic soil reinforcing elements to the face panels "P". This connector, designated "C 3 " may be used for securing metallic soil reinforcing elements of either the gridwork type 40 or the swiggle type "S". The connector "C 3 " takes the form of a wire 84 projecting horizontally from the panel "P" to define a V-shaped eye, with laterally extending legs 88 cast in place within the panel. The soil reinforcing element shown in FIG. 15 is designated "S 2 " and is formed with a bent down loop "L" proportioned for extension through the V-shaped wire 84. When received within the V-shaped wire and subjected to pull back tension (tension to the right as viewed in FIG. 15), the loop "L" locks within the converging end of the V-shaped wire 84, thus securing the soil reinforcement "S 2 " from separation from the panel "P".
The loop "L" is rigid with the reinforcement "S 2 " and extends downwardly from the longitudinal axis of the reinforcement at an angle of approximately 60°. In the preferred embodiment, the loop "L" is formed by bending the distal portion of the soil reinforcement "S 2 " into a loop, with a spot weld 90 securing the loop against spreading. The connector "C 3 " has the advantage that it does not require a retaining rod, such as the rod "R" and that it also may serve to horizontally orient the soil reinforcement "S 2 " within an earthen formation.
CONCLUSION
While preferred embodiments have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specifics of these embodiments, but rather is defined by the accompanying claims. | A reinforced soil embankment having precast concrete face panels with cantilevered sections extending into the embankment to support the panels in an upright condition and provide a surface beneath which a wedge may be inserted to plumb the panels during erection of the embankment. Soil reinforcing elements are secured to the panels intermediate their height to reinforce the embankment and secure the face panels in place. Connectors are provided for securing the reinforcing elements to the panels by means of loops formed on the elements for extension through eyes on the panels. The connectors also serve to orient the reinforcing elements in a horizontal disposition within the embankment. | 4 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present application relates generally to gas turbines and more particularly relates to flange joint features for a turbine casing that reduce “out of roundness” caused by thermal gradients.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typical turbine casings generally are formed with a number of sections that are connected to each other. The sections may be connected by bolted flanges in any orientation and similar arrangements. During a transient startup of a gas turbine, the horizontal joints may remain colder than the rest of the casing due to the additional amount of material required to accommodate the bolt. This thermal difference may cause the casing to be “out of roundness” due to the fact that the time to heat up the horizontal joint may be slower than that of the surrounding casing. This condition is also called ovalization or “pucker”. On shutdown, an opposite condition may occur where the horizontal joint remains hot while the casing around it cools off so as to cause the opposite casing movement or ovalization.
There is therefore a desire to reduce or eliminate the presence of thermal gradients that may cause an “out of roundness” about the joints of a casing for a rotary machine such as a turbine. Elimination of these thermal gradients should promote a longer lifetime for the equipment with increased operating efficiency due to the maintenance of uniform clearances therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present application thus describes for a turbine casing. The turbine casing as described herein may include a first section flange, a second section flange, the first section flange and the second section flange meeting at a joint, and a heat sink positioned about the joint.
The present application further describes a turbine casing. The turbine casing may include an upper half flange, a lower half flange, the upper half flange and the lower half flange meeting at a joint, and a number of heat sink fins positioned about the joint.
The present application further describes a method of stabilizing a turbine casing having a number of sections meeting at flange joints. The method as described herein includes the steps of determining the average radial deflection of each section, subtracting the minimum radial deflection of each section, and adding a heat sink to each of the flange joints to reduce the average radial deflection of each section.
These and other features of the present application will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the several drawings and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bolted joint of a casing as is described herein.
FIG. 2 is a side plan view of an alternative embodiment of a casing as is described herein.
FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the bolted joint of the casing of FIG. 2 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows a turbine casing 100 as is described herein. The turbine casing 100 includes an upper half 110 and a lower half 120 . Other configurations also may be used herein. The upper half 110 may include a pair of upper half flanges 130 while the lower half 120 may include a pair of lower half flanges 140 . When positioned adjacent to each other, the upper half 110 and the lower half 120 of the casing 100 meet at a joint 125 . An aperture 150 extends through the flanges 130 , 140 at the joints 125 . The upper half 110 and the lower half 120 are connected via a bolt 160 that extends through the apertures 150 of the flanges 130 , 140 . Other connection means may be used herein.
The thermal responsiveness of the joints 125 of the casing 100 may be improved with the addition of a heat sink 170 positioned about the joints 125 . Specifically, the heat sink 170 may be any parameterized geometric feature. The heat sink 170 may vary in any parameter such as height, width, length, elevation, taper, acuity, thickness, warpage, shape, etc.
In this example, the heat sinks 170 each may include an upper fin 180 positioned on the upper half 110 of the casing 100 opposite the upper half flange 130 and a lower fin 190 positioned on the lower half 120 opposite the lower half flange 140 . The fins 180 , 190 may extend slightly within the casing 110 . The fins 180 , 190 may be in contact or they may be separated by a predetermined distance. Separating the fins 180 , 190 may reduce the possibility of the fins 180 , 190 binding and stressing each other during thermal expansion or otherwise. The fins 180 , 190 may be made of the same or a different material as that of the turbine casing 100 . The fins 180 , 190 may be welded, cast, or mechanically or otherwise attached to the casing 100 . The fins 180 , 190 serve to increase the surface area about the joints 125 so as to enhance the heat transfer by increasing the effective surface area. The fins 180 , 190 may take any desired shape.
The use of the fins 180 , 190 may reduce the “out of roundness” of the casing 100 for at least a portion of the startup time. Specifically, “out of roundness” is the average radial deflection minus the minimum radial reflection of the halves 110 , 120 of the casing 100 . Although the fins 180 , 190 may reduce the “out of roundness” for a portion of the startup time, the fins 180 , 190 , however, may slightly increase the steady state “out of roundness”. The fins 180 , 190 again reduce the “out of roundness” during cool down. The size of the fins 190 and the heat sink 170 may be balanced against the thermal gradients and the “out of roundness” experienced by the casing 100 . Larger heat gradients may require a larger heat sink 170 such that different sizes of the heat sinks 170 may be used.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show a further embodiment of a turbine casing 200 as is described herein. As described above, the turbine casing 200 may include an upper half 210 and a lower half 220 . Other configurations also may be used herein. Because the upper half 210 and the lower half 220 are substantially identical, only the upper half 210 is shown. Each end of the upper half 210 and the lower half 220 meet and are connected at a joint 225 . The halves 210 , 220 at the joints 225 may include a pair of upper half flanges 230 and a pair of lower half flanges 240 . The flanges 230 , 240 include a number of apertures 250 positioned therein. The halves 210 , 220 of the casing 200 may be connected via the bolts 160 extending through the apertures 250 as described above or by other types of connection means.
The halves 210 , 220 of the casing 200 may include a number of slots 260 positioned therein. The slots 260 may accommodate a shroud, a blade, a bucket, or other structures as may be desired. The halves 210 , 220 of the casing 200 also may include a number of voids 265 positioned therein. These voids 265 may take the form of a recess along an outer edge of the casings 200 or the voids 265 may be positioned internally as may be desired.
The halves 210 , 220 of the casing 200 also may include one or more heat sinks 270 positioned about the voids 265 adjacent to the joint 225 . The heat sinks 270 may take the form of a set of upper fins 280 positioned about the upper half 210 of the turbine casing 200 and/or a set of lower fins 290 positioned about the lower half 220 of the casing 200 . The fins 280 , 290 may be positioned adjacent to the flanges 230 , 240 of the joints 225 . As is shown, the fins 280 , 290 may vary in size with a larger area adjacent to the joints 225 and then decreasing in area as moving away from the joints 225 . Alternatively, the fins 280 , 290 may have substantially uniform shape. Any number of fins 280 , 290 may be used. Any shape of the fins 280 , 290 may be used. As described above, the heat sinks 270 as a whole may take any desired form.
The use of the heat sinks 170 , 270 , thus allows more heat to enter or leave the colder or hotter area about the joints 125 , 225 and therefore improves the thermal response of the joints 125 , 225 in relation to the remainder of the casing 100 , 200 . As a result, increased gas turbine and/or compressor/turbine efficiency may be provided due to better and more uniform clearances about the casing 100 , 200 . Reduction of the “out of roundness” also may mean less rubbing and repair costs on compressor blades, turbine blades, or other components.
It should be apparent that the foregoing relates only to the preferred embodiments of the present application and that numerous changes and modifications may be made herein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims and the equivalents thereof. | The turbine casing as described herein may include a first section flange, a second section flange, the first section flange and the second section flange meeting at a joint, and a heat sink positioned about the joint. | 5 |
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of priority to prior-filed provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/894,811, filed Mar. 14, 2007, the complete contents of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of construction equipment, particularly a device for easily applying filler material into hard-to-reach places such as, but not limited to, corners, joints, seams, or gaps.
[0004] 2. Background
[0005] People engaged in construction work or house painting often rely heavily on filler materials, such as caulk, to seal corners, joints, seams, gaps, or the like. It is critical that these filler materials be properly applied so as to form a watertight and/or airtight seal and/or for aesthetic purposes. To achieve this purpose, a person must first apply filler material from a container and/or caulking gun to accomplish a desired result, be it aesthetic or otherwise, to the area to be sealed. The filler material then needs to be spread out and/or smoothed such that the area is completely covered with filler material and excess is removed, thus creating a proper seal and pleasing aesthetic. This second step can prove especially daunting when filler material must be applied to hard-to-reach places, such as corners, joints, seams, gaps, or the like. In addition, a person engaged in applying filler material to such spaces is also usually involved in other building activities and carries around and uses several tools or other objects. It is therefore advantageous for a worker to minimize the number of tools or objects needed for a particular job while also working in a timely and efficient manner. What is needed is a compact, lightweight device which allows a person to easily and properly smooth filler material into a desired space, while also allowing the user to handle other objects and/or complete other tasks without removing the device from his or her person.
[0006] Several hand-held products exist which are intended to aid in the application and/or smoothing of filler material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,860 issued to Campbell teaches a hand-held applicator with a tapered head and traditional tool handle. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,854 issued to Groeneveld teaches a hand-held implement with a handle and a head for finishing tile joints. U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,956 issued to Lemaster teaches a hand-held glazing tool with trimming blades and a handle plate intended to be gripped with the thumb and forefinger of a user. While the aforementioned tools may assist in the application and/or smoothing of filler material, they lack much needed properties. First, these types of products must be held in and guided by a user's hand, leaving only one hand free to perform other tasks. Second, filler material is usually applied to only small areas at a time and then smoothed before drying in order to ensure proper sealing and aesthetic. With the above-mentioned implements, a user must apply filler material from a container, put the container down, pick up and use the smoothing tool, and then place the smoothing tool back down on a surface to start the process again on another area of a corner, joint, seam, gap, or the like. This process is not only tedious but inefficient, especially for workers cramped in small spaces or faced with large projects. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, using a hand-held tool is not nearly as effective as using one's finger to manipulate and smooth filler material. A user has the greatest control over the quality of filler material application as well as aesthetic appeal when using a finger to smooth and wipe away excess material. Hand-held implements simply do not provide this type of control and effectiveness.
[0007] While using one's finger to manipulate filler material is preferable, a user should still have as little contact as possible with the filler material, which may or may not be hazardous, to avoid potential damage or injury to the user's skin from abrasion or contact with the material—that is, use over an extended period of time whether the material is hazardous or not, may cause irritation or abrasion of the finger. Some existing products attempt to combine the effectiveness of finger use with protective covering to prevent contact with filler material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,926 issued to Ray teaches an elongated hollow body with a closed end and an open end for receiving a finger. The closed end of the device can be used to apply and/or smooth filler material. However, the Ray device provides the user with access to only a single radius of curvature and does not allow a user to reach into converging gaps or corners. It can also be difficult to grip other objects or perform other tasks while wearing the Ray device. Another product, U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,698 issued to Greneker, teaches a finger implement which slips over one finger and has wing extensions, but also requires a person to use their thumb for precision control. The Greneker device is not only bulky but also limits a user's ability to grip other objects while wearing the device. Additionally, the Greneker device is not specifically meant for smoothing filler material and thus would require an additional attachment to properly accommodate the task.
[0008] What is needed is a compact, flexible finger device which allows a person to easily and efficiently smooth filler material at a desired radius of curvature into a desired space, while also allowing the user to handle other objects and/or complete other tasks without removing the device from his or her person.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 depicts a view of one embodiment of the present device being used to manipulate filler material into a space between pieces of building material to form a seal.
[0010] FIG. 2 depicts a side view of one embodiment of the present device and corresponding cross-sectional view through segment A-A.
[0011] FIG. 2 a depicts a side view of another embodiment of the present device.
[0012] FIG. 3 depicts a top view of one embodiment of the present device and corresponding cross-sectional view through segment B-B.
[0013] FIG. 3 a depicts a top view of another embodiment of the present device.
[0014] FIG. 4 depicts an end view of one embodiment of the present device and corresponding cross-sectional view through segment C-C.
[0015] FIG. 5 depicts a perspective view of one embodiment of the present device.
[0016] FIGS. 6 and 7 depict side views of one embodiment of the present device as worn on a human finger.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] As shown in FIG. 1 , the present device can be an elongated hollow member 100 . An elongated hollow member 100 can be placed over a finger 102 and used to apply and/or smooth filler material 110 into spaces 108 and/or a corner 106 between pieces of building material 104 . An elongated hollow member 100 can be made of elastomer, rubber, silicone, or any other known and/or convenient flexible material having any desired elastomeric properties, and can be made in various sizes to accommodate different sizes of a finger 102 . An elongated hollow member 100 can also be made in a variety of colors and the interior or exterior surface can be smooth, ribbed, or have any other known and/or convenient surface texture. Filler material 110 can be caulk, tile grout, silicone sealant, or any other known and/or convenient material.
[0018] FIG. 2 depicts a side view of the present device. An elongated hollow member 100 can have two open ends 212 and 214 . In some embodiments, ends 212 and 214 can be substantially parallel to each other and angled with respect to a vertical midline A-A. In other embodiments, ends 212 and 214 can also be curved toward or away from a vertical midline A-A. FIG. 2 also shows a cross-sectional view of an elongated hollow member 100 through vertical midline A-A. An elongated hollow member 100 can have exterior side walls 216 that can converge to form substantially pointed edges 218 , 220 . In some embodiments, substantially pointed edges 218 can be uniform and the edge can have a predetermined radius, but in other embodiments can have a sharp edge. In some embodiments the opposing edges 218 , 220 can have the same radius and/or the radii can be different, thus allowing a user to select a desired radius. In still further alternate embodiments the radius along a single edge 218 , 220 can be non-uniform and/or can be graduated either uniformly, non-uniformly and/or in a step-wise manner 222 , such that various radii are available to a user along a single edge 218 , 220 . Thus, a user can selectively control the radius of the interface of the exterior side walls 216 either by pressure and/or angle of the elongated hollow member 100 relative to the surfaces and/or by trimming the elongated hollow member 100 at a point where the elongated hollow member 100 has a desired radius. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 , at least one of ends 212 and 214 can be shaped in an elliptical arc, a chord of which can extend between opposite substantially pointed edges 218 being angled with respect to a vertical midline A-A. In embodiments having only one of ends 212 and 214 shaped in an elliptical arc, an opposite end can be shaped in any known and/or convenient geometry. In embodiments in which both ends 212 and 214 are shaped in corresponding elliptical arcs, the chords of which extending between opposite substantially pointed edges 218 and being angled with respect to a vertical midline A-A can be substantially parallel to each other. In some embodiments, the interior cross-sectional geometry of an elongated hollow member 100 can be substantially round, but in other embodiments can be elliptical and/or have any known and/or convenient geometry.
[0019] FIG. 2 a shows a side view of another embodiment of the present device. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 a , a portion of the wall of an elongated hollow member 100 can be removed at one or both ends 212 and 214 to form a cutout region 224 Although shown in FIG. 2 a as being elliptoid and symmetric about the longitudinal axis of an elongated hollow member 100 , a cutout region 216 can be oriented at any known and/or convenient position on the wall of an elongated hollow member 100 and have any known and/or convenient geometry. In some embodiments, the elongated hollow member 100 can more than one cut out region 216 and the cut out regions 216 can be symmetric, substantially symmetric and/or asymmetric. In still further alternate embodiments, the cut out regions 216 can be located in any convenient location along the elongated hollow member 100 and/or can have any convenient geometry.
[0020] FIG. 3 depicts a top view of the present device. An elongated hollow member 100 can have opposite open ends 312 and 314 . Also shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-section of an elongated hollow member 100 through horizontal midline B-B, which slices longitudinally through pointed edges 218 . Interior walls of an elongated hollow member 100 can be substantially parallel or any known and/or convenient geometry.
[0021] FIG. 3 a depicts a top view of another embodiment of the present device. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3 a , a portion of the wall of an elongated hollow member 100 can be removed at one or both ends 212 and 214 to form a cutout region 224 . Although shown in FIG. 3 a as being elliptoid and symmetric about horizontal midline B-B, a cutout region 224 can be oriented at any known and/or convenient position on the wall of an elongated hollow member 100 and have any known and/or convenient geometry. In some embodiments, the elongated hollow member 100 can include more than one cut out region 224 and the cut out regions 224 can be symmetric, substantially symmetric and/or asymmetric. In still further alternate embodiments, the cut out regions 224 can be located in any convenient location along the elongated hollow member 100 and/or can have any convenient geometry.
[0022] FIG. 4 depicts an end view of the present device and corresponding cross-sectional view through segment C-C. Exterior side walls 216 can have a substantially uniform thickness through segment C-C before thickening and converging to form substantially pointed edges 218 , which can be of various radii.
[0023] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an elongated hollow member 100 with pointed edges 218 and opposite open ends 212 and 214 .
[0024] In use, a user can apply a filler material 110 to a space 108 between at least two pieces of building material 104 , as shown in FIG. 1 . A use can then insert a finger 102 into either open end 212 or open end 214 of an elongated hollow member 100 such that pointed walls 218 are substantially aligned with the finger pad and fingernail of a finger 102 , as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 . Once an elongated hollow member 100 is securely over a finger 102 , a user can drag the tip of a pointed wall 218 along filler material 110 to smooth the filler material 110 and create a proper seal in the space 108 between building materials 104 . The present device can also be used to wipe away excess filler material 110 and/or manipulate filler material 110 in a corner 106 , or can be used in any other known and/or convenient manner. The present device can also be worn on a finger 102 while a user is tending to other tasks or holding other objects. In the embodiment in which the radii of the edges 218 220 are different, a user can access and use a desired edge with a desired radius by inserting a finger through the appropriate end the elongated hollow member 100 .
[0025] Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention as described and hereinafter claimed is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. | A compact, flexible device capable of receiving a human finger which allows a person to easily and efficiently smooth filler material into a desired space, while also allowing the user to handle other objects and/or complete other tasks without removing the device from his or her person. | 4 |
[0001] The entire disclosures of US patent applications 61/685,745 filed Mar. 24, 2012 and 61/848,643 filed on Jan. 8, 2013 are incorporated herein by reference. This application claims the benefit of priority of these two applications.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to methods of improving the quality parameters of a plant's fruit in commercial agriculture. This invention more specifically relates to a method of Thermal Plant Treatment (TPT) wherein the temperature and water balance in the plant ecosystem are changed. TPT is optimized for improved plant biological functioning for commercial benefits in agriculture. The method specifically consists of applying different temperature regimes using blown hot air to a plant in the field to achieve improvements in plant-output measures such as the fruit set, initiation of flowering, resultant fruit chemistry, plant disease resistance, fruit skin thickness and fruit color. This invention also relates to specific improvements in equipment to implement TPT.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0003] Temperature treatment in agriculture and fruit culture has been used to prevent plant damage from low temperature exposure. It is known from prior art that thermal systems are used for anti-frost damage control during what is colloquially known as “cold snaps”. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,013 to Lazo, heat from moveable tractors is proposed as a method of frost control. The objectives here are to limit the duration of exposure to low temperatures for a plant. Generally these measures are applied whenever cold snaps occur.
[0004] Temperature treatment in agriculture and fruit culture has also been used successfully to control pests in the past decade. Using burn temperatures and below burn temperatures exhaust air from heaters has been used to eliminate pests such as fungal pests such as Oidium ( uncinula necator ) and Botritis ( Botritis cinerea ) in grapes and insect pests like Drosophila melanogaster larvae and mites such as Brevipalpus chilensis. The blown air temperatures required to effectively treat such pests are on the high side, typically 65 C to 250 C for the hot air. U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,239 Lazo discloses the method for pest control with hot air streams from a roaming tractor,
[0005] The use of temperature in the cases above represents a loss minimization approach to agriculture production. There is a real commercial need to develop temperature control techniques in the field to enhance the quality of agriculture output, especially of fruit and vegetables, without the use of chemicals. There is also a need to improve fruit quality parameters so as to enhance their commercial ‘nutraceutical’ value.
[0006] The effect of temperature on a plant's flavonoid pathway is well documented in the literature. Flavonoid pathway controls the fruit quality parameters or plant-output measures. A good representation of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway of grapevine is illustrated in Czemmel S. et al, Plant Physiol. 2009; Vol. 151; pgs. 1513-1530 and is included herein by reference. But no commercial practice of using a routine periodic shock to the plant ecosystem for enhancing fruit production exists. The present invention introduces the practice of routinely using periodic heat stimuli (TPT) in agricultural practice to improve the fruit quality parameters. As a result various fruit parameters are enhanced. Amongst them are riper fruit, berries with thicker skin and intense color in juice extracted from fruit, increased production of Jasmonic acid as part of self-defense expression of plant are all related to the nature of the TPT stimulus applied to the plant.
[0007] We also observe real practical limitations in the machines used in frost and pest control for use in TPT. They limit the effectiveness and efficiency of the machine for use in TPT. Temperature control and thermal profile are extremely important in TPT. The prior art machine is designed with a central burner prior to the blower that throws the air to the crop. The air is heated and thrown out in a single fixed direction. As a result, the air stream can face a substantial thermal loss and prematurely cool when ejected to the crop from the machine. Moreover, the prior art machines do not have any configurable means of transport of the ejected hot-air to different heights, row configurations, of the exposed crop. Additionally, this is also necessary for accurate and precise thermal profile control in TPT. A need exists for improvements in the existing machinery to apply TPT with increased precision for meaningful commercial gain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] There is provided a method (TPT) for improving fruit production by subjecting the plant to periodic thermal shocks with high velocity hot-air for short durations. In another embodiment, such treatment for grape vines over the growing season is demonstrated that result in improved grape harvest and improved quality of wine produced therefrom. In yet another embodiment is an improved machine to precisely control the application of such hot-air shock treatment to the plant using better burner placement, hot-air direction nozzles, temperature sensors and programmable controls.
[0009] It is the objective of the proposed TPT methodology to modify the crop environment in a manner most beneficial for commerce through the use of machines as described above. While the two main physical parameters of TPT (air temperature and air velocity) are controlled by the machine, the other factors such as frequency of application of TPT, air quality, air humidity, aerosol additives etc. can also be utilized to shape the plant's ecosystem. They can also be envisaged to be added to the described TPT methodology in order to most beneficially and comprehensively control the crop environment.
[0010] While the examples concern mostly fruit plants, TPT could be applied nut plants, vegetable plants and even forest plants.
DRAWINGS AND FIGURES
[0011] FIG. 1 : Time-temperature response of a unit plant environ in the application of TPT.
[0012] FIG. 2 : Two examples of Wine Chemistry Analysis
[0013] FIG. 3 : Air Intake and Outflow in a TPT machine
[0014] FIG. 4 : Improvements over prior art machines for precise and accurate TPT
[0015] FIG. 5 : A TPT machine in application mode with thermal gradient created by the blown hot air onto a tree
[0016] FIG. 6 : Modulation of temperature gradients with nozzle articulation
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] There is a need to improve crop yield and quality performance without the use of chemicals. As the use of chemicals faces increasing scrutiny, as market demand for chemical-free crops increases with organic farming, there is a need to look for ways to improve crop yield and quality without the use of chemicals. It is one objective of our TPT method to improve crop yield and quality without the use of chemicals.
[0018] The present invention provides a method to routinely incorporate heat stimulation of a plant's biochemical process mechanisms to benefit fruit quality parameters. The temperatures of application are in general lower than those used in thermal pest control methods. The frequency of application is designed to maximize a certain fruit quality parameter. We have carried out test in various locations around the globe to demonstrate these benefits of such treatments. While some treatments are well defined, others still have to be fully explored. The key ingredient is to increase the temperature in the plant with a certain periodicity to produce improved fruit quality.
[0019] It is well known and experienced that thermal stresses can affect crop. Crop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress, Amarjit Basra, 2001, ISBN-1-56022-890-3). Thermal stress is one of the most constant and pervasive stresses encountered by plants. Frost damage is an example. Certain regimes of temperature can also induce stress reactions in plants. Generally thermal stresses can be clinical (with visible symptoms) or non-clinical (no visible symptoms). They can occur diurnally and seasonally. Diurnal stresses can typically be of the order of 20° C. and seasonal stresses can be of the order of 40° C. Typically, thermal stresses are characterized as low or high with the presumption that there is a thermal optimum. A zero stress condition is important from cellular protection systems of the plant and is important for preventing damage. It is an objective of the proposed TPT scheme to be configured below the temperature/time thresholds where thermal stress would negatively impact a plant.
[0020] However, it is becoming increasingly evident that certain regimes of temperature change are favorable and can result in faster growth, improved crop production or improved traits in produce from the crop. Thermal environmental regimes can affect and control the expression and transcription activities in a plant. For example, induction of small heat-shock proteins (sHSP) in the mesocarp of the Cherimoya fruit produces a chilling tolerance, which can be a desirable trait. (Sevillano, L. et al, Journal of Food Biochemistry (2010), Vol 34, Issue 3, pgs 625-638). A TPT treatment can potentially induce such sHSP.
[0021] This invention covers the surprising discovery of improved crop yield and quality that has been experienced in the field when applying thermal treatment. We noticed surprising positive effects on crop quality and yields. This discovery has suggested that desirable product traits can be engineered into a specific crop with specific thermal treatment. Without being tied to the numerous biochemical theories of plant response to thermal treatments, we seek to cover the net positive crop yield and quality improvement effects achievable from such thermal treatments as envisaged by our TPT protocol.
[0022] The TPT process involves the application of heated air at temperatures ranging from 15° C. to 200° C. and exit air speeds of the hot air vectors ranging from 10 Km/hr. to 250 km/hr. The temperature range notably goes below Lazo's 30° C. on the low temperature side, specifically with the idea that TPT is not limited to merely pest control or frost control but is designed to affect the biochemical operation of the plant to improve crop quality and volume without destroying the plant or organisms.
[0023] Temperature and hot-air vectors (speed and direction) and distance from the plant area are three main adjustable parameters of TPT. Some of the others are frequency of application, stage of plant growth. In addition to these, there are the variables of speed of the machine through the field containing the crop and also machine and/or nozzle placement with respect to the planting arrangement in the field. While the description is mainly around crop planted in rows, the application of TPT to plants in beds or in trellises is also envisaged.
[0024] The resultant effects of TPT can be characterized by set of multitude parameters such as plant yields, even-ness of yield, extent of pollination or fruit chemistry parameters such as color, weight, skin thickness, production level of antioxidant, or System Acquired Resistance (SAR), time to crop maturation, etc. All these variables and more that get affected will need to be mapped for different crops and TPT can be optimized for each depending upon the commercial objectives.
[0025] Specifically as an example, as a result of placing plants into the stress regime of TPT as delivered by the machine described above, the plant will raise its normal production levels of antioxidants (including resveratrol, etc.) and this is either produced in the developing fruit or passed into the fruit resulting in significantly higher levels of antioxidants.
[0026] Specifically as another example, as a result of placing plants into the stress regime of TPT as delivered by the machine described above, the plant will speed up bloom and provide even and broad scale pollination. This could apply to most fruit and nut plants and trees and selected vegetables including tomatoes, eggplant, melons and squash. These principles also apply in the case of leafy vegetable such as spinach, baby spinach, lettuce, and cabbage where disease control due to SAR stimulation can occur.
[0027] While most other plant treatments typically involve adding chemicals that get absorbed into the plant's biological system, the TPT methodology instead manages physical eco-system variables that condition the plant's environment and thereby create a place conducive to growth. This is done by modifying the internal and external systems associated with the plant bio system as a whole.
[0028] And by doing so, TPT methodology can create a biosystem for plant growth that does not rely solely on conventional chemical additives for growth and ability to thrive. In effect, the TPT technology can produce similar plant growth benefits without the use of chemicals additives by improving the plant's basic biological functioning.
[0029] Various theories are put forth to explain the effects of TPT treatment. Without being bound to any specific mechanism, an attempt is made to explain the mechanisms/modes of action. It is quite evident from the thermal exposure times of the crop that these treatments result in a short-duration of the crop to hot air and in a sense it is a thermal shock that is created to the plant. The protocol can then be more suitably called Thermal Shock Plant treatment (TSPT) and in our view terms TPT and TSPT are interchangeable.
[0030] The thermal shock produced in the plant environment with our inventive method has a maximum timed exposure e of 15 seconds per unit plant area. As an example, in a grape vine the unit plant area is defined by the square area of grape leaves stems and vines approximating a 4 inch by 4 inch square sector orthogonal to the air velocity. Typical time-temperature profile at any point in plant environment takes the profile shown in FIG. 1 below during treatment as a result of the thermal shock imparted.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 1 , in this specific case, the temperature of the unit plant area's environ reaches a maximum (100° C.) within 10 seconds. This response would depend upon on plant area's location with respect to the hot-air ejected from the machine duct. The temperature would be expected to slowly decay back to the ambient over time as shown in FIG. 1 . This profile shows the nature of the curve and the maximum temperature, exposure time and the decay time will vary depending on many factors. The maximum temperature will depend upon numerous variables including the setting of the hot air source at the TPT machine. As the TPT machine traverses through the field, one can expect such thermal shock profiles to be generated wherever the hot-air is blown. This modifies the plant environ for a certain period of time and if done repeatedly would affect the plant's mechanisms. Proper selection of such thermal shocks in terms of time, temperature and frequency would allow one to tailor the impact for specific plants in a TPT protocol for that species of plant.
[0032] The area under the curve is indicative of the thermal energy imparted to the environment over time. This includes a change in the kinetic constants of all the biosynthetic reactions including the reactions of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. It is postulated that such rapid change in thermal energy component may trigger favorable reactions for fruit quality enhancement.
[0033] Additionally, the area under this curve is important to the water transport processes occurring around the plant and the other elements of the bio-sphere including insects, plants and diseases. These processes are diffusion driven and affect the water balance between the atmosphere and the internal water vapor status of the plant and organisms in the biosphere.
[0034] Today many crop management protocols require “deficit water management” techniques to improve fruit quality (Example Brix in grapes, harvest quality in cantaloupes) and it is postulated that this TPT protocol is a management tool in that direction that can help improve fruit quality.
[0035] Additionally, water balance is affected by the velocity of the hot air with respect to the stationary plant part due to the effect of moving hot dry air on the plant and the organisms of the plant's biosphere. The diffusion gradient created by the TPT due to diffusion deficit as there is a rapid loss of water by the plant and other organisms to the outside air. The loss of water also makes it difficult for pests and diseases to survive.
[0036] Additionally, the movement of high velocity air across leaf surfaces has been demonstrated to result in the stimulation of those bio-synthetic pathways which lead to the phenomenon “Systemic Acquired Resistance” (SAR) to disease and Insect attack and infestation.
We provide herein some definitions for terms used in the present application. Plant-output measure: A quantitative attribute of a plant or its fruit which is usually of commercial importance in agricultural production and can be measured and used in comparatory analysis of crops. Synonymously used with the term “fruit quality parameter’. Plant or crop: Interchangeably used herein. Examples are apple tree, vegetable plant, nut tree. Thermal Plant Treatment: A process of altering a plant ecosystem—thermal and water balance—with the programmed use of blown hot air. The exposure is optimized specifically for each plant variety as needed. We also refer to it as a thermal shock treatment. This treatment is applied with a machine that typically traverses the farm. Plant Unit: A measure of plant productive surface in square feet or cubic feet. Fruit Set: The weight of fruit produced by flowers and retained on the plant per plant unit. Fruit Weight: The weight of fruit finally produced per plant unit. Another equivalent term is fruit yield. Fruit Count: The number of fruit produced per plant unit. Flowering: Number of flowers per plant unit. Also referred to as initiation of flowering. Fruit Chemistry: All of the chemicals in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway of a fruit. Wine Chemistry Content of compounds that contribute to wine quality as measured in standardized test results as shown in FIG. 2 .
[0048] TPT can unleash biological changes in a plant to impact its fruit. Some of these positive changes, which can result in significant economic benefits, are
(1) Increase in the fruit set, fruit count, fruit weights (2) Increased initiation of flowering (3) Improved fruit chemistry through impact on the bio-chemical kinetics and locus of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway leading to improvements in flavonols, PAs and anthocyanins. As an example, improved grape chemistry that results in improved wine chemistry parameters (4) Thickening of leaves (which can potentially result in higher photosynthesis activity increasing energy capture from the sun for the plant). (5) Induction of Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) in plants to produce tolerance (6) Increase in fruit skin thickness (7) Increase in the darker/deeper coloration of the grape and resultant wine coloration
[0056] The Lazo machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,239 can be improved in two ways and this forms the basis of our improvement of the machine in the present invention making it more suitable for precise control of the TPT.
[0057] One is to post-heat the air as it leaves the turbine on its way out to the plant as opposed to preheat the air as in the Lazo machine. This reduces thermal losses and may provide hotter air at the application points. Our improvement thus provides burner tubes located at the exit of the blower as opposed to the inlet burner in the Lazo machine. Fuel usage is beneficially impacted and improved temperature control at the point of application is achieved.
[0058] Secondly, configurable specialized articulating trunks or nozzle equipment can be added to the blower exit delivery end so that the impacted plant can be reached with hot air in more efficient ways to prevent thermal losses and higher efficiency in heat transfer to the plant environ. For example, air speed vectors for the hot-air can be defined and the hot air flows set up with such configurable equipment to obtain well optimized hot air flow tailored to specific characteristic of a certain crop and to specific distance from the plant area. A hot-air vector field can be define for each crop for its specific size and stage of growth. The vector field can be optimized based on crop results. The optimal air vectors at the right temperature can benefit the plant in various ways, as is described later. The heat transfer to the plant and it's envron is thus more precisely controlled and more configurable to a crop and the wastage of heat is minimized. Furthermore, more burners to heat air can be added to the articulating trunks equipment so that the air is heated at the point of application if needed.
[0059] Since the hot air exit from the machine is movable due to articulating nozzle/trunk extension, there is an advantage in having movable heat sources rather than static heat source as in the prior art machine. This is critical to the functionality of the process for tall trees and multiple row crops. The Lazo machine is a fixed single burner. We use multiple burners close to the application targets and potentially quite remote from the blower and we may use multiple blowers in larger machines. The Lazo machine did not work when we had to treat rows of plants that were more than a few feet from the machine. With our inventive design we can move an unlimited number of burners and blowers to application sites. The multiple burner differentiation from prior art is also an important distinction that has resulted from the lack of adequate temperature control with the Lazo machine in our TPT trials.
[0060] FIG. 4 shows the proposed improvements of our invention with respect to prior art machines. The three improvements of heater placement, the use of articulating delivery nozzles/trunk and the incorporation of feedback control for hot air application enable precise and accurate application of the hot air to the plant area in a reproducible manner. This result in better control of temperature and air velocity in the application of the TPT protocol.
[0061] The treatment can be applied with a unit that is tractor mounted or scaled down and can be backpack mounted. The same unit can be built into a self-contained mobile device, on wheels or tracks, and can be utilized in a manner similar to small automobile, small or full sized truck, a suitably sized water craft or a mobile device similar to that known as an All-terrain Vehicle.
EXAMPLE 1
Increase in Fruit Yield
[0062] In 2012, we conducted replicated TPT protocols in John Anthony-Carrefour Vineyard farms at Napa, Calif. on grape varieties of Cabernet Savignon, Savignon Blanc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
[0063] The TPT protocols were conducted at a hot air discharge temperatures of 100 degrees C. for a period of 13 weeks in a weekly application. The hot air was delivered at a machine speed of 3.5 mph (5.1 ft./s). Applications were done in May through August 2012 between 7 and 11 AM when ambient temperatures were typically between 4° C. and 22° C. The grape vines during this period were in the stages between fruit set and harvest. Grape vines to be treated were selected for uniformity of growth, habit and health and were separated by a buffer row of similar vine (so that one row did not affect the results on the other). Grape vines to be used as control were also included.
[0064] The resultant fruit yield responses are shown below. The data compares the Berry Count for vines with TPT and without TPT. The data shows significant advantage in Berry Count with the TPT treatment.
[0000]
Berry Count 2012
TPT
AVG
STDEV
Control
AVG
STDEV
Δ IN MEAN
Δ IN TOT
% Difference
John Anthony - Carrefour Vineyard - Napa, CA
Cabernet Sauvignon
Block 3
Shade side
134
9
25
102
7
13
2
32
31%
Sunny side
165
11
26
114
8
21
3
51
45%
OVERALL
299
10
216
7
3
83
38%
John Anthony - Carrefour Vineyard - Napa, CA
Savignon Blanc
Block 6
Shade side
108
7
22
92
6
12
1
16
17%
Sunny side
142
9
27
104
7
19
3
38
37%
OVERALL
250
8
196
7
2
54
28%
John Anthony - Carrefour Vineyard - Napa, CA
Merlot
Block 5
Shade side
122
8
17
92
6
11
2
30
33%
Sunny side
127
8
22
98
7
13
2
29
30%
OVERALL
249
8
190
6
2
59
31%
John Anthony - Rossi Vineyard - Napa, CA
Malbec
Block 11
Sunny side
245
16
52
242
16
49
0
3
1%
John Anthony - Carrefour Vineyard - Napa, CA
Petit Verdot
Block 10A
Shade side
159
23
37
126
18
21
5
33
26%
Sunny side
187
23
30
148
19
15
5
39
26%
OVERALL
346
23
274
18
5
72
26%
EXAMPLE 2
Increase in Fruit Yield
[0065] Resultant fruit yield results from the TPT treatment and replicated trials of the protocol of Example 1 on Pinot Noir grapes was done in Washington State at Adelsheim Vineyard. Limited results show a large 121% increase in fruit yield from control.
[0000]
PINOT NOIR GRAPES
Adelsheim Vineyard
WASHINGTON
Weights
Lot
Tons
TPT
A1
0.42
A2
0.44
CONTROL
B1
0.19
B2
0.2
Yld. Increase 121%
EXAMPLE 3
Increase in Fruit Yield and Number of Fruit—Savignon Blanc
[0066] The crop from Example 1 was selectively analyzed later in the growing season for fruit yield and the number of fruit. We found that while the yield showed an increase from that of control, the number of fruit also increased from that of control. This typically leads to more skin content in the resultant wine produced from the grape which can be beneficial to wine quality.
[0067] An increase of 19.48% on combined fruit weight, an increase of 26.2% on the number of berries, and a decrease in average berry weight of 5.4% is indicated from the following raw data of Bunch weight and Berry Counts.
[0000]
Napa Sauvignon Blanc
BLOCK 1 Not Irrigated
Sunny
Side
Bunch
Shady Side
Sunny Side
Shady Side
Weight
Bunch weight
Berry Count
Berry Count
Ounces
TEST
Bunch Number
1
8.6
4.7
116
54
2
4.5
4.9
51
64
3
7.2
3.4
120
37
4
5.2
6.6
64
94
5
9.0
3.3
122
51
6
6.2
2.8
83
36
7
5.6
7.5
67
116
8
7.7
8
103
122
9
6.0
2.3
83
31
10
5.5
7.8
98
106
11
4.4
3.8
77
52
12
8.7
7.6
145
89
13
9.2
11.3
156
154
14
2.9
8.3
36
121
15
7.7
7.6
98
64
Total
98.4
89.9
1419.0
1191.0
CONTROL
Bunch Number
1
6.3
4.5
89
44
2
5.1
5.4
60
62
3
8.9
5.8
134
71
4
3.8
4.2
43
40
5
6.2
3.6
83
39
6
4.9
3.4
67
47
7
6.2
5.8
86
43
8
8.1
3.3
118
71
9
9.8
4.3
143
77
10
4.5
6.6
76
78
11
2.3
7.9
33
99
12
4.5
2.9
55
45
13
7.1
2.5
75
47
14
5.3
5.6
67
70
15
3.6
5.2
39
66
86.6
71
1168
899
EXAMPLE 4
Increase in Fruit Yield and Number of Fruit—Pinot Noir
[0068] Field trials conducted at Klopp Ranch—Thorn Road Vineyard, Sonoma, Calif. on this variety with the TPT protocol.
[0069] Pinot Noir crop was selectively analyzed for fruit yield and the number of fruit. We found that while the yield showed an increase from that of control, the number of fruit also increased from that of control. This typically leads to more skin content in the resultant wine produced which can be beneficial to wine quality.
[0070] An increase of 22.4% on combined fruit weight, an increase of 15.6% on the number of berries, and an increase in average berry weight of 5.8% is indicated from the following s raw data of Bunch weight and Berry Counts.
[0000]
Klopp Pinot Noir
Sunny Side
Bunch
Shady Side
Sunny Side
Shady Side
TEST
Weight
Bunch Weight
Berry Count
Berry Count
Bunch
Row 22
Row 21
Row 22
Row 21
Number
Ounces
1
5.1
2.6
139
97
2
4.3
2.8
99
72
3
2.5
5.1
82
127
4
4.2
4.2
108
146
5
8.7
5.3
239
153
6
4.3
3.4
163
138
7
3.7
3.9
115
132
8
3.7
5.2
142
134
9
4.4
2.8
108
77
10
2.5
3.8
87
121
11
5.8
5.6
150
112
12
4.2
2.6
109
105
13
4.1
4.4
118
157
14
4.6
4
127
126
15
3.9
5.3
113
135
26
87
Total
66.0
61.0
1925.0
1919.0
Sunny Side
CONTROL
Bunch
Shady Side
Sunny Side
Shady Side
Bunch
Weight
Bunch Weight
Berry Count
Berry Count
Number
Row 25
Row 26
Row 25
Row 26
1
1.7
7
68
84
2
3.2
5
51
105
3
2.5
4
86
93
4
2.7
5
82
175
5
2.8
3.1
108
131
6
6.3
3.3
159
114
7
4
2.2
85
91
8
1.7
3.5
79
144
9
4.1
4.4
97
122
10
4.4
2.4
121
183
11
2.2
4.4
144
147
12
2.3
4.6
101
95
13
4.4
1.7
67
69
14
3
2.6
107
104
15
1.7
3.6
69
134
56
54
47
56.8
1480
1845
EXAMPLE 5
Improvement in Wine Chemistry Parameters
[0071] FIG. 2 shows Wine Chemistry Analysis results, from ETS Labs (St. Helena Calif.) Reports 572150 of 24 Sep. 2012 and 578033 of 16 Oct. 2012, both included by reference here-in, show that for some of the grapes harvested from Example 1, there are impacts on polymeric anthocyanins, gallic acid, caftaric acid, catechin, epicatechin and tannin content of wine thereby indicating a stimulation of sections of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway with the TPT treatment.
EXAMPLE 6
Improvement in Wine Quality from Taste Testing Results
[0072] We conducted 9 expert blind tasting tests (from University and Industry) of bottled wine (made at Fresno State University, Fresno Calif.) made from the Malbec grape grown in Napa Calif. subjected to the TPT treatment of Example 1. A unanimous rating of BTC (Better than Control) was obtained in this testing.
[0000]
WINE TASTING RESULTS
Fruity
No.
Experts from
Fruitiness
Mouthfeel
Aroma
1
Fresno State Univ.
BTC
BTC
BTC
2
Fresno State Univ.
BTC
BTC
BTC
3-4
Agrothermal Technicians
BTC
BTC
BTC
5-9
Wine Industry Professionals
BTC
BTC
BTC
[0073] A similar tasting test from wine in casks—with wine made from the Pinot Noir grape (subjected to the TPT treatment of Example 1 made at Adelsheim Winery in Washington State—also resulted in a unanimous BTC rating.
EXAMPLE 7
Plant Thermal Exposure Environment with a TPT Machine
[0074] Potential plant environ temperatures from hot air ejected from a TPT machine were mapped with the use of thermocouple sensors to establish the thermal short-duration exposure obtained in a TPT treatment by measurement of the gradient field at several points in the plant's environ.
[0075] FIGS. 5 and 6 shows the stationary (zero mph TPT machine) profile temperatures measured with the use of thermocouples around the typical ejection of hot air from the TPT machine onto a crop target. This shows that the temperature gradient field created can be used to blanket the unit plant area environ. These gradient temperature fields can be reproducibly applied with adequate control measures and thermal sensing instrumentation in a dynamically programmed or pre-determined TPT protocol. The temperature field can be adjusted by controlling the distance to the plant with articulating nozzle for the hot air stream, controlling the exit temperature of the blown air, controlling the velocity of the blown air (both direction and speed). | The invention relates to a method of impacting the fruit production of a plant or crop by applying short-duration thermal shock streams of hot air to the plant periodically to impact the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway mechanisms in a plant thereby improving its fruit. The method includes the steps of (1) passing by the plant in a row at a speed of 1-5 mph in an improved Thermal Plant Treatment (TPT) machine, (2) ejecting from the TPT machine at least one hot stream of air in the direction of the unit plant area for no more than 15 seconds per unit plant area per pass, (3) optionally measuring the thermal shock profile that the plant is subjected with thermal sensors, and (4) repeating the thermal shock profile treatment steps (1) and (2) at pre-determined regular intervals over at least a fraction of the crop year. | 0 |
FIELD
This invention involves an intelligent gas meter, more specifically, an internet of things (IoT) intelligent gas meter and its control system.
BACKGROUND
At present, the domestic energy price is geared to the international standard. And due to the straining resources of international oil and gas, the price fluctuates frequently, leading to the frequent adjustment of gas rate. Therefore, it requires improvement of the gas meter. The purpose is to realize the functions of gas measuring, controlling, charging and management. However, domestically the gas meters can be divided into two categories based on the charge method: one is payment before use, such as IC card gas meter; the other is use before payment, such as the common diaphragm gas meter. Between the gas meters with two charge methods, the former is featured by the fact that once the gas fee is used up, the gas supply is stopped, and the user must buy the gas with IC card at designated stores and finish the relevant gas transmission procedures before the gas supply is resumed. However, artificial unreliable factors exist in the data exchange between the IC card and the gas meter. And the gas fee is out of real time control, such as gas fee adjustment by the gas supplier. For the latter, there are difficulties in data transcription, charging of gas fee, and inconvenience in use on the part of the gas user. The IC card gas meter adopts a charge method of gas volume (m 3 ); the gas company sells the gas volume in advance; the user stores the purchased volume in the gas meter. The disadvantage of this method is that when the gas price is adjusted, the gas company can't adjust the price for the remaining volume of gas stored in the meter. Such hysteretic nature may lead to the hoarding of gas by the user, causing a loss to the gas company. And for the traditional diaphragm gas meter based on meter reading, unified price adjustment is also unavailable since a time period is inevitable in the meter reading by households.
In addition, the remote gas meters currently on market record the consumption base on volume. When the gas price is adjusted remotely, the remaining gas volume in the gas meter will change in volume, which will lead to the difference between the purchased volume and the volume of gas available for use. Such conflict in volume measuring mode will also induce disputes between the users and the gas company.
In addition, various remote reading gas meters, remote control gas meters are also appearing on the market. But gas meters of these structures all adopt a point-to-point transmission mode, meaning the gas meters transfers the data to the hand-reading device of the meter reader or the concentrator of the relevant resident district through wired or wireless way. Since the point-to-point transmission and the wireless signal are easily subject to disturbance of external frequencies and buildings, the reading effect is far from satisfactory. Therefore, none of the current gas meters can solve the technical problems of real time gas fee adjustment, feedback of gas meter data of the user, and centralized management, etc.
SUMMARY
This invention is aiming at solving the aforementioned defects, providing an IoT intelligent gas meter and its control system based on the transmission of IoT, and adopting supporting network management system.
To solve the aforementioned technical problems, the invention adopts the following technical proposal:
On one hand, this invention provides an IoT intelligent gas meter, including base meter, CPU control module and data transmission module. The base meter has gas output and input ports, around the latter, mechanical and electrical vales are instalLCD. The CPU control module is connected to and sends control signals to the base meter. The gas consumption standard can be adjusted based on the CPU control module, which includes EEPROM data memory; the data transmission module is indirectly connected to the IoT, and the remote computer management system through the IoT. The data transmission module receives control signal from the remote computer management system while feeding the data of the gas meter sent by the CPU control module back to the computer management system; the data transmission module consists of signal transmitter and receiver, which exchanges data with the CPU control module through the data command bus. The signal transmitter is connected with the data concentrator through wired or wireless way, while the data concentrator is connected to the internet through network communication protocol, sending the gas consumption statuses collected from the gas meters to the computer management system through internet in the form of data package; the CPU control module adjusts and encrypts the data in the EEPROM data memory, and then sends the encrypted data packages to the internet through the signal transmitter in the data transmission module according to the designated communication protocol. The data packages are then forwarded to the computer management system through internet.
Further technical proposal is: the computer management system sends the control signal in the form of data package through internet to the data concentrator, which sends the control signal it received to the data transmission module on the gas meter through wired or wireless way.
Further on technical proposal is: the data command bus is bus RS485; the internet communication protocol is the TCP/IP or UDP communication protocol.
Other features of the invention: the wireless transmission mode could be infrared signal, photoelectric signal, ultrasonic signal, microwave signal, or GPRS signal; the wired transmission mode could be optic fiber transmission, power line carrier, RS232 bus, RS485 bus, M-BUS instrument bus, or CAN bus.
Further technical proposal is: the data packages received and sent by the data concentrator are encrypted by the CPU control module. The signal transmitter packs the signal during transmission, while the signal receiver upon receiving the external signal, unpacks the signal into executable operation command, and transmits the command to the CPU control module through data command bus for decryption and operation.
Another technical proposal is: the said CPU control module also consists of FLASH program memory to store the control program in the CPU control module. Through the program designation in the FLASH program memory, the gas meter finishes the signal receiving and feedback processing.
A third technical proposal is: the said CPU control module mainly includes CPU controller, which is connected to counting dry reed pipe sampling circuit, mechanical and electric valve control circuit, number-deducting circuit, and LCD circuit; the CPU control module is connected to the counting dry reed pipe through the counting dry reed pipe sampling circuit; CPU control module connects to the mechanical and electrical valve through the mechanical and electric valve control circuit, controlling the on and off status; CPU control module connects to the LCD display through the LCD circuit, controlling the data display; CPU control module connects to the EEPROM data memory through the number-deducting circuit, and debits the gas meter in combination with the circuit.
On the other hand, the invention provides a control system for the IoT intelligent gas meter. The control system consists of multiple IoT intelligent gas meters, at least one data concentrator and the remote computer management system. Among them, each IoT gas meter is a node in the control system, connecting to and transmitting the data to the data concentrator, which, after collecting data from multiple nodes, send the data to the computer management system through connecting with the internet at the internet port.
Further technical proposal is: the port is any one of the demand-dial interface of phone line, optic fiber broadband interface, ADSL interface, or GPRS interface.
Another technical proposal is: the computer management system integrates charge management system and gas meter working condition management system.
The charge management system includes:
Basic data module: used to realize functions of management station setup, regional setup, meter type setup, payment type setup, manufacturer setup, administrator setup, and invoice format setup.
Gas sales business management module: used to realize functions of opening of account for user, payment, refund, and gas supply operation;
Financial statements management module: used to compile the user's basic information statements, gas user payment statements, gas user meter reading statements and daily statements, monthly statements, and annual statements;
Gas meter working condition management system includes:
Regional management module: used to set up management site, management community, management unit, and management building;
User management module: used to realize the account canceling, account transfer, and adjustment of user's information;
Working state management module: applied for searching history state and current state, of which, the history state search includes remote switch operation history, remote meter reading history, internet payment history, and gas adjustment history; the current state research includes low gas volume alarm, high and low pressure protection, overflow protection, overtime protection, magnet protection, balance amount, accumulated gas consumption, accumulated recharge amount, and current gas price;
Maintenance management module: used to eliminate HP and LP failures, overflow failure, overtime failure, and magnetic disturbance failure;
Meter replacement management module: used to inquiry the information of the recorded faulted meter, record the information of the new meter and transfer the data.
Compared to current technologies, the advantages of the invention include: realizing the each and every terminal equipment's control and communication of the application of IoT on gas meter control system. Through the connection of IoT, the connection between the control terminal and gas meter terminal is no longer limited to the point-to-point control. It realizes the remote control of management and price adjustment, internet payment, cash amount settlement on the terminal gas meters, avoiding gas hoarding caused by the gas purchase volume calculation. In addition, the invention provides an IoT intelligent gas meter and relevant control system that could be applied to all the gas supply networks with wide scope of application and convenience for promotion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows the gas meter structure principle block diagram in Example 1 and Example 2;
FIG. 2 shows the remote control structure connection block diagram realized in Example 1 and Example 2;
FIG. 3 shows the CPU control module structure block diagram in Example 1 and Example 2;
FIG. 4 shows the gas meter control system structure block diagram in Example 3;
FIG. 5 shows the module structure block diagram of the computer management system in Example 3;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Here is further description of the invention in combination with the figure.
Before explaining the specific examples of application of the invention, firstly it is necessary to explain a key word mentioned repeatedly in the invention—“internet of things”:
The internet of things (IoT) refers to the internet in which the gas meters are connected to the internet as user terminals through information sensor equipment such as RFID (radio frequency identification), infrared sensor, GPS, laser scanner, etc. according to the agreed protocol, for the purpose of information exchange and communication, so as to realize intelligent identification, location, tracking, monitoring, and management, in other words, an IoT connected to each other.
Application 1
As shown in FIG. 1 , for the IoT intelligent gas meter 1 in the invention, one installation and application method among the technical proposals includes the basic meter 2 , CPU control module 3 and data transmission module 4 . The base meter 2 has gas output and input ports, around the latter, mechanical and electrical valves 5 are installed. The CPU control module is connected to and sends control signals to the base meter. The gas consumption standard can be adjusted based on the CPU control module, which includes EEPROM data memory 8 ; the data transmission module 4 is indirectly connected to the IoT, and the remote computer management system through the IoT. The data transmission module receives control signal from the remote computer management system 10 while feeding the data of a gas meter sent by the CPU control module 3 back to the computer management system; the preference setting in the data transmission module include signal transmitter 11 and receiver 9 . The signal receiver 9 exchanges data with the CPU control module 3 through the data command bus 22 , which is preferably RS485 bus. The signal transmitter 11 is connected with the data concentrator 12 through wired way, while the data concentrator 12 is connected to the internet 21 through network communication protocol—such as UDP communication protocol—sending the gas consumption statuses collected from the gas meters to the computer management system through internet in the form of data package; the computer management system sends the control signal in the form of data package through internet 21 to the data concentrator 12 , which sends the control signal it received to the data transmission module 4 on the gas meter through wireless way. The wireless transmission may vary according to different requirements onsite. Selection may be made among optic fiber transmission, power line carrier, RS232 bus, RS485 bus, M-BUS instrument bus, or CAN bus. However optic fiber transmission is preferred according to the site requirements and current universality of wired signal transmission.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the data packages received and sent by the data concentrator 12 are encrypted by the CPU control module 3 . The signal transmitter 13 packs the signal during projection, while the signal receiver 9 upon receiving the external signal, unpacks the signal into executable operation command, and transmits the command to the CPU control module 3 through data command bus for decryption and operation. CPU control module 3 also consists of FLASH program memory 14 to store the control program in the CPU control module 3 . Through the program designation in the FLASH program memory 14 , the gas meter finishes the signal receiving and feedback processing and stores the charging command in the EPPROM data memory 8 . The EPPROM data memory 8 can also store ID, user meter number, user's password, accumulated recharging amount, accumulated balance amount, accumulated gas consumption, unit price of gas, alarm amount, working conditions of the gas meter, etc.
As shown in FIG. 3 , the CPU control module 3 mainly includes CPU controller 20 , which is connected to counting dry reed pipe sampling circuit 16 , mechanical and electric valve control circuit 17 , number-deducting circuit 21 , and LCD circuit 18 . The CPU control module 3 is connected to the counting dry reed pipe 15 through the counting dry reed pipe sampling circuit 16 . The CPU control module 3 connects to the electromechanical valve 5 through the mechanical and electric valve control circuit 17 , controlling the on and off status. The CPU control module 3 connects to the LCD display 19 (as shown in FIG. 2 ) through the LCD circuit 18 , controlling the data display. The CPU control module 3 connects to the EEPROM data memory 8 through the number-deducting circuit 21 , and debits the gas meter in combination with the circuit.
Application 2
This invention presents an IoT intelligent gas meter 1 as shown in FIG. 1 , and another application of its technical program is: as for master meter, CPU control module 3 and data transmission module 4 , source gas inlet 6 and outlet 7 are reserved on master meter, and equipped with an electromechanical valve 5 close to inlet. CPU control module 3 is linked to master meter and sends control signal to the latter, and gas consumption standard of master meter can also be adjusted by CPU control module 3 . The above described CPU control module 3 contains EEPROM data memory 8 , and data transmission module 4 is indirectly linked to IOT, as well as connecting with distant computer control system via IOT. Data transmission module 4 receives control signal from distant computer control system and feeds back gas consumption data of gas meter sent by CPU control module 3 to computer control system. Two devices, as signal transmitter and receiver, are priorities on data transmission module 4 . Signal receiver switches data with CPU control module 3 via data command bus 22 , and RS485 bus is preferable to be used as data command bus 22 . While signal transmitter is linked to data concentrator in wireless way—data concentrator 12 is connected to internet 21 via network communication protocol, and this network communication protocol is inclined to TCP/IP communication protocol, it sends, as a data package, the concentrated gas consumption data of gas meter to computer control system. Then, computer control system sends control signal, as a data package, to data concentrator via internet 21 , and data concentrator 12 will transmit received control signal to data transmission module 4 of gas meter by wireless means. Wireless transmission can be one of infrared signal, opto-electronic signal, ultrasonic signal, microwave signal and GPRS signal according to requirement of application situation. The effect of transmission can be determined by varied signal transmission mode, and it can be selected by application situation and area.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the received and sent data package of data concentrator is the encoded one of CPU control module 3 . Signal transmitter packs signal while dispatching signal, after signal receiver taking the signal, it unpacks signal and transforms it to operational command for execution and transmits it via data command bus 22 to CPU control module 3 for decoding and operation. The FLASH program memory 14 in CPU control module 3 is used for storing control program operating in CPU control module 3 . By appointing program in FLASH program memory 14 , gas meter can receive and feedback signal and store received charge command in EPPROM data memory 8 , and EPPROM data memory 8 can also store data like user ID, number of gas meter, user's code, aggregated amount of charge, total balance, total gas consumption, unit price of purchasing gas, amount of alarm and operating condition of gas meter.
As shown in FIG. 3 , CPU control module 3 has CPU controller 20 as main part. CPU controller 20 is connected to sampling circuit of counting dry reed pipe 16 , control circuit of electromechanical valve 17 , number-deducting circuit 21 and LCD circuit 18 . It is connected to counting dry reed pipe 15 (as shown in FIG. 1 ) in master meter via sampling circuit of counting reed switch 16 , to electromechanical valve 5 for controlling its open and close, to LCD screen to control displayed data, to EPPROM data memory 8 via number-deducting circuit 21 to process data of gas meter.
Comparing to the Application 1, this application is the better one for this invention.
Application 3
This invention, as shown in FIG. 4 , provides a control system 23 to control the IoT intelligent gas meter 1 described in Article 1 of Claims. The control system 23 consists of number of IoT intelligent gas meters 1 and data concentrator 12 and distant computer control system 24 . The implementation mode of control system described in this example is simple, only with one data concentrator 12 in control system 23 . For large gas consumption network, the linked data concentrators 12 with use terminal gas meter can form an IoT. Each IoT intelligent gas meter 1 terminal is a node in control system 23 . By collecting data of many nodes, data concentrator 12 will transmit data to computer control system 24 via interface of IoT with internet 21 . According to various application situations, the interface of IoT can be selected from dial interface of phone line, fiber broadband interface, ADSL interface and GPRS interface. The current analysis of popularity of internet interface shows that the fiber broadband interface and ADSL interface can be more practical, so these two interfaces are more helpful for application of this invention generated technical program.
As shown in FIG. 5 , fee-collecting management system 25 and working state management system of gas meter 26 operation condition are integrated into computer control system 24 . Fee-collecting management system 25 includes:
Basic data module 27 : used for management station setting, area setting, setting of meter type, setting of charge type, manufacturer setting, administrator setting and setting of invoice format.
Gas sales management module 28 : used for opening an account of gas user, charge, refund and gas compensation.
Financial statement management module 29 of: used for basic data statement of gas user, charge data statement of gas user, meter reading data statement of gas user and preparation of daily, monthly and annual statement.
Working state management system of gas meter 26 includes:
Regional management module 30 : used to set up management site, management community, management unit, and management building.
User management module 31 : used to realize the account canceling, account transfer, and adjustment of user's information.
Usage state management module 32 : applied for searching history state and current state, of which, the history state search includes remote switch operation history, remote meter reading history, internet payment history, and gas adjustment history; the current state research includes low gas volume alarm, high and low pressure protection, overflow protection, overtime protection, magnet protection, balance amount, accumulated gas consumption, accumulated recharge amount, and current gas price.
Maintenance management module 33 : used to eliminate HP and LP failures, overflow failure, overtime failure, and magnetic disturbance failure.
Meter replacement management module 34 : used to inquiry the information of the recorded faulted meter, record the information of the new meter and transfer the data.
After setting working state management system of gas meter 26 in a computer control system 24 , the signal receiver 9 of data transmission module 4 in gas meter collects signal and command via cable and wireless transmission. One case is, by CPU control module 3 , to adjust user ID, user meter number, user password, total charge amount, balance, total gas consumption, unit price of gas, alarm amount and operation condition of gas meter in EEPROM data memory 8 and encode them; the other case is, when abnormal condition is monitored by CPU, to encode data of over flow rate and magnetic disturbance and pack these encoded abnormal conditions and send them to working state management system 26 via signal transmitter 13 in data transmission module 4 .
The adjustment of real-time gas price defined in this invention is performed as follows: When gas supplier plans to adjust gas price, he can use control signal sent by working state management system 26 to signal receiver 9 and transmitter 11 in data transmission module of gas meter 4 , and transmit encoded command via RS485 bus to CPU controller 20 in CPU control module 3 , then CPU controller 20 decodes this command to further gas price adjustment along with deducting circuit controlled master meter. After price adjustment, the charge amount in EEPROM data memory 8 will be updated and number-deducting circuit 21 will perform deduction according to new price.
The function of charge-upon-use described in this invention is unleashed as: When gas user consumes gas, the data and record of consumption will be stored in EEPROM data memory. As gas user pays bill to gas supplier, supplier can obtain data from EEPROM data memory via control module then charge-upon-use can be realized with real-time and precise data. Signal receiver in data transmission module of gas meter will unpack the data package sent by computer management system via internet, and transmit unpacked data, via RS485 bus, to CPU controller for decoding. CPU controller will store the charge data of gas user in EEPROM data memory to help charge gas meter, as well as real-time query of gas consumption data and real-time adjustment of gas price to be remotely performed.
The data on internet 21 and IOT transmitted by IOT intelligent gas meter is required to be encoded, while its cipher key can be set by gas company and changed at all time and updated into gas meter terminal. As cipher key is changed, computer control system 24 will send a packed command of cipher key modification to gas meter terminal 1 , and signal receiver 9 in data transmission module 4 will unpack it and revert it to operable command of cipher key modification and transmit to CPU controller 20 with realization of cipher key update.
Upon adoption of TOT intelligent gas meter and its control system provided by this invention, the business network of gas supplier can be managed via network, and user resource can be shared via internet 21 . So gas user doesn't need to pay bill at regular service center as well as convenient charge, and computer control system can control gas meter data and feed back use data of gas meter terminal to working state management system 26 for acquiring application data of the terminal.
The protection range of this invention is not limited to above applications, and all above examples are premium applications and not limited to invention itself. Any replacement, modification and cancellation of this TOT intelligent gas meter and gas meter terminal of control system and all modules in control system are protected by this invention. | This invention discloses an Internet of things (IoT) intelligent gas meter and its control system. It is a kind of intelligent gas meter consisting of a base meter, a CPU control module and a data transmission module. A gas source outlet and a gas source inlet are installed on the base meter, and an electromechanical valve is installed near the gas source inlet. The CPU control module is connected to the base meter and sends control signals to the base meter. The gas consumption criterion of the base meter can be adjusted via the CPU control module; The said CPU control module includes an EEPROM data storage device; the data transmission module is indirectly connected to the IoT and connected to a remote computer management system via the IoT; the data transmission module receives the control signal from the remote computer management system and feeds back gas consumption information of the gas meter sent by the CPU control module to the computer management system. This invention provides an IoT intelligent gas meter and relevant control system that could be applied to all the gas supply networks with wide scope of application and convenience for promotion. | 8 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Treatment of a coronary vessel wall at a treatment site, for regional therapy of vascular disease, includes delivery of a therapeutic agent into the coronary vessel wall. Delivery of therapeutic agents into the coronary vessel wall relies substantially on diffusion of the therapeutic agents through the endothelium into intercellular gaps. Delivery of the therapeutic agents into the coronary vessel wall may be accomplished by, among other things, utilizing drug-effusing balloons at the treatment site. The effused therapeutic agent then migrates into the coronary vessel wall to provide the desired benefit.
[0002] The effectiveness of the therapeutic agent into the coronary vessel wall is often limited by the anatomy of the channels within the endothelium, particularly the size of the channels. Endothelial cell gaps and internal elastic lamina gaps are relatively small, and may prevent migration of the therapeutic agents into the vessel wall, since the gaps are smaller than the particles to be introduced. Thus, there is a need for new ways to increase the opportunity for the therapeutic agent to enter the coronary through the endothelial cell gaps, such as by utilizing high pressure to inject the therapeutic agent into the treatment site via an inflatable balloon. The inflated balloon can be delivered to the treatment site where it is inflated to bring the surface of the balloon to bear against the surface of the coronary artery. The therapeutic agent may be allowed to weep through the balloon, or pressure may be employed to impinge the therapeutic agent against the endothelium and thereby force the agents through the cell gaps. The balloon must be porous to effuse the therapeutic agent, and the size of the pores is critical. Moreover, the shape of the pores can play a role in how efficient the delivery of the therapeutic agent is. A pore that is narrower along the interior surface and widens to a larger diameter at the exterior surface will have the effect of decelerating the fluid as it exits the balloon's pores, in contravention of the goal of increasing the fluid's velocity. However, conventional methods of forming pores in a balloon using a laser beam creates the pore described above, i.e., a diverging opening as the fluid passes through the balloon from its interior to the endothelial gaps. The object is to create a converging pore shape, where the fluid would accelerate through the pore due to the narrowing of the pore, creating a jet effect that increases the opportunity for the therapeutic agent to pass through the endothelial cell gaps. Further, the existing laser technologies are capable of forming holes of approximately 10 microns with reasonable manufacturing tolerances and throughput. These balloons are not ideal for the formation of a porous balloon element for the high-speed delivery of therapeutic agents. Hence, a better solution for forming porous balloons that are useful as components of high-speed drug delivery devices are needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention is a method for forming a porous balloon used in the delivery of therapeutic agents. In a first preferred method of the present invention, a balloon is pierced with a laser in a traditional manner to create a balloon with a plurality of divergent pores across the surface of the balloon. The balloon in then turned inside out by pulling one end of the balloon through an opening until the outer surface becomes the inner surface and the inner surface becomes the outer surface. In this configuration, the divergent pores are converted into convergent pores, which are favored in the delivery of a therapeutic agent because the fluid will accelerate through the pores and impinge the adjacent surface with a higher velocity, increasing the opportunity for penetration of the therapeutic agent into the endothelial cell gaps.
[0004] In a second embodiment of the present invention, the size of the pores can be reduced by creating pores in the balloon material by bombarding the balloon surface with projectiles such as spherical particles. This method allows smaller pores to be formed in the balloon than those that are achieved using laser assisted technologies and methods. This method also produces less thermal damage in the balloon material compared with laser methods, preserving the balloon material's inherent strength.
[0005] In a third embodiment of the present invention, the pores of the balloon are formed by introducing particles in the balloon material during manufacture that can be removed at a later stage to introduce voids in the material. The particles can be dissolvable, eliminated chemically, or mechanically, to yield a balloon with optimum sized pores that are well controlled and capable of very fine sizes. The small resident pores left behind after the particles are removed provide a passage for the therapeutic agent to be delivered from the balloon's interior to the endothelial cell gaps outside the balloon. Moreover, the size of the pores can be reduced with the present method to coordinate with the therapeutic agent's physical characteristics and the cell gaps' spacing. These and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying exemplary drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is an elevated view partially in section of a balloon catheter of the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a transverse cross sectional view of the balloon catheter of FIG. 1 taken along lines 2 - 2 ;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of the balloon catheter of FIG. 1 taken along lines 3 - 3 ;
[0009] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the catheter balloon showing the ports;
[0010] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a laser technique for forming the ports of the balloon;
[0011] FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the port created by the laser technique of FIG. 5 ;
[0012] FIG. 7 a is a perspective view of the balloon with ports formed by the technique of FIG. 6 ;
[0013] FIG. 7 b is a perspective view partially in shadow of the pulling of a first end of the balloon of FIG. 7 a through the internal volume of the balloon;
[0014] FIG. 7 c is a perspective view of the balloon of FIGS. 7 a and 7 b as the first end is pulled through and out the second end of the balloon;
[0015] FIG. 7 d is a perspective view of the balloon of FIG. 7 a after the internal and external surfaces have been reversed;
[0016] FIG. 8 is an enlarged, sectional view of the ejection port after the reversal of the internal and external surfaces of FIG. 7 ;
[0017] FIG. 9 is an enlarged front view of a projectile just before striking a balloon surface;
[0018] FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view of a projectile just after passing through the balloon surface of FIG. 9 ;
[0019] FIG. 11 is an elevated, perspective view of a section of tubing used to form a balloon, where impurities are embedded in the tubing surface;
[0020] FIG. 12 is an enlarged, cross sectional view taken along lines 12 - 12 of FIG. 11 ;
[0021] FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view of a balloon mold and balloon tubing prior to heating and pressurization of the tubing;
[0022] FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of the balloon mold and balloon tubing after heating and pressurization of the tubing to form the balloon, exposing the impurities in the surface of the balloon; and
[0023] FIG. 15 is an enlarged, cross sectional view taken along lines 15 - 15 of FIG. 14 showing the voids left behind after removal of the impurities.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Regional therapy of vascular disease generally requires the delivery of therapeutic agents into the coronary vessel wall. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, existing technologies such as drug-eluting stents and balloons include the deployment of a medical device coated with a therapeutic agent at the treatment site. The therapeutic agent then migrates into the coronary vessel wall to provide the desired benefit. An obstacle to optimally treating disease with these existing technologies is that the endothelial cell gaps are quite small and often prevent migration of the drug particles, or drugs which are incorporated into a matrix for sustained release, into the vessel wall, since they are smaller relative to the drug particles. Thus, it would be desirable to overcome this issue by injecting the therapeutic agents into, or passing through, the endothelium, thereby creating improved pathways for delivery of the therapeutic agents.
[0025] A catheter based system for injecting the therapeutic agents includes an elongate catheter body with a distal and proximal end. A fluid channel spans the length of the catheter body, and is capable of being filled with therapeutic agents for delivery into a vessel wall. The therapeutic agent(s) is delivered rapidly, in a way that creates a jet or blast that can penetrate through the endothelial surface, and into the endothelial cell gaps. This rapid delivery can be driven by a number of methods.
[0026] Near the distal end of the catheter body, there is an expandable member that brings the fluid channel proximate to the vessel wall. This expandable member can have a number of forms. In one embodiment, it may be a balloon element, wherein the balloon contains openings throughout the balloon surface, thereby providing injection ports that the therapeutic agent can be delivered through. The opening dimensions are preferably on the order of the endothelial gap size.
[0027] FIG. 1 shows a balloon catheter that can be used to illustrate the features of the invention. The catheter 10 of the invention generally comprises an elongated catheter shaft 11 having a proximal section 12 , a distal section 13 , an inflatable balloon 14 on the distal section 13 of the catheter shaft 11 , and an adapter 17 mounted on the proximal section 12 of shaft 11 . In FIG. 1 , the catheter 10 is illustrated within a greatly enlarged view of a patient's body lumen 18 , prior to expansion of the balloon 14 , adjacent the tissue to be injected with therapeutic agents.
[0028] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the catheter shaft 11 has an outer tubular member 19 and an inner tubular member 20 disposed within the outer tubular member and defining, with the outer tubular member, inflation lumen 21 . Inflation lumen 21 is in fluid communication with the interior chamber 15 of the inflatable balloon 14 . The inner tubular member 20 has an inner lumen 22 extending therein which is configured to slidably receive a guidewire 23 suitable for advancement through a patient's coronary arteries. The distal extremity of the inflatable balloon 14 is sealingly secured to the distal extremity of the inner tubular member 20 and the proximal extremity of the balloon is sealingly secured to the distal extremity of the outer tubular member 19 .
[0029] FIGS. 2 and 3 show transverse cross sections of the catheter shaft 11 and balloon 14 , respectively, illustrating the guidewire receiving lumen 22 of the guidewire's inner tubular member 20 and inflation lumen 21 leading to the balloon interior 15 . The balloon 14 can be inflated by therapeutic agents in a fluid that is introduced at the port in the side arm 25 into inflation lumen 21 contained in the catheter shaft 11 , or by other means, such as from a passageway formed between the outside of the catheter shaft and the member forming the balloon, depending on the particular design of the catheter. The details and mechanics of the mode of inflating the balloon vary according to the specific design of the catheter, and are omitted from the present discussion.
[0030] It can be seen that the balloon 14 is porous and includes a plurality of pores 24 throughout the surface of the balloon. FIG. 4 shows an enlarged balloon 14 showing a plurality of pores or “injection ports” 24 through which therapeutic fluids can be dispensed to the coronary vessel 18 . The injection ports 24 can have a significant influence on the effectiveness of the therapeutic agents by enhancing the delivery of the agents into the endothelial cell gaps. That is, the jet velocity can be modified by changing the shape of the injection ports 24 . Existing technology for creating the injection ports 24 include using a laser source that is directed toward the balloon and focused near the balloon surface. In FIG. 5 , a laser source 35 is activated to apply a convergent laser beam 36 into the balloon 14 , resulting in a diverging outlet shown in FIG. 6 where the outer diameter do at the outer surface 38 of the balloon is greater than the inner diameter d I at the inner surface 39 of the balloon 14 . In this case, the port 24 diverges from the inner volume of the balloon toward the outer wall of the balloon, which acts to slow the fluid velocity in contravention of the goals of effective therapeutic agent insertion into the tissue.
[0031] To overcome the shortcomings of the prior balloons, the present invention converts the shortcoming to a benefit as illustrated in FIG. 7 by reversing the inner and outer surfaces to reverse the shape of the injection port. FIG. 7 a shows the balloon in the condition of FIG. 4 . In FIG. 7 b , a proximal end 42 of the balloon 14 is pulled through the balloon's interior, and in FIG. 7 c the proximal end 42 is pulled out of the distal end 44 of the balloon. The pulling process is continued until the entire balloon is pulled through the distal end 44 , whereupon the balloon will be turned inside out from its original condition as shown in FIG. 7 d . It should be noted that the choice of the end for pulling is irrelevant, as the distal end 44 can be pulled through the proximal end 42 to achieve the same result. Also, the selected end can be pushed through the respective opposite end to achieve the same result. The balloon 14 of FIG. 7 d has the original inner surface now serving as the outer surface and the original outer surface serving as the inner surface. When the balloon is completely turned inside out as shown in FIG. 7 d , the balloon profile will be similar to the original profile prior to reversing the inner and outer surfaces.
[0032] An enlarged sectional view of the injection port after reversing the inner and outer surfaces is shown in FIG. 8 . It will be appreciated that since the balloon has been reversed, the balloon port profile has also changed. The port now converges rather than diverges from the inner volume toward the outer surface, creating a new profile that will accelerate the fluid exiting the port (along arrow 50 ) rather than decelerate the fluid. While the outer diameter in FIG. 8 is approximately one half the inner diameter, it is to be understood that any ratio of outer diameter to inner diameter less than one is within the object of the present method. A balloon formed in this manner may be used as a component of a high-speed drug delivery catheter as described above. Further, it may be advantageous to use such a balloon as a component of an infusion balloon or a weeping balloon. The convergence of fluid at relatively low velocities in both of these applications may result in turbulence and flow eddies near the surface of the balloon that improve the activity or delivery of the therapeutic agents.
[0033] In addition to the shape of the injection ports, the size of the pores is also a critical factor. Porous balloons used for high-speed delivery of therapeutic agents would benefit from smaller pore diameters. In many applications, the optimum pore size is on the order of 2 to 5 microns because the particle size of the therapeutic agents to be delivered are approximately 1 micron in diameter. As described above, the present method for creating pores in the balloon is through laser cutting or ablation. However, existing laser technologies are only capable of forming hole diameters of approximately ten micron with reasonable manufacturing tolerances and throughput. Therefore, a better method of forming porous balloons is also needed for those applications that would benefit from smaller pore sizes than that which can be obtained using traditional laser technologies.
[0034] The present invention contemplates the creation of smaller pores in the balloon using projectiles that are used to bombard the balloon and pierce the balloon to create new pores. This method allows smaller pores to be formed, and can also produce less thermal stress on the balloon material than a laser method. The reduction in thermal stress can preserve the strength of the balloon material as opposed to the laser methodology that can weaken the surrounding material due to thermal stress. As a result, the balloon produced using this methodology is advantageously suited for use as an element of a high-speed drug delivery catheter.
[0035] Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 , a method for forming pores in a balloon is disclosed. A section of balloon wall 14 is shown in FIG. 9 , and a projectile 51 of an appropriate dimension and material is directed toward the balloon wall at a speed sufficient to pass from one side of the balloon wall to the other side of the balloon wall. As the projectile passes through the wall, it will cause a material elongation and failure, resulting in a hole or pore 24 within the balloon wall 14 .
[0036] The particles that are delivered toward the balloon wall are contemplated to have the following material and dimensional characteristics. Dimensionally, the particles are to be formed in a relatively spherical configuration. Other shapes are possible, although non-spherical projectiles will lead to inconsistency in the pore dimensions as compared with spherical projectiles. If a greater variation of pore dimension is desired, then non-spherical projectiles or projectiles of varying diameter would be beneficial. The projectiles 51 preferably have a diameter of approximately 80%-120% of the diameter of the intended pore size. For example, for a desired pore size of 2 microns, the projectile will have a diameter of approximately 1.6 to 2.4 micron. The projectiles can be formed from a material with a viscoelastic time coefficient that is greater than that of the balloon material. This will result in a propensity for the particles to pass through the balloon as they impact the balloon wall, rather than being compressed and deflected or embedded within the balloon surface. As an example, the projectiles may be formed from a metal such as gold or silver, which are relatively stiff compared with typical balloon materials such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon, and Pebax.
[0037] The projectile may also have a core of a material with a higher viscoelastic time coefficient material than the balloon material, but at least one layer around the core of the projectile is formed from a material that has a lower viscoelastic time coefficient. For example, a gold core projectile may be coated with a lubricious gel or fluid. The gel coating will slough off as the projectile penetrates through the material and thereby lubricate the particle path. This lubrication reduces the friction between the projectile and the balloon, making it easier for the projectile to completely pass through the balloon wall with minimal distortion.
[0038] Various modes can be employed for emitting the projectiles toward the balloon surface. In one embodiment, the projectiles may be accelerated along a tube either directly or indirectly (via an intermediate membrane) by a pneumatic flow. The projectiles will eject from the tube near the balloon surface and thereby impinge and penetrate the balloon material. In another embodiment, the projectiles may originally be associated with a surrounding sheath formed from a material that is capable of being ablated by a laser. Ablation of the sheath from an opposite surface will create a thermal and/or pressure shock wave that propagates toward the projectile laden surface and ejects the projectiles from the surface toward the balloon material. Other means are also available for accelerating the projectiles toward the balloon material to form the pores 24 in accordance with the invention.
[0039] The resulting balloon is suitable for use in many medical device applications that require a porous balloon. For example, the balloon could be used to weep therapeutic agents into a patient's vasculature. Also, such a balloon may be used as an element of a high-speed drug delivery device for injecting therapeutic agents into the endothelial cell gaps as discussed above, as the small pore size can be utilized to increase the velocity of the jets emitting from the balloon. The method of the invention is not limited to balloons, as other parts of the catheter can be impregnated with pores using the above described method to produce a weeping-type catheter body or suction ports within a catheter body. Alternatively, it can be used to create small orifices in a catheter such as a guidewire port or other port of a size below that which is available using other catheter forming techniques.
[0040] An alternate method of forming a balloon with pore sizes smaller than that available with traditional laser techniques is to impregnate the balloon material with particles or impurities during the formation of the balloon. The impurities are intentionally included in the material so that they can be later removed to create voids in the balloon. Once the balloon is formed with the impurities in the balloon wall and the material has set, the balloon is expanded and the impurities are removed from the balloon material either through physical migration, mechanical means, thermal means, chemical means, or other mean to create voids in the balloon material that serve as ports through which fluid can pass.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 11 , the tubing that the balloon 14 is formed of is shown as including solid particles 59 embedded in the surface. These deposits can be formed by mixing in particles during the extrusion process or prior to the formation of the tubing. It will be appreciated that many different types of particles 59 can be used for the present method. In a first preferred method, the particles are soluble such as water soluble materials like salt or sugar. In the case of soluble particles, the tubing can be exposed to water or other solvents to dissolve the particles and thereby leave a void in the material. Alternatively, silicate particles can be embedded into the surface of the tubing to form the material impurities.
[0042] In addition to solid impurities, other impurities can be used with the present invention. For example, localized bubbles can be formed by injecting a gas into the material just prior to or during the extrusion process. The bubbles would result in localized material displacement during expansion of the balloon, creating the pores needed to carry out the invention. FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the extruded tubing taken about line 12 - 12 of FIG. 11 . The randomly dispersed impurities create localized changes in the material strength and, in a preferred embodiment, bond poorly with the surrounding tubing material. This latter characteristic ensures that the impurities will easily be dislodged when the balloon is expanded and migrate out of the material. As shown, the impurities 59 may have varied size, shape, and characteristics as dictated by the particular application.
[0043] The tubing is formed into a balloon using conventional balloon technologies, such as that illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14 . The tubing 60 is inserted into a mold 62 having the desired balloon shape. The balloon material is then heated and pressurized to cause the tubing 60 to expand to the final shape within the mold 62 . As the tubing 60 is expanded toward the balloon shape, the balloon wall is required to stretch and expand, as well as to become more thin. As this material deformation occurs, the balloon material surrounding the impurities will deflect away from the impurities, leaving the impurities free to be expelled from the material. When this occurs, the impurities will be removed passively or actively out of the balloon material such as by solvents, air stream, ultrasonic cleaning, vacuum, etc. Voids left behind by the removed impurities create the pores of the desired balloon. FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view of the balloon of FIG. 14 taken along line 15 - 15 . The balloon layer contains pores remaining where the impurities have dislocated, and the pores can be loaded with therapeutic agents and ejected at a high speed into the vascular wall as part of a high-speed drug delivery device. Alternatively, balloons formed in this manner may also be useful for drug infusion or weeping therapeutic agents into a patient's vascular.
[0044] While particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited except by the appended claims | A porous balloon or other catheter structure is formed by creating specific size pores for delivering an agent to a body lumen. The pores can be created by passing matter or energy through the surface of the catheter structure, as by a laser or a projectile. In the case of a laser, the catheter structure can be reversed so that the inner surface becomes the outer surface to convert diverging pores into converging pores. In the case of projectiles, a pore size can be achieved by selecting an appropriate size and shaped projectile to obtain the desired characteristic. Alternatively, a material to make the catheter structure can include impurities that can be removed once the catheter structure is set, leaving pores where the material formed around the impurities. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of power control in integrated circuits and processing systems, and more specifically, to adaptive voltage scaling based on instruction usage.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Many portable products, such as cell phones, laptop computers, personal data assistants (PDAs) or the like, utilize a processor executing programs, such as, communication and multimedia programs. The processing system for such products includes a processor complex for processing instructions and data. The functional complexity of such portable products, other personal computers, and the like, requires high performance processors and memory. At the same time, portable products have a limited energy source in the form of batteries and are often required to provide high performance levels at reduced power levels to increase battery life. Many personal computers are also being developed to provide high performance at low power drain to reduce overall energy consumption.
[0003] Internal to a processor complex, signal paths and pipeline stages are designed to meet a worst case critical timing path corresponding to a desired clock frequency. Memory elements, logic gates, flip-flops, and wires interconnecting the elements introduce delays in the critical path timing limiting the number of functional elements in a pipeline stage dependent upon the clock frequency. As a consequence, many processors use a large number of pipeline stages to execute instructions of varying complexity and achieve gigahertz (GHz) clock frequencies required to meet a product's functional requirements. Since power is a function of frequency, switching capacitance, and the square of the supply voltage, reducing power requires the reduction of at least one of these three variables. Since gigahertz frequency operation is many times required by a product's functions, reducing frequency is limited to less demanding functions. Switching capacitance is a function of an implementation and the technology process used to manufacture a device and once a design is instantiated in silicon this variable cannot be changed. One consequence of reducing the supply voltage is that as the supply voltage is reduced the logic and memory elements slow down, increasing the difficulty in meeting frequency requirements.
[0004] In order to meet a worst case critical timing path in a processor complex, the worst case critical timing paths for all the signal paths within the processor complex are analyzed and the longest path among these becomes the critical timing path that governs the processor complex's highest possible clock frequency. To guarantee that this clock frequency is met, the supply voltage is specified to be greater than or equal to a worst case minimum voltage. For example, it may be determined that when executing a floating point instruction, a signal path through a floating point multiplier may be the longest critical timing path in the processor complex. The power supply voltage is determined such that the worst case timing path through the floating point multiplier meets the desired clock frequency.
[0005] Since any instruction may be selected from a processor's instruction set for execution at any time, the processor complex generally operates in preparation for the worst case timing path. As a consequence, power is wasted when executing instructions having a critical timing path less than the worst case timing path. Unfortunately, the supply voltage cannot be easily changed to match the instruction-by-instruction usage of gigahertz processors. Variable voltage regulators require microseconds or milliseconds to adjust a supply voltage.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present disclosure recognizes that reducing power requirements in a processor complex is important to portable applications and in general for reducing power use in processing systems. It is also recognized that different software applications may use a set of instructions having critical timing paths less than the worst case critical timing path of the processor complex. Further, it is recognized that a supply voltage may be reduced for such applications while still maintaining the clock frequency necessary to meet the application's performance which reduces power drain based on instruction set usage allowing battery life to be extended.
[0007] To such ends, an embodiment of the invention addresses a method for adaptive voltage scaling. A critical path is selected from a plurality of critical paths for analysis on emulation logic to determine an attribute of the selected critical path during on-chip functional operations, wherein the selected critical path is representative of the worst case critical path to be in operation during a program execution. During on-chip functional operations, a voltage is controlled in response to the attribute, wherein the voltage supplies power to a power domain associated with the plurality of critical paths.
[0008] Another embodiment addresses an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit having a timing path emulation circuit, programmable control logic, and a measurement circuit. The timing path emulation circuit emulates critical paths. The programmable control logic configures the programmable timing path emulation circuit to emulate at least one critical path based on instruction usage in a program to be operated on-chip. The emulated critical path is representative of the worst case critical path to be in operation during the program execution. The measurement circuit measures an attribute of the emulated critical path during on-chip functional operations and, in response to the measured attribute, controls an output voltage of a voltage regulator, wherein the voltage regulator supplies power to a power domain associated with the plurality of critical paths.
[0009] A further embodiment addresses a method for adaptive voltage scaling. A time delay is set in a programmable path delay circuit to emulate a critical path delay representing the longest critical path associated with a program to be operated on-chip, wherein different programs have different longest critical paths. During on-chip functional operations, a voltage is adjusted based on a measurement of the emulated critical path delay, wherein the voltage supplies power to a power domain associated with the emulated critical path.
[0010] It is understood that other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein various embodiments of the invention are shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system;
[0012] FIG. 2 shows a processing system organization for adaptively saving power based on instruction usage;
[0013] FIG. 3 is an exemplary first embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit;
[0014] FIG. 4 is an exemplary second embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit;
[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary program selectable path delay circuit;
[0016] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate timing diagrams for operation of an adaptive voltage scaling combiner included in the second embodiment of the adaptive voltage scaling circuit of FIG. 4 ;
[0017] FIG. 7 shows a process for adjusting a voltage regulator based on instruction usage by determining a time margin associated with an instruction critical path delay; and
[0018] FIG. 8 is an exemplary third embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 in which an embodiment of the invention may be advantageously employed. For purposes of illustration, FIG. 1 shows three remote units 120 , 130 , and 150 and two base stations 140 . It will be recognized that common wireless communication systems may have many more remote units and base stations. Remote units 120 , 130 , and 150 include hardware components, software components, or both as represented by components 125 A, 125 C, and 125 B, respectively, which have been adapted to embody the invention as discussed further below. FIG. 1 shows forward link signals 180 from the base stations 140 to the remote units 120 , 130 , and 150 and reverse link signals 190 from the remote units 120 , 130 , and 150 to the base stations 140 .
[0021] In FIG. 1 , remote unit 120 is shown as a mobile telephone, remote unit 130 is shown as a portable computer, and remote unit 150 is shown as a fixed location remote unit in a wireless local loop system. By way of example, the remote units may alternatively be cell phones, pagers, walkie talkies, handheld personal communication systems (PCS) units, portable data units such as personal data assistants, or fixed location data units such as meter reading equipment. Although FIG. 1 illustrates remote units according to the teachings of the disclosure, the disclosure is not limited to these exemplary illustrated units. Embodiments of the invention may be suitably employed in any device having an adjustable voltage regulator, such as may be used to supply power to a processor and its supporting peripheral devices.
[0022] FIG. 2 shows a processing system organization 200 for adaptively saving power based on instruction usage. The system 200 comprises a chip 202 , a system supply 204 , such as a battery or bulk supply voltage, and a variable voltage regulator 208 . The chip 202 includes, for example, a first power domain 206 and a second power domain 207 . Each power domain contains a subset of logic appropriately grouped for separate power control to meet the power and performance requirements of the system 200 . Each power domain may further receive a supply voltage from a separate voltage regulator. For example, the first power domain 206 may contain a processor complex having processor execution pipelines 210 , a level 1 cache (L1 Cache) 212 , which may suitably comprise an L1 instruction cache and an L1 data cache, a direct memory access (DMA) controller 214 , one or more hardware assists 216 , control logic 218 , a clock generation unit 220 , and an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit 222 . The AVS circuit 222 is designed to provide an adjust signal 224 to the variable voltage regulator 208 requesting the voltage Vdd 226 be raised or lowered based on instruction usage of the processor execution pipelines 210 .
[0023] Instruction usage is categorized by grouping instructions by their critical timing paths. For example, a first category of instructions, may operate with a critical timing path of the processor complex that is used to set the operating frequency of the processor. Such a critical timing path is generally associated with a worst case operating condition of the processor complex having a minimum acceptable operating voltage, highest expected temperature, and worst case process characteristics. At the same worst case operating condition, a second category of instructions may operate with a critical timing path that is less than the critical timing path of the first category of instructions. A third category of instructions may be identified that operate with an associated critical timing path that is less than the second category of instructions, and so on. Thereby, multiple distinct categories of instructions may be identified according to their critical timing path. By static analysis of a program or by monitoring the operating condition and category of instruction usage, the supply voltage for the processor complex in the power domain 206 may be adjusted to ensure the critical timing paths of the instructions meet a specified minimum clock frequency, considering the active or soon to be active categories of instructions. For example, when instruction usage indicates that the instructions in execution or to be executed have a timing margin at the present operating conditions, the voltage may be advantageously lowered to a voltage level appropriate for the corresponding instruction usage, thereby saving power and extending battery life in a mobile device.
[0024] As an example, in the processing system organization 200 , the processor may contain an integer (Int) unit 228 and a floating point (Fp) unit 230 . By static timing analysis, the critical timing path for floating point instructions may be categorized as category one instructions, for example, having the worst case timing path for the logic in the first power domain 206 . By further static timing analysis, the critical timing path for integer instructions may be categorized as category two instructions having a worst cast timing path that is less than the category one instructions. With the voltage Vdd 226 set at a high level based on execution of previous floating point instructions, for example, and an indication that the instruction usage has changed to category two, the AVS circuit 222 requests that the voltage Vdd 226 be adjusted lower. Depending upon an adjustment step size, the voltage Vdd 226 may be adjusted lower a number of times until a voltage level is reached appropriate for the category two instructions.
[0025] For example, a 65 nanometer (nm) technology may be used to implement the processing system organization 200 and in such technology a 2-input NAND gate may have a worst case delay of 70 picoseconds (ps) driving an average fan-out of four loads at the worst case operating conditions. Such a delay may increase for every drop in voltage. The critical timing path for a floating point execution stage may have ten similar type gates interconnected by relatively long wires between two storage elements having their own delay, set-up and hold requirements, and just meet a 1 nanosecond pipeline stage delay required for a gigahertz clock frequency at the worst case operating conditions.
[0026] By comparison, a critical timing path for an integer execution stage may have only five similar type gates interconnected by relatively long wires between two storage elements, and have a critical timing path of 700 picoseconds, well under the 1000 picoseconds of the gigahertz clock frequency at the worst case operating conditions. Consequently, when executing integer type instructions, the voltage Vdd 226 may be appropriately lowered, increasing the critical timing path for the integer instructions up to the 1000 picoseconds stage delay, still meeting the gigahertz clock frequency but with reduced power drain. The operation of the AVS circuit 222 is not dependent upon the number of stages in the processor execution pipelines or the processor clock speed. In general, the voltage can be raised or lowered by programming the AVS system appropriate for a desired frequency corresponding to the critical timing paths expected to be in operation.
[0027] Variable voltage regulators, such as variable voltage regulator 208 , operate with various voltage step sizes, such as 25 millivolts (mv), as specified by an input signal, such as the adjust signal 224 . Each adjustment of 25 millivolts may take, for example, 10 microseconds or longer. Such an adjustment time is taken into account in hardware or software according to the method for adaptive voltage scaling chosen.
[0028] FIG. 3 is an exemplary first embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit 300 . The AVS circuit 300 comprises a critical path selection logic 302 , a programmable instruction usage control circuit 304 , and measurement logic 306 . The critical path selection logic 302 includes, for example, four critical paths A-D 308 - 311 providing delayed outputs 314 - 317 to a multiplexer 320 . Critical path A 308 , for example, is the worst case timing path in the first power domain 206 and is, also for example, associated with execution of floating point instructions. Critical path B 309 has a signal path delay less than critical path A 308 and is, for example, associated with integer instructions. Critical path C 310 has a delay less than critical path B 309 and critical path D 311 has a delay less than critical path C 310 .
[0029] The multiplexer 320 selects one of the critical paths based on a select signal 322 generated by selection logic 324 based on information from multiplexer 326 . The programmable instruction usage control circuit 304 comprises a configuration register 328 , an instruction decoder 330 , a controller 332 which includes one or more counters 334 . The instruction decoder 330 decodes instructions received from an instruction stream 336 , such as may be provided by processor execution pipelines 210 of FIG. 2 . The decode information is sent to controller 332 where it may be used to load the configuration register 328 via a load path 338 and set static flags 340 , such as, compiler directed flags. The controller 332 may also use the decode information to determine dynamic flags 342 associated with dynamically determining instruction usage, for example, by using the counter 334 to count the number of times a particular type of instruction is decoded or the time between decoding instructions of a particular type. The multiplexer 326 selects either the static flags 340 or the dynamic flags 342 based on select bits loaded into the configuration register 328 . The measurement logic 306 measures the selected path and generates an adjust signal 344 that is used by the variable voltage regulator 208 of FIG. 2 .
[0030] In more detail, each of the critical paths 308 - 311 may be emulated critical paths that use components in their associated signal path that are similar to the actual components used in the critical path they are emulating. In addition, each of the emulated critical paths is placed in close proximity to their associated actual critical path to make the implementation process and temperature conditions experienced by the emulated components similar to the conditions the actual critical path elements encounter. Since the selected actual critical paths and their associated emulated critical paths may be distributed across a chip, the multiplexer 320 and measurement logic 306 may also be suitably distributed across the chip, while still converging to a single adjust signal 344 .
[0031] The static flags 340 may be set by a compiler that accounts for the adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit by monitoring static instruction usage in a program according to categories of instructions classified by their critical timing paths. For example, in compiling a video processing program, it may be determined that there is a very limited usage of category one instructions, such as, for example, floating point instructions. Based on the limited usage of floating point instructions, the compiler may select to emulate the floating point instructions, thereby removing category one instructions from the compiled video processing program. Based upon such an analysis, the compiler may set the static flags 340 to indicate selection of critical path B 309 , for example. Based on the measurement of critical path B 309 , adjust signal 344 may indicate the voltage Vdd 226 of FIG. 2 , can be lowered.
[0032] With the configuration register setting the multiplexer 326 to select the dynamic flags 342 , the selection of one of the critical paths A-D 308 - 311 is determined by hardware usage information. For example, by monitoring the instruction stream 336 based on decoded information from the instruction decoder 330 , the controller 332 may determine that a particular instruction type, generally associated with video processing, is occurring frequently and no floating point instructions have been encountered for the last ten thousand instructions. Based on this determination, the controller 332 may set dynamic flags appropriate for the selection of critical path B 309 . After such a selection, if a category one instruction is encountered, a stall situation would be enforced and the adjust signal 344 set to indicate the voltage is to be raised to accommodate the category one instruction.
[0033] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary second embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit 400 which may be suitably employed as the AVS circuit 222 . The AVS circuit 400 comprises critical path modeling circuit 402 , measurement logic 406 , and programmable configuration register 404 . The critical path modeling circuit 402 includes a flip-flop 408 , a NAND gate 410 , a program selectable path delay circuit 412 , and a clock reference delay unit 414 . The measurement logic 406 includes measurement flip-flops (Mflip-flops) 416 - 419 , a first delay element D 1 420 , a second delay element D 2 422 , and an AVS combiner 424 .
[0034] The flip-flop 408 and NAND gate 410 comprise a toggle flip-flop arrangement which when not held by the hold signal 428 and clocked by clock signal 430 , toggles the Q output 432 with each rising edge of the clock signal 430 . The hold signal 428 at a “1” level enables the measurement process. The Q output 432 is coupled to a data input of the Mflip-flop 416 and to the program selectable path delay circuit 412 . The program selectable path delay circuit 412 is configured for emulating a critical path delay based on a select input 434 from the programmable configuration register 404 . For example, when the Q output 432 rises to a “1” level, after a programmable delay period, a first delay output 436 from the program selectable path delay circuit 412 is received at a data input of the flip-flop 417 and at an input to the first delay element D 1 420 . A second delay output 438 of the first delay element D 1 420 is coupled to a data input of flip-flop 418 and to an input to the second delay element D 2 422 . A third delay output 440 of the second delay element D 2 422 is coupled to a data input to flip-flop 419 .
[0035] The clock signal 430 is delayed by the clock reference delay unit 414 to match the delay of the program selectable path delay circuit 412 when it is programmed for “no delay.” That is, even if 0 stages of delay are programmed in each and every section of the program selectable path delay circuit 412 , there will be some delay just from traversing the multiplexers as described in further detail below with respect to the program selectable path delay circuit 500 of FIG. 5 . The clock reference delay unit 414 also includes the launch delay of the flip-flop 408 . Then, the arrival time delta between the delayed clock signal 442 and the first delay output 436 represents the delay of the programmed delay elements in the program selectable path delay circuit 412 plus the launch delay of the latch. The delayed clock signal 442 is used to clock each of the Mflip-flops 416 - 419 transferring the values of their data inputs to corresponding Q outputs 444 - 447 . The Q outputs 444 - 447 are coupled to the AVS combiner 424 which contains priority encoded logic to determine whether the critical path is being met. By measuring from the rising edge of Q output 432 to the Q outputs 444 - 447 , the critical path is being measured every other clock period.
[0036] For example, critical path B 309 of FIG. 3 is emulated by the program selectable path delay circuit 412 by loading appropriate configuration input values associated with the critical path B 309 . For this example, the voltage Vdd 226 of FIG. 2 at the start of the delay emulation is at its highest level. If the Q outputs 444 - 447 are at a “1” level at the end of the delay emulation, then the critical path B 309 as measured from rising edge of Q output 432 to rising edges of Q outputs 444 - 447 meets the clock frequency period with a timing margin of D 1 420 plus D 2 422 . In this situation, the voltage Vdd 226 would be considered too high and adjust signal 448 would indicate that the voltage Vdd 226 should be lowered. While such lowering of the voltage Vdd 226 is occurring, other operations on the chip may continue as normal. After a period of time required for the variable voltage regulator to reach the new lower voltage level, the timing of the modeled critical path B 309 may be redone. If the Q outputs 444 - 447 are still at a “1” level at the end of a delay emulation, the voltage would be lowered again. If, the Q outputs 444 - 446 are at a “1” level and the flip-flop 419 Q output 447 is at a “0” level, then the critical path B 309 makes its timing with a timing margin of D 1 420 . At this point, adequate timing margin may be considered to be present and no further adjustment to the voltage Vdd 226 is made. Alternatively, if the program selectable path delay circuit 412 included additional timing margin within its delay setting, then the timing margin of D 1 may still be excessive and the voltage Vdd 226 may be adjusted to a lower voltage.
[0037] With a timing margin of D 1 420 plus D 2 422 , a larger step size for adjusting the supply voltage may be made as compared to the step size used when only a margin of D 1 is detected. Falling edge to falling edge signal timing may also be measured with the AVS circuit 400 . The Mflip-flop 416 is provided as an indication that a delay emulation was executed and if none of the other Mflip-flops 417 - 419 are set then no timing margin exists or an error situation has been encountered. It is also noted that by use of a forced adjustment signal 450 , an adjustment may be forced to occur based on events occurring other than the measurement of emulated critical timing paths, such as may occur when processing an interrupt routine requiring the use of a category one instruction.
[0038] FIG. 5 is an exemplary program selectable path delay circuit 500 which may be suitably employed as program selectable path delay circuit 412 . A critical timing path may be emulated as a path through a static logic circuit 502 , a dynamic logic circuit 504 , models of interconnection wiring delays on different silicon layers, such as, a metal levels 2 and 3 (M 2 /M 3 ) circuit 506 , and a metal levels 4 and 5 (M 4 /M 5 ) circuit 508 . In reference to FIG. 4 , the program selectable path delay circuit 412 comprises the static logic circuit 502 , the dynamic logic circuit 504 , the metal levels M 2 /M 3 circuit 506 , and the metal levels M 4 /M 5 circuit 508 .
[0039] To emulate a circuit's static logic, a static logic buffer 510 , with a minimum delay such as 20 picoseconds for example, is replicated in a serial chain of 32 buffers 512 which is tapped off at each buffer position and coupled to a 32 to 1 multiplexer 514 . The programmable configuration register 404 of FIG. 4 couples select configuration A (ConfigA) signals 516 to the 32 to 1 multiplexer 514 to programmably select delays from 20 picoseconds up to a maximum of 640 picoseconds in 20 picosecond delay intervals on the output 518 .
[0040] To emulate a circuit's dynamic logic, a dynamic logic buffer 520 , with a minimum delay of 15 picoseconds for example, is replicated in a serial chain of eight dynamic logic buffers 522 which is tapped off at each dynamic buffer position and coupled to an 8 to 1 multiplexer 524 . The programmable configuration register 404 couples select configuration B (ConfigB) signals 526 to the 8 to 1 multiplexer 524 to programmably select delays from 15 picoseconds up to 120 picoseconds in 15 picosecond delay intervals on the output 528 .
[0041] To emulate a circuit's wire delays for metal layers M 2 /M 3 , a buffer resistor capacitor (RC) circuit 530 is used with a time constant delay, for example 8 picoseconds, chosen to match a minimum expected wire delay for the wiring levels M 2 and M 3 . The RC circuit 530 is replicated in a serial chain of, for example, four RC circuits 532 which is tapped off at each RC circuit position and coupled to a 4 to 1 multiplexer 534 . The programmable configuration register 404 couples select configuration C (ConfigC) signals 536 to the 4 to 1 multiplexer 534 to programmably select delays from 8 picoseconds up to 32 picoseconds in 8 picosecond intervals on the output 538 .
[0042] To emulate a circuit's wire delays for metal layers M 4 /M 5 , a buffer resistor capacitor (RC) circuit 540 is used with a time constant delay, for example 9 picoseconds, chosen to match a minimum expected wire delay for the wiring levels M 4 and M 5 . The RC circuit 540 is replicated in a serial chain of, for example, eight RC circuits 542 which is tapped off at each RC circuit position and coupled to an 8 to 1 multiplexer 544 . The programmable configuration register 404 couples select configuration D (ConfigD) signals 546 to the 8 to 1 multiplexer 544 to programmably select delays from 9 picoseconds up to 72 picoseconds in 9 picosecond intervals on the output 548 .
[0043] The program selectable path delay circuit 412 may be implemented with more or less emulated functions depending upon the implementation technology and critical timing paths being emulated. For example, with implementation and technology that does not use dynamic logic, the dynamic logic circuit 504 would not be required. In a further example, two more wiring metal layers M 6 and M 7 may be used in an implementation having a different delay model than the other wiring levels and requiring a metal layer M 6 /M 7 circuit be developed that models the timing delay for signals that travel the M 6 and M 7 layers.
[0044] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate timing diagrams 600 and 625 , respectively, for operation of the adaptive voltage scaling combiner 424 included in the second embodiment of the adaptive voltage scaling circuit 400 of FIG. 4 . Exemplary relationships between the timing events of FIGS. 6A and 6B and the elements of FIG. 4 are indicated by referring to exemplary elements from the AVS circuit 400 which may suitably be employed to carry out the timing events of FIGS. 6A and 6B . A timing event is considered to occur when a signal transition crosses the logic threshold of a device used in an implementation technology.
[0045] The circuits described herein are assumed to respond to input signals at a 30% above a ground level or 30% of a supply voltage level. For example, a “0” value would be considered anything less than or equal to 0.3 volts and a “1” value would be considered anything greater than or equal to 0.7 volts for a supply voltage of 1.0 volts. Depending upon technology, a different supply voltage may be used and a response tolerance different than 30% may also be used. For the timing diagram 600 a supply voltage of 1 volt is assumed. It is noted that the rising and falling edges of the clock 430 , delayed clock 442 , and other signals may vary with voltage, process technology, and other factors such as signal loading. These variations may be accounted for by appropriate signal analysis techniques such as the use of analog circuit simulation techniques.
[0046] In FIG. 6A , at timing event 602 , the rising edge of clock 430 causes the Q output 432 of the flip-flop 408 to transition to a high level. At timing event 604 , the rising edge of the clock 430 causes the Q output 432 of the flip-flop 408 to transition to a low level. The Q output 432 flows through the program selectable path delay circuit 412 generating the first delay output 436 with a delay 608 . The second delay output 438 follows after a delay D 1 612 and the third delay output 440 follows after a delay D 2 614 . The Mflip-flops 416 - 419 are clocked by delayed clock 442 at timing event 616 . In this example, the Q outputs 444 - 447 are all at a “1” level at timing event 616 indicating that the voltage Vdd 226 of FIG. 2 may be lowered. Once the voltage has been lowered to the desired voltage, the delay path is remeasured since all the delays will have increased due to the lower voltage. Depending upon the number of Mflip-flops 416 - 419 that are asserted further adjustments to the voltage Vdd may be made. It is appreciated that circuit analysis techniques are used, for example, to ensure correct operation within best-case to worst-case timing scenarios for a particular implementation.
[0047] In FIG. 6B , the voltage Vdd 226 has been lowered and the delay of the emulated critical timing path has increased. The Q output 432 flows through the program selectable path delay circuit 412 generating the first delay output 436 but now with a delay 630 . The second delay output 438 follows after a delay D 1 632 and the third delay output 440 follows after a delay D 2 634 . The Mflip-flops 416 - 419 are clocked by delayed clock 442 at timing event 636 . In this example, three Q outputs 444 - 446 are at a “1” level and Q output 447 is at a “0” level at timing event 636 indicating that there still is adequate timing margin and no further downward adjustment of the voltage Vdd 226 should be performed.
[0048] FIG. 7 shows a proces 700 for adjusting a voltage regulator based on instruction usage by determining a time margin associated with an instruction critical path delay. The process 700 starts at block 702 with the loading of the programmable configuration register for a selected critical path. The selected critical path is determined from the instruction usage in a compiled program. At block 704 , the time delay of the selected critical timing path is measured. Such measurement, for example, is done by checking the status of the Mflip-flops 416 - 419 . The checking of the Mflip-flops 416 - 419 may be done at any time since the AVS circuits 300 and 400 operate every clock period while other on-chip functional operations are in process unless AVS is specifically disabled. At block 706 , a determination is made whether all measurement flip-flops (Mflip-flop) are set. If all Mflip-flops are set, the process 700 proceeds to block 708 . At block 708 , the time margin is greater than required so the voltage is considered too high and an adjustment signal is sent to the voltage regulator to lower the voltage. Block 708 is comparable to timing event 616 of FIG. 6A . After the voltage is adjusted, the process 700 returns to block 704 and the measurement is repeated.
[0049] Returning to block 706 , if all the Mflip-flops are not set, the process 700 proceeds to block 710 . At block 710 , a determination is made whether three of the four Mflip-flops are set. If three of the four Mflip-flops are set, the process 700 proceeds to block 712 . At block 712 , the voltage is considered acceptable and no voltage adjustment is done. Block 712 is comparable to timing event 636 of FIG. 6B . The process 700 returns to block 704 and the measurement is repeated.
