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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a mechanism for attaching a decorative wheel trim member directly to a motor vehicle wheel and more particularly to a wheel trim attachment system that uses lug nut and encapsulators to attach a decorative wheel trim member to either the front or rear wheel without removal of the existing lug nuts.
It is the desire of many owners of trucks and recreational vehicles to improve the cosmetic appearance of their wheels by adding decorative trim rings and the like which perform a function similar to a standard hubcap available on automobiles. Indeed, the prior art contains many examples of methods and brackets that have been developed to accomplish this. Some employ spring clips or hooks which engage under tension the outer portion of the wheel. Others use brackets which mount directly to the wheel lugs and, in turn, provide a central point for attachment of the wheel trim member.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,764 issued to Lamme discloses a combined lock bracket and wheel cover for automotive vehicles. However, Lamme uses bracket 26 which must be attached underneath the existing lug nut of a wheel. Many manufacturers have discovered that it is unsafe to remove a lug nut to place a wheel trim attachment member on the wheel. Further, the Department of Transportation requires that all decorative trim members must be removed for a DOT inspection of the wheel without removal of the existing lug nuts. Because the device of Lamme is attached to the wheel using a bracket, Lamme cannot perform this function. Furthermore, Lamme does not recognize and does not teach the use of attachment at a locator pin.
Canadian Patent No. 1,160,262 issued to Ladouceur discloses a wheel cover. Although Ladouceur discloses the use of a trim member that is not fastened by removal of lug nuts, Ladouceur fails to recognize the benefits of lowering the plane formed by the trim member as it resides against the wheel. Vehicle owners desire that a wheel trim attach member must be placed close to the existing wheel to achieve a low profile.
What is needed, then, is a direct wheel trim attachment system that can be installed on either the front or rear wheel. Additionally, the wheel trim member must be attachable and removable without the removal of the existing wheel lug nuts. This wheel trim attach member must be able to attach to an existing wheel stud even when few threads are exposed by the conventional wheel lug nut. The wheel trim attach member must be such that it can cover the existing wheel lug nuts in an aesthetic manner while still enabling direct attachment using jam nuts. This attachment is presently lacking in the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present device, a single wheel trim attachment system is provided for attachment directly to a front or rear wheel. The trim member has holes aligned to fit over the desired front or rear wheel to be covered. This hole can either be round, hexagonal, or any other shape to fit over the existing lug nuts of a wheel. This hole can also be cut in a hex-shape such that finger are left to guide and frictional grasp the existing lug nut. In some of these holes are placed a decorative lug nut cover. A disc is place over the studs of the lug nuts not covered by the lug nut cover. A disc cover attaches to this disc. This disc cover can be one-piece or can be a shell and a cover. In one embodiment, the head or nub of the encapsulator has threads that receive the stud. In another embodiment, a disc having internal and external threads threadably attaches to the stud by the discs internal threads. The external threads then receive a lug nut encapsulator having internal threads.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a decorative wheel trim member that can be attached to the wheel such that it achieves a very low profile.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that allows the attachment of a direct wheel trim member without the removal of any existing wheel lug nuts.
Another object of the present invention is to have the means of attaching the wheel trim member as part of the wheel.
Still another object of the present invention is to achieve a consistent aesthetic appearance.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a wheel trim attachment system that can be used even though there are very few threads exposed above the existing wheel stud.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side cutaway view of a direct wheel trim attachment system for attaching to a rear wheel.
FIG. 2 is a side cutaway view of a direct wheel trim attachment system for attachment to a front wheel.
FIG. 3 is a side exploded cutaway view of the direct wheel trim attachment system as it attaches to a rear wheel.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the direct wheel trim attachment system.
FIG. 5 is a side cutaway view of the disk cover of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an exploded cutaway view of another embodiment of the wheel lug nut encapsulator of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an exploded cutaway view of another embodiment of the wheel lug nut encapsulator of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the stamp used in the preferred embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a side cutaway view of one embodiment of the direct wheel trim attachment system before the disk cover is placed over the sleeve.
FIG. 10 is an exploded view of still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a cutaway view of the embodiment of the disk cover of the present invention shown in FIG. 10.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown generally at 10 the direct wheel trim attachment system of the present invention. Trim 26 is formed as to closely resemble the contours of rear wheel 12. Trim member 26 rises at hub cover 22 to cover the hub of wheel 12. Trim member 26 fits over existing lug nuts 14 in one of two ways. At least one of lug nuts 14 is placed through hole 24 in trim member 26. This hole can be of any shape, as long as it fits over lug nut 14. Hole 24 can also be made by punching an asterisk-shaped hole in trim member 26. The asterisk shape leaves fingers 18 such that they will extend outwardly away from the wheel at substantially a ninety degree angle from the mounting plane. Fingers 18 frictionally fit to lug nut 14. In the preferred embodiment, twelve fingers 18 are produced by piercing trim member 26 although any number of fingers can be used. Disk 20, having internal threads and external threads, screws over existing stud 16 corresponding to received nut 14. Disc 20 may or may not contact nut 14. Disk cover 28 having internal threads screws over external threads of disk 20. Disk cover 28 holds trim member 26 in place. Disc cover 28 has bevel (60 in FIG. 5) which traps fingers 16 against nut 14. Bevel (60 in FIG. 5) prevents fingers 16 from interfering with internal threads of disc 20. In the preferred embodiment, disk 20 and disk cover 28 are placed over two lug nuts 14. The remaining nuts 14 are idle and covered by decorative lug nut cover 30 in FIG. 4 which can be integrated into trim member 26 or can releasably or fixedly attach to trim member 26.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown generally at 11 wheel trim member 26 as it attaches to front wheel 13. Once again, trim member 26 follows the general contours of wheel 13. At least one lug nut 14 is received by hole 24 in trim member 26. Disk 20 is placed over at least one lug nut 14 that is covered by hole 24. Disk 20 has internal threads that attach to stud 16. Disk 20 has external threads. Disk cover 28, having internal threads, screws over disk 20 at external threads. Trim member 26 can also have hub cover 20 that is not as exaggerated as the one in FIG. 1.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown generally at 10 the direct wheel trim attachment system of the present invention in an exploded view. Hole 24 of trim member 26 is placed over lug nut 14. Fingers 18 can frictionally hold lug nut 14 in place. Disk 20 is screwed on to stud 16. Disk cover 28 has internal threads which screw on to external threads of disk 20. Those studs 16 which are not received by disk 20 are covered not by disk cover 28 but by lug nut cover 30 as shown in FIG. 6. As previously stated, fingers 18 are placed in the preferred embodiment by using an asterisk stamp. However, fingers 18 are not essential. Fingers 18 do provide a centering mechanism.
Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown generally at 10 the direct wheel trim attachment system of the present invention. As is shown in FIG. 4, some lug nuts 14 are covered by lug nut cover 30, while others are covered by disk cover 28. As previously stated, in the preferred embodiment, at least two lug nuts 14 are covered. However, attachment can be achieved by merely covering one lug nut 14.
Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown disk 20 and disk cover 28 at work. In this particular embodiment, disk 20 is screwed over stud 16 until it contacts lug nut 14. Disk 20 has internal threads 54 which receive stud 16. In this particular embodiment, sleeve 27, having internal threads 58, threadably attaches to external threads 56 of disk 20. Sleeve 27 has beveling 60 toward lower portions so that threads 58 of sleeve 27 do not interfere with fingers 18. In this particular embodiment, disk cover 28 is actually formed by placing shell 62 frictionally over sleeve 27. In contrast, disk cover 28 can be one piece. Sleeve 27 then holds trim member 26 in place against wheel 12. Shell 62 or disk cover 28 can have hexagonal head 64 so that disk cover 28 can be securely fastened against trim member 26. Disk 20 will have some type of hole to receive some screwing device or have a square knob 66 so that it can be screwed down onto lug nut 14. Shell 62 allows different types of decorative lug nuts to be placed over disk 20.
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown generally at 6 still another embodiment of the direct wheel trim attachment system of the present invention. In this instance, hole 40 of trim member 26 fits over lug nut 14. Lug nut encapsulator 42 has internal threads 47 in cap area 46. Threads 47 receive stud 16. Through threads 47 attached to stud 16, lug nut encapsulator 14 holds trim member 26 against Wheel 12.
Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown generally at 10 still another embodiment of the present invention. In this particular embodiment, disk 20 having internal threads 54 and external threads 56. Internal threads 54 attach to stud 56. Disk 20 may or may not contact lug nut 14. External threads 56 of disk 20 are received by internal threads 58 of disk cover 28.
In the preferred embodiment, opposite studs 16 are used to provide better attachment of trim member 26 to wheel 12 or 13. In certain instances, a single point of attachment is sufficient. However, in the preferred embodiment, at least two points of attachment are recommended.
The present system 10 can be used with any type of front or rear wheel, whether it is singly mounted or doubly mounted.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the stamp to produce fingers 18 in the present invention. Operation of fingers 18 can be seen in FIGS. 5, 9, and 11.
Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown generally at 10 an embodiment of the direct wheel trim attachment system prior to the placement of disk cover 28. In this instance, trim member 26 is placed over lug nut 14 such that fingers 18 frictionally contact lug nut 14. Disk 20 is then placed over stud 16 until disk 20 contacts lug nut 14. Sleeve 27 is then screwed over external threads of disk 20 until sleeve 27 contacts trim member 26. Beveling 60 is provided to hold fingers 18 against lug nut 14 without damaging fingers 18 and threads of sleeve 27. Disk 20 can have holes placed in it to receive some type of tool to turn disk 20 about stud 16.
Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 11, there is shown generally at 10 still another embodiment of the direct wheel trim attachment system of the present invention. In this instance, trim member 26 is placed over lug nut 14 until it contacts wheel 12. Substantially elongated disk 20 having internal and external threads is then screwed over stud 16 until disk 20 contacts lug nut 14. Sleeve 28 is then placed over lug nut 14. Threads 68 of sleeve 27 receive disk 20. Sleeve 27 has hex head 64 so that a tool can be placed over sleeve 27 to tighten about disk 20. After sleeve 27 is tightened against trim member 26, disk cover 28 in FIG. 2 is then applied frictionally over sleeve 27.
Fingers 18 of the present invention frictionally contact lug nut 14. Bevel 60 of sleeve 27 Or disk cover 28 trap fingers 18 against lug nut 14 so that any individual finger 18 can hold sleeve 27 or disk cover 28 frictionally in place.
As can be seen in FIG. 10, disk 20 can have notch 70 which receives tool for tightening.
In certain embodiments, a hex head can be attached to disk 20 by welding, glue, or any other type of fixed attachment, to provide a place over which a tool can be placed for tightening.
Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful direct wheel trim attachment system, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention, except as set forth in the following claims. | The present invention relates to a wheel trim member that maintains a very low profile substantially against a front or rear wheel, depending upon its application. The trim member has at least one, and preferably at least two, discs for receipt of wheel studs. This disc has external threads which are received by a disc cover which holds trim member against wheel. Lug nut covers are then placed over the remaining unencapsulated lug nuts to achieve consistent aesthetic appearance. | 1 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/304,132 filed Feb. 12, 2010, which is incorporated by reference its entirety.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
All patents, patent applications and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety in order to more fully describe the state of the art as known to those skilled therein as of the date of the invention described herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This subject matter relates to a system of multiple parallel-connected batteries and a method of controlling current values of each battery within the parallel battery system and the total current value of the entire parallel battery system.
BACKGROUND
For reasons of state-of-charge (SOC) management, system efficiency, and state of health management (SOH), it may be advantageous to adjust the current in an individual battery to be higher, lower or the same as other parallel-connected batteries.
One method of controlling current between parallel batteries is by controlling a switching device connected between each of the batteries and the other parallel connected batteries. Current control involving the hard switching of batteries has quite a few disadvantages. Primarily, the current into and out of the battery cannot be finely controlled. The current is either ON or OFF, not anywhere in between. For example, if the system detects current into one of the parallel batteries as being too high, the only mechanism for control is to open a series switch to turn OFF the current. Another problem with this method is that whenever a parallel battery is disconnected from the others, its voltage will be different from that of the others. When a reconnection is made, the difference in voltage will force current in or out of the connecting batteries. If the difference is large enough, excessive and possibly damaging current inrushes can occur, thus damaging the battery, switching devices or other interconnecting hardware.
Other methods of controlling the current coming in and out of a battery involve a more active means such as controlling a regulator which actively controls the power flow in and out of each battery. The use of a regulator to control the current in and out of each of the parallel batteries addresses the discontinuity issues noted above; however, its disadvantages are high cost, weight, size and system complexity and lower reliability. The regulator often does employ switching devices, which switch at a relatively high frequency and controlled duty cycle and use magnetic or capacitive components to smooth out the effects of the hard switching. The net result is that the current into or out of each battery is smoothly controlled between the ranges of completely ON and completely OFF. The devices required to perform the switching, smoothing and controlling actions in these regulators have cost, size and complexity that is proportional to their power handling capability. This means that the regulators are often a significant portion of the physical and cost budget of the overall energy storage system. In addition, the added complexity and increased parts count represents a liability in reliability over systems without such hardware.
Still another method employs a series resistor between the batteries and the connecting bus, with a value high enough so that it controls the current into the batteries and controls the ratio of current into each. The use of simple resistive elements to control the current into parallel batteries is a simpler mechanism and lower cost and size than using a regulator for continuous current control, but its disadvantage is that the resistors waste a lot of useful energy while controlling the current going into each of the batteries. The energy wasted in each of the resistors is proportional to the square of the current going through them. This energy is permanently lost in the form of heat which must in turn be dissipated safely within the system to the environment. This lost energy reduces the overall storage system efficiency and the heat can reduce the overall system reliability if it contributes to the warming of the batteries and other devices. In addition, the loss of energy reduces the charge time for each of the batteries for a given size of charging system.
Another approach involves controlling the current using magnetic current controlling devices called Saturable Reactors. These devices can be externally controlled to limit the current through each of the parallel strings. The use of magnetic components to control the power into and out of the parallel batteries solves the problem of lost energy into each of the batteries and extended charge time during normal conditions, i.e. balanced operation. In addition, the control mechanisms can potentially be simpler than that of a regulator and still control the power better than a simple on-off switch. However, the magnetic devices must be sized large enough to accommodate worse case current handling. This adds to the cost and size of the overall system.
SUMMARY
Systems and methods are described to provide control of current values in parallel-connected batteries by controlling the temperature of each of the batteries independently. The use of temperature to control the shared current of paralleled batteries is provided.
A system and method for controlling current using temperature control of the component batteries includes two or more parallel-connected batteries that exhibit internal resistance and dissipate heat while discharging and charging. The resistance is monotonically variable with respect to the battery's temperature within the normal operating temperature range of the batteries. The system also includes a cooling system which can draw the heat generated in the batteries away from the batteries, in which the rate of heat transfer from each of the batteries can be independently controlled.
In one aspect, a system for control of current in a parallel battery system includes at least two parallel connected batteries, each said battery having an internal resistance and dissipating heat while charging and discharging; a temperature controller having a temperature control module coupled with each said battery, the temperature control modules capable of independent operation for individually adjusting the temperature of each said battery; and a system controller for receiving information from each said battery related to condition and performance of each said battery and for providing an output signal to each of the temperature control modules to independently adjust the temperature of each said battery.
In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system is selected from the group consisting of air cooling, cooling fluid, thermoelectric cooling, air heating, a heating fluid, and thermoelectric heating.
In any of the preceding embodiments, the system controller is selected from the group consisting of a programmable digital device such as a microprocessor, field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other similar device.
In any of the preceding embodiments, the system can be a thermostat. In any of the preceding embodiments, the system controller can be selected to receive information selected from the group consisting of voltage, current, temperature and combinations thereof. In any of the preceding embodiments, the system further includes a tool for evaluating a state of the battery system.
In another aspect, a method of controlling current in a parallel battery system includes providing at least two parallel connected batteries, each said battery having an internal resistance and dissipating heat while operating; during operation, measuring at least the temperature and current of each individual battery; and providing instructions to a temperature control system having a temperature control module coupled with each said battery for individually heating or cooling each said battery to adjust temperature of at least one battery in order to maintain the current at a target value.
In one or more embodiments, the method further includes comparing the measured values of each said battery against a target value, said target value related to the state and/or performance of each said battery.
In any of the preceding embodiments, the state of the battery is selected from the group of energy, which is correlated to ampere hours (AH), state of health (SOH) and state of charge (SOC).
In any of the preceding embodiments, increasing dissipation of heat or lowering the temperature of the battery increases current to the battery, or decreasing the dissipation of heat or raising the temperature of the battery decreases current to the battery.
In any of the preceding embodiments, the temperature control system controls the amount of stored electric charge, i.e., storage capacity, measured in AH, of each of the parallel batteries to converge to each other, or the temperature control system forces the current of each of the batteries to be the same regardless of AH or other conditions, or the temperature control system forces the current in a particular battery to be a ratio of the other batteries' currents depending on what the known capacity of the controlled battery relative is to the rest of the system, or the temperature control system forces the SOC of each of the batteries to be the same with respect to each other, or the temperature control system reduces the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is more dependent on the Watt hours (WH), i.e., energy, throughput than the other batteries, or increases the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is less dependent on the WH throughput than the other batteries.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is described with reference to the drawing which is presented for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a generalized schematic of a current control system for n parallel batteries according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 2 is a plot of exemplary battery resistance vs. temperature according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 3 is a plot of exemplary current vs. temperature for a cell at different applied voltages according to one or more embodiments.
FIG. 4 is a bar graph of current (designated as % current sharing) for each of an exemplary 18 individual batteries connected together in parallel with all batteries cooled to 25° C. except for two batteries cooled to 15° C. and heated to 35° C., respectively, and illustrating the effect of difference in internal battery temperature on current sharing.
FIG. 5 is a plot of total current (charging and discharging) scaled for an exemplary 5 cells parallel system over a 22 hour period.
FIG. 6 is a plot of the 15-minute rolling average of the total current (charging and discharging) scaled for an exemplary 5 cells parallel system over a 22 hour period.
FIG. 7 is a binary I-Polarity plot of the total current curve in FIG. 6 , in which a charging state is indicated as “1” and a discharging state is indicated as “−1”.
FIG. 8 is a control diagram showing how the difference in AH measured to the group's average AH influences the cooling demand signal of the individual batteries.
FIG. 9 is a plot of temperatures vs. time for the parallel batteries in the 5 battery system of FIG. 5 in which curve 1 represents the temperature profile for cell R 1 with an initial 10% lower AH than Batteries 2 through 5 (represented by curve 2 ).
FIG. 10 is a plot of battery resistance vs. time for the example of FIG. 9 .
FIG. 11 is a plot of all batteries' AH vs. time for the example of FIG. 9 .
FIG. 12 is a plot of all Batteries' AH vs. time for the parallel batteries in the 5 battery system of FIG. 5 in which curve 3 represents the temperature profile for cell R 1 with an initial 10% higher AH than Batteries 2 through 5 (represented by curve 4 ).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Temperature controlled parallel balancing of current in parallel-connected batteries takes advantage of the internal resistance of batteries being monotonically dependent on their temperatures. Depending on the type of battery, the internal resistance can increase or decrease with a change in the internal temperature of the battery. The battery internal resistance affects the current flow through the battery, since the current is dependent on the applied voltage on a common bus of the parallel battery system and the battery's own internal resistance. Thus, by raising or lowering the internal temperature of the battery, the current value of each battery and the current value of the entire parallel battery system can be adjusted upwards or downwards.
The system permits minor adjustments in the current going in and out of the individual parallel-connected batteries for the purposes of state of charge (SOC), state of health (SOH) and temperature management. Minor adjustments to current control provides small adjustments, e.g., about 10% of current or about 1% to about 20% of the total current. The system can be used in conjunction with conventional systems such as switches and regulators which provide major adjustments in the current.
By ‘internal temperature’ as used herein, it is meant as a measured quantity representative of the individual battery's internal temperature.
An exemplary system is illustrated in FIG. 1 that includes an architecture of n parallel batteries, 100 - 1 . . . 100 - n , each of which may include one or more batteries connected in series. Each of the n parallel batteries has a unique performance profile that is characterized by an internal resistance R 1 . . . R n ( 114 - 1 . . . 114 - n ), a current I 1 . . . I n ( 114 - 1 . . . 114 - n ), and heat dissipation H 1 . . . H n ( 116 - 1 . . . 116 - n ). FIG. 1 also shows an external load (for discharging conditions) or power supply (for charging conditions) 110 and individually operable temperature control units 120 - 1 . . . 120 - n . Temperature control units 120 - 1 . . . 120 - n provide cooling to their respective batteries 100 - 1 . . . 100 - n and employ conventional cooling methods such as air cooling (air flow), water cooling (water flow) and thermoelectric cooling. The temperature control units 120 - 1 . . . 120 - n are responsive to an output signal from system controller 130 .
The system controller 130 receives data about the individual batteries 100 - 1 . . . 100 - n in the form of Voltage V i 122 , Current I i 112 , and Temperature T i 124 . From this information, the controller determines individual SOC, SOH and efficiency information about each battery and the whole system in aggregate. Tools for monitoring battery conditions and evaluating the overall state of the battery system are well known in the art and may be used for this purpose. Exemplary systems are offered by TI, O2 Micro, Linear Technologies, Maxim, Analog Devices, Intersil and others that can determine battery conditions based on the three basic sensory inputs and battery history.
Batteries employing the system and methods of control described herein can remain connected to the DC bus and minor adjustments can be made to each of the batteries' currents for the desired results. There is no requirement to connect or disconnect the batteries to and from the DC bus in order to control current. Current sharing is done by manipulating the internal resistance of the batteries, not by adding additional energy-consuming resistance to the current pathways. The additional resistance is much smaller and contributes a negligible addition to the total system losses.
The method and system is simple to implement and does not require significant amounts of physical hardware. In many cases, the only additional hardware is that required to control the existing cooling systems. There are no additional power consuming devices in the power path so that the overall efficiency of this system is much higher as a result.
An exemplary battery system will help illustrate this method. In this system there are multiple parallel battery systems as shown in FIG. 1 . The batteries' internal resistances are inversely proportional to their internal temperatures. In a typical electrochemical system, the propensity for the ions to move in and out of interstitial storage at the electrodes and through the electrolyte-saturated separator is dependent on the temperature. As is the case in most chemical interactions, a higher temperature will result in more activity. A higher propensity to move ions results in a lower amount of voltage required to move them. Therefore, the ratio of the voltage to ionic transfer (i.e., current) is smaller. This ratio is the resistance of the cell. At a nominal temperature of 25° C., a change of temperature of at least ±10° C. will result in a change of resistance of ±25% as shown in FIG. 2 . While internal resistance typically decreases with increasing temperature, it is also possible for resistance to increase with increasing temperature by appropriate selection of battery components. For example, metallic conductors can demonstrate increased internal resistivity at higher temperatures. In a metallic conductor, the “electronic” conductivity is inversely proportional to temperature. At higher temperatures, the electrons bounce around from atom to atom in a more frenzied manner. This atomic-level chaos actually impedes their progress through the metal. Battery system resistances will scale with respect to their parallel and series arrangements of cells, as is commonly known by those skilled in the art.
When the resistance varies in a battery, the discharge and charge current will vary as well. For example, in the example system, a variation of ±10° C. around 25° C., the discharge and charge currents of the battery will vary by as much as ±22% as shown in FIG. 3 for a applied voltage (DV) of 0.4V, 0.3V and 2V. While the current increases overall with increasing voltage, the rate of increase at each voltage, i.e., the slope of the curve, remains fairly constant.
In order to demonstrate temperature-controlled current balancing in a parallel-connected battery system, a battery system including 18 parallel-connected batteries is considered. FIG. 4 is a plot of the percent current shared by each of 18 batteries in an 18 battery parallel system, which is maintained at a nominal temperature of 25° C. In an ideal system, each battery shares the same current load; however, one cell is cooled to 15° C. and one cell is heated to 35° C. as is shown in FIG. 7 , current sharing is unequal. The typical current sharing for a cell at 25° C. is about 5.55%. The temperature of cell R 1 is 15° C. and therefore the percent current carried by the cell is less than the system average, e.g., about 4%, and the temperature of cell R 15 is 35° C. and therefore the current carried by the cell is more than the system average, e.g., about 7.8%. Thus, for this system, the temperature of cells R 1 and R 15 differ from the average cell temperature by about 15° C. Assuming an approximately similar internal resistance for each battery, a temperature increase of 10° C. for Cell R 1 and a temperature decrease of 10° C. for Cell R 1 would balance the system. The system is provided by way of example only. Systems with different numbers of batteries and other system characteristics are contemplated. In addition, the system and method are described with regards to controlling energy balance in the cells, control of other cell characteristics are contemplated. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system controls the AH of each of the parallel batteries to converge to each other. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the current of each of the batteries to be the same regardless of AH or other conditions.
In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the current in a particular battery to be a ratio of the other batteries' currents depending on what the known capacity of the controlled battery is relative to the rest of the system. For example, one could shift larger current to a lithium ion battery and only begin to use a lead acid battery when the lithium battery is depleted. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the SOC of each of the batteries to be the same with respect to each other. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the SOC, e.g., about 35-50% SOC, of each of the batteries to a point that is beneficial for its SOH or efficiency. In other embodiments, the temperature control system reduces the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is more dependent on the WH throughput than the other batteries, or increases the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is less dependent on the WH throughput than the other batteries.
Another embodiment is to control the temperature of each of the batteries independently to positively affect their individual efficiency, SOH, or performance.
In one exemplary system, a goal is to keep the energy level (measured in AH) in each of the batteries identical to each other. If one of the batteries has a higher AH than the others, a way to make it match that of the others, is to discharge more current than the others when all of them are discharging together into a load. Another way is to accept less current than the others when all of them are being charged by an external power supply. A third way is to employ both of these methods during a series of charges and discharges over a period of time.
Consider a battery system that is employed to charge and discharge, multiple and variable times at variable rates depending on a desired result. The total current flow into and out of the cells with time can be very complex. FIG. 5 is a plot of current vs. time and shows the total battery current going in and out of all of a collection of parallel batteries over a period of 22 hours based on data taken from a real-life example of battery current. The magnitude of current shown is sized for five parallel cells. The data are used to demonstrate the effect of temperature control on battery performance, such as energy (AH), current, SOC or SOH. The subsequent graphs of reactions of the proposed system to this data are simulated. Although this current seems random, there are extended periods of time when the average current is either mostly positive (charging), or mostly negative (discharging). A signal that represents a 15 minute average of this demanded current is helpful to see these trends. FIG. 6 is an expanded curve that shows the signal representing a 15 minute average current. A signal above ‘0’ on the y-axis is time during which the system is charging, while a signal below ‘0’ is time during which the system is discharging.
This signal is then used to generate a binary signal “I-Polarity” that represents the polarity of the demanded current. In this binary system, the cell has a value of “−1” when in a discharging state; a value of “1” when in a charging state and crosses the ‘0’ line when switching between the two. FIG. 7 illustrates the bipolar I-polarity graph for the current plot of FIG. 6 . There are significant periods of time when the average current demand is either positive or negative. The longer these periods of time are, with respect to the thermal time constant of the batteries, the better the system can affect the resulting AH balance by manipulating the batteries' temperatures. That is, in order to be able to change the temperature during any one of these periods of charging or discharging, the thermal time constant of the batteries needs to be smaller than the length of that time period.
A control diagram showing a process for temperature control of each battery in a parallel battery system such as exemplified in FIGS. 5-7 is shown in FIG. 8 .
An I-polarity curve is generated for each battery in the system as described above, indicated in FIG. 8 as 801 . Each individual battery AH of an n battery parallel system, “AH_Meas,” 802 , e.g., 802 - 1 . . . 802 - n , is determined. AH_Meas 802 is input along with the parallel battery group average AH, “AH_Ave” 803 into a comparator 804 . Comparator 804 compares the values for each AH_Meas 802 against AH_Ave 803 . A value “AH_Diff” 806 is generated (and optionally displayed) that represents the difference between each comparison pair. A signal for each battery, “AH_Bias” 805 , e.g., 805 - 1 . . . 805 - n is generated, which represents the desired direction in which each battery's individual AH needs to be steered with respect to the others in order to achieve a desired goal. A positive number represents a desire to move the individual AH higher than it is currently.
Two signals, I-Polarity 801 and AH-Bias 805 are combined using multiplication at multiplier 810 to result in a signal, “Temp_Infl” 811 , which indicates the need to influence the battery temperature up or down, e.g., it provides the sign of the signal. Signal 811 is adjusted, e.g., multiplied, by a fixed gain 812 to influence the magnitude of the temperature adjustment that is reasonable. Exemplary gain values can range from about one to about twenty. In the example set forth in FIG. 4 , the temperature is desired to be moved ±10° C. around a center point, so a gain of 10 is applied to the temperature influence signal. Finally, to set the center point around which the temperature is adjusted, this gained signal is added to an offset signal “Set_Avg_Temp” 815 at 820 to obtain the target temperature set point Tset 821 . Temperature set point, “Tset” 821 and the measured temperature of the battery Tmeas 822 are input to a thermostat function block 830 which drives a mechanism to increase or decrease cooling to achieve a desired battery temperature. For example in this system, the thermostat controls the CFM signal 835 which controls the cooling fan speed. FIG. 8 shows the interconnection of the above mentioned signals. Each battery has its own control function shown above in order to independently control the temperature of each of the batteries in response to its relative AH. In turn, the temperature of each battery can be independently controlled in order to effect any one of a desired battery parameter.
To test the model, a five parallel battery system with one of the batteries having AH about 10% lower with respect to the others was subjected to temperature control. This resulted in the control system of the battery having a lower AH attempting to influence its temperature in one direction while the control system of all the other batteries in the battery system influenced their temperatures in the opposite direction. FIG. 9 shows the temperatures of each of the batteries. Curve 1 is the temperature of the variant (low AH) battery, while curve 2 is that of the others. In this model system, the remaining four batteries had the same initial AH, so their control mechanisms all operated identically with each other. The input to the system is real data. The reactions of the system to the input are simulated. The model can simulate the initial conditions of each of the elements. In practical applications, the batteries would become unbalanced with respect to each other after a service replacement, or after initial manufacturing, or after having sat idle for an extended period of time and where each of the parallel batteries self-discharged at a different rate.
With reference to FIG. 9 , the temperatures initially were driven in different directions from each other for a significant period of time, then they hovered near each other as their AH's converged. This is consistent with the predicted behavior, namely, that a temperature decrease of the variant battery would decrease current flow from that cell, allowing it to rebalance against the remaining cells with higher energy. The resulting resistances of the batteries described in FIG. 9 are shown in FIG. 10 . Curve 1 represents the resistivities of the variant battery, while curve 2 is that of the remaining batteries. Since the resistance is inversely proportional to the temperature, the plot of the battery resistances is almost a mirror image of that of the temperatures. The resistance variations drive the individual battery currents in the appropriate direction to achieve AH convergence.
FIG. 11 is a plot of the AHs of the variant battery and the remaining batteries described in FIG. 9 . Initially, the variant battery has a lower AH as shown in curve 1 . However, because its temperature is driven lower during the initial period of discharge, its AH grows with respect to the other batteries, where the other batteries are shown by curve 2 . Once relative convergence is achieved, the temperatures are maintained relatively close to each other and the AH stays converged. Similar results occur when the variant battery's AH is initially set to 10% higher than the other batteries. FIG. 12 is a plot of the AH vs. time, in which the variant battery has a higher AH as shown in curve 3 , but because its temperature is driven lower during the initial period of mostly discharging, its AH decreases with respect to the other batteries as shown by curve 4 .
Other modifications and variations of the invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the teaching presented herein. For example, variations of the temperature controlling mechanism, thermostat functions, control functions, and programmed desired system behavior are contemplated.
In one or more embodiments, the system described above uses an air-cooling system to cool the batteries in order for the temperature to be controlled. The thermostat function controls the fan speed which increases cool air flow over the batteries which drive the temperature lower.
In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system employs a cooling liquid to be pumped around or near the batteries to remove heat from them, thereby reducing their temperature. In other embodiments, thermoelectric devices are used to drive heat away from the batteries using the principles and characteristic of thermoelectric devices, well-known to those skilled in the art of cooling. Other suitable means for temperature control include the use of heated air or heated liquid to augment the temperature rise required in certain modes, and not just relying on the internal heat generation of the batteries themselves. Another embodiment uses thermoelectric devices to drive heat into the batteries to augment the temperature rise required in certain modes, and not just relying on the internal heat generation of the batteries themselves.
In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system uses a linearly controlled amplifier circuit to control a fan speed signal which controls the battery temperature. In one or more embodiments, an ON/OFF type simple thermostat is used, which turns on fans for lower temperatures and turns off fans for higher temperatures. This system inputs a linear signal proportional or inversely proportional to temperature and compares it to another signal from the controlled battery proportional or inversely proportional to its temperature. This device outputs an electro-mechanical contact state which connects or disconnects two signals connected to the temperature controlling mechanism above, thereby causing the desired temperature influence to initiate in the original example or in the alternative embodiments.
Another embodiment employs a simple thermostat with output signals HEAT ON, COOL ON and ALL OFF. HEAT ON engages a system to apply heat to the batteries, COOL ON engages a system to cool the batteries, and ALL OFF engages neither, when neither is required. This system inputs a linear signal proportional or inversely proportional to temperature and compares it to another signal from the controlled battery proportional or inversely proportional to its temperature. This device outputs two electro-mechanical contact states which connects or disconnects two pairs of signals connected to the temperature controlling mechanism, thereby causing the desired temperature influence to initiate in the original example or in the alternative embodiments.
Another embodiment implements an exemplary linear system using electrical circuits with a combination of linear, analog and digital devices. This system inputs a linear signal proportional or inversely proportional to temperature and compares it to another signal from the controlled battery proportional or inversely proportional to its temperature. It outputs a linear signal proportional to the desired cooling effect in the original example or in the alternative embodiments.
Another embodiment is to implement an exemplary linear system using a programmable digital device such as microprocessor, FPGA or other similar devices, known well by those skilled in the art of control circuits. This system inputs a linear signal proportional or inversely proportional to temperature and compares it to another signal from the controlled battery proportional or inversely proportional to its temperature. It outputs a linear signal proportional to the desired cooling effect in the original example or in the alternative embodiments.
An ON/OFF type simple thermostat or a simple thermostat with output signals HEAT ON, COOL ON and ALL OFF signals can be implemented using an electromechanical mechanism. The electromechanical mechanism can be a coil spring having output electrical contact states that depend upon an input temperature value and mechanically set temperature demands instead of linear input signals representing temperature inputs. Alternatively, An ON/OFF type simple thermostat or a simple thermostat with output signals HEAT ON, COOL ON and ALL OFF signals can be implemented using a combination of analog and digital devices to interface between the linear temperature signals and the electromechanical contact states, or using a microprocessor or other programmable digital devices to interface between the linear temperature signals and the electromechanical contact states.
In one or more embodiments, an exemplary temperature control system uses a linearly controlled circuit to determine AH demand, current direction and finally to set the desired temperature and control the fan speed signal which ultimately controls the battery's relative AH.
In one or more embodiments, programmable digital devices such as a microprocessor or FPGA are employed to measure data, calculate, process and output the appropriate signal to control the temperature set point of the thermostat function.
In one or more embodiments, a combination of analog, linear and digital devices are employed to measure data, calculate, process and output the appropriate signal to control the temperature set point of the thermostat function.
Such programmable digital devices and/or analog, linear and digital devices can be used to actuate a mechanical position control that sets the temperature of a mechanical thermostat to actuate a linear signal that sets the temperature demand.
In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system controls the AH of each of the parallel batteries to converge to each other. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the current of each of the batteries to be the same regardless of AH or other conditions. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the current in a particular battery to be a ratio of the other batteries' currents depending on what the known capacity of the controlled battery relative is to the rest of the system. For example, one could shift larger current to a lithium ion battery and only begin to use a lead acid battery when the lithium ion battery is depleted. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the SOC of each of the batteries to be the same with respect to each other. In one or more embodiments, the temperature control system forces the SOC, e.g., about 35-50% SOC, of each of the batteries to a point at which is beneficial for its SOH or efficiency. In other embodiments, the temperature control system reduces the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is more dependent on the WH throughput than the other batteries, or increases the charging and discharging of one of the batteries if its SOH is less dependent on the WH throughput than the other batteries.
Another embodiment is to control the temperature of each of the batteries independently to positively affect their individual efficiency, SOH, or performance.
The foregoing illustrates one specific embodiment of this invention. Other modifications and variations of the invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the teaching presented herein. The foregoing is intended as an illustration, but not a limitation, upon the practice of the invention. It is the following claims, including all equivalents, which define the scope of the invention. | A method of controlling current in a parallel battery systems includes providing at least two parallel connected batteries, each said battery having an internal resistance and dissipating heat while operating; during operation, measuring at least the temperature and current of each individual battery; and providing instructions to a temperature control system having a temperature control module coupled with each said battery for individually cooling each said battery to adjust temperature of at least one battery in order to maintain the current at a target value. | 7 |
This is a nationalization of PCT/EP01/04411 filed Apr. 18, 2001 and published in German.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat cover for all types of car and airplane seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the automobile industry, it is known in relation to seat covers made of leather to provide perforations in the leather material for improving the air circulation. However, a problem exists in the fact that the number of perforation holes is limited, because the stability of the punched leather material is reduced with an increasing amount of perforation holes. Another problem exists in the fact that the so-called processing of the leather, which determines the characteristics of the leather material, such as with regard to UV resistance, the form stability, and the abrasion resistance, is no longer maintained in the area of the cutting surfaces of the punched holes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The task of the invention at hand is therefore in creating a seat cover for all types of car and airplane seats that has a relatively high stability at a comparatively high air and steam permeability.
This task is solved by a seat cover of a leather material having a plaited area made of cord or ribbon-shaped elements arranged in at least one location in the leather material.
The essential advantage of the seat cover according to the invention is that it contains an area made of plaited leather strips, or cords, respectively, or similar, which effects a high air and steam permeability at a high stability for achieving a comfortable seating climate. The related steam permeability of the flexible and punched surface structures creates ideal conditions for the discharge of body sweat into the absorbing material (non-woven fabric, foam material, felt, etc.) located beneath the weave.
The permanent air exchange ensures that moisture and temperature traps are avoided, and therefore the comfort feeling compared to a closed surface is substantially improved. Without a doubt, this also contributes to comfort and safety, since it is known that body parts that are wet with sweat in the areas of the back and bottom can lead to unconcentrated driving due to a lack of comfort feeling by the driver of an automobile.
Particularly preferred, the seat cover consisting of leather material at hand therefore contains plaited areas in those areas, in which a driver, or passenger, respectively, seated on the seat cover has particularly heavy contact with the seat. This is true especially for the essential area of the seat surface, and/or of the back surface.
An additional, very essential advantage of the invention at hand is that the cord or ribbon-like elements, from which the plaited area of the seat cover at hand is fabricated, is designed so that its lateral edges are created during the fabrication of the cord or ribbon-like elements from leather material that is equipped with the so-called overlay, or of a leather skin. Due to the special embodiment of the cord or ribbon-like elements, they are rounded or folded over by means of cutting or perforation operations in such a way that the so-called overlay remains intact, which for example is the determining factor for UV resistance, form stability, and abrasion resistance of the elements of the plaited area. With the contact of, for instance, a pair of jeans worn by a passenger, or a driver sitting on the seat cover at hand, these rounded lateral edges of the elements mentioned are therefore not mechanically stressed in any substantial way due to their rounded of shape by means of rough seams, or sharp edges, such as by attached pockets, or jeans rivets. Additionally, due to the rounding, the so-called overlay of the elements also remains intact even during use, i.e. during the entire life span of the seat cover according to the invention.
A further essential advantage exists in the fact that due to the arrangement of the plaited areas in a seat cover embodied in the manner at hand, particularly in the previously mentioned contact areas, the entire seat cover can be equipped with a completely novel decor (such as a checkerboard pattern, or something similar), if the individual cord or ribbon-like elements contain different colors (such as black and silver-gray). In order to achieve a coordinated look of the interior of the airplane or automobile with the seat covers, areas in the automobile roof, the dashboard, in the side casings, the back rests, covers, and such of the vehicle or airplane that correspond to the plaited areas of the seat covers.
It is particularly advantageous if the seat covers at hand are used both as the initial covers and as retrofitted covers, i.e. slip covers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention and its embodiments are explained in context with the figures is explained in more detail as follows. They show:
FIG. 1 a schematic illustration of a seat cover (initial cover or retrofitted cover) that contains plaited areas in the contact surfaces of the driver or passenger;
FIG. 2 a section of the plaited area of a seat cover of FIG. 1 in an enlarged illustration;
FIGS. 3 and 4 preferred embodiments of the cord or ribbon-like elements of the plaited areas, and
FIGS. 5 and 6 further embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
FIG. 1 shows the seat cover of an automobile or an airplane of the invention at hand identified by 1 . The seat cover 1 is essentially comprised of the cover component 3 covering the seat component, as well as a cover component 5 covering the back rest. In a recognizable way, a plaited area 31 , or 51 is provided in all, or only part of the contact surfaces of a person sitting on the seat, for example in the center area of the cover component 3 , and/or the cover component 5 , which consists of plaited, intersecting elements 71 and 72 that are positioned at an angle of, for example, 90° to one another in lateral, or longitudinal direction of the cover components 3 and/or 5 .
It is obvious that the entire seat cover receives a special optical appearance or design from the arrangement of the plaited areas 31 , 51 . This is especially true if the elements 71 , 72 of the plaited areas 31 or 51 differ in their optical appearance. An example of such a difference would be, in particular, if they were dyed two different colors. The elements 72 positioned in lateral direction, for instance, can be dyed black, and the plaited elements 71 positioned in longitudinal direction can be dyed silver-gray. The optical appearance can also be designed by the type of plaiting of the elements 71 , 72 .
Reference is therefore made to the fact that in order to achieve a harmonic total impression in an automobile or airplane passenger area, plaited areas corresponding to the plaited areas 31 and/or 51 can also be provided in the interior casing of the automobile or the airplane (such as in the roof, the side casing, the casing of the dashboard, etc.).
The plaited areas are attached to the edges of recesses, preferably stitched, that are located in the leather material of the seat cover 1 .
An enlarged section of the plaited areas 31 or 51 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 . The intersecting elements 71 and 72 are arranged or stitched on a base 73 that consists of an air permeable material. For example, the base 73 consists of a felt, non-woven fabric, batting, or foam material, while the elements 71 , 72 consist of leather. The material of the base 73 ensures an air permeability of the plaited areas 31 , 51 .
An essential characteristic of the invention at hand consists in the fact that the elements 71 , 72 are made in such a way that they possess the so-called overlay of the leather material surface also in their edge areas, from which they are manufactured. This so-called overlay relates to the surface treatment of the leather base material from which the elements are processed, for example by means of perforating or cutting. Normally, this overlay is lost in the cutting or perforation operations in the area of the resulting cutting or punching edges, because the leather in this area is cut or punched vertically to the treated surface. The invention at hand provides that, for example according to FIG. 3 , which shows a cross section through a band-shaped element, the element is rounded along its longitudinal edges, because the lateral areas of the cut or punched elements are folded over so that the longitudinal edges formed show the surface and overlay of the leather. Preferably, the lateral areas of the elements 71 , 72 are folded so far that their edges are butted against each other at the rear side of the elements at the location 75 . In order to keep the lateral areas that are folded and butted against each other at the location 75 in the shape illustrated in FIG. 3 , they are preferably attached to the interior surface of the elements, particularly glued. In an alternative embodiment, the folded lateral areas can also be attached by stitching (seams 76 ).
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the elements 71 , 72 are designed like a rope, and have an approximately circular cross section. The ends of the folded lateral areas of the initially stripe-shaped elements are also attached by butting against each other at a location 75 , preferably glued.
Reference is made to the fact that other, such as triangular, or oval cross section shapes of the elements 71 , 72 are also possible.
According to FIGS. 5 and 6 it is also conceivable to instead of producing the rounded edges of the elements 71 , 72 by folding, to cut or punch the rope or ribbon-shaped elements from a base leather material in such a way that the edges receive a slant during the punching operation (FIG. 5 ), or a rounded shape (FIG. 6 ), which serves as protection from excessive mechanical wear when the driver or passenger sits on the plaited area ( 31 or 51 ). Due to the fact that the overlay is lost in this case, it should be reconstructed after the cutting or punching operation in individual process steps performed on the cutting surfaces.
With regard to the invention at hand, it is also important that a substantially better use of base material (skins) can be achieved by means of the arrangement of the plaited areas ( 31 , 51 ) in seat covers made of leather. While a mere 60% to 65% use of base materials is normally possible with the punching of relatively large surface leather pieces for the production of seat covers, because they contain damaged areas, and for instance, undesired pores, or other intolerable fault characteristics, the punching of the elements ( 71 , 72 ) at hand, which are relatively small, achieves a substantially larger use by means of a suitable arrangement of the punching knives by avoiding damaged areas or pores, etc. This achieves a sensible and economic use of available resources.
The invention being thus described, it will be apparent that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. | A cover for a seat in a motor vehicle or plane. The seat cover is made of a leather material which is provided with a braided area consisting of cord-like or strip-like elements in at least one point which comes under particular stress. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/099,251, filed Mar. 15, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,085,848, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
This application is related to application Ser. No. 10/099,242, “Time-Window-Constrained Multicast For Future Delivery Multicast” filed Mar. 15, 2002, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to content delivery across a network and, more particularly, relates to delivering content to multiple clients within a certain time frame.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the last 30 years, the Internet has grown from a few servers controlled by the government and a few educational institutions into a vast, heterogeneous network of servers and clients. The servers on the Internet provide more functionality than ever before, ranging from the advertisement and sale of automobiles to tutorials on Ancient Greece. This range has been broadened due to at least three inter-related factors: increasing computing power, increasing bandwidth and increasing numbers of users. Unfortunately, while in most situations computing power has kept well ahead of the demands of its users, the slowly increasing bandwidth by which most communications is sent can be, and is at times, outstripped by the geometric growth of Internet users.
While this problem may be prevalent in smaller intranets and local-area networks, it is magnified on the Internet. For example, important news can result in more than 3 million hits per minute on popular news-related websites. Due to the necessarily finite bandwidth of service providers and web servers, such great demand can overwhelm a site, and a download that would ordinarily take seconds can take minutes. As users' connection speeds have improved, and users become accustomed to faster downloads, this delay in service has taken on increasing significance.
One of the solutions to this problem is multicasting. Multicasting is an Internet protocol that can allow for streaming content to be sent to many different users at the same time by a server sending only one stream of data. A specified port is used for multicasting. The server sends its streaming data to this port, and clients who wish to receive the multicast “listen” on the specified port. Using this method, some of the bandwidth problems of normal “unicasting” can be overcome, and users can receive the data in a more timely and efficient fashion. Unfortunately, even this more robust method can be overwhelmed if sufficient numbers of users attempt to “listen” to the multicasting address simultaneously, and it is difficult for users of heterogeneous connection speeds to take advantage equally of the multicasting protocol.
Some information delivered by the Internet has a further complication in that it is not merely important that many users download content as quickly as possible; it is also important that they receive the content within a certain amount of time. Thus, the problem is how to deliver an event to all interested clients within a certain amount of time, such as within a given time window. One example of a situation in which the timing of the receipt of information can be important is the release of government data which can influence financial markets. In such a situation, those who receive the information first are in a position to profit from those who have not yet received the information. Furthermore, there is generally an initial time at which such information is released. Thus, the problem becomes how to send an event to a group of clients as close to the initial (or release) time as possible, but not after some later time beyond which the information becomes useless or stale. This problem is relevant from both an efficiency and fairness standpoint.
One difficulty in accomplishing this task is the problem of shifting network bandwidth discussed above. If many clients are logged on to a single server, the information flow from the server to each of the clients can be very slow. In a similar situation, the path between intermediate servers might be also be slowed so that everyone downstream from the congested server receives the information too late.
Another difficulty lies in the heterogeneity of client connectivity. While most corporate networks are now connected by high-speed backbones to the Internet, there are still many users who connect to the Internet using analog modems. If a user connected to the Internet through a broadband connection, such as a digital subscriber line connection, were able to begin accessing the information at the same time as a user connected via a 56 Kbps dialup connection, the user with the broadband connection would finish receiving the information long before the user on the slower connection. For example, if the event to be downloaded were 10 MB, it would take a 56 Kbps connection approximately 24 minutes to download the event, and a 1 Mbps digital subscriber line connection just 80 seconds.
Current methods of content distribution provide few tools to facilitate the sending of an event within a given time frame as fairly as possible to as many heterogeneous clients as necessary. Content and service providers generally pay no attention to fairness of distribution, or access at a particular time. Thus, only the fastest, most fortunate users will receive the content at an early time, often allowing them to unfairly profit from the other users who will receive the information at a later time proportional to network bandwidth and their own connection speed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method, computer-readable medium and system for distributing interested clients among servers in a network in order to facilitate delivering an event to those clients within a time window.
The present invention is further directed to a method, computer-readable medium and system for incorporating the latency of client-server communications into an estimation of download times in order to facilitate delivering an event to interested clients within a time window.
The present invention contemplates mechanisms that reduce bandwidth and heterogeneous client limitations on a network, and send events to a set of interested clients within a pre-defined time period as quickly and fairly as possible. One method contemplated by the present invention provides for the distribution of clients among servers such that the delay due to server overloading is minimized, and such that those clients with slower connection speeds can download an event relatively close to the theoretical minimum (given their connection speed and other relatively immutable connection characteristics.) In one embodiment, an originating server on which the event information is initially stored can be connected to a number of trusted edge servers delivering content to their connected clients. A trusted edge server is a server that can be trusted not to release information ahead of time, and maintains a connection, either directly or indirectly, to its clients. In other words, a trusted edge server is at the “edge” of a delivery network comprising trusted servers.
In this networked environment, the clients are distributed among the trusted edge servers based on empirical and theoretical estimates of the network bandwidth and latency. Then, at some time before the time at which the event is to be released to untrusted servers and clients, the event is distributed from the originating server to the trusted edge servers. Finally, upon receiving the event, the trusted edge servers deliver the event to their respective clients. As will be described below, the trusted edge servers may not deliver the event to their respective clients immediately. By sending the event to the trusted edge servers prior to the time at which the event is to be released, the event has a shorter network distance to travel from the trusted edge server to the clients and can, therefore, arrive more quickly. Network congestion between the originating server and the trusted edge servers need not affect the time after the release time at which the clients ultimately receive the event, because such network congestion is encountered and passed prior to the release time, when the event is transmitted from the originating server to the trusted edge servers. Additionally, the shorter network distance between the trusted edge server and the connected clients is likely to have more predicable performance. Such predictability can be especially useful when approximating how long the event will take to be transmitted from the trusted edge server to the client, as will be described in further detail below.
Another method contemplated by the present invention provides for the staggered delivery of an event to different servers and/or clients, such that the delivery is more fair, and the clients are more likely to receive the event at the same time. One embodiment of this method assumes the existence of an originating server attached to some number of trusted edge servers, which are logically connected to client machines. Based on empirical and theoretical estimates of network bandwidths and latencies, these trusted edge servers can compile a database of times for delivery for each client. Each trusted edge server can then determine the maximum of all of the delivery times between itself and its clients, and requests that the originating server transmit the event to the trusted edge server at least that maximum amount of time before the time at which the event is to be released. Upon receiving the event, each trusted edge server can initiate the transmission of the event to its interested clients at a time prior to the time at which the event is to be released. For example, a trusted edge server could initiate the transmission to all of its clients at a time calculated by subtracting the minimum transmission time of all of the clients from the time at which the event is to be released. Alternatively, the trusted edge server could initiate the transmission of the event to each client at a time calculated by subtracting the transmission time to that particular client from the time at which the event is to be released, thus taking the network bandwidth and latency of the individual connections into account. If the server performs the latter operation, the interested clients will each receive the event in its entirety approximately at the time at which the event is to be released, while the former operation may yield a more variable arrival time. To further improve the fairness and efficiency, the clients might first be redistributed among the servers to reduce the effects of some sources of latency, and, in some situations, to place clients with similar connection speeds on the same servers (thus making the staggered delivery more effective). This can enable near simultaneous acquisition of an event by a number of differently situated and connected clients according to an estimation of their particular client-server transmission times.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the appended claims set forth the features of the present invention with particularity, the invention, together with its objects and advantages, may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram generally illustrating an exemplary computer server on which the present invention resides;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram generally illustrating an exemplary network across which the present invention might operate;
FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of how the first method of this invention compares with network delivery in the prior art;
FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are a graphical representation of how the second method of this invention compares with network delivery in the prior art;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart generally illustrating the operation of the first method of this invention; and
FIG. 6 is a flowchart generally illustrating the operation of the second method of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method, computer-readable medium and system for distributing interested clients among servers in a network in order to facilitate delivering an event to those clients within a time window. The present invention is further directed to a method, computer-readable medium and system for incorporating the network bandwidth and latency of client-server communications into an estimation of download times in order to facilitate delivering an event to interested clients within a time window. The present invention contemplates transferring clients between servers in order to minimize the time for delivery for each client-server connection and determining, either mathematically or empirically, an estimated transmission time to a client, or set of clients, and commencing the transmission of the event at a time earlier than the time at which the event is to be distributed to account for the estimated transmission time.
Turning to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, the invention is described hereinafter in the context of a computing environment. Although it is not required for practicing the invention, the invention is described as it is implemented by computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, that are executed by a server. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
The invention may be implemented in computer system configurations other than a server. For example, the invention may be realized in routers, multi-processor systems, personal computers, consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments, where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
Although the invention may be incorporated into many types of computing environments as suggested above, the following detailed description of the invention is set forth in the context of an exemplary general-purpose computing device in the form of a conventional server 20 .
Before describing the invention in detail, the computing environment in which the invention operates is described in connection with FIG. 1 .
The server 20 includes a processing unit 21 , a system memory 22 , and a system bus 23 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit. The system bus 23 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory includes read only memory (ROM) 24 and random access memory (RAM) 25 . A basic input/output system (BIOS) 26 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the server 20 , such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 24 . The server 20 further includes a hard disk drive 27 for reading from and writing to a hard disk 60 , a magnetic disk drive 28 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 29 , and an optical disk drive 30 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 31 such as a CD ROM or other optical media.
The hard disk drive 27 , magnetic disk drive 28 , and optical disk drive 30 are connected to the system bus 23 by a hard disk drive interface 32 , a magnetic disk drive interface 33 , and an optical disk drive interface 34 , respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the server 20 . Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk 60 , a removable magnetic disk 29 , and a removable optical disk 31 , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, read only memories, and the like may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 60 , magnetic disk 29 , optical disk 31 , ROM 24 or RAM 25 , including an operating system 35 , one or more server programs 36 , other program modules 37 , and program data 38 . A user may enter commands and information into the server 20 through input devices such as a keyboard 40 and a pointing device 42 . Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 21 through a serial port interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 47 or other type of display device can also be connected to the system bus 23 via an interface, such as a video adapter 48 .
The server 20 operates in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote clients 50 or remote servers 52 through network routers 49 . The remote clients 50 may be a personal computer (PC), a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many of the elements described above relative to the server 20 . The remote server 52 may be a mail server, a mirror server, a web server or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the server 20 . The network router 49 may be a one-armed router, an edge router, a multicast router, a software application or other common network node, and typically determines the next point in the network to which a packet should be forwarded. The logical connection 51 depicted in FIG. 1 might be a local area network (LAN) and/or a wide area network (WAN). Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.
When used in a LAN or WAN networking environment, the server 20 is connected to the network 51 through a network interface or adapter 53 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the server 20 , or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device, accessed through the network router 49 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.
In the description that follows, the invention will be described with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations that are performed by one or more computers, unless indicated otherwise. As such, it will be understood that such acts and operations, which are at times referred to as being computer-executed, include the manipulation by the processing unit of the computer of electrical signals representing data in a structured form. This manipulation transforms the data or maintains it at locations in the memory system of the computer, which reconfigures or otherwise alters the operation of the computer in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. The data structures where data is maintained are physical locations of the memory that have particular properties defined by the format of the data. However, while the invention is being described in the foregoing context, it is not meant to be limiting as those of skill in the art will appreciate that various of the acts and operations described hereinafter may also be implemented in hardware.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the clients in a set S that wish to receive an event E are distributed among trusted edge servers such that each client-server connection has approximately the same client connection-independent latency and thus has a time for delivery, β, close to a connection-dependent theoretical minimum. Furthermore, the event E is intended to be delivered not before an initial or release time, t, and not after some later time t+δ after which the event E becomes irrelevant, or the information contained in E becomes stale or no longer useful. If network congestion is introducing latency, this aspect of the invention can improve delivery times, enabling even clients with relatively slow connection speeds to receive the event, E, before t+δ. As is known by those skilled in the art, latency is defined as the time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. Latency, or delay, is dependent on a number of variables, including: propagation, transmission, routing and other computer and storage delays. Propagation reflects the speed with which optical or electrical signals can travel from the origin to the destination point; and routing reflects the delays introduced when gateway nodes take the time to examine the packet and header information. Both propagation and routing are normally small sources of latency, although in certain situations routing delays can become significant. More common sources of latency are those introduced by the medium itself, such as maximum theoretical transmission speed. The transmission speed can depend on the speed with which servers and clients can receive data. For example, dial-up modems can generally transfer at speeds up to 56 Kbps, while broadband connections can communicate at speeds exceeding 1 Mbps. The transmission speed can also depend on the extent to which a medium is “clogged” with many users consuming the available bandwidth. While the speed at which a client can receive data can be relatively immutable, because it is dependent on the network hardware of the client and the nature of the final connection between the client and its service provider, bandwidth problems, server-connection problems, as well as particular routing problems, can often be remedied by redistributing the clients among the available trusted edge servers.
After distributing the clients such that each client's β is close to the theoretical minimum for that client-server connection, E is sent simultaneously to the clients at some time before, at, or even after time t, such that it arrives in its entirety before t+δ. FIG. 2 illustrates the environment for an exemplary embodiment of this invention. This embodiment contemplates a network 200 comprising an originating server 210 on which the event E is originally stored, and a number of trusted edge servers 220 a, b, c and d delivering content to their logically connected clients 50 . A trusted edge server 220 is a server that can be trusted not to release information ahead of time, and that is connected logically to clients 50 . Thus, a trusted edge server 220 is the last step before leaving the set of servers that forms the trusted delivery network. The trusted delivery network is simply an overlay network that can exploit existing network connections and servers in distributing an event to clients. While these network connections and servers may be simultaneously providing disparate functionality, the trusted delivery network program enables communication between trusted edge servers, originating servers and clients. Therefore, the network of trusted edge servers 220 is not limited to any particular set of servers. Rather, trusted edge servers 220 can be enlisted from external servers 230 when necessary. When enlisting these servers, they can be authenticated to ensure that they can be trusted not to release the event E ahead of time, and their clocks can be synchronized with the rest of the network. This clock synchronization can be performed using techniques well-known in the art, such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) or other utilities now included with many operating systems. The trusted edge servers 220 b may also connect to other trusted edge servers 220 d through logical connections 238 , thereby distributing to clients 50 and to other trusted edge servers 220 d . As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the logical connections 218 between the originating server 210 and trusted edge servers 220 , the logical connections 228 between the trusted edge servers 220 and clients 50 , and the logical connections 238 between trusted edge servers can comprise many different connections through other servers and routers not shown in FIG. 2 , including the particular client's 50 Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other network service provider.
Within this networked environment, the clients 50 are distributed among the trusted edge servers 220 based on empirical and theoretical estimates of the time for delivery, β. Then, at some time prior to time t, the event E is distributed from the originating server 210 to the trusted edge servers 220 . In order to keep network traffic to a minimum, the originating server 210 may distribute E at different times to different trusted edge servers 220 , or the originating server 210 may broadcast E to all trusted edge servers 220 at the same time. Finally, before, at, or even after time t, the trusted edge servers 220 can deliver the content, E, to their respective clients 50 such that it arrives in its entirety after t.
In accordance with another, complementary aspect of the present invention, the event E can be delivered to different clients and/or trusted edge servers at different times, such that more clients receive the event E within the time window [t, t+δ]. In those situations in which the time window is relatively small compared to the variation in times for delivery, staggering of delivery times can allow more clients to receive the transmission within the time window. This is especially true when the variation in times for delivery cannot be eliminated using the redistribution mechanism described generally above. Generally, an approximate time for delivery ξ can be estimated or derived for each client-server connection. Each trusted edge server can then determine the maximum time for delivery, ξ Max , and the minimum time for delivery, ξ Min , for its set of clients. Then, using that maximum time for delivery, the event E can be sent to each corresponding trusted edge server prior to t−ξ Max . Depending upon the particular capabilities of the network, and the particular needs of the application, the trusted edge server can then initiate delivery of E to its clients at t−ξ Min , or it can initiate delivery at different times t−ξ for each client, adjusting the delivery time for each client-server connection. Thus, each client can receive E in its entirety at approximately time t, and prior to time t+δ. Alternatively, the trusted edge server can initiate delivery of E to its clients at some time after t−ξ Min but prior to t+δ−ξ Min . In such a situation each client can receive E in its entirety at approximately the same time within the time window [t, t+δ].
By transmitting the event to the edge of the trusted network, the trusted edge servers, the time required to transmit the event between the originating server and the trusted edge server is accounted for prior to the time at which the event is to be released to the clients. In such a manner the complexities and possibilities of network congestion in the connection between the originating server and the trusted edge servers are removed from the latency calculations, providing more simple, and more accurate, calculations involving only the last set of connections between the trusted edge servers and their clients. Furthermore, because the trusted edge servers are located physically closer to their clients, the possibility of physical network interruption, such as a damaged cable, or an electrical blackout, preventing the dissemination of the event to the clients is reduced.
Returning to FIG. 2 , the trusted edge servers 220 can compile a database of estimated times for delivery, ξ, for each of their clients 50 . Each trusted edge server 220 can determine the maximum ξ, ξ Max , and minimum ξ, ξ Min of all of the ξ for its set of clients 50 , and can then send a request to the originating server 210 that it transmit E to the trusted edge server 220 prior to t−ξ Max . After receiving E, each trusted edge server 220 can either simultaneously initiate transmission of E at a time t−ξ Min or later to the clients 50 , or initiate the transmission of E to each of its clients 50 at a time t−ξ or later, thus taking the estimated time for delivery ξ into account. If the servers 220 perform this latter operation, each of the interested clients 50 can receive the event very close to t, while the former operation yields a more variable arrival time. This method can enable a number of differently situated and connected clients 50 to receive an event E in its entirety at approximately time t using an estimation of their respective times for delivery.
In keeping with the invention, the network environment of FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary networked environment in which the present invention can be implemented. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited to any particular networking protocols or layouts. It can be implemented using TCP/IP protocols, AppleTalk protocols, Novell protocols, as well as on a Content Delivery Network, among others. These protocols will of course provide different levels of functionality. For example, in some networks, the server's software might perform a given function, while in other networks, the server's software might depend on the underlying protocol to provide this functionality. When describing the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the particular information or functionality can be provided by the underlying protocols or might be provided by the software in a manner known to those skilled in the art. The underlying methods remain unchanged and can simply incorporate existing functions to complete the required tasks.
Turning to FIG. 3 , a graphical representation of the effect of the distribution method of the present invention is shown. Bar graph 310 represents a particular trusted edge server's group of clients. So, for example, this might represent server 220 a with hundreds of clients 50 logically connected to it. The time for delivery, β, for each client is estimated by methods discussed below. On this bar graph, the times for delivery (which would normally be a continuous function) have been approximated to fall into convenient logarithmic ranges below 200 seconds, and linear ranges above. So, the first group of clients 311 has times for delivery within the time range 0 s to 1.99 s, the second 312 times for delivery within the time range 2 s to 9.99 s, and so forth. As can be seen, this particular trusted edge server has a fairly large range of latencies.
Latency can be attributable to a number of different sources, as described in detail above. FIG. 3 illustrates a few sources of latency. Between 0 and 20 seconds, only broadband clients receive the event, assuming no other latencies. While some broadband clients might receive the event after 20 seconds due to network congestion and other network failures, only clients connected through a broadband connection can have a time for delivery less than 20 seconds. From 20 seconds to approximately 200 seconds might be the range of “normal” times for delivery to dial-up clients. The lower limit, 20 seconds, represents the theoretical minimum for the time for delivery. However, since it is practically difficult to achieve this standard, and since there are a variety of different dial-up connection speeds, a range of times is given, within which it is satisfactory for a dial-up user to receive the event. Of course, there may also be broadband users who receive the event between 20 and 200 seconds due to other latencies. Although two clients may fall within 313 , one might be a high-connection-speed user connected through a moderately congested network that limits the bandwidth available for downloads, and the other might simply be connected to an Internet Service Provider through a 56 Kbps modem. For the clients in the 315 - 317 range, the longer delay is due mostly to network and server congestion, and can affect the times for delivery of both broadband and dial-up clients. The times of delivery for this group of delayed, heterogeneous clients might be reduced by redistributing them among the different trusted edge servers from which they can receive the event through a less congested path. Thus, for example, if there is a congested network, or a particularly slow network router between server 220 a and one of its clients 50 , there may be another trusted edge server 220 b with a more efficient route to the client that can bypass this bottleneck. In this way, a long latency associated with one client-server connection might be remedied by changing servers. Thus, the range of delivery times can be made much narrower and more manageable by simply redistributing the clients among the available trusted edge servers, especially those clients with times for delivery much greater than 200 seconds as shown in FIG. 3 .
By transferring clients between different servers on the trusted delivery network, the client-connection-independent latencies of each client-server connection can be reduced, such that the times for delivery, β, approach their theoretical minima. This is shown graphically in bar graph 320 . The trusted edge server shown had approximately 450 clients before redistribution took place. These clients might have been assigned initially to this particular server for a number of different reasons (for example, the server may have been chosen by the client, with no knowledge of how congested the path is). However, once redistribution takes place, this particular server has only 370 clients, a net loss of 70 clients providing less congestion, and increasing the speed at which the remaining clients can receive the event.
Before distribution, other trusted edge servers would have different distributions of client times for delivery, some similar to and many different from that shown bar graph 310 . After redistribution however, the trusted edge servers can have distributions of client times for delivery more similar to that shown in bar graph 320 , differing only slightly according to the number and type of clients connected to the particular server. The originating server can then organize transmissions to different servers and different clients at different times according to the method graphically depicted in FIG. 4 and described below, or transmission can be made simultaneously. Depending upon the needs of the particular application, and using the above example, transmission can begin prior to time t, such as at t−200 s or t−2 s. Alternatively, the transmission could begin at time t, or even after t as well. In some situations it might be desirable to have the event arrive at all clients by t, without concern if some clients receive it beforehand. Using the example of FIG. 3 , transmission might then be initiated at t−200 s, and many clients will receive the event before t. In those situations where it is undesirable that a client should receive the event in its entirety before t, transmission could be initiated at t−2 s, using the example shown in FIG. 3 . The event could then arrive at clients between t and t+198 s. Finally, in those situations where it is crucial that a client not receive the event in its entirety before t, or where the more important constraint is that no clients receive the event in its entirety after t+δ, transmission may be initiated at any time after t up until t+δ−200 s (assuming that δ is greater than 200 seconds). The time for initiating the transfer can change according to the application, and will often use the methods described below with reference to FIGS. 4 a and b to achieve more accurate results. Thus, the present invention can solve the initial problem of a client receiving an event E within a time window [t, t+δ]. In order to accommodate a smaller time window, the following method can also be used in concert with the redistribution of clients described above.
FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are graphical representations of the effect of the staggered delivery method of the present invention. The bar graph 410 in FIG. 4 a might represent a particular trusted edge server's group of clients. In another implementation as shown in FIG. 4 b , the bar graph 430 can represent one trusted edge server's clients, while bar graph 450 represents another trusted edge server's clients. Thus, for example, bar graphs 430 and 450 in FIG. 4 b might represent servers 220 a and 220 b respectively, with server 220 a 's clients mostly having times for delivery below 200 seconds, and server 220 b 's clients mostly having times for delivery above 450 seconds. In both implementations, the time for delivery, β, for each client is estimated by methods discussed below. In FIGS. 4 a and 4 b , the times for delivery (which would normally be a continuous function) have been approximated to fall into convenient logarithmic ranges below 200 seconds, and linear ranges above. So, the first group of clients 431 and 417 has times for delivery within the time range 0 s to 1.99 s, the second 432 and 416 times for delivery within the time range 2 s to 9.99 s, and so forth.
After estimating the times for delivery, the trusted edge servers can stagger delivery to each client based on their individual times for delivery, or each trusted edge server can send the event simultaneously to its clients based on their times for delivery. The former method of delivery can ensure that each client receives the event in its entirety at a time very close to t, but at the expense of a more resource-intensive method. While the former method is obviously preferable in certain circumstances, it is not possible in certain protocols and application settings.
Returning to FIG. 4 a , the delivery is staggered for each client based on its individual time for delivery. This can provide that each of the clients will receive the event at approximately time t. This is shown graphically at bar graph 410 in FIG. 4 a . The trusted edge server has approximately 450 clients in the ranges 411 - 417 waiting to receive event E, with differing latencies and corresponding times for delivery. The trusted edge server estimates these times for delivery for each client, and initiates delivery to each client based on these estimated times for delivery. The bar graph 410 represents a time line of those times at which delivery is initiated, which is based in turn on the times for delivery for those respective clients. Thus, for those clients with longer times for delivery, such as clients in 411 , delivery will be initiated earlier to account for the extra latency. If there are 20 clients in 411 , which have a range of times for delivery from 650 to 749 seconds, the server will initiate delivery to these clients between t−749 and t−650 seconds, depending upon each client's time for delivery. Thus, the estimated times for delivery are incorporated into delivery timing decisions for each client.
Theoretically, each client should receive E in its entirety at exactly time t. The only practical errors will be introduced by estimation inaccuracies and variations in the latency introduced by unaccounted for factors. The sources of these inaccuracies will become clear when the process of estimation is more fully explored below.
Returning to FIG. 4 b , each trusted edge server can transmit the event, E, to all of its clients simultaneously, although different trusted edge servers may or may not transmit the event at the same time. In this situation, a lone broadband client on a server with a number of dial-up clients can cause the dial-up clients to receive the event in its entirety long after t. Therefore, it can be beneficial to first organize the clients among the various trusted edge servers at least approximately according to times for delivery. This may be done according to the present invention, or by approximately separating the high and low connection speed clients onto different trusted edge servers. In FIG. 4 b for example, the clients are separated between servers 220 a and 220 b , such that higher speed clients 431 - 434 are on server 220 a , and lower speed clients 451 - 453 are on server 220 b . According to the example shown in FIG. 4 b , server 220 a can therefore initiate transmission at time t, and server 220 b can initiate transmission 450 seconds before that, at t−450 seconds (assuming that the shortest time for delivery for a client 50 on server 220 b is greater than or equal to 450 seconds). Using these transmission times, server 220 a 's clients should receive the event in its entirety by time t+199 s, and server 220 b 's clients should receive the event in its entirety by time t+299 s. While this method is imperfect to the extent that there are anomalous clients on each server, it can yield a significant improvement over sending indiscriminately to all clients at time t.
Turning to FIGS. 5 and 6 , flow charts illustrating exemplary implementations of two claimed methods contemplated by the present invention are shown.
Not shown explicitly in FIG. 5 or 6 , the event E contemplated by the present invention can be classified as any of a number of packets of data. For example, E may be a simple text file, a group of bits representing the key to a cryptographic code or even a large movie. The event, E, should arrive at interested clients no earlier than time t and no later than time t+δ. In some situations, t may be the more restrictive constraint (for example, when time t is relatively close to the present time), and in others, the size of the time window, δ, may be more restrictive (for example, when all clients should receive the event E at approximately the same time). There are numerous examples for when information sent out over the Internet might need to satisfy these requirements. One example is the Department of Commerce's economic reports. If a few clients were able to receive these economic reports and process them before other clients, they would be able to act on this information (by buying or selling stock for example) and would gain an unfair advantage. Another example may be weather information given on a weather site. All interested clients should receive this information in a timely manner, but, more importantly, if the weather information is updated every 5 minutes, clients should not receive the old information after t+5 minutes. In this example, it is important that all clients receive the weather information within the five-minute window.
Returning to FIG. 5 , the size of the event can be determined at step 510 . While step 510 is shown as the initial step, it can be inserted at any point before step 540 , when the size is used to determine the time for delivery. Determining the size of an event is a task well understood by those skilled in the art and can be performed by the originating server. Most operating systems have integrated functionality that can determine the size of a particular file very rapidly, although this functionality can also be duplicated by application software. Once the event's size has been determined, it can be stored on the originating server for later use.
At step 515 , the set S of interested clients can be determined. That is, the set S of clients that should receive the event E can be compiled. Depending on the particular event E, and the means employed, S may be compiled in a number of different ways. For example, a set of clients, S, that constantly needs events from a particular originating server can be managed centrally (perhaps with an administrator adding and subtracting clients manually) and would very rarely change. In an extension of the weather example described above, the originating server can send the event to any clients that request it. Those clients could send a properly formed request to receive the event E, and the server could indiscriminately add these clients to the set S. In yet another example, there might be an event E that should be accessible to some computers and not others. Those users that want to receive E could send a properly formed request to receive the event E as above, but the server could then add only those clients that are properly authenticated. Using these or other methods not described, a set S of allowed, interested clients can be formed at step 515 . The information defining set S can be stored at the originating server 210 , at the trusted edge servers 220 a, b and c , or at separately situated servers (for example in the case of multicast events). As long as information about the clients in set S can be passed throughout the network, the present invention does not contemplate a particular storage area for information about set S.
As shown in FIG. 5 , the method claimed by the present invention next queries each client-server connection to estimate its latency. As is broadly illustrated by the algorithm outlined on FIG. 5 , there are two means of estimating latency: empirical and theoretical/mathematical. Most methods of estimating latency can fuse these two means to provide the most accurate estimation of latency. In one preferred embodiment, each client-server connection can first be checked for a connection history at step 525 . If there has previously been an event transfer between these two computers, that history can be used in the latency estimation process. In another embodiment, the historical connection between the trusted edge server and a computer logically “close” to the client (i.e. connected to the same ISP) may also be used in the latency estimation process. In still another embodiment, a historical connection between a different trusted edge server and the particular client can be used in the latency estimation process. Yet another embodiment can use a historical connection between a different trusted edge server and a computer logically “close” to the client in the latency estimation process.
If there is a relevant connection history for the particular client-trusted edge server pairing, this history can then be used to estimate latency, step 530 . In the implementation shown on FIG. 5 , the connection history may yield a historical latency, which can be used as the estimate for the present latency. Data regarding the time, date, average traffic surrounding transmission, event-type, event-size, number of clients and other characteristics of the connection history may also be used to more accurately estimate the present latency. Depending on the network infrastructure, the information available, and the needs of the particular application, the estimation of the present latency using historical data can be more or less accurate.
If there is no connection history, network functions can be used to estimate the present latency, step 535 . Using a relatively unsophisticated set of protocols like TCP/IP, much of the data supplied by the protocols' functions can be interpreted by an application in order to estimate the latency. On the other hand, when implemented within a sophisticated network, such as a Content Delivery Network, network functions for estimating latency may be predefined. In these networks, an application can simply use this underlying functionality to estimate latency. In one embodiment of the present invention, a relatively unsophisticated set of protocols, like TCP/IP, can be utilized. Using these protocols, the trusted edge server can perform many basic network functions such as: pinging the client to determine response time, measuring the proportion of dropped packets, measuring the queue length at the client machine, obtaining information from the routers on the network traffic between the client and itself, sending sample events to determine the round-trip time provoked, determining channels that are relatively poor between itself and the client over the long-term, and determining short term congestion based on traffic metrics. The data from this battery of tests can then be used to estimate the present latency. The particular methods of estimating latency will, of course, depend on the application's needs, and the particular means of implementation.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention outlined in FIG. 5 , the historical estimation technique 530 can be an alternative to the network estimation technique 535 . However, in other implementations these techniques can be complementary. The present network data and long-term network statistics can be used to improve the historical analysis. Of course, with improved hardware and software algorithms, the accuracy of either technique can be improved.
Having estimated the latency, the size of the event and the estimated latency can be used to estimate the time for delivery for that client-server connection at step 540 . This step can then be repeated for each client in the set S, step 550 , until each client-server connection has an associated time for delivery, step 545 .
Having estimated the time for delivery for each client-server connection, the originating or trusted edge servers can compare these times for delivery with theoretical minima, step 555 . As described above, the theoretical minimum of a client-server connection depends primarily on the client's connection speed, and its connection to a service provider. If the times for delivery can be improved (i.e. approach the theoretical minima more closely) through redistribution, the originating server in conjunction with the trusted edge servers can redistribute the clients among the servers to equalize loads and delivery times, step 560 . For example, if the number of clients at a particular trusted edge server is causing a bottleneck, some of those clients can be redistributed among other trusted edge servers. Similarly, if a few clients are geographically distant from a particular trusted server, they can be redistributed to find a closer, and therefore faster, trusted edge server connection. As in the estimation process, this process of redistribution can be accomplished by either a server application that redistributes clients among the servers, or through a sophisticated transmission layer, such as the content delivery network, which can be used to transfer clients among the trusted edge servers. In a typical redistribution process, a trusted edge server may find that its client-server times for delivery are much greater than their theoretical minima. It can then send requests to other trusted edge servers, asking if they have the bandwidth to accept additional clients. If another trusted edge server can take on these additional clients, it can respond to the first trusted edge server, the client data can be forwarded from the first trusted edge server, and the client can be transferred. There may be cases, of course, where a client has a particular long latency that cannot be remedied by any redistribution (for example, where a client's geographic location is very far from even the closest trusted edge server). However, in many cases, this method can yield times for delivery closely approaching their theoretical minima.
Once the clients have times for delivery approaching their theoretical minima, the process of transmission can begin. Using originating server to trusted edge server latencies, the event E can be distributed to the trusted edge servers at some point before time t, as indicated in step 565 . Then, delivery can be initiated simultaneously at some time before or at time t from the trusted edge servers to the clients in set S, step 570 . As described above, depending on the particular demands of the application, the delivery can be initiated at different times before time t. Alternatively, the transmission could begin at time t as well, or even after if the latency is not so great that the distribution will not be completed prior to t+δ. In some situations it might be desirable to have the event arrive at all clients by t, without concern if some clients receive it beforehand. Transmission can then be initiated at t minus (greatest-time-for-delivery), and many clients will receive the event in its entirety before t. In those situations where it is undesirable that a client should receive the event before t, transmission could be initiated at t minus (shortest-time-for-delivery). In those situations where it is crucial that a client not receive the event before time t, or where the originating server does not receive or create the event until after t minus (shortest-time-for-delivery), transmission can simply be initiated at time t. Finally, in those situations where the most important constraint is that the event not arrive in its entirety at the clients after time t+δ, transmission can sometimes be initiated after time t, at any time until t minus (greatest-time-for-delivery).
Turning to FIG. 6 , once an event E is chosen to send, the size of the event can be determined, step 610 . As above, while step 610 is shown as the initial step, it can be inserted at any point before step 645 , when the size is used to determine the time for delivery. Once the event's size has been determined, it can be stored for later use.
For each trusted edge server, the set of interested clients S can be determined at step 620 . Depending on the particular event E, and the means employed, S may be compiled in a number of different ways, as described above. Using these or other methods not described, a set S of allowed, interested clients for a particular trusted edge server can be determined at step 620 . The information defining each set S can be stored on the originating server, at the corresponding trusted edge server, or at separately situated servers. As long as information about the clients in each set S can be passed rapidly throughout the network, the present invention does not contemplate a particular storage area for information about set S.
As shown in FIG. 6 , each client-server connection can then be queried to estimate its latency. As is broadly illustrated by the algorithm outlined on FIG. 6 , there can be two means of estimating latency: empirical and theoretical/mathematical. Most methods of estimating latency can fuse these two means to provide the most accurate estimation of latency. In the preferred embodiment, each client-server connection can first be checked for a connection history, step 630 . If there has previously been an event transfer between these two computers, that history can be used in the latency estimation process. Other embodiments are also possible, as described in detail above.
If there is a relevant connection history for the particular client-trusted edge server pairing, this history can be used to estimate latency, step 635 . In the implementation shown on FIG. 6 , the connection history may yield a historical latency, which can be used as the estimate of the present latency. Data regarding the time, date, average traffic surrounding transmission, event-type, event-size, number of clients and other characteristics of the connection history may also be used to more accurately approximate the present latency. Depending on the network infrastructure, the information available, and the needs of the particular application, the estimation of the present latency using historical data can be more or less accurate.
If there is no connection history, network functions can be used to estimate the present latency at step 640 , using the mechanisms described in detail above.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention outlined in FIG. 6 , the historical estimation technique 635 is shown as an alternative to the network estimation technique 640 . However, in other implementations these techniques can be complementary. The present network data and long-term network statistics can be used to improve the historical analysis. Of course, with improved hardware and software algorithms, the accuracy of either technique can be improved.
Having estimated the latency, the size of the event and the estimated latency can be used to estimate the time for delivery, ξ i , for a particular client-server connection, step 645 . This step can then be repeated for each client in the each trusted edge server's set, step 655 , until every client-server connection has an associated time for delivery, step 650 .
Having estimated the time for delivery, ξ i , for each client-server connection, each trusted edge server sends the maximum of all its times for delivery, ξ max , to the originating server, step 670 . The originating server stores these times for delivery for each corresponding server. The algorithms used to determine the maximum of all the times for delivery, ξ max , are well understood by those skilled in the art. For example, one algorithm is to go through the list of times for delivery, and compare the 1 st to the 2 nd time. The computer then stores the larger of those two times, and compares that time to the 3 rd time, stores the largest of those two times, and compares that time to the 4 th time, and so on. This task may also be accomplished by implementing a similar algorithm as the times for delivery are estimated at step 645 .
Once the originating server has received the ξ max from the trusted edge servers, the process of transmission can begin. Using information regarding the originating server to trusted edge server latencies, the event E can be distributed to each trusted edge server based on the ξ max for that server at some time prior to time t−ξ max , step 675 . Depending upon the particular capabilities of the network, and the particular needs of the application, each trusted edge server can then initiate delivery of E to its clients at t−ξ min , or it can initiate delivery at different times t−ξ i for each client, adjusting the delivery time for each client-server connection, step 680 . If the trusted edge servers send the event to each client at different times, the application will initiate delivery to each client at t−ξ i , step 685 . For example, if a trusted edge server has 4 clients, with the following times for delivery: client 1 : 1 s, client 2 : 2 s, client 3 : 3 s, client 4 : 4 s, then delivery could be initiated for client 1 at t−1 s, for client 2 at t−2 s, for client 3 at t−3 s and for client 4 at t−4 s. The trusted edge server can also receive the event E at some time before t−4 s, so that it could initiate delivery to the “farthest” client at that time. On the other hand, if each trusted edge server sends the event to its clients simultaneously, step 690 , each trusted edge server may initiate delivery at time t−(minimum-time-for-delivery), or t−ξ min . Using the above example, a trusted edge server with the same 4 clients would initiate delivery to all 4 clients at time t−1 s. In another implementation, the trusted edge servers may initiate delivery to clients at any time before or after t, as long as the event arrives in its entirety at the clients before t+δ. In other words, a trusted edge server may initiate delivery at any time before t+δ−ξ max . This can provide flexibility of timing in those situations where it is more important to have the event arrive before t+δ or to have the event arrive in its entirety at all clients at approximately the same time, than to have the event arrive at a time close to time t.
In the present invention, the method of FIG. 5 described above for narrowing the range of times for delivery can be enhanced by also performing the method described above with reference to FIG. 6 . By replacing steps 565 and 570 with steps 615 to 690 , the present invention can often provide for more accurate times for delivery.
All of the references cited herein, including patents, patent applications, and publications, are hereby incorporated in their entireties by reference.
In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of this invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of invention. For example, those of skill in the art will recognize that the elements of the illustrated embodiments shown in software may be implemented in hardware and vice versa or that the illustrated embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the invention as described herein contemplates all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof. | A method of reducing bandwidth limitations to send events to a set of interested clients within a pre-defined time period as quickly and fairly as possible. The clients can be re-distributed among the servers in a network such that the delay due to server overloading is minimized by moving clients from an overloaded server to a server with available bandwidth. In addition, the latency of client-server communications can be incorporated into an estimation of download times, and the servers can then initiate delivery to respective clients based on those download times. By staggering the send times to account for heterogeneous latencies, more clients can receive the event at the same time, and a fairness of distribution can be achieved. | 7 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/US01/48800, filed Dec. 18, 2001, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e) from Provisional Application No. 60/256,790, Filed Dec. 20, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to processes for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one (CAS 30071-93-3) which is useful as an intermediate in the preparation of therapeutic agents. In particular, the present invention provides a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl)ethan-1-one which is an intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds which are substance P (neurokinin-1) receptor antagonists.
The general processes disclosed in the art for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one result in relatively low and inconsistent yields of the desired product. In contrast to the previously known processes, the present invention provides effective methodology for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one in relatively high yield and with a lower degree of exothermicity and, hence, a greater degree of safety.
It will be appreciated that 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one is an important intermediate for a particularly useful class of therapeutic agents. As such, there is a need for the development of a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one which is readily amenable to scale-up, uses cost-effective and readily available reagents and which is therefore capable of practical application to large scale manufacture.
Accordingly, the subject invention provides a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one via a very simple, short and highly efficient synthesis.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The novel process of this invention involves the synthesis of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one. In particular, the present invention is concerned with novel processes for the preparation of a compound of the formula:
This compound is an intermediate in the synthesis of compounds which possess pharmacological activity. In particular, such compounds are substance P (neurokinin-1) receptor antagonists which are useful e.g., in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, psychiatric disorders, and emesis.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to processes for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one of the formula:
An embodiment of the general process for the preparation of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-benzoic acid is as follows:
wherein:
X is selected from chloro, bromo and iodo; and
R is C 1-8 alkyl.
In accordance with the present invention, the treatment of acetic anhydride with the Grignard reagent prepared by an exchange reaction between 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene and a C 1-8 alkyl magnesium halide provides 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one in higher yields and in a safer, more efficient route than the processes disclosed in the art.
In the present invention, C 1-8 as in C 1-8 alkyl is defined to identify the group as having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 carbons in a linear or branched arrangement, such that C 1-8 alkyl specifically includes methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl and octyl. In the present invention halo or halide is intended to include chloro, bromo and iodo.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed to a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one which comprises the exchange reaction of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene with a C 1-8 alkyl magnesium halide in THF to form a Grignard reagent followed by addition of the Grignard reagent to acetic anhydride to give 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-ethan-1-one.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl)ethan-1-one which comprises the reaction of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene with ethyl magnesium bromide in tetrahydrofuran to form 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide followed by addition of the Grignard reagent to an excess of acetic anhydride to give 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one.
A specific embodiment of the present invention concerns a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide of the formula:
which comprises:
treating 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene of the formula:
with a Grignard reagent selected from:
ethyl magnesium bromide, isopropyl magnesium chloride, ethyl magnesium chloride and isopropyl magnesium bromide, in an organic solvent to form 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide.
Another specific embodiment of the present invention concerns a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide of the formula:
which comprises:
treating 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene of the formula:
with ethyl magnesium bromide or isopropyl magnesium chloride in an organic solvent to form 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide.
Another specific embodiment of the present invention concerns a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one of the formula:
which comprises:
a) treating 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene of the formula:
with a Grignard reagent selected from:
ethyl magnesium bromide, isopropyl magnesium chloride, ethyl magnesium chloride and isopropyl magnesium bromide, in an organic solvent to form a Grignard reagent of the formula:
b) followed by contacting the Grignard reagent with acetic anhydride in an organic solvent to give 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one of the formula:
Another specific embodiment of the present invention concerns a process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one of the formula:
which comprises:
a) treating 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene of the formula:
with a Grignard reagent selected from: ethyl magnesium bromide and isopropyl magnesium chloride, in an organic solvent to form a Grignard reagent of the formula:
b) followed by contacting the Grignard reagent with acetic anhydride in an organic solvent to give 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one of the formula:
In the present invention it is preferred that the Grignard reagent is added to the acetic anhydride.
In a more preferred embodiment, following step (b) excess acetic anhydride is removed by the addition of an aqeueous solution of a base, such as sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium hydroxide, and the like.
Preferred solvents for conducting the instant process comprise an organic solvent which is selected from toluene, tetrahydrofuran (G), diethyl ether, diglyme, and methyl t-butyl ether. The most preferred organic solvent is tetrahydrofuran. In the formation of the Grignard reagent, tetrahydrofuran or diethyl ether are the more preferred organic solvents and tetrahydrofuran is the most preferred organic solvent.
The C 1-8 alkyl magnesium halide is preferably selected from ethyl magnesium bromide, isopropyl magnesium chloride, ethyl magnesium chloride and isopropyl magnesium bromide, more preferably selected from ethyl magnesium bromide and isopropyl magnesium chloride, and even more preferably ethyl magnesium bromide. The magnesium employed to prepare the alkyl Grignard reagent may be in the form of magnesium granules, magnseium turnings, magnesium dust, magnesium powder, suspension of magnesium in oil, and the like. To mimimize safety risks, the use of magnesium granules is preferred.
Formation of the Grignard of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-bromide may be performed in tetrahydrofuran at between about 30 and 35° C. The reaction is exothermic and the reaction may be controlled by the rate of addition of the bromide to the magnesium slurry. The reaction mixture may be aged at reflux until <1 mol % of bromide remains. Grignard formation is usually complete within 2 hours, however reaction times of up to 5 hours give comparable yields of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one.
Alternatively, to minimize solvent loss, the Grignard formation may be performed in tetrahydrofuran at a temperature range between about 0 and 20° C., and preferably a reaction temperature range between about 0 and 10° C.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the Grignard reagent be added to the acetic anhydride. In the present invention, it is also preferred that an excess of acetic anhydride be present when reacting the Grignard reagent. In the present invention, it is more preferred that the Grignard reagent be added to an excess of acetic anhydride.
Surprisingly, the presence of an excess of acetic anhydride (i.e. greater than a 1:1 molar ratio) is important to providing high yields of the desired product. When the acetic anhydride was added to the Grignard reagent at 20° C. an exothermic reaction resulted which produced a bis-adduct of the formula:
Surprisingly, however, when the Grignard reagent was added to acetic anhydride, little byproduct was formed and 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one was obtained in 85-90% yield.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the Grignard reagent is added to cooled acetic anhydride. In the present invention, it is more preferred that the Grignard reagent is added slowly (over a period of 1-2 hr, for example) to a cooled mixture of acetic anhydride in either tetrahydrofuran or tert-butyl methylether, maintaining the temperature at below about 5° C., or alternatively between about −10 to −15° C.
In the addition of the Grignard reagent with acetic anhydride, it is preferred that the temperature of the acetic anhydride upon addition of the Grignard reagent be less than about 5° C., more preferrably, less than about −10° C., it is even more preferrably less than about −15° C. Upon addition of the Grignard reagent, the temperature of the reaction mixture may be raised to about 5° C.
In a preferred additional embodiment, isolation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one may be achieved by adding cold water to the reaction mixture followed by the slow addition of aqueous solution of a base to hydrolyze the excess acetic anhydride. The base may be an inorganic base selected from sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, and the like. A preferred base is sodium hydroxide. The pH of the aqueous layer is preferably brought to greater than 10. When the pH is greater than 10, the mixture is extracted with tert-butyl methylether. The extracts are washed with aqueous sodium bicarbonate and aqueous sodium chloride and the solvents are removed by distillation.
The 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one obtained in accordance with the present invention may be used as starting material in further reactions directly or following distillation. The isolated product can be distilled at atmospheric or reduced pressure to provide a clear colorless oil with BP=185-189° C.
Many of the starting materials are either commercially available or known in the literature and others can be prepared following literature methods described for analogous compounds. The skills required in carrying out the reaction and purification of the resulting reaction products are known to those in the art. Purification procedures include crystallization, distillation, normal phase or reverse phase chromatography.
The following examples are provided for the purpose of further illustration only and are not intended to be limitations on the disclosed invention.
EXAMPLE 1
3.5-Bis(Trifluoromethyl)Bromobenzene
Materials
MW
Density
Amount
Mmol
Equiv.
1,3-Bis(trifluoro-
214.1
1.38
107 g
500
1.0
methyl)benzene
96% H 2 SO 4
142 mL
Glacial HOAc
22 mL
1,3-Dibromo-5,5-di-
285.93
77.25 g
270
1.08 (Br + )
methylhydantoin
5N Aq NaOH
75 mL
To glacial acetic acid (22.0 mL), cooled to 15° C. in a 1 L 3-n RB flask (equipped with mechanical stirrer, thermocouple, and addition funnel), was added concentrated (96%) sulfuric acid (142 mL) in one portion. An exothermic heat of solution raised the temperature to 35° C. After cooling to 25° C., 1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene (107 g, 500 mmol) was added. With the acid mixture rapidly stirring, 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (77.25 g; 270 mmol) was added over 2 min to give a multiple phase mixture (solid and two liquid). An exothermic reaction occured that raised the internal temperature to ˜40° C. (jacket cooling at 15° C.). After the reaction temperature began to drop (after 5 min) the reaction mixture was maintained at 45° C. for 4.5 hr.
The rate and selectivity of the bromination is highly dependent on the agitation of the two phase reaction. Slower stirring increases the amount of bis-bromination and slows the overall rate of reaction. The reaction mixture remains heterogeneous throughout the reaction and the organic phase separates when agitation is interrupted. At the end of the reaction, the phases separate slowly (bromide density=1.699). The rate of bromination is also dependent on the ratio of acetic to sulfuric acid. Progress of the reaction is monitored by GC analysis, as follows.
Sample: ˜50 μl of mixed phase, dilute with cyclohexane (1.5 mL), wash with water (1 mL), then 2N NaOH (1 mL), separate and inject.
Resteck RTX-1701 [60 meter×0.320 mm]: 100° C.; ramp: 5° C./min to 200° C.; 200° C. for 10 min; Flow 1.15 mL/min
R t :1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene: 7.0 min
3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene: 9.4 min
Biaryl: 19.2 min
The mixture was cooled to 2° C. and poured slowly into cold water (250 mL). The mixture was stirred vigorously for 10 min, allowed to settle, and the lower organic layer was separated and washed with 5N NaOH (75 mL) to give 145.1 g of a clear, colorless organic layer.
The assay yield of 1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene was 93.7% (137.3 g, 469 mmol), which contained 0.6% 1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, 1.0% 1,2-dibromo-3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, and 0.3% 1,4-dibromo-3,5-bis-(trifluoromethyl)benzene. Total isomer byproducts measured by GC were 2.0 mol %.
EXAMPLE 2
1-(3.5-Bis(Trifluoromethyl)Phenyl)Ethan-1-One
Materials
MW
Density
Amount
Equiv
3,5-Bis(trifluoromethyl)-
293.03
1.699 g/L
80 kg
1.0
bromobenzene
Magnesium granules, 20
24.3
7.33 kg
2.1
mesh
Acetic Anhydride
102.1
1.08 g/L
97.6 kg
4.5
THF (KF = 60 μg/mL)
560 kg
MTBE
120 kg
Water
100 kg
5N NaOH
98.9 kg
5% NaHCO3 (aq.)
80 kg
Step A: Preparation of Seeds of Ethyl Magnesium Bromide
To a 20 L reactor equipped with stirring apparatus and under N 2 was added magnesium granules (0.33 kg), THF and a small amount of iodine flakes. A small amount of ethylbromide was added dropwise followed by THF (9.37 kg). To the stirred reaction mixture was added dropwise a solution of ethylbromide (1.56 kg) in THF (2.34 kg) such that the reaction temperature was maintained below 35° C. Upon completion of addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at 30-35° C. for 1 hour.
Step B: Preparation of 1-(3.5-Bis(Trifluoromethyl)Phenyl)Magnesium Bromide by Grignard Exchange Reaction
To a 500 L reactor equipped with stirring apparatus and under N 2 was added magnesium granules (7.0 kg) and THF (200 kg) and the suspension of ethyl magnesium bromide in THF from Step A. To the stirred reaction mixture was added dropwise a solution of ethylbromide (32.7 kg) in THF (49.1 kg) such that the reaction temperature was maintained below 35° C. Upon completion of addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at 30-35° C. for 1 hour. A portion of the suspension of ethyl magnesium bromide in THF was reserved as seeds for later batches.
To the stirred reaction mixture was added dropwise a solution of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)bromobenzene (120 kg) in THF (120 kg) such that the reaction temperature was maintained below 30° C. The reaction mixture was held below 30° C. until conversion was more than 95%. The reaction was monitored by HPLC (sample preparation: 100 μL sample quenched into 3.5 mL of 1:1 THF:2N HCl, then diluted to 100 mL in 65:35 acetonitrile:pH 6 buffer).
Step C: Coupling Reaction
To a solution of acetic anhydride (97.6 kg) in TBF (207.9 kg) in a 1500 L reactor was added dropwise with stirring the solution of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)magnesium bromide from Step B such that the reaction temperature was maintained below 5° C. and then the reaction mixture was kept at below 5° C. for 0.5 hour.
Step D: Hydrolysis
To the reaction mixture from Step C water (195.1 kg) was added dropwise such that the reaction temperature was maintained below 5° C. The reaction mixture was heated at 55-65° C. for 0.5 hour with stirring, then cooled to below 15° C. and the phases were allowed to separate. Methyl tert-butyl ether (120 kg) was added and the mixture was neutralized by the addition with stirring of 5N NaOH (98.9 kg) [25% NaOH (67.3 kg, 0.44 eq/acetic anhydride) and water (31.6 kg)] was added dropwise over 1 hr, until a pH of greater than 10. The organic phase was separated and washed with 5% NaHCO 3 (80 kg) [NaHCO 3 (90.75 kg) and water (76 kg)]. The organic phase was separated and concentrated at a temperature below 95° C. The concentrate was then distilled at reduced pressure at a temperature below 125° C. to give 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one.
While the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to certain particular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations, changes, modifications, substitutions, deletions, or additions of procedures and protocols may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, reaction conditions other than the particular conditions as set forth herein above may be applicable as a consequence of variations in the reagents or methodology to prepare the compounds from the processes of the invention indicated above. Likewise, the specific reactivity of starting materials may vary according to and depending upon the particular substituents present or the conditions of manufacture, and such expected variations or differences in the results are contemplated in accordance with the objects and practices of the present invention. It is intended, therefore, that the invention be defined by the scope of the claims which follow and that such claims be interpreted as broadly as is reasonable. | The present invention is concerned with a novel process for the preparation of 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethan-1-one (CAS 30071-93-3). This compound is useful as an intermediate in the synthesis of therapeutic agents. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a restoring device of tension adjusting device for sewing machines and two ends of each control set are controlled by an active member of the main part so as to restore the tension adjusting mechanism evenly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional tension adjusting device generally includes multiple sets of adjusting units which are required to be restored precisely. However, there are some inherent problems which are not overcome by the existed tension adjusting device.
The present invention intends to provide a restoring device of the tension adjusting device of sewing machines, and the restoring device includes a restoring arm and a restoring member on two sides of the main part and the two restoring arm and member apply forces on the pressing board which evenly applies to the restoring sets so as to achieve the desired functions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a restoring device of a tension adjusting device in a transverse arm for a sewing machine. The tension adjusting device comprises a main part with a plurality of tension adjusting frames, micro-adjusting sets and restoring sets connected thereto so as to form a tension adjusting mechanism. The restoring sets are controlled by a control set on the main part which has an active member which driven by an adjusting knob and the active member drives a control shaft on the main part. The control set has a pressing board which is pivotably connected to the main part so as to press and control the restoring set. The control shaft has a driving member connected thereto and the pressing board is driven by the active member and the driving member.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows the sewing machine with the restoring device of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view to show the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows a top view of the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows a right side view of the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows a left side view of the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows a top view of another embodiment of the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention, and
FIG. 8 shows a top view of yet another embodiment of the tension adjusting mechanism of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , a tension adjusting device “A” is received in a transverse arm 12 of a sewing machine 10 and the tension adjusting device “A” comprises a main part 20 with a plurality of tension adjusting frames 30 , micro-adjusting sets 40 and restoring sets 50 connected thereto so as to form a tension adjusting mechanism “B”. Each of the tension adjusting frames 30 has a micro-adjusting set 40 connected thereto. Each micro-adjusting set 40 includes a restoring set 50 which is controlled by a control set 60 on the main part 20 . The control set 60 has a restoring control part on each of the two ends thereof so as to apply a force on the pressing board 61 .
The main part 20 has a bracket 201 at one end thereof and two holes 202 are defined through two ends of the bracket 201 . A retainer 21 is threadedly connected to the bracket 201 such that a second control shaft 22 extends through the bracket 201 and a hole in the retainer 21 . An active member 24 is mounted to the second control shaft 22 and an end of the second control shaft 22 extends beyond the transverse arm 12 so as to be connected to a control shaft 26 .
Five control wheels 27 are mounted to the control shaft 26 and each have a plurality of travel control portions 270 . A passive member 25 is connected to the end of the control shaft 26 that extends through the bracket 201 by a C-shaped clip. Five pins 203 are connected to the main part 20 and a control arm 28 mounted to each of the pins 203 . The control arm 28 includes a contact end 282 at one end thereof and the other end of the control arm 28 has a pushing end 281 . The contact end 282 is located close to the tension adjusting frame 30 and the pushing end 281 is engaged with the travel control portion 270 of the control wheel 27 .
The tension adjusting mechanism “B” further has a threaded hole 205 and a positioning rod 206 located beside the pin 203 corresponding thereto. An active wheel 240 is connected to the active member 24 and engaged with the passive wheel 250 of the passive member 25 . The other end of the control shaft 26 extends through the main part 20 and is connected to a driving member 65 . A restoring disk 241 is connected to an outer periphery of the active member 24 .
The tension adjusting frame 30 has a main shaft 303 , a stop pin 304 and a micro-adjusting shaft 306 which is connected to a micro-adjusting set 40 . A tension plate 31 , a spring 32 , an end plate 34 and an adjusting gear 33 are respectively mounted to the main shaft 303 . Two holes 305 are defined through the tension adjusting frame 30 so that the restoring sets 50 can be positioned. The micro-adjusting set 40 has a micro-adjusting member 41 which is engaged with the adjusting gear 33 . The micro-adjusting member 41 has a correction member 42 at a center thereof and the correction member 42 has correction rods 422 and restoring rod 421 . The stop pin 304 keeps the tension plate 31 and the end plate 34 to be stationary. The spring 32 is biased between the end plate 34 and the tension plate 31 .
The restoring set 50 has a restoring active pawl 51 and a restoring passive pawl 52 which is engaged with the restoring active pawl 51 . Each of the restoring active pawl 51 and the restoring passive pawl 52 has a restoring end 512 / 522 so that the restoring set 50 may clamp the restoring rod 421 . The restoring active pawl 51 has an action end 513 which extends toward the main part 20 and is located opposite to a pressing board 61 of a control set 60 .
Two ends of the pressing board 61 of the control set 60 are connected to a restoring arm 62 and a pushing end 630 extending from the extension portion 63 of the control set 60 . Two respective free ends of the restoring arm 62 and the extension portion 63 are connected to the control shaft 26 . A restoring member 64 is located above the extension portion 63 which has an end in contact with an end of the restoring member 64 , the other end of the restoring member 64 has a rod 641 . The control shaft 26 has an end which extends through the main part 20 and a driving member 65 is connected to the end of the control shaft 26 . The main part 20 has an end piece 29 which is in contact with the restoring arm 62 . The restoring arm 62 has a rod 620 so as to be engaged with the driving member 65 . The passive wheel 250 is engaged with the rod 620 on the restoring arm 62 and the rod 641 on the restoring member 64 . The pressing board 61 has an adjusting hole 610 defined therethrough which is located corresponding to the action end 513 of the restoring active pawl 51 so that an adjusting bolt 611 extends through the adjusting hole 610 and contacts the action end 513 .
The control arm 28 includes a contact end 282 at one end thereof and the other end of the control arm 28 has a pushing end 281 , the contact end 282 is located close to the tension adjusting frame 30 and the pushing end 281 is engaged with the travel control portion 270 of the control wheel 27 .
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , when restoring the sewing machine 10 , it is regardless to the positions of the restoring rods 421 of the micro-adjusting sets 40 , when the adjusting knob 23 is rotated, the restoring arm 62 is driven by the rod 620 of the control set 60 which is activated by the restoring disk 241 , the restoring arm 62 applies a force on the pressing board 61 . The restoring arm 62 moves back to its initial position by the end piece 29 . The restoring disk 241 is driven by the active member 24 and the passive member 25 , and activates the driving member 65 on the other end of the control shaft 26 . The driving member 65 drives the rod 641 , the function end 640 and the pushing end 630 to apply a force to the connection boards 613 . The pressing board 61 is applied by two respective forces from the connection boards 613 at two ends of the pressing board 61 so as to evenly press the action end 513 of the restoring active pawl 51 and drives the restoring passive pawl 52 so that both of the restoring active pawl 51 and drives the restoring passive pawl 52 are pivoted and the restoring ends 512 , 522 move toward the initial positions simultaneously. The restoring rod 421 is then pushed to its original position. When the adjusting knob 23 is adjusted to another tension scale, the restoring disk 241 slips over one tooth, the restoring rod 421 is not clamped and able to move within a range of the active pawl 51 and the passive pawl 52 .
As shown in FIG. 7 , the extension portion 63 , the restoring member 64 and the driving member 65 on one side of the main part 20 in the previous drawings can also be connected to two sides of the main part 20 . Another restoring member 64 is installed to the restoring arm 62 as it was in the previous drawings such that the rod 641 is engaged with the driving member 65 . The extension portion 63 is connected to the restoring disk 241 so that one end of the extension portion 63 is in contact with the restoring member 64 , and the other end extends beyond the main part 20 and is in contact with the end piece 29 . By this arrangement, the end piece 29 provides force to restore the extension portion 63 .
As shown in FIG. 8 , the restoring arms 62 can also be installed to two sides of the main part 20 , one of the restoring arms 62 is connected to the restoring member 64 as described before and the second control shaft 22 extends through two ends of the main part 20 . The active member 24 is then removed from the control shaft 26 and pivotably connected to the second control shaft 22 . The rod 620 is engaged with the restoring disk 241 of the active member 24 .
The present invention provides a restoring arm 62 at one end of the main part 20 and the other end of the main part 20 is connected with the extension portion 63 , restoring member 64 and driving member 65 , or the extension portion 63 , restoring member 64 and driving member 65 are connected to each of the two ends of the main part 20 , or the active wheel 24 and the restoring arm 62 are connected to the each of the two ends of the main part 20 . Either of the arrangements is able to activate two sides of the pressing board 61 and move the pressing board 61 horizontally so that the restoring force is even.
While we have shown and described the embodiment 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 restoring device of a tension adjusting device in a transverse arm for a sewing machine includes a main part which has an active member and a passive member on two sides thereof so as to drive two sides of a pressing board of the control set. When the user adjusts the adjusting knob, the control set of the tension adjusting mechanism can be adjusted by the movement of the pressing board so as to prolong the life of use of the control set. | 3 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a crankcase scavenged two-stroke engine comprising a cylinder including scavenging ports and at least one exhaust port, a piston, a connecting rod, a crankshaft and a generally sealed crankcase. The crankcase inducts a fuel/air mixture and is connected to the scavenging ports by means of transfer ducts. As the piston is travelling from a lower position towards a higher position, the transfer ducts are inducting pure air let in from connecting ports near the scavenging ports in the cylinder.
The present invention further relates to a scavenging method for a crankcase scavenged two-stroke engine of the above-mentioned type.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
small, carburetted two-stroke engines are mainly used for hand-held tools, like e.g. chain saws, weed cutters, trimmers, lawn mowers, etc. The main reasons for using two-stroke engines for such tools/machines are that they are cost effective and that they have a high power-to-weight ratio. A further advantage of the two-stroke engine compared to other engine options is that the mechanical design is very simple, principally only containing three moving parts (the piston, the connecting rod and the crankshaft).
The major problem with small, crankcase scavenged, carburetted two-stroke engines is the emission level of unburned hydrocarbons (uHC) and carbon monoxide (CO). For the past decade, legislation and authorities have demanded a decreased level of these emissions. Legislation also requires low amounts of nitric oxides (NO x ), but due to the general function of two-stroke engines, the emission of NO x is inherently low. In the following, the formation processes of the above-mentioned emissions will be briefly explained.
Carbon monoxide is formed when a hydrocarbon, such as gasoline, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), diesel fuel, or any compound containing coal, is combusted in presence of too small amounts of oxygen to complete the combustion to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The only way of decreasing the emission of CO is to lean the combustion, i.e. to mix the coal containing fuel with more oxygen (i.e. in most cases more air). Leaning out the fuel/air mixture has however some severe drawbacks regarding engine cooling, lubrication and engine behaviour.
NO x is formed whenever a gas containing nitrogen and oxygen is heated, e.g. in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. The NO x formation is dependent on the temperature, the time the gas mixture is heated, the nitrogen and oxygen concentration, and the temperature decrease rate. As mentioned earlier, NO x formation is not a severe problem in a two-stroke engine. The reasons for this are;
The temperature in the combustion chamber does not reach high levels, due to fuel rich combustion and excessive dilution of the combustible fuel/air mixture with exhaust gases. Due to the fuel rich mixture, virtually all oxygen present in the combustion chamber prior to combustion is consumed during the combustion. This leaves no oxygen for the formation of NO x .
The formation of unburned hydrocarbon emissions (uHC) is a little bit more complicated than the formation of the NO x and CO emissions:
One main source for uHC emissions is the clearance volume over the piston ring pack, since unburned air/fuel mixture in pressed down into this volume and hence escapes combustion. Wall quenching is another major contributor to uHC emissions. Wall quenching means that the combustion flame is not able to travel all the way to a combustion chamber wall, leaving an unburned zone close to the combustion chamber walls. Incomplete combustion is a third source of uHC emissions. Incomplete combustion mainly occurs when the fuel air mixture is too diluted with an excessive air or exhaust gas amount to burn. Short-circuiting is the main source of uHC emissions from two-stroke engines, and occurs since the exhaust port is open during the scavenging of the cylinder with unburned fuel/air mixture.
In order to decrease the emissions of uHC from two-strokes engines, many measures have been taken in the past. Mostly, those efforts have been directed towards redesigning the so-called transfer channels, i.e. the channels from which the unburned air/fuel mixture enter the cylinder; different transfer channel designs give different scavenging flow patterns in the cylinder.
For the last decades, an old scavenging method called “air-head” scavenging has gained the interest from scientists and engine researchers as a means of reducing the emissions of uHC from two-stroke engines. The basic idea behind the air-head engine is that the first air-fuel mixture that enters the cylinder through the transfer channels is the most likely to short-circuit. Hence, an air-head scavenging system starts by letting pure air flow through the transfer channels, which increases the probability that pure air is short-circuited.
As mentioned, the idea behind the air-head scavenging is not new. In fact, Dugald Clerk, the man who is generally recognised as the inventor of the two-stroke engine, described an air-head system as early as 1881 (see GB-B-1089), but he did not use he air-head scavenging as a means for reducing the short-circuiting losses, rather as a means for avoiding premature ignition of the fresh charge, due to contact with the hot exhaust gases. More recent development has shown that there is no or little risk that uncompressed fresh air/fuel mixture ignites on hot combustion gases. Further, Clerk describes use of an air-head scavenging for a dual piston engine, with a uniflow type scavenging system of the power cylinder.
The engine described in GB 1089 has very little in common with the engine according to the present invention. The GB 1089 engine has e.g. two different piston/cylinder arrangements. One of the cylinders has as its only task to provide the other cylinder with the scavenging action for the new charge, whereas the other cylinder is the power cylinder, in which the combustion takes place.
A slightly more recent publication (U.S. Pat. No. 968,200, from 1910) describes an air-head scavenging for a crankcase scavenged two-stroke engine with a fairly complicated design. The piston is namely divided into two portions, wherein the power cylinder portion has a considerably smaller diameter than the scavenging portion of the piston. This means that the scavenging volume will be much larger than the cylinder volume, making short-circuiting of unburned fuel/air mixture unavoidable. Hence, the main reason for the air-head scavenging of U.S. Pat. No. 968,200 was probably to scavenge the cylinder from exhaust gases prior to letting in unburned fuel/air mixture. According to U.S. Pat. No. 968,200, a piston controlled ducting system is used to fill the crankcase with fuel/air mixture and the single transfer channel with pure air. In this way, air only will enter the cylinder during the initial phase of the scavenging. In order to separate the pure air from the fuel/air mixture, the transfer channel of U.S. Pat. No. 968,200 is very long, and contains a spiral path, in order to increase the flow-path length.
Further, the design according to U.S. Pat. No. 968,200 uses cross-scavenging, i.e. the transfer channel is connected to the cylinder at a position opposite the exhaust port. Excessive short-circuiting is avoided by means of a deflector on the piston top.
F. W Lanchester and R. H. Pearsall (The institution of automobile engineers, “An investigation of certain aspects of the two-stroke engine for automobile vehicles”, pp 55-62 February, 1922) describe a further arrangement for an air-head scavenged two-stroke engine. The concept described in that publication also uses very large transfer channels, in order to avoid mixing of the pure air with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase. Lanchester and Pearsall even describe the use of a honeycomb structure in the transfer channel in order to reduce the mixing of the pure air with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase. Further, the engine described in the above publication uses a cross scavenging similar to the type described above with reference to U.S. Pat. No. 968,200.
SAE paper 980761 (Society of automotive engineers, Inc, 1998) describes an air-head engine with reed valve (e.g. one-way valves) control, both for the incoming air-head air and for the air-fuel mixture. The scavenging pattern of the cylinder according to SAE 980761 is a so-called loop-scavenging, i.e. the scavenging flow from the transfer channels is directed towards a point in the cylinder on the side opposite the exhaust port.
WO-A-00/40843 describes a modified air-head scavenging, wherein two transfer channels close to the exhaust port scavenge the cylinder with pure air during the entire scavenging phase, and two transfer channels remote from the exhaust port scavenge the cylinder with a fuel-rich fuel/air mixture. Reed valves are used to control the airflow from the air scavenging transfer channels, which have a very large internal volume.
WO-A-99/18338 describes an air head engine with reed valve control of the air-head air flow and the fuel/air mixture flow. The transfer channels of this engine are also very large, actually it is stated on page 2, lines 34-37 that “the total volume of the scavenging hole and scavenging channel is set so as to be greater than 20% of the stroke volume”.
There are severe problems with the prior art designs:
In all prior art designs, the length of the transfer channels is very large. This leads to a lower high-speed power than is the case for shorter transfer channels. Until now, long channels have been regarded as necessary in order to get acceptable function of air-head engines. The long transfer channels also lead to a larger volume being connected to the crankcase, leading to a lower crankcase compression ratio, which in turn leads to a lower scavenging efficiency. Further, long and bulky channels add to the total size and volume of the engine. The above-described designs comprising loop scavenging all utilise reed valves as the control means for the airflow to the crankcase and to the transfer channels. This is an expensive and complicated way of controlling the airflow.
A further problem with the prior art designs is related to the characteristics of the carburetor. In order to get an acceptable idling running of the engine, the carburetor is usually set to provide a very fuel-rich mixture. As mentioned above, fuel-rich mixtures lead to excessive amounts of CO emissions. CO emissions are very harmful for all animals, and are of course a major problem for handheld tools that usually are used in the vicinity of the respiratory organs of a user. For present air-head engines, which mainly short-circuit air, the fuel-air ratio in the cylinder stays very fuel rich, even at high load. Obviously, this contributes to the CO emission levels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a crankcase scavenged two-stroke engine in which the transfer duct volume is less than 20% of a volume swept by the piston during an entire revolution of the crankshaft. Further, the engine is provided with recesses formed in an outer periphery of the piston, said recesses co-operating with the connecting ports in the cylinder wall for controlling the filling of the transfer ducts with air, and an inlet tube in the cylinder wall for supplying the air/fuel mixture. The inlet tube is connected to the crankcase and covered by the piston as the piston is in the lower position, and open to the crankcase as the piston is in the higher position.
Furthermore, the above and other problems are solved by a scavenging method in which some of the air inducted through the transfer ducts is mixed with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the following, the invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to the only drawing, wherein the FIGURE is a schematic view of a two-stroke engine according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
In this description, like reference numerals of which one is denoted with implies that there are identical components on opposite sides of the engine. Due to clarity reasons, only one of such components is shown in the drawing
In the FIGURE, a carburetted two-stroke engine 1 utilising an “air-head” scavenging system is shown. The engine comprises a cylinder 15 and a piston 13 being connected to a crankshaft 18 by means of a connecting rod 17 , which piston in co-operation with the cylinder defines a combustion chamber 32 . The piston is also equipped with flow paths 10 , 10 ′, in the form of recesses. The function of these recesses will be described in the following. Further, the engine comprises an inlet 22 connected to a carburettor, or fuel dosage means, 37 by an inlet duct 23 . The piston, the lower end of the cylinder and a crankcase define a generally sealed crankcase volume 16 , into which the inlet 22 opens. The crankcase is connected to the cylinder by means of transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′, opening in transfer ports 31 , 31 ′.
Further, the engine according to the invention includes an air inlet 2 , connected to connecting ports 8 , 8 ′, opening on a cylinder wall, by means of connecting ducts 6 , 6 ′
Still further, the engine according to the invention comprises an exhaust port (not shown) located in the cylinder wall. The exhaust port is connected to some kind of muffler (not shown), for noise reduction. In some cases, it could be advantageous if the muffler comprises catalysing means for reducing exhaust emissions. This topic will be more thoroughly described in the following.
The engine according to the invention also includes an air inlet 2 that is connected to the connecting ports 8 , 8 ′, opening on the cylinder wall.
During operation of the engine, the crankshaft 18 will rotate, clockwise or counter-clockwise, depending on where it is used. The rotative movement of the crankshaft 18 will force the piston 13 to move up and down by means of the connecting rod 17 in the cylinder, in a path restricted by the cylinder walls. As mentioned earlier, the connecting ports 8 , 8 ′, the inlet port 22 , the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ and the exhaust port all open in the cylinder wall, which means that they will be opened or closed depending on whether they are covered by the piston or not.
In the following, the function of the engine will be described under reference to the above mentioned components.
When the piston is at its highest position (generally referred to as the Top Dead Centre, TDC), the exhaust port is closed by the piston wall, and has no connection to the interior volumes of the engine. The crankcase is filled with an unburned mixture of fuel and air, partly drawn in from the carburettor through the inlet port 22 , and partly (applies for the air only) through the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′. The air coming in through the transfer ducts is drawn for the air inlet 2 , through the connecting ports 8 , 8 ′ through the flow paths 10 , 10 ′ in the piston walls, finally entering the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ and hence the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′.
As the piston moves downwards (helped by the force exerted by hot combustion gases in the combustion chamber 32 ), the piston will close the connecting ports 8 , 8 ′, the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ (due to the flow paths 10 , 10 ′ moving past the connecting ports and the transfer ports), and the inlet port 22 . This leads to a pressure increase in the crankcase as the piston moves downward, since the free crankcase volume 16 decreases. Shortly after the inlet port, the transfer ports and the connecting ports are closed by the piston, whereas the exhaust port will open. The opening of the exhaust port allows the exhaust gases in the cylinder to leave the cylinder and enter the atmosphere, also leaving room for an unburned charge to enter the cylinder.
When the piston 13 has travelled even further downwards, it will uncover the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′, which are in fluid communication with the crankcase 16 by means of the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′. Due to the higher pressure in the crankcase, the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase will start to flow through the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′ into the cylinder 32 , and scavenge the cylinder from exhaust gases. A major problem is however that the exhaust port is open as the fuel/air mixture enters the cylinder; it is inevitable that a part of the fuel/air mixture escapes the cylinder through the exhaust port. In the engine according to the invention, this problem is however significantly reduced, since the first portion of the fuel/air mixture in the cylinder actually is pure air, since air only is let in through the connecting port 8 , 8 ′ through the flow paths 10 , 10 ′, into the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′. It is probable that the first portion of the gas that enters the cylinder is most likely to escape through the exhaust port. Since the first portion of the fuel/air mixture entering the cylinder is pure air, this air has a higher probability of escaping the cylinder, compared to the fuel/air mixture entering the cylinder at a later stage.
After, or during, the scavenging of the cylinder with fuel/air mixture, the piston will reach its lowest position, which is often referred to as the Bottom Dead Centre, BDC. After the BDC, the piston starts to travel upwards, due to the inertial force of the system (very often, a flywheel increasing the inertial force is connected to the crankshaft). As the piston is travelling upwards, it closes the transfer ports and the exhaust ports. This leads to the fuel/air mixture in the cylinder being compressed and the remaining fuel-air mixture in the crankcase being decompressed. The decompression of the crankcase volume leads to a lower pressure. As the piston continues upwards, the inlet port 22 and the flow path defined by the air inlet 2 , the connecting ports 8 , 8 ′, the flow paths 10 , 10 ′ in the piston walls, the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ and the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′ are opened to the crankcase volume 16 . Due to the lower pressure in the crankcase, fuel/air mixture and pure air will be inducted into the crankcase from the inlet port 22 and from the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′, respectively.
As the piston reaches a position close to the Top Dead Centre, TDC, the fuel air mixture will be ignited, preferably by means of a spark plug. There are however other possible options for the ignition, e.g. HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition), glow plugs or the like.
After the ignition, the process starts all over again.
According to the invention, the volume of the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′, from the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ to the crankcase, should be less than 20% of the volume swept by the piston. This means that a certain amount of pure air will be let into the crankcase through he transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′ and mix with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase. This is in contradiction to the common knowledge of the industry; as can be seen in the prior art chapter, the main goal has always been to make the transfer duct volume large enough to host the entire volume of pure air let in from the transfer ports 31 , 31 ′ into the transfer ducts 3 , 3 ′.
The embodiment according to the invention has a number of advantages compared to the prior art:
The high-speed power is considerably improved by using transfer ducts with comparatively small volume. After each fuel/air mixture scavenging of the cylinder, the transfer duct walls will be wetted by fuel and oil droplets (in case the engine is “petroil” lubricated, see below). In prior art designs, this fuel and oil will be retained in the “pure air” in the part of the transfer duct that is located close to the crankcase. This means that actually it is no advantage to have a larger transfer duct volume; the last “pure air” that is forced into the cylinder will still be polluted with fuel and oil.
It is preferable that the two-stroke engine according to the present invention is “petroil” lubricated. Petroil lubrication means that lubricating oil is added to the gasoline. Petroil is a very simple, safe and low-cost solution to the lubrication problem. The invention is however not limited to this type of lubrication. For example, it could be useful to have an oil pressure based lubrication system, or an oil mist system
The scavenging system according to the invention is a so-called “loop-scavenging” (or Schnürle) design. Loop-scavenging means that the transfer channels are designed for directing the flow of fuel/air mixture away from the exhaust port in order to avoid short-circuiting. Loop scavenging is the most common type of scavenging in small, single cylinder engines, but is unfortunately space inefficient for multi-cylinder engines.
It is crucial to the invention that the piston controls the ports (inlet port, connection ports, and transfer ports). In other embodiments the ports could be controlled by means of separate valve constructions, e.g. reed valves, but these solutions are complicated and costly.
It is very beneficial to equip the engine according to the invention with an oxidising catalyst. In “standard” two-stroke engines, i.e. two-stroke engines without the scavenging system according to the invention, there is a major problem connected to generation of excessive amounts of heat in the catalyst, due to the short-circuiting of fuel/air mixture. This problem is reduced significantly for an engine according to the invention, since the short-circuited gas is “diluted” with air.
As mentioned, it is crucial to the invention that the transfer duct volume is less than 20% of the volume swept by the piston, which leads to a part of the air inducted into the transfer ducts mixing with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase. This is beneficial to the catalyst operation, since the air/fuel ratio in the crankcase will be slightly diluted with air, from a very fuel-rich level. As is well known by people skilled in the art of combustion, fuel rich mixtures lead to high emission levels of unburned hydrocarbons (uHC) and carbon monoxide (CO). On prior art engines using similar air-head scavenging techniques, but with larger transfer ducts, the air inducted through the transfer ducts does not mix with the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase. Hence, they do not benefit from this effect.
The catalyst could be of an ordinary design, comprising a metal or ceramic substrate coated with a primary wash-coat and a secondary noble metal coating. The noble metal coating could e.g. consist of Palladium (Pl), Rhodium (Rh), Platinum (Pt), or mixtures thereof. The substrate on which the wash-coat and the noble metals are coated can be of various shapes and designs. One preferred design is a wind of metal wires, wherein the wires are coated with the wash-coat and the noble metal(s). This type of catalyst is often referred to as a “wire mesh catalyst”. One other preferred design is a spiral wound sheet metal substrate, wherein two sheet metal stripes, of which one is corrugated, are wound in a spiral pattern, forming channel between the corrugated and the flat metal sheet. To get the catalytic effect, the sheet metal stripes are coated with wash-coat and noble metals.
There is a further design possibility or the catalyst, namely a single plate of sheet metal placed in the centre of the muffler. The exhaust flow should be directed towards the sheet metal plate, which should be coated with the catalytic material.
In the above description of embodiments, it has been presumed that the fuelling of the engine has been accomplished by means of a carburettor. The invention is however applicable in combination with other fuelling devices, e.g. injection systems. | A crankcase scavenged two-stroke engine ( 1 ) comprises a cylinder ( 15 ) including scavenging ports ( 31, 31′ ) and at least one exhaust port, a piston ( 13 ), a connecting rod ( 17 ), a crankshaft ( 18 ) and a generally sealed crankcase ( 16 ). The crankcase inducts a fuel/air mixture and is connected to the scavenging ports ( 31, 31′ ) by means of transfer ducts ( 3, 3′ ) which, as the piston ( 13 ) is travelling from a lower position towards a higher position, are inducting pure air let in from connecting ports ( 8, 8′ ) near the scavenging ports ( 31, 31′ ) in the cylinder ( 15 ). The transfer duct ( 3, 3′ ) volume is less than 20% of a volume swept by the piston ( 13 ) during an entire revolution of the crankshaft ( 18 ). Recesses ( 10, 10′ ) are formed in an outer periphery of the piston ( 13 ), said recesses ( 10, 10′ ) co-operating with the connecting ports ( 8, 8′ ) in the cylinder wall for controlling the filling of the transfer ducts ( 3, 3′ ) with air. An inlet tube ( 22 ) in the cylinder wall supplies the air/fuel mixture, said inlet tube ( 22 ) being connected to the crankcase ( 16 ) and covered by the piston ( 13 ) as the piston ( 13 ) is in the lower position, and open to the crankcase ( 16 ) as the piston ( 13 ) is in the higher position. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/273,443 filed Nov. 14, 2005, the entire contents which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for switching between coherent and noncoherent transmission in a wireless communication system, particularly depending on Doppler shift estimates for a roving mobile communication unit.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0003] The application of wireless broadband services to high speed trains is a new market. Using standard mobile cellular technology, such as UMTS, acceptable wireless communication performance is typically limited to mobile terminal speeds associated with vehicular applications because of limitations resulting from Doppler shifts. Conventional cellular technology was originally envisaged for car-based vehicular speeds and not high speed trains that travel at substantially higher speeds than cars, typically up to 400 km/h.
[0004] The maximum Doppler frequency deviation from the transmitted carrier signal frequency from a base station due to a mobile terminal's movement is given by
[0000]
fm
=
vf
c
c
(
1
)
[0000] where f c is the carrier signal frequency, c is the speed of light, and v is the relative velocity between the transmitter and the receiver. Equation (1) shows that the Doppler shift is proportional to both the mobile terminal velocity and the carrier frequency, therefore performance limitations resulting from Doppler effects can also apply at lower terminal velocities if the carrier frequency is higher than that assumed during system conception. Depending on the movement of the mobile terminal relative to the base station, the maximum Doppler frequency deviation will be ±fm, where +fm implies the mobile terminal is traveling towards the base station and −fm implies the mobile terminal is traveling away from the base station.
[0005] FIG. 1 is a plot of Doppler frequency shift versus mobile terminal velocity for a carrier frequency of 2 GHz. All the values are positive, implying that the mobile terminal is traveling toward the base station. The values would be negative if the mobile terminal traveled away from the base station. Typically, a high speed train travels between 200 km/h and 400 km/h, equating to a maximum Doppler frequency deviations of 370 Hz and 740 Hz, respectively. If these frequency shifts are not compensated in signal processing, then wireless communication performance can be degraded.
[0006] The maximum tolerable phase offset for digital modulation schemes such as M-ary Phase Shift Keying (MPSK), M ∈(2,4,8) when operating under noise free conditions, is ±π/M. FIG. 2 illustrates an impact of a Doppler frequency shift on 2-ary PSK modulation. The diagram corresponds to the signal space for a 2-ary PSK modulation scheme. The signal space is complex: the vertical axis 201 corresponds to the imaginary component; and the horizontal axis 202 to the real component. If a continuous bit stream, corresponding to a constant modulation phase state of π/2, is transmitted, and the first modulation symbol 203 arrives at the receiver at the correct phase position of π/2, then the frequency offset in the channel causes subsequent modulation symbols to undergo a cumulative phase offset up to the last modulation symbol 204 . This is illustrated in FIG. 2 , which shows the phase trajectory 205 from first to the last modulation symbol.
[0007] From FIG. 2 , the modulation symbol is deemed as being in error if the imaginary part of the complex modulation symbol is negative. One can see that the distance of the last modulation symbol, D 2 ( 207 ), to the real axis is substantially less than the distance of the first modulation symbol, D 1 ( 206 ), to the real axis, i.e., D 1 >D 2 . If the modulation symbols are corrupted by noise or interference, the probability that the last modulation symbol is in error will be higher than that of the first modulation symbol.
[0008] The foregoing illustrates that a Doppler frequency-shift mitigation scheme is required in communication systems with high mobility that employ digital modulation schemes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] According to embodiments of the present invention, a coherent or a noncoherent transmission mode is automatically selected by a mobile terminal (UE) on the basis of an estimated Doppler frequency shift due to motion of a mobile terminal. Coherent transmission modes can offer superior noise performance than noncoherent modes, if sufficient pilot overhead is provided to mitigate frequency offsets. However, as the Doppler shift due to the mobile terminal velocity increases, the required pilot overhead can become substantial if link performance is to be maintained, reducing data throughput and system efficiency. For a given pilot overhead the link performance of a coherent scheme will degrade with increasing Doppler until noncoherent transmission schemes outperform coherent transmission schemes.
[0010] An embodiment of the invention is a method of selecting coherent or noncoherent transmission modes for a mobile terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising: estimating a Doppler frequency shift resulting from a motion of the mobile terminal relative to a base station; comparing the estimated Doppler frequency shift with a threshold value of Doppler frequency shift; and if the estimated Doppler frequency shift exceeds the threshold value, selecting a noncoherent transmission mode for the mobile terminal; otherwise, selecting a coherent transmission mode for the mobile terminal.
[0011] Other embodiments further comprise transmitting an indication of whether the coherent transmission mode or the noncoherent transmission mode is selected wherein the transmitted indication can be a single modulation symbol or a sequence of modulation symbols. In some embodiments, the Doppler frequency shift is estimated by comparing changes over time in the mobile terminal's geographic coordinates, as determined by a position location system in the mobile terminal, with a set of known geographic coordinates of a base station.
[0012] In another embodiment, a method of selecting coherent or noncoherent detection modes for a base station receiver in a wireless communication system, comprises: receiving an indication of whether a received wireless signal is encoded in a coherent or a noncoherent mode; and detecting the received wireless signal in the corresponding coherent or noncoherent mode, responsive to the received indication, wherein the transmitted indication can be a single modulation symbol or a sequence of modulation symbols.
[0013] A further embodiment is a method of selecting coherent or noncoherent detection modes for a base station receiver in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a wireless signal; detecting the wireless signal in a coherent mode; estimating a signal quality metric for the wireless signal that was detected in the coherent mode; detecting the wireless signal in a noncoherent mode; estimating a signal quality metric for the wireless signal that was detected in the noncoherent mode; and selecting the coherent mode detected wireless signal, or selecting the noncoherent mode detected wireless signal, for subsequent processing on the basis of which has the highest signal quality metric.
[0014] Additional embodiments of the invention comprise apparatus and computer-readable media comprising computer readable instructions for executing the above method embodiments, among others.
[0015] Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is an exemplary plot of Doppler frequency shift in Hertz versus a mobile terminal's speed.
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an impact of Doppler frequency shift on 2-ary PSK modulation.
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a method of estimating a Doppler frequency shift by phase perturbation, according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 4A illustrates a pilot transmission overhead, along with a corresponding maximum phase rotation, for low Doppler frequency shifts, corresponding to moderate mobile terminal speeds, according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 4B illustrates a pilot transmission overhead, along with a corresponding maximum phase rotation of high Doppler frequency shifts, corresponding to high mobile terminal speeds according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0021] FIG. 4C illustrates a continuous pilot transmission overhead, along with a corresponding maximum phase rotation of high Doppler frequency shifts, corresponding to high mobile terminal speeds at a first pilot averaging period according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0022] FIG. 4D illustrates a continuous pilot transmission overhead, along with a corresponding maximum phase rotation of high Doppler frequency shifts, corresponding to high mobile terminal speeds at a second, shorter pilot averaging period according to a further embodiment of the invention.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a plot of required signal-to-noise ratios as functions of Doppler frequency shift for coherent and noncoherent detection embodiments of the invention.
[0024] FIG. 6 shows a transmitter architecture according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0025] FIG. 7 shows a receiver architecture according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0026] FIG. 8 shows a receiver architecture according to a further embodiment of the invention.
[0027] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a transceiver architecture according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0028] Commonly numbered drawing elements in the various figures refer to common elements of the embodiments of the invention. The drawings of the embodiments shown in the figures are not necessarily to scale. The drawings of the embodiments shown in the figures are for purposes of illustration only, and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention: It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and mechanical, compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the embodiments of the present invention is defined only by the claims of the issued patent.
[0030] Some portions of the detailed description that follow are presented in terms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits that can be performed on computer memory. A procedure, computer executed step, logic block, process, etc., are here conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those utilizing physical manipulations of physical quantities. These quantities can take the form of electrical, magnetic, or radio signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. These signals may be referred to at times as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Each step may be performed by hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof.
[0031] Although the present invention is described herein in the context of an M-ary PSK digital modulation scheme, those skilled in the art will understand that the invention, including the concept of maximum tolerable phase offset, can also be applied to other modulation schemes such as, for example, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).
[0032] Two techniques for mitigating frequency offsets can be used in embodiments of the invention: coherent detection and noncoherent detection.
[0033] Typically, cellular systems such as UMTS employ coherent detection for both uplink and downlink. In such embodiments, dedicated pilots or training sequences are transmitted with the data so as to facilitate the recovery of the modulated information. The pilot allows timing, phase, and frequency information to be determined.
[0034] The process of estimating a Doppler frequency shift is illustrated in FIG. 3 . When a mobile terminal travels toward a base station, a frequency offset appears as a phase ramp over time, defined by:
[0000] φ( t )=ω m t (2)
[0000] where ω m =2πf m .
The phase frequency relationship is given by
[0000]
φ
(
t
)
t
=
ω
m
(
3
)
[0000] In one embodiment, the frequency estimate is obtained by taking two or more samples of the carrier phase over time, for example:
[0000]
f
^
m
=
1
2
π
×
φ
2
-
φ
1
t
2
-
t
1
(
4
)
[0000] where φ 1 is a sample of the carrier phase at time t 1 and φ 2 is a sample of the carrier phase at time t 2 . Obtaining φ 1 and φ 2 from the pilot sequences would be known to those skilled in the art. The minimum sampling rate of the frequency estimator can be 2×f m to uniquely estimate a Doppler frequency shift of f m . The relationship between estimating Doppler frequency shift, {circumflex over (f)} m , and sample rate would be known to those skilled in the art, as would be the compensation of {circumflex over (f)} m from the received signal.
[0035] According to Equation 1, the maximum Doppler frequency deviation is directly proportional to the velocity of the mobile terminal. If the Doppler frequency shift is to be uniquely characterized, then it follows that for an increase in maximum Doppler frequency, a corresponding increase in sample rate is necessary. This requirement directly translates as an increase in pilot overhead, i.e., more of the transmission payload has to be allocated to pilot symbols rather than data symbols. The result is a reduction in data throughput.
[0036] This is illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B . In FIG. 4A , the maximum phase shift due to Doppler frequency shift is r radians between pilots. In FIG. 4B , the maximum Doppler frequency shift has increased, but the number of pilots has also increased to accommodate this higher Doppler frequency shift. The phase shift between pilots in FIG. 4B is still n radians, but if one compares the phase shift of FIG. 4B with the pilot configuration of FIG. 4A one sees a 2π radians phase rotation between pilots. Clearly for this case, the pilots in FIG. 4A would be unable to uniquely resolve the frequency offsets in FIG. 4B . For FIG. 4B , the maximum shift between pilots is n radians to resolve the Doppler frequency shift. For coherent detection at high mobile terminal speeds, the burden of pilot overhead required for coherent detection can be prohibitive. This additional overhead reduces the data throughput. Although the pilot signals in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are shown to be interleaved, it will be understood that a similar interpretation can be applied to a system where the pilot is transmitted continuously and the carrier phase estimates are achieved by averaging the carrier over time. Averaging is required in order to accumulate sufficient energy from the pilot in order to form a sufficiently accurate estimate of the carrier phase. Higher Doppler shifts can be supported by shortening the averaging time, however in order to achieve the same accuracy, the proportion of the signal power assigned to the pilot will need to increase and consequently, the system resource available for data transmission is reduced. This is illustrated in FIG. 4C and 4D .
[0037] Noncoherent detection schemes do not recover the carrier phase information, but instead rely on encoding in the modulated signal to remove any phase perturbations that are generated by the propagation channel.
[0038] In one embodiment, 4-ary symbols are encoded according to the following rule
[0000] c k =c k-1 +b k mod 4, k=( 1,2,3, . . . , N ) (5)
[0000] where b k ∈(0,1,2,3), b k =2a 2k-1 +a 2k , N is the number of symbols, and a l ∈(0,1) are the data bits. A complex modulation symbol is given by
[0000] u k =j k k (6)
[0000] where j=√{square root over (−1)}. For convenience we describe the received signal at the antenna as
[0000] y k =u k e jθ k +n k (7)
[0000] where e jθ k is the complex term arising from the Doppler frequency deviation, and n k is a complex noise term. The output of the noncoherent detector is given by
[0000] û k =y k y k-1 * (8)
[0000] Substituting (7) into (8) gives
[0000] û k =u k u k-1 * e j(θ k -θ k-1 ) +z k +n k n* k-1 (9)
[0000] where
[0000] z k =n k u k-1 e −jθ k-1 +n k-1 u k e jθ k (10)
[0000] The modulation symbol estimate consists of 3 terms, the wanted term u k u k-1 * e j(θ k -θ k-1 ) , a correlated noise term z k which is a function of the data and the Doppler frequency deviation, and a weak noise term n k n k-1 * . When the wanted component is much larger than the noise components, the estimate of the modulation symbol estimate is given by
[0000] û k ≈u k u k-1 * e j(θ k −θ k-1 ) (11)
[0000] Clearly, if the phase shift between modulation symbols due to a Doppler frequency shift is small, the impact on performance is negligible, and we can write
[0000] û k ≈u k u k-1 * (12)
[0039] A drawback with noncoherent schemes is the correlated noise term z k . When compared to coherent schemes, the performance of noncoherent schemes is worse because of z k . The difference in performance as a function of maximum Doppler frequency deviation is illustrated in FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 shows the signal-to-noise ratio required to achieve a target error rate performance for both coherent 501 and noncoherent 502 detection schemes. For f m <A the coherent detection scheme out performs the noncoherent detection scheme. When f m >A, the noncoherent detection scheme outperforms the coherent detection scheme. The maximum Doppler frequency shift at which this occurs is a function of the pilot overhead as discussed in the previous section. A high pilot overhead means the crossover point between coherent and non-coherent detection will be much closer to point B in the graph. This is at the expense of data throughput. A low pilot overhead means that the crossover point will be at lower values of maximum Doppler frequency shift. For noncoherent schemes, point B is related to the symbol rate, therefore in order for coherent schemes to approach the Doppler tolerance exhibited by noncoherent schemes, the pilot overhead needs to approach the symbol rate.
[0040] In summary, coherent schemes perform better than noncoherent schemes, if sufficient pilot overhead is provided to mitigate frequency offsets. However, as the velocity increases the pilot overhead can become substantial. The result is a reduction in data throughput. Noncoherent schemes do not require pilots to cope with frequency offsets; instead they employ encoding to overcome frequency offsets. This encoding means a reduction in performance relative to coherent schemes. However, when the pilot overhead is unable to resolve the frequency offset, non-coherent schemes outperform coherent schemes.
[0041] Coherent detection outperforms noncoherent detection provided that pilot sequences are transmitted at sufficiently small intervals. However pilot sequences occupy physical resources that might otherwise be used for transmitting data. Therefore, once the mobile terminal's speed exceeds a certain threshold, it is advantageous to switch to noncoherent transmission. A block diagram of a transmitter is shown below in FIG. 6 . It consists of a Doppler estimator 601 , an encoder 603 , a modulator 602 and an indicator 606 .
[0042] In one embodiment, the transmitter autonomously decides whether or not to apply noncoherent encoding. The Doppler estimator determines the frequency offset due to the movement of the mobile terminal. An embodiment for the Doppler estimator at a mobile terminal can use a position location system receiver to compare the changes over time in the geographic coordinates of a mobile terminal to determine a movement of the mobile terminal relative to a base station having known geographic coordinates. Examples of such position location systems include, without limitation: (i) Global Positioning System (GPS), (ii) LORAN, and (III) GLONASS. Some wireless communication systems can allow mobile terminals to estimate their positions based on time differences of arrival (TDOA) for downlink signals received from multiple base stations. TDOA can also be applied to uplink signals from a mobile terminal that are received by multiple base stations. Still other methods may combine various aspects of the above mentioned position location systems and method. It is also understood by those skilled in the art that numerous other techniques exist for estimating relative velocity or Doppler shift directly.
[0043] The Doppler shift estimator enables the transmitter to make a decision as to whether noncoherent encoding should be applied to the UE transmissions. If the estimated Doppler shift is greater than a defined threshold, the noncoherent encoder is enabled in the transmitter. If the estimated Doppler shift is less than the threshold then the noncoherent encoder is transparent.
[0044] Since the UE transmitter autonomously makes a decision, it needs to inform the base station receiving equipment whether or not noncoherent encoding has been applied to the transmissions. Therefore, the invention includes a function within the Doppler shift estimator 601 that inserts an indicator into the transmitted signal. This is shown as an input into the modulator block 602 in FIG. 6 . It is also understood that the receiving equipment could also autonomously detect the use of noncoherent encoding at the transmitter. It is understood by those skilled in the art that one technique of noncoherent encoding is differential encoding. Here the phase difference between subsequent modulation symbols is encoded. This can be considered as an accumulation of the phase difference.
[0045] In one embodiment the indicator is a single modulation symbol that is always encoded, or in other embodiments it could be a predefined sequence of modulation symbols. Either way, an indicator definition is known at the receiving side. In preferred embodiments, the indicator should have sufficient protection to enable it to operate under high values of Doppler frequency shift.
[0046] In an exemplary embodiment, the base station receiving equipment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 7 . The indicator is detected by the indicator detector block 701 . Based on the recovered indicator value either coherent or noncoherent detection is applied. Switches SWA 702 and SWB 703 are synchronized so that if the indicator indicates noncoherent encoding is disabled, the estimated symbols are taken from the coherent detection block 704 , and similarly if the indicator indicates that noncoherent encoding is enabled, the estimated symbols are taken from the noncoherent detection block 705 .
[0047] In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 8 , noncoherent detector 803 and coherent detector 802 can both attempt to detect the same received wireless signal 801 . Respective signal quality metrics can be estimated for both of the detected signals using signal quality estimates ( 805 and 804 ). The outputs of the signal quality estimators can then be sent to comparator 806 that actuates switch to select the signal with the highest perceived quality, to pass on for subsequent processing 808 .
[0048] Although FIGS. 7 and 8 show various functions as different functional blocks, in other embodiments functions of different functional blocks can be performed by common digital circuitry, or a microprocessor or a digital signal processor under software control.
[0049] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a wireless transceiver that can apply to either a mobile terminal or a base station according to embodiments of the invention. Antenna network 901 couples antenna 920 to both receiver 902 and transmitter 907 . A purpose of antenna network 901 is to enable both receiver 902 and transmitter 907 to share common antenna 920 . Another purpose of antenna network 901 can be to provide filtering for the transmission and reception of wireless signals. Still another purpose of antenna network 901 can be to provide isolation of transmitter 907 to reflected transmitted signals. Antenna network 901 can comprise a duplex filter for frequency division duplex (FDD) system, or it can comprise a transmit/receive (T/R) switch (with or without RF filtering) for a time division duplex (TDD) system. The T/R switch state would be synchronized with transmission and reception by operably connected control logic 909 . In another embodiment, antenna network 901 can comprise a circulator, with or without RF filtering.
[0050] Receiver 902 can include circuitry for one or more of the following functions: radio frequency (RF) filtering; intermediate frequency (IF) filtering; RF amplification; IF amplification; local oscillator(s) or frequency synthesizer(s); frequency converters; baseband filtering; baseband amplification; power level detection; and analog to digital conversion. The output of receiver 902 is operably connected to detector 903 . Detector 903 can be an analog or a digital circuit. Detector 903 is where coherent or noncoherent detection occurs. Some embodiments of detector 903 are illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 . Most commonly, detector 903 is implemented with digital circuitry in modem systems, the analog to digital conversion having been provided in receiver 902 . The output of detector 903 is operably coupled to receive baseband circuitry 904 , that can performs additional functions such as filtering, timing recovery, error control decoding, format conversion, and so forth to that the received data can be forwarded to node 910 for subsequent processing.
[0051] Transmit baseband circuit 905 is operable to receive data input from data input port 912 . Transmit baseband circuit 905 can perform functions such as formatting, coding, interleaving, insertion of control data, and so forth. The output of transmit baseband circuit 905 is typically digital in modern systems and is operably connected to the input of encoder 906 . FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of encoder 906 . Encoder 906 can coherently or noncoherently encode data for transmission and optionally insert an indication of the type of encoding being used according to various embodiments of the invention. Encoder 906 can also modulate the data for transmission either before and/or after digital to analog conversion. Modern systems often include digital to analog conversion in encoder 906 . Encoder 906 can also provide digital, and/or analog signal filtering and conditioning.
[0052] Transmitter 907 can take an analog output from encoder 906 and can include circuits to perform one or more of the following functions: IF filtering; RF filtering; IF gain; RF gain; RF power level detection; frequency conversion; and local oscillators and/or frequency synthesizers. Often, local oscillators and/or frequency synthesizers are shared between transmitters and receivers.
[0053] Control logic 909 monitors and controls the operation of the various functions of the transceiver responsive to control inputs from port 911 . Often, control logic 909 is implemented using the same digital circuitry that comprises transmit baseband 905 and receive baseband 904 . Sometimes this circuitry also comprises at least portions of detector 903 and encoder 906 .
[0054] The figures provided are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. The figures are intended to illustrate various implementations of the invention that can be understood and appropriately carried out by those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0055] Therefore, it should be understood that the invention can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with modification and alteration and that the invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof. | A coherent or a noncoherent transmission mode is automatically selected for a transmission on the basis of an estimated Doppler frequency shift due to a motion of a mobile terminal. A coherent mode is selected if a pilot signal overhead is not excessive to uniquely characterize a Doppler frequency shift, as at lower carrier frequency times relative velocity products. A noncoherent mode is selected if a pilot signal overhead would be excessive to uniquely characterize a Doppler frequency shift at higher carrier frequency times relative velocity products. Both the coherent and noncoherent modes have respective advantages for their respective carrier frequency time relative velocity regimes. | 7 |
This is a continuation-in-part of copending application, Ser. No. 07/640,447, filed on Jan. 11, 1991 which is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 07/637,016 filed on Jan. 4, 1991, both now abandoned.
This specification includes a microfiche appendix having three sheets of microfiche which collectively contain two hundred and thirteen frames.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to reducing unwanted audio or acoustic feedback in a communication system, and particularly to an adaptive acoustic echo cancellation device for suppressing acoustic feedback between the loudspeaker and microphone of a telephone unit in a teleconferencing system. The telephone unit of a typical audio conferencing system includes a loudspeaker for broadcasting an incoming telephone signal into an entire room. Similarly, the telephone's microphone is typically designed to pick up the voice of any person within the room and transmit the voice to a remote telephone at the far end of the communication system.
Unlike conventional hand held telephone sets, conference telephone units are prone to acoustic feedback between the loudspeaker unit and microphone. For example, a voice signal which is broadcast into the room by the loudspeaker unit may be picked up by the microphone and transmitted back over the telephone lines. As a result, persons at the far end of the communication system hear an echo of their voice. The echo lags the person's voice by the round trip delay time for the voice signal. Typically, the echo is more noticeable as the lag between the person's voice and the echo increases. Accordingly, it is particularly annoying in video conferencing systems which transmit both video and audio information over the same telephone lines. The additional time required to transmit video data increases the round trip delay of the audio signal, thereby extending the lag between a person's voice and the echo.
Many conference telephones avoid echo by allowing only half duplex communication (that is, by allowing communication over the phone line to occur in only one direction at a time) thereby preventing feedback. For example, when the loudspeaker unit is broadcasting a voice, the telephone disables the microphone to prevent the loudspeaker signal from being fed back by the microphone.
While a half duplex system avoids echo, it often cuts off a person's voice in mid-sentence. For example, when both parties speak simultaneously, the telephone unit allows communication in only one direction, thereby clipping the voice of one party.
Some loudspeaker telephones employ echo cancellation in an attempt to allow full-duplex communication without echo. Conventional echo cancellation devices attempt to remove from the microphone signal the component believed to represent the acoustic feedback. More specifically, they prepare an electric signal which duplicates the acoustic feedback between the loudspeaker and the microphone. This electric signal is subtracted from the microphone signal in an attempt to remove the echo.
Electrically duplicating the acoustic feedback is difficult since the acoustic response of the room containing the microphone and speaker must in essence be simulated electrically. This is complicated by variations in the acoustic characteristics of different rooms and by the dramatic changes in a given room's characteristics which occur if the microphone or loudspeaker is moved, or if objects are moved in the room.
To compensate for the changing characteristics of the room, many echo cancellation devices model the room's characteristics with an adaptive filter which adjusts with changes in the room. More specifically, the electric signal used to drive the telephone's loudspeaker is applied to a stochastic gradient least-means-squares adaptive filter whose tap weights are set to estimate the room's acoustic response. The output of the filter, believed to estimate the acoustic echo, is then subtracted from the microphone signal to eliminate the component of the microphone signal derived from acoustic feedback. The resultant "echo corrected" signal is then sent to listeners at the far end of the communication system.
To assure that the adaptive filter accurately estimates the room's response, the device monitors the echo corrected signal. During moments when no one is speaking into the microphone, the adaptive filter adjusts its tap weights such that the energy of the echo corrected signal is at a minimum. In theory, the energy of the echo corrected signal is minimized when the adaptive filter removes from the microphone signal an accurate replica of the acoustic feedback. However, the adaptive process must be disabled whenever a person speaks into the microphone. Otherwise, the unit will attempt to adjust the tap weights in an effort to eliminate the speech.
Since a speech signal is highly correlated, the adaptive filter tends to converge very slowly. Accordingly, some commercial echo cancellation devices attempt to measure the room's acoustic response using a white noise training sequence. During the training sequence, an unpleasant white noise is emitted from the loudspeaker and is acoustically fed back to the microphone. The white noise received by the microphone is a highly uncorrelated signal, causing the adaptive filter to converge quickly. If the filter loses convergence during the conversation, the training sequence must be repeated, briefly interrupting conversation with an annoying white noise signal.
Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide an acoustic echo cancellation device which allows full duplex communication while reducing or eliminating echo. A further object is to eliminate the need for a training sequence with a relative simple filter design which converges quickly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing acoustic feedback in a full duplex communication system. The method includes separating a near end microphone signal into a plurality of bandlimited microphone signals, and similarly separating a near end loudspeaker signal into a plurality of bandlimited loudspeaker signals. Each bandlimited loudspeaker signal is filtered to generate an echo estimation signal which represents an approximation of the acoustic feedback of the bandlimited loudspeaker signal into the near end microphone signal. Each echo cancellation signal is subtracted from the bandlimited microphone signal whose frequency band includes the frequencies of the echo cancellation signal, thereby removing an estimation of the echo in that frequency band.
In one embodiment, a plurality of adaptive filters, each having tap weights which adapt with changes in the acoustic characteristics of the channel between a loudspeaker and microphone are used to generate the echo estimation signals. The performance of the adaptive filter for each band is monitored to determine when the filter's tap weights are diverging. If a given filter begins to diverge, its tap weights are reset. In embodiments employing adaptive filters, the full band microphone signals and full band loudspeaker signals may each be filtered with a whitening filter prior to being separated into bandlimited signals, thereby hastening the convergence of the adaptive filters and discouraging divergence.
Other embodiments further process each echo corrected bandlimited microphone signal to remove any residual echo. More specifically, the echo corrected bandlimited microphone signal in a given band is monitored to determine when there is approximately no near end speech in that band. During such moments, the echo corrected microphone signal in that band is gradually clipped to zero to remove residual echo in that band. During moments when the microphone signal in a given band is being clipped, a simulated background signal is supplied which simulates background sounds from the near end.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following description of particular preferred embodiments taken together with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an echo cancellation device in accordance with the claimed invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an echo cancellation device, showing the signal splitters in further detail.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a bank of adaptive filters for performing echo cancellation on a set of bandlimited signals.
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are a flow chart illustrating a procedure used in updating the tap weights of an adaptive filter.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for computing a threshold for local speech detection.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for implementating a variable gain signal clipper.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for estimating the energy of the background noise in an echo corrected bandlimited microphone signal.
FIGS. 8(a), 8(b) and 8(c) are a flow chart illustrating a procedure for estimating the gain of the channel between a loudspeaker and microphone.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, a microphone 10 converts speech and other acoustic signals in a room into an analog electronic microphone signal. The electronic signal is applied to input signal conditioner 12 which filters the signal with a 7 KHz low pass filter and digitizes the filtered signal at a 16 KHz sampling rate. The resultant digitized microphone signal m(z) (where z is an integer representing the time at which the sample m(z) was taken measured in terms of a number of samples at the 16 khz sampling rate) is applied to echo cancellation system 15 which processes the microphone signal to remove any echo components, and transmits the echo corrected signal to the far end of the communication system. Echo cancellation system 15 is preferably implemented by a 60 MHz DSP16A processor executing the program shown in the microfiche appendix to this specification.
A digitized electronic speaker signal s(z), representing the voice of persons at the far end of the communication system, is received at the near end of the system. The speaker signal s(z) is applied to an output signal conditioner 33 which processes the signal, converting it to an analog electronic signal. The analog signal is applied is loudspeaker 32 which reproduces the voice signal, broadcasting the reproduced voice into the room. The digitized speaker signal s(z) is also applied to echo cancellation system 15 for use in estimating the echo contained in the microphone signal.
Within echo cancellation system 15, m(z) is first passed through a whitening filter 14 which spreads the spectrum of m(z) more evenly across the bandwidth of m(z) while preserving the voice information contained in m(z). The resultant whitened signal m w (z) generated by filter 14 is then applied to a splitter 16 which separate m w (z) into twenty-nine distinct frequency bands and shifts each band limited signal into the baseband.
The bandlimited signals m n (i) (where i represents the time at which the sample m n (i) is taken measured in terms of a number of samples taken at a lower sample to be discussed below) are then applied to a bank 18 of echo cancellers which subtract from each signal m n (i) an estimation of the echo in the band n. To estimate the echo in each band, the loudspeaker signal s(z) is whitened and band filtered in the same manner as the microphone signal m(z). More specifically, s(z) is passed through a whitening filter 28 which is similar to or identical to whitening filter 14. The whitened loudspeaker signal s w (z) is then separated by signal splitter 30 into its spectral components, represented by a ,set of twenty-nine bandpass loudspeaker signals s b (i), and each component is shifted into the baseband. As will be explained more fully below, each bandpass loudspeaker signal s n (i) is then passed through a corresponding least-means-squared filter (within the bank of echo cancellers 18) which models the response of the channel between loudspeaker 32 and microphone 10 in the frequency band n. The output of each filter is used as the estimated echo signal to be subtracted from m n (i).
Subtracting the estimated echo signal from the corresponding band limited microphone signal m n (i) eliminates most of the acoustic feedback between loudspeaker 32 and microphone 10 in band n. The remaining residual echo is typically not noticeable because the voice of persons speaking into microphone 10 tends to mask the presence of the residual echo. However, during moments when there is no such near end voice signal, the residual echo is more apparent.
To eliminate any noticeable residual echo, the echo corrected signals m'(i) are applied to a bank of twenty-nine center clippers 20. Bank 20 includes a center clipper for each bandlimited microphone signal m' n (i). Each center clipper monitors a corrected signal m' n (i) to determine when it falls below a certain threshold. When m' n (i) drops below the threshold, the center clipper assumes that m' n (i) contains no near end speech. Accordingly the clipper begins gradually attenuating the corrected signal m' n (i) to zero to eliminate the residual echo in band n.
Center clipping thus operates independently in each band. If a narrow band voice signal (e.g., a high pitched voice or a whistle) is applied to the microphone, center clipping will highly attenuate the microphone signal in all silent bands, allowing the bands containing the narrow band voice signal to pass without clipping. Thus, echo is completely eliminated in all attenuated bands containing no near end speech. In the other bands, the echo cancellers 18 remove most of the echo, any residual echo being masked by the narrow band voice signal.
While clipping eliminates noticeable residual echo, it introduces noticeable changes in background noise as it is activated and deactivated. For example, assume the microphone picks up the sound of a fan operating in the room at the near end of the communication system. Since this sound is not an echo, it tends to pass through the echo cancellers 18. However, when center clipping engages to fully eliminate echo, it also suppresses the sound of the fan. Thus, the listeners at the far end hear the fan drift in and out as clipping is engaged and disengaged. To eliminate this annoying side effect of center clipping, the clipped signals are applied to a bank of noise fillers which add to the clipped signals a noise signal which mimics the clipped background noise.
After the bandlimited signals are processed by bank 22 of noise fillers, they are applied to composer 24 which assembles them into a composite signal c w (z). Finally, the composite signal c w (z) is applied to an inverse whitening filter 26 which performs the inverse operation of the whitening filter 14, thereby returning the signal to a form ready for transmission to listeners at the far end.
Referring to FIG. 2, the separation of the microphone and speech signals into a set of bandlimited signals is now described in more detail. Within splitter 16, the whitened microphone signal m w (z) is first applied to a bank of digital bandpass filters 34 which separate m w (z) into its spectral components. The bandwidths of the filters cover the entire 7 KHz frequency spectrum of m w (z) without gaps. Toward this end, the filter bandwidths preferably overlap.
Low complexity methods are known in the art for implementing a bank of bandpass filters in which each filter has the same bandwidth. See e.g., R. F. Crochiere et al., "Multirate Digital Signal Processing, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1983; P. L. Chu, "Quadrature Mirror Filter Design for an Arbitrary Number of Equal Bandwidth Channels," IEEE Trans on ASSP, ASSP-33, No. 1, February 1985 p. 203-218. A bank of filters made according to these techniques span frequencies from zero to one half the sampling rate of the signal applied to the bank of filters. The microphone signal m(z) applied to the bank of bandpass filters 34 is sampled at 16 KHz. Accordingly, a bank of filters implemented according to the sampled techniques covers frequencies up to 8 KHz, i.e., one half the sampling rate. However, since m(z) is previously low pass filtered by signal conditioner 12 to eliminate frequencies above 7 KHz, the highest frequency filters in the bank which lie in the low pass filter's transition band may be ignored.
Several factors must be weighed in choosing the number of filters in the bank. For example, using a large number of filters reduces the bandwidth of each filter, which, as be explained more fully below, reduces the number of computations required to process a given bandlimited signal. However, such reduction in bandwidth increases the delay introduced by each filter. Further, a large number of filters yield many bandlimited signals m n (i), thereby increasing the computational cost of implementing the bandpass filters, echo cancellers, center clippers and noise fillers. Accordingly, in the preferred embodiment, the bank of bandpass filters 34 contains 32 filters covering frequencies up to 8 KHz. Only the lower 29 filters are used, however, since the input microphone signal m(z) has only a 7 KHz bandwidth.
Each filter 34 is a 192 tap, symmetric FIR (finite impulse response) filter having a magnitude response equal to the square root of a raised cosine. This response is preferable since it gives a smooth transition from passband to stopband. Each filter thus has a 250 Hz, 3 dB bandwidth and a 500 Hz, 40 dB bandwidth. Attenuation at the 500 Hz bandwidth must be high to prevent aliasing.
Each bandlimited signal (with the exception of the output of lowpass filter 34(a) which is baseband), is then applied to a frequency shifter 36 which modulates the bandlimited signal to shift its frequency spectrum downward to the baseband.
Since the full band microphone signal m(z) is sampled at 16 KHz, each band limited signal is also sampled at the same 16 KHz rate. However, since each bandlimited signal has a much narrower bandwidth than the microphone signal, many of these samples are redundant. Accordingly, each bandlimited signal is decimated by a decimation unit 38 to reduce the sampling rate to approximately the Nyquist rate, that is, twice the bandwidth of the filter 34. In the preferred embodiment, decimation units 38 subsample at 1 KHz, or one sixteenth of the original sampling rate. This dramatically reduces the number of samples, thereby reducing the number of computations required in implementing the subsequent echo cancellation, center clipping and noise filling. Bandpass filters 34, frequencies shifters 36 and decimation units 38 are implemented in a Weaver single sideband modulator structure as proposed in R. E. Crochiere et al, "Multirate Digital Signal Processing", Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. (1983).
The whitened loudspeaker signal s w (z) must also be split into its frequency components for purposes of estimating the echo in each band. Accordingly, s w (z) is passed through a bank of bandpass filters 40 which separate s w (z) into distinct frequency bands (which are the same as those used in the microphone path). The resultant bandlimited signals are then shifted downward in frequency to the baseband by frequency shifters 42, and undersampled by decimation units 44 to eliminate redundant samples.
The bandlimited microphone signals mn(i) are processed by echo cancellers 18, center clippers 20 and noise filters 22 independently in each band. At the completion of this processing, the bandlimited signals are reconstructed into a composite signal c w (z). Accordingly, each bandlimited signal provided by noise fillers 22 is first applied to a set of sample rate convertors 46 which increase the sampling rate of each signal back to 16 KHz. More specifically, each sample rate converter adds fifteen new samples between each pair of existing samples, each new sample having a value of zero. Next, frequency shifters 48 shift each band limited signal upward in frequency to the band in which it initially resided. The resultant set of bandlimited signals are applied to a set of band pass filters 49 which, in effect, replace each of the new samples of value zero with a value derived from interpolating between neighboring samples. The signals are then applied to adder 53 which combines the bandlimited signals to yield the composite signal c w (z). A Weaver single sideband modulator structure is employed in implementing sample rate converters 46, frequency shifters 48, and bandpass filters 49.
Referring to FIG. 3, the following describes in more detail the implementation of echo cancellation on each bandlimited microphone signal, m n (i). Bank 18 includes an adaptive filter for each band. Each adaptive filter estimates the echo in a corresponding band and removes the estimated echo from the corresponding bandlimited microphone signal. Adaptive filter 50, for example, removes the acoustic echo in band n from the bandlimited microphone signal, m n (i). Toward this end, adaptive filter 50 includes a least-means-square ("LMS") filter 52 whose tap weights are chosen to model the response of the channel between loudspeaker 32 and microphone 10 in the frequency band n.
The bandlimited loudspeaker signal s n (i) in the same band, n, is applied to the input of LMS filter 52. In response, filter 52 generates an estimate e n (i) of the acoustic feedback of s n (i). The estimated echo e n (i) is then applied to a subtractor 54 which removes the estimated echo signal from m n (i) to produce an echo corrected signal m' n (i).
Adaptive filter 50 continuously monitors the corrected signal m' n (i) to determine whether the LMS filter 52 accurately models the response of the channel between the loudspeaker and microphone. More specifically, echo canceller 18 includes for each band n, a local speech detector 56 which determines whether the bandlimited microphone signal m n (i) includes any near end speech. When no one is speaking into the microphone, the microphone signal m n (i) contains only the acoustic feedback from the loudspeaker and any background noise from the room. Thus, if LMS filter 52 properly models the room response, the corrected signal m' n (i) should be approximately zero during this time (assuming the background noise is relatively small). Accordingly, if m' n (i) is too large during a moment when local speech detector 56 indicates that no one is speaking at the near end, a tap weight adjustment module 58 within adaptive filter 50 adjusts the tap weights of the LMS filter to reduce m' n (i) thereby more closely modeling the room response.
The LMS filter 52 for band n is a conventional least means square adaptive filter having L taps. Filter 52 derives its output e n (i) in response to the input s n (i) according to the equation. ##EQU1## were w n (j) is the tap weight of the jth tap of the filter.
The number of taps L required to model the room's response depends on the reverberance of the room in band n. The reverberance varies with the size of the room and losses due to absorption. For frequencies below roughly 1500 Hz and room sizes of twenty by thirty by ten feet, the echo drops by 20 dB in energy in approximately 0.1 seconds. At higher frequencies, the time for echo reverberance to settle is much shorter since more energy is lost as the loudspeaker signal reflects off the room walls. Hence, in the preferred embodiment, each LMS filter in the seven bands below 1500 Hz have on hundred and twenty eight taps. Each filter in the remaining twenty-two higher bands each include only forty-eight taps.
The following describes a preferred method for adjusting the tap weights to adaptively model the response of the channel between loudspeaker 32 and microphone 10. For the moment in time i+K, module 58 computes the value of the filter's jth tap weight w n (j,i+K), according to the following equation: ##EQU2## where, as described more fully below, K is a thinning ratio, B n is a normalization factor, and c n is an output of center clippers 20 described below.
The normalization factor B n for band n is proportional to the reciprocal of the maximum instantaneous energy E n (i) of the bandlimited loudspeaker signal s n (i) within the last L samples, i.e., B n =B/2E n (i) where B is a constant. In general, larger values of B yield faster adaptation speeds at the expense of a less accurate estimation of the echo once the adaptive filter has settled. The preferred embodiment sets B equal to 2 -8 .
Referring to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), module 58 (FIG. 3) maintains a running maximum M n of the bandlimited loudspeaker signal s n (i) for purposes of computing the normalization factor B n . M n is initially set equal to zero. (Step 310). Upon arrival of each sample of s n (i), module 58 compares the absolute value of the sample s n (i) to M n . (Step 312). If the most recent sample is greater than M n , M n is set equal to the absolute value of s n (i) and E n (i) is correspondingly updated (i.e., E n (i)=M n ·M n ). (Step 314). The next sample of s n (i) is then fetched and compared against the new M n . (Steps 316, 312).
If the magnitude of latest sample s n (i) is less than the current M n , M n remains unchanged. However, a parameter "age" (initially set to zero in step 310) is incremented to indicate that a new sample has arrived since M n was last updated. (Step 318). As each new sample is fetched and compared to M n , the parameter age is incremented until the next sample arrives which exceeds M n . If the age parameter exceeds a threshold L 1 (preferably equal to L/2), module 58 begins maintaining a temporary maximum, "Temp" (Steps 320, 322). More specifically, as each new sample s n (i) arrives, it is also compared to "Temp" (initially set to zero in Step 310). (Step 322). If the magnitude of the new sample is greater than Temp, Temp is replaced with the magnitude of the new sample. (Step 324). If the age parameter exceeds a second threshold L 2 (preferably equal to 1.5 L), M n is discarded and replaced with Temp. (Steps 326, 328). The maximum energy E n (i) is accordingly recomputed and age is updated to indicate the approximate age of the value Temp, i.e., L 1 . (Steps 330, 322) Temp is accordingly reset to zero. In this manner, the normalization factor B n for each band n is continually maintained proportional to the maximum instantaneous energy of the loudspeaker signal in band n over the last L samples.
The thinning ratio K in equation 2, determines how often each tap weight is updated. See M. J. Gingell, "A Block Mode Update Echo Canceller Using Custom LSI", Globecom Conference Record, vol. 3, Nov. 1983, p. 1394-97. For example, if K=1, each tap weight is updated with each new sample of s n (i) and m' n (i). In the preferred embodiment, each tap weight is updated once every eight samples of s n (i), m' n (i). (i.e., K=8). Further the tap weights are not all updated simultaneously. Upon receipt of a new sample, a first set of tap weights, consisting of every eighth tap weight, is adjusted. Upon arrival of the next sample, module 58 adjusts the weights of all taps adjacent to the taps in the first set. Module 58 repeats this procedure updating the next set of adjacent tap weights with the arrival of each new sample. Upon the arrival of the ninth sample, module 58 returns to the first set of taps to begin a new cycle.
Thus, when the room's acoustic response changes, as for example when the microphone is moved, the tap weights are automatically adjusted according to equation 2. However, the above algorithm is very slow to adjust the tap weights if signals s n (i) and m n (i) are highly correlated, narrow band signals. Since speech tends to be a highly correlated, narrow band signal, the tap weights should adjust slowly. However, to hasten convergence, the system employs whitening filters 14, 28 to remove the signal correlation and broaden the spectrum of the signals. Whitening filters 14, 28 are simple fixed, single zero filters having the transfer function:
h(z)=1-0.95/z (3)
After echo cancellation and other signal processing are performed on the whitened signals, inverse whitening filter 26 undoes the effect of whitening filters 14, 28. Accordingly, the inverse filter's transfer function is the reciprocal of the function h(z):
g(z)=1/h(z)=1/(1-0.95/z) (4)
The bandpass architecture also assists in hastening convergence, since, in each band, a signal appears more random and flatter in spectrum.
Ideally, module 58 should only update the tap weights when the microphone signal is primarily due to the acoustic feedback from the loudspeaker. If a significant component of the microphone signal results from near end speech into the microphone, continued application of the above described technique to recalculate the weights will cause the tap weights to diverge. Referring to FIG. 5, to determine whether a bandlimited microphone signal m n (i) includes near end speech, local speech detector 56 first computes, for each sample of the bandlimited loudspeaker s n (i), an attenuated version s' n (i) as follows:
s'.sub.n (i)=G·D·s.sub.n (i) (5)
where G is the loudspeaker to microphone gain, (described below) and D is a dynamic gain which varies with the magnitudes of past samples of the loudspeaker signal (Step 118). If the attenuated loudspeaker signal s' n (i) is greater than or equal to the microphone signal m n (i), detector 56 assumes that acoustic feedback predominates and therefore asserts the enable signal calling for adjustment of the tap weights. (Steps 120, 122). If s' n (i) is less than m n (i), the detector assumes that the microphone signal includes near end speech. Accordingly, it negates the enable signal, causing module 58 to freeze the tap weights of all adaptive filters at their present values. (Steps 120, 124). Thus, if a local speech detector recognizes speech in any band, the adaptive filters of all bands freeze.
Determining whether the microphone signal contains near end speech is complicated by the room's reverberance. More specifically, the sound from the loudspeaker will reverberate in the room for some time after the loudspeaker is silent. Unless precautions are taken, the local speech detector may mistake the presence of those reverberations in the microphone signal for speech since, during reverberance, the loudspeaker may be silent. As explained below, local speech detector 56 avoids this problem by adjusting the gain D in accordance with the recent history of the loudspeaker signal. If the loudspeaker signal was recently intense (thereby inducing reverberance), gain D is set relatively high to increase the magnitude of the microphone signal required for detector 56 to conclude that local speech is occurring.
Referring to FIG. 5, detector 56 initializes the gain D to zero (Step 110). As each new sample of the bandlimited speech signal s n (i) arrives, the detector compares the magnitude of the sample to the value of D. (Step 112). If the magnitude of new sample is greater than the present gain D, detector 56 increases D to the magnitude of the new sample. (Step 114). If the new sample is less than or equal to D, detector 56 reduces the magnitude of D by 0.5% of its present value. (Step 116) Thus, the gain decreases slowly from the most recent peak in the loudspeaker signal until a new sample of the loudspeaker signal arrives which is above the gain. The rate of decay is preferably set to approximate the rate at which reverberance dampens. The desired rate may therefore vary with the room characteristics. Further, since reverberance may decay much more rapidly in high frequency bands than in lower frequency bands, different decay rates may be used for each band.
Even if tap weight adjustment is disabled during local speech, the tap weights may still diverge if the loudspeaker emits a sinusoidal or other periodic signal (e.g., if someone at the far end whistles). Whitening filters 14 and 28 discourage such divergence but cannot eliminate it for such extremely narrow bandwidth signals. Accordingly, each tap weight adjustment module 58 (see FIG. 3) continuously compares the energy of the echo corrected microphone signal m' n (i) to the energy of the uncorrected microphone signal m n (i). If the corrected signal has at least twice as much energy as the uncorrected signal, divergence is declared for that band and all tap weights are set to zero for that band. All other bands remain unchanged.
Referring to FIG. 6, the following describes the operation of center clipper 20 in further detail. As explained above, center-clipping is designed to eliminate residual echo by reducing the microphone signal to zero during periods when no one is speaking at the near end (i.e., no "local speech"). This technique obviously does nothing to remove residual echo during periods when someone is speaking at the near end. However, the residual echo is not noticeable during these periods since it is masked by the local speech.
As explained above, there may be local speech in certain bands, and not in others, as for example when someone whistles into the microphone. Accordingly, center-clipping independently operates in each band, clipping the microphone signal in bands having no local speech and passing it in bands containing local speech.
The clipper determines whether there is local speech in a band in basically the same manner as the local speech detector 56. For example, in band n, clipper 20 compares the echo corrected microphone signal m' n (i) against the attenuated loudspeaker signal s' n (i) used by the local speech detector. (Step 130). If m' n (i) is less than or equal to s' n (i), clipper 20 assumes there is no local speech, and begins clipping the microphone signal m' n (i). However, rather than immediately clipping the signal, clipper 20 gradually reduces the gain G n of the band's clipper circuit to zero. More specifically, the output of the clipper in band n, c n (i), is related to the input m' n (i) as follows:
c.sub.n (i)=G.sub.n ·m'.sub.n (i) (6)
Upon the arrival of each sample of m' n (i) which is less than or equal to s' n (i), the gain G n is decreased by a value I n , 0.05 in the illustrated embodiment, until reaching a minimum value of zero. (See Steps 132, 136, 140, 142). This eliminates a clicking sound which may occur if clipping is introduced more abruptly.
If the microphone signal is greater than s' n (i), clipper 20 assumes there is near end speech and proceeds to remove clipping, allowing the microphone signal m' n (i) to pass. However, rather than abruptly removing clipping, clipper 20 gradually increases the gain of the clipper circuit (using the same step size as used above i.e., I n =0.05) until it reaches unity, thereby preventing clicking sounds which may be introduced by abrupt removal of clipping. (See Steps 134, 136, 138, 144).
As explained above, center clipping causes background noise in the room to fade in and out as clipping is activated and deactivated. More specifically, when a person at the near end speaks into the microphone while the listeners at the far end of the communication system remain silent, the remote listeners will hear the background noise in the local room disappear with each pause in the person's voice. To eliminate this effect, noise filler 22 replaces the clipped signal with an artificial noise signal having approximately the same amount of energy as the background noise being clipped. Thus, the echo remains clipped while the background noise is replaced.
It is difficult to determine how much of the clipped signal is due to background noise and how much is due to residual echo. To measure the background noise, noise filler 22 examines the history of the echo corrected microphone signal. Presumably, there will be moments when no one is speaking at either end of the communication system. During these moments, the microphone signal contains only the background noise in the room. Referring to FIG. 7, filler 22 attempts to locate those periods and measure the energy of the microphone signal. Toward this end, it breaks the prior samples of the echo corrected microphone signal m' n (i) into one hundred blocks of samples, each block containing consecutive samples covering a twenty millisecond period of time. (Steps 410, 412). It next calculates the average energy of m' n (i) over each block. (Step 414). The block having the minimum average energy is assumed to cover a period of time when the microphone signal in band n includes only background noise. Accordingly, the average energy of this block is used as the estimate of the energy of the background noise E n in the band n. (Step 416).
For each band n, a uniformly distributed pseudo-random noise signal n n (i) whose energy is equal to that of the estimated background noise is then generated using a random number generator. More specifically, filler 22 first generates a uniformly distributed random signal un(i) ranging from -1 to 1 in value using a computationally efficient random number generator such as described in P. L. Chu, "Fast Gaussian Random Noise Generator", IEEE Trans. ASSP, ASSP-37, No. 10, Oct. 1989, p. 1593-1597. The random signal is then scaled such that its energy matches that of the background noise. More specifically, the noise signal n n (i) is derived from the random signal as follows: ##EQU3##
After preparing an artificial noise signal n n (i) which has an energy equivalent to the background noise, filler 22 adds the artificial noise to the clipped microphone signal in an amount complementary to the amount of clipping. More specifically, the filler output d n (i) is computed as follows:
d.sub.n (i)=G.sub.n ·m'.sub.n +(1-G.sub.n)·n.sub.n (i)(8)
where G n is the gain of clipper 20 for band n.
As indicated above, the local speech detector and the center clippers both employ the magnitude of speaker to microphone gain G in determining whether the microphone signal includes near end speech. As explained below, the microphone gain sensor 60 (FIG. 1) continually estimates the gain G, adjusting it with changes in the actual speaker to microphone gain which occur during a telephone conversation (e.g., as when the microphone is moved).
Referring to FIGS. 8(a), 8(b), and 8(c), in estimating the speaker-to-microphone gain, the gain sensor 60 first locates a two second time interval over which the average energy of the full band loudspeaker signal generally exceeds that of the loudspeaker's background noise (step 212). More specifically, for each two second interval, sensor 60 segments the samples of fullband loudspeaker signal s(z) within that interval into 100 consecutive blocks. Thus each block contains samples over a 20 millisecond time period. (Step 214). Sensor 60 next computes the energy of the loudspeaker signal in each block. (Step 216). From these energies, sensor 60 selects the minimum energy as an estimate of energy of the loudspeaker's background noise. (Step 218). The energy of the loudspeaker signal in each block is then compared with the energy of the loudspeaker's background noise. (Step 220). If the energy of the loudspeaker signal is greater than twice the background noise in at least one half of the blocks, sensor 60 concludes that the loudspeaker signal generally exceeds the background noise during this two second interval. (Step 220).
Accordingly, sensor 60 proceeds to calculate the full band energy of microphone signal over the same entire two second interval by computing the energy in each 20 msec block and summing the energies for each of the one hundred blocks. (Step 222, 224, and 228). In the same manner the energy of the loudspeaker signal is computed over the entire two second interval by summing the previously calculated energies for each block. (Step 228). Sensor 60 computes an estimated speaker-to-microphone gain for the interval by computing the square root of the ratio of the full interval microphone energy to the full interval loudspeaker energy. (Step 228).
The sensor repeats the above steps (210-228) until it finds three consecutive two second intervals for which the estimated speaker-to-microphone gains are within ten percent of each other. (Steps 230, 232). Once three such intervals are located, sensor 60 updates the speaker-to-microphone gain G with the estimated speaker-to-microphone gain of the most recent of the three consecutive intervals. (Step 234). Thus, six seconds of loudspeaker only speech are required to find the correct ratio. The sensor continuously monitors the fullband loudspeaker signal, updating the gain G with each new two second interval. (Steps 230, 231, 232, 234, 236, 238).
Additions, subtractions, deletions and other modifications of the preferred particular embodiments of the inventions will be apparent to those practiced in the art and are within the scope of the following claims. | An echo cancelling device for reducing acoustic feedback between a loudspeaker and microphone in a full duplex communication system such as a telephone conferencing system. The device includes a whitening filter which flattens the microphone signal's spectrum and reduces its auto-correlation. A first signal splitter separates the whitened microphone signal into a plurality of bandlimited microphone signals. The loudspeaker signal is similarly whitened and separated into a plurality of bandlimited loudspeaker signals. A plurality of adaptive echo estimators estimate the echo in each frequency band defined by the above signal splitters. More specifically, each estimator generates an echo estimation signal representing an approximation of the acoustic feedback of a corresponding bandlimited loudspeaker signal into the microphone. To cancel echo, a subtractor removes each echo estimation signal from the bandlimited microphone signal of the same frequency band as the estimation signal. The device further processes the echo corrected signal in each band with a center clipper, to remove any residual echo, and with a noise filler to simulate the background signals removed by the clippers. | 7 |
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention deals generally with building construction and more specifically with the construction of basment walls.
The traditional methods of constructing building basements are well established. For commercial structures and for high volume residential developments with identical dimensions for each building, poured concrete is used. This involves the construction of forms, either wood or metal, in the exact shape of the vertical basement walls, and then pouring concrete into the forms. After the concrete hardens, the forms are removed and construction continues on the rest of the building.
The cost of forms limits this method to those buildings where the height requires the strength of reinforced concrete or where the reuse of forms for many identical structures located in the same general area permits the sharing of the costs of form construction by many buildings.
The more common basement construction technique is the straight forward construction of the vertical walls by laying many courses of cinder block, one on top of the other. This method is virtually the only one in use for isolated building sites or small developments, and it is both time consuming and labor intensive. There has been no way of avoiding the fact that each cinder block must be individually placed and surrounded by mortar, and while whole walls above ground can be prefabricated, no such economy has been available for basements. One need only watch a house being built to realize that the cinder block basement may take over a week to construct on a typical site, while the framing and exterior walls go up in just a day or so.
The present invention changes all that. The speed of construction of the basement of the preferred embodiment of the invention is no longer closely linked to the amount of manpower available, because the construction of a basement according to the invention is essentially a stud and sheath system.
The present invention permits the construction of a dry, strong, insulated basement with a limited work force in a relatively short time. Moreover, the labor cost is relatively unrelated to the size of the structure so that, for instance, a full height basement can be constructed with little additional cost or time compared to a lower height structure.
The key to the structure is the use of concrete studs for vertical height and strength, and the use of machine-sprayed concrete on the exterior wall for sealing and waterproofing.
The actual construction of such a basement involves the use of a unique precast concrete stud. Typically, this stud is two inches thick by six inches wide and eight feet high. It is cast in essentially rectangular cross section but can also contain a central narrower web to reduce weight and material cost. Steel reinforcing rods oriented along the length are cast into the studs to increase their strength, and several holes are formed in the central region to permit subsequent laying of electrical wires or water pipes through the studs within the walls that they form.
When the studs are cast, a pressure treated wood strip is cast onto one long, narrow edge, the edge which will eventually be the support of the interior basement wall, and fasteners, such as metal nails, are cast into the opposite edge, the edge which will hold the exterior surface. Moreover, two notches are cast into the ends of the studs for use in interlocking the studs with other components of the structure.
The studs are thereby specifically designed to match their anticipated use in a specific building system.
The actual construction of a basement starts with the laying of individual bricks spaced approximately 4 to 6 feet apart around the periphery of the base of the structure where adjustable and removeable leveling legs will be located. Upon these bricks is placed a pressure treated wood beam to which are attached adjustable legs protruding downward. This wooden beam is typically 2 inches by 4 inches in cross section. It is this base beam laid upon a crushed rock footing, upon which the rest of the structure is built.
Each precast concrete stud is then set onto the base beam so that its notch fits the base beam and its interior wood strip overlaps the base beam and is nailed to the base beam. The concrete studs are typically spaced on two foot centers and extend vertically upward eight feet where a top wooden stud fits into the top notch of each concrete stud. The interior wooden strip of each concrete stud is also nailed to the top wooden dubble plate, and ultimately the wooden top plate and the first floor's joists are also nailed to the dubble plate. The structure thus formed resembles the typical above-ground structure of a building, the major exception being that what appear, at least from the inside, to be wooden vertical studs are, in fact, reinforced concrete studs with a thin interior covering of wood strip cast onto their interior surfaces.
After the stud construction is completed, the exterior walls of the basement are constructed. This begins with the attachment to the exterior of the concrete studs of one or more layers of rigid sheath insulation. This is done by pushing the sheath insulation against the fasteners protruding from the concrete beams and impaling the sheath on those fasteners.
A layer of wire mesh is then attached over the entire surface outside of the insulation by bending the fasteners over the wires of the mesh to hold it in place, thus forming a two layer base of insulation and wire mesh upon which to spray concrete.
At this point the entire structure is leveled and plumbed by use of the adjustable legs attached to the base beam, and then the concrete is sprayed onto the outer surface of wire mesh at high velocity. The technique and machinery for this spraying is well known in the art of building, and it is applied to a one and one-half inch to two inch thickness. The sprayed concrete is also directed to cover the junction between the wall structure and the ground upon which the structure is built, so that an integrated watertight surface is formed from below the base beam to the top plate.
Finally, the concrete basement floor is poured on the inside so that it covers the concrete studs to a height of approximately three inches, thus further locking the structure in place.
A strong waterproof basement wall is thus formed with much less labor and in a far shorter time than by conventional construction techniques of laying cinder block. Moreover, the integral exterior surface is far less susceptible to water seepage and the wood strip cast onto the interior surface of each concrete stud permits the finishing of the interior walls by standard interior wall techniques, with none of the problems of attaching finishing materials to concrete or cinder block.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a typical reinforced concrete stud.
FIG. 2 is a cross section view through section 2--2 on FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment of a cross section of a stud similar to that of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a vertical cross section of a baement wall built according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross section of a basement wall showing a shelf for supporting exterior brick facing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiment of the concrete stud of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 where concrete stud 10 is shown with a break in its length. Region 12 of stud 10 is cast with an essentially rectangular cross section, while region 14 is cast with thinner web 16 to reduce finished weight and decrease material costs. Holes 18 are cast into web 16 to provide passthrus for pipes and wires after the stud is built into a wall.
Fasteners 20, typically nails, protrude from one edge of concrete stud 10 into which they have been cast. Fasteners 20 are used to attach insulation and wire mesh to the exterior of the wall to be constructed with studs 10, as discussed below in reference to FIG. 4.
The other edge of concrete stud 10 has pressure treated wood strip 22 attached to it. The bond between concrete stud 10 and wood strip 22 is aided by fasteners 24 which were attached to wood strip 22 and protruded through it before concrete stud 10 was cast onto wood strip 22 and around fasteners 24.
Concrete stud 10 is also formed with notches 26 and 28 at the top and bottom, respectively. These notches are used to interlock with wood structures at the top and bottom of the basement wall as described below in regard to FIG. 4.
FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross section taken through concrete stud 10 at plane 2--2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 thus show the thinning down of concrete stud 10 from normal thickness at region 14 to web 16. Hole 18, which passes through web 16 is shown by phantom lines. Wood strip 22 is cast onto one edge of concrete stud 10 and the bond is aided by the use of fasteners 24, which along with staple 32, also serve to locate rod 30 during the casting of the concrete. Fasteners 24 may also be distorted or roughened to encourage adhesion by the concrete. At the opposite edge of concrete stud 10, fastener 20 is cast into concrete stud 10 with its point protruding outward. This is later used to attach insulation and wire mesh to the exterior of the basement wall.
FIG. 2 also shows a typical arrangement for the reinforcing of concrete stud 10. In the arrangement shown, vertical reinforcing rods 30 and 31 are oriented to run the length of concrete stud 10.
FIG. 3 is a cross section view of an alternate embodiment of a stud similar to that of FIG. 1, but without the thinner web. While such a stud is heavier and uses somewhat more concrete material, these disadvantages are somewhat compensated for by the simplicity of the forms needed to cast such rectangular beams. Rectangular concrete stud 11 differs from concrete stud 10 only in its thicker central portion 17. Other features such as wood strip 22 and fasteners 20 and 24 are the same as with concrete stud 10.
FIG. 4 depicts wall 40 constructed according to the teachings of the invention and into which concrete stud 10 is integrated. FIG. 4 is a cross section view in a vertical plane through wall 40, but is foreshortened by use of a break point in the height.
Wall 40 is constructed by first laying several bricks 42 spaced apart to support pressure treated wood beam 46 so that notch 28 and wood strip 22 contact wood stud 46, and wood strip 22 is nailed to wood beam 46 with conventional nails (not shown). Several concrete studs are placed along wall 40 in this manner at an appropriate spacing, typicaly two feet apart, and then dubble plate 48 is set into notch 26 at the top of all the concrete studs 10, and wood strip 22 is also nailed to dubble plate 48. Top plate 50 and floor assembly 52 are then attached to dubble plate 48 by conventional construction techniques.
The exterior of wall 40 is constructed by impaling rigid sheath insulation 54 upon fasteners 20 to the thickness of insulation desired, hanging wire mesh 56 on fasteners 20, and then bending fasteners 20 to capture both wire mesh 56 and insulation 54.
Concrete surface 58 is then sprayed onto insulation 54 and wire mesh 56 by standard techniques of high velocity concrete spraying. Several machines are currently marketed for such spraying. The concrete spray is, however, directed so as to form the vertical portions of wall 40, but is also sprayed to cover a monolithic footer and a waterproof seal area 60 around the junction between wall 40 and bricks 42 and earth base 43 upon which they sit.
Finally, concrete basement floor 64 is poured inside the basement on top of stone base 44 to a depth sufficient to lock concrete studs 10 and wood studs 46 in place to complete a particularly strong and waterproof wall.
In order to assure that wall 40 is properly level and plumb, it is, at various stages prior to the concrete spraying, adjusted for leveling and proper vertical orientation by use of leveling legs 45 previously attached to base beam 28. Also, after completion as described above, interior finishing can be accomplished by attaching paneling or plasterboard to wall 40 by use of conventional nails or other fasteners onto wood strip 22.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross section similar to the lower portion of FIG. 4 but showing shelf 62 formed by excess thickness of concrete spray. Shelf 62 is used to support an exterior brick veneer (not shown) in structures which are partially above ground level 63, and therefore no concrete need by sprayed above the shelf.
It is to be understood that the form of this invention as shown is merely a preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of parts; equivalent means may be substituted for those illustrated and described; and certain features may be used independently from others without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
For example, the base beam and dubble plate can be any size lumber, preferrably of standard dimension, and the notches at the top and bottom of the concrete beam are then cast to match the size of the lumber to be used. | A new method of construction for building basements. Precast concrete studs are used to build the framework of the vertical walls of the basement, rigid sheet insulation is attached to the outside of the concrete studs, and wire mesh is attached to the sheet insulation. Concrete is then sprayed onto the insulation and wire to form a continuous waterproof outer surface. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cap for protecting the cylinder valve of a gas cylinder. More particularly, the invention concerns a safety cap and the method of making the same for use in connection with portable gas cylinders which positively protects the cylinder valve against damage and, at the same time, permits ready access thereto.
2. Discussion of The Invention
Introduction
Gas cylinders typically comprise strong steel vessels of cylindrical shape in which gases are stored under high pressure. Provided at one end of the gas cylinder is a necked down portion having a cylinder valve including a valve outlet fitting to which a pressure regulator or the like can be connected. A hand-wheel for operating the valve is typically permanently attached to the valve stem.
Threads on the necked down portion of the cylinder provide a means whereby a heavy steel cap is screwed over the valve to protect it from injury during shipment. If the cylinder valve should ever be broken off, the very high pressure of the gas in the cylinder, under escaping tends to give the cylinder rocket propulsion. Because of this danger, it is essential that the cap be in place during shipment and handling of the gas cylinder.
In the past, the cylinder cap has traditionally been made in a generally cylindrical configuration closed at its upper end by a heavy dome shaped wall and open at its lower end for threaded interconnection with the necked down portion of the gas cylinder. Typically, vertically extending, slot-like openings are provided in the wall of the cap to permit release of gas. To gain access to the cylinder valve it is necessary to remove the cylinder cap. This is highly undesirable because removal of the cap exposes the cylinder valve to damage and the resultant possibility of a catastrophic accident. Additionally, the configuration of the prior art cylinder cap makes handling of the cylinder difficult since no safe gripping surface is provided on the cap.
The device of the present invention uniquely overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art cylinder caps by providing a cylinder cap of a novel configuration which permits ready access to the cylinder valve and also provides a built-in hand grip that makes handling of the gas cylinder considerably easier and safer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety cylinder cap for use with gas cylinders to protect the cylinder valve, in which the cap need not be removed from the gas cylinder to gain access to the cylinder valve.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cylinder cap of the aforementioned character which includes a conveniently located gripping member for use in transporting the gas cylinder.
Another object of the invention is to provide a safety cylinder cap which is configured to protect the cylinder valve should the gas cylinder fall over or be dropped during transport.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for making a safety cylinder cap of the character described in which the apertured, a bell-shaped body of the cap is formed from a single sheet of planar material.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method described in the preceding paragraph which enables the cylinder cap to be expeditiously manufactured at low cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a generally front perspective view of the safety cap of the present invention shown connected with a gas cylinder of the character used to contain compressed gas.
FIG. 2 is a generally rear perspective view of the safety cap.
FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational, diagrammatic view of the safety cap partly in cross section to illustrate the configuration of the gripping portion of the device.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the starting, planar workpiece used in the method of fabricating the safety cap of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a side elevational view illustrating the accomplishment of the first step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional side elevational view illustrating the second step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross sectional side elevational view illustrating the third step of the method of forming the safety cap of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the fourth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 11 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the fifth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 12 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the sixth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 13 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the seventh step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 14 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the eighth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 15 is a side elevational cross sectional view illustrating the ninth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 16 is a rear elevational view of the partially formed safety cap of the invention illustrating the tenth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 17 is a front elevational view of the partially fabricated safety cap illustrating the eleventh step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of the safety cap of the invention illustrating the twelfth step of the method of the invention.
FIG. 19 is a side elevational cross sectional view of the safety cap of the invention illustrating the thirteenth of the method of the invention.
FIG. 20 is a view taken along lines 20--20 and partly broken away to better illustrate the configuration of the finished form of the safety cap of the invention and to illustrate the fourteenth step of the method of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the safety cylinder cap of the present invention is there illustrated and generally designated by the numeral 12. The safety cap 12 is shown in threaded interconnection with a gas cylinder 14 of standard construction. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the safety cap comprises a generally bell-shaped body 16 including a first end portion 18 having a first opening 20 of a first size. Safety cap 12 also includes a generally cylindrically shaped, second end portion 22 which is of a second size smaller than the size of opening 20. End portion 20 includes an internal wall 24 which is threaded for interconnection with the threads 26 provided on gas cylinder 14.
As best seen by referring to FIG. 2, adjustment means, generally designated by the numeral 28, are provided for adjusting the size of the second opening 30 of the device. A curved side wall 32 interconnects first and, second end portions 18 and 22 and is provided with a first aperture 34 (FIG. 2) and a second oppositely disposed larger aperture 36 (FIG. 1). Provided proximate the upper margin of aperture 36 is a grip, or finger engaging means for engagement with the fingers of a person lifting the safety cap and the safety cap interconnected with the gas cylinder 14. In the present embodiment of the invention, the finger engaging means is provided in the form of an elongated plastic gripping member 38 having a longitudinally extending slot 39 which defines a pair of spaced apart walls 38a and 38b. Slot 39 is of a width to closely receive the edge of the curved side walls 32 disposed proximate the upper portion of aperture 36.
As best seen by referring to FIG. 3, the upper margin of wall 32 is provided with peripherally extending, rounded bead portion 40. Provided proximate the edge 36a of aperture 36 is a pair of spaced apart, inwardly protruding protuberances 42 which are closely received within a pair of apertures 44 formed in the rear wall 38b of gripping member 38 (FIG. 2). Protuberances 42, in cooperation with apertures 44, securely lock the plastic hand grip member 38 in position over the edge portion 36a of wall 32 defined by the upper extremity by aperture 36. As indicated in FIG. 4, the lower edges of gripping member 38 are rounded to provide comfortable gripping of the safety cap in the manner shown in FIG. 4.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 5, the lower cylindrically shaped portion 22 of the device of the invention is provided with a vertically extending slit 46. Connected to cylindrical portion 22 on opposite sides of slit 46 is a pair of outwardly extending apertured ears 48. Apertures 48a in ears 48 closely receive a connector means, or bolt 50 having a head portion 52 adapted to engage the outer face of one ear 48 and a threaded shank portion 52a. Shank portion 52a receives a nut 53 which is in engagement with the outer face of the other ear 48. Ears 48, along with bolt 50 and nut 53, comprise portions of the adjustment means of the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings. By tightening nut 53 on bolt 50, it is apparent that the width of slot 46 can be slightly narrowed thereby decreasing the size of the second opening 30 in the safety cap. As previously mentioned the adjustment means of the invention permits fine adjustments to be made to the size of the second opening so that the device can be properly threadably interconnected with the threads 26 provided on the gas cylinder. When necessary the adjustment means can also be used to lock the cap in place on the cylinder.
In using the device of the present invention, the lower, or second portion of the device, is threadably interconnected with the threads 26 provided on the gas cylinder. The device is then turned so that aperture 36 is positioned opposite the cylinder valve provided on the gas cylinder. If necessary, nut 53 can be tightened on bolt 50 to lock the cap securely in this position. With the cap thusly oriented, the cylinder valve of the gas cylinder is readily accessible without the necessity of removing the safety cap from the gas cylinder.
A unique feature of the device of the present invention resides in the fact that the entire device, save for the adjustment means, can be constructed from a single sheet of planar starting material identified in FIG. 6 by the numeral 56. The various steps in the method of making the safety cap of the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 20 and will be described in the paragraphs which follow.
Starting with the planar sheet 56, the first step in the method of the invention is to draw the starting material into a cup shaped body 58 of the character shown in FIG. 7. Cup shaped body 58 has an open first end 58a and a second end 58b closed by a top wall 58c. A side wall 60 interconnects first and second ends 58a and 58b.
By a second drawing step a flange 62 is then formed about the open end of the cup shaped body. Following the second draw the flanged, cup-shaped configuration is then restruck to flatten the flange into the configuration identified in FIG. 9 by the numeral 62a. This done, the flange 62a is trimmed in the manner shown in FIG. 10 to form a foreshortened flange 62b. The annular shaped material trimmed from the configuration, designated in FIG. 10 by the numeral 63, is discarded. Following the trim step the lower margin of the cup shaped member is curled to form a peripherally extending rounded bead 64.
The semi-finished product, shown in FIG. 11, is then subjected to a third drawing step wherein the upper portion 60a is roughly formed into a general cylindrical shape and the lower portion 60b is roughly formed into a general bell-shaped configuration. Upon completion of the third draw, a fourth draw is undertaken during which the configuration shown in FIG. 12 is drawn to the configuration shown in FIG. 13. In this step portion 60a is formed into a generally cylindrical shaped portion 66 which is foreshortened and has a diameter less than the diameter of the upper portion 60a. At the same time that portion 66 is being formed, portion 60b is refined into a more elongated bell-shaped portion 68 having an opening 69 which is coaxially aligned with portion 66. At the completion of the fourth drawing step to form the configuration shown in FIG. 13, it is apparent that the interim product has taken on the general exterior shape of the finished device of the invention.
Following the fourth drawing step, as described in the preceding paragraph, the configuration shown in FIG. 13 is placed within an appropriate piercing mechanism so that the central portion 70 of the upper wall 71 of the configuration shown in FIG. 13 is cut away to define a generally circular opening 72 of a predetermined internal diameter. Following the piercing step, is a deburring step which results in the reforming of upper portion 66 into a cylindrical section 74 of the character shown in FIG. 15. The internal diameter of cylindrical section 74 is slightly greater than the diameter of aperture 72 formed in the piercing step.
The interim configuration shown in FIG. 15 is next subjected to a piercing step wherein a slot 76 is formed in cylindrical section 74 and at the same time an aperture 78 is formed in wall 68. As indicated in FIG. 16, slot 76 extends throughout the length of cylindrical section 74 and joins aperture 78. Following the first side piercing step just described, the opposite side of the interim work piece is pierced to form a second aperture 80 which is of a considerably larger size than aperture 78. A comparison of the configuration of the interim article, shown in FIG. 17, with the general configuration of the finished article, shown in FIG. 1, reveals that the basic internal and external configuration of the device of the apparatus has thus been formed from the single planar sheet of material 56 through a series of sequential forming, piercing and deburring steps.
The next step in the method of the present invention involves the interconnection of the outwardly extending ears 48 to cylindrical section 74 on either side of slot 76. Ears 48 are affixed to the cylindrical section 74 by any suitable means such as spot welding. Following affixing of ears 48, which form a part of the adjustment means of the invention, the inner surface of cylindrical section 34 is threaded to form internal threads 84 of the character shown in FIG. 19. Following the threading step, the previously identified protruderences 42 are formed proximate the edge of aperture 80 and the finger engaging means, or elongated member 38, is snapped into position over the edge 36a of the aperture 80 (FIG. 19).
As a final step bolt 50 is inserted through the apertures 48a formed in the outwardingly extending ears, and nut 53 is threaded onto the threaded shank of the connector, or bolt 50. Comparing the finished article shown in FIG. 20 with the device of the invention shown in FIG. 1, it is to understood that the cylindrical portion 74 corresponds with upper portion 22; the internal opening 69 corresponds with opening 20; bell-shaped side wall 68 corresponds with wall 32; aperture 34 corresponds with aperture 78; and aperture 36 corresponds with aperture 80.
It is readily apparent the the method of the invention, as described in the proceeding paragraphs, permits the cylinder cap of the invention to be produced more expeditiously and considerably less expensively than the prior art cylinder caps generally in use.
Having now described the invention in detail in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difficulty in making changes and modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims. | A cylinder cap and method of making the same for use with gas cylinders of standard construction to protect the cylinder valve from damage should the cylinder be knocked over or dropped. The cylinder cap is uniquely formed to allow convenient access to the cylinder valve without having to remove the cap from the cylinder. A gripping member is provided in the cylinder valve access aperture of the bell-shaped cap for use in safely transporting the gas cylinder. In accordance with the method of the invention, the apertured, bell-shaped body of the cap is formed from a single sheet of planar material by means of a series of drawing and piercing steps. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0063985, filed on Jul. 2, 2010, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
1. Field
One or more example embodiments relate to an apparatus and method for inpainting an occlusion area appearing when a virtual viewpoint image is generated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A depth image may monochromatically represent a distance between an object in three-dimensional (3D) space and a camera for capturing the object. The depth image is usually used in a 3D inpainting technology or a 3D warping technology, based on depth information and camera parameters.
A depth image and a color image of an object captured from a reference viewpoint are distinct from a depth image and a color image of an object captured from a virtual viewpoint. This is because when a camera capturing an object is moved, that is, when a viewpoint from which an object is viewed is changed, an area that was not shown prior to changing the viewpoint may now be seen from the changed viewpoint. Here, an area that is shown in a virtual viewpoint image, despite not being shown in a reference viewpoint image, may be referred to as an occlusion area.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a technology to inpaint an occlusion area to provide a more realistic 3D image.
SUMMARY
According to one or more example embodiments, an occlusion area may be inpainted bidirectionally using a foreground area and a background area in a virtual viewpoint image based on a predicted volume and thus, it is possible to improve a cardboard effect that occurs in a unidirectional inpainting scheme.
Additionally, according to one or more example embodiments, an occlusion area may be bidirectionally inpainted and thus, it is possible to accurately reflect 3D information of an object on an image having a wider view angle, for example a free view image, and to subjectively and objectively improve an image quality, when the image is generated.
Furthermore, according to one or more example embodiments, it is possible to provide a more dynamic 3D image at a virtual viewpoint, by predicting a 3D volume.
The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a method of bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume, the method including receiving an input of a depth image and a color image, the depth image having depth information for a first viewpoint, and the color image having color information for the first viewpoint, generating a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint based on the depth image and the color image, separating the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information regarding a direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint, predicting a three-dimensional (3D) volume of the foreground area, and inpainting an occlusion area bidirectionally using the foreground area and the background area, based on the predicted 3D volume, the occlusion area being included in the virtual viewpoint image.
The predicting may further include inpainting a volume to apply a value predicted by a volume prediction scheme to the predicted 3D volume, based on a value of 3D information of the foreground area.
The predicting may include predicting the 3D volume so that an occlusion area of a depth image input at the first viewpoint has a constant depth value corresponding to the foreground area.
The predicting may include predicting the 3D volume so that an occlusion area of a depth image input at the first viewpoint has a depth value of a shape reflected from the foreground area.
The predicting may include predicting the 3D volume based on a volumetric center-based scheme in an occlusion area of a depth image input at the first viewpoint, corresponding to the foreground area.
The predicting may include predicting the 3D volume based on a depth value of a model, set in advance, in an occlusion area of a depth image input at the first viewpoint.
The method may further include performing 3D warping of a depth image at the first viewpoint to the virtual viewpoint image at the second viewpoint, based on the predicted 3D volume.
The inpainting may include inpainting a first area of the occlusion area using the foreground area, and inpainting a second area of the occlusion area using the background area. Here, the first area may be predicted as a foreground area and the second area may be predicted as a background area based on the predicted 3D volume.
The inpainting may include comparing 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary of the occlusion area, and inpainting the occlusion area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The inpainting may include dividing the virtual viewpoint image into block images, comparing similarity between the block images, and inpainting the occlusion area based on block images that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The inpainting may include dividing the virtual viewpoint image into block images, comparing similarity between the block images, and inpainting the occlusion area based on pixels included in block images that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume, the apparatus including an input unit to receive an input of a depth image and a color image, the depth image having depth information for a first viewpoint, and the color image having color information for the first viewpoint, a virtual viewpoint image generator to generate a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint based on the depth image and the color image, an area separation unit to separate the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information regarding a direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint, a volume prediction unit to predict a 3D volume of the foreground area, and an occlusion area inpainting unit to inpaint an occlusion area bidirectionally using the foreground area and the background area, based on the predicted 3D volume, the occlusion area being included in the virtual viewpoint image.