[0050] Returning to block 710 , if three of the four Mflip-flops are not set, the process proceeds to block 714 . At block 714 , a determination is made whether one or two Mflip-flops are set. If one or two Mflip-flops are set, the process proceeds to block 716 . At block 716 , the time margin is less than required so the voltage is considered too low and an adjustment signal is sent to the voltage regulator to raise the voltage. After the voltage is adjusted, the process 700 returns to block 704 and the measurement is repeated. Returning to block 714 , if one or two Mflip-flops are not set, the process proceeds to block 718 where an error condition is indicated.
[0051] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary third embodiment of an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) circuit 800 . The AVS circuit 800 comprises the critical path modeling circuit 402 , the programmable configuration register 404 , and a measurement logic circuit 806 . The critical path modeling circuit 402 includes the flip-flop 408 , the NAND gate 410 , the program selectable path delay circuit 412 , and the clock reference delay unit 414 . Measurement logic 806 includes the measurement flip-flops (Mflip-flops) 416 and 417 and an AVS combiner 824 .
[0052] The flip-flop 408 and NAND gate 410 comprise a toggle flip-flop arrangement which when not held by the hold signal 428 and clocked by clock signal 430 , toggles the Q output 432 with each rising edge of the clock signal 430 . The hold signal 428 at a “1” level enables the measurement process. The Q output 432 is coupled to the data input of the Mflip-flop 416 and to the program selectable path delay circuit 412 . The program selectable path delay circuit 412 is configured for emulating a critical path delay plus additional programmed delays D 1 and D 2 based on the select input 434 from the programmable configuration register 404 . For example, when the Q output 432 rises to a “1” level, after the specified programmable delay period, a first delay output 436 from the program selectable path delay circuit 412 is received at a data input of the flip-flop 417 . The clock signal 430 is delayed by the clock reference delay unit 414 to account for delays of clock distribution such as occurs with a clock tree, like clock tree 234 of FIG. 2 . The delayed clock signal 442 is used to clock each of the Mflip-flops 416 and 417 transferring the values of their data inputs to corresponding Q outputs 444 and 445 . The Q outputs 444 and 445 are coupled to an AVS combiner 824 which contains priority encoded logic to determine whether the critical path is being met.
[0053] For example, the delay of the critical path B 309 of FIG. 3 plus an additional programmed delay values of D 1 plus D 2 is emulated by the program selectable path delay circuit 412 by loading appropriate configuration input values. The programmed delay values of D 1 and D 2 may change depending on the critical path or depending on process or temperature variations encountered in the chip's operating condition. With the critical path lengthened by programmed delays D 1 plus D 2 , the two flip-flops, Mflip-flop 416 and Mflip-flop 417 are used to determine whether the time delay margin is such that the voltage can be lowered, kept the same, or raised.
[0054] For this example, the voltage Vdd 226 of FIG. 2 is at its highest level. If the Q outputs 444 and 445 are at a “1” level at the end of an emulation delay, then the critical path B 309 as measured from rising edge of Q output 432 to rising edge Q outputs 444 and 445 meets the clock frequency period with a timing margin of D 1 plus D 2 . In this situation, the voltage Vdd 226 would be considered too high and the adjust signal 848 would indicate that the voltage Vdd 226 should be lowered. While such lowering of the voltage Vdd 226 is occurring, other operations on the chip may continue as normal. After a period of time required for the variable voltage regulator to reach the new lower voltage level, the timing of the modeled critical path may be redone. If the Q outputs 444 and 445 are still at a “1” level, the voltage would be lowered again.
[0055] If, the Q outputs 444 and 445 are not both at a “1” level, the delay of the critical path B 309 plus programmed delays D 1 plus D 2 did not meets the clock frequency period. To determine whether there is a sufficient timing margin for critical path B 309 , the configuration register is loaded with a delay model for critical path B 309 delay plus D 1 and the timing of the emulated path checked again. If both Mflip-flops 416 and 417 are set, then adequate timing margin is present and no further adjustment to the voltage Vdd 226 is made. If both of the Mflip-flops are not set, the critical path B 309 plus programmed delay D 1 did not make its timing, indicating the timing margin may be insufficient for the category two instructions. In this later situation, the adjust signal 848 would indicate the voltage Vdd should be raised.
[0056] Falling edge to falling edge signal timing may also be measured with the AVS circuit 800 . It is also noted that an adjustment signal 850 may convey information as to the type of delay being measured. For example, with a single adjustment signal 850 set to a “1” level, the combiner 824 would consider the Q output 417 being set to a “1” as indicating a critical path delay plus programmable delays D 1 plus D 2 is meeting timing with excessive time margin and the voltage may be lowered. The voltage is lowered until the Q output 417 at the end of a delay emulation is a “0”. Then the programmable configuration register 404 is loaded with critical path delay plus programmable delay D 1 and the adjustment signal 850 is set to a “0” indicating a second measurement with reduced time margin is being tested. The combiner 824 would interpret a Q output 417 of “1” and adjustment signal 850 of “0” as indicating an appropriate margin is present and the voltage regulator is not adjusted. Alternatively, the combiner would interpret a Q output 417 of “0” and adjustment signal 850 also of “0” as indicating the time margin is too small and the voltage needs to be raised. Upon changing to a new critical path emulation measurement with the loading of new configuration bits the adjustment signal may be set depending on the present operation condition of the processor and the newly selected critical path to be measured.
[0057] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, elements, and/or components described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic components, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing components, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration appropriate for a desired application.
[0058] The methods described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.
[0059] While the invention is disclosed in the context of an instruction set architecture for a processing system, it will be recognized that a wide variety of implementations, such as adjusting voltage according to categories of functions executed on hardware assist co-processing units may be employed using the techniques of the invention by persons of ordinary skill in the art consistent with the above discussion and the claims which follow below. | Different software applications may use a set of instructions having critical timing paths less than a worst case critical timing path of a processor complex. For such applications, a supply voltage may be reduced while still maintaining the clock frequency necessary to meet the application's performance requirements. In order to reduce the supply voltage, an adaptive voltage scaling method is used. A critical path is selected from a plurality of critical paths for analysis on emulation logic to determine an attribute of the selected critical path during on chip functional operations. The selected critical path is representative of the worst case critical path to be in operation during a program execution. During on-chip functional operations, a voltage is controlled in response to the attribute, wherein the voltage supplies power to a power domain associated with the plurality of critical paths. The reduction in voltage reduces power drain based on instruction set usage allowing battery life to be extended. | 8 |
BACKGROUND-FIELD OF INVENTION
This present invention relates to an improvement in free-standing mortarless building structures and, in particularly, to a virtually mortarless interconnecting block system with unique dynamic properties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typically speaking, free-standing masonry walls are constructed of concrete blocks (or similar material) in running courses. Each course is placed in such a manner so that the vertical joints are staggered from the previous course. Mortar is used as a binding agent between the courses and between the ends of each of the blocks. Conventional concrete blocks typically have one or more voids extending through them in the vertical direction to create vertical columns through the walls. Reinforcing bars are placed in these columns for enclosure within a continuous mortar masses within the columns, in accordance with building code standards. Such columns typically are placed approximately four feet apart along the length of the wall.
Although this type of free-standing masonry wall has been used successfully in residential, commercial and industrial construction, it possesses a considerable number of drawbacks. These include: the necessity of skilled labor for assembly (not handyman friendly), the requirement of mortar as a binding agent between each of the components, the considerable time demanded for construction, the inability to disassemble components and reuse if desired, the incapacity to absorb external pressure changes (such as settling, hydrostatic pressure and seismic disturbances) without significant deterioration to the structural integrity.
Several types of blocks and wall systems have been proposed to overcome some of these deficiencies. Beginning in 1901, U.S. Pat. No. 676,803 to Shaw, disclosed an interlocking block system that employed a combination of tongues and groves along with dovetails to secure each block to the adjacent blocks. This was followed by similar designs in U.S. Pat. Nos. 690,811 to Waller, 748,603 to Henry; 868,838 to Brewington; 1,562,728 to Albrecht; 2,902,853 Loftstrom; and, French Patent No. 1,293,147. Although the use of interlocking male and female dovetails provide a positive lock and represent a significant improvement over similar tongue and grove construction, all of the dovetails used in this conventional art embody a critical disadvantage in terms of assembly. When these are employed (as in the case of: U.S. Pat. No. 676,803; French Patent No. 1,293,147; U.S. Pat. Nos. 748,603; 1,562,728; and, 2,902,853) on the upper and lower surfaces of the block, the female dovetail of each new block must be slid over a number of male dovetails on the lower course into the appropriate position. Given the dimensional inaccuracies of common block material along with the tolerances necessary to slide the new block into place, binding is a frequent occurrence. Despite a long-felt but unresolved need for handyman friendly construction material, this frequent assembly problem, along with the various proprietary components, kept assembly to skilled professionals.
While much of the conventional art, to a certain degree, overcomes some of the difficulties associated with the requirement of mortar, and the inability to disassemble, none provide for the capacity to automatically absorb external pressure changes without significant deterioration in structural integrity. Attempts to address this particular problem have come in the form of steel reinforcement of some kind. In 1907, U.S. Pat. No. 859,663 to Jackson employed steel post, tension-threaded reinforcement rods in combination with steel frames to produce a very strong wall. The use of steel post, tension-threaded reinforcement rods can also be seen in: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,378,969 to Larger; 859,663 to Jackson; 4,726,567 to Greenburg; 5,138,808 to Bengtson et al.; and, 5,355,647 to Johnson et al.
Unfortunately, this move to steel reinforcement as a means to counter external pressure meant the loss of many of the gains achieved by much of the conventional art. In short, the characteristics of:mortarless construction and the ability to disassemble components and reuse them were sacrificed for a stronger wall.
Although the addition of steel to bind the wall in a solid mass contributed to it structural integrity by better resisting certain external forces, this is only true in the case of a force applied in one direction against the wall. As in the case of hydrostatic pressure, the force moves only in one direction; from the outside to the inside, slowly and steadily. Seismic disturbances, such as those associate with earthquakes, tend to move the earth in a rapid back and forth motion. A wall bound as a sold mass is unable to accommodate the dynamic back and forth movement. Instead, its rigid composition directly transfers the force to the rest of the building (acting as sort of a lever) weakening the integrity of the entire structure until it finally fails.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a masonry wall system that incorporates the advantages of: unskilled labor for assembly; mortarless construction; the ability to disassemble and reuse; and, the necessary capacity to automatically absorb external pressure changes (particularly seismic disturbances) without significant deterioration of structural integrity. Such a wall system would create a new synergy that would satisfy a long-felt but unresolved need. It would also represent a positive contribution to the masonry industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved masonry walls system that does not require skilled labor to assemble.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a masonry wall system that does not require mortar for it's construction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved masonry wall system that is capable of rapid, on-site assembly.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improve masonry wall system that can be disassembled and then reused.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide an improved masonry wall system that overcomes the conventional problems of masonry assembly in which dovetail structures are used.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved masonry wall system that is capable of absorbing external pressure changes (such as settling, hydrostatic pressure and seismic disturbances) without significant deterioration in the structural integrity of the wall system.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved masonry wall system that is capable of distributing stress on any portion of the wall throughout a large surrounding segment of the wall.
These and other objects and goals of the present invention are achieved by an interlocking mortarless wall system having a plurality of main blocks. Each of the main blocks includes at least one stabilizing hole positioned to be vertically collinear with the stabilizing holes of other blocks when the blocks are arranged in the interlocking position with respect to each other. Each of the main blocks also includes a dovetail structure on the upper surface and a slot on the lower surface configured to fit the dovetail. This permits dovetails to move laterally to a predetermined extent when the block is interlocked with the vertically adjacent blocks. The system also includes a reinforcing structure placed in the stabilization holes through a plurality of the main blocks. The reinforcing structure is sized to permit movement of the blocks in a horizontal plane for the predetermined extent of movement. Movement to the predetermined extent transfers the stress causing the block movement to adjacent blocks.
In another embodiment of the present invention, an interlocking mortarless wall system includes a plurality of interlocking blocks. Also included in the system are means for interlocking the vertical adjacent blocks to each other. Means for permitting lateral movement of adjacent vertical blocks to a predetermined extent of movement and for locking the blocks once the predetermined extent of movement has been reached are also included. Once the predetermined extent of movement has been reached means for transferring the stress on a first block throughout the wall via adjacent blocks come into operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1(a) is a perspective diagram depicting the main block component of the inventive wall system.
FIG. 1(b) is a perspective diagram depicting the rear view of the block of FIG. 1(a).
FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram depicting a sill cap.
FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram depicting a corner block.
FIG. 4 is a perspective diagram depicting a short block.
FIG. 5 is a perspective diagram depicting a partially assembled wall using the inventive system.
FIG. 6 is a top view of the first course of a wall constructed according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a wall assembled according to the present invention, under 1 set of external conditions.
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the structure of FIG. 7 under different external conditions.
FIG. 9 is an elevation view of the wall according to the present invention, depicting placement of reinforcement rods.
FIG. 10 is an elevation view depicting the distribution of force on a wall according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) depict two perspective views of the main block constituting the present invention. The drawing designation numerals included in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) remain the same for all of FIGS. 1(a)-10. For the sake of clarity and efficient consideration of all of the drawings, the legend of the drawing designation numerals is provided below:
______________________________________11. square receiving slot 21. front plane12. dovetail 22. rear plane13. through holes 23. front shoulder14. stabilizing holes 24. rear shoulder15. upper plane 25. dovetail receiving slot16. lower plane 26. corner block17. upper shoulder 27. cynderbrick18. lower shoulder 28. short block19. interior sides 29. footer20. exterior sides 30. foundation______________________________________
The wall system of the present invention is essentially composed of three basic components. These include: a main block, a corner block, and short block. The main block, shown in FIGS. 1(a) (front view) and 1(b) (rear view), is the fundamental component upon which the entire wall system is based. It is rectangular in its general shape and possess a number of crucial features that set it apart from the conventional art. Situated on the upper plane 15 is a male dovetail 12 extending up from the front plane 21 and back to approximately one-half the length of the cynderbrick. Running along the lower plane 16, parallel to the male dovetail 12 on the upper plane 15, is the combination square receiving slot 11 and dovetail receiving slot 25. The square receiving slot 11 runs approximately one-half the length from the front plane 21 and then gradually turns into the dovetail receiving slot 25.
This feature enables a new main block to be placed directly over the top of a main block on the lower course. Here, the square receiving slot 11 of the main block freely receives the dovetail 12 of the main block on the lower course. The new main block is then slid one-half its length so that, as the square receiving slot 11 turns into dovetail receiving slot 25 on the new main block, it engages the male dovetail 12 on the main block on the lower course and is locked into position staggering the vertical joints. This feature overcomes the assembly difficulties found in prior art where each new block must be slid over a number of other blocks on the lower course into the appropriate position. It is also easier to fit the blocks of the present invention onto other such blocks than with similar conventional art interlocking wall systems. This is due to the fact that the tolerances between the dovetails and the dovetail slots of the present invention are quite large so that there is easy assembly. The use of large tolerances between the interlocking pieces has benefits that are explained infra. On the other hand, in conventional interlocking wall systems, the tolerances between the slots and pieces that are meant to extend into the slots are quite small. The resulting tight fits are necessary for the proper assembly of such conventional art walls but make the assembly quite difficult. This drawback is not shared by the system of the present invention.
The sides of the main block 19, 20 are off-set (in a parallel manner) both horizontally and vertically creating interlocking shoulders 17, 18, 23, 24 when mated to adjacent blocks. This provides the blocks with horizontal and vertical stability. The lower shoulder 18 also acts as a drip edge resisting water penetration. Running at a vertical axis through the center of the main block are two stabilizing holes 14. These hole loosely accommodate either steel reinforcement rods or square tubing as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. Optional through holes 13 may be added to reduce the amount of cement and/or other material used to manufacture the component.
Both the corner block shown in FIG. 3 and the short block shown in FIG. 4 employ the same features as the main block with the exception of the interlocking dovetail. The interconnection of these components is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. A sill cap, as depicted in FIG. 2 is employed over the top of the last course to help lock the course of blocks into place, and to provide a surface for subsequent framing if required.
While the aforementioned blocks may appear similar to those found in the conventional art examples, the differences that have been pointed out are very significant with respect to the manner in which the wall operates to distribute external stress. While all interlocking blocks possess some play by virtue of the tolerances necessary to interconnect them, none possess the attribute of variable dynamic resistance. The term, dynamic resistance, can be defined as the property of a structure to slightly give under pressure and then lock up as a solid mass at a given point. Thus, variable dynamic resistance is dynamic resistance that can be adjusted to suit construction and environmental requirements.
The operation of this property is effected by a combination of block fit tolerances and the use of either steel reinforcement rods or square tubing loosely placed through the stabilizing holes 14 at the top. By changing the number of rods and their placement, a considerable degree of variation can be achieved. Simply put, more rods in more places means less fluidity and more rigidity. Conversely, fewer rods in fewer places means more fluidity and less rigidity. This property substantially increases wall integrity and reduces the common cracking found in contemporary wall construction. Also, the tolerance between the stabilizing hold and the forcing rods can also be adjusted to adjust the degree of wall movement permitted.
When forces such as hydrostatic pressure are exerted against the wall surfaces, each cynderbrick moves slightly. The first movement occurs proximate to the pressure. As this block moves to its predetermined tolerance (when the dovetail jambs against the side of the slot and the reinforcing rod jambs against the side of the whole containing it), it automatically locks in place and then transfers this force to the six adjacent blocks (two top, two bottom and two sides, see FIG. 10). These blocks likewise move a predetermined extent until they reach the end of their tolerance and then they, in turn, transfer the force to the other adjoining blocks. This allows the entire wall to progressively and systematically absorb the force moving gradually as it does. This radial transfer is illustrated in FIG. 10 where the darker areas represent the greater degree of stress and earlier lock-up in the progression.
Strategically placed within the wall are either steel reinforcement rods or square tubing as seen in FIG. 9. These run in a vertical fashion and are used to stabilize the wall when it reaches the end of its tolerance and locks up. Unlike all of the conventional art, the steel reinforcement rods or square tubing are loosely placed with the vertical holes as depicted in FIG. 8. This space between the hole and the reinforcing rod (along with the tolerance between the block dovetails and their associated slots) permit movement of the wall up to a point. This is when the side of the dovetail jambs tight against the side of it's respective slot and the reinforcing rod jambs tightly against the hole through which it is placed. Thus, these elements act in conjunction to provide controlled movement and positive lock-up.
When the wall is in locked-up state, all of the blocks have reached the end of their predetermined tolerances and the force is now transferred to either the steel reinforcement rods or the square tubing as shown in FIG. 7. This transfer is possible because the space between the steel reinforcement rods and the vertical holes in the cynderbricks are reduced as a result of the block movement up to this point. The reinforcing rods now act to stabilizing the structure. This, in turn, further limits the movement of the wall and positively acts to resist the applied pressure. Because of the interlocking dovetails and the manner in which the horizontal and vertical surfaces connect, each block contributes to resist the force. Thus, the present structure operates to distribute the force on any particular block or blocks, as depicted in FIG. 10. As a result, instead of all the force being placed upon the block (depicted as the darkest block in FIG. 10), the force is distributed to surrounding blocks and in diminishing measure to those blocks surrounding them.
By spreading the force as depicted in FIG. 10, it is far less likely that sufficient stress will be built up on one block or group of blocks to cause the wall to fail at a particular point. This makes the wall a strong interconnected mass able to withstand far more force than its traditional counterparts.
There are five factors that contribute to the property of variable dynamic resistance. These can be divided into two general categories: fixed and variable. The fixed factors are those designed within the system and cannot be altered unless the dimensions are modified. These include the overall size of the cynderbrick, the tolerance between each cynderbrick and the size of the stabilizing holes. The variable factors are those that can be adjusted by the assembler. Among these are: the number and placement of the either the steel reinforcement rods or the square tubing.
The unique physical characteristics of the masonry components, working in conjunction with the loosely placed rods/tubing, produces the highly efficient distribution of force over a large segment of the wall, enabling the wall not only to accommodate gradual directional forces such as settling and hydrostatic pressure, but rapid omnidirectional forces such as seismic disturbances. The wall structure which facilitates the property of variable dynamic resistance, creates a technique for dealing with omni-directional external pressures.
The flexible walls of the present invention can accommodate the movements found in earthquake zones. In contrast, the rigid conventional walls, such as those found in residential foundations, will directly transfer the seismic force to the rest of the building cumulatively weakening the integrity of the structure until it eventually fails. Not only does the present invention overcome this significant problem, but it also has the added features of:
(a) providing an improved masonry wall system that does not require skilled labor to assemble;
(b) providing an improved masonry wall system that is mortarless in construction;
(c) providing an improved masonry wall system with rapid on-site assembly;
(d) providing an improved masonry wall system that can be disassembled and reused;
(e) providing an improved masonry wall system that overcomes the problems commonly associated with dovetail assemble.
Although the above description contains many specific details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. Thus, the present invention should be considered to include any and all variations, permutations, modifications and adaptations that would occur to any skilled practitioner that has been taught to practice the present invention. For example, it is envisioned that other components using the same features may be added later such as: partition blocks, end caps and lintels. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than the examples given herein. | A masonry wall system is disclosed incorporating a plurality of courses of masonry blocks, each block consisting of interlocking dovetails along with vertical and horizontal mating surfaces. The main block, has two stabilizing holes running at a vertical axis through the center. Steel reinforcement rods or square tubes are loosely inserted into these stabilizing holes at predetermined intervals. Comer blocks are employed to connect the walls at right angles and are a! so used in conjunction with short blocks to staggered the vertical joints from course to course. The predetermined tolerances between the masonry components and the loosely placed rods or tubes permit the wall to have a fluid property. Forces such as settling, hydrostatic pressure and seismic disturbances are then automatically absorbed and systematically distributed across the entire wall. When all of the masonry components reach the end of their tolerance, the wall locks up as a solid interconnected mass. The force is then passed on to the stabilizing rods or tubes which now act to stabilize the wall against further movement. | 4 |
The invention relates to a fire-extinguishing device and to a valve block for a fire-extinguishing device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Practical examples of fire-extinguishing devices are known which are designed as spark-extinguishing systems for pipes which carry dust-laden gases. With these fire-extinguishing devices, pipes, which can have branches, run from a respective extinguishant reservoir each to at least one fire-extinguishing site. At the fire-extinguishing sites are located extinguishant nozzles which are fed from the extinguishant pipe and produce a fine spray in order to extinguish sparks.
In order to be able to achieve a desired extinguishing of sparks, the supply of extinguishant, particularly the supply of extinguishing water, is controlled by magnetic valves. The magnetic valves are connected to a control device in which signals supplied by spark detectors are evaluated and control signals for the magnetic valves are produced on the basis of the results of the evaluation.
The safety which is aimed for with such a fire-extinguishing device against dust explosions which can occur through unquenched sparks depends decisively not only upon the need for sparks which occur to be reliably detected, but also on the fact that after the detection of sparks an extinguishing of the sparks should follow immediately. It has been shown however that with the known fire-extinguishing devices noticeable time elapses between the first sensing of sparks and the complete formation of a spray.
It is an object of the invention to make available a fire-extinguishing device which has a short reaction time up to the triggering of the fire-extinguishing process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, in the case of a fire-extinguishing device having an extinguishant pipe and an extinguishant outlet nozzle, there is provided in the region of the extinguishant outlet nozzle an extinguishant container from which extinguishant flows into the extinguishant pipe in the event of a pressure drop in the extinguishant pipe. A pressure drop which prevents a fully effective formation of a spray occurs particularly if at the beginning of the extinguishing process extinguishant exits from the extinguishant outlet nozzle without sufficient extinguishant following it through the extinguishant pipe. This phenomenon, caused by the inertia of the extinguishant in the extinguishant pipe, is compensated so that extinguishant is supplied from the extinguishant container in the region of the extinguishant outlet nozzle, so that the time between the first ejection of extinguishant from the extinguishant outlet nozzle and the complete formation of a spray is considerably shortened. By the supply of extinguishant provided in the extinguishant container decentralized from the extinguishant reservoir, the reaction time of the fire-extinguishing device is now independent of the length of the extinguishant pipe and of its cross-section.
Preferably, the extinguishant container is formed as an expansion tank. In this way it is possible to fill the extinguishant container afresh by way of the extinguishant pipe after the termination of an extinguishing process, so that one can avoid the need for separate filling pipes and for additional operating procedures arising from the refilling. The extinguishant container is filled simply with the extinguishant transported by way of the extinguishant pipe, as soon as the pressure in the extinguishant pipe 14 is sufficient, and then compensates for an extinguishant demand at the beginning of a new extinguishing process.
A particularly simply embodiment of extinguishant container is produced if the compensating container comprises a pressure reservoir. This pressure reservoir, which preferably comprises a pressurized gas-filled cell with a flexible membrane, enables one to achieve, with little technical difficulty, a particularly reliable availability of extinguishant which can be supplied without great expense in terms of apparatus. By means of the pressure reservoir the extinguishant is made available immediately without any installations or devices having to be activated beforehand. Since the energy stored in the pressure reservoir for the supply of extinguishant can always be regenerated again by way of the extinguishant pipe, the fire-extinguishing device is above all very maintenance free and is suitable for a plurality of recurring extinguishing events.
The extinguishant container can be formed as a throughway container. Such a design is preferable from the point of view of flow technology, since in this way the extinguishant can be fed both from the through-way container and also from the extinguishant pipe without redirection through hoops, curves or T-pieces of the valve arrangement.
A shortening of the reaction time can be achieved also by the direct fitting of the extinguishant outlet nozzle to the valve arrangement or by an integration of the extinguishant outlet nozzle into the valve arrangement. This measure is particularly advantageous if also the extinguishant container is connected directly to the valve arrangement. By minimizing the conduit path, together with the ready availability of extinguishant close to the extinguishing site, a particularly short reaction time is achieved.
The fire-extinguishing device can be designed in the manner of a sprinkler system with extinguishant outlet nozzles which react to heat or pressure and are designed only for onetime use. Preferably, the fire-extinguishing device is designed however as a spark-extinguishing installation for pipes or containers carrying dust-laden gas and is provided with valve arrangements which are arranged in the region of the individual extinguishant outlet nozzles and control the passage of extinguishant from the extinguishant outlet nozzles. If these valve arrangements are remotely controlled, then one can achieve an extremely short reaction time in cooperation with spark detectors and a control unit. This applies particularly if the valve arrangements are magnetic valve arrangements.
Further advantageous features and embodiments of the invention are set out in the subsidiary claims as well as in the following description which is given with reference to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a section of a particularly preferred first embodiment of a fire-extinguishing device in accordance with the invention, which is designed as a spark-extinguishing installation;
FIG. 2 is a section through a second embodiment of fire-extinguishing device in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 3 is a section through a third embodiment of a fire-extinguishing device in accordance with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In order to carry quenching water from an extinguishant reservoir which is not shown to a pipe 10 carrying dust-laden gas, the fire-extinguishing device 12 according to the first embodiment comprises an extinguishant pipe 14 which terminates in an extinguishant outlet nozzle 16. Upstream from the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 is a magnetic valve 18 which acts as an extinguishing water valve and which is controlled via a not shown pipe connection by a control device (not shown) which is connected to spark detectors. The fire-extinguishing device 12 comprises, upstream from each magnetic valve 18, an extinguishant container 20 which is connected by means of a T-piece 22 to the extinguishant pipe 14.
In order to prevent blockages of the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 and any contamination of the extinguishant container 20, upstream from the T-piece 22, in the extinguishant pipe 14, there is provided a dirt trap 24 which includes a mesh element which can be cleaned by means of an inspection hole which is closable by a cap 26. A shut-off member 28 arranged upstream from the dirt trap 24 and formed as a ball valve enables one to carry out servicing work on the dirt trap 24, the extinguishant container 20, the magnetic valve 18 or the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 without having to put the whole fire-extinguishing device 12 out of service.
The extinguishant container 20 provided in the fire-extinguishing device 12 includes a sleeve 30 of deep-drawn steel sheet with a base 32 formed in one piece therewith. At the side of the extinguishant container 20 which lies opposite the base 22 there is provided a cover 34 which is releasably connected to the sleeve 30 and is connected by means of a neck 36 to a connecting flange 38. The extinguishant container 20 is connected to the T-piece 22 by means of the connecting flange 38 and a connecting pipe 40.
Within the interior of the extinguishant container 20 is provided a flexible bag 42 which is resistant to compression and which consists of rubber-like material. The bag is filled with a pressurized gas 44 and forms a pressurized gas store. The pressurized gas 44 is preferably air, which can be supplied by way of a valve 46, the valve extending through the base 32 of the extinguishant container 20. The bag 42 is in contact within the extinguishant container 20 with regions of its internal walls and acts directly on the extinguishant water, to the extent that this is present in the fire-extinguishing device 12. The length of the extinguishant pipe 14 carrying extinguishing water amounts in practice as a rule to more than 50 meters. If one assumes a pipe diameter of 50 mm (2 inches) and the usual pipe roughness as well as pipe guides one is talking in the case of fire-extinguishing devices according to the prior art of it taking about 160 ms to achieve a flow pressure of 6 bar at the extinguishant outlet nozzle.
In the operation of the fire-extinguishing device 12 in accordance with the invention however, extinguishing water is initially present in the extinguishant pipe 14 as far as the magnetic valve 18. Since the bag 42, before the charging of the fire-extinguishing device 12 with extinguishing water, has been pumped up to a pressure ot about 4 bar, extinguishing water by compression of the bag 42 fills the majority of the extinguishant container 20 until the pipe pressure is present in the bag 42.
If sparks have been detected by a spark detector, the magnetic valve 18 opens as a result of the signal supplied by the control unit. The reaction time up to the opening of the magnetic valve depends solely upon the processing speed of the electronics and the efficiency of the magnetic valve.
When the magnetic valve 18 is opened, initially the pressure in the extinguishant pipe 14 drops, since extinguishant water flows into the region between the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 and the magnetic valve 18. The pipe pressure of about 7 bar which is impressed by the extinguishant reservoir, which is preferably a pressure increasing installation, is not initially available at the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16, since first of all the extinguishing water located in the extinguishant pipe 14 must be accelerated. Until the extinguishing water made available by the extinguishant reservoir has achieved the necessary flow speed and the necessary pressure in the region of the T-piece 22, extinguishing water flows, because of the effect of the pressurized gas 44 in the bag 42, through the T-piece 22 into the extinguishant pipe. Since only a small amount of water, preferably only 2 or 3 liters, has to be accelerated by the pressurized gas 44 in the bag 42, extinguishing water reaches the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 under the pressure supplied by the bag 42 just a short time after the opening of the magnetic valve 18. By the provision of the extinguishant container 20, one in this way considerably reduces the time which is needed for the achievement of an effective extinguishing water pressure after the opening of the valve By experiment, the time can be considerably reduced.
By means of this reduced reaction time, it is possible to position the extinguishant outlet nozzle 16 very close to a spark detector, so that the time during which the spark remains unquenched in the pipe carrying the dust-laden gas and also the path can be considerably shortened. By the provision of a comparatively inexpensive extinguishant container 20, the efficiency of the fire-extinguishing device 12 can be considerably increased and consequently the safety for personnel and plant can be perceptibly improved.
The section shown in FIG. 2 relates to a fire-extinguishing device 112 which differs from the fire-extinguishing device 12 according to the first embodiment only in respect of the extinguishant container 120. Those elements which correspond to elements shown in the first embodiment are provided here with reference numerals which have been increased by 100. Unless it is stated otherwise, the construction of the parts of the second embodiment corresponds to the construction of the parts of the first embodiment. Reference should he made to the corresponding description.
In contrast to the extinguishant container 20 of the first embodiment, the extinguishant container 120 of the second embodiment is formed as a through-way container and is built directly into the extinguishant pipe 114 without any T-piece, so that it can be traversed by the extinguishant. As in the case of the extinguishant container 20, with the extinguishant container 120 there is provided a bag which is resistant to compression for the availability of pressurized energy for the beginning of each quenching procedure. In order to maintain a short reaction time, the extinguishant container 120 is arranged in alignment with the through flow direction of the magnetic valve 118 and moreover is arranged immediately adjacent to the magnetic valve 118 by means of a double nipple 150 provided solely as an adaptor. It would be preferable for the magnetic valve 118 and the extinguishant container 120 itself to be connected without a double nipple.
The fire-extinguishing device of the third embodiment differs from the fire-extinguishing device of the first embodiment solely in respect of the design of the magnetic valve 218 and the arrangement of the extinguishant container 220. Parts which correspond to parts in the first embodiment are here provided with reference numerals which have been increased by 200 as compared with the reference numerals of the first embodiment. Reference is made to the corresponding description of the first embodiment and in particular to the fact that the internal construction of the extinguishant container 220 corresponds to that of the extinguishant container 20.
In contrast to the magnetic valves 18, 118, the magnetic valve 218 comprises a valve block with three terminals, with the terminal 260 for the extinguishant container 220 being arranged in alignment with the terminal 262 for the extinguishant outlet nozzle 216. The extinguishant outlet nozzle 216 is arranged directly on the magnetic valve 218, so that only small spaces have to be filled by the extinguishant before an effective spray is created after the beginning of the quenching process. A third terminal 264 serves for the connection to the extinguishant pipe 214. | The invention relates to a fire-extinguishing device and a valve block for a fire-extinguishing device. In order to create a fire-extinguishing device which has a short reaction time up to the quenching of sparks, there is provided, in a fire-extinguishing device which has an extinguishant pipe (14) which leads from an extinguishant reservoir to at least one quenching site and there terminates in an extinguishant outlet nozzle (16), an extinguishant container (20) in the region of the extinguishant outlet nozzle (16). From the container extinguishant flows into the extinguishant pipe upon a pressure drop in the extinguishant pipe (14). A valve block proposed according to the invention for a fire-extinguishing device facilitates the fitting of such an extinguishant container. | 0 |
[0001] This application is a new US utility application claiming priority to U.S.> Provisional Appln. No. 60/786,710, filed 29 Mar. 2006, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to wireless communication systems wherein relaying is used to enhance performance. In particular the invention relates to a method and arrangement for providing diversity in a wireless communication system utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM) technology.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A main striving force in the development of wireless/cellular communication networks and systems is to provide, apart from many other aspects, increased coverage or support of higher data rate, or a combination of both. At the same time, the cost aspect of building and maintaining the system is of great importance and is expected to become even more so in the future. As data rates and/or communication distances are increased, the problem of increased battery consumption is another area of concern.
[0004] Until recently the main topology of wireless communication systems has been fairly unchanged, including the three existing generations of cellular networks. The topology of existing wireless communication systems is characterized by the cellular architecture with the fixed radio base stations and the mobile stations as the only transmitting and receiving entities in the networks typically involved in a communication session.
[0005] Several new transmission, or radio access, technologies have been proposed to increase capacity, flexibility and/or coverage in the communication systems. A promising technology is Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM) that transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a wired or wireless communication medium. In wireless communications, the OFDM receiver is relative simple, since the multiple data streams are transmitted over a number of parallel flat fading channels. In fact, equalization is not done in the time domain; instead, one-tap filters in the frequency domain are sufficient. Despite this simplicity, uncoded OFDM transmission lacks inherent diversity that greatly helps to combat loss in the radio propagation environment, i.e. path loss, fast fading, etc.
[0006] One way to introduce diversity in the received signal is to utilize multiple antennas at the transmitter and possibly also at the receiver. The use of multiple antennas offers significant diversity and multiplexing gains relative to single antenna systems. A system utilizing multiple antennas both at the transmitter and at the receiver is often referred to as Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless systems. The spatial diversity offered by such systems can thus improve the link reliability and the spectral efficiency relative to Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) system.
[0007] An alternative approach to introduce macro-diversity is cooperative relaying. Cooperative relaying systems have many features and advantages in common with the more well-known multihop networks, wherein typically, in a wireless scenario, a communication involves a plurality of transmitting and receiving entities in a relaying configuration. Such systems offer possibilities of significantly reduced path loss between communicating (relay) entities, which may benefit the end-to-end (ETE) users. The cooperative relaying systems are typically limited to only two (or a few) hop relaying. A typical cooperative relaying system comprises of an access point, for example a radio base station which communicates with one or more user equipments, for example a mobile station, via a plurality of relay nodes.
[0008] In contrast to multihop networks, cooperative relaying systems exploits aspects of parallelism and also adopts themes from advanced antenna systems. These systems have cooperation among multiple stations or relay nodes, as a common denominator. In recent research literature, several names are in use, such as cooperative diversity, cooperative coding, and virtual antenna arrays. In the present application the terms “cooperative relaying system” and “cooperative schemes/methods” is meant to encompass all systems and networks utilizing cooperation among multiple stations and the schemes/methods used in these systems, respectively. The term “relaying system” is meant to encompass all systems and networks utilizing relying in any form, for example multihop system and cooperative relaying systems. A comprehensive overview of cooperative communication schemes are given in Cooperative Diversity in Wireless Networks: Algorithms and Architectures, J. N. Laneman, Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., August 2002.
[0009] Various formats of a relayed signal may be deployed. A signal may be decoded, re-modulated and forwarded, or alternatively simply amplified and forwarded. The former is known as decode-and-forward or regenerative relaying, whereas the latter is known as amplify-and-forward, or non-regenerative relaying. Both regenerative and non-regenerative relaying is well known, e.g. by traditional multihopping and repeater solutions respectively. Various aspects of the two approaches are addressed in “ An Efficient Protocol for Realizing Distributed Spatial Diversity in Wireless Ad - Hoc Networks ”, J. N. Laneman and G. W. Wornell, Proc. of ARL FedLab Symposium on Advanced Telecommunications and Information Distribution (ATIRP-200 1), (College Park, Md.), March 2001.
[0010] Diversity gain is particularly attractive since it offers increased robustness of communication performance as well as allowing reduction of experienced average SNR for the same BER. In addition the cooperative relaying may provide other positive effects such as beamforming (or directivity) gain, and spatial multiplexing gain. The general benefits of the mentioned gains include higher data rates, reduced outage primarily due to different forms of diversity, increased battery life, and extended coverage.
[0011] There are several schemes that offer diversity gain: Alamouti diversity based cooperative relaying for example described in “ Distributed Space-Time Coding in Cooperative Networks ”, P. A. Anghel et al, Proc. of the Nordic Signal Processing Symp., Norway, October 2002. coherent combining based relaying, which in addition offer a beamforming gain as described in “ Large - Scale Cooperative Relay Network with Optimal Coherent Combining under Aggregate Relay Power Constraints ”, P. Larsson, Proc. Future Telecommunications Conference (FTC2003), Beijing, China, 9-10/12 2003. pp 166-170. and relay cyclic delay diversity as described in WO06121381. According to the scheme the relay nodes, in their forwarding between the base station and the user equipement, applies cyclic shifts to their respective forwarded OFDM symbols.
[0012] These schemes require two transmission phases for each down link (DL) and up link (UL) direction: for example in the DL, in the first transmission phase the basestation transmits to the relay node, and in the second transmission phase the relay node transmits to the user equipment. The two phase transmission methods may effectively reduce the data throughput by half.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] Significant shortcomings of the prior art are evident from the above. Hence, it would be desirable to provide a method that introduces artificial frequency, time and spatial diversity and requires only a single transmission phase for each direction in a cooperative relaying wireless communication system.
[0014] The object of the invention is to provide a method, a relay node and a system that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art techniques. This is achieved by the method as defined in claim 1 , and the transmitter as defined in claim 10 .
[0015] The problem is solved by that the present invention provides a method of performing communication in a communication system utilizing relaying and Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM). In a scenario wherein the invention is applicable a transmitting radio node, for example a radio base station is engaged in communication with at least one receiving radio node, for example a user equipment. Part of the communication between the transmitting and receiving node is direct, and part is via at least one relay node. Data is transmitted in the form of OFDM chunks comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols. According to the method of the invention a cyclic prefix is added to a representation of an OFDM during the transmission phase by:
pre-appending to the representation of the OFDM chunk the last OFDM symbol from the end of the representation of the OFDM chunk; after the pre-appending copying a pre-determined number of last rows of the pre-appended OFDM chunk to the top of the representation of the OFDM chunk forming an augmented OFDM chunk.
[0018] The first step can be seen as providing a column-wise cyclic prefix, and the second step as providing a row-wise cyclic prefix, resulting in a 2-dimensional cyclic prefix procedure.
[0019] The number of rows selected to be copied to the top of the augmented chunk should correspond to the length of the cyclic prefix or guard interval which depends on the delay spread of the radio channels.
[0020] One embodiment of the method according to the invention comprises the steps of:
defining a OFDM chunk B comprising N sub-carriers and spanning a time window corresponding to M OFDM symbols; applying a 2-dimensional IFFT to the OFDM chunk B, resulting in a transformed chunk X; pre-appending to the transformed chunk X the last OFDM symbol of the transformed chunk X; after the pre-appending of the transformed chunk X copying the last rows of the pre-appended transformed chunk X to the top of the transformed chunk X forming an augmented OFDM chunk X′.
[0025] In the relaying performed by one or more relay nodes the re-transmission is delayed with one OFDM symbol.
[0026] A transmitter according to the present invention is adapted for use in a radio node in a communication system utilizing relaying and Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing. The transmitter comprises a cyclic prefix module adapted for adding a 2 dimensional cyclic prefix to a representation of the OFDMA chunks, by pre-appending to a representation of the OFDM chunk the last OFDM symbol of the representation of the OFDM chunk, and copying the last rows of the pre-appended OFDM chunk to the top of the pre-appended OFDM chunk, forming an augmented OFDM chunk.
[0027] Thanks to the invention it is possible to take full advantage of the combined advantages of the OFDM technique and cooperative relaying, without increasing the complexity of the transmitter and receivers in any significant way. Neither does the novel method require any extensive control signaling that could reduce the traffic capacity. In contrast to prior art techniques only one transmission phase is needed.
[0028] The 2D-CP method and arrangements according to the invention can provide substantial Data Rate increase in the order of (2M−2)/M, wherein M is the number of OFDM symbols in the chunk. For example, if M=15 then the gain is approximately 93%.
[0029] A further advantage is that antenna specific pilots are not required. Instead, the same pilot pattern on the frequency/time grid are to be transmitted from all transmit antennas. The receiver, user equipment, for example, has knowledge of the pilot pattern so that channel estimates can be obtained.
[0030] A still further advantage is increased frequency and time selectivity of the overall effective channel.
[0031] Embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0032] The features and advantages of the present invention outlined above are described more fully below in the detailed description in conjunction with the drawings where like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, in which:
[0033] FIG. 1 a and 1 b illustrates schematically a cellular system using cooperative relaying wherein the method and arrangement according to the present invention may be advantageously implemented;
[0034] FIG. 2 a - f illustrates the transmission phase for 1-hop systems (a-b), 2-hop systems (c-d) and 2-hop systems utilizing the 2D-CP according to the invention (e-f);
[0035] FIG. 3 is a flowchart over the method according to the invention;
[0036] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a transmitter and a receiver according to the invention;
[0037] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a the augmented OFDM chunk utilized in the method according to the present invention; and
[0038] FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of how a block of OFDM symbols are transmitted by the BS, the RN and received by the UE, using the method according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0039] Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the figures.
[0040] The network outlined in FIG. 1 is an example of a cooperative relaying network wherein the present invention advantageously is implemented. The figure shows one cell 105 of the wireless network comprising a transmitting communication node, an access point (AP) 110 , a plurality of relay nodes (RN) 115 and a plurality of receiving communication nodes or user equipment (UE) 120 . The access point is typically a radio base station (BS) providing the point of access to and from the core network to the radio access network. User equipments, also referred to as user terminals include, but are not limited to for example, mobile stations, laptop computers and PDAs equipped with wireless communication means and vehicles and machinery equipped with wireless communication means. As shown in the figure, the relaying nodes 115 are mounted on masts, buildings, lamp posts etc. Fixed relay nodes may be used as line of sight conditions can be arranged, directional antennas towards the basestation may be used in order to improve SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) or interference suppression and the fixed relay nodes may not be severely limited in transmit power as the electricity supply network typically may be utilized. However, mobile relays, 121 and 122 , such as mobile user terminals, may also be used, either as a complement to fixed relay nodes or independently. The user terminal 120 is in active communication with the base station 110 . The radio communication, as indicated with arrows, is essentially simultaneously using a plurality of paths, characterized by two hops, i.e. via at least one relay node 115 . The first part, from the access point 110 to at least one relay node 115 , will be referred to as the first link, and the second part, from the relay node or nodes to the user terminal 120 will be referred to as the second link. In addition direct communication between the access point 110 and the user terminal 120 is utilized, in the figure indicated with a dashed arrow. The communication system may simultaneously set up and maintain a large plurality of communication sessions between the BS 110 and user equipments 120 , and in the different communication sessions using different sets of relay nodes 115 . The relay nodes engaged in a specific communication may change during the session as the user terminal moves or the radio environment changes for other reasons.
[0041] The real world cellular system outlined in FIG. 1 a is for simplicity modeled by system model shown in FIG. 1 b, here with focus on a single pair of transmitter and receiver, utilizing an arbitrary number K of relay nodes. The notation is adapted to a BS 110 as a transmitter and an UE 120 as a receiver, but not limited thereto. The communication between the BS 110 and the UE 120 can be described as comprising two main parts: the transmissions from the BS 110 to the relay nodes 115 :k, k ∈ {1,2, . . . , K}, referred to as the first link, and the transmissions from the relay nodes 115 :k to the UE 120 referred to as the second link. The radio paths on the first link are characterized by the respective channel impulse response I k , and the radio paths on the second link by the respective channel impulse response h k .
[0042] Each of radio nodes, i.e. BS 110 , RN 115 and UE 120 utilizes of one or more antennas. The BS 110 transmits to K RNs and to the UE during a predefined period. The RN forwards the information received from a first node (e.g. BS 110 ) to a second node (e.g. UE) with one symbol delayed. This can be done either with amplify and forward, decode and forward, or a hybrid of the two.
[0043] FIG. 2 a - f illustrates the difference between the 1-hop, classical 2-hop and the 2D-CP system. As shown in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b , in a 1-hop system the data signal is transmitted to the UE in two consecutive time slots (i.e. 2 n and 2 n+ 1). For instance, the symbol x 2n is transmitted at the time slot 2 n and is followed by x 2n+1 at the next slot. By contrast in a 2-hop system, in order to avoid the BS 110 and RN interfering with each other the transmission is done in two phases (i.e. hops). During the first hop, 2 n slot in FIG. 2 c , the BS 110 transmits the data signal x 2n to the RN. The UE may also receive x 2n . During the second hop ( 2 n+ 1) the RN retransmits the same data signal x 2n to the UE as shown in FIG. 2 d.
[0044] The transmission scheme of the inventive method is illustrated in FIGS. 2 e - f. Signals are transmitted in the form of OFDM chunks comprising a plurality of OFDM symbols. A cyclic prefix is added to a representation of the OFDM chunks by pre-appending to the representation of the OFDM chunk the last OFDM symbol of the representation of the OFDM chunk, forming an augmented OFDM chunk. The procedure will be described in detail below. In contrast to the classical 2-hop system, the transmission can now be in full duplex. In fact, the BS 110 will transmit during the two consecutive phases, eg. 2 n and 2 n+ 1, two different data signals x 2n and x 2n+1 , respectively. As shown in FIG. 2 e , during time slot 2 n , the RN will forward data x 2n−1 , which was received from the BS 210 at the previous time slot, 2 n− 1. During time slot 2 n+ 1, the RN will forward the signal data x 2n (see FIG. 2 f ).
[0045] FIG. 3 is flowchart of the transmission according to the method of the invention and illustrated in FIG. 4 is a transmitter 400 and a receiver 460 adapted to carry out the procedure. The transmission is both direct, indicated with the solid arrow, and via a relay node 450 , indicated with a dashed arrow. The basic time-frequency resource unit in a OFDM system is defined as a chunk. Each chunk entity comprises of N sub-carriers and spans a time window of M OFDM symbols, and B denotes the N×M matrix of the chunk.
[0046] The method comprises the steps of:
305 : A 2D-IFFT module 405 of the transmitter 400 performs an inverse 2-dimensional fast Fourier Transform (2D-IFFT of the chunk B of the coded input data stream. The output from the 2D-IFFT module 405 is denoted X and is an representation of the chunk B. 310 : A cyclic prefix module 410 , in connection with the 2D-IFFT module 405 , subjects the transformed chunk X to 2D cyclic prefix. The procedure, which is further illustrated in FIG. 5 , comprises the substeps of:
310 : 1 pre-appending to the chunk X 500 the last OFDM symbol of the chunk X, corresponding to the last column of X, 510 , giving a column-wise cyclic prefix. 310 : 2 copying a pre-determined number of the last rows 505 of the pre-appended chunk to the top 515 of the chunk X, giving a row-wise cyclic prefix. The row-wise cyclic prefixing eliminates the inter-OFDM symbol-interference. Similarly, the column-wise cyclic prefix, as will be described, eliminates the interference from the simultaneous transmission of the data from the BS and RN. The resulting augmented chunk, which is outputted from the cyclic prefix module 405 is denoted X′. The second substep, 310 : 2 , corresponds to the use of cyclic prefix in prior art OFDM transmission techniques. An appropriate size of the cyclic prefix, as well as a suitable size of the OFDM chunk depend on characteristics of the radio channels and are determined in conventional manners. The appropriate sizes are to be considered as known input parameters to the method and arrangement according to the present invention. 315 : In a selection module 415 , in connection with the cyclic prefix module 410 , the augmented block X′ is subjected to linear operations consisting of selecting one column of X′ during each OFDM symbol transmission. At the first instant the first column of X′ is selected, the second time instant the second column of X′ is selected. The procedure is repeated until all columns of X′ are transmitted. 320 : An up conversion and transmitting module 420 , converts the baseband signals outputted from the selection module 415 into the RF-band, and transmitted from the antenna or antennas 421 . 325 : The transmitted signal is relayed by at least one relay node. The re-transmission is delayed with one OFDM symbol, i.e. one column of X′ is re-transmitted at the same time as a consecutive column of X′ is transmitted from transmitter 400 . 330 : The transmitted signals, both direct from the transmitter 400 and from the relay node 450 or relay nodes, are received by the receiver 460 , depicted in FIG. 4 . Each receive antenna 465 is connected to a respective down conversion module 470 , wherein the signal is down-converted from the RF-band into the baseband. 335 : In cyclic prefix removal modules 475 the cyclic prefix is removed from the signals provided from the down conversion modules 470 . 340 : A 2-dimensional fast Fourier transform is applied to respective signal by 2D FFT modules 480 . 345 : Each signal is equalised by a 2-dimensional equalisation process by equalizer modules 485 , in connection with respective 2D FFT modules. 350 : The signals originating from each antenna 465 is finally combined in a combining process, for example with a Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) procedure in a combining module 490 . Outputted from the combining module 490 is the chunk estimate {circumflex over (B)} of B.
[0061] The relaying performed by the relay node or nodes in step 325 does not require a 2-dimensional processing as in the receiver and transmitter, one-dimensional FFTs and an IFFT, for the receiving and transmitting respectively, are sufficient. Hence, a relay node employed in a system according to the invention can be identical to a relay node in prior art relayed OFDM systems.
[0062] The transmission process according to the method is further illustrated in FIG. 6 , wherein the augmented chunk X′ at the BS (transmitter) and the RN and the received chunk {circumflex over (B)} at UE (receiver) are illustrated. As shown in the figure, during the first time instant (t=0), the last symbol x M is transmitted by the BS, and a noisy version of the signal is received by the UE; the received signal is denoted by y 0 . The RN also receives the signal x M , but forwards it during the subsequent time slot. At time instant (t=1), the BS transmits the first symbol xi in the data block and the UE will receive a linear combination of x M from the RN and x l from the BS. The process is repeated until the BS transmits the entire data sequence in X′.
[0063] The arrangements according to the present invention in a receiver and transmitter, have been described in terms of modules and block. The modules and blocks according to the present invention are to be regarded as functional parts of a transmitting and/or receiving node in a communication system, and not necessarily as physical objects by themselves. The modules and blocks are at least partly preferably implemented as software code means, to be adapted to effectuate the method according to the invention. The term “comprising” does primarily refer to a logical structure and the term “connected” should here be interpreted as links between functional parts and not necessarily physical connections. However, depending on the chosen implementation, certain modules may be realized as physically distinctive objects in a receiver or transmitter.
[0064] The mathematical definitions of the terms used in the application will be given and exemplified in the following section:
[0000] Notation:
[0065] Let ● and {circle around (x)} denote the Hadamard and the Kronecker product, respectively. (·) T denotes the transpose and (·) H the Hermitian transpose operator. Capital letters represent matrices, and lower case letters represent vectors or scalars.
[0000] Definitions:
[0066] Definition 1: F M denotes the FFT matrix of size M×M. The (n,m)th element of F M , for n, m ∈ {1,2, . . . , M} is given by
F M ( n , m ) = 1 N exp ( - j2π ( n - 1 ) ( m - 1 ) N ) ( 1 )
[0067] Definition 2: For an M×1 vector a=[a(1), a(2), . . . , a(M)] T , the right circulant matrix
A = △ Circ ( a ) ,
is generated as follows
A = [ α ( 1 ) α ( M ) α ( M - 1 ) ⋯ α ( 2 ) α ( 2 ) α ( 1 ) α ( M ) ⋯ α ( 3 ) α ( 3 ) α ( 2 ) α ( 1 ) ⋯ α ( 4 ) ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋯ ⋮ α ( M ) α ( M - 1 ) α ( M - 2 ) ⋯ α ( 1 ) ] ( 2 )
[0068] The right circulant matrix A is diagonalized using the FFT matrix FM as follows
A=√{square root over (M)}F H M D ( F M a ) F M (3)
where D(x) denotes a diagonal matrix with x on its main diagonal.
[0069] Definition 3: The two dimensional (2D) FFT of a matrix X of size N×M, denoted by {tilde over (X)}, is given by
{tilde over (X)}=F N XF M (4)
[0070] An illustrative example of the usefulness of the method and arrangements of the invention will be given with reference to FIG. 2 b , wherein one BS, K RNs and one UE are in communication. The BS and the RNs are each assumed to be equipped with a single transmit antenna. Furthermore, the OFDM symbols are correctly detected by the RNs before being forwarded to the UE.
[0071] Under this assumption, the received symbol y m at the UE is a linear combination of the transmitted symbol x m from the BS and the delayed symbol x m−1 transmitted from the RNs. y m can be expressed as:
y m =H 0 x 1+(m−1) M +H e x 1+(m−2)di M (5)
where H 0 =Circ(h 0 ) is the channel matrix between the BS transmit antenna and the UE, H e is the combined channel matrix, or effective channel matrix, from all K RNs to the UE. H e can be expressed as:
H e = ∑ k = 1 K Circ ( h k ) = Circ ( h e )
where h k for k ∈ {1,2, . . . , K} denotes the channel impulse response from the k th RN to the UE. h e is the effective channel impulse response and its FFT can be expressed as:
h ~ e = N ∑ k = 1 K ( h ~ k · e ~ δ k ) ( 6 )
[0072] Ignoring the first received symbol of the chunk at the UE, the M following received symbols from the same chunk can be written in a matrix form as follows:
[ y 1 y 2 y 3 ⋮ y M - 1 y M ] = [ H 0 0 0 ⋯ 0 H e H e H 0 0 ⋯ 0 0 0 H e H 0 ⋯ 0 0 ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋰ ⋮ ⋮ 0 0 0 ⋯ H 0 0 0 0 0 ⋯ H e H 0 ] × [ x 1 x 2 x 3 ⋮ x M - 1 x M ] . ( 7 )
[0073] Define the following
Y=[y 1 , y 2 , . . . , y M ], (8)
X=[x 1 , x 2 , . . . , x M ], (9)
H=[h 0 , h e , 0, . . . , 0]. (10)
[0074] Then it can be shown that the received signal after applying a 2D-FFT is given by:
{tilde over (Y)}=√{square root over (NM)}{tilde over (H)}●B, (11)
where {tilde over (H)} and {tilde over (Y)} denote the 2D-FFT of the channel matrix H and the received data block Y.
[0075] The invention has in the above embodiments been envisaged in a two hop cooperative relaying scenario. The method and arrangement according to the present invention may advantageously be utilized also in other systems wherein a plurality of nodes are engaged in a communication session, for example a multihop system. In a typical multihop system a majority of the nodes are user equipment of various kinds, but the system may also comprise fixed nodes, such as access points. Preferably all nodes have the capability of receiving and forwarding data.
[0076] While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | The present invention relates to wireless communication systems wherein relaying is used to enhance performance. According to the method and arrangement of the invention artificial frequency selectivity and spatial diversity is provided by introducing delay diversity. A OFDM chunk is subjected to a 2D cyclic prefix by pre-appending to a representation of the chunk the last column of the representation. The last rows of the pre-appended chunk is copied to the top of the augmented chunk forming an augmented chunk. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an archery target practice method and apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an archery target practice method and apparatus for practicing archery technique with alternating still and moving archery targets.
Archery has been practiced by many nations for millennia. The principle of guiding an arrow accurately to a target has been used to provide sustenance, for sport, and in some cultures has attained a spiritual quality. The basic principles of archery have remained largely unchanged with respect to today's practice of archery.
Part of archery's allure is the difficulty required in attaining effective archery shooting skills. Many hours of discipline and practice are required to accurately hit a still target. Still more discipline and skill are required to hit a target in motion. Many archers who are proficient at hitting a still target are ultimately unsuccessful when shooting at a moving target. The moving target requires that the archer mentally compute a ballistic solution that includes an estimation of a "lead" or an aim point slightly ahead of the moving target so that an arrow fired at a point in space reaches this point in space the same instant in time as the target. The leading skill is desirable to effectively hunt and it must be practiced for the archer to become proficient in the leading skill. Much of this skill involves the archer developing a "sense" or skill at target motion estimation determining target speed and combining this "sense" with a familiarity with a bow and arrow. The velocity of an arrow is dependent upon the draw weight of the bow which the archer is shooting. The archer must know the velocity of the arrow at a given draw of the bow, or as in developing the leading skill, the archer must become very familiar with the archer's own equipment such that all variables in the ballistic calculation are "sensed" or known by the archer. These "senses" can only be acquired with substantial practice and integration of the archer's physical and mental processes. This integration of mind and body is responsible for much of the enjoyment experienced by seasoned archers.
A difficulty in learning how to shoot at a moving target is actually finding an archery target range with suitable moving targets. Gunnery or firearms target ranges that have moving target systems are ill suited for the integration of archery practice with the other forms of weaponry practiced at the range. The reduced distances required for an archery range, a desired quiet to achieve the concentration necessary to shoot an arrow accurately and non-firearm style targets used in archery are all missing from a traditional gunnery range. An archer needs a range that typically is less than sixty meters in depth, and is preferably only twenty five meters to practice shooting. Most hunting archery is done at distances of less than twenty five meters. The quiet concentration required to practice archery is also required to stalk game. Therefore, a quiet practice environment provides a real world archery environment. A gunnery range makes no provision to allow the archer to recover fired arrows without stopping activity on the firing line. A traditional gunnery range target is equally ill suited for an archery target. Arrow shafts are made from wood, composites, or a lightweight metal like aluminum. Arrow heads are attached by threaded interfaces or are press fit onto the shafts. The impact of an arrow on a non archery target, especially a rigid gunnery target, can send a shock wave back through the shaft that can shatter or bend the shaft or damage the arrowhead interface. Either result will ruin the arrow and require the archer to invest in new arrows and/or arrow shaft replacement.
To find a suitable moving target range, the archer currently has few choices. Prior art includes a target throwing device tossing a target reminiscent of a clay pigeon in a skeet or trap style shooting configuration to several elaborate remote control devices designed for multiple user gunnery ranges that embody the undesirable traits of any gunnery range devices as listed above. The target throwing device simulates an aerial target which rarely is the desired target of a hunting archer. Most archery targets tend to be running or bounding type targets. Additionally, a thrown target should be retrieved, with the arrow fired at it. If the arrow is retained by the thrown target, additional damage to the arrow may result from the target falling on or in some manner deforming the arrow shaft. Other target ranges are also suited for the disposable projectile with little consideration made for the safe recovery of spent arrows.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An archery target method and apparatus including providing a stationary target for an archer firing an arrow to hit to initiate a moving target. Apparatus senses a hit on the stationary target and initiates a delay sequence. After counting down the delay sequence which allows the archer to reload a bow with a second arrow, the apparatus begins to move a moving target across a target range allowing the archer to fire at the moving target with the second arrow. The apparatus then senses when the moving target reaches the end of the target range and stops the moving target at the end of the target range. The apparatus then resets the archery target to return across the target range when the second stationary target shot impacts the target. At this same time, the timing sequence is initiated again, thus repeating the alternating stationary and moving target shots. This sequence allows the archer both left to right and right to left moving targets as well as stationary target shots.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of the method of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention showing a moving target with a stationary drive mechanism.
FIG. 4 is an embodiment of the present invention showing a moving target including a mobile drive mechanism.
FIG. 5 is an embodiment of an impact sensor and target interface.
FIG. 6 is a mechanical schematic of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an electrical schematic of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the electromechanical process of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, a usage of an embodiment of the present method by an archer includes the steps of aiming 100 and firing 110 an arrow at a still target affixed to a target range, hitting the still target 115, reloading the bow with an arrow 120, waiting for a moving target to begin motion 125. Once the moving target begins its motion 130, the archer aims 135 and fires the arrow 140 at the moving target as it moves across the target range. A target range is defined as the distance that the moving target 150 travels in a half cycle of target travel. A useful size for the range is three meters to twenty meters. A better size for the range is five meters to eighteen meters. A preferred size of the archery target range is eight meters to fifteen meters. The archer may reload the bow with an arrow 120 and repeat the moving firing sequence 135,140 on the same target pass if the range is sufficiently wide and/or the target motion is sufficiently slow. The moving target will stop at an opposite end of the target range 145 from where it began its movement. The archer may reactivate the moving target by reloading the bow with an arrow 120, aiming 100 and firing 110 the arrow at the first or a second still target, hitting either target 115 with the arrow, reloading yet another arrow 120 and awaiting the movement of the target 125. Once the motion begins again 130, the archer aims 135 and fires 140 the arrow at the moving target as it moves across the range to the opposite end of the target range. The archer may reload 120 and repeat the moving firing sequence 135,140 on the same target pass if the range is sufficiently wide and the target motion is sufficiently slow. The moving target will stop at an opposite end of the target range 145 from where it began its movement. The sequence may then be repeated again and again.
Several techniques of archery are capable of being developed using this method of the present invention. The archer will simultaneously develop still and motion archery techniques. The archer must develop a proficiency with still shots 115 to activate the range to make a motion shot. Once the motion of the target is activated 130, the ability to practice a leading shot is afforded to the archer. The archer must develop the firing technique of making a switch from a still shot to a moving shot, simulating a common hunting event. If the range of target motion is sufficiently long, the archer can develop speed reloading skills for multiple motion shots on a single motion pass of the target. The speed of the target motion can be made variable to require the archer to learn how to estimate ballistic approximations and lead angles at variable target speeds. The method also allows the archer to develop skill in shooting at motion targets leading against the archer's preferred direction of shooting. This skill is accomplished in the return target motion initiated by the second still target hit. Finally by using an embodiment of the present invention that introduces a randomized delay 125 before target activation will develop the archer's skills suitable for reacting to a stalking event. A stalking event is defined as an encounter with a target in an archery range setting or as an encounter with a game animal in a hunting situation.
Once the cycle of still and moving target shots have been completed, the archer can reinitiate the cycle without moving from a firing position. The number of shots that the archer is able to make without moving from the firing position is limited by the number of arrows in the archer's possession at the firing line. With the present invention, an archer can concentrate on technique and precision shooting, making corrections in form and method without interruption to reset the target. Once all the arrows are expended, the archer simply retrieves the arrows.
FIG. 2 describes a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus includes a moving target 150 that is suspended in an operable manner by a cable 152 or another form of structure and is moved perpendicularly across a target range in a manner that allows an archer to aim and fire an arrow at the moving target 150. Moving and/or stationary targets 150,165 are sized and constructed from materials that allow the archer to utilize various arrow types and range distances appropriate for the level of archer skill. Examples of material composition for the moving or stationary targets 150,165 are wood, plastic, a quilted or woven fabric stretched over a frame. The cable 152 or other structure must allow the moving target 150 the ability to travel a desired distance across a target range and return to the original starting point. A full cycle for the moving target 150 is defined as the moving target 150 traveling across the range and returning to its original starting position. A stationary target 165 is operably connected to an impact sensor 195 that senses an impact of an arrow on the stationary target 165. The impact sensor 195 initiates a delay circuit 185 which counts down over a desired time period and trips a motor reset circuit 205 setting the drive motor 175 polarity settings to drive the moving target 150 across the target range. Once the delay period has expired, the delay circuit 185 activates a motor controller circuit 200. The motor controller circuit 200 activates a drive motor 175. The drive motor 175 and the other electrical components may be powered either by a standard power source (not shown) or a battery pack 160. The drive motor 175 is operably connected at least a single type of different drive mechanisms 170 to move the moving target 150 across a range of desired target range widths. Examples of the drive mechanisms 170 that can be used to drive the target can be divided into two types of mechanisms. The first style of drive mechanism 170 simply drives only the moving target 150 across the target range. The second style of drive mechanism 170 includes the drive motor 175, motor controller 180, and the moving target 150 in a single unit that translates across the target range. As the moving target 150 completes its travel across the target range, an end of range sensor 190 senses the target as it completes a half cycle. The end of range sensor 190 activates the motor controller circuit 200 which deactivates the drive motor 175.
FIG. 3 presents an embodiment of the archery target range utilizing the first type of drive mechanism 170 includes a pair of stands 210,212 or other forms of support that suspends a cable 152 rotatably mounted on a first and second pulleys 214,216 across a desired range of motion for the moving target 150. Cable 152 is formed in a continuous loop around both pulleys 214,216. Moving target 150 is operably attached to the cable in a manner that allow the moving target 150 to be drawn by the cable 152 across the target range between the stands 210,212. Moving target 150 motion is initiated by an arrow that impacts a stationary target 165 and is sensed by an impact sensor 195. One of the pulleys 214,216 is operably attached directly or indirectly to a drive motor 175. An example of indirect linkage to the drive motor would include a torque-speed converter (not shown) like a speed reducer gearbox. An end of range sensor (e.g. a limit switch) 190 is mounted on either stand 210,212 or on moving target 150 to signal the motion controller 200 when moving target 150 reaches either stand 210,212.
Electronics and electromechanics of the present invention are contained in a housing 224. The motion controller 180 runs the drive motor 175 in the direction indicated by the motor reset circuit 200. The drive motor 175 direction maybe regulated by the motion controller 180 switching the drive motor's 175 polarity upon contact with the impact sensor 195. Motion controller 180 includes a delay circuit 185 that will effectively delay the drive motor 175 activation in sufficiently to allow the archer to reload an arrow and return to a firing stance. The motor controller circuit 200 would require an input from the delay circuit 185 prior to activation. Other components of the motion controller 180 are motor reset circuit 205 that is able to reverse the drive motor 175 to complete a full cycle of motion. An example of this motor reset circuit 205 would be a relay or a switch 253 that would reverse the drive motor's 175 polarity upon the activation of any appropriate impact sensor 195.
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment utilizing a drive mechanism 170 that includes the drive motor 175, the motion controller 180 and other components in motion with the moving target 150. A stationary target 165 is not required in this embodiment as moving target 150 fulfills both stationary and moving target 165,150 roles. This embodiment also includes a wheeled carriage base 222 that draws the carriage base 222 and moving target 150 along a single cable 152 stretched between a pair of stands 210,212. Pulleys 214,216 are also not required in this configuration as the cable 152 is fixed between stands 210,212.
Moving target 150 is attached on the frontal portion of the carriage base 222 and is linked mechanically and electrically to the carriage base 222. A mechanical linkage between the moving target 150 and the carriage base 222 may require that the target is capable of some motion to facilitate the arrow impact sensor 195. FIG. 5 describes an example of an impact sensor 195 by combination of a momentary contact switch 197 and the moving target 150. Moving target 150 is hinged in a manner to close momentary contact switch 197 by the arrow impact. By mounting the momentary contact switch 197 substantially near a hinged top edge of the moving target 150, even a glancing hit to the moving target 150 will initiate the delay circuit 185. An effective location of the momentary contact switch 197 would be nearly coincident to a mechanical linkage pivot 199 to use a moment arm advantage of this configuration. The force of an arrow impact on the moving target 150 amplified if it is struck at a position on the moving target 150 lower than the location of the momentary contact switch 197. Other examples of sensors that could replace the momentary contact switch 197 include strain gages, diaphragm sensors, vibration or other impact sensors. Other forms of mechanical linking could include a pivotal plate with a centralized fulcrum, a rotational mount or a fixed mounting.
The wheeled carriage base 222 is sturdy enough to support the components contained within the carriage, but light enough to allow the drive motor 175 to move the carriage along the cable 152 at desired speeds and to allow suitable portability of the entire system. External covering of carriage base 222 is a light weight ballistic covering that shields the components from the arrows. Examples of ballistic coverings include fabric coverings, sheet metal, sheet plastic or ceramic. The impact of an arrow on the carriage base 222 should not allow the arrow to penetrate to the electronics or mechanical interface. Wheeled carriage base 222 may include a drive axle 157 operably connected to the drive motor 175 in a manner that allows a set of wheels 159 assist in driving the wheeled carriage base 222 across the target range in conjunction with the primary drive mechanism 170. Cabling 152 serves as a guidance and/or drive component in all embodiments of the present invention.
Other configurations of the system include aspects of remote control. Impact sensor 195 may be bypassed by feeding a signal from a remote source to initiate the delay circuit 185 or directly to the initiation of the drive motor 175. This remote embodiment may be accomplished with an infrared, radio, wire transmission or other transmission techniques. The desired use of this variation to the basic system would allow the target to be activated by a walking archer, simulating a stalking event on a hunting path.
EXAMPLES
A working example of the present invention and method is described in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. FIG. 6 is a mechanical schematic of the present invention. The device configuration is of a drive mechanism 170 of the first type where only the moving target 150 is moved across the target range. This configuration has a centralized control and drive housing 224 that includes the drive motor 175, the motion controller 180, the drive mechanism 170, battery pack 160 and end of range sensor 190. Drive motor 175 is a 12 VDC motor capable of at least two speeds, and is operably powered by a 12 VDC battery in the battery compartment 160. Drive motor shaft 226 has an operable drive pulley 228 attached to the end of the drive shaft 226. All pulleys and gear boxes are supported by shafts mounted to the housing 224. A drive belt 230 connects the drive pulley 228 to an intermediate gearbox 232. Intermediate gearbox 232 includes an input gear 229, transfer shaft 231, reduction output pulley 227 and a drive output pulley 233. A first output belt 234 is connected to the drive output pulley 233 and a drive pulley 235 co-linked to one of the main pulleys 214,216. The rotational velocity of the drive motor 175 is reduced by intermediate gearbox 232 to allow a higher torque/slower speed conversion to the main pulley 214. The reduction output pulley output from intermediate gearbox 232 is a first of four sets of gear/pulley (speed/velocity) reductions ultimately connecting to a pair of rotatably operable mercury switches 260,262 that enable a drive motor 175 deactivation when at least a single end of range sensor 256,258 is activated. The second speed reduction runs from the reduction output pulley 227 to the second output belt 236 to a second pulley 240. Second pulley 240 is connected to a first drive shaft 242 that transfers rotational motion to a second gear box 244 that reduces the rotational speed to a third drive pulley 246. Second gearbox 244 includes first gear 237 interfacing with second gear 238 to achieve a rotational velocity reduction. Second gear 238 is co-mounted on support shaft 247 with third drive pulley 246. Third drive pulley 246 is attached with a fourth drive pulley 248 with a third output belt 245. The fourth drive pulley 248 is attached to a second drive shaft 243 translating the rotational motion to a fifth drive pulley 241 that connects to a pair of mercury switches 260,262 with a fourth output belt 249. The reduction in velocity and rotation through the four stages of pulleys and gears is sufficient to reduce the rotation of the mercury switches S4 and S6 260,262 to rotate each switch into an operable position to enable the drive motor 175 deactivation when the end of range is reached by the moving target 150. Drive housing 224 contains structure for mounting all components within the structure including mounting structure for a terminal block 264 for connecting exterior sensor and power lines (not shown), and switch mounting brackets 266, 268, 270.
Referring to FIG. 7, the electronics function as follows: a momentary contact switch S1 197 is closed creating a signal pulse to a first IC 555 timer 250 and changing the polarity setting of the drive motor by changing the setting on a switch S2 253, a double pull single throw switch. The first IC 555 timer 250 acts in conjunction with a second IC 555 timer 252 to form a delayed action monostable multivibrator circuit. The supporting components for the timing circuit are given as R1 251, R2 255, R3 257, D1 259, C1 261, C2 263, C3, 265, C4 267, C5 269. The values of these components are R1(470 kΩ) 251, R2(10 kΩ) 255, R3(860 kΩ) 257, D1(IN914) 259, C1(10 μF) 261, C2(0.01 μF) 263, C3(0.001 μF) , 265, C4(0.5 μF) 267, C5(0.01 μF) 269. The components that affect the functional output of the delay circuit are as follows: The time delay of 5.17 seconds is created by the product of 1.1*R1*C1. The output line (3) of the second IC 555 timer 252 will hold a high output for 0.43 seconds at the end of the delay cycle. This output signal duration is driven by the product of 1.1*R3*C4. At the end of a delay cycle, the second IC timer 252 output energizes a first solenoid 272 which closes the switch S3 254. Switch S3 254 is the main power switch to the drive motor 175. The drive motor 175 runs in an open loop format until a switch S5,S7 256,258 is closed by the moving target 150 reaching the end of the range. During this transfer period, the gear/pulley train described in FIG. 6 rotates the mercury switches S4,S6 260,262 into an enabled position such that when S5 256 or S7 258 is activated, a second solenoid 274 is energized which interrupts the power to the drive motor 175. Another impact of an arrow on a stationary target 165 will repeat the targeting sequence. In this configuration, all power is supplied by a 12 VDC battery source 160. Suggested changes to the prototype would include the elimination of S4 and S6 260,262 by wiring a relay switch through the activation of S2 253. This elimination of the mercury switches would necessarily eliminate the four stages of gear/pulley reductions required to rotate the mercury switches S4 and S6 260,262.
In FIG. 8, the flow chart of the method of the present invention target apparatus is described. The target apparatus is dormant until an impact or an arrow hit is sensed 275. The target apparatus switches the drive motor 175 polarity to reverse the drive motor 175 direction of rotation and begins a delay count 279. At the end of the delay count 279, the target apparatus activates a drive motor 281,175 which moves 283 a moving target 150 from one end of the target range to the other end. The end of range is sensed 285 as the moving target 150 reaches the other end of the target range. Once the target reaches the end of the range, the drive motor 175 is stopped 287.
The present invention teaches a target range that develops the archer's skill in a cost effective and simple manner. The apparatus and method focus the archer's attentions and concentration solely on the practice of archery. No interaction other than shooting an arrow is required. The design maximizes battery life by relying on mechanical interfaces to activate the electrical components of the present invention.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | An archery target method and apparatus including providing a stationary target for an archer shooting an arrow to initiate a moving target. The apparatus senses a hit on the stationary target and initiates a delay sequence. After counting down the delay sequence which allows the archer to reload a bow with a second arrow, the apparatus begins to move a moving target across a target range allowing the archer to fire at the moving target with the second arrow. The apparatus senses when the moving target reaches the end of the target range and stops the moving target at the end of the target range. The apparatus then resets the archery target to return across the target range when the second stationary target shot impacts the target. At this same time, the timing sequence is initiated again, thus repeating the alternating stationary and moving target shots. This sequence allows the archer both left to right and right to left moving targets as well as stationary target shots. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/593,977 filed by James J. Wilson, Donald Neve and William B. Thomas on Jun. 3, 2000 and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VARIABLE FREQUENCY CONTROLLED COMPRESSOR AND FAN.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to compressor controls and more particularly to compressor controls in compressed gas systems having refrigerated dryers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Refrigerant compressors are used in a variety of systems. One type of system that uses refrigerant compressors is a compressed gas system. Compressed gas systems typically provide high volumes of dry, pressurized air or other gases to operate various items or tools (while a multitude of gases can be used, this application typically refers to air as a matter of convenience). Conventional systems dry the air using heat exchangers first to cool the air and lower the dew point of the air, which causes water vapor to condense out of the air, and second to reheat the air and raise the outlet temperature of the air. This system provides a relatively dry air source. FIG. 1 shows a conventional refrigerated dryer 100 for a compressed gas system. Refrigerated dryer 100 includes both an air heat exchanger circuit 110 and a refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 . Air heat exchanger circuit 110 includes an inlet 112 , an air-to-air heat exchanger 114 , a air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger or evaporator 116 , a water separator 120 a and an air outlet 118 . Refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 includes evaporator 116 , a compressor 122 , a condenser 124 , a throttling device 126 , and a hot gas by-pass valve 128 .
[0004] Notice that temperatures used below to describe the operation of dryer 100 are exemplary only. Many different air temperatures and saturation levels are possible. The temperatures and saturation levels of the final operating system depend on a large variety of factors including for example system design specifications and local environmental factors. The factors that determine actual temperatures are beyond the scope of this patent application and, in any event, are well known in the art.
[0005] In operation, dryer 100 receives a high temperature, saturated, pressurized air or gas stream at inlet 112 . For example, the air or gas may be at 100 degrees (all degrees represented are degrees Fahrenheit) with a dew point of 100 degrees (i.e., 100% humidity), although any inlet temperature and dew point is possible. The air or gas stream passes through an inlet side of air-to-air heat exchanger 114 . The air or gas stream cools down to, in this example, 70 degrees with a dew point of 70 degrees (i.e., still 100% humidity). However, because 100 degree air or gas can carry a larger volume of water vapor than 70 degree air or gas, some water vapor condenses. The condensed moisture precipitates out and collects in the separator 120 a . The 70 degree air or gas then travels through the air side of evaporator 116 where the air or gas is further cooled to approximately 35 degrees with a dew point of 35 degrees (i.e., still at 100% humidity). Again, moisture condenses out of the air or gas stream and collects in the separator 120 a . The 35 degree air or gas then travels through the outlet side of air-to-air heat exchanger 114 . This reheats the air or gas stream to approximately 85 degrees with a pressure dew point of 35 degrees. The air or gas stream then exits the dryer 100 at air outlet 118 . Because 85 degree air can hold significantly more moisture vapor than 35 degree air, dryer 100 provides a source of dry, unsaturated, pressurized air or gas at air outlet 118 .
[0006] In refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 , refrigerant enters the refrigerant side of evaporator 116 as a cool liquid. While passing through evaporator 116 , the refrigerant heats up and is converted to a gas by the exchange of heat from the relatively hot air side to the relatively cool refrigerant side of evaporator 116 . The low pressure gas travels to compressor 122 where the refrigerant is compressed into a high pressure gas. The refrigerant than passes through air or water cooled condenser 124 where the refrigerant is condensed to a cool, high pressure liquid. The cool, high pressure refrigerant passes through throttling device 126 (typically capillary tubes or the like) to reduce the pressure and boiling point of the refrigerant. The cool, low pressure, liquid refrigerant than enters the evaporator and evaporates as described above.
[0007] When air heat exchanger circuit 110 and refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 operate at or near full capacity, hot gas by-pass valve 128 has no particular function. However, as the demand on air heat exchanger circuit 110 decreases, refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 has excessive capacity that could cause the liquid condensate in dryer 100 to freeze. Thus, when used in this situation, hot gas by-pass valve 128 functions to prevent the liquid condensate in dryer 100 from freezing. In particular, the hot gas by-pass valve opens feeding hot, high pressure gas around the evaporator (i.e., by-passes) maintaining a constant pressure and temperature in the evaporator preventing any condensate from freezing. The particulars regarding the operation of hot gas by-pass valve 128 are well known in the art. Typically, a temperature sensor associated with the hot gas by-pass valve (not specifically shown in FIG. 1) monitors the refrigerant temperature at the outlet of evaporator 116 . When the temperature at the outlet decreases below a predetermined threshold, the hot gas by-pass valve 128 opens feeding hot, high pressure gas around the evaporator maintaining a constant pressure and temperature in the evaporator preventing any condensate from freezing.
[0008] The capacity of compressor 122 depends, in large part, on the maximum required capacity or expected air flow (measured in standard cubic feet per minute) of air heat exchanger circuit 110 . At full capacity (or air flow), compressor 122 operates at 100% capacity and the air temperature and dew point of the air stream is, for example, approximately as described above. The demand on the air system, however, is not always 100% of the designed capacity. Frequently, the demand on air heat exchanger circuit 110 is somewhat below full capacity. With less than 100% demand on air heat exchanger circuit 110 , the refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 described above still operates at 100% capacity, thus wasting energy or electric power because compressor 122 does not need to operate at full capacity. Some systems, as described above, compensate using hot gas by-pass valve 128 . Hot gas by-pass solves the problem of providing to much cooling through refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 120 , but does not solve the problem that the compressor is operating at a higher than necessary capacity and consuming a larger amount of electrical power than necessary. Other systems cycle the compressor on and off when the system operates at less than 100% capacity. These systems reduce power consumption somewhat, but cause excessive on and off cycling of compressor 122 , wide fluctuations in the dew point at air outlet 118 , and introduce inefficiencies associated with the heat exchange of mass media. Thus, it would be beneficial to control operation of compressor 122 based on the demand of air heat exchanger circuit 110 to reduce the power consumed by compressor 122 and increase the overall power efficiency of dryer 100 .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] To attain the advantages of and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, apparatus for controlling the operating speed of a variable speed compressor in a refrigerated air drying system having changing demands on an air supply, include a demand sensor capable of sensing changes in the demand on the air supply and generating a change in demand signal. A motor speed controller receives the generated change in demand signal and generates a motor speed signal. The motor speed controller sends the motor speed signal to a motor of the variable speed compressor to change the speed of the variable speed compressor.
[0010] Other embodiments of the present invention provide methods for controlling the operating speed of a variable speed compressor in a refrigerated air drying system having changing demands on an air supply. These methods include sensing a demand on the air supply. Determining an operating speed for a variable speed compressor based on the sensed air supply demand. Controlling a speed of the variable speed compressor based on the determined operating speed.
[0011] Still other embodiments of the present invention provide computer program products having computer readable code for processing data to control a speed of the variable speed compressor. The computer program product has a demand sensing module configured to sense changes in the demand of the air supply. A generating module is configured to generate a signal indicative of the sensed change in demand. A motor speed controlling module is configured to receive the signal indicative of the sensed change in demand and generate at least one motor speed signal. The motor speed controlling module is adapted to send the motor speed signal to the variable speed compressor.
[0012] The foregoing and other features, utilities and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0013] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles thereof. Like items in the drawings are referred to using the same numerical reference.
[0014] [0014]FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a prior art refrigerated air drying system;
[0015] [0015]FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of a refrigerated air drying system in accordance with the present invention;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 3 is a flow chart describing the motor speed control drive of FIG. 2 in accordance with the present invention;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing compressors arranged in parallel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing the operation of the motor speed controller with compressors as arrayed in FIG. 4;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing two variable speed compressors arranged in parallel in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] [0020]FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flow chart describing the operation of the motor speed controller with compressors arrayed as in FIG. 6;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a compressor with two unload devices in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0022] [0022]FIG. 9 is a flow chart describing the operation of the motor speed controller with a compressor as shown in FIG. 8.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an alternate embodiment of a refrigerated air drying system in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] Some embodiments of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 2 through 9. FIG. 2 shows a refrigerated air dryer 200 in accordance with one possible embodiment of the present invention. Air dryer 200 includes both an air heat exchanger circuit 210 and a refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 . Air heat exchanger circuit 210 includes an inlet 212 , an air-to-air heat exchanger 214 , a air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger or evaporator 216 , and an air outlet 218 . Air heat exchanger circuit 210 also has a conventional separator and automatic drain system (not shown) that is known in the art.
[0025] Air heat exchanger circuit 210 operates by receiving an air or gas stream at inlet 212 . The air or gas stream travels through air-to-air heat exchanger 214 . The air or gas stream circulates in piping 214 i along the inlet side of air-to-air heat exchanges 214 to cool. After cooling, the air or gas stream exists into piping 240 . The air or gas stream travels along piping 240 and enters air side piping 216 a of evaporator 216 . The air or gas stream is further cooled by evaporator 216 . After this additional cooling, the air or gas stream exists into piping 242 . The air or gas stream travels along piping 242 and enters the reheat side of air-to-air heat exchanger 214 . The air or gas stream circulates in piping 214 o , along the outlet side of air-to-air heat exchanger 214 to reheat. After reheating the air or gas steam exits air heat exchanger circuit 210 as hot, dry air or gas at outlet 218 .
[0026] Refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 includes evaporator 216 , a compressor 222 , a condenser 224 , a throttling device 226 , and a hot gas by-pass valve 228 . Refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 also has a hot gas by-pass controller 230 , a temperature sensor 232 , a motor speed control 234 , and a pressure sensor 236 . Also, one of ordinary skill in the art would now recognize that the pressure sensors could be replaced with other sensors capable of monitoring system pressure, such as, for example, temperature sensors. Similarly, one of ordinary skill in the art would now recognize that the temperature sensors could be replaced with other sensors, such as, for example, pressure sensors.
[0027] Refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 operates by circulating a refrigerant through evaporator 216 along piping 216 r to cool down the air stream. While circulating through piping 216 r , the refrigerant changes from a liquid to a low temperature vapor and exists evaporator 216 into piping 250 . The pressure sensor 236 is connected to piping 250 to measure the pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 . Compressor 222 receives the low pressure, gas refrigerant traveling in piping 250 and outputs the refrigerant as a high pressure, high temperature gas refrigerant into piping 252 . The refrigerant circulates from piping 252 into condenser piping 224 c where the refrigerant is condensed to a liquid and cooled. The refrigerant exits condenser 224 as a high pressure liquid into piping 254 . Piping 254 includes throttling device 226 . Piping segments 256 and 258 connect the hot and cool sides of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 through hot gas by-pass valve 228 .
[0028] When dryer 200 is operated at full capacity, compressor 222 operates at its normal operating capacity or frequency similar to the description of dryer 100 above. When air flow through air heat exchanger circuit 210 decreases, however, pressure sensor 236 detects the decrease in demand as a decrease in the system pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 from an expected operating pressure at the inlet of compressor 222 . On sensing the decrease in pressure, sensor 236 generates and sends a decreased pressure signal to motor speed controller 234 through a signal conduit 260 . Motor speed controller 234 registers the decreased pressure signal as a decrease in demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 and, thereby, sends a signal over signal conduit 262 to compressor 222 that decreases the speed of the compressor motor, i.e. decreases the motor's operating frequency, which will be described in more detail below. This causes the system pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 at the inlet of compressor 222 to increase back to the expected operating pressure. The decrease in the motor operating frequency of compressor 222 causes a corresponding decrease in energy consumption.
[0029] When demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 increases, pressure sensor 236 detects the increase in demand as an increase in the system pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 from an expected operating pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 . On sensing the increase in pressure, sensor 236 generates and sends an increased pressure signal to motor speed controller 234 over signal conduit 260 . Motor speed controller 234 registers the increased pressure signal as an increase in demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 and, thereby, sends a signal over signal conduit 262 to compressor 222 that increases the speed of the compressor motor, i.e., increases the motor's operating frequency, which will also be described in more detail below. This causes the system pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 at the inlet of compressor 222 to decrease back to the expected operating pressure.
[0030] When demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 remains constant, pressure sensor 236 can, depending on design choice, send an expected operating pressure signal to motor speed controller 234 or simply not send a signal to motor speed controller 234 . In either case, motor speed controller 234 maintains the operating frequency of compressor 222 to maintain the expected operating pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 at the inlet of compressor 222 .
[0031] In the present example, compressor 222 is sized so that one compressor can satisfy the cooling requirements of dryer 200 . Compressor 222 has a minimum operating frequency. If the motor speed is reduced below that minimum the internal lubrication of the compressor will be insufficient and/or the refrigerant flow rate will not provide adequate oil return. Thus, motor controller 234 can only reduce the operating frequency of compressor 222 to compressor 222 to a predetermined minimum speed. (Note that motor controller 234 could control the speed of compressor 222 over its full range of speeds, i.e., 0 Hz to full frequency, if the minimum speed was not dictated by the compressor.) When compressor 222 operates at its minimum frequency, motor speed controller 234 sends a signal over signal conduit 264 to hot gas by-pass controller 230 to begin hot gas by-pass control of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 to prevent the suction pressure/temperature from falling that, in turn, prevents condensed water vapor from freezing, which will be explained further below.
[0032] [0032]FIG. 3 shows a flow chart 300 indicating operation of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 . First, dryer 200 is initialized, step 310 . This can include starting compressor 222 using a “soft-start” mode. A soft start mode is a procedure that brings the motor of compressor 222 up to speed following the motor control curves for the motor of compressor 222 . The motor curves, not shown but generally known in the art, provide ideal voltage supplies to the motor of compressor 222 when the motor is operating at a given frequency. Additionally, these curves supply an optimal rate of change in frequency for a given unit of time. While it is preferred that motor speed controller 234 functions according to the motor control curves it is not necessary.
[0033] Once the system is initialized and compressor 222 soft-started, motor speed controller 234 is placed in an automatic mode, step 320 . In automatic mode, motor speed controller 234 begins monitoring the pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 , step 330 . Next, motor speed controller 234 determines whether the motor speed of compressor 222 is greater than the minimum speed allowed, step 340 . As noted above, the minimum speed of the motor of compressor 222 is based largely on the lubrication ability of the motor and is not a function of motor speed controller 234 .
[0034] If the motor of compressor 222 is operating at greater than the minimum operating speed, motor speed controller 234 next determines whether the pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 , as measured by pressure sensor 236 , is greater than a first pre-established pressure threshold, step 350 . If pressure is greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, motor speed controller 234 increases the operating speed of the motor, step 360 . Otherwise, motor speed controller 234 determines whether the pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 is less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, step 370 . If pressure is less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, motor speed controller 234 decreases the operating speed of the motor, step 380 . Of course, if the monitored pressure is approximately the same as the first pre-established pressure threshold, motor speed controller 234 simply maintains the operating speed of the compressor. After any required operating speed adjustments, the control loop is returned to step 330 .
[0035] In the preferred embodiment, the above control is referred to as a “pressure mode” 300 p because motor speed controller 234 uses a pressure signal from pressure sensor 236 to control motor speed. Alternative means of controlling the motor speed are possible. For example, a flow meter in air heat exchanger circuit 210 could be used to measure system demand and control the motor speed of compressor 222 . Alternatively, a temperature sensor could be used in place of pressure sensor 236 to measure the system demand. Essentially any conventional demand sensor could be used to control the motor speed.
[0036] If at step 340 motor speed controller 234 had determined that the motor of compressor 222 was already operating at its minimum operating speed, motor speed controller would begin a “hot gas mode” 300 t of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 . In hot gas mode, motor speed controller 234 maintains the speed of the motor of compressor 222 at the minimum operating speed, step 390 . Pressure sensor 236 continues to monitor the pressure at the inlet to compressor 222 , step 400 . Motor speed controller determines whether the pressure at the inlet of compressor 222 is less than a second pre-established pressure threshold, step 410 . If pressure is less than the second pre-established pressure threshold, hot gas by-pass controller 230 senses the temperature at the outlet of evaporator 216 using sensor 232 , step 420 . Next, hot gas by-pass controller 230 determines whether the temperature at the outlet of evaporator 216 is below a hot gas by-pass pre-established temperature threshold, step 430 . If the temperature is below a hot gas by-pass pre-established temperature threshold, hot gas by-pass controller 230 causes hot gas by-pass valve 228 to cycle and inject hot gas from piping 252 on the outlet side of compressor 222 into piping 250 on the outlet side of evaporator 216 , step 440 . After the hot gas is injected or if pressure was above the hot gas by-pass pre-established pressure threshold, control reverts back to step 400 .
[0037] If at step 410 motor speed controller 234 had determined pressure was not less than the second pre-established pressure threshold, then motor speed control 234 reverts back to pressure control at step 350 , above. In the preferred embodiment, the second pre-established pressure threshold is sufficiently higher than the first pre-established pressure threshold to prevent excessive cycling between hot gas mode 300 t and pressure mode 300 p . The settings for the first and second pre-established pressure thresholds is, however, largely a matter of design choice. The hot gas by-pass threshold settings are well known in the art.
[0038] The embodiment of the present invention described above shows dryer 200 with one compressor 222 that is sized to accommodate 100% or full demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 . Under this configuration, the motor speed of compressor 222 could be varied from minimum to full capacity to vary the power consumption of the overall system. Also, as is known in the art, condenser 224 has a fan 224 f and a fan motor 224 m associated with it to assist in cooling and condensing the refrigerant. The fan motor 224 m could be a variable speed motor controlled by motor speed controller 234 . In this case, the fan motor would receive a motor speed control signal over conduit 262 so that the fan motor speed and the speed of the compressor motor would coincide. Thus, if air supply demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 was 80%, under the above described control scheme, the motor of compressor 222 would be operating at 80% and the fan motor associated with the condenser would be operating at 80%.
[0039] Notice that the fan motor could be controlled by a separate motor speed controller. It is currently preferred to use a separate motor speed controller for fan motor 224 m to prevent excessive cycling of fan motor 224 m that could occur if fan motor 224 m was controlled at the same speed as the motor of the compressor. In one present preferred embodiment, the fan motor is controlled using the same control scheme as outlined in flow chart 300 , but using a separate controller. Using a separate control has the additional advantage that the fan motor can be controlled from 0 Hz to its maximum frequency because the fan motor does not have the same lubrication requirements as the compressor motor. When using a separate motor speed controller to control the operating speed of fan motor 224 m , it is preferable to control the speed based on a demand sensor that measures condensing pressure (a demand sensor that measures condensing pressure is not specifically shown in the drawing, but is generally known in the art) instead of the demand sensor that measures the pressure at the inlet to the compressor.
[0040] More precise control over the power consumption could be obtained by using more compressors or compressors with unloading devices and/or variable speed controlled condenser fan motors. This would be helpful in systems where power consumption is of greater concern, or more precise control over the coolant system is needed. For example, FIG. 4 shows three compressors 460 , 470 , and 480 arranged in parallel. In this embodiment, motor speed controller 234 would control compressor 460 in a variable speed mode and control compressors 470 and 480 by simple on/off instructions. Additionally, compressor 460 , being the variably controlled compressor, is preferably capable of twice the capacity of compressors 470 and 480 . In this manner, demand on the air source could be controlled down to about 25% capacity of the air flow. As one of ordinary skill in the art would now recognize, adding more or less compressors allows more or less precise control of the power consumption. While the variably controlled compressor is preferred to be about twice the size of the other compressors, almost any arrangement is possible.
[0041] [0041]FIG. 5 is a flow chart 500 representing operation of the present invention with multiple compressors 460 , 470 and 480 . First, the motor speed controller would be placed in automatic control, step 510 , and the pressure sensor would monitor pressure at the inlet of compressors 520 . Next, the motor controller would determine whether the variable speed compressor motor is operating at a minimum frequency, step 530 . If compressor 460 is operating at a minimum speed, motor speed controller 234 next determines whether two or more compressors are currently operating, i.e., compressor 460 and compressors 470 and/or 480 , step 540 . If only compressor 460 is operating, refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 enters hot gas mode control, step 550 . Step 550 is substantially as described in steps 390 to 440 of FIG. 3. If motor speed controller 234 determines that one or both of compressors 470 and 480 are operating in addition to variable speed compressor 460 , then motor speed controller turns one of the compressors 470 or 480 off, step 560 , and returns the control to the control loop at step 570 , below.
[0042] If motor speed controller 234 had determined that variable speed compressor 460 was not operating at its minimum, step 530 , motor speed controller 234 would then determine whether pressure at the inlet to compressors 460 , 470 , and 480 was greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, step 570 . If pressure is greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, which indicates an increase in demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 , then motor speed controller 234 checks whether variable speed compressor 460 is operating at its maximum, step 580 . If variable speed compressor 460 is not operating at its maximum, motor speed controller 234 increases the speed of variable speed compressor 460 , step 590 , and the control loop returns to step 520 . If, however, motor speed controller 234 determines that variable speed controller 460 is operating at its maximum, step 580 , then motor speed controller turns on another compressor, either compressor 470 or 480 , and brings that compressor up to its normal operating speed, step 600 . After turning on the additional compressor, motor speed controller 234 would decrease the speed of variable speed compressor 460 , step 610 , and the control loop would return to step 520 .
[0043] If, at step 570 , motor speed controller 234 had determined that pressure was not greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, it would determine whether pressure was less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, step 620 . If motor speed controller 234 determines pressure is less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, then it decreases the speed of variable speed compressor 460 , step 630 , and control returns to the control loop at step 520 .
[0044] In this embodiment, if the demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 is 25% of full capacity, compressor 460 is operating at 50% and both compressors 470 and 480 are off. As demand of air heat exchanger circuit 210 increases, the speed of compressor 460 is increased until demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 is 50% and compressor 460 is operating at 100% capacity. As demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 increases past 50%, a second compressor 470 would be turned on to supply 25% of the necessary flow and the speed of compressor 460 would drop down to 50% to supply the other 25%. In other words compressor 460 would be operating at 50% capacity and compressor 470 would be operating at 100% capacity. As demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 increased from 50% to 75%, the speed of compressor 460 is increased until it is operating at 100% capacity. When demand increases over 75%, compressor 480 is turned on and the speed of compressor 460 is reduced to 50% such that compressor 460 is at 50%, and compressors 470 and 480 are at 100%. Similarly, other combinations of parallel compressors could be used. One example includes a variable speed compressor capable of 40% capacity and three on/off compressors capable of 20% capacity each. Another example includes one variable compressor capable of 70% capacity and two on/off compressors capable of 15% capacity, which is useful when precise control is only necessary at higher capacities. In general, however, any percentage combination is possible. It is beneficial that the variable compressor capacity be larger than the nonvariable speed compressors to avoid gaps in the control.
[0045] In still another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to control two or more variable speed compressors. For example, FIG. 6 shows first and second variable speed compressors 660 and 670 arranged in parallel. In this case, motor speed controller 234 could control the speed of both compressors or, in the alternative, a second motor speed controller could be added, not shown. In the preferred embodiment, each compressor is sized to accommodate equal portions of full capacity on refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 . Additionally, if only one motor speed controller is used, it is preferable that the compressors be of equal capacity. In this case, compressors 660 and 670 are each capable of approximately one-half of full capacity.
[0046] [0046]FIGS. 7A and 7B show a flow chart 700 indicating operation of the present invention with first and second variable speed compressors 660 and 670 , respectively. As with the previous embodiments, dryer 200 is placed in operation and motor controller 234 is operating in automatic mode, step 710 . In automatic mode, pressure sensor 236 monitors pressure of refrigerant heat exchanger circuit 220 at the inlet of first and second compressors 660 and 670 , step 720 . The motor speed controller next determines whether first and second variable speed compressors are operating, step 730 .
[0047] If first and second variable speed compressors 660 and 670 are not operating, it is further determined whether first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at its minimum speed, step 740 . If first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at the minimum speed, dryer 200 enters hot gas mode as described in Steps 390 to 440 of flow chart 300 of FIG. 3, step 750 . Otherwise, it is further determined whether first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at its maximum speed, step 760 . If first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at its maximum speed, second variable speed compressor 670 is turned on, step 770 . If second variable speed compressor 670 is turned on, control moves to step 820 , as will be described below, otherwise the speed of first variable speed compressor 660 is controlled in steps 780 , 790 , 800 , and 810 , in a manner substantially identical to steps 350 , 360 , 370 , and 380 described in flow chart 300 of FIG. 3, above.
[0048] If first and second variable speed compressors are operating, motor speed controller 234 determines whether pressure is greater than a first pre-established pressure threshold, step 820 . If pressure is determined to be greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, it is further determined whether first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at its maximum operating speed, step 830 . If first variable speed compressor 660 is not operating at its maximum operating speed, the speed of compressor 660 is increased, step 840 , otherwise the speed of compressor 670 is increased, step 850 . The control loop then returns to step 720 .
[0049] If it is determined that pressure is not greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, it is next determined whether pressure is less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, step 860 . If pressure is less than the first-established pressure threshold, it is next determined whether second variable speed compressor 670 is operating at it minimum speed, step 870 . If compressor 670 is not operating at its minimum speed, then its speed is decreased, step 880 , and the control loop returns to step 720 . If compressor 670 is operating at its minimum speed, then it is determined whether first variable speed compressor 660 is operating at its minimum speed, step 890 . If compressor 660 is not at its minimum speed, then its speed is decreased, step 900 , and the control loop returns to step 720 . If it is determined that first variable speed compressor is also operating at its minimum speed, then second variable speed compressor 670 is turned off, step 910 , and the speed of first variable speed compressor 660 is increased, step 920 , and the control loop returns to step 720 . As before, if pressure is neither greater than nor less than the first pre-established threshold, control simply returns to step 720 without altering the speed or configuration of the compressors.
[0050] [0050]FIG. 8 shows a variable speed compressor 1800 with two unload devices 1810 and 1820 arranged in parallel. As one of ordinary skill in the art would now recognize, any number of unload devices could be arranged in parallel. In this embodiment, motor speed controller 234 would control the motor speed of compressor 1800 in variable speed mode and control unload devices 1810 and 1820 by simple on/off instructions. In general terms, compressor 1800 has multiple cylinders. The compressor is controlled using a variable speed motor and, in this example, two unloading devices are controlled by on/off instructions that de-energize and energize the unload devices. When demand on the air supply is low, the variable speed motor controlled compressor is operated and unload devices 1810 and 1820 are energized, which causes the output of the cylinders to be reduced. As the demand increases, the unload devices are de-energized as necessary. When all unload devices are de-energized, the compressor supplies its rated output.
[0051] Compressor 1800 , being the variably controlled compressor, supplies 100% of its total capacity when both unload devices are de-energized, 66% of its total capacity with one unload device energized and one unload device de-energized, and 33% of its total capacity with both unload devices energized. In this manner, demand on the air source could be controlled down to approximately 16% capacity of the air flow. As one of ordinary skill in the art would now recognize, altering the number of unload devices allows more or less precise control of the power consumption. While the variably controlled compressor is preferred to have two unloading devices, almost any arrangement is possible.
[0052] [0052]FIG. 9 is a flow chart 930 representing operation of the present invention with variable speed compressor 1800 having two unload devices 1810 and 1820 . First, the motor speed controller would be placed in automatic control, step 940 , and the pressure sensor would monitor pressure at the inlet of compressor 1800 , step 950 . Next, the motor controller would determine whether the variable speed compressor motor is operating at greater than a minimum speed, step 960 . If compressor 1800 is operating at a minimum speed, motor speed controller 234 next determines whether two or more unload devices are currently de-energized, i.e., variable speed compressor 1800 and associated unload devices 1810 and 1820 are operating, step 970 . If compressor 1800 is operating with both upload devices energized, hot gas control mode is initiated, step 980 . Step 980 is substantially as described in steps 390 to 450 of FIG. 3. If motor speed controller 234 determines that one or both of unload devices 1810 and 1820 are energized in addition to variable speed compressor 1800 , then motor speed controller de-energizes one of the unload devices 1810 or 1820 , step 990 , and returns the control to the control loop at step 1000 , below.
[0053] If motor speed controller 234 had determined the variable speed compressor 1800 was not operating at its minimum, step 960 , motor speed controller 234 would then determine whether pressure at the inlet to compressor 1800 was greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, step 1000 . If pressure is greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, which indicates an increase in demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 , then motor speed controller 234 checks whether variable speed compressor 1800 is operating at its maximum, step 1010 . If variable speed compressor 1800 is not operating at its maximum, motor speed controller 234 increases the speed of variable speed compressor 1800 , step 1020 , and the control loop returns to step 950 . If, however, motor speed controller 234 determines that variable speed compressor 1800 is operating at its maximum, step 1010 , then motor speed controller de-energizes an unload device, either 1810 or 1820 , step 1030 . After de-energizing the additional unload device, motor speed controller 234 would decrease the speed of variable speed compressor 1800 , step 1040 , and the control loop would return to step 950 .
[0054] If, at step 1000 , motor speed controller 234 had determined that pressure was not greater than the first pre-established pressure threshold, it would determine whether pressure was less than the first pre-established pressure, step 1050 . If motor speed controller 234 determines pressure is less than the first pre-established pressure threshold, then it decreases the speed of variable speed compressor 1800 , step 1060 , and control returns to the control loop at step 950 .
[0055] In this embodiment, if the demand on air heat exchange circuit 210 is 16% of full capacity, compressor 1800 is operating at 50% and both unload devices 1810 and 1820 are energized. As demand of air heat exchanger circuit 210 increases, the speed of compressor 1800 is increased until demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 is about 33% and compressor 1800 is operating at maximum speed. As demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 increases past 33%, an unload device 1810 would be de-energized to supply 33% of the necessary flow and the speed of compressor 1800 would drop down to 50% to supply the other 16%. In other words, compressor 1800 would be operating at 50% capacity and unload device 1810 would be off. As demand on air heat exchanger circuit 210 increased to 66%, the speed of compressor 1800 is increased until it is operating at maximum speed. When demand increases over 66%, unload device 1820 is de-energized and the speed of compressor 1800 is reduced to 50% such that compressor 1800 is at 50%, and the unload devices are de-energized. Many combinations of unload devices and compressors could be used. The above embodiments are only exemplary of the possible combinations. For example, a variable speed compressor could have three unload devices capable of 25% capacity each. Another example includes one variable compressor with five unload devices capable of 15% capacity. In general, however, any percentage combination is possible.
[0056] While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes in the form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. | The present invention provides a variable frequency controlled refrigerant compressor in a dehydrator for compressed air or other cases. In particular, the present invention detects changes in a demand on the pneumatic air supply by monitoring a pressure of a refrigerant system associated with the air supply. Based on the changes in the refrigerant system pressure, a motor speed controller generates and sends a control signal to the variable speed compressor to adjust the speed of the variable speed compressor based on the demand in the air supply. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/261,420, filed Mar. 3, 1999, entitled “Retaining Wall Anchoring System,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,351, which, in turn, claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/846,440, filed Apr. 30, 1997, entitled “Retaining Wall and Method,” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,715, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties into the present disclosure.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to earth reinforcement. More particularly, the invention relates to a segmental retaining wall anchoring system for securing segmental retaining walls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Segmental earth retaining walls are commonly used for architectural and site development applications. Such walls are subjected to very high pressures exerted by lateral movements of the s oil, temperature and shrinkage effects, and seismic loads. Therefore, the backfill soil typically must be braced with tensile reinforcement members.
Often, elongated structures, commonly referred to as geogrids or reinforcement fabrics, are used to provide this reinforcement. Geogrids often are configured in a lattice arrangement and are constructed of a metal or polymer, while reinforcement fabrics are constructed of woven or nonwoven polymers (e.g., polymer fibers). These reinforcement members typically extend rearwardly from the wall and into the soil. The weight of the soil constrains the fabric from lateral movement to thereby stabilize the retaining wall.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, the present invention relates to a retaining wall anchoring system for a segmental retaining wall comprising a plurality of tieback rods adapted to be embedded into soil or rock with a proximal portion extending therefrom. The system includes at least one elongated force distribution member positionable directly adjacent the proximal portion of the tieback rods, at least one washer positionable about the proximal portions of at least one tieback rod in abutment with the force distribution member, and at least one fastener fixedly securable to the proximal portion of the tieback rod to securely clamp the washer against the force distribution member such that tensile forces imposed on the tieback rod are transmitted to the distribution member so as to distribute these forces throughout a portion of the retaining wall.
The above described apparatus therefore can be used to construct a segmental retaining wall system comprising a retaining wall having a plurality of wall blocks stacked in ascending courses with a plurality of the wall blocks being provided with interior openings that are aligned with each other to form an inner passageway within the retaining wall. The proximal portion of each tieback rod can be extended into the inner passageway formed within the retaining wall with the elongated force distribution member positioned within the inner passageway directly adjacent the proximal portion of at least one of the tieback rods, a washer positioned about the distal portion of the tieback rods in abutment with the force distribution member, and a fastener fixedly secured to the proximal portion of the tieback rods to securely clamp the washer against the force distribution member such that tensile forces imposed on the tieback rods are transmitted to the force distribution member so as to distribute the tensile forces throughout a portion of the retaining wall.
In addition, the apparatus can be used to construct a segmental retaining wall system comprising a retaining wall having a plurality of wall blocks stacked in ascending courses to form an interior surface and an exterior surface, a plurality of tieback rods adapted to be embedded into soil or rock with a proximal portion extending therefrom, the proximal portion of each tieback rod extending toward the interior surface of the retaining wall, at least one elongated force distribution member positioned adjacent the interior surface of the retaining wall and directly adjacent the proximal portion of at least one tieback rod, a washer positioned about the distal portion of the tieback rod in abutment with the force distribution member, a fastener fixedly secured to the proximal portion of the tieback rod to securely clamp the washer against the force distribution member, and a reinforcement member connected to the force distribution member and being securely attached to the retaining wall such that tensile forces imposed on the tieback rods are transmitted to the force distribution member and through the reinforcement member to the retaining wall so as to distribute the tensile forces throughout a portion of the retaining wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front view of a retaining wall secured with an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a retaining wall which shows a tieback connection of an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a retaining wall secured with an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a retaining wall which shows a tieback connection of an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a modular retaining wall 10 secured with a first embodiment 12 of an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention. As depicted in this figure, the retaining wall 10 comprises a plurality of wall blocks 14 that are stacked atop each other in ascending courses 16 . When stacked in this manner, the wall blocks 14 together form an exterior surface 18 of the wall 10 which faces outwardly away from an earth embankment, and an interior surface 20 of the wall 10 which faces inwardly toward the embankment (FIG. 3 ). Typically, the blocks 14 are stacked in a staggered arrangement as shown in FIG. 1 to provide greater stability to the wall 10 .
Generally speaking, the blocks 14 are substantially identical in size and shape for ease of block fabrication and wall construction, although it will be understood that unidentical blocks could be used, especially for cap blocks or base blocks. In a preferred configuration, each block 14 is configured so as to mate with at least one other block 14 when the blocks are stacked atop one another to form the retaining wall 10 . This mating restricts relative movement between vertically adjacent blocks in at least one horizontal direction. To provide for this mating, the blocks 14 can include locking means 22 that secure the blocks together to further increase wall stability. More particularly, each block 14 can include a lock channel 24 and a lock flange 26 that are configured so as to positively lock with each other when the blocks 14 are stacked on top of each another as disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/049,627, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. When the blocks 14 include lock channels 24 and flanges 26 , the individual lock channels typically form a continuous lock channel that extends the length of the lower of two mating courses when the blocks are aligned side-by-side within each course 16 . Similarly, the lock flanges 26 form a continuous lock flange that extends the length of the upper of the mating courses 16 which is received by the continuous lock channel of the lower of the mating courses.
Although the blocks 14 preferably are provided with such locking means 22 , it will be appreciated that the anchoring system of the present invention can be used with substantially any segmental retaining wall blocks. By way of example, the present system could be used with any of the blocks produced by Anchor Wall Systems, Inc. such as any block of the Anchor Diamond® and/or Anchor Vertica® product lines, or any block disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,015, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. Moreover, the present system could be utilized with the segmental blocks produced by other manufacturers such as Keystone, Mesa, Versa-Lok, Newcastle, and Piza. Irrespective of the particular configuration of the wall blocks 14 , each of the wall blocks typically includes an interior opening 32 that either extends through the block horizontally (side-to-side) or vertically (top-to-bottom). When the blocks 14 are correctly aligned in their respective courses 16 , these openings 32 form continuous elongated passageways 34 . In that, as described below, the passageways 34 typically are only used for anchoring system attachment, it is to be appreciated that only the blocks 14 that receive the system's components need be provided with such openings 32 .
As indicated in FIGS. 1-3, the retaining wall 10 is secured in several predetermined points with tieback connections 36 . Typically, each tieback connection 36 is spaced approximately 10 feet apart horizontally from each other to form rows of tieback connections that are approximately 2.5 feet apart vertically from each other. Accordingly, each tieback rod 38 is embedded into the soil and/or rock in these intervals. As shown in FIG. 2, each tieback rod 38 extends through an opening 39 formed in the rear surface of its respective wall block 14 such that a proximal portion 40 of the rod 38 extends into the continuous elongated passageway. Also positioned within the passageway 34 is a tieback rod attachment mechanism 42 . The attachment mechanism 42 normally includes a pair of elongated force distribution members 44 , 46 that extend from one tieback rod 26 to the next along the passageway 34 and which are positioned above and below the tieback rods 38 as indicated in FIG. 1 . Typically, each force distribution member 44 , 46 comprises an elongated channel beam that is flanged so as to cooperate more readily with washers described below. Arranged in this manner, each passageway 34 having tieback rods 38 extending therein includes a plurality of force distribution members 44 , 46 aligned end to end both above and below the rods. To maintain parallel spacing between the force distribution members 44 , 46 , the attachment mechanism 42 can include spacers 47 that are positioned adjacent each rod 38 on both sides of the rod as indicated in FIG. 1 . Normally, the height of these spacers 47 generally approximates the diameter of the tieback rods 38 .
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of flanged washers 48 , 50 partially surround the upper and lower pairs of force distribution members 44 and 46 , and are fitted about each tieback bar 38 . To accommodate the rearmost 50 of the washers, each wall block 14 accommodating a tieback rod 38 normally is provided with an inner channel 54 that is sized and configured for receipt of the washer 50 . Threaded onto each tieback rod 38 is a conventional threaded fastener 56 such as a nut which, when fully tightened, urges the washers 48 , 50 inwardly to securely hold the force distribution members 44 , 46 in position, thereby securing the rod to the wall 10 . Normally, this tightening is achieved by accessing the interior of the block 14 by removing a face covering portion 57 of the block. Once fully tightened, the fastener 56 can be bonded in place with epoxy to prevent its inadvertent loosening. After the fastener 56 has been fixed in place, the face covering portion 57 of the block 14 can be secured to the block so that it matches the other blocks forming the wall. Configured in this manner, each tieback connection 36 evenly distributes any forces exerted on the tieback rods 38 throughout the wall 10 to greatly improve wall integrity.
FIG. 4 illustrates a second embodiment 58 of an anchoring system constructed in accordance with the present invention. This embodiment is structurally similar to the system depicted in FIGS. 1-3 and described above. Accordingly, the force distribution members 44 , 46 , flanged washers 48 , 50 , as well as the fastener 56 , are used to secure the tieback rods 38 to the wall 10 . However, in this embodiment, the rods 38 are secured with a reinforcement member 60 such as a geogrid wrap instead of directly to a wall block 14 such that the reinforcement member 60 is positioned outside of but adjacent to the interior surface 20 of the wall. Because of this arrangement, the blocks 14 need not comprise interior openings 32 , as in the first embodiment. Preferred for the construction of the reinforcement member 60 is geogrid material that comprises flexible fabric composed of a polymeric material such as polypropylene or high tenacity polyester. As shown most clearly in FIG. 4, the reinforcement member 60 extends from the exterior surface 18 of the retaining wall 10 , into a lock channel 24 of the lower adjacent wall block 14 , out from the wall and into a portion of the stone fill 62 formed between the wall and the soil and/or rock, wraps around the force distribution members 44 , 46 , and then extends back underneath the upper adjacent block 14 (into the wall), into the lock channel 24 of the upper adjacent block, and back to the exterior surface of the wall 18 , tracing a substantially C-shaped path.
In the wall system illustrated in FIG. 4, the reinforcement member 60 is locked to the wall 10 with a pair of retaining bars 64 that are positioned in the two lock channels 24 adjacent the tieback rod 38 . These retaining bars 64 lie atop the reinforcement member 60 and holds it against the rear walls of the locking channels 24 to prevent the reinforcement member from being pulled out from the retaining wall 10 . Although such retaining means are preferred, it will be understood that other types of retaining means could be used. When a tensile force is applied to the tieback rod 38 and translated to the reinforcement member 60 , the retaining bars 64 are urged towards the rear wall of the channels 24 , locking the reinforcement member in place. Thus, like the system of the first embodiment, the anchoring system of the second embodiment similarly distributes the forces exerted by the soil and/or rock of the embankment throughout the retaining wall 10 .
While preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail in the foregoing description and drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, although the anchoring system of the first embodiment herein is described and shown in use with a retaining wall having horizontal inner passageways, it is to be appreciated that this systems easily could be adapted for use with a retaining wall having vertical inner passageways. | A retaining wall anchoring system for a segmental retaining wall comprising a plurality of tieback rods adapted to be embedded into soil or rock with a proximal portion extending therefrom, at least one elongated force distribution member positionable directly adjacent the proximal portion of at least one of the tieback rods, a washer positionable about the proximal portions of the tieback rod in abutment with the force distribution member, and a fastener fixedly securable to the proximal portion of the tieback rod to securely clamp the washer against the force distribution member such that tensile forces imposed on the tieback rod are transmitted to the force distribution member so as to distribute these forces throughout a portion of the retaining wall. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a series of nitro heterocyclic derivatives for treating cancer cells and the preparation method therefor. In particular, the present invention relates to a series of nitro heterocyclic pharmaceutical compositions with medicinal effect by inhibiting microtubule activity of cancer cells and the preparation method therefor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] At present, tubulin polymerization inhibitor should be one of the most effective anticancer drugs in the clinical application. The anticancer effect usually is performed via the tubulin depolymerization or stabilization. Microtubule is an important component for mitosis in the cells and relates to cellular migration, adhesion and intracellular transportation. Vinca alkaloids derivatives, especially vincristine and vinblastine, have been used in clinics for many years. Recently, Navelbine is found to be used in treating breast adenocarcinoma, and the semi-synthetic new drug, vinflunine, also enters into the clinical development stage. Fukada, T. (2007) indicates that such drugs belong to anti-mitotic agent and are able to arrest the mitosis assembly. In addition, another clinically active drug, paclitaxel, exhibits the anticancer activity by promoting the stable formation of non-functional microtubule, and thus the drugs with absolutely different mechanism are used to interfere microtubule and represent the effective therapeutic effect. Recently, a naturally multi-hydroxy debenzyl ethane compound, combretastatine A-4 (abbreviated as CA4, referring to compound 1 in FIG. 1( a )), which is extracted from Combretum caffrum's bark, is concerned. In difference with the traditional compound that is directly functioned on cancer cells, CA4 functions on the blood vessels of tumor to induce abundantly morphological changes of endothelial cells so that tumor capillaries are blocked. Pharmacological experiment indicates that CA4 is able to function in tumor capillary system in many substantial tumor model and shut down the blood supply to tumor. Since the amount of CA4 is few in the natural plants, it is not found that any plant contains CA4 in Taiwan. At the same time, since CA4 has low solubility, it results in shortage in supply and is difficult to show the pharmacological effect/function sufficiently. Resolving the problems on CA4 supply and solubility becomes one of the focused researches to many pharmacologists in recent years. The representative drug for increasing solubility is combrestatine-A4 phosphate (CA4P, compound 2, as shown in FIG. 1( a )), which is a prodrug of combretastatin A-4 disodium phosphate ester. Siemann et al. (2009) considers that CA4P significantly increases the anti-tumor activity. Colchicine (compound 3, referring to FIG. 1( c )) is a toxin relevant to mitosis, wherein the ring-C of colchicines is conjugated with microtubule to disrupt microtubule to polymerize as spindle fibers and arrest mitosis at M phase. Colchicine is able to inhibit bone marrow to reduce the numbers of leukocytes and platelets. Colchicine has higher toxicity and might damage the gastrointestinal tract, central nervous, circulation system, hematopoietic system and kidney. However, adverse drug reaction is absent at appropriately small dosage (such as 0.5 mg, twice per day) or even the long term administration. As Mauer et al.'s research (2008) at phase II, it indicates that an anti-microtubule agent, ABT-751 (compound 4, referring to FIG. 1( c )), functions at the M phase of cell cycle and the main function of ABT-751 and tubulin polymerization have anti-angiogenesis activity at the same time.
[0003] The current available clinically used chemotherapeutic microtubule inhibitors have high toxicity, and their potential is limited by the development of multidrug resistance (MDR). Therefore, there has been great interest in identifying novel microtubule inhibitors that overcome various modes of resistance and exhibited improved pharmacology profiles. Quinoline is a class of compounds based on heterocyclic structure, and some quinolines have been used in cardiovascular disease and are pharmacologically active drugs. Analysis of the quinoline compounds 1, 3 and 4, indicates that such compounds represent the inhibition activity on microtubule and are relevant with the 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl/3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl and para-methoxyphenyl groups of the basic skeleton.
[0004] It is therefore attempted by the applicant to deal with the above situation encountered in the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A serious of a nitro heterocyclic derivatives having a formula I are provided as follows:
[0000]
[0000] wherein P and Q respectively are (i) a first carbon and a second carbon, (ii) a first nitrogen and the second carbon or (iii) the first carbon and a second nitrogen, R1 is a first substituted group being one selected from a group consisting of null, an oxygen, a first C 1 -C 8 alkoxy group, a first C 1 -C 8 hydrocarbon group and a first C 1 -C 8 alkyl halide group, and R2 to R8 respectively are a second substituted group to an eighth substituted group, each of which is one selected from a group consisting of a first hydrogen, a first halide group, a hydroxyl group, a first amino group, a first cyano group, a first nitro group, an aroyl group, a first disodium hydrogen phosphate group, a first diammonium hydrogen phosphate group, a first dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, a first monocalcium phosphate group, a second C 1 -C 8 alkoxy group, a C 1 -C 8 aromatic group, a second C 1 -C 8 hydrocarbon group, a C 1 -C 8 alkylthio group, a C 1 -C 8 alkyl nitro group, a second C 1 -C 8 alkyl halide group, a C 1 -C 8 hydroxyl group, a C 1 -C 8 aldehyde group, a C 1 -C 8 ester group, a C 1 -C 8 acidic group, a C 1 -C 8 ether group and a C 1 -C 8 amide group. The first C 1 -C 8 alkyl halide group and the second C 1 -C 8 alkyl halide group have a second halide group therein being one selected from a group consisting of a fluoride, a chloride, a bromide and an iodide. When R1 is bound with the above first substituted group, the N-R1 group forms a cationic group.
[0006] Preferably, “alkyl group” is referred to an alkyl group with a C≦10 unbranched chain, a C≦10 branched chain or a 3≦C≦5 cyclic alkyl group. Further, the alkyl group also includes the saturated hydrocarbon group and the unsaturated alkenyl group or alknyl group. The examples of the saturated hydrocarbon group include but not limit in methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, text-butyl, pentyl, iso-pentyl, n-hexyl, iso-hexyl, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl groups. The examples of the unsaturated hydrocarbon group includes vinyl, allyl, allenyl, butenyl, butadienyl, acetenyl, propynyl, butynyl and so on.
[0007] Preferably, “aromatic group” is referred to a C≧5 cyclic group, which includes the heterocyclic group containing nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), sulfur (S) and/or phosphorus (P). If necessary, the cyclic structure of the aromatic group is bound with C 1 -C 3 alkyl group, C 1 -C 3 alkyl sulfur group, C 1 -C 3 alkyl halide group, halide, hydrocarbon group, amino group, cyano group, nitro group and so on. The examples includes but not limit in pyrroline, furyl, thiophene, phosphole, benzyl, pyridinyl, pyranyl, thiapyran, phosphorine, methylpyridinyl, butylpyrridinyl, furyl halide, quinoline, quinazoline and quinoxaline.
[0008] Preferably, P and Q of Formula I are carbon (C), or any one of P and Q is nitrogen (N), and the nitro heterocyclic derivative can be represented as quinoline (Formula II), quinazoline (Foimula III), quinoxaline (Formula IV).
[0000]
[0009] A serious of “aroyl” derivatives in the present invention are referred to that R2 to R8 substituted groups of the nitro heterocyclic compounds, quinoline, quinzaoline and quinioxaline, can be an —ArX group, a —CH 2 —ArX group, an —O—ArX group, a —CO—ArX group, a —CH 2 O—ArX group, a —CO—O—ArX group, an —S—ArX group, an —SO 2 —ArX group, an —NH—ArX group and so on. Furthermore, the “ArX” of the above substituted groups is an aromatic group having least one X group bound thereon, and the X group can be hydrogen, halogen, amino group, cyano group, C 1 -C 3 alkyl group, C 1 -C 5 hydrocarbon group, C 1 -C 3 alkylthio group, C 1 -C 3 alkyl nitro group, C 1 -C 3 amide group, C 1 -C 3 hydroxyl group, C 1 -C 3 alkyl halide group, disodium hydrogen phosphate group, diammonium hydrogen phosphate group, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate group or monocalcium phosphate group.
[0010] The compounds of the quinoline (Formula II), quinazoline (Formula III) and quinoxaline (Formula IV) derivatives disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention are provided as follows.
[0000]
[0011] The R2 to R8 substituted groups of quinoline (Formula II), quinazoline (Formula III) and quinoxaline (Formula IV) derivatives in the present invention adopt the aroyl substituted group(s) as the aroyl derivatives, and the embodiments of the aroyl derivatives are disclosed as follows.
[0000]
[0012] Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2 , aniline compound with different substituted groups (ZR) is synthesized as a serious of quinoline derivatives (formula II). For instance, 8-methoxy-4-methylquinoline (compound 31) was afforded using o-anisidine as raw material and supplementing reagents such as ferric chloride (FeCl 3 ) and methyl vinyl ketone. Based on the preparation method, compound 52 with a methyl at the R4 position was afforded using 3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline as raw material. A solution of 3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline in hydrochloride (HCl) was added zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ) and selenium dioxide (SeO 2 ) respectively to afford a quinoline compound 48 with a formyl at the R2 position. The acidic solution was added nitrobenzene, ferrous sulfate (FeSO 4 ·7H 2 O) and glycerol to afford a quinoline compound 63 with a chloride at the R2 position. The reference numeral, “2 a ”, in FIG. 2 represents the reagents, SeO 2 and so on in the reaction.
[0013] 2-Bromo-5-methoxybenaldehyde and cuprous iodide were mixed with dimethylformamide (DMF) to heat to afford 6-methoxy-2-methylquinazoline (compound 71) having a structure of Formula (III) and a methyl at the R2 position. Compound 71 further was reacted with xylene and SeO 2 to afford compound 72 with an aldehyde group at the R2 position. Compound 72 was reacted with phenylmagnesium bromide with different substituted groups in the Grignard reaction, and was oxidized using pyridinium dichromate (PDC) to afford an aroyl compound, 6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinazoline (compound 73). Since the methyl at the R2 position was substituted as an aldehyde group, the aroyl compounds having benzoyl group at the R2 position can be afforded using different reactants via the similar pathway. The synthetic pathway shown in FIG. 2( b ) also can be applied in the quinoline derivatives having a structure of formula (I). For instance, compounds 25, 26, 40, 45 with a methyl at the R2 position respectively were synthesized as compounds 27, 28, 41, 46 with an aldehyde group at the R2 position, and then compounds 27, 28, 41, 46 respectively were synthesized as aroylquinoline compounds 12, 29, 42, 47 with a benzoyl group at the R2 position. The reference numerals, “2 b ”, “2 c ” and “ 2 d ”, in FIG. 2( b ) are respectively referred to the reagents used in each reaction steps.
[0014] The present invention discloses that 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl-magnesium bromide and the raw material such as quinoline formamide, quinazoline formamide or quinoxaline formamide with different substituted groups at different positions are reacted to synthesize the diverse aroyl derivatives having structures of formulas (II), (III) and (IV). In addition to the above substitutions, compound 55 was able to react with dichloromethane (CH 2 Cl 2 ) and benzoic acid to afford compound 56 with a chloride group at the R2 position, and then compound 56 was reacted with 3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline to afford an aroylquinoline compound 61 with a trimethoxyphenoxy group at the R2 position. Compound 56 with a chloride group at the R2 position was reacted with reagents such as tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylboronic acid, etc. to afford compound 57 with a trimethoxyphenyl group at the R2 position and a nitro group at the R5 position. Compound 57 was reacted with reagents such as isopropanol and iron powder, etc. to afford compound 58 with an amino group at the R5 position. 6-Methoxy-2-methylquinoline (compound 25) was reacted with nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) to synthesize compound 26 (named as 2-methyl-6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline) having a nitro group at the R5 position.
[0015] 5-Amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline (compound 15) in the concentrated H 2 SO 4 solution was added dropwise to a soduium nitrite (NaNO 3 ) solution and diazonium salt solution to afford compound 87 with a 5-hydroxy group at the R5 position. Subsequently, compound 87 was reacted with reagents such as anhydrous acetonitrile, N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, dibenzyl phosphite (DBP) and so on to afford 5-[6-methoxy-2-(4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline]disodium phosphate (compound 88).
[0016] Quinolines with methoxy groups at the R2 to R8 positions (compounds 18 to 24, i.e. 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-quinoline carboxaldehydes) were reacted with raw materials bounding with aldehyde groups and tetrahydrofuran (THF) to synthesize a serious of aroylquinoline derivatives (compounds 5 to 11) having a trimethoxybenzoyl substituted group at the R2 to R8 positions. The reference numeral “3 a ” in FIG. 3( a ) is referred to the usage of reagents, such as THF, etc.
[0017] Based on the preparation method described in FIG. 3( a ), compound 9, being raw material, was mixed with CH 2 Cl 2 and m-chloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA), and the semi-product was extracted after reaction. The semi-product was further purified, reacted with phosphoryl chloride (POCl 3 ), dissolved in sodium methoxide to heat at reflux, and purified by silica gel column chromatography to afford compound 14. The reference numeral “3 b ” in FIG. 3( b ) is referred to the usage of reagents such as CH 2 Cl 2 , etc.
[0018] Compounds 16 (95% yield) and 17 (91% yields), being the N1-substituted quaternary salt derivatives, were made using compound 9 as raw material. Compound 16 was made by reacting compound 9 with CH 2 Cl 2 and m-CPBA, and compound 17 was prepared by reacting compound 9 with iodomethane (CH 3 I). As shown in FIG. 3( b ), reference numerals “3 c ” and “3 d ” are referred to the usage of reagents, m-CPBA and CH 3 I, etc.
[0019] Compound 25 with a methyl at the R2 position was able to be converted as an intermediate with an aldehyde group, and then Grignard reaction was performed using 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide and oxidation was regulated with PDC to synthesize compound 12, which has 49% yield after three steps. Compound 15 has one more amino group on quinoline structure than compound 12, and the synthesized critical intermediate is compound 26. Compound 26 was made via four steps, including oxidation of the R2 position regulated with SeO 2 , Grignard reaction using 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide, oxidation regulated with PDC and reduction with sodium sulfide (Na 2 S), and thus compound 15 (24% yield) was afforded from compound 25.
[0020] Compound 13 (17% yield) was afforded from the commercial o-anisidine via a four-step reaction. In addition, methyl vinyl ketone was dissolved in acetic acid, and then ferric chloride and zinc chloride were added to afford 8-methoxy-4-methylquinoline (compound 31). If compound 31 was oxidized with a p-xylene solution containing SeO 2 to afford compound 32 with a formyl group at the R4 position, and then Grignard reaction was performed on compound 32 using 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide and oxidation was performed with PDC, compound 13 with a 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl group at the R4 position was afforded. The physical properties of the above-mentioned synthesized compounds are listed in “Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment”.
[0021] Preferably, the compounds of the present invention are used to inhibit microtubule polymerization in the cells or inhibit the microtubule polymerization-associated cancers in the mammals, in particular to the effect of inhibition, remission, treatment and therapy on human. Except for a particular announcement, the above derivatives disclosed in the present invention are prepared as monomer, salts, solvents, prodrugs, crystals, hydrates, tautomers, disastereomers, enantiomers or metabolites to be prepared as the pharmaceutical compositions for medicinal effect with the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.
[0022] “Salts” are the derivatives disclosed in the present invention, where salts are prepared from conjugating quinoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline or the series of aroyl derivatives having positive charge with the adequate anion. The adequate anion includes chloride, bromide, iodide, sulfate ion, bisulfate ion, sulfamate ion, nitrate ion, phosphate ion, methanesulfonate ion, trifluoroacetate ion, citrate ion, glutamate ion, glucuronate ion, glutarate ion, malate ion, maleic ion, succinate ion, fumarate ion, tartrate ion, tosylate ion, salicylate ion, naphthalenesulfonate ion, lactate ion and acetate ion. Similarly, a quaternary nitrogen salts are prepared from conjugating quinoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline or the series of aroyl derivatives having negative charge with the adequate cation. The adequate cation includes sodium ion, potassium ion, magnesium ion, calcium ion and ammonium cation such as tetramethylammonium ion.
[0023] “Prodrug” means that the derivatives disclosed in the present invention form the esters to be prepared as the adequate dosage forms with other pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient. The dosage form containing prodrug can be converted as quinoline (formula (II)), quinazoline (formula (III)), quinoxaline (formula (IV)) and the aroyl derivatives in vitro or in vivo and does not eliminate the activity or property of the derivatives, or provides efficient medicinal effect without relatively increasing any toxicity. According to the demand, the hydroxyl group of quinoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline and the aroyl derivatives is conjugated with carbonate or phosphate to form the ester prodrug, which is hydrolyzed in vitro or in vivo to represent a hydroxyl group of derivative. The amino group of quinoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline or the aroyl derivative can form the prodrug having the amide, carbamate or imine.
[0024] “The pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient”, or named as “the bioavailable carrier or excipient”, includes any currently adequate compound for preparing as the dosage forms, such as solvent, dispersing agent, coating, antibacterial agent or antifungal agent, preservative, absorption delay agent and so on. Such carriers or excipients usually lack activity on treating diseases. Further, each dosage form which is prepared by incorporating the derivatives disclosed in the present invention with the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and excipient does not result in the adverse drug reaction, allergy or other inappropriate reactions upon administrating on animals or humans. Thus, the derivatives disclosed in the present invention which are incorporated with the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient are suitable in clinics and veterinary medicine. The dosage forms of compounds of the present invention are administrated via the intravenous, oral, nasal, colonal, vaginal or sublingual medication to achieve the therapeutic effect. For example, the cancer patient is administrated with the oral dosage form (about 0.1 mg to 50 mg active ingredient per day).
[0025] Carrier depends on the various dosage forms. The aseptic injection composition is made by dissolving or suspending the derivatives in the non-toxic intravenous diluent or solvent such as 1,3-butanediol. The acceptable carrier can be mannitol or water. In addition, the fixed oil or the synthetic mono- or di-glyceride for suspending the medium belongs to the regular solvent. Fatty acid, such as oleic acid, olive oil, castor oil, or the glyceride derivatives therefor, in particular to the composition via the multi-oxygen ethylation, can be prepared as the injection agent and can be the naturally and pharmaceutically acceptable oils. Such oil solutions or suspensions can include the long-chain alcohol diluent, dispersing agent, carboxymethyl cellulose or the similar dispersing agent. Other common surfactants are used such as Tween, Spans, other similar emulsifiers, or the bioavailable enhancers which are the pharmaceutically acceptable solids, liquids or others for developing dosage forms in the regular pharmaceutical industry.
[0026] The orally dosed composition adopts any one of the orally acceptable dosage forms including capsule, tablet, pill, emulsifier, suspension liquid, dispersing agent and solvent. Regarding the carrier generally used in the oral dosage form, taking tablet as the example, it can be lactose, corn starch, lubricating agent, and magnesium stearate is the basic supplement. Diluent used in capsule includes lactose and the dried corn starch. The dosage form of liquid suspension or emulsifier is made by suspending or dissolving the active material in the oil interface which combines with emulsifier or suspension, and the adequate edulcorant, flavor or pigment is supplemented on demand.
[0027] The nasal aerosol or inhalation composition can be manufactured according to the known preparation technology. For instance, the composition is dissolved in saline, and benzyl alcohol, other adequate preservative or absorbefacient is added to improve the bioavailability. The composition of the compounds in the present invention also can be prepared as suppository to be administrated via colon or vagina.
[0028] The compounds of the present invention also are used in the “intravenous administration”, which includes intradermal injection, intraperitoneal injection, intravenous injection, intramuscular injection, intra-articular injection, intracerebral injection, visco-supplementation, spinal injection, arterial injection, intrapleural injection, injection at the disease organ/tissue and other appropriate administration techniques.
[0029] “Cancer” is referred to the cells with the over-proliferative activity and also is considered as the cells that are situated at the abnormal growth condition or have rapid proliferation property. In addition, cancer cells might include P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance (MDR)-associated proteins, lung carcinoma drug resistance-associated protein, breast carcinoma drug-resistance protein or other drug resistance-associated proteins associated with other anticancer drugs expressed by cancer cells. The cancer indicated in the present invention includes but not limit to leukemia, sarcoma, osteosarcoma (malignant neoplasm of bone), lymphoma, melanoma, ovary cancer, epidermal carcinoma, skin cancer, testicular cancer, gastric cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer, breast carcinoma, prostate cancer, colon cancer, head and neck cancer, brain tumor, esophageal cancer, bladder cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma, lung cancer, bronchial carcinoma, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, liver cancer or unidentified cancer.
[0030] The analysis and identification methods for the synthesized derivatives of the present invention are listed as follows. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra ( 1 H NMR) were obtained with Bruker DRX-500 spectrometer (operating at 500 MHz), with chemical shift in parts per million (ppm, δ) downfield from tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal standard. High-resolution mass spectra (HRMS) were measured with a JEOL (JMS-700) electron impact (EI) mass spectrometer. Flash column chromotography was down using silica gel (Merck Kieselgel 60, No. 9385, 230-400 mesh ASTM).
[0031] Evaluation of Bioactivity
[0032] (A) In Vitro Growth Inhibition of Cells
[0033] The synthesized compounds 5 to 17 were evaluated for antiproliferative activities against four carcinoma cells, oral epidermoid carcinoma KB cells, non-small-cell lung carcinoma H460 cells, colorectal carcinoma HT29 cells and stomach carcinoma MKN45 cells, as well as the MDR-positive cell lines KB-VIN10, that overexpressed P-gp 170/MDR (Table 1). The controls were compounds 1 and 3.
[0034] First, the position effect of aroyl group (3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl) in the quinoline system was evaluated. As listed in Table 1, the regioisomers having different substituted groups at the R2 to R8 positions were compounds 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, which were evaluated for antiproliferative activity against five cancer cell lines. The 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl group ring resulted in the most potent activity with compound 5 and 9 showing mean IC 50 value of 172.85 and 24.4 nM against five cancer cell lines, respectively. Shifting of the aroyl group to the R3, R4, R5 or R8 position resulted in weak cytotoxicity at the μM level, while shifting to the R7 position, as in compound 10, resulted in the loss of cytotoxicity.
[0035] According to Pettit et al.'s research (2003), the p-methoxy group substitution in the ring-B of cis-stilbene (compound 1) is important for activity, while Yoshino et al.'s study (1992) on ABT-751 (compound 4) was found that the p-methoxy group substitution in the 3-benzenesulfonamide of pyridine is relevant with activity. The methoxy group at the R6 position of compound 12 is at the opposite site of aroyl substituted group at the R2 position thereof, and compound 13 (8-methoxy-4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline) and compound 14 (2-methoxy-6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyDquinoline) also had the similar opposite-site relationship. All three compounds showed substantial antiproliferative activity against five cancer cell lines with mean IC 50 values of 67, 164, and 220 nM, respectively. Introduction of a methoxy group at the R6 and R8 positions of compound 5 and compound 7, gave compound 12 and compound 13, respectively, with increases in cell growth inhibition ability as compared to the parental compound. Compound 13 showed over an order of magnitude increase in activity over the parental compound 7, while compound 12 showed improved of IC 50 values to double digit nanomolar values in the KB, H460, HT29, and KB-VIN10 cell lines. However, the addition of a methoxy group at the R2 position in compound 14 resulted in a decrease in potency as compared to compound 9. In an effort to increase the 2-aroylquinolines skeleton's polarity and activity, compound 15 having an amino group at the R5 position and a methoxy group at the R6 position was synthesized. It exhibited a mean IC 50 value of 0.32 nM in all five cancer cell lines, thus displaying stronger cytotoxicity than compound 1. Compound 15 with an additional amino group at the R5 position showed approximately>100-fold improvement in the IC 50 value over compound 12. It revealed that 2-aroylquinolines skeleton with an amino group at the R5 position and a methoxy group at the R6 position would abundantly increase the inhibition of proliferation.
[0036] N1-substituted quaternary derivatives (compounds 16 and 17) were synthesized using compound 9 as raw material, wherein compound 16 reduced the activity by>10-fold magnitude compared with compound 9 (compound 16 vs compound 9), but compound 17 resulted in drastic loss of activity (compound 17 vs compound 9), thus revealing that the quaternary salts of alkylquinoline and quinoline N-oxide were not preferred.
[0037] (B) Tnhibition of Tubulin Polymerization and Colchicine Binding Activity
[0038] To examine whether aroylquinolines or aroylquinazoline were microtubule inhibitors acting through the colchicine-binding site, the 2-aroylquinoline (compounds 5, 12 and 15), 6-aroylquinoline (compounds 9 and 14) and reference compounds (compounds 1 and 3) were evaluated for antitubulin activity and the ability to compete for the colchicine-binding site. As shown in Table 3, compounds 9, 12 and 15 were effective in inhibiting microtubule assembly with IC 50 values of 2.9, 3.5, and 1.6 μM), respectively. Compound 15 showed more potent antitubulin activity as compared to compound 1 (IC 50 =2.1 μM) and compound 3 (IC 50 =4.2 μM), which positively correlated with its antiproliferative activity. Unexpectedly, the moderate cytotoxic compounds 5 and 14 did not inhibit microtubule assembly up to 10 μM. Results of the [ 3 H]-colchicine binding assay indicated that compound 15 was strongly bound to the colchicine-binding domain of tubule with binding affmity comparable to compound 1.
[0039] According to the above-mentioned compounds and the preparation methods for the same, the present invention not only provides the antitubulin activity to achieve the antiproliferative activity against cancer cells, but also makes a breakthrough on the research field of anticancer drug. The present invention also provides the relevant synthetic methods to synthesize the compounds of the present invention at the preferred conditions and the reaction reagents.
[0040] The above objectives and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] FIGS. 1( a ) to 1 ( c ) depict (a) the structures of combretastatin A-4 (compound 1 with R═OH) and combretastatin A-4P (CA4P, compound 2 with R═OPO 3 Na 2 ), (b) colchicine, and (c) ABT-751 (compound 4);
[0042] FIGS. 2( a ) and 2 ( b ) depict (a) the mechanism for preparing compounds 31, 48, 52, 63 and (b) the mechanism for preparing compounds 71 to 73; and
[0043] FIGS. 3( a ) and 3 ( b ) depict (a) the mechanism for preparing compounds 5 to 11 and (b) the mechanism for preparing compounds 9, 16, 17.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0044] The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following Embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred Embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
Embodiment 1
Preparation of Compounds 9 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy-benzoyl)quinoline) and 75 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoxaline)
[0045] A solutuion of 3,4,5,-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide (10 mL, 1.0 M in tetrahydrofuran (THF) prepared in advance) was added slowly to the corresponding 6-quinoline-carboxaldehyde (compound 22, 1.57 g, 10 mmol) in THF (10 mL) at 0° C. The reaction mixture was warmed to room temperature, and stirring was continued for another 1 hour. A saturated ammonium chloride (NH 4 Cl) solution was slowly added to hydrolyze the adduct at 0° C. and extracted with ethyl acetate (EtOAc, 15 mL×2) and dichloromethane (CH 2 Cl 2 , 15 mL×2). The combined organic extract was dried over magnesium sulfate (MgSO 4 ) and evaporated to give a crude residue, which was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (50 mL). Molecular sieves (4 Å, 7.52 g) and pyridinium dichromate (PDC, 7.52 g, 20 mmol) were added to the reaction mixture with stirring at room temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite. The filtrate was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) and recrystalized (methanol, CH 3 OH) to afford compound 9 (72% yield).
[0046] Based on the above-mentioned preparation method, compound 75 (47% yield) was afforded using compound 74 and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide.
Embodiment 2
Preparation of compounds 5 (2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 6 (3-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 7 (4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 8 (5-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline), 10 (7-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 11 (8-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 12 (6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline), 13 (8-methoxy-4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline) and 29 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0047] Based on the preparation method of embodiment 1, a serious of aroylquinoline derivatives bounding 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl substituted groups at R2 to R8 positions of quinoline were synthesized using the raw materials containing carboxaldehyde group. For instance, derivative 5 (64% yield) was afforded from compound 18, derivative 6 (70% yield) was afforded from compound 19, derivative 7 (62% yield) was afforded from compound 20, derivative 8 (66% yield) was afforded from compound 21, derivative 10 (58% yield) was afforded from compound 23, and derivative 11 (57% yield) was afforded from compound 24.
[0048] In addition, the preparation method of embodiment 1 also can be adequated in preparing derivative 12 (68% yield) afforded from 6-methoxy-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde (compound 27), derivative 13 (43% yield) afforded from 8-methoxy-4-quinolinecarboxaldehyde (compound 32), or derivative 29 (57% yield) afforded from 6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde (compound 28).
Embodiment 3
Preparation of compound 14 (2-methoxy-6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0049] Compound 9 (0.20 g, 0.62 mole) was slowly mixed with CH 2 Cl 2 (2 mL) and meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA, 0.16 g, 0.93 mmol), and stirring was continued at room temperature for 12 hours. Ten percent (10%) sodium sulfite (Na 2 SO 3 ), the satuarated sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) and the salt solution were sequentially added to the reactive solution and extracted with EtOAc (15 mL×2). The combined organic extract was dried over MgSO 4 and evaporated to be further purified. The residue was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (3 mL) and warmed to 50° C. for 12 hours after phosphoryl chloride (POCl 3 , 0.6 mL) was added. Solvent was evaporated after the reaction, the adduct then was dissolved in CH 3 OH (3 mL) and sodium methoxide (0.12 g, 2.1 mmol) was added to heat at reflux for 3 hours. After extraction with EtOAc (10 mL×3), the combined extracts were basified with sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ). The combined organic extract was dried over MgSO 4 and evaporated to give a crude reside that was purified by silica gel column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=3:1) and recrystalized (CH 3 OH) to afford compound 14 (51% yield).
Embodiment 4
Preparation of compound 15 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0050] Compound 29 (0.2 g, 0.5 mmol) and sodium sulfide nonahydrate (0.87 g, 3.61 mmol) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH, 0.34 g, 8.48 mmol) were stirred with a mixture of ethanol (4 mL) and water (11 mL), and was heated at reflux for 16 hours and placed overnight. Precipitate was harvested using filtration, washed with water, crystallized with methanol, and compound 15 (78% yield) was afforded.
Embodiment 5
Preparation of compounds 16 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline N-oxide) and 17 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-1-methylquinolinium iodide)
[0051] Compound 9 (0.20 g, 0.62 mol) was slowly mixed with CH 2 Cl 2 (2 mL) and m-CPBA (0.16 g, 0.93 mmol), and stirring was continued at room temperature for 16 hours. The adduct was sequentailly washed with 10% Na 2 SO 3 and the satuarated NaHCO 3 , and extraction was performed on CH 2 Cl 2 (20 mL×3). The combined organic extract was dried over MgSO 4 and compound 16 (95% yield) was afforded.
[0052] Compound 9 (0.1 g, 0.3 mole) was mixed with iodomethane (CH 3 I, 0.1 mL, 1.54 mmol), and stirring was continued at room temperature for 16 hours. After the solvent in the reactive solution was evaporated, compound 17 (91% yield) was afforded.
Embodiment 6
Preparation of compound 26 (6-methoxy-2-methyl-5-nitroquinoline)
[0053] The 6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline (compound 25, 0.5 g, 2.89 mmol) was added to 65% nitric acid (HNO 3 , 2 mL) and 95% sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 , 2 mL) at 0° C. in portion. After stirring for 3 hours, the reaction mixture was quenched and extracted by water and CH 2 Cl 2 . The organic layers were combined and evaporated to give a residue, which was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:2) to give compound 26 (75% yield).
Embodiment 7
Preparation of compound 27 (6-methoxy-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde)
[0054] To a stirred mixture of selenium dioxide (SeO 2 , 3.20 g, 28.86 mmol) and compound 25 (1 g, 5.77 mmol) in p-xylene (20 mL) was heated at reflux for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite and then evaporated the filtrate to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford compound 27 (72% yield).
Embodiment 8
Preparation of compound 28 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde)
[0055] To a stirred suspension of SeO 2 (2.29 g, 20.6 mmol) and compound 26 (0.9 g, 4.13 mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (40 mL) was heated at reflux for 48 hours. The reaction mixture as filtered through a pad of celite and then evaporated the filtrate to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford compound 28 (72% yield).
Embodiment 9
Preparation of compound 31 (8-methoxy-4-methylquinoline)
[0056] To a stirred solution of o-anisidine (0.92 mL, 8.1 mmol) and ferric chloride (1.3 g, 8.1 mmol) in acetic acid (10 mL), the then methyl vinyl ketone (0.76 mL, 8.9 mmol) was added dropwise over 15 minutes at room temperature. The reaction mixture was heated to 70° C. for one hour followed by the addition of zinc chloride (1.1 g, 8.1 mmol) heating at reflux for another 2 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled, filtered, basified with 10% NaOH solution, extracted with EtOAc (20 mL×3), dried over sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 ) and evaporated to give compound 31 (60% yield).
Embodiment 10
Preparation of compounds 32 (8-methoxy-4-quinolinecarboxaldehyde) and 74 (6-quinoxalinecarboxaldehyde)
[0057] To a stirred mixture of SeO 2 (0.64 g, 5.77 mmol) and compound 31 (0.2 g, 1.16 mmol) in p-xylene (10 mL) was heated at reflux for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite and then evaporated the filtrate to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:1) to afford compound 32 (68% yield).
[0058] Based on this method, compound 74 (43% yield) was afforded using 6-methylquinoxaline as the raw material.
Embodiment 11
Preparation of compound 40 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-methyl-quinoline)
[0059] Compound 25 (0.3 g, 1.73 mmol) was dissolved in acetonitrile (3 mL) to prepare as a zero-degree-Celsius solution, and N-bromosuccinimide (0.34 g, 1.9 mmol) was added in batch at this temperature within 5 minutes. The brown slurry was warmed to room temperature, and stirring was continued for another 6 hours. The reaction mixture was quenched by adding 10% sodium bisulfite (NaHSO 3 , 0.36 mL). Next, the reaction mixture was added to 0.1 N NaOH solution (2.2 mL), and the brown solution (pH 9) was stirred continuously at room temperature for 1 hour and then filtered. The debris was washed with water and evaporated to afford compound 40 (98% yield) as a brown solid.
Embodiment 12
Preparation of compounds 41 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde), 46 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-quinoline-carboxaldehyde), 72 (6-methoxyquinazoline-2-carbaldehyde) and 86 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-quinoline-carboxaldehyde)
[0060] To a stirred solution of SeO 2 (0.18 g, 1.59 mmol) in p-xylene (3 mL), and then a solution of compound 40 (0.2 g, 0.79 mmol) in p-xylene (4 mL) was added dropwise at room temperature. The reaction mixture was heated at reflux for 5 hours. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite and then evaporated the filtrate to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography for (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:2) to afford compound 41 (92% yield).
[0061] Based on this method, compound 46 (86% yield) was afforded using compound 45 as raw material, compound 72 (35% yield) was afforded using compound 71, and compound 86 (69% yield) was afforded using compound 85.
Embodiment 13
Preparation of compound 42 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0062] A solution of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylmagnesium bromide (5.4 mL, 1.0 M in THF prepared in advance) was added slowly to compound 41 (0.96 g, 3.6 mmol) in THF (5.4 mL) at 0° C. The reaction mixture was warmed to room temperature, and stirring was continued for another 48 hours. A saturated NH 4 Cl solution was slowly added to to hydrolyze the adduct at 0° C. and sequentially extracted with EtOAc (15 mL×2) and CH 2 Cl 2 (15 mL×2). The combined organic extract was dried over MgSO 4 and evaporated to give a crude residue, which was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (50 mL). Molecular sieves (4 Å, 2.7 g) and pyridinium dichromate (7.52 g, 20 mmol) were added to the reaction mixture with stirring at room temperature for 16 hours. The reactive mixture was filtered through a pad of celite. The filtrate was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:2) to afford compound 42 (26% yield).
Embodiment 14
Preparation of compound 43 (5-cyano-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0063] A mixture of compound 42 (0.20 g, 0.46 mmol) and copper(I) cyanide (CuCN, 0.08 g, 0.93 mmol) was dissolved in dimethyl formamide (DMF, 3 mL) to heat to 120° C. for stirring 17 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and grounded and mixed with EtOAc. The reaction mixture was filtered/concentrated by silia gel, and the filtrate was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:2) to afford compound 43 (45% yield).
Embodiment 15
Preparation of compound 44 (5-(3″-hydroxy-3″-methylbut-1″-ynyl)-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0064] A mixture of compound 42 (0.10 g, 0.23 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphorine)palladium (0.03 g, 0.03 mmol), diisopropylamine (0.42 mL), 1,4-dioxane (2 mL) and 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol (0.27 mL, 2.73 mmol) was heated at reflux in nitrogen for 16 hours. After concentrating under reduced pressure, the combined CH 2 Cl 2 extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford compound 44 (43% yield).
Embodiment 16
Preparation of compound 45 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline)
[0065] A solution of compound 25 (0.3 g, 1.73 mmol) in acetonitrile (3 mL) was cooled to 0° C., and added N-chlorosuccinimide (0.26 g, 1.9 mmol) at this temperature within 5 minutes. The green slurry was continuously stirred at reflux for another 3 hours, and the reaction mixture was quenched by adding 10% Na 2 SO 3 (0.36 mL). Next, the reaction mixture was decanted into 0.1 N NaOH solution (2.2 mL), and the slurry (pH 9) was continuously stirred at room temperautere for 1 hour and then filtered. The filtrate was washed and evaparated to afford compound 45 (76% yield) as a brown solid.
Embodiment 17
Preparation of compound 48 (5,6,7-trimethoxy-2-quinoline carboxaldehyde)
[0066] Crotonaldehyde (2.0 g, 28.6 mL) was added dropwise to a solution of 3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline (5.0 g, 27.3 mmol) in 6 N hydrochloride (HCl, 35 mL) solution. After refluxing for 1 hour, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and refluxing was continued in cold water for 4 hours with adding zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 , 3.72 g, 27.3 mmol). The dark sticky oil was extracted with NaHCO 3 and CH 2 Cl 2 , and the combined organic extract was dried over MgSO 4 and concentrated under reduced pressure. The debris was dissolved in p-xylene (89 mL), added SeO 2 (6.1 g, 21.4 mmol) to warm to 90° C.-95° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite and then evaporated the filtrated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:5) to afford compound 48 (19% yield).
Embodiment 18
Preparation of compounds 34 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 47 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline), 49 (2-(4′-methoxybenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxy-quinoline), 50 (2-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxybenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline), (2-(4′-fluorobenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline), 67 (4-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxybenzoyl)-6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline), 68 (4-[4′-(N,N-dimethyl)-benzoyl]-6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline) and 73 (6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinazoline)
[0067] Based on the method in Embodiment 13 for preparing compound 42, compound 47 (65% yield) was afforded using compound 46 as raw material. Compound 49 (52% yield) was afforded using compound 48 as raw material and using 4-methoxy-phenylmagnesium bromide in the Grignard reaction. Compound 50 (47% yield) was afforded using compound 48 as raw material and using 3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenylmagnesium bromide in the abovementioned method. Compound 51 (73% yield) was afforded using compound 48 as raw material and using 4-fluoro-phenylmagnesium bromide in the abovementioned method. Compound 34 (26% yield) was afforded by using 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl magnesium bromide in the abovementioned method. Compound 73 (53% yield) was afforded using compound 72 as raw material.
[0068] Compound 67 (73% yield) was afforded using compound 53 as raw material and using 3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenylmagnesium bromide in this method. Compound 68 (87% yield) was afforded using 4-(N,N-dimethyl)aniline magnesium bromide.
Embodiment 19
Preparation of compound 52 (6,7,8-trimethoxy-4-methylquinoline)
[0069] A solution of 3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline (1.0 g, 5.46 mmol) in acetic acid (6.8 mL) solution was added to ferric chloride (0.89 g, 5.46 mmol) in the nitrogen gas, and stirring was continued for another 5 minutes. Methyl vinyl ketone (0.52 mL, 6.0 mmol) was slowly added over 15 minutes, and the reaction mixture was heated at 70° C. for 1 hour, and then anhydrous ZnCl 2 (0.74 g, 5.46 mmol) was added to heat at reflux for another 16 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled, filtered, basified with 10% NaOH solution and extracted with EtOAc (20 mL×3). The combined extract was dried over Na 2 SO 4 and evaporated to give compound 52 (55% yield).
Embodiment 20
Preparation of compounds 53 (6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline-4-carboxaldehyde) and 54 (4-(4′-methoxybenzoyl)-6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline)
[0070] Based on the method in Embodiment 7 where compound 27 was afforded from compound 25, compound 53 (83% yield) was afforded using compound 52 as raw material via SeO 2 reaction. Compound 54 was afforded using compound 53 as raw material via the preparation method in Embodiment 1.
Embodiment 21
Preparation of compound 55 (6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline)
[0071] 6-Methoxyquinoline (1.0 mL, 7.24 mmol) was slowly added to a mixture of 65% HNO 3 (4 mL) and 95% H 2 SO 4 (4 mL) at 0° C. The reaction mixture was quenched after one-hour stirring, and extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 and water. The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue, which was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1) to afford compound 55 (95% yield).
Embodiment 22
Preparation of compound 56 (2-chloro-6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline)
[0072] Compound 55 (1.40 g, 6.86 mmol) was slowly mixed with CH 2 Cl 2 (22 mL) and m-CPBA (1.77 g, 10.3 mmol) at 0° C., and stirring was continued overnight at room temperature. The reaction mixture was sequentially washed with 10% Na 2 SO 3 , the saturated NaHCO 3 and the saturated salt solution, and the debris was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (33 mL) to heat at reflux overnight with addition of POCl 3 (6.4 mL). The debris was concentrated with reduced pressure and extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 . The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:3) to afford compound 56 (78% yield).
Embodiment 23
Preparation of compound 57 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl)quinoline)
[0073] A mixture of compound 56 (1.0 g, 4.2 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphorine)palladium (0.40 g, 0.36 mmol), 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylboronic acid (2.70 g, 12.6 mmol), 2 M potassium carbonate (11.5 mL), toluene (120 mL) and ethanol (58 mL) was heated at reflux in the nitrogen gas for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was concentrated with reduced pressure, and the debris was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 . The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:2) and recrystalized to afford compound 57 (47% yield).
Embodiment 24
Preparation of compounds 58 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl)quinoline), 60 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenoxy)quinoline), 62 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylamino)quinoline), 82 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylthio)quinoline) and 84 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylsulfonyl)quinoline)
[0074] To a solution of compound 57 (0.10 g, 0.27 mmol) in isopropanol (2.7 mL) and water (0.68 mL) was mixed with iron powder (0.05 g, 0.81 mmol) and NH 4 Cl (0.06 g, 0.54 mmol) to heat at reflux for 3 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered through a pad of celite. The filtrate was evaporated to extract with EtOAc (20 mL×3). The combined extract was dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 to concentrate under reduced pressure as a brown solid that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1) to afford a white compound 58 (80% yield).
[0075] Base on the above-mentioned method, compound 60 (80% yield) was afforded by using compound 59 as raw material and mixing iron powder and NH 4 Cl in the reaction. Compound 62 (68% yield) was afforded using compound 61. Compound 82 (71% yield) was afforded using compound 81. Compound 84 (76% yield) was afforded using compound 83.
Embodiment 25
Preparation of compounds 59 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenoxy)quinoline) and 81 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylthio)quinoline)
[0076] Based on the method in Embodiment 13 for preparing compound 43, compound 59 (45% yield) was afforded by reacting 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy phenol, being the raw material, with 2-chloro-6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline. Compound 81 (63% yield) was afforded by using 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy benzenethiol as raw material in the reaction.
Embodiment 26
Preparation of compound 61 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylamino)quinoline)
[0077] 3,4,5-Trimethoxyaniline (0.12 g, 0.63 mmol) and compound 56 (0.1 g, 0.42 mmol) were heated to 200° C., and stirring was continued for 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 and NaHCO 3 . The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford a white compound 61 (19% yield).
Embodiment 27
Preparation of compound 63 (2-chloro-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline)
[0078] A mixture of ferrous sulfate (FeSO 4 , 4.60 g, 16.37 mmol), 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyaniline (1.0 g, 5.46 mmol), glycerol (6.5 mL, 88.42 mmol), the concentrated H 2 SO 4 (4.4 mL), nitrobenzene (4.1 mL) and glacial acetic acid (4.9 mL) in a round bottom flask was heated to 145° C. for reacting for 6 hours, and then ice water was added. After the distillation, the dark creamy oil was extracted with NaHCO 3 and CH 2 Cl 2 . The combined organic extract was dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 and concentrated under reduced pressure. The debris was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (9 mL) at room temperature with addition of m-CPBA (0.99 g, 5.75 mmol) for overnight. The reaction mixture was washed with 10% Na 2 SO 3 , the saturated NaHCO 3 and the saturated salt solution. The debris was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (13.8 mL), and POCl 3 (2.6 mL) was added at reflux overnight. The reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure, and the debris was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 . The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:7) to afford compound 63 (11% yield).
Embodiment 28
Preparation of compounds 64 (2-(4′-methoxy-phenyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline), 65 (2-[4′-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl]-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline) and 66 (2-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxyphenyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline)
[0079] A mixture of compound 63 (0.10 g, 0.39 mmol), 4-methoxyphenylboronic acid (0.19 g, 1.18 mmol), tetralds(triphenyl-phosphine)palladium (0.04 g, 0.04 mmol), 2 M potassium dichromate (1.1 mL) and toluene (3 mL) in a 10 mL sealed glass flask which had a stir bar therein in advance was disposed in the microwave to react at 160° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, decanted into water and extracted with EtOAc and NaHCO 3 . The collected extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:4) to afford a while compound 64 (65% yield).
[0080] Based on the above method, compound 65 (68% yield) was afforded by using compound 63, being the raw material, in reaction with 4-(dimethylamino)phenylboronic acid. Compound 66 (36% yield) was afforded using 3-fluoro-4-methyoxyphenylboronic acid.
Embodiment 29
Preparation of compounds 30 (5-(4″-hydroxyphenyl)-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline) and 33 (6-methoxy-5-pyridinyl-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0081] A mixture of compound 42 (0.10 g, 0.23 mmol), 4-hydroxyphenylboronic acid (0.19 g, 1.18 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)-palladium (0.02 g, 0.02 mmol), 2 M potassium dichromate (0.64 mL) and toluene (3 mL) in a 10-mL sealed glass flask which had a stir bar therein in advance was disposed in the microwave to react at 180° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, decanted into water and extracted with EtOAc and NaHCO 3 . The collected extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:4) to afford a while compound 30 (78% yield).
[0082] Based on the above method, compound 33 (76% yield) was afforded by using pyridine-4-boronic acid as raw material in the reaction.
Embodiment 30
Preparation of compound 71 (6-methoxy-2-methylquinazoline)
[0083] A mixture of 2-bromo-5-methoxybenaldehyde (0.50 g, 2.33 mmol), acetamidine hydrochloride (0.25 g, 2.56 mmol), L-proline (0.05 g, 0.47 mmol), cesium carbonate (2.28 g, 6.98 mmol) and cuprous iodide (0.05 g, 0.23 mmol) in DMF (20 mL) was heated to 110° C. for stirring for 18 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled and filtered through a pad of celite. The filtrate was evaporated under reduced pressure, and then extracted with EtOAc (20 mL×3). The combined extract was dried over MgSO 4 and evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1) to afford compound 71 (41% yield).
Embodiment 31
Preparation of compound 83 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenylsulfonyl)quinoline)
[0084] Compound 81 (0.50 g, 1.25 mmol), CH 2 Cl 2 (100 mL) and m-CPBA (0.65 g, 3.75 mmol) were slowly mixed at 0° C. and then warmed to room temperature, and stirred was continued overnight. The reaction mixture was sequentially washed with 10% Na 2 SO 3 , the saturated NaHCO 3 and the saturated salt solution. The combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1) to afford compound 83 (78% yield).
Embodiment 32
Preparation of compound 85 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-methyl-quinoline)
[0085] Compound 25 (0.30 g, 1.73 mmol) was dissolved in H 2 SO 4 (1.8 mL) and cooled to 0° C., and then N-iodosuccinimide (0.80 g, 1.9 mmol) was slowly added at 0° C. during 5 minutes. The reaction mixture was warmed to room temperature, and stirring was continued for 5 minutes. The reaction mixture was quenched by adding ice water. The reaction mixture was decanted into 0.1 N NaOH, and the slurry-like solution (pH 9) was stirred continuously at room temperature for 1 hour and then filtered. The filtrate was washed with water and evaporated to afford compound 40 (98% yield) as a brown solid. Compound 40 was sequentially extracted with EtOAc (15 mL×2) and CH 2 Cl 2 (15 mL×2). The combined extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:3) to afford compound 85 (96% yield).
Embodiment 33
Preparation of compound 87 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline)
[0086] A solution of compound 15 (0.10 g, 0.03 mmol) in ice water (0.9 mL) and the concentrated H 2 SO 4 (0.44 mL) was added dropwise to a solution of sodium nitrite (NaNO 2 , 0.03 g, 0.4 mmol) in the water (0.05 mL). The diazonium salt solution was slowly added dropwise to the boiling 6 M H 2 SO 4 (1.5 mL), and the reaction mixture was quenched by adding water. The reaction mixture was extracted with EtOAc and water, and the organic extract was evaoprated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford compound 87 (53% yield).
Embodiment 34
Preparation of compound 88 (5-[6methoxy-2-(4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline] disodium phosphate)
[0087] A solution of N-chlorosuccinimide (0.19 g, 1.4 mmol) in anhydrous acetonitrile (7 mL) was heated to 40° C., and stirring was continued for 5 minutes and then the heat source was removed. Dibenzyl phosphite (DBP, 0.39 mL, 1.44 mmol) was added dropwise to the reaction mixture, and stirring was continued at room temperature for 4 hours.
[0088] In addition, a mixture of compound 87 (0.1 g, 0.28 mmol), anhydrous acetonitrile (3.5 mL) and N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (0.01 g, 0.04 mmol) were added to a 100-mL dried round bottom flask which had a stir bar therein, the reaction temperature was maintained at 10° C.-20° C., and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.25 mL, 1.4 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was cooled to 0° C., and dibenzyl chlorophosphate was slowly added among 5 to 10 minutes, and stirring was continued at room temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was evaporated using the rotary vaccum evaporator, and toluene (5 mL) was added. The reaction mixture was evaoprated, and another toluene (5 mL) was added. The reaction mixture was extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 , and the combined organic extract was evaporated to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1). The obtained eluent was evaporated to dissolve in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (2 mL), bromotrimethylsilane (0.05 mL, 0.4 mmol) was added at 0° C. for continuously stirring for 3 hours, and then water (1 mL) was added for stirring another 1 hour. The reaction mixture was washed with EtOAc, the organic extract was lyophilized to obtain a brown solid, which was dissolved in ethanol (1.4 mL). Sodium methoxide (0.03 g) was added to the mixture, and the suspension was continuously stirred for 18 hours. The suspension was evaporated, and the brown oil was dissolved in the water. The mixture was washed with EtOAc and lyophilized to afford compound 88 as a brown solid.
Embodiment 35
Preparation of compound 76 (6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline-5-carboxamide)
[0089] Compound 43 (0.30 g, 0.79 mmol), potassium hydroxide (KOH, 0.22 g, 3.95 mmol) and methanol (4 mL) were added to a sealed tube and mixed. The reaction mixture was warmed to 65° C. for 18 hours, and then added to cooling water (15 mL). The mixture was extracted with EtOAc thrice, and the filtrate was filtered to give a residue that was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (methanol:CH 2 Cl 2 =1:49) to afford compound 76 (37% yield).
Embodiment 36
Preparation of compounds 35 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline), 36 (5-(tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy)-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline), 37 (5-(tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy)-6-methoxyquinoline-2-carbaldehyde) and 38 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline)
[0090] A mixture of compound 40 (0.13 g, 0.52 mmol), tetrakis(triphenyl-phosphine)palladium (0.02 g, 0.02 mmol), 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (pinacolborane, 0.12 mL, 0.77 mmol), triethylamine (0.21 mL, 1.5 mmol) and 1,4-dioxane (2 mL) was added in a 10-mL glass flask which had a stir bar therein in advance was reacted at 160° C. for 15 minutes in the microwave oven. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and then decanted to water. The mixture was extracted with EtOAc and NaHCO 3 . The collected extract was dried over MgSO 4 and concentrated with reduced pressure, the debris was dissolved in ethanol (1.2 mL). The mixture was added NaOH (0.04 g, 1.04 mmol) and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (0.05 g, 0.78 mmol), and stirring was continued at room temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was decanted to water to extract with EtOAc. The combined organic extract was evaporated and dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 , and the residue was purified by silica gel flash column chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to afford compound 35 (38% yield).
[0091] tert-Butylchlorodimethylsilane (1.76 g, 11.42 mmol) was mixed with diisopropylethylamine (1.89 mL, 11.42 mmol), and then a solution of compound 35 (0.54 g, 2.85 mmol) in CH 2 Cl 2 (17.2 mL) was added. Stirring was continued at room temperature for 18 hours. The reaction solution was decanted to water to extract with CH 2 Cl 2 . The collected extract was dried over anhydrous MgSO 4 . The dried extract was concentrated with reduced pressure to give a residue that was purified by silica gel column flash chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:3) to afford compound 36 (87% yield).
[0092] Based on the preparation method in Embodiment 8, compound 37 (72% yield) was afforded using compound 36 as raw material.
[0093] A solution of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl magnesium bromide (1 mole) in THF (1.6 mL) was prepared at 0° C. and was slowly added dropwise to a solution of compound 37 in THE (2.5 mL). The mixture was warmed to room temperature, and stirring was continued for 16 hours. The saturated NH 4 Cl solution was slowly added to the reaction mixture at 0° C. to be hydrolyzed, and then reaction mixture was sequentially extracted with EtOAc (15 mL×2) and CH 2 Cl 2 (15 mL×2). The combined extract was dried over MgSO 4 and evaporated to give a crude residue, which was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (50 mL). Molecular sieves (4 Å, 0.60 g) and PDC (0.60 g, 1.57 mmol) were added to the reaction mixture with stirring at room temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of celite. The filtrate was evaporated to give a residue, which was dissolved in THF (2 mL). Tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (0.41 mL, 1.0 M in THF) was added to the reaction mixture with stirring at room temperature for 16 hours. The residue was extracted with EtOAc and H 2 O. The organic layers were combined and evaporated to give a residue, which was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=2:3) to give the compound 38, yield 31%.
Embodiment 37
Preparation of compound 89 (5-[6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline]disodium phosphate)
[0094] N-Chlorosuccinimide (0.09 g, 0.68 mmol) was dissolved in anhydrous acetonitrile (3.4 mL). The reaction mixture was then heated to 40° C. and stirred at this temperature for 5 minutes. The heat source was removed, and DBP (0.19 mL, 0.68 mmol) was added dropwise. The reaction mixture was then stirred for 4 hours at room temperature. In a separate 100 mL dry round-bottom flask, equipped with a stir bar, was charged compound 38 (0.1 g, 0.27 mmol) followed by anhydrous acetonitrile (10 mL) and N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (0.01 g, 0.04 mmol). The temperature of the reaction mixture was maintained between 10° C. and 20° C., and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.12 mL, 0.68 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was then cooled to 0° C., and the dibenzyl chlorophosphate solution was added slowly over a period of 5 to 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was then warmed to room temperature and stirred for 16 hours. The solvent was evaporated completely under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator, followed by the addition of toluene (5 mL). The solvent (toluene) was evaporated under reduced pressure, and additional toluene (5 mL) was added. The residue was extracted with dichloromethane. The organic layers were combined and evaporated to give a residue, which was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc:n-hexane=1:1) to give the solids. The solids was dissolved in anhydrous dichlorometane (5 mL) at 0° C. was added bromotrimethylsilane (0.18 mL, 1.4 mmol), and the mixture was stirred for 3 hours. Water (1 mL) was added, the solution was stirred for 1 hour and washed with ethyl acetate, and the aqueous phase was freeze-dried to a brown solid. To a solution of the solid in ethanol (5 mL) was added sodium methoxide (0.09 g, 1.62 mmol), and the suspension was stirred for 18 hours. Solvent was removed in vacuo, and the resulting oil was dissolved in water. The solution was washed with ethyl acetate and then freeze-dried to afford brown solid, yield 53%.
[0095] The properties of the synthetic compounds were listed as follows.
[0096] Compound 5 (2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 158-159° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 6H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 7.64 (s, 2H), 7.69−7.66 (m, 1H), 7.81−7.78 (m, 1H), 7.92 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.11 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 8.36 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1157; found, 323.1158.
[0097] Compound 6 (3-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 107-109° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.88 (s, 6H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 7.11 (s, 2H), 7.65 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.86 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.58 (s, 1H), 9.30 (s, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1158; found, 323.1164.
[0098] Compound 7 (4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyDquinoline): mp 109-110° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.78 (s, 6H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 7.09 (s, 2H), 7.41 (d, J=4.2 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.77 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.87 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 9.03 (d, J=4.2 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1158; found, 323.1152.
[0099] Compound 8 (5-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 145-147° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.82 (s, 6H), 3.95 (s, 3H), 7.11 (s, 2H), 7.46 (dd, J=4.2, 8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (d, J=6.9 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 8.29 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.50 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.98 (d, J=3.2 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1156; found, 323.1148.
[0100] Compound 9 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 132-134° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 7.11 (s, 2H), 7.51 (dd, J=4.3, 8.2 Hz, 1H), 8.13 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.26-8.27 (m, 2H), 9.03-9.04 (m, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1158; found, 323.1153.
[0101] Compound 10 (7-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 149-151° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 6H), 3.95 (s, 3H), 7.14 (s, 2H), 7.52 (dd, J=4.2, 8.3 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.00-8.02 (m, 1H), 8.24 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 8.48 (s, 1H), 9.00-9.01 (m, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1158; found, 323.1166.
[0102] Compound 11 (8-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 153-155° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.75 (s, 6H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 7.12 (s, 2H), 7.44 (dd, J=4.1, 8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.73 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 7.96 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.89 (d, J=2.9 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 323 (M + , 100%). HRMS (El) for C 19 H 17 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 323.1158; found, 323.1162.
[0103] Compound 12 (6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 143-145° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.91 (s, 3H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 3.98 (s, 3H), 7.15 (d, J=2.7 Hz, 1H), 7.44 (dd, J=4.0, 9.1 Hz, 1H), 7.64 (s, 2H), 8.06-8.12 (m, 1H), 7.96 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1263; found, 353.1262.
[0104] Compound 13 (8-methoxy-4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 162.5-164.1° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.77 (s, 6H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 4.13 (s, 3H), 7.06 (s, 2H), 7.11 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.38 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (d, J=4.1 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1264; found, 353.1268.
[0105] Compound 14 (2-methoxy-6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 182-183° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.06 (s, 3H), 6.82 (d, J=5.3 Hz, 1H), 7.11 (s, 2H), 8.12 (s, 2H), 8.65 (s, 1H), 8.85 (d, J=5.3 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1263; found, 353.1262.
[0106] Compound 15 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): mp 184.3-185.2° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.91 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 4.34 (br, 2H), 7.51 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.64 (s, 2H), 7.69 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.30 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 368 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 20 N 2 O 5 (M + ): calcd, 368.1373; found, 368.1374.
[0107] Compound 16 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-1-methyl-quinoline N-oxide): mp 175-176° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.86 (s, 611), 3.96 (s, 3H), 7.07 (s, 2H), 7.39 (dd, J=6.2, 8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.11 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 8.29 (s, 1H), 8.62 (d, J=5.9 Hz, 1H), 8.85 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 339 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 17 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 339.1107; found, 339.1106.
[0108] Compound 17 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-1-methyl-quinolinium iodide): mp 187-188° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.88 (s, 6H), 3.98 (s, 3H), 5.03 (s, 3H), 7.08 (s, 211), 8.25 (dd, J=5.8, 8.3 Hz, 1H), 8.49 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.57-8.54 (m, 1H), 8.59 (s, 1H), 9.06 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 10.52 (d, J=5.6 Hz, 1H). MS (EI): m/z: 338 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 20 NO 4 + (M + ): calcd, 338.1392; found, 338.1392.
[0109] Compound 26 (6-methoxy-2-methyl-5-nitroquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.72 (s, 3H), 4.05 (s, 3H), 7.39 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.52 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.15 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H).
[0110] Compound 27 (6-methoxy-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.98 (s, 3H), 7.14 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (dd, J=2.5, 9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.8 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.13-8.19 (m, 2H), 10.19 (s, 1H).
[0111] Compound 28 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.13 (s, 3H), 7.69 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 8.11 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d,J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 8.41 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 10.17 (s, 1H).
[0112] Compound 29 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 3H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 4.12 (s, 3H), 7.55 (s, 2H), 7.66 (d, J=9.4, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.26 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.35 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H).
[0113] Compound 30 (5-(4″-hydroxyphenyl)-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 201-203° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO): δ 3.79 (s, 3H), 3.82 (s, 6H), 3.86 (s, 3H), 6.90 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.13 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.55 (s, 2H), 7.85 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.01 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.19 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 9.60 (s, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 445 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 26 H 23 NO 6 (M + ): calcd, 445.1525.; found, 445.1526.
[0114] Compound 31 (8-methoxy-4-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.57 (s, 3H), 3.99 (s, 3H), 6.95 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.15 (d, J=4.1 Hz, 1H), 7.39−7.36 (m, 1H), 7.45 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.70 (d, J 4.2 Hz, 1H).
[0115] Compound 32 (8-methoxy-4-quinolinecarboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.12 (s, 3H), 7.16 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.68−7.64 (m, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=4.1 Hz, 1H), 8.55 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 9.20 (d, J=4.1 Hz, 1H), 10.53 (s, 1H).
[0116] Compound 33 (6-methoxy-5-pyridinyl-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 203-205° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO): δ 3.80 (s, 3H), 3.82 (s, 6H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 7.41 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 2H), 7.55 (s, 2H), 7.91-7.99 (m, 3H), 8.30 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.73 (d, J=5.5 Hz, 2H). MS (EI) m/z: 430 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 25 H 22 N 2 O 5 (M + ): calcd, 430.1529; found, 430.1529.
[0117] Compound 34 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): mp 202-204° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 611), 3.97 (s, 3H), 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.51 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (s, 2H), 8.13 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.61 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 479 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 18 INO 5 (M + ): calcd, 479.0230; found, 479.0229.
[0118] Compound 35 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.70 (s, 3H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 6.54 (s, 1H), 7.22 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.40 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.59 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.39 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).
[0119] Compound 36 (5-(tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy)-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.21 (s, 6H), 1.07 (s, 9H), 2.69 (s, 3H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 7.21 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.42 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.64 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 8.35 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H).
[0120] Compound 37 (5-(tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy)-6-methoxy-quinoline-2-carbaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.23 (s, 6H), 1.08 (s, 9H), 3.98 (s, 3H), 7.58 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 7.91 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.59 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 10.17 (s, 1H).
[0121] Compound 38 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy benzoyl)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 6.08 (s, 1H), 7.54 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 8.05 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.66 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H).
[0122] Compound 40 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.73 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 7.33 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.46 (d, J=9.2, Hz, 1H), 8.00 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.40 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H).
[0123] Compound 41 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-quinoline-carboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.11 (s, 3H), 7.61 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.07 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.25 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.66 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 10.20 (s, 1H).
[0124] Compound 42 (5-bromo-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): mp 163-165° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.57-7.60 (m, 3H), 8.16-8.20 (m, 2H), 8.70 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 431 (M + , 40%), 195 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 18 BrNO 5 (M + ): calcd, 431.0368; found, 431.0367.
[0125] Compound 43 (5-cyano-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): mp 191-192° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 6H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 4.14 (s, 3H), 7.56 (s, 2H), 7.59 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 8.25 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.39 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 8.58 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 378 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 18 BrNO 5 (M + ): calcd, 378.1216; found, 378.1216.
[0126] Compound 44 (5-(3″-hydroxy-3″-methylbut-1″-ynyl)-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): mp 151-153° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 1.76 (s, 6H), 3.90 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 7.53 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (s, 2H), 8.13-8.16 (m, 2H), 8.65 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 435 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 25 H 25 NO 6 (M + ): calcd, 435.1682; found, 435.1681.
[0127] Compound 45 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.73 (s, 3H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 7.35 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.49 (d, J=9.3, Hz, 1H), 7.97 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 8.42 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H).
[0128] Compound 46 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-quinoline-carboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.62 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 8.06 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.19 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 8.64 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 10.18 (s, 1H).
[0129] Compound 47 (5-chloro-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline): mp 176-177° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDC1 3 ): 6 3.90 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.60-7.61 (m, 3H), 8.13-8.19 (m, 2H), 8.70 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 387 (M + , 13%), 334 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 18 ClNO 5 (M + ): calcd, 387.0874; found, 387.0873.
[0130] Compound 48 (5,6,7-trimethoxy-2-quinoline carboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.03 (s, 3H), 4.05 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 7.37 (s, 1H), 7.90 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.50 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 10.17 (s, 11-1H).
[0131] Compound 49 (2-(4′-methoxybenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline): mp 103-105° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.90 (s, 6H), 4.01 (s, 3H), 4.02 (s, 3H), 4.09 (s, 3H), 6.99 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 2H), 7.90 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.22 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 2H), 8.51 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (M + , 56%), 135 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1263; found, 353.1.266.
[0132] Compound 50 (2-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxybenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxy-quinoline): mp 137-139° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.98 (s, 311), 4.02 (s, 6H), 4.09 (s, 3H), 7.05 (t, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.32 (s, 1H), 7.93 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.06-8.09 (m, 2H), 8.52 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 371 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 18 FNO 5 (M + ): calcd, 371.1169; found, 371.1170.
[0133] Compound 51 (2-(4′-fluorobenzoyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline): mp 145-146° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.02 (s, 6H), 4.09 (s, 3H), 7.16-7.19 (m, 2H), 7.30 (s, 1H), 7.96 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 111), 8.25-8.28 (m, 2H), 8.53 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 341 (100%).
[0134] Compound 52 (6,7,8-trimethoxy-4-methylquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.64 (s, 3H), 3.89 (s, 3H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 4.18 (s, 3H), 6.97 (s, 1H), 7.18 (d, J=4.3 Hz, 1H), 8.68 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1H).
[0135] Compound 53 (6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline-4-carboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.05 (s, 3H), 4.06 (s, 3H), 4.16 (s, 3H), 7.70 (d, J=4.3 Hz, 1H), 8.31 (s, 1H), 9.07 (d, J=4.3 Hz, 1H), 10.37 (s, 1H).
[0136] Compound 54 (4-(4′-methoxybenzoyl)-6,7,8-trimethoxyquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.83 (s, 3H), 3.88 (s, 311), 4.04 (s, 3H), 4.18 (s, 3H), 6.94-6.96 (m, 3H), 7.30 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 2H), 8.88 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1263; found, 353.1263.
[0137] Compound 55 (6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.08 (s, 3H), 7.54 (dd, J=4.2, 8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 8.10 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.30 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 8.88 (d, J=3.4 Hz, 1H).
[0138] Compound 56 (2-chloro-6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.07 (s, 3H), 7.50 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 8.03 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.17 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H).
[0139] Compound 57 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl)-quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.93 (s, 3H), 4.01 (s, 6H), 4.09 (s, 3H), 7.39 (s, 2H), 7.59 (d, J=9.4 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.14 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.37 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H).
[0140] Compound 58 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl)-quinoline): mp 222-223° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.91 (s, 3H), 4.00 (s, 6H), 4.00 (s, 3H), 4.25 (br, 2H), 7.37 (s, 2H), 7.45 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 7.66 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.74 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 8.19 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 340 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 20 N 2 O 4 (M + ): calcd, 340.1423; found, 340.1423.
[0141] Compound 59 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenoxy)-quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.81 (s, 6H), 3.83 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 6.48 (s, 2H), 7.20 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.97 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 8.05 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H).
[0142] Compound 60 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenoxy)-quinoline): mp 209-210° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.66 (s, 3H), 3.72 (s, 6H), 3.83 (s, 3H), 5.45 (s, 2H), 6.53 (s, 2H), 6.91 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 6.97 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.53 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 356 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 20 N 2 O 5 (M + ): calcd, 356.1372; found, 356.1375.
[0143] Compound 61 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-amino)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.84 (s, 3H), 3.85 (s, 3H), 3.87 (s, 3H), 4.01 (s, 3H), 6.86 (s, 2H), 7.03 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.85-7.87 (m, 2H).
[0144] Compound 62 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-amino)quinoline): mp 222-223° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO): δ 3.60 (s, 3H), 3.79 (s, 6H), 3.80 (s, 3H), 5.23 (s, 2H), 6.81 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 6.91 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.24 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 7.40 (s, 2H), 8.20 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 9.12 (s, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 355 (M + , 85%), 340 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 21 N 3 O 4 (M + ): calcd, 355.1532; found, 355.1530.
[0145] Compound 63 (2-chloro-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.96 (s, 3H), 3.98 (s, 3H), 4.05 (s, 3H), 7.16 (s, 1H), 7.23 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 8.28 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H).
[0146] Compound 64 (2-(4′-methoxyphenyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline): mp 136-137° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.88 (s, 3H), 3.99 (s, 3H), 4.02 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 7.03 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 2H), 7.31 (s, 1H), 7.68 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 2H), 8.37 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 325 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 19 NO 4 (M + ): calcd, 325.1314; found, 325.1317.
[0147] Compound 65 (2-[4′-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl]-5,6,7-trimethoxyquinoline): mp 154-155° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.04 (s, 611), 3.98 (s, 3H), 4.02 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 6.83 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.06 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.32 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 338 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 22 N 2 O 3 (M + ): calcd, 338.1630; found, 338.1629.
[0148] Compound 66 (2-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxyphenyl)-5,6,7-trimethoxy-quinoline): mp 129-130° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl3): δ 3.96 (s, 3H), 3.99 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 4.07 (s, 3H), 7.07 (t, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.29 (s, 1H), 7.66 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (dd, J=12.6, 1.9 Hz, 1H), 8.38 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 343 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 19 H 18 FNO 4 (M + ): calcd, 343.1220; found, 343.1223.
[0149] Compound 67 (4-(3′-fluoro-4′-methoxybenzoyl)-6,7,8-trimethoxy-quinoline): mp 117-118° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO): δ 3.73 (s, 3H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 3.92 (s, 3H), 4.05 (s, 3H), 6.86 (s, 1H), 7.28 (s, 1H), 7.45 (s, 1H), 7.52 (s, 1H), 7.70 (s, 1H), 8.85 (s, 1H). MS (EI) m/z: 353 (100%). HRMS (EI) for C 20 H 19 NO 5 (M + ): calcd, 353.1263; found, 353.1263.
[0150] Compound 68 (4-[4′-(N,N-dimethypbenzoyl]-6,7,8-trimethoxy-quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.09 (s, 6H), 3.83 (s, 3H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 4.18 (s, 3H), 6.65 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 6.96 (s, 1H), 7.29 (d, J=4.0 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.87 (d, J=4.5 Hz, 1H).
[0151] Compound 71 (6-methoxy-2-methylquinazoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.86 (s, 3H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 7.11 (d, J=2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.51-7.53 (m, 1H), 7.86 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 9.22 (s, 1H).
[0152] Compound 72 (6-methoxyquinazoline-2-carbaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.96 (s, 3H), 7.14 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.57 (dd, J=8.0, 3.0 Hz, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 9.21 (s, 1H), 9.30 (s, 1H).
[0153] Compound 73 (6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)-quinazoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO): δ 3.77 (s, 3H), 3.85 (s, 9H), 7.13 (s, 2H), 7.48 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (dd, J=7.8, 2.5 Hz, 1H), 8.00 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 9.18 (s, 1H).
[0154] Compound 74 (6-quinoxaline carboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 8.23-8.29 (m, 2H), 8.06 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.97 (s, 1H), 10.28 (s, 2H).
[0155] Compound 75 (6-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoxaline): mp 149-151° C. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 61-1), 3.96 (s, 3H), 7.14 (s, 2H), 8.20-8.25 (m, 2H), 8.49 (d, J=1.1 Hz, 1H), 8.94-8.95 (m, 2H). MS (EI) m/z: 324 (M + , 100%). HRMS (EI) for C 18 H 16 N 2 O 4 (M + ): calcd, 324.1110; found, 324.1107.
[0156] Compound 81 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-thio)quinoline): 1 H NMR. (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.85 (s, 6H), 3.91 (s, 3H), 4.04 (s, 3H), 6.89 (s, 2H), 7.12 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H).
[0157] Compound 82 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-thio)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.84 (s, 6H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 6.90 (s, 2H), 6.93 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.39 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (s, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).
[0158] Compound 83 (6-methoxy-5-nitro-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-sulfonyl)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.87 (s, 3H), 3.91 (s, 6H), 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.32 (s, 2H), 7.67 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 8.27 (dd, J=9.0, 2.5 Hz, 2H), 8.36 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H).
[0159] Compound 84 (5-amino-6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-sulfonyl)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.86 (s, 3H), 3.90 (s, 6H), 4.00 (s, 3H), 7.35 (s, 2H), 7.51 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.32 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).
[0160] Compound 85 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-methyl-quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 2.73 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 3H), 7.29 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.39 (d, J=9.2, Hz, 1H), 8.02 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.31 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H).
[0161] Compound 86 (5-iodo-6-methoxy-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 4.10 (s, 3H), 7.55 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.28 (d, J=9.2 Hz, 1H), 8.59 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 10.23 (s, 1H).
[0162] Compound 87 (5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 3.91 (s, 6H), 3.96 (s, 3H), 6.96 (d, J=10.0 Hz, 1H), 7.56 (s, 2H), 7.78 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 7.89 (d, J=10.0 Hz, 1H), 8.20 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H).
[0163] Compound 88 (5-[6-methoxy-2-(4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxy-benzoyl)quinoline]disodium phosphate): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, D 2 O): δ 3.79 (s, 6H), 3.83 (s, 3H), 7.28 (s, 2H), 7.66 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 7.89 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.98 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 8.43 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H).
[0164] Compound 89 (5-[6-methoxy-2-(3′,4′,5′-dimethoxybenzoyl)-quinoline]disodium phosphate): 1 H NMR (500 MHz, D 2 O): δ 3.89 (s, 6H), 3.93 (s, 3H), 4.09 (s, 3H), 7.35 (s, 2H), 7.82 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (d, J=9.5 Hz, 1H), 7.99 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.81 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).
Embodiment 38
Preparation of compound 11 as Tablets
[0165] The following components were weighed respectively, mixed and filled in the tablet machine for preparing tablets.
[0000]
8-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxybenzoyl)quinoline (compound 11)
25 mg
Lactose
qs
Corn flour
qs
Experiment 1
Biological Evaluation, In Vitro Cell Growth Inhibitory Activity
[0166] Human oral epidermoid carcinoma KB cells, non-small-cell lung carcinoma H460 cells, colorectal carcinoma HT29 cells and stomach carcinoma MKN45 cells were maintained in RMPI-1640 medium supplied with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS). KB-VIN10 cells were maintained in growth medium supplemented with 10 nM vincristine, generated from vincristine-driven selection, and displayed overexpression of P-gp170/MDR. Cells in logarithmic phase were cultured at a density of 5000 cells/mL/well in a 24-well plate. KB-VIN10 cells were cultured in drug-free medium for 3 days prior to use. The cells were exposed to various concentrations of the test drugs for 72 hours. The methylene blue dye assay was used to evaluate the effect of the test compounds on cell growth (Finlay et al., 1984). The IC 50 values resulting from 50% inhibition of cell growth was calculated graphically as a comparison with the control. Compounds were examined in at least three independent experiments, and the values shown for these compounds are the mean and standard deviation of these data.
Experiment 2
Tubulin Polymerization in Vitro Assay
[0167] Turbidimetric assays (Liou et al., 2004; Kuo et al., 2004) of microtubules were performed as described by Bollag et al. 1995. In brief, microtubule-associated protein (MAP)-rich tubulin (from bovine brain, Cytoskeleton, Denver, Col.) has been dissolved in reaction buffer (100 mM PIPES (1,4-piperazinediethanesulfulfonic acid, pH 6.9), 2 mM magnesium chloride (MgCl 2 ), 1 mM GTP (guanosine triphosphate)) in preparing of 4 mg/mL tubulin solution. Tubulin solution (240 μg MAP-rich tubulin per well) was placed in 96-well microtiter plate in the presence of test compounds or 2% (v/v) DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) as vehicle control. The increase in absorbance was measured at 350 nm in a PowerWave X Microplate Reader (Bio-Tek Instruments, Winooski, Vt.) at 37° C. and recorded every 30 seconds for 30 minutes. The area under the curve (AUC) used to determine the concentration that inhibited tubulin polymerization to 50% (IC 50 ). The AUC of the untreated control and 10 μM of colchicine was set to 100% and 0% polymerization, respectively, and the IC 50 was calculated by nonlinear regression in at least three experiments.
Experiment 3
Tubulin Competition-Binding Scintillation Proximity Assay
[0168] This assay was performed as described by Tahir et al., 2003. In brief, 0.08 μM of [ 3 H]colchicine was mixed with the test compound and 0.5 μg special long-chain biotin-labeled tubulin (0.5 μg) and then incubated in 100 μL of reaction buffer (80 mM PIPES, pH 6.8, 1 mM EGTA (ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid), 10% glycerol, 1 mM MgCl 2 , and 1 mM GTP) for 2 hours at 37° C. Then 80 μg of Streptavidin -labeled SPA (scintillation proximity assay) beads were added to each reaction mixture. Then the radioactive counts were directly measured by a scintillation counter.
[0169] While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred Embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed Embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
[0000]
TABLE 1
IC 50 values of the compounds on the proliferation of cells
Cell type (IC 50 nM ± SD a )
Compound
KB
H460
HT29
MKN45
KB-VIN10
5
173.6 ± 33.1
180 ± 25.5
148 ± 17
245.5 ± 32.7
117.3 ± 23.7
6
1800 ± 100
1600 ± 380
1000 ± 210
562 ± 42
1100 ± 220
7
3500 ± 700
3800 ± 520
2300 ± 480
920 ± 90
2200 ± 600
8
2900 ± 400
3800 ± 620
2800 ± 310
1200 ± 150
2300 ± 400
9
24 ± 6.1
36 ± 5.5
24.6 ± 3
16.3 ± 4.5
21.5 ± 7.7
10
>10000
>10000
>10000
>10000
>10000
11
8100 ± 700
5000 ± 920
4500 ± 1100
3200 ± 700
6000 ± 800
12
27.2 ± 9.8
61.5 ± 20.5
77 ± 5.7
150 ± 31.2
21.5 ± 0.6
13
155 ± 15.1
193 ± 35.3
162.5 ± 28.7
147 ± 25.4
165.2 ± 33
14
300.6 ± 64.4
256.5 ± 34.6
205.5 ± 4.9
138.5 ± 54.4
202.3 ± 26.2
15
0.3 ± 0.1
0.4 ± 0.3
0.4 ± 0.2
0.3 ± 0.2
0.2 ± 0.1
16
829.5 ± 171.5
1100 ± 150
872 ± 86.2
617.3 ± 85
764 ± 111.1
17
>10000
>10000
>10000
>10000
>10000
3
12 ± 1.2
20.1 ± 3
13.2 ± 2.3
12.4 ± 2
128 ± 8
1
2.4 ± 0.2
2.6 ± 0.3
835 ± 54
4.9 ± 0.2
1.9 ± 0.4
a SD: standard deviation. All experiments were independently performed at least three times.
[0000]
TABLE 2
50% Inhibition concentration (IC 50 , nM) of the
compounds on the proliferation of KB cells line
Compound
IC 50
47
45
49
>1
30
>10
33
472
66
>10
44
495
54
1300
43
17
50
>10
42
108
84
<10
62
>10
58
>10
67
1673
15
31
82
<10
34
451
64
>10
87
471
65
>10
68
226
[0000]
TABLE 3
Inhibition of tubulin polymerization and
colchicines binding by the compounds
tubulin a
colchicine binding b (% ± SD)
Compound
IC 50 ± SD (μM)
1 μM inhibitor
5 μM inhibitor
5
>10
9
2.9 ± 0.5
51 ± 3
72 ± 3
12
3.5 ± 0.6
40 ± 3
68 ± 2
14
>10
15
1.6 ± 0.2
90 ± 0.5
97 ± 1
3
4.2 ± 0.6
1
2.1 ± 0.3
87 ± 1
95 ± 2
a Inhibition of tubulin polymerization.
b Inhibition of [ 3 H]colchicine binding. Tubulin was at 1 μM; [ 3 H]colchicine was at 5 μM. | A serious of nitro heterocyclic derivatives including a structure of formula (I) are provided. In formula (I), P, Q and R1 to R8 are defined in the specification. The derivatives disclosed in the present invention are characterized in inhibiting tubulin polymerization, and treating cancers and other tubulin polymerization-related disorders with a suitable pharmaceutical acceptable carrier. | 0 |
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to tamper resistant push on assemblies for containers. It is particularly useful in connection with re-usable glass bottles such as milk bottles, but not necessarily limited to such use.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Bottles in the nature of milk bottles have heretofore been closed with friction fitted cardboard disks, crimped on aluminium foil caps and crimped on paper caps, none of which are tamper resistant.
Tamper resistant closures are known for plastic bottles. One such proposal is advanced in British Patent 1,038,327 and includes a latch ring, a cap and a hinge band disposed between the cap and latch ring. This closure is required to be assembled onto the neck of the bottle and is not readily adapted for use with existing milk bottles and milk bottling machinery.
German Patent 3911537 describes a tamper resistant closure which includes a latch ring and screw cap, with frangible tabs and a seal therebetween. The latch ring is provided with radially angled teeth which are intended to coact with teeth on the bottle neck, to permit the latch ring to rotate on the neck in a clockwise direction, but which precludes its rotation in an anticlockwise direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,918 describes a one piece tamper resistant closure for screw bottles which includes a latch ring with axially angled teeth and frangible tabs which bridge between the latch ring and screw cap, and a hinge which interconnects the latch ring and screw cap. When the cap is initially unscrewed, the latch ring will pivot about the hinge, and a considerable mechanical advantage will be generated which will assist in rupturing the frangible tabs.
Re-usable glass bottles such as milk bottles have traditionally used push on type closures, and it would involve a major capital cost to convert to screw type bottles. Moreover, it is impractical to provide in these types of bottles expedients such as ratcheting teeth. The diameter of the necks of these bottles is relatively large, and given the relatively wide tolerances to which the bottles are manufactured, it has been generally thought necessary to use some type of crimping operation to provide an adequate seal. Generally speaking, the closures of the prior art milk bottles have been of a type whereby they provide an inadequate re-closing function following their initial removal from the bottle.
It will be appreciated that where a tamper resistant feature of a push-on closure involves the use of frangible tabs, reliance cannot be made on the mechanical advantage provided by screw threads to generate a force that is adequate for their rupture.
Where the bottles to which the bottle caps are to be fitted are returnable for re-use, it is undesirable that the latch ring remains firmly attached to the bottle following the removal of the bottle cap.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a one piece molded tamper resistant push-on closure that is suited for closing glass bottles.
It is another object of this invention to provide such closures which do not necessitate assembly on the neck of the bottle, and which accordingly, are readily adaptable for use with existing closure machinery.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide such closures with frangible members that can be ruptured without the necessity of using excessive force.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide such closures that are easily removable to permit the re-use of the bottle.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide closures of the above type that provide a good re-closure following their initial removal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a broad aspect of the invention, a one piece molded tamper resistant push-on closure suitable for closing glass bottles comprises a latch ring portion having an upper and a lower peripheral margin and an inwardly directed surface extending therebetween, and a plurality of resiliently deformable, upwardly inwardly directed teeth disposed thereon, suitably adjacent to the lower peripheral margin. The closure further comprises a cap portion having a lower peripheral margin and an inwardly directed surface extending upwardly from the lower peripheral margin thereof. A plurality of frangible tabs connect between the latch ring portion and the cap portion. A detent tab is forwardly disposed on the latch ring portion and a pull tab is disposed forwardly on the cap portion and connected thereto by a hinge which permits the pull tab to swing between a first, stored position wherein it is engaged with the detent tab and a second position wherein it projects forwardly from the cap portion so as to be graspable.
The pull tab when swung to its forward position permits it to be grasped and a manual force applied thereto to provide some mechanical advantage in rupturing the frangible tabs. This force is applied at one radial point rather than being applied about the whole of the periphery of the cap, and will result in the more or less serial rupture of the frangible tabs, rather than their being ruptured simultaneously. Accordingly, it is found that the force necessary to disengage the cap from the latch ring using the pull tab is well within the capability of the average person, while the cumulative force is sufficiently high as to reduce the likelihood of an inadvertent detachment.
Suitably and preferably, the pull tab is in the form of a ring. This has several advantages, one of which is that it will permit the detent tab to enter into an interlocking engagement with the pull tab and increase the structural integrity of the closure. Suitably, an adhesive seal bridges across the tabs, which seal is broken upon disengagement of the tabs, thereby providing a second level of tamper resistance to the closure.
The pull tab when in the form of a ring will also permit the engagement of common household articles therewith serving to increase the mechanical advantage should this be desired.
Generally speaking, the upper end of the cap portion will be in the form of a flat dome, and suitably a stopper will depend downwardly from the dome to provide a liquid tight seal with the interior surface of the bottle. Desirably, the stopper will have a tubular cross-section so as to be resiliently deformable and accommodate normal variations found in glass milk bottles, for example. Also preferably, the stopper will have a maximum external diameter intermediate the axial ends thereof so as to facilitate the initial engagement of the stopper in the neck of the bottle and to localize sealing forces.
Preferably, the latch ring is provided on the inwardly directed surface thereof which blind portals associated with respective ones of the teeth whereby the teeth may resiliently deform and enter the portals as the latch ring is push fitted over the neck of a bottle. Accordingly, the latch ring can accommodate the relatively wide tolerances normally found in glass bottles in the nature of milk bottles.
Also preferably, the latch ring is in the form of an open annulus which permits its ready removal from the neck of a bottle once the frangible tabs have been ruptured.
The cap portion is preferably provided with one or more pluralities of small ribs on the inwardly facing surface thereof, with each plurality being formed on a diameter of the cap. The ribs are positioned so as to engage with a shouldered portion normally associated with glass bottles such as milk bottles and will serve to retain the cap in a re-sealed relationship on the bottle.
The foregoing objects and aspects of the invention, together with other objects, aspects and advantages thereof will be more apparent from a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings annexed hereto.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a bottle cap in accordance with the invention in perspective view, together with a portion of a milk bottle;
FIG. 2 shows the bottle cap of FIG. 1 in front elevation;
FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but shows the bottle cap in its as-molded condition;
FIG. 4 is a plan view from above of the bottle cap of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of FIG. 4, in the direction of the arrows;
FIG. 6 shows the left hand portion of FIG. 5 on larger scale, with the tabs in interlocked relation and a seal applied;
FIG. 7 shows the bottle cap of FIG. 3 in rear elevation;
FIG. 8 is a section in the horizontal plane containing line 8--8 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows;
FIG. 9 shows the portion enclosed in dotted outline in FIG. 8 in larger scale; and
FIG. 10 is a section in the horizontal plane containing line 10--10 of FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings in detail, a bottle closure in accordance with the invention is denoted generally by the numeral 10. Bottle closure 10 comprises a cap portion 20 defined in part by a lower peripheral margin 22, a cover 24 and an inwardly directed surface 26 extending therebetween.
Closure 10 further comprises a latch ring portion 30 defined in part by a lower peripheral margin 32, an upper peripheral margin 34, and an inwardly directed surface 36 therebetween. A plurality of resiliently deformable teeth 38 depend upwardly inwardly from the lower peripheral margin 32 of the latch ring. A similar plurality of blind portals 40 are disposed rearwardly of respective ones of teeth 38 on the inwardly directed surface 36 of the latch ring portion, which portals extend upwardly into the inwardly directed surface 26 of the cap portion 20 adjacent the lower peripheral margin 22 thereof, the portals being dimensioned such that teeth 38 can be deformed into the respective portals when the closure 10 is push fitted onto a bottle neck, as will be further described.
A plurality of frangible tabs 42 interconnect the upper peripheral margin 34 of the latch ring portion 30 to the lower peripheral margin 22 of the cap portion 20, to integrate the two portions. The plurality of frangible tabs 42 and spacing therebetween is conveniently similar to the plurality of teeth 38, to facilitate the molding of closure 10. However, as best seen in FIG. 7, latch ring portion 30 is in the form of an open annulus, a discontinuity being formed by a generally U shaped opening 44 located at the rearwardly facing side thereof, which opening intersects both the lower and the upper peripheral margins 32, 34 of the latch ring portion. Cap portion 20 is provided with a U shaped extension 48 adjacent the lower peripheral margin 22 thereof, and frangible tabs 42 are spaced relatively closely where they bridge the upper margins of the U shaped opening 44 to the lower margin of the mating extension 48 to provide a structural rigidity to the latch ring portion 30 until such time as the cap portion 20 is detached from the latch ring portion. The structural rigidity of these portions is increased by an interlocking support structure comprising a detent tab 50 which is rigidly dependent from the latch ring portion 30 in diametric opposition to U shaped opening 44, and a pull tab 52, which is dependent from cap portion 20, being connected thereto by a live hinge 54. Pull tab 52 has a window opening 56 therethrough, and is movable between a first position, as seen in FIG. 5 for example, and a second position as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 wherein the detent tab 50 enters into window opening 56. The detent tab 50 has a shouldered edge 60, and the window opening 56 is defined in part with a cooperating shouldered edge 62, which edges act to snap retain the pull tab 52 in its second or closed position in interlocked relation with the detent tab. An adhesive seal 64 is suitably disposed to bridge across detent tab 50 and pull tab 52 following their assembly together.
The cover 24 of cap portion 20 is generally in the form of a flat dome, and a stopper 66 is downwardly dependent therefrom. Stopper 66 has a tubular cross-section, with a portion 68 of maximum diameter intermediate the axial ends of the stopper.
Cap portion 20 is provided with a first plurality of bottle neck gripping ribs 70 disposed on inwardly directed surface 26 of the cap portion about a diameter adjacent to lower margin 22 thereof, and a second plurality of bottle neck gripping ribs 72 disposed on a second diameter of the cap portion intermediate the cover 24 and the lower margin portion.
The structure of closure 10 as described is such that the closure is moldable in one piece, with teeth 38 angled inwardly upwardly as illustrated, which avoids the necessity of a separate operation to re-form the teeth following the initial molding step. This unitary operation, coupled with the provision of portals 40, permits the diameter of the inwardly directed surface 34 of latch ring portion 30 to be closely controlled so as to provide a close friction fit for the latch ring portion over the neck of a bottle with the greatest design diameter, while permitting its use with a bottles with smaller necks within the normally anticipated tolerance range.
In using closure 10, it will be prepared following molding by swinging pull tab 52 downwardly into snap engagement with detent tab 50, and seal 64 applied thereto, following which any disengagement of the pull tab will tear the seal and provide visible evidence of tampering. Prepared closure 10 will be applied to bottle B using generally standard bottle capping machinery with only minor modifications by merely pushing the cover onto the neck of the bottle. This will cause teeth 38 to latch beneath shoulder S of the bottle, whereby the closure 10 will be removable under most circumstances only following the destruction of the integrity of the latch ring portion, and producing obvious signs of tampering. The fitting of closure 10 in this manner will cause stopper 60 to enter into neck N of the bottle and be compressed to form a tight liquid seal. Depending upon the depth of shoulder S below the upper rim of bottle B, gripping ribs 64 or 66 will engage behind the shoulder, to assist in retaining the closure 10 in position. To remove closure 10 from the bottle initially, pull tab 52 will be disengaged from detent tab 50, thereby breaking seal 64, following which the pull tab will be swung forwardly about live hinge 54, to provide a graspable appendage through which a levered force may be applied to rupture frangible tabs 42. Cap portion 20 will tend to pivot about its rearward extension 48, and the rupturing force applied to pull tab 52 will serve to progressively break the frangible tabs, thereby permitting cap portion 20 to be removed from the bottle. The rupture of those frangible tabs 42 which bridge between the U shaped opening 42 of the latch ring portion 30 and the cap portion will permit the latch ring portion to be removed from the neck of the bottle in a transverse manner under a negligible force, and this removal is likely to arise at the time when a user first removes the cap portion 20 from bottle B. Where the latch ring portion 30 is not removed by the user, the forces to which the bottle is exposed in normal bottle washing operations will be generally such as to procure its removal without necessitating any modifications. The stopper 66 and gripping ribs 70 or 72 permit the cap portion 20 to be used to provide an effective re-closure for bottle B. | A one piece molded push on tamper resistant closure suited for reusable bottles such as rnilk bottles comprises a cap portion and a latch ring portion connected thereto by frangible tabs. Rupture of the tabs serves to detach the cap portion to permit its removal from the bottle, while simultaneously opening the latch ring portion to permit it to be removed laterally from about the neck of the bottle. The closure may also include a pull tab disposed on the cap portion to provide a levered fore for rupturing the frangible tabs. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a modulator mechanism for a rotary dobby, the input side of said modulator mechanism being connected to a drive means which is capable of rotating and the output side thereof providing an output which is applied to a main shaft controlling heald shafts and which is temporally modulated relative to the rotary movement of the drive means in such a way that a delay of the movements of the heald shafts at their maximum displacement positions is caused.
Such modulator mechanisms for rotary dobbies are known e.g. from the U.S. Pat. 5,107,901. Rotary dobbies including a drive means, which rotates at an essentially constant angular velocity, are provided with a modulator mechanism so as to drive a main shaft continuously in a certain direction at a modulated rotary speed. The rotary motion of the main shaft is converted into a linear movement of a heald frame via a crank and a connecting rod articulated on said crank, the movement of the heald frame at its two maximum displacement positions being delayed due to the modulated rotary motion of the main shaft. At each of these maximum displacement positions, a shed for weft insertion is formed, a longer shed rest being achieved due to the irregular movement of the main shaft.
In the above-mentioned prior art, a cycloidal mechanism and a disc cam mechanism with stationary cam discs and with a rotating roller lever are shown, which convert a rotary motion taking place at a constant angular velocity into a rotary motion taking place in a uniform direction at a variable angular velocity and points of rest for producing periods of rest at the dead centers. Due to the maintenance of a rotary motion in a uniform direction at the output of the modulator mechanism, the periods of rest which can be achieved at the dead points as well as the shed rest angles which can be obtained are limited by the structural design of the modulator mechanism in question.
For various weaving techniques, e.g. for the production of fabrics for technical use, or for fabrics having a particularly large width, large shed rest angles and long periods of rest at the dead centers of the crank arm of a rotary dobby are necessary so as to open the shed for a period of time which is sufficiently long for weft insertion. The large shed rest angles required in this connection cannot be achieved by the modulator mechanisms known according to the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Hence, it is the object of the present invention to provide a modulator mechanism for a rotary dobby in a loom by means of which larger shed rest angles can be realized.
In accordance with the present invention, this object is achieved by a modulator mechanism for a rotary dobby of the type mentioned at the beginning, comprising a rotatable cam body means, which is connected to said drive means, and at least one cam body follower in the form of an articulated lever, which, when said cam body means rotates, carries out an oscillating pivoting movement modulated in accordance with the cam shape of said cam body means, said pivoting movement being adapted to be transmitted to the main shaft. In accordance with the present invention, the rotary motion which has a constant angular velocity and which is applied to the input side is converted into a modulated oscillating pivoting movement, which may take place over a comparatively small angular area of the cam body means so that comparatively long periods of rest can be achieved at the dead centers of the pivoting movement. The use of a cam body means whose cam shape is transmitted to a cam body follower permits a simple and individual modulation of the drive movement.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the cam body means comprises a rigidly interconnected, complementary pair of cam discs, the cam body follower having the form of a lever including two legs and the legs of said lever following a respective one of the two cam discs for restrictedly guiding the lever. In view of the restricted guidance, the position of the cam body follower is unequivocally determined by the rotary position of the cam body means, without any additional means, such as a spring preload against the cam body means, being necessary for guiding the cam body follower.
In accordance with an additional advantageous embodiment, the cam body means comprises globoidal cams or conical eccentric cams. This has the effect that the axes of rotation of the cam body means and of the cam body follower cross or intersect. The spatial position of a drive shaft connected to the cam body means can thus be adapted to the spatial position of the output shaft of the loom in such a way that an economy-priced, heavy-duty drive element, such as a toothed belt, can be used.
In accordance with an advantageous embodiment, a gear unit having a predetermined transmission ratio is provided for transmitting the oscillating pivoting movement of the lever to the main shaft. The gear unit comprises, in a particularly advantageous manner, a planetary gearing whose sun gear lies on an axle extending through the point of articulation of the lever of the cam body follower and whose respective planetary gear is rotatably secured to the lever. The lever may also have secured thereto the internal gear instead of the planetary gear. The use of a planetary gearing permits to achieve a desired transmission ratio on the on hand and a space-saving and compact structural design on the other.
In accordance with a further advantageous embodiment, a transmission ratio is provided in the gear unit which is of such a nature that it results in an oscillation of the main shaft through a rotary angle of essentially 180°. This measure provides the advantage that the retracting force, which is applied during the period of maximum-amplitude displacement of the heald shafts, will not result in any torque acting on the modulator mechanism. It follows that the cam body follower is not acted upon by any additional reactive force at the shed rest angles, whereby further wear will be avoided. Furthermore, a modulator mechanism having an adequate transmission ratio for causing an oscillation of the main shaft through a rotary angle of essentially 180° is compatible with hitherto used mechanisms in rotary dobbies so that existing modulator mechanisms can be replaced by the mechanism according to the present invention without major technical modifications being necessary.
In accordance with a further advantageous embodiment, the modulator mechanism is provided with an additional rotating device, which is independent of the drive means and which is used for rotating the main shaft. With the aid of said additional rotating device, an integrated so-called pick-finder mechanism is realized by means of which the main shaft can be driven and a shed can be formed even if the loom and, consequently, the dobby are standing still. This additional rotating device, which permits shedding even if the loom is standing still, provides the advantage that the fabric can, for example, be checked or corrected more easily.
In accordance with an advantageous embodiment, the modulator mechanism provided with an additional rotating device, which is independent of the drive means, comprises a planetary gearing for transmitting the oscillating pivoting movement of the lever to the main shaft, said planetary gearing comprising a sun gear, which is connected to the main shaft, and one or several planetary gears, which engage between the sun gear and an internal gear, the planetary gear or the planetary gears being each rotatably secured to said lever, and said internal gear being rotatably supported and adapted to be driven by said additional rotating device. Alternatively to this embodiment, an advantageous further development of the modulator mechanism provided with said additional rotating device includes a planetary gearing of the above-mentioned type which, however, shows the feature that the internal gear is rigidly connected to the lever, the planetary gears being secured to an additional rotatable holder, and said rotatable holder being adapted to be driven by said additional rotating device. The use of a planetary gearing permits a compact structural design of the modulator mechanism with the aid of which the integrated pick-finder mechanism can be realized in a comparatively simple manner.
The additional rotating device can comprise e.g. an electric motor, a hydraulic motor or a pneumatic motor.
The modulator mechanism constructed as a planetary gearing includes, in accordance with an advantageous embodiment, a locking device which is adapted to be used for fixing, when the drive originating from the loom is in operation, the internal gear, which is adapted to be driven by the additional rotating device, or the rotatable holder for the planetary gears.
In accordance with an advantageous further development, this locking device comprises a pin or a wedge, which is adapted to be brought into locking engagement with a complementary recess formed in said internal gear or in said rotatable holder. The locking device can also be provided in the form of a toothed clutch or in the form of a friction brake.
Further advantageous embodiments are disclosed by the subclaims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following, the invention will be explained and described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the modulator mechanism according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an example which shows how the output power of the mechanism is transmitted to the weaving frame;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of another preferred embodiment of the modulator mechanism according to the present invention provided with an additional rotating device which is independent of the drive means; and
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the modulator mechanism according to the present invention provided with an additional rotating device which is independent of the drive means, said embodiment being an alternative to the embodiment according to FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the modulator mechanism according to the present invention, which is schematically shown in FIG. 1, comprises a cam body means including a pair of cam discs 10 and 12, which are complementary to each other and which are rigidly interconnected. The cam discs 10 and 12, which are adapted to be rotated about an axle 14 arranged at right angles to said discs, are connected to a drive (not shown) originating from a loom. A cam body follower comprising a roller lever 16 is located opposite the cam body means, said roller lever 16 being fixed to a rotatable axle 24, which is parallel to the axle 14, and including two legs 18 and 20, which face the respective cam discs 10 and 12 and which each have attached thereto a roller 28 and 26, said rollers 28 and 26 being adapted to roll on the circumferential surfaces 11 and 13 of the two complementary cam discs. Instead of rollers, there may also be provided suitable sliding members. The roller lever 16 is provided with a third lever arm 22 having rotatably attached thereto a gear 32. Said gear defines a planetary gear 32 which is in mesh with a stationary internal gear 34 on the one hand and with a sun gear 30 on the other. It would also be possible that the planetary gear or planetary gears are arranged such that they define stationary, rotatable gears and that the internal gear 34 is secured to the lever such that it is adapted to be pivoted together therewith about a common axle. The planetary gear 32 engages the sun gear 30 on the side located opposite the internal gear, said sun gear 30 being independent of the roller lever 16, but its axis of rotation being coincident with the articulation axle 24 of the roller lever 16. The sun gear 30 is connected to the drive means of the dobby.
Instead of a complementary pair of cam discs, the cam body means may also be provided with three-dimensional cam bodies, e.g. in the form of globoidal cams or conical eccentric cams. This would have the effect that the axes of rotation of the cam body means and of the cam body follower could cross or intersect. The spatial position of a drive shaft connected to the cam body means could thus be adapted to the spatial position of the output shaft of the loom in such a way that an economy-priced, heavy-duty drive element, such as a toothed belt, could be used.
The complementary cam discs 10 and 12, each of which is in rolling contact with one of the rollers 26 and 28 of the roller lever, have, with regard to the rotating axle 14, a shape of such a nature that each of the two rollers 26 and 28 will abut on the circumferential surface of the respective cam disc associated therewith, independently of the rotary position of the cam disc means. This has the effect that a restricted guide means is defined, in the case of which each rotary angle of the cam body means has associated therewith an exactly defined angular position of the roller lever. In an angular region ψ marked by the two broken lines, each of the cam discs has an area A in which the periphery extends at a constant radial distance from the rotating axle 14. An angular regional ψ in which the cam disc has an area C of small constant radial distance is located opposite said area A of large constant radial distance, said angular regions having the same size and being displaced by 180°. In the areas B and D between said sections A and C of constant radial distance, the radial distance of the path of the periphery relative to the rotating axle 14 ascends continuously or descends continuously.
When the modulator mechanism according to the present invention is in operation, the cam disc means 10, 12, which is connected to the drive originating from the loom, is rotated about the axle 14 at a constant angular velocity. The rollers 26 and 28 of the roller lever 16, which roll on the respective circumferential surfaces 11 and 13, are restrictedly guided due to the appropriate structural design of the complementary cam discs. When a roller, e.g. roller 28, rolls on the circumference in an area D of the associated cam disc 12, in which a change in the radial distance between the circumferential surface and the rotating axle 14 occurs, a rotation of the cam disc means about the axle 14 will cause a displacement of the roller lever 16. For example, when the cam disc means is rotated clockwise, the roller lever 16 will be displaced downwards, starting from the position shown in FIG. 1, until, at a position of maximum displacement, the lever 20 will be located such that it is oriented along the double dot-and-dash line 40.increment., when the roller 28 reaches the area A of the cam disc 12. The position of the roller lever 16 will not change while rollers 28 and 26 roll through the area A of constant radial distance with regard to the axle 14. When the cam disc means continues to rotate clockwise, the roller 28 will roll along the circumference of sector B and the roller lever 16 will move upwards until it reaches a maximum position, marked by the double dot-and-dash line 40', when said roller 28 has reached sector C of cam disc 12. The roller lever 16 remains at this position of maximum upper displacement while the roller 28 rolls along the circumference of said sector C. When the rotation is continued, said roller 28 will again roll along said sector D of increasing radial distance, whereby said roller lever 16 will be displaced downwards.