The volume prediction unit may further include a volume inpainting unit to apply a value predicted by a volume prediction scheme to the predicted 3D volume, based on a value of 3D information of the foreground area.
The apparatus may further include a warping unit to perform 3D warping of a depth image at the first viewpoint to the virtual viewpoint image at the second viewpoint, based on the predicted 3D volume.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may inpaint a first area of the occlusion area using the foreground area, and may inpaint a second area of the occlusion area using the background area. Here, the first area may be predicted as a foreground area and the second area may be predicted as a background area based on the predicted 3D volume.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary between the foreground area and the first area, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary between the background area and the second area, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary between the foreground area and the first area, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels included in block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels included in block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels included in block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary between the background area and the second area, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
The occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels included in block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
Additional aspects of embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a method of inpainting an occlusion area generated when depth information and color information of a first viewpoint is used to create a virtual viewpoint image. The method includes bidirectionally inpainting the occlusion area using a foreground area and a background area of the virtual viewpoint image based on a predicted three-dimensional (3D) volume of the foreground area.
The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing at least one non-transitory medium comprising computer readable code to control at least one processor to implement the method of inpainting an occlusion area.
The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing an apparatus inpainting an occlusion area. The apparatus includes a virtual viewpoint image generator to generate a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint based on depth information and color information of a first viewpoint that is a reference viewpoint, an area separation unit to separate the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information regarding a direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint, and an occlusion area inpainting unit to inpaint an occlusion area bidirectionally using the foreground area and the background area based on a predicted three-dimensional (3D) volume of the foreground area, the occlusion area being included within the virtual viewpoint image.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1A illustrates a diagram of a conventional process of inpainting an occlusion area using only a background area;
FIG. 1B illustrates a diagram of an effect occurring when the conventional process of FIG. 1A is applied;
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to example embodiments;
FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a process of inpainting an occlusion area using a foreground area and a background area according to example embodiments;
FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of a foreground area and a background area in an image captured from a new viewpoint according to example embodiments;
FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of examples of a volume prediction scheme according to example embodiments;
FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example of inpainting an occlusion area bidirectionally using a foreground and a background according to example embodiments;
FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method of bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to example embodiments; and
FIG. 8 further illustrates a flowchart of the method of FIG. 7 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Embodiments are described below to explain the present disclosure by referring to the figures.
FIG. 1A illustrates a diagram of a conventional process of inpainting an occlusion area using only a background area.
A depth image refers to an image monochromatically representing a distance between an object in three-dimensional (3D) space and a camera for capturing the object. A color image refers to an image representing information on colors of an object for each pixel.
When a 3D image is generated at a new viewpoint based on a depth image and a color image that are acquired from a viewpoint of an original image, an area that is not shown in the original image may be viewed from the new viewpoint. The area is referred to as an occlusion area. The original image may be separated into a foreground image and a background image, based on the occlusion area.
A scheme of inpainting an occlusion area using only a background area may result in a small degradation in an image quality in the case of an image having a small occlusion area, for example a stereo image. However, when the scheme is used to inpaint an occlusion area of an image having a wider view angle, for example a multi-view image, 3D information of an object may be distorted, thereby decreasing an image quality.
Referring to FIG. 1A , when a camera captures a sphere, a depth image and a color image representing a hemisphere and a background may be acquired from a viewpoint of an original image. The acquired depth image and color image may be indicated by solid lines in FIG. 1A . Additionally, an occlusion area indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 1A may be viewed from a new viewpoint, despite not being shown in the original image. Here, when only a background area is used to inpaint the occlusion area at the new viewpoint, the occlusion area may be inpainted based on information regarding the background area, regardless of a shape of the sphere. Accordingly, the shape of the sphere may be distorted. The sphere of FIG. 1A appears to have a circular shape, however, actually represents a 3D sphere.
Referring to FIG. 1B , an occlusion area may be generated in a virtual image that is generated by changing a viewpoint of a cat doll. When the occlusion area is inpainted using only 3D information of a background area, 3D information of an object image may be distorted, so that the object image may be horizontally thinned, that is, a cardboard effect may occur. As described above, when inpainting an occlusion area using only a background area, there is a limitation to display of a 3D image based on an actual object.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to example embodiments.
The apparatus of FIG. 2 may include, for example, an input unit 210 , a virtual viewpoint image generator 220 , an area separation unit 230 , a volume prediction unit 240 , and an occlusion area inpainting unit 250 .
The input unit 210 may receive an input of a depth image and a color image. The depth image may have depth information for a first viewpoint, and the color image may have color information for the first viewpoint. The first viewpoint may be a viewpoint from which the depth image and the color image are captured by a camera based on a reference viewpoint. The depth information may include values based on distances from the camera to an object and a background that are to be captured, and may be represented for each pixel.
The virtual viewpoint image generator 220 may generate a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint, based on the depth image and the color image captured at the first viewpoint. The second viewpoint may be a virtual viewpoint set at a different position from the reference viewpoint. When warping is performed based on the depth information and the color information, the virtual viewpoint image generator 220 may generate the virtual viewpoint image at the second viewpoint. Here, the warping briefly refers to a scheme of converting an image generated at the reference viewpoint into a virtual viewpoint image.
The area separation unit 230 may separate the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information. The direction information may include information regarding a shift direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint. The virtual viewpoint image may include an occlusion area that is not shown in a first viewpoint image, because the virtual viewpoint image may be generated based on the first viewpoint image at the second viewpoint, that is, a virtual viewpoint. Additionally, the occlusion area may be relatively separated into a boundary corresponding to a foreground and a boundary corresponding to a background, based on the second viewpoint. The foreground area may be an area having a depth value less than a depth value of the occlusion area, and the back ground area may be an area having a depth value greater than a depth value of the occlusion area. The depth information may include a 3D coordinate value, and the direction information may include information regarding a shift direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint.
The volume prediction unit 240 may predict a 3D volume of the foreground area in the virtual viewpoint image. Here, the predicted 3D volume may be used as a reference to inpaint an occlusion area bidirectionally using a foreground area and a background area. Here, “bidirectional inpainting” means an inpainting operation in a direction of a foreground and a direction of a background.
Specifically, the predicted 3D volume may be used as a reference to separate the occlusion area into a first area predicted as a foreground area, and a second area predicted as a background area. A volume prediction scheme may include, for example, a uniform rear scheme, a reflection scheme, a volumetric center based scheme, and a model based scheme. The volume prediction scheme will be further described with reference to FIG. 5 . However, the volume prediction scheme is not limited to the above-described schemes, and may include a technology that may be easily derived from a technical field of the example embodiments by those skilled in the art.
Additionally, the volume prediction unit 240 may further include a volume inpainting unit 241 to apply a value predicted by the volume prediction scheme to the predicted 3D volume, based on a value of 3D information of the foreground area in the virtual viewpoint image. The volume inpainting unit 241 may convert depth information of the foreground area, for example a 3D coordinate value of the foreground area, based on the volume prediction scheme, and may apply the converted depth information to the predicted 3D volume. For example, when the uniform rear scheme is used as a volume prediction scheme, the volume inpainting unit 241 may apply a weight to a 3D coordinate value of the foreground area, may convert the 3D coordinate value, and may match the converted value to the predicted volume, so that the 3D coordinate value may have a constant depth value.
The occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may bidirectionally inpaint an occlusion area, using the foreground area and the background area, based on the 3D volume predicted by the volume prediction unit 240 and the color information received by the input unit 210 . Here, the occlusion area may be included in the virtual viewpoint image generated at the second viewpoint, and may be separated into a first area predicted as a foreground area, and a second area predicted as a background area, based on the predicted 3D volume. The first area may indicate an area between the predicted 3D volume and the foreground area separated by the area separation unit 230 . The second area may indicate an area between the predicted 3D volume and the background area separated by the area separation unit 230 .
The occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area based on depth information and color information regarding the foreground area. The occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may also inpaint the second area based on depth information and color information regarding the background area. A scheme of inpainting an occlusion area may include a comparing operation and a sampling operation, and may be divided, for example, into a point based scheme, a region based scheme, and a Non Local Means (NLM) scheme.
In the point based scheme, similarity between peripheral pixels around a pixel to be inpainted may be compared, and similar pixels among the pixels may be sampled, so that an occlusion area may be inpainted.
In the region based scheme, an area to be inpainted may be divided into blocks, similarity between the blocks may be compared, and similar blocks among the blocks may be sampled, so that an occlusion area may be inpainted.
In the NLM scheme, an area to be inpainted may be divided into blocks, and similarity between the blocks may be compared, and similar blocks among the blocks may be sampled for each pixel, so that an occlusion area may be inpainted. Here, the similarity may include a similarity of a gradient, a similarity of a depth value, and a similarity of color.
Accordingly, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the occlusion area using various schemes as described above.
In an example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the point based scheme, based on a boundary between the first area and the foreground area, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the region based scheme. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around the boundary the first area and the foreground area, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
In another example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the region based scheme, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the point based scheme, based on a boundary between the second area and the background area. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around the boundary between the second area and the background area, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
In still another example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the point based scheme, based on a boundary between the first area and the foreground area, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the NLM scheme. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around the boundary between the first area and the foreground area, and may inpaint the first area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, may perform sampling of pixels included in block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area, and may inpaint the second area.
In a further example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the region based scheme, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the NLM scheme. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, and may inpaint the first area based on block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, may perform sampling of pixels included in block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area, and may inpaint the second area.
In a further example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the NLM scheme, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the point based scheme. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, may perform sampling of pixels included in block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area, and may inpaint the first area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary between the second area and the background area, and may inpaint the second area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
In a further example, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the NLM scheme, and may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the region based scheme. Specifically, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the foreground area into block foreground areas, may compare similarity between the block foreground areas, may perform sampling of pixels included in block foreground areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area, and may inpaint the first area. Additionally, the occlusion area inpainting unit 250 may divide the background area into block background areas, may compare similarity between the block background areas, and may inpaint the second area based on block background areas that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area.
According to another example embodiment, an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume may further include a warping unit (not shown) to perform 3D warping of the depth image at the first viewpoint to the virtual viewpoint image at the second viewpoint based on the 3D volume predicted by the volume prediction unit 240 . The warping unit may convert a reference viewpoint image into a virtual viewpoint image, based on the predicted 3D volume.
FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a process of inpainting an occlusion area using a foreground area and a background area according to example embodiments.
Referring to FIG. 3 , an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to an example embodiment may predict a 3D volume for an occlusion area that is not shown in the original image, by using the foreground area. Here, the predicted volume may be indicated by a circular dotted line. The apparatus may inpaint a portion of the occlusion area corresponding to an inner side of the circular dotted line using the foreground area, and may inpaint another portion corresponding to an outer side of the circular dotted line using the background area. A virtual image inpainted bidirectionally using both the foreground area and the background area through the volume prediction may have a spherical shape to reflect an actual object even in a new viewpoint, and may differ from the inpainted image of FIG. 1A .
FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of a foreground area and a background area in an image captured from a new viewpoint according to example embodiments.
To predict a volume based on a foreground area, a virtual viewpoint image generated at a new viewpoint may be separated into a foreground area and a background area. The foreground area and the background area may be classified by associating object depth information acquired from an original image with direction information for the new viewpoint.
A 3D warping may be performed to search for an occlusion area from the virtual viewpoint image generated at the new viewpoint. An area having a depth value less than a depth value of the occlusion area may be referred to as a foreground area, and an area having a depth value greater than a depth value of the occlusion area may be referred to as a background area.
The occlusion area and the foreground area may be classified by a boundary 410 between the occlusion area and the foreground area. Additionally, the occlusion area and the background area may be classified by a boundary 420 between the occlusion area and the background area.
A 3D volume predicted based on the foreground area may be used as a reference to separate the occlusion area into the first area and the second area. Here, the first area and the second area in the occlusion area may be respectively inpainted using the foreground area and the background area.
FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of examples of a volume prediction scheme according to example embodiments. In FIG. 5 , each solid line indicates a foreground area, and each dotted line indicates a predicted volume.
The volume prediction scheme may include, for example, a uniform rear scheme, a reflection scheme, a volumetric center based scheme, and a model based scheme.
The uniform rear scheme may be used to predict a volume so that an occlusion area that is not viewed from a reference viewpoint may have a constant depth value, regardless of depth information of a foreground area. Referring to FIG. 5 , a 3D volume may be predicted so that both two objects may have constant depth values, regardless of foreground areas indicated by solid lines.
The reflection scheme may be used to predict a volume so that an occlusion area may have a depth value of a shape reflected from the foreground area. Referring to FIG. 5 , a 3D volume of an object may be predicted so that the object may have a symmetrical shape.
The volumetric center based scheme may be used to estimate a center of a sphere or oval corresponding to a foreground area using three points based on the foreground area, and to predict a 3D volume. Referring to FIG. 5 , when a shape of the foreground area is changed, available three points may also be changed based on the foreground area. Accordingly, the center of the sphere or oval to be estimated may also be changed and thus, different 3D volumes may be predicted.
The model based may be used to predict a volume using 3D information on an object, namely a model, set in advance, since the 3D information is already given. Referring to FIG. 5 , a 3D volume may be predicted based on information regarding a basic shape of an object.
FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example of inpainting an occlusion area bidirectionally using a foreground and a background according to example embodiments.
Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates a result obtained by unidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area using only a background area, and illustrates a result obtained by bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to example embodiments. In FIG. 6 , an input image may be converted into a virtual viewpoint image captured from a new viewpoint through a 3D warping operation. Here, the virtual viewpoint image may include an occlusion area.
In FIG. 6 , “fast marching” refers to a point-based inpainting scheme, and “exampler” refers to a region-based inpainting scheme. The fast marching and the exampler may be applied to the input image to inpaint an occlusion area of the input image unidirectionally using only the background area, as shown in FIG. 6 . Since only the background area is used in both the fast marching and the exampler, a cardboard phenomenon may occur so that an inpainted object may be horizontally thinned.
When an object image is inpainted using both the foreground area and the background area based on the predicted 3D volume, the cardboard phenomenon may be improved, compared to the fast marching and the exampler.
FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method of bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume according to example embodiments.
In operation 710 , an apparatus for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area based on a predicted volume may receive an input of a depth image and a color image. The depth image may have depth information for a first viewpoint, and the color image may have color information for the first viewpoint. The first viewpoint is a viewpoint from which the depth image and the color image are captured by a camera based on a reference viewpoint.
In operation 720 , the apparatus may generate a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint, based on the depth image and the color image. The second viewpoint may be a virtual viewpoint set at a different position from the reference viewpoint.
In operation 730 , the apparatus may separate the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information regarding a direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint.
In operation 740 , the apparatus may predict a 3D volume of the foreground area in the virtual viewpoint image. Additionally, the apparatus may apply a value predicted by a volume prediction scheme to the predicted 3D volume, based on a value of 3D information of the foreground area. Here, the volume prediction scheme may include, for example, a uniform rear scheme, a reflection scheme, a volumetric center based scheme, and a model based scheme.
Specifically, the apparatus may predict the volume so that an occlusion area of a depth image input at the first viewpoint may have a constant depth value corresponding to the foreground area. Additionally, the apparatus may predict the volume so that the occlusion area of the depth image input at the first viewpoint may have a depth value of a shape reflected from the foreground area. Furthermore, the apparatus may predict the volume based on the volumetric center-based scheme in the occlusion area of the depth image input at the first viewpoint, corresponding to the foreground area. Moreover, the apparatus may predict the volume based on a depth value of a model, set in advance, in the occlusion area of the depth image input at the first viewpoint.
In operation 750 , the apparatus may perform 3D warping of a depth image at the first viewpoint to the virtual viewpoint image at the second viewpoint, based on the predicted 3D volume. In other words, the apparatus may convert a reference viewpoint image into a virtual viewpoint image, based on the predicted 3D volume.
In operation 760 , the apparatus may bidirectionally inpaint an occlusion area included in the virtual viewpoint image, using the foreground area and the background area, based on the predicted 3D volume. Here, the occlusion area may be separated into a first area predicted as a foreground area, and a second area predicted as a background area, based on the predicted 3D volume. The apparatus may inpaint the first area using the foreground area, and may inpaint the second area using the background area. Additionally, a scheme of inpainting an occlusion area may include, for example, a point based scheme, a region based scheme, and an NLM scheme.
Specifically, the apparatus may compare 3D information of peripheral pixels around a boundary of the occlusion area, and may inpaint the occlusion area based on pixels that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Additionally, the apparatus may divide the virtual viewpoint image into block images, may compare similarity between the block images, and may inpaint the occlusion area based on block images that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area. Furthermore, the apparatus may divide the virtual viewpoint image into block images, may compare similarity between the block images, may perform sampling of pixels included in block images that are determined to be similar to each other in the occlusion area, and may inpaint the occlusion area.
FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of operation 760 of the method of FIG. 7 .
In operation 810 , the apparatus may inpaint the first area of the occlusion area using the foreground area. Here, the first area of the occlusion area may be determined based on the predicted 3D volume, and a scheme of inpainting an occlusion area using a foreground area may include, for example, a point based scheme, a region based scheme, and an NLM scheme.
In operation 820 , the apparatus may inpaint the second area of the occlusion area using the background area. Here, the second area of the occlusion area may be determined based on the predicted 3D volume, and a scheme of inpainting an occlusion area using a background area may include, for example, a point based scheme, a region based scheme, and an NLM scheme.
The methods according to the above-described example embodiments may be recorded in non-transitory computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the embodiments, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts.
The described hardware may also be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described embodiments. The methods according to the above-described example embodiments may be executed on a general purpose computer or processor or may be executed on a particular machine such as the apparatuses described herein.
Although embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents. | An apparatus and method for bidirectionally inpainting an occlusion area appearing during generation of a virtual viewpoint image, using a foreground area and a background area based on a predicted volume are provided. The method includes receiving an input of a depth image and a color image, the depth image having depth information for a first viewpoint, and the color image having color information for the first viewpoint, generating a virtual viewpoint image at a second viewpoint based on the depth image and the color image, separating the virtual viewpoint image into a foreground area and a background area, based on the depth information and direction information regarding a direction from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint, predicting a three-dimensional (3D) volume of the foreground area, and inpainting an occlusion area bidirectionally using the foreground area and the background area, based on the predicted 3D volume, the occlusion area being included in the virtual viewpoint image. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The pavement marking industry has long been seeking improved types of raised retroreflective pavement markers. Raised markers, in contrast to other pavement markings such as painted lines, extend above the pavement so as to be visible and reflective even when the pavement is wet.
To be fully satisfactory, a raised retroreflective pavement marker should be applicable at low cost, should have a reasonably long useful life (which infers that it will maintain reflectivity, exhibit long adhesion to the roadway, and maintain physical integrity); should be nonhazardous if dislodged from the pavement surface; and should ideally remain on the pavement during snow-plowing. Despite a long period of effort on raised retroreflective pavement markers, and a measure of commercial success for some of them, no existing pavement marker has ever provided the desired combination of properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a new structure for a raised retroreflective pavement marker which has a surprising combination of advantageous properties. Briefly, the new pavement marker comprises a flat dead-soft base sheet and at least one elastically deformable retroreflector attached to one face of the base sheet so as to extend above the base sheet no more than about one centimeter. Because of its low height, the pavement marker can be called a "low-profile" marker. The retroreflector is preferably in the form of a narrow elongated strip and comprises an elastically deformable main body portion and an elastically deformable retroreflective structure united to the main body portion so as to form the exterior surface of at least portions of the retroreflector. Preferably the retroreflective structure comprises a dense monolayer of glass microspheres partially embedded in, and partially exposed above, an elastomeric support sheet which is adhered to the main body portion, with specular reflective means underlying and in optical communication with the microspheres.
This low-profile raised pavement marker can be attached to a paved surface with a layer of adhesive between the bottom of the base sheet and the paved surface. Such an operation is conveniently and rapidly performed to provide a brightly retroreflective pavement marking, which can be made to: retroreflect under either dry or wet conditions, or both, as desired; adhere to the roadway and provide a useful reflection for extended periods of time; offer improved resistance to snow-plowing; and be a minimal hazard if loosened from a roadway surface.
PRIOR ART
Several prior-art teachings have elements of similarity with, but do not teach or lead to, the new pavement marker of the invention.
For example, metal sheets were suggested for use in pavement markings by Stephens, U.S. Pat. No. 1,966,318; but these metal sheets were to be used in long continuous flat strips as center lines and did not carry any elastically deformable retroreflective structure. Rideout, U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,896 teaches pavement markers for drop-on application onto a tacky painted line. While these pavement markers can be rather low in height, they are not elastically deformable and they are not adhered to a dead-soft base sheet. Finch, U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,275, shows a tape product which can include low-profile retroreflector units inserted into an opening in the tape. However, there is no showing of an elastically deformable retroreflective structure, nor are the retroreflective units adhered to a dead-soft base sheet. And Jonnes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,719 teaches pavement markers having elastomeric reflector portions, but it does not teach the low-profile pavement marker of the invention in which an elastically deformable retroreflector is adhered to a dead-soft base sheet.
All in all, pavement markers of the present invention are a unique combination of structural elements, and achieve results never before achieved by any known prior pavement marker.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative low-profile raised retroreflective pavement marker of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-section through a portion of the pavement marker illustrated in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The illustrative pavement marker 10 of the invention shown in FIG. 1 comprises a base sheet 11 and a narrow elongated retroreflective strip 12 adhered to the base sheet. The base sheet 11 is a dead-soft material such as dead-soft aluminum, which means that the base sheet will easily deform (as by finger pressure) and will retain the deformed shape. It has been found that when such a dead-soft material is adhered to a roadway with adhesive, it remains adhered for long periods of time. Apparently the lack of resilience in such a material prevents or relieves stresses that might otherwise loosen the sheet upon passage of traffic.
The retroreflective strip 12 in the illustrative pavement marker 10 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a main body portion 13 and an elastically deformable retroreflective structure 14 adhered to one or both sides of the main body portion. The main body portion 13 is elastically deformable (which means that it can be compressed at room temperature at least 50 percent of its original height, and, when momentarily compressed 50 percent and then released, will recover at least 80 percent of its original height). An especially useful elastically deformable retroreflective structure 14, illustrated best in FIG. 2, comprises an elastomeric support layer 15 and a dense monolayer of transparent microspheres 16 partially embedded in, and partially exposed above, the support layer. Such an elastically deformable retroreflective structure can be conveniently made by processes as described in Palmquist et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,382,908 and 3,449,201.
The illustrated retroreflective strip 12 is conveniently made by laminating an elastically deformable retroreflective sheeting to one or both faces of a tape of elastically deformable material, and then cutting the resulting web into widths equal to the height 17 shown in FIG. 2. Adhesion between the main body portion and retroreflective sheeting may be developed by coating an adhesive on one or both of them; or, the main body portion and elastomeric support layer may be laminated together under heat and pressure which bonds or vulcanizes them together.
The retroreflective strip 12 is conveniently adhered to the base sheet by coating a thin layer of adhesive material onto the face of the base sheet 11 (such as the layer 18 shown in section in FIG. 2 and by stippling in FIG. 1) and then pressing the retroreflective strip against the base sheet. Adhesion may also be obtained with an adhesive coated on the bottom of the retroreflective strip. Under the pressure developed in the adhering operation, the strip may be deformed, so as to increase the width at the base of the strip and thereby increase the area of contact between the strip and base sheet.
To increase resistance to snow-plowing and to otherwise improve its durability, the pavement marker has a low profile. Preferably the retroreflective strip has a height 17 of less than about one centimeter, more preferably less than about one-half centimeter, and even more preferably about 2 or 3 millimeters or less. It has been found that such a low profile retroreflector will offer a very substantial retroreflectivity at night, especially when applied as a series along the length of a roadway at intervals of, for example, one-half meter to 5 meters. When observed under headlight illumination at night from 30 to 50 meters, such a series can have the appearance of a continuous bright line, which is useful to delineate or indicate the edge or separate lanes of a highway.
The dimensions of the base sheet 11 will vary depending on the height of the pavement marker and the method of application of the marker to a roadway. Usually the base sheet will be about 1-5 centimeters wide and 5-20 centimeters long. The thickness may also vary but will generally be on the order of 25-100 micrometers.
The width 19 of the retroreflective strip is preferably substantially less than the width 20 of the base sheet (see FIG. 1) to avoid introducing the resilience of the retroreflective portion over the whole width of the base sheet, which, depending on the thickness of the base sheet, could at least partially negate the dead-soft properties of the base sheet. Preferably the retroreflective strip is less than about one centimeter, and more preferably less than one-half centimeter, in width.
With the retroreflective strip in place on the base sheet, the retroreflective structure need not be perpendicular to the base sheet but generally will form an approximate angle with the base sheet (the angle theta (θ) in FIG. 2) of at least 20° and more preferably at least 45°. Also the exterior surface of the retroreflective structure need not be planar. Instead of retroreflectors in strip form other elastically deformable structures can be used, such as flat-bottom, curved-top buttons (having the shape of the edge-portion of a sphere, for example). But an elongated strip provides a desired amount of reflection and can be made conveniently.
The retroreflective structure in a pavement marker of the invention most commonly comprises glass microspheres with specular reflective means underlying and in optical connection with the back surfaces of the microspheres. Such specular reflective means is typically a coating of a metal such as aluminum vapor-deposited onto the microspheres before they are partially embedded into a support sheet. To obtain maximum retroreflection when a pavement marker is dry, the microspheres in a construction as described should have an index of refraction of 1.91; to obtain maximum retroreflection when the pavement marker is wet, the index of refraction should be about 2.5; and to obtain retroreflection under both wet and dry conditions, a mixture of microspheres having different indices of refraction may be used, either by mixing them on the same pavement marker or by alternating pavement markers that are all of the same index of refraction in a series along a roadway.
A pavement marker of the invention may carry a layer (21 in FIGS. 1 and 2) of adhesive such as a mastic adhesive on its bottom surface; or adhesive may be applied to a roadway or to the marker at the time of application of the marker to a roadway.
In one illustrative example, a pavement marker of the invention comprised an aluminum dead-soft base sheet about 2.5 centimeters wide and 10 centimeters long. The retroreflective strip was 2 millimeters wide, 2 millimeters high, and 10 centimeters long. The retroreflective strip consisted of a main body portion, which comprised ground scrap rubber particles dispersed in a chlorinated polyethylene binder material, and an elastomeric retroreflective sheeting as described in Palmquist et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,449,201 bonded to the main body portion. The retroreflective strip was adhered to the base sheet by coating a heat-activatable plasticized mixture of polyvinyl chloride and chlorinated polyethylene polymers onto the bottom of the strip, and then pressing the strip against the base sheet in the presence of heat. A 0.2-millimeter-thick layer of mastic adhesive based on polybutadiene rubber was adhered to the bottom of the base sheet. | A low-profile raised retroreflective pavement marker that resists loosening and removal from a paved surface comprises a flat dead-soft base sheet and at least one elastically deformable retroreflector attached to one face of the base sheet so as to extend above the base sheet no more than about one centimeter. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compact and foldable lighting devices, and more particularly, to a compact, foldable lighting device for selectively illuminating a desired area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compact computers and portable video game devices having video viewing screens are becoming more and more popular and typically comprise hand-held portable, battery-operated devices. The viewing screen is typically a liquid crystal display (LCD) that is generally flat and displays information and or provides the screen for playing video games. Such compact computers and video games may include, but are not limited to: calculators, computer video games, lap top computers, and other computers where a variety of software is employed. In particular, compact video games, such as the compact video game systems known as GAME BOY™, GAME BOY POCKET™ and GAME BOY COLOR™ (Trademarks of Nintendo of America), are completely self-sustained video game systems which may be operated by interchangeably employing a collection from a library of software game packs. These video game systems provide a compact, self-contained, battery-operated, portable hand-held computer with a cross key joy stick (directional-pad or D-pad) to operate the game, start and select buttons, action buttons and an LCD-type screen, together with volume controls so as to display and enable the user to display images and play games.
While video display screens are employed and typically include a flat LCD-type screen, such LCD-type display screens are often difficult to observe by the user in partial or low light conditions, such as, for example, automobiles, planes, trains, buses, and the like due to the lack of illumination on the LCD screen to permit suitable contrast during use.
Conventional a light apparatus for use with compact computer screens includes an open video space designed to be the same size as the LCD video screen of the compact computer apparatus. The light apparatus includes a pair of light bulbs placed on either side of sloping panels and which side panels also include a short, solid, upward extending light shield so as to prevent the direct glare of the light bulbs onto the LCD screen and to provide for indirect lighting through reflection on the light-colored side panels onto the LCD viewing screen.
Other conventional lighting devices disclose combined light and mirror or magnifier devices for hand-held computers with video screens. Each of these conventional devices include a battery operated light assembly that is mounted to a separate assembly mounted adjacent the view screen and spaced from the magnifier lens. These devices are adapted to provide a screen magnifier while also providing additional light to the screen for playing in low light conditions.
Unfortunately, the use of an LCD screen in these hand-held video game devices makes the illumination of the same difficult. The primary reason for this difficulty is due to the fact that the plastic cover to the actual LCD screen is generally of a high-gloss finish, and as such has a tendency to reflect light. This reflection of light primarily occurs when the light shines substantially directly onto the screen, and thus, the high-gloss screen cover prevents the light from penetrating the cover and thereby illuminating the LCD screen.
In addition, book lights or portable reading lamps all operate on the principle of selectively disposing a light source, such as, for example, a light bulb in a position over the area to be illuminated. Various reading light assemblies have been disclosed where the light source is adjustable so as to be positioned over the area to be illuminated. In each of these prior art devices, the light source generates light that is not evenly dispersed across the desired area and also requires constant maneuvering by the user to accommodate their use of the device.
None of the aforementioned devices quickly and easily fold into a compact non-lighted arrangement on the video screen for storage or transportation. In addition, none of these conventional devices utilize rechargeable and replaceable battery packs as an energy source.
The need therefore exists for a more versatile lighting accessory to illuminate a handheld video device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved lighting assembly for hand-held video games that is more compact and transportable during non-use.
The invention provides an improved lighting assembly for hand-held video games that effectively utilizes adjustable positioning of the lighting devices to efficiently illuminate the LCD display screen of the game device.
The invention provides an accessory lighting device that utilizes a removable and rechargeable battery pack to power the light source independently of the game device.
The invention provides a fluorescent light source to illuminate the LCD display screen of the game device, while using less electric energy.
The invention also provides a rotary switch that powers the light source when the light device is pivoted to predetermined position relative to the game device thereby eliminating the need for a separate manual switch.
These and other objects are achieved in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which a light assembly for use in enhancing the view of a compact computer video screen includes a base portion adapted to fit over a top edge of the compact computer device. An upward extension is pivotally connected to the base portion and pivoting light source is mounted to the upward extension. The light source is disposed within a recess in the pivoting light portion. Through the variable positioning of the upward extension and pivoting light portion (via the pivotal connections) the user can selectively adjust the amount of light directed down onto the video display screen.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a light assembly for use in enhancing the view of a user-selected area includes a light source with a rotary switch that powers the light source when the pivoting light portion reaches a predetermined position relative to the game device.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings wherein like reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the game light assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the game light assembly of FIG. 1 with the game playing apparatus shown in phantom;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the game light assembly of FIG. 1 showing the removable and rechargeable battery pack according to the invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the game light assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention with the pivoting light portion disposed in the recess in the upward extension;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the game light assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention with the pivoting light portion shown in a retracted position;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the game light assembly according to FIG. 5 with the pivoting light portion shown in a working position;
FIG. 7 is a partially cut-away perspective view of the game light assembly according to FIG. 5 with the pivoting light portion shown in a working position and with the internal hinge assembly shown;
FIG. 8 is a side view of the game light assembly of FIG. 5 with the game playing apparatus shown in phantom;
FIG. 9 is a partial cross-section taken along section line IX—IX of FIG. 7 and showing the electrical connection operated by the rotary switch.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows the light assembly 10 according to a first embodiment of the invention. Light assembly 10 includes a base portion 12 adapted to be releasably attached to a hand held video game device and an upward extension 14 pivotally fixed to the base portion 12 via hinge 13 as shown by the arrow ‘A’. A pivoting light portion 16 is located opposite the base portion 12 and pivots via a hinge 15 about an angle of at least 180° as shown by the arrow ‘B’. In the position shown in FIG. 1 , the pivoting light portion 16 is shown at an angle of 90° with respect to the upward extension 14 .
According to the preferred embodiments of this invention, the upward extension 14 has a recessed battery compartment 20 formed to receive and mount a rechargeable battery pack 22 (see FIG. 3 ). The battery compartment 20 is designed with suitable contacts to provide an electrical connection with the battery pack 22 to thereby provide a power supply for the light. In this manner, the light assembly 10 does not rely on or draw on the power supply of the game device.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 , an on/off power switch 30 is provided on the upward extension 14 whereby the switch 30 allows the user to selectively turn on and off the light assembly 10 . In another embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 , there is no power switch on the extension portion 140 . Instead, the light assembly 100 includes a rotary switch associated with a pivoting motion of the pivoting light portion 160 and the light assembly is powered on and off with the pivoting motion of the light portion 160 . Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that the electrical connections made within the light assembly and the manner of manufacturing the same may be made by any suitable known type of electrical connections and manufacturing methods.
Light assembly 10 is preferably made of molded plastic to dimensionally fit the Game Boys™, but may also be made of any suitable known material capable of being shaped into a desired style. Additionally, the molded plastic body is preferably formed with ornamental features that enhance the outer appearance of the light assembly. Likewise, cushion pads 35 may be provided on the molded plastic body (e.g., the upward extension) to reduce any scratches or damage to the game device when the light assembly is placed in the folded position for storage or transportation when not is use.
The upward extension 14 is designed to pivot with respect to the base portion 12 so that the upward extension 14 may be pivoted 90° into a downward direction to lay flush against the game device. Likewise, the pivoting light portion 16 is designed to pivot with respect to the upward extension 14 so that the pivoting light portion 16 lies in the plane of the upward extension 14 and is disposed in recess 14 a provided in the extension 14 (see FIG. 4 ).
The pivoting light portion 16 includes a recess 17 adapted to receive and house a light source 18 that is directed away from the pivoting light portion 16 toward the game device 5 as shown in FIG. 2 . Light source 18 can be any suitable known light source such as, for example, an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent light, a light emitting diode (LED), a directional LED, etc. However, in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 the light source is a fluorescent light to reduce glare and reflection while maximizing the efficiency of illuminating the video display screen. More importantly, a fluorescent light source requires less energy than an incandescent bulb; therefore, the fluorescent light will be less of a power drain on the rechargeable battery pack 22 . Those of skill in the art will recognize that the type of light source may be a matter of design choice and may be changed without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. In one preferred embodiment, the light source includes a lens or other means for facilitating the directability or focusing of the light toward the surface of the video display screen.
The upward extension 14 of the light assembly 10 may include various integrated members in order to increase its strength and integrity during attachment and detachment to and from the game device 5 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other methods and designs for these portions of base 12 can be altered without departing from the scope of the invention.
Depending on the particular game device 5 , an infrared (IR) window (not shown—e.g., GAME BOY™ and GAME BOY COLOR™) or on/off power switch (not shown—e.g., GAME BOY POCKET™) is disposed on the top edge of the game device. As such, base portion 12 includes a cutout or opening positioned so as to accommodate the IR window or on/off switch on the game device and keep them accessible when light assembly 10 is disposed in its operable position.
As shown in FIGS. 1-4 , through the application of hinged connections 13 and 15 , the user can manipulate the angular positions of upward extension 14 and light portion 16 to adjust the angular position of light 18 with respect to the display screen, and thereby enables the user to increase and/or decrease the amount of light being directed toward display screen corresponding to the angular position of the light.
In an alternate embodiment, the light assembly 10 can utilize the link port of the game device 5 in order to obtain power, a link port is provided on the external surface of the base portion 12 so as to provide the user with all the functionality of such link port while the light assembly 10 is disposed in its operable position on the game device 5 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the position of the externally provided link port can be changed without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.
FIG. 2 shows a side view of the light assembly 10 and how the base portion 12 engages the game device 5 according to one preferred embodiment. The base portion 12 includes tangs 40 adapted to engage the corresponding holes in a side of the game device 5 . As described earlier, when base portion 12 is slid onto the top side of the game device, the tangs 40 snaps into the holes provided in the game device and the top flange 42 provides sufficient retention force and resistive moment force (torque) due to pivoting action (folding and unfolding) of upward extension 14 to secure the light assembly 10 into its operable position on the game device. Conversely, the removal of light assembly 10 simply requires the user to “un-snap” tangs 40 from their secured position in the top side and slide the base portion 12 of the light assembly in the reverse direction for removal from the game device 5 .
Through the hinged connection 15 of the light portion 16 with upward extension 14 and the hinged connection 13 of the upward extension 14 with the base portion 12 , the light assembly 10 can be flattened over the game device 5 and screen. This folding aspect (or unfolding) of the light assembly not only functions to place the light assembly 10 into a storage position without requiring its removal from the game device, but also functions to protect the upper surface of the game device 5 .
FIGS. 5-8 show the light assembly 100 according to a second embodiment of the invention. Light assembly 100 includes a base portion 120 adapted to be releasably attached to a hand held video game device and an upward extension 140 pivotally fixed to the base portion 120 via hinge 130 as shown by the arrow ‘A’. A pair of pivoting and rotating light portions 160 a , 160 b are located opposite the base portion 120 and pivots via a hinge 150 about an angle of at least 90° as shown by the FIGS. 5 and 6 . In the position shown in FIG. 6 , the pivoting and rotating light portions 160 a , 160 b are shown at an angle of 90° with respect to the upward extension 140 . In this position, the illumination means is directed toward the game device and screen. Also, the light portions 160 a , 160 b are adapted to pivot in the manner shown by arrows ‘P’ to further adjust the angle of illumination with respect to the game device and screen.
According to the preferred embodiments of this invention, the upward extension 140 has a recessed battery compartment formed to receive and mount a rechargeable battery pack 220 . The battery compartment is designed with suitable contacts to provide an electrical connection with the battery pack 220 to thereby provide a power supply for the light. In this manner, the light assembly 100 does not rely on or draw on the power supply of the game device.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5-8 , there is no exposed power switch on the extension portion 140 ; instead, the light assembly 100 includes a rotary switch 500 associated with a pivoting motion of the pivoting light portion 160 and the light assembly is powered on and off with the pivoting motion of the light portion 160 . More specifically as shown in FIG. 7 , the extension portion 140 houses a shaft 142 fixed to the rotary switch 500 and to the light portions 160 a , 160 b . The shaft 142 is mounted upon bearing portions 146 suitable formed within the extension portion 140 to permit rotation of the shaft 142 . Therefore, when the rotary switch is actuated/rotated, rotary movement of the switch 500 causes rotation of the shaft 142 and rotation of the light portions 160 a , 160 b ; i.e., between the positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 .
Moreover, the electrical connection between the internal circuitry of the light assembly 100 and the pivoting light portions 160 a , 160 b is such that the circuit is completed and power is delivered to the lights 180 when the light portions 160 a , 160 b have pivoted a predetermined angle relative to the extension portion 140 . Therefore, the rotation of the light portion 160 a , 160 b controls the on/off function of the light assembly 100 . In the preferred embodiment, a metallic switch is disposed adjacent the shaft 142 and the shaft 142 is formed with a cam element 142 a as shown in FIG. 9 . As the shaft 142 rotated, the cam 142 a pushes the metallic element 148 into contact with metallic element 149 to complete the electric circuit delivering electricity to the lights 180 disposed within the light portions 160 a , 160 b . Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that the electrical connections made within the light assembly and the manner of manufacturing the same may be made by any suitable known type of electrical connections and manufacturing methods.
The rotary switch is connected to several subcomponent mechanisms to retract and stow away the light head and connecting member for space saving and mobility feature. Alsi, it acts as automatic on/off power switch depending on the rotary switch position.
Light assembly 100 is also preferably made of molded plastic to dimensionally fit the Game Boys™, but may also be made of any suitable known material capable of being shaped into a desired style. Additionally, the molded plastic body is preferably formed with ornamental features that enhance the outer appearance of the light assembly. Likewise, cushion pads 350 may be provided on the molded plastic body (e.g., the upward extension) to reduce any scratches or damage to the game device when the light assembly is placed in the folded position for storage or transportation when not is use.
The upward extension 140 is designed to pivot with respect to the base portion 120 so that the upward extension 140 may be pivoted 90° into a downward direction to lay flush against the game device. Likewise, the pivoting light portions 160 a , 160 b are designed to pivot with respect to the upward extension 140 so that the pivoting light portions 160 a , 160 b are received within recesses 141 , 142 formed in the plane of the upward extension 140 (see FIG. 5 ).
The pivoting light portions 160 a , 160 b include a recess adapted to receive and house a light source 180 that is directed away from the pivoting light portions 160 a , 160 b toward the game device 5 as shown in FIG. 8 . Light source 180 can be any suitable known light source such as, for example, an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent light, a light emitting diode (LED), a directional LED, etc. Those of skill in the art will recognize that the type of light source may be a matter of design choice and may be changed without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. In one preferred embodiment, the light source includes a lens or other means for facilitating the directability or focusing of the light toward the surface of the video display screen.
The upward extension 140 of the light assembly 100 may include various integrated members in order to increase its strength and integrity during attachment and detachment to and from the game device 5 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other methods and designs for these portions of base 120 can be altered without departing from the scope of the invention.
Depending on the particular game device 5 , an infrared (IR) window (not shown—e.g., GAME BOY™ and GAME BOY COLOR™) or on/off power switch (not shown—e.g., GAME BOY POCKET™) is disposed on the top edge of the game device. As such, base portion 120 includes a cutout or opening positioned so as to accommodate the IR window or on/off switch on the game device and keep them accessible when light assembly 100 is disposed in its operable position.
As shown in FIGS. 5-8 , through the application of hinged connections 130 and 150 , the user can manipulate the angular positions of upward extension 140 and light portion 160 to adjust the angular position of light 180 with respect to the display screen, and thereby enables the user to increase and/or decrease the amount of light being directed toward display screen corresponding to the angular position of the light.
FIG. 8 shows a side view of the light assembly 100 and how the base portion 120 engages the game device 5 according to one preferred embodiment. The base portion 120 includes tangs 400 adapted to engage the corresponding holes in a side of the game device 5 . As described earlier, when base portion 120 is slid onto the top side of the game device, the tangs 400 snaps into the holes provided in the game device and the top flange 420 provides sufficient retention force and resistive moment force (torque) due to pivoting action (folding and unfolding) of upward extension 14 to secure the light assembly 100 into its operable position on the game device. Conversely, the removal of light assembly 100 simply requires the user to “un-snap” tangs 400 from their secured position in the top side and slide the base portion 120 of the light assembly in the reverse direction for removal from the game device 5 .
Through the hinged connection 150 of the light portion 160 with upward extension 140 and the hinged connection 130 of the upward extension 140 with the base portion 120 , the light assembly 100 can be flattened over the game device 5 and screen. This folding aspect (or unfolding) of the light assembly not only functions to place the light assembly 100 into a storage position without requiring its removal from the game device, but also functions to protect the upper surface of the game device 5 .
While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. | An accessory lighting assembly for selectively illuminating user selected areas such as, for example, compact computer devices, books and other desired areas. The lighting assembly comprises a base portion for mounting to the user-selected area, a pivotable extension, and a pivotable light portion with a light source. The light source is selectively directed toward a user selected area for illumination and may be pivoted between a working position where light source is adapted to be directed toward the user selected area and a storage position where the light source is housed within a recess formed in the extension. A rechargeable battery pack provides electric power and the light source may be a fluorescent light bulb. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed generally to abradable coating systems, and more particularly to abradable coating systems useful for creating individualized seals between turbine blades and corresponding ring segment shrouds.
BACKGROUND
Axial gas turbines typically contain rows of turbine blades, referred to as stages, coupled to disks that rotate on a rotor assembly. The turbine blades extend radially and terminate in turbine blade tips. Ring seal segments are positioned radially outward from the turbine blade tips, but in close proximity to the tips of the turbine blades to limit gases from passing through the gap created between the turbine blade tips and the inner surfaces of the ring seal segments. The gaps between the turbine blade tips and the ring seal segments are designed to be as small as possible between the blade tips and the surrounding segment because the larger that gap, the more inefficient the turbine engine.
The size of the gap between the tips of the turbine blades and the ring seal segments must account for the turbine blades and the ring seal segments being formed from materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion. As a turbine engine begins to heat up during startup procedures, the length of the turbine blades increases radially outward while the ring seal segments move radially outward as well. The gap may change during the thermal growth. Thus, the gap is sized such that at steady state operating conditions in which the turbine blades are heated to an operating temperature, the gap is a small as possible without risking significant damage from the tips contacting the ring seal segments. However, as the gap is reduced, the incidences of rubbing between the turbine blade tips and the outer ring seal increases.
Attempts have been made to minimize the clearance gap to improve efficiency while avoiding excessive wear on the turbine blade tips. For instance, some conventional turbine engines include thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) on the ring seal segments that are designed to abrade when contacted by the blade tips. The TBCs also insulate the underlying turbine components from the hot gases present during operation, which may be approximately 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. Use of the TBCs can keep the underlying turbine component generally at temperature of less than approximately 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the gap between the tips of the turbine blade and the ring seal segments may be designed to enable smooth startup from a cold engine, problems are typically encountered during a warm restart. In particular, a warm restart occurs when a turbine engine running at steady state operating temperatures is shut down, allowed to cool for two to three hours, and then restarted. During the restart, the turbine blade tips often contact the abradable coating on the ring seal segments because during the shut down period turbine disks remain hot and thermally expanded radially, while the thermally insulated turbine shroud ring has cooled and retracted somewhat, thereby reducing the gap. With the gap reduced, the turbine blade tips often contact the abradable coating.
Abradable coatings are designed such that when contacted by a turbine blade, a portion of the coating will break away to prevent damage to the turbine blade. A problem that is widespread with abradable coatings is that the coatings generally sinter after exposure to turbine engine operating temperatures of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit after about 50 to 100 hours. Sintering of the abradable coating significantly reduces the abradable coatings ability to shear when contacted by tips of turbine blades. For instance, as shown in FIG. 1 , abradable coatings greatly lose their ability to shear when contacted by tips of turbine blades with greater and greater exposure to turbine engine operating temperatures. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates the impact of sintering on the abradability of a conventional abradable coating, 79% dense 8YSZ, 8YSZ refers to 8 weight percent yttria stabilized zirconia, which is a common TBC in both aero and IGT engines. The coating exhibited an abradability volume wear ratio (VWR) of 34 (coating wear/blade wear, where larger values are better) prior to exposure to elevated temperatures. After the same coating was exposed to approximately 2000 degrees Fahrenheit for 200 hours, the VWR declined to nine. The VWR declined to seven when exposed to approximately 2200 degrees Fahrenheit for 200 hours. Finally, the VWR was two after exposure to approximately 2375 degrees Fahrenheit for 200 hours. Thus, the usefulness of an abradable coating is nearly negated once sintered. Therefore, a need exists for an abradable coating system capable of shearing when contacted by turbine blade tips even if a portion of the abradable coating has sintered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an abradable coating system for use in axial turbine engines. In particular, the abradable coating system may include an abradable coating formed from a plurality of columns that limit sintering of the coating to outermost portions of the coating, thereby enabling the columns forming the abradable coating to shear off near the base of the columns. Shearing in the unsintered area near the base of the column creates for a smooth break with reduced losses relative to the prior art.
The abradable coating system may include an abradable coating attachable to an outer surface of a turbine component, such as but not limited to, a ring seal segment, also known as a blade outer air seal (BOAS). The abradable coating may be formed from any ceramic powder capable of being thermally sprayed, such as, but not limited to, 8YSZ, compositions of ceria-stabilized zirconia, materials that are capable of withstanding higher temperatures and are not based on yttria, ceria or zirconia, and other appropriate materials. The abradable coating system may also include a forming matrix supported on the outer surface of the turbine component. The forming matrix may be formed from a plurality of walls that are coupled together to form a plurality of cells having at least one opening opposite the outer surface for receiving the abradable coating. The forming matrix may be formed from a material having a melting point less than about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit such that the forming matrix melts during operation of a turbine engine in which the coating system is positioned, thereby leaving the first abradable coating attached to the turbine component and forming a plurality of columns from the abradable coating. The forming matrix may be a fugitive material such as, but not limited to plastics, molybdenum, and other appropriate materials. The choice of fugitive materials is based more upon convenience than on composition, since any material that can be formed into the desired “forming matrix” shape (herein termed “honeycomb”) that will burn off at turbine temperatures will be a suitable choice. Polymer materials such as common plastics may be used and, unless very high temperature thermal spraying is required, have been shown to function well. For higher temperature spray requirements, metal “honeycomb” or metalized plastics may be used. Molybdenum and moly alloys are suitable choices since they tend to form volatile oxides rather than melting when heated in oxidizing atmospheres. Fugitive materials are materials that occupy a physical area and burn off when exposed to temperatures above a threshold temperature, leaving a void absent of the fugitive materials where the materials once existed.
The forming matrix may have a wall thickness of less than about five mils (0.005 inches), with typical thicknesses being approximately one mil. The cells of the forming matrix may have a cross-sectional area in a plane generally aligned with the outer surface of the turbine component that is less than about two mm 2 and typically will be less than one mm 2 . At least one cell of the plurality of cells forming the forming matrix may have a cross-sectional shape that is selected from the group consisting of a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a rectangle, a hexagon, and a diamond.
The abradable coating system may also include a second coating deposited between the first abradable coating and the outer surface of a turbine component and below the first abradable coating such that said forming matrix is attached to an outer surface of the second coating. The second coating may be a thermal barrier coating or a bond coating, or other appropriate material. In one embodiment, a bond coating may be deposited on the outer surface of the turbine component, and the second coating may be a thermal coating deposited on the bond coating.
The abradable coating system may include an alarm system for identifying whether a turbine blade tip has contacted the first abradable coating. The alarm system may be formed from a metalized layer positioned between an outer surface of the turbine component and a tip of the columns of the abradable coating, wherein the metalized layer may be coupled to the alarm system that is usable for actuating an alarm when a tip of a turbine blade contacts the metalized layer indicating the tip has worn through a predetermined distance of the abradable coating. The abradable coating system may also include a temperature sensor on the first abradable coating. The temperature sensor may be formed from at least two metals.
During use, a turbine engine is ramped up to a steady state operating temperature. At the steady state operating condition, the abradable coating system is typically exposed to gases having temperatures of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposure of the forming matrix to these gases causes the forming matrix to burn, thereby leaving the inter-columnar channels and forming columns of the abradable coating. The width of the inter-columnar channels 46 may be between about 0.25 mm and about 1.5 mm. After prolonged exposure to the exhaust gases, the tips of the columns of the abradable coating may become sintered; however, the bases of the columns are either unsintered or sintered to a much lesser degree than the tips. Thus, should a tip of a turbine blade contact the abradable coating, such as during a warm restart, the columns of the abradable coating may shear at the base, thereby breaking free and protecting the tip of the turbine blade from damage. The columns may also provide the abradable coating with an increased resistance to spallation due to the inter-columnar channels that enable the columns to expand.
An advantage of this invention is that the columnar structure of the abradable coating system allows columns to break near the base, resulting in reduced blade wear compared to the conventional systems. This configuration is particularly advantageous after the tips of the columns of the abradable coating become sintered, in part, because the base of the columns may not be sintered.
Another advantage of the invention is that the abradable coating reduces or eliminates thermal barrier coating (TBC) spallation due to thermal cycling since the columnar structure naturally relieves thermally-induced strains caused by the contraction and expansion of the underlying metal substrate.
Yet another advantage of the invention is that the abradable coating may include an alarm system and thermocouples for monitoring the performance and condition of the abradable coating system and the turbine engine.
These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the presently disclosed invention and, together with the description, disclose the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a chart showing the impact of high temperatures on the abradability of a conventional abradable coating.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of turbine engine with a rotor assembly and including aspects of this invention.
FIG. 3 is a detailed view taken at detail 3 - 3 in FIG. 2 of the abradable coating system.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the abradable coating system of this invention with the forming matrix intact.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the abradable coating system of this invention after the forming matrix has been burned off due to exposure to turbine engine steady state operating temperatures.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a tip of a turbine blade contacting and shearing the abradable coating at a base of a column of abradable material forming the abradable coating.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the abradable coating system of this invention with the forming matrix intact.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the alternative embodiment of the abradable coating system shown in FIG. 7 after the forming matrix has been burned off due to exposure to turbine engine steady state operating temperatures.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of portion of a forming matrix of this invention.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a portion of a forming matrix of this invention having an alternative configuration.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of a forming matrix of this invention having an alternative configuration.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of a forming matrix of this invention having an alternative configuration.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of a forming matrix of this invention having an alternative configuration.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a portion of a forming matrix of this invention having an alternative configuration.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIGS. 2-14 , this invention is directed to an abradable coating system 10 for use in turbine engines 12 . In particular, the abradable coating system 10 may include an abradable coating 14 formed from a plurality of columns 16 that limit sintering of the coating 14 to outermost portions of the coating 14 , thereby enabling the columns 16 forming the abradable coating 14 to shear off near the base 18 of the columns 16 . The abradable coating 14 may be applied to an outer surface 17 of a turbine component 19 , such as, but not limited to, one or more turbine ring seal segments 20 . The turbine ring seal segments 20 may be positioned radially outward from tips 22 of turbine blades 24 to create a seal between the turbine blades 24 and the surrounding ring seal segments 20 . The abradable coating system 10 may be formed an abradable material and may have a columnar configuration that prevents bases 18 of the columns 16 from sintering, thereby enabling the columns 16 to break at the base 18 if struck by a turbine blade 24 . The abradable columnar coating material be composed of a substance that is abradable and thermally resistant, such as, but not limited to 8YSZ, ceria stabilized zirconia, and other coatings not based on yttria, ceria, or zirconia. The abradable coating system 10 may reduce blade wear and spalling of the abradable coating 14 in comparison with conventional coatings.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the abradable coating system 10 may be used together with a turbine engine 12 . For instance, the turbine engine 12 may include a plurality of turbine blades 12 extending radially outward from a rotor assembly 26 and positioned into a plurality of rows forming stages. The turbine blades 12 may be formed from a material capable of withstanding the high temperature exhaust gases in the turbine engine 12 . Stationary turbine vanes 28 may extend radially inward from an outer casing and be positioned in rows between adjacent turbine vanes 28 . A plurality of ring seal segments 20 may be positioned radially outward from the tips 22 of the turbine blades 24 . The ring seal segments 20 may be offset radially from the tips 22 of the turbine blades 24 forming a gap 32 such that the turbine blades 24 may rotate without contacting the ring seal segments 20 .
The abradable coating system 10 may include an abradable coating 14 applied to an outer surface 17 of a turbine component 19 , which may be, but is not limited to, ring seal segments 20 . The abradable coating 14 is configured to minimize the gap 32 while preventing excessive wear and damage to the turbine blade tip 22 that may occur while the turbine components are in different states of expansion, such as during a warm restart. The abradable coating system 14 may be formed from a forming matrix 36 , as shown in FIGS. 9-14 , covered with the abradable coating 14 . The forming matrix 36 may be formed from a plurality of walls 38 that are coupled together to form a plurality of cells 40 having at least one opening 42 opposite to the ring seal segment 20 . The opening 42 enables the abradable coating 14 to be applied into the cells 40 during the formation process. The cells 40 may have any appropriate configuration, such as, but not limited to, a hexagon, as shown in FIG. 9 , an ellipse, as shown in FIG. 10 , a circle, as shown in FIG. 11 , a triangle, as shown in FIG. 12 , a rectangle, as shown in FIG. 13 , a diamond, as shown in FIG. 14 , and other appropriate configurations. A single side wall 38 may be used to form a portion of one or more adjacent cells 40 .
The forming matrix 36 may be made from any material having a melting point less than a steady state operating temperature of a turbine engine 12 . In at least one embodiment, a steady state operating temperature of the turbine engine 12 may be about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. In at least one embodiment, the forming matrix 36 may be formed from materials such as, but not limited to, a material having a melting point less than a steady state operating temperature of a turbine engine or a fugitive material such as plastics, molybdenum, and other appropriate materials. A fugitive material is a material that occupies a physical area and burns off when exposed to temperatures above a threshold temperature, leaving a void absent of the fugitive material where the material once existed. In the abradable coating system 10 , it is preferred that the material forming the forming matrix 36 have a melting point less than the steady state operating temperature of the turbine engine 12 , which may be about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The forming matrix 36 may have any appropriate height. In at least one embodiment, the height of the cells 40 forming the forming matrix 36 as indicated by distance A in FIGS. 4 and 8 may be between about 0.005 and about 0.060 inches, and may be between about 0.020 and about 0.040 inches. The height of the cells 40 may vary depending on the gap 32 desired in a particular turbine engine 12 . In at least one embodiment, a width of the cells, as indicated by distance B in FIG. 9 may be between about 0.125 millimeters and about 1.5 millimeters.
The abradable coating system 10 may be formed by positioning the forming matrix 36 onto a ring seal segment 20 . The forming matrix 36 may be attached directly to an outer surface 17 of the ring seal segment 20 or to one or more bond coatings 44 positioned between the outer surface 17 of the ring seal segment 20 and the forming matrix 36 . The bond coatings 44 may be formed from materials such as, but not limited to, powders such as CoCrAlY, NiCrAlY, CoNiCrAlY, and rhenium containing versions and other appropriate materials. In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 , the abradable coating 14 may not be formed from columns 16 across the entire thickness. Rather, an abradable coating intermediate layer 48 may be applied to the ring seal segment 20 and then, the forming matrix 36 and abradable coating 14 may be applied to an outer surface of the abradable coating intermediate layer 48 . The abradable coating intermediate layer 48 may provide additional thermal protection for the underlying turbine blade 24 . In addition, since the inter-columnar channel 46 does not extend to the bond coating 44 , overfracture may be limited to the intersection of the abradable coating intermediate layer 48 and the abradable coating 14 formed from the columns 16 , as shown in FIG. 8 . The abradable coating intermediate layer 48 may also be a thermal barrier coating (TBC), such as, but not limited to, 8YSZ, ceria stabilized zirconia, and other coating compositions not based on yttria, ceria, or zirconia.
During use, a turbine engine 12 is ramped up to a steady state operating temperature. At the steady state operating condition, the abradable coating system 10 is typically exposed to gases having temperatures of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposure of the forming matrix 36 to these gases causes the forming matrix 36 to burn or melt, thereby leaving the inter-columnar channels 46 and forming columns 16 of the abradable coating 14 . The width of the inter-columnar channels 46 may be between about 0.5 mils and about 5.0 mils. After prolonged exposure to the exhaust gases, the tips 50 of the columns 16 of the abradable coating 14 may become sintered; however, the bases 18 of the columns 16 do not sinter. Thus, should a tip 22 of a turbine blade 24 contact the abradable coating 14 , such as during a warm restart, the columns 16 of the abradable coating 14 may shear at the base 18 , thereby protecting the tip 22 of the turbine blade 24 from damage. The columns 16 may also provide the abradable coating 14 with an increased resistance to spallation due to the inter-columnar channels 46 that enable the columns 16 to expand. In addition, the inter-columnar channels 46 may relieve stress on the abradable coating 14 that is imparted onto the abradable coating 14 from thermal expansion of the turbine blade 24 .
The cells 40 of the forming matrix 36 may be configured to minimize the amount of force exerted on the blade tip 22 when contacting the abradable coating 14 during operation of the turbine engine 12 , yet create as small a gap 32 as possible within safety parameters between the blade tips 22 and the abradable coating 14 on the ring seal segment 20 . In particular, the abradable coating 14 may be formed with columns 16 having relatively small cross-sectional areas, such as less than about two mm 2 and, in one embodiment between about two mm 2 and about one mm 2 , thereby resulting in a relatively high number of columns 16 per unit area. The cross-sectional area may be generally aligned with the outer surface 17 of the turbine component 19 . This configuration may create a more efficient seal between the tips 22 of the turbine blades 24 and the abradable coating 14 on the ring seal segments 20 because the amount of unnecessary columns broken off at the outer edges of the seal will be reduced. In addition, as the cross-sectional area of the columns 16 decreases, the amount of force exerted on the blade tips 22 during the abrasion of the blade tips 22 with the abradable coating 14 decreases.
In another embodiment, the abradable coating system 10 may include an alarm system 54 , as shown in FIG. 8 , for indicating when a turbine blade tip 22 contacts the abradable coating 14 . In at least one embodiment, the alarm system 54 may be formed from a metallic layer 56 , such as, but not limited to, a thin metal foil. The alarm system 54 may be configured such that when a tip 22 of a turbine blade 24 contacts and cuts the metallic foil, a circuit is broken and an alarm is actuated. The metallic layer 56 may be deposited in a calibrated manner such that the alarm is triggered when the columnar abradable coating layer is worn to a specified depth by placing the metal layer 56 between the tip 50 and the base 18 of the column 16 .
In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 , the abradable coating system 10 may include a temperature sensor 58 . For instance, the temperature sensor 58 may be formed from two or more metals used to generate an EMF to determine temperature.
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. | This invention relates to an abradable coating system for use in axial turbine engines. When coated onto a turbine ring seal segment the coating system may allow formation of an individualized seal between turbine blade disks and the surrounding ring seal without causing excessive wear to the blade tips. The abradable coating system includes columns of an abradable material. Thus, interference between the blades and the abradable coating system causes the individual columns to break off at the base. This abrasion mechanism may reduce blade wear and spalling of the coating system when compared to conventional coatings. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the construction of composition roofing for buildings, and to a method for applying the same to conventional roof structures.
The term "composition roofing" as used herein has reference to material of uniform width (e.g., 36 inches) generally marketed in rolls. It commonly consists of suitable fibrous material such as cellulosic fiber, fiberglass, asbestos fiber or comparable materials impregnated with asphalt or other waterproof and protective materials. The upper exposed surface is often coated with mineral aggregate (e.g., sized mineral chips or gravel). In constructing a roof using such composition, the strips making up the rolls are laid horizontally on the roof structure in parallel horizontal courses, with the lower margin of one course overlapping the upper margin of the next lower course. The composition is attached to the roofing structure as by nails, adhesive and/or mastic. A common procedure is to apply some adhesive or mastic to the overlapping margins of the strips after applying nails or tacks through the top portions. Such a roof has the advantages of simplicity and low cost. However, it has a number of disadvantages, including an unattractive appearance, and, frequently, insufficient anchoring of the composition to the underlying structure. Thus, wind conditions may cause movement of the composition with stressing and possible breakage of the composition at points of attachment to the structure. Also, elevated temperatures during the summer months cause softening of the impregnating asphalt, and this together with the weight of the composition tends to cause sagging, which likewise places stresses on the points of anchorage to the structure. In addition, exposed edges of the composition along the junctions between the courses, which are not surfaced with mineral, tend to deteriorate more rapidly than other areas, with weakening of the composition and possible development of leakage. All of the disadvantages thus mentioned tend to limit the useful life of composition roofs, and may necessitate repairs or replacements long before the major part of the composition has seriously deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS
In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a roofing construction having the desirable features of conventional composition roofs, namely simplicity and low cost, without the previously mentioned disadvantages. Particularly, composition roofs made according to the present invention are characterized by attractive appearance and by adequate anchoring of the composition to the underlying roof structure.
Another object is to provide a composition roofing in which no unprotected horizontal edges of the composition strips are left exposed to the weather.
Another object is to provide a composition roofing having the optical effect of shadow lines which break up the surface of the roof according to a predetermined pattern.
Another object is to provide a novel, simple and inexpensive means and method for producing the optical effect of shadow lines on an otherwise plain composition roofing surface.
Another object is to provide a novel method of producing roofing using conventional roofing composition as the base material, with the finished construction providing a predetermined design by virtue of shadow line effects.
In general, the present invention is applicable to conventional sloped roof structures. The roof construction consists of strips of roofing composition applied to the structure in horizontally extending courses, with the lower edge margin of each strip overlapping and joined with the upper edge margin of the next lower strip. Means are applied to the composition which provide horizontal shadow line forming surfaces. These shadow line forming surfaces are faced downwardly with respect to the slope of the roof, and extend upwardly from the plane of the roofing composition. In one embodiment, the horizontal shadow forming surfaces are provided by strips applied to the composition, which are triangular in section. Also, in a preferred embodiment, additional shadow forming means is provided which extend at right angles to the horizontal strips, and which break up the areas between the horizontal strips by shadow forming lines extending parallel to the slope of the roof. Also, the invention provides a method of assembly and constructing such a roof construction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a roofing construction in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail taken along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a detail showing a shadow forming strip applied over overlapping portions of composition strip on a scale greater than that of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an edge view of a shadow forming strip such as is incorporated in the construction of FIGS. 1-3;
FIG. 5 is an end view of the strip shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an exploded view illustrating the manner in which a horizontal shadow forming strip is applied over overlapping edge margins of the composition strips;
FIG. 7 is a view looking toward one edge of a horizontal shadow forming strip with the strip in this instance having an irregular configuration;
FIG. 8 is a view of a horizontal shadow forming strip in which it has another configuration to enhance the appearance of the roof structure;
FIG. 9 is a view looking toward the edge face of a horizontal shadow forming strip with scarfing or markings which modify its appearance in the completed roof construction;
FIG. 10 is a plan view of a roof construction made according to the present invention illustrating one method of providing and attaching vertically extending shadow forming strips;
FIG. 11 is a plan view like FIG. 10, but showing another manner of providing the vertical strips;
FIG. 12 is an exploded view in section illustrating application of the horizontal shadow forming strips to the overlapping portions of the composition sheet and also illustrating the additional vertically extending shadow forming means;
FIG. 13 is an exploded view like FIG. 12, but in this instance showing the vertical shadow forming means extending beneath the horizontal shadow forming strips;
FIG. 14 is an exploded view similar to FIG. 12 but in this instance showing the vertically extending shadow forming means having a portion overlying the upper surface of the horizontal shadow forming strip;
FIG. 15 is a plan view showing an assembly comprising a horizontal strip together with strips extending at right angles to the same for forming shadow lines;
FIG. 16 is a plan view similar to FIG. 15 but showing a modified assembly of shadow forming strips;
FIG. 17 shows one manner of attaching vertical shadow line forming strips to horizontal shadow forming strips as a preassembly;
FIG. 18 is similar to FIG. 17 but shows the vertically extending shadow line forming strips secured to the underside of the base surface of a horizontal shadow forming strip;
FIG. 19 is similar to FIG. 17 but showing the vertically extending shadow line forming strips applied over the upper surface of the horizontal strips;
FIG. 20 is a schematic side elevation showing one arrangement of horizontal and vertical shadow line strips;
FIG. 21 is an enlarged detail in section showing a shadow line forming strip that is rectangular in section;
FIG. 22 is a plan view showing another arrangement of horizontal and vertical strips;
FIGS. 23 and 24 are enlarged details in section showing other possible configurations for shadow forming strips.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the roof construction illustrated is applied to the roof structure of a building consisting of structural rafters 10 and the sheathing 11. The sheathing may for example be sheets of plywood, or may be sheathing boards. The construction which is applied upon the sheathing 11 consists of strips 12 of suitable composition, such as cellulose fiber impregnated with asphalt. As previously mentioned, this type of composition is marketed in strips that are commonly 36 inches in width. As is customary in present-day composition roof practice, the lower edge margin of one horizontal course or strip of composition is overlapped with respect to the upper edge margin of the next lower course. Such an overlap is shown in FIG. 3 where the margin 12a of one course is in overlapping relation with the underlying upper margin 12b of the next lower course. A mastic or cement is generally applied between the overlapping margins.
According to the present invention, shadow forming strips 13 are applied over the composition. These strips extend horizontally, and at least some of these strips are disposed over the junction between the margins 12a and 12b. A suitable construction for such strips is shown in FIG. 3. In this instance the configuration in section of these strips is triangular, with the bottom surface of the triangle being seated upon the composition, and with the edge face 14 being faced downwardly with respect to the slope of the roof. The upper exposed surface 15 extends from the edge face 14 to the apex edge 19. This apex edge merges with the upper surface of the composition in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom surface of each strip is flat. The strip applied over the junction preferably extends below the horizontal edge of the top composition margin, thereby protecting the same from direct exposure to the suns rays.
In the construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bottom surface of the strip 13 is provided with a toe 16 which is offset from the bottom surface 17, thereby providing recessing which is dimensioned to accommodate the upper portion 12 of the overlap between the composition strips. The toe serves to cover and protect the lower edge of the corresponding composition strip, which is not covered with mineral, from direct exposure to the elements.
In FIG. 3, nails 18 are shown driven through the horizontal strips 13 and through the overlapping portions of the composition into the sheathing 11. This method of attachment not only secures the strips in place, but in addition firmly anchors the overlapping margins of the composition strips to the roof sheathing. Exploded FIG. 6 shows more clearly the manner in which horizontal strips 13, provided with toes 16, overlie the overlapping portions of the composition strips, with the inner edge of the toe 16 serving to protect the lower edge of the upper margin 12a.
While a composition roof can be constructed utilizing horizontal shadow forming strips overlying only the areas where the strips have overlapping margins, it may be desirable for aesthetic appearance and to provide additional attachment of the composition to the sheathing, to employ one or two additional horizontal strips between the strips overlying the overlap areas. In FIGS. 2 and 3, an intermediate strip 21 is shown extending between the strips 13, and may have the same general proportions and cross-section configuration as the strips 13. The strips 21 are likewise being shown secured to the composition and to the underlying sheathing by nails 22.
The horizontal shadow line forming strips 13 and 21 can be made of any suitable material, such as wood, molded plastic, rubber or various compositions. Preferably, either before or after the strips are applied to the roof, the upper surfaces are treated whereby their appearance blends with the upper surface of the composition or with the edge faces 14 of the strips. The edge faces 14 and 23 of the horizontal strips are dark in color, black being preferred. The top surfaces can be black or of a dark color or may be mineralized to blend with the composition.
Irrespective of the material from which the horizontal strips are made, they should be capable of withstanding weather conditions to such an extent that they will not deteriorate before general deterioration of the composition strips. In the event strips made of wood are employed, it is desirable that they be impregnated with suitable preservatives, such as creosote and the like to prevent rotting and other deterioration.
It is desirable, although not essential, to provide additional shadow line forming means extending in the direction of the slope of the roof (i.e., vertically) and between the horizontal strips. FIG. 1 shows shadow line forming means 26 extending between adjacent horizontal shadow line forming strips and which serve to break up the areas between horizontal shadow line formings strips into rows of smaller panel-like areas. In this instance the shadow line forming means 26 of one row is staggered with respect to the adjacent rows. Such shadow line forming means may consist of line forming material of dark color which is applied between the horizontal strips 13 and 21. By way of example, we have found it satisfactory to apply beads of black mastic to provide the pattern shown in FIG. 1. In place of mastic or like material, we have employed strips made of suitable material adhesively secured to the upper surface of the composition in the areas between the horizontal strips 13 and 21.
The horizontal shadow line forming strips 13 and 21 can be of any convenient length. Assuming that the strips are made in lengths which for example may vary from 4 to 10 feet, they are applied to the roof end-to-end to extend from one edge of the roof to the other.
As illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, instead of providing the horizontal shadow forming strips with smooth edges, the upper edge of the face 14 can be made irregular as shown in FIG. 7, thus imparting an irregular appearance to the shadow line. In FIG. 8 the irregularity is bead-like, and in FIG. 9 the area of the edge face 14 is broken into small areas by the vertical scarf lines 29. These scarf lines may be aligned with the corresponding vertical shadow line forming means 26.
Assuming that strips of material are utilized to form the vertical shadow line forming means 26, various arrangements can be used as shown in FIGS. 10-19 inclusive. In FIG. 10 the shadow line forming strips 31 extend between the horizontal strips 13 and 21, and their end portions extend underneath the horizontal strips. Such strips may be made of suitable material such as plastic, synthetic rubber, elastomer, composition or the like. By way of example, such strips may, depending upon the appearance desired, vary in width from 1/2 to 2 inches and in thickness from 1/8 to 3/8 inches. The portions extending between the horizontal strips 13 and 21 can be adhesively secured to the upper surface of the composition as by use of mastic or other adhesive, or by nails or other fastening devices. Here again the strips should provide a dark color, preferably black.
In FIG. 11 the vertically aligned shadow line strips 32 have their upper ends extending beneath a horizontal strip, and lower end portions which extend over and are secured to the upper surface of the next lower horizontal strip.
Various possible arrangements for the vertically extending shadow line strips are shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14. FIG. 12 shows an arrangement in which the vertically extending strips 33 terminate at the apex edge 19 of the adjacent horizontal strip. FIG. 13 shows an arrangement in which strips 31 are arranged to underlie the adjacent horizontal strip substantially in the manner illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 14 shows the manner in which strips 32 may have their lower ends extending over and secured to the upper face of the adjacent horizontal strip in the manner illustrated in FIG. 11. The entire length of such strip as shown in FIG. 14 can be secured to the composition and the horizontal strips by suitable means, such as mastic, nails or other fastening devices.
In some instances it is desirable to provide factory made assemblies each including a horizontal shadow forming strip and strips of flexible or rigid material secured to the same which can be used to form the vertical shadow forming means. Thus the assembly shown in FIG. 15 can be used to form an assembly as shown in FIG. 10. In this instance the end portions of the strips 31 are secured to the underside of the strip 13. Such assemblies provide both horizontal and vertically extending shadow forming means, and in addition they permit factory assembly of certain parts, thereby facilitating the labor of applying the shadow forming means to the composition roofing. In the manufacture of such an assembly, strips 31 may be integral with strips 13 or attached to the same as by stapling or adhesive. Another assembly is shown in FIG. 16 in which the end portions of strips 32 are secured to the upper side of strip 13.
FIGS. 17 and 18 show two methods of attachment of strips 31 to the underside of strip 13. FIG. 19 shows attachment of a strip 32 to the upper side of strip 13.
Assuming that the arrangement of FIG. 19 is employed, then the positioning of strips 32 with respect to two adjacent horizontal shadow line forming strips 13 and 21 can be as shown schematically in FIG. 20. In this instance each vertical extending strip 32 has one end portion overlying and secured to the upper side of the strip 13, and the strip 21 is applied over the upper end portion of the strip 32. Strip 21 likewise carries strips 32 having end portions secured to its upper surface. Thus assemblies having strips 13 and 21 may be applied successively to cover the entire roof area.
As previously mentioned, the dimensions of the horizontal shadow line forming strips shown in FIGS. 1-20 can be varied depending upon the type of roof to which they are applied and the degree to which the shadow line effect is desired. For example, the edge faces 14 of the horizontal strips may vary from 1/2 to 1 inch or up to 2 inches for industrial buildings. The width of the strips, that is, the width from the edge face 14 to the apex edge, may vary from 1 to 6 inches. The extension of each strip beyond the corresponding horizontal edge of the composition to which it is applied may be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The vertical shadow line forming strips may, as previously explained, be markings or beads applied by suitable material such as black mastic, or they may be strips of material having a dark or preferably black color which can be secured as by means of adhesive to the composition. Such strips may vary in width from 1/2 to 2 inches, and in thickness from 1/8 to 3/8 inches.
As indicated above, the shadow forming strips may not have a triangular configuration. Thus as shown in FIG. 21, the horizontal strips 36 are rectangular in section and applied over the overlapping margins 12a and 12b, with one edge extending beyond the exposed edge of margin 12a to protect the same from direct sunlight. In FIG. 22 such strips 36 are used with similar vertical strips 37, made either of rigid or flexible material, that are secured by suitable means. The dimensions of strips 36 and/or 37 may also be such that they are square in section. As shown in FIG. 23 strips 36 may be provided with a toe 38 corresponding to the toe 16 of FIG. 5. In FIG. 24 the strip 39 is thickened along one edge to form the end face 40, while the portion 41 of the strip is of lesser thickness.
In general, the present invention permits a variety of shadow line patterns on a composition type roof. The invention not only enhances the appearance of composition roofs, but in addition it performs the function of more securely attaching the composition courses to the underlying roof structure. | Building roofing of the composition type. Members are combined with composition roofing material to provide the effect of shadow lines which enhance the appearance and aid the attachment of the composition to the underlying roof structure. | 4 |
BACKGROUND
As scanning devices and scanning services grow in popularity, the file size of the scanned images becomes more of a concern as the files impose a burden on network and storage systems. For example, many companies and organizations archive both incoming and outgoing email which places an ever-growing burden on the storage systems. The relatively large file sizes of scanned images also imposes a bandwidth burden on the networks over which the scanned images may travel.
Generally, three types of halftone choices are used for rendering binary image scans for export or storage, namely: error diffusion, hybrid, and cluster dot. For systems having a post processing capability, error diffused images may also be post processed by cluster dot halftoning. Additionally, many scanning systems, based on the orientation of the input documents being scanned, automatically rotate the scanned image to place the scanned image in a preferred reading orientation for the benefit of those viewing the images. It would be beneficial therefore to have a system and method which automatically produces halftone images which yield a reduced file size when compressed by various commonly used compression techniques, regardless of whether an image rotation occurs before performing the image compression.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
According to aspects illustrated herein, there is provided a rotation-dependent method for halftone rendering. The method includes receiving an image input and determining if a follow-up image rotation is to be performed. The image is selectively halftoned based on determining if the follow-up rotation will be performed. The halftoning process results in more concatenating of like bits in each halftone cell in one direction if a following image rotation is to be performed, and more concatenating of like bits in each halftone cell in another direction if the following image rotation is not to be performed.
According to the aspects illustrated herein, there is also provided a method for halftone rendering which includes receiving a contone image input which is then converted to a binary error-diffused image. It is then determined if a following right-angle image rotation will be performed and the binary image is then clustered by one of two methods based on whether or not the right-angle image rotation will be performed. The selective clustering includes dividing the binary image into a tessellation of cells and then concatenating like bits in each cell in a fast-scan direction if the following right-angle image rotation will not be performed, or concatenating like bits in each cell in a direction perpendicular to the fast-scan direction if the following right-angle image rotation will be performed. The clustered image is then rotated if necessary, and compressed.
According still further aspects illustrated herein, there is also provided a scanning system including an input section, including a scanning system, for scanning images to be processed by the scanning system. A user interface, a main memory, and a processor are also provided. The processor includes program logic configured to receive an image input from the input section, determine if a following image rotation is to be performed, and selectively halftone the received image based on whether or not the rotation is to be performed. The halftoning includes halftoning the received image by concatenating like bits in each halftone cell in one direction if a following image rotation is to be performed, or concatenating like bits in each halftone cell in another direction if the following image rotation is not to be performed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of scanning system suitable for practicing concepts of the present application;
FIG. 2 is a halftone cell showing a first growth order suitable for one embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 3 is a halftone cell showing a second growth order suitable for one embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 4 is a tessellation utilizing the halftone cell of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 5 is a tessellation utilizing the halftone cell of FIG. 3 ;
FIG. 6 is an alternate tessellation utilizing a variant of the halftone cell of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 7 is an alternate tessellation utilizing a variant of the halftone cell of FIG. 3 ;
FIG. 8 is a sample error diffused image;
FIG. 9 is the image of FIG. 8 after a clustering operation according to concepts of the present application;
FIG. 10 is an alternate halftone cell;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method of the present application; and
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an alternate method of the present application utilizing post processing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
For a general understanding of the present application, reference is made to the drawings. While the present application is described herein with reference to grayscale continuous tone (contone) image data, and with reference to binary monochrome image data, it should be understand that concepts described herein may be applied to the processing of color images, wherein each color image separation is treated as a grayscale or monochrome image. Accordingly, references made herein to the processing of grayscale images or monochrome images are intended to include the processing of color image separations as well.
In image processing, each location and image is commonly referred to as a pixel. The term pixel may refer to a signal, e.g., electrical or optical, which represents physical optical properties at a physically definable area on an image. In a binary form of an image each pixel value is a bit. In a grayscale form of an image each pixel value is a grayscale value. In a color image, each pixel may include a set of color space coordinates. The binary form, grayscale form, and color coordinate form of an image each form a two dimensional array defining the image.
The term data is used herein refers to physical signals that include information regarding the representation of an image. The term image refers to a pattern of physical light which may include characters, words, text, and other features such as graphics in photographic representations. The image itself may be divided into regions or segments each of which itself may be considered an image. The region or segment of the image may be of any size up to and including the whole image. As used herein, an operation or process performs image processing when it operates on an item of data relating to an image or a part of an image.
With reference to FIG. 1 , a scanning system is shown which may be used for scanning documents to be archived on file storage devices or which may be used for scanning documents to be distributed over a network such as by an email system. The scanning system includes a scanner 10 which may be any of a variety of scanners known in the art such as, e.g., a flatbed scanner. A scanner 10 outputs contone images which are communicated to a processor 12 for producing a halftone image or a compressed halftone image to be distributed by means of a distribution system 14 over a network 16 . The network may be any type of network such as a local area network, an intranet, or a wide area network such as the internet. The processor 12 may also output the halftone images to a storage system 18 for storage on media such as, for example, magnetic disks, CDs, CDR media, CDRW media, and/or magnetic tape. The scanning system includes a user interface 22 for interacting with a user of the system, i.e., receiving commands from the user, and displaying job status and system status information to the user. Also included in the scanning system is a main storage system 24 including, e.g., one or more disk storage units 26 and random access memory (RAM) 28 . The scanner 10 may be part of a larger input system 30 for receiving images from other sources such as, e.g., from the network 16 . The present application describes in more detail below a system and method which compresses the processed halftone images in an efficient and effective manner without noticeably affecting the quality of the halftone images in order to maximize use of the distribution system 14 or the storage system 18 .
In examining the detail of a halftoned, binary image it has been found that a more efficient compression is achieved by creating long runs of binary 1's and 0's along the fast-scan direction. That is to say, long runs of either black pixels or white pixels in the fast-scan direction provide a more compact compression. Most scanning systems have a fast-scan direction as a document is being scanned. For example, a flatbed scanner may have a full width array of detectors for scanning horizontal lines across a document in rapid fashion. This full width array is then driven by a motor in stepwise increments along the remaining document axis for scanning in the slow scan direction. A compression algorithm operating on the scanned image will normally process the image data first in the fast-scan direction and then in the slow scan direction in order to compress the full two dimensional image. Of course, long runs of 1's and 0's generated in the slow scan direction work with equal efficacy with regard to compression if the compression algorithm operates first in the slow scan direction and then on the fast-scan direction. The present application is not limited in this respect.
With reference now to FIG. 2 , and for the purpose of more easily explaining concepts of the present application, embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to a small exemplary halftone cell 22 having a 2×2 arrangement of pixels having a growth order as shown, wherein the cell grows row by row in a horizontal direction and then lastly in the vertical direction. Alternately, with reference to FIG. 3 , another exemplary halftone cell 26 comprising a 2×2 array of pixels 28 has a growth order as shown growing in a column-wise fashion. The halftone cell shown in FIG. 2 will hereinafter be referred to as halftone method A, and the halftone cell shown in FIG. 3 will hereinafter be referred to as halftone method B.
It is to be understood that the exemplary halftone cell 22 is normally arranged as shown in FIG. 4 to form a tessellation covering the entire image, or a selected image area. Similarly, with reference to halftone cell 26 as shown in FIG. 5 , a tessellation is formed covering the selected image area. It is to be further understood, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 , that variations of the halftone cells 22 and 26 for halftone method A and halftone method B may be used concurrently as shown. For example, an alternate halftone cell 30 is simply a mirror image of the method A halftone cell 22 placed alternately in the tessellation as shown. Similarly, the alternate halftone cell 32 is simply a mirror image of the method B halftone cell 26 .
In order to graphically illustrate concepts of the present application, with reference to FIG. 8 , an error diffused image 40 including white pixels 42 and black pixels 44 arranged to form a graphical representation of the letter X is shown. In an error diffused representation of a contone image, the desired density over the image area representing image density variation is done by placing greater or lesser numbers of pixels in an on state, e.g., black pixels, in a discreet area of the image. Error diffusion attempts to maintain gray in an image by making the conversion from gray pixels to binary or other level pixels on a pixel-by-pixel basis. For example, each pixel is examined with respect to a threshold value, and the difference between the gray level pixel value and the output value is forwarded to a selected group or set of neighboring pixels in accordance with a weighting scheme. It is significant to note that, within the image 40 , there are no rows containing a full run of white pixels. It is also significant to note that there are very few runs of black pixels 44 in the image, except in the central portion of the image.
With reference now to FIG. 9 , a halftone image 46 representation of the image 40 shown in FIG. 8 is provided. With continued reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 8 , the error diffused image 40 is halftoned by the halftone method A ( FIG. 2 ) into the halftone image 46 as shown. Because embodiments of the present application preferably produce long runs of 1's and 0's in the direction along which compression is performed, i.e., concatenates the 1's and 0's respectively, and because for the present example it is assumed that the compression direction is in the horizontal fast-scan direction, halftone method A has been chosen for this example. Accordingly, the image 46 includes a plurality of halftone cells 48 , each halftone cell including a 2×2 array of pixels 50 . Individual halftone cells in the image 46 are referenced in a row-wise, column-wise fashion. For example, the left uppermost halftone cell is labeled C(0,0), while the right bottom most cell is labeled C(7,9), the enclosed numerals indicating the respective row and column of the halftone cell.
An examination of halftone method A makes it readily apparent that the growth order shown in the exemplary halftone cell is designed to reorder the pixels in the error diffused image 40 according to the number of pixels that are in an on state in the respective halftone cell positions in the error diffused image. For example, with reference to the error diffused image 40 , the pixel positions corresponding to the pixel positions of halftone cell C(0,0) include only one pixel in the on state. Therefore, according to the growth order of halftone method A only the top left-most pixel of halftone cell C(0,0) is in an on state. In similar fashion, with reference to halftone cell C(0,1), because the corresponding pixels of the error diffused image 40 have 2 pixels in the on state, according to the growth order of halftone method A, only the upper-most two pixels of the halftone cell C(0,1) are placed in an on state. It may be readily observed that it is not necessary to map specific pixels from error diffused image 40 into halftone image 46 but, rather, it is only necessary to count the number of cells in an on state in positions of the error diffused image 40 corresponding to a halftone cell location in the halftone image 46 . The halftone cell in the halftone image may then be populated according to the number of on-state pixels and the selected growth order.
It is illustrative to compare the number of runs occurring in the error diffused image 40 versus the number of runs occurring in halftone image 46 for purposes of demonstrating advantages of the present application. For example, in examining the error diffused image 40 in a pixel-wise fashion from left to right and then top to bottom it may observed that there is a total of 113 runs in the image. The counting methodology is as follows. The top left most pixel of the image is a pixel in the off state and the adjacent pixel in the same row is a pixel in the on state. Therefore, the first pixel counts as one run. The pixel adjacent and to the right of the second pixel is in the off state so the second pixel counts as one run. The group of pixels in the center of the first row of the image is made up of pixels which are all in an off state and, therefore, only count as one run. In counting pixels at the end of a row, pixels at the beginning of the following row are counted as part of the same run if they are in the same state as the ending pixel in the previous row.
With reference to FIG. 9 , counting runs in the same fashion for the halftone image 46 versus the error diffused image 40 . It is determined that there is a total of only 64 runs in the image which, according to many compression techniques, will result in a significant reduction in file size. Most binary image compression techniques take advantage of the fact that a number of identical pixels in a long run may be efficiently compressed. For example, the long run may be encoded simply by specifying the number of pixels in the run with the corresponding pixel value, thereby eliminating or reducing the storage requirements for the large number of pixels in the run. One suitable compression algorithm is the JBIG2 arithmetic compression developed by the joint bi-level experts group for the efficient lossless and lossy compression of bi-level black and white images.
It is to be understood that the halftone method A shown in FIG. 2 is an exemplary halftone method only. Typically, halftone cells larger than a 2×2 matrix are used, and the halftone cells are not necessarily rectangular in format. Any shape of halftone cells, or a plurality of shapes, that can form a tessellation over the image area may be utilized in order to practice concepts of the present application. Nor is the present application limited to the exemplary growth order illustrated in the figure. For example, with reference to FIG. 10 , a growth order 52 of a 4×4 halftone cell fills in alternating rows of the halftone cell. The illustrated growth order also suffices to provide longer runs of 1's and 0's in the halftone image. The present application is limited in growth order only in the respect that the growth order produces sufficiently long runs of 1's and 0's in the halftone image to provide a beneficial compression improvement to the image when used in a compression algorithm. Nor is the present application limited by the particular compression algorithm used to compress the halftone image after the halftoning process.
With reference now to FIG. 11 , a flowchart describing rotation-dependent halftone rendering and compression according to concepts of the present application is provided. The logic of the flowchart is incorporated into processor 12 as shown in FIG. 1 , and it is assumed that a contone image has been received from the scanner 10 by the processor 12 prior to a first step of the flowchart. At a first rotation-determination step 60 , it is first determined whether the resultant halftone image is to be rotated before a compression step by either of 90° or 270° rotation. As previously described, it is desirable to create long runs of 1's and 0's in the direction along which compression is taking place, i.e., the effectiveness of the compression is rotation dependent. Therefore, if it is determined at step 60 that a 90° or 270° rotation is taking place, processing continues at step 62 where halftone method A is used to halftone the received contone image. Otherwise, processing continues at step 64 where halftone method B is used to halftone the received image. Following the halftoning at either of step 62 or step 64 , compression takes place at step 66 using any of a number of readily available compression techniques such as the previously mentioned JBIG2 compression algorithm.
With reference now to FIG. 12 , a second procedure involving a post-processing step 68 is described. In this procedure, the received contone image is converted to an error diffused image at step 68 before a determination is made at step 70 as to whether the image is to be rotated by 90° or 270° . Similar to the previously described procedure, if a rotation is to take place, a clustering step using the halftone clustering according to halftone method A is performed at step 72 . Otherwise, clustering according to halftone method B is performed at step 74 . In each case, however, processing continues with compression at step 76 .
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the above-described rotation-dependent halftone rendering and compression methods, two images were scanned at four different resolutions for each image, namely 200 dpi, 300 dpi, 400 dpi, and 600 dpi. Each scan produced an error-diffused output. Each of the scanned images was clustered, without rotation, using each of the halftone methods A and B described previously with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 . Each of the 16 clustered images was compressed using JBIG2 arithmetic compression, and the results tabulated in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1
Method A size in kB
Method B size in kB
(Fast-scan direction)
(Remaining direction)
Image 1
88
123
Image 1
224
279
Image 1
369
494
Image 1
956
1235
Image 2
60
81
Image 2
123
161
Image 2
195
266
Image 2
419
587
It is readily apparent that a more efficient compression is achieved by creating long runs of binary 1's and 0's, as demonstrated in this particular test case by method A which produced the long runs in the fast-scan direction. If, however, a 90° or 270° rotation had been applied to the clustered image, a similar advantage would have been shown for method B in comparison to method A. This test demonstrates that by deploying a different halftone method based on a following rotation of the scan output that an improved compression can be achieved without sacrificing image quality by a noticeable degree.
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims. | A method and system for rotation-dependent halftone rendering. An image input is received from a scanning system or other source, the received image being either a contone image or an error-diffused mage. If a following right-angle image rotation is to be performed, the image is clustered by a clustering method which yields reduced file sizes with respect to the rotated orientation of the image. If no following right-angle image rotation will be performed, the binary image is clustered by an alternate clustering method which yields reduced file sizes with respect to the non-rotated image. The selective clustering includes dividing the image into a tessellation of cells and then concatenating like bits in each cell in a preferred direction for the rotated or non-rotated image. The clustered image is then rotated if necessary, and compressed. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known to support a punching bag by attaching it to a stable structure for appropriate use. Previous references include those that teach a punching bag support method involving, for example, an exercise machine, telescoping poles, a freestanding apparatus, or various apparatuses that mount to a ceiling or overhead architectural structure, a wall, a door, a doorframe, a ceiling and a floor, or a ceiling and a wall.
As used herein, a “punching bag support apparatus,” or “support apparatus,” is an apparatus made to support a plurality of types of punching bags, including weighted or inflated bags—for example: a heavy bag, angle bag, focus bag, or speed bag. In the example of a speed bag, the support apparatus is made to also support a horizontal rebound drum, more commonly known, and referred to herein, as a rebound platform or simply a platform.
In fact, a speed bag requires special considerations to support the bag for proper use. A speed bag is typically an air-inflated, teardrop-shaped punching bag about nine inches in height, rotatably attached to a rebound platform, from which the bag hangs and which provides a solid rebound surface for the bag when in use. After being struck by a user, a speed bag rebounds off of the platform quickly, usually two or more times after every strike, such that the user can strike the bag repeatedly and rhythmically and keep it in continuous motion. Since this type of use requires minimal loss of energy in the struck bag, the platform and the accompanying means of support require substantial rigidity and stability. While the degree to which a platform vibrates is determined in part by the density of the platform's material, its overall stability and effectiveness for speed bag performance is largely affected by the method or apparatus by which the platform is mounted. A platform or support apparatus that is generally unstable or that significantly vibrates will deaden the rebound of the bag and thus hinder the user from striking the bag with the speed and rhythm that is paramount to speed bag users.
Previous references that could provide support for a type of punching bag other than a speed bag and rebound platform—for example, a heavy bag or focus bag—fail at least to also provide adequate support for a speed bag and rebound platform.
Previous references that could provide support for a speed bag and rebound platform fail at least to employ a means or apparatus that would also provide adequate support for other types of punching bags.
Further, previous references that could provide support for a speed bag and rebound platform fail at least to provide such support in one or more of the following ways:
1) The reference fails to employ a method or apparatus that would not effectively alter or modify the supporting structures (for example, a wall or ceiling), in that it utilizes screws, bolts, anchors, nails, adhesives, or other fastening methods that would penetrate the supporting structures in order to achieve a requisite level of support; 2) The reference fails to employ a method or apparatus that would not cause markings or indentations to the supporting structures, in that the apparatus invariably presses into the supporting structures in order to achieve a requisite level of support or as a result of movement during punching bag use; 3) The reference fails to employ a method or apparatus that would not be a safety hazard, in that its mounting or tensioning means do not ensure against the slipping or falling of the apparatus as a result of movement during punching bag use or merely under the force of gravity; 4) The reference fails to employ a method or apparatus that would achieve a level of stability and performance required for speed bag use as described above, in that it does not provide for the use of a solid rebound platform or does not provide requisite high-rebound and low-vibration characteristics.
Thus, there is still a need for a punching bag support apparatus that is not subject to the limitations and problems enumerated above.
These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
As used herein, the phrases “coupled to,” “coupled with,” and “attached to” are used synonymously. Unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “coupled” and the term “attached” are intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements, components, or members that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element, component, or member is located between the two elements, components, or members).
Moreover, elements, components, or members that are described as “coupled” or “attached” in a given embodiment are not necessarily mutually exclusive of each other in form or function across all embodiments comprising similar elements, components, or members. Nonetheless, as coupled or attached, the elements, components, or members integrate to establish the overall form and function as described.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These teachings provide apparatus, systems and methods for which a punching bag, or a punching bag and a rebound platform, can be mounted and secured to a plurality of architectural openings, including various architraves, e.g., a doorframe, such that the mounting utilizes surrounding architectural structures and surfaces without modification, alteration, or injury to those structures and surfaces, and such that the apparatus as mounted provides sufficient stability for repetitive striking of a punching bag.
A support apparatus is envisioned to have at least one bag-support member, to which a punching bag could be attached, or to which a horizontal rebound platform could be attached as in the case of, for example, a speed bag application.
In one embodiment, the bag-support member could be sized and disposed to be, for example, at least 50%, 70%, or 90% of the width of a doorway and centered between a left vertical side and a right vertical side of a doorframe of the doorway. In another embodiment, the bag-support member could comprise a horizontal, elongated member that is greater than the width of the doorway and that could extend beyond the left vertical side and the right vertical side of the doorframe, abutting the doorframe on a front-left side and a front-right side, respectively. In another embodiment, a modified version of the horizontal, elongated member could be telescoping on at least one end, allowing its length to be adjusted to suit a plurality of doorframes and architectural spaces.
The bag-support member could be adjustably coupled to an upper clamp assembly attached to an upper portion of the doorframe such that, as mounted, the support apparatus is proximate to the doorframe at a plurality of heights and depths to facilitate the use of a plurality of punching bags. The upper clamp assembly could assist in generally securing the apparatus in its mounted position and reducing movement of the apparatus during punching bag use. The upper clamp assembly could include one or more clamps comprised of at least one front member, at least one rear member, and at least one tightening mechanism, such that each clamp in the assembly could be tensioned around a front side and a rear side of the doorframe. Such clamping means could prevent the apparatus from being jarred from its mounted position and falling as a result of lateral movement of the punching bag or, in particular, by upward movement of a speed bag rebounding against an attached platform.
In some embodiments, the upper clamp assembly is envisioned to include a rigid, elongated, horizontal member that supports at least a portion of the weight of the apparatus by being sized and disposed to abut a top surface of the upper portion of the doorframe on, for example, the rear side of the doorframe. The horizontal member could span greater than 60%, 80% or 90% of the width of the doorway and could be coupled to one or more shorter elongated, horizontal members that each spans, for example, less than 20% or 30% of the width of the doorway, and that are sized and disposed to abut a top surface of an upper portion of the doorframe on a side opposite the longer horizontal member—e.g., on a front side.
In another embodiment, the horizontal member of the shorter length as described above could be utilized similarly to abut the upper portions of the doorframe on both the front side and the rear side. Alternatively, the horizontal member of the longer length as described above could be utilized similarly to abut the upper portions of the doorframe on both sides. Further, one or more of such configurations in one or more combinations of multiple longer and shorter horizontal members could comprise the upper clamp assembly of the support apparatus without departing from the scope of these teachings.
One or more bag-support members could be coupled to the upper clamp assembly using at least one rigid vertical element. The vertical element could comprise, for example: a bracket about five inches wide and one quarter inch thick, or a round tube that is about one inch in diameter, or about a one-inch square tube. Alternatively, a plurality of brackets or tubes could be employed in front-and-rear or side-by-side configurations relative to the depth and the width of the doorway, respectively. In some embodiments, such bag-support members and vertical elements are envisioned to be vertically telescoping on at least one end, allowing the length of each to be adjusted to suit a plurality of doorframes and architectural spaces.
Such vertical elements could comprise a series of coupling points such as holes, indents, tracks, or slots, for example, arranged vertically such that the coupling between the bag-support members and the upper clamp assembly is vertically adjustable—for example: in at least one-inch or two-inch increments, or infinite sliding adjustability, within a span of at least one foot. Such vertical variability could allow the bag-support members, and thus the punching bag itself, to be raised or lowered to suit the preference of a user.
Similarly, one or more of the bag-support members could comprise a series of coupling points arranged horizontally such that the coupling between the bag-support member and the upper clamp assembly could also be horizontally adjustable—for example: in at least one-half-inch or one-inch increments, or infinite sliding adjustability, within a span of at least three inches. Such horizontal variability could allow the bag-support member, and thus the punching bag itself, to be positioned forward or backward, relative to the depth of the doorway, to suit the preference of the user. Further, in an embodiment comprising a bag-support member configured as an elongated horizontal member that abuts the front-left side and the front-right side of the doorframe, such horizontal adjustment in the coupling of the bag-support member to the upper clamp assembly could facilitate the mounting of the apparatus with an attached rebound platform in doorways with a plurality of frame dimensions—for example, 5 inches deep, 6½ inches deep, or 7 inches deep, such that the platform rests in a perfectly level position.
In some embodiments, the coupling between the horizontal and vertical elements of the bag-support members is envisioned to be rotatable in order to compact the apparatus when unmounted, to allow more convenient storage or ease in transport, for example.
To further secure the support apparatus to the doorframe, a left-side clamp assembly and a right-side clamp assembly are envisioned. These side clamp assemblies could each be comprised of one or more elongated members in the sizes and configurations described herein for the upper clamp assembly. In some embodiments, the left-side clamp assembly and the right-side clamp assembly could be coupled to at least one of the bag-support members adjustably, such that the coupled members as a whole can be sized and disposed to mount to a plurality of doorway widths, depths, and doorframe dimensions.
It is envisioned that any of the clamp assemblies could comprise at least one or two support materials: a first material that is at least semi-rigid, to provide the primary structure of the clamp; and a second material that comprises a padding, to provide protection to the surfaces of the doorframe, wall or other architectural structures with which the clamp comes into contact. Moreover, a plurality of padding materials could be employed on the clamps or any part of the support apparatus to provide grip, or to protect against scratches or blemishes on the architectural surfaces, or to dampen vibration of the apparatus during punching bag use, or to absorb shock to the apparatus or the architectural structures during punching bag use. Alternatively, the first material could comprise a semi-rigid material that also functions as a padding material, such as a hard rubber. Such a material could be the only material of which the clamps are comprised. Contemplated semi-rigid or rigid materials include, but are not limited to, steel, aluminum, hardwood, fiberglass, hard plastic, and hard rubber. Contemplated padding materials include, but are not limited to, soft rubber, foam rubber, soft plastic, vinyl, felt, and cloth.
The support apparatus is further envisioned to comprise at least one attachment mechanism to allow coupling with a known punching bag attachment device, such as an S-hook or a spring hook, which could allow the attachment of a plurality of types of punching bags. The support apparatus could have at least one such attachment mechanism for a punching bag to be used without a rebound platform, in addition to an attachment mechanism to allow coupling with a rebound platform, to which a speed bag could be attached via a known swivel hook, for example.
The support apparatus is envisioned to comprise a material that could support a punching bag of any known weight, for example: 10 lbs, 50 lbs, 100 lbs, or heavier; and any known size, for example: 6 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches, or larger; and any known filling, for example: air (inflated), fiber, or foam.
The support apparatus is envisioned to comprise a material that could support a rebound platform of any known material, for example: wood or plastic; and any known weight, for example: 10 lbs, 20 lbs, 30 lbs, or heavier; and any known length and width, for example: 12 inches by 18 inches, 18 inches by 18 inches, 18 inches by 24 inches, or larger; and any known shape, for example: a perfect or modified circle, square or rectangle, or an irregular shape; and any known thickness, for example: ¾ inch, 1 inch, 3 inches, or greater.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of alternative embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosed support apparatus to which a speed bag and a rebound platform are attached.
FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 , unmounted and folded into a storage position.
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of the apparatus, illustrating a depth adjustment mechanism.
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another alternative embodiment of the apparatus, illustrating an alternative depth adjustment mechanism.
FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 , but to which a heavy bag is attached. As in FIG. 1 , FIG. 6 illustrates: a bag-support member comprising two vertical elements; and an upper clamp assembly comprising two tightening mechanisms and one common, elongated horizontal rear member.
FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of another alternative embodiment, which illustrates: a bag-support member comprising one vertical element; and an upper clamp assembly comprising one tightening mechanism and one elongated horizontal rear member.
FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of the support apparatus of FIG. 7 , but it shows an attached speed bag and platform rather than a heavy bag. Some hidden structures of the apparatus and doorframe are shown in dashed lines.
FIG. 9 is a partial, exploded view of a bag-support member, isolating the basic components of an alternative embodiment of a depth adjustment mechanism.
FIG. 10 is a partial, perspective view of a bag-support member, isolating another alternative embodiment of a depth adjustment mechanism.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 8 , illustrating a left-side bag-support member and a right-side bag-support member that also serve as a front member of a left-side clamp and a front member of a right-side clamp, respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Previous support methods that rely on clamping suffer from the dilemma that, in order to achieve optimal support and stability by clamps alone, a support apparatus would have to be lighter than a weight that would maximize performance use. Previous methods that rely on leveraging suffer from the dilemma that, in order to achieve optimal support and stability by leverage points alone, the support apparatus would have to be heavier than a weight that would be necessary for high-performance use, and this could make installation more difficult or impossible in some situations. Therefore, by either method, apparatus usability and performance must be compromised for the sake of clamping or leveraging effectiveness.
The disclosed methods provide several advantageous technical effects over previous methods. The methods herein teach a clamping and leveraging support means together, such that the two work integrally and optimally in a plurality of embodiments. No longer must the apparatus's weight be contingent upon support and stability factors. The result demonstrates how both support and performance can be maximized without conflict.
A particular advantage of the disclosed methods is clamping that requires minimal tensioning and assists in safely securing a support apparatus—with either a punching bag by itself or a punching bag attached to a rebound platform—within a direct space of an architectural opening, such as a doorway. In contrast, a support method that relies primarily or solely on leveraging the weight of an apparatus against, for example, a doorframe or door, may require an indirect, horizontally displaced mounting of the apparatus—i.e., away from the direct space of the doorway—such that it protrudes into, for example, an adjacent room, in order for the leverage to be sufficient to achieve a requisite level of support, stability, or safety.
A further advantage of the disclosed methods is the obviating of a need for additional supporting members, such as a wall brace or a ceiling brace. Yet another advantage is the obviating of a need for an installation that requires, for example, screwing support brackets into a doorframe, or drilling holes into wall studs—or any modifications or alterations, for that matter, to the supporting structures. Other advantages include the ability to easily mount and unmount, with a single apparatus, a conventional speed bag and rebound platform—or a plurality of punching bag types—and achieve a level of performance that meets or exceeds known apparatuses.
The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other, remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.
In FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a support apparatus 100 is shown from a rear view, mounted to a doorframe 190 . In this embodiment, the apparatus 100 supports a speed bag 160 and a rebound platform 150 . A known swivel device 162 attaches speed bag 160 to rebound platform 150 . Doorframe 190 is contemplated to have an inner width of about 30 inches, although the inner width could be as narrow as about 24 inches or as wide as about 40 inches for this embodiment of the apparatus. The shape of rebound platform 150 is contemplated to be circular but could be a plurality of shapes. Rebound platform 150 is contemplated to have a diameter of about 23 inches; however, that diameter could be as great as the inner width of doorframe 190 or as small as the distance between two contact points 180 degrees apart where speed bag 160 rebounds off of rebound platform 150 after being struck. Rebound platform 150 is further contemplated to have a thickness of about 1 inch; however, the thickness of rebound platform 150 could be greater or less than 1 inch—for example, ½ inch or 3 inches. The material of rebound platform 150 is contemplated to be comprised of solid wood but could be a plurality of materials, solid or otherwise—for example: wood comprising internal chambers, or solid plastic, or cushioned plastic. Further, speed bag 160 could be air-inflated or any known type, and could be, for example, about 9 inches high, or any known size and shape of punching bag.
Continuing FIG. 1 , the support apparatus 100 comprises a first vertical element 130 and a second vertical element 140 , both of which abut doorframe 190 and function as rear clamp members of an upper clamp assembly 119 (further described below for FIG. 2 ). A horizontal clamp member 115 rests abuttingly on a top surface of doorframe 190 and thereby leverages a weight of the apparatus 100 . Horizontal clamp member 115 is shown coupled to vertical elements 130 and 140 by a first T-knob fastener 117 and a second T-knob fastener 118 , respectively. Thusly, FIG. 1 (and the corresponding front view of FIG. 2 ) represents one contemplated system that combines a leveraging method and a clamping method integrally in one embodiment of the support apparatus 100 .
While FIG. 1 shows horizontal clamp member 115 coupled about midway along the length of vertical elements 130 and 140 , T-knob fasteners 117 and 118 can be inserted into any one of a plurality of holes 125 and 127 , respectively, to vertically adjust the distance of horizontal clamp member 115 from the attached rebound platform 150 . Similarly, a first T-knob fastener 111 and a second T-knob fastener 121 can be inserted into any one of the plurality of holes 125 and 127 , respectively, to vertically position a tightening mechanism 113 and a tightening mechanism 123 , respectively. This configuration represents one contemplated method for adjusting speed bag 160 appropriately for the height of a user.
Note that in other contemplated embodiments not shown but similar to that of FIG. 1 , vertical elements 130 and 140 could be sized and disposed such that they do not abut the upper portion of doorframe 190 as in FIG. 1 but rather are configured entirely below it. In such configurations, vertical elements 130 and 140 would not necessarily function as rear clamp members of upper clamp assembly 119 but could be coupled to upper clamp assembly 119 , which could comprise a plurality of rear clamp members similar to front clamp members 122 ( FIG. 2) and 147 ( FIG. 2 ) of an upper clamp 120 , and front clamp members 112 ( FIG. 2) and 148 ( FIG. 2 ) of an upper clamp 110 . Alternatively, upper clamp assembly 119 could comprise horizontal clamp member 115 and a similarly sized clamp member (not shown) on the opposing side of doorframe 190 .
Also shown in FIG. 1 is a right-side clamp assembly 170 and a left-side clamp assembly 180 (named relative to a front side of the apparatus, as in FIG. 2 ), each clamped onto a respective side of doorframe 190 . Right-side clamp assembly 170 is shown comprised of a rear clamp member 133 coupled to a rear clamp member 172 wherein a T-knob fastener 174 adjusts the coupling of rear clamp members 133 and 172 via a slot 176 in rear clamp member 133 , such that rear clamp member 172 abuts doorframe 190 . A tightening mechanism 137 brings the rear clamp member 133 and a first bag-support member 154 ( FIG. 2 ) toward each other and tensioned around doorframe 190 by turning T-knob fastener 153 ( FIG. 2 ), which passes through any one of a plurality of holes 149 ( FIG. 2 ) and threads into a mating part 165 coupled to rear clamp member 133 . Likewise, a left-side clamp assembly 180 is configured in the same manner as right-side clamp assembly 170 , but on the left side of doorframe 190 . The plurality of holes 149 ( FIG. 2 ) provides one contemplated means of adjustability such that left-side clamp assembly 180 and right-side clamp assembly 170 may be positioned appropriately for the width of doorframe 190 .
In FIG. 2 , a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 , bag-support member 154 is contemplated to be a hollow tube made of a rigid material such as aluminum or steel, as are vertical elements 130 and 140 . Bag-support member 154 is illustrated as about 1¼-inch square and about 44 inches long. Note, however, that in other embodiments not shown, bag-support member 154 and vertical elements 130 and 140 are contemplated to be a plurality of shapes and dimensions—for example: at least a ¾-inch, 1-inch or 2-inch square or other multi-sided tube, or a round tube about ¾ inch or greater in diameter, or a round or multi-sided telescoping tube that adjusts in length to fit an available space proximate to a doorway, or a rigid, relatively flat, non-tubular material.
In the embodiment of FIG. 2 , bag-support member 154 abuts the left side and right side of doorframe 190 and thereby functions as a front clamp member of right-side clamp assembly 170 ( FIG. 1 ) and a front clamp member of left-side clamp assembly 180 ( FIG. 1 ). A padding material 158 is shown between bag-support member 154 and the left side and right side of doorframe 190 . The dual-purpose functionality of bag-support member 154 , such that it leverages apparatus 100 against the front of doorframe 190 and also serves as one of the front clamp members of right-side clamp assembly 170 ( FIG. 1 ) and left-side clamp assembly 180 ( FIG. 1 ), further demonstrates a method of combining leveraging and clamping integrally in support apparatus 100 .
Note that in other contemplated embodiments not shown but similar to that of FIG. 2 , bag-support member 154 could be a length less than the inner width of doorframe 190 and would not necessarily abut the left side or the right side of doorframe 190 . In those embodiments, bag-support member 154 would not necessarily serve as the front clamp member of right-side clamp assembly 170 ( FIG. 1 ) or of left-side clamp assembly 180 ( FIG. 1 ), but rather could be centered between the left side and the right side of doorframe 190 and could be coupled to right-side clamp assembly 170 ( FIG. 1 ) and left-side clamp assembly 180 ( FIG. 1 ), each comprising a plurality of front clamp members similar to rear clamp members 133 , 172 , and 135 , 182 , on the left side and right side of doorframe 190 , respectively.
Also shown in FIG. 2 is the front side of upper clamp assembly 119 ( FIG. 1 ), comprising upper clamp 110 and upper clamp 120 , each clamped onto doorframe 190 . Upper clamp 110 is shown comprised of a front clamp member 148 coupled to a front clamp member 112 wherein a T-knob fastener 114 adjusts the coupling of front clamp members 148 and 112 via a slot 116 in front clamp member 148 , such that front clamp member 112 abuts doorframe 190 . A tightening mechanism 113 brings the front clamp member 148 and vertical member 130 toward each other and tensioned around doorframe 190 by turning T-knob fastener 111 ( FIG. 1 ), which passes through any one of the plurality of holes 125 ( FIG. 1 ) and threads into a mating part 165 coupled to front clamp member 148 . Upper clamp 120 is configured in the same manner as upper clamp 110 but is proximate to the left side, instead of the right side, of doorframe 190 .
FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of the support apparatus 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2 in an unmounted, folded position, with upper clamps 110 and 120 ( FIG. 2 ) removed (and not shown) and speed bag 160 detached. Coupled to the first bag-support member 154 are a second bag-support member 134 and a third bag-support member 144 . Bag-support members 134 and 144 , however, could be sized and disposed to be uncoupled from bag-support member 154 , as illustrated in FIG. 5 , for example. Note further that in other similar embodiments contemplated but not shown, bag-support members 134 and 144 do not necessarily exist, and vertical elements 130 and 140 could be sized and disposed to couple directly or by other configurations to bag-support member 154 .
Continuing FIG. 3 , vertical element 140 is coupled to bag-support member 134 via an attachment mechanism 142 , which is contemplated in this embodiment to have two attachment points, facilitated here by example as a fixed pin 143 and a removable T-knob fastener 141 , both of which extend through bag-support member 134 and vertical element 140 . T-knob fastener 141 could be removed to allow vertical element 140 to rotate toward bag-support member 154 to the position illustrated. An attachment mechanism 132 is configured similarly. Thusly, when apparatus 100 is unmounted from doorframe 190 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ), upper clamp assembly 119 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) could be folded down from its vertical position, toward bag-support member 154 , with or without upper clamps 110 and 120 ( FIG. 2 ) removed, and with or without speed bag 160 detached, for the purposes of storing or transporting support apparatus 100 .
In FIG. 4 , an alternative support apparatus 101 is illustrated comprising a first depth adjustment mechanism 600 for adjusting rebound platform 150 in relation to doorframe 190 ( FIG. 2 ). Fixedly coupled to rebound platform 150 is a bag-support member 610 and a bag-support member 620 , to which a bag-support member 630 and a bag-support member 640 , respectively, are slidingly coupled. Bag-support members 610 , 620 , 630 , and 640 comprise a plurality of coupling points 611 , 621 , 631 and 641 , respectively, shown euphemistically to represent indents/detents into which one or more pins or tabs (not shown) may be inserted to lock bag-support members 630 and 640 to bag-support members 610 and 620 , respectively, in a plurality of positions forward or backward relative to a depth of doorframe 190 . In this manner, the user may position rebound platform 150 and speed bag 160 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ): more directly within doorframe 190 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ), requiring less room space, for example; or forward and away from doorframe 190 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ), allowing the user a wider range of movement around the front of rebound platform 150 .
Continuing FIG. 4 , a second depth adjustment mechanism 605 adjusts the horizontal distance between bag-support member 154 and upper clamp member 115 . Bag-support member 154 is slidingly coupled to bag-support members 630 and 640 . In a manner similar to adjustment mechanism 600 , the plurality of coupling points 631 and 641 lock bag-support member 154 in a plurality of positions such that bag-support member 154 and upper clamp member 115 may both firmly abut doorframe 190 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 —while keeping rebound platform 150 and the overall apparatus 101 level horizontally.
Note that in FIG. 4 , clamp assemblies 119 , 170 and 180 of FIG. 1 are not illustrated in order to simplify the drawing but are nonetheless envisioned. Also note that in other contemplated embodiments not shown but similar to that of FIG. 4 , depth adjustment mechanisms 600 and 605 are easily adaptable for support apparatus 100 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) configured for a plurality of punching bags to be used without rebound platform 150 . For example, bag-support members 610 and 620 could be rigidly coupled to an additional bag-support member (e.g., bag-support member 154 ) comprising an attachment mechanism for a punching bag (not shown), requiring no other modification to the other elements of FIG. 4 as illustrated.
FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a support apparatus 102 comprising an alternative depth adjustment mechanism 700 that is similar in purpose to depth adjustment mechanism 605 ( FIG. 4 ). In this embodiment, however, a bag-support member 710 comprises a slot 730 and a slot 750 ; and a bag-support member 720 comprises a slot 740 and a slot 760 . Slots 730 , 740 , 750 , and 760 are illustrated as hidden (i.e., dashed lines), since bag-support members 710 , 720 , and 154 are illustrated in this embodiment as square tubes with four surfaces wherein the only slotted surface of each bag-support member 710 , 720 and 154 is the one abutting platform 150 . Platform 150 could comprise at least one hole (not shown) for each respective slot 730 , 740 , 750 , and 760 . Optionally, rebound platform 150 could comprise corresponding slots illustrated by the said dashed lines. Alternatively, only platform 150 could comprise slots 730 , 740 , 750 , and 760 , and bag-support members 710 , 720 , and 154 could each comprise at least one hole (not shown) respectively. In any of these said options, a nut 712 and a nut 714 each thread onto a bolt (not shown) through slots 730 and 750 , respectively, coupling bag-support member 710 to rebound platform 150 , while a nut 716 threads onto a bolt (not shown) through slot 750 , coupling bag-support member 154 to rebound platform 150 . Likewise, a nut 722 and a nut 724 each thread onto a bolt (not shown) through slots 740 and 760 , respectively, coupling bag-support member 720 to rebound platform 150 , while a nut 726 threads onto a bolt (not shown) through slot 760 , coupling bag-support member 154 to rebound platform 150 .
Thusly, a plurality of coupling points are provided such that bag-support member 154 and upper clamp member 115 may be positioned to both firmly abut doorframe 190 as in FIGS. 1 and 2 —while keeping rebound platform 150 and the overall apparatus 102 level horizontally.
Note that in FIG. 5 , the clamp assemblies 119 , 170 and 180 of FIG. 1 are not illustrated in order to simplify the drawing but are nonetheless envisioned.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment that uses the same component configuration of support apparatus 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2 . In FIG. 6 , however, attached to support apparatus 100 is a heavy bag 801 using a standard chain and swivel 814 coupled to bag-support 154 via an attachment mechanism 807 .
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment that comprises a single vertical element 803 in place of vertical elements 130 and 140 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). Vertical element 803 is illustrated here as a relatively flat and wide support member, although it could be sized similarly to, for example, vertical element 130 ( FIG. 1 ). Note that other component configurations are contemplated wherein, for example, vertical element 130 ( FIG. 2 ) is rotatably coupled to bag-support member 154 (FIG. 2 )—but centered within doorframe 190 , similar to the vertical element 803 of FIG. 7 .
FIG. 8 shows a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 7 , but heavy bag 801 ( FIG. 7 ) is replaced with rebound platform 150 and speed bag 160 . Some components of apparatus 103 and some surfaces of doorframe 190 that are hidden in this front view are drawn here in dashed lines. An upper clamp assembly 805 is shown as a single-clamp configuration similar to clamp 110 or clamp 120 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). Note that other configurations not shown are envisioned wherein, for example, upper clamp assembly 805 comprises a plurality of upper clamps having clamp members of a plurality of sizes as described for FIGS. 1 and 2 —but coupled to the single vertical element 803 .
FIG. 9 is a partial, exploded view isolating the components of an alternative embodiment of a depth adjustment mechanism 900 and relates to support apparatus 100 ( FIGS. 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 ). FIG. 9 focuses on only the left-side members of depth adjustment mechanism 900 . The same component configuration, however, could be mirrored for the right-side members of depth adjustment mechanism 900 . Note that in alternative embodiments not shown but contemplated herein, depth adjustment mechanism 900 could be disposed in a plurality of configurations—for example, in a single, center configuration, rather than the double, left-right configuration shown.
A bag-support member 902 could be sized and disposed relative to doorframe 190 ( FIG. 2 ) in a plurality of ways as contemplated for bag-support member 154 ( FIG. 2 ). Bag-support member 902 is shaped, in FIG. 9 , as a double “T” comprising a plurality of coupling points illustrated as a row of holes 913 drilled through the square tubing of bag-support member 902 . Similarly, a bag-support member 909 could be sized and disposed relative to vertical element 130 ( FIG. 2 ) in a plurality of ways as contemplated for bag-support member 134 ( FIG. 2 ), and could comprise rotatable coupling mechanism 142 ( FIG. 2 ). Additionally, bag-support member 909 comprises a plurality of coupling points illustrated as a row of holes 912 drilled through the vertical sides of bag-support member 909 . Bag-support members 902 and 909 could be adjustably coupled by inserting bag-support member 902 between the vertical sides of bag-support member 909 such that the rows of holes 912 and 913 match in a position to allow bag-support member 902 , and vertical elements 130 and 140 ( FIG. 2 ), to firmly abut the front side and rear side of doorframe 190 ( FIG. 2 ), respectively. A set of bolts 911 and a set of nuts 910 fasten the coupling between bag-support members 902 and 909 .
Note that the coupling points illustrated as the rows of holes 912 and 913 are also contemplated alternatively as comprising, for example, slots, indents/detents, or other mechanisms for adjustable coupling.
FIG. 10 is a partial, perspective view isolating the components of another alternative embodiment of a depth adjustment mechanism 901 and relates to FIGS. 7 and 8 . Note that in alternative embodiments not shown but contemplated herein, depth adjustment mechanism 901 could be disposed in a plurality of configurations—for example, a double, left-right configuration, rather than the single center configuration shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 .
A bag-support member 903 could be sized and disposed relative to doorframe 190 ( FIG. 7 ) in a plurality of ways as contemplated for bag-support member 800 ( FIG. 7 ). Bag-support member 903 is shaped as a “T” comprising a plurality of coupling points illustrated as a pair of rows of holes 906 drilled through a flattened part of bag-support member 903 . Similarly, a bag-support member 905 could be sized and disposed in a plurality of ways as contemplated for bag-support member 803 ( FIG. 7 ) and could additionally comprise a rotatable coupling mechanism (not shown), such as a hinge, to allow the vertical part of bag-support member 905 to fold downward. In FIG. 10 , bag-support member 905 comprises a plurality of coupling points illustrated as a pair of rows of holes 908 drilled through the horizontal portion of bag-support member 905 . Bag-support members 903 and 905 could be adjustably coupled such that the pairs of rows of holes 906 and 908 match in a position to allow bag-support members 903 and 905 to firmly abut the front side and rear side of doorframe 190 ( FIG. 2 ), respectively. A set of fasteners 904 fastens the coupling between bag-support members 903 and 905 .
Note that the coupling points illustrated as the pairs of rows of holes 906 and 908 are also contemplated alternatively as comprising, for example, slots, indents/detents, or other known mechanisms for adjustable coupling.
FIG. 11 shows an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 8 . However, a support apparatus 104 comprises a left-side bag-support member 1003 and a right-side bag-support member 1004 . In this illustration, bag-support members 1003 and 1004 are each coupled directly to rebound platform 150 , although a plurality of configurations are contemplated. For example, an embodiment is envisioned wherein bag-support members 1003 and 1004 each comprise an additional thin, flat portion (not shown) similar to that of bag-support member 903 ( FIG. 10 ) that could adjustably couple to vertical element 803 . Alternatively, bag-support members 1003 and 1004 could comprise or couple to members (not shown) similar to bag-support members 134 and 144 ( FIG. 3 ).
Other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of these teachings that could support a plurality of punching bags with or without a rebound platform.
In fact, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more configurations and embodiments are possible without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein. These teachings, therefore, are not to be restricted except in the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, in the interpretation of both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the term “comprise,” in all its forms, should be interpreted as referring to elements, members, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, members, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, members, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification or the claims refer to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C, . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc. Also, the words “a” and “an” in the claims should be taken as denoting “at least one” even if “at least one” appears in other claim wording. | This disclosure describes an apparatus and methods to support a punching bag, or a punching bag and rebound platform, within a doorway or other architectural opening. Mounting the apparatus does not involve modifying or altering the supporting architectural structures and surfaces (e.g., with screws, brackets, adhesives, etc.). Clamps are instrumental in safely securing the apparatus and stabilizing it for high-performance use of a plurality of punching bags. Adjustment mechanisms not only facilitate the mounting of the apparatus to a plurality of doorframes and other architraves but also accommodate the height and depth preferences of a user. In addition, a folding mechanism allows the apparatus to be compacted for storage or transport. | 0 |
REFERENCE TO PENDING PRIOR PATENT APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application:
[0002] (i) is a continuation-in-part of pending prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/281,416, filed May 19, 2014 by FIPAK Research And Development Company and Stephan Hauville et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING AND ENSURING AIR QUALITY IN A BUILDING (Attorney's Docket No. FIPAK-16), which patent application claims benefit of prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/824,997, filed May 1, 2013 by FIPAK Research And Development Company and Stephan Hauville et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AIR IN A LABORATORY BUILDING (Attorney's Docket No. FIPAK-16 PROV); and
[0003] (ii) claims benefit of pending prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/946,292, filed Feb. 28, 2014 by FIPAK Research And Development Company and Stephan Hauville et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AIR IN A LABORATORY BUILDING (Attorney's Docket No. FIPAK-18 PROV).
[0004] The three (3) above-identified patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0005] This invention relates to methods and apparatus for ensuring air quality in a building. Among other things, this invention relates to methods and apparatus for handling air in a laboratory space (or other building space) where the presence of noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges for that laboratory space (or other building space) in order to ensure the comfort and/or safety of the occupants. This invention also relates to methods and apparatus for controlling a working device using a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Modern building codes require that the air in a room of a building be circulated a minimum number of times in a given period of time in order to ensure the comfort and/or safety of the occupants, e.g., it is common for modern building codes to require a minimum of 2-4 air exchanges per hour for each room of the building.
[0007] However, in some areas of some buildings (e.g., laboratory spaces, hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), the presence of noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) may require a higher rate of air exchanges in order to ensure the comfort and/or safety of the occupants.
[0008] By way of example but not limitation, in a laboratory space where chemicals are handled on the open bench, without the protection of a fumehood, a higher rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) may be mandated in order to ensure the comfort and/or safety of the occupants. This higher rate of air exchanges is in addition to, and is not a substitute for, any fumehoods which may be provided in the laboratory space.
[0009] It will be appreciated that the higher rate of air exchanges for these laboratory spaces, while extremely important for the comfort and/or safety of the occupants, are nonetheless expensive due to the energy loss associated with the air exchange process. More particularly, the air exchanges are typically effected using the ambient air outside the building, and this outside ambient air must generally be conditioned (e.g., heated or cooled) before it is introduced into the laboratory space as replacement air for the laboratory space. This heating or cooling consumes energy, and energy is expensive. This is particularly true in colder and warmer climates, since more heating or cooling must be effected for the ambient outside air prior to introducing that air into the laboratory space as replacement air.
[0010] In view of this, it will be appreciated that energy costs are significantly higher for laboratory spaces (and/or other building spaces) which require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) than for those rooms which do not require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., only 2-4 air exchanges per hour).
[0011] Thus there is a need for a new approach for handling air in a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour), in order to reduce the energy losses associated with the increased rate of air exchanges.
[0012] In addition, working devices for ensuring air quality in a building typically require an on-board display screen for allowing a user to operate the working device. However, such on-board display screens generally increase the cost of the working device. Thus, there is also a need for a new approach for controlling a working device without requiring that the working device have an on-board display screen in order to reduce the cost of the working device.
[0013] In addition, many other types of working devices typically require an on-board display screen for allowing a user to operate the working device. However, such on-board display screens generally increase the cost of these working device. Thus, there is also a need for a new approach for controlling other types of working devices without requiring that the working device have an on-board display screen in order to reduce the cost of the working device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The present invention provides a new approach for handling air in a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour), in order to reduce the energy losses associated with the increased rate of air exchanges. This is achieved by the provision and use of a novel air treatment device which transforms the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space into the air exchange load of a lower air exchange rate space.
[0015] In addition, the present invention provides a new approach for controlling a working device of the sort normally requiring an on-board display screen for allowing a user to operate the working device. More particularly, the present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for controlling the working device without requiring that the working device have an on-board display screen. This is achieved by the provision and use of a novel system which enables the working device to be controlled using a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability.
[0016] Furthermore, the present invention provides a new approach for controlling other types of working devices of the sort normally requiring an on-board display screen for allowing a user to operate the working device. More particularly, the present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for controlling the working device without requiring that the working device have an on-board display screen. This is achieved by the provision and use of a novel system which enables the working device to be controlled using a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability.
[0017] In one preferred form of the invention, there is provided apparatus for transforming the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space into the air exchange load of a lower air exchange rate space, said apparatus comprising:
[0018] a housing for mounting to a surface of the higher air exchange rate space;
[0019] an air inlet formed in said housing;
[0020] at least one air outlet formed in said housing;
[0021] a passageway extending through said housing and connecting said air inlet to said at least one air outlet;
[0022] a circulation fan disposed in said passageway so as to draw the air of the higher air exchange rate space into said air inlet, through said passageway, and return that air to the higher air exchange rate space through said at least one air outlet; and
[0023] a filter disposed in said passageway for purging noxious substances from the air passing through said passageway, whereby to transform the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space into the air exchange load of a lower air exchange rate space.
[0024] In another preferred form of the invention, there is provided a method for handling the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space in a building having an air exchange system, said method comprising:
[0025] providing apparatus for transforming the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space into the air exchange load of a lower air exchange rate space, said apparatus comprising:
a housing for mounting to a surface of the higher air exchange rate space; an air inlet formed in said housing; at least one air outlet formed in said housing; a passageway extending through said housing and connecting said air inlet to said at least one air outlet; a circulation fan disposed in said passageway so as to draw the air of the higher air exchange rate space into said air inlet, through said passageway, and return that air to the higher air exchange rate space through said at least one air outlet; and a filter disposed in said passageway for purging noxious substances from the air passing through said passageway;
[0032] positioning said apparatus in the higher air exchange rate space, and operating said apparatus so as to transform the air exchange load of a higher air exchange rate space into the air exchange load of a lower air exchange rate space; and
[0033] operating the air exchange system of the building so as to provide a lower air exchange rate to the higher air exchange rate space.
[0034] In another preferred form of the invention, there is provided a method for wirelessly controlling a working device using a handheld unit, said method comprising:
[0035] connecting said working device to a central server by a network, wherein said working device is uniquely identified on said network by an assigned network address, and further wherein said working device and said central server are configured so that said central server can receive data concerning operation of said working device, and control operation of said working device, via said network;
[0036] positioning a device-specific identification marker at said working device, wherein said device-specific identification marker is linked to said assigned network address of said working device;
[0037] scanning said device-specific identification marker with said handheld unit, whereby to identify said working device and said assigned network address linked to said working device; and
[0038] using said handheld unit to cause said central server to communicate with and control said working device at said assigned network address, whereby to allow the user to control operation of said working device via said handheld device and/or to receive data concerning said working device from said central server.
[0039] In another preferred form of the invention, there is provided a system comprising:
[0040] a working device connected to a central server by a network, wherein said working device is uniquely identified on said network by an assigned network address, and further wherein said working device and said central server are configured so that said central server can receive data concerning operation of said working device, and control operation of said working device, via said network;
[0041] a device-specific identification marker disposed at said working device, wherein said device-specific identification marker is linked to said assigned network address of said working device; and
[0042] a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability, such that said handheld unit can scan said device-specific identification marker, connect to said central server via said network, identify said working device and said assigned network address linked to said working device, and cause said central server to communicate with and control said working device at said assigned network address, whereby to allow the user to control operation of said working device via said handheld device and/or to receive data concerning said working device from said central server.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0043] These and other objects and features of the present invention will be more fully disclosed or rendered obvious by the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, which is to be considered together with the accompanying drawings wherein like numbers refer to like parts, and further wherein:
[0044] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of one preferred filter which may be used in the novel air treatment device shown in FIG. 1 ;
[0046] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention;
[0047] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of still another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention;
[0048] FIGS. 5-8 are schematic views of yet another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention;
[0049] FIGS. 9-17 are schematic views of another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention, wherein the novel air treatment device comprises an on-board display screen;
[0051] FIG. 19 is a schematic view showing another novel air treatment device formed in accordance with the present invention, wherein the novel air treatment device omits an on-board display screen and instead provides the novel air treatment device with a device-specific QR code;
[0052] FIGS. 20 and 21 are schematic views showing the device-specific QR code being generated for a novel air treatment device; and
[0053] FIG. 22 is a schematic view showing the device-specific QR code being used in order to allow a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability to communicate with and control the working device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Method and Apparatus for Transforming the Air Exchange Load of a Higher Air Exchange Space into the Air Exchange Load of a Lower Air Exchange Space
[0054] The present invention provides a new approach for handling air in a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour), in order to reduce the energy losses associated with the increased rate of air exchanges.
[0055] More particularly, the present invention provides a novel air treatment device which purges noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the air of a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.). The novel air treatment device is installed in a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) in order to allow the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) to be operated at a reduced rate of air exchanges (e.g., 2-4 air exchanges per hour) while still ensuring the comfort and safety of the occupants. Thus, by using the novel air treatment device of the present invention in a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges, the rate of air exchanges for the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) may be reduced, whereby to reduce the energy losses associated with the air exchange process.
[0056] In one form of the invention, and looking now at FIG. 1 , there is provided a novel air treatment device 5 which comprises a housing 10 which is preferably secured to the ceiling of a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.). Housing 10 defines an air inlet 15 , at least one air outlet 20 , and a passageway 25 extending through housing 10 and connecting air inlet 15 with the at least one air outlet 20 . A circulation fan 30 is disposed in passageway 25 so as to draw the air of a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.) into air inlet 15 , move that air through passageway 25 , and then return that air to the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.) through the at least one air outlet 20 . Air inlet 15 , the at least one air outlet 20 , passageway 25 and circulation fan 30 are configured so as to ensure that substantially all of the air in a given space is circulated through novel air treatment device 5 on a regular and frequent basis.
[0057] In accordance with the present invention, novel air treatment device 5 includes a filter 35 which is adapted for purging noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from air. More particularly, filter 35 is disposed in passageway 25 so that air from a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), passing through passageway 25 , is filtered by filter 35 , whereby to remove noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the air of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces). Thus, novel air treatment device 5 draws in the air of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), filters that air so as to purge noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the air, and then returns the filtered air back to the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), with substantially no loss of air and, significantly, with substantially no change in the heat content of the air.
[0058] As a result, inasmuch as novel air treatment device 5 removes noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the air of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), the rate of air exchanges for that laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) may be reduced from the increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) normally associated with that laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) to the “normal” rate of air exchanges (e.g., 2-4 air exchanges per hour) for a standard room in the building. In this way, the air exchange rate for a laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) which would traditionally require a higher rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) may be reduced to that of a room requiring a standard rate of air exchanges (e.g., 2-4 air exchanges per hour), whereby to significantly reduce the energy losses associated with the air exchanges.
[0059] In essence, novel air treatment device 5 effectively transforms the “air exchange load” of a “higher air exchange rate space” (e.g., one requiring 8-12 air exchanges per hour) into the “air exchange load” of a “lower air exchange rate space” (e.g., one requiring 2-4 air exchanges per hour), whereby to significantly reduce the energy losses associated with the air exchange process, while still ensuring the comfort and/or safety of the occupants.
[0060] Significantly, in addition to providing a reduction in the energy losses associated with the air exchange process, novel air treatment device 5 also provides higher quality air for the occupants of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.). This is because novel air treatment device 5 actively purges noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the air of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), rather than simply diluting them with an increased rate of air exchange.
[0061] As discussed above, filter 35 is designed to purge noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) from the laboratory space air. More particularly, filter 35 is configured to remove chemicals from the air of the laboratory space, wherein those chemicals may comprise non-particulates, including fumes, vapors, volatiles, etc. In one preferred form of the invention, filter 35 is configured to remove at least one of solvents, acids and bases from the air of the laboratory space. In one particularly preferred form of the invention, filter 35 is configured to remove at least two of solvents, acids and bases from the air of the laboratory space.
[0062] Filter 35 may be of the sort commonly utilized in ductless fumehoods. Preferably filter 35 is a Neutrodine® filter of the sort sold by Erlab of Rowley, Mass., USA (see FIG. 2 ), which is a cassette-based, multi-stage filter capable of simultaneously handling a multitude of different chemical families, e.g., solvents, acids and bases. If filter 35 is not a cassette-based, multi-stage filter, it may comprise several independent filters arranged in series so as to ensure effective purging of noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals).
[0063] It will be appreciated that one or more novel air treatment devices 5 may be used for each laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), depending upon the size of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) and the capacity of novel air treatment device 5 . Thus, for example, in a typical chemistry laboratory of 1000 square feet, five novel air treatment devices 5 may be provided to service the laboratory space.
[0064] In one preferred form of the invention, novel air treatment device 5 includes one or more sensors 40 ( FIG. 1 ) for monitoring proper function of the operational elements of the novel air treatment device (e.g., circulation fan 30 and filter 35 , etc.), and these sensors 40 are preferably connected (e.g., by wire or wireless communication 41 ) to a monitoring system 42 for activating an alarm 43 (e.g., an audible alarm and/or a visual, light-based alarm) in the event that proper function of the operational elements (e.g., circulation fan 30 and filter 35 , etc.) is interrupted.
[0065] Alternatively, or additionally, sensors 40 may be connected (e.g., by wire or wireless communication 41 ) to the master air control system 44 for the building. In the event that proper function of one or more of the operational elements (e.g., circulation fan 30 , filter 35 , etc.) of one or more novel air treatment device(s) 5 is interrupted, master air control system 44 for the building can automatically increase the rate of air exchanges for the affected laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), e.g., from the “normal” rate of air exchanges (e.g., 2-4 air exchanges per hour) to the higher rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air changes per hour), whereby to ensure the comfort and/or safety of the occupants of that laboratory space (and/or other building spaces).
[0066] In one preferred form of the invention, novel air treatment device 5 is mounted to the ceiling of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces such as hospital spaces, anatomy labs, animal care facilities, utility rooms containing heating systems and the like, garages, locker rooms, etc.), so that the novel air treatment device does not interfere with normal space function and has ready access to the air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces). Note that where the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) has a “drop-down” ceiling, a portion of novel air treatment device 5 may protrude up into the region above the “drop-down” ceiling.
[0067] Alternatively, novel air treatment device 5 may be configured to be mounted to a wall of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), or to both the ceiling and a wall of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces).
[0068] Also, novel air treatment device 5 can be free-standing, e.g., housing 10 may be mounted to a base which sits on the floor of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces).
[0069] Significantly, the present invention provides a new approach for monitoring the air quality in a building, and particularly for monitoring the air quality in building spaces where noxious substances (e.g., hazardous chemicals) may be present, and for advising personnel in the event of possible issues with the air quality in those spaces. To this end, novel air treatment device 5 preferably further comprises a sensor 46 for monitoring the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces). Sensor 46 is preferably connected (e.g., by wire or wireless communication 41 ) to monitoring system 42 for activating alarm 43 (e.g., an audible alarm and/or a visual light-based alarm) in the event that the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) should deteriorate below a predetermined air quality level.
[0070] If desired, in order to give novel air treatment device 5 a “weightless” appearance on the ceiling of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), and looking now at FIG. 3 , novel air treatment device 5 may have a dark base 45 at the portions where it attaches to the ceiling of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), and a band of light 50 set about the perimeter portion of novel air treatment device 5 which projects into the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces). This band of light 50 may be purely decorative, e.g., it may be a light blue light to create a desired ambience for the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces); or the band of light 50 may be functional, e.g., it may be a “white” light to provide illumination for the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces).
[0071] Furthermore, this band of light 50 may comprise a continuous band of light such as is shown in FIG. 3 , or it may comprise an interrupted band of light created by a plurality of point sources 55 (e.g., LED lights) such as is shown in FIG. 4 .
[0072] In addition, if desired, band of light 50 may be informational, e.g., band of light 50 may have one color (e.g., blue) if novel air treatment device 5 is functioning properly and/or if the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) remains above a predetermined air quality level; and band of light 50 may have another color (e.g., red) if the novel air treatment device is not functioning properly and/or if the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) deteriorates below a predetermined air quality level. Thus, in this form of the invention, band of light 50 may serve the same purpose as a visual, light-based alarm 43 (and, in this form of the invention, band of light 50 may be controlled by monitoring system 42 , which is connected to sensors 40 and sensors 46 ).
[0073] In one preferred form of the invention, novel air treatment device 5 has its sensors 40 and sensors 46 connected to monitoring system 42 , and monitoring system 42 is connected to a visual alarm 43 and/or band of light 50 , and monitoring system 42 is programmed to change the state of alarm 43 and/or band of light 50 , in the event that (i) the operational elements (e.g., circulation fan 30 , filter 35 , etc.) of novel air treatment device 5 are not functioning properly, or (ii) the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) should deteriorate below a predetermined air quality level. In this way, a person located in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) will know, simply by observing the state of alarm 43 and/or band of light 50 , if the novel air treatment device requires servicing (e.g., to change a depleted filter 35 , etc.) and/or if the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) has deteriorated below a predetermined air quality level. In this respect it will also be appreciated that, by placing novel air treatment device 5 on the ceiling of the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces), and by extending band of light 50 about the entire perimeter of housing 10 (or at least substantial portions thereof), a person located substantially anywhere in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces) will generally have a direct line of sight to band of light 50 of novel air treatment device 5 , whereby to be quickly and easily informed as to the operational status of novel air treatment device 5 and the air quality of the ambient air in the laboratory space (and/or other building spaces).
[0074] Alternatively, and/or additionally, novel air treatment device 5 may be configured so that band of light 50 may be continuously on if novel air treatment device 5 is functioning properly, and blinking if the novel air treatment device is not functioning properly.
[0075] FIGS. 5-8 show another preferred construction for novel air treatment device 5 . In the construction shown in FIGS. 5-8 , filter 35 is received in a “drop down” tray 60 which is hingedly connected to housing 10 , i.e., when filter 35 is to be replaced, “drop down” tray 60 is lowered from housing 10 , a new filter 35 is loaded, and then “drop down” tray 60 is reset into housing 10 .
[0076] FIGS. 9-17 show still another preferred construction for novel air treatment device 5 .
Method and Apparatus for Controlling Air Treatment Device 5 Using a Handheld Unit Having Scanning, Networking, Display and Input Capability
[0077] In the preceding section, there is disclosed a novel air treatment device 5 for handling air in a laboratory space, where the laboratory space would normally require an increased rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour) in order to ensure the comfort and/or health of the occupants, but with the provision of novel air treatment device 5 , the rate of air exchanges for the laboratory space may be reduced (e.g., to 4 air exchanges per hour), whereby to reduce the energy losses associated with the air exchange process.
[0078] As noted above, novel air treatment device 5 may be connected (e.g., by wire or wireless communication) to a monitoring system (e.g., in the laboratory building or off-site) for activating an alarm in the event that proper function of the operational elements of novel air treatment device 5 (e.g., circulation fan 30 , filter 35 , etc.) is interrupted.
[0079] As also noted above, novel air treatment device 5 may be connected to master air control system 44 for the laboratory building such that, in the event that proper function of the operational elements of novel air treatment device 5 (e.g., circulation fan 30 , filter 35 , etc.) is interrupted, master air control system 44 for the laboratory building can automatically increase the rate of air exchanges provided for that laboratory space, from the previous rate of air exchanges (e.g., 4 air exchanges per hour) to a higher rate of air exchanges (e.g., 8-12 air exchanges per hour).
[0080] In one form of the present invention, and looking now at FIG. 18 , novel air treatment device 5 may comprise an on-board display screen 100 for displaying information relating to novel air treatment device 5 (e.g., the on/off status of circulation fan 30 , the high/medium/low operating speed of circulation fan 30 , the functional/non-functional status of filter 35 , the remaining useful life of filter 35 , etc.). On-board display screen 100 may be a “passive” display screen or, if desired, on-board display screen 100 may be a touchscreen display such that operational commands can be provided to novel air treatment device 5 via on-board display screen 100 .
[0081] If desired, where novel air treatment device 5 is connected (by wire or wireless communication) to a central control system 103 (e.g., in the laboratory building or off-site), central control system 103 may be used to monitor the status of novel air treatment device 5 and/or to provide operational commands to novel air treatment device 5 . By way of example but not limitation, novel air treatment device 5 may be connected (by wire or wireless communication) to a central control system 103 located within the laboratory building. By way of further example but not limitation, novel air treatment device 5 may be connected (by wire or wireless communication) to a central control system 103 located off-site, e.g., novel air treatment device 5 may be connected via the Internet to a central control system 103 located thousands of miles away from novel air treatment device 5 . In still another form of the present invention, central control system 103 may be incorporated directly into novel air treatment device 5 . In this respect it will be appreciated that having the central control system within novel air treatment device 5 offers the advantage of having a complete standalone and autonomous working device which acts as its own web server platform embedded right into the working device's own central processing unit which allows, once the QR code is scanned (see below), a handheld device to take full control of that working device which, in the end, may or may not have to rely solely on central servers located either inside or outside the building.
[0082] In connection with the foregoing, it should be appreciated that a plurality of novel air treatment devices 5 (located at one or more locations) may be connected to a single central control system 103 or to multiple central control systems 103 .
[0083] As noted above, the provision of an on-board display screen 100 generally increases the cost of novel air treatment device 5 .
[0084] To address this, the present invention provides a new approach for controlling novel air treatment device 5 without requiring that novel air treatment device 5 have an on-board display screen. This is achieved by the provision and use of a novel system which enables the novel air treatment device 5 to be controlled using a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability.
[0085] In one preferred form of the present invention, novel air treatment device 5 is connected to a central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) via the Internet, and novel air treatment device 5 is provided with a device-specific QR code. In this form of the invention, novel air treatment device 5 may omit an on-board display screen 100 , and the novel air treatment device 5 may be controlled using a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability.
[0086] More particularly, in this form of the invention, and looking now at FIG. 19 , novel air treatment device 5 is connected (e.g., by wire or wireless communication) to a central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) via the Internet, and novel air treatment device 5 is provided with a label 105 carrying a device-specific QR code 110 which is capable of being machine-read (e.g., scanned) by a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.). In this form of the invention, novel air treatment device 5 reports its operational status (e.g., the on/off status of circulation fan 30 , the high/medium/low operating speed of circulation fan 30 , the functional/non-functional status of filter 35 , the remaining useful life of filter 35 , etc.) to central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) via the Internet. Central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) can then monitor novel air treatment device 5 for proper function. Central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) can also provide operational commands to novel air treatment device 5 so as to control operation of novel air treatment device 5 . Furthermore, users can access central control system 103 (e.g., a central server) via a network such as the Internet in order to monitor the operational status of novel air treatment device 5 and/or to provide operational commands to novel air treatment device 5 .
[0087] Significantly, a user located adjacent to novel air treatment device 5 can obtain information relating to novel air treatment device 5 (e.g., the on/off status of circulation fan 30 , the high/medium/low operating speed of circulation fan 30 , the functional/non-functional status of filter 35 , the remaining useful life of filter 35 , etc.) even though novel air treatment device 5 lacks an on-board display screen. More particularly, in order to obtain information relating to a specific novel air treatment device 5 , the user can simply scan the device-specific QR code 110 associated with that specific novel air treatment device 5 using a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.). If desired, the handheld unit 115 can be configured (i.e., by appropriate software) to automatically open a web browser or other application or software for facilitating communication between handheld unit 115 and central control system 103 upon scanning of device-specific QR code 110 . The device-specific QR code 110 assigned to that novel air treatment device 5 is then automatically transmitted by the handheld unit 115 to central control system 103 (e.g., the central server), which then pushes the operating information associated with the specific novel air treatment device 5 linked to that device-specific QR code (i.e., the operating information associated with that particular novel air treatment device 5 ) back to the handheld unit. This operating information for novel air treatment device 5 is then displayed to the user on the display screen of handheld unit 115 .
[0088] In addition, and significantly, once the device-specific QR code 110 for that particular novel air treatment device 5 has been used to establish a link between the handheld unit 115 and novel air treatment device 5 via central control system 103 (e.g., the central server), the handheld unit can then be used to provide operational commands to the novel air treatment device 5 (i.e., by sending operational commands from handheld unit 115 to central control system 103 , which in turn relays those operational commands to the specific novel air treatment device 5 ).
[0089] Thus it will be seen that, in this form of the invention, by linking the handheld unit 115 to a specific novel air treatment device via the device-specific QR code for that particular novel air treatment device, the display screen of a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) effectively becomes the display screen for that novel air treatment device 5 . This allows on-board display screen 100 to be omitted from novel air treatment device 5 , which can result in substantial cost savings for the manufacturer.
Example of Novel Air Treatment Device 5 Incorporating the Aformentioned QR Code Communication Procedure
[0090] To start the process of assigning a device-specific QR code 110 to a specific novel air treatment device 5 and linking that specific novel air treatment device 5 to a central control system 103 , novel air treatment device 5 is first connected to a network (e.g., the Internet). This requires that a network address (i.e., IP address) be assigned to that novel air treatment device 5 , and a device-specific QR code 110 be generated which identifies that specific novel air treatment device 5 and its IP address. To this end, each novel air treatment device 5 is tagged with an initial QR code at the time of manufacture or shipping. At the time of installation, the user scans this initial QR code with a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smart phone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.). Using the scanned initial QR code, the networking interface (e.g., the web browser) of the handheld unit 115 can be used to display an Internet page (i.e., a web page) to the user, where all of the configuration information for novel air treatment device 5 is explained. Among other things, this Internet page explains how to edit and print a device-specific QR code 110 that corresponds to the IP address assigned to that particular novel air treatment device 5 . Then, knowing the assigned IP address of the particular novel air treatment device 5 , the web page provides a tool to print a device-specific QR code that points to that device's assigned IP address. This device-specific QR code is then mounted to a surface of novel air treatment device 5 (or in the vicinity of novel air treatment device 5 ). Thereafter, when the device-specific QR code is scanned by a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smart phone, tablet, etc.), the networking interface (e.g., the web browser) of the handheld unit 115 is automatically directed to central control system 103 (e.g., the central server), which then displays information about that novel air treatment device 5 on handheld unit 115 , and allows control of the different operating parameters of novel air treatment device 5 (e.g., fan speed, sensor settings, etc) via the handheld unit 115 .
[0091] By way of example but not limitation, the following is one specific example of the set-up and operation of the QR code communication procedure for novel air treatment device 5 .
[0092] 1. Assign The Device-Specific IP Address To The Novel Air Treatment Device 5 .
[0093] Connect a computer 120 ( FIG. 20 ) directly to a novel air treatment device 5 , e.g., with a RJ45 cable 125 . This is done by directing the computer's web browser to an appropriate IP address (e.g., 192.168.0.100) so as to access the internal settings of novel air treatment device 5 .
[0094] Then, in the device “Settings” menu, enter the IP address which is to be assigned to that specific novel air treatment device 5 by the network to which novel air treatment device 5 is connected. Press “Update” to assign the IP Address to that specific novel air treatment device 5 .
[0095] Press “Reboot” to restart that specific novel air treatment device 5 with the assigned IP address configuration. Disconnect the RJ45 cable from the computer and connect the novel air treatment device 5 to the network.
[0096] 2. Edit And Print The Device-Specific QR Code For That Novel Air Treatment Device 5 .
[0097] Looking now at FIG. 21 , the initial QR code (placed on novel air treatment device 5 at the time of manufacture or shipping) is scanned with a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) and handheld unit 115 connects to an appropriate QR code-generating website (e.g., http://goqr.me/#t=url).
[0098] Enter http:// and the assigned device-specific IP address of that specific novel air treatment device 5 (for example, http://192.168.0.200, which is a default address) in the “Website Address” field.
[0099] Click on the “Download” button and then click on the “PNG” button.
[0100] Print the generated QR code (e.g., qrcode.png) picture with a minimal size of 2 cm×2 cm. Mount the generated QR code 110 on novel air treatment device 5 (or close to it).
[0101] 3. Communicate With And Control Novel Air Treatment Device 5 .
[0102] Use a handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) to scan the device-specific QR Code 110 ( FIG. 22 ) to automatically access the device-specific information and controls for that specific novel air treatment device 5 via central control system 103 (e.g., the central server). The handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) receives the device-specific information and controls for that specific novel air treatment device 5 from central control system 103 (e.g., the central server) and displays information about that particular novel air treatment device 5 on handheld unit 115 , and allows the operation (e.g., fan speed, sensor settings, etc.) of that specific novel air treatment device 5 to be set by the user using the handheld unit 115 having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.).
Using the Aforementioned QR Code Communication Procedure to Control Other Working Devices Using a Handheld Unit Having Scanning, Networking, Display and Input Capability
[0103] In the preceding sections, there is disclosed a novel QR code communication procedure for allowing a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability to act in place of the on-board display screen of a novel air treatment device 5 . However, it should also be appreciated that the same novel QR code communication procedure can be used to allow a handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability to act in place of the on-board display screen of devices other than a novel air treatment device 5 , e.g., the same novel QR code communication procedure can be used to allow a hand-held device to act in place of the on-board display screen of a fumehood, or to act in place of the on-board display screen of other air-handling equipment, or to act in place of the on-board display screen of other working devices. By way of example but not limitation, such other working devices may comprise a household device (e.g., a television, a refrigerator, a stove or microwave oven, a heating and air conditioning system, etc.), a vending machine, a ticket kiosk, a manufacturing machine, a robot, a vehicle, etc.
[0104] Thus it will be seen that the present creation allows for a simplified human-machine interface which can eliminate the need for traditional on-board display screens and/or controls by providing a fast and simple manner in which an appropriate handheld unit can provide the functionality previously provided by an on-board display screen. When a working device is coupled to a product-supporting server via the novel QR code communication procedure of the present invention, the user can then simply, and automatically, access an information-rich environment via the QR code gateway system (i.e., a QR code accessed central server), using their personal handheld unit having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., their personal smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, smart glasses, laptop, etc.), whereby to obtain information about the working device and/or assume operational control of the working device.
[0105] Thus, due to the increasing network connectivity of working devices and the broad adoption of handheld units having scanning, networking, display and input capability (e.g., smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smart glasses, laptops, etc.), users already have on their person the potential to communicate (via their personal handheld unit) with and control working devices which would normally be provided with an on-board display screen. The advantage is that the working devices can now omit the complex and expensive on-board display screen and/or controls previously required.
[0106] With the present invention, every user can use one display screen (i.e., the display screen on their personal handheld unit) to control any number of working devices, and this can be done conveniently, and only when they need it, via the aforementioned QR code communication procedure.
[0107] Thus it will be seen that, in one preferred form of the invention, the present invention uses four major technologies which, when combined, act as a system to provide for a universal means for humans to easily interface with, and take full control of, substantially any standalone equipment (i.e., working devices) without having to use built-in display screens, built-in touchscreens and/or built-in keyboards for each working device used. Using this invention can have the positive effect of lowering costs associated with machine development and production while offering users a familiar, simple and standard graphical interface which each user can feel comfortable with, and for a plurality of devices, while increasing the safety of use.
[0108] These four major technologies are:
[0109] 1. A light, preferably a ring of light circling the entire working device, which will act as a simple man-machine interface, equipped on each machine, offering a universal means of visual communication, even for color-blind operators, thereby increasing safety. By way of example but not limitation, when solid, the ring of light tells an observer that the working device is working within the manufacturer's technical parameters and, when flashing (and, optionally, with a corresponding audio alarm) tells an observer that normal operating conditions have changed and therefore requires a user to take full control of that working device.
[0110] 2. A device-specific QR code label, affixed on the front of the working device which is to be controlled and/or monitored, acting as a simple and universal gateway into the working device via a scanner-equipped handheld unit offering the advantage of automatically linking up to the working device's specific IP address, or other means of bi-directional communication protocol, without having to be previously informed of the working device's specific wireless communication access procedure (e.g., WIFI, RFID, Bluetooth, NFC, etc.).
[0111] 3. An embedded web service technology directly integrated into the working device allowing the entire control dashboard of the working device to be virtualized in order to be linked up directly to a handheld device screen such as a smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, smart glasses, laptop, etc. Once the handheld unit has scanned the device-specific QR code label affixed to the working device, the user can now bi-directionally, and freely, monitor and/or control that working device, or any other working device equipped with this set of technologies.
[0112] 4. A handheld unit equipped with an optical recognition apparatus and web browser which, once linked up to the working device's bi-directional control virtual dashboard via a web service, as described above, allows any user with any optical recognition-equipped handheld device (such as a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) to locally take the control of any working device anywhere via the handheld's device web browser and/or specific program and/or software application (“app”, “applet”, etc.), allowing a bi-directional control of the working device, thereby rendering unnecessary the provision of traditional embedded screens, touchscreens and/or keyboards on each working device to be controlled.
[0113] Thus it will be seen that, since intelligent and powerful personal handheld units is rapidly becoming the norm, the QR code communication procedure of the present invention can be used to take full advantage of these new technologies to universally allow anyone, anywhere, to locally take control of, and/or monitor, substantially any working device as the need arises.
Alternatives to QR Codes
[0114] In the foregoing disclosure, the present invention is discussed in the context of using QR codes to link a specific working device to a handheld unit (such as a smartphone, a tablet, a smartwatch, smart glasses, a laptop, etc.) via a network connection. QR codes are generally preferred since they are designed to be scanned and automatically link a web browser to a central control system (e.g., a central server). However, if desired, other machine-readable identification elements may be used instead of, or in addition to, QR codes. By way of example but not limitation, such other machine-readable identification elements may include barcodes, alphanumeric symbols, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, near field communication (NFC) tags, etc.
Modifications
[0115] While the present invention has been described in terms of certain exemplary preferred embodiments, it will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, and that many additions, deletions and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments discussed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. | A method for wirelessly controlling a working device using a handheld unit, the method comprising: connecting the working device to a central server by a network, wherein the working device is uniquely identified on the network by an assigned network address, and further wherein the working device and the central server are configured so that the central server can receive data concerning operation of the working device, and control operation of the working device, via the network; positioning a device-specific identification marker at the working device, wherein the device-specific identification marker is linked to the assigned network address of the working device; scanning the device-specific identification marker with the handheld unit, whereby to identify the working device and the assigned network address linked to the working device; and using the handheld unit to cause the central server to communicate with and control the working device at the assigned network address, whereby to allow the user to control operation of the working device via the handheld device and/or to receive data concerning the working device from the central server. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 61/366,359, filed on Jul. 21, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] Described are a class of new organometallic materials and their usage in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and polymer light emitting diode (PLED). The organometallic materials show good emission quantum efficiency and soluble in common organic solvents. Making use these materials, high efficiency single color and white OLED (WOLED) can be fabricated by various techniques including vacuum deposition, spin coating or printing methods.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In 1965 Edward F. Gurnee and Fernandez Reet Teoste first observed and studied organic electroluminescence (U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,862). Later on, Tang in Eastman Kodak disclosed double-layer structure OLED (organic light emitting diode, U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,429; Appl. Phys. Lett. 1987, 51, 12, 913). This diode was based on employing a multilayer structure including an emissive electron-transporting layer (fabricated from Alq 3 (q=deprotonated 8-hydroxyquinolinyl)) and a hole-transport layer of suitable organic materials. Afterward, research on materials used in OLED becomes a hot research topic. OLED possesses many advantages such as: low operating voltage; ultra thin; self emitting; good device efficiency; high contrast and high resolution which suggest the possible use of OLED in flat panel displays and lighting.
[0004] There are two classes of emitting materials for OLED application: fluorescent and phosphorescent materials. Phosphorescent materials become the major trend for emitting materials development since 75% excitons produced from OLED are in triplet, only 25% excitons are in singlet. It means the maximum device efficiency for phosphorescent materials are 3 times higher than fluorescent materials.
[0005] Platinum is one of the transition metals from emissive complexes with organic ligands, which have high emission quantum efficiency and good thermal stability. With these advantages, platinum(II) complexes were used as emitting materials in high performance OELDs. (Applied Physics Letters (2007), 91(6) 063508; Chemistry—A European Journal (2010), 16(1), 233-247) Among the platinum complexes used in OLED applications, pure green emitting materials with stable chemical structure are rare.
[0006] For the stability of the platinum(II) complexes, the binding energy between the ligand and platinum(II) center gets higher when the number of coordination positions in the ligand increases; that is, the binding energy between the ligand and platinum(II) center is the highest in tetradentate ligand platinum(II) complexes. Moreover, the addition of extra atom(s) between the aromatic coordination position to break the conjugation of the ligand may weaken the stability of the ligand and eventually weaken the stability of the complexes. Green emitting platinum(II) materials with bidentate ligands, tridentate ligand or tetradentate ligand with extra atom(s) between the aromatic coordination position to break the conjugation is not as good as a conjugated tetradentate ligand system.
[0007] However, most of the conjugated tetradentate ligand systems are not able to have pure green emitting materials due to their intrinsic properties such as the band gaps are limited by the MLCT transitions and the emission spectra are vibronically structured. (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,654; U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,415; U.S. Pat. No. 7,691,495). For these reasons, stable green emitting platinum(II) material is difficult to develop.
SUMMARY
[0008] Despite the above-mentioned problems, described herein are new platinum(II) complex systems, which have stable chemical structure, high emission quantum efficiency and pure green emission which are used as green emitting material in OLED. By changing the substitutes in the tetradentate ligand, the emission color of the platinum can also tune back to yellow or orange color. Making use of the yellow or orange emitting materials in the series, white OLED (WOLED) can also be fabricated by complementary colors mixing approach. Besides, as some of the complexes show strong excimer emission, single emitting component WOLED can be fabricated from these complexes by combining the monomer and excimer emission of one complex.
[0009] Since most of the platinum(II) complexes used for OLED application are only slightly soluble in common solvent, solution process methods such as spin coating and printing (including inkjet printing, roll to roll printing, etc.) cannot be applied. Materials described herein overcome this drawback, as all of the platinum(II) complexes described herein are soluble in common solvents, solution process methods can be applied for low cost and large area fabrication.
[0010] This invention concerns platinum(II) based emitting materials having chemical structure of structure I, their preparation and application in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and polymer light-emitting diode (PLED).
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 -R 14 are independently hydrogen, halogen, hydroxyl, an unsubstituted alkyl, a substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, an unsubstituted aryl, a substituted aryl, acyl, alkoxy, acyloxy, amino, nitro, acylamino, aralkyl, cyano, carboxyl, thio, styryl, aminocarbonyl, carbamoyl, aryloxycarbonyl, phenoxycarbonyl, or an alkoxycarbonyl group. Each R 1 -R 14 can independently form 5-8 member ring(s) with adjacent R group(s). X 1 -X 20 are independently boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or silicon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 : Synthetic scheme for ligand with structure II.
[0012] FIG. 2 : Synthetic scheme for ligand with structure I.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] The organometallic complexes with chemical structure of Structure I are referred to cyclometallated complexes. The platinum center in Structure I is in the +2 oxidation state and has a square planar geometry.
[0014] The coordination sites of the platinum center are occupied by a tetradentate ligand. The tetradentate ligand coordinates to the platinum center through a metal-oxygen bond, a nitrogen donor bond, a metal-carbon bond and a nitrogen donor bond in a sequence of O, N, C, N (ONCN ligand). The metal-oxygen bond is a bond between deprotonated phenol or substituted phenol and platinum, the nitrogen donors are from an N-heterocyclic group such as pyridine and/or isoquinoline groups, and the metal-carbon bond is formed by benzene or substituted benzene and platinum. The chemical structure of the tetradentate ligands in current invention can be represented by Structure II:
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 -R 14 are independently hydrogen, halogen, hydroxyl, an unsubstituted alkyl, a substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, an unsubstituted aryl, a substituted aryl, acyl, alkoxy, acyloxy, amino, nitro, acylamino, aralkyl, cyano, carboxyl, thio, styryl, aminocarbonyl, carbamoyl, aryloxycarbonyl, phenoxycarbonyl, or an alkoxycarbonyl group. Each R 1 -R 14 can independently form 5-8 member ring(s) with adjacent R group(s). X 1 -X 20 are independently boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or silicon.
[0015] In one embodiment, in both Structure I and II, each R 1 -R 14 is independently hydrogen, halogen (such as fluorine, chlorine bromine, and iodine), hydroxyl, an unsubstituted alkyl containing from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a substituted alkyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an unsubstituted aryl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted aryl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, acyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, alkoxy containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, acyloxy containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, amino, nitro, acylamino containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, aralkyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, cyano, carboxyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, thio, styryl, aminocarbonyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, carbamoyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, aryloxycarbonyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, phenoxycarbonyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, or an alkoxycarbonyl group containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms.
[0016] In another embodiment, the total number of carbon atoms provided by the R 1 -R 14 groups is from 1 to 40. In another embodiment, the total number of carbon atoms provided by the R 1 -R 14 groups is from 2 to 30.
[0017] The tetradentate ligand can be prepared by a series of reactions depicted in FIG. 1 . For brevity and simplicity, aromatic ring systems A, B, C, and D as shown are unsubstituted (that is, R 1 -R 14 as shown are hydrogen). However, although not shown in FIG. 1 , but as indicated in Structures I and II, R 1 -R 14 can be other than hydrogen.
[0018] Aromatic system C, which contains a precursor group for coupling reaction (F 1 ) and a precursor group for pyridine ring formation reaction (F 4 ) or a precursor group for making F 4 (F 3 ), is coupled with a nitrogen containing heterocyclic aromatic system D, which contains a precursor group for pyridine ring formation reaction (F 2 ), through metal coupling. If the aromatic system C contains F 3 , it will then be transformed to F 4 by functional group transformation reaction. The resultant products are then reacted with aromatic system A, which can contain a methoxy group and a precursor group for pyridine ring formation (F 6 ) by pyridine ring formation reaction. (If aromatic system A with F 6 is not commercially available, a functional group transformation reaction can be performed to transform the precursor group for making F 5 (F 6 ) to F 6 .) Finally, the methoxy group is transformed to hydroxyl group by demethylation reaction.
[0019] Specific examples of the ONCN ligand are shown but not restricted to below:
[0000]
[0020] The platinum(II) complexes in current invention (represented by Structure I) can be prepared a series of reactions depicted in FIG. 2 .
[0021] A ligand with structure II is reacted with a platinum compound, such as potassium tetrachloroplatinate, in a suitable solvent(s) (such as acetic acid or mixture of acetic acid and chloroform) at a suitable temperature (such as refluxing acetic acid). Platinum compounds include platinum salts, especially those containing platinum(II).
[0022] Specific examples of the platinum(II) complexes are shown but not restricted to below:
[0000]
[0023] Making use of the complexes with Structure I, thermal deposition and solution process OLED can be fabricated. Below are examples for the preparation, physical properties and electroluminescent data for the platinum(II) complexes as described herein. The examples are set forth to aid in an understanding of the invention but are not intended to, and should not be interpreted to, limit in any way the invention as set forth in the claims which follow thereafter.
[0024] Unless otherwise indicated in the following examples and elsewhere in the specification and claims, all parts and percentages are by weight, all temperatures are in degrees Centigrade, and pressure is at or near atmospheric pressure.
[0025] Other than in the operating examples, or where otherwise indicated, all numbers, values and/or expressions referring to quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, etc., used in the specification and claims are to be understood as modified in all instances by the term “about.”
[0026] With respect to any figure or numerical range for a given characteristic, a figure or a parameter from one range may be combined with another figure or a parameter from a different range for the same characteristic to generate a numerical range.
Example 401
[0027] General preparation method for ligand with chemical structure of Structure II: Refer to FIG. 1 , aromatic system C, which contains a precursor group for coupling reaction (F 1 ) and a precursor group for pyridine ring formation reaction (F 4 ) or a precursor group for making F 4 (F 3 ), is coupled with a nitrogen containing heterocyclic aromatic system D, which contains a precursor group for pyridine ring formation reaction (F 2 ), through metal coupling. If the aromatic system C contains F 3 , it will then be transformed to F 4 by functional group transformation reaction. The resultant products is then reacted with aromatic system A, which contains a methoxy group and a precursor group for pyridine ring formation (F 6 ) by pyridine ring formation reaction. (If aromatic system A with F 6 is not commercially available, a functional group transformation reaction will be performed to transform the precursor group for making F 5 (F 6 ) to F 6 .) Finally, the methoxy group is transformed to hydroxyl group by demethylation reaction.
Example 402
Preparation of Ligand 201
[0028]
[0029] Ligand 201 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0030] A: benzene; C: benzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 72%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 1.43 (s, 18H), 6.98 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.08 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.26-7.28 (m, 1H), 7.36 (t, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (s, 2H), 7.60 (s, 1H), 7.67 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.82 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.90 (s, 1H), 7.95 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (s, 1H), 8.07 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 8.13 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.59 (s, 1H), 8.73 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 14.84 (s, 1H). MS (EI, +ve): 513 (M + ).
Example 403
Preparation of Ligand 202
[0031]
[0032] Ligand 202 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0033] A: benzene; C: fluorobenzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 60%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): β=1.42 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.97 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.07 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 7.28-7.31 (m, 1H), 7.33-7.37 (m, 2H), 7.51 (s, 2H), 7.59 (s, 1H), 7.78-7.82 (m, 1H), 7.85-7.87 (m, 2H), 7.93 (d, J=6.6 Hz, 1H), 8.02 (s, 1H), 8.04-8.08 (m, 1H), 8.55-8.58 (m, 1H), 8.75-8.77 (m, 1H), 15.02 (s, 1H, —OH).
Example 404
Preparation of Ligand 203
[0034]
[0035] Ligand 203 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0036] A: paradifluorobenzene; C: benzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 77%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.43 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.96-7.01 (m, 1H), 7.28-7.31 (m, 1H), 7.43-7.46 (m, 1H), 7.51 (s, 2H), 7.61 (s, 1H), 7.67 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.82-7.86 (m, 2H), 7.93 (s, 1H), 7.96 (s, 1H), 8.06 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 8.14 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.57 (s, 1H), 8.73 (d, J=3.8 Hz, 1H), 15.02 (s, 1H, —OH). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): β=−123.5, −132.5.
Example 405
Preparation of Ligand 204
[0037]
[0038] Ligand 204 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0039] A: benzene; C: benzene; D: pyrimidine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : bromide; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 72%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.43 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.97 (t, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 7.09 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.22-7.25 (m, 1H), 7.36 (t, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (s, 2H), 7.60 (s, 1H), 7.69 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.93-7.96 (m, 2H), 8.04 (s, 1H), 8.16 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 8.58 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.86 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 2H), 9.06 (s, 1H), 14.82 (s, 1H, —OH).
Example 406
Preparation of Ligand 205
[0040]
[0041] Ligand 205 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0042] A: naphthalene; C: benzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 77%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.45 (s, 18H, t Bu), 7.27-7.32 (m, 2H), 7.42 (s, 1H), 7.47 (t, J=6.9 Hz, 1H), 7.56 (s, 2H), 7.63 (s, 1H), 7.70 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.74 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 7.82-7.88 (m, 3H), 7.96 (s, 1H), 8.12 (d, J=6.9 Hz, 1H), 8.17 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.23 (s, 1H), 8.47 (s, 1H), 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.76 (d, J=4.0 Hz, 1H), 14.52 (s, 1H, —OH).
Example 407
Preparation of Ligand 206
[0043]
[0044] Ligand 207 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0045] A: benzene; C: benzene; D: isoquinoline; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 77%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 1.44 (s, 18H), 6.98 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.09 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.35 (t, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (s, 2H), 7.60-7.73 (m, 4H), 7.92-8.09 (m, 6H), 8.19 (s, 1H), 8.27 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.72 (s, 1H), 9.38 (s, 1H), 14.88 (s, 1H). MS (EI, +ve): 563 (M + ).
Example 408
Preparation of Ligand 207
[0046]
[0047] Ligand 208 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0048] A: paradifluorobenzene; C: fluorobenzene; D: isoquinoline; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 60%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 1.43 (s, 18H), 6.95-7.01 (m, 1H), 7.09 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.36-7.45 (m, 2H), 7.51 (s, 2H), 7.61 (s, 1H), 7.65 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.91-8.06 (m, 5H), 8.28 (s, 1H), 8.75 (m, 1H), 9.38 (s, 1H), 15.02 (s, 1H). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, CDCl 3 ): −114.93, −123.42, −132.54. MS (EI, +ve): 617 (M).
Example 409
Preparation of Ligand 208
[0049]
[0050] A: naphthalene; C: benzene; D: isoquinoline; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl;
[0051] F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 3-[3,5-bis(tert-butyl)phenyl]-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 72%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.46 (s, 18H, t Bu), 7.32 (t, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (s, 1H), 7.44 (t, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 7.58 (s, 2H), 7.62-7.64 (m, 2H), 7.70-7.75 (m, 3H), 7.87 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.94 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.00 (s, 1H), 8.03 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 8.12 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.21 (s, 1H), 8.24 (s, 1H), 8.29 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.48 (s, 1H), 8.75 (s, 1H), 9.39 (s, 1H), 14.49 (s, 1H, —OH).
Example 410
Preparation of Ligand 209
[0052]
[0053] Ligand 210 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0054] A: 1-Indanone; C: benzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : nil; F 4 : acetyl; F 5 : proton; F 6 : N,N-dimethylethenamine; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: nil; functional group transformation 2: reaction with dimethylacetamide; pyridine ring formation: a) reaction in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide and THF b) remove THF and reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol c) addition of butyl chains by reaction with 1-bromobutane in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 65%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 0.70-0.73 (m, 10H), 1.09-1.16 (m, 4H), 1.97-2.03 (m, 4H), 6.90-6.94 (m, 2H), 7.28-7.29 (m, 1H), 7.33 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.62 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.70-7.71 (m, 2H), 7.80 (t, J=8.5 Hz), 7.85 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.06-8.11 (m, 2H), 8.65 (s, 1H), 8.75 (d, J=4.7 Hz, 1H), 9.52 (s, br, 1H). MS (EI, +ve): 449 [M + ].
Example 411
Preparation of Ligand 210
[0055]
[0056] Ligand 211 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0057] A: 1-Indanone; C: benzene; D: isoquinoline; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : nil; F 4 : acetyl; F 5 : proton; F 6 : N,N-dimethylethenamine; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: nil; functional group transformation 2: reaction with dimethylacetamide; pyridine ring formation: a) reaction in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide and THF b) remove THF and reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol c) addition of hexyl chains by reaction with 1-bromohexane in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 73%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 0.72-0.80 (m, 10H), 1.05-1.17 (m, 12H), 1.95-2.05 (m, 4H), 6.92-6.95 (m, 2H), 7.34 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 7.66 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.71-7.77 (m, 3H), 7.91 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.01 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.11 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 8.18 (s, 1H), 8.21 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.79 (s, 1H), 9.38 (s, 1H), 9.54 (s, br, 1H). 13 C NMR (126 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 13.98, 22.54, 24.02, 29.66, 31.48, 39.70, 54.32, 113.17, 114.25, 116.70, 117.98, 124.36, 125.57, 127.02, 127.18, 127.52, 127.57, 127.89, 129.28, 130.57, 130.91, 130.99, 136.66, 139.57, 140.14, 142.09, 151.04, 152.47, 152.53, 154.44, 155.14, 161.25. MS (EI, +ve): 555 [M + ].
Example 412
Preparation of Ligand 211
[0058]
[0059] Ligand 212 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0060] A: 1-Indanone; C: fluorobenzene; D: isoquinoline; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : nil; F 4 : acetyl; F 5 : proton; F 6 : N,N-dimethylethenamine; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: nil; functional group transformation 2: reaction with dimethylacetamide; pyridine ring formation: a) reaction in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide and THF b) remove THF and reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol c) addition of hexyl chains by reaction with 1-bromohexane in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 44%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 0.71-0.80 (m, 10H), 1.08-1.18 (m, 12H), 1.92-2.01 (m, 4H), 6.89-6.93 (m, 2H), 7.30-7.37 (m, 2H), 7.65 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (m, 2H), 7.75 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.92 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 8.03 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.09-8.12 (m, 1H).
Example 413
Preparation of Ligand 219
[0061]
[0062] Ligand 220 was prepared by the procedures in Example 401 with:
[0063] A: benzene; C: benzene; D: pyridine; F 1 : boronic acid; F 2 : triflate; F 3 : acetyl; F 4 : 1-(2-oxoethyl)-pyridinium iodide; F 5 : acetyl; F 6 : 4,4′-biphenyl-2-Propenal; coupling reaction: Suzuki reaction; functional group transformation 1: pyridinium salt formation reaction; functional group transformation 2: alpha beta unsaturated ketone formation reaction; pyridine ring formation: reaction in the presence of ammonium acetate and methanol; demethylation: melting pyridine hydrogen chloride. Yield: 72%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 , 25° C.): δ=6.99 (t, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.05 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 1H), 7.29-7.32 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.38 (m, 1H), 7.40-7.43 (m, 1H), 7.49-7.52 (m, 2H), 7.67-7.72 (m, 3H), 7.81-7.86 (m, 3H), 7.89-7.93 (m, 3H), 8.03 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.04 (s, 1H), 8.08-8.10 (m, 1H), 8.16-8.18 (m, 1H), 8.19 (s, 1H), 8.69 (s, 1H), 8.72-8.74 (m, 1H).
Example 414
General Preparation Method for Complexes with Structure I
[0064] Refer the FIG. 2 , ligand with Structure II is reacted with potassium tetrachloroplatinate in the mixture of acetic acid and chloroform at 118° C. for 24 hours. The product is purified by column chromatography.
Example 415
Preparation of Complex 101
[0065]
[0066] Complex 101 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 201. Yield: 80%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 1.47 (s, 18H), 6.74 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 7.24-7.29 (m, 2H), 7.32-7.40 (m, 2H), 7.57 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.66-7.69 (m, 4H), 7.78 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 1H), 7.83 (s, 1H), 7.97 (t, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 8.17 (d, J=8.5 Hz, 1H), 8.37 (s, 1H), 8.99 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 1H). MS (FAB, +ve): 706 (M).
Example 416
Preparation of Complex 102
[0067]
[0068] Complex 102 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 202. Yield: 70%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.49 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.76-6.80 (m, 1H), 6.88-6.93 (m, 1H), 7.36-7.43 (m, 3H), 7.60 (s, 2H), 7.61-7.65 (m, 3H), 7.69 (s, 1H), 7.98-8.01 (m, 2H), 8.14 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 8.33 (s, 1H), 9.08 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 1H). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=−113.2.
Example 417
Preparation of Complex 103
[0069]
[0070] Complex 103 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 203. Yield: 80%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, DMF, 25° C.): δ 1.43 (s, 18H, t Bu), 7.36-7.41 (m, 1H), 7.52 (t, J=6.0 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (s, 1H), 7.81 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.91 (s, 1H), 8.11-8.15 (m, 2H), 8.22 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.29 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.40 (s, 1H), 8.43 (s, 1H), 8.54 (s, 1H), 9.00 (d, J=5.7 Hz, 1H). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, DMF, 25° C.): δ=−126.6, −129.3.
Example 418
Preparation of Complex 104
[0071]
[0072] Complex 104 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 204. Yield: 80%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 , 25° C.): δ 1.50 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.74 (t, J=6.9 Hz, 1H), 7.15 (s, 1H), 7.21-7.26 (m, 2H), 7.36 (t, J=6.5 Hz, 1H), 7.67-7.71 (m, 6H), 8.12 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 8.30 (s, 1H), 8.86 (s, 1H), 9.04 (m, 1H).
Example 419
Preparation of Complex 105
[0073]
[0074] Complex 106 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 206. Yield: 60%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 , 25° C.): δ=1.48 (s, 18H, t Bu), 7.13 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 7.30 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.37-7.43 (m, 2H), 7.58-7.64 (m, 3H), 7.6-7.71 (m, 4H), 7.80-7.84 (m, 2H), 7.93 (s, 1H), 8.03 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 8.54 (s, 1H), 8.69 (s, 1H), 9.0-9.04 (m, 1H).
Example 420
Preparation of Complex 106
[0075]
[0076] Complex 107 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 207. Yield: 80%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 1.48 (s, 18H), 6.74 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 7.28-7.42 (m, 3H), 7.60-7.70 (m, 6H), 7.80-7.90 (m, 3H), 8.03 (s, 1H), 8.13-8.17 (m, 2H), 8.35 (s, 1H), 9.65 (s, 1H). MS (FAB, +ve): 756 (M + ).
Example 421
Preparation of Complex 107
[0077]
[0078] Complex 108 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 208. Yield: 65%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.49 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.68-6.73 (m, 1H), 6.82-6.87 (m, 1H), 7.28-7.29 (m, 1H), 7.34-7.36 (m, 1H), 7.39 (s, 1H), 7.56 (s, 2H), 7.62-7.66 (m, 2H), 7.75-7.82 (m, 2H), 7.95-8.01 (m, 3H), 9.32 (s, 1H). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=−113.8, −126.3, −129.7.
Example 422
Preparation of Complex 108
[0079]
[0080] Complex 109 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 209. Yield: 60%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl 3 , 25° C.): δ=1.54 (s, 18H, t Bu), 6.88-6.93 (m, 2H), 7.01 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.06-7.11 (m, 2H), 7.16-7.21 (m, 3H), 7.30 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 7.50 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 1H), 7.59-7.63 (m, 4H), 7.72 (s, 1H), 8.01 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.58 (s, 1H), 8.68 (s, 1H), 8.80 (s, 1H).
Example 423
Preparation of Complex 109
[0081]
[0082] Complex 110 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 210. Yield: 65%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 0.69-0.80 (m, 10H), 1.10-1.18 (m, 4H), 2.00-2.15 (m, 4H), 6.75 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 1H), 7.19 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.26 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.36 (t, J=6.0 Hz, 1H), 7.49-7.53 (m, 2H), 7.57 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 7.92 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.96 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 9.12 (d, J=5.3 Hz, 1H). MS (FAB, +ve): 642 [M + ].
Example 424
Preparation of Complex 110
[0083]
[0084] Complex 111 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 211. Yield: 70%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 0.76-0.85 (m, 10H), 1.03-1.19 (m, 12H), 2.01-2.13 (m, 4H), 6.74 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 7.16 (d, J=7.2 Hz, 1H), 7.28 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.52-7.63 (m, 5H), 7.77-7.80 (m, 1H), 7.89 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.96 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (s, 1H, 8.14 (d, J=7.9 Hz, 1H), 9.74 (s, 1H). 13 C NMR (126 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 ): 13.72, 22.52, 24.05, 29.67, 31.49, 39.91, 55.38, 108.18, 113.77, 116.10, 119.30, 122.32, 122.54, 122.62, 125.70, 126.85, 127.68, 127.98, 128.60, 129.09, 132.51, 132.84, 136.64, 140.91, 141.41, 143.53, 153.74, 153.88, 154.50, 157.73, 160.81, 160.89, 162.73. MS (FAB, +ve): 748 [M + ].
Example 425
Preparation of Complex 111
[0085]
[0086] Complex 112 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 212. Yield: 80%. 1 H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 0.68-0.77 (m, 10H), 1.02-1.12 (m, 12H), 2.00-2.07 (m, 4H), 6.71 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 7.00 (dd, J=8.4 Hz, 3 J F-H =11.9 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.54 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.62 (dd, J=8.3 Hz, 4 J F-H =3.9 Hz, 1H), 7.71 (t, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.87 (t, J=8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.90 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.97 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.18 (d, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 8.43 (s, 1H), 9.84 (s, 1H). 19 F NMR (376 MHz, CDCl 3 ): −114.17. MS (FAB, +ve): 766 [M + ].
Example 426
Preparation of Complex 119
[0087]
[0088] Complex 120 was prepared by Example 410 using Ligand 220. Yield: 60%. 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CD 2 Cl 2 , 25° C.): δ=6.75 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.25 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.30 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 1H), 7.36-7.46 (m, 3H), 7.51-7.58 (m, 2H), 7.65 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.73-7.79 (m, 3H), 7.84 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 2H), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.96-8.00 (m, 3H), 8.18 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 8.42 (s, 1H), 8.95 (d, J=4.8 Hz, 1H).
Example 427
Photophysical Properties for Complex 101-Complex 112
[0089]
[0000]
Emission λ max
Absorption λ max
(dichloro-
Solution
(molar extinction
methane
quantum
coefficient)
solution)
Yield
Complex 101
242 (37400); 285 (38400);
502
0.76
372 (13800); 437 (sh)
5600
Complex 102
242 (4.19), 253 (4.07), 284
511
0.83
(4.45), 301 (3.52), 363
(1.71), 400 (1.14), 424
(0.86)
Complex 103
242 (3.65), 287 (3.88), 370
526
0.71
(1.59), 425 (0.73)
Complex 106
248 (5.72), 285 (5.30), 300
528
0.17
(5.23), 381 (1.79), 419
(0.92), 494 (0.26)
Complex 107
248 (4.20), 259 (4.24), 284
534
0.61
(3.84), 296 (3.92), 380
(1.65), 441 (0.32)
Complex 108
292 (56100); 303 (49500);
523
0.60
369 (25600); 403 (10600);
445 (sh) (2400)
Complex 109
252 (6.45), 288 (5.36), 374
661
0.019
(1.52), 398 (1.49), 530
(0.18)
Complex 110
254 (39800); 354 (15400);
496
0.63
390 (12700); 424 (sh)
(8186)
Complex 111
255 (55300); 275 (47900);
528
0.38
293 (35600); 364 (20800);
398 (16300); 427 (sh)
(5900)
Complex 112
273 (56900); 290 (41800);
517
0.47
357 (21800); 393 (17400);
415 (sh) (9400)
Example 428
General Thermal Deposition OLED Fabrication Method
[0090] On an anode coated transparent substrate, hole transporting layer(s), emitting layer(s), electron transporting layer(s), electron injection layer and a metal cathode were deposited sequentially under a high vacuum environment (pressure<1×10 −6 torr).
Example 429
[0091] A device fabricated with example 428 wherein the hole transporting layers are 10 nm of N,N′-Bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)-benzidine (NPB) and 30 nm of 4,4′,4″-tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (TCTA), the emitting layer is 30 nm of complex 101 doped TCTA layer (2.8% complex 101), the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of 2,9-Dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP), the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 430
[0092] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layer is 20 nm of complex 106 doped 4,4′-Bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl(CBP) layer (4.4% complex 106), the electron transporting layers are 15 nm of BCP and 30 nm of Tris(8-hydroxy-quinolinato)aluminium (Alq), the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 431
[0093] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layer is 20 nm of complex 110 doped 1,3-Bis(carbazol-9-yl)benzene (mCP) layer (4.9% complex 110), the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 432
[0094] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layers are 20 nm of complex 110 doped CBP (2.6% complex 110) and 20 nm complex 110 doped 2,2′,2″-(1,3,5-Benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole) (TPBi; 2.9% complex 107) layers, the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 433
[0095] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layers are 20 nm of complex 101 doped mCP (3.1% complex 101) and 20 nm complex 101 doped CBP (3.5% complex 101) layers, the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 434
[0096] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layers are 20 nm of complex 101 doped TCTA (1.3% complex 101), 10 nm complex 101 doped CBP (1.2% complex 101) and 20 nm complex 101 doped TPBi (1.5% complex 101) layers, the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 435
[0097] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layers are 20 nm of complex 101 doped TCTA (1.1% complex 101) and 20 nm complex 101 doped TPBi (1.2% complex 101) layers, the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 436
[0098] A device fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layer is 100 nm of complex 101 doped CBP (1.1% complex 101) layer, the electron transporting layer is 30 nm of BCP, the electron injection layer is 1 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 100 nm of aluminum.
Example 439
Fabrication of Single Emitter WOLED
[0099] A single emitter WOLED fabricated with Example 428 wherein the hole transporting layer is 40 nm of NPB, the emitting layer is 30 nm of complex 224 doped mCP (9% complex 224) layer, the electron transporting layer is 40 nm of BAlQ, the electron injection layer is 0.5 nm of lithium fluoride and the metal cathode is 80 nm of aluminum.
Example 437
[0100] The performances for the devices in above examples are shown below:
[0000]
Efficiency max cd/A@
Example
EL λ max
CIE
current density mA/cm 2
429
512
0.31, 0.61
7.59/3.53
430
543
0.39, 0.58
20.7/1.05
431
10.5/0.76
432
524
0.34, 0.56
11.9/0.15
433
516
0.31, 0.59
10.7/1.91
434
508
0.26, 0.63
17.3/7.0
435
512
0.26, 0.64
12.6/1.14
436
512
0.26, 0.64
22.2/0.58
439
483, 619
0.37, 0.43
36.4/0.021
Example 438
Solution Process OLED Fabrication
[0101] A layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PPS) (˜40 nm) was deposition on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass by spin coating and dried in an oven. 5% complex 101 in PVK was dissolved in chlorobenzene in 20 mg/mL ratio. The 5% complex 101 doped PVK was spin coated on the top of PEDOT:PPS layer and dried in an oven (˜80 nm). 10 nm of BCP, 30 nm of Alq, 1 nm LiF and 100 nm of Al layers were sequentially deposited on top of the polymer layer by thermal deposition (pressure<1×10 −6 torr). This device has CIE, brightness max and efficiency max of (0.31, 0.61), 17,800 cdm −2 and 10.9 cdA −1 respectively.
[0102] While the invention has been explained in relation to certain embodiments, it is to be understood that various modifications thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention disclosed herein is intended to cover such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. | Described are novel platinum (II) containing organometallic materials. These materials show green to orange emissions with high emission quantum efficiencies. Using the materials as emitting materials; pure green emitting organic light-emitting diodes can be fabricated. Since the novel platinum (II) containing organometallic materials are soluble in common solvents, solution process methods such as spin coating and printing can be used for device fabrication. | 8 |
[0001] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-274107 filed on Oct. 24, 2008, in Japanese Patent Office, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to an optical information recording reproducing apparatus, especially relates to an optical information recording reproducing apparatus for recording information into a recording medium to record information and reproducing information from a recording medium having recoded information therein by utilizing holography.
[0003] In recent years, proposed is a high-density optical information recording reproducing apparatus which employs the principle of holography as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In such an optical information recording reproducing apparatus, at the time of recording, a light flux emitted from a light source is separated by a spatial light modulator SIAM into an information light beam carrying modulated information and a reference light beam and the separated two light beams are irradiated from respective different directions to a recording medium, whereby information can be recorded as interference fringes. On the other hand, at the time of reproducing, the recording medium having recorded information therein is irradiated with the same reference light beam as that at the time of recording and the interference fringes are read out from the recording medium, whereby the recorded information can be reproduced.
[0004] Patent documents 1: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2008-123627
[0005] As mentioned above, since the optical information recording reproducing apparatus employing the principle of holography is adapted to record interference fringes made by both an information light beam and a reference light beam, a relationship between the information light beam and the reference light beam at the time of recording or reproducing becomes very important. More concretely, for example, at the time of reproducing information, in the case of irradiating a reference light beam whose conditions are different from those of a reference light beam used when information was recorded, there is a possibility that information may not be reproduced correctly. Here, as “different conditions” of a reference light beam, for example, difference in the wavelength of a light source, difference in the irradiation angle to a recording medium, difference in the amplitude and phase distribution of a reference light beam and the like may be considered.
[0006] In the above examples, the wavelength of a light source, the amplitude and phase distribution of a reference light beam are determined by the characteristic of each semiconductor laser and may be stable to some extent. As compared with the above factors, the irradiation angle of a reference light beam to a record medium tends to comparatively easily change from an initial setting value due to, for example, the influence of vibration and environmental temperature change at the time of conveying or using an optical information recording reproducing apparatus and deterioration with age. On the other hand, in order to use the output intensity of a semiconductor laser as the intensity of an information light beam as far as possible, the diameter of an information light beam may be made equal to the size of the SLM or made slightly larger than it in order to provide allowance. In this case, due to a certain reason, if the optical axis of the optical path of an information light beam is shifted in parallel more than the allowance from the position at the time of manufacture, an information light beam is omitted partially by the SLM. As a result, there is a problem that the information light beam cannot be used effectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention has been devised in consideration of the above-mentioned problems and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical information recording reproducing apparatus. Namely, even if the optical path of an information light beam or a reference light beam of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus deviates from the position at the time of manufacture, the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can detect the deviation and correct it properly, thereby providing good recording reproducing characteristics.
[0008] In order to solve an above-mentioned subject, the optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 1 is provided with a light source; a separating section to separate a light flux from the light source; an optical system to lead one of separated light beams as a reference light beam to a recording medium; a spatial light modulating element to enter another one of the separated light beams and to produce an information light beam; an objective lens to converge the information light beam onto the recording medium, and a image light receiving element to receive a light beam from the recording medium; wherein the optical information recording reproducing apparatus employs a two light beam interference method such that the reference light beam and the information light beam having respective different optical axis are made to interfere with each other so as to record information in the recording medium, thereafter the reference light beam is irradiated to the recording medium, and then a light beam emitted from the recording medium is led to the image light receiving element so as to reproduce information; and the optical information recording reproducing apparatus is characterized by comprising a detector to detect positional deviation of at least one of the reference light beam and the information light beam and a correcting mechanism to correct the positional deviation based on an output from the detector.
[0009] According to the present invention, even in the case that deviation from initial setting values takes place in an information light beam and/or a reference light beam entering a recording medium due to, for example, the influence of vibration and environmental temperature change at the time of conveying or using an optical information recording reproducing apparatus and deterioration with age, the detector detects such deviation, and further corrections can be made properly by the correcting mechanism based on the deviation detected by the detector such that the entering position of an information light beam and/or a reference light beam entering a recording medium can be made to a predetermined position, whereby it is possible to provide an optical information recording reproducing apparatus having good recording reproducing characteristics. Here, “corrections” means that one or both of an incident position or an incident angle of an incident light beam into a recording medium is adjusted to a predetermined condition by hands of an operator or automatically.
[0010] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 2 in the invention described in Item 1 is characterized in that the correcting mechanism includes at least two mirrors arranged on an optical path between the light source and the recording medium and a moving mechanism to change an angle of each of the two mirrors.
[0011] According to the present invention, the position of an information light beam and/or a reference light beam entering a recording medium can be adjusted with a simple structure.
[0012] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 3 in the invention described in Item 1 or 2 is characterized in that on a condition that a recording medium is shifted away from a recording reproducing position, the detector is arranged at a position where the detector is able to receive at least one of the reference light beam and the information light beam.
[0013] According to the present invention, by a structure to locate a recording medium away from a recording reproducing position, deviation of an information light beam and/or a reference light beam entering a recording medium can be detected with a simple structure. Here, “a recording reproducing position” means a position where an information light beam and a reference light beam are irradiated to a recording layer of a recording medium.
[0014] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 4 in the invention described in Item 3 is characterized in that a concave mirror is located on an optical axis of the information light beam at a position opposite to the objective lens across a light converging position of the objective lens so that the image light receiving element receives the information light beam reflected from the concave mirror and detects the deviation of the information light beam, functioning as the detector.
[0015] When a concave mirror is located on an optical axis of the information light beam at a position opposite to the objective lens across a light converging position of the objective lens, if the position of the center of a globe of the concave mirror is made to coincide with the focusing position of an objective lens, the information light beam converged by the objective lens is reflected by the concave mirror on the condition that a recording medium is shifted away from the recording reproducing position, and the reflected information light beam returns in the inverse direction, passes through the same objective lens and proceeds along an optical path toward the spatial light modulating element. At this time, the information light beam reflected by the concave mirror is further reflected by a separating element provided between the objective lens and the spatial light modulating element and enters the image light receiving element (preferably a two dimensional sensor) additionally functioning as the detector, whereby the image light receiving element can detect the deviation of the information light beam. Therefore, since it is not necessary to use another detector separately from the image light receiving element, the cost and space of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus can be saved. Further, in this case, if a spatial filter, such as a pinhole is provided between the objective lens and the separating element, the intensity distribution of the information light beam can be detected by the image light receiving element, whereby it is possible to monitor accurately whether the optical axis is located at a right position.
[0016] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 5 in the invention described in Item 3 is characterized in that a flat mirror is adapted to be located on an optical axis of the information light beam at a light converging position of the objective lens so that the image light receiving element receives the information light beam reflected from the flat mirror and detects the positional deviation of the information light beam, functioning as the detector.
[0017] With the structure that a flat mirror is located in place of a recording medium on an optical axis of the information light beam at a focusing position where the information light beam is converged by the objective lens, the information light beam converged by the objective lens is reflected by the flat mirror, returns in the inverse direction, passes through the same objective lens and proceeds along an optical path toward the spatial light modulating element. At this time, the information light beam reflected by the flat mirror is further reflected by a separating element provided between the objective lens and the spatial light modulating element and enters the image light receiving element (preferably a two dimensional sensor) additionally functioning as the detector, whereby the image light receiving element can detect the deviation of the information light beam. Therefore, since it is not necessary to use another detector separately from the image light receiving element, the cost and space of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus can be saved. Further, in this case, if a spatial filter, such as a pinhole is provided between the objective lens and the separating element, the intensity distribution of the information light beam can be detected by the image light receiving element, whereby it is possible to monitor accurately whether the optical axis is located at a right position.
[0018] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 6 in the invention described in Item 3 is characterized in that the detector is located on an optical axis of the information light beam at a position opposite to the objective lens across a light converging position of the objective lens so that the detector receives the information light beam and detects the deviation of the information light beam.
[0019] For example, if a pinhole as a spatial filter is arranged on at least two positions between the light source and the detector, with the structure that the detector is located on an optical axis of the information light beam at a position opposite to the objective lens across a light converging position of the objective lens, the intensity distribution of the information light beam can be detected by the detector, whereby it is possible to monitor accurately whether the optical axis is located at a right position.
[0020] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 7 in the invention described in any one of Items 1 to 6 is characterized in that the correcting mechanism is arranged on an optical path between the light source and the separating section.
[0021] With the structure that the correcting mechanism is arranged at the light source side than the separating section to separate a light flux emitted from the light source into an information light beam and a reference light beam, an adjustment by the correcting mechanism can be conducted for both the information light beam and the reference light beam.
[0022] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus described in Item 8 in the invention described in any one of Items 1 to 6 is characterized in that the correcting mechanism is arranged on an optical path of the information light beam between the separating section and the recording medium.
[0023] With the structure that the correcting mechanism is arranged on an optical path of the information light beam between the separating section and the recording medium, an adjustment by the correcting mechanism can be conducted for only the information light beam. Therefore, since the reference light beam is not influenced by the adjustment, the position of the information light beam for the reference light beam can be determined promptly.
[0024] According to the present invention, even in the case that the optical path of an information light beam and/or a reference light beam is deviated from that at the time of manufacture, the deviation can be detected and corrected properly, whereby it is possible to provide an optical information recording reproducing apparatus having good recording reproducing characteristics.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus with a two light flux interference method as a comparative example.
[0026] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus with a two light flux interference method as a comparative example.
[0027] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus provided with a correcting mechanism according to a first embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 4 is an illustration schematically showing a light receiving surface of a detector PD.
[0029] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus provided with a correcting mechanism according to a second embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus provided with a correcting mechanism according to a third embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus provided with a correcting mechanism according to a fourth embodiment.
[0032] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus provided with a correcting mechanism according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a first movable mirror MM 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0033] Hereafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to drawings. First, the structure, and the recording and reproducing operations of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus on which a correcting mechanism is not mounted, will be explained as a comparative example, and then an optical information recording reproducing apparatus in which a correcting mechanism is added to the above apparatus, will be explained FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams of a optical information recording reproducing apparatus of a two light beam interference type shown as a comparative example. FIG. 1 shows the block diagram at the time of recording, and FIG. 2 shows the block diagram at the time of reproduction. In these block diagrams, a thick solid line shows wiring among devices, a thin solid line shows the optical path of an outgoing light flux, and a dotted line shows that a light flux is blocked.
[0034] The optical information recording reproducing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a semiconductor laser LD as a light source and a first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 as a separating section which separates a light flux from this semiconductor laser LD into two light fluxes by transmitting a part of the light flux and reflecting another part of it. In the common optical path between the semiconductor laser LD and the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 , arranged are an optical isolator OI which allows a light flux from semiconductor laser LD to pass through and prevents a light flux from the reverse direction from passing through; a first lens L 1 , a first pinhole P 1 which functions as a spatial filter to regulate a wave front; a second lens L 2 ; and an active ½ wave plate AHWP. The semiconductor laser LD and the active ½ wave plate AHWP are driven and controlled by an optical controller OCT. The active ½ wave plate AHWPA is made rotatable, for example, by the control of the optical controller OCT so that the active ½ wave plate AHWPA changes the polarization direction of a light flux entering into the first polarization beam splitter PBS1 between a recording time and a reproducing time. Accordingly, the active ½ wave plate AHWPA functions to generate a light flux passing through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and a light flux reflecting on it at the time of recording, and functions to generate only a light flux passing through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and not to generate a light flux reflecting on it at the reproducing time.
[0035] In an exclusive optical path of an information light beam between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and a recording medium M for hologram, arranged are a third lens L 3 ; a fourth lens L 4 ; a second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 ; a fifth lens L 5 , a third pinhole P 3 which functions as a spatial filter to regulate a wave front; a sixth lens L 6 ; and an objective lens OBJ. On the other hand, in an exclusive optical path of a reference light beam between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and a recording medium M for hologram, arranged are a first mirror M 1 ; a second mirror M 2 ; a second pinhole P 2 which functions as a spatial filter to regulate a wave front; a first galvanometer mirror GM 1 ; a seventh lens L 7 , and a eighth lens L 8 ; and the these members constitute an optical system to guide a reference light beam. Moreover, on an extension line of the exclusive optical path of a reference light beam, a second galvanometer mirror GM 2 is arranged at a side opposite to the eighth lens L 8 across the recording medium M. The first galvanometer mirror GM 1 and the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 are driven and controlled by a galvanometer mirror controller GCT. An information light beam and a reference light beam enter so as to cross with each other on a recording medium M. The recording medium M is driven and rotated by a media driving mechanism MD under the control of a media controller MCT.
[0036] A CPU controls the optical controller OCT, the galvanometer mirror controller GCT, and the media controller MCT. Moreover, at the time of recording, the CPU converts the data of a data buffer DB by an encoder ENC through an interface IF, and inputs the converted data into a spatial light modulating device SLM as a spatial light modulating element which adjoins one surface of the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 . At the time of reproducing, the CPU converts by a decoder DEC the data inputted through a two dimensional sensor CCD (Charge Coupled Devices and Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor can be used) as an image light receiving element adjoining another surface of the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 . Further, the CPU is adapted to read the data after inputting them into the data buffer DB and to store them in an external memory MRY.
[0037] Next, with reference to FIG. 1 , operations of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus at the time of recording will be explained. A light flux emitted from the semiconductor laser LD passes through the optical isolator OI, is converged by the first lens L 1 , passes through the first pinhole P 1 , passes through the second lens L 2 , becomes a parallel pencil, and enters into the active ½ wave plate AHWP. Since the active ½ wave plate AHWP is rotated to the recording position, the light flux having passed through the active ½ wave plate AHWP becomes a predetermined polarization condition and enters into the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 which is a separating section. Whereby the light flux is separated into a light flux (a reference light flux) having passed through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and a light flux (an information light flux) reflected from on it.
[0038] The light flux reflected on first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 passes through the third lens L 3 and the fourth lens L 4 , is reflected on the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , and enters into the spatial light modulating device SLM. The light flux having entered into the spatial light modulating device SLM is applied with a two-dimensional modulation corresponding to predetermined information by the function of the spatial light modulating device SLM and is reflected to change a polarization direction. As a result, the light flux with the changed polarization direction passes through the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , further passes through the fifth lens L 5 , the third pinhole P 3 , and the sixth lens L 6 , and is converged onto a recording layer of the recording medium M through the objective lens OBJ.
[0039] On the other hand, the light flux having passed through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 is reflected on the first mirror M 1 and the second mirror M 2 successively, and passes through the second pinhole P 2 . Thereafter, the light flux is reflected on first galvanometer mirror GM 1 , passes through the seventh lens L 7 and the eighth lens L 8 , and then is irradiated onto a recording layer of the recording medium M. At this time, the information light flux and the reference light flux are irradiated to the same position to cause interference fringes, whereby information can be recorded. Further, with the adjustment of the angle of the first galvanometer mirror GM 1 by the galvanometer mirror controller GCT, a relative angle between the information light flux and the reference light flux is changed, whereby information can be recorded multiply.
[0040] Next, with reference to FIG. 2 , the operations of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus at the reproducing time will be explained. A light flux emitted from the semiconductor laser LD passes through the optical isolator OI, is converged by the first lens L 1 , passes through the first pinhole P 1 , passes through the second lens L 2 , becomes a parallel pencil, and enters into the active ½ wave plate AHWP. Since the active ½ wave plate AHWP is rotated to the reproducing position, the light flux having passed through the active ½ wave plate AHWP becomes a predetermined polarization condition and enters into the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 which is a separating section. Whereby the light flux is made only a light flux (a reference light flux) having passed through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 .
[0041] The light flux having passed through the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 is reflected on the first mirror M 1 and the second mirror M 2 successively, and passes through the second pinhole P 2 . Thereafter, the light flux is reflected on first galvanometer mirror GM 1 , passes through the seventh lens L 7 and the eighth lens L 8 , and then is irradiated onto a recording layer of the recording medium M, and passes through a position where information is recorded.
[0042] The light flux having passed through the recording medium M is reflected on the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 , and re-enters into the recording medium M. The re-entering angle of the reflected light flux into the recording medium is controlled by the firs galvanometer mirror GM 1 and the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 .
[0043] The light flux re-entered into the recording medium M becomes a light flux with a pattern corresponding to the interference fringes currently recorded on the recording layer of the recording medium M. The pattern light flux further passes through the objective lens OBJ, the sixth lens L 6 , the third pinhole P 3 , and the fifth lens L 5 , is reflected on the polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , and enters into the light receiving surface of the two dimensional image sensor CCD.