The resultant oscillating pivoting movement of the roller lever 16 is transmitted to the sun gear 30 via the planetary gear 32 which is in mesh with the internal gear 34, the pivot angle produced by the roller lever being enlarged in accordance with the transmission ratio due to the transmission of the planetary gearing. The transmission ratio of the planetary gearing is preferably chosen such that the sun gear 30 rotates through an angle of 180°.
It is also possible to provide and arrangement in which the roller lever 16 is connected to three planetary gears. In this case, the roller lever need not be articulated on the axle 24. It will inevitably be pivoted about said axle. The planetary gears, which are carried along when the roller lever is being pivoted and which are caused to rotate due to their engagement with the internal gear, would again drive a sun gear with the transmission ratio chosen.
In addition to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, it would also be possible to use, instead of the planetary gearing, a conventional spur gearing or toothed belt transmission, which are known per se, so as to achieve the desired transmission ratio for driving the main shaft.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a rod transmission mechanism used for converting the modulated oscillating movement of a output shaft into a linear movement of a heald frame 76 as well as for the purpose of transmission. A output shaft 50, which may be formed integrally with the sun gear 30, is provided with a fixed radial crank 52 and a connecting rod 54 articulated on said crank. The maximum-amplitude positions at which the crank 52 occupies exactly its dead centre positions are shown by reference numerals 52' and 52". Instead of the crank 52, which is schematically shown in FIG. 2, also other eccentric units would be suitable for converting the modulated oscillating pivoting movement of the main shaft 50 into a linear movement.
The connecting rod 54 is articulated on a two-leg lever 59, which comprises the legs 58 and 62 and which is articulated on an axle 60. Reference numerals 58' and 58" show the maximum-amplitude positions for the displacement of leg 58. The leg 62 has articulated thereon a transmission rod 66 e.g. via a displaceable connection 64, the other end of said transmission rod 66 being articulated on a two-leg, essentially rectangular second lever 67, which is adapted to be rotated about an axle 72. The leg 70 of said lever 67 has articulated thereon an additional transmission rod 74, which is articulated on the heald frame 76, said heald frame 76 being guided such that it is displaceable in the direction of movement of the leg 70, as is schematically shown by reference numeral 79. A heald 78 is provided in the heald frame 76 so as to effect shedding in the way in which this is normally done in the field of weaving technology.
As can be seen from FIG. 2, a rotation of the main shaft to the upper maximum-amplitude position 52" results in a displacement of the first lever to position 58", which will result in a corresponding displacement of the second lever 67, and this displacement will, in turn, be transmitted to the heald frame 76, which is adapted to be displaced in the direction of displacement of the leg 70 and which will then be moved to its lower maximum displacement position 76". An orientation of the main shaft in the case of which the crank 52 occupies its lower maximum-amplitude position 52' has, vice versa, the effect that the heald frame 76 will occupy the upper maximum displacement position indicated by reference numeral 76'.
Due to the above-described structural design of the cam discs 10 and 12, in the case of which the radial distance between the circumferential surface and the rotating axle 14 remains constant throughout comparatively large angular areas A and C, a standstill of the shed is achieved in the maximum displacement positions, which coincide with the dead centers of the crank 52, although the modulator mechanism is still driven at a constant angular velocity. In view of the fact that, especially at the maximum displacement positions of the heald frame at which restoring forces, which are transmitted to the crank 52 via the rod linkage, act on said heald frame, the crank 52 and the connecting rod 54 articulated thereon are located at one of the dead centers, these restoring forces will not be transmitted to the modulator mechanism so that, at said maximum displacement positions, the rollers 26 and 28 can roll on the circumferences of the respective cam discs 1D and 12 without any additional application of force originating from the displacement of the heald frame 76.
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment, which is additionally provided with a rotating device for rotating the main shaft, said rotating device being independent of the drive means. In FIG. 3, the parts which are equal or similar to the parts shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals which have, however, added thereto 300. As in the case of the example according to FIG. 1, the modulator mechanism according to FIG. 3 is provided with a planetary gearing for transmitting the pivoting movement of the lever 316 to the sun gear 330. Deviating from the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the embodiment according to FIG. 3 does not show the feature that the internal gear 334 is arranged such that it is secured against rotation relative to the housing, said internal gear 334 being, however, arranged such that it is adapted to be rotated about a rotating axle 324 extending through the center of rotation of the sun gear 330. The internal gear 334 is additionally provided with external teeth 383 which are in mesh with a gear 381 of said additional rotating device. Said gear 381 of the additional rotating device is connected to a drive means, which may be an electric motor, a hydraulic motor, a pneumatic motor or any other suitable motor. This motor is adapted to be controlled in a suitable manner by mechanical means or by electronic means. The control of the motor of the additional rotating device is independent of the drive means of the loom through which the cam bodies 310 and 312 are driven.
Instead of the additional external teeth, which are shown by way of example in the drawing of FIG. 3 on the outer circumference of the internal gear 334, said gear 381 may also be in mesh with the internal teeth of the internal gear 334 together with the planetary gear or the planetary gears 332.
Instead of the gear 381, any other suitable device for driving the rotatable internal gear 334 may be provided. Examples of other devices which are suitable for effecting the drive include a traction-means transmission, such as a chain, belt or rope drive, and a belt-wrap transmission, respectively.
In FIG. 3, a locking device 382 is additionally provided by means of which the internal gear can be fixed. In the example shown, the locking device 382 comprises a radially displaceable pin 386, which is adapted to be inserted into one or several complementary recesses 384 or 385 of the internal gear 334. The recesses 384, 385 provided in said internal gear may, for example, be arranged at such a distance from each other that the movement of said internal gear by a rotary angle which is equal to the distance between said two recesses corresponds to a rotation of the sun gear by 180° and, consequently, to one cycle of the dobby or to one pick. Instead of the shape shown in FIG. 3, the pin may also be wedge-shaped or conical, said shapes having the advantage that the internal gear 334 will be locked in a self-searching and backlash-free mode of locking. The locking devices can also be axially displaceable. In addition to or alternatively to the locking device 382 in the form of a radially displaceable pin, a friction brake 387 can be provided for decelerating the internal gear and for securing it in position. The internal gear 334 can also be locked via the gear 381 engaging the teeth 383 on said internal gear 334 or via an additional toothed clutch (not shown). The toothed clutch can, optionally, be provided with so-called finder teeth, which can only snap into place at specific angular positions. Locking can also be effected with the aid of an electric brake, e.g. of a servo motor with position control. By locking the internal gear 334 with the aid of the above-mentioned locking means in the form of the engaging pin 386, the friction brake 387, a toothed clutch or an electric brake, said internal gear 334 can be fixed relative to the housing of the modulator mechanism.
In the embodiment according to FIG. 3, a drive of the dobby can be effected by the additionally provided rotating device, if the drive originating from the loom and driving the cam discs 310 and 312 stands still. In this case, the rollers abutting on the cams 311 and 313 of the cam discs 310 and 312 are secured in position in an essentially backlash-free manner so that the lever 316 is fixed. For driving the internal gear 334, the locking engagement caused by means of the locking device 382 is now released by moving either the friction brake 387 or the pin 386 radially outwards, and the gear 381 is driven by driving the motor of the additional rotating device, said gear 381 engaging the teeth 383 on the internal gear 334 and rotating said internal gear. The planetary gear 332, which is rotatably attached to the arm 322 of the lever 316 held in place when the drive originating from the loom is standing still, is also caused to rotate due to the rotation of the internal gear 334 and, while rotating, it drives the sun gear 330. Via the sun gear 330, which is connected to the main shaft 350, the heald frame can now be moved in the manner described with regard to FIG. 2. The dobby can thus be moved through an arbitrary number of cycles and picks, respectively, when the loom is standing still. At the end of the downtime of the loom, the internal gear 334 will be locked again.
If necessary, the additional rotating device can also be operated when the loom is active and when the drive means, which causes the cam discs 10 and 12 to rotate, rotates. When the additional rotating device, which is independent of the drive means, is controlled in a suitable manner, it would e.g. be possible to additionally extend the dead center position of the main shaft beyond the degree provided by the shape of the cam discs 10 and 12.
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the modulator mechanism which is an alternative to the embodiment according to FIG. 3, said modulator mechanism being provided with an additional rotating device which is independent of the drive means. The parts which are equal or similar to the parts shown in FIG. 1 are again designated by the same reference numerals which have, however, added thereto 400. The embodiment according to FIG. 4 differs from the embodiment according to FIG. 1 with regard to the fact that the planetary gear or the planetary gears 432 are not attached to the lever 416, but that they are rotatably attached to a holder 492 which is adapted to be rotated about an axle 424 extending through the center of rotation of the sun gear 430. In the case of this embodiment, the lever 416 is fixedly connected to the internal gear 434, and, consequently, said internal gear 434 can, in turn, be rotated about said axle 424 together with said lever 416. The planetary gear 432 is arranged such that it is adapted to be rotated about a rotating axle 493, which is displaced radially outwards relative to the rotating axle 424 of the rotatable holder 492. The rotatable holder 492 for the planetary gear or the planetary gears 432 is provided with teeth 494 which are in mesh with a gear 491 of said additional rotating device.
As in the case of the embodiment according to FIG. 3, the gear 491 can be replaced by any other means which is suitable for driving the rotatable holder 492 for the planetary gears, such as a chain, belt or rope drive and a belt-wrap transmission, respectively.
A locking device for fixing the rotatable holder 492 for the planetary gears is provided, this corresponding again to the embodiment according to FIG. 3; for the sake of clarity of the drawing, this locking device is, however, not shown in FIG. 4. In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the locking device can again be provided in the form of a radially displaceable pin, in particular a wedge-shaped pin, which is adapted to be brought into locking engagement with one or several complementary recesses provided in the rotatable holder 492. It is also possible to provide a friction brake in addition to or as an alternative to the locking device in the form of a radially displaceable pin. Furthermore, locking by means of a toothed clutch is possible, like in the embodiment according to FIG. 3.
An electric motor, a hydraulic motor or a pneumatic motor can be provided as a motor for the additional rotating mechanism, said motor being adapted to be controlled by electronic means or by mechanical means independently of the loom.
The embodiment according to FIG. 4 permits shedding by means of the additional rotating device, which is independent of the drive originating from the loom, when the loom is standing still and when the drive means causing a movement of the cam discs 410 and 412 is at a standstill. When the cam discs 410 and 412 are at a standstill, the lever 416 is fixed at its angular position, since the rollers 426 and 428 abut on the cams 411 and 413 of the cam discs 410 and 412 in an essentially backlash-free manner. The internal gear 434, which is connected to the lever 416, is fixed together with said lever. When the holder 492 has been released, the gear 491 is caused to rotate in response to actuation of the motor of said additional rotating device, said gear 491 enaging the teeth 494, whereby the rotatable holder 492 for the planetary gear 432 will be rotated. When said rotatable holder 492 is rotated, the planetary gear 432 will roll on the internal gear 434, said internal gear 434 being stationary because the drive means is standing still. The rotary movement caused by the rolling movement of the planetary gear 432 is transmitted to the sun gear 430, which is connected to the main shaft. As has already been described with regard to FIG. 2, the heald frame can again be controlled via the main shaft.
By means of the locking device, which is not shown in FIG. 4, the rotatable holder 492 for the planetary gear 432 can be fixed when the loom is in operation, said operation of the loom causing a rotation of the drive means and, consequently, a rotation of the cam discs 410 and 412. If necessary, the locking device can, however, also be released when the loom is in operation. By means of the additional rotating device, a rotary movement can be applied to the sun gear 430 in addition to the rotation caused by the pivoting movement of the lever 416, said rotary movement being applied for achieving e.g. a further extension of the dead center position. | A modulator mechanism for a rotary dobby, the input side of the modulator mechanism being connected to a drive which rotates at an essentially constant angular velocity and the output side thereof providing an output which is applied to a main shaft controlling heald shafts and which is temporally modulated inch a way that a delay of the movements of the heald shafts their maximum displacement positions is caused. To permit a sufficiently large shed rest angle for aft insertion in the case of fabrics having a very large width, a substantially enlarged shed rest angle is provided by a rotatable cam body, which is connected to the drive, and by at least one cam body follower in the form of an articulated lever, which, when the cam body rotates, carries out an oscillating pivoting movement modulated in accordance with the cam shape of the cam body, the pivoting movement being transmitted to the main shaft. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present application is a continuation in part of patent application with Ser. No. 08/389,203 filed on Feb. 15, 1995 for the same applicant, now abandoned
The present invention relates to a counter-pressure means for effectuating perforations and/or punchings at offset sheet printing machines.
Offset printing machines comprise an impression cylinder--also called counter-impression cylinder--and a cooperating rubber blanket cylinder. The rubber blanket cylinder is provided with a rubber blanket and is pressed against the impression cylinder with a definite pressure. For effectuating perforations it is known to mount a perforating ribbon on the impression cylinder whereas the rubber blanket is left unchanged on the blanket cylinder. However, the rubber blanket presents the disadvantage during perforation that it does not allow an optimal perforating due to its softness, and that it limits the operational speed of the entire printing group and of optionally connected further printing groups. Furthermore, the sheets are deformed by the rubber blanket during perforating in such a manner that no correct sheet stack can be built up afterwards. The same effect arises during effectuating punchings, because the rubber blanket is to flexible.
It is known in practice that often no printing group is free for perforating and/or punching. Consequently, these processes have to wait. It is therefore desirable with offset printing machines comprising additional groups, e.g. a coating module, to use such a module for perforating and/or punching.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,402 discloses a multi-ply cylinder blanket for offset printing machines enabling, according to this patent, high quality printing. However, those blankets are not suitable for perforations or punchings since the surface of the blankets is made of rubber, besides the fact that for effectuating perforations the complicated construction of the multi-ply blanket is far too cost intensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,237 further discloses a holding arrangement to use for printing machine cylinder underlays with a magnetic foil strip.
Starting from this prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a counter-pressure means for effectuating perforations and/or punchings with offset sheet printing machines allowing higher passing rates and higher quality perforations and/or punchings.
It is a further object to provide for a possibility to use auxiliary groups of the offset printing machines, especially coating modules, for this purpose.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first object is attained in that the means comprises a foil provided with strips at two opposing of its edges, the foil and strips being executed for being fastened within fixing means of either a rubber blanket cylinder of a printing group of the printing machine or of a forme cylinder of an auxiliary coating module of the printing machine.
In a preferred embodiment, the foil comprises an underlying blanket at its underside or its upper side in order to achieve a total thickness which corresponds to the thickness of the known, usual rubber blanket.
In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail by means of a drawing of an embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 schematically shows the arrangement of a printing group and a coating module of an offset sheet printing machine,
FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the metal foil of this invention, provided with strips, and
FIG. 3 shows a detail of FIG. 1 at an enlarged scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows in a schematical manner one printing group of optionally several printing groups of an offset sheet printing machine, comprising a plate cylinder 1, an impression cylinder 2, and a rubber blanket cylinder arranged between these two cylinders. On the rubber blanket cylinder 3 is mounted a foil 4 instead of a rubber blanket. However, if the printing group is used for printing and not for perforating, an usual rubber blanket is mounted on the rubber blanket cylinder 3. For effectuating perforations, a perforating ribbon 5 is mounted on the impression cylinder 2, see FIG. 3, which teeth are showwing in the direction of the rubber blanket cylinder 3 in order to perforate the paper running between these two cylinders. For the punching, suitable means are mounted on impression cylinder 2.
The use of a foil as a back-pressure means, where the foil is f. ex. of chromium steel, does not only yield a better, more clear cut perforation or punching of the paper, but before all, it also allows to maintain the normal printing speed of the offset sheet presses, so that printing and perforating can be effectuated with the same, unchanged high speed. Until now this has been impossible because the rubber blankets used hitherto do not allow such high speeds, and therefore the operational speed had to be reduced for this process step.
FIG. 1 further shows an inking system 6 and a dampening system 7. These systems comprise different rollers which transfer printing ink or water on the plate cylinder 1, respectively. The paper sheets 8 pass from an intermediate drum 9 to a first feed drum 10, then on the impression cylinder 2 and afterwards to a second feed drum 11. From this drum 11 the sheets are optionally passed to a further drum and, if provided, to another printing group or a coating module 19.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the plate cylinder 1, the impression cylinder 2 and the rubber blanket cylinder 3 at an enlarged scale. The plate cylinder 1 comprising a printing plate 12 mounted thereon is well known, being differently constructed dependent on the various machine types. In the present embodiment, the perforating ribbon 5 is mounted on the impression cylinder 2 as usual with known printing groups. The fixation of the perforating ribbon 5 can be realised in longitudinal or transverse direction. The rubber blanket cylinder 3 is provided, according to the invention, with the foil 4 in the case where perforating is to be effected.
In case where the coating module 19 is to be used for perforating and/or punching, foil 4 is mounted on a forme cylinder 17. The perforating ribbon 5 is mounted on a second cylinder, an impression cylinder 18. Both cylinders 17 and 18 comprise similar fixing means 16 with strips 13 as are usual with the plate cylinder 1 and rubber blanket cylinder 3. FIG. 1 further shows a metering roller 20 and a coating forme roller 21, which during perforating or punching processes are evidently not cooperating with the forme cylinder 17. Beneath the rollers 20, 21 is shown a coating drip pan.
According to FIG. 2 the foil 4 is bordered by two opposing strips 13 which are cemented and/or riveted to the foil. If no perforations or punchings are to be made, an usual rubber blanket is fastened on the rubber blanket cylinder 3, and the perforating ribbon 5 is of course removed. The dressing of the rubber blanket cylinder 3 has a defined standard thickness according to the printing product, so that there is a so called disposal pressure between the rubber blanket cylinder 3, and the therewith cooperating impression cylinder 2. It is clear that the foil 4 which replaces the rubber blanket should have about the same thickness, under consideration of the perforating ribbon 5 or punching means. The same applies equally for the coating module 19.
Since such a thick foil 4 is not necessary and could be fastened on the cylinder only with difficulties, a thin metal foil having a thickness of about 0.3 mm for example is used. In order to achieve the--for European countries--standard thickness of 1.95 mm, an underlying blanket 15 having a thickness of 1.65 mm is spread under the foil. This underlying blanket may have a variable stiffness adapted to the intended use, and e.g. may be a pressboard plate. It is appropriate to fasten the underlying board at one end only, as symbolyzed by the longer rivet 14 in FIG. 2. The board however may be fastened at both ends or be fixed at the foil. It is evident, that other standard thicknesses may be utilized.
In order to spare the foil, it may be convenient to mount on its top side a relatively tough sheet, for example of synthetic material, which can be replaced when necessary by a new sheet. Of course, the total thickness must remain the same as that of the corresponding rubber blanket.
The strips 13 are the same as those which are used for fixing the rubber blanket. Therefore, the fixing means 16 of the rubber blanket cylinder 3 remains the same as the already known one. When the foil 4 is used for perforating, including the optional covering and/or underlying blanket 15, modifications on the printing groups or the coating module 13 need not be made.
The material of the foil 4 may be metal, e.g. chromium steel, or an other suitable metal or a suitable plastic or synthetic material.
It should furthermore be noted that, besides the advantages already mentioned, a further advantage in using the foil 4 is that the sheets are not deformed during perforating or punching. Therefore, the entire stack can be piled up in the same manner as before the perforation or punching. Its transportation is thus considerably facilitated, in contrast to the strongly deformed sheets after perforating using a rubber blanket. Therefore, it is also possible to use foil 4 for punching of different patterns, e.g. address areas. | A counter-pressure apparatus for offset sheet machines for effectuating perforations and/or punchings comprises a foil provided with strips at two opposing of its edges. This foil is arranged for being fastened within fixing structure of a rubber blanket cylinder or of a forme cylinder of a printing group or of a coating module of the printing machine. The use of the foil, made e.g. of chronium steel, instead of a prior art rubber blanket results in much better perforations or punching apertures. Further, the printing machine can maintain its usual printing speed. | 1 |
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to patent application no. DE 10 2015 206 038.1, filed on Apr. 2, 2015 in Germany, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The disclosure relates to a temperature measurement appliance for contactless temperature measurement, having a sensor which is provided on the housing of the temperature measurement appliance and which serves for measuring a relative air humidity and/or an ambient temperature, and having a protective cap which can be reversibly arranged on the temperature measurement appliance for the purposes of mechanically protecting the sensor.
[0003] Contactless temperature measurement appliances such as radiation thermometers or pyrometers detect the thermal radiation (infrared radiation) emitted by an object, whose intensity, and position of maximum emission, are dependent on the temperature of the object. By evaluating these variables, it is possible to infer the temperature of the emitting object, in particular the surface temperature thereof.
[0004] Pyrometers have already been proposed which, by way of an infrared lens (IR lens) and a thermopile as a detector, can measure infrared radiation emitted by an object and, from this, determine the surface temperature thereof. DE 20 2005 015 397 U1 has disclosed a handheld radiation thermometer of said type.
[0005] A basic disadvantage of such temperature measurement appliances consists in that the measurement sensor arrangement, and thus also the measurement values output by the temperature measurement appliance, are sensitively dependent on the ambient temperature around the temperature measurement appliance. DE 10 2012 215 690 A1 has disclosed a temperature measurement appliance which, in addition to the detection device for contactless IR temperature measurement, additionally has an ambient temperature sensor for determining an ambient temperature around the temperature measurement appliance, the knowledge of which is used to reduce the sensitivity of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular to reduce measurement inaccuracies.
SUMMARY
[0006] The disclosure is based on a temperature measurement appliance for contactless temperature measurement, in particular a handheld temperature measurement appliance, preferably an infrared temperature measurement appliance, having at least one sensor which is provided on the housing of the temperature measurement appliance and which serves for measuring a relative air humidity and/or an ambient temperature, and having at least one protective cap which can be reversibly arranged on the temperature measurement appliance for the purposes of mechanically protecting the at least one sensor. According to the disclosure, means are provided at least on the temperature measurement appliance, which means make it possible for an arranged state of the at least one protective cap to be detected.
[0007] Here, temperature measurement appliances for contactless temperature measurement, or contactless temperature measurement appliances, should be understood to mean any temperature measurement appliances suitable for contactlessly measuring a temperature, in particular a surface temperature, of an object. In particular, infrared temperature measurement appliances, for example spot thermometers and thermal imaging cameras, represent preferred embodiments of such temperature measurement appliances. Other configurations of contactless temperature measurement appliances are however also conceivable. In principle, the fundamentals and technical teachings essential to the disclosure of the exemplary embodiments highlighted below for the purposes of illustrating the advantages of the disclosure may also be transferred to other measurement appliances, in particular handheld measurement appliances.
[0008] Infrared temperature measurement appliances, in particular spot thermometers and thermal imaging cameras, have the advantage over conventional temperature measurement appliances of contactless and rapid measurement, and can thus be used in particular when regions to be measured are accessible only with difficulty or are not accessible at all. The temperature measurement by way of an infrared-sensitive temperature measurement appliance is in this case based on the detection of thermal radiation, that is to say infrared radiation, in particular in a wavelength range between 3 μm and 50 μm, which is emitted by any object with different intensity depending on its temperature, in particular its surface temperature. From a measured intensity of the emitted thermal radiation by way of the temperature measurement appliance, it is possible to determine a surface temperature of the emitting body. Spot thermometers have a typically conical, preferably small measurement volume from which thermal radiation is detected and output as an averaged temperature value to a user. By contrast, thermal imaging cameras typically have an infrared-sensitive image sensor and make it possible, similarly to a camera that operates in the visible spectral range, for an object for examination to be measured in the infrared range of the radiation spectrum and for a two-dimensional, color-coded image of the object to be output on the screen.
[0009] An exemplary embodiment of a contactless temperature measurement appliance, in particular of a handheld temperature measurement appliance, has at least one detector device for detecting thermal radiation radiated from a region to be measured, and for generating detection signals on the basis of detected thermal radiation, an evaluation device for receiving and evaluating detection signals of the detector device, a control device for controlling the temperature measurement appliance, a device for supplying energy to the temperature measurement appliance, and a sensor which is provided on the housing of the temperature measurement appliance and which serves for measuring a relative air humidity and/or an ambient temperature. In particular, it is pointed out that the detector device for detecting thermal radiation—which detector device may likewise have a sensor or sensor elements—is not identical to the sensor for measuring the air humidity and/or the ambient temperature. In this context, the sensor for measuring the air humidity and/or the ambient temperature constitutes an additional sensor which enhances the functionality of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular of the infrared temperature measurement appliance.
[0010] Here, a handheld temperature measurement appliance is to be understood in particular to mean that the temperature measurement appliance can be transported, and also controlled during a measurement process, by hands alone, in particular by one hand, without the aid of a transportation machine. For this purpose, the mass of the temperature measurement appliance is in particular less than 5 kg, advantageously less than 3 kg and particularly advantageously less than 1 kg. The temperature measurement appliance may advantageously have a grip or a grip region by which the temperature measurement appliance can be controlled during a measurement process.
[0011] It is proposed that the components of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular at least one control device, an evaluation device, a device for supplying energy to the temperature measurement appliance, an input and/or output device and a detector device are at least partially accommodated in the housing of the temperature measurement appliance. In particular, more than 50%, preferably more than 70% and particularly preferably 100% of the total volume of the components is accommodated in the housing of the temperature measurement appliance. It is thus advantageously possible to realize a compact temperature measurement appliance which is easy to control using one hand. Furthermore, in this way, the components can advantageously be protected against damage and environmental influences, for example moisture and dust. The housing which accommodates the main components of the temperature measurement appliance, that is to say in particular at least the control device, the evaluation device, the device for supplying energy, the input and/or output device and the detector device, will hereinafter also be referred to, for unique designation, as “main housing” or as “housing of the temperature measurement appliance”.
[0012] A sensor for measuring a relative air humidity and/or an ambient temperature is provided on the housing of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular outside the housing of the temperature measurement appliance. With knowledge of the relative air humidity and/or of the ambient temperature around the temperature measurement appliance, the risk of inaccurate measurements or incorrect measurements, for example owing to a temperature measurement appliance that has not acclimatized to the surroundings, can be reduced or advantageously eliminated entirely. In particular, provision may for example be made for the user of the temperature measurement appliance to be notified of the risk of an inaccurate measurement. Alternatively or in addition, at least one measurement value of the sensor, in particular a temperature measurement value and/or air humidity measurement value, may be used for correction and/or calibration purposes in the temperature measurement appliance. It is advantageously possible, for example, using calibration measurement values determined by the sensor, for evaluation results to be interpreted and/or converted and/or interpolated and/or extrapolated and for the temperature measurement appliance to be calibrated in particular with regard to an ambient temperature.
[0013] The sensor is preferably provided in a sensor housing which is arranged separately outside the housing, in particular outside the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance which contains the main components of the temperature measurement appliance, which sensor housing in particular extends longitudinally away from the housing of the temperature measurement appliance, but which sensor housing is connected to said housing. In one embodiment, the sensor housing is an integral constituent part, that is to say in particular is a constituent part integrated by non-positively locking and/or positively locking and/or cohesive means, of the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance (for delimitation from the main housing, the unique designation “sensor housing” will hereinafter be used regardless of the embodiment). The direction of extent and length extent of the sensor housing are in this case preferably adapted to the contour of the housing of the temperature measurement appliance such that the sensor housing cannot be damaged, owing to an exposed arrangement, in the event of shock loading on the temperature measurement appliance, for example as a result of the temperature measurement appliance being dropped. The sensor housing is advantageously surrounded, on at least two sides, by the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance. In this way, the sensor can advantageously be arranged spaced apart from the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance in the sensor housing provided separately outside the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance, but nevertheless advantageously in a particularly well-protected manner.
[0014] The sensor is advantageously, owing to the arrangement thereof spaced apart from the housing of the temperature measurement appliance, thermally decoupled from the temperature measurement appliance, such that the sensor advantageously measures an ambient temperature and/or relative air humidity which are/is independent of influences originating from the temperature measurement appliance itself and/or from the operator thereof. Furthermore, further means may be provided which make it possible for the effect of the thermal decoupling of the sensor from the housing of the temperature measurement appliance and/or from an operator of the temperature measurement appliance to be further enhanced, in particular for example by way of thermal insulating elements or the like. For example, for the thermal decoupling, it is possible for the sensor housing to be connected to the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance by way of small webs. The webs for fastening the sensor housing to the housing of the temperature measurement appliance may be connected integrally to the sensor housing. Alternatively, the webs for fastening the sensor housing to the housing of the temperature measurement appliance may be connected integrally to the housing of the temperature measurement appliance. Provision may furthermore advantageously be made for the sensor housing of the sensor to be formed from a material with good thermal conductivity, in particular a metal.
[0015] It is advantageously possible for the sensor housing of the sensor to be of substantially open form or at least formed with slots or holes or the like in order to permit the best possible thermal contact of the ambient air with the sensor.
[0016] In one embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, further sensors may be provided, in particular further sensors for determining the temperature and/or air humidity in and/or outside the temperature measurement appliance. For example, by way of a further temperature sensor, it is possible for the temperature of the infrared sensor of the detector device to be determined, and, by way of the determination of a temperature difference between the sensor in the sensor housing and the sensor at the infrared sensor, it is possible to derive information regarding the state of acclimatization of the temperature measurement appliance.
[0017] An ambient temperature is to be understood in particular to mean the temperature surrounding the temperature measurement appliance, that is to say for example the temperature in the immediate vicinity of the temperature measurement appliance. If the temperature measurement appliance is for example used in a closed room, the ambient temperature preferably corresponds to the room temperature. By contrast, if the temperature measurement appliance is used in an open area, the ambient temperature would be the outside temperature in the region of the temperature measurement appliance.
[0018] In an equivalent manner, the air humidity is to be understood to mean a relative moisture content of the air surrounding the temperature measurement appliance, in particular the sensor.
[0019] A protective cap that can be reversibly arranged on the temperature measurement appliance serves for the mechanical protection of the at least one sensor. The protective cap preferably encases the sensor housing and terminates at the main housing of the temperature measurement appliance, such that advantageously complete encasement of the sensor housing and thus of the sensor is realized. In particular, the protective cap serves for protection against ingress of particles, objects, dust, moisture and other environmental influences, and furthermore also against mechanical shocks, vibrations and other actions of force on the sensor housing of the sensor and on the sensor. The protective cap, in the arranged state, preferably conforms to a standard with regard to classification of its protective action, in particular to at least IP44, preferably at least IP55, particularly preferably at least IP56, as defined by DIN EN 60529. The protective cap can be arranged reversibly on the temperature measurement appliance, in particular can be reversibly separated (removed) from and mounted onto the temperature measurement appliance.
[0020] The protective cap can advantageously be removed by an operator of the temperature measurement appliance before a measurement is performed, such that the sensor housing surrounding the sensor is exposed and the sensor is, by way of the slots provided in the sensor housing, in direct communication with the surroundings, in particular without protection from the protective cap.
[0021] According to the disclosure, at least on the temperature measurement appliance, there are provided means which make it possible for an arranged state of the at least one protective cap to be detected. “Provided” is to be understood in particular to mean specially programmed, configured and/or equipped. The statement that an object is provided for a particular function is to be understood in particular to mean that the object carries out and/or performs said particular function in at least one state of use and/or operation, or is designed to carry out the function. The arranged state of the at least one protective cap is to be understood in particular to mean the state in which the at least one protective cap is, for protection of the at least one sensor, arranged on the temperature measurement appliance so as to encase the sensor housing. Said arranged state differs in particular from the state, in particular “removed state”, in which the protective cap does not encase the sensor housing, such that the sensor, or at least the sensor housing, is in direct communication with the surroundings in an unprotected manner. The means for detecting an arranged state may in particular comprise mechanical and/or electronic means. Such means according to the disclosure for the detection of an arranged state of the at least one protective cap may for example constitute sensors, electrical circuits and/or mechanically or electromechanically actuable means. In particular, however, means for the detection of an arranged state do not refer to mere color codings such as for example a coloring of the protective cap in signal color.
[0022] The protective cap advantageously makes it possible for the sensor, which is protected in the arranged state, to be protected against external influences, in particular dirt, moisture and/or mechanical actions such as vibrations, shocks and the like. However, if the protective cap is not removed from or taken off the sensor during a measurement, the accuracy of the measurement may be adversely affected. It is particularly advantageously possible for the means provided for detecting the arranged state of the protective cap to be utilized for reducing, in particular eliminating, the risk of influenced measurements and/or incorrect measurements of the sensor. For this purpose, the detection of the arranged state of the at least one protective cap may be interpreted as an indication that a determination of the ambient temperature of the temperature measurement appliance and/or of the air humidity of the air surrounding the temperature measurement appliance has not been, and/or cannot be, carried out correctly by way of the sensor. In this way, it is particularly advantageously possible to provide a functionality of the temperature measurement appliance which makes it possible for the measurement accuracy of the measurements to be performed by way of the temperature measurement appliance to be improved and/or interpreted, that is to say in particular for information regarding the quality of the measurement to be derived.
[0023] In one advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap have a sensor-counterpart pair, in particular a sensor-activator or a sensor-actuator pair, and/or an electrical switch and/or a mechanical switch.
[0024] A sensor-counterpart pair is to be understood in particular to mean a two-part system comprising a sensor and a suitable counterpart element, such that the sensor detects the presence of the counterpart element if the sensor registers a physical characteristic of the counterpart element. In particular, this also includes sensor-activator pairs. Examples of such sensor-counterpart pairs are in particular sensors sensitive to magnetic fields in combination with magnets, capacitive sensors in combination with dielectrics, temperature-sensitive sensors in combination with elements that emit thermal radiation, or light-sensitive sensors in combination with light-emitting elements. In particular, it is pointed out that the sensor of the sensor-counterpart pair is not identical to the sensor for measuring the air humidity and/or the ambient temperature. In this context, the sensor of the sensor-counterpart pair constitutes an additional sensor which additionally enhances the functionality of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular of the infrared temperature measurement appliance. Using a sensor-counterpart pair of said type, it is possible —for example with a sensor of the sensor-counterpart pair integrated into the housing of the temperature measurement appliance and a counterpart element integrated into the protective cap—to realize reliable detection of the arranged state of the protective cap.
[0025] Alternatively and/or in addition, it is possible for an arranged state of the at least one protective cap to be detected by way of an electrical switch and/or a mechanical switch, for example if, during the arrangement of the protective cap for the protection of the sensor, the electrical switch and/or the mechanical switch is actuated as a result of the arrangement of the protective cap. It is preferably possible for an electrical and/or mechanical switch of said type to be realized in functional combination with a holding, hook, clamping or detent device for the reversible holding and removal of the protective cap on and from the housing of the temperature measurement appliance, such that, when the protective cap is arranged, the holding, hook, clamping or detent element holds the protective cap in its position, while at the same time the electrical and/or mechanical switch detects the presence of the protective cap, in particular the arranged state thereof.
[0026] The detection of an arranged state of the at least one protective cap by way of a sensor-counterpart pair and/or an electrical and/or mechanical switch advantageously permits reliable identification of the arranged state of the protective cap. In particular, the realization by way of an electrical and/or mechanical switch constitutes an economically particularly expedient realization of a means according to the disclosure for detecting the arranged state of the protective cap.
[0027] In one embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance, the energy required for the operation of an electrical circuit, in particular of the sensor of the sensor-counterpart pair, may be drawn directly from the energy supply device of the temperature measurement appliance.
[0028] In one advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap have a sensor, which is sensitive to distance, of the sensor-counterpart pair.
[0029] Using a sensor, which is sensitive to distance, of the sensor-counterpart pair for the detection of an arranged state of the at least one protective cap, it is advantageously possible for said protective cap to be identified as being arranged even when the protective cap is not arranged correctly, that is to say in particular is not arranged in its holding position or detent position, which it is to assume in the arranged state, on the temperature measurement appliance. This may be the case for example if the protective cap is not correctly mounted over the sensor housing, with the result that the protective cap is not fastened to a holding, hook, clamping or detent device provided for the reversible arrangement of the protective cap. When a sensor, which is sensitive to distance, of the sensor-counterpart pair is used, it is advantageously possible for the incorrect state of arrangement of the protective cap to likewise be output to a user of the temperature measurement appliance using an output device, for example by way of acoustic warning sounds, and thus for the user to be warned of a possible loss of the protective cap.
[0030] In an advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap have a sensor which is sensitive to magnetic fields, in particular a Hall sensor.
[0031] A Hall sensor is a sensor which is sensitive to magnetic fields and which constitutes a preferred embodiment of a sensor, which is sensitive to distance, of the sensor-counterpart pair. In combination with a magnet, it is possible in this way to realize a sensor-counterpart pair which permits particularly reliable detection of the arranged state of the at least one protective cap. For this purpose, it is for example possible for the Hall sensor to be integrated into the housing of the temperature measurement appliance, whereas the magnet, as counterpart element, is a constituent part of the protective cap.
[0032] The magnet, as a constituent part of the protective cap, may furthermore be used in particular for the stable arrangement of the protective cap on the temperature measurement appliance. In this way, it is possible to dispense with mechanical components for realizing a holding or detent device. Furthermore, using a Hall sensor-magnet pair, it is advantageously possible to dispense with mechanical components for the detection of the arranged state of the at least one protective cap. The omission of (electro-)mechanical components, in particular holding, hook, clamping or detent elements or switches or the like, also has an advantageous effect on the permanent realization of the functional characteristics both of the protective cap and of the sensor for measuring the ambient temperature and/or air humidity together with sensor housing, especially as functional restrictions or even loss of function owing to fouling or wear of the mechanical elements—typically associated with loss of contact and/or interlocking and jamming of the elements—are avoided.
[0033] In an advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap have a capacitive sensor or a sensor which is sensitive to ultrasound, in particular a sensor which is sensitive to distance.
[0034] Using capacitive sensors or sensors which are sensitive to ultrasound, in particular capacitive sensor-counterpart pairs or sensor-counterpart pairs which are sensitive to ultrasound, it is possible to realize alternative cost-effective embodiments of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, in which an arranged state of the at least one protective cap is reliably detected.
[0035] In an advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap have a switch which is operated when the protective cap is in an arranged or removed state.
[0036] A switch of said type, in particular a mechanical and/or electrical switch, constitutes an advantageously simple realization of the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap. It is preferably possible for an in particular electrical and/or mechanical switch of said type to be formed together with means provided for the stable arrangement of the protective cap, in particular holding, hook, clamping or detent elements. An electrical switch particularly preferably detects the arranged state of the protective cap by way of a short circuit or closure of an electrical circuit as a result of the arrangement of the protective cap. It is thus possible to realize a reliable embodiment, which is easy to realize in terms of production and is therefore economically particularly expedient, of the means for detecting the arranged state of the protective cap.
[0037] In an advantageous embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, the means for detecting an arranged state of the at least one protective cap output an electrical signal to a control device of the temperature measurement appliance.
[0038] It is preferably possible in this way for the signal relating to the detection of an arranged state of the protective cap to be processed further by way of the control device of the temperature measurement appliance. Numerous embodiments are conceivable in which the signal generated by the means for detecting the arranged state is evaluated, transmitted and/or output to a user of the temperature measurement appliance. In particular, a notification that the protective cap is in an arranged state on the sensor and/or on the temperature measurement appliance can be output to a user of the temperature measurement appliance using the output device of the temperature measurement appliance, in particular by acoustic, optical, tactile or other means. It is advantageously possible in this way for a warning to be output to the user of the temperature measurement appliance, which warning notifies said user of possible incorrect measurements or inaccurate measurements of the sensor for measuring an ambient temperature and/or air humidity, and thus also of the temperature measurement appliance, if said user leaves the protective cap in the arranged state during the measurement.
[0039] Furthermore, it may for example be provided that operation of the temperature measurement appliance is blocked when the protective cap is situated in the arranged state.
[0040] It is furthermore possible for the electrical signal to be utilized as a basis for the implementation of at least one function of the temperature measurement appliance. A multiplicity of such functions which are implemented in a manner dependent on the detection of the arranged state of the protective cap is conceivable. For example, functional restrictions of the temperature measurement appliance, such as in particular non-activation of background illumination of an output display, may be realized in the case of an arranged state of the protective cap being detected. Alternatively or in addition, functional enhancements may also be provided, for example recourse to calibration data stored within the appliance for the purposes of calibrating the temperature measurement appliance, rather than using the measurement values determined by the sensor for measuring the ambient temperature and/or air humidity.
[0041] According to the disclosure, a method for operating a temperature measurement appliance is also proposed, in which an arranged state of a protective cap which can be reversibly arranged on the temperature measurement appliance for the purposes of mechanically protecting an air humidity and/or ambient temperature sensor is detected.
[0042] It is advantageously possible for the method in which an arranged state of a protective cap is detected to be utilized for reducing, in particular eliminating, the risk of influenced measurements and/or incorrect measurements of the sensor for measuring the ambient temperature and/or air humidity, and thus also the risk of influenced and/or incorrect measurements of the temperature measurement appliance, in the case of a protective cap not being removed during a temperature measurement. For this purpose, it is possible in particular for the detection of the arranged state of the at least one protective cap to be interpreted as an indication that a determination of the ambient temperature of the temperature measurement appliance and/or of the air humidity of the air surrounding the temperature measurement appliance has not been, and/or cannot be, carried out correctly.
[0043] In an advantageous embodiment of the method for operating a temperature measurement appliance, the detection of an arranged state, in particular of a removed state, of the protective cap controls a function of the temperature measurement appliance.
[0044] It is thus possible for at least one function of the temperature measurement appliance to be implemented in a manner dependent on the detection of an arranged state, alternatively or additionally also of a removed state, of the protective cap.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0045] The disclosure will be discussed in more detail in the following description on the basis of exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. The drawing, the description and the claims contain numerous features in combination. A person skilled in the art will expediently also consider the features individually and combine them to form further meaningful combinations. In the figures, identical elements are denoted by the same reference signs.
[0046] In the figures:
[0047] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure in a perspective frontal view,
[0048] FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of an embodiment of the sensor housing without an arranged protective cap,
[0049] FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic sectional illustration of an embodiment of the sensor housing without an arranged protective cap,
[0050] FIG. 4 is a perspective illustration of an embodiment of a protective cap,
[0051] FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of an alternative embodiment of the sensor housing without an arranged protective cap,
[0052] FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of an alternative embodiment of a protective cap,
[0053] FIG. 7 shows a method diagram of an embodiment of the method according to the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0054] The following presentation of the exemplary embodiments relates substantially to a contactless temperature measurement appliance according to the disclosure, such as may be realized for example as an infrared temperature measurement appliance. In principle, the fundamentals and technical teachings essential to the disclosure of the exemplary embodiments highlighted below for the purposes of illustrating the advantages of the disclosure may self-evidently also be transferred to other measurement appliances with at least one sensor provided on the housing thereof and with at least one protective cap that can be reversibly arranged on the measurement appliance for the purposes of mechanically protecting said sensor, for example in particular to other optical measurement appliances such as cameras, spectroscopic measurement appliances, telescopes, binoculars and the like, but also to measurement appliances such as laser range finders, humidity measurement appliances, radar measurement appliances or other measurement appliances that appear expedient to a person skilled in the art. Depending on the task and usage location of the measurement appliance, the at least one sensor and the protective cap for the protection of the at least one sensor may be designed differently, in particular with regard to the position in relation to the appliance.
[0055] FIG. 1 shows, in a perspective illustration, an embodiment of an exemplary infrared temperature measurement appliance 10 according to the disclosure. The temperature measurement appliance 10 comprises a housing 12 with a grip 14 . By way of the grip 14 , it is possible for a user to comfortably hold the temperature measurement appliance 10 using one hand during the use of said temperature measurement appliance. The housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 furthermore has, on a side facing toward a user during the use of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , an output device in the form of a touch display, and operating elements for user input and control of the temperature measurement appliance 10 (neither of which are illustrated in any more detail). On that side of the housing 12 which is averted from the user, an inlet opening 16 is provided in the housing 12 , through which inlet opening thermal radiation radiated by an object can enter the temperature measurement appliance 10 . Further components of the temperature measurement appliance 10 in its embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 include laser diodes 18 , which mark a measurement point, a camera 20 which operates in the visible spectrum, and an illumination unit 22 .
[0056] On the underside of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , the grip 14 has a receptacle for accommodating an energy store 24 , which can be formed by way of example as a rechargeable accumulator, in particular a lithium-ion accumulator, or as a battery.
[0057] In a manner which is not illustrated in any more detail here, in the interior of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , electrical components of the temperature measurement appliance 10 are mounted, and interconnected, on a printed circuit board. The electrical components comprise at least one control device, an evaluation device and a detector device with a detector for detecting the thermal radiation that enters the temperature measurement appliance 10 . The control device constitutes, in particular, a device which comprises at least one set of control electronics and means for communication with the other components of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , in particular means for controlling and regulating the temperature measurement appliance 10 . The control device is provided for controlling, and enabling the operation of, the temperature measurement appliance 10 . For this purpose, the control device is connected in terms of signal transmission to the other components of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , in particular to the detector device, to the evaluation device, to the operating elements, to the touch display and to a data communication interface. The evaluation device serves for receiving and evaluating detection signals of the detector device.
[0058] A trigger 26 which is easy for an operator of the temperature measurement appliance 10 to reach and operate serves for triggering a temperature measurement.
[0059] On the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 there is provided a sensor 30 for measuring a relative air humidity and/or an ambient temperature of the temperature measurement appliance 10 . Here, the sensor 30 is preferably provided in a sensor housing 34 which is arranged separately outside the housing 12 , which sensor housing extends longitudinally away from the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 but is connected to said housing 12 . The direction and length of extent of the sensor housing 34 are in this case preferably adapted to the contour of the housing of the temperature measurement appliance 10 such that the sensor housing 34 of the sensor 30 cannot be damaged, owing to an exposed arrangement, in the event of shock loading on the temperature measurement appliance 10 , for example as a result of the temperature measurement appliance 10 being dropped. In particular, the sensor housing 34 together with sensor 30 contained therein may, in an advantageous embodiment, be provided above the hand grip 14 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , preferably above the operable trigger 26 . It is particularly preferably the case that a measurement head 28 , which projects beyond the hand grip 14 in a measurement direction 40 arranged approximately orthogonally to the hand grip 14 and which contains inter alia those components of the temperature measurement appliance 10 that are relevant to the execution of the measurement, projects beyond the sensor housing 34 in the length extent thereof away from the housing 12 , with said sensor housing 34 thus being protected by the hand grip 14 and measurement head 28 . In this way, the sensor housing 34 of the sensor 30 can be arranged separately outside the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 and can nevertheless be arranged in a particularly well-protected manner
[0060] In the embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance 10 according to the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 1 , the protective cap 32 (cf. in particular FIGS. 4, 6 ) is situated in an arranged state on the temperature measurement appliance 10 , wherein the sensor 30 is protected against environmental influences, in particular moisture, dust and mechanical actions such as vibration and shocks, by the protective cap 32 .
[0061] FIG. 2 illustrates a detail of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , said figure illustrating the sensor housing 34 on an enlarged scale and without an arranged protective cap 32 . The sensor 30 is situated in the small sensor housing 34 , which is formed in one piece with the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , wherein the sensor housing 34 is substantially thermally decoupled from the rest of the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 . As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the sensor 30 is preferably situated in the head of the sensor housing 34 such that the spacing of said sensor to the temperature measurement appliance 10 , in particular to the housing 12 of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , is particularly large. In the illustrated, unprotected state of the sensor 30 , that is to say when the protective cap 32 has been removed, the sensor 30 is in direct communication with the air surrounding it via slots 44 in the sensor housing 34 . It is thus possible for air from the surroundings to flow unhindered to the sensor 30 . During operation of the sensor 30 , the sensor 30 , which is sensitive to air humidity and temperature, detects a relative air humidity and an ambient temperature of the air surrounding it. The measurement signals provided by the sensor 30 to the evaluation unit serve for the calibration of the detector device and for the estimation of the accuracy of the temperature measurement values detected by way of the detector device from the measured infrared radiation. The sensor housing 34 has holding means 42 for the stable arrangement of the protective cap 32 (cf. also FIGS. 4, 6 ).
[0062] Two electrical contacts 36 are situated on the sensor housing 34 of the sensor 30 on the underside thereof, which electrical contacts are electrically continued in the interior of the sensor housing 34 , in particular are continued to the control device (cf. FIG. 3 ).
[0063] FIG. 4 illustrates, in a schematic perspective illustration, an embodiment of the protective cap 32 according to the disclosure for protecting the sensor 30 . In the interior of the protective cap 32 there is situated an electrically conductive metal strip 38 which, in an arranged state of the protective cap 32 , connects the electrical contacts 36 that are situated on the underside of the sensor housing 34 , and thus closes the electrical circuit. As a result of the closure of the electrical circuit in an arranged state of the protective cap 32 , an electrical current flows through the electrical contacts 36 and through the electrically conductive metal strip 38 . The current flow is, within the appliance, conducted onward to the control device of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , and signals to the control device the arranged state of the protective cap 32 on the temperature measurement appliance. The electrical contacts 36 and the electrically conductive metal strip 38 function, in this exemplary embodiment, as electrical switches by means of which an arranged state of the at least one protective cap 32 is detected. In this way, the electrical contacts 36 and the electrically conductive metal strip 38 act as means 36 , 38 which make it possible for an arranged state of the at least one protective cap 32 to be detected. Furthermore, the protective cap 32 has holding means 42 ′ which are of complementary form to the holding means 42 , such that, in an arranged state of the protective cap 32 , the holding means 42 and 42 ′ permit a stable fastening of the protective cap 32 .
[0064] FIG. 5 illustrates a detail of an alternative embodiment of the temperature measurement appliance 10 , said figure illustrating the sensor housing 34 on an enlarged scale and without an arranged protective cap 32 . Instead of the electrical contacts 36 (cf. FIG. 3 ) provided on the sensor housing 34 of the sensor 30 , it is the case in the embodiment illustrated here that a sensor 46 of a sensor-counterpart pair is illustrated, which sensor may in particular be realized as a Hall sensor or as a capacitive sensor. Said sensor 46 detects an arranged state of the protective cap 32 (cf. FIG. 6 ) on the temperature measurement appliance if said protective cap has been correctly mounted onto the sensor housing 34 of the sensor 30 . In this way, the sensor 46 and the counterpart element 48 of the sensor-counterpart pair act as means 46 , 48 which make it possible for an arranged state of the at least one protective cap 32 to be detected.
[0065] As illustrated in FIG. 6 , for this purpose, the protective cap 32 , in a corresponding embodiment, has not an electrically conductive metal strip 38 (cf. in particular FIG. 4 ) but a counterpart element 48 . Therefore, depending on the selection of the sensor 46 as a Hall sensor or capacitive sensor, said counterpart element 48 is in particular selected to be in the form of a magnet or a material with a dielectric constant that differs from that of air. The action of the protective cap 32 being brought closer and arranged causes the counterpart element 48 to be moved into the detection range of the sensor 46 of the sensor-counterpart pair, such that the sensor 46 outputs to the control device a signal relating to the arrangement of the protective cap 32 on the temperature measurement appliance.
[0066] FIG. 7 illustrates a method diagram showing an embodiment of the method according to the disclosure for the operation of the temperature measurement appliance, in which method an arranged state or a removed state of the protective cap is detected, as illustrated by method step 50 or 52 respectively, and accordingly a respective function 54 or 56 of the temperature measurement appliance is implemented in a manner dependent on the detection of the arranged state 50 or the detection of the removed state 52 of the protective cap. | A temperature measurement appliance for contactless temperature measurement, in particular a handheld temperature measurement appliance, includes a housing and at least one sensor that is disposed on the housing. The at least one sensor is configured to measure one or more of a relative air humidity and an ambient temperature. The temperature measurement appliance further includes at least one protective cap that is configured to be reversibly arranged on the temperature measurement appliance so as to mechanically protect the at least one sensor. The temperature measurement appliance further includes one or more features arranged on the temperature measurement appliance that are configured to detect an arranged state of the at least one protective cap. A method for operating the temperature measurement appliance includes detecting the arranged state of the protective cap on the temperature measurement appliance. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to microwave sensor techniques for measuring water in a composition and particularly to a microwave sensor for temperature independent measurements of moisture and other properties in paper, board, cellulose-based feedstock and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various sensor systems have been developed for detecting sheet properties “on-line,” such as in a papermaking machine while it is operating. Online control of the moisture content in feedstock such as wood chips and products such as oriented strand board (OSB) and paper board is highly desirable to improve production yield and product quality. Moisture in wood chips is one of the main parameters affecting the production of OSB and biofuels. For example, moisture critically affects the pyrolysis of wood products for the production of biofuels. Online moisture measurements are typically performed using either infrared or microwave absorption or spectroscopy techniques. Infrared techniques are limited to measuring surface moisture and/or low basis weight products due to the low penetration depth of infrared light. They cannot be successfully applied to thick products like wood chips in which moisture stratification is often present. Infrared techniques are also strongly affected by broadband absorbers such as elemental carbon that can be found in various products, in particular recycled paper products.
The most commonly used microwave method of measuring the water content on-line on a paper machine is the resonant-cavity technique. In this technique, the paper travels between the two half cavities of the sensor. The method consists of measuring the change in frequencies of two resonances due to changes in the water content in paper. The two frequencies used include one where the maximum amplitude of the electric field is in the middle of the cavity (i.e. at the paper location) and one where the minimum of the electric field (node) is in the middle of the cavity. The former is called the measure frequency and is most sensitive to the change in dielectric constant in paper (i.e. water content). The measure frequency is approximately 1.8 GHz. The latter is called the reference frequency and is mostly insensitive to changes in the dielectric properties in paper. The reference frequency is approximately 3 GHz. The reference frequency is used to correct for undesirable effects that affect both frequencies such as a slight change in the distance between the two half cavities. This resonant cavity method is quite sensitive to changes in water content but requires a separate temperature measurement in order to be accurate since the resonant-microwave technique is strongly affected by the temperature of the sample being measured. The reason is that the permittivity of water in the microwave range is very temperature sensitive. Thus, microwave sensors generally require an independent temperature measurement being performed as well as a temperature correction algorithm. The temperature corrector applied can be as large as 0.5% moisture per 10° C. change in the sheet temperature. Furthermore, this method provides only a water weight measurement. An independent sensor such as a beta- or gamma-emitter-based sensor is required to measure basis weight. A percent moisture measurement is extracted from the water weight and basis weight measurements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to microwave techniques for measuring a cellulose-based product's average moisture and other properties accurately without requiring an independent measurement of temperature. The inventive microwave sensor can provide a measurement of the product temperature but since the microwave sensor does not use a resonant cavity it is not limited to the measurement frequencies sustained by the cavity. The microwave sensor directly measures the reflection or transmission of microwaves at a number of frequencies so as to characterize the reflection or transmission transfer function of the product under test. The product moisture and temperature are extracted from the aforementioned transfer function.
The microwave region of interest for moisture measurements is the 1 MHz-1000 GHz (1 THz) range. In this range the dielectric properties of water change dramatically. Measurements must be made in this range such that the measured reflection or transmission function of the sample is sensitive to water content as well as to the sample's temperature. In the case where only free water is present in the sample, a restricted microwave range of 1 GHz to 100 GHz is adequate. Bound water behaves differently to free water. Measurements at higher frequencies are required to detect bound water.
Water is a substance which strongly interacts with microwaves. The spectrum of absorption by water is highly specific and is well known. Furthermore the microwave spectrum is highly dependent on the product's temperature. The effect of temperature on the water absorption spectrum can be easily calculated using known equations. The microwave sensor of the present invention measures the reflection or transmission transfer function of a sample at a number of microwave frequencies. This transfer function characterizes the change in amplitude of the microwave radiation reflecting off or transmitting through a sample. The sample transfer function is measured at various frequencies in the frequency range where the permittivity of water changes dramatically. At low frequencies, the dielectric constant (real part of the permittivity) is high and is fairly independent of the frequency. Similarly, the dielectric loss (complex part of the permittivity) is low. At intermediate frequencies, around the inverse of the relaxation time of the water molecules, the dielectric constant drops dramatically with frequency. The dielectric loss peaks in this frequency range. Therefore, both the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss are very sensitive to the water temperature in this frequency range. This is explained by the fact that the relaxation time of the water molecules is a function of temperature. In the higher frequency range, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss are both low. Microwave radiation does not interact as much with water in this frequency range as it does at lower frequencies. The high frequency range is correspondingly a range where the relative influence of the dry product composition or dry product weight on the microwave reflection and transmission is the greatest.
By measuring the reflection and/or transmission of microwaves at frequencies in the low, medium and high ranges, the product transfer function is characterized in the regions where water, product temperature and dry product composition and weight play a role. Both moisture, in percent or water weight as well as temperature, can be accurately extracted from the measured transfer functions by applying a calibration. Calibrations are produced by relating measured transfer functions of samples with known compositions, measured at various temperatures.
The sample transfer function (Tf) is determined by taking the ratio of the measured amplitudes with the sensor interacting with the sample (A amp ) and with the sensor exposed to free space (A free ):
Tf
=
A
smp
A
free
.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of measuring one or more parameters of a composition that includes the steps of:
directing microwave radiation over a spectrum of wavelengths from an antenna to be incident upon the composition;
measuring the microwave radiation over the spectrum of wavelengths that emerges from the composition;
determining the reflected and/or transmitted transfer function of the composition over the spectrum of wavelengths; and
relating the determined transfer function of the composition over the spectrum of wavelengths to one or more parameters of the composition by applying a model, with the proviso that an independent temperature measurement of the composition is not required.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a sensor for measuring at least one property of a composition of a sample that includes:
a light source, which emits microwave radiation over as spectrum of wavelengths at a sample of the composition;
a receiver operable to detect reflected or transmitted radiation from the sample and to provide electrical detection signals;
signal generator that generates first signals to the light source to cause the light source to emit microwave radiation at two or more frequencies at the sample and second signals that are indicative of the two or more frequencies; and
a processor that receives the electrical detection signals and the second signal and that is operable to determine at least one property of the composition by applying a model, with the proviso that an independent temperature measurement of the composition is not required.
The model can be derived solely from calibrations or it can be based on theoretical assumptions or is derived from a combination of both. A calibration model uses a set of known samples to predict the moisture content or other properties of paper board, OSB, cellulose-based feedstock and the like especially products that are thick. For example, representative paper samples with known water content in the range of interest, which is typically 0% to 10% water for the dry-end and 45% to 65% for the wet-end of the paper machine, are analyzed with the microwave sensor to generate amplitude measurements. The data derived from amplitude measurements together with the moisture content and the sheet temperature are used in a calibration model, which uses multivariate analysis to predict the moisture properties of paper during production. The multivariate analysis can be performed to standard techniques, including, Projection to Latent Structures (PLS), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR), Principal Component Regression (PCR), Multilinear Regression Analysis (MLR) or Discriminate Analysis.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the microwave sensor operating in the transmission mode;
FIG. 2 depicts a measurement process for moisture calculations;
FIG. 3 is a graph of dielectric constant (the real part of permittivity) for free water as a function of frequency at 4 temperatures: just above freezing, 25° C., 45° C., and 65° C.;
FIG. 4 is a graph of dielectric loss (the imaginary part of permittivity) for free water as a function of frequency at 4 temperatures: just above freezing, 25° C., 45° C., and 65° C.;
FIG. 5 is shows the transfer function of paper board as a function of moisture content and sheet temperature in the 5-100 GHz frequency range; and
FIG. 6 illustrates scanning system incorporating a microwave sensor.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 illustrates microwave sensor 2 in which signals of the frequency range of interest are synthesized by to signal generator 20 and the signals are amplified by power amplifier 22 and sent to antenna 10 where the electrical signals are converted to microwave signals in the required frequency range. Incident microwaves interact with the composition of sample 24 and emerging microwave radiation, having been attenuated and delayed in the process, is detected by antenna 8 which generates representative electrical signals that can be optionally amplified before being received by analyzer 14 which includes memory 16 and processor 18 . In particular, the representative electrical signals correspond to the intensity of the transmitted radiation from sample 24 . Analyzer 14 calculates the moisture and temperature and other parameters of interest from signals that are generated by antenna 10 and received by antenna 8 . In this embodiment, antennas 8 and 10 are incorporated within scanner heads 4 and 6 , respectively, so that the microwave device can be positioned onto a scanner to continuously measure across a moving web of the material.
In a preferred embodiment, microwave sensor 2 employs a signal generator 20 that generates microwave signals in the desired wavelength region by conventional apparatuses such as with that found in a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). The frequencies can be stepped through the region in discrete steps or be swept through the range of interest.
Antenna 10 is capable of generating a signal across the frequency range of interest (5-1000 GHz for example). When a wide bandwidth is employed, it may be necessary to direct different parts of the spectrum to different antennae. Suitable antennas include horn antennae with ranges from 2-18 GHz and 18-40 GHz and other antennae designs for higher frequencies.
Signal generator 20 also provides synchronizing signals so the steps of directing radiation to sample 24 and measuring reflected or transmitted radiation from sample 24 are synchronized.
Signal processor 18 is coupled to antenna 8 to receive the electrical detection signals. Memory 16 stores calibration and normalization data to permit calculation of the moisture content, basis weight and other properties in the case where material 50 is paper. Processor 18 combines the signals received to determine at least one property of the material.
As shown in FIG. 1 , when operating in the transmissive mode, the microwave source can be housed in sensor head 6 and microwave receiver 8 can be housed in sensor head 4 that is on the opposite side of material 24 . The microwave sensor can also operate in the reflective mode, in which case, both microwave source and receiver are positioned on the same side as material 24 . In this case, only a single antenna may be used and the transmitted and received signal electronically separated with a device such as a directional coupler.
Calibration Technique
Once the reflected and/or transmitted transfer function has been obtained, using techniques described above, the properties of interest such as moisture and sheet temperature can be obtained using a calibration.
The calibration can be performed in two different ways. The most direct calibration technique can be referred to as a one step calibration. The second method requires two main steps. Both techniques are described below.
The one step calibration technique is the most direct calibration method. No attempt is made to fit the transfer function. The measured transfer function is used in a multivariate analysis such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or a multiple regression analysis to predict the properties of interest (moisture, sheet temperature, etc.).
The calibration equation can take various forms. However, in the simplest case, a polynomial relationship of second order between the properties of interest (moisture and sheet temperature) and the measured transfer function is obtained such as in Eq. 1:
(
Moist
STemp
)
=
(
a
11
a
21
a
31
a
31
…
b
11
b
21
b
31
b
41
…
)
(
Tf
1
Tf
2
Tf
3
Tf
4
…
)
+
(
a
12
a
22
a
32
a
42
…
b
12
b
22
b
32
b
42
…
)
(
Tf
1
Tf
2
Tf
3
Tf
4
…
)
2
(
1
)
Where Tf n are the amplitude transfer values at various frequencies and a n , b n are the calibration parameters.
The second calibration technique requires two main steps. The first step is a fit of the transfer function using a simplified model of the material. From the fit, a finite number of parameters are obtained. The second step is a multivariate analysis such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or as multiple regression analysis to relate the fit parameters to the physical properties of the material under test (moisture, sheet temperature, etc.).
Step 1
The fit is performed by considering an approximate model of the transfer function. In the case of a transmission transfer function, Tf can be approximated by:
Tf=T 1 ·T 2 ·e ik 0 n*L
Where T 1 and T 2 are the Fresnel amplitude transmission through the sample, n* is the complex index of refraction of the sample, L is the sample thickness and k 0 is the wavenumber in vacuum.
k 0 = 2 π f c ,
where f is the frequency of the microwave radiation and c is the speed of light in vacuum.
The transmissions T 1 and T 2 characterize the transmission of light from free space to the sample and from the sample to free space. In the case of light transmission along the surface normal, they equate to:
T 1 = 2 1 + n * and T 2 = 2 · n * 1 + n *
A similar model for the transfer function can be obtained for the case of a reflection sensor geometry.
The complex index of refraction n*=n+ik can be separated into two parts: a real part (n) and an imaginary part (k). The index of refraction is related to the complex permittivity as follows:
n*=n+ik=√{square root over (∈)}=√{square root over (∈′+i∈″)}
where ∈ is the complex permittivity of the sample.
The transfer function model can include a model of the complex permittivity. In the case of free water, the simplest model that can be used is the Debye relaxation model which is further described in Deybe P, Polar Molecules , New York: Chemical Catalog, 1929.
ɛ
=
ɛ
∞
+
ɛ
0
-
ɛ
∞
1
+
ⅈ
f
f
0
(
2
)
Where ∈ is the material permittivity, ∈ 0 is the static permittivity of water, ∈ ∞ is the water permittivity at high frequency, f is the measurement frequency and f 0 is the relaxation frequency of water. Both ∈ 0 and f 0 are very temperature dependent
In the case of free water in a low dielectric medium like paper, Eq. 2 can still apply but a constant term characterizing the dielectric constant of the medium must be added. In low moisture application (<10%), a sizeable amount of water in paper is not free but bound to the cellulose fibers. If the bound water is modeled name a similar Debye relaxation model as free water, a more precise model for the permittivity of paper is as follows:
ɛ
=
ɛ
∞
m
+
ɛ
0
-
ɛ
∞
1
+
ⅈ
f
f
0
+
ɛ
0
bw
-
ɛ
∞
b
w
1
+
ⅈ
f
f
0
b
w
(
3
)
Where ∈ ∞m is the high frequency permittivity of the mixture (i.e. material), ∈ 0bw is the static permittivity of bound water, ∈ ∞bw is the bound water permittivity at high frequency, and f 0bw is the relaxation frequency of bound water. ∈ 0bw is typically smaller than ∈ 0 . (See, F. Ulaby, R. Moore, and A. Fung, Microwave remote sensing: Active and Passive , Vol. III, From Theory to Applications , Norwood, Mass.: Artect House, 1986.) The high frequency permittivity of the mixture (∈ ∞m ) is not expected to change significantly with temperature.
In the case where the relaxation frequency is not well defined or sharp and can be fitted with an associated width, the Davidson-Cole function can be used to model the permittivity curve. (See, Cole R H and Davidson D W, J. Chem. Phys. 20, 1389-1391, 1952.):
ɛ
=
ɛ
∞
+
ɛ
0
-
ɛ
∞
(
1
+
ⅈ
f
f
0
)
(
1
-
α
)
(
4
)
Where α (0<α<1) characterizes the width of the relaxation frequency distribution. Finally, for processes where additives present modify the conductivity of the material or if measuring in aqueous solution, the conductivity may need to be modeled:
ɛ
=
ⅈ
σ
2
π
ɛ
0
f
(
5
)
Where σ is the material conductivity and ∈ 0 is now the permittivity of free space. In order to fit the transfer function any combination of Eq. 2 to Eq. 5 may be required. The main criterion for selecting the fit function is the goodness of the prediction of the material properties.
If all fails, any fitting equations including polynomial, exponential, power laws, etc and a combination of all can be used to fit the transfer function.
Step 2
Once fit parameters to the transfer function have been obtained (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , . . . ), the material properties need to be calculated using a calibration equation. The calibration equation can take various forms and is typically based on Principal Component Analysis. However, in the simplest case, a linear relationship between the properties of interest (moisture and sheet temperature) and the fit parameters is obtained:
( Moist STemp ) = ( a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 … b 1 b 2 b 3 b 4 … ) ( P 1 P 2 P 3 P 4 … ) ( 6 )
Where P n are the fit parameters from the transfer function and a n , b n are the calibration parameters.
With both calibration techniques, the calibration parameters are obtained by doing multiple regression analysis or PCA on data measured by the sensor using a set of calibration samples. The calibration samples are chosen so that the properties of these samples vary at least as much as what is observed during the manufacturing process. For example, in the case of a moisture measurement in paper or board, calibration samples that contain the range of basis weight, moisture, composition (or grade) and sheet temperature observed on the process must be prepared. In order to obtain a range of moisture, the samples may need to be bagged in ACLAR® brand bags or encapsulated in glass. Wet samples can be measured with the sensor as the moisture drops due to natural evaporation. Similarly, hot glass encapsulated samples can be measured continuously as the sheet temperature decreases naturally.
The material properties are measured online by first collecting the transfer function of the samples over an adequate frequency range in the 1 MHz-1000 GHz range. Second, the material properties such as moisture and sheet temperature are calculated using one of the calibrations obtained as per above (Eq. 1 or Eq. 6). In the preferred embodiment, the moisture content (in percent) of the paper product as well as its temperature are measured. The percent moisture measurement does not require the use of a nuclear radiation sensor.
The main steps in the process for measuring one or more properties of a composition are shown in FIG. 2 . In operation, the above-described microwave sensor in initial step 30 generates radiation in two or more frequency ranges and preferably in a wide frequency range. In practice, this is accomplished by generating microwaves over a spectrum of wavelengths which is directed into the sample material under test in step 32 . The incident radiation interacts with the material and the radiation that emerges from the material is measured over the spectrum of wavelengths in terms of the amplitudes of the radiation in step 34 . Step 36 is to calculate the sample transfer function. In this regard, FIGS. 3 and 4 are graphs of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss, respectively, for free water as a function of frequency at 4 temperatures: (i) just above freezing, (ii) 25° C., (iii) 45° C., and (iv) 65° C., according to the Debye model described above. FIG. 5 are the calculated transfer functions for paper board as a function of moisture content (5% and 10%) and sheet temperature (25° C., 45° C., and 65° C.) in the 5-100 GHz frequency range. The transfer function is the ratio of the measured amplitude with and without sample and the calculations are based on the model described above. Next, in step 38 the transfer function of the material is fitted into a model that has been developed. Finally, in step 40 the properties of interests, including for example, the moisture content, water temperature and basis weight of the material are extracted from the fit parameters using the previously established sensor calibration.
FIG. 6 illustrates one particular implementation of the microwave sensor whereby the sensor is incorporated into a dual head scanner 58 of scanner system 60 that is employed to measure properties of paper, board and like in a continuous production process. Upper scanner head 50 , which houses the microwave source antenna, and lower scanner head 52 , which houses the microwave receiver antenna, move repeatedly back and forth in the cross direction across the width of the moving sheet 46 , which moves in the machine direction (MD), so that the characteristics of the entire sheet may be measured. Scanner 58 is supported by two transverse beams 42 , 44 , on which upper and lower scanning heads are mounted. The operative faces of the lower and upper scanner heads 52 , 50 define a measurement gap that accommodates sheet 46 . The movement of the dual scanner heads 52 , 50 is synchronized with respect to speed and direction so that they are aligned with each other.
A technique of measuring wood material such as wood chips is to use a conveyer to continuously present the materials to a sensor of the presenting invention that is operating in the reflective mode. With a conveyer belt of limited width, sampling across the belt would not be necessary and a single stationary point measurement may suffice. Alternatively, stationary, multiple point measurements can be implemented.
The foregoing has described the principles, preferred embodiment and modes of operation of the present invention. However, the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular embodiments discussed. Instead, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and it should be appreciated that variations may be made in those embodiments by workers skilled in the art without departing from the scope of present invention as defined by the following claims. | Microwave techniques for measuring moisture and other properties of paper and related products without requiring an independent measurement of temperature are provided. A sensor directly measures the reflection or transmission of microwaves at a number of well-chosen frequencies so as to characterize the absorption spectrum of the product. The technique of measuring the parameters of a composition includes: (a) directing incident microwave radiation over a spectrum of wavelengths from an antenna upon the composition; (b) measuring the microwave radiation over the spectrum of wavelengths that emerges from the composition; (c) determining the reflected and/or transmitted transfer function; and (d) relating the transfer function of the composition to the parameters of the composition by applying a theoretic, calibrated, or hybrid model. The product moisture and temperature are extracted from the transfer function. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of Application Ser. No. 12/892,065, filed Sep. 28, 2010, now abandoned, which is a divisional of Application Ser. No. 11/915,687, filed Nov. 27, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,923,218, which is a U.S. National Stage Application of PCT/CA2006/000868, filed May 29, 2006, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/685,296, filed May 27, 2005. The entire contents and disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the benefits of elevated expression of Integrin Linked Kinase (ILK), particularly to the cardioprotective effect evidenced as a result of upregulation of ILK post myocardial infarction, and most particularly to ILK mediated reduction of infarct size and beneficial increase in left ventricular mass post MI and to use of ILK as a means for cardiac stem cell proliferation and self-renewal.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The major barrier to the use of stem cell therapy in regenerative medicine is the inability to regulate the dichotomous capacity for stem cell self-renewal versus the process of cell lineage commitment. The solution to this problem will require an improved understanding of the inductive signals and the cognate signal transduction pathways which determine cellular fate, and which specifically govern the competitive outcomes of self-renewal with maintenance of pluripotency, versus differentiation into a specialized tissue phenotype i .
The evolutionarily conserved canonical Wnt pathway has been implicated in both human and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell self-renewal competence ii . Inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-313) leads to nuclear accumulation of β-catenin, which, in turn, leads to the activation of Wnt target genes implicated in the proliferation of endothelial precursor cells iii , and in self-renewal of HESCs iv .
ILK is a protein Ser/Thr kinase that binds to the cytoplasmic domains of β1, β2 and β3-integrin subunits v . ILK is regulated in a phosphoinositide 3′-kinase (PI3K)-dependent manner following distinct signal inputs from integrins and growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases vi,vii . Conditional knockdown and RNA interference experiments indicate that ILK is required for phosphorylation of PKB/Akt Ser473 and GSK-3β Ser9 viii . Since inhibitory phosphorylation of GSK-3β is sufficient for maintenance of an undifferentiated phenotype in mouse and human ESCs, ILK is a candidate kinase activator of a critical stem cell signaling cascade.
We have shown that cardiac-restricted ILK over-expression in a mouse model causes a compensatory (beneficial) form of cardiac hypertrophy. Molecular analysis revealed that ILK mediated hypertrophy is dependent upon a novel pathway involving activation of the small G-protein, Rac1. Gene expression profiling of ILK transgenic mice subjected to LAD ligation-induced myocardial infarction revealed up-regulation of transcripts linked to IL-6 and Janus-associated tyrosine kinase/signal transducer of activated transcription (JAK/STAT3) signaling. These studies establish ILK as an important new cardiovascular target. The activation of these signaling cascades in this myocardial injury model should be stimulative to stem cell recruitment based on their established role in cell renewal in mouse ESCs.
We anticipate that fetal sources of tissue will be enriched for stem cells, given that stem cell activation recapitulates fetal programming. We have developed and characterized an in vitro model of human fetal cardiac myocytes (HFCM) ix , and characterized the genomic response to ischemic stress during human heart surgery in vivo x . We have shown that cardiac stem-like cells can be identified by c-kit staining in HFCM with a frequency approximately one order of magnitude higher than that described for adult heart xi . Further, we have shown that ILK gain-of-function increases the frequency of c-kit- and CD133-positive cardiac progenitor cells isolated from human myocardium, highlighting this as a rational approach to augment stem cell-based cellular therapy.
Ventricular hypertrophy is an extremely common clinical condition that appears as a consequence of any variety of volume and or pressure overload stresses on the human heart. An increase in ventricular mass occurring in response to increased cardiac loading is generally viewed as a compensatory response, which serves to normalize ventricular wall tension and improve pump function. Conversely, a sustained or excessive hypertrophic response is typically considered maladaptive, based on the progression to dilated cardiac failure sometimes observed clinically, and the statistical association of ventricular hypertrophy with increased cardiac mortality. Whereas mouse models of cardiac hypertrophy have been generated by genetically-induced alterations in the activation state of various kinases in the heart, limited information is available regarding the role of specific signaling pathways activated during human ventricular hypertrophy.
The identification of the kinase pathways implicated in human hypertrophy has important therapeutic implications, since it will allow testing of the hypothesis that enforced hypertrophy induction represents a beneficial remodeling response, and a useful strategy to preserve cardiac function and arrest the transition to a dilated phenotype.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,013,782 and 6,699,983 are directed toward methods for isolating ILK genes. The patents suggest that modulation of the gene activity in vivo might be useful for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes, but fails to teach or suggest any perceived benefit relative to over or under expression of ILK with respect to cardiac hypertrophy or post MI cardiac remodeling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An increase in hemodynamic wall stress (also termed afterload) due to impedance to outflow of blood from either the right or left ventricle can result in concentric cardiac hypertrophy of the affected ventricle. Diseases affecting intrinsic cardiac function, such as coronary artery disease or various forms of cardiomyopathy, may indirectly increase afterload, and lead to a hypertrophic response involving the residual, non-diseased myocardium.
Integrins have been implicated as a component of the molecular apparatus which serves to transduce biomechanical stress into a compensatory growth program within the cardiomyocyte, based on their role in linking the extracellular matrix (ECM) with intracellular signaling pathways affecting growth and survival. Melusin is a muscle protein that binds to the integrin β1 cytoplasmic domain and has been identified as a candidate mechano sensor molecule in the heart. Experimental aortic constriction in melusin-null mice results in an impaired hypertrophic response through a mechanism involving reduced phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β), which inhibits a key nodal regulator of cardiac hypertrophic signaling. The role of melusin or other potential molecules participating in the endogenous hypertrophic response to disease-induced cardiac hypertrophy in humans, however, remains unknown.
Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a protein Ser/Thr kinase that binds to the cytoplasmic domains of β1, β2 and β3-integrin subunits. ILK serves as a molecular scaffold at sites of integrin-mediated adhesion, anchoring cytoskeletal actin and nucleating a supramolecular complex comprised minimally of ILK, PINCH and β-parvin. In addition to its structural role, ILK is a signaling kinase coordinating cues from the ECM in a phosphoinositide 3′-kinase (PI3K)-dependent manner following distinct signal inputs from integrins and growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases. ILK lies upstream of kinases shown in experimental models to modulate hypertrophy, and is required for phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) at Ser473 and GSK3β at Ser9. Rho-family guanine triphosphatases (GTPases, or G-proteins), including RhoA, Cdc42, and Rac1, modulate signal transduction pathways regulating actin cytoskeletal dynamics in response to matrix interaction with integrin and other cell surface receptors. Both RhoA and Rac1 have been shown to modulate cardiac hypertrophy. ECM adhesion stimulates the increased association of activated, GTP-bound Rac1 with the plasma membrane, suggesting a role for ILK in promoting membrane targeting of activated Rac1. ILK may also activate Rac1 through regulated interaction of the Rac1/Cdc42 specific guanine-nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), ARHGEF6/-PIX, with β-parvin, an ILK-binding adaptor, as occurs during cell spreading on fibronectin. ILK is thus positioned to functionally link integrins with the force-generating actin cytoskeleton, and is a candidate molecule in the transduction of mechanical signals initiated by altered loading conditions affecting the heart.
The instant invention demonstrates that ILK protein expression is increased in the hypertrophic human ventricle, and further demonstrates that ILK expression levels correlate with increased GTP loading, or activation, of the small G-protein, Rac1. Transgenic mice with cardiac-specific activation of ILK signaling are shown to exhibit compensated LV hypertrophy. In agreement with the findings in the human hypertrophic heart, ventricular lysates derived from ILK over-expressing mice lines exhibit higher levels of activated Rac1 and Cdc42, in association with activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (p38MAPK) and ERK1/2 kinase cascades.
Additionally, increased ILK expression is shown to enhance post-infarct remodeling in mice through an increased hypertrophic response in myocardium remote from the lesion. The transgenic models indicate that ILK induces a program of pro-hypertrophic kinase activation, and suggest that ILK represents a critical node linking increased hemodynamic loading to a cardioprotective, hypertrophic signaling hierarchy. Moreover, the ILK transgenic mouse is shown to provide a new model of cardiac hypertrophy that is highly, relevant to human cardiac disease.
Protein kinases are increasingly understood to be important regulators of cardiac hypertrophy, however the critical question arises of whether kinases known to induce experimental hypertrophy are, in fact, up-regulated or activated as a feature of human cardiac hypertrophy. The instant invention unequivocally demonstrates increased expression and activity of a candidate mechano-sensor/transducer, namely ILK, in human cardiac hypertrophy.
Moreover, it is shown that moderate up-regulation of ILK in the myocardium of transgenic mice causes a compensated form of cardiac hypertrophy, as evidenced by unimpaired survival, preserved systolic and diastolic function, and the absence of histopathological fibrosis. Among a number of hypertrophy-inducing protein kinases that were examined, only two, ILK and PKB, demonstrated elevated protein levels in association with hypertrophy. Of these, ILK was consistently elevated in both congenital and acquired hypertrophies. Importantly, in consequence of ILK expression, transgenic myocardium exhibited a strikingly similar profile of protein kinase activation, to that seen in human cardiac hypertrophy. The fact that ILK up-regulation is associated with mechanical load-induced hypertrophy (secondary to congenital and acquired forms of outflow tract obstruction), in which global cardiac function was preserved, provides compelling evidence that ILK activation is associated with a provokable, compensatory form of hypertrophy in the human heart. At the molecular level, the human and mouse data included herein suggest that ILK is a proximal mechanotransducer, acting to coordinate a program of “downstream” hypertrophic signal transduction in response to pressure overload in the myocardium.
The lack of Akt/PKB and GSK313 phosphorylation in ILK over-expressing mice was unexpected, given that ILK is regulated in a PI3K-dependent manner, and has been shown to directly phosphorylate both target kinases in non-cardiomyocytes 10, 12, 13, 14, and contrasts with findings from genetic models of cardiac-specific PI3K and Akt/PKB activation, which feature increased phosphorylation of both Akt/PKB and GSK3β in proportion to the degree of hypertrophy. We note, however, that levels of PKB Ser473 and GSK-3β Ser9 phosphorylation are quite high in both murine and human control hearts, consistent with the requirement for a threshold basal level of activation of theses kinases, which may be permissive to the induction of ILK-mediated hypertrophic signaling. Our results are thus consistent with operation of a p110/ILKJRac1 pathway, but suggest that the ILK-specific hypertrophy is not critically dependent upon increased phosphorylation of PKB/Akt or GSK3β. The relative de-activation of Akt/PKB during ILK transgenesis is consistent with the finding that activation of Akt/PKB and inhibitory phosphorylation of GSK3β occur in advanced failure, but not during compensated hypertrophy, in human hearts. Thus, the lack of highly activated Akt/PKB in murine and human hearts exhibiting elevated ILK expression may be a signature of compensated hypertrophy.
Our results in transgenic mice with ILK over-expression, as well as in human hypertrophy, reveal the selective activation of ERK1/2 and p38 signaling pathways, despite evidence for the relative deactivation of PI3K-dependent signaling through Akt/PKB and GSK3β. Genetic stimulation of the ERK1/2 branch of the MAPK signaling pathway has been shown previously to be associated with a physiological hypertrophic response and augmented cardiac function. S6 kinases promote protein translation by phosphorylating the S6 protein of small ribosomal subunits, and are required for mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent muscle cell growth. Activation of p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) provides a potential pathway mediating ILK-triggered myocyte hypertrophy which is independent of the Akt/PKB pathway. Indeed, ILK is sufficient to regulate the integrin-associated activation of Rac1 and p70S6K, leading to actin filament rearrangement and increased cellular migration. Considered together, our results indicate conservation of downstream signaling specificity resulting from ILK activation in both murine and human hypertrophy. Full elucidation of the unique network of effectors induced during ILK gain-of-function is accomplished by application of high-throughput functional proteomic approaches to genetic models, as well as to stage-specific human diseases characterized by hypertrophic remodeling.
The reciprocal pattern of activation of Rac1 and de-activation of Rho is well-precedented and reflects opposing effects of these monomeric GTPases on the cytoskeleton at the leading edge of migrating cells. Similarly, our results show reciprocal effects both in vitro and in vivo on the activation of Rac1/Cdc42 and Rho in response to ILK upregulation. These data are thus consistent with the observation that transgenic mice over-expressing RhoA develop a predominantly dilated cardiomyopathic phenotype which is antithetical to that observed with ILK activation.
Our data indicates that hemodynamic loading secondary to infarct induction in ILK S343D Tg mice provoked a stress response, which resulted in a larger increase in LV mass and smaller infarct size relative to control. The mechanism(s) accounting for the post-infarction cardioprotective effects of ILK activation require further study, but our result is consistent with the report that thymosin β4 improves early cardiomyocyte survival and function following LAD ligation through a pathway shown to be dependent upon increased ILK protein expression. One putative explanation for the cardioprotective effect of ILK activation in this model is the reduction in wall stress secondary to the observed ILK-potentiated hypertrophic response. The importance of reactive hypertrophy of remote myocardium in limiting wall stress and adverse remodeling after MI has been shown both in patients, and in mice with loss-of-function mutations in pro-hypertrophic, calcineurin-dependent signaling pathways. Further, ILK/Rac1 activation in cardiac myofibroblasts may plausibly promote more efficient scar contraction through mechanisms related to effects on the actin cytoskeleton, which favor a more contractile, motile and invasive cellular phenotype.
In summary, our results identify a novel role for ILK-regulated signaling in mediating a broadly adaptive form of cardiac hypertrophy. The effects of small molecule inhibitors of ILK demonstrated experimentally suggest that this pathway is therapeutically tractable, and together with our results, that modulation of the ILK pathway warrants evaluation as a novel approach to enhance the remodeling process relevant to a wide range of cardiac diseases.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the instant invention to teach a process for instigating beneficial human hypertrophy as a result of overexpression of ILK.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to teach a beneficial protective process for post MI remodeling as a result of ILK overexpression.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to teach a control for instigating ILK overexpression. The objective is to evaluate the capacity of ILK gain-of-function to promote stem cell self-renewal. This objective can be evaluated in a range of cell types derived from ESCs, fetal and adult tissue, available in our Lab and the NRC. Of interest will be the effect of modulation of ILK signaling amplification on stem cell frequency, and oh cellular fate, focusing on self-renewal, multilineage differentiation, and the potential for oncogenesis. A major objective of the project is the development of novel methods for the identification, amplification and differentiation of cardiac stem cells. These studies will take into account the effect of instructive (extra-cellular) environmental cues on intra-cellular signal transduction events. The generic pro-survival effect of ILK up-regulation is predicted to enhance cellular transplantation survival, and this important effect can be evaluated in therapeutically relevant in vivo and in vitro models. ILK-based protocols will be investigated both as standalone strategies, and in conjunction with anti-oxidant strategies developed at the NRC.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with any accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. Any drawings contained herein constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 : ILK expression in normal and hypertrophied human ventricles: a, Ventricular lysates from patients with congenital outflow tract obstruction (H1, H2), exhibiting severe hypertrophic valvular heart disease, and from (non-hypertrophic) normal human fetal (19 weeks old) ventricle (N1, N2), were immunoblotted for levels of ILK protein, with GAPDH as loading control. Ratios indicate ILK protein levels normalized to GAPDH. b, Ventricular lysates from hypertrophic (1-10CM) and normal (non-hypertrophied) human hearts were analyzed by western blotting for levels of ILK and ParvB. GAPDH was the loading control.
FIG. 2 Rac, Rho and Cdc42 expression in human heart tissue: a, Normal and hypertrophic (HOCM) human ventricular lysates ( FIG. 1 ) were assayed for activation of Rho family GTPases, as indicated. b, Ventricular lysates from the congenital samples (H1, H2) and normal human fetal hearts (19 weeks, FIG. 1 ) were assayed for Rho family activation. Ratios represent densitometric values of activated/total GTPase signals for Rho, Rac1 and Cdc42.
FIG. 3 : Phosphorylation of GSK3β, PKB, and MAP kinase in human heart tissue: a, Ventricular lysates labeled N1, N2, H1 and H2 were as in FIGS. 1 and 2 , above. b and c, Ventricular lysates from normal and hypertrophic human adult hearts, were as in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Lysates were resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by western blotting for levels of the indicated total and phosphorylated proteins.
FIG. 4 : Characterization of ILK S343 ° transgenic mice: a, Genomic DNA from ILK S343D Tg and NTg littermates was analyzed by Southern blotting using a human ILK cDNA probe. b, ILK-specific RT-PCR of total RNA isolated from heart tissue with (upper panel) or without (control, middle panel) reverse transcriptase, and on skeletal muscle (bottom panel) with reverse transcriptase. This yields the expected product 1.46 kb in length, expressed in the hearts of Tg mice, but not in the hearts of NTg littermates or skeletal muscle of the Tg mice. The lane marked ‘P’ is the PCR product obtained using α-MHC/ILK plasmid as template. This product is larger than 1.46 kb because the PCR primers encompass exons 1 and 2 of the α-MHC promoter. c, Western immunoblot analysis of ILK protein levels in ILK Tg and control (NTg) hearts. Signal densities normalized to that of GAPDH were 3-fold higher in ILK Tg hearts. d, ILK immune complex kinase assays of heart lysates from ILK S343D Tg and NTg littermates. Purified myosin light chain II, 20 kDa regulatory subunit was added as exogenous substrate.
FIG. 5 : Increased cardiomyocyte size in ILK S343 ° Tg mice: a, Gross morphology of hearts from ILK S343 ° Tg mice and NTg littermates. Enlarged hearts) of ILK S343D mice exhibited concentric hypertrophy evident by an approximate 25% increase in heart weight to body weight ratios relative to that in NTg controls (controls for all comparisons are age- and sex-matched littermates, see Table 2B). Histological studies using Masson's trichrome and picrosirius red staining (not shown) indicated no conspicuous increase in collagen in the ILK S343D Tg hearts. b, Mean values of cardiomyocyte areas based on approximately 500 cells per mouse with centrally positional nuclei. This analysis indicated a 20-25% increase in cardiomyocyte area, thereby accounting for the observed increase in LV mass. c, Representative echocardiograms showing details of dimensional measurements. At 15 months, ILK S343D Tg mice exhibited significant increases in LV mass as well as LV cavity dimensions at end-systole and end-diastole (p<0.05), and preserved LV function based on echocardiography (% fractional shortening, Table 1, Supplemental) and invasive hemodynamic measurements (Tables 2 and 3, Supplemental).
FIG. 6 : Selective activation of hypertrophic signaling in ILK WT , but not ILK R211A transgenic hearts: Ventricular lysates from a) ILK WT and b) ILK R211A Tg mice were assayed for activation of Rac1, Cdc42 and RhoA, using specific immunoaffinity assays as described in Materials and Methods. In each panel, parallel assays of ventricular lysates from littermate NTg controls are shown. Ventricular lysates from c) ILK WT and d) ILK R211A Tg mice were resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by western blotting for levels of the indicated total and phosphorylated proteins. GAPDH was analyzed in parallel as loading control. Controls were NTg littermates. e. Ventricular lysates form ILK WT and ILK R211A mice were analyzed by western blotting for total ILK, HA tag, and the ILK-associated adaptor, ParvB, as indicated.
FIG. 7 : Selective activation of Rho family GTPases by ILK WT , but not ILK R211A in primary human cardiomyocytes: a. Primary human fetal cardiomyocytes were infected with adenoviruses, with or without (EV) ILK WT or ILKR 211A cDNA. At 48 hr post-infection, cells sere harvested and lysates assayed for activation of Rho family GTPases. As indicated, cultures were infected in the presence of the small molecule ILK inhibitor, KP-392.
FIG. 8 : Cardiac expression of ILK S343D improves post-infarct remodeling: LV infarction was created in 6 month ILK S343D (ILK Tg) and littermate control (NTg) mice by LAD ligation. The ILK TG genotype exhibited a significantly greater LV mass (p=0.01) and a reduction in scar area indexed to LV mass (p=0.047), as determined by planimetry at 7 days post-infarction. Upper panels, pre LAD ligation; lower panels, post LAD ligation.
FIG. 9 : Activation of hypertrophic signaling in ILK S343D Tg mice: Hearts from two Tg ILK S343D and two NTg littermate controls were extracted and proteins resolved on 10% SDS-PAGE. Western blotting using antibodies against total and phosphorylated forms of the indicated protein kinases was performed to assess the relative activation levels of these pathways. For PKB and GSK3β determinations the ratio of densitometric signals of phosphorylated/total protein were determined for each sample, and are displayed under the panels. GAPDH was used as a loading control.
FIG. 10 : Selective activation of Rac1 and Cdc42 in ILKS343D Tg mice: Affinity-based precipitation assays were conducted (see Methods) to determine the ratio of GTP-bound (activated) to total: a) Rac1, b) Cdc42 and c) RhoA GTPases in cardiac lysates of ILK S343D Tg and non-Tg littermate mice. Histograms summarize data from 4 hearts of each genotype.
FIG. 11 : Adenovirus encoding either the human wild-type human gene linked to GFP (AD.ILK) or empty virus (Ad.C) was used to infect human fetal cardiomyocytes cultured in IMDM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. a Effective gene transfer was confirmed by more than 80% GFP positivity. b ILK infection increased ILK protein expression ˜3-fold; the western blots shown are representative of 5 independent experiments. c Cardiac cell cultures labeled with c-Kit (green) and cardiac myosin MF20 (red). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar=10 mm. d Cultures infected with ILK yielded a significant ˜(*p=0.001) ˜5-fold increase in both the absolute number and the frequency of c-Kit POS cells, which reached ˜one cell in 250. Analysis is based on 5 independent experiments. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.
FIG. 12 : Primary cardiospheres (CS) were generated from human fetal cardiomyocytes grown in serum-free media supplemented with bFGF and EGF (Methods) and imaged using natural light phase microscopy. Dissociated primary CS comprised of homogeneous phase-bright cells placed in wells containing same media gave rise to secondary CS in approximately 60% of wells.
FIG. 13 : Cardiospheres were comprised of cells expressing the c-Kit POS surface receptor. Occasional cells at the periphery of the spheres stain for the cardiac marker α-actinin (arrow), suggesting a radial gradient in the differentiation of constituent cells.
FIG. 14 : a Cardiospheres were observed in human fetal cardiac cell cultures. Cardiac cells were infected with adenoviral ILK (Ad.ILK) or empty viral vector (Ad.C) (at 10 pfu/ml), or left untreated (Control). ILK infection resulted in significant (*p<0.01) increases in the absolute number and frequency of CS at all plating densities tested. b The number of primary sphere initiating cells ratio was significantly higher in ILK-infected cells (*p=0.002). Whereas 0.41±0.073% of ILK-infected cells generated spheres, only 0.037±0.014% of control cells and 0.035±0.006% of virus-only cells generated spheres. Analysis is based on 6 independent experiments. Error bars represent standard error of the mean.
FIG. 15 : a Secondary cardiospheres (CS), derived from cells isolated from a dissociated primaryCS, shown in upper left panel, contains ILK-infected GFPpos cells. CS were placed in differentiating medium (IMDM+10% FBS) containing the 5-methyltransferase inhibitor, 5-Aza-deoxycytodine (10 μM) for 14 days. b Arrows indicate CS containing cells marked by DAPI staining, which are also positive for the cardiomyocyte-specific marker, α-cardiac actinin. Lower panel (left) shows a higher power view of cells migrating outward from CS, 45-50% of which are cardiomyocytes. Lower panel (right) shows that ˜10% of CS-derived cells stain positively (green) for von Willebrands Factor (vWF), indicative of endothelial cell lineage. 35-40% of cells stained positively for α-smooth muscle actin (not shown). c The differentiation profiles were similar among ILK-infected (Ad.ILK), empty virus (AD.C), and control CS. This result indicates the feasibility of manipulating the phenotypic outcome of cardiac progenitor cells, even among ILK-transformed cells.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Methods
Generation of α-MHC-ILK Transgenic Mice
All protocols were in accordance with institutional guidelines for animal care. All procedures and analyses were performed in a fashion blinded for genotype, and statistical comparisons were made between ILK transgenic mice and sex-matched littermate non-transgenic mice. A 1.8 kb EcoRI fragment comprising the full length ILK cDNA was excised from a pBSK plasmid, and filled-in for blunt end ligation into a SalI site downstream of the murine a-myosin heavy chain promoter. Site directed mutagenesis (QuickChange Kit, Sratagene) was performed to generate constitutively active ILK (S343D), and kinase-inactive ILK (R211A) mutants using the wild type a-MHC/ILK plasmid as template. DNA sequencing confirmed the point mutations. Pronuclear microinjection of the linearized a-MHC/ILK plasmids into 0.5 day fertilized embryos was performed at the Core Transgenic Facility of the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute. Transgene expression in C57BL/6 founder and F1 progeny mice was confirmed by Southern analysis and RT-PCR as described, using primers specific for the exogenous ILK transgene. The forward primer: 5′GTCCACATTCTTCAGGATTCT3′, specific for exon 2 of -MHC promoter, and the ILK-specific reverse primer: ‘ACACAAGGGGAAATACC GT3’, were used for the reaction. These primers amplify a 1460 bp across the α-MHC-ILK fusion junction. F1 progeny derived from one of several independent founder lines were selected for detailed phenotypic analysis based on readily discernible increases in ILK expression ( FIG. 4 ). All transgenic mouse procedures were performed in conformance with the policies for humane animal care governing the Core Transgenic Facility of the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute and the Animal Research Act of Ontario.
Cardiac Hemodynamic Measurements
All surgical procedures were performed in accordance with institutional guidelines. Mice were anesthetized in the supine position using ketamine-HCl (100 mg/kg ip) and xylazine-HCl (10 mg/kg ip), and maintained at 37° C. The right common carotid artery was isolated after midline neck incision and cannulated using a Millar Micro-tip pressure transducer (1.4F sensor, 2F catheter; Millar Instruments, Houston, Tex.). Heart rate (beats per minute), systolic and diastolic LV pressures (mm Hg) were recorded, and peak positive and negative first derivatives (maximum/minimum +/−dp/dt; mmHg/second) were obtained from LV pressure curves using Origin 6.0 (Microcal Software, Inc., Northampton, Mass.).
Two-Dimensional Echocardiography
Serial two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D echo) was performed in male ILK transgenic and non-transgenic littermate mice at 10-12 weeks, at 5, and 15 months of age. An ultrasound biomicroscope (UBM) (VS40, VisualSonics Inc., Toronto) with transducer frequency of 30 MHz was used to make M-mode recordings of the LV. Mice were lightly anesthetized with isoflurane in oxygen (1.5%) by face mask, and warmed using a heated pad and heat lamp. Heart rate and rectal temperature were monitored (THM100, Indus Instruments, Houston, Tex.) and heating adjusted to maintain rectal temperature between 36 and 38° C. Once anesthetized, the mouse pericardial region was shaved and further cleaned with a chemical hair-remover to minimize ultrasound attenuation. With the guidance of the two-dimensional imaging of the UBM, M-mode recording of left ventricular wall motion was obtained from the longitudinal and short axis views of the LV at the level with the largest ventricular chamber dimension. Anterior and posterior LV free wall thickness, and ventricular chamber dimensions were measured at end-systole and end-diastole; the contractility indices, velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (Vcf) and % fractional shortening, and LV ventricular mass, were calculated as described. Determination of significant, genotype-specific differences in 2-D echo and cardiac catheterization data relied on a paired t-test or ANOVA in the case of serial measurements.
ILK Immune Complex Kinase Assay
Cells were lysed in NP40 buffer, supplemented with 1 mM sodium orthovanadate and 5 mM sodium fluoride as phosphatase inhibitors. Equal amounts of protein from these cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with -ILK polyclonal antibody as previously described 10, and immune complexes were incubated at 30 C for 30 min with myosin light chain II regulatory subunit (MLC20) (2.5 g/reaction) and [32P] ATP (5 Ci/reaction). The reactions were stopped by addition of 4× concentrated SDS-PAGE sample buffer. Phosphorylated proteins were separated on 15% SDS-PAGE gels. [32]MLC20 was visualized by autoradiography with X-Omat film.
Rho Family GTPase Activation Assays
Measurement of activated RhoA was performed using a pull-down assay based on specific binding of Rho-GTP to Rho-binding domain (RBD) of the Rho effector molecule, rhoketin43. Cdc42 and Rac1 activation were measured using a pull-down assay, based on the ability of the p21-binding domain of p21 associated kinase (PAK) to affinity precipitate Rac1-GTP and Cdc42-GTP, as described. RBD expressed as a GST fusion protein bound to the active Rho-GTP form of Rho was isolated using glutathione affinity beads according the manufacturer's protocol (Cytoskeleton). The amount of activated Rho was determined by Western blot using a Rho-specific antibody (Santa Cruz) and normalized as a ratio to the total amount of anti-Rho antibody detected in a 1/20 fraction of clarified lysate. Activated Rac and Cdc42 were measured by the same protocol using the p21-binding domain of PAK to affinity precipitate Rac-GTP, which was quantitated using an anti-Rac antibody (Cytoskeleton, Inc.) or anti-Cdc42 (Santa Cruz). Blots were developed with SuperSignal West Femto substrate (Pierce) for the GST-PAK/RBD pull-down assays.
Histopathology
The hearts were weighed, paraffin-embedded, sectioned at 1 mm intervals, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Sirius Red using standard methods. Micrographs were taken using both low magnification (×2.5) and higher magnification (×40) using fluorescent microscopy and genotype-specific cardiomyocyte areas determined based on digital measurements of >500 cells per animal and 5 animals per genotype using Image J software (http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/). Scanning electron microscopy was performed on ventricular samples placed in 1% Universal fixative for several hours at 4° C. and post-fixed in OsO4, using the JSM 6700FE SEM microscope.
Infarct Induction
LV infarction was created in 6 month ILK TgS343D and littermate control mice by LAD ligation as described. Planimetric scar dimensions measured in six levels of hematoxylin and eosin-stained cross-sections of the LV at 7 days post-infarction.
Antibodies, and Immunoblot Analyses for Total and Phospho-Protein Levels
Total and phospho-specific protein expression was measured in lysates derived from human fetal cardiomyocytes in culture and from transgenic and control mouse ventricular tissue as described previously. Immunoblotting was performed with the following commercially available antibodies. Polyclonal rabbit antibodies against ILK, p38MAPK, p70S6K, p44/42 MAPK (ERK1/2), and ATF-2 were purchased from Cell Signaling Technologies. Phospho-specific antibodies of pp 38MAPK (Thr180/Tyr182), pp70S6K (Thr421/Scr424), pPKB (Ser473), pGSK3β (Ser9), pp 44/42 MAPK (Thr202/Tyr204), and pATF-2 (Thr69/71) were purchased from Cell Signaling. Mouse monoclonal antibodies recognizing PKB, GSK3β, and RhoA were purchased from Transduction Labs. Rabbit polyclonal hemaglutinin (HA), and monoclonal Cdc42 antibodies were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. Rabbit polyclonal Rac1 antibody was purchased from Cytoskeleton, Inc. We generated a 13-parvin (ParvB) rabbit polyclonal serum and affinity-purified these antibodies over an immobilized GST-ParvB column. Mouse monoclonal GAPDH was purchased from Ambion, Inc. Proteins were visualized with an enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) detection reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) and quantified by densitometry.
Adenovirus-Mediated Expression of ILK Variants in Primary Cardiomyocytes
Human fetal cardiomyocytes (HFCM) (gestational age 15-20 weeks) were obtained under an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol and cultured to approximately 50% confluency (day 3-4 post-plating) in preparation for adenovirally-mediated infection of ILK constructs, as previously described. Replication-deficient serotype 5 adenovirus encoding either the human wild-type ILK gene (Ad-ILK wT ), kinase inactive (Ad-ILK R211A ) or empty virus constructs previously shown to modulate ILK expression and activity in L6 myoblasts, were used for infection of HFCM. HFCM were infected at 37° C. at multiplicity of infection of 2. KP392 is a small molecule inhibitor of ILK which was used to probe the effects of ILK on the profile of Rho family GTPase activation.
Human Ventricular Samples
Human right ventricular samples were derived from two patients with congenital outflow tract obstruction undergoing surgical repair, and left ventricular myocardial samples from five patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) presenting with discrete subaortic muscular obstruction. Control human ventricular tissue was acquired from structurally normal hearts (n=5) which were not used for cardiac transplantation. All human tissue samples were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen at the time of procurement. All human tissue was acquired following protocol review and approval by the appropriate Research Ethics Board, and the protocols were conducted in accordance with the Tri Council Policy Statement for Research Involving Humans.
ILK protein levels are elevated in cases of human cardiac hypertrophy. In order to test for the participation of ILK in hypertrophic heart disease in vivo, we examined ILK expression in human ventricular tissue samples from patients with and without clinically evident hypertrophy. Ventricular samples were acquired from two patients in the first year of life with ventricular hypertrophy secondary to congenital outflow tract obstruction; control ventricular tissue was derived from structurally normal 19 week human fetal hearts (n=2), and examined in parallel for levels of ILK expression. Ventricular tissue from these hearts exhibited a 5-6 fold increases in ILK protein levels over control levels ( FIG. 1 a ).
We then investigated whether ILK protein expression was elevated in hypertrophy caused by left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOT), since clinical hypertrophic heart disease more commonly affects the LV. Surgical specimens were acquired from the LVOT in adult patients (n=4) with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) exhibiting resting LVOT gradients >50 mmHg Control ventricular tissue was obtained from structurally normal hearts (n=5) at the time of multi-organ transplantation procurement. Myocardial samples from HOCM patients exhibited a ˜2 fold increase in ILK protein levels relative to control hearts ( FIG. 1 b ). Thus, the cases of clinical hypertrophy all demonstrate elevation of ILK protein, suggesting this is a critical molecular response to increased cardiac loading and the development of hypertrophy.
ILK has been shown to activate Rho family GTPases, which have also been causally implicated in experimental hypertrophy. We therefore assayed the ventricular tissues directly for activation of RhoA, Cdc42 and Rac1 GTPases, using specific affinity binding assays that distinguish the GDP-bound (inactive) and GTP-bound (active) states of each. Strikingly, there was a ˜2-fold and 10-fold increase in Rac1 GTP loading in the hypertrophic ventricular samples from patients with acquired and congenital and outflow tract obstruction, respectively ( FIG. 2 ab ). Cdc42 activation of ˜2-fold was also evident in both acquired and congenital hypertrophic lesions. Conversely, the levels of GTP-bound RhoA were unchanged between the control and hypertrophied ventricles. These results indicate selective activation of Rac1, and to a lesser extent, Cdc42, coincident with increased ILK protein levels, in human ventricular hypertrophy induced in both left and right ventricles by obstructive hemodynamic loading.
As the pro-hypertrophic kinases, Akt/PKB, GSK313, and ERK1/2, are known targets of ILK, we ascertained whether these proteins were also elevated in the cases of human hypertrophy. Western blotting for total protein indicated equivalent levels of GSK313 and ERK1/2 in the hypertrophied hearts, and an increase in PKB ( FIG. 3 ). We tested the hypertrophic hearts for concordant increases in the phosphorylation state of known kinase targets of ILK that have also been implicated in the promotion of cardiac hypertrophy. Surprisingly, the phosphorylation state of the classical hypertrophic signaling targets, Akt/PKB and GSK3B, was not increased above control levels in any of the samples from the human hypertrophic ventricles ( FIG. 3 ab ), despite the increased ILK protein levels in these samples. This result suggests that a putative ILK-Rac1 hypertrophic pathway is separable from ILK signaling through PKB/Akt and GSK3B. ERK1/2 p38MAPK8, and p70S6K, are kinases downstream of ILK which have also been implicated in promotion of experimental cardiac hypertrophy in vivo. In contrast to Akt/PKB and GSK313, ERK1/2 and p70S6K were strongly phosphorylated in ventricular lysates in the setting of LVOT obstruction ( FIG. 3 c ), indicative of an activation profile of ILK kinase targets induced during human hypertrophy which appears to exhibit a degree of selectivity.
Cardiac-specific expression of activated ILK in transgenic mice induces hypertrophy. The selective elevation of ILK levels in clinical cases of cardiac hypertrophy prompted us to ask whether increased ILK expression is causative of cardiac hypertrophy. To directly test hypertrophic responses to ILK in vivo, we derived independent lines of transgenic mice harboring different ILK transgenes, expressed under control of the cardiac specific -MHC promoter. As discussed above, ILK is a multifunctional protein24, thus our strategy was to generate lines expressing ILK variants that would allow us to differentiate kinase-dependent and -independent ILK functions in the heart. Toward this end, lines expressing: 1) constitutively activated, ILK S343D , 2) wildtype, ILK TgWT, and 3) kinase-inactive ILK, ILK R211A , were derived. Southern blot analyses of genomic DNA identified mice carrying the ILK S343D transgene ( FIG. 4 a ), and RT-PCR analysis indicated cardiac-specific expression of ILK S343 ° ( FIG. 4 b ). Densitometric analysis of western blots indicated that transgenic ILK S343D protein levels were approximately 3-fold higher in transgenic animals, relative to non-transgenic littermates ( FIG. 4 c ), and comparable to the increased levels seen in the clinical hypertrophic samples. Importantly, immune complex kinase assays confirmed that ILK activity in transgenic heart tissue measured in the ILK S343D genotype was elevated relative to non-transgenic controls, in parallel with ILK protein levels ( FIG. 4 d ). Similar analyses confirmed generation of ILK WT and ILK R211A transgenic lines (not shown).
Hearts from ILK S343D Tg mice exhibited concentric hypertrophy, evidenced by gross enlargement and increased heart weight:body weight ratio ( FIG. 5 a ; Supplementary Table 1), and echocardiographic measurements showing significant LV wall thickening, compared to NTg mice (Supplementary Table 2). We observed an approximately 29% increase (p<0.001) in cardiomyocyte area in ILK S343D Tg animals, as assessed in laminin-stained sections of LV ( FIG. 5 b ), which is sufficient to account for the observed cardiac enlargement in ILK S343D Tg mice, suggesting ILK activity regulates cardiomyocyte size, rather than proliferation. There was no conspicuous increase in collagen deposition in the ILK S343D Tg hearts, as assessed histologically using Masson's trichrome ( FIG. 5 b ) or picrosirius red staining. The ILK S343D Tg mice appeared healthy, with no evidence of peripheral edema or cardiac failure, as there were no ILK-induced differences in absolute or body weight-indexed lung and liver weights (Supplementary Table 1). These data indicate that expression of activated ILK in the heart induces hypertrophy without the development of cardiac failure.