[0044] In this way, the pattern light flux having entered into the light receiving surface of the two dimensional image sensor CCD is converted into electrical signals by its image-to-signal conversing function, whereby the two-dimensional pattern information corresponding to the information currently recorded on the recording medium M is reproduced.
[0045] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment provided with a correcting mechanism and the like, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control device is omitted in FIG. 3 . FIG. 4 is an illustration showing schematically a light receiving surface of a detector PD. In FIG. 3 , a recording medium M can be shifted away together with a media driving mechanism MD in one body along a linear guide (not shown in the drawings) from the recording and reproducing position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the shifted-away position shown in FIG. 3 . On the condition that the recording medium M is shifted away, a detector PD, such as a quarter-divided light receiving element, is arranged at an extended position of the optical path of an information light beam (the back side of the recording medium M at the time of recording or reproducing). Since the back side of the recording medium M is made to a dead space in many cases in the optical information recording reproducing apparatus, a possibility that the mounting of the detector PD causes a problem is low. However, the detector PD may be made dismountable and may be mounted only at the time of adjustment. Here, a first pinhole P 1 is provided between the third lens L 3 and the fourth lens L 4 .
[0046] Furthermore, unlike the structures of FIGS. 1 and 2 , a correcting mechanism is provided between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and the third lens L 3 (within the optical path of an information light beam) such that a first fixed mirror FM 1 , a first movable mirror MM 1 , a second movable mirror MM 2 , and a second fixed mirror FM 2 are arranged in this order between them. As well as other fixed optical elements, the first fixed mirror FM 1 and the second fixed mirror FM 2 are fixed on a frame (not shown in the drawings). On the other hand, the first movable mirror MM 1 and the second movable mirror MM are made rotatable around an axis in a direction vertical to the sheet surface in FIG. 3 through a movable device shown in FIG. 9 for the frame (not shown in the drawings), in addition, preferably around an axis in a direction perpendicular to the direction vertical to the sheet surface. At the time of recording, a light flux proceeding from the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 to the third lens L 3 is reflected on the first fixed mirror FM 1 , the first movable mirror MM 1 , the second movable mirror MM 2 , and the second fixed mirror FM 2 respectively and returns to the original optical path. Therefore, the recording of information and the measuring of deviation are not interrupted by the structure that the correcting mechanism is inserted into the optical path.
[0047] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the first movable mirror MM 1 . Here, the second movable mirror MM 2 also has the similar structure. In FIG. 9 , the first movable mirror MM 1 comprises a plate-shaped base BS fixed to a frame (not shown in the drawings); a plate-shaped stage ST arranged in parallel to the base B 5 on the condition that the stage ST is separated from the base BS; a prism mirror PM mounted on stage ST, and three piezoelectric elements PZ connecting the base BS with the stage ST. A slant face of the prism mirror PM is made to a mirror surface (mirror) to reflect light beams. The tree piezoelectric elements PZ are arranged so as to position at the apexes of a virtual triangle for the base BS and the stage ST, and are separately extensible or retractable by being supplied with electric power from a drive unit (not shown in the drawings). Here, with a technique to set the extending amount or the retracting amount of each of the three piezoelectric elements PZ to predetermined values, the stage ST can be arbitrarily slanted with an angle in the direction of X and the direction of Y to the base BS along an XY plane, whereby the inclination of the mirror surface of the prism mirror PM can be adjusted in a three dimensional way. Therefore, the angle of emitted light beams can be arbitrarily changed for the angle of incident light beams which enter the mirror surface. Instead of the piezoelectric element PZ, a voice coil motor or SIDM may be used. A movable device is constituted by the base BS, the stage ST, and the piezoelectric element PZ.
[0048] An explanation will be made on deviation detection and a deviation adjustment for a light flux in the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment. At the time of detecting and adjusting deviation, a recording medium M is shifted away from the recording and reproducing position. On this condition, if a light flux is emitted from a semiconductor laser LD, the light flux proceeds along an optical path explained with reference to FIG. 1 , and an information light beam is converged through an objective lens OBJ. At this time, since a recording medium M is shifted away from the recording and reproducing position, the information light beam reaches a detector PD without being interrupted by this. Further, since two pinholes P 1 and P 3 are arranged on the optical path of the information light beam, the position of a spot SP converged by the objective lens OBJ deviates clearly on a light receiving surface of the detector PD in accordance with the principle of autocollimator, whereby detection can be conducted with high accuracy.
[0049] The light receiving surface of the detector PD is divided into four regions in the shape of the Japanese character as shown in FIG. 4 . Here, when a spot converged by the objective lens OBJ is formed at the center of the light receiving surface, an amount of light received by each of the four regions is represented by A, B, C and D respectively. Further, X and Y are defined by the following formulas.
[0000] X =( A+C )−( B+D )
[0000] Y =( A+B )−( C+D )
[0050] When X and Y are calculated by the above formulas, it is understood that the larger, the absolute value of each of X and Y is, the more, the position of the converged spot deviates. Then, in order to make the center of a converged spot to coincide with the center of the light receiving surface, a deviation adjustment is conducted manually by an operator or automatically in such a way that the angle of the first movable mirror MM 1 or the second movable mirror MM is changed so as to make the value of each of X and Y to become close to zero (X=0, Y=0). As a result, an information light beam can be converged at a predetermined position on a recording medium. Therefore, for example, the deviation adjustment was conducted at the time of the factory shipment of an optical information recording reproducing apparatus, and thereafter, in the case that an information light beam deviates from initial setting values due to the influence of vibration and a change of environmental temperature at the time of conveying and using the optical information recording reproducing apparatus and deterioration with age, if the deviation adjustment is conducted again, recording and/or reproducing information can be conducted appropriately stably for a long period of time. Here, in this embodiment, during the deviation detection, a reference light beam is also emitted. However, since the optical path of the reference light beam is different from that of an information light beam for the deviation detection, the reference light beam is not mixed with the information light beam. Accordingly, there is no special problem. However, in order to avoid any unnecessary stray light beam, a shutter and the like may be provided after a separating section. With this, a reference light beam is blocked during the deviation detection. Further, with the application of the similar structure, the deviation of a reference light beam can be also detected and corrected.
[0051] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment provided with a correcting mechanism and the like, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control device is omitted in FIG. 5 . In FIG. 5 , a recording medium M can be shifted away together with a media driving mechanism MD in one body along a linear guide (not shown in the drawings) from the recording and reproducing position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the shifted-away position shown in FIG. 3 . In the vicinity of the media driving mechanism MD, a movable flat mirror MVM is arranged so as to be able to shift between a waiting position and a measuring position along a guide rail (not shown in the drawings) or by a link mechanism. When a recording medium M is located at the recording and reproducing position, the movable flat mirror MVM is waiting at the waiting position (indicated with a dotted line in FIG. 5 ) located at the opposite side (the back side of the recording medium M) to the objective lens OBJ across the recording medium M. On the other hand, when the recording medium M is shifted away from the recording and reproducing position or located at the shifted-away position, the movable flat mirror MVM is adapted to shift to the measuring position (indicated with a solid line in FIG. 5 ) where a light converging position of the objective lens is located on a reflecting surface.
[0052] As with the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , in the second embodiment, the first pinhole P 1 is also provided between the third lens L 3 and the fourth lens L 4 , and a correcting mechanism is provided between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and the third lens L 3 (within the optical path of an information light beam) such that a first fixed mirror FM 1 , a first movable mirror MM 1 , a second movable mirror MM 2 , and a second fixed mirror FM 2 are arranged in this order between them.
[0053] An explanation will be made on deviation detection and a deviation adjustment for a light flux in the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment. At the time of detecting and adjusting deviation, a recording medium M is shifted away from the recording and reproducing position, and the movable flat mirror MVM is shifted to the measuring position. On this condition, if a light flux is emitted from a semiconductor laser LD, an information light beam is converged through an objective lens as explained with reference to FIG. 1 . At this time, since the reflecting surface of the movable flat mirror MVM is located at the light converging position in place of the recording medium M, the information light beam is reflected on the movable flat mirror MVM and returns again along the optical path of the information light beam. Further, the information light beam passes through the objective lens OBJ, the sixth lens L 6 , the pinhole P 3 , and the fifth lens L 5 , is reflected on the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , and then enters a light receiving surface of a two dimensional image sensor CCD additionally serving as a detector, whereby the deviation of the information light beam in the two dimensional direction can be detected. Furthermore, the deviation adjustment is conducted in such a way that the angle of the first movable mirror MM 1 or the second movable mirror MM 2 is changed so as to eliminate the deviation. According to this embodiment, since the light receiving surface of a two dimensional image sensor CCD for reading information is used also as the detector for deviation detection, the reduction of the number of components and the reduction of costs can be attained.
[0054] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the third embodiment provided with a correcting mechanism and the like, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control device is omitted in FIG. 6 . In FIG. 6 , a recording medium M can be shifted away together with a media driving mechanism MD in one body along a linear guide (not shown in the drawings) from the recording and reproducing position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the shifted-away position shown in FIG. 6 . On the condition that the recording medium M is shifted away, a concave mirror CNM is arranged and fixed on a frame (not shown in the drawings) at an extended position of the optical path of an information light beam (the back side of the recording medium M at the time of recording or reproducing). Here, the focusing position of the concave mirror CNM is made to coincide with focusing position FP of the objective lens OBJ. Furthermore, in the vicinity of the media driving mechanism MD, a shutter SH is arranged so as to be able to shift between a waiting position and a blocking position along a guide rail (not shown in the drawings) or by a link mechanism. When a recording medium M is located at the recording and reproducing position, the shutter is shifted to the blocking position (indicated with a dotted line in FIG. 6 ) between the focusing position FP of the objective lens and the concave mirror CNM so that a reference light beam which have passed through a recording medium M and reflected on the concave mirror CNM at the recording or reproducing time is prevented from becoming stray light. On the other hand, when the recording medium M is shifted to the shifted-away position, the shutter SH is adapted to is shifted to the waiting position (indicated with a solid line in FIG. 6 ) at the side so that a light beam converged by the objective lens OBJ is not prevented from reaching the concave mirror CNM.
[0055] As with the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , in the third embodiment, the first pinhole P 1 is also provided between the third lens L 3 and the fourth lens L 4 , and a correcting mechanism is provided between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and the third lens L 3 (within the optical path of an information light beam) such that a first fixed mirror FM 1 , a first movable mirror MM 1 , a second movable mirror MM 2 , and a second fixed mirror FM 2 are arranged in this order between them.
[0056] An explanation will be made on deviation detection and a deviation adjustment for a light flux in the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the third embodiment. At the time of detecting and adjusting deviation, a recording medium M is shifted away from the recording and reproducing position and the shutter SH is shifted away from the blocking position. On this condition, if a light flux is emitted from a semiconductor laser LD, an information light beam is converged toward a focusing position FP through an objective lens OBJ as explained with reference to FIG. 1 , and after having passed through it, the information light beam spreads. Then, when the spreading information light beam is reflected by the concave mirror CMN, the information light beam passes again through the focusing position FP and is converted into a parallel light beam by the objective lens. Successively, the information light beam returns again along the optical path of the information light beam, passes through the objective lens OBJ, the sixth lens L 6 , the pinhole P 3 , and the fifth lens L 5 , is reflected on the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , and then enters a light receiving surface of a two dimensional image sensor CCD additionally serving as a detector, whereby the deviation of the information light beam in the two dimensional direction can be detected. Furthermore, the deviation adjustment is conducted in such a way that the angle of the first movable mirror MM 1 or the second movable mirror MM 2 is changed so as to eliminate the deviation. According to this embodiment, with the structure to provide a space filter such as a the third pin hole P 3 and the like between the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 and the objective lens OBJ, the intensity distribution of an information light beam on the light receiving surface of the two dimensional image sensor CCD is detected so that it become possible to detect properly whether or not the optical axis is located at a right position.
[0057] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment provided with a correcting mechanism and the like, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control device is omitted in FIG. 7 . In this embodiment, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 , a correction mechanism in which a first fixed mirror FM 1 , a first movable mirror MM 1 , a second movable mirror MM 2 , and a second fixed mirror FM 2 are arranged in this order is not provided between the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 and the third lens L 3 (within the optical path of an information light beam), but is provided at a position on the common optical path between the second lens L 2 and the first polarization beam splitter PBS 1 (the position is not limited to this exemplified position as far as the position is located to the light source side than the separating section). Since the other points are the same as the structure of FIG. 6 , the explanation is omitted (a shutter SH is omitted in FIG. 7 ).
[0058] According to this embodiment, if the angle of the mirror of first movable mirror MM 1 or the second movable mirror MM 2 is changed based on the deviation detected by the two dimensional image sensor CCD, not only an information light beam but also a reference light beam is shifted, namely, the adjustment for a reference light beam and an information light beam can be conducted simultaneously by one adjustment.
[0059] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the optical information recording reproducing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment provided with a correcting mechanism and the like, and unlike FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control device is omitted in FIG. 8 . In this embodiment, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 , a concave mirror is slanted and a shutter is not provided. Since the other points are the same as the structure of FIG. 6 , the explanation is omitted (a recording medium M is omitted in FIG. 8 ).
[0060] At the time of detecting and adjusting deviation in this embodiment, the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 is rotated from the position opposing the recording medium to the position opposing the concave mirror CNM. On this condition, if a light flux is emitted from a semiconductor laser LD, an information light beam is converged toward a focusing position PP through an objective lens OBJ as explained with reference to FIG. 1 , and after having passed through it, the information light beam spreads. Then, when the spreading information light beam is reflected and collimated on the concave mirror CMN, the parallel information light beam proceeds toward the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 , is reflected on the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 , and is further reflected again and converged by the concave mirror CMN. Successively, the converged information light beam passes again through the focusing position FP and is converted into the parallel information light beam. Then, the parallel information light beam returns again along the optical path of the information light beam, passes through the objective lens OBJ, the sixth lens L 6 , the pinhole P 3 , and the fifth lens L 5 , is reflected on the second polarization beam splitter PBS 2 , and then enters a light receiving surface of a two dimensional image sensor CCD additionally serving as a detector, whereby the deviation of the information light beam in the two dimensional direction can be detected. Furthermore, the deviation adjustment is conducted in such a way that the angle of the first movable mirror MM 1 or the second movable mirror MM 2 is changed so as to eliminate the deviation.
[0061] Here, after a light beam has passed through a recording medium M at the time of recording or reproducing information, reached the concave mirror CNM and was reflected to the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 side, there is a possibility that the light beam becomes stray light. However, according to this embodiment, since the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 is located to oppose a recording medium at the recording or reproducing time, if unnecessary light from the concave mirror CNN proceeds to the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 , the unnecessary light is blocked at there. Therefore, it is possible to prevent effectively stray light from erroneously being detected by the two dimensional image sensor CCD. Therefore, it is desirable to apply a light shielding treatment, such as a black coating, to an external surface of the second galvanometer mirror GM 2 except a reflecting surface. | In the optical information recording reproducing apparatus that makes a reference light beam to interfere with an information light beam so as to record the information of the information light beam in a recording medium based on a two light beam interference method, or irradiates the reference light beam to a recording medium so as to emit a light beam and reproduces information stored in the recording medium by leading the light beam emitted from the recording medium an the image light receiving element, the optical information recording reproducing apparatus comprises a detector to detect positional deviation of at least one of the reference light beam and the information light beam from a predetermined optical path; and a correcting mechanism to correct the positional deviation based on an output from the detector. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to roofing material, and in particular to roofing shingles, having a novel backing which renders the material pliable and imparts improved characteristics such as resistance to damage from hail.
Roofing material has an upper surface intended to be exposed to weather and a lower surface facing in the direction opposite to the upper surface. Traditionally, the lower surface or back of roofing material such as shingles has been covered with finely ground mineral material (fines) so that the asphalt backing does not adhere to contiguous roofing material when packaged for transport and storage. Such finely divided materials include mica flakes, copper slag, coal slag, sand, talc and silica dust.
In many regions the roofing materials on buildings, particularly the shingles on residential dwellings, are damaged by hail. The damage is caused by the impact of the hail stones on shingles resulting in cracking, tearing, snapping or imperceptible damage to the shingles' structure which can render the shingles less resistant to the elements of wind, rain, snow and ice. Frequently, such damage requires the costly replacement of roofing materials to prevent the elements from entering into the building. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide more energy absorbing roofing materials, particular shingles, which better absorb the impact of hail and are therefore less susceptible to damage during hail storms.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, roofing materials such as shingles are improved by adhering to at least a part of their back surface or lower surface a backing material which may be made of polyester fibers, woodpulp, glass fibers, cotton fibers, wool fibers, carpet material, nylon fibers, rayon fibers, acrylic fibers, polyolefin fibers, polypropylene fibers and recycled plastics fibers, binder material, crosslinking agents and mixtures thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the backing material is a mat consisting essentially of a mixture of glass fiber, polyester fiber and a latex binder.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Asphalt roofing materials, including shingles, are manufactured by following conventional procedures. Bituminous prepared roofing has heretofore been extensively manufactured using as a base a fibrous web such as a sheet of roofing felt or fiberglass mat, impregnating the fibrous web with a bituminous material and coating one or both surfaces of the impregnated web with a weather-resistant bituminous coating material. The bituminous coating material usually contains a mineral filler such as slate flour or powdered limestone. Sometimes one or more fibrous sheets are laminated with one or more bituminous layers. Usually there is applied to the bituminous coating on the surface intended to be exposed to the weather a suitable granular material such as slate granules or mineral surfacing. Finely divided materials such as mica flakes, talc, silica dust or the like may be made adherent to the non-weather exposed surface of the roofing shingle to prevent sticking of the adjacent layers of the roofing material in packages.
In the present invention, the fines on the back of roofing material are replaced with a backing material or mat that renders the product more energy absorbent than it otherwise would be. In a preferred embodiment, the mat includes a non-woven layer of wet laid polyester staple fibers. However, a woven polyester mat may also be employed. Polyester mats are resistant to punctures and tears and thus, their inclusion on the backs of roofing materials renders the materials less susceptible to damage from hail.
The backing material is adhered to the face of the back of the shingle in lieu of fines, granules or other standard backing material at the slating drum stage of conventional shingle manufacturing. The inventive shingles are manufactured using a standard line where asphalt coats the moving web and mineral granules are dropped on the upper surface of the hot asphalt coated web. In accordance with the invention, a roll of mat enters from the back side of the line at 90°. The roll runs through an unwind stand, a splicer, an accumulator, and directional changing rolls to feed the mat under the slating drum. Alternatively, the mat may enter from the top and be fed directly to the back of the slating drum, in essence replacing the back surfacing equipment normally utilized. The application technique is similar to the current industry technique of applying release tape to the back of the shingle at the slating drum.
Polyester melts at approximately 350° . and the asphalt which coats the moving web in shingle manufacturing is typically about 400° F. Thus, the polyester fuses to the back of the shingle. However, because cooling occurs rapidly, the back side of the polyester mat facing away from the shingle remains intact.
Shingles made with the inventive polyester backing have better tear strength than standard shingles backed with finely divided granules. The inventive shingles are less susceptible to machine breaks and fractures and tears during field application, i.e. they tolerate installation abuse. Further, the inventive shingles pass impact tests despite their light product weight. Moreover, they demonstrate increased nail holding ability and maintain structural integrity at elevated temperatures. Also, the mat fused to the back of the shingle is less likely to crack than the asphalt coating. Thus an enhanced impact resistant seal against water penetration is provided. Additionally, the mat adheres readily to the sealant (usually a compounded bituminous material such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,267) superposed on at least some portion of the roofing material to prevent blow offs.
The inventive backing may be applied to any design or formulation of roofing material such as built up roofing materials, roll roofing and modified roll products, but it is particularly effective as shingle backing. As heretofore noted, a variety of materials may be employed in providing the backing of the inventive roofing materials. Such backing material, which may provide partial or full coverage of the lower surface of the shingles, enables the shingles to demonstrate enhanced physical properties even though the internal composition of the shingle remains unchanged. Regarding handlability, the exposed portion of the inventive shingle feels more substantial compared to the conventional product. The inventive roofing material is pliable at cold temperatures but not limp at hot temperatures.
EXAMPLE I
In accordance with the invention, backing material was prepared by combining fiber and binder such that the fiber component comprised 78% by weight of the material and the binder component comprised 22% by weight of the material. However the fiber component may comprise from about 65% to about 92% of the backing material and the binder component may comprise from about 35% to about 8% of the backing material. Elk's Corporation standard polyester blend containing equal weights of 1.5 denier 0.25 inch and 0.50 inch polyester fiber comprised 90% of the fiber component and woodpulp made up the remaining 10%. The binder component was approximately 89.5% BF Goodrich HYCAR 26138 acrylic copolymer latex binder, approximately 10% CYMEL 373 methoxymethylmelamine crosslinking agent which may be obtained from Cytec Industries of West Patterson, N.J. and approximately 0.5% citric acid. Polyester fibers may comprise from about 70% to about 100% of the fiber component and woodpulp may comprise from about 0% to about 30% of the fiber component. A binder material, such as a latex binder, may comprise from about 83% to about 100% of the binder component, crosslinking agent may comprise from about 0% to about 15% of the binder component and citric acid may comprise from about 0% to about 2% of the binder component.
EXAMPLE II
Having learned from unrelated work that 15 denier 1.50 inch polyester fiber results in increased mat tear strength, it was thought that a major portion of the standard polyester fiber blend could be replaced with less costly glass fiber if a low percentage of 15 denier 1.50 inch polyester were added to maintain tear strength. Additionally, it was believed that such a fiber formulation would require less binder component and a lower cost binder material.
Several formulas were evaluated in laboratory handsheets. Larger diameter glass fibers provided lower costs and better mat tear strength, but increased mat porosity resulted in unacceptable penetration of hot asphalt through the mat. A 1.05 lb. handsheet mat containing a furnish of 60% 0.50 inch H-9501 glass fiber obtained from Owens Corning, 30% standard polyester blend obtained from Trevira and 10% 15 denier 1.50 inch polyester obtained from Trevira combined with Rohm & Haas RHOPLEX GL-618 latex binder was found to provide the most favorable strength: penetration: cost balance. The fiber component comprised about 82% of the backing material and the binder component was about 18%. Polyester fibers may comprise from about 0% to about 100% of the fiber component and glass fibers may comprise from about 100% to about 0% of the fiber component. Although a crosslinking agent and citric acid were not included in this example, their inclusion may be appropriate in certain glass fiber/polyester formulations depending on the desired tensile and tear strengths of the product. In such formulations, binder material may comprise from about 83% to about 100% of the binder component, crosslinking agent may comprise from about 0% to about 15% of the binder component and citric acid may comprise from about 0% to about 2% of the binder component.
Experimental data obtained for Example I, Example II and a standard laminated shingle product sold by Elk are provided in Table I below:
TABLE I
Mat
Shingle
Example I
Example II
Example I
Example II c
Standard Product
Basis Weight (lb/sq)
1.05
1.09
Thickness (mil)
13
23
Frazier Porosity (cfm/ft 2 )
268
638
Tensile 3″(lb) MD & CD Avg.
57
58
MD
119
113
87
CD
59
67
48
Hot Wet Tensile (3″) 180° F.
36
51
MD
Elmendorf Tear (g)
MD & CD
385
356
MD
1653
1547
1144
CD
2222
2335
1571
Taber Stiffness (g-cm)
57
64
MD & CD
Binder Content (%)
22 a
16 b
a Production standard binder content.
b Measured from L.O.I. (loss on ignition) minus polyester content.
c Experimental shingle coupons were prepared in lab with production 1.4 lbs./square mat and experirnental handsheets.
Table II below provides a relative comparison between Elk's standard P2 shingle product (for which data are represented in Table I), Elk's heavier standard Wisconsin P2 shingle and two inventive Wisc. P2 shingles of the present application, one made with a 1.05 lb./square backing material of Example I and the other made with a 1.25 lb./square backing material of Example I. Backing material adhered to roofing material in accordance with this invention may range from 0.50 lb./sq. to 5.0 lb/sq. Elk's standard P2 shingle is offered as a control with all values shown as 1. The values presented for the other products are all shown as relative to the P2 shingle control. Thus, inventive Wisc. P2 with a 1.05 lb./sq. polyester based backing material has an MD (machine direction) tensile value which is 1.84 times the value of the standard P2 shingle and a CD (cross direction) tensile value which is 1.79 times the value of the standard P2 shingle. The data demonstrate that, by employing the inventive polyester based backing, superior properties were achieved relative to heavier weight products having essentially the same asphalt coating formulation.
TABLE II
Wisc. P-2
Wisc. P-2
Reg P-2
Wisc. P-2
W/1.05/lb.
W/1.25/lb.
Control
Std.
Polyester
Polyester
Tensile
MD
1
1.34
1.84
1.79
CD
1
1.39
1.79
1.79
TEAR
MD
1
1.12
1.62
1.47
CD
1
1.43
2.02
1.91
NAILPULL
1
1.42
2.14
2.60
FLEXIBILITY
1
1
1 *
1 *
DROOP
1
.76
.78
.6
WT.
226.4 lb./sq.
262.2 lb./sq.
237 lb./sq.
237 lb./sq.
* Surface cracking the same - polyester - based product will not crack or tear while handled.
It should be understood that the above examples are illustrative, and that compositions other than those described above can be used while utilizing the principles underlying the present invention. For example, other sources of fiber as well as mixtures of binders and/or crosslinking agents may be used in formulating the backing material. Moreover, the backing material may be applied to various types of roofing products. | Roofing material is improved by adhering to at least part of its lower surface a backing material consisting essentially of a fiber component and a binder component. Acceptable fibers include polyester, glass and woodpulp. In a preferred embodiment, the fiber component is a mixture of polyester and glass fibers and the binder is a latex binder. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to electronic filter circuits for plain old telephone system (POTS) lines and more specifically to an integrated coupled inductor for use in a POTS filter.
[0003] 2. General Background and State of the Art
[0004] The growing demand for broadband data reception has lead to the growing popularity of digital subscriber lines (DSL). DSL provides for high speed data transference and reception over regular twisted-pair copper telephone lines, sometimes referred as plain old telephone system (POTS) lines. DSL provides for the transmission of both voice and high speed data transmission over the POTS line. For example, in one implementation of asymmetrical DSL or ADSL, the signals on the telephone line are split into three distinct bands: the voice band operating from 0-4 kHz, an upstream data band operating between 25 and 160 kHz and a downstream data band operating above 240 kHz. The downstream data band has greater bandwidth than the upstream data band because the typical user receives more information than he/she sends. Various implementations of DSL exist including: ADSL; very high bit rate DSL, or VDSL; symmetrical DSL or SDSL, and high bit rate DSL or HDSL. DSL or xDSL, as used in this document refers to these and any other types of DSL. Where DSL is deployed, communication devices such as telephones, fax machines, DSL modems, and other devices are all connected in parallel across an existing POTS line.
[0005] The deployment of DSL modems in residences and businesses (the customer's premise) typically requires the installation of a filter on all of the devices (known as POTS devices) sharing the same POTS line as the DSL modem. This is because intrusion in the form of noise may occur in one channel (such as the voice channel) due to signal transmissions in another channel signal (such as the upstream data channel). For example, xDSL signals and POTS signal can interact with magnetically non-linear components in the POTS device to cause audible noise, such as a hum, in a voice telephone conversation. Also, when a POTS device goes from an on hook status to an off hook status the impedance of the POTS device changes, which can result in transient noise in the xDSL channel.
[0006] The POTS filter may be implemented as part of a POTS splitter which both splits and filters the incoming POTS line and/or as a filter connected directly to the POTS device. The POTS filter functions to separate the low frequency telephony signals from the higher frequency data signals by filtering out the xDSL data signals.
[0007] Currently, passive POTS filters are manufactured using discrete capacitors and a plurality of inductors or coupled inductors. Because current filters require a large number of discrete components they require more space and are more expensive. What is needed is a way to reduce the components of a POTS filter, resulting in smaller filters and reduced costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a passive electronic filter circuit for telephony equipment used in conjunction with xDSL that reduces the number of discrete components over existing filters. In one exemplary embodiment the present invention employs a POTS filter having a coupled-inductor array made up of two cascaded pairs of coupled inductors that share one common ferrite core. The use of a common ferrite core reduces the number of coupled inductor packages required to perform the same filtering.
[0009] Many modifications, variations and combinations of the methods and systems of filtering are possible in light of the embodiments described herein. The description above and many other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] A detailed description with regard to the embodiments in accordance with the present invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings; wherein:
[0011] [0011]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary circuit diagram of a filter circuit of the present invention which is adopted to mate with a POTS communication device;
[0012] [0012]FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a common ferrite core;
[0013] [0013]FIG. 3 is an overhead view of two coil formers installed on an EE10 core; and
[0014] [0014]FIG. 4 is a side view of two coil formers installed on an EE10 core.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The following description should not be taken in a limiting sense but is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. The section titles and overall organization of the present detailed description are for purposes of convenience only and are not intended to limit the present invention. As used in this document, a coupled inductor is a device that uses electromagnetic induction to transfer electrical energy from one circuit to another, usually with a change in voltage or current.
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary circuit design of a filter 100 of the present invention, which is adapted to mate a POTS communication device 102 with a POTS line 104 . The unfiltered xDSL signal 105 is typically sent to a DSL modem. Filter 100 includes a coupled inductor array 120 comprising a first coupled inductor 122 and a second coupled inductor 124 . First coupled inductor 122 comprises a first inductor 126 and a second inductor 128 . Second coupled inductor 124 comprises a third inductor 130 and a fourth inductor 132 . First coupled inductor 122 and second coupled inductor 124 share a single common core 106 . A first shunt capacitor 134 is provided between lines 112 and 114 and a second shunt capacitor 136 is provided between output lines 116 and 118 of second coupled inductor 124 .
[0017] In a preferred embodiment, common core 106 is a MnZn ferrite core of EE10 geometry as illustrated in FIG. 2. An exemplary ferrite core 106 is Part No. FCI-9.70/12.4/2.85 manufactured by Nippon Ceramic Co., Ltd. Common core 106 includes a right leg 210 , a left leg 214 and a center leg 206 . The cross-sectional area of center leg 206 is chosen to be relatively large as compared to the other cross-sectional areas of the magnetic paths in common core 106 . This gives center leg 206 a low reluctance path for magnetic flux passing through it and functions as a low reluctance return path for magnetic fluxes created by the first coupled inductor 122 and second coupled inductor 124 . This results in less magnetic flux transferred between first coupled inductor 122 and second coupled inductor 124 . This decouples third and fourth inductors 130 and 132 from first and second inductors 126 and 128 . The inductor pairs 126 and 128 in first coupled inductor 122 and the inductor pairs 130 and 132 of second coupled inductor 124 posses high magnetic coupling. In one exemplary embodiment, the magnetic coupling between the first inductor 126 and second inductor 128 of first coupled inductor 122 and between third inductor 130 and fourth inductor 132 of second coupled inductor 124 has a magnetic coupling coefficient of 0.95 (close to the theoretical value of one). Third inductor 130 and fourth inductor 132 are decoupled magnetically from first inductor 126 and second inductor 128 . In one exemplary embodiment, the magnetic coupling coefficient is 0.003, which is close to the ideal value of zero needed for total decoupling. Thus, first coupled inductor 122 is almost totally isolated from second coupled inductor 124 . While two coupled inductors, 122 and 124 , are shown, more than two coupled inductors can be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0018] Core 106 is divided into a first half 202 and a second half 204 . The face of the left leg 214 and the face of the right leg 210 of one of the halves (such as the first half 202 ) are grounded down, milled down or shaved away to create a first air gap 216 and a second air gap 218 . In an exemplary embodiment, the gap thickness is 0.18 mm+/−0.05 mm. Varying the gap thickness varies the open circuit inductance of the inductors 126 , 128 , 130 and 132 . In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the first air gap 216 and the second air gap 218 are chosen such that the open circuit induction of inductors 126 , 128 , 130 and 132 are sufficient to give the filter 100 the desired filter response. In an exemplary embodiment the open circuit inductance for each inductor 126 , 128 , 130 and 132 is 4.5 mHy at 1.0 kHz and 100 mVrms.
[0019] In one exemplary embodiment, a thin layer of epoxy resin, such as Nagase ChemTex XNR3501SL, is optionally applied between the matting face of center leg 206 of the first half 202 and the second half 204 of common core 106 . Pressure is then provided to control the resin layer thickness. Once hardened the thin layer of epoxy creates a very small center leg adjustment gap 220 . Center leg adjustment gap 220 is non-ferromagnetic and helps to reduce the magnetic reluctance of the center leg 206 and decrease the magnetic coupling coefficient. Slight adjustments to the center leg adjustment gap 220 can adjust the magnetic coupling coefficient of the center leg 206 . Instead of using an adjustable gap, the magnetic coupling coefficient can be adjusted by other means known to those in the art including varying the cross-sectional area of center leg 206 .
[0020] Shunt capacitors 134 and 136 are, in an exemplary embodiment, film capacitors. In one exemplary embodiment, shunt capacitor 134 is a 33 nFd capacitor and shunt capacitor 136 is a 47 nFd capacitor.
[0021] In the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1, the filter 100 is a double L-section (LCLC) passive 4 th Order Chebyshev low pass filter. The desired filter response can be chosen by providing appropriate core path lengths, core path cross sectional areas, adjustable gap thickness and air gap thickness. Of course, other filters can be utilized such as a 3 rd Order Butterworth low pass filter and a 5 th Order Bessel low pass filter, wherein two or more coupled inductors in those filters share a common core. In an exemplary embodiment, filter 100 has an insertion loss of −1.5 dB between 2.2 kHZ and 3.5 kHz, a passband ripple of 1.5 dB and a high frequency roll-off of −55 dB to −65 dB over 30 kHz to 1.1 MHz.
[0022] By careful selection of component values and parameters, the responses of the filter of the present invention will be almost the same as a filter with a conventional design using separate cores. Thus, the filter of the present invention will filter out the xDSL signal such that it does not reach the POTS device. Also, the relatively high impedance looking into the filter from the line side, swamps out the impedance changes occurring on the other side of the POTS filter in the POTS device.
[0023] In an exemplary embodiment, the coupled inductor array 120 is installed on a base for mounting on a printed circuit board. As seen in FIGS. 3-4, a first coil former 302 and second coil former are installed around core 106 to form a base. The first coil former 302 and the second coil former 304 are a combination of a mounting base and winding bobbin. An exemplary coil former is PIN Base-SLF 1312-F8P, manufactured by Sumida Corp. of San Diego, Calif. In one exemplary embodiment, first coupled inductor 122 includes two coils, each coil wound bifilarly and each coil having 195 turns of #34.5 AWG HPN enamel coated wire (magnet wire) in 14 layers on first coil former 302 . In FIGS. 3-4 the wire coils are not pictured in order to better see the first coil former 302 and the second coil former 304 . In the exemplary embodiment, second coupled inductor 124 also includes two coils, each coil wound bifilarly and each coil having 195 turns of #34.5 AWG HPN enamel coated wire (magnet wire) in 14 layers on second coil former 302 .
[0024] First coil former 302 and second coil former 304 are mechanically secured to each other and around core 106 to form a package that can be mounted on a printed circuit board. As seen in FIG. 4, there is a plurality of electrical terminals 402 for use in mounting the package on a printed circuit board and connecting to external components such as RJ-11 connectors for coupling the POTS line and POTS devices as well as the shunt capacitors in order to form a complete POTS filter unit.
[0025] Notwithstanding that FIG. 1 shows coupled inductors whose windings aid one another rather than oppose one another in the establishment of the magnetic fields within their respective cores, the scope of this invention includes the incorporation of coupled-inductors, such as second coupled inductor 124 , whose windings create magnetic fields that oppose one another; that is, the scope of this invention includes “common-mode” coupled inductors. Such transformers can be placed in cascade with any other transformer(s), provided that the first coupled inductor 122 is the coupled inductor connected to the telephone line.
[0026] Although specific components with particular operating parameters are described in the preferred embodiment, a variety of different components with varying operating parameters may be used which do not depart from the scope of the present invention. The preferred embodiment described above are for exemplary purposes only. While the filter circuit can be configured as a separate electrical element, it should be appreciated that the circuit can readily be incorporated into the design of a telephone or other device connected to the POTS line. The invention applies to all types of combinations and/or rearrangements of the methods and systems described. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these specific embodiments. With respect to the claims, it is the applicant's intention that the claims not be interpreted in accordance with the sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 unless the term “means” is used followed by a functional statement. | The present invention provides a passive electronic filter circuit for telephony equipment used in conjunction with xDSL that reduces the number of discrete components over existing filters. In one exemplary embodiment the present invention employs a POTS filter having a coupled-inductor array made up of two cascaded pairs of coupled inductors that share one common ferrite core. The use of a common ferrite core reduces the number of coupled inductor packages required to perform the same filtering. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of materials reinforced against impacts and particularly to materials which are both transparent and reinforced against impacts and more particularly to materials reinforced against impacts using a block copolymer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention discloses the preparation and the use in brittle thermoplastic polymer matrices of block copolymers obtained by controlled radical polymerization in the presence of stable nitroxides, the materials thus obtained exhibiting improved properties of impact strength.
Impact-resistant thermoplastic resins are conventionally obtained by hot blending an impact-reinforcing additive, resulting from the stages of coagulating, dehydrating and drying an elastomer latex, with the particles of the “hard” polymer or thermoplastic resin, which results in what is known as an alloy, from which it is possible to obtain articles shaped by extrusion, injection molding or compression.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Applicant has just found a novel class of polymer materials which are both transparent and impact-resistant and a novel way of preparing impact-resistant polymer materials.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows the results of the traction-elongation test.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The first subject matter of the present invention is transparent and impact-resistant polymer materials composed of a brittle matrix (I), representing from 0 to 95% by weight of the total weight of the materials of the invention, in which is dispersed a block copolymer (II) of general formula B-(A) n . Advantageously, the portion of the brittle matrix is between 10 and 85% by weight.
The materials of the invention can additionally comprise other impact-reinforcing additives, such as those of the Durastrength™ or Metablend™ trade mark, and the like. Generally, the brittle matrix (I) exhibits a glass transition temperature (Tg) of greater than 0° C. Mention may in particular be made, among brittle matrices which it is important to reinforce against impacts, of materials based on poly(methyl methacrylate), on polystyrene, on poly(vinylidene fluoride), on polyesters, on polycarbonate, on poly(vinyl chloride), on polyamide, on polyepoxide, on polyethylene or on polyacrylonitrile, or their copolymers. The brittle matrix is preferably a polymethacrylate.
The block copolymers of the invention correspond to the general formula B-(A) n , n being a natural number of greater than two, preferably between 2 and 20 and preferably between 2 and 8; where B represents a polymer block composed of the sequence of monomer units which can be polymerized by the radical route, the overall Tg of which is less than 0° C. The average molar mass of the block B is greater than 5000 g/mol, preferably greater than 20 000 g/mol and more preferably still greater than 50 000 g/mol.
A is a polymer block composed of a sequence of monomer units which can be polymerized by the radical route, the overall Tg of which is greater than 0° C. The average molar mass of each block A is between 10 000 g/mol and 10 6 g/mol, preferably between 10 000 g/mol and 200 000 g/mol and preferably between 20 000 and 100 000 g/mol.
The relative lengths of the blocks A and B are chosen such that n*Mn(A)/(n*Mn(A)+Mn(B)) is between 0.5 and 0.95, preferably between 0.6 and 0.8, and such that Mn(B) is greater than or equal to the mean entanglement length of the block B, where Mn denotes the number-average molecular mass of the polymer.
According to the invention, the block copolymer (II) exhibits a polydispersity index of between 1.5 and 3, advantageously of between 1.8 and 2.7 and preferably of between 1.9 and 2.5. On the other hand, the block B exhibits a polydispersity index of less than 2.
Generally, A represents at least 50% by weight of the total weight of the copolymer (II) and preferably between 60 and 95%.
In particular, B is a polyacrylate with a glass transition temperature of less than 0° C.; preferably, B will comprise butyl acrylate units. A is a polymer compatible with the matrix to be reinforced. By way of indication, in order to reinforce poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), PMMA will be chosen for A. In order to reinforce polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate) or poly(ethylene terephthalate), or epoxys, A will preferably be chosen from polymethacrylates comprising glycidyl methacrylate or methacrylic acid units and, in order to reinforce polystyrene, PS will preferably be chosen for A.
Another subject-matter of the invention is a process for the preparation of the transparent and impact-resistant materials of the invention. This process is based on the “controlled radical polymerization” polymerization technique based on the use of stable nitroxides. The general synthetic scheme is as follows: in a first step, the block B, with a flexible or elastomeric nature, is prepared by polymerization in the presence of a well chosen nitroxide and, in a second step, by using the block B as polymerization initiator, the branches A, with a stiff or thermoplastic nature, are prepared.
It is known that stable nitroxides can result in the formation of block copolymers by controlled radical polymerization (WO 9624620, WO 2000071501 A1 20001130, EP 1142913 A1 20011010). By virtue of certain families of nitroxides described in the abovementioned patents, block copolymers incorporating units as difficult to control by the conventional radical route as acrylates are described. In the case of methacrylates, certain limitations well known to a person skilled in the art appear, such as the transfer reaction with the nitroxide (eq. 1), which brings about a premature loss in the control of the polymerizations:
However, starting from a first block controlled by the nitroxide, it is possible to reinitiate a radical methacrylate polymerization, which will be limited in its living nature but will still result in a block copolymer.
The limitations of the living nature are reflected by a broadening of the polydispersity of the copolymer block, of between 1.5 and 2.5, and the Applicant Company has discovered that this had an effect on the morphology of the block copolymer.
This is because monodisperse block copolymers will experience transitions in morphology for copolymer block compositions which are very specific (cf. G. Holden et al. in “ Thermoplastic elastomers”, 2nd edition, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna, New York, 1996). For this reason, when the proportion of the thermoplastic block increases, the morphology changes towards a topology where the continuous phase is the thermoplastic phase.
As long as this situation is not reached, the block copolymer cannot be homogeneously blended with a matrix compatible with the thermoplastic block. For this reason, the blend becomes opaque and the mechanical properties thereof are very poor.
As the two-stage synthesis according to any one process for the polymerization (mass, solvent, emulsion, suspension) of copolymer block in the presence of nitroxides is very simple to carry out, it was essential to find the compositions or the methods of synthesis which result in copolymers which can be compatibilized with thermoplastic matrices. The Applicant Company has discovered that, for compositions comprising between 50% and 95% of thermoplastic phase, preferably between 60% and 85% of thermoplastic phase, the morphology of the copolymers obtained by controlled radical polymerization in the presence of nitroxides was compatible with a good mixture of the copolymer in brittle thermoplastic matrices.
Furthermore, unlike the document JP2000198825 A 20000718, in which the authors claim the use of block copolymers obtained by controlled radical polymerization in the presence of copper salt with a low polydispersity index (PI<1.5), the Applicant Company has found that, by virtue of the controlled radical polymerization in the presence of nitroxide, the polymerization of the thermoplastic block could take place at the same time as the polymerization of the matrix and that it was not necessary to isolate the block copolymer beforehand. Thus, starting from a first block functionalized by nitroxides, it is possible to initiate thermoplastic chains at the same time as other chains are initiated by conventional initiators or by thermal initiation. There are two advantages to this:
1—If the thermoplastic matrix to be reinforced against impact has the same composition as the thermoplastic block of the copolymer, the reinforced material is obtained directly.
2—If another matrix has to be reinforced, the fact of adding homopolymers to the block copolymer makes it possible to fluidify the copolymer, which, if not, exhibits too excessive a viscosity to be converted by extrusion without undergoing decomposition.
Applicant thus claims a process for the manufacture of block copolymers which are compatible with thermoplastic matrices and the use of these block copolymers in the manufacture of these resins which are more resistant to impact.
In particular, the process according to the invention consists of the synthesis of the copolymers in the presence of nitroxides (III):
where R′ and R, which are identical or different, optionally connected so as to form a ring, are alkyl groups having between 1 and 40 carbon atoms optionally substituted by hydroxyl, alkoxy or amino groups; in particular, R and R′ will be tert-butyl groups;
and where R L is a monovalent group with a molar mass of greater than 16 g/mol; in particular, R L will be a phosphorus group and more particularly a phosphonate group of formula:
where R″ and R′″, which are identical or different, optionally connected so as to form a ring, are alkyl groups having between 1 and 40 carbon atoms optionally substituted by hydroxyl, alkoxy or amino groups; in particular R″ and R′″ will be ethyl groups.
In particular, the block copolymers are of general formula B-(A) n , where B represents a polymer block composed of the sequence of monomer units which can be polymerized by the radical route in the presence of nitroxides (III) and for which the overall Tg is less than 0° C. The average molar mass of the block B is between 3000 g/mol and 10 6 g/mol, preferably between 5000 g/mol and 200 000 g/mol and preferably between 5000 and 100 000 g/mol;
A is a block of the polymer composed of a sequence of monomer units which can be polymerized by the radical route in the presence of nitroxides (III) and for which the overall Tg is greater than 0° C. The average molar mass of each block A is between 10 000 g/mol and 10 6 g/mol, preferably between 10 000 g/mol and 200 000 g/mol and preferably between 20 000 and 100 000 g/mol, where n is a natural number greater than two, preferably of between 2 and 20 and preferably between 2 and 8.
The relative lengths of the blocks A and B are chosen such that n*Mn(A)/(n*Mn(A)+Mn(B)) is between 0.5 and 0.95, preferably between 0.6 and 0.8, and such that Mn(B) is greater than or equal to the mean entanglement length of the block B. The polydispersity of the block copolymer obtained is between 1.5 and 3, preferably between 1.8 and 2.7 and more preferably from 1.9 to 2.5.
The process is characterized in that it consists:
1) firstly, in preparing, according to a conventional polymerization recipe, the first block B by mixing the monomer(s) with an alkoxyamine of general formula (IV):
where Z is a polyvalent radical carrying terminal functional groups of styryl or acryloyl type, the other radicals having the same meanings as above, nitroxide (III) being added to the mixture in a proportion ranging from 0 to 20 mol % with respect to the moles of alkoxyamine functional groups (one alkoxyamine contributes n alkoxyamine functional groups).
The polymerization is carried out at temperatures ranging from 60 to 250° C., preferably from 90 to 160° C., for pressures ranging from 0.100 bar to 80 bar, preferably from 0.5 bar to 10 bar.
The polymerization has to be controlled and the latter will preferably be halted before 99% conversion, preferably before 90% conversion. The block B thus obtained is either used with the residual monomers or is purified from the monomers by distillation or washing and drying with a solvent which is immiscible with B and miscible with the monomers used.
2) Secondly, the process consists in diluting the first block B obtained in the mixture of monomers intended to form the blocks A. Between 0 and 100 molar equivalents of conventional radical polymerization initiator (of the Luperox™ or azo compound type, for example AZDN™) are added to this mixture. The choice of this ratio depends on the viscosity/impact-reinforcing compromise which it is desired to have.
The polymerization is carried out at temperatures ranging from 60 to 250° C., preferably from 90 to 160° C., for pressures ranging from 0.100 bar to 80 bar, preferably from 0.5 bar to 10 bar.
The conversion of the monomer varies from 10 to 100% and the polymer obtained is separated from the residual monomers by evaporation under vacuum at temperatures ranging up to 250° C. and preferably 200° C.
3) Thirdly,
either the material obtained is extruded in the presence of the brittle matrix which it is desired to see reinforced against impact: mention may in particular be made of PMMA, polyesters of PET or PBT type, polystyrene, PVDF, polyamides, polycarbonates, PVC and the like. This extrusion stage can also involve other additives, in particular impact additives, such as those of the Durastrength™ or Metablend™ trade mark, or else the material obtained is diluted in a mixture of monomers which is itself subsequently polymerized. Mention may be made, for example, of styrene, MMA, epoxides, mixtures of diols and of diacid, or precursors of polyamides (lactam or mixtures, diamine, diacids), it is also possible to use the material as an impact-resistant resin without blending.
A person skilled in the art knows how to choose his monomers according to the block desired. Mention may be made, among the monomers chosen, pure or as a mixture, of acrylic monomers of general formula:
where R 1 is a hydrogen atom or a linear, cyclic or branched alkyl comprising from 1 to 40 carbon atoms which is optionally substituted by a halogen atom or a hydroxyl (—OH), alkoxy, cyano, amino or epoxy group.
Another family of monomers of choice is composed of methacrylic monomers of general formula:
where R 2 has the same meaning as R 1 .
Another possible monomer is acrylonitrile, styrene derivatives, dienes and generally any monomer carrying a vinyl bond which can be polymerized by the radical route.
The materials of the invention can be used in various fields, such as the automobile industry or the construction industry. They make it possible to manufacture impact-resistant shaped articles, in particular sheets, and very particularly sheets of use in forming thermoformed bathroom fittings, such as bath tubs, sinks, shower trays, basins, shower stalls and the like.
These shaped articles exhibit an improved impact strength while retaining good mechanical properties, in particular with regard to flexion (high modulus), that is to say a degree of stiffness.
The following examples illustrate the invention without limiting the scope thereof.
EXAMPLES
The stable free radical used in the examples and referenced SG1 corresponds to the following formula:
The alkoxyamines DIAMS and TRIAMS mentioned in the examples correspond to the following formulae:
I. First Series: Reinforcement Against Impacts of a PMMA Matrix by a B-(A) n Copolymer with n=2 or 3
I.1 Preparation of the Copolymers:
The general procedure for syntheses and for characterizations is described below.
The syntheses are carried out in two stages in a steel reactor with a working capacity of 9 liters. The starting media are systematically degassed by vacuum/nitrogen cycles before being introduced into the reactor, which is preheated to the reaction temperature.
The control of the polymerization of butyl acrylate, for example, in the presence of the alkoxyamines 1 or 2 denoted respectively by DIAMS and TRIAMS was optimized at a temperature T=115° C. and in the presence of an excess of free SG1 of 7 mol % per alkoxyamine functional group. Conversion was limited to 50%, so as to retain a good living nature of the PBuA-SG1 macroinitiators obtained, the residual monomer subsequently being removed by a stripping stage (70° C. under vacuum for 2 hours). In a second stage, the di- or trifunctional macroinitiators thus obtained were allowed to reinitiate the polymerization of MMA at 120° C. under pressure, so as to prepare triblock and star block copolymers. It is important to note that the conversion of MMA is limited because of disproportionation reactions between the nitroxide and the growing chains. Starting from synthesis No. 2, a rise in temperature in stationary phases between 85 and 120° C. was opted for, which made it possible to push back this limit from 20 to 45%.
The operating conditions for the syntheses of the block B functionalized with a stable free radical, SG1, are summarized in table 1 (Tab 1).
TABLE 1
Synthesis of PBuA-SG1 macroinitiators
DIAMS/TRIAMS*
SG1
BuA
C
C
w
C
Mn
w (g)
(mol/l)
w (g)
(mol/l)
(g)
(mol/l)
(th)
PBuAFLOPIL6
59.7073
1.49 × 10 −2
3.1907
2.09 × 10 −3
3600
6.98
60 000
(DIAMS)
PBuAFLOPIL7
58.0488
l.49 × 10 −2
2.7919
2.09 × 10 −3
3500
6.98
60 000
(DIAMS)
PBuAFLOPIL8
54.0488
1.49 × 10 −2
2.7919
2.09 × 10 −3
3500
6.98
60 000
(DIAMS)
PBuAFLOPIL9
69.9200
0.99 × 10 −2
2.8716
2.09 × 10 −3
3600
6.98
90 000
(TRIAMS)
The operating conditions relating to the preparation of 4 block copolymers, poly(butyl acrylate) for block B and poly(methyl methacrylate) for block A, are summarized in table 2.
TABLE 2
Syntheses of the PBuA-SG1 copolymers
Ethylbenzene
PBuA-SG1
MMA
C
Mn
C
C
(mol/
(f = 1)
w (g)
(mol/l)
w (g)
(mol/l)
w (g)
l)
(PMMA)
FLOPIL6
1800
9.81 ×
6250
7.16
1780
1.92
73 000
10 −3
(20%)
FLOPIL7
1800
1.29 ×
6420
8.21
830
1.00
64 000
10 −3
(10%)
FLOPIL8
1100
5.31 ×
6750
8.25
840
0.97
155 200
10 −3
(10%)
FLOPIL9
1100
3.23 ×
6750
8.25
840
0.97
245 500
10 −3
(10%)
I.2 Preparation of the Reinforced Matrix:
The blends composed of PMMA and of copolymers which reinforce against impacts are prepared by melt extrusion.
I.3 Characterizations
The molar masses and their distribution were determined by steric exclusion chromatography (SEC), by universal calibration using polystyrene standards and the Mark-Houwink coefficients of PBuA for the PBuA-SG1 macroinitiators and of PMMA for the copolymers.
The composition of the copolymers in PBuA and PMMA was determined by proton NMR. The results obtained are given in table 3 (Tab 3) as regards the block B and in table 4 (Tab 4) as regards the copolymers.
TABLE 3
Characteristics of the macroinitiators
BuA
Mn
conversion
(theoretical)
Mn (SEC)
Mw (SEC)
%
(g/mol)
(g/mol)
(g/mol)
PI
PBuA-
35
21 000
21 000
31 700
1.50
FLOPIL6
PBuA-
50
30 000
17 800
55 400
3.11
FLOPIL7
PBuA-
47
28 200
25 300
35 000
1.38
FLOPIL8
PBuA-
50
45 000
28 000
44 000
1.57
FLOPIL9
TABLE 4
Characteristics of the copolymers
MMA
% PMMA
conversion
Mn (th)
Mn (SEC)
Mw (SEC)
by
%
(g/mol)
(g/mol)
(g/mol)
PI
weight
FLOPIL
20
35 600
44 900
124 200
2.70
68
6
FLOPIL
35
40 000
77 400
170 760
2.20
70
7
FLOPIL
44
93 600
100 200
240 600
2.40
80
8
FLOPIL
40
138 200
87 230
245 900
2.8
77
9
The mechanical properties were evaluated by the well-known traction-elongation test. The results are illustrated by FIG. 1 .
II. Second Series: In Situ Preparation of a PMMA Reinforced Against Impacts by the Polymerization of a Methyl Methacrylate/Macroinitiator Based on Butyl Acrylate and on Styrene Mixture (Syrup), Either by the “Cast Sheet” Technique or Continuously
II.1 Cast Sheet
Stage 1:
Preparation of butyl acrylate/styrene (83/17) copolymer by polymerizing by up to 69% a mixture comprising 7.2 kg of butyl acrylate, 800 g of styrene, 51 g of TRIAMS and 1.5 g of free SG1. The copolymer is recovered by evaporation of the volatile components and then dissolution in 8 kg of methyl methacrylate.
The macroinitiator obtained exhibits the following characteristics: 17% by weight of styrene, Mn=70 000 g/mol, Mw=142 000 g/mol.
Stage 2:
The formulation of the methyl methacrylate syrup employed is as follows:
A variable concentration of macroinitiator obtained according to stage 1: either 2% or 5% or 7.5% or 10% or 20% by weight of the total weight of the mixture.
550 ppm of Luperox 331-80M.
0.2% by weight of the total weight of the mixture of maleic anhydride.
21 ppm of γ-terpinene.
The sheets are introduced into an oven and are heated at 90° C. for approximately 16 hours and, in postpolymerization, at 125° C. for 2 hours.
These examples show (see table 5, Tab 5) that the incorporation of a block copolymer in a PMMA matrix of cast sheet type contributes a significant reinforcement against impact which is greater than the best current commercial reference.
TABLE 5 RESULTS Amount of Residual Resilience* PBuA Appearance Haze MMA (in kJ · m 2 ) 2% +++ 1.18 3.65% 1.35 ± 0.06 5% +++ 1.59 3.32% 1.78 ± 0.16 7.5% +++ 2.43 3.87% 2.81 ± 0.18 10% +++ 3.52 3.45% 3.62 ± 0.25 20% +++ 5.94 2.38% 6.23 ± 0.25 +++: No bloom, no bubbles, translucent, glossy, smooth. *The impact results were produced on notched test specimens with a non-instrument-controlled Charpy device and a 1 joule hammer and at a velocity of 2.9 m · s −1 . For reference, the resilience of an unreinforced cast sheet and that of a cast sheet of commercial impact grade were measured, which have values of 1.35 ± 0.03 kJ · mol −1 and 1.59 ± 0.03 kJ · mol −1 respectively.
They also illustrate the fact that the block copolymers obtained by virtue of the chemistry of the nitroxides of the invention can be introduced in situ during the polymerization of the matrix.
II.2 Continuous Polymerization
Use is made in this example of an arrangement composed of two reactors in cascade. One is maintained at −40° C. and is used to feed the second with polymerization syrup. The second reactor is the polymerization reactor proper. The polymerization temperature is greater than 160° C. The monomer syrup is introduced into the polymerization reactor with a flow rate of 8 kg/h. As soon as a level of solid of the order of 60% is obtained, the polymerization medium is pumped continuously to a degassing extruder at a temperature of 230° C. The material is granulated after cooling in a water vat.
The monomer syrup used is as follows (as proportion by weight):
Poly(butyl acrylate); it is the copolymer Flopil 9 described above: 15%.
Ethyl acrylate: 0.6%.
Di(tert-dodecyl) disulfide: 100 ppm.
Dodecyl mercaptan: 0.34%.
Luperox 531: 180 ppm.
The maximum polymerization temperature achieved is 178° C.
The granules obtained have the final composition:
82.5% PMMA
17.3% acrylate (butyl and ethyl)
0.2% residual MMA.
Mn=30 000 g/mol (PMMA standard)
Mw=85 000 g/mol (PMMA standard)
The measurements of the yield stress of a standard PMMA, of a PMMA reinforced against impacts and of the material prepared according to the invention, carried out by compressive tests on cylindrical test specimens according to Standard ISO 604, made it possible to derive the following values:
Standard PMMA (MC31): 130 MPa
PMMA reinforced against impacts (commercial product: M17T): 98 MPa
Reinforced PMMA according to the invention: 96 MPa.
The comparison of these results shows that the product according to the invention has a ductile behavior equivalent to a standard impact grade of PMMA.
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the invention is intended to embrace all of the alternatives and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The foregoing references are hereby incorporated by reference. | The invention relates to the production and use of block copolymers which are obtained by means of controlled radical polymerization in the presence of nitroxides for the purpose of reinforcing fragile polymer matrices. The invention offers advantages such as (i) simplicity of copolymer synthesis and use and (ii) fine dispersion of the copolymer molecules in the fragile matrix, which ensures both the transparency of the material and high reinforcement against impact. More specifically, the invention relates to the radical synthesis of block copolymers comprising at least three blocks, which include one block having a glass transition temperature of less than 0° C. and a thermoplastic end block having a glass transition temperature of more than 0° C., thereby guaranteeing compatibility with the fragile matrix to be reinforced against impact. | 2 |
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of and claims priority from U.S. Ser. No. 14/025,292, filed on Sep. 12, 2013, entitled “VAPOR VACUUM HEATING SYSTEMS AND INTEGRATION WITH CONDENSING VACUUM BOILERS,” issued on Apr. 22, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,702,313, which itself is a non-provisional of and claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 61/702,533, filed on Sep. 18, 2012, entitled “Condensing boiler and vapor vacuum heating system combo,” the entireties of both of which are incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to vapor vacuum condensing boilers and their designs for use with vapor vacuum heating systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Existing positive low-pressure steam heating systems provide simple and reliable techniques for heating in a wide variety of industrial, commercial, and residential applications. Water (as a liquid) heated in a boiler becomes steam (a gas), which then rises through the feeder pipes (conduits) and condenses in radiators, giving off its latent heat. Radiators become hot and heat up objects in the room directly as well as the surrounding air. Steam is traditionally delivered under a low pressure of up to 2 psig at 218° F. in order to improve boiler safety and efficiency. Additionally, steam at lower pressure moves faster, contains less water, and doesn't create boiler low water problems. The boiler creates the initial steam pressure to overcome friction in the feeder pipes.
An existing steam system can be converted to a vapor (steam) vacuum system by operating the steam system under 5-10 inches of Hg vacuum. Although there are some efficiency gains, the conversion of a steam system into a vacuum system results in an increased maintenance cost due to additional vacuum equipment, condensate pumps, and electricity usage. In existing vacuum systems, steam traps are utilized in which condensate is separated from steam, sucked by a vacuum pump, and returned into the system by a water pump. Steam trap usage is also a major maintenance, repair, and replacement problem. Few new vacuum systems have been installed in the last fifty years due to high installation and maintenance costs.
Existing steam (vapor) systems are robust and reliable but have multiple problems, including high installation costs, noise, uneven heat distribution, and control difficulties. Therefore, many worn out steam systems are being retrofitted into hot water heating systems. However, such retrofits are very expensive because the boiler and the old plumbing have to be replaced which requires significant demolition of building internals. Alternatively, the level of building destruction is much less for conversion of a steam into a vacuum system. Therefore, a low-cost and efficient vacuum system would be an advantageous alternative for steam system retrofits as well as for new heating system installations.
In order to boost energy efficiency, modern hot water condensing boilers absorb the latent heat of water vapor from the flue gas. The recommended temperature of the water return (supply into boiler condensing section) is below 100° F. in order to condense most of the water from the flue gas. In reality, this temperature is at 140° F. or above for most of the heating season in order to deliver enough heat into the building. As a result, benefits of condensing mode usage are lost. Another problem of hot water condensing boilers is limited temperature of supply water. The typical temperature drop through a hot water heating system is 20° F., and therefore for condensing boilers, supply water temperature is limited to 120-160° F. At such low temperatures, the energy value of delivered heat is less than in a regular hot water system. This results in hot water condensing boilers that operate as traditional boilers with their condensing section inefficient for most of their operating time, eliminating the energy saving benefits of condensing boilers almost entirely while still having their high capital costs.
The temperature of condensate return in existing vacuum systems is either equal to the temperature of vapor rising through the same pipe or slightly lower in two pipe systems. The high temperature of condensate return is considered an inherent feature of the system and never challenged. Steam and vacuum systems are never used with condensing boilers, and therefore no steam or vacuum condensing boilers exist. Accordingly, as recognized by the present inventor, what are needed are vacuum condensing boiler designs for use with vapor vacuum heating systems.
Therefore, it would be an advancement in the state of the art to provide vacuum condensing boilers. It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention is a boiler for boiling water to produce steam, comprising (1) an evaporating section comprising a combustion chamber for burning fuel with air and generating hot flue gas, and an evaporating heat exchanger around the combustion chamber for exchanging heat between the flue gas and water to produce the steam which exits the boiler; and (2) a condensing section comprising a condensing heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the hot flue gas from the combustion chamber and a low-temperature water return having a temperature below approximately 100° F., generating flue gas condensate, which leaves the boiler, wherein the low-temperature water return is heated by the hot flue gas in the condensing heat exchanger before entering the evaporating heat exchanger for additional heating.
Another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, further comprising fins adapted to enhance the exchange of heat between the flue gas and evaporating water.
Another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, wherein the counter-current heat exchanger contains one or more passes.
Another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, wherein the counter-current heat exchanger contains two or more passes.
Another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, wherein the boiler is utilized with a vapor vacuum system.
Another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, further comprising an array of short thick wall heat pipes.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is the boiler described above, wherein the heat pipes comprise closed-end tubes with a working fluid under vacuum.
Other embodiments of the present invention include methods corresponding to the boilers and systems described above, as well as methods of operation of the boilers and systems described above. Other features, utilities and advantages of the various embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a thermal efficiency of a condensing boiler system as a function of return condensate temperature.
FIG. 2 illustrates a physical interpretation of the Farber-Scorah Boiling Curve.
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of an embodiment of a vacuum condensing boiler according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic of another embodiment of a vacuum condensing boiler according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
In order to boost energy efficiency, modern hot water condensing boilers (“CB”) absorb the latent heat of water vapor from the flue gas. Recommended temperature of water return temperature (supply into boiler condensing section) is below 100° F. in order to condense most of the water (see FIG. 1 , adapted from T. H. Durkin, “Boiler System Efficiency,” ASHRAE Journal, vol. 48, July 2006, p. 51). In reality, water return temperature is at 140° F. level for most of the heating season in order to deliver enough heat into building. As a result, benefits of condensing mode usage are lost. Another problem with hot water condensing boilers is limited temperature of supply water. Typical temperature drop through hot water heating systems is 20° F., and therefore CB supply water temperature is limited to 120-160° F. At such low temperatures, the energy value of delivered heat is less than in regular hot water systems.
The temperature of condensate return in traditional vacuum single-pipe systems is either equal to the temperature of vapor rising through the same pipe, or slightly lower in two pipe systems. The high temperature of condensate return is considered an inherent feature of traditional vacuum and steam systems and is never challenged. The present inventor has recognized that the lowered temperature of condensate return can be used with new and improved vapor vacuum condensing boilers, which would improve system efficiency.
Herein are presented several designs for condensing vacuum boilers that can be utilized with a low temperature vapor vacuum system, as described in related U.S. Pat. No. 8,702,313 entitled “VAPOR VACUUM HEATING SYSTEMS AND INTEGRATION WITH CONDENSING VACUUM BOILERS,” issued on Apr. 22, 2014 to the inventor of the present application. Since the various vapor vacuum system embodiments described therein allow integration of condensing boilers for the first time, vacuum condensing boilers are desirable. Accordingly, embodiments of various vacuum condensing boiler designs are described herein. Various condensing boiler designs are envisioned within the scope of the present invention, and the particular condensing boiler designs are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention as one of ordinary skill in the art would envision multiple modifications and combinations of the design concepts illustrated herein.
A vapor vacuum system can be used in any building and/or dwelling as needed. For the purposes of the descriptions herein, the term “building” will be used to represent any home, dwelling, office building, and commercial building, as well as any other type of building as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. For purposes of this description, “steam” and “vapor” are used interchangeably. “Single-pipe” and “one-pipe” are used interchangeably and refer to systems with a single pipe used for both feeding vapor to the radiators and returning condensate. “Two-pipe” and “double-pipe” are used interchangeably to refer to systems in which a separate pipe is used to return condensate from the pipe used to feed the vapor to the radiators. As used herein, “closed-loop,” “closed loop,” and “closed system” are used interchangeably to mean an essentially closed vacuum system and piping with essentially air-tight connections and negligible leakage. The term “steam system” shall refer to positive pressure steam systems, usually operating at up to 2 psig, whereas the terms “vapor vacuum system,” “vacuum system,” “vapor vacuum heating,” and “VVH” shall refer to negative pressure steam systems operating with at least 5 inches Hg vacuum.
An attractive feature of the vapor vacuum heating system is advanced heat transfer conditions. Heat transfer coefficients in the boiler are changed by orders of magnitude depending on temperature differences between the wall and boiling temperature of the saturated liquid (see FIG. 2 , physical interpretation of the Farber-Scorah Boiling Curve, adapted from FIG. 5.1 in M. L. Corradini, Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow, 1997; see also FIG. 6.14 in P. K. Nag, Heat and Mass Transfer , 2nd Ed., 2007). Hot water boilers work in the least efficient regime of interface evaporation (pure convection). Furthermore, in hot water systems, the “bubbles” regimes, which have the highest heat transfer coefficients, are avoided because the hot water circulation worsens in the presence of the vapor phase. Conversely, in a vacuum system, heat transfer occurs instantly in the most efficient “bubbles” regime because water boils at lower temperatures. Therefore, the required heat exchange area can be reduced significantly not only in the boiler evaporative section, but also in the boiler condensing section.
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of a vacuum condensing steam boiler with a single pass down flow configuration according to one embodiment of the present invention. Two- and three-pass apparatus may be used as well. High temperature flue gas from a burner 306 evaporates water in a boiler cylindrical evaporating section 301 and then flows down into a condensing section 302 along a spiral tube heat exchanger 305 filled with condensate return from the radiators (radiators not shown). Air 308 and fuel 309 are supplied from the boiler top; an air blower 307 is utilized to start the system. Cold condensate 312 from radiators enters into the spiral tube heat exchanger 305 from the bottom of the boiler and rises up due to hot water's lower density, boils, and exits the boiler as vapor phase 313 . Condensate 312 from the radiators periodically returns into the boiler through a back flow valve 304 when the boiler stops and the system pressure equalizes. To avoid a sharp decrease in the heat transfer in the evaporating section due to transition into film boiling, fins 303 are provisioned to direct vapor phase outward from the heat exchange area in the evaporating section 301 of the boiler. Flue gas 310 leaves the boiler bottom through an exhaust line, while flue gas condensate 311 is removed from the boiler bottom through a separate line.
In one alternative embodiment of the vacuum condensing boiler, an array of short thick wall heat pipes can be utilized in the condensing section instead of the spiral tube heat exchangers, as shown in FIG. 4 . High temperature flue gas from a burner 406 evaporates water in a boiler cylindrical evaporating section 401 and then flows down into a condensing section 402 . Heat pipes 405 are threaded through the inner wall of the condensing section 402 . These heat pipes have no wick capillary structure; instead, they comprise short, closed-end tubes with a working liquid under vacuum (water can be used as a working liquid in some embodiments). The condensing section 402 comprises two semi-cylinders 408 connected to the evaporating section 401 by lines 409 that can be taken apart for the heat pipes' inspection and replacement. Although the tips of these heat pipes 405 will be exposed to corrosive flue gas, the condensing section 402 would still be functional if the walls of one or several heat pipes fail. Air 410 and fuel 411 are supplied from the boiler top; an air blower 407 is utilized to start the system. Cold condensate 414 from the radiators enters from the bottom of the boiler and rises up due to hot water's lower density, boils, and exits the boiler as vapor phase 415 . Condensate from the radiators periodically returns into the boiler through a back flow valve 404 when the boiler stops and the system pressure equalizes. To avoid a sharp decrease in the heat transfer in the evaporating section 401 due to transition into film boiling, fins 403 are provisioned to direct the vapor phase outward from the heat exchange area in the evaporating section of the boiler. Flue gas 412 leaves the boiler bottom through an exhaust line, while flue gas condensate 413 is removed from the boiler bottom through a separate line.
In some embodiments of the present invention, vacuum condensing boilers having multiple passes designs are possible according to the principles of the present invention. Proposed in FIGS. 3 and 4 were designs of vacuum condensing boilers with single-pass flue gas flow. Like hot water condensing boilers, two- and three-flue gas passage designs can be utilized for the purpose of compact design and efficiency. Instead of using a single-pass flow of flue gas from top to bottom as shown in FIG. 3 , flue gas flows in multiple passes from top to bottom, and back to the top, as it exchanges heat with the condensate return. Such multiple pass embodiment can increase the efficiency of heat exchange and provide for an even more compact design.
While the methods disclosed herein have been described and shown with reference to particular operations performed in a particular order, it will be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided, or re-ordered to form equivalent methods without departing from the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of the operations is not a limitation of the present invention.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to embodiments 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 present invention. | One embodiment of the present invention is a boiler for boiling water to produce steam, having (1) an evaporating section comprising (a) a combustion chamber for burning fuel with air and generating hot flue gas, (b) an evaporating heat exchanger around the combustion chamber for exchanging heat between the flue gas and water to produce the steam which exits the boiler; and (2) a condensing section comprising (c) a condensing heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the hot flue gas from the combustion chamber and a low-temperature water return having a temperature below approximately 100° F., generating flue gas condensate, which leaves the boiler, wherein the low-temperature water return is heated by the hot flue gas in the condensing heat exchanger before entering the evaporating heat exchanger for additional heating. The disclosed vacuum condensing boilers make vapor vacuum steam more efficient and economical for industrial, commercial, and home applications. | 5 |
REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION
This U.S. patent application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/961,391, filed Sep. 25, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,063 and published as U.S. patent application publication No. 2002/0076273 A1, published Jun. 20, 2002. That application relies for priority on a U.S. provisional application by Kenneth J. Carstensen filed Sep. 25, 2000, Ser. No. 60/235,186 and entitled “Connectable Rod System for Driving Downhole Pumps for Oil Field Installations.” The disclosures of those applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to sucker rod systems for use within oil field tubing to drive downhole pumps in reciprocating or rotary motions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Artificial lift systems for oil wells have predominantly used connectable rod systems extending from walking beam drives through the tubing in the well bore to a reciprocating pump of the type which, in each cycle, raises a volume of fluid upward along the tubing string. Valves in the pump allow ingress of the oil at the lowermost part of the cycle, and lift the oil flow upwardly into the tubing system at the uppermost part of the cycle. Because the pump must work against the weight of the rod string and the hydraulic head of the fluid in the production tubing string, which head pressures can be extremely high dependent upon the depth of the well, high loads and forces in tension are present during the upstroke part of the cycle, resulting in very high stresses. In contrast, during the down stroke the loads and forces fall off greatly, often to near zero and not uncommonly to a negative load, i.e. into the compressive stress range. The rod system itself, termed a sucker rod string, has also been used more recently for driving other mechanisms such as bottom hole rotary pumps, where the sucker rod string is used as a very long drive axle. This system employs a small rotary drive unit mounted directly on the well head, which saves the costs of placement and building a level concrete pad for the pump to operate on. The rotary pump (progressive cavity pump), when appropriately used, has advantages in moving larger fluid volumes than reciprocating pumps and the more massive surface equipment that is used with them.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) has long since established standards for sucker rod systems including the parameters required for the rod strings used under different conditions, and for the designs of the rod threaded pin ends and the couplings used to join one sucker rod to another. In consequence of these standards, which include variants as to size and materials, the design that is primarily in use has remained virtually unchanged for many decades. The API sucker rod has an elongated round solid body. The rod itself is provided at each end with an enlarged rounded knuckle to accommodate the rig lifting equipment, an adjacent wrench flat for turning, and an externally threaded length for connection to internally threaded collars or couplings. Specific rods are of material and diameter chosen to be suitable for withstanding stresses anticipated for a specific load problem, and the sequence of rods in a string is designed with graduated characteristics that meet the changing loads as the string length increases. The threaded length at each end of a rod is provided by machining or by rolling (for superior properties) and this threaded section is separated from the shoulder by a slightly undercut length commonly referred to as the pin neck. The shoulder is used as a physical reference for one end of a coupler in the form of a hollow sleeve having internal thread sections which matingly engage each of two oppositely inserted threaded pin ends to interconnect two sucker rods. The dimensions are selected such that, with proper thread engagement, the shoulders on the two pin ends abut the opposite ends of the coupler and place the two ends of the coupler under compression. This provides a joint that is more rigid than the principal length of the rod, and has sufficiently firm engagement to establish a seal in order that well fluids can be kept out of the thread areas and oppose but not necessarily prevent unthreading of the connection under operating conditions. Apart from load bearing capacity, the primary operating requisite is the capability for long term reliability under continuous cycle loads. The API design is also used in sucker rods which have performance specifications higher than the several types (e.g. C. D. and K) within the API tables. Where higher strengths are desired, manufacturers use the API configuration in general but set out their own specifications.
As pointed out in the book “Modern Sucker-Rod Pumping” by Gabor Takacs (Penwell Books, Tulsa, Okla., 1993), at pages 52-58, conflicting demands are made on the elements of a sucker rod joint, and these are accentuated by the operative demands placed upon the sucker rod system. The “make up” must be with substantially greater torque than a hand-tight connection, to prevent unthreading. When properly made up, the pin necks are in tension and the coextensive lengths of the coupler are in compression, while between the two threaded pin ends, the coupler is under zero pre-stress. With this design condition, however, the desired fixed engagement between the coupler end and the pin shoulder deteriorates with time, for a number of practical operative reasons. The primary cause is metal fatigue arising from the constant cycling of the string. Minor imperfections, whether introduced by nicks, scratches or corrosion, induce weaknesses which spread, during extended cycling, through the cross-sectional area of the pin or coupler. Metal fatigue deterioration is accentuated whenever static or cyclic forces introduce initially small gaps between the coupler end and the shoulder surface.
A more detailed consideration of these factors is set forth in a report entitled “Finite Element Analysis of Sucker Rod Couplings With Guidelines For Improving Fatigue Life” by Edward L. Hoffman, identified as Sandia report “Sand97-1652.USC122” captioned “For Unlimited Release” and printed in September 1997 by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N. Mex. This report contains, at pages 63-65, recommendations for improving the characteristics of couplings under practical operating conditions. It is emphasized that the two primary objectives are locking the elements of the threaded connection together and improving the fatigue resistance. However, as pointed out by Takacs, the introduction of compression between the currently used elements tends to decrease the fatigue resistance, and thus is an inherent factor in limiting the expectable life with an API standard joint.
The emphasis on proper make up procedures is not, of course, misplaced, but it does not confront the practical problems that exist on the pulling unit rig. An approximation of proper make up can be provided by threading first to a hand tight position, then putting visible markers on the pins and couplers to designate proper “circumferential displacement” in relation to indicia on an “API card” developed for that specific connection. Manufacturers provide their own displacement cards for use with their specialized high strength sucker rod products. For one side of the connection, tightening to align the markers is relatively simple if other conditions are ideal. When the opposite sucker rod is to be engaged, however, the process for assuring that both pin ends are properly circumferentially aligned relative to the coupler can be very time consuming. Since torque can be applied only to the wrench flats, turning one rod usually turns the coupler and affects the alignment of the other rod, requiring a sequence of adjustments.
With time being of the essence at the pulling unit rig and weather and rig floor conditions seldom being ideal, crews often take short cuts when assembling sucker rod strings. The crew may ignore the indicia entirely, but the more common procedure is to make up two or three joints, observing the hydraulic wrench (power tong) pressure needed for proper alignment, and then make up the remainder of the joints using that power tong pressure setting so as to speed up string assembly. This approach ignores the tolerance variations in the elements as to thread and body geometry that affect the make up conditions at successive joints along the string, and the consequent inconsistencies significantly increase the danger of fatigue failure. It should be noted also that the analysis in the Sandia report uses a sucker-rod pin model of a solid bar, not the short length shoulders which actually exist, so that the contact forces and shoulder stresses are substantially higher than they would be in the actual case for given make up.
Under static conditions, the principal length of a sucker rod, for example a ⅞th inch rod, yields at a given pull load (e.g., 88,000 lbs on the average) while failure in the joint itself is at a higher level (e.g., 118,000 lbs average) However, since the rod body is a long smooth form and the end areas and the connections are a multitude of machined-in cross-section changes and stress risers, fatigue failures occur primarily in the joints, either in the coupler or pin ends, and this is confirmed by fatigue life tests under both field and laboratory conditions. Moreover, modern drilling installations employ horizontal directional drilling techniques and the flexure of elements at regions of curvature greatly increases bending stresses, cyclic wear and metal fatigue. As a result, when failure occurs it is often at the root of threads on the pin end of the connection, less often from thread shear on a pin end or coupler. Furthermore, failures have been found to be in the range of 90% in the connection and 10% in the rod body. Any sucker rod failure requires difficult and expensive retrieval and reentry procedures to be instituted and introduces expensive operating delays, costs of repairs, and loss of production.
Because the standards (virtually worldwide) for drilling and production equipment in the petroleum industry are those established by the API, and the specifications for high strength products from manufacturers are consistent with the API standards vast quantities of sucker rods are in inventory throughout the world. Any new configuration that would obsolete this inventory, no matter how technically promising, would not be economically feasible except for very limited situations. Not only should the sucker rod inventory remain usable, but ancillary factors, such as the standards set for string design and applied down hole use, should not be made obsolete. Also, the vast after market industry of maintenance, such as cleaning, inspection and reclassification so that sucker rods pulled from wells may be put back into service, would vanish. It is therefore highly desirable to provide a sucker rod connection system which is compatible in form and function with existing API sucker rod design and engineering, but at the same time provides high tensile strength, much higher torque capabilities, and superior resistance to fatigue failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Systems and devices in accordance with the invention employ a modified API sucker rod end area configuration, in a combination which unifies the pin ends with the coupler so as to yield higher torque capabilities and be resistant to the causes of fatigue failures, while also establishing unique and useful tension and compression pre-stress relationships and enabling a simplified and assured make up sequence.
Rod connections in accordance with the invention employ controlled force engagement between the end faces of opposing pins so as to compressively pre-stress the threaded pin ends, and also restrain the pin end beyond the pin neck and substantially tension the coextensive lengths of the coupler mid-section. By controlled axial and azimuthal restraints at opposite limits of the pin ends the male and female thread surfaces are locked together, inhibiting the minute physical displacements, even down to the microstructure level in the parts making up the unified combination, which eventually lead to larger gaps and movements, and ultimately fatigue failure. The pin end faces have opposing flat surfaces in areal compressive contact either with interposed torque washers, or each other, materially enhancing the restraints against both axial skewing and azimuthal shifting and doubling the material area in frictional contact that resists back-out. Assembly of the threaded members is aided by use of an anaerobic adhesive compound that thereafter resists back-out and provides an effective seal as well.
By close control and some prescreening, or by precise machine finishing of certain surfaces on the pin and coupler, the advantages of this new approach are maximized in terms of both the mechanical connection and ease and precision of assembly at the work-over rig. An existing sucker rod inventory can still be employed in utilizing the new approach. Once prepared, threaded engagement of the pin end into a coupler to a given dimension beyond hand tight engagement positions the pin end face at a chosen depth in the coupling. The length tolerances used are closely specified, so that when both pins are set in place and tightened, the pre-stress tension and compression levels are assured. Thus the connection can be first half assembled at a base site with one pin end properly engaged, and a crew at the rig site can quickly and reliably complete the connection with the second pin end merely by controlled circumferential displacement past the hand tight plane.
In a preferred version, the shoulder on a pin engages the coupler end, and the shoulder face is at a precise distance from the pin end face. Upon full makeup, both coupler ends and pin ends, made up against a center torque button, are under the desired compression. Sucker rods in the preexisting API manufacturer's inventory are thus useful to achieve fatigue failure performance which is at least several times better than API standard and related sucker rod. Although tensile load failure increases range only 2% to 5% higher, major gains from this approach are evidenced by tests for fatigue failure under cyclic operation that show an improvement in the range of 600% gain over the API design. By using augmented pre-stresses and contact areas in different ways, the new connection also offers distinct improvements when to failure tested under tension plus torsion loads, showing an average gain in the range of 250% over the API design, for example.
This axial pre-stressing in compression of the pin ends against themselves or the torque buttons also reduces the tendency of the API thread design itself to be a fatigue failure accelerator because bending moments during the make up process are introduced when a high helix angle and thread flank angle are combined along with differences in pin thread height and coupling thread height. Such factors also contribute radial loads that can degrade performance. The face-to-face contact between opposed thread surfaces adds frictional resistance against thread working as well as backout. Devices in accordance with the present invention, when made up to the proper circumferential displacement, provide a connection in which all three members are pre-stressed beyond expected operating load conditions, but well within the material ratings and accepted material safety factors. Furthermore, the connection system is rigid, stable and self-supporting throughout its three mating parts.
The compressive contact between pin ends is enhanced by finishing the pin ends, not only as to axial spacing from the shoulder, but also to provide circumferential chamfers and to assure smooth flatness of the end faces. The use of a central torque washer of different material than the pin ends is advantageous because it reduces the likelihood of galling on repeated makes and breaks of connections. The torque washer also can be selected to have a particular compensating axial dimension if desirable. When each pin end face engages an opposed face of an interposed torque washer, the washer serves as a pre-stress developer and a physical reference for connection makeup as well. Direct pin-to-pin nose contact can also be used, although the similar metals may tend to gall on repeated make and break operations.
Also in accordance with the invention, in a different configuration the pin end of a sucker rod not only includes the API-type thread length and the adjacent undercut pin neck region, but also incorporates a threaded surface of larger diameter formed within and in place of the circumference of the API shoulder. The pin ends again are finished flat to form compressive end faces, but the coupler is a sleeve having two pairs of internally threaded regions, one of smaller and one of larger inner diameter, each spaced on opposite sides of the center region, and dimensioned to receive both threaded regions of each pin end. Tighter tolerances, one-half or less, than those acceptable under API standards provide assurance that thread size and pitch variation will not affect desired thread bearing engagement. Compressive pre-stress on the pin ends and proper tension pre-stress in the coupler center are again established by engaging the pin faces against each other or against an intervening torque washer. The spaced apart threaded regions have more balanced loading if the outer threaded regions are about 70% in length relative to the inner sections but of a larger diameter. Although there is no axial engagement of the coupler ends against pin shoulders, the central pre-stressing and increased, distributed, thread lengths provide other benefits. For example, the added securement of the pin end on the opposite side of the pin neck from the pin end face that is provided by the larger diameter threaded region helps to assure opposition to the harmful effects of bending.
With this arrangement, the pin ends act against each other, and final make up assures that both are adequately locked against backout, usually aided by application of an anaerobic adhesive as a lubricant. The added thread lengths have substantially greater bearing surface area than the terminal thread lengths, so that the joint not only resists tensile forces but also lateral or bending forces. For example, when a ⅞ th inch sucker rod connection is tested to destruction under a pull load, failure does not take place until a load of 175,000 pounds is reached. The failure then is at the coupler center, not at the pin ends or in the threads and at much higher load values than the 118,000 pound load usually observed with rod body failure.
This alternative approach tested 70% stronger in tension than API in the connection area but with relatively lesser improvements in load and unload cycle life. It is of particular advantage when used in dead pull jobs, such as fishing and jarring.
Sucker rods in accordance with the invention also have like advantages as to life and ease of operative use when used in rotary pump systems, where the cyclic operation is different but the stresses and fatigue factors are nevertheless significant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of a sucker rod connection using pin ends, a torque washer, and a coupler in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a simplified view of a sucker rod string installation depicting sucker rod being added to a string at the rig at a well head using a horse head drive system;
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the sucker rod connection of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of one pin end, the torque washer, and a coupler as in FIG. 1 showing further details thereof and dimensional references for Tables employed herein;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a sequence of steps for practicing sucker rod connection makeup in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of an alternative arrangement of the connection of FIGS. 1 , 3 and 4 in which no torque washer is used;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of a different sucker rod joint in accordance with the invention utilizing an internal torque washer between abutting pin end faces;
FIG. 8 is an exploded view of elements of the arrangement of FIG. 9 showing further details thereof;
FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the arrangement of FIGS. 7 and 8 , generally indicating also the stresses and thread relationships therein;
FIG. 10 is a side view, partly in section, of a pin end and coupler for a sucker rod connection of the alternative configuration, as used for extra heavy duty applications;
FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of a “slim-line” or “slim-hole” connection of the alternative configuration;
FIG. 12 is a VonMises diagram of stress distributions in a conventional API sucker rod joint;
FIG. 13 is a VonMises diagram of stress distributions in a sucker rod joint in accordance with the invention, and
FIG. 14 is a simplified view of a sucker rod installation in which sucker rods in accordance with the invention drive a progressive cavity pump.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The drive connection or linkage between production equipment at the surface of an artificial lift installation and the pump at the downhole oil or gas bearing zone comprises a sucker rod string formed of a series of rods of a given length (typically between 25-30 feet long and in a selected size from ½″ to 1 and ⅛″ in diameter). The sucker rod string is within the interior of the production tubing via which oil is lifted to the surface, and the elements of the string must withstand the static and cyclic stresses encountered, the inevitable frictional forces and the cumulative effects of long term cycling. When modern directional drilling techniques are used to form curved well bores, such stresses and forces increase considerably over a purely vertical installation, for both reciprocating and rotary pumps.
A sucker rod coupling system in accordance with the invention is usable with different downhole pumps, but the principal example is of a conventional reciprocating pump.
As seen in FIG. 2 , a typical horse head or walking beam drive A at a wellhead B is mounted above a wellbore C including internal production tubing D extending down to a production zone E. The well bore C and tubing D may be substantially linear or curved into an angled or horizontal path in order to reach the production zone E, where a pump F is reciprocated to force petroleum products upwardly within the tubing D from the production zone E. Since FIG. 2 is merely a general and simplified schematic, guides, packers, and other feature employed in production have not been included. The elements R 1 , R 2 , R 3 . . . R n of a sucker rod string are serially connected along the length of the well bore to the pump F. New elements, R x , are added at the well head B using a fixed derrick system to effect successive end-to-end engagement of mating male and female threads. Upon completing the string, the drive A is coupled to the uppermost rod and pumping then is initiated and continues with minimal interruption until the production rate no longer justifies. The numerous failure points along the sucker rod string represent a substantial potential for failure and system downtime.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 , 3 and 4 , each connection or joint 10 intercouples first and second sucker rods 12 , 13 whose oppositely directed ends are joined together during makeup as the sucker rod string is progressively assembled. Under the API convention, the sucker rods are each of a chosen steel or alloy material and approximately 25′ long. API specifications for different applications cover the most encountered situations, but where higher strengths are needed, manufacturers use the API form but define their own specifications. API rods typically range from ⅝″ to 1⅛″, whereas manufacturers may supply rods up to 1½″. The example here is principally of ⅞th th inch diameter sucker rod, which is an intermediate size. Because the sucker rods are essentially uniform, only the pin end portion of the first rod 12 is numbered and described in detail, it being understood that the complementary second rod 13 would be identical, but be in a mirror image relationship when installed. From the principal, substantially uniform diameter, length of the body 15 of the first rod 12 (in the direction toward the free end as shown in FIGS. 1 , 3 , and 4 ) the rod is enlarged, as by an upset operation, to a bell shaped transition or knuckle 16 of larger outer diameter, which is at one terminus of the pin. The knuckle 16 is contiguous to a square cross-section wrench flat 17 used for torquing in make and break operations, and adjoining the API end shoulder 20 which has a radial bearing face 22 . The bearing face 22 provides a first axial reference for the pin end 23 on the sucker rod 12 . Adjacent the end shoulder 20 , the pin end 23 includes an undercut length or pin neck 24 adjoining a length of male thread 26 meeting API spec as to thread diameter, shape and pitch. This length 26 terminates in a peripheral chamfer 28 at its free end and a transverse, flattened end face 30 . By rolling the threads to shape, or by machining them, with shot peening if desired, the thread properties are enhanced.
The end face 30 has a precise axial spacing from the radial bearing face 22 on the shoulder 20 , as described in more detail below. By finishing the end face 30 to a surface flatness such that it deviates less than about 0.0005″ from the end face plane, the end face provides a frictional bearing surface that withstands substantial axial force. The end face 30 engages one face of a torque washer or button 32 having a like male thread 33 at its outer periphery. Both the pin end 23 of the sucker rod 12 and the torque washer 32 fit within a coupler or sleeve 34 which is of API design but has a more precise length terminating at end faces 35 , 36 . The tolerance observed, given the nominal API dimension (4.000″ for most sizes) is ±0.0005″. An API specified female thread 38 is machined into the inner diameter of the coupler 34 .
The axial and diametral dimensions of the couplers, for different sizes of sucker rods, are set forth hereafter in Table A (dimensions in all tables being given in inches):
TABLE A
COUPLER
STANDARD
SLIM HOLE
COUPLER
OUTSIDE
OUTSIDE
LENGTH
DIAMETER
DIAMETER
SIZE
NL
W
WSH
⅝
4.000
1.500
1.250
¾
4.000
1.625
1.500
⅞
4.000
1.813
1.625
1
4.000
2.188
2.000
1⅛
4.500
2.375
N/A
The “standard” API form factor is that shown in FIGS. 1 , 3 , and 4 , while “slim hole” (also called “slim line”) and heavy duty versions may alternatively be employed dependent on an operator's needs for a given situation. The present concepts are useful with all such designs.
With this coupler, the pin end length between the end face 30 and the radial bearing surface 22 on the shoulder 20 is as shown, for different sucker rod sizes, in Table B below:
TABLE B
PIN END
PIN
SIZE
LENGTH L
⅝
1.2100
¾
1.3970
⅞
1.5850
1
1.8350
1⅛
2.0850
The lengths NL and L are depicted graphically in the exploded view of FIG. 4 , which also depicts various dimensions for the torque washer which are quantified in Table C below:
TABLE C
TORQUE WASHER
THREAD
CHAMFER
PITCH
START
BUTTON
DIAMETER
DIAMETER
SIZE
LENGTH l
PD
A
⅝
1.5640
.871
.771
¾
1.1900
.996
.896
⅞
.8140
1.121
1.021
1
.3140
1.308
1.208
1⅛
.3140
1.496
1.396
The torque washer 32 may have a thread pitch diameter that is slightly different than the thread pitch diameter on the pin end to enable the torque washer to be inserted manually but with some frictional engagement to prevent creep. The start diameters of the end chamfers are closely defined so that the end faces correspond in area to the pin ends and there is no peripheral overlap under high pressure engagement.
These configurations predetermine not only axial positioning but also proper pre-stressing when pin ends are engaged to predetermined angles beyond the hand tight plane. The angles are those set by the applicable API (or manufacturers) card. This enables simplified and assured methods of assembling sucker rod strings with minimal down time. With reference to FIG. 5 , the process begins with pre-screening and preparation of pins to assure they are within the stated dimensions and tolerances. The pin shoulder and pin end face must be at 90° relative to the longitudinal axis of the pin, and the same is true of the end surface of the coupler. This assures that contact pressures are uniform about the circumference. It also assures that there is no bending stress in the undercut length of the pin and minimal tendency to fail at the junction of thread and undercut. Note that, except for the torque washer, thread pitch diameter is not a factor, since the API threads are not tapered and mechanical securement is provided by axial engagement of thread faces, eliminating the damaging effects of helix and thread flank angle bending that derive from threads made according to the API standards. The thread surfaces are first lubricated with a compound, such as “SEALLUBE” which acts as an anaerobic adhesive after short term curing in place.
The desired engagement between a first pin end and the coupler after lubrication, can most conveniently be set at the sucker rod manufacturing plant or finishing shop. This is accomplished, with these criteria, simply by threading the first pin end in to the hand tight position, and then further turning through an angle determined by a card which specifies the API or manufacturer's recommendation.
This engagement compresses the coupler end face 35 against the pin end shoulder 20 , pre-stressing the length of coupler and pin end between the shoulder bearing surface and the threaded region. The undercut length, or pin neck, 24 and most of the thread length 26 of the pin end 23 are under tension. However, the tension along the thread length 26 diminishes toward the pin free end, although even the side faces of the last pin threads are still axially engaged against the female threads to inhibit transverse and azimuthal shifting, even down to the microstructure level of the material used. In complementary fashion, the opposing length of coupler 34 is under compression, the level being substantially constant until close to the pin end 23 . The makeup is to a pre-stress level which is 20-30% greater than the API displacement.
With the first pin 12 in the coupler 34 , the torque washer 32 is threaded in from the opposite end of the coupler 34 until firmly engaged against the end face 30 . The torque washer 32 can be dimensioned slightly larger in diameter to be frictionally restrained within the female threads 38 , but only enough to allow manual turning, as by a rubber-faced tool, to engagement. Once engaged, it holds position. Consequently, sucker rods thus prepared, each with a pre-stressed coupler 34 attached and a torque washer 32 inserted, can be inventoried where assembled or at some convenient storage facility.
When needed at a production site, as typified by the installation of FIG. 2 , a supply of rods can be sequentially assembled into a continuous descending string quickly but with precise engagement of each. The positioning equipment which aligns a sucker rod in vertical orientation above the last previously installed rod enables entry of the lower pin end 23 with exposed threads into the open end of the facing coupler 34 . The threaded surfaces have previously been coated with the “SEALLUBE” (or other) lubricant. After rotating the upper sucker rod 13 to engagement at the hand tight plane, the wrench flat 17 is engaged by a conventional power tool (e.g. hydraulic tongs) and the second sucker rod is turned through the same distance as the first rod, plus 0.650 inches circumferential displacement. The wrench flat 17 on the already installed rod will be held by backup tongs against rotation while this final turn increment is added. When completed, this connection pre-stresses the second pin end 23 and coextensive length of adjacent coupler 34 proximate the undercut pin neck 24 as described above, but changes the pre-stress relationships in the central region significantly in different ways, and also introduces important structural factors. The torque applied in engaging the flat end faces varies with sucker rod size—typical minimum values being about 450 ft. lbs. for ⅝″ rod, 1100 ft. lbs. for 1⅛″ rod, and 1400 ft. lbs for 1½″ rod. A 1″ slim-hole rod is engaged to about 450 ft. lbs. or more.
The precisely defined axial lengths between a shoulder bearing face 22 and the pin end face, and between opposite faces of the torque washer 32 in relation to the end-to-end length of the coupler 34 , establish that the torque washer 32 and adjacent threads on the pin ends are in controlled compression when the pins have been tightened as prescribed. In complementary fashion, the central region of the coupler 34 is now in tension, over an axial length spanning the torque washer 32 and the adjacent threads on the pin ends 23 . The counteracting tension/compression forces at the opposite axial lengths of a pin end enhance securement of the engaged bearing faces to each other. The compression prestress at both the pin ends and pin shoulders are more than 10,000 psi but no more than 50,000 psi. This prestressing at spaced apart regions of the pin end and the coupler unifies the connection and militates against the minor detrimental relative movements and displacements which initiate and promote fatigue failure. Structurally, the pin ends 23 may be viewed as beams firmly constrained at both ends, so that radial forces acting to introduce bending or axial curvature are resisted by both male and female elements together, inhibiting relative spreading or shifting. Structurally also, torque forces and azimuthal displacement are resisted by strong frictional engagement between the engaging areas at the pin shoulder/coupler end regions and the pin end force/torque washer face regions.
These restraint forces are optimized by the uniformity of the flattened engaging surfaces. In addition, improved performance through repeated make and break operations is obtained by using a torque washer 32 of different material than the engaging pin ends 23 , so as to limit galling. In addition, the chamfered edge 28 opposing faces of the pin ends 23 and the torque washer 32 help to assure that there is no overlap of one contact area relative to the other, and no sharp thread groove to mark or scratch the metal.
As evidenced by the Sandia and other reports mentioned previously, properly made up sucker rod joints that are used in sucker rod strings which have correct performance factors for the given field conditions are most likely to fail in a fatigue mode. The causes, as noted, predominantly arise from growth of minor defects or imperfections, or from expansion of initially minute displacements between parts during cycling. When connections of the API design are made up to the proper circumferential displacement, they have a free space at the coupler center, leaving the pin ends unsupported and the center region of the coupler with zero pre-stress. This allows the tension/compression load cycles to effect micro-movements at the contacting thread load flank and coupler end area to pin end shoulder surfaces. Over time these micro-movements cause permanent deformation of the thread load flank and shoulder contact surfaces and with increased relative movement between the mating parts the thread roots become stress concentration points that only shorten the useful fatigue life of the connection.
Truly remarkable improvements in fatigue life are achieved by sucker rods in accordance with the invention in comparison to the performance of comparable API and manufacturers high strength sucker rod. For test purposes, 1″ sucker rod sections, including intermediate joints, of high strength specialty material (Norris) were carefully prepared in accordance with API and current invention designs to meet performance specifications. These specimens were mounted in fixtures and cycled between 5 and 20 Hz under loads varying between 69,500 lbs in tension to 7,800 lbs in compression until failure. The tension values equate to 40% of the ultimate tension value of the material. For four specimens each, the average load cycles to failure were 804,000 cycles for the sucker rods of the present invention, in contrast to 137,500 cycles for the API specimens. Failures in each instance were in the joint region, so that rod body failures do not affect the comparison. These fatigue tests were performed at Southwest Research Laboratories, San Antonio, Tex.
Consequently it can be concluded that the present invention provides fatigue life performance that is as much as six times better than the API counterpart. Tensile strength, furthermore, is not sacrificed by this new approach as shown by actual test results of increasing tensile loads to failure and tensile loads to failure under torsion. These load tests involving tensile values were run by Cfer Laboratories, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
To test tensile strength 4 specimens each of ⅞″ sucker rods of proprietary high strength material (Norris) were prepared in accordance with the present invention and also API specifications. The average load to failure for specimens in accordance with the invention was 121,500 lbs; the average load to failure for the API sucker rods was 118,400 lbs. These results demonstrate that the design provides the drastic improvement in tensile properties mentioned above without sacrifice in tensile load performance.
Torsion tests under tensile load provide another valuable performance measurement. For this purpose four specimens each of 1″ sucker rod connections were prepared from the proprietary high strength (Norris) material, for rods of both the present invention and API designs. The rods were put under 20,000 lbs tension and torques to failure. In contrast to sucker rods of the present invention, which failed at average 1350 ft. lbs of torque, sucker rods of API design failed at an average of 575 ft lbs of torque, or a better than 2:1 improvement ratio.
Further advantages of the present invention accrue from the locking of the wedge surfaces of the male and female threads which, in the API standards, employ a predetermined thread height to root depth relation that includes a gap sufficient to allow sliding and/or rocking of the wedge faces if not stressed axially. This accelerates fatigue failure, along with the high helix angle and thread flank angle. In addition to the prestress conditions which lock the thread, wedges, relative shifting between parts is inhibited by the ring-like contact area between the pin shoulder and the coupler end, and the disk-like contact area between the end face 30 of a pin 12 or 13 and the torque washer 32 . These factors also augment the resistance against thread backout, enhanced by anaerobic adhesive.
The use of an intermediate torque washer is preferred over direct contact between pin end faces for a number of reasons, including the anti-galling properties of dissimilar metals. It also permits pre-stress levels to be varied simply by slight changes in the axial length of the torque washer, where a tradeoff in properties may be desired. Further, the standard length of coupler (within dimensional tolerances as specified) can be used in the combination. Nonetheless, in some instances, it may be beneficial to have direct end face contact between the pin ends, instead of an intervening torque washer or button, this being shown in FIG. 6 . The major additional difference is that, given pin ends with API specs, the coupler 34 ′ has to be shorter, essentially by the axial lengths specified in Table A for that size of sucker rod. Apart from the fact that the coupler 34 ′ is under tension in the midregion over a shorter length than in the example of FIGS. 1 , 3 and 4 , the other pre-stress and structural relationships are preserved.
The advantages of this example can be realized also with API variants, such as heavy duty connections and “slim hole” (or “slim line”) connections, examples of which is included hereafter with respect to an alternative design.
It is noted that API threaded parts can be machined or rolled to specification, the latter often being preferred as giving better properties, although shot peened machined threads can be quite comparable in properties.
In the arrangement depicted as a second example, the first and second sucker rods 47 , 48 are ⅞″ inch rods modified from an API standard design to include two threaded lengths at each pin end. Thus a first male thread region 50 is of 1.437 inch nominal diameter, with thread diameter form and pitch corresponding to that prescribed for an API sucker rod. Here the prescribed standard shoulder is used as a precursor structure, being modified by machining or rolling, into a second male threaded length 54 having a nominal diameter of 1.188″. For the ⅞″ sucker rod, the length from the distal end of the sucker rod 47 to the proximal end of the first male thread region 50 is 2.056 inches, the length of the first male thread region 50 is 0.663 inches, the length dimension of the intervening undercut 52 is 0.415 inches, and the length of the second male thread region 54 is 0.978 inches. All dimensions given are the nominal dimensions but plus and minus tolerance variations will be understood to apply. A center torque washer 56 is disposed in abutment with the distal end of each of the distal end faces of the first and second rods 47 , 48 respectively. In this example, the center torque washer 56 has an axial length of 0.814″ which can also be viewed as thickness between the pin end faces and an outer diameter of 1.050 inches, tolerances again being omitted.
The first and second rods 47 , 48 are joined by a conforming sleeve or coupler 60 , sometimes referred to as a box, with a non-API length of 4.312 inches in this ⅞″ sucker rod example. End female thread regions 62 , 63 have internal threads of a relatively larger diameter, mating with the first male thread regions 50 on the first and second rods 47 , 48 respectively. The inner female thread regions 64 , 65 , separated from the end female thread regions 62 , 63 by tapered transition gaps 66 , 67 respectively, provide two thread bearing engagement regions for each of the sucker rods to be connected. The gap between the end faces of the rods 47 , 48 provides a seating region for the central torque washer 56 , which may be slid in through the smaller diameter inner female threads 62 , or 63 . A position determining gauge element (not shown) may be hand threaded in from one end to a hand-tight position to provide an axial positional reference as a first pin end is threaded into a selected position from the opposite end of the coupler 60 . Alternatively the central torque washer 56 is fit into place and the second pin end is then merely inserted into abutment with the torque washer 56 after which it is tightened to a given torque load when the second pin end is inserted.
With the two pin ends in abutting relation (directly or through the washer), the torque exerted by a power tong (as indicated by the hydraulic pressure) is the only measured value that is needed to establish the desired compressive force between the pin ends. On ⅞″ rods, about 1200 ft. pounds of torque are used. The torque washer 56 is made of a dissimilar material from the rod pin ends, the end faces of which are themselves finished so as to provide flattened and uniform bearing surfaces. The average surface area, for a ⅞″ rod pin end, is 0.889 in 2 , more than double the shoulder to coupler surface area of contact. Further, the joint is made up using only torque and the anaerobic adhesive sealing compound, e.g. “SEALLUBE”, developed for use on oil and gas well downhole threaded connections.
The second thread area, formed at the nominal shoulder position, adds 1.622 in 2 of threaded area to the 0.8491 in 2 of the standard API threaded area, almost tripling the amount of bearing area available, because of the larger diameter of the second thread. The coupler as well has greater threaded area and contact, the factor here being about 1.6 times greater than an API coupler of the same size.
It is noted above that the preferred prior API method of make up is the displacement method, which introduces a torque of approximately 420-470 ft. pounds when properly done. Setting the proper displacement for two pin ends connected to the same coupler, however, is time consuming and as noted is not always observed in practice. In the present system, only the torque indication (via hydraulic pressure) is needed to establish the actual required tension and compression values, and this greatly facilitates the make up sequence.
Referring now to FIG. 9 , the areas (A) under compression at the pin ends are to be compared to the areas (B) under tension along the coupler central region. This differential in stress establishes the static interaction between the thread regions that is desired to secure the pin ends against back threading relative to the coupler. It may be suggested that a slight mismatch between the first and second thread areas on a pin would further contribute to inducing tension in along the coupler and compression along the pin end, but the added bearing engagement would also substantially complicate the use of torque as a measure of engagement, although feasible.
Given controlled torque make up with anaerobic adhesive sealing compound, however, back turning of the pin ends relative to the coupler during cycling is essentially eliminated by the opposing prestress factors. The pin nose contact pressure that is achieved introduces resistance to back-out forces that is far beyond the ultimate load required for failure in all sizes. Tests have shown that when the coupler and pin are made up, only to hand tight level, with the anaerobic adhesive sealing compound, and the compound has been fully cured, 350 ft. pounds of torque are required just to shear the sealant material, without even considering overcoming the high torque introduced. The anaerobic adhesive is impervious to all gases and fluids encountered in production, and completely seals and protects the threads. The surfaces that are in engagement are of materials and design such that galling during makes and breaks is eliminated.
With this arrangement, preexisting inventories of API sucker rod can be utilized, simply by modifying the standard reference shoulder of the API sucker rod to form a first male thread region that is of larger diameter than the existing end thread region. The load distribution on the thread bearing engagement region is then extended, in terms of pure longitudinal tensile stresses, between the end and inner threads on the sucker rods, and the complementary threads on the collar. In consequence, pull tests reveal an excess of 50% increase in resistance to tensile loads, which ensures that if tensile stress reaches a point at which failure must occur, it will be in the sucker rod length, rather than in the thread region. Thus, selection of the proper API sucker rod specification for placement in a string is all that is needed to eliminate a weak point in the string.
In FIG. 10 , which illustrates an extra heavy duty or “large step” design, the sucker rod is selected to be of 1¼″ diameter and the first threaded region 50 ′ has a greater nominal diameter (in the ratio of 1.750 to 1.3750) than the second threaded region 54 ′ adjacent the pin end. The wall thickness of the coupler 60 ′ in the central region, therefore, is substantially greater than adjacent its ends.
FIG. 11 depicts an improved form of a “slim-hole” type of API standard sucker rod joint. In this joint 80 , the wrench flats 82 , on the diagonal, have a greater exterior dimension than the nominal shoulder normally incorporated in the pin end. Here, the modified shoulder 84 is of smaller dimension than the maximum wrench flat 82 dimension, and the coupler 86 therefore has an exterior dimension that is no greater than the maximum dimension of the wrench flat 82 .
The contrast between the stresses induced in a standard API joint and joint in accordance with the present invention are depicted in monochromatic form in FIGS. 12 and 13 . In the API joint 90 , shown partially in FIG. 12 , the maximum Von Mises stress, in KSI, is reached in the undercut region of the pin, as well as the coupler end-pin shoulder contact region, as well as in the first threads of the pin that are adjacent the undercut region. Incipient fatigue fractures occurring in these areas and accentuated by displacement of the coupler end from the pin shoulder provide ready pathways for expansion of fatigue cracks, leading to ultimate failure. It should be noted again that the simulation is based upon the assumption that the pin shoulder is backed by a uniform diameter rod, which offsets the readings materially. A more exact simulation would favor the present invention even more. Because the color densities appear ambiguous in the monochromatic view, higher and lower stress areas have been designated by legends.
In the example of FIG. 13 , showing Von Mises stress for an improved joint 95 in accordance with the invention, it can be seen that the abutting thread regions, being under compression on the pins, are at low value in terms of tensile stress, whereas the coupler is tensioned most in its central region, where it is thickest and where there is the greatest amount of bearing surface area. In the secondary or outer thread bearing areas, this stress is substantially lower.
The example of FIG. 13 is one in which no center torque washer is employed, but each pin end 96 , 97 is threaded into the center region to a depth at which the end faces of the pins are in abutment and under compression while the coextensive span of the coupler 99 is under tension.
Given these factors, therefore, it can be understood why failure tests show that the improved joint yields only when the tensile loading reaches 175,000 lbs, whereas API standard joint fails at 118,000 lbs. Moreover, the failure of the improved coupling is at the connection first, unless there is a defect in the rod. With standard API couplings, the failure is in the pin or coupler, and generally results from material fatigue.
For a sucker rod system which is to drive a rotary pump, as shown in FIG. 14 , the threaded connections are all configured to tighten rather than unthread, in the direction of pump rotation. At the well head L no tower, scaffold or derrick is required, since the drive comprises basically a direct drive motor M coupled through a gear system N to the uppermost sucker rod R 1 . At the production zone Q the lowermost sucker rod R n drives a progressive cavity pump which rotates about the sucker rod axis in that region. Otherwise, essentially the same sucker rod connection is utilized to assemble the sucker rod string. It will also be appreciated that other variations of the invention can be used, and that the sucker rods need not be to API design, although the material advantages derived from being able to use the existing inventory are substantial.
Methods in accordance with the invention, for the alternative configuration, utilize a number of steps prior to assembly into a sucker rod string. API sucker rods are initially inspected for defects, including minor defects such as scratches, corrosion and nicks, and graded in accordance with material and size for usage at appropriate positions in the designed sucker rods string for a particular application. In the preferred example the length variations are held within 0.0005″, in accordance with the above description, and threads are formed by machining or rolling. A coupler of mating dimensions is fabricated, but the tolerances are not only maintained within API tolerances, but typically are substantially less, of the order of ½ or more. This helps to assure that, whatever the tolerance variations in the sucker rod pin ends, the thread, diameter and pitch variations will assure that engagement by torque alone will provide the desired bearing engagement and tension or compression properties. In the field, with anaerobic adhesive properly applied, one pin end is threaded into one end of the coupler, and made hand tight against a reference gauge inserted from the opposite end. The reference gauge is preferably of a type which is precisely positioned by single turn threading to a hand tight position. If a central torque washer is to be used, it is inserted into the central circumferential groove in the coupler wall before insertion of the second pin end. The pin end, also lubricated with the anaerobic sealant, is then threaded into contact with the opposite pin end or the torque washer. The joint is completed by being tightened by a power tong or other tool to the chosen torque level. The procedure is repeated for successive joints in the string.
While various forms and modifications have been shown and described, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto but encompasses all variations and expedients within the scope of the following claims. | Improved sucker rod joints for down hole petroleum pumping applications are provided within the form factor of standard API sucker rods, such that existing inventory in suitable condition is fully usable in more demanding applications. The pin ends are selected or processed such as to provide preselected axial distance between a flat pin end and at least one reference surface, such as a threaded region or reference shoulder or both. The coupler is dimensioned such that the pin ends are in abutment either with each other or with opposite sides of an intervening torque washer in the central region, when the connection is made to a selected level of thread engagement. Furthermore, the engagement is such as to put the pin ends in compression and the coextensive length of coupler in tension. This increases frictional restraints and locks the elements together to resist fatigue failure upon cycling and to insure together with an anaerobic adhesive sealant, against back threading. This arrangement enables standard quality sucker rods to be employed in a configuration which is mechanically secure and highly resistant to tensile, bending and torsional forces, thus assuring a greater strength at the joint than in the rod itself, and resisting the effects of material fatigue arising from long term and stressful cycling operations. | 8 |
This application is a Non-Provisional of Provisional U.S. Ser. No. 60/401,377 filed Aug. 6, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a method to quantify conjugated dienes in hydrocarbon feedstream and product. In particular, the method determines the molar concentration and/or the carbon number distribution of the conjugated dienes.
Conjugated dienes are a major class of compounds in hydrocarbon systems that are responsible for deposit formation in refinery conversion units such as hydrocracking and hydroconversion conversion units and fractionators and heat exchangers. They are also responsible for deposit formation in automobile engines. The information is critical for assessing the potential of forming deposits in a hydrocarbon system. Knowledge of the concentration and types of conjugated dienes provides guidance to the refinery on the necessity of pretreating the refinery feed, such as installing a diolefin saturator prior to processing in order to prevent fouling during processing. In fuel applications, the information may be used to determine, e.g. if and how much a naphtha can be blended into fuel or if the naphtha needs to be hydrotreated, etc.
There are no reliable established methods to identify and quantify conjugated dienes, acyclic and cyclic, in hydrocarbon systems. GC/FID can be used to quantify small conjugated dienes (Less than C 6 ) in low boiling hydrocarbon systems. The identifications were made based on retention times and mass spectral library matches. The method cannot identify/quantify large conjugated dienes (Greater than C 6 ) due to the low concentrations of the analytes, severe overlaps with other hydrocarbon components and very similar mass spectra between conjugated and non-conjugated dienes.
Bromination has been widely used to determine olefin content (including conjugated dienes) in hydrocarbons. It can not differentiate conjugated dienes from other olefins. Aromatics, especially phenols, can interfere with the analysis.
The MAV test is a semiquantitative method developed by UOP and uses maleic anhydride as a derivatization agent. The reaction is not selective and cannot proceed quantitatively. Therefore, only a relative number can be obtained. In addition, it cannot provide molecular identifications of different conjugated diene types required for refinery guidance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method that detects, identifies and quantifies conjugated dienes in various hydrocarbon matrices, such as steam cracked naphtha, catalytic cracked naphtha, coker naphthas, and other petroleum distillates. Conjugated dienes are largely responsible for molecular weight growth reactions (fouling) in various refinery processes.
The invention described herein is based on selective and rapid room temperature derivatization of conjugated dienes by 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD) followed by Chemical ionization GC/MS and GC/NCD analyses. The method is highly selective and sensitive to linear, branched and cyclic conjugated dienes with no interference from other hydrocarbon components. The invention has been successfully applied to the determination of the types and concentrations of conjugated dienes in steam cracked and catalytic cracked naphthas.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a GC/MS chromatogram of steam cracked naphtha (SCN) plus cycloheptadiene internal standard before and after MTAD derivatization.
FIG. 2 shows a GC/MS spectra (electron impact) of MTAD adducts of 2,4-heptadiene, 2,4-hexadiene and 1,3-pentadiene.
FIG. 3 shows the conjugated diene distributions in two steam cracked naphthas (SCN).
FIG. 4 shows the conjugated diene distributions in three heavy catalytic naphthas (HCN).
FIG. 5 shows a schematic of the reaction of MTAD with a linear and cyclic conjugated diene.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is a method that can detect, identify and quantify trace levels of conjugated dienes in fuel, petroleum feeds and products. These conjugated structures are largely responsible for the molecular weight growth reactions (fouling) in refinery units and deposit formation in automobile engines. Complete identification/quantification of the conjugated dienes types are needed for fouling prevention and management. The method includes the following: (1) Selective and quantitative chemical derivatization of conjugated dienes by 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD); (2) selective and quantitative determination of MTAD-diene adducts as a function of carbon number by Chemical Ionization (Gas Chromatagraph/Mass Spectrometry (CI GC/MS); and (3) the determination of total conjugated dienes by GC with a nitrogen selective detector, such as Gas Chromatagraph/Nitrogen Chemiluminescence Detector (GC/NCD).
General Procedure
MTAD stock solution was prepared by dissolving 250 mg of MTAD in 5 ml of methylene chloride. The stock solution was directly mixed with hydrocarbon samples at room temperature to derivatize the conjugated structures. MTAD selectively and rapidly (usually <5 seconds) reacts with linear and cyclic conjugated dienes as illustrated in FIG. 5 .
Cycloheptadiene was chosen as an internal standard for quantification purposes. The derivatized samples were analyzed by GC/NCD to determine the total molar concentration of conjugated dienes. The derivatized samples were also analyzed in parallel by GC/MS to determine carbon number distribution of conjugated dienes. Molecules were ionized by Chemical ionization (CI) using deuterated amonia (ND 3 ). Selected ion display of deuterated molecular ion [M+D + ] and ND 4 adduct [M+ND 4 + ] was used to differentiate various conjugated dienes.
MTAD forms a 1:1 adduct with linear and cyclic conjugated dienes. FIG. 1 shows a GC/MS chromatogram of steam cracked naphtha before and after the derivatization. A series of peaks showing up at retention times after 20 minutes are due to the formation of MTAD reaction products. The chromatography peaks before 20 minutes were significantly simplified; also an indication of derivatization. Styrenes, indenes and dimers of CPD and MCPD partially react with MTAD. They form MTAD-adducts at retention times greater than 26 minutes. Non-conjugated hydrocarbons do not react with MTAD under said experimental conditions.
It was noted that the retention time of the diene adducts is mainly influenced by the polarity of the compounds rather than by their molecular weight. This has complicated the analysis because conjugated dienes with different carbon numbers can overlap in chromatography. GC/MS becomes necessary to differentiate the conjugated dienes.
MTAD: Dienes Ratio
The effect of MTAD loading on the MTAD derivatization was evaluated by both GC/NCD and GC/MS. For the model compound 1,3 hexadiene, 100% conversion is reached when the molar concentration of MTAD to the conjugated diene is between 2 to 10. When the ratio is below 2, MTAD reaction is incomplete. When the ratio is greater than 10, self-polymerization of MTAD becomes predominant and results in the reduction of MTAD-conjugated diene adducts.
The excess MTAD loading becomes a greater problem for real sample analyses. It causes formation of MTAD derivatives that are not due to conjugated dienes. It is concluded that the optimum MTAD: conjugated diene ratio is between 2 and 3.5 for quantitative analyses.
Relative Sensitivities
We initially evaluated the relative sensitivity of 12 model compounds of conjugated dienes by GC/NCD, GC/FID and EI-GC/MS. GC/NCD gives quite uniform responses. The molecular ion intensities of EI-GC/MS, however, vary significantly. Since CI is a soft ionization method, which does not fragment molecules as much as EI, we evaluated CI-GC/MS using CH 4 and ND 3 as reagent gases for five-selected model compounds. Variation in response factor is indeed reduced and becomes more predictable. Both reagent gases yield similar relative response factors. In CH 4 CI, molecules tend to form protonated molecular ions [M+H + ] and ethyl cation adducts [M+C 2 H 9 + ], which can cause mass overlaps for dienes with different carbon numbers, e.g. C 5 +C 2 H 9 + overlap with C 7 +H + . ND 3 CI does not have the problem and was chosen for the analyses.
Determination of Conjugated Diene Structures
The method provides structural information on conjugated dienes that cannot be obtained by any existing techniques. The mass spectra of the conjugated diene adducts are characteristic of the double bond positions and their chemical environment. FIG. 2 illustrates the mass spectra of MTAD adducts of 1,3-pentadiene, 2,4-hexadiene and 2,4-hepdiene.
Analysis of Naphtha Samples
The MTAD method can detect up to C 10 conjugated dienes. We have applied the method to various naphtha samples. FIG. 3 shows the conjugated diene distributions in two Steam Cracked Naphthas (SCN); raw and hydrotreated samples. Most conjugated dienes, both acyclic and cyclic, are C 5 -C 7 in these SCN samples, which are invisible to GC/FID.
FIG. 4 shows a similar set of distributions for conjugated dienes in three heavy catalytic naphthas (HCN). Most conjugated dienes both acyclic and cyclic, are C 7 + in these samples. | A method to quantify the conjugated dienes in a feedstream including the steps of dissolving 4-methyl-1,2,4-trazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD) in said feedstream, and determining the molar concentration of said conjugated dienes and/or the carbon number distribution of said conjugated dienes by GC/MS and GC/NCD (Nitrogen Chemiluminescence Detection). | 8 |
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is related to applicant's copending application entitled Data Aided Symbol Timing Tracking System for Precoded Continuous Phase Modulated Signals, Ser. No. 09/696,525, filed Oct. 23, 2000, by the same inventors.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The invention was made with Government support under contract No. F04701-93-C-0094 by the Department of the Air Force. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of continuous phase modulation communications systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to carrier phase tracking for continues phase modulations communications systems, such as Gaussian minimum shift keying communications systems having small bandwidth time products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In synchronous digital data communication systems, the carrier phase and symbol timing of the received signal must be acquired and tracked by the receiver in order to respectively demodulate the received signal and to recover the transmitted data from the received signal. Typically, receivers require carrier phase tracking for signal demodulation and symbol time tracking for data detection for generating received data streams.
Continuous phase modulation (CPM) provides a class of digital phase modulation signals that have a constant envelope. The spectral occupancy of a CPM signal can be controlled or tailored to the available bandwidth of a transmission channel. The constant envelope CPM signals allow saturated power amplifier operation for maximum power efficiency. The use of CPM signals in communications systems can potentially achieve significant improvement in both power and spectral efficiency over other conventional modulation techniques, at the cost of a moderate increase in receiver complexity. Bit error rate reduction has en achieved using trellis CPM demodulation with ideal synchronization. There is a continuing need to develop hardware implementation of the symbol time and carrier phase synchronizers that provides required tracking functions for the coherent CPM receiver. Often, symbol time tracking and carrier phase tracking limit the performance of CPM systems.
A particular type of CPM system is a Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) system where a data sequence is precoded and the precoded data symbols are used for continuous phase modulation. The GMSK received signals are filtered using Laurent filters and samplers for providing data samples subject to trellis demodulation for generating an estimate of the data sequence. Carrier phase tracking loops are used for demodulating the received signal by tracking the carrier phase, and symbol time tracking loops are used for synchronized sampling of Laurent matched filter signals for generating the data samples that used to generate estimates of the transmitted bit stream using trellis demodulation. These carrier phase and symbol time tracking loops are often referred to as synchronizer. These synchronizers often lose track during noisy communications.
A binary continuous phase modulation signal can be described by complex envelop equations. z ( t ) = Re ( z b ( t ) j2π f c t ) z b ( t ) = 2 E b / T jφ ( t , α ) φ ( t , α ) = π h ∫ - ∞ t ∑ n = 0 N - 1 α n f ( t - nT ) t = π h ∑ n = 0 N - 1 α n g ( t - nT )
The term z b (t) is called the complex envelope of the CPM signal, f c is the carrier frequency, E b is the bit energy, T is the bit duration, and N is the transmitted data length in bits, α=(α 0 α 1 . . . α N−1 ,)α i ∈{±1}, represents one of 2 N equally probable data sequences. The parameter h is the modulation index, f(t) is the pulse response of the smoothing filter in the CPM modulator, and g(t) is the CPM phase response defined in terms of the f(t) pulse response. g ( t ) = ∫ - ∞ t f ( s ) s
The pulse response f(t) is limited to the time interval [ 0 ,LT] for some integer L and having the properties that f(t)=f(LT-t) and g(LT)=1. The pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) representation of signal CPM envelope is well known. Laurent has shown that the complex envelope z b (t) can be expressed as a double summation. z b ( t ) = 2 E b / T 2 ∑ k = 0 L - 1 ∑ n = 0 N - 1 a k , n h k ( t - kT )
In this PAM representation of the baseband CPM signal envelope, also referred to as the Laurent decomposition, the a k,n values are known as pseudo data symbols and are related to the modulated data symbols generally by a pseudo data symbol equation. a k , n = exp ( jh π [ ∑ m = 0 n α m - ∑ i = 0 L - 1 α n - i β k , i ] )
In the pseudo data symbol equation, for all k, 0≦k,≦2 L-1 ,β ki , and β ki is a 0 or 1 digit in the binary expansion of k=Σ i=1 L-1 2 i-1 βk,i . These pseudo data symbols take on values in the set {±1, ±j} when the modulation index h equals ½. In general, the first two pseudo data symbols, a 0,n and a 1,n can be written in an expanded form. a 0 , n = exp ( j π h ∑ m = 0 n α m ) = a 0 , n - 1 J a n , a 0 , - 1 = 1 , J = jπ h a 1 , n = a 0 , n - L J α n J α n - 2 J α n - 3 … J α n - L + 1
The set of pulse functions {h k (t)}, termed Laurent pulse functions, have a real value and are finite in duration, and are formed by an h k (t) equation. h k ( t ) = ∏ i = 0 L - 1 c ( t + iT + ( β k , i - 1 ) LT )
where c ( t ) = ( sin ( π h - π hg ( t ) ) / sin ( π h ) , t ≤ LT 0 , elsewhere
Among these h k (t) pulses, most of the signal energy is carried by the principal Laurent pulse h 0 (t), which has a duration of L+1 bit times. Another property of the principal Laurent pulse h 0 (t) is that it is symmetrical about t=(L+1)T/2. The principal Laurent function h 0 (t) output provides a gross estimate of the transmitted symbol sequence. These properties of the principal Laurent pulse function h 0 (t) have not yet been exploited in developing the error signals for the symbol time and carrier phase tracking loops. These and other disadvantages are solved or reduced using the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide data aided symbol timing tracking in continuous phase modulation communication systems.
Another object of the invention is to provide data aided symbol timing tracking in a Gaussian minimum shift keying communications systems.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide data aided carrier phase tracking in continuous phase modulation communication systems.
Still another object of the invention is to provide data aided carrier phase tracking in a Gaussian minimum shift keying communications systems.
Still another object of the invention is to provide data aided carrier phase synchronizers and symbol time synchronizers in Gaussian minimum shift keying communications systems using principal Laurent responses for generating carrier phase and symbol time errors.
The present invention is directed to data aided synchronization in digital carrier phase and symbol timing synchronizers applicable to precoded continuous phase modulation (CPM) signal formats, such as in Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) communications systems having, for example, a modulation index of ½ with a bandwidth time product (BT) of ⅕. The imbedded synchronizers enable simple implementations for data demodulation for CPM signals, such as GMSK signals with small BT values. Data aided tracking is applied in one form to symbol time tracking, and in another form, to carrier phase tracking. An advantage of the proposed data aided symbol timing synchronizer is the combination of both symbol timing tracking and data demodulation functions into an integrated process obviating the need for a separate data demodulator in the receiver. For example, for GMSK signals with BT values of ⅓ and larger, the data demodulation performance in the symbol timing synchronizer can provide optimum performance. An advantage of the data aided carrier phase synchronizer is the combination of both carrier phase tracking and data demodulation functions into one integrated process obviating a need for separate data demodulator in the receiver. For example, for GMSK signals with BT values of ⅓ and larger, the data demodulation performance provided by the carrier phase synchronizer can also be optimum.
In the first form, the symbol time tracking synchronizer includes a data aided symbol timing error discriminator that extracts the timing error of the received CPM signal from the principal Laurent amplitude modulation component by an early and late gating operation followed by a multiplication of the data decision to remove the data modulation in the error signal. This symbol timing error signal is then tracked by a second order digital loop operating at the symbol rate. In the second form, the carrier phase tracking synchronizer includes a data aided phase error discriminator that extracts the phase error of the received CPM signal from the principal Laurent amplitude modulation component by a cross correlation operation with the data decision produced by a serial data demodulator. This error signal is then tracked by a second order digital loop also operating at the symbol rate.
These digital synchronizers are used to track the symbol timing or carrier phase of a continuous phase modulation signal received in the presence of noise with the receiver operating in a data demodulation mode. These synchronizers have a nondegraded bit error rate (BER) performance with reduced design complexity. The GMSK signal with a BT=⅕ can be used as a typical partial response CPM signal. The hardware implementation of such a GMSK receiver with both synchronizers can be modeled for providing simulated BER performance. With data precoding of the original data bit stream prior to transmission of the CPM signal, the synchronizers can function as serial demodulators that achieve absolute phase data detection. The data precoding and data aided synchronization approach for detecting symbol timing and carrier phase error is central to providing accurate symbol time and carrier phase tracking in the synchronizers with reduced design complexity. These and other advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a symbol time synchronized data demodulator.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a symbol time synchronizer.
FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a carrier phase synchronized data demodulator.
FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a carrier phase synchronizer.
FIG. 3 is a graph depicting Laurent pulse functions.
FIG. 4 is a graph depicting an early-late gate function.
FIG. 5 is a plot of a symbol time error discriminator curve.
FIG. 6 is a plot of a carrier phase discriminator curve.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the figures using reference designations as shown in the figures. Referring to FIG. 1A, a symbol time synchronized data demodulator includes a symbol time synchronizer 10 for data demodulating an r(t) received signal 11 sampled by input sampler 12 using a generated t n timing signal 13 . The r(t) received signal 11 is a combination of the transmitted signal z b (t) and noise n(t) and is converted into an r n sampled input signal 14 . The synchronizer 10 receives the sampled input signal 14 and provides a {circumflex over (d)} n estimate 15 of the received data sequence of the r n sampled input 14 as well as generating a t mN timing signal 17 and t n timing signal 13 . The r n sampled input 14 can be communicated to conventional Laurent matched filters such as a principal Laurent matched filter 18 and a secondary Laurent matched filter 19 having respective principal and secondary matched filter outputs respectively sampled by samplers 20 and 21 for providing respective filter samples into a Viterbi algorithm demodulator 22 that provides a {circumflex over (d)} m estimate 23 . The matched filters 18 and 19 , samplers 20 and 21 , and demodulator 22 are used to generate the {circumflex over (d)} m estimate 23 of the original data sequence using the symbol timing of the t mN 17 timing signal generated by the symbol time synchronizer 10 . The filters 18 , 19 samplers 20 and 21 , and demodulator 22 providing the {circumflex over (d)} m data estimate 23 represents conventional data demodulation.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, and more particularly to the symbol time synchronizer of FIG. 1B, a real component and an imaginary component of the r n sampled input signal 14 are respectively isolated by an inphase component isolator 24 and a quadrature component isolator 26 respectively providing inphase and quadrature sample signals to an odd timing error detector 32 and an even timing error detector 34 , that in turn, provide respective odd data and even data signals to a data demultiplexer 36 that provides the {circumflex over (d)} n estimated data sequence 15 . The odd timing error detector 32 and even timing error detector 34 receive the inphase and quadrature sampled signals that are respectively communicated to early-late gates 44 a and 44 b and Laurent transformers h D (t) 46 a and 46 b isolating principal Laurent components. The Laurent transformer outputs of the transformers 46 a and 46 b are sampled by samplers 47 a and 47 b providing transformed sampled outputs. The early-late gate outputs of the early-late gates 44 a and 44 b are sampled by gate samplers 48 a and 48 b providing gate sampled outputs, respectively. The transformer sampled outputs of the transformer samplers 47 a and 47 b are respectively communicated to hard limiters 50 a and 50 b . The gate sampled outputs of the gate samplers 48 a and 48 b are respectively communicated to mixers 52 a and 52 b . The hard limiters 52 a and 52 b respectively provide the odd data and even data to the data multiplexer 36 that provides the {circumflex over (d)} n estimated data 15 . The mixers 52 a and 52 b respectively mix odd and even data with the gate sampled outputs of gate samplers 48 a and 48 b to respectively provide e 2k+1 odd and e 2k even timing signals that drive a loop filter 53 , that in turn, controls a voltage controlled oscillator 54 used for generating the t n timing signal. The e 2k+1 odd and e 2k even timing signals are alternately processed and combined by the loop filter 53 for controlling the voltage controlled oscillator 54 . The t n timing signal 13 is further communicated to a modulo N counter 55 that provides the t mN timing signals as well as generating the (2k+1)N odd and (2k)N even sampling signals that respectively control the samplers 47 a and 47 b , and, 48 a and 48 b . As may now be apparent, the synchronizer 10 operates in a timing loop extending through samplers 47 ab , limiters 50 ab , mixers 52 ab , loop filter 53 , VCO 54 and counter 55 for synchronized generation of the odd and even data and the t n and t mN timing signals, 13 and 17 , respectively, while generating the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimates 15 .
Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1 B, 2 A and 2 B, and more particularly to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the carrier phase synchronizer demodulator of FIG. 2 A and specifically the carrier phase synchronizer 60 of FIG. 2B, the carrier phase synchronizer 60 generates a e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal 59 for adjusting the phase of the r(t) input signal 11 . The carrier phase synchronizer 60 also receives an r n e −j {circumflex over (θ)} input sample signal 61 from a carrier phase sampler 62 . The r(t) received input signal 11 and e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal are mixed by a mixer 63 that provide an input mixed signal that is sampled by a carrier phase sampler 62 at the rate of the t n timing signal for providing the r n e −j {circumflex over (θ)} sampled input signal 61 to the carrier phase synchronizer 60 . The r n e −j {circumflex over (θ)} input sampled signal 61 can be fed into a conventional principal Laurent matched filter 64 and a secondary Laurent filter 66 providing matched filters outputs respectively to and sampled by matched filtered samplers 68 and 70 sampled at the rate of the t mN symbol timing signals for providing matched filter inputs into a Viterbi algorithm demodulator 72 that generates a {circumflex over (d)} m estimate 73 of the original data sequence. The carrier phase synchronizer 60 can also be used to generate the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimate 15 .
The carrier phase synchronizer 60 receives the t n timing signal that may originate from the symbol time synchronizer 10 in the preferred form, or from a convention symbol timing tracking loop, not shown. The r n e −j {circumflex over (θ)} sample input signal 61 is communicated to an inphase component isolator 74 and a quadrature component isolator 76 . The inphase component output of isolator 74 and the quadrature component output of isolator 76 are respectively sampled by an inphase sampler 80 and a quadrature sampler 82 at the rate of the t n symbol timing signal 13 that also drives a modulo N counter 84 providing 2kN even and (2k+1)N odd timing sampling signals. The inphase sampler 80 provides a sampled inphase signal to an inphase transformer 86 as the quadrature sampler 82 provides a sampled quadrature signal to a quadrature transformer 88 , providing respectively inphase and quadrature transformed signals to hard limiters 90 a and 90 b , and by cross coupling, to mixers 92 b and 92 a . The hard limiters 90 a and 90 b respectively provide inphase and quadrature hard limited signals to hard limiter samplers 94 a and 94 b that respectively sample at rates of the 2kN even and (2k+1)N odd timing sampling signals from the modulo N counter 84 . The hard limiter samplers 94 a and 94 b respectively provide odd and even data signals that are fed into a data multiplexer 94 for generating the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimate 15 . The odd data and even data are respectively mixed with the quadrature and inphase transformed signals from the transformers 88 and 86 , respectively, by the mixer 92 a and 92 b , for generating e 2k+1 odd and −e 2k even timing error signals. The −e 2k timing error signal is inverted by inverter 96 for generating an e 2k even timing signal. The e 2k even and e 2k+1 odd timing error signals are alternately processed and combined by the loop filter 97 to form the e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal 59 . The e 2k even and e 2k+1 odd timing error signals drive a loop filter 97 that in turn controls a VCO 98 that generates the e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal 59 . As may now be apparent, the carrier phase synchronizer 60 is part of a loop between the e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal 59 and the r n e −j {circumflex over (θ)} input sampled signal 61 with the loop extending through the isolators 74 and 76 , samplers 80 and 82 , transformers 86 and 88 , hard limiters 90 a and 90 b , samplers 94 a and 94 b , mixers 92 a and 92 b , loop filter 97 and VCO 98 for providing the e −j {circumflex over (θ)} phase adjustment signal 59 , while concurrently generating the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimate 15 .
Referring to all of the Figures, the Laurent pulse function is shown in FIG. 3 for the principal ho pulse function, the h 1 (t) secondary pulse function and the h 2 (t) tertiary pulse function. The inphase component isolators 24 and 74 isolate the real component of the r n input signal as the quadrature component isolators 16 and 76 isolate the imaginary component of the r n input signal. The inphase Laurent transformers 46 a and 86 isolate the energy of the principal Laurent pulse component of the real component of the r n input signal as the quadrature Laurent transformers 46 b and 88 isolate the energy of the principal Laurent pulse component of the imaginary component of the r n input signal. The early-late gate function is shown in FIG. 4 for providing a digital transition in synchronism with Laurent components as isolated by the isolators 24 and 26 . In the symbol timing synchronizer 10 , the early-gates 44 a and 44 b operate on the respective isolated real and imaginary component energy for indicating the magnitude of the symbol timing error. The early-late gates 44 a and 44 b ideally have a positive value and a negative value on early and late respective sides of the center of the principal Laurent pulse function. These +/− values are combined with respective sides of the principal Laurent pulse function to provide two equal but opposite products that ideally sum to a zero magnitude error. As the principal Laurent pulse function early or late shifts relative to the current timing of the +/− gate function, the magnitude error increases positively or negatively. The area under the principal Laurent pulse function is multiplied by the gate function to produce a cross correlation of the gate function and principal Laurent pulse function for generating the magnitude error value that is used to adjust the timing signal to be in synchronism with the current symbol time of the received signal. FIG. 5 shows symbol timing errors for the symbol timing synchronizer 10 .
The carrier phase synchronizer 60 uses the Laurent transformers 86 and 88 for isolating the energy of the principal Laurent pulse component for generating the magnitude of the carrier phase error. The carrier phase synchronizer 60 also uses cross coupled principal Laurent pulse energy for indicating the sign of the carrier phase error. FIG. 6 shows the carrier phase errors of the carrier phase synchronizer 60 .
The symbol time synchronized data demodulator includes the symbol time synchronizer 10 for generating the t n timing signal 13 as well as the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimates 15 . The carrier phase synchronizer 60 receives the t n symbol timing signal 13 for sampling the real and imaginary isolated components as well as for generating the odd and even data of the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimates 15 . Hence, both of the synchronizers 10 and 60 operate as serial data demodulators for generating the {circumflex over (d)} n data estimate 15 . Both of the symbol timing and carrier phase serial demodulators of synchronizers 10 and. 60 operate respective modulo N counters 55 and 84 at the rate of N counts per symbol period of T seconds clocked at the rate of the t n symbol timing signal 13 . The complex envelope z b (t) of the CPM input signal 11 is sampled at a uniform rate of N samples per symbol period. These r n samples are simultaneously applied to the Laurent transformers 46 a , 46 b , 86 , and 88 that function as data detection filters.
In the symbol timing synchronizer 10 , the early-late gates 44 a and 44 b function as impulse response filters. At each symbol decision instant of t=KN sample counts, for odd values of K, i.e., K=2k+1, the timing error between the receiver t n timing signal 13 and the timing of the received signal is formed by respectively multiplying the output of the early-late gate 44 a the algebraic sign of the respective data detection filter, that is, the transformer 46 a and hard limiters 50 a . For even values of K, i.e., K=2k, the even timing error detector 34 operates similar to the odd time error detector 32 . The algebraic sign of the data detection filter outputs, that is, the output of the hard limiters 50 a and 50 b , is a data decision on the received data symbol for precoded binary CPM received signals. The timing error formed by the detectors 32 and 34 is then filtered by the loop filter 53 , integrated by the VCO 54 , and quantized into sample counts by the modulo N counter 55 to produce an adjustment to the sampling timing at symbol epoch i.e., at time instants of a multiple of N counts. The symbol timing signal 13 as well as the sampling signals are delayed or advanced by the timing adjustment according to whether the adjustment is positive or negative. No more than N most recent signal samples need to be stored by the synchronizer to allow for the advancing of the sampling timing at the symbol time in the tracking mode.
During data demodulation, the transmitted data symbol can be obtained by differentially decoding two successively received pseudo data symbols a 0,n . For a CPM modulation index of h=0.5, the data stream is precoded into a data stream d k fed into the data modulator having an input symbol stream α k with α k =(−1) k d k−1 d k . The pseudo data symbol a 0,n becomes a 0,n =J(n)d n with J(n)=1 for n being odd and J(n)=j for n being even. Thus, with data precoding, either a conventional trellis demodulator or a serial demodulator of the synchronizers 10 and 60 can be used to demodulate the received CPM signal without differential decoding. A CPM modem using precoding can achieve a performance improvement from 0.5 dB to nearly 2.0 dB over a modem without precoding.
Because the Laurent pulse function h 0 (t) is the dominant pulse function in a CPM signal, the symbol timing error of the received signal relative to the receiver clock can be detected by using the early-late gating on the received baseband signal in conjunction with serial data demodulation of the synchronizers 10 and 60 . The timing error is produced by respectively multiplying the data decisions generated by the serial demodulation of the transformers 46 a and 46 b and the hard limiters 50 a and 50 b with the output of the early-late gate 44 a and 44 b . Respective multiplication by mixers 52 a and 52 b of the early-late gate output with hard limited data decisions is needed to eliminate the data modulation so that a consistent timing error can be formed. With ideal elimination of the data modulation, the detected timing error is given by a detection equation. D t ( τ ) = ∫ 0 ( L + 1 ) T G ( s ) h 0 ( s - τ ) s
The early-late gate function G(t) provides an ideal timing error detection curve D t (τ) for a given CPM signal, such as a BT=⅕ GMSK signal.
Carrier phase error detection is formulated based on a unit amplitude CPM signal received in the absence of channel noise with a carrier phase offset θ. The phase offset complex signal envelope is defined by an r(t,θ) equation. r ( t , θ ) = z b ( t ) jθ = { ∑ k = 0 Q - 1 ∑ n = 0 N - 1 a k , n h k ( t - nT ) } jθ
When the r(t,θ) signal is applied to the transformed and hard limited serial demodulator, the demodulator output at time t=mT is defined by an r m equation. r m = ∫ - ∞ ∞ r ( t , θ ) h 0 ( t - mT ) t = { ∑ k = 0 Q - 1 ∑ n = 0 N - 1 a k , n R 0 , k ( m - n ) } jθ = J ( m ) d m jθ R 0 , 0 ( 0 ) + { ∑ k = 0 Q - 1 ∑ n = 0 ( n ≠ m , k = 0 ) N - 1 a k , n R 0 , k ( m - n ) } jθ
where R 0 , k ( p ) = ∫ - ∞ ∞ h 0 ( t ) h k ( t + pT ) t
With the data d k being equally probable, the averaged value of d m a k,n is zero for all integers m, when k≠0, and also for all integers man when k=0. Thus, with the carrier phase error θ being small and when the serial demodulators can correctly demodulate the m-th transmitted bit d m , then, by multiplying the serial demodulated bit by the complex conjugate of J(m)d m and taking the imaginary part of the product obtains a random variant whose mean value is D φ (θ)=R 0,0 (0)sin(θ)≈R 0,0 (0)θ. The randomness is due to the intersymbol interference, which is data pattern dependent.
Because both timing and carrier phase error detection use serial demodulation to provide the required data decision for error generation, the transformed and hard limited serial demodulator, such as in the synchronizers 10 and 60 , can be used for both the tracking error generation and data detection. The error signals produced at every receiver symbol time are applied to the respective loop filter 53 and 97 and voltage control oscillator 54 and 98 to adjust the sampling timing instants or the carrier phase to the received signal. Data reliability of a trellis demodulator is usually better than that of a serial demodulator such as the synchronizers 10 and 60 , particularly when the signal memory span L is large. However, if L is small or if an equalizer is used in cascade with the principal Laurent pulse filter, the simple serial receiver can perform practically as well as the more complex trellis demodulator for the purpose of tracking error generation. Thus, an equivalent variation of the synchronizers 10 and 60 is to feedback the data decisions from the trellis demodulator to the error detectors, provided that the processing delay of the trellis demodulator is properly compensated for and that tracking performance is not unduly compromised by the delay.
The mean error output or discriminator characteristics of the symbol timing error and carrier phase error detectors is shown for the BT=1/5 GMSK signal, in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, respectively. These characteristics are obtained by computing in random data the averaged detector output for a given error offset with the other offset error set at zero. For small errors, the linear slope of the timing error discriminator curve is about −1.5 and that of the phase error discriminator curve is about 1.0. The deviation of these characteristics from their ideal S curves, at large offset errors, is attributed to the feedback of erroneous data decisions caused by the intersymbol interference in the GMSK signal.
Both the symbol time synchronizer 10 and carrier phase synchronizer 60 have a linear continuous time model that can be implemented digitally for use in performance simulations of the GMSK receiver. The linear model is appropriate because the tracking error is typically small when the receiver is in a tracking mode. The loop filter, used in each synchronizer 10 and 60 , is of a proportional and integral type with a transfer function in the form of F(s)=α+β/s and the VCO transfer function in the form of K v /s where K v is the VCO gain. The closed loop transfer function of the synchronizers 10 and 60 is defined by an H(s) equation. H ( s ) = φ o ( s ) φ i ( s ) = 2 ω n s + ω n 2 s 2 + 2 ςω n s + ω n 2
In the H(s) equation, the term ζ is the damping factor and ω n is the natural frequency of the synchronizers 10 and 60 . These parameters are related to the loop filter and gain parameters by α=2ζω n /K D K v and β=ω n 2 /K D K v where K D is the slope of the error discriminator curves shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The one-sided equivalent noise bandwidth of the synchronizers 10 and 60 is B L =(ω n /8ζ) (1+4ζ 2 ). Each of the second order synchronizers 10 and 60 can be digitally implemented with the integrator 1/s approximated by the digital accumulator 1/(1-z- −1 ) where z −1 represents a unit bit time delay. In a digital implementation, the natural frequency and loop bandwidth parameters should be regarded as parameters normalized by the bit rate. Using the loop parameters K D =1, K v =1 and ζ=1/2 for the carrier phase synchronizer 60 and K D =1.5, K v =1 and ζ=1/2 for the symbol time synchronizer 10 , the step error response of the carrier phase synchronizer 60 to a 20 degree phase step and that of the symbol time synchronizer 10 to a half bit time step are simulated and compared to the theoretical step error response. The ramp error responses for both synchronizers 10 and 60 are also simulated and compared to the theoretical ramp error responses. The dispersion of the simulated error responses from the theoretical is due to the intersymbol interference in the received signal.
The symbol time synchronizer 10 and carrier phase synchronizer 60 are characterized as providing error signals generated from quadrature Laurent pulse response components of a receiving signal modulated by symbols generated from a precoded data sequence. In the preferred form, the principal Laurent components indicates the original digital bit sequence of the precoded bit stream. The preceding functions to precondition the transmitted symbol sequence so that the principal Laurent function indicates the original data bit stream that is alternately disposed on the I and Q channels of the transmitted CPM signal.
The precoded PCM signal allows the use of the principal Laurent pulse response for extracting the sign of the symbol timing error or carrier phase error that is also the data of the original data uncoded sequence. In the symbol time synchronizer 10 , the early-late gates 44 a and 44 b will extract the magnitude of the symbol timing error. The early-late gates 44 a and 44 b are sampled at the current symbol t n timing signal 13 . As the timing of the received signal 11 , varies from the current timing of the timing signal 13 , the early-late gates 44 a and 44 b provide an indication of the magnitude of the current timing error. The CPM signal will carry the data information in one symbol time in the inphase component signal and in the next symbol instance in the quadrature component signal, as the data bit information content alternates between the inphase and quadrature components. The timing synchronizer 10 in combination with data precoding enable efficient synchronization timing and data extraction at the expense of requiring the use of both I & Q component signals that might otherwise be used to communicate two independent data streams. The loop filter 53 functions to smooth the timing error signal generated by the detectors 32 and 34 . The smoothed timing error from the loop filter 53 then drives the VCO that in turn provides the smoothly varying t n timing clock signal. The precoded data provides the sign of the timing error, and hence, the symbol timing synchronizer 10 is data aided, and hence also provides an estimate 15 of the original data sequence.
In the carrier phase synchronizer receives the t n timing signal and the received signal r n and operates on the phase error θ generated from the r(t,θ) equation that describes the phase error. The carrier phase synchronizer 60 also uses the isolated I & Q principal Laurent components and determines the sign of the phase error. But, rather than determining a magnitude of the phase error using early-late gates, the carrier phase synchronizer drifts the phase error depending on the sine of the phase error having a sign that is also the original uncoded data sequence. The {circumflex over (θ)} term represents the carrier phase error that is generated using cross-coupling of the Laurent components generating the e 2k and e 2k+1 error signals with the sign of {circumflex over (θ)} indicating the direction of the phase error drift.
The symbol timing synchronizer 10 and the carrier phase synchronizer 60 offer an efficient mechanism for generating timing and phase error signal while also providing an indication of the uncoded data sequence however requiring data precoding having symbol modulated on both I and Q channels. Those skilled in the art can make enhancements, improvements, and modifications to the invention, and these enhancements, improvements, and modifications may nonetheless fall within the spirit and scope of the following claims. | Data aided carrier phase and symbol timing synchronizers are implemented at baseband as digital modulators isolating input signal inphase and quadrature component signals fed into inphase and quadrature Laurent transforms that function as data detector to provide odd and even data bit multiplexed output data signal while cross coupling the inphase and quadrature transformed outputs for removing data modulation in error signals to correct phase errors and timing errors in the received signal so as to provide reliable data demodulation of noisy received signals having dynamic carrier phase and symbol timing errors as found in continuous phase modulation communications systems such as Gaussian minimum shift keying communications systems. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for growing a single crystal of compound semiconductors.
Single crystals of compound semiconductors have a wide scope of applications, e.g. substrates for integrated circuits, light emitting diodes or various kinds of detecting devices. According to the desired application of the semiconductor, semi-insulating, n-type or p-type single crystals are grown.
In this specification, compound semiconductors are the compound semiconductors of groups III-V and groups II-VI on the periodic table. The compound semiconductors of groups III-V are InP, InAs, GaAs, GsP, InSb, GaAb, etc. The compound semiconductors of groups II-VI are ZnSe, CdTe, ZnS, etc.
Conventional methods for growing a semiconductor crystal will be explained. Among several methods of manufacturing single crystals of compound semiconductors, liquid encapsulated Czockralski method (LEC) and horizontal Bridgman method (HB) are most preferable for industrial production.
The horizontal Bridgman method is a boat method which grows a single crystal in a boat by moving a temperature distribution along a horizontal direction.
The most powerful method among the category of pulling methods is LEC method, which grows a single crystal by pulling up a seed crystal from a crucible containing a compound melt covered by liquid encapsulant.
There is a problem in manufacturing compound semiconductors of groups III-V in that it is difficult to make a stoichiometric single crystal, because of the high dissociation pressure of the elements of group V.
In the LEC method in order to prevent the elements of group V from escaping, the material melt is covered with a liquid encapsulant which is pressed by inert gas or nitrogen gas at a high pressure. The liquid covering the material melt is called liquid encapsulant. The liquid encapsulant can effectively prevent the escape of the elements of group V. However a portion of the elements volatilizes and passes through the pressurized liquid encapsulant.
The liquid encapsulant must be strongly pressurized. Thus the whole apparatus is enclosed by a pressure vessel, and inert gas or nitrogen gas is filled in the pressure vessel up to several tens of atmospheres.
Because dense gas is filled in the pressure vessel, forcible gas convection occurs. The atmosphere in the vessel is thermally unstable because of the forcible convection. Therefore the single crystal is forcibly cooled immediately after it is pulled above the melt. Therefore thermal stress is apt to occur in the grown crystal. Strong thermal stress heightens the dislocation density of the crystal. This is a serious defect in the conventional LEC method.
A novel method belonging to a category of pulling methods for crystal growth has been proposed. It is called the vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method. Unlike the LEC method wherein only the area near the crucible is heated, in the vapor-pressure-controlling method, the whole of the pressure vessel is heated from top to bottom. Therefore the temperature gradient along the vertical direction is much smaller than that in the LEC method. It uses no liquid encapsulant. Material melt in a crucible contacts and keeps equilibrium with the gas filled in the pressure vessel. The pressure of the filled gas is low.
Furthermore the gas filled in the vessel is not an inert gas or a nitrogen gas, but a gas of an element of group V. A lump of an element of group V is placed at a pertinent position in the vessel. It is heated up to a pertinent temperature which realizes a desirable vapor pressure of the element of group V in the vessel.
Because the vapor pressure of the element of group V keeps equilibrium throughout the vessel, the vapor pressure of the element of group V in the material melt in the crucible is determined by the vapor pressure at the lowest temperature in the vessel.
Because this method is one of the pulling methods for crystal growth, this method grows a single crystal by dipping a seed crystal into a material melt and pulling a single crystal in succession to the seed crystal.
The pressure in the vessel is not so high as previously mentioned. In many cases, the pressure is determined to be 1 atm or slightly more than 1 atm. The vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method would be similar to an imaginary method which would be obtained by erecting the horizontal Bridgman method. The temperature of the upper space in the vessel is kept at about 650° C. in the case of GaAs crystal growth.
Keeping the equilibrium of the vapor pressure in the vessel and preventing volatilization of the elements of group V from the melt and the crystal grown, the method pulls up a single crystal. Then the method can make a stoichiometric single crystal.
The methods described are applicable to the crystal growth of compound semiconductors of groups II-VI.
In principle the newly-proposed vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method is an excellent method. However the gas filled in the vessel is only the gas of the element of group V without inert gas or nitrogen gas. The gas pressure is much smaller than that in the LEC method. The fluctuation of vapor pressure is considerably large. The large probability of fluctuation makes it difficult to control the vapor pressure of the element of group V in the vessel.
The vapor pressure of the element of group V in the vessel is controlled by heating the coldest part of the vessel at a pertinent temperature. A slight change of temperature, however, causes a large change of vapor pressure of the element of group V. Subtle pressure control is difficult. Therefore the elements of group V are inclined to volatilize from a material melt or a grown crystal. Thus, the vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method has defects in that it requires complex apparatuses, and operations of the apparatuses are difficult. These difficulties would appear when compound semiconductors of groups II-VI are made by this method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention proposes a novel method which incorporates advantages both of the LEC method and the vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method in order to facilitate the pressure control.
The characteristics of the invention are:
(a) the gas filled in the vessel is not only a gas of group V. Besides the gas of group V, the vessel contains an inert gas or a nitrogen gas, and an impurity gas, if necessary,
(b) the material melt is covered with a liquid encapsulant,
(c) two vessels are used. An outer vessel encloses an inner vessel. The pressure in the inner vessel is equilibrated with the pressure in the outer vessel. If necessary it is also allowable to set the pressure in the inner vessel slightly larger than the pressure in the outer vessel within the scope wherein the pressure balance is not destroyed between the inner vessel and the outer vessel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus of the invention for growing a single crystal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Structures of the apparatus used in this invention for growing a single crystal will be explained with reference to FIG. 1.
The following descriptions relate to the crystal growth of compound semiconductors of groups III-V as an example. But the method is also applicable to the crystal growth of compound semiconductors of group II-VI.
Inner vessel 1 is an air-tight vessel. An upper shaft 2 passes through a top opening 8 of the inner vessel 1. A lower shaft 3 passes through a bottom opening 9 of the inner vessel 1. Both the upper shaft 2 and the lower shaft 3 can rotate and move up and down.
At the top end of the lower shaft 3 a crucible 4 is fixed. The crucible 4 contains a material melt 5 covered with a liquid encapsulant 21.
The inner vessel 1 must be made from a material that does not chemically react with hot gas of the element of group V--for example, As, Sb, or P. For example the material of the inner vessel 1 should be quartz, alumina, carbon, nitrides (silicon nitride, boron nitride, aluminum nitride), ceramics, molybdenum or other pertinent metals. The inner vessel 1 may be a vessel which is made from the material and is coated with some appropriate materials.
The crucible 4 can be made from pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) for example.
A seed crystal 6 is fitted to the bottom end of the upper shaft 2. The seed crystal 6 is dipped into the material melt 5 and rotated. The seed crystal 6 is then slowly pulled up. A single crystal 7 is grown in succession to the seed crystal 6.
The structure of the inner vessel 1 includes a device to open or shut the vessel and a device for balancing the pressures between an inner atmosphere and an outer atmosphere. It is rather complex. But in FIG. 1 the inner vessel 1 is simplified. Around the top opening 8 of the upper shaft 2 and the bottom opening 9 of the lower shaft 3, liquid encapsulants 10 and 11 are filled to prevent the element of group V from escaping the inner vessel 1.
The liquid encapsulants 21, 10 and 11 are B 2 O 3 in the case of a GaAs crystal growth. They are a eutectic material of NaCl and KCl in the case of GaSb etc.
In this example four heaters are used to cause gentle temperature gradients in the vessel 1.
A first heater 17 heats the bottom of the inner vessel 1. The function of the first heater 17 is to melt the encapsulant material into liquid and seal the inner vessel before the compound material is melted.
A second heater 18 heats the lower part of the inner vessel 1. A lump 12 of an element of group V, for example As, Sb, etc., is placed at the lower part of the inner vessel 1. The second heater 18 controls the vapor pressure of the element of group V by adjusting the temperature of the region.
A third heater 19 which is mounted at the middle height in the vessel heats and melts the compound material and the encapsulant material and keeps them in liquid state.
The single crystal 7 pulled up is heated by the third heater 19. The temperature in the crystal 7 does not decrease rapidly. Strong thermal stress does not occur in the single crystal 7 pulled up.
A fourth heater 20 heats the top part of the inner vessel 1. The fourth heater 20 is required to melt the liquid encapsulant 10 on the top opening 8 before the compound material and the encapsulant material in the crucible are molten.
By adjusting and readjusting the output powers of the first to the fourth heaters, an operator grows a single crystal in a gentle temperature gradient of the inner vessel 1.
The pressures of the inert gas or nitrogen gas and the gas of the element of group V effectively suppress the volatilization of the element of group V from the material melt 5 through the liquid encapsulant 21.
Furthermore because the pulled single crystal 7 exists under a partial pressure of the element of group V larger than the dissociation pressure at the temperature, the volatilization of the element of group V from the single crystal also hardly occurs.
To accomplish the effect above-mentioned, this invention controls the pressures of the liquid-encapsulated crucible 4, the inner vessel 1 and the outer vessel 15 in the following ways.
The outer vessel 15 is filled only with an inert gas or a nitrogen gas. Strictly speaking inert gas consists of helium gas, neon gas, argon gas, krypton gas and xenon gas. Nitrogen gas is not called inert gas in the strict meaning. However because nitrogen gas is chemically stable as well as inert gas, it is frequently used as an atmospheric gas in LEC methods. Therefore, a strictly-defined inert gas and a nitrogen gas will be referred to as inactive gas hereinafter. According to the definition the outer atmosphere 16 filling in the outer vessel 15 is simply called inactive gas. The pressure of the outer atmosphere is signified by P 1 .
The inner atmosphere 14 in the inner vessel 1 comprises an inactive gas and a gas of an element of group V. Besides these gases, the inner atmosphere 14 contains an impurity gas, when an impurity element is doped to change the electric property of the single crystal to n-type, p-type or semi-insulating type. The impurity gas is added to prevent the volatilization of the impurity element from the single crystal pulled up.
P O , Q O and R O signify the partial pressures of the inactive gas, the gas of element of group V and the impurity gas in the inner atmosphere 14.
In the vertical vapor-pressure-controlling method previously mentioned, the atmosphere in the vessel is only the gas of the element of group V. Thus the method is simply characterized by the conditions P O =0 and R O =0.
On the contrary conventional LEC methods are easily characterized by the conditions that Q O =0, R O =0 and P O is several tens of atmospheres.
This invention requires an additional outer vessel 15 enclosing the inner vessel 1. Besides the double vessel structure, this invention requires the following conditions of pressures:
P.sub.O ≠0 (1)
Q.sub.O ≠0, Q.sub.O ≧Q.sub.d (2)
P.sub.O +Q.sub.O +R.sub.O ≧P.sub.1 (3)
where Q d is the dissociation pressure of the element of group V.
Namely the partial pressure Q O of the element of group V in the inner vessel should be equal to or larger than the dissociation pressure Q d . The condition (3) signifies the total pressure in the inner vessel 1 should be equal to or larger than the pressure in the outer vessel 15.
The operations will now be explained. The outer vessel 15 and the inner vessel 1 are opened. The crucible 4, in which encapsulant material, polycrystal material and impurity element for doping if necessary, are charged, is fixed upon the lower shaft 3. A seed crystal 6 is fitted at the bottom of the upper shaft 2. A lump 12 of the element of group V is placed at a pertinent spot in the inner vessel 1.
Encapsulant material (which will be molten into liquid encapsulants 10 and 11) is supplied in the cavities on the top opening 8 and around the bottom opening 9 of the inner vessel 1. The inner vessel 1 and the outer vessel 15 are closed.
Inactive gas is filled in the inner vessel 1 and the outer vessel 15, keeping the pressure balance P O =P 1 .
When a volatile impurity element is added into the crucible 4 for impurity doping, the inner vessel 1 should contain the gas of the impurity element to prevent the volatilization of the impurity from the single crystal pulled up. The partial pressure of the impurity gas is denoted by R O .
The first heater 17 and the fourth heater 20 are electrified. The encapsulant materials on the top opening 8 and around the bottom opening 9 are melted into liquid encapsulants 10 and 11.
The third heater 19 is electrified to heat the encapsulant material and compound material in the crucible 4. First the encapsulant material is melted into liquid encapsulant 21, which covers the compound material.
Next the compound material is heated to form a melt. Between the liquid encapsulant 21 and the material melt 5, a horizontal liquid-liquid interface 13 exists.
Here the compound material signifies the polycrystal of compound semiconductor of groups III-V and the impurity dopant.
Instead of compound polycrystal, the compound material can be directly composed in the crucible by charging adequate amounts of individual elements into the crucible and heating them up to a pertinent temperature.
The second heater 18 is electrified. The lump 12 of the element of group V is heated. A part of the lump 12 of the element of group V is sublimated. By the sublimation, the gas of the element of group V gradually fills the inner vessel 1. The partial pressure Q O of the element of group V increases from 0 atm to the vapor pressure determined only by the temperature.
The partial pressure Q O can be arbitrarily determined by adjusting the temperature of the lump 12 of the element of group V.
Finally the partial pressure Q O of the element of group V becomes uniform in the inner vessel 1. The pressure Q O must be kept higher than the dissociation pressure of the element at the temperature near the melting point of the compound semiconductor.
The pressure in the inner vessel 1 is (P O +Q O +R O ). This is equal to or larger than the pressure P 1 of the outer vessel 15. Gas may flow from the inner atmosphere 14 to the outer atmosphere 16 through the liquid encapsulants 10 and 11. But it is impossible to have gas flow from the outer atmosphere 16 into the inner atmosphere 14.
Under these conditions, the seed crystal 6 is dipped into the material melt 5. The seed crystal 6 and the crucible 4 are rotated. The seed crystal 6 is gradually pulled up. A single crystal 7 is grown in succession to the seed crystal 6.
Advantages of the invention are explained below.
(A) This invention enables the growth of a single crystal with low dislocation density.
The single crystal is grown under a low gas pressure less than one in the LEC methods. The low gas density reduces the vertical temperature gradient near the single crystal, because gas convection is weak. The thermal stress in the crystal is small. Dislocations are hardly generated.
Furthermore because the crystal growth proceeds under the atmosphere of the element of group V, the volatilization of the element of group V is effectively suppressed. By these grounds the occurrences of lattice defects are conspicuously reduced.
(B) This invention requires no balancing apparatus for adjusting the pressures of the inner atmosphere 14 and the outer atmosphere 16. The volatilization of the element of group V from the material melt and the crystal is effectively suppressed by controlling the pressure of the outer atmosphere 16.
If the inner vessel contains only the gas of the element of group V, the vapor pressure Q O of the element of group V would be controlled within the the range from 0 atm to several atm. Especially if the vapor pressure is high, the dissociation pressure would greatly change with a subtle change of the temperature of the second heater 18. It would be difficult to keep the inner atmosphere 14 at an arbitrary pressure. This difficulty in pressure control is the defect of the case of the single atmospheric gas in the inner vessel.
On the contrary in this invention, the inner vessel 1 contains an inactive gas and a gas of the element of group V. The pressure of the inner atmosphere 14 is the sum of the pressure P O of the inactive gas and the pressure Q O of the gas of the element of group V. Q O is safely set to be equal or slightly greater than the dissociation pressure of the gas of group V to prevent the volatilization of the element of group V from the grown crystal. In this case Q O is small.
Because Q O is small, the vapor pressure Q O changes very slightly with a considerable change of the temperature of the second heater 18. Furthermore the pressure P O of the inactive gas is an independent variable. The inner atmosphere 14 can be pressurized to an arbitrarily high pressure by supplying inactive gas into the inner vessel 1.
As shown in FIG. 1 the material melt 5 is encapsulated by the liquid encapsulant 21, which is pressed by the total pressure (P O +Q O ). Because the pressure P O can be independently adjusted, the pressure acting on the liquid encapsulant 21 can be arbitrarily controlled. The independent adjustability of P O enables prevention of the volatilization of the element of group V from the material melt 5.
To prevent the volatilization of the element of group V from the crystal 7, the partial pressure Q O of the element of group V must be slightly higher than the dissociation pressure of the element of group V on the surface of the crystal.
Temperature control of the second heater 18 is easy because the change of temperature does not cause a significant change of vapor pressure Q O .
(C) Balancing of the pressures between the inner atmosphere and the outer atmosphere is easy for the reasons noted above at (B). A stable temperature distribution is realized near the crucible. This ensures a stable growth of a single crystal.
(D) The structure of the apparatus is rather simple. The operation is easy. This invention does not require a device for watching the pressure balance between the inner and outer atmospheres nor a device for readjusting the pressure balance. This invention only requires that some pertinent vapor pressure Q O of the element of group V exists in the inner vessel.
The advantages can be also obtained, when this method is applied to the crystal growth of compound semiconductors of groups II-VI.
EMBODIMENT I (InAs)
This invention is applied to the crystal growth of an InAs single crystal below.
Into a crucible, InAs polycrystal, encapsulant material (B 2 O 3 ) and 0.5 wt % of Ga element are charged. An As lump is positioned in the inner vessel. Nitrogen gas is filled in the inner vessel and in the outer vessel up to 1.7 atm. The first heater 17 and the fourth heater 20 are electrified. Liquid encapsulants 10 and 11 seal the openings 8 and 9.
Heating of the InAs polycrystal in the crucible is started at the same time as heating the As-lump 12. The encapsulant material is melted. This liquid encapsulant covers the InAs polycrystal. Then the InAs polycrystal is melted also.
The temperature of the As-lump 12 is adjusted by changing the output power of the second heater 18.
The dissociation pressure of As in the InAs melt at seeding is 0.33 atm. Then the output of the second heater 18 is adjusted to keep the As-lump 12 at 590° C., which is the temperature needed to keep the As-vapor pressure within the range from 0.33 atm to 1 atm.
The inner atmosphere 14 contains both As gas and N 2 gas. The total pressure in the inner atmosphere 14 is 2.0 to 2.1 atm.
The outer atmosphere 16 contains only 2.0 atm of nitrogen gas. The total inner pressure (P O +Q O +R O ) in the inner vessel is equal to or more than the outer pressure P 1 .
The heated As-lump 12 is then sublimed. The vapor pressure Q O increases from 0 atm to a pertinent pressure. Excess nitrogen gas flows to the outer vessel 15 through the liquid encapsulants 10 and 11. This flow equalizes the pressures between the inner vessel and the outer vessel. The gas does not flow from the outer vessel 15 to the inner vessel 1 because the inner pressure is higher than the outer pressure.
The crystal is grown with rotation of the crucible at 6 revolutions per minute and a pulling speed of 3 to 6 mm/h. Under the conditions an InAs single crystal is grown with a diameter of is 50 mm. The length of the crystal is 180 mm.
Escape of As from the crystal grown does not occur. The dislocation density in the crystal is small. Escape of As from the rest of the material in the crucible does not occur at all.
In general the dissociation pressure of the As-solid (As-lump 12) is changed considerably by a small change of temperature. Therefore controlling the pressure of As by adjusting the temperature of As-solid is difficult.
However this invention only requires the adjustment of the temperature of the As-lump to that which generates 0.33 to 1 atm of As vapor pressure at seeding. The allowable range of temperature is wide. This ensures easy control of the temperature of the As-lump.
EMBODIMENT II (GaAs )
A GaAs single crystal doped with 0.6 wt % of Cr is grown by this invention as described below. The liquid encapsulant used is B 2 O 3 .
The dissociation pressure of As at seeding is about 1 atm which is a high pressure. The pressures of nitrogen gas both in the outer vessel 15 and the inner vessel 1 are then set at 1 to 20 atm.
Polycrystal material, encapsulant material and Cr as impurity are charged into the crucible. The crucible is set on the lower shaft. Encapsulant materials are filled in the cavity of the openings 10 and 11.
The inner vessel 1 is closed. The encapsulant materials are melted to liquid encapsulants 10 and 11 by the heaters 17 and 20. The second heater 18 and the third heater 19 are electrified. The As-lump 12 is heated and starts to sublime. The encapsulant material 21 is melted. Then material polycrystal is melted.
The output power of the heater 18 is adjusted so as to keep the temperature of the As-lump 12 at about 650° C. This temperature holds the As vapor pressure Q O within the range from 1 to 2 atm.
A Cr-doped single crystal is grown under these conditions. The crucible rotation is 1 to 10 rpm. The pulling speed is 3 to 10 mm/h. The single crystal grown is 60 mm in diameter and 120 mm in length.
No evidence of As-escaping from the crystal is found. Dislocations and other lattice defects are few. The obtained crystal is a single crystal of high quality. Sufficient vapor pressure of As exists in the inner vessel and low temperature gradient is realized near the crucible. As-escaping from the rest of the material in the crucible does not occur at all. | A modified liquid encapsulated Czockralski method for growing a single crystal of compound semiconductor is disclosed. This method uses two vessels. An inner vessel is filled with an inactive gas, a gas of an element of group V and optionally an impurity gas. The inner vessel encloses a crucible containing compound semiconductor material, an encapsulant material, and optionally an impurity element. An outer vessel is filled only with the inactive gas. The total pressure of the inner atmosphere is equal to or higher than that of the outer atmosphere. The partial pressure of the gas of the element of group V is larger than the dissociation pressure of the element of group V near the melting point of the compound semiconductor. | 2 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION DATA
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/616,203, filed Jul. 8, 2003, now pending, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/797,163, filed Mar. 1, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,488, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/469,338, filed Dec. 20, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,535, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
[0002] The government has certain rights in this invention pursuant to grant number R01 CA 71716 from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This invention relates to the field of purification of RNA, DNA and proteins from biological tissue samples.
BACKGROUND
[0004] The determination of gene expression levels in tissues is of great importance for accurately diagnosing human disease and is increasingly used to determine apatient's course of treatment. Pharmacogenomic methods can identify patients likely to respond to a particular drug and can lead the way to new therapeutic approaches.
[0005] For example, thymidylate synthase (TS) is an integral enzyme in DNA biosynthesis where it catalyzes the reductive methylation of deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP) and provides the only route for de novo synthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides within the cell (Johnston et al., 1995). Thymidylate synthase is a target for chemotherapeutic drugs, most commonly the antifolate agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). As the most effective single agent for the treatment of colon, head and neck and breast cancers, the primary action of 5-FU is to inhibit TS activity, resulting in depletion of intracellular thymine levels and subsequently leading to cell death.
[0006] Considerable variation in TS expression has been reported among clinical tumor specimens from both primary tumors (Johnston et al., 1995; Lenz et al., 1995) and metastases (Farrugia et al., 1997; Leichmann et al., 1997). In colorectal cancer, for example, the ratio of TS expression in tumor tissue relative to normal gastrointestinal mucosal tissue has ranged from 2 to 10 (Ardalan and Zang, 1996).
[0007] Thymidylate synthase is also known to have clinical importance in the development of tumor resistance, as demonstrated by studies that have shown acute induction of TS protein and an increase in TS enzyme levels in neoplastic cells after exposure to 5-FU (Spears et al. 1982; Swain et al. 1989). The ability of a tumor to acutely overexpress TS in response to cytotoxic agents such as 5-FU may play a role in the development of fluorouracil resistance. Previous studies have shown that the levels of TS protein directly correlate with the effectiveness of 5-FU therapy, that there is a direct correlation between protein and RNA expression (Jackman et al., 1985) and that TS expression is a powerful prognostic marker in colorectal and breast cancer (Jackman et al., 1985; Horikoshi et al., 1992).
[0008] In advanced metastatic disease, both high TS mRNA, quantified by RT-PCR, and high TS protein expression, have been shown to predict a poor response to fluoropyrimidine-based therapy for colorectal (Johnston et al., 1995, Farrugia et al., 1997, Leichman et al., 1997), gastric (Lenz et al., 1995, Alexander et al., 1995), and head and neck (Johnston et al., 1997) cancers. A considerable overlap between responders and non-responders was often present in the low TS category, but patients with TS levels above the median were predominantly non-responders. The predictive value of TS overexpression may be further enhanced if combined with other molecular characteristics such as levels of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) expression, replication error positive (RER+) status (Kitchens and Berger 1997), and p53 status (Lenz et al., 1997). Studies to date that have evaluated the expression of TS in human tumors suggest that the ability to predict response and outcome based upon TS expression in human tumors may provide the opportunity in the future to select patients most likely to benefit from TS-directed therapy.
[0009] Until now, quantitative tissue gene expression studies including those of TS expression have been limited to reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification of RNA from frozen tissue. However, most pathological samples are not prepared as frozen tissues, but are routinely formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) to allow for histological analysis and for archival storage. Gene expression levels can be monitored semi-quantitatively and indirectly in such fixed and embedded samples by using immunohistochemical staining to monitor protein expression levels. Because paraffin-embedded samples are widely available, rapid and reliable methods are needed for the isolation of nucleic acids, particularly RNA, from such samples.
[0010] A number of techniques exist for the purification of RNA from biological samples, but none are reliable for isolation of RNA from FFPE samples. For example, Chomczynski (U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,994) describes a method for purifying RNA from tissues based on a liquid phase separation using phenol and guanidine isothiocyanate. A biological sample is homogenized in an aqueous solution of phenol and guanidine isothiocyanate and the homogenate thereafter mixed with chloroform. Following centrifugation, the homogenate separates into an organic phase, an interphase and an aqueous phase. Proteins are sequestered in the organic phase, DNA in the interphase, and RNA in the aqueous phase. RNA can be precipitated from the aqueous phase. This method does not provide for the reliable isolation of RNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples.
[0011] Other known techniques for isolating RNA typically utilize either guanidine salts or phenol extraction, as described for example in Sambrook, J. et al., (1989) at pp. 7.3-7.24, and in Ausubel, F. M. et al., (1994) at pp. 4.0.3-4.4.7. However, none of the known methods provide reproducible quantitative results in the isolation of RNA from paraffin-embedded tissue samples.
[0012] Techniques for the isolation of RNA from paraffin-embedded tissues are particularly needed for the study of gene expression in tumor tissues. Expression levels of certain receptors or enzymes can indicate the likelihood of success of a particular treatment.
[0013] Truly quantitative TS gene expression studies have been limited to RT-PCR from frozen tissue, whereas semi-quantitative monitoring of TS protein expression in archival pathological material fixed onto glass slides has been available via immunohistochemical staining. Because of limitations in isolating RNA from archival pathological material, quantitative techniques for measuring gene expression levels from such samples were heretofore unavailable.
SUMMARY
[0014] One aspect of the present invention is to provide a reliable method for the isolation of RNA, DNA or proteins from samples of biological tissues. The invention also provides simple, efficient and reproducible methods for the isolation of RNA, DNA or proteins from tissue that has been embedded in paraffin.
[0015] The invention provides methods of purifying RNA from a biological tissue sample by heating the sample for about 5 to about 120 minutes at a temperature of between about 50 and about 100° C. in a solution of an effective concentration of a chaotropic agent. In one embodiment, the chaotropic agent is a guanidinium compound. RNA is then recovered from said solution. For example, RNA recovery can be accomplished by chloroform extraction.
[0016] In a method of the invention, RNA is isolated from an archival pathological sample. In one embodiment, a paraffin-embedded sample is first deparaffinized. An exemplary deparaffinization method involves washing the paraffinized sample with an organic solvent, preferably xylene. Deparaffinized samples can be rehydrated with an aqueous solution of a lower alcohol. Suitable lower alcohols include, methanol, ethanol, propanols, and butanols. In one embodiment, deparaffinized samples are rehydrated with successive washes with lower alcoholic solutions of decreasing concentration. In another embodiment, the sample is simultaneously deparaffinized and rehydrated.
[0017] The deparaffinized samples can be homogenized using mechanical, sonic or other means of homogenization. In one embodiment, the rehydrated samples are homogenized in a solution comprising a chaotropic agent, such as guanidinium thiocyanate (also sold as guanidinium isothiocyanate).
[0018] The homogenized samples are heated to a temperature in the range of about 50 to about 100° C. in a chaotropic solution, comprising an effective amount of a chaotropic agent. In one embodiment, the chaotropic agent is a guanidinium compound. A preferred chaotropic agent is guanidinium thiocyanate.
[0019] RNA is then recovered from the solution by, for example, phenol chloroform extraction, ion exchange chromatography or size-exclusion chromatography.
[0020] RNA may then be further purified using the techniques of extraction, electrophoresis, chromatography, precipitation or other suitable techniques.
[0021] RNA isolated by the methods of the invention is suitable for a number of applications in molecular biology including reverse transcription with random primers to provide cDNA libraries.
[0022] Purified RNA can be used to determine the level of gene expression in a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sample by reverse transcription, polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification. Using appropriate PCR primers the expression level of any messenger RNA can be determined by the methods of the invention. The quantitative RT-PCR technique allows for the comparison of protein expression levels in paraffin-embedded (via immunohistochemistry) with gene expression levels (using RT-PCR) in the same sample.
[0023] The methods of the invention are applicable to a wide range of tissue and tumor types and target genes and so can be used for assessment of treatment and as a diagnostic tool in a range of cancers including breast, head and neck, esophageal, colorectal, and others. A particularly preferred gene for the methods of the invention is the thymidylate synthase gene. The methods of the invention achieved reproducible quantification of TS gene expression in FFPE tissues, comparable to those derived from frozen tissue.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0024] FIG. 1 shows level of β-Actin and TS expression at various heating times. These data show that without the heating step, there is a minimal yield of RNA extracted from the paraffin.
[0025] FIG. 2 shows the level of β-actin expression in normal (N) or tumorous (T) tissue from colorectal cancer patients as determined by quantitative PCR from RNA extracted at 95° C. for zero to 40 minutes. These data suggest 30 min as an optimal heating time.
[0026] FIG. 3 shows the effect of both temperature and time on the yield of β-actin RNA and on the isolation of DNA. These data show that at longer heating times (between 60 and 120 min), RNA undergoes degradation while there is an increase in contaminating DNA capable of generating a DNA PCR signal. The bars represent values of triplicate experiments done at the various times and temperatures indicated.
[0027] FIG. 4 shows the effect of various heating solutions on the yield of isolated RNA. These data show that the chaotrope in the solution, in this case guanidinium isothiocyanate (GITC), is the essential component of the RNA extraction solution, without which the yield of extracted RNA is at least 10-fold lower.
[0028] FIG. 5 shows a comparison of relative TS gene expression from paraffin-embedded (white bars) and frozen cell pellets (black bars) from six cell lines. These data show that analysis of paraffin-extracted RNA reliably reflects gene expression values in fresh-frozen tissue.
[0029] FIG. 6 shows a comparison of TS gene expression levels in normal or tumorous colon and tumorous esophageal tissues that were either formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded or frozen.
[0030] FIG. 7 shows TS/β-actin ratios determined in paraffin sections from patients whose response to 5-FU/LV was previously linked to TS gene expression.
[0031] FIG. 8 shows the expression levels of four malignancy marker genes (TS; thymidine phosphorylase (TP); cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2); and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)) in FFPE samples of a primary colon cancer and a liver metastasis that recurred a year later in the same patient. These data show that, as might be expected, three of the four malignancy markers are elevated in the metastatic tumor tissue.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] The methods of the instant invention involve purification of RNA from biological samples. In one embodiment, samples are paraffin-embedded tissue samples and the method involves deparaffinization of embedded samples, homogenization of the deparaffinized tissue and heating of the homogenized tissue at a temperature in the range of about 50 to about 100° C. for a time period of between about 5 minutes to about 120 minutes in a chaotropic solution containing an effective amount of a guanidinium compound. This heating step increases the amount of cDNA that are amplified from the specimen by up to 1000-fold over samples that are not heated.
[0033] While frozen tumor tissue is not widely available, paraffin blocks are routinely prepared from every type of tumor after surgery, allowing large-scale retrospective investigations of TS expression and chemotherapy response to be performed.
[0034] Moreover, the technique can be applied to any of a wide range of tumor types and to an unlimited range of target genes. This has implications for the future preparation of individual tumor “gene expression profiles” whereby expression levels could be determined in individual patient samples for a range of genes that are known to influence clinical outcome and response to various chemotherapeutic agents. Automated real-time PCR from FFPE sample allows for the targeting of treatment to individual tumors.
Tissue Samples
[0035] RNA can be isolated from any biological sample using the methods of the invention. Biological samples are often fixed with a fixative. Aldehyde fixatives such as formalin (formaldehyde) and glutaraldehyde are typically used. Tissue samples fixed using other fixation techniques such as alcohol immersion (Battifora and Kopinski, J. Histochem. Cytochem. (1986) 34:1095) are also suitable. The samples used are also embedded in paraffin. RNA can be isolated any paraffin-embedded biological tissue sample by the methods of the invention. In one embodiment, the samples are both formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded.
Deparaffinization of Samples
[0036] Deparaffinization removes the bulk of paraffin from the paraffin-embedded sample. A number of techniques for deparaffinization are known and any suitable technique can be used with the present invention. The preferred method of the invention utilizes washing with an organic solvent to dissolve the paraffin. Such solvents are able to remove paraffin effectively from the tissue sample without adversely affecting RNA isolation. Suitable solvents can be chosen from solvents such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and mixtures thereof. A xylene is the preferred solvent for use in the methods of the invention. Solvents alone or in combination in the methods of the invention are preferably of high purity, usually greater than 99%.
[0037] Paraffin is typically removed by washing with an organic solvent, with vigorous mixing followed by centrifugation. Samples are centrifuged at a speed sufficient to cause the tissue to pellet in the tube, usually at about 10,000 to about 20,000×g. After centrifugation, the organic solvent supernatant is discarded. One of skill in the art of histology will recognize that the volume of organic solvent used and the number of washes necessary will depend on the size of the sample and the amount of paraffin to be removed. The more paraffin to be removed, the more washes that will be necessary. Typically, a sample will be washed between 1 and about 10 times, and preferably, between about two and about four times. A typical volume of organic solvent is about 500 μL for a 10 μm tissue specimen.
[0038] Other methods for deparaffinization known to one of skill in the art may also be used in the method of the invention. Such methods include direct melting (Banerjee et al., 1995).
[0039] Samples are preferably rehydrated after deparaffinization. The preferred method for rehydration is step-wise washing with aqueous lower alcoholic solutions of decreasing concentration. Ethanol is a preferred lower alcohol for rehydration. Other alcohols may also be suitable for use with the invention including methanol, isopropanol and other similar alcohols in the C1-C5 range. The sample is alternatively vigorously mixed with alcoholic solutions and centrifuged. In a preferred embodiment, the concentration range of alcohol is decreased stepwise from about 100% to about 70% in water over about three to five incremental steps, where the change in solution concentration at each step is usually less than about 10% (i.e., the sequence: 100%, 95%, 90%, 80%, 70%). In another embodiment, deparaffinization and rehydration are carried out simultaneously using a reagent such as EZ-DEWAX (BioGenex, San Ramon, Calif.).
Homogenization
[0040] Deparaffinized, rehydrated samples can be homogenized by any standard mechanical, sonic or other suitable technique. Tissue homogenization is preferably carried out with a mechanical tissue homogenizers according to standard procedures. A number of commercially available homogenizers are suitable for use with the invention including: Ultra-Turrax homogenizer (IKA-Works, Inc., Wilmington, N.C.); Tissumizer (Tekmar-Dohrmann, Cincinnati, Ohio); and Polytron (Brinkmann, Westbury, N.Y.).
[0041] In one embodiment, the sample is homogenized in the presence of a chaotropic agent. Chaotropic agents are chosen such that at an effective concentration RNA is purified from a paraffin-embedded sample in an amount of greater than about 10 fold that isolated in the absence of a chaotropic agent. Chaotropic agents include: guanidinium compounds, urea, formamide, potassium iodiode, potassium thiocyantate and similar compounds. The preferred chaotropic agent for the methods of the invention is a guanidinium compound, such as guanidinium isothiocyanate (also sold as guanidinium thiocyanate) and guanidinium hydrochloride. Many anionic counterions are useful, and one of skill in the art can prepare many guanidinium salts with such appropriate anions. The guanidinium solution used in the invention generally has a concentration in the range of about 1 to about 5M with a preferred value of about 4M. If RNA is already in solution, the guanidinium solution may be of higher concentration such that the final concentration achieved in the sample is in the range of about 1 to about 5M. The guanidinium solution also is preferably buffered to a pH of about 3 to about 6, more preferably about 4, with a suitable biochemical buffer such as Tris-Cl. The chaotropic solution may also contain reducing agents, such as dithiothreitol (DTT) and β-mercaptoethanol (BME). The chaotropic solution may also contain RNAse inhibitors.
Heating
[0042] Samples are heated in the chaotropic solution at a temperature of about 60° C. to about 100° C. for about 5 minutes to about 2 hours. Alternatively, samples are heated in the chaotropic solution at a temperature of about 50° C. to about 100° C. for about 5 minutes to about 2 hours. Heating times are typically chosen such that the amount of RNA purified is at least about 100-fold higher than for unheated samples, and more preferably about 1000-fold higher. In a preferred embodiment, the sample is heated for about 20 minutes at a temperature of from about 75 to about 100° C. More preferably, the sample is heated for 30 to 60 minutes at about 95° C.
RNA Recovery
[0043] RNA can be recovered from the chaotropic solution after heating by any suitable technique that results in isolation of the RNA from at least one component of the chaotropic solution. RNA can be recovered from the chaotropic solution by extraction with an organic solvent, chloroform extraction, phenol-chloroform extraction, precipitation with ethanol, isopropanol or any other lower alcohol, by chromatography including ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, silica gel chromatography and reversed phase chromatography, or by electrophoretic methods, including polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and agarose gel electrophoresis, as will be apparent to one of skill in the art. RNA is preferably recovered from the chaotropic solution using phenol chloroform extraction.
[0044] Following RNA recovery, the RNA may optionally by further purified. Further purification results in RNA that is substantially free from contaminating DNA or proteins. Further purification may be accomplished by any of the aforementioned techniques for RNA recovery. RNA is preferably purified by precipitation using a lower alcohol, especially with ethanol or with isopropanol. Precipitation is preferably carried out in the presence of a carrier such as glycogen that facilitates precipitation.
DNA and Protein Recovery
[0045] The methods of the invention can also be used to purify DNA or protein from the tissue sample. After mixing a sample with an organic solvent, such as chloroform, and following centrifugation, the solution has three phases, a lower organic phase, an interphase, and an upper aqueous phase. With an appropriate chaotropic agent, particularly with a guanidinium compound, the biological components of the sample will segregate into the three phases. The upper aqueous phase will contain RNA, while the interphase will contain DNA and the organic phase will contain proteins. One of skill in the art will recognize that the methods of the invention are suitable for recovering both the DNA and protein phases as well as that containing the RNA. DNA recovery is enhanced by the methods of the invention.
Purified RNA
[0046] RNA purified by the methods of the invention is suitable for a variety of purposes and molecular biology procedures including, but not limited to: reverse transcription to cDNA; producing radioactively, fluorescently or otherwise labeled cDNA for analysis on gene chips, oligonucleotide microarrays and the like; electrophoresis by acrylamide or agarose gel electrophoresis; purification by chromatography (e.g. ion exchange, silica gel, reversed phase, or size exclusion chromatography); hybridization with nucleic acid probes; and fragmentation by mechanical, sonic or other means.
EXAMPLES
Materials and Methods
[0047] These materials and methods are common to the following examples.
[0048] Sample Preparation. The characteristics of the human cell lines SK1, H157, A431, HT29, HCC298 and HH30 have been described previously. Cells were removed from their monolayer by trypsinization and pelleted by centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. Cell pellets were either frozen at −70° C. or fixed in formalin for 24 h, then embedded in paraffin.
[0049] Representative sections of tumor tissue were obtained at the time of surgery, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin by procedures common to most clinical pathology laboratories. Cross-sections of tissue (5 μm) were cut using a microtome.
[0050] RNA Isolation. RNA was isolated from paraffin embedded tissue as follows. A single 5 μm section of paraffinized tissue was placed in an Eppendorf tube and deparaffinized by two 15 minute washes with xylene. The tissue was rehydrated by successive 15 minute washes with graded alcohols (100%, 95%, 80% and 70%). The resulting pellet was suspended in 4M guanidine isothiocyanate with 0.5% sarcosine and 20 mM dithiothreitol (DTT). The suspension was homogenized and then heated to from about 50 to about 95° C. for 0 to 60 minutes; a zero heating time-point, was included as a control for each sample. Sodium acetate (pH 4.0) was added to 0.2 M and the solution was extracted with phenol/chloroform and precipitated with isopropanol and 10 mg glycogen. After centrifugation (13000 rpm, 4° C., 15 min) the RNA pellet was washed twice with 1 mL of 75% ethanol then resuspended in RNase-free water.
[0051] Reverse transcription (RT). After heating, total RNA was converted to cDNA using random hexamers. RT conditions were as have been previously described for frozen tissue (Horikoshi et al., 1992). Controls omitting the reverse transcriptase (No-RT) were prepared for each sample.
[0052] Real-Time PCR quantification of TS and β-actin gene expression using the Perkin Elmer Cetus 7700 PCR Machine (Taqman). The quantitation of mRNA levels was carried out using real-time PCR based on a fluorescence detection method as described previously (Heid et al., 1996; Eads et al., 1999). cDNA was prepared as described above. The cDNA of interest and the reference cDNA were amplified separately using a probe with a 5′-fluorescent reporter dye (6FAM) and a 3′-quencher dye (TAMRA). The 5′-exonuclease activity of TAQ polymerase cleaves the probe and releases the reporter molecule, the fluorescence of which is detected by the ABI Prism Sequence Detection System (Taqman). After crossing a fluorescence detection threshold, the PCR amplification results in a fluorescent signal proportional to the amount of PCR product generated. Initial template concentration was determined from the cycle number at which the fluorescent signal crossed a threshold in the exponential phase of the PCR reaction. Relative gene expression was determined based on the threshold cycles of the gene of interest and the reference gene. Use of a reference gene avoids the need to quantitate the RNA directly, which could be a major source of error.
[0053] The primer and probe sequences were as follows: TS: SEQ ID NO: 1: GGC CTC GGT GTG CCT TT; SEQ ID NO:2: AAC ATC GCC AGC TAC GCC CTG C; SEQ ID NO:3: GAT GTG CGC AAT CAT GTA CGT. β-actin: SEQ ID NO:4: TGA GCG CGG CTA CAG CTT; SEQ ID NO:5: ACC ACC ACG GCC GAG CGG; SEQ ID NO:6: TCC TTA ATG TCA CGC ACG ATT T. For the real-time PCR experiments, as discussed above, the reporter oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NOS: 2 and 5) were 5′ labelled with 6FAM and were 3′ labelled with TAMRA.
[0054] For each PCR, a “No Reverse Transcriptase” (NRT or No-RT) control was included. The purpose of this reaction was to correct for any background amplification, derived from residual genomic DNA contamination. Hence, each overall value for TS and β-actin is calculated as the RT value minus the NRT value (RT-NRT).
[0055] Statistical Analysis. Non-parametric comparison of means test were performed to determine if differences in TS levels between frozen tissue and FFPE samples of the same tumor were significant or non-significant.
EXAMPLE 1
General RNA Isolation Procedure
[0056] RNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue by the following general procedure.
[0000] A. Deparaffinization and Hydration of Sections:
[0057] (1) A portion of an approximately 10 μM section is placed in a 1.5 mL plastic centrifuge tube.
[0058] (2) 600 μL of xylene are added and the mixture is shaken vigorously for about 10 minutes at room temperature (roughly 20 to 25° C.).
[0059] (3) The sample is centrifuged for about 7 minutes at room temperature at the maximum speed of the bench top centrifuge (about 10-20,000×g).
[0060] (4) Steps 2 and 3 are repeated until the majority of paraffin has been dissolved. Two or more times are normally required depending on the amount of paraffin included in the original sample portion.
[0061] (5) The xylene solution is removed by vigorously shaking with a lower alcohol, preferably with 100% ethanol (about 600 μL) for about 3 minutes.
[0062] (6) The tube is centrifuged for about 7 minutes as in step (3). The supernatant is decanted and discarded. The pellet becomes white.
[0063] (7) Steps 5 and 6 are repeated with successively more dilute ethanol solutions: first with about 95% ethanol, then with about 80% and finally with about 70% ethanol.
[0064] (8) The sample is centrifuged for 7 minutes at room temperature as in step (3). The supernatant is discarded and the pellet is allowed to dry at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
[0000] B. RNA Isolation with Phenol-Chloroform
[0065] (1) 400 μL guanidine isothiocyanate solution including 0.5% sarcosine and 8 μL 1M dithiothreitol is added.
[0066] (2) The sample is then homogenized with a tissue homogenizer (Ultra-Turrax, IKA-Works, Inc., Wilmington, N.C.) for about 2 to 3 minutes while gradually increasing the speed from low speed (speed 1) to high speed (speed 5).
[0067] (3) The sample is then heated at about 95° C. for about 5-20 minutes. It is preferable to pierce the cap of the tube containing the sample before heating with a fine gauge needle. Alternatively, the cap may be affixed with a plastic clamp or with laboratory film.
[0068] (4) The sample is then extracted with 50 μL 2M sodium acetate at pH 4.0 and 600 μL of phenolichloroform/isoamyl alcohol (10:1.93:0.036), prepared fresh by mixing 18 mL phenol with 3.6 mL of a 1:49 isoamyl alcohol:chloroform solution. The solution is shaken vigorously for about 10 seconds then cooled on ice for about 15 minutes.
[0069] (5) The solution is centrifuged for about 7 minutes at maximum speed. The upper (aqueous) phase is transferred to a new tube.
[0070] (6) The RNA is precipitated with about 10 μL glycogen and with 400 μL isopropanol for 30 minutes at −20° C.
[0071] (7) The RNA is pelleted by centrifugation for about 7 minutes in a benchtop centrifuge at maximum speed; the supernatant is decanted and discarded; and the pellet washed with approximately 500 μL of about 70 to 75% ethanol.
[0072] (8) The sample is centrifuged again for 7 minutes at maximum speed. The supernatant is decanted and the pellet air dried. The pellet is then dissolved in an appropriate buffer for further experiments (e.g. 50 μL 5 mM Tris chloride, pH 8.0).
EXAMPLE 2
Heating Time
[0073] This example illustrates the effect of time of heating on the yield of RNA.
[0074] As illustrated in FIG. 1 , heating of the chaotropic solution at 95° C. prior to precipitation and reverse transcription significantly increased the efficiency of detection of TS and β-actin targets. When no heating step was included, neither TS nor β-actin could be detected (0 min. time points). After 20 minutes at 95° C. both transcripts were detectable; a further increase of heating time to 60 minutes resulted in a 3-fold increase in sensitivity of detection for TS and 4.5-fold increase for β-actin. (NRT=No Reverse Transcriptase control, RT-NRT=overall relative gene expression level, i.e. Reverse Transcriptase minus No Reverse Transcriptase).
[0075] FIG. 2 illustrates the amount of RNA expression of the β-actin gene in normal (N) and tumorous (T) tissue. The samples were heated at 95° C. for periods ranging from zero to 40 minutes. A preferred heating time of about 30 minutes is observed for most samples.
[0076] FIG. 3 shows that at heating times longer than about 60 min, the amount of RNA extracted starts to decrease, suggesting thermal degradation of the RNA, whereas the amount of DNA extracted starts to increase. This is undesirable because the presence of DNA can give a spurious PCR signal in some cases.
EXAMPLE 3
Heating Solutions
[0077] This example illustrates that heating the RNA solution in the presence of a chaotropic agent is important for obtaining high yields of RNA. This was an RT-PCR experiment using detection of β-actin gene expression as a measure of relative amounts of RNA isolated in various solutions.
[0078] Clinical specimens of esophageal cancer FFPE tissue samples were treated according to the methods described above, with the exception that the initial pellet obtained after deparaffinization was dissolved or suspended in either 4M guanidinium isothiocyanate (GITC), 4M guanidinium isothiocyanate+100 μM β-mercaptoethanol (GITC+BME), 4M guanidinium isothiocyanate+20 μM dithiothreitol (GITC+DTT) or in Tris-Cl buffer (10 mM pH 7.5) or Tris-Cl buffer+20 μM DTT (Tris/Cl+DTT). The samples were then heated to 95° C. for 30 minutes or not heated (O min, 95° C.). The Tris/Cl samples were then treated with 4M guanidinium isothiocyanate. RNA levels were determined by RT-PCR and real time PCR detection of β-Actin. As shown in FIG. 4 , the presence of the chaotropic agent guanidinium isothiocyanate when heating was important for high yield recovery of RNA. The presence of a reducing agent, such as DTT or BME, is not essential for high yield recovery of RNA. The 4M guanidinium isothiocyanate solution contains 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 25 mM EDTA and 0.5% Sarcosine.
EXAMPLE 4
Comparison of Gene Expression Values Determined in FFPE and Frozen Tissue from the Same Sources
[0079] This example shows that the methods of the present invention provide values for gene expressions from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples equivalent to those obtained from frozen tissue.
[0080] Samples from six cell lines were FFPE-treated and TS quantitation performed using the methods of the invention (including heating at 95° C. for 30 minutes). The resulting relative TS values ( FIG. 5 ) were compared with those obtained from frozen cell pellets using known methods. Relative TS expression levels were 3.0-19.5 (mean=8.5) in frozen cells versus 3.0-25.0 (mean=9.0) in FFPE samples. Statistical analysis of the difference between the two means revealed a p value of 0.726, indicating that there is no significant difference in the TS values obtained from frozen cell pellets using the original RT-PCR methods and those obtained from FFPE cell pellets using the methods of the invention.
[0081] RNA expression levels in samples of tumorous tissues and of normal (non-tumorous) tissues also were equivalent regardless of whether the samples were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded or frozen. Five normal and 6 tumor colon tissues and 4 esophageal tumor tissues, were compared for relative TS gene expression in matching paraffin and frozen tissue (FT) as above. Results are illustrated in FIG. 6 . No significant difference was found between the levels of TS found in frozen tissue samples and the TS values found in FFPE samples of the same tissue. This was true for both colon and esophageal tissue types (mean FT samples colon=3.46, mean FFPE samples colon=3.06, p=0.395; mean FT samples esophagus=13.9, mean FFPE samples esophagus=15.93, p=0.21).
EXAMPLE 5
Comparison of TS Levels in Responsive and Non-Responsive Tumor Tissues
[0082] Correlation of TS levels in frozen tissue and matching FFPE samples with response to 5-FU/Leucovorin (LV) in stage IV colon cancer. Previous reports based on RT-PCR data derived from frozen tissue found that high levels of TS in tumors (relative gene expression ≧4.0) were indicative of a poor response to TS treatment. Responsive tumors could be characterized as expressing lower levels of TS. TS/β-actin ratios were determined in paraffin sections from 17 patients whose response to 5-FU/LV had previously been linked to TS gene expression via analysis of frozen tissue samples ( FIG. 7 ). Of the 17, 6 were known to be responsive to TS and 11 were known to have been poor responders to TS treatment. It was found that the TS results with matching paraffin tissue would also have predicted response to this therapy (mean responders FT=2.87, mean responders FFPE=2.37, p=0.641: mean non-responders FT=7.66, mean non-responders FFPE=7.84 p=0.537). There was no significant difference between the TS levels derived from frozen tissue and those derived from matching FFPE tissues.
EXAMPLE 6
TS Gene Expression Levels in Primary Colon Cancer and a Liver Metastasis
[0083] This example shows an analysis of TS, and other gene expression, in a primary colon tumor and in a recurrent liver metastasis from the same patient.
[0084] FIG. 8 shows the expression levels of four genes: TS; TP; cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2); and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in FFPE samples of a primary colon cancer and a liver metastasis (met) from the same patient which recurred a year later. The findings suggest that, while the primary tumor was sensitive to 5-FU therapy (TS=2.32), the metastasis will be refractory (TS met 11.58). COX-2 and VEGF expression levels correlate with the published indications that they are increased in expression in aggressive disease, and co-regulated. (Cox-2 primary=1.35; COX-2 met=5.4; VEGF primary=5.02; VEGF met=14.4.) RNA was isolated as described from a 5 μM FFPE section of the primary colon cancer and from an FFPE section of the liver metastasis. Relative TS gene expression in the responsive primary tumor was 2.32 compared to 11.58 in the metastastic disease ( FIG. 8 ). This 5-fold increase in TS expression, as determined by the RT-PCR methods reported here, indicates that the secondary disease will not respond to 5-FU and suggests an alternative therapy such as CPT-11 may be appropriate.
[0085] All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
REFERENCES
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Chomczynski et al., “Single-Step Method of RNA Isolation by Acid Guanidinium Thiocyanate-Phenol-Chloroform Extraction,” Analytical Biochemistry, 162:156-159 (1987).
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Horikoshi, T., Danenberg, K. D., Stadlbauer, T. H. W., Volkenandt, M., Shea, L. L. C., Aigner, K., Gustavsson, B., Leichman, L., Frösing, R., Ray, M., Gibson, N. W., Spears, C. P. and Danenberg, P. V. Quantitation of thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase, and DT-diaphorase gene expression in human tumors using the polymerase chain reaction. Cancer Res., 52: 108-116, 1992.
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Leichman, C. G., Lenz, H. J., Leichman, L., Danenberg, K., Baranda, J., Groshen, S., Boswell, W., Metzger, R., Tan, M., Danenberg, P. V. (1997) J. Clinical Oncology. 15(10):3223-9.
Lenz, H. J., Danenberg, K. D., Leichman, C. G., Florentine, B., Johnston, P. G., Groshen, S., Zhou, L., Xiong, Y. P., Danenberg, P. V. and Leichman, L. P. (1998) Clinical Cancer Research. 4(5): 1227-34.
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Swain, S. M., Lippman, M. E., Egan, E. F., Drake, J. C., Steinberg, S. M., and Allegra, C. J. (1989) J. Clin. Oncol. 7, 890-899. | Methods are disclosed for rapid, reliable and simple isolation of RNA, DNA and proteins from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples. RNA purified in this manner can be used to monitor gene expression levels. The tissue sample can be a tumor or other pathological tissue. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to methods for determining residual useful life of rotating machinery including drive trains, gearboxes, and generators. The approaches relate to determination of an Equivalent Operating Hours limit for the machinery and comparing it with an Equivalent Operating Hours value for the machinery. In particular it relates to methods for determining residual useful life of wind and water turbines and components thereof, and using these data to operate and manage turbine installations.
[0002] Although the design life of a wind turbine gearbox is typically more than twenty years, failures of wind turbine gearboxes within four to five years are not uncommon. This is because residual useful life (RUL) calculation procedures are based on assumed operating profiles specified at the design stage, whereas in operation, the actual profile could be very different.
[0003] Monitoring operating parameters related to the operation of a wind or water turbine or component thereof, and determining when these parameters move outside an operating window, may indicate that some kind of maintenance or investigation is needed. Operating parameters that are monitored could include lubrication temperature, lubrication debris, vibration, and power output.
[0004] Vibration is commonly measured by Condition Monitoring Systems. Generally speaking, large vibrations compared to a norm is indicative of damage.
[0005] Vibration analysis generally relies on a measurement provided by a sensor exceeding a predetermined threshold, which is prone to false alarms if the threshold is set too low. The threshold level is not necessarily constant and may vary with frequency (and hence speed). The presence of shocks and extraneous vibrations means that the threshold level must be set sufficiently high to minimise the risk of false-alarms. Furthermore, the threshold must be sufficiently high to avoid any negative effects caused by ‘creep’ in sensor performance which may occur over its lifetime. In addition, there is no discrimination between vibrations associated with failure or damage and those which are not indicative of failure or damage.
[0006] Faults developing during operation, such as an imbalance in a rotor, can create loads on a bearing in excess of that expected resulting in a reduction in its design life. Incipient faults, such as unbalance, can be detected from analysis of vibration signatures. This gives the magnitude of an imbalance, and an excitation force due to imbalance is a function of the magnitude of the imbalance and square of the speed. An excitation force due to faults can thus be calculated from field operational conditions and used to calculate individual component loads. Deviation from the assumed operating profile can be addressed by using a generic wind simulation model to determine load at the turbine shaft, which allows individual component loads based on the field operational conditions to be calculated. Combining these gives the total load at each component, which can be is used to estimate the remaining life of the individual components and the life of the gearbox.
[0007] However, shortcomings in wind simulation models mean that the load at the turbine shaft may not be reliably or accurately determined.
[0008] Equivalent Operating Hours (EOH), in simple terms, defines damage as being equivalent to the damage caused to a wind or water turbine or components thereof by one hour of operation under rated operating conditions. The EOH is equal to a EOH coefficient related to the operational condition multiplied by a duration (or alternatively, frequency) of that condition. For any operation in which damage caused is the same as that expected to be caused under rated conditions, the EOH of a component after 1 h will be 1 h, and the EOH coefficient will be 1.0. If an operational event causes greater damage, then the EOH will be reduced accordingly. Thus, an operational event of duration of 0.2 h of duration and having a EOH coefficient of 0.7, then the EOH after 1 h will be 0.8×1+0.2×0.7=0.94.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0009] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for predicting remaining useful life of a wind or water turbine or component thereof, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining an EOH limit value for the wind or water turbine or component thereof; determining an EOH for the wind or water turbine or component thereof; and comparing the EOH and the EOH limit.
[0010] Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises the steps of: providing data relating to one or more operating conditions; and providing one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions.
[0011] Preferably, the step of providing one or more EOH coefficients, comprises the steps of: assessing damage to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof under rated operating conditions and under a plurality of field operating conditions; calculating the EOH coefficient from the damage under rated conditions and the damage caused under the plurality of field operating conditions; wherein the step of assessing damage comprises the step of providing information on the wind or water turbine or a component thereof.
[0012] Preferably, the step of providing information includes providing one or more models selected from the group consisting of: a bearing skidding model; a dynamic model; a life model; a nominal model of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a model unique to the specific gearbox, drive-train and/or generator including information on one or more manufacturing variations of one or more components of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a fully coupled finite element model comprising nodes with six degrees of freedom unique to the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; and one or more meta-models, wherein the one or more meta-models are specific for each of the one or more components.
[0013] Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of the damage under rated operating conditions and damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions.
[0014] Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises calculating a value of a function of the data relating to the one or more operating conditions and the one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions. Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises calculating a sum of a product of the data relating to the one or more operating conditions and the one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions.
[0015] Preferably, the step of providing data comprises providing historical data. Preferably, the step of providing data comprises providing data relating to one or more steady state operating conditions. Preferably, the step of providing data comprises providing data relating to one or more transient state operating conditions. Preferably, the step of providing data comprises collecting data from one or more sensors monitoring the one or more operating conditions. Preferably, the step of providing data comprises providing data from a condition monitoring system.
[0016] Preferably, the step of providing one or more EOH coefficients comprises providing EOH coefficients relating to one or more steady state operating conditions. Preferably, the step of providing one or more EOH coefficients comprises providing EOH coefficients relating to one or more transient state operating conditions.
[0017] Preferably, the EOH being greater than the EOH limit, additionally comprising the step of: maintaining the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0018] Preferably, the wind or water turbine or a component thereof has failed, and in which the EOH being less than the EOH limit, additionally comprising the step of: maintaining the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0019] Preferably, the step of maintaining the wind or water turbine or component thereof comprises investigating for damage to the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0020] Preferably, the step of investigating for damage is selected from the group consisting of: using an endoscope, performing vibration analysis and performing lubrication analysis.
[0021] Preferably, the wind or water turbine or component thereof having damage, scheduling maintenance of the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0022] Preferably, the wind or water turbine or component thereof having damage, refurbishing the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0023] Preferably, the wind or water turbine or component thereof having irreparable damage, replacing the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0024] Preferably, the method comprises the additional step of: setting EOH of the wind or water turbine or component to zero.
[0025] Additionally disclosed is a method for identifying a wind turbine or component thereof for maintenance, the method comprising the steps of: determining an EOH value for the wind turbine or component thereof; analysing operating data for the wind turbine or component thereof; and comparing the operating data with a threshold related to the EOH value.
[0026] Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises the steps of: providing data relating to one or more operating conditions; and providing one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions.
[0027] Preferably, the step of providing one or more EOH coefficients, comprises the steps of: assessing damage to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof under rated operating conditions and under a plurality of field operating conditions; calculating the EOH coefficient from the damage under rated conditions and the damage caused under the plurality of field operating conditions; wherein the step of assessing damage comprises the step of providing information on the wind or water turbine or a component thereof.
[0028] Preferably, the step of providing information includes providing one or more models selected from the group consisting of: a bearing skidding model; a dynamic model; a life model; a nominal model of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a model unique to the specific gearbox, drive-train and/or generator including information on one or more manufacturing variations of one or more components of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a fully coupled finite element model comprising nodes with six degrees of freedom unique to the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; and one or more meta-models, wherein the one or more meta-models are specific for each of the one or more components.
[0029] Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of the damage under rated operating conditions and damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions.
[0030] Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises calculating a value of a function of the data relating to the one or more operating conditions and the one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions.
[0031] Preferably, the step of determining an EOH comprises calculating a sum of a product of the data relating to the one or more operating conditions and the one or more EOH coefficients relating to the one or more operating conditions.
[0032] Preferably, the method additionally comprises the step of setting thresholds for operating data according to one or more ranges of EOH values.
[0033] Preferably, the operating data is vibration data.
[0034] Preferably, identifying a wind turbine or component thereof for maintenance comprises identifying a wind turbine or component thereof in which the operating data is greater than the threshold.
[0035] Also disclosed is a method for calculating a EOH coefficient for a wind or water turbine or a component thereof, the method comprising the steps of: assessing damage to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof under rated operating conditions and under a plurality of field operating conditions; calculating the EOH coefficient from the damage under rated conditions and the damage caused under the plurality of field operating conditions; wherein the step of assessing damage comprises the step of providing information on the wind or water turbine or a component thereof.
[0036] Preferably, the step of providing information includes providing one or more models selected from the group consisting of: a nominal model of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a model unique to the specific gearbox, drive-train and/or generator including information on one or more manufacturing variations of one or more components of the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; a bearing skidding model; a dynamic model; a life model; a fully coupled finite element model comprising nodes with six degrees of freedom unique to the gearbox, drive-train and/or generator; and one or more meta-models, wherein the one or more meta-models are specific for each of the one or more components.
[0037] Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of the damage under rated operating conditions and damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a function of a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions. Preferably, the EOH coefficient is a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions.
[0038] Also disclosed is a computer readable product comprising code means designed for implementing the steps of the method according to any of the methods disclosed above.
[0039] Also disclosed is a computer system comprising means designed for implementing the steps of the method according to any of the methods disclosed above.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0040] The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
[0041] FIG. 1 shows a flow chart for predicting remaining useful life of a wind or water turbine or components thereof;
[0042] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart for the determination of damage to a wind or water turbine or component thereof;
[0043] FIG. 3 shows the steps in a method for calculating damage to a wind or water turbine or a component thereof using a model-based approach;
[0044] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show stages in the construction of a meta model.
[0045] FIG. 7 shows a flow chart for scheduling maintenance of a wind or water turbine or components thereof based on an EOH analysis;
[0046] FIG. 8 shows a flow chart for gearbox refurbishment based on EOH analysis; and;
[0047] FIG. 9 shows a graph combining EOH operating life models with vibration data for a number of turbines operating in a wind farm; and
[0048] FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to various embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0049] The design life of wind turbine components, typically twenty years or more, assumes that they are operated according to their rated operating conditions specified at the time of its design. In what follows, the term “rated operating conditions” are those conditions specified at the design stage of the wind turbine component or components, and these form a profile of operating conditions under which the wind turbine generator is expected to operate. The present invention monitors the wind turbine generator and its components and calculates remaining useful life by comparing actual operating conditions with the rated operating conditions. In what follows, the term “field operating conditions” are the actual operating conditions experienced by the wind turbine and its components.
[0050] Methods for operating a wind turbine to determine damage are illustrated in FIG. 1 . These approaches use EOH coefficients to rapidly calculate damage directly from the field operating conditions.
[0051] In a two-stage process, EOH coefficients are first calculated prior to turbine operations from rated operating conditions (the design data) and historical field operating conditions using computer-implemented models, a process which is relatively slow and requires significant computing capability. In a second stage, the EOH coefficients can be used with real-time incoming data from sensors or SCADA or other CMS inputs to rapidly generate a value for EOH that has been “consumed”. Thus EOH coefficients can be calculated in advance of operation, reducing the amount of computing capability required during operation, and enabling subsequent monitoring of a wind turbine farm in real time.
[0052] In a first step 100 turbine load data is collected and operating conditions, such as temperature of various bearings, oil conditions, and the like are sensed and logged. Operating condition data can be chosen to represent a typical range of conditions, or they can be obtained from historical logged data such as SCADA or a condition monitoring system.
[0053] This data can be used in steps 102 and following in a computer-implemented damage-determining model or meta model to determine EOH coefficients 108 relating to steady-state operating conditions.
[0054] Corresponding EOH coefficients 106 for non-steady state (transient) conditions can be determined in step 104 using a dynamic model of wind turbine and components, and/or a bearing skidding model, model of the lubrication system or the like.
[0055] In step 116 , current or historical operating data 110 are provided and EOH is derived from this data and the EOH coefficients determined in steps 106 and 108 according to the relationship:
[0056] EOH=f (operating condition, EOH coefficient)
[0057] In steps 112 and 114 , EOH limit is determined from field data (failure records and the like). EOH limit is simply the expected life of the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0058] In step 118 , a comparison of EOH limit and EOH yields a value for the remaining useful life (RUL) of the component.
[0059] In the present invention, EOH coefficients are obtained from assessing damage to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof under field operating conditions and damage to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof under rated operating conditions of the same duration.
[0060] The wind or water turbine or a component thereof includes any component of the wind or water turbine and includes, for example, the turbine, turbine shaft, gearbox drive train, and generator, as well as any subcomponent, such as a gear, a drive shaft, and the like.
[0061] The EOH coefficient is a function of the damage under rated operating conditions and damage under field operating conditions of the same duration. It can be a function of a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions of the same duration.
[0062] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart for the determination of damage 202 to a wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0063] Load data 204 , 206 , for example forces and/or moments, acting on the wind or water turbine or component thereof is provided.
[0064] Load data 204 relates to operation under rated operating conditions (CR), which can be the conditions for which the wind or water turbine or a component thereof was designed. Load data 204 can be obtained or derived from design data 208 .
[0065] Load data 206 relates to loading under field operating conditions (Co).
[0066] Field operating conditions can be historical sensor data 210 or SCADA data obtained from or derived from a CMS.
[0067] Field operating conditions can be real time sensor data 212 from actual operating conditions under which the wind or water turbine or a component thereof is being operated. This means that EOH coefficients can be calculated in real time. These EOH or coefficients can be stored and used again when similar field operating conditions are experienced, leading to a reduction in computing capability required over time.
[0068] Field operating conditions can be a library of anticipated conditions 214 which is a range of operating conditions under which the wind or water turbine or a component thereof may be expected to operate. Alternatively or additionally, a library of anticipated conditions 214 can be populated by historical sensor data 210 or real time sensor data 212 . This means that EOH coefficients can be calculated in advance of operation, reducing the amount of computing capability required during operation.
[0069] Design data 208 , historical data 210 , real time data 212 and library data 214 can comprise continuous ranges of data, or the data can be stratified into bins to simplify calculations.
[0070] The operating conditions can be steady state operating conditions or transient operating conditions.
[0071] Damage 202 under rated and field operating conditions is determined from information relating to the wind or water turbine or a component thereof. The information can be provided by inspection 216 , or by using a model 218 of the wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0072] The EOH coefficient 220 is a function of the damage under rated operating conditions and damage under field operating conditions of the same duration. It can be a function of a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions of the same duration. It can be a ratio of damage under rated operating conditions to damage under field operating conditions of the same duration.
[0073] Where design data 208 , historical data 210 , real time data 212 or library data 214 does not contain measured or specified load information, data 204 , 206 can be derived from other specified or measured parameters present in the data. The derivation can be a simple manipulation of the data available, or it can be obtained using model 218 of the wind or water turbine or component thereof (not shown).
[0074] Various models may be used. For example, a unique model may be generated for one or more of each of the components of the wind or water turbine that leaves a production line. Each unique model is generated using the dimensions and clearances inferred from an end of line test and may remain related to the corresponding component throughout its operational life. The unique model can be used to calculate the loads, for example forces and/or moments, that may act on a component at any location or particular locations in or on the component according to the operating conditions. This in turn permits the calculation of the damage sustained by each component under rated or field operating conditions.
[0075] FIG. 3 shows the steps in a method for calculating damage to a wind or water turbine or a component thereof using a model-based approach. The component may be, for example a gearbox, as indicated.
[0076] In a first step 36 , information on a gearbox is provided. This may include a fully coupled model with six degrees of freedom. The model may also be unique to the gearbox. The information may include information relating to one or more manufacturing variations in the dimensions and clearances of components of a gearbox.
[0077] In a second step 38 , loads, for example forces and/or moments, acting on the gearbox during field operating conditions can be monitored during operation or provided from historical data (eg SCADA). Alternatively the loads can be calculated from anticipated field operating conditions. Similarly the loads can be calculated from rated operating conditions. Where loads acting on the gearbox are continuously monitored during operation, these measurements may be taken at a regular sampling frequency of e.g. 50 Hz. In various embodiments of the invention, step 38 may include monitoring one or more loads over time. Monitoring one or more loads may include monitoring outputs of one or more condition monitoring sensors placed in or on the gearbox at predetermined locations.
[0078] In third step 40 , the damage caused to each component by the one or more loads, in each sample of data, however determined is calculated. To do this, the fully coupled system model described above is used to calculate the system deflections and component loads. The contact between gear teeth is modelled using finite elements taking into account the tooth bending stiffness and gear mesh contact stiffness. These stiffnesses can be calculated or based on empirical data and are taken into account in the static deflection analysis of the full model. The tooth face load distribution, tooth contact stress or bending stress may be calculated for each gear mesh. These values may then be compared with empirical data or empirical methods used to calculate the operating contact stress, e.g. according to methods given in ISO 6336-2. The tooth bending stress may be calculated using finite element models or may be calculated using empirical methods, e.g. methods in ISO 6336-3. S-N curves for gear contact failure and gear bending failure may be employed and may be based on mathematical simulations or may be based on empirical data, e.g. data provided in ISO 6336. A prediction of the cumulative damage on each component is continuously updated, thus allowing the remaining life of each component to be predicted using empirical data e.g. S-N curves and bearing life data available from ISO standards.
[0079] The calculation of bearing damage can be performed using the RomaxDesigner software. This calculation takes into account factors such as bearing internal geometry, stiffness and deformation of bearing components, contact between bearing components and considers the bearing loads and stiffness.
[0080] It is possible that the provided gearbox information cannot be analysed at as high a frequency as the data is sampled. For example, the model analysis required to predict the damage due to each sample of data may take 1 second, but the data may be sampled at 50 Hz. In this case an approximation (a meta-model) can be employed so that the damages are predicted more quickly.
[0081] The meta-model is constructed in three stages:
[0082] 1) a number of data samples are obtained from a gearbox model prior to the start of gearbox operation;
[0083] 2) an underlying trend is determined using response surface methodology (RSM);
[0084] 3) Gaussian deviations from this trend are introduced using a Gaussian kernel centred on each sample point.
[0085] The meta-model may be constructed using only steps 1) and 2) above.
[0086] FIGS. 4 to 6 show the three stages listed above applied to a two-variable problem. FIG. 4 shows the plotted raw data points. FIG. 5 shows the approximation function constructed from a second order polynomial. FIG. 6 shows the approximation function including Gaussian kernels.
[0087] The variables in the meta-model can be one or more of the following loads which may be defined anywhere in the gearbox model, drivetrain or generator: force in the x-direction (F x ); force in the y-direction (F y ); force in the z-direction (F z ); moment about the x-axis (M x ); moment about the y-axis (M y ), moment about the z-axis (M z ). Alternatively, the variables may include displacements in any of the x, y and z directions or rotations about any of the x, y, and z axes or temperature.
[0088] The meta-model is constructed from data samples each of which corresponds to a different combination of any of the variables listed above. The accuracy of the meta model can depend on the method used to determine the variables used to generate each data sample. A sampling regime in which the sample points are randomly determined is possible but is not ideal because it can result in some data samples having similar variables which may result in the meta-model being inaccurate. Spacing the data samples uniformly in the design space represented by the meta-model variables is preferred.
[0089] Uniform sampling of data in the meta-model variables design space is achieved by optimising the sampling strategy using a genetic algorithm. One method is to maximise the minimum distance between any two neighbouring sample points. Many other suitable sampling strategies exist in literature including minimising the maximum distance between any two neighbouring sample points; L2 optimality; latin hypercube sampling.
[0090] The process of identifying the underlying trend using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) consists of fitting a polynomial to the sample data using linear regression. The polynomial can be of any order and may include some or all of the possible terms. The number of variables in the polynomial is equal to the number of variables in the meta-model. A transformation can be applied to the sampled data before fitting the polynomial in order to decrease the ‘model bias’ which can arise due to the assumption that the data follows a polynomial trend. For example, if the behaviour of the response is observed to follow a trend similar to an exponential, then a polynomial can be fitted to the natural log of the variables in order to improve the meta-model accuracy.
[0091] The Gaussian deviations (step 3 above) may be represented by Gaussian functions with a number of dimensions equal to the number of variables in the meta-model. The deviations are not required to be Gaussian functions and may be represented by another mathematical function. The amplitude of each deviation may be equal to or related to the difference between the output of the polynomial model and the response level of the data sample.
[0092] A unique meta-model is constructed for each component in the gearbox (i.e. for each gear and bearing) to relate the measured variables with the resulting tooth face load distribution factor, KH β , (for gears, as defined in ISO 6336) and load zone factor (for bearings, as defined in ISO 281). Any number of loads, for example forces and/or moments, acting at any point on the gearbox, drive train or generator may be related to these factors by the meta-models. The load zone factors and KH β values may then be used to calculate a corresponding amount of damage caused to each component. The meta-models may alternatively relate the measured variables with component stresses, component lives or percentage damages.
[0093] FIG. 7 shows a method for scheduling maintenance of wind or water turbine or components thereof based on an EOH analysis.
[0094] In step 700 , the current EOH of the turbines in the turbine farm is determined, for example as disclosed above in relation to FIG. 1 .
[0095] In step 702 , a turbine or turbines having the highest EOH on one or more components is identified.
[0096] In step 704 , the EOH value or values from step 702 are compared with a preset EOH limit for further forensic investigation. If the EOH value is less than this value, then no action is taken and the turbine continues operation.
[0097] If the EOH value is higher than this value, then in step 706 further investigations of the turbine are undertaken, for example endoscope inspection, vibration analysis, oil analysis and the like.
[0098] In step 708 , the results of the investigation are assessed: if the investigation indicates that the turbine does not have an operational problem, then no action is taken and the turbine continues operation.
[0099] If the investigation indicates that the turbine does have an operational problem, then maintenance is scheduled and the turbine may be concomitantly down-rated.
[0100] FIG. 8 shows a method for gearbox refurbishment based on EOH analysis.
[0101] In step 800 , a failed turbine gearbox is provided, and in step 802 a corresponding gearbox and/or gearbox component history is provided.
[0102] In steps 804 and 806 , an EOH of a component and a corresponding RUL of the component are respectively determined as disclosed above in relation to FIG. 1 .
[0103] In step 808 , an evaluation is made as to whether or not the RUL for the component indicates that refurbishment of the component may be worthwhile. If it is not, then the component is discarded.
[0104] If it is, then in step 810 , the component is inspected.
[0105] In step 814 , if the inspection indicates that refurbishment of the component is not worthwhile, the component is discarded.
[0106] In step 814 , if the inspection indicates that component is suitable for refurbishment, the component is retained to provide a refurbished gearbox.
[0107] In step 816 , if the component has been replaced, the EOH for the new component is set to zero.
[0108] According to a further aspect of the invention a method for operating a wind or water turbine or component thereof is based on a quantitative measure of vibration in relation to EOH for a wind or water turbine or component thereof.
[0109] The method may be illustrated by a simple example, in which operating parameter levels are stratified into three levels: low, medium and high.
[0110] As mentioned above, the danger or damage from increased vibration is dependent to a certain extent to the age of the wind or water turbine or component thereof, in other words, to EOH. EOH can be similarly stratified into three zones, low, medium and high.
[0111] This simple approach enables the wind or water turbine operator to prioritise maintenance activities based on EOH and CMS data, as for example in Table 1.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Action needed according to a value for EOH and a level of an
operating parameter
EOH
Operating parameter
Low
Medium
High
High
Turbine inspection
recommended
Medium
Investigation needed
Low
[0112] The same approach may be adopted for other CMS data which may be used to monitor wind turbines by identifying wind turbines which exceed a threshold value.
[0113] FIG. 9 shows a graph combining EOH operating life models with vibration data for a number of turbines (T 01 to T 38 ) operating in a wind farm. Vibration levels in this context can be based on vibration signature analysis
[0114] Turbines with moderate EOH and vibration typically require routine monitoring and planned inspections over a longer period.
[0115] Moderate levels of vibration when EOH values are low, for example turbine T 02 in FIG. 9 , may indicate that the wind or water turbine or component thereof should be investigated to see if one or more components are suffering damage and need to be repaired or replaced.
[0116] However, moderate levels of vibration at median values of EOH are probably normal, and should be merely monitored routinely. Moderate levels of vibration at high values of EOH require no action.
[0117] High levels of vibration at high EOH values may be indicative of a need for turbine inspection. Turbines with high EOH and high vibration (circled) can clearly be identified, and these require inspection.
[0118] Turbine T 34 in FIG. 9 has a similar vibration level to turbine T 05 , but turbine T 34 has a low EOH life. The former turbine is clearly operating better than other turbines of a similar EOH. Using a system for identifying turbines in need of maintenance based on thresholds alone would consider these two turbines to have the same status.
[0119] In addition to the approaches above, an additionally indicator of a requirement for maintenance may be obtained by collecting data relating to vibration of the wind or water turbine or component thereof on a test rig prior to installation. This can be taken as a subsequent baseline: increases in vibration after installation may be due to damage during transport or poor assembly.
[0120] FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus 46 according to various embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus 46 includes means 48 for performing the steps illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 9 . Means 48 includes a processor 50 and a memory 52 . The processor 50 (e.g. a microprocessor) is configured to read from and write to the memory 52 . The processor 50 may also comprise an output interface via which data and/or commands are output by the processor 50 and an input interface via which data and/or commands are input to the processor 50 .
[0121] The memory 52 stores a computer program 54 comprising computer program instructions that control the operation of the apparatus 46 when loaded into the processor 50 . The computer program instructions 54 provide the logic and routines that enables the apparatus 46 to perform at least some of steps of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 9 . The processor 50 by reading the memory 52 is able to load and execute the computer program 54 .
[0122] The computer program may arrive at the apparatus 46 via any suitable delivery mechanism 56 . The delivery mechanism 56 may be, for example, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a memory device, a record medium such as a Blue-ray disk, CD-ROM or DVD, an article of manufacture that tangibly embodies the computer program 54 . The delivery mechanism may be a signal configured to reliably transfer the computer program 54 . The apparatus 46 may propagate or transmit the computer program 54 as a computer data signal.
[0123] Although the memory 52 is illustrated as a single component it may be implemented as one or more separate components some or all of which may be integrated/removable and/or may provide permanent/semi-permanent/dynamic/cached storage.
[0124] References to ‘computer-readable storage medium’, ‘computer program product’, ‘tangibly embodied computer program’ etc. or a ‘controller’, ‘computer’, ‘processor’ etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having different architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequential (Von Neumann)/parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific circuits (ASIC), signal processing devices and other devices. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logic device etc.
[0125] The steps illustrated in the FIGS. 1 to 9 may represent steps in a method and/or sections of code in the computer program 54 . The illustration of a particular order to the steps does not necessarily imply that there is a required or preferred order for the steps and the order and arrangement of the steps may be varied. Furthermore, it may be possible for some steps to be omitted. | A method for predicting remaining useful life of a wind or water turbine or component determines in step 116 an EOH for the turbine or component and compares this in step 118 to an EOH limit obtained in step 114. This provides a simple approach to estimating remaining useful life, giving the turbine operator an indication of the condition of turbines or farms under management. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of a co-owned divisional patent application of parent application Ser. No. 11/551,155, titled “Massive Security Barriers Having Tie-Bars in Tunnels”, filed Oct. 19, 2006, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,654,768. The above divisional patent application, application Ser. No. 12/618,699 titled “Method of Protection with Massive Security Barriers Having Tie-bars in Tunnels”, filed Nov. 13, 2009, relates to a co-owned divisional patent application, application Ser. No. 12/618,701 titled “Segmented Massive Security Barriers Having Tie-Bars in Tunnels”, filed Nov. 13, 2009 and issued on May 24, 2011 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,786. The disclosures of the parent and its two divisional patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
Not Applicable
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to passive barriers located on the ground and interconnected to establish a longitudinal wall that can provide security from terrorist threats by at least slowing, and preferably stopping in a short distance, a vehicle that collides with it, and by providing at least partial protection against blast wave forces, thermal energy, and flying debris from a nearby explosion event.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security zones for protecting sensitive groups of people and facilities be they private, public, diplomatic, military, or other, can be dangerous environments for people and property if threatened by acts of terrorism. Ground anchored active anti-ram vehicle barriers, bollards, and steel gates may stop a vehicle but may do little against a blast wave or blast debris. Earthen berms, sand-filled steel walls, massive concrete or plate steel walls anchored into the ground, or concrete panels laminated with steel sheeting and anchored into the ground have been used to shield against both terrorist vehicles and bombs. But none of these ground-anchored barriers are portable for ease of relocation, and all risk the possibility of interfering with underground utilities and other underground hazards.
However, both U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,186 to Roger Allen Nolte titled “Massive Security Barrier” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,187 to Roger Allen Nolte and Barclay J. Tullis titled “Cabled Massive Security Barrier”, both incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, disclose barriers that are portable for ease of relocation and do not endanger underground utilities when being deployed, installed, or removed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,186 discloses barriers, each with at least one rectangular tie-bar of steel cast permanently within concrete or other solid material and extending longitudinally between opposite sides of the barrier, wherein adjacent barriers are coupled side-against-side by means of strong coupling devices between adjacent tie-bars, and wherein no ground penetrating anchoring means is involved. But since the tie-bars are cast within the barriers, they cannot be changed out or upgraded without removing and replacing the solid material as well. U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,187 discloses barriers of solid material with tunnels extending between opposite sides, wherein adjacent barriers are coupled side-against-side with cables passing through the tunnels and anchored to sides of at least some of the barriers by anchoring devices. But since cables through tunnels between adjacent barriers are less able to resist lateral displacement between adjacent barriers compared to that when using rigidly coupled tie-bars, the use of cables limits the relative shortness of stopping distance that a wall can achieve, where stopping distance is the maximum distance any portion of a wall moves before all the kinetic energy causing an external force is absorbed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,904 to Duckett et al. titled “Traffic Barrier with Liquid Filled Modules”, although not in the field of massive security barriers for protection against terrorist threats, discloses a traffic barrier design that uses a attachment members (similar in some respects to a tie-bar) through a tunnel within a cavity shaped by a plastic shell of a module body for containing water or other fluid. Duckett et al. also uses abutment members to constrain longitudinal positions of tie-bars relative to module bodies, but not relative lateral positions. However, Duckett et al. does not disclose or suggest the use of a massive block of solid material, the coupling of massive blocks side-against-side, the enablement of mutual rotation between adjacent blocks caused by a colliding vehicle or explosive blast sufficiently strong as to cause breakage of portions of the blocks that interfere with such rotation while at the same time maintaining continuity of and between coupled tie-bars, or the use of tunnels with entrance sizes closely matched to tie-bar sizes to constrain the positions of coupled ends of tie-bars relative to barrier blocks. And Duckett et al. doesn't disclose or suggest the use of side cavities to protect or constrain coupling devices and/or their retainers.
What is needed is a massive-security-barrier wall system made of massive security barriers that can be coupled into a row along the ground or other supporting surface, wherein each barrier has at least one strong tie-bar passing through it from one side of the mass of solid material of the barrier to its opposite side, wherein adjacent barriers are interconnected side-against-side by coupling the tie-bars between those adjacent barriers, wherein the tie-bar(s) of each barrier are constrained longitudinally and horizontally by the mass of solid material of that barrier to resist lateral displacement between adjacent barriers, and wherein the tie-bars can be selected at the time barriers are assembled into a barrier wall. What is needed also is the capability of exchanging or upgrading tie-bars in the field without having to replace the masses of solid material, and without the additional cost of scrapping that material. In other words, what is needed is a massive security barrier system that uses tie-bars through masses of solid material without having the tie-bars cast into the masses of solid material. The current invention provides such a system with such barriers.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, some aspects of the invention are summarized herein.
The invention includes a massive security barrier module, a security wall, and a method of providing security from a terrorist threat, the method by the assembly of massive security barriers to form a security wall. The invention improves over the prior art by combining into a massive security barrier at least one tie-bar through at least one tunnel, wherein the tunnel penetrates through the mass of solid material (also called a block or barrier block) of the barrier. The invention uses coupling devices, and retainer devices as well in some embodiments, to both retain a tie-bar to a barrier block and to couple barrier blocks together side-against-side. A security wall is constructed by coupling or otherwise linking two or more such massive security barriers side-against-side to form a longitudinal wall that can provide security from terrorist threats by being able to withstand both vehicle collisions and explosive blasts that can provide sufficient external force to a) cause at least a portion of such a wall to slide across the ground or other supporting surface and b) if sufficient force is applied to break away interfering material, to cause at least some adjacent barriers to rotate relative to one another and not become uncoupled from one another. Each massive security barrier includes a mass of solid material having a slidable bottom surface, two opposite side surfaces each with at least one cavity, one or more tunnel passages extending through the mass of solid material between its opposite sides, and one or more tie-bars (also called metal beams) each having two opposite ends spaced longitudinally apart positioned in at least one of the tunnels with the two opposite ends extending respectively outward into two of the cavities. The mass of solid material is of durable material and preferably of high strength concrete. Each tie-bar is preferably made of high strength steel and typically has a cross-sectional area greater than that of an ordinary rebar rod used to reinforce concrete structures. Multiple blocks as described can be positioned on top of the ground, road-surface, parking surface, or other supporting surfaces, and coupled longitudinally to one another, with tie-bars end-to-end, and with adjacent barrier blocks side-against-side to establish a protective barrier wall. Within this disclosure, the term “end-to-end” should be taken to mean any of the following: truly end-to-end, butt-end-to-butt-end, generally end-to-end, end-overlapping-end, having interleaved ends, approximately end-to-end, or any other equivalent structural relationship that permits two tie-bars to be joined together near one each of their ends, extends their overall combined length, and provides a combined structure that will support tension and compression forces longitudinally and shear forces laterally. The coupling devices that serve as means for coupling can be, or (in some embodiments) retainer devices (also called retainers) that function as means for retaining are, sized relative to the sizes of tunnel entrances to block the coupling devices from entering the tunnels, i.e. they can prevent longitudinal translation of tie-bars within a barrier. Either or both a) the sizes of coupling devices (and separate retainer devices when used) relative to the sizes of the cavities or b) the sizes of the cross-sections of the tie-bars relative to the entrances of the tunnels, horizontally constrain lateral translation at locations within the blocks. Such a wall can withstand great longitudinal tension and can absorb and endure great amounts of mechanical and thermal energy. When loaded laterally (and horizontally), such as by forces from a nearby explosive blast or by a collision from a moving vehicle, such a wall can act at least initially as a structural beam, with at least one chain of tie-bars in tension, and with the solid material (e.g. concrete) in compression on the side of the wall facing the blast or vehicle. With sufficient tensile strength in a chain of tie-bars as the wall changes its shape by moving over the ground, vertical edges of the solid material (i.e. front or rear portions of the sides of blocks) in compression can be designed to fail by absorbing significant energy, and as a result, adjacent barriers can rotate or hinge relative to one-another as their inter-coupling devices swivel or the tie-bars near the couplings bend.
One of the embodiments of the invention is a method for providing protection from a terrorist threat, the method comprising: a) aligning multiple barriers into a row between an expected safe side and a threat side, wherein each barrier is aligned side-against-side with another of the multiple barriers to form an adjacent pair respectively; and b) using means for coupling and means for retaining to couple and retain each adjacent pair in the row; wherein the row extends longitudinally from a first barrier to a second barrier; wherein each of the barriers comprises a mass of solid material and a tie-bar; wherein each mass of solid material comprises two opposite sides, two cavities with one in each of the two opposite sides, and a tunnel through the mass of solid material between the two cavities; and wherein each of the barriers further comprises a tie-bar that extends through the tunnel of that barrier and has two end-portions each of which penetrates at least a portion of one of the two cavities of that barrier; whereby at least all excepting the first and second barriers of the row have sufficient strength to remain coupled throughout a terrorist event that is one selected from the group consisting of a colliding terrorist's vehicle and a terrorist's explosive blast; and whereby forces from the terrorist event can be strong enough to cause at least some of the coupled barriers to slide across a supporting surface, and can cause breakage of solid material where the solid material interferes with rotation between adjacent barriers. The method can further comprise using means for coupling and means for retaining, to retain each of the first and second barriers. The general shape of a lateral cross-section of a tunnel can be any shape that will accommodate a tie-bar, e.g. circular, elliptical, oval, square, rectangular, polygonal, multi-sided, and irregular. A tunnel should be large enough that a tie-bar extending though it can be at least wiggled to adjust its position relative to a tie-bar of an adjacent barrier with which it is to be coupled. At least one instance of the means for retaining can be located between an instance of the means for coupling and one of the tunnels. And an instance of means for coupling can itself serve also as an instance of means for retaining
According to one aspect of the above embodiment, at least one instance of means for coupling can be comprised of a pin or a bolt, wherein at least two of the end portions coupled by the means for coupling each includes a hole that receives the pin or bolt. And at least one tie-bar can have a laterally larger cross-sectional area in at least one of its end portions than along its mid-portion, and wherein at least one instance of means for coupling comprises an enclosure that laterally encircles that end portion and obstructs it from being pulled out of the enclosure.
Another embodiment of the invention is a security wall comprising: a) a row of coupled barriers, each barrier comprising respectively: i) a mass of solid material that comprises two opposite sides, two cavities with one in each of the two opposite sides, and a tunnel through the mass of solid material between the two cavities, and ii) a tie-bar that extends through the tunnel and has two end-portions each of which penetrates at least a portion of a respective one of the two cavities; wherein each barrier is aligned side-against-side with another of the multiple barriers to form an adjacent pair; and b) for each adjacent pair an instance of means for coupling the tie-bar of one of the barriers of that adjacent pair to the tie-bar of the other barrier of that adjacent pair, and for each adjacent pair at least one instance of means for retaining in one of the cavities between the barriers of that adjacent pair for retaining the instance of means for coupling from entry into the tunnel that opens into said one of the cavities; whereby the coupled barriers have sufficient strength to remain coupled throughout a terrorist event that is one selected from the group consisting of a colliding terrorist's vehicle and a terrorist's explosive blast; and whereby forces from the terrorist event can be strong enough to cause at least some of the coupled barriers to slide across a supporting surface, and can cause breakage of solid material where the solid material interferes with rotation between adjacent barriers. The security wall can be further comprised of: a) at least two additional instances of means for coupling; and b) at least two additional instances of means for retaining; wherein the two additional instances of means for coupling and the two additional instances of means for retaining are installed at ends of the row. The general shape of a lateral cross-section of at least a portion of at least one of the tunnels can be at least approximately one selected from the group consisting of circular, elliptical, oval, square, rectangular, polygonal, multi-sided, and irregular; and wherein the cross-sectional area of that tunnel can be large enough that of the tie-bar extending through that tunnel can be wiggled within that tunnel. A tunnel should be large enough that a tie-bar extending though it can be at least wiggled to adjust its position relative to a tie-bar of an adjacent barrier with which it is to be coupled. At least one of the instances of means for retaining can be located between one of the instances of means for coupling and one of the tunnels. And at least one of the instances of means for coupling can comprise one of the instances of means for retaining
According to one aspect of the above embodiment, at least one of the instances of means for coupling can be comprised of a pin or a bolt, and wherein at least two of the end portions coupled by the element each includes a hole that receives the pin or bolt. And at least one tie-bar can have a laterally larger cross-sectional area in at least one of its end portions than along its mid-portion, and wherein at least one instance of means for coupling comprises an enclosure that laterally encircles that end portion and obstructs it from being pulled out of the enclosure.
Another embodiment of the invention is a massive security barrier module comprising: a) a mass of solid material having a slidable bottom surface, wherein the mass has two opposite sides, a front, and a back, wherein each side has a front edge near the front, wherein each side has a back edge near the back, wherein each of the two opposite sides each contains one of a pair of opposite cavities, and wherein at least one tunnel extends between the pair of opposite cavities and through the mass; b) at least one tie-bar extending through the tunnel and into the cavities; c) means for coupling the tie-bar to other tie-bars of similar and adjacent massive security barrier modules, the adjacent massive security barrier modules being side-against-side with said massive security barrier module, and the other tie-bars retained at sides that are remote from the sides of said massive security barrier module; and d) means for retaining the means for coupling from entry into the tunnel; whereby the massive security barrier module has sufficient strength to maintain attachment with the adjacent massive security barrier modules when said massive security barrier module is subjected to an external impulsive force from a terrorist act sufficiently strong to rotate the modules relative to one another and cause at least one of the edges that structurally interferes with that rotation to break; and whereby energy from a security-threat event is absorbed by the break and further attenuated by the bottom surface of said massive security barrier module sliding across a supporting surface. And at least one instance of the means for coupling can comprise an instance of the means for retaining. At least one instance of the means for coupling can be comprised of a pin, a bolt, or an enclosure. Another embodiment of the invention is similar to the massive security barrier module described above in this paragraph, except that said mass of solid material is comprised of at least two individual segments that key into one another, and only one of which includes the tunnel for the tie-bar, wherein the tie-bar can be cast within the other of the two segments without requiring a tunnel; whereby the segments of the module can be handled and shipped independently.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
Objects and advantages of the present invention include a security barrier that is massive, durable to vehicle collisions, durable to explosive blasts, energy absorbing, portable, inexpensive to manufacture, inexpensive to deploy, inexpensive to upgrade or downgrade with changes in tie-bars, inexpensive to relocate, inexpensive to remove, able to be firmly coupled to adjacent barriers, able to transfer rotational forces to adjacent barriers, able to transfer longitudinal tension forces to adjacent barriers, able to transfer compressive forces to adjacent barriers, resistant to rolling, resistant to sliding, has a high coefficient of friction with the ground (or other supporting surface), available in a variety of architectural designs and surface appearances, providing of mounting fixtures for flags and cameras and the like, providing of chases or conduits for utilities, and non threatening to utilities located below the ground.
The same objects and advantages of the invention that apply to a single barrier extend to barrier walls constructed by coupling adjacent barriers to one another in a longitudinal side-against-side row of barriers. Parts of the invention and its preferred embodiments include means for coupling tie-bars end-to-end.
The barriers can be transported by truck, positioned at a security site by using readily available heavy lifting equipment, and can be longitudinally inter-connected by means of field-installable mechanical coupling hardware. The invention does not require ground-penetrating anchoring devices, so installation, relocation, and later removal does not endanger underground utilities. And since the tie-bars are not cast into concrete or other solid material of the barriers, but rather are positioned in at least slightly larger tunnels within the concrete or other solid material of the barriers, the tie-bars can be wiggled within the tunnels to better enable alignment with adjacent tie-bars of neighboring barriers, can be selected at the time of installation for strength capability, and can be repaired, upgraded, or otherwise replaced in the field without having to scrap any mass of solid material. Another advantage of the invention is that cables can optionally also be passed through the tunnels to be used as a secondary strength system in case a tie-bar fails, and this would permit such a wall to be pushed still farther from its initial position but remain a connected barrier.
Further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to the ones skilled in the art upon examination of the drawings and detailed description. It is intended that any additional advantages be incorporated herein.
The various features of the present invention and its preferred implementations may be better understood by referring to the following discussion and the accompanying drawings. The contents of the following discussion and the drawings are set forth as examples only and should not be understood to represent limitations upon the scope of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing objects and advantages of the present invention for a massive security barrier and security wall of such barriers (and its method of assembly) may be more readily understood by one skilled in the art with reference being had to the following detailed description of several embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Within these drawings, callouts using like reference numerals refer to like elements in the several figures (also called views), alphabetic-letter-suffixes where used help to identify copies of a part or feature related to a particular usage and/or relative location, a single prime can denote a part or feature at an opposite location relative to an un-primed part or feature respectively, a numeric suffix following an alphabetic-letter-suffix denotes a modification to a part, and a double (or more) prime as an only suffix also denotes a modification to a part. Within these drawings:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of two massive security barriers, one on the left and the other on the right in the view, coupled together side-against-side to form a short massive security wall.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the barrier on the left from the view shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of three massive security barriers coupled together side-against-side to form a security wall.
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of four massive security barriers coupled together side-against-side to form a security wall that has some of its vertical edges damaged but remains secured together.
FIG. 5 shows a barrier without the presence of coupling hardware or retainer hardware, revealing tie-bars within tunnels within a block or mass of solid material.
FIG. 6 shows a barrier with the presence of retainer hardware but without the presence of coupling hardware.
FIG. 7 shows a first example of means for retaining that is a retainer which can be used to prevent one or two coupling devices near the ends of two tie-bars in a common barrier block from entering either of two tunnels in the barrier.
FIG. 8 shows a second example of means for retaining that is a retainer which can be used to prevent one or two coupling devices near the ends of two tie-bars in a common barrier from entering either of two tunnels in the barrier.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view from FIG. 1 showing means for coupling and means for retaining, wherein a coupling device and two retainers are used to couple the two barriers together sides-against-side with the tie-bars of one barrier positioned end-to-end respectively with the tie-bars of the other barrier.
FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 , but wherein the two retainer devices are not being used.
FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 9 , but wherein the two retainer devices have added features with which to fill at least some of the otherwise empty space between the coupling device and the nearest sides of the barriers.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a tie-bar with an oval-shaped hole near each of its ends.
FIG. 13 is a close-up view of one of the ends of the tie-bar shown in FIG. 12 .
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an end of a tie-bar that has it's thickness increased relative to the mid-portion of the tie-bar.
FIG. 15 is a front view showing one example of means for coupling two tie-bars end-to-end.
FIG. 16 shows a perspective view of two parts of an opened enclosure device that can be used to couple two tie-bars end-to-end.
FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of the enclosure of FIG. 16 closed about the ends of two tie-bars and thus serving as means for coupling the two tie-bars together.
FIG. 18 shows an enlarged view of the barrier as seen on the left in FIG. 1 , only its mass of solid material is modified to be comprised of two individual segments that key into one another.
FIG. 19 shows one of the segments of the barrier of FIG. 18 , designed with tunnels for tie-bars.
FIG. 20 shows a modified version of the segment of barrier shown in FIG. 19 , designed without tunnels and having tie-bars cast in place within the segment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following is a detailed description of the invention and its preferred embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While the invention will be described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit it to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention, that being two massive security barriers 113 A and 113 B adjacent to one another, the massive security barrier 113 A on the left and the massive security barrier 113 B on the right in the view, coupled together side-against-side into a coupled pair of massive security barriers 101 to form a short security wall 103 . (Two massive security barriers adjacent to one another are referred to herein as an adjacent pair, independent of whether they are coupled or not.) The barriers 113 A and 113 B are sitting on top of a supporting surface such as a ground surface 135 . One skilled in the art should appreciate that such a supporting surface could be, for example, the ground surface of a lawn, the surface of an open field, the surface of a parking lot, the surface of a roadway, the surface of a shoulder of a roadway, the surface of a plaza, etc. In this embodiment, the massive security barrier 113 A is comprised of a mass of solid material 111 A and two tie-bars ( 161 A and 163 A called out in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 9 ) whose left-hand ends 121 A and 123 A are visible in this view. Also, the massive security barrier 113 B is comprised of a mass of solid material 111 B and two tie-bars ( 161 B and 163 B called out in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 9 ). It should be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other embodiments of the invention could be comprised of only one tie-bar per barrier, or more than two tie-bars per barrier. It should also be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other embodiments of a security wall by the invention can be comprised of a row of multiple barriers preferably numbering greater than merely the two illustrated.
In regard to FIG. 1 , the mass of solid material 111 A has two opposite sides 129 A and 129 A′, and the mass of solid material 111 B has two opposite sides 129 B and 129 B′. The two masses of solid material 111 A and 111 B are shown adjacent to one another with sides 129 A′ and 129 B against one another (i.e. at least nearly touching one another) thereby defining an interface region 115 . Within each side of each barrier is a cavity into which the one or more tie-bars associated with that barrier penetrate. The mass of solid material 111 A of barrier 113 A has cavities 117 A and 117 A′. The mass of solid material 111 B of barrier 113 B has cavities 117 B and 117 B′. Tie-bar ends 121 A and 123 A are visible in this view extending into cavity 117 A at the far left of the view. In cavity 117 A at the left end of the security wall 103 , a coupling pin 171 A is visible along with its head 173 A. The coupling pin 171 A extends through both tie-bar ends 121 A and 123 A, through holes 131 A (not visible in this view, but visible in FIGS. 5 , 6 , and 12 ) in the upper tie-bar 121 A and 133 A in the lower tie-bar 123 A.
In regard to FIG. 1 , holes such as hole 133 A are in both ends of each tie-bar and are oval shaped with extension parallel to the length-wise dimension of its corresponding tie-bar. Such extensions can accommodate deviations in the accuracy of the placement of the holes when inserting a coupling pin (such as coupling pin shown with head 173 in this view between the two barriers 113 A and 113 B) during installation of a security wall (such as 103 ). These oval shaped holes are also used to alleviate tension between coupled tie-bars during the very initial interaction between coupled barriers when a security wall of which the barriers are apart is first struck by a moving vehicle, a period in time during which the security wall begins to change shape as barriers begin to slide across the supporting surface 135 and as some of the masses of solid material that interfere with mutual rotation of adjacent barriers begins to break away.
In regard to FIG. 1 , also visible is a retainer 149 A that both tie-bars with ends 121 A and 123 A extend through. In cavity 117 B′ at the right end of the security wall 103 , the head 173 B′ is visible of coupling pin 171 B′ (the body of pin 171 B′ is not visible in this view) along with a retainer 149 B′, both in a similar arrangement as the coupling pin 171 A and retainer 149 A shown at the left end of the security wall 103 , only attached to the tie-bars of barrier 113 B instead. Within the interface region 115 , the cavity 117 A′ of barrier 113 A and the cavity 117 B of barrier 113 B together form a combined cavity 119 between these adjacent barriers 113 A and 113 B. Within this combined cavity 119 , the head 173 of a coupling pin 171 (pin 173 is not visible or labeled in this view but is visible and labeled in the sectional view of FIG. 9 ) and two retainers (not labeled in this view but labeled in the sectional view of FIG. 9 as 149 A′ and 149 B) are visible. Note that the head 173 of coupling pin 171 , and the coupling pin 171 itself (the pin coupling the two barriers 113 A and 113 B together in the interface region 115 and visible in FIG. 9 ), could each alternatively be labeled with a suffix of A′ or B because they can be considered as either the coupling pin at the right-hand side of the left barrier or the coupling pin at the left-hand side of the right barrier. It will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that after completion of installation of a security wall such as 103 , it is advisable to protect the otherwise exposed tie-bar ends and means for coupling (and means for retaining if used) with protective covers and/or sealing means to conceal the presence of the cavities, discourage tampering, and keep out rain and snow.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the massive security barrier 113 A as it might be configured for storage, shipment, or handling before being connected to one or two other barriers. All that is shown in this view is also shown in FIG. 1 with one exception being that FIG. 2 shows callouts for a top surface 141 A, a bottom surface 143 A, a front surface 145 A, and a back surface 147 A of the mass of solid material 111 A of barrier 113 A. Another exception is that FIG. 2 also shows outer vertical edges 151 A, 153 A, 151 A′, and 153 A′ formed at the intersections of the side surfaces 117 A and 117 A′ with the front surface 145 A and the back surface 147 A. Another exception is that FIG. 2 shows at the right of the view the head of a coupling pin with a callout of 173 A′ instead of 173 as it would be labeled if shown connecting to another barrier. And another exception is that a retainer plate 149 A′ is also shown at the right of the view. It will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that the shapes of the cavities, such as 117 A and 117 A′, are ones which allow access to coupling devices from above, that a drain hole (not shown) is desirable near the bottom of each adjacent pair of cavities, and that there should remains ample solid material at outer vertical edges of a mass of solid material to protect what is in the cavities formed between two adjacent barriers (as cavity 119 between barriers 113 A and 113 B shown in FIG. 1 ). One skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that the assembly shown is not the only configuration in which to store, ship, or handle a barrier, and that one might choose to store, ship, or handle the various components independently.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of three massive security barriers 113 A, 113 B, and 113 C coupled together side-against-side to form a security wall 103 ″ that rests on a ground surface 135 . Each barrier 113 A, 113 B, and 113 C is comprised of a mass of solid material 11 A, 11 B, and 11 C respectively. The side 129 A of barrier 113 A forms one end of the wall 103 ″, and the side 129 C′ forms the other end of the wall 103 ″. Between barriers 113 A and 113 B is an interface region 115 where the side 129 A′ of barrier 113 A is against the side 129 B of barrier 113 B. Between barriers 113 B and 113 C is an interface region 115 where the side 129 B′ of barrier 113 B is against the side 129 C of barrier 113 C. This massive security wall 103 ″ is much like, but longer by one barrier, than the security wall 103 shown in FIG. 1 . To change the wall 103 of FIG. 1 into the wall 103 ″ of FIG. 3 , the one additional barrier 113 C has been provided and positioned side-against-side to barrier 103 B, and an additional coupling device along with two additional retainer devices have been provided and installed.
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of four massive security barriers 113 A, 113 B, 113 C, and 113 D coupled together side-against-side in a row to form a security wall 103 ′″ that has some of its vertical edges damaged but remains secured together. To change the wall 103 ″ of FIG. 3 into the wall 103 ′″ of FIG. 4 , the one additional barrier 113 D has been provided and positioned side-against-side to barrier 103 C, and an additional coupling device along with two additional retainer devices have been provided and installed. The wall 103 ′″ is shown in a non-straight line to illustrate a shape that might be caused by a terrorist vehicle having collided with the front of the wall 103 ′″ and dragging it along the ground. It is to be noted that vertical edges have been broken by compression in the masses of solid material 111 A, 111 B, and 111 C near the front of the wall resulting from collision-caused forces that were sufficient to cause at least some rotation between adjacent barriers 113 A and 113 B, between adjacent barriers 113 B and 113 C, and between adjacent barriers 113 C and 113 D. Such a pattern of rotation directions might result from a vehicle having crashed into the front of barrier 113 B.
In regard to FIG. 4 , one skilled in the art will appreciate that end portions of the tie-bars at the left end of the barrier 113 A, and end portions of the tie-bars at the right end of the barrier 113 D, of the security wall 103 ′″ in this view, can be retained from entering tunnels within the barriers 113 A and 113 D by using devices designed to anchor one or more ends of tie-bars to a barrier.
FIG. 5 shows barrier element 113 A in a view that is enlarged even further, shown with a middle portion of the barrier 113 A removed in order to fit into the view both sides 129 A and 129 A′ of the barrier 113 A. In this view, coupling pins and retainers are not present as they are in FIG. 2 , thus revealing in FIG. 5 that the mass of solid material 111 A includes a first tunnel 125 A and a second tunnel 127 A. Tunnels 125 A and 127 A are located in this embodiment with one over the other, the tunnel 125 A being above the tunnel 127 A. With one tunnel over another, a single coupling pin can be used to connect both tie-bars of one barrier to a similar pair of tie-bars in an adjacent barrier, as the coupling pin with head 173 couples barrier 113 A to 113 B shown in FIG. 1 .
In regard to FIG. 5 , the cross-sectional shapes of the tunnels 125 A and 127 A are shown in this implementation to be rectangular and bigger but not much bigger than the rectangular cross-sectional shapes of the tie-bars having ends 121 A and 123 A visible at the left-hand side of the view. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the cross-sectional shapes and sizes of the tunnels and tie-bars need not be constant over their lengths, but that typically they would be, and that the cross-sectional shape of a tunnel is not limited to rectangular, but could instead be square, circular, elliptical, triangular, polygonal, or even irregular.
In regard to FIG. 5 , the cross-sectional shape of a tie-bar, such as that with ends 121 A and 121 A′, is typically rectangular but can be of other shapes as is discussed below in regard to FIG. 16 , and a tie-bar is typically made of high-strength steel.
In regard to FIG. 5 , one skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that a barrier, such as 113 A, could be made with only a single tunnel 125 A and a single tie-bar as having tie-bar ends 121 A and 121 A′, or could be made with more than a single tie-bar in any one tunnel 125 A.
In regard to FIG. 5 , a mass of solid material, such as 111 A, which is also called a block, is typically shaped as a rectangular block but could have alternative shapes such as having beveled edges, and any of its surfaces could be other than flat. A mass of solid material, such as 111 A, is typically made of high-strength concrete and would typically include an inner structure of strengthening rebar as known in the prior art. And a mass of solid material, such as 111 A, can also typically include additional features such as a) hooks or loops in the top to aid manufacturers, distributors, and installers in lifting and positioning the mass of solid material, b) recesses in the bottom surface for use by fork-lifting equipment and for use in permitting the passage of water drainage, c) features to support ancillary objects such as surveillance cameras and lighting fixtures, and d) chases for routing communications and power cables or other utilities.
In regard to FIG. 5 , one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that a tunnel can be made into a mass of solid material (concrete for example) most conveniently by casting the material using a casting form that can accept and position a tube, whereby the tube defines the tunnel and can remain with the finished block when the block is removed from the form, the tube thus becoming a permanent part of the cast block. Alternatively, the tube can be coated at least on the outside with a release agent so that the tube can eventually be removed from the block. Also, alternatively, a tunnel can be defined by casting into the block a roll of bubble-wrapping material that can later be removed, or a tie-bar can be wrapped with bubble-wrapping material and then cast into place after which the bubble-wrapping material can be broken down with hot gas, a hot poker, or other tools.
FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 and shows the barrier 113 A with the presence of retainers 149 A and 149 A′ but without the presence of coupling hardware. It can be readily appreciated that retainers 149 A and 149 A′ block entrances to the tunnels which they hide in this view. One of the purposes of using retainers such as these (they are sometimes optional) is that they can help to prevent the ends of tie-bars from being pulled into the entrances of the tunnels under applied applied tension to the tie-bars and given coupling devices that might otherwise deform sufficiently to be pulled into the tunnels along with ends of the tie-bars. When there are two tie-bars positioned along side of one another as illustrated in this embodiment, it is convenient to share one retainer at each of the barrier with both tie-bars, although this too is optional.
FIG. 7 shows a first example of a retainer 149 (means for retaining) which can be used to prevent one or two coupling devices near the ends of two tie-bars in a common barrier from entering either of two tunnels in the barrier. In the upper portion of the retainer 149 is a slotted hole 155 for location partly around an upper tie-bar, and a slotted hole 155 ′ for location partly around a lower tie-bar. An advantage of using a retainer with slotted holes instead of holes without slots is that such a retainer can be put into place about two tie-bars, before the coupling device is put into place. This can be done by lowering the retainer into a cavity alongside the tie-bars, such as cavity 119 shown in FIG. 1 if the cavity 119 is deep enough horizontally into the sides of the blocks, and then rotating the retainer in such a manner that the tie-bar ends move into the slots of the slotted holes.
FIG. 8 shows a second example of a retainer 149 ″ (means for retaining) which can be used to prevent one or two coupling devices near the ends of two tie-bars in a common barrier from entering either of two tunnels in the barrier. In this embodiment, however, there are no slots but only holes 157 and 157 ′. In this case, the installation of retainers can be accomplished for example by either a) positioning a first barrier block against a second barrier block and locating any desired retainers 149 ″ before slipping the last tie-bars for those two blocks into place, or b) slipping the retainer 149 ″ over two tie-bars already positioned within a barrier block and then positioning that block next to what becomes its adjacent neighbor to form an adjacent pair of blocks. And of course retainers of the type as 149 in FIG. 7 can also be installed in these ways.
In regard to FIGS. 7 and 8 , the shapes of retainers 149 and 149 ″ can be other than the rectangular shapes illustrated, the optimum shape being dependent upon the size and shape of any tunnel entrances they are designed to block, and depending upon the size(s) of the cavities within which they are situated in the sides of the barrier blocks.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view from FIG. 1 showing the coupling pin 171 (means for coupling) with its head 173 used to couple the two barriers 113 A and 113 B together sides-against-side with the tie-bars 161 A and 163 A of one barrier positioned end-to-end respectively with the tie-bars 161 B and 163 B of the other barrier. Also shown are the two retainers 149 A′ and 149 B (both are means for retaining) located to either side of the coupling pin 171 . In this cross-sectional view, note that the cross-section from FIG. 1 is taken from a position nearer the front surface 145 A (seen in FIG. 2 ) than the back surface 147 A (seen in FIG. 2 ). The position of the cross-section is such as not to cut into the coupling pin 171 or head 173 or either tie-bar 161 A or 163 A, but does cut into the retainers 149 A′ and 149 B and the masses of solid material 111 A and 111 B and their tunnels 125 A, 127 A, 125 B and 127 B. In this embodiment, the coupling pin 171 is shown with a threaded end 175 and fastened into place with washers 179 and a nut 177 . One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the relative vertical positioning of the upper tie-bars 161 A and 161 B relative to one another, and the relative vertical positioning of the lower tie-bars 163 A and 163 B relative to one another, can be in any of a variety of arrangements and not just that shown with the tie-bars 161 B and 163 B positioned above the tie-bars 161 A and 163 A. For example, two tie-bars of one barrier can be located between two tie-bars of an adjacent barrier.
In regard to FIG. 9 , for illustrative purposes only, a small gap is shown between a side of the barrier 113 A and a mutually facing side of barrier 113 B, in the interface region 115 ; but this gap in practice should be kept as small as is practical and smaller than approximately the diameter of the illustrated coupling pin 171 . Preferably the two barriers 113 A and 113 B would be touching one another at their mutually facing sides. The purpose of keeping the gap at the interface region 115 as small as practical is to force portions of the solid material to have to be broken away from front and/or rear surfaces (such as front and rear surfaces 145 A and 147 A of barrier 113 A shown in FIG. 2 ) that include at least a portion of one of the vertical edges of one of the barriers (such as the vertical edges shown on barrier 113 A in FIG. 2 as edges 151 A, 153 A, 151 A′, or 153 A′) before significant mutual rotation can occur between adjacent barriers (such as between barriers 113 A and 113 B).
In regard to FIG. 9 , one skilled in the art will readily recognize that the coupling pin 171 that is shown coupling both upper tie-bars 161 A and 161 B together, as well as coupling both lower tie-bars 163 A and 163 b together, could be replaced with a coupling arrangement involving a pin (or one or more bolts) coupling the upper tie-bars that are separate from a pin (or one or more bolts) coupling the lower tie-bars. Another embodiment could use one coupling pin to both couple the upper tie-bars and to couple the lower tie-bars, but wherein either no threads or nut are used at the lower end of the coupling pin, or wherein threads and a nut are used just below the upper tie-bars either instead of or in addition to the threads and nut at the bottom end of the coupling pin.
FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 , but wherein the two retainer devices 149 A′ and 149 B are not being used.
FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 9 , but wherein the retainers 149 A 1 ′ and 149 B 1 are of modified form compared to the retainers 149 A′ and 149 B shown in FIG. 9 . These retainers 149 A 1 ′ and 149 B 1 have the added features 191 A′ and 191 B respectively that fill at least some of the otherwise empty space between the coupling pin 171 and what would otherwise be the locations of the previously shown retainers 149 A′ and 149 B respectively. In this manner, the coupling pin 171 (or some other choice of a coupling device) is afforded added protection under stress against bending or shifting its location relative to the other components shown in this view.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a tie-bar 161 A with an oval-shaped hole 131 A near the tie-bar end 121 A, and an oval-shaped hole 131 A′ near the other tie-bar end 121 A′. In this view, the tie-bar 161 A is shown with its larger surfaces in a generally horizontal plane, as oriented in the embodiment of FIG. 1 . However, tie-bars such as 161 A can also be oriented with their larger surfaces in a generally vertical plane.
FIG. 13 is a close-up view of the end 121 A of the tie-bar 161 A shown in FIGS. 1 - 2 , 5 - 6 , 9 - 11 , and 12 . One of the disadvantages of having a hole 131 A near the end 121 A of this tie-bar 161 A is that sufficiently strong tension forces along the length of the tie-bar, when reacted against by forces in a coupling pin located in the hole 131 A, can result in failure of the tie-bar around the pin. The end 121 A can be made stronger by locating the hole farther away from the very end of the tie-bar and also by making the tie-bar wider and/or thicker (i.e. in directions lateral to the length of the tie-bar 161 A).
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an end 121 A 1 of a modified tie-bar 161 A 1 that has it's thickness increased relative to that of the mid-portion of the tie-bar, requiring the hole 131 A 1 ′ to be deeper than illustrated in the previous views, and resulting in a tie-bar end 121 A 1 that is stronger than that of tie-bar end 121 A as shown in FIG. 13 . Since only the end portion 121 A 1 is made thicker, it is then possible, without weakening the rest of the tie-bar, to have a shelf-like step feature 195 A 1 . Depending upon how this step feature 195 A 1 is to be used in cooperation with alternative means for coupling, this step feature might have an abrupt step as illustrated or a gradual step as might be produced by a fillet of weld material.
FIG. 15 is a front view (or top view in an alternative embodiment) showing one example of means for coupling two modified tie-bars 161 A 1 and 161 B 1 together end-to-end. Whereas a modified (shorter) coupling pin is shown here with head 173 ″ and threads 175 ″ and used with washers 179 and a nut 177 , it will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that if the tie-bars 161 A 1 and 161 B 1 are to be oriented with their larger surfaces in a vertical plane, that multiple bolts could be used in place of a single coupling pin, and that this would provide equivalent means for coupling two tie-bars together. Since the tie-bars 161 A 1 and 161 B 1 have thicker ends 121 A 1 ′ and 121 B 1 , the coupling shown is a stronger one than if the tie-bars were not modified to have thicker ends and were the same thickness throughout their lengths as the thickness of the portions of the tie-bars 161 A 1 and 161 B 1 seen in this view to the left of the step feature 195 A 1 ′ and to the right of step feature 195 B 1 respectively.
FIG. 16 shows a perspective view of two enclosure parts 211 and 215 of an opened enclosure assembly that can be used, when closed and fastened to one another, to couple two modified tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 at least approximately butt-end-to-butt-end without requiring any holes that would otherwise weaken the tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 . The tie-bar ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 are modified to have thicker ends than the middle portion of the tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 respectively, and have to have step features 195 A 2 ′ and 195 B 2 respectively. When the two enclosure parts 211 and 215 are brought together to enclose the ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 of the tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 , their inner shapes are made to conform generally to the shapes of the tie-bar ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 , thus using the step features 195 A 2 ′ and 195 B 2 to effectively lock the two tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 together butt-end-to-butt-end, and thus coupling them together securely. The thicker portions created by the step features 195 A 2 ′ and 195 B 2 of the ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 extend into a cavity or recess 213 in the enclosure part 211 . Multiple holes 217 in both enclosure parts 211 and 215 are used with bolts to secure the two parts 211 and 215 together. One skilled in the art can appreciate that other embodiments can be configured in the same spirit as that illustrated here. For example, the tie-bars could be made even thicker with a step feature (such as 195 A 2 ′ and 195 B 2 ) on both large faces of the ends of each tie-bar, and that the enclosure needed to attach them butt-end-to-butt-end could be made of two enclosure parts both having a respective recess such as part 211 shown. Another modification that can be made is to oversize the recess 213 to allow some play of the tie-bar ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 to rotate somewhat in a plane parallel to the larger faces of the tie-bars. And another modification can be to have step features on not one or two sides of an end portion of a tie-bar, but on all four sides of a tie-bar having a square or rectangular cross-section end and to enclose two such tie-bars into a coupling enclosure that has recesses to accommodate each of the step features.
FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of the parts shown in FIG. 16 but wherein the two enclosure parts 211 and 215 are shown here as closed and fastened about the ends 121 A 2 ′ and 121 B 2 of two tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 and thus serving as means for coupling the two tie-bars 161 A 2 and 161 B 2 together.
FIG. 18 shows an enlarged view of the barrier 113 A as seen on the left in FIG. 1 , except the mass of solid material is shown here to be comprised of two individual segments 111 A 1 and 111 A 2 that key into one another. The two segments are shown as separate from one-another but touching one another along the dividing line 303 A between segments, and along vertical edges 301 A of the segments. The dividing line 303 A generally has this shape throughout the heights of the segments, i.e. from top to bottom. Whether the mass of solid material 111 A consists of two segments 111 A 1 and 111 A 2 (as seen here in FIG. 18 ), or consists of only one single mass of solid material (as shown in FIG. 1 ), is optional, but in either case it is comprised of tunnels that extend all the way from the cavity 117 A on the left to the cavity 117 A′ on the right. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the dividing line 303 A is only one configuration of many that could be used to shape the interfacing ends of the two segments 111 A 1 and 111 A 2 or “sub-blocks”, and that the shape of the dividing line 303 A shown here demonstrates a stepped-back-and-forth shape that can provide the interface with strength to resist shearing laterally and horizontally between the two sub-blocks. The shape of the dividing line 303 A shown here can eliminate or at least reduce horizontal shear stress laterally. The tie-bar ends 121 A and 123 A of the tie-bars 161 A and 163 A are shown here on the left, but the tunnels 125 A and 127 A are not visible in this figure.
FIG. 19 shows one segment 111 A 2 of the two segments 111 A 1 and 111 A 2 of the barrier 113 A of FIG. 18 , designed with tunnels 125 A 2 and 127 A 2 for tie-bars. Channels that are the extensions of the tunnels 125 A 2 and 127 A 2 are visible in this view and given the call-out designations of the tunnels since when interfaced with the other segment 111 A 1 , these channels complete mid-portions of the tunnels 125 A 2 and 127 A 2 by aligning with similar channels in the other segment 111 A 1 . It can be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that the dividing line 303 A shown in FIG. 18 is one that permits the two segments 111 A 1 and 111 A 2 to be symmetrical and therefore identical, and that this reduces the need for manufacturers to make two different types of segments.
FIG. 20 shows a modified version 111 A 2 ′ of the segment 111 A 2 shown in FIG. 19 , designed without tunnels and having tie-bars 161 A and 163 A cast in place within the segment 111 A 2 ′. Such a modified segment 111 A 2 ′ can be interfaced with a segment such as 111 A 2 shown in FIG. 19 . One skilled in the art can readily appreciated that such a combination of segments 111 A 2 and 111 A 2 ′ can permit a complete barrier in which a means for retaining coupling devices are not required as the tie-bars are cast within the segment 111 A 2 ′.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the installation and assembly of a security wall such as illustrated in FIG. 1 , if involving larger numbers of barriers than merely two, can involve placing into location and coupling one additional barrier at a time, either always at the same one end of a row or at either end of a row, or placing into location a group of adjacent barriers and proceeding to couple selected adjacent pairs sequentially down the row or in any order of sequence.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that other structure for means for coupling and arrangements of one or more tie-bars in massive barriers can be used. One example would be the rotation of the tie-bar(s) 90 degrees about their longitudinal axes and coupling them with one or more pins or bolts and nuts, in which case any mutual rotation of adjacent barriers would incur bending of the tie-bars near the cavities as portions of the mass of solid material that interfere with the rotation break away. Other examples would include, but not be limited to, the use of clamping devices, couplings as used to couple railway cars together, interlocking mechanisms, mechanisms such as used to hook a trailer to a tractor, and equivalent linking devices used to attach two bodies to one another and allow some relative mutual rotation between the two bodies. Such alternative embodiments for coupling devices are considered herein to be other equivalents of means for coupling barrier blocks together.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that other means for retaining can be used than those described above. Since the purpose of a retainer in this invention is to constrain the end(s) of one or more tie-bars from being pulled into a tunnel, and possibly also to constrain the end(s) from translating laterally relative to a nearby tunnel entrance, it can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that equivalent means for retaining can be any retainer device that can serve as an obstruction to an end of one or more tie-bars (or to a coupling means to which the tie-bar end(s) is/are attached) in either or both the lateral and longitudinal directions. If it is to provide restraint in the lateral direction, such obstruction would at least resist lateral movement of a tie-bar end from moving outsides of the cavity in a barrier within which it was installed. If it is to provide restraint in the longitudinal direction, such an obstruction would at least resist longitudinal movement of a tie-bar end from moving into a tunnel. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that if the structure of means for coupling is larger laterally than the entrance to a tunnel, or larger enough to restrict lateral motion within a cavity of a barrier into which it is installed, then it can serve in either case respectively as means for retaining in the longitudinal or lateral directions. And one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that structures of means for coupling that simultaneously couple multiple tie-bars of one barrier to those of an adjacent barrier intrinsically serve as means for retaining. It is therefore intended that all such equivalents of means for coupling and means for retaining should be considered equivalents to those illustrated in the drawings and previously disclosed in this specification.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that shapes for the mass of solid material comprising a barrier can be other than that shown in the illustrated embodiments within this specification. For example, the sides of the barrier blocks can be made in a shape that permits features in the side of one barrier block to key into complementary features in the oppositely facing side of an adjacent barrier block, this to strengthen shear resistance to resist lateral displacements between adjacent barriers and thus potentially reduce the shear forces experienced by coupling devices when a security wall experiences a terrorist event intended to breach the wall. In another example, the opposite sides of a barrier block don't necessarily have to be parallel, but could be at an angle to one another as to accommodate a change of longitudinal direction somewhere along a row of barriers.
Under “Objects and Advantages of the Invention” presented above, it was stated that the invention comprises barrier blocks that have bottoms that are resistant to sliding over the ground (or over another supporting surface), that the bottom of a block should have a high coefficient of friction with the supporting surface. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the energy required to move or otherwise slide a block over a supporting surface can be effectively increased with some types of supporting surfaces by incorporating a tread-like surface or even cleats or spikes on the bottom of barrier blocks. Where it is known that there are no underground utilities to be damaged, ground anchors (e.g. piers) can be used to anchor barriers firmly to the ground at some locations along a wall, but still allowing other locations to slide. Barrier blocks or tie-bars can be tethered loosely to ground anchors by means of cables having a fixed length of slack and thereby designed to bring a moving wall to an earlier halt than otherwise after a given distance of sliding, or even tethered taught with a frictional braking means to feed out cable while absorbing kinetic energy from the wall as it is dragged from its installed position.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any arrangement configured to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the above description has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not a restrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of various embodiments of the invention includes any other applications in which the above structures and methods are used. Therefore, the scope of various embodiments of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. | Barrier elements provide security from terrorist threats by ability to withstand both vehicle collisions and explosive blasts. Each barrier element is prefabricated to include a massive block of durable material, preferably of high strength concrete, with at least one tunnel extending at least partially between respective cavities in two opposite sides of the block. Each barrier element also includes at least one beam that is preferably made of steel and extends through one such tunnel. Multiple blocks are positionable slidably on top of the ground side-against-side with their beams coupled longitudinally to one another at least approximately end-to-end. Retainer means can be used to block coupling means from entry into the tunnels. Forces from a vehicle collision or an explosive blast can cause barrier elements to rotate relative to one-another when the couplings between beams hinge or bend as the durable material that interferes with the rotation breaks away. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/679,860, filed Oct. 6, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/746,392, now abandoned, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/542,178, filed Apr. 4, 2000, now abandoned, which was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/255,472, filed Feb. 23, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,984, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/026,634, filed Feb. 20, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,981, which claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/039,007, filed Feb. 25, 1997, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to automated retail systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a store that sells the products or services and fuel.
[0003] Typically, a cash back machine can be used to return unused monies to a consumer that uses a bill accepting device or magnetic card reader to pay for fuel. However, cash back machines are costly. Furthermore, using cash back machines to return unused monies to consumers do not increase consumer loyalty.
[0004] The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations of systems for purchasing fuel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method of providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a store that sells the products or services and fuel. The method includes the steps of detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a first visit to the store; providing the customer with a first reward entitling the customer to a first amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the first visit; detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a second visit to the store; and providing the customer with a second reward entitling the customer to a second amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the second visit. The method also includes identifying the customer during a subsequent fueling transaction; and dispensing an amount of free fuel to the customer equal to the total of the first and second amounts of free fuel.
[0006] In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a store that sells the products or services and fuel. The system includes means for detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a first visit to the store, and that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a second visit to the store; and means for providing the customer with a first reward entitling the customer to a first amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the first visit, and for providing the customer with a second reward entitling the customer to a second amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the second visit. The system also includes means for identifying the customer during a subsequent fueling transaction; and means for dispensing an amount of free fuel to the customer equal to the total of the first and second amounts of free fuel.
[0007] In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method of providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a retail store. The method includes the steps of detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a first visit to the store; providing the customer with a first reward entitling the customer to a first amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the first visit; detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a second visit to the store; and providing the customer with a second reward entitling the customer to a second amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the second visit. The method also includes identifying the customer during a subsequent fueling transaction at a fueling station having a cross-marketing agreement with the retail store; and dispensing by the fueling station, an amount of free fuel to the customer equal to the total of the first and second amounts of free fuel.
[0008] In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method of providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a plurality of retail stores. The method includes the steps of detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a visit to a first retail store; providing the customer with a first reward entitling the customer to a first amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the visit to the first retail store; detecting that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a visit to a second retail store; and providing the customer with a second reward entitling the customer to a second amount of free fuel in exchange for purchasing the non-fuel products or services in the visit to the second retail store. The method also includes storing the first and second rewards in a rewards database; identifying the customer during a subsequent fueling transaction at a fueling station having a cross-marketing agreement with the first and second retail stores; retrieving the first and second rewards from the rewards database; and dispensing by the fueling station, an amount of free fuel to the customer equal to the total of the first and second amounts of free fuel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of a fuel dispenser system.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a bar code wand used in the fuel dispenser system of FIG. 1 .
[0011] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a card reader device used in the fuel dispenser system of FIG. 1 .
[0012] FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are diagrams of another card reader device used in the fuel dispenser system of FIG. 1 .
[0013] FIG. 5 is a diagram of another embodiment of a fuel dispenser system.
[0014] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a receipt used in the fuel dispenser system of FIG. 5 .
[0015] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a kiosk used with a conventional fuel dispenser system for implementing features of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the components that can be utilized to implement the present embodiments which integrates a customer reward system with an fuel dispenser having a dynamically adjustable price.
[0017] FIG. 9 is an example of a record that could be used to track customer eligibility for fuel discount rewards in accordance with the present embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the process implemented by the present embodiments to encourage customer loyalty by providing discounter fuel based on predefined purchase criteria.
[0019] FIG. 11 is a diagram of another embodiment of a fuel dispenser system.
[0020] FIG. 12 a is a flowchart of the process implemented by the present embodiments to permit a consumer to receive change in the form of a cash equivalent.
[0021] FIG. 12 b is a diagram of an excess money database including records representative of change provided to consumers in the form of a cash equivalent.
[0022] FIG. 12 c is a diagram of a receipt provided to a consumer that provides change in the form of a cash equivalent.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] In FIG. 1 , the reference numeral 10 designates a fuel dispenser system embodying features of one embodiment of the present invention. The fuel dispenser system 10 includes a fuel dispenser 12 , which contains many elements of a conventional fuel dispenser such as a fuel nozzle 14 connected to a fuel supply (not shown). The dispenser 12 has a front side 16 and a back side 18 . In the following description, only the front side 16 will be discussed for ease of description. However, the features described herein may also be applied on the back side 18 , thereby allowing the dispenser to be operated by two customers at the same time.
[0024] The front side 16 houses conventional graphics displays 20 a , 20 b and a reader device 22 embodying features of the present invention. The graphics displays 20 a , 20 b each include a large, conventional, LCD panel for showing text and numerals, such as a price 24 that corresponds to an amount of fuel dispensed, or other customer-related messages. The reader device 22 includes magnetic strip reading circuitry connected to a controller 26 through a cable 28 such as an RS232 serial data bus. For the sake of example, the controller 26 controls the reader device 22 as well as other functions of the dispenser 12 , such as a controller that includes a Customer Activated Terminal (“CAT”) computer produced by the Wayne Division of Dresser Industries. Both the controller 26 and the cable 28 are conventional devices housed inside the dispenser 12 . It is understood that the reader device 22 and controller 26 continue to provide conventional magnetic strip reading functions in addition to the functions and features herein described.
[0025] The controller 26 is also connected to a computing center 30 through a bus 32 . In one embodiment, the computing center 30 is remotely located inside a store (not shown) or at an unattended site where it may be readily accessed. The computing center 30 includes a point-of-sale (“POS”) controller 34 . The POS controller 34 includes many features of a conventional electronic cash register, such as a keyboard 36 , a display 38 , a database 40 , a cash drawer 42 , and an internal card reader device 44 , for use by an operator in charge of overseeing and maintaining the dispenser system 10 . It is understood that the database 40 may be remote, and is shown with the POS 34 for ease of description. Also, the POS controller 34 may be in communication with other systems or devices, such as a carwash facility 46 .
[0026] The database 40 contains a collection of records pertaining to its customers. For example, the store may be a member-oriented retail outlet, and a record for each customer indicates that the customer is a member and a “level” of benefits or privileges that the customer may receive. One level may indicate a first discount to the customer of the goods he purchases while another level may indicate a second discount. The POS controller 34 can thereby receive information from the controller 26 , access the database 40 , and return control codes which indicate, for example, membership status, level of benefits, or an “OK” signal to allow fuel dispensing.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 2 , the controller 26 is also connected to one end of a bar code detector 60 with a second cable 62 . The bar code detector 60 is a standard, decoded-type hand-held stationary beam bar code reader such as the Welsh Allyn model Scanteam ST6180 reader. The bar code detector 60 also includes, at the end opposite the second cable 62 , a photo detector 64 and a light source 66 . The photo detector 64 may be a photo cell, photo diode or photo transistor, while the light source 66 may be a light emitting diode.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 3 , the reader device 22 is surrounded by a housing 68 and a hole 70 is established on a side face 71 of the housing near a front face 72 . The hole 70 extends to a slot 74 used for receiving cards such as debit/credit cards, but is separated from the slot by a small plastic or glass window (not shown). As a result, the hole 70 does not interfere with any pre-existing circuitry of the reader device 22 . The hole 70 is also of sufficient size for viewing one bit of bar coded data at a time. The bar code detector 60 is inserted into the reader device 22 through the hole 70 so that the end with the cable 62 hangs out of the hole. In this way, the photo detector 64 is installed behind the small window and may access cards slid into and out-of the slot 74 .
[0029] In operation, the reader device 22 receives a bar coded card 80 . As the bar coded card 80 is slid into the slot 74 , light from the light source 66 reflects off the bar coded card 80 so that the photo detector 64 can sequentially read bits of optical (bar coded) data 82 stored on the card. The bar code detector 60 interprets the bar coded data 82 and coverts it into ASCII data, which it transmits to the controller 26 , FIG. 1 , through the cable 62 . Firmware in the controller 26 detects the presence of the ASCII data and processes it into electronic data, a method similar to that used to process magnetic strip cards. The controller 26 then transmits the electronic data to the POS controller 34 through the bus 32 . The POS controller 34 uses the electronic data in order to secure payment in accordance with the data, such as by forwarding the electronic data to a credit card processing network (not shown) for authorization and/or charging the sale to an account associated with the electronic data. The POS controller 34 then returns one or more control codes that direct the controller 26 to allow fuel to dispense and potentially, to indicate any discounts to be provided.
[0030] In another embodiment, FIGS. 1 and 2 , the bar coded data 82 is processed by the POS controller 34 and a local billing file is established for billing the customer later. It is also possible for the POS controller 34 to have a local negative file of all invalid account numbers or a local positive file of all valid card numbers. In such cases the electronic data could be kept and billed locally, or forwarded in “batches” to another computer on-site or off-site for billing. The electronic data provided by the bar code detector 60 can also be differentiated from electronic data conventionally read from a magnetic strip card by the reader 22 . This differentiation may, for example, be used for frequent shopper tracking and awards, or for providing a price discount, described in greater detail below.
[0031] Referring to FIGS. 4 a and 4 b , in another embodiment, a reader device 90 is used in place of the reader device 22 ( FIG. 3 ). Instead of having the roundish hole 70 for the wand of the bar code detector 60 , the reader device 90 includes a rectangular-shaped window 92 for simultaneously viewing all of the bar coded data. The window 92 allows a scanning bar code reader 94 , such as Symbol model LS1220-1300A produced by Symbol Technologies, Inc., to read the bar coded data 82 on the card 80 . The scanning bar code reader 94 has many of the same components as the bar code detector 60 , but is advantageous because it moves its light source (not shown) in multiple directions, thereby increasing its ability to read bar coded data. Also, as is the case for the reader device 22 of FIG. 3 , the reader device 90 includes conventional magnetic strip circuitry 95 and a magnetic strip reader 96 to read conventional magnetic strip data.
[0032] In operation, the reader device 90 receives the card 80 . The card 80 has the bar coded data 82 and may also include magnetic strip data 104 stored thereon. The reader device 90 reads the magnetic strip data 104 in a conventional manner with the magnetic strip reader 96 and reports it to the controller 26 through the cable 28 , as is done in the device 22 ( FIG. 3 ). To read the bar coded data 82 , the card 80 is slid into a slot 106 of the device 90 until the bar coded data 82 is fully exposed in the window 92 . Light from the light source of the scanning bar code reader 94 reflects off the bar coded data 82 , thereby allowing the reader to read the data. The scanning bar code reader 94 interprets the bar coded data 82 and coverts it into ASCII data, which it then transmits to the controller 26 through the cable 62 . Firmware in the controller 26 detects the presence of the ASCII data and processes it into electronic data, a method similar to that used to process magnetic strip cards and described with reference to FIG. 3 , above. It is understood that different combinations of bar coded and magnetic strip data are expected, and the card 80 is meant to illustrate only some of the combinations. In typical operation, a successful product scan is acknowledged by an audiovisual signal by connection to the POS controller 26 .
[0033] A benefit of the modified reader devices 22 , 90 is that their modification can be done very easily, while maintaining full functionality of the remaining components. Also, the modification can be sold as a kit to simply replace the previous, conventional magnetic-strip-only reader devices with the improved devices 22 , 90 . Other modifications can easily be supported, such as using a single cable instead of two cables 28 , 62 , or sharing some or all of the circuitry 95 for use in bar coded and magnetic data interpretation.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 5 , the reference numeral 110 refers to a fuel dispenser system embodying features of another embodiment of the present invention. The fuel dispenser system 110 contains a fuel dispenser 112 connected to the computing center 30 and many components similar to those in the fuel dispenser system 10 ( FIG. 1 ), such components being similarly numbered.
[0035] A front side 116 houses the conventional graphics displays 20 a , 20 b and (optionally) a conventional magnetic-strip-only reader device 118 . The front side 116 also houses a scanning bar code reader 120 . The magnetic strip reader device 118 and scanning bar code reader 120 are connected to the controller 26 through cables 28 , 62 respectively. The scanning bar code reader 120 is similar to the reader 94 ( FIGS. 4 a , 4 b ) in that it moves its light source (not shown) in multiple directions, thereby increasing its ability to read bar coded data. By being placed directly on the front side 116 , the scanning bar code reader 120 realizes several additional benefits discussed in greater detail, below.
[0036] In operation, the bar coded card 80 , discussed above, may simply be placed or waved in front of the scanning bar code reader 120 . At this time, light from the light source projected from the scanning bar code reader 120 reflects off the bar coded card 80 so that a photo detector (also not shown) can read the bar coded data 82 . The scanning bar code reader 120 interprets the bar coded data 82 and converts it into ASCII data (or data in any other suitable format), which it transmits to the controller 26 through the cable 62 . Firmware in the controller 26 detects the presence of the data and processes it into electronic data, a method similar to that used with the bar code reader 60 and described with reference to FIG. 3 , above.
[0037] Referring to FIG. 6 , another benefit provided by the scanning bar code reader 120 is that it can read bar coded data from items other than bar coded cards. The reference numeral 130 designates a paper receipt with bar coded data 132 printed thereon. The receipt 130 may also be placed or waved in front of the scanning bar code reader 120 , as described above with reference to FIG. 5 .
[0038] Referring to FIG. 7 , in another embodiment, a separate system, such as a kiosk 140 , may be provided to interface with one or more conventional fuel dispensers 142 . The kiosk 140 includes a scanning bar code reader 144 , a display screen 146 , and a keypad 148 . The kiosk 140 is in communication with the computing center 30 , discussed above, which in turn is in communication with the controller 26 of the conventional dispenser 142 . By using the kiosk 140 , the features of the present invention may be achieved without physically modifying the fuel dispenser system 142 .
[0039] Listed below are several examples of how the fuel dispenser systems described above may be used. It is understood that the functionality described below is interchangeable with the different systems, and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
EXAMPLE A (FIGS. 5 - 6 )
[0040] 1. A customer enters a store and purchases, among other things, $10 worth of gasoline.
[0041] 2. The store gives the customer a receipt (similar to the receipt 130 ) which includes a description of the purchases and bar coded data (similar to bar coded data 132 ) indicating the prepaid $10 amount.
[0042] 3. The customer places the receipt in front of the scanning bar code reader 120 and then operates the fuel dispenser 110 to dispense $10 worth of gas.
EXAMPLE B (FIGS. 5 - 6 )
[0043] 1. A customer enters a store and purchases several items.
[0044] 2. The store, which has a reward program that gives free gasoline, gives the customer a receipt (similar to the receipt 130 ) having bar coded data (similar to bar coded data 132 ) indicating a free $1 worth of gasoline.
[0045] 3. The customer collects four more receipts over several visits to the store, each indicating a free $1 worth of gasoline.
[0046] 4. The customer sequentially places the five receipts in front of the scanning bar code reader 120 , and then operates the fuel dispenser 110 to dispense $5 worth of gas.
[0047] 5. The customer also inserts a magnetic strip credit card into the magnetic strip reader device 118 to allow an additional amount of gasoline to be dispensed. A charge for the additional amount is reported to a credit agency identified by the magnetic strip credit card.
EXAMPLE C (FIG. 7 )
[0048] 1. A customer obtains a bar coded card (similar to the card 80 ) indicating a “member” status (e.g., the customer is eligible for certain benefits).
[0049] 2. The customer places the card near the scanning bar code reader 144 of the kiosk 140 . The card identifies an account and an appropriate benefit (e.g., a 10.cent. per gallon discount).
[0050] 3. The customer enters on the keypad 148 a number identifying the fuel dispenser 142 .
[0051] 4. The customer operates the fuel dispenser 142 to dispense gasoline and the account is credited for the purchase (adjusted by the 10.cent. per gallon discount).
EXAMPLE D (FIGS. 1 - 3 )
[0052] 1. A customer obtains a bar coded card (similar to the card 80 ) which identifies a first account for a store and a conventional magnetic strip credit card which identifies a second account with a bank.
[0053] 2. The customer approaches the fuel dispenser 12 associated with the store and places the bar coded card into the reader 22 .
[0054] 3. The customer then places the magnetic strip credit card into the reader 22 .
[0055] 4. The customer operates the fuel dispenser 12 to dispense gasoline and the second account is credited for the purchase.
[0056] 5. The store records a data record in the first account of the customer's fuel purchase.
[0057] 6. Steps 2-5, above, are repeated four more times.
[0058] 7. The fuel dispenser 12 displays on the screen 20 b a message:
BECAUSE YOU HAVE PURCHASED FUEL HERE FIVE TIMES IN THE LAST THIRTY DAYS, YOU MAY HAVE A COMPLIMENTARY CAR WASH
[0000] and provides the customer with a predetermined number.
[0059] 8. The customer drives to the nearby carwash facility 46 and enters the predetermined number on an attached keypad (not shown).
[0060] 9. The carwash facility 46 interprets the predetermined number to identify that the customer has a complimentary carwash and performs the carwash service.
[0061] It should be noted that the carwash facility 46 described in Example D above may also have a bar code reader connected to the computing center 30 . In this way, the carwash facility 46 may provide similar functions as those described above with the reader 22 . Also, the carwash facility 46 and fuel dispenser 12 may be in communication so that instead of providing a predetermined number, a record associated with the bar coded card is stored indicating the complimentary carwash.
[0062] Referring to FIG. 8 , a block diagram of the components included in a preferred embodiment are shown and will now be described. A market point of sale (POS) terminal 200 is shown that may be located in a retail store, or the like. For example a Wal-Mart store is one type of retail outlet that may include a POS 200 in accordance with the present invention. Reference numeral 201 represents an item to be purchased by a customer in the retail store including POS 200 . It is the usual case that each item will include stock keeping unit (SKU) number, as well as a Universal Purchase Code (UPC) that is provided as an optically scannable bar code 202 . When purchasing the item 201 , a customer will present the item at POS 200 where it will be scanned in or otherwise entered.
[0063] A server data processing system 204 is shown and coupled with POS 200 . Server 204 may be a commercially available workstation computer from one of the various computer manufacturers, such as Compaq Computer, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard, or the like. A database 206 is linked to server 204 and includes multiple records 208 that correspond to customers purchasing items through POS 200 . It should be noted that many POS terminals 200 are contemplated as being connected to server 204 and may be distributed remotely across more than one store. Server 204 will include software that manages the transactions occurring on POS 200 , as well as the records 208 in database 206 . In a preferred embodiment, database 206 may be magnetic storage media, optical storage or the like.
[0064] Upon completion of a purchase transaction at POS 200 , the customer (if eligible) will be provided with a mechanism 210 that will allow discounted fuel to be purchased at pump 112 . That is a receipt, such as receipt 130 having a bar code 132 thereon may be provided to the customer. Additionally, a card with a magnetic stripe may be updated by POS 200 with information authorizing a fuel discount. Further, an identification code may be provided to the customer which can then be entered on a keypad included in the pump input/output I/O device 212 . It will be understood that I/O device 212 may also include a magnetic card reader 118 , bar code reader 120 , or the like. Pump 112 also includes controller 26 that is electrically coupled to server 204 and printer 214 . Controller 26 includes a microcontroller that processes and controls the various activity at pump 112 . Peripheral interface board (PIB) 216 or other device is included in a preferred embodiment to provide an interface between server 204 and controller 26 . PIB 216 allows the control signal output by server 204 to be interpreted by controller 26 . That is, PIB 216 receives the control signal from server 204 with the authorization code and the unit price discount offered to the customer. Interface board 216 will then issue an command to controller 26 to map the discount amount to each of the fueling point product select positions, i.e. regular, premium, etc. In one example, the discount value range may be encoded as an eight bit value to give 256 different discount amounts. In this manner, the server 204 will be able to authorize a price discount, PIB 216 will then issue a command compatible with controller 26 to cause pump 112 to dispense fuel at the discounted unit price.
[0065] It should be noted that while a single retail store and corresponding fuel dispensing facility have been shown in FIG. 8 and described above, the present invention contemplates the situation where an entire chain of stores or related stores may be interconnected such that any one of their POS terminals can be connected to a server through a network. Further, numerous fuel stations can also be coupled to a server to allow discounted fuel in response to customer purchases at one of the associated stores. For example, Wal-Mart and Starbucks may form an alliance such that purchases from one or the other (or both) stores can cause fuel discounts to be made available. A POS terminal in either store can be coupled to a server that maintains customer records. Also, fuel companies can also form alliances such that Texaco and Mobil can have their pump controllers connected to the same server. In this manner a customer may be entitled to fuel at a reduced unit cost based on purchases made at any Wal-Mart or Starbucks store nationwide, and be able to redeem that discount at any Texaco or Mobil station independent of geographic location. Further, it can be seen that with the Internet it is possible to connect virtually any retailer wishing to offer discounted fuel based on predefined purchase criteria with virtually any fuel station without geographic boundary. Discounts may also be offered for purchase of items other than fuel, such as in the case of a POS 30 , discussed above, located at a convenience store or other retailer.
[0066] FIG. 9 is a more detailed view of the fields that may be included in record 208 corresponding to a particular customer, e.g. A. Smith. As shown in field 300 of FIG. 9 , the customer name is provided along with an identification number. For new customers, or when the system of the present invention is first installed, a record will be created when the first item is purchased at POS 200 .
[0067] The date of purchase when at least one item was purchased at POS 200 of an associated retailer is provided in field 302 . The dollar value of the purchases is listed in field 304 . Retailers may often designate various items to trigger discounts related to competing or related items. The quantity of these designated, or trigger items, that were purchased on each date (if any) are provided in field 306 . As an example of a trigger item, a certain brand of baby formula may be purchased which will cause a coupon to be generated for a competing baby formula. Also, complementary items may be used as trigger items. That is, the purchase of cereal may trigger a coupon for a discount on milk.
[0068] Field 308 is the total quantity of items purchased by a certain customer on a specific date. This field, along with field 304 can be used as a criterion for determining customer loyalty. Field 310 will include data representing the availability of a fuel discount. The record will be updated in field 312 when a discount is actually used by a customer and the discount amount is provided in field 314 . Fields 316 , 318 and 320 provide totals for the dollar value fields 304 , designated items purchased 306 and total quantity 308 , respectively.
[0069] As an example, when A. Smith purchases $20 of merchandise on Jan. 5, 1999, record 208 is created by server 204 and stored in database 206 . At that time three (3) designated items were purchased out of a total quantity of five (5) items. These purchases did not meet the established criteria that would cause a discount on fuel to be made available.
[0070] Then, on Jan. 17, 1999, A. Smith purchased five designated items, 10 total items for $15.00. This purchase will cause the total designated item purchase by this customer to exceed five and cause a fuel discount to be offered. Thus, field 310 will indicate that a fuel discount was offered to A. Smith on Jan. 17, 1999. The discount amount is noted as $0.10 per gallon in field 314 . As noted above, the mechanism by which the discount is offered may be a receipt with a bar code, updated magnetic card, alphanumeric authorization code, or the like.
[0071] Further, record 208 shows that this customer took advantage of the discount and used it to purchase fuel on Jan. 20, 1999. It will be understood that this data can then be analyzed to determine the success of the discount program. That is, the predefined purchase criteria can be adjusted as needed to provide the discount for different items, different quantities of the items or a different discount amount.
[0072] Returning to the current example, A. Smith returns to the associated store and purchases additional items on Jan. 28, 1999, totaling $45.00. However, at this time A. Smith has not reached the next purchasing criteria threshold that will cause discounted fuel to be offered.
[0073] On Feb. 4, 1999, A. Smith once again purchases items from this, or another participating store. This purchase causes the total purchases to exceed $100.00. Also, A. Smith purchased three total items that caused the total quantity of merchandise purchased at this store to be greater than 20 items. In this example, exceeding both of these criteria will trigger a fuel discount. That is, purchasing greater than 20 items within a month will cause a $0.10 fuel discount to be offered and exceeding $100.00 in total purchase price will cause a $0.15 fuel discount. Those skilled in the art will understand that the fuel discount system of the present invention can be designed to offer the highest discount of the two, e.g. $0.15 per gallon, the lowest discount $0.10, an average of the two, or add the discounts and offer a $0.25 per gallon discount to the customer. In any event, it can be seen that information provided in a record 208 can be used to monitor a customers status relative to being offered discounted fuel and to determine when such offer is to be made to the customer.
[0074] Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other types of data may be used in addition to, or instead of the various information discussed as an example with regard to FIG. 9 . And, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention contemplates such additional information.
[0075] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the process implemented by the present embodiments to cause fuel discounts to be made available to eligible customers.
[0076] At step 400 the process is started and the customer purchases items at step 401 where the identification code for the purchased items is entered at POS 200 . The customer identity is also entered by using a member club card, personal identification number (PIN), or the like, such that an associated record can be created or updated. The data relating to the purchased items is then provided by POS 200 to server 204 , at step 402 . Server 204 then analyzes the customer record (step 403 ). That is, server 204 will create a record for a new customer or maintain an existing record by updating it with current purchases for customers already having a record.
[0077] At step 404 a determination is made as to whether the current purchases will cause a fuel discount to be offered. As noted above this step may include determining if the customer has purchased certain designated items that will trigger a discount, whether a total dollar value spent exceeds a predefined threshold and/or if a total quantity of items exceeds a threshold.
[0078] If at step 404 it is determined that the customer has not yet earned a fuel discount, then the method proceeds to step 413 and ends. However, if at step 404 it is determined that a fuel discount is available, then at step 405 the server authorizes the discount and sends a signal to the market POS termination 200 . At step 406 , a bar coded discount coupon, alphanumeric authorization code, updated magnetic card or other mechanism is provided to the customer. At step 407 , server 204 sends an authorization signal to PIB 216 , which then provides corresponding commands to controller 26 in pump 112 . The signal from server 204 will include an authorization code and a discount amount. The customer then inputs the fuel discount authorization code from POS 200 at pump 112 in step 408 . More particularly, the customer may swipe a magnetic card, scan in a bar code from a receipt of key in an alphanumeric code at I/O 212 of pump 112 . After the customer authorization code is entered the process then compares (step 408 a ) the authorization code from server 204 with the code from the customer and if a match exists then proceeds to step 409 and adjusts the price of the fuel to be dispensed for this transaction. However, if a match does not occur at step 408 a , then an error has occurred or an unauthorized customer is attempting to obtain discounted fuel. When no match occurs the process continues to step 413 and ends without allowing discounted fuel to be dispensed. Of course, those skilled in the art will understand that it is possible to send a notification signal to server 204 , gas station POS 34 or another terminal when a match does not occur to indicate a potentially fraudulent user may be attempting to obtain discounted fuel.
[0079] At step 410 , pump controller 26 notifies gas station POS 34 of the adjusted fuel price such that the fuel sales records will be in order and to ensure that the customer is correctly charged the discounted fuel price. Next, at step 411 pump controller 26 notifies server 204 of completion of the transaction for discounted fuel and readjusts the fuel price to its normal level by mapping the discount amount to zero. Server 204 then updates the customer record 208 in database 206 to reflect that the discount was used. Subsequent to step 412 , the process of the present embodiment continues to step 413 and ends.
[0080] Of course, many other configurations are contemplated by the present embodiment. For example, gas station POS 34 can also be a source of discounted gas. That is, POS 34 may be in a convenience store that also desires to develop customer loyalty by providing fuel discounts. In this scenario, a customer may purchase a certain volume of gas or other items such as candy bars and coffee which triggers a discount in the price of fuel. Authorization can then be provided directly to PIB 216 from POS 34 to adjust the unit price of fuel dispensed from pump 112 . Additionally, the authorization could be sent to server 204 to update or create customer record 208 .
[0081] Further, the purchase of fuel at full price could also be used to trigger discounts on items in the retail store having POS 200 . For example, when a customer purchases fuel a signal can be sent from controller 26 to PIB 216 to server 204 which then updates and analyzes the customer's record (or creates a record if none exists). If the customer has purchased fuel in excess of a predetermined value (dollar) or quantity (gallons) threshold, then a signal can be sent from server 204 back to controller 26 via PIB 216 , to authorize a discount for this customer on merchandise to be purchased at a participating store. More particularly, a bar coded receipt can be printed by printer 214 that the customer can then take to the participating store and redeem for a discount on one or more items purchased as POS 200 . When purchased a signal will be sent to server 204 and the customer record will be updated accordingly.
[0082] Other arrangements are also contemplated to implement discounts at the fuel dispensing system or associated store. For example, the mechanism 210 may not be needed if other means are provided to identify the customer at either the market POS 200 or the POS 30 . In one example, a customer card or number used at the market POS 200 may similarly be used at the gas station POS 30 such that the customer's discount can be automatically applied at the POS 30 . Identification may also be accomplished by an initial registration procedure whereby a customer card/number may be matched with the credit or debit account of the customer that the customer utilizes to make purchases at the POS 30 . In one example, transponder technology may be utilized at one or both of the market POS 200 or gas station POS 30 to properly identify the customer. Furthermore, the barcode may have some form of embedded security identification information for authenticating the purchase. In other configurations, the peripheral interface board may not be required. Pertaining to the discounts, a variety of arrangements are contemplated. Some examples entail the funding of the discount or reward by third parties other than the supplier of petroleum. Other discounts are offered in the form of a club discount or volume discount. The controller utilized may be any type of hardware device with software programming to implement the intended functions.
[0083] Referring to FIG. 11 , the reference numeral 510 refers to a fuel dispenser system embodying features of another embodiment of the present invention. The fuel dispenser system 510 includes a fuel dispenser 512 connected to the computing center 30 and many components similar to those in the fuel dispenser systems 10 and 110 ( FIGS. 1 and 5 ), such components being similarly numbered.
[0084] A front side 514 of the fuel dispenser houses the conventional graphics displays, 20 a and 20 b, (optionally) the conventional magnetic-strip-only reader device 118 , and the scanning bar code reader 120 . The front side 514 further houses a conventional currency accepting and change providing device 516 operably coupled to the CAT 26 by a conventional communications interface 518 . As will be recognized by persons having ordinary skill in the art, the currency accepting and change providing device 516 permits a customer to purchase a product by inserting paper and/or coin currency into one or more openings in the device. Any change owed to the consumer is then provided by the currency accepting and change providing device 516 in the form of paper and/or coin currency. The design and operation of currency accepting and change providing devices 516 is considered well known.
[0085] In operation, a consumer may purchase fuel using currency, a magnetic strip credit or debit card, a bar coded card (similar to the bar coded card 80 ), or a bar coded receipt (similar to the receipt 130 ). Regardless of the mode of payment used by the consumer, the consumer can overpay for the dispensed fuel and request currency (or the functional equivalent) as change or request that the system credit their credit or debit card account. In particular, referring to FIGS. 12 a - 12 c , the system 510 may implement a purchase process 600 in which the consumer may pay for the purchased fuel in step 602 . If the consumer overpays for the purchased fuel in step 602 , then the consumer may request that the system 510 credit their credit/debit card account, provide change in the form of currency, or provide change in the form of a currency equivalent in the form of a bar coded receipt in steps 604 and 606 . If the consumer requests change in the form of a currency equivalent in step 606 , then the system 510 generates a record 710 in an excess money database 712 that includes a record index 714 , the monetary value 716 assigned to the record index, the date 718 the record was created, and a predetermined expiration date 720 for the record in step 608 . The system 510 then prints out and provides the consumer with a bar coded receipt 722 that includes a bar coded representation 724 of the record index 714 in step 610 . The consumer may then use the bar coded receipt 722 to purchase fuel using the system 510 prior to the expiration date 720 of the corresponding record 710 . If the consumer does not request change in the form of a currency equivalent in step 606 , then the system 510 provides change in the form of currency or credits the account of the corresponding credit or debit card in step 612 . In this manner, the system 510 increases the number of purchases of fuel by the consumer since the cash equivalent must be used on a compatible system. As a result, consumer loyalty is enhanced thereby increasing profits for the operator of the fuel dispensing system 510 .
[0086] More generally, the teachings of the system 510 may be utilized in a general fashion in any retail or wholesale business in order to permit consumers to overpay for goods and services and receive cash-equivalents as change. The cash-equivalents may then be used by the consumers to purchase goods and services at retail and wholesale establishments having compatible purchasing systems.
[0087] Furthermore, the cash-equivalent could be a bar coded receipt or a magnetic strip card that includes one or more index values 714 encoded onto the magnetic strip. The index values 714 encoded onto the magnetic strip can then be accessed in a random or sequential pattern to permit purchases of goods and services.
[0088] The present embodiments of the invention provide a number of advantages. For example, the present embodiments provide a system for dispensing fuel in which users may be provided change in the form of a cash equivalent. The cash equivalent may then be used by the user to purchase fuel using the system. The system further creates a database that includes a plurality of records having corresponding index and monetary values. The cash equivalents may then be provided in the form of a bar coded or magnetic representation of the corresponding records. In this manner, the present embodiments of the invention provide a cost efficient and commercially valuable system for enhancing the profitability of fuel dispensing systems by improving customer loyalty.
[0089] Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, changes and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure. In some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention. | A system and computer-implemented method of providing an incentive for a customer to purchase non-fuel products or services at a store that sells the products or services and fuel. The system detects that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a first visit to the store, and provides the customer with a first reward entitling the customer to a first amount of free fuel. The system then detects that the customer purchased a number of non-fuel products or services in a second visit to the store, and provides the customer with a second reward entitling the customer to a second amount of free fuel. The customer is identified during a subsequent fueling transaction, and the system dispenses an amount of free fuel to the customer equal to the total of the first and second amounts of free fuel. | 6 |
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/804,506, filed Jul. 22, 2010, which claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/271,587, filed on Jul. 22, 2009, with the disclosures of each being incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Drawing blood and administering intravenous medication using medical devices including but not limited to catheters are common medical procedures, but conventional methods to perform these procedures have several limitations. First a vein must be found. Conventional methods of locating an appropriate vein or artery include restricting the blood supply to the location of the body so that the blood pressure in that area is greater, which results in the patient's veins becoming more visible. This is often accomplished by the use of a temporary tourniquet, which can result in extreme discomfort to the patient. Even after the temporary tourniquet is applied and certain veins are exposed, a medical professional may still not be able to find an appropriate vein. This problem can occur more readily in elderly patients and patients with low blood pressure. Thus, there is a need for a non-invasive method for locating veins.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards a portable hand-held medical apparatus that uses infrared light to detect veins beneath the skin, then illuminating the position of the veins on the skin surface directly above the veins using visible light. When the apparatus is held a distance above the outer surface of the skin, veins appear vastly different than the surrounding tissue, and veins that are otherwise undetectable because of their depth in the tissue are safely located and mapped on the patient's skin. Vein's will be accessed more readily and with greater confidence and as such, venipunctures will go more smoothly while vasculature shows up clearly on the skin's surface, making it easy to select the best vein to collect a blood sample from or administer medications to. Qualified medical personnel can observe the displayed vasculature to assist them in finding a vein of the right size and position for venipuncture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a charging cradle for the apparatus of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 , while being charged in the cradle of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 being charged in the cradle of FIG. 2 .
FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 , highlighting the buttons and LCD screen of the device of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 7 is an image of a health care professional utilizing the apparatus of FIG. 1 to enhance the vein image of veins in a patient's arm.
FIG. 8 is a Figure illustrating proper angling of the apparatus when being used to enhance the vein image of veins in a patient's arm.
FIG. 9 is Figure illustrating proper centering of the apparatus when being used to enhance the vein image of veins in a patient's arm.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 , with the battery cover removed to show the battery compartment.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the apparatus showing removal of the battery cover.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the apparatus with the battery cover removed, exposing the battery when properly installed in the battery compartment.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of battery of the apparatus.
FIG. 14 is a series of images identifying different indications the LCD display will provide for battery power levels.
FIG. 15 is a pair of screen shots of the LCD screen utilized for making configuration setting changes.
Table 1 is a list of all of the LCD button icons and their functionality.
FIG. 16 is a series of screen shots of the LCD display used for modifying the default Vein Display Setting.
FIG. 17 is a series of screen shots of the LCD display illustrating changing of the Display Time-out interval.
FIG. 18 is a screen shot illustrating how to change the Backlight Intensity of the apparatus.
FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the LCD screen used for changing the speaker volume of the apparatus.
FIG. 20 is a series of screen shots showing the steps for labeling of the apparatus according to a user's preference.
FIG. 21 is a screen shot illustrating how to change or review the language utilized on the apparatus.
FIG. 22 is a screen shot illustrating how to reset all of the settings for the apparatus back to the factory default settings.
FIG. 23 is a perspective view illustrating plugging a USB cable into the back of the apparatus to communicate with a PC, and a screen shot illustrating the LCD screen of the device schematically illustrating the connection.
FIG. 24 is a screen shot as it would appear on the PC of FIG. 23 when looking for the apparatus.
FIG. 25 is a screen shot as it would appear on the PC after the apparatus was detected, and the software running on the PC was checking to see if the apparatus software was current or needed to be updated.
FIG. 26 is a screen shot as it would appear on the PC, when an apparatus is not detected by the PC.
FIG. 27 is a screen shot illustrating the capability of naming the apparatus or changing the language, and doing so from the PC.
FIG. 28 is a series of screen shots of the PC illustrating the steps in which the software of an apparatus is updated.
FIG. 29 illustrates a cradle pack and mounting hardware for use in a medical environment utilizing a series of vein enhancing apparatuses.
FIG. 30 is an exploded view of the apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 31 shows a bottom perspective view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 32 shows a top perspective view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 33 is a top view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 35 is a bottom view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 36 is an end view of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 37 is a top view of the top section of the housing.
FIG. 38 is a side view of the top section of the housing.
FIG. 39 is a bottom view of the top section of the housing.
FIG. 39A is a cross sectional view through the apparatus of FIG. 39 .
FIG. 40 is a first section cut through the top section of the housing.
FIG. 41 is a second cross-section through the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 42 is an exploded view of the photodiode assembly.
FIG. 42A is a reverse perspective view of the photodiode board in the exploded view of FIG. 42 .
FIG. 43 is a top view of the photodiode assembly.
FIG. 44 is a bottom view of the photodiode engine.
FIG. 45 shows a perspective view of the bottom section of the housing with a portion of the photodiode assembly mounted inside the cavity of the bottom section of the housing.
FIG. 46 is a bottom view of the portable apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 47 is a view of the inside of the battery cover.
FIG. 47A is a view of the outside of the battery cover.
FIGS. 48A-D is an assembly level block/schematic diagram of the present invention
FIGS. 49A-C is an additional assembly level block diagram of the present invention.
FIGS. 50A-D is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the user interface board.
FIGS. 51A-B is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode board connection.
FIG. 52 is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the USB chip.
FIGS. 53A-E is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode board.
FIG. 54 is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the battery connector board
FIGS. 55A-E is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the visible laser drive.
FIGS. 56A-D is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the laser safety feature of the present invention
FIGS. 57A-D is an additional schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode engine.
FIGS. 58A-E is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the speaker of the present invention
FIG. 59A-G is an additional schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode engine.
FIGS. 60A-F is an additional schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode assembly.
FIGS. 61A-E is a schematic of a circuit diagram of a microcontroller of the present invention.
FIGS. 62A-D is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the power supply of the present invention.
FIGS. 63A-B is an additional schematic of a circuit diagram of the power supply and its peripheral connections.
FIGS. 64A-E is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the battery management system.
FIGS. 65A-D is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the photodiode engine.
FIGS. 66A-E illustrates the graphical or symbolic information that may be projected onto a patient other than just vein imaging.
FIG. 67A illustrates a first arrangement of optical detectors that may be used for the apparatus.
FIG. 67B schematically illustrates an alternative arrangement of optical detectors.
FIG. 67C illustrates a second alternative arrangement for the optical detectors.
FIG. 68 illustrates one mechanical arrangement for the scanning mirrors.
FIG. 69 illustrates smoothing of the edges of the scanning mirrors to improve the high resolution images at smooth video rates.
FIG. 70 illustrates the apparatus illuminating on the skin of a patient, a coated needle that has been inserted beneath the patient's skin.
FIG. 71A illustrates a typical return signal collected from photodiodes of the current invention, with local peaks corresponding to vein locations.
FIG. 71B represents the same signal of FIG. 71A after differentiation.
FIG. 72 illustrates a few consecutive scan lines crossing a single vein.
FIG. 73 is a graph showing the output power versus the forward current for a laser, to illustrate an inflection point.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an apparatus 10 ( FIG. 1 ) that is an opto-electronic device that assists medical practitioners by locating veins and then projecting an image of those veins directly on a patient's skin. The apparatus may be portable, hand held, and battery powered. However in an alternative embodiment an external power supply may be used to power the apparatus. The apparatus operates by using infrared light to detect veins beneath the skin, and then illuminates the position of the veins on the skin surface directly above the veins using visible light. The apparatus 10 may be battery powered, and rechargeable using a cradle 5 ( FIG. 2 ), and may generally be stored therein ( FIGS. 3-4 ).
The apparatus 10 generally comprises a housing 11 , internal circuitry 12 , keypad 13 , display 14 , scanner assembly 15 , and battery pack 16 . The housing 11 may generally comprise a top section 17 and bottom section 18 as shown in FIG. 30 . Although a specific shape for the housing and the top and bottom sections are shown it will be appreciated that this is merely a representative example and other configurations are intended to be included in the invention. The function of the housing 11 is to for example provide a location to mount the internal circuitry 12 , keypad 13 , display 14 , scanner assembly 15 , and battery 16 . A general embodiment of the housing will be disclosed, but it will be generally understood that modifications to the housing to accommodate different internal circuitry, keypad, display, laser assembly, and battery are within the scope of this invention. In addition, if other features are desired the housing may be modified to include those features.
The housing 11 may be comprised generally of a top section 17 and a bottom section 18 . FIGS. 31 and 32 show a representation of one embodiment of the bottom housing section 18 of the housing 11 , in perspective views, and which are detailed in FIGS. 33-36 . As seen in FIGS. 31 and 32 , the bottom housing section 18 generally comprises a left sidewall 19 and a right sidewall 20 , which are connected by a front wall 22 and rear wall 23 . The exterior surfaces of those walls, which may be handled by the user, are seen in FIG. 35 , while the interior surfaces of those walls, which may receive the electronic circuitry and other components, are visible in FIG. 33 .
The walls 19 - 22 may each be angled, and may be so angled simply for aesthetic reasons, or for better handling by a user, or the angling (draft) may be the result of the manufacturing process used to create the housing bottom section 18 , possibly being a casting process, a forging process, or a plastic injection molding process. However, the walls 19 - 22 need not be so angled, and the housing bottom section 18 may also be manufactured using any other suitable manufacturing process or processes, including, but not limited to, machining of the part. One end of the angled walls 19 - 22 may terminate in a generally flat bottom wall 23 , to create an internal cavity 24 . The generally flat bottom wall 23 may transition, using transition wall 25 , into another generally flat wall 23 A. Wall 23 A may be interrupted by a series of internal walls ( 26 A, 26 B, 26 C, and 26 D) extending therefrom and an internal top wall 26 E connecting those internal side walls, to form a compartment that may house the battery 16 . The other end of the angled walls 19 - 22 may terminate in an edge 27 . Edge 27 , at front wall 21 and in the nearby regions of sidewalls 19 and 20 , may be generally planar, but may transition into edge 27 A, which serves as a transition to generally planar edge 27 B that begins at rear wall 22 . Each of the edges 27 , 27 A, and 27 B of the housing bottom section 18 may have a step for receiving a corresponding protruding flange of the housing top section 17 , when they are joined during assembly of the apparatus 10 .
In one embodiment, the front wall 21 and sidewalls 19 and 20 of the housing bottom section 18 may have extending up towards the plane of the edge 27 , one or more cylindrical members—a boss 107 , which is adapted to receive mounting screws 106 , and may include the use of threaded inserts for mounting of the housing top section 17 to the housing bottom section 18 . It will be appreciated that other mounting means may be used, including, but not limited to, the use of a snap closure, or a post and recess combination with a friction fit therebetween.
The bottom wall 23 of housing bottom section 18 may be provided with two orifices 28 , and 29 . On the outside surface of bottom wall 23 there may be one or more annular recesses 28 A and 29 A, being concentric to orifices 28 and 29 , respectfully, each of which may be used to receive a lens 90 ( FIGS. 6 and 10 ).
Protruding inward from the inside of bottom wall 23 may be cylindrical protrusions 31 , and 32 . Protrusions 31 and 32 may be concentric with orifices 28 and 29 , respectfully, and may be adapted to receive a portion of the photodiode masks 66 and 67 of the scanner assembly 15 , which are discussed later.
Mounted inside the battery compartment formed by walls 26 A- 26 E may be the battery pack 16 . The battery pack 16 ( FIG. 13 ) can be any of a variety of models known in the art, but in a preferred embodiment, it may be rectangular to fit inside the compartment formed by walls 26 A- 26 E. One end 16 A of the battery pack 16 may be adapted to be received by the power connection 95 on the main circuit board ( FIG. 30 ). The battery pack 16 may be secured in the battery compartment by a battery cover 96 which attaches to the bottom section 18 of housing 11 . The battery cover 96 may attach to the bottom section of the housing 18 in a variety of ways, such as by clips or screws. As seen in FIG. 47 , the battery cover 96 may be secured by having a pair of flanges 96 A extending therefrom be received in a pair of slots 34 in the bottom section 18 of housing 11 . FIGS. 62-64 are schematics of circuit diagrams which demonstrate how the battery pack is connected to the internal circuitry 12 , the scanner assembly 15 , and remaining electrical components of the invention.
FIGS. 37-41 show a representation of one embodiment of the top section 17 of the housing 11 . The housing top section 17 may be formed similar to the housing bottom section 18 , and thus may have a top wall 81 from which extends, generally at an angle, a left sidewall 83 and right sidewall 84 , and a front wall 85 and rear wall 86 . The front wall 85 and rear wall 86 may extend from the left sidewall 83 and right sidewall 84 , respectively, creating an internal cavity 87 . FIG. 37 shows the outer surfaces of those walls, while FIG. 39 shows the inner surfaces of those walls. The walls 83 - 86 extend out to a generally planar edge 82 , which may have a peripheral flange protruding therefrom to mate with the recess of the housing bottom section 18 . In one embodiment, housing top section 17 may have extending down from top wall 81 and walls 83 - 86 , towards the plane of the edge 82 , one or more cylindrical members 108 , which are adapted to receive mounting screws 106 , and may include use of threaded inserts. The cylindrical members 108 of the housing top section 17 may be positioned to be in line with the corresponding members 107 of the housing bottom section 18 to be secured thereto during assembly of the scanner 10 .
The outer surface of the top wall 81 of the housing top section 17 may have a step down into a flat recessed region 81 A having an edge periphery 81 P. That flat recessed region 81 A may comprise of an opening 91 through to the inside surface, which may be a rectangular opening, and a plurality of shaped orifices 93 A, 9313 , and 93 C. The rectangular-shaped opening 91 may be sized and otherwise adapted to receive the display 14 , which is discussed in more detail hereinafter. The flat recessed region 81 A of top wall 81 may receive a display guard 92 ( FIG. 30 ), to provide a barrier between the display 14 and the outside environment. The plurality of shaped orifices 93 , which may also be correspondingly found in the display guard 92 , are adapted to receive a plurality of buttons 77 or other activating means which may be mounted directly under the top plate 81 of the housing top section 17 . In a preferred embodiment, there are three buttons—a first display button 110 , a second display button 111 , and a power button 112 . Buttons 110 - 112 may be any shape practicable, but in a preferred embodiment, display buttons 110 and 111 are elliptical, and button 112 is circular. (Note that a fourth button 113 protruding from the side of the housing, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 30 , may also be used to power the apparatus up or down, as well as accomplish other functions as well).
Alternatively, other means of user input, such as touch screen, touch pad, track ball, joystick or voice commands may replace or augment the buttons.
The internal circuitry 12 is illustrated in FIGS. 48-65 , and can include a main circuit board 43 , a user interface board 44 , USB chip 46 , and speaker 47 . In one embodiment, the main circuit board 43 contains at least two orifices 48 and 49 which are adapted to receive mounting member 50 and mounting member 51 . Mounting members 50 and 51 may be used to secure the main circuit board 43 to the heat sink 52 . Mounting members 50 and 51 may be screws, or pins or any similar type of member used to secure internal circuitry known in the art. FIG. 48 is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the main circuit board 43 and how it connects to the remaining components of the present invention.
As seen in FIG. 30 , heat sink 52 generally comprises a left sidewall 99 , and right sidewall 100 , and a front sidewall 104 extending between the left and right sidewall. In a preferred embodiment heat sink 52 may also contain a middle bridge 101 which connects the left sidewall 99 with the right sidewall 100 . Extending from the middle bridge and curving downwards is a hook member 102 . The hook member has an internal cavity 103 , which is adapted to receive the USB chip 46 . On the front sidewall 104 , and left and right sidewalls 99 and 100 , there may be cylindrical members 105 that are adapted to receive mounting screws 106 , and may include the use of threaded inserts. Mounting members 40 may be used to mount the scanner assembly 15 . In one embodiment, mounting members 40 may be screws. It will be appreciated that the photodiode assembly may be mounted by other means.
The heat sink capabilities might be enhanced by a fan or blower arranged in a way that would direct the air flow onto the heat sink and out of the housing. Additionally, a thermodynamic or thermoelectric heat pump may be employed between the heat-dissipating portions of the heat sink, to facilitate heat exchange. In a preferred embodiment, a heat shield 80 is mounted onto the top surface of the user interface board 44 .
Preferably being directly connected the main circuit board 43 , is the user interface board 44 . FIG. 50 is a schematic of a circuit diagram of the user interface board. The user interface board 44 contains the firmware which sends a graphic user interface to the display 14 , and stores the user's preferences. In one embodiment the interface board 44 is directly mounted to the top surface of the main circuit board. In one embodiment, the display 14 is directly mounted to the user interface board 44 , and may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that an Organic Light Emitting Diode display (OLED) could work equally well. Alternatively, other means of information delivery may be used, such as lamp or LED indicators and audible cues. Some of the information that may be delivered to the user, other than the projection of vein images onto a patient's arm, may be visual cues also being projected on the patient's arm alongside the vein images, visual cues regarding additional information concerning the veins.
Mounted to the user interface board may be a keypad 13 . Keypad 13 , as noted previously, may be comprised of a plurality of control means which may include, but is not limited to, a plurality of buttons 77 . In a preferred embodiment, there may be three buttons used for controlling the apparatus—buttons 110 - 112 . Each of these buttons may have a first end 78 and a second end 79 . The first ends 78 of the plurality of buttons is adapted to be exposed through corresponding openings in the housing top section 17 , where they may be toggled by the user. The second end 79 of the buttons is adapted to be received by the user interface board 44 .
Also attached to the main circuit board is the USB chip 46 . USB chip mounts to the main circuit board 43 at a pin connection, and provides a pin connection for speaker 65 . The USB chip 46 is preferably mounted to the bottom surface of the main circuit board.
Also connected to the main circuit board is the scanner assembly 15 ( FIG. 42 ). The scanner assembly 15 generally includes a photodiode engine 53 , a photodiode board 54 , and a heat pipe 55 . In one embodiment, the photodiode engine 53 is directly mounted to the top surface of the photodiode board 54 , by one or more screws 56 , 57 , and 58 . In another embodiment, the bottom surface of the photodiode board is mounted to a foam fresen 59 . In the same embodiment, the foam fresen 59 is mounted to the bottom plate of the bottom section. In a preferred embodiment the foam fresen 59 has an orifice 69 which is adapted to receive the portion of the photodiode engine which houses the display light 62 . In a preferred embodiment the foam fresen 59 has a first arcuate cutout 75 at its front end and a second arcuate cutout 76 at its rear end. Arcuate cutouts 75 and 76 provide an arcuate surface for grommets 73 and 74 to be received.
The photodiode engine comprises a display light 62 ( FIG. 44 ). FIGS. 55 , 61 , and 65 are schematics of circuit diagrams relating to the photodiode engine and its peripheral connections. The display light 62 may be comprised of at least a red laser 63 and an infrared (IR) laser 64 . In a preferred embodiment red laser 63 may be a laser diode emitting light at a wavelength of 642 nm, and an infrared (IR) laser 64 that may emit light at a wavelength in the near infrared to be at 785 nm. Other combinations of wavelengths of more than two lasers may be used to enhance both the collection of the vein pattern and the display of the collected information. Red laser 63 projects an image of the vein pattern on the patient's skin. The laser diode has a wavelength of 642 nm, which is in the visible red region, but falls outside the spectral response range of photodiodes 60 and 61 . Red laser 63 illuminates areas with no veins, and does not illuminates areas with veins. This results in a negative image that shows the physical vein locations. Alternatively, the positive image may be used, where the red laser illuminates the vein locations and does not illuminate spaces between veins.
The red laser may be employed to project information other then vein locations, by means of turning on the laser or increasing its brightness when the laser beam is passing over the brighter parts of graphical or symbolic information to be projected, and turning off the laser or increasing its brightness when the laser beam is passing over the darker parts of graphical or symbolic information to be projected. Such information may include the vein depth, vein diameter, or the degree of certainty with which the device is able to identify the vein location, expressed, for example, through the projected line width 501 ( FIG. 66( a )), the length of the strokes in a dotted line 502 ( FIG. 66( b )), as a bar graph 503 ( FIG. 66( c )) or a numeric indication 504 ( FIG. 66( d )). It may also include user's cues 505 and 506 , respectively for optimizing the position of the device, such as choosing the correct tilt and distance to the target ( FIG. 66( e )).
Vein location and other information may also be displayed by projection means other than scanning laser, through the use of, for example, a DLP (Digital Light Processing) projector, a LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) micro-projector, or a holographic projector.
Additionally, the firmware of the photodiode board 54 may be programmed to recognize and modify display 14 , and projection by the display light 62 to represent a needle, catheter, or similar medical device 573 which has been inserted beneath a patient's skin and a part of it 573 a is no longer visible to the naked eye ( FIG. 70 ). The needle or medical apparatus may be made with, or coated with a material that absorbs or reflects a specified amount of the light from the IR laser 64 . Glucose is one example of a biomedical material which could be used as a coating to absorb or reflects a specified amount of an IR laser. Photodiodes 60 and 61 will detect the difference in reflection and absorption, and the photodiode board 54 may modify display 14 to show the needle or medical device. The photodiode board 54 may also be programmed to modify projection by the display light 64 so that the needle or medical device which has been inserted into the patient's skin is displayed.
More detailed information on the use of the laser light to view the veins can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/478,322 filed Jun. 29, 2006 entitled MicroVein Enhancer, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/823,862 filed Jun. 28, 2007 entitled Three Dimensional Imagining of Veins, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/807,359 filed May 25, 2007 entitled Laser Vein Contrast Enhancer, and U.S. application Ser. No. 12/215,713 filed Jun. 27, 2008 entitled Automatic Alignment of a Contrast Enhancement System the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The photodiode board 54 comprises one or more silicon PIN photodiodes, which are used as optical detectors. In a preferred embodiment, photodiode board 54 comprises at least two silicon PIN photodiodes 60 and 61 ( FIG. 42A ). The field of view (FOV) of the optical detectors is preferably arranged to cover the entire area reachable by light from IR laser 64 . FIGS. 8 and 10 are schematics of circuit diagrams which represent the photodiode board and its peripheral connections. In front of these photodiodes 60 and 61 are filters 120 and 121 ( FIG. 42A ) to serve as an optical filters that transmit infrared light, but absorb or reflect light in the visible spectrum. Mounted to photodiode 60 and 61 may be photodiode masks 66 and 67 . Photodiode masks 66 and 67 comprise a shaped orifice 68 which is adapted to be received by photodiode 60 and 61 respectively. In a preferred embodiment photodiode masks 66 and 67 are circular and are adapted to be received by the cylindrical protrusions 31 and 32 of the housing bottom section 18 . The photodiode board 54 is further comprised of an orifice 70 . The opening 70 may be rectangular and adapted to receive the portion of the photodiode engine which houses display light 62 . In a preferred embodiment the photodiode board 54 has a first arcuate cutout 71 at its front end, and a second arcuate cutout 72 at its rear end. Arcuate cutouts 71 and 72 provide an arcuate surface for grommets 73 to be received.
Other arrangements of optical detectors may be used too. In one possible arrangement, depicted on FIG. 67( a ), the photodiode's field of view (FOV) 510 may be shaped by lenses—Fresnel lenses, curved mirrors or other optical elements 511 —in such way that the FOV extent on the patient's arm becomes small and generally comparable with the size of the IR laser spot 512 . This reduced FOV is forced to move synchronously with the laser spot by virtue of directing the optical path from the patient's arm to the photodiodes through the same scanning system 513 employed for the scanning of the laser beam, or through another scanning system, synchronous with the one employed for the scanning of the laser beam, so the FOV continuously overlaps the laser beam and follows its motion. Additional optical elements, such as a bounce mirror 514 , might be used to align the laser bean with FOV. Such an arrangement is advantageous in that it enables the photodiodes to continuously collect the reflected light from the IR laser spot while the ambient light reflected from the rest of the target generally does not reach the photodiodes.
Alternatively, the FOV of the photodiodes may be reduced in only one direction, and routed through the scanning system in such way that it follows the laser beam only in the direction where the FOV has been reduced, while in the other direction the FOV covers the entire extent of the laser scan ( FIG. 67( b )). Such FOV may be shaped, for example, by a cylindrical lens in front of a photodiode. As the laser spot 512 is moving along a wavy path defined by superposition of the fast horizontal scan and slow vertical scan, the FOV moves only vertically, which the same speed as the slow vertical scan, thus covering the scan line the laser spot is currently on. Such arrangement may be implemented, for example, by routing the FOV of the photodiode only through the slow stage of the scanning system 513 , but not its fast stage. Yet alternatively, the FOV may be shaped to follow the laser beam in close proximity without overlapping it ( FIG. 67( c )). In this case, the FOV still moves in sync with the laser spot 512 , but since it does not include the laser spot itself, the light reflected from the surface of the skin does not reach the photodiode. Instead, some portion of the light which penetrates the body, and, after scattering inside tissues, re-emerges from the skin surface some distance away from the laser spot, forming an afterglow area 515 , which is partly overlapped with FOV. Collecting only the scattered light while reducing overall signal strength, has the advantage of avoiding variations caused by non-uniform reflections from random skin features and may be helpful in discerning deep veins.
Multiple photodiodes may also be arranged in an array in such way that their individual FOVs cover the entire area illuminated by the IR laser. At any given moment, only the signals from one or more photodiodes whose FOV overlap the laser beam or fall in proximity to it may be taken into the account.
The photodiodes convert the contrasted infrared image returning from the patient into an electrical signal. The photodiode board 54 amplifies, sums, and filters the current it receives to minimize noise. The return signal of the photodiode engine 53 is differentiated to better facilitate discrimination of the contrast edges in the received signal received by photodiodes 60 and 61 . FIG. 71 ( a ) represents a typical signal collected from photodiodes 60 and 61 and digitized. Local peaks 580 correspond to the locations of veins in the patient body. FIG. 71 ( b ) represents the same signal after the differentiation. Since differentiation is known to remove the constant parts of the signal and amplify its changing parts, peaks 580 a can be easily found by comparison to ground reference (zero signal level of FIG. 71( b )). The photodiode board 54 also determines the locations where the infrared light has the lowest signal reflectivity using a scan system. These lower reflectivity locations indicate the vein locations.
Signal processing methods other than differentiation, including Digital Signal Processing (DSP) may be employed as well, such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Finite Impulse Response (FIR) and Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filtration. Additionally, more complex image processing algorithms might be used, for example based on continuity analysis, as the veins generally form continuous patterns. For example, FIG. 72 shows a few consecutive scan lines crossing a single vein 592 . While most lines produce distinctive signal peaks 590 , indicating the vein location, in some lines those picks might by masked by noise 591 . Still, connecting the vein location points derived from distinctive picks allows the algorithm to establish and display the true location of the vein.
To facilitate the use of DSP algorithms, the electronic circuitry to digitize the signal from the photodiodes and store it subsequently in some form of digital memory might be provided. Consequently, the display of the vein pattern by the red laser might be delayed with respect to the acquisition of said pattern with the IR laser. Such delay may vary from a small fraction of the time interval needed to scan the entire display area to several such intervals. If necessary, an intentional misalignment between the red and IR laser might be introduced, so the red laser can light up or leave dark the areas where the IR laser detected the lower or higher reflectivity, although the red laser beam would travel through those areas at different times than the IR laser.
The scan system employed by the apparatus 10 of the present invention uses a two dimensional optical scanning system to scan both the infrared and visible laser diodes. A dichroic optical filter element 125 in FIG. 44 allows laser diodes 63 and 64 to be aligned on the same optical axis and be scanned simultaneously. This allows for a minimal time delay in detecting the infrared reflected signal, and then re-projecting the visible signal.
The scan system employed by the apparatus 10 of the present invention has a horizontal and vertical cycle. Vertical scanning is driven in a sinusoidal fashion, and in one embodiment it occurs at 56.6 Hz, which is derived from 29 KHz sinusoidal horizontal scan. The Scan system is also interlaced. During a horizontal cycle the projection system is active only one half the horizontal scan system and blanked during the alternate half of the scan cycle. On the alternate vertical cycle the blanked and active portion of the horizontal scan is reversed. The top and bottom areas of the scan are blanked as well with a small area at the top of scan, located behind a mechanical shield for safety, reserved for execution of a laser calibration activity.
Alternative scan system might be used as well, such as those using a single scanning mirror deflectable in two orthogonal directions, or two uni-directional mirrors with smaller ratios of horizontal and vertical frequencies, such that the scan pattern forms a Lissajou figure (See http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/l/i/lissajous%20figures/source.html, and for animated figures, http://ibiblio.org/e-notes/Lis/Lissa.htm, which are incorporated herein by reference).
Various mechanical arrangements for scanning mirrors may be used. In one embodiment ( FIG. 68 ) the mirror 550 , made of glass, plastic or silicon, is attached to a free end of a cantilevered torsion fiber 551 , made of glass or other linearly-deformable material, the other end of which is fixed to a base plate 552 . A magnet 553 , polarized in a direction perpendicular to the fiber, is attached to the fiber between the base plate and the mirror. A coil 554 may be positioned in close proximity to the magnet. The coil 554 may be used both for driving the mirror by virtue of energizing it with AC current, as well as for collecting the positional feedback by virtue of amplifying the voltage induced in the coil by magnet's oscillations. Both functions may be accomplished simultaneously, for example, by using one half of the mirror's oscillatory cycle for driving and the other half for collecting feedback. Alternatively, other means of driving the mirror, such as inducing torsional oscillation on the entire base plate by means of a piezo-electric element 555 , might be used. The magnet 553 and the coil 554 are used exclusively for feedback in this case.
The torsion mode of the fiber 551 may be higher than fundamental, meaning that at least one torsional node, i.e. a cross-section of the fiber which remains still during oscillations, is formed. Such nodes allows for generally higher oscillation frequency at the expense of generally lower oscillation amplitude.
Since high oscillation frequency is desirable to obtain high-resolution images at smooth video rates, the linear speed of the mirror's outer edges becomes quite high as well, leading to excessive dust buildup along those edges. To alleviate this problem, the edges of the mirror may be smoothed by either removing some mirror material 560 ( FIG. 69 ), or adding a layer of bevel-shaped coating 561 around the edges of the mirror.
Non-mechanical scanning systems, such as acousto-optic, electro-optic or holographic might be employed as well.
In a preferred embodiment, each scan line is divided into 1024 pixels numbered 0-1023. In pixel range 0-106, red laser 63 is at its threshold, and IR laser 64 is off. The term “threshold”, as applicable to lasers, means an inflection point on the laser Power-Current (P-I) curve, where the current becomes high enough for the stimulated emission (aka “lasing”) to begin. This point is marked Ith of FIG. 73 , which, while taken from the documentation of Sanyo Corp., is representative of the vast majority of laser diodes. In pixel range 107-146, red laser 63 is active, and IR laser 64 is at its threshold. In pixel range 182-885, red laser 63 is active, and IR laser 64 is on. In pixel range 886-915, red laser 63 is active, and IR laser 64 is off. In pixel range 916-1022, red laser 63 is at its threshold, and IR laser 64 is off. In pixel range 0-106, red laser 63 is at its threshold, and IR laser 64 is off.
Projection is accomplished by loading the appropriate compare registers in the complex programmable logic device, or CPLD. The content of the registers is then compared to the running pixel counter, generating a trigger signal when the content of a register matches the pixel count. The “left” register is loaded with the pixel count of when the laser should be turned off and the “right” register loaded with the pixel count of when the laser should be turned back on. The registers should be loaded on the scan line prior to the line when the projection is to occur. Projection is only allowed during the “Active” part of the red laser scan, i.e. between pixels 107 and 916 , as explained above.
To improve vein visibility it is important to maintain the laser spot of a proper size on the surface of the patient's skin. This may be accomplished by fixed laser-focusing optics, or by an auto-focusing system which adjusts the beam focusing in response to changes in the distance to the target.
Certain patient's veins or a portion of their veins might not be displayed well or at all. Causes for veins not be displayed include vein depth skin conditions (e.g. eczema, tattoos), hair, highly contoured skin surface, and adipose (i.e. fatty) tissue. The apparatus is not intended to be used as the sole method for locating veins, but should be used either prior to palpation to help identify the location of a vein, or afterwards to confirm or refute the perceived location of a vein. When using the apparatus qualified medical personnel should always follow the appropriate protocols and practices.
In one embodiment, when the user wishes to operate the apparatus, the user may apply a perpendicular force to the top surface of the side button 113 , or depress power button 112 to power the device. Once the device has been powered, the user can turn on the display light 62 by pressing and holding the top surface of the side button 113 for a set amount of time. In a preferred embodiment the photodiode board 54 has been programmed to activate the display light 62 after the user has held side button 113 for a half second.
Embedded in the user interface board 44 may be firmware, which supports the displaying, upon LCD 14 , of a menu system (see FIGS. 15-22 ). The menu system permits a user to access a plurality of features that the apparatus of the present invention can perform. The user can cycle through different display modes that the firmware has been programmed to transmit to the display by tapping the top surface of the side button 98 . The features embedded in the firmware can include a menu system, menu settings, display status. In one embodiment, the first LCD button 110 is programmed to access the menu mode ( FIG. 15 ). One of those features of the firmware permits labeling or naming of a particular apparatus, as seen in FIG. 20 . Such labeling may become advantageous in an environment where a medical service provider utilizes a plurality of the apparatus 10 , such as in an emergency room. The plurality of apparatus 10 may be maintained in a corresponding plurality of rechargeable cradles 5 , which may be mounted to a bracket 200 , and secured thereto using fastening means 201 , as seen in FIG. 29 . Power to the cradles 5 may be supplied from an adapter 202 plugged into a wall outlet, with a power splitter 203 supplying power to each cradle 5 . Each of the plurality of apparatus 10 in this example may be appropriately labeled, “ER1,” “ER2,” . . . .
When the apparatus's 10 display light 62 is activated, the apparatus 10 can be used to locate veins. The user can access the scan function by navigating to it using the keypad 13 . The firmware will contain a feature which will allow the user to cycle through display settings using a menu system to optimize vein display for the current subject. When the display light 62 is deactivated, the display 14 remains available for viewing status and making configuration settings using the menu system. | A portable vein viewer apparatus may be battery powered and hand-held to reveal patient vasculature information to aid in venipuncture processes. The apparatus comprises a first laser diode emitting infrared light, and a second laser diode emitting only visible wavelengths, wherein vasculature absorbs a portion of the infrared light causing reflection of a contrasted infrared image. A pair of silicon PIN photodiodes, responsive to the contrasted infrared image, causes transmission of a corresponding signal. The signal is processed through circuitry to amplify, sum, and filter the outputted signals, and with the use of an image processing algorithm, the contrasted image is projected onto the patient's skin surface using the second laser diode. Revealed information may comprise vein location, depth, diameter, and degree of certainty of vein locations. Projection of vein images may be a positive or a negative image. Venipuncture needles may be coated to provide visibility in projected images. | 0 |
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application is a Continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/366,236, filed Feb. 13, 2003, entitled “WEB SERVICES RUNTIME ARCHITECTURE,” which application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/359,098, filed Feb. 22, 2002, entitled “WEB SERVICES RUNTIME ARCHITECTURE,” as well as U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/359,231, filed Feb. 22, 2002, entitled “WEB SERVICES PROGRAMMING AND DEPLOYMENT,” each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0002] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates to the implementation of web services.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Web services are becoming an integral part of many application servers, with an importance that can rival HTTP or RMI stacks. Java standards for Web services are being developed through the Java Community Process. Businesses are building important applications on top of Web services infrastructures, such as is available in WebLogic Server from BEA Systems of San Jose, Calif. Presently, however, there is no complete implementation of Web services upon which to build.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] A system and method in accordance with the present invention overcome deficiencies in the prior art by utilizing a runtime architecture for Web services. A container driver is used in the architecture for accepting an invoke request for Web services, such as from a protocol adapter. The container driver can perform any data binding and unbinding required to process the invoke request, utilizing a plugin component such as a Java binding codec, SOAP codec, XML codec, or custom codecs.
[0006] An interceptor can receive the context information for the invoke request from the container driver and modify the message context to be used with Web services. An invocation handler can receive the context information from the container driver after the message context has been modified by the interceptor. The invocation handler can pass parameters from the message context to the target of the request and process values returned from the target. The invocation handler can then pass these values to the container driver, such that the container driver can formulate a response to the invoke request. The response and message context can then be returned to the client or protocol adapter.
[0007] Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a Web service container that can be used with the system of FIG. 1 .
[0010] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a Web service client that can be used with the system of FIG. 1 .
[0011] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method fo the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] Systems and methods in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can overcome deficiencies in existing Web service implementations by providing a more stable, complete implementation that is suitable as an application integration platform.
[0013] A Web services architecture can allow for communication over a number of transports/protocols. HTTP can continue to be a primary transport mechanism for existing applications, while transport mechanisms such as SMTP, FTP, JMS, and file system mailboxes can also be supported.
[0014] Message formats such as SOAP 1.1 and 1.2 with attachments can be used as primary message formats. It is also possible to accept Web service requests that are XML-encoded and submitted via HTTP posts. A Web services architecture can support plugging in other message formats and provide a mechanism for access to the raw message for user code.
[0015] A Web services architecture can utilize a stack that supports a standards-based default binding of fundamental XML data types supported in various Web service platforms. An API can be used to allow other binding mechanisms to be plugged in. The binding to be used can be specified on a per-operation basis.
[0016] Various security and messaging standards require a context or state to be associated with Web service messages. A Web services architecture can support the processing of multiple message contexts, such as those related to security or conversation ID, and can offer user code access to these contexts. Many of these contexts can be encoded into a SOAP header, although it is also possible to include the contexts in the underlying protocol layer (e.g., cookies in HTTP) or in the body of the message (e.g., digital signatures). A Web services container can explicitly process contexts associated with planned security features for Web services.
[0017] A Web services stack can support a number of dispatch and synchrony models. Dispatch to both stateless and stateful components can be supported, using both remote procedure call (RPC) and messaging invocation semantics. Synchronous and asynchronous processing of requests can also be supported. In particular, it can be possible to enqueue an incoming message, to enqueue an outbound message, and to make asynchronous outbound calls. Enqueuing involves downloading files, one at a time, from a queue.
[0018] A component such as a session EJB can be used to implement application-hosted Web services, such as for business logic. An API can be provided for sophisticated users to integrate other types of components, even custom components, into a Web service mechanism. This may be used rarely, such as by developers who wish to build higher-level facilities and infrastructure on top of application-specific Web services.
[0019] A Web services architecture should not preclude the embedding of a Web service container in a lightweight server running in a more restricted Java platform, such as J2ME/CDC. A very thin Web service Java client, such as less than 100 kb, can also be supported. Such an architecture should not preclude support for future Web service standards, such as JAX-RPC. However, due to the present lack of maturity and quality of Java Web Service standards, application-specific APIs can be defined for the implementation of Web services.
[0020] A runtime Web services architecture can support both synchronous and asynchronous (“one-way”) RPC style Web services, such as may be backended by an EJB. Message-style Web services can also be supported, which allow content to be submitted to and received from a JMS destination. Endpoints can be supported in a transport-specific way. These endpoints can associate a transport-specific address with a Web service. For instance, in HTTP a particular address can be associated with a Web service to be invoked. For SMTP an email address can be associated with a Web service.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows the relationship of a Web container 108 and SMTP listener 104 and a host server or Web service container 108 , utilizing an architecture in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. An HTTP protocol adapter 102 is shown in the Web container 100 . A protocol adapter for HTTP 102 is shown in a Web container 100 , that can intercept a Web service invoke via HTTP from a Web services client. A protocol adapter for SMTP 106 is also shown in an SMTP listener 104 , which can accept a Web service invoke via SMTP. This architecture allows for pluggability in a number of places.
[0022] FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the architecture of the Web service container 108 of FIG. 1 . The HTTP protocol adapter 102 of the Web container 100 is shown passing message context to, and receiving message context from, a container driver 200 . The container driver 200 receives the message context from the protocol adapter 102 and sends the message context to the registered inbound interceptors 202 , 204 , 206 . After extracting the operation parameters and performing any necessary data binding, such as by using a Java Binding codec 222 , a SOAP codec 224 , an XML codec 226 , or a custom codec 228 , the container driver 200 submits the operation request to the appropriate invocation handler 208 , such as for EJB 210 or JMS 212 , or to a customized invocation handler 214 . After receiving data back from the invocation handler 208 , the container driver 200 can perform any data unbinding using the appropriate codecs 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 and send the response to the outbound interceptors 202 , 204 , 206 . The container driver 200 can then return the response to the protocol adapter 102 . The protocol adapter, interceptors, and invocation handler can each have access to an invocation context object 216 . The invocation handler 208 can also provide context access to the component 218 to which it delegates, which can be contained in a component container 220 .
[0023] A message context is a representation of a Web service invocation flowing through a container. A message context can contain a request message, which is the Web service request. A message context can be rendered into the canonical form of SOAP plus attachments. A response message is the Web services response, or at least a placeholder for the response if the response has not been formulated yet. A response message can also be in the canonical form of SOAP plus attachments. Transport information can contain relevant information that is specific to the transport over which the request came, and over which the response must be sent. For example, the transport information can contain the HTTP request and response streams for HTTP transport. An invocation context can also be used, which is described below.
[0024] A protocol adapter can be inserted into the subsystem of a host server. A protocol adapter can be responsible for processing incoming requests for a particular transport/protocol, such as HTTP or SMTP. This allows the Web service container to process Web service messages in various formats that are sent over multiple protocols. It will also allow the Web service container to reside in different kinds of servers. One condition for a protocol adapter is that the host server can support the protocol and that the message format can be converted into SOAP internally. There are no known important message formats that cannot be expressed via SOAP.
[0025] A protocol adapter can be responsible for identifying requests as Web service messages, as well as routing the messages to a Web services container. If the protocol being used supports synchronous responses, a protocol adapter can also receive the response data and return the data to the originator of the request. The protocol adapter can convert the message to the original message format if it is not SOAP plus attachments. A protocol adapter can deal with any message context that is required by the container, such as a conversation ID, and is transmitted at the protocol level, such as cookies in HTTP. The protocol adapter can propagate the message context to and from a Web services container.
[0026] The actual implementation of protocol adapter functionality can depend on the architecture of the host server, as well as the way that the protocol is hosted in the server. For example, the functions of a protocol adapter can be implemented in part by the normal function of a Web container for an HTTP protocol. Due to the dependency of protocol processing on server internals, there may not be many public protocol adapter APIs.
[0027] An invocation context can be used, which is an inheritable thread-local object that can store arbitrary context data used in processing a Web service request. The context can be available from various components of the architecture involved in the processing of the request and response. Typical data that might be stored in such a context are a conversation ID, a message sequence number, and a security token. A particular invocation handler can choose to make the invocation context available to the target component. This can allow application code to read and write to the invocation context.
[0028] An architecture can utilize interceptors. Interceptors are plugins that can provide access to inbound and outbound Web service messages. An interceptor API can be public, and an implementation of an interceptor API can be part of a Web service application. An interceptor can modify SOAP messages as required. An interceptor can also read and write information on the invocation context. Interceptors can be associated with either operation, or with the namespace of the message body.
[0029] There are different types of interceptors. Header handlers can be used, for example, which operate only on message headers. Header handlers must declare which message headers they require so that the header information can be exposed, such as in the W3C Web service definition language (WSDL) generated for the Web service. Flow handlers, on the other hand, can operate on full message content. Flow handlers do not require a declaration of which message parts are processed, and do not result in the existence of any additional information in the generated WSDL. Application developers may use header handlers primarily, while business units that are building infrastructure on top of an application server may choose to use flow handlers. Both APIs, however, can be public.
[0030] XML serialization and deserialization plugins can be supported, which can handle the conversion of method parameters from XML to Java objects and return values from Java to XML. Built-in mappings for the SOAP encoding data types can be included with an application server. The processing of literal XML data that is sent outside any encoding can also be supported, as well as Apache “Literal XML” encoding. Users can also implement their own custom data type mappings and plug those mappings in to handle custom data types.
[0031] A container driver can be used with a Web services architecture in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A container driver can be thought of as the conceptual driver of a Web service container. A container driver can implement the process flow involved in performing a Web service request.
[0032] For RPC Web services hosted on an application server, the default target of a Web service invocation can be an EJB instance. For message-style Web services, the default target can be a JMS destination. In certain cases, it may be desirable to allow other components or subsystems as targets. People can build middleware infrastructure on top of application servers to require this functionality. Therefore, an invocation handler API can be supported to allow the Web service requests to be targeted at different components besides EJBs.
[0033] An invocation handler can insulate the Web service container from details of the target object lifecycle, transaction management, and security policies. The implementer of an invocation handler can be responsible for a number of tasks. These tasks can include: identifying a target object, performing any security checks, performing the invocation, collecting the response, and returning the response to the container driver. The implementer can also be responsible for propagating any contextual state, such as a conversation ID or security role, as may be needed by a target component.
[0034] A protocol adapter can perform the following steps in one embodiment. The protocol adapter can identify the invocation handler of the target component deployment, such as a stateless EJB adapter. The protocol adapter can identify any additional configuration information needed by the invocation handler to resolve the service, such as the JNDI name of a deployed EJB home. This information can be in the deployment descriptor of the protocol adapter deployment, such as a service JNDI name, and/or the information could be in the headers or body of the request or in the protocol.
[0035] A protocol adapter can identify the style of a Web service request, such as one-way RPC, synchronous RPC, or messaging. If necessary, a protocol adapter can convert an incoming request message into the SOAP with attachments canonical form. A protocol adapter can create a message context containing the request, a placeholder for a response, information about the transport, and information about the target invocation handler. A protocol adapter can also dispatch message context configuration to the Web service container.
[0036] A container driver can manage the flow of processing in the container. The container driver can receive the message context from the protocol adapter and, in one embodiment, sequentially performs the following steps. The container driver can dispatch to registered inbound interceptors, extract operation parameters, and perform data binding. The container driver can submit the operation request to the appropriate invocation handler, which can delegate the invoke to a target object. The container driver can receive a response from the invocation handler, possibly including a return value. If there is a return value, the container driver can perform data unbinding. If the synchrony model is request-response, the container driver can formulate a SOAP response. The response can be dispatched to registered outbound interceptors and returned to the protocol adapter for return to the caller.
[0037] The protocol adapter can return the SOAP response to the caller, converting the response back to the original message format if it was not SOAP. The protocol adapter, interceptors, and invocation handler can each have access to the invocation context object. Any necessary state needed during request processing can be propagated through this context. The invocation handler can also provide access to the context, such as to the component to which the invocation handler delegates.
[0038] An invocation handler that has been targeted to process an invoke can receive the following data from the container: the operation name, an array of Java Object parameters, any invocation handler configuration data, and the invocation context. The invocation handler can perform the invocation and return an array of Java Object return values.
[0039] An invocation handler can perform the following steps for one method in accordance with the present invention. A target object can be identified for the invocation. The invocation can be performed bypassing the parameters to the target. The invocation context object can be provided to the target. Also, a transaction, security, or component-specific context can be passed to the target object. Any return value(s) from the target can be processed and returned to the container driver.
[0040] An API can be used for invocation handlers. Invocation handlers can be configured when the protocol adapter is deployed. For example, the HTTP protocol handler can be a Web application.
[0041] Many types of built-in invocation handlers can be used. One such invocation handler is an EJB invocation handler. EJB invocation handlers can require a service identity, such as the JNDI name of the EJB home, and possibly a conversation ID, which can be extracted from a cookie, in the case of stateful EJB targets. The body of the request can indicate the operation name that will be mapped to the proper method call on the EJB.
[0042] A stateless EJB invocation handler can be used to dispatch Web service invokes to an EJB. This handler can require the JNDI name of the stateless EJB home. The handler can obtain an instance of the EJB and can dispatch the invoke and return the return value, if there is one.
[0043] A stateful session EJB invocation handler can be used to dispatch invokes to a stateful session bean. The handler can require the JNDI name of the stateful EJB home, as well as a conversation ID, which can be extracted from the message. The default approach for HTTP can be to extract the conversation ID from a cookie in the HTTP protocol handler and to put it in the invocation context under a documented name. If this default behavior is not suitable, the developer can provide a header handler that extracts the conversation ID from message headers and places the ID in the invocation context.
[0044] A stateful session bean (SFSB) invocation handler can maintain a table of mappings between a conversation ID and EJB handles. If no conversation ID is found, the stateful EJB invocation handler can create a new conversation ID, a new session bean instance, and can add its handle to the mapping table. The invoke can then be dispatched to the SFSB referenced by the handle.
[0045] A JMS invocation handler can dispatch the body of a SOAP message to a JMS destination. The handler can require the JNDI name of the destination, the JNDI name of the connection factory, and the destination type.
[0046] The configuration of protocol handlers can involve specifying the mapping between Web service endpoint URIs, such as URLs in the case of HTTP or email addresses in the case of SMTP, and the name of an invocation handler. A particular invocation handler can require additional configuration information, such as the JNDI-name of a target EJB deployment.
[0047] An HTTP protocol handler can be a special Web application that is automatically deployed when a Web archive file (WAR) is deployed. The URL mappings to invocation handlers can be extracted from the WSP (“Web service provider”) description of the Web service. An HTTP protocol handler can map HTTP headers to the invocation context and can attempt to extract a conversation ID from an HTTP cookie, if one is present. An SMTP Protocol Handler can also be utilized.
[0048] An HTTP-based Web Service can be packaged in and deployed from a J2EE WAR that is contained inside a J2EE Enterprise Archive File (EAR). The WAR can contain a Web service WSP document, which defines a Web service. The WSP can describe the shape of the Web service and how the implementation maps to backend components. A WSP can be referenced in the URL of a Web service, like a JSP. It can also allow reference to user-defined tags, like a JSP which can integrate user-developed functions into the definition of the Web service. It can also support the scripting of Web service functions. Unlike a JSP, however, a WSP may not compile down to a servlet. The WSP can be directly utilized by the Web service runtime.
[0049] The remaining contents of the EAR can include EJB-JARs or other classes that are part of the implementation of the Web service.
[0050] A Web container can manage the deployment of HTTP WSPs in a similar manner to JSPs. There can be a default WSP servlet registered with each Web application that intercepts requests for WSPs. The default servlet can then redirect each request to the appropriate WSP handler.
[0051] A user can open a Web application in a console, or in a console view, and can view the names of the WSPs that are part of that Web application. It can be necessary to modify an MBean, such as WebAppComponentMBean, on order to provide a list of WSPs.
[0052] Java-based Web services client distributions can be used with services hosted on many different platforms. A full set of features supported on a client can include:
[0053] HTTP protocol with cookie support
[0054] SOAP 1.2 with attachments
[0055] JAX-RPC client API, including synchronous and “one-way” RPC invokes
[0056] Header Handler and Flow Handler API
[0057] Message-style Web service client API
[0058] Support for “dynamic mode” (no Java interfaces or WSDL required)
[0059] Support for “static mode” (Java interfaces and service stubs required)
[0060] The full set of SOAP encodings+Literal XML+support for custom encodings
[0061] Security support:
128-bit two-way SSL Digital Signatures XML Data Encryption
There is an inherent tradeoff between the “thinness” of a client and the richness of features that can be supported. To accommodate customers with differing needs regarding features and footprint, several different client runtime distributions can be offered with varying levels of features.
[0065] A J2SE Web Service client, which can have a footprint of around 1 MB, can be full-featured. SSL and JCE security functions can be included in separate jars. This client can run in regular VM environments, such as those hosting application servers. A J2ME/CDC thin client can have a limited set of features, but can be designed to run in a J2ME CDC profile on devices. A JDK 1.1 thin client can have a limited set of features, but can be intended to run in JDK 1.1 virtual machines, including those hosting applets.
[0066] Client distributions can include classes needed to invoke Web services in “dynamic” mode. Utilities can be provided to generate static stubs and Java interfaces, if given WSDL service descriptions.
[0067] A Java™ 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) Web service client can be a standard, full-featured client, which can be intended to run inside an application server. The client can be included in a regular server distribution, and can also be available in a separate jar so that it may be included in other J2EE or “fat client” JVMs. There may be no size restriction on this client. The client can utilize JDK 1.3.
[0068] FIG. 3 shows an architecture of the client-side for a J2SE Web Service client 318 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The client is closely related to the Web service container. The client can be an embeddable Web service container that can run in lighter weight servers. This can allow asynchronous callbacks to be invoked on the client.
[0069] In FIG. 3 , the HTTP protocol adapter 102 of the Web container 100 is shown passing message context to, and receiving message context from, a container driver 300 . The container driver 300 can receive message context from the protocol adapter 102 and send the message context to the registered inbound interceptors 302 , 304 , 306 . After extracting performing any necessary data binding or unbinding, such as by using a Java Binding codec 310 , a SOAP codec 312 , an XML codec 314 , or a custom codec 316 , the container driver 300 can return the data to the client stub 308 . If receiving invoke data from the client stub 308 , the container driver 300 can perform any data binding or unbinding using the appropriate codecs 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 and send the invoke request to the outbound interceptors 302 , 304 , 306 . The container driver 300 can then send message context for the invoke to the protocol adapter 102 .
[0070] The foregoing description of preferred 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. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalence. | A runtime architecture for Web services utilizes a container driver to accept an invoke request for Web services. The container driver performs any necessary data binding/unbinding required to process the invoke request and associated message context, utilizing an appropriate plugin component. An interceptor receives the context information and modifies the message context for Web service compatibility. An invocation handler receives the formatted context information and passes parameters from the message context to the target of the request. The invocation handler processes values returned from the target and passes them to the container driver, which can formulate and return a response, along with the message context, to the client or protocol adapter. This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims. | 7 |
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to contactless length measurement devices, and, more particularly to a test sample support assembly for use with such contactless length measurement devices.
Dimensionally stable materials find great utility as aerospace components such as microwave filters and waveguides, antenna structures and supports, laser or optic platforms, instrument parts, solar cell connectors and mounts, cryogenic piping and the like. In addition, low expansion materials are required for guidance systems, space telescopes, and most communications, navigation, scientific and surveillance satlilites.
Unfortunately, in spite of "near-zero" expansivities of such dimensionally stable materials as Invar, TiO 2 -SiO 2 glasses, and multi-ply graphite-epoxy composites, no materials yet exist that exhibit thermal strain of less than 6×10 -5 over the aerospace working range, 0°±200° C. Consequently, a high-precision dilatometer is needed to measure dimensional changes over a wide temperature range. Ideally, effects that are due to residual stress relief, moisture desorption, and thermal cycling, as well as expansivity, should be measurable for both aerospace components and specially fabricated test samples.
It is well recognized that the utilization of remote or "contactless" measurement devices are the most effective in overcoming the above mentioned problems. This is so, since the thermal expansion coefficient, by definition, must be characterized at a constant pressure:
β=V.sup.-1 (dV/dT).sub.p or α=( dε/dT).sub.p
Since expansivity varies with applied stress and many materials lack a true elastic limit, mechanical constraints should be avoided. Contacts may cause microcreep and surface contamination or damage. The position, stability, and thermal properties of contacts affect measurements, especially of real time data, because of thermal lag. A contactless measurement technique permits arbitrary sample size or shape, thereby minimizing fabrication effects on a sample or component. In addition, contactless measurements reduce temperature range restrictions and equilibration requirements and permit simultaneous thermal diffusivity measurements.
Contactless length measurement techniques have been performed by a variety of apparatus. Stationary light beams, from lasers or autocollimators, may be reflected off sample ends. The Fototonic fiber optics approach is, in principal, similar. Scanning techniques include single laser systems, multiple lasers or multiple sensors. Photographic techniques include Moire, speckle, and holographic interferometry. The most accurate approach, however, has been accomplished by Michelson interferometry.
The use of such interferometric techniques for length measurements results in the elimination of dependence on a reference material. The laser frequency can be readily known and stabilized, through use of the Lamb dip, to one part in 10 9 in 500 hours. When all the optics are placed in a test (vacuum) chamber possible errors from variable beam speeds, window effects, or operators are minimized.
With the basic Michelson interferometer measurement determining device, one arm of the interferometer includes both ends of the test sample, which unfortunately, results in a large optical path length difference (OPLD) between the two beams required to recombine in order to form the necessary fringe pattern. It has been determined that these several possible sources of error are inherent in such an approach. Because the optical path length to the sample was substantially greater (70 times) than that to the reference mirror, errors arose as a result of difference in pressure or temperature of the residual gas in the two optical path lengths (OPLs).
This situation has been overcome by the utilization of the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer. Unfortunately, since all the optics utilized even in the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer used in the sample optical path length were held on the same support plate, any temperature changes in any part of this plate would change the sample optical path length. Consequently, the interferometer would confuse this optical path length change with a sample length change.
In principle, such an error could be avoided by a zero coefficient of thermal expansion support plate. This would be approximated by ultra-low-expansion (ULE) glass near room temperature (CTE ˜0±0.03×10 -6 degrees C. -1 ). A sufficiently large and stiff plate, however, is extremely expensive (stiffness provides immunity from vacuum chamber distortions on pump down or ambient temperature fluctuations). The error might also be avoided by the use of a water-cooled copper base plate attached to a thermostatically controlled bath. Undesirable vibrations could result, however, because the optics would have to be attached rigidly to the plate.
It is therefore clearly apparent that a need arises for a support assembly which is capable of supporting a test sample or the like within a length measuring device and yet remain unaffected by the surrounding temperatures. In so doing sample optical path length would not be altered due to the surrounding temperatures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The test sample support assembly of this invention overcomes the problems set forth in detail hereinabove by providing a support assembly which remains virtually unaffected by the surrounding temperatures. In addition, the test sample support assembly of this invention, although finding its greatest utility within a sample length measuring device, such as the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer, may also, if desired, be utilized in any instance wherein surrounding environmental conditions would cause distortion of the support.
The test sample support assembly of this invention relies upon a main support which is made of any suitable material having an ultra-low expansion property to mount a sample support thereon. As a result, this arrangement minimizes movement of the optical apparatus secured thereto. In addition to this property of the main support, it is also essential to further insulate this main support from the temperature distribution of the surrounding environment. This is accomplished by the utilization of a high thermal conductive insulating member juxtaposed the main support. The high thermal conductivity of this insulation member substantially eliminates temperature gradients within the main support. Located juxtaposed the first insulation material is another insulating block of material.
In one embodiment of this invention, the actual sample support is made of a substantially distortion-free material and is mounted upon the main support. The sample support protrudes through openings within the two insulating members. In this manner the sample support precisely positions the sample within either a heated or cooled environment in which the length measurements can be taken.
In the other embodiment of this invention, the sample support is made of a highly conductive material having a hollow interior through which a coolant may flow. This sample support is positioned relative to the main support by means of a pair of rods. The rods have attached thereto resistant heaters which enable the rods to either expand or contract in a predetermined manner. This expansion or contraction allows for adjustable movement of the sample support to take place in order to compensate for the undesirable movement of the sample support.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a test sample support assembly which is virtually unaffected by surrounding temperatures.
It is another object of this invention to provide a test sample support assembly which incorporates therein an adjustable member capable of providing compensation for any movement of the support which may take place.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a test sample support assembly which is economical to produce and which utilizes conventional, currently available components that lend themselves to standard mass producing manufacturing techniques.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer in which the test sample support assembly of this invention can be utilized;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration, shown partly in cross-section, of the test sample support assembly of this invention; and
FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of a further embodiment of the test sample support assembly of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 of the drawing which schematically illustrates a standard length measuring apparatus, such as a Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10. Since the length measuring apparatus does not constitute the instant invention, its basic operation not contained herein. The basic operation thereof is more specifically set forth in SAMSO Report TR-75-284 dated Dec. 10, 1975 entitled "Absolute Length Changes by Remote Interferometry," by E. G. Wolff and S. A. Eselun and only a brief analysis thereof is set forth hereinbelow.
Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10 is primarily made up of a vacuum chamber 12 in which the test sample 14 is supported by the test sample support assembly 16 or test sample support assembly 50 clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, of the drawing. Included within the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer are a radiant energy source (coherent light) such as laser 17, appropriate beam directing elements such as lenses L 1 and L 2 and corner mirror M 1 , beamsplitters B 3 , B 2 and B 1 as well as mirrors M 2 , M 3 , M 4 , M 5 and M 6 .
The principle of Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10 is set forth with reference to FIG. 1 of the drawing. The original laser beam 19 (frequency-stabilized He-Ne) is split 50/50 at beam splitter B 3 into right and left (sample) side interferometers. The right and left sample ends are designated S 1 and S 2 , respectively, and the mirrors M. For the right-hand side S 1 of sample, 14, the interferometer optical path length difference (OPLD) is
OPLD.sub.1 =B.sub.1 S.sub.1 -B.sub.1 M.sub.6
Similarly
OPLD.sub.2 =B.sub.2 M.sub.5 -S.sub.2 M.sub.4 -B.sub.2 M.sub.4
Now
ΔOPLD.sub.2 -ΔOPLD.sub.1 =ΔB.sub.2 M.sub.5 -ΔS.sub.2 M.sub.4 -ΔB.sub.2 M.sub.4 -ΔB.sub.1 S.sub.1 +ΔB.sub.1 M.sub.6
Assume that
ΔB.sub.2 M.sub.4 =ΔB.sub.1 M.sub.6
ΔB.sub.1 M.sub.4 =ΔB.sub.2 M.sub.5
Note that
ΔB.sub.1 M.sub.4 =ΔS.sub.2 M.sub.4 +ΔL.sub.s +ΔS.sub.1 B.sub.1
where L s is the sample length. Hence
ΔL.sub.s =ΔOPLD.sub.2 -ΔOPLD.sub.1
Consequently, the sample length change ΔL S is merely the difference between the changes in the optical path length differences.
Reference is now made to FIG. 2 of the drawing which shows in a schematic fashion, and partly in cross section the test sample support assembly 16 of this invention. Although not limited thereto, test sample support assembly 16 finds its greatest utility when incorporated within the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10 of type described with reference to FIG. 1 of the drawing. By proper support of test sample 14, the Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10 is capable of measuring the length change of test sample 14.
Sample support assembly 16 is basically made up of a main support 18, a pair of insulating members 20 and 22 and a sample support 24, the detailed description of which is set forth hereinbelow. Since the optical elements making up Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10 are mounted upon main support 18 it is essential that main support 18 be made of a suitable ultra-low expansion material. An example of such a material would be SiO 2 +7% TiO 2 . Main support 18 is mounted in any conventional manner upon the base 26 of the vacuum chamber 12 of the Michelson Interferometer 10. For stability, mounts 28, preferably made of rubber, may be interposed between support 18 and base 26. It is again emphasized that main support 18 must have an extremely low expansion coefficient in order to maintain the stability of the optical equipment on support 18.
In order to further isolate main support 18 from the temperatures which are maintained within the test vacuum chamber 12, it is necessary to place upon support 18 a first insulating member 20. Insulating member 20 to be effective must be made of any suitable material of high thermal conductivity such as copper in order to substantially eliminate the temperature gradients in main support 18.
Situated upon first insulating member 20 is a second insulating member 22. Insulation 22, which is directly exposed to the vacuum of the test chamber, is made of any suitable material capable of providing insulation as well as being effective within a vacuum such as open porous silica brick. It is essential that this porous silica brick be open so as to be effective while situated within a vacuum.
The actual sample support 24 is secured directly to main support 18, protruding through openings 30 and 32 located centrally within insulating members 20 and 22, respectively. Sample support 24 is made of any suitable material which provides minimal distortion such as Invar and is preferably in the shape of an I-beam.
Even though assembly 16 of this invention is extremely effective in mounting sample 14, sample rotations of test sample 14 may take place during the measuring procedure. Therefore, focusing lenses 34 and 36 situated at opposite ends of sample 14 and mounted upon supports 38 and 40, respectively, are generally required. Supports 38 and 40 are fixedly secured to main support 18 along with the other optics of Interferometer 10. A pair of openings 42 and 44 are located within insulating member 20 in order to allow supports 38 and 40, respectively, to pass therethrough.
Test support assembly 16 is effective within a radiation type heat transfer method. In such an operation the surrounding environment of test sample 14 is either heated by means of a heater 46 in the form of, for example, a Nichrome wire heater in a Mullite insulator or cooled by the means of any suitable coolant such as liquid nitrogen which is fed through a tube-like arrangement 48 surrounding test sample 14. In addition, in order to maintain test sample 14 at its preselected temperature, a cylindrical insulating sheath 49 (more clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing) made of any suitable insulation material such as aluminum/mylar encompasses test sample 14.
As a result of the test sample support assembly 16 of this invention, movement of the optical equipment situated on main support 18 is virtually eliminated so as to allow proper measurements of the thermal strain of test sample 14 to be taken.
Unfortunately, within a radiation heat transfer arrangement of the type set forth hereinabove and clearly depicted in FIG. 2 of the drawing, cooling of test sample 14 is a much more difficult procedure than heating. Consequently, for proper cooling of test sample 14 to take place, it is preferable that a conduction method be utilized. Such an arrangement is more clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing. Therefore, in order to compensate for variations in the optical path length of the optics involved in Two Channel Michelson Interferometer 10, utilized in a conduction arrangement, this invention sets forth a modified test sample support assembly 50 clearly illustrated in pictorial fashion in FIG. 3.
Since some of the elements making up test sample support assembly 50 will be substantially identical to those elements making up support assembly 16 and as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, identical numerals will be utilized for identical elements. In this manner a more clear interrelationship between sample support assemblies 16 and 50 can be made. As with test sample support assembly 16, sample support assembly 50 is made up of main support 18 and a pair of insulating members 20 and 22. Main support 18 is mounted upon the base 26 of vacuum chamber 12 of Michelson Interferometer 10 with rubber mounts 28 interposed therebetween. The main support 18 is made of any suitable ultra-low expansion material such as SiO 2 +7% TiO 2 .
Mounted upon main support 18 is insulating element 20 made of any high, thermal conductive material, such as copper. Insulating member 20 is capable of substantially eliminating the temperature gradients within support 18. Additionally, situated upon insulating element 20 is insulating member 22 made of any suitable material such as open porous silica brick.
With the test sample support assembly 50 of this invention, shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing, since conduction is the method of cooling (or heating) test sample 14, it is necessary to mount sample 14 directly upon the sample support 52. For proper conduction to take place sample support 52 is made of a high thermal conductive material such as copper having a V-shaped groove 54 in the top portion thereof to support sample 14. The interior of support 52 is hollow so as to accept inlet and outlet pipes 55 and 56, respectively, which enables any suitable coolant such as liquid nitrogen to be pumped therethrough in order to cool support 52 and therefore sample 14.
The test sample support 52 is mounted upon a pair of steel support rods 58 and 60 which are affixed at opposite ends thereof to insulating member 20. Interposed between the ends of rods 58 and 60 insulating member 20 are mounting blocks 62 made of any suitable non-deformable material such as Invar. Test sample support 52 is clamped to the center of steel support rods 58 and 60 by any suitable securing means such as clamps 64.
Since some displacement of the sample support 52 will take place, it is necessary to compensate for this movement by any suitable mechanism capable of moving test support 52 in a plurality of directions. In test sample support assembly 50 of this invention, this is accomplished by means of a plurality of resistance heaters 66 located at a plurality of positions along steel support rods 58 and 60, respectively, by the appropriate application of voltage from any suitable source (not shown) thereacross. The application or non-application of this voltage causes the subsequent heating or cooling, respectively, of steel support rods 58 and 60 such that it expands (or contracts) by an appropriate amount in order to create minimal movement of support 52. This movement is sufficient to compensate any undesirable movement of support 51.
By use of support assembly 50 shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing, it is possible to eliminate not only the movement of the optical equipment located upon the main support 18, but also to compensate for any movement which may take place in test sample support 52.
Although this invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that this invention is also capable of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. | A test sample support assembly having its greatest utility in a length measuring device in a temperature controlled environment. The sample support assembly has a main support, a pair of insulating members and a sample support. In one embodiment of this invention the sample support is made of a substantially distortion-free material thereby precisely positioning the sample within the temperature controlled environment. In the other embodiment of this invention the sample support acts as the temperature controlling element. The sample support is adjustably mounted with respect to the main support. This adjustable feature permits corrective movement of the sample support to take place in order to compensate for the undesirable movement of the sample support. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The first known observation of the shape memory transformation was by Chang and Read in 1932. They noted the reversibility of the α solid phase transformation in a gold cadmium (AuCd) alloy from metallographic observations and resistivity change measurements. In 1951 the shape memory effect (SME) itself was observed in a bent bar of AuCd. Then in 1962 Buehler et al. discovered the SME effect in nickel-titanium (NiTi). The group named the alloy “Nitinol”, after its elemental components and place of origin. The “Ni” and “Ti” are the atomic symbols for nickel and titanium, respectively, the “NOL” stands for the Naval Ordinance Laboratory.
[0002] The first use of an SMA in a heat engine application, in which thermal energy is changed into mechanical work, was accomplished in 1973 by Ridgway Banks and Hap Hagopian of the Lawrence Berkely Laboratory at the University of California. SMA heat engines became very popular as fascinating visual demonstrations of the shape memory effect and of heat engines in general. However, practical engineering applications were not successful, as the theoretical upper limit of efficiency (Carnot efficiency) approached only 4-5%. Furthermore, most heat engine designs were extremely complex.
[0003] Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) researchers are always looking for new designs, methods and materials, especially as the demand for silicon micromachined devices continues to soar in a variety of fields including medicine, biotechnology, the semiconductor industry and a host of other applications. With the development of thin film fabrication techniques in the last decade, SMA thin films have attracted great interest as a potentially powerful actuation material for MEMS. This is mainly due to the fact that SMA thin films are capable of large forces and displacements compared to other actuator types such as electrostatic, electromagnetic, and piezoelectric actuators.
[0004] The possibility of integrating NiTi SMA thin films into a silicon micromachining process was first demonstrated in 1990, with the first SMA actuated microvalve reported in 1992. Since then, researchers have worked extensively to clarify the properties of SMA thin films, while simultaneously attempting to fabricate other micro devices driven by SMA thin films. Although a number of other NiTi actuated microdevices, including microvalves, micropumps, microrelays, micromirrors and out-of-plane spacers, have been reported recently, the TiNi Alloy Co. microvalve is currently the only known commercially available device.
[0005] Recently reasearchers have been developing MEMS based internal combustion engines and turbines as possible replacements for batteries. The major benefit comes in the form of the high energy density associated with fuels when compared to electrochemical cells. However, shape memory alloy based MEMS heat engines have not been mentioned or even conceived of prior to the current invention by the inventors. The prior art does mention the use of NiTinol materials in heat engine designs nor in MEMS applications; no one has even hinted at combining these two applications of shape memory alloys. This is likely due to the extremely complicated designs required by prior SMA heat engines used as visual demonstrations.
[0006] In addition to the energy density advantage MEMS heat engines offer over other energy sources, MEMS heat engines offer the possibly of exploiting favorable scalings of several physical quantities. Scaling normal sized devices down to the microscale can shift the influence of certain physical parameters on the total system dramatically. For example, the ratio of surface area to volume is significantly larger at the microscale, making surface tension, an effect routinely ignored at the macroscale, a dominant feature of microfluidic devices. Such favorable scalings provide for fast heat transfer rates and large temperature gradients for an SMA-MEMS heat engine, features which are absent in macro-sized SMA heat engines and therefore significantly hinder their performance and efficiency. Furthermore, SMA thin films produced in batch fabrication thin film processes may have different material properties compared to bulk materials, most notably extrinsic stresses induced by high temperature processing and deposition. Harnessing this stress offers the possibility of greatly simplifying the fabrication process of an SMA-MEMS heat engine.
[0007] In summary, the prior art MEMS engines suffer from large losses through friction and other losses to the point where they nearly have difficulty producing more energy than they require to operate. SMA-macro engines lack sufficient thermal gradients, speed, efficiency and adequate harnessing mechanisms for operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention is a shape memory alloy based MEMS heat engine created using modern microfabrication techniques. The heat engine contains an SMA thin film cantilever beam oscillating between a hot and cold source. (See FIG. 1 ). Thin films vary in thickness from a few angstroms to greater than 20 microns. In its initial cold state the film is in the martensite solid phase, and is bent due to the extrinsic stress developed during the fabrication process. (See FIG. 2 ). In the first preferred embodiment a thin cantilever beam made of a bi-layer of silicon dioxide (1-6 μm thick) and a shape memory alloy thin film layer (0.5-4 μm thick) oscillates between a hot source and a cold source. (See FIG. 3 ). (The stress is generated due to the difference in thermal expansion between the silicon dioxide and the shape memory alloy as the film cools down from the high deposition temperature.) The cold beam is placed into contact with a hot source, which causes a solid phase transformation from martensite to austenite thereby straightening the beam. The beam therefore pulls away from the hot source and cools down, undergoing the reverse phase transformation back to martensite. The beam then again makes contact with the heat source and the process continues. A similar process for heating and cooling for another embodiment of the current invention is shown in FIG. 4 . The oscillation is maintained due to the difference in temperature between the martensite and austenite phase transformations. Alternative embodiments include different cantilever designs as well as different methods for harnessing the thermal energy and converting to other forms.
[0009] The SMA-MEMS heat engine provides solutions to problems associated with other micro-engines that utilize different modus operandi, as well as problems encountered in macro-sized SMA engines, and thereby provides unexpected beneficial and synergistic results. The present invention solves these problems by taking advantage of design concepts suited for microapplications. Specifically, smaller objects cool faster, increasing the possible operation frequency of an SMA-MEMS heat engine over macro-sized engines. Furthermore, the microscale electrostatic forces and electromagnetic forces also become much more significant thus providing excellent mechanisms for power conversion. The oscillating beam design described here has no rubbing parts thus reducing friction forces compared to typical engine designs. The design also takes advantage of the mass production capabilities of silicon batch processing. This allows easy scaling of the designed device by simply increasing the number of heat engines attached to any temperature gradient or hot and cold sources.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a shape-memory alloy heat engine having at least one dimension less than 100 micrometers. It is also an object of this invention to provide a cantilever based heat engine. It is also an object of this invention to create a shape memory alloy heat engine from a shape memory alloy thin film.
[0011] It is another object of the invention to create a released structure having a predictable initial internal stress. It is another object of the invention to create self curved cantilever beams. It is another object of this invention to create a self assembled MEMS device where devices are vertically lifted during release. It is another object of this invention to develop mechanical movement from a heat source and a cold source using thin film deposition techniques. It is another object of the invention to develop electrical power from the mechanical movement the shape memory alloy heat engine develops. It is also an object of this invention to create a MEMS based shape-memory alloy heat engine. It is a further object of this invention to create a heat engine using thin films and thin film deposition techniques.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a schematic for one design of a general preferred embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 2 a - e . shows fabrication procedure of the heat engine without spring load.
[0014] FIG. 3 shows a possible design encompassing the first and fifth preferred embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of operation for the preferred embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 5 shows a possible layout design for the second design of a preferred embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 6 shows a schematic for a second design of a preferred embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 7 shows a possible layout design of the sixth preferred embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 8 shows a flat coil.
[0020] FIG. 9 a - g shows the fabrication procedure of the heat engine with spring load.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1 , the basic current invention consists of the following, a hot source 102 in proximity to an oscillating device 101 containing shape memory alloy and a cold source 105 . In FIG. 1 the cold source is also the substrate. Additionally, isolation regions 104 and 106 may be added to adjust heat flow into the cold source by varying their thicknesses. Isolation region 106 is not required so long as the hot source can maintain a separation from the oscillating beam.
[0022] Several general preferred embodiments of the current invention will be described. The first preferred embodiment is a dual layer thin film cantilever ( FIG. 3 ) with a pair of temperature reservoirs and its manufacturing process ( FIG. 2 ). The second preferred embodiment is a dual layer thin film structure for vertical movement and lifting of structures. The third embodiment is a single layer thin film heat engine with an applied load (See FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 ). The fourth is a heat engine with developing power from a “trained” SMA device ( FIG. 6 ). The fifth embodiment regards using the heat engine for producing electric energy using an electrostatic generator ( FIG. 3 ). The sixth embodiment is using magnetic induction for an electric generator (See FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ).
[0023] The operational mechanism of the heat engine design is based on changes in curvature of the cantilever brought about by the solid phase transformation of TiNi in going from martensite to austentite and the reverse transformation. Specifically, changes in the mechanical properties of TiNi most notably Young's modulus, yield strength and volume change, cause variations in the curvature of the cantilever during heating and/or cooling.
[0024] FIG. 3 shows the proposed TiNi shape memory alloy heat engine in its first preferred embodiment. The engine consists of a single thin film cantilever ( 301 and 325 ) that oscillates in a plane perpendicular to the silicon substrate to which it is anchored. The substrate 305 also serves as the low temperature reservoir. 302 is the hot source and may be attached to the system through an isolation layer 306 . The isoloation layer may be a deposited thin film or other material such as epoxy. Hot source 302 may be another beam, or cover over the oscillating SMA device. For example, 302 may be a packaging lid over the device or chip on which the heat engine is placed. The oscillating beam itself consists of a bi-layer of silicon dioxide 325 and a TiNi SMA 301 that is curved away from the substrate in its room temperature martensite phase, due to tensile stress developed in the TiNi during the fabrication process. In its high temperature, high modulus austenite phase, however, the beam is fairly rigid with a significantly smaller curvature. This change in curvature caused by temperature induced solid phase transformation provides the operational mechanism for the heat engine.
[0025] The operation of the heat engine proceeds as follows. While in its cold-temperature low modulus martensite phase, the curvature of the cantilever pulls it onto the heat source. In this martensite phase, the beam is heated through contact with the heat source, increasing the temperature and eventually leading the TiNi to undergo the austenite phase transformation. Once the transformation has occurred, the beam's low curvature austenite shape is recovered, overcoming the tensile stress within the TiNi film and pulling it away from the heat source. With the heat source no longer in contact with the beam, it starts to cool, eventually reaching the martensite start temperature and transforming back into the martensite phase. Once in the low modulus martensite phase, the tensile stress within the TiNi film again brings the beam into contact with the heat source and the cycle starts over. Cycled in this way, the heat engine can be driven by fairly low temperature differences (less than 30° C.), harnessing power for MEMS applications.
[0026] Standard MEMS fabrication procedures known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be employed for creating the TiNi thin film heat engines. Specifics of the steps in the fabrication procedures are given below, which is the second embodiment as a vertical lifting mechanism.
[0027] Prior to deposition of the TiNi layer, an oxide layer 222 is deposited using e-beam evaporation on a silicon wafer 205 or other suitable substrate, followed by photoresist 211 . The photoresist is then exposed to radiation 227 typically ultraviolet light and developed. The photoresist pattern 212 consists of windows ranging from several microns to 1 mm in width and tens of microns to 1 mm in length.
[0028] The TiNi or other suitable shape memory alloy thin film is then deposited 221 on the silicon dioxide layer at an elevated temperature. The TiNi thin film can be deposited using either a sputtering procedure, or with a co-evaporation procedure in which titanium and nickel are deposited using e-beam and/or thermal evaporation techniques. Upon cooling to room temperature after deposition, the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the TiNi and the silicon dioxide results in a residual stress within the TiNi layer, causing the TiNi( 201 )-SiO2( 225 ) bi-layer to peel away from the substrate. The resulting structure is a vertically bent cantilever beam with a direction of motion perpendicular to the substrate. This vertically bent beam may also be utilized to lift other structures into position, such as micromirrors. The thermal stress generated within the bi-layer during the cooling process is utilized as the load needed for bringing the beam in contact with the hot source while the TiNi is in the martensite phase. The remaining photoresist acts as an isolation region 204 . This isolation region 204 behaves as both thermal and mechanical isolation, preventing the peeling of the TiNi thin film over the entire wafer. This method of releasing may also be used for self assembling and self raising of other MEMS structures such as micromirror or microswitches. Finally, to reproduce the device as shown in FIG. 3 , a heat source 302 is brought into proximity or touching the oscillating beam 301 , 325 . The beam may be attached to the substrate 305 using an isolation layer 306 . An additional isolation layer 304 may be placed between the oscillating beam and the cold source (substrate 305 ) to produce the appropriate heat flow and temperature region at the oscillating beam.
[0029] Subsequent to deposition, annealing of the devices may be performed to nucleate an appropriate microstructure. Annealing time and temperature may be varied to determine the optimal process characteristics for a heat engine as would be known by one of ordinary skill in the art.
[0030] In a third embodiment an applied load from a spring is set to allow the engine to operate. This design is shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . In FIG. 4 the load “q” applied to the cantilever tip allows the displacement “v” of the beam when supplied with a hot and cold source (in this case the anchor). As shown in FIG. 5 , this second design harnesses the stress strain relationship of the shape memory alloy by the attached spring 515 at the end of the cantilever beam 501 , and a “zip-strip” type mechanism 516 and 527 for mechanically applying a force to the cantilever beam. The “zip strip” mechanism allows a stress to be applied to the cantilever beam 501 after processing. A secondary MEMS device or probe moves the ring 517 which moves the serrations 516 . The serrations 516 move past a set of herring bone beams 527 allowing motion in only one direction. This results in a stress being applied to the beam 501 . Spring 515 may be added to add greater flexibility in the force applied to the beam 501 . The herring bone beams are anchored in place to the substrate through anchor holes 528 in the sacrificial layer. In this second design, the cantilever typically consists only of a single material, TiNi SMA; the cantilever beam's motion is in a direction parallel to the substrate to which it is anchored. An insulating layer may be placed between the SMA layer and the substrate for adjusting the heat flow to the cold source. The beam 501 is initially in the weaker martensitic phase and transforms to the stronger austenite phase upon heating. Once heat is applied or produced at the hot source 502 , the cantilever beam 501 begins to transform, and begins to pull away from the hot source 502 . The cantilever beam 501 then bends toward the cold source 503 or simply away from the hot source if the cold source is the substrate or constantly in contact with the beam. Once in contact with the cold source or significantly away from the heat source; the heat is dissipated and then the beam transforms back to martensite, and the beam cycles back toward the hot source 502 . Anchors for the hot and cold sources ( 509 and 508 respectively) may be adjusted in size for optimization of heat flow while maintaining adhesion to the substrate.
[0031] FIG. 9 shows the fabrication procedure for the heat engine design with an applied spring load. A silicon nitride layer 924 or other suitable insulator is grown or deposited on a silicon substrate 905 as an isolation layer. Using photoresist 911 and mask 912 the isolation layer is exposed using ultraviolet light 927 and etched forming isolation regions 904 . After lithographic patterning, a sacrificial layer 923 which may be silicon dioxide is deposited using e-beam evaporation or other appropriate methods. This is followed by another patterning and etching of the sacrificial layer 923 . Then the TiNi thin film 921 is deposited using evaporation, e-beam evaporation, arc-evaporation or sputtering. After the TiNi thin film deposition, etching is used to produce a cantilever structure from the TiNi thin film. The “zip strip” ( 516 , 527 ) hot 502 and cold 503 sources may be made of the same TiNi material or may be a different structural material such as polysilicon. The last step is to etch away the sacrificial layer 923 releasing the cantilever. Device fabrication may be performed on silicon wafers 905 or other suitable substrates. The silicon dioxide may be the sacrificial layer, and evaporated TiNi may be the structural layer.
[0032] FIG. 6 depicts the two positions for a SMA heat engine as described as the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment a cantilevered beam 601 is placed on a micromanipulator station and bent to position 607 . The beam is then heated while in position 607 . The beam will then be cooled, and bent again. The beam will continue to be cycled until the beam deforms upon cooling as well as heating remembering its shape. Once the shape memory alloy has been cycled significantly the beam will remember its shape for each phase. Region 601 is the cold source which may be the substrate, and region 602 is the hot source.
[0033] The fifth preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 3 is useful for harnessing the oscillating motion through electrostatic generation. A SMA layer 301 having an insulating layer 325 underneath is connected to a set of circuitry to harness energy stored in a variable capacitor. The insulating layer on the lower portion of the cantilever beam prevents shorting of the device.
[0034] The final preferred embodiment is harnessing the oscillating movement of the thin film through magnetic induction ( FIG. 7 , and FIG. 8 ). A magnetic layer 720 is placed on the SMA layer 701 . As the beam oscillates, the magnetic field near the pickup coil 718 changes from the motion of the permeable magnetic layer 720 . This change in field induces a voltage which may be harnessed to power other devices. The beam may oscillate by either internally induced stresses between the SMA 701 and the magnetic layer 720 , a third layer such as a silicon dioxide under layer as in a previous preferred embodiment, or by moving parallel to the substrate in another previously described embodiment. Proximity of the hot source 702 may be adjusted by the height of isolation layer 706 . The conduction of the beam to the substrate may be adjusted through isolation region 704 . FIG. 8 shows a possible flat coil design for picking up the changing magnetic field. Pickup coil 718 connects to a ground wire 719 and an output for the current 726 .
[0035] The present invention having been described in its preferred embodiments may take on numerous other similar designs as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example the alloy used is an alloy of Ni and Ti, but any shape memory alloy will be sufficient. Also the shape of the heat engine is not necessarily a cantilever beam but any shape provided it may oscillate between a hot source and a cold source. The heat engine device may also be used with other MEMS devices. For example the oscillating beam may be the oscillating beam of a MEMS gyroscope. The oscillating film may also be used to pump fluids in a MEMS device. Thus, it is not to be limited to the details within the preferred embodiments except as set forth by the appended claims. | A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based heat engine capable of converting thermal energy gradients into mechanical or electrical energy, as well as its fabrication process is disclosed. This heat engine design consists of a stressed oscillating beam formed from a shape memory alloy (SMA) thin film. As the temperature of the beam changes, its shape changes due to the phase transformation of the shape memory alloy, causing it to oscillate between a hot source and a cold source. Due to the hysteretic behavior of the phase transformation, the oscillating SMA cantilever beam produces a net mechanical work output that may be either converted to electrical energy or mechanically linked to other MEMS devices. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/582,009 entitled “Implantable Devices and Methods for the Evaluation of Active Agents” by Robert I. Tepper, Jason Fuller, Oliver Jonas, and John Santini, filed on Dec. 30, 2011, and where permissible is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention is generally related to devices, methods, systems, and kits for the evaluation of therapeutic agents in situ within tissues to be treated in patients.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In recent years, research has demonstrated that the progression of many diseases is governed by molecular and genetic factors which are patient specific. For example, it is now understood that cancer is driven by diverse genetic and epigenetic factors which are often patient specific. As a result, disease progression and anti-cancer drug response is unique to every patient. In spite of this understanding, most clinical treatments still follow established standard-of-care guidelines and paradigms which fail to account for patient-specific factors.
[0004] Personalizing therapeutic treatments in view of the patient-specific molecular and genetic factors offers the opportunity to improve therapeutic outcomes. In order to tailor treatments in a patient specific fashion, tools and methods of predicting and/or rapidly determining the response of a patient to particular drug regimens are needed.
[0005] Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide devices that can be used to locally deliver discrete microdose quantities of one or more active agents to tissues in a patient, and which can be easily removed with tissue remaining spatially positioned relative to the discrete dosages of active agent.
[0006] It is also an object of the invention to provide methods for the facile, in vivo, analysis of the sensitivity of a disease or disorder in a patient to one or more active agents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Devices for the local delivery of microdose amounts of one or more active agents, alone or in combination, in one or more dosages, to selected tissue of a patient are described. The devices generally include multiple microwells arranged on or within a support structure. The microwells contain one or more active agents, alone or in combination, in one or more dosages and/or release pharmacokinetics. In certain embodiments, the devices are configured to facilitate implantation and retrieval in a target tissue. In an exemplary embodiment, the device has a cylindrical shape, having symmetrical wells on the outside of the device, each well containing one or more drugs, at one or more concentrations. The device is sized to permit placement using a catheter, cannula, or stylet. In a preferred embodiment, the device has a guidewire to assist in placement and retrieval. The device may also include features that assist in maintaining spatial stability of tissue excised with the device, such as fins or stabilizers that can be expanded from the device prior to or at the time of removal. Optionally, the device has fiber optics, sensors and/or interactive features such as remote accessibility (such as WiFi) to provide for in situ retrieval of information and modification of device release properties. In the most preferred embodiment, the fiber optics and/or sensors are individually accessible to discrete wells.
[0008] The devices are formed of biocompatible silicon, metal, ceramic or polymers. They may include materials such as radiopaque materials or materials that can be imaged using ultrasound or MRI. They can be manufactured using techniques such as deep ion etching, nano imprint lithography, micromachining, laser etching, three dimensional printing or stereolithography. Drug can be loaded by injection of a solution or suspension into the wells followed by solvent removal by drying, evaporation, or lyophilization, or by placement of drug in tablet or particulate form into the wells. Drug release pharmacokinetics are a function of drug solubility, excipients, dimensions of the wells, and tissue into which the device is implanted (with greater rate of release into more highly vascularized tissue, than into less vascular tissue).
[0009] In certain embodiments, the devices are implanted directly into a solid tumor or tissue to be biopsied. Upon implantation, the devices locally release an array of active agents in microdoses. Subsequent analysis of tumor response to the array of active agents can be used to identify particular drugs, combinations of drugs, and/or dosages that are effective for treating a solid tumor in a patient. By locally delivering microdoses of an array of drugs, the microassay device can be used to test patients for response to large range of regimens, without inducing systemic toxicities, quickly and under actual physiological conditions. These data are used, optionally in combination with genomic data, to accurately predict systemic drug response.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cylindrical device containing a guidewire attached to the proximal end of the cylindrical device.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a cutaway diagram of a cylindrical device containing a fiber optic bundle extending from the proximal end of the cylindrical device. Fiber optic elements are internally connected to each of the microwells in the device.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an in vivo method for analyzing the sensitivity of solid tumor a patient to one or more active agents.
[0013] FIGS. 4A-D are schematics showing the arrangement of drugs in wells in the device ( FIG. 4A ), implantation ( FIG. 4B ), dosing where drug is released from the wells ( FIG. 4C ), and the different results obtained ( FIG. 4D ).
[0014] FIG. 5 is a schematic showing testing of the device in mice.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a graph demonstrating the local concentration of Drug A as a function of distance from the reservoir, at three time points following in vivo implantation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Devices and methods of use thereof are provided. Devices include one or more microwells which contain one or more active agents, in one or more different dosages. The reservoir locally delivers a microdose amount of an active to a target tissue located proximally to the microwell.
I. DEFINITIONS
[0017] “Microwell,” as used herein, refers to a chamber, void, or depression formed within or on the support structure.
[0018] “Support Structure,” as used herein, refers to the body of the device to which one or more microwells are attached or within which one or more microwells are formed.
[0019] “Guidewire,” as used herein, refers to a wire-like structure attached to the device which is intended to assist in the implantation of the device at a site of medical interest and/or its subsequent removal from the site of implantation.
[0020] “Active Agent,” as used herein, refers to a physiologically or pharmacologically active agent that can act locally and/or systemically in the body. The term “active agent” includes agents that can be administered to a subject for the treatment (e.g., therapeutic agent), prevention (e.g., prophylactic agent), or diagnosis (e.g., diagnostic agent) of a disease or disorder.
[0021] “Anti-neoplastic agent”, as used herein, refers to an active agent that either inhibits the growth and multiplication of neoplastic cells, such as by interfering with the cell's ability to replicate DNA, and/or is cytotoxic to neoplastic cells.
[0022] “Effective amount” or “therapeutically effective amount”, as used herein, refers to an amount of one or more therapeutic agents which is effective to decrease the size of a solid tumor or to inhibit the growth of a solid tumor.
[0023] “Biocompatible” and “biologically compatible”, as used herein, generally refer to materials that are, along with any metabolites or degradation products thereof, generally non-toxic to the recipient, and do not cause any significant adverse effects to the recipient. Generally speaking, biocompatible materials are materials which do not elicit a significant inflammatory or immune response when administered to a patient.
[0024] “Biodegradable Polymer” and “Bioerodible Polymer” are used herein interchangeably, and generally refers to a polymer that will degrade or erode by enzymatic action or hydrolysis under physiologic conditions to smaller units or chemical species that are capable of being metabolized, eliminated, or excreted by the subject. The degradation time is a function of polymer composition, morphology, such as porosity, particle dimensions, and environment. Suitable degradation times are from hours to weeks, more preferable from days to weeks.
[0025] “Tumor,” as used herein, refers to an abnormal mass of tissue that results from the proliferation of cells. Typically, solid tumors do not contain cysts or liquid areas within the tissue mass. Solid tumors can arise in any part of the body, and may be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Most types of cancer other than leukemias can form solid tumors. Solid tumors include, for example, adenocarcinomas, carcinomas, hemangiomas, liposarcomas, lymphomas, melanomas and sarcomas.
[0026] “Tissue,” as used herein, refers to groups of cells that perform a particular function, as well as organs, which are aggregates of tissues.
[0027] “Local Delivery” and “Local Administration,” as generally used herein, refer to the administration of an active agent to a target tissue location from a source that is at the target tissue location, or adjacent to or in close proximity to the target tissue location.
[0028] “Microdose,” as used herein, refers to an amount of an active agent that is locally administered to a tissue to determine one or more clinical parameters, such as efficacy of active agent, the metabolism of the active agent, or a combination thereof.
II. DEVICES
[0029] Support Structure
[0030] Devices generally include one or more microwells formed on or within a support structure. The support structure forms the body of the device. The support structure can be fabricated to form devices having a variety of shapes. For example, the device can be cuboid, cubic, or cylindrical in shape. In the preferred embodiment, the device is cylindrical. The support structure may also be configured to have one or more areas of separation. For example, depending on such factors as the material used and number of microwells, the areas of separation may include perforations, a material of enhanced flexibility or lower durometer, hinges, joints, etc., which allow portions of the support structure to be separated or flex.
[0031] Preferably, the dimensions of the device are suitable to allow for implantation using an 18 gauge biopsy needle, stylet, cannula or catheter. In certain embodiments, the cylindrical device has a diameter of between about 0.5 mm and about 2 mm, more preferably between about 0.5 mm and about 1.5 mm, most preferably between about 0.5 mm and about 1.0 mm. In a particular embodiment, the cylindrical device has a diameter of approximately 0.9 mm. In certain embodiments, the cylindrical device has a length of less than about 5 mm, more preferably less than about 4 mm, most preferably less than about 3 mm. In a particular embodiment, the cylindrical device has a length of approximately 2.5 mm.
[0032] Microwells
[0033] The surface of the device includes one or more microwells, each of which typically includes a solid bottom proximal to the support structure, one or more solid side walls, and an opening located on the surface of the device distal to the support structure. Alternatively, the microwells can be in the form of a hemispherical bowl.
[0034] Devices can contain any number of microwells. In the device shown in the attached figures, wells are provided in five rows of eight wells. Representative numbers of microwells range from four to about 100. The microwells may have any shape (e.g., circular or rectangular) and dimensions (e.g., length/width, diameter, and/or depth) suitable for a particular application. In some embodiments, all of the microwells in a device have the same shape and dimensions. In these cases, all of the microwells in the device have substantially the same volume. In other embodiments, the array contains microwells with multiple shapes, dimensions, or combinations thereof. In these cases, microwells with a variety of volumes may be incorporated into a single device.
[0035] The microwells can have any suitable shape. For example, the microwells can be circular, ovoid, quadrilateral, rectangular, square, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, or octagonal. In some embodiments, the microwells are rectangular in shape. In these instances, the shape of the microwells can be defined in terms of the length of the four side walls forming the perimeter of the rectangular microwell.
[0036] In certain instances, the rectangular microwells have side walls ranging from about 50 microns to about 500 microns in length, more preferably from about 100 microns to about 400 microns in length. In particular embodiments, the four side walls forming the perimeter of the rectangular microwell are of substantially equivalent length (i.e., the microwell has a square shape). Preferred sizes are 100×100, 200×200 and 400×400 microns, with depths of 100 to 300 microns.
[0037] In some embodiments, the microwells are spherical in shape. In certain instances, the spherical microwells have diameters ranging from about 50 microns to about 500 microns, more preferably from about 100 microns to about 400 microns.
[0038] The depth of the microwells, governed by the height of the solid side walls forming the microwells, can vary to provide microwells having the desired volume and/or volume-to-surface-area ratio for particular applications. In certain instances, the depth of the microwells ranges from about 50 microns to about 500 microns, more preferably from about 75 microns to about 400 microns, most preferably from about 100 to about 300 microns.
[0039] The microwells may have any volume suitable for a particular application. In certain instances, the volume of the microwells ranges from about 1.25×10 5 cubic microns to about 1.25×10 8 cubic microns, more preferably from about 1.00×10 5 cubic microns to about 6.40×10 7 cubic microns, most preferably from about 1.00×10 5 cubic microns to about 4.80×10 7 cubic microns.
[0040] The microwells may be arranged on or within the support structure in a variety of geometries depending upon the overall device shape. For example, in some embodiments, the microwells are arranged on or within the support structure with the axes of the microwells relatively parallel and the distal openings in a relatively single plane. In this configuration the microwells can be arranged in rectangular or circular arrays. Alternatively, the microwells may be arranged in a three-dimensional pattern where the distal ends of the microwells lie in multiple planes. In this three-dimensional pattern the axes of the microwells may be relatively parallel or be skewed relative to one another, depending on the overall shape of the device.
[0041] The microwells may be equally spaced from one another or irregularly spaced. In preferred embodiments, the edges of neighboring microwells are separated by at least about 50 microns, more preferably at least about 75 microns, most preferably at least about 100 microns. In certain embodiments, the edges of neighboring microwells are separated by at least about 100 microns, about 200 microns, about 300 microns, or about 400 microns.
[0042] Cylindrical devices have been manufactured with diameters ranging from 500-1100 microns, with a height of 2-4 mm. Reservoirs have been added by micromachining. Reservoir diameters ranged from 130-600 microns and reservoir depth ranged from 50-600 microns.
[0043] Materials Used to Form Devices
[0044] Devices may be fabricated from any biocompatible material or combination of materials that do not interfere with delivery of one or more active agents, assays performed, or data collection, if employed.
[0045] In certain embodiments, the device is radiopaque to facilitate imaging during implantation, residence, and/or removal. In some cases, one or more portions of the device are fabricated from a material, such as stainless steel, which is radiopaque. In some cases, one or more contrast agents are incorporated into the device to improve radiopacity or imaging of the device in vivo.
[0046] The microwells and support structure are generally fabricated from biocompatible materials that provide the device with suitable integrity to permit device implantation and removal, and to provide the desired residence time within the target tissue. In instances where the microwells, support structure, or both are fabricated from a non-biocompatible material, the non-biocompatible material is generally coated with another material to render the microwells and support structure biocompatible.
[0047] In some embodiments, the microwells and support structure are formed from a single material. In other embodiments, the microwells and support structure are formed from multiple materials that are combined so as to form an integral structure. Examples of materials that can be used to form the microwells and/or support structure include polymers, silicones, glasses, metals, ceramics, inorganic materials, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the microwells and support structure are formed from composite materials, such as, for example, a composite of a polymer and a semiconductor material, such as silicon. Devices have been manufactured out of the following materials, Acrylic resin, polycarbonate, Acetal resin (DELRIN®), and TEFLON®.
[0048] In some embodiments, the microwells, support structure, or combination thereof, are formed from or include a polymer. Examples of suitable polymers include polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polycarbonates, polystyrenes, polyethylenes, polypropylenes, polyvinylchlorides, polytetrafluoroethylenes, fluorinated polymers, silicones such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinylidene chloride, bis-benzocyclobutene (BCB), polyimides, fluorinated derivatives of polyimides, polyurethanes, poly(ethylene vinyl acetate), poly(alkylene oxides) such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), or copolymers or blend thereof.
[0049] Although not preferred, in certain embodiments, microwells, support structure, or combination thereof, are fabricated from or include one or more biodegradable polymers. Examples of suitable biodegradable polymers include polyhydroxyacids, such as poly(lactic acid), poly(glycolic acid), and poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acids); polyhydroxyalkanoates such as poly3-hydroxybutyrate or poly4-hydroxybutyrate; poly(caprolactones); poly(orthoesters); poly(phosphazenes); polyesteramides; polyanhydrides; poly(dioxanones); poly(alkylene alkylates); poly(hydroxyacid)/poly(alkylene oxide) copolymers; poly(caprolactone)/poly(alkylene oxide) copolymers; biodegradable polyurethanes; poly(amino acids); polyetheresters; polyacetals; polycyanoacrylates; poly(oxyethylene)/poly(oxypropylene) copolymers, or a blend or copolymer thereof, may be used. Biodegradable shape memory polymers, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,110 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,832, may also be employed.
[0050] In some embodiments, the microwells, support structure, or combination thereof, formed from or include a metal. Examples of suitable metals include, but are not limited to, cobalt, chromium, nickel, platinum, gold, silver, silicon, stainless steel, titanium, tantalum, and any of their alloys (e.g., nickel-titanium alloys), and combinations thereof. Biodegradable metals such as magnesium-based metals may also be used.
[0051] In particular embodiments, the microwells, support structure, or combination thereof are fabricated from or include silicon or a ceramic such as hydroxyapatite. In particular embodiments, the microwells, support structure, or combination thereof are fabricated from or include a polymer formed from SU-8, the structure of which is shown below.
[0000]
[0052] In some embodiments, the device includes an agent that prevents or reduces biofilm formation or inflammation or other foreign body reaction to the device once implanted. Such an agent may be incorporated within one or more of the component materials of the device, or coated on a surface the device, or portions thereof. In certain embodiments, one or more portions of the device is coated with a polymer coating to prevents or reduces biofilm formation or inflammation or other foreign body reaction to the device.
[0053] In preferred embodiments, the device is cylindrical in shape to facilitate implantation and minimize tissue damage. A representative example of a cylindrical device is illustrated in FIG. 1 . The device ( 10 ) contains a support structure ( 16 ), forming the body of the device. The device has a proximal end ( 14 ) and a proximal end ( 12 ), from which a guidewire ( 20 ) extends, and a plurality of microwells ( 18 ) formed within the support structure. One or more of the microwells contain an active agent or agents ( 22 ), which can be released independently or in combination.
[0054] In the preferred embodiment, the device is formed of silicon, which has the advantages of being biocompatible, resistant to fracturing, easily manufactured with high resolution) or SU8 polyethylene, which has the advantage of being very biocompatible, and softer thereby allowing microtome sectioning.