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 1
Heart, lung, liver weights of ILK S343D transgenic mice
%
Transgenic
Non-Transgenic
Increase
p-value
7 weeks
No. of mice
n = 7
n = 7
Body weight (g)
21 ± 4.5
22 ± 2.7
−4.5
NS
Heart weight (mg)
144 ± 7.8
126 ± 7.9
14
<0.05
Lung weight (mg)
173 ± 22
183 ± 16
−5.5
NS
Liver weight (mg)
1267 ± 319
1275 ± 160
−0.6
NS
Heart/Body weight
6.9 ± 1.3
5.7 ± 0.7
21
<0.05
(mg/g)
Lung/Body weight
8.2 ± 1.6
8.3 ± 0.9
0.0
NS
(mg/g)
Liver/Body weight
60 ± 5.6
58 ± 23
3.0
NS
(mg/g)
15 months
No. of mice
n = 7
n = 6
Body weight (g)
45 ± 3.5
41 ± 4.3
9.8
NS
Heart weight (mg)
233 ± 22
167 ± 19
40
<0.001
Lung weight (mg)
203 ± 25
197 ± 34
3.0
NS
Liver weight (mg)
1602 ± 410
1510 ± 324
6.0
NS
Heart/Body weight
5.2 ± 0.5
4.1 ± 0.5
27
<0.05
(mg/g)
Lung/Body weight
4.5 ± 0.8
4.8 ± 0.97
−4.0
NS
(mg/g)
Liver/Body weight
36 ± 6.8
37 ± 6.4
−2.7
NS
(mg/g)
To further characterize ILK S343D -induced hypertrophy, M-mode echocardiography was performed at 3, 5 and 15 months of age in male ILK Tg S343D and NTg mice. At all time points, ILK S343D Tg mice exhibited significant increases in LV mass as well as LV free wall dimensions at end-systole and end-diastole ( FIG. 5 c , Supplementary Table 2). Cardiac function, however, was preserved as assessed by measures of LV wall shortening fraction and the velocity of LV circumferential fiber shortening (Vcf). Invasive hemodynamic measurements performed at 3 months revealed no significant differences in measures of contractility (dp/dtmax), lusitrophy (dp/dtmin), afterload or heart rate in ILK TgS343D mice relative to NTg controls (Supplementary Table 3), indicating that ILK-induced hypertrophy does not alter cardiac function. Thus, based on the observed lack of cardiac failure and normal hemodynamic function, the cardiac phenotype associated with ILK s343D expression is indicative of a compensated form of hypertrophy.
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 2
Echocardiography of ILK S343D transgenic mice
Transgenic
Non-transgenic
3 months
15 months
3 months
15 months
No. of mice
n = 8
n = 7
n = 7
n = 6
LVEDAW (mm)
0.93 ± 0.12*
1.21 ± 0.21*
0.75 ± 0.11
0.99 ± 0.12
LVEDD (mm)
3.97 ± 0.34
4.77 ± 0.24*
4.04 ± 0.68
4.49 ± 0.16
LVEDPW (mm)
0.85 ± 0.21*
0.96 ± 0.13*
0.64 ± 0.027
0.83 ± 0.12
LVESAW (mm)
1.36 ± 0.20*
1.66 ± 0.22*
1.86 ± 0.12
1.39 ± 0.15
LVESD (mm)
2.65 ± 0.41
3.53 ± 0.24*
2.68 ± 0.54
3.25 ± 0.27
LVESPW (mm)
1.18 ± 0.25
1.30 ± 0.19
0.98 ± 0.23
1.09 ± 0.30
Vcf (mm/s)
18.76 ± 1.97
21.15 ± 4.58
18.58 ± 3.95
20.29 ± 3.96
% FS
33.44 ± 6.07
28.32 ± 4.17
33.98 ± 9.61
27.8 ± 4.71
Stroke Volume (mm 3 )
2.37 ± 0.93
2.57 ± 1.19
2.86 ± 1.98
2.09 ± 1.0
LV Mass (mg 3 )
136 ± 13**
239 ± 51**
104 ± 13
170 ± 22
*p < 0.05,
**p < 0.001, vs NTg mice.
LVEDAW, LV end-diastolic anterior wall thickness;
LVEDD, LV end-diastolic dimension;
LVEDPW, LV end-diastolic posterior wall thickness;
LVESAW, LV end-systolic anterior wall thickness;
LVESD, LV end-systolic dimension;
LVESPW, LV end-systolic posterior wall thickness;
Vcf, Velocity of circumferential fiber shortening;
% FS, % fractional shortening.
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 3
Hemodynamic function in ILK S343D transgenic mice
ILK S343D
Non-Transgenic
p-value
No. of mice
n = 9
n = 10
Heart rate (bpm)
256 ± 14
246 ± 20
NS
ABPs (mmHg)
93 ± 2.9
90 ± 1.6
NS
ABPd (mmHg)
62 ± 4.3
58 ± 2.4
NS
LVSP (mmHg)
92 ± 1.7
95 ± 2.6
NS
LVDP (mmHg)
16 ± 2.2
16 ± 1.8
NS
RVSP (mmHg)
27 ± 0.9
26 ± 0.8
NS
RVDP (mmHg)
2.8 ± 0.7
2.9 ± 0.6
NS
dp/dt+ (mmHg/sec)
4717 ± 190
4100 ± 322
NS
dp/dt− (mmHg/sec)
3342 ± 347
3649 ± 201
NS
dp/dt+ (mmHg/sec), maximal rate of isovolumic LV pressure change;
dp/dt− (mmHg/sec), minimum rate of isovolumic LV pressure change;
ABPs, aorotic systolic blood pressure;
ABPd, aorotic diastolic blood pressure;
LVSP, left ventricular systolic pressure;
LVDP, left ventricular diastolic pressure;
RVSP, right ventricular systolic pressure;
RVDP, right ventricular diastolic pressure.
Induction of cardiac hypertrophy is dependent on the activity of ILK. Our results, showing hypertrophic induction by the activated ILK allele, as well as activity-dependent induction of MAPK, ERK1/2, and p70S6K phosphorylation, suggested that ILK-induced hypertrophy is dependent on ILK activity. In order to test this idea directly, we compared the hypertrophic status of hearts from transgenic mice expressing ILK WT , with hearts from ILK R211A transgenic mice. ILK WT hearts exhibited a hypertrophic phenotype which closely mimicked that of the ILK343D mutant, as evident by the significant (p<0.001) increase in HW:BW (Supplementary Table 4) and LV mass measured by echocardiography (p<0.001) in comparison to NTg littermate controls (Supplementary Table 5). Additionally, transgenic mice with cardiac-restricted expression of the kinase-inactive ILK construct (ILK R211A ) did not develop cardiac hypertrophy, as assessed by echocardiography at 4 months of age (Supplementary Table 6). The finding that cardiac over-expression of kinase-deficient ILK did not exhibit evidence of cardiac dysfunction suggests that the structural role of ILK is sufficient for maintenance of baseline ventricular function, whereas kinase activity is required for hypertrophic remodeling. The G-protein activation profile correlated with the cardiac phenotypic findings, featuring selective activation of Rac1 and Cdc42 in the ILK WT ( FIG. 6 ab ) and ILK S343D Tg (Supplementary FIG. 1 ) genotypes, both of which develop hypertrophy, in comparison to the kinase-inactive ILK R211A , which exhibits a cardiac phenotype indistinguishable from control.
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 4
Heart, lung, liver weights of ILK WT and ILK R211A transgenic mice
Non-
%
Transgenic
Transgenic
Increase
p-value
ILK R211A
(4 months)
No. of mice
n = 10
n = 5
Body weight (g)
24 ± 2.6
23 ± 3.2
4.3
NS
Heart weight (mg)
112 ± 17
106 ± 17
5.7
NS
Lung weight (mg)
220 ± 79
219 ± 63
0.5
NS
Liver weight (mg)
1277 ± 199
1219 ± 119
4.8
NS
Heart/Body weight
4.7 ± 0.5
4.6 ± 0.8
2.1
NS
(mg/g)
Lung/Body weight
9.2 ± 2.4
9.5 ± 3.5
−3.2
NS
(mg/g)
Liver/Body weight
53 ± 8.9
53 ± 11
0
NS
(mg/g)
ILK WT (4 weeks)
No. of mice
n = 5
n = 7
Body weight (g)
22 ± 2.1
22 ± 4.4
0.0
NS
Heart weight (mg)
126 ± 8.2
106 ± 17
19
<0.05
Lung weight (mg)
238 ± 32
236 ± 32
0.8
NS
Liver weight (mg)
1205 ± 190
1185 ± 170
1.7
NS
Heart/Body weight
5.7 ± 0.43
4.8 ± 0.45
19
<0.001
(mg/g)
Lung/Body weight
11 ± 1.2
11 ± 1.6
0.0
NS
(mg/g)
Liver/Body weight
55 ± 6.3
54 ± 4.9
1.9
NS
(mg/g)
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 5
Echocardiography of ILK WT transgenic mice
Transgenic
Non-transgenic
No. of mice
n = 5
n = 8
LVEDAW (mm)
0.94 ± 0.09**
0.67 ± 0.09
LVEDD (mm)
3.75 ± 0.27
4.05 ± 0.32
LVEDPW (mm)
0.74 ± 0.11*
0.53 ± 0.09
LVESAW (mm)
1.30 ± 0.21*
0.92 ± 0.13
LVESD (mm)
2.48 ± 0.52
2.97 ± 0.37
LVESPW (mm)
0.99 ± 0.15*
0.76 ± 0.08
Vcf (mm/s)
20.63 ± 4.48
18.25 ± 3.60
% FS
34.41 ± 9.57
24.43 ± 6.75
Stoke Volume (mm 3 )
2.35 ± 1.35
1.33 ± 0.45
LV Mass (mg 3 )
112 ± 11**
83 ± 22
*p < 0.05,
**p < 0.001, vs NTg littermates.
SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE 6
Echocardiography of ILK R211A transgenic mice
Transgenic
Non-transgenic
3 Weeks old
No. of mice
n = 7
n = 5
LVEDAW (mm)
0.76 ± 0.09
0.68 ± 0.11
LVEDD (mm)
3.60 ± 0.27
3.32 ± 0.19
LVEDPW (mm)
0.66 ± 0.08
0.63 ± 0.11
LVESAW (mm)
1.10 ± 0.05
1.05 ± 0.27
LVESD (mm)
2.31 ± 0.32
2.11 ± 0.53
LVESPW (mm)
1.01 ± 0.11
0.99 ± 0.12
Vcf (mm/s)
18.66 ± 5.20
18.81 ± 6.20
% FS
35.85 ± 6.50
36.70 ± 14.0
Stroke volume (mm 3 )
2.30 ± 0.55
2.20 ± 0.83
LV Mass (mg 3 )
78 ± 12
74 ± 10
4 Months old
No. of mice
n = 7
n = 3
LVEDAW (mm)
0.93 ± 0.08
0.96 ± 0.07
LVEDD (mm)
3.58 ± 0.25
3.76 ± 0.17
LVEDPW (mm)
0.75 ± 0.04
0.75 ± 0.05
LVESAW (mm)
1.28 ± 0.12
1.36 ± 0.11
LVESD (mm)
2.34 ± 0.30
2.47 ± 0.23
LVESPW (mm)
1.10 ± 0.11
1.14 ± 0.10
Vcf (mm/s)
19.94 ± 2.10
21.64 ± 3.40
% FS
35.36 ± 4.20
34.73 ± 4.20
Stroke Volume (mm 3 )
2.07 ± 0.53
2.76 ± 1.0
LV Mass (mg 3 )
105 ± 11.5
117 ± 11
*p < 0.05,
**p < 0.001, vs NTg littermates.
We found that expression of either wild type ( FIG. 6 cd ) or constitutively active (Supplementary FIG. 2 ) ILK, but not ILK R211A , increased phosphorylation of both ERK1/2, and p38MAPK, indicating that activation of these kinases was dependent on ILK catalytic activity. Whereas increased expression of ILK was confirmed in both the ILK WT and ILK R211A genotypes ( FIG. 6 e ), phosphorylation-dependent activation of ILK targets, p70S6K, ERK1/2, p38MAPK, and the p38-dependent transcription factor, ATF2, was only evident in the wild-type over-expressing ventricles ( FIG. 6 cd ). Western blotting confirmed roughly equal expression levels from ILK WT and ILK R211A transgenes ( FIG. 6 e ), suggesting these differences were due to ILK catalytic activity.
Acute ILK-dependent Rac1 activation in isolated human cardiomyocytes. In order to evaluate the effect of acute ILK up-regulation on GTPase activation, we infected human fetal cardiomyocytes with adenoviruses expressing ILK (Ad-ILK), or an empty virus control. Infection with Ad-ILK stimulated an ˜3-fold increase in levels of GTP-bound Rac1 and an ˜7-fold increase in GTP-bound Cdc42, 24 hours post-infection ( FIG. 7 ). These stimulations were blocked by treatment of the Ad-ILK infected cells with the small molecule ILK inhibitor, KP-392, suggesting that ILK kinase activity is required for activation of these small GTPases. Infection of the cardiomyocytes with empty adenovirus, carrying no ILK sequences, had no effect on the activation state of Rac1, Cdc42, or RhoA. These results indicate that, as in the transgenic mouse hearts and during human hypertrophy caused by mechanical loading, acute up-regulation of ILK in isolated cardiomyocytes directly activates Rac1 and Cdc42.
Genetic ILK over-expression enhances post-infarction remodeling. In order to test for potential cardioprotective effects of ILK, we analyzed LV infarct size in aged 6 month ILK TgS343D and littermate control mice at 7 days post-LAD ligation, based on planimetric scar dimensions measured in six levels of cross-sections of the LV ( FIG. 8 ). The ILK TgS343D genotype exhibited a significantly greater LV mass (p=0.01), a trend towards reduction in absolute LV scar area (p=0.106), and a reduction in scar area indexed to LV mass (p=0.047) ( FIG. 8 b ). Thus, cardiac ILK activation resulted in a post-infarction remodeling phenotype featuring a reactive increase in LV mass.
Recent studies have challenged the traditional thinking that the adult mammalian heart lacks inherent regenerative capacity. Cardiac stem cells (CSCs) derived from bone marrow or niches within the heart have been identified and shown to participate in the regeneration of myocardium in vivo xii,xiii,xiv . Tissue-resident cardiac progenitor cells expressing various stem cell markers such as Sea-1, MDR-1, and c-Kit, exhibit the hallmarks of adult stem cells: self-renewal, clonogenicity, and multi-lineage differentiation. However, the population of progenitor cells in the heart is very low, and the inability to expand this population of cells in vitro or in vivo represents a major barrier to therapeutic stem cell applications.
Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a multi-functional protein kinase, which coordinates signal transduction by integrins and growth factor receptors, and serves as a nodal regulator of protein kinase cascades important to cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis xv,xvi . ILK functions as the effector of phosphoinositide-3′-OH kinase (PI3K) signaling following distinct signal inputs from integrins and growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases xvii,xviii . ILK also inhibits glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) xvi,xix , which leads to the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin, which, in turn, leads to the activation of Wnt target genes implicated in the maintenance and symmetric replication of embryonic stem cells, as well as their more tissue- and lineage-restricted progeny. The canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has been shown to be important in both embryonic and adult stem cell maintenance and self-renewal in hematopoetic, gastrointestinal and neural tissue xx,xxi,xxii,xxiii,xxiv,xxv , although this pathway has not been studied in CSCs.
The demonstrable utility of Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) to promote cardiac stem cell proliferation and self renewal is herein set forth. While it was known that Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a multi-functional protein kinase, which coordinates signal transduction by integrins and growth factor receptors, and activates Wnt target genes implicated in the maintenance and symmetric replication of embryonic stem cells, the effect of ILK on cardiac stem cells has been heretofore unknown.
Recent evidence suggests that the adult heart contains stem cells, which are capable of self-renewal as well as tissue-specific, multi-lineage differentiation. However, their inherent capacity for self-renewal is limiting to cell replacement applications. We herein demonstrate that a cardiac stem cell population is susceptible to amplification through ILK gain-of-function.
Methods:
Primary cultures derived from human fetal cardiac tissue (19-22 weeks gestation) were grown in serum-free media supplemented with growth factors and evaluated for the appearance of cells with the properties of stem cells, including self-renewal and the capacity to differentiate into definitive cardiac myocytes. The effect of ILK was ascertained using adenoviral over-expression of ILK cDNA constructs conveying either gain- or loss-of-function.
Results:
Cultures infected with wild type ILK yielded a significant (p=0.001), ˜5-fold increase in both the absolute number and the frequency of c-Kit POS , myosin NEG cells, which reached˜one cell in 250. Cardiospheres (CS), comprised on morphologically homogeneous, anchorage-independent cells, were reproducibly present at day 7-10, and formed derivative CS in multiple passages. ILK infection of primary cardiac cell cultures resulted in a greater number of primary spheres at each cell density tested, compared with untreated and virus controls (p=0.001). Secondary spheres transferred to differentiation medium consisting of IMDM with 10% FBS and 5-Aza-deoxycytodine (10 uM) generated cells exhibiting biochemical evidence of differentiation into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that self-renewing cardiospheres generated from human fetal cardiac cells are comprised of cells exhibiting the properties of stem cells, including the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. ILK-transformed stem cells are shown to be equally susceptible to cardiac differentiation, even while exhibiting an increased capacity for proliferation and CS formation. Our results suggest that ILK promotes stem cell amplification and can be applied therapeutically to overcome a major limitation in the field of cardiac regenerative medicine.
Here we show that the overexpression of ILK in human fetal cardiac tissue in vitro increases the population of cardiac stem cells, which exhibit self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation. Our results suggest that gain-of-function of a gene which promotes stem cell amplification can be applied therapeutically to overcome a major limitation in the field of regenerative medicine.
Detailed Description of Experiments:
Isolation and Cell Culture
Human fetal hearts were harvested during elective pregnancy termination at the gestational ages of 19 to 22 weeks, in accordance with the guidelines of the Institutional Human Research Ethics Board and after obtaining maternal consent.
The hearts were minced and washed using phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Cell isolation was accomplished using 0.2% trypsin and 1.0 mg/mL type II collagenase in a 0.02% glucose PBS solution at 37° C. After dissection, cells were incubated on pre-coated plastic culture dishes (Starstedt) for 2 hours at 37° C. to remove fibroblasts, with IMDM (Gibco) containing Penicillin and Streptomycin and supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Gibco). After incubation, the supernatant was removed and added to pre-coated culture dishes (Starstedt) and placed in a 5% CO2 incubator at 37° C.
Gene Transfer
Cells were cultured to 60-70% confluency in preparation for adenovirally-mediated infection of ILK constructs incorporating green fluorescent protein (GFP), as previously described xxvi . Replication-deficient serotype 5 adenovirus encoding either the human wild-type ILK gene (Ad.ILK-GFP) or empty virus constructs (Ad.C) previously shown to modulate ILK expression and activity in L6 myoblasts xxvii , were used for the infection of cells. Cells were infected at 37° C. at multiplicity of infection of 1.5 in IMDM medium with 10% fetal bovine serum for 24 h. Effective gene transfer was confirmed by more than 80% of GFP positivity.
Western Blot Analysis
Western blot analysis was performed to confirm that the transduction of Ad.ILK in cardiac cell cultures. The cells were washed with PBS and harvested by scraping in lysis buffer. After measurement of protein expression, analyses were performed with polyclonal anti-ILK antibody (Cell Signaling). Proteins were visualized with an enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) detection reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) and quantified by densitometry.
Immunocytochemistry and Quantitative Analysis of c-Kit POS Cells
Cells were fixed using methanol at −20° C. for 20 minutes. Cells were then reacted with c-Kit antibody (diluted 1:20; Assay Design Inc.), human monoclonal anti-CD34 (Cymbus Biotechnology), human monoclonal anti-α-smooth muscle actin (1:100; Santa Cruz), human polyclonal anti-Von Willebrand Factor (1:200), myosin monoclonal antibody (MF20 diluted 1:10), or monoclonal anti-α actin in (1:200) from Sigma. Nuclei were stained with DAPI. All slides were analyzed at 20× magnification using a Lcica fluorescent microscope with a coupled camera. All analysis was done using Openlab 4.0.2 software. More than ten fields were randomly chosen and photographed, and the total cell number (˜5000/dish) was counted manually in a fashion blinded to viral status.
Generation of Primary and Secondary Spheres
Cell viability of cells was confirmed with trypan blue staining prior to plating at densities from 10 cells/μL to 1 cell/μL in 24-well plates. The culture medium was composed of DMEM/F-12 (1:1) including Hepes buffer (5 mM), glucose (0.6%), sodium bicarbonate (3 mM), and glutamine (2 mM), insulin (25 μg/ml), transferrin (100 μg/ml), progesterone (20 nM), putrescine (60 μM), sodium selenite (30 nM), human recombinant EGF (20 ng/ml), and bFGF (20 ng/ml). The number of primary spheres generated in each well was assessed 14 days after plating. Primary spheres were dissociated into single cells consisting of ˜200-500 cells, which were placed in 96-well plates. The number of secondary spheres was assessed 14 days after replating dissociated cells.
Differentiation Assay
Secondary spheres were transferred to differentiation medium, which was composed of IMDM containing 10% FBS and 10 uM 5-aza-2′-deoxycytodine (5azaD). Cells migrating out from the spheres were analyzed by immunocytochemistry on day 14. Cells were fixed and characterized by staining with the following markers: α-cardiac actinin antibody (diluted 1:100, SIGMA), Von Willebrand factor antibody (diluted 1:200 DAKO), or α-smooth muscle actin antibody (diluted 1:100, Santa Cruz).
Results
ILK Increases the Frequency of c-Kit POS Cells
To determine whether the overexpression of ILK increases the stem cell number in the human heart, fetal hearts of gestational ages 19-22 weeks were acquired during elective pregnancy termination, and the hearts were enzymatically dissociated into single cell suspension. The cells were incubated on pre-coated plastic culture dishes for 2 hours at 37° C. to remove fibroblasts, which were shown to be devoid of c-Kit POS cells. At 2-3 days after isolation and at 60-70% confluency, cells were infected with replication defective adenovirus containing wild type (Ad.ILK), or virus control (Ad.C). Effective gene transfer was confirmed by more than 80% GFP positivity ( FIG. 1 a ) and by ˜3-fold increase in ILK protein expression ( FIG. 1 b ) in cell cultures. c-Kit POS cells imaged by fluorescence microscopy were invariably negative for the cardiac myosin markers α-cardiac actinin ( FIG. 1 c ), MF20 and the hematopoetic stem cell marker CD34. Cultures infected with wild type ILK yielded a significant (p=0.001), ˜5-fold increase in both the absolute number and the frequency of c-Kit POS cells, which reached ˜one cell in 250 ( FIG. 1 d ).
Human Fetal Cardiac Cells Generate Cardiospheres In Vitro
To determine if primary human fetal cardiac cells generate cardiospheres in vitro, cells were infected with Ad.ILK or control virus and plated in serum-free medium supplemented with 20 ng/ml each of EGF and bFGF at clonal density of a single cell per well in 24-well plates. Primary cardiospheres (CS), comprised on morphologically homogeneous cells, were reproducibly present at day 7-10 ( FIG. 2 , upper panel). CS were noted to be uniformly free-floating, presumably reflecting anchorage-independence, in distinction to cardiac myocytes which became rapidly adherent to the culture plate surface. Cells from dissociated primary CS were plated at a density corresponding to one sphere (˜200-400 cells)/well. Secondary CS, which were morphologically indistinguishable from primary CS, were evident in ˜60% of wells at day 14 ( FIG. 2 , lower panel). CS were shown to be comprised of cells expressing the c-Kit POS surface receptor ( FIG. 3 ). Occasional cells at the periphery of the spheres stained for the cardiac marker α-actinin (arrowhead).
ILK Over-Expression Increases the Rate of CS Formation
ILK infection of primary cardiac cell cultures resulted in a greater number of primary spheres at each cell density tested, compared with untreated and virus controls ( FIG. 4 a ). Among CS generated from ILK-infected cultures, ˜80% stained homogeneously for ILK-GFP; ˜20% exhibited no evidence of GFP staining; and no spheres were observed which were mosaic for GFP, suggesting origin from a single cell rather than cellular aggregation. The frequency of sphere-initiating cells, as measured by the ratio of sphere number:total cell number, was significantly greater in ILK-overexpressing cultures ( FIG. 4 b ). The frequency of secondary or tertiary spheres generated from primary spheres comprised of Ad.ILK, AD.C or uninfected cells was highly similar (˜60% of wells), indicating that while ILK gain-of-function increases the formation of primary spheres, it does not alter their inherent capacity for subsequent self-renewal.
Cardiac stem cells are multipotent and have the capacity to differentiate into smooth muscle, cardiac and endothelial cells xxx,xxxi,xxxii . Secondary spheres were transferred to differentiation medium consisting of IMDM with 10% FBS and the methyltransferase inhibitor, 5azaD (10 uM). Within 4-5 days spheres became attached to the plate and individual cells migrated from spheres, which exhibited biochemical evidence of differentiation into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells ( FIG. 5 ). The profile of differentiated cells among ILK-over expressing and control cells was highly similar ( FIG. 5 , lower left panel), indicating that ILK-induced clonal proliferation of cardiac stem cells does not impair their capacity for multilineage differentiation.
Discussion
These experiments show that primary cultures derived from human fetal cardiac tissue grown in non-serum, growth factor-supplemented media form macroscopic cardiopsheres, analogous to neurospheres containing multipotent neural stem cells xxvii,xxix . Cardiospheres (CS) have been previously characterized as lineage-negative (Lin NEG ) c-Kit POS , morphologically homogeneous cells devoid of cardiac markers such as sarcomeric structures, having the capacity for self-renewal, as well as differentiation into functional cardiac myocytes, and to participate in the regeneration of functional myocardium in vivo xxx,xxxi,xxxii . Cells comprising CS did not express the hematopoetic stem cell marker CD34, suggesting that CS were derived from a cardiac resident, rather than from a bone marrow-mobilized, cell population xxxiii .
The evolutionarily conserved canonical Wnt pathway has been implicated in both human and mouse ES cell self-renewal competence xxii . The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is required for maintaining proliferation of neuronal progenitors xxiii , and for haematopoietic stein cell homeostasis xxv . ILK negatively modulates of GSK-3β activity and promotes nuclear activation of β-catenin xxiii,xxxiv,xxxv,xxxvi,xxxvii , and is a candidate kinase activator of Wnt pathway signaling xvi . ILK over-expression or constitutive activation promotes cell cycle transit through a signaling pathway comprising the Wnt components GSK-3β and β-catenin, leading to increased expression of cyclin D1 xxxviii , and providing a molecular basis for the inherent proliferation (self-renewal) property of stem cells. Moreover, ILK promotes anchorage-independent survival, which appears to be a generic and poorly understood feature of stem cells, including c-Kit-containing CS isolated from adult rat xxxix and human hearts xl .
These experiments validate our initial theory that human fetal cardiac tissue would be enriched for stem cells, which are important during cardiogenesis xli . Since it has been reported that cardiac c-Kit positive cells can grow and differentiate into the various cardiac lineages, including cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle and endothelial cells xiv , c-Kit antibody was used as a marker for cardiac stem cells. The proto-oncogene c-kit encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor, and the ligand for c-Kit has been identified to be stem cell factor (SCF) xlii . We took advantage of the tendency of cardiac cells to form macroscopic CS when grown on non-adhesive substrata in the presence of growth factor supplementation. Using the capacity to form CS as a readout for stem cell frequency, we tested whether adenoviral ILK overexpression would cause proliferation of CS-forming cells with self-renewal, clonogenic, and multi-differentiation properties.
We have thus demonstrated that self-renewing cardiospheres generated from human fetal cardiac cells are comprised of cells exhibiting the properties of stem cells, including the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. This result has been also reported in cardiac cells isolated from adult rodent xxx , murine xxxii , and human atrial biopsies xxxi . Overexpression of ILK resulted in an ˜10-fold increase in the frequency of sphere-initiating cells. Importantly, ILK-transformed stem cells are shown to be equally susceptible to cardiac differentiation, even while exhibiting an increased capacity for proliferation and CS formation.
ILK is positioned to transduce distinct signal inputs from integrins and growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases xliii,xliv , is an activator of the Wnt pathway xlv , and promotes anchorage-independent cellular proliferation xvi,xviii , thus providing a putative molecular basis for the observed amplification effect on the cardiac stem cell population. An ILK-dependent increase in cardiac stem cell frequency is consistent with the finding that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been shown to positively regulate hematopoetic stem cell survival xlvi , since ILK positively regulates VEGF expression through an hypoxia-inducible factor-1α-dependent pathway xv . The fact that ILK effect was evident even under conditions of growth factor supplementation supports the rationale of exploiting upregulation the ILK signaling pathway as a novel strategy to promote therapeutically useful expansion of a target stem cell population.
All patents and publications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. All patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and any drawings/figures included herein.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
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Conditional knock-out of integrin-linked kinase demonstrates an essential role in protein kinase B/Akt activation. J Biol Chem. 2003; 278:22374-22378. xlvi Gerber H P, Malik A K, Solar G P, Sherman D, Liang X H, Meng G, et al. VEGF regulates haematopoietic stem cell survival by an internal autocrine loop mechanism. Nature 2002; 417:954-958. | Modulation of the integrin-linked kinase (ILK) signaling pathway is used to enhance the remodeling process relevant to a wide range of cardiac diseases. More specifically, a process to instigate beneficial human cardiac hypertrophy or for post myocardial infraction (MI) remodeling comprising illiciting an overexpression of ILK, is described. The ILK signaling pathway is also used as a means for cardiac stem cell proliferation and self-renewal. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to testing body fluids. Particularly, the present invention relates to a lancet used for obtaining a sample of body fluid for testing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a lancet and test strip combination.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] The examination of blood samples in clinical diagnostics enables the early and reliable recognition of pathological states as well as a specific and well-founded monitoring of physical condition. Lancets and lancet devices enable blood sample collection especially for home monitoring by diabetics.
[0005] A blood sugar level that is either too high or low can lead to adverse physical consequences for a diabetic. Personal blood sugar determination is important for diabetics to aid in controlling and maintaining blood sugar levels with the use of insulin and other medications. A lancet is used to pierce the skin (usually a finger) and produce a small blood sample. The blood sample is then placed on a test strip for analysis and the blood glucose level is read by a blood glucose meter. Various devices have been devised for lancing the skin of a user as well as combination devices that include lancets and analytical device.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,112 (2003, Klitmose) discloses a disposable lancet combined with a reagent carrying strip which carries a reagent that indicates the concentration of a blood component in a blood sample placed in contact with the strip The reagent carrying strip is connected to the lancet, e.g. by molding. One end of the lancet is sharpened for piercing the skin. The strip is sheet-like and has a firs side and a second side, which sides are both accessible for the user, such that the reagent carrying strip can be inserted into a blood glucose meter. A weakened tear line is provided at a connection between the lancet and an edge of the reagent carrying strip so that the reagent carrying strip may be easily disconnected from the lancet.
[0007] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2003/0050573 (Kuhr et al.) discloses an analytical device containing a lancet comprising a lancet needle and a lancet body, the lancet needle being movable relative to the lancet body and the lancet body being composed, at least in the area of the tip of the lancet needle, of an elastic material in which the tip of the lancet needle is embedded, and an analytical test element which is permanently connected to the lancet body. In addition the invention concerns an analytical device containing a lancet comprising a lancet needle and lancet body which is in the form of a hollow body in the area of the tip of the lancet needle and surrounds the tip of the lancet needle, the lancet needle being movable relative to the lancet body and the hollow body being composed at least partially of an elastic material, and an analytical test element which is permanently connected to the lancet body.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,658 (2003, Heller et al.) discloses an analyte measurement device includes a sensor strip combined with a sample acquisition device to provide an integrated sampling and measurement device. The sample acquisition device includes a skin piercing member such as a lancet attached to a resilient deflectable strip which may be pushed to inject the lancet into a patient's skin to cause blood flow. The resilient strip is then released and the skin piercing member retracts.
[0009] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0130042 (Moerman et al.) discloses an apparatus having a meter unit, a lancet and an electrochemical sensor. The meter is reusable while the lancet and the electrochemical sensor are incorporated into assemblies intended for single use. The meter has a housing within which a lancet is engaged with a mechanism for moving the lancet; a connector disposed within the housing for engaging an electrochemical sensor specific for the analyte, and a display operatively associated with a connector for displaying the amount of the analyte to the user.
[0010] A disadvantage of the above prior art is that each of the lancets are rigid and rely solely on the spring action of a firing mechanism to retrieve the lancet after firing or, in the case of the Heller device, the specimen piercing speed of the lancet is uncontrolled and depends on the quickness of the user.
[0011] Therefore, what is needed is a lancet assembly that has an inherent return action upon piercing a specimen. What is further needed is a lancet assembly that can be mated to an analytical test strip.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] It is an object of the present invention to provide a lancet assembly that has an inherent return action upon piercing a specimen. It is another object of the present invention to provide a lancet assembly capable of being mated to an analytical test strip forming a disposable integrated unit. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lancet with a plurality of cutting edges.
[0013] The present invention achieves these and other objectives by providing a lancet assembly having at least a lancet. The lancet includes a lancet body, a lancet tip, a sinuous portion, and an anchor portion. Lancet body has a lancet tip end, a sinuous portion end, and a lancet slot. The lancet slot receives a lancet driver for driving the lancet tip and lancet body from a retracted position to an extended position. Lancet assembly may optionally include a lancet enclosure for receiving the lancet.
[0014] The lancet enclosure is an elongated structure with a needle end and an anchor end, a surface with a recess for receiving the lancet, and a bottom with a lancet enclosure slot spaced from the needle end. In one embodiment, the recess has a narrower portion at the needle end through which the lancet tip is guided to the outside of the lancet enclosure. At the anchor end, there is configured a system to anchor one end of the lancet relative to the lancet enclosure. The lancet enclosure slot in the bottom is longer than the lancet slot to accommodate the extension of the lancet out of the lancet enclosure. The lancet enclosure also includes extended sides for receiving a cover or for direct attachment to a holder. The cover is in a layered relationship with the lancet.
[0015] In another embodiment, the recess has a first recess portion extending from the needle end, a bottom with a lancet enclosure slot spaced from the needle end, a second recess portion that is narrower than the first recess portion and which extends from the first recess portion opposite the needle end, and a third recess portion that is wider than the second recess portion and which extends from the second recess portion. Optionally, the lancet enclosure may have a plurality of first side openings and a plurality of second side openings to accommodate optional side tabs on the lancet that may be created during the manufacturing process.
[0016] In either embodiment, the depth of the recess in the lancet enclosure is deeper than the thickness of the lancet so that the lancet body can freely move the lancet tip out of the needle end from a retracted position to an extended position and back to the retracted position.
[0017] Additionally, a lancet and lancet enclosure assembly may optionally include a test strip attached the top side of the lancet enclosure. The test strip typically includes a sample fluid entrance port, a sample chamber with at least one sensor and a sample vent hole. Electrical contacts are situated at the opposite end of the test strip for connecting to a meter.
[0018] A lancet gun device may also be optionally included. The lancet gun device includes a housing, a lancet penetration gauge, a lancet assembly receiver for receiving a lancet, a lancet drive mechanism, an activating member, and a trigger. The lancet penetration gauge includes a plurality of recesses each having a different depth and is designed to cooperate with a lancet drive mechanism stop for regulating the penetration depth of the lancet tip. The housing includes rails having a first rail portion and a second rail portion offset from the first rail portion as well as a lancet driver slot configured to align with the lancet slot.
[0019] In one embodiment of the lancet gun device, the lancet drive mechanism has a stop rod with a lancet penetration gauge disposed at one end of the lancet gun device. In another embodiment, the lancet drive mechanism has a stop on a portion of the lancet drive mechanism that is engaged with one of the rail portions. The lancet penetration gauge in this embodiment is located along the side of the lancet gun device adjacent to the rail where the stop is located.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention showing a lancet within a lancet enclosure.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a top view of the lancet of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 .
[0022] FIG. 3 is a side view of the lancet of the present invention shown in FIG. 2
[0023] FIG. 3A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of along line A-A′ in FIG. 3 .
[0024] FIGS. 4 a - 4 f are enlarged perspective, front and side views of the lancet cutting edges representing the method of forming the unique structure of the lancet.
[0025] FIG. 5 is a top view of the lancet enclosure of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 .
[0026] FIG. 6 is a side view of the lancet enclosure of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 .
[0027] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lancet enclosure of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 .
[0028] FIG. 8 is a top view of the present invention showing the combination of a lancet, sensor strip and lancet enclosure where the lancet is in a retracted position.
[0029] FIG. 9 is a top view of the present invention showing the combination of a lancet, sensor strip and lancet enclosure where the lancet is in an extended position.
[0030] FIG. 10 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of a lancet gun device showing a side mounted lancet penetration gauge.
[0031] FIG. 11 is a side view of another embodiment of a lancet gun device showing a front mounted lancet penetration gauge.
[0032] FIG. 12 is a cut-away perspective view of the lancet gun device shown in FIG. 11 .
[0033] FIG. 13 is a transparent perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention showing the lancet assembly.
[0034] FIG. 14 is a top view of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 13 .
[0035] FIG. 15 is an enlarged top view of the lancet enclosure of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13 .
[0036] FIG. 16 is an enlarged side view of the lancet enclosure of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15 .
[0037] FIG. 17 is an enlarged top view of the lancet of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13 .
[0038] FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 13 showing a test strip affixed to the lancet assembly forming a disposable lancet-test strip combination.
[0039] FIG. 19 is a side view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0040] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1-19 . FIG. 1 shows a lancet assembly 10 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Lancet assembly 10 includes a lancet enclosure 20 and a lancet 40 . Lancet enclosure 20 includes a recess 21 that is configured to receive and contain lancet 40 when lancet assembly 10 is in a static state. Lancet assembly 10 has a needle end 12 through which lancet 40 protrudes and retracts during use and an anchor end 14 . A separate lancet cover (not shown) or a test strip (discussed later) may optionally be included, but is not necessary, with the lancet enclosure 20 . Lancet enclosure 20 may be made of a plastic material such as, for example, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polysulfone, nylon, polyurethane, cellulose nitrate, cellulose propionate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polyester, acrylic, and polystyrene.
[0041] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged top view of lancet 40 . Lancet 40 includes a lancet body 42 , a lancet tip 50 , a sinuous portion 55 , and an anchor portion 60 . Lancet body 42 has a lancet tip end 43 , a sinuous portion end 44 , and a slot 45 . Slot 45 is configured to align with slot 26 of lancet enclosure 20 but is shorter than slot 26 . This ensures sufficient clearance for a lancet driver to operate properly in conjunction with lancet assembly 10 during use. A lancet driver is inserted into slot 45 and drives lancet 40 to an extended position.
[0042] Sinuous portion 55 is a continuous strand of material having a plurality of loops 57 . Sinuous portion 55 is connected on one end to lancet body 42 and to anchor portion 60 . Lancet 40 may optionally have one or more tabs 47 , which are the remnants of the connections between a plurality of lancets 40 formed during the manufacturing process. Lancet 40 is preferably made of a metal material such as, for example, stainless steel having a thickness of about 0.010 inches (0.254 mm). The thickness of lancet 40 must be thinner than the depth of recess 16 in lancet enclosure 20 to allow the protrusion and retraction of lancet tip 50 . Lancet 40 may also be made of other materials such as, for example, plastics having sufficient rigidity to act as a lancet tip 50 for piercing skin but be resilient enough to provide the spring-like action of the sinuous portion 55 .
[0043] FIG. 3 shows a side view of lancet 40 illustrated in FIG. 2 . As can be seen from FIG. 3 , sinuous portion 55 is thinner than lancet body 42 and lancet tip 50 . Sinuous portion 55 is reduced in thickness to about 0.004 inches (0.102 mm). The reduction in thickness enhances the spring-like action of sinuous portion 55 in extending and retracting lancet tip 50 during use. The preferred method of reducing the thickness of sinuous portion 55 is by etching. Although it is illustrated that sinuous portion and anchor portion 60 are both etched to the same reduced thickness, it should be noted that anchor portion 60 may optionally not be etched since the thickness of anchor portion 60 has no bearing on the functionality of the sinuous portion 55 .
[0044] During the etching process to reduce the thickness of sinuous portion 55 , a unique lancet tip design is created. FIG. 3A illustrates a cross-sectional view of lancet tip 50 taken along line A-A′ in FIG. 3 . Lancet tip 50 has a concave recess 52 along opposite sides forming a plurality of cutting edges 53 . The formation of lancet tip 50 will now be explained.
[0045] Turning now to FIGS. 4 a - 4 f , there is illustrated lancet tip 50 after the etching process and the shaped tip after grinding/lapping. It should be noted that the process used in forming lancet tip 50 produces a unique needle tip with a minimum of nine cutting edges. Like most typical etching processes, a mask is applied to the object to be etched. Before subjecting lancet 50 to the etching process, lancet tip 50 is shaped into a needle point forming an included angle θ of about fifteen degrees (150).
[0046] In the present invention, an etching mask is applied to the bottom of lancet 40 while only a portion of the top of lancet 40 is masked. In the preferred embodiment, the top portion that includes the sinuous portion 55 , anchor portion 60 , and a portion of lancet body 42 at sinuous end 44 are not masked and neither are the sides and ends of lancet 40 . Lancet 40 is then exposed to the etching process for a predetermined time in order to obtain a thickness of the sinuous portion 55 of about 0.004 inches (0.102 mm). After etching, the mask is removed from lancet 40 .
[0047] Turning now to FIG. 4 a , there is illustrated a perspective view of lancet tip 50 with a portion of lancet body 42 as viewed from the bottom side of lancet 40 . The etching process produces a concave-shaped side 52 . FIG. 4 b shows a bottom view of lancet tip 50 formed with angled end 50 a having an angle 0 . Angled end 50 a may be obtained by various methods known to those of ordinary skill in the art. FIG. 4 c illustrates a side view of lancet tip 50 with a concave shaped tip. To complete the formation of lancet tip 50 , lancet tip 50 is shaped to an acute angle σ on the bottom side.
[0048] FIG. 4 d illustrates a perspective view of a finished lancet tip 50 having angle σ formed on one side. As shown in FIG. 4 d , a lancet tip 50 has a plurality of cutting edges 53 . For this embodiment, the total number of cutting edges is eleven as a result of the formation of concave sides caused by the etching process. The cutting edges include four side edges 53 a of lancet tip 50 , the four edges 53 b formed by the θ-angle, two edges 53 c formed by the σ-angle, and the end edge 53 d . FIG. 4 e illustrates a bottom view of lancet tip 50 showing the relationship of the cutting edges. FIG. 4 f illustrates the angle σ of lancet tip 50 . Due to the size of lancet tip 50 , a lapping technique instead of grinding is the preferred method of forming angle σ. Angle σ is an angle of about seven and one-half degrees (7.5°).
[0049] Turning now to FIG. 5 , there is shown an enlarged top view of lancet enclosure 20 of the present invention. Lancet enclosure 20 has recess 21 having a lancet body recess portion 22 extending from a needle recess portion 23 at needle end 12 , a bottom 24 with a slot 26 spaced from needle end 12 , and an anchor structure 28 adjacent anchor end 14 . Optionally, anchor end 14 may include a tab extension recess 30 for receiving a manufacturing tab 47 of lancet 40 . In the preferred embodiment, anchor structure 28 is a protrusion extending away from lancet enclosure bottom 24 for anchoring lancet anchor portion 60 . Optionally, lancet enclosure 20 may have side wall extensions 32 and an anchor end wall 33 for receiving a cover or a sensor strip or for attaching to a lancet gun device. In addition, side wall extensions 32 may optionally include a plurality of lancet enclosure retaining tabs 34 . FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of lancet enclosure 20 . The dashed lines indicate the recess bottom 24 , recess top surface 25 , and the side wall extension 32 and lancet enclosure retaining tabs 34 . FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of lancet enclosure 20 and more clearly shows the recess bottom 24 , the recess top surface 25 , side wall extensions 32 with lancet enclosure retaining tabs 34 . Typically, the thickness of lancet enclosure 20 is about 0.018 inches (0.457 mm), not inclusive of side wall extensions 32 which are about 0.022 inches (0.559 mm). The depth of recess 21 is typically 0.012 inches (0.305 mm).
[0050] Turning now to FIG. 8 , there is illustrated an integrated lancet-test strip combination 100 that includes a test strip 110 attached to lancet assembly 10 . Test strip 110 includes a sample fluid entrance port 112 (not shown), a sample chamber 114 (not shown) containing at least one sensor and a sample vent hole 120 . Electrical contacts 130 are situated at the opposite end adjacent anchor end 14 . Test strip 110 is preferably fixed to lancet assembly 10 forming an integrated lancet-test strip combination 100 . Test strip 110 acts as a cover to recess 21 of lancet assembly 10 enclosing lancet 40 within lancet enclosure 20 . FIG. 9 illustrates the integrated lancet-test strip combination embodiment of FIG. 8 where the lancet 40 is in an extended position with lancet needle 50 outside of lancet enclosure 20 .
[0051] Lancet 40 requires the use of a lancet drive mechanism in order to drive the lancet tip 50 into its destination. One embodiment of such a driving mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 10 . FIG. 10 shows a side view of a lancet gun device 200 . Lancet gun device 200 includes a housing 202 , a lancet penetration gauge 204 , a lancet assembly receiver 206 for receiving lancet-test strip combination 100 , a lancet drive mechanism 220 , an activating member 240 , and a trigger 208 . Lancet penetration gauge 204 includes a plurality of recesses 205 each having a different depth that are configured to cooperate with a stop 218 of the lancet drive mechanism 220 for regulating the penetration depth of lancet tip 50 . Housing 202 includes rails 212 having a first rail portion 214 and a second rail portion 216 offset from the first rail portion 214 as well as a receiver slot 201 (not shown) configured to align with the lancet enclosure slot 26 . To set the penetration depth, lancet penetration gauge 204 is turned to align the selected recess 205 that corresponds to the depth of penetration of the lancet tip 50 desired with the position of stop 218 on second rail portion 216 .
[0052] FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of lancet gun device 200 with an alternate configuration for the lancet penetration gauge. The same reference numerals are used to reference the same components. The alternate configuration for the lancet penetration gauge includes a penetration gauge wheel 203 having a plurality of gauge recesses 206 . The depth of each one of the plurality of gauge recesses 206 differs and corresponds to the distance the drive mechanism 220 will drive lancet tip 50 forward.
[0053] FIG. 12 shows a cutaway view of the lancet gun device 200 illustrated in FIG. 11 . Lancet drive mechanism 220 includes a drive mechanism body 222 , drive mechanism guides 228 , a drive mechanism stop rod 226 , a lancet driver 224 , and spring plate 230 . Drive mechanism guides 228 cooperate with housing rails 212 to guide the movement of drive mechanism body 222 . Lancet driver 224 engages lancet slot 45 through housing slot 201 and lancet enclosure slot 26 to drive the lancet tip 50 out of the lancet assembly 10 and into the skin. The depth of lancet penetration is determined by the cooperation between the stop rod 226 and the selected recess 206 of penetration gauge 203 chosen. Spring plate 230 slides along activating member 240 between a return spring 242 and a drive spring 244 . In the preferred embodiment in FIG. 10 , stop 218 is configured on the side of at least one of the drive mechanism guides 28 that corresponds with the positioning of depth penetration gauge 204 .
[0054] FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Lancet assembly 300 includes a lancet enclosure 320 and a lancet 340 . Lancet enclosure 320 includes a recessed portion 316 that is configured to receive and contain lancet 340 when lancet assembly 300 is in a static state. Lancet assembly 300 has a needle end 312 through which lancet 340 protrudes and retracts during use and an anchor end 314 . A separate lancet cover (not shown) or a test strip (discussed later) may optionally be included, but is not necessary, with the lancet enclosure 320 .
[0055] FIG. 14 shows a top view of lancet assembly 300 during a dynamic state when lancet 340 is protruding out of open end 312 of lancet assembly 300 . It should be understood that lancet 340 may be disposable and lancet enclosure 320 may be reusable or may be a part of the lancet gun device used with lancet 340 .
[0056] Turning now to FIG. 15 , there is shown an enlarged top view of lancet enclosure 320 of the present invention. Lancet enclosure 320 has recess portion 316 having a first recess portion 322 extending from needle end 312 , a bottom 324 with a slot 326 spaced from needle end 312 , a second recess portion 328 that is narrower than first recess portion 322 and which extends from first recess portion 322 , and a third recess portion 330 that is wider than second recess portion 328 and which extends from second recess portion 328 . Optionally, lancet enclosure 320 may have a plurality of first side openings 332 and a plurality of second side openings 334 to accommodate optional side tabs on lancet 340 that may be created during the manufacturing process. FIG. 16 is a side view of lancet enclosure 320 in FIG. 15 taken along arrows 16 ′ and 16 ″. First side opening 332 and second side opening 334 are more clearly depicted as being portions of lancet enclosure 320 where sections of the wall of recess 316 are absent. Typically, the thickness of lancet enclosure 320 is about 0.018 inches (0.457 mm). The depth of recess 316 is typically 0.012 inches (0.305 mm).
[0057] FIG. 17 shows an enlarged top view of lancet 340 . Lancet 340 includes a lancet body 342 , a lancet tip 350 , a sinuous portion 355 , and an anchor portion 360 . Lancet body 342 has a lancet tip end 343 , a sinuous portion end 344 , and a slot 345 . Slot 345 is configured to align with slot 326 of lancet enclosure 320 but is shorter than slot 326 . This ensures sufficient clearance for a lancet driver to operate properly in conjunction with lancet assembly 300 during use. The lancet driver is inserted into slot 345 and drives lancet 340 to an extended position.
[0058] Optionally along each side 346 of lancet body 342 are located one or more lancet body protrusions 347 . Lancet body protrusions 347 are optionally included to reduce the friction that arises between the sides 346 of lancet body 342 and the side walls of recess 316 during use of lancet 340 . Sinuous portion 355 has a zigzag shape with a sinuous neck extension 357 . Sinuous portion 355 is connected on one end to lancet body 342 and to anchor portion 360 by way of sinuous neck extension 357 . Lancet 340 is preferably made of a metal material such as, for example, stainless steel having a thickness of about 0.010 inches (0.254 mm). The thickness of lancet 340 must be thinner than the depth of recess 316 in lancet enclosure 320 to allow the protrusion and retraction of lancet tip 350 . Lancet 340 may also be made of other materials such as, for example, plastics having sufficient rigidity to act as a lancet tip 350 for piercing skin but be resilient enough to provide the spring-like action of the sinuous portion 355 .
[0059] When assembled, lancet tip 350 , lancet body 342 and sinuous portion 355 reside within first recess portion 322 of lancet enclosure 320 . Sinuous neck extension 357 resides in second recess portion 328 and anchor portion 360 resides in third recess portion 330 . Because second recess portion 328 is narrower than either first and third recess portions 322 and 330 , respectively, third recess portion 330 holds anchor portion 360 during use as the rest of lancet 340 extends out of and retracts back into lancet enclosure 320 .
[0060] Sinuous portion 355 provides a spring-like characteristic to the lancet body 342 . As lancet body 342 is extended during the skin-piercing dynamic action of lancet 340 , the sinuous portion 355 provides the resiliency needed to extend lancet tip 350 out of lancet enclosure 320 during use without breaking and to retract lancet tip 350 back into recess 316 of lancet enclosure 320 . In this way, a user is protected from lancet tip 350 before and after use.
[0061] It should be noted that this embodiment of lancet 340 also includes lancet tabs 365 . Lancet tabs 365 are the connecting material that connects one lancet 340 to another lancet 340 during mass production of lancet assembly 300 . It is less expensive to leave tabs 365 on lancet 340 than to remove them. If tabs 65 are not removed, then lancet enclosure 320 requires side openings 332 and 334 in order to accommodate tabs 365 during assembly and use of lancet assembly 300 . However, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that if tabs 365 are removed or if lancet 320 is made as an individual piece, then side openings 332 and 334 are also not required and may be optionally included or not.
[0062] Turning now to FIG. 18 , there is illustrated an integrated lancet-test strip combination 400 that includes lancet assembly 300 attached to a test strip 410 . Test strip 410 includes a sample fluid entrance port 412 , a sample chamber 414 (not shown) containing at least one sensor and a sample vent hole 420 . Electrical contacts 430 are situated at the opposite end adjacent anchor end 314 . Test strip 410 is preferably fixed to lancet assembly 300 forming an integrated lancet-test strip combination 400 . Test strip 410 acts as a cover to recess 316 of lancet assembly 300 enclosing lancet 340 within lancet enclosure 320 . FIG. 19 illustrates a side view of lancet-test strip combination 400 . Sample chamber 314 is shown as a series of dashed lines between sample fluid entrance port 412 and sample vent hole 420 .
[0063] To operate the lancet gun device 200 , a lancet assembly 10 is loaded into lancet receiver 206 . The depth of penetration of the lancet tip 50 is selected by rotating penetration gauge 204 to the desired setting. Activating member 240 is pulled away from housing 202 causing the drive spring 244 to compress while return spring 242 on activating member 240 pushes against spring plate 230 sliding lancet drive mechanism 220 into a loaded position arming trigger 208 . Trigger 208 has catch 210 that holds lancet drive mechanism 220 in the loaded state until trigger 208 is fired. After arming the lancet gun device 200 , activating member 240 is released and returns to its original position by return spring 242 while lancet drive mechanism 220 remains in the loaded position. As trigger 208 releases lancet drive mechanism 220 , drive spring 244 quickly expands pushing against spring plate 230 driving lancet drive mechanism 220 at a relative high rate of speed.
[0064] As lancet drive mechanism 220 is released, rails 212 guide lancet drive mechanism 220 along a path that causes lancet driver 224 of drive mechanism 220 to move up through housing slot 201 , lancet enclosure slot 26 and into lancet slot 45 to engage lancet body 42 . As lancet drive mechanism 220 continues along the rails 212 moving from first rail portion 214 to second rail portion 216 , lancet driver 224 drives lancet tip 50 towards its intended target. Lancet tip 50 penetrates the target to a predetermined depth as stop 218 engages the pre-selected recess 205 on penetration gauge 204 . The return force of the impact of stop 218 against the end of recess 205 along with the spring-like action of the sinuous portion 55 , which was stretched by the lancet driver 224 during the discharge of drive spring 244 , causes the lancet tip 50 and lancet body 42 to return to its released, steady-state position. While returning to a steady-state position, lancet driver 224 retracts from lancet 40 disengaging with lancet, lancet enclosure and housing slots 45 , 26 and 201 , respectively, aided by return spring 242 , which was compressed by spring plate 230 during discharge of drive spring 244 .
[0065] It should be noted that lancet gun device 200 may be configured to accept only a disposable lancet 40 , a lancet assembly 10 , a lancet assembly 10 with a cover, or a lancet-test strip combination 100 . The preferred embodiment as disclosed contemplates the use of a lancet-test strip combination for ease of use, reduced costs and increased dependability and reliability.
[0066] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | A lancet assembly has a lancet body with a needle end, a sinuous portion end, and a slot, a lancet tip connected to the needle end, a sinuous portion connected to the sinuous portion end, an anchor structure connected to the sinuous portion. The lancet assembly may also include a lancet enclosure having an elongated chamber with a needle end, an anchor end in communication with the elongated chamber opposite the needle end, and a lancet enclosure slot in communication with the elongated chamber and spaced from the needle end. The anchor end is configured to receive and hold the anchor structure in a substantially static position. The elongated chamber is sized to receive in sliding engagement the lancet tip, the lancet body where the lancet body slot is in communication with the lancet enclosure slot and the sinuous portion and to permit slidable movement of the lancet tip through the open end between a retracted position and an extended position. | 0 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The present invention relates to a seal for a sensor element having a ceramic element in the form of a solid electrolyte element embodied as a closed tube and fastened in a sealable manner to a metallic housing. The seal of the present invention is implemented between the solid electrolyte element and the housing.
German Published Patent Application No. 43 42 731 describes sensors based on solid electrolytes in which electrically conductive metal or graphite sealing rings are used for sealed immobilization of the solid electrolyte element in the housing. The metal sealing rings are moreover often covered with a galvanically deposited copper layer. At elevated temperatures, this leads to oxidation and corrosion of the metal or graphite surface. It can moreover cause the metal ions which are thereby created to diffuse into the solid electrolyte or into layers which are arranged on the surface of the solid electrolyte, such as conductive paths, cover layers, and insulation layers. This modifies and impairs their properties in terms of proper function.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a sensor is provided that has the advantage that temperature- and corrosion-resistant sealing elements which have a highly ductile roll-clad surface layer of a metal can be used to seal the ceramic element, which may be in the form of a solid electrolyte element embodied as a tubular element. Because of the deformability of the compact seal, the sealing element rests with zero clearance against, in particular, the surface of the ceramic element. This ensures that even under extreme thermal conditions, corrosive substances cannot gain access to the rear portion of the solid electrolyte element and the contacts arranged there, and impair their properties. As compared with conventional galvanically applied metal layers, the advantage of roll-clad metal layers, in addition to their elevated ductility, is that they have a more uniform surface structure, possess no defects, and have a uniform layer thickness. They are moreover much more highly densified, which reduces the surface area for oxygen access. This results in a far lower leakage rate for seals which use sealing rings having roll-clad metal layers than for sealing rings having metal layers which were applied galvanically. A further advantage of roll-clad layers consists in the higher degree of automation in their manufacture as compared with galvanically applied layers and, associated therewith, a continuous process control of the layer thickness. This means that sealing rings produced in this manner have precisely reproducible quality with very close tolerances. As a result, the cost per item, in particular, can be decisively lowered.
An additional roll-clad nickel layer that is applied beneath the copper layer and faces toward the ceramic element allows even greater ductility for the combined copper and nickel layer, which compensates for the surface roughness (R max as defined by DIN 4768) and shape error of the ceramic element. Partial oxidation of the copper layer is desirable in order to improve the sealing capability of the sealing ring even further. This is achieved by means of a heat pretreatment, preferably at approximately 550 degrees.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section through the exhaust-gas portion of a sensor according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged portion of a sealing zone as depicted in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a sealing element according to the present invention having a roll-clad copper layer applied to both sides thereof.
FIG. 4 shows the sealing element of the present invention provided with an additional roll-clad nickel layer applied beneath one of the roll-clad copper layers.
FIG. 5 shows the sealing element of the present invention provided with a roll-clad nickel layer applied beneath each of the two roll-clad copper layers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Electrochemical sensor 10 depicted in FIG. 1 has a metal housing 11 which has on its exterior a hex head 12 and threads 13 as attachment means for installation into a measured-gas tube (not depicted). Housing 11 has a longitudinal bore 17 with a sealing seat 20 which carries a sealing ring 21. A sensor element 14 having a shoulder 16 configured on a toroidal head 15 lies on sealing seat 20 equipped with sealing ring 21. A sealing surface 28 on the sensor-element side is formed on toroidal head 15 of sensor element 14 between sealing ring 21 and sensor element 14. Sealing seat 20 in turn forms a housing-side sealing surface. Sealing zone 55 which is constituted on sealing ring 21 is depicted at enlarged scale in FIG. 2.
In the present exemplary embodiment, sensor element 14 is an oxygen probe, known per se, which is used preferentially for measuring the oxygen partial pressure in exhaust gases. Sensor element 14 has a ceramic element 29 that may be embodied as a tubular solid electrolyte element 29 whose measurement-gas end section is closed off by a base 30. A film-like gas-permeable measurement electrode 31 is arranged on the exterior exposed to the measured gas, and a gas-permeable and film-like reference electrode 32, exposed to a reference gas (for example, air), is arranged on the side facing the interior. Measurement electrode 31 is connected by means of a measurement electrode conductor path 33 to a first electrode contact 39, and reference electrode 32 is connected by means of a reference electrode conductor path 34 to a second electrode contact 40. Electrode contacts 39, 40 are respectively located on an end surface 42 constituted by the open end of ceramic element 29. A porous protective layer 35 is laid over measurement electrode 31 and partially over measurement electrode conductor path 33. Electrodes 31, 32 and conductor paths 33, 34 are advantageously configured as cermet layers and co-sintered.
Sensor element 14, which projects out of longitudinal bore 17 of housing 11 at the measured-gas end, is surrounded at a distance by a protective tube 50 which possesses openings 51 for the entry and exit of the measured gas, and is held at the measured-gas end of housing 11. The interior of sensor element 14 is filled, for example, by a rod-shaped heating element 46 which is immobilized (not depicted) in a manner remote from the measured gas and is equipped with conductor terminals.
A first contact element 44 rests on first electrode contact 39, and a second contact element 45 on second electrode contact 40. Contact elements 44, 45 are shaped so that they rest against the rodshaped heating element 46 and are contacted by means of a measurement electrode terminal 47 and a reference electrode terminal 48. Contact is made to terminals 47, 48 with terminal cables (not depicted), which are guided outward to a measurement or control unit. In addition, an insulating sleeve 49 which preferably consists of a ceramic material is introduced into longitudinal bore 17 of housing 11. Insulating sleeve 49 is pushed onto contact elements 44, 45 by means of a mechanical means that is not depicted, thereby creating the electrical connection to electrode contacts 39, 40.
A clear depiction of sealing zone 55 between ceramic element 29 and housing 11 is evident from FIG. 2. According to FIG. 2, in order to protect conductor path 33, the latter is covered with an additional protective cover layer 27 in the region of sealing surface 28 on the sensor element side. Cover layer 27 possesses a layer thickness of 20 to 100 μm. In the present exemplary embodiment, cover layer 27 is applied over the entire region of conductor path 33 and around the periphery of ceramic element 29 which is adjacent to housing 11. It is, however, equally possible to limit cover layer 27 only to the region of sealing surface 28, or to extend cover layer 27 on the measured-gas side up to protective layer 35, which is advantageous because soiling due to soot and/or other conductive deposits from the exhaust gas is prevented. Protective layer 35 consists, for example, of plasma-sprayed magnesium spinel.
The material of cover layer 27 is selected to withstand the compressive forces of sealing ring 21 which occur when sensor element 14 is fitted into housing 11. Moreover, the material must be able to withstand application temperatures of up to 700 degrees C. This is achieved by the fact that a homogeneously distributed, crystalline, nonmetallic material forms a load-bearing protective structure in a glaze layer, and the transformation temperature of the glaze is above the application temperature. Possible materials are Al 2 O 3 , magnesium spinel, forsterite, MgO-stabilized ZrO 2 , Cr 2 O 3 and/or Y 2 O 3 -stabilized ZrO 2 with low stabilizer concentrations advantageously with a maximum of two-thirds of the stabilizer oxide used for full stabilization and having unstabilized ZrO 2 or HfO 2 , or a mixture of these substances. An alkaline earth silicate, for example barium aluminum silicate, is used as the glass-forming material. Barium aluminum silicate has a coefficient of thermal expansion of ≧8.5*10 -6 K -1 . Up to 30% of the Ba 2+ cations can be replaced by Sr 2+ .
To achieve gas-tight attachment of sensor element 14 in housing 11, shoulder 16 configured at toroidal head 15 sits on housing 11 by means of sealing ring 21. In order to seal the interior of sensor element 14, sealing ring 21 consists, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, of a solid core 23, forming a support, made of an iron-chromium or iron-chromium-nickel alloy, preferably of iron-22/chromium-MM stainless steel at a thickness of approximately 0.5 mm, which is covered on each side by a roll-clad copper layer 24 that is at least 0.05 mm, preferably 0.1 to 0.2 mm thick. The roll-clad material is particularly impermeable to gas, water, and fuel because of its high densification.
An exemplary embodiment of sealing ring 21 which is built up from multiple different metal layers is shown in FIG. 4. Here an additional metal layer 25 of nickel is applied, for example, beneath one of the two roll-clad copper layers 24. Nickel layer 25 is also applied by roll-cladding. The thickness of nickel layer 25 is, for example, 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm. FIG. 5 shows a further exemplary embodiment of sealing ring 21 that is constructed from multiple different metal layers. Here an additional metal layer 25 of nickel is applied beneath each of the two roll-clad copper layers 24. Both additional nickel layers 25 are also applied by roll-cladding. The thickness of the additional nickel layers 25 is also approximately 0.1 mm.
In a further exemplary embodiment that is not depicted, a further metal layer of Ni or Pd is deposited, at a thickness of 0.1 to 1 μm, onto the roll-clad copper layer 24 in an electroless metallization method that is known per se. Sealing ring 21 is then heat-treated so that if the nickel layer is applied, the latter reacts with copper layer 24 located beneath it to form a layer of highly corrosion-resistant Monel metal. | An electrochemical sensor for determining the oxygen content of gases of internal combustion engines includes a ceramic element that is inserted with a sealing ring into a housing. The sealing ring is built up from different metal layers. The arrangement of the metal layers proceeds from a metal support which is composed of a steel alloy. The sealing ring is covered on both sides with a roll-clad copper layer. A nickel layer can additionally be arranged beneath the copper layer. | 8 |
[0001] This application claims priority from Japanese patent applications JP P2005-157988, filed on May 30, 2005. The entire content of the aforementioned application is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a process management apparatus, a process management method, a process management program, and a recording medium having the program recorded therein for managing a process for processing an object.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In a production line of a factory, processing for improving a process is required in order to improve yield. Process improvement is performed by specifying a step that causes a failure of a manufactured product and then corrects the step to eliminate the cause.
[0006] However, in a manufacturing process including plural steps, various factors are conceivable as candidates of a cause of a failure. The factors include a defect of a component of a manufacturing apparatus, a problem of setting of the manufacturing apparatus, and a problem in a transportation route. Thus, it is extremely difficult to specify a cause of the failure.
[0007] When a phenomenon that causes a failure appears, symptoms of the failure appear in manufactured products. Moreover, an operation history of a manufacturing apparatus and an inspection history of an inspection apparatus may be affected more or less. Data concerning symptoms of defective products and data concerning the operation history of the manufacturing apparatus and the inspection history of the inspection apparatus are enormous. Thus, it is also difficult to analyze the cause of the failure.
[0008] A person in charge of production management having a lot of experience concerning production management knows, through the experience, a relation among influences of the cause of the failure on the defective products, the manufacturing apparatus, and the inspection apparatus and a method of interpretation of the influences. Thus, it is possible to efficiently carry out process improvement. However, a person in charge of production management not having much experience specifies a cause of the failure by examining candidates of the cause one by one. Thus, a great deal of time is consumed for process improvement.
[0009] Therefore, a method with which even people in charge of production management in all levels of technical skills can highly accurately and highly efficiently realize estimation of a cause of abnormality is demanded in a production site. As such a method, a method of analyzing a cause of a failure in a production line of printed boards is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3511632 (issued Mar. 29, 2004). In this method of analyzing a cause of a failure, a relation between a printing result and a mounting result, a relation between a mounting result and a soldering result, and the like are indicated by probabilities and a failure factor is estimated on the basis of the probabilities.
[0010] However, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3511632, a failure factor to be estimated is provided as content of processing in respective steps. Thus, it is impossible to accurately specify a failure factor concerning a failure not caused solely by processing in the respective steps such as a failure caused by an interaction among plural steps.
[0011] In order to accurately specify such a failure factor, it is conceivable to estimate a failure factor by checking all kinds of knowledge concerning all failure occurrence mechanisms assumed. However, in the case of this method, the estimation of a failure factor takes an extremely long time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The invention has been devised in view of the problems described above and it is an object of the invention to provide a process management apparatus, a process management program, a recording medium having the process management program recorded therein, and a process management method for allowing even a user having a low level of technical skills to accurately and quickly estimate a failure factor when a failure occurs in an object of processing because of a failure of the processing in a processing system for processing the object.
[0013] In order to solve the problems, a process management apparatus according an aspect of the invention includes: an estimation knowledge recording section that records factor estimation knowledge information that associates one or more candidates of failure factors with each of plural failure results, which can occur in a processing system for processing an object, and includes information concerning conditions leading to the respective failure factors and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective conditions; an analysis method recording section that records analysis method information of inspection result data concerning an inspection result of a process in the processing system and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective pieces of analysis method information; factor estimating means for estimating, on the basis of the factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to a specific failure result, a failure factor corresponding to the failure result; and analysis processing means for analyzing inspection result data on the basis of the analysis method information. The factor estimating means presents the conditions required for estimation of a failure factor to a user as questions. The analysis processing means receives analysis ID information of the condition corresponding to the questions to thereby perform analysis on the basis of the analysis method information corresponding to the ID and present an analysis result to the user.
[0014] In order to solve the problems, a process management method according to another aspect of the invention includes: an estimation knowledge recording step of recording factor estimation knowledge information that associates one or more candidates of failure factors with each of plural failure results, which can occur in a processing system for processing an object, and includes information concerning conditions for the respective failure factors and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective conditions; an analysis method recording step of recording analysis method information of inspection result data concerning an inspection result of a process in the processing system and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective pieces of analysis method information; a factor estimating step of estimating, on the basis of the factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to a specific failure result, a failure factor corresponding to the failure result; and an analysis processing step of analyzing inspection result data on the basis of the analysis method information. In the factor estimating step, the conditions required for estimation of a failure factor are presented to a user as questions. In the analysis processing step, analysis ID information of the condition corresponding to the questions is received, whereby analysis is performed on the basis of the analysis method information corresponding to the ID and an analysis result is presented to the user.
[0015] According to these aspects of the invention, the factor estimation knowledge information and the analysis method information are prepared in advance. As described above, the factor estimation knowledge information associates one or more candidates of failure factors with each of plural failure results and includes the information concerning conditions leading to the respective failure factors and the analysis ID information corresponding to the respective conditions. The analysis method information includes the plural pieces of analysis method information and the analysis ID information for specifying the respective pieces of analysis method information. In other words, the respective conditions in the factor estimation knowledge information and the analysis method information are associated with each other by an analysis ID.
[0016] When a condition required for estimation of a failure factor is presented to a user as a question, an analysis result obtained by performing analysis in accordance with the analysis method information associated with the condition of the question by the analysis ID is presented to the user. Thus, the user is allowed to obtain an analysis result of most appropriate inspection result data even if the user does not know how to perform an analysis of inspection result data in response to the question required for estimation of a failure factor. Thus, it is possible to provide a process management apparatus that allows even a user unaccustomed to process management to quickly and accurately perform factor estimation.
[0017] For example, when the analysis method information is included in the factor estimation knowledge information, it is necessary to record the respective pieces of analysis method information with respect to all conditions in the factor estimation knowledge information. Thus, there is an enormous amount of information. According to the aspects of the invention described above, the analysis method information and the factor estimation knowledge information are provided separately and are associated with each other by an analysis ID. Consequently, it is possible to reduce an amount of information that should be prepared.
[0018] In still another aspect of the invention, in the process management apparatus, the analysis method information may be data collection method information that indicates which inspection result data should be collected out of the inspection result data and data processing method information concerning a processing method for data collected. The analysis ID may specify a combination of the data collection method information and the data processing method information.
[0019] According to this aspect of the invention, the data collection method information and the data processing method information are included as the analysis method information. Thus, the analysis processing means can collect inspection result data to be required from inspection result data on the basis of the data collection method information and process and analyze the inspection result data collected on the basis of the data processing method information. This makes it possible to cause the analysis processing means to more surely perform the analysis.
[0020] In still another aspect of the invention, the process management apparatus may further include: inspection result inputting means for receiving inspection result data from an inspection apparatus that inspects a process in the processing system; and an inspection result recording section that records the inspection result data received by the inspection result inputting means. The analysis processing means may acquire inspection result data from the inspection result recording section and perform an analysis.
[0021] According to this aspect of the invention, inspection result data is received by the inspection result inputting means as a result of inspection in the inspection apparatus. The inspection result data received is recorded in the inspection result recording section. Thus, the analysis processing means only has to perform an analysis by reading out the inspection result data recorded in the inspection result recording section. Therefore, for example, compared with the case in which an inspection result is acquired from the inspection apparatus, it is possible to acquire inspection result data required when the inspection result data is necessary.
[0022] In still another aspect of the invention, in the process management apparatus, the analysis processing means may receive the analysis ID information according to an input from the user.
[0023] According to this aspect of the invention, the user inputs analysis ID information to the analysis processing means. This makes it unnecessary to provide means for passing the analysis ID information from the factor estimating means to the analysis processing means. Thus, when the factor estimating means and the analysis processing means are provided independently from each other, it is possible to simplify constitutions of the factor estimating means and the analysis processing means.
[0024] In still another aspect of the invention, in the process management apparatus, the factor estimating means may transmit analysis ID information of a condition corresponding to a question presented to the user at the present point to the analysis processing means. The analysis processing means may receive the analysis ID information from the factor estimating means.
[0025] According to this aspect of the invention, the factor estimating means transmits the analysis ID information of a condition corresponding to a question presented to the user at the present point to the analysis processing means. The analysis processing means receives the analysis ID information from the factor estimating means. Thus, analysis processing corresponding to the presented question is executed without intervention of the user. This makes it possible to more quickly perform the factor estimation processing.
[0026] In still another aspect of the invention, in the process management apparatus, the factor estimating means may transmit information on a failure result to the analysis processing means. The analysis processing means may perform an analysis on the basis of the information on the failure result received from the factor estimating means and the analysis method information.
[0027] According to this aspect of the invention, the information on the failure result is passed from the factor estimating means to the analysis processing means. Thus, it is possible to reduce time and labor for the user to input the information on the failure result to the analysis processing means. This makes it possible to more quickly perform the factor estimation processing.
[0028] The process management apparatus may be realized by a computer. In this case, a process management program for the process management apparatus that causes the computer to realize the process management apparatus by causing the computer to operate as the respective means described above and a computer readable recording medium having the process management program recorded therein also fall into the category of the invention. As described above, the process management apparatus includes: an estimation knowledge recording section that records factor estimation knowledge information that associates one or more candidates of failure factors with each of plural failure results, which can occur in a processing system for processing an object, and includes information concerning conditions leading to the respective failure factors and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective conditions; an analysis method recording section that records analysis method information of inspection result data concerning an inspection result of a process in the processing system and analysis ID information corresponding to the respective pieces of analysis method information; factor estimating means for estimating, on the basis of the factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to a specific failure result, a failure factor corresponding to the failure result; and analysis processing means for analyzing inspection result data on the basis of the analysis method information. The factor estimating means presents the conditions required for estimation of a failure factor to a user as a question. The analysis processing means receives analysis ID information of the condition corresponding to the question to thereby perform analysis on the basis of the analysis method information corresponding to the ID and present an analysis result to the user.
[0029] Thus, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a process management apparatus that allows even a user unaccustomed to process management to accurately perform factor estimation. Since the analysis method information and the factor estimation knowledge information are provided separately and the analysis method information and the factor estimation knowledge information are associated by an analysis ID, it is possible to reduce an amount of information that should be prepared.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] In the accompanying drawings:
[0031] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic constitution of a process management apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0032] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic constitution of a production system including the process management apparatus;
[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data collection and processing table;
[0034] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of tree structure data of factor estimation knowledge information;
[0035] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a factor estimation screen;
[0036] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an analysis result screen; and
[0037] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of analysis processing and factor estimation processing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0038] An embodiment of the invention will be hereinafter explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, a process management system applied to a production system having a production line for printed boards will be explained. However, the invention is not limited to the production system for printed boards. It is possible to apply the invention to overall management for a process for processing an object. The process for processing an object means, for example, a production process for industrial products, an inspection process for mining and manufacturing products, agricultural products, or row materials, a treatment process for disposal objects (e.g., factory wastes, factory waste water, waste gas, and refuse), an inspection process for disposal objects, an inspection process for facilities, and a recycle process.
[0039] Constitution of the Production System
[0040] First, a production system (a processing system) 1 for printed boards to which the process management system according to this embodiment is applied will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 . A production line in the production system 1 includes respective processes for manufacturing printed boards (a printing process, a mounting process, a reflow process, and the like). In an example shown in the figure, the production system 1 includes a printing apparatus 11 that performs a solder printing process for pasting solder on a substrate, a mounting apparatus 12 that performs a component mounting process for mounting electronic components on the substrate, a soldering apparatus 13 that performs a reflow process for soldering the electronic components on the substrate, and a process management apparatus 10 that performs management of the production system 1 . The printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , and the soldering apparatus 13 are arranged in this order from upstream to downstream in a flow of a manufactured product of the production system 1 .
[0041] A print inspection apparatus 14 a is arranged near the printing apparatus 11 . A mounting inspection apparatus 14 b is arranged near the mounting apparatus 12 . A soldering inspection apparatus 14 c is arranged near the soldering apparatus 13 . The print inspection apparatus 14 a inspects a quality of a substrate processed by the printing apparatus 11 . The mounting inspection apparatus 14 b inspects a substrate processed by the mounting apparatus 12 . The soldering inspection apparatus 14 c inspects a substrate processed by the soldering apparatus 13 . In the following explanation, when it is unnecessary to distinguish the print inspection apparatus 14 a , the mounting inspection apparatus 14 b , and the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c , these apparatuses are simply referred to as inspection apparatuses 14 .
[0042] The process management apparatus 10 collectively manages the entire production system 1 and performs factor estimation processing and analysis processing described later. The process management apparatus 10 receives an input of various kinds of information and an instruction input from a user serving as a production manager and performs various kinds of processing.
[0043] The process management apparatus 10 , the printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , the soldering apparatus 13 , the print inspection apparatus 14 a , the mounting inspection apparatus 14 b , and the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c are connected to one another by a communication line to form a communication network. Any network may be adopted as the communication network as long as the respective apparatuses are capable of communicating with one another through the network. For example, it is assumed that a Local Area Network (LAN) is adopted as the communication network.
[0044] It is also possible that a terminal apparatus with which a user performs an operation input is provided separately from the process management apparatus 10 to be connected to the communication network and a data input to the process management apparatus 10 and various kinds of screen displays are performed by the terminal apparatus.
[0045] In the example described above, the inspection apparatuses 14 are provided in association with the printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , and the soldering apparatus 13 , respectively. At least one inspection apparatus 14 only has to be provided in the production system 1 . For example, if at least the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c is provided, it is possible to detect a failure that occurs in a final manufacturing result.
[0046] Constitution of the Process Management Apparatus
[0047] A constitution of the process management apparatus 10 will be hereinafter explained with reference to FIG. 1 . As shown in the figure, the process management apparatus 10 includes a factor estimating unit (factor estimating means) 20 , an analysis processor (analysis processing means) 30 , an inspection result inputting unit (inspection result inputting means) 40 , an inputting unit 50 , and a display unit 60 .
[0048] The inputting unit 50 receives an instruction input and an information input from the user. The inputting unit 50 is constituted by, for example, key inputting means such as a keyboard and buttons or a pointing device such as a mouse. The display unit 60 displays various processing contents in the process management apparatus 10 . The display unit 60 is constituted by, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).
[0049] The inspection result inputting unit 40 receives data concerning an inspection result of a manufacturing process in the production system 1 . The inspection result inputting unit 40 includes a print result inputting unit 41 , a mounting result inputting unit 42 , a soldering result inputting unit 43 , and a manufacturing apparatus history inputting unit 44 . The printing result inputting unit 41 receives a result of inspection by the print inspection apparatus 14 a . The mounting result inputting unit 42 receives a result of inspection by the mounting inspection apparatus 14 b . The soldering result inputting unit 43 receives a result of inspection by the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c . The manufacturing apparatus history inputting unit 44 receives information on a manufacturing history from the printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , and the soldering apparatus 13 .
[0050] The inspection result inputting unit 40 only has to receive information on an inspection result from at least one of the printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , the soldering apparatus 13 , the print inspection apparatus 14 a , the mounting inspection apparatus 14 b , and the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c . For example, if the inspection result inputting unit 40 receives only inspection result data concerning a soldering result from the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c , it is possible to acquire inspection result data concerning a failure that occurs in a final manufacturing result.
[0051] The analysis processor 30 performs analysis processing for a manufacturing state on the basis of data concerning an inspection result. The analysis display control unit 31 includes an analysis display control unit 31 , a data processor 32 , an analysis method searching unit 33 , a data collection processor 34 , a data collection and processing table (an analysis method recording section) 35 , and a process state database (an inspection result recording section) 36 .
[0052] The process state database 36 is a database that records data concerning an inspection result of a manufacturing process in the production system 1 (inspection result data) received by the inspection result inputting unit 40 . A result of inspection by the print inspection apparatus 14 a , a result of inspection by the mounting inspection apparatus 14 b , a result of inspection by the soldering inspection apparatus 14 c , and information on a manufacturing history from the printing apparatus 11 , the mounting apparatus 12 , and the soldering apparatus 13 are recorded in the process state database 36 . The process state database 36 is recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk device.
[0053] The data collection and processing table 35 records information on a data collection method and information on a processing method for data collected. The information on a data collecting method indicates information concerning which data is collected out of a large number of inspection result data recorded in the process state database 36 . The information on a data processing method indicates information concerning how the data collected by the data collecting method corresponding to the data processing method should be processed and analyzed. An analysis ID for specifying a combination of the information on a data collection method and the information on a processing method for data collected is also recorded in the data collection and processing table 35 . The data collection and processing table 35 is recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk device. Details of the data collection and processing table 35 will be described later.
[0054] The data processor 32 performs data processing required for analysis processing in the analyzing processor 30 . The data processor 32 acquires information on a data collection method and information on a data processing method from the analysis method searching unit 33 according to an instruction input inputted from the inputting unit 50 . The information on a data collection method acquired is transmitted to the data collection processor 34 and data required by an analysis is acquired. The data processor 32 applies data processing to the acquired data on the basis of the information on a data processing method acquired and transmits an analysis result to the analysis display control unit 31 .
[0055] The analysis method searching unit 33 performs processing for acquiring information on a data collection method and information on a data processing method corresponding to an instruction from the data processor 32 and transmitting the information acquired to the data processor 32 . When information for specifying the analysis ID is sent from the data processor 32 , the analysis method searching unit 33 specifies a data collection method and a data processing method that should be acquired. Examples of the analysis ID include information by a character, information by a numerical value, and information by a barcode. When the information by a barcode is used, a barcode reader is used as the inputting unit 50 .
[0056] The data collection processor 34 performs processing for acquiring inspection result data, which corresponds to an instruction from the data processor 32 , from the process state database 36 and transmitting the inspection result data to the data processor 32 . The analysis display control unit 31 controls screen display on the display unit 60 concerning analysis processing. Examples of the screen display concerning analysis processing include an analysis result screen described later.
[0057] The factor estimating unit 20 performs, concerning information on a failure result inputted by the user, processing for estimating a factor of the failure result. The factor estimating unit 20 includes an estimation processor 21 , a factor estimation display control unit 22 , and an estimation knowledge recording section 23 .
[0058] The estimation knowledge recording section 23 records factor estimation knowledge information. The factor estimation knowledge information is information for searching for a factor of each of plural failure result. The estimation knowledge recording section 23 is recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk device. Details of the factor estimation knowledge information will be described later.
[0059] The estimation processor 21 reads out factor estimation knowledge information concerning a failure result, which is inputted from the inputting unit 50 , from the estimation knowledge recording section 23 and performs estimation of a factor on the basis of the factor estimation knowledge information. Although not described in detail, the factor estimation knowledge information includes branching judgment used as a condition. When an answer to the branching judgment is inputted from the inputting unit 50 , factor estimation is performed. The factor estimation display control unit 22 controls screen display on the display unit 60 concerning factor estimation processing. Examples of the screen display concerning the factor estimation processing include a factor estimation screen described later.
[0060] Data Collection and Processing Table
[0061] The data collection and processing table 35 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3 . As shown in the figure the data collection and processing table 35 includes plural analysis IDs for specifying combinations of information on a data collection method and information on a processing method for data collected and also includes data collection method information and data processing method information corresponding to the respective analysis IDs.
[0062] The data collection method information indicates information concerning which data should be collected out of the inspection result data stored in the process state database 36 . Examples of the data collection method information in the example shown in FIG. 3 will be hereinafter described.
[0063] Data collection method information corresponding to an analysis ID: A is component deviation amounts of all components on a substrate identical with a substrate on which a designated defective product is formed. Data collection information corresponding to an analysis ID: B is solder printing transfer ratios of components in positions that are the same as positions of defective components on all substrates after start of manufacturing of a lot identical with a lot of the designated defective product. Data collection method information corresponding to an analysis ID: C is component deviation amounts of components in positions that are the same as positions of defective components on substrates manufactured in a period from a line start time on a day identical with a day of manufacturing of the designated defective product to manufacturing of the designated defective product. Data collection method information corresponding to an analysis ID: D is component deviation amounts of all components on all substrates of a lot identical with a lot of the designated defective product and numbers of nozzles of mounters mounted with the components.
[0064] The data processing method information indicates information on an analysis method for data collected on the basis of the data collection method information and information on a display method for an analysis result. Examples of the data processing method information in the example shown in FIG. 3 will be described.
[0065] Data processing method information corresponding to the analysis ID: A indicates a method of illustrating a substrate and displaying components in corresponding component positions in four stages: components having large deviation amounts are displayed in red and components having small deviation amounts are displayed in blue. Data processing method information corresponding to an analysis ID: B indicates a method of dividing a substrate into ten areas in an X axis direction and displaying an average of transfer ratios in the respective areas in a histogram. Data processing method information corresponding to an analysis ID: C indicates a method of representing component deviation amounts as a line graph with time set on an abscissa and a component deviation amount set on an ordinate. Data processing method information corresponding to an analysis ID: D indicates a method of calculating an average of component deviation amounts for each of nozzle numbers and representing the average as a line graph.
[0066] The analysis method searching unit 33 specifies information on a designated data collection method and information on a designated data processing method from such a data collection and processing table 35 and transmits the information to the data processor 32 . The data processor 32 transmits the information on the data collection method received to the data collection processor 34 . Inspection result data stored in the process state database 36 is extracted in accordance with the information. The data processor 32 performs an analytical arithmetic operation on the basis of the inspection result data extracted and in accordance with the data processing method received. The analysis display control unit 31 displays an analysis result.
[0067] Factor Estimation Knowledge Information
[0068] Factor estimation knowledge information will be hereinafter explained with reference to FIG. 4 . As shown in the figure, the factor estimation knowledge information is data of a tree structure for searching for factors of respective failure results. Explaining the factor estimation knowledge information in detail, the factor estimation knowledge information associates one or more candidates of failure factors with the respective failure results and includes information concerning conditions leading to the respective failure factors. In other words, in the tree structure of the factor estimation knowledge information, it is possible to reach a specific failure factor when branches of conditions are selected with respect to a certain failure result on the basis of information concerning an occurrence state of a failure.
[0069] An example shown in FIG. 4 , that is, factor estimation knowledge information in the case in which a failure result is a bridge failure will be hereinafter explained as an example of the factor estimation knowledge information. First, in a condition C 1 , it is judged whether a component deviation decreases after a production line is started. The analysis ID: C is set for the condition C 1 . In other words, judgment of the condition C 1 is performed on the basis of information obtained by collecting inspection result data according to the data collection method corresponding the analysis ID: C and analyzing and displaying the inspection result data according to the data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID: C.
[0070] In the case of YES in the condition C 1 , that is, when it is judged that a component deviation decreases after the production line is started, it is judged in a condition C 2 whether a component deviation amount of a nozzle mounted with an object defective component is large compared with those of other nozzles. The analysis ID: D is set for the condition C 2 . In other words, judgment of the condition C 2 is performed on the basis of information obtained by collecting inspection result data according to the data collection method corresponding to the analysis ID: D and analyzing and displaying the inspection result data according to the data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID: D.
[0071] In the case of YES in the condition C 2 , that is, when it is judged that the component deviation amount of the nozzle mounted with the object defective component is large compared with those of the other nozzles, it is judged that a failure factor is a failure factor F 1 , that is, a break of the nozzle of the mounting apparatus 12 (a mounter). On the other hand, in the case of NO in the condition C 2 , that is, when it is judged that the component deviation amount of the nozzle mounted with the object defective component is not large compared with those of the other nozzles, it is judged that a failure factor is a failure factor F 2 , that is, weak absorption force of nozzles of the mounting apparatus 12 (the mounter).
[0072] On the other hand, in the case of NO in the condition C 1 , that is, when it is judged that a component deviation does not decrease after the production line is started, it is judged in a condition C 3 whether a printing area changes in a fixed direction. The analysis ID: B is set for the condition C 3 . In other words, judgment of the condition C 2 is performed on the basis of information obtained by collecting inspection result data according to the data collection method corresponding to the analysis ID: B and analyzing and displaying the inspection result data according to the data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID: B.
[0073] In the case of YES in the condition C 3 , that is, when it is judged that a printing area changes in a fixed direction, it is judged that a failure factor is a failure factor F 3 , that is, a break of a drag of the printing apparatus 11 (a printing machine).
[0074] On the other hand, in the case of NO in the condition C 3 , that is, when it is judged that a printing area does not change in a fixed direction, it is judged in a condition C 4 whether warp of a substrate occurs in a place where component deviation is large. The analysis ID: A is set for the condition C 4 . In other words, judgment of the condition C 3 is performed on the basis of information obtained by collecting inspection result data according to the data collection method corresponding to the analysis ID: A and analyzing and displaying the inspection result data according to the data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID: A.
[0075] In the case of YES in the condition C 4 , that is, when it is judged that warp of a substrate occurs in a place where component deviation is large, it is judged that a failure factor is a failure factor F 4 , that is, careless handling at the time of storage of a substrate. On the other hand, in the case of NO in the condition C 4 , that is, when it is judged that warp of a substrate does not occur in a place where component deviation is large, it is judged that a failure factor is a failure factor F 5 , that is, adhesion of stain to a mask opening.
[0076] Factor Estimation Screen
[0077] A display screen displayed on the display unit 60 in the factor estimation processing performed by the factor estimating unit 20 (hereinafter referred to as factor estimation screen) will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 . As shown in the figure, a failure result designation area FA 1 , an estimated process display area FA 2 , and a factor candidate display area FA 3 are provided on the factor estimation screen.
[0078] There are three input areas in the failure result designation area FA 1 . The three input areas are a failure type input area in which a type of a failure result is inputted, a component type input area in which a type of a component in which a failure occurs is inputted, and a component size input area in which a size of the component in which the failure occurs is inputted. When the occurrence of the failure is detected by the user, information on the failure result is inputted to the three input areas. As the input to the three input areas, a character may be directly inputted by the user. Alternatively, it is also possible that options are displayed by a drop-down list or the like and the user selects a specific item out of the options and inputs the specific item.
[0079] A question display area in which a question required for estimation of a failure factor is displayed, answer input buttons for inputting an answer to the question, and an analysis ID display area in which an analysis ID is displayed are provided in the estimated process display area FA 2 . Conditions included in factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to a relevant failure result are sequentially displayed in the question display area in accordance with a tree structure.
[0080] First, the estimation processor 21 specifies a failure result on the basis of information on a failure inputted in the failure result designation area FA 1 . The estimation processor 21 reads out data of a tree structure of factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to the failure result from the estimation knowledge recording section 23 . The factor estimation display control unit 22 displays conditions in the question display area in order in accordance with the tree structure. The estimation processor 21 reads out an analysis ID corresponding to a condition displayed in the question display area from the estimation knowledge recording section 23 . The factor estimation display control unit 22 displays the analysis ID in the analysis ID display area.
[0081] Thereafter, the analysis processor 30 analyzes inspection result data on the basis of the analysis ID. An analysis result is displayed. The user judges an answer to the question displayed in the question display area by looking at this analysis result and inputs an answer from the answer input buttons by the user. Thereafter, the next conditions are sequentially displayed in the question display area in accordance with the answer.
[0082] Candidates of failure factors at a point of a condition displayed in the question display area are displayed in the factor candidate display area FA 3 . In other words, at a point when the first condition in the tree structure of the factor estimation knowledge information is displayed, all candidates of failure factors of a relevant failure result are displayed. The candidates of failure factors decrease as the conditions are narrowed. Finally, one failure factor is specified.
[0083] For example, in the example of the factor estimation knowledge information shown in FIG. 4 , at a point when the condition C 1 is displayed, the failure factors F 1 to F 5 are displayed in the factor candidate display area FA 3 . At a point when the condition C 2 is displayed, the failure factors F 1 and F 2 are displayed in the factor candidate display area FA 3 . When the answer input button “YES” is selected at this point, only the failure factor F 1 is displayed in the factor candidate display area FA 3 .
[0084] Analysis Result Screen
[0085] A display screen displayed on the display unit 60 in the analysis processing performed by the analysis processor 30 (hereinafter referred to as analysis result screen) will be explained with reference to FIG. 6 . As shown in the figure, an object component information area AA 1 and a result display area AA 2 are provided on the analysis result screen.
[0086] Component specifying information that specifies a component to be analyzed is displayed in the object component information area AA 1 . Examples of the component specifying information include substrate form information, lot number information, substrate ID information, and component ID information. The data processor 32 specifies the component specifying information on the basis of information on a failure inputted to the factor estimating unit 20 and an analysis ID. An input area for an analysis ID and an analysis result are displayed in the result display area AA 2 .
[0087] When an analysis ID inputted in the input area by the user, first, the data processor 32 reads out data collection method information corresponding to the analysis ID from the data collection and processing table 35 via the analysis method searching unit 33 . The data processor 32 receives information on a failure result from the factor estimating unit 20 . The data processor 32 specifies a component, data of which should be collected, on the basis of the data collection method information and failure result information. The data processor 32 displays information on the component specified in the object component information area AA 1 .
[0088] The data processor 32 reads out specific inspection result data concerning the component, data of which should be collected, from the process state database 36 via the data collection processor 34 on the basis of the data collection method information. The data processor 32 processes the inspection result data on the basis of a data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID and causes the analysis result control unit 31 to display an analysis result on the display unit 60 . The analysis result is displayed in a form of, for example, illustration of a state of a substrate, a histogram, a line graph, or a bar graph.
[0089] Flow of the Analysis Processing and the Factor Estimation Processing
[0090] A flow of the analysis processing and the factor estimation processing will be hereinafter explained with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 7 . In the figure, processing in S 1 and S 6 to S 9 indicates the analysis processing by the analysis processor 30 and processing in S 2 to S 5 and S 10 indicates the factor estimation processing by the factor estimating unit 20 .
[0091] First, in step 1 (hereinafter “S 1 ”), the analysis result by the analysis processor 30 is performed in accordance with an instruction input from the user for the purpose of detecting a failure result. The user appropriately designates analysis processing that uses the inspection result data recorded in the process state database 36 . The analysis processing designated is performed by the analysis processor 30 . The user judges whether a failure has occurred by checking various analysis results.
[0092] As a result of the analysis processing in S 1 , when the user judges that a failure has occurred, on the factor estimation screen, an input of information on a failure result by the user is received by the inputting unit 50 (S 2 ). The information on the failure result is inputted to the estimation processor 21 . The estimation processor 21 specifies factor estimation knowledge information corresponding to the failure result out of the factor estimation knowledge information recorded in the estimation knowledge recording section 23 (S 3 ).
[0093] The estimation processor 21 specifies a condition included in the factor estimation knowledge information specified as a question in accordance with a tree structure. The factor estimation display control unit 22 displays this question on the factor estimation screen. The factor estimation display control unit 22 displays an analysis ID corresponding to the question specified on the factor estimation screen. The factor estimation display control unit 22 displays a list of candidates of failure factors at the present point on the factor estimation screen (S 4 ).
[0094] The estimation processor 21 judges whether there is one candidate of a failure factor (S 5 ). When there is one candidate of a failure factor (YES in S 5 ), it is judged that a failure factor has been specified. The factor estimation processing ends. On the other hand, when there is more than one candidates of failure factors (NO in S 5 ), analysis processing required for answering a question is performed.
[0095] First, in S 6 , the user inputs an analysis ID on the analysis processing screen. The analysis ID inputted is transmitted from the data processor 32 to the analysis method searching unit 33 . The analysis method searching unit 33 reads out a data collection method and a data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID from the data collection and processing table 35 . The data processor 32 reads out specific inspection result data concerning a component, data of which should be collected, from the process state database 36 via the data collection processor 34 on the basis of the data collection method (S 7 ). The data processor 32 processes the inspection result data on the basis of the data processing method corresponding to the analysis ID (S 8 ). The analysis display control unit 31 displays a result of this processing on the analysis result screen (S 9 ).
[0096] When the analysis result is displayed on the analysis result screen, the user inputs an answer to the question displayed on the factor estimation screen on the basis of the analysis result (S 10 ). The input of the answer by the user is received by the estimation processor 21 . The estimation processor 21 specifies, according to a result of the answer by the user, a condition included in the factor estimation knowledge information as the next question in accordance with the tree structure and performs the processing in S 4 and the subsequent steps.
[0097] In the example described above, an analysis ID is inputted to the analysis processor 30 according to an input from the user in S 6 . However, information on an analysis ID specified by the factor estimating unit 20 may be transferred to the data processor 32 . In this case, it is possible to reduce time and labor for inputting an analysis ID by the user.
[0098] In the example described above, an answer to the question is inputted by the user in S 10 . However, it is also possible that a result of analysis by the analysis processor 30 is inputted to the factor estimating unit 20 and the estimation processor 21 selects an answer to the question on the basis of the analysis result. In this case, it is also possible that, for example, a result selected by the estimation processor 21 is presented to the user to have the user to confirm the result and, then, the estimation processor 21 shifts to the next question.
[0099] The respective functional blocks included in the factor estimating unit 20 , the analysis processor 30 , and the inspection result inputting unit 40 of the process management apparatus 10 may be constituted by a hardware logic or may be realized by software using a CPU as described below.
[0100] The process management apparatus 10 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU) that executes commands of a control program for realizing the respective functions, a Read Only Memory (ROM) having the control program stored therein, a Random Access Memory (ROM) that develops the control program, and a storage device (a recording medium) such as a memory that stores the control program and various data. It is also possible to attain the object of the invention when a recording medium having recorded therein program codes (an execution form program, an intermediate code program, and a source program) of the control program of the process management apparatus 10 , which is software for realizing the functions described above, in a form readable by a computer is supplied to the process management apparatus 10 and the computer (or a CPU or an MPU) reads out and executes the program codes recorded in the recording medium.
[0101] As the recording medium, it is possible to use, for example, tapes such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, disks including magnetic disks such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk and a hard disk and optical disks such as a CD-ROM, an MO, an MD, a DVD, and a CD-R, cards such as an IC card (including a memory card) and an optical card, or semiconductor memories such as a mask ROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, and a flash ROM.
[0102] The process management apparatus 10 may be constituted to be connectable to a communication network to supply the program codes via the communication network. The communication network is not specifically limited. It is possible to use, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a LAN, an ISDN, a VAN, a CATV communication network, a virtual private network, a telephone line network, a mobile communication network, a satellite communication network, and the like. A transmission medium constituting the communication network is not specifically limited. It is possible to use, for example, wire transmission media such as the IEEE1394, the USB, a power-line carrier, a cable TV line, a telephone line, and an ADSL line and wireless transmission media such as an infrared ray media like the IrDA or a remote controller, Bluetooth (registered trademark), the 802.11 radio, the HDR, a cellular phone network, a satellite link, and a ground wave digital network. The invention can also be realized in a form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.
[0103] The process management apparatus according to the invention is suitable for, for example, management of a production process for printed board. However, application of the process management apparatus is not limited to this. It is possible to widely apply the process management apparatus to all kinds of processes for processing an object such as a production process for industrial products, an inspection process for mining and manufacturing products, agricultural products, or row materials, a treatment process for disposal objects (e.g., factory wastes, factory waste water, waste gas, and refuse), an inspection process for disposal objects, an inspection process for facilities, and a recycle process.
[0104] The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Various modifications of the invention are possible within the scope described in claims. In other words, embodiments obtained by combining the technical means appropriately modified within the scope described in claims are also included in the technical scope of the invention. | A process management apparatus allows even a user with a low level of technical skills to accurately and quickly estimate a failure factor when a failure occurs in an object of processing due to a failure of processing in a processing system that performs processing for the object. An estimation processor reads out information on conditions leading to failure factors from an estimation knowledge recording section and presents the conditions to a user as questions in order. Analysis IDs are associated with the respective conditions. A data processor receives analysis ID information of a condition corresponding to a question to read out data collection method information and data processing method information corresponding to a relevant ID, performs analysis in accordance with the data collection method information and the data processing method information, and presents an analysis result to the user. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a §371 filing of PCT/IB2008/000792 filed Mar. 25, 2008, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/910,379, filed Apr. 5, 2007; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/976,546 filed Oct. 1, 2007; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/031,554 filed Feb. 26, 2008; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to novel polymorphic forms of 6-[2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenylsulfanyl]-3-E-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethenyl]indazole and to methods for their preparation. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions containing at least one polymorphic form and to the therapeutic or prophylactic use of such polymorphic forms and compositions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to novel polymorphic forms of 6-[2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenylsulfanyl]-3-E-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethenyl]indazole (also referred to as “Compound 1”)
that are useful in the treatment of abnormal cell growth, such as cancer, in mammals. This invention also relates to compositions including such polymorphic forms, and to methods of using such compositions in the treatment of abnormal cell growth in mammals, especially humans.
Compound 1, as well as pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,534,524 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,491. Methods of making Compound 1 are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,910 and U.S. Application Publication Nos. 2006-0091067 and 2007-0203196 and in WIPO International Publication No. WO 2006/048745. Polymorphic forms and pharmaceutical compositions of Compound 1 are also described in U.S. Application Publication No. 2006-0094763 and WIPO International Publication No. WO 2006/123223. Dosage forms of Compound 1 is also described in U.S. Application Publication No. 2004-0224988.
Compound 1 is a potent and selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) being developed for use in early to late stage cancers. Protein tyrosine kinases have been identified as crucial targets in the therapeutic treatment of cancer. Growth factor ligands and their respective RTKs are required for tumor angiogenesis and growth. VEGF and PDGF are critical components in the process leading to the branching, extension, and survival of endothelial cells forming new blood vessels during angiogenesis. Unwanted angiogenesis is a hallmark of several diseases, such as retinopathies, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and cancer (including solid tumors) Folkman, Nature Med., 1, 27-31 (1995).
As understood by those skilled in the art, it is desirable to have crystalline or amorphous forms, that possess physical properties amenable to reliable formulation and manufacture. Such properties include filterability, hygroscopicity, and flow, as well as stability to heat, moisture, and light.
Polymorphs are different crystalline forms of the same compound. The term polymorph may or may not include other solid state molecular forms including hydrates (e.g., bound water present in the crystalline structure) and solvates (e.g., bound solvents other than water) of the same compound. Crystalline polymorphs typically have different crystal structures due to a different packing of the molecules in the lattice. This results in a different crystal symmetry and/or unit cell parameters which directly influences its physical properties such as the X-ray diffraction characteristics of crystals or powders.
Polymorphic forms are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and especially to those involved in the development of suitable dosage forms. If the polymorphic form is not held constant during clinical or stability studies, the exact dosage form used or studied may not be comparable from one lot to another. It is also desirable to have processes for producing a compound with the selected polymorphic form in high purity when the compound is used in clinical studies or commercial products since impurities present may produce undesired toxicological effects. Certain polymorphic forms may also exhibit enhanced thermodynamic stability or may be more readily manufactured in high purity in large quantities, and thus are more suitable for inclusion in pharmaceutical formulations. Certain polymorphs may display other advantageous physical properties such as lack of hygroscopic tendencies, improved solubility, and enhanced rates of dissolution due to different lattice energies.
The discussion of the background to the invention herein is included to explain the context of the present invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known, or part of the common general knowledge in any country as of the priority date of any of the claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Although several polymorphs of Compound 1 have been identified, each polymorphic form can be uniquely identified by several different analytical parameters, alone or in combination, such as, but not limited to, powder X-ray diffraction pattern peaks or combinations of two or more peaks; solid state NMR 13 C and/or 15 N chemical shifts or combinations of two or more chemical shifts; Raman shift peaks or combinations of two or more Raman shift peaks; or combinations thereof.
One aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of 6-[2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenylsulfanyl]-3-E-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethenyl]indazole, represented as Compound 1
wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XXV. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 5.1±0.1. In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 15.9±0.1. In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern further comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, 18.2±0.1, and 26.2±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1. Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 1 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, and 116.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, 116.6±0.2 and 25.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 2 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1 and 15.9±0.1, and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, and 116.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1 and 15.9±0.1, and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, 116.6±0.2 and 25.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 1 , and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 2 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a Raman spectrum comprising Raman shift peaks (cm −1 ) at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 3 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XVI. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 16.8±0.1. In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 17.9±0.1. In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 25.4±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 4 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XLI. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 11.5±0.1.
In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 21.0±0.1.
In a further embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 26.9±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1, 11.9±0.1 and 22.8±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 22.8±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 26.9±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 23.1±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.5±0.1, 15.6±0.1 and 16.2±0.1.
In another embodiment, the crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.5±0.1, 15.6±0.1 and 16.5±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 150.1±0.2, 136.6±0.2, 135.0±0.2, 116.9±0.2 and 27.5±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 7 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at −50.2±0.2, −79.0±0.2, −187.1±0.2 and −263.2±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 8 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 11.5±0.1 and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 150.1±0.2 and 27.5±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1, 11.5±0.1 and 11.9±0.1 and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 150.1±0.2, 136.6±0.2, 135.0±0.2, 116.9±0.2 and 27.5±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 , and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 7 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 , and wherein said crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 8 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a Raman spectrum comprising Raman shift peaks (cm −1 ) at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 9 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form IX. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.7±0.1, 8.1±0.1, 8.5±0.1 and 14.3±0.1. In another aspect, said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.7±0.1, 8.1±0.1, 8.5±0.1, and 18.3±0.1. In another aspect, said crystalline form of Compound 1 has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 10 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 171.4±0.2 and 28.0±0.2 ppm. In another aspect, said crystalline form of Compound 1 has solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 11 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 10 , and wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 11 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XII. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 18.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 16.8±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 25.3±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 12 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XV. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.1±0.1, 11.9±0.1, 15.2±0.1, 21.5±0.1, and 26.3±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.1±0.1, 21.5±0.1, 25.0±0.1, and 25.3±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 13 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides an amorphous form of Compound 1, wherein said amorphous form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides an amorphous form of Compound 1, wherein said amorphous form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 16 .
In a further aspect, the present invention contemplates that the crystalline forms of Compound 1 as described herein can exist in the presence of other crystalline or amorphous forms or mixtures thereof of Compound 1. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention provides any of the crystalline forms of Compound 1 as described herein, wherein said crystalline form is present in a solid form that includes less than 95%, less than 90%, less than 80%, less than 70%, less than 60%, less than 50%, less than 40%, less than 30%, less than 20%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 3%, or less than 1% by weight of any other physical forms of Compound 1. For example, in one embodiment is a solid form of Compound 1 comprising a crystalline form of Compound 1 that has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, and wherein said solid form includes less than 95%, less than 90%, less than 80%, less than 70%, less than 60%, less than 50%, less than 40%, less than 30%, less than 20%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 3%, or less than 1% by weight of any other physical forms of Compound 1.
Further for example, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 5.1±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1 and 15.9±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, 7.9±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, and 26.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 5.1±0.1, 7.9±0.1, 10.7±0.1, 15.9±0.1, 18.2±0.1, and 26.2±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 1 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, and 116.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 167.4±0.2, 157.7±0.2, 116.6±0.2 and 25.6±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 2 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form is a substantially pure polymorph of Form XXV.
Further for example, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 16.8±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 17.9±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 18.2±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.2±0.1, 10.6±0.1, and 25.4±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1 wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 4 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form is polymorph of Form XVI.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form is polymorph of Form XLI. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 11.5±0.1.
In a further embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 21.0±0.1.
In a further embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising a peak at diffraction angle (2θ) of 6.0±0.1 and 26.9±0.1.
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1, 11.9±0.1 and 22.8±0.1
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 22.8±0.1.
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 26.9±0.1.
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 21.0±0.1 and 23.1±0.1.
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.5±0.1, 15.6±0.1 and 16.2±0.1.
In another embodiment, the substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.5±0.1, 15.6±0.1 and 16.5±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 150.1±0.2, 136.6±0.2, 135.0±0.2, 116.9±0.2 and 27.5±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 7 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at −50.2±0.2, −79.0±0.2, −187.1±0.2 and −263.2±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 8 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 6.0±0.1, 11.5±0.1 and 11.9±0.1 and wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 150.1±0.2, 136.6±0.2, 135.0±0.2, 116.9±0.2 and 27.5±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 , and wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 7 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 6 , and wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 15 N chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 8 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a Raman spectrum comprising Raman shift peaks (cm −1 ) at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 9 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said crystalline form is a polymorph of Form IX. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.7±0.1, 8.1±0.1, 8.5±0.1 and 14.3±0.1. In a further embodiment, said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 7.7±0.1, 8.1±0.1, 8.5±0.1, and 18.3±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at 171.4±0.2 and 28.0±0.2 ppm.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 10 , and wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 11 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XII. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 18.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 11.9±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 16.8±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 25.3±0.1, 28.1±0.1, and 31.2±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 12 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form is a polymorph of Form XV. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.1±0.1, 11.9±0.1, 15.2±0.1, 21.5±0.1, and 26.3±0.1. In another embodiment, the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) of 10.1±0.1, 21.5±0.1, 25.0±0.1, and 25.3±0.1.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure crystalline form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure crystalline form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 13 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure amorphous form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure amorphous form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 14 . Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure amorphous form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure amorphous form has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern comprising peaks at diffraction angles (2θ) essentially the same as shown in FIG. 15 .
Another aspect of the present invention provides a substantially pure amorphous form of Compound 1, wherein said substantially pure amorphous form has a solid state NMR spectrum comprising 13 C chemical shifts at positions essentially the same as shown in FIG. 16 .
A further aspect of the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising any of the crystalline forms or amorphous forms of Compound 1 as described herein. In a further aspect, the invention provides an oral dosage form comprising any of the crystalline forms or amorphous forms of Compound 1 or pharmaceutical compositions described herein. For example, in one embodiment the oral dosage form is a tablet, pill, dragee core, or capsule. For example, in one embodiment, the oral dosage form is a tablet or capsule. Further, for example, in one embodiment the invention provides a tablet comprising any of the crystalline forms or amorphous forms of Compound 1 or pharmaceutical compositions described herein. For example, in one embodiment the tablet comprises from about 1 to about 10 mg of the crystalline form or amorphous form of Compound 1. Further, for example, the tablet comprises from about 1 to about 5 mg of the crystalline form or amorphous form of Compound 1. Even further, for example, the tablet comprises about 1 mg of the crystalline form or amorphous form of Compound 1. Even further, for example, the tablet comprises about 2 mg, about 3 mg, about 4 mg, or about 5 mg of the crystalline form or amorphous form of Compound 1. Even further for example, the crystalline form of Compound 1 is Form XXV. Still further, for example, the crystalline form of Compound 1 is Form XLI.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing Compound 1 in crystalline Form XXV, said method comprising heating crystalline Form XVI of Compound 1. For example, in one embodiment, said heating is carried out in the presence of an appropriate solvent. In one embodiment, the solvent is ethanol. In a further embodiment, seed crystals of Form XXV are combined with crystalline Form XVI prior to, or during the heating.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing Compound 1 in crystalline Form XVI, said method comprising dissolving Form VIII of Compound 1 in an appropriate solvent and heating.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing Compound 1 in crystalline Form XLI, said method comprising heating crystalline Form XVI of Compound 1. For example, in one embodiment, said heating is carried out in the presence of an appropriate solvent. In one embodiment, the solvent is ethanol. In a further embodiment, seed crystals of Form XLI are combined with crystalline Form XVI prior to, or during the heating.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing Compound 1 in amorphous from crystalline Form XLI, said method comprising grinding crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1. For example, in one embodiment, said grinding is carried out through ball milling.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a method of treating cancer in a mammal, the method comprising administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of any of the crystalline forms of Compound 1 or any of the pharmaceutical compositions described herein.