[0055] Guidewires
[0056] In some embodiments, the device also includes a guidewire designed to assist in the implantation of the device at a site of medical interest and/or its subsequent removal from the site of implantation. The guidewire may be attached to or extend from any portion of the device. In certain embodiments, the guidewire extends from the proximal end of the device.
[0057] The guidewire can be any wire-like structure dimension and length which is suitable to assist in the implantation of the device at a site of medical interest and/or its subsequent removal from the site of implantation. In certain embodiments, the guidewire has a diameter of between about 0.010 inches and about 0.065 inches. The length of the guidewire typically ranges from about 30 cm to about 300 cm (or more) in length; however, the guidewire is typically long enough to extend from the site of device implantation to a point outside of the patient's body, such that the guidewire remains externally accessible after implantation of the device.
[0058] Guidewires can be fabricated from any material or combination of materials, such as polymers, metals, and polymer-metal composites. Examples of suitable materials include metals, such stainless steel (e.g., 304 stainless steel), nickel and nickel alloys (e.g., NITINOL®, or MP-35N), and cobalt alloys, polymers, such as polyurethanes, elastomeric polyamides, block polyamide-ethers, and silicones. Radiopaque alloys, such as platinum and titanium alloys, may also be used to fabricate, in whole or in part, the guidewire.
[0059] In certain embodiments, the guidewire is coated or treated with various polymers or other compounds in order to reduce foreign body reaction provide or to provide desired handling or performance characteristics such as to increase lubricity. In certain embodiments, the guidewire is coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or a hydrophilic polymer coating, such as poly(caprolactone), to enhance lubricity and impart desirable handling characteristics to the guidewire.
[0060] Sensors; Fiber Optics
[0061] In some embodiments, the device also includes a fiber optic bundle, or other interrogatable or addressible means extending from a portion of the microassay device. The length of the fiber optic bundle typically ranges from about 30 cm to about 300 cm (or more) in length; however, the fiber optic bundle is typically long enough to extend from the site of device implantation to a point outside of the patient's body, such that the fiber optic bundle remains externally accessible after implantation of the device.
[0062] In these embodiments, individual fiber optic elements within the fiber optic bundle may by internally wired to one or more of the microwells in the microassay device. The fiber optic elements can be interfaced with external signal processing means to analyze the contents of the microwells, the nature of tissue proximal to the microwells, and combinations thereof. The fiber optic elements can also be interfaces with an external energy source to trigger the release of a drug or to provide photodynamic therapy.
[0063] The interrogatable means may be connected to sensors adjacent to or within the microwells. These may also have means for remote accessing, such as a WiFi connection.
[0064] Integrated optical fibers can provide real-time sensing of drug effect. In a preferred embodiment, optical fibers 12-250 micron in diameter are integrated into a cylindrical device. These fibers enable local sensing of the effect of released compound on the tissue adjacent to the reservoir. They can be used to measure specific changes in tissue characteristics that represent biological alterations in tissue state, e.g. apoptosis.
[0065] FIG. 2 illustrates a cylindrical device containing integrated fiber optic components. In this embodiment, the device ( 30 ) contains a support structure ( 36 ), forming the body of the device. The device has a distal end ( 34 ) and a proximal end ( 32 ), from which a fiber optic bundle ( 40 ) extends, and a plurality of microwells ( 38 ) formed within the support structure. Individual fiber optic elements within the fiber optic bundle are internally wired to the microwells in the microassay device.
[0066] Tissue Retainers
[0067] In some embodiments, the device also contains a feature, such as an overhang or lip, to facilitate the removal of a tissue sample immediately surrounding the device upon device removal. The device may also include retainers that are recessed into the device until implantation or removal. These are then expanded outwardly into the tissue where they can serve to stabilize or maintain the spatial arrangement of the tissue relative to the device and/or decrease any overlap in drug diffusion between wells.
[0068] The device can also contain a fastening means, such as a snap-lock fastener, or a magnet at the proximal end of the device to facilitate device removal.
[0069] B. Active Agents
[0070] One or more active agents are incorporated in one or more of the microwells in the devices. In some devices, all of the microwells contain one or more active agents, in one or more dosages. In other devices, not all of the microwells contain an active agent. In these embodiments, empty microwells may serve as a control, or increase distance between released drug to decrease overlap in diffused drug.
[0071] In some embodiments, each microwell which contains an active agent contains a different active agent or different combination of active agents. In some embodiments, a plurality of microwells each contains an active agent or combination of active agents in differing amounts of active agents, differing ratios of active agents, or different excipients/formulations of active agents. This allows variation not only of the drug, but also the dosage, release pharmacokinetics, and testing of various combinations at the same.
[0072] The devices deliver a microdose amount of a substance to a target tissue. A microdose amount may be from about 0.001 μg (or less) to about 1,000 μg, or about 10,000 μg (or more) of the substance. Those of skill will readily appreciate that microdose levels may vary as a function of the specific substance employed, the target tissue, and/or the medical condition being treated. Appropriate doses may be determined as described in example 1.
[0073] The substance may be delivered in a controlled release, sustained release, delayed release, or pulsatile fashion. Delivery may also occur over any time period. For example, it may occur over a period of minutes to hours, or days to weeks. In the preferred embodiment, release is complete within 48 hours, with substantially all drug being released within 12, 24, 36, or 48 hours.
[0074] The drug may be applied as a powder, particulate, or in a solution or suspension, with the solvent removed by drying, evaporation, lyophilization or suction. A membrane or film may be applied to the well after the drug is incorporated to isolate the drug until the time of use. Alternatively, a porous membrane may be used to cover the microwells to control rate of release after implantation. The drug may be held within a matrix formed of a biodegradable material or a material which releases the incorporated substance by diffusion out of or degradation of the matrix, or by dissolution of the substance into surrounding interstitial fluid. When provided in a matrix, the substance may be homogeneously or heterogeneously distributed within the matrix.
[0075] Selection of the matrix may be dependent on the desired rate of release of the substance. Both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable matrices (release systems) can be used for delivery of the substances. Suitable release systems include, without limitation, polymers and polymeric matrices, non-polymeric matrices, or inorganic and organic excipients and diluents such as, but not limited to, calcium carbonate and sugar. The release systems may be natural or synthetic. In some variations, the release system may be selected based on the period over which release is desired. Drugs from wells can be released not only with distinct drugs and concentrations, but also at different kinetics, depending on (potentially) a different material coating in each well (such as platinum or gold or polymer).
[0076] In preferred embodiments, the active agent is an anti-neoplastic agent. Representative anti-neoplastic agents include, but are not limited to, alkylating agents (such as cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, mechlorethamine, cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, dacarbazine, lomustine, carmustine, procarbazine, chlorambucil and ifosfamide), antimetabolites (such as fluorouracil (5-FU), gemcitabine, methotrexate, cytosine arabinoside, fludarabine, and floxuridine), antimitotics (including taxanes such as paclitaxel and decetaxel and vinca alkaloids such as vincristine, vinblastine, vinorelbine, and vindesine), anthracyclines (including doxorubicin, daunorubicin, valrubicin, idarubicin, and epirubicin, as well as actinomycins such as actinomycin D), cytotoxic antibiotics (including mitomycin, plicamycin, and bleomycin), and topoisomerase inhibitors (including camptothecins such as camptothecin, irinotecan, and topotecan as well as derivatives of epipodophyllotoxins such as amsacrine, etoposide, etoposide phosphate, and teniposide).
[0077] Other drugs may be anti-infectives such as antivirals, antibiotics, or antifungals, immunomodulators, either immunoenhancers, vaccines, or immunosuppressants, or hormones or analogues, agonists or antagonists thereof.
[0078] Active agents may be small molecule active agents or larger molecules (e.g., macromolecules) such as proteins, peptides, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. A preferred class of protein is antibodies and fusion proteins. “Small Molecule”, as used herein, refers to a molecule, such as an organic or organometallic compound, with a molecular weight of less than 2,000 Daltons, more preferably less than 1,500 Daltons, most preferably less than 1,000 Daltons. The small molecule can be a hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or amphiphilic compound.
[0079] C. Methods of Manufacture
[0080] Devices can be fabricated using methods known in the art, such as patterning, photolithography and etching. Suitable methods for the manufacture of devices can be selected in view of a variety of factors, including the design of the device (e.g., the size of the device, the relative arrangement of device features, etc.) and the component materials used to form the device.
[0081] Examples of suitable techniques that can be used, alone or in combination, for the fabrication of devices include LIGA (Lithographic Galvanoforming Abforming) techniques using X-ray lithography, high-aspect-ratio photolithography using a photoresist, such as an epoxy-based negative photoresist such as EPON™ SU-8 (also referred to as EPIKOTE™ 157), microelectro-discharge machining (μEDM), high-aspect-ratio machining by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), hot embossing, 3-dimensional printing, stereolithography, laser machining, ion beam machining, and mechanical micro-cutting using micro-tools made of hard materials such as diamond.
[0082] Detailed methods for microfabrication are described in, for example, “Microreactors, Epoch-making Technology for Synthesis” (edited by Jun-ichi Yoshida and published by CMC Publishing Co., Ltd., 2003) and “Fine Processing Technology, Application Volume—Application to Photonics, Electronics and Mechatronics—” (edited by the Meeting Committee of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, and published by NTS Inc., 2003.
[0083] Devices have been loaded with distinct compounds in up to 30 reservoirs. The compounds have been loaded as crystalline powder, lyophilized powder, compressed microtablets, as liquids dissolved in water or buffer solution, as solid dissolved in poly(ethylene-glycol) of molecular weight 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1450, 3400 and 7500.
III. METHODS OF USE
[0084] The device is implanted directly into a tumor or other tissue to be treated. The tissue will typically be transformed, i.e. cancerous tissue, but may also be infected with bacteria, fungus or virus, in need of immunomodulation (i.e., immunosuppression or immunoenhancement), or in need of hormonal adjustment. In some cases the hormone may be useful for treating a cancer. The device is particularly useful in treating refractory disorders and in testing combination of drugs that may be more effective in combination.
[0085] The device releases an array of drug micro doses locally, and uses state of the art detection methods to identify the drugs or combinations inducing a response. By using micro doses of drugs, the device is capable of testing each patient for response to large range of regimens, without inducing systemic toxicities. These data can be used along with genomic data to accurately predict systemic drug response.
[0086] In some variations, a microdose amount is used in early human studies, e.g., before a phase I clinical trial, to evaluate the effect of the substance on a target tissue, or to obtain pharmacokinetic or metabolic data. In other variations, a microdose amount is used to locally treat a medical condition, e.g., a cancer or tumor. In yet other variations, a microdose amount is used to locally deliver a contrast agent for a structural or functional imaging procedure. In view of this, a microdose amount can be tailored to the specific indication of the substance delivery.
[0087] The assay may be used to detect one or more of: a degree of agent permeation through the target tissue; detect a physiochemical effect of the agent on the target tissue; and detect a pharmacological effect of the agent on the tissue. In further variations, the devices may include a sensor for sensing one or more parameters of the target tissue after delivery of the substance. An agent may be delivered as a result of the response parameter or in response to the data obtained by the assay and/or sensor. The assay may be configured to provide various data such as data related to efficacy such as chemotherapeutic efficacy; activity such as tumor cell invasiveness; toxicity such as toxicity due to one or more agents being delivered or toxicity due to cell death; and combinations of these.
[0088] Methods have been developed for integrating antibody coatings into the device with the goal of capturing the presence of biomarker proteins in the local tissue near a reservoir. Biomarkers can then bind to the specific antibody coating and remain tethered to the device. In such a scenario, the device is pulled out from the tissue following the desired incubation time, and biomarker concentrations are determined ex-vivo directly by examination of the device.
[0089] A. Target Tissues
[0090] The target tissue may be located anywhere in the patient's body such as locations including: liver, lung, kidney, prostate, ovary, spleen, lymph node, thyroid, pancreas, heart, skeletal muscle, intestine, larynx, esophagus and stomach. In a preferred embodiment, the target tissue is tumor tissue including but not limited to: adenoma, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, large cell undifferentiated carcinoma, chondrosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and combinations thereof.
[0091] The target tissue may also be a tissue which is infected, for example, with a virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite, or which is characterized by inflammation or is in need of immunostimulation.
[0092] B. Delivery and Retrieval of the Device
[0093] Devices may be implanted via percutaneous, minimally invasive, or open procedures into the tissue of a patient. For example, devices may be delivered via an open surgical procedure, or by a minimally invasive procedure such as laparoscopy, endoscopy, arthroscopy, and catheter-based procedures. The devices may also be delivered percutaneously, for example using a needle, such as a 19 to 24 gauge biopsy needle. Retrieval of the devices may occur via the same processes, typically also using a biopsy needle with but with a larger diameter, such as a 16 to 18 gauge needle. The inserting needle is a cutting needle that has a smaller diameter than the retrieval needle, which is a larger diameter coring needle.
[0094] An image of the target tissue, such as a tumor, may be performed prior to implantation, during implantation, during implant residence, during implant removal, after implant retrieval, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the microassay device is implanted in the patient with image guidance.
[0095] In most cases, the device is implanted into a tumor using a biopsy-type needle, cannula, catheter or stylet. The device can also be placed in a lumen, such as a bile duct, alveoli or bronchi or kidney tubule. Alternatively, the device can be placed during a procedure such as a biopsy or excision of tumor.
[0096] In the preferred embodiment, the device is placed using a cutting biopsy needle with sharp stuffer tip. The stuffer needles are then retracted while keeping the needle in place. The device is delivered through the needle, then the need is retracted. A guidewire may be attached prior to or at the time of implantation. The advantage of this method is that there is better tissue penetration into the wells, and less tissue injury.
[0097] The device is retrieved in conjunction with the adjacent tissue. The goal is to analyze the tissue in the spatial orientation relevant to the device, to allow assessment of efficacy, dose dependency, and type of response (i.e., apoptosis, necrosis, inflammation, subclinical response). In a preferred embodiment, the device is retrieved by excising the device and associated tissue at one time, for example, by cutting out the device with a uniform amount of tissue around the device. In the case of a cylindrical device, one excises the device using a cutting needle or catheter that is of a greater diameter than the device. The guidewire may be used to insure that the tissue remains placed in the same proximity to the device. Stabilizers or retainers may be used in either the cutting removal device or the implanted device to help maintain spatial relationship with the device and treated tissue.
[0098] C. Analysis of Tissue
[0099] Following retrieval, usually less than 7 days from implantation, the treated tissue samples are analyzed, for example, by microscopic examination, by enzyme assays, and other histology and immunohistochemistry techniques used to assess cancer or infected cells.
[0100] FIG. 3 illustrates an in viva method for analyzing the sensitivity of solid tumor a patient to one or more active agents. An 18 g cutting biopsy needle 51 with stylet 52 is inserted into a solid tumor 50 . The stylet 52 is retracted, leaving the needle 51 in place. The stylet 52 is used to push the device 53 into the tumor 50 . The device 53 remains in the tumor 50 except for a retrieving device 54 . A larger 14 gauge coring needle 55 is inserted into the tumor 50 around the device 53 . The needle 55 is retracted, taking the device 53 and surrounding tissue 56 . The device 53 is then embedded in acrylic 57 , sectioned and histology preformed.
[0101] FIGS. 4A-D are schematics showing the arrangement of drugs in wells in the device ( FIG. 4A ), implantation ( FIG. 4B ), dosing where drug is released from the wells ( FIG. 4C ), and the different results obtained ( FIG. 4D ).
IV. KITS
[0102] Kits may contain one or more of the devices described above. Any number and type of deployment tools, retrieval tools, and imaging devices may also be included. The kits may also contain additional in vitro assays for evaluating samples, such as a matrix for fixing tissue samples for future histological analysis.
[0103] The kits may also include instructions for using the devices, tools, and/or assays contained therein.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Prototype Testing in Mouse Model
[0104] Materials and Methods
[0105] As shown in FIG. 5 , a mouse model for a human cancer cell line is prepared by injection of human cancer cells such as MDA MB-231 into the mammary fat pad of an immunodeficient mouse. Tumors are allowed to implant and proliferate to approximately 150-170 mm 3 .
[0106] Individual drugs are administered systemically by injection to the mice to establish local pharmacokinetics for the drugs. For breast cancer cells, representative drugs to be tested include docetaxel, doxorubicin, irinotecan, transtuzumab, and bevacizumab.
[0107] Devices were tested in approximately 50 animals for biocompatibility and integration with tissue. Data was obtained by computed tomography, magnetic resonance and histopathology.
[0108] A device with 14 reservoirs was loaded with approximately 1.5 microgram doxorubicin (crystalline powder) per reservoir. The device can be loaded with the same drugs based on the results of the systemic testing. Each drug is loaded separately and in more than one concentration, as well as in combination. After 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, devices are removed and histology conducted to look at the effect on the tumor cells adjacent to each well.
[0109] The effects of compounds eluted from reservoirs can be assessed by different techniques. Excised tissue with device can be assayed by standard histopathological techniques, including immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Mass spectrometry may also be used to measure local biomarkers indicative of an effect of a compound.
[0110] Analysis for apoptosis, necrosis, mitotic cell death, and proliferation can also be conducted. The local microdose response is then determined and can be used to define an appropriate therapeutic regime for the cancer.
[0111] Results
[0112] Computed-Tomography image of device implanted in tumor tissue shows reservoirs filled with nanoparticle compound.
[0113] Histopathology image of cross section of device in tumor tissue at a reservoir, shows ingrowth of tissue into device reservoir.
Example 2
Methods for Controlled Local Release of Drugs into Tissue
[0114] Materials and Methods
[0115] Several methods for controlling the release/diffusion of compounds into tissue, including precise spatial placement of reservoirs along device mantle; geometry and size of reservoirs; and formulation of released compounds, were developed. In this manner, the device reservoirs from which the compounds diffuse are engineered to expose only regions of tissue that are directly adjacent to the reservoir opening, to the released compound. This creates distinct local regions in which the effect of compounds can be assessed without interference of other compounds released from different reservoirs.
[0116] Results
[0117] Cross-section of device shows release of two compounds. Drug A was released upward and diffused into a larger region, while Drug B was released downward into a relatively smaller region.
[0118] The precise control over the transport time as a function of distance from reservoirs is shown in FIG. 6 , demonstrating the local concentration of Drug A as a function of distance from the reservoir, at three time points following in vivo implantation.
[0119] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of skill in the art to which the disclosed invention belongs. Publications cited herein and the materials for which they are cited are specifically incorporated by reference.
[0120] Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims. | Devices for the local delivery of microdose amounts of one or more active agents, alone or in combination, in one or more dosages, to selected tissue of a patient are described. The devices generally include multiple microwells arranged on or within a support structure. The microwells contain one or more active agents, alone or in combination, in one or more dosages and/or release pharmacokinetics. In an exemplary embodiment, the device has a cylindrical shape, having symmetrical wells on the outside of the device, each well containing one or more drugs, at one or more concentrations, sized to permit placement using a catheter, cannula, or stylet. Optionally, the device has a guidewire, and fiber optics, sensors and/or interactive features such as remote accessibility (such as WiFi) to provide for in situ retrieval of information and modification of device release properties. In the most preferred embodiment, the fiber optics and/or sensors are individually accessible to discrete wells. | 1 |
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from prior-filed provisional application Ser. No. 60/273013 filed Mar. 5, 2001.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to steps which are attached to a tree or other vertical object such as a telephone pole, usable both as manual climbing aids and as safety equipment attachment points.
[0003] In hunting, especially bow hunting, it is desireable to have means to facilitate climbing a tree. Various devices have been known in the prior art, and generally consist of some small step arrangement which is screwed into or otherwise attached to the tree.
[0004] Rock-climbing has gained popularity as a recreational sport in recent years, and this sport has generated the proliferation and low cost of various safety systems to avoid falls while climbing. A ‘lanyard’ or safety belt is a common component of such a safety system; it is attached to ropes or static points with ‘carabiners’ which quickly and easily lock the climber to the safety point.
[0005] Carabiners are known in the prior art, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,463,789, or 5,416,955. Lanyards are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,743.
[0006] Hunters often wait for long periods waiting for prey, and since silence is required, drifting to sleep and falling is a grave danger to hunters. There is a need for the popular equipment of rock-climbing to be adaptable to hunters to avoid falls.
[0007] Desirable features of a tree step are that it be inexpensive, reliable, and light in weight. Additionally, it should preferably be readily removable from the tree, either temporarily or permanently, and have features adaptable to popular climbing equipment. The tree step should be easy for the untrained person to use, and present minimal additional safety hazards.
[0008] Prior art tree steps do not address the safety objectives of the present invention. Prior art tree steps may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,007 to Mchaffy; U.S. Pat. No. 5,086873 to George; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,575 to Skyba; U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,030 to Wright; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,449612 and 4,620,610 to Southard; U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,807 to Kubiak; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,669 to Bergsten.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a tree step which is simple in construction, reliable, and simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and provides for the use of safety equipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0011] [0011]FIG. 1 is a left perspective view of the tree step;
[0012] [0012]FIG. 2 is a right perspective view of the tree step emphasizing the cylindrical nature of the construction;
[0013] [0013]FIG. 3 is a side view;
[0014] [0014]FIG. 4 is a top view;
[0015] [0015]FIG. 5 shows the conventional wearing of a lanyard;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 6 shows a conventional carabiner; and
[0017] [0017]FIG. 7 shows a tree-climber utilizing the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention is a tree step 1 preferably formed from a rod of steel or similar material, upon which tapered threads 100 are formed on one end. A downward bend 101 is made to form a drop or lever 102 , and another bend 104 is made such that the rod is again bent to be horizontal. A loop 106 brings the other end of the rod back to a point near the bend 104 .
[0019] The step is screwed into a tree by gripping the loop 106 and turning the loop 106 about the lever 102 so that the threads 100 are forced into the tree. If further force is required, as for example if a knot is struck in the wood, another step 1 may be placed inside loop 106 for increased leverage. When sufficient threads have penetrated the wood, turning is stopped when loop 106 is downward. The loop 106 is usable for three purposes:
[0020] 1. As a handhold;
[0021] 2. As a footstep; or
[0022] 3. As a loop for connecting carabiners or other safety equipment.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 4, the loop 106 is several inches wide, providing a safe and comfortable step, as well as a reliable clip point for a carabiner 600 as shown in FIG. 6. Carabiners are used as shown in FIG. 5; Carabiner 600 A holds ropes 502 to a lanyard 500 worn by a person 700 . Carabiners 600 are used as shown in FIG. 7; a person 700 wearing a lanyard 500 is using his left hand to clip a carabiner 600 onto the loop of tree step 1 , while his right hand is holding onto another tree step 1 which already has a rope and carabiner attached. The left and right ropes are alternatively moved, so that one rope is always attached to break a fall. The climber's weight is on his right foot, being supported by another tree step 1 .
[0024] Unlike some other prior art tree steps, the protruding portion of the present invention is rounded rather than sharp, reducing the chance of impaling and injuring a hunter who slips. The loop construction also provides no possibility for safety equipment to merely slide off. The loop is wider, providing a safer and more comfortable footstep. The loop is furthermore easier to grip by hand.
[0025] The above description relates to the preferred embodiment by way of example only. Many obvious variations on the invention would be apparent, and such obvious variations are considered to be within the scope of the invention, whether or not expressly described and claimed herein. For example, the step is disclosed as made of steel, but any material strong enough for the purpose could be used. The loop is shown as rounded, but any shape capable of the intended purpose could be used. | A hunter's tree step including an integral loop is disclosed. The loop provides for the use by readily-available safety equipment. | 4 |
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/604,131, filed Feb. 20, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,700.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to novel o-quinone and o-naphthoquinone derivatives which are structurally related to naturally-occurring lapachones and dunniones. The present invention is also drawn to a novel synthetic method to produce tricyclic derivatives, including lapachone and dunnione, as well as the use of these compounds in the inhibition of neoplastic cell growth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The present invention is drawn toward novel tricyclic naphthoquinone derivatives, a synthetic method for making the derivatives, and use of the derivatives to inhibit neoplastic cell proliferation. The naphthoquinone derivatives of the present invention are related to the compounds known by their trivial names as β-lapachone (1) (7,8-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-2H-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydropyran-7,8-dione) and dunnione (2) (2,3,3-trimethyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione). ##STR2##
β-LAPACHONE ##STR3##
DUNNIONE
β-lapachone is a naturally occurring product which can be found in small amounts in the lapacho tree (Tabebuia avellanedae) of South America. β-Lapachone may also be readily synthesized from lapachol (3), an abundant quinone which is also found in the lapacho tree. ##STR4##
LAPACHOL
In similar fashion, dunnione (2) and its structural isomer α-dunnione (2a) (2,2,3-trimethyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydro-furan-6,7-dione) can be isolated from the leaves of Streptocarpus dunnii. ##STR5##
α-DUNNIONE
Early work on the synthesis of these related naphthodihydrofurandiones and naphthodihydropyrandiones began with Fieser's 1927 synthesis of lapachol (3) (Fieser, L. F. (1927), J.A.C.S., 49: 857.) The first known synthesis of dunniones (2 and 2a) and related naphthoquinones was performed by R. G. Cooke and co-workers at the University of Melbourne using a modification of Fieser's above-noted synthesis. (Cooke, R. G. et al. (1950), Australian J. of Scient. Res., 3:481-94.) In short, the Fieser method synthesizes β-lapachol (3) via alkylation of the silver salt of lawsone (i.e., 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) with dimethylallyl bromide in absolute ether. This synthetic route yields both the C-alkylated product (lapachol), as well as an O-alkylated by-product.
Cooke et al. modified this general procedure by beginning with the potassium salt of lawsone rather than the silver salt. The C-alkylated product (lapachol) is separated from the O-alkylated intermediate by acidification, which precipitates the lapachol from solution.
What is left behind is an O-alkylated lawsone derivative, namely, 2-(3',3'-dimethylalloxy)-1,4-naphthoquinone (4): ##STR6##
Compound (4) is then subjected to a Claisen rearrangement by refluxing in absolute ethanol to yield 2-hydroxy-3-(1',1'-dimethylallyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone (5): ##STR7##
Under these mild conditions, Cooke et al. report that the conversion of (4) to (5) is practically quantitative. However, under more rigorous conditions, mixtures of the 1,2-dimethylallyl and 2,3-dimethylallyl isomers are also found.
Treatment of compound (5) with concentrated sulfuric acid yields a 2-ethyl-2-methyl derivative of dunnione (6): ##STR8##
In an interesting aside, Professor Cooke appears to have maintained a life-long interest in the dunniones as evidenced by his 1980 paper "Crystal Structure of Dunnione p-Bromophenylhydrazone," which was published 30 years after the above-described reference. (Aust. J. Chem. (1980), 33:442-5.)
A group of researchers led by Kenichiro Inoue has published several articles discussing the structure and biosynthetic pathways of various naphthoquinones isolated from S. dunnii. For instance, in a communication to the editor, Inoue et al. report the structure of several prenylated naphthoquinones from S. dunnii. In addition to dunnione, this reference also describes the isolation and characterization of 7-hydroxydunnione, 8-hydroxydunnione, and dehydrodunnione. This reference also describes the 1,4-naphthoquinone isomer of α-dunnione. This reference is limited solely to isolating the above-noted compounds from cell cultures of S. dunnii. A full-length paper describing the isolation and characterization of these naphthoquinones can be found in a 1983 publication of Inoue et al. (Phytochemistry (1983), 22(3):737-741.)
In a follow-up paper (Phytochemistry (1984), 23(2):313-318) Inoue et al. report a radioisotopic study to determine the biosynthetic pathways of several naphthoquinones and anthroquinones isolated from S. dunnii. Inoue et al. performed this study by inserting 13 C- and 2 H-labeled precursors into cell cultures of S. dunnii. The fate of the isotopically-labeled precursors was then tracked. Inoue et al. conclude that all of the dunnione naphthoquinone derivatives are biosynthesized via a common 4-(2'-carboxyphenol)-4-oxobutanoic acid precursor. This reference describes the formation of the deuterated 2-prenyl ether of lawsone by reacting lawsone with dimethylallyl bromide in the presence of potassium carbonate. Both deuterated lawsone and the deuterated 2-prenyl ether of lawsone were then administered to cell cultures of S. dunnii to determine the intermediacy of lawsone in the synthesis of dunnione. It must be noted, however, that this reference is silent regarding artificial methods for synthesizing dunnione and dunnione derivatives. Rather, Inoue et al. are limited to a discussion regarding possible biological pathways for the synthesis of naphthoquinones and anthraquinones in S. dunnii.
A German-language reference to Ruedi and Eugster describes the isolation of partially racemic (-)-dunnione from Calceolaria integrifolia, (Ruedi and Eugster (1977), Hel. Chim. Acta, 60(3) 96: 945-947.) According to the authors, this appears to be the first record of the occurrence of dunnione outside the family Gesneriaceae. In Gesneriaceae, dunnione is usually found as the dextrorotary enantiomer.
While dunniones, lapachones, and several derivatives thereof have been described in the prior art, no biological utility has been described in any of the above references, nor has any direct utility been described for any of the above-noted naphthofurandione or naphthopyrandione derivatives.
In the patent literature, Adams et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,805, describe 4,7-benzofurandione derivatives which are useful as inhibitors of leukotriene synthesis. Because the benzofurandiones described by Adams et al. tend to inhibit mammalian leukotriene biosynthesis, they are described as useful therapeutic agents for treating allergic conditions, asthma, psoriasis, and other maladies which are biologically mediated by various leukotrienes.
Petraitis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,917, describe a large number of substituted naphthofurans which find use as anti-inflammatory agents.
None of the above references, taken alone or in any combination, are seen as describing the presently disclosed invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the present invention is directed to a novel method to synthesize tricyclic o-naphthoquinones. The method is directed to synthesizing compound of Formula I or II: ##STR9## wherein R 1 -R 6 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; or R 1 and R 2 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, and R 3 and R 4 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, in which case--is a double bond; and R 7 is H, OH, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -amino, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 10.
The method includes the steps of alkylating a Group IA metal salt of lawsone with an allyl halide of the formula: ##STR10## in the presence of M-I; wherein R 8 and R 9 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; and X is a halide, and M is lawsone derivatives.
The mixture of C-alkylated and O-alkylated lawsone derivatives is then cyclized to yield a tricyclic ortho-naphthoquinone.
The present invention is further drawn to a method of synthesizing compounds of Formula I or II: ##STR11## wherein R 1 -R 6 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; or R 1 and R 2 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, and R 3 and R 4 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, in which case--is a double bond; and R 7 is H, OH, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -amino, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; and n is an integer of from 0 to 10.
The synthetic method includes the steps of synthesizing lithium salt of lawsone by contacting lawsone at a temperature equal to or less than about -78° C. with lithium hydride whereby the lithium salt is afforded.
The lithium salt of lawsone is then alkylated with an allyl halide of the formula: ##STR12## in the presence of M-I, wherein R 8 and R 9 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; X is a halide, and M is a Group IA metal, which yields a mixture of C-alkylated and O-alkylated lawsone derivatives.
The mixture of C-alkylated and O-alkylated lawsone derivatives is then separated from one another to yield a first portion of C-alkylated derivatives and a portion of O-alkylated derivatives. The portion of O-alkylated lawsone derivatives is then rearranged to yield a second portion of C-alkylated lawsone derivatives. The first and second portions of C-alkylated lawsone derivatives are cylized to yield a tricyclic ortho-naphthoquinone.
Using the synthetic method described above, several novel compounds have been synthesized. Among these compounds are compounds selected from the group consisting of Formula I or II: ##STR13## wherein R 1 -R 6 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; or R 1 and R 2 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, and R 3 and R 4 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, in which case--is a double bond: and R 7 is H, OH, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -amino, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, and n is an integer of from 0 to 10, and salts thereof; except when R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 5 and R 6 are methyl, then R 4 and R 7 are substituents other than hydrogen; and when R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are methyl, then R 1 is a substituent other than hydrogen.
A distinct advantage of the present synthetic method is that it allows for the synthesis of novel o-naphthoquinone derivatives, including lapachone and dunnione derivatives, using lawsone as a starting material. Lawsone is a commodity chemical which can be readily purchased in large quantities. This is a vast improvement over isolation of these products from natural sources or synthesis from naturally-occurring precursors.
The presently described synthetic method is also remarkably efficient and clean. The overall synthesis yields dunnione, lapachone, and other tricyclic o-naphthoquinone derivatives in heretofore unattainable yields and purity.
The synthesis is also quite easy, thereby avoiding the cumbersome manipulations required in prior art synthetic methods.
Of equal importance, the biological activity of the compounds described herein is remarkable in that the compounds are potent inhibitors of neoplastic cell growth and proliferation. The compounds described herein find use as chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of a wide range of neoplasms, including cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, and lung. The compounds exhibit their anti-proliferative effects in heretofore unknown, minute concentrations.
In light of the newly-discovered biological activity of these compounds, another aspect of the present invention is drawn to a method of inhibiting growth of cancer cells by contacting the cells with one or more compounds described herein. More specifically, this aspect of the present invention is drawn to a method of inhibiting growth of a cancer cell which comprises contacting the cancer cell with an effective growth-inibiting amount of a compound selected from the group consisting of 4-(C 1-C 6 alkoxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 alkenyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 carbonyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 aryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 heteroaryloxy)-1,2naphthoquinones, 4-(benzyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinone, 4-(C 3 -C 6 cycloaryloxy)-1,2naphthoquinones, 4-(C 3 -C 6 heterocycloaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, a compound of Formula I or II: ##STR14## wherein R 1 -R 6 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; or R 1 and R 2 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, and R 3 and R 4 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, in which case--is a double bond; R 7 is H, OH, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -amino, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, and wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 10; pharmaceutically-suitable salts thereof, and combinations thereof.
The method includes administering to a human cancer patient in need thereof an amount of one or more of the above-described compounds which is effective to inhibit the growth of the cancer cell.
The present method for the inhibition of neoplastic cell growth has both in vivo and in vitro applications. In vivo, the method encompassed the therapeutic treatment of neoplastic growths in mammals, including humans. The treatment includes administering an effective cancer cell growth-inhibiting amount of a compound as described above to a person or animal in need thereof. In vitro, the method for neoplastic cell growth inhibition is effective for inhibiting the proliferation of a large number of different human cancer cell lines, including breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.
The present invention is also drawn to a pharmaceutical unit dosage form which comprises an amount of a compound selected from the group consisting of 4-(C 1 -C 6 alkoxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 alkenyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4(C 1 -C 6 carbonyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 aryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 heteroaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(benzyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinone, 4-(C 3 -C 6 cycloaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 3 -C 6 heterocycloaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, a compound of Formula I or II: ##STR15## wherein R 1 -R 6 are each, independently, selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, and --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl; or R 1 and R 2 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, and R 3 and R 4 combined are a single substituent selected from the above group, in which case--is a double bond; R 7 is H, OH, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -amino, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, and wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 10; pharmaceutically-suitable salts thereof, and combinations thereof; wherein the amount is effective to inhibit growth of cancer cells in a human cancer patient following administration thereto.
In light of the above discussion, a principal aim of the present invention is to provide novel compounds and pharmaceutical compositions which inhibit the growth of cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo at very low dosages.
It is further an aim of the present invention to provide novel synthetic methods for making the compounds described herein. Specifically, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a novel synthetic methodology for the manufacture of o-naphthoquinone derivatives, including tricyclic o-naphthofurandione and o-naphthopyrandione derivatives.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide novel pharmaceutical unit dosage forms containing naphthoquinone derivatives which inhibit the growth of cancer cells when administered to mammals in need thereof, including human cancer patients in need thereof.
Further aims, objects, and advantages of the presently described synthetic methods and products will become clear upon a complete reading of the following Detailed Description, drawings, and attached claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival in the presence of β-lapachone and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone of colon cancer cells HT29.
FIG. 2 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival in the presence of β-lapachone and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone of colon cancer cells BE.
FIG. 3 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival in the presence of β-lapachone and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone of lung cancer cells A549.
FIG. 4 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival of A549 lung cancer cells in the presence of β-lapachone and 2-methyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione (also called 3,3-DINOR-dunnione), designated in the graph as "Drug A."
FIG. 5 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival of A549 lung cancer cells in the presence of Drug C (dunnione, i.e., 2,3,3-trimethyl-2,3,4,5-dihydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione) and Drug B (2,3-dimethyl-2,3,4,5-dihydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione, also called 3-NOR-dunnione).
FIG. 6 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival of breast cancer cells MCF7 in the presence of β-lapachone and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone.
FIG. 7 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival of breast cancer cells MCF7 in the presence of β-lapachone and Drug A (2-methyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione, also called 3,3-DINOR-dunnione).
FIG. 8 is a semi-log graph depicting the fraction of cell survival of breast cancer cells MCF7 in the presence of Drug C (dunnione) and Drug B (2,3-dimethyl-2,3,4,5-dihydro-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofuran-6,7-dione, also called 3-NOR-dunnione).
FIGS. 9A and 9B combined depict an electrophoresis plate run illustrating the ability of several of the compounds described herein to induce Topoisomerase II-mediated cleavage of DNA. The far left-hand lane of FIG. 9A is a lane containing DNA alone and the adjacent lane contains DNA and Topo II. The groups of lanes labeled 1-9 in FIGS. 9A and 9B depict varying concentrations of different compounds described herein in combination with DNA and Topo II.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The compounds described herein may be prepared using the reactions, techniques, and general synthetic procedures described herein below. Each of the references cited below are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The various reactions may be performed in various solvents which are appropriate to the reagents and materials employed and which are suitable for the transformation being effected. It is understood by those skilled in the art of organic synthesis that the functionality present on portions of a given molecule must be compatible with the reagents and reaction conditions proposed.
The synthetic method described herein generally and preferably uses lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) as a starting reagent. Lawsone is a commodity chemical which can be purchased in kilogram quantities from several commercial suppliers. (For instance, the Aldrich Chemical Co., Inc., Milwaukee, Wis.)
One aspect of the present invention is drawn to a preparative-scale alkylation of a Group IA metal salt of lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) with allyl halides to yield tricyclic ortho-naphthoquinones. As described in full, below, the resultant tricyclic o-naphthoquinones are potent inhibitors of neoplastic cell proliferation and growth. Consequently, the compounds described herein are useful in the therapeutic treatment of cancerous tumors and other neoplasms.
Preparative Alkylation of Lawsone
Alkylation of a Group IA metal salt of lawsone (i.e., lithium lawsone, sodium lawsone, potassium lawsone, etc.) with an allyl halide yields a mixture of C-alkylated products and O-alkylated products. The present synthetic method utilizes these two intermediate products to synthesize tricylic o-naphthoquinone products such as β-lapachone, dunnione, α-dunnione, and related derivatives. The present inventors have discovered that these compounds are potent inhibitors of neoplastic cell growth and proliferation.
Reaction I illustrates the initial synthesis of the lawsone salt, followed by reaction with an allyl halide. For clarity and brevity, the remainder of the Detailed Description shall refer to the preferred embodiment of the synthesis, wherein the lawsone salt is a lithium salt and the allyl halide is an allyl bromide. This is for sake of clarity only. The presently described synthetic method functions with equal success using other Group IA metal salts of lawsone and other allyl halides, such as allyl chlorides. ##STR16##
Reaction I
With reference to Reaction I, preferably, a lithium salt of lawsone is prepared by dissolving lawsone (10) in a suitable solvent, preferably dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), and then adding lithium hydride, LiH. A novel and preferred protocol is to cool the lawsone solution to -78° C. prior to the addition of the LiH, and then add the LiH to the solidified reaction mixture. The solution is then slowly warmed to room temperature. As the solution warms, the LiH is slowly dissolved into the reaction mixture, allowing for easy control of the evolution of hydrogen. The controlled evolution of hydrogen also eliminates the need to purge oxygen from the reaction solution by bubbling with a non-reactive gas. This makes generation of the lithium salt and the subsequent alkylation less cumbersome than prior art methods.
Alkylation proceeds by the addition of an allyl halide, preferably an allyl bromide (12) and a Group IA metal iodide, M-I, wherein M is a Group IA metal (preferably lithium), to the reaction mixture. Addition of the metal iodide serves to transform the allyl bromide in situ into an allyl iodide, which then reacts with the lawsone salt.
This in situ generation of an allyl iodide is another novel feature of the present invention. Allyl iodides are much more reactive than allyl bromides or allyl chlorides and are therefore desirable for use in alkylations. However, allyl iodides are also unstable and have a short shelf-life. Therefore, rather than working directly with the unstable allyl iodide, the allyl iodide is generated in situ, where it reacts with the lawsone salt. In addition, the high reactivity of the allyl iodide so formed increases the overall yield of the synthesis.
As shown Reaction I, R and R' are, independently, H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, or R 1 and R 2 combined are H, and R 3 and R 4 combined are H, in which case--is a double bond: and R 7 is H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkenyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy, C 1 -C 6 alkoxycarbonyl, --(CH 2 ) n -aryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heteroaryl, --(CH 2 ) n -heterocycle, or --(CH 2 ) n -phenyl, wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 10.
Reaction I yields a mixture of C-alkylated lawsone derivatives (13), O-alkylated derivatives (14), and unreacted lawsone (10).
The O-alkylated derivatives (14) precipitate from solution and can be separated by filtration, centrifugation, or any other suitable means for separating solids from a reaction solution. The unreacted lawsone and the C-alkylated derivatives (13) may then be isolated based upon differences in their respective acidities by any number of well known means.
Illustratively, the reaction mixture containing lawsone and C-alkylated derivatives (13) is acidified and extracted into ethyl acetate. The lawsone is then re-extracted into a sodium bicarbonate solution (˜5%) and recovered by acidification. The less basic C-alkylated derivatives are recovered from the organic solvent by extraction with sodium hydroxide (˜2N) and recovered by acidification.
Overall yield is approximately 40% for the C-alkyl derivatives and approximately 30% for the O-alkyl derivatives. ##STR17##
Reaction II
As shown in Reaction II, the C-alkylated naphthoquinone derivatives (13) can be converted into tricyclic o-naphthoquinone products via cyclization by treatment with concentrated sulfuric acid using well established procedures. (See, for instance, S. C. Hooker (1892), J. Chem. Soc., 61:611.) When R and/or R' are substituents other than hydrogen, the six-membered dihydro-naphthopyrandione derivatives (15) are formed. Presumably, this arises due to stabilization of the carbocation of the secondary or tertiary carbon center. If R and R' are both hydrogen, five-membered dihydro-naphthodihydrofurandiones (16) are obtained.
Reaction III shows a Claisen rearrangement of the O-alkylated derivatives (14) to yield a rearranged intermediate (17). As depicted, the rearrangement is accomplished by refluxing in toluene (although any suitable solve will suffice). The Claisen rearrange is well known to synthetic organic chemists. See, for instance, R. G. Cooke, Australian J. Sci. Res., above. In the same fashion as Reaction II, the rearranged product (17) of Reaction III may be cyclized by treatment with concentrated sulfuric acid. ##STR18##
Reaction III
Additional derivatives of the above-described tricyclic o-naphthoquinone compounds can also be synthesized by modifying the synthetic pathway used to cyclize the third fused ring. An illustrative example, depicting the synthesis of 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (19) is shown in Reaction IV, below: ##STR19##
Reaction IV
Here, an allyl derivative of lawsone, depicted in Reaction IV as lapachol (13) (wherein R and R' are methyl), is treated with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid to afford the epoxide (18). Preferably, the epoxide is not isolated. Rather, the epoxide is directly transformed into the tricyclic o-naphthoquinone derivative (19) by treatment with boron trifluoride. The overall yield of product (19) is approximately 50%.
The reaction illustrated in Reaction IV is a distinct improvement over prior art ring-closure transformations leading from (13) to (19) because it is far less cumbersome. The intermediate need not be isolated and the yield is quite high.
Still other tricyclic o-naphthoquinone derivatives can be synthesized via the reaction depicted in Reaction V. Here, a fully aromatic derivative. 3,3-DINOR-2,3-dehydrodunnione, is synthesized. ##STR20##
Reaction V
Here, lawsone is reacted with an aldehyde, such as propionaldehyde to yield a vinyl-p-quinone (20). The aldehyde may be selected from a wide range of suitable aldehydes and may contain additional functionalities. Suitable aldehydes include C 1 -C 6 linear or branched aliphatic aldehydes, as well as C 1 -C 6 dicarbonyl, cylic, heterocyclic, aromatic, and heteroaromatic aldehydes. Cyclization of (20) under acid catalysis and mild oxidation yields the fully-aromatic dunnione derivative (21). Illustratively, the ring closure in Reaction V can be accomplished by treatment of (20) with mercuric acetate (Hg(CH 3 CO 2 ) 2 , a mild oxidant) in the presence of acetic acid.
The 3-hydroxy-naphtho(2,3-b)dihydropyran-7,8-dione derivatives (19) (wherein R" is hydrogen), shown in Reaction IV, can be further derivatized to hydrophobic, cationic, and anionic ortho-naphthoquinones by reaction with mono-acids, amino acids, or di-acids, as shown in Reactions VI, VII, and VIII, respectively. ##STR21##
Reaction VI ##STR22##
Reaction VII ##STR23##
Reaction VIII
Reaction VI depicts the synthesis of mono-acid derivatives, such as the 3-O-acetyl derivative (22c). Reaction VII illustrates the synthesis of amino acid ester derivatives, such as the 3-O-alanyl derivative (23). Reaction VIII shows the synthesis of di-acid derivatives, such as the 3-O-malonyl derivative (24).
The preferred method to accomplish the transformation shown in Reaction VI is to react the 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone with an acid, R 10 COOH, and the corresponding carbonyldimidazole, CDI, in the presence of a non-nucleophilic base. As illustrated here, DBU (i.e., 1,8-diazabicyclo(5.4.0)undec-7-ene) is used. DBU is preferred. However, several equivalent reagents are known to those skilled in the art. Reaction VI can be used to generate, inter alia, carbonyl and di-carbonyl derivatives.
Reaction VII illustrates the conversion of a monoacid formed in Reaction VI into an amino acid derivative. As shown, the conversion to an amino acid salt is accomplished by treatment with HBr in a suitable solvent (e.g., diethyl ether).
Reaction VIII illustrates the synthesis of a di-acid derivative by treating a t-butyl ester generated in Reaction VI with a strong acid.
Examples and a further description of Reaction VI, VII, and VIII are included in the Examples section, below.
Biological Activity of the Tricyclic o-Naphthoquinones
Of great significance in the present invention is the utility of the described naphthoquinones to inhibit the growth and proliferation of neoplastic cells. Further still, in standard in vitro testing, the naphthoquinones described herein induce cell death in several neoplastic cell lines at drug concentrations smaller than 10 μM. The tricyclic naphthoquinones of the present invention have been shown to cause cell death in accepted in vitro test cultures for human breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer at minute concentrations heretofore undescribed in the scientific literature.
FIGS. 1-8 illustrate a series of experiments designed to illustrate the ability of the subject o-naphthoquinones to induce cell death in standard neoplastic cell lines. Each graph has as its X-axis the concentration of the particular compound being tested. The Y-axis of each graph is a semi-logarithmic scale of at least 4 orders of magnitude representing the fraction of cell survival in each of the cultures tested. A standardized protocol was used throughout all of the test cultures. The test protocol and neoplastic cell lines tested, as well as a complete description of each of the graphs shown in FIGS. 1-8 follows:
Cell Culture and Drug Testing Protocol
For each of the in vitro tests whose results are depicted in FIGS. 1-8, the following protocol was followed.
Day 1:
10 standard culture flasks for each drug to be tested are plated with 5×10 5 cells in 5 mL of media and allowed to incubate for 16-24 hours at 37° C.
Day 2:
Fresh stocks of the compounds to be evaluated are prepared in sterile DMSO. For each drug, two of the ten culture flasks prepared on Day 1 are used as controls. The control flasks are treated with DMSO only. Four flasks for each compound are then treated with serially-diluted concentrations of the compound (1, 5, 10, 50 μm or 2, 10, 20, 100 μm). The remaining flasks are left untouched. The cells are incubated for 4 hours at 37° C.
After 4 hours the control flasks are counted (2 counts for each flask) and the cells per mL calculated based on the average of the control counts. The cells are then replated into six 60 mm dishes for each flask from dilutions based on the cells/mL of the control. (In the various test runs, cell concentrations ranged from approximately 50 to approximately 800 cells per mL.)
Day 15-20:
The cells are monitored for colony formation. When visible, the cells are stained with 0.5% crystal violet (in 95% EtOH) and counted. The plating efficiency for each dish is then calculated. The plating efficiencies of the six dishes for each flask are averaged and the standard deviation is calculated. The fraction of cell survival at each concentration is determined based on the controls and plotted as log fraction of cell survival±standard deviation versus the dose of the compound.
The ED 50 results of the testing, and the respective figures which graphically illustrate the test results are summarized as follows:
Colony Experiments
______________________________________Cell Line ED.sub.50 Values______________________________________HT29 ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 4.8 μM FIG. 1 ED.sub.50 (OH-Lap) = 15.4 μM BE ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 8 μM FIG. 2 ED.sub.50 (OH-Lap) = 0.6 μM A549 ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 6.1 μM FIG. 3 ED.sub.50 (OH-Lap) = 18 μM A549 ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 5.8 μM FIG. 4 ED.sub.50 (Drug A) = 6 μM A549 ED.sub.50 (Drug B) = 5.6 μM FIG. 5 ED.sub.50 (Drug C) = 4.3 μM MCF7 ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 9.8 μM FIG. 6 ED.sub.50 (OH-Lap) = 7.7 μM MCF7 ED.sub.50 (Lap) = 1.6 μM FIG. 7 ED.sub.50 (Drug A) = 1.6 μM MCF7 ED.sub.50 (Drug B) = 1.4 μM FIG. 8 ED.sub.50 (Drug C) = 1.4 μM______________________________________
Effectiveness against Colon Cancer
The cell lines HT29 and BE are both human colon cancer cell lines which are used to test the effectiveness of a given agent against cancer cell growth and proliferation. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict the cell survival in cultures of HT29 and BE upon the addition of β-lapachone () and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (◯). The HT29 and BE cell cultures were prepared and tested according to the protocol given above.
As clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at a concentration of approximately 10 μM, β-lapachone already significantly impacts upon the ability of the HT29 and BE cells to reproduce. 3-Hydroxy-β-lapachone also significantly limits the reproductive ability of these cancer cell lines.
In FIG. 1, the ED 50 value for β-lapachone is 4.8 μM, and the ED 50 for 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone is 15.4 μM. (Bear in mind that the Y-axes in FIGS. 1-8 are logarithmic, not linear.)
For the BE cell line tested, the ED 50 for the β-lapachone plot shown in FIG. 2 is 8 μM, while the ED 50 for 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone is 0.6 μM.
The numerical values and standard deviations of the individual data points presented in FIGS. 1 and 2 are tabulated in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
TABLE 1______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival HT29 With β-Lapachone and 3-Hydroxy-β-lapachone (FIG. 1) Concentration of Drug ( μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.9868 0.0935 1 0.9669 0.1228 5 0.4901 0.0480 10 0.0000 0.0000 50 0.0000 0.0000 0 1.0132 0.0688 2 1.5232 0.1125 10 1.1854 0.0532 20 0.0232 0.0020 100 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
TABLE 2______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival BE With β-Lapachone and 3-Hydroxy-β-lapachone (FIG. 2) Concentration of Drug ( μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.1111 0.0731 2 0.0117 0.0082 10 0.1579 0.0126 20 0.0439 0.0102 100 0.0000 0.0000 0 0.8889 0.0850 2 0.9293 0.1280 10 0.3918 0.0627 20 0.0102 0.0046 100 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
Effectiveness against Lung Cancer
FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 depict the results of studies of the effectiveness of several different tricyclic o-naphthoquinones against lung cancer cells A549. The compounds tested were β-lapachone, 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone. 3,3-DINOR-dunnione (designated "Drug A" in the figures), 3-NOR-dunnione (designated "Drug B" in the figures) and dunnione itself (designated "Drug C" in the figures). A legend for the figures is provided below. The cell lines were cultured and the compounds evaluated according to the standard protocol described above.
Figure Legend
______________________________________Designation Formula Trivial Name______________________________________ Drug A 1 3,3-DINOR-dunnioneDrug B2 3-NOR-dunnione - Drug C3 dunnione - Drug D4 3,3-DINOR-2,3-dehydro- dunnione______________________________________
All of the compounds tested exhibited excellent ED 50 values against the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells. For instance, in FIG. 3, the ED 50 for β-lapachone () is 6.1 μM, and the ED 50 for 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (◯) is 18 μM. The data in FIG. 4 indicate that ED 50 (β-lapachone) ()=5.8 μM, and ED 50 (3,3-DINOR-dunnione) (◯)=6 μM. ED 50 (3-NOR-dunnione) ()=5.6 μM in FIG. 5, and the ED 50 for dunnione (◯) itself is a remarkably low 4.3 μM.
The numerical values and standard deviations of the individual data points presented in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are tabulated in Tables 3-8, below:
TABLE 3______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With β-Lapachone (FIG. 3) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.5556 0.0327 1 2.6528 0.0667 5 1.5833 0.0899 10 0.0000 0.0000 50 0.1771 0.1017______________________________________
TABLE 4______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With 3-Hydroxy-β-lapachone (FIG. 3) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.4444 0.0197 1 3.0417 0.0978 5 2.3924 0.0637 10 1.5330 0.0431 50 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
TABLE 5______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With β-Lapachone (FIG. 4) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.0161 0.0818 1 0.8552 0.0580 5 0.8966 0.0303 10 0.0069 0.0027 50 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
TABLE 6______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With "Drug A" (3,3-DINOR-Dunnione) (FIG. 4) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.9840 0.0585 1 1.1080 0.0705 5 1.2115 0.0238 10 0.0172 0.0044 50 0.0023 0.0006______________________________________
TABLE 7______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With "Drug B" (3-NOR-Dunnione) (FIG. 5) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.0962 0.0724 1 0.8972 0.1169 5 0.8190 0.0950 10 0.0024 0.0031 50 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
TABLE 8______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival A549 With "Drug C" (Dunnione) (FIG. 5) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.9088 0.1003 1 1.0962 0.0888 5 0.3997 0.0284 10 0.0000 0.0000 50 0.0000 0.0000______________________________________
Effectiveness against Breast Cancer
In the same fashion as the above tests, several lapachone and dunnione derivatives were evaluated for their efficacy in inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cells. In this instance, the cancer cell line utilized was MCF7.
FIG. 6 depicts the fraction of cell survival for a series of MCF7 cell cultures exposed to β-lapachone () and 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (◯). Here, the ED 50 for β-lapachone was found to be 9.8 μM. while the ED 50 for 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone was found to be 7.7 μM.
FIG. 7 depicts a comparative cell survival study between β-lapachone () and 3,3-DINOR-dunnione ("Drug A") (◯). In this study, the ED 50 for both β-lapachone and 3,3-DINOR-dunnione was found to be a very low 1.6 μM.
FIG. 8 depicts an identical comparative cell survival study between 3-NOR-dunnione ("Drug B") () and dunnione itself ("Drug C") (◯). The ED 50 levels in this study were also shown to be remarkably low. For both the 3-NOR-dunnione and dunnione itself, the ED 50 was found to be 1.4 μM.
The numerical values and standard deviations of the individual data points presented in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are tabulated in Tables 9-14. below.
TABLE 9______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With β-Lapachone (FIG. 6) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.5770 0.0152 1 1.5 0.2665 5 0.0000 0.0000 10 0.0000 0.0000 50 0.0032 0.0010______________________________________
TABLE 10______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With 3-Hydroxy-β-lapachone (FIG. 6) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.4231 0.0423 1 1.0641 0.0553 5 0.6795 0.0218 10 0.0000 0.0000 50 0.0032 0.0010______________________________________
TABLE 11______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With β-Lapachone (FIG. 7) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.0145 0.0783 1 0.9197 0.0687 5 0.0036 0.0020 10 0.0018 0.0010 50 0.0009 0.0005______________________________________
TABLE 12______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With "Drug A" (3,3-DINOR-Dunnione) (FIG. 7) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.9854 0.0579 1 0.8540 0.0389 5 0.0036 0.0020 10 0.0018 0.0010 50 0.0018 0.0005______________________________________
TABLE 13______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With "Drug B" (3-NOR-Dunnione) (FIG. 8) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 0.8377 0.0593 1 0.0888 0.0444 5 0.0032 0.0020 10 0.0016 0.0010 50 0.0154 0.0035______________________________________
TABLE 14______________________________________Fraction of Cell Survival MCF7 With "Drug C" (Dunnione) (FIG. 8) Concentration of Drug (μM) Fraction of Cell Survival Standard Deviation______________________________________0 1.1624 0.0781 1 0.5584 0.0674 5 0.0065 0.0041 10 0.0032 0.0013 50 0.0065 0.0013______________________________________
Effectiveness against Prostate Cancer
Additional biological testing was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the tricyclic o-naphthoquinones against prostate cancer and to further evaluate the biological activity of the compounds against breast cancer. The compounds evaluated were as follows:
Drug B=3-NOR-Dunnione
Drug C=Dunnione
Drug D=3,3-DINOR-2,3-Dehydrodunnione
Table 15 lists the IC 50 determinations of Drugs B, C, and D against the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3 and the human breast cancer cell line MCF7.
TABLE 15______________________________________IC.sub.50 Determinations of Drugs B, C, and D on Human Prostate (PC-3) and Breast (MCF7) Cell Lines Structures IC.sub.50 (μM)Naphtho(2,3-b)dihydrofurandiones PC-3 MCF7______________________________________Drug B 0.7 0.5 Drug C 0.6 0.7 Drug D 0.9 0.7______________________________________
IC 50 calculations for each cell line were determined by DNA amount and anchorage-dependent colony formation (CF) as described elsewhere. (See Planchon et al. Cancer Res. 55, 3706 (1995), incorporated herein by reference.) In short, IC 50 calculations for each cell line were determined by DNA amount and anchorage-dependent colony formation (CF) assays. For the CF assay, cells were seeded at 500 viable cells/well in 6-well plates and incubated overnight, then treated with equal volumes of media containing β-lapachone at final concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 50 μM in half-log increments (controls were treated with 0.25% DMSO, equivalent to the highest dose of β-lapachone used) for 4 hours or for continuous 12 hour exposures. Plates (3 wells/condition) were stained with crystal violet, and colonies of >50 normal-appearing cells were enumerated. IC 50 values for various cells were calculated using drug doses with numbers of colonies surrounding 50% of control. For DNA assays, plates were harvested for IC 50 determinations 8 days after treatment using a CytoFluor 2350 fluorescence measurement system (Millipore). Six-well samplings were included in the calculation of DNA fluor units for each dose. A graph of β-lapachone dose versus percentage control DNA in fluor units was used to calculate each IC 50 . The cells were exposed for 24 hours to the tricyclic naphthoquinones. All experiments were repeated at least twice, each in duplicate. PC-3 is an androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line.
To further study the presently described compounds, their ability to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in human prostate and breast cancer cell lines was evaluated. The results are encouraging in the all of the compounds tested induced apoptosis at a concentration of 5 μM.
TABLE 16______________________________________Apoptopic Effects of B, C, and D on Human Prostate (PC-3) and Breast (MCF7) Cancer Cell Lines Structures Apoptosis Observed Naphtho (2,3-b) Concentrationsdihydrofurandiones 1 μm 5 μm 10 μm 25 μm 50 μm 100 μm______________________________________Drug C - + + + + + Drug B + + + + + + Drug D + + + + + +______________________________________
Quantification of apoptotic cells and alterations in cell cycle distribution were determined 24 hours after drug treatment (1.0-100 μm; 4 h) by flow cytometry and DNA laddering as described by Planchon et al. supra. Experiments were repeated at least three times, each in duplicate. The above results apply to both the PC-3 and MCF7 cell lines.
An illustrative method to determine apoptosis proceeds as follows: Cells (1×10 6 /condition) were treated with or without various concentrations of β-lapachone, topotecan, or camptothecin for various times. Trypsinized or pelleted cells were washed with ice-cold Tris/saline solution (10 mM Tris (pH 7.0) and 50 mM NaCl), fixed in 90% ethanol-Tris/saline, and stored at -4° C. Cells were washed with phosphate-citric acid buffer (0.2M Na 2 HPO 4 and 0.1 M citric acid (pH 7.8)) and stained with a solution containing 0.2% NP40, RNase A (7000 units/ml), and 33 μg/ml propidium iodide at 4° C. for 10 minutes. Stained nuclei were then analyzed for DNA-propidium fluorescence using a Becton Dickinson FACScan (San Jose, Calif.) at a laser setting of 36 mW and an excitation wavelength of 488 nm. Resulting DNA distributions were then analyzed for proportion cells in apoptosis, G 0 /G 1 , S, and G 2 /M of the cell cycle. Data was analyzed by ModFit (Verity Software House, Inc., Topsham, Me.). All experiments were repeated at least three times, each in duplicate.
Cells from the above conditions were also analyzed for the formation of 180-200-bp DNA laddering, which can be diagnostic for certain cells undergoing apoptosis. Treated and control cells were washed twice with PBS containing 1 mM EDTA at ambient temperature and lysed in 10 mM EDTA, to mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.5% (w.v) sodium lauryl sarkosinate, and 0.5 mg/ml RNase A for at least 1 hour at 37° C. and then with 1.0 mg/ml proteinase K at 37° C. for at least 1 hour. Loading buffer (10 mM EDTA, 1% (w/v) low melting point agarose, 0.25% (w.v) bromophenol blue, and 40% (w.v) sucrose) was then added (10% final concentration), and heated (70° C.) samples were loaded onto presolidified, 1.8% (w/v) agarose gels containing 0.1 μg/ml ethidium bromide using end-cut Rainin (Woburn, Mass.) 1-ml pipette tips to avoid DNA shearing. Agarose gels were run at 65 V/cm for 10 minutes and then at 15 V/cm overnight in 1×TAE (1.0 M Tris-acetate (pH 7.5) and 10 mM EDTA) running buffer.
Inhibition of Topoisomerase I and II
Once it had been discovered that the tricyclic compounds described herein would not only inhibit cell growth, but would actively induce cell death via apoptosis, a mechanism to account for these biological effects was investigated. As shown in Table 17, it was found that the compounds of the present invention are inhibitors of Topoisomerase I (Topo I). By inhibiting the function of Topo I, which catalyzes the unwinding of DNA strands prior to replication, it is hypothesized that the compounds described above induce cell death by preventing access to the genetic information necessary to carry on normal cellular operations.
TABLE 17______________________________________Inhibition of the Catalytic Activity of Topoisomerase I by Drugs B, C, and D Structures Inhibition of Topoisomerase INaphto (2,3-b) furan diones 1 μm 10 μm 100 μm 1 mM______________________________________Drug C - + + + Drug B + + + + Drug D - - + +______________________________________
Topoisomerase I (Topo I) from human placenta (3.0 units) was incubated with various concentrations of Drug B, C, or D for 10 min. at 37° C. p36B4 Supercoiled plasmid DNA (1.5 μg) was then added to initiate DNA unwinding reactions. Topo I DNA unwinding activity was measured as described in Hsiang et al. J. Biol. Chem., 260, 14873 (1985), incorporated herein by reference.
Topoisomerase I enzymatic activity can be assayed in the following manner: supercoiled DNA unwinding assays using purified human placenta Topo I (TopoGEN, Inc., Columbus, Ohio) were performed with or without drug addition to assess the inhibitory effects of β-lapachone, camptothecin, and topotecan under various reaction conditions. Enzymatic assays were performed in two basic fashions. In the first reaction sequence, Topo I (3.0 units) was incubated with increasing concentrations of β-lapachone, camptothecin (or topotecan), or DMSO for 5 minutes at 37° C. in Topo I reaction buffer (without dATP). p36B4 Supercoiled DNA (1.5 μg) was then added to begin the reactions, and aliquots were taken at various times. In the second reaction sequence, p364B4 DNA (1.5 μg) was incubated with various β-lapachone, camptothecin, or topotecan concentrations for 5 minutes at 36° C., and Topo I (3.0 units) was added at t=0. Aliquots were removed at various times to follow DNA unwinding reactions and immediately treated with SDS-proteinase K at 65° C. and loaded onto 0.7% agarose gels; supercoiled (form 1) substrate was separated and quantified from reaction intermediates (R) and open circular (form II) product. On most agarose gels, DNA molecular weight markers (γ DNA cut from EcoRI-HindII (marked "Lambda EcoRI DNA Marker"); Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.), linearized p36B4 plasmid DNA (cut with PstI), and p36B4 plasmid DNA substrate were concomitantly added. Gels were stained with 50 μg/ml ethidium bromide and destained for 30 minutes in distilled water; the loss of form I relative to total DNA loaded was quantified by densitometric scans of photographic negatives (type 55; Polaroid, Cambridge, Mass.). Enzyme inhibition was defined as the effects of various drugs on Topo I activity compared to control (DMSO alone) reactions.
Analogous experiments to assay the ability of several of the compounds described herein to induce Topoisomerase II (Topo II)-mediated DNA cleavage were also performed. The results of one such experiment are depicted in the electrophoretegram of FIGS. 9A and 9B. Here, DNA was incubated in the presence of Topo II and several different compounds described herein. The electrophoresis plate run depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B shows that the naphthoquinone derivatives described herein have the ability to form Topo II-drug DNA-cleaving complexes.
As detailed herein, the β-lapachone and dunnione analogs of the present invention have been shown to exhibit a broad spectrum of anti-cancer activity. The analogs are equally potent against human multidrug-resistant cancer cells. The gel depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B show that DNA Topo II is an intracellular target of the compounds described herein. The compounds stimulate Topo II-mediated DNA cleavage. The compounds also induce Topo II-mediated cleavage using purified mammalian Topo II. However, unlike other Topo II drugs, the DNA cleavage patterns induced by the naphthoquinone compounds were similar to background Topo II-induced cleavage.
The compounds described herein also inhibited Topo II catalytic activity in a P4 knotting assay (data not shown). The inhibition appears to be a specific interaction of the compounds with the Topo II-mediated reaction: the compounds induce very slight unwinding in a plasmid DNA unwinding assay. Furthermore, the compounds tested induced DNA cleavage and protein-DNA cross-links in cultured mammalian cells. This suggests that the anti-tumor activity of the compounds is due to a specific interaction with Topo II.
A legend for the compounds which were tested in FIGS. 9A and 9B is as follows:
Legends for FIGS. 9A and 9B ##STR28## Lane 1: R═H (β-lapachone) Lane 2: R═OH
Lane 3: R═OC(O)CH 3
Lane 4: R═CH 2 CH═CH 2
Lane 5: R═OC(O)CH 2 CH 2 NH 3 + Br
Lane 6: R═OC(O)CH 2 CO 2 H
Lane 7: 4-pentyloxy-1,2-naphthoquinone ##STR29## Lane 8: "Drug B," 3-NOR-dunnione Lane 9: dunnione
Lane 7 contains a 4-alkoxy-1,2-naphthoquinone, namely 4-pentyloxy-1,2-naphthoquinone. 4-(C 1 -C 6 alkoxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, as well as several other types of 4-substituted-1,2-naphthoquinones, including 4-(C 1 -C 6 alkenyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 carbonyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 aryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(C 1 -C 6 heteroaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, 4-(benzyloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinone, 4-(C 3 -C 6 cycloaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones, and 4-(C 3 -C 6 heterocycloaryloxy)-1,2-naphthoquinones can be synthesized by reacting a silver salt of lawsone with a haloalkane in a suitable solvent (e.g., benzene). The resulting solution is then washed with ethyl acetate to dissolve the organic products and then filtered to remove the silver salts. The ethyl acetate solution is washed with NH 4 OH, followed by NaHSO 3 . The NaHSO 3 extracts are combined, treated with Na 2 CO 3 and extracted with CH 2 Cl 2 . The CH 2 Cl 2 extracts are combined and dried. Removal of the solvent, as by evaporation, yields the 4-alkoxy-1,2-naphthoquinone product. If desired, the product can be further purified by re-crystallization from benzene-ligroin.
The gels shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B show that Topo II is an intracellular target of β-lapachone, dunnione, and their derivatives. In the far left-hand lane of FIG. 8A, DNA alone is shown. Moving to the right, the next lane contains DNA and Topo II (mammalian). Lanes 1-9 of FIGS. 9A and 9B contain a series of concentrations of drugs (see Legend, above) in the presence of DNA and Topo II. Each set of lanes for each drug spans 3 orders of magnitude in concentration (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 μM). In FIG. 9A, the second lane from the left, which contains DNA and Topo II, shows very little DNA cleavage. The far left-hand lane of FIG. 9A, which contains DNA alone, shows no cleavage products. However, Lanes 1-9, which contain DNA, Topo II, and a drug according to the present invention, show extensive DNA cleavage. The wide range of differently-sized cleavage products indicates that the cleavage is extensive and heterogeneous.
Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms
The above-described compounds being effective to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, the compounds are suitable for the therapeutic treatment of neoplastic conditions in mammals, including humans. Cancer cell growth inhibition at pharmacologically-acceptable concentrations has been shown in human breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer cell lines, as described above.
The compounds described herein are administratable in the form of tablets, pills, powder mixtures, capsules, injectables, solutions, suppositories, emulsions, dispersions, food premixes, and in other suitable forms. The pharmaceutical dosage form which contains the compounds described herein is conveniently admixed with a non-toxic pharmaceutical organic carrier or a non-toxic pharmaceutical inorganic carrier. Typical pharmaceutically-acceptable carriers include, for example, mannitol, urea, dextrans, lactose, potato and maize starches, magnesium stearate, talc, vegetable oils, polyalkylene glycols, ethyl cellulose, poly(vinylpyrrolidone), calcium carbonate, ethyl oleate, isopropyl myristate, benzyl benzoate, sodium carbonate, gelatin, potassium carbonate, silicic acid, and other conventionally employed acceptable carriers. The pharmaceutical dosage form may also contain non-toxic auxiliary substances such as emulsifying, preserving, or wetting agents, and the like.
EXAMPLES
The following Examples are provided solely to aid in a clear understanding of the presently claimed invention. The following Examples do not limit the scope of the invention described above or claimed herein in any fashion.
Preparation of C-allyl and O-allyl ether Derivatives of Lawsone
With reference to Reaction I, above, lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) (52.25 g, 300 mmol) was dissolved in anhydrous DMSO (350 mL) at 23° C. The solution was cooled to -78° C., and lithium hydride (2.50 g, 315 mmol) was added to the solid. The solid solution was then allowed to warm up slowly to 23° C. When gas evolution subsided, lithium iodide (10.0 g, 75 mmol) was added, followed by the allyl bromide (34.6 mL, 300 mmol), which was added dropwise. The mixture was stirred for 5 hours at 45° C. and then for 10 hours at 23° C. After quenching the reaction with ice (200 g), water was added to the reaction (700 mL), followed by concentrated HCl (70 mL) and ethyl acetate (500 mL). Undissolved solids were collected by filtration and were confirmed to be the allyloxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (14, 20 g, 30%).
Dimethylallyloxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (14, R═R'═Me): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz): δ8.20-8.00 (m,2H), 7.86-7.58 (m, 2H), 6.16 (s, 1H), 4.49 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 1H), 4.59 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 1.81 (s, 3H), 1.76 (s, 3H).
2-Methylallyloxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (14, R═H, R'═Me): mp 136.0-137.0° C., 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.13 (dd, J=7,2 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (dd, J=7, 2 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (dt, J=7, 2 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (dd, J=7, 2 Hz, 1H), 6.17 (s, 1H), 6.00-5.90 (m, 1H), 5.8-5.7 (M, 1H), 4.53 (d, J=6 Hz, 2H), 1.78 (d, J=6 Hz, 3H).
2-Allyloxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (14, R═R'═H): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.22-8.04 (m, 2H), 7.94-7.66 (m, 2H), 6.17 (s, 1H), 6.15-5.95 (m, 1H), 5.49 (dd, J=11.6, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 5.41 (dd, J=10.5, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 4.62 (d, J=5.6 Hz, 2H).
The ethyl acetate layer was then separated and aqueous layer extracted again with more ethyl acetate (250 mL). The combined organic layers were then extracted with 5% aqueous NaHCO 3 . The NaHCO 3 extracts were acidified with concentrated HCl and the precipitate filtered. The precipitate was shown to be unreacted lawsone (10) (16.02 g, 30%).
The ethyl acetate solution was evaporated in vacuo and the residue dissolved in diethyl ether (500 mL). The ether solution was extracted with 2 N NaOH (3×200 mL). The alkaline extracts were acidified with concentrated HCl and allowed to stand at 4° C. for 15 hours. The precipitate was filtered, dried, and re-crystallized from a mixture of EtOH/H 2 O to afford (13) as yellow crystals.
3-(Dimethylallyl)-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (13, R═R'═Me) (28.76 g, 40%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.12 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 8.07 (d, J=7.5, 1H), 7.75 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.67 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.29 (s, OH), 5.21 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 3.31 (d, J=7.3 Hz, 1H), 1.79 (s, 3H), 1.68 (s, 3H).
3-(Methylallyl)-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (13, R═H, R'═Me) (36%): mp 130.5-131.5° C.; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.13 (dd, J=7.5, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (dd, J=7.5, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (td, J=7.5, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (td, J=7.5, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 7.36 (s, OH), 5.40-5.70 (m, 2H), 3.29 (d, J=6.0 Hz, 2H), 1.62 (d, J=6.0 Hz, 2H).
3-Allyl-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone(13, R═R'═H) (39%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.13 (dd, J=7.7, 1.1 Hz, 1H), 8.09 (dd, J=7.6, 1.1 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (dt, J=7.5, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (dt, J=7.5, 1.4 Hz, 1H), 7.33 (s, OH), 6.08-5.80 (M, 1H), 5.17 (dd, J=17.1, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 5.05 (dd, J=10.0, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 3.37 (dt, J=6.5, 1.4 Hz, 2H).
The Claisen Rearrangement
Referring now to Reaction II, above, a solution of (14) (20 g) in toluene (250 mL) was heated to reflux. The solids dissolved gradually as the temperature increased and a clear red-pink solution resulted. After heating under reflux for 1.5 h, the solution was allowed to cool and 2 N NaOH (100 mL) was added. The solution was filtered to separate unreacted ally ether (14) (2.24 g, 11%). The aqueous layer was separated and the toluene layer was extracted with more 2 N NaOH (2×50 mL). The combined aqueous layers were acidified with concentrated HCl and extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic extracts were dried, concentrated in vacuo, and the residue re-crystallized from EtOH/H 2 O to afford (17).
3-(Dimethylallyl)-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (17, R═R'═Me) (12.67 g, 63%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.10-8.00 (m, 2H), 7.84 (s, OH), 7.80-7.60 (m, 2H), 6.29 (dd, J=17.5, 10.6 Hz, 1H), 5.04-4.93 (m, 2H), 1.57 (s, 6H).
3-(Methylallyl)-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (17, R═H, R'═Me) (30%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.12 (dd, J=7.7, 1.1 Hz, 1H), 8.07 (dd, J=7.6, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.76 (dt, J=7.5, 0.9 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (dt, J=7.5, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 6.20 (ddd, J=17.3, 10.1, 7.4 Hz, 1H), 5.14 (dd, J=17.1, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 5.02 (dd, J=10.1, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 3.99 (m, 1H), 1.41 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 3H).
Preparation of β-lapachone and Analogs
Cyclization via Treatment with Strong Acid:
One technique to form the third ring of the tricyclic compounds is to treat the allyl intermediate with concentrated acid. With reference to Reactions II and III, concentrated sulfuric acid (70 mL) was added to lapachol (13) (11.26 g) (or 17 in Reaction III) at 23° C. After stirring until all solids dissolved (approximately 15 minutes), the mixture was poured into water (200 mL) and filtered to afford β-lapachone (15, R5=R6=Me) (11.11 g, 99%).
Re-crystallization from diethyl ether gave β-lapachone as orange needles (10.45 g, 94% recovery): mp 154-155.5° C., 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.06 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.81 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.64 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.50 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 2.58 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 1.86 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 1.47 (s, 6H).
Monomethyl-β-lapachone (15, R═H, R'═Me) (48% along with 22% α-isomer after silica gel chromatography): mp 164-165° C.; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.07 (dd, J=7.6, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.82 (dd, J=7.6, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.65 (dd, J=7.6, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (dd, J=7.6, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 4.40 (dqd, J=10, 6.3, 3 Hz, 1H), 2,71 (ddd, J=17.5, 5.5, 3.5 Hz, 1H), 2.46 (ddd, J=17.5, 10.7, 6.0 Hz, 1H), 2.11 (dddd, J=14, 6, 3.5, 3, 1H), 1.71 (dddd, J=14, 10.7, 10, 5.5 Hz, 1H), 1.54 (d, J=6.3 HZ, 3H).
Dunnione (16, R═R'═Me): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.04 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.68-7.50 (m, 3H), 4.67 (q, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 1.47 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 3H), 1.45 (s, 3H), 1.27 (s, 3H).
3-NOR-dunnione (16, R═H, R'═Me, R2 and R4=H) (30%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.08 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.72-7.50 (m, 3H), 5.24-5.12 (m, 1H), 3.60-3.48 (m, 1H), 1.54 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 3H), 1.24 (d, J=7.1 Hz, 3H).
Cyclization via Epoxidation to Yield 3-substituted lapachones:
Referring now to Reaction IV, 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (19) and derivatives thereof can be synthesized by forming an epoxide intermediate followed by ring closure. An illustrative synthesis of 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (19, R5=R6=Me, R7=OH) proceeds as follows:
Lapachol (12.11 g, 50 mmol) was dissolved in CH 2 Cl 2 (250 mL) at 23° C. The solution was cooled to 0° C., which caused some lapachol to precipitate. To this cooled solution was added m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) (10.15 g, 85% purity, 50 mmol). The solution then was stirred for 4 hours at 23° C., and the solution filtered. The filtrate was washed with aqueous NaHCO 3 and dried.
The epoxide so formed (18) remains in solution. To this solution was added BF 3 .OEt 2 (6.15 mL, 50 mmol) at 0° C. After stirring at 23° C. for 10 hours, the solution was washed consecutively with aqueous Na 2 CO 3 , 5% citric acid, and water. The organic layer was extracted with 5% NaHSO 3 (300 mL, 200 mL, 200 mL). The extracts were pooled. Saturated Na 2 CO 3 (600 mL) was added to the pooled extracts to yield reddish precipitates. The solution containing the precipitates was cooled at 0° C. for 2 hours and filtered.
The filtrate is 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (19, R═R'═Me, R"═H) (6.72 g, 52% for the two steps from lapachol): mp 202.5-203.5° C., 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.06 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.66 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.52 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 3.92 (m, 1H), 2.83 (dd, J=17.7, 4.8 Hz, 1H), 2.62 (dd, J=17.7, 5.4 Hz, 1H), 1.52 (s, 3H), 1.46 (s, 3H).
2-Hydroxy-3-(2',3'-oxo-3'methylbutyl)naphthoquinone(18). This compound can be obtained by repeating the reaction described immediately above, and isolating the epoxide by silica gel chromatography (25-100% ethyl acetate in hexanes). 1 H NMR (DMSO-d6, 300 MHz) δ8.04-7.95 (m, 2H), 7.87-7.72 (m, 2H), 3.52 (t, J=6.5 Hz, 1H), 2.65 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 1.10 (s, 6H); 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 , 75 MHz) δ180.92 (s), 175.13 (s), 169.94 (s), 134.53 (d)<131.88 (d), 130.43 (s), 129.23 (d), 127.21 (s), 124.50 (d), 115.94 (s), 93.59 (d), 71.52 (s), 27.26 (t), 25.62 (q), 24.56 (q).
Fully-Aromatic Dunnione Analogs
With reference to Reaction V, above, the fully-aromatic derivative of dunnione, namely 2-methyl-4H,5H-naphtho(2,3-b)furan-6,7-dione (21), can be synthesized by reacting lawsone with an aldehyde.
Illustratively, 2-hydroxy-3-propenyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (20) was synthesized, followed by ring closure to yield the fully-aromatic dunnione derivative, as follows:
Propionaldehyde (RCHO, R=propyl, 5.0 mL, 69.3 mmol) was added to a solution of concentrated HCl (2 mL) and lawsone (2.00 g, 11.5 mmol) in acetic acid (35 mL) at 60° C. After stirring for 1.25 hours, another portion of propionaldehyde was added (5.0 mL, 69.3 mmol). The solution was then stirred for an additional 1 hour. The solution was allowed to cool to room temperature, and then ice water (200 mL) was added to quench the reaction. The solution was extracted with diethyl ether (3×200 mL) and the organic fractions pooled. The combined organic layers were re-extracted with 5% Na 2 CO 3 (8×150 mL). The aqueous extracts were also pooled and acidified with concentrated HCl. A precipitate formed which was collected by filtration to afford (20) as an orange solid. 2-Hydroxy-3-propenyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (20) (983 mg, 40%): mp 133-134° C.; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHZ) δ8.13 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 8.06 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.80-7.62 (m, 3H), 7.15-6.95 (m, 1H), 6.63 (d, J=16.1 Hz, 1H), 1.99 (d, J=6.8 Hz, 3H).
Ring closure to yield 2-methyl-4H, 5H-naphtho[2,3-b]furan-6,7-dione (21) can be accomplished as follows. A solution of the naphthoquinone (20) (2.26 g) and Hg(OAc) 2 (5.0 g) in acetic acid (200 mL) was stirred for 10 hours at 23° C. The precipitate formed which was removed by filtration. The filtrate was poured into water (400 mL), and the resultant solution was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×200 mL). The combined extracts were washed with water (3×200 mL). After drying over MgSO 4 , the organic layer was concentrated in vacuo, and the residue was purified by chromatography (10-20% ethyl acetate in hexane) on silica gel to give (21) as a brown-red solid.
2-Methyl-4H, 5H-naphtho(2,3-b)furan-6,7-dione (21, (3,3-DINOR-2,3-dehydrodunnione)): (549 mg, 25%) mp 158.5-160°; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.05 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.68-7.57 (m, 2H), 7.43 (dt, J=7.3, 1.8 Hz, 1H), 6.45 (s, 1H), 2.43 (s, 3H); 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 , 75 MHz) δ180.73 (s), 174.40 (s), 159.64 (s), 155.97 (s), 135.39 (d), 130.47 (d), 129.82 (d), 128.72 (s), 128.60 (s), 122.70 (s), 121.99 (d), 104.55 (d), 13.63 (q); MS m/z 69, 128, 183, 212; HRMS m/z calculated for C 13 H 8 O 3 (M+) 212.0473, found 212.0471.
Derivatization of 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone
Once 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone has been isolated, its hydroxyl functionality can be utilized to synthesize a wide range of 3-oxy-substituted β-lapachone derivatives. What follows are examples of a mono-acid derivative, an amino acid derivative, and a di-acid derivative. Based upon these illustrative syntheses, several analogous derivatives can be synthesized with ease.
With reference to Reaction VI, above, 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole (486 mg, 3.0 mmol) was first added to the corresponding carboxylic acid (3.0 mmol) in dimethylformamide (DMF) (8 mL) at 23° C. For the following examples only, R 10 of the acid and corresponding 3-substituted lapachone product can be CH 2 CH 2 NHBoc-(Boc=t-butoxycarbonyl) (22a), CH 2 CO 2 C(CH 3 ) 2 -- (22b), or methyl (22c).
After stirring for 20 minutes, 3-hydroxy-β-lapachone (19) (517 mg, 2.0 mmol) and DBU (389 uL, 26 mmol) were added to the mixture. (DBU=1,8-diazabicyclo(5.4.0)undec-7-ene, a relatively strong, sterically-hindered, non-nucleophilic base.) The mixture was stirred for 5 hours and poured into water (150 mL). The precipitate was collected by filtration and purified by silica gel chromatography (10-33% ethyl acetate in hexanes) to afford (22) (approximately 50% yield).
With reference to Reaction VII, compound (22a) (200 mg, 0.466 mmol) was added to diethyl ether (200 mL). A small amount of undissolved residue was removed by filtration. To the clear solution, hydrogen bromide (35% in acetic acid, 3.0 mL) was added at 23° C. After stirring for 10 minutes, the solution was filtered, and the precipitate re-crystallized from methanol to afford (23) (52 mg, 27%): 1 H NMR (D 2 O, 300 MHz) δ8.05-7.60 (m, 4H), 5.13 (m, 1H), 3.10 (t, J=6.5 Hz, 2H), 2.84-2.50 (M, 4H), 1.39 (s, 3H), 1.31 (s, 3H).
Referring now to Reaction VIII, trifluoracetic acid (1.0 mL) was added to a solution of compound (22b) (330 mg) in CH 2 Cl 2 (1.5 mL) at 23° C. After stirring 1 hour the mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in MeO-t-Bu (50 mL) and extracted with saturated NaHCO 3 (2×25 mL). The combined aqueous layers were counter-extracted with diethyl ether and acidified with concentrated HCl. The resultant precipitate was filtered to give the malonyl derivative (24) (136 mg, 48%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.08 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (t, J=7.5 Hz, 1H), 5.19 (t, J=4.6 Hz, 1H), 3.36 (s, 2H), 2.84 (dd, J=18.2, 4.9 Hz, 1H), 2.73 (dd, J=18.2, 4.4 Hz, 1H), 1.52 (s, 3H), 1.48 (s, 3H); 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 , 75 MHz) δ179.43 (s), 178.64 (s), 170.12 (s), 161.22 (s), 134.98 (d), 132.07 (s), 131.08 (d), 130.21 (s), 128.93 (d), 124.37 (d), 110.12 (s), 79.76 (s), 69.11 (d), 24.98 (q), 23.29 (q), 22.71 (t), 21.02 (q); MS (FAB) m/z 136, 154, 241, 345 (MH + ).
3-(n-Butyloxycarboxy-β-alanyloxy)-β-lapachone (22a): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.10 (d, 1H), 7.84 (d, 1H), 7.67 (t, 1H), 7.54 (t, 1H), 5.17 (t, 1H), 3.53-3.32 (m, 1H), 2.93 (br, 1H), 2.85 (dd, 1H), 2.70 (dd, 1H), 2.65-2.50 (m, 1H), 1.47 (d, 6H), 1.42 (s, 9H).
3-(β-Alanyloxy)-β-lapachone (23): mp 228-229° C. (decomposed); 1 H NMR (D 2 O, 300 MHz) δ8.05-7.60 (m, 4H), 5.13 (m, 1H), 3.10 (t, J=6.5 Hz, 2H), 2.84-2.50 (m, 4H), 1.39 (s, 3H); 13 C NMR (D 2 O, 75 MHz, DMSO-d6 was added as internal standard) δ181.77 (s), 180.84 (s), 173.02 (s), 165.13 (s), 137.45 (d), 132.93 (s), 130.79 (s), 130.03 (d), 126.34 (d), 110.92 (s), 82.29 (s), 71.99 (d), 36.34 (t), 32.57 (t), 25.41 (q), 24.10 (q), 23.35 (t); MS (FAB) m/z 122.0, 205.1, 241.1, 301.1, 330.1, (MH + ), 659.1 (2M+H + ).
3-(2'-β-Butyloxycarboxyacetoxy)-β-lapachone (22b) (27%): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.10 (d, 1H), 7.84 (d, 1H), 7.68 (t, 1H), 7.55 (t, 1H), 5.22 (t, 1H), 3.33 (s, 2H), 2.95 (dd, 1H), 2.74 (dd, 1H), 1.52 (d, 6H), 1.42 (s, 9H).
3-Acetoxy-β-lapachone (22c): 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz) δ8.09 (d, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.68 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.55 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.15 (t, J=4.5 Hz, 1H), 2.82 (dd, J=18.2, 4.8 Hz, 1H), 2.68 (dd, J=18.2, 4.1 Hz, 1H), 2.08 (s, 3H), 1.49 (s, 3H), 1.44 (s, 3H); 13 CNMR (CDCl 3 , 75 MHz) δ179.43 (s), 178.64 (s), 170.12 (s), 161.22 (s), 134.98 (d), 132.07 (s), 131.08 (d), 130.21 (s), 128.93 (d), 124.37 (d), 110.12 (s), 79.76 (s), 69.11 (d), 24.98 (q), 23.29 (q), 22.71 (t), 21.02 (q).
It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particular chemical reactions, reagents, solvents, transformations, or cell lines herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims. | A process for the preparation of β-lapachone and dunnione derivatives of formulae I and II ##STR1## wherein, the a solution of lawsone in dimethylsufoxide at a temperature of -78° C. or less is reacted with lithium hydride forming the lithium salt of lawsone; alkylating the lithium salt with an allyl halide; and cyclizing the C-alkylated lawsone derivative. | 0 |
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 07/705237, filed May 24, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,532.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for applying a weather seal to the lip of an opening, for example a door or window frame, of a motor vehicle. 2 Disclosure Information
It is customary to fit a seal to the lip of many openings to provide a resilient lip against which a door or other closure member seats to provide a water and draft proof closure to the opening. Typically, the seal takes the form of a strip of material having a U-, V- or other channel-shaped cross-section. The channel section is push fit onto the lip of the opening in the body or other structure within which the opening is formed. If desired, the opening can be provided with a peripheral flange onto which the channel fits and the channel can be provided with internal spring tooth members which provide a positive grip between the channel and the lip of the opening to secure the strip of material in position.
The strip of material can take a number of forms and can be made from a wide range of materials. For example, the channel member can take the form of a flexible strip of metal or plastic having a series of transverse arms bent over to form the U-shaped cross section strip member. The strip member is usually covered with a plastic or fabric outer cover which carries one or more solid or hollow beads to provide axially extending external resilient sealing members at the apex of the channel section and/or along one external side wall of the channel section.
For convenience, the term weather strip will be used herein to denote in general any flexible elongated sealing strip member having the above general structure and adapted for fitting upon a peripheral flange or lip of an opening in any structure, but preferably of a door open.ing in a motor vehicle. Also, the term lip will be used herein to denote the peripheral edge of the opening or the projecting flange which operatively acts as the edge of the opening. The lip or flange can surround the exterior of an article, for example a door or inspection hatch, which is fitted into an aperture, rather than around the aperture or opening into which the door or hatch is fitted.
Hitherto, such weather strips have been fitted to a door opening during the manufacture of a motor vehicle by cutting the strip to the desired length to fit around the periphery of the opening. One end of the strip is then fitted onto the lip of the opening at any suitable point and the remainder then progressively located on the lip and pushed home onto the lip until the spring grippers within the channel section engage the lip. Typically, a wooden or similar mallet is used to drive the grippers home onto the lip. However, this is a cumbersome and time consuming operation. Furthermore, problems can arise in that the opposed ends of the strip can separate as the strip is driven radially outward to seat fully home on the lip of the opening, since they are not secured to one another, and the seal therefore becomes broken at that point.
It has been proposed to mechanize the operation of fitting the weather strip to a vehicle For example, British Patent specification No. 2,152,569A proposes a system which cuts the weather strip to the length required and secures the ends of the cut strip together to form a closed loop of material. This loop is then placed on a jig having a number of radially extensible arms which support the loop in a configuration which will fit into the opening. The jig then advances to carry the loop into register with the lip of the opening and the arms extend radially to press the loop onto the lip. However, this method requires that individual, closed loops of weather strip be made and loaded for each opening and this adds to the cost and complexity of fitting the weather strip, notably on a large scale production line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,354 discloses an apparatus and method for robotically applying a length of weatherstrip to a vehicle door. The '354 patent proposes the use of a single end effector disposed on an end of a robotic arm, the end effector being adapted to cut a length of weather strip from a roll to apply the strip to the opening. It is disclosed in the '354 patent that the length of the weather strip exceed the circumferential length around the inside of the opening.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,715,110; 4,760,636; 4,780,958; 4,843,701; and 4,852,240, all assigned to a common assignee, disclose robotic weatherstrip installation systems having a single robotic end effector disposed on the end of a multi-axes robotic arm. The end effector includes means for gripping a closed loop of weatherstriP from a hanger, transporting the loop back to the vehicle, and using an intricate series of maneuvers to roll the weatherstrip onto the door flange through the use of a powered roller. It is also known to use such an end effector to grip a free end of an open loop of weatherstrip to install the weatherstrip to the vehicle opening.
There exists a need for a simple, rapid and effective mechanical means for fitting the weather strip during the manufacture of motor vehicles
The present invention provides a method and apparatus by which a weather strip can be applied mechanically to a peripheral lip surrounding a vehicle opening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus for mechanically installing a fixed length of a sealing strip onto a peripheral lip circumferentially surrounding a body. The apparatus comprises means for feeding said sealing strip into the apparatus, the means comprising a feed tube and a plurality of guide rollers extending around an internal circumference of the apparatus and being operative to form the sealing strip into an open-ended loop generally approximating the circumferential shape of the lip surrounding the body.
The apparatus further comprises a plurality of radially extensible arms extending from a centrally defined hub. Each arm includes gripping means disposed on an end thereof for engaging the sealing strip and for pressing the sealing strip onto the lip at a plurality of predefined locations around the body. The apparatus also includes means for rolling the strip onto the lip between the plurality of predefined locations, the means including a plurality of pressure rollers. Each pressure roller is disposed on a guide track interposed between the plurality of radially extensible arms.
The apparatus of the present invention further comprises means for gripping at least one free end of the sealing strip after the strip has been fed through the apparatus, the means being operative to indent radially the end from the plane of the loop of sealing strip and to cause the end to follow an arcuate path rnto engagement with the lip after the sealing strip has been pressed onto the lip.
The present invention also providcs a method for mechanically fitting a channel-shaped sealing strip to a peripheral lip circumferentially surrounding an opening of an automotive vehicle. The method comprises the steps of: providing an open-ended, fixed length of sealing strip to a means for mechanically fitting the strip to the lip; guiding the strip through the means to form an open loop of the sealing strip, the loop having a configuration generally similar to the configuration of the opening, each end of the loop being free; gripping the free ends of the loop and indenting the ends radially inward from the plane of the loop; and moving the loop of sealing strip into alignment with the lip of the vehicle opening. The method further comprises the steps of: applying a radially acting force against the strip to press the loop onto the lip at a plurality of predefined locations; applying a radially acting force against the strip between the predefined locations so that the strip engages the lip; moving the free ends of the loop radially outwardly along generally identical arcs of travel with respect to the plane of the loop so that the ends engage the lip; and applying a force to the ends in a direction normal to the lip so that the ends axially engage the lip and one another in abutting relationship
In one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the step of applying a force to the free ends of the loop in a direction normal to the loop further comprises the steps of: applying a force normal to the lip against a first free end of the loop so that a portion of the first end partially engages the lip; moving a second end of the strip along a linear and arcuate path from a radially indented position and pressing the second end onto the liP so as to form a hump with the sealing strip; and applying a force in a direction normal to the lip against the hump to force the first and second free ends into abutting engagement with one another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the internal (door) face of an apparatus for applying the weather strip to a rear door opening of a vehicle.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the mechanism for indenting the free ends of the weather strip fed to the apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in combination with a similar device for applying the weather strip to a front door of a vehicle.
FIG. 4 shows the device of FIG. 3 in the extended position to align the weather strip with the lip of the door opening.
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side view of an alternative to the mechanism shown in FIG. 2 for applying the free ends of the strip member to the lip of the opening.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The apparatus of FIG. 1 comprises an outer housing 1 containing the drive mechanism for various operating parts for applying the weather strip 2 to the lip of a rear door frame of a vehicle. The housing 1 carries on its outer face a feed tube 3 for feeding the weather strip onto a first of a series of rollers 4 for deploying the strip as an open loop around the interior of the housing 1. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, the feed tube 3 contains transport belts 5 for mechanically conveying a free end of the strip onto the first roller 4. Alternatively, the tube 3 can have a low friction interior surface and an operator pushes the strip down tube 3 onto the roller 4. For reasons which will become apparent hereinafter, the length of the strip member 2 exceeds the total circumferential length of the lip surrounding the opening by 0.1 to 5 percent.
The upright wall of housing 1 carries the series of rollers 4 on transverse shafts, at least some of which are driven to carry the strip around the interior of the housing to adopt a configuration generally similar to the lip of the door to which it is to be fitted. Preferably, the guide rollers 4 cooperate with guide plates 6 carried by a support plate so that a length of strip member 2 fed to the initial guide roller will be deployed around the series of guide rollers 4 to form an open loop. The rollers 4 and guide plates 6 support the strip 2 radially in its deployed configuration. The feed tube 3, guide rollers 4 and guide plates 6 comprise means for feeding a fixed length of weather strip into the apparatus of the present invention.
Located approximately centrally within the housing 1 is a transverse shaft 10 which carries a hub 11 from which radiate a plurality of radially extensible arms 12 directed towards the corners of the door opening. The arms 12 can be hydraulically, pneumatically or electrically extended so that curved end pieces, such as grippers or rollers 13 carried at or adjacent the end of arms 12, carry the strip 2 into engagement with the lip of the door opening at predefined loca.tions, such as in the corner extremities. The end pieces 13 can have circumferential grooves for receiving the strip 2 therein. The shaft 10 can be extended from the housing 1 (as shown in FIG. 4) to carry the hub 11 and the arms 12 transversely into alignment with the lip of the door opening under the control of a suitable sensor arrangement (not shown) which detects when the strip carried on end pieces 13 is aligned with the lip of the door opening. For example, reference location points on the car body or door frame can be utilized to align the strip 2 with the lip of the opening. It will be appreciated that the door opening may carry a locating flange to provide a reference point to the lip upon which the strip 2 is mounted, wherein the shaft 10 would carry the strip 2 into alignment with the flange prior to applying the strip to the lip. After being fed into the apparatus of the present invention, the strip 2 is supported in its deployed configuration upon end pieces 13 to be clear of the rollers 4 and the guide plates 6 on the rear wall of the housing when the shaft 10 is extended during the alignment of the strip 2 with the lip.
The hub 11 also carries a plurality of pressure rollers 14 on tracks or guides 15 running generally parallel to the side portions of the door opening between the corners into which the end pieces 13 extend. The rollers 14 can be plain-faced or can have circumferential grooves or the like into which the strip 2 locates. The rollers 14 also can carry lateral gripper fingers (not shown) to retain the strip 2 upon the rollers 14. The rollers 14 are provided with hydraulic, electric, pneumatic or other means 16 for radially extending the rollers 14. The extension devices 16 are journaled on guide rails or chains 15 whereby the rollers 14 are extended radially to press the strip 2 onto the lip of the door opening and to drive the rollers 14 along the guides 15.
As shown in FIG. 2, the free ends 20 of strip 2 are deflected radially inward from the line of the closed loop by means of the canting gripper roller arms 21 also carried with the hub 11. These are pivoted about fixed pivot points by means of hydraulic rams 22, or by means of a spring bias (not shown) to carry the free ends radially inwards when the free ends 20 of the strip are located at a gripper pin 23. These radially acting devices can be operated by suitable electrical, hydraulic or other known means. Thus, for example, the devices can be spring or otherwise biased to adopt the radially inward indented position and moved radially outward to engage the strip with the lip of the opening. The mechanisms can be actuated before or during radial deployment of the remainder of the strip member into engagement with the lip of the opening. Alternatively, the free ends 20 can be carried out of the plane of the remainder of the loop by guides extending forwardly and/or rearwardly of the plane of the loop. As a result, the deployed length of strip adopts a longer path than that required to complete the looP and the excess length of the strip is thus accommodated.
The presence of either or both of the free ends 20 in the desired position is detected by photocells or other proximity sensors. For example, photocells, infra red sensors, pressure switches, contact switches or the like, detect when the free ends 20 reach the positions in the series of guide rollers 14 at which they are to be indented. The sensors halt the strip at the desired position and actuate the radially acting mechanisms which carry one or both free ends of the strip radially inward out of the line of the closed loop at that point and/or which return the free ends to the line of a closed loop to engage them with the lip of the opening as will be described below. If desired, the free ends of the strip can be supported against lateral movement with respect to the lip of the opening by forming the indented guide rail or radially acting mechanism with lateral supports or gripPers, for example by providing the guide rail or mechanism with a U-section within which the strip member is carried or by providing lateral support fingers or the like.
The photocells or other proximity sensors generate a signal which actuates rams 24 to grip the free ends 20 between pins 23 against a stop plate 26 as well as rams 22 to pivot the arms 21 upwards. Preferably, the free ends 20 follow opposed but substantially identical arcs of travel as arms 21 pivot to the raised position as shown in FIG. 3. Due to the curvature in strip 2 at this point, the free ends 20 are opposed to one another, but are spaced from one another so that the excess length in strip 2 over the peripheral length of the lip of the door opening can be accommodated.
In operation, a length of strip 2 approximately 1 to 2% greater than that required to cover the lip of the door opening is fed manually into the feed tube 3 to engage the drive belts 5 and thus be fed onto rollers 4 around the interior of the housing. The deployed strip is also supported on end pieces 13. When the rear free end of strip 2 passes the sensor, it trips the operation of rams 24 which grip the ends of the strip between pins 23 and plates 26 to prevent further travel of the strip. Rams 22 are then actuated to tilt the arms 21 to carry the free ends 20 into the indented position shown in FIG. 3. By virtue of the semi-rigid nature of the weather strip 2, it retains the shape into which it is formed as it passes around the series of rollers 4 and the guide plates 6.
Shaft 10 is then extended to carry the strip 2 on end pieces 13 clear of rollers 4 and guide plates 6 and into register with the lip of the door opening. Arms 12 extend to carry the strip 2 into engagement with the corners of the lip of the door opening. The extension devices 16 extend rollers 14 radially and progressively apply radial pressure to the strip 2 between the corner points to engage and press the strip 2 onto the lip of the door opening. Rams 24 operate to release the free ends 20 and to carry the pins 23 out of the path of travel of the free ends 20 towards the lip of the opening. Rams 22 operate either after the strip has been pushed home onto the lip of the opening elsewhere by the operation of rollers 14, or preferably as the rollers 14 operate, to carry the free ends 20 in a radially outward arc to engage the lip along the line of the closed loop. Plates 26 press the free ends 20 onto the lip of the opening with the end faces of the free ends 20 engaged in a butt join under axial compression which is retained as the ends are pushed fully home on the lip of the opening. The use of an abutting interface between the free ends of the strip 2 provides opposed bearing faces which substantially prevent any over-riding of the free ends and thus maintains the axial compression generated without the need to secure the ends of the strip material together as hitherto. However, if desired, the free ends can be secured to one another and/or to the lip of the opening by adhesive, welding, crimping or other means, before, during or after the loop of strip member is radially deployed. Where this is done, the interface between the free ends need not be a butt interface, but could be for example a scarfed interface.
The arms 12, the extension devices 16 and shaft 10 then retract to carry the apparatus of the present invention back into housing to receive another length of strip 2 for application to the door opening of another car body.
The compression generated by bringing the free ends into register will depend upon the excess of the length of the strip member over the length of the lip of the opening. Some of this excess may be taken up as the strip member is located fully home on the lip of the opening and allowance for this should be made for when calculating the overall excess required to maintain axial pressure in the finally deployed strip member. Typically, the length of the strip member used in the method of the invention will be from 0.1 to 5% greater than the length of the lip.
In the modification shown in FIG. 5, the left hand free end of the strip 2 is applied to the lip by one of the rollers or curved ends 50 carried at or adjacent the rod of an hydraulic or pneumatic ram 51 carried by an extension device 16 of the apparatus of FIG. 1 to leave a slight upturned end 52 of the strip not pushed fully home on the lip. This is conveniently achieved by mounting a sensor, e.g. a photocell 53, a fixed distance ahead of the leading edge of the roller or curved end 50 which detects the free end of the strip and halts further movement of the roller or curved end 50 before the free end is reached.
The other free end 54 of strip 2 is held in a clamping means 55 similar to the gripper roller and plate used in the mechanism of FIG. 2. However, in this case the ram 56 operating the strip end clamping block 57 is pivoted so that the free end 54 is carried in a combined linear and arcuate path from its radially indented position to the position at which it engages the lip of the opening (as shown dotted). In this way, the free end 54 is pressed onto the lip of the opening a clearance distance free from the opposed end face of the upturned end 52. This causes the strip 2 to the right of the clamping block 57 to form a hump as shown to accommodate the excess length of the strip. This hump is then pressed home onto the lip of the opening by the curved end or roller 50 serving it. As the hump is pressed flat an axial compression is generated in the end portion of the strip which causes the free end to abut closely against the end 52 as that latter is pushed home upon the lip of the opening.
The invention has been described above in terms of applying a weather strip to a door opening of a vehicle on a vehicle assembly line. If desired, two devices operating according to the present invention can be operated in parallel to apply weather strip to the front and back door openings of a car simultaneously. Also, the present invention can apply a channel section member to other structures, for example to water or other tanks or vessels. Alternatively, the present invention can be used to apply a channel member to the outer lip or rim of a body, as opposed to applying the channel member to a lip within th.e body as described above. Thus, the invention can apply a sealing lip to a lid, inspection hatch, cover or the like which is fitted into an aperture in a structure. It is the following claims, including all equivalents, which define the scope of my ihvention. | The invention provides an apparatus and method for mechanically applying a weather strip or other channel-shaped strip to a peripheral lip of a body or an opening, notably a vehicle door opening. The apparatus comprises a plurality of radially extensible arms extending from a centrally defined hub, each arm being operative to grip and apply the strip to the lip. The apparatus further includes a device for gripping the free ends of the sealing strip after the strip has been fed through the apparatus and for indenting the free ends radially inward while the remainder of the strip is applied to the lip. The free ends are then applied to the lip in abutting relationship. A method for applying the sealing strip is also disclosed. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of the filing date, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. non-provisional application No. 09/224,466 filed Dec. 31, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,549.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to an electronic circuit for an energy storage device management system. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an electronic circuit for efficiently and accurately measuring individual voltages in a series connected electrochemical energy storage device which may be utilized with electric and hybrid vehicles.
2. Discussion
In order to commercialize electric and hybrid vehicles on a widespread basis, the energy storage devices or batteries, which are the most expensive component of the vehicle, must operate reliably through the life of the vehicle. In the typical configuration the batteries are formed from a stack of series connected electrochemical cells.
A common requirement for large stacks of electrochemical cells used in electric and hybrid vehicles, particularly in advanced applications such as lead acid, Li-Ion or NiMH battery packs, is the need to measure individual or groups of cell voltages almost simultaneously. In practice, this means the measurements should be taken within a time window of a few milliseconds.
With reference to FIG. 1, a common technique known within the prior art accomplishes voltage measurement through the use of a plurality of resistive divider circuits. More specifically, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary battery pack 10 having fortyeight energy storage cells B 1 through B 48 connected connected in series. A resistive voltage divider circuit 12 is connected between the positive terminal 16 of battery cells B 2 through B 48 and a common ground node 14 . The discrete resistances R 1 , R 2 , . . . , R n , are selected such that the output potentials V m1 , V m2 , . . . , V mn fall below a certain voltage limit, for example 4 volts, suitable for input to a multiplexer and A/D converter. The voltage signals from each resistive divider circuit 12 can then be sampled and digitally processed. The actual nodal voltages V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , . . . , V 48 become increasingly higher towards the top of the battery pack 10 , such that in general: V mn = V n · k n = V n · R 1 R 1 + R n = 4 V ⇒ V n = V mn k n ; ∀ n = 1 , 2 , …
The voltage across each cell segment V B1 , V B2 , . . . , V B48 is then computed as the difference between the nodal voltages measured on either side of the cell according to the formula:
V Bn = V n − V n−1
For example, the voltage V B3 of cell B 3 is measured by taking the difference between V 3 and V 2 provided by the respective voltage divider circuits 12 .
The principal problem with this technique of voltage measurement is that a small error in measuring the nodal voltages V n translates into a large relative error in the measurement of segment voltages V Bn . These errors increase as the nodal voltages V n become increasingly larger towards the top or higher potential cells of the battery pack 10 . For example, suppose:
k 48 ={fraction (1/48)} , k 47 ={fraction (1/47)}
V n48 =V 48 ·k 48 =4 V,→V 48 =192 V,
V n47 =V 47 ·k 47 =4 V,→V 47 =188 V,
.:V B48 =V 48 −V 47 =4 V.
If k 48 is in error by=1%, and k 47 is in error by −1%, measurements of the nodal voltages indicate:
V 48 =193·92V; V 47 =186×12V
V B48 =7.8V., error=95%
Thus, the measurement error associated with this network of resistive divider circuits 12 and measurement technique could be in excess of 95%.
Furthermore, this error is nonuniformly distributed between the cell segments varying from a maximum of 2 percent at the bottom to a maximum of 2n× percent at the top of the battery pack 10 . The latter renders this approach useless in applications where comparison of the cell segment voltages are used for diagnostics or corrective actions such as in cell balancing. Lastly, this conventional resistance network continues draining the cells of the battery pack 10 even when the resistance network is not in use.
While not specifically shown, a matrix of electromechanical relays can also be used for selectively switching across the cell segments of the battery pack. This approach results in slow measurement of cell voltages and is therefore not suitable for modern applications. In addition, such a relay based device also becomes too bulky and heavy for use with an electric or hybrid vehicle. Higher speed and accuracy can be achieved using a separate isolation amplifier for each battery segment, but this approach results in a relatively large and expensive system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an electronic circuit for overcoming the disadvantages known within the prior art. It is also desirable to provide an electronic circuit which allows for a high degree of accuracy when measuring both the lowest potential cell voltages and the highest potential cell voltages. Moreover, it is desirable to provide a highly efficient electronic circuit which minimizes any loss within the circuit. Finally, it is desirable to provide an electronic circuit with various switched components to prevent the leakage of current from the energy storage device when the circuit is not being used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the teachings of the present invention, a voltage transfer circuit for measuring the individual segment voltages within an energy storage device is disclosed. The circuit includes a plurality of battery segments forming the energy storage device. An amplifier circuit is connected across one of the battery segments for converting a differential voltage to a reference current. A sense resistor is associated with the amplifier circuit to convert the reference current to a voltage signal which is proportional to the voltage across the battery segment. A voltage measurement node associated with the sensing resistor may be used for measuring the voltage signal. In one embodiment of the invention, a multiplexing and sampling circuit provides digitized voltage samples to a processor. The voltage level of each cell within the battery pack can then be monitored by the processor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Additional objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art resistive voltage divider circuit used in conjunction with a series battery pack;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit for a series battery pack in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the multiplexing and sampling circuit in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is an electronic circuit having on-off control for minimizing leakage current for use with a series battery pack in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a voltage transfer circuit for use with a series battery pack constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention; and
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a voltage transfer circuit having on-off control for minimizing leakage current for use with a series battery pack in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to FIG. 2, the electronic voltage measuring circuit of the present invention is shown. The voltage measuring circuit 18 operates in conjunction with a series of five energy storage cells B 1 through B 5 forming battery pack 20 . As shown, node 22 is the common ground node which is also connected to the negative terminal of battery B 1 . Node 24 forms the connection between the positive terminal of battery B 1 and the negative terminal of battery B 2 . Node 26 forms the connection between battery B 2 and battery B 3 . Node 28 forms the connection between battery B 3 and battery B 4 . Node 30 forms the connection between battery B 4 and battery B 5 . Finally, node 32 forms the connection to the positive terminal of battery B 5 .
A resistive voltage divider circuit 34 is connected between node 26 and the common ground node 22 . The voltage divider circuit 34 is formed by resistor R 1 and resistor R 2 with a voltage measurement node 36 disposed therebetween. The electronic circuit 40 of the present invention is connected across battery B 3 using nodes 26 and 28 . The electronic circuit 40 includes a temperature compensation circuit 42 which is formed by a first pnp transistor 44 and a second pnp transistor 46 . As shown, the bases of transistors 44 and 46 are connected together, and are commonly connected to the collector of transistor 44 . Thus, the temperature compensation circuit 42 functions as a current mirror within electronic circuit 40 and assists in isolating the voltage across its associated battery cell segment B 3 , so that the cell voltage V B3 can be measured with a significantly higher degree of accuracy.
The emitter of transistor 44 is connected to node 26 , and the collector of transistor 44 is connected to biasing resistor Ry, which is then connected to the common ground node 22 . The emitter of transistor 46 is connected to resistor R x , which is in turn connected to node 28 , and the collector of transistor 46 is connected to resistor R 3 . The collector of transistor 46 also forms the voltage measurement node 48 . As will be appreciated, resistor R x and resistor R 3 form the primary measurement components of the electronic circuit 40 . Additionally, identical electronic circuits 40 are also connected across battery cells B 4 and B 5 , and function in a substantially similar manner.
With brief reference to FIG. 3, the processing circuit 50 associated with the voltage measuring circuit 18 of the present invention is shown. The processing circuit 50 includes a multiplexer 52 which receives the individual cell segment voltage signals V m1 through V m5 from the individual electronic voltage measurement circuits 40 , the resistive voltage divider circuit 34 , and voltage node 24 . The output of multiplexer 52 is provided to an A/D converter 54 so that the individual voltage signals can be digitally sampled and communicated to a suitable processor 56 . The processor 56 is then able to directly monitor the individual cell segment voltages, and use this information for functions such as cell diagnostics and cell equalization.
The present invention involves a modification to the resistive voltage divider circuit, disclosed in FIG. 2, that creates a voltage signal across the measuring resistances R 3 , R 4 , R 5 . . . , R n which is directly proportional to the actual battery cell segment voltages V B3 , V B4 , V B5 , . . . V Bn that are being measured.
In operation, the electronic circuit 40 of the present invention is described in conjunction with a battery pack of five v lithium ion cells as shown in FIG. 2 . Assuming the A/D converter 54 can measure voltages up to +5V DC, V B1 can be measured directly from node 24 which produces voltage signal V m1 , and V B2 can be measured using a ±1% resistive divider circuit 34 from node 36 which produces voltage signal V m2 and then subtracting the V B1 measurement. For V B3 , note that
V B3 =I E2 R x +V EB2 −V EB1
If R x and R y are so selected and Q 1 and Q 2 are operated so that, V EB2 ≡V EB1 , then from above:
V B3 ≅I E2 R x
Since I E2 >>I B2 , then I E2 =B B2 +I C2 ≅I C2 , and V B 3 V m 3 = I E 2 R X I C 2 R 3 = R X R 3
In this circuit a direct measurement of V m3 will be proportional to the voltage across the cell segment V B3 and the measurement error will be % uniformly across the stack provided that V EB1 and V EB2 are approximately equal. As will be appreciated, the electronic circuit 40 of the present invention allows for the measurement of the voltage across each battery cell segment with a significantly higher degree of accuracy. Accordingly, the higher potential battery cell segments can be measured with nearly the same degree of accuracy as the lower potential battery cell segments because the electronic circuit 40 serves to measure only the voltage across an isolated battery cell segment, rather than measure the voltage potential of the cell segment with respect to ground.
In the actual implementation, V EB , and V EB2 cannot be matched perfectly, but if transistors 44 and 46 are mounted or formed in the same package, they can easily be matched within a few millivolts with respect to both initial tolerance and wide temperature ranges. This provides a very small and inexpensive measurement system which has about the same tolerance as the components. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the remaining voltage measurements V B4 , V B5 , . . . , V Bn are performed in the same manner as V B3 . As part of the present invention, it should be noted that the resistance values are chosen such that R 2 =R 3 =R 4 =R 5 and R 1 =R x .
An alternate less preferred approach employs discrete transistors rather than a matched pair of transistors. Using discrete devices reduces the cost of the circuit and improves manufacturability, but increases the error associated with the voltage measurement, The increased error is caused by using separate pieces of silicon to fabricate the transistors and the differences in the operating temperature of each discrete device. The increased error associated with employing discrete devices is a function of the amplitude of the segment voltage that is being measured. Larger valued segment voltages result in a decreased error associated with mismatching of the transistor V EB ′s. For example, assuming a V EB mismatch of 0.2 volts and a nominal segment voltage of 4 volts, the error due to V EB mismatch is 5%.
An alternate embodiment of the electronic circuit of the present invention is disclosed in FIG. 4 . The components of the electronic circuit 40 ′ are substantially similar to those of the circuit shown in FIG. 2 . As an additional feature, a switch 60 is connected between the resistor R y and the common ground node 22 . According to this embodiment of the electronic circuit 40 ′, no current will flow through either side of the temperature compensation circuit 42 until switch 60 is closed. As part of the present invention, the switch 60 can be implemented with a semiconductor switch.
The anode of a diode D 1 is connected to node 26 , or the negative terminal of the battery cell B 3 , and the cathode is connected to transistor 44 . The diode D 1 prevents reverse V EB2 avalanche and the resulting battery leakage current if V B3 is above approximately 5-6V. The anode of a diode D 2 is connected to node 28 , or the positive terminal of the battery cell B 3 , and the cathode is connected to resistor Rx. The diode D 2 is required for temperature compensation of diode D 1 .
Referring to FIG. 5, a voltage transfer circuit 100 for use with a battery pack 102 is shown. The voltage transfer circuit 100 is particularly suitable for operation in conjunction with battery packs that are formed of relatively low voltage segments of about 1.0 volt to 5.0 volts such as with Li-Ion batteries. However, the scope of the invention includes using higher voltage battery segments such as are typical with NiCad, NiMH, and lead acid battery backs. Battery segments typically are formed from one or more battery cells having a characteristic voltage generally ranging from 0.8 volts to 4.5 volts. The battery pack 102 associated with the voltage transfer circuit 10 comprises series connected battery segments B 1 through Bn each of which consists of a single Li-Ion battery cell.
Node 104 forms the connection between a positive terminal of the battery pack 102 and the Vcc input of an amplifier quad pack 108 . Node 106 is the common ground node which connects to a negative terminal of the battery pack 102 . Node 110 forms the connection between battery segment Bn and battery segment Bn−1. Node 112 forms the connection between battery segment Bn−1 and battery segment Bn−2. Node 114 forms the connection between battery segment Bn−2 and battery segment Bn−3. Node 116 forms the connection between battery segment Bn−3 and battery segment B 2 . Node 118 forms the connection between battery segment Bn−4 and battery is segment Bn−5 (not shown). Node 119 forms the connection between battery segment B 2 and battery segment B 1 .
A resistive voltage divider circuit 120 is connected between node 116 and common ground node 106 . Voltage divider circuit 120 is formed by resistors R 1 and R 3 with voltage measurement node V m2 disposed therebetween.
Connected across each of the battery segments Bn through Bn−3 is a corresponding amplifier circuit 122 a through 122 d . Each amplifier circuit 122 includes an input resistor 124 R 101 , connected between the positive terminal of the battery segment, Bn, and the negative input of a corresponding amplifier, An. An input resistor 126 R 104 , is connected between the negative terminal of the battery segment, Bn, and the positive input of the corresponding amplifier, An. The negative input and an output 128 of the amplifier, An, respectively connect to the source and gate of a buffer transistor Q 101 130 . The drain of Q 101 connects to sense resistor R 102 132 with voltage measuring node V mn disposed therebetween. The buffer transistor 130 is preferably a PMOS FET, however the scope of the invention includes other transistors such as PNP transistors. The other terminal of sense resistor R 102 connects to common ground node 106 . Input resistors R 101 and R 104 , and sense resistor R 102 are preferably selected so that each has the same value within each amplifier circuit 122 , thus maintaining consistent voltage translation ratios corresponding to each battery segment. However, it is within the scope of the invention to select differing voltage translation ratios and resistor values.
In operation, amplifier circuit 122 senses the voltage across the corresponding battery segment, Bn, and translates the sensed voltage to a proportional voltage that is referenced to common ground node 106 . To achieve equilibrium the differential voltage across the inputs of the amplifier An must be approximately zero volts. Therefore,
VBn=i 1 *R 101
and
VBn−1+VBn−2+VBn−3+VBn−4+=VSG+Vo
where;
i 1 is the current through R 101 ,
VSG is the transistor source-gate voltage, and
Vo is the amplifier output voltage referenced to Vss.
Vo will adjust so that VSG maintains equilibrium, and
Vmn=I 1 *R 102 =(R 102 /R 101 )*VBn
The voltage transfer circuit 100 eliminates current gain (beta) induced error associated with PNP transistor circuits. In addition, an inexpensive amplifier such as an LM 224 may be used in the voltage transfer circuit 100 since low input voltage offset drift is not required.
For example, an LM 224 (typical offset drift of +/−7 uV/C) produces the following results for a temperature change of 50 C.
ΔV=±7 μV/°C.×50° C.=±0.35 mV.
This shows that I 1 *R 101 would have to change by only 0.35 mV to compensate 50 degrees of temperature change. For a battery segment voltage of 4 volts, this represents an error of only 0.009%, whereas the +/−1 bit error of a conventional A/D is approximately +/−0.125% when using a 5 Vdc reference. This shows that temperature variation is primarily dependent only on the temperature induced error of the R 102 /R 101 ratio. The calibration procedure to reduce the initial tolerance is the same as described above for FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a presently preferred embodiment of a voltage transfer circuit 200 in accordance with the principles of the invention. The voltage transfer circuit 200 is similar to voltage transfer circuit 100 in function with corresponding elements numbered in the range 200 - 299 , except that voltage transfer circuit 200 includes on-off control circuitry for minimizing leakage current. Optical switch circuit 234 is connected between the positive terminal of the battery pack 202 and Vcc of the quad amplifier pack 208 . Optical switch circuit 236 is connected between node 218 and Vss of the quad amplifier pack 208 . Each amplifier circuit 222 additionally includes a control switch Q 202 connected to node 240 in series with the sense resistor 232 . The divider circuit additionally includes a control switch Q 203 connected in series with R 201 and R 203 . The optical switch circuits 234 and 236 , and control switches Q 202 and Q 203 are controlled by the application of a control voltage 242 . Preferably, 15 volt is applied as the control voltage 242 to turn-on the voltage transfer circuit 200 . An open or 0 volts applied as the control voltage 242 causes the voltage transfer circuit 200 to turn-off. The on-off control circuitry advantageously mitigates the flow of leakage currents drawn from the battery pack during periods when the voltage transfer circuit 200 is off. Leakage currents can add up to a significant loss in battery energy when the system remains inactive or in storage for several weeks. During storage or inactive periods, the optical switch circuit 234 disconnects the battery pack from Vcc of the quad amplifier pack 208 . However, in spite of the operation of optical switch 234 , the amplifier inputs remain connected to the battery pack 202 providing a path for leakage currents. To open the paths to the amplifier inputs, it is desirable to disconnect Vss using optical switch 236 and to also disconnect the amplifier outputs using the Q 202 transistors. Preferably, FETs are used instead of BJTs for Q 201 in the amplifiers 222 to further reduce the flow of leakage current. A zener diode, D 201 , 244 is connected in parallel with the gate-source junction of transistor Q 201 to protect the junction from damaging voltages during the off-state.
The foregoing discussion discloses and describes exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications, and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. | An electronic circuit for measuring voltage signals in an energy storage device is disclosed. The circuit includes a plurality of battery segments forming the energy storage device. An amplifier circuit is connected across one of the battery segments for converting a differential voltage to a reference current. A sense resistor is associated with the amplifier circuit to convert the reference current to a voltage signal which is proportional to the voltage across the battery segment. A voltage measurement node associated with the sensing resistor may be used for measuring the voltage signal. In one embodiment of the invention, a multiplexing and sampling circuit provides digitized voltage samples to a processor. The voltage level of each cell within the battery pack can then be monitored by the processor. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to vibration isolation systems, and more particularly to a system which isolates a payload from a base along specific degrees of freedom while permitting stiff torque transmission between the payload and the base.
A wide variety of torque-producing devices make use of spinning rotor elements mounted on low-friction bearings. Among such devices are gyroscopes and stabilizing reaction wheels which have many applications in the aerospace industry. Such torque-producing devices, which will hereafter be simply referred to as "payloads," are generally mounted on a support structure which will hereinafter be simply referred to as a "base".
It has been found that for many applications it is necessary to isolate the payload from the vibrations and other extraneous motions of the base on which it is mounted, and in like manner isolate the base from the payload. On the other hand, to be functional it is necessary that the torque produced by the payload be transmitted to the base, preferably with a minimum of compliance and a maximum of stiffness.
One method of providing vibration isolation between the payload and base is simply to mount the payload on springs which can absorb the vibrational forces and prevent their transmission. However, if such spring systems also absorb the torque produced by the spinning rotor element of the payload, then they are preventing the payload from functioning with respect to the base.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for isolating a torque-producing payload and a support base in a manner which permits transmission of the generated torque from the payload to the base while absorbing linear vibration or other undesired forces generated in either the payload or the base.
A furthr object is to provide such a system which also includes means for mounting the payload on gimbals to permit angular movement of the payload with respect to the base.
A still further object is to provide such a gimbaled mounting means in which the gimbals are provided with electric motors such that the gimbal rotation and linear motion can be controlled.
In accordance with the present invention, a payload support system is provided comprising two concentric gimbal rings, one of which is positioned inside the other. The system will be described in relation to arbitrary X, Y and Z axes which are all at right angles to each other and intersect at the common center of the two gimbal rings. The inner gimbal ring is attached to the outer gimal rings by pivots which permit it to rotate about an axis which passes through the center of the two gimbal rings, which will be designated as the X axis. The means by which the inner gimbal ring is attached to the outer gimbal ring also includes flexural means which permit lateral displacement along the X axis. This X axis is at right angles to the axis of rotation of the torque-producing device in the payload, such axis being designated the Z axis for this discussion.
One of the gimbals is further mounted to either the payload or the base by pivots which permit rotation about the Y axis and by flexural means which permit lateral movement along the Y axis. In addition, the other gimbal may be mounted to the other of the payload or base by flexural means which permit lateral movement along the Z axis. Thus linear vibration or other undesired forces generated in either the payload or the base can be absorbed by the isolation system in the three lateral degrees of freedom along the X, Y and Z axes as well as in the angular or torque degrees of freedom about the X and Y axes. This is accomplished while still maintaining a stiff connection between the payload and base in the angular direction about the Z axis, thus permitting communication of the payload torque to the base.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing as well as additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof and the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are perspective view of components of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in the same perspective and scale as FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention designated in the entirety as apparatus 9. In this embodiment inner gimbal ring 10 is attached to a base (not shown) by three fixed base attachments 11. Inner gimbal ring 10 is attached to inner gimbal pivots 12 which in turn are mounted on connecting arms 13. Connecting arms 13 pass through outer gimbal ring 14 and are attached to linkages 15 by spring biased flex hinges 16. Preferably these flex hinges, and all of the other flex hinges comprise separate upper and lower flex hinges, indicated as 16a and 16b on the top and bottom of linkage 15, rather than single hinges passing through the linkage 15, because separate hinges seem to make stronger connections. Linkages 15 are attached by flex hinges 17 to connectors 18 which are affixed to the outside of outer gimbal ring 14. Outer gimbal ring 14 is suspended by two outer gimbal pivots 19, which are in turn attached to linkages 20 by means of flex hinges 21. Another set of flex hinges 22 then joins linkages 20 to pivot arms 23 which are connected to payload attachments 24 by means of spring-biased flexural pivots 25. The payload attachments are then affixed to the desired payload (not shown) by any suitable means.
A set of mutually perpendicular X, Y and Z axes which intersect at the common center of the two gimbal rings are shown for reference.
As previously discussed, the payload, which in this case is to the outer gimbal ring, includes a torque-producing device such as a gyroscope. This torque-producing device spins about an axis to generate its useful torque. In the embodiment of this invention shown in FIG. 1, the torque-producing axis has been arbitrarily designated as the Z axis. Reference to the rotation of the payload about the X or Y axis refers only to the rotation of the entire payload in gross for purposes of orientation. This is in contrast to its functional torque-producing spin which is only about the Z axis.
The apparatus as shown provides for rotation about the X and Y axes by the payload by means of inner gimbal pivots 12 and outer gimbal pivots 19. As desired for a particular application, these gimbal pivots may take a variety of forms. For example, they may be simple unbiased bearings in which case the gimbal rings will remain in whatever positions they are placed by the external forces acting upon them. Alternatively these pivots could be spring biased to urge the gimbal rings to return to the X--Y plane, such spring-biased pivots being well known in the art. Both of these types of pivots are merely mechanical, without any means of actively pointing the payload at any particular target. Therefore these may be considered passive gimbal pivots.
Two other types of gimbal pivots which could be used would include electric motors, wherein the gimbals are pivoted in resonse to electric current supplied to the motors by control means. In one configuration the motors can be torque motors, with means to sense an external torque acting on the gimbal ring to pivot the ring on their axis and to then activate the motors to exert a counteracting force to maintain the gimbal ring in the X--Y plane. These would be considered only partly active gimbal pivots, because although electrically controlled, these pivots still cannot actively point the payload. Alternatively, the gimbal pivots can be fully active if electric motors are provided with means to not only compensate for external torques on the rings but also with means to rotate the rings to a predetermined position and to maintain the rings in that position. If such fully active pivots are used, then the gimbal pivots become part of an active pointing system to aim the payload in a desired direction.
The linkages 15 with associated flex hinges 16 and 17 permit lateral movement of the payload with respect to the base along the X axis while linkages 20, with associated flex hinge 21 and 22 permit lateral movement along the Y axis. As previously discussed, preferably each flex hinge actually represents a pair of separate upper and lower flex hinges to maximize the stiffness of the hinged joint in any non-flexural direction. Alternatively these flex hinges could be replaced by electric motors, as previously discussed for the gimbal pivots, to provide partly or fully active control of the lateral movement of the payload along the X and Y axes.
In this embodiment of the present invention, no provision is made to permit rotation about the Z axis, and therefore the connection between the base and the payload is relatively stiff in regard to such rotation. Lateral displacement along the Z axis is permitted by flexural pivots 25, which may either be simple spring biased hinges, or electric motors if partly or fully active control of lateral movement along the Z axis is desired.
In this embodiment, the inner gimbal ring is designated as being attached to the base, with the outer ring attached to the payload. However, the operation of the system would still be the same if the payload were attached to the inner ring and the base to the outer. In fact, there is really no need to even designate one body as the base and another as the payload, since apparatus 9 could be used to connect two bodies which could even be identical.
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention generally identified as apparatus 50. Although cubic in form, this apparatus is very similar in function to the two-ring apparatus 9 previously described. To assist in understanding the structure of apparatus 50, FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are included which respectively show the outer structure 51 intermediate structure 52 and inner structure 53 of apparatus 50, as well as a sample payload 54 mounted on the inner structure, FIGS. 2 to 5 are all drawn to the same scale and perspective, and the same components will be given the same reference numbers when they appear in more than one figure. In addition, X, Y and Z axes have been indicated to aid in the explanation of this apparatus.
It should be noted that in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the axes have been selected such that the axis of spin of the torque-producing device of the payload is the X axis rather than the Z axis as in the first embodiment of this apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Therefore the X axis of the FIG. 2 embodiment should be considered as corresponding to the Z axis of the FIG. 1 embodiment. Likewise, the Y and Z axes of the FIG. 2 embodiment correspond to the X and Y axes of the FIG. 1 embodiment.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, apparatus 50 is mounted on a base frame 55, which comprises a base front 56, base back 57, and base sides 58 and 59. Outer gimbal 60 is mounted to base frame 55 by means of two outer transition arms 61 and 62. These transition arms are connected to the base sides 58 and 59 by four pivots 63, the two pivots 63 connected to side 58 not being visible in the drawings. These, and all of the pivots in this apparatus are preferably commercially available spring-biased flex pivots, but as discussed in regard to apparatus 9, they could be replaced with motorized pivots for controlled movement of the gimbals. Transition arms 61 and 62 are then connected to outer gimbal 60 by four pivots 64, which can all be seen in FIG. 4.
Comparing the present apparatus 50 to the previously discussed double ring apparatus 9, transition arms 61 and 62 would correspond to the two linkages 20, with pivots 63 and 64 corresponding to flex hinges 22 and 21 respectively. In this case pivot-mounted transition arms 61 and 62 permit longitudinal movement of outer gimbal 60 along the X axis.
A pair of intermediate transition arms 65 and 66 are mounted to outer gimbal 60 by four pivots 67. Transition arm 65 and transition arm 66 are each unitary structures with the two visible portions of each arm being connected. Mounted to transition arms 65 and 66 are motor mounts 68 and 69 respectively, by four pivots 70, the two correcting transition arm 65 and motor mount 68 not being visible in the drawings. Inner gimbal 71 is pivotably connected to motor mounts 68 and 69 by torque motors 72 and 73. These torque motors are connected to their respective motor mounts by pivots 74. These motors cause rotation of the inner gimbal 71 about the Y axis, and may hereinafter be referred to as the Y-axis motors. Intermediate transition arms 65 and 66, with their associated pivots, permit lateral movement of inner gimbal 71 along the Y axis.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a pair of torque motors 75 and 76 are attached to the inside of inner gimbal 71 concentric with the Z axis. These motors control rotation of the payload about the Z axis and will therefore be referred to as the Z-axis motors. They are attached to motor mounts 77 and 78 by pivots 79, only one of which is visible. Motor mounts 77 and 78 are in turn attached to inner transition arms 80 and 81 by pivots 82. Inner transition arms 77 and 78 are in turn attached to payload frame 83 by means of pivots 84. Inner transition arms 77 and 78, with their associated pivots, permit the payload 54 to move vertically along the Z axis. These means are provided in apparatus 50 for flexible support for payload 54 laterally in the X, Y, and Z axes. In addition means are provided to provide motor-controlled angular flexibility about the Y and Z axes. Thus, for these three linear degrees of freedom and two angular degrees of freedom, the payload 54 can be effectively isolated from the base frame 55. However, and this is the key to the present invention, the payload is still mounted for stiff transmission of torque generated about the X axis to the base frame 55. Any flexibility of the angular degree of freedom about the X axis has been effectively minimized.
The payload in this instance comprises the payload frame 83 along with a mirror 85 and a stabilizing gyro 86. As shown, gyro 86 is mounted for rotation about the X axis, and thus generates a torque about the X axis. Apparatus 50, is designed so that this X-axis torque can be transmitted to the base frame 55 while isolating the payload and base from each other along the other two angular degrees of freedom and along the three linear degrees of freedom.
The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. | A vibration-isolating apparatus having orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes is provided for mounting a payload to a base. The payload contains a torque producing device. Torque generated about the X-axis in the payload is communicated to the base through a stiff linkage in the rotational degree of freedom about the X-axis. The apparatus includes first and second support frames, the payload mounted on the first support frame and the second support frame mounted to the base. Gimbal means permit rotation of the payload about the Y and Z axes. Linear dampening means dampen forces between the payload and base communicated linearly along the X, Y and Z axes and rotation dampening means dampen forces between the payload and base communicated rotationally about the Y and Z axes. | 6 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 032,273, filed Mar. 31, 1987, now abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to stereoscopic or three-dimensional motion pictures (hereinafter called 3-D motion pictures) and is concerned more particularly with method of producing and displaying a 3-D motion picture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many attempts have been made to produce 3-D motion pictures. The technique generally used involves simultaneously photographing a subject using two motion picture cameras positioned to provide left and right eye views of the subject. The images recorded on films in those cameras are then simultaneously projected onto a screen and are optically coded in some way so that the left eye of a viewer sees only the images that were recorded by the "left eye" camera while the viewer's right eye sees only the "right eye" images. The viewer then perceives a stereoscopic or 3-D effect.
One method of coding the images involves using colour filters (anaglypta). For example, the right eye images may be coloured blue and the left eye images red and the viewer provided with spectacles having filters that are coloured so that the viewer's right eye sees only blue images and the left eye sees only red images. A disadvantage of this technique is of course it can be used only with two colour images. A related technique that can be used with full colour motion pictures involves the use of polarized light. By providing the respective left and right eye projectors with filters that are polarized in directions at 90° to one another and providing the viewer having spectacles with correspondingly polarized lenses, full colour 3-D images can be viewed.
Spectacular 3-D motion pictures can be made by using these known techniques with large format films such as those that are available from Imax Systems Corporation of Toronto, Canada under the registered trade marks IMAX and OMNIMAX. The use of large format films has become possible as a result of development of the so-called "rolling loop" film transport mechanism for cameras and projectors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,524 to Jones discloses the principle of a rolling loop transport mechanism. A number of improvements in the original Jones mechanism are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,600,073, 4,365,877 and 4,441,796 (all to Shaw). All of these patents have been assigned to Imax Systems Corporation.
A practical difficulty of making 3-D motion picture films is that presently available cameras cannot be positioned sufficiently close to one another that the axes of the camera lenses are at the required interocular distance of two to three inches (i.e. a typical eye spacing) that is necessary to obtain a proper 3-D effect.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of producing and displaying 3-D motion pictures that may be used with large format film.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The method of the invention involves the use of a camera rig that includes first and second motion picture cameras each having a lens defining an optical axis, and a semi-transparent mirror. The cameras and mirror are positioned in a relationship with one another such that, with the rig in a datum position, the first camera is arranged with its optical axis horizontal for recording images of a subject through the mirror along a first axis co-incident with its said optical axis, the second camera is arranged with its optical axis at a 90° angle to the optical axis of the first camera, and the mirror is positioned at the intersection of said optical axes in a plane that bisects said 90° angle and permits the second camera to record images of the same subject along a second axis that is reflected by the mirror to be co-incident with the optical axis of the second camera. The first and second axes are generally parallel to one another and spaced by a defined distance and in a horizontal plane so that one of the cameras receives "left eye" images of the subject and the camera receives "right eye" images. The cameras are oriented such that an erect subject is recorded as a series of parallel inverted images on a film that is advanced in said first camera and as a series of similar mirror images that are turned laterally of the film as a result of being reflected in said mirror on a film that is advanced in said second camera.
Using this camera rig, two master film negatives are made by exposing respective films in the cameras to subjects intended to appear in the motion picture and developing the films. Respective contact prints are then made from the master film negatives. The print from the master film negative that originated from the second camera is then turned face for face about a longitudinal axis of the print so that images on the print are turned laterally of the print as compared with the images as recorded during photography, to bring the images on the respective prints into corresponding orientations for projection. Respective left and right eye images are simultaneously projected from the two film prints to provide coincident 3-D images on a screen. The left and right eye images are optically coded and the viewer is provided with decoding means for ensuring that left eye images are presented to the viewer's left eye only and that right eye images are presented to the viewer's right eye only.
Coding of the images may be effected by any of the various known techniques such as those discussed above. Polarization techniques are of course preferred because they permit the use of full colour films. Another known technique that may be used involves the use of what are in effect shutters on spectacles worn by a viewer that open and close in timed relation to timed projection of images onto the screen so that, in effect, the viewer's right eye is closed when left eye images appear and vice versa.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention by way of example, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a camera rig for use in the method of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates two series of images as they would appear on films in the left- and right-hand cameras respectively of the rig shown in the previous views;
FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic illustrations of conventional developing and contact printing steps respectively;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the contact prints obtained from the step of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 shows the contact prints as oriented for to projection;
FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view of a projector installation for projecting the prints shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 illustrates a pair of polarized spectacles used in viewing the films; and,
FIGS. 10 and 11 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 3 respectively showing a different embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a camera rig for use in the method of the invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 20 and is shown positioned for photographing a subject represented by an erect three dimensional arrow. For simplicity, only the essential components of the rig 20 have been shown. These are respective left and right cameras 24 and 26 and a semi-transparent mirror 28 having a reflective surface 30.
The cameras 24 and 26 are identical and are of well-known construction. Accordingly, they have not been shown in detail. Referring specifically to FIG. 2 and camera 26 by way of example, the camera has a body 32 fitted with a lens 34 and carrying external film magazines 36 and 38. A portion of a length of film is indicated in dotted outline at 40 and is shown for travel from magazine 36, through the camera body 32 to magazine 38. It will be noted that the film travels horizontally through the camera body so that an erect subject such as subject 22 is recorded as an image extending transversely of the film as shown in FIG. 3.
Within body 32, camera 26 has a conventional film advance mechanism and shutter assembly. A suitable camera for use in the method is manufactured by Imax Systems Corporation. However, in principle, the method of the invention may be used with any motion picture camera.
Camera 24 is essentially identical with camera 26 and has a body 42, lens 44 and film magazines 46 and 48, and film 49.
The two cameras 24 and 26 are positioned with respect to the mirror 28 such that the optical axes 50 and 52 of the respective cameras are oriented at a 90° angle to one another with the mirror disposed at the intersection of the axes and bisecting the 90° angle. Specifically, camera 26 is positioned with its optical axis 52 horizontal and directed towards subject 22 while camera 24 is positioned above camera 26 with its lens 44 directed downwardly and its optical axis 50 90° from camera 26 axis (more or less vertical). Mirror 28 permits camera 26 to directly record an image of subject 22 along a first axis 52a (FIG. 2) coincident with axis 52 while camera 24 records an image of the subject along a second axis 50a that is reflected by the mirror (FIG. 1) to be coincident with axis 50.
As best seen in FIG. 2, the cameras are laterally spaced from one another so that, between the subject 22 and the mirror 28, the two axes 50a and 52a are parallel or slightly converged and spaced from one another by defined distance represented by the letter "D" in FIG. 2. This distance is usually set to correspond with the distance between the eyes of a typical viewer (the interocular distance) and is generally in the order of two to three inches. Thus, it will be seen that camera 24 in effect obtains a left eye view of the object 22 while camera 26 obtains a corresponding right eye view, the two viewpoints being spaced by the required interocular distance. The letters "L" and "R" are used in FIGS. 1 and 2 to denote left and right cameras.
Orientation of the cameras in this fashion causes an erect subject (such as subject 22) to be recorded as a series of parallel, inverted images in camera 26 (the first camera) and, in camera 24 (the second camera), as a series of mirror images that are similar to the images recorded by camera 26 but turned laterally of the film (re-inverted). FIG. 3 shows portions of the films from the two cameras, denoted 58 in the case of the film from the right eye camera 26 and 60 in the case of the film from the left eye camera 24. The films are shown as seen from the side of the film furthest from the subject. The images on the film are drawn to represent the images of the subject 22 (the erect arrow) as they would appear on the respective films. As noted above, the images on film 58 are inverted and turned from left to right as compared with the subject 22 due to the normal effect of the lens 34 in camera 26. The images on negative 60 are mirror images and have additionally been turned laterally of the film (top to bottom as drawn) and left to right as compared with the negative 58.
It will of course be understood that, having established the relative positions of the cameras and mirror as shown in FIG. 1 for photographing an erect subject that is to appear erect in the final motion picture, the rig may be manipulated and oriented to produce the results required in the motion picture. In other words, the orientation of the rig as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is merely a datum position which may change in shooting a film, provided the relative positions of the two cameras and mirror are maintained.
Having set up the rig shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two master film negatives are made by exposing the films in the cameras to whatever subjects are required to be shown in the final motion picture. The films from the cameras are then developed the normal way as represented by the boxes denoted 54 and 56 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional contact printing step in which the master film negative is used to make a contact print that is then used when projecting the film. The images on the contact print are identical with the images on the master film negative but the print is a "positive" of the film. In FIG. 5, the two negatives 58 and 60 are shown schematically in face-to-face contact with respective films denoted 58' and 60' that become the contact prints. This operation is performed in a contact printer. In some cases, an intervening step is employed to make a so-called "interpositive" print from the master film negative, from which a "internegative" print is made that is then used to make the final contact print. This allows a greater number of final contact prints to be produced. In any event, the end result is a contact print as prints 58' and 60' that can be used for projection. The two contact prints are shown in FIG. 6 and it will be seen that they are identical with the master film negative shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of a projector installation for use in showing the prints 58' and 60'. The installation includes respective right and left projectors 62 and 64 each having associated film magazines 66, 68 and 70, 72 respectively. Print 58' is shown travelling from one magazine to another in projector 62 while print 60' is similarly shown in projector 64. The two projectors are arranged to project coincident 3-D images from the two films onto a screen denoted 74.
In this particular embodiment, the two projectors 62 and 64 are shown schematically as IMAX projectors of the general form described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,073, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. This patent discloses specific details of the projector. For present purposes, it is sufficient to note that successive rolling loops of film are conveyed around a circular stator by a rotating rotor so that the film generally follows an arcuate shaped path as shown in FIG. 8.
Referring back to FIG. 6, the print 58' from the "right eye" master film negative 58 is loaded directly into projector 62 and is projected by illuminating the film from the front as seen in FIG. 7 so that the image will be inverted and reversed by the projection lenses and appear correctly on the screen 74.
The print 60' from the "left eye" film negative, on the other hand, is first "flipped" or turned face for face about the longitudinal axis X--X of the negative as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 6 so that images on the negative are inverted as compared with the images recorded on the film during photography and reversed so that they are no longer mirror images. This brings the images on the two negatives into corresponding orientations for projection as shown in FIG. 7. In that view, the two prints 58' and 60' as seen from the sides of the prints that are closest to the projection lamp when the prints are running in the projectors (i.e. the prints are shown as seen looking at the projection screen). The projection lenses will invert the images and reverse them left to right so that the images will be correctly projected onto the screen.
Coding of the left and right eye images as discussed previously is effected in this embodiment by the use of polarizing filters indicated at 76 and 78 in FIG. 8. In this embodiment, the filters 76 and 78 are arranged to polarize the light from the projectors 62 and 64 in directions that are 45° to the right and left of vertical respectively as shown by the circled areas indicated by chain dotted lead lines.
FIG. 9 shows a pair of spectacles 80 that will be worn by people viewing the film. The spectacles have respective left and right eye lenses 82 and 84 in the form of polarizing filters. The left eye lens 82 is polarized in the same direction as filter 78 so that it will not admit polarized light from the right eye projector 72 while lens 84 is polarized in the same direction as filter 76 so that it will not admit light from the left eye projector 64. The viewer will then see true stereoscopic or 3-D images on the screen 74.
FIGS. 10 and 11 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 3 respectively and illustrate the method of the invention as practised using conventional (i.e. non-IMAX) motion picture cameras in which the film travels vertically through the camera.
FIG. 10 is a plan view showing left and right cameras 86 and 88 respectively viewing a subject 90 by way of a mirror 92 arranged in a camera rig generally similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except in that, in this case, camera 86 is positioned laterally to the side of camera 88 with its optical axis 94 horizontal. Film in the two cameras indicated at 96 and 98 respectively travels vertically downwards in the two cameras.
FIG. 11 shows negatives 100 and 102 from the right-and left-hand cameras respectively. In this case, because of the direction of travel of the films through the cameras, the film images appear so that an erect image extends longitudinally of the film instead of transversely as in the previous embodiment. The images on the film 100 from the right eye camera 88 are inverted and reversed right to left whereas the images on film 102 have additionally been reversed as a result of being reflected in mirror 92 (i.e. are mirror images). After developing the films and making contact prints, the contact print from film 102 can be flipped or turned face-for-face about a longitudinal axis of the print so that the images are corrected for projection as described in connection with the preceding embodiment.
It will of course be understood that the preceding description relates to particular preferred embodiment of the invention only and that many modifications are possible within the broad scope of the invention. Some modifications have been indicated previously and others will be apparent to a person skilled in the art. For example, as noted, even though IMAX cameras and projectors have been referred to specifically, they are not essential to the invention within the broad scope of the claims (see FIGS. 10 and 11).
The cameras shown in the drawings could of course be reversed so that the right eye camera instead of the left eye camera would shoot via the mirror. Also, in FIGS. 1 and 2 the "second" camera (shown as the left eye camera 24) could be positioned below the mirror with its optical axis extending vertically upwards. In the embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12, the "second" camera can of course be positioned at either side of the mirror. | A method of producing and displaying a 3-D motion picture is disclosed. Two master film negatives are prepared using a camera rig employing one camera that looks directly at the subject through a semi-transparent mirror and a second camera that looks at the same subject by way of the reflective surface of the mirror, to obtain left and right eye images. The cameras are oriented so that the mirror images recorded by the second camera are turned laterally of the film in being reflected by the mirror. Contact prints are made from the negatives. Before projecting the images, the contact print from the negative that was shot by way of the mirror is turned about its longitudinal axis so that images on that print are turned laterally. Images from the two prints are simultaneously projected onto the same screen to produce a coincident 3-D image. The left and right eye images are optically coded, for example by using optical filters that are polarized at right angles to one another. The viewer wears spectacles having corresponding polarized lenses so that the left eye sees only projected left eye images while the right eye sees only projected right eye images. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a 371 national phase entry of PCT/IB2014/002591, filed 28 Nov. 28, 2014, which claims the benefit of French Patent Application No. 13/02850, filed 06 Dec. 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing molding elements for molds intended for molding tires provided with a tread comprising a circumferential arrangement of tread patterns. It relates more particularly to a cutting phase aimed at separating a plurality of segments obtained jointly during a molding operation.
[0003] The manufacture of tire molds and of components of these molds involves a wide variety of steps, often highly complex, and high production and material costs. Moreover, it is essential that all the components incorporated into the molds can enjoy a high level of accuracy, all this making the operations of designing and producing molds particularly tricky.
[0004] In order to optimize the processes without quality being adversely affected, all the parts that make up the molds and all the intermediate steps and operations need to be considered.
[0005] There is therefore still a need to optimize the process for producing the molds and the various elements that make up the molds, while at the same ensuring a high level of molding quality and a high level of flexibility in the methods of manufacture.
[0006] Document GB 2342604 is, moreover, known and describes a workpiece positioning jig for machine tools. This jig comprises a mounting body comprising a positioning part intended to be brought into contact with a workpiece and a bearing portion projecting downwards. A vertical rod extends through the positioning part and the bearing portion. At its lower end, this rod has a U-shaped reinforcing element.
[0007] Document JP 19940149993 relates to a mold with components that are very hard, very durable and simple to maintain. A plurality of elements are mounted in a support sector to constitute a segment. The parts are arranged contiguously so that the respectively adjacent faces of the parts are in contact with one another.
[0008] Document EP2399730 describes a mold in which a block is firmly secured, and which can be removed even after it has been used. This tire mold comprises a cavity surface formed in an interior surface of the mold. This mold comprises a block that has a plurality of platelike elements which are aligned with slots formed between each of the plates. The mold also comprises a support which contains a recess allowing the block to be fitted, and a securing element which is secured removably to the block and mounted in the recess.
[0009] Document US2008/0084017 relates to blocks which are assembled to provide a plurality of securing points so as to allow them to be secured to a table of a milling machine and to other blocks so as to allow various clamping options around the workpiece. Moreover, clamps, fasteners, blocks and T-nuts and various clamping tools can be used. No additional mounting plate or any other type of preparatory hardware is required for mounting all of the blocks on the milling table or any other work table on which a block securing space is provided.
[0010] In these documents, despite the diversity of the solutions put forward, not one allows the manufacture of tire mold segments to be optimized by taking into consideration on the one hand the requirements placed on the mold itself and, on the other hand, the multiple and varied requirements regarding the tires that are to be molded.
SUMMARY
[0011] It is an object of the disclosure to manufacture tire mold segments economically, very accurately, while at the same time minimizing waste.
[0012] It is another object of the disclosure to provide a method of manufacture that makes it possible to reduce raw material wastage when making modifications to the visual characteristics of the tires.
[0013] Yet another object is to provide a method that allows tire manufacture to be optimized, particularly at the mold preparation stage.
[0014] in order to achieve this, the disclosure provides a cutting method for cutting a semi-finished molding element intended to yield segments of a mold for molding and vulcanizing tires, the said molding element comprising a plurality of segments originating from one and the same molding operation, the said molding element comprising at least one pair of male securing members on each side of a molding face intended to form the tread patterns in the tread of the tire that is to be molded, the said method comprising the following steps:
[0000] aligning and indexing the semi-finished molding element on the securing support using indexing references;
clamping the semi-finished molding element on a securing support provided with female securing members corresponding to those of the molding element, by means of the male and female securing members;
placing the securing support on a cutting machine;
cutting the segments using the cutting machine.
[0015] The method is particularly advantageous in achieving accurate positioning of the molding element, so that the cuts can be made accurately, from the starting point of a correct indexing of the workpiece and of the cutting zones.
[0016] According to one advantageous embodiment, the male securing members are studs comprising dovetail-shaped cutouts extending radially towards the inside of the molding elements.
[0017] According to another advantageous embodiment, the female securing members comprise dovetail-shaped cutouts extending radially towards the inside of the molding elements,
[0018] Configuring the securing members with complementary dovetail shapes afford excellent retention of the secured workpiece.
[0019] According to one advantageous alternative form of embodiment, the indexing references of the securing support comprise at least two indexing blocks provided with an indexing notch that is accurately located with respect to the support.
[0020] Advantageously, the indexing references of the semi-finished molding element comprise an indexing finger to be inserted into the notch of the indexing block that indexes the support.
[0021] This then in a simple, reliable and economic way makes it possible to obtain indexing means that afford a good level of accuracy. As an alternative, the indexing fingers have different sizes and/or shapes on each side, so as to allow them to be positioned only one way round.
[0022] According to one advantageous embodiment, the cutting is performed using a very high pressure water jet.
[0023] According to an advantageous embodiment, the method moreover comprises a machining step, following the cutting step, in which machining step the surplus material between the segments is removed. During a step of machining a segment, the latter is secured to a machine tool by means of securing members provided with dovetail-shaped cutouts.
[0024] The disclosure also provides a securing support for implementing the cutting method described hereinabove, comprising a holding frame, at least two indexing blocks provided with bearing surfaces and with indexing notches, and at least two female securing members able to collaborate with corresponding male securing members belonging to the molding element.
[0025] Advantageously, the female securing members have dovetail-shaped cutouts.
[0026] The disclosure finally provides a semi-finished molding element intended to yield segments of a mold for molding and vulcanizing tires, and comprising:
[0000] a molding face comprising patterns intended for molding the tread patterns of a tire tread;
securing members on each side of the molding face;
indexing elements;
a plurality of segments intended to be cut from one another using the cutting method described hereinabove.
[0027] In one advantageous embodiment, each segment comprises a pair of securing members which is intended for individually securing each segment to a machine tool for a post-cutting machining step.
[0028] Thus, before cutting, the molding element is provided with a plurality of pairs of securing members, one of which is intended to secure the said molding element to the support of the cutting machine. After the segments have been cut, each of them bears one pair of securing members, for attaching each segment to a machine tool.
[0029] According to yet another advantageous embodiment, each segment comprises a pair of reference surfaces which are intended to collaborate with the bearing surfaces of the indexing blocks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0030] Further features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the attached drawings in which:
[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the main elements used for securing a semi-finished molding element so as to allow one or more operations of cutting apart segments intended for tire molds;
[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic face view of the elements of FIG. 1 ;
[0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of one example of a segment after cutting;
[0034] FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic depiction of FIG. 3 , more particularly showing a segment securing member;
[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of one example of a female securing member;
[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of one example of an indexing block;
[0037] FIG. 7 shows one example of an indexing bar;
[0038] FIG. 8 shows one example of a cutting phase using a very high pressure water jet machine.
[0039] In the description which will follow, elements which are substantially identical or similar will be noted by identical references.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] A “tire” means all types of resilient tread whether or not it is subjected to an internal pressure.
[0041] The “tread” of a tire means a quantity of rubber compound delimited by lateral surfaces and by two main surfaces, one of which is intended to come into contact with the ground when the tire is driven on.
[0042] A “tread pattern” means the surface and volume arrangements of rubber compounds at the external surface of the tire which are intended to provide contact with the running surface, and the shape of which makes it possible to adjust the operational performance of the tire. The tread patterns also allow the tread or some other zone of the tire such as the sidewalls to be given an attractive appearance.
[0043] A “mold” means a collection of separate molding elements which, when brought closer together, make it possible to define a toroidal molding space in which a tire can be vulcanized and molded.
[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a segment 2 used in a mold used for molding and vulcanizing tires. Such a segment, of substantially elongate shape, comprises, at each of its ends, a male securing member 3 having a dovetail-shaped cutout, best visible in the perspective view of FIG. 4 .
[0045] The use of this type of segment in a tire molding and vulcanizing method allows a great deal of flexibility in the configuring of the molds. Specifically, it is possible to plan for a segment to correspond to a pattern element of the tread of the tire that is to be molded. By using molding elements with different pattern elements, the design of the tread can be adapted or modified without the need to replace the entire mold.
[0046] Moreover, the simultaneous manufacture of a plurality of molding elements makes it possible to optimize the manufacturing process, simplifying the tooling and reducing the waste. To manufacture these segments economically, a semi-finished molding element 1 like the one illustrated in the example of FIG. 1 , is produced first of all, by molding. Such a semi-finished molding element comprises a plurality of segments 2 that need to be separated from one another. In what follows, the proposed method recommends cutting where two adjacent segments meet, as many times as necessary, according to the number of segments. The cutting phase can be carried out using one or more very high pressure water jets, or using any means that allows cutting to be performed accurately, quickly, and repeatably.
[0047] After the cutting operations, machining operations allow the portions of material not needed for the molding operations to be removed and potentially the creation of additional zones on the segments.
[0048] In order to achieve the level of accuracy required for the cutting, it is absolutely essential that the semi-finished molding element 1 and the cutting planes can be referenced, that the cutting tools can be positioned accurately with respect to these cutting planes and, above all, to ensure that the molding element is secured very firmly in order to withstand the numerous and intense mechanical stresses generated by the cutting operations.
[0049] The disclosure proposes the use of a securing support 10 like that illustrated for example in FIGS. 1 and 2 . The securing support 10 comprises a holding frame 11 on which the semifinished molding element I is positioned and indexed so that the cuts made can be aligned as accurately as possible with the cutting planes. The securing frame illustrated has a substantially square profile. At the middle of one of the sides, an indexing bar 16 (shown in detail in FIG. 7 ) is secured to the frame 11 . In the example illustrated, two female securing members 12 are provided, namely one on each side of the molding element 1 , opposite the male securing members 3 of the molding element 1 . The two female securing members 12 are fixed to the bar 16 , one of them via the interposition of longitudinal guideways, so that the female securing means 12 can be positioned longitudinally at the correct location, according to the directions of the molding element 1 .
[0050] FIG. 5 shows one example of a female securing member 12 provided with a dovetail-shaped cutout 13 at one of its ends.
[0051] The semi-finished molding element 1 is placed on the holding frame 11 with the molding face 4 towards the frame. This arrangement makes it possible to envisage clamping the molding element 1 through the use of the male securing members 3 . The complementary dovetail-shaped profiles allow the secured workpiece to be slotted into position accurately and firmly, affording good resistance to the axial and transverse forces so that the respective components maintain their correct positioning throughout the process of cutting the segments 2 apart, this process being liable to generate high forces.
[0052] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one example of an indexing finger 5 placed against the base of a male securing member 3 , also visible in FIG. 3 . The indexing fingers make it possible to envisage accurate positioning of the segments, either during the cutting phase and/or during a subsequent phase of molding vulcanizing in a tire mold provided with a plurality of circumferentially aligned segments. FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate one example of an indexing block 14 provided with an indexing notch 15 corresponding to a finger 5 . A block 14 is advantageously arranged at each end of the segment, preferably adjacent to the male securing members via which the molding element is fixed to the holding frame 11 . The fingers 5 and notches 15 on each side of one and the same segment may have different shapes and/or sizes so as to ensure mounting just one way round if that is required.
The Method
[0053] By virtue of the securing support described hereinabove, a cutting method for cutting a semi-finished molding element 1 can be performed optimally. According to the method of the disclosure, the semi-finished molding element 1 is clamped to the securing support 10 by means of the corresponding male 3 and female 12 securing members. The indexing references 14 and 15 allow the semi-finished molding element 1 to be aligned and indexed on the securing support 10 . The reference surface 6 on each side of each segment allows the element to bear, correctly positioned, on a bearing surface 17 of the indexing references 14 . Once the molding element 1 is in place on the support 10 with the clamping means engaged in one another, with the molding element correctly aligned with respect to the support, the assembly is placed on a specially adapted cutting machine, preferably a very high pressure water jet cutting machine.
[0054] The segments 2 are then cut apart very effectively and reliably because of the firm clamping of the element that is to be cut which is able to withstand the forces caused by the cutting without the risk of becoming misaligned or detached. FIG. 8 shows an example of cutting using a nozzle spraying a jet of water (advantageously containing abrasive particles such as sand) along the cutting lines between the segments.
[0055] To make multiple cuts easier, these are preferably made in such a way as to leave a zone or layer of material between the cut segments. This layer is enough to allow the molding element 1 overall to maintain its initial curved shape throughout the cutting operations. However, the quantity of material kept is thin enough that the segments can easily be separated from one another after they have been detached from the support of the cutting machine. | Cutting method for cutting a semi-finished molding element to yield segments of a mold for molding and vulcanizing tires is disclosed herein. The said molding element includes a plurality of segments originating from one and the same molding operation, the said molding element also includes at least one pair of male securing members on each side of a molding face to form the tread patterns in the tread of the tire that is to be molded. | 1 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to methods for detecting the trajectories of projectiles.
[0002] Soldiers in action in crisis regions are constantly at threat of being fired at by hand weapons from behind (e.g. by so-called snipers).
[0003] Methods are already known for deriving information regarding position and direction from which the shot is fired. These methods involve acoustic sensors that determine the position of the shooters from the muzzle blast. Such acoustic sensors are disadvantageous because they require multiple spatially distributed and networked supporting positions (microphones). Moreover, such acoustic systems can easily be disturbed by ambient noise. Accordingly, acoustic sensors cannot be used on travelling or flying platforms or can only be used thereon in a limited manner.
[0004] Optical methods are also known for attempting to discover the optical sights of sharpshooter weapons. The application area of these systems is strictly limited because the firing of other hand weapons cannot be detected. These systems are also significantly adversely affected in their efficiency by ambient influences such as light sources or dust.
[0005] German patent document DE 10 2006 006 983 A1 discloses a method for detecting the trajectory and direction of motion of projectiles by means of a coherent pulse Doppler radar. The measurement of distance to a detected object involves using the transition time of the echo pulse, while the projectile speed is advantageously determined by means of the Doppler frequency shift in the echo signal.
[0006] Another method for detecting the trajectory and direction of motion of projectiles is disclosed in the publication Allen, M. R.; Stoughton, R. B.; A Low Cost Radar Concept for Bullet Direction Finding Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE National Radar Conference, 13-16 May 1996, pp 202-207.
[0007] German patent document DE 40 12 247 A1 discloses a sensor system, with which the azimuth angle, elevation angle, radial distance and radial speed of a target are measured.
[0008] German patent document DE 40 08 395 A1 discloses a monopulse radar for determining the azimuth, elevation and distance of a projectile.
[0009] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method that can reliably and universally detect the trajectory and direction of motion of projectiles.
[0010] In order to determine the trajectory parameters of projectiles (e.g. rifle bullets), it is assumed that they travel in a straight line and the speed in the detection region is constant. These assumptions are permissible in a number of applications, in which it is a case of detecting the penetration of projectiles into a protection zone and the determination of the direction from which the shot originated. Only either the direction in the plane (azimuth) or in addition the elevation direction is of interest here.
[0011] A continuous wave Doppler radar with the capability for indicating a bearing can be advantageously used as a sensor in the present invention. The angular resolution can be achieved either with a plurality of receiving antennas or sending/receiving antennas with a directional effect or with digital beam forming (DBF). The analysis of the Doppler signal enables the measurement of the radial speed components of the detected objects. The coverage of the radar sensor can be divided into individual angular segments, which are detected with spatially distributed individual and/or multiple sensors (sending/receiving modules).
[0012] Because projectiles typically have a higher speed than all other reflecting objects, the extraction of relevant signals can be accomplished by spectral discrimination in the form of high pass filtering. This also applies if the sensor is disposed on a moving platform (with a ground speed of up to about 300 km/h). This results in effective clutter suppression.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0013] The invention is explained in detail below using figures. In the figures:
[0014] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary time profile of the radial speed components during a fly-past of the radar by a projectile,
[0015] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary time profile of the bearing in azimuth during a lateral fly-past of the sensor by a projectile, and
[0016] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary expansion circuit of a Doppler radar sensor for vertical bearing indication.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The time profile of the radial speed υ rad (t) when passing through the detection region of the sensor is—independently of the direction of the projectile trajectory—described by the analytical relationship (1) below, which is also described in German patent document DE 29 42 355 A1. It is assembled where appropriate from the data measured by the sensor within multiple antenna lobes—a sensor is understood to be a continuous wave Doppler radar in the following:
[0000]
v
ra
d
(
t
)
=
v
0
2
·
(
t
d
-
t
)
v
0
2
(
t
d
-
t
)
2
+
d
2
.
(
1
)
[0018] Here υ0 designates the absolute projectile speed, d is the minimum distance of the trajectory from the sensor (even if this point is never in fact reached, because the projectile e.g. strikes the ground beforehand), and td is the point in time at which the projectile passes the point of closest approach (POCA). At the point the radial component of the speed υrad(t) is reduced to zero, which is quite clearly shown.
[0019] In FIG. 1 such a profile of the radial speed is shown as an example for the fly-past of a projectile with an airspeed of 800 m/sec at a distance of 20 m from the sensor, wherein the POCA is achieved at point in time t=t d =10 msec.
[0020] From a series of N target recordings provided by the Doppler sensor at the points in time t n with n=1 . . . N with measured speeds υ rad (t n ), a non-linear parameter fit to the relationship (1) is performed to determine the parameters υ 0 , d and t d or to estimate them in the sense of a least mean square error (LMSE). Because there are three unknowns, at least N=3 measurement points are necessary for this. Suitable algorithms for this are e.g. provided in the curve fitting toolbox of MATLAB®.
[0021] The relationship of the bearing indication of the radar sensor to the projectile trajectory in space can be derived from their vectorial description. The trajectory is given as a point-direction equation of a straight line with the speed vector u and the position vector at the POCA d by the time function:
[0000] r ( t )= d+v· ( t−t d ), (2)
[0000] which is identical to the direction vector between the sensor and the projectile, if the radar sensor is assumed to be positionally fixed at the origin of the coordinate system.
[0022] The Cartesian components of the direction vector r can be expressed using the direction angle in azimuth α and elevation ε according to the spherical coordinate representation as:
[0000]
r
=
(
r
x
r
y
r
z
)
=
r
(
sin
α
·
cos
ɛ
cos
α
·
cos
ɛ
sin
ɛ
)
,
(
3
)
[0000] wherein (2) is written as:
[0000]
r
(
t
)
(
sin
α
(
t
)
·
cos
ɛ
(
t
)
cos
α
(
t
)
·
cos
ɛ
(
t
)
sin
ɛ
(
t
)
)
=
d
(
sin
α
d
·
cos
ɛ
d
cos
α
d
·
cos
ɛ
d
sin
ɛ
d
)
+
v
0
(
sin
α
0
·
cos
ɛ
0
cos
α
0
·
cos
ɛ
0
sin
ɛ
0
)
·
(
t
-
t
d
)
(
4
)
[0023] Here α(t) and ε(t) refer to the bearings of the radar sensor against time, α d and ε d to the angular directions at the POCA, and α 0 and ε 0 to the directions of the trajectory in azimuth and elevation, i.e. the ultimately sought variables.
[0024] Forming a quotient from the x and y components of the trajectory (4) results in:
[0000]
r
x
(
t
)
r
y
(
t
)
=
sin
α
(
t
)
cos
α
(
t
)
=
tan
α
(
t
)
=
d
sin
α
d
cos
ɛ
d
+
sin
α
0
cos
ɛ
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
d
cos
α
d
cos
ɛ
d
+
cos
α
0
cos
ɛ
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
(
5
)
[0000] now independently of the distance |f(t)| to the projectile.
[0025] Turing first to the case that the radar sensor provides bearing values in azimuth α(t) for determining the trajectory direction in azimuth α 0 . For this (5) can be put into the following form:
[0000]
α
(
t
)
=
arctan
d
sin
α
d
k
ɛ
+
sin
α
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
d
cos
α
d
k
ɛ
+
cos
α
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
.
(
6
)
[0026] The elevation-dependent variables are combined into a single term:
[0000]
k
ɛ
=
cos
ɛ
d
cos
ɛ
0
(
7
)
[0027] For the case of a projectile with υ 0 =800 m/sec, d=20 m and t d =10 msec, the time profile of the azimuth bearing α(t) is illustrated in FIG. 2 as an example. Simplified for the sake of interpretability, it is assumed that the projectile goes right past the sensor at the height of the sensor coming from the direction α 0 =0° and ε 0 =0°, and it is thus easily shown that the following applies: α d =90°, ε d =0° and thus k ε =1.
[0028] From a series of N radar sensor measured azimuth bearings α(t n ) at the known points in time t n with n=1 . . . N, the parameters α 0 and k ε are determined using a second non-linear parameter fit to relationship (5). If there is no bearing in elevation, the variable k ε is of no further use for the description of the trajectory. It can still be determined that in (5) the influence of the elevation direction of the flight track ε 0 is separated from the determination of ε 0 and thus no systematic errors occur. In order to enable definite parameter extraction for ε 0 over the entire 360° range, the four quadrant arc tangent can be adopted in (5) by taking into account the sign of the numerator and denominator.
[0029] When carrying out the second parameter fit of the azimuth bearing values α(t n ) to (5), the values for υ 0 , d and t d are to be used, which were obtained during the first parameter fit to (1) using the speed measurement values. The value for α d , i.e. the azimuth bearing in the direction of the POCA, is to be derived from the bearing values α(t n ). Because, however, at the POCA the radial components of the speed are zero, there are no bearings in the immediate surroundings of the POCA because of the high pass clutter filtering. Instead an interpolation of the series of measurement values α(t n ) at the point in time t=t d can be carried out: α d =α(t d ).
[0030] In the case that the radar sensor also carries out elevation direction finding besides the azimuth direction finding, the described method can be expanded in an advantageous embodiment by a further step for flight track direction determination in elevation.
[0031] One approach is the combination of the vector components of (4) in the form:
[0000]
(
r
x
(
t
)
r
y
(
t
)
)
2
+
(
r
x
(
t
)
r
y
(
t
)
)
2
=
1
tan
2
ɛ
(
t
)
,
(
8
)
[0000] which results in the following expression:
[0000]
tan
ɛ
(
t
)
=
(
d
sin
ɛ
d
+
sin
ɛ
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
)
(
d
cos
α
d
cos
ɛ
d
+
cos
α
0
cos
ɛ
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
)
2
+
(
d
sin
α
d
cos
ɛ
d
+
sin
α
0
cos
ɛ
0
·
v
0
(
t
-
t
d
)
)
2
.
(
9
)
[0032] Also the target distance |r(t)| is no longer contained in the relationship and an analysis is possible purely on the basis of speed and bearing information.
[0033] By means of a third non-linear parameter fit the functional relationship of the right side of (9), in which the elevation direction of the flight track ε 0 is the single remaining unknown variable, is adapted to the series of values tan ε(t n ) formed from the measured bearing values. The previously determined variables d, υ 0 , t d , α d and α 0 are to be used as known, and ε d is in turn to be determined by interpolation from the elevation bearing values ε(t n ) at the point in time t=t d :ε d =ε(t d ).
[0034] According to the invention the following parameters are available to describe the projectile's trajectory:
speed υ 0 , minimum distance from the sensor d, point in time of the minimum distance t d , azimuth direction of the position with minimum distance (POCA) α d , azimuth direction of the trajectory α 0 .
[0040] In one particular embodiment of the invention, following a third parameter fit according to the features of claim 2 there are further parameters available for the description of the projectile's trajectory:
optional: elevation direction of the position with minimum distance ε d , optional: elevation direction of the trajectory ε 0 .
[0043] If it can be assumed that multiple projectiles can be simultaneously present in the detection region of the sensor, time tracking can be carried out before the use of the parameter extraction based on (1), (6) and possibly (9) for segmentation of the measurement values for speed and bearing. The flight track parameters can then be determined separately for each segment (projectile). Under the assumption that such scenarios only occur when firing salvos of projectiles, the parameter fit can be optimized to determine a single trajectory direction.
[0044] The bearing indication in the radar sensor can take place by means of amplitude monopulse or phase monopulse. According to the invention there is a simple alternative approach to expansion of the method by elevation direction finding: The illuminator antenna is implemented in dual form with a vertical angular offset between the antennas. Both antennas transmit simultaneously with slightly different frequencies f Tx1 and f Tx2 =f Tx1 +Δf (difference e.g. a few 100 Hz to a few kHz), which can be carried out in parallel in the entire signal path of the receiver including digitization. Both spectral lines only appear separately in the Doppler analysis, their amplitude ratio in the sense of an amplitude monopulse for the two mutually inclined illuminator antennas enabling elevation direction finding. On the receiver side there is thus no additional hardware cost, which is clear on the transmitter side. A circuit diagram showing the principle for said direction finding concept is shown in FIG. 3 .
[0045] When carrying out the Doppler analysis using a numerically efficient FFT the following problem occurs: the time profile of the Doppler frequency (proportional to the radial speed components, see FIG. 1 ) allows only coherent integration times of typically a few milliseconds. Moreover, the resulting peak is spread within the Doppler spectrum (Doppler walk), so that there is no further integration gain in a conventional manner. However, extended integration times can be achieved according to the invention by acquiring the Doppler signal as a sectional linear chirp and carrying out various hypothetical corrections with chirps of different lengths and gradients with rising and falling frequency by multiplication in the time domain prior to the Doppler FFT. All of these corrected signal blocks are then subjected to the FFT, and in the case of the correct correction approx. 10 dB higher integration gains and thus system sensitivities can be achieved. Alternatively, modified ISAR processing is also conceivable, but this will not be discussed further here.
[0046] Depending on the operating frequency of the radar sensor, the resulting relevant Doppler shifts can be so small that they lie in the frequency range of low frequency noise (1/f-noise) or mechanical microphonic effects. In this case a sinusoidal frequency modulation of the continuous wave transmission signal and an analysis of the reception signal can advantageously be used for the second harmonic of the modulation frequency [see, for example, M. Skolnik: Introduction to Radar Systems, ed. 2].
[0047] Finally, a typical system design for the radar sensor is mentioned as an example:
working frequency in the K u -Band (e.g. 16 GHz) four sensor segments (quadrants), each with a broad illuminator and 12 receiving antenna lobes in azimuth by means of DBF transmission power 1 W sampling frequency 300 kHz clutter high pass filter with 10 kHz corner frequency integration times 1 . . . 10 msec.
[0054] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof. | Methods for detecting the flight path of projectiles involve a sequence of N target detections that include detecting the measured velocities and azimuthal angle bearings of the projectile along the flight path of the projectile by Doppler radar at the times tn, wherein n=1 . . . N, and determining the flight path and the direction of motion of the projectile are from these measurements. The measurements are adapted in a first nonlinear parameter fit to an analytical relationship of the time curve of the radial velocity of the projectile while the projectile passes through the detection range of the radar and so that the absolute projectile velocity, minimum distance of the project flight path from the radar, time at which the projectile passes the point having the minimum distance, flight path direction in azimuth, and flight path direction in elevation can be estimated. | 6 |
[0001] The present application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application No. 60/428,281, filed Nov. 22, 2002, whose disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present disclosure.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is generally related to tremor control, and more particularly, is related to an apparatus and methods for the electrical stimulation of the brain through skin surface stimulation of the peripheral nervous system for the treatment of movement disorders.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In the last decade, the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) has demonstrated dramatic improvement in symptoms associated with movement disorders, including symptoms from Parkinson's disease (PD), Essential Tremor (ET) and dystonia.
[0004] Essential Tremor is an involuntary movement, such as a shaking movement that is repeated over and over. Essential Tremor usually affects the hands and head, although occasionally the feet or torso may also be affected. Essential tremor, which sometimes runs in families, is one of the most common types of tremor. It causes shaking that is most noticeable when a person is performing a task like lifting a cup or pointing at an object. The shaking does not occur when the person is not moving. The tremor may also affect the person's voice. Medication can help reduce the shaking. Tremors can also be caused by conditions or medications that affect the nervous system, including Parkinson's disease, liver failure, alcoholism, mercury or arsenic poisoning, lithium, and certain antidepressants.
[0005] Instead of destroying the overactive cells that cause symptoms from PD, for example, DBS instead temporarily disables the cells by firing rapid pulses of electricity between four electrodes at the tip of a lead. The lead is permanently implanted and connected to a pacemaker controller installed beneath the skin of the chest.
[0006] DBS utilizes electrodes that are usually implanted in one of three regions of the brain: the thalamic nucleus ventral is intermedius (Vim), the internal globus pallidus (GPi), and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) (FIG. 1). Some studies have shown that DBS has the best effect on tremors, when the Vim is stimulated. Rigidity and gait disturbances have shown improvements with stimulation of GPi and STN. The parameters of 130-185 Hz, 60 ms pulse width and 2.5 to 3.5 volts are most commonly utilized for DBS stimulation. DBS stimulation is typically pulsed intermittent stimulation having an on cycle of about a few seconds up to a minute, then an off cycle for about 30 seconds to several minutes.
[0007] The challenge of DBS is the obvious drawback of having to undergo a neuro-surgical procedure and also to have the result of one or two electrodes implanted deep within the structures of the brain.
[0008] The present invention achieves tremor control through brain stimulation without the use of the invasive DBS electrodes. Stimulation of peripheral nerves results in the excitation of some area of the brain (Thalmus, sub-cortical and Cortical areas). The stimulation of sites on the surface of the skin produces effects of tremor control which are similar to the effects achieved by DBS for limited amounts of time. Surface stimulation is achieved through the use of surface electrodes that are currently used for Muscle Stimulation or TENS. Following a 30-60 minute stimulation time, there is a residual decrease in tremor of at least 30-60 minutes. The device can be worn under the clothing and activated while the decreased tremor period is desired.
[0009] PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans, a molecular medical imaging procedure that uses small amounts of radioactive pharmaceuticals to make images of the body's metabolic activity, Magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans and fMRI scans can be used to identify appropriate peripheral surface stimulation sites. Various types of stimulation can be used including TENS, Neuro-Muscular Stimulation, Ultra Sound, Interferential Stimulation, PEMF, EMF, and various types of mechanical stimulation.
[0010] Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies associated with a neuro-surgical procedure and the implantation of at least one electrode deep within the structures of the brain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and methods for surface electrical stimulation of the peripheral nervous system at predetermined peripheral stimulation sites for the treatment of movement disorders.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the peripheral stimulation sites, which are linked to specific areas of the brain, are initially traced using dermatome maps and then verified using PET scans, MEG scans, fMRI or other neural imaging devices. The electrical stimulator may utilize an interferential current that has a base medium frequency alternating current between 1 KHz and 100 KHz. An interferential current is set up between two circuits that are arranged in a cross-pattern on the subject's targeted area of stimulation. Where the circuits superimpose in a cross-pattern, the resultant beat frequency will be the difference between the frequencies of the two circuits and will usually range between 0-250 Hz and can be dynamic, and the amplitude will be additive and greater than either circuit alone.
[0013] Digital signal processors (DSPs) are used for improving the accuracy and reliability of digital signals that are used extensively in the communications field. Digital signal processing works by standardizing or clarifying the output of a digital signal. In this embodiment, the digital signal processor is used to shape multiple pulsatile waveforms to approximate the output of a sine-wave generator. In another embodiment of the invention, the digital signal processor is replaced with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). A FPGA is an integrated circuit that can be programmed in the field after it is manufactured and therefore allows users to adjust the circuit output as the needs change. Both the DSP and the FPGA process a digital signal into a pseudo-sine-wave current waveform from the digital pulses generated by a pulse generator. The pseudo-sine-wave current waveform is transmitted through surface electrodes at a targeted area creating an interferential current.
[0014] The electrical stimulator may also use a standard TENS or NeuroMuscular stimulation waveform. Such devices produce a pulsatile current with a square wave output, an amplitude range from 0-150 mA and a phase duration (pulse width) range of 1-500 μsec. The frequency of such devices can range from 1 pulse per second (pps) to 2500 pps. The devices can be set to various duty cycles (on and off times) from as little as 1 second to 30 minutes on, and an off time as little as 1 second to as long as several minutes. The device can also be set to a continuous output without a duty cycle. The device may utilize as little as one pair of electrodes, or multiple sets may be more effective depending on the condition of the patient.
[0015] Once identified, the peripheral stimulation sites are stimulated with the surface electrical stimulation device.
[0016] Other systems methods, features and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one skilled in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0018] [0018]FIG. 1 is a drawing of the potential stimulation sites in the brain for deep brain stimulation for movement disorders;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 2 is a drawing of a perspective view of an interferential current set up by two circuits;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 3 is a drawing of a perspective view of an interferential current pattern indicating the current intensity level and area of beat frequency formation; and
[0021] [0021]FIG. 4 is a drawing of a stimulator with surface electrodes positioned at peripheral stimulation sites.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] A preferred embodiment of the invention and modifications thereof will now be described with reference to the drawings.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 1 shows the potential stimulation sites in the brain for deep brain stimulation via surface stimulation of the peripheral nervous system. Using dermatome maps (not shown) of the peripheral nervous system, which can then be confirmed by PET scans (not shown) of the brain, peripheral surface stimulation sites 410 on a subject's skin surface are determined (FIG. 4). The stimulation of the peripheral surface stimulation sites 410 on the surface of the skin produces effects of tremor control which are similar to the effects achieved by DBS for limited amounts of time. The excited peripheral nerves would in turn excite similar, but not necessarily, the same areas of the brain that are currently stimulated by DBS.
[0024] [0024]FIG. 2 shows a stimulator 200 for the electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerves for tremor control at the peripheral surface stimulation sites utilizing an interferential current 210 that has a base medium frequency alternating current between 1K-100 KHz. Such a stimulator 200 is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,328, issued on May 21, 2002 to the assignee of the present application. Other TENS, Neuromuscular stimulation devices, Ultrasound, Pulsed Electromagnetic Field generators, EMF generators and mechanical stimulation devices can also be utilized (not shown).
[0025] The interferential current 210 is set up between two circuits 218 , 220 , 418 , 420 that are arranged in a cross-pattern. A first pair of surface electrodes 208 , 209 are positioned on a subject's skin surface at the peripheral surface stimulation site 410 on one set of diagonal corners of a targeted area 114 , 314 (see FIG. 3). The targeted area is the peripheral nerve and surrounding area to be stimulated. A second pair of surface electrodes 209 , 309 , and 408 , is then positioned at the other set of diagonal corners of the targeted area 114 , 314 . A digital signal processor 202 is connected to the first and second pairs of surface electrodes 208 , 209 ; 308 , 309 ; and 408 . When a signal-generating source 204 is connected to the digital signal processor 202 , a sine-wave-like waveform signal output 206 is created. The digital signal processor 202 improves the accuracy and reliability of the digital signals. The digital signal processor 202 processes the multiple pulses from the signal generating source 204 to approximate a sine-wave (pseudo-sine-wave or sine-wave-like). The digital signal processor 202 generates individual pulses 206 of differing widths and resultant amplitudes. When those differing pulses 206 are driven into a transformer (not shown), the pseudo-sine-wave is produced.
[0026] A pulse generator 204 is connected to the input of the digital signal processor 202 and supplies a pulsed digital signal output 216 to the digital signal processor 202 . The digital signal 216 is processed by the digital signal processor 202 to create a first circuit 218 and a second circuit 220 at the first and second pairs of surface electrodes 208 , 209 ; 308 , 309 ; and 408 , respectively. Where the first and second circuits 218 , 220 superimpose, the resultant beat frequency (which is preferably between 1 and 250 beats/second) will be the difference between the frequencies of the two circuits, and the amplitude will be additive and greater than either circuit alone (FIG. 3).
[0027] Modulating the outputs of the first and second circuits 218 , 410 , 220 , 420 increases the area of the targeted stimulation (FIG. 4). The depth of modulation can vary from 0 to 100% and depends on the direction of the currents established by the first and second circuits 218 , 418 , 220 , 420 . When the first and second circuits 218 , 418 , 220 , 420 intersect at 90°, the maximum resultant amplitude and the deepest level of modulation is half-way between the two circuits (45° diagonally). (See FIG. 3). The area of stimulation can be augmented by modulation of the amplitudes of the outputs of the two circuits.
[0028] [0028]FIG. 4 shows the stimulator 200 , 400 positioned to stimulate the two pairs of electrodes 208 , 209 ; 308 , 309 ; and 408 , at the predetermined peripheral surface stimulation sites 410 . One pair of electrodes may be utilized if we are utilizing NMES or TENS outputs and it is deemed effective due to the condition, and predetermined with Neural Imaging studies.
[0029] In an alternative embodiment, as described above, the digital signal processor may be replaced with the FPGA. Whereas DSP processors typically have only eight dedicated multipliers at their disposal, a higher end FPGA device can offer up to 224 dedicated multipliers plus additional logic element-based multipliers as needed. That allows for complex digital signal processing applications such as finite impulse response filters, forward error correction, modulation-demodulation, encryption and applications such as utilized in the present invention.
[0030] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding on the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention, and protected by the following claims. | Apparatus and methods for non-invasive electrical stimulation of the brain through skin surface stimulation of the peripheral nervous system as a treatment for movement disorders. Skin surface electrodes are positioned at predetermined peripheral surface stimulation sites on the skin surface using a variety of neural imaging techniques. A pulsatile electrical current is generated at the stimulation sites through a variety of standard electrical stimulation devices. Stimulation of the peripheral surface stimulation sites translates to electrical stimulation of a specific area of the brain. | 0 |
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/840,832 filed Aug. 28, 2006, and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/370,085, filed Feb. 12, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,699,202 B2, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/730,603 filed Apr. 3, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,789.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to fastener driving devices and more particularly to a continuous feed cap device for automatically feeding plastic caps to a position relative to a fastener driving device for allowing a fastener to be driven through the cap.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known in the art to utilize conventional powered or hand operated fastener driving devices to drive a nail or staple into a substrate. However, when fastening frangible materials, such as felt, plastic house wrap, sheeting, roofing, tar paper or the like, it often is necessary to use a so-called fastener cap with the nail or staple. Such caps minimize damage to the sheet material from the fastener and reduce leakage of moisture at the location of the fastener.
Originally, such fastener caps were applied manually by holding the fastener down against the substrate before applying the nail or staple and then manually driving the nail or staple through the fastener and sheet material into the substrate or work surface.
Because of the desirability of the use of such fastener caps, and the labor intensive, and hence expensive, process of manually applying the caps to the work substrate or work piece, a number of different forms of cap feeding devices have been developed over the years for use with automatic air or electric powered fastener drivers and also others for use with manual fastener drivers. However, typically such cap feeding devices are bulky, heavy, hard to handle, and require substantial modification of the underlying fastener tool for operation. Examples of complex automatic cap feeders for use with powered fastening devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,145,725 and 5,934,504.
Cap feeding devices designed for use with manual fastener drivers and particularly the well-known Arrow T50 and HT50 brand staple gun tackers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,385,498 and 6,966,389 respectively. These devices each require the replacement or modification of some portion of the original staple gun with a modified component. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,498 a modified nose piece for the staple gun is required to be used, while in U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,389 the movable striker or driver 14 must be replaced with a striker or driver that has at least one perforated side wall to accept a pivotal connection, or that side wall must be modified to provide a pivot hole before the feed device can be attached.
Accordingly, there is a present need for a continuous cap feeder assembly that can be easily attached to an existing hand operated fastener driving device, e.g. a staple gun tacker, without the need for any modification of the fastener driving device by the owner. Such a feed mechanism can be sold and marketed separately from a conventional staple gun tacker for retro fitting and/or removable mounting from the tacker.
While the present invention described herein is being directed particularly to a well-known HT50 brand staple gun tacker, as would be understood by those skilled in the art it can be readily adapted to other types of fastener driving devices, such as staple gun tackers or nailers, whether hand operated or powered by compressed air or electricity. Accordingly, as used herein, the terms fastener driving device and fastener respectively include staple guns, staple gun tackers, nailers and staples and nails or the like.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous cap feed mechanism which can be easily mounted on and removed from an existing fastener driving device, and particularly to a hammer tacker type fastening device used to drive nails or staples.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a light weight compact continuous cap feed mechanism for mounting on a conventional fastener driving device.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a continuous cap feed mechanism which is light weight and reliable in operation, while being readily removable from a conventional fastener driving device.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a continuous cap feeding mechanism which is simple and reliable in operation and inexpensive to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a continuous cap feeding mechanism is provided which is adapted to the removably mounted on a conventional hammer tacker fastener driving device (also sometimes referred to herein as a “fastening device”) or the like in a convenient manner by professionals or do-it-yourself home care enthusiasts. In the illustrative embodiment of the invention the cap feeding mechanism is disclosed as being adapted to be mounted on a conventional HT 50 brand Hammer Tacker which is a device well-known to those familiar with the fastening arts. The tacker is manually operated in a manner similar to the use of a hammer in that the drive head when impacted against a work piece by a swinging motion from the handle, fires a staple into the work piece.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the continuous cap feed mechanism includes a housing in which a continuous coil of interconnected preferably plastic cap members is received with one end of the coiled strip extending through a passage way in the housing arranged to direct the lead most cap in the strip to a position below the drive mechanism of the fastener driving device so that the lead most cap is positioned to be secured to the work piece when the fastener device drive head is struck against the work piece.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention mechanism there is provided within the housing means for advancing the cap strip, one cap length at a time, immediately after the preceding cap has been secured into the work piece by a staple or nail. This self contained unit does not affect the structure of the fastener driving device itself and operates at the same time as the fastener driving device when the fastening device is struck against the work piece.
In yet another aspect of the present invention the continuous cap feeding mechanism includes a drive arrangement which includes a driver or driver plate located in the housing to be immediately adjacent to the drive head of the fastener driving device and slidably mounted in the housing to move between an extended position and a retracted position in the housing. In the extended position the bottom or foot of the driver is positioned to engage the work piece prior to the actuating device of the fastener driving device. Upon engagement with the work piece the driver moves into the housing towards its retracting position. A spring biased pusher element is secured to the driver for movement therewith. The pusher is itself biased into engagement with a section of the cap strip in the passage way of the housing and is pushed away from the path of travel of the cap strips as the driver is retracted during the striking motion. At the extreme retracted position of the driver, the pusher is biased into engagement between two caps on the strip. The driver itself is spring biased to its extended position so that when the fastening device is removed from the work piece, the driver is urged to its extended position with the result that the pusher pushes the strip in the passageway towards and along a path of travel leading to the area at the fastener driver device in which staples will be driven. The length of the stroke of the path of travel of the driver and hence of the pusher is arranged to be approximately the length of one cap.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention the driver of the continuous cap feeding mechanism includes a knife or cutter secured thereto and located below the path of travel of the caps to the driving area of the fastener driving device so that as the driver reaches its fully retracted position the cutter or knife severs the connection between the lead cap and the immediately adjacent following cap of the strip.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the invention a stop or latching device is provided in the housing to prevent wayward movement of the strip of caps in the passageway during retraction of the driver.
The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention when read in connection with the accompanying drawings which are merely illustrative, and wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a prior art hammer tacker used in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the continuous cap feed mechanism attached to the staple gun shown in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the attachment and hammer tacker shown in FIG. 1 with parts removed;
FIG. 3 is a side view similar to FIG. 2 showing the movement of the components of internal drive mechanism of the feeder as the hammer tacker is being struck against a substrate and work piece;
FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the position of the component of the device at the instant the fastener or staple has been driven;
FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of the front portion of the mechanism, as shown in the position shown in FIG. 3 as the fastener device is being driven towards the work piece;
FIG. 5B is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 5A and FIG. 4 , showing the configuration of the components of the feeder device at the instant the fastener is fully driven;
FIG. 6 is perspective view of the driver plate used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the driver plate of FIG. 6 and a cutter or knife mounted thereon;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ejector plate used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cover plate used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a stop element used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a bracket used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a pusher which lies within the bracket of FIG. 11 ;
FIG. 13 is a plain view of an upper cutter knife used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of one of two mirror image guide plates used on the feed mechanism;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the knife mounted which is shown mounted on the driver in FIG. 7 ;
FIG. 16 is a plain view of the interior of one side of the housing for the feed mechanism;
FIG. 17 is a plan view of the opposite side of the housing part shown in FIG. 16 ;
FIG. 18 is an internal plain view of the other side of the housing used in the feed mechanism;
FIG. 19 is a plain view of the opposite side of the housing part shown in FIG. 18 ;
FIG. 20 is a plain view of a strip of caps used with the feed mechanism of the invention; and
FIG. 21 is a bottom view of a portion of the strip of caps used in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a commercially available fastener driving device 10 is illustrated which is sold under the trade mark HT50 by the Arrow Fastener Company. This fastening device is a staple gun hammer tacker which includes a drive head 12 and a handle 14 . Drive head 12 contains an operating mechanism 16 of known construction and is not described here in detail. However, basically, that drive mechanism includes a driver plate or knife which is activated to fire a staple into a work piece as the bottom surface 18 of the device is struck against the work piece by the user holding the handle 14 . The drive mechanism includes a striker 20 which extends below the surface 18 and is adapted to retract into head 12 as it strikes a work piece under the force of the blow. The retraction of striker 20 into head 12 releases the internal operating mechanism to drive a knife or plate in head 12 which in turn drives a staple or nail from a strip of staples or nails stored in a magazine in handle 14 . Such mechanisms are shown for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,896,210 and 2,757,378, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
As noted above, the particular fastener driving device 10 illustrated in FIG. 1A is suitable for driving a staple in a workpiece, however, it could also be used with suitable modifications known to those skilled in the art to drive individual nails.
In operation, when striker 20 engages with a substrate or workpiece, the staple is driven from the head immediately behind striker 20 in the staple-firing or driving area 21 .
FIG. 1B illustrates a continuous cap feed mechanism 22 secured to the head 12 of the fastener device 10 , as described hereinafter.
Feed mechanism 22 includes a housing 24 which is adapted to contain a coil 26 of individual caps 26 ′ which, upon operation of the device is moved to present the leadmost cap left on the coil under the fastener driving or striking area 21 of the fastener device 10 . In that position when the fastener driving device is operated to strike the striker 20 against a substrate or work surface W (see FIGS. 3-5 ), a fastener will be driven into the cap and thus held firmly against the substrate or workpiece.
The caps used in the coil 26 according to the present invention are shown in FIG. 20 . These individual caps are preferably formed of plastic and are connected to one another by a single small strip of plastic 27 . The caps are shown somewhat schematically in FIG. 1B , and more schematically in the other views (of FIGS. 2-5 ) of the drawings.
Housing 24 is formed of two housing sections 28 , 30 which are shown in FIGS. 16 , 17 and 18 , 19 respectively and mate along a seam or joint line 29 . As seen in FIGS. 16 and 18 , the internal surfaces of these housing sections include ribs structures 32 which provide structural reinforcement for the housing as well as rigidity. They also include a plurality of aligned apertures, as described hereinafter, which permit bolts or screws to be used to secure the housing parts together and to the fastening device 10 . In addition, the internal surfaces of the housing parts include upper and lower pairs of guide ribs 34 , 36 which serve to guide certain of the operating parts of the mechanism during operation.
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 18 , the rib structure 32 in housing part 28 is shaped to define a recess 25 in the interior of the housing which conforms to the peripheral shape of the head 12 of the fastening device 10 and about half its width. The internal surface of the housing part 30 contains a similar recess 25 ( FIG. 12 ) defined by its ribs structure 32 so that the housing halves fit tightly against the head of fastener device 10 .
As will be understood by those familiar with the HT 50 hammer tacker, as seen in FIG. 1A , two external covers, 38 , 40 form a part of the external appearance of the fastener device. These covers are secured in place by bolts 42 which extend through the main body part 41 and are secured on the other side of head 12 by nuts or the like, not shown. Housing parts 28 , 30 include pairs of aligned apertures 44 , which are located to align with the apertures in 38 and 40 when head 12 of fastener device 10 is placed in the recesses 25 of housing section 28 . By simply removing bolts 42 , and, for example, placing the housing section 30 over the mating portion of the housing section 28 , and then resecuring bolts 42 , or using longer bolts if necessary, the feed mechanism 22 is secured fast to the head 12 of the fastening device 10 for easy and secure movement therewith.
Each of the housing halves 28 , 30 also has an external L-shaped leg 31 formed thereon with an opposed foot 33 , located to engage beneath the head 12 of the fastener device as seen in FIG. 2 , to provide additional support for the mechanism on the fastener device.
Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 18 , it will be understood that the cap feed device is shown with housing section 30 and a cover plate 45 for housing section 28 (see FIG. 1B ) removed for clarity. As seen therein housing section 28 includes a generally circular cavity 46 having a central inwardly projecting cylindrical post 48 formed therein. The coil 26 of interconnected caps 26 ′, is installed in cavity 46 so it may unwind in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2 . The coil is not connected to post 48 , but simply wraps around it. Preferably, the inner surface 50 of cavity 46 is provided with a plurality of internal teeth 52 which are inclined in the direction of unwinding of the coil to permit the cap strip to unwind in the counter-clockwise direction. However, the raised teeth ends 53 will resist unwinding in the clockwise direction.
Post 48 has a recess 49 at its file end which defines two opposed legs 49 ′. Once the coil of caps is placed in cavity 46 and the lead end of the coil 26 is introduced to the adjacent passageway and advancing mechanism as described hereinafter, the circular cover disk 45 is placed over the coil 26 and cavity 46 to hold the coil 26 in. As seen in FIG. 1B a simple latch member 57 is pivotally mounted between post legs 49 ′ on a pin or the like so that in the position shown in FIG. 1B it holds disk 45 in place and in a second position wherein it is pivoted to be aligned with post 48 the cover can be removed. The latch member 57 can be a simple friction latch or be spring biased as would be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The rib structures 32 and front walls 53 , 55 of housing parts 28 and 30 define a passageway 54 which leads from the cavity 46 to the front 56 of the housing 28 and downwardly to a position 60 adjacent the front end 62 and striker 20 of fastening device 10 . As seen most clearly in FIG. 1B , the edges 63 of housing parts 28 , 30 along seam 31 are shaped to define an opening in the forward end 56 of housing 24 through which one or more of the caps 26 ′ can be seen, and for additional purposes described hereinafter.
Referring yet again to FIG. 2 , feed mechanism 24 includes an advance mechanism 70 which is actuated upon movement of the fastener device 10 towards and against a substrate or workpiece in order to advance caps 26 ′, one at a time, to the driving position 21 beneath head 12 of fastening device 10 . This advancing mechanism includes a system for resisting movement of the cap strip upwardly in the vertical portion of the passage 54 , seen in FIG. 2 , and includes a mechanism for cutting the tab connection 27 between the leading most cap 26 ′ at the striking position 21 and the next adjacent cap as the fastener or staple is being driven through the leadmost cap, as described hereinafter.
Advancing mechanism 70 includes a drive plate 72 shown in FIG. 6 . The drive plate includes a lower section 74 and an upper section 76 . The upper section 76 is adapted to ride in channels 78 formed in the housing halves 28 , 30 by the ribs 34 . The drive plate or driver 72 is adapted to slide relative to those channels 78 between an extended position shown in FIG. 2 and a retracted or driving position shown in FIG. 4 . As seen in FIG. 2 , driver 72 is located immediately in front of the front surface 62 of the head 12 of fastener device 10 .
As seen in FIG. 6 , the lower end 74 of driver 72 includes an enlarged slot or opening 79 through which the path of travel of the strip of caps 26 ′ extends on its way to driving location 21 . The extreme lower end 80 of plate 72 has a pair of perpendicular feet 82 formed thereon to provide an enlarged bearing surface to engage the substrate or workpiece during operation of the fastening device 10 .
The upper end 84 of plate 72 has a pair of ears 86 formed thereon one of which has an aperture 88 formed therein which is used to bias the plate to its extended position as described below.
Driver 72 is biased towards its fully extended position shown in FIG. 2 by a coil spring 90 . That spring is attached at one end 92 in the opening 88 in one of the ears 86 . The other aligned end 94 of coil spring 90 is engaged around a roll pin or the like 96 mounted in the cylindrical recesses 100 formed on the opposite halves 28 , 30 of the internal surfaces of the housing parts.
Advance mechanism 70 includes a cap pusher mechanism 102 secured to driver 72 . This pusher mechanism includes a guide bracket 104 , as seen in FIG. 11 , having a pair of tabs 106 which are secured by means of roll pins, rivets or the like on the front face 108 of driver 72 in the holes 110 in the driver and the holes 112 of the guide bracket. As seen in FIG. 11 , guide bracket 104 is basically a U-shaped member having a bite portion 114 which faces the surface 108 of plate 72 when secured thereto as described above. In addition, the legs 116 of guide 104 include opposing tabs 118 contained therebetween which serve to guide a pusher member 120 . That pusher member ( FIG. 12 ) is also U-shaped, having a bite portion 122 including a circular opening 124 therein, and a pair of legs 126 . The free ends of these legs are tapered to provide an upwardly inclining ramp surface 128 and a relatively flat bottom surface 130 .
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 5A , for example, a pin 132 such as for example a roll-pin, is located within the guide 104 and secured at its opposite ends in the opening 115 of bite 114 and opening 124 of bite 122 in pusher 120 . That pin is surrounded by a coil spring 134 which biases pusher 120 to the left in FIG. 2 so that its free ends enter into the vertical portion of the passageway 56 where the ends of the legs 126 can engage the caps 26 ′. It is noted that in this area of the passageway the rib structure and wall 55 , in housing halves 30 , 28 , which form the passageway 56 define an opening 136 which allows the pusher 120 to move up and down with the driver plate 72 while engaging the caps 26 ′.
In the extended position of driver 72 , shown in FIG. 2 , the free ends of the legs 126 of pusher 120 extend between two adjacent caps in the strip of caps. As driver 72 is engaged against the work surface as seen in FIG. 3 , the driver begins to move upwardly into housing 24 along the grooves 78 in the housing halves, carrying the pusher mechanism 102 with it. As plate 72 advances inwardly, pusher element 120 is pushed to the right, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 , against the bias of spring 134 , and the inclined surfaces 128 of the legs 126 ride on and over the top inclined surfaces of the adjacent cap 26 ′.
The components of the feed mechanism 22 are dimensioned such that when drive plate 72 reaches its internal most position, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5B , the pusher mechanism 102 arrives at the other end of the adjacent cap 26 ′ it has just ridden over and its ends enter the space between the caps 26 ′ on opposite sides of the adjacent connecting strip 27 .
When the fastening device 10 is moved away from the workpiece, i.e., away from the position shown in FIG. 5B , the coil spring 90 will urge the driver 72 to its extended position in FIG. 2 . Since the pusher mechanism 102 moves with the drive plate 72 , the engagement of the ends or surfaces 130 of legs 126 of the pusher 120 against the adjacent cap 26 ′ cause the strip of caps 26 ′ to advance one cap length in passageway 56 until the position shown in FIG. 2 is reached. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 18 where the ends and surface 130 of legs 126 are shown in the lowermost position of the drive plate 72 extending between two adjacent caps 26 ′.
Advance mechanism 70 also includes a stop mechanism 140 adjacent to passageway 54 , to prevent upward movement of the cap strip 26 in the passageway 54 as a result of its engagement with the pusher 120 during the striking operation. Stop mechanism 140 includes a U-shaped stopper element 142 ( FIG. 10 ) having a bite portion 144 and a pair of legs 146 . Those legs have free ends 148 which are tooth shaped and have inclined surfaces for riding over the caps 26 ′ in the cap strip 26 . As seen in FIGS. 10 and 11 , legs 146 are spaced further apart than the legs 128 of the pusher 120 so that, as seen in dotted lines in FIGS. 4 and 5B , the pusher 120 extends between the legs 146 when it arrives at its uppermost position.
Stopper 142 is pivotally mounted on a pin 150 mounted in the complementary cylindrical recesses 152 formed in housing halves 28 and 30 . That pin is surrounded by a coil spring 154 having one leg 156 engaged against a rib portion 32 ′ of the internal surface of the housing part 28 and another leg 158 received in an aperture 159 formed in a tab 161 of the stop. By this arrangement, the ends or teeth 148 of the legs 146 are always maintained in contact with the cap strip 26 . In the fully extended position of driver 72 , the ends 148 of the stop legs 146 are engaged in the space between two adjacent caps 26 ′ on either side of the connecting strip 27 between the caps 26 ′. This is also shown in FIG. 1B where it is seen that the ends 148 are located between adjacent caps 26 on each side of connecting strip 27 . As a result, when the fastener device 10 is operated to drive a staple and the drive plate 72 moves into the housing 24 drawing the pusher 120 over the adjacent cap 26 ′, that cap 26 ′ will remain in place and not move because of its engagement with the stop 142 .
Referring again to FIG. 2 , feed mechanism 22 also includes a cutter arrangement 160 for severing the connecting tab 27 between adjacent caps 26 ′ when the fastener is driven through a cap 26 ′ into the substrate or work piece. Cutting mechanism 160 includes a first cutter 162 , shown in FIG. 15 and a second upper cutter 164 shown in FIG. 13 .
First or lower cutter 162 consists of a plate 165 having an opening 166 which is generally complementary to the opening 79 formed in driver plate 72 . Cutter plate 165 has a pair of tabs 168 on opposite sides of the opening 166 and an additional pair of tabs 170 at the top end of the opening 166 . Tabs 170 are engaged in the slots 172 formed in the upper end of the opening 79 of driver 72 and tabs 168 fit over the short legs 174 of the feet 182 on plate 72 .
By this arrangement, the strip of caps 26 passes through the opening 166 in cutter 162 on its way to the front end of the fastener driver device 10 . The rear edge 176 of the plate 165 is sharpened so as to serve as a cutting edge.
As driver plate 72 is moved to its retracted position, the cutting edge 176 of the plate 165 , which is mounted on plate 72 as shown in FIG. 7 , will move into engagement with the lower surface of the connecting tab 27 between two adjacent caps 26 ′ for the purpose of severing that tab 27 . The upper cutter plate 164 is positioned to act as a counter knife to the cutting edge 176 to effectuate the cutting step. Upper knife 164 as seen in FIG. 13 includes two pairs of ears 178 on opposite sides thereof. These ears receive in the space 180 between them a tab 182 formed in the guide plates 188 mounted on opposite sides of the housing 24 , as seen in FIG. 1B . These plates, formed of metal, are supported on the housing 24 by the bolts 42 previously mentioned, and by an additional pair of bolts 190 which extend through aligned openings 192 formed in the housing halves 28 , 30 . The latter bolts, along with screws 194 , secure housing half 28 to half 30 together. Screws 194 entered through openings 195 formed in housing half 30 into screw bosses 196 formed in the housing part 28 , to form the complete assembly. In addition a front cover plate 199 ( FIG. 9 ) of metal may be provided over the lower front end of the joined housing halves 28 , 30 by securing it to the housing by the use of lower bolt 190 which when installed extends through opening in the tabs 199 of plate 190 . This plate 199 strengthens the assembly and protects the preferably plastic housing halves 28 , 30 from wear and damage.
With knife 164 mounted on the tab 182 in this matter, it is held against the front of the striker 20 of the fastening device 10 , so that its lower edge 200 cooperates with the cutting edge 176 of lower knife 164 to break the tab 27 between adjacent caps 26 ′.
Because the cap 26 ′ adjacent to the leadmost cap 26 ′ is moved upwardly by the action of the cutting mechanism 160 , and in order to provide additional guidance to the next adjacent cap 26 ′ for entry into the desired striking position beneath the head of the fastener device 10 , an ejector mechanism 210 is also provided within feed mechanism 24 . Ejector mechanism 210 includes an ejector plate 212 ( FIG. 8 ) including an inclined foot 214 and a pair of tabs 216 . The latter are arranged to slide in the groove 218 formed in the ribs 36 in housing sections 28 , 30 , with foot 214 providing an extension of the passage 54 immediately in front of and at the opening 79 of driver knife 72 . Plate 212 is biased into its lowermost position by a coil spring 220 connected at one end in an opening 222 formed in a tab 224 on plate 212 . The other end of the coil spring 220 is mounted on a pin 226 secured in the aligned opposed apertures 228 formed in the housing parts 28 , 30 . The downward movement of the plate 212 in the grooves 218 is limited by engagement of tabs 216 against the bottom of the grooves 218 .
As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5B , when a fastener is fully driven by striking of the fastener device against the substrate S and workpiece W, the upward movement of the cap 26 a adjacent the leadmost cap 26 ′ pushes the ejector plate upwardly into the housing. When the fastener device 10 is moved away from the substrate S, the spring 220 contracts driving the ejector 212 downwardly, forcing the leading edge of the next adjacent plate 26 A downwardly to move directly into a position below the front end of the fastener device 10 as the pusher plate 120 drives the strip 26 forward by the length of one cap 26 ′.
Referring again to FIG. 2 , it is noted that when a coil 26 of caps 26 ′ is placed in cavity 46 , by the construction of the present invention, the operator can manually guide the leading end of the cap strip 26 and urge the leading cap 26 ′ in the strip 26 past the end of stopper 142 , at that point the cover plate 45 is installed and the device 22 will advance the lead cap 26 ′ through the remainder of passageway 54 simply by the manual depression and release of plate 72 until the lead cap 26 ′ is moved into position beneath the driving area 21 of the fastener device. Thus thus eliminating a need to unnecessarily operate the fastener driving device 10 .
Caps 26 ′, as seen in FIGS. 20 and 21 are preferably somewhat oval shaped and have flat sides 250 connected by narrow strips of plastic 27 . The flat sides serve to better engage the legs 126 , 146 of the pusher and stop arrangements 120 , 142 . The top surface edges of the caps 26 ′ are preferably inclined to provide a camming action against the pusher 120 and stop 142 as described above. The center oval section 252 is recessed to reduce the cap's thickness to make it easier for the fastener leg or legs to penetrate. Indeed, if desired, the specific area where the fastener penetrates can be made even thinner, as indicated at the small circular areas 254 at which the legs of a staple would penetrate. Of course it would be understood by those skilled in the art that other known cap structures and shapes may be used.
Accordingly, it is seen that a relatively simple continuous feed cap advancing mechanism 22 has been provided which can easily be attached to an existing or pre-owned fastener device 10 . It is to be understood that although the illustrative embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted for use with the well-known HT 50 brand staple gun tacker, the internal configuration of the rib structure 32 on the housing parts can be adapted to other shaped drive heads 12 such as used for example with hammer tackers 10 of other manufacturers like The Stanley Works and others. In that case, the rib structures 32 for example are modified to accommodate a differently shaped head 12 .
In operation, as described above, when the fastener device 10 is driven as in the act of driving a nail, with the feed mechanism of the present invention attached, the feet 82 of the driver plate 72 initially contact the substrate S or work surface W and the plate 72 begins to move upwardly against the bias of the spring 90 . As it does so, the pusher 120 rides along the adjacent cap 26 ′ in the vertical portion of the passageway 54 . As the plate 72 continues to move upwardly, the foot 20 of the fastener device 10 then engages the substrate or work surface and begins to move inwardly as well into the drive head 12 . This motion ultimately actuates the fastener device 10 to drive a fastener through a cap 26 ′ below it and into the substrate and/or work piece as seen in FIG. 4 . As this occurs, the driver plate 72 also reaches its uppermost position allowing the free ends of the pusher 120 to enter the space between the next adjacent cap 26 a and the one it just rode over between the legs 148 of the stop device 140 . As noted above, the stop device 140 prevents the cap strip 26 from moving upwardly in channel 54 as the pusher 120 rides over the adjacent cap 26 a in moving to its uppermost position.
As the plate 72 is moving to its innermost position and the staple is being driven, the cutter edge 175 of the lower cutter 162 mounted on the plate 72 moves towards the lower edge of the upper cutter 164 , in a parallel path, which action serves to cut or break the connecting tab 27 between the lead cap 26 ′ and its immediately adjacent cap 26 a.
When the fastener driving device 10 is moved away from the work piece, the striker 20 of the fastener driving device 10 and the drive plate 72 both return to their extended positions. As that occurs, the pusher 120 moves downwardly, to advance the cap strip 26 by the length of one cap 26 ′, moving the next cap, e.g. 26 a , into position beneath the fastener device head 12 in the area 21 . At the same time the ejector plate 212 moves downwardly under the influence of its associated spring 226 , to push the cap 26 ′ downwardly in the desired path of travel.
Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In addition, it is noted that the invention is not limited in its application to staple gun tackers, but to any form of tacker or fastener device to which the continuous feed device can be mounted. | A continuous cap feed mechanism for use with fastener driving device includes a housing for receiving a coiled strip of interconnected caps removably mounted the fastener driving device. The housing includes a passageway for guiding the strip of caps from the coil to a position beneath a fastener to be driven by the fastener driving device and an advancing mechanism for moving the leading cap on said strip from the passage to the position beneath the fastener to be driven after the fastener driving device drives a prior fastener into a cap and as it is moved away from the previously driven fastener. The advancing mechanism includes a driver movably mounted in the housing for movement between an extended and retracted position adjacent the location on the fastener driving device at which the fastener driving device drives fasteners. The driver is moved from its extended to its retracted position as it engages a work piece to which a cap is to be fastened is biased towards its extended position and includes a pusher mechanism for engaging a cap in the strip in the housing and urging the strip in the passageway towards the fastener driving device as the driver returns to its extended position when the housing is moved away from the work piece. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bending brakes and more particularly to a combination cleat bender and bar folder apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The bending brake devices of the prior art are, in general, adapted to form sheet metal into a variety of shapes by a series of bending or folding operations. The simplest form of apparatus involves a pair of clamping jaws to secure a sheet metal workpiece and a bending brake adjacent the clamping means or jaws which is adapted to contact a portion of the sheet metal protruding therefrom to rotate the metal in a bending action around a pivot point adjacent the terminus of the jaws. The conventional apparatus of the prior art is so constructed so that the bend achieved is usually no greater than 90°, or in other words, essentially a right angle bend, which may be exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,280 issued to Wise on Apr. 30, 1968. This patent discloses a pair of spaced apart, rigid frame members, one of which carries a brake platen securely fastened thereto and the other having a clamping table mounted thereon. The table is adapted to move between an open position relative to the braking platen and a closed or clamping position. The table also carries an elongated brake bar and a hinge means supporting the brake bar on the table for pivotal movement about an axis substantially coextensive with the fixed braking edge when the table is in the braking position. The apparatus, while capable of making 90° bends, is not capable of making 180° bends since the bending action of the brake bar is limited by the shape of the forward edge of the brake platen which holds the sheet metal workpiece.
More complex cleat benders may be exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,514, patented on May 8, 1973. This patent discloses a cleat bender and a pair of punch means traveling at substantially right angles to each other, adapted to form the metal into a U-shaped configuration around the free end of the forming die which is an integral part of the table surface. The U-shaped configuration is achieved by making essentially two spaced apart 90° bends on separated portions of the workpiece by folding the same around a square-ended die.
Summer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,176, patented Jan. 5, 1971, discloses an apparatus for folding the end portion of a metal sheet to a somewhat larger angle than 90°, preferably an angle in excess of 135°. The apparatus including a single folding rail which has a nose portion and an inclined surface portion. The movement of these elements is so controlled that the nose portion folds the sheet metal end by 90° and subsequently the inclined surface portion additionally folds the thus folded end portion beyond 90° to the desired folding angle. The second folding action takes place by movement of the folding rail against a surface of the lower holding jaw which inclines rearwardly from the first folding edge wherein the 90° bend is formed. The angle of the fold is limited by the necessary structure of the lower jaw to achieve the strength necessary to form a supporting surface. Neither Summer nor any of the other prior art apparatuses are capable of forming a bend in sheet metal which is 180° or more. Moreover, most of the prior art constructions are not adapted to form combination bends or complex shapes on the bending machine. Furthermore, the apparatuses of the prior art were incapable of forming complex bends on structures such as ducts which are not in the flat sheet form.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bending brake apparatus, and more particularly, to a combination cleat bender and bar folder capable of forming 180°, or more than 180°, and other complex bends in flat or partially formed sheet metal stock.
The apparatus comprises a frame, including a fixed supporting table surface carried thereby, a fixed holding bar jaw mounted adjacent one edge of said support surface, a movable support section and holding bar movably mounted adjacent said one edge of the fixed support surface provided with a jaw having a tapered folding edge which has a plurality of regularly spaced slots formed therein, and a bending brake element pivotally mounted adjacent and rearwardly of the fixed and movable holding bar elements adapted to pivot around a fixed point adjacent the fixed and movable holding bar elements to bend a sheet metal workpiece held therebetween, and means adopted to withdraw the movable holding bar element after the bending brake has rotated more than 90° from the plane established by the surface of the support table and upper surface of the movable jaw and support element. The fixed bending bar and the bending brake are also provided with a plurality of slots formed therein which extend from the one edge thereof. The slots in the fixed holding bar and the bending brake are all spaced at similar complementary intervals to match up with each other during operation of the apparatus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference is made to the attached drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bending apparatus of this invention;
FIGS. 2 through 7 are partial fragmentary crosssectional views showing a sequence of steps involved in bending a sheet metal workpiece using the apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a partial top view of the apparatus of the present invention with the top support surface removed to show the assembly and mounting of the movable holding bar and support element;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view in partial section of the apparatus of the present invention showing the assembly relationship between the movable holding bar, fixed holding bar element and bending brake;
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the fixed holding bar element of the apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the bending brake element of the apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic piping diagram of the apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 13 through 16 are partial end views of the types of sheet metal bends that can be made by the apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 17 is an exploded view of the apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the assembled elements of FIG. 17;
FIG. 19 is a side view of the control bar; and
FIG. 20 is an end view of an adjustment feature.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a bending brake or combination cleat bender and bar forming apparatus 12 comprising a pair of supporting side wall and frame members 14 and 15, and a generally rectangular fixed top or support surface 16 which extends between the side frame members 14 and 15 and extends rearwardly from the front panel 20 to a rear edge 16a. The side frame members 14 and 15, front panel 20 and rear panel (not shown) form a base or support for the machine. A top housing 22 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the rear portion of the base. A fixed holding bar or hold-down jaw element 18 is shown, mounted adjacent the rear edge 16a of the support surface 16. The hold-down bar 18 has an elongated, vertically disposed, rectangular back element 24 and a forwardly angled jaw element 26 terminating in a securing jaw surface 26a which is generally parallel to the plane established by top 16 and spaced slightly above and rearwardly of the rear edge thereof, 16a.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the holding bar 18 is provided with a plurality of slots 28 to form a plurality of finger members in the jaw element 26.
A movable holding bar 30 is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and schematically and partially in FIGS. 2-7. Holding bar 30 is provided with a tapered forward portion 32 and has a jaw or holding surface 34 which is engageable with the surface 26a of fixed holding bar 18 when the bar 30 is in the forward position. (See FIG. 3). In operation, movable holding bar 30 moves forwardly to secure a sheet metal workpiece 36 as shown in FIG. 3 and jaw surface 34 presses the bottom of the sheet 36 upwardly against the jaw surface 26a of fixed bar 18. As shown in FIG. 9, the movable bar 30 has a plurality of slots 38 formed in the tapered forward portion 32 which are complementary and match up with the slots 28 in the fixed holding bar 18. The tapered series of edges 34a of jaw 34 define a bending edge around which sheet metal is bent in a folding or cleat forming operation.
As shown in FIG. 8, the movable bar 30 is positionable between a forward or metal workpiece engaging position as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 8 and labeled "A". This corresponds to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The solid line drawing is of the bar 30 in the withdrawn or open or retracted position and is illustrated by the positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 5-7 of the drawings. Bar 30 is mounted parallel to the side frame walls 14 and 15, adjacent top 16 on a pair of slide plates 39 and 40 which are bolted or otherwise secured to walls 14 and 15. The slides 39 and 40 are angled slightly to incline upwardly toward the rear of the apparatus so that bar 30, when fully forward, forms an extension of surface 16 with its jaw surfaces 34 which, when bar 30 is in the clamping or closed and forward position, is essentially parallel to the surface of table or support surface 16.
Bar 30 is driven forward by air piston 42 which acts by mechanical linkages 44 pivoted at 45 on cross bar 46 secured at its ends 47 to frame side walls 14 and 15. When piston drive arm 43 of piston 42 is driven out as shown in the dotted line position designated B, bar 30 advances to position A, as also shown in FIG. 18.
As shown in FIG. 9, there is also provided a bending bar or brake element 50 which is pivotally mounted on frame members 22a and 22b which form part of extension 22 immediately behind holding bar 30. Bending brake 50, also shown in top plan view of FIG. 11 is provided with a bending jaw surface 52 which, as shown in FIG. 9, is essentially parallel to jaw surface 26a of bar 18 when movable bar 30 is in the open and withdrawn position shown in FIG. 2 and in the closed or metal workpiece clamping position shown in FIG. 3 prior to bending. Brake 50 is similarly provided with a plurality of slots 54 which are spaced to match the slots 28 and 38 in elements 18 and 30. The pivotal or bending movement of bending brake 50 is illustrated in FIGS. 4-7 of the drawings.
The total bending operation sequence is illustrated in FIGS. 2-7. In FIG. 2 a metal workpiece or sheet 36 is placed on surface 16 and pushed forward under the jaw 26 of element holding bar 18 until it meets movable stop 56 which is spaced rearwardly of brake bar 50.
Movable holding bar 30 is moved forward by actuation of the machine, and jaw surface 34 moves upwardly to engage sheet 36 as shown in FIG. 3 and clamp sheet 36 between its jaw surface 34 and jaw surface 26a of jaw 26. In FIG. 4 the brake 50 begins its rotational sequence, bending the metal sheet 36 around nose 34a of bar 30. At the same time, stop 56 drops away from beneath bar 50. When bar 50 has rotated through the angle θ shown in FIG. 5, jaw 30 is coordinated to begin its withdrawal. Usually the point at which holding bar 30 is withdrawn is about 25° before bar 50 has rotated 180° or, alternatively, when angle θ is about 155° or more.
FIG. 6 shows the total withdrawal of jaw 30 and the completion of the bend in sheet 36 to 180° and more by bar 50 and FIG. 7 the return of bending brake 50 and stop 56 to their original positions just prior to withdrawal of the sheet 36 with the bend completed.
The schematic diagram of the pneumatic drive system for the apparatus of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 12. Cylinder 42 is a pneumatic cylinder actuated by air pressure from source fed through lines 59. Check valve 60 and lines 61 and 62 are controlled by foot valve 63. Actuation of foot pedal 64 causes air to flow into cylinder 42 from valve 63 and causes table sector or jaw 30 to advance (see FIG. 3). Valve 65 is the main control valve for air pressure which is a source of energy for bend cylinders 66 and 67 which drive the bending brake 50 by action of the pistons 66a and 67a. Conduits 68 and 69 feed air from bend valve 65, bend valve 65 being actuated by switch 70 which goes into operation when jaw 30 closes. When the bend is completed, brake 50 actuates switch 71 which causes the bend cylinders to retreat and at the same time actuates switch 72 which causes jaw 30 to retreat. Switch 73 is an auxiliary variable bend valve which, when actuated or preset, causes the bend completion valve to open when the bending brake has rotated and bend a metal workpiece to the predetermined angle-set position.
Reference is made to FIGS. 17 and 18 which represent respectively exploded and assembled perspective views of the apparatus of the present invention. As shown, the bending bar 50 has affixed to end brackets 80, spur pinion gears 82 and pivot axles 84. The rotation of bending bar 50 on pivot axles 84 is provided by the movement of toothed racks 86 which are mounted for reciprocating movement on piston drives 87 of pneumatic cylinders 66 and 67. The length of the rack 86 and the circumference of the spurred pinion gear 82 are such as to permit drive of the bar 50 through an angle of 180° or more. Rod-like extensions 88 are affixed to one of the racks and extend through slots 90 provided in wall 22a and to valve control bar 92 (also shown in FIGS. 18 and 19) which is provided with a series of movable valve trip cams 94 which control valve switches 71-73 which control the withdrawal of holding jaw 30, the degree of bend and return of bar 50 to its original position.
FIG. 20 is a schematic side view in partial section of the hold-down bar 18 adjustment provided by movement of adjustment screw 97 and loosening screws 98 and 99. This permits adjustment of the tightness of the bend by regulating the spacing between jaw face 26a and jaw face 52.
The slotted nature of the jaws and bending brake permit more versatile employment of the bending brake apparatus of the present invention, permitting bends of great variety on already formed sheets. Bends such as those shown in FIGS. 13-16 may be readily produced by adjustment of the cam stops 94 on control bar 92. For example, the bend of FIG. 13 may be made by first making a 180° bend in the end of a sheet of metal but adjusting the tightness of bend to just short of complete closure. The bent end is then inserted into the apparatus which is set for less than a 180° bend at a point short of the end of the fold already formed. | A sheet metal bending brake apparatus adapted to make complex bends in a sheet metal workpiece, comprising a frame, a fixed holding bar mounted adjacent of said surface, a movable holding bar mounted on said frame movable between a forward clamping position in opposed clamping relationship with the fixed bar and a rearward and downward position below the plane of the fixed surface, a bending brake element adjacent the fixed jaw adapted to contact sheet metal held between the same, said bending element adapted to rotate 180°, or more, around a point adjacent the jaws, the movable holding bar being coordinated with the bending brake to release from the holding position before the bending brake has rotated 180°. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shielding devices that are used on safety helmets. More particularly, the present invention provides an auxiliary shielding device for safety helmet shields that is tinted to block out the sun's harmful rays and adjustable to be easily positioned when not in use.
2. Description of Related Art
Safety helmets are worn during any potentially dangerous activity to protect the user's head from the force incurred by a possible strike with a foreign or external object. Apart from the construction field and the military, safety helmets are popularly worn when riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, and other like recreational vehicles. These safety helmets are either full faced or opened faced and generally have a shield which is either integral with or attachable to the helmet. The shield can be either fixed or rotatable with respect to the helmet.
When wearing a safety helmet, it is often desired to protect one's eyes from the sun's harmful rays. The helmet's shield, in and of itself, protects one's eyes from debris thrown up from the road surface or present in the air, such as dust, pebbles, flying insects, tree branches, etc., but does not offer protection from the sun.
To satisfy one's need for eye protection from the sun, sunglasses can be worn, but due to the anatomy of the human head, the close-fitting design of the safety helmet, and the structure of the sunglasses, this is usually not possible without damaging the sunglasses.
To overcome this nuisance, the shields themselves are tinted to offer protection from the sun. This provides the desired protection without the burden of sunglasses. And although this is a widely accepted method, the tinted shield has its own disadvantage: it is not safe for twilight and night conditions.
When riding a motorcycle, for example, as day approaches night, long shadows are cast on the driving surface by streetside buildings and roadside trees, impairing distinct vision through the shield. If the shield is rotatably mounted to the helmet, then the shield can be pivoted to allow clear vision. But by doing this, the unprotected eyes of the user are subjected to dust, and other air-borne particles, and mosquitoes, and other flying insects, as well as the sun's rays, either direct or reflected. The danger of a tinted shield is obvious for nighttime use, especially if the shield is a non-rotatable type.
Similar disadvantages apply to the use of the safety helmet with a tinted shield when operating a snowmobile. Eye protection is particularly desired during this activity since the reflection from the snow is as much as a hazard as direct rays from the sun. Goggles often substitute for sunglasses in this case and have the same drawbacks. If the goggles are placed around the helmet onto the shield itself, then there is the possibility of them being easily dislodged and lost. As to the condition previously described, the same hazards exist, with the exception of dust and insects, but with the addition of tree branches, as snowmobiles are often rode through wooded areas. And more of a hazard than this when the shield is pivoted, leaving unprotected eyes, is wind-chill factor. The speed of the snowmobile coupled with the temperature produces a extremely hazardous and unbearable windchill factor.
In addition to the above situations, the subdued light inherent during rainy, snowy, or overcast conditions also poses a visibility problem for the user with a safety helmet with a tinted shield.
It is clear that there has been a long and unfulfilled need in the related art for an auxiliary shielding device to provide a safety helmet user protection from the sun when desired, and safe, unhindered vision at all other times.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an auxiliary shielding device adapted to be mounted to any conventional shield of a safety helmet, comprising a visor made out of a flexible and pliant material, such as plexi-glass, so as to conform with the curvature of the shield, and tinted so as to provide protection from the sun, and being approximately one-half the longitudinal height of the shield so as to allow a user vision only through the shield when the visor is not desired; a pair of shield mounts each with a track formed therein to be fixed to distal ends of the shield: and a pair of mounting means, each including a visor mount with a recess and a pair of slots formed therein to be fixed to opposite ends of the visor; a track link with a pair of blocks and a peg positioned at an inner end thereof to be received by the recess of the visor mount, and with a hooked outer end to be received by the track of the shield mount; and a spring means for providing tension with a coil to be fitted over the peg of the track link, and with a pair of ends having a 90° bend to be received by the pair of slots of the visor mount.
In order to provide safety helmets with eye protection from the sun, overcoming the drawbacks of sunglasses and shield tinting, the present invention comprehends an auxiliary shielding device that, once assembled and mounted to a shield of a safety helmet, can slide in a longitudinal direction across an outside surface of the shield, from a top portion thereof to a bottom portion thereof. Being that the visor of the shielding device is about one-half of the longitudinal height of the shield, when the visor is positioned across the top portion, it provides protection for the user's eyes from the sun, and when the visor is positioned across the bottom portion, it allows the user normal vision through the shield alone.
There are several preferred embodiments of the present invention, each providing slight modifications of the elements of the shielding device in a different possible combination. These embodiments concern the various possibilities of longitudinally adjusting the shielding device and of mounting or engaging the track link and hooked outer end thereof into the shield mount and track thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an auxiliary shielding device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, shown in relation to a conventional safety helmet, shield, and attaching means;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the auxiliary shielding device in a lowered position;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the auxiliary shielding device in a raised position; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a mounting means and a shield mount of the auxiliary shielding device according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1, a conventional safety helmet 10 is shown with a known shield 11 mounted thereto by a previously disclosed attachment means which allow the shield 11 to be rotated if desired. It should be known that the shield 11 could be of the type integral with the helmet 10, not employing any attachment means, either sophisticated or simple.
An auxiliary visor 12 is disposed on the shield 11 by a pair of mounting means 20 and a pair of shield mounts 21. The visor 12 should be made out of a resilient, transparent material, such as a petrol-chemical product like plexi-glass, so as to be flexible and pliant, molding the curvature of the shield 11. The visor 12 should also have a longitudinal height approximately one-half of that of the shield 11 so as to completely wrap around thereof. Finally, the visor 12 should be tinted or treated in order to provide protection from the sun's glare or harmful ultraviolet rays. The shield mount 21 are fixedly mounted to the shield 11 by ultrasonic welding or fastening means such as a suitable adhesive or screws (not shown).
Still referring to FIG. 1, the mounting means 20 consist of a pair of identical apparatuses placed at distal ends of the shield 11 and of the visor 12. For the grammatical ease of discussion, the mounting means 20 will be described in singular terms, with appropriate additional reference to FIG. 4, as will be the pair of shield mounts 21.
The shield mount 21 is substantially rectangular and has a rectilinear track 22 disposed therein. The track 22 could cut through the entire longitudinal length of the shield mount 21 and could be set slightly off-center so that a first wall of the shield mount 21 would have a width less than that of a second wall of the shield mount 21, causing the shield mount 21 to be longitudinally asymmetrical. Also, the second wall of the shield mount 21 could have a beveled inside edge, i.e., an edge in common with the track 22, as all shown in FIG. 4, and which will be discussed later.
The shield mount 21 is fixed to an outside surface of the shield 11, proximate to the location of the attachment means, with an outside surface of the second wall of the shield mount 21 being the surface of contact.
The mounting means 20 includes a rectilinear visor mount 23 having a rectangular recess 24 and a pair of slots 25 formed therein. The recess 24 is substantially shallow, being formed in an outer half of the visor mount 23. A rectangular portion of an outer wall of the visor mount 23 is removed, forming an opening to the recess 24. The slots 25 are distally spaced and formed into an inner half of the visor mount 23. The positioning of the above elements, i.e., the recess 24, the slots 25, and the opening in the outer wall of the visor mount 23, provides the visor mount 23 with transverse bilateral symmetry.
The visor mount 23 is fixed to a distal end of the visor 12 by means of a channel formed in the inner half of the visor mount 23 and by ultrasonic welding or fastening means such as adhesive or screws.
The mounting means 20 further includes a track link 26 having stabilizing blocks 27 and a peg 28 disposed on an inner end thereof. The tracking feature of the track link 26 is a special hooked outer end thereof which fits over and around the first wall of the shield mount 21, thereby being slideably receivable in the track 22. The longitudinal length of the track link 26 is just slightly less than the width of the opening in the outer wall of the visor mount 23, thereby being securely and slideably receivable therein.
The blocks 27 are integral with and protrude longitudinally from the inner end of the track link 26, and have a width just slightly less than the depth of the recess 24, thereby being securely and slideably receivable therein, providing stabilization and preventing any axial rotation of the track link 26. The peg 28 is cylindrical and integral with the track link 26 in a space between the blocks 27. As with the visor mount 23, the positioning of the above elements, i.e., the blocks 27, the peg 28, and the hooked outer end of the track link 26, provides the track link 26 with transverse bilateral symmetry.
The mounting means 20 still further includes a spring 29 being of the type having straight arms with a 90° bend in ends thereof and a coil of approximately one and a quarter revolutions, i.e., of approximately 450°, at a midpoint thereof, such that as the ends are spread apart, i.e., as to unwind the coil, the spring 20 will provide tension. The coil of the spring 29 is secured on and around the peg 28 with the arms of the spring 29 protruding toward the hooked outer end of the tracking link 26, and with the ends of the spring 29 being inserted into the slots 25, thereby allowing the tracking link 26 transverse movement within the recess 24, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 4. The tension supplied by the spring 29 urges the track link 26 to be fully inserted into the recess 24, and as the track link 26 is drawn out of the recess 24 by an external force, the ends of the spring 29 are allowed longitudinal sliding movement within the slots 25.
After the shield mount 21 and the visor mount 23 are fixed to the shield 11 and the visor 12, respectfully, and after the track link 26 is received by the visor mount 23, i.e., inserted into the recess 24 with the coil of the spring 29 fitted over the peg 28 and the ends of the spring 29 urged and inserted into the slots 25, then the hooked outer end of the track link 26 can be received into the track 22, thereby rendering the visor 12 slideably movable in a longitudinal direction of the shield 11.
This can be accomplished many ways, depending on the preferred embodiment of the shield mount 21, the desired tension of the spring 29, and the length of the slots. As previously mentioned, one preferred embodiment of the shield mount 21 could have the track 22 cut through the entire longitudinal length of the shield mount 21. This would allow the hooked outer end of the track link 26 to be inserted into and received by the track 22, with the first wall of the shield mount 21 received by the hooked outer end of the track link 26, simply by slightly pulling out the track link 26 from recess 24, causing tension in the spring 29, and fitting the hooked outer end of the track link 26 over the first wall of the shield mount 21 and into the track 22 from a top end or a bottom end of the shield mount 21.
Another possible and preferred embodiment of the shield mount 21 could have the track 22 cut through substantially the entire longitudinal length thereof, thereby leaving the top and bottom ends thereof closed, or in other words, leaving the track 22 as a closed-ended channel, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This embodiment would require the slots 25 to be sufficiently long, allowing the ends of the spring 29 to separate far enough in order that the track link 26 could be pulled out of the recess 24 a sufficient distance to allow the hooked outer end of the track link 26 to fit over and back around onto the first wall of the shield mount 21, thereby being received into the track 22. As also previously mentioned, the second wall of the shield mount 21 could have a beveled inside edge, which would facilitate (as a guiding means) the hooked outer end of the track link 26 being received by the track 22.
Yet another possible and preferred embodiment of the shield mount 21, but not shown in the drawings, could have a plurality of notches formed in the track 22 of in the first wall of the shield mount 21, along the entire longitudinal length of the shield mount 21. The notches could be shaped and formed so that the hooked outer end of the track link could be received therein, allowing the visor 12 to be intervally adjustable and anchorable.
Still another possible and preferred embodiment of the shield mount 21, also not shown in the drawings, is to have the transverse width of the shield mount 21 to be greater at the top end thereof than that at the bottom end thereof, with a smooth gradient therebetween, thereby causing tension of the spring 29 to increase as the track link 26 (and visor 12) is slideably positioned and anchored nearer the top end of the shield mount 21.
It should be known that the coefficients of static and kinetic friction between the contacting surfaces, i.e., the first wall of the shield mount 21, the track 22, and the hooked outer end of the track link 26, depend on the elasticity of the spring 29, i.e., the greater the elasticity of the spring 29, the greater the coefficients of static and kinetic friction, and vise versa.
In reference to the embodiments shown, and previously described, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the visor 12 is shown in two possible situations: (1) shown in FIG. 2, the visor 12 is in a lowered position, allowing the user vision only through the shield 11; and (2) shown in FIG. 3, the visor 12 is in a raised position, allowing the user vision through both the shield 11 and the visor 12, thereby being provided with additional protection for the eyes from the sun. These two situations could be the result of any of the previously described embodiments or any combination thereof.
Additionally as previously mentioned, the transverse bilateral symmetry of the visor mount 23 and track link 26 provides an ease of assembly, allowing either element to be used on either distal end of the visor.
In conclusion, an auxiliary shielding device has been described in relation to preferred embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics, modifications, and advantages of the auxiliary shielding device have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. | An auxiliary shielding device has a visor and an apparatus for mounting the visor to a shield of a safety helmet. The visor is approximately one-half the longitudinal height of the shield and is tinted to provide eye protection from the sun. The apparatus for mounting includes a pair of shield mounts fixed to distal ends of the shield and a pair of visor mounts fixed to distal ends of the visor. Each shield mount has a track formed therein, and each visor mount has a mechanism which links the visor mount with a corresponding shield mount, rendering the visor longitudinally slidable and anchorable across the shield. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority and benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/981,924 filed Apr. 21, 2014 entitled SWIVELING TABLET MOUNT, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to sewing. In particular, the invention relates to particular styles of sewing that incorporate decorative stitching such as quilting. A quilt is a type of blanket typically having three layers: a decorative top layer, a middle layer of insulating material, and a backing layer. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining these layers by stitches or ties.
[0003] Traditional quilting was done by hand and was very labor intensive. The invention of the sewing machine changed that. Quilting evolved from production of functional blankets by specialized artisans into a popular hobby enjoyed by many.
[0004] Modern quilts are typically made using a long-armed sewing machine, or stitcher, attached to a frame. The frame supports and holds the workpiece in place while the sewing machine moves along the frame with respect to the workpiece. A typical quilting apparatus illustrating the relationship between the workpiece, frame, and sewing machine is shown in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0190916.
[0005] A common way to quilt today is to use what is known as pantograph patterns. Pantographs are a way to “trace” a pre-printed stitch pattern with the machine in order to stitch that pattern onto the fabric. This allows very consistent work to be completed with a much lower skill level required versus traditional hand-guided stitching alone.
[0006] Such a method is normally accomplished by mounting a paper pattern on the rear of the table. A laser pointer is mounted to the stitcher head. The operator sets up the needle/thread at the front of the machine, and then uses handles provided at the rear of the machine head to control the head during stitching from the rear of the table. By “tracing” the paper pattern with the laser dot, the operator is able to reproduce the patterns from the paper template to the fabric being sewn. A user interface such as a tablet computer may be used to control certain aspects of the stitcher, for example controlling whether a needle is in the “up” or “down” position, stitching mode, etc.
[0007] While the normal user location is at the front of the machine, an additional user interface is sometimes needed at the rear as well when a quilter is quilting using the pantograph method. For some systems, this is accomplished by placing two, redundant user interface devices at the front and rear of the machine. Some systems accomplish this by making the front user interface device removable with a mount or dock at the rear of the machine.
[0008] Placing two redundant user interfaces at both the front and rear of the machine can generate extra, unnecessary expense. Both the user interfaces and the mounts used to hold them can be quite expensive. In the scenario where a user must remove and mount the user interface back and forth between the front and rear of the machine, an operator wastes time and effort.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0009] The present invention relates to a quilting machine, more specifically a long-armed stitching machine, or stitcher. The stitcher may include a sewing head that includes the sewing machine used to quilt fabric. The fabric may be stretched between two rollers of a frame below the stitcher. Typically, an operator can use handles at the front of the stitcher to guide the stitcher above the fabric to cause the needle and thread associated with the stitcher to stitch in a desired pattern. Alternatively, an operator at the rear portion of the stitcher may steer the head using handles such that a downwardly pointing laser associated with the head traces a pantograph pattern located in front of and below the fabric. By tracing the pantograph pattern with the laser, the operator may ensure that the needle and thread at the front portion of the head produces the same pattern that is in front of and below the fabric.
[0010] The stitcher head of the present invention may also include a swiveling tablet mount positioned and located on top of the sewing machine head. The tablet mount may be placed at a side portion of the stitcher head in alternative embodiments. In the preferred embodiment, the tablet mount is centrally-mounted such that it may be accessed from the front, side, or rear of the stitcher head in both of the aforementioned quilting methods. The tablet mount is configured to securely receive and secure a user interface device such as a tablet computer.
[0011] The mount may include flanges extending from each of its sides, as well as from its top or bottom that are preferably positioned and located to receive and secure a tablet. The mount may further be secured to a mounting adapter, or block. The mounting adapter may include a central shaft or mounting post that is housed with, and extends through, the mounting adapter. This shaft may act as a pivot about which the mounting adapter may rotate. The shaft preferably has a cut ramping profile that includes valleys at various possible user locations.
[0012] The mounting adapter further may include a pin that may engage any of the valleys positioned and located at the various possible user locations. A spring may be used to provide a downward force on the mounting adapter to assure that the pin of the mounting adapter engages with a valley of the central shaft. Thus, the mounting adapter and consequently the mount, are preferably only capable of stopping at the various possible user locations. This further may assure that there is not unnecessary movement of the tablet due to vibrations and other movements associated with operating the stitcher.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like or similar parts in the various views:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sewing machine head of a long-armed sewing machine including a centrally mounted swiveling tablet mount and tablet contained therein.
[0015] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the swiveling tablet mount of FIG. 1 .
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting adapter of FIG. 2 .
[0017] FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a cross-section of the mounting adapter of FIG. 3 .
[0018] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a cross-section of the mounting adapter of FIGS. 3 and 4 .
[0019] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the central shaft of FIG. 2 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The present invention is directed generally toward a sewing machine further preferably including a centrally mounted swiveling tablet mount for use therewith. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sewing machine head 10 for use with a long-armed sewing machine, or long-armed stitcher. Various components of sewing machine head 10 are known in the art for use with a long-armed stitcher. Sewing machine head 10 may include a front portion 11 where a first set of handles 12 are preferably positioned and located for moving the sewing machine head 10 above a quilt such that needle and thread apparatus 13 may stitch a desired pantograph pattern in the quilt positioned and located below the sewing machine head 10 in a long-armed stitcher arrangement known in the art.
[0021] At rear portion 14 of the sewing machine head 10 , the sewing machine head further preferably comprises a second set of handles 15 that are positioned and located for moving the sewing machine head 10 in order to trace a pantograph pattern positioned below the sewing machine head 10 , thus ensuring that the needle and thread 13 located at the front portion 11 of the sewing machine head 10 reproduces the pantograph pattern. The pantograph pattern may be traced by means of a laser mounted to the rear portion 14 of the sewing machine head 10 , for example to handles 15 . Alternatively, it may be traced by a physical pointer, such as a rod or wire member, that is mounted in a similar manner. In yet another alternative embodiment, the pantograph pattern may be traced on a computer device or otherwise digitally traced.
[0022] The sewing machine head 10 preferably comprises a plurality of components known in the art. FIG. 1 illustrates a motor 16 , belt guard 17 , and rear hand wheel 18 . Other components known in the art that are commonly included in a sewing machine head 10 may also be included with sewing machine head 10 . For example, sewing machine head 10 may include cone holders, thread guides, and other known components in its various embodiments.
[0023] FIG. 1 further illustrates a centrally mounted swiveling tablet mount 20 for use with sewing machine head 10 . The swiveling tablet mount 20 may be used to releasably secure a tablet 25 , like the tablet illustrated in FIG. 1 . The tablet 25 is shown as a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Android tablet in the illustrated embodiment. Yet, other embodiments are envisioned where an iPad or other tablet or electronic device may be used instead. The swiveling tablet mount 20 may be adapted to receive any display device that includes a user interface that may be programmable to control functional aspects of a sewing machine.
[0024] An electronic medium such as cord 28 may be used to supply power to the tablet 25 and the various electronic components contained within sewing machine head 10 . The sewing machine and tablet 25 communicate with one another via a Bluetooth connection in one embodiment, though other means of communication also are foreseen. By way of the Bluetooth connection, tablet 25 may be used to control various functions of sewing machine head 10 including stitch mode, stitch speed, etc. Swiveling tablet mount 20 is preferably positioned and located at a central portion of sewing machine head 10 such that it may be accessed and visible from the front portion 11 or rear portion 14 of sewing machine head 10 , as well as from either side of the sewing machine head 10 . The manner by which swiveling tablet mount 20 may rotate to be accessible from front and rear portions 11 , 14 is discussed herein below after describing the manner in which swiveling tablet mount 20 is constructed.
[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of swiveling tablet mount 20 and the components contained therein. A tablet holder 30 is preferably sized such that it can receive and engage a tablet such as tablet 25 . In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2 , the tablet holder 30 is sized and positioned to receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Android tablet, though other sizes and positions are further envisioned. The illustrated tablet holder 30 preferably includes latitudinal flange portions 40 extending outwardly from the side portions of the tablet holder 30 for securing a tablet therein. Longitudinal flange portions 50 and 60 , preferably extend outwardly from the upper and lower portions of tablet holder 30 , respectively, to further secure a tablet within tablet holder 30 .
[0026] Tablet holder 30 may be secured at its rear portion to a mounting adapter 70 . The mounting adapter 70 is preferably secured to the tablet holder 30 by a plurality of screws in the illustrated embodiment, though other attachment means known in the art are further envisioned. A pin 72 (illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 ) is preferably positioned and located in a central portion of the mounting adapter 70 , and it preferably extends inwardly into the mounting adapter, but may not extend all the way therethrough to the rear portion of the mounting adapter 70 . A nylon roller 75 is shown removed from the mounting adapter 70 . In operation, the nylon roller 75 may be removably attached to an end portion of the pin 75 within the mounting adapter 70 .
[0027] A central shaft 80 may be seen below the mounting adapter 70 . The central shaft 80 may be cooperatively engaged with sewing machine head 10 at its lower portion; this engagement may be spaced by washers or other means known of foreseeable in the art. Central shaft 80 may further be cooperatively engaged with a lower portion (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) of mounting adapter 70 at its upper portion in a process described in greater detail herein below. It is this latter engagement that allows the mounting adapter 70 , and consequently tablet holder 30 and tablet 25 (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to swivel about the central shaft 80 . The central shaft 80 preferably includes a cut ramping profile 82 which includes valleys 83 associated with the pin 72 and its nylon roller 75 when the central shaft 80 and mounting adapter 70 are cooperatively engaged. The pin 72 preferably rides within the cut ramping profile 82 when the central shaft 80 and mounting adapter 70 are cooperatively engaged in a process described in greater detail below.
[0028] Mounting adapter 70 may receive at its upper portion an attachment member 85 when the swiveling tablet mount 20 is assembled. In the illustrated embodiment, the attachment member 85 is a screw-like member including a threaded portion but may be any suitable member known or foreseeable in the art for attachment with mounting adapter 70 . The attachment member 85 may extend through a spring 90 . The spring 90 is preferably received by and contained within an upper portion (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) of the mounting adapter 70 when the swiveling tablet mount 20 is assembled. Screws 95 preferably hold a washer in place that may cause a downward force to be applied to spring 90 and thus to be applied to mounting adapter 70 such that pin 72 is forced toward valleys 83 in a process described in greater detail herein below. A plug 100 may be used to cap the upper portion of mounting adapter 70 and contain the attachment member 85 and spring 90 therein.
[0029] FIGS. 3 , 4 , and 5 illustrate mounting adapter 70 in greater detail. Upper portion 105 is illustrated in FIG. 3 , and upper portion 105 and lower portion 110 of the mounting adapter 70 is illustrated in FIG. 4 . As previously described, when the swiveling tablet mount 20 is fully constructed, the central shaft 80 and its associated components may be contained within lower portion 110 , while attachment member 85 and spring 90 may be contained within upper portion 105 . A sleeve bearing (not illustrated) may also be contained within mounting adapter 70 for receiving the aforementioned components. Upper portion 105 preferably has a circumference slightly greater than plug 100 , such that plug 100 may releasably be secured within upper portion 105 and secure various components therein.
[0030] FIGS. 4 and 5 further illustrate pin 72 and the manner in which it may extend into mounting adapter 70 . In doing so, when central shaft 80 (illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 6 ) is releasably secured within mounting adapter 70 , pin 72 is positioned and located to be received by and within cut ramping profile 82 . In this configuration, mounting adapter 70 may be swiveled about central shaft 80 by pin 72 being circumferentially contained but mobile within cut ramping profile 82 . Valleys 83 are preferably positioned at the various positions and/or locations where a user may access the tablet associated with swiveling tablet mount 20 . When spring 90 is exerting its downward force on mounting adapter 70 , the pin 72 also preferably has a downward force applied thereto, thus influencing the pin 72 to “auto-locate” to the valleys 83 . Therefore, the mounting adapter 70 is preferentially guided to positions where users would access a tablet associated therewith.
[0031] Other means of ensuring that the mounting adapter 70 may swivel about central shaft 80 and can be temporarily secured at various user locations are further envisioned. For example central shaft 80 may include apertures for selective engagement with spring-loaded detents associated with mounting adapter 70 or tablet holder 30 . Other swiveling and securing methods are further envisioned, so long as the tablet associated with the swiveling tablet mount 20 may be swiveled and secured at various preferred user positions.
[0032] From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure. It will be understood that certain features and sub combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Since many possible embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is also to be understood that all matters herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrative and not limiting.
[0033] The constructions described above and illustrated in the drawings are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the concepts and principles of the present invention. Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow. | The present invention relates to a quilting machine, or stitcher, further including a centrally located swiveling tablet mount for securing a tablet that is used in the quilting process. The mount is positioned such that a user may access the mount from either side of, or the rear or front of the stitcher. The mount is one capable of swiveling so that the user does not have to move the tablet between front and rear mounts of the stitcher or buy separate tablets for a front and rear mount. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to passive infrared motion detectors, occupancy sensors and similar devices, and more particularly to the infrared input section of these devices.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Passive infrared motion detectors and occupancy sensors employ an array of Fresnel lenses covering an entrance aperture. This lens array is illuminated by thermal infrared radiation from the object of interest. For any particular angle of incidence each of the elements in the array of Fresnel lenses covering the entrance aperture generates a focal spot. The array of Fresnel lenses is designed so that as the object of interest moves across its field of view the system of focal spots moves across the sensitive area of a detector. The varying electrical output signal generated by the detector is processed to yield information about the state of motion of the object of interest.
[0005] Each element of the array of Fresnel lenses is designed to focus incident infrared radiation in a small angular range onto the sensitive area of a detector. The angular sectors, in which the elements of the array of Fresnel lenses focus onto one of the active areas of a detector, are interlaced by angular sectors which are not focused onto any sensitive area of any detector by any element of the array of Fresnel lenses. Moving infrared radiators are detected when they move from one angular sector across a boundary into an adjacent angular sector, leading to a rapid change in the amount of infrared power falling on the active area of a detector. Ordinarily all of the sectors are of the same angular size so that the maximum angle through which an object of interest can move without being detected, i.e. the angular resolution of the system, is equal to the angular size of one of these sectors. This assumes that the size and velocity of the radiating object and its distance from the entrance aperture are such that the infrared signal is greater than the minimum that can be detected by the system electronics.
[0006] One way to improve the angular resolution of the system is to increase the number of elements in the lens array. More specifically, the angular resolution of the system is approximately inversely proportional to the number of elements in the lens array. Thus, in order to achieve the smallest angular resolution, a lens array with as many elements-as possible must be employed. On the other hand, the sensitivity and effective range of the system decrease if the size of the individual lenses of the array is decreased. The phrase “sensitivity of the system” refers to the size of the smallest radiating object that can be detected as a function of its distance from the detector. Thus, compromises must be made between the size of the entrance aperture, sensitivity, range and angular resolution of the system. For example, for any desired sensitivity and range there is a minimum size for each of the individual lenses of the array and hence a maximum number of elements for an entrance aperture of fixed size and a corresponding minimum angular resolution. The terms “focus” and “focusing” as used herein are intended to embrace any change in spot size and thus includes partially focusing and defocusing (e.g. dispersing energy).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention is a new input lens configuration which can be employed, for example, to: 1) increase the sensitivity and range of motion detectors and occupancy sensors with an entrance aperture of fixed size without decreasing the angular resolution of the system or, 2) improve the angular resolution of a system with an entrance aperture of fixed size without decreasing the sensitivity or range of the system or, 3) decreasing the size of the entrance aperture required for a given sensitivity, range and angular resolution, or 4) reduce the distance that the unit must protrude in, for example, a wallbox installation in order to achieve acceptable performance at wide angles. In one implementation the angular resolution of the system is reduced to zero, i.e. moving infrared radiators anywhere in the field of view of the system are detected, not just radiators that cross the planes separating a sequence of angular sectors. The relative importance of each of these characteristics of motion detectors and occupancy sensors depends on the application in which the system is employed.
[0008] Two-dimensional implementations of the input lens configuration disclosed herein in wallbox installations, for example, have the capability to detect vertical motion as well as horizontal angular motion. Further, such systems can detect horizontal radial motion (e.g. motion directly towards or away from the detector) which is not possible with prior art systems which can only detect infrared radiators moving across the planes which separate a sequence of angular sectors. It is also possible to design two-dimensional systems which can determine the angular size and range of infrared radiators. This is useful in systems which must filter out signals due to various infrared noise sources.
[0009] In simplest terms, the infrared input section disclosed herein consists of a lens array, which may be similar to the Fresnel lens array used in the prior art, preceded by one or more, possibly segmented, pre-focusing lenses, which may or may not be Fresnel lenses. For the purpose of illustration, suppose that a certain range and angular resolution can be achieved by employing some particular lens array. If the number of elements of this array is doubled, for example, the angular resolution is improved by approximately a factor of two. However, without changing the size of each element, so as not to affect the sensitivity or range of the system, the size of the array is doubled. This doubling in size can be avoided by employing a pre-focusing lens in front of the customary lens array to focus the beam from any particular incident direction to say, one-half or less of the size of an original lens element. With this configuration the number of elements in the lens array can be effectively doubled, with a corresponding improvement of the angular resolution by a factor of two, without increasing the total size of the lens array or decreasing the sensitivity or range of the system.
[0010] In fact, in the above example, both the sensitivity and range of the system are increased as almost all of the infrared power entering the entrance aperture is focused onto the sensitive area of a detector, rather than only the infrared power entering one element of a lens array as in prior art configurations. In other words, in the prior art the infrared power incident on the entrance aperture is focused into many spots, only one of which is effective in activating a detector when the infrared radiator of interest is in a certain angular sector. This is to be contrasted with the input configuration disclosed herein in which there is a single focal spot which contains almost all of the infrared power incident on the entrance aperture. In this situation the amount of infrared power incident on the detector is larger than that incident on the detector in the prior art configurations by a factor approximately equal to the number of elements in the lens array. For some applications the optimum design will employ a small array of pre-focusing lenses as opposed to a single element. It should be noted that depending on the performance characteristics desired, the lens array may be positioned on either side of or in the focal plane of the pre-focusing lens. Further, again depending on the desired performance characteristics, some of the individual elements of the lens array may be converging while others are diverging, neutral or absent.
[0011] With a high degree of pre-focusing, the size of the individual lens elements making up the final lens array preceding the detector may become too small to be realized by current Fresnel lens technology. In this situation microlens and diffractive optics technology can be employed to produce elements with the same functionality as an array of Fresnel lenses. These elements can be fabricated of low loss plastic by injection molding with single elements as small as a few infrared wavelengths. The use of current microlens and/or diffractive optics techniques to design and fabricate some, possibly all, of the lens elements will produce more capable systems than those that can be produced with current Fresnel lens technology.
[0012] The pre-focusing lens may be curved, flat, or nearly flat and possibly segmented. In general the field of view is limited by Fresnel reflection from the surfaces of the pre-focusing element. This limitation is mitigated by the fact that according to the present invention it is possible to use the entire entrance aperture to collect radiation from one resolution element, as opposed to the prior art in which only a small part of the entrance aperture is used to collect radiation from one angular resolution element. Further, in the present configuration the lens array is enclosed within the unit, i.e., protected, and hence can be made thinner than in the prior art without being subject to accidental damage or casual vandalism. In some applications the optimum design is a hybrid system which employs a traditional array of Fresnel lenses and/or mirrors to cover some angular ranges and the design disclosed herein for the remaining angular ranges.
[0013] In general by employing a pre-focusing lens it is possible to achieve the same performance with a much smaller entrance aperture than without a pre-focusing lens. This is of importance, for example, in applications where accidental damage or casual vandalism of the entrance aperture lens/cover is a problem. Depending on the required field of view the pre-focusing lens may be flat or bowed outwards (or inwards). One aesthetically appealing configuration is a rocker switch (e.g. Leviton's Decora rocker switch) with a small infrared entrance aperture in the center, both vertically and horizontally, of the rocker. Depending on the precise shape of the entrance window, acceptable performance can be achieved with an aperture as small as 4-8 mm horizontally and 10 mm in height. This would convert the traditional rocker switch to an “automatic switch” i.e. an ordinary switch with an occupancy sensor feature. This aesthetically appealing configuration can also be achieved without a pre-focusing lens. However, a pre-focusing. lens can be employed to enlarge the field of view and/or decrease the required aperture size for a given range. This technique can be applied to other wiring devices, e.g., toggle switches, dimmers, timers, outlets, etc. These new designs maintain the traditional appearance of the device while adding the occupancy sensor feature in an inconspicuous way. As previously noted in each of these applications a pre-focusing lens may or may not be employed depending on the specified size of the entrance aperture and the required field of view and range.
[0014] In general, for any occupancy sensor or motion detector, the field of view can be increased by employing mirrors adjacent to the entrance aperture to reflect wide angle rays towards the center of the system. These mirrors may be positioned before or after the pre-focusing lens or between the lens array and the detector. Further in some applications the optimum system is a hybrid system in which the mirrors direct and/or focus infrared radiation from some angular sectors directly onto a detector, through one lens array to a detector or through both lens arrays to a detector. Infrared radiation from other angular sectors may be processed differently, i.e., by only one or both of the lens arrays.
[0015] The optical system disclosed herein can be designed to operate in a number of modes. In the most straightforward design each element of the lens array performs roughly the same function as an element of the Fresnel lens array in the prior art. Specifically the field of view is divided into a number of angular segments. The pre-focusing lens partially focuses infrared radiation within a small range of angles onto one element of the lens array. As the infrared source moves through this angular range the partially focused beam moves across this element of the lens array and the final focal spot moves from some distance off of one side of the sensitive area of a detector to some distance off of the other side of the sensitive area of the detector. If this is repeated for a number of contiguous angular sectors within the field of view of the system the amount of infrared radiation falling on the sensitive area of the detector varies abruptly as the focal spot moves onto or off of the sensitive area of a detector.
[0016] In one particularly interesting implementation, the use of a pre-focusing lens leads to qualitative different performance of a motion detector/occupancy sensor than in the prior art. In this implementation the width of the pre-focused beam on the front surface of the lens array is made equal to the width of one element of the lens array. In order to understand the performance of this system, suppose that the infrared source is in a position such that the pre-focused beam just fills one element of the lens array. As the infrared source moves in either direction, the total power illuminating that element of the lens array is reduced and continues to decrease until the beam moves completely off of one side or the other of the element of the lens array. The system can be designed so that, for the entire small range of angles for which the element of the lens array is partially illuminated, this radiation is focused onto the active area of a detector. As the source moves over this small range of angles, the infrared power incident on the detector varies, which produces a corresponding electrical output that is processed to determine the state of motion of the infrared source. This configuration produces a detectable signal at useful source ranges because: 1) of the greater collecting power of the pre-focusing lens, as opposed to the collecting power of a single element of the Fresnel lens array as in the prior art; and 2) the size of each element of the lens array can be greatly reduced, since it is not employed as a collecting element.
[0017] If the lens array in the above system is designed so that every other segment of the array is focused on a detector for some small range of angles and these angular ranges are made contiguous, the system behaves in a qualitatively different way than prior art motion detectors/occupancy sensors. Specifically, this system is capable of detecting motion for any angular orientation of the source not only when the source crosses the boundary between an angular sector which illuminates a detector and one which does not. The elements of the lens array which interlace those described above can be simply left unused or employed to focus other, possibly contiguous, angular sectors onto a second detector.
[0018] It is not unusual for prior art occupancy sensors and motion detectors to employ a small number of Fresnel lens arrays side by side on the front surface of the unit. These arrays are designed to have different fields of view and/or different ranges. According to the present invention the size of one particular lens element in the array may be made small enough such that many rows of lenses can be employed in a practical system. With such a truly two-dimensional array of lenses, qualitatively different performance can be achieved than in the prior art. Specifically, prior art systems can only detect motion in one angular direction. With a two-dimensional array of lenses motion can be detected in three-directions. For example, with a wallbox or wall mounted system a vertically mounted two-dimensional array can clearly detect vertical as well as angular horizontal motion. Such a system can also detect radial motion in the horizontal plane because an infrared source moving in this direction is also changing its angle with respect to a vertical through the lens array. A properly designed pre-focusing lens and two-dimensional array can also give information about the angular size and range of a moving infrared source. This would greatly increase the noise rejection capabilities of the system.
[0019] All of the preceding is equally applicable to, for example, wall and ceiling units, indoor and outdoor units in lighting, heating, ventilation and/or security applications. Also, it is equally applicable to passive and active infrared, optical and microwave systems. Further, the implementations disclosed herein may be used in single technology systems or in combination with motion detectors/occupancy sensors based on other technologies, e.g., active ultrasonic or microwave systems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:
[0021] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors according to the prior art;
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates the angular sectors which define the angular resolution of motion detectors and occupancy sensors according to the prior art;
[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a flat pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of small aperture motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating of an exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens and wide angle mirrors in accordance with the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens and wide angle mirrors in accordance with the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a hybrid infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention for some angular sectors but not for other angular sectors;
[0029] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a hybrid infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a flat pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention for some angular sectors but not for other angular sectors;
[0030] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a hybrid infrared input section of small aperture motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens in accordance with the present invention for some angular sectors but not for other angular sectors;
[0031] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a hybrid infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens and wide angle mirrors in accordance with the present invention with some segments of the second lens array omitted;
[0032] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of the infrared input section of motion detectors and occupancy sensors employing a pre-focusing lens and wide angle mirrors in accordance with the present invention with some segments of the second lens array omitted;
[0033] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment wherein a cover element (either an additional lens array or a plain cover) is included over at least one of the mirrors of the configurations shown in either FIGS. 6 or 11 ;
[0034] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment wherein an additional lens array is included between the two lens arrays indicated in FIGS. 3 or 8 ;
[0035] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment wherein an additional lens array is included between the two lens arrays indicated in FIGS. 6 or 11 ;
[0036] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment wherein an additional lens array is included between the two lens arrays indicated in FIGS. 7 or 12 ; and
[0037] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of another aspect of the present invention wherein a traditional rocker switch includes a motion detector or occupancy sensor.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0038] Turning now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements throughout the several views,
[0039] FIG. 1 shows the input section of a typical passive infrared motion detector/occupancy according to prior art. A Fresnel lens array 11 spans the entrance aperture. Each element of the Fresnel lens array 11 intercepts a small fraction of the input infrared radiation 12 incident from some particular direction and focuses it to a spot 13 in the focal plane of that element. This leads to a number of focal spots equal to the number of elements of the Fresnel lens array 11 . For simplicity we have shown all of the focal spots in one plane. If the source of the infrared radiation is moving, the angle of incidence of the incident radiation changes and the system of focal spots moves across the active area of a detector 14 . Thus, as the source moves, the electrical output of the detector changes abruptly as a spot moves onto or off of the active area of the detector. Notice that in this configuration only a small fraction of the infrared radiation falling onto the entrance aperture is ever focused onto the active area of a detector.
[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates the angular ranges 21 in which one of the focal spots of the Fresnel lens array of the motion detector/occupancy sensor 22 is on the active area of a detector. These ranges are interlaced by angular ranges 23 in which none of the focal spots is on the active area of any detector. Prior art detection schemes only detect an infrared source when it crosses an edge from one of the angular sectors of type 21 to one of the angular sectors of type 23 or conversely.
[0041] FIG. 3 is a diagram of the infrared input section of a motion detector/occupancy sensor which employs a pre-focusing lens 31 as disclosed herein. The pre-focusing lens may or may not be a Fresnel lens and may or may not be segmented. All of the input infrared radiation 32 incident on the entrance aperture is partially focused onto a lens array 33 . This array may be curved and may be an array of Fresnel lenses, microlenses or an element which is designed on the basis of the principles of diffractive optics. In FIG. 3 the width of the partially focused beam at the front surface of the lens array is shown equal to the width of a single element of the lens array. This is only one possible implementation. In general the width of the partially focused beam at the front surface of the lens array may be larger, smaller or equal to the width of one element of the lens array depending on the performance desired. When the width of the pre-focused beam is equal to the width of one element of the lens array, and alternate elements are focused on the active area of a detector for a small range of source angles, the angular resolution of the system can be reduced to zero by making the angular ranges contiguous.
[0042] Another implementation of this system employs a pre-focused beam which is small compared to the size of one element of the lens array. As the infrared emitter moves so that the angle of incidence of the infrared radiation varies, the pre-focused beam moves across the lens array 33 . This array is designed so that when the focal spot of the pre-focusing lens 31 first moves onto an element of the array 33 , that element of the array 33 focuses the infrared. radiation off of one edge of the active area of a detector 34 . As the pre-focused beam moves across the element of the lens array the focal spot of the array element moves across and off of the active area of the detector 34 . When the pre-focused beam moves onto the next element of the lens array 33 the process repeats.
[0043] As noted previously one advantage of the input configuration disclosed herein is that all of the infrared radiation 32 incident on the entrance aperture is focused onto a detector 34 . This greatly increases the amount of infrared power available to the electro-optic system. Alternatively, the size of the entrance aperture can be decreased without decreasing the amount of power available to the electro-optic system. A second advantage of this configuration is that the elements of the lens array 33 can be made smaller than in the prior art without decreasing the amount of power available to the electro-optic system. Consequently a larger number of elements can be employed with an entrance aperture of fixed size. This improves the angular resolution of the system. In some applications a segmented pre-focusing lens is desirable. A properly designed two-dimensional lens array can be used to detect vertical and horizontal radial motion, as well as angular motion, and can additionally provide information about the angular size and range of an infrared source.
[0044] FIG. 4 illustrates the use of a flat pre-focusing lens 41 . Ordinarily the use of a flat lens or cover on a motion detector/occupancy sensor seriously restricts the angular field of view of the system because of large Fresnel reflections at the surfaces of the lens or cover at wide angles. One of the advantages of the present invention is that almost all of the infrared radiation 42 incident on the entrance aperture is partially focused onto a lens array 33 and then onto the detector 34 . This means that larger Fresnel reflection can be tolerated or equivalently a wider field of view can be achieved.
[0045] FIG. 5 is a diagram which illustrates the fact that by employing a pre-focusing lens 51 , the size of the entrance aperture can be reduced without degrading the sensitivity, angular resolution or range of the system. As in previous implementations both the pre-focusing lens and the lens array may be curved.
[0046] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an implementation which can be used to achieve wide angle coverage, approaching 180 degrees. One or more mirrors 61 are located adjacent to the pre-focusing lens 62 . The mirrors 61 intercept wide angle infrared radiation 63 and re-direct it onto the pre-focusing lens 62 . The pre-focusing lens 62 serves the same functions as those previously disclosed with reference to the lens array 33 and detector 34 . This system can also be implemented with a cover plate over the entrance aperture. It is also possible to employ a recessed pre-focusing lens 62 , as illustrated in FIG. 6 , without the mirrors 61 . This system has a narrower useful field of view. Curved mirrors can be employed to supply additional focusing, positioning or re-direction of the incident infrared energy. Mirrors can also be employed between the lens array and the detector to redirect infrared energy onto the detector.
[0047] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another implementation of a wide angle system, i.e. a field of view approaching 180 degrees. In this implementation the mirrors 71 and pre-focusing lens 72 are interchanged as compared with FIG. 6 . Also in this configuration the pre-focusing lens 72 serves as a cover plate. As previously noted, curved mirrors can be employed to supply additional focusing, positioning or re-direction of the incident infrared energy. As in previous implementations mirrors can also be employed between the lens array and the detector to redirect infrared energy onto the detector.
[0048] FIG. 8 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configuration shown in FIG. 3 . The difference is that for some angular sectors infrared radiation 82 incident on the first lens array 81 is focused directly onto the detector 84 . One or more segments of the second lens array 83 are omitted. Infrared radiation 82 incident on the remaining sectors of the pre-focusing lens array 81 is partially focused onto the second lens array 83 and then onto the detector 84 in the manner previously described.
[0049] FIG. 9 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configuration shown in FIG. 4 . The difference is that for some angular sectors infrared radiation 92 incident on the first lens array 91 is focused directly onto the detector 94 . One or more segments of the second lens array 93 are omitted. Infrared radiation 92 incident on the remaining sectors of the pre-focusing lens array 91 is partially focused onto the second lens array 93 and then onto the detector 94 in the manner previously described.
[0050] FIG. 10 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configuration shown in FIG. 5 . The difference is that for some angular sectors infrared radiation 102 incident on the first lens array 101 is focused directly onto the detector 104 . One or more segments of the second lens array 103 are omitted. Infrared radiation 102 incident on the remaining sectors of the pre-focusing lens array 101 is partially focused onto the second lens array 103 and then onto the detector 104 in the manner previously described.
[0051] FIG. 11 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configuration shown in FIG. 6 . The difference is that for some angular sectors infrared radiation 113 directed by mirror 111 to the first lens array 112 is focused directly onto the detector 115 . One or more segments of the second lens array 114 are omitted. Infrared radiation directed by mirror 111 onto the remaining sectors of the pre-focusing lens array 112 is partially focused onto the second lens array 114 and then onto the detector 115 in the manner previously described.
[0052] FIG. 12 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configuration shown in FIG. 7 . The difference is that for some angular sectors infrared radiation 123 incident on the first lens array 122 is reflected and/or focused by mirror 121 directly onto the detector 125 . One or more segments of the second lens array 124 are omitted. Infrared radiation incident on the remaining sectors of the pre-focusing lens array 122 is either reflected by mirror 121 onto second lens array 124 or is partially focused directly onto the second lens array 124 and then onto the detector 125 in the manner previously described.
[0053] FIG. 13 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configurations shown in FIGS. 6 and 11 . The difference is that in the configuration shown in FIG. 13 at least one of the mirrors 131 is preceded by an infrared transparent cover element. The cover element 135 can be either a simple, clear cover or an additional lens array.
[0054] FIG. 14 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configurations shown in FIGS. 3 and 8 . The difference is that in the configuration shown in FIG. 14 an additional lens array 143 is included between the two lens arrays 141 and 33 . The purpose of lens array 143 is to redirect and focus infrared radiation which has passed the first lens array 141 , onto the appropriate segment of the final lens array 33 preceding the detector 34 .
[0055] FIG. 15 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configurations shown in FIGS. 6 and 11 . The difference is that in the configuration shown in FIG. 15 an additional lens array 154 is included between the two lens arrays 152 and 33 . The purpose of lens array 154 is to redirect and focus infrared radiation which has passed the first lens array 152 , onto the appropriate segment of the final lens array 33 preceding the detector 34 .
[0056] FIG. 16 is a diagram of one possible variation of the configurations shown in FIGS. 7 and 12 . The difference is that in the configuration shown in FIG. 16 an additional lens array 164 is included between the two lens arrays 162 and 33 . The purpose of lens array 164 is to redirect and focus infrared radiation which has passed the first lens array 162 , onto the appropriate segment of the final lens array 33 preceding the detector 34 .
[0057] In another aspect, it is contemplated that an “occupancy sensor” feature can be added to a conventional electrical switch. The end result might be called an automatic switch as it has the traditional shape and appearance of a conventional electrical switch. For example, one type of conventional electrical switch shown in FIG. 17 includes an electrical switch 180 (a portion of which is exposed to ambient radiation) and a cover plate 185 . The switch 180 can be configured to include a small entrance aperture 181 on the portion of the electrical switch that is moveable between an on position and an off position, such as rocker 182 . The entrance aperture is configured to admit ambient radiation and may or may not be rectangular and may or may not be centered as shown in the figure. The entrance aperture may have a cover element 183 positioned over at least a portion thereof. The cover element may be any material translucent to ambient radiation and preferably lies substantially within the surface of the movable structure of the switch. In a particularly useful embodiment, the cover element is a lens array of one or more elements such as, for example, a fresnel lens array or an array of microlenses. For any desired field of view, range, and angular resolution the size of the entrance aperture depends on whether or not a pre-focusing lens is employed. With or without a prefocusing lens, this configuration has the advantage of maintaining the familiar and well accepted rocker switch appearance and functionality while adding the functionality of an occupancy sensor. A novel feature of this embodiment is that the entrance aperture for the infrared radiation is on the movable portion of the standard switch configuration. Variations of this design could have one or more rocker switches mounted either vertically or horizontally and an entrance aperture for infrared radiation on or replacing one of the conventional switches. It is further contemplated that rather than being a rocker switch of the type shown in FIG. 17 , any conventional switch configuration such as, for example, toggle switch, slide switch, etc., can likewise be modified to include an entrance aperture (with or without the use of prefocusing lens array) to thereby provide an occupancy sensor feature. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the use of microlenses may be required for switches having movable structures that include surfaces of small area.
[0058] While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, they represent mere exemplary applications. For example, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the systems described herein can be used in conjunction with other types of sensors (e.g., acoustic sensors) or with radio transmitters which send a signal or sound an alarm when motion is detected. Thus, it is to be clearly understood that many variations can be made by anyone of ordinary skill in the art while staying within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. | Methods and apparatus are disclosed for improving the sensitivity, angular resolution and range of motion detectors, occupancy sensors and similar systems. Specifically, an improved infrared input section is described which employs at least one additional lens, possibly segmented, before a lens array. This pre-focusing lens collects incident infrared radiation over the entire entrance aperture and partially focuses it onto one element of the lens array. The final lens array which focuses the radiation onto a detector may be an array of Fresnel lenses as in the prior art, an array of microlenses or a diffractive optics array. It is also possible to implement this system is such a way that moving infrared sources at any angular orientation will be detected as opposed to prior art systems in which only sources which cross the planes separating an array of angular sectors are detected. | 8 |
DESCRIPTION
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a division of Ser. No. 025,878, filed Apr. 2, 1979 now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to novel prostaglandin analogs. Particularly, these compounds are analogs of the prostaglandins wherein the C-19 position is substituted by hydroxy, i.e., 19-hydroxy-19-methyl-PG compounds. Most particularly, the present invention relates to novel 19-hydroxy-19-methyl-trans-2,3-didehydro-PG 1 compounds, a disclosure of the preparation and use of which is incorporated here by reference from U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,104.
PRIOR ART
Prostaglandin analogs exhibiting hydroxylation in the 19-position are known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,612, Sih, J.C., Prostaglandins 13:831 (1977) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,657,316, 3,878,046, and 3,922,297. See also the additional references cited in U.S. Ser. No. 025,878.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention particularly provides:
a compound of the formula ##STR1## wherein D is trans--(CH 2 ) 3 --CH═CH--, wherein Q is α-OH:β-R 5 or α-R 5 :β-OH, wherein R 5 is hydrogen or methyl;
wherein R 6 is
(a) hydrogen,
(b) alkyl of one to 12 carbon atoms, inclusive,
(c) cycloalkyl of 3 to 10 carbon atoms, inclusive,
(d) aralkyl of 7 to 12 carbon atoms, inclusive,
(e) phenyl,
(f) phenyl substituted with one, 2, or 3 chloro or alkyl groups of one to 3 carbon atoms, inclusive,
(g) --(p--Ph)--CO--CH 3 ,
(h) --(p--Ph)--NH--CO--(p--Ph)--NH--CO--CH 3 ,
(i) --(p--Ph)--NH--CO--(p--Ph),
(j) --(p--Ph)--NH--CO--CH 3 ,
(k) --(p--Ph)--NH--CO--NH 2 ,
(l) --(p--Ph)--CH═N--NH--CO--NH 2 ,
(m) β-naphthyl,
(n) --CH 2 --CO--R 28 ,
wherein (p--Ph) is para-phenyl or inter-para-phenylene, wherein R 28 is phenyl, p-bromophenyl, p-biphenylyl, p-nitrophenyl, p-benzamidophenyl, or 2-naphthyl, or
(o) a pharmacologically acceptable cation;
wherein R 2 is hydrogen, hydroxyl, or hydroxymethyl;
wherein R 3 and R 4 are hydrogen, methyl, or fluoro, being the same or different, with the proviso that one of R 3 and R 4 is fluoro only when the other is hydrogen or fluoro;
wherein W is oxo, methylene, α-OH:β-H, or α-H:β-OH; and
wherein X is cis- or trans--CH═CH--, or --C.tbd.C--.
With regard to the divalent the substituents described above (e.g., Q) these divalent radicals are defined as α-R i :β-R j , wherein R i represents the substituent of the divalent moiety in the alpha configuration with respect to the ring and R j represents the substituent of the divalent moiety in the beta configuration with respect to the plane of the ring. Accordingly, when Q is defined as a-OH:β-R 5 , the hydroxy of the Q moiety is in the alpha configuration, i.e., as in the natural prostaglandin, and the R 5 substituent is in the beta configuration.
Specific embodiments of the present invention include:
19-hydroxy-19-methyl-trans-2,3-didehydro-PGF 1 α.
The compounds of the present invention are particularly useful for inducing prostaglandin-like biological effects, as is described in U.S. Ser. No. 025,878. Uses of compounds in accordance with the present invention include, therefore, anti-asthmatic indications. | The present invention provides novel 19-hydroxy-19-methyl-trans-2,3-didehydro-PG 1 compounds, methods for their preparation and pharmacological use for the induction of prostaglandin-like effect. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This is a Continuation-In-Part application relying on applicant's previously filed non-provisional application Ser. No. 10/294,319 filed Nov. 13, 2002, now abandoned and its provisional application No. 60/338,130 filed Nov. 13, 2001, under 35 USC 120.
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for combining the monitoring of down-hole pressures in oil and gas well operations with chemical injection operations and more particularly to the utilization of a modified chemical injection system for injecting chemicals remotely into oil and gas wells while computing and accurately recording production tubing pressures at the bottom of the well, continuously, in real time.
GENERAL BACKGROUND
Bottom-hole pressure measuring and continuous monitoring in particular are invaluable in the management of oil and gas wells for fiscal projections, production exploitation, and the prevention of well or formation damage that can prematurely end the productive life of a hydrocarbon reservoir. Real-time pressure monitoring is essential to the prevention of costly service intervention in high capacity, deep-water, remote, and sub-sea wells. Elaborate and often expensive systems are deployed for the dedicated purpose of down-hole pressure monitoring. The typical preload of a conventional back-check valve or pair of valves designed for use in a down-hole chemical injection mandrel yields between 60 to 130 pounds per square inch. The hydrostatic weight of fluid combined with injection pressure typically present excessive forces that easily overcome the back-check valve spring load during even infinitesimal reductions in down-hole pressure.
Methods for monitoring down-hole pressures without interruption of production or injection operations were first tested in Germany several years ago. This initial development and its subsequent modifications required electric cable to transmit a signal reflecting down-hole pressures.
Bottom-hole pressure data are routine requirements for evaluation of production and reservoir performance. Monitoring of reservoir-pressure response may be especially helpful in evaluation and control of supplemental recovery projects. This might include producing, buildup, and static surveys as determined by pressure recorders run on wire line. However, frequency and number of wells conventionally surveyed may be limited due to interruption of normal production routine, as well as the expense of such interruptions. Presence of some artificial-lift equipment will prevent running conventional pressure surveys. Furthermore, production of highly corrosive fluids, together with potential damage from wire-line cutting where plastic-coated tubing is installed, can also be a deterrent to obtaining useful pressure data.
Where the expense can be justified, installation of permanent bottom-hole pressure monitors offers a means of securing such data.
Electrical methods, such as strain gauges to measure pressure, have been available in several forms for many years. In 1998, a taut wire gauge was developed and first received widespread use in Europe. The ends of the taut wire are attached to a sealed steel housing and a steel diaphragm. A current pulse transmitted down hole energizes the wire. As pressure is applied to the diaphragm, tension in the wire is changed with accompanying changes in natural frequency of the wire. An electrical signal is transmitted to a surface receiver for comparison with a signal from a standard calibrated wire for determination of the applied pressure. Detailed description of this equipment plus practical applications in the Rocky Mountain area has been well documented.
During 1959, a down-hole bourbon tube-type gauge was developed in the United States. As pressure is applied to the spiral formed tube, coupled to a code wheel made of an electrical conductor and an electrical insulator, a pattern change in current requirements is affected. By decoding the current pattern, the bottom-hole pressure can be determined.
In each of these methods, down-hole signals are transmitted to the surface by means of an electrical cable, which is normally attached to the exterior of the production or injection tubing.
More recently, a pressure gauge using a quartz transducer rather than a taut wire has become available for field applications. In even more recent developments, new tools have been introduced which do not use any down-hole electronics or electrical conduits by using a pressure-transmission system consisting of a 3/32-in. I.D. capillary tube attached to the outside of the production tubing. This small capillary tube connects a surface recorder to a down-hole chamber in communication with the well fluids.
In the pressure-transmission approach, a down-hole chamber is connected to a surface monitor by a small-diameter tube filled with a single-phase gas, usually nitrogen. The tube is normally secured to the outside of the production tubing, extended through a packing gland in the casing head, then to a surface-pressure recorder and optional digital readout unit. The down-hole chamber permits expansion and compression of the pressure-transmitting gas without entry of well fluids into the tube ( FIG. 1 ). The size of the chamber is dependent on the anticipated pressure range to be encountered and the diameter of the tube. The capillary tube type is dependent on the down-hole environment. A protector or guard banded to the production tubing covers the tube at each collar.
As compressibility will vary with pressure and temperature, which also vary with depth, corrections must be provided for changes in these conditions throughout the anticipated pressure range to be recorded. A portable monitor and printer are generally used with the pressure-type monitoring system. As a side benefit, the combination monitor and printer can also be used for the recording of surface buildups or other pressure monitoring on wells which have no down-hole detector.
Wire-line pressure surveys are often run in permanent pressure monitored wells to determine the reliability of the results obtained with the permanent pressure transmission systems. Calibration is then required by adjusting the gas pressure in the capillary tube to compensate for the errors. Since pressure is sensitive to the prevailing temperature, it is essential that accurate temperature monitoring be achieved. Therefore, in current permanent pressure monitoring systems of this type, errors are prominent, especially in deep wells, and must be compensated for in the recording system by extrapolation.
In addition, tubing hanger penetration limitations often don't allow for the development of an electronic or optical down-hole pressure gauge.
The initial expense of permanent down-hole pressure monitors is greater than routine wire-line pressure surveys with installation expense varying with depth.
As a result of the expense and inefficiencies of the above-related systems, a more effective and less expensive permanent down-hole pressure monitoring system has been developed and disclosed herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Conventional chemical injection systems deploy selected chemicals in oil and gas wells for the purposes of controlling tubing corrosion, paraffin buildup, hydrate plugging, etc. Down-hole injection systems are typically comprised of a fluid reservoir, a surface pumping system, plumbing to the wellhead or sub-sea umbilical, a capillary tube attached to the exterior of the production tubing string, a ported mandrel installed in the tubing string, and a complement of back-check valves that prevent down-hole fluid ingression into or through the injection system.
The invention disclosed herein is an improved cost effective system and method for acquiring accurate, bottom-hole pressure in oil and gas wells. The described invention is ideal as backup to an electronic or fiber-optic monitoring system in high-profile applications, it is an economical alternative to provide valuable reservoir data for budget constrained projects and is viable for hostile environment applications where temperature and/or pressure extremes compromise the reliable operating life of electronic or fiber-optic instruments. By utilizing typical down-hole chemical injection system technology as the basis for pressure data acquisition, combined with surface computer integration, a constant, accurate picture of formation pressure variations may be obtained at minimum cost. Pressure variations in the chemical injection capillary tube mimics formation flow characteristics which may be monitored by the computer at the surface where pump noise and plumbing vibrations, etc., are suppressed or filtered out, temperature and fluid and/or gas coefficients are monitored and compared to compensate for any adverse effects which may affect the accuracy of the formation pressures being monitored. Non-electric down-hole pressure monitoring is therefore possible with this system in chemical injection mode or in a dedicated pressure-monitoring mode by making only minor surface adaptations to the well chemical injection pump skid.
The disclosed invention provides an innovative means for measuring and continuously monitoring the down-hole pressure at the ported chemical injection mandrel. Completely unlike previous pressure transmission systems, the described invention utilizes balanced compression of the capillary media between the natural down-hole pressure source and a tracking, surface-controlled injection pressure source. The depicted system is effective with any type of media permitting the selection of optimum fluids that address the chemical injection demand. Incompressible media behaves like a solid, transferring pressure changes with excellent transient response and high resolution. Compressible media at significant pressures with a sufficient degree of achieved compression behave similarly, with quick transient response for a hydraulic pressure measuring system. Compressible media at low pressures will alleviate transients and result in sluggish change response for continuous monitoring applications, but will provide comparably accurate sustained measurements where pressures are stable. The depicted system does not require special down-hole equipment and provides the pressure monitoring function concurrent with the continuous or intermittent injection of chemicals at desired rates. Neither the absence of, nor the inclusion of, a check-valve(s) (regardless of quantity) adversely affect system operation. The effects of volume variations caused by capillary and/or umbilical hose swelling are compensated within the measurement process. The typical preload of a conventional back-check valve or pair of valves designed for use in a down-hole chemical injection mandrel yields between 60 to 130 pounds per sq. inch. The hydrostatic weight of fluid combined with injection pressure typically present excessive forces that easily overcome the back-check valve spring load during even infinitesimal reductions in down-hole pressure. The effect of hydrostatic pressure is corrected by calculation. The overall effect of fluid density is summed and compensated in the compressive measurement process. With a determined down-hole pressure minimum and sufficient hydrostatic pressure, a smooth pressure response devoid of “crack pressure” cycling is recorded at ultra low injection rates. The analysis of cyclic behavior is exempt in this condition and the resulting performance is excellent for dedicated down-hole monitoring. The cyclic behavior can be prominent in applications where the media is light and compressible, where hydrostatic offsetting power-spring valves are deployed, and where yield points and fluid friction reflect pump back-pressure surges proportional to injection rates and pump stroke displacement. Many wells can benefit from the smooth, dedicated monitoring function through the early producing reservoir life pending the need for chemical inhibition or treatment. Where cyclic response occurs, the processing system identifies the moment of equalization, follows the check opening, and determines that the balance valve pressure is equal to the down-hole pressure source.
The effects of fluid friction are compensated by calculation at fixed rates with simple system configurations or by sophisticated algorithms with computer-controlled systems for variable injection rates. A novel combination of complementary instruments integrated within, or added to the chemical injection system is required to derive the described pressure monitoring function. Simple system configurations utilizing this innovative pressure measurement and monitoring method derive modest but beneficial performance specifications. The more sophisticated system configurations derive significantly enhanced performance characteristics, including greater accuracy and improved resolution.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like parts are given like reference numerals, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical chemical injection module;
FIG. 2 is a cross section of a well with chemical injection capability;
FIG. 3 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 4 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 5 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 6 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 7 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 8 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 9 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 10 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 11 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 12 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module;
FIG. 13 is a diagram of one the embodiments of the chemical injection module; and
FIG. 14 is a data flow diagram.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An improved, permanent down-hole pressure monitoring system is disclosed that utilizes a modified oil and gas well chemical injection system. A basic chemical injection system or chemical pressure monitoring system (CPMS) 10 , as illustrated in FIG. 1 , includes a relatively low volume, high pressure injection pump 12 , a chemical reservoir 14 , an air supply 16 , and the usual suction and discharge filters 18 , check valves 20 , safety valve 22 , needle valve 24 , and cutoff valves 26 . Chemicals are discharged from the pump 12 through the discharge line 34 making external connection 36 with a chemical umbilical line leading to the wellhead 38 . As seen in FIG. 2 , a capillary tube 40 extending externally along the production casing 42 terminates at an injection port 44 near the bottom of the well formation, as shown in FIG. 1 . Fluid flowing upwards through the production casing 42 is prevented from entering the chemical injection capillary tube by a down-hole double check or balance valve 46 . Typically in operation, when chemicals from the chemical reservoir 14 are needed in the production tubing to prevent excess paraffin build-up, corrosion, hydrate plugging, or otherwise help improve production fluid flow, the injection pump 12 is activated, whereby the external connection 36 and capillary tube 40 with a column of fluid or gas, to an extent sufficient to overcome or crack the differential across the down-hole double check valve 46 , and allows the chemicals to enter the production casing 42 . The pressure required to overcome or to crack the pressure differential across the remote down-hole check or balance valve 46 is a fairly good indicator of the formation fluid or gas pressure in the production tubing. However, the formation production flow pressure relative to chemical injection pressure reading at the surface is not sufficiently accurate to serve any useful purpose. There are a great many adverse factors that must be taken into account before any real correlation can be made.
To obtain useful non-electric sensing of bottom or down-hole production fluid formation pressure using the data from the chemical injection system 10 , the system must utilize a constant source of variable pressure, such as a variable displacement-metering pump 15 as first seen in FIG. 6 . By maintaining a tracking static pressure on the capillary tube 40 , specific data relating to the well may be generated for comparison with previously acquired or extrapolated data. Such data may include the following elements derived from the following equations;
□=density of the injectate g=acceleration due to gravity v=velocity of flow □=pipe roughness h L =head loss due to friction h=depth of the well (TVD) □=viscosity of the injectate
P res + P friction = P pump + P hydrostatic . P res = unknown P pump = measured P hydrostatic . • g h ( 1 ) P friction = • g h L ( 2 ) Where , Darcy - Weisbach equation h L = fLv 2 2 gD ( 3 ) and f f = 64 Re for laminar flow ( 4 )
And for turbulent flow
Colebrook-White equation (1937): an implicit equation
1 f = - 2 log [ ɛ / D 3.7 + 2.51 Re f ] ( 5 )
Colebrook Approximation: an explicit equation
f = 1.325 ( ln ( ( ɛ / D 3.7 ) + ( 5.74 Re 0.9 ) ) ) 2 ( 6 ) - 10 - 6 <= • / D <= 10 - 2 ; 5000 <= Re <= 10 8 and Re = ρ vD μ ( 7 )
The pressure and flow-rate data sets collected and established by the above formulas may then be combined with other data sets for comparison.
It should be understood that although some useful down-hole pressure and chemical flow-rate data may be obtained by utilizing the chemical injection system 10 as described in FIG. 1 with manual manipulation of the primary chemical injection pump 12 in combination with a pressure transducer 32 , as shown in FIG. 3 , for monitoring the pressure on the down-hole capillary tube 40 , more accurate data may be obtained by utilizing a remote computer acquisition system 50 , as seen in FIG. 4 , integrated into a modified chemical pressure monitoring system 52 , also shown in FIG. 4 . The remote acquisition computer 50 receives data from the pressure transducer 32 in combination with a local indicator or chart recorder 54 . In this manner it is possible to monitor the dynamic pressure on the chemical injection capillary tube 40 from the surface of the well by allowing the injection pump 12 to track formation flow fluctuations up or down, thereby providing automatic dynamic control.
The basis for the current, more efficient permanent pressure monitoring system as seen in FIGS. 6–12 is to provide a means for operating in two modes: A pressure monitoring mode and a second mode, whereby both pressure monitoring and chemical injection are taking place simultaneously. Obviously, a more accurate pressure recording is possible in mode 1 . However, both modes are essentially the same except that in mode 2 the computerized system compensates for friction drop variables due to injection rate and temperature variation.
Integration of some means for temperature sensing would obviously enhance the system and may be achieved in any number of ways, the preferred of which is a distributed temperature sensor (DTS) 68 . A DTS system 68 , as seen in FIG. 12 , in this application would locate a fiber optic sensor in the chemical injection capillary tube 40 , thereby further enhancing the accuracy of the pressure recording and improving the temperature coefficient based on a particular fluid density. These correlations between fluid density, viscosity and temperature are prerecorded in the computer's software database 50 a , utilizing the above mentioned formula.
Another important factor is the hydrostatic pressure on the capillary tube 40 as measured by a sub-sea pressure transducer 58 , the umbilical yield point on line sub-sea umbilical lines 56 and horizontal external tubing connections 36 , all of which must be compensated for in the computer software 50 a in sub-sea environments, as seen in the FIG. 5 diagram.
The chemical pressure monitoring system 52 is effective when used with either a gas or a fluid as the injection tube or capillary media. The fluid in the capillary tube 40 varies with the chemical injection rate and the computer software is designed to compensate for fluid friction pressure drop. Therefore, the pump 12 may be used to automatically compensate for pressure variables in the capillary tube 40 , thereby eliminating the problem of tube swelling or contraction.
Another important factor that must be overcome is surface pump pressure noise resulting from sub-sea umbilical lines 56 and horizontal external tubing connections 36 on the well platform. This problem is anticipated and compensated for by providing pulse dampening in the combination of discharge line 34 and capillary tube 40 . Also by providing noise filters in the computer software 50 a to smooth out the recorded pressure readings.
The Chemical Pressure Monitoring System (CPMS) 52 as disclosed herein nullifies and/or eliminates any errors that may result from the Bernoulli effect taking place in the chemical injection system 10 . The production fluid from the well passing upwards through the production casing 42 by passing over the chemical injection port 44 , seen in FIG. 2 , thereby creates a vacuum on the down-hole double check or balance valve 46 , seen in FIG. 1 . This eliminates the need for modeling the characteristics of the balance valve 46 . By controlling the injection pump 12 speed or volume pressure in the chemical injection capillary tube 40 connected to the down-hole double check valve 46 , a near zero differential relative to the well fluid pressure may be maintained across the balance check valve 46 . Therefore, to achieve chemical injection into the production fluid, pressure is increased in the capillary tube 40 to overcome the well fluid pressure. When monitoring the well fluid pressure only, the balance valve 46 is held in a neutral state. It should be understood that the modified chemical injection system 52 works equally as well with or without a double check valve 46 being in the system. Although most chemical injection systems 10 rely on one or more check valves for various safety reasons, the modified chemical injection system 52 , as disclosed herein, depicts the balance check valve 46 as one of the system elements.
As previously discussed and seen in FIG. 1 , a typical chemical injection pump system 10 utilizes a static fixed displacement pump 12 . This new system can be utilized with the chemical injection system, seen in FIG. 3 , with manual manipulation by an operator in cooperation with a computer recording or charting system 54 , seen in FIG. 4 , to compensate for the various factors stated herein. Clearly, a more efficient computer controlled variable volume metering pump 63 enhances the system by monitoring the remote capillary tube's differential pressure and eliminates the need for an operator, thereby making the system fully automatic. Other types of pumps may also be used such as a variable displacement type.
Since the permanent formation pressure monitoring system or continuous chemical pressure monitoring system (CPMS) 52 is effectively integrated with the chemical injection system 10 , it should be understood that the CPMS 52 does not interfere with the chemical injection system 10 in any way. The pressure monitoring system 52 simply monitors the chemical injection system 10 and compensates for any adverse effects that tend to affect the accuracy of the well pressure reading.
Wells that are fitted with chemical injection systems 10 in their early stages, for use at a later time, may now utilize such systems as a dedicated well pressure monitoring system for chemical injection. In such cases, the system computer 50 is programmed to compensate for the friction drop based on temperature and fluid coefficients for the type of chemicals and fluid viscosity being used. These friction coefficients are developed by lab experiments for various types of fluids and their reactions at various temperatures in various types of conduits.
When comparing pressure gauge logs with the Chemical Pressure Monitoring System (CPMS) 52 , it was found that the CPMS system traced fluctuations of pressure down-hole with a 95% accuracy rate. However, as with any point-to-point measurement, progression errors do occur. Therefore, by establishing a starting reference data line in the CPMS computer 50 , each data sample is compared to the starting data point, thereby eliminating progression errors.
It is anticipated that the CPMS system 52 will be 100% accurate when all time lapses and frictional coefficients have been integrated into the system for a particular well.
In operation, the high-pressure injection pump 12 , seen in FIG. 1 , is engaged to apply pressure and fluid displacement sufficient to establish overriding injection pressure into the production casing 42 , seen in FIG. 2 . During the initial application of pressure and displacement of chemical in the injection line 34 , 40 , an increase in pressure from the injection pump 12 with pulses corresponding to pump stroke displacement is observed by the flow meter 28 and pressure transducer 32 , first seen in FIG. 9 , or other such means until production casing communication is attained. The chemical pressure continues to build until the opposing forces of the facility plumbing yield point are overcome, consisting of the umbilical yield point (applicable to sub-sea applications), the mechanical force sum of down-hole double check or balance valve 46 , tube swelling volume displacement, and the down-hole pressure at the injection port 44 . Tube and/or hose swelling affects are reduced to the interval of time required to establish well-bore fluid communication (injection). The subsequent detection of flow communication into the well bore is easily discerned in the measured pressure data. Once pump pressure combined with the hydrostatic weight of the injection fluid column establish communication through the double check or balance valve 46 , a moment of pressure equilibrium occurs against the down-hole pressure source. Continued pumping action again increases the pressure applied causing this cycle to repeat. The toggling action between the higher pressures required to establish communication and the lower equalized pressure immediately following the actual injection event is observed on the pressure gauge and/or recording device 54 . Display of pressure value may be a conventional oil-filled gauge or transducer 32 , as seen in FIG. 3 , a local process meter 60 , as first seen in FIG. 10 , an electronic recorder 54 , as seen in FIG. 4 , a printer connected to the computer-based acquisition system 50 . Although a conventional gauge can be used to take measurements through manual execution of the depicted process, suitable electronic pressure transducer 32 and acquisition systems are recommended for manual control applications and required for continuous monitoring as shown in FIG. 4 . The hydrostatic pressure is determined by empirical test or predicted through calculation as seen in FIG. 14 . The resulting hydrostatic offset value 67 is added to the raw data measurement recorded or noted from the pressure gauge or transducer 32 . The fluid friction pressure drop is calculated and the value added to the sum of the hydrostatic offset value 67 and the raw pressure measurement. Pressure measurements of greater accuracy can be obtained by reducing the injection flow rate to a minimum and thus reduce or negate the friction pressure drop error. With a determined down-hole pressure minimum and sufficient hydrostatic pressure, a smooth pressure response devoid of “crack pressure” cycling is recorded at ultra low injection rates. The analysis of cyclic behavior is exempt in this condition and the resulting performance is excellent for dedicated down-hole monitoring. The cyclic behavior can be prominent in applications where the media is light and compressible, where hydrostatic offsetting power-spring valves are deployed, and where yield points and fluid friction reflect pump back-pressure surges proportional to injection rates and pump stroke displacement. Many wells can benefit from the smooth, dedicated monitoring function through the early producing reservoir life pending the need for chemical inhibition or treatment. In sub-sea applications, first seen in FIG. 5 , a pressure transducer 58 tapped into the chemical line 40 at the sub-sea tree enhances transient response and accuracy by excluding the umbilical and topsides plumbing yield points. Pressure transducers 32 located at both the injection line 36 and the sub-sea tree provide an accurate determination of the combined yield points 71 seen in FIG. 14 . This is invaluable, as the yield point due to the umbilical lines 51 adhering to the variable topography of the sea floor is not easily predicted. For new wells, involvement in the well test process with a portable version of the chemical pressure monitoring system 52 establishes reference production data and down-hole pressure baselines traceable to the eventual umbilical line termination point resulting in more accurate correction factor and offset determinations. The addition of a positive displacement metering pump 15 , seen in FIG. 6 , capable of minute injection flow rates provides an optimum static pressure measurement capable of the highest measurement accuracy attainable. A manually controlled metering pump 15 may be used, but pressure measurements will produce an accruing error as down-hole pressure deviates from a particular setting. Manual readjustment will be required to track changes in down-hole pressure. An electronically controlled variable volume metering pump 63 , seen in FIG. 7 , operated automatically by a computer system 50 programmed to dynamically respond to changes in down-hole pressure is recommended. By halting the primary high-volume injection pump(s) 62 and establishing production casing 42 in communication with the ultra low-volume, low-rate variable metering pump 63 , measurements are taken at an ultra low injection flow rate where the fluid friction pressure drop is reduced to an insignificant value. Following confirmed production casing communication, halting the positive displacement metering pump 15 , seen in FIG. 5 , will result in an ideal static no-flow condition with a capture of raw data devoid of any friction pressure drop (zero flow-rate). The natural closing of check-valves 46 at this moment of pressure equilibrium has no detrimental affect. The measurement derived by this static method provides a baseline for friction pressure drop correction. The addition of an ultra-low rate capable flow meter 28 , first seen in FIG. 8 , in line with an electronically controlled version of the variable displacement-metering pump 15 enables automatic control routines via the computer system 50 , greatly enhancing monitoring capability and reducing manual intervention to obtain baseline measurements. The addition of a high-rate flow meter 29 , as first seen in FIG. 9 , capable of the intended injection rate span extends the continuous monitoring capability to operate concurrently with chemical injection. Chemical injection parameters are not limited by the modified chemical monitoring system 52 thus may be set for optimum well maintenance requirements. Manual calculations are acceptable for detection of deviations from a set down-hole pressure and injection rate. A software algorithm that utilizes measured injection flow rate data and the static calibration value performs real-time compensation for fluid friction pressure drop and backpressure associated with changes in the injection rate and/or down-hole pressure. Pressure and volume indicators local to the pumps and flow meters are a system enhancement that provides redundancy for measurement integrity verification and convenient displays for system setup, modeling, retrofit, troubleshooting, and well intervention. The static pressure measurement and the real-time flow rate value are factored to correct the down-hole measurement at various injection rates with dynamic friction pressure drop compensation. New static pressure measurements taken at predetermined intervals or alternating cycles enables a calibration function in the monitoring computer software 50 a . When the computer system 50 is expanded, as seen in FIG. 11 , to encompass automated variable control over the variable displacement primary injection pump 62 rate and the variable volume metering pump 63 , an automatic self-calibration routine can be configured in the computer system software 50 a . Temperature corrections 73 of the pressure measurement are made by conventional equations including predictions based on logging measurements. Fluid density ultimately affects the hydrostatic pressure and its frictional effects are distributed through the capillary length as a function of temperature. The addition of a thermocouple 64 , resistance temperature device (RTD) 66 , or preferably a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system 68 , as shown in FIG. 12 , enhances the modified chemical injection system 52 with a real-time temperature measurement near the injection point to improve pressure measurement accuracy. Computer system software 50 a further refines the conditioned pressure data with the temperature measurement as opposed to applying a predicted constant or average value. The DTS system 68 provides the base benefit of its inherent design, delivering a temperature profile throughout the entire length of optical fiber. As a novel application, the distributed temperature measurement can be processed with directional well information through a software algorithm to determine the distributed fluid density and friction coefficient characteristics for further refinement of pressure measurement and behavioral response modeling and compensation. In applications where down-hole pressure falls below the hydrostatic weight of the injection fluid column, a noble gas feed subsystem is added to the chemical injection/pressure monitoring system, as seen in FIG. 13 . Nitrogen is the common choice with many facilities already equipped with a Nitrogen gas supply 70 controlled and fed to the injections system through valves 72 in the manner shown in FIG. 13 . Concurrent chemical injection is still permissible, but only in an alternating cyclic mode that permits complete injection (evacuation) of the chemical before taking a pressure measurement with the gas media. An unknown fluid level equates to an unknown hydrostatic weight (head pressure) resulting in a corresponding offset error. The volumetric quantity of chemical injected through the gas-filled capillary tubes 40 , valves 72 , injection port 44 , and into the production casing string 42 remains known and controlled. The computer-based automated system 50 is essential for continuous monitoring, but manual execution of the process will derive acceptable single-point measurement results for many well management applications. The automated fluid/gas switching method of operation will reduce sample resolution to the measurement cycle rate. Ultimately, at a given sample interval the minimum peak discharge pressure measurement following production tubing communication, plus hydrostatic pressure, plus fluid friction pressure drop, temperature corrected equals the down-hole pressure at the injection port.
The computer system software 50 a monitors the system as disclosed herein, acquires input data from technical personnel, on site calculations, such as the hydrostatic offset value 67 , the yield point offset values 71 , and the temperature correction factor 73 and from the various sensing elements such as: 28 , 29 , 32 , 64 , 66 and 68 . The input data is then processed by a proprietary software program installed on a topside remote computer system 50 or a sub-sea computer with input to the topside computer system 50 for display and/or file outputs as shown in FIG. 14 . The computer system software 50 a is used for storing collected data and comparing this data with prior recorded data sets. The data computations comprise chemical density, gravity acceleration, flow velocity, tubular roughness, hydraulic head pressure, pressure drops due to friction, yield points, well depth, and chemical viscosity. The computer software 50 a monitors and records down-hole well pressure fluctuations by monitoring chemical pressure, performing analytical analysis of real time chemical injections using correction formulas, and comparing previous data sets for real time chemical injection adjustments. The chemical pressure is automatically variably responsive to fluctuations in well pressure acting on the double check valve 46 and performs corrective analytical algorithms through the computer software, thereby capturing pressure valve pressure compensation at the moment of equalization.
Because many varying and different embodiments may be made within the scope of the inventive concept herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirement of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense. | A non-electric down-hole formation pressure monitoring system utilizing a typical down-hole chemical injection system for pressure data acquisition used with surface computer integration to produce an accurate picture of formation pressure variations utilizing pressure differentials across a pressure balanced valve located adjacent the chemical injection orifice. Computer controlled manipulation of the injection pump pressure maintains a constant differential pressure across the pressure balance valve thus tracking the well formation pressure deviations. The surface computer monitors pump noise, plumbing noise due to vibration, etc., temperature, and fluid and/or gas coefficients, and compensates for any adverse effects that may affect the accuracy of the formation pressures. Down-hole pressure monitoring is achieved in chemical injection or dedicated pressure-monitoring mode with only minor surface adaptations to the well chemical injection pump skid. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/851,318, filed Mar. 16, 1992, and now abandoned, and owned by a common assignee.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to carpet cleaning machines and, more specifically, to an associated coupling arrangement for providing a fluid tight connection with a disposable container of concentrated cleaning solution.
2. Description of Related Art
Carpet cleaning machines, often referred to as extractors, are used to perform a "wet" cleaning process. Generally, they apply a water based cleaning solution to the carpet; as a result, dirt is washed away from the carpet fibers and becomes suspended in the cleaning solution. The solution and suspended dirt are then removed from the carpet by a vacuum apparatus in the extractor. The cleaning solution used in these machines is generally a mixture of hot water and a concentrated cleaning fluid. In prior art extractors, it is often necessary for the user to premix a quantity of the concentrate with water and fill a tank or other chamber of the extractor with the dilute solution. This procedure can result in poor cleaning performance or even damage to the carpet if the user does not follow the mixing instructions carefully.
An alternate approach for supplying a properly mixed solution has been to provide means within the extractor to dispense the proper dosage of concentrate and mix it with water from a separate container within the machine in preparation for application to the carpet. Although this approach is simpler for the user and has the potential for more accurate solution mixing, prior art devices have not been entirely successful in its implementation. One drawback relates to the need for the cleaning concentrate container to be disposable, so that the desired user convenience is achieved. Prior art containers have had a complex construction with multiple parts, making them more expensive and increasing the cost to the consumer. In addition, there are problems associated with attaching the container to the machine that make it difficult to create a fluid tight seal and achieve the proper connection with the associated ports in the dispensing apparatus of the extractor. Improper alignment of the ports, as shown in some prior art devices, results in leakage and/or improper mixing of the concentrate with the water, causing the performance of the extractor to be unsatisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coupling arrangement in a carpet cleaning machine in which a container of concentrated cleaning solution can be easily connected and consistently provide proper fluid communication with the ports of an associated dispensing apparatus.
Easy connection of the fluid container is accomplished by providing arcuate channels in the cylindrical neck of the container which engage diametrically opposed lugs in the dispenser housing. When the user aligns the channels with the lugs and rotates the container, the lugs slide in the channels and advance the container to its proper, sealed position in the housing.
Fluid connection of the container with the dispensing apparatus involves alignment of two ports in the container with corresponding ports in the dispenser housing Specifically, the container has one port at the center of a plug fitted in the end of its cylindrical neck which aligns readily with a central port in the dispenser housing. A second port in the plug is radially disposed from the central port and positioned within an annular groove, the groove being concentric with the central port. The distance between the central port and the second port in the plug is equal to the distance between the corresponding central port and second port in the dispenser housing.
Given this unique construction, proper communication between the ports in the plug of the container and dispenser housing is consistently established when the container is rotated and advanced into position. Specifically, the central ports align readily since they are on a common axis of rotation; the second port of the dispenser housing will always be disposed above the annular groove in the container thus establishing a flow path with the second port in the container. Thus, the required fluid communication is established regardless of the rotational orientation of the plug with respect to the container or dispenser housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carpet cleaning machine having a dispensing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the dispenser housing, resilient seal and seal retainer as taught by the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of a fluid container as taught by the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the fluid container shown in FIG. 3 taken along line 4--4.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the fluid container taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the fluid container engaged by the dispenser housing, creating a fluid tight seal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a machine for wet cleaning carpets, identified herein as a domestic extractor 10. The extractor 10 isequipped with wheels 12 and a handle 14 to allow the user to maneuver the unit over a carpet to be cleaned. In order to provide its cleaning function, the extractor 10 is provided with a tank 16 to store a supply ofclean water, a container 18 of concentrated cleaning solution, spray means (not shown) to wet the carpet with an appropriate mixture of the water andcleaning concentrate, and a nozzle 20 to withdraw the soiled solution from the carpet by means of a suction force created by an internal motor/fan unit (not shown). The solution withdrawn through the nozzle 20 is conveyedto tank 16 and separated from the suction air flow in a conventional manner; the dirty solution is retained separately from the clean water supply in tank 16. Preferably, tank 16 is easily removable from the extractor 10 to facilitate its filling with clean water or emptying the soiled detergent solution.
To provide means for connection and support for the container 18, there is provided a recessed housing 22 in the side of extractor 10. The structure of housing 22 is largely concealed by a hood or cover 24; accordingly, thedetails of this element are more clearly shown in FIG. 2. The body of housing 22 is configured to provide a generally rectangular, open front, an arcuate rear wall 26, and angled side walls 27 which serve to provide arecess for container 18. Housing 22 also has an upper wall 28 with a generally cylindrical extension 30, sized to receive the end of container 18, as will be more fully described later. The upper end 32 of extension 30 provides a relatively flat sealing surface and is provided with ports 34 and 36, preferably in the form of tubular extensions to facilitate connection with dispensing apparatus (not shown) within the extractor 10. Note that port 34 is positioned at the center of the cylindrical extension30. The extension 30 is also provided with diametrically opposed, rectangular notches 38, the purpose of which will be explained in the following paragraphs. Finally, the housing 22 is provided with a series ofextension tabs 40 and notches 42 to facilitate attachment of housing 22 with other structural elements of extractor 10.
Adapted for mounting within the cylindrical extension 30 of housing 22 are a resilient seal 44 and a seal retainer 46. (The interaction of elements of the housing 22, seal 44 and retainer 46 are shown with additional detail in FIG. 6.) The body of the resilient seal 44 is a short, almost flat, double diameter cylinder. The larger diameter 48 is sized to fit snugly within a circular recess 50 of the retainer 46. The smaller diameter 52 of the seal 44 depends downwardly so that it will pass througha circular opening 54 formed by the body of retainer 46. The larger diameter 48 of the seal 44 is also provided with diametrically opposed, rectangular notches 56 which engage appropriately positioned keys 58 in the recess 50 of retainer 46. Engagement of the notches 56 by the keys 58 will prevent the seal 44 from rotating with respect to the retainer 46.
The seal 44 has a center aperture 60 and two outer apertures 62. These apertures are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of ports 34 and 36 in extension 30 of the housing 22; specifically, the distance between center aperture 60 and either outer aperture 62 is equal to the distance between ports 34 and 36. The apertures 60 and 62 all have raised perimeters 66 that are received by corresponding recesses 68 in theextension 30 of housing 22 (see FIG. 6). This limited area of contact between the seal 44 and the housing 22 provides for more effective sealingagainst the ports 34 and 36. It should be noted that the raised perimeter 66 of one of the outer apertures 62 has a radial portion 70 which extends to the edge of the larger diameter 48. The portion 70 is provided, as required, to facilitate the manufacture of the seal 44 by injection molding.
The retainer 46 is provided with diametrically opposed, downwardly depending legs 72. Each leg 72 is provided with an outwardly extending tab74 and a cylindrical lug 76 pointing inwardly. The tab 74 is configured to engage the edge of the rectangular notch 38 near the upper wall 28 of the housing 22. Note also that the legs 74 are provided with an offset 78 so that the retainer may be more easily positioned in the cylindrical extension 30 of housing 22.
Given the configurations as described previously, the resilient seal 44 andseal retainer 46 are easily assembled to the housing 22. The seal 44 is placed in the retainer 46 so that its larger diameter 48 nests within the circular recess 50, with the notches 56 engaged by the keys 58. The seal 44 and retainer 46 are then inserted into the cylindrical extension 30 of the housing 22. The legs 72 of the retainer 46 are sufficiently flexible so that the tabs 74 deflect inwardly and then snap back outwardly to engage the notch 38 and position the seal 44 snugly against the upper end 32 of the cylindrical extension 30. It will be observed that the extra outer aperture 62 (only one is necessary) in the seal 44 is provided to facilitate assembly; it insures a proper sealing surface for port 36 despite the fact that the retainer 46 can be installed within the extension 30 in alternate positions 180° apart (relative to the central axis). The seal 44 as held in position by the retainer 46 thus provides a suitable resilient interface between the ports 34 and 36 of housing 22 and the container 18, as will be described in greater detail inthe following paragraphs.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the container 18 preferably has a generally cylindrical shape with an integral handle 80. The handle 80 has a widened portion 82 near the top of the container 18 with an adjacent recessed area84 to facilitate handling by the user preferably, the container 18 is blow-molded from an appropriate plastic material so that the handle 80 canbe easily integrated with the body of container 18. It is contemplated thata reasonable capacity for the container 18 is a volume of 16 fluid ounces of concentrated cleaning solution.
The container 18 is provided with a cylindrical neck 86 specifically designed for engagement with the housing assembly as previously described.In particular, neck 86 is provided with diametrically opposed, arcuate channels 88 having a vertical segment leading to a downwardly sloping transverse segment. (The manner of interaction between the channels 88 andthe cylindrical lugs 76 on retainer 46 will be discussed in detail in a subsequent paragraph.) Note that the neck 86 is also provided with a threaded portion 90 to enable attachment of a cap 92 having corresponding internal threads 94.
As clearly shown in the sectional view of FIG. 5, the neck 86 of container 18 is sized to receive a cylindrical plug 96. The outer diameter of the plug 96 is enlarged locally to provide a lip 98 that prevents the plug from falling into the container 18, and a bead 100 which passes over a narrowed portion 102 in the neck 86 to provide a "snap" engagement betweenthe plug 96 and the neck 86 of container 18.
The surface of the plug above the neck 86 is specially configured to enhance the sealing properties of the assembly. A narrow groove 104 is provided near the outer perimeter and a wider groove 106 provides a circular recess near the center of the plug 96. This geometry provides forimproved sealing properties of the plug in the area of the lip 98 and the raised area portions 108 and 110 created by the grooves 104 and 106. Obviously, to create an effective seal, the outermost surface of lip 98 aswell as the raised portions 108 and 110 should define a planar surface, as shown by the cross sectional view in FIG. 5.
Means for fluid communication from the container 18 is provided by aperture112 disposed within groove 104, aperture 114 disposed in the central raisedportion 110, a tubular extension 116 of the plug 96 extending below aperture 114 and a supply tube 118 received by the extension 116 and extending to the bottom of container 18 (see FIG. 3).
To prepare the extractor 10 for operation, the user would normally begin byadding hot, clean water to the appropriate compartment in tank 16. The cleaning solution is then provided in concentrated form as the contents ofcontainer 18. The user of the extractor 10 simply removes the cap 92, aligns the vertical segment of the channels 88 with the cylindrical lugs 76 located within the housing 22. The user lifts upward slightly (toward the seal 44) and rotates the container 18 counterclockwise. As the container 18 is rotated, the channels 88 ride along the lugs 76, advancingthe plug 96 tightly against the seal 44 which is also sealed against the upper wall 32 of the housing. The container 18 is most effectively sealed when it has been rotated sufficiently so that its travel has been stopped by the lugs 76 reaching the end of channels 88.
The fluid communication path between the various elements is best seen in the cross sectional view of FIG. 6. Note the alignment of port 34 with thecenter aperture 60 of seal 44 which aligns with aperture 114 in the plug 96. Similarly, port 36 aligns with one of the outer apertures 62 (depending on the orientation of the seal) which is in alignment with the groove 104. Since aperture 112 is disposed within the groove 104, full communication is established between the interior of the container 18 and the port 36. Note that aperture 112 would not necessarily lie directly below outer aperture 62 as shown in FIG. 6; its specific orientation with respect to aperture 62 is inconsequential.
During operation of the extractor 10, the interior of container 18 is pressurized slightly by connecting a source of pressurized air to the port36, as represented by arrow A. This creates internal pressure which forces the concentrated cleaning solution up through the tube 118, through aperture 114 of the plug, through center aperture 60 of seal 44 and out ofport 34 of the housing 22, as represented by arrow B. The concentrated solution is then mixed proportionately with the clean water supply from tank 16 and sprayed on the carpet in preparation for extraction.
While the preceding description pertains to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be apparent to persons skilled in the art that many modifications can be made without departing from the true spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, as shown in the accompanying drawings,shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. | A coupling arrangement connects a container of concentrated cleaning fluid to a dispensing apparatus in a carpet cleaning machine. To facilitate the required fluid connection, the container is fitted with a plug having one port at its center and a second port radially disposed from the center port and positioned within an annular groove concentric with the center port. The distance from the center port to the second port in the plug is equal to the distance between corresponding central and radial ports in the dispenser. When the container is rotated to engage the dispenser and advance it into position, the center port of the plug and central port of the dispenser align since they are on the same axis. The radial port of the dispenser is aligned with the annular groove in the plug, enabling fluid communication with the second port in the plug irrespective of the rotational orientation. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to plural screw positive displacement machines comprising a housing having at least two intersecting bores the axes of which are coplanar in pairs, and usually parallel, and male and female rotors mounted for rotation about their axes which coincide one with each of the housing bore axes. The rotors each have helical lands which mesh with helical grooves between the lands of at least one other rotor, the or each male rotor having as seen in cross section a set of lobes corresponding to the lands and projecting outwardly from its pitch circle. Each female rotor has as seen in cross section a set of depressions extending inwardly of its pitch circle and corresponding to the grooves of is the female rotor(s). The number of lands and grooves of the male rotor(s) being different to the number of lands and grooves of the female rotor(s).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Examples of such machines, which may be used as compressors or expanders are disclosed in GB 1,197,432, GB 1,503,488 and GB 2,092,676.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A plural screw positive displacement machine according to the invention is characterised in that, the profiles of at least those parts of the lobes projecting outwardly of the pitch circle of the male rotor(s) and the profiles of at least the depressions extending inwardly of the pitch circle of the female rotor(s) are generated by the same rack formation. The lobes are curved in one direction about the axis of the male rotor(s). The depressions are curved in the opposite direction about the axis of the female rotor(s). The portion of the rack which generates the higher pressure flanks of the rotors being generated by rotor conjugate action between the rotors.
Advantageously, a portion of the rack, preferably that portion which forms the higher pressure flanks of the rotor lobes, has the shape of a cycloid. Alternatively, this portion may be shaped as a generalized parabola, for example of the form: ax+by q =1.
Normally, the bottoms of the grooves of the male rotor(s) lie inwardly of the pitch circle as “dedendum” portion and the tips of the lands of the female rotor(s) extend outwardly of its pitch circle as “addendum” portions. Preferably, these dedendum and addendum portions are also generated by the rack formation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described by way of example with is reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross section of a twin screw machine;
FIG. 2 shows one unit of a rack for generating the profiles of the rotors shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows the relationship of the rack formation of FIG. 2 to the rotors shown in FIG. 1, and
FIG. 4 shows the outlines of the rotors shown in FIG. 3 superimposed on a prior art rotor pair by way of comparison.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The main or male rotor 1 and gate or female rotor 2 shown in FIG. 1 rotate in their pitch circles, P 1 , P 2 about their centres O 1 and O 2 through respective angles ψ and τ=Z 1 /Z 2 ψ=ψ/i
The pitch circles P have radii proportional to the number of lands and grooves on the respective rotors.
If an arc is defined on either a main or gate rotor as an arbitrary function of an angular parameter φ and denoted by subscript d:
x d =x d (φ) (1)
y d =y d (φ) (2)
the corresponding arc on the other rotor is a function of both φ and ψ: x = x ( φ , ψ ) = - a cos ψ i + x d cos k ψ + y d sin k ψ ( 3 ) y = y ( φ , ψ ) = - a sin ψ i - x d sin k ψ + y d cos k ψ ( 4 )
ψ is the rotation angle of the main rotor for which the primary and secondary arcs have a contact point. This angle meets the conjugate condition described by Sakun in: “Vintovie kompressori”, Mashgiz Leningrad 1960 δ x d δ φ δ y d δ ψ - δ x d δ ψ δ y d δ φ = 0 ( 5 )
which is the differential equation of an envelope of all “d” curves. Its expanded form is: δ y d δ x d ( a i sin ψ - ky d ) - ( - a i cos ψ + kx d ) = 0 ( 6 )
This can be expressed as a quadratic equation of sin ψ. Although it can be solved analytically, its numerical solution is recommended due to its mixed roots. Once determined, ψ is inserted in (3) and (4) to obtain conjugate curves on the opposite rotor. This procedure requires the definition of only one given arc. The other arc is always found by a general procedure.
These equations are valid even if their coordinate system is defined independently of the rotors. Thus, it is possible to specify all “d” curves without reference to the rotors. Such an arrangement enables some curves to be expressed in a more simple mathematical form and, in addition, can simplify the curve generating procedure.
A special coordinate system of this type is a rack (rotor of infinite radius) coordinate system, indicated at R in FIG. 2 . An arc on the rack is then defined as an arbitrary function of a parameter φ:
x d =x d (φ) (7)
y d =y d (φ) (8)
Secondary arcs on the rotors are derived from this as a function of both, φ and ψ.
x=x (φ,ψ)= x d cos ψ−( y d −r w ψ)sin ψ (9)
y=y (φ,ψ)+ x d sin ψ+( y d −r w ψ)cos ψ (10)
ψ represents a rotation angle of the rotor where a given arc is projected, defining a contact point. This angle satisfies the condition (5) which is: y d x d ( r w ψ - y d ) - ( r w - x d ) = 0 ( 11 )
The explicit solution ψ is then inserted into (9) and (10) to find conjugate arcs on rotors. FIG. 3 shows the rack and rotors generated by the rack.
Wherever curves are given, their convenient form may be:
ax d p +by d q =1, (12)
which is a “general circle” curve. For p=q=2 and a=b=1/r it is a circle, unequal a and b will give ellipses, a and b of opposite sign, hyperbolae, p=1 and q=2 will give parabolae.
In addition to the convenience of defining all given curves with one coordinate system, rack generation offers two advantages compared with rotor coordinate systems: a) a rack profile represents the shortest contact path in comparison with other rotors. This means that points from the rack will be projected onto the rotors without any overlaps or other imperfections, b) a straight line on the rack will be projected onto the rotors as involutes.
In order to minimize the blow hole area on the high pressure side of a rotor profile, the profile is usually produced by a conjugate action of both rotors, which undercuts the high pressure side of them. The practice is widely used; thus in GB-A-1197432, singular points on main and gate rotors were used, in GB-A-2092676 and 2112460 circles, in GB-A-2106186 ellipses were used and in EP-0166531 parabolae were used. An appropriate undercut has not hitherto been achievable directly from a rack. In arriving at the invention, it has been found that there exists only one analytical curve on a rack which can exactly replace the conjugate action of rotors. In accordance with a preferred aspect of the present invention, this is a cycloid, which is undercut as an epicycloid on the main rotor and as a hypocycloid on the gate rotor. This is in contrast to the undercut produced by singular points which produces epicycloids on both rotors. The deficiency of this is usually minimized by a considerable reduction in the outer diameter of the gate rotor within its pitch circle. This reduces the blow-hole area, but also reduces the throughput.
A conjugate action is a process when a point (or points on a curve) on one rotor during a rotation cuts its (their) path(s) on another rotor. An undercut occurs if there exists two or more common contact points at the same time, which produces “pockets” in the profile. It usually happens if small curve portions (or a point) generate long curve portions, when a considerable sliding occurs.
This invention overcomes this deficiency by generating the high pressure part of a rack by a rotor conjugate action which undercuts an appropriate curve on the rack. This rack is later used for the profiling of both the main and gate rotors by the usual rack generation procedure.
The following is a detailed description of a simple rotor lobe shape of a rack generated profile family designed for the efficient compression of air, common refrigerants and a number of process gases, obtained by the combined procedure. This profile contains almost all the elements of modern screw rotor profiles given in the open literature, but its features offer a sound basis for additional refinement and optimisation.
The coordinates of all primary arcs on the rack are summarised here relative to the rack coordinate system.
The lobe of this profile is divided into several arcs. The divisions between the profile arcs are denoted by capital letters and each arc is defined separately, as shown in FIG. 3 .
Segment A-B is a general arc of the type ax d p +by d q =1 on the rack with p=0.43 and q=1.
Segment B-C is a straight line on the rack, p=q=1.
Segment C-D is a circular arc on the rack, p=q=2, a=b.
Segment D-E is a straight line on the rack.
Segment E-F is a circular arc on the rack, p=q=2, a=b.
Segment F-G is a straight line.
Segment G-H is an undercut of the arc G 2 -H 2 which is a general arc of the type ax d p +by d q =1, p=1, q=0.75 on the main rotor.
Segment H-A on the rack is an undercut of the arc A 1 -H 1 which is a general arc of the type ax d p +by d q =1, p=1, q=0.25 on the gate rotor.
At each junction A, . . . H, the adjacent segments have a common tangent.
The rack coordinates are obtained through the procedure inverse to equations (7)-(11).
As a result, the rack curve E-H-A is obtained and shown in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 4 shows the profiles of main and gate rotors 11 , 12 generated by this rack procedure superimposed on the well-known profiles 21 , 22 (which are shown by dashed lines) of corresponding rotors generated in accordance with GB-A-2 092 676, in 5/7 configuration.
With the same distance between centres and the same rotor diameters, the rack-generated profiles give an increase in displacement of 2.7% while the lobes of the female rotor are thicker and thus stronger.
In a modification of the rack shown in FIG. 3, the segments GH and HA are formed by a contiuous segment GHA of a cycloid of the form: y=R o cos τ−R p , y=R o sin τ−R p τ, where R o is the outer radius of the main rotor (and thus of its bore) and R p is the pitch circle radius of the main rotor.
The segments AB, BC, CD, DE, EF and FG are all generated by equation (12) above. For AB, a=b, p=0.43, q=1. For the other segments, a=b=1/r, and p=q=2. The values of p and q may vary by ±10%. For the segments BC, DE and FG r is greater than the pitch circle radius of the main rotor, and is preferably infinite so that each such segment is a straight line. The segments CD and EF are cicular arcs when p=q=2, of curvature a=b. | Helical intermeshing main and gate rotors ( 1, 2 ) are mounted for rotation about their axes in respective intersecting bores in a housing. The profiles of the rotors as seen in cross section are generated by the same rack formation. The high pressure flanks of the lobes of the main rotor ( 1 ) and of the grooves of the gate rotor ( 2 ) are both generated by a preferably cycloidal portion (GHA) of the rack R. | 8 |
GOVERNMENTAL INTEREST
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the Government for Governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalties thereon.
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 075,470, filed Sept. 14, 1979, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,653.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recoil attenuating mechanism for weapons, and more particularly, to a fluidic recoil buffer for small caliber weapons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been a long standing problem of attenuating small arms recoil or "kick." Essentially, the problem is one of controlling the equal but opposite reaction to every action.
The firing of a small caliber weapon results in the generation of high rearward forces which have adverse effects on both the weapon components and the user. These forces have a direct bearing on the design of components, the materials available for components and the construction of complete weapons to withstand the applied loads. In addition, the kick causes the muzzle of the weapon to move upward and the entire weapon has a tendency to move rearward. This is undesirable from a user's standpoint.
Previously, various devices or combination of devices have been employed to attenuate recoil. By way of example, recoil pads are used on butt stocks to cushion the rearward motion of the weapon, muzzle brakes are employed to reduce muzzle movement and hydraulic/hydropneumatic shock absorber are employed at the end of the recoil cycle. Mechanical buffers which depend upon inertia effects and the compression of cushioning materials to attenuate recoil are employed, and the drive springs which are used in counter recoil somewhat damp the movement. Another method employed is to allow the weapon to recoil while the barrel, bolt, etc., is moved forward. This method of firing out of battery uses the recoil to stop the counter recoil thus producing "soft" recoil operation. Timing delays in chamber opening also damp some of the recoil forces.
The previous methods employed to damp out recoil are in some cases marginal, and other cases quite effective. The more effective method often require many component part or mechanisms to accomplish the task, and are normally suited to one specific set of loading conditions. That is, they are not load sensitive. The only known load sensitive buffer to date is of the hydropneumatic shock absorber variety. This device, however, only functions at the end of the recoil cycle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been found that a load sensitive buffer which requires few component parts for operation, which operates through the complete recoil cycle and which is a passive device requiring no stored energy for operation, can be provided through the use of a fluidic diode.
In accordance with the present invention, a weapon is provided with means to buffer the recoil which is produced when the weapon is fired. The buffer includes a fluidic device having a first and second chamber. During recoil, a compressive force is applied to the fluid in the first chamber and flow from the first chamber to the second chamber is restricted by a fluidic diode in relationship to the pressure differential between the first and second chamber. On counter recoil, the fluid flows from the second chamber to the first chamber in an essentially unrestricted manner. The level of flow restriction by the fluidic diode is greater at high pressure differentials than at low pressure differentials.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification, particularly when read in conjunction with the drawings wherein:
FIG. 1, is a schematic illustration of a recoil buffer, in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2, is a schematic illustration of a vortex chamber showing fluid flow during recoil;
FIG. 3, is a schematic illustration of the vortex chamber of FIG. 2, showing the flow during counter-recoil;
FIG. 4, is a fragmentary schematic illustration of another modification of a recoil buffer of the present invention;
FIG. 5, is a fragmentary schematic illustration of a further modification of a recoil buffer of the present invention;
FIG. 6, is a schematic illustration of a modification of a flow control mechanism for use with the device of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7, is a schematic illustration of a further modification of a flow control mechanism; and
FIG. 8, is a graph comparing a time-displacement wave for an air spring, a mechanical spring/buffer and a vortex buffer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The fluidic recoil buffer is load sensitive, requires few component parts for operation, operates through the complete recoil cycle, and is a passive device requiring no stored energy for operation. The present family of devices will function in recoil, counter recoil, or both directions. A single fluidic recoil buffer used in the recoil mode will not noticably interfere to any significant degree. Back to back, the fluidic recoil buffers will attenuate both recoil and counter recoil.
The fluidic recoil buffer provides an increase in weapon performance and reliability by desensitizing the weapon's response to varying ammunitions and environmental operating conditions.
Since the device functions through the recoil cycle and is load sensitive, it provides damping where it is needed most, that being the beginning of the recoil cycle. It is at this time that the greatest component loading is incurred. From an operating standpoint, this allows weapons to be overpowered, thus assuring their proper functioning under adverse operating environments. Recoiling components can be reduced in size and weight, drive springs can be designed for counter recoil only, and the possibility now exists for a high powered blowback operated weapon. The fluidic recoil buffer of the present invention allows the designer more effective control of the rate of fire and facilitates the employment of larger magazine capacities.
The life of weapon components will be extended because the recoil shock is attenuated by the fluidic recoil buffer of the present invention, rather than the components themselves, which reduces the weapon maintenance requirements. The user will have a more stable weapon which will operate in severe environments with fewer maintenance requirements.
The fluidic recoil buffer consists of a load sensitive metering device such as a Vortex Diode within a tube which is closed on at least one end. The Vortex Diode may either be fixed, with the tube free to move, or it may be designed to move within a fixed tube. The Vortex Diode is a fluidic device comprised of a vortex chamber, nozzles and a vent. The vortex chamber and nozzles are covered such that any flow of fluid must pass through the nozzle tangentially to the vortex chamber. The circular shape of the chamber provides an angular acceleration to the fluid stream, the magnitude of which is dependent on the nozzle exit velocity of the fluid and radius of curvature of the vortex chamber. The resultant angular velocity of the fluid causes the formation of a vortex within the vortex chamber which restricts the exit flow of fluid through the vent.
The fluidic diode is illustrated in FIG. 1, installed in a M16A1 rifle recoil spring tube, with an air spring serving as the counter recoil mechanism.
The term fluidic diode, as used herein, refers to a device which provides restricted fluid flow in one direction but substantially unrestricted fluid flow in the other direction. The fluidic diode preferably responds inversely proportionally to the pressure differential to which it is subjected. That is, the higher the pressure differential, the greater the degree of flow restriction that is applied to the fluid passing through the diode, and consequently, the lower the relative flow rate.
The rate of fluid flowing through the diode is a factor of the pressure differential and the degree of flow restriction. Therefore, it is possible to increase the flow rate even in the presence of increased flow resistance, if the flow resistance change is not directly proportional to the change in the pressure differential.
Accordingly, it is possible to custom design the buffering effect which can be achieved, by controlling both the rate of change of the degree of restriction relative to the rate of change of the pressure differential, and the degree of restriction at at maximum, minimum or other level of pressure differential.
The the embodiment of FIG. 1, the fluid in response to the pressure of the actuator 16, which must be compressible, flows from the buffer tube 12 to the recoil spring tube 10, until a pressure equalization is achieved. The buffer tube "O-ring" seal 17 precludes fluid flow out of the recoil spring tube through the recoil spring tube-buffer tube contact region. While the "O-ring" 19 precludes fluid flow from the buffer tube to the recoil spring tube, except through the vortex diode.
The high pressure differential created by the flow restricting characteristics of the vortex in the fluidic diode 18 attenuates the recoiling bolt carrier motion. The magnitude of attenuation is dependent upon not only the fixed parameters of fluid viscosity and diode configuration, but also on the variable parameter of recoil velocity. High recoil velocities result in high pressure differentials and in turn high flow restriction through the vortex diode. As the recoil is buffered, the velocity decreases, thereby decreasing the damping force and producing decreased pressure differentials which produces decreased flow restriction. Consequently, the buffering action is greatest when needed and least when least desirable and most importantly directly relative to need.
In counter recoil, the compressed fluid restores the system to its initial configuration. The counter motion can be alternatively or additionally achieved through the use of a return spring.
In order to provide an air spring, the spring tube 10 and the buffer tube 12 are dimensioned such that the area represented by D 1 is greater than that represented by D 2 -D 3 . The assembly 14 is pressurized to a predetermined positive pressure typically on the order of from 7 to 10 psig.
In a test procedure, the actuator 16 is subjected to sufficient air pressure to force the buffer tube 12 down the recoil spring tube 10. A pressure differential is created across the vortex diode 18, with the pressure P 1 being greater than the pressure P 2 is the spring tube 10. The fluid in the buffer tube is forced through the fluidic diode as shown in FIG. 2.
The fluidic diode is a device which includes a vortex chamber 22, nozzles 24 and a vent 25. Fluid flowing in the direction of flow arrows 26 must pass through the nozzles and is forced to spiral, creating a vortex and then exits through the vent 25. As evident from FIG. 2, the circular shape of the vortex chamber 22, provides an angular acceleration to the tangentially flowing fluid streams, the magnitude of which is dependent on the nozzle exit velocity of the fluid and radius of curvature of the vortex chamber. The resultant angular velocity of the fluid causes the formation of a vortex within the vortex chamber, thereby restricting the exit flow of fluid through the vent 25 into the recoil spring tube 10.
In the opposite flow direction, as illustrated by arrows 30, of FIG. 3, the fluid enters the vortex through the vent 25, passes through the vortex chamber directly toward the nozzles 24, with the vent orifice diameter and the orifice cross-section of the nozzles being the only restrictions to the fluid flow.
The vortex diode will function with any type of fluid. The attenuation is in part dependent upon the fluid viscosity. For a given set of diode parameters, the damping effect is directly relative to the viscosity.
In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 4, the fluidic buffer 40, floats or travels relative to the buffer tube 42. The recoiling weapon component 44, which can be a bolt carrier or similar element, forces the fluidic diode 40 toward the closed end of the buffer tube 42. The fluid, for example air, is compressed by the displacement of the moving fluidic diode 40, causing a pressure differential across the diode, with the pressure P 4 in the buffer tube being greater than the pressure P 3 in the bolt carrier device. The "O-ring" seal 46 around the fluidic diode, prevents the escape of fluid around the outside edge of the diode-tube interface. Thus, the fluid flows through the nozzles 45 creating a vortex as previously described, and exits through the vent 48 to the low pressure side. The high pressure differential created by the flow restricting characteristics of the vortex attenuates the recoiling bolt carrier motion.
In counter recoil, the fluidic diode 40 is driven toward the open end of the buffer tube by the weapon drive spring, or return springs which can be included within the buffer tube. Movement in this direction causes the pressure P 3 to be greater than the pressure P 4 , resulting in fluid flow in the forward direction through the diode in an essentially unrestricted manner as previously described. Little damping effect is produced by the essentially unrestricted fluid flow.
FIG. 5 shows an air/oil buffer device 50, which can be fixed to a gun in a suitable manner, such as in the stock. An air spring cylinder 52 is provided with two primary seals 54 and 56. The seal 54 is a scraper ring which prevents foreign matter from entering the tube during the operation of the device while the "O-ring" seal 56 prevents oil from escaping around the cylinder.
In operation, the air spring cylinder is forced in the direction of the arrows 59, as a result of the force of a gun bolt (not shown) applied at the surface 58 of the air spring cylinder. The air spring cylinder is driven into the oil chamber 51, compressing the oil 53. The resulting pressure supplies the buffering force which impedes the motion of the bolt. The oil is caused to flow through a flow control device 55, the port 57 and into the variable chamber 60. The floating piston 62 serves to separate the incoming oil from the air which occupies the region within the air spring cylinder 52. As the motion continues, the floating piston 62 moves away from the flow control device 55, thereby compressing the air within the air spring cylinder 52 and providing the "air spring" action. The motion is controlled by modulating the oil flow through the flow control element 55.
The flow control element 55 can be of several designs, the simplest being a fluidic vortex diode as previously described. Alternatively, other designs can have moving parts and can be designed to respond to pressure, acceleration (inertia) and/or flow forces.
As in the manner previously noted, when the bolt has reached its rearward position, the flow control mechanism is at its extreme position and the air spring mechanism is in the compressed state. The pneumatic energy of the compressed air is now available to return the bolt to its forward position. Motion of the bolt in the return direction is also controlled by the reverse flow through the flow control element 55.
In the modification of FIG. 6, the flow control element 65 moves in the direction of the arrows 66 when the pressure drop through the flow control element 65 reaches a design point, and the flow restricting components 67 and 68 limit the flow through the flow control device when the flow control device has traveled to a point proximate the flow restricting components. Flow in the opposite direction is obviously unrestricted by the flow restricting components. For controlled flow in both directions, the elements can be designed as a double acting unit or two elements can be used in series with opposite direction of response.
In the modification of FIG. 7, the flow control mechanism includes a first flow passage 70 and a second flow passage 72. The flow passage 70 restricts flow thus causing a pressure differential to exist with the outer face 71 of the head of the piston 74 seeing a lighter pressure than the opposing surface of the piston 74, causing the piston to move toward the port 72, restricting flow through the port 72. When the pressure differential approaches or equals zero or a predetermined level, the spring 76 moves the piston in the opposite direction. Thus, on counter recoil, flow in the opposite direction is limited only by the diameters of the two ports.
Time displacement curves for three modifications incorporating a standard mechanical spring/buffer, a vortex diode/air spring buffer and a pure air spring (with no diode) are illustrated in FIG. 8.
The air spring showed improvement over the mechanical spring buffer while the vortex diode showed improvement over each of the other devices.
A comparison of the section of typical M16A1 rifle time-displacement (TD) curves illustrated in FIG. 8 shows the damping effects of the air spring and the air spring/vortex diode buffer. The TD curves, which show the motion of the weapon bolt carrier with respect to time, show the damping as the gradual transition from recoil to counter recoil as opposed to the peak exhibited by the standard spring/buffer combination. In addition damping effects of the vortex diode is illustrated by the reduced maximum displacement of the air spring/vortex diode TD curve. | An improved buffer for small arm weapons utilizes a pair of fluid containing reciprocating chambers to attenuate recoil forces by limiting fluid flow in relation to chamber travel between the pair. In the second chamber of the pair a flow control element moves in the direction of a restricting member when the fluid pressure drop through the flow control element reaches a predetermined point. The flow restricting member limits fluid flow through the flow control element when the flow control element travels to a point proximate the flow restricting member. Fluid flow in the opposite direction is substantially unrestricted by the flow restricting members. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Serial No. 60/385,649 filed Jun. 4, 2002.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] N/A
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0003] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] 1. Field of the Invention
[0005] This invention relates generally to extension ladders, and more particularly, to a device that is mountable to an extension ladder to facilitate easy movement of the ladder, on a given surface, either upward or downward without having to lift the ladder from the surface.
[0006] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0007] While extension ladders are commonly used in the construction, home repair and painting industries, they are not easily adjusted or moved. Moving or adjusting the height of an extension ladder is difficult because the top end of the ladder must be lifted off the wall or structure that it is leaning against. The most common practice of extending a ladder, which is resting vertically against a structure, is to push or pull the top of the ladder away from the building surface from ground level. A user must next pull on an extension rope to extend the ladder upward, prior to the ladder falling back against the building's surface. With longer and heavier ladders this process can be extremely difficult and unsafe. As the ladder is extended, the ladder becomes more difficult to maneuver and the weight transfer makes the ladder more likely to kick out at the bottom when an operator is pushing or pulling against it. As the operator loses full control over the ladder, the chances of an accident or injury are increased. If a device existed that could make it easier to maneuver or adjust an extension ladder while decreasing the risk of injury it would be well received. There are no known devices that address this problem. Accordingly, there exist a need for such a device. The instant invention addresses this unfulfilled need in the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In light of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extension ladder roller device that is adapted for attachment to an extension ladder and allows adjustment of the ladder while it is leaning against a wall or other surface.
[0009] It is another object of the instant invention to provide an extension ladder roller device that does not scratch the surface it leans against.
[0010] It is also an object of the instant invention to provide an extension ladder roller device that prevents a ladder from sliding sideways when properly mounted to the ladder.
[0011] It is a further object of the instant invention to provide extension ladder roller device that is easy to use.
[0012] It is an additional object of the instant invention to provide an extension ladder that may be adjusted while the ladder is leaning against a wall, used without scratching the surface and used without sliding sideways.
[0013] It is another object of the instant invention to provide an extension ladder with rollers and an extension ladder roller adapter that may be manufactured with existing techniques at relatively low costs.
[0014] In light of these and other objects, the instant invention comprises an extension ladder roller device that is mountable to an extension ladder and allows an operator to simply pull a ladder's extension rope to easily extend or retract the ladder while it is leaning against a structure. The extension ladder of the instant invention comprises at least one housing, at least one caster and structure for securing the device to a ladder. To use the instant invention, an extension ladder roller is preferably mounted to each leg of a ladder. The ladder roller may alternatively have a housing that mounts to both legs of the ladder or that is incorporated with the ladder during manufacturing. When using the instant invention, the extension ladder will glide over the surface that the ladder is leaning against without damaging the surface of the structure. In addition, the ladder roller of the instant invention may reduce operator injuries by increasing the lateral traction of the ladder thereby reducing the risk of sliding sideways.
[0015] In accordance with these and other objects, which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller mounted to an extension ladder in accordance with the instant invention.
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller mounted to an extension ladder in accordance with the stabilizer version of the instant invention.
[0018] [0018]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller mounted to an extension ladder in accordance with the instant invention.
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4 is a plan view of the first preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0020] [0020]FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the first preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0021] [0021]FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the first preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0022] [0022]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller mounted to an extension ladder in accordance with the stabilizer version of the instant invention.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 8 is an end elevational view of the second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0024] [0024]FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0025] [0025]FIG. 10 is a bottom elevational view of the caster used in the second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
[0026] [0026]FIG. 11 is a plan view of the caster used in the second preferred embodiment of the extension ladder roller in accordance with the instant invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] With reference to the drawings, FIGS. 1 to 11 depict the preferred embodiments of the instant invention which is generally referenced as a ladder roller and, or by numeric character 10 . The ladder roller 10 comprises a device that mounts to at least one leg of an extension ladder and allows an operator to extend or retract the ladder while it leans against a flat surface or uneven surface (brick, cement block, stucco, lap wood siding, vinyl siding, asphalt shingles, etc.) without having to separate the ladder from the structure. When rolling up an exterior wall, the extension ladder roller 10 will allow the ladder to glide along a surface without getting “hung up” or damaging the surface of the building structure. In addition, the ladder roller 10 provides lateral traction to reduce the risk of sliding sideways when in use.
[0028] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3- 6 , the ladder roller 10 comprises a housing 12 , caster 14 and fastener 16 . The ladder roller 10 is designed to mount over the end of a ladder's side support 2 . For proper use, a ladder roller 10 should be mounted to each side support 2 . In an alternative embodiment, the housing 12 may mount over the ends of both side supports 2 . The housing 12 is at least partially hollow such that it defines a sleeve for mounting over the end of at least one of the ladder's side supports 2 . The ladder roller 10 combines a caster 14 with metal tubing comprising the housing 12 or 12 ′, which is easily attached to various extension ladders 1 or typical ladder stabilizers 10 ′. The caster 14 may comprise a rubber caster, while the housing may comprise either aluminum tubing, or thin wall mild box steel tubing. The casters 14 comprise a frame and wheel 15 that are attached to the housing 12 , 12 ′ by fasteners, such as a wing bolt 17 and hex nut 18 .
[0029] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 7- 11 , the ladder extender or stabilizer 10 ′ comprises a housing 12 ′, U-shaped stabilizer mount 22 , wheel casters 14 and fasteners 16 . The housing 12 ′ comprises a sleeve that fits over the end of the U-shaped stabilizer mount 22 . The fasteners 16 secure the housing 12 ′ in place and may comprise a wing bolt 17 and hex nut 18 . The U-shaped stabilizer mount 22 is secured to the ladder 1 and preferably to the side supports 2 , by U-bolts 24 and corresponding fasteners. The U-shaped stabilizer mount 22 may also be secured to a ladder rung 3 by a flange-like or clamp-like structure 26 .
[0030] The housings 12 , 12 ′ may be manufactured from thin walled mild box steel tubing, or an aluminum extruded tubing. The most common and universal size would be 3.25″×1.50″ (inner diameter)×6″ long for the first preferred embodiment of the ladder roller, and 1.50″×1.50″ (inner diameter)×6″ long for the second embodiment 10 ′, referred to herein as a ladder stabilizer 10 ′. A 3″ caster may be employed and attached flush with the end of the narrow side of the metal tubing comprising the housing 12 or 12 ′. Two hex nuts attached to the wider side of the tubing, along with jam bolts, work as mechanical fasteners to attach a ladder roller 10 to the upper end of an extension ladder. For ladder stabilizers 10 ′, the casters 14 on the ladder roller 10 ′ are attached to the end of the U-shaped stabilizer mount tubing 22 rather than over the ladder's side support as done in the first preferred embodiment of the invention 10 . Hex nuts 18 and bolts or jam bolts 17 may be used as mechanical fasteners.
[0031] In using the ladder roller 10 or 10 ′, an operator slides each of the rollers 10 or 10 ′ onto either the top end of the ladder 1 itself, or onto the ends of a ladder stabilizer mount 22 (depending on which version is being used). Once in place, the operator securely attaches the ladder roller 10 or 10 ′ using hex nuts 18 and jam bolts 17 .
[0032] Although the instant invention is described with primary reference to the ladder rollers 10 and 10 ′, the invention may also comprise the ladder 1 . The ladder rollers 10 and, or 10 ′ may be removable from the ladder 1 or permanently mounted to the ladder 1 . In addition, the dimensions noted herein may vary without departing from the scope and spirit of the instant invention.
[0033] The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious structural and/or functional modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. | An extension ladder roller device that is mountable to an extension ladder for extending and retracting the ladder while it is leaning against a structure, wherein the extension ladder includes at least one housing, at least one caster and structure for securing the device to a ladder. The ladder roller may alternatively be incorporated with the ladder during manufacturing. | 4 |
DISCLOSURE OF PRIOR ART
The following is a list of the prior art patents uncovered by Applicant with respect to the present application:
______________________________________Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Filed______________________________________W. Kleitz 1,958,049 April 23, 1930R. C. Graef 2,063,309 June 11, 1935B. Novambere 2,086,571 March 26, 1935R. D. Woodworth 2,213,355 December 21, 1939H. B. Hawes 2,280,647 December 16, 1940E. W. Nicholson 2,347,276 May 11, 1942G. W. Baker et al 2,370,769 June 15, 1942P. J. Callan 2,595,123 January 21, 1949P. J. Callan 2,653,469 June 12, 1948S. B. Roberts 2,691,292 July 7, 1949J. L. Bracewell 2,612,674 September 12, 1947C. Tillery 2,634,601 September 9, 1949C. B. Jones 2,718,138 December 9, 1948D. E. Meehan 2,964,821 July 5, 1956R. J. Sullivan 3,129,481 April 3, 1962W. Muhm 3,295,278 April 3, 1963K. Guddal 3,353,322 August 27, 1963R. C. Koch 3,438,161 July 15, 1965S. W. Shelley 3,671,368 December 24, 1970Haeussler 3,757,482 September 11, 1973Tenorio 3,826,052 July 30, 1974Egerborg et al 3,828,504 August 13, 1974Weismann 3,879,908 April 29, 1975Beer 3,898,780 August 12, 1975Lovisa et al 3,927,857 December 23, 1975Ickes 3,943,676 March 16, 1976Haeussler 3,996,713 December 14, 1976Steenson et al 4,117,639 October 3, 1978Nilsen et al 4,149,349 April 17, 1979Della-Donna 4,157,638 June 12, 1979Haeussler 4,183,186 January 15, 1980Artzer 4,226,067 October 7, 1980Fricker et al 4,283,896 August 18, 1981Mulvihill 4,292,783 October 6, 1981Long et al 4,329,821 May 18, 1982______________________________________
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an insulated concrete wall and method of fabricating such a wall where the same rods are used as both form ties for maintaining form panels a preselected distance apart, and as tie rods for interconnecting the insulation layer with the concrete wall layers.
The use of prefabricated forms for fabricating concrete walls is well known in the art. For example, Stout, U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,822, discloses the use of straps as cross ties for positioning and maintaining opposite form panels together while the wall is being formed. Further, Long, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,821, discloses an insulated concrete wall incorporating tie rods to hold essentially disposed insulation board between adjacent concrete wall layers and to provide a strong mechanical connection such layers.
However, in certain applications, particularly where skilled labor may be unavailable and walls must be fabricated quickly, the use of separate tie rods and form ties is inefficient because they must be installed in separate steps in the wall fabrication process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, an insulated concrete wall and method of construction is provided incorporating a unitary means for simultaneously maintaining form panels in a predetermined spaced relationship, and for fixedly maintaining the insulation layer in a predetermined spaced relationship between the form panels until the concrete cures and the form panels are removed. The insulated concrete wall includes a plurality of rods extending perpendicularly through slots defined in the insulation layer and further extending through the pour-formed concrete wall layers and at least some distance beyond the outer surface thereof. The ends of the rods are adapted to engage receiving slots in the form panels for securing the rods thereto. Retainer clips are mounted on the rods and engage each side of the insulation board such that the board is fixed in place and the rods can not be removed. Thus, the rods provide a unitary means for laterally supporting the forms in a predetermined parallel spaced relationship, for maintaining the insulation layer in a predetermined parallel spaced relationship between the forms, and for providing a permanent and rigid mechanical connection between the concrete wall layers and the interposed insulation layer.
Other objects and many attendant advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following description together with drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the insulated concrete wall of the present invention shown disposed between form panels and broken out across various sections.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the insulated concrete wall of the present invention with form panels in place and detailing the structural configuration of the rods.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment of the rectangular retainer clip utilizing flat spring flaps.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the retainer clip mounted on the rod of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, the insulated concrete wall system 10 of the present invention is shown. Opposing parallel form panels 12 serve as supports for pouring and forming an insulated concrete wall. The form panels 12 are maintained at a predetermined distance apart with a plurality of rods for forming a wall of a desired thickness.
As illustrated most clearly in FIG. 4, the rods 14 have a rectangular cross section 16 of narrow transverse width, and are made of a resilient plastic or other suitable resilient material. Thus, the rods may be easily stamped or extruded thereby minimizing manufacturing costs. Further, because the rods are substantially flat strips of material, they are easily stacked and boxed for shipment.
The rods 14 are adapted to be received by, and engage with, corresponding receiving slots 18 located along the edges of each form panel. The rods are provided with holes 20 which align with holes 22 in the receiving slots 18, and are secured therein by pins 24 or other suitable fastening means. The rods also include holes 30 for the locating and anchoring reinforcing steel.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the rods also have a pair of opposing V-shaped cut out portions 26 near each end of the rods which align with the concrete wall outer surfaces. These cut out portions substantially reduce the structural integrity of the rod along the reduced vertical dimension. Thus, when the forms 12 are removed after the poured concrete cures, the ends of the rods which protrude beyond the concrete wall surfaces can be easily snapped off such that the rod ends remain flush and align with the outer wall surfaces.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rods 14 pass through slots 32 in the insulation board 34 which is disposed between and parallel to the form panels 12. Retainer clips 36 mounted on the rod retain the insulation board in a desired position between the forms 12 and prevent lateral movement of the insulation board along the rods.
As best seen in FIG. 4, the retainer clip 38 is a rectangular metal plate having a centrally disposed vertical slot 40 defined therethrough. Further, the retainer clip 36 has a pair of divergent cuts extending from either end of the slot thus forming two pairs of opposing flat spring flaps 42a and 42b. The retainer clip is also provided with a pair of integral sawtoothed vertical edges 44 which are perpendicular to the general plane of the retainer clip and when mounted on the rods, protrude inwardly toward the surface of the insulation as shown in FIG. 2. The unique geometry of the retainer clip enables it to slide easily along the rod in one direction for mounting. The sawtoothed edges 44 may then be pressed or otherwise urged into the surface of the insulation, thereby fixedly engaging the retainer clip.
The unique geometry of the rod and retainer clip is particularly well suited for securedly retaining the insulated wall in position. The four resilient flat spring flaps 42a and 42b prevent removal of the rods 14 after they are inserted in insulation board and also prevent lateral movement of the insulation board along the rod. The flat sides of the rod 46 enable the edges of the corresponding flat spring flaps 42b to engage with and firmly press against both sides of the rod 48 along its entire vertical dimension. Further, the upper and lower flat spring flaps 42a engage the rod along its upper and lower edges. Thus, if removal of the rod or movement of the insulation layer is attempted after the insulation layer is positioned and the rods and retainer clips are in place, the flat spring flaps will dig into the upper and lower edges of the rod, restraining movement. The use of a plastic rod enables the metal edges of the flat spring flaps to more easily engage with, and dig into, the rod if movement of the insulation layer or the rod is attempted. However, the rod may also be composed of other suitable resilient materials. Further, because the centrally disposed slot 40 and the cross section of the rod are both rectangular, flat spring flap engagement is accomplished along the entire cross-sectional perimeter of the rod, thereby maximizing the gripping and retaining capability of the retaining clip 38.
The rods and retainer clips provide spacing and support such that concrete can be poured to a desired wall thickness between the insulation layer and the adjacent form panels, and will be retained in a substantially fixed position between the form panels. Further, as the concrete cures, the rods provide a sturdy and rigid mechanical connection sandwiching the insulation layer 34 between the adjacent concrete wall layers 52, thereby forming a unitary insulated concrete wall structure.
Additional tie rods 54 may be inserted to retain the insulation board in a desired position between the forms and to further provide a rigid mechanical connection between the concrete wall layers and the insulation layer after concrete pouring.
The present insulated concrete wall lends itself to quick and relatively inexpensive fabrication particularly suited to environments where housing and commercial facilities must be built quickly and with minimal labor. To fabricate the insulated concrete wall of the present invention, rods 14 are first inserted through an insulation layer 34 having receiving slots 32 defined therethrough. The rods are aligned in the insulation layer such that it is disposed at a preselected distance between the form panels. Retainer clips 38 are then mounted onto both ends of the rods 14 and pressed or otherwise forceably engaged into the insulation layer surface. Thus, the sawtoothed edges 44 of the retainer clip penetrates the surface of the insulation layer and the retainer clips are maintained substantially flush with the insulation layer surface. The ends of the rods are then aligned with the receiving slots 18 of the form panels 12 such that the holes 20 at the ends of the rods 14 and the holes 22 through the slots on the form panels align. A 24 pin or other suitable fastening means is then inserted through the holes 20 and 22 securing the ends of the rods to the form panels and simultaneously securing adjacent form panels together. Additional independent spacer rods 54 may also be inserted through the insulation board and extending beyond the walls thereof for providing supplementing the strength of the mechanical interconnection between the concrete walls and the interposed insulation wall. Further, reinforcing rods may then be anchored to anchoring holes 30. Concrete is then poured into the spaces on either side of the insulation board between the form panels. After the concrete cures, the pins 24 are removed, along with the form panels. The protruding ends of the rods are then removed using a knock off tool or other suitable device, such that the rods remain flush and aligned with the exposed walls of the insulated concrete wall.
While the above description shows and describes a concrete insulated wall and construction method of one embodiment of the present invention, other embodiments may also be constructed. Thus, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the claims. | An insulated concrete wall having a centrally disposed layer of insulation and utilizing a unitary means for simultaneously maintaining form panels in a predetermined spaced relationship, and for maintaining the insulation in a predetermined spaced relationship between the form panels such that a permanent and reinforced mechanical connection is provided between said concrete walls and said interposed insulation. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] Reference is made to Disclosure Document Number 518,460, Watkins. The invention relates to human sensory training and testing systems. More particularly, the invention relates to sensory training and testing systems focusing upon the development of pre-attentive and attentive vision for the enhancement of the individual's ability to perform specific functions.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Imagine a situation where one of a person's senses, such as the vision from one eye, the hearing from an ear, the smell from a nose, the touch from one hand, has been impaired through damage to the nerves associated with such sense. What if the sense could be improved through use of the other unaffected senses. Imagine further a situation where one eye has better vision than the other. What if the eye with the better vision could be used to train the underperforming eye. The present invention relates to sensory training and testing systems focusing upon the development of the pre-attentive and attentive vision processes. To understand this method, one must first understand the concepts of pre-attentive and attentive vision.
[0005] Eagles have exceptionally good visual acuity being able to see a 10-cm long mouse body from a viewing height of hundreds of meters above the ground. This phenomenal vision is, however, constrained to a very small portion of their retina termed the fovea, which provides a detailed, but very limited, field of view. Humans have the same retinal configuration with a central fovea comprised of dense populations of three eye color cone sensors (red, green, and blue).
[0006] The eagle does not use its foveal vision to locate its prey though. The foveal vision has too small of a field of view and would be like looking at a large area picture through a soda straw. This task would be analogous to the “Where's Waldo” problem where there is just too much similar looking clutter in the scene to easily locate the one correct object.
[0007] Eagles and other binaural predators locate their prey through the use of depth and motion cues observed via the outer portion of retina, instead of trying to find a particular object in the large background terrain area. Motion and depth cues are basically mathematically indistinguishable because they represent a spatial shift of the object of interest against its background. For the case of the motion cues, the spatial shifts are caused by movement of the object against its background in time. With regard to the depth cues, the spatial shifts are a result of parallax between the lines of sight of the predator's two eyes. While for the eagle the dominant cue for looking down on a more or less flat surface is motion, for a lion looking out horizontally over the savanna for prey both motion and depth cues are important (also, the lion may fuse the input cues from its senses in locating prey). Hence, both motion and depth are considered important for predators.
[0008] The outer portion of the human retina, and other predators such as the eagle described above, has a much sparser population density of cone sensors and thus can be used to analyze daylight visual information more quickly using a process called pre-attentive vision. Once a depth or motion cue is detected, the eagle moves its fovea onto this area and uses the maximum visual acuity portion of its retina to identify whether the depth or motion cue was caused by an actual prey. This attentive vision processing of the foveal vision though is slower than the pre-attentive vision.
[0009] Humans use two distinct types of vision processes. However, humans are not always aware which one they are using at a particular time. The first type of processing is a whole scene interrogation that is termed a “soft focus” in some sports. This is commonly considered to employ “pre-attentive vision”. The second type of processing is a highly fixated view of a portion of the scene in front of them. This highly fixated processing is commonly call “attentive vision” and is used to read signs, for example. What is not well known is that the pre-attentive vision process has a refresh rate that is five times faster than the attentive vision process.
[0010] The typical human vision refresh rate (the time required to produce a single mental image from the visual input of a person's foveal region, i.e., attentive vision process) is given as 200 miliseconds, and the stereopsis and depth perception has a limit around 20 arcsec, which is representative of the attentive vision processes. The pre-attentive temporal refresh rate, on the other hand, is typically given as between 25 and 32 Hz or approximately 40 milliseconds, which is five times faster than the attentive vision process. Processing speed is a very important aspect in the search and target acquisition/recognition process. To perform this task efficiently, humans must rely upon the pre-attentive vision process and not attentive vision.
[0011] The human vision processes have developed very sophisticated calibration techniques that occur without an awareness of their existence or implementation. That does not, however, mean that humans always have perfect vision and use the correct vision processes to address every vision problem encountered. Humans sometimes use intuition to solve vision problems and actually apply very inefficient methods for their solutions. There have been some attempts in the past to train pre-attentive vision without the knowledge of why the process works. Reading in general is performed as an attentive vision process where the foveal field of view at the typical reading distance of 60 cm has a width of approximately 2 cm. This allows even long words to be completed foveated (placed within the foveal field of view for identification). But humans are very familiar with the spelling of words and only recognition is needed to understand that a string of letters represents a particular word. In fact, humans can recognize strings of words without really identifying the individual words. This is the process that speed reading uses to increase the rate at which humans can derive the meaning from written text. What is not recognized by the users of this approach is that they are using pre-attentive vision that performs recognition vision processes five times faster than the foveal attentive vision identification process.
[0012] Based upon the foregoing understanding relating to pre-attentive vision, it is desirable to develop a vision training techniques which improve upon one's ability to utilize pre-attentive vision in an effective manner. The notion, however, that human senses including vision can be trained or enhanced in not novel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,920, for Enhancing the Perceptibility of Barely Perceptible Images, Naomi Weisstein, Inventor, issued in 1983, discusses the use of a computer program to enhance visionary perception of faint images. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,810, for Vision Training Method and Apparatus, Stephen Galanter and Barry Milis, inventors, issued in 1992, involves different types of computer generated therapeutic eye exercise routines to increase performance. U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,486, for Method and Apparatus for Training Visual Attention Capabilities of a Subject, Karlene K. Ball and Kristina K. Berg, inventors, issues in 2002, discloses the use of a computer algorithm to improve attention vision.
[0013] Attempts at visual training have been specifically applied in treating dyslexia. Dyslexia is a problem that is related to how the human eyes' imagery is processed. As recent as September 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,486, for Method and Apparatus for Treating Dyslexia, was issued to Alison Marie Lawson. The Lawson patent is based upon the theory that Dyslexia is the result of unstable focus in one eye. According to Lawson, Dyslexics do not appear to fully use their magnocellular pathways, which are the pathways used in the brain to process fast moving objects. Dyslexia, according to Lawson, can be improved by strengthening of the magnocellular visual pathways through repetition of eye exercises. Lawson, however, fails to understand the true root to the Dyslexics problem and therefore discloses an inefficient remedy to such problem. Dyslexia is a problem associated with the way in which the left or right ordering of numbers or letters is perceived using attentive vision. Pre-attentive vision in a Dyslexic is not affected. Unlike the method disclosed in the Lawson Patent, the present invention describes a method of training Dyslexics using pre-attentive vision to calibrate or correct the problems associated with attentive vision.
[0014] Vision training has also been used in relation to sports, specifically baseball players. In an article published in the 2002 edition of the magazine entitled “Coaching Management”, David Hill the author, speaks of training baseball players to be better hitters through vision exercises. Mr. Hill relates on page 18 of his article, how important it is to a baseball player to be able to see the ball before it is hit. Notwithstanding the opinions of Mr. Hill, however, and as stated on page 171 of the book entitled “Keep Your Eye on the Ball”, Robert G. Watts, A. Terry Bahill, W.H. Freeman and Company, 2000. tracking a baseball moving at 100 mph, would require head and eye rotations in excess of 1000 degrees per second; an impossibility. Looking at an object (i.e., keeping your eyes on the ball) is an identification process using attentive vision, and the batter already knows that he is supposed to hit a baseball. The actual task that is needed is to track the path of the baseball in order to be able to swing the bat at the right time and place to be able to solidly contact the ball. This is a search and target acquisition task and not an identification task (requiring attentive vision). So the batter really should not look at the baseball but, rather, the background instead. The batter must use pre-attentive vision instead of attentive vision that simply is not fast enough to be used to follow the fast moving object. The veracity of this observation is easy to justify by way of example. Jugglers who must simultaneously track several objects cannot possibly track all of the objects that are being juggled by looking at them. They look at the background past the objects and are thus able to use the fast response pre-attentive vision to track them all at the same time.
[0015] While the concept of sensory training may not be novel, none of the prior art mentioned above, recognizes the value of using pre-attentive sensory perceptions to enhance attentive vision. With this in mind, the proper vision or sensory process or sequence of processes must be applied if one wishes to optimize the performance of a task. Furthermore, it is known that human vision can be efficiently trained if it is routinely exposed to the proper visual input for performing the process required for a particular task. In fact, some vision defects can also be cured or mitigated by altering the visual input to the eyes or training the eyes with the proper visual input images. Use of other senses such as hearing, smell and touch can be uses to strengthen the foregoing. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the techniques discussed above and provides an effective and efficient vision and sensory training and testing technique.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an efficient sensory training method. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certain embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a display used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a display used in treating dyslexia in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] The detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. It should be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention.
[0020] With reference to FIG. 1 , a vision training system is disclosed which employs the use pre-attentive vision in enhancing the mental processes of subjects. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process involves first creating a three-dimensional environment including at least two objects of shape, including a first object and a second object, situated in front of a background. The first object and the second object are spaced beyond the horizontal angular extent an individual is able to foveat using attentive vision. That is, the objects are spaced in a manner preventing an individual from using attentive vision to observe both objects simultaneously. The first object and the second object are further positioned to produce either motion cues, color cues and/or depth cues. Thereafter, the three dimensional environment is viewed by an individual and the response of an individual is studied to ascertain their ability to utilize pre-attentive viewing.
[0021] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the three dimensional environment is simulated on a two-dimensional display monitor. In addition, the horizontal angular extent required to prevent the use of attentive vision is 2 degrees of the entire width field viewed by the individual and the first object and the second object are positioned to produce depth cues by varying the depth range difference between the first object and the second object. In addition to the use of depth cues and motion cues, the textural contrast between the background and the first and second objects is varied to optimize the use of pre-attentive vision and/or enhance the testing process. Textural contrast is altered by varying color composition, edge fidelity, noise and intensity.
[0022] As discussed above, human vision is often characterized only for the attentive vision process. The temporal refresh for attentive vision as mentioned above is generally regarded to be approximately 200 msec, and the stereopsis and depth perception has a limit around 20 arsec. In contrast, and as discussed above, the pre-attentive temporal refresh rate is generally considered to be approximately 40 msec, which is five times faster than the attentive vision. The pre-attentive depth perception limit is approximately 3 arcmin at a nominal 10-degree separation, which is less sensitive than the attentive vision as measured for the central foveal vision.
[0023] The visual input for measuring and training human pre-attentive vision in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be detailed. Both depth and motion cues are determined through the fusion of the backgrounds viewed by both the left and right eyes. This is sometimes referred to as “stereoscopic fusion”. This stereoscopic fusion is accomplished nearly instantaneously by our two eyes based on coarse spatial structure and shading features that represent more or less a vertical surface at a distance as seen from two lines of sight with horizontal angular separation (that is, left and right eyes which are horizontally separated).
[0024] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, two objects of shape relating to the task of interest are used. Spheres, for example, can be used for baseball players. The two objects of shape are placed in the 3-dimensional (3-D) scene representation using a computer aided design (CAD) program such that they are approximately {fraction (2/3)} of the distance to the background and are positioned with horizontal separation.
[0025] With reference to FIG. 1 , and in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a typical display would be a 43-cm monitor having approximately a 33-cm width that represents a 20-degree width field of view when the monitor is viewed from a distance to of 90 cm. A human can foveate approximately 10 percent of the horizontal angular extent of such a display or 2 degrees of the entire width field viewed by the subject. In order to force the observer to use pre-attentive vision rather than attentive vision, the spheres' closest edges must be separated by more than the 2-degree foveal extent (that is, 3.2 cm at 90-cm viewing distance).
[0026] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a typical scene would contain two 5-cm diameter spheres positioned with their centers located 9 cm from each side of the display. This produces a 10-cm separation between the inside edges of the two spheres. The diameter of the sphere is such that it is larger than the angular extent of the foveal vision and allows the spheres to be textured with coarse, medium, and fine spatial structure as used with attentive vision processes. Spatial structure can be explained by example. In a scene of a dining room, the large objects like the table, chairs and people would represent low frequencies. The plates on the table and the people's heads and limbs would represent medium frequency objects. The utensils, the people's fingers and designs on the plates would represent the high frequency or fine detail objects.
[0027] The 6.5-cm separation between the outer edges of the spheres and the outer edges of the respective right and left background edges of the display, prevent attentive vision from relating the edge of the background to the sphere's location in the background. In general, the size of the spheres and the spacing of the spheres substantially prevent the use of attentive vision for performing the depth determination task.
[0028] When employing the configuration described above, the background for the 3-D volume space (as defined and simulated within the two dimensional space of the display) could be situated as an xy-plane at a range of 1500 units in the z-direction from where the viewing takes place. If x represents the horizontal dimension, then the viewing locations for forming the stereo pair images will be plus and minus 7.5 units from z=0. This gives 10-mrad angular separation for the 1500-unit range for the background. The two spheres are positioned around a range of z=1000 with x positions of plus and minus 83.33 units that corresponds to an angular separation of 9.46-degrees between the centers of the spheres or a projected separation of 250 units at the background range of z=1500 units. For measurement purposes, the spheres are positioned at 25-unit intervals closer and farther than the 1000 nominal z-axis value. If the left sphere is positioned farther away (say 1025 ) then the right sphere is positioned closer (correspondingly at 975). The size of the spheres must also be changed with their range positioning to maintain their relative size of 83.33 unit diameters at a z-axis range of 1000 units. The sphere at 1025 z-axis range would have a diameter of 85.42 units, and the sphere at 975 range would have a diameter of 81.30. All of these spheres have the same projected diameter of 125 units at the 1500-unit background range.
[0029] At this point it is instructive to gain a perspective of how sensitive human depth perception resolution is compared to that of the 43-cm monitor with 1024×768 pixel resolution. At a viewing distance of 90 cm each pixel has approximately a 70-arcsec width. For the attentive vision stereopsis limit of 20 arcsec, this would imply that a shift of only {fraction (2/7)} of a pixel is needed to be able to see the depth difference between two surfaces at a viewing range of 90-cm or a one pixel offset for a viewing range of 3.15 m.
[0030] The pre-attentive vision depth perception limit for objects separated by a few foveal regions is about an order of magnitude less sensitive that the attentive vision because there are about 60,000 cones in the foveal region out of about 6.5 million in the entire retina. There are about 100 times as many cones outside the foveal region covering an area nearly 10,000 times larger than the foveal region. Hence, the cone density is an order of magnitude less in each direction. As a result, the required display spatial resolution is less when training and/or testing pre-attentive vision as compared with attentive vision. This allows for a viewing range of 90 cm provided that CAD modeled images used are at least 512×512 pixel resolution. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 512×512 resolution image can be used for fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of the image spatial frequency content but would have to be cropped (⅛ off the top and ⅛ off the bottom) to 512×384 before being imported into a PowerPoint display and expanded to the 1024×768 pixel monitor display.
[0031] In terms of the requirements of measuring the 3-arcmin pre-attentive depth perception limit for the 10-degree object separation at a viewing range of 90 cm, an offset of the objects' centers of 2 to 3 pixels at the 1024×768 pixel display or 1 to 2 elements at the 512×384 model resolution is needed.
[0032] The positioning requirements that this imposes for the CAD 3-D scene model generator for use in training and testing in accordance with the present invention are shown in FIG. 1 . This is a y-axis, or top down view, of the objects, background, and camera positions in the xz-plane. The scale in the two axial directions as shown in FIG. 1 are different to permit viewing of the small detail of the extrapolated sphere centers in the background xy-plane. The x-axis scale is ratio is 3:10. It should be noted that the two spheres are shown as circles even though the z-axis projections are not to scale. The left [1] and right [2] camera positions (representing the human subject's left and right eye viewing locations) are equally spaced around the central scene origin [ 3 ] at (0,0). The separation between the left camera [1] position (−7.5, 0) and the right camera [2] position (+7.5,0) is 15 units in the x-axis direction. The two spheres of diameter 83.33 units have their centers positioned at a z-range of 1000 units. The left sphere center [ 4 ] is located at (−83.33, 1000). The right sphere center [ 5 ] is located at (+83.33, 1000). The projection of the left sphere onto the background plane at a range of z=1500[ 6 ] is positioned at (−125, 1500); the right sphere center projection [ 7 ] is positioned at (+125, 1500). The two sphere centers thus have again a separation of 250 units that at a range of 1500 units represents an angular separation of 9.46 degrees. For the left camera, the left sphere center projection in the background plane [ 8 ] is positioned at (−121.25, 1500) while the right sphere center projection [ 9 ] is positioned at (+128.75, 1500). The two spheres have again a separation of 250 units at the background range. For the right camera, the left sphere center projection in the background plane [ 10 ] is positioned at (−128.75, 1500) while the right sphere center projection [ 11 ] is positioned at (+121.25, 1500). Yet again the two spheres have a separation of 250 units at the background range.
[0033] Human pre-attentive depth perception will not be able to discern any difference in the range of the two spheres because the parallax is the same magnitude for both. If the left sphere center is moved 50 units further away to the position [12] located at (−83.33, 1050) and the right sphere center is moved 50 units closer to the position [13] located at (+83.33, 950), then there is a 100-unit difference in depth between them. The left camera now has a new left sphere center projection [ 14 ] of (−115.83, 1500) against the background and a new right sphere center projection [ 15 ] of (+135.92, 1500), or a separation distance of 251.75 units. The right camera now has a new left sphere center projection [ 16 ] of (−122.26, 1500) against the background and a new right sphere center projection [17] of (+127.24, 1500), or a separation distance of 249.50 units. There is thus a 2.25-unit difference in the parallax separations between the sphere centers against the background. The 20-degree field of view of the scene has an x-axis extent [ 18 ] of 364 units at the 1000-unit range in the z-direction and an x-axis extent [ 19 ] of 546 units at the 1500-unit range in the z-direction. Hence, the parallax difference of the spheres against the background is 2.25 units or 5.2 arcmin, which is just larger than the 3 arcmin pre-attentive vision depth perception limit. Hence, sphere center positions of z-axis ranges of 900, 925, 950, 975, 1025, 1050, 1075, and 1100 are used to produce range differences between the left and right sphere centers of 50, 100, 150, and 200 units. The 50-unit difference case has a parallax difference of 2.6 arcmin, which is less than 3-arcmin limit. As such, by varying the range differences one is able to train individuals to effectively use pre-attentive vision. To avoid problems of pixel value extrapolation, the background could be moved to a range of 1406.7 units where the x-axis extent would be exactly 512 units, or the angular extent could be reduced to 512 units at the 1500 z-axis range, which would represent and 18.85-degree width.
[0034] If more precise measurement of the pre-attentive vision depth perception is needed, the CAD 3-D model could be used to produce 1024×1024 pixel images that can be cropped to 1024×768 pixel images for display. Even with this though, it is not possible to obtain sufficient precision in the measurement of the pre-attentive vision depth perception limit by simply finer resolution adjustments of the sphere centers z-axis separation because of the pixel value extrapolation errors that occur. The measurement precision must, therefore, be derived by varying the parameters that impact the human vision derivation of the pre-attentive vision depth.
[0035] The actual measurement of the pre-attentive vision depth perception limit is dependent upon the difference of the texture contrast between the sphere and the background. This contrast difference for daytime vision is determined using the eyes' cone sensors since the rod sensors are used for low light, level vision. Parameters that influence this contrast include: textural spatial frequency, color composition, edge fidelity, noise, and intensity. The intent in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to use a set of these parameters that can be varied to produce a range of contrast differences that will vary the measured value of the preattentive depth perception for the scenes generated with a fixed set of separation ranges between the two objects used to obtain more or less a continuum of difficulties for the range separations chosen.
[0036] Of the variables, the one with the least control between subjects is the intensity. Hence, the intensity is simply set to be bright enough to see the images comfortably. The next problem area arises with respect to edge fidelity and noise. Sphere edges with essentially step function transitions are least susceptible to the effects of noise. As will be seen below to be effective for color contrast variation there must be significant levels of noise randomly applied to single color scene layers to produce colored backgrounds. This results because the CAD 3-D model produces grayscale and not color images. Hence, the edges of all of the textures used will be high contrast with sharp edge transitions. The parameters that will be used to produce variability in the pre-attentive depth perception measurement and training are textural spatial frequency, color composition, and noise.
[0037] The textural spatial frequency will be discussed first. The texture of the background must be selected. A sharp edged pitted structure is a reasonable choice since there are a lot of multi-edged surfaces that can be made shiny. If several illumination sources are used in the simulation, many multifaceted light and dark patches are produced. The coarseness of the texture must be selected to provide a reasonable number of 4-6 cycle frequency patches over the 512×512 model spatial resolution. This low frequency content is needed in the background so that it will not be completely destroyed even by the largest levels of noise used.
[0038] The texturing of the sphere surfaces will now be discussed. The spheres have a projected diameter extent of 125 units at the background z-range. Three levels of spatial frequency content are chosen—low, medium, and high. For the 125-unit extent these could be represented by 1.5-3 cycles (low), 7-12 cycles (medium), and 20-50 cycles Sigh). In terms of the whole scene extent these would be 6-12 cycles (low), 30-50 cycles (medium), and 80-200 cycles (high). The actual textures could be periodic like a checkered pattern but should not be oriented vertically and horizontally. In addition, both spheres should not have the same orientation. Also, two periodic patterns should not be selected that produce pronounced beat frequencies. Hence, random structured textures are preferred, but care must be taken that in forming mid-range overall intensity the spatial frequency range is maintained.
[0039] One final note should be stressed in terms of the placement of illumination sources used in the simulation. The spheres must not cast recognizable characteristic elliptical shadows on the background.
[0040] The next parameter to be discussed is the use of color. The simplest choice is the primary colors (red, green, and blue) that correspond to the peaks of the human eye's cone sensors. Most CAD 3-D models produce grayscale texture patterns instead of multi-color texture patterns on the spheres. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, only one of the three texture patterns is used at a time and only one of the primary colors is used. The other two colors can be separately used on the remaining two patterns. In accordance with a further embodiment, a composite image can be formed by merging all three colored texture patterns to produce a multi-colored pair of spheres. The background, however, would remain as a grayscale because it is composed of equal amounts of the primary colors on the same texture pattern.
[0041] The issue of the grayscale representation of the background is not really a problem when the noise is added. As mentioned before, it takes a large noise level to destroy the edge content of step function edges. To produce multi-colored noise, random Gaussian noise is added to the separate texture pattern sphere images before they are colored. The images are digitized to 256-bit grayscale resolution. The individual images are contrast enhanced to produce many edges with the maximum grayscale difference. In order to destroy the edges of the images the noise must have a standard deviation that is on the order of, or larger than, this grayscale contrast difference. Three noise levels are thus chosen to accomplish this to varying degrees. The standard deviations for the Gaussian noise are 240, 360, and 480. Under the strongest noise, only a few percent of the background edge pixels are unaltered, yet the low frequency structure is still preserved because in stereo viewing only correlated components are retained and uncorrelated noise is discarded in the final representation of the scene content.
[0042] The final issue to be dealt with in the construction of the measurement and test images for pre-attentive depth perception is the background positioning. The background must be presented with several variations so that characteristic features or edges cannot be used with attentive vision to determine the depth of the individual spheres, especially when the test is given repeated for training purposes. A typical set of measuring or training images would be a random ordering of scenes of permutations of the variable parameters. There are eight different range scenes, six different color-texture patterns, and three different noise levels. Thus there would be 144 different scenes in the test. These images should be viewed at a fairly rapid pace to reduce the tendency of the observer to use attentive vision since the pre-attentive depth perception is determined very quickly once the stereo images are fused. Several different orderings of these 144 scenes can be produced for non-repetitive training purposes. There are many applications for this pre-attentive vision measurement and training including: any sport where a fast moving object is tracked, navigation of vehicles or aircraft, improved speed reading, and post operative training for lasik surgery patients.
[0043] If used to improve a baseball player's pre-attentive depth perception, the addition of an audio signal could enhance the player's application of their pre-attentive skill relating to hitting. An object tracker could be used to track the path of a pitched ball. A sound could be produced that represents the range of the ball to the batter's strike zone over home plate. As the ball approaches close to the strike zone, the pitch and/or volume level of sound could be increased until the ball finally reaches the strike zone at which time a definite noise could be made to represent that the pitch was a strike and should be contacted by the batter with his/her swing. If the pitch was not in the strike zone, no special sound would be made. Repeated training would allow the batter to use his hearing to hone the visual tracking skills needed to improve his batting percentage.
[0044] As discussed in the Background of the Invention, it is believed that measurement and training in accordance with the present invention can also be applied to some attentive vision problems, such as, dyslexia. The present invention applies pre-attentive vision training and testing in helping people overcome the problems associated with dyslexia. Reading, and in particular visual training to overcome dyslexia, is performed in an environment where the printed words or numbers are typically grayscale images that have no depth or color variations present for calibration. The key to proper training for the patient with dyslexia is to present letters and/or numbers in a display where pre-attentive vision is used to determine the ordering.
[0045] More particularly, and in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Windows' Paint, a computer application providing for desktop publishing, can used to produce a grid of random letters. By way of example, if 12-point bold capital letters are used with basically five spaces (letters like “W” require less and “I” requires more) between letter and two-line spacing, a 20 wide by 12 high array can be produced. This can be displayed using PowerPoint similar to the scheme used for the training and testing of pre-attentive vision described above but such that the width represents a 10-degree extent. Under these conditions there will be four or five consecutive letters in a line within the foveal region. The letter grid pattern can have letters removed to produce word size groupings or left as a complete rectangular grid. This array can be presented to both eyes either with black letters on a white background or white letters on a black background to determine the subject's degree of dyslexia in identifying the order of the letters by reading the first line left to right and the second line right to left, etc.
[0046] This test can also be performed using primary color lettering where the entire grid letters are either red, green, or blue against either white or black background. To calibrate out the problem of dyslexia requires that the left and right grid letters have a color-depth ordering in the pre-attentive vision. This is accomplished by producing a grid with letters in a pattern that have been offset to produce different depths that have different colors assigned to them. For example, if the evenly spaced set of grid letters is viewed by the right eye in a cross eyed stereo pair, the spacing of the left eye letters in the grid can be changed to produce peaks and troughs. The peaks are produced by shifting the letters one space to the right. For any particular letter this is accomplished by moving one of the spaces on the right side of the letter to the left side of the letter. This changes just that one letter with respect to the rest of the grid. It appears closer than the other letters. This process can be applied to the first letter and every third letter after it on the first line, the second letter of the second line and every third letter after it on the second line, the third letter of the third line and every third letter after it on the third line, and the first letter of the fourth line . . . , etc. This produces diagonal peaks in the letter grid that move from left to right down the grid.
[0047] The middle depth region of the grid is produced by leaving the letters directly right of the peak letters or two letters to the left of the peak letters alone. The troughs are produced by shifting the remaining letters one space to the left using the same process that was applied to the peak letters to shift them one space to the right. This produces a letter grid that has both peaks and troughs that proceed diagonally from the left to the right down the grid. The peaks can be colored with one of the primary colors, the middle letters with a second primary color, and the troughs with the third primary color. The background for the color can be either white or black. For initial training, the black background provides a more pronounced image because the individual cone sensors will only be receiving information from one depth plane.
[0048] When the subject views this color-depth grid of letters, their pre-attentive vision will counter any switching of the letter ordering derived by the foveal vision. By switching back and forth between attentive and pre-attentive vision the patient can train their foveal vision process to derive the correct letter ordering for the color-depth letter grid.
[0049] As the subject's training progresses, the color or depth aspect to the grid can be eliminated and white can be used instead of black for the background. In addition, different color-depth patterns can be used. The peak to trough sequence could be reversed or the diagonal shift could be from right to left going down the grid. The depth pattern could be changed to be a wave instead of a saw-tooth pattern, etc. In any case, the order of the letters must be random and different for each color-depth letter grid when the grid pattern is read from left to right and then right to left.
[0050] Patterns can also be produced that have actual words whose reverse spelling is a different word. In this case the grid pattern should be read only from left to right. The presentation mechanism for the display of the stereo images is not as restrictive as for the pre-attentive vision since the shape content is very distinct and not degraded by texture composition or noise. Hence, even a slide viewer type display could be used for administering the training.
[0051] The benefits and procedures associated with the use of the present invention in treating dyslexia will now be demonstrated with reference to the following example:
EXAMPLE
[0052] Background:
[0053] In accordance with Disclosure Document Number 518,460, Watkins, Jessica Rae Watkins (“Watkins”) developed and administered a stereoscopic color-coded and depth-perception-based testing and training program to three patients from Dr. Radenovich's Children's Vision Center in December of 2002, using equilateral triangles with four different orientations. The results of this experiment were that of the three subjects thought to have dyslexic-like behavior, one did not show any difficulty in orientation determination throughout the entire program of testing and training; but, the other two exhibited severe problems with orientation determination during the baseline test and struggled throughout the training program. These two subjects, however, did not exhibit any orientation determination difficulty during the final testing. Discussions between Dr. Anthony Fierro of the Region 19 reading program and Watkins indicated that the next step in validating the procedure used to treat dyslexia was to perform a control group experiment.
[0054] Objective:
[0055] To perform an experiment using students diagnosed as having dyslexia and not having dyslexia. These students were all given a traditional baseline test to determine their level of difficulty in performing a visual orientation determination task. They were divided into two groups based on their scores and were fist given either the stereoscopic training or placebo training. They were all given a second orientation determination test to determine any change caused by the training given. They were then given the training they did not receive first and were again tested for orientation determination to determine any change following the second training.
[0056] Rationale:
[0057] What is currently thought to be the defining criteria for a person with dyslexia is their inability to associate a particular letter symbol with a particular sound or phoneme. Researchers in the area of treating dyslexia do not believe that dyslexia is caused by a vision problem since there are dyslexics who have 20-20 vision This test will demonstrate disagreement with the foregoing and further that dyslexia could in fact be the result of the human foveal vision being un-calibrated in terms of orientation determination. It is believed that when a person with dyslexia uses their foveal vision to identify letter or number symbols they do not see the same symbol orientated in the same direction each time they try to identify it.
[0058] This cause for dyslexia can be used to explain all of the symptoms of dyslexia, which includes the inability of a person to associate a particular letter symbol with a particular sound or phoneme. The biomimicking algorithm described in Disclosure Document 518,460 explains how predators with two forward looking eyes (this includes humans) perform visual search, target acquisition, recognition, and identification processes. One of the applications is the method that was used in this study as a potential cure for dyslexia. In essence, humans use two distinct forms of vision. The first is a whole scene view of the world around us. This is accomplished using what is called pre-attentive vision. Our pre-attentive vision occurs automatically without having to think about it. This vision process is used to locate food and danger. It is also used for navigating. The visual process elements that are used in this locating process are called cues. The primary visual cues used in pre-attentive vision are motion, depth and color. These cues allow us to locate possible food and danger and allow us to reposition the central portion of our eyes (the fovea) on the object to be identified. The foveal vision is then used to identify the object located by the pre-attentive vision using a process called attentive vision. Problems with reading can occur because reading skips the pre-attentive vision phase and jumps straight to the attentive vision process. Reading is not an automatic human function but rather is a learned skill.
[0059] The format for reading text is black letters on a flat white background. If an individual's foveal vision is calibrated correctly for orientation determination, there is no problem learning to read if the individual has normal vision. But, if the connections of the very small foveal region in our eyes' retinas (a 0.5 mm diameter circle with 60,000 color cone sensors) are not correctly channeled to the back portions of our brains that perform the complex mental processing that produces the single picture we derive from our two eyes, the images of letters that are seen many not have the proper orientation. In fact, the letters may have random orientations each time they are viewed. The key to correcting the problem would then be to calibrate the foveal vision in terms of orientation determination. That is exactly the approach taken in this study. This is accomplished by using by using a symbol grid that contains depth and color cues that can be used by both pre-attentive and attentive vision to allow the attentive vision to be calibrated for orientation determination by transitioning the correctly determined orientation of the pre-attentive vision to the attentive vision of the foveal region.
[0060] Orientation Determination Test:
[0061] Since it is symbol orientation determination and not letter identification that is important, only triangles are used instead of any letters. The baseline test consists of five rows of ten triangles that have one of four random orientations. The triangles point directly toward one of the four random directions—up, down, left or right. A representation of this test is shown in FIG. 2 . This depiction is with black triangles on a white background whereas the actual test that was displayed on two computer monitors that were viewed with opposite eyes simultaneously had white triangles on a black background.
[0062] There were also two equivalent tests that were given after completion of each of the two training programs—the foveal vision orientation calibration and the placebo.
[0063] The foveal vision orientation calibration training program consisted of five sessions given on different days. They were stereoscopic displays where color and depth were added to the symbol grids to allow the preattentive vision to lock the symbol grid in space and transfer this orientation information to the foveal vision for calibrating its orientation. The task performed by the subject was slowly transitioned from a primarily pre-attentive vision task to a solely attentive vision task of orientation identification to accomplish the calibration of the foveal vision.
[0064] The placebo training program used the two-computer-viewing setup but did not contain any depth or color cures for determining orientation. The test consisted of the letters “b”, “d”, “p”, and the vowels. The purpose was to see if simple three letter words with vowels as the second letter could be properly identified and pronounced when they were hidden in a letter jumble line of ten of the same letters per line. There were five words in each testing session and five letter jumble lines with one of the words hidden in each line. The task that was given was to find at most one of the words in each line. The subjects were timed in hopes of improving their concentration. The subjects were shown each of the five words several times with different colored print by computer display just prior to testing. They were given a printed sheet with the words to look at during the test.
[0065] One of these tests is shown in Table 1. The words “bad, bed, bid, bod, and bud” are hidden in the five lines.
TABLE 1 Placebo letter jumble test for bad, bed, bid bod, and bud. d a b p e b u d o b o d e b i d a b u p d i b u p o b e d a b u p a b o d i b e e b a d i p o d u b
Results:
[0067] The results of the orientation determination testing are shown in Table 2. The subjects are listed as Group A or Group B. Group A received the calibration training first and then the placebo training. Group B received the placebo training first and the calibration training.
TABLE 2 Orientation Determination Test Results A-1 A-2 A-3 B-1 B-2 B-3 Test 1 8/0 4/1 1/0 10/0 2/4 3/0 Test 2 0/0 0/0 0/0 12/0 0/2 25/0 Test 3 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/2 0/0 0/0
[0068] The entries for the subjects for each test consist of the number of incorrect orientation determinations out of the fifty triangles followed by the number of determinations that were stated and then changed. As can be seen after the orientation training had been given, none of the subjects made any mistakes in orientation determination and only two reversals were made. In general, the subjects that received the placebo training first (Group B) did about the same on the second test except for subject B-3. This subject reversed every left and right orientation determination. The possible reason for this will be discussed after discussing the placebo test results.
[0069] The placebo test results are combined for the four tests taken in Table 3. There were 20 total words that could have been found, five from each test. The results are given as the number of correctly found and pronounced words followed by the number of words not found followed by the number of incorrect words pronounced by Group A that had received the orientation calibration training first. There was only one incorrect answer and that was a repeat of the word from the previous line. The subject may have looked at the word list and then looked at the wrong line and found the same word twice. Also of interest is the subject B-3 that had no trouble finding any of the words until the last test. This was the test shown in Table 1. The subject identified the last three letters of the sequence “dub” as “bud” and pronounced it as “bud”. It is very interesting that this individual also reversed every left and right orientation identification in test 2 two days later. It is possible that this phenomenon could have been caused by allergies. It is not known if the orientation calibration has corrected this problem for the condition when the individual has allergy symptoms. Subject B-3 did not make any orientation determination mistakes in the final test.
TABLE 3 Placebo Letter Jumble Test Results A-1 A-2 A-3 B-1 B-2 B-3 4 Tests 15/5/0 19/0/1 19/1/0 8/0/12 18/1/1 19/0/1
[0070] In terms of improved letter identification and word pronunciation, subjects A-1 and B-1 will be compared. Both had difficulty with the first orientation determination test. Subject B-1 correctly found and pronounced only 8 out of 20 words in the placebo testing before having received the orientation calibration training. Of special note is the score for the test shown in Table 1. Only one of the words was correctly found and pronounced and four incorrect words were given. Upon completion of the final test, subject B-1 was given the last placebo session again. This time three words were correctly found. The first mistake was the word “bed” was given for “bid.” The subject was asked to locate the word found in the letter jumble line and identified the letters “bid.” The subject was asked to pronounce the word found and again said the word “bed.” It appears that the ability to correctly identify letters has been accomplished, but the association of the correct phoneme with the identified letter still requires further training. The processed foveal vision is sent to the left side of the brain, and subjects with orientation determination difficulties will have to learn how to associate the correctly identified letters with the proper phonemes for use in the left side of the brain. To see how different the two vision processes are is possible by taking another look at the problem experienced by subject B-3. Before each test the subjects are shown in a large black card with a white triangle on it. They are shown the card orientation that represents the pointing of the triangle for up, down, left and right. After subject B-3 reversed every left and right triangle orientation determination on test 2 that have symbols so small that they can only be identified using attentive vision, the subject was asked to identify the orientation of the large triangle. The subject properly identified left and right that could be accomplished using pre-attentive vision because of the size of the triangle.
[0071] The subject could now use the sense of touch to reinforce their visual orientation skills. A set of cards with small letters (on the order of 0.6 cm in height for viewing from a distance of 40 cm) printed on each card and a black border to represent the bottoms are used. The subjects could be given single letters, multiple letters or words. A set of transparent disks with the same size letters printed on them is used. The subjects must choose the disks with the proper letters and orient them to exactly overlay the card letters. For each letter, the letter is identified and its sound spoken. If a word is used, the word is spoken after all its letters have been oriented and identified. The sense of touch is thus used to reinforce the visual orientation and letter identification task skill.
[0072] Other Testing:
[0073] There were two other vision tests that were give by Allen and Virginia Crane in conjunction with the orientation determination testing. The subjects were given an eye tracking test that included the reading of simple story and a set of ten questions associated with the content of the story while the subject's eye tracking was measured. They were then given a test of symbol identification speed (PAVE). There was a significant amount of data collected on the actual eye tracking during each reading but would take a significant amount of explanation to be fully understood. Instead only the reading comprehension and symbol identification speeds will be shown in Table 4.
TABLE 4 Eye Tracking and Reading Comprehension Testing A-1 A-2 A-3 B-1 B-2 B-3 Story 1 5/10 6/10 9/10 8/10 9/10 10/10 Story 2 7/10 8/10 10/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 Story 3 8/10 10/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 PAVE 1 30 60 60 35 30 50 PAVE 2 20 30 55 20 30 25 PAVE 3 35 50 85 35 45 50
[0074] What is of note from Table 4 is the reading comprehension improvement for subjects A-1, A-2 and B-1. All of the subjects improved or maintained their comprehension level. Subject A-3 missed one question in each Story 1 and Story 3 but was reading at well above their grade level. There was a little problem with the PAVE results because the test was given differently the second and third times, which may have biased the first results that appear high. Even so, the speed at which all the subjects were able to identify a particular symbol increased dramatically between PAVE 2 and PAVE 3. The number refers to how many lines of three symbols were shown per minute and correctly counted. The three symbols were blinked onto the screen sequentially one after the other while the line was viable.
CONCLUSIONS
[0075] The results of this study were very positive. All of the subjects have improved their symbol identification capabilities with their now calibrated foveal vision. They now have the tools to correctly identify symbols such as letters and begin to associate the appropriate phonemes with these symbols using the left portion of their brains. Many of the subjects were not able to do this before the testing and training program. All of the subjects demonstrated improved concentration and eye coordination in reading with improved reading comprehension. For those subjects that are seeing the letter symbols with the correct orientation associated with them for the first time, it will take a little training to be able to associate the appropriate phoneme with the identified symbol using attentive vision and the left side of their brains before they will be able to read a their peers' level. This process however is much easier than the approach they have been using which is to use pre-attentive vision and their right side of their brains and transferring this information to the left side of the brains to be used with speech, spelling and language functions.
[0076] While the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | A method of sensory training and testing systems focusing upon the development of pre-attentive and attentive vision for the enhancement of the individual's ability to perform specific functions. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for determining the size of the stitch loops in high-speed sock-production machines and consequently the transverse stretchability of the socks, by means of a control unit.
It is known that the width of a sock is adjusted by varying the position in height of the stitch-formation triangles. It is thus possible to vary the depth of descent of the needle below the striking surface of the sinkers and consequently the length of thread taken up by each stitch loop.
The position in height of the triangles is adjusted by two step motors:
plain-stitch motor;
purl-stitch motor.
References made below to the step motor concern the plain-stitch motor. The position of the purl-stitch motor may be deduced from that of the plain-stitch motor and from coefficient P (percentage of the purl/plain stitches ratio) ##EQU1## where HR and HD are the position, in steps, of the purl-stitch motor and the position, in steps, of the plain-stitch motor respectively.
In the current state of the art, adjustment of the height is pre-set by the operator on the basis of his experience gained from numerous experiments.
The basic parameters in play for the height setting are the typology and type of the yarn, leaving the number of needles, speed of the yarn and percentage of the plain/purl-stitch ratio constant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We have discovered a method which enables the optimum height to be determined by using a control unit which makes use of an algorithm, reducing the setting times and at the same time rendering the sock-production machine more reliable since the margin of error by the operator is also reduced. At the same time, adopting this method allows the height of the stitch-formation triangles to be changed, if necessary, without any manual intervention by the operator.
The method covered by the present invention, for determining the size of the stitch loops in sock-production machines by means of a control unit, involves the following stages:
(a) storing in the control unit information indicating, for each typology and type of yarn with which an area of the sock is to be made, two pairs each of the following three sets of values: height of the stitch-formation triangles and corresponding width of the sock; if required, the specific length and corresponding width of the sock; if required, the height of the stitch-formation triangles and corresponding specific length of the sock;
(b) selecting, for each sock area, the width, typology and type of yarn;
(c) determining, by means of the control unit, for each sock area, the height of the stitch-formation triangles by means of the following equation: ##EQU2## representing a straight line; where 1 is the width selected, (h 1 , l 1 ) and (h 2 , l 2 ) are the two pairs of values and h is the height of the triangles;
(d) measuring the rotational speed and the angular position of the cylinder and sending such information to the control unit;
(e) activating the motor by means of the control unit thereby adjusting the relative height between the cylinder and the cam to correspond to the relative height (h) calculated in said determining step (c); and
(f) deriving the value for the width stored in the control unit by an autocalibration procedure comprising:
selecting two triangle height values;
determining the specific lengths for these height values by measuring the drawing positions; and
calculating each of the two values of the corresponding knitted product widths using the following equation: ##EQU3## wherein t is the specific length determined by the control unit, (t 1 ,1 1 ) and (t 2 , 1 2 ) are the values of the two pairs formed by the specific length and corresponding width of the knitted product, and K is a conversion factor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are graphs representing relationships between characteristics used in the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a representation of a knitting device used in the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The width 1 of the sock is determined by subjecting the sock to traction, in the direction of the rows, which stretches the said rows to the maximum. Special devices are already used in the hosiery industry, capable of always imparting the same tensile stress to stretch the row.
Experimental measurements have shown that the link existing between the height of the triangles and width of the sock is of a linear type, according to the graph in FIG. 1, where the width is calculated in centimeters while the height of the triangles is measured in the number of pulses to be sent to the contraction motor.
An analytical representation of this link may be obtained, in a first approximation (which proved adequate in practical applications), by measuring the width of the sock corresponding to two different triangle heights.
By means of a calibration the operator must select the following parameters:
h 1 , h 2 : Triangle Height (position of the step motor)
P: Percentage of the plain-/purl-stitch ratio
G: Number of turns
V: Speed of rotation.
After entering the data, two socks are manufactured: the first made with the step motors in position h 1 , the second with the step motors in position h 2 . Once the socks have been made, widths l 1 and l 2 are measured, for each area, and the values are entered in the memory.
Let (l 1 , h 1 ) and (l 2 ,h 2 ) be the co-ordinates of the points in plane (l, h) of FIG. 1 corresponding to the said experimental measurements.
The equation of the straight line passing through these points is given by: ##EQU4## where, the said
Δl=l.sub.2 -l.sub.1
Δh=h.sub.2 -h.sub.1
may be rewritten as ##EQU5##
It will be observed that Relation (1) is a function of the yarn count, thread type, thread tension and ambient conditions.
This Relation provides the desired operational link between triangle heights and sock width.
This link is usually different for each area, and therefore the experimental measurement described above must be repeated for each area of the sock.
A PASCAL function has been developed to determine the height corresponding to a certain width. This function is based on a knowledge of the experimental data (l 1 , h 1 ) and (l 2 , h 2 ) and works on the generic width l to provide the corresponding height h according to Equation (2).
To avoid using the floating-point functions library of the PASCAL computer used, the calculations relating to Equation (2) have been organised so as to use only integral arithmetic.
In particular (2) gives: ##EQU6##
Numerator N of Equation 3 clearly gives an integral result, whereas quotient N/Δl has been obtained by means of a rounding off operation according to the following algorithm: ##EQU7## where round indications the rounding off operation, trunc the truncating operation and div the integral division. It will be noted that the PASCAL round function has not been used since it forms part of the library for floating-point arithmetic.
The number of pulses to be sent to the contraction motor thus calculated is "saturated" to the maximum number of pulses that can actually be sent to that motor (mechanical constraint).
The function in PASCAL language of width/height may for example be as follows:
______________________________________(width-->height conversion function)converts function(i:byte;width:word):word;var num,deltal,deltah:integer; conv1 : word;begin with actart.zonea[i] do begin conv1 := maxstepr: deltal :=ctl2-ctl1; deltah:=cth2-cth1; if deltal <> 0 then begin num:=deltah*width+cth1*deltal-ctl1*deltah; conv1:=(2*num+deltal)div(2*deltal); if conv1 < 0 then conv1 := 1; if conv1 > maxstepr then conv1 := maxstepr; converts:=conv1; end else begin error := 16#50; (editor error on entering widths) converts:=conv1;(set convert to a valid value) end; endend;in whichi = Current Areawidth = Programmed Widthctl1 = Width.1 Calibration Coefficient (l.sub.1)ctl2 = Width.2 Calibration Coefficient (l.sub.2)cth1 = Height 1 Calibration Coefficient (h.sub.1)cth2 = Height 2 Calibration Coefficient (h.sub.2)______________________________________
The values of the two pairs formed by the height of the stitch-formation triangles and the corresponding specific length of the sock, are found by means of the calibration described above where the said control unit calculates the values of the specific length by the machine measuring the drawing positions.
The drawing device is a (mechanical, electrical and electronic) device used to keep the stitch under tension during its manufacture. This action is necessary for textile reasons.
Parallel to its main function, we use drawing to measure the specific lengthening of the stitch by means of a series of devices.
More particularly, we have found that it is possible for the machine to measure the drawing positions by using a position transducer device (encoder) positioned at an appropriate drawing point.
Let us assume that the drawing device is initially located in position TIR1 and that after G turns, at speed V, it is in position TIR2.
Specific lengthening t is thus defined: ##EQU8##
The machine measures the drawing positions and calculates specific lengthening t. This is possible in all the areas in which drawing is active.
The data obtained have shown that the link existing between the specific length and the height of the stitch-formation triangles is of a linear type, according to the graph in FIG. 2, where the specific length is calculated in centimeters per turn, while the triangle height is measured in the number of pulses to be sent to the contraction motor. An analytical representation may be given, in a first approximation, by the following equation representing a straight line ##EQU9## in which (h 1 ) and (h 2 ) are the heights selected, (t 1 ) and (t 2 ) are the specific lengths calculated and K is a conversion factor.
Factor K has been included in (4) to convert into cm/turn the information supplied by the position transducer which is usually expressed by other units. For example, an encoder gives pulses/turn.
It will be observed that Relation (4) is a function of the yarn count, yarn type, tension and ambient conditions.
In addition to the values of the two pairs formed by the height of the stitch-formation triangles and by the corresponding specific length, it is accordingly possible to determine also the values of the two pairs formed by the specific length and corresponding width.
Experimental measurements have shown that, in machines with a cylinder of the same diameter and with the same number of needles (fineness), the link existing between specific length t and the stitch width of the sock is of a linear type, according to the graph in FIG. 3, where the width is calculated in centimeters while the specific length is measured in cm/turns of cylinder. Furthermore, this relation is essentially independent of the yarn count, unwinding tension and working conditions.
An analytical representation may be given, in a first approximation, by the following equation representing a straight line: ##EQU10## in which (l 1 , t 1 ) and (l 2 , t 2 ) are the values found by means of the above-described calibration and by consequently determining the specific lengths and K is a conversion factor.
Experimental measurements have shown that the straight lines (l,t) associated with different selections form a band F of straight lines which are almost parallel and very close together. For this reason the average straight line of the band may be replaced by any other straight line of F with an error which, in the practical applications to which we refer, may be widely tolerated.
The meaning of the expression different selections may be explained correctly in the following way: let us consider a machine with N needles. For example, if N/2 needles work on the plain stitches and N/2 needles work on the purl stitches, the selection is said to be 1:1. If 3N/4 needles work on the plain stitches and N/4 on the purl stitches, the selection is 3:1.
We have already said that, with the same number of needles and cylinder diameter, the straight lines (l-t) remain very similar on varying the selection and yarn.
When the parameters of straight lines for several yarns (of the same typology) are available it is possible to calculate, for each area, a characteristic average straight line of the typology.
For this reason the machine can perform automatic calibration (autocalibration). In other words, the user avoids the calibration procedure previously described by taking the data of the average straight line as a basis.
Autocalibration is particularly useful in machines capable of manufacturing socks with embroidered patterns. Indeed the presence of the pattern stitch makes measurement of the width problematical.
Autocalibration whereby the values of the two pairs formed by the height of the stitch-formation triangles and corresponding sock width are found, to be stored in the control unit, occurs as described below.
Two values of cylinder height are selected (h 1 ) and (h 2 ), then the control unit determines operationally specific lengths (t 1 ) (t 2 ) by means of the measurement by the machine of the drawing positions and calculates each of the two values of the corresponding sock width (l) by means of the following equation: ##EQU11## previously described above, representing a straight line, where t is the specific length determined by the control unit, (t 1 , l 1 ) and (t 2 , l 2 ) are the values of the two pairs formed by the specific length and corresponding width of the sock.
The method covered by the present invention also enables the various triangle heights for the shaped areas of the sock to be determined.
Indeed, on occasion the width of an area of the sock may not remain constant but vary. Currently, in this situation, the operator must intervene by presetting, after a certain number of turns, the increase in height but this results in a more or less obvious "stepped" effect.
With the above-described method two widths are selected for each shaped area, the greater and the lesser, determining by means of the control unit, using Equation (1), the corresponding initial and final heights, the intermediate heights being extrapolated by the control unit by means of an algorithm which makes the width vary gradually.
In this way the triangle heights could be varied even between one turn and the next.
Another object of the present invention is the procedure for the control and possible operational correction of the width programmed for individual shaped areas of the sock, modifying the height of their stitch-formation triangles purely by means of the control unit.
The expression "operational correction" means a sequence of actions aimed at obtaining a stitch width with characteristics as close as possible to those achieved in the various areas of the sock during calibration or autocalibration.
Experience shows that the dimensions of the socks manufactured are rather variable even if the parameters on which, in theory, such changes depend are not modified. These parameters include all the functions controlled by the electronic part and the mechanical characteristics of the machine.
There are also other parameters which cannot be regarded as constant not even in theory; these include the type and tension of the yarn, temperature and air humidity.
The method of checking and possible modification of the height of the stitch-formation triangles determined previously, is performed by the control unit which calculates for the same area of the sock the specific length, works out from measurements made by the machine itself during manufacture of the sock, the drawing positions, compares the above-calculated specific length value (t v ) obtained with the value of the specific length (t p ) obtained by means of the following equation: ##EQU12## described above, in which t=t p and h is the operational height, changes, only if the specific length values fail to coincide (t v =t p ), the value of the height of the stitch-formation triangles by means of an algorithm based on a straight line having the same angular coefficient as the straight line in Equation (4) passing through a point having as its coordinates the specific length calculated above and the height determined by means of Equation (1), from which straight line a new cylinder height is found corresponding to the specific length obtained by means of Equation (4).
In order better to illustrate the said procedure of control and possible correction we shall refer to the graph in FIG. 4.
Straight line (P) is the straight line calculated by means of Equation (4): given the programmed height (h p ) the corresponding specific length (t p ) is obtained. The control unit calculates a length (t v ) different from that programmed.
A new working straight line (v t ) parallel to the previous one and passing through point V (t v ,t p ) must then be used thus determining a new corresponding height (h c ) to obtain the specific length (l p ).
The measurements made and the values of the magnitudes involved allow us to assume that p and v are parallel straight lines.
To recapitulate, the data involved in the operational correction are taken from linear relations. These straight lines have two origins:
calibration or autocalibration;
drawing.
Operational correction in the case of autocalibration presents different aspects to the case of calibration. Indeed, whereas with calibration straight lines (l-h) and (t-h) become available, with autocalibration straight line (t-h) becomes available, and from the data of the typologies, straight line (l-t) is known. These last two straight lines, however, are sufficient to find straight line (l-h) and bring calculation back to the case of calibration.
We would point out that operational correction is possible only in those areas in which drawing is active; this is not restrictive since it is precisely in these areas that operational correction is necessary and effective.
Two examples are now given which show the algorithm used to determine a characteristic width/length straight line of the typology and the algorithm used for operational correction of the height.
EXAMPLE 1
Algorithm for determining a characteristic specific length/width straight line of the typology.
There are a finite number of points (x i , y i ) through which we wish to determine an interpolating straight line.
We shall approach the problem of the best approximation (b.a.) in the sense of minimum squares.