In a particular aspect of any of the preceding method embodiments, the method further comprises administering one or more anti-tumor agents, anti-angiogenesis agents, signal transduction inhibitors, or antiproliferative agents.
DEFINITIONS
The term “treating”, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, means reversing, alleviating, inhibiting the progress of, or preventing the disorder or condition to which such term applies, or one or more symptoms of such disorder or condition. The term “treatment”, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, refers to the act of “treating” as defined immediately above.
As used herein, the term “Compound 1” means the chemical compound 6-[2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenylsulfanyl]-3-E-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethenyl]indazole, also represented by the structural formula
As used herein, the term “substantially pure” with reference to a particular crystalline or amorphous form means that the crystalline or amorphous form includes less than 10%, preferably less than 5%, preferably less than 3%, preferably less than 1% by weight of any other physical forms of the compound.
As used herein, the term “essentially the same” with reference to X-ray diffraction peak positions means that typical peak position and intensity variability are taken into account. For example, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the peak positions (2θ) will show some variability, typically as much as 0.1 to 0.2 degrees, depending on the solvents being used, as well as on the apparatus being used to measure the diffraction. Further, one skilled in the art will appreciate that relative peak intensities will show inter-apparatus variability as well as variability due to degree of crystallinity, preferred orientation, prepared sample surface, and other factors known to those skilled in the art, and should be taken as qualitative measures only. Similarly, as used herein, “essentially the same” with reference to solid state NMR spectra and Raman spectra is intended to also encompass the variabilities associated with these analytical techniques, which are known to those of skill in the art. For example, 13 C chemical shifts measured in solid state NMR will typically have a variability of up to 0.2 ppm for well defined peaks, and even larger for broad lines, while Raman shifts will typically have a variability of about 2 cm −1 .
The term “polymorph” refers to different crystalline forms of the same compound and includes, but is not limited to, other solid state molecular forms including hydrates (e.g., bound water present in the crystalline structure) and solvates (e.g., bound solvents other than water) of the same compound.
The term “2 theta value” or “2θ” refers to the peak position in degrees based on the experimental setup of the X-ray diffraction experiment and is a common abscissa unit in diffraction patterns. The experimental setup requires that if a reflection is diffracted when the incoming beam forms an angle theta (θ) with a certain lattice plane, the reflected beam is recorded at an angle 2 theta (2θ). It should be understood that reference herein to specific 2θ values for a specific polymorphic form is intended to mean the 2θ values (in degrees) as measured using the X-ray diffraction experimental conditions as described herein. For example, as described herein, CuKα (wavelength 1.54056 Å) was used as the source of radiation.
The term “amorphous” refers to any solid substance which (i) lacks order in three dimensions, or (ii) exhibits order in less than three dimensions, order only over short distances (e.g., less than 10 Å), or both. Thus, amorphous substances include partially crystalline materials and crystalline mesophases with, e.g. one- or two-dimensional translational order (liquid crystals), orientational disorder (orientationally disordered crystals), or conformational disorder (conformationally disordered crystals). Amorphous solids may be characterized by known techniques, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) crystallography, solid state nuclear magnet resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), or some combination of these techniques. As illustrated, below, amorphous solids give diffuse XRPD patterns, typically comprised of one or two broad peaks (i.e., peaks having base widths of about 5° 2θ or greater).
The term “crystalline” refers to any solid substance exhibiting three-dimensional order, which in contrast to an amorphous solid substance, gives a distinctive XRPD pattern with sharply defined peaks.
The term “solvate” describes a molecular complex comprising the drug substance and a stoichiometric or non-stoichiometric amount of one or more solvent molecules (e.g., ethanol). When the solvent is tightly bound to the drug the resulting complex will have a well-defined stoichiometry that is independent of humidity. When, however, the solvent is weakly bound, as in channel solvates and hygroscopic compounds, the solvent content will be dependent on humidity and drying conditions. In such cases, the complex will often be non-stoichiometric.
The term “hydrate” describes a solvate comprising the drug substance and a stoichiometric or non-stoichiometric amount of water.
The term “powder X-ray diffraction pattern” or “PXRD pattern” refers to the experimentally observed diffractogram or parameters derived therefrom. Powder X-Ray diffraction patterns are characterized by peak position (abscissa) and peak intensities (ordinate).
The term “pharmaceutical composition” refers to a composition comprising one or more of the polymorphic forms of Compound 1 described herein, and other chemical components, such as physiologically/pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, vehicles and/or excipients. The purpose of a pharmaceutical composition is to facilitate administration of a compound to an organism, such as a human or other mammal.
The term “pharmaceutically acceptable” “carrier”, “diluent”, “vehicle”, or “excipient” refers to a material (or materials) that may be included with a particular pharmaceutical agent to form a pharmaceutical composition, and may be solid or liquid. Exemplary of solid carriers are lactose, sucrose, talc, gelatin, agar, pectin, acacia, magnesium stearate, stearic acid and the like. Exemplary of liquid carriers are syrup, peanut oil, olive oil, water and the like. Similarly, the carrier or diluent may include time-delay or time-release material known in the art, such as glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate alone or with a wax, ethylcellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, methylmethacrylate and the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form XXV carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 2 shows a 13 C solid state NMR spectrum of Compound 1 Form XXV carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL triple resonance CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
FIG. 3 shows a Raman spectrum of Compound 1 Form XXV carried out on a ThermoNicolet 960 FT-Raman spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm NdYAG laser and InGaAs detector.
FIG. 4 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form XVI carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 5 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form VIII carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 6 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form XLI carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 7 shows a 13 C solid state NMR spectrum of Compound 1 Form XLI carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL triple resonance CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
FIG. 8 shows a 15 N solid state NMR spectrum of Compound 1 Form XLI carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL triple resonance CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
FIG. 9 shows a Raman spectrum of Compound 1 Form XLI carried out on a ThermoNicolet 960 FT-Raman spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm NdYAG laser and InGaAs detector.
FIG. 10 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form IX carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 11 shows a 13 C solid state NMR spectrum of Compound 1 Form IX carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL triple resonance CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
FIG. 12 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form XII carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 13 shows a PXRD pattern of Compound 1 Form XV carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 14 shows a PXRD pattern of amorphous form of Compound 1 carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer.
FIG. 15 shows a PXRD pattern of amorphous form of Compound 1 carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer. The pattern is the same as in FIG. 14 except it was processed with a polynomial smoothing function to enhance detail.
FIG. 16 shows a 13 C solid state NMR spectrum of amorphous form of Compound 1 carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL triple resonance CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It has been found that Compound 1 can exist in multiple crystalline forms (polymorphs) or as an amorphous form. These forms may be used in a formulated product for the treatment of hyperproliferative indications, including cancer. Each form may have advantages over the others in terms of properties such as bioavailability, stability, and manufacturability. Novel crystalline forms of Compound 1 have been discovered which are likely to be more suitable for bulk preparation and handling than other polymorphic forms. Processes for producing polymorphic forms of Compound 1 in high purity are described herein and in U.S. Application No. 2006-0094763. Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the preparation of each polymorphic form of Compound 1, substantially free from other polymorphic forms of Compound 1. Additionally it is an object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical formulations comprising Compound 1 in different polymorphic forms as discussed above, and methods of treating hyperproliferative conditions by administering such pharmaceutical formulations.
I. Polymorphic Forms of Compound 1
Each crystalline form of Compound 1 can be characterized by one or more of the following: powder X-ray diffraction pattern (i.e., X-ray diffraction peaks at various diffraction angles (2θ)), solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral pattern, Raman spectral diagram pattern, aqueous solubility, light stability under International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) high intensity light conditions, and physical and chemical storage stability. For example, polymorphic Forms XXV, XVI, VIII, XLI, IX, XII, XV, and amorhous form (discussed below) of Compound 1 were each characterized by the positions and relative intensities of peaks in their powder X-ray diffraction patterns. The powder X-ray diffraction parameters differ for each of the polymorphic forms of Compound 1. For example, Forms XXV, XVI, VIII, XLI, IX, XII, XV, and amorhous form of Compound 1 can therefore be distinguished from each other and from other polymorphic forms of Compound 1 by using powder X-ray diffraction.
The powder X-ray diffraction patterns of the different polymorphic forms (Forms XXV, XVI, VIII, XLI, IX, XII, XV) and amorphous form of Compound 1 were carried out on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer using copper radiation (CuKα, wavelength: 1.54056 Å). The tube voltage and amperage were set to 40 kV and 40 mA, respectively. The divergence and scattering slits were set at 1 mm, and the receiving slit was set at 0.6 mm. Diffracted radiation was detected by a Kevex PSI detector. A theta-two theta continuous scan at 2.4 degrees/min (1 second/0.04 degree step) from 3.0 to 40 degrees 2θ was used. An alumina standard was analyzed to check the instrument alignment. Data were collected and analyzed using Bruker axis software Version 7.0. Samples were prepared by placing them in a quartz holder. It should be noted that Bruker Instruments purchased Siemans; thus, the Bruker D5000 instrument is essentially the same as a Siemans D5000. Eva Application 9.0.0.2 software was used to visualize and evaluate PXRD spectra. PXRD data files (.raw) of crystalline forms were not processed prior to peak searching. A polynomial smoothing factor of 0.3 was applied to the amorphous PXRD data file in one instance to enhance detail. Generally, a Threshold value of 1 and a Width value of 0.3 were used to make preliminary peak assignments. The output of automated assignments was visually checked to ensure validity and adjustments were manually made if necessary. These peak values for each form are summarized in tables below. PXRD data files of the amorphous form was
To perform an X-ray diffraction measurement on a Bragg-Brentano instrument like the Bruker system used for measurements reported herein, the sample is typically placed into a holder which has a cavity. The sample powder is pressed by a glass slide or equivalent to ensure a random surface and proper sample height. The sample holder is then placed into the instrument. The incident X-ray beam is directed at the sample, initially at a small angle relative to the plane of the holder, and then moved through an arc that continuously increases the angle between the incident beam and the plane of the holder. Measurement differences associated with such X-ray powder analyses result from a variety of factors including: (a) errors in sample preparation (e.g., sample height); (b) instrument errors (e.g., flat sample errors); (c) calibration errors; (d) operator errors (including those errors present when determining the peak locations); and (e) the nature of the material (e.g., preferred orientation and transparency errors). Calibration errors and sample height errors often result in a shift of all the peaks in the same direction. Small differences in sample height when using a flat holder will lead to large displacements in PXRD peak positions. A systematic study showed that, using a Shimadzu XRD-6000 in the typical Bragg-Brentano configuration, sample height difference of 1 mm led to peak shifts as high as 1 degree (2θ (Chen et al., J Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 26:63 (2001)). These shifts can be identified from the X-ray diffractogram and can be eliminated by compensating for the shift (applying a systematic correction factor to all peak position values) or recalibrating the instrument. As mentioned above, it is possible to rectify measurements from the various machines by applying a systematic correction factor to bring the peak positions into agreement. In general, this correction factor will bring the measured peak positions from the Bruker into agreement with the expected peak positions and may be in the range of 0 to 0.2 degrees (2θ.
One of skill in the art will appreciate that the peak positions (2θ) will show some inter-apparatus variability, typically as much as 0.1 to 0.2 degrees (2θ. Accordingly, where peak positions (2θ) are reported, one of skill in the art will recognize that such numbers are intended to encompass such inter-apparatus variability. Furthermore, where the crystalline forms of the present invention are described as having a powder X-ray diffraction pattern essentially the same as that shown in a given figure, the term “essentially the same” is also intended to encompass such inter-apparatus variability in diffraction peak positions. Further, one skilled in the art will appreciate that relative peak intensities will show inter-apparatus variability as well as variability due to the degree of crystallinity, preferred orientation, prepared sample surface, and other factors known to those skilled in the art, and should be taken as qualitative measures only.
The different crystalline forms and amorphous form of the present invention can also be characterized using solid state NMR spectroscopy.
The 13 C solid state spectra can be collected as follows. Approximately 80 mg of sample were tightly packed into a 4 mm ZrO 2 spinner. The spectra were collected at ambient temperature and pressure on a 4 mm Bruker-Biospin CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The sample was positioned at the magic angle and spun at 15.0 kHz. The fast spinning speed minimized the intensities of the spinning side bands. The 13 C solid state spectrum was collected using a proton decoupled cross-polarization magic angle spinning experiment (CPMAS). The cross-polarization contact time was set to 2.0 ms. A proton decoupling field of approximately 90 kHz was applied. The number of scans was adjusted to obtain adequate S/N. The recycle delay was adjusted approximately to 1.5 times the proton longitudinal relaxation time calculated based on proton detected proton inversion recovery relaxation experiment. The carbon spectrum was referenced using an external standard of crystalline adamantane, setting its upfield resonance to 29.5 ppm.
The 15 N solid state spectra can be collected as follows. Approximately 270 mg of sample were tightly packed into a 7 mm ZrO 2 spinner. The spectra were collected at ambient temperature and pressure on a 7 mm Bruker-Biospin CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The sample was positioned at the magic angle and spun at 7.0 kHz. The fast spinning speed minimized the intensities of the spinning side bands. The 15 N solid state spectrum was collected using a proton decoupled cross-polarization magic angle spinning experiment (CPMAS). The cross-polarization contact time was set to 3.0 ms. A proton decoupling field of approximately 70 kHz was applied. The number of scans was adjusted to obtain adequate S/N. The recycle delay was adjusted approximately to 1.5 times the proton longitudinal relaxation time calculated based on proton detected proton inversion recovery relaxation experiment. The nitrogen spectrum was referenced using an external standard of crystalline D,L-alanine, setting its resonance to −331.5 ppm.
Crystalline forms can also be characterized using Raman spectroscopy. For example, Form XXV of Compound 1 was characterized using Raman spectroscopy as follows. The Raman spectra were collected using a ThermoNicolet 960 FT-Raman spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm NdYAG laser and InGaAs detector. Samples were analyzed in NMR tubes. The spectra were collected using 1 W of laser power and 100 co-added scans. The collection range was 3700-100 cm −1 . Peaks were identified using the ThermoNicolet Omnic 6.0a software peak picking algorithm using a sensitivity setting of 70 and an intensity threshold of 0.4. All spectra were recorded using 4 cm −1 resolution and Happ-Genzel apodization. Wavelength calibration was performed using polystyrene.
The solid forms of the present invention may also comprise more than one polymorphic form. One of skill in the art will also recognize that crystalline forms of a given compound can exist in substantially pure forms of a single polymorph, but can also exist in a crystalline form that comprises two or more different polymorphs or amorphous forms. Where a solid form comprises two or more polymorphs, the X-ray diffraction pattern will have peaks characteristic of each of the individual polymorphs of the present invention. For example, a solid form that comprises two polymorphs will have a powder X-ray diffraction pattern that is a convolution of the two X-ray diffraction patterns that correspond to the substantially pure polymorphic forms. For example, a solid form of Compound 1 can contain a first and second polymorphic form where the solid form contains at least 10% by weight of the first polymorph. In a further example, the solid form contains at least 20% by weight of the first polymorph. Even further examples contain at least 30%, at least 40%, or at least 50% by weight of the first polymorph. One of skill in the art will recognize that many such combinations of several individual polymorphs and amorphous forms in varying amounts are possible.
A. Polymorph Form XXV
Crystalline Form XXV of Compound 1 is an anhydrous crystalline form that can be produced as described in Example 1. Form XXV has several unexpected advantages over previously discovered crystalline forms of Compound 1. For example, although Form XLI described herein is the most thermodynamically stable crystalline form of Compound 1 under processing and storage conditions, Form XXV is more thermodynamically stable than previously discovered crystalline forms of Compound 1 (based on density, heat of fusion, and solubility). In addition, when compared to Form IV (previously identified as the most suitable polymorphic form of Compound 1 for a pharmaceutical formulation—see U.S. Application Publication No. 2006-0094763), Form XXV has improved photo stability, has a more regular crystalline shape, does not have a tendency to form agglomerates, has better bulk flow properties, and does not adhere to in-tank probes. Such improved properties are important for better tablet processing and manufacturing. Furthermore, during a recent manufacturing procedure, it took 26 hours to filter the Form IV batch, and only 4 hours to filter the Form XXV batch, which was of comparable size using the same filter/dryer equipment. Finally, the process for preparing Form XXV can utilize ethanol, whereas the process for preparing Form IV uses n-heptane. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the use of ethanol instead of n-heptane can have several significant advantages, including: ethanol does not hold static charge similar to n-heptane (i.e. build-up of static charge is a safety concern due to potential for fire, therefore a special equipment configuration to improve grounding is needed when processing with heptane); processing with heptane can not be done in glass-lined vessels because of static dissipation issues; heptane has a flash point of −4° C. versus 13° C. for ethanol; heptane has an R50/53 risk phrase (indicating very toxic to aquatic organisms, and may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment) while ethanol does not contain this risk.
Crystalline Form XXV of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 1 . The PXRD pattern of Form XXV, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Angle
Relative
(Degree 2θ)
Intensity* (≧2.0%)
5.1
63.7
7.9
35.6
10.2
10.2
10.7
18.0
12.6
8.8
14.8
11.9
15.1
43.4
15.2
40.5
15.9
100.0
16.9
5.5
18.2
40.5
19.4
19.0
19.8
28.1
20.0
3.4
20.4
4.8
21.0
18.0
21.5
17.3
21.7
34.8
22.6
18.2
22.8
30.1
23.4
18.2
24.2
11.2
24.8
9.2
24.9
9.8
25.4
11.5
25.7
7.1
26.2
63.4
26.5
11.1
26.7
6.8
28.3
5.1
29.0
9.2
29.6
9.5
29.8
7.6
30.4
9.5
30.8
5.8
31.4
3.6
31.8
8.3
32.1
5.1
32.5
3.6
33.1
7.3
33.9
3.7
34.3
7.4
34.8
3.5
35.5
3.4
36.1
5.7
36.9
8.4
37.3
4.0
37.7
3.0
38.5
6.5
38.6
6.3
39.1
2.8
39.6
2.3
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
Crystalline Form XXV of Compound 1 was also characterized by the solid state NMR spectral pattern shown in FIG. 2 , carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The 13 C chemical shifts of Form XXV of Compound 1 are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2
13 C Chemical Shifts a
[ppm]
Intensity b
167.4
3.7
157.7
5.1
149.1
2.7
145.0
5.2
144.4
4.6
140.7
4.6
139.4
3.3
129.7
6.5
128.8
12.0
127.4
8.0
123.5
5.8
120.5
7.6
116.6
3.4
25.6
4.7
a Referenced to external sample of solid phase adamantane at 29.5 ppm.
b Defined as peak heights. Intensities can vary depending on the actual setup of the CPMAS experimental parameters and the thermal history of the sample. CPMAS intensities are not necessarily quantitative.
Crystalline Form XXV of Compound 1 was also characterized by the following Raman spectral pattern, provided in FIG. 3 , carried out on a ThermoNicolet 960 FT-Raman Spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm NdYAG laser and InGaAs detector. The Raman spectral peaks of Form XXV of Compound 1 are shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3
Wavenumber (cm −1 )
3068
1637
1587
1560
1496
1476
1456
1431
1416
1373
1351
1303
1288
1260
1238
1213
1166
1150
1138
1098
1064
990
962
928
866
853
822
766
690
474
244
B. Polymorph Form XVI
Crystalline Form XVI of Compound 1 is a solvate form that can be produced as described in Example 1.
Crystalline Form XVI of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 4 . The PXRD pattern of Form XVI, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧6.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 4.
TABLE 4
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧6.0%)
5.8
11.7
9.1
13.7
10.2
26.0
10.6
31.3
11.9
100.0
13.2
11.9
14.4
6.7
15.2
16.2
15.7
10.6
16.8
38.0
17.9
27.9
18.2
27.0
19.7
60.3
20.6
24.9
21.2
17.7
21.7
21.4
23.2
22.5
24.1
26.3
25.4
60.0
25.9
40.6
27.2
16.5
28.0
23.4
29.0
12.7
29.8
10.4
31.1
16.5
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
C. Polymorph Form VIII
Crystalline Form VIII of Compound 1 is a solvate form that can be produced as described in Example 1. Form VIII can also be produced as described in U.S. Application Publication No. 2006-0094763.
Crystalline Form VIII of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 5 . The PXRD pattern of Form VIII, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 5.
TABLE 5
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧2.0%)
10.7
100.0
12.3
2.4
13.2
3.0
15.7
13.4
16.3
3.2
16.6
4.8
18.0
10.8
19.3
7.3
20.0
10.2
20.3
16.3
20.7
4.7
21.1
8.9
21.6
11.3
22.0
12.7
22.6
9.2
23.6
4.0
24.4
21.7
25.2
5.6
25.8
49.8
26.5
4.1
27.9
7.0
28.5
3.1
29.2
3.5
30.0
2.9
31.1
10.4
31.8
5.9
32.7
2.7
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
D. Polymorph Form XLI
Crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1 is an anhydrous crystalline form that can be produced as described in Example 1. Form XLI has several unexpected advantages over previously discovered crystalline forms of Compound 1. For example, Form XLI is the most thermodynamically stable polymorphic form (based on density, heat of fusion, and solubility) known of Compound 1. In addition, when compared to Form IV (previously identified as the most suitable polymorphic form of Compound 1 for a pharmaceutical formulation—see U.S. Application Publication No. 2006-0094763), Form XLI has improved photo stability, has a more regular crystalline shape, does not have a tendency to form agglomerates, has better bulk flow properties, and does not adhere to in-tank probes. Such improved properties are important for better tablet processing and manufacturing. Since Form XLI has a more regular crystalline shape and forms larger crystals than Form IV, the filtration rate and cake wash rate are improved for Form XLI compared to Form IV. Finally, the process for preparing Form XLI can utilize ethanol, whereas the process for preparing Form IV uses n-heptane. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the use of ethanol instead of n-heptane can have several significant advantages, including: ethanol does not hold static charge similar to n-heptane (i.e. build-up of static charge is a safety concern due to potential for fire, therefore a special equipment configuration to improve grounding is needed when processing with heptane); processing with heptane can not be done in glass-lined vessels because of static dissipation issues; heptane has a flash point of −4° C. versus 13° C. for ethanol; heptane has an R50/53 risk phrase (indicating very toxic to aquatic organisms, and may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment) while ethanol does not contain this risk.
Crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 6 . The PXRD pattern of Form XLI, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 6.
TABLE 6
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧2.0%)
6.0
15.1
11.5
14.6
11.9
100.0
12.5
3.1
12.9
3.3
14.9
7.7
15.6
8.9
16.2
9.7
16.5
3.6
17.9
5.1
19.9
4.3
20.7
6.8
21.0
12.5
21.6
6.3
22.4
2.6
22.8
11.4
23.1
12.8
24.2
2.6
24.5
3.2
25.0
3.2
25.3
3.9
25.6
4.1
25.9
6.1
26.4
3.2
26.9
11.7
27.7
3.7
28.0
3.7
28.1
3.9
28.5
2.8
29.9
2.1
30.9
2.6
31.5
4.6
32.9
2.7
33.2
4.0
34.8
2.3
35.0
3.7
36.1
2.7
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
Crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1 was also characterized by the solid state NMR spectral pattern shown in FIG. 7 , carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The 13 C chemical shifts of Form XLI of Compound 1 are shown in Table 7.
TABLE 7
13 C Chemical Shifts a
[ppm]
Intensity b
169.9
6.56
154.6
7.94
150.1
4.87
142.4
11.18
141.1
7.74
136.6
7.39
136.0
7.27
135.0
7.88
133.5
8.23
132.0
6.34
129.6
7.09
128.7
7.17
127.7
7.64
126.0
8.6
123.5
12
121.2
7.63
119.6
6.53
116.9
5.78
27.5
8.63
a Referenced to external sample of solid phase adamantane at 29.5 ppm.
b Defined as peak heights. Intensities can vary depending on the actual setup of the CPMAS experimental parameters and the thermal history of the sample. CPMAS intensities are not necessarily quantitative.
Crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1 was also characterized by the solid state NMR spectral pattern shown in FIG. 8 , carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The 15 N chemical shifts of Form XLI of Compound 1 are shown in Table 8.
TABLE 8
15 N Chemical Shifts a
[ppm]
Intensity b
−50.2
2.96
−79.0
2.34
−187.1
6.98
−263.2
12
a Referenced to external sample of solid phase D,L-alanine at −331.5 ppm.
b Defined as peak heights. Intensities can vary depending on the actual setup of the CPMAS experimental parameters and the thermal history of the sample. CPMAS intensities are not necessarily quantitative.
Crystalline Form XLI of Compound 1 was also characterized by the following Raman spectral pattern, provided in FIG. 9 , carried out on a ThermoNicolet 960 FT-Raman Spectrometer equipped with a 1064 nm NdYAG laser and InGaAs detector. The Raman spectral peaks of Form XLI of Compound 1 are shown in Table 9.
TABLE 9
Wavenumber (cm −1 )
3084
3060
3029
2934
1671
1648
1589
1564
1503
1468
1434
1411
1341
1299
1271
1261
1235
1199
1166
1157
1136
1101
995
973
928
875
854
835
821
761
715
693
646
631
525
448
420
400
359
315
276
245
224
184
149
E. Polymorph Form IX
Crystalline Form IX of Compound 1 is a hydrate crystalline form that can be produced as described in Example 2. Crystalline Form IX of Compound 1 is a preferred form for development of aqueous-based pharmaceutical formulations. Crystalline Form IX of Compound 1 is more stable than Form IV in aqueous-based pharmaceutical formulations, since, as shown in Example 2, Form IV may convert to Form IX in an aqueous environment. Hydrates typically have lower solubility in water versus anhydrous forms. This may be advantageous in the development of controlled or sustained-release pharmaceutical preparations.
Crystalline Form IX of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 10 . The PXRD pattern of Form IX, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 10.
TABLE 10
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧2.0%)
7.7
30.5
8.1
78.1
8.5
24.7
12.5
4.5
13.0
7.1
13.4
9.3
14.0
9.0
14.4
12.8
14.8
28.7
15.3
69.9
15.9
37.6
16.3
6.6
16.6
6.3
17.3
8.7
18.3
46.6
18.7
50.3
20.2
41.4
21.0
46.1
21.3
53.0
21.9
14.5
22.4
19.8
23.1
35.4
24.1
21.4
24.6
100.0
25.7
29.6
26.1
9.0
26.5
8.5
27.5
17.3
28.0
14.2
28.2
19.4
28.6
9.9
30.0
33.0
30.4
16.3
31.2
7.8
31.6
13.9
32.2
28.9
32.7
14.8
33.4
7.9
34.2
7.2
34.5
7.2
35.2
8.7
37.0
10.3
38.0
6.6
39.6
6.7
39.3
3.9
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
Crystalline Form IX of Compound 1 was also characterized by the solid state NMR spectral pattern shown in FIG. 11 , carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The 13 C chemical shifts of Form IX of Compound 1 are shown in Table 11.
TABLE 11
13 C Chemical Shifts a
[ppm]
Intensity b
171.4
6.1
153.6
7.4
148.8
2.5
143.6
9.1
143.0
9.0
141.9
7.5
138.1
2.2
131.5
12
127.9
12
126.5
9.2
124.9
3.1
123.4
8.7
122.1
10.0
119.5
4.3
28.0
6.9
(c) Referenced to external sample of solid phase adamantane at 29.5 ppm.
(d) Defined as peak heights. Intensities can vary depending on the actual setup of the CPMAS experimental parameters and the thermal history of the sample. CPMAS intensities are not necessarily quantitative.
E. Polymorph Form XII
Crystalline Form XII of Compound 1 is an ethanol solvate crystalline form that can be produced as described in Example 3.
Crystalline Form XII of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 12 . The PXRD pattern of Form IX, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 12.
TABLE 12
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧2.0%)
9.1
7.4
9.6
5.5
10.3
9.2
11.9
100
13.2
7.9
14.5
5.7
16.8
43.8
17.8
27.2
18.1
18.7
19.6
57.7
20.7
16.4
21.7
14.7
23.2
16.5
24.0
25.9
25.3
51.3
25.9
26.4
28.1
25.9
29.7
7.1
31.2
12.9
32.0
6.8
33.1
8
33.7
8.3
34.5
6.9
36.4
7.7
36.9
6.5
37.3
5.5
38.9
5.3
39.3
3.9
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
F. Polymorph Form XV
Crystalline Form XV of Compound 1 is an ethanol solvate crystalline form that can be produced as described in Example 4.
Crystalline Form XV of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIG. 13 . The PXRD pattern of Form XV, expressed in terms of the degree (2θ) and relative intensities with a relative intensity of ≧2.0%, measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation, is also shown in Table 14.
TABLE 14
Angle
Relative Intensity*
(Degree 2θ)
(≧2.0%)
5.3
30.7
7.6
32.8
9.2
31.5
10.1
100.0
10.7
32.8
11.9
36.5
12.6
27.5
15.2
61.3
15.9
50.8
16.8
29.6
17.7
24.9
18.3
29.1
19.5
33.9
20.1
36.5
21.1
27.8
21.5
91.9
23.9
32.8
25.0
53.8
25.3
38.2
26.3
49.4
29.6
27.1
30.7
25.3
31.3
21.1
33.5
15.8
34.4
16.7
*The relative intensities may change depending on the crystal size and morphology.
G. Amorphous Form
An amorphous form of Compound 1 can be produced as described in Example 5. An amorphous form can also be produced as described in WIPO International Publication No. WO 2006/123223.
The amorphous form of Compound 1 was characterized by the PXRD pattern shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 , measured on a Bruker D5000 diffractometer with CuKα radiation.
The amorphous form of Compound 1 was also characterized by the solid state NMR spectral pattern shown in FIG. 16 , carried out on a Bruker-Biospin 4 mm BL CPMAS probe positioned into a wide-bore Bruker-Biospin Avance DSX 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. The 13 C chemical shifts of an amorphous form of Compound 1 are shown in Table 15.
TABLE 15 13 C Chemical Shifts a [ppm] Intensity b 169.9 1.43 155.4 2.05 149.6 2.74 142.8 6.36 136.6 5.21 129.1 12 122.2 11.34 27.3 4.62 (e) Referenced to external sample of solid phase adamantane at 29.5 ppm. (f) Defined as peak heights. Intensities can vary depending on the actual setup of the CPMAS experimental parameters and the thermal history of the sample. CPMAS intensities are not necessarily quantitative.
II. Pharmaceutical Compositions of the Invention
The active agents (i.e., the polymorphs, or solid forms comprising two or more such polymorphs, of Compound 1 described herein or in U.S. Application No. 2006-0094763) of the invention may be formulated into pharmaceutical compositions suitable for mammalian medical use. Any suitable route of administration may be employed for providing a patient with an effective dosage of any of the polymorphic forms of Compound 1. For example, peroral or parenteral formulations and the like may be employed. Dosage forms include capsules, tablets, dispersions, suspensions and the like, e.g. enteric-coated capsules and/or tablets, capsules and/or tablets containing enteric-coated pellets of Compound 1. In all dosage forms, polymorphic forms of Compound 1 can be admixtured with other suitable constituents. The compositions may be conveniently presented in unit dosage forms, and prepared by any methods known in the pharmaceutical arts. Pharmaceutical compositions of the invention comprise a therapeutically effective amount of the active agent and one or more inert, pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, and optionally any other therapeutic ingredients, stabilizers, or the like. The carrier(s) must be pharmaceutically acceptable in the sense of being compatible with the other ingredients of the formulation and not unduly deleterious to the recipient thereof. The compositions may further include diluents, buffers, binders, disintegrants, thickeners, lubricants, preservatives (including antioxidants), flavoring agents, taste-masking agents, inorganic salts (e.g., sodium chloride), antimicrobial agents (e.g., benzalkonium chloride), sweeteners, antistatic agents, surfactants (e.g., polysorbates such as “TWEEN 20” and “TWEEN 80”, and pluronics such as F68 and F88, available from BASF), sorbitan esters, lipids (e.g., phospholipids such as lecithin and other phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, fatty acids and fatty esters, steroids (e.g., cholesterol)), and chelating agents (e.g., EDTA, zinc and other such suitable cations). Other pharmaceutical excipients and/or additives suitable for use in the compositions according to the invention are listed in Remington: The Science & Practice of Pharmacy, 19 th ed., Williams & Williams, (1995), and in the “Physician's Desk Reference”, 52 nd ed., Medical Economics, Montvale, N.J. (1998), and in Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients, 3 rd . Ed., Ed. A. H. Kibbe, Pharmaceutical Press, 2000. The active agents of the invention may be formulated in compositions including those suitable for oral, rectal, topical, nasal, ophthalmic, or parenteral (including intraperitoneal, intravenous, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injection) administration.
The amount of the active agent in the formulation will vary depending upon a variety of factors, including dosage form, the condition to be treated, target patient population, and other considerations, and will generally be readily determined by one skilled in the art. A therapeutically effective amount will be an amount necessary to modulate, regulate, or inhibit a protein kinase. In practice, this will vary widely depending upon the particular active agent, the severity of the condition to be treated, the patient population, the stability of the formulation, and the like. Compositions will generally contain anywhere from about 0.001% by weight to about 99% by weight active agent, preferably from about 0.01% to about 5% by weight active agent, and more preferably from about 0.01% to 2% by weight active agent, and will also depend upon the relative amounts of excipients/additives contained in the composition.
A pharmaceutical composition of the invention is administered in conventional dosage form prepared by combining a therapeutically effective amount of an active agent as an active ingredient with one or more appropriate pharmaceutical carriers according to conventional procedures. These procedures may involve mixing granulating and compressing or dissolving the ingredients as appropriate to the desired preparation.
The pharmaceutical carrier(s) employed may be either solid or liquid. Exemplary solid carriers include lactose, sucrose, talc, gelatin, agar, pectin, acacia, magnesium stearate, stearic acid and the like. Exemplary liquid carriers include syrup, peanut oil, olive oil, water and the like. Similarly, the carrier(s) may include time-delay or time release materials known in the art, such as glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate alone or with a wax, ethylcellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, methylmethacrylate and the like.
A variety of pharmaceutical forms can be employed. Thus, if a solid carrier is used, the preparation can be tableted, placed in a hard gelatin capsule in powder or pellet form or in the form of a troche or lozenge. The amount of solid carrier may vary, but generally will be from about 25 mg to about 1 g. If a liquid carrier is used, the preparation can be in the form of syrup, emulsion, soft gelatin capsule, sterile injectable solution or suspension in an ampoule or vial or non-aqueous liquid suspension.
To obtain a stable water-soluble dose form, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of an active agent can be dissolved in an aqueous solution of an organic or inorganic acid, such as 0.3 M solution of succinic acid or citric acid. If a soluble salt form is not available, the active agent may be dissolved in a suitable co-solvent or combinations of co-solvents. Examples of suitable co-solvents include, but are not limited to, alcohol, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol 300, polysorbate 80, glycerin and the like in concentrations ranging from 0-60% of the total volume. The composition may also be in the form of a solution of a salt form of the active agent in an appropriate aqueous vehicle such as water or isotonic saline or dextrose solution.
It will be appreciated that the actual dosages of Compound 1 used in the compositions of this invention will vary according to the particular polymorphic form being used, the particular composition formulated, the mode of administration and the particular site, host and disease being treated. Those skilled in the art using conventional dosage-determination tests in view of the experimental data for an agent can ascertain optimal dosages for a given set of conditions. For oral administration, an exemplary daily dose generally employed is from about 0.001 to about 1000 mg/kg of body weight, more preferably from about 0.001 to about 50 mg/kg body weight, with courses of treatment repeated at appropriate intervals. Administration of prodrugs is typically dosed at weight levels that are chemically equivalent to the weight levels of the fully active form. In the practice of the invention, the most suitable route of administration as well as the magnitude of a therapeutic dose will depend on the nature and severity of the disease to be treated. The dose, and dose frequency, may also vary according to the age, body weight, and response of the individual patient. In general, a suitable oral dosage form may cover a dose range from 0.5 mg to 100 mg of active ingredient total daily dose, administered in one single dose or equally divided doses. A preferred amount of Compound 1 in such formulations is from about 0.5 mg to about 20 mg, such as from about 1 mg to about 10 mg or from about 1 mg to about 5 mg.
The compositions of the invention may be manufactured in manners generally known for preparing pharmaceutical compositions, e.g., using conventional techniques such as mixing, dissolving, granulating, dragee-making, levigating, emulsifying, encapsulating, entrapping or lyophilizing. Pharmaceutical compositions may be formulated in a conventional manner using one or more physiologically acceptable carriers, which may be selected from excipients and auxiliaries that facilitate processing of the active compounds into preparations that can be used pharmaceutically.
For oral administration, a polymorphic form of Compound 1 can be formulated readily by combining the active agent with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers known in the art. Such carriers enable the compounds of the invention to be formulated as tablets, pills, dragees, capsules, gels, syrups, slurries, suspensions and the like, for oral ingestion by a patient to be treated. Pharmaceutical preparations for oral use can be obtained using a solid excipient in admixture with the active agent, optionally grinding the resulting mixture, and processing the mixture of granules after adding suitable auxiliaries, if desired, to obtain tablets or dragee cores. Suitable excipients include: fillers such as sugars, including lactose, sucrose, mannitol, or sorbitol; and cellulose preparations, for example, maize starch, wheat starch, rice starch, potato starch, gelatin, gum, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl-cellulose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, or polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). If desired, disintegrating agents may be added, such as crosslinked polyvinyl pyrrolidone, agar, or alginic acid or a salt thereof such as sodium alginate.
Dragee cores are provided with suitable coatings. For this purpose, concentrated sugar solutions may be used, which may optionally contain gum arabic, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, Carbopol gel, polyethylene glycol, and/or titanium dioxide, lacquer solutions, and suitable organic solvents or solvent mixtures. Dyestuffs or pigments may be added to the tablets or dragee coatings for identification or to characterize different combinations of active agents.
Pharmaceutical preparations that can be used orally include push-fit capsules made of gelatin, as well as soft, sealed capsules made of gelatin and a plasticizer, such as glycerol or sorbitol. The push-fit capsules can contain the active ingredients in admixture with fillers such as lactose, binders such as starches, and/or lubricants such as talc or magnesium stearate, and, optionally, stabilizers. In soft capsules, the active agents may be dissolved or suspended in suitable liquids, such as fatty oils, liquid paraffin, or liquid polyethylene glycols. In addition, stabilizers may be added. All formulations for oral administration should be in dosages suitable for such administration. For buccal administration, the compositions may take the form of tablets or lozenges formulated in conventional manner.
For administration to the eye, the active agent is delivered in a pharmaceutically acceptable ophthalmic vehicle such that the compound is maintained in contact with the ocular surface for a sufficient time period to allow the compound to penetrate the corneal and internal regions of the eye, including, for example, the anterior chamber, posterior chamber, vitreous body, aqueous humor, vitreous humor, cornea, iris/cilary, lens, choroid/retina and selera. The pharmaceutically acceptable ophthalmic vehicle may be, for example, an ointment, vegetable oil, or an encapsulating material. An active agent of the invention may also be injected directly into the vitreous and aqueous humor or subtenon.
Alternatively, the active ingredient may be in powder form for constitution with a suitable vehicle, e.g., sterile pyrogen-free water, before use. The compounds may also be formulated in rectal or vaginal compositions such as suppositories or retention enemas, e.g., containing conventional suppository bases such as cocoa butter or other glycerides.
In addition to the formulations described above, the polymorphic forms may also be formulated as a depot preparation. Such long-acting formulations may be administered by implantation (for example, subcutaneously or intramuscularly) or by intramuscular injection. Thus, for example, the polymorphic forms may be formulated with suitable polymeric or hydrophobic materials (for example, as an emulsion in an acceptable oil) or ion-exchange resins, or as sparingly soluble derivatives, for example, as a sparingly soluble salt.
Additionally, polymorphic forms of Compound 1 may be delivered using a sustained-release system, such as semipermeable matrices of solid hydrophobic polymers containing the therapeutic agent. Various sustained-release materials have been established and are known by those skilled in the art. Sustained-release capsules may, depending on their chemical nature, release the compound for a few weeks up to over 100 days.
The pharmaceutical compositions also may comprise suitable solid- or gel-phase carriers or excipients. Examples of such carriers or excipients include calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, sugars, starches, cellulose derivatives, gelatin, and polymers such as polyethylene glycols.
III. Methods of Using the Polymorphs of the Invention
Polymorphic forms of Compound 1 are useful for mediating the activity of protein kinases. More particularly, the polymorphic forms are useful as anti-angiogenesis agents and as agents for modulating and/or inhibiting the activity of protein kinases, such as the activity associated with VEGF, FGF, CDK complexes, TEK, CHK1, LCK, FAK, and phosphorylase kinase among others, thus providing treatments for cancer or other diseases associated with cellular proliferation mediated by protein kinases in mammals, including humans.
Therapeutically effective amounts of Compound 1 may be administered, typically in the form of a pharmaceutical composition, to treat diseases mediated by modulation or regulation of protein kinases. An “effective amount” is intended to mean that amount of an agent that, when administered to a mammal in need of such treatment, is sufficient to effect treatment for a disease mediated by the activity of one or more protein kinases, such as tyrosine kinases. Thus, a therapeutically effective amount of Compound 1 is a quantity sufficient to modulate, regulate, or inhibit the activity of one or more protein kinases such that a disease condition that is mediated by that activity is reduced or alleviated. “Treating” is intended to mean at least the mitigation of a disease condition in a mammal, such as a human, that is affected, at least in part, by the activity of one or more protein kinases, such as tyrosine kinases, and includes: preventing the disease condition from occurring in a mammal, particularly when the mammal is found to be predisposed to having the disease condition but has not yet been diagnosed as having it; modulating and/or inhibiting the disease condition; and/or alleviating the disease condition. Exemplary disease conditions include diabetic retinopathy, neovascular glaucoma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and abnormal cell growth, such as cancer.
In one embodiment of this method, the abnormal cell growth is cancer, including, but not limited to, mesothelioma, hepatobilliary (hepatic and billiary duct), a primary or secondary CNS tumor, a primary or secondary brain tumor, lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC), bone cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, cancer of the head or neck, cutaneous or intraocular melanoma, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, cancer of the anal region, stomach cancer, gastrointestinal (gastric, colorectal, and duodenal), breast cancer, uterine cancer, carcinoma of the fallopian tubes, carcinoma of the endometrium, carcinoma of the cervix, carcinoma of the vagina, carcinoma of the vulva, Hodgkin's Disease, cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the small intestine, cancer of the endocrine system, cancer of the thyroid gland, cancer of the parathyroid gland, cancer of the adrenal gland, sarcoma of soft tissue, cancer of the urethra, cancer of the penis, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, chronic or acute leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, lymphocytic lymphomas, cancer of the bladder, cancer of the kidney or ureter, renal cell carcinoma, carcinoma of the renal pelvis, neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS), primary CNS lymphoma, non hodgkins's lymphoma, spinal axis tumors, brain stem glioma, pituitary adenoma, adrenocortical cancer, gall bladder cancer, multiple myeloma, cholangiocarcinoma, fibrosarcoma, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing cancers.
In one embodiment of the present invention the cancer is lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC), cancer of the head or neck, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, cancer of the anal region, stomach cancer, breast cancer, cancer of the kidney or ureter, renal cell carcinoma, carcinoma of the renal pelvis, neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS), primary CNS lymphoma, non hodgkins's lymphoma, or spinal axis tumors, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing cancers.
In a particular embodiment, the cancer is cancer of the thyroid gland, cancer of the parathyroid gland, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, or renal cell carcinoma.
In another embodiment of said method, said abnormal cell growth is a benign proliferative disease, including, but not limited to, psoriasis, benign prostatic hypertrophy or restinosis.
This invention also relates to a method for the treatment of abnormal cell growth in a mammal which comprises administering to said mammal an amount of a polymorphic form of Compound 1 that is effective in treating abnormal cell growth in combination with an anti-tumor agent selected from the group consisting of mitotic inhibitors, alkylating agents, anti-metabolites, intercalating antibiotics, growth factor inhibitors, cell cycle inhibitors, enzymes, topoisomerase inhibitors, biological response modifiers, antibodies, cytotoxics, anti-hormones, and anti-androgens.
EXAMPLES
The examples which follow will further illustrate the preparation of the distinct polymorphic forms of the invention, i.e. polymorphic Forms XXV and XVI of Compound 1, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined herein or as claimed below.
The following abbreviations may be used herein: THF (tetrahydrofuran); NMP (N-methylpyrrolidinone); Xantphos (9,9-Dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenyl-phosphino)xanthene); Pd 2 (dba) 3 (tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0)); and MeOH (methanol).
Example 1
Preparation and Characterization of Polymorphic Forms VIII, XVI, XXV and XLI of Compound 1
Forms XXV and XLI of Compound 1 can be prepared from Form XVI, which can be prepared from Form VIII, as indicated in the following examples.
a) Preparation of Form VIII
Form VIII is a THF solvate polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared during the final step of preparing Compound 1 as follows. Methods of preparing Compound 1 have been previously disclosed using Heck reaction methodology (e.g. WO 2006/048745 and U.S. 2006-0094881). To prepare Compound 1 in polymorphic Form VIII, Compound 1 was prepared as follows. The crude Compound 1 material from the Heck reaction (approximately 55 kg) was reslurried warm in THF (210 L) with 1,2-diaminopropane (13 kg) and then cooled for filtration. The filtered solids were washed with THF (210 L), dried under vacuum with heating to 40 to 70° C. and isolated to afford crude Compound 1 (Form VIII, THF solvate), (52.5 kg, 73%). Form VIII was characterized by PXRD as described previously and shown in FIG. 5 .
b) Preparation of Form XVI
Form XVI is an isopropanol solvate polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form VIII as follows. Form VIII (as prepared above) was dissolved (50 kg) in N-methylpyrrolidinone (150 L) and THF (optional, 50 L) with 1,2-diaminopropane (28.8 kg). The solution was heated and the solution was passed through a micron filter to remove any insoluble material. Methanol (300 L) was then added to the warm solution. The product crystallized from solution and heating was continued. After a period of time, additional methanol (400 L) was added. The suspension was cooled and stirred for at least 12 hours. The suspension was filtered, washed with isopropanol (150 L) and blown dry. The solids were reslurried in isopropanol (200 L) with heating. The suspension was then cooled, filtered, and washed with isopropanol (150 L). The resulting solids (Form XVI, isopropanol solvate) were dried under vacuum at 40 to 70° C. for at least 24 hours such that levels of residual isopropanol were below 5% by weight and isolated. Form XVI was characterized by PXRD as described previously and shown in FIG. 4 .
c) Preparation of Form XXV
Form XXV is an anhydrous polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form XVI as follows. Form XVI (as prepared above) was charged (11.9 kg, 1 equivalent) to a speck-free vessel. Note, it may be important to use a dish shaped vessel rather than a conical vessel, and that high agitation is used to ensure that good mixing is achieved in this step. The transformation will be heterogeneous.
Form XXV seed crystals were then charged (120 g, 0.01 equivalents) to the vessel. Note that this process has been successfully executed without any seed crystals as well. Ethanol (120 L) was then charged to the solids in the vessel, followed by heating to reflux (target 79° C., set jackets to approximately 85° C.). The resulting slurry was then held at reflux for at least 8 hours. Note, there is a strong correlation between higher reaction temperatures leading to more rapid polymorph conversion. This is due to the fact that the process is likely solubility limited. Note that at 90° C. and in 30 mL/g (relative to Form XVI input) of solvent the active pharmaceutical ingredient dissolves in the ethanol leading to a recrystallization process.
The slurry was then sampled to ensure that conversion to Form XXV was completed. If conversion is incomplete an ethanol solvate may be present with Form XXV. If conversion is not complete, continue heating for at least another 8 hours. Once the conversion was complete after about 24 hours, the reaction mixture was cooled down to 15-25° C.
The slurry was then stirred for at least 1 hour at ambient conditions. The material was then filtered, and the filtercake was washed with ethanol (36 L). The solids were then dried (to remove ethanol and other alcohols) under vacuum at less than 70° C. for a minimum of 12 hours. Form XXV crystals were then isolated (11.4 kg, 96% yield). Form XXV was characterized by PXRD, solid state NMR, and Raman spectroscopy as described previously and shown in FIGS. 1 , 2 , and 3 .
Alternatively, Form XXV was prepared without seed crystals as follows. To the vessel was added 2.0 g of Compound 1 (Form XVI) and 40 mL ethanol (denatured with 1% methanol). The slurry was heated to 77-78° C. under nitrogen for 24 hours. The slurry was allowed to cool to room temperature, granulated for 1 hour, filtered and rinsed with absolute ethanol (4 mL). The white solids were allowed to dry in a vacuum oven at 50-55° C. for 16 hours. This afforded 1.6 g of Compound 1 (Form XXV) as a white solid.
d) Preparation of Form XLI
Form XLI is an anhydrous polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form XVI as follows. Form XVI (as prepared above) was charged (11.9 kg, 1 equivalent) to a speck-free vessel. Note, it may be important to use a dish shaped vessel rather than a conical vessel, and that high agitation is used to ensure that good mixing is achieved in this step. The transformation will be heterogeneous.
Form XLI seed crystals were then charged (120 g, 0.01 equivalents) to the vessel. Note that this process has been successfully executed without any seed crystals as well. Ethanol (120 L) was then charged to the solids in the vessel, followed by heating to reflux (target 79° C., set jackets to approximately 85° C.). The resulting slurry was then held at reflux for at least 2 hours. Note, there is a strong correlation between higher reaction temperatures leading to more rapid polymorph conversion. This is due to the fact that the process is likely solubility limited. Note that at 90° C. and in 30 mL/g (relative to Form XVI input) of solvent the active pharmaceutical ingredient dissolves in the ethanol leading to a recrystallization process.
The slurry was then sampled to ensure that conversion to Form XLI was completed. If conversion is incomplete an ethanol solvate may be present with Form XLI. If conversion is not complete, continue heating for at least another 2 hours. Once the conversion was complete after about 24 hours, the reaction mixture was cooled down to 15-25° C.
The slurry was then stirred for at least 1 hour at ambient conditions. The material was then filtered, and the filtercake was washed with ethanol (36 L). The solids were then dried (to remove ethanol and other alcohols) under vacuum at less than 70° C. for a minimum of 12 hours. Form XLI crystals were then isolated (11.4 kg, 96% yield). Form XLI was characterized by PXRD and solid state NMR as described previously and shown in FIGS. 6 , 7 , and 8 .
Alternatively, Form XLI was prepared without seed crystals as follows. To a vessel was added 4.0 kg of crude Compound 1 and 40 L of isopropanol. The suspension was heated to a temperature of 50 to 70° C. and held for 3 hours. After this time, the suspension was cooled to ambient conditions and filtered to isolate the solids. The wet cake was washed with 12 L of isopropanol and dried on the filter with a nitrogen bleed for about 2 hours and then were transferred to a tray dryer for further drying under vacuum with heating to 55 to 65° C. After about 18 hours, the solids were then recharged to the vessel with 40 L of absolute ethanol and were heated to a reflux (about 79° C.). The reaction mixture was distilled to remove approximately 12 L of solvent. The resulting reaction mixture was then heated at a reflux for an additional 2 hours. The mixture was then cooled to ambient conditions and stirred for about 1 hour. The solids were filtered and the wet cake was washed with 12 L of absolute ethanol. The solids were transferred to a tray dryer and dried under vacuum at 50 to 60° C. for about 24 hours. The solids were discharged to afford Compound 1, Form XLI, as a white crystalline solid, 3.8 kg.
Example 2
Preparation and Characterization of Polymorphic Form IX of Compound 1
Forms IX of Compound 1 can be prepared from Form IV as indicated in the following examples. Form IV is an anhydrous polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared as disclosed in U.S. 2006-0094763.
Preparation of Form IX
Form IX is a hydrate form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form IV as follows: Form IV was added (1 g) to a 1:1 isopropanol:water mixture (50 ml). The suspension was heated and stirred at 45° C. for two days, then allowed to cool to 25° C. The suspension was filtered, washed with 1:1 isopropanol:water and dried under vacuum at 40° C. for one day.
Example 3
Preparation and Characterization of Polymorphic Form XII of Compound 1
Form XII is an ethanol solvate polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form XVI as follows. Form XVI (as prepared in Example 1) was added (1 g) to ethanol (100 ml). The solution was heated and stirred at 40° C. for two hours, then allowed to cool to 25° C. The suspension was filtered, washed with ethanol and dried under vacuum at 45° C. for three days.
Example 4
Preparation and Characterization of Polymorphic Form XV of Compound 1
Form XV is an ethanol solvate polymorphic form of Compound 1 that can be prepared from Form XVI as follows. Form XVI (as prepared in Example 1) was added (1 g) to ethanol (450 ml) and stirred at ambient temperature for one hour. The suspension was gravity filtered into an evaporation dish, and allowed to evaporate under a stream of nitrogen for several days to dryness.
Example 5
Preparation and Characterization of Amorphous Compound 1
Amorphous form of Compound 1 can be prepared from Form XLI as follows: Form XLI (as prepared above in Example 1) was added (135 mg) to a Wig-L-Bug® mixer/grinder (Model 30) with stainless steel ball. The solid was ground for 150 minutes to afford amorphous solid.
Example 6
Photochemical Stability of Form XLI and Form XXV Over Form IV
A photochemical comparative study of Form XLI, Form XXV, and Form IV was performed. The resulting data shows a significant improvement in stability of both Form XLI and Form XXV relative to Form IV. Improved stability of one polymorph over another is implicitly an advantage in pharmaceuticals. In the case of photochemical stability, special handling precautions or packaging to protect the compound against light, which could increase the cost of manufacture and storage, may be avoided with Form XXV and Form XLI. The enhanced stability of Form XXV and Form XLI will also significantly reduce the potential of photochemical degradation products appearing in pharmaceutical preparations (e.g. tablets) upon storage over time. The relative lack of photodegradation of Form XXV and Form XLI also reduces their potential to cause photosensitivity reactions in patients receiving the drug from exposure to sunlight.
Experimental Conditions:
Approximately 50 mg of each form was placed in 20 ml glass vials. The sample depth was <3 mm. The vials were covered with a quartz glass dish and placed in an Atlas Suntest XLS+ light box equipped with a 320 nm cutoff filter. The spectral output is similar to the ID65 emission standard, 320-800 nm (ID65 is the indoor indirect daylight ISO standard). The samples were exposed to artificial light equivalent to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Guidelines for Photostability Testing of New Drug Substances, Option 1 exposure. The resulting data are tabulated below:
Photochemical Stability under 1X ICH Option 1 light exposure:
Potency (wt/wt %) after light exposure
Form XXV
100%
Form XLI
89%
Form IV
34%
Example 7
Manufacturing Filtration Time of Form XLI and Form XXV Over Form IV
A comparison of the manufacturing filtration times of Form XLI, Form XXV, and Form IV was performed.
The resulting data shows a significant improvement in filtration times of Form XLI and Form XXV relative to Form IV. This may be attributable to a reduced tendency for particle agglomeration of Form XXV and Form XLI. This improvement results in a significant time reduction to filter the final product, which results in significant cost savings for the manufacturing process.
Experimental Conditions:
All three batches shown below, of approximately 20 kg scale, were filtered during manufacturing of compound of formula 1. The filter had a 0.25 m 2 filter area and a maximum usable cake capacity of 40 liters. All batches were filtered using the same equipment.
Filtration Time (hr)
Form XLI
0.1
Form XXV
4.0
Form IV
25.9
While the invention has been illustrated by reference to specific and preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications may be made through routine experimentation and practice of the invention. Thus, the invention is intended not to be limited by the foregoing description, but to be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. | The present invention relates to crystalline polymorphic and amorphous form of 6-[2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenyl sulfanyl]-3-E-[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethenyl]indazole and to methods for their preparation. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions containing at least one polymorphic form and to the therapeutic or prophylactic use of such polymorphic forms and compositions. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/643,098, filed Aug. 18, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,039,974, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/816,622, filed Mar. 23, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,357, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/240,204, filed Jan. 29, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,996.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to multipurpose hand tools, and in particular to such a tool which has over-center locking pliers and can be folded into a compact configuration.
Folding multipurpose hand tools have become well known in recent years. Representative tools of this sort are disclosed in, for example, Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862, Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,869, Sessions et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,844, Frazer U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,366, MacIntosh U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,114, Hardiner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,002 and Frazer U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,599. While many of such tools have included folding pliers, only Thai U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,355 discloses pliers capable of being locked by an over-center locking arrangement, and whose jaws can be folded to make such a tool more compact. The Kershaw Multi-Tool™, now on the market, has over-center locking pliers, but the jaws do not fold. Of course, the best known of locking pliers is the Peterson Vise-Grip7, but it is not foldable for compact storage, nor is it multipurpose.
Previously-known multipurpose tools with over center locking pliers have been of operable design, but have lacked strength, or useful features, or have been unattractive in appearance, or have not been able to be folded into a suitably compact configuration; and thus such tools have been less than completely satisfactory for their intended purpose.
In multipurpose folding tools, various latch mechanisms have been utilized in the past, as represented, for example, by Seber et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,247, and Swinden et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,950, to retain folding tool bits and blades in desired positions, either folded and stowed within a cavity provided in a tool handle, or rigidly and safely extended ready for use. The previously available latching arrangements, however, have had various drawbacks, either from the standpoint of operability, strength, and reliability, or from the standpoint of manufacturing costs.
Socket wrenches and hex bit drivers are well known. Adaptors to connect hex bits or sockets or both to multipurpose tools are also well known. See, for example, Heldt U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,278, Chen U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,140, Lin U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,353, Park U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,659, and Cachot U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,600. Tool bit drive adaptors, however, are an additional item which must be carried and kept together with the multipurpose tool to enable it to be used to drive such tool bits. Also, currently available drivers do not work well with special bits, such as corkscrews, which must be pulled, rather than pushed, in use.
What is desired, then, is an improved folding multipurpose tool including pliers with over-center locking jaws capable of exerting significant gripping force and whose jaws can be folded. Also desired are a folding multipurpose tool including an improved mechanism for locking and unlocking various blades, and a folding multipurpose tool including an improved holder for hex bit tools. Preferably, such a tool should be of sturdy, reliable construction, be able to be manufactured at a reasonable cost, and have a pleasing appearance, and be capable of folding into a compact storage configuration so as to be easily carried and readily available for use when needed. Also preferable in such a tool is that most of the motions and positionings of the various components that are required when using the tool occur automatically or are intuitive to the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes some of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art and answers some of the aforementioned needs by providing a folding multipurpose tool incorporating adjustable locking pliers jaws that can be extended into an operational configuration in which the tool may be adjusted to grip objects of different sizes and may be locked by an over-center mechanism while still providing gripping force against an object or objects located between the jaws.
In one preferred embodiment of such a tool a pair of jaws are mounted on a jaw pivot shaft on one end of a first handle, and a corresponding end of a second handle is removably connected to a lower one of the jaws to control its movement toward an upper one of the jaws.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a jaw-moving linkage includes a pair of struts extending between the handles, and the jaws extend between the struts when the tool is folded into a compact folded configuration.
As another separate aspect of the present invention, a folding tool including locking pliers has a jaw-moving linkage including a thrust body which interconnects a portion of the jaw-moving linkage to one jaw of the pliers through a pivot joint including mating concave and convex surfaces contacting each other, through which the jaw-moving linkage pushes against a heel portion of that jaw.
In one embodiment of that aspect of the invention a spring detent arrangement is provided to keep the pivot joint assembled as desired but permit it to be disconnected easily in order to fold the jaws into the handle to place the tool into its compact folded configuration.
Another separate aspect of the present invention is to provide a latch mechanism to retain one or more folding blades or tool bits in a selected position with respect to a handle of a multipurpose folding tool.
In a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention such a mechanism includes a latch release lever carried on a pivot in a channel-configured portion of one of the handles, and a spring formed as a portion of the handle keeps a catch body carried on the latch release lever engaged with at least one of the blades.
In one preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention each of the blades includes a base portion defining a notch from which the catch body can be released to permit the blade to be moved between its folded and extended positions, while the catch body still prevents the blade from being moved beyond its intended extended position, and the handle and the latch release lever cooperate to prevent the catch body from moving beyond its intended blade-releasing position.
Yet another separate aspect of the present invention is that it provides a tool bit drive socket, with a threaded bore at an inner end of the socket, allowing the tool bit drive socket to receive not only conventional tool bits but also special bits threaded at one end.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folding multipurpose tool that is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the locking pliers jaws in an extended and operational configuration.
FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of the folding tool shown in FIG. 1 in a compact fully folded configuration.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the tool shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , in the fully folded configuration shown in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a left side elevational view of the folding tool in the fully folded configuration shown in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the folding tool in the fully folded configuration.
FIG. 6 is a right side elevational view of the folding tool shown in FIG. 1 , with its handles separated as a first step in moving the jaws of the locking pliers to change the tool from the fully folded configuration into an extended and operational configuration.
FIG. 7 is a view of the tool showing the next step of placing the locking pliers jaws into their operational configuration.
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the folding tool showing the next step in readying the locking pliers of the tool for use, and showing several folding tool blades carried in the second handle of the tool.
FIG. 8A is a side elevational view of the folding tool in an operational configuration with the jaws of the adjustable locking pliers open, ready for use.
FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the folding tool, in the operational configuration with the jaws closed as shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 10 is a section view taken along line 10 - 10 of FIG. 9 .
FIG. 11 is a top plan view taken in the direction of line 11 - 11 in FIG. 9 , showing the strut assembly and the lower handle portion of the tool, but omitting the upper handle and the folding tool blades shown in FIG. 8 , for the sake of clarity.
FIG. 11A is an isometric view showing the strut assembly from the upper right rear.
FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side elevational view of the jaws of the locking pliers, together with a portion of the upper handle of the tool.
FIG. 13 is a section view of the upper handle and portions of the pliers jaws of the tool, taken along line 13 - 13 of FIG. 12 .
FIG. 14 is a view of a portion of one of the pliers jaws of the tool, taken in the direction of line 14 - 14 of FIG. 12 .
FIG. 15 is a view of a portion of the tool, taken in the same direction as FIG. 9 , but with portions of the handles cut away to disclose the operational relationships among elements of the tool located within the handles.
FIG. 15A is an isometric view of a thrust block and detent spring, from the upper right front of the tool, showing a part of the strut assembly in phantom line.
FIG. 16 is a detail view taken in the same direction as FIG. 15 , at an enlarged scale, showing a thrust block and a portion of the lower handle, together with a heel portion of the lower jaw.
FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 16 , but showing the thrust block detachably connected to the heel of the lower jaw.
FIG. 18 is a section view taken along line 18 - 18 of FIG. 17 .
FIG. 19 is a section view from the right side of the tool, taken on line 19 - 19 of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 20 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 19 , showing a tool bit aligned with the tool bit drive socket portion of the upper handle of the tool.
FIG. 21 is a view of the tool taken along line 21 - 21 of FIG. 20 , showing the adjustment block for the locking pliers, and showing the interconnection of the strut assembly with the upper handle.
FIG. 22 is a perspective exploded view of a portion of the lower handle of the tool and the blade latch lever.
FIG. 23 is a section view taken in the same direction as FIG. 19 , showing portions of the handles, with a folding tool blade latched in an extended position.
FIG. 24 is a view similar to FIG. 23 , showing the blade latch lever moved to a position releasing the tool blade to be moved toward a folded position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Folding Jaws:
Referring now to drawings which form a part of the disclosure herein, in a preferred embodiment of the invention a folding multipurpose tool 30 shown in FIG. 1 has an upper handle 32 , which may also be referred to as a first body member, and a lower handle 34 , which may also be referred to as an operating lever. A pair of jaws such as an upper pliers jaw 36 and a lower pliers jaw 38 are attached to the handles 32 and 34 . In a preferred embodiment of the multipurpose tool 30 , the handles 32 and 34 have the general shape of channels facing toward each other, and may be of sheet metal such as fine-blanked stainless steel about 0.05 inch thick, for example, while the jaws 36 and 38 may be investment castings, suitably finished.
An over-center jaw-locking mechanism is included in the tool, and can be adjusted using an adjustment knob 40 located at the rear end 45 of the upper handle 32 to permit the jaws 36 and 38 to be locked while gripping objects of various sizes. Various folding tool blades are normally stored within the lower handle 34 and can be rotated about an axis defined by a pivot shaft 42 extending transversely at the rear end 44 of the lower handle 34 . The tool blades are kept either in a folded position or an extended position by a latch mechanism including a latch lever 46 . The latch lever 46 may be metal injection molded and is carried on a latch lever pivot pin 48 extending transversely through bores in the sides of the lower handle 34 .
The multipurpose folding tool 30 can be folded into a compact folded configuration, shown in FIGS. 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 , after disengaging the lower handle 34 from the lower jaw 38 . Both the upper jaw 36 and the lower jaw 38 are carried on the upper handle 32 and can be rotated with respect to it, from the positions shown in FIG. 1 to the positions shown in FIG. 2 , about a main jaw pivot axis 50 defined by a jaw pivot shaft 52 extending transversely through the sides of the upper handle 32 , near a front end 53 of the upper handle 32 . While the jaw pivot shaft 52 may be a rivet, it may also be in the form of a solid or tubular bolt and nut engaged by mating threads. The large ends of the jaw pivot shaft help prevent side play and misalignment of the jaws.
It will be appreciated that a different arrangement might be used instead to allow the lower jaw 38 to pivot with respect to the upper jaw 36 about an axis not necessarily coincident with the pivot axis 50 , if desired.
When the multipurpose tool 30 is in the folded configuration as shown in FIGS. 2-5 , a heel portion 54 of the lower jaw 38 extends outward through an aperture 56 in the outer side, or back 58 of the upper handle 32 . Similarly, a portion of the upper jaw 36 extends outward through an aperture 60 in the outer side, or back 62 of the lower handle 34 .
When the folding multipurpose tool 30 is in the compact, folded configuration shown in FIGS. 2-5 , the front end 53 of the upper handle is aligned with the front end 64 of the lower handle 34 , and the upper and lower handles 32 and 34 lie alongside each other with an inner side or margin 66 of the upper handle 32 lying closely alongside and facing toward an inner side or margin 68 of the lower handle 34 . An arcuate projecting portion 70 of each side 71 of the channel of the upper handle 32 , adjacent the jaw pivot axis 50 , fits closely within a corresponding hollow 72 in each opposite side 73 of the channel of the lower handle 34 .
The locking pliers jaws 36 and 38 are unfolded from the folded configuration shown in FIGS. 2-5 and placed into the operative configuration shown in FIG. 1 by the steps shown in FIGS. 6-9 . First the lower handle 34 is moved downwardly and rearwardly away from the upper handle 32 as shown in FIG. 6 . A strut assembly 74 interconnects the upper and lower handles 32 and 34 , with a pin 76 engaged in a slot 78 in each side of the upper handle 32 connecting the rear end 80 of the strut assembly 74 with the upper handle 32 . The front end 82 of the strut assembly 74 is interconnected with the front end 64 of the lower handle 34 as will be explained in greater detail below.
With the lower handle 34 in the position shown in FIG. 6 the jaws 36 and 38 can be rotated outward about the main jaw pivot axis 50 to the position shown in FIG. 7 . As shown in FIG. 7 the upper jaw 36 in its extended position abuts against the back 58 of the upper handle 32 at its front end 53 . The lower jaw 38 has also been rotated counterclockwise from its position shown in FIG. 6 , so that the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 is exposed below the sides 71 of the upper handle 32 .
The lower handle 34 is then brought forward, and its front end 64 is mated releasably with the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 so that the front end 64 of the lower handle 34 can rotate about the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 . This can be done most easily with the adjustment knob 40 turned in to the position shown in FIG. 8 , when the front end 64 can be mated with the heel 54 by rotating the lower handle 34 (in a clockwise direction as the tool is shown in FIG. 8 ) until mating occurs. Once the front end 64 is mated with the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 , as shown in FIG. 8A , rotation of the lower handle 34 in a clockwise direction about the heel 54 moves the jaws 36 and 38 toward each other, and toward the position of the jaws shown in FIG. 9 .
Movement of the lower handle 34 , or operating lever, toward the upper handle 32 is limited, maintaining a space between the upper and lower handles 32 and 34 so that they can be manipulated easily to move the jaws 36 and 38 apart from or toward each other as desired. This limitation of the movement of the lower handle 34 is accomplished by a pair of limit stops 84 in the lower handle 34 . Preferably, the limit stops 84 have a form resembling wings, defined by a slit in each side of the lower handle 34 and are bent inward slightly to extend into the space between the sides 73 of the lower handle 34 , as shown in FIG. 10 .
Referring also to FIGS. 11 and 11A , the strut assembly 74 includes a pair of struts 86 , preferably of sheet steel, that are spaced apart from each other at the rear end 80 of the strut assembly 74 , by a strut block 88 which is, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, generally cylindrical. The pin 76 extends centrally through the strut block 88 and corresponding bores 90 in the struts 86 . Preferably, the pin 76 fits tightly and must be pressed into the bores 90 and thus keeps the struts 86 tightly alongside the strut block 88 .
A stop arm 92 of each of the struts 86 is aligned with the limit stops 84 when the jaws 36 and 38 are in the extended and operative positions shown in FIG. 9 . A shallow V shaped notch 93 is preferably provided in the end of each stop arm 92 to receive a respective one of the limit stops 84 , preventing the lower handle 34 from moving further toward the upper handle 32 beyond the position shown in FIG. 9 . As will be explained subsequently, this relationship of the limit stops 84 with the stop arms 92 plays an important part in the manner in which the jaws 36 and 38 may be locked when gripping an object.
A U shaped portion of the strut 86 beside the stop arm 92 may be beveled to a sharp edge as shown in FIG. 6 to form a wire-stripper 99 . A wire to be stripped is supported by an adjacent part of the top edge 68 of the lower handle 34 .
The upper and lower jaws 36 and 38 are both rotatably mounted on the jaw pivot shaft 52 , as shown in FIG. 12 . When the upper jaw 36 is in its extended position, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 , it is retained by friction between a small raised cam portion 94 and a retention spring 96 defined by a pair of short parallel slits 98 in the back or outer side 58 of the upper handle 32 . See also FIG. 3 . As seen in FIG. 13 , cheeks 100 and 102 are included in the jaws 36 and 38 and may be additional material cast with and protruding laterally from the bases of jaws 36 and 38 , respectively. The cheeks 100 and 102 have mirror-image opposite shapes, and extend laterally outward along the main jaw pivot axis 50 to keep the jaws 36 and 38 centered between the sides 71 of the upper handle 32 .
As seen in FIG. 12 , an upper portion of the upper jaw 36 has a rearwardly directed face 106 that rests against the back 58 of the upper handle 32 at its front end 53 , in an abutment relationship preventing the upper jaw 36 from moving counterclockwise with respect to the upper handle 32 . As a result, when the jaws are in the positions shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 12 , the upper jaw 36 is held stationary with respect to the upper handle 32 , while the lower jaw 38 is free to rotate about the jaw pivot shaft 52 .
A short torsion spring 108 has radially-extending ends 110 each engaged with a notch provided in a respective one of the jaws 36 and 38 so that the torsion spring 108 urges the outer ends 112 , 114 of the jaws 36 , 38 , respectively, apart from each other with sufficient force to overcome friction between the lower jaw 38 and the adjacent surfaces of the upper handle 32 and the upper jaw 36 and the jaw pivot shaft 52 . The jaws 36 , 38 thus tend to open apart from each other as limited by the shape of the bases of the jaws at 115 in FIG. 12 , unless they are squeezed together by action of the handles 32 , 34 .
As the jaws 36 and 38 are rotated about the jaw pivot shaft 52 in moving them from the extended, operational positions to the folded positions depicted in FIGS. 2-5 , a small inwardly protruding bump 104 , preferably formed by coining the left side 71 of the upper handle 32 , comes to bear against the cheek surface 100 on the upper jaw 36 with sufficient force for friction then to retain both of the jaws 36 and 38 in the position shown in FIG. 2 , overcoming the opening force of the spring 108 .
As seen in FIG. 12 , the gripping surface of the upper jaw 36 is angled slightly downward with respect to the upper handle 32 , providing a comfortable angle for holding the tool 30 while gripping an object between the jaws 36 and 38 . The jaws 36 and 38 each include a spine portion 116 slightly narrower than the working faces of the jaws 36 and 38 . Preferably, a narrow V shaped groove 118 (see FIG. 14 ) is provided in the working face of each outer end 112 , 114 , so that small round objects such as nails can be gripped and pulled; or narrow objects such as the tang of a saber saw blade may be gripped securely and the tool used as a saw. Each of the jaws 36 and 38 includes a sharpened wire cutter section 120 in a preferred version of the tool 30 . In other versions of the tool 30 , not shown, different cutting edges could be provided.
Referring next to FIGS. 15-18 , the front end 64 of the lower handle or operating lever 34 is attached, preferably by a fastener such as a screw 122 , to a thrust block 124 that is part of a jaw-moving linkage including the strut assembly 74 . The thrust block 124 is of metal and may preferably be made by metal injection molding, but could also be made in other ways.
A central portion of a detent spring 126 of thin spring material is sandwiched between the thrust block 124 and the inner surface of the back 62 of the lower handle 34 , and a pair of parallel side portions of the detent spring 126 extend therefrom closely along respective sides of the thrust block 124 , as may be seen best in FIGS. 11 , 15 A and 18 . The side portions of the detent spring 126 are formed to provide a pair of detent protrusions 128 facing inwardly toward each other and aligned with each other to resiliently grip the heel portion 54 of the lower jaw 38 and fit into detent dimples 130 to interconnect the front end 64 of the lower handle 34 with the heel 54 in an easily releasable manner.
Located on the thrust block 124 are a pair of coaxial pivot arms 132 , one on each side of the thrust block 124 , extending laterally to the inner face of the adjacent side 73 of the lower handle 34 , as shown best in FIG. 18 , to interconnect the thrust block 124 with the strut assembly 74 as a jaw control link in the jaw-moving linkage.
The thrust block 124 includes a concave forward surface 134 , and the heel 54 includes a convex rear surface 136 . The two surfaces 134 and 136 are preferably both cylindrical and of nearly the same radius of curvature so that they fit slidingly and concentrically together to permit the thrust block 124 to rotate with respect to the heel 54 about an axis of rotation 138 extending transversely of the tool 30 .
When the lower handle 34 is engaged with the heel 54 , the detent spring 126 retains the heel 54 adjacent the thrust block 124 with the surfaces 134 and 136 in mated relationship with one another for relative rotation about the axis 138 . The detent protrusions 128 are preferably located with their centers slightly closer than the axis 138 to the concave surface 134 of the thrust block 124 , so that cam action of the surfaces of the dimples 130 on the detent protrusions 128 will keep the surfaces 134 and 136 snugly together during use of the locking pliers.
The detent spring 126 can be flexed by cam action of the dimples 130 to disengage the detent protrusions 128 from the dimples 130 by simply rotating the lower handle 34 counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 9 past the position shown in FIG. 8A . The front margin 140 of the back 62 will ride upon the heel 54 where it joins the lower jaw 38 at 142 , using it as a fulcrum so that further rotation then forces the detent protrusions 128 to be disengaged from the dimples 130 , allowing the lower handle 34 to separate from the heel 54 .
Jaw Adjustment and Locking:
The strut assembly 74 is connected with the thrust block 124 as a part of the jaw-moving linkage by engagement of each of the pivot arms 132 in a respective elongated hole 144 in each of the struts 86 , at the front end 82 of the strut assembly 74 . In one method of assembly, the pin 76 is inserted from outside the upper handle 32 through one of the slots 78 into the bores 90 in the struts 86 and through the strut block 88 after the struts 86 have first been placed on opposite sides of the thrust block 124 with the pivot arms 132 engaged in the elongated holes 144 .
In an alternative construction (not shown) the strut block 88 could be attached to the struts 86 by a separate fastening, and the pin 76 could be fitted removably or even be made as a spring-loaded pin to permit complete separation of the handles 32 , 34 from each other.
The rear end 80 of the strut assembly 74 is moveable longitudinally along the upper handle 32 of the folding multipurpose tool 30 within the slots 78 in which the opposite ends of the pin 76 are engaged. Movement of the rear end 80 is limited further by the location of the forward end 146 of the adjustment screw 148 , which limits rearward movement of the strut block 88 .
As shown in FIG. 19 , the threads of the adjustment screw 148 are in mated engagement with a threaded bore 152 in an adjustment block 154 mounted in the rear end of the upper handle 32 . The adjustment block 154 may be manufactured by metal injection molding techniques and is retained in the handle 32 by a fastener such as an attachment screw 156 fitted into a boss 155 that protrudes from the block 154 and extends through a corresponding hole in the back 58 . Axial forces are carried from the adjustment block 154 to the upper handle 32 by the boss 155 , the screw 156 , and a pair of ears 158 formed as part of the adjustment block 154 and resting against corresponding vertical surfaces 160 of a cutout provided in each of the sides 71 of the upper handle 32 .
The jaw control linkage, then, controls the position of the lower jaw 38 with respect to the upper jaw 36 when the upper jaw 36 is in its extended position and the lower jaw 38 is in its operative position with the front end 64 of the lower handle 34 connected with the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 by the heel 54 being mated with the thrust block 124 . Movement of the lower handle 34 , to which the thrust block 124 is connected, moves the pivot arms 132 with respect to an imaginary force line 162 extending from near the axis of rotation 138 to a location near the central axis of the pin 76 . The exact places of application of the forces in the jaw moving linkage, it will be understood, are determined principally by the contact between the surface 134 of the thrust block 124 and the surface 136 of the heel 54 , and by the resolution of forces among the end 146 of the adjustment screw 148 , the outer surface of the strut block 88 , and inside surfaces of the handle 32 . With the pivot arms 132 riding in the ends of the elongated holes 144 nearer to the rear end 80 of the strut assembly 74 , as the central axis 164 of the pivot arms 132 approaches the imaginary line 162 , the heel 54 is urged away from the pin 76 by the thrust block 124 , and thus the lower jaw 38 is urged to pivot about the jaw pivot shaft 52 toward the upper jaw 36 .
When the handles 32 and 34 are separated and the jaws 36 and 38 are opened apart from each other the central axis 164 is on the side of the imaginary line 162 closer to the lower handle 34 . With the central axis 164 of the pivot arms 132 located on the imaginary line 162 , the distance between the upper and lower jaws 36 and 38 is at the minimum established by the particular position of the forward end 146 of the adjustment screw 148 . As the lower handle 34 is rotated further toward the upper handle 32 about the axis of rotation 138 the central axis 164 moves over-center across the imaginary line 162 a small distance. At that point the stop arms 92 come into contact with the limit stops 84 , as shown in FIGS. 9 , 10 and 15 , with only a small relaxation of pressure between the jaws 36 and 38 and an object held between them. Thus, the tool 30 provides over-center locking pliers with jaws that can be folded to a compact configuration. Forces urging the jaws 36 and 38 apart from each other are carried through the jaw control linkage and urge the stop arms 92 toward the limit stops 84 , thus keeping the jaws 36 and 38 locked in such an over-center relationship. To release the grip of the jaws 36 and 38 it is merely necessary to move the handles 32 and 34 apart from each other far enough to move the central axis 164 back over-center toward the lower handle 34 .
Movement of the adjustment screw 148 rearward by rotation of the adjustment knob 40 provides for greater spacing between the outer ends 112 and 114 of the jaws 36 and 38 . The adjustment screw also acts as an extension of the upper handle 32 to give greater leverage to be applied to the upper handle 32 as the jaws 36 and 38 are separated further.
It will be understood that the forces urging the lower jaw 38 toward the upper jaw 36 are compressive forces carried from the rear end 45 of the upper handle 32 through the adjustment block 154 and adjustment screw 148 , and through the strut assembly 74 from the forward end 146 of the adjustment screw 148 , through the strut block 88 , the pin 76 , the struts 86 , and the rear ends of the elongated holes 144 and the pivot arms 132 into the thrust block 124 , and that these forces are then carried by the thrust block 124 into the heel 54 of the lower jaw 38 through the mutually contacting surfaces 134 and 136 . Because of the geometry between the thrust block 124 and the remainder of the jaw-moving linkage, the attachment of the lower handle 34 to the thrust block 124 need never be subjected to an extremely large amount of force, and the screw 122 therefore need not be large.
As shown in FIG. 19 , when the tool 30 is in the compact folded configuration the pivot arms 132 are located in the front end of the elongated holes 144 . As may be seen in FIG. 2 , this allows the stop arms 92 to slide into the space defined within the channel between the sides 73 of the lower handle 34 , without engaging the limit stops 84 , and the limit stops 84 fit in the U shaped area of the struts 86 beside the stop arms 92 . Referring again to FIG. 19 , with the pivot arms 132 in the front ends of the elongated holes 144 , and with the strut assembly 74 moved toward the front end 53 of the upper handle 32 so that the pin 76 moves toward the forward end of the slots 78 , the ends of the upper handle 32 can be aligned with the ends of the lower handle 34 , with the thrust block 124 fitting adjacent the rear face 106 of the upper jaw 36 . The jaws 36 and 38 are located between the struts 86 , which extend closely along the cheeks 100 and 102 at the front end 82 of the strut assembly 74 .
Once the jaws 36 and 38 are placed as shown in FIG. 6 , the just-described alignments occur without any particular effort as the handles 32 and 34 are moved to the configuration shown in FIG. 2 . Although parts of the design and construction are complex, most of the motions and positioning of the various components which are required when using the tool occur automatically or intuitively to the user.
A bump 168 , shown in FIG. 11 , protrudes outwardly from one of the struts 86 toward the inner surface of the adjacent side 73 of the lower handle 34 , pressing against it with sufficient friction to keep the strut 86 in the folded position within the lower handle 34 , thereby retaining the upper and lower handles 32 and 34 together when the tool 30 is in the compact folded configuration. The bump 168 may be created by coining the left strut 86 . A hole 170 may be provided in the right strut 86 to assist in forming short radius bends in wires, and to provide access after assembly of the tool 30 , to make adjustments to the bump 168 .
As may be seen in FIGS. 19-21 , the adjustment block 154 defines a rectangular stabilizer cavity 172 facing openly toward the interior of the channel defined by the lower handle 34 . A projecting part 174 located in the lower handle 34 extends into the cavity 172 , stabilizing the lower handle 34 both laterally and longitudinally with respect to the adjacent upper handle 32 when the tool 30 is in its compact folded configuration. It will be understood that the stabilizer cavity 172 need not have any specific shape, but that the cavity 172 and the projecting part 114 preferably should correspond generally in size and shape.
The projecting part 174 may be, for example, a portion of the base or tang 210 of one of the folding tool blades carried on the blade pivot shaft 42 , and preferably is part of the tang 210 of the Phillips head screw driver 176 , as may be seen in FIG. 1 . Because of its shape the Phillips head screwdriver 176 may be made by metal injection molding, although other methods of manufacture may also be used.
Referring still to FIG. 19 , it will also be seen that a retention spring 178 is mounted within the upper handle 32 , with its base portion located between the adjustment block 154 and the inner surface of the back 58 , where the retention spring 178 is held in place by the attachment screw 156 . An outer end of the retention spring 178 extends inwardly through an opening 180 defined in the adjustment block 154 , and presses against the surface of the adjustment screw 148 , to prevent the adjustment screw 148 from being moved unintentionally and thus inadvertently being removed from its threaded bore 152 when the folded tool 30 is not being used, and to prevent changing an adjustment of the jaws when none is intended, during use of the tool 30 .
The portion of the adjustment block 154 nearest the rear end 45 of the upper handle 32 defines a tool bit driving socket, for example a hexagonal socket 182 preferably, but not necessarily, at least slightly larger in its minimum dimensions than the outer diameter of the threads 150 of the adjustment screw 148 , although threads 150 could also be formed to some extent in the walls of the tool bit driving socket. The tool bit driving socket is of an appropriate size to receive a shank of a tool bit such as the hexagonal shank 184 shown aligned with the open end of the socket 182 in FIG. 20 . The outer end of the retention spring 178 thus extends in through a wall of the socket 182 to press against a tool bit shank located in the socket 182 . The spring 178 is preferably located in such a position with respect to the length of the socket 182 that its outer end can extend slightly into a detent groove 186 defined in the shank 184 to hold the tool shank 184 in the socket 182 .
It will be appreciated that engagement of the projecting part 174 in the hole 172 is useful in keeping the upper and lower handles 32 and 34 aligned with each other when the tool 30 is used to rotate a tool bit whose shank 184 is engaged in the socket 182 .
Latch Mechanism for Folding Tool Blades:
Referring to FIGS. 22-24 , the previously mentioned latch mechanism will be explained in greater detail. In FIG. 22 , it will be seen that an aperture 188 is defined by the outer side or back 62 of the lower handle 34 adjacent its rear end 44 , and a long narrow spring 190 remains as a portion of the back 62 , extending axially with respect to the lower handle 34 into the open area of the aperture 188 from a remaining transverse band 191 of the material of the back 62 . The latch lever 46 has a pair of ears 192 located closely alongside the inner surfaces of the sides 73 of the lower handle 34 , and thus in positions straddling the spring 190 . The ears 192 define collinear bores to receive the pivot pin 48 , which extends transversely of the lower handle 34 through the collinear bores in the sides 73 and through the bores in the ears 192 . As may be seen in FIG. 23 , a protrusion 193 is provided on the rear end of the latch lever 46 , where the protrusion 193 rides against the free end of the spring 190 , deflecting it slightly inward with respect to the lower handle 34 when a tool blade, such as the combined file and screwdriver blade 194 , has been pivoted about the blade shaft 42 to an extended position.
In addition to the file blade 194 with its straight screwdriver tip, there may be additional tool blades, such as a narrow straight bladed screwdriver 196 combined with a bottle cap remover, a medium width screwdriver 198 , and a knife blade 200 , as well as the previously mentioned Phillips head screwdriver 176 . So that adjacent blades do not move with each other, these tool blades are preferably separated from one another along the blade pivot shaft 42 by thin spacers (not shown) that rest on the interior of the handle 34 and thus cannot rotate about the shaft 42 . Between the file blade 194 and the combined small screwdriver and bottle cap remover 196 , a lanyard eyelet 201 of thin sheet metal is provided. It will be appreciated that the lanyard eyelet 201 need not be in that location, but the screwdriver 196 , because of its small size, may be of reduced thickness to provide space conveniently for the lanyard eyelet 201 alongside the small screwdriver 196 . The lanyard eyelet 201 is preferably of a shape which is symmetrical about an imaginary line 203 shown in FIG. 23 , in order to simplify assembly of the tool 30 , and can be rotated into the handle if not being used.
The small screwdriver 196 and medium screwdriver 198 are preferably flat on their sides facing apart from each other, while the opposite faces, adjacent the centrally-located Phillips head screwdriver 176 , are tapered to the desired thickness of the edge of each of the screwdrivers 196 and 198 , leaving room for the cruciform tip of the Phillips head screwdriver 176 between them.
Each of the folding tool blades 176 , 194 , 196 , 198 , and 200 has a tang or base portion 210 defining a respective bore 214 through which the blade pivot shaft 42 passes with a close fit permitting each of the tool blades to rotate smoothly about the blade pivot shaft 42 . The base or tang 210 of each of the tool blades also includes a respective notch 202 to receive the catch body 204 located at one end of a catch carrier arm 206 portion of the latch lever 46 . On the opposite side of a pivot axis defined by the ears 192 and pivot pin 48 is a rear end or latch release push button portion 208 of the latch lever 46 , whose outer side preferably is provided with a non-slip surface such as the parallel grooves illustrated in FIG. 22 .
Approximately opposite the notch 202 on the tang or base 210 of each of the tool blades 176 , 194 , 196 , 198 and 200 , separated from the notch 202 by an angle of about 160 1801 , is an arcuate surface 216 , adjacent which is a cam lobe 218 . Between the cam lobe 218 and the notch 202 is a substantially arcuate margin surface 220 of a radius greater than that of the arcuate surface 216 preferably centered on the shaft 42 . A projecting face or kick 217 on each tool blade is provided to prevent each tool blade from moving too deeply into the channel of the lower handle 34 .
Within the notch 202 is an arcuate bottom surface 222 , adjoining an anti-folding face 224 extending inwardly from the surface 220 to define one side of the notch 202 . Opposite the anti-folding face 224 , and thus defining the opposite side of the notch 202 , is an abutment surface 226 . A radial dimension 228 , between the blade pivot shaft 42 and the arcuate surface 216 , and a radial dimension 230 , between the blade pivot shaft 42 and the arcuate bottom surface 222 of the notch 202 , are preferably equal to each other and at least as great as a minimum required for the tang 210 to be of ample strength. The arcuate surfaces 216 and 222 are preferably circular and concentric with the tool pivot shaft 42 to provide the greatest radial dimensions 228 and 230 for practicality, but other slightly different curvatures or locations of those surfaces could also be used in accordance with this invention.
As seen in FIG. 24 , the catch body 204 includes a rear face 232 , a bottom face including an arcuate surface 234 , and a front face 236 , which correspond respectively with the anti-folding surface 224 , the arcuate bottom surface 222 , and the abutment surface 226 of the notch 202 .
The push button end 208 of the latch lever 46 overhangs the back 62 of the handle 34 beyond the aperture 188 , as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 , so that the margin 238 of the aperture 188 performs as a positive stop to limit the range of motion of the push button or latch release portion 208 of the latch lever 46 , as shown in FIG. 24 . Ordinarily, the spring 190 , resting against the protrusion 193 , urges the latch lever 46 to rotate toward the position shown in FIG. 23 , in which the catch body 204 is mated fully within the notch 202 of any of the tool blades which is in its extended position, ready for use.
When the rear or push button portion 208 of the catch lever 46 is depressed fully to the position shown in FIG. 24 , the rear face 232 is disengaged from the anti-folding face 224 of the notch 202 , freeing an extended tool blade such as the file and screwdriver 194 to move, clockwise as shown in FIG. 24 , toward a folded position for storage within the handle 34 . Nevertheless, a part of the front face 236 , because of its greater length in a generally radial direction, remains opposite the abutment surface 226 within the notch 202 , preventing an extended tool blade from moving too far around the blade pivot shaft 42 in the direction away from the stowed, folded position in the lower handle 34 . Thus, regardless of the push button end 208 of the latch lever 46 having been depressed, a selected blade will not collapse in the direction of opening the blade beyond its normal extended position.
When the upper handle 32 is separated from the lower handle 34 , if the push button end 208 of the latch lever 46 is depressed to its limited position as shown in FIG. 24 , any tool blade which has been extended can then be rotated back into its storage position in the lower handle 34 , with the arcuate surface 234 of the catch body 204 riding along the outer arcuate surface 220 of the tang or tangs 210 . When the catch body 204 is thus riding along the arcuate surface 220 of one of the blades, others of the blades are also free to move between a folded position within the handle 34 and an extended position. Preferably, a small amount of side pressure is provided to keep the folding tool blades in their folded positions. Additionally, if one of the folding tool blades 176 , 194 , 196 , 198 or 200 is moved outwardly from its folded position within the lower handle 34 the cam 218 will raise the catch body 204 as such a blade is moved outward, releasing a blade that previously was in its extended position to be rotated about the blade pivot shaft 42 .
When all of the tool blades 176 , 194 , 196 , 198 and 200 or such blades as are located in the lower handle 34 in place of those specific blades, are folded, the spring 190 , acting against the protrusion 193 , keeps the folded tool blades in their respective folded positions by urging the catch body 204 against the arcuate surfaces 216 , and against the cam 218 of the tang 210 of any blade beginning to rotate away from the folded position.
The presence of the arcuate surface 234 , corresponding with the shape of the arcuate surfaces 216 and 222 , provides room between the catch body 204 and the blade pivot shaft 42 for ample material for strength of the tangs 210 . This shape also leaves room for an anti-folding surface 224 of ample size, and provides for the front face 236 to extend radially further into the handle 34 than the rear face 232 , so that the rear face 232 can be disengaged from the anti-folding face 224 without disengaging the front face 236 from the abutment 226 in the limited space available in a compact folding tool.
It will be noted that the Phillips screwdriver 176 , in its folded position, is inclined upward toward the margins of the sides 73 of the lower handle 34 so that its outer end is available to be engaged to lift the Phillips screwdriver 176 from its folded position. Accordingly, a notch 202 in the tang 210 of the Phillips screwdriver is aligned at a slightly different angle with respect to the kick 217 in order to have the shank of the Phillips screwdriver 176 aligned properly with the lower handle 34 in its extended position.
The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow. | A folding multipurpose tool including adjustable locking pliers with an over-center locking mechanism to retain the jaws in a gripping condition. The jaws of the locking pliers can be folded into the handles of the tool to produce a compact folded configuration. A latch mechanism in the tool handle retains a selected one of several folding tool bits or blades in an extended position for use and includes an abutment arrangement to prevent such a selected tool bit from being extended too far. A spring associated with a tool bit driving socket retains separate tool bits and resists inadvertent removal of an adjustment screw element of the locking pliers. Upon removal of the adjustment screw element, special bits, such as a corkscrew, can be screwed into the tool bit driving socket. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
The present application is related to a commonly assigned U.S. application entitled “Method For Assembly Of Personalized Enterprise Information Integrators Over Conjunctive Queries,” U.S. Ser. No. 11/946,130, filed on Nov. 28, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the electrical, electronic and computer arts, and, more particularly, to enterprise information integration (EII) systems and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current EII systems are generally aimed at scenarios with a large user base. These systems are often complex, and may require manual reconciliation of schemas. With current systems, the large demand typically justifies the relatively large costs involved. End-users of current systems usually expect precise answers for their queries. The SEMEX System, as discussed in X. Dong and A. Halevy, A Platform for Personal Information Management and Integration, CIDR 2005, offers users a flexible platform for personal information management by creating associations between data items on the users' desktop. However, SEMEX can only support building of integration systems for sources residing on the user's workstation. This implicitly makes the user “an expert” and also the “admin” for all the sources to be integrated. The solution is not appropriate when the user wants to combine sources operated by other users and accessible remotely.
The references (i) W. Shen, P. DeRose, L. Vu, A, Doan, R. Ramakrishnan, Source-aware Entity Matching: A Compositional Approach, ICDE 2007, and (ii) M. Sayyadian, H. LeKhac, A. Doan, L. Gravano, Efficient Keyword Search across Heterogeneous Relational Databases, ICDE 2007 support relational databases and do not provide support for quickly setting up a personalized mediator over autonomous sources.
FIG. 1 shows a prior-art EII system 100 . User 102 seeks to find employees with four years experience in the Java programming language. User 102 accesses global schema 104 which in turn accesses a plurality of source schemas 106 , 108 , and 110 . Each of these in turn accesses a database 112 , 114 , 116 through a corresponding wrapper 118 , 120 , 122 . The original motivation for system 100 may be, for example, an enterprise application, such as payroll, human resources, banking, and the like. Such systems typically require “Precise Integration,” target a large user base with long-term needs, and are time consuming and costly to build and maintain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Principles of the present invention provide techniques for assembly of personalized enterprise information integrators over conjunctive queries. In one aspect, an exemplary method (which can be computer implemented) for assembly of personalized enterprise information integrators over conjunctive queries, includes the steps of registering a plurality of sources; constructing a plurality of schemas based on the plurality of sources; and obtaining a desired output as a conjunctive query. The method further includes providing a list of potential connections between at least selected ones of the sources; and developing a plurality of join plans based on the connections.
One or more embodiments of the invention or elements thereof can be implemented in the form of a computer product including a computer usable medium with computer usable program code for performing the method steps indicated. Furthermore, one or more embodiments of the invention or elements thereof can be implemented in the form of an apparatus including a memory and at least one processor that is coupled to the memory and operative to perform exemplary method steps. Yet further, in another aspect, one or more embodiments of the invention or elements thereof can be implemented in the form of means for carrying out one or more of the method steps described herein; the means can include hardware module(s), software module(s), or a combination of hardware and software modules. As used herein, “facilitating” an action includes performing the action, making the action easier, helping to carry the action out, or causing the action to be performed. Thus, by way of example and not limitation, instructions executing on one processor might facilitate an action carried out by instructions executing on a remote processor, by sending appropriate data or commands to cause or aid the action to be performed.
One or more embodiments of the invention may offer one or more technical benefits; for example, an infrastructure that proactively helps an enterprise user in assembling an information integration system for answering queries that only the user may want to ask. One or more embodiments of the invention can be used in building and updating models of shared understanding, called Ontologies, as the information technology (IT) system evolves with time. One or more embodiments of the invention can also be used to detect emergent behavior in IT systems, and this also leads to better intelligence for enterprises.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent front the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 depicts enterprise integration according to the prior art;
FIG. 2 depicts exemplary schema registration and building according to an aspect of the invention;
FIG. 3 depicts exemplary filtering joins and building join plans according to an aspect of the invention;
FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary inventive integration framework;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing exemplary assembly of a personalized EII system, according to an aspect of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing exemplary querying of a personalized EII system, according to an aspect of the invention; and
FIG. 7 depicts a computer system that may be useful in implementing one or more aspects and/or elements of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
On-the-fly information integration refers to lightweight data management tasks that require combining information from multiple sources to achieve a task. One or more embodiments of the invention enable the non-technical users in an enterprise to easily integrate diverse sources, in some instances, even for transient tasks. Given a high level information need—specified as a conjunctive query suggesting a “desired output,” one or more embodiments of the invention help the user in quickly identifying the sources in the enterprise that can together answer the query. Further, one or more instances of the invention will help the user by suggesting possible associations between the various chosen datasets, and will enable users to easily incorporate new data sources into the database using an inventive source registration step, discussed below. One or more aspects of the invention also help in priming up the dataset for integration with other (tobe) registered sources. Thus, various instances or aspects of the invention enable a user to quickly build an integrator to find answers to (often personal) information needs from enterprise-wide data sources.
One or more embodiments of the invention provide a novel framework for building personalized mediation systems for answering conjunctive queries using enterprise-wide sources and services. Instances of the inventive domain-independent framework support publishing Source Information (data and services) without knowing the complete global model, e.g., schema models. A “desired output” model is then accepted and an integration scheme is suggested. Techniques are provided to recommend mapping between source schema and global schema to publisher. Additional techniques provide easy information extraction from the integration scheme, support keyword searches over the personalized integration scheme, provide ranked results and explanations, and/or automatically gather cost-metrics and performance statistics.
In another aspect, a domain independent method is provided for mapping data sources that have been registered by different users, without the presence of a single global schema. The mappings may be identified, for example, using syntactic matching techniques or derived from past linkage models in turn derived from integration systems built by other users. Once the mappings are approved by the user, one or more embodiments of the invention will then suggest various possible plans for combining the information from the sources along with a cost based ranking of such plans. The user can pick an appropriate plan, and preferably, the best plan, to set up the personalized integration system and then issue conjunctive queries over the system. One or more inventive techniques can be easily extended to support a variety of querying formats and languages, including keyword search and support for ranked answers for queries issued by the users.
Aspects of the invention will be illustrated using a non-limiting example. Consider a mid-level Project Manager who is interested in identifying the average cost of setting up a new 10 member team for developing a custom software application. Also, he or she would like to identify potential team members and their availability. It will be appreciated that this example is one which addresses satisfaction of an immediate need, of interest to a single user or a very small subset of users. The user may well be ready to trade completeness for speed and lower cost. With reference to FIG. 2 , in terms of sources 202 , cost metrics for various stages of the project can be estimated by querying a projects database 204 . Team member identification can be done using an employee profile database 206 and also a new applicant database 208 .
The skilled artisan is familiar with the basics of databases. A database is a repository of data whose structure is explicitly defined in a standardized representation called a schema. All data instances in the database would conform to the defined schema of the database. Data can be stored outside databases also, like on a file system. In this case, the structure is unknown up-front, and such data is called unstructured data. Data can be also represented in semi-structured format like extensible mark-up language (XML) where its structure is not restricted up-front but can be automatically extracted out by the syntax in which the data is stored. One or more embodiments of the invention address data in one, some, and/or all of the three forms.
In terms of constraints, there will likely be many sources with varying schemas. The need being immediate, and not generic enough, makes it infeasible to build a system to integrate the sources from scratch. Even assuming the sources have easily reconcilable schema, the project manager may not have time and the necessary expertise to integrate the sources. Schema building, based on registration suggestions and content, is shown at 210 , is discussed in greater detail below.
It should be noted that information sources may be partially or completely autonomous. The number of sources is typically in the hundreds. There may be structured sources, e.g., relational databases (used by EII systems); semi-structured sources, e.g. spreadsheets, emails, web pages, web logs (“blogs”), and the like; and unstructured sources, e.g. reports, publications, manuals and so on. The source schema and content may change, and sources may enter and/or leave the integration environment
FIG. 3 shows the schema building aspect 210 of FIG. 2 , wherein joins have been filtered, as indicated by the “X” notation next to certain entries. As shown at 312 , there are three suggested join plans in this instance, namely. Schema 1 , Schema 2 , and Schema 3 . A possible query from Schema 3 is shown at block 314 .
Attention should now be given to FIG. 4 , depicting exemplary framework 400 , and to flow chart 500 of FIG. 5 . Initially, a step of source registration and schema building is carried out, as per blocks 402 and 404 in FIG. 4 and steps 502 and 504 in FIG. 5 . The user 406 can register the source (such as 408 , 410 , or 412 ) by providing an access path and then selecting the schema to publish. The various elements (attributes) in the schema can be enhanced by providing metadata such as the type of attribute, a sample instance, etc. Providing such information will help the framework in finding potential combinations. This step is optional if the user has no new source to contribute. Registered sources can be stored in sourcebase 414 . Source registration block 402 may carry out both registration and annotation functions, as indicated, at blocks 416 , 418 .
One exemplary inventive approach to iteratively building a “Desired Output” based personalized enterprise information integrator will now be set forth. The user 460 provides a “desired output” to the system in the form of a “conjunctive query”. For illustrative purposes, the exemplary embodiment employs a simple syntax for such a query, like the widely accepted SQL. Given the high level goal, potential sources that can be used to answer such a query are identified. The user 460 can optionally add and/or remove sources to the identified list. Once the sources are accepted by the user, using schema matching techniques along with information from the plan libraries, a list of potential connections (joins) between the sources is provided. The user can filter out the connections if need be and then proceed towards a join plan creation at step 520 . The system can then automatically generate various join plans and use statistical information about the sources to provide cost metrics for each such plan. The user 460 can pick the best plan as per his understanding which will then be registered as the schema for the user's personalized information integrator. The user 406 can be same as the user 460 ; however, in a general case, he may be a totally different user who just decided to register the source. Hence, FIG. 4 shows a different user icon 406 to represent a separate user from user 460 .
Schema builder 404 can include a personalized schema designer 430 and a mapper 432 . Thus, builder 404 accesses the source schema and selects appropriate users' schema for the user 460 . The metadata mentioned elsewhere herein can be contained in metabase 434 . The user's query can be provided to query engine 436 , including intelligent query builder 438 and dynamic executor 440 . Engine 436 outputs the results as shown. Learner 442 includes source monitor 444 and metadata miner 446 , and may be accessed by query engine 436 when processing queries to obtain results.
The details of functionality for source registration 402 and for the schema builder 404 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 . The query engine 436 allows users to query over the personalized mediator. The query could be, for example, in SQL or just keywords, and these will be converted into the necessary format by the intelligent query builder 438 . The dynamic executor will use the source statistics provided by the learner 442 to schedule execution of the query. This involves ordering the call sequence of the sources, eliminating duplicates and creating the final output to be sent to the user.
With attention now to flow chart 600 of FIG. 6 , an example of executing queries over the personalized information integrator will now be set forth. The system allows user to execute an SQL and/or keyword query over the personalized integrator registered by the user. If new matching sources are found after registration then those will be shown to the user and user can opt to add them into the source querying pool for answering the queries. The system will automatically create a query plan for the new source identified for the integrator, as shown at step 602 . Ranked answers with explanations can be provided by plugging in various ranking models, as shown at step 604 .
One or more embodiments of the invention thus provide a framework for publishing source information (data and services) without knowledge of the complete global model, e.g., schema models. Further, one or more embodiments also provide an approach that accepts a “desired output” model and suggests an integration scheme, and techniques to recommend, to a user, mapping between a source schema and a user schema. An advantage of the on-the-fly integration over autonomous sources is the significant value-add for information integration tools.
Exemplary System and Article of Manufacture Details
A variety of techniques, utilizing dedicated hardware, general purpose processors, firmware, software, or a combination of the foregoing may be employed to implement the present invention or components thereof. One or more embodiments of the invention, or elements thereof, can be implemented in the form of a computer product including a computer usable medium with computer usable program code for performing the method steps indicated. Furthermore, one or more embodiments of the invention, or elements thereof, can be implemented in the form of an apparatus including a memory and at least one processor that is coupled to the memory and operative to perform exemplary method steps.
One or more embodiments can make use of software running on a general purpose computer or workstation. With reference to FIG. 7 , such an implementation might employ, for example, a processor 702 , a memory 704 , and an input/output interface formed, for example, by a display 706 and a keyboard 708 . The terra “processor” as used herein is intended to include any processing device, such as, for example, one that includes a CPU (central processing unit) and/or other forms of processing circuitry. Further, the term “processor” may refer to more than one individual processor. The term “memory” is intended to include memory associated with a processor or CPU, such as, for example, RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), a fixed memory device (for example, hard drive), a removable memory device (for example, diskette), a flash memory and the like, in addition, the phrase “input/output interface” as used herein, is intended to include, for example, one or more mechanisms for inputting data to the processing unit (for example, mouse), and one or more mechanisms for providing results associated with the processing unit (for example, printer). The processor 702 , memory 704 , and input/output interface such as display 706 and keyboard 708 can be interconnected, for example, via bus 710 as part of a data processing unit 712 . Suitable interconnections, for example via bus 710 , can also be provided to a network interface 714 , such as a network card, which can be provided to interface with a computer network, and to a media interface 716 , such as a diskette or CD-ROM drive, which can be provided to interface with media 718 .
Accordingly, computer software including instructions or code for performing the methodologies of the invention, as described herein, may be stored in one or more of the associated memory devices (for example, ROM, fixed or removable memory) and, when ready to be utilized, loaded in part or in whole (for example, into RAM) and executed by a CPU. Such software could include, but is not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like.
Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium (for example, media 718 ) providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can store program code to execute one or more method steps set forth herein.
The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid-state memory (for example memory 704 ), magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette (for example media 718 ), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.
A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code includes at least one processor 702 coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements 704 through a system bus 710 . The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk; storage during execution.
Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards 708 , displays 706 , pointing devices, and the like) can be coupled to the system either directly (such as via bus 710 ) or through intervening I/O controllers (omitted for clarity).
Network adapters such as network interface 714 may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.
In any case, it should be understood mat the components illustrated herein may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, or combinations thereof, for example, application specific integrated circuits) (ASICS), functional circuitry, one or more appropriately programmed general purpose digital computers with associated memory, and the like. Given the teachings of the invention provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate other implementations of the components of the invention.
It will be appreciated and should be understood that the exemplary embodiments of the invention described above can be implemented in a number of different fashions. Given the teachings of the invention provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate other implementations of the invention. Indeed, although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. | A plurality of sources are registered. A plurality of schemas are constructed, based on the plurality of sources. A desired output is obtained as a conjunctive query. A list of potential connections between at least selected ones of the sources is provided. A plurality of join plans are developed, based on the connections. | 6 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to a voltage inverter circuit usable with a DC power supply, and more particularly, to such an inverter circuit having improved efficiency of operation provided by discrete and Darlington transistors connected in parallel for selective operation, by generating a pulse width modulated signal representative of a first order linear approximation of the output RMS voltage as determined from a non-load side of a power transformer, by low-load pulse width control circuitry for substantially reducing the output power generated during near no-load conditions, by protection circuitry which reduces the operation of the circuit to a level non-destructive of the circuit components during excessive load conditions, or by suppression circuitry which feeds energy from voltage spikes back into the DC power supply.
Voltage inverters typically invert a DC voltage (for example, the 12, 24 or 48 volts typically found in motor vehicles and other portable equipment) to an AC voltage, such as 117 volts RMS at 60 Hz. Such inverters make it possible to provide AC power to equipment requiring alternating power from a DC power supply which is typically portable and isolated from an utility electric power distribution system.
A wide variety of inverter circuits exist. Some circuits are single ended and others are of a push-pull type having a center-tapped transformer. In order to obtain alternating current on the secondary of the transformer it is necessary to drive current through a primary coil or coils alternately in reverse directions. With the advent of transistors, electronic switching of the current through the coil has been achieved by using transistors as switches. Typically for low power considerations individual or discrete transistors are used as the switching element. For high power applications, Darlington-configuration transistors have been used.
Also, in order to regulate the operation of the switches to provide a fairly continuous output load, the load is measured on the secondary coil with sensed changes being used to control the operation of the switches on the primary side of the transformer. Otherwise, typically, the switches are controlled in order to maintain them relative to a reference source or voltage without monitoring the actual secondary voltage output.
The U.S. patent to Williamson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,393) discloses a single-sided inverter which measures what is termed a flyback voltage supplied to a capacitor as reflected on the primary coil. This voltage is then compared to a reference voltage for generating a pulse width control signal.
Other conventional inverters have complex feedback circuits which measure the RMS of the output voltage for generating a control signal. Also, during very low-load conditions, circuits typically dissipate a significant amount of energy in the switching elements even though very little load is transmitted to the secondary coil for output. Circuit protection portions of inverters conventionally disable the working circuit as soon as an excessive load is detected. This does not allow for continued operation of the circuit while measures are taken to correct the overload condition.