Given N points of the plane:
(x i ,y i ) i=1 ,. . . ,N
The b.a. in the sense of minimum squares consists in determining the n-multiple
a =(a.sub.1 , a.sub.2 , . . . , a.sub.n ) for which, assuming ##EQU13##
It emerges that to determine a the following system must be resolved: ##EQU14##
In the case of linear approximation n=2; [1]becomes: ##EQU15##
The best linear approximation is given by
f(x):Ax+B
obtained by resolving: ##EQU16##
The aim is to achieve the previous algorithm by making use of integral arithmetic only without using the PASCAL computer's floating-point library.
There are two main problems:
the values of the elements of the matrix of the coefficients and vector of the known terms must remain within the field of integers:
I=-2147483648, 2147483647
The problem is twofold:
Calculating m 22 and r 2 .
As regards single values there is no other method which sets limits on the number of points and on the values of their coordinates. The values adopted in practice guarantee this point.
1.2 calculating δB in which the following products appear
m.sub.22 *r.sub.1
m.sub.12 *r.sub.2
We may use the following algorithm: ##EQU17##
The two sole divisions required by algorithm A/and B/ must save information to at least two decimal points (although they are integral divisions).
The method followed is to multiply the dividend by 100 so that, despite integral division, the information is kept to the first two decimal points.
Since there are overflow problems even without multiplication by 100, the following algorithm is used which does not introduce additional limitations.
If the values of divisor D and dividend N are within the range of the permitted values, the following algorithm does not produce an overflow:
1) Q=N div D /* integral division */
2) R=N mod D /* remainder of integral division
Rp=(R * 100) div D
4) Qp=(Q*100)+Rp
Qp is an integral number in which the units digit and the tens digit represent, respectively, the hundredth part and decimal part of the quotient; in other terms:
Qp=INT(Q/N)*100
Algorithm for Operational Correction of Height. Let m be the angular coefficient of straight line (FIG. 4) clearly, from calibration: ##EQU18##
The straight line p is described by an equation such as:
t=m*h+n
the straight line v
t=m*h+n.sup.1
Hp has been entered by the user;
Tv is calculated on the basis of measurements made by the machine itself.
Straight line v (parallel to p) is determined by calculating n 1 :
T.sub.v m=*H.sub.p +n.sup.1
n.sup.1 =T.sub.v -m*H.sub.p
Thus
t=m*h+(T.sub.v -m*H.sub.p)
The position in which to place the motor in order to maintain what has been programmed is easy to calculate:
T.sub.p =m*H.sub.c +(T.sub.v -m*H.sub.p)
H.sub.c =T.sub.p -T.sub.v +m*H.sub.p
We shall now illustrate the practical nature of the invention by means of the diagram in FIG. 5.
Control unit (U) is supplied by terminal (T) with the parameters, from sensors (SMR) and (SMD) the "zero" reference of discs DR and DD and from sensor (S) the information on the cylinder/machine synchronism.
The control unit gives the commands to step motors (MR) and (MD) onto whose drive shafts are splined disc (DR) and disc (DD) respectively which by means of linkages modify the corresponding values of height (HR) and height (HD) of the triangles.
The said diagram also shows drawing rod (A) and drawing encoder (E). | A method for determining the size of the stitch loops in sock-production machines by means of a control unit which stores three pairs of values for each of a plurality of different types of yarns with which each of a plurality of machine zones is to be produced. Each pair of values includes the relative height and the corresponding width of the knitted product, the specific length and corresponding width of the knitted product, and the height of the stitch-formation triangles and corresponding specific length of the knitted product. The width and type of yarn is selected for each zone to be produced, and the relative height corresponding to the selected width and type of yarn for each zone is determined by the control unit by means of an equation which represents a straight line. The rotational speed and angular position of the machine cylinder is measured and fed to the control unit, which then sends signals to step motors. The value for the width stored in the control unit is derived by an autocalibration procedure which utilizes an equation which represents a straight line. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to collapsible structures, and in particular, to covers, shades and similar apparatus that can be used to cover or surround another object, and which may be twisted and folded to reduce the overall size of the assembly to facilitate convenient storage and use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Collapsible objects have recently become very popular. Examples of such collapsible objects are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,812 (Norman), U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,794 (Zheng) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,385 (Zheng) in the form of collapsible structures. These structures can be used as play structures, shelters, tents, and storage structures, among other uses. These structures may be twisted and folded to reduce the overall size of the structures to facilitate convenient storage and use. As such, these structures are being enjoyed by many people in many different applications.
Other examples of collapsible objects include blanket, mat and floating assemblies as illustrated in one or more of U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,283 (Zheng), U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,100 (Le Gette et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,391 (Le Gette et al.). These assemblies can be used as blankets, floor mats, and floating mats. These blankets and mats may be twisted and folded to reduce the overall size of the blanket or mat to facilitate convenient storage and use.
Yet other examples of collapsible objects include sunshades, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,784 (Zheng) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,262 (Huang). U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,635 (Zheng) illustrates a large variety of other collapsible objects, while U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,313 (Zheng) illustrates collapsible flags, signage and umbrellas.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cover or shade that can be folded and collapsed into a smaller configuration for convenient storage and transportation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible cover or shade for household items, including furniture.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide collapsible partitions, screens, window covers, door covers, lamp covers, and clock covers.
In order to accomplish the objects of the present invention, there are provided assemblies and structures having one or more collapsible panels that are positioned to cover a variety of objects, including but not limited to boxes, furniture items, lamps, clocks, doors and windows. The panels are provided to act as covers, shades, dividers, partitions or canopies.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a panel according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the panel of FIG. 1 taken from the region A thereof.
FIGS. 3A-3E illustrate how the panel of FIG. 1 can be twisted and folded for compact storage.
FIGS. 4-14 illustrate different embodiments of collapsible structures according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
The collapsible structures according to the present invention are configured in the form of one or more basic panels that are assembled together to create a resulting structure having the desired shape and size. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the construction of a basic panel 20 . The panel 20 is shown as having four sides, but can be configured to have any number of sides, depending on the desired shape (e.g., circular, oval, or rectangular, square, trapezoidal, or irregular). The panel 20 has a peripheral edge 22 that extends all the way around the panel 20 . A peripheral frame retaining sleeve 24 is provided along and traverses the peripheral edge 22 , and a continuous frame member 26 is retained or held within the frame retaining sleeve 24 such that the frame member 24 extends completely around the peripheral edge 22 .
The continuous frame member 26 may be provided as one continuous loop, or may be a strip of material connected at both ends to form a continuous loop. The continuous frame member 26 is preferably formed of flexible coilable steel, although other materials such as plastics may also be used. The frame member 26 should be made of a material which is relatively strong and yet is flexible to a sufficient degree to allow it to be coiled. Thus, the frame member 26 is capable of assuming two positions, an open or expanded position such as shown in FIG. 1 , or a folded position (see FIG. 3E ) in which the frame member 26 is collapsed into a size which is much smaller than its open position. The frame member 26 may be merely retained within the frame retaining sleeve 24 without being connected thereto. Alternatively, the frame retaining sleeve 24 may be mechanically fastened, stitched, fused, or glued to the frame member 26 to retain the frame member 26 in position.
Sheet material 30 extends across the interior space defined by the sleeve 24 , and is held taut by the frame member 26 when the sheet material 30 is in its open position. The term “sheet material” is to be given its broadest meaning and should be made from strong, flexible yet lightweight materials and may include woven fabrics, sheet fabrics, meshed fabrics or even films. The sheet material 30 can be water-resistant and durable to withstand the wear and tear associated with extended use, and rough treatment by adults and children. The peripheral sleeve 24 may attached to the sheet material 30 by a stitching 32 . The stitching 32 can also operate to enclose the peripheral sleeve 22 . Alternatively, the peripheral sleeve 24 can be a part of or an extension of the sheet material 30 , where the outer edge of the sheet material 30 is wrapped around the frame member 26 to enclose the frame member 26 , and then a stitching is applied to enclose the sleeve 24 .
The panel 20 can then be folded and collapsed into a compact configuration for storage, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E . In the first step illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3C , the opposite border of the panel 20 is folded in to collapse the frame member 26 with the sheet material 30 . As shown in FIG. 3D , the next step is to continue the collapsing so that the initial size of the panel 20 is reduced. FIG. 3E shows the next step with the frame member 26 and sheet material 30 collapsed on each other to provide for a small essentially compact configuration having a plurality of concentric frame members 26 and layers of the sheet material 30 so that the collapsed panel 20 has a size which is a fraction of the size of the initial panel 20 , as shown in FIG. 3E .
When the frame member 26 is in the collapsed position, the closed loop of the frame member 26 consists of three loop rings intertwined to lie flat. In the collapsed position, the panel 20 will have a significantly reduced diameter which makes it easy to store the collapsed panel 20 .
The panel 20 can be expanded again by opening the coiled frame member 26 . The bias and resiliency of the frame member 26 will cause the frame member 26 (and the attached sheet material 30 ) to automatically open out to the expanded position shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a collapsible structure 50 according to the present invention. The structure 50 has three separate panels 52 , 54 and 56 , each having a construction that is the same as the panel 20 , but having different shapes. Two of the panels 54 , 56 have a side edge 58 and 60 , respectively, that is attached to the sheet material 62 of the other panel 52 . This attachment can be the same as that which is described in connection with FIGS. 1-3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,128 (Zheng), whose entire disclosure is incorporated by this reference as though set forth fully herein. The two panels 54 and 56 define a space 64 therebetween. Any object or item can be placed in the space 64 , or adjacent the outer sides of the panels 54 and 56 . For example, FIG. 4 illustrates a box or footlocker 72 that is placed inside the space 64 so as to be completely covered on three of its sides by the three panels 52 , 54 , 56 . In addition to the box 72 , a table, a nightstand or other piece of furniture can also be placed inside the space 64 so as to be completely covered on its three sides by the three panels 52 , 54 , 56 . The outer surface of the sheet materials 62 , 66 and 68 , of the panels 52 , 54 , 56 , respectively, can be provided with any desired ornamental pattern, design, logo, or emblem 70 for decorative purposes.
Thus, the structure 50 can be used as a furniture cover, where the panels 50 , 52 , 54 are used to cover some of the sides of a table, chair, box or bed (among other types of furniture) so that other people can only see the decorative sides defined by the panels 50 , 52 , 54 . As a result, the user can vary the decorative designs for a piece of furniture by purchasing a plurality of structures 50 (each having different designs) and using different structures 50 at different times. This is an especially cost-effective way for decorating simple furniture, or allowing a piece of furniture to blend into the colors and designs of the rest of the furniture or paint colors in a room. For example, a simple and aesthetically unpleasant (e.g., unfinished) side table or box can be decorated by alternating different structures 50 having different designs, or blended into a new room (or among other furniture items) by providing a structure 50 having a matching color or design.
The structure 50 can be collapsed into a smaller configuration by folding the panels 54 , 56 flat onto the panel 52 , and then twisting and folding the entire structure 50 using the principles illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E .
FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a collapsible structure 80 according to the present invention that can also perform the same functions as the structure 50 in FIG. 4 . The structure 80 has two separate panels 82 , 84 , each having a construction that is the same as the panel 20 , but having different shapes. The panels 82 , 84 are hingedly connected to each other along a side edge thereof. This hinged connection can be the same as that which is described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3A-3F of U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,915 (Zheng), or FIGS. 1, 4 and 9-16 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,265 (Zheng), whose entire disclosures are incorporated by this reference as though set forth fully herein. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,915 (Zheng) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,265 (Zheng), this hinged connection includes stitching a side edge of one panel to the side edge of another panel. The two panels 82 , 84 define a space 86 therebetween when they are upright in a vertical orientation. Any object or item can be placed in the space 86 . For example, FIG. 5 illustrates a chest of drawers 96 positioned in the space 86 and having two sides covered by the panels 82 and 84 . The inner and outer surfaces of the sheet materials 88 and 90 , of the panels 82 , 84 , respectively, can be provided with any desired ornamental pattern, design, logo, emblem 92 for decorative purposes. Openings 94 can also be provided in one or both of the sheet materials 88 and/or 90 .
The structure 80 can be collapsed into a smaller configuration by folding the panels 82 , 84 against each other to form a stack of two flat panels 82 , 84 , and then twisting and folding the entire structure 80 using the principles illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E .
Not only can the structure 80 be used as a furniture cover for a table, chair or bed (among other types of furniture), the structure 80 can even be positioned in an upright position (as shown in FIG. 5 ) and used as a screen, a partition, or even a play structure, with the opening 94 acting as a window.
In addition, the dimensions of the two panels 82 , 84 can be varied so that the two panels 82 , 84 do not have to be of the same size or shape. For example, the panels 82 , 84 can be provided in different shapes so that they can adequately cover an object that has an irregular shape. As another example, the panels 82 , 84 can have different lengths to cover two adjacent sides of a rectangular object. In this regard, the panel 82 in FIG. 5 is slightly wider than the panel 84 so as to adequately cover a rectangular chest of drawers 96 .
The principles illustrated in FIG. 5 can be modified and extended as shown in FIGS. 6A-12 .
Referring first to FIG. 6A , two separate structures 80 a and 80 b , each of which can be identical in construction (but may have different shapes and sizes) to the structure 80 , are provided, and detachable connectors 98 (e.g., hooks, ties, VELCRO™ pieces, etc.) can be provided along the unattached side edges of the panels 82 a , 82 b , 84 a , 84 b for removably attaching the two structures 80 a , 80 b together. When the structures 80 a , 80 b are attached in this manner, they can be used to completely cover the four sides of any four-sided object or furniture 96 a (e.g., bed, table, chair, cabinet, etc.).
Similarly, in FIG. 7 , two separate structures 80 c and 80 d are provided, each of which is the same in construction as the structure 80 except that they are provided in different shapes. Here, the panels 84 c , 84 d are wider than the panels 82 c , 82 d . Detachable connectors 99 (e.g., hooks, ties, VELCRO™ pieces, etc.) can be provided along the unattached side edges of the panels 82 c , 82 d , 84 c , 84 d for removably attaching the two structures 80 c , 80 d together. When the structures 80 c , 80 d are attached in this manner, they can also be used to completely cover the four sides of any four-sided object or furniture 96 d (e.g., bed, table, chair, cabinet, etc.).
The structures in FIGS. 6A and 7 can be further modified by hingedly connecting all four panels together, while leaving one free unattached side in two of the panels. For example, the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b in FIG. 6A can all be hingedly attached to each other, with each of the panels 82 a and 84 b having one free unattached side that has connectors 98 provided therealong for connecting the two panels 82 a , 84 b when necessary. This is illustrated in FIG. 6B , with the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b covering an object 96 b.
FIG. 8 illustrates a structure 102 where another panel 100 is hingedly connected (using any of the hinged connections described above) to the panel 84 of the structure 80 in FIG. 5 . Another way to look at the structure 102 is that it is a modification of FIG. 6B with the panel 84 b removed or omitted. Weights 104 can be attached to the bottom side of each panel 82 , 84 , 100 so that the structure 102 can be used as a screen or partition that separates the space within a room or open area, or to separate different objects or furniture items. Although only FIG. 8 shows the provision of weights 104 , weights 104 can be provided at any desired location on any of the panels illustrated in any of the embodiments of the present invention.
The structures in FIGS. 6A-7 can be further modified by hingedly connecting all four panels together to form a ring of flat panels. For example, the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b in FIG. 6A can all be hingedly attached to each other in the same manner as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,705 (Zheng) or U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,279 (Zheng), whose entire disclosures are incorporated by this reference as though set forth fully herein. For example, FIG. 9 illustrates a lamp cover 110 which is formed by a ring of four panels, such as panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b in FIG. 6A , where all the sides of the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b are hingedly connected to a side of an adjacent panel. Here, the user can purchase a single lamp base 112 and a plurality of lamp covers 110 having different shapes, sizes, colors and decorations, so that the user can change the look of the lamp on different occasions, or as desired. The lamp cover 110 can be collapsed by folding the four panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b on top of each other in the manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,279 (Zheng) to form a stack of panels, and then applying the steps illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E .
Similarly, FIG. 10 illustrates a clock support 120 which is also formed by a ring of four panels, such as panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b in FIG. 6A , where all the sides of the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b are hingedly connected to a side of an adjacent panel. A clock face 122 can be removably coupled (e.g., by VELCRO™ pads, hooks, etc.) to one of the panels 82 a , 84 a , 82 b , 84 b . Here, the user can purchase a single clock face 122 and a plurality of clock supports 120 having different shapes, sizes, colors and decorations, so that the user can change the look of the clock on different occasions, or as desired. In addition, FIG. 10 illustrates that the panels 84 a , 84 b can be made smaller than the panels 82 a , 82 b to provide the overall clock with a different aesthetic appeal.
The structure 80 in FIG. 5 can be further modified by forming the panels 82 , 84 in a curved configuration, and then attaching (either removably or hingedly, as appropriate) the sides of the panels 82 , 84 . For example, FIG. 11 illustrates a lamp cover 130 that is formed by attaching the sides of the curved panels 82 g , 84 h . The connected curved panels 82 g , 84 h define an interior space 134 which is adapted to house or retain a lamp (not shown). Bars or other spacing mechanisms 132 can be positioned between the central portions of the panels 82 g , 84 h to maintain the panels 82 g , 84 h in their curved configurations. The cover 130 can be used for other applications (other than as a lamp cover), such as a cage, a basket, and a hamper, among other applications. The cover 130 can be collapsed by removing the spacing mechanism 132 , and folding the panels 82 g , 84 h on top of each other to form a stack of panels, and then applying the steps illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E .
The single panel 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can itself be used as a cover, shade or partition. For example, FIG. 12 illustrates a panel 20 a that can have the same construction as the panel 20 , with the panel 20 a used as a window cover or door cover. Connectors 140 can be provided on the panel 20 a to allow the panel 20 a to be secured to a window or a door. Openings 142 can be provided in the panel 20 a at the location of the actual window or door. The panel 20 a can be provided together with another panel 20 b to further enhance the aesthetics of a door or window. This panel 20 b can have the same construction as the panel 20 , and sized larger than the panel 20 a , so that the panel 20 b can actually be secured to the window or door (using connectors similar to connectors 140 ), with the panel 20 a removably secured to the panel 20 b at the location of the door or the window, as shown in FIG. 12 . The panel 20 b can also have an opening 138 that is aligned with the opening 142 . Thus, the panel 20 b provides a permanent background or border for a door or window, and the user can removably attach different panels 20 a to the background panel 20 b to vary the look and feel of the door or window. Additional panels (not shown) having the same construction (but possibly having different shapes and sizes) as the panel 20 can be “sandwiched” between the panels 20 a , 20 b to enhance or vary the aesthetics of the door or window.
As another example, FIG. 13 illustrates the single panel 20 of FIG. 1 (but having a slightly different shape) in use as a partition or divider between two objects 124 and 126 (e.g., boxes).
FIG. 14 illustrates a collapsible canopy 200 as a different embodiment according to the present invention. The canopy 200 has a frame member (not shown, but the same as frame member 26 ) that is retained in a peripheral frame retaining sleeve 224 . A fabric material 230 extends across the interior space defined by the sleeve 224 , and is held loosely by the frame member to define a domed configuration when the fabric material 330 is in its open position. A fabric curtain 232 extends downwardly from the peripheral sleeve 224 . The frame member can be collapsed using the techniques illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E .
While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. | Assemblies and structures are disclosed having one or more collapsible panels that are positioned to cover a variety of objects, including but not limited to boxes, furniture items, lamps, clocks, doors and windows. The panels are provided to act as covers, shades, dividers, partitions or canopies. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an analog-to-digital conversion circuit comprising an analog-to-digital converter having an input and a plurality of outputs, a counter having counting position outputs to which are connected conversion circuit outputs for most significant bits of a signal converted by the conversion circuit, a digital-to-analog converter coupled to the counting position outputs and a difference threshold circuit coupled to an input of the conversion circuit and to an output of the digital-to-analog converter an output of the difference threshold circuit being coupled to the counter for applying thereto a threshold-crossing signal when the difference between an analog signal to be converted and the output signal of the digital-to-analog converter is too large.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,085 discloses an analog-to-digital conversion circuit of the above-mentioned type in which the difference between the input signal of the conversion circuit and the output signal of the digital-to-analog converter is applied to the input of the analog-to-digital converter and the output of the difference threshold circuit is connected to an input of the counter which determines whether the counter is to count up or down. When this counter is used, the number of bits in the output signal combination of the conversion circuit is increased without the necessity of extending the analog-to-digital converter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an analog-to-digital conversion circuit which is particularly suitable for processing video signals while maintaining the advantage that it is not necessary to extend the analog-to-digital converter therein to obtain a larger number of bits in the output signal combination than the analog-to-digital converter is capable of producing.
According to the invention, an analog-to-digital conversion circuit of the type set forth in the opening paragraph, is characterized in that the input of the analog-to-digital converter is connected to the input of the conversion circuit and that its outputs are connected to counting position inputs of the counter, while the output of the difference threshold circuit is connected to a counting position writing input of the counter and a fine analog-to-digital converter is coupled to the input of the conversion circuit and to the output of the digital-to-analog converter, outputs of this fine analog-to-digital converter being coupled to further inputs of the digital-to-analog converter and to outputs of the conversion circuit for the least signifant bits of the converted signal, while a counting signal input combination of the counter is coupled to the output combination of the correction circuit for correcting the counting position for slow amplitude variations of the analog signal to be converted, an input of this correction circuit being coupled to the output of the digital-to-analog converter and an input being coupled to the input of the conversion circuit.
Because of these measures in accordance with the invention, the conversion circuit is particularly suitable for processing a video signal, as the counter immediately starts supplying the coarse bits at the occurrence of sudden transients in the video signal. The fine bits are then not available, but this is not important as in the event of sudden transients the accuracy of the conversion is not so important. In the event of small signal amplitude variations and after the occurrence of a sudden transient the conversion is accurately readjusted by the fine analog-to-digital converter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates, by means of a block diagram, a possible construction of an analog-to-digital conversion circuit in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 2 illustrates, also by means of a block diagram, a further possible embodiment of an analog-to-digital conversion circuit in accordance with the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, an analog video signal to be converted is applied to an input 1 of the conversion circuit. The input 1 is also the input of an analog-to-digital converter 3, an output combination 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 of which is connected to a combination of counting position inputs 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 of a counter 25.
The counter 25 has a combination of counting position outputs 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 which also form outputs MSB of the conversion circuit for the most significant bits of a converter signal and which are further connected to a number of inputs 37, 39, 41, 43, 45 of a digital-to-analog converter 47.
An output 49 of the digital-to-analog converter 47 is connected to an input 51 of a multi-function circuit 53, which has a further input 55 connected to the input 1 of the conversion circuit, an output 57 connected to a counting position writing input 59 of the counter 25 and two outputs 61, 63 connected to a counting signal input combination 65, 67 of the counter 25. The input 65 is a counting signal input and the input 67 is an input for a signal which determines whether the counter 25 is to count up or down.
In addition, the multi-function circuit 53 has two outputs 69, 71, which also form outputs LSB of the conversion circuit for the least significant bits of the converted signal and which are further connected to two inputs 73 and 75 of the digital-to-analog converter 47.
The digital-to-analog converter 47 converts all the bits of an output signal combination of a converted signal into an analog signal, which becomes available at the output 49.
In addition, the conversion circuit comprises a clock signal generator 77 having an output 79 which applies a clock signal to an input 81 of the analog-to-digital converter 3, an output 82 which applies to an input 83 of the multi-function circuit 53 a clock signal, which in this case is produced simultaneously with the clock signal at the output 79 of the clock signal generator 77, and an output 84 which applies to an input 85 of the digital-to-analog converter 47 a clock signal whose phase is, in this case, shifted relative to that of the signals at the outputs 79 and 82. Generally, the phase of the clock signals will have to be adapted to the components used.
The inputs 51 and 55 of the multi-function circuit 53 are connected respectively to inputs 87 and 89 of a difference threshold circuit 91, an output 93 of which is connected to the output 57 of the multi-function circuit 53. The difference threshold circuit 91 produces a threshold-crossing signal when the absolute value of the difference at its inputs 87 and 89 is, for example, higher than a value equivalent to the maximum value of the bits supplied by the outputs 69 and 71 of the multi-function circuit 53 or, optionally, higher than a somewhat higher value in the event there are noise problems. This is the case with sudden amplitude transients of the input signal higher than that equivalent of the maximum value of those bits or higher than the equivalent of the said somewhat higher value.
In that event the counter 25 assumes a position which is determined by the output signal combination of the analog-to-digital converter 3.
The threshold-crossing signal at the output 93 of the difference threshold circuit 91 is further applied to a counting position-writing input 95 of a second counter 97, two counting position inputs 99 and 101 of which are in this case both zero, but which are optionally supplied with a different combination. This second counter 97 is adjusted to the zero position, which zero position then also occurs at two counting position outputs 103 and 105 connected to the outputs 71 and 69 of the multi-function circuit 53.
A counting signal input 107 of the second counter is connected to the clock signal input 83 of the multi-function circuit 53, and a counting direction input 109 of the second counter is connected to an output 111 of a comparison circuit 113, to which also the output 63 of the multi-function circuit 53 is connected. The comparison circuit 113 has two inputs 115 and 117 which are respectively connected to the inputs 51 and 55 of the multi-function circuit 53. The output 61 of the multi-function circuit 53 is connected to an overflow signal output 119 of the second counter 97.
At its output 111, the comparison circuit 113 supplies a logic zero or one signal, depending on whether the difference between the signals at its inputs 115 and 117 is negative or positive. In response thereto, the counters 97 and 25 then correct step-wise, under the control of the clock signal at the input 107, the output signal combination of the conversion circuit and consequently the output signal of the digital-to-analog converter 47, until the difference at the inputs 51 and 55 of the multi-function circuit 53 is minimal. Slow signal amplitude variations at the input 1 are then accurately followed in the output signal combination.
The second counter 97 then forms, by means of its outputs 103 and 105 and the comparison circuit 113, a fine analog-to-digital converter, while the second counter 97 forms a correction circuit by means of its output 119 and the comparison circuit 113.
In FIG. 2 corresponding components have been given the reference numerals as in FIG. 1.
The only difference between the circuits of FIG. 2 and of FIG. 1 is in the construction of the multi-function circuit 53. Therefore, only this multi-function circuit will be described in detail hereinafter.
The clock signal generator 77 has two additional outputs 121 and 123 applying clock signals to two inputs 125 and 127 of the multi-function circuit 53. The input 127 of the multi-function circuit 53 is through-connected to its output 61. The clock signal at the output 123 is in anti-phase with the clock signals at the other outputs of the clock signal generator 77. Generally, the phase of the clock signals will have to be adapted to the components used.
The inputs 51 and 55 of the multi-function circuit 53 form the inputs of a differential amplifier 129 having a gain factor 2 a , wherein a is the number of bits produced by the analog-to-digital converter 3, which in this case is five bits. Two outputs of this differential amplifier 129 are connected to two inputs 131 and 133 of a second analog-to-digital converter 135, which is capable of processing signals having both a negative and a positive polarity and, depending on that polarity, applies at an output 137 a sign signal to an adding and subtracting circuit 139.
A clock signal input 141 of the second analog-to-digital converter 135 is connected to the clock signal input 83 of the multi-function circuit 53.
The second analog-to-digital converter 135 applies to an output 143, which is connected to the output 57 of the multi-function circuit 53, an overload signal which serves as a threshold-crossing signal when the amplitude difference between the signals at its inputs 131 and 133 is, for example, larger than the maximum equivalent value of the bits in the output signal combination of the conversion circuit supplied from the outputs 69 and 71 of the multi-function circuit 53, or larger than a somewhat higher value in the event of noise problems. As was also the case in the circuit shown in FIG. 1, the counter 25 then assumes a position determined by the output combination of the analog-to-digital converter 3.
The second analog-to-digital converter 135 supplies at two outputs 145 and 147 a digital signal combination converted by this second converter, which signal combination is applied to the adding and subtracting circuit 139.
Two outputs 149 and 151 of the adding and subtracting circuit 139 are connected to the outputs 69 and 71 of the multi-function circuit 53 and to two inputs 153 and 155 of a memory circuit 157, a clock signal input 159 of which is connected to the clock signal input 125 of the multi-function circuit 53. Two outputs 161 and 163 of the memory circuit 157 are connected to respective inputs of the adding and subtracting circuit 139.
In addition, the adding and subtracting circuit 139 has a carry and borrow output 165, which is connected to the output 63 of the multi-function circuit 53 and produces a signal when the sum of an adding operation is larger than a value corresponding to the highest value of the number represented by the bits of the digital signal combination at the outputs 149 and 151, or when the difference of a subtracting operation is less than a value corresponding to the lowest value of the number represented by the bits of that digital signal combination.
The adding and subtracting circuit 139 adds the digital signal combination at the outputs 145 and 147 of the second analog-to-digital converter 135 to the digital signal combination at the outputs 161 and 163 of the memory circuit 157 when the sign signal at the output 137 of the analog-to-digital converter 135 corresponds to a positive value and subtracts them from each other when the sign signal corresponds to a negative value.
In this case, the fine analog-to-digital converter is provided by the second analog-to-digital converter 135 with its outputs 145, 147 and 137, the adding and subtracting circuit 139 with its outputs 149 and 151, and the memory circuit 157.
In this case, the correction circuit is provided by the fine analog-to-digital converter 135, 139, 157 in combination with the output 165 of the adding and subtracting circuit 139.
The circuit operates as follows:
The situation in which the digital output combination of the circuit has a value corresponding to the value of the analog input voltage is the starting point. No voltage is then produced by the differential amplifier 129.
If now the voltage at the input decreases somewhat, the differential amplifier 129 will produce a voltage proportional to the difference between the input and output values of the conversion circuit. The second analog-to-digital converter 135 converts this difference into a sign signal at its output 137 which indicates that the output value of the conversion circuit must be reduced, and into a digital value at its outputs 145 and 147 which produces the amount by which the output value must be reduced and which in this case must consequently be subtracted from the value at the outputs 161 and 163 of the memory circuit 137 by the adding and subtracting circuit 139. If the result of this subtracting operation produces an amount less than zero, then, in addition, the output 165 of the adding and subtracting circuit 139 applies a signal to the input 67 of the counter 25 in response to which the counting position is decreased by one step. In this way the output value of the conversion circuit is made equal again to its input value.
If now the voltage at the input 1 increases somewhat, then the difference between the output and the input values is converted by the differential amplifier 129 and the second analog-to-digital converter 135 into a digital value at the outputs 145 and 147 and into a sign signal at the output 137 which indicates that the adding and subtracting circuit 139 must add this digital value to the values at the outputs 161 and 163 of the memory circuit 157. Should this adding operation produce an amount larger than three, then, in addition, the output 165 of the adding and subtracting circuit 139 applies a signal to the input 67 of the counter 25 which in response thereto is advanced one step. In this way the output value of the conversion circuit is again made equal to the input value.
If the voltage at the input 1 evidences a large sudden transient, then, as described in the foregoing, the output 143 of the second analog-to-digital converter 135 applies a signal to the input 59 of the counter 25 as a result of which this counter 25 assumes the output value of the analog-to-digital converter 3. As a result thereof the most significant bits of the output value get immediately the correct value and the least significant bits are thereafter readjusted in the manner described in the foregoing.
It will be clear that optionally the ratio between the number of bits produced by the counter 25 and the number of bits produced by the multi-function circuit 53 may be chosen to be different from the number produced in the embodiments described which also applies to the total number of bits in the output signal combination.
Obviously, if so desired, the second counter 97 of the first embodiment may be combined with the counter 25 to form one single counter. | An analog-to-digital conversion circuit, in which the coarse bits are produced by a counter (25), is made suitable for processing a video signal by having, in the event of fast large amplitude variations, an analog-to-digital converter (3), connected to the input (1) of the conversion circuit, write into the counter in response to a threshold-crossing signal produced by a difference threshold circuit (91, 93, 57), while slow and small amplitude variations are followed by a correction circuit (97, 113, 111, 119, 61, 63) coupled to an output (49) of a digital-to-analog converter (47) which is connected to the outputs of the conversion circuit, the correction circuit also being coupled to the input (1) of the conversion circuit, which correction circuit corrects the counting position, while the fine bits are obtained from a fine analog-to-digital converter (113, 97, 103, 105) which is responsive to the difference between the signal at the input (1) of the conversion circuit and the signal at the output (49) of the digital-to-analog converter (47). | 7 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a combustor and a gas turbine having the same.
BACKGROUND ART
A gas turbine includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor takes in air, compresses the air to increase its pressure, and directs the high-pressure air to the combustor.
In the combustor, fuel is sprayed into the high-pressure air to combust the fuel. High-temperature combustion gas generated by the combustion of the fuel is directed to the turbine, and this high-temperature combustion gas drives the turbine.
Because the turbine and the compressor rotate about the same rotation shaft, this driving of the turbine drives the compressor, causing the compressor to take in and compress air, as described above.
The gas turbine operating as above may suffer from combustion oscillations during combustion of the fuel, and such combustion oscillations have been a cause of noise and vibration during operation of the gas turbine.
In particular, recent gas turbines have reduced the NOx (nitrogen oxide) level in the exhaust gas from the standpoint of the impact on the environment during operation and often employ lean combustion of fuel to reduce the NOx level. However, because lean combustion tends to cause unstable combustion, combustion oscillations are likely to occur. In order to reduce the noise and vibration caused by the combustion oscillations, combustors have been provided with an acoustic liner for absorbing relatively high-frequency noise, which is made of, for example, a porous plate and a cover that covers the outside thereof; or an acoustic damper having a large resonance space for absorbing relatively low-frequency noise.
Because the volume of the resonance space in the acoustic liner for relatively high-frequency noise is small, there are few space limitations in the casing during installation.
In contrast, because the volume of the resonance space in the acoustic damper for relatively low-frequency noise is large, there are space limitations in the casing during installation. Conventionally, as shown in, for example, PTL 1, in a combustor having a bypass flow path for allowing air in the casing to be introduced into the combustion gas, an acoustic damper that utilizes the circumference of the bypass flow path is provided.
Furthermore, as shown in, for example, PTL 2, a combustor having no bypass flow path has been proposed, in which the acoustic damper is connected to the acoustic liner fitted around the combustor and in which an acoustic portion forming the resonance space of the acoustic damper is provided so as to extend in the axial direction or radial direction of the combustor.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
{PTL 1} Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2006-22966
{PTL 2} Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2006-266671
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
Meanwhile, the disclosure in PTL 1 requires a large space outside the combustor for providing the bypass flow path and the acoustic damper. Furthermore, the disclosure in PTL 2 requires a large space outside the combustor for providing the bypass flow path and the acoustic damper, because even an acoustic damper extending in the axial direction, not to mention an acoustic damper extending in the radial direction, is bent in the radial direction to ensure the volume (overall length) of the resonating space.
Thus, because a large casing space is required, the size of a housing is increased, which may make, for example, ground transportation of the gas turbine impossible. Thus, the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs, increase.
The combustors are subjected to periodic maintenance. However, the combustors cannot be extracted unless the bypass flow path is removed in PTL 1 and the acoustic damper is removed in PTL 2. Accordingly, the maintenance involves a great deal of work.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a combustor that requires a small mounting space for an acoustic damper, that can achieve size reduction, and that can improve the ease of maintenance, and to provide a gas turbine using such a combustor.
Solution to Problem
In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides the following solutions.
A first aspect of the present invention is a combustor including a cylindrical body that defines a combustion area therein, and an acoustic damper that includes an acoustic portion having an acoustic-damper resonance space communicating with the combustion area. The acoustic portion is provided along the cylindrical body so as to extend in a direction intersecting an axial direction of the cylindrical body.
According to this aspect, because the acoustic portion having the acoustic-damper resonance space is provided along the cylindrical body so as to extend in the direction intersecting the axial direction of the cylindrical body, or the circumferential direction, the acoustic portion is disposed widely in the circumferential direction, without concentrating in a particular area of the cylindrical body in the circumferential direction. As a result, the acoustic portion is prevented from protruding toward the outer circumference of the cylindrical body, and the space needed outside the combustor can be reduced.
Thus, because the casing can be made small, the housing constituting the casing can be made small. Because this enables, for example, the gas turbine to be adequately transported on the ground, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs.
Furthermore, if the protrusion of the acoustic portion toward the outer circumference of the cylindrical body is reduced, the combustor can be easily extracted together with the acoustic damper. Thus, it is possible to improve the ease of maintenance of the combustor.
The above-described aspect may further include an acoustic liner formed by a porous plate that constitutes the cylindrical body and has a plurality of through-holes penetrating in a thickness direction and a cover member that is provided around and at a certain distance from the porous plate so as to cover the porous plate, the acoustic liner having an acoustic-liner resonance space.
By doing so, it is possible to attenuate oscillations in a frequency region that can be attenuated by the acoustic liner and oscillations in a frequency region that can be attenuated by the acoustic damper. Accordingly, it is possible to attenuate combustion oscillations in a wide frequency region.
In the above configuration, it is preferable that at least part of the acoustic portion be provided on the outer circumferential side of the acoustic liner.
In this configuration, because the acoustic liner and the acoustic damper are provided so as to be concentrated in a certain area of the cylindrical body in the axial direction, the other portions of the cylindrical body in the axial direction can be efficiently used.
In the above aspect, the acoustic-damper resonance space may be formed so as to make at least one turn.
This enables a sufficient volume (overall length) of the acoustic-damper resonance space to be ensured, even when, for example, the volume (overall length) of the acoustic-damper resonance space cannot be ensured by using the entire circumferential length of the cylindrical body, or, another member needs to be provided at a position of the cylindrical body in the axial direction where the acoustic damper is provided.
In the above aspect, at least one fluid resisting member may be provided in the acoustic-damper resonance space.
By doing so, it is possible to attenuate oscillations and noise caused by the combustion oscillations also with the fluid resisting member.
Furthermore, the frequency region of the oscillations to be attenuated can be adjusted not only by changing the volume (overall length) of the acoustic-damper resonance space, but also by changing the resistance exerted by the fluid resisting member. Accordingly, the oscillation attenuating performance of the acoustic damper can be more assuredly improved.
In the above aspect, a plurality of the acoustic dampers may be provided.
In this configuration, because the oscillations can be attenuated by a plurality of the acoustic dampers, the oscillations can be more assuredly attenuated.
In such a case, the volumes (overall lengths) of the acoustic-damper resonance spaces of the plurality of acoustic dampers may be different from each other. By doing so, it is possible to attenuate oscillations in different frequency regions with the respective acoustic dampers.
Accordingly, the oscillation attenuating performance of the acoustic dampers can be more assuredly improved.
A second aspect of the present invention is a gas turbine including an air compressor, the combustor according to the first aspect, and a turbine.
Because the gas turbine according to this aspect includes the combustor capable of reducing the size of the housing, reducing the manufacturing costs, and improving the ease of maintenance, it is possible to reduce the noise caused by the combustion during operation of the gas turbine and to improve the ease of maintenance. Furthermore, low-cost manufacturing thereof is possible.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
According to the present invention, because the acoustic portion having the acoustic-damper resonance space is provided along the cylindrical body so as to extend in a direction intersecting the axial direction of the cylindrical body, or the circumferential direction, the space needed outside the combustor can be reduced.
Thus, because the casing can be made small, the housing constituting the casing can be made small. Because this enables, for example, the gas turbine to be adequately transported on the ground, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs. Furthermore, if the protrusion of the acoustic portion toward the outer circumference of the cylindrical body is reduced, the combustor can be easily extracted together with the acoustic damper. Thus, it is possible to improve the ease of maintenance of the combustor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overall configuration of a gas turbine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view for describing, in outline, the configuration of a combustor in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Y-Y in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a first modification of an attenuating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an attenuating device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing the same portion as in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Z-Z in FIG. 6 .
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an attenuating device according to a third embodiment of the present invention, showing the same portion as in FIG. 4 .
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line W-W in FIG. 8 .
FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view showing a modification of the attenuating device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of a gas turbine of the present invention will be described below, on the basis of the drawings.
First Embodiment
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , a gas turbine 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view for describing the configuration of the gas turbine 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic view for describing, in outline, the configuration of combustors 5 in FIG. 1 .
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the gas turbine 1 includes a compressor 3 , the combustors 5 , a turbine unit (turbine) 7 , a rotation shaft 9 , and a housing 11 that accommodates these components in place.
The compressor 3 takes in and compresses the atmosphere, which is the outside air, and supplies the compressed air to the combustors 5 .
Note that the configuration of the compressor 3 may be any known one and is not specifically limited.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the combustors 5 generate combustion gas (high-temperature gas) by mixing the air compressed by the compressor 3 and externally supplied fuel and combusting the mixed gaseous mixture. The plurality of (for example, 16) combustors 5 are disposed in the circumferential direction and are mounted to the housing 11 so as to penetrate therethrough and reach a casing 13 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , each combustor 5 mainly includes air supply ports 15 , a fuel nozzle 17 , a combustion cylinder 19 (cylindrical body), and an attenuating device 21 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , the air supply ports 15 are disposed around the fuel nozzle 17 in a ring-like manner and introduce the air compressed by the compressor 3 into the combustion cylinder 19 . The air supply ports 15 give a flow-velocity component in a turning direction to the air flowing into the combustion cylinder 19 and produce a circulating flow in the combustion cylinder 19 .
Note that the shape of the air supply ports 15 may be any known one and is not specifically limited.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the fuel nozzle 17 sprays the externally supplied fuel toward the inside of the combustion cylinder 19 . The fuel sprayed from the fuel nozzle 17 is stirred by an air flow or the like created by the air supply ports 15 , forming a gaseous mixture composed of fuel and air.
Note that the shape of the fuel nozzle 17 may be any known one and is not specifically limited.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the combustion cylinder 19 is formed in a cylindrical shape and forms a flow path extending from the air supply ports 15 and the fuel nozzle 17 to an inlet portion of the turbine unit 7 . In other words, the combustion cylinder 19 forms a combustion area 23 therein, through which the gaseous mixture composed of fuel and air, as well as the combustion gas generated by the combustion of the gaseous mixture, flow.
The combustion cylinder 19 is formed of a heat-resistant metal, such as a nickel-base alloy.
A plurality of cooling paths 25 (see FIG. 4 ) extending in an axial direction L and disposed with spaces therebetween in the circumferential direction C are formed in a wall of the combustion cylinder 19 .
The cooling paths 25 are connected to, for example, a boiler (not shown) at one end so that steam, serving as coolant, flows therethrough. The cooling paths 25 are connected to a steam-discharging flow path 27 at the other end. The steam having passed through the cooling paths 25 is discharged outside the system through the steam-discharging flow path 27 or is returned to the boiler.
Although this embodiment shows a case where steam is used as the coolant for cooling the combustion cylinder 19 , air may also be used depending on the design conditions. In such a case, the steam-discharging flow path 27 is unnecessary. The structure of the air cooling structure may be any known one and is not specifically limited.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Y-Y in FIG. 3 . The attenuating device 21 includes an acoustic liner 29 and an acoustic damper 31 . The acoustic liner 29 includes a liner cover (cover member) 35 and a cylindrical plate (porous plate) 33 constituting part of the combustion cylinder 19 .
The plate 33 has many (a plurality of) cylindrical through-holes 37 provided over substantially the entire circumference thereof.
Rows of the through-holes 37 are provided in the axial direction L and the circumferential direction C, so as to be spaced apart from one another. Furthermore, all the through-holes 37 may have the same shape, or the through-holes 37 in a first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 may have a shape different from those in an acoustic-liner resonance space 44 (described below); it is not specifically limited.
The liner cover 35 is a ring-like member having a U-shaped cross-section with the inner circumferential side being open. The liner cover 35 is provided on the outer circumferential side of the plate 33 so as to surround the entire circumference thereof.
The length of the open portion of the liner cover 35 in the axial direction L is larger than the area where the through-holes 37 are provided.
The liner cover 35 is joined to the plate 33 at the open ends of the U-shaped cross-section by, for example, brazing. Note that the liner cover 35 may be mounted by welding.
By doing so, a space is formed between the liner cover 35 and the outer surface of the plate 33 . This space is divided by a first partition 39 and a second partition 41 in the circumferential direction C.
In FIG. 3 , a space on the upper part, which extends over about one-third of the entire circumference and is surrounded by the plate 33 , the liner cover 35 , the first partition 39 , and the second partition 42 , constitutes the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 , and an area on the lower part, which extends over about two-thirds, constitutes the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 .
The acoustic damper 31 includes a damper cover (acoustic portion) 45 and an opening 47 provided in the liner cover 35 . The damper cover 45 is a ring-like member having a U-shaped cross-section with the inner circumferential side being open.
The damper cover 45 is provided on the outer circumferential side of the liner cover 35 so as to surround substantially the entire circumference thereof.
As shown in FIG. 4 , the length of the open portion of the damper cover 45 in the axial direction L is larger than the area where the steam-discharging flow path 27 and the liner cover 35 are formed.
Note that, as described above, when air is used as the coolant for the combustion cylinder 19 , the steam-discharging flow path 27 is unnecessary. Thus, the damper cover 45 may be formed to have a size sufficient to surround the liner cover 35 .
The open ends of the damper cover 45 having a U-shaped cross-section are joined to the plate 33 (combustion cylinder 19 ) by, for example, brazing. Note that the damper cover 45 may be mounted by welding.
By doing so, a space is formed between the damper cover 45 and the outer surface of the plate 33 . This space is divided by the second partition 41 in the circumferential direction C.
The space surrounded by the plate 33 , the damper cover 45 , the outer surface of the liner cover 35 , the outer surface of the steam-discharging flow path 27 , and the second partition 41 is formed as a second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 .
Because the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 is formed over the entire circumference and has a large cross-sectional area, it has a much larger volume (overall length) than the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 .
Although the second partition 41 is a common member that divides the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 and the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 in this embodiment, the second partition 41 may be provided as a separate member so as to ensure the necessary volumes (overall lengths) for the respective resonance spaces, if necessary.
The opening 47 is provided in the liner cover 35 , near the second partition 41 . The opening 47 has a substantially rectangular shape elongated in the axial direction L and penetrates through the liner cover 35 .
The second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 communicates with the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 via the opening 47 . The first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 communicates with the combustion area 23 via the through-holes 37 , which consequently allows the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 to communicate with the combustion area 23 , to serve as an integral acoustic damper 31 .
Because the damper cover 45 is provided along the combustion cylinder 19 so as to extend in the circumferential direction C in this manner, the damper cover 45 is disposed widely in the circumferential direction C, without concentrating in a particular area of the combustion cylinder 19 in the circumferential direction C. As a result, the damper cover 45 is prevented from protruding toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 , and the space needed outside the combustors 5 can be reduced. Thus, because the casing 13 can be made small, the housing 11 constituting the casing 13 can be made small. Because this enables the gas turbine 1 to have such a size, for example, that it can be transported on the ground, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs.
Furthermore, by forming the liner cover 35 constituting part of the acoustic liner 29 integrally with a component of the acoustic damper 31 so as to serve the function thereof, the material can be reduced compared with the case where the acoustic damper 31 is formed separately from the combustion cylinder 19 . Thus, the manufacturing costs of the acoustic damper 31 can be reduced.
Furthermore, if the protrusion of the damper cover 45 toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 is reduced, the combustors 5 can be extracted together with the acoustic damper 31 , by, for example, slightly enlarging the mounting portion of the combustors 5 , or even without changing anything. Because this facilitates extraction of the combustors 5 , the ease of maintenance of the combustors 5 can be improved.
A porous metal member (fluid resisting member) 51 is provided in the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 . This porous metal member 51 is composed of a porous metal, i.e., a metal having multiple small holes. The porous metal member 51 is provided in the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 , at part of the damper cover 45 , such that the porous metal member 51 has substantially the same shape as the internal space of the damper cover 45 .
Note that the porous metal member 51 is used depending on necessity and, thus, it may be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the turbine unit 7 generates a rotational driving force by receiving a supply of high-temperature gas produced by the combustors 5 and transmits the generated rotational driving force to the rotation shaft 9 .
As shown in FIG. 1 , the rotation shaft 9 is a cylindrical member supported so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis and transmits the rotational driving force generated by the turbine unit 7 to the compressor 3 .
Note that the configurations of the turbine unit 7 and rotation shaft 9 may be any known ones and are not specifically limited.
Next, the effects and advantages of the gas turbine 1 having the above-described configuration will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1 , the gas turbine 1 takes in the atmosphere (air) as the compressor 3 is rotationally driven. The intake atmosphere is compressed by the compressor 3 and is directed to the combustors 5 .
The compressed air flowing into the combustors 5 is mixed with externally supplied fuel in the combustors 5 . The gaseous mixture composed of fuel and air is combusted in the combustors 5 , and the combustion heat produces high-temperature combustion gas.
The combustion gas produced in the combustors 5 is supplied from the combustors 5 to the downstream turbine unit 7 . The turbine unit 7 is rotationally driven by high-temperature gas, and the rotational driving force thereof is transmitted to the rotation shaft 9 . The rotation shaft 9 transmits the rotational driving force extracted in the turbine unit 7 to the compressor 3 and the like.
When the fuel is combusted in the combustors 5 , the combustion may generate combustion oscillations.
In particular, because lean combustion of fuel for reducing the NOx level in the exhaust gas tends to cause unstable combustion, combustion oscillations are likely to occur.
When such combustion oscillations are generated, air oscillations (pressure wave) caused by the combustion oscillations enter the through-holes 37 in the plate 33 .
The air in the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 and the air in the through-holes 37 in the acoustic liner 29 constitute a resonator system because the air in the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 serves as a spring. Accordingly, because the air in the through-holes 37 is severely oscillated and resonated with respect to the noise in the frequency region corresponding to the volume (overall length) of the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 and the overall length of the through-holes 37 among the air oscillations and noise caused by the combustion oscillations generated inside the plate 33 , the noise at this resonant frequency is absorbed by the friction between the air and the surfaces of the through-holes 37 . Thus, the amplitude of the combustion oscillations is attenuated and the noise caused by the combustion oscillations is reduced.
The first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 and the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 are connected via the opening 47 . Therefore, the combustion oscillations generated in the combustion area 23 are transmitted to the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 via the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 , and these acoustic-damper resonance spaces serve as the integral acoustic damper 31 .
The volume (overall length) of this acoustic damper 31 is larger than that of the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 . Therefore, the resonance space of the acoustic damper 31 (the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 and the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 ) can attenuate oscillations with a longer wavelength than oscillations attenuated in the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 , in other words, oscillations in a lower frequency region than the frequency region of the oscillations that can be attenuated in the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 .
Although the acoustic liner 29 and the acoustic damper 31 both attenuate oscillations as described above, the acoustic liner 29 attenuates oscillations in a relatively high frequency region, whereas the acoustic damper 31 attenuates oscillations in a relatively low frequency region.
By providing both the acoustic liner 29 and the acoustic damper 31 , it is possible to attenuate oscillations in several frequency regions or oscillations in a wide frequency region.
Accordingly, noise generated during combustion in the combustors 5 can be effectively reduced.
The steam from the boiler is supplied to the cooling paths 25 and is exhausted outside the system from the steam-discharging flow path 27 . The steam exchanges heat with the combustion cylinder 19 (plate 33 ) while flowing through the cooling paths 25 , whereby the combustion cylinder 19 is cooled. Thus, the combustion cylinder 19 is cooled during the operation of gas turbine 1 .
The combustion gas sometimes enters the through-holes 37 during the operation of the gas turbine 1 . The through-holes 37 are heated by the combustion gas that has entered therein, whereby the thermal stress due to the temperature difference with respect to the peripheral portions increases.
Because the plate 33 is cooled by the steam passing through the cooling paths 25 , the peripheral portions of the through-holes 37 are sufficiently cooled. Thus, an increase in this thermal stress can be prevented.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the relevant part of the attenuating device 21 according to a first modification of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5 , the attenuating device 21 according to this modification has two acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B spaced apart in the axial direction L. Two damper covers, 45 A and 45 B, are each joined to the outer surface of the liner cover 35 at one end in the axial direction L. The liner cover 35 has openings 47 A and 47 B provided at portions covered by the damper covers 45 A and 45 B, respectively.
The frequency of oscillations that can be absorbed may be changed by changing the length of the damper covers 45 A and 45 B in the circumferential direction C (the overall length of the resonance space), by changing the mounting position of the porous metal member 51 in the circumferential direction C, or by doing both.
Because the oscillations can be attenuated by the plurality of acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B, the oscillations can be more assuredly attenuated. Furthermore, because the two acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B attenuate different frequency regions, it is possible to attenuate oscillations in several frequency regions in a relatively low frequency region or oscillations in a wide frequency region.
Accordingly, the oscillation attenuating performance of the acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B can be more assuredly improved.
Although the second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 is formed over substantially the entire circumference in this embodiment, it is not limited thereto. The second acoustic-damper resonance space 49 does not need to be formed over the entire circumference but may be formed over a certain portion, as long as it has a volume (overall length) set according to the target frequency region.
Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 .
Although the basic configuration of the gas turbine according to this embodiment is the same as that according to the first embodiment, the configuration of the attenuating device 21 is different from that according to the first embodiment. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the attenuating device 21 , which is different from that according to the first embodiment, will be mainly described, and overlapping descriptions of the other components will be omitted.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for describing the configuration of the relevant part of the attenuating device 21 in the combustor 5 of the gas turbine 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Z-Z in FIG. 6 .
Note that the components the same as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the descriptions thereof will be omitted.
In this embodiment, a damper cover (acoustic portion) 53 is a box that has a substantially rectangular cross-section and is curved so as to constitute part of a ring. As shown in FIG. 6 , the damper cover 53 is provided on the outer circumferential side of the liner cover 35 so as to cover the circumference thereof.
Although a portion of the damper cover 53 in the circumferential direction C is removed, at least a portion of this removed portion overlaps the position where the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 is provided.
A damper groove 55 extending in the circumferential direction C is formed in the inner circumferential surface of the damper cover 53 . The damper groove 55 is provided over substantially the overall length of the damper cover 53 . The outer circumference of the damper groove 55 is formed of an outwardly protruding wall.
The length of the damper cover 53 in the axial direction L, i.e., the width, is much larger than that of the liner cover 35 . As shown in FIG. 7 , the length of the damper groove 55 in the axial direction L is smaller than that of the liner cover 35 .
The wall of the damper groove 55 in the damper cover 53 is joined to the liner cover 35 by, for example, brazing. Note that the damper cover 53 may be mounted by welding.
As shown in FIG. 7 , the damper cover 53 is fitted so as to be placed away from the plate 33 (combustion cylinder 19 ) so as not to touch the plate 33 .
By doing so, a space is formed between the damper cover 53 and the outer surface of the liner cover 35 . This space is formed as a second acoustic-damper resonance space 57 .
Because the second acoustic-damper resonance space 57 is provided over substantially the entire circumference and has a large cross-sectional area, it has a much larger volume (overall length) than the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 .
The length of the damper cover 53 in the circumferential direction C is determined so as to ensure the volume (overall length) set according to the target frequency region.
The liner cover 35 has an opening 59 near one circumferential end of the damper cover 53 . The opening 59 has a substantially rectangular shape elongated in the axial direction L and penetrates through the liner cover 35 .
The second acoustic-damper resonance space 57 communicates with the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 via the opening 59 . The first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 communicates with the combustion area 23 through the through-holes 37 , which consequently allows the second acoustic-damper resonance space 57 to communicate with the combustion area 23 , to serve as the integral acoustic damper 31 .
Because the damper cover 53 is provided along the liner cover 35 , i.e., the combustion cylinder 19 , so as to extend in the circumferential direction C in this manner, the damper cover 53 is disposed widely in the circumferential direction C, without concentrating in a particular area of the combustion cylinder 19 in the circumferential direction C.
As a result, the damper cover 53 is prevented from protruding toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 , and the space needed outside the combustors 5 can be reduced. Thus, because the casing 13 can be made small, the housing 11 constituting the casing 13 can be made small. Because this enables the gas turbine 1 to have such a size, for example, that it can be adequately transported on the ground, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs.
If the protrusion of the damper cover 53 toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 is reduced, the combustors 5 can be extracted together with the acoustic damper 31 , by, for example, slightly enlarging the mounting portion of the combustors 5 , or even without changing anything. Because this facilitates extraction of the combustors 5 , the ease of maintenance of the combustors 5 can be improved.
Because the damper cover 53 is fitted so as to be placed away from the plate 33 (combustion cylinder 19 ) heated by the operation of the combustors 5 in this embodiment, the thermal stress can be reduced compared with the damper cover 45 according to the first embodiment. Because the damper cover 53 is mounted so as not to cover the entire liner cover 35 , it is easy to supply purge air to the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 in the liner cover 35 .
Third Embodiment
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 . Although the basic configuration of the gas turbine according to this embodiment is the same as that according to the first embodiment, the configuration of the attenuating device 21 is different from that according to the first embodiment. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the attenuating device 21 , which is different from that according to the first embodiment, will be mainly described, and overlapping descriptions of the other components will be omitted.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for describing the configuration of the relevant part of the attenuating device 21 in the combustor 5 of the gas turbine 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line W-W in FIG. 8 . Note that the components the same as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the descriptions thereof will be omitted.
The acoustic damper 31 has a damper cover (acoustic portion) 61 and an opening 63 provided in the liner cover 35 .
As shown in FIG. 9 , the damper cover 61 has a rectangular cross-section with the inner circumferential side being open and is curved so as to constitute part of a ring (for example, an area of substantially 160 degrees). As shown in FIG. 8 , the damper cover 61 has a small-diameter portion 65 and a large-diameter portion 67 , which are different in height and extend in the direction along the curve. Both ends of the large-diameter portion 67 are closed by end plates 69 and 71 . The end of the small-diameter portion 65 is closed by an end plate 73 .
The end of the small-diameter portion 65 on the large-diameter portion 67 side extends beyond the end plate 71 into the large-diameter portion 67 up to near the end plate 69 .
The large-diameter portion 67 has a partition 75 that extends in the circumferential direction and divides the space outside the small-diameter portion 65 . An end of the partition 75 extending in the circumferential direction is fixed to the end plate 69 , and the other end thereof extends up to near the end plate 71 .
As shown in FIG. 9 , the length of the open portion in the damper cover 61 in the axial direction L is smaller than that of the liner cover 35 .
The open ends of the damper cover 61 having a U-shaped cross-section are joined to the liner cover 35 by, for example, brazing. Note that the damper cover 61 may be mounted by welding.
By doing so, a space is formed between the damper cover 61 and the outer surface of the liner cover 35 . This space is formed as a second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 .
The second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 includes a first space defined inside the small-diameter portion 65 , a second space defined outside the small-diameter portion 65 and inside the partition 75 extending in the circumferential direction, and a third space defined outside the partition 75 extending in the circumferential direction and inside the large-diameter portion 67 .
The first space communicates with the second space near the end plate 69 . The second space communicates with the third space near the end plate 69 . Accordingly, the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 is formed to have two turns.
Although the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 is simply provided over an area of substantially 160 degrees in the circumferential direction C, it has two turns. Accordingly, it is possible to ensure a sufficient volume (overall length) for the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 .
Because the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 has a large cross-sectional area, it has a much larger volume (overall length) than the acoustic-liner resonance space 44 .
The opening 63 is provided in the liner cover 35 , near the end plate 73 . In other words, the opening 63 is located at one end of the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 .
The opening 63 has a substantially rectangular shape elongated in the axial direction L and penetrates through the liner cover 35 .
The second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 communicates with the first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 via the opening 63 . The first acoustic-damper resonance space 43 communicates with the combustion area 23 via the through-holes 37 , which consequently allows the second acoustic-damper resonance space 77 to communicate with the combustion area 23 , to serve as the integral acoustic damper 31 .
Because the damper cover 61 is provided along the combustion cylinder 19 so as to extend in the circumferential direction C in this manner, the damper cover 61 is disposed relatively widely in the circumferential direction C of the combustion cylinder 19 .
As a result, the damper cover 61 is prevented from protruding toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 , and the space needed outside the combustors 5 can be reduced.
Thus, because the casing 13 can be made small, the housing 11 constituting the casing 13 can be made small. Because this enables the gas turbine 1 to have such a size, for example, that it can be adequately transported on the ground, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs, including the transportation costs.
Furthermore, if the protrusion of the damper cover 61 toward the outer circumference of the combustion cylinder 19 is reduced, the combustors 5 can be extracted together with the acoustic damper 31 , by, for example, slightly enlarging the mounting portion of the combustors 5 , or even without changing anything. Because this facilitates extraction of the combustors 5 , the ease of maintenance of the combustors 5 can be improved.
Because the damper cover 61 simply covers less than substantially half of the circumference in the circumferential direction C, it is possible to provide another member in the remaining part, which is more than half of the circumference.
In such a case, as shown in FIG. 10 , the two acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B may be provided. The two acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B are provided such that small-diameter portions 65 A and 65 B of damper covers 61 A and 61 B face each other. The small-diameter portions 65 A and 65 B are each joined to the outer surface of the liner cover 35 . The liner cover 35 has openings 63 A and 63 B provided in portions covered by the damper covers 61 A and 61 B, respectively.
Because the oscillations can be attenuated by the plurality of acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B, the oscillations can be more assuredly attenuated.
Accordingly, the oscillation attenuating performance of the acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B can be more assuredly improved.
Furthermore, the volumes (lengths in the circumferential direction C, i.e., overall lengths of the resonance spaces) of the two acoustic dampers 77 A and 77 B may be differentiated, and the mounting positions of porous metal members 51 A and 51 B may be changed. By doing so, two acoustic dampers 31 A and 31 B having different attenuation frequency regions are created. Thus, it is possible to attenuate oscillations in several frequency regions in a relatively low frequency region or oscillations in a wide frequency region.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but may be appropriately modified within a scope not departing from the spirit thereof.
For example, although the acoustic damper 31 and the acoustic liner 29 are integrally formed in the above-described embodiments, they may be independent and both mounted on the combustion cylinder 19 . This can further reduce the amount of protrusion of the acoustic damper 31 toward the outer circumference.
In such a case, the acoustic-damper resonance spaces 49 , 57 , and 77 each directly communicate with the combustion area 23 .
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
1 : gas turbine
3 : compressor
7 : turbine
19 : combustion cylinder
23 : combustion area
29 : acoustic liner
31 , 31 A, 31 B: acoustic damper
33 : plate
35 : cover
37 : through-hole
43 : first acoustic-damper resonance space
44 : acoustic-liner resonance space
45 , 53 , 61 : damper cover
49 , 57 , 77 : second acoustic-damper resonance space
51 , 51 A, 51 B: porous metal member (fluid resisting member)
53 , 55 : groove portion
L: axial direction | An object is to provide a combustor that requires a small mounting space for an acoustic damper, that can achieve size reduction, and that can improve the ease of maintenance. A combustor ( 5 ) of the present invention includes a combustion cylinder ( 19 ) that defines a combustion area ( 23 ) therein and an acoustic damper ( 31 ) that has a damper cover having an acoustic-damper resonance space communicating with the combustion area ( 23 ). The damper cover is provided along the combustion cylinder ( 19 ) so as to extend in a direction intersecting an axial direction (L) of the combustion cylinder ( 19 ). | 5 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The invention relates to the field of communications networks, and in particular to the selection of service domains for call/sessions in IP Multimedia Subsystem Centralized Services networks.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the technology defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to provide IP Multimedia services over mobile communication networks. IP Multimedia services provide a dynamic combination of voice, video, messaging, data, etc. within the same session. The IMS is defined in the 3GPP Specification 23.228.
[0003] The IMS makes use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to set up and control calls or sessions between user terminals (or user terminals and application servers). The Session Description Protocol (SDP), carried by SIP signalling, is used to describe and negotiate the media components of the session. Whilst SIP was created as a user-to-user protocol, IMS allows operators and service providers to control user access to services and to charge users accordingly.
[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates schematically how the IMS 3 fits into the mobile network architecture in the case of a GPRS/PS access network. As shown in FIG. 1 control of communications occurs at three layers (or planes). The lowest layer is the Connectivity Layer 1 , also referred to as the bearer, or traffic plane and through which signals are directed to/from user terminals accessing the network. The GPRS network includes various GPRS Support Nodes (GSNs) 2 a, 2 b. A gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 2 a acts as an interface between the GPRS backbone network and other networks (radio network and the IMS network). A Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 2 b keeps track of the location of an individual Mobile Terminal and performs security functions and access control. Access to the IMS 3 by IMS subscribers is performed through an IP-Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN). In FIG. 1 the IP-CAN is a GPRS network including entities linking the user equipment to the IMS 3 via the connectivity layer 1 .
[0005] The IMS 3 includes a core network 3 a, which operates over the Control Layer 4 and the Connectivity Layer 1 , and a Service Network 3 b. The IMS core network 3 a includes nodes that send/receive signals to/from the GPRS network via the GGSN 2 a at the Connectivity Layer 1 and network nodes that include Call/Session Control Functions (CSCFs) 5 . The CSCFs 5 include Serving CSCFs (S-CSCF) and Proxy CSCFs (P-CSCF), which operate as SIP proxies within the IMS in the middle, Control Layer.
[0006] At the top is the Application Layer 6 , which includes the IMS service network 3 b . Application Servers (ASs) 7 are provided for implementing IMS service functionality. Application Servers 7 provide services to end-users on a session-by-session basis, and may be connected as an end-point to a single user, or “linked in” to a session between two or more users. Certain Application Servers 7 will perform actions dependent upon subscriber identities (either the called or calling subscriber, whichever is “owned” by the network controlling the Application Server 7 ).
[0007] IMS relies on Internet Protocol (IP) as a transport technology. Using IP for voice communications, however, presents some challenges, especially in the mobile community where Voice Over IP (VoIP) enabled packet switched (PS) bearers may not always be available. To allow operators to start offering IMS-based services while voice enabled PS-bearers are being built out, the industry has developed solutions that use existing Circuit Switched (CS) networks to access IMS services. These solutions are referred to as IMS Centralized Services (ICS). ICS is described in 3GPP TS 23.292 and is also the name of the Work Item in 3GPP Release 8 addressing these matters. ICS allows a User Equipment (UE) to connect to a CS access network and to have access to Multimedia Telephony services.
[0008] Referring to FIG. 2 , a UE 8 can access an MSC Server 9 via a CS Access network 10 . It also accesses a CSCF 5 via a Gm reference point, and a Service Centralization and Continuity Application Server (SCC AS) 11 via a Gm reference point. SIP is used to perform service control between the ICS UE 8 and the SCC AS 11 over the Gm interface. For a speech service, the ICS UE 8 can use its CS access to transfer voice media. The ICS specification defines how it is possible to use a CS bearer controlled via the Gm interface.
[0009] When a SCC AS 11 receives an incoming call, or other type of session request (or other type of media component, such as video), it will select an access domain. The procedures specified in TS 23.292 allow for CS access to be selected, but keep the provision of services entirely in the IMS. This can result in unnecessary routing of signalling and media.
[0010] For example, if a UE is accessing services via a CS access network (i.e. anchored on the CS domain), and receives a call from another UE, also anchored on CS, then the current ICS solution will force the call from the CS domain to the IMS to perform the Terminating-Access Domain Selection (T-ADS), and then route it back to the CS domain after detecting that the UE is anchored on CS. This is illustrated in FIG. 3 . An originating CS-anchored UE 301 initiates a call/session with a terminating UE 302 , which is registered in both the CS and IMS network domains. The signalling for T-ADS is via the Visited Mobile Switching Centre, VMSC 1 303 in the CS network to which the originating UE 301 is anchored, and then via a Gateway Mobile Switching Centre, GMSC 1 304 to MGCF 305 , I-CSCF 306 , S-CSCF 307 and eventually to Domain Selection AS 308 (e.g. an SCC AS) in the home IMS network of the terminating UE 302 . To enable the access selection the AS 308 accesses data relating to the terminating UE 302 from the Home Subscriber Server, HSS, 309 . To complete the Terminating procedure the signalling is then routed back through the IMS via S-CSCF 307 , I-CSCF 306 and MGCF 305 to GMSC 2 310 and VMSC 2 311 to which terminating UE 302 is anchored in the CS network.
[0011] Analysis of the B-number (of the terminating UE 302 ) will determine whether or not the terminating UE is in the CS domain. This will be the case if the B-number cannot be resolved by ENUM, or if the B-number is within a number range for another operator that is not classified as a IMS operator.
[0012] Possible solutions to reduce the amount of unnecessary signalling that have been proposed include upgrading the Home Location Register, HLR 312 to perform the terminating domain selection. However, the HLR and HSS databases are usually deployed independently of each other and the lack of a uniform interface means it is difficult to query between HLR and HSS. Therefore this solution is not practical, at least until such time as there is a unified storage and query between the HLR and IMS HSS.
SUMMARY
[0013] The present invention proposes an alternative solution, which ensures that the Service Domain Selection is always handled by the IMS, while allowing calls initiated in the CS domain to continue in CS to/from the served user. In addition, embodiments provide means to distribute service settings from the IMS to the CS domains without the need to synchronise the HLR and HSS data in the event that the CS service domain is selected. Certain assumptions have been made, including that terminating calls from the PSTN or via the GRX interface are routed to the entity that routes the incoming call—i.e. the GMSC. Also, in some CS access networks the routing entity, i.e. the MSC server, may already be enhanced, or have an enhanced capability for ICS where the user includes an ICS flag, but here it is assumed that the MSC server is either not enhanced for ICS or the ICS flag is not provided to the MSC. It is also noted that ICS users must always receive IMS services.
[0014] In one aspect there is provided a method of using IMS Centralised Services, ICS, in the selection of a service domain on the terminating side of a call originated by an originating side User Equipment, UE, to a terminating side UE being served by a CS access network. The method includes receiving, in the terminating UE's CS access network, a call set-up message from the originating UE. A request is sent to a Service Domain Selection, SDS, function for selection of a service domain for the call. A service domain selection indication is received from the SDS function and, based on the received selection indication, the call is routed either via the IMS service domain or directly to the terminating UE via the CS service domain.
[0015] The call set-up message may be received at a Gateway Mobile Switching Centre, GMSC. The GMSC sends the request to a Service Control Point, SCP, that includes the SDS function, which checks the SDS data of the terminating UE. The selection of the service domain is determined by the SDS function.
[0016] The method may also include receiving CS service data at the GMSC including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain. The CS service data may include data derived from IMS service data and/or predefined data stored in the IMS. The CS service data may include data for processing by an MSC or a Visitor Location Register, VLR, in which case the GMSC forwards that data to an appropriate MSC or VLR.
[0017] In another aspect there is provided a method of using IMS Centralised Services, ICS, in the selection of a service domain on the originating side of a call originated by a User Equipment, UE, being served by a Circuit Switched, CS, access network to a terminating side UE. The method includes receiving a call set-up message from the originating side UE. A request is sent to a Service Domain Selection, SDS, function in the originating UE's home IMS network. A service domain selection indication is received from the SDS function, and, based on the received selection indication, the call is routed either via the IMS service domain or via the CS domain.
[0018] The call set-up message may be received at a Mobile Switching Centre, MSC, the MSC sending a request to a Service Control Point, SCP, that includes a SDS function. The SDS function checks the SDS data of the originating UE. The selection of the service domain is determined by the SDS function.
[0019] The method may also include receiving CS service data at the MSC including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain. The CS service data may be derived from IMS service data and/or include predefined data stored in the IMS.
[0020] In another aspect there is provided a method of using IMS Centralised Services, ICS, in the selection of a service domain relating to a call involving a User Equipment, UE, being served by a CS access network. The method includes receiving a request from a routing node for a service domain selection at a Service Control Point, SCP, in the UE's IMS network. The SCP includes a Service Domain Selection, SDS, function that retrieves data relating to the UE from a Domain Selection function. Based on the retrieved data, either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain is selected as the service domain for routing the call. An indication of the selected service domain is sent to the routing node. The method may also include providing CS service data to the routing node, including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain. The CS service data may be derived from IMS service data and/or include predefined data stored in the IMS.
[0021] In embodiments, the SCP may be collocated with a Service Continuity Centralisation Application Server, SCC-AS, having an Access Domain Selection function. Alternatively, the SCP may be collocated with a Telephony Application Server, TAS.
[0022] Selecting the service domain may be based, at least in part, on one or more of the following criteria:
where the originating or terminating UE requires IMS-specific services, selecting the IMS domain; where the originating UE is utilising an IMS Voice over PS access, selecting the IMS domain; where the call forwarding and call barring settings are synchronised between CS and IMS, selecting the CS domain; predetermined operator preferences.
[0027] In another aspect there is provided an Application Server, AS of an IMS network. The AS receives a request from a routing node, for a service domain selection relating to a call originated by, or destined for a User Equipment, UE, being served by a Circuit Switched, CS, access network. The AS retrieves SDS data relating to the UE and, on they retrieved data, selects either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain. The AS provides a response to the routing node from which the request was received. The response includes instructions for routing the call in accordance with the selected service domain.
[0028] When the selected service domain is the CS domain, the AS may also provide CS service data, including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain.
[0029] In another aspect there is provided a Mobile Switching Centre, MSC. On receiving a call set-up request originated by a User Equipment, UE, being served by a Circuit Switched, CS, access network, and destined for a terminating UE being served by a CS access network, the MSC sends a service domain selection information request to a home IMS network of the originating UE. On receiving the requested information from the IMS, the MSC routes the call via either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain in accordance with a selection instruction in the received information. If the call is routed via the CS domain, the MSC processes additional CS service data provided with the received information, including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain.
[0030] In another aspect there is provided a Gateway Mobile Switching Centre, GMSC. On receiving a call set-up request originated by a User Equipment, UE, being served by a Circuit Switched, CS, access network and destined for a terminating UE being served by a CS access network, the GMSC requests service domain selection information from a home IMS network of the terminating UE. On receiving the requested information from the IMS, the GMSC routes the call via either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain in accordance with a selection instruction in the received information. If the call is routed via the CS domain, the GMSC processes additional CS service data provided with the received information that includes instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain.
[0031] The GMSC may also determine if the CS service data includes data for processing by an MSC or a Visitor Location Register, VLR, and forwards that data to an appropriate MSC or VLR.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates schematically in a block diagram an IP Multimedia Subsystem network;
[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates schematically in a block diagram an IMS Centralized Services network;
[0034] FIG. 3 illustrates schematically using a block diagram the signalling path for terminating a call in an IMS Centralized Services network in accordance with current standard procedure;
[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates schematically using a block diagram the signalling paths for terminating a call in a CS access network using IMS Centralized Services in accordance with the present disclosure;
[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates schematically using a block diagram the signalling paths on the originating side of a call anchored in a CS access network using IMS Centralized Services in accordance with the present disclosure;
[0037] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating method steps in a method of service domain selection for a terminating call using IMS Centralized Services in accordance with the present disclosure;
[0038] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating method steps in a method of service domain selection for an originating call using IMS Centralized Services in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0039] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating method steps in a method of service domain selection using IMS Centralized Services relating to a call involving a User Equipment, UE, being served by a CS access network in accordance with the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] The methods described below make use of a Service Domain Selection (SDS) function, which is configured to access a Domain Selection function and to intelligently select what service domain, IMS or CS, to use for a call/session. To do this the SDS acquires knowledge of the UEs reachability over both PS and CS access. In the call set-up procedure the SDS is queried to determine whether to route the call to the IMS or whether to continue the call setup in the CS domain. On the terminating side of the call, the SDS is queried by the GMSC when it receives a call set-up request. On the originating side of the call, the SDS is queried by the MSC. Each of these is described in more detail below. The SDS function could be implemented as part of an existing function, such as the SCC AS or a Telephony Application Server, TAS. In the description below, the SCC AS is used as an example, but this could also be done, for example, in the TAS.
[0041] To make the decision, the SDS applies certain criteria. For example:
where the originating or terminating UE requires IMS-specific services, selecting the IMS domain; where the originating UE is utilising an IMS Voice over PS access, selecting the IMS domain; where the call forwarding and call barring settings are synchronised between CS and IMS, selecting the CS domain.
[0045] In the event that the terminating side UE is registered in both the IMS and CS networks, the SDS function decides whether to locally route the call in the CS domain or whether to route it via the IMS, depending on certain predetermined criteria, for example operator preferences.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 4 , the terminating side of a call/session includes a serving network, 400 to which the terminating UE (not shown) is attached, and the UE's home network 402 . The network entities, or nodes, shown include both CS and IMS entities (see FIG. 1 ). The serving/access network includes a routing entity, an example of which is an MSC Server, 404 , and a P-CSCF 406 . Other network entities, such as gateways are also shown but these are not important for the present discussion. The home network includes a gateway routing entity, which in this example is a GMSC 408 , as well as certain IMS entities, including a MGCF 410 , which links to the GMSC 408 , a S-CSCF 412 , an I-CSCF 414 , and HSS 416 , an ENUM telephone number mapping server 418 and a SCC AS 420 , which includes an entity that performs a domain selection, in this example a Terminating Access Domain Selection, T-ADS function. As shown in FIG. 4 , the SCC AS 420 also hosts a SCP in the form of the SDS function 422 , as described above.
[0047] FIG. 4 shows the signaling paths in the set-up of the terminating side of a call. In accordance with established procedure, the call set-up request signal is received at the GMSC 408 . As mentioned above, the B-number (of the terminating UE 302 ) used in the call will determine that the terminating UE is using the CS domain. This will be the case if the B-number cannot be resolved by ENUM, or if the B-number is within a number range for another operator that is not classified as an IMS operator. However, unlike in established ICS procedures as described in 3GPP TS 23.292, instead of routing the signaling immediately to the IMS, the GMSC is configured to initiate a check shown as path 42 , with the SDS 422 (shown in FIG. 4 as being collocated with the SCC AS 420 ) as to whether the call should be routed via the IMS or whether to continue to route the call directly to the terminating UE via the CS domain. The SDS 422 will use the Access Domain Selection function of the SCC AS 420 to discover the capabilities and service parameters of the terminating UE, and apply predetermined criteria to make a selection as to whether the call should be routed via the IMS or continue directly via the CS domain.
[0048] If the IMS is selected, the call is routed from the GMSC 408 to the IMS, in accordance with the established procedure of 3GPP TS 23.292 shown by path 43 a —i.e. via MGCF 410 , S-CSCF 412 , SCC AS 420 , and P-CSCF 406 . If the CS domain is selected, the call is routed directly from the GMSC 408 to the MSC-S 404 , as shown in path 43 b.
[0049] FIG. 5 shows the corresponding situation at the originating side including a serving network, 500 to which the originating UE (not shown) is attached, and the originating UE's home network 502 . The network entities shown include a MSC Server 504 , and a P-CSCF 506 , a GMSC 508 , a MGCF 510 , a S-CSCF 512 , an I-CSCF 514 , HSS 516 , ENUM 518 , and a SCC AS 520 , which includes an Originating Access Domain Selection, OAS function. The SCC AS 520 also hosts a SCP in the form of the O-SDS function 522 .
[0050] FIG. 5 shows the signaling paths in the set-up of the originating side of a call initiated by the originating UE in the CS domain. In accordance with established procedure, the call set-up request signal 51 is received at the MSC 504 . Instead of routing the signaling immediately to the IMS, the MSC 504 is configured to initiate a check, shown as path 52 , with the SDS 522 (shown in FIG. 5 as being collocated with the SCC AS 420 ) as to whether the call should be routed via the IMS or whether to continue to route the call directly to the terminating UE via the CS domain. The SDS 522 will use the Access Domain Selection function of the SCC AS 520 to discover the capabilities and service parameters of the originating UE, and apply predetermined criteria to make a selection as to whether the call should be routed via the IMS or continue directly via the CS domain.
[0051] If the IMS is selected, the call is routed from the MSC 504 to the IMS, in accordance with the established procedure of 3GPP TS 23.292 shown by path 53 a —i.e. via I-CSCF 514 , S-CSCF 512 , and SCC AS 520 . If the CS domain is selected, the call is routed directly from the MSC-S 504 , as shown in path 53 b.
[0052] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the principal method steps for the method of using ICS in the selection of a service domain on the terminating side of a call, where the terminating side UE is being served by a CS access network. At step 601 , a call set-up message from the originating UE is received at the GMSC 408 (see FIG. 4 ). At step 602 , the GMSC 408 sends a Service Domain Selection, SDS, request to the SCP, which in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 is collocated with SCC AS 420 , and includes an SDS function for selecting a service domain for the call. At step 603 , the GMSC receives a reply from the SCP that includes an indication of the service domain selection made by the SDS function. In addition, if the CS service domain was selected, the GMSC may also receive CS service data, including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain. These will be described further below. At step 604 , the GMSC 408 detects if the received selection indication indicates that the CS domain has been selected, and if so, at step 605 continues routing the call directly to the terminating UE via the CS domain. In addition, if additional CS service data has been provided at step 603 , then the GMSC will process this. The data may include instructions which are to be processed by the GMSC, or may include data that is relevant for the MSC or VLR serving the terminating UE, in which case the GMSC, at step 606 , forwards the CS data to the MSC/VLR.
[0053] Alternatively, if at step 604 the selection indication indicates that the IMS has been selected, then at step 607 , the GMSC 408 routes the call via the IMS service domain.
[0054] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the principal method steps for the method of using ICS in the selection of a service domain on the originating side of a call, where the originating side UE is being served by a CS access network. At step 701 , a call set-up message from the originating UE is received at the MSC 504 (see FIG. 5 ). At step 702 , the MSC 504 sends a Service Domain Selection, SDS, request to the SCP, which in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 is collocated with SCC AS 520 , and includes an SDS function 522 for selecting a service domain for the call. At step 703 , the MSC receives a reply from the SCP that includes an indication of the service domain selection made by the SDS function. In addition, if the CS service domain was selected, the MSC may also receive CS service data, including instructions for the processing of certain call events in the CS domain. These will be described further below. At step 704 , the MSC 504 detects if the received selection indication indicates that the CS domain has been selected, and if so, at step 705 continues routing the call directly to the terminating side via the CS domain. In addition, if additional CS service data has been provided at step 703 , then the MSC will process this.
[0055] Alternatively, if at step 704 the selection indication indicates that the IMS has been selected, then at step 707 , the MSC 504 routes the call via the IMS service domain.
[0056] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the principal method steps for the method of using IMS Centralised Services, ICS, in the selection of a service domain relating to a call involving a User Equipment, UE, being served by a CS access network. At step 801 a request is received at a SCP from a MSC or a GMSC for a service domain selection. The SCP includes a SDS, function, and may, for example, be collocated with a SCC AS, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 . At step 802 , the SDS retrieves data relating to the UE that it needs to make the service domain selection. This may include retrieving UE data from a Domain Selection function (e.g. an ADS function). At step 803 , the SDS applies selection criteria to make a selection, based on the accessed data, selecting either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain as the service domain for routing the call. At step 804 the SCP also determines if there is any CS service data that should be provided to the MSC/GMSC. At step 805 , the SCP sends a reply to the MSC or GMSC, including an indication of the selected service domain, together with any CS service data determined at step 804 .
[0057] The CS service data determined at step 804 , is accessed and provided in accordance with predefined rules programmed into the SCP/SDS. The CS data may be derived from IMS service data, in which case the SDS/SCP derives the information according to the predefined rules. Alternatively, the CS service data may be pre-defined and provisioned into the IMS, in which case the SCP/SDS simply accesses the data according to the predefined rules.
[0058] Thus, for a terminated call, where the SCP/SDS decides to terminate the call in the CS domain, the additional service data is provided to the GMSC which the GMSC has to execute. However, if service data actually to be executed by the MSC/VLR and not by the GMSC, the GMSC forwards the service data to the MSC/VLR. For an originated call, where the SDS decides to originate the call in the CS domain, the SCP/SDS provides the additional service data to the MSC which the MSC has to execute.
[0059] One example for implementing the methods described above is the use of the CAMEL (Customized Applications for Mobile network Enhanced Logic) Subscription Information (CSI). For terminating calls, CAMEL T-CSI can be used to interact between the GMSC and the SDS/SCC AS. For originated calls, CAMEL O-CSI can be used to interact between the MSC and the SDS/SCC AS. In both cases, when the SDS selects the IMS, the T/O-CSI provides a routing number in a response sent to the GMSC/MSC. If no routing number is provided, then the call continues to be routed in the CS domain. The CS service data can be carried as part of the T/O-CSI responses.
[0060] The methods and network solution described enable calls originated in the CS domain, or terminated to a GMSC, to only be sent to the IMS if they need to receive IMS services. In addition the solution enables the IMS to provide CS service data to GMSC and MSC/VLR for execution in the CS domain. This enables more calls to be handled in the CS domain, while still benefitting from services that would otherwise require the call to be routed via the IMS. | The invention includes methods of using IMS Centralised Services, ICS, in the selection of a service domain relating to a call involving a User Equipment, UE, being served by a CS access network. In one aspect a method includes receiving a request from a routing node, such as a Mobile Switching Centre, MSC, or a Gateway Mobile Switching Centre, GMSC, for a service domain selection at a Service Control Point, SCPin the UE's IMS network ( 801 ). The SCP has a Service Domain Selection, SDS, function, which retrieves data relating to the UE from a Domain Selection function ( 802 ). Based on the retrieved data, the SDS selects either the IMS service domain or the CS service domain as the service domain for routing the call ( 803 ), and sends an indication of the selected service domain to the routing node ( 805 ). Other aspects include methods for domain selection at the originating and terminating sides of the call, and network entities configured to carry out the methods. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to novel cell cultures. In particular, the invention is directed to new cell cultures infected with lentiviruses, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which contain a suitable antibiotic to increase the cell density and enhance the growth of the culture. The invention also relates to new methods for increasing the density of cell cultures using certain antibiotics.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Lentiviruses constitute a class of viruses which can lead to a variety of diseases in both humans and animals. These diseases are often preceded by several months or even years of incubation. For example, the pathologies associated with AIDS are caused by the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIVs) and result from a chronic progression of the disease, often times causing cachexia and death in the patient several years after infection.
Lentiviruses have also been associated with various pathologies in such species as apes and monkeys, as well as domesticated animals such as horses, burros, cattle, goats, and sheep. Among these, equine infectious anemia (EIA) has been characterized as the most important infectious disease of horses occurring throughout the world. Lentiviruses of sheep are relatively common pathogens in most parts of the world, and include Maedi-visna virus and progressive pneumonia virus as two predominate types. Bovine immunodeficiency virus is an important cause of illness in cattle.
Other lentiviruses are vital indicators of pathology in animals such as cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus, structurally similar to HIV, can cause death in house cats. Increasingly, doctors, veterinarians, and researchers are devoting considerable time and resources to preventing and treating diseases caused by these viruses.
Part of the research involves growing tissue cultures containing cells, for example lymphocytes, which have been infected with one or more of the known lentiviruses. Lymphocyte cultures or anchorage dependent epithelium-like cells such as feline kidney cell cultures may be grown in T-flasks, roller bottles, spinner flasks and bioreactors using media such as Minimal Essential Media (MEM), Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI), Dulbecco's MEM (DMEM), and AIM V (Gibco/LTI, Grand Island, N.Y.) supplemented with bovine serum up to about 20% and up to about 5% bovine serum albumin (BSA). Large-scale cultures may be grown in large spinners, fermentor, and bioreactors in the presence of shear protective chemical, thickener, emulsifiers or compounds such as methylcellulose, carboxylmethyl cellulose, and surfactants such as the Pluronic series, e.g. PLURONIC® F-68, manufactured by BASF Corporation of Wyandotte, Mich.
In maintaining tissue cultures containing viruses, researchers seek to destroy harmful bacteria within the culture so that the cells containing the virus can grow and propagate. At the same time, a concomitant goal is to maximize growth of the cell culture. To facilitate growth and destroy bacteria, it has been accepted practice to add antibiotics, usually a combination thereof, to the cell culture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,423 sets forth a cell culture of Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cells in which up to 30 mcg/mL of polymixin B and neomycin, and up to 2.5 mcg/mL of amphotericin B is utilized.
What is now needed in the art are new cell culture compositions containing cells infected with lentiviruses. Especially needed are novel cell cultures in which cell growth can be maximized and the presence of harmful organisms such as bacteria can be simultaneously minimized. Also needed are new methods of growing cell cultures in which the density thereof can be increased through the promotion of tissue growth. Further needed are new additives which can optimize the density of cell cultures by enabling and enhancing the growth of the cells which comprise the culture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a cell culture comprising at least one lentivirus-infected host cell and a growth-promoting amount of an antibiotic consisting essentially of neomycin or a biologically compatible salt thereof.
The invention is also directed to a cell culture which contains at least one lentivirus-infected host cell and neomycin or a biologically compatible salt thereof, such that the neomycin is present substantially without another antibiotic in an amount which is effective at inhibiting bacterial growth and increasing the density of the cell culture.
Also provided as part of the invention is a method for increasing the density of a cell culture in which cells therein have been infected with a lentivirus, which involves adding an antibiotic consisting essentially of neomycin or a biologically acceptable salt thereof to the cell culture.
The invention also provides a composition suitable for addition to a cell culture infected with lentivirus. The composition contains a cell density enhancing quantity of an antibiotic consisting essentially of neomycin or a biologically salt thereof, along with at least one cell culture supplement. The cell culture supplement is desirably bovine-derived sera.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention given below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is directed to cell cultures. Those contemplated for use herein are those suitable for research and study which are capable of harboring lentiviruses and permitting the growth thereof. Such cell cultures would therefore include lymphocytes and other types of cells which can become infected with one or more lentiviruses. Other suitable cell cultures would include feline lymphocytes, fibroblast-like and epithelium-like cells such as feline kidney cells, Crandell Feline Kidney or CRFK cells, FL6, FL72 and FL 74 (Feline Lymphocyte) cells. T-cell lymphocytes may be preferred for use herein, as well as IL-2 independent FetJ and FL6 lymphocytes.
The term “lentiviruses’ is used herein to encompass all known and yet-to-be-discovered lentiviruses, including without limitation equine infectious anemia virus, Maedi-visna virus, progressive pneumonia virus, caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), simian immunodeficiency viruses infecting such species as the macaque, and African monkeys and baboons, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Types I and II. The term “lentiviruses” also includes analogs, derivatives and peptide sequences of any of the foregoing. Preferred for use herein are the non-human lentiviruses, and in particular, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).
The cell cultures of the invention may be cultivated using methods known in the art. For example, the host cells such as lymphocytes may be chronically infected with one or more of the foregoing lentiviruses using accepted procedures, and then grown in suitable media. Preferably, the media is substantially liquid media. Even more preferably, the media is initially provided as substantially serum-free media. The host cells may be suspended in the liquid media, for example. Cell density of the cultivated cell culture may vary according to the particular host cells, the media, and the growth chamber, but can be within the range of about 1×10 4 to about 1×10 6 suitable cells per milliliter (mL) of cell culture (including media). More preferably, the cell density is about 2×10 5 to about 5×10 5 cells per milliliter.
As a further part of the invention, the cell cultures contain a suitable antibiotic which is effective at inhibiting the growth of bacteria within the culture, while at the same time increasing the growth of the cells and thereby increasing the density of the cell culture. Preferred for use herein is the antibiotic neomycin, which would include all biologically compatible salts and derivatives thereof, such as neomycin sulfate. By “biologically compatible” it is meant that the salt or derivative thereof has substantially no adverse biological effects upon the cell.
The quantity of neomycin included in the cell culture may vary according to the needs of the skilled artisan, but is typically included in an amount that will increase the density of the cell culture. An amount of neomycin within the range of from about 5 micrograms/mL of cell culture to about 60 micrograms/mL of cell culture (including media) is usually preferred. In a more preferred embodiment, neomycin is included in the cell culture in a quantity of at least about 10 micrograms/mL, and more preferably at least about 20 micrograms/mL. Even more desirably, the quantity of neomycin will be within about 30 micrograms/mL to about 60 micrograms/mL.
It is preferred to utilize neomycin to enhance cell culture growth and density without the inclusion of such other antibiotics as polymixin B and gentamycin, for example. Polymixin B may be derived from polymixin B 1 and B 2 , which are produced by the growth of Bacillus polymyxa (Prazmowski) Migula (Fam. Bacillaceae). It has now been found that including both neomycin and polymixin B in cell culture can, in many instances, result in a significantly smaller increase in cell density when compared with the use of neomycin alone.
Other components of the cell culture of the invention would typically include at least one culture supplement. The culture supplement may be bovine-derived, such as from bovine sera, and can include bovine serum and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The culture supplement may be included in amounts of from about 0.1 to about 10% by volume of the final cell culture.
The use of neomycin as herein described may increase cell density by at least about 20%, and more preferably by at least about 33 ⅓% over an identical cell culture of lentivirus-infected host cells not containing any antibiotic. Cell density may be assessed by acceptable methods, including the use of trypan blue exclusion on hemacytometer.
The following example is provided to illustrate one preferred aspect of the invention, but should not be construed as limiting the scope thereof.
EXAMPLE
In this example, Fet-J cells chronically infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) were grown in serum free media such as modified DMEM:F12 Media or AIM V media, supplemented with 2.5 mg/mL of ALBUMAX®, which is derived from BSA. Cells were grown in suspension in Erlenmeyer flasks on a rotary shaker at 150 rpm at 37° C. Cells were planted at a cell density of 3×10 5 viable cells/mL. Cell densities were determined by trypan blue exclusion on hemacytometer. Gp 120 expression determination was accomplished by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using anti-FIV Gp 120 monoclonal antibodies. The antibiotics assessed for FIV supplementation included gentamycin, neomycin and polymixin B. Media were spiked with respective antibiotics at a concentration of 30 micrograms/mL. Cell densities were determined on a 24 hour basis by the method described above. The results are shown in TABLE 1.
TABLE 1 Antibiotic Concentration Experimental (micrograms/ Day 0 Day Day Day Group mL) (cell/mL) Day 1 Day 2 3 4 5 Control N/A 3.0 × 10 5 3.6 × 10 5 5.5 × 10 5 1.0 × 10 6 1.2 × 10 6 1.2 × 10 6 Gentamycin 30 μg/mL 3.0 × 10 5 2.4 × 10 5 3.2 × 10 5 6.5 × 10 5 1.1 × 10 6 1.1 × 10 6 Neomycin 30 μg/mL 3.0 × 10 5 4.7 × 10 5 7.8 × 10 5 1.2 × 10 6 1.3 × 10 6 1.8 × 10 6 Polymixin B 30 μg/mL 3.0 × 10 5 2.9 × 10 5 4.6 × 10 5 5.8 × 10 5 6.6 × 10 6 6.6 × 10 5 Polymixin B + 30 μg/mL + 3.0 × 10 5 2.9 × 10 5 5.0 × 10 5 7.0 × 10 5 7.7 × 10 5 7.8 × 10 5 Neomycin 30 μg/mL
The results from Table 1 show that the cell culture suspensions supplemented with neomycin had the best overall growth and increase in cell densities. Gentamycin had no significant effect, with daily cell densities being substantially the same as the controls. Cultures supplemented with Polymixin B, or neomycin together with polymixin B actually suppressed cell density as compared to the cultures in which no antibiotic was utilized and thus were also much less dense than those wherein neomycin by itself was used.
Although the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it should be appreciated that many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims. | A composition and method for enhancing cell growth and increasing the density of cell cultures containing lentivirus-infected host cells comprises adding a suitable quantity of an antibiotic to the culture to destroy harmful bacteria. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The subject matter described here generally relates to wind turbines, and, more particularly, to differential vibration sensing and control of wind turbines.
2. Related Art
A wind turbine is a machine for converting the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by the machinery, such as to pump water or to grind wheat, then the wind turbine may be referred to as a windmill. Similarly, if the mechanical energy is converted to electricity, then the machine may also be referred to as a wind generator or wind power plant.
Vibrations in various components of a wind turbine may considerably reduce the life of those components and/or lead to early fatigue failures. These vibrations are typically measured with respect to a stationary reference point using accelerometers arranged at critical locations on the components of interest. However, such conventional approaches to vibration sensing do not adequately protect the wind turbine and can lead to unnecessary system shutdown “trips.”
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
These and other drawbacks associated with such conventional approaches are addressed here in by providing, in various embodiments, a wind turbine including a first vibration sensor for producing a first vibration signal; a second vibration sensor, displaced from the first vibration sensor, for producing a second vibration signal; and a processor for comparing the first vibration signal to the second vibration signal and controlling the wind turbine in response to the comparison. Also provided is a method of operating a wind turbine including sensing vibration at a first location on the wind turbine; sensing vibration at a second location on the wind turbine; comparing the sensed vibration at the first location to the sensed vibration at the second location; and controlling the wind turbine in response to an outcome of the comparing step.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Various aspects of this technology will now be described with reference to the following figures (“FIGS.”) which are not necessarily drawn to scale, but use the same reference numerals to designate corresponding parts throughout each of the several views.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a wind generator.
FIG. 2 is a cut-away orthographic view of the nacelle and huh of the wind generator shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is an orthographic view of a frame for the nacelle shown in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 is a schematic control diagram.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wind turbine 2 . This particular configuration for a wind generator type turbine includes a tower 4 supporting a nacelle 6 enclosing a drive train 8 . The blades 10 are arranged on a hub to form a “rotor” at one end of the drive train 8 outside of the nacelle 6 . The rotating blades 10 drive a gearbox 12 connected to an electrical generator 14 at the other end of the drive train 8 along with a control system 16 that may receive input from an anemometer 18 . A first or tower vibration sensor 20 is arranged on the tower 4 , such as near the top of the tower, or at any other location on the tower. Other vibration sensors may also be arranged at other locations on the tower 4 and/or at other locations on the wind turbine 2 .
FIG. 2 is a cut-away orthographic view of the nacelle 6 and hub 110 of the wind turbine 2 shown in FIG. 1 . The drive train 8 of the wind turbine 2 (shown in FIG. 1 ) includes a main rotor shaft 116 connected to hub 110 and the gear box 12 . The control system 16 (in FIG. 1 ) includes one or more processors, such as microcontrollers 111 within the panel 112 , which provide signals to control the variable pitch blade drive 114 and/or other components of the wind turbine 2 . A high speed shaft (not shown in FIG. 2 ) is used to drive a first generator 120 via coupling 122 . Various components in the nacelle 6 are be supported by a frame 132 .
FIG. 3 is an orthographic view of the frame 132 from the nacelle 6 shown in FIG. 2 . As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the frame 132 typically includes a main frame, or “bedplate,” 203 , and generator support frame, or “rear frame,” 205 that is typically cantilevered from the bedplate. A second or frame vibration sensor 22 is secured to the frame 132 , such as near the end of the rear frame 205 , for measuring lateral and vertical vibrations. Alternatively, or in addition, other vibration sensors may be secured to other locations on the rear frame 205 , to the bedplate 203 , and/or at other locations on the wind turbine 2 .
Each of the vibration sensors 20 and/or 22 includes a motion sensor for measuring acceleration, velocity, and/or displacement in one or more dimensions. For example, the vibration sensors 20 and/or 22 may be tri-axial or biaxial, measuring lateral and longitudinal vibrations in the time domain. Other process variables besides vibration, such as displacement, velocity, temperature, and/or pressure, may also be similarly sensed at various turbine locations in a similar manner. The vibration sensors 20 and 22 are arranged to communicate with the control system 16 . For example, the vibrations sensors 20 and 22 may be arranged to communicate with a local or remote processor such as the microcontroller 111 via wired and/or wireless means.
As illustrated in the schematic control diagram for microcontroller 111 shown in FIG. 4 , some or all of the vertical and/or lateral outputs from the frame vibration sensor 20 are compared to some or all of the corresponding outputs from the tower vibration sensor 22 . This may be accomplished by a comparator, such as the illustrated adder 24 , or other device, in order to provide a “differential vibration” signal. In the particular example illustrated here, the lateral acceleration signal from the tower vibration sensor 20 is subtracted from the lateral acceleration signal provided by the rear frame vibration sensor 22 . Alternatively, or in addition, the vertical acceleration signal from the tower vibration sensor 20 may subtracted from the vertical acceleration signal provided by the rear frame vibration sensor 22 . Signals on other axes may be compared in a similar manner.
In this manner, the output signal from the adder 24 is referenced against vibrations sensed in the tower 4 rather than at a stationary reference such as ground. In other words, the cumulative effect of tower vibrations are removed from the output of the adder 24 , so that the signal corresponds more closely to just the vibrations caused by equipment near the rear frame 205 . Relative movement between the tower 4 and frame 205 are therefore more accurately accounted for. Other vibration sensors may also be used so that the output from the second sensor 22 , and/or other sensors, is referenced against vibrations sensed at any other location in the wind turbine 4 .
A filter 26 may be optionally applied to the signal from the adder 24 in order to exclude frequencies and/or times which are not of interest. However, the filter 26 may also be applied to the signals from other locations, including to the output from the vibration sensors 20 and 22 . Other types of signal processing beside filtering may also be used, such as amplification and/or noise reduction. The “filtered differential vibration signal” from the filter 26 is them sent to an optional adjuster 28 for further processing. For example, the adjuster 28 may be used to calculate a root mean square “RMS” and/or other statistical measure for evaluating whether the “adjusted and filtered differential vibration signal” is within normal operating parameters. The adder 24 , filter 26 , and/or adjuster 28 may be implemented as part of the microcontroller 111 (in FIG. 2 ) or other processor that is arranged local to or remote from for the wind turbine 2 .
The differential, filtered differential, and/or adjusted filtered differential signals can then be made at decision point 30 to take further action based upon whether the signal is above a threshold. For example, the adjusted signal may be used to initiate an automatic or manual shutdown “trip” of the wind turbine 2 during periods of excessive vibration when the RMS value rises above a predetermined set point. Such trips may be implemented, for example, by causing variable pitch blade drives 114 to rotate the blades 10 to a feathered position. Other process variables may also be taken into consideration before making a initiating a turbine shut down, or other process change, at decision point 30 .
In one example where lateral vibration signals from the tower 4 and rear frame 205 were compared in the manner described above, peak vibration amplitudes were reduced 34% and RMS values were reduced 33%. For vertical vibrations, peak vibration amplitudes were reduced 14% and RMS values were reduced 15%. It is therefore expected that, by more accurately measuring the vibration levels at the rear frame 205 , unnecessary turbine shutdowns for excessive vibration may be avoided using the various techniques described above.
It should be emphasized that the embodiments described above, and particularly any “preferred” embodiments, are merely examples of various implementations that have been set forth here to provide a clear understanding of various aspects of this technology. One of ordinary skill will be able to alter many of these embodiments without substantially departing from scope of protection defined solely by the proper construction of the following claims. | A wind turbine includes a first vibration sensor for producing a first vibration signal; a second vibration sensor, displaced from the first vibration sensor, for producing a second vibration signal; and a processor for comparing the first vibration signal to the second vibration signal and controlling the wind turbine in response to the comparison. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority to New Zealand Application No. 602561, filed Sep. 21, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of dental instruments and more specifically to dental tweezers. The invention may also find application in other fields where tweezers are utilized.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Tweezers are instruments used to pick up objects that are too small to be easily handled using human hands. A majority of dental products are small and require the use of tweezers. Dental tweezers come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Dentists usually use more than one type of tweezer during a single procedure. Most tweezers require the application of constant pressure while gripping an object. This requirement is a difficulty when the dental assistant needs to pass the dental product to the dentist. This requirement also doesn't allow for preloading of the tweezers.
[0004] Although there are several dental tweezers in prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,615 B2, U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,469 B2, U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,781 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,329), these tweezers don't have tweezers at both ends and also they don't allow for preloading. The current invention aims to address drawbacks in prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The object of this invention is to provide an instrument that can be used for different purposes and which allows for preloading. The device is a double-ended tweezer wherein both ends include a pair of pincers, and one end is biased in a closed position and the other end is biased in an open position.
[0006] The present invention provides a tweezer for dental and other applications, the tweezer comprising a main body portion extending in a generally longitudinal direction. The main body portion having a first end and a second end. A hinge connector is located between the first end and the second end. A first pair of pincers is located at the first end and a second pair of pincers located at the second end. A bias mechanism urging the first pair of pincers into a closed position and urging the second pair of pincers in an open position, whereby the user may apply a force to the tweezers to overcome the bias mechanism and urge the first pair of pincers away from the closed position and the second pair of pincers away from the open position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double-ended tweezer in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, in a passive configuration;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a spring of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 1 ;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a close-up detail of the hinge connector portion of the second lever of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 1 ;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a plan view of the fastener of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 1 :
[0011] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a double-ended tweezer in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, in a passive configuration;
[0012] FIG. 6 is a side plan view of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 5 ;
[0013] FIG. 7 is a close-up detail of the cotton tweezer end of the second lever of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 5 , showing the pin;
[0014] FIG. 8 is a close-up detail of the cotton tweezer end of the first lever of the double-ended tweezer of FIG. 5 , showing the pin hole;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a double-ended tweezer 10 for dental procedures in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The double-ended tweezer 10 includes a first lever 12 and a second lever 14 . The first lever 12 is coupled to the second lever 14 via a fulcrum or hinge connector 16 . The double-ended tweezer 10 includes a pair of pincers at both ends 18 , 20 . In particular, the double-ended tweezer 10 includes a cotton tweezer end 18 and a pin tweezer end 20 .
[0016] The hinge connector 16 couples the first lever 12 and second lever 14 in a pivotal manner. The hinge connector 16 includes a spring 22 which biases the tweezer 10 in a passive position as shown in FIG. 1 . In the passive position of FIG. 1 , the pin tweezer end 20 is urged toward a closed arrangement and the cotton tweezer end 18 is urged towards an open arrangement. The hinge connector 16 also includes a fastener 24 for maintaining the first lever 12 and second lever 14 in a biased pivotal connection.
[0017] FIG. 1 also shows that the first lever 12 includes gripping portions 30 . Although not readily seen, it will be appreciated that second lever 14 also includes gripping portions 30 . The gripping portions may be a series of grooves machined or otherwise provided in the levers. Alternatively, the gripping portions 30 may be provided on one side of a one-sided adhesive label. The other side of the label having the adhesive for applying and retaining the gripping portion 30 to the respective lever. The gripping portions 30 may take the form of other embodiments as will be appreciated.
[0018] The spring 22 is shown in FIG. 2 to be a keyhole shaped flat metal spring. The spring 22 includes a curved portion 32 with legs 34 extending from the curved portion 32 . The spring 22 provides a height “h”. The spring 22 includes a transition portion 36 between the curved portion 32 and the respective leg 34 . The legs 34 each terminate at ends 38 . The first lever 12 includes an outer wall 40 and an inner wall 42 . Similarly, the second lever 14 includes an outer wall 44 and inner wall 46 . The cotton tweezer end 18 is shown to include a gripping portion 48 on the opposed facing inner walls 42 , 46 . The gripping portion 48 may be parallel ribbing, slightly offset so as to provide an overlapping engagement. The inner wall 48 includes a rectangular recess 50 for receiving and retaining a respective end 38 of the spring 22 . The inner wall 42 includes a similar recess 50 (not shown) in opposed facing relation with the recess 50 of the inner wall 46 .
[0019] FIG. 1 shows that the portion of the levers 12 , 14 extending from the hinge connector 16 to the cotton tweezer end 18 is longer than the portion of the levers 12 , 14 extending from the hinge connector 16 to the pin tweezer end 20 . This arrangement accommodates the longer length desired for the cotton tweezers end 18 , yet avoids an unduly long overall length of the tweezers 10 .
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a close up exploded view of the second lever 14 . In particular, a pivot seat 52 is shown. The pivot seat 52 extends from the inner wall 46 of the second lever 14 via a flange portion 54 (see FIG. 1 ). The pivot seat 52 includes a C-shaped annular spring abutement 56 . A cylindrical spring wall 58 extends from the annular spring abutement 56 and defines a height of the wall 58 . The cylindrical spring wall 58 is interrupted by nub 60 which forms a pair a spring leg abutements 62 . The nub 60 has a width as defined by the spring leg abutement 62 . A hole 64 extends through the pivot seat 52 , including the annular spring abutement 56 and cylindrical spring wall 58 . FIG. 3 also shows the rectangular recess 50 for receiving and retaining an end 38 of the spring 22 . The depth of the rectangular recess 50 is shown to increase as the rectangular recess 50 extends away from the pivot seat 52 . FIG. 3 also shows that the inner wall 46 includes a curved recessed portion 66 opposite the pivot seat 52 . The recessed portion 66 accommodates the curved portion 32 of the spring 22 .
[0021] The first lever 12 includes a similar pivot seat 52 and accordingly the same reference numerals are used. However, alternatively, the corresponding wall 58 may provide a height the same or different from the height of the wall 58 of the second lever 14 . Regardless, the combined height of both walls 58 may be slightly greater than the height “h” so as not to bind the spring 22 . Further, the width of the nub 60 may be narrower than that of the second lever 14 . In this manner, the nub 60 of the first lever 12 will not interfere with the spring 22 during pivoting action of the tweezer 10 . In addition, the hole 64 may be formed of a different dimension from the hole of the second lever 14 . The variation in dimension is intended to accommodate particular fastener 24 as will be appreciated from the following comments.
[0022] FIG. 4 shows the fastener 24 . The fastener 24 includes a slotted head 70 , a pivot shank 72 and an end shank 74 . The pivot shank 72 includes a diameter which is slightly less than the diameter of the hole 64 in the pivot seat of the first lever 12 . The end shank 74 includes a diameter which provides an interference fit with the hole 64 in the pivot seat 52 of the second lever 14 . Alternatively, the hole 64 in the pivot seat 52 of the second lever 14 may be threaded, with the end shank 74 having a mating threaded arrangement. Other fastener arrangements are contemplated as will be understood.
[0023] FIG. 5 shows a top plan view of a double-ended dental tweezer 110 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, in a passive configuration. Where features are similar to the first embodiment, similar reference numerals are used. In this embodiment, the hinge connection 116 is located at a mid-portion of the double-ended dental tweezer 110 . FIG. 6 is a side plan view of the double-ended dental tweezer of FIG. 5 . FIG. 7 is a close-up detail of the pin tweezer end 120 of the second lever 114 of the double-ended dental tweezer 110 of FIG. 5 , showing the pin 176 . FIG. 8 is a close-up detail of the pin tweezer end 120 of the first lever 112 of the double-ended dental tweezer 110 of FIG. 5 , showing the pin hole 178 for receiving the pin 176 .
[0024] In the two embodiments shown above, at one end is a combination pin and hole arrangement and at the other end cotton tweezers ends. In yet another embodiment, the ends are the same, e.g., cotton tweezers ends. Other embodiments are also possible and contemplated. The double-ended tweezer may be made of metal. However, other materials are possible and keeping within the spirit of the invention.
[0025] The pin-end allows for better gripping of objects that have a hole through them. The pin-end also allows for preloading of the tweezers. A spring keeps the pin-end arms closed. The spring may be inbuilt or separate to the hinge connector.
[0026] The device works such that the dentist can handle small dental accessories using one set of tweezers. In the passive configuration, the distal side of the device is open and the proximal side is closed by a spring. The dentist has to apply pressure on the two levers to grip objects at the distal ends. At the proximal end, pressure is applied to open the ends. Once the object has been gripped, the device can be used without the application of pressure. This allows for preloading of the device and for secure handling of the object and device at the chair-side.
[0027] The distal side of the device is used for general purposes and the proximal side is used for dental products that allow the use of the pin-ends.
[0028] While the present invention has been described in connection with a specific application, this application is exemplary in nature and is not intended to be limiting on the possible applications of this invention. It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is intended as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated and described. The disclosure is intended to cover, by the appended claims, all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims. | The present invention provides a tweezer for dental and other applications. The tweezer including a main body portion ( 12, 14 ) extending in a generally longitudinal direction. The main body portion having a first end ( 20 ) and a second end ( 18 ). A hinge connector ( 16 ) is located between the first end and the second end. A first pair of pincers is located at the first end ( 20 ). A second pair of pincers is located at the second end ( 18 ). A bias mechanism ( 22 ) urges the first pair of pincers ( 20 ) into a closed position and urging the second pair of pincers ( 18 ) in an open position, whereby the user may apply a force to the tweezers to overcome the bias mechanism ( 22 ) and urge the first pair of pincers ( 20 ) away from the closed position and the second pair of pincers ( 18 ) away from the open position. | 0 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/156,069 filed on Feb. 27, 2009 and entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER CLOUD MANAGEMENT, which is commonly assigned and the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/165,250 filed on Mar. 31, 2009 and entitled CLOUD ROUTING NETWORK FOR BETTER INTERNET PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY AND SECURITY, which is commonly assigned and the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates to a system and a method for computer cloud management and in particular, to utilizing a computer cloud network for accelerating and auto-scaling an application in response to load demand changes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The advancement of computer networking has enabled computer programs to evolve from the early days' monolithic form that is used by one user at a time into distributed applications. A distributed application, running on two or more networked computers, is able to support multiple users at the same time. FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of a distributed application in a client-server architecture. The clients 100 send requests 110 via the network 140 to the server 150 , and the server 150 sends responses 120 back to the clients 100 via the network 140 . The same server is able to serve multiple concurrent clients.
[0005] Today, most applications are distributed. FIG. 2 shows the architecture of a typical web application. The client part of a web application runs inside a web browser 210 that interacts with the user. The server part of a web application runs on one or multiple computers, such as Web Server 250 , Application Server 260 , and Database Server 280 . The server components typically reside in an infrastructure referred to as “host infrastructure” or “application infrastructure” 245 .
[0006] In order for a web application to be able to serve a large number of clients, its host infrastructure must meet performance, scalability and availability requirements. “Performance” refers to the application's responsiveness to user interactions. “Scalability” refers to an application's capability to perform under increased load demand. “Availability” refers to an application's capability to deliver continuous, uninterrupted service. With the exponential growth of the number of Internet users, access demand can easily overwhelm the capacity of a single server computer.
[0007] An effective way to address performance, scalability and availability concerns is to host a web application on multiple servers (server clustering) and load balance client requests among these servers (or sites). Load balancing spreads the load among multiple servers. If one server failed, the load balancing mechanism would direct traffic away from the failed server so that the site is still operational. FIG. 3 is an illustration of using multiple web servers, multiple application servers and multiple database servers to increase the capacity of the web application. Clustering is frequently used today for improving application scalability.
[0008] Another way for addressing performance, scalability and availability concerns is to replicate the entire application to two different data centers (site mirroring). Site mirroring is a more advanced approach than server clustering because it replicates an entire application, including documents, code, data, web server software, application server software, database server software, to another geographic location, thereby creating two geographically separated sites mirroring each other. A hardware device called “Global Load Balancing Device” performs load balancing among the multiple sites.
[0009] For both server clustering and site mirroring, a variety of load balancing mechanisms have been developed. They all work fine in their specific context.
[0010] However, both server clustering and site mirroring have significant limitations. Both approaches provision a “fixed” amount of infrastructure capacity, while the load on a web application is not fixed. In reality, there is no “right” amount of infrastructure capacity to provision for a web application because the load on the application can swing from zero to millions of hits within a short period of time when there is a traffic spike. When under-provisioned, the application may perform poorly or even become unavailable. When over-provisioned, the over-provisioned capacity is wasted. To be conservative, a lot of web operators end up purchasing significantly more capacity than needed. It is common to see server utilization below 20% in a lot of data centers today, resulting in substantial capacity waste. Yet the application still goes under when traffic spikes happen. This is called as a “capacity dilemma” that happens every day. Furthermore, these traditional techniques are time consuming and expensive to set up and are equally time consuming and expensive to make changes. Events like natural disaster can cause an entire site to fail. Comparing to server clustering, site mirroring provides availability even if one site completely failed. However, it is more complex to set up and requires data synchronization between the two sites. Lastly, the set of global load balancing devices is a single point of failure.
[0011] A third approach for improving web performance is to use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) service. Companies like Akamai and Limelight Networks operate a global content delivery infrastructure comprising of tens of thousands of servers strategically placed across the globe. These servers cache web content (static documents) produced by their customers (content providers). When a user requests such content, a routing mechanism (typically based on Domain Name Server (DNS) techniques) would find an appropriate caching server to serve the request. By using content delivery service, users receive better content performance because content is delivered from an edge server that is closer to the user.
[0012] Though content delivery networks can enhance performance and scalability, they are limited to static content. Web applications are dynamic. Responses dynamically generated from web applications can not be cached. Web application scalability is still limited by its hosting infrastructure capacity. Further, CDN services do not enhance availability for web applications in general. If the hosting infrastructure goes down, the application will not be available. So though CDN services help improve performance and scalability in serving static content, they do not change the fact that the site's scalability and availability are limited by the site's infrastructure capacity.
[0013] Over the recent years, cloud computing has emerged as an efficient and more flexible way to do computing, shown in FIG. 4 . According to Wikipedia, cloud computing “refers to the use of Internet-based (i.e. Cloud) computer technology for a variety of services. It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure ‘in the cloud’ that supports them”. The word “cloud” is a metaphor, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. In this document, we use the term “Cloud Computing” to refer to the utilization of a network-based computing infrastructure that includes many inter-connected computing nodes to provide a certain type of service, of which each node may employ technologies like virtualization and web services. The internal works of the cloud itself are concealed from the user point of view.
[0014] One of the enablers for cloud computing is virtualization. Wikipedia explains that “virtualization is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resource”. It includes “Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources”, “Resource virtualization, the virtualization of specific system resources, such as storage volumes, name spaces, and network resource” and so on. VMWare is a highly successful company that provides virtualization software to “virtualize” computer operating systems from the underlying hardware resources. Due to virtualization, one can use software to start, stop and manage “virtual machine” (VM) nodes 460 , 470 in a computing environment 450 , shown in FIG. 4 . Each “virtual machine” behaves just like a regular computer from an external point of view. One can install software onto it, delete files from it and run programs on it, though the “virtual machine” itself is just a software program running on a “real” computer.
[0015] Another enabler for cloud computing is the availability of commodity hardware as well as the computing power of commodity hardware. For a few hundred dollars, one can acquire a computer that is more powerful than a machine that would have cost ten times more twenty years ago. Though an individual commodity machine itself may not be reliable, putting many of them together can produce an extremely reliable and powerful system. Amazon.com's Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2) is an example of a cloud computing environment that employs thousands of commodity machines with virtualization software to form an extremely powerful computing infrastructure.
[0016] By utilizing commodity hardware and virtualization, cloud computing can increase data center efficiency, enhance operational flexibility and reduce costs. Running a web application in a cloud environment has the potential to efficiently meet performance, scalability and availability objectives. For example, when there is a traffic increase that exceeded the current capacity, one can launch new server nodes to handle the increased traffic. If the current capacity exceeds the traffic demand by a certain threshold, one can shut down some of the server nodes to lower resource consumption. If some existing server nodes failed, one can launch new nodes and redirect traffic to the new nodes.
[0017] However, running web applications in a cloud computing environment like Amazon EC2 creates new requirements for traffic management and load balancing because of the frequent node stopping and starting. In the cases of server clustering and site mirroring, stopping a server or server failure are exceptions. The corresponding load balancing mechanisms are also designed to handle such occurrences as exceptions. In a cloud computing environment, server reboot and server shutdown are assumed to be common occurrences rather than exceptions. On one side, the assumption that individual nodes are not reliable is at the center of design for a cloud system due to its utilization of commodity hardware. On the other side, there are business reasons to start or stop nodes in order to increase resource utilization and reduce costs. Naturally, the traffic management and load balancing system required for a cloud computing environment must be responsive to node status changes.
[0018] Thus it would be advantageous to provide a cloud management system that can automatically scale up and scale down infrastructure capacity in response to an application's load demand, intelligently direct traffic to a plurality of server nodes in response to node status changes and load condition changes, while enhancing an application's performance, scalability and availability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0019] The invention provides a cloud management system that provides dynamic content acceleration, traffic management and auto-scaling for applications. The system directs clients to appropriate server nodes among a plurality of geographically distributed nodes so that performance is optimal according to a certain metrics. The system also monitors the load condition and performance of the application, and dynamically adjusts the application's infrastructure capacity to match the demand according to a certain policy. For example, when it detects a traffic increase that may overwhelm the current capacity, the system automatically launches new server instances and spreads load to these new instances. Further, the system manages traffic and performs load balancing among a plurality of server nodes that the application is running on.
[0020] In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method for auto-scaling the infrastructure capacity of an application in response to client demands. The method includes providing an application configured to run on an application infrastructure comprising a plurality of server nodes and to be accessed by clients via a first network. Next, providing traffic management means directing traffic from the clients to the server nodes of the application infrastructure. Providing monitoring means gathering performance metrics of the application and metrics of the application infrastructure. Providing controlling means configured to change the application infrastructure. Next, monitoring the performance metrics of the application and the metrics of the application infrastructure via the monitoring means thereby obtaining metrics information and then changing the application infrastructure based on the metrics information via the controlling means. Finally directing network traffic targeted to access the application to server nodes of the changed application infrastructure via the traffic management means.
[0021] Implementations of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following. The application infrastructure comprises a cloud computing environment. The application infrastructure comprises virtual machines. The application infrastructure comprises virtual machines and physical server machines. The application infrastructure comprises server nodes running in different geographic locations. The controlling means comprise means for starting, means for stopping and means for managing virtual machine instances. The metrics information comprises geographic proximity of the clients to the server nodes of the application infrastructure. The metrics information comprises application load demand. The metrics information comprises application performance data. The traffic management means comprises means for resolving a domain name of the application via a Domain Name Server (DNS). The traffic management means performs traffic management by providing Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the server nodes in the application infrastructure to the clients. The traffic management means performs load balancing among the server nodes in the application infrastructure. The traffic management means selects one or more optimal server nodes among the server nodes in the application infrastructure for serving client requests. The traffic management means selects one or more server nodes among the server nodes in the application infrastructure based on geographic proximity of the server nodes to the clients. The traffic management means selects one or more server nodes among the server nodes in the application infrastructure based on optimized network performance to certain clients. The traffic management means selects a persistent server node among the server nodes in the application infrastructure for serving requests from the same client. The controlling means change the application infrastructure capacity in response to the metrics information. The controlling means change the application infrastructure capacity in response to a certain policy. The controlling means change the application infrastructure capacity in response to instructions received from a third party. The controlling means change the application infrastructure capacity by launching new server nodes in the application infrastructure. The controlling means change the application infrastructure capacity by shutting down sever nodes in the application infrastructure.
[0022] In general, in another aspect, the invention features a system for auto-scaling the infrastructure capacity of an application in response to client demands. The system includes an application configured to run on an application infrastructure comprising a plurality of server nodes and to be accessed by clients via a first network. The system also includes traffic management means directing traffic from the clients to the server nodes of the application infrastructure, monitoring means gathering performance metrics of the application and metrics of the application infrastructure and controlling means configured to change the application infrastructure. The monitoring means monitor the performance metrics of the application and the metrics of the application infrastructure and thereby obtain metrics information. The controlling means change the application infrastructure based on the metrics information and the traffic management means direct network traffic targeted to access the application to server nodes of the changed application infrastructure.
[0023] Among the advantages of the invention may be one or more of the following. The system is horizontally scalable. Its capacity increases linearly by just adding more computing nodes to the system. It is also fault-tolerant. Failure of individual components within the system does not cause system failure. In fact, the system assumes component failures as common occurrences and is able to run on commodity hardware to deliver high performance and high availability services.
[0024] Applications of the present invention include but are not limited to the followings. Accelerating and load balancing requests among node instances running at multiple sites (data centers), as shown in FIG. 7 . Scaling and load balancing a web application in a cloud environment, as shown in FIG. 8 . Scaling and load balancing an email application in a cloud environment, as shown in FIG. 9 . The traffic processing units provide performance acceleration, load balancing and failover. The management means manage server nodes in response to load demand and performance changes, such as starting new nodes, shutting down existing nodes and recover from failed nodes, among others. The monitoring means monitor server nodes and collect performance metrics data;
[0025] The traffic processing unit uses a Domain Name System (DNS) to provide Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for the “optimal” server node in a DNS hostname query. Such a technique can be used in any situation where the client requires access to a replicated network resource. It directs the client request to an appropriate replica so that the route to the replica is good from a performance standpoint. Further, the traffic processing unit also takes session stickiness into consideration that requests from the same client session is routed to the same server node persistently when session stickiness is required. Session stickiness, also known as “IP address persistence” or “server affinity” in the art, means that different requests from the same client session will always to be routed to the same server in a multi-server environment. “Session stickiness” is required for a variety of web applications to function correctly.
[0026] The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, the drawings and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1 is block diagram of a distributed application in a client-server architecture (static web site);
[0028] FIG. 2 is block diagram of a typical web application (“dynamic web site”);
[0029] FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a cluster computing environment (prior art);
[0030] FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of site-mirrored computing environment(prior art);
[0031] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a cloud computing environment;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the cloud management system of this invention;
[0033] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the high level functional components of the cloud management system of FIG. 5 ;
[0034] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the use of the cloud management system of this invention for managing traffic to server nodes running in different geographic regions;
[0035] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of using the present invention to manage a web application in a cloud environment;
[0036] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of using the present invention to manage mail servers running in a cloud environment;
[0037] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing details of another embodiment of the present invention referred to as “Yottaa”;
[0038] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing how Yottaa resolves a client request;
[0039] FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the architecture of a Yottaa Traffic Management node;
[0040] FIG. 13 shows the life cycle of a Yottaa Traffic Management node;
[0041] FIG. 14 shows the architecture of a Yottaa Manager node;
[0042] FIG. 15 shows the life cycle of a Yottaa Manager node;
[0043] FIG. 16 shows the architecture of a Yottaa Monitor node;
[0044] FIG. 17 shows the building blocks of a Node Manager module;
[0045] FIG. 18 shows the work flow of how a Node Manager module manages virtual machine nodes;
[0046] FIG. 19 shows a schematic diagram of using the invention of FIG. 5 to deliver a web performance service over the Internet to web site operators;
[0047] FIG. 20 shows how an HTTP request is served from a 3-tiered web application using the present invention; and
[0048] FIG. 21 shows the various function blocks of an Application Delivery Network including the cloud management system of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0049] Referring to FIG. 5 , an improved cloud computing environment includes client machines 500 accessing web applications running on virtual machine nodes 592 , 594 , in the cloud computing environment 590 , via the Internet 520 . The improved cloud computing environment also includes a cloud management system 580 that intercepts the network traffic from the clients 500 to the cloud computing environment 590 in order to provide traffic management, node management, node monitoring and load balancing, among others. The cloud management system 580 includes a traffic management module 540 , a node management module 550 , a node monitoring module 560 and a data repository 570 .
[0050] Traffic management module 540 manages and load-balances requests 510 from clients 500 to different server nodes 592 , 594 that the application is running on. These server nodes are typically virtual machine nodes in a cloud computing environment, but they can also be physical servers. Further, the traffic management module 540 routes a client request to a server node that is “optimal” from a performance point of view according to certain metrics. In one example the metrics is the geographic proximity between the client and the server node. For a global user base, selecting the “closest” server node to serve client requests can produce significant application performance acceleration. Unlike content delivery networks that provide acceleration for static content, traffic management module 540 delivers acceleration for both static as well as dynamic content.
[0051] The traffic management module 540 uses a Domain Name System (DNS) to provide Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for the “optimal” server node in a DNS hostname query. Such a technique can be used in any situation where the client requires access to a replicated network resource. It directs the client request to an appropriate replica so that the route to the replica is good from a performance standpoint. Further, the traffic management module 540 also takes session stickiness into consideration so that requests from the same client session are routed to the same server node persistently when session stickiness is required. Session stickiness, also known as “IP address persistence” or “server affinity” in the art, means that different requests from the same client session are always routed to the same server in a multi-server environment. “Session stickiness” is required for a variety of web applications to function correctly.
[0052] Node management module 550 provides services for managing the sever nodes 592 , 594 , such as starting a virtual machine (VM) instance, stopping a VM instance and recovering from a node failure, among others. In accordance to the node management policies in the system, this service launches new server nodes when the application is over loaded and it shuts down some server nodes when it detects these nodes are not necessary any more.
[0053] The node monitoring module 560 monitors the sever nodes 592 , 594 over the network, collects performance and availability data, and provides feedback to the cloud management system 580 . This feedback is then used to make decisions such as when to scale up and when to scale down.
[0054] Data repository 570 contains data for the cloud management system, such as Virtual Machine Image (VMI), application artifacts (files, scripts, and configuration data), routing policy data, and node management policy data, among others.
[0055] Referring to FIG. 6 , besides traffic management 540 , node management 550 , node monitoring 560 and data repository 570 , the cloud management system 580 includes a management interface 545 that provides a user interface 546 (Mgmt UI) and a programmatic interface 547 (Mgmt API) for external parties to interact with the system. Using the management interface 545 , one can configure the system and customize services for individual applications. Cloud management system 580 also includes a traffic redirection module 555 for redirecting internet traffic from the clients 500 to the cloud computing environment 590 to pass through the cloud management system 580 , as shown in FIG. 5 .
[0056] The cloud management system of FIG. 5 may be used to manage traffic among servers running in different regions in a cloud computing environment, as shown in FIG. 7 . The invention may also be used in providing traffic management, performance acceleration, load balancing, and failover services for a variety of applications running in a cloud environment, such as web applications (shown in FIG. 8 ) and email applications (shown in FIG. 9 ), among others.
[0057] In another example, the present invention is used to provide an on-demand service delivered over the Internet to web site operators to help them improve their web application performance, scalability and availability, as shown in FIG. 20 . Service provider H 00 manages and operates a global infrastructure H 40 providing web performance related services, including monitoring, acceleration, load balancing, traffic management, auto scaling and failover. The global infrastructure also has a management and configuration user interface (UI) H 30 , as shown in FIG. 21 , for customers to purchase, configure and manage services from the service provider. Customers include web operator H 10 , who owns and manages web application H 50 . Web application H 50 may be deployed in one data center, a few data centers, in one location, in multiple locations, or run on virtual machines in a distributed cloud computing environment. System H 40 provides services including monitoring, acceleration, traffic management, load balancing, failover and auto-scaling to web application H 50 with the result of better performance, better scalability and better availability to web users H 20 . In return for using the service, web operator H 10 pays a fee to service provider H 00 .
[0058] FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the present invention called “Yottaa” and depicts the architecture of Yottaa service and the steps of using Yottaa in resolving a request from client machine A 00 located in North America to its closest server instance A 45 . Similarly, requests from client machine A 80 located in Asia are directed to server A 65 that is close to A 80 . The system is deployed over network A 20 . The network can be a local area network, a wireless network, and a wide area network such as the Internet, among others. The web application is running on nodes labeled as “Server”, such as Server A 45 , Server A 65 . Each of the server nodes may be running an instance of a mail server application, a web application or some other kind application.
[0059] The entire network is divided into “zones”, i.e., A 40 , A 60 . Each zone contains at least one YTM node. Normally there should be more than one YTM nodes in each zone for robustness reasons. When a manager node detects that there are fewer than expected number of YTM instances, it launches new YTM instances (if configuration policy permits so and certain conditions are met). All these YTM instances together manage the subset of server nodes inside this zone. Besides the zones, there are also YTM instances within the network that do not belong to any zone. These instances include top level Yottaa Traffic Management (top YTM) nodes A 30 .
[0060] In this embodiment, traffic management is implemented by using a Domain Name Server (DNS) based approach. Each YTM node contains a DNS module. The top level YTM nodes and lower level YTM nodes together form a hierarchical DNS tree that resolves hostnames to appropriate IP addresses of selected “optimal” server nodes by taking factors such as node load conditions, geographic proximity, network performance and session stickiness (if required) into consideration. As a result, client requests are load balanced and accelerated by connecting to “optimal” server nodes.
[0061] As was mentioned above, Yottaa divides all these server instances into different zones, often according to geographic proximity or network proximity. Each YTM node manages a list of server nodes. For example, YTM node A 50 manages servers in Zone A 40 , such as Server A 45 . Over the network, Yottaa deploys several types of nodes including Yottaa Traffic Management (YTM) node, such as A 30 , A 50 , and A 70 , Yottaa Manager node, such as A 38 , A 58 and A 78 and Yottaa Monitor node, such as A 32 , A 52 and A 72 . These three types of logical nodes are not required to be implemented as separate entities in actual implementation. Two of then, or all of them, can be combined into the same physical entity.
[0062] There are two types of YTM nodes: top level YTM node (such as A 30 ) and lower level YTM node (such as A 50 and A 70 ). They are structurally identical but function differently. Whether an YTM node is a top level node or a lower level node is specified by the node's own configuration. Each YTM node contains a DNS module. For example, YTM A 50 contains DNS A 55 . Further, if a hostname requires sticky-session support (as specified by web operators), a sticky-session list (such as A 48 and A 68 ) is created for the hostname of each application. This sticky session list is shared by YTM nodes that manage the same list of server nodes for this application. Top level YTM nodes provide services to lower level YTM nodes by directing DNS requests to them. In a cascading fashion, each lower level YTM node may provide similar services to its own set of “lower” level YTM nodes, establishing a DNS tree. Using such a cascading tree structure, the system prevents a node from being overwhelmed with too many requests, guarantees the performance of each node and is able to scale up to cover the entire Internet by just adding more nodes.
[0063] FIG. 10 shows architecturally how a client in one geographic region is directed to a “closest” server node. The meaning of “closest” is determined by the system's routing policy for the specific application. When client A 00 wants to connect to a server, the following steps happen in resolving the client DNS request. First, Client A 00 sends a DNS lookup request to its local DNS server A 10 . Local DNS server A 10 (if it can not resolve the request directly) sends a request to a top level YTM A 30 , which then directs it to its DNS module A 35 running inside A 30 . The selection of A 30 is because YTM A 30 is configured in the DNS record for the requested hostname of the web application. Upon receiving the request from A 10 , top YTM A 30 returns a list of lower level YTM nodes to A 10 . The list is chosen according to the current routing policy, such as selecting 3 YTM nodes that are geographically closest to client local DNS A 10 . A 10 receives the response, and sends the hostname resolution request to one of the returned lower level YTM nodes, i.e., A 50 . Lower level YTM node A 50 receives the request, returns a list of IP addresses of server nodes selected according to its routing policy. In this case, server node A 45 is chosen and returned because it is geographically closest to the client DNS A 10 . A 10 returns the received list of IP addresses to client A 00 . A 00 connects to Server A 45 and sends a request. Server A 45 receives the request from client A 00 , processes it and returns a response. Similarly, client A 80 who is located in Asia is routed to Server A 65 instead.
[0064] As shown in FIG. 6 , the invention provides a web-based user interface (UI) 546 for web operators to configure the system. Web operators can also use other means such as making network-based Application Programming Interface (API) calls or modifying configuration files directly by the service provider. In one example, using a web-based UI, a web operator enters the hostname of the target web application, for example, www.yottaa.com. Next, the web operator enters the IP addresses of the static servers that the target web application is running on (if there are servers that the web application has already been deployed to directly by the web operator). Next, the web operator configures whether the system is allowed to launch new server instances in response to traffic demand spikes and the associated node management policy. Also, the web operator configures whether the system is allowed to shut down server nodes if capacity exceeds demand by a certain threshold. Next, the web operator adds the supplied top level traffic management node names to the DNS record of the hostname of the target application and then configures other parameters such as whether the hostname requires sticky-session support, session expiration value, and routing policy, among others. Once the system receives the above information, it performs the necessary actions to set up its service. For example, in the Yottaa embodiment, upon receiving the hostname and static IP addresses of the target server nodes, the system propagates such information to selected lower level YTM nodes (using the current routing policy) so that at least some lower level YTM nodes can resolve the hostname to IP address(s) when a DNS lookup request is received.
[0065] FIG. 11 shows a process workflow of how a hostname of a web application is resolved using the Yottaa service of FIG. 10 . When a client wants to connect to a host of a web application, i.e., www.example.com, it needs to resolve the IP address of the hostname first. To do so, it queries its local DNS server. The local DNS server first checks whether such a hostname is cached and still valid from a previous resolution. If so, the cached result is returned. If not, client DNS server issues a request to the pre-configured DNS server for www.example.com, which is a top level YTM node. The top level YTM node returns a list of lower level YTM nodes according to a repeatable routing policy configured for this application. For example, the routing policy can be related to the geo-proximity between the lower level YTM node and the client DNS server A 10 , a pre-computed mapping between hostnames and lower level YTM nodes, or some other repeatable policy. Whatever policy is used, the top level YTM node guarantees the returned result is repeatable. If the same client DNS server requests the same hostname resolution again later, the same list of lower level YTM nodes is returned. Upon receiving the returned list of YTM nodes, client DNS server needs to query these nodes until a resolved IP address is received. So it sends a request to one of the lower level YTM nodes in the list. The lower level YTM receives the request. First, it figures out whether this hostname requires sticky-session support. Whether a hostname requires sticky-session support is typically configured by the web operator during the initial setup of the subscribed Yottaa service (can be changed later). If sticky-session support is not required, the YTM node returns a list of IP addresses of “optimal” server nodes that are mapped to www.example.com, chosen according to the current routing policy.
[0066] If sticky-session support is required, the YTM node first looks for an entry in the sticky-session list using the hostname (in this case, www.example.com) and the IP address of the client DNS server as the key. If such an entry is found, the expiration time of this entry in the sticky-session list is updated to be the current time plus the pre-configured session expiration value (When a web operator performs initial configuration of Yottaa service, he enters a session expiration timeout value into the system, such as one hour). On the other side, if no entry is found, the YTM node picks an “optimal” server node according to the current routing policy, creates an entry with the proper key and expiration information, and inserts this entry into the sticky-session list. Finally, the server node's IP address is returned to the client DNS server. If the same client DNS server queries www.example.com again before the entry expires, the same IP address will be returned. If an error is received during the process of querying a lower level YTM node, the client DNS server will query the next YTM node in the list. So the failure of an individual lower level YTM node is invisible to the client. Finally, the client DNS server returns the received IP address(s) to the client. The client can now connect to the server node. If there is an error connecting to a returned IP address, the client will try to connect to the next IP address in the list, until a connection is successfully made.
[0067] Top YTM nodes typically set a long time-to-live (TTL) value for its returned results. Doing so minimizes the load on top level nodes as well as reduces the number of queries from the client DNS server. On the other side, lower YTM nodes typically set a short Time-to-live value, making the system very responsive to node status changes.
[0068] The sticky-session list is periodically cleaned up by purging the expired entries. An entry expires when there is no client DNS request for the same hostname from the same client DNS server during the entire session expiration duration since the last lookup. Further, web operators can configure the system to map multiple (or using a wildcard) client DNS servers to one entry in the sticky-session table. In this case, DNS query from any of these client DNS servers receives the same IP address for the same hostname when sticky-session support is required.
[0069] During a sticky-session scenario, if the server node of a persistent IP address goes down, a Monitor node detects the server failure, notifies its associated Manager nodes. The associated Manager nodes notify the corresponding YTM nodes. These YTM nodes then immediately remove the entry from the sticky-session list, and direct traffic to a different server node. Depending on the returned Time-to-live value, the behavior of client DNS resolvers and client DNS servers, and how the application is programmed, users who were connected to the failed server node earlier may see errors duration the transition period. However, only this portion of users, and only during a short period of time, is impacted. Upon TTL expiration, which is expected to be short given that lower level YTM nodes set short TTL, these users will connect to a different server node and resume their operations.
[0070] Further, for sticky-session scenarios, the system manages server node shutdown intelligently so as to eliminate service interruption for these users who are connected to this server node. It waits until all user sessions on this server node have expired before finally shutting down the node instance.
[0071] Yottaa leverages the inherit scalability designed into the Internet's DNS system. It also provides multiple levels of redundancy in every step (except for sticky-session scenarios that a DNS lookup requires a persistent IP address). Further, the system uses a multi-tiered DNS hierarchy so that it naturally spreads loads onto different YTM nodes to efficiently distribute load and be highly scalable, while be able to adjust TTL value for different nodes and be responsive to node status changes.
[0072] FIG. 12 shows the functional blocks of a Yottaa Traffic Management node, shown as C 00 in this diagram. The YTM node contains DNS module C 10 that perform standard DNS functions, Status Probe module C 60 that monitors status of this YTM node itself and responds to status inquires, Management UI module C 50 that enables System Administrators to manage this node directly when necessary, Node Manager C 40 (optional) that can manage server nodes over a network and a Routing Policy module C 30 that manages routing policy. The routing policy module can load different routing policy as necessary. Part of module C 30 is an interface for routing policy and another part of this module provide sticky-session support during a DNS lookup process. Further, YTM node C 00 contains Configuration module C 75 , node instance DB C 80 , and Data Repository module C 85 .
[0073] FIG. 13 shows how a YTM node works. When a YTM node boots up, it reads initialization parameters from its environment, its configuration file, instance DB and so on. During the process, it takes proper actions as necessary, such as loading a specific routing policy for different applications. Further, if there are Managers specified in the initialization parameters, the node sends a startup availability event to such Managers. Consequentially, these Managers propagate a list of server nodes to this YTM node and assign Monitors to monitor the status of this YTM node. Then the node checks to see if it is a top level YTM according to its configuration parameters. If it is a top level YTM, the node enters its main loop of request processing until eventually a shutdown request is received or a node failure happened. Upon receiving a shutdown command, the node notifies its associated Managers of the shutdown event, logs the event and then performs shutdown. If the node is not a top level YTM node, it continues its initialization by sending a startup availability event to a designated list of top level YTM nodes as specified in the node's configuration data.
[0074] When a top level YTM node receives a startup availability event from a lower level YTM node, it performs the following actions. First, it adds the lower level YTM node to the routing list so that future DNS requests maybe routed to this lower level YTM node. If the lower level YTM node does not have associated Managers set up already (as indicated by the startup availability event message), selects a list of Managers according to the top level YTM node's own routing policy, and returns this list of Manager nodes to the lower level YTM node.
[0075] When a lower level YTM node receives the list of Managers from a top level YTM node, it continues its initialization by sending a startup availability event to each Manager in the list. When a Manager node receives a startup availability event from a lower level YTM node, it assigns Monitor nodes to monitor the status of the YTM node. Further, the Manager returns the list of server nodes that is under management by this Manager to the YTM node. When the lower level YTM node receives a list of server nodes from a Manager node, it is added to the managed server node list that this YTM node manages so that future DNS requests maybe routed to servers in the list. After the YTM node completes setting up its managed server node list, it enters its main loop for request processing. For example:
If a DNS request is received, the YTM node returns one or more server nodes from its managed server node list according to the routing policy for the target hostname and client DNS server. If the request is a server node down event from a Manager node, the server node is removed from the managed server node list. If a server node startup event is received, the new server node is added to the managed server node list.
[0079] Finally, if a shutdown request is received, the YTM node notifies its associated Manager nodes as well as the top level YTM nodes of its shutdown, saves the necessary state into its local storage, logs the event and shuts down.
[0080] FIG. 14 shows the functional blocks of a Yottaa Manager node, shown as F 00 in this diagram and as A 38 and A 58 in FIG. 10 . Yottaa Manager nodes perform a variety of functions such as assigning nodes to associated Monitors for monitoring, receiving notification events from Monitors about node status changes, notifying YTM nodes of such status changes, starting or stopping node instances, among others. Yottaa Manager node contains a Request Processor module F 20 that processes requests received from other nodes over the network, a Node Manager module F 30 that can be used to manage virtual machine instances, a Management User Interface (UI) module F 40 that can be used to configure the node locally, and a Status Probe module F 50 that monitors the status of this node itself and responds to status inquires. Optionally, if a Monitor node is combined into this node, the Manager node then also contains Node Monitor module F 10 that maintains the list of nodes to be monitored and periodically polls nodes in the list according to the current monitoring policy.
[0081] FIG. 15 shows how a manager node works. When it starts up, it reads configuration data and initialization parameters from its environment, configuration file, instance DB and so on. Proper actions are taken during the process. Then it sends a startup availability event to a list of parent Managers as specified from its configuration data or initialization parameters. When a parent Manager receives the startup availability event, it adds this new node to its list of nodes under “management”, and “assigns” some associated Monitor nodes to monitor the status of this new node by sending a corresponding request to these Monitor nodes. Then the parent Manager delegates the management responsibilities of some server nodes to the new Manager node by responding with a list of such server nodes. When the child Manager node receives a list of server nodes of which it is expected to assume management responsibility, it assigns some of its associated Monitors to do status polling, performance monitoring of the list of server nodes. If no parent Manager is specified, the Yottaa Manager is expected to create its list of server nodes from its configuration data. Then the Manager node finishes its initialization and enters its main processing loop of request processing. If the request is a startup availability event from an YTM node, it adds this YTM node to the monitoring list and replies with the list of server nodes for which it assigns the YTM node to do traffic management. Note that, in general, the same server node is be assigned to multiple YTM nodes for routing. If the request is a shutdown request, it notifies its parent Managers of the shutdown, logs the event, and then performs shutdown. If a node error request is reported from a Monitor node, the Manager removes the error node from its list (or move it to a different list), logs the event, and optionally reports the event. If the error node is a server node, the Manager node notifies the associated YTM nodes of the server node loss, and if configured to do so and a certain conditions are met, attempts to re-start the node or launch a new server node.
[0082] FIG. 16 shows the functional blocks of the Monitor Node, shown as G 00 in this diagram and as A 32 , A 52 and A 72 in FIG. 10 . Monitor node G 00 includes a node monitor G 10 , monitor policy G 20 , request processor G 30 , management UI G 40 , status probe G 50 , a pluggable service framework G 60 , configuration G 70 , instance database G 80 and data repository G 90 . Yottaa Monitor nodes perform the function of monitoring the status of a list of assigned nodes. Each Monitor node reports to a few Manager nodes, which assign nodes and the associated monitoring policy to this Monitor node. The assigned nodes may include static server nodes that the customer application is running on, virtual machine nodes that the application is deployed to dynamically and other Yottaa nodes such as YTM nodes, Managers and Monitors. When an event such as node failure is detected, the Monitor notifies Managers of the status change and then it is up to the Managers to decide whether and what actions should be taken.
[0083] When a Manager receives an event from a monitor node, it checks the current node management policy and other statistics to figure out whether it should take node management actions. If the policy permits and if the statistics predict an upcoming traffic spike, the Manager starts new server nodes, and notifies YTM nodes to spread traffic to the new server nodes. On the other side, if the policy permits and the statistics show significantly decreased traffic demand, the Manager node notifies YTM nodes stop sending traffic to a certain server nodes and then shuts down these nodes.
[0084] FIG. 17 shows the functional blocks of the Node Management module J 00 , one of the major building blocks of a cloud management system. Node Manager provides service to manage nodes over the network. An important component is Node Management policy J 10 . A node management policy is created when the web operator configures the cloud management system for his applications by specifying whether the system is allowed to dynamically start or shut down nodes in response to application load condition changes, the application artifacts to use for launching new nodes, initialization parameters associated with new nodes, and so on. According to the node management policy in the system, the node management service launches new server nodes when the application is over loaded. It shuts down some server nodes when it detects these nodes are not needed any more. As stated earlier, the behavior can be customized using either the management UI or via API calls. For example, a web operator can schedule a capacity scale-up to a certain number of server nodes (or to meet a certain performance metric) in anticipation of an event that would lead to significant traffic demand.
[0085] FIG. 18 shows the node management workflow. When the cloud management system receives a node status change event from its monitoring agents, it first checks whether the event signals a server node down. If so, the server node is removed from the system. If the system policy says “re-launch failed nodes”, the Node Manager will try to launch a new server node. Then the system checks whether the event indicates that the current set of server nodes are getting over loaded. If so, at a certain threshold, and if the system's policy permits, a node manager will launch new server nodes and notify the traffic management service to spread load to the new nodes. Finally, the system checks to see whether it is in the state of “having too much capacity”. If so and the node management policy permits, a Node Manager will try to shut down a certain number of server nodes to eliminate capacity waste.
[0086] In launching new server nodes, the system picks the best geographic region to launch the new server node. Globally distributed cloud environments such as Amazon.com's EC2 cover several continents. Launching new nodes at appropriate geographic locations help spread application load globally, reduce network traffic and improve application performance. In shutting down server nodes to reduce capacity waste, the system checks whether session stickiness is required for the application. If so, shutdown is timed until all current sessions on these server nodes have expired.
[0087] Several embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. | A method for auto-scaling the infrastructure capacity of an application in response to client demands includes providing an application configured to run on an application infrastructure comprising a plurality of server nodes and to be accessed by clients via a first network. Next, providing traffic management means directing traffic from the clients to the server nodes of the application infrastructure. Providing monitoring means gathering performance metrics of the application and metrics of the application infrastructure. Providing controlling means configured to change the application infrastructure. Next, monitoring the performance metrics of the application and the metrics of the application infrastructure via the monitoring means thereby obtaining metrics information and then changing the application infrastructure based on the metrics information via the controlling means. Finally directing network traffic targeted to access the application to server nodes of the changed application infrastructure via the traffic management means. | 7 |
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/014,713, filed Feb. 8, 1993, for SELF-SEALING ACCESS DOOR FOR STEAM COOKERS, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/887,832, filed May 26, 1992, for HIGH EFFICIENCY STEAMCOOKER, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,538, issued Feb. 9, 1993.
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to steam cooking of food products and, more particularly, to industrial high-volume cookers continuously conveying food products, such as thick layers of vegetables, through a cooking chamber on a flighted foraminous conveyor belt through which jets of steam are directed.
Steam cookers through which conveyor belts carry food products are well known. For example, skins are loosened on tomatoes carried on a conveyor belt in Ryder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,398, Feb. 26, 1935 by maintaining a cooking zone of superheated steam at above atmospheric pressure. There is no attempt to efficiently cook the entire product, nor to produce an efficient cooker. Thus, the hot steam at high pressure is used to purge air out of the cooking zone and thus the steam energy is inefficiently used for cooking the food.
Vegetables are steam cooked by vaporized water over a body of boiling water in Bichel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,090, Jun. 26, 1990. The lower cooking temperatures, criticality in temperature and product controls, and inefficiency of heat exchange between the product and heating medium encompass a long cooking time and prevents uniformity and efficiency of cooking from the energy source that heats the water tank.
Ellis-Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,663, Dec. 17, 1991, specially teaches a cooker for shrimp with steam flowing at a pressure higher than atmospheric through a cooking zone containing a conveyor belt. Input cooking steam is mixed with air carried into the compartment by the belt, and vapors released by the cooking shrimp before reaching the shrimp cooking region, so that the input steam energy is not concentrated and spent solely upon the shrimp being cooked. Furthermore, uniform cooking conditions are difficult to obtain because of dependency upon variable air temperature and humidity, for example. Also, hotter steam migrating to the top of the compartment is discharged out of the top of the cooker to further decrease cooking efficiency. The incoming steam pressure keeps the compartment above atmospheric pressure, thus further tending to force the hot steam out into the atmosphere. Since an attempt is made to conserve minor energy losses through cabinet walls with specially formed insulation of stainless steel housing, it is clear that a more efficient system was not recognized.
A previous development is a saturated steam cooker in the George C. Lapeyre et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,794, Sep. 5, 1989, for APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING PRECOOKING AND MACHINE PEELING SHRIMP. This cooker carries shrimp on a conveyor into a shallow inverted open bottom box into which is continuously fed saturated steam near the closed top panel where it remains until condensation descends into the atmosphere through the open bottom as it cools from the cooking of shrimp on the conveyor belt by saturated steam at the constant temperature of 212° F. Thus, as long as the saturated steam is replenished as needed to replace cooking energy for the amount of shrimp cooked in its presence, the cooking temperature remains constant. There is a significant advantage in keeping air and vapors from the saturated steam by the flow of fresh saturated steam into the cooking region. In addition to decreasing cooking efficiency, air and vapors carry oxygen, which reacts with the cooking product, whether shrimp or vegetables, to degrade the quality and appearance (i.e., taste and color) of the cooked product.
This prior art cooker works well, but has been found to have operational deficiencies which are resolved by the present improved cooker. For example, the shallow open bottom box structure permits the escape of enough hot steam to reduce cooking efficiency. Also, a shallow open bottom container for confining saturated steam permits entry of contaminants such as air or internal vapors in response to external and internal air flow paths. For example, if in the vicinity of cross winds from an open window or heater duct in a plant, the retention of uncontaminated saturated steam in the cooking region necessary for cooking efficiency and repeatable cooking quality control is not feasible.
Furthermore, the cooking of various sizes of shrimp at differing input temperatures and moisture content, etc., when carrying various loading densities of raw shrimp in industrial quantities on a movable conveyor belt through the cooker imposes a wide range of cooking conditions. The prior art cookers could not handle efficiently such wide ranges of conditions encountered in practice with efficient cooking methods at high volume industrial capacity where cooking speeds must be high without deterioration of consistent product quality under simple and effective automatic control conditions. For example, the shallow height of the cooking chamber in the Lapeyre et al. cooker makes it difficult to maintain control under varying thermal product loads.
Thus this invention has as an objective the improvement of the state of the art by providing an improved automatically controlled cooking chamber with internal pressure substantially atmospheric that prevents dilution or variation of the 212° F. cooking energy of saturated steam surrounding the product being cooked.
Further, it is a general objective of the present invention to provide more efficient and uniform cooking methods and equipment adapted to higher volume, higher speed industrial use.
The aforementioned objectives are met by the high efficiency steam cooker first described and claimed in related U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,538 to Ledet. Nevertheless, the high-volume cooking or blanching of thick or dense layers, or mats, of vegetables presents a problem for conventional steam cookers. In particular, it is difficult to cook uniformly a thick mat of vegetables conveyed through a steam cooking chamber in a high-volume industrial application, while simultaneously maintaining an oxygen-free saturated steam cooking environment.
Thus, yet another objective of the invention is to provide means for uniformly cooking food products conveyed in a thick mat into a steam cooking chamber.
SUMMARY
Improvements in the control and efficiency of cooking in industrial cookers carrying products through a steam cooking chamber on a conveyor belt are afforded by this invention. To obtain significantly improved efficiency from a saturated steam energy source for cooking food products, such as chicken strips, shellfish, or, particularly, thick mats of vegetables, such as peas or corn, a substantially enclosed cooking chamber having an internal pressure substantially atmospheric employs saturated steam at substantially 212° F. into which the products to be cooked are immersed. Provisions are made for constant temperature cooking with good cooking energy transfer efficiency from pure saturated steam, and for simple effective controls to replenish fresh saturated steam at a rate proportional to the cooking energy expended in the product, whereby an oxygen-free cooking atmosphere is provided. (Hereinafter, all references to cooking temperatures of 212° F. imply an ambient condition of standard atmospheric pressure. For other ambient pressures, the cooking temperature is the corresponding boiling temperature of water.)
A cooking region is provided for confining by gravity saturated steam that is injected in high-velocity jets through the product-laden foraminous belt and rises and remains in the upper zone of a closed compartment member. The saturated steam is introduced into the cooking region from a network of steam pipes having a plurality of small, upwardly-oriented orifices just below the underside of the belt along the carryway. The steam is thereby directed into the food product at a high velocity through openings perforating the conveyor belt. The directed high-velocity flow of steam penetrates the mat of product, thereby improving the transfer of heat to product in the interior of the mat. The average release of steam is at a predetermined rate to replace condensed steam and permit that condensate to drop out of the cooking region. The saturated steam flow rate is controlled to maintain a constant temperature of less than 212° F. at a position in a lower zone of the cooking region typically being between about 190° and 200° F., to thus automate simply the cooking process for high cooking efficiency from the input steam, which thus is more efficient than conventional prior art systems that permit input steam to be mixed with air and vapors throughout the cooking region.
The food products are cooked by introducing them into the constant 212° F. cooking region for a predetermined time, established by the speed of the conveyor belt through the cooking region. A plastic conveyor belt conserves loss of steam energy usually expended in heating a metal belt. The constant cooking temperature keeps automated controls simple and effective in reproducing cooking conditions for uniform quality control. By controlling the flow of steam, vapor, and air within the cooking chamber to prevent dilution of saturated steam in the cooking region, variations of temperature, cooked food quality, and uniformity and cooking inefficiencies are eliminated, as well as the danger of oxidation from air contamination. Energy losses from discharge of hotter steam are eliminated, and efficiencies are improved by the efficient heat transfer interface between saturated steam and the product to the exclusion of insulating air or vapors which absorb and waste heat energy.
In particular it is recognized that a cooking region of considerable height is required for maintaining in the cooking region substantially static flow conditions restricted to the downward movement by gravity condensate formed by the transfer of heat energy into the product and the corresponding replenishment of condensed steam with fresh saturated steam. Thus, although a circulating flow of steam within the cooking chamber caused by the high-velocity injection of steam into the product is desirable, flow paths from extraneous air or vapors must be eliminated to maintain quality and efficiency. Protective sidewalls adjacent the cooking region define a deep chamber providing a greater thermal capacity of saturated steam in the upper zone of the chamber, thereby simplifying thermal control. Substantially closed outer chamber walls insure elimination of substantially all contaminating air and vapors from the upper zone.
Uniform cooking of thickly matted products is further addressed by a product-repositioning feature in the cooking chamber. The conveyor belt is directed around an upper, forward sprocket and a lower, rearward roller to form an S-shaped, back-flip portion in the conveying path. The lower, rearward roller has a truncated star shape to accommodate flights projecting from the conveying surface of the belt. Product entering the top of the S drops to the bottom of the S, so that the product is repositioned on the conveyor for further cooking in the chamber. Thus, repositioning the product enhances the uniformity of the cooking.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be found throughout the following description, drawings and appended claims.
DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar features throughout the several views to facilitate comparison:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a steam cooker embodiment of the invention with a conveyor belt for transporting a product to be cooked, such as shrimp, through the cooker at a controlled belt speed;
FIG. 2 is a cutaway view, without the conveyor belt in place, looking into the interior of the cooker cooking region toward the conveyor belt entrance port, showing a set of steam inlet pipes and ports, and a lower panel with condensation outlet port;
FIG. 3 is a perspective fragmental view showing the interior cooking region and conveyor belt support framework with open side access doors;
FIG. 4 is a graphical chart illustrating the saturated steam behavior in the cooking region, which contributes to efficient cooking and simple regulation of cooking conditions for repeatable quality control with various product characteristics and loading conditions;
FIG. 5 is a side view sketch of a cooking conveyor embodiment of the invention showing modular construction and control system features;
FIG. 6 is a side view sketch of a further modularized high capacity industrial cooking conveyor embodiment for higher volume and cooking speed capacity;
FIG. 7 is a system block diagram illustrating cooker and control system features afforded by this invention;
FIG. 8 is a fragmental perspective view of a portion of the conveyor of the cooker of the invention illustrating product repositioning;
FIG. 9 is a fragmental side view of the product-repositioning conveyor of FIG. 8 without product shown;
FIG. 10 is a fragmental perspective view of part of the product-repositioning conveyor of FIG. 8 illustrating the engagement of belt flights with the roller; and
FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional end view of the conveyor system of the cooker of FIG. 9 taken along line 11--11, illustrating the injection of steam into a mat of vegetables.
DESCRIPTION
Now with reference to the accompanying drawing, the features and operation characteristics of the invention will be described in more detail. As seen from FIG. 1, a product to be cooked, such as peas, is loaded on a conveyor belt 15 at the entrance port 16 for conveyance through the cooker cabinet 17 toward the output port 18. Rows of flights 21 extending laterally across the conveyor belt 15 prevent product from rolling down the belt on inclined pathways. Preferably the endless conveyor belt 15 is plastic for reducing heat losses from the cooker through radiation from a heated metal belt. A belt drive motor 19 and belt speed control system 20 are provided for varying the dwell time of the product on the belt in the cooker, as a cooking control feature. Thus, as required for cooking different products or handling different product loading densities on the belt, a desired cooking time can be established. Support legs 26 are provided with leveling adjustments. Doors 27 to 30 are moved downwardly against brackets 31 for easy access to the inside of the cooker.
A lower part of the internal cooking region is seen in FIG. 2 looking toward the belt inlet port 16 without the conveyor belt in place. Disposed in the upper cooking zone is an interconnected manifold or set of steam inlet pipes 95 dispersed along the heating chamber for introducing saturated steam at 212° F. The multiple outlet holes or slits 36 in steam pipes 95 are directed upwardly into the product through openings, or perforations, in the foraminous belt (not shown in FIG. 1), which rides just above the steam inlet manifold pipes 95. It is important to realize in connection with this invention that the saturated steam is about half the density of air, and that the cooking region is maintained at nearly atmospheric pressure, so that the saturated steam rises in the cooking chamber to its upper limit defined by the top panel structure of the cooker 17, thus surrounding the products to be cooked on the belt.
As later set forth in more detail, the saturated steam is introduced at a rate that ensures a saturated steam atmosphere surrounding the belt in the upper zone of the cooking region. As the steam cooking energy is exchanged with the products being cooked, the steam changes phase to liquid condensate (mist and droplets) and drops by gravity to the bottom of the cooking chamber. The belt return path is through the cooking chamber to ensure that heat losses from radiation to a cooler environment are reduced, thus contributing to greater cooking efficiency provided by the cooker system of this invention.
Precaution is taken that external flow of air or vapor is kept out of the cooking region by the sidewalls 37 and bottom closure plate 38, thereby to retain a substantially static layer of saturated steam in the cooking region. The saturated steam layer extends downward from the top of the chamber to at least the level of the product on the belt. Below the steam layer is a layer comprising condensate cooler than the saturated steam. Condensate dripped from the product is accumulated by the funnel-like contour of the bottom plate 38 and funneled into the condensate discharge line 39. Steam inlet line 40 is introduced through an opening 41 in the bottom plate 38. The critical depth of the sidewalls 37 minimizes the loss of saturated steam through the belt outlet port 16 and outlet port 16'. The inlet steam rate thus is to be controlled in the manner later discussed to substantially equally replace the condensed saturated steam.
In FIG. 3, the access doors 29, 30 are moved downwardly to show the interior cooking chamber with the belt removed. The upper panels 35 enclose the cooking region to confine the saturated steam and limit its upward flow to the chamber, as inferred at the top 35' of the graph of FIG. 4. This graph defines a product level 45, a transition region 46, comprising a mixture of cooler and heavier air and condensed water vapor, as seen from the temperature graph line 47, and a thermostat sensor level 48, as well as the bottom enclosure level 38'. Above the transition region in the upper zone of the cooking region, the saturated steam is at its 212° F. temperature, and the product is in essence immersed into the saturated steam for cooking at product level 45 to be fully surrounded by saturated steam free of insulating air, thereby ensuring efficient transfer of the steam energy to the product for fast, efficient cooking.
Because the cooking temperature is always at a constant 212° F., regulating cooking time in the cooking region ensures a consistent quality of output cooked product. Thus, simply controlling belt speed will control the product dwell time and the amount of cooking of the product.
Also the steam input control of this system is simple, because of the critical deep compartment relationship between the protected upper and lower zones of the cooking region that maintain the stratification of the pure saturated steam in the upper zone and the lower temperature condensate in the lower zone. Thus, a thermostat sensor 50 positioned at a predetermined height in a stable region of the lower temperature zone operates a proportional release of only enough fresh saturated steam to keep the temperature at the sensor, typically 190°-200° F., constant. This ensures maintenance of the 212° F. cooking temperature in the upper region and fast reliable variable adjustment of steam input to fit the needs and conditions of operation. For example, if there is a gap in the product on the conveyor belt, the system runs effectively with very little new steam but is ready immediately to operate at full load when the product appears and condenses the saturated steam in the upper zone to tend to lower the temperature at the sensor by the rising of the bottom level of the pure saturated steam layer. Adjustments are made in both directions automatically with very simple controls to keep the system running at top efficiency. For example, a commercially available self-operating variable proportional steam valve with sensor is available from H.O. Trerice Co. in Detroit, Mich. for various pipe sizes under the "Trerice Series No. 91000" brand of temperature regulators.
The foregoing relationship is also configured in FIG. 5 with the conveyor-cooker 17 and conveyor belt 15 support system shown in side view phantom with access doors open. Note that a cooker module 55 is inserted between input port section 16 and output port section 18 of the conveyor 15 transport arrangement, as seen behind the two open doors disposed along a flat length 56 of the conveyor support bracing. Thus the closed bottom pan 38 leads into condensate drainage conduit 57 and passes steam line 40 which receives steam from a high pressure steam conduit 80 routed through the bottom pan 38 to an unshown source at lead 58 and supplying steam to the control valve 50A through the bottom pan 38. Enclosing the high pressure steam conduit within the cooking chamber increases the efficiency of the cooker and eliminates the need for insulating the conduit within the chamber. A thermostatic sensor 50 is positioned substantially in the lower zone center 59 of module 55. The thermostatic regulator and control valve 50A is set to maintain a constant temperature at sensor 50, typically 190° F.
The product rides on belt 15 through the upper region 60 in the saturated steam atmosphere, supplied by manifold discharge nozzles 36. Note the level 65 of the inlet and outlet ports for the conveyor belt, open to the atmosphere to keep the pressure within the cooking chambers substantially at the desired and critical atmospheric pressure level. Also it is critical that air is heavier than the hot steam and thus does not tend to rise for conveyance into the higher level cooking chamber, except for the trivial amount that is carried by friction with the conveyor belt and product upwards into the very much lighter saturated steam atmosphere to rapidly descend by force of gravity and keep the substantially pure saturated steam in the cooking region. Prior art systems have generally not so effectively controlled and eliminated undesirable air, vapor, and contaminant flow paths within a steam cooker, and thus could not provide the cooking efficiency and quality control with simplified control systems that this system symbiotically produces.
As seen from FIG. 6, two series modular cooking sections 66, 67 are provided along the conveyor belt, each having similar temperature controls as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the product is cooler in section 66 than in section 67, and the saturated steam released in each compartment is substantially only that necessary to replenish cooking energy needed from the saturated steam. With the two cooking sections 66, 67, the range of throughput quantity of cooked product per unit time, for example, is increased for industrial cooking purposes. Thus, a longer dwell time is available with the longer belt travel distance through saturated steam, which provides more cooking energy so that the belt speed may be increased for more product throughput. One of the modules could be replaced or supplemented by a washing or browning module if desired.
In FIG. 7, the relationship of the steam input control system to the cooking region structure afforded by this invention is set out in block diagram format. Incoming steam from steam source 58 is proportionately controlled by valve 50A to decrease or increase and keep the 190°-200° F. temperature at thermostat sensor 50 in the lower cooking region zone stable, by means of the automatic control system 50B that adjusts valve 50A in response to sensed temperature at sensor 50. This maintains the saturated steam atmosphere in the upper zone 60 of the cooking region and about the product on conveyor belt 15, and permits the condensate to drop toward outlet channel 57 substantially solely by force of gravity since only substantially that steam is being replaced that is condensed in cooking the product. Thus, this system corrects the significant deficiency of prior art devices that force hot steam into and out of a cooking chamber and lose energy that should have gone into cooking the product.
As shown in FIG. 11, the conveyor belt 15 laden with a thick mat of product 100 is supported just above upwardly oriented steam outlets 36 of a steam pipe 95 by a wearsheet 114 on a support frame 116 (see FIG. 9). The steam pipes 95 are oriented such that the outlets 36 are positioned as close to the passing belt 15 as possible. The thin wearsheet 114 has a largely open area. The steam outlets 36 emit steam directed through the open areas of the wearsheet 14 and the foraminous belt 16 at high speed into the product mat 100. A foraminous belt 15, such as that detailed in FIG. 10, having many perforations 112 therethrough, channels steam through to the product mat 100. The high-speed jets 102 of steam penetrate the product mat 100, cooking the innermost products in the mat. Better cooking uniformity is achieved by jetting steam at high speed fairly uniformly across the width of the conveyed product. Generally, a higher jet speed provides better results, but too high a jet speed can result in turbulent flow paths drawing unwanted air into the cooking region. A range of combinations of the exit speed of the steam from the outlets 36 and their proximity to the belt 15 may be selected. For example, positioning the outlets 36 within about 1 cm of the inner surface of the belt 15 and emitting steam at a speed of above about 20 m/s provides good results. Furthermore, the high-speed jet blows free any small debris or fats that might tend to clog the outlets 36. To achieve high jet speeds across the width of the belt 15 for a given steam source pressure, the steam outlets 36 should be small in diameter and many in number. The total area of all the openings 36 must be enough to provide the necessary amount of steam required to cook the product. As an alternative to individual small outlets 36, a long, narrow slit in the top of the steam pipe 95 would provide a uniform fan spray of steam across the width of the belt 15. Because the steam outlets 36 and the product mat 100 are both situated in the air-free saturated steam region, no air is entrained by the steam jets 102. Furthermore, the mat 100 dissipates the steam jet 102 to minimize turbulence in the cooking chamber that could otherwise draft unwanted air into the cooking region.
Repositioning of product during cooking further ensures that each individual product item is sufficiently cooked. As shown in FIGS. 8-10, a product mat 100, in this case, peas, is conveyed along a conveyor belt 15. Flights 21 on the belt 15 help transport product along inclined portions of the carryway. An S-shaped back-flip portion is formed in the conveyor path by a forward, upper sprocket 104 mounted on a first shaft 105 and a rearward, lower roller 106 mounted on a second shaft 107. The shafts 105, 107 are rotatably supported at either end by conventional bearing assemblies (not shown) attached to the cooker frame. As the belt 15 articulates about the sprocket 104, product 100 drops off the belt entering the back-flip onto the belt 110 exiting the S-shaped back-flip portion of the conveying path. Product 100 is thereby repositioned on the conveyor 15 to improve cooking uniformity.
The back-flip roller 106 is in the form of a truncated star in cross-section. Deep, V-shaped troughs 118 between the flat, truncated points 120 of the roller 106 accommodate the flights 21 extending from the normally conveying side of the belt 15 as they articulate about the roller. In the version shown, the roller 106 is a five-pointed star engaging a conveyor belt 15 having flights 21 equally spaced two pitch lengths in the direction of belt travel along the length of the belt 15. (The pitch of a belt or chain is the distance between consecutive hinge axes in the direction of belt travel.)
The sprocket 104 at the entrance to the back-flip is actually a gang of individual sprocket wheels 104 spaced along the first shaft 105 and engaging the drive projections 122 extending from the non-conveying surface of the belt 15. The gang of sprockets 104 is preferably an idling sprocket, but could alternatively be driven by a motor (not shown) connected to the drive shaft 105. The driving force is provided by the motor 19 at the end of the cooker 17. As a further alternative, product repositioning could be accomplished by vertically overlapping the ends of one or more pairs of conveyor belts in the cooking chamber. Product falling off the end of the upper conveyor belt is repositioned upon landing on the lower belt.
It should therefore be evident that this invention has improved the state of the art and has unobviously changed cooking conditions in a longstanding art to provide a more efficient cooking method that can be consistently quality controlled with simple equipment than has heretofore been feasible. Accordingly those unique features and combinational reactions that signify the nature and spirit of this invention are defined with particularity in the following claims. | An improved apparatus and method for uniformly cooking thick layers of food product in a saturated steam environment. A foraminous conveyor belt transports a thick layer of food product into a walled cooking chamber open at its ends. The walls trap pure saturated steam to the exclusion of air in the upper region of the chamber. A pressurized source of cooking energy supplies steam through a network of steam pipes situated just below the level of the belt along its carryway through the upper region of the cooking chamber. The pipes, which span the width of the conveyor belt, include small, restricted openings uniformly distributed along the pipes. The openings form steam outlets. The pipes are oriented with the steam outlets facing the conveyor belt. Saturated steam is emitted through the outlets directed through the foraminous conveyor belt at a velocity great enough to penetrate the thick product layer to cook even the innermost product within the thick layer, thereby improving the uniformity of the cook. The thick product layer slows the steam as it penetrates the layer to prevent the formation of turbulent flow paths that could draw unwanted air into the 212° F. saturated steam cooking region. An S-shaped back-flip in the conveying path repositions the product on the belt to further improve cooking uniformity. | 0 |
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/212,010 filed June 27, 1988, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to pendulous accelerometers with electrostatic rebalancing and a method of manufacturing same.
It relates more particularly to pendulous accelerometers of the type comprising a case and a flat pendulum mounted so as to be able to oscillate with respect to the case about an axis of rotation situated in the plane of the pendulum and the distance of which to the center of gravity is small with respect to the size of the pendulum, electrodes supported by a flat surface of the pendulum on each side of the axis being provided for cooperating with electrodes, carried by the case, for creating an electrostatic balancing field.
2. Prior Art
Pendulous accelerometers of the above-defined type are known (Frech Patent 2,509,471) whose pendulum is formed by a disk with substantially parallel conducting flat faces, connected to the case by hinges.
The advantage of a pendulum rotating about an axis close to the center of gravity over a pendulum formed by a disk rotating around an axis situated at the edge, is that the electrostatic forces required for rebalancing the pendulum are smaller. But the manufacturing tolerances mean that it is impossible to make the opposite faces of the pendulum strictly parallel. This lack of parallelism requires either that the air gaps between the electrodes of the pendulum and the electrodes of the case be given a relatively high value, so as to avoid excessive distance discrepancies between the different mutually confronting points or that complex and expensive manufacturing technologies be used. These pendulous accelerometers with slightly off-centered pendulous axis consequently do not constitute an appreciable advance over prior art accelerometers whose pendulum is a disk oscillating around an edge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an accelerometer of the above-defined type in which the air gap may be made quite small and which may however be produced using industrial methods. For that purpose, the invention provides an accelerometer characterized in that the electrodes are provided on a single face of the pendulum. The pendulum, a frame which supports it and the hinges which connect the pendulum to the frame belonging to the case are advantageously formed by a single machined part. The frame then has a flat face intended to be applied against a bottom wall having case electrodes for forming the case. Since the electrodes are placed on one side only of the pendulum, there is no condition of parallelism of the faces to be fulfilled. The weight of the pendulum may be small, for the face which does not carry any electrode may be recessed, while leaving the necessary rigidity. Two active parts only are required.
Since the interelectrode distance may be very small (less than 10 μm), the forces required for rebalancing the pendulum even when the measured acceleration is very high, may be obtained with voltages much smaller than in the case of prior pendulous accelerometers. By way of example, for an interlectrode gap of from 6 to 8 μm, a return voltage of some tens of Volts is sufficient for measuring accelerations up to 100 g. Furthermore, the existence of a very small air gap reduces the shocks when the accelerometer is suddenly subjected to a very high acceleration, possibly reaching for example 10,000 g in the case of an accelerometer carried by a projectile fired from a gun.
Because the electromechanical parts of the accelerometer can be made very small, the invention finds a particularly important application in the field of accelerometers for projectiles, which must in addition be of a moderate cost. The accelerometer lends itself moreover perfectly to complete integration on a semiconductor substrate. Such an integration has already been proposed in French Patent 2,585,474 but in the case of accelerometers, apparently for conventional applications, whose pendulum has electrodes on both its faces, which leads, in order to provide small interelectrode distances, to a very sophisticated technology.
The servo-control circuit may have different constructions. It is however of advantage to use a digital type circuit, for example of the type described in British 2,047,902, with cyclic operation.
The invention further provides a method of manufacturing a pendulous accelerometer of the abovedefined type, using chemical machining and vacuum deposition techniques which are now well mastered, which makes it possible, using masking, to manufacture simultaneously a large number of cases or pendulums.
The invention will be better understood from the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example. The description refers to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram comprising a simplified cross-section of the electromechanical part of the accelerometer and of the main components of an associated digital circuit;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the relative construction and arrangement of a base belonging to the case and carrying electrodes for creating a balancing field and of the pendulum;
FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of operation;
FIG. 4 is a simplified sectional view showing a possible way of mounting the components of the accelerometer in a sealed case;
FIG. 5, similar to FIG. 2, shows another configuration of the pendulum, with recesses of identical depth, unbalance being obtained by an asymmetric arrangement of the strengthening walls and identical stiffnesses of the wings of the pendulum;
FIG. 6, similar to FIG. 1, illustrates an analog, rather than digital, embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The accelerometer shown in FIG. 1 comprises a base 10 belonging to or contained in a case and a pendulous unit 14. This unit comprises a rectangular shaped pendulum 8, able to rotate with respect to a frame 12 about an axis defined by hinges 16. Frame 12 is fixed to the base by bonding, thermocompression or thermoelectric connection for example. Base 10 carries two flat electrodes 18 and 20 for generating an electrostatic rebalancing field, connected to a measurement servo-control circuit which will be discussed further on.
The pendulous unit 14 is advantageously constructed as shown in FIG. 2. The frame and the pendulum are formed by machining a solid piece of a material which may be electrically conducting, for the whole of the pendulum is at the same potential. Silicon may for example be used; it may be doped to increase its conductivity (for example by boron implantation). Then the material forming the base will typically be glass having a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of silicon. The pendulous unit 14 and base 10 may be made of the same material such as molten silica or quartz. In this case, the pendulum is rendered superficially conductive by a thin layer of chromium and gold or aluminium, as will be seen further on. The hinges 16 are formed by flexible blades of small thickness formed during machining, located in the mid-plane of the pendulum 8.
The pendulum has a flat conducting face 22, forming an electrode, substantially parallel to and opposing electrodes 18 and 20 and at a distance of a few μm therefrom far forming an air gap for that purpose, the surfaces which support electrodes 18 and 20 are previously etched to form recesses with respect to the plane along which base 10 is fixed. The electrodes are formed by thin layers of chromium and gold or aluminum.
The pendulum has an imbalance with respect to its mid axis defined by hinges 16. It is of advantage to reduce as much as possible the weight of the pendulum as long as it does not detrimentally affect rigidity. The two objects are reached, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, by forming in the pendulum deep recesses separated by strengthening ribs 24 disposed symmetrically with respect to the axis defined by hinges 16.
Different arrangements may be contemplated so as to obtain imbalance of the pendulum. The recesses on the two sides of the axis may have different depths and/or the ribs may be given different widths as shown in FIG. 5. It is important for the two "wings" of the pendulum to have the same stiffness and the pendulum will be formed so as to fulfil that condition.
Different measurement and servo-control circuit constructions can be used.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, calibrated voltage pulses of predetermined amplitude and time duration are applied to one or the other of the electrodes 18 and 20 until the capacities of the two capacitors formed by these electrodes with electrode 22 have equal values.
The electric return force exerted in a predetermined direction is proportional to the frequency of the calibrated voltage pulses to one of the capacitors. The return force balances the accelerometric force, itself proportional to the acceleration, whereby the frequency of the applied pulse is representative of the amount of acceleration.
The measurement is made in successive cycles, each comprising a detection period and a rebalance period. To fulfil the detection function, electrode 22 of the pendulum is connected to the input of a follower amplifier 26, which input is alternately grounded and separated from ground by a switch 27 controlled by a sequencer 30 having a clock H (e.g. at 10 MHz), at a fixed frequency which may be between some kHz and some tens of kHz. The follower amplifier 26 drives a sample and hold circuit 28 controlled by an output H E of the sequencer 30. The analog signal delivered by the sampler 28 and processed by a damping correction circuit 29 is applied to a voltage/frequency converter 32. The output pulses from the voltage/frequency converter are applied to one or other of two output terminals 34, depending on the direction of the acceleration. The electrodes 18 and 20 may respectively be brought to voltages +V O and -V O by identical circuits, each comprising and OR gate 36 and a switch 38 controlled by the output of the OR gate. The switch 38 associated to the electrode 18 places the latter at voltage +V O when the output of the corresponding gate 36 is at 1, to ground in the opposite case. An input of each OR gate 36 receives periodical pulses from an output H D of the sequencer 30. The other switch 38 places electrode 20 to ground or to the voltage -V O .
The rebalancing pulses are applied to electrodes 18 or 20 by controlling the corresponding switch 38 through the associated OR gate, whose second input is connected to one of the outputs 34.
Operation during a cycle T, which will be assumed to be 50 μs, takes place as shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 3 where the letters at the beginning of each line indicate the corresponding outputs of the sequencer 30 of FIG. 1.
Each period T is divided between a rebalancing period, during which one or other of switches 38 may be closed, and a detection period. The rebalance period is shown in FIG. 3 as being of duration T 1 , from the beginning of the cycle to 35 μs.
After the rebalance period T 1 , the output Z of sequencer 30 opens switch 27, during a time period which extends from 37 μm to 48 μs from the beginning of the cycle as shown in FIG. 3. Detection takes place during a period extending between 40 and 45 μs after the beginning of the cycle and is caused by closure of the two switches 38 in response to a signal delivered by the output H D . Closure of switches 38 places the electrodes 18 and 20 at voltages +V O and -V O , respectively. Electrode 22 then takes a voltage which is zero if the pendulum is balanced and, if not, is in direct relation with the angular slant of the pendulum, with a polarity which depends on the direction of the slant. The voltage is adapted by amplifier 26 and sampled at 28 when the output H E of sequencer 30 delivers a pulse (pulse from 41 to 44 μs as shown in FIG. 3). The sample and hold circuit 28 stores the unbalance voltage for the rest of the cycle. This voltage is processed by the correction circuit 29 then applied to the voltage/frequency converter 32. The converter permanently receives high frequency pulses from the HF output of sequencer 30 and directs them (or not) to one or the other of outputs 34, depending on the polarity of electrode 22. The output pulses, during the rebalance periods 32, close that one of switches 38 which causes rebalancing. The mean frequency of the pulses is proportional to the acceleration. An analog measurement of this acceleration consists of the output voltage of correction circuit 29, possibly consisting of a passive network.
As a particular embodiment, the manufacture of a miniaturized accelerometer for measuring accelerations up to about 100 g, which can be produced at a low price and in a volume less than 2 cm 3 will now be described.
The pendulum 8 of such an accelerometer may have a total thickness of 350 μm and a length and a width of about 6 mm.
Several bases 10 may be simultaneously formed from a plate of quartz obtained by melting, having two parallel faces polished by conventional mechanical etching. Grooves 36, for defining the positions of electrodes 18 and 20, may be produced by photolithography with a conventional mask.
Similarly, several pendulous units 14 each formed of a pendulum 8 and its frame 12 may be manufactured simultaneously by photolithography, then chemical etching through a mask. The bases and the assemblies are separated from each other then the air gap, typically of from 6 to 8 μm, is formed by selective etching through a mask. In the case of a pendulum having a thickness of 350 μm, the chemical action reduces the thickness of the bottom of the recesses to a few tens of μm.
The electrodes may be formed by vacuum cathodic sputtering producing a layer whose thickness is in the 0.1 μm order of magnitude. Junction wires may be connected by thermoelectric welding.
The associated electronic circuit may be formed using hybrid technology and be supported by an extension of the base, or even integrated in this base if the latter is made of silicon which is superficially oxidized under electrodes 18 and 20. This arrangement makes it possible to place the amplifier 26 in immediate vicinity of the electrodes. As shown in FIG. 4, the base is fixed to the bottom of a case 40 closed by a lid 42. An integrated circuit 46 is placed on the bottom adjacent to the side of the base and is provided with output wires connected to sealed through pins 48 which sealingly project through the case wall.
Since the accelerometer may have a very small air gap, return voltages +V 0 and -V 0 may be adopted which are also small, ±15 V for example. Since the measurement is made by pulse counting, miniaturized digital circuits may be used.
Numerous modifications of the invention are possible; in particular, other digital or analog circuits may be used instead of the circuit which has been described.
Referring to FIG. 6, where the elements corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference number, an analog embodiment is illustrated as an example. The amplified measurement signal is applied to a synchronous demodulator 50 which receives a reference sine-shaped voltage from an oscillator 52, at 20 MHz for instance. The DC output voltage of demodulator 50 is applied to an integrator 54 which delivers the measurement voltage Vsi and drives the rebalance amplifier 56. The operational amplifier 56 receives voltage Vsi, the output A sin wt of oscillator 52 and a DC reference voltage -Vref (-15 Volts for instance) through respective resistors of equal values. The output of amplifier 56, equal to
+2Vref±2Vsi-A sin wt
is applied to electrode 20. The other electrode 18 receives the output of amplifier 56 through another summing amplifier 58 which delivers a signal equal to
+2Vref±2Vsi+A sin wt
Again, such a circuit may operate with low supply voltages, for instance +15 Volts and -15 Volts. | The accelerometer is suitable for use on missiles subjected to high acceltion forces on start. It comprises a base and a flat pendulum mounted on the base for oscillation about a rotation axis located in the plane of the pendulum. The distance between the center of gravity of the pendulum and the rotation axis is small as compared with the span of the pendulum. Electrodes are carried by a face of the pendulum on both sides of the axis and cooperate with electrodes carried by the base for generating an electrostatic balancing field. The pendulum has electrodes on one face only and that results in easier construction. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to articulated puppets; and, more particularly, to an articulated puppet or doll having a pistol grip connected thereto with finger manipulable trigger assemblies in the grip connected to limbs on the doll or puppet for selectively activating the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various puppet and doll constructions and marionettes are well known in the art wherein limbs of the puppet body are selectively activated through control means.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,737 to Whitcomb, a conventional marionette is disclosed having a plurality of strings connected to individual limbs of the marionette. The strings are coupled to a plurality of ring elements on a control panel and selective engagement of the rings activates selective limbs. Such an arrangement is quite prone to entanglement and the marionette can only be used in the structure containing the control panel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,670 to Steuber, a hand puppet is disclosed having a body wherein the operator's hand may be inserted to engage certain levers to move the parts of the puppet body. Such an arrangement is quite complicated and expensive and may be difficult for a small child to operate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,257 to Miki, a puppet head is disclosed having pivotally movable eyeballs and a lip which are connected by wires to loops (FIG. 4b) whereby selective pulling on the wires activates the eye-balls and lip. Again, such an arrangement is complicated, expensive and difficult for a child to operate.
There is thus a need for a doll or puppet which is inexpensive to manufacture, made from relatively uncomplicated parts, portable and easy for a child to operate without danger of entanglement of strings or wires or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a portable puppet having articulated limbs, and a pistol grip coupled to the puppet body for selective activation of limbs thereof.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a puppet wherein the limbs are pivotally connected to the puppet body and activated by strings connected at one end to the limbs and at the other end to the pistol grip.
It is still another object of this invention to carry out the foregoing objects in a manner whereby the strings are connected to trigger assemblies in the pistol grip, which assemblies can be selectively activated to move selective limbs of the puppet without danger of entanglement of the strings.
It is another object of this invention to carry out the foregoing objects having a puppet body and grip which can be made from stiff planar material sold as an inexpensive flat package.
These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a puppet or doll having a plurality of articulated limbs and a pistol grip attached to the puppet body for selectively activating the limbs. The limbs are pivotally connected to the puppet body and the grip includes openings therein for insertion of one's fingers and trigger assemblies actuable from the openings connected to the limbs by strings for activating the same.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the puppet of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a rear plan view of the puppet of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view taken along lines III--III of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a view taken along lines IV--IV of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines V--V of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 6 is a view taken along lines VI--VI of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a trigger actuated puppet 10 is shown comprised of an articulated doll 11 and a pistol grip 12. Doll 11 may of course take any suitable configuration, such as a main body portion 13 (see also FIG. 2), a head 14 integral with body portion 13, arms 15,16 pivotally connected to the shoulders of body portion 13 by pivot pins 17,18, respectively, and thighs 19,20 pivotally connected to the lower part of body portion 13 by pivot pins 21,22, respectively. Legs 23,24 are pivotally connected to the lower ends of thighs 19,20, respectively, by pivot pins 25,26, respectively.
Grip 12 is comprised of a main operating panel sandwiched between panels 28,29 (FIG. 2). Panel 28 (FIG. 3) is generally L-shaped having four vertically spaced oval-shaped holes 30 through 33. Panel 29 (FIG. 4) is the mirror image of panel 28 having similarly spaced and shaped holes 34 through 37.
Central or main operating panel 27 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As can be seen, panel 27 is L-shaped similarly to panels 28,29. Panel 27 also had four vertically spaced oval openings 38 through 41 similar to the openings in panels 28,29.
A first trigger assembly 42 includes an elongated portion 44 and a curved trigger portion 45. An abutment member 46 is mounted on panel 27 engagable by portion 44 when assembly 42 is pivoted. The terminal end 47 of trigger assembly 42 overlaps opening 40 as shown. A lower abutment member 48 is mounted below trigger portion 45 adapted to be engaged by portion 45 when pivoted.
An abutment member 49 is also mounted between openings 39 and 40 engagable by portion 45.
A second trigger assembly is pivotally connected to panel 27 by pivot pin 51. Trigger assembly 50 includes an elongated portion 52 and a trigger portion 53. Trigger portion 53 overlaps opening 38. An abutment member 54 is provided on panel 27 between openings 38 and 39. An abutment member 55 is provided on panel 27 below portion 52. Trigger assembly 50 thus engages abutment members 54,55, when pivoted.
A string 56 passes through opening 100 in panel 27 and abutment member 55 and passes outward through panels 28 and 29. This string 56 extends to and is connected to body portion 13 at point 57 to one side of grip 12 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), and at point 79 to the opposite side of grip 12 (see FIG. 2). A pair of openings 58,59 are provided in panel 27. As will be discussed, string 60 from a trigger assembly on the opposite side of panel 27 extends to and is connected to arm 16 (FIGS. 1 and 2). As seen in FIG. 1, all string connections may be provided by the end of the string, as string 60, passing through a hole 61 in the limb and glued or taped to the limb. The remaining limb string connections are similar so no further discussion is deemed necessary.
Referring again to FIG. 5, string 62 attached to trigger portion 52 extends through opening 59 and is attached to arm 15 (FIGS. 1 and 2). A string 63, from the other side of panel 27, as will be discussed, extends out of hole 64 to thigh 20 (FIGS. 1 and 2). String 65 is attached to trigger portion 44 and extends out of hole 66 in panel 27 to thigh 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2).
As seen in FIG. 6, the opposite side or face of panel 27 is similar and includes an upper trigger assembly 67 pivoted at pivot pin 68 and engagable with abutment members 69,70 on panel 27. Lower trigger assembly 71 is pivoted at pivot pin 72 and engages abutment member 73 and a pair of abutment members 74,75, on panel 27, between openings 38,39 and 39,40, respectively.
The trigger portions 76,77, respectively, of trigger assemblies 67,71 overlap openings 39,41, respectively, as shown. String 65 extends out of hole 66, as previously discussed with respect to FIG. 5, and connects to thigh 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2). String 63 from hole 64 (FIG. 5) is connected to the elongated arm 80 of trigger assembly 67. String 60 from opening 58 is connected to the elongated arm 81 of trigger assembly 71. String 62 extends from opening 59 (and, of course, from trigger portion 52 of FIG. 5) to arm 15 (FIGS. 1 and 2).
The various abutment members heretofore described also act as suitable spacers for the panels so that all of the strings move freely between the panels and out of the various openings and the trigger assemblies pivot freely between the panels. Additional spacers may also be provided between the panels, such as along the peripheral edges, so that, in addition to spacing, the strings are totally contained between the panels.
As shown in FIG. 1, the trigger 12 through main panel 27, is preferably hingedly connected, at 82, to a flap 83 which may be secured to the back portion of body portion 13.
The articulation of the various limbs of the doll can best be understood by reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. When trigger portion 53 (FIG. 5) is engaged by the operator's finger extending into opening 30, FIG. 1, string 62 is moved to raise the arm 15. Release of portion 53 permits the arm to be lowered since the weight thereof returns portion 53 to its normal position.
When trigger portion 76 (FIG. 6) is engaged by the operator's finger extending into opening 31, string 60 is moved to raise arm 16 and release thereof likewise lowers the arm.
When trigger portion 45 is engaged in opening 32, thigh 19 is raised and, again lowered, when portion 45 is released. Finally, engagement of portion 77 raises the other thigh 20.
It can be seen that the trigger grip 12 can be grasped by the user with fingers extending through openings 30 to 33. Selective actuation of the trigger portions 53,76,45 and 77 moves the various limbs of the doll as heretofore described. The doll can thus be made to wave its arms and raise and lower its legs and appear to dance or the like.
Although any suitable materials may be used, such as plastic, wood or cardboard, stiff cardboard is preferred so the puppet can be inexpensively manufactured. The grip 12 can be folded at hinge 82 to lie flat against the back of body portion 13. In order to allow extension of various limb controlling strings 60, 63, 63 and 65 outward of the panels 28 and 29, the inner edges of these panels, at the back of the body portion, may be slightly relieved or concave as suggested in FIGS. 3 and 4. The hinge panel 83 may be an integral part of panel 27 and hinge 82 merely a fold line thereof.
The pivot pins may be plastic pins insertible into the members with the heads of the pins on each side of the members enlarged, as by spot welding, to prevent withdrawal thereof.
It can thus be seen that there is disclosed a simple and inexpensive puppet that can take any desired configuration and can be made as elaborate as desired. A child may have differing dolls or puppets, one operated by each hand, and put on shows or the like without danger of entanglement of the strings. | A puppet or doll having a plurality of articulated limbs and a pistol grip attached to the puppet body for selectively activating the limbs. The limbs are pivotally connected to the puppet body and the grip includes openings therein for insertion of one's fingers and trigger assemblies actuable from the openings connected to the limbs by strings for activating the same. | 0 |
BACKGROUND
The present inventions relates to a filter life sensor. In particular, the present invention relates to a dielectric filter life sensor.
Air handling systems, such as air furnaces, air conditioning systems, and room air purifiers, typically include filters to take the dust and other particulate matter out of the air. When these filters become dirty, the air flow through the filter is reduced. The filters therefore must be periodically changed or cleaned to maintain the efficiency of the air handling system. A typical recommendation is to change a filter on a household air handling system every three months. It is often difficult for users to remember to change the filter. Additionally, a recommendation for changing a filter based on a predetermined time does not factor in the actual conditions of the environment. In some instances, the filter may become clogged before the suggested three months, and in some conditions the filter may still adequately perform beyond three months.
Filter change sensor systems exist for measuring the end of the useful life of a filter. Such systems may include a device, such as a float, for measuring the pressure drop across the filter. These systems are generally complicated and some require sensor placement on each side of the filter for measuring the pressure drop. Some of these systems measure the air velocity through the filter. However, because the area of filters is generally large, the air velocity through a filter is quite low and measuring the actual quantity of air passing through the filter is difficult. In such cases, sensitive, specialized equipment is necessary to obtain accurate readings, which are expensive and not practical for consumer use.
Other systems exist that include an air bypass through or around the filter. In such systems, when the filter collects dirt and dust, the overall air flow is restricted causing more air to flow through the bypass, which in some cases is a whistle device. These systems will then whistle when the air flow through the bypass reaches a threshold level. These systems do not give a read-out, either a digital or analog signal, on the level of filter use. Additionally, these systems only indicate filter performance at the filter location and therefore do not communicate with the thermostat, which is normally placed at the location more visible to the user. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a low-cost filter sensor that is able to determine the actual end of the useful life of the filter.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a filter life sensor that is able to determine the end of the useful life of the filter by utilizing a bypass either through a portion of the filter or through the housing around the filter and a dielectric sensor adjacent the bypass to measure the change in the air stream passing through the bypass.
In one embodiment, the filter life sensor is for use with an air handling system. The air handling system includes an air flow intake, an air flow exit, and a filter disposed between the air flow intake and air flow exit. The filter sensor assembly comprises a bypass connecting the air flow intake to the air flow exit, a dielectric sensor adjacent the bypass, wherein the dielectric sensor generates an electrical signal in response the air flow passing through the bypass.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of an air handling system with a bypass in the housing.
FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of an air flow filter sensor adjacent the bypass of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a filter containing a bypass and an air flow sensor.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged, exploded view of the filter, bypass and air flow sensor of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a circuit diagram for amplifying, rectifying, and filtering the voltage generated from the air flow sensor.
While the above-identified drawings and figures set forth embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope and spirit of this invention. The figures may not be drawn to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An air flow sensor 100 is disclosed for determining the life of a filter 200 . The air flow sensor is used within a housing 300 of an air handling system 800 , such as a furnace, air conditioner, a room air purifier, or a respirator such as a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR), which utilizes a filter 200 . However, the air flow sensor 100 shown and described may be used and applied in other comparable systems where periodic changing of the filter 200 is necessary.
Generally, the filter 200 includes a filter media 210 surrounded and contained by a filter frame 220 . The entire filter 200 may be disposable, the filter media 210 may be disposable such that the filter frame 220 , or the entire filter 200 may be reusable.
The filter media 210 may be constructed of paper; porous films of thermoplastic or thermoset materials; nonwoven, such as melt blown or spunbond, webs of synthetic or natural fibers; scrims; woven or knitted materials; foams; electret or electrostatically charged materials; fiberglass media, or laminates or composites of two or more materials. A nonwoven polymeric web of polyolefin, polyethylene or polypropylene is suitable, for example. Filter media 210 may also include sorbents, catalysts, and/or activated carbon (granules, fibers, fabric, and molded shapes). Electret filter webs can be formed of the split fibrillated charged fibers as described in U.S. Pat. No. RE 30,782. These charged fibers can be formed into a nonwoven web by conventional means and optionally joined to a supporting scrim such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,800 forming an outer support layer. Alternatively, filter media 210 can be a melt blown microfiber nonwoven web, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,948 which can be joined to a support layer during web formation as disclosed in that patent, or subsequently joined to a support web in any conventional manner.
The filter frame 220 generally entirely surrounds the filter media 210 . The filter frame 220 may be constructed of paper, chipboard, cardboard, paperboard, boxboard, film, metal or plastic. In an entirely disposable filter, the filter frame 220 typically will be constructed of a paper product. In a reusable filter frame 220 , the filter frame 220 typically will be constructed of plastic or metal.
The filter 200 is inserted into a housing 300 . Particularly, a supporting slot 312 is included in the housing to closely engage the filter frame 220 of the filter 200 . Depending on the air handling system, the housing 300 may be a portion of a furnace, an air conditioner, or a room air purifier. Within the housing 300 is a fan 310 for pulling air through the filter 200 such that there is air in 500 the filter and air out 510 of the filter and into the housing 300 .
As the air in 500 passes through the filter 200 and is then pulled out of the filter as air out 510 , the filter media 210 clogs with dirt, dust, or debris, and air flow through the filter 200 becomes limited and the pressure drop across the filter 200 increases. However, due to the size of the areas of the filter 200 it is difficult to measure the air flow change. Further, although it is possible to measure the pressure drop across the filter 200 , such systems must include delicate sensors.
Disclosed is a bypass 400 shown either in the housing 300 ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) or in the filter 200 ( FIGS. 3 and 4 ), which allows for a narrow path of bypass air flow 520 not passing through the filter media 210 . A detailed description of FIGS. 1-4 is given below. Due to the constricted size of the bypass 400 and therefore increased air velocity of the bypass air flow 520 , the bypass air flow 520 is easier to measure. It is understood that the bypass 400 may be included in other locations of the housing 300 or various positions on the filter 200 including on the filter media 210 or the filter frame 220 .
An air flow sensor 100 is included to measure the bypass air flow 520 . As the filter 200 becomes clogged, the fan still continues to pull air through the filter 200 and bypass 400 , however the pressure drop across the filter 200 and bypass 400 is greater and therefore the bypass air flow velocity 520 increases. A threshold level may be preset and when the bypass air flow 520 reaches that threshold level, an indication can be made to change the filter 200 . The air flow sensor 100 shown is a piezoelectric sensor. However, generally the air flow sensor 100 is a dielectric sensor, which can be a sensor such as piezoelectric sensor, piezoresistive sensor, actuator sensor, capacitive sensor, and/or combinations thereof. The dielectric sensor can be one sensor or an array of sensors. The sensor 100 generates an electrical signal such as a voltage, current, or both in response to actuation caused by the bypass air flow 520 . The out put of the sensor 100 can be used to create sound, light, and/or communicate with an output such as a thermostat or a combination thereof.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a housing 300 of an air handling system with a bypass 400 in the housing 300 and an air flow sensor 100 adjacent the bypass 400 . FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the air flow sensor 100 adjacent the bypass 400 of FIG. 1 .
As shown, a standard filter 200 with a filter media 210 surrounded by a filter frame 220 is included to capture dirt, dust and debris being pulled through the housing 300 of the air handling system. The bypass 400 is an unobstructed opening through a portion of the housing 300 . In this embodiment, the bypass 400 is just below the support slot 312 that holds the filter 200 . It is understood that any opening, connecting the air in 500 to the air out of the filter 510 (preceding the fan) without passing through the filter media 210 would be appropriate and that any one particular position of the bypass is not required.
The air flow sensor 100 shown a piezoelectric sensor (described in more detail below) and is positioned adjacent the bypass 400 . In this embodiment, the air flow sensor 100 is positioned on the downstream end of the bypass air flow 520 . In other words, the air flow sensor 100 is within the housing 300 directly adjacent the bypass 400 . It is understood that the air flow sensor 100 may be positioned anywhere such that the bypass air flow 520 is being measured. For example, the air flow sensor 100 may be positioned adjacent the bypass 400 on the upstream end of the bypass air flow 520 to measure the pull of the bypass air flow 520 as opposed to the push of the bypass air flow 520 . Additionally, the air flow sensor 100 may be positioned within the bypass 400 .
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a filter 200 that includes a bypass 400 and an air flow sensor 100 . FIG. 4 is an enlarged, exploded view of the filter 200 , bypass 400 , and air flow sensor 100 of FIG. 3 . The filter 200 depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 would typically be used in the housing 300 of an air handling system that itself does not contain a bypass 400 , because the bypass 400 and air flow sensor 100 is included as part of the filter 200 . It is understood that the air handling system that the filter 200 of FIGS. 3 and 4 is placed in includes a fan to generate an air in the filter 200 and an air out of the filter 200 such as that shown and described with respect to FIG. 2 . An axial fan is shown; however, other types of fans can be used such as a centrifugal or an vane axial fan. Therefore, through the bypass 400 is a bypass air flow 520 , cylinder
As shown in FIG. 3 , and in the exploded view of FIG. 4 , a tube 110 and a cover 111 for the tube 110 encloses the air flow sensor 100 and includes the bypass 400 . As shown, the tube 110 is positioned within and across a portion of the filter media 210 . However, it is understood that the tube 110 , or other enclosing structure, could be placed across the filter frame 220 . Additionally, the tube 110 may be place outside of the filter frame 220 or filter media 210 , while the bypass 400 still passes through the filter frame 220 or filter media 210 . The tube 110 is shown to be generally circular; however, because the tube 110 serves simply as an enclosing structure for the air flow sensor 100 and includes an opening for the bypass 400 , the tube 110 may be of any shape such as square, rectangular, oval, triangular.
Contained within the tube 111 is the air flow sensor 100 , which as described above with respect to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 , is a piezoelectric sensor. An exemplary piezoelectric sensor that may be used is MiniSense 100 Vibration Sensor available from MSI Sensors of Hampton, Va.
The piezoelectric air flow sensor 100 , described above with respect to FIGS. 1-4 , includes a base 102 that in FIGS. 1-2 attaches the air flow sensor 100 to the housing 300 or as shown in FIGS. 3-4 attaches the air flow sensor 100 to the tube 110 , voltage leads 104 (not visible in FIG. 4 ), a bending arm 106 , and a weighted end 108 at the end of the bending arm 106 and aligned with the bypass air flow 520 path exiting the bypass 400 . It is understood that voltage lead 104 may not be necessary, for example when the output signal is transmitted remotely. On the bending arm 106 is the piezoelectric material. As shown in both embodiments, the air flow sensor 100 is positioned on the down stream end of the bypass 400 to measure the push of the bypass air flow 520 . It is understood that the air flow sensor 100 could be positioned up stream from the bypass 400 or within the tube 110 to measure the bypass air flow 520 .
The bypass air flow 520 contacts the weighted end 108 to causes steady vibration of the bending arm 106 . This vibration causes the piezoelectric material on the bending arm 106 to generate an electrical signal such as a voltage, current or a combination of both. As the filter media 210 clogs with dirt, dust, and debris, the bypass air flow 520 increases causing the frequency and amplitude of the vibration of the bending arm 106 of the air flow sensor 100 to increase and therefore the voltage generated to increase. Generally, a voltage is generated that is associated with each speed of the fan 310 . To get an accurate reading from the air flow sensor 100 it is desirable to have proper air flow through the bypass 400 . Have a tube-like path (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ) for the bypass airflow 520 to pass through before contacting the weighted end 108 may assist getting proper air flow through the bypass 400 . Generally, a fan speed will cause the sensor 100 to generate an electrical signal such as a voltage. Initially, it may be desirable to calibrate the sensor 100 for the particular fan speed. If a variable speed fan is included that has for example 3 speeds associated with it, it is desirable to calibrate the sensor 100 for that speed that will be used. It may be desirable to have the fan on a single, possibly high, speed to get a repeatable output reading from the air flow sensor 100 .
The output voltage signal from the air flow sensor 100 may be amplified, rectified, and filtered. The output voltage signal may be transmitted to a relay box 121 that converts the voltage output into a measurement of the filter condition life. An exemplary amplification, rectification, and filtration circuit is show in FIG. 5 for the piezoelectric sensor MiniSense 100 Vibration Sensor available from MSI Sensors of Hampton, V.A The transmission of the output signal may be through wire 122 or may be through remote transmission such as radio frequency. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 , transmission through a remote mechanism such as radio frequency is ideal in that no wires must be connected to the tube 110 . The relay box 121 may connect with a display 123 .
The converted signal may then be made visible to a user. In one embodiment, a percentage used output is transmitted and is available for viewing by the user. In another embodiment, a red, yellow, or green light may be indicated, the colors corresponding to a percentage of the filter 200 used and the need for the user to replace the filter 200 . This final output may be positioned at a convenient location to a user such as at a thermostat. Alternatively, an alarm may signal. It is understood that it maybe either the output signal or a converted form of the output signal that is transmitted from the filter sensor 100 or relay box.
It may be necessary in some embodiments to include a power source to amplify and transmit the air flow sensor 100 output. This is particularly the case when a remote transmission mechanism is included such as a radio frequency transmitter. In such a case a battery 131 may be included. That battery may be disposable or rechargeable. Alternative, the circuit can be designed where the sensor electrical output can be stored and that stored electrical output is used to transmit the signal. For example, the continual movement of vibration of the bending arm 106 of the air flow sensor 100 may generate enough voltage to charge the battery or capacitor, if included.