In the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, an inverter circuit is provided which has a pair of discrete transistors connected in parallel with a Darlington transistor with a current apportioning voltage divider connected between their respective bases. It further includes a transistor switch controller which senses the voltage on the non-load side of the primary coil of a transformer for generating a pulse width modulated signal which is a first order linear approximation of voltage on the secondary or output coil. A low-load sensing circuit reduces the pulse width of the control signal to the transistor switches to about 1/3 of its normal width. High current protection is provided in a circuit which senses when the power through the switch exceeds a maximum level. When it does, the control signal pulse is reduced to a very narrow pulse which is not of sufficient duration to harm the transistor switches. This narrow pulsing continues until either the problem causing the overload condition is removed from the secondary coil or a disabling circuit prevents any further operation of the transistor switches. Finally, a spike suppression circuit is provided which stores energy from voltage spikes caused by the switching operation and feeds them back to the power supply through a transistor.
It can be seen that such a circuit provides for improved efficiency of operation by using discrete transistors as switches during low-load conditions and saving the Darlington transistors for the high load operation when they are more efficient. Further, the low-load pulse width limiting circuit provides for continued operation of the system during near no-load conditions while maintaining an output at the desired voltage. The circuit protection provided in this circuit ensures that the transistor switches will not operated beyond their power capabilities. Further, it has the inherent advantage of being useful for starting motors when current required is typically higher than normal operating currents by starting the motors very slowly and bringing them up to speed. This permits starting larger motors than otherwise would be possible. Further, energy is saved by feeding back a substantial portion of the energy occurring in the inevitable switching spikes. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram showing the major components of an inverter made according to the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show the detailed circuit making up the inverter of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows voltage waveforms occurring during operation of the circuit at selected points within the circuit of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1, an inverter shown generally at 10 made as contemplated by this invention includes a center-tap transformer, shown generally at 12, a DC power supply 14, a spike suppressor 16, a pair of switches 18, 20 and a switch controller 22 shown in dashed outline. The inverter without power supply 14 is also referred to as an inverter circuit.
Transformer 12 includes a primary coil 24 having a left end tap 26, a center tap 28 and a right end tape 30, as shown. The transformer also includes a secondary coil 32 having output terminals 34, 36.
Power supply 14 has a 12 voltage DC output voltage with a positive lead on a terminal 38 and a negative or grounded lead on a terminal 40.
Switch 18, also referred to as switch means, is connected to left transformer end tap 26 as well as to supply terminal 40. Switch 20 is connected to primary end tap 30 and to terminal 40. Spike suppressor 16 is connected between the end transformer taps as well as to center tap 28.
Switch controller, or switch controller means, 22 includes a voltage sampler 42, a low-load responder 44, and a circuit protector 46 each of which have connections to each end tap of transformer 12. These three circuits each provide an input into a pulse width modulator, or modulation means, 48 which receives pulses from a reference pulse generator, or generator means, 50. Modulator 48 provides what is referred to as an intermediate signal on a lead 52 which is connected to a pair of switch drivers, or driver means, 54, 56. The two drivers are both connected to terminal 38 of the DC power supply through a lead 58. Further, drivers 54, 56 are connected through leads 60, 62, respectively, which transmit what is referred to as a switch controller signal to switches 18, 20, respectively.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 2A and 2B which show in detail the circuit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A in particular shows transformer 12, power supply 14, spike suppressor 16, switches 18, 20 and switch drivers 54, 56.
Power supply 14 is connected at its positive terminal 38 through a 100 amp circuit breaker 64 to center tap 28 and to ground through a 2200 microfarad, 16 volt, capacitor 66. It is also connected to a control circuit power supply shown generally at 67 through a diode 68 and an on/off switch 69. The cathode of diode 68 is connected to lead 58. The battery voltage, shown as V b , nominally has a value of 12 volts. A voltage divider circuit containing a 27 ohm, 2 watt resistor 70, a 5 volt, 1/2 amp voltage regulator 72 and two 10 kiloohm resistors 74, 76 connected in series to ground, as shown. This provides a 5 volt reference voltage at V r and a 2.5 volt nominal "ground" at V g . The ends of resistor 74 are also connected to ground through 0.1 microfarad capacitors 78, 80. The low voltage end of resistor 70 is also connected to ground through a microfarad capacitor 82.
Spike suppressor, or suppression means, 16, shown at the right margin of FIG. 2A includes a pair of diodes 84, 86, joined at their anodes to transformer end taps 26, 30, respectively. The cathodes of the two diodes are joined and connected to ground through a 1,000 microfarad, 50 volt, capacitor, or capacitor means, 88. The junction between the diodes is also connected to the battery through a 1 ohm, 10 watt resistor 90 connected to the collector of a transistor (MJ 802) 92, also referred to as power draining transistor means. The emitter of the transistor is connected to the battery. Connected between the collector and base of the transistor is an 18 volt, 5 watt zener diode 94. A 1/2 watt, 47 ohm resistor 96 is connected between the anode of the zener diode and the base of transistor 92.
It will be noted that the circuits for switch driver 56 and associated switch 20 is a mirror image of switch driver 54 and switch 18. In order to simplify the following discussion, it will therefore be understood that the description of switch driver 54 and switch 18 will also apply to the other switch driver and switch.
A Darlington transistor (TIP 127) 100 is connected at its emitter terminal to lead 58. The collector terminal is connected to lead 60 which is also shown as reference A. The corresponding lead reference in switch driver 56 is shown as B. Lead 60 is connected to switch 18 through a current divider, also referred to as current divider means, shown generally at 102. Divider 102 includes what is referred to as a discrete transistor portion which consists of a diode 104 connected at its anode to lead 60 and at its cathode to the bases of a pair of discrete transistors, or discrete transistor means, 106, 108, through a 1/2 ohm, 20 watt resistor 110. What is referred to as a Darlington transistor portion or other portion of divider 102 is a 1 ohm, 1/2 watt, resistor 112 connected at one end to lead 60 and at its other end to the base terminal of a power Darlington transistor, or Darlington transistor means, (MJ 11048) 114 through a pair of diodes 116, 118, as shown.
The collectors of discrete transistors 106, 108 and Darlington transistor 114 are all connected to transformer end tap 26 through a lead 120. The emitters of the respective transistors are also connected to circuit ground. Further, a 47 ohm, 1/2 watt resistor 122 is connected between the base and the emitter of transistors 106, 108.
Lead 60 is also connected to the negative terminal of an op amp 124 through a diode 126 connected in series with a 22K ohm resistor 128. (All op amps and logic gates are 324 7408 or 7474, 4SCLS.) The negative input terminal is also connected to ground through a 15K resistor 130 and to the op amp output terminal through a 200K ohm resistor 132.
The positive input terminal of the op amp is connected to lead 120 through a 10K ohm resistor 134 and is further connected to ground through a 5 volt zener diode 136.
The output of op amp 124 is connected to the base of a common-emitter transistor (PN 2222) 138 through a 100K ohm resistor 140. The base of the transistor is connected to ground through a 0.01 microfarad capacitor 142. The collector of transistor 138 is connected to ground through a 10K ohm variable resistor 144 and a 6.8K ohm resistor 146 connected in series.
An AND gate 148 is connected at its inputs to lead 52 and another lead 150 which is connected to a pulse generator to be described in further detail with reference to FIG. 2B. The output of gate 148 is connected to the positive input terminal of a comparator 152. The negative input to the comparator is connected to V g as a reference. The output of comparator 152 is connected to the base terminal of a transistor (PN 2222) 154 through a 1K ohm resistor 156. The emitter of transistor 154 is directly connected to the collector of transistor 138. The collector of transistor 154 is connected to the base input terminal of Darlington transistor 100 through a 1K ohm resistor 157. This completes the description of switch driver 54.
Referring now to FIG. 2B and continuing the discussion of switch controller 22 generally, and describing specifically voltage sampler 42, the primary coil end taps 26, 30, and therefore the collectors of switches 18, 20, respectively, are connected to the anodes of a pair of diodes 158, 160, respectively shown in the lower left portion of the figure. The cathodes of these diodes are both connected to ground through the series connection of a 594K ohm resistor 162 and a 120K ohm resistor 164. The value of resistor 162 may be achieved by connecting a 680K ohm resistor in parallel with a 4.7 megohm resistor.
The junction between resistors 162, 164 is connected to the negative input of an op amp 166. The positive terminal of this op amp is connected to the nominal ground, V g . A 100K ohm feedback resistor 168 connects the output to the negative input of the op amp. The output of op amp 166 is connected through another 100K ohm resistor 170 to the negative input of another op amp 172. Again, the positive input to this op amp is connected to reference voltage V g and further has a 220K ohm feedback resistor 174 connecting the output of the op amp to the negative input.
The negative input to op amp 172 is also connected to a voltage divider network which includes a 594K ohm resistor 176 connected between the input terminal and battery voltage V b . The input terminal is also connected to ground through a 120K ohm resistor 178. It is further connected to the 5 volt reference voltage V r through a 100K ohm resistor 180 connected in series with a 100K ohm variable resistor 182.
The output of op amp 172 is connected to the negative input of another op amp 184 through a 150K ohm resistor 186. This negative input is also connected to ground through a 1 microfarad capacitor 188. The positive input to op amp 184 is connected to low-load responder 44 which will be described shortly. It is also connected through a 100K ohm feedback resistor 190 to the input of op amp 184. Further, the positive input is connected through a 10K ohm resistor 192 to the tap of a 10K ohm potentiometer 194. Potentiometer 194 is connected at one end to ground and at the other end to reference voltage V r through a 10K ohm resistor 196.
The output of op amp 184 is connected to the negative input of another op amp 198 through a 100K ohm resistor 200. This negative input is also connected to ground through a 0.1 microfarad capacitor 202. Completing a description of pulse width modulator 48, op amp 198 is connected at its positive terminal to pin 2 of a pulse generator (555) 204 through a 100K ohm resistor 206. The output of op amp 198 is coupled as an input to an AND gate 208. The output of gate 208 is connected to lead 52 which has been discussed previously.
Pulse generator 204 is a portion of what is referred to as pulse generator means or simply as pulse generator 50. As can be seen in the figure, pin 1 is grounded. Pin 2 is connected to resistor 206 as was just described. Pin 3 is connected to the clock (CK) terminal of a frequency divider (7474a) 210. Terminals 4 and 8 are connected directly to 5 volt reference voltage, V r . Terminal 5 is connected to ground through a 0.1 microfarad capacitor 212. Terminal 6 and 2 are connected to ground through another 0.1 microfarad capacitor 214. Terminals 2 and 6 are also connected to reference voltage V r through a series connection of a 54K ohm resistor 216, a 20K ohm variable resistor 218 and a 100K ohm resistor 220. Terminal 7 is connected to the junction between resistor 216 and variable resistor 218.
The S and CL terminals of the frequency divider are connected to reference voltage V r . Terminal D is connected to inverted output Q which is connected to lead 150. Output Q is connected to a lead similar to lead 150 which is connected to an AND gate in switch driver 56 similar to gate 148 in switch driver 54.
Directing attention now to low-load responder 44, a pair of differential amplifiers 222 and 224 are connected at their positive or non-inverting input terminals to the collectors of the switch transistors through resistors. In the case of amplifier 222 this resistor is resistor 134 shown in switch driver 54 in FIG. 2A. The inverting inputs to these two amplifiers are connected in common to the tap of a 10K potentiometer 226. This potentiometer is connected at one end to ground and at the other end to reference voltage V r through a 12K ohm resistor 228.
The output of amplifiers 222 and 224 are each connected to the inputs of an AND gate 230 the output of which forms an input to another AND gate 232. The other input to gate 232 is connected to the output of gate 198. The output of gate 232 is connected to the inverting side of an op amp 234 through a parallel connection of a diode 236, the anode of which is connected to gate 232, and a 12K ohm resistor 238. The inverting input terminal to op amp 234 is also connected to ground through a 10 microfarad capacitor 240. The non-inverting input terminal is connected to the tap of a potentiometer 242 which is connected between ground and reference voltage V r .
The output of op amp 234 drives the base of a common-emitter transistor (PN 2222) 244 through a 10K ohm resistor 246. The collector is connected to the non-inverting input of op amp 184 through a 2.2K ohm resistor 248. This completes the structural description of low-load responder 44.
The final circuit portion to be described is the circuit protector 46 shown in FIG. 2B. Two op amps 250, 252 have their non-inverting input terminals connected to the non-inverting input terminals of op amps 222, 224, respectively. The inverting input terminals of the two op amps are connected to the tap of a 10K ohm potentiometer 254 which is connected between ground and reference voltage V r .
The output of the two op amps provide the inputs to an AND gate 256. The output of this AND gate along with the output from op amp 198 provides the two inputs to another AND gate 258. The output of this latter gate is connected to the non-inverting input of an op amp 260 through a 6.8K ohm resistor 262. The same non-inverting input is also connected to an input of AND gate 208 through a diode 264. That input is also connected to ground through 0.1 microfarad capacitor 266.
The inverting input to op amp 260 is connected to the nominal ground reference voltage V g . The output of the op amp is connected through a diode 268 to the inverting input of another operational amplifier 270. That input is also connected to the tap of a 10K ohm potentiometer 272 connected between V r and ground.
The non-inverting input to op amp 270 is connected to the connection between a pair of resistors forming a voltage divider with a 330K ohm resistor 274 connecting the terminal to battery voltage V b and a 100K ohm resistor 276 connecting it to ground. Resistor 276 is connected in parallel with a 33 l microfarad capacitor 278. A 1 megohm resistor 280 forms a feedback path between the output of op amp 270 and the non-inverting input.
The output of op amp 270 forms the input of an AND gate 282 as well as an inverting to an op amp 284. The non-inverting input to op amp 284 is connected to nominal ground reference V g . The output of this op amp is connected to ground through a 180 ohm resistor 286, a diode 288 connected as shown, and an LED 290.
The output of gate 282 is connected to the "clear" (CL) terminal of a flip-flop (7474b) 292. Both the D and S terminals of the flip-flop are connected to reference voltage V r . The clock (CK) input is connected to terminal 3 of pulse generator 204. The inverse output terminal Q is connected to the non-inverting input of an op amp 294. The inverting input is connected to nominal ground reference V g . Its output is connected to ground through a 300 ohm resistor 296 and an LED 298.
Output of Q flip-flop 292 is the input of gate 208 which is connected to the cathode of diode 264. The same output is also connected to reference voltage V r through a 100K ohm resistor 300 in series with a normally open switch 302. The connection between the resistor and switch is also connected to ground through a 100 microfarad capacitor 304. The same connection is connected to the non-inverting input of an operational amplifier 306. The inverting input to this amplifier is connected to nominal ground reference V g . Its output is connected to and forms the second input to gate 282. This completes a structural description of circuit protector 46 as well as the entire inverter 10.
OPERATION
Spike Suppressor 16
Because the power transistors in switches 18, 20 turn off very quickly, large spikes can appear from the inductance of transformer 12 which can cause secondary breakdown in the power transistors. Diodes 84, 86 feed the spikes into the 1,000 microfarad capacitor 88. Transistor 92 drains the charge off this capacitor over the rest of the cycle down to 18 volts, at which time zener diode 94 turns off the transistor. The capacitor absorbs the extremely high current spike which would be difficult to do with just the transistor. It should further be noted that the transistor feeds the spike current back into the battery instead of to ground in order to conserve on energy, and thereby enhance the efficiency of the inverter.
Pulse Generation
Switch 69 is used to turn the circuit on. When it is on, the signal starts with a 120 Hz. square wave generated by pulse generator 204 on pin 3. This frequency is established by resistors 216, 218 and 220. The output clocks flip-flop 210 to produce a 60 Hz. square wave on lead 150. An inverse wave is generated on the lead connected to output Q. The waveform on lead 150 alternately turns on AND gate 148 assuming its other input is also high.
Output 2 of the pulse generator is a triangle wave which is fed to comparator 198 and compared with the output of op amp 184 as will be described in further detail subsequently. Thus, the output of comparator 198 is a pulse whose duty cycle is controlled by the output of op amp 184. This is gated through AND gate 208 and "anded" again at gate 148.
Reference should be made at this point to FIG. 3 which shows the waveforms at various points in the circuit. The voltages applied by the battery is represented by waveform 308 shown in FIG. 3A. It will be noted that each time division shown is approximately 1/2 cycle with a 12-volt battery supply voltage being applied during the initial 11/2 cycles. During the following cycle a somewhat higher voltage is applied, followed by 1/2 cycle of normal voltage and then a cycle of below 12-volt supply voltage. The last cycle and a half are at 12-volts supply voltage but are assumed to be at an extremely low-load or near 0 load condition. The triangle wave 310 included in FIG. 3B represents the input received on comparator 198 from generator 204. As will become apparent in the subsequent discussion the other waveform 312 shown in the same figure represents the other input received from op amp 184.
FIG. 3C represents the pulse width modulated output from comparator 198 resulting from the two inputs shown in FIG. 3B. FIG. 3D shows the waveform generated on lead 150 from flip-flop 210. It can be seen that this waveform has 1-second cycles and therefore represents the 60 Hz. waveform described previously. Assuming that the other input to gate 208 is normally high, the output from comparator 198 is transmitted directly through to gate 148. FIG. 3E thus represents the output from gate 148. This creates alternating pulses at comparator 152 which in turn alternately pulses transistor 154. This ultimately causes alternating pulses to occur on lead 60, as shown in FIG. 3F. Ultimately, alternating pulses are applied to the transformer as are represented in FIG. 3G by waveform 322. This produces the AC voltage on secondary coil 32 shown in FIG. 3H as waveform 324.
Switches
At low powers the V ce (on) of discrete transistors 106, 108 is very low, 0.1 volt to 0.5 volts, and the HFE is large making discretes very efficient at low powers. However, at high powers the HFE drops and the V ce goes up sharply. Darlington transistor 114 has a minimum V ce (on) of about 0.7 volts making them less efficient at low power than the discrete transistors. However, at high powers their V ce (on) rises very slowly and the HFE remains quite high. This means they are very efficient at high powers. The combination of both discrete and Darlington transistors provides for increased efficiency at both low and high powers. Also, as will be more clear from later discussion, the V ce (on) of the discrete transistors at low powers is used as a signal to indicate whether there is a load for the low-load responder.
When a diode is conducting it has a voltage drop of approximately 1/2 volt. It will be noted that an extra diode is connected to the gate or base of power Darlington 114 to assure that at lower powers, when a small amount of base current is provided on lead 60 by the driver Darlington transistor 100, the base current is not wasted on Darlington transistor 114. At higher powers, transistor 100 puts out more current making a higher voltage across resistor 110 connected to the base of the discrete transistors. This provides enough voltage on lead 60 to produce a voltage across both diodes 116, 118 in order to push current through resistor 112 and into the base of transistor 114. When transistor 100 is putting out its maximum current of approximately 5 amps, Darlington transistor 114 takes about 1 amp of the base current and the two discrete transistors get about 4 amps.
Power Base Current Control
The voltage from the collectors of the power transistors in switch 18 is fed to op amp 124 through resistor 134 where it is clamped by zener diode 136. The zener keeps the op amp from being damaged in its off state. When a power transistor is on, the amount of base current required to saturate it is, more or less, directly proportional to the collector current. Also, if the transistor is saturated, and V ce is more or less directly proportional to the collector current. Thus, by making the base current proportional to the collector-to-emitter voltage, saturation is obtained with a minimum of base current over a wide range of powers. This greatly increases the efficiency of the inverter at low powers.
Op amp 124 provides feedback control for the base current. The base current, identified at "A", is fed to the op amp through diode 126 which cancels out the base-to-emitter voltage of the discrete power transistors. Resistors 128, 130 provide the desired scaling and resistor 132 lowers the gain to prevent oscillation. Since this feedback loop senses both the base current and the V ce (on), it is immune to differences in transistors 100, 138. When the V ce (on)=1.1 volts then transistor 138, and thus transistor 100, put out their maximum current. Variable resistor 144 is adjusted so that, at very low powers, the base current is less than 0.1 amp but not so low that the feedback circuit oscillates.
Voltage Regulation
Voltage regulation of the output is achieved using pulse width modulation. This is a very important feature since the battery voltage can vary from 11 volts to 14 volts. When one set of power transistors conducts it brings it's side of the primary almost to ground. At the same time, the other side of the primary goes an equal amount above the "+" battery voltage. This side of the primary is unloaded and so has no "IR" drop and gives a good representation of what the output voltage is. This can be seen particularly with reference to waveform 322 in FIG. 3G. The voltage on the unloaded side is actually a constant times the output voltage plus the "+" battery voltage. Thus, whichever half of the primary is unloaded (high) goes through diode 158 or 160 and is attenuated and inverted by op amp 166. The positive battery voltage is added along with a constant adjusted by potentiometer 182 in op amp 172. Feedback resistor 174 adjusts the magnitude of the resultant output. Both op amps 166 and 172 use the nominal ground of approximately 2.5 volts.
The output of op amp 172 is equal to the term k(V p -V b )+c, where V p is the unloaded side of the primary, V b is the positive battery voltage, and c is adjusted by potentiometer 182.
In order to make the power delivered to the load constant it is necessary for the signal for the feedback loop to be proportional to the square of the voltage averaged over time. Since it is a feedback loop, it is not necessary to take the square route of it for constant RMS voltage. Let V m be the middle voltage about which the output is to be regulated. If V o is the actual output voltage, then V o 2 =[V m +(V o -V m )] 2 =V m 2 +2V m V o -2V m 2 +(V o -V m ) 2 . If (V o -V m ) is much smaller than the V m then we can drop the (V o -V m ) 2 term for an approximation. This gives V o 2 ≅2V m V o -V m 2 =k(V o )+c=k(V p -V b )+c. When c is adjusted, it also compensates for the offset that arises from using V g for ground. This approximation technique works easily within the accuracy required for an inverter and eliminates the expense and problems and complexity of using an analog multiplier. Capacitor 188 averages V o 2 for a short time and potentiometer 194 adjusts the output voltage.
The final effect of this portion of the pulse width modulation circuit is that if V o 2 (averaged) is low, then the inverting input to op amp 198 is lowered and the pulse width is widened, thereby completing the feedback loop. This effect can be seen with reference to the two input waveforms 310, 312 shown in FIG. 3B and the output waveform 314, shown in FIG. 3C, of op amp 198. Capacitor 202 helps to keep down oscillation. It should be noted that potentiometer 182 and 194 are adjusted together to compensate for all the combined inaccuracies of all the components.
Automatic Load Demand
Reference will now be made to the low-load responder 44 shown specifically in FIG. 2B. Responder 44 is also referred to herein as automatic low-load voltage reduction means. It can be seen that the non-inverting inputs of op amps 222, 224 sample the collector-to-emitter voltage of the power transistors. Potentiometer 226 provides for a level of comparison and AND gate 230 indicates when the output of both op amps is higher than this level at the same time. AND gate 232 samples only when either side should be on since one of its inputs is the output of op amp 198. Thus, if V ce (on) is greater than the adjusted value, because I c is greater than a specified value, then a positive signal is obtained from gate 232 that charges capacitor 240. Resistor 238 and diode 236 steady the signal even when the pulses are narrow. Thus, when the output load is greater than the adjusted value, the voltage at the inverting input of op amp 234 is higher.
Potentiometer 242 adjusts for the best comparison level. When op amp 234 is high, it turns on transistor 244 and cuts the "RMS" output to 41 volts by lowering the voltage applied to the non-inverting terminal of op amp 184.
Thus, when the load is below the specified value, the output pulse width is drastically narrowed, making for a tremendous energy savings at no-load. Potentiometer 226 is normally adjusted for a value equivalent to 20 watts. With the no-load narrow pulse width, the peaks maintain the same height so electronic power supplies of light electronic equipment still work. As soon as the load increases, transistor 244 is turned off and the full voltage reappears.
Circuit Protector
Reference is now directed specifically to circuit protector 46 shown in detail in FIG. 2B. A dual op amp and AND gate configuration very similar to that shown in the low-load responder is used. Op amps 250, 252 and AND gates 256, 258 indicate when V ce (on), and thus the I c of the power transistors is exceeding a value provided by the adjustment of potentiometer 254. However, this time it is adjusted for a level which is considered to be dangerous for the power transistors, which is satisfied by setting it at around 2-2.5 volts. When the V ce is above this at the same time AND gate 258 indicates that it is part of the "on" cycle, then the output of the gate goes high. Resistor 262 and capacitor 266 create a short time delay of about 0.8 milliseconds. After this short delay op amp 260 pulls the inverting input of op amp 270 high. This brings the input of AND gate 282 low. As a result, the "clear" terminal of flip-flop 292 is low. This immediately clears the "Q" terminal and ends the on-cycle of the corresponding switch prematurely by turning off AND gate 208.
When the next half cycle begins, pulse generator 204 clocks flip-flop 292, causing it to be reset. If the current becomes too large again then this premature ending of the on-cycle occurs again. Note that diode 264 brings capacitor 266 low as soon as the "Q" output of flip-flop 292 goes low. Thus, this capacitor starts out in a discharged or "low" state each half cycle.
An important advantage of this protector circuit is realized when the attached loads are inductive, such as with an inductive motor. In such a case the current increases with time within each half cycle so that the overload condition does not occur until partway through each cycle. As the motor comes up to speed, the current becomes lower and the protection circuit makes it a little further through the cycle. This "soft starting" greatly increases the starting power of the inverter.
Tests with this system show that the inverter can survive direct short circuits of the output under all conditions. When there is a short circuit, the unit just puts out alternating spikes of about 0.8 milliseconds. As soon as the load is decreased, the normal pulse width resumes.
If "Q" of flip-flop 292 spends more than about 15 seconds low, then capacitor 304 is brought low via resistor 300. Once this drops below the nominal ground voltage of 2.5 volts, then op amp 306 goes low and turns off AND gate 282. This clears flip-flop 292 and holds it clear until reset switch 302 momentarily recharges capacitor 304 to 5 volts. This gives the user 15 seconds to disconnect a load which the inverter can't handle without having to press the reset switch to resume normal operation.
This system has proven to be very reliable since it provides for low-load operation even during effectively short circuit conditions. This permits the transistors to work at a very high-load rate for extremely short periods of time. In an alternate configuration a bank of FET's are used instead of the switches shown in the preferred embodiment. Tests have shown that these transistors can survive very large currents for 0.8 milliseconds, even to the point of operating at conduction levels above 25 amps without hurting them, even though their continuous rating is only 12 amps. Another sided benefit is that as the transistors heat up, their "on" resistance goes up so it takes less current to make the overload circuitry work. This is very desirable, since it allows the inverter to put out enormous surges to start motors for short times but protects it at more reasonable levels for longer times.
This same circuitry operates to provide for low battery system turn-off as well. Potentiometer 272 and the voltage divider formed by resistors 274, 276 set the level for automatic turn-off due to a low battery voltage. Feedback resistor 280 associated with op amp 270 gives the lower battery cutout some hysteresis so that it does not turn on and off rapidly when the battery is near the cutoff voltage.
Spike Suppression
Finally, addressing the operation of spike suppressor 16, as shown in detail in FIG. 2A, the protection of the power transistors with spike suppression is seen to be provided. Very large spikes can appear from the inductance of the transformer due to the very quick turning off of the power transistors. This can cause secondary breakdown in those transistors. Diodes 84, 86 feed these spikes into 1000 microfarad capacitor 88. Transistor 92 drains the charge off of this capacitor over the rest of the cycle down to 18 volts. At 18 volts zener diode 94, also referred to as transistor bias means, turns off transistor 92. The capacitor absorbs the extremely high current spike since this would be difficult to do with just the transistor. An important feature of this spike suppression circuitry is that transistor 92 is connected at its emitter to the battery. This feeds the spike current back into the battery instead of to ground as is conventionally provided. This further improves on the efficiency of the overall circuit design.
It can be seen that the inverter as described herein is efficient even though the circuits are reasonably simple. This simplicity makes for much greater reliability as well as an affordable cost. Only very common circuit elements are used, with the exception of the power Darlingtons. Inverters have a reputation of eventually destroying themselves and this design has attempted to avoid this. The output of this inverter is a pulse whose width is varied automatically to compensate for changing battery voltages as well as changing losses due to the V ce (SAT) of the output transistors. When the battery voltage is about 12 volts, the pulse width is adjusted so that it is on 2/3 of the time. This ratio eliminates the third harmonic. Of course, as the battery voltage goes down, the pulse width gets wider to regulate the output voltage.
Further, it can be seen that this circuit, when it senses a load less than 25 watts, or other desirable limit, then the pulse width is cut substantially. This greatly reduces the no-load current draw for two reasons. First, the power transistors are on for a substantially shorter time period. Further, this narrower pulse width causes the transformer to act more like an ideal transformer since the flux density is much less. This permits the inverter of the preferred embodiment to operate at a no-load current of approximately 150 milliamps. In the no-load state the peak voltage is still about 155 volts which makes it possible to power light electronic devices.
The collectors of the power transistors are used as signals to determine the output voltage for the voltage regulating circuit. Further, they are used to determine the amount of driving base current needed to just barely saturate the power transistors. This is usually a big source of power loss. Also, it is used to determine if the load is over 25 watts. Since the collector-to-emitter voltage at saturation is a function of the collector current, then the voltage can be used to measure the load. As has been discussed, the collector-to-emitter voltage is also used to determine if the transistors are in danger of destruction by having too high a voltage when they are on. This triggers the circuit protector.
Additionally, it can be seen that pulse width modulation circuitry is provided which produces a linear approximation of the means square of the output voltage. This provides for reliable output voltage regulation.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | An inverter circuit is provided for use with a DC power supply and includes a transformer having a center-tapped primary coil and a secondary coil as well as a switch and a switch controller operating to maintain a constant RMS output voltage. Improvements in the inverter circuit include a switch formed of individual discrete and Darlington transistors connected in parallel so that the discrete transistors predominantly carry the load during low load operation and the Darlington transistor during high load operation. A switch controller controls the switch using pulse width modulation and may include generation of a signal providing a first-order linear approximation of the mean square voltage on the output as determined on the non-load side of the primary coil of the transformer, a switch driver controller which keeps the transistors of the switch operating just barely at saturation, and a near no-load circuit which substantially reduces the operating time of the switches while maintaining minimal energy output. Further, spike suppression means is provided for returning spike energy to the battery supply. Also, a circuit protector, sensing the voltage across the transistors, determines when an excessive load is being drawn and reduces the operation of the switches to a level which they can tolerate for a period of time before completely effectively breaking the circuit from operation. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/180,216, filed Jul. 13, 2005 and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/587,416, filed Jul. 13, 2004, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/637,024, filed Dec. 17, 2004. The entireties of each of these applications are incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to a modular communication jack having a flexible printed circuit board.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In the communications industry, as data transmission rates have steadily increased, crosstalk due to capacitive and inductive couplings among the closely spaced parallel conductors within the jack and/or plug has become increasingly problematic. Modular connectors with improved crosstalk performance have been designed to meet the increasingly demanding standards. Many of these improved connectors have included concepts disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,358, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. In particular, recent connectors have introduced predetermined amounts of crosstalk compensation to cancel offending near end crosstalk (NEXT). Two or more stages of compensation are used to account for phase shifts from propagation delay resulting from the distance between the compensation zone and the plug/jack interface. As a result, the magnitude and phase of the offending crosstalk is offset by the compensation, which, in aggregate, has an equal magnitude, but opposite phase.
[0004] Recent transmission rates, including those in excess of 500 MHz, have exceeded the capabilities of the techniques disclosed in the '358 patent. Thus, improved compensation techniques are needed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES ILLUSTRATING PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a front exploded perspective view of a communications jack
[0006] FIG. 2 is a rear exploded perspective view of a communications jack;
[0007] FIGS. 3A-3D are different perspective views of an assembly composing an internal portion of the communications jack of FIGS. 1 and 2 ;
[0008] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an assembly composing an internal portion of the communications jack of FIG. 1 ;
[0009] FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the communications jack of FIG. 1 ;
[0010] FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the communications jack of FIG. 1 ;
[0011] FIG. 7A illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0012] FIG. 7B illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 3 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0013] FIG. 7C illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 4 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0014] FIG. 7D illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 5 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0015] FIG. 7E illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 6 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0016] FIGS. 7F-7K illustrate details and cross-sections of the leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 at respective locations of the Flexible Printed Circuit shown in FIG. 7A .
[0017] FIG. 8A illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for leads 1 - 8 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0018] FIG. 8B illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 1 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0019] FIG. 8C illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 2 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0020] FIG. 8D illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 3 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0021] FIG. 8E illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 4 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0022] FIG. 8F illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 5 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0023] FIG. 8G illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 6 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0024] FIG. 8H illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 7 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0025] FIG. 8I illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for lead 8 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0026] FIG. 9A illustrates an alternative design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for leads 1 - 8 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0027] FIG. 9B illustrates a design of a capacitive coupling portion of a Flexible Printed Circuit for leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 for a Printed Circuit Board in a communications jack;
[0028] FIG. 9C is an upper perspective view of a portion of the design for traces 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 for the Flexible Printed Circuit of FIGS. 9A and 9B ;
[0029] FIG. 10 is a rear exploded perspective view of an alternative communications jack;
[0030] FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of the communications jack of FIG. 10 ;
[0031] FIGS. 12 and 13 are perspective views of an internal portion of the communications jack of FIG. 10 ;
[0032] FIG. 14A illustrates a design of a Flexible Printed Circuit for leads 1 - 8 for a Printed Circuit Board in the communications jack of FIG. 10 ;
[0033] FIGS. 14B and 14C illustrate cross-sections of the leads 1 - 8 at various locations of the Flexible Printed Circuit shown in FIG. 14A ;
[0034] FIG. 15A is a perspective view of a portion of a communications jack;
[0035] FIG. 15B is a perspective view of a portion of a housing of a communications jack;
[0036] FIG. 15C is a side cross-sectional view of a communications jack;
[0037] FIG. 15D is a perspective view of a front sled assembly;
[0038] FIG. 15E is an exploded perspective view of a front sled assembly, viewed from below;
[0039] FIG. 15F is perspective view of a top front sled and flexible printed circuit board as it might appear during assembly, viewed from below; and
[0040] FIG. 15G is a perspective view of a top front sled and flexible printed circuit board as it might appear during a later stage of assembly, viewed from above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0041] FIGS. 1 and 2 are exploded perspective views of a communications jack 100 having a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The jack 100 includes a main housing 106 and a bottom front sled 104 and top front sled 108 arranged to support eight plug interface contacts 112 . The FPC 102 attaches to the plug interface contacts 112 adjacent to where the plug interface contacts 112 interface with contacts from a plug (not shown). The FPC 102 is attached by conductors 110 (preferably flexible) to a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 114 . The FPC 102 , conductors 110 , and PCB 114 may all be part of the FPC 102 , with the PCB 114 portion of the FPC being a rigid extension of the FPC 102 . As illustrated, eight IDCs (Insulation Displacement Contacts) 116 engage the PCB 114 from the rear via through-holes in the PCB 114 . A rear housing 118 , having passageways for the IDCs 116 , and a wire cap 120 serve to provide an interface to a twisted pair communication cable or punch-down block.
[0042] In this and other embodiments described herein, the FPC 102 is or includes a substrate with a conductive layer laminated to each side. Unwanted conductive material is etched away from each side during manufacture. To reduce the variation in coupling changes due to registration variation between the conductors on each of the two sides of the FPC 102 , a minimum registration tolerance is maintained between the patterns on each side of the FPC 102 . In addition, variations in couplings due to trace width tolerances are also minimized in the disclosed design. Because the length of the Near-End Crosstalk (NEXT) compensation zone is approximately equal to the length of the NEXT crosstalk zone, variations in FPC 102 trace width, which tend to be consistent on an individual FPC 102 , change the capacitive coupling of the NEXT compensation zone and the NEXT crosstalk zone by approximately the same magnitude. This minimizes the compensation variation due to trace width variation.
[0043] FIGS. 3A-3D are perspective views of an assembly 300 comprising an internal portion of the communications jack 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2 . This assembly includes the bottom front sled 104 , top front sled 108 , plug interface contacts 112 , FPC 102 , conductors 110 , PCB 114 , and IDCs 116 . In one embodiment, the FPC 102 extends back into the jack 100 and includes an integrally formed vertically oriented rigid extension of the FPC 100 , through which IDCs 116 make contact with the FPC 102 . The rigid extension serves as a support and mounting mechanism, and contains no electrical components itself. Alternative embodiments, however, might utilize portions of the rigid extension for remote capacitive compensation, and are intended to be within the scope of the present invention. Similarly, a rigid compensation PCB may serve to sandwich the FPC 102 between the rigid compensation PCB and the rigid extension. In FIG. 3 , the rigid extension is shown as part of the PCB 114 .
[0044] While the jack 100 and jack components of FIGS. 1-3D are of the type that is terminated to a four-pair communications cable, the same concepts would apply to a punch-down version, with appropriate modifications being made to the rear housing 118 , wire cap 120 , and possibly the IDCs 116 , of the jack 100 .
[0045] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the assembly 300 showing the FPC 102 detached from the plug interface contacts 112 of FIGS. 1-3D . One portion of the FPC 102 might normally be disposed in the bottom front sled 104 , with an opposite portion of the FPC 102 situated in a rigid extension of the FPC 102 . The rigid extension contains eight through-holes (e.g. through-hole 402 ) to allow eight IDCs 116 to make mechanical and electrical contact with the FPC 102 .
[0046] FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the communications jack 100 and FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the communications jack 100 , with a slightly different interface between the plug interface contacts 112 and FPC 102 . The two different contact/FPC interfaces 402 a and 402 b shown both have the FPC 102 electrically and mechanically attached to the plug interface contacts 112 . Interface 402 a utilizes a rearward attachment, while Interface 402 b utilizes a forward attachment. An advantage of the designs shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is that the plug interface contacts 112 are short and substantially no signal current flows in the plug interface contacts 112 , since the contact/FPC interface is located adjacent the plug/jack interface 112 a , where the plug interface contacts 112 interface with the plug contacts 3 of the plug 1 . This removes a possible source of crosstalk and other noise. The flexibility of the FPC 102 allows it to be connected to all the plug interface contacts 112 , which do not move exactly in unison when a plug is installed.
[0047] FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate a design of an FPC 102 for leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 for a PCB in a communications jack 100 . Solid lines indicate a trace located on the top surface of the FPC substrate, while dashed lines indicate placement on the underside of the FPC substrate. Only leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 are shown because these leads are most susceptible to crosstalk and other noise; thus, compensation is typically targeted toward optimizing at these leads.
[0048] In the top elevational views of FIGS. 7A-7E , the FPC 102 is in a flat (unbent) configuration. In the jacks shown in FIGS. 1-6 , however, the FPC is shown bending vertically down from the contacts to a horizontal position at the sled, and then vertically up along the rigid extension and/or PCB 114 . FIGS. 10-14C illustrate an alternative embodiment, in which the FPC 102 extends back horizontally from the sled, rather than vertically, with vertically oriented IDCs 116 making electrical contact with the horizontally disposed FPC 102 .
[0049] FIGS. 7F-7K illustrate cross-sections of the leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 at respective locations of the FPC 102 shown in FIG. 7A . Each of these figures includes an elevational view of a portion of the design shown in FIG. 7A , with a corresponding cross-sectional view taken across a sectional line. While the substrate of the FPC 102 itself is not shown in these views, the vertical displacement between trace cross-sections indicates on which side of the FPC 102 substrate the traces are located.
[0050] The configurations and specifications illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7K are directed to a preferred embodiment, and many other designs are possible and are intended to be within the scope of the present invention. Variations in design may be made to compensate for crosstalk and other effects. Similarly, jacks designed for communications cables having more or fewer than four pairs will obviously have different configurations and tolerances; however, the design concepts disclosed herein will apply similarly.
[0051] FIG. 8A-8I illustrate a design of an FPC 102 for leads 1 - 8 for a PCB in a communications jack. The FPC of this design has a similar footprint to that of FIG. 7A and some of the trace configurations are similar (see, e.g., Zone F); however, the design of FIGS. 8A-8I uses slightly different couplings and compensation techniques. Note that the designs shown in FIGS. 7A-7K and 8 A- 8 I utilize an FPC 102 that has at least some compensation couplings that span a substantial portion of the entire length of the FPC 102 . Zones A-E in the figures correspond to the FPC 102 and conductors 110 in FIGS. 1-5 , while Zone F corresponds to the PCB 114 , which is really just a rigid extension of the FPC 102 in this embodiment.
[0052] FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate an alternative design of an FPC 102 for leads 1 - 8 in a communications jack 100 , in which the FPC incorporates a capacitive coupling 900 in the compensation zone (Zone B in FIG. 9B ). This design utilizes the teachings of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/099,110, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/559,846, filed Apr. 6, 2004, which utilizes an inductive coupling which effectively decreases a capacitive coupling as frequency increases. This application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In addition, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/055,344, filed Feb. 20, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/078,816, filed Mar. 11, 2005 are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
[0053] FIG. 9B shows the capacitive coupling portion of the FPC for leads 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 . FIG. 9C is an upper perspective view of this portion showing the capacitive plates, with the substrate removed for ease of illustration. In general, the distributed capacitive coupling of the compensation zone would be reduced by the magnitude, at low frequency, of the remote capacitive coupling that was added.
[0054] As was described above, the FPC 102 as installed in the jack 100 may be oriented vertically or horizontally. In FIGS. 1-9C , a vertical orientation was described. FIGS. 10-14C illustrate an embodiment incorporating an FPC designed for horizontal orientation.
[0055] FIG. 10 is a rear exploded perspective view of a communications jack 1000 having a horizontally oriented FPC 1002 . This design includes a sled mechanism 1004 configured to place the FPC 1002 in a horizontal position to receive the eight IDCs 1016 protruding downward from an intermediate IDC carrier 1018 that interfaces with the front and rear housings, 1006 and 1020 , respectively. FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of the communications jack 1000 of FIG. 10 , in assembled form.
[0056] FIGS. 12 and 13 are partially exploded perspective views showing plug interface contacts 1012 , the FPC 1002 , an FPC rigid support 1014 , the IDC carrier 1018 , and the IDCs 1016 that are included within the communications jack 1000 of FIG. 10 .
[0057] FIG. 14A illustrates a design of an FPC 1002 for leads 1 - 8 in the communications jack 1000 of FIG. 10 . FIGS. 14B and 14C illustrate cross-sections of the leads 1 - 8 at various locations of the FPC 1002 .
[0058] In the embodiments described herein, the FPC 102 , 1002 is mechanically and electrically connected to the bottom of each plug interface contact directly under the plug/jack interface. The other end of the FPC 102 , 1002 electrically connects each plug interface contact to an IDC and provides compensation for the crosstalk couplings of a specification plug. The plastic guides between the plug interface contacts have been minimized to minimize the dielectric and the capacitive couplings between plug interface contacts.
[0059] In FIGS. 7A, 8A , and 14 A, Zones A-F are shown. These zones generally act as follows: Zone A is a transition zone from the connection to the plug interface contacts to the NEXT (Near-End CrossTalk) compensation zone; Zone B is the NEXT compensation zone; Zone C is a transition zone from the NEXT compensation zone to the NEXT crosstalk zone; Zone D is a compensation zone to compensate for the plug interface contacts; Zone E is the NEXT crosstalk zone; and Zone F is a neutral zone that connects the NEXT crosstalk zone to sockets for the IDCs.
[0060] The design objectives of Zone C are to make its inductive and capacitive couplings and the length of the circuit paths equal to those of Zone A. The magnitude of the total crosstalk coupling of the NEXT crosstalk zone is approximately equal to that of a specification plug. The magnitude of the total compensation coupling of the NEXT compensation zone is slightly less than twice the crosstalk coupling of a specification plug plus twice the total coupling of Zone A.
[0061] In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7A , which includes only leads 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 , all the zones except Zone D have distributed couplings and no remote couplings. The design of the FPC for leads 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 reduces the variation in coupling changes due to registration variation between the conductors on each of the two sides of the FPC 102 and reduces couplings due to trace width variations. Zone D provides remote capacitive coupling, and is connected close to the plug/jack interface. The phase angle change between the effective center of couplings of a specification plug and the center of the NEXT compensation zone is approximately equal to the phase angle change between the center of the NEXT crosstalk zone and the NEXT compensation zone. The combination of the jack and a specification plug is therefore symmetrical about the center of the NEXT compensation zone. As a result, Forward NEXT is equal to Reverse NEXT.
[0062] Since the NEXT compensation zone is connected to the plug/jack interface by short circuit paths in the FPC, the phase angle change between them is minimized, as is the change in compensation versus frequency.
[0063] The total inductive coupling of the NEXT compensation zone is approximately equal to the total inductive couplings of the balance of the circuit path of the jack and a specification plug. This results in a very low FEXT.
[0064] The flexibility of the FPC 102 , 1002 allows it to be connected to all the plug interface contacts, which do not move exactly in unison when a plug is installed. It also facilitates connection to various orientations of IDCs or to a PCB. The relatively thin dielectric layer of the FPC 102 , 1002 as compared to that of a PCB facilitates a relatively short NEXT compensation zone. As shown in the various figures herein, the FPC 102 , 1002 may include a plurality of fingers for attachment to the plug interface contacts.
[0065] The length of the NEXT compensation zone is approximately equal to the length of the NEXT crosstalk zone. The result is that variations in FPC trace width, which tend to be consistent on an individual FPC 102 , 1002 , change the capacitive coupling of the NEXT compensation zone and the NEXT crosstalk zone by approximately the same magnitude. This minimizes the compensation variation due to trace width variation.
[0066] The circuit paths for pairs 1 , 2 and 7 , 8 in the embodiments described herein illustrate how compensation between other pair combinations can be attained. The required compensation for other pair combinations is typically much more easily attained than for pairs 3 , 6 and 4 , 5 , due to the orientation of these pairs in a specification plug.
[0067] FIGS. 15A-15G illustrate an alternative embodiment of a flexible PCB for a front assembly in a communications jack 1500 . Disposed in a housing 1502 of the communications jack 1500 is a front sled assembly comprising a top front sled 1510 , a bottom front sled 1512 , plug interface contacts 1504 , an FPC 1508 , staking posts 1514 , and a front sled mandrel 1506 .
[0068] The FPC 1508 is placed in the comb slot on the underside of the top front sled 1510 (see FIGS. 15E and 15F ). While being held in place, the FPC 1508 is attached with multiple staking posts 1514 . The plug interface contacts 1504 are placed, staked, and bent around the front sled mandrel 1506 of the top front sled 1510 , along with the FPC 1508 . To allow for the presence of the FPC 1508 without changing the profile of the plug interface contacts 1504 , the diameter of the front sled mandrel 1506 has a smaller diameter than that of some previous communication jack designs.
[0069] Unlike some top front sleds in previous communication jack designs, the upper half of the combs have been moved from the top front sled and are instead located on the housing 1502 (see FIG. 15B ). The housing 1502 has fingers that slide over the FPC 1508 and move the FPC 1508 away from the back of the contacts (see FIG. 15A ). Separation of the FPC 1508 from the plug interface contacts 1504 helps to prevent crosstalk between the FPC 1508 and the plug interface contacts 1504 .
[0070] Because the FPC 1508 is attached directly to the plug interface contacts 1504 , crosstalk compensation circuitry (located on the FPC 1508 ) is provided at the closest point to the plug/jack interface. As a result, performance is significantly improved, and transmission rates at 10 Gigabits/sec. or more are attainable in some embodiments. | A communications connector with a flexible printed circuit board is provided. The flexible printed circuit board is electronically and mechanically connected to the plug interface contacts of the jack near the plug/jack interface, in order to provide effective crosstalk compensation. The flexible printed circuit board has fingers at one end allowing it to flex as individual plug interface contacts are depressed when a plug is installed into the jack. A second end of the flexible printed circuit board has through holes for accepting insulation displacement contacts. The second end of the flexible printed circuit board may be rigidly supported, to allow insertion of the insulation displacement contacts. Various designs for capacitive and/or inductive couplings are provided, resulting in improved crosstalk performance. | 7 |
FIELD
[0001] The invention relates to a method and device for storing data, particularly for storing binary data in a memory using ternary storage. A method and corresponding circuitry are provided allowing the correction of stored binary data.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Data processing systems of today operate on data represented to any processing device in a binary format. Storage of these data takes place in a memory device typically using binary storage systems comprising storage cells. Typically each storage cell stores one bit, i.e. the storage cell is capable of storing two distinguishable states representing the states of the bit, i.e. either one or zero. A stream of binary data that is to be stored can be passed to a storage device for storing. The storage device is adapted and configured to set the memory cells corresponding to the input data stream when receiving the data for storing and to read the data from the memory cells upon request.
[0003] However the data read out from a memory can differ from the original data, i.e. the data that were provided for storing for variable reasons. In one example a storage cell may be faulty.
[0004] Numerous algorithms and corresponding solutions for identifying and correcting bit errors in stored data are known to prevent any falsification of data when reading stored data from binary memory cells.
[0005] Modern memory devices may use ternary memory or storage cells, i.e. cells adapted and configured for storing data, wherein each cell is adapted and configured to distinguish between three states. These memories may be used in combination with binary processing devices that provide binary data, i.e. wherein the information is represented in bits, each bit representing a binary value. So when storing binary data in a ternary memory device, i.e. a device using ternary storage cells, there must be some arrangement in the memory device not only for converting the binary to ternary data upon storage and for converting ternary to binary data when reading, but also for providing correction means to ensure that the read out data equals the data provided upon storing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0006] The following figures shall illustrate the invention, wherein
[0007] FIG. 1 depicts an encoder;
[0008] FIG. 2 depicts a circuit arrangement for storing data sequences;
[0009] FIG. 3 depicts circuitry for correcting an error;
[0010] FIG. 4 depicts an arrangement of the circuitry depicted in FIGS. 1-3 ;
[0011] FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of a circuit arrangement for storing data sequences;
[0012] FIGS. 6 a and 6 b depict embodiments of circuitry for transforming binary to ternary values;
[0013] FIGS. 7 a and 7 b depict embodiments of circuitry for transforming ternary to binary values;
[0014] FIGS. 8 a , 8 b and 8 c depict embodiments of implementations of partial circuit F;
[0015] FIG. 9 depicts a partial circuit; and
[0016] FIG. 10 depicts circuitry for error recognition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The invention will now be described by means of embodiments. Note that the embodiments shall be understood as illustration only but not restricting the invention.
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates an encoder Cod 11 encoding a binary data sequence u=u 1 , . . . , u k of k bits, wherein, k≧2, to an encoded binary data sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n of n bits with n>k corresponding to a linear code C.
[0019] The linear code C may, as is usual, be described by a (k, n) generator matrix G with k rows and n columns, and by a (n−k, n) parity check matrix H, also referred to as H-matrix. The encoded binary data sequence x is determined from the binary data sequence u by
[0000] x =( x 1 , . . . ,x n )=( u 1 , . . . ,u k )· G=u≠G (1)
[0020] The k-bit data sequence u=u 1 , . . . , u k is available at the k-bit input line 12 of the encoder Cod 11 , and the data sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n determined according to equation (1) is output on the n-bit output line 13 .
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a circuit arrangement Schspei 21 for storing data sequences. The circuit arrangement Schspei 21 comprises a data input 22 of at least n bits for the input of a binary data sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n of word size n, an address input 24 for the input of a binary address a=a 1 , . . . , a l with l address bits, wherein l≧2, and a data output 23 of at least n bits for the output of an n-bit binary data sequence x′=x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n . The data sequence x is encoded by using a code C. Additional control signals such as, for instance, the read signal and the write signal that are common for memory circuits and are known to a person skilled in the art are not illustrated in FIG. 2 .
[0022] The circuit arrangement Schspei 21 is configured such that it is possible to write a binary data sequence x under an address a, to store corresponding values, and to read out a binary data sequence at a later point in time, for instance, also under the address a. The binary data available at the inputs are transformed to analog values in the circuit arrangement Schspei and stored as analog values, for example voltages or electric charges, in memory cells. These analog values may, depending on the belonging of the analog value to three different intervals, be interpreted as ternary values, as is, for instance, proposed in P. J. Krick, THREE-STATE MNOS FET MEMORY ARRAY, IBM technical disclosure bulletin, vol. 18, 12, 1976, pp. 4192-4193. The stored values may be designated as analog values in general and, if one intends to emphasize their belonging to the three intervals considered, also as ternary values. The value stored in a memory cell is also referred to as the condition of the memory cell.
[0023] On reading out, the ternary values stored are re-transformed to binary values and read out as binary values, so that the circuit arrangement Schspei 21 behaves in its external behavior like a binary memory, although the values are internally stored as ternary values.
[0024] When data is stored in the circuit arrangement Schspei, it is possible that these data are modified incorrectly, so that a binary data sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n written under the address a, and which is stored in a ternary manner in the circuit arrangement, differs from a binary data sequence x′=x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n read out under the same address after a certain time. So if x=x′ applies, no error has occurred, but if x≠x′ applies, then an error has occurred. If a stored ternary value changes due to an error, this error in a ternary value may have the effect that one bit or several bits in a read-out binary data sequence change. A single error in a ternary, stored value may result in a multi bit error in the binary data sequence.
[0025] So far, no circuit arrangement and no method for error correction are known which enable one to correct those single bit and multi bit errors in the read-out binary data sequences that occur due to single errors in the ternary stored values.
[0026] In one embodiment, the present invention serves to correct single bit and multi bit errors in the read-out binary data sequences that occur due to single errors in the stored ternary data.
[0027] If an error occurs in the stored data, the read-out binary data sequence x′ differs from the corresponding written binary data sequence x. Usually, the bit-wise difference of x and x′ is designated as an error vector e that is determined as
[0000]
e=e
1
, . . . ,e
n
=x
1
⊕x′
1
, . . . ,x
n
⊕x′
n
=x⊕x′
[0000] wherein ⊕ designates the addition modulo 2 (or the logic function antivalence or XOR). For the components e i of the error vector e there applies that e i =1 if x i ≠x′ i . Similarly we have e i =0 if x i =x′ i .
[0028] FIG. 3 illustrates a circuit arrangement for error correction, referred to as corrector 38 . The corrector 38 includes a syndrome generator Syndr 31 , a decoder Dec 32 , and an XOR circuit 33 .
[0029] The syndrome generator Syndr 31 is configured to generate from the binary sequence x′=x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n a q-component error syndrome s=s 1 , . . . , s q with q=n−k according to the relation
[0000] s T =( s 1 , . . . ,s q ) T =H ·( x′ 1 , . . . ,x′ n ) T =H·x′ T (2)
[0000] H is the H-matrix, i.e. the parity check matrix, (with q rows and n columns) of the code C.
[0030] Decoder circuitry DEC 32 is configured to generate an error vector e=e 1 , . . . , e n for the correction of the possibly incorrect bit sequence x′ to the corrected bit sequence x c =x c 1 , . . . , x c n from the error syndrome s=s 1 . . . , s q of the length q, wherein the correction is performed according to the relation
[0000] x c =x c 1 , . . . ,x c n =x′ 1 ⊕e 1 , . . . ,x′ n ⊕e n =x′⊕x c (3)
[0000] wherein s T is a q-component column vector with the components s 1 , . . . , s q , and (x′ 1 , . . . , x n ) T is an n-component column vector.
[0031] If the error occurred is an error correctable by the used code C, there applies
[0000]
x
c
=x′⊕e=x,
[0000] and the error is corrected properly.
[0032] The circuit arrangement for error correction pursuant to FIG. 3 will now be described in more detail.
[0033] The line 34 carrying the binary sequence x′=x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n is both coupled to the n-bit input of the syndrome generator Syndr 31 and to an n-bit first input of the XOR circuit 33 . The q=n−k bit output line 35 of the syndrome generator Syndr 31 which carries the error syndrome s=s 1 , . . . , s q is coupled to the input of the decoder Dec 32 . The n-bit output line 36 of the decoder 32 which carries the n components of the error vector e=e 1 , . . . , e n is connected in the correct position to the second, n-bit input of the XOR circuit 33 whose n-bit output carries the components x c 1 , . . . , x c n of the binary sequence x c . The XOR circuit 33 is implemented in one embodiment by n parallel 2-input XOR gates with one output each.
[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates how the partial circuits illustrated in FIGS. 1 , 2 , and 3 may be connected to form a complete circuit enabling correction of storage errors according to one embodiment.
[0035] The circuit arrangement of FIG. 4 includes an encoder 41 ( 11 in FIG. 1 ), a circuit arrangement Schspei 42 ( 21 in FIG. 2 ) for storing data sequences, a corrector 43 ( 38 in FIG. 3 ) comprising a series connection of a syndrome generator Syndr 45 ( 31 in FIG. 3 ) and a decoder Dec 46 ( 32 in FIG. 3 ), and an XOR circuit 44 ( 33 in FIG. 3 ).
[0036] The k-bit input line 47 carrying the data sequence u=u 1 , . . . , u k is coupled to the input of the encoder 41 . The n-bit output 48 of encoder 41 carries coded data sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n and is coupled to the input of the circuit arrangement Schspei 42 . The n-bit output 49 of the circuit arrangement Schspei 42 which carries the data sequence x′=x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n is coupled to the input of the syndrome generator Syndr 45 and to the first input of the XOR circuit 44 . The output 410 of the syndrome generator Syndr 45 which carries the n−k=q bit error syndrome s is coupled to the input of the decoder Dec 46 , which in turn is coupled with its output line 411 to the second input of the XOR circuit 44 . The n-bit error vector e=e 1 , . . . , e n is output on output line 411 of the decoder Dec.
[0037] The n-bit output 412 of the XOR circuit 44 carries the corrected binary sequence x c =x c 1 , . . . , x c n .
[0038] In one embodiment it is provided that only a subset of n′ bits of the n bits with n′≦n of the binary sequence x′ is corrected. Then, it is only necessary that the decoder Dec 46 provides only a subset of n′ components of the error vector e.
[0039] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a circuit arrangement Schspei 21 for storing data sequences. It comprises a circuit TrBT 51 for transforming binary sequences to analog sequences representing ternary signals, i.e. ternary sequences. Memory 52 is referred to as ternary memory that is adapted and configured to store sequences whose components are analog signals representing ternary signals. Circuit TrTB 53 is adapted and configured to transform analog sequences to binary sequences, wherein the components of the analog sequences represent ternary signals.
[0040] Analog signals representing ternary values or conditions are also simply referred to as ternary values or ternary conditions. Correspondingly, the circuits TrBT and TrTB are referred to as a circuit for transforming binary sequences to ternary sequences or signals and as a circuit for transforming ternary sequences to binary sequences or signals.
[0041] At the n-bit input line 54 of the circuit TrBT 51 , n binary values x 1 , . . . , x n are provided. These are transformed by circuit 51 to a sequence of 2·m ternary signals A 1 , B 1 , . . . , A m , B m and are output at the 2·m outputs 55 thereof. These 2-m outputs 55 are coupled to the data inputs of the ternary memory 52 to be stored in this memory under an address a available at the address input 57 . If n is divisible by 3 without remainder, then m=n/3. If n is not divisible by 3 without remainder, the binary sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n may be supplemented by one further or two further bits which are, for instance, constantly equal to 0, to a binary sequence x 1 , x 2 , . . . , x n′ , with n′ components, so that n′ is divisible by 3 without remainder. The supplemented bits may, for instance, be chosen to be constantly equal to 0.
[0042] If the ternary data stored in the ternary memory 52 are read under the address a that is available on the address line 57 of the ternary memory, the ternary data A 1 ′, B 1 ′, . . . , A m′ , B m′ are output on the 2·m data outputs 58 of the memory 52 . Due to an error, possibly caused by radiation or by a gradual loss of charge or other reasons, the data written in the memory may be erroneous.
[0043] If no error exists, there applies
[0000] A 1 ,B 1 , . . . ,A m ,B m =A 1 ′,B 1 ′, . . . ,A m ′,B m ′
[0000] and in the case of an error there applies
[0000] A 1 ,B 1 , . . . ,A m ,B m ≠A 1′ ,B 1′ , . . . ,A m′ ,B m′ .
[0044] The 2m-bit output line 58 of ternary memory 52 is coupled to 2m analog inputs of circuit TrTB 53 . Circuit TrTB 53 transforms ternary values A 1 ′, B 1 ′, . . . , A m ′, B m ′ to binary values x′ 1 , . . . , x′ n that are output on the n-bit output 56 of circuit TrTB 53 .
[0045] FIG. 6 a and FIG. 6 b illustrate embodiments of the circuit TrBT 51 for transforming a binary sequence x 1 , . . . , x n of length n to a sequence A 1 , B 1 , . . . , A m , B m of length 2·m of analog data representing ternary values. These ternary values are stored in the memory cells of the ternary memory 52 . The analog value representing the ternary value stored in a memory cell is also referred to as the condition of the memory cell. The analog values A and B may be voltage values. In a non-volatile memory this is, for instance, the threshold voltage of the memory cell which is determined by the charging condition on the floating gate. Other physical quantities may, however, also be taken into consideration. In the instant embodiment, A and B are intended to be voltage values.
[0046] Depending on the fact in which of three predetermined intervals W 0 , W 1 , W 2 the values A, B are positioned, these analog values are referred to as A 0 , A 1 , A 2 or B 0 , B 1 , B 2 , respectively. Thus, if AεW 1 applies for i=0, 1, 2, the analog signal A represents the ternary value A 1 . If BεW 1 applies for j=0, 1, 2, the analog signal B represents the ternary value B j .
[0047] FIG. 6 a and FIG. 6 b illustrate how a sequence of binary signals x 1 , . . . , x n can be transformed to a sequence of ternary signals A 1 , B 1 , . . . , A m , B m .
[0048] Circuit TrBT 51 of FIG. 6 a is composed of partial circuits F 1 611 , F 2 612 , . . . , F m 61 m . These m partial circuits F i , i=1, . . . , m each implement a direct mapping F i of three-digit binary triples to 2-digit analog values whose components represent a ternary value depending on their belonging to one of the three intervals W 0 , W 1 , W 2 . It is not necessary that the three binary values forming a triple of binary values, and which is transformed to a tuple of two ternary values, are directly consecutive in the sequence x=x 1 , . . . , x n . It is, for instance, possible that the binary values x 1 , x 11 , x 14 form a triple that is transformed to the tuple A 1 , B 1 .
[0049] To make the description easily understandable, we assume as an example that the triples of binary data, which are transformed to tuples of ternary data, are each consecutive bits in the sequence x.
[0050] In FIG. 6 a the partial circuit F 1 611 maps the triple x 1 , x 2 , x 3 of binary values to the tuple of the analog values A 1 , B 1 . The partial circuit F 2 612 maps the triple x 4 , x 5 , x 6 of binary values to the tuple of the analog values A 2 , B 2 , and the partial circuit F m 61 m maps the triple x n-2 , x n-1 , x n of binary values to the tuple of the analog values A m , B m . The function, which is implemented by partial circuit F i , is designated with f i . In one embodiment all partial circuits F 1 , . . . , F m may be identical to partial circuit F 61 , as is illustrated in FIG. 6 b , so that there applies F=F 1 = . . . =F m . Then, the partial circuit implements the function ƒ.
[0051] Circuit TrBT 51 is thus implemented in FIG. 6 b as a parallel circuit of m identical partial circuits F 61 with three binary inputs and two analog outputs each.
[0052] FIG. 7 a illustrates an embodiment of the circuit TrTB 53 for transforming the values A 1 ′, B 1 ′, . . . , A m ′, B m ′ output by the ternary memory 52 to binary values x′ 1 , x′ 2 , . . . , x′ n . Circuit 53 is composed of m partial circuits R 1 711 , R 2 712 , . . . , R m 71 m for transforming the values A 1 ′, B 1 ′ to the values x′ 1 , x′ 2 , x′ 3 , the values A 2 ′, B 2 ′ to the values x′ 4 , x′ 5 , x′ 6 , . . . , the values A m ′, B m ′ to the values x′ n-2 , x′ n . The function implemented by the partial circuit R i 71 i is designated with r i .
[0053] The values A i ′, B i ′ are analog values which, as explained, are interpreted as ternary values depending on their belonging to the three different intervals W 0 , W 1 , and W 2 . The function implemented by a partial circuit R i is designated with r i for i=1, . . . , m.
[0054] In FIG. 7 b , all partial circuits R 1 711 , R 2 712 , . . . R m 71 m of FIG. 7 a were chosen equal to a partial circuit R 71 , so that the circuit TrTB 53 is implemented as a parallel circuit of m partial circuits R 71 . Each of these partial circuits then implements a function r.
[0055] In the following, various embodiments of partial circuits F 61 and R 71 are described.
[0056] First of all, the circuit F for implementing the function ƒ is described. The function ƒ is defined by Table 1.
[0057] Table 1 illustrates how the tuples A, B of analog values are, in accordance with an embodiment, assigned to the 8 possible triples of binary values 000, 001, . . . , 111 by function ƒ. The corresponding binary variables are designated in Table 1 with x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , so that Table 1 describes the function ƒ for the first three variables. For the respectively following three variables [x 4 , x 5 , x 6 ], [x 7 , x 8 , x y ], . . . , the same function ƒ is used. Depending on the belonging of the analog values A, B to one of the intervals W 0 , W 1 , W 2 , they are designated as ternary values A 0 , A 1 , A 2 or B 0 , B 1 , B 2 , respectively. Function ƒ as determined by Table 1 is implemented by circuits F 61 depicted in FIG. 6 b.
[0058] It is generally not necessary that analog values A, B that correspond to the first three binary variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 are stored in the first two memory cells of the ternary memory 52 . Likewise analog values not necessarily correspond to binary variables x 4 , x 5 , x 6 , that are stored in the following two memory cells, etc. If analog values A, B, which are determined by the values of the binary variables x i , x j , x k , are stored in a pair of memory cells, the binary variables x 1 , x 1 , x k are called the variables corresponding to the memory cells in which the analog values A, B are stored.
[0059] Thus, if, for example, analog values A, B, that are determined by the binary variables x 7 , x 11 , x 21 , are stored in the second and third memory cells of the ternary memory, the variables x 7 , x 11 , x 21 are the binary variables corresponding to the second and third memory cells.
[0060] In Table 1, the variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 are the binary variables corresponding to the pair of memory cells storing ternary values A, B.
[0061] Table 1 describes a first example of a function ƒ that can be implemented by the partial circuit F 61 .
[0000]
TABLE 1
x 1 x 2 x 3
A
B
000
A 0
B 0
001
A 1
B 2
010
A 0
B 1
011
A 0
B 2
100
A 2
B 1
101
A 2
B 0
110
A 2
B 2
111
A 1
B 0
[0062] For instance, the tuple of ternary values A 0 , B 0 is assigned by Table 1 or by function ƒ to the triple of binary values 000 (first line of Table 1), and the tuple A 2 , B 1 to the triple 100 (5 th line of Table 1). The analog values A and B of a tuple of analog values A, B are each stored in a memory cell of the ternary memory 52 . The values stored in a memory cell are referred to as the conditions of the memory cell.
[0063] Since there exist eight different triples of binary values and nine different tuples of ternary values, one of the tuples of ternary values, according to Table 1 the tuple A 1 , B 1 , does not occur. This tuple of ternary values is assigned to none of the triples of binary values.
[0064] For any of the triples x 1 , x 2 , x 3 of binary values written into memory Schspei 21 , tuple A 1 , B 1 is not written into the ternary memory 52 . If one writes, for instance, the triple 100 into the memory Schspei 21 , the tuple of ternary values A 2 , B 1 is written into the corresponding two memory cells of the ternary memory 52 .
[0065] Due to an error, however, the tuple A 2 , B 1 written into the ternary memory 52 may be distorted or falsified to tuple A 1 , B 1 when the corresponding memory cells are read, so that on reading from the memory instead of the correct tuple A 2 , B 1 the incorrect tuple A 1 , B 1 is stored in the corresponding memory cells of the ternary memory 52 , and an incorrect value A 1 , B 1 and hence also an incorrect value x′ 1 , x′ 2 , x′ 3 is read.
[0066] Although tuple A 1 , B 1 is never written into the ternary memory, it is necessary to assign a triple of binary values to this tuple during reading from the memory. In one embodiment, it is of advantage to choose an assignment such that an error correction of the error, which distorted A 2 , B 1 to A 1 , B 1 , can be performed as easily as possible.
[0067] Table 2 describes a function r, illustrating how the corresponding triples x 1 , x 2 , x 3 of binary values may be assigned to tuples A 1 , B 1 . This function r is implemented by partial circuit R 71 of FIG. 7 b .
[0000]
TABLE 2
A 0
A 1
A 2
B 0
000
111
101
B 1
010
000
100
B 2
011
001
110
[0068] By means of Table 2 one recognizes which triples of binary values are assigned during reading to the tuples of ternary values that are stored in the memory. The triple of binary values corresponding to A i , B j is positioned in the field of intersection of the column designated with A i and the row designated with B j . Thus, the triple 101 corresponds to the tuple A 2 , B 0 and the triple 000 corresponds to the tuple A 1 , B 1 . In correspondence with Table 2, the triple 000 (left upper field) is assigned to the tuple A 0 , B 0 , the triple 000 (central field) is assigned to the tuple A 1 , B 1 , and the triple 001 (central field of the lower row) is assigned to the tuple A 1 , B 2 . This assignment is in correspondence with Table 1.
[0069] If, by Table 1, the tuple of ternary values A 0 , B 0 is assigned to the binary triple 000, the triple of binary values 000 is assigned to the tuple of ternary values A 0 , B 0 by Table 2. In other words: If the triple of binary values 000 is written into the circuit arrangement Schspei 21 , it is stored internally in the ternary memory 52 as A 0 , B 0 in two appropriate memory cells and output during reading as a triple of binary values 000. In general, the mapping of triples of binary values to tuples of ternary values as defined by Table 1 is inverted by the mapping of tuples of ternary values to triples of binary values described in Table 2. Moreover, the triple 000 is assigned to the tuple A 1 , B 1 . For the description of errors in the ternary values or conditions of the memory elements stored in the ternary memory, the term of the contiguous value combination is used. Contiguous value combinations, i.e. tuples of ternary values, are such pairs of value combinations of ternary values that are relatively easy to disturb due to an error into one another.
[0070] Two value combinations A i , B j and A i , B k of ternary values or of conditions of memory cells are called contiguous if k and j differ by 1. Likewise, two value combinations A i , B j and A i , B j are called contiguous if i and l differ by 1. Thus, the value combinations A 0 , B 1 and A 0 , B 2 are contiguous, while the value combinations A 0 , B 1 and A 1 , B 2 are not contiguous.
[0071] The assignment in Table 1 is implemented such that there applies:
[0000] If the value combination A i , B j is assigned to x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and the value combination A l , B k is assigned to x′ 1 , x′ 3 , and if A i , B j and A l , B k are contiguous, then x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and x′ 1 , x′ 2 , x′ 3 differ in an odd number of bits. In other words, the value combinations x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and x′ 1 , x′ 2 , x′ 3 then differ by 1 or 3 bits.
[0072] Thus, triples being adjacent in a row or in a column in Table 2 and corresponding to contiguous value combinations of conditions differ by 1 or 3 bits respectively.
[0073] Table 1 describes how the 8 triples of binary values x 1 , x 2 , x 3 can be mapped to 8 tuples A i , A j of ternary values during writing into the memory. No binary values are mapped to the tuple A 1 , B 1 during writing. Due to an error in the memory, a tuple of ternary values, for, instance, the tuple A 2 , B 1 may be distorted to tuple A 1 , B 1 , so that tuple A 1 , B 1 may occur in the memory although it was not generated intentionally during writing. For reading, the binary value 000 is assigned to the tuple A 1 , B 1 .
[0074] By means of Table 2 one also recognizes that it is not possible to assign to all value combinations of pairs of conditions that are contiguous triples of binary values that differ in one bit only. Thus, the value combination A 1 , B 1 has four neighbors, namely the value combinations [A 0 , B 1 ], [A 1 , B 0 ], [A 1 , B 2 ], and [A 2 , B 1 ]. There are, however, only 3 triples, namely [ x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ], [x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ], [x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ] that differ from [x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ] in one bit. In Table 2, the pairs of triples of binary values 000 and 111 and 111 and 000 which are assigned to the contiguous value combinations A 0 , B 0 and A 0 , B 1 or A 0 , B 1 and A 1 , B 1 , respectively, differ by 3 bits each. Such assignment can be used to enable an implementation of an error correction circuit.
[0075] Table 3 describes a further embodiment of an assignment of analog values A, B to the possible eight triples 000, 001, . . . , 111 of binary values which variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , may take wherein the analog values are again designated as A 0 , A 1 , A 2 or as B 0 , B 1 , B 2 , respectively, depending on their belonging to one of the intervals W 0 , W 1 , W 2 .
[0000]
TABLE 3
x 1 x 2 x 3
A
B
000
A 1
B 1
001
A 2
B 1
010
A 1
B 0
011
A 2
B 0
100
A 0
B 1
101
A 0
B 2
110
A 0
B 0
111
A 1
B 2
[0076] By Table 3, tuple A 1 , B 1 is, for instance, assigned to triple 000 and tuple A 1 , B 2 is assigned to triple 111. According to table 3 tuple A 2 , B 2 is assigned to none of the triples, so that this tuple of ternary values can only be stored in the ternary memory 52 if an error has occurred.
[0077] Table 4 illustrates an embodiment wherein triples of binary values are assigned to tuples of ternary values.
[0000]
TABLE 4
A 0
A 1
A 2
B 0
110
010
011
B 1
100
000
001
B 2
101
111
000
[0078] If two tuples of ternary values are contiguous, the triples of binary values assigned to them by Table 4 differ in an odd number of bits, wherein at least one pair of triples of contiguous tuples differs in 3 bits. Thus, binary triple 000, which is assigned to ternary tuple A 1 , B 1 , differs from the binary triple 111, that is assigned to the contiguous tuple A 1 , B 2 , by three bits.
[0079] In the following the advantage that the tuple A 2 , B 2 is assigned to none of the triples of binary values is shown.
[0080] In one embodiment ternary memory can be a flash memory. If low threshold voltage values (positive to low negative stored charging values on the floating gate) correspond to ternary values A 0 and B 0 stored in the memory cells, medium threshold voltage values (low to medium negative stored charging values on the floating gate) correspond to ternary values A l and B 1 , and high threshold voltage values (medium to high negative stored charging values on the floating gate) correspond to ternary values A 2 and B 2 , a tuple A 2 , B 2 can only be stored in the memory cells of the ternary memory 52 if, due to an error, a low or medium threshold voltage value was distorted to a higher threshold voltage value. If the ternary memory is a flash memory, the error may, for instance, also have occurred by incorrect programming.
[0081] In the case of analog values that have already been written into the ternary memory and that are, for instance, assumed as threshold voltage values here, the analog value, here the threshold voltage value, will increase rarely only, but will rather be diminished incorrectly due to loss of charge. This is due to the fact that the relatively high incorporated electrical fields occur with the higher charging amounts and hence higher threshold voltage values may result in a loss of negative charge. Thus, a stored tuple A 1 , B 2 will only very rarely be distorted incorrectly to the tuple A 2 , B 2 since the charge pertaining to A 2 on the floating gate is more negative than that pertaining to A 1 . The tuple A 2 , B 2 can, however, more easily distort to one of the tuples A 1 , B 2 or A 2 , B 1 by loss of charge.
[0082] Tuple A 2 , B 2 is, however, pursuant to the assignment of Table 3, not written into ternary memory 52 . So this can only occur in case of a processing error during writing. Accordingly it is of advantage if tuple A 2 , B 2 is not assigned to any triple of binary values, as is illustrated in Table 3.
[0083] Table 3 reveals that value A 1 is written into a first memory cell of the ternary memory 52 for the allocations 000, 010, and 111. This is exactly the case if the Boolean expression
[0000] T 1 = x 1 x 2 x 3 V x 1 x 2 x 3 Vx 1 x 2 x 3 = x 1 x 3 ( x 2 V x 2 ) Vx 1 x 2 x 3 = x 1 x 3 Vx 1 x 2 x 3 (4)
[0000] equals 1.
[0084] Correspondingly, Table 3 reveals that A 2 is written into the corresponding memory cell of the ternary memory for the allocations 001 and 011 of x 1 , x 2 , x 3 .
[0085] This is the case if the Boolean expression
[0000] T 2 = x 1 x 2 x 3 V x 1 x 2 x 3 = x 1 x 3 (5)
[0000] equals 1.
[0086] For all other allocations of x 1 , x 2 , x 3 the corresponding memory cell is allocated with A 0 .
[0087] Table 3 also reveals that B 1 is written into a corresponding second memory cell of ternary memory 52 for the allocations 000, 001, and 100 of x 1 , x 2 , x 3 .
[0088] This is the case if the Boolean expression
[0000] T 3 = x 1 x 2 x 3 V x 1 x 2 x 3 Vx 1 x 2 x 3 =x 2 ( x 1 V x 3 ) (6)
[0000] equals 1.
[0089] Correspondingly, Table 3 reveals that B 2 is written into the corresponding memory cell of the ternary memory for the allocations 101 and 111 of x 1 , x 2 , x 3 . This is the case if the Boolean expression
[0000] T 4 =x 1 x 2 x 3 Vx 1 x 2 x 3 =x 1 x 3 (7)
[0000] equals 1. For all other allocations of x 1 , x 2 , x 3 the corresponding memory cell is allocated with B 0 .
[0090] If the ternary memory 52 is a flash memory, it is well-known that a memory cell in a memory area is only written into after the deletion of the memory area. After deletion, all memory cells of the deleted memory area are set to a value A 0 or B 0 , respectively, so that only the values differing from A 0 or from B 0 , respectively, have to be written.
[0091] FIGS. 8 a , 8 b , 8 c illustrate an implementation of partial circuit F for implementing function F 61 in FIG. 6 b by making use of Tables 3 and 4. The binary inputs are again designated with x 1 , x 2 , x 3 in FIG. 8 a . The binary inputs x 1 , x 2 , x 3 are directly mapped to the corresponding analog output values A and B that represent ternary values.
[0092] Partial circuit F 61 of FIG. 6 b for implementing the function ƒ is composed of the two partial circuits F 1 814 and F 2 817 , as is illustrated in FIG. 8 a . Partial circuit F 61 is illustrated in FIG. 8 a for the first three binary input values x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and for the first two ternary output values A 1 and B 1 of the circuit TrBT 51 of FIG. 6 b.
[0093] First partial circuit F 1 814 has three binary inputs at which the binary values x 1 , x 2 , x 3 are available, and one analog input at which an analog value V 1 is constantly available. V 1 is an analog value being in the interval W 1 . The partial circuit F 1 814 has a first analog output at which value A 1 =V 1 is output if this output is coupled to the analog input that carries the signal V 1 . It comprises a second analog output at which value B 1 =V 1 is output if this output is coupled to the analog input carrying analog signal V 1 .
[0094] For the binary allocations x 1 , x 2 , x 3 for which T 1 = x 1 x 3 Vx 1 x 2 x 3 =1 is valid, the analog input carrying value V 1 is coupled to the first output carrying the value V 1 then, and for the binary allocations x 1 , x 2 , x 3 for which T 3 = x 2 ( x 1 V x 3 )=1 is valid, the analog input carrying value V 1 is coupled to the second output that carries the value V 1 then.
[0095] The second partial circuit F 2 817 exhibits two binary inputs to which the binary values x 1 , x 3 are provided, and one analog input to which an analog value V 2 is constantly provided. V 2 is an analog value in the interval W 2 . Partial circuit F 2 817 comprises a first analog output at which value A 2 =V 2 is output if this output is coupled to the analog input carrying analog signal V 2 , and a second analog output at which value B 2 =V 2 is output if this output is coupled to the analog input carrying the analog signal V 1 .
[0096] For binary allocations x 1 , x 3 for which T 2 = x 1 x 3 =1 applies, the analog input carrying value V 2 is coupled to the first output carrying value V 2 then, and for the binary assignments x 1 , x 3 for which T 4 = x 1 x 3 =1 applies, the analog input carrying value V 2 is coupled to the second output that carries the value V 2 then.
[0097] The first output of the partial circuit F 1 814 and the first output of the second partial circuit F 2 817 are coupled to the first output 815 of circuit F 61 marked with A. This output is, depending on the binary allocation x 1 , x 2 , x 3 available, coupled to the analog input of the partial circuit F 1 814 that carries the value 1/E W 1 if T 1 =1, or, if T 2 =1, to analog input of the partial circuit F 2 817 carrying the analog value V 2 εW 2 , or, if neither T 1 =1 nor T 2 =1 applies, to none of these analog inputs. For T 1 =1 there applies A=A 1 , and for T 2 =1 there applies A=A 2 .
[0098] The second output, i.e. B 1 , of partial circuit F 1 814 and the second output i.e. B 2 , of the second partial circuit F 2 817 are connected with the second output of the circuit F 61 which is marked with B. This output is, depending on the binary allocation x 1 , x 2 , x 3 available, coupled to the analog input of the partial circuit F 1 814 carrying value V 1 εW 1 if T 3 =1, or if T 4 =1, to the analog input of the partial circuit F 2 carrying the analog value V 2 εW 2 , or, if neither T 3 =1 nor T 4 =1 applies, to none of these analog inputs. For T 3 =1 there applies B=B 1 , and for T 4 =1 there applies B=B 2 .
[0099] Note that in FIG. 6 a , the analog values constantly carrying the values V 1 and V 2 are not illustrated as inputs of the circuit F 61 .
[0100] FIG. 8 b illustrates an embodiment of an implementation of partial circuit F 1 814 of FIG. 8 a . Circuit F 1 is constructed of the switches 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , and 810 , each comprising one input and two outputs that are referred to as lower output and upper output. These switches are controlled by the binary values x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , x 3 , x 3 , x 2 , x 1 . If the binary control value 1, here x 1 =1, is input in one of the switches, for instance in switch 83 , it couples its input to its upper output. If a binary control value 0 is input, it couples the input to its lower output.
[0101] The input of partial circuit F 1 814 which carries the analog value V 1 is coupled to the input of the switch 83 , to the input of the switch 87 and to the input of the switch 810 .
[0102] The upper output of the switch 83 is coupled to the input of the switch 84 . The upper output of the switch 84 is coupled to the input of the switch 85 . The lower output of the switch 83 is connected with the input of the switch 86 . The lower output of the switch 810 is connected with the lower output of the switch 87 to the line 811 , and the line 811 is guided into the input of the switch 88 . The lower output of the switch 88 is the second output of the partial circuit F 1 814 which is marked with B 1 . The lower output of the switch 86 is connected with the upper output of the switch 85 to a line 812 that forms the first output of the partial circuit F 1 89 which is marked with A 1 .
[0103] The connecting lines between the switches are marked in FIG. 8 b with Boolean expressions, so that value V 1 is available on the respective connecting line if the corresponding Boolean expression equals 1. Thus, the connecting line between the switches 83 and 84 is marked with x 1 since the value V 1 is available on this line if x 1 =1 applies. The line 811 that implements the connection of the lower outputs of the switches 810 and 87 is marked with x 1 V x 3 since this expression assumes the value 1 and this line carries the value V 1 if either x 1 =0 or x 3 =0 is valid. The line coupled to the lower output of the switch 88 is marked with the expression x 2 ( x 1 V x 3 ). This line carries the value V 1 if T 1 = x 2 ( x 1 V x 3 ).
[0104] FIG. 8 c illustrates a possible implementation of partial circuit F 2 817 of FIG. 8 a . It comprises switches 81 and 82 with one input and two outputs that are controlled by the binary values x 1 and x 3 .
[0105] The input of the circuit F 2 817 carrying the analog value V 2 is coupled to the input of switch 81 . The upper output of the switch 81 is coupled to the input of the switch 82 . The lower output of switch 82 forms the first output of circuit F 2 817 , which is marked with A 2 , while the upper output of switch 82 forms the second output that is marked with B 2 . The coupling lines between the switches and the outputs are again marked with Boolean expressions. Thus, the connecting line between switches 81 and 82 is marked with x 3 since the value V 2 is available on this line if x 3 =1. Correspondingly, the first output line for A 2 is marked with x 1 x 3 since value V 2 is output on this output line if T 2 = x 1 x 3 =1. The second output line for B 2 is marked with x 1 x 3 since the value V 2 is available on this line if T 4 =x 1 x 3 =1.
[0106] The pertinent partial circuit R 71 of FIG. 7 b which transforms a tuple of ternary values A′B′ which are read out from ternary memory 52 to a corresponding triple x′ 1 , x′ 2 , x′ 3 of binary values is illustrated in FIG. 9 .
[0107] The depicted circuit implements the mapping of tuples of ternary values A′B′ to triples of binary values x′ 1 x′ 2 x′ 3 as illustrated in Table 5 and which results directly from Table 4.
[0000]
TABLE 5
A′B′
x 1 x 2 x 3
A 0 B 0
110
A 0 B 1
100
A 0 B 2
101
A 1 B 0
010
A 1 B 1
000
A 1 B 2
111
A 2 B 0
011
A 2 B 1
001
A 2 B 2
000
[0108] Thus, in the first line of Table 5 the triple 110 is assigned to tuple A 0 B 0 since the triple 110 is positioned in Table 4 in the left upper field whose column is marked with A 0 and whose row is marked with B 0 . In the last row of Table 4, the triple 000 is assigned to the tuple A 2 B 2 since the triple 000 is positioned in Table 4 in the right lower field whose column is marked with A 2 and whose row is marked with B 2 .
[0109] In one embodiment circuit R 71 of FIG. 9 comprises, for instance, a serial connection of digital-to-analog converter DAW 91 with two analog inputs to which analog values A′ and B′ are provided, and m binary outputs at which an m-component binary vector y=y 1 , . . . , y m is output, and a downstream combinational circuit Komb 92 with m binary inputs and 3 binary outputs at which the binary values x 1 x 2 x 3 are output. There applies m≧3.
[0110] The digital-to-analog converter DAW may comprise a digital-to-analog converter converting the analog values A′ to two binary values y 1 , y 2 and converting signal B′ to two binary signals y 3 , y 4 , so that in this case m=4. A person skilled in the art will often perform the digital-to-analog conversion by making use of a Gray code, as is proposed already in Steinbuch, K. and Ruprecht, W. Nachrichtentechnik [Communications Engineering], Publishing House Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1967, pp. 339-341. If A 0 and B 0 are each converted to 0, 0; A 1 and B 1 each to 0, 1; and A 2 and B 2 each to 1, 1 then the value table of the combinational circuit Komb 92 of Table 6 results in that in Table 5 A i and B j for j=0, 1, 2 are replaced by the digital tuples y 1 , y 2 and y 3 , y 4 assigned to them.
[0000]
TABLE 6
y 1 y 2 , y 3 y 4
x 1 x 2 x 3
00, 00
110
00, 01
100
00, 11
101
01, 00
010
01, 01
000
01, 11
111
11, 00
011
11, 01
001
11, 11
000
[0111] In Table 6, the output values of the combinatory circuit Komb 92 are defined for 9 input values y 1 , y 2 , y 3 , y 4 .
[0112] For the remaining 7 values for y 1 , y 2 , y 3 , y 4 , which are not listed in Table 6, the output values of the combinatory circuit Komb 92 remain undetermined, and these undetermined or ‘don't-care’ values may be used for circuit optimization.
[0113] The binary values y 1 , y 2 , y 3 , y 4 are auxiliary values for reading. They are generated only during reading after the output of analog values A 1 ′ B′, . . . , A m ′B m ′ stored in the corresponding memory cells of the ternary memory 52 by means of digitizing by an analog-to-digital converter DAW 91 . When writing data into memory Schspei these binary auxiliary values for reading y 1 , y 2 , y 3 , y 4 are not required. Various analog-digital converters may be used to generate m binary auxiliary values for reading y 1 , . . . , y m .
[0114] Another possibility of digital-to-analog conversion of auxiliary values for reading comprises digitizing each of the analog signals A′ and B′ by making use of a 1-of-3 code. If A 0 and B 0 are each converted to 0, 0, 1; A 1 and B 1 each to 0, 1, 0; and A 2 and B 2 each to 0, 0, 1, the value table of the combinational circuit Komb 92 of Table 7 results in that in Table 5 A i and B j for j=0, 1, 2 are replaced by the digital triples y 1 , y 2 , y 3 and y 4 , y 5 , y 6 assigned to them. In this case, m=6 is valid. For a particular function ƒ as defined by Table 3 and for a corresponding function r as defined by Table 4, there are different possibilities of option for the auxiliary values for reading y 1 , . . . , y m also with different values for m, and that the auxiliary values for reading y 1 , . . . , y m are not stored in the ternary memory but have to be generated after reading the ternary values from the ternary memory 52 only.
[0000]
TABLE 7
y 1 y 2 y 3 , y 4 y 5 y 6
x 1 x 2 x 3
100, 100
110
100, 010
100
100, 001
101
010, 100
010
010, 010
000
010, 001
111
001, 100
011
001, 010
001
001, 001
000
[0115] In Table 7, the output values of the combinatory circuit Komb 92 are determined for 9 input values y 1 y 2 y 3 , y 4 y 5 y 6 .
[0116] For all 64−7=57 values for y 1 y 2 y 3 , y 4 y 5 y 6 , which are not listed in Table 7, the output values of the combinational circuit Komb 92 remain undetermined. These undetermined or ‘don't-care’ values may be used for circuit optimization.
[0117] Since the design of a combinational circuit given as a table of values lies within the knowledge of a skilled artisan. Also the implementation of circuit R 71 as defined by the assignment of a triple x 1 , x 2 , x 3 of digital values to a tuple A′, B′ of ternary values as in Table 5 lies within the knowledge of the skilled artisan, there is no need to unnecessarily obscure this description with the details of circuit R 71 .
[0118] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of circuitry for error detection of 1-bit and 2-bit errors. FIG. 10 first of all illustrates the corrector 43 of FIG. 4 . Circuit components corresponding to the circuit components in FIG. 4 are designated with the same reference numbers. In addition to corrector 43 described in FIG. 4 , a q-bit line 103 carrying the values of the error syndrome s as output by syndrome generator Syndr 45 is coupled to the input of an XOR circuit 101 with q inputs and one output and an OR circuit 102 with likewise q inputs and one output.
[0119] XOR circuit 101 outputs parity value P(s) of the components of the syndrome s with
[0000] P ( s )= s 1 ⊕s 2 ⊕ . . . ⊕s q
[0000] OR circuit 102 outputs the OR operation of the components of the syndrome s with
[0000] OR( s )= s 1 Vs 2 V . . . Vs q
[0120] Assuming that only correct values of 1-bit errors, 3-bit errors and 2-bit errors are to be distinguished from one another, there applies:
[0000] If P(s)=0 and OR(s)=0, then there is no error.
If P(s)=1 and OR(s)=1, then there is a 1-bit error or a 3-bit error.
If P(s)=0 and OR(s)=1, then there is a 2-bit error.
[0121] Subsequently the error correction according to the invention is described with an embodiment comprising q=5 check bits c=c 1 , . . . , c 5 and k=7 data bits u=u 1 , . . . , u 7 , so that the code exhibits a length of n=12 bits. The columns of the H-matrix h i with i=1, . . . , 12 all exhibit an odd number of ones. The H-matrix is indicated here in systematic form
[0000] H =( I 5 ,P 5,7 )
[0000] wherein I 5 is the (5, 5) unit matrix and P 5,7 a (5, 7) is a parity matrix.
[0122] The H-matrix H=h 2 , h 12 ) in one embodiment can be
[0000]
H
=
(
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
)
(
8
)
[0123] Every column h i , i=1, . . . , 12 consists of 5 components, so that the H-matrix consists of 5 rows. Note that for illustration purposes only each column is terminated in the sixth row by an integer number indicating the number of the column.
[0124] In the following it is illustrated that there exists a partition of the columns of the H-matrix in w=n/3=12/3=4 sets M 1 ={h 1 , h 2 , h 3 }, M 2 ={h 4 , h 5 , h 6 }, M 3 ={h 7 , h 8 , h 9 }, M 4 ={h 10 , h 11 , h 12 } with 3 columns each, so that the element-wise XOR sum of the respectively three columns of the H-matrix contained in one of these sets is not a column of the H-matrix. The columns of the H-matrix are arranged such that the first three columns h 1 , h 2 , h 3 of the H-matrix are elements of the first set M 1 , the following three columns h 4 , h 5 , h 6 are elements of set M 2 , the following three columns h 7 , h 8 , h 9 are elements of set M 3 , and the following three columns h 10 , h 11 , h 12 are elements of set M 4 .
[0125] In case the columns are initially arranged in some other way, the columns can be rearranged that every three consecutive columns are elements of one of these sets.
[0126] Since n=12 is divisible by 3 without remainder, there are w=12/3=4 such sets without any columns remaining during the classification in sets of three elements. If the remainder of the division of n by 3 is 1, there is another set M m+1 ={h n } comprising one element. Since all columns of the H matrix are different, this additional column H n will not occur again in the H-matrix H. If the remainder of the division of n by 3 is 2, there is another set M w+1 ={h n-1 , h n }. The H-matrix H will then have to be chosen such that the element-wise XOR sum h n-1 ⊕h n does not form a column of the H-matrix.
[0127] The element-wise XOR sum of the first three columns
[0000] k 1 =h 1 ⊕h 2 ⊕h 3 =[1,1,1,0,0] T
[0000] does not form a column of the H-matrix. Likewise, there applies: The element-wise XOR sum of the following three columns
[0000] k 4 =h 4 ⊕h 5 ⊕h 6 =[1,1,0,0,1] T
[0000] does not form a column of the H-matrix. Likewise, there applies: The element-wise XOR sum of the following three columns
[0000] k 7 =h 7 ⊕h 8 ⊕h 9 =[0,0,1,1,1] T
[0000] does not form a column of the H-matrix. Likewise, there applies: The element-wise XOR sum of the following three columns
[0000] k 10 =h 10 ⊕h 11 ⊕h 12 =[1,0,0,1,1] T
[0000] does not form a column of the H-matrix.
[0128] For i=1 mod 3 there applies that the XOR sum k i =h i ⊕h i+1 ⊕h i+2 does not form a column of the H-matrix.
[0129] Such H-matrix may, for instance, be determined as follows:
[0000] In a first step the set of all possible columns that are basically suited as columns of the H-matrix are chosen.
[0130] These are, for instance, all different columns with m elements or all columns with m elements having an odd number of ones. In the described embodiment with m=5, all 16 columns with an odd number of ones have been chosen as a set of all basically possible columns. If the H-matrix shall be determined in systematic form, the columns with exactly one 1 are chosen as the first 5 columns from the set of all possible columns. These columns no longer form part of this set now. They form the unit matrix I 5 of the H-matrix.
[0131] For the first three columns there applies k 1 =h 1 ⊕h 2 ⊕h 3 =[1, 1, 1, 0, 0] T and column k 1 is deleted from the set of possible columns. Since h 4 and h 5 are already determined, from the set of the remaining possible columns, h 6 is now chosen as the 6 th column from the set of the remaining possible columns. IN this embodiment this is the column h 6 =[1, 1, 0, 1, 0] T . For the three columns h 4 , h 5 , h 6 following the third column there applies k 4 =h 4 ⊕h 5 ⊕h 6 =[1, 1, 0, 0, 1] T . Therefore, the column k 4 =[1, 1, 0, 0, 1] T is deleted from the set of possible columns of the H-matrix. From the set of the remaining possible columns of the H-matrix, the three columns h 7 , h 8 and h 9 are now chosen. There applies k 7 =h 7 ⊕h 8 ⊕h 9 =[0, 0, 1, 1, 1] T , and column k 7 =[0, 0, 1, 1, 1] T is deleted from the set of possible columns of the H-matrix. From the set of the remaining possible columns of the H-matrix, the three columns h 10 , h 11 and h 12 are now chosen. There applies k 10 =h 10 ⊕h 11 ⊕h 12 =[1, 0, 0, 1, 1] T , and column k 10 =[1, 0, 0, 1, 1] T is deleted from the set of possible columns of the H-matrix, which is now empty.
[0132] If, during the determination of the H-matrix, there results a column k j =h j ⊕h j+1 ⊕h j+2 with j=1 modulo 3=1 mod 3, which already exists as a column of the determined columns of the H matrix, one simply has to choose from the set of possible columns of the H-matrix, for instance, instead of the column h j+2 another column h′ j+2 for which this does not apply.
[0133] Determining from a set of basically possible columns an H-matrix in which the XOR sums k i =h i ⊕h i+1 ⊕h i+2 for i=1 mod 3 do not form columns of the H-matrix lies within the skills of the artisan.
[0134] From the H-matrix, the equations for determining the syndrome s=s 1 , s 2 , s 3 , s 4 , s 5 result as
[0000]
s
1
=c
1
⊕u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
7
[0000]
s
2
=c
2
⊕u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
4
⊕u
5
⊕u
6
[0000]
s
3
=c
3
⊕u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
4
⊕u
5
⊕u
7
[0000]
s
4
=c
4
⊕u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
4
⊕u
6
[0000] s 5 =c 5 ⊕u 2 ⊕u 5 ⊕u 6 ⊕u 7 .
[0135] An implementation of these equations as a syndrome generator by making use of XOR gates with 2 inputs and one output is no problem for a skilled artesian and will therefore not be described here in detail.
[0136] The function of the decoder is defined by Table 8.
[0000]
TABLE 8
s 1
s 2
s 3
s 4
s 5
e 1
e 2
e 3
e 4
e 5
e 6
e 7
e 8
e 9
e 10
e 11
e 12
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
[0137] Encoder Cod 41 , in FIG. 4 , is defined by a generator matrix G of the contemplated code. The determination of a G-matrix in systematic form from an H-matrix in systematic form is known to the person skilled in the art, and is, for instance, described in Lin, S. and Costello, D. “Error Control Coding: Fundamentals and Applications” Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1983, pages 54-55.
[0138] A generator matrix G in systematic form results directly from the H-matrix
[0000] H =( I q ,P q,k ) (9)
[0000] of the code in systematic form to
[0000] G ( P k,q T ,I k ), (10)
[0000] wherein P k,q T is the transposed (k,q) matrix of the (q,k) matrix P q,k in which the rows of P q,k are the columns of P k,q T .
[0139] The G-matrix which in one embodiment can be determined from the H-matrix (8) is
[0000]
G
=
(
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
)
,
(
11
)
[0000] and encoder Cod 11 , 41 determines the code words x by
[0000] x=x 1 , . . . ,x 12 =u·G =( c,u )=( c 1 , . . . ,c 5 ,u 1 , . . . ,u 7 )
[0140] For the check bits c=c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 , c 5 there applies then
[0000]
c
1
=u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
7
[0000]
c
2
=u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
4
⊕u
5
⊕u
6
[0000]
c
3
=u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
4
⊕u
5
⊕u
7
[0000]
c
4
=u
1
⊕u
2
⊕u
3
⊕u
4
⊕u
6
[0000] c 5 =u 2 ⊕u 5 ⊕u 6 ⊕u 7 .
[0141] An implementation of an encoder by XOR gates, for instance, with two inputs and one output lies within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art and will therefore not be described in detail here.
[0142] The mode of operation of the invention will be described in the following by means of examples. In one embodiment we consider k=7 and n=12. Hence, q=n−k=5. Data bits u=u 1 , . . . , u 7 =0101111 are, for instance, written into the circuit arrangement according to the invention. The data bits u are available on 7-bit input line 47 in FIG. 4 . They are encoded by encoder 41 by applying the G-matrix G of equation (11) to the code word
[0000]
x=u·G=c
1
,c
2
,c
3
,c
4
,c
5
,u
1
,u
2
,u
3
,u
4
,u
5
,u
6
,u
7
[0000] with u=u 1 , u 2 , u 3 , u 4 , u 5 , u 6 , u 7 =0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 and
[0000] c 1 =0⊕1⊕0⊕1=0
[0000] c 2 =0⊕1⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] c 3 =1⊕0⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] c 4 =0⊕1⊕0⊕1⊕1=1
[0000] c 5 =1⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] so that x=000100101111 and the 12 elements, i.e. the bits of x are output by encoder 41 on the 12-bit line 48 . These values are provided to the input of circuit arrangement Schspei 42 and are stored under the address a provided on line 413 . The binary values available at the input of the circuit arrangement Schspei are transformed to analog values representing ternary values, stored as conditions in 2·m=8 memory cells of m=4 pairs of memory cells. The stored conditions, i.e. the ternary values, are retransformed to binary values when reading the analog values representing the ternary values.
[0143] Storing of data will now be explained in more detail by means of FIG. 5 . As described, binary sequence x=000 100 101 111 is provided to the input of circuit arrangement Schspei. In FIG. 5 , the input 54 corresponds to this input.
[0144] By means of circuit TrBT 51 for transforming a sequence of binary values to a sequence of ternary values, binary sequence x is transformed to sequence A 1 B 1 , A 2 B 2 , A 3 B 3 , A 4 B 4 of ternary values. In one embodiment, i.e. as illustrated in FIG. 6 b , circuit TrBT is implemented as a parallel circuit of four equal circuits F 61 , wherein circuit F 61 implements function ƒ defined by Table 3. A triple of three, here consecutive, binary values is transformed by the circuit F to a tuple of ternary values that are stored as conditions in a pair of memory cells.
[0145] In the contemplated embodiment, and in correspondence with Table 3 the first triple of binary values 000 is transformed to tuple A 1 B 1 =A 1 B 1 of ternary values, the second triple 100 of binary values is transformed to the tuple A 2 B 2 =A 0 B 1 of ternary values, the third triple of binary values 101 is transformed to the tuple A 3 B 3 =A 0 B 2 of ternary values, and the fourth triple of binary values 111 to the tuple A 4 B 4 =A 1 B 2 of ternary values.
[0146] Under address a, the ternary values A 1 B 1 are stored in the first pair of memory cells of the ternary memory 52 , the ternary values A 0 B 1 in the second pair of memory cells of the ternary memory 52 , the ternary values A 0 B 2 in the third pair of memory cells of the ternary memory 52 , and the ternary values A 1 B 2 in the fourth pair of memory cells of the ternary memory 52 as conditions.
[0147] To begin with, we first consider the case that no error occurs. There applies then P(s)=0 and OR(s)=0.
[0148] Then, during reading from ternary memory 52 at address a, the ternary values A 1 B 1 , A 9 B 1 , A 0 B 2 , A 1 B 2 are output on the 2·4=8 bit line 58 , and they are provided to the input of the circuit TrTB 53 .
[0149] It is assumed that the circuit TrTB 53 , as illustrated in FIG. 7 b , is implemented as a parallel circuit of m=4 partial circuits R 71 , each implementing the function r as defined in Table 5. Thus, the partial circuit R, for instance, transforms the tuple of ternary values A 1 , B 1 corresponding to the fifth row of Table 5 to the triple 000 of binary values. The binary values 000 100 101 111 are then output via line 56 of FIG. 5 which corresponds to the line 48 in FIG. 4 . This sequence of binary values is input via the line 49 of FIG. 4 to syndrome generator Syndr 45 and simultaneously in a first input of XOR circuit 44 .
[0150] Syndrome generator Syndr 45 outputs the error syndrome s=s 1 , s 2 , s 3 , s 4 , s 5 at its q=n−k=12−7=5 bit output, wherein the elements, i.e. the bits, of the error syndrome s are defined as
[0000] s 1 =0⊕0⊕1⊕0⊕1=0
[0000] s 2 =0⊕0⊕1⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] s 3 =0⊕1⊕0⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] s 4 =1⊕0⊕1⊕0⊕1⊕1=0
[0000] s 5 =0⊕1⊕1⊕1⊕1=0
[0151] Since no error has occurred, the error syndrome equals 0, as expected.
[0152] The values of the syndrome, here s=0, 0, 0, 0, 0, are provided to input line 410 of decoder Dec 46 . The decoder accordingly outputs, in correspondence with Table 8, the n=12 bit error vector e=0, . . . , 0. The error vector is provided to the second input of the XOR circuit 44 and is connected with x′ to form x c =x′⊕0, . . . , 0=000 100 101 111. The result is output at output line 412 .
[0153] Now it is described how the circuit arrangement according to the invention behaves in case of an error in ternary memory 52 , i.e. the condition of a memory cell is falsified for whatever reason.
[0154] We consider the case where a correct condition A 1 is distorted to become condition A 0 in the first memory cell. The tuple A 1 B 1 , which is stored in the first two memory cells correctly, is contiguous to the tuple of ternary values A 0 , B 1 . Upon readout, the triple 100 of binary values is, in accordance with Table 4, assigned to this incorrect tuple A 0 , A 1 , so that the sequence x′=100 100 101 111 is output at output 49 of circuit arrangement Schspei 42 . The incorrect sequence x′ differs in one bit from the correct sequence x. This sequence is mapped by the syndrome generator Syndr 45 to the error syndrome 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 that is available the line 410 and hence also at the input of decoder Dec 46 . The error syndrome is here equal to the first column of the H-matrix H. For the parity P(s) and for OR(s) there applies now
[0000] P ( s )=1 and OR( s )=1
[0155] These values are output on lines 104 and 105 in FIG. 10 . Decoder Dec 46 outputs at its output 411 in correspondence with the 2 nd line of Table 8 an error vector e=1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 that is connected in the XOR circuit 44 with the sequence x′ to x c =x′⊕e=(1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1)⊕(1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)=(0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1)=x, so the error distorting A 1 to A 0 and resulting in an error in the binary sequence x′ is corrected properly.
[0156] In another example, the case is considered that condition B 2 of the 8 th memory cell is distorted to B 1 . The tuple of ternary values A 1 B 1 stored in the 7th and 8th memory cells of ternary memory 52 is contiguous to the corresponding correct tuple A 1 B 2 . The triple of binary values 000 is assigned according to table 4 to the incorrect tuple A 1 , B 1 , so this error results in the change of three consecutive bits of the binary sequence x′. For the parity P(s) and for OR(s) there applies now
[0000] P ( s )=1 and OR( s )=1
[0157] These values are output via lines 104 and 105 in FIG. 10 . An error distorting a tuple of ternary values to a tuple of contiguous ternary values is detected from the fact that P(s)=1 and =OR(s)=1.
[0158] At output 49 of circuit arrangement 42 , the bit sequence x′=000100101000 is now output, from which the error syndrome s=s 1 , s 2 , s 3 , s 4 , s 5 =1, 00, 1, 1 is derived which equals the XOR sum of the last three columns of the H-matrix H. This error syndrome does not form a column of the H-matrix H.
[0159] By means of decoder 46 , the error vector e=0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1 is, in accordance with the last line of Table 8, assigned to this syndrome, said error vector being XORed in the XOR circuit element-wise with x′=0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 to x c =x′⊕e=x, so this error is detected and corrected properly.
[0160] An error, that distorts two tuples of ternary values to two respectively contiguous tuples of ternary values results in P(s)=0 and OR(s)=1, which are output on lines 104 and 105 in FIG. 10 .
[0161] Now, there will be explained for one embodiment how the pertinent tuple of ternary values can be determined directly from a triple of binary values.
[0162] A triple 111 of binary values is directly mapped to the tuple of ternary values A 1 B 2 in correspondence with the last line of Table 3. The triple of binary values is described by variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , irrespective of the fact for which pair of memory cells the tuple of ternary values is determined.
[0163] We first consider circuit of FIG. 8 b , which implements the circuit F 1 814 of FIG. 8 a . Although in the instant case it is a matter of the 7 th and 8 th memory cells, the corresponding binary variables are, as mentioned, designated with x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , so that x 1 =1, x 2 =1, and x 3 =1 applies. Switches 83 , 84 , and 85 each connect their input with their upper output, so that the input carrying the analog value V 1 is directly connected with the output 812 and A 1 =Since V 1 belongs to the interval W 1 , A 1 εW 1 correctly applies. The switches 86 , 87 , 88 , and 810 also connect their input with their upper output, so that no further connection of the input carrying the value V 1 exists with an output.
[0164] Now, the circuit of FIG. 8 c which implements the circuit F 2 of FIG. 8 a will be considered. Since x 1 =x 3 =1, the switches 81 and 82 each connect their input with their upper output, so that B 2 =V 2 and B 2 εW 2 applies, since V 2 εW 2 . As illustrated in FIG. 8 a , the output of circuit F 1 , which is marked with A 1 , and the output of circuit F 2 , which is marked with A 2 , are coupled to line 815 carrying value A=A 1 εW 1 , since this output is only coupled to the input of circuit F 1 carrying the analog signal V 1 . The output of circuit F 1 , which is marked with B 1 , and the output of circuit F 2 , which is marked with B 2 , are coupled to line 816 carrying value B=B 2 εW 2 , since this output for x 1 =x 3 =1 is only coupled to the input of circuit F 2 which carries the analog signal V 2 . | The invention relates to a device and a method for storing binary data in a storage device, in which the binary data is transformed to and stored as ternary data. The storage device uses memory cells capable of storing three states. The device and method furthermore are configured to identify and correct falsified ternary data when reading and outputting the data from storage device. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102014016045.9, filed Oct. 29, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure pertains to a vehicle chassis structure with a side member having a front section, two rear sections running on the same side of the vehicle center, and a branching section that connects the front section and rear sections.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The branching section of a conventional chassis structure such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,333. The branching section is realized as a single piece through deep drawing. Steels suitable for deep drawing generally have a low strength, so that a sufficient resistance against the loads arising during a vehicle collision can only be achieved for the chassis structure by a high wall thickness and correspondingly high weight of the branching section.
SUMMARY
[0004] In accordance with the present disclosure, a vehicle chassis structure of the kind indicated at the outset is provided that achieves a high load-bearing capacity at a lower weight. For example, in an embodiment of the present disclosure a vehicle chassis structure of the kind indicated at the outset is disclosed and further includes a branching section having a y-shaped floor part and at least one side wall part, which extends along an edge of the floor part, and encompasses both a side wall attached to a rising flange of the floor part and a flange angled away from the side wall and attached to a base plate of the floor part. Attaching the respective side wall and flange of the floor part or flange of the side wall part and the base plate of the floor part to each other doubles the material along an edge of the branching section, which imparts a high strength to the latter and makes it possible to reduce the wall thicknesses of the parts assembled into the branching section in comparison to the conventional one-part branching section, and in so doing decrease its weight, without any losses in strength.
[0005] The side wall parts can be roll formed. Roll forming can be performed using high-strength alloys that are not suitable for deep drawing. If the at least one side wall part consists of such a high-strength alloy, in particular a high-strength aluminum alloy, the wall thickness of the side wall part and/or the floor part can be further reduced, and additional weight can be economized in this way.
[0006] A second flange can be angled away along the upper edge of the lateral wall, so that other parts of the chassis structure can be attached thereto. These parts may include in particular a floor plate of a passenger compartment and/or a front wall that separates the passenger compartment from an engine compartment.
[0007] The roll forming part can extend along an edge of the floor part between connectors for the two rear sections of the side member. The roll forming part can also extend along one of the two edges of the floor part, which each join a connector for one of the rear sections with a connector for the front section.
[0008] Side wall parts as defined above are preferably provided on all three edges of the floor part. The front section of the side wall part that generally runs between an engine compartment and a front wheel well of the vehicle is preferably designed as a profile with a closed cross section. An inner of the two rear sections of the side member can border a transmission hump of the vehicle. This inner rear section is also preferably designed as a profile with a closed cross section.
[0009] The inner, rear section may include several parts, which are interconnected along flanges that extend in a longitudinal direction of the inner, rear section. If these flanges are designed so as to project from the cross section of the inner, rear section toward the sides, they can further serve to anchor other parts of the chassis structure thereto, in particular a floor plate of the passenger compartment. An outer of the two rear sections can exhibit a hat-shaped cross section, which is only enhanced to form a closed cross section by mounting the floor plate or another body part thereon.
[0010] The front section and rear sections of the side member can also be roll formed. Here as well, fabrication through roll forming makes it possible to use high-strength material, so that the required load-bearing capacity of the side member in the event of a collision can be achieved with a low weight.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The present disclosure will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates the branching section of a vehicle chassis structure according to the present disclosure in an expanded view;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates the side member including the branching section on FIG. 1 , front section and rear sections in an assembled condition;
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates the side member from FIG. 2 , assembled with a front wheel housing;
[0015] FIG. 4 is illustrates a complete front section with two side members on either side of the middle of the vehicle;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a cross section through the front section of a side member and the connector of the branching section that accommodates it along the V-V plane shown in FIG. 2 ;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a cross section through the branching section along the VI-VI plane shown in FIG. 2 ; and
[0018] FIG. 7 is a cross section through the rear, inner section of the side member along the VII-VII plane shown in FIG. 2 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description.
[0020] FIG. 1 shows the branching section 1 of a side member of a motor vehicle body in an expanded view. The branching section 1 includes a Y-shaped floor part 2 as viewed from above, and side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 . The floor part 2 is deep drawn in a manner known in the art from flat material, such as sheet steel. It encompasses three arms including a first arm 6 which extends obliquely upward toward the front in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and second and third arms 7 , 8 which extend horizontally toward the back therein, and in so doing diverge in the transverse direction of the vehicle. A floor plate 9 extends over the entire length of the arms 6 , 7 , 8 up until the connectors 10 , 11 , 12 formed at their free ends. Formed along the edges of the floor plate 9 are vertically rising flanges 13 , 14 , 15 , which each extend continuously from one of the connectors 10 , 11 , 12 to another.
[0021] The side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 are roll formed out of high-strength sheet steel, and each encompass a vertical wall 16 , as well as flanges 17 , 18 angled away from the upper and lower edges of the wall 16 in opposite directions. The lower flange 17 and each of the flanges 13 , 14 , 15 extend over the entire length of the wall 16 . The upper flange 18 of side wall part 3 also extends over the entire length of the wall 16 . The upper flange 18 of the side wall parts 4 , 5 extends from rear connectors 11 , 12 but do not extend as far as to the front connector 10 .
[0022] When assembling the branching section 1 , the floor part 2 and side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 are each joined together in such a way that the lower flange 17 abuts against the floor plate 9 , the wall 16 of the side wall part 3 abuts against the flange 13 , the wall 16 of the side wall part 4 abuts against the flange 14 , and the side wall 16 of the side wall part 5 abuts against the flange 15 . These parts are structurally bonded by means of two rows of welding points, one along the side walls 16 and flanges 13 , 14 , 15 and the other along the flange 17 and floor plate 9 . FIG. 2 shows a construction for the branching section 1 in which the side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 are inserted into the floor part 2 , so that the flanges 17 rest upon the floor plate 9 . A configuration in which the side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 of the floor part 2 envelop the floor part 2 from outside would also be possible.
[0023] The front connector 10 has placed inside of it a carrier section 19 , here in the form of a rectangular profile. As evident from the cross section shown on FIG. 5 , it is anchored on the areas of the walls 16 that rise over the flanges 14 , 15 by means of welding points 20 , and contacts the lower flanges 17 of the two side wall parts 4 , 5 . The welding points of the aforementioned rows connecting the side wall parts 3 , 4 , 5 with the floor part 2 are marked 21 .
[0024] The front carrier section 19 is depicted with a seamless cross section in FIG. 5 . In practice, it is preferably obtained by roll forming a strip of high-strength sheet steel, wherein a seam on which the two edges of the sheet steel are welded together can be placed at any location of the cross section desired.
[0025] FIG. 6 shows a section through a central area of the branching section 1 in the transverse direction of the vehicle. As clearly evident here, the material is doubled by overlapping the floor part 9 with the side wall parts 4 , 5 in the area of the edges of the structure that is exposed to a heavy load during a collision, while the flat wall areas subjected to a weaker load can make do with a single sheet layer whose wall thickness can be distinctly smaller than that of a sheet deep drawn as a single part in a conventional manner.
[0026] Referring once again to FIG. 2 , an outer, rear carrier section 22 is inserted into the connector 11 , and welded to the side walls 16 and flanges 17 , 18 of the side wall parts 3 and 5 . The carrier section 22 has an inversely hat-shaped cross section with an upwardly open central groove 24 , and upwardly facing, elongated flanges 23 on either side of the groove, which each extend and are provided as an elongation of the flange 18 of the side wall parts 3 and 5 , so as to be welded from below to a floor plate of a passenger compartment (not shown on FIG. 2 ).
[0027] An inner, rear carrier section 25 is placed inside the connector 12 , and there welded to the walls 16 and flanges 17 , 18 of the side wall parts 3 , 4 . Just as the front carrier section 19 , the carrier section 25 has a closed cross section, but as depicted on FIG. 7 is composed of several parts 26 , 27 , which are welded among each other along flanges 28 or 29 that extend in the longitudinal direction of the carrier section 25 or in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The flanges 28 protruding on the side facing the outer, rear carrier section 22 provide a support for the floor plate 30 of the passenger compartment. The flanges 29 protruding toward the middle of the vehicle can support a cover for a transmission hump or border an outlet opening for a gearshift extending into the transmission hump. The part 26 can serve as a carrier for a rail 31 , in which a front seat of the vehicle is adjustably guided. Due to their simple shape, the parts 26 , 27 can be easily fabricated via roll forming, and can therefore be made out of a high-strength material that is not suitable for deep drawing or extruding.
[0028] FIG. 3 shows the side member from FIG. 2 , enhanced to include a wheel housing 32 and a strut mount 33 , which each include parts of a front wheel well. The wheel housing 32 is welded to the wall 16 of the side wall part 5 before the front end of its upper flange 18 .
[0029] FIG. 4 shows the left-side assembly from FIG. 3 and a right-side assembly, which is a mirror-imaged counter piece, joined together by a front wall 34 that differentiates a passenger compartment from the engine compartment and a transmission hump front part 35 , which projects into the passenger compartment from the front wall 34 . A lower edge of the front wall 34 abuts flush against the flange 23 and 28 of the rear carrier sections 22 , 25 , on which the floor plate 30 not shown on FIG. 4 rests.
[0030] While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. | A side member of a vehicle chassis structure is disclosed as having a front section, two rear sections running on the same side of the vehicle center, and a branching section that connects the front and rear sections. The branching section includes a y-shaped floor part and at least one side wall part, which extends along an edge of the floor part, and encompasses both a side wall attached to a rising flange of the floor part and a flange angled away from the side wall and attached to a base plate of the floor part. | 1 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/008,260, entitled “Enclosure for Controlling the Environment of Optical Crystals,” inventor J. Joseph Armstrong, filed Dec. 18, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention generally relates to illuminators used in conjunction with inspection systems, such as semiconductor wafer inspection systems and photomask inspection systems, and more particularly to a frequency converted light source for use with such inspection systems.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] The demands of the semiconductor industry for wafer and photomask inspection systems exhibiting high throughput and improvements in resolution are ongoing. Successive generations of such inspection systems tend to achieve higher resolution by illuminating the wafer or reticle using light energy having shorter wavelengths.
[0006] Certain practical advantages may be achieved when illuminating the wafer or reticle with light with wavelengths at or below 400 nm. Providing suitable lasers for high quality wafer and photomask inspection systems is particularly challenging. Conventional lasers generating light energy in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) range are typically large, expensive devices with relatively short lifetimes and low average power. Semiconductor wafer and photomask inspection systems generally require a laser generally having a high average power, low peak power, and relatively short wavelength in order to provide for inspection having sufficient throughput and adequate defect signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
[0007] The primary method to provide adequate DUV power entails generating shorter wavelength light from longer wavelength light. This process of changing wavelengths is commonly called frequency conversion. Frequency conversion in this context requires high peak power light energy production in order to produce a nonlinear response in an optical crystal. To increase the efficiency of this process the longer wavelength light may have high average powers, short optical pulses, and may be focused into the optical crystal. The original light is typically called fundamental light.
[0008] High efficiency is important for a DUV laser. High efficiency allows a lower power fundamental laser source that is more reliable, smaller, and produces less heat. A low power fundamental laser will produce less spectral broadening if a fiber laser is used. Higher efficiency also tends to lead to lower cost and better stability. For these reasons, efficient frequency conversion to the DUV is relatively important.
[0009] Generating light at wavelengths below 400 nm, and especially below 300 nm can be very challenging. Light sources used for semiconductor inspection require relatively high powers, long lifetimes, and stable performance. Light sources meeting these requirements for advanced inspection techniques are nonexistent. The lifetime, power, and stability of current DUV frequency converted lasers is generally limited by the frequency conversion crystals and conversion schemes, especially those exposed to DUV wavelengths like 355, 266, 213, and 193 nm.
[0010] Relatively few nonlinear crystals are capable of efficiently frequency converting light to UV/DUV wavelengths. Most crystals that have traditionally been employed have low damage thresholds if not properly prepared and the operating environment maintained. Thus the crystal has typically been contained within an enclosure to maintain the environment. In order to frequency convert an infrared laser to the DUV, more than one crystal can be employed. When multiple crystals are employed, it can be an advantage to place them all within the enclosure. Crystal alignment complications can result, and it can be difficult to collect and focus light in such an enclosure.
[0011] It would therefore be desirable to offer an enclosure that maintains the environment of the optical crystal and allows efficient frequency conversion at wavelengths at or below 400 nm. This efficient conversion may include multiple crystals of the same or different materials. Multiple frequency conversion steps may also be employed within a single enclosure. It is also important that any enclosure use materials that can provide increased lifetimes, stability, and/or damage thresholds as compared with designs previously available. In addition, it is desirable for an enclosure to allow pre-exposure processing of the crystal such as baking at high temperatures and allowing real time measurement of crystal properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] According to one aspect of the present design, there is provided an environmentally controlled enclosure comprising a crystal. Multiple crystals may be provided in certain embodiments. The enclosure comprises securing hardware configured to secure the crystal within the enclosure such that temperature changes within the enclosure produce negligible stress on the crystal. The enclosure further includes a window configured to permit light to enter the enclosure and contact the crystal and may include a seal formed between the window and the enclosure.
[0013] In certain embodiments, a frame is provided for the enclosure, and an outlet configured to purge gas from the enclosure many be provided. Heating or cooling elements may be provided to control the temperature of the enclosure and the crystal or crystals provided therein, and a temperature reading element may be provided that controls temperature using feedback. The window or windows may be provided at Brewster's angle.
[0014] These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an enclosure with built in angle adjustment hinge;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a frame with built in angle adjustment flexure;
[0018] FIG. 3 shows a built in angle adjustment bottom pin;
[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates a built in angle adjustment top pin;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a crystal holding using a spring with resultant force along the diagonal of the crystal;
[0021] FIG. 6 shows a glass to metal seal;
[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates a glass to metal seal primary seal with secondary ring seal;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a glass to metal primary seal with o-ring secondary seal and cooling fins;
[0024] FIG. 9 shows multiple crystals in one enclosure without independent adjustment;
[0025] FIG. 10 illustrates multiple crystals in one enclosure with independent adjustment;
[0026] FIG. 11 illustrates two crystals with lens relay;
[0027] FIG. 12 represents multiple crystals within a lens relay;
[0028] FIG. 13 is two crystals with a mirror relay;
[0029] FIG. 14 shows multiple crystals with a mirror relay;
[0030] FIG. 15 represents an image relay inside an enclosure;
[0031] FIG. 16 illustrates multiple crystals in one enclosure with extended output;
[0032] FIG. 17 shows multiple crystals in one enclosure with external optics and Brewster windows; and
[0033] FIG. 18 represents crystal enclosures for heat processing only.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] According to the present design, an enclosure for one or more optical crystals that maintains a desirable environment is provided. The enclosure design allows stable, long lifetime, high power frequency conversion of light to UV/DUV wavelengths. In addition, the same enclosure may be employed to preprocess the crystal(s) before exposing the crystal(s) to frequency conversion light.
[0035] Frequency conversion in this design uses at least one optical crystal within an enclosure, but may also utilize more than one crystal. In the case of multiple crystals, the crystals may be made of the same materials or different materials. The multiple crystals may be used to generate multiple wavelengths or increase the frequency conversion efficiency of a single wavelength.
[0036] Further, the present design may provide an advanced light source having a novel method for producing light energy. The present design may use nonlinear optical crystals within an enclosure, where the enclosure processes the crystal(s) before use and maintains the environment of the processed crystal during frequency conversion. The enclosure also includes optics for focusing light into crystals and collecting light from crystals. These optics may be external to the enclosure or included within the enclosure.
[0037] The present design allows for one or more cells to be used in the current embodiments and each cell may contain one or more crystals. In addition these cells may be translated to focus light through different parts of the crystal. This is typically done to increase the lifetime of a single crystal. The diameter of the light beam focused into the crystal is typically much smaller than the dimension of the crystal cross section. When a particular position in the crystal is damaged, the crystal may be translated to an undamaged region and continue to be used.
[0038] A particular aspect of the present design is the ability for the enclosure and crystal to enable heating or cooling of the environment and crystal without placing significant stress or by placing negligible stress on the crystal.
[0039] Other embodiments include an enclosure for preexposure processing only. Using one enclosure to preprocess the crystal and another for frequency conversion reduces the risk of crystal contamination from the preexposure process and allows for a simplified frequency conversion enclosure.
[0040] Enclosures for Optical Crystals
[0041] An enclosure for an optical crystal includes several parts, such as the enclosure frame, hardware to secure the crystal within the frame, windows to allow light in and frequency converted light out, hardware to secure the window to the frame, hardware to seal the window and the frame, and an inlet and outlet for purge gas. Also, it is often desirable to include a heating or cooling element in contact with the enclosure. This heating or cooling element is used to provide a stable temperature for the crystal, i.e. a temperature above or below ambient. The heating or cooling element can also be used to adjust the crystal temperature for preexposure processing. In addition, the enclosure can include hardware enabling adjusting of phase matching angles of the crystal to optimize frequency conversion.
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an enclosure for an optical crystal. The primary portion of this enclosure is the frame 101 . This frame is manufactured using materials and techniques that minimize the impact of photocontamination. Two possible materials that can be used for the frame are aluminum and stainless steel. It is often desirable to coat the material with a layer of nickel to inhibit contaminants within the metal from escaping. It is also desirable to have the frame electropolished and cleaned in order to minimize any remaining surface contamination. It may also be desirable to integrate an angle adjustment mechanism into the frame to allow adjustment of the phase matching angles.
[0043] The metal frame 101 may be formed from a variety of metals or materials including but not limited to stainless steel, aluminum, beryllium copper, copper, brass, and/or nickel. The metal frame 101 may be coated with nickel and/or electropolished.
[0044] In FIG. 1 , a hinge plate 102 is included in the frame, and a hinge rotation pin 103 and adjuster screws 104 are also used to adjust the angle. The angle adjustment works by keeping hinge plate 102 in a fixed position. Fixing bolts 105 are loosened to allow rotation about fixing bolt 103 . Rotation is accomplished by turning the push pull adjuster screws 104 . When in the proper position, Fixing bolts 105 are locked. FIG. 1 also includes a window within a window holding plate 106 . This window may be antireflection coated or may be oriented at Brewster's angle. Both of these techniques may be employed to improve the efficiency of the light transmission.
[0045] Providing a window at Brewster's angle requires the window to be mounted in proximity of Brewster's angle. One method to achieve this requires the frame 102 to be machined to support a window at this angle. The window holding plate 106 then fixes the window to the frame. A second method is to add an extension between the frame 101 and the holding plate 106 . This extension can mount to the frame 101 at one end and hold the window at Brewster's angle at the other. The windows should be placed far enough away from the crystal so they are not damaged by the light focused into the crystal or the light exiting the crystal. This distance can be calculated based on the light wavelengths, the focusing conditions into the crystal and housing, the crystal type, the window material, the window orientation, and any coatings that may be on the crystal or windows.
[0046] A seal 107 that effectively separates the external environment from the internal environment is provided. This seal can be a direct contact between the polished glass and a polished metal surface, or can be a ring of compressive material. This material should withstand high temperatures without significant photocontamination. Two possible compression materials that withstand increased temperatures with minimal outgassing are Viton and Kalrez.
[0047] A ring made from a soft metal or a metal ring coated with a soft metal such as silver may be employed. The cross section of the ring can be a circle or a C shape. The seal can also be made in two stages, where a glass to metal seal is used as the primary or inner seal and a ring of compressive material is used as a secondary seal. The design of FIG. 1 also allows for a purge gas in order to maintain the interior environment. This helps remove residual material outgassing and any low level leaking of the external environment into the enclosure.
[0048] In certain embodiments, the design may also incorporate a heating or cooling element. This element (not shown) can be attached to surface 109 , in proximity to the optical crystal within the enclosure. Possible heating elements that can be easily used are flat elements or cylindrical elements. These elements can be easily attached to the enclosure. A cooling device may also be attached to surface 109 . One possible type of cooler is a thermoelectric device which produces a cool surface on one side of the device and a hot surface on the other side when a voltage is applied. Thus this device can be either used to heat or cool. Alternately, a resistive or ceramic heating element may be employed. Heating and cooling can also be accomplished using standard heat exchanger techniques that run hot or cold liquid through a heat exchanging plate in contact with the frame 101 . Cooling may also be employed by using, for example, a heat tube or venturi.
[0049] An alternate design shown in FIG. 2 provides a flexure hinge mechanism for adjusting the optical crystal phase matching angle. In this embodiment, frame 201 , adjuster plate 202 and flexure hinge 203 can be fabricated from a single piece of metal. Angle adjustment operation is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . Frame 201 also includes holes 204 for angle adjustment screws, and a recessed portion 205 that is inside the frame and in contact with the optical crystal. Holder 206 is used for the seal between the frame and the window. Holes 207 are used to secure the window and seal (not shown) to the frame 201 . Holes 208 are used to attach heating or cooling element (not shown). Holes 209 are used for fixing bolts (not shown) and holes 210 are used for purge gas entry and exit. The holes are located such that entering purge gas must flow across the faces of the crystal before exiting the enclosure.
[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate angle adjustment technique. From FIG. 3 , a hole is placed in housing 301 to allow insertion of a rotation pin 303 in the bottom of the frame. The center axis of the pin 303 is generally in proximity to the center of the crystal 305 so the crystal will rotate about its center. Angle adjustment is made using a technique similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1 where the hinge is replaced by the rotation pin 303 . In FIG. 3 , light may enter through window 302 and exit through window 304 . Alternately the light may enter through window 304 and exit through window 302 .
[0051] FIG. 4 illustrates an alternate angle adjustment technique. From FIG. 4 , a hole is placed in housing 401 to allow insertion of a rotation pin 403 in the top of the frame. The center axis of the rotation pin 403 is in proximity to the center of the crystal 405 so the crystal will rotate about its center. Angle adjustment is made using a technique similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1 where the hinge is replaced by rotation pin 405 . In FIG. 4 , light may enter through a window placed at 402 and exit through a window placed at 404 . Alternately the light may enter through a window placed at 404 and exit through a window placed at 402 .
[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates holding the crystal in place using a spring. This method holds the crystal by producing a resultant force in proximity to the diagonal of the face of the crystal. Maintaining the crystal in this manner is accomplished by providing two surfaces 502 at a 90 degree angle to each other within the frame 501 . Two sides of the crystal 506 are in contact with surfaces 502 . A cap 505 also has two surfaces at a 90 degree angle to each other. These two surfaces are in contact with the opposing surfaces of crystal 506 . Space is allowed so the cap will not come in contact with the surfaces 502 or frame 501 . One surface of the cap 505 is beveled at 45 degrees to the sides of the crystal. In addition, one surface of the frame 501 is parallel or nearly parallel to the bevel on cap 505 . A low force spring can be used to hold the optical crystal in place. This spring is made from stainless steel and may be positioned by placing a recess in the bevel of the cap. This geometry maximizes the contact area of crystal 506 with frame 501 to aid in the efficiency and uniformity of heating and cooling. It also allows for the frame 501 and optical crystal 506 to be heated or cooled over a large temperature range without increasing stress on the optical crystal 506 .
[0053] FIG. 6 shows a cross section of a window using only a glass to metal seal. In this case window 601 is held against frame 603 using retaining plate 602 . This type of seal is suited for extreme high temperature applications because all materials can withstand temperatures in excess of 500 degrees C. The choice of window materials depends mostly on the optical damage threshold. When an enclosure is used to generate light in the UV and DUV spectral region and the light is focused into the crystal, either fused silica or calcium fluoride can be employed. Calcium fluoride windows also allow for efficient transmission in the infra red region of the light spectrum. This can be advantageous when making measurements of the properties of the optical crystal while the crystal is in the enclosure. In practice it is difficult to get a perfect seal between the metal and the glass unless the metal is polished to an optical quality surface. However, in many cases, the positive pressure from the purge gas can be sufficient to prevent the external environment from contaminating the inside of the enclosure.
[0054] FIG. 7 shows a cross section of a window using a primary glass-to-metal seal and a secondary ring seal. In this case a window 701 is held against frame 704 using a retaining plate 703 . In addition, a ring seal 702 is placed between the edge of window 701 and frame 704 . This type of seal is very good at preventing external contaminants from entering the enclosure. This design also minimizes any photocontamination from the ring seal because outgased material would have to leak through the primary glass-to-metal seal to enter the enclosure.
[0055] The choice of ring seal material is important and depends on the temperatures to which the enclosure will be raised. For applications where the ring seal will experience temperatures of less than 150 deg C., it is sufficient to use Viton or Kalrez material. For applications where the ring seal will experience between 150 deg C. and 250 deg C., high temperature Kalrez is typically used. For applications where the ring seal will experience greater than 250 deg C., a metal ring seal is likely required. This metal ring is a soft metal material so it provides an adequate seal against the glass. If the metal material is not soft, too much pressure can be required to compress the ring and the window will crack. Many different types of metal ring seal are available. Hollow circular cross sections and hollow C cross sections are available. Some material choices for the metal ring seals are copper, brass, nickel, stainless steel, silver, or gold, but other metals may be employed. Silver is a good choice because it is a soft metal and has good sealing properties. In addition it is also possible to use a silver coating on other metal ring materials to improve the seal. Other metals offer different benefits. This type of seal is well suited for high temperature applications.
[0056] Optionally, the ring seal 702 can be placed between the window and the frame 704 . This is a more traditional configuration that uses a ring seal as the primary seal.
[0057] An additional embodiment for window mounting and seal is shown in FIG. 8 . FIG. 8 shows a cross section of a window using a primary glass to metal seal and a secondary ring seal. In this case window 802 is held against frame 804 using retaining plate 801 . In addition a ring seal 803 is placed between the edge of window 802 and frame 804 . This design has additional cooling fins 805 in proximity to ring seal 803 . This design approach helps reduce the temperature of the frame in the proximity of the ring seal allowing the use of lower temperature materials for the ring seal. The ring seal typically satisfies the same conditions/constraints as described above with respect to the design of FIG. 7 .
[0058] FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of an enclosure containing two optical crystals 905 and 906 . This enclosure can employ all the features mentioned herein. The cross section drawing illustrates the components of the enclosure. Windows 904 and 910 are mounted to frame 901 using mounting plates 902 and 909 . Windows 904 and 910 may be sealed using a primary glass to metal seal together with a secondary ring seal 903 and 908 . Other seal types disclosed with respect to the previous embodiments may also be employed. Brewster windows can also be employed as described in previous embodiments. In addition, the windows should in most cases be placed far enough away from the crystal so they are not damaged by the light focused into the crystal or the light exiting the crystal as previously described.
[0059] The two crystals 905 and 906 are supported within the cell by recessed portion or support element 907 . Both crystals can be held in place using a similar technique as is described above with respect to FIG. 5 . The crystals can be of the same type or different types. When crystals of the same type are used, it can increase the frequency conversion efficiency or improve the beam shape of the light energy beam provided to the design.
[0060] Two typical methods of enhancing the beam are walkoff compensation (WOC) and distributed delta k (DDK) compensation. For WOC, the system rotates the second crystal to produce walkoff in the opposite direction to the first crystal. This can improve both efficiency and beam shape. In general, walkoff represents the situation where the intensity distribution of the beam in the crystal drifts away from the direction of the light wave vector. Thus walkoff compensation tends to decrease the walkoff for the first crystal in the two crystal arrangement. For DDK, the crystal angles are optimized for slightly different angles to optimize the conversion efficiency.
[0061] If the crystals are different types it is often to generate more than one wavelength within the same enclosure. For example, light at a wavelength of 1064 can enter the enclosure. A portion of the light is converted by a first crystal to 532 nm. Then the 532 nm light and the residual 1064 nm light can be mixed in a second crystal to produce 355 nm light. It is also possible to use more than two crystals by placing them in series.
[0062] FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of an enclosure containing two optical crystals with the added ability of being able to independently align one of the crystals in the phase matching direction. This enclosure can employ all the construction features mentioned above. The cross sectional drawing illustrates the components of the enclosure. Windows 1004 and 1010 are mounted to frame 1001 using mounting plates 1002 and 1009 . Windows are sealed using a primary glass to metal seal together with a secondary ring seal 1003 and 1011 . Other seal types disclosed herein may alternatively be employed. Again, Brewster windows can also be employed as previously described. In addition, the windows should generally be placed far enough away from the crystal so they are not damaged by the light focused into the crystal or the light exiting the crystal as previously described.
[0063] Crystal 1005 is supported within the cell by recessed portion 1007 . Crystal 1006 is supported on a pedestal 1013 that is inserted into the frame 1001 . This pedestal 1013 can be sealed using a ring seal 1012 . This ring seal can be similar material to the window seals in previous embodiments. In addition, because the seal here is a metal to metal interface, other types of sealing can be used, including but not limited to metal crush washers used for vacuum seals. Pedestal 1008 can be rotated with respect to crystal 1005 for appropriate alignment, and then fastened in place using external fasteners 1010 . Both crystals can be held in place using a similar technique described with respect to FIG. 5 .
[0064] FIG. 11 shows an example of an optical arrangement using multiple crystals. In some cases, placement of two crystals in proximity to each other is not efficient. In a situation where two crystals must be located close to one another, an optical relay collects light from a region proximate one crystal and focuses light to a region proximate a following crystal. In practice this can be accomplished using several optical schemes. One such arrangement is shown in FIG. 11 . Light from first crystal 1101 is collimated by first lens 1102 . A waveplate 1103 can be used to modify the polarization of the light before the light is focused using lens 1104 into second crystal 1105 . In many cases it is not necessary to modify the polarization of the light from the first crystal, and thus waveplate 1103 is optional. It is also possible to use a single lens to collect light from crystal 1101 and focus it into crystal 1105 .
[0065] FIG. 12 shows an alternate example of an optical arrangement for using multiple crystals. This example extends the example of FIG. 11 to three crystals. In practice, additional crystals can be added in a similar fashion, and three are provided here as an example and are not intended to be limiting. Light from a first crystal 1201 is collected by a first lens 1102 . A waveplate 1103 can be used to modify the polarization of the light before the light is focused using lens 1204 into second crystal 1205 . Lens 1206 then collects light from crystal 1205 . A waveplate 1207 can be used to modify the polarization of the light before the light is focused by lens 1208 into crystal 1209 .
[0066] As for the embodiment in FIG. 11 , it is often not necessary to modify the polarization of the light one or more of the crystals. If polarization is not modified, waveplates 1203 or 1207 are not necessary. It is also possible to use a single lens to collect light from crystal 1201 and focus the light into crystal 1205 . It is also possible to use a single lens to collect light from crystal 1205 and focus light into crystal 1209 .
[0067] FIG. 13 shows another example of an optical arrangement for using multiple crystals. In this case the optical relay uses mirrors instead of lenses to collect light from a region proximate to one crystal and focus the light in proximity to a following crystal. This can be beneficial in certain circumstances, such as when using high power light and UV/DUV light. When small diameter beams of high power light transmit through lens elements, absorption can change the properties of the lens. This includes local lens heating that results in changes in the focus position of the light. This phenomenon is called thermal lensing and can cause changes in the focus position of the light. This focus change can reduce the frequency conversion efficiency and change the beam profile. In addition, when high power UV/DUV light transmits through a lens, high power light can cause long term damage including compaction, scattering, color center formation, and eventually catastrophic damage. Use of mirrors can reduce these problems because there is no bulk material for the light to transmit through. Mirrors can also exhibit high damage thresholds. In addition, using a mirror geometry can make the frequency conversion system more compact and use fewer optical components. Mirrors can also be used with dichroic coatings which reflect one wavelength and transmit another. This enables the frequency converted light to be separated from residual unconverted light.
[0068] The embodiment in FIG. 13 includes a lens 1301 to focus light into a first crystal 1302 . This lens could also be replaced with a mirror. Light from crystal 1302 is then collected by mirror 1303 . Light from mirror 1303 then passes through waveplate 1304 and is collected by mirror 1305 . Waveplate 1304 can be used to modify the polarization of the light. However, in some frequency conversion schemes such polarization modification is not necessary and waveplate 1304 is not needed. Mirror 1305 then focuses light into second crystal 1306 .
[0069] The design in FIG. 14 shows an extension of the arrangement in FIG. 13 to more than two crystals. The embodiment in FIG. 14 includes a lens 1401 to focus light into a first crystal 1402 . This lens could also be replaced with a mirror. Light from crystal 1402 is then collected by mirror 1403 . Light from mirror 1403 then passes through waveplate 1404 and is collected by mirror 1405 . Waveplate 1404 can be used to modify the polarization of the light, and again, in some frequency conversion schemes, polarization modification is not necessary and waveplate 1404 is optional. Mirror 1405 then focuses light into second crystal 1406 . In a similar manner to the light from crystal 1402 , light from crystal 1406 is then collected by mirror 1407 , and light from mirror 1407 passes through waveplate 1408 and is collected by mirror 1409 . Waveplate 1408 can be used to modify the polarization of the light, but is optional and not needed when polarization modification is not required. Mirror 1409 then focuses light into third crystal 1410 . Dichroic mirror coatings may also be used as described previously.
[0070] FIG. 15 shows an example of an enclosure that contains at least one optical crystal and optics for collecting and focusing light. The enclosure may contain optical and crystal systems similar to those shown in FIGS. 11-14 . In the system of FIG. 15 , light enters the enclosure through window 1501 . Window 1501 is sealed to frame 1503 as described in previous embodiments. Window 1501 should be made from a material with a high enough damage threshold to endure light at expected wavelengths passing through the window. In the UV/DUV light range, fused silica and calcium fluoride are very good materials for this window application.
[0071] Light is then focused by lens 1502 into optical crystal 1504 . Light from crystal 1504 is then collected by mirror 1505 , and light then passes through waveplate 1506 and is collected by mirror 1507 . Waveplate 1506 can be used to modify the polarization of the light if desired. Mirror 1507 then focuses light into second crystal 1508 , and light exits the enclosure through window 1509 . Brewster windows can also be employed as described previously, and the windows should generally be placed far enough away from the crystal so they are not damaged by the light focused into the crystal or the light exiting the crystal.
[0072] FIG. 16 shows an alternate example of an enclosure that contains at least one optical crystal and optics for collecting and focusing light. This enclosure places the exit window a further distance from the second crystal than the design of FIG. 15 , allowing the beam to diverge and reduce the light intensity on the window. This is especially important when UV/DUV wavelengths transmit through the window and can dramatically increase the lifetime of the window. The enclosure may contain optical and crystal systems similar to those shown in FIGS. 11-14 .
[0073] In the system of FIG. 16 , light enters the enclosure through window 1601 . Window 1601 is sealed to frame 1603 as described previously. Window 1601 is made from a material with suitable high damage threshold for light at the wavelengths traveling therethrough. In the UV/DUV light range, fused silica and calcium fluoride are very good materials for this application. Light is then focused by lens 1602 into optical crystal 1604 . Light from crystal 1604 is then collected by mirror 1605 , passes through waveplate 1606 , and is collected by mirror 1607 . Waveplate 1606 can be used to modify the polarization of the light if desired. Mirror 1607 then focuses light into second crystal 1608 and light exits the enclosure through window 1610 . Window 1610 is placed a distance away from crystal 1608 to allow the beam to expand and reduce the intensity of the beam using extension 1609 . Extension 1609 can be a separate piece from frame 1603 or can be an integral part of frame 1603 . In the case where extension 1609 is a separate piece from frame 1603 , sealing can occur using the ring seal techniques described herein. Brewster windows can also be employed as described and windows should generally be placed far enough away from the crystal so they are not damaged by the light focused into the crystal or the light exiting the crystal.
[0074] FIG. 17 shows an alternate embodiment of a crystal enclosure that contains the optical crystals inside the enclosure while the collection and focusing optics are provided outside the enclosure. This embodiment may employ optical and crystal arrangements similar to those shown in FIGS. 11-14 . The typical method for using multiple crystals would be to use a single enclosure for one crystal and another crystal without an enclosure. These would be used with multiple collection and focusing lenses, but as a result, cost and size can be issues. Using more than one crystal usually requires separate crystal support, enclosures, and translation systems. This in combination with the associated collection and focusing lenses can produce a system that is quite large and expensive. Also, use of many frequency conversion steps can produce many wavelengths and polarization combinations. This typically requires many optics with different coatings.
[0075] The embodiment in FIG. 17 has infrared P-polarized light coming into the enclosure through window 1702 . This window is sealed to the frame using techniques described herein. The window is oriented at Brewster's angle so there is no reflection loss of the P-polarized light. The entering light is focused into optical crystal 1703 . A typical crystal that can be used in this location is LBO (Lithium Triborate). For example, crystal 1703 can be an LBO crystal that is noncritically phase matched to frequency double the infrared light to a visible wavelength. It can be beneficial to have one of the two crystals be noncritically phase matched so the design is less alignment sensitive. In this case, crystal 1703 uses Type I phase matching to produce visible light polarized orthogonally to the IR light. Window 1704 is oriented near Brewster's angle for the frequency converted visible light. Mirror 1705 collects the visible light from crystal 1703 . Mirrors 1705 and 1707 can have dielectric coatings that are highly reflective for the visible wavelength and highly transmissive for the infrared wavelength. This allows only the visible light to reflect from mirror 1705 and residual infrared light to pass through.
[0076] Visible light then transmits through Brewster window 1704 again, through frame 1701 and through Brewster window 1706 before being collected by mirror 1707 . Mirror 1707 then focuses visible light back through Brewster window 1706 and into crystal 1708 . In this embodiment crystal 1708 may be a CLBO (Cesium Lithium Borate) crystal or a BBO (Barium Borate) crystal. In this embodiment crystal 1708 uses Type I phase matching to produce DUV light polarized orthogonally to the visible light. DUV light and residual visible light then pass through window 1709 oriented at Brewster's angle for the DUV wavelength. External dichroic mirrors (not shown) can be used to separate the DUV light from the visible light.
[0077] In this embodiment, other types of phase matching may be used in crystal 1703 or crystal 1708 . This can produce other polarizations and require rotation of the Brewster windows by 90 degrees. Alternately, the windows can be oriented near zero degrees angle of incidence and antireflection coated. Such modifications are possible by those skilled in the art and can be considered as part of the present design.
[0078] FIG. 18 shows a crystal enclosure that is only for crystal preparation before use. In many cases the crystal must be baked for an extended period of time at high temperatures. In this case it can be advantageous to have a simplified crystal enclosure optimized for high temperature processing. In this arrangement it is often not necessary to have windows to get light into and out of the crystal. This lack of a window requirement removes the complexity of making a high temperature seal between glass and metal that does not outgas and cause photocontamination.
[0079] The enclosure in FIG. 18 includes a metal frame 1801 and a pedestal 1802 for supporting the optical crystal 1806 . Pedestal 1802 is sealed to frame 1802 using ring seal 1803 . This ring seal is positioned between two metal surfaces and can use any of the types of seals or sealing methods described herein. In addition, a metal crush washer can be employed, since the ring seal is a seal between two metal surfaces and a large amount of clamping force can be applied. As described in previous embodiments, crystal 1806 is held in place using spring 1804 and cap 1805 . This allows the crystal to be processed over an extended temperature range without producing stress that could crack the crystal. In addition, inlets and outlets are provided for purge gas to maintain the environment inside the enclosure.
[0080] Thus, in summary, an environmentally controlled enclosure comprising a crystal is provided. Multiple crystals may be provided in certain embodiments. The enclosure comprises securing hardware configured to secure the crystal within the enclosure such that temperature changes within the enclosure produce negligible stress on the crystal. The enclosure further includes a window configured to permit light to enter the enclosure and contact the crystal and may include a seal formed between the window and the enclosure.
[0081] In certain embodiments, a frame is provided for the enclosure, and an outlet configured to purge gas from the enclosure many be provided. Heating or cooling elements may be provided to control the temperature of the enclosure and the crystal or crystals provided therein, and a temperature reading element may be provided that controls temperature using feedback. The window or windows may be provided at Brewster's angle.
[0082] The crystal may be secured within the enclosure comprises a low force spring. An exit window may be provided, and windows may be fabricated from fused silica or calcium fluoride. The enclosure may be configured for built in angle adjustment along a primary phase matching axis. Angle adjustment may be provided using a goniometer with a rotation axis in proximity to a center of the crystal. The crystal can be a nonlinear crystal configured to perform frequency mixing formed from CLBO, LBO, BBO, KBBF, CBO, KDP, KTP, KD*P, or BIBO.
[0083] A seal between the window and the enclosure or frame may be provided, in some cases a primary seal and a secondary seal, configured to seal the entry window to the enclosure. The primary seal may be a ring formed from a high temperature low outgassing material. The secondary seal can comprise a ring formed from a metal comprising at least one from a group comprising silver, stainless steel, aluminum, and nickel.
[0084] Optics may be provided inside or outside the enclosure, configured to collect light from a first crystal and refocus the light in proximity of a second crystal. When multiple crystals are employed, the crystals may be oriented to perform at least one from a group comprising walkoff compensation and distributed delta k compensation.
[0085] The design presented herein and the specific aspects illustrated are meant not to be limiting, but may include alternate components while still incorporating the teachings and benefits of the invention. While the invention has thus been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is capable of further modifications. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention, and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known and customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. | An enclosure that maintains the environment of one or more optical crystals and allows efficient frequency conversion for light at wavelengths at or below 400 nm with minimal stress being placed on the crystals in the presence of varying temperatures. Efficient conversion may include multiple crystals of the same or different materials. Multiple frequency conversion steps may also be employed within a single enclosure. Materials that have been processed specifically to provide increased lifetimes, stability, and damage thresholds over designs previously available are employed. The enclosure allows pre-exposure processing of the crystal(s) such as baking at high temperatures and allowing real time measurement of crystal properties. | 8 |
BACKGROUND
Highway spreaders for salt, sand, and cinders generally use hopper bodies. These have a bottom conveyor extending the full length of the body, which has sidewalls sloping down to the conveyor in hopper fashion. The conveyor feeds the load from the hopper out a rear opening to a spinner.
My experience shows many disadvantages in hopper bodies, including: they are expensive to purchase; they require full-length conveyors and must be available in several body and conveyor lengths; they take considerable time and labor to mount on a truck chassis or in a truck body; they are large and require considerable storage space when not in use; they raise the load to a high center of gravity, which is dangerous for the truck and driver; they cannot be dumped; they must be cleaned, sandblasted, and painted frequently; they retain corrosive salt in inaccessible places so that they rust out prematurely; they can clog with lumps and are dangerous to unclog; and because they are costly to remove and reinstall, they limit a truck to spreading duty when mounted and to non-spreading work when unmounted.
I have discovered a way of arranging a conveyor and spreader in a conventional dump truck body to accommodate both spreading and dumping and to achieve many advantages in economy, efficiency, and safety. My combination of a conveyor and spreader mounted in a conventional dump truck body aims at reliability, economy, ease of installation, safety, and versatility in operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
My spreader cooperates with a dump body having a pivotally mounted tailgate with an opening in its lower central region above its lower edge. A conveyor is arranged to extend through the opening in the tailgate and forward into the truck body so that when the tailgate is closed, the conveyor rests on the bottom of the body and extends aft through the opening above the lower edge of the tailgate. A hopper arranged underneath a rear end of the conveyor aft of the tailgate receives rearward flowing material from the conveyor and guides the material downward. A spinner mounted at an adjustable height below the hopper on a telescoping pipe can be pivoted between a horizontal stowed position and a vertical operating position. The conveyor is pivotally connected to the tailgate so that as the tailgate swings open when the dump body dumps, the conveyor moves with the pivoting tailgate, sliding rearwardly of the body and lifting a rear region of the conveyor clear of the bottom of the body.
DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rear end region of a preferred embodiment of my spreader shown separately from a dump truck;
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway and partially schematic view of a preferred embodiment of my spreader mounted in a dump truck;
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway and partially schematic view, similar to the view of FIG. 2, showing my spreader in a dumping position;
FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the hopper and spinner of the spreader of FIGS. 1-3 as viewed looking rearwardly from the tailgate of a dump truck;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of a preferred shroud suspended above the spinner of my spreader;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary end view of a separator screen for the conveyor of my spreader; and
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the separator screen of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
My spreader 10 combines a conveyor 15, a hopper 30, and a spinner 50 to cooperate with each other and with a dump truck body 11 in which spreader 10 mounts. The preferred way this is done and the advantages it achieves are explained below.
CONVEYOR
A conventional dump truck body 11 can mount spreader 10 by forming an opening 12 in the lower central region of tailgate 20 and inserting conveyor 15 through opening 12 to extend forward along the bottom 13 of dump body 11. A metering door (not shown) can be arranged within tailgate opening 12 above conveyor 15. For highway spreader purposes, I prefer that conveyor 15 be a flight bar conveyor, but auger conveyors are also possible.
Conveyor 15 preferably extends about 91/2 feet forward of tailgate 20 into body 11. This allows conveyor 15 to fit into 10-foot dump bodies on 6-wheeled trucks. It also leaves the forward end 16 of conveyor 15 spaced several feet from the forward end of a 10-wheeler dump body, which can run to 14 feet. With tailgate 20 normally closed, as shown in FIG. 2, conveyor 15 rests on bottom 13 of body 11 and can be operated to outfeed whatever material within body 11 falls onto conveyor 15.
Since dump body 11 for a conventional dump truck is generally rectangular and cannot guide its entire load onto conveyor 15, unfeedable material will remain ahead of the forward end 16 and along both sides of conveyor 15. I have discovered that for several reasons this is not really a disadvantage.
Unfeedable portions of the load can be used for ballast, improving the safety of the truck. For example, the forward part of a load that does not flow onto the forward end 16 of conveyor 15 can be deliberately left in body 11 to provide ballast weight on the front wheels of the truck, improving its steering ability on slippery roads. Unfed materials along the sides of conveyor 15 can also be deliberately left in place to afford general ballast increasing the truck's driving traction.
The truck driver can also choose between leaving ballast material around body 11 outside of conveyor 15 or spreading such material. He can do this by tilting body 11 upward, without opening tailgate 20, to shift the unspread load aft against tailgate 20 where it piles up, covers conveyor 15, and becomes spreadable. All but a few bushels of material in the rear corners of body 11 can be spread after raising body 11, shifting the unspread load aft, and lowering body 11 back down for spreading.
Inability to spread the entire load is not an actual disadvantage, especially when ballast retention is preferred for operation on slippery roads. Whatever the state of the load, its center of gravity stays much lower in body 11 than in a hopper body; and this also helps make the truck stable and safe.
The possibility of shifting the load aft by raising dump body 11 also eliminates the need for varying lengths of conveyors 15 to fit varying lengths of truck bodies. Since material forward of conveyor 15 can be spread after shifting it aft against tailgate 20, there is no need for conveyor 15 to extend all the way to the forward end of body 11. This allows my spreader 10 to be made in one standard size that fits all dump bodies. It also keeps conveyor 15 relatively short so that it can be driven with moderate power, has a small frictional drag, and requires minimum length replacement chains or belts.
Conveyor 16 is preferably pinned to the lower rail 21 of tailgate 20 by a pin 19 passing through brackets 17 on conveyor 15 and rings 18 welded to bottom rail 21. Opening 12 in tailgate 20 extends down to bottom rail 21 where it is flush with bottom 13 of body 11 so that conveyor 15 rests on bottom 13 and extends loosely through opening 12 just above bottom rail 21 when tailgate 20 is closed. Pin 19 allows relative pivotal motion between tailgate 20 and conveyor 15 and also makes conveyor 15 move with tailgate 20 as it pivots open as shown in FIG. 3.
Any unspread residue, ballast, or even an entire load can be dumped from body 11 through open tailgate 20 with spreader 10 in place as shown in FIG. 3. This can be important on many occasions. Unspreadable lumps that remain after a spreading run can be dumped at a loading station, ballast desirable for safe operations can be returned to a loading site, and body 11 can be emptied of whatever it contains for filling with a different material or for removing spreader 10.
Another advantage of pivotally connecting conveyor 15 and tailgate 20 is that body 11 is self-cleaning when dumped. As tailgate 20 pivots open, as shown in FIG. 3, a rear region of conveyor 15 lifts off of bottom 13 of body 11, leaving only nose end 16 touching bottom 13. Any particles that have made their way to the underside of conveyor 15 are freed as conveyor 15 lifts off of bottom 13 so that everything spills out of body 11 when it is dumped.
This affords an important advantage over hopper and other spreader bodies, which cannot dump and which accumulate spread materials in inaccessible corners and crevices. Non-dumping bodies have to be frequently cleaned, sandblasted, and painted, partly because they cannot completely rid themselves of all residue of the materials they have spread. This is especially serious in spreading rock salt, which is corrosive and makes hopper bodies rust out rapidly.
As body 11 lowers to its normal position after dumping a load, the weight of spreader 10 pinned to tailgate 20 automatically closes tailgate 20 to a latched position. This eliminates any need for moving the truck forward and braking suddenly to be sure that tailgate 20 fully closes.
Spreader 10 is easily installed and removed from body 11. It can be gripped just aft of its center of gravity and lifted by a loader or hoist with the help of a worker bearing down slightly on the rear end of conveyor 15 to lift and steer the nose end 16 through tailgate opening 12 and onto the bottom 13 of body 11. Once moved into the position shown in FIG. 2, conveyor 15 is simply pinned to tailgate 20. Connecting up the hydraulic lines then makes spreader 10 operable. Reversing the procedure removes spreader 10 from the truck, and an installation or removal requires only a few minutes.
Spreader 10 is relatively compact and requires little room for storage when not in use. Its self-cleaning ability when body 11 dumps makes it easy to maintain.
Conveyor 15 can have a separator screen 25 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 for keeping unspreadable lumps away from the conveyor flight bars. Screen 25 is preferably formed of a series of bars 26 rising from each side of conveyor 15 to a peak bar 27. Bars 26 are preferably spaced about 3 inches apart along the length of conveyor 15 and are analogous to rafters extending up to ridge bar 27. Lumps wider than the space between bars 26 cannot pass through and get onto conveyor 15. As the load is spread, such lumps have freedom to move down the side slope of bars 26 and end up as unspread material alongside conveyor 15. Such lumps can then be harmlessly dumped when the truck returns to a loading station.
A separating screen over the conveyor of a hopper body would not be practical because there is no region alongside the conveyor where separated lumps can accumulate, and there is no way to dump separated lumps from a hopper body. Hopper bodies sometimes have screens over their tops to keep lumpy material from entering, but this has the disadvantage of accumulating lumps on top of the hopper body. Workers have been killed falling from the tops of hopper bodies where they were working to break down lumps so that they would pass through a screen.
HOPPER AND SPINNER
Hopper 30 is a box-like structure arranged under the rear end of conveyor 15 to direct spread material downward to spinner 50. A pair of side deflector plates 33 can be adjusted to various angular positions set by pins 34 to control the convergence of the downflow of spread material.
A pair of pins 31 attach hopper 30 to the rear end of conveyor 15 by extending through mating holes in the upper region of hopper 30 and brackets 32 underneath conveyor 15. This makes hopper 30 readily removable and reattachable to conveyor 15.
A pair of telescoping pipes 51 and 52 support spinner 50 at an adjustable vertical distance below hopper 30. A pin 53 lodged in mating holes in pipes 51 and 52 sets the vertical height for spinner 50. Besides accomplishing vertical adjustability, telescoping pipes 51 and 52 are simple and easily straightened or replaced if bent.
Pipe 51 is mounted on a disk 54 that is rotatable relative to a fixed disk 55 fastened to the front of hopper 30. A movable detent pin 56 locks disks 54 and 55 together to hold spinner 50 in either the vertical operating position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 or in a horizontal stowed position as shown in broken lines in FIG. 4. Hole 57R in movable disk 54 detents with pin 56 in a stowed position that normally disposes spinner 50 toward the right side of the truck and hole 57L is available to stow spinner 50 toward the left side of the truck if desired.
Spinner 50 can be moved to a stowed position simply by withdrawing detent pin 56 and manually pivoting spinner 50 counterclockwise up to its horizontal stowed position. This can easily get spinner 50 out of the way for storage, transport, or use of the truck for towing, for example.
The operating position of spinner 50 is arranged to clear the road bed and swing under the rear of the truck when body 11 is dumped as shown in FIG. 3. Driving the truck away from a dumped load removes spinner 50 intact. Any collision or mishap to spinner 50 is easily repaired by straightening or replacing telescoping pipes 51 and 52.
Spinner 50 is preferably driven by a hydraulic motor 39 located under spinner 50. Another hydraulic motor 60 turns the drive sprockets 61 at the rear of conveyor 15. A stub shaft 62 on sprocket motor 60 affords an available connection to a rotation-sensing device for microprocessor control of conveyor 15. This can automatically compensate for relative truck speeds and spreading rates as the truck moves up and down hills, for example.
A shroud 70, preferably formed of a used automobile tire that is inverted and has one sidewall cut away, hangs by four chains 71 attached to four hooks 72 on hopper 30. Material falling downward onto spreader 50 passes through the upper rim section 73 of shroud 70 and is spun outward under the wider cutaway side 74 of shroud 70. By changing the links of chains 71 hung on hooks 72, shroud 70 can be set to control the trajectory of the spread material. Forming shroud 70 of a used automobile tire makes it practically indestructible, very inexpensive, widely adjustable, and practically effective in controlling the spread trajectory.
For off-season storage, spinner 50 is preferably moved to its stowed position adjacent hopper 30, whereupon pairs of spreaders 10 can be inverted and stacked with their hoppers at opposite ends. Hoppers 30 can also be removed from conveyors 15 for separate storage.
My spreader 10 has proven convenient and successful at spreading rock salt, sand, and cinders on winter highways. I have also found my spreader to be effective at spreading fine crushed stone on highways being resurfaced. The features my spreader combines make it more convenient, economical, and versatile than any existing spreaders. | A spreader 10, cooperating with a dump body 11 having a conventional tailgate 20, includes a conveyor 15 extending through an opening 12 in the lower region of tailgate 20 to rest on bottom 13 of body 11 and extend aft of tailgate 20. A hopper 30 underneath a rear end of conveyor 15 receives rearward flowing material that it guides downward to a spinner 50 arranged below hopper 30. Telescoping pipes 51 and 52 adjust the height of spinner 50 below hopper 30 and pivot spinner 50 between a horizontal stowed position and a vertical operating position. Conveyor 15 is pivotally connected to tailgate 20 so that as tailgate 20 pivots open when body 11 dumps, conveyor 15 moves with pivoting tailgate 20, sliding rearwardly of body 11 and lifting a rear region of conveyor 15 clear of bottom 13 of body 11. | 4 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 846,410, filed Oct. 28, 1977, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of stuffing compressible products into flexible covers and apparatus therefor.
The insertion of a compressible product, such as a cushion or a soft filler for toys and dolls, into a flexible cover within which it is to be expanded so as to be conformed or shaped by the cover with a snug close fit has been a problem which has eluded satisfactory solution for many years. Thus the usual procedure of applying a cover to a cushion or to a soft compressible toy or doll body has been to rely upon the manual dexterity of the operator. However, regardless of the degree of dexterity which an operator can achieve, the operation is time consuming and costly. Also, in the case of large cushions, such as those used in recreational vehicles which commonly have dimensions in the order of a length of six feet, a width of at least twelve inches and a thickness of six inches, considerable strength must be exerted to manually apply the cover, even though the cover is of the type which has an opening at a side and/or end thereof which are closed by slide fasteners when the cover is applied in place around the cushion filler.
In cases where the cushion or other compressible filling is an open cell foam, such as polyurethane foam, a part of the problem or difficulty of applying a cover stems from the surface characteristics of the foam which tend to cling to or provide frictional resistance to application of the cover thereto. In other cushions using fillers such as feathers, down and kapok confined within an inner enclosure and to be inserted in an outer or finished enclosure, a similar problem of surface friction occurs during application of the outer cover.
Some efforts to deal with the problem have been made previously. An example is an apparatus for mechanically squeezing the compressible filler by means of rollers to assist in applying a cover, but this has been found to have certain limitations which have prevented its general adoption and acceptance in industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary object of this invention to provide a novel, simple and inexpensive means for accommodating rapid and expeditious application of a close fitting cover to a soft compressible filler.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of applying a snug fitting cover to a normally expanded filler, including the step of shrinking the filler by withdrawing air therefrom and maintaining the filler in shrunken condition for a period of time sufficient to apply a cover thereover.
A further object is to provide a method of applying a cover to an expanded aerated filler including the steps of withdrawing air from the filler to shrink it while mounted on a support, applying a cover to the shrunken filler and its support, and withdrawing the assembled cover and filler from the support.
A further object is to provide a method of applying a snug fitting cover to an expanded aerated filler, wherein the filler is mounted upon a support having suction means, is covered by an air impervious sheet preparatory to operation of the suction means to shrink the filler to a small size, a cover is applied around the filler and sheet, and the assembled filler, sheet and cover are removed from the support as a unit.
A further object is to provide an apparatus for use in applying a snug fitting cover to an expanded aerated filler, which apparatus is characterized by a filler support which has a plurality of spaced passages open at its supporting surface and connected with a source of suction to withdraw air from the filler to shrink it while supported in a position convenient for application of the cover therearound.
Other objects will be apparent from the following specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating various steps in my new method and the apparatus used therein.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the mounting of an expanded cushion filler upon the support.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the application of an air impervious covering to a filler mounted on the support.
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the shrinking of the filler to accommodate the application of a cover thereto.
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the withdrawal of an assembled filler and cover from the support after application of the cover to the filler.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present method entails the steps of mounting an expanded aerated flexible filler upon a support having plural openings connected with a source of suction, placing an air impervious sheet over the filler material, activating the suction means to deaerate the filler and shrink it to a small size which accommodates easy and rapid application of a cover thereover while the filler is shrunk, and withdrawing the cover with its contained sheet and filler material from the support.
Referring to the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of apparatus for practice of the method and illustrate the steps of the method, the numeral 10 designates apparatus used in the practice of the method and characterized by a base 12, an upright or standard 14 preferably located at or adjacent one end of the base, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered support member 16 of selected size or top surface area mounted by the upper end of the standard. The cantilevered part of support member 16 may be of a width which is preferably substantially equal to the width of the filler material to be supported thereby and of a length slightly greater than the length of the filler material. The support member 16 is preferably hollow, having a chamber defined by bottom wall 18, side walls 20, end walls 22, and a perforated top wall 24. The end wall of the support member adjacent the standard 14 is provided with a tubular neck or fitting 26 at which is connected a conduit 28 which preferably is flexible.
The conduit 28 is connected to a source of suction. As here illustrated, where a plurality of the devices are employed, each conduit 28 is connected with a manifold 30, here shown as positioned in elevated relation to the apparatus as supported by plural suspension members 32 secured to an overhead support, such as the ceiling of a building. The manifold 30 has connection with one or more power driven suction-inducing units 34, such as blowers or fans oriented to withdraw air from the manifold and lines connected therewith. In manifold units to which multiple apparatus are connected it is preferable that, during normal working periods, the suction units 34 should operate continuously so that a suction condition constantly occurs within the manifold. Adjacent each apparatus 10 a conduit 36 branches from the manifold 30 for connection with the conduit 28 of that apparatus. Each branch conduit 36 has interposed therein a valve 38 which is normally closed, such as a solenoid controlled valve. Each valve 38 functions in response to a manually operated switch and timer unit 40 positioned within convenient reach of the operator of the apparatus with which the branch conduit 36 and conduit 28 are connected. The switch 40 will be of any suitable type which functions to close an operating circuit for a selected limited period of time following each actuation thereof and then reopens automatically.
The use of the device in the practice of the method is illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein successive manipulations in the practice of the method are designated at portions marked A, B, C, D and E. For purposes of illustration, the steps pictured in FIG. 1 deal with the stuffing of flexible open cell foam members into snug fitting covers. The foam may be polyurethane or other polyesters, Dacron, or any fiber-filled ester. It will be understood that the method is not limited to the use of such material, but is also applicable to the process of inserting within a cover any filler, such as a cushion filler containing feathers, down or kapok, or a soft stuffing for a toy or doll.
At positions A and B in FIG. 1, the apparatus is in the condition illustrated in FIG. 2 at which the associated solenoid valve 38 is closed so that the chamber of the cantilevered support 16 is open to atmosphere at the perforations 29 thereof. In the preferred form, the apertures 29 will preferably be spaced substantially uniformly, as at distances preferably three inches or less, and are located substantially throughout a selected portion of the top surface 24 of the member 16. It will be understood that the openings or apertures 29 will be open only at an area substantially equal to the area of the member 42, and that in cases where small articles are to be stuffed, an air impervious film or other means may be employed to close openings which are not covered by or adjacent to a filler 42 in the practice of the method.
At position B in FIG. 1 is illustrated the placing of a filler member upon the cantilevered support 16 to a position as illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the member 42 covers all exposed apertures 29 of the apertured cantilevered member 16. This operation is preferably performed at a time when the solenoid valve 38 in the associated line 36 to the manifold 30 is closed, so that the member 16 and the chamber thereof is substantially at atmospheric pressure.
The next step of the method is illustrated at position C in FIG. 1, and at FIG. 4, and entails the placing of a sheet 44 of flexible air impervious material, such as a thin flexible plastic film, over the filler 42 mounted on the cantilevered support 16. The air impervious sheet 44 is of a size to completely cover the filler 42 and to be draped around the side and end edges of the filler 42, as seen at 46 in FIG. 4. This operation is also performed while the associated valve 38 is closed, so that the operation is performed while the chamber of support 16, the filler 42 and the sheet 44 are subject to atmospheric pressure.
The next step of the method is illustrated at position D in FIG. 1, and at FIG. 5. In this step the operator actuates the associated timer switch 40 to open the associated solenoid valve 38 for a selected period of time, preferably in the range of 10 seconds to 60 seconds, to evacuate air from the chamber of the support 16, and from the normally expanded filler 42 so as to shrink that filler and to draw the air impervious sheet 44 and the draped edges 46 thereof into firm sealing contact with the adjacent surfaces of the filler 42, as seen in FIG. 5. The evacuation of air from the filler shrinks it so as to facilitate the rapid and easy application of a cover 48 around the shrunken filler 42A, the air impervious sheet 44, and the support 16. As here illustrated, the cover 48 is flexible and is open only at one end thereof which may be provided with slide fasteners (not shown). It will be understood that the provision of an end open cover is optional, and that the cover may have a side opening instead of or in addition to an end opening. It will also be understood that the direction of application of the cover to the filler may be from the side of the filler instead of from the end thereof in cases where the support portion 16 is of a nature which permits side application of the cover instead of endwise application of the cover.
The final step of the process is illustrated at position E in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 6. This step entails the withdrawal of the cover 48, the filler 42 and the sheet 44 as a unit from the support 16. This step is preferably performed while the associated valve 38 remains open so that the filler 42 will remain in its shrunken condition at least at the start of the withdrawal action, so as to facilitate such removal. By the time the fully encased filler is freed from the support, the filler will have expanded to completely fill the cover 48, and all that remains to complete a finished cushion will be the closing of the open end of the cover, as by means of a slide fastener (not shown). It will be understood that the timer switch will be set to close at a selected time which may entail closing of the solenoid valve 38 at a time correlated with the time required for full application of the cover to the shrunken filler 42A and at least partial withdrawal of the cover, filler and sheet assembly from the support 16.
Thus it will be seen that the method entails the steps of placing an aerated expanded filler upon an apertured support, placing an air impervious flexible sheet over the filler while mounted upon the support so as to span the filler and drape the exposed side and end edges thereof, subjecting the filler to a suction condition imparted to the apertures of the support so as to deaerate and shrink the filler and draw the air impervious flexible sheet in close contact with the exposed surfaces of the filler, applying a cover around the shrunken filler and its cover sheet and the support for the filler so that the cover completely spans the upper exposed surfaces of the filler and its air impervious cover sheet, and then withdrawing the assembled cover, filler and sheet as a unit from the support.
It will be seen that the use of the flexible air impervious sheet covering the filler at the top, sides and ends thereof, coupled with the shrinking of the filler incident to deaeration thereof, accommodates easy, smooth application of a cover around the filler and minimizes the surface friction and resistance which occurs during normal manual application of a cover around an aerated expanded filler. The method is under the control of the operator with respect to the timing of the start of the air evacuating action upon the filler, and the air evacuation can be continued for a time as necessary for expeditious performance of the operations of applying the cover and removing the assembled cover and filler from the support. Where multiple units of apparatus are connected to a manifold as illustrated, each apparatus is under individual or separate control of the operator thereof through individual switches 40 and valves 38.
It has been found that the practice of the method to cover large cushions, such as those of six feet in length or longer, can be accomplished in from 50% to 60% of the time normally required for manual unaided insertion of a cover upon such a cushion, and the resulting cushion is of uniformly better quality than manually filled cushions with respect to the uniformity of the filler therein and the absence of creases and irregularities of the cover.
A further advantage is a reduction of worker fatigue as compared to the operation of manual unaided filling of the cushion. The fatigue incident to manual filling usually occurs progressively and rapidly reduces the speed of filling the cushion by hand during the course of a working day.
The vacuum employed may vary according to the nature of the cushion filler and the extent of shrinking of the filler desired. It has been found that a vacuum of 27 inches of Mercury will shrink a polyurethane cushion filler of dimensions of six feet in length by twelve inches in width and six inches in thickness as much as 90% from its normal expanded or aerated volume.
While the preferred embodiment of the apparatus and the practice of the method to fill one type of cushion have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention contemplates other apparatus and variations of the method within the scope of the appended claims. | A method of stuffing an aerated expanded flexible filler into a snug fitting cover, wherein air is evacuated from the filler while resting upon a support so as to shrink the filler and permit rapid application of the cover thereto. The apparatus includes a cantilevered chambered support with multiple openings in its filler supporting surface and selectively operable means for withdrawing air from the chamber. | 1 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to a provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/030,283, filed Nov. 4, 1996.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly for mounting on the ends of vehicle axles. More particularly, the improved assembly includes a pair of bearings, a bearing spacer, at least one seal and a wheel hub. By means of the assembly, the various elements may be pre-adjusted for controlling the bearing settings and, when two seals are used, may be prelubricated. Vanes are provided in the hub assembly to redirect lubricant motion from tangential to axial, as well as splitting the axial flow from unidirectional to bi-directional so as to improve lubricant distribution to the bearings to insure adequate cooling to extend their useful bearing life in the hub.
2. Description of Prior Art
In wheeled vehicles of all types, it is necessary to provide bearings for axles so that associated wheel hubs may rotate freely on the end of a relatively stationary axle. Such bearings must be lubricated and seals are required to retain the lubricating medium whether it be grease or oil. Frequently, wear sleeves are employed to prevent undue wear of the axle by the seals. Sometimes, such wear sleeves have been separate elements and sometimes they have been an integral part of a unitized seal.
Until quite recently, such bearing, seal and wheel hub means have been assembled piece by piece. The bearing races have been fitted to designated axle portions and corresponding portions of the associated wheel hub. The bearing elements are usually spaced as far apart axially as possible with a tapered axle portion between these elements. The assembly also includes one or two seals, depending upon the particular design. These wheel hub assemblies have typically provided long lasting performance when assembled properly. However, such an assembly process requires skilled personnel and proper equipment to achieve proper installation and operation. If repair or replacement of any part becomes necessary, correct positioning and adjustment of all elements becomes even more of a challenge and damaged parts are a quite likely result. Typical prior art assemblies are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,367 assigned to Garlock Inc. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,849 assigned to The Mechanex Corp.
A non-unitized wheel hub assembly requires the components to be assembled and installed on site by a mechanic working on an axle spindle. The nature of the assembling process, and the generally horizontal orientation of the spindle during assembly, makes it difficult to fill the assembly with a liquid such as oil and the non-unitized wheel hub assembly must be lubricated with packing grease or oil filled after installation. Therefore, there was a need for a unitized wheel hub assembly which allows the assembly to be pre-filled with oil to achieve superior lubrication characteristics in contrast to the non-unitized assemblies.
More recently, some efforts have been made to develop assemblies which permit more of the various elements to be pre-assembled and adjusted, thus resulting in less dependence on the skills of the field mechanic. One such attempt has been the SAF Euro-axle developed by the Otto Sauer Achsenfabric of Keilber, Germany. These units accomplish much in terms of allowing factory assembly and adjustments of sealed bearing units and avoidance of so much dependence on the skills of the field mechanic. However, these units are not constructed to allow prefilling with oil which is a preferred bearing lubricant as compared to grease. More significantly, a special axle is included in the assembly and the pre-assembled units cannot be adapted to the millions of existing axles presently in service.
Another recent effort at development of pre-assembled and pre-adjusted sealing bearing units has been made by SKF Sweden. However, as with SAF units described previously, the SKF units are not adapted to prefilling with oil lubrication and they are not adaptable to the millions of existing axis. Furthermore, since the bearing units are more closely located relative to one another, there can be a tendency toward lessened wheel stability in operation.
One recent effort at development of pre-assembled and pre-adjusted sealing bearing units which are prefilled with oil lubrication is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,275 assigned to Stemco Inc., the assignee of the present invention. These units also provide the advantage of being adaptable to the millions of existing axles. However, these units are installed onto the axle and held in axially proper position by the tightening of a spindle nut onto the axle spindle. The clamp load exerted from the tightening of the spindle nut is transmitted through a mounting sleeve to the spindle shoulder, wherein the degree to which the spindle nut is tightened should be within predetermined tolerances. However, the amount of clamp load exerted could undesirably vary from the desired tolerance range if the end user fails to comply. The thickness of the mounting sleeve wall is relatively thin as compared to the bearing inner races, and the tensile stresses resulting from the clamp load can cause damage to the mounting sleeve if the clamp load exceeds the design limits on the sleeve.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/604,196 filed on or about Apr. 18, 1996, now abandoned, and assigned to Stemco, Inc. also the assignee of the present invention, there is disclosed a unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly in which the bearing setting can be predetermined precisely by a spacer installed as part of the manufacturing process so that there is no variation in the bearing between different users installing the assembly, wherein the assembly can also be pre-filled with a lubricant. However, means must be provided to adequately direct oil to lubricate and cool the spaced and fixed bearings to prolong their useful life. This invention addresses this problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, vanes are mounted to a bearing spacer between the two opposed bearings. The vanes will redirect oil that is traveling at a rotational velocity tangential to the outside diameter of the hub cavity, radially inward, and then axially forward and backward towards the bearings.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly where the bearings are adequately lubricated to extend their useful life.
This is achieved by providing a unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly which includes a pair of bearing elements with inner races mounted on the mounting sleeve and outer races mounted in a special wheel hub, axially inner and outer sealing means and suitable adjusting means. The complete assembly further includes a bearing spacer positioned between the bearing elements in order to position the bearing elements in precise axial relationship to each other. The mounting sleeve is made with an elongated portion preferably, but not necessarily, of uniform outside diameter to accommodate bearings of uniform size and, when appropriate, with a radially inwardly extending portion at its axially outer end to compensate for reduced diameter portions of the axle. The bearing spacer is of the same general shape as the mounting sleeve so that the bearing spacer fits over the exterior of the mounting sleeve, wherein the clamp load exerted by a nut fastening the complete assembly to an axle is transmitted through the bearing spacer. The mounting sleeve of the present invention allows the assembly to be pre-filled with oil between inner and outer sealing means. The assembly also includes means for directing the flow of oil lubricant in order to improve heat transfer and reduce the likelihood of operating "hot spots."
The means for directing the flow of oil lubricant includes vanes mounted on the bearing spacer to redirect the lubricant flow from tangential to the spacer to axial, as well as splitting the axial flow from unidirectional to bi-directional so as to improve lubricant distribution to the bearings to insure adequate cooling to extend the useful bearing life in the hub.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and claims and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly having an oil distribution vane in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bearing spacer of the unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly of FIG. 1 having an oil distribution vane in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the oil distribution vane of FIG. 2 taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 3A is a view similar to FIG. 3, but illustrating an oil distribution vane in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating a bearing spacer having an oil distribution vane which will operate to produce lubricant flow to the bearings, regardless of the direction of rotation of the wheel hub;
FIG. 5 is a side view in elevation of the oil distribution vane of FIG. 4, as seen from the left hand side of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a front view in elevation of oil distribution vane of FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating still another oil distribution vane embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the vane of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional views of the oil distribution vane of FIG. 8 taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 9--9 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating yet another embodiment of an oil distribution vane assembly in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the oil distribution vane assembly of FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the vane assembly of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing another embodiment of the oil distribution vane of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but illustrating a still further embodiment of the oil distribution vane of the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a side view in elevation of the vane of FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the vane of FIG. 14 taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 16--16 of FIG. 15;
FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but illustrating yet another embodiment of the oil distribution vane assembly of the invention;
FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but illustrating still another embodiment of an oil distribution vane of the invention; and
FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 19--19 of FIG. 18.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows a unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly 2 comprising primarily a wheel hub 4, axially inner and outer bearings 6 and 8, axially inner and outer seals 10 and 12 and a mounting sleeve 14. Radially outer bearings races 18 and 20 of inner and outer bearings 6 and 8, respectively, are pressed into bores within wheel hub 4 and radially inner bearing races 22 and 24 are fitted into the primarily radially outer cylindrical surface of mounting sleeve 14. A bearing spacer 16 is further positioned onto the outer surface of mounting sleeve 14 between the inner bearing races 22, 24 of bearings 6 and 8, respectively, wherein the bearing spacer 16 positions the inner bearing races 22 and 24 in precise axial relationship to each other, along with their respective outer races 18, 20. Inner seal 10 is mounted between wheel hub 4 and mounting sleeve 14. A lock nut 26 is positioned on a threaded portion of mounting sleeve 14 and assures that the bearings maintain their proper position by applying axial compressive force to inner race 24, and through bearing spacer 16, onto inner race 22. Outer seal 12 is mounted between wheel hub 4 and an outer cylindrical surface of lock nut 26.
Wheel hub 4, inner seal 10, mounting sleeve 14, lock nut 26 and outer seal 12 cooperate to form a sealed cavity 28 which contains bearings 6 and 8 and which is filled with bearing lubricant. The lubricant may be grease or oil, but in most instances, oil is preferred. One or more vanes 50 are positioned on bearing spacer 16. The vane 50 serves to direct flow of the lubricant to the bearings as described hereinafter, thus helping to insure that lubrication and cooling of the bearings is maintained at all times.
Rather than position vane 50 on bearing spacer 16, it could be physically attached to mounting sleeve 14 or even axle end 32 in the absence of a spacer or mounting sleeve, which may be the case in some applications, as discussed above. Alternatively, the vane could fit through an opening in the spacer 16.
In practice, all of the members described thus far are assembled to form the unitized wheel hub and bearing assembly 2 ready for installation on an axle end as shown at 32. In order that assembly may be solidly mounted on axle end 32, the mounting sleeve 14 is made with inner cylindrical surfaces dimensioned so as to locate upon portions of axle end 32. In the embodiment shown, those surfaces are at 34, 35 and 36. The entire assembly is positioned on axle end 32 and held in axially proper position by spindle nut 38. Since bearing adjustment is accomplished by clamping and positively locking lock nut 26 at the time of assembly, no adjusting is required in the field to assure proper operation. Dust cap 40 is mounted on the end of the wheel hub to protect the axially outer portions of assembly from road debris, dust, rain and any other potential contaminants. The cavity of hub 4 may be pre-filled with a lubricant at any time prior to installation on axle end 32.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show one configuration 50 of the oil vane mounted on the bearing spacer 16. The vane includes a lubricant directing passage comprising a transverse port 52 for receiving lubricant, a radial passageway 54 for directing lubricant flow from the transverse port in a radially inward direction, and an axial port 56 for directing lubricant flow from the radial passageway in an axial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wheel hub 4 towards the outer bearings 8. Whereby, the vane 50 redirects the lubricant in the cavity of hub 4 flowing tangentially about the bearing spacer 16 towards the outer bearing 8, as indicated by the arrows A in FIG. 3 depicting the flow. As shown, the transverse port, or entrance, 52 of the lubricant directing passage has a larger cross-sectional area than a cross-sectional area of the axial port, or exit, 56 of the passage.
A second vane 50 can, if desired, be located on the opposite radial side of the bearing spacers 16 to direct the flow of lubricant axially towards bearing 6, by turning the passage 56 to open towards inner bearing 6. In the absence of a bearing spacer 16, any of the vanes 50 can be mounted directly on axle end 32 or mounting sleeve 14.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3A the lubricant directing passage of the vane 50 can further include a second radial passageway 60 for directing lubricant flow from the transverse port 52 in a radially inward direction, and a second axial port 62 for directing lubricant flow from the second radial passageway in an axial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wheel hub 4 towards the inner bearings 6. The arrows A depict the path the lubricant takes when it encounters the vane 50. The vane 50 is stationary or static with its transverse port 52 immersed into the rotating pool of oil 58 inside the hub 4 of assembly 2. The flow of oil illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 3A assumes a clockwise direction of rotation for the hub 4, as viewed from the left hand end of FIG. 1. As shown, the transverse port, or entrance, 52 of the lubricant directing passage has a larger cross-sectional area than a combined cross-sectional area of the axial port, or exit, 56 and the second axial port, or exit, 62 of the passage.
If hub assembly 2 is rotated in a counter clockwise direction, as it normally would be if the truck travels in reverse, or as it would turn on the opposite side of the truck, the vane 750 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 and associated oil passages in this event, are mirrored from the back side of the vane body 64. In other words, a window is formed in heretofore solid vane body planer surface 64, resulting in a second transverse port 764 spaced from transverse port 752 by a dividing wall 768, rather than just in opposed plane surface 66. Oil flow to the bearings 6, 8 is thus accomplished regardless of the rotational direction of the wheels and can be accomplished with only one vane 750, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, as oil would flow tangentially depending on the direction of rotation, either through transverse ports 752 or 764, (see arrows A, B in FIG. 6), through connected radial passageways 754 and 760, and axially out axial ports 756 or 762, respectively, as also illustrated by arrows A and B in FIGS. 5 and 6. There are two aligned axial ports 756 and 762 on the front and back surfaces of vane 750 in communication with its respective radial passageways 756, 760 to assure lubrication of both bearings 6, 8, regardless of the direction of rotation of hub assembly 2. This would preclude the need for a vane 50 mounted with its window 52 facing in the opposite direction on the hub assembly 2 attached to the other end of the truck axle. The vane 50 can be manufactured by metal casting, rubber molding, or plastic injection molding. As shown in FIGS. 4-6, for each lubricant directing passage, the transverse ports, or entrances, 752, 764 have a larger cross-sectional area than a combined cross-sectional area of the axial ports, or exits, 756, 762 of the passage.
Referring to FIGS. 7 to 9 the vane 150 can also take the form of a wedge-shaped body 168 on the bearing spacer 16. The body 168 redirects the oil from a tangential or rotational velocity to an axial velocity both in the forward and the backward direction through passages being disposed in angular relation to the tangential lubricant flow transverse ports 152, radial passageways 154, 156 and axial ports 160, 162, as indicated by the arrows B, Bi-directional axial flow is achieved through adjacent faces 164 and 166 on body 168. As shown in FIGS. 7-9, for each lubricant directing passage, the transverse ports, or entrances, 152 have a larger cross-sectional area than a cross-sectional area of the axial ports, or exits, 156, 162 of the passage. Possible manufacturing methods for this vane embodiment are metal casting, rubber molding and plastic injection molding.
The embodiment 250 illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12 utilizes a three piece design. A vane 252 includes opposing faces and a passage having an entrance 254 in one face and an exit 256 in the other face. The exit 256 is spaced axially inwardly from the entrance 254 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wheel hub. 3. The passage redirects the oil 58 radially inward from the hub cavity and causes it to impinge a first wedge shaped deflector 258 mounted at an angle to the longitudinal axis of spacer 16, that then redirects the oil forward and also backward in the axial direction, as indicated by the arrows C in FIG. 12. The vane 252 includes a second passage having an entrance 260 in the other face and an exit 262 in the first face. The exit 262 is spaced axially inwardly from the entrance 260 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wheel hub 3. The second passage redirects the oil radially inward from the hub cavity to impinge a second wedge shaped deflector 266 when the hub 4 is rotating in the opposite direction. Deflector 266 is located adjacent passage exit 262 at an angle to the longitudinal axis of spacer 16.
The embodiment of vane 350 illustrated in FIG. 13 utilizes a thin walled body 352 that is formed to a shape that scoops the oil near the outside diameter of the hub cavity and redirects that oil radially downward then axially forward and backward through radial and axial deflectors 354, 356, as indicated by arrows D. Two of these bodies would be placed back to back in order to achieve this behavior in both rotational directions. Possible manufacturing methods for this configuration are metal stamping, metal casting and plastic injection molding.
FIGS. 14 to 16 illustrate a vane 450 having a thin walled body 464 that takes oil through an open side 452 found near the outside diameter of the hub cavity and deflects that oil off radial deflector 466 and redirects that oil radially downward and then axially forward and backward against arcuate deflection surfaces 468, 470 of axial deflector as indicated by the arrow E. Surface 468 is disposed at a downward acute angle to the right of the vertical, while surface 470 is disposed a downward acute angle to the left of the vertical as shown in FIG. 14. This configuration could be a steel stamping or an injection molded plastic piece.
FIG. 17 shows a cluster 550 that utilizes formed tube steel 552, 554 that is fastened together in a group or cluster. Specifically, two tubes 552 and 554 are used to take oil found near the outside diameter of the hub cavity and are bent to redirect that oil radially downward and then axially forward or backward as indicated by the arrows F. One of the tubes 552, 554 would direct oil to the outer bearing, while a similarly oriented tube, opening in the opposite direction mounted on the opposite diameter of spacer 16, would direct oil to the inner bearing. The same would happen with the two tubes designed for counterclockwise or opposite rotation of the hub assembly, which could be provided on spacer 16 in the cluster 550 with orientation opposite to that of tubes 552, 554. These tubes would have openings facing opposite directions from that illustrated in FIG. 17.
FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrates yet another vane 650 including a lubricant directing passage comprising a transverse port 652 in body surface 654 that empties oil into a radial passageway in the form of a hollow interior 656 of the vane where it is forced downwardly radially to axial ports 658, 660 in the sides 662, 664 of the body 654, in opposite axial directions as indicated by flow arrows G. As shown, the transverse port, or entrance, 652 of the lubricant directing passage has a large cross-sectional area than a combined cross-sectional area of the axial ports, or exits, 658, 660 of the passage. | A wheel hub and bearing assembly for use on the ends of a stationary axle and particularly on tractor and trailer axles. A wheel hub, a pair of bearings, a bearing spacer and seals are assembled and installed on the axle end. The bearing spacer is positioned between the pair of bearings and has one or more vanes mounted thereon for redirecting the flow of lubricant disposed in a cavity in the wheel hub between the bearings in a bi-axial flow direction towards each spaced bearing to lubricate and cool the bearings. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. 09/474,039, entitled, “System and Process for Direct, Flexible and Scalable Switching of Data Packets in Broadband Networks”, filed Dec. 28, 1999, and Ser. No. 09/566,540, entitled, “System Having a Meshed Backplane and Process for Transferring Data Therethrough”, filed May 8, 2000, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,526 on Aug. 26, 2003 by the present applicants. This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No. 09/568,270, entitled, “System and Process for Return Channel Spectrum Manager”, filed on even date with the present application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to networking data processing systems, and, more particularly to a broadband network environment, for example, one using a SONET backbone and Hybrid Fiber-Coax(ial cable) (“HFC”) to connect users to the backbone. An emerging hardware/software standard for the HFC environment is DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Standard) of CableLabs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a current configuration of wide-area delivery of data to HFC systems (each connected to 200 households/clients), the head-end server is connected to a SONET ring via a multiplexer drop on the ring (see FIG. 1 ). These multiplexers currently cost some $50,000 in addition to the head-end server, and scaling up of service of a community may require new multiplexers and servers.
The failure of a component on the head-end server can take an entire “downstream” (from the head-end to the end-user) sub-network out of communication with the world. Attempts have been made to integrate systems in order to reduce costs and to ease system management. A current integrated data delivery system is shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 shows a system having a reverse path monitoring system, an ethernet switch, a router, modulators and upconverters, a provisioning system, telephony parts, and a plurality of CMTS's (cable modem termination systems). This type of system typically has multiple vendors for its multiple systems, has different management systems, a large footprint, high power requirements and high operating costs.
A typical network broadband cable network for delivery of voice and data is shown in FIG. 3 . Two OC-12 port interface servers are each connected to one of two backbone routers which are in turn networked to two switches. The switches are networked to CMTS head-end routers. The CMTS head-end routers are connected to a plurality of optical nodes. The switches are also connected to a plurality of telephone trunk gateways which are in turn connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). As with the “integrated” system shown in FIG. 2 , this type of network also typically has multiple vendors for its multiple systems, has different management systems, a large footprint, high power requirements and high operating costs.
In order to facilitate an effective integrated solution to have an integrated diagnostic system. Current art CMTS's do not have the capability of self-diagnosing. It is impossible to perform loop back testing on a CMTS modem because the downstream (transmitter) modulation is different from the upstream (receiver) modulation in a system using the CableLabs DOCSIS cable modem standard. Currently, loop back testing on a CMTS must be done using an external cable modem (CM) box connected to a general purpose computer running specialized diagnostic software. The CM and computer receive incoming packets and send them back to the CMTS. It is difficult to control external equipment, particularly equipment that is remote from the CMTS such as a centralized network management system. Lack of integration with the system means a significant amount of end user interaction and preparation for implementing diagnostic tests.
It is desirable to have an integrated solution to reduce the size of the system, its power needs and its costs, as well as to give the data delivery system greater consistency.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and process for electrical interconnect for broadband delivery of high-quality voice, data, and video services.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and process for a cable access platform having high network reliability with the ability to reliably support lifeline telephony services and the ability to supply tiered voice and data services.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and process for a secure, scalable network switch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems of providing a self-diagnostic capability for delivery of voice and data in a compact area for an integrated switch are solved by the present invention of an embedded cable modem.
The present invention enables the self-diagnosis functionality by embedding a cable modem with the CMTS system with mechanisms to redirect the signals from external connections to the embedded cable modem, thereby enabling the end user to fully test the CMTS using a suite of diagnostic tests. The embedded cable modem integrates the external CM, computer and diagnostic software in the chassis, or alternatively onto the CMTS card in the chassis. The invention enables the end user to fully test the functionality as a stand-alone unit, without relying on any external test equipment or methods. It also enables the end user to diagnose the CMTS from a remote location. Another major advantage of the present invention is that it enables the CMTS/CM function to be verified over the entire physical layer parameter set (frequency, symbol rate, FEC, signal levels, etc.) while not interrupting any of the services that are on the ‘live’ HFC plant.
The present invention together with the above and other advantages may best be understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings, wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a prior art network on a SONET ring;
FIG. 2 shows a prior art data delivery system;
FIG. 3 shows a prior art data delivery network;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a chassis according to principles of the invention;
FIG. 5 shows an integrated cable infrastructure having the chassis of FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the application cards, the backplane and a portion of the interconnections between them in the chassis of FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the backplane interconnections, including the switching mesh;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of two exemplary slots showing differential pair connections between the slots;
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the MCC chip in an application module according to principles of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a diagram of a packet tag;
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a generic switch packet header;
FIG. 12 is a flow chart of data transmission through the backplane;
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an incoming ICL packet;
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a header for the ICL packet of FIG. 13 ;
FIG. 15 shows example mapping tables mapping channels to backplane slots according to principles of the present invention;
FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a bus arbitration application module connected in the backplane of the present invention;
FIG. 17 is a state diagram of bus arbitration in the application module of FIG. 16 ;
FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the chassis of FIG. 4 showing a subset of RF signal lines in the backplane according to principles of the invention; and,
FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a CMTS application module and an embedded cable modem connected through the backplane according to principles of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 4 shows a chassis 200 operating according to principles of the present invention. The chassis 200 integrates a plurality of network applications into a single switch system. The invention is a fully-meshed OSI Layer 3/4 IP-switch with high performance packet forwarding, filtering and QoS/CoS (Quality of Service/Class of Service) capabilities using low-level embedded software controlled by a cluster manager in a chassis controller. Higher-level software resides in the cluster manager, including router server functions (RIPv1, RIPv2, OSPF, etc.), network management (SNMP V1/V2), security, DHCP, LDAP, and remote access software (VPNs, PPTP, L2TP, and PPP), and can be readily modified or upgraded.
In the present embodiment of the invention, the chassis 200 has fourteen (14) slots for modules. Twelve of those fourteen slots hold application modules 205 , and two slots hold chassis controller modules 210 . Each application module has an on-board DC-DC converter and is “hot-pluggable” into the chassis. The chassis controller modules 210 are for redundant system clock/bus arbitration. Examples of applications that may be integrated in the chassis are a CMTS module 215 , an Ethernet module 220 , a SONET module 225 , and a telephony application 230 . Another application may be an interchassis link (ICL) port 235 through which the chassis may be linked to another chassis.
FIG. 5 shows an integrated cable infrastructure 260 having the chassis 200 of FIG. 4 . The chassis 200 is part of a regional hub 262 (also called the “head-end”) for voice and data delivery. The hub 262 includes a video controller application 264 , a video server 266 , Web/cache servers 26 B, and an operation support system (OSS) 270 , a combiner 271 and the chassis 200 . The chassis 200 acts as an IP access switch. The chassis 200 is connected to a SONET ring 272 , outside the hub 262 , having a connection to the Internet 274 , and a connection to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 276 . The chassis 200 and the video-controller application 264 are attached to the combiner 271 . The combiner 271 is connected by an HFC link 278 to cable customers and provides IP voice, data, video and fax services. At least 2000 cable customers may be linked to the head-end by the HFC link 278 . The chassis 200 can support a plurality of HFC links and also a plurality of chassises may be networked together (as described below) to support thousands of cable customers.
By convention today, there is one wide-band channel for transmission (downloading) to users (which may be desktop computers, facsimile machines or telephone sets) and four much narrower channels for (uploading). This is processed by the HFC cards with duplexing at an O/E node. The local HFC cable system or loop may be a coaxial cable distribution network with a drop to a cable modem.
FIG. 6 shows application modules connected to a backplane 420 of the chassis 200 of FIG. 4 . In the present embodiment of the invention, the backplane is implemented as a 24-layer printed wiring board and includes 144 pairs of uni-directional differential-pair connections, each pair directly connecting input and output terminals of each of a maximum of twelve application modules with output and input terminals of each other module and itself. Each application module interfaces with the backplane through a Mesh Communication Chip (MCC) 424 through these terminals. Each application module is also connected to a chassis management bus 432 which provides the modules with a connection to the chassis controllers 428 , 430 . Each MCC 424 has twelve (12) serial link interfaces that run to the backplane 420 . Eleven of the serial links on each application module are for connecting the application module to every other application module in the chassis. One link is for connecting the module with itself, i.e., a loop-back. The backplane is fully meshed meaning that every application module has a direct link to every other application module in the chassis through the serial links. Only a portion of the connections is shown in FIG. 6 as an example. The backplane mesh is shown in FIG. 7 .
The 12 channels with serial links of the MCC are numbered 0 to 11. This is referred to as the channel ID or CID. The slots on the backplane are also numbered from 0 to 11 (slot ID, or SID). The chassis system does not require, however, that a channel 0 be wired to a slot 0 on the backplane. A serial link may be connected to any slot. The slot IDs are dynamically configured depending on system topology. This provides freedom in backplane wiring layout which might otherwise require layers additional to the twenty-four layers in the present backplane. The application module reads the slot ID of the slot into which it is inserted. The application module sends that slot ID out its serial lines in an idle stream in between data transmissions. The application module also includes the slot ID in each data transmission.
FIG. 15 shows examples of mapping tables of channels in cards to backplane slots. Each card stores a portion of the table, that is, the table row concerning the particular card. The table row is stored in the MCC.
FIG. 16 shows a management bus arbitration application module connected to the backplane. The backplane contains two separate management buses for failure protection. Each application module in the chassis including the two chassis controllers as well as the twelve applications modules can use both or either management bus.
The management bus is used for low-speed data transfer within the chassis and generally consists of control, statistical, configuration information, data from the chassis controller modules to the application modules in the chassis.
The implementation of the management bus consists of a four bit data path, a transmit clock, a transmit clock signal, a collision control signal, and a four bit arbitration bus. As seen in FIG. 16 , the bus controller has a 10/100 MAC device, a receive FIFO, bus transceiver logics, and a programmable logic device (“PLD”).
The data path on the management bus is a four-bit (Media Independent Interface) MII standard interface for 10/100 ethernet MACs. The bus mimics the operation of a standard 100 Mbit ethernet bus interface so that the MAC functionality can be exploited. The programmable logic device contains a state machine that performs bus arbitration.
FIG. 17 shows the state diagram for the state machine in the programmable logic device for the management bus. The arbitration lines determine which module has control of the bus by using open collector logic. The pull-ups for the arbitration bus reside on the chassis controller modules. Each slot places its slot ID on the arbitration lines to request the bus. During transmission of the preamble of data to be transmitted, if the arbitration is corrupted, the bus controller assumes that another slot had concurrently requested the bus and the state machine within the PLD aborts the transfer operation by forcing a collision signal for both the bus and the local MAC device active. As other modules detect the collision signal on the bus active, the collision line on each local MAC is forced to the collision state, which allows the back-off algorithm within the MAC to determine the next transmission time. If a collision is not detected, the data is latched into the receive FIFO of each module, and the TX_Enable signal is used to quantify data from the bus. The state machine waits four clock cycles during the preamble of the transmit state, and four clock cycles during the collision state to allow the other modules to synchronize to the state of the bus.
Backplane Architecture
FIG. 7 shows the internal backplane architecture of the current embodiment of the switch of the invention that was shown in exemplary fashion in FIG. 6 . One feature is the full-mesh interconnection between slots shown in the region 505 . Slots are shown by vertical lines in FIG. 7 . This is implemented using 144 pairs of differential pairs embedded in the backplane as shown in FIG. 8 . Each slot thus has a full-duplex serial path to every other slot in the system. There are n(n−1) non-looped-back links in the system, that is, 132 links, doubled for the duplex pair configuration for a total of 264 differential pairs (or further doubled for 528 wires) in the backplane to create the backplane mesh in the present embodiment of the invention. Each differential pair is able to support data throughput of more than 1 gigabit per second.
In the implementation of the current invention, the clock signal is embedded in the serial signaling, obviating the need for separate pairs (quads) for clock distribution. Because the data paths are independent, different pairs of cards in the chassis may be switching (ATM) cells and others switching (IP) packets. Also, each slot is capable of transmitting on all 11 of its serial links at once, a feature useful for broadcasting. All the slots transmitting on all their serial lines achieve a peak bandwidth of 132 gigabits per second. Sustained bandwidth depends on system configuration.
The mesh provides a fully redundant connection between the application cards in the backplane. One connection can fail without affecting the ability of the cards to communicate. Routing tables are stored in the chassis controllers. If, for example, the connection between application module 1 and application module 2 failed, the routing tables are updated. The routing tables are updated when the application modules report to the chassis controllers that no data is being received on a particular serial link. Data addressed to application module 2 coming in through application module 1 is routed to another application module, for instance application module 3, which would then forward the data to application module 2.
The bus-connected backplane region 525 includes three bus systems. The management/control bus 530 is provided for out-of-band communication of signaling, control, and management information. A redundant backup for a management bus failure will be the mesh interconnect fabric 505 . In the current implementation, the management bus provides 32-bit 10-20 MHz transfers, operating as a packet bus. Arbitration is centralized on the system clock module 102 (clock A). Any slot to any slot communication is allowed, with broadcast and multicast also supported. The bus drivers are integrated on the System Bus FPGA/ASIC.
A TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) Fabric 535 is also provided for telephony applications. Alternative approaches include the use of a DSO fabric, using 32 TDM highways (sixteen full-duplex, 2048 FDX timeslots, or approximately 3 T3s) using the H.110 standard, or a SONET ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) fabric.
Miscellaneous static signals may also be distributed in the bus-connected backplane region 540 . Slot ID, clock failure and management bus arbitration failure may be signaled.
A star interconnect region 545 provides independent clock distribution from redundant clocks 102 and 103 . The static signals on backplane bus 540 tell the system modules which system clock and bus arbitration slot is active. Two clock distribution networks are supported: a reference clock from which other clocks are synthesized, and a TDM bus clock, depending on the TDM bus architecture chosen. Both clocks are synchronized to an internal Stratum 3/4 oscillator or an externally provided BITS (Building Integrated Timing Supply).
FIG. 8 shows a first connection point on a first MCC on a first module, MCC A 350 , and a second connection point on a second MCC on a second module, MCC B 352 , and connections 354 , 355 , 356 , 357 between them. The connections run through a backplane mesh 360 according to the present invention. There are transmit 362 , 364 and receive 366 , 368 channels at each MCC 350 , 352 , and each channel has a positive and a negative connection. In all, each point on a module has four connections between it and every other point due to the backplane mesh. The differential transmission line impedance and length are controlled to ensure signal integrity and high speed operation.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the MCC chip. An F-bus interface 805 connects the MCC 300 to the FIFO bus (F-bus). Twelve transmit FIFOs 810 and twelve receive FIFOs 815 are connected to the F-bus interface 805 . Each transmit FIFO has a data compressor (12 data compressors in all, 820 ), and each receive FIFO has a data expander (12 data expanders in all, 825 ). Twelve serializer/deserializers 830 serve the data compressors 820 and data expanders 825 , one compressor and one expander for each A channel in the MCC is defined as a serial link together with its encoding/decoding logic, transmit queue and receive queue. The serial lines running from the channels connect to the backplane mesh. All the channels can transmit data at the same time. A current implementation of the invention uses a Mesh Communication Chip to interconnect up to thirteen F-buses in a full mesh using serial link technology. Each MCC has two F-bus interfaces and twelve serial link interfaces. The MCC transmits and receives packets on the F-buses in programmable size increments from 64 bytes to entire packets. It contains twelve virtual transmit processors (VTPs) which take packets from the F-bus and send them out the serial links, allowing twelve outgoing packets simultaneously. The VTPs read the MCC tag on the front of the packet and dynamically bind themselves to the destination slot(s) indicated in the header.
The card/slot-specific processor, card/slot-specific MAC/PHY pair (Ethernet, SONET, HFC, etc.) and an MCC communicate on a bi-directional F-bus (or multiple unidirectional F-busses). The packet transmit path is from the PHY/MAC to the processor, then from the processor to the MCC and out the mesh. The processor does Layer 3 and Layer 4 look-ups in the FIPP to determine the packet's destination and Quality of Service (QoS), modifies the header as necessary, and prepends the MCC tag to the packet before sending it to the MCC.
The packet receive path is from the mesh to the MCC and on to the processor, then from the processor to the MAC/Phy and out the channel. The processor strips off the MCC tag before sending the packet on to the MAC.
A first data flow control mechanism in the present invention takes advantage of the duplex pair configuration of the connections in the backplane and connections to the modules. The MCCs have a predetermined fullness threshold for the FIFOs. If a receive FIFO fills to the predetermined threshold, a code is transmitted over the transmit channel of the duplex pair to stop sending data. The codes are designed to direct-couple balance the signals on the transmission lines and to enable the detection of errors. The codes in the present implementation of the invention are 16B/20B codes, however other codes may be used within the scope of the present invention. The MCC sends an I1 or I2 code with the XOFF bit set to turn off the data flow. This message is included in the data stream transmitted on the transmit channel. If the FIFO falls below the predetermined threshold, the MCC clears the stop message by sending an I1 or I2 code with the XOFF bit cleared. The efficient flow control prevents low depth FIFOs from overrunning, thereby allowing small FIFOs in ASICS, for example, 512 bytes, to be used. This reduces microchip costs in the system.
FIG. 10 shows a packet tag, also called the MCC tag. The MCC tag is a 32-bit tag used to route a packet through the backplane mesh. The tag is added to the front of the packet by the slot processor before sending it to the MCC. The tag has four fields: a destination mask field, a priority field, a keep field, and a reserved field. The destination mask field is the field holding the mask of slots in the current chassis to which the packet is destined, which may or may not be the final destination in the system. For a transmit packet, the MCC uses the destination mask to determine which transmit queue(s) the packet is destined for. For a receive packet the MCC uses the priority and keep fields to determine which packets to discard in an over-committed slot. The reserved field is unused in the current embodiment of the invention.
The MCC has two independent transmit mode selectors, slot-to-channel mapping and virtual transmit mode. In slot-to-channel mapping, the MCC transparently maps SIDs to CIDs and software does not have to keep track of the mapping. In virtual transmit mode, the MCC handles multicast packets semi-transparently. The MCC takes a single F-bus stream and directs it to multiple channels. The transmit ports in the MCC address virtual transmit processors (VTPs) rather than slots. The F-bus interface directs the packet to the selected virtual transmit processor. The VTP saves the Destination Mask field from the MCC tag and forwards the packet data (including the MCC tag) to the set of transmit queues indicated in the Destination Mask. All subsequent 64 byte “chunks” of the packet are sent by the slot processor using the same port ID, and so are directed to the same VTP. The VTP forwards chunks of the packet to the set of transmit queues indicated in the Destination Mask field saved from the MCC tag. When a chunk arrives with the EOP bit set, the VTP clears its destination mask. If the next chunk addressed to that port is not the start of a new packet (i.e., with the SOP bit set), the VTP does not forward the chunk to any queue.
The destination mask of the MCC tag enable efficient multicast transmission of packets through “latching.” The destination mask includes code for all designated destination slots. So, if a packet is meant for all twelve slots, only one packet need be sent. The tag is delivered to all destinations encoded in the mask. If only a fraction of the slots are to receive the packet, only those slots are encoded into the destination mask.
The MCC maintains a set of “channel busy” bits which it uses to prevent multiple VTPs from sending packets to the same CID simultaneously. This conflict prevention mechanism is not intended to assist the slot processor in management of busy channels, but rather to prevent complete corruption of packets in the event that the slot processor accidentally sends two packets to the same slot simultaneously. When the VTPs get a new packet, they compare the destination CID mask with the channel busy bits. If any channel is busy, it is removed from the destination mask and an error is recorded for that CID. The VTP then sets all the busy bits for all remaining destination channels and transmits the packet. When the VTP sees EOP on the F-bus for the packet, it clears the channel busy bits for its destination CIDs.
The F-bus interface performs the I/O functions between the MCC and the remaining portion of the application module. The application module adds a 32-bit packet tag (MCC tag), shown in FIG. 10 , to each data packet to be routed through the mesh.
The data received or transmitted on the F-bus is up to 64 bits wide. In data transmission, the F-bus interface adds 4 status bits to the transmit data to make a 68-bit data segment. The F-bus interface drops the 68-bit data segment into the appropriate transmit FIFO as determined from the packet tag. The data from a transmit FIFO is transferred to the associated data compressor where the 68-bit data segment is reduced to 10-bit segments. The data is then passed to the associated serializer where the data is further reduced to a serial stream. The serial stream is sent out the serial link to the backplane.
Data arriving from the backplane comes through a serial link to the associated channel. The serializer for that channel expands the data to a 10-bit data segment and the associated data expander expands the data to a 68-bit data segment which is passed on to the related FIFO and then from the FIFO to the F-bus interface.
A Fast IP Processor (FIPP) is provided with 32/64 Mbytes of high-speed synchronous SDRAM, 8 Mbytes of high-speed synchronous SRAM, and boot flash. The FIPP has a 32-bit PCI bus and a 64-bit FIFO bus (F-bus). The FIPP transfers packet data to and from all F-bus-connected devices. It provides IP forwarding in both unicast and multicast mode. Routing tables are received over the management bus from the chassis route server. The FIPP also provides higher layer functions such as filtering, and CoS/QoS.
Each line card has a clock subsystem that produces all the clocks necessary for each card. This will lock to the reference clock provided by the System Clock and Management Bus Arbitration Card.
Each card has hot-plug, power-on reset circuitry, and Sanity Timer functions. All cards have on-board DC-to-DC converters to go from the −48V rail in the backplane to whatever voltages are required for the application. Some cards (such as the CMTS card) likely will have two separate and isolated supplies to maximize the performance of the analog portions of the card.
FIG. 11 shows a generic switch header for the integrated switch. The header is used to route data packets through the system. The final destination may be either intra-chassis or inter-chassis.
The header type field indicates the header type used to route the packet through the network having one or more chassis systems. Generally, the header type field is used to decode the header and provide information needed for packet forwarding. Specifically, the header type field may be used to indicate that the Destination Fabric Interface Address has logical ports. The header type field is also used to indicate whether the packet is to be broadcast or unicast. The header type field is used to indicate the relevant fields in the header.
The keep field indicates whether a packet can be dropped due to congestion.
The fragment field indicates packet fragmentation and whether the packet consists of two frames.
The priority field is used to indicate packet priority.
The encap type field is a one bit field that indicates whether further layer 2 processing is needed before the packet is forwarded. If the bit is set, L2 is present. If the bit is not set, L2 is not present.
The Mcast type field is a one bit field that indicates whether the packet is a broadcast or multicast packet. It may or may not be used depending on the circumstances.
The Dest FIA (Fabric Interface Address) type field indicates whether the destination FIA is in short form (i.e., <chassis/slot/port>) or in long form (i.e., <chassis/slot/port/logical port>). This field may or may not be used depending on the circumstances. This field may be combined with the header type field.
The Src FIA type field is a one bit field that indicates whether the source FIA is in short form (i.e., <chassis/slot/port>) or in long form (i.e., <chassis/slot/port/logical port>). This field may or may not be used depending on the circumstances. This field may be combined with the header type field.
The data type field is an x-bit field used for application to application communication using the switch layer. The field identifies the packet destination.
The forwarding info field is an x-bit field that holds the Forwarding Table Revision is a forwarding information next hop field, a switch next hop, that identifies which port the packet is to go out, along with the forward_table_entry key/id.
The Dest FIA field is an x-bit field that indicates the final destination of the packet. It contains chassis/slot/port and sometimes logical port information. A chassis of value 0 (zero) indicates the chassis holding the Master Agent. A port value of 0 (zero) indicates the receiver of the packet is an application module. The logical port may be used to indicate which stack/entity in the card is to receive the packet. All edge ports and ICL ports are therefore “1”-based.
The Src FIA field is an x-bit field that indicates the source of the packet. It is used by the route server to identify the source of incoming packets.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the general packet forwarding process. When a packet is received at one of the application modules of the switch, the module examines the BAS header, if one is present, to determine if the packet was addressed for the chassis to which the module is attached. If not, the application module looks up the destination chassis in the routing table and forwards the packet to the correct chassis. If the packet was addressed for the chassis, the application module examines the header to determine whether the packet was addressed to the module (or slot). If not, the application module looks up the destination slot in the mapping table and forwards the packet to the correct application module. If the packet was addressed to the application module, the application module compares the forwarding table ID in the header to the local forwarding table revision. If there is a match, the module uses the pointer in the header to forward the packet on to its next destination.
Unicast Traffic Received from an ICL Port
FIG. 13 is a diagram of an incoming ICL packet. The packet has a BAS header, an encap field that may be either set or not (L 2 or NULL), an IP field, and a data field for the data.
FIG. 14 is a diagram of a header for the packet of FIG. 12 . The header type may be 1 or 2. A header type of 1 indicates an FIA field that is of the format chassis/slot/port both for destination and source. A header type of 2 indicates an FIA field of the format chassis/slot/port/logical port for both destination and source. The keep field is not used. The priority field is not used. The fragment field is not used. The next hop filed is not used. The Encap field is zero or 1. The Mcast field is not used. The DST FIA type may be 0 or 1. The SRC FIA type may be zero or one. The BAS TTL field is not used. The forward info field is used. And the DST and SRC FIA fields are used.
Embedded Cable Modem
The cable modem termination system comprises an asymmetrical communication system with two major components: a head end component and a client end component. The head end component, known as the cable modem termination system (CMTS) transmits a signal to a cable modem (CM) that is substantially different form the signal it receives from the CM. The CMTS transmits a 5 megabaud, 64/256 QAM, in the 54 to 850 MHz band signal and the CM transmits a 160 kilobaud to 2.56 megabaud, QPSK/16 QAM, in the 5 to 42 MHz band signal. Because the transmit signal is different from the receive signal, it is impossible to perform physical layer loopback for self-diagnostic testing.
FIG. 18 shows the chassis 200 of FIG. 4 with RF signal lines 906 running through the backplane 420 from the CMTS's 215 , 900 , 902 , 904 to a chassis controller module 908 . In actuality, RF signals lines run from each of the applications slots to each of the chassis controllers 908 , 910 . The figure is simplified for clarity.
Each of the chassis controllers 908 , 910 has an embedded cable modem system 912 , 914 capable of receiving a signal from one of the CMTS's and generating a return signal to the sending CMTS. The embedded cable modem also contains diagnostic functions.
The signal lines 906 in backplane carry the radio frequency (RF) signals from the CMTS to the embedded CM and back again. This type of RF signal routing on a backplane requires a high degree of care in the implementation of the backplane to ensure the RF signals are not contaminated by any of the digital signals on the backplane.
FIG. 19 shows a CMTS application module 215 connected through the backplane 420 to an embedded cable modem 912 . The CMTS application module 215 has a downstream modulator 920 and four upstream modulators 922 , 924 , 926 , 928 . A packet processing and backplane interface 930 sends and receives data at the backplane 420 . The data is processed at the CMTS MAC layer 932 . The embedded cable modem 908 receives the downstream signal from the CMTS application module 215 at a first 12-position relay 936 (having one position for each application module). The embedded cable modem 912 sends return signals through a second 12-position relay 937 to the CMTS application module 215 . The embedded cable modem 912 also receives CMTS signals at the second 12-position relay 937 for diagnostic purposes.
In the cable modem, the downstream RF signal goes through a first variable attenuator 938 and then a first summer 940 before being demodulated at a downstream demodulator 942 . The signal is processed at the cable modem MAC layer 944 . From the MAC layer 944 , the signal may be processed at a CM packet processing and backplane interface 946 and then packets may be transmitted to the backplane 420 . The signal could also be sent through an upstream burst modulator 948 that modulates the return signal. The return signal is then sent through second summer 950 , followed by a second variable attenuator 952 and then through the second 12-position relay 937 where it is returned through an RF signal line to the CMTS application module 215 .
From the CM packet processing and backplane interface 946 , the signal can be directed to the system interface 955 where, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the diagnostic software resides. In a first alternative embodiment of the invention, the diagnostic software may reside in the chassis controller outside the embedded cable modem. In a second alternative embodiment, the diagnostic software may reside on an application module in the chassis, such as the CMTS module. In a third alternative embodiment, the diagnostic software may reside at the central network manager or some other remote, off-chassis location.
The embedded cable modem 912 has a calibrated broadband noise source 954 that generates a noise signal that can be added to the downstream signal at the first summer 940 and to the upstream signal at the second summer 950 . The calibrated noise source 954 is used to generate test signals for carrier to noise diagnostics.
In operation, outgoing packets flow from the CMTS backplane interface 930 , to the CMTS MAC 932 , to the CMTS downstream modulator 920 where they are modulated onto a carrier in the range of 54 to 850 MHz. The resulting signal is then routed to the external hybrid fiber coax (HFC) where it is sent to the downstream CMs, including the embedded cable modem. Upstream packets are modulated and transmitted from the CMs and the embedded cable modem in the range of 5-42 MHz onto the HFC cabling into one of the upstream ports of the CMTS where the signal is routed into one of the upstream demodulators. The embedded cable modem is able to perofmr diagnostics on both the downstream and upstream signal as well as generate test signals to the CMTS.
In alternative embodiments of the invention, the embedded cable modem may reside on each CMTS application module. Alternatively, the embedded cable modem may itself be an application module.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. Various and other modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof. | The present invention enables the self-diagnosis functionality by embedding a cable modem with the CMTS system with mechanisms to redirect the signals from external connections to the embedded cable modem, thereby enabling the end user to fully test the CMTS using a suite of diagnostic tests. The embedded cable modem integrates the external CM, computer and diagnostic software in the chassis, or alternatively onto the CMTS card in the chassis. The invention enables the end user to fully test the functionality as a stand-alone unit, without relying on any external test equipment or methods. It also enables the end user to diagnose the CMTS from a remote location. Another major advantage of the present invention is that it enables the CMTS/CM function to be verified over the entire physical layer parameter set (frequency, symbol rate, FEC, signal levels, etc.) while not interrupting any of the services that are on the ‘live’ HFC plant. | 7 |
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