The air flow sensor can be used for multiple applications. As described, the air flow sensor described may be used with a furnace system, room air purifier, or air conditioner. Additionally, the air flow sensor may be used with a respirator to monitor the air flow to the user of the respirator. The output signal generated may be transmitted and monitored at an external area.
Disclosed is an air flow sensor for providing reminder to a user of when to change a filter. It may be desirable to incorporate into the air handling system other types of sensors such as a timer or other sensors that measure the airflow through the filter or pressure drop across the filter. For example a suitable time system is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/420,936 titled “FILTER TIMER” ,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,978.
Although specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the many possible specific arrangements that can be devised in application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the structures described in this application, but only by the structures described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those structures. | A filter life sensor assembly within an air handling system is disclosed. The air handling system includes an air flow intake, an air flow exit, and a filter disposed between the air flow intake and air flow exit. The filter sensor assembly comprises a bypass connecting the air flow intake to the air flow exit, a dielectric sensor adjacent the bypass, wherein the dielectric sensor generates an electrical signal in response the air flow passing through the bypass. | 1 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/018,751 filed on Feb. 17, 1993 now abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for separating and recovering a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin by subjecting whey to membrane filtration.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a nutritional composition containing such a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin thus obtained.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Whey proteins are generally known to be used as a substitute for breast milk and as a protein source in nutritional mixtures both for human and animals since whey protein has a high nutritional value and is also highly efficient in protein utilization, when compared to casein or soya protein. Particularly, when taken as a breast-milk substitute, β-lactoglobulin, the major component of whey protein in cows' milk, acts as an allergen which causes infant allergy since it is a protein not found in breast milk. Therefore, it follows that one should obtain a whey protein source having either a lower β-lactoglobulin content or a higher α-lactalbumin content.
Thus, attempts have hitherto been made to obtain whey protein having either a lower β-lactoglobulin content or a higher α-lactalbumin content and thus achieve a more efficient rate of production from whey, the by-products of cheese production.
As methods for separating and recovering a fraction having high content of α-lactalbumin, there have been proposed numerous attempts to effectively use the difference between the physical and/or chemical properties of various whey proteins with whey as the starting material. In working these methods, however, one encounters various difficulties such as complicated process steps, high energy consumption, poor rates of recovery, irreversible reactions of proteins, which render them impractical for or inoperable as larger scale commercial/industrial processes.
Furthermore, as fractionation methods with ultrafiltration membranes applicants are aware of Peter Harris (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,040 and 4,711,953) and Bottomley (U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,376). In considering these methods, particularly Bottomley, there is observed a considerable variation in the pore sizes of the industrial ultrafiltration membranes employed, which render them impractical to effectively and reliably separate α-lactalbumin (m. W. 14,000 daltons) and β-lactoglobulin (m. W. 36,000 as dimers) which have rather close molecular weights. In Bottomley's examples, the maximum ratio of α-lactalbumin to β-lactoglobulin in the products obtained failed to reach a factor of 3.
As seen in the foregoing paragraphs, conventional methods have been either too complicated with their industrial processes or quite unsatisfactory with the rate of recovery for α-lactalbumin in the fractions obtained. The inventors have therefore arrived at the conclusion that conventional methods fail to show a process sufficiently efficient to separate and recover a fraction having a high content of a-lactalbumin from whey.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As given above, where α-lactalbumin containing fraction is obtained from whey according to conventional methods, there have been numerous difficulties such as complicated process steps, high energy consumption, poor rate of recovery, undesirable and irreversible reactions with protein, etc., that is, one can only arrive at the conclusion that a method to obtain from whey a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin has not been established. It is an object of this invention to obtain from whey, a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin at a commercially viable rate of recovery.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method to separate and recover from whey a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin in a commercially viable scale, at low cost and high efficiency.
Another object of this invention is to provide a nutritional composition comprising a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin obtained from whey.
The nutritional composition of the present invention includes breast-milk substitutes such as powdered infants' formula, and the like, material for pharmaceutical preparations, nutritional mixtures for humans or animals.
In the present invention, the heating of whey promotes the aggregation of β-lactoglobulin, thus increasing the apparent molecular weight, which is then subject to membrane filtration, a simple operation, thereby fractionating α-lactalbumin against β-lactoglobulin, and thus most reliably performing a highly effective fractionation on the basis of commercial scale production. Also, the present invention relates to obtaining a nutritional composition containing such fraction with a high α-lactalbumin content.
The present invention is directed to a process wherein whey, maintained at pH 4.0-7.5, is first heated or simultaneous with the heating step, is subjected to filtration with an ultrafiltration membrane having a cut-off molecular weight of higher than 50,000, Da, or with a microfiltration membrane having a pore size of smaller than 0.5 um, and then separating and recovering the whey fraction abundant in α-lactalbumin.
The present invention also relates to nutritional compositions containing a fraction obtained as above having a high α-lactalbumin content.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE
The FIGURE is a flow chart illustrating the process in which whey is heated then ultrafiltered or microfiltered to produce an α-lactalbumin-enriched fraction.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
For the starting material employed in the present invention, the following types of whey can be used:
i) whey obtained as by-products in the production of cheese, acid casein and rennet casein, and the like, from milk from cows, goats, sheep, etc;
ii) rehydrated whey, obtained by spray drying the whey in (i) above and dissolving the thus obtained powdered whey in water;
or
iii) whey protein concentrate (WPC), and the like, prepared from whey, and which contains α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin.
One or more than one of the above whey are mixed and the pH adjusted to 4.0-7.5 before or after the heating process. # However, when the pH is already in the above noted range, it is heated as such, omitting the pH adjustment. The reason for maintaining pH in the above range is to promote a better aggregation of β-lactoglobulin molecules. It has been noted that the pH range which most efficiently promotes aggregation of β-lactoglobulin is at approximately pH 6.0 or 4.5.
The heating of whey should be carried out at a temperature above 80° C., preferably above 85° C., for at least 5 minutes, or alternatively, subject to an ultrahigh temperature pasteurization (UHT) at 100°-120° C., for at least 2 seconds. Obviously, rehydrated whey which has already been heat processed does not require any re-heating.
By heating whey at the above mentioned pH the molecules of β-lactoglobulin in the whey aggregate with themselves or with molecules of other whey proteins, thus increasing their apparent molecular weight, which causes the molecular weight difference with α-lactalbumin to become larger.
The whey which has been heat-processed as above is then passed through an ultrafiltration membrane having a cut-off molecular weight of 50000 Da or higher, or through a microfiltration membrane having a pore size of not larger than 0.5 μm and not smaller than 0.01 μm, to allow α-lactalbumin to pass through the membrane as permeate but β-lactoglobulin is concentrated on the retentate side. In the foregoing membrane process, where the cut-off molecular weight of the ultrafiltration is less than 50000 Da or the pore size of the microfiltration is smaller than 0.01 μm, the production efficiency of α-lactalbumin will be lowered because its molecules may not readily pass through its pores, whereby fractionation of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin may not be substantially carried out. On the other hand, when the pore size of the microfiltration is larger than 0.5 μm, both β-lactoglobulin, which has increased its apparent molecular weight by heating, and α-lactalbumin molecules will go through the membrane and fractionation of the two substantially may not be performed.
The conditions for processing whey with membranes are the same for ultrafiltration membrane and microfiltration membrane, that is, the process is carried out at not more than 0.5 Mega Pascal for trans-membrane pressure and at least 0.5 meters/second for flow rate on membrane, which results better efficiency in the separation of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin.
The membrane material of the ultrafiltration membrane and microfiltration membrane employed in the present invention may be either of a high molecular or inorganic material(s). However, where the use of the permeates has to be considered, both from the points of membrane leakage safety and sharper fractionation results, one believes that inorganic membrane materials such as of ceramics are preferable to high molecular membranes.
With the present invention, the whey fraction obtained in the permeate side of the ultrafiltration or microfiltration membrane which has a high α-lactalbumin content as according to the above noted process, can be again subject to ultrafiltration through a membrane having a molecular weight fractionation of smaller than 50000 Da, to separate and recover α-lactalbumin from the retentate side of the membrane, which results in obtaining a further higher concentration of α-lactalbumin.
The accompanying FIGURE is used for further explanation of the process of the present invention. First, the pH of the whey is adjusted to the range of 4.0-7.5 (where the pH of the whey is already within the range, no such adjustment is required). Whey, which has not been heat-processed is taken as the starting material, is heated to a temperature of at least 80° C. as noted above, and then passed through a ultrafiltration or microfiltration with a normal temperature. Where heating the whey has not been undertaken prior to filtration but would be heated simultaneously with the filtration process, the process should be undertaken by ultrafiltration membrane or microfiltration membrane with a high temperature, simultaneously with heating to promote the aggregation of β-lactoglobulin.
Furthermore, where already heat-processed whey, such as rehydrated whey, is used as starting material, ultrafiltration membranes or microfiltration membranes should be employed with a normal temperature. In this case, α-lactalbumin passes through the membrane and results in obtaining a permeate having a high α-lactalbumin content. This permeate normally contains about 0.1% (V/W) of α-lactalbumin, lactose, ash, etc.
The retentate obtained after the membrane operation contains mostly β-lactoglobulin, but some α-lactalbumin is still retained therein. Thus, where a further higher rate of recovery is desirable, some liquid (free from α-lactalbumin) such as water should be added for dilution and subject to diafiltration (DF) which allows the retained α-lactalbumin to pass through, which permeate should then be added to the previously processed permeate obtained by ultrafiltration or microfiltration. Through this operation one may enhance the rate of recovery for α-lactalbumin.
The permeate thus obtained by processing through an ultrafiltration membrane or microfiltration membrane contains milk sugar, ash, water, etc. The permeate may as such be concentrated and removed of lactose by crystallization, and the mother liquor can be used as a composition having a high content of α-lactalbumin. Or, it may further be subject to filtration with an ultrafiltration membrane having a small cut-off molecular weight which does not allow permeation of α-lactalbumin, to fractionate and concentrate α-lactalbumin only.
Since the molecular weight of α-lactalbumin is 14000 Da, the ultrafiltration membrane employed in this instance should have a substantially smaller molecular fraction, for example, not more than 50000 Da.
The fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin thus obtained can be used as such concentrate or rendered to powder by means of spray drying, freeze-drying, or other known methods. This may be added to infants formula, or the like, and used as a breast-milk substitute, or as a nutritional composition for human or animal use. (See accompanying FIGURE)
According to the invention, with the simple pre-treatment of whey of adjusting pH and heating before membrane filtration, a fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin can be obtained in an industrial/commercial scale at a reasonable cost and high efficiency.
The fraction having a high content of α-lactalbumin thus obtained can be used as starting materials for infant formula, nutritional compositions for human or animal use, or as components in pharmaceutical preparations, and thus are highly advantageous practically.
EXAMPLES
Working examples are provided below for further description of the invention.
EXAMPLE 1
One hundred kilograms of Cheddar cheese whey at pH 5.8 is pasteurized at 120° C. for 5 seconds with a ultra-high temperature apparatus (UHT) and cooled to 50° C. and processed with an ultrafiltration membrane having a cut-off molecular weight of 150000 DA membrane material: titania/alumina composite membrane, made by Nippon Gaishi KK!. The conditions of the membrane process were:
Temperature: 50° C.
Trans-membrane Pressure: 0.1 MPa (Mega Pascal)
Flow rate on Membrane: 3 meters/second
Concentration was carried out to a factor of 10, and 90 kg of the permeate and 10 kg of the retentate were obtained.
Table II below gives the percentage contents of the starting whey, of the retentate and of the permeate with respect to protein, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin; also the ratio of contents of α-lactalbumin/β-lactoglobulin is given as α/β.
As apparent from Table II, the α/β in the whey is 0.38 where the ratio in the permeate after membrane process is 3.95, showing a higher than ten-fold increase.
TABLE II______________________________________ Whey Retentate Permeate______________________________________Weights 100 kg 10 kg 90 kgProtein 0.75% 6.65% 0.11%α-lactalbumin 0.16% 0.82% 0.087%β-lactoglobulin 0.42% 4.01% 0.022%α/β 0.38 0.20 3.95______________________________________
EXAMPLE 2
Non-desalted Gouda cheese whey powder was dissolved in water to prepare 100 kg of 6 wt.% rehydrized whey. After adjusting its pH to 6.0, it was subjected to ultrafiltration with a membrane having a cut-off molecular weight of 150000 Da membrane material: titania/alumina composite membrane, made by Nippon Gaishi KK!. The conditions of the filtration process were:
Temperature: 50° C.
Trans-membrane Pressure: 0.2 MPa (Mega Pascal)
Flow rate on Membrane: 3 meters/second
The factor of concentration was carried out to 15, and 93.3 kg of the permeate and 6.7 kg of the retentate were obtained. Table III below gives the percentage contents of the starting whey, of the retentate and of the permeate with respect to protein, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin; also the ratio of contents of α-lactalbumin/β-lactoglobulin is given as α/β.
The α/β in the whey is 0.44 whereas the ratio in the permeate after membrane process is 4.07, showing a higher than nine fold increase.
TABLE III______________________________________ Whey Retentate Permeate______________________________________Weights 100 kg 6.7 kg 93.3 kgProtein 0.70% 7.99% 0.11%α-lactalbumin 0.16% 1.54% 0.061%β-lactoglobulin 0.36% 5.17% 0.015%α/β 0.44 0.29 4.07______________________________________
EXAMPLE 3
200 kg of Gouda cheese whey at pH 6.0 was subjected to ultrahigh temperature pasteurization at 120° C. for 5 seconds and then cooled to 20° C. Thereafter, the whey was processed with a microfiltration membrane having a pore size of 0.14 μm membrane materials: zirconia/carbon!. The conditions of the filtration process were:
Temperature: 50° C.
Trans-membrane Pressure: 0.1 MPa (Mega Pascal
Flow rate on Membrane: 5 meters/second
Concentration of the retentate was carried out to a factor of 5, added 80 kg of water and then subject to diafiltration to the factor of 2. The resultant permeate was added to the permeate obtained by microfiltration, whereby 240 kg of the permeate and 40 kg of the retentate were obtained.
Table IV below gives the percentage contents of the starting whey, of the retentate and of the permeate with respect to protein, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin; also the ratio of α-lactalbumin/β-lactoglobulin contents is given as α/β.
The ratio of α/β in the permeate after the filtration process is 6.32, which shows an increase by a factor of 14.3 to the starting whey.
TABLE IV______________________________________ Whey Retentate Permeate______________________________________Weights 200 kg 40 kg 240 kgProtein 0.70% 2.66% 0.14%α-lactalbumin 0.16% 0.08% 0.12%β-lactoglobulin 0.36% 1.69% 0.019%α/β 0.44 0.047 6.32______________________________________
EXAMPLE 4
The permeate obtained in Example 3 was further subjected to filtration with a ultrafiltration membrane having a cut-off molecular weight of 20000 Da membrane materials titania/alumina composite membrane made by Nippon Gaishi KK! for the purpose of desalting and removing lactose. The conditions of the filtration process was:
Temperature: 50° C.
Trans-membrane Pressure: 0.3 MPa (Mega Pascal)
Flow rate on Membrane: 5 meters/second
After concentration was carried out to a factor of 6, 80 kg of water was added and subjected to diafiltration (DF), and the concentration carried out to a factor of 2, where by 40 kg of the retentate was obtained. The composition of the retentate in weight % was:
______________________________________ Total solids 2.934 Protein 0.834 α-lactalbumin 0.72 β-lactoglobulin 0.114 Sugars 2.0 Ash 0.1 pH 6.0______________________________________
The rate of recovery for α-lactalbumin was 86.9 % based on the starting whey.
EXAMPLE 5
To 706 kg of the desalted retentate obtained in Example 4, 17.8 kg of skim milk powder, 33.3 kg of lactose, and 0.5 kg of vitamins and minerals were dissolved therein; this was further mixed with 27.3 kg of vegetable oil followed by homogenization. The resulting solution was pasteurized and subjected to concentration and drying according to known methods; 100 kg of breast-milk substitute was obtained.
EXAMPLE 6
To 1,439 kg of desalted retentate obtained in Example 4, 17.0 kg of dextrin, 16.0 kg of lactose and 1.4 kg of vitamins and minerals were dissolved therein. Then, 26.8 kg of vegetable oil was mixed thereto followed by homogenization. The resulting solution was pasteurized and subjected to concentration and drying according to known methods. This powdered nutritional composition can be used for feed additives for baby calves and baby pigs. | A process for producing an α-lactalbumin-enriched fraction from whey is disclosed. The process involves heating pH-adjusted whey to a temperature sufficient to cause aggregation of β-lactoglobulin molecules, and fractioning the whey using ultrafiltration or microfiltration, the α-lactalbumin-enriched fraction obtained by the process is useful for making breast milk substitutes and other nutritional compositions. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to a process for preparing furanose derivatives, to furanose intermediates used in said process and to the use of said derivatives in the manufacture of atorvastatin.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Atorvastatin is a competitive inhibitor of the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, which is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of cholesterol in humans. It has therefore proven to be a highly effective medication for the treatment of disorders such as hyperlipidemia and hypercholesterolemia which are conditions that are known risk factors for arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
[0003] Atorvastatin is chemically [R(R*,R*)]-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-β,δ-dihydroxy-5-(1-methylethyl)-3-phenyl-4-(phenylcarbamoyl)-1H-pyrrole-1-heptanoic acid and is marketed as its calcium salt under the brand name Lipitor™.
[0004] A number of processes and key intermediates for preparing Atorvastatin are known, for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,995 and US 2006/0252816.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a use of a compound of formula (I):
[0000]
[0000] wherein
R 1 and R 2 independently represent hydrogen, halogen, C 1-6 alkyl, haloC 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 1-6 alkanol, C 1-6 alkoxy, haloC 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-8 cycloalkyl or C 3-8 cycloalkenyl;
R 3 and R 4 independently represent hydrogen, halogen, C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more (e.g. 1 to 3) R 7 groups, C 2-6 alkenyl optionally substituted by one or more (e.g. 1 to 3) R 7 groups, C 2-6 alkynyl, haloC 1-6 alkoxy, C 3-8 cycloalkyl, C 3-8 cycloalkenyl, —OR 5 , —X-aryl, —X-heterocyclyl, —C(R 5 )═O, —C(═Y)—O—R 5 ,
aryl represents a carbocyclic ring;
heterocyclyl represents a heterocyclic ring optionally substituted by one or more (e.g. 1 to 3) R 5 substituents;
R 5 and R 6 independently represent a hydrogen or C 1-6 alkyl group;
R 7 represents a halogen, hydroxy, cyano, —COOR 5 , —NO 2 , —CONR 5 R 6 , —NR 5 COOR 6 or —NR 5 R 6 group;
X represents a bond, or a linker selected from —CO—(CH 2 ) m —, —COO—, —(CH 2 ) p —, —NR 5 —(CH 2 ) m —, —(CH 2 ) p —NR 5 —, —CONR 5 —, —NR 5 CO—, —SO 2 NR 5 —, —NR 5 SO 2 —, —NR 5 CONR 6 —, —NR 5 CSNR 6 —, —O—(CH 2 ) m —, —(CH 2 ) p —O—, S—, —SO— or —(CH 2 ) m —SO 2 —, —SO 2 —O— or —O—SO 2 —;
Y represents an O or an S atom;
m represents an integer from 0 to 4;
p represents an integer from 1 to 4;
in the preparation of atorvastatin.
[0006] The use of the compounds described herein as intermediates in the manufacture of atorvastatin provide a number of advantages. For example, the process is simple, efficient, and easy to operate as well as providing a good yield.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The term ‘C 1-6 alkyl’ as used herein as a group or a part of the group refers to a linear or branched saturated hydrocarbon group containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Examples of such groups include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert butyl, n-pentyl, isopentyl, neopentyl or hexyl and the like.
[0008] The term ‘C 1-6 alkoxy’ as used herein refers to an —O—C 1-6 alkyl group wherein C 1-6 alkyl is as defined herein. Examples of such groups include methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy, pentoxy or hexoxy and the like.
[0009] The term ‘C 1-6 alkanol’ as used herein refers to a C 1-6 alkyl group substituted by one or more hydroxy groups. Examples of such groups include methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy, pentoxy or hexoxy and the like.
[0010] The term ‘C 3-8 cycloalkyl’ as used herein refers to a saturated monocyclic hydrocarbon ring of 3 to 8 carbon atoms. Examples of such groups include cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl or cyclooctyl and the like.
[0011] The term ‘halogen’ as used herein refers to a fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine atom.
[0012] The term ‘haloC 1-6 alkyl’ as used herein refers to a C 1-6 alkyl group as defined herein wherein at least one hydrogen atom is replaced with halogen. Examples of such groups include fluoroethyl, trifluoromethyl or trifluoroethyl and the like.
[0013] The term ‘haloC 1-6 alkoxy’ as used herein refers to a C 1-6 alkoxy group as herein defined wherein at least one hydrogen atom is replaced with halogen. Examples of such groups include difluoromethoxy or trifluoromethoxy and the like.
[0014] The term ‘aryl’ as used herein refers to a C 6-12 monocyclic or bicyclic hydrocarbon ring wherein at least one ring is aromatic. Examples of such groups include phenyl, naphthyl or tetrahydronaphthalenyl and the like.
[0015] The term ‘heterocyclyl’ as used herein refers to a 5-7 membered monocyclic aromatic ring, a fused 8-10 membered bicyclic aromatic ring, a 4-7 membered saturated or partially saturated monocyclic ring or a fused 8-12 membered saturated or partially saturated bicyclic ring containing 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur.
[0016] Examples of such monocyclic aromatic rings include thienyl, furyl, furazanyl, pyrrolyl, triazolyl, tetrazolyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, oxadiazolyl, isothiazolyl, isoxazolyl, thiadiazolyl, pyranyl, pyrazolyl, pyrimidyl, pyridazinyl, pyrazinyl, pyridyl, triazinyl, tetrazinyl and the like.
[0017] Examples of such fused aromatic rings include quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, quinazolinyl, quinoxalinyl, pteridinyl, cinnolinyl, phthalazinyl, naphthyridinyl, indolyl, isoindolyl, azaindolyl, indolizinyl, indazolyl, purinyl, pyrrolopyridinyl, furopyridinyl, benzofuranyl, isobenzofuranyl, benzothienyl, benzoimidazolyl, benzoxazolyl, benzoisoxazolyl, benzothiazolyl, benzoisothiazolyl, benzoxadiazolyl, benzothiadiazolyl and the like.
[0018] Examples of such saturated or partially saturated monocyclic rings include pyrrolidinyl, azetidinyl, pyrazolidinyl, oxazolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, thiazolidinyl, hydantoinyl, valerolactamyl, oxiranyl, oxetanyl, dioxolanyl, dioxanyl, oxathiolanyl, oxathianyl, dithianyl, dihydrofuranyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, dihydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyridinyl, tetrahydropyrimidinyl, tetrahydrothiophenyl, tetrahydrothiopyranyl, diazepanyl, azepanyl and the like.
[0019] Examples of such saturated or partially saturated bicyclic rings include indolinyl, isoindolinyl, benzopyranyl, quinuclidinyl, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine, tetrahydroisoquinolinyl and the like.
[0020] It will be appreciated that compounds of formula (I) may exist in a variety of differing optical configurations. For example, in one embodiment, the compound of formula (I) has the stereochemistry shown in the following compound of formula (I) a:
[0000]
[0021] wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are as defined for compounds of formula (I). The stereochemistry demonstrated by compounds of formula (I) a provides the advantage of preparing the optimum diastereoisomer of atorvastatin which therefore results in the preparation of optically pure atorvastatin.
[0022] In one embodiment, R 1 and R 2 independently represent hydrogen or C 1-6 alkyl. In a further embodiment, R 1 and R 2 both represent C 1-6 alkyl (e.g. methyl). In a yet further embodiment, R 1 and R 2 both represent methyl.
[0023] In one embodiment, R 3 and R 4 do not both represent hydrogen.
[0024] In one embodiment, R 3 represents C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more (e.g. 1 to 3) R 7 groups, C 2-6 alkenyl optionally substituted by one or more (e.g. 1 to 3) R 7 groups, —X-heterocyclyl or —C(R 5 )═O.
[0025] In one embodiment, R 3 represents C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more R 7 groups (e.g. —CH 2 —CH 2 —NH 2 , —CH 2 —CH 2 —NHCOOCH 3 , —CH 2 —CH 2 —CONH 2 , —CH 2 —CH 2 —NO 2 , —CH 2 —CH 2 —COO—CH 2 —CH 3 , —CH(OH)—CH 2 —NO, or —CH(OH)—CH 2 OH).
[0026] In one embodiment, R 3 represents C 2-6 alkenyl optionally substituted by one or more R 7 groups (e.g. —CH═CH—COO—CH 2 —CH 3 or —CH═CH—NO 2 ).
[0027] In one embodiment, R 3 represents —X-heterocyclyl optionally substituted by one or more C 1-6 alkyl groups, e.g. a group of formula (i):
[0000]
[0028] In one embodiment, R 3 represents —C(R 5 )═O (e.g. —C(H)═O.
[0029] In one embodiment, R 4 represents hydrogen, —OR 5 , —X-heterocyclyl or —C(═Y)—O—R 5 .
[0030] In one embodiment, R 4 represents hydrogen.
[0031] In one embodiment, R 4 represents —OR 5 (e.g. —OH).
[0032] In one embodiment, R 4 represents —X-heterocyclyl (e.g. —O—SO 2 -imidazole). In a further embodiment, R 4 represents a group of formula (ii):
[0000]
[0033] In one embodiment, R 4 represents —C(═Y)—O—R 5 (e.g. —C(═S)—O—CH 3 ).
[0034] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for preparing a compound of formula (II):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 and R 2 are as defined for compounds of formula (I) and n represents an integer from 1 to 4;
which comprises:
(a) deprotecting a compound of formula (III):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 , R 2 and n are as defined for compounds of formula (II) and P 1 represents a suitable protecting group, such as carbobenzyloxy (cbz), t-butyloxycarbonyl (BOC), 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (fmoc), benzyl, p-methoxyphenyl or an acetate (e.g. —COOCH 3 ) group; or
(b) hydrogenation of a compound of formula (IV):
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 , R 2 and n are as defined for compounds of formula (II).
[0035] Step (a) typically comprises a hydrolysis reaction in the presence of a suitable base, such as sodium hydroxide.
[0036] Step (b) typically comprises a hydrogenation reaction, e.g. reaction of compound of formula (IV) with hydrogen in the presence of a suitable catalyst, such as Raney nickel.
[0037] In one embodiment, n represents an integer from 1-3. In a further embodiment, n represents 2.
[0038] Compounds of formula (III) wherein n represents 2 and P 1 represents-—COOCH 3 may be prepared in accordance with the following Scheme 1:
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 and R 2 are as defined above for compounds of formula (II).
[0039] Step (i) typically comprises a Wittig reaction by condensing a compound of formula (V) with a Wittig reagent in the presence of a suitable base in a suitable solvent to afford a compound of formula (VI). In one embodiment, the Wittig reagent is triethylphosphonoacetate and the solvent is 1,2-dimethoxyethane.
[0040] Step (ii) typically comprises reacting the compound of formula (VI) with hydrogen in the presence of a suitable catalyst to afford a compound of formula (VII). In one embodiment, the catalyst is Raney nickel and the solvent is ethanol.
[0041] Step (iii) typically comprises reacting the compound of formula (VII) with a suitable amine, such as ammonia, to give a compound of formula (VIII).
[0042] Step (iv) typically comprises a Hofmann Rearrangement reaction by reacting the compound of formula (VIII) with a suitable halogen atom, such as chlorine or bromine (e.g. bromine) and a suitable base (e.g. sodium methoxide) in the presence of a suitable solvent (e.g. methanol), followed by hydrolysis, to afford a compound of formula (III) a . In one embodiment, the Hofmann Rearrangement reaction may additionally comprise an acetate salt, typically mercuric acetate, to afford a compound of formula (III) a .
[0043] Compounds of formula (IV) wherein n represents 2 may be prepared in accordance with the following Scheme 2:
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 and R 2 are as defined above for compounds of formula (II).
[0044] Step (i) typically comprises a Henry (Nitroaldol) reaction by reacting a compound of formula (V) with a suitable nitroalkane (e.g. nitromethane) in the presence of a suitable base (e.g. sodium methoxide) in a suitable solvent (e.g. anhydrous methanol) to afford a compound of formula (IX). In one embodiment, the nitroalkane is nitromethane, the base is sodium methoxide and the solvent is anhydrous methanol.
[0045] Step (ii) typically comprises reacting the compound of formula (IX) under eliminating conditions to afford a compound of formula (X). In one embodiment, the eliminating conditions comprise reacting the compound of formula (IX) with a dehydrating agent to yield a compound of formula (X). Typical dehydrating agents include acid anhydrides and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. In another embodiment, the nitroalcohol of formula (IX) is reacted with an anhydride, typically acetic anhydride, to form a nitroester. This nitroester may then be reacted with a mild base, for example acetate salts, e.g. sodium acetate, to form the compound of formula (X).
[0046] Step (iii) typically comprises reacting the compound of formula (X) with a reducing agent in a suitable solvent to afford a compound of formula (IV) a . In one embodiment, the reducing agent is sodium borohydride and the solvent is methanol.
[0047] Compounds of formula (V) may be prepared in accordance with the following Scheme 3:
[0000]
[0000] wherein R 1 and R 2 are as defined above for compounds of formula (II).
[0048] Step (i) typically comprises reaction of a compound of formula (XI) with imidazole in the presence of sulfuryl chloride and a suitable solvent (e.g. dichloromethane) to yield a compound of formula (XII).
[0049] Step (ii) typically comprises reaction of a compound of formula (XII) with potassium thioacetate in the presence of a suitable solvent (e.g. dimethylformamide) to yield a compound of formula (XIII).
[0050] Step (iii) typically comprises a hydrogenation reaction in the presence of a suitable catalyst (e.g. Raney nickel) in the presence of a suitable solvent (e.g. methanol) to yield a compound of formula (XIV).
[0051] Step (iv) typically comprises reacting a compound of formula (XIV) in the presence of a suitable acid (e.g. aqueous hydrochloric acid) to yield a compound of formula (XV).
[0052] Step (v) typically comprises an oxidisation reaction by reacting a compound of formula (XV) with an oxidising agent (e.g. sodium periodate) in a suitable solvent (e.g. ethanol) to yield a compound of formula (V).
[0053] Compounds of formula (XI) are either known or may be prepared in accordance with known procedures (e.g. from D-glucose).
[0054] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a compound selected from:
1,2:5,6-Di-O-isopropylidene-3-O-(imidazole-1-sulfonyl)-α-D-glucofuranose (E1)
[0000]
3-S-Acetyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-3-thio-α-D-allofuranose (E2)
[0000]
1,2-O-Isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose (E5)
[0000]
Ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-hept-5-enoato-1,4-furanose (E6)
[0000]
Ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptanoato-1,4-furanose (E7)
[0000]
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptamido-1,4-furanose (E8)
[0000]
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-methoxycarbonylamido-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E9)
[0000]
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hex-5-enofuranose (E10)
[0000]
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E11)
[0000]
[0000] and
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-amino-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E12)
[0000]
[0065] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for preparing atorvastatin which comprises the following steps:
[0000] (a) reaction of a compound of formula (II) a
[0000]
[0000] with a compound of formula (XVI):
[0000]
[0000] to yield a compound of formula (XVII)
[0000]
[0000] (b) reaction of a compound of formula (XVII) as defined above to yield a compound of formula (XVIII)
[0000]
[0000] (c) reaction of a compound of formula (XVIII) as defined above to yield atorvastatin.
[0066] Step (a) typically comprises reaction in a suitable solvent (e.g. tetrahydrofuran and n-heptane) and suitable agents (e.g. pivalic acid and toluene) at a suitable temperature (e.g. room temperature).
[0067] Step (b) typically comprises treatment of a compound of formula (XVII) with aqueous trifluoroacetic acid.
[0068] Step (c) typically comprises a Wittig reaction involving one-carbon homologation. Such a reaction will be readily apparent to the skilled person and is described in Journal of American Chemical Society, (1977), 99, 182; Journal of Organic Chemistry, (1983), 48, 3566; and Tetrahedron Letters, (1979), 26, 2433.
[0069] Compounds of formula (II) a may be prepared in accordance with procedures described herein.
[0070] Compounds of formula (XVI) are known, for example, from compounds of formula (XVII) in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,080.
[0071] The invention will now be illustrated by the following non-limiting examples:
EXAMPLES
Example 1
1,2:5,6-Di-O-isopropylidene-3-O-(imidazole-1-sulfonyl)-α-D-glucofuranose (E1)
[0072]
[0073] To a stirred solution of 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-glucofuranose (250 g, 96 mmol) in anhydrous dichloromethane (3590 ml) was added imidazole (440 g, 646 mmole) at 0 to −5° C. over a period of 0.5 h. The reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at this temperature and added dropwise to it a solution of sulfuryl chloride (149 ml) in dichloromethane (20 ml). After 5 h at 0 to −5° C., the reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and was left stirring at this temperature until the reaction is completed as indicated by thin layer chromatography (tlc). After completion of the reaction, the precipitated salt was filtered and the filtrate was washed with water (3×1000 ml). The organic layer was then washed successively with 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid (10×1000 ml), water (1×1000 ml), saturated sodium bicarbonate solution (2×1000 ml), water (1×1000 ml) and finally with brine (2×1000 ml). The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title product (E1) as a solid 320 g, yield 95%.
Example 2
3-S-Acetyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-3-thio-α-D-allofuranose (E2)
[0074]
[0075] 7.3 g (63.93 mmol) of potassium thioacetate was added to a stirred solution of 10.0 g (25.64 mmol) of 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-3-O-(imidazole-1-sulfonyl)-α-D-glucofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E1) in 25 ml of dimethylformamide. The reaction mixture was heated at 75-85° C. for 5 h.
[0076] After completion of the reaction as indicated by TLC, the reaction mixture was diluted with 50 ml of ethyl acetate and 25 ml of water. 25 g of charcoal was added and the reaction was maintained at 55-60° C. for 0.5 h and filtered. The filtrate was washed with water (10×25 ml) and with brine (2×25 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated under reduced pressure to give primarily the title compound (E2; 7.5 g) which was subjected to the next step without further purification.
Example 3
3-Deoxy-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribo-hexofuranose (E3)
[0077]
[0078] The crude reaction mixture obtained by the procedure described in Example 2 containing predominantly 7.5 g of 3-S-acetyl-1,2:5,6-di-β-isopropylidene-3-thio-α-D-allofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E2) was dissolved in methanol and added to a slurry of freshly prepared Raney Nickel (prepared from nickel-aluminium alloy, 60 g) in 100 ml of methanol. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 h and filtered. The filtrate was reduced under reduced pressure to give the title product (E3) (5 g, 88%), which was subjected to the following step without further purification.
Example 4
3-Deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribo-hexofuranose (E4)
[0079]
[0080] A slurry of 5.0 g (20.49 mmol) of 3-deoxy-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribo-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E3) in 200 ml of aqueous hydrochloric acid (0.01N) was stirred at room temperature for 12 h. After the completion of reaction as indicated by TLC, the reaction mixture was neutralized by adding sodium bicarbonate and extracted with 100 ml of n-hexane to remove non-polar organic impurities.
[0081] The aqueous reaction mixture was then extracted with ethyl acetate (5×100 ml). The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated under reduced pressure at 50° C. to give 4 g of the title compound (E4).
Example 5
1,2-O-Isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose (E5)
[0082]
[0083] A solution of 8.4 g (39.2 mmol) of sodium periodate in 64 ml of water was added drop wise to a cooled solution of 8.0 g (39.2 mmol) of 3-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribo-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E4) in 64 ml of ethanol at 0-10° C. The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred for 1 h when the reaction was complete as indicated by TLC. The precipitated mass was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure at 75° C. to a thick syrup. 100 ml of ethyl acetate was added to it and stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes until it went completely into solution.
[0084] The ethyl acetate solution was washed with brine (2×25 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E5) (6.5 g, 96%) which was subjected to the following step without further purification.
Example 6
Ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-hept-5-enoato-1,4-furanose (E6)
[0085]
[0086] 11 g (49 mmol) of triethylphosphonoacetate dissolved in 16.5 ml of 1,2-dimethoxyethane was added under nitrogen to a slurry of 1.8 g (75 mmol) sodium hydride in 16.5 ml of 1,2-dimethoxyethane at 0-5° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at 0-5° C. 6.5 g (37.79 mmol) of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose (may be prepared as described in E5) was dissolved in 33 ml of 1,2-dimethoxyethane and was added drop wise to the reaction mixture under nitrogen at 0-5° C. The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred at this temperature for 1 h when the TLC of the reaction mixture indicated the completion of the reaction.
[0087] The reaction was quenched by adding 50 ml of water. After 15 minutes, 150 ml of ethyl acetate was added. The organic layer was washed with water (1×50 ml), brine (1×50 ml), dried over sodium sulphate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure at 75° C. to give the title compound (E6) as a thick syrup; yield (9 g, 94%).
Example 7
Ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptanoato-1,4-furanose (E7)
[0088]
[0089] A slurry of freshly prepared Raney nickel (18 g of nickel-aluminium alloy gave approximately 9.0 g of Raney nickel) in 45 ml of ethanol was added to 9 g (37.19 mmole) of ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-hept-5-enoato-1,4-furanose (which may be prepared as described in E6) dissolved in 45 ml of ethanol. The reaction mixture was stirred in an atmosphere of hydrogen at room temperature until the hydrogenation is completed as indicated by TLC.
[0090] The reaction mixture was filtered and the Raney nickel residue was washed with 18 ml of ethanol. The combined filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E7; 9.0 g, 99%).
Example 8
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptamido-1,4-furanose (E8)
[0091]
[0092] A 90 ml aqueous solution of ammonia was added to 9 g (36.89 mmole) of ethyl 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptanoato-1,4-furanose (which may be prepared as described in E7) and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 h when the reaction was completed as indicated by TLC.
[0093] The reaction mixture was then extracted with ethyl acetate (4×100 ml). The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E8; 6.8 g, 85.8%).
Example 9
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-methoxycarbonylamido-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E9)
[0094]
[0095] 4.64 g (60.5 mmole) of bromine was added drop wise at −45° C. to a cold solution of freshly prepared sodium methoxide (prepared from 2.1 g of sodium) in 50 ml of methanol. The reaction mixture was maintained at −45° C. until the colour of bromine disappeared. A solution of 6.5 g (30.23 mmole) of 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-heptamido-1,4-furanose (which may be prepared as described in E8) in 32.5 ml of dioxane and 19.5 ml of methanol was added drop wise to the reaction mixture at −45° C. The reaction mixture was then allowed to warm to the room temperature and then heated slowly until the bath temperature attained 55-60° C. After 1 h at 55-60° C., the reaction mixture was neutralized with acetic acid and concentrated under reduced pressure below 50° C. to remove dioxane and methanol.
[0096] 150 ml of ethyl acetate was added to the mixture and extracted with water (1×50 ml). The organic layer was washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution (3×25 ml), water (3×50 ml), brine (1×50 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the Hoffman rearranged title compound (E9; 4.5 g, 61%).
Example 10
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hex-5-enofuranose (E10)
[0097]
[0098] 2.1 ml of nitromethane was added to a solution of 2.1 g (12.2 mmole) of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose (which may be prepared as described in E5) in anhydrous methanol at 0-5° C. 2.1 g (38.87 mmole) of sodium methoxide was then added and the reaction mixture was stirred for 0.5 h at 0-50 C. The reaction mixture was allowed to attain room temperature. After 2 h at room temperature, the reaction mixture was neutralized with glacial acetic acid and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove methanol.
[0099] Ethyl acetate (60 ml) was added and extracted with water (1×30 ml) and brine (1×30 ml). The organic layer was then washed with a solution of saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate (3×30 ml), finally with brine (1×30 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and then filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give a crude 2.4 g diasteriomeric mixture of the following compound:
[0000]
[0000] which was subjected to the following step without further purification.
[0100] 3.4 g of sodium acetate was added at room temperature to 1.7 g (7.3 mmole) of the crude diasteriomeric mixture prepared as described above and 10 ml of acetic anhydride. The reaction mixture was heated slowly until the bath temperature attainted 60° C. After 2.5-3 h at 60° C., the temperature of the reaction mixture was again raised to 75-80° C. After 0.5 h at this temperature, the reaction mixture poured into an ice-cold solution of 20 g of sodium hydrogen carbonate in 200 ml of water, stirred for 1 h and extracted with ethyl acetate (3×15 ml). The extract was washed with a solution of saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate (3×15 ml), water (3×15 ml), brine (1×15 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give 1.4 g of the title compound (E10) as an oil.
Example 11
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E11)
[0101]
[0102] 0.75 g (19.82 mmole) of sodium borohydride was added at 0-5° C. to a stirred solution of 1.4 g (6.51 mmole) of 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hex-5-enofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E10), in 20 ml of methanol. After 10 minutes at 0-5° C., 1 ml of water was added to the reaction mixture to quench the reaction and was acidified with 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid. The mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure to remove methanol followed by extraction with ethyl acetate (3×10 ml).
[0103] The extract was washed with 5% aqueous hydrochloric acid (3×5 ml), water (1×5 ml), saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate solution (1×5 ml), water (1×5 ml) and brine (1×5 ml), dried over sodium sulfate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give 0.6 g of the title compound (E11).
Example 12
3,5,6-Trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-amino-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E12)
[0104]
Procedure A
[0105] A slurry of 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-nitro-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E11), in ammonia was hydrogenated over Raney nickel catalyst under pressure to give the title compound (E12).
Procedure B
[0106] 35 ml of sodium hydroxide (1 N) was added to 3.5 g (14.29 mmole) of 3, 5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-methoxycarbonylamido-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E9) at room temperature and then heated slowly until the bath temperature attained 80-85° C. After 10 h at 80-85° C., the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and then extracted with ethyl acetate (2×100 ml, 3×50 ml). The combined ethyl acetate was dried over sodium sulfate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E12; 2.0 g, 74%).
Example 13
3,5-Dideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-[5-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylethyl)-N,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxamide]-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E13)
[0107]
[0108] To a solution of 3,5,6-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-amino-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E12) (0.6 g, 3.21 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (5 ml) was added at room temperature (±)-4-fluoro-α-[2-methyl-1-oxopropyl]-γ-oxo-N, β-diphenylbenzenebutaneamide (compound XVII in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,080) (1.0 g), pivalic acid (0.32 g, 3.13 mmol), toluene (5 ml) and n-heptane (20 ml).
[0109] The reaction mixture was then heated slowly to reflux with azeotropic removal of water. After completion of the reaction as indicated by tic (thin layer chromatography) (usually takes 24 h-30 h of reflux), the reaction mixture was allowed to cool down to room temperature; ethylacetate (50 ml) and water (25 ml) were added to effect separation of both layers.
[0110] The organic layer was extracted with sodium hydrogencarbonate solution (3×50 ml), water (3×50 ml) and finally with brine (1×50 ml); dried over sodium sulphate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E13) (1.5 g).
Example 14
3,5-Dideoxy-6-[5-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylethyl)-N,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxamide]-(α and β)-D-erythro-hexofuranose (E14)
[0111]
[0112] An aqueous solution of trifluoroacetic acid (2 ml), (TFA:Water, 1.5 ml:0.5 ml) was added at 0-10° C. to 3,5-dideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-6-[5-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylethyl)-N, 4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxamide]-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E13). On completion of the reaction as indicated by tic (thin layer chromatography) (4 h at 0-10° C.), the reaction mixture was diluted with cold water and then neutralized with solid sodium hydrogen carbonate. The precipitated solid was filtered, slurried with n-hexane and then filtered. The residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate and was extracted with water (2×25 ml) and finally with brine (1×25 ml); dried over sodium sulphate and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (E14)(0.4 g).
Example 15
[0113] [R—(R*,R*)]-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-β,δ-dihydroxy-5-(1-methylethyl)-3-phenyl-4-(phenylcarbamoyl)-1H-pyrrole-1-heptanoic acid (E15)
[0000]
[0114] The title compound (atorvastatin; E15) may be prepared by subjecting 3,5-dideoxy-6-[5-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylethyl)-N,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxamide]-(α and β)-D-erythro-hexofuranose (which may be prepared as described in E14) to a Wittig reaction involving one-carbon homologation. Such a reaction will be readily apparent to the skilled person and is described in Journal of American Chemical Society, (1977), 99, 182; Journal of Organic Chemistry, (1983), 48, 3566; and Tetrahedron Letters, (1979), 26, 2433. | The invention relates to a process for preparing furanose derivatives, to furanose intermediates used in said process and to the use of said derivatives in the manufacture of atorvastatin. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to cooking ranges, and more particularly relates to cooking ranges for use on recreational vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Modern recreational vehicles include many of the modern amenities of free-standing homes. It is not uncommon for the recreational vehicle to include, in addition to sleeping and living quarters, a full-service kitchen as well. One of the appliances which is typically provided in such a recreational vehicle kitchen, is a range which combines the functions of a convection oven with a stove-top having individual burners.
As with many manufacturing processes, recreational vehicles are manufactured in assembly line fashion where it is necessary to minimize the labor required, and thus time and cost required, for manufacturing each vehicle. Every facet of the assembly process is under scrutiny with improvements constantly being implemented, discovered and sought.
One bottle-neck of the assembly process which is currently troublesome to the industry and results in excessive labor costs and time, is the installation of the aforementioned ranges. Ranges are commonly provided with a front face which includes the oven door and control panel which is wider than the oven chamber and which is provided with dimensions so as to fit into an opening provided in the kitchen cabinetry and countertop. Rather than have the range fully fit within the rectangular opening of the countertop and thereby provide a gap between the sides of the range and the sides of the kitchen cabinet, it is desirable to provide side flanges on the range which overlap the kitchen cabinetry and countertop to thereby provide for a more aesthetically pleasing appearance wherein the range blends into the countertop and kitchen cabinet.
However, given the current configuration of ranges, wherein the range front face includes a door and control panel, the countertop must be provided with rectangular cut-outs or notches to receive the control panel therein in order for the range to be fully recessed into the kitchen cabinet. This necessarily increases the labor, time and cost required for manufacture of the recreational vehicle and, thus, the overall cost to the manufacturer and, ultimately, the consumer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary aim of the present invention to provide a range for a recreational vehicle which can be quickly recessed into a simple rectangular cut-out provided in the kitchen cabinet and countertop of a recreational vehicle.
It is an objective of the present invention to accomplish the foregoing aim while minimizing the changes required for a conventional range and thus minimizing the cost of the alteration.
It is a feature of the present invention to accomplish the foregoing by providing a range having a top, bottom, front, back, and two opposed sides forming an oven wherein the top overlaps the opposing sides to thereby form flanges which are adapted to abut the top surface of a countertop when the range is slid into a rectangular opening in a kitchen cabinet, wherein the front includes overlapping sides to thereby form side flanges which abut a front face of the cabinet when the range is slid into the rectangular opening, and wherein a control panel is provided as part of the range front and which includes notched sides to receive the sides of the countertop, while still allowing the range to be fully recessed into the rectangular opening and allowing the top and side flanges to abut the countertop and kitchen cabinet, respectively, to create an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
It is another feature of the present invention to form the control panel from a single piece of stamped metal to thereby minimize the labor cost and time required for assembly of the range.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention showing the countertop adapted to receive the range in phantom lines;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the notched control panel of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a prior art range showing the notched countertop required to receive such a prior art range;
FIG. 4 is back view of the control panel of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one corner of the range showing the notched control panel; and
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the stamping used to form the control panel of the present invention.
While the present invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the present invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As stated in the background section of the application, the countertop of a recreational vehicle kitchen cabinet has heretofore had to be configured in such a way so as to fully receive the range in the opening provided in the countertop, while still providing room for the side and top flanges of the range to abut the kitchen cabinet and countertop to provide an aesthetically appealing appearance. Alternatively, the range can be provided without flanges and thereby be fully recessed into a simple rectangular cut-out provided in the countertop. However, such a system leaves gaps separating the range from the countertop which detract from the appearance of the range and, moreover, create crevices inviting food particles and other debris to fall therein and create an unclean, as well as unattractive, unit. These gaps could be filled with a molding of some sort, but, as stated above, it is desirable to minimize the labor and cost required for fabrication of these recreational vehicle kitchens, and such an additional step not only adds time but adds to the overall cost of the system as well.
To provide a more complete understanding of the problem which the present invention overcomes, FIG. 4 is provided to show the amount of modification needed to be made to a recreational vehicle countertop in order to receive a conventional, prior art range 21. As shown therein, a rectangular opening 20 is provided to receive the range 21. Opening 20 is typically not provided by cutting out the opening, but rather provided by positioning adjacent cabinets next to one another with opening 20 being provided therebetween. The result is a pair of kitchen cabinets 22 and 24 each having a countertop 26 and 28 respectively, provided thereon. Since the countertops 26 and 28 are conventionally provided in planar sheets, notches 30 and 32 must be manually cut, or otherwise fabricated, into the countertops to receive control panel 23 of the range 21. While such an additional step is simple to perform, it is nonetheless an additional step which necessarily slows the assembly process, adds additional work-hours to the assembly, and thus adds cost to the overall system.
It would therefore be much more advantageous if the rectangular opening 20 could simply be left intact and the step of creating notches 30 and 32 could be eliminated. The present invention accomplishes this and thereby streamlines the assembly process and reduces the overall labor and cost of the resulting recreational vehicle by providing the range with an inventive control panel 34. As shown in FIG. 1, control panel 34 is adapted to be placed on front 36 of range 38. Front panel 40, as perhaps best shown in FIG. 2, is additionally provided with a plurality of apertures 42 which allow control hardware to pass therethrough and, as shown on FIG. 1, receive control knobs for control of the oven and stovetop valves.
In addition to front panel 40, control panel 34 is provided with a top flange 44 which is provided for attachment of control panel 34 to cook top 46. As best shown in FIG. 2, top flange 44 is provided with a plurality of apertures 48 to receive fasteners for connection of flange 44 to cook top 46. Similarly, control panel 34 is provided with a bottom flange 50 (see FIG. 3) for additional attachment of control panel 34 to cook top 46. Bottom flange 50 includes a pair of recessed apertures 52 and cutouts 54 for attachment purposes, and a plurality of ventilation holes 55 for dissipation of the heat generated by range 38 and directed toward control panel 34.
Although the aforementioned features of control panel 34 are included in the present invention, the most inventive features of the present invention are embodied in the configuration of side panels 58 and 60. As shown in FIG. 3, side panels 58 and 60 are of an identical design having a planar portion 62 and a curvilinear portion 64. Planer portion 62 tapers in width from a maximum width point 63 where it abuts bottom flange 50 to a minimum width at nexus 65 with top flange 44.
Curvilinear portion 64 is of a constant width but is configured so as to immediately angle inward from the nexus 65 to form angled section 66 (see FIG. 5). At an inner position referenced by numeral 68, curvilinear portion 64 straightens and is directed toward top flange 44 to form straight section 67 which is parallel to planar portion 62.
It can therefore be seen that a notch or recess 72 is formed in side panels 58 and 60. It is these notches 72 which receive the corners of countertops 78 and 80 shown in FIG. 1. The respective FIGS. 1 and 3 show the dramatic difference which the present invention brings to the art. As opposed to the prior art countertop shown in FIG. 3, countertops 78 and 80 of the present invention need not be additionally configured once they are installed on cabinets 82 and 84. Rather range 38 can simply be slid into a simple rectangular opening. The additional labor required for cutting notches 30 and 32 of the prior art countertop is simply not necessary.
Rather, by configuring the control panel 34 of the present invention as described above, the assembled range can simply be slid into a rectangular opening with the corners of countertops 78 and 80 being received into notches 72. The front panel 40 will overlap countertop 78 and 80 and range 38 will be fully recessed into the rectangular opening with top flanges 88 and 90 resting on top of countertop 78 and 80 to provide the appearance that the range 38 "blends into" the kitchen cabinetry. Moreover, door 92 will also be manufactured of a width sufficient to overlap cabinets 82 and 84 and thereby provide for an aesthetically appealing appearance. The present invention therefore provides a range which eliminates unnecessary labor and costs by designing the range to be able to be recessed into a simple rectangular cutout provided in any kitchen cabinet.
The inventive features of the present invention not only include control panel 34, but also the method by which control panel 34 is fabricated. As best shown in FIG. 6, control panel 34 is initially formed from a single stamping of sheet metal. The stamping is initially a planar member wherein top flange 44 and bottom flange 50 are integral with front panel 40, and are then drawn substantially perpendicular to front panel 40 during a first step of the fabrication process. Side panels 58 and 60, which are integral with bottom flange 50, are then drawn perpendicular to bottom flange 50 such that ends 94 of planer portion 62 abut top flange 44. The nexus between sides 96 of planer portion 62 and 97 of top flange 44 are then welded together. Curvilinear portion 64 is then drawn into the desired angular shape and, given the rigidity of the sheet metal, the sheet metal retains this shape. As can be seen from FIG. 6, planar portion 62 is originally integral with curvilinear portion 64 but is separated therefrom by incision 98.
It can therefore be seen that the present invention not only provides a range which can be quickly and efficiently installed into a simple rectangular cutout provided in a countertop of a recreational vehicle, but also streamlines and optimizes the fabrication process for the inventive control panel 34 of the present invention. By providing a design which allows control panel 34 to be fabricated from a single planar piece of sheet metal, it can be manufactured from a relatively quick process of stamping, drawing, and welding. The notches 72 of side panels 58 and 60 therefore need not be formed from a complicated process, but can be quickly and efficiently performed and control panel 34 can be directly installed onto range 38 for ultimate installation into a recreational vehicle.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention brings to the art a range for installation into a recreational vehicle kitchen which minimizes the labor required for installation, the time required for installation, and, ultimately, the cost of the overall product. Moreover, the present invention provides a range for use in a recreational vehicle which can slide into a simple rectangular opening in a countertop and blend in without additional molding or other required hardware. | A range for a recreational vehicle which is adapted to be fit into a simple rectangular opening provided in a kitchen cabinet of the recreational vehicle. The present invention provides a range having a control panel on its front face with notched sides. The notched sides are provided to receive the corners of the countertop to thereby allow the rectangular opening created in the kitchen cabinet to have a simple rectangular shape and to thereby eliminate the labor-intensive process of creating notches in the corners of the countertop. Moreover, by providing the control panel as a piece formed from a unitary sheet of metal, the assembly process for the range is additionally streamlined. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fitment for the application of fittings and nozzles to storage vessels; and, more particularly, to a fitment for vessels constructed of filaments in a resin matrix.
(2) Prior Art
It is known to make tanks, pipes, stacks, towers and other fluid or gas handling vessels using glass, carbon, natural or synthetic fibers wound or applied over a convex surface of a winding or forming mandrel and fixed in a resin or binding matrix. The resulting tank has high strength and superior corrosion resistance. The fibers are applied either in a continuous form in a helical or purely cylindrical winding pattern or applied in a discontinuous form in a two-dimensional random pattern. The filaments are imbedded in a hardened resin matrix. The finished tank or vessel wall with the filaments oriented to carry the stresses in the geometric patterns in which they occur provides a very strong construction at a relatively low weight when compared with metal structures. Thus, the vessel can either be made by filament winding, the term used for placing reinforcing fibers in a continuous form in either a helical or circumferential pattern or some combination of both, or by contact molding, a term referring to the placement of discontinuous fibers of the various lengths in a random pattern over the surface of a mandrel.
The load bearing capability of the vessel wall is determined by the geometry of the placement of the filaments and the methods of transferring stress along each fiber and methods of transferring stress from fiber to fiber. Nevertheless, however complex the load pattern, the interruption of the fiber pattern around any opening or nozzle for an inlet or an outlet to the vessel requires additional reinforcement around the opening. Further, in addition to the weakening of the vessel wall caused by the opening, an additional strain is placed on the wall due to additional external forces such as overhung loads and torques caused by attaching filling hoses and the like. The forces can vary due to factors such as depth of liquid, internal or external pressure, wind load, vibration loads induced by agitation and by localized loading due to the attachment of accessory items such as ladders, piping or by variable submergence. Some vessels are used as transport containers and the fiber stress becomes dependent not only on the above named factors, but also upon cargo surging and road vibration. These additional forces are often relatively large in magnitude and are transferred to the tank wall.
Fitments are used to improve the load bearing capability of the vessel wall at an opening and to facilitate attachment of connecting hoses and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102 discloses the known prior art filaments for filament reinforced plastic tanks. One type of such fitment includes a construction in which a flange is mounted on one end of a suitable length of pipe which has the other end extending down through the vessel wall to provide connecting access to the inside of the vessel. Reinforcing gussets or radially extending braces are aligned with the axis of the pipe and are spaced 90° from one another around the periphery of the portion of the pipe which is exposed on the outside of the vessel between the vessel wall and the flanged fitting. A weld type connection is made between the pipe and the gussets along the length of the pipe. The gussets are also similarly joined by a weld type connection to the bottom side of the flange fitting and the top of the vessel wall. There is a great deal of time consuming expensive custom hand work put into connecting the flange to the pipe, the gussets to the pipe, the gussets to the bottom of the flange, and the gussets to the tank wall. Making the fitment from a plurality of parts is not only time consuming and expensive, but makes it necessary to insure that each part is securely connected. Otherwise, the failure of one connection may cause the entire fitment to fail.
Another type of fitment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102 is a construction comprising a generally truncated conical wall on which is mounted a top wall for receiving the flange or pipe fitting. The top wall extends across the top of the truncated conical wall and at the bottom of the conical wall is located a flange that connects to the top surface of the tank wall. Openings are provided in the sides of the conical wall to permit attaching a pipe extending from the top wall into the interior of the tank. The fitment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102 presents several problems. First, even though the openings through the sides of the conical wall are necessary for connection of the fitment, they do not provide easy access for making the connection. Additionally, the area within the conical wall serves as a dirt trap and is very difficult to clean. Further, the outwardly flaring flange on the bottom or large end of the cone makes it very difficult if not impossible to fit on curved surfaces. To do so requires a custom preformed special shape to fit the contour of the vessel, or the radially extending flange must be cut off from the fitment in order to fit it to the surface contour of the tank wall, thus weakening the fitment. Understandably, custom molding is expensive and often inconvenient.
Another disadvantage of the conical shaped support is that the conical shaped reinforcing skirt does not permit the use of woven fabric, chopped strand mat, or other commercially available reinforcement in such a fashion as to be economical to fabricate. Additionally, it cannot be made with the fibers oriented in the best geometric pattern to fully utilize their strength potential.
In addition to the previously mentioned difficulty in getting materials and tools into the interior of the cone to attach the pipe to the tank wall, it is also almost impossible to apply a fillet in the seam formed on the inside of the conical skirt where it joins the tank wall. This is a particularly unsanitary point where dirt can accumulate and also is a point for stress concentration.
Access to the interior of the conical skirt is also necessary to tighten or loosen the bolts or the nuts used to attach the mating flange of the filling hose or the like to the top plate of the fitment. In other words, the bolt which extends through the top wall or plate of the conical fitment must be held from the inside which is difficult to do with the fitment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102.
In view of the closed nature of the fitment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102, inspection of the workmanship in applying the fitment is very difficult. In particular, the integrity of the seal of the pipe to the tank wall is hard to inspect both at the time of manufacture and after the product is in service. Should any leakage occur at that point it is almost certain to be trapped and held in contact with the outside of the tank wall by the bottom portion of the conical skirt. This may present a health or a safety hazard. Certainly, any rain or wash water coming into the area surrounded by the conical skirt would be trapped. These are some of the problems this invention overcomes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention provides a substantially integral structure with trapezoidal shaped legs extending down from two opposite sides of a top wall. The legs are shaped and positioned to support the top wall at a position spaced from the vessel wall. While at the same time providing easy access to the area beneath the top wall. A pipe extends from an opening in the top wall through the wall of the vessel to provide access to the interior of the vessel.
The fitment is more easily manufactured and easier to install than those previously known. Further, the construction of this fitment more easily adapts to the typical geometry of a vessel wall at the point of attachment than those in the prior art. There is improved access to the area beneath the top wall which provides better access to bolts used for attachment of external connections, improved ease of connection of the supporting surfaces to the vessel wall, and improved ease of cleaning. As a result, the invention provides an economical fitment for an opening cut into the wall of a fiber reinforced resin structure and a fitment that keeps the stresses in the fiber structure within allowable limits.
Not only is the geometry of the fitment suitable for attaching to a tank wall at a plurality of locations, but it improves use of commercially available materials and forming techniques. More specifically, the fitment can be adapted for use with flat, simple or compound surfaces without producing an individual form for each configuration. If desired, the same resin and fiber systems employed to construct the vessel or tank wall can be used to fabricate the fitment. Thus, the fitment in the tank can be readily compatible.
As a result of the preceding, less labor is used in the installation of the fitment and the manufacture of the fitment. The easier access also makes it easier to inspect for manufacturing defects and, after it is in use, easier to inspect for possible externally imposed damage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken generally along the planes of line II--II of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the fitment;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the top wall of a fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention showing raised annular rings for concentrating gasket pressure;
FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view of the unassembled components of a fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention mounted at a plurality of positions on a tank wall;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a fitment in accordance with an embodiment of this invention including a reinforcing flange under the top wall and dotted lines indicating the connection of a flange;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion of a fabric with fibers at 90° angle crossing shown in FIG. 4; and
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of a fabric with fibers at 45° angle crossing shown in FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a fitment 20 provides a reinforced surface for sustaining a loading force and for providing a reinforced opening into the interior of a vessel or tank having a tank wall 1. For example, the flange of a hose or pipe used to fill the tank can be attached to a fitment 20.
Fitment 20 includes a planar rectangular top wall 21 having integrally molded trapezoidally shaped legs 32 extending outwardly and downwardly from opposed edges thereof. Opposing interior surfaces of legs 32 diverge as they recede from top wall 21 adding stability to the fitment. Top wall 21 has a centrally positioned circular pipe opening 33 extending therethrough within which is bonded the end of a downwardly depending pipe nozzle 3. Top wall 21 has four attachment holes 17 (more if necessary) extending therethrough at the four corners at spaced locations around pipe opening 33 so a hose or pipe flange can be attached to top wall 21.
The top wall or platform 21 can take several forms as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 7. It can have exterior or interior reinforcement such as disclosed in FIG. 2 wherein an interior reinforcement ring 34 constructed of a molded plastic or metal is shown in cross section. Ring 34 is generally annular and is positioned between the top and bottom surfaces of top wall 21 and extends around pipe opening 33. A raised circular portion 18a surrounding pipe opening 33 and including attachment holes 17 is also provided in the embodiment of FIG. 2;
The top of fitment 20 can also include as disclosed by FIG. 7, an exterior reinforcement flange 35 constructed of plastic or metal which surrounds the upper portion of pipe nozzle 3 and abuts the bottom surface of top wall 21. Flange 35 is attached to top wall 21 by connecting bolts 26 extending through attachment holes 17 and being secured by connecting nuts 27. Fillets 19 provide a seal between flange 35 and pipe nozzle 3. Also, as disclosed in FIG. 7, the connection of a hose or pipe flange 28 is shown in dotted outline so that fluid carried by a hose 29 is in communication with pipe opening 33 and the interior of pipe nozzle 3 and can go through tank wall 1 into the tank or vessel.
Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the fitment includes raised annular rings 18 formed of the same material as the remainder of the top wall and extending upwardly of the top surface of wall 21 for concentrating gasket pressure. These two annular rings are arranged with one located radially inward of attachment holes 17 and one located just radially outward of attachment holes 17. The number of rings can be varied to put the proper sealing pressure on the gasket.
A sealing gasket 11 (FIG. 7) can also be used in any of the foregoing embodiments. Gasket 11 is a generally annular member of a material such as rubber and is positioned between the upper surface of top wall 21 and the lower surface of hose or pipe flange 28. With the use of gasket 11, tightening connecting bolts 26 and nuts 27 compresses sealing gasket 11 against annular rings 18 to form a good seal between flange 28 and top wall 21.
The connection of fitment 20 to tank wall 1 includes passing the bottom portion of pipe nozzle 3 through a tank wall opening 30 (FIG. 2) and resting the bottom edges of legs 32 against the outer surface of tank wall 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an overlay weld 9 extends over the outer lower surface of leg 32 and over the adjacent top surface of tank wall 1. Weld 9 is typically formed of a resin which is compatible with both the material of fitment 20 and tank wall 1. Pipe nozzle 3 is also welded and sealed to tank wall 1 by a weld 7 around the upper surface of tank wall 1 and the adjacent lower, outer surface of pipe nozzle 3. A weld 8 reinforces and seals pipe nozzle 3 inside tank wall 1. Analogously, a fillet 15 may also extend along the interior lower surface of legs 32 and the adjacent top of tank wall 1. Fillet 15 is advantageous for sanitary purposes to facilitate easy cleaning and to avoid a cleaning of a recessed crack and for structural attachment of fitment 20 to tank wall 1.
The welds 9, 15 and 19 are made by saturating a mat or fabric of fibrous material, generally glass, with catalyzed resin and applying it in layers over the joint, and then rolling it thoroughly to remove any entrapped air and to get it into solid bonding contact with the tank wall and the fitment.
Referring to FIG. 2, when stress conditions require, an annular reinforcement overlay 16 can be positioned on the surface of tank wall 1 so that it extends between the bottom portions of legs 32 and around pipe nozzle 3 for additonal reinforcement of the area of attachment of fitment 20 to tank wall 1. More specifically, annular reinforcement overlay 16 is a generally planar piece with an opening which is centered about tank wall opening 30 and extending radially outward sufficiently far to reach legs 32. Reinforcement overlay 16 is sandwiched between the lower ends of legs 32 and the upper portion of tank wall 1. It preferably is formed of a mat of random fibers within a resin matrix and attached to the top of tank wall 1 by resin.
FABRICATION
Fitment 20 is fabricated by positioning the filaments and resins which comprise fitment 20 in a female mold. The female mold has an interior shape corresponding to the exterior shape of fitment 20. At the bottom center of the mold is a nylon bushing which serves to position pipe nozzle 3 within the mold. After pipe nozzle 3 is positioned within the mold, various reinforcement fabrics along with resin are placed in the mold in a predetermined sequence as now will be explained.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the fitment is made up of eight or more layers 22, 22a, 23, 23a, 24, 24a, 25 and 25a. Each layer has a shape simulating half of a bow tie and thereby each includes a substantially square part or portion 60 and a trapezoidal shaped part 61 integral with and extending from one side of the part 60. The parts or portion 60 of the layers form the top wall 21. Each part 60 has a cross-cut 62 forming four flaps 61 a, b, c and d which fold back so that the layer can be slipped over pipe nozzle 3. As shown, the top wall is made up of twice the number of layers as each leg 32 and therefore the thickness of top wall 21 is approximately twice that of the thickness of each leg 32. A typical thickness for supporting legs 32 is one-half inch and a typical thicknes for top wall 21 is one inch.
The first layers to be positioned in the female mold are the surfacing veil 25 followed by surfacing veil layer 25a. Layers 25 and 25a are each constructed of strands of fiberglass filaments held together by a temporary adhesive and then later permanently secured to the other components of fitment 20 by a suitable resin. Surfacing veils 25 and 25a help improve the corrosion resistance of fitment 20 by reducing the "wicking" action of the filaments to draw corrosive fluids into fitment 20 and destroy the lamination of fitment 20. Therefore, depending upon the fluid which is to be used with fitment 20, it may not be necessary to have a surfacing veil 25. Alternatively, if only some protection is desired, a surfacing veil material may just extend over top wall 21.
After positioning surface veil layers 25 and 25a, a woven fabric layer 24 is placed in the mold. Woven fabric layers 24 and 24a also have cross-cuts (not shown) in the area of the parts 60 for fitting over pipe nozzle 3. Woven fabric layers 24 and 24a are comprised of one-quarter inch wide ribbon strips of fiberglass filaments which are woven together so that they intersect at about 90° angles and are temporarily held together by an adhesive in the woven condition (FIG. 8). The individual ribbons of fabric 24 are themselves made of hundreds of thin filaments of a material such as glass. Again, the introduction of resin into the mold permanently bonds woven fabric layers 24 and 24a to each other and to the other layers.
After woven fabric layers 24 and 24a are in place, woven fabric layers 23 and 23a are positioned in the mold. Woven fabric layers 23 and 23a are similar to woven fabric layers 24 and 24a except that the weave is oriented 45° from other layers (FIG. 9). Layers 23 and 23a are also bonded together and to the other layers by a suitable resin. A first woven fabric 23 is positioned to cover one layer of woven fabric 24 and then a second woven fabric 23 is positioned to cover the other layer of woven fabric 24.
After woven fabric 23 is in place in the mold, the fabric or mat reinforcement layers 22 and 22a are positioned in the mold. The composition of reinforcement layers 22 and 22a are typicaly woven fabric which has a surface coated with chopped random fibers thereby creating a stronger material than the other fabrics 23, 23a, 24 and 24a. Obviously, layers 22 and 22a are also bonded to each other and the other layers by a suitable resin.
Typically, the sequence of layering woven fabrics 24, 24a, 23 and 23a and reinforcement layers 21 and 21a is repeated until the desired thickness is achieved in both the supporting legs 32 and top wall 21. The overlapping flaps of the cutout for the central pipe are resin bonded to the pipe. Advantageously, the resin is catalyzed so it is hard in about one hour and the filaments can be removed from the mold.
The mold advantageously has little nipples protruding at the position of attachment holes 17. As a result, when fitment 20 is removed from the mold, attachment holes 17 can be drilled and the position of each attachment hole 17 is readily identifiable by an indentation in top wall 21 caused by the nipples in the female mold.
For embodiments including reinforcement member or ring 24, the annular reinforcement member 34 is positioned over pipe nozzle 3 between two of the layers when top wall 21 is about half its final thickness. A typical material for interior reinforcement ring 34 is a random filament bound in a matrix. Pipe nozzle 3 can be a wound filament secured by a resin. The resin used to install a complete fitment on a tank wall 1 is typically the same as the resin which was used to bond the various fabrics 23, 24 and reinforcements 34. As a result, there is a compatability of materials and a good bonding.
Examples of the material chosen for bonding the fiberglass filaments include Dow "Derakane" (a vinyl ester), ICI "ATLAC" (a bisphenol ester), general purpose polyester, or one of several epoxies. An example of a material for joining fitment 20 to a tank wall is catalyzed polyester resin mixed with a thixotrope. However, any bonding agent compatible with tank walls, the fitment and the product to be placed in the tank can be used.
FIG. 6 illustrates many different various ways and positions in which the fitment 20 can be mounted on storage vessels or tanks constructed of a resin material. It should be understood that any number of fittings can be attached to a tank or vessel. Concern should be exercised as to their location so that the reinforcement for one fitting does not interfere with the placement of the adjacent ones.
FIG. 6 discloses the fitments 20a, 20b and 20c, all of which are constructed as disclosed hereinabove. Fitment 20a is shown mounted on the cylindrical wall of the tank 40 having the cylindrical upright wall 41 and dome 42. In this application, the bottom edges 132a of the legs 32 form straight lines parallel to each other and to the axis of the cylinder. Thus, the legs 32 do not require any special cutting, forming or shaping to accommodate the wall 41 of the vessel or tank 40.
The fitment 20b is mounted on the dome 42 of the tank or vessel in a perpendicular fashion as differeng from the placement of fitment 20c by cutting away the ends of legs 32 to form the edges 132b which conform with the generally spherical shape of the dome.
As shown by fitment 20c, the fitment of this invention can be adapted for fitting on the dome 42 of a tank or vessel by cutting away the ends of the legs 32 to form the edges 132c which conform with the generally spherical shape of the dome. Further, if it is desired to mount the fitment on a flat topped tank or on any flat surface of the tank, the fitment can be mounted on the flat surface in the manner as shown by FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. It should be readily evident that the fitment of this invention is easily adaptable for mounting on any shaped surfaces by either forming or cutting away the ends of the legs 32 to conform with the shape or configuration of the surface. Such adaptability is accomplished without adversely affecting the strength of the fitment itself or the mounting strength of the fitment to the tank or vessel.
A fitment 20 in accordance with an embodiment of this invention having the typical thicknesses described and the construction described, has been tested to withstand overhung forces, that is, a force applied to a pipe perpendicular to the top surface of top wall 21, of 1500 pounds. Also, fitment 20 has withstood a twisting force of 2,000 pounds applied to top wall 21 by a plate bolted to top wall 21 in the plane of top wall 21.
The fitment of this invention is substantially superior to the prior art fitments such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102 previously referred to. The present invention provides substantially easier access for mounting the fitment on a tank or vessel regardless of the configuration of the surface on which the fitment is to be mounted. This easier connection or mounting of the fitment to the tank is provided by the easy access to the pipe and the ease in which the legs can be formed or cut away to conform with the shape of the surface on which the fitment is to be mounted. The present fitment is easily adaptable to flat, curved or spherical surfaces. The fitment of this invention is substantially easier to attach to the areas which are to be bonded because of the ready accessibility of such areas as opposed to the fitment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,102. Further, the bolts and nuts for subsequent attachment of the hose flanges are easier to reach for insertion and wrench tightening.
The attachment welds are easily inspected as opposed to the prior art fitments. The unit is more sanitary since no pockets are provided to trap spillage and the easily accessible attachment surfaces are easier to clean. The geometry of the attachment fitting as disclosed specifically in FIG. 5 provides for better placement of reinforcing fibers thus providing a stronger fitment and a stronger mounting of the fitment to the tank. Further, this invention provides a reinforcement for the opening cut into the fibers of the fiber-reinforced resin tank, so that the stresses on the fiber structure are kept within allowable limits.
Another important advantage of this invention resides in the economics. It provides a more economical fitment while at the same time providing one that is satisfactorily strong not only in the construction of the fitment itself, but in the mounting of the same to a tank.
Also, the transfer of the forces imposed by an attachment to the fitment is better since the forces are transferred to the fibers or filaments of the tank wall within the limits of their capability. Other advantages of this invention are to provide a fitment that requires less labor to apply than those presently in use and to provide such a fitment which when applied, is easier to inspect for manufacturing defects, and after it is in use, easier to inspect for externally imposed damage. It should be evident from these advantages of the present inventiion that a substantial contribution to the art has been made by it.
Various modifications and variations will no doubt occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. For example, the particular size and position of the attachment holes and the relative angle of the supporting surfaces can be varied from that disclosed herein. These 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 and as defined by the appended claims. | A fitment for mounting on a vessel or tank .[.constructed of reinforcing filaments such as glass or other fibers located in a resin matrix.].. The fitment includes a platform or top wall which is generally planar and has a pair of generally opposing rectilinear sides. The platform is adapted for supplying a fitting for a hose or nozzle which can be removably attached thereto. Two legs depend from the sides of the platform. A pipe also depends from the central portion of the platform. The ends of the pipe and legs are adapted for securement to the wall of a tank or vessel .[.by bonding resin compatible with the resin of the fitment and the tank.].. The fitment is preferably constructed of layers of glass fiber reinforcing materials. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radar detector apparatus which is mounted on a vehicle, to detect radar and microwave signals, or laser signals, and actuate an alarm such as a warning light or warning noise.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices are known which detect radar/microwave signals and actuate an alarm in response to such detection, the alarm being a warning light or warning noise. Such a device is identified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049;885, issued Sep. 17, 1991. This patent is directed to a long range police radar warning receiver. The figure in this patent illustrates a control 34 and a program 36, detector 8, filters 20, 23, memory 50, and "remaining circuitry" 58, a peak detector 54, and a counter 62, among other electronic components.
Another such device for detecting radar/microwave signals to actuate an alarm in response to such detection, is identified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,420, issued Dec. 13, 1988. This patent is directed to a radar detector/security device for automobiles. FIG. 2 of this reference illustrates detector circuitry including an antenna 32, signal detector 68, and warning means 43. In a security mode set when the vehicle is parked, an intruder is detected by the Doppler shift caused by movement of the intruder.
A device for detecting radar/microwave signals to actuate an alarm in response to such detection, is identified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,840, issued Feb. 16, 1988. This patent is directed to a mounting arrangement for mounting the radar detector casing to an interior windshield portion using suction cups 32, 33. Additionally, connection is shown in FIG. 1 of an external power supply 12 for the radar detector together with the necessary adapters and cables.
A battery-powered radar detector is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,884, issued Sep. 17, 1991. This patent is directed to a radar detector which is designed for sufficiently low power consumption that it can be powered by a battery rather than by an external power supply. The battery 8 and compartment 10 are shown in FIG. 1 of this reference. FIG. 2 of this reference shows analysis and alarm circuitry 22 and a sleep timer 20. FIG. 3 of this reference shows a microprocessor 40 having a RAM 92 and a ROM 42.
However, there is no solar power panel taught in these references. Also, there is no rechargeable battery taught in these references which is recharged by a solar power panel.
Additionally, the above-noted references do not teach a motion detector for automatically actuating the radar detector when the vehicle is in motion.
Further, the above-noted references do not teach a motion detector for automatically de-activating the radar detector when the vehicle has not been in motion for a predetermined period of time.
It is accordingly a problem in the art to provide an arrangement to provide a solar power panel in a radar detector. Additionally, it is a problem in the prior art to provide detector circuitry and control circuitry for automatically actuating the radar detector when the vehicle is in motion. Further, it is a problem in the prior art to provide motion detector circuitry and control circuitry for automatically de-activating the radar detector when the vehicle has not been in motion for a predetermined period of time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a radar detector or laser detector, or a combination radar/laser detector, which is solar powered.
Further, the present invention is directed to a radar detector which is includes a motion detector and control circuitry for automatically actuating the radar detector when the vehicle is in motion, to ensure actuation of the radar detector whenever the vehicle is in motion and for a predetermined time after motion is stopped.
Additionally, the present invention is directed to a laser detector which is includes a motion detector and control circuitry for automatically actuating the laser detector when the vehicle is in motion, to ensure actuation of the laser detector whenever the vehicle is in motion and for a predetermined time after motion is stopped.
Further, the present invention is directed to a radar detector or a laser detector, or a combination radar/laser detector, which includes a motion detector and control circuitry for automatically de-activating the radar or laser detector when the vehicle has not been in motion for a predetermined period of time, to conserve battery power.
Other and further objectives of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a study of the following detailed description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings. The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to an embodiment which is illustrated in the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a radar detector and a solar panel connected to the radar detector, according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit which automatically actuates the radar detector when motion or vibration is detected, according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of the control operation of the radar detector according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 schematically depicts a known type of microelectronic circuit element for detecting motion in a particular direction, which is usable in the present invention;
FIG. 5 schematically depicts a known type of mercury switch for detecting motion, which is usable in the present invention;
FIG. 6 schematically depicts an embodiment of the present invention in which the solar panel is fastened to one side of the casing of the radar detector;
FIG. 7 schematically depicts an embodiment of the present invention in which the solar panel is connected to a rechargeable battery via regulator circuitry; and
FIG. 8 schematically shows a switch which is usable in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The entire disclosure in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,049,885, 4,791,420, 4,725,840, and 5,049,884, all discussed hereinabove, are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a radar detector 10, of the type known in the prior art, and a solar panel 20 connected to the radar detector 10 by leads 18, 19.
While the phrase "radar detector" is used herein, it will be understood that laser detectors are also encompassed in the present invention. Such laser detectors are known in the art. Furthermore, it will also be understood that a combination of a radar and a laser detector, i.e. a radar/laser detector, is also encompassed in the present invention. Such combination radar/laser detectors are known in the art.
Suction cups 12 and 14 are shown in FIG. 1, for mounting of the radar detector 10 to a windshield of a vehicle. However, this is shown by way of example only, and any other types of mounting arrangements are also contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention. Such mounting arrangements may, for example, include brackets for mounting the radar detector 10 to a visor, a magnet for mounting to a metal portion near the metal roof or metal frame of the vehicle, and so on.
As schematically shown in FIG. 1, in addition to any other known type of radar and/or laser detector circuitry, there is provided a motion/vibration detector 16. The phrase "motion/vibration detector" is intended to refer to either a motion detector, a vibration detector, or both a motion and vibration detector arrangement. The motion/vibration detector 16 as shown herein is intended to also include any control circuitry as described below, which would be used in the practice of the invention as set forth hereunder. Thus, where a microprocessor is used in conjunction with a memory to effect the logical control sequences described below, that portion of the memory containing the steps which form commands such as illustrated in FIG. 4 hereunder, are considered for purposes of illustration to be schematically shown by the motion/vibration detector 16 in FIG. 1.
The purpose and structure of this motion/vibration detector 16 is described further hereunder. Such motion/vibration detectors are well known, and may include as a detecting element thereof, for example, a microelectronic sensor such as the microelectronic sensor 200 in FIG. 4, or a mercury switch such as the mercury switch 300 shown in FIG. 5. Any other type of motion detectors and/or vibration detectors are also contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention.
The motion/vibration detector 16 also preferably includes circuitry suitable for determining for limiting detection to motion above some predetermined limit, or vibration above a specified magnitude or within a given frequency range, in order to avoid false actuation caused by minor disturbances such as a gust of wind slightly rocking the vehicle, or a minor bumping or touching of the vehicle by passers-by. That is, the motion/vibration detector 16 preferably includes circuitry suitable for determining whether a sufficient motion and/or vibration has been detected.
Such sufficient motion as mentioned above could include detection of a forward or reverse (linear) acceleration of the vehicle of a magnitude typically encountered when shifting an automobile into forward or reverse gears, or during vehicle turns, for example. However, such acceleration magnitude is not deemed to be a critical value, and can generally be arbitrarily set, as long as it will detect motion under typical driving conditions.
Additionally, as an alternative to the above, or in addition to the above, such sufficient vibration as mentioned above could include detection of any vibration or vibratory acceleration of the vehicle of a magnitude typically encountered during driving of a vehicle such as an automobile, and may correspond for example to frequency vibrations of a magnitude encountered when driving the automobile over a smooth highway road (e.g., very slight and somewhat slightly irregular magnitudes of vibrations due to engagement of the tires with the smooth pavement).
Furthermore, as an alternative to the above, or in addition to the above, such sufficient vibration could include detection of any vibration or vibratory acceleration of the vehicle in a specified frequency range, or above a specified frequency, regardless of magnitude typically encountered during driving of a vehicle such as an automobile, and may correspond for example to frequency vibrations in a range corresponding to the engine frequency (i.e., the engine rpm) during idling through engine frequency at some upper top engine revolution speed, or to the wheel rolling frequency (to detect vibrations due to slight irregularities of the tires and/or rims).
Alternatively, such sufficient vibration can, for example, include any vibration frequency above a predetermined frequency range. Any combination of the above acceleration magnitudes or vibration frequencies, e.g. one combination could limit an acceptable, sufficient detection to a frequency range which is above 5 cycles/second and, simultaneously, with an acceleration amplitude of above 0.1 ft/sec 2 . The values shown above are merely exemplary, and can either be pre-set or adjustable by a user.
FIG. 2 schematically shows a control circuit which automatically actuates the radar detector when motion or vibration is detected, and includes an AND gate 30 having two inputs.
One input to the AND gate 30 is supplied from the motion/vibration detector 16 when it detects a sufficient acceleration or vibration. The other input can either be a signal supplied only when a manual ON/OFF switch is set to ON, or it can simply always be set to "1" (and a manual ON/OFF switch simply omitted). The provision of such a manual ON/OFF switch allows permanent shutoff of the device for storage, for example, while the presence of the motion/vibration detector prevents constant drain on the rechargeable battery which is preferably used.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a rechargeable battery is preferably used as shown in FIG. 7, and is recharged by the solar panel 20. However, even without such a rechargeable battery, when the solar panel 20 is illuminated, power is supplied to the radar detector 10.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an exemplary control operation of the radar detector 10 according to the present invention. It is understood that the radar detector 10 can include the necessary control circuitry to effect the operation as in the flowchart of FIG. 3, or alternatively such operation can be specified in a memory of the radar detector 10 for programmed operation thereof. According to FIG. 3, at step S101 it is determined whether or not the manual switch is ON or OFF. If OFF, power remains OFF as indicated at step S106. Step S101 is provided for illustration purposes for a situation where a memory is used to control a microprocessor, whereas in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the gate 30 performs this step.
If according to FIG. 3, at step S101 it is determined that the manual switch is ON, control proceeds to step S102 where it is determined whether motion is detected by the motion/vibration detector 16. If motion is detected at step S102, then control proceeds to power ON the radar detector 10.
While the radar detector 10 is operating (i.e., is ON), control is schematically shown as proceeding to step S104, where is ascertained whether or not the motion (or vibration) has stopped, using the motion/vibration detector 16. If motion is not determined to have stopped, then the radar detector 10 remains ON (i.e., as schematically shown, control returns to step S103).
If motion is determined at step S104 to have stopped, then control proceeds to step S105, which actuates a timer 40 which is activated for a predetermined time delay, after which control proceeds to step S106, turning the power OFF to the radar detector 10.
While a power OFF condition of the radar detector 10 is shown and described, power is nonetheless always drawn by the motion/vibration detector 16 (and power is also drawn by any control circuitry in the case described above wherein the control circuitry for the motion/vibration detector 16 is embodied in a memory accessed by a microprocessor). This power drawn by the motion/vibration detector 16 is significantly lower than a full load which would otherwise be drawn by the radar detector 10, thus rendering practical the solar-powered operation with a rechargeable battery, according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 schematically depicts a known type of microelectronic sensor 200 for detecting motion, which is usable in the present invention. This type of sensor 200 typically includes a tine 202 which can move or vibrate freely within a gap 203 formed in a semiconductor substrate 201. The movement or vibration of the tine 202 is caused by acceleration applied to the sensor 200. Other types of semiconductor-based sensors are known, and use of any such semiconductor-based motion or vibration sensors are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a known type of mercury switch 300 for detecting motion, which is usable in the present invention. The switch 300 typically includes a glass tube 302 with a very slightly larger diameter in the vicinity of the junction of separated wires 304 and 306, this junction of the separated wires 304 and 306 being closable by the presence of a mercury ball M as shown in FIG. 5.
Other types of motion and vibration sensors are known as well, and it is contemplated that use of any of these motion and vibration sensors for the sensor 16 are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which the solar panel 20 is affixed directly to at least one side of the casing of the radar detector 10. It is also contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention that the solar panel 20 be also affixed directly to more than one side of the casing of the radar detector 10.
Furthermore, it is contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention that, as shown in FIG. 1, the solar panel 20 be separable (i.e., connected only by flexible wires to the radar detector 10), and affixable to a structure in the vehicle as by adhesive, suction cups, brackets, or other fastening device.
FIG. 7 schematically depicts an embodiment of the present invention in which the solar panel 20 is connected to a rechargeable battery 70 via any known type of regulator circuitry 72, to effect recharging of the battery 70.
The vehicle described above can be any type of vehicle, such as a truck, boat, automobile, aircraft, carriage, trolley, and the like.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a switch SW is provided as shown in FIG. 8. The switch SW has a slot 58 slidably guiding a control knob 60. The switch SW enables the user to selectively control the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 to be in an OFF condition, an ON position, and an AUTO condition. The AUTO condition is as described hereinabove, wherein a motion detector automatically actuates the device when the vehicle is operating, and shuts off the device when the vehicle is not operating.
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims. | A radar detector apparatus, or a laser detector apparatus, or a combination radar/laser detector apparatus, has a solar power panel and a rechargeable battery. Additionally, circuitry is provided to minimize current drain by shutting off power to the radar or laser detector when operation of the vehicle has stopped for a predetermined period of time. A circuit arrangement is also provided in the form of detector circuitry and control circuitry, for automatically actuating the radar or laser detector when the vehicle is in motion, to ensure operation thereof without the necessity of intervention by a vehicle operator. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for classifying and recording information with respect to gemstones whereby the gemstones may be accurately identified and in a manner to produce a database whereby recovered stolen or missing gemstones may be compared with the database for accurate identification.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A number of systems have been proposed for classifying and identifying gemstones to provide what may be referred to as an optical fingerprint of the gemstone. The optical fingerprint is accurate and acceptable by the courts for determining whether a gemstone under consideration is the same gemstone which produced a previously recorded fingerprint.
In theft of gemstones, the most common problem is being able to accurately identify a stolen gemstone as being a particular gemstone which was stolen from a certain owner. This problem is of particular concern to insurance companies, in that gems are often insured and it has been difficult to identify the stolen gemstone even if it is recovered. Insurance companies in the past have also been subject to fraudulent claims. Thus, identification of gemstones and the tracking of gemstones remains a problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,120 discloses a particular arrangement for providing an optical fingerprint of a gemstone where a laser beam is focused on a gemstone and the optical response of the gemstone is recorded on a recording medium, preferably a photographic medium. This arrangement provides a fingerprint of the gemstone which is reproducible and has been held by the courts to be sufficient evidence to prove that the gemstone under consideration having a certain optical response is the same as a previously identified gemstone having essentially the same optical response.
Although this patent discloses a particular method for fingerprinting of gemstones, there remains a very significant problem of being able to actually use this information for identification of gemstones which may be known as missing or stolen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system for improved recording of gemstone fingerprints and a method of collecting these recorded fingerprints, classifying of the fingerprints whereby a database is developed which can be effectively searched.
The present invention is also directed to a recovery system whereby gemstones recovered by police or other authorities can be remotely scanned using this technology with the resulting optical response compared to other optical responses on the database for proper identification of the gemstone and a matching with a particular gemstone record, if indeed the stolen gemstone has previously been recorded.
The present invention can have a significant impact with respect to the tracking of gemstones and may also make it substantially more difficult to trade stolen gemstones.
A device for producing a reproducible identification pattern of a polished gemstone according to the present invention comprises light directing means for directing a focused beam of light onto a gemstone orientated in a particular known manner to produce an output of the internal refraction and reflection characteristics of the gemstone and means for recording of a selected portion of the output in a manner to record the relative size and location of the reflected light beams and wherein the recording means automatically adjusts for variations in the intensity of different light beams such that variations in intensity are adjusted for thereby increasing the accuracy of the size measurement.
According to an aspect of the invention, the device for producing reproducible identification pattern of a polished gemstone comprises means for directing a focused beam of light onto a gemstone orientated in a particular known manner to produce an optical response of the internal refraction and reflection characteristics of the gemstone, and means for assessing the relative size and location of a selected portion of the output of the reflected light beams and wherein the means for assessing optically scans the selected portion to produce an electronic record of the optical response of the gemstone.
A system for recording of gemstones, according to the present invention, comprises a central recording means for electronically receiving and recording optical assessment of gemstones, a plurality of optical assessment stations which optically assess gemstones by causing said gemstones to produce an optical response based upon the individual recognizable characteristics of the gemstone and producing an electronic signal of the optical response of the gemstone and forwarding the optical response of the gemstone to the central recording means for electronically receiving and recording optical assessments of gemstones.
A gemstone recovery identification system, according to the present invention, comprises a gemstone database of classified gemstones classified by means of optical response characteristics of the gemstones, characteristics of the gemstones and the owner of the gemstone in a format that is capable of being efficiently searched electronically with the system including means for receiving and classifying the optical response of a gemstone which has been recovered, but requires identification, and electronically searching the gemstone database for a match between one of the classified gemstones and the classified optical response of the recovered gemstone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the, drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic of the scanning machine of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a schematic of the overall gemstone recording and recovery system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The scanning machine generally shown as 2 in Figure includes a laser 4 for producing a laser beam 8 which is projected at the gemstone 10. Laser beam 8 passes through a first focusing lens 6, passes through a central hole in the display screen 16 and passes through a second focusing lens 14 before striking the gemstone 10. The laser beam striking the gemstone 10 which is held in a particular manner, as generally shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,120, produces an optical response 12 which is focused by the second focusing lens 14 onto the display screen 16. A scanner 18 is positioned to one side of the scanning machine out of the direct light transmitting region of the optical response displayed on display screen 16, with the scanner viewing only a selected linear segment of the display screen 16. A track arrangement 20 progressively moves the scanner across the display screen to provide a complete optical record of the optical response shown on the display screen. This controlled movement of the scanner along track 20 is controlled by controller 22. The output from the scanner 18 is recorded in the record storage arrangement 24. Thus, it can be appreciated that a complete record is stored in record storage 24 of the optical response 12 produced by a particular gemstone 10.
The scanner is a charged coupled device which can accurately receive the signal from a particular segment of the display screen 16. By mechanically moving the scanner across the display screen along track 20, a complete assessment of the optical response is compiled. This mechanical moving of the scanner 18 greatly reduces the cost of the scanner, whereas a scanner which would view the entire screen would be many times more expensive and thus would render the site machine excessively expensive for the average jeweler to maintain within his own premises. The jeweler who would have this machine in his shop upon selling of the gemstone would key in particular information with respect to the owner of the gemstone, the address, the particular cut, color, weight and other characteristics of the gemstone which he can accurately determine, and combine this information with the optical response of the particular gemstone. A modem 28 is provided for sending of the record storage 24 to a central database 40 shown in FIG. 2 where the optical response will subsequently be classified in a manner that it may be accurately searched. Associated with the scanning machine 2 is a certificate printer 30 which will provide a hard copy of the optical response 12 of the particular gemstone as well as providing the other information entered at the keyboard. The scanner 18 includes means for automatically adjusting for different light intensities as it scans a particular segment. The purpose of the scanner is to accurately determine the size and location of the individual beams that are found in the optical response. This is contrast to a photographic record where the intensity of these beams is inherently recorded on the photographic material and can inaccurately influence the size of the beam due to the effect of a very high or low intensity. Therefore, the scanner 18 automatically adjusts for variations in the intensity of the different light beams to provide a more accurate assessment of the size and location of the light beams produced in the optical response 12. The progressive scanning of the optical response lends itself to this correction for intensity. It can be appreciated that a scanner capable of reading the entire screen is also possible and can adjust for varying intensity.
Preferably, the record storage 24 includes data compression capability as the optical record is particularly appropriate for data compression as the size and location of the hot spots are of prime importance. Data compression can take many forms including run length encoding.
The overall system is generally shown in FIG. 2 and comprises a central database 40 which includes a classification section 42 and a databank 44 of classified gemstones. This databank 44 has associated therewith a sub group 46 of gemstones indicated as being stolen or missing by the particular insurance company or the owner.
Recovered gemstones are optically scanned by a particular site machine at a police station, such as 50, and the optical response of these gemstones are compared with the sub group 46 of the gemstones stolen or missing as identified by the particular owners. In this way, police departments in far varying jurisdictions can compare the gemstones recovered from thieves or suspected of being stolen with a database of gemstones which have previously been identified as being stolen or missing.
The classification of the gemstones carried out at in FIG. 2 relies on a polar coordinate system for identifying the largest area light beams of the optical response identified as large circles on the hard copy of the optical response. The largest area light beam is identified as a number 1 light beam and the remaining light beams are progressively identified by size. The largest light beam is considered to be at a zero angle and all other light beams are plotted relative to this major light beam. The distance from the center point is also measured to provide an accurate location identification.
This particular classification arrangement renders it quite convenient to search, as the optical response of the suspected stolen gemstone is classified and the various light beams thereof are again plotted in this manner. Software accurately compares this response with known responses based upon the particular angles of the light beams and then varying of the particular light beams which are considered the dominant light beams. This can be carried out in software and is very efficient and may result in several searches or several permutations of the actual optical response. After a number of possible matches have been identified, then further comparison can be made with respect to the distance from the center as well as the much more detailed response characteristics. Based upon a comparison of the recorded optical responses, the expert can then provide his opinion whether it is an identical match or not.
As can be appreciated, the system operates most efficiently if jewelers throughout the country or throughout the territory all have these individual site machines and upon the sale of a gemstone, make an accurate optical fingerprint of the gemstone using the site machine to evaluate the gemstone. This record is then recorded in a central databank of gemstones and is preferably forwarded electronically to the databank. Compression of the optical response characteristics of a particular gemstone can be accomplished using standard techniques. The actual recording is preferably based on the size and location of these light spots resulting from the particular light beams produced in the optical response. Run length encoding is particularly suitable for compression of this data.
Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. | A system for the effective recording and recovery of gemstones uses site machines for recording the optical response of gemstones with these optical responses being forwarded to a central database for classifying in a manner to allow effective searching of the database. The site machine progressively scans the optical response of the gemstone and provides an accurate record of the optical response of the gemstone. Gemstones reported to the central database as being stolen have their records duplicated in a separate database which can be searched remotely by police and other enforcement agencies for a possible match with the optical response of gemstones they have recovered. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound and also to a process for preparing a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound using the carbaldehyde compound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The liquid crystal display devices make use of optical anisotropy and dielectric anisotropy of liquid crystal substances. Depending on the mode of display, there are a variety of display systems including those of a twisted nematic type (TN type), a supertwisted nematic type (STN type), a super birefringence type (SBE type), a dynamic scattering type (DS type), a guest/host type, a type of deformation of aligned phase (DAP type), a polymer dispersion type (PD type), and an optical mode interference type (OMI type). The most popular display device is one which is based on the Schadt-Helfrich effect) and has a twisted nematic structure.
Although the properties of the liquid substances used in these liquid crystal devices depend, more or less, on the type of display, it is commonly required that the liquid crystal substances have a wide range of liquid crystal working temperatures and that they are stable against moisture, air, light, heat, electric field and the like. Moreover, the liquid crystal substances should desirably be low in viscosity and should ensure a short address time, a low threshold voltage and a high contrast in a cell.
As the liquid crystal display devices have wider utility in recent years, the characteristic properties required for liquid crystal materials become much severer. In addition, those characteristics which have never been required for conventional liquid crystal substances are now expected such as a lower drive voltage, a wider working temperature range which could satisfy the needs for on-vehicle materials and an improvement in low temperature performance.
Under these circumstances, we developed novel silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compounds which contain a silicon atom in the molecule so that the characteristic properties for use as a liquid crystal substance are improved, and proposed in our earlier Japanese Patent Application as will be set out hereinafter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound which is an intermediate useful for preparing silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compounds.
It is another object of the invention to provide a process for preparing a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound which is a kind of derivative of the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound.
The above objects can be achieved, according to one embodiment of the invention, by a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the following formula (I) ##STR3## wherein Ar represents a phenyl group or a tolyl group, and R represents a phenyl group, a tolyl group, a linear alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a mono or difluoroalkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a branched alkyl group having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having from 2 to 7 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms.
The silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the above formula (I) is useful as an intermediate for a silacyclohexane-based liquid compound of the following general formula (II) ##STR4## wherein R has the same meaning as defined above and represents a phenyl group, a tolyl group, a linear alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a mono or difluoroalkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a branched alkyl group having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having from 2 to 7 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms, X represents CN, F, Cl, CF 3 , CClF 2 , CHClF, OCF 3 , OCClF 2 , OCHF 2 , OCHClF, (O) m CT=CX 1 X 2 , O(CH 2 ) r (CF 2 ) s X 3 , R or OR wherein m is a value of 0 or 1, T and X 1 independently represent H, F or Cl, X 2 represents F or Cl, r and s are, respectively, a value of 0, 1 or 2 provided that r+s=2, 3 or 4, X 3 represents H, F or Cl, and R has the same meaning as defined above, Y represents a halogen or a methyl group, i is a value of 0, 1 or 2, or a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the following general formula (III) ##STR5## wherein R, Y, X and i have, respectively, the same meanings as defined with respect to the formula (II), Z represents a halogen or a methyl group, and j is zero or an integer of 1 or 2.
The silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the general formula (II) is prepared according to a process of the invention which comprises:
reacting the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde of the general formula (I) with a ylide compound of the following general formula (IV) ##STR6## wherein X has the same meaning as defined with respect to the formula (II) and represents CN, F, Cl, CF 3 , CClF 2 , CHClF, OCF 3 , OCClF 2 , OCHF 2 , OCHClF, (O) m CT=CX 1 X 2 , O(CH 2 ) r (CF 2 ) s X 3 , R or OR wherein m is a value of 0 or 1, T and X 1 independently represent H, F or Cl, X 2 represents F or Cl, r and s are, respectively, a value of 0, 1 or 2 provided that r+s=2, 3 or 4, X 3 represents H, F or Cl, and R has the same meaning as defined above, Y represents a halogen or a methyl group, i is a value of 0, 1 or 2, thereby obtaining a compound of the following formula (V) ##STR7##
subjecting the thus obtained compound of the formula (V) to hydrogenation to obtain a compound of the following general formula (VI) ##STR8##
further subjecting the compound of the formula (VI) to de-silylation and then to reduction to obtain a compound of the general formula (II) ##STR9## In the above formulas (V) to (VI), At, R. Y, X and i have, respectively, the same meanings as defined hereinbefore.
Moreover, the silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the general formula (III) can be prepared by a process which comprises:
reacting a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the afore-indicated general formula (I) with a ylide compound of the following general formula (VII) ##STR10## wherein X represents CN, F, Cl, CF 3 , CClF 2 , CHClF, OCF 3 , OCClF 2 , OCHF 2 , OCHClF, (O) m CT=CX 1 X 2 , O(CH 2 ) r (CF 2 ) s X 3 , R or OR wherein m is a value of 0 or 1, T and X 1 independently represent H, F or Cl, X 2 represents F or Cl, r and s are, respectively, a value of 0, 1 or 2 provided that r+s=2, 3 or 4, X 3 represents H, F or Cl, and R has the same meaning as defined before, Y and Z independently represent a halogen or a methyl group, i and j are independently a value of 0, 1 or 2, thereby obtaining a compound of the following general formula (VIII) ##STR11##
subjecting the compound of the formula (VIII) to hydrogenation to obtain a compound of the following general formula (IX) ##STR12##
further subjecting the thus obtained compound of the formula (IX) to de-silylation and then to reduction to obtain a compound of the general formula (III) ##STR13## In the general formulas (VIII) and (IX), Ar, R, X, Y, Z, i and j have, respectively, the same meanings as defined hereinbefore and whenever appearing hereinafter and may not be again defined in some cases.
Alternatively, the silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the general formula (III) can also be prepared according to a process which comprises:
reacting a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde of the afore-indicated general formula (I) with a ylide compound of the following general formula (X) ##STR14## wherein X' represents a halogen, Y represents a halogen or a methyl group, and i is a value of 0, 1 or 2, thereby obtaining a compound of the following general formula (XI) ##STR15##
subjecting the compound of the formula (XI) to hydrogenation to obtain a compound of the following general formula (XII) ##STR16##
further subjecting the compound of the formula (XII) to reaction with an organometal compound of the following general formula (XIII) in the presence of a transition metal catalyst ##STR17## wherein M represents MgU or ZnU wherein U represents a halogen, or B(OV) 2 wherein V represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group and Z has the same meaning as defined hereinbefore, thereby obtaining a compound of the following general formula (XIV) ##STR18##
subjecting the compound of the formula (XIV) to de-silylation and then to reduction to obtain a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the following general formula (III)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The embodiments of the invention are described. It will be noted that Ar, R, X, X', Y, Z, i, and j which have, respectively, been defined in the foregoing formulas have, respectively, the same meanings as defined hereinbefore and may not be again defined in such formulas appearing hereinafter.
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the following general formula (I) ##STR20## wherein Ar represents a phenyl group or a tolyl group, R represents a phenyl group, a tolyl group, a linear alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a mono or difluoroalkyl group having from i to 10 carbon atoms, a branched alkyl group having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having from 2 to 7 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having from 2 to 8 carbon atom. This compound is readily prepared from a silacyclohexanone compound of the following formula (XV) which we proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. No. 6-71825, filed Mar. 24, 1994. ##STR21## wherein Ar and R have, respectively, the same meanings as defined with respect to the formula (I).
For instance, according to the following reaction sequence (XVI), a ylide compound obtained from an alkoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium salt by the action of a base and the silacyclohexane compound are subjected to the Wittig reaction to obtain an alkyl enol ether, followed by hydrolysis with an add catalyst to obtain the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde of the formula (I) ##STR22## wherein R' represents an alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, preferably from 1 to 4 carbon atoms and Q represents a halogen preferably including Cl, Br or I.
Examples of the alkoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium salt include methoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium chloride, methoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, methoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium iodide, ethoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium chloride, ethoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, ethoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium iodide and the like.
The bases used for the formation of the ylide compound include organolithium compounds such as n-butyl lithium, s-butyl lithium, t-butyl lithium, methyl lithium, phenyl lithium and the like, alkoxides such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium t-butoxide and the like, and dimsyl sodium.
The reaction is effected in solvents including ethers such as tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, di-n-butyl ether, 1,4-dioxane and the like or mixed solvents of the ethers with hydrocarbons such as n-hexane, n-heptane, iso-octane, benzene, toluene, xylene, cumene and the like or aprotic polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide, hexamethylphosphoric triamide and the like.
The silacyclohexane compound is then added to the resultant ylide compound formed in the solvent to cause the Wittig reaction to proceed thereby obtaining an alkyl ether compound.
The alkyl ether compound is hydrolyzed in the presence of an acid catalyst. Examples of the acid include inorganic acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and the like, and organic acids such as oxalic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, chloroacetic acid and the like.
The reactions in the sequence (XVI) and the hydrolysis of the alkyl ether compound proceed under relatively wide reaction conditions including a preferred range of temperature of from 0° to 80° C., more preferably from 10° to 40° C. In view of economy, these reactions are optimally carried out at normal temperatures without resorting to any specific techniques and apparatus.
The reaction time may be appropriately controlled in these steps while taking the types of groups being reacted with each other and the reaction may be continued until the reactions in the respective steps are completed.
The thus obtained silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compounds may be used for the preparation of various types of silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compounds. The processes for preparing derivatives of the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compounds are then described.
It should be noted that the preparation of the liquid crystal compounds may be performed under relatively wide temperature and time conditions as in the case of the preparation of the carbaldehyde compounds and that the reaction conditions as will be set out in the respective steps are not for limitation. Most steps favorably proceed at normal temperatures and normal pressures although higher temperatures and/or higher pressures may be used if a higher reaction velocity is required. In this sense, the reaction conditions including the reaction temperature substantially in all the steps are not critical.
First, when phosphorus ylide compounds which are readily prepared from a corresponding phosphonium salt by the action of bases are reacted with the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compounds according to the following reaction sequence (XVII), olefinic compounds are obtained through the Wittig reaction ##STR23## wherein Q, Y, Z, X, Ar, R, i and j have, respectively, the same meanings as defined hereinbefore and n is a value of 0 or 1.
The bases useful for the formation of ylides include organolithium compounds such as n-butyl lithium, s-butyl lithium, t-butyl lithium, methyl lithium, phenyl lithium and the like, alkoxides such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium t-butoxide and the like, and dimsyl sodium.
The reactions are effected in solvents including ethers such as tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, di-n-butyl ether, 1,4-dioxane and the like, or mixtures of the ethers with aprotic polar solvents including hydrocarbons such as n-hexane, n-heptane, iso-octane, benzene, toluene, xylene, cumene and the like, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide, hexamethylphosphoric triamide and the like. These reactions are effected preferably at a temperature of from 0° to 80° C., more preferably from 10° to 40° C. for a time sufficient to complete the reaction.
The silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound is then added to the thus obtained ylide compounds formed in the solvents, whereupon the Wittig reaction is caused to proceed to obtain an olefinic compound.
The thus obtained olefinic compound is subjected to catalytic reduction thereby hydrogenating the double bond thereof to obtain a saturated compound.
This catalytic reduction proceeds according to the following reaction formula (XVIII) ##STR24##
The catalysts used for the hydrogenation include, for example, metals such as palladium, platinum, rhodium, nickel, ruthenium and the like. Better results are obtained when using palladium-carbon, palladium-barium sulfate, palladium-diatomaceous earth, platinum oxide, platinum-carbon, rhodium-carbon, Raney nickel and the like.
The hydrogenation reaction is carried out by a usual manner. Preferably, the hydrogenation is effected at a temperature ranging from 0° to 150° C., more preferably from 20° to 100° C. A higher pressure of hydrogen results in a higher reaction velocity. In view of limitation on the type of reactor, it is preferred to use a hydrogen pressure of from 5 to 20 kg/cm 2 .
Thereafter, the saturated compound is subjected to de-silylation reaction with an electrophilic reagent to obtained a halosilacyclohexane compound, followed by reduction reaction as shown in the following reaction sequence (XIX) ##STR25## wherein EW is an electrophilic reagent wherein W represents a halogen.
The electrophilic reagents include a halogen, a hydrogen halide, a metal halide, a sulfonic derivative, an add halide, an alkyl halide and the like. Preferably, there are mentioned bromine, iodine, chlorine, iodine monochloride, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, hydrogen iodide, mercury (II) chloride, trimethylsilyl chlorosulfonate, acetyl chloride, acetyl bromide, benzoyl chloride, t-butyl chloride and the like. In order to increase the reaction velocity, Lewis acids such as aluminium chloride, zinc chloride, titanium tetrachloride, boron trifluoride and the like may be added to the reaction system. Alternatively, the reaction system may be irradiated with actinic light such as ultraviolet rays and/or visible rays.
Preferably, the reaction using the electrophilic agent is carried out at a temperature of from 0° to 80° C., more preferably from 10° to 40° C.
The reagents used for the reduction of the halosilacyclohexane compound include metal hydrides such as sodium hydride, calcium hydride, trialkylsilanes, boranes, dialkyl aluminium compounds and the like, complex hydrides such as sodium borohydride, potassium borohydride, tri-isobutylammonium borohydride and the like, and substituted hydrides thereof such as lithium trialkoxyaluminium hydride, sodium di(methoxyethoxy)aluminium hydride, lithium triethylborohydride, sodium cyanoborohydride and the like.
Although not limitative, the reduction of the halosilacyclohexane is carried out preferably at a temperature of from 0° to 100° C., more preferably from 20° to 70° C.
By the above process, a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound can be prepared.
Among the saturated compounds obtained by the hydrogenation in the reaction formula (XVIII) where n=0, a compound of the following formula (XX) ##STR26## wherein Ar, R, Y and i have, respectively, the same meanings as defined hereinbefore and X' represents a halogen preferably including Cl, Br or I, is used to prepare a compound of the following general formula (XXI) which corresponds to the final compound of the general formula (XVIII) wherein n=1 ##STR27##
The above reaction proceeds according to the following reaction formula (XXII) ##STR28## wherein M represents MgU or ZnU wherein U represents a halogen preferably including Cl, Br or I, or B(OV) 2 wherein V represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
This reaction is effected in the presence of a catalyst of a transition metal compound. Preferred examples of the catalyst include palladium or nickel compounds. The palladium catalysts include, for example, zero valent palladium compounds such as tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (0), di-[1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]palladium (0) and the like, compounds consisting of divalent palladium compounds, such as palladium acetate, palladium chloride and the like, and ligands such as triphenylphosphine, 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane and the like, and combinations of those compounds mentioned above with reducing agents.
Examples of the nickel catalyst include divalent nickel compounds such as 1,3-bis (diphenylphosphino)propane nickel (II) chloride, 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane nickel (II) chloride, bis(triphenylphosphine) nickel (II) chloride and the like, zero valent nickel compounds such as tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) nickel (0) and the like.
If the organometallic compound used is a boric acid derivative wherein M represents B(OV) 2 , it is preferred that the reaction is carried out in the presence of a base. In this case, examples of the base include inorganic bases such as sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogencarbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and the like, and organic bases such as triethylamine, tributylamine, dimethylaniline and the like.
The compound obtained according to the reaction formula (XXI) can be converted into a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound according to the reaction sequence (XIX) indicated before.
The thus prepared compounds may be purified by a usual manner such as recrystallization, chromatography or the like, thereby obtaining silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compounds in an intended trans form, if necessary.
The present invention is more particularly described by way of examples.
EXAMPLE 1
Preparation of 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde
58 g of potassium t-butoxide was added to a mixture of 180 g of methoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium chloride and 200 ml of tetrahydrofuran to prepare an orange ylide solution. 130 g of 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexanone was dropped in the solution. After agitation at room temperature for 2 hours, the solution was poured into iced water, followed by extraction with ethyl acetate and then by ordinary washing and concentrating operations to obtain a residue. n-Hexane was added to the residue and the resultant crystals of triphenylphosphine oxide were removed by filtration. The resultant tiltrate was concentrated to obtain 145 g (quantitative yield) of a crude product of a corresponding methyl enol ether.
The product had the following IR absorption spectra and NMR absorptions.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2840, 1675, 1455, 1235, 1205, 1145, 1110, 855, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.60-1.60 (15H, m) 2.06-2.75 (4H, m) 3.53 (3H, s) 5.78 (1H, s) 7.20-7.62 (5H, m) ppm
200 ml of methylene chloride and 200 ml of 20% hydrochloric acid were added to the thus obtained crude product, followed by agitation at room temperature for 5 hours. The methylene chloride phase was collected by separation and subjected to ordinary washing and concentrating operations, followed by purification through silica gel column chromatography to obtain 132 g of the intended product at a yield of 96%.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2860, 1720, 1455, 1425, 1195, 1110, 830, 730, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 1.60-2.40 (20H, m) 7.20-7.75 (5H, m) 9.55, 9.68 (1H, s×2 (two singlets corresponding to two steric isomers being combined to provide a signal corresponding to 1H)) ppm
EXAMPLE 2
The general procedure of Example i was repeated using 4-n-propyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexanone, thereby obtaining 4-n-propyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2860, 1720, 1455, 1420, 1195, 1105, 1060, 995, 830, 730, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.55-1.95 (13H, m) 2.00-2.40 (3H, m) 7.20-7.70 (5H, m) 9.55, 9.68 (1H, s×2) ppm
EXAMPLE 3
The general procedure of Example 1 was repeated using 4,4'-diphenyl-4-silacyclohexanone, thereby obtaining 4,4-diphenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 3060, 2920, 2860, 1720, 1425, 1110, 990, 830, 725, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.90-1.92 (6H, m) 1.95-2.45 (3H, m) 7.20-7.75 (10H, m) 9.62 (1H, s) ppm
EXAMPLE 4
The general procedure of Example i was repeated using 4-n-pentyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexanone, thereby obtaining 4-n-pentyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2860, 1725, 1455, 1410, 1195, 1110, 835, 800, 745 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.50-2.00 (17H, m) 2.02-2.45 (3H, m) 2.34 (3H, s) 7.10-7.60 (4H, m) 9.55, 9.68 (1H, s×2) ppm
EXAMPLE 5
The general procedure of Example I was repeated using 4-n-propyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexanone, thereby obtaining 4-n-propyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2860, 1720, 1455, 1410, 1200, 1105, 1060, 1000, 795, 740 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.50-1.96 (13H, m) 2.00-2.40 (3H, m) 2.34 (3H, s) 7.10-7.60 (4H, m) 9.55, 9.68 (1H, s×2) ppm
EXAMPLE 6
The general procedure of Example i was repeated using 4-ethyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexanone, thereby obtaining 4-ethyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde with the following results of 1 H-NMR analysis.
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.50-1.96 (11H, m) 2.00-2.40 (3H, m) 2.34 (3H, s) 7.10-7.60 (4H, m) 9.55, 9.68 (1H, s×2) ppm
EXAMPLE 7
Preparation of trans-4-(2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)ethyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-silacyclohexane
65 ml of an n-hexane solution of 1.60 moles of n-butyl lithium was added to a mixture of 48.0 g of p-ethoxybenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide and 200 ml of tetrahydrofuran to obtain a ylide solution. 27.4 g of 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde was dropped in the solution. After agitation at room temperature for 2 hours, the resultant solution was charged into iced water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was subjected to ordinary washing and concentrating operations to obtain a residue, to which n-hexane was added. The resultant crystals of triphenylphosphine oxide were removed by filtration and the flitrate was concentrated. The resultant residue was purified through silica gel column chromatography to obtain 38.0 g (yield: 97%) of 4-(2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)ethenyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane.
The results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses are as follows. IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 1605, 1510, 1240, 1170, 1100, 1045, 960, 795, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.56-2.30 (23H, m) 4.00, 4.02 (2H, qx2) 5.80-6.44 (2H, m) 6.60-7.64 (9H, m) ppm
36.0 g of the thus obtained 4-(2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)ethenyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl- 1-silacyclohexane was dissolved in 100 ml of ethyl acetate, followed by hydrogenation at a pressure of 5 kg/cm 2 of hydrogen at room temperature in the presence of 200 mg of palladium-carbon used as a catalyst. After the hydrogen had been consumed theoretically, the catalyst was removed by filtration and the resultant flitrate was concentrated to obtain 36.2 g (quantitative yield) of 4-(2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)ethyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2860, 1610, 1510, 1240, 1175, 1110, 1045, 815, 695 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.56-1.70 (20H, m) 1.48 (3H, t) 1.70-2.16 (2H, m) 2.40-2.70 (2H, m) 3.97 (2H, q) 6.70-6.90 (2H, m) 6.90-7.20 (2H, m) 7.22-7.62 (5H, m) ppm
100 ml of a carbon tetrachloride solution of 1.0 mole of iodine monochloride was added to 35.0 g of the thus obtained 4-(2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)ethyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane at room temperature, followed by agitation at room temperature for 1 hour and then concentration. The resultant residue was dissolved in 100 ml of tetrahydrofuran and dropped in 100 ml of a mixture of 10.0 g of lithium aluminium hydride and 100 ml of tetrahydrofuran at 0° C. The reaction mixture was agitated at room temperature for 1 hour, after which it was poured into 200 ml of a 5% hydrochloric acid solution, followed by extraction with ethyl acetate. After ordinary washing, drying and concentrating operations, the resultant concentrate was purified through silica gel column chromatography to obtain 19.2 g of the intended product (yield: 68%).
IR (liquid film)v max : 2918, 2852, 2098, 1612, 1512, 1244, 1051, 887, 821 cm -1
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.54-0.84 (4H, m) 0.96-1.15 (5H, m) 1.24-1.72 (14H, m) 2.10-2.25 (2H, m) 2.63-2.73 (2H, t) 3.88-4.00 (1H, m) 4.08 (2H,q) 6.85-7.00 (2H, m) 7.10-7.25 (2H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 8
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from p-fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 13 C-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2918, 2852, 2098, 1601, 1510, 1223, 887, 823 cm -1
13 C-NMR (67.5 MHz, CDCl 3 ): 9.52 (s), 12.06 (s), 13.99 (s), 22.37 (s), 24.11 (s), 31.44 (s), 32.73 (s), 35.40 (s), 39.39 (s), 39.85 (s), 114.92 (d), 129.55 (d), 138.61 (d), 161.12 (d)ppm
EXAMPLE 9
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from 3,4-difluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(3,4-difluorophenyl)ethyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2852, 2100, 1608, 1520, 1284, 1211, 887, 818 cm -1
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.38-0.64 (4H, m) 0.80-0.95 (5H, m) 1.10-1.56 (11H, m) 1.94-2.04 (2H, m) 2.50-2.60 (2H, m) 3.66-3.78 (1H, m) 6.84-7.10 (3H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 10
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using 3-methylbutyl-4-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from p-fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-1-(3-methylbutyl)-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses and a C-I transition temperature.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2916, 2848, 2098, 1510, 1223, 889, 823 cm -1
C-I transition temperature: -10.5° C.
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.50-0.62 (4H, m) 0.88-0.95 (8H, m) 1.20-1.28 (5H, m) 1.47-1.52 (3H, m) 2.00-2.02 (2H, m) 2.57-2.61 (2H, m) 3.70-3.80 (1H, m) 6.94-6.98 (2H, m) 7.10-7.14 (2H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 11
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using (3-methoxypropyl)-4-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from p-fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-1-(3-methoxypropyl)-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses and a C-I transition temperature.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2852, 2098, 1510, 1223, 1221, 1119, 887, 823 cm -1
C-I transition temperature: -6.7° C.
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.42-0.52 (4H, m) 0.57-0.64 (8H, m) 0.88-0.94 (2H, m) 1.17-1.30 (3H, m) 1.42-1.50 (2H, m) 1.55-1.66 (2H, m) 1.97-2.01 (2H, m) 2.53-2.59 (2H, m) 3.30-3.35 (5H, m) 3.72-3.76 (1H, m) 6.90-6.96 (2H, m) 7.07-7.24 (2H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 12
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using 4-pentenyl-4-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from p-fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-1-(4-pentenyl)-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses and a C-I transition temperature.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2918, 2852, 2098, 1510, 1223, 1115, 887, 823 cm -1
C-I transition temperature: -23.9° C.
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.49-0.51 (2H, m) 0.59-0.66 (2H, m) 0.90-0.95 (2H, m) 1.21-1.28 (3H, m) 1.40-1.52 (4H, m) 1.99-2.12 (4H, m) 2.55-2.61 (2H, m) 3.72-3.77 (1H, m) 4.95-5.04 (2H, m) 5.72-5.87 (1H, m) 6.92-6.98 (2H, m) 7.08-7.14 (2H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 13
The general procedure of Example 7 was repeated using n-pentyl-4-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and a ylide compound obtained from 2,3-difluoro-4-ethoxybenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, thereby obtaining trans-4-(2-(2,3-difluoro-4-ethoxyphenyl)ethyl)-1-(n-pentyl )-1-silacyclohexane with the following results of IR and 1 H-NMR analyses and C-I and N-I transition temperatures.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2956, 2920, 2852, 2098, 1639, 1512, 1479, 1292, 1080, 887, 831, 816 cm -1
C-I transition temperature: 12.4° C.
N-I transition temperature: -17.8° C.
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.41-0.63 (3H, m) 0.86-0.95 (5H, m) 1.19-1.50 (14H, m) 2.00-2.04 (2H, m) 2.55-2.61 (2H, m) 3.73-3.77 (1H, m) 4.03-4.10 (2H, m) 6.59-6.66 (1H, m) 6.75-6.82 (1H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 14
Preparation of 4-(2-(trans-4-n-propyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl)-3',4'-difluorophenyl
In the same manner as in Example 7, 26.0 g of 4-n-propyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and 50.0 g of a ylide compound obtained from 4-(3,4-difluorophenyl)benzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide and potassium t-butoxide were interacted to obtain an olefinic compound according to the Wittig reaction,, followed by hydrogenation reaction in the presence of a palladium-carbon catalyst to obtain 37.6 g (yield: 84%) of 4-(2-(4-n-propyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl)-3',4'-difluorobiphenyl.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 1600, 1525, 1500, 1305, 1260, 1100, 805, 765 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.55-1.75 (16H, m) 1.76-2.20 (2H, m) 2.36 (3H, s) 2.46-2.80 (2H, m) 7.00-7.54 (11H, m) ppm
The thus obtained 4-(2-(4-n-propyl-4-p-tolyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl)-3',4'-difluorobiphenyl was subjected to de-silylation reaction with iodine monochloride in the same manner as in Example 7, followed by reduction reaction with lithium aluminium hydride to obtain 19.3 g of the intended product (yield: 69%).
IR (liquid film)v max : 2924, 2852, 2087,1603, 1506, 1308, 1279, 814 cm -1
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.46-0.70 (4H, m) 0.92-1.05 (5H, m) 1.24-1.36 (3H, m) 1.36-1.50 (2H, m) 1.52-1.64 (2H, m) 2.04-2.16 (2H, m) 2.64-2.73 (2H, m) 3.76-3.87 (1H, m) 7.13-7.49 (7H, m) ppm
EXAMPLE 15
Preparation of 4-(2-(trans-4-n-pentyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl)3',4'-difluorobiphenyl
In the same manner as in Example 7, 54.9 g of 4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexane carbaldehyde and 52.0 g of a ylide compound obtained from 4-bromobenzyltriphenylphosphonium bromide and potassium t-butoxide to obtain 75.2 g (yield: 88%) 4-(2-(4-bromophenyl)ethenyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane which was made of a mixture of cis-trans isomers relative to the silacyclohexane ring and the double bond yielding four peaks when subjected to gas chromatography, both isomers having a GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, 70 eV) (m/z) + of 426 (M + ).
42.8 g of 4-(2-(4-bromophenyl)ethenyl)-1-n-pentyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclohexane was dissolved in 200 ml of ethanol at room temperature and then hydrogenated at normal pressures in the presence of a catalyst made of 200 mg of platinum oxide. After consumption of a theoretical amount of hydrogen, the catalyst was removed by filtration and the resultant flitrate was concentrated. 200 ml of tetrahydrofuran and 180 mg of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) palladium (0) were added to the resulting residue. Thereafter, 120 ml of a tetrahydrofuran solution of 1.0 mole of 3,4-difluorophenylzinc chloride, followed by agitation at 40° C. for 12 hours. The reaction mixture was poured into an ammonium chloride aqueous solution and extracted with ethyl acetate. After ordinary washing, drying and concentrating operations, the resultant product was purified through silica gel column chromatography to obtain 39.6 g (yield: 86%) of 4-(2-(4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl-3',4'-difluorobiphenyl.
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 1600, 1525,1500, 1310, 1260, 1110, 1100, 805, 765 cm -1
1 H-NMR (100 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.55-1.72 (20H, m) 1.76-2.22 (2H, m) 2.46-2.80 (2H, m) 7.00-7.60 (12H, m) ppm
In the same manner as in Example 7, 39.0 g of the thus obtained 4-(2-(4-n-pentyl-4-phenyl-4-silacyclohexyl)ethyl-3',4'-difluorobiphenyl was subjected to de-silylation reaction with iodine monochloride and then to reduction reaction with lithium aluminium hydride to obtain 17.9 g of the intended product (yield: 55%).
IR (liquid film)v max : 2920, 2850, 2100,1605, 1504, 1311, 1267, 814 cm -1
1 H-NMR (270 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 0.40-0.65 (4H, m) 0.82-0.97 (5H, m) 1.15-1.46 (9H, m) 1.48-1.60 (2H, m) 1.98-2.08 (2H, m) 2.60-2.68 (2H, m) 3.68-3.78 (1H, m) 7.15-7.49 (7H, m) ppm
As will be apparent from the foregoing description, the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the invention is a useful intermediate for preparing liquid crystal compounds and can thus be used to derive various types of silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compounds therefrom. For the preparation of the derivatives, the reactions in the respective steps substantially proceed at normal temperatures under normal pressures for several tens minutes to ten and several hours as will become apparent from the examples although higher or lower temperatures and/or pressures may be used, if desired. | A silacyclohexane carbaldehyde compound of the following formula (I) ##STR1## wherein Ar represents a phenyl group or a tolyl group, and R represents a phenyl group, a tolyl group, a linear alkyl group, a mono or difluoroalkyl group, a branched alkyl group, an alkoxyalkyl group or an alkenyl group. Processes for preparing a silacyclohexane-based liquid crystal compound of the following formula (II) or (III) from the silacyclohexane carbaldehyde are also described ##STR2## wherein X represents CN, F, Cl, CF 3 , CClF 2 , CHClF, OCF 3 , OCClF 2 , OCHF 2 , OCHClF, (O) m CT=CX 1 X 2 , O(CH 2 ) r (CF 2 ) s X 3 , R or OR wherein m is a value of 0 or 1, T and X 1 independently represent H, F or Cl, X 2 represents F or Cl, r and s are, respectively, a value of 0, 1 or 2 provided that r+s=2, 3 or 4, X 3 represents H, F or Cl, and R has the same meaning as defined before, Y and Z independently represent a halogen or a methyl group, i and j are independently a value of 0, 1 or 2. | 2 |
This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 365,418, filed Apr. 5, 1982, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the stabilization of drugs including antibiotics and food supplements. Particularly, it concerns the granulation of Efrotomycin, milbemycins, tylosin derivatives, e.g., A.I.V. (3-acetyl-4"-isovaleryl tylosin), antibiotics B-5050 and tetrahydro-B-5050, Ivermectin, mocimycin, goldinomycin and the like in alginic acid and magnesium hydroxide. It has been found that the granules so obtained exhibit unexpectedly enhanced stability and can be incorporated into various formulations without substantial decomposition. When the drugs or food supplements are administered to animals, the formulations include animal feed, pellets or feed premix.
Efrotomycin (FR-02A) is a new antibiotic which also exhibits growth-promoting activity. It is effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and accordingly is useful in the treatment of a broad spectrum of infections in animals. Efrotomycin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,251 issued May 17, 1977 to Maiese and Wax. The antibiotic is isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces lactamfuran by solvent extraction and is believed to have the molecular structure as follows: ##STR1##
The physical properties of Efrotomycin (FR-02A) are summarized as follows: Elemental analysis:
C 60.98%
H 7.60%
N 2.60%
The corresponding empirical formula C 59 H 90 N 2 O 21 is consistent with monohydrated FR-02A. This is in agreement with a molecular weight of about 1168 of the sodium complex of FR-02A determined by field desorption mass spectrometry. Further mass spectroscopic study of FR-02A determined the molecular weight 1144 for the uncomplexed compound corresponding to the empirical formula C 59 H 88 N 2 O 20 .
FR-02A as the ammonium salt is soluble in alcohol and chloroform. It is moderately soluble in water at pH 7.0 or higher. A U.V. spectrum of the ammonium salt in water showed:
max. 233 nm: E 1 cm 1% =320
max. 328 nm: E 1 cm 1% =180
After further purification FR-02A in the free acid has the following U.V. spectrum in methanol--0.05M phosphate buffer pH 6.85 (20:80):
max. 325 nm: E 1 cm 1% =317
max. 230 nm: E 1 cm 1% =554
max. 219 nm: E 1 cm 1% =556
Specific optical rotation of FR-02A sodium salt is [α] D 20 -56.6±0.5 (C=1, MeOH).
The nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of antibiotic FR-02A was obtained at 100 MHz with CDCl 3 as the solvent and tetramethylsilane (TMS) as the internal standard. Representative features of the spectrum were Doublets at 1.21(3H), 1.31(3H), 1.74(3H), 4.63(1H), 4.87(1H), 5.94(1H) and 7.32(1H) ppm. Overlapping signals of 4 other C-methyl groups centered at about 0.94 ppm; Singlets at 1.65(3H), 2.02(3H), 3.15(3H), 3.42(3H), 3.45(3H), 3.54(3H), and 3.58(3H) ppm.
The infrared absorption spectrum of antibiotic FR-02A in a Nujol mull exhibits characteristic absorption at the following wave lengths expressed in reciprocal centimeters:
Broad Band at: 3400
Strong bands at: 1640, 1460, 1380, 1080, 1020
Prominent bands at: 1550, 1505, 1240, 1195, 940, 860, 720, 620.
Further characteristics of FR-02A as well as the process for isolating the antibiotic are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,251 and are herein incorporated by reference.
Efrotomycin is found to be unstable at elevated temperatures especially in the presence of moisture and feed components. However, in administering Efrotomycin to animals, it is most convenient and economic to include the antibiotic-growth promotor agent in premixes for animal feeds. Usually a premix is blended into animal feeds followed by injection of steam resulting in a final temperature of 85°-100° C. The mixing process takes about 2-15 minutes. The agglomerates may be either cooled and dried to produce a mash feed or extruded to give pelleted feed. In other words, Efrotomycin must be stabilized first before it can be incorporated into animal feeds.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a method of formulation for the stabilization of Efrotomycin to enable the inclusion thereof in animal feed.
One of the commonly used methods of formulation for stabilization is granulation because of ease, efficiency and consequently lower cost. Methods described in the literature include granulation with specific inorganic materials (U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,885, Dec. 14, 1971) or with starch (U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,268, Sept. 13, 1977). Neither of these techniques were suitable for Efrotomycin.
Granulation with inorganic salts, particularly those of magnesium did result in some stabilization but unexpected synergistic improvement occurred when polysaccharides were incorporated into the formulation as can be seen from table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________The effect of the addition of polysaccharidegelling agents to magnesium hydroxide on thestability of efrotomycin stored in animal feedat 50° C., (all contain 5% efrotomycin andmagnesium hydroxide:gum in the weight ratio1:1). Magnesium Storage % of initialPolysaccharides hydroxide time remaining______________________________________ -- -- 17 days 12 -- present 25 days 56Guar gum (anionic) present 28 days 71Guar gum (nonionic) present 28 days 79Guar gum (cationic) present 28 days 55Tragacanth present 28 days 68Acacia present 28 days 81Alginic acid present 35 days 100Calcium alginate present 56 days 82Sodium alginate present 30 days 69Maize starch present 14 days 90Locust Bean gum present 14 days 83Agar-agar present 14 days 80______________________________________
For efrotomycin incorporation of alginic acid gives the best stabilization although all the polysaccharides including those listed in Table 1 and xanthan gum, karaya gum, gum ghatti, and carrageenan offer significant protection.
In case of efrotomycin, the ratio of alginic acid to magnesium hydroxide is important as can be seen in table 2.
TABLE 2______________________________________The effect of alginic acid - magnesiumhydroxide ratio on the stability ofefrotomycin stored in animal feed at 50° C.(all contain 10% efrotomycin). % of initial% Magnesium % Alginic remaining afterhydroxide w/w acid w/w 4 months storage______________________________________90 -- 2675 15 7360 30 9145 45 9330 60 10015 75 75-- 90 37______________________________________
It should be noted that the method of the present invention is not limited to Efrotomycin. Any other unstable animal drugs or food supplements may be incorporated into animal feeds or other formulations including human drug formulations according to the formula and process described herein. Particularly, for example, the following drugs:
(1) Ivermectin: a potent antiparasitic agent disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,569.
(2) Milbemycins (antibiotics B-41): antibiotics characterized in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,144,352; 3,950,360; and British Patent Specification No. 2,056,986.
(3) Tylosin and derivatives, e.g., A.I.V.: antibiotics disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,473. A.I.V. is the 3-acetyl-4"-isovaleryl derivative (R 1 is acetyl and R is isovaleryl in formula I) of tylosin.
(4) Antibiotics B-5050 and tetrahydro-B-5050: disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,842.
(5) Mocimycin dihydromocimycin, antibacterial agents disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,927,211 and 4,062,948.
(6) Goldinomycin disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,421.
The physical characterization, the biological activity as well as the isolation of the above-identified drugs are herein incorporated by reference.
It has been found that these drugs may also be stabilized by granulation with a polysaccharide gelling agent especially alginic acid blended with an inorganic salt, particularly metal oxides or hydroxides such as magnesium hydroxide. The granules may be incorporated into feed, tablets, capsules, or other formulations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a method of granulation for the stabilization of unstable or heat-sensitive animal drugs or food supplements, such as Efrotomycin, tylosin and derivatives (A.I.V.), milbemycins, avermectins such as Ivermectin, mocimycin, goldinomycin and the like. The granulation enables the incorporation of these drugs or food supplements into animal feeds or other formulations without substantial decomposition.
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention, to
(1) develop a granulation method which will produce sufficiently stable granules for inclusion of unstable drugs or food supplements in animal feeds, or other human and animal formulations;
(2) provide a novel stable formula or composition containing one or more of the granulated drugs or food supplements which is resistant to heat, humidity, and other adverse conditions; and
(3) apply the formula and process equally to other unstable human or animal drugs or food supplements for inclusion in feed, tablets or capsules or other suitable formulations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The stabilizing granulation formula of the present invention comprises:
(a) 0.1 to 70 parts by weight of an active compound especially Efrotomycin, A.I.V. or Ivermectin;
(b) 10 to 80 parts by weight of a polysaccharide gelling agent especially guar gums (natural or synthetic), tragacanth, acacia, alginic acid and its salts and derivatives, starch, locust bean gum, agar-agar, xanthan gum, karaya gum, gum ghatti and carrageenan or a mixture thereof; and
(c) 10 to 80 parts by weight of a metal salt especially an oxide, a hydroxide, a carbonate or a silicate of aluminum, calcium or magnesium, for example, magnesium hydroxide.
In a preferred embodiment, the formula comprises:
(a) 2-40 parts by weight of an active compound;
(b) 20-50 parts by weight of alginic acid; or calcium alginate or a combination thereof in the ratio 2-3 parts of alginic acid to 2-3 parts of calcium alginate; and
(c) 20-85 parts by weight of a metal oxide or hydroxide.
In the most preferred embodiment of this invention the formula comprises:
(a) 5-35 parts by weight of an active compound;
(b) 15-50 parts by weight of alginic acid; and
(c) 20-80 parts by weight of magnesium hydroxide.
Efrotomycin, while it is unstable in the below described feeds and feed additives, does not appear to be unstable to water alone. Thus, the instant process is not a strict protection method against hydrolysis. The instant formulation protects antibiotics against deterioration in the presence of feeds. Applicants do not wish to be bound by theory, but this may be accomplished by isolating the compound from the components of feed which cause the deterioration. Thus any compound which is intended for use in feed or feed-like components, and which is unstable in such feeds or feed-like components, but otherwise stable under neutral conditions will benefit from the use of the process of this invention.
For preparing the above defined formulae, the active compound is mixed and agglomerated with other ingredients in the indicated amounts. A sufficient amount of a solvent, for example water; lower alkanol especially C 1-6 alcohol such as ethanol and methanol; and lower alkanone especially C 1-6 alkanone such as acetone and diethylketone or a mixture thereof is added and thoroughly dispersed to obtain a wet mass of the desired consistency. Usually, the amount of the solvent needed is about 0.05-2 parts per part by volume of the mixed ingredients. Subsequently, the wet blend is sieved, dried, and screened to yield granules of desired sizes. Alternatively, the mixing can be carried out in a high speed mixer granulator followed by milling and drying in a fluidized bed.
Alternatively, the granulated product defined above may also be obtained by dry compression of the ingredients in the indicated amounts followed by subsequent grinding in order to get the granulated product. Alternatively, the mixed ingredients may be slurried with a suitable solvent and spray dried into granules.
The amount of biologically active compound in the granules may be adjusted up to the most convenient range-e.g., from 0.1 percent to 70 percent by weight--for facilitating the dispersion of the compounds in the feed, and the resulting composition (granules) is then dispersed in any suitable feed, premix substrate or simply used as premix by itself. When the granules are dispersed in animal feed, it is usually incorporated at the rate of about 0.1-10 kg per ton preferably 0.5-2 kg per ton to achieve the desired dose.
Usually the wet-granulation technique is used, the active compound, for example, Efrotomycin, is thoroughly mixed in the indicated amount with alginic acid and magnesium hydroxide. An adequate amount of water or other solvent is added to obtain a wet mass of required consistency. The resulting agglomerate is then granulated by passing through a 16 mesh (1000 μm) screen and dried at about 30°-60° C., preferably at about 45° C. for about 5-48 hours, usually about 15-20 hours. Optionally, the granules may be rescreened through a 30 mesh (595 μm) or other suitable screen to obtain the required size.
Alternatively the mixing can be carried out in a high speed mixer granulator followed by milling and drying in a fluidized bed at about 30° C. to 55° C. for about 1-5 hours.
Although it is not required for performing the invention the formulation may be admixed with suitable inert diluents such as lactose, sucrose, calcium phosphate or micro-crystalline cellulose. Disintegrating agents (e.g. starch or its modifications) or lubricants such as magnesium stearate, stearic acid, polyethylene glycol or talc may be added. The blend may be filled into capsules or compressed into tablets to allow the administration of stabilized drugs, e.g., Ivermectin, as a convenient oral dose.
The following examples are intended to illustrate the preparation of compositions of the invention but they are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof.
EXAMPLE 1
A wet blend was prepared from mixing the following components:
Efrotomycin (60% pure): 33.33 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 13.33 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 53.34 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was sieved 16 mesh, dried at 45° C. for 2 hours and then rescreened 30 mesh.
The dried granule was used as a "concentrate" which may then be blended with other inert ingredients, e.g., oiled rice hulls and then incorporated into animal feed at the rate of 0.5-2 kg per ton to achieve the appropriate dose. The stabilization of Efrotomycin was achieved in both the premix and feed as shown below in Table III.
TABLE III______________________________________Stability of unprotected and protected Efrothomycin(100 ppm) in feed and pelleted feed. (Concentrate)contains 20% by weight Efrotomycin; mean ± 1 std.deviation) Stability in feed Stability in (w/w % initial) pelleted feedStorage Efrotomycin Concentrate (w/w % initial)Conditions (60% pure) Concentrate______________________________________2 wks 40° C. -- -- 90.4 ± 13.1 50° C. -- 87.3 ± 13.3 80.7 ± 11.817 days 40° C. 22.1 ± 4.5 -- -- 50° C. 11.9 ± 3.3 -- --4 wks 40° C. 16.5 ± 6.3 75.0 ± 8.1 88.5 ± 5.7 50° C. Trace 73.1 ± 13.3 66.5 ± 4.76 wks 40° C. 10.5 ± 3.2 74.6 ± 4.2 98.2 ± 10.2 50° C. Trace 78.8 ± 8.1 64.3 ± 3.6712 wks 40° C. -- 106 ± 12.7 75.0 ± 8.1______________________________________
Following substantially the same procedure as described above, but substituting for Efrotomycin used therein Ivermectin, there is prepared a stabilized concentrate of Ivermectin.
EXAMPLE 2
A wet blend was prepared from mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin (60% pure): 8.35 parts by weight
Alginic Acid: 18.33 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 73.32 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate.
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization achieved in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feedStorage conditions (w/w % initial)______________________________________4 wks 40° C. 91.3 ± 7.9 50° C. 81.9 ± 8.77 wks 40° C. 89.8 ± 8.6 50° C. 72.1 ± 0.512 wks 40° C. 96.0 ± 9.6______________________________________
Following substantially the same procedure as described above, but substituting for Efrotomycin used therein Ivermectin, there is prepared a stabilized concentrate of Ivermectin.
EXAMPLE 3
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin: 8.4 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 45.8 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 45.8 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feedStorage Conditions (% initial)______________________________________9 weeks at 50° C. 99 ± 9______________________________________
EXAMPLE 4
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin: 8.4 parts by weight
Calcium alginate: 45.8 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 45.8 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feedStorage Conditions (w/w % initial)______________________________________4 weeks at 50° C. 83 ± 48 weeks at 50° C. 82 ± 5______________________________________
EXAMPLE 5
A wet blend is prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin: 8.4 parts by weight
Calcium alginate: 22.9 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 22.9 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 45.8 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend is treated as described in Example 1.
EXAMPLE 6
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin: 8.4 parts by weight
Maize starch: 45.8 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 45.8 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stablization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feedStorage Conditions (w/w % initial)______________________________________14 days at 50° C. 90 ± 828 days at 50° C. 83 ± 956 days at 50° C. 67 ± 8______________________________________
EXAMPLE 7
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin: 8.4 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 45.8 parts by weight
Magnesium oxide: 45.8 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feedStorage Conditions (w/w % initial)______________________________________18 days at 50° C. 94 ± 256 days at 50° C. 83 ± 25 months at 50° C. 82 ± 4______________________________________
EXAMPLE 8
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Efrotomycin (60% pure): 33.33 parts by weight
Alginic Acid: 33.33 parts by weight
Magnesium Hydroxide: 33.33 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________Storage Conditions Stability (%)______________________________________In Mash12 weeks at 37° C. 93 ± 612 weeks at 37° C. (Sodium Salt) 113 ± 7Pellets12 weeks at 37° C. 84 ± 1112 weeks at 37° C. (Sodium Salt) 93 ± 8______________________________________
EXAMPLE 9
A wet blend was prepared by mixing the following components.
Ivermectin: 1 part by weight
Alginic acid: 49.5 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 49.5 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend was treated as described in Example 1 and the stabilization in feed is shown below.
______________________________________ Stability in feed (w/w % initial) ProtectedStorage Conditions Ivermectin Ivermectin______________________________________ 7 days at 40° C. 90 --14 weeks at 40° C. 82 --4 weeks at 50° C. -- 85______________________________________
EXAMPLE 10
A blend is prepared by mixing the following components.
Ivermectin: 2 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 32.5 parts by weight
Starch (Directly compressible): 32.5 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 32.5 parts by weight
Magnesium stearate: 0.5 parts by weight
The blend is then compressed on a suitable tablet machine to produce thin compacts which are then milled to produce granules of about 0.5 mm diameter. Alternatively the blend may be passed through a roller compacter followed by screening.
The granule is then incorporated into feed as described in Example 1.
EXAMPLE 11
A wet blend is prepared by mixing the following components.
A.I.V.: 20 parts by weight
Alginic acid: 40 parts by weight
Magnesium hydroxide: 40 parts by weight
Water: sufficient to granulate
The wet blend is treated as described in Example 1.
EXAMPLE 12
Preparation of Tablet Formulation
______________________________________ MilligramsIngredient Per Tablet______________________________________Ivermectin granule 1.5Bone meal flour 300Microcrystalline cellulose 500Flavor 250Dibasic calcium phosphate 739.5Magnesium stearate 9______________________________________
The active granule is blended with a portion of the dibasic calcium phosphate and then incorporated with the flavor, microcrystalline cellulose and bone meal flour. The mix is blended to ensure homogeneity of Ivermectin, the magnesium stearate added and mixing continued for 3 minutes before compression on a suitable machine. Each tablet contains 75 μg of Ivermectin.
EXAMPLE 13
Preparation of Capsule Formulation
______________________________________ Milligrams perIngredient Capsule______________________________________Ivermectin granule as 10prepared in Example 9Starch 109Magnesium Stearate 1.0______________________________________
The active ingredient, starch and magnesium stearate are blended together. The mixture is used to fill hard shell gelatin capsules of a suitable size at a fill weight of 120 mg per capsule.
EXAMPLE 14
Following the procedure of Example 1, a protected wet blend containing mocimycin was prepared. The protected wet blend was granulated and incorporated into mash or feed pellets containing 100 ppm of mocimycin. The stability was noted as follows (percentages of original after the indicated time period):
______________________________________In mash 6 weeks at 30° C. 100% 6 weeks at 37° C. 99%In pellets 6 weeks at 30° C. 96% 6 weeks at 37° C. 83%______________________________________
The unprotected drug has a stability of less than 25% after 2 months at 37° C.
EXAMPLE 15
Following the procedure of Example 1 a protected wet blend containing goldinomycin was prepared. The protected wet blend was granulated and incorporated into feed. The stability is rated as follows:
______________________________________Storage Conditions Stability (%)______________________________________6 weeks at 37° C. 97%______________________________________ | A granulation method involving polysaccharide gelling agents, e.g., alginic acid, and a metal salt, e.g., magnesium salt is developed for the stabilization of heat and/or moisture sensitive drugs or food supplements such as Efrotomycin, avermectins, milbemycins, mocimycin and other drugs. It has been found that the granules so obtained can be incorporated into various formulations without substantial decomposition. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a variable valve timing control system for an engine of an automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,731 discloses a system for automatically varying the timing of a camshaft relative to a drive shaft of an internal combustion engine. This system comprises an axially slidable splined sleeve which connects the camshaft to its drive pulley, and is operated by the engine hydraulic fluid in such a manner as to change the angular position of the camshaft by way of a valve controlled by an electromagnetic actuator. The sleeve is axially movable between two limit positions, one being set by a return spring, and the other being set by application of the hydraulic fluid. Thus, the angular position of the camshaft is adjustable to only two positions.
An object of the present invention is to provide a continuously variable valve timing system wherein the angular position of the camshaft is continuously varied.
A specific object of the present invention is to provide a continuously variable valve timing system wherein, without relying on a feedback control to change the level of the hydraulic fluid, the angular position of the camshaft is continuously varied.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a continuously variable valve timing control system for an engine, comprising:
a camshaft;
a driver member;
a helical sleeve disposed between said camshaft and said driver member to provide a drive connection therebetween, said helical sleeve being axially movable between two limit positions to vary a phase between said camshaft and driver member;
means for actuating said helical sleeve to move between said two limit positions; wherein
an instantaneous position of said helical sleeve is detected, and there is provided means for restraining said helical sleeve moving in the two opposite directions when said instantaneous position detected reaches a new position, whereby said new position may vary continuously from one of said two limit positions to the other limit position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary section of an engine of an automobile, illustrating an embodiment of a continuously variable valve timing control system according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 used for explaining an operation; and
FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of a split, coned sleeve.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a portion of a DOHC engine is shown which includes a camshaft 1 rotatably supported via a bearing 2a on a cylinder head 2. The camshaft 1 includes an end portion 1a projecting outwardly into a chain or belt cover 25 from a longitudinal end of the cylinder head 2. The end portion 1a of the camshaft 1 has a cap 3 fixedly secured thereto for rotation therewith by means of a hollowed bolt 4. The hollowed bolt 4 is screwed axially inwardly from the axial end of the end portion 1a and defines an axial fluid passage 17. A flanged ring 8 is coupled with the end portion 1a in abutting engagement with the adjacent axial end of the cap 3 and splined to the camshaft 1. Disposed within the cover 25 is a driver member, i.e., a timing pulley 5. The timing pulley 5 includes a toothed portion 7 and a sleeve 6 which is drivingly coupled with the cap 3 via an axially split helical sleeve 10. The sleeve 6 has a righthand end, as viewed in FIG. 1, closed by the flanged ring 8 and a lefthand end, as viewed in FIG. 1, closed by a circular end plate 9. As readily seen from FIG. 1, the sleeve 6 cooperates with the circular end plate 9, the end portion 1a of the camshaft 1, and the helical sleeve 10 to define a pressure chamber 13. Although not illustrated, under the control of a control unit, an electromagnetic valve 18 determines a hydraulic fluid pressure in a fluid line 16b. Supply of hydraulic fluid to and discharge from the pressure chamber 13 is effected through the fluid line 16b, a radial passage 16a and the axial passage 17.
The helical sleeve 10 is axially divided into two annular pieces 10a and 10b which are interconnected by a plurality of pins, including a short pin 12 and an elongated pin 23. The short pin 12 is biased by a spring 11. A return spring 15 for the helical sleeve 10 is operatively disposed between the flanged ring 8 and the piece 10b. The helical sleeve 10 is formed with helical teeth on at least one of its inner and outer cylindrical surfaces and in mesh with an inner spline of the sleeve 6 and an outer spline of the cap 3 for providing a drive connection between the timing pulley 5 and the camshaft 1.
Denoted by the reference numeral 19 is a motion transmitting mechanism which includes the elongated pin 23, a floating disc 22 disposed in the chamber 13, and a motion sensing rod 24. The motion transmitting mechanism 19 is so constructed and arranged as to transmit at least an axial motion of the helical sleeve 10 to the motion sensing rod 24. The elongated pin 23 is fixedly connected to the disc 22 for unitary motion. The axial distance between the disc 22 and the helical sleeve 10 is so chosen that the disc 22 abuts the inner wall of the circular end plate 9 under the bias of the return spring 15, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, FIG. 1 illustrates a spring set limit position of the helical sleeve 10, i.e., one of two limit positions of the helical sleeve 10. The motion sensing rod 24 is fixedly connected to the disc 22 and extends through a central opening 9a of the circular end plate 9 and then through the cover 25 outwardly. The central opening 9a is sealed in a liquid tight manner.
Denoted by the reference numeral 20 is a device to releasably restrain the helical sleeve 10 moving in both axial directions after the helical sleeve 10 has left its limit positions. This restraining device 20 includes a tubular housing 26 having a flanged end fixedly secured to the cover 25 and coaxially extends in the axial direction of the motion sensing rod 24. The tubular housing 26 has an open end closed by an end plate 34a made of a synthetic resin.
Disposed within the tubular housing 26 is a generally annular body 27. The body 27 has a pair of axially spaced bores 27a and 27b through which the motion sensing rod 24 extends. Defined between the pair of bores 27a and 27b are a piston receiving axial cylindrical bore 31, a reduced diameter cylindrical bore 28b and a conical bore 28. The conical bore 28a has its tapered end connected to the bore 27a and its opposite end connected to the reduced diameter bore 28b through an annular shoulder 35. The restraining device 20 includes a split coned sleeve 29 and 30 as best seen in FIG. 3. The split coned sleeve 29 and 30 is disposed in the conical bore 28a and the reduced diameter bore 28b and is biased by a spring 37 to a spring set position as illustrated in FIG. 1. In this spring set position illustrated in FIG. 1, the sleeve portions 29 and 30 are radially spaced apart by a radial expansion slotted ring 36 so that their cylindrical wall portions 29e and 30e are pressed against the cylindrical wall of the reduced diameter bore 28b, while the spring 37 biases the sleeve portions 29 and 30 until their circular shoulders 38 are pressed against the shoulder 35 of the bore. In this position, the conical tapered walls 29a and 30a of the sleeve portions 29 and 30 are spaced from the conical bore defining wall 28a. Disposed within the cylindrical bore 31 is an annular piston 39 formed with a central bore 39a through which the motion sensing rod 24 extends. The piston 39 divides the interior of the cylindrical bore 31 into an apply chamber 33a and a release chamber 33b. The piston 39 has an integral reduced diameter working piston portion 40 formed with a conical bore 40a opposed to conical tapered walls 29b and 30b of the sleeve portions 29 and 30. This working portion 40 is slidably received in the reduced diameter bore portion 28b. In FIG. 1, the piston 39 is in its rest position where the conical bore 40a defining wall is spaced from the conical tapered walls 29b and 30b of the sleeve portions 29 and 30.
The supply of hydraulic fluid to each of the apply and release chambers 33a and 33b is controlled by an electromagnetic valve 43. When it takes the position as illustrated in FIG. 1, the hydraulic fluid discharged from a pump 41 is supplied via a fluid line 42b to the release chamber 33b, while the hydraulic fluid is discharged from the apply chamber 33a via a fluid line 42a. When the valve 43 shifts to a position as illustrated in FIG. 2, the hydraulic fluid is discharged from the release chamber 33b and the hydraulic fluid is supplied to the apply chamber 33a, urging the piston 39 to urge the split coned sleeve 29 and 30 to hold the motion sensing rod 24 and into firm engagement with the body 35. Under this condition, the axial motion of the motion sensing rod 24 and thus the helical sleeve 10 is restrained, although its rotational motion is allowed since the body 27 rotates with the motion sensing rod 24.
The motion sensing rod 24 has an end portion 24a extending into a sleeve 34b integral with the end plate 34a. The sleeve 34b is surrounded by a coil 34c which forms a part of a electromagnetic pick-up of a rod stroke sensor 34.
The operation is as follows:
During stroke of the helical sleeve 10 between its two limit positions, the valve 43 takes the position as illustrated in FIG. 1 to allow free axial motion of the motion sensing rod 24. The helical sleeve 10 moves from the position illustrated in FIG. 1 toward the right as viewed in FIG. 1 if the pressurized hydraulic fluid is supplied to the chamber 13 by placing the electromagnetic valve 18 at one of two positions thereof. If reverse movement of the helical sleeve 10 is desired, the electromagnetic valve 18 is shifted to the other position to discharge hydraulic fluid from the chamber 13. The instantaneous axial position of the helical sleeve 10 is detected by the stroke sensor 34. Thus, if the instantanous axial position of the helical sleeve 10 reaches a desired position, the valve 43 is switched to the position shown in FIG. 2 to urge the split coned sleeve 29 and 30 to hold the motion sensing rod 42. In this manner, without any delay, the helical sleeve is locked to the desired axial position. | A continuously variable valve timing control system comprises a camshaft, a timing sprocket, and a helical sleeve disposed between the camshaft and the timing sprocket to provide a drive connection therebetween. The helical sleeve is axially movable between two limit axial positions to vary a phase between the camshaft and timing sprocket. An instantaneous axial position of the helical sleeve is detected. A split, coned sleeve holds a motion sensing rod for restraining the helical sleeve moving in both axial directions when the instantaneous axial position detected reaches a new axial position. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of oil and gas drilling, in particular to a downhole mud-driven rotating magnetic field generator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] With the development of modern oil and gas drilling technology, measuring while drilling tool (MWD tool) is more and more widely used in the drilling process. The MWD tool transmits the underground data to the ground by means of mud pulse, electromagnetic wave, or sound wave, so that the technicians on the ground can analyze the data and then adjust the drilling progress accordingly.
[0003] In the prior art, power is supplied to a downhole MWD tool mainly in two ways, namely through battery pack and through generator. Because the capacity and safety of a battery pack are greatly affected by the temperature, when the temperature reaches 120, the capacity of the battery pack decreases by 20%. The temperature limit of a battery pack is about 175. In addition, the transducer and electronic circuits of the MWD tool only require a few or a dozen watts of power, however, part of the underground measuring and controlling system can consume as much as 700 watts. To prolong the operation time of the tool underground, downhole generator is mainly used as the power source for the MWD tool at present, which supplies power for the battery and/or the transducer group and the signal generating device.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,464 discloses an MWD tool which integrates a mud pulse generator and a turbine generator. The turbine generator comprises a turbine impeller, a drive shaft, a transmission, a three-phase alternator, and a rotational speed measurement device. Because the space underground is limited and the generator can only provide relatively low power, the turbine generator cannot meet the requirement of the drilling process. In addition, in this device, a gearbox is used to obtain the rotary speed response from the turbine and the generator, which adds complexity to the structure of the MWD tool. Moreover, since the coils directly contact the mud, it requires highly of the mud quality, bearing performance, and the insulation of the coils; and the coils are easy to be damaged at high speed under severe environment, such as high temperature and intense vibration, for long terms.
[0005] CN 201010533100.2 discloses a petroleum drilling mud generating system which comprises coil windings, a magnet, an impeller, an upper plug, a lower plug, a central shaft, and an isolation sleeve, wherein the magnet is embedded in the impeller hub; the coil windings are fixed in a closed cavity formed by the central shaft, the upper and lower plugs, and the isolation sleeve; and the impeller hub is in clearance fit with the isolation sleeve. When the mud with pressure flushes from top to bottom, the flushed impeller rotates so that the magnet embedded in the impeller hub rotates synchronously with the impeller, and the coils cut through the magnetic lines of force to generate power. Moreover, an abrasion-resistant alloy sleeve is provided between the impeller and the isolation sleeve, which provides supporting and straightening functions when the impeller rotates. And a shock absorber is provided between the alloy sleeve and the plugs, so as to reduce influence of the mud impact on the abrasion-resistant alloy sleeve.
[0006] This petroleum drilling mud generating system is advantageous in that it no longer uses dynamic seal. However, it adopts clearance fit between the rotor and the isolation sleeve, with mud as the lubricant, so as to fulfill the functions of supporting and straightening. When operating at high speed in the mud, because sand unavoidably exists in the mud, sand stuck can easily occur, causing the whole system to fail and mud lubrication failure. In addition, the metal isolation sleeve, which is placed between the magnet and the coil windings, suffers from eddy current loss in a changing magnetic field, making it very difficult for the system to generate high power. In the meantime, eddy current loss directly manifests as heat, causing temperature rise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present disclosure provides a downhole rotating magnetic field generator, comprising: a stator assembly, comprising a stationary cylindrical body and windings arranged in a first region of the body; and a rotor assembly, comprising a permanent magnet arranged radially outside of the windings and a turbine rotor arranged in a second region of the body which is axially adjacent to the first region, wherein the turbine rotor and the permanent magnet are fixedly connected with each other along an axial direction, and arranged on the body at both ends of the rotor assembly respectively through a first bearing and a second bearing.
[0008] In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, a first internal fluid passage and a second internal fluid passage, which are communicated with each other, are formed respectively between the turbine rotor and the body and between the permanent magnet and the windings, so that a part of fluid passing through the generator enters the first internal fluid passage through the first bearing and then is discharged through the second bearing after flowing through the second internal fluid flow passage.
[0009] In one embodiment, a first external fluid passage is arranged on the periphery of the turbine rotor.
[0010] According to the present disclosure, a guiding stator is arranged on a third region of the body which is axially adjacent to the second region, a second external fluid passage is arranged on the periphery of the guiding stator, and a third internal fluid passage communicated with the first internal fluid passage is arranged inside the guiding stator.
[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, an adjusting ring is arranged between the turbine rotor and the body, the first internal fluid passage being arranged between the turbine rotor and the adjusting ring, and the first bearing being placed on the periphery of the adjusting ring.
[0012] According to another preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a slip ring is arranged between the guiding stator and the first bearing.
[0013] According to the present disclosure, the first bearing comprises a rotor upper bearing and a radial bearing, and the second bearing comprises a rotor lower bearing and a body bearing.
[0014] According to a preferred embodiment, an insulation layer is formed radially outside of the windings.
[0015] According to another preferred embodiment, a yoke and a non-magnetically conductive shield are respectively arranged radially outside and inside of the permanent magnet, the second internal fluid passage being arranged between the insulation layer and the non-magnetically conductive shield.
[0016] According to the present disclosure, the body comprises an axial inner passage and a radial passage arranged in the first region thereof, an electrical lead, which passes through a radial passage in a sealed manner and connects to the windings, is used to output the electric power and/or signal generated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the drawings are provided only to better illustrate the present disclosure, and should not be construed as limitations thereto. In the drawings,
[0018] FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a downhole rotating magnetic field generator according to the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0019] A specific embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 .
[0020] The downhole rotating magnetic field generator 100 according to the present disclosure mainly comprises a stator assembly and a rotor assembly. The stator assembly comprises a stationary, cylindrical body 1 . The cylindrical body 1 , as a mounting base of the whole generator, is configured as an elongated shaft-shaped member. All the components of the generator 100 can be mounted on the cylindrical body 1 . Windings 20 are arranged on a certain region of the body 1 (namely a first region L1). In one specific embodiment, a projection 25 in form of an integral step is arranged on one end (the right end in FIG. 1 ) of the first region L1, so that the windings 20 can be positioned axially thereon.
[0021] In a preferred embodiment, an insulation layer 13 is arranged radially outside of the windings 20 , and a set of laminations 19 is arranged radially inside of the windings 20 . During operation, the body 1 does not rotate. Therefore, the windings 20 , the set of laminations 19 , and the insulation layer 13 do not rotate during operation, either.
[0022] According to the present disclosure, the rotor assembly comprises a permanent magnet 10 arranged in the first region L1 of the body 1 . The magnet 10 is also located radially outside of the windings 20 , and one end (the right end in FIG. 1 ) thereof is defined by a second bearing, namely a lower bearing 14 and a body bearing 15 .
[0023] A turbine rotor 8 is arranged on one side (the left side in FIG. 1 ) of a second region L2 of the body 1 which is adjacent to the first region L1. The turbine rotor 8 is axially adjacent to and fixed connected with the permanent magnet 10 . The rotor assembly is arranged on the body 1 at both ends thereof respectively through the first bearing and the second bearing. The first bearing and the second bearing can both be, for example, sliding bearings.
[0024] In a preferred embodiment, a yoke 9 can be arranged outside of the permanent magnet 10 . The yoke 9 is fixedly connected to both the turbine rotor 8 and the permanent magnet 10 , so that the turbine rotor 8 and the permanent magnet 10 can rotate as a whole. Preferably, a non-magnetically conductive shield 11 can be arranged inside of the permanent magnet 10 to protect the permanent magnet 10 .
[0025] A first external fluid passage 8 a is arranged on the periphery of the turbine rotor 8 . During operation of the generator 100 underground, fluid, such as mud, flows through the first external fluid passage 8 a , so as to drive the turbine rotor 8 to rotate. Because the permanent magnet 10 is fixedly connected to the turbine rotor 8 , it rotates therewith. Thus, the rotating permanent magnet moves relative to the stationary windings 20 by cutting through the magnetic lines of force, so as to generate power.
[0026] According to a preferred embodiment, a first internal fluid passage 12 a is arranged between the turbine rotor 8 and the body 1 , and a second internal fluid passage 12 b is arranged between the permanent magnet 10 and the windings 20 . The first internal fluid passage 12 a and the second internal fluid passage 12 b are communicated with each other.
[0027] In this case, during operation of the generator 100 underground, most of the mud passes through the first external fluid passage 8 a on the periphery of the turbine rotor 8 to drive the turbine rotor to generate power. A small portion of mud enters the first internal fluid passage 12 a through the first bearing, then passes through the second internal fluid passage 12 b , and finally flows out of the generator 100 through the second bearing. Thus, this small portion of mud can effectively lower the temperature at the windings 20 , thereby extending the service life of the generator 100 significantly. Furthermore, the small portion of mud can also act as lubricant for the first bearing and the second bearing, and also prevent sand from being deposited thereon, so that the service life of the generator 100 can be further extended significantly.
[0028] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the generator 100 further comprises a guiding stator 3 . The guiding stator 3 is arranged on a third region L3 of the body 1 , which is axially adjacent to the second region L2, towards a side of the second region L2 opposite to the first region L1. Therefore, the guiding stator 3 and the turbine rotor 8 are axially adjacent with each other. A second external fluid passage 3 a is arranged on the periphery of the guiding stator 3 . The second external fluid passage 3 a is aligned with the first external fluid passage 8 a arranged on the periphery of the turbine rotor 8 , or staggered therefrom at a certain angle.
[0029] With the guiding stator 3 , the impact of mud will be diverted from the turbine rotor 8 to the guiding stator 3 , so that the load on the turbine rotor 8 can be effectively decreased, thus the service life of the generator 100 can be further prolonged. In addition, a third internal fluid passage 12 c , which communicates with the first internal fluid passage 12 a , is arranged inside the guiding stator 3 . In this case, part of the underground fluid can flow past the generator 100 through the third internal fluid passage 12 c , the first bearing, the first internal fluid passage 12 a , the second internal fluid passage 12 b , and the second bearing in succession.
[0030] Between the turbine rotor 8 and the body 1 , an adjusting ring 17 can be arranged. Under this condition, the first internal fluid passage 12 a is provided between the turbine rotor 8 and the adjusting ring 17 , and the first bearing is provided on the periphery of the adjusting ring 17 . With this adjusting ring 17 , the size of the first internal fluid passage 12 a can be more easily controlled, and the manufacturing and assembly of the turbine rotor 8 can be convenient.
[0031] The first bearing can comprise, for example, a rotor upper bearing 6 and a radial bearing 7 . The rotor upper bearing 6 is arranged on one end of the turbine rotor 8 adjacent to the third region L3, and forms an axial bearing pair with one end of the guiding stator 3 adjacent to the second region L2. In the meantime, the rotor upper bearing 6 and the radial bearing 7 , which is arranged on the body 1 or on the adjusting ring 17 , form a radial bearing pair.
[0032] In one specific embodiment, the generator 100 further comprises a slip ring 5 arranged between the guiding stator 3 and the turbine rotor 8 . For example, the slip ring 5 can be fixedly connected with the guiding stator 3 by means of a combination of interference fit and adhesive, thus providing a stable positioning restriction. Thus, under intense vibration and impact underground, the slip ring 5 and the rotor upper bearing 6 of the first bearing will contact each other and form a sliding bearing pair, so that direct contact of the guiding stator 3 with the turbine rotor 8 can be avoided. Therefore, the possibility of turbine rotor 8 being damaged can be reduced.
[0033] The second bearing can comprise, for example, a rotor lower bearing 14 arranged on the lower end of the yoke 9 and a body bearing 15 arranged on the body 1 . The rotor lower bearing 14 and the body bearing 15 form a sliding bearing pair and an axial thrust bearing pair.
[0034] According to the present disclosure, an axial inner passage 18 is formed inside the body 1 . A passage 22 penetrating the sidewall of the body 1 is arranged in the first region L1. A sealed contact pin 16 is arranged inside the passage 22 , which connects with the windings 20 and extends into the inner passage 18 through an electrical lead 21 . According to the present disclosure, the inner passage 18 can be in form of a blind hole for directly outputting the power generated. The inner passage 18 can also be in form of a step shape through-hole along the axis thereof, under which case, when the generator supplies power to the underground system, the inner passage 18 can also serve as a signal passage passing through the generator.
[0035] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure and components in the present disclosure could be substituted by equivalents. Particularly, as long as there is no structural conflict, all the technical features mentioned in all the embodiments may be combined together in any manner. These combinations are not exhaustively listed and described in the description merely for saving resources and keeping the description concise and brief. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed in the description, but includes all the technical solutions falling into the scope of the claims. | The present disclosure relates to a downhole rotating magnetic field generator, wherein a stator assembly is formed by fixedly connecting a guiding stator, windings, and a body together, and a rotor assembly is formed by mounting a turbine rotor and a permanent magnet together. Between the stator assembly and the rotor assembly, sliding bearings are arranged and small mud passages are formed. There is no metal isolation between the rotor and the stator for cutting through the magnetic lines of force, so that the eddy current loss is relatively small. Meanwhile, with mud flowing through the passages as lubricant, overheating of the generator can be prevented and high power output can be ensured. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of and priority to: U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 15/238,387 entitled “Human Hand-Crawling and Foot-Bounding Apparatus” and filed Aug. 16, 2016, Confirmation No. 2673, now U.S. Pat. No. ______; which in turn claims the benefit of the filing date of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/386,960 filed Dec. 15, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/282,937 filed Aug. 17, 2015; said applications being incorporated by reference herein in their entireties for all purposes.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for a user to engage in physical exercise, and more particularly relates to an apparatus that enables a user to simultaneously exercise both arms and both legs while crawling on all-fours according to a unique bounding exercise protocol.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The background information discussed below is presented to better illustrate the novelty and usefulness of the present invention. This background information is not admitted prior art.
[0005] There have been myriad attempts to improve physical exercise and fitness routines to promote an individual's good health and well-being. On a regularly recurring basis, television screens are saturated with infomercials and the like advertising sure-to-succeed exercise and dance routines seemingly guaranteed to develop for the television-viewer a sound body and healthy physique, not to mention to expedite weight reduction and other health benefits. But, there has been significantly less emphasis upon providing low-impact, essentially stress-free exercises and the like targeted for use by injured or handicapped or otherwise crippled personnel or senior citizens or even the elderly. Indeed, generally, rehabilitation and exercise routines have typically been the exclusive bailiwick of professional therapists and the healthcare professionals.
[0006] Nevertheless, there have been attempts to improve the state of the art for promoting such disadvantaged individuals' good health and well-being. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,494, Maguire discloses a contoured crutch which has a hand grip contoured to receive the heel of the hand. Positioned upwardly from the rear of the hand grip is a concave or hollowed-out arm receiving section which continues up to a little bit above the elbow of the user, or may be of just sufficient length to receive part of the forearm. A body support, shaped somewhat like the conventional underarm or armpit grip, but curved to fit more comfortably against the side of the body as well as in the armpit, forms the top portion of the crutch and is situated just slightly above the top portion of the arm support. The hand grip has a rear portion which is somewhat flattened and of an enlarged area, and which is contoured to receive the heel of the user's hand, and has a slightly convex contoured portion to fit into the palm of the hand, while the fingers may be lapped around the forward portion of the hand grip and the other edge indented a concavity to comfortably fit the grasping thumb. The curved arm support extending up from the heel of the hand receives the forearm and the elbow and the lower portion of the upper arm to be supported and maintained thereby. At the same time this arm support, behind the forearm and elbow, does not completely capture these parts, so that the individual using the crutch is not deprived of complete freedom of movement of the arm into other positions if necessary or intended.
[0007] As another example, Gilmore, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,811, discloses overcoming a long-standing deficiency of spring-tension crutch cuffs and also cuffs tend to be loose-fitting to facilitate insertion of forearms thereinto but fail to grip the forearm with sufficient firmness to assure stability. A cylindrically-curved cuff pivotally connected to joinder member by a pivot pin/bolt; joinder member configured with pair of orthogonal angularly-spaced side arms. The cylinder is split and grooved at approximately 15° from a lug, thereby forming a narrow thin hinge section. This split and hinge divide the cylindrical cuff strap into a larger section that is fixed with respect to lug and a smaller movable section that is pivoted for enabling swinging movement toward and away from the free end thereof. This configuration is essential so that the larger fixed section overhangs the forearm of the user so that the crutch remains hanging from the forearm, even though the smaller section is wide open, while at the same time the opening provided is sufficiently wide to allow the forearm to be removed sideways from the cuff.
[0008] Still another crutch-based improvement in the art was disclosed by Herr in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,143 in which a crutch having an elbow spring and shank spring permits maximum locomotion efficiency by a user for maneuvering over flat surfaces, up and down steps, and up and down hills. It attaches to user's arm wherein elastic springs absorb the energy of impact of the crutch with a surface and then releases this energy to propel the user upwards and forwards. The Herr Crutch also has springs for storing energy when the elbow flexes and releases energy to assist elbow extension, thereby enabling the user to invoke both elbow muscle flexors and extensors to ascend stairways and hills. This invention demonstrates how springs can be used in a crutch to maximize cushioning, stability, and efficiency.
[0009] Bingham, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,087, discloses an apparatus to assist a developmentally-delayed child assume various postural and ambulatory positions including oblique or horizontal crawling all-fours or quadruped positions. Straps are connected proximal to a child's rear hip and height-adjustment is readily achieved in order to hold the child at a predetermined height, thereby enabling the child to move down to a hand-and-knee weight-bearing crawling position or up therefrom in a non-weight-bearing, suspended position from above. Embodiments can also be used for disabled adults. The straps are strategically emplaced upon a user's shoulder areas and interconnected with an axially slidable adjustable damping member that limits the “bounce” invoked as incentive to trigger controlled creeping or quadruped movement
[0010] Buitoni, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,065, teaches extending the reach of a user's forearms for equalizing the hip-to-foot distance and shoulder-to-forearm extension distance. The rear dorsal portion of a user's hand grasps a brace in the forward direction and elbow-end of his forearm is grasped by an arm-embracer, and at least a portion of the wrist-end of the forearm contacts a forearm support at its forward-facing surface. With this brace being connected to a post, the brace-post combination is slidably engaged and coupled by a shock-absorbing coupling. The outer end of the post terminates in a foot that, when contacting the ground, enables the brace-post combination to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the forward direction. Accordingly, the foot may be hinged to the post, interconnected to the post with a flat spring, or have a lower cylindrical surface—having along axis parallel to the axis of rotation. The shock-absorbing coupling reduces impulse transmitted to the user's writ and shoulder as the user's foot strikes the ground.
[0011] In U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,789, Alter discloses pair of arm braces that enable walking or running movement on all fours that simultaneously exercises arms and legs absent any back stress, which is commonly experienced during conventional locomotion in a vertical orientation—on two feet of course—absent squatting. These relatively short braces are grasped akin to crutches wherein the back dorsal portion of the user's hands are facing outwards, perpendicular to direction of movement. This orientation appears to be counterproductive to facilitating users' all-fours stride-length (similar to that of a four-legged animal). Lengths of its support member and U-shaped member are selected wherein the arm brace compensates for different length of a user's arms and legs. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,998,043, Zhou et al. disclose a prone crawling dual-track exercise apparatus that simulates a four-limbed animal's crawling-based locomotion; and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,356, Lillibridge discloses a creeping device for assisting physically and mentally retarded users perform creeping-based exercises.
[0012] Accordingly, while limited progress has been made for enabling physically or mentally challenged individuals to engage in regular exercise routines to promote health and wellness, what is needed in the art is an apparatus that effectively enables users of virtually all physical and mental conditions, regardless of whether normal or injured or handicapped or otherwise deficient, to participate in essentially natural crawling-based exercise routines that require minimum balance and stability attributes, and nevertheless afford maximum benefit to be derived from simultaneously implicating both arms and both legs in an all-fours protocol. These limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with embodiments of the present invention, wherein improved means and techniques are provided which are especially useful for effectuating all-fours exercise routines in which the user has the benefit of invoking an embodiment of the instant hand-crawler glove apparatus that enables exercises to be conducted at a pace commensurate with the user's physical and mental capabilities and athletic prowess, while inherently avoiding undue impact or stress upon the user's anatomy and intertwined joints and musculature. The prior art appears to be devoid of any convenient and sufficiently portable apparatus that reliably enables a user to engage in challenging all-fours crawling exercises as contemplated herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention teaches a hand-crawling apparatus that enables a user to engage in all-fours crawling locomotion rather than engaging in walking, jogging and/or running while the body is conventionally inherently situated in a substantially two-legged vertical orientation frequently associated with strain on the back, joints and implicated anatomical structures. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention facilitate users of virtually all levels of physical and mental health and wellness to effectively engage in all-fours crawling exercises associated with minimal strain on the back, joints and implicated anatomical structures.
[0014] The present invention also teaches a foot-bounding and rebounding apparatus that enables walkers, joggers, runners and even jumpers to engage in unique forward and backward locomotion while essentially positioned erect on two feet or alternatively while using one or two crutches to effectuate such locomotion.
[0015] Embodiments of the human hand-crawler apparatus contemplated herein enable even a user plagued with an imbalance condition or suffering from a temporary or permanent physical disability to engage in challenging physical exercise that inherently minimizes the demands and stress associated with physical exercise, by enabling such a user to simultaneously exercise both arms and legs while crawling on all-fours at varying rates of speed depending upon user-physical capability.
[0016] Hand-crawler glove embodiments taught herein are configured for each of a user's hands to be easily inserted thereinto, with each hand disposed within a respective hand-crawler glove affixed to a substantially horizontal hand-platform. This hand-platform is preferably disposed substantially parallel to a spaced-apart cushioned layered base member having a vertical threaded post member disposed therebetween. The hand-platform and base member are flexibly joined by a combination of a spring member disposed circumferentially of the post member and within a housing, in one embodiment hereof, in conjunction with an arcuate flexible brace member disposed at one end of the base member. Once the user's hands are inserted into each of a pair of hand-crawler gloves and secured thereinto, the user engages in all-fours crawling under unique upwards and downwards undulating vertical spring-driven motion while synchronously progressing horizontally on the ground in whippy-like locomotion as will be elucidated herein.
[0017] In another embodiment hereof, the hand-platform and base member are also flexibly joined by just a spring member disposed circumferentially of the post member and within a suitable housing. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in order for this alternative embodiment to sustain prerequisite stability without unduly compromising contemplated flexibility, the spring should afford suitable compression-expansion characteristics in a manner well known in the art. It is contemplated that embodiments of the present invention would be commercially available in kit-form or package-form having a variety of interchangeable spring members to accommodate users of varying sizes and weights.
[0018] In still another embodiment hereof, the stability of the hand-platform may be reinforced by a readily removable stabilizer cylinder that inherently supplements the vertical integrity of the underlying apparatus. As will become apparent to those conversant in the art, incorporating this stabilizer cylinder into the instant hand-crawling glove apparatus has been particularly advantageous for overweight users or adult users suffering from balance limitations.
[0019] In yet another embodiment hereof, a spiral-driven, spring-based crutch apparatus is disclosed which would be profoundly useful in conjunction with a specially-adapted crutch. As is commonplace in the art, such a specially-adapted crutch or pair of crutches would be adjusted to a user's size attributes and then the threaded pole portion thereof would be screwably inserted into the apparatus taught hereunder to enable the user to benefit from engaging in whippy locomotion as will be hereinafter described.
[0020] In another embodiment hereof, a spiral-driven, spring-based foot-bounding apparatus wherein a user would essentially stand erect during locomotion is disclosed which has been found to be particularly advantageous for such fitness activities as power-walking, jogging, running and even jumping.
[0021] It is an object and advantage of embodiments of the present invention to provide a convenient, inexpensive and lightweight portable hand-crawling apparatus that facilitates all-fours crawling locomotion.
[0022] It another object of the present invention to provide a hand-crawler apparatus having an interchangeable spring mechanism that urges a user's upper body to intermittently rise and fall vertically in a controlled manner similar to whippy locomotion, as taught herein.
[0023] It yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for engaging in all-fours crawling exercise routines at various speeds commensurate with the user's physical and mental capability and athletic prowess, while incurring minimal impact upon the user's anatomy and implicated joints, ligaments and musculature.
[0024] It another object of the present invention to provide a spring-based crutch apparatus having an interchangeable spring mechanism that urges a user's upper body to intermittently rise and fall vertically in a controlled manner similar to whippy locomotion, as taught herein.
[0025] In one embodiment, there is disclosed a hand-crawling apparatus having a pair of hand-crawling members for enabling a user having particular weight and height attributes to engage in whippy locomotion, with each hand-crawling member thereof comprising: a hand-glove assembly having a planar hand-platform member with a top surface and a bottom surface; a hand-embracing member affixed to the top surface of the planar hand-platform member; a cylindrical post assembly affixed at one end thereof to the bottom surface of the hand-platform member having a cylindrical post member projecting perpendicularly therefrom and downwardly thereof, with external threads circumferentially disposed upon the cylindrical post member; a base assembly comprising a cylindrical housing member with an axially disposed central whorl hole with internal threads sized to mate with the external threads of the cylindrical post member at one end thereof, and threadedly attached to the cylindrical post member; and the base assembly having a replaceable spring member disposed immediately below the cylindrical housing member and secured in a substantially vertical position between a first retainer member affixed thereto at one end of the replaceable spring member and a second retainer member therebelow affixed to a substantially planar base plate member at the other opposite end of the replaceable spring member.
[0026] In one embodiment, the hand-embracing member comprises a front hand-embracing member disposed at a first end of the planar hand-platform member and affixed thereto, for embracing fingers of the hand of a user and having a strap member for securing the fingers thereto. In another embodiment, the hand-embracing member comprises a rear hand-embracing member disposed at a second end of the planar hand-platform member, oppositely of the first end thereof, and attached to the hand-platform member, for embracing a heel and wrist of the hand of the user and having a strap member for securing the heel and the wrist thereto, thereby preventing lateral movement thereof. In other embodiments, the planar hand-platform member comprises shock-absorption material selected from cork or gel to promote comfort and to avoid injury to a plethora of bones and concomitant ligaments and muscles constituting and proximal to hands of the user and similarly, to a back of the user.
[0027] The external threads of the cylindrical post member may further comprise a pair of groove members laterally and symmetrically disposed thereupon. The planar hand-platform member may be rotated about the cylindrical post member to adjust a height thereof above the base assembly to be commensurate with the user's height attribute and then is securely engaged with one of the pair of groove members at an adjusted height with a fastener means disposed upon a ring member contiguous with and affixed to the cylindrical housing member.
[0028] In another embodiment of the hand-crawling member, the replaceable spring member may be inserted between the first retainer member and the second retainer member, and secured therebetween.
[0029] The base plate member may be attached substantially in its entirety therebeneath to a skid-resistant elastomeric sole member by a plurality of stud members affixed to an upper surface of the sole member projecting substantially vertically therefrom which are received in a plurality of stud member holes contained on the base plate member and being secured thereof by a plurality of fastener members.
[0030] A method of exercising using a hand-crawling apparatus is disclosed herein of where the pair of hand-crawling members include a first and a second hand-crawling member, where the first hand-crawling member has a first hand-embracing member and a first replaceable spring member and the second hand-crawling member has a second hand-embracing member and a second replaceable spring member, and the user commences undulating alternating upward and downward whippy locomotion therewith, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving one of the user's hands in the first hand-embracing member and the one of the user's hands being releasably secured thereto and receiving another one of the user's hands in the second hand-embracing member and the another one of the user's hands being releasably secured thereto; (b) positioning a body of the user into a crawling posture with each of the first and second hand-crawling members and feet of the user being placed upon the ground; (c) initiating leading forward locomotion with the first hand-embracing member being propelled upwardly by expansion of the first replaceable spring member, while simultaneously a weight of the user self-generates force downwardly thereby urging trailing forward locomotion with the second hand-embracing member imparting pressure thereupon thereby causing the second replaceable spring member to transition from being uncompressed to being compressed; (d) continuing forward locomotion by disposing the first hand-crawling member and the second hand-crawling member in a diametrically opposite arrangement with the second hand-embracing member being propelled upwardly by expansion of the second replaceable spring member, while simultaneously the use's weight self-generates force downwardly thereby urging trailing forward locomotion with the first hand-embracing member imparting pressure on the first replaceable spring member thereby causing the first replaceable spring member to transition from being uncompressed to being compressed; and (e) intermittently effectuating successive compression and decompression of the first replaceable spring member and the second replaceable spring member thereby enabling the whippy locomotion to be continued so long as the user engages the first and second hand-crawling members.
[0031] The base assembly may further comprise a brace assembly affixed to a top surface of the base plate member at one end thereof spaced apart from the cylindrical post assembly and with an arcuate flexible brace support member adjoined with the cylindrical housing member at a top portion thereof. The flexible arcuate brace support member may be configured with an arc preferably having an angle from 95° to 135° to augment support of the planar hand-platform member and to simultaneously provide sufficient flexion. The arcuate flexible brace support member may further comprise a zonal flat configuration or a double cylindrical parallel configuration.
[0032] The hand-crawling apparatus base assembly may also have a plurality of gap members disposed upon the base plate member and circumferentially of the cylindrical post member for accommodating elastic distortion of the base plate member during the whippy locomotion. Each gap member of the plurality of gap members may be configured as a wedge shaped void cut out from the base plate member. A pair of flat recess members may be disposed upon opposing sides of the post member to enable the first spring retainer member to securely retain the replaceable spring member within the cylindrical housing member.
[0033] The base assembly may further comprise a removable stabilizer cylinder member screwably inserted thereinto through a whorl hole centrally disposed on the bottom of the base plate member and threadedly mated therewith and secured therein with an internal stabilizer cylinder retainer member, thereby preventing undue lateral movement of the planar hand-platform member.
[0034] In yet another embodiment, the hand-embracing member comprises a forearm support bracket.
[0035] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the hand-embracing member may comprise a rear hand-embracing upwardly extending parapet substrate member disposed at a second end of the planar hand-platform member, oppositely of the first end thereof, proximate to the apparatus rear end and attached to the hand-platform member, for embracing a heel and wrist of the hand of the user and for attaching the forearm support bracket, the parapet structure upwardly extending from an inside and an outside edge of the planar hand-platform member proximate the respective inner side and outer side of the apparatus, the forearm support bracket further comprising an upwardly extending member attached at a first end to the parapet substrate for receiving a forearm of the user, and one or more strap members for securing the forearm support bracket to the user's forearm, the forearm support bracket extending upwardly at a desired wrist orientation angle relative to the planar hand-platform member. In one embodiment, the forearm support bracket is fixably attached to the parapet substrate to provide a stationary wrist orientation angle.
[0036] In another embodiment, the forearm support bracket is pivotably attached to the parapet substrate about a pivot axis to provide an adjustable wrist orientation angle that can be adjusted, by pivoting the forearm support bracket in a first direction toward the apparatus front end or in a second, opposite direction toward the apparatus rear end and then locked into place prior to use by the user. The first end of the forearm support bracket may comprise opposed leg members capable of being pivotally attached at the forearm support bracket first end to the parapet pivot axis on the respective inside and outside of the parapet substrate and secured in the desired wrist orientation angle. The inside and outside of the parapet substrate may further each comprise an arcuate guide slot generally oriented in a front to back orientation, the opposed legs of the forearm support bracket further comprise guide pins secured thereto capable of travelling within the arcuate guide slot when the forearm support bracket is pivoted front to back, and further capable of securing the forearm support bracket to the parapet substrate in the desired wrist orientation angle. A plurality of raised cogging members may be oriented on a face of the parapet substrate between the arcuate guide slot and the pivot axis, and a plurality of raised cogging members may likewise be oriented on an inner face of each of the opposed members between the guide pins and the pivot axis for frictionally engaging with one or more of the raised cogging members on the outer face of the parapet substrate to assist in maintaining the support bracket in its desired wrist orientation angle.
[0037] The hand-crawling apparatus may further comprise a finger slot in the front hand-embracing member for receiving the fingers of the user and/or a cut away section for receiving the user's thumb. For example, a contoured indentation along the inner side of the hand platform member can accommodate a thumb of the user to enhance the user's grip.
[0038] In other embodiments, alternate height adjustment mechanisms are provided, such as wherein the cylindrical post member does not comprise external threads, and wherein the base member axially disposed central hole does not comprise whorls, and wherein the cylindrical post member is received into the base member axially disposed central hole in a hydraulically adjustable fashion to permit adjustment of a height thereof above the base assembly to be commensurate with the user's height attribute and then is securely engaged and to then be secured into the desired height with a hydraulic locking mechanism.
[0039] In further embodiments of the hand-crawling apparatus, the internal stabilizer member is a generally cylindrical structure extending axially from the lower end of the cylindrical housing member and comprises an outer diameter capable of being inserted into the bore hole of the removable stabilizer cylinder member. In another embodiment, the internal stabilizer member extends downwardly from the lower end of the cylindrical housing member and comprises a first axially offset section oriented facing the inner side of the hand-crawling apparatus which, a second section opposite the first section oriented facing the outer side of the hand-crawling apparatus, a third section oriented facing the front end of the hand-crawling apparatus and a fourth section oriented facing the rear end of the hand-crawling apparatus such that when the internal stabilizer member is inserted into the bore hole of the removable stabilizer cylinder member, it is configured to generally nest up against an internal side wall of the bore hole facing the inner side of the hand-crawling apparatus to reduce lateral movement of the planar hand-platform member in a direction toward the inner side of the hand-crawling apparatus, while permitting lateral movements in directions of the outer side, the front end and the rear end of the hand-crawling apparatus. The internal stabilizer member may further comprise a generally hemispherical end having an outer diameter sized to permit entry into the bore hole of the removable stabilizer cylinder member.
[0040] The replaceable spring member may also comprise an inner diameter slightly greater than the outer diameter of the cylindrical housing member, in which case, the first retainer member is affixed to the outer diameter of the cylindrical housing member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] Referring to the drawings, several aspects of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in detail in the figures, wherein:
[0042] FIG. 1 depicts a frontal perspective view of a spiral-driven hand-crawler embodiment of the present invention with a flat zonal arcuate brace member, having two supporting-points on the bottom of the base.
[0043] FIG. 2 depicts an exploded perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0044] FIG. 3A depicts a frontal cross-sectional view through section line FIG. 3A - FIG. 3A depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0045] FIG. 3B depicts a cross-sectional plan view through section line FIG. 3B - FIG. 3B of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 .
[0046] FIG. 4 depicts a cross-sectional detail view depicting the upper portion of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3A .
[0047] FIG. 5 depicts a cross-sectional side view through section line FIG. 5 - FIG. 5 of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0048] FIG. 6 depicts cross-sectional side view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5 , with hand platform post member partially downwardly displaced compressing the spring member.
[0049] FIG. 7 depicts a frontal partial perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 , with a pair of rods forming an arcuate brace member.
[0050] FIG. 8 depicts a frontal perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 7 , with a single rod forming an arcuate brace member.
[0051] FIG. 9 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user crawling with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0052] FIG. 10 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user crawling with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , in a crawling position sequentially-related to the position depicted in FIG. 9 .
[0053] FIG. 11 depicts a frontal perspective view of an alternative spiral-driven hand-crawler embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , reinforced with a stabilizer cylinder of the present invention.
[0054] FIG. 12 depicts an exploded perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11 .
[0055] FIG. 13A depicts a frontal cross-sectional view through section line FIG. 13A - FIG. 13A depicted in FIG. 11 .
[0056] FIG. 13B depicts a cross-sectional plan view through section line FIG. 13B - FIG. 13B of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 12 .
[0057] FIG. 14 depicts a cross-sectional detail view depicting the upper portion of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 13A .
[0058] FIG. 15 depicts a cross-sectional side view through section line FIG. 15 - FIG. 15 of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11 .
[0059] FIG. 16 depicts cross-sectional side view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 15 , with hand platform post member partially downwardly displaced compressing the spring member.
[0060] FIG. 17 depicts a frontal partial perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 11 and 12 , with a pair of rods forming an arcuate brace member, and illustrating insertion and removal of a stabilizer cylinder of the present invention.
[0061] FIG. 18 depicts a frontal perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 17 , with a single rod forming an arcuate brace member.
[0062] FIG. 19 depicts a frontal perspective view of an alternative spiral-driven hand-crawler embodiment of the present invention, with only one supporting-point on the bottom of the base.
[0063] FIG. 20 depicts a frontal cross-sectional view through section line FIG. 20 - FIG. 20 depicted in FIG. 19 .
[0064] FIG. 21A depicts an exploded perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 20 .
[0065] FIG. 21B depicts a cross-sectional left side view through section line FIG. 21B - FIG. 21B of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 21A .
[0066] FIG. 22A depicts a frontal partial perspective view of an alternative spiral-driven embodiment of the present invention adapted to accommodate a crutch, and with a pair of rods forming an arcuate brace member.
[0067] FIG. 22B depicts a frontal partial perspective view of the spiral-driven crutch embodiment depicted in FIG. 22A , reinforced with a stabilizer cylinder of the present invention.
[0068] FIG. 23 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user engaging in power-walking with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0069] FIG. 24 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user engaging in power-walking with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , in a walking position sequentially-related to the position depicted in FIG. 23 .
[0070] FIG. 25 depicts a frontal perspective view of another hand-crawler embodiment of the present invention with a flat zonal arcuate brace member, having two supporting-points on the bottom of the base, and another glove apparatus.
[0071] FIG. 26 depicts an exploded perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 25 .
[0072] FIG. 27A depicts a frontal cross-sectional view through section line 27 A- 27 A depicted in FIG. 25 .
[0073] FIG. 27B depicts a cross-sectional front plan view through section line 27 B- 27 B of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 26 intended for use on the embodiment worn on the left hand of a user to reduce inward pivoting (toward the opposite hand or toward the inside IS of the device) of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the right hand while permitting outward pivoting toward the outside OS of the device, and front-to-back pivoting toward the front side/end FS or backside rear end BS of the device.
[0074] FIG. 27C depicts a cross-sectional view through section line 27 C- 27 C of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 27B .
[0075] FIG. 27D depicts a cross-sectional view through section line 27 C- 27 C of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 27B .
[0076] FIG. 28 depicts a cross-sectional detail view depicting the upper portion of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 27A .
[0077] FIG. 29 depicts a cross-sectional side view through section line 15 - 15 of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 25 .
[0078] FIG. 30 depicts the cross-sectional side view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 29 with the hand-crawler post member extended outwardly to extend the its length.
[0079] FIG. 31 depicts a frontal partial perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 25 and 26 , with a pair of rods forming an arcuate brace member, and illustrating insertion and removal of a stabilizer cylinder of the present invention.
[0080] FIG. 32A depicts a frontal perspective view of a hand-glove assembly shown with its adjustable forearm bracket member set in a first angle position.
[0081] FIG. 32B depicts a frontal perspective view of the hand-glove assembly of FIG. 32A shown with the forearm bracket member adjusted to a second angle position.
[0082] FIG. 33 depicts a side plan view of another hand-glove assembly with a fixed angle forearm-bracket member.
[0083] FIG. 34 depicts a portion of the hand-glove assembly shown in FIG. 27A directed to the adjustable interface between the forearm bracket member and the base member where it attaches.
[0084] FIG. 35A schematically shows a portion of the forearm bracket member and is resistance cogging on its inner face where it interacts with the resistance cogging on the outside face of the base member where it attaches.
[0085] FIG. 35B schematically shows a portion of the outside of the base member and is resistance cogging on its outer face where it interacts with the resistance cogging on the inside face of the forearm bracket member where it attaches, the interplay between the opposed resistance cogs providing a mechanism for locking the angle of the forearm bracket member.
[0086] FIG. 36 depicts a perspective view of another hand-glove assembly with an adjustable angle forearm-bracket member, where the forearm-bracket has been removed to display the resistance cogging on the outer face of the base member.
[0087] FIG. 37A depicts a portion of a cross-sectional view taken along lines 37 A- 37 A of FIG. 36 directed to the adjustable interface between the forearm bracket member (shown removed) and the base member where it attaches.
[0088] FIG. 37B depicts a portion of a rear left perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 36 directed to the adjustable interface between the forearm bracket member (shown removed) and the base member where it attaches.
[0089] FIG. 38 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user engaging in power-walking with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 25 .
[0090] FIG. 39 depicts a simplified side perspective view of a user engaging in power-walking with the embodiment depicted in FIG. 25 , in a walking position sequentially-related to the position depicted in FIG. 38 .
[0091] FIG. 40 shows an isolated side view of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer inserted into the internal stabilizer cylinder member as depicted in FIG. 15 .
[0092] FIG. 41 shows an isolated side view of another embodiment of an internal stabilizer cylinder retainer inserted into the internal stabilizer cylinder member much like as depicted in FIGS. 25, 26 and 27A .
[0093] FIG. 42 shows an isolated side view of another embodiment of an internal stabilizer cylinder retainer inserted into the internal stabilizer cylinder member much like as depicted in FIGS. 25, 26 and 27A .
[0094] FIG. 43 generally depicts an isolated front plan view similar to that in FIG. 27B intended for use on the embodiment worn on the right hand of a user to reduce inward pivoting (toward the opposite hand) of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the left hand while permitting outward pivoting, and front-to-back pivoting.
[0095] FIG. 44 generally depicts an isolated side plan view similar to that in FIG. 27D intended for use on the embodiment worn on the right hand of a user to reduce inward pivoting (toward the opposite hand) of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the left hand while permitting outward pivoting, and front-to-back pivoting.
[0096] FIG. 45 generally depicts an isolated side plan view similar to that in FIG. 27D intended for use on the embodiment worn on the right hand of a user to reduce inward pivoting (toward the opposite hand) of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the left hand while permitting outward pivoting, and front-to-back pivoting wherein the spring is shown engaged between the spring upper and lower retainer members where the spring upper retainer is formed from a lower inside shoulder of the housing member in the same manner as in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13A .
[0097] FIG. 46 generally depicts an isolated side plan view similar to that in FIG. 27D intended for use on the embodiment worn on the right hand of a user to reduce inward pivoting (toward the opposite hand) of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the left hand while permitting outward pivoting, and front-to-back pivoting wherein the spring is shown engaged between the spring upper and lower retainer members where the spring upper retainer is formed on the outside of the housing member in the same manner as depicted in FIGS. 25, 26 and 27A .
[0098] FIG. 47 is an isolated perspective view of FIG. 47 .
[0099] FIG. 48 depicts a frontal perspective view of another hand-crawler embodiment of the present invention similar to that depicted in FIG. 25 , wherein the spring is retained along the outside of housing member via retainers such as depicted in FIGS. 46 and 47 , and showing another glove apparatus embodiment providing a cut-out or indented inside to receive the user's thumb.
[0100] FIG. 49 generally depicts an alternative embodiment of the height adjustment feature of the hand-crawling device, generally showing height adjustment by way of a hydraulic piston mechanism, much like the hydraulic height adjustment available on office swivel desk chairs.
[0101] FIG. 50 generally depicts an side view of the hand-glove device capable of height adjustment via a threaded connection as in, e.g., FIG. 26 .
[0102] FIG. 51A generally depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via spring-loaded pins or engagement members that can engage in a desired spaced-apart height adjustment hole when the inner tubular member is inserted within the outer tubular member.
[0103] FIG. 51B shows the embodiment of FIG. 51A wherein the spring-loaded pins are engaged with the outer tubular member.
[0104] FIG. 52 generally depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via a series of aligned, spaced apart height adjustment holes in the inner and outer tubular members and a spring-loaded pin that can engage therethrough to maintain the position of the inner tubular member to the outer tubular member.
[0105] FIG. 53 generally depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via a compression fitting that can be tightened to restrict further movement of the inner tubular member relative to the outer tubular member.
[0106] FIG. 54 generally depicts an anti-rotational channel lock that may be employed on the height adjustment embodiments depicted in FIGS. 49, 51A, 51B, 52 and 53 to prevent rotation of the inner tubular member relative to the outer tubular member.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0107] The following description is of preferred embodiments by way of example only and without limitation to the combination of features necessary for carrying the invention into effect. Reference is to be had to the Figures in which identical reference numbers identify similar components. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale (except where specifically indicated) and certain features may be shown in schematic or diagrammatic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
[0108] Reference is made herein to the figures in the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like components. Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-22B , there are depicted various views of nine alternative representative human hand-crawler glove embodiments of the present invention as will be hereinafter described. For instance, spiral-driven hand-crawler glove embodiment 2 is depicted in perspective frontal views in FIGS. 1 , and 11 , respectively; and depicted in corresponding exploded views in FIGS. 2 and 12 , respectively. Similarly, representative spiral-driven crutch embodiment 42 of the present invention is depicted in simplified frontal perspective views in FIGS. 22A and 22B , respectively.
[0109] Thus, exemplary of teachings herein, FIGS. 1-8 depict various views of embodiment 2 and FIGS. 11-18 depict similar views of embodiment 7 , each such embodiment providing base assembly 100 comprising a dual supporting combination of a substantially vertical interchangeable spring member 32 and a substantially chamfered variously angulated elastic brace member 22 which cooperatively manifest two contact-points on base member 26 . As will become clear to those skilled in the art, the various embodiments taught herein enable a human user engaging in an all-fours exercise or like locomotion to jointly promote contemplated undulating alternating upward and downward unique whippy hand-crawling movement. In particular, there are depicted hand-crawler glove embodiments 2 and 7 , respectively, having hand-shoe or hand-glove assembly 5 supported therebeneath by centrally disposed base assembly 100 comprising post assembly 15 and brace assembly 22 , with base assembly 100 affixed at one end thereof to hand platform member 10 and affixed at the other, opposite end thereof to base member 26 . It will become evident that each of post assembly 15 and brace assembly 22 is affixed at a different contact point upon base member 26 .
[0110] Similarly, FIGS. 19-21 depict various views of embodiment 111 providing a single support feature wherein there is included a substantially vertical interchangeable spring member 32 which manifests a single contact-point on base member 26 to promote the undulating alternating upward and downward whippy locomotion inherent in the unique hand-crawling movement taught hereunder.
[0111] As will be hereinafter described, these supporting structures enable hand-crawler glove embodiments (alternatively and equivalently referred to as hand-shoe embodiments) to facilitate a user's engaging in alternating bounding and rebounding substantially vertically from the ground beneath the user's crawler-gloved hands, while simultaneously being propelled in a forward direction along the ground. More particularly, it will become evident to those skilled in the art that crawling locomotion contemplated hereunder enables a user to effectuate movement substantially linear and parallel to the ground via a specially orchestrated crawling hand-jumping locomotion manifest by intermittently bounding and rebounding substantially vertically, while simultaneously and synchronously progressing horizontally either in a forward or a backward direction characterized herein as a “whippy” motion pattern.
[0112] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , post assembly 15 comprises post member 16 projecting perpendicularly from and downwardly of hand-platform 10 , and is disposed centrally within housing member 20 and screwably adjoins hand-shoe glove assembly 5 and base assembly 100 as will be hereinafter described. Base assembly 100 comprises cylindrical housing member 20 disposed at an end thereof proximal to hand-platform 10 and, at the other opposite end thereof, proximal to spring member 32 . It will be seen that spring member 32 is disposed immediately below cylindrical housing member 20 . Housing member 20 circumscribes the upper portion of post member 16 and is fixedly attached at its upper end to ring member 20 A and at its lower end to upper spring retainer member 30 A, respectively. As clearly depicted, spring member 32 is disposed in a substantially vertical orientation between upper or top spring retainer member 30 A and lower or bottom spring retainer member 30 B.
[0113] Housing member 20 together with threaded post member 16 enable vertical movement of hand platform 10 , which is preferably constructed from rigid metal or sufficiently strong nonmetal materials well known in the art. To assure integrity of the underlying support structure of embodiments hereof, housing member 20 and brace member 24 should preferably be adjoined into an integrated structure, comprising metal and nonmetal materials, via conventional fasteners such as nuts and the like. It should be evident to those skilled in the art that welds would be a viable option for securely adjoining adjacent metal components. The lower portion of the brace member may comprise elastomeric bends, to-and-fro bends, or reciprocating bends 27 .
[0114] Lower spring retainer member 30 B is fixedly attached to substantially horizontal base plate member 26 interconnected with preferably skid-resistant elastomeric sole member 34 therebelow via plurality of layered stud members 36 fixedly attached thereto and projecting upwardly to be inserted through corresponding plurality of stud hole members 28 contained upon the top surface of base plate member 26 . As well known in the art, each of these stud members is secured after passing through a corresponding stud hole member disposed thereupon by a suitably-sized nut member (not shown).
[0115] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the unique crawling movement contemplated hereunder and enabled by embodiments of the present invention, exemplified in FIGS. 1-6 but not limited to this configuration, is a consequence of the cooperation manifest by spring member 32 and inherently flexible brace member 24 . It will be understood that spring member 32 should preferably be interchangeable, being selected to impart prerequisite compressibility for accommodating a user or prescribed set of users characterized by a particular size range and weight range. As is known in the art, compression springs may vary in wire diameter, outer diameter, free length, end type (e.g., open ends, closed ends, open and ground ends (such as depicted in FIG. 1 ), and closed, squared and ground ends), total number of coils (including closed end coils and active coils), coil pitch, shape (such as cylindrical as shown in FIG. 1 ) as well as the wire type, such as, for example 302 stainless steel to withstand exposure to water or the like. As such, springs may be employed to provide the desired resistance to compression based on, e.g., the anticipated load created by the user, which load may vary depending on the weight of the user and the degree of force exerted on the spring by the user. The instant structure herein described enables such a selected spring member to be conveniently positioned by being inserted between upper spring retainer member 30 A and lower spring retainer member 30 B, and to expeditiously replace spring member 32 in situ to achieve appropriate compression-and-decompression behavior, respectively, as a function of user-attributes.
[0116] It will be understood that, to also accommodate a user's physical attributes, the height of post or column member 15 should preferably be adjusted by screwably rotating post member 16 under the influence of its corresponding thread members 18 into mated whorl hole 38 to arrive at a length thereof commensurate with, i.e., functionally proportional to, the user's height. As shown, each thread member 18 of post assembly 15 has a pair of groove members 19 symmetrically disposed thereupon. Set of wing-nuts or like fastener members 40 would then be engaged through like set of threaded holes disposed in ring member 20 A with corresponding pairs of groove members 19 to enable the user to securely adjust height-positioning of hand platform 10 . The present invention contemplates that, in order to achieve the prescribed prerequisite alternating upwards and downwards undulating motion taught herein, a suitably sized spring member or a pneumatically-controlled cylinder or a hydraulically-controlled cylinder or the like, may be implemented without deviating from the purposes disclosed herein.
[0117] Thus, a user would select a suitably configured spring member 32 from a set of spring members and install the selected spring member between first spring retainer member 30 A and second spring retainer member 30 B. Next, the user's height would be accommodated by the user rotating hand-platform 10 about threaded post member 16 to adjust hand-platform 10 to be aligned with brace support member 24 and simultaneously affixing its set vertical position by tightening a fastener member 40 , exemplified herein as a bolt, to securely engage pair of groove members 19 . Such adjustments to embodiments hereof limit vertical movement of hand-platform 10 and promote level rotation thereof, found to be essential for sustaining stability of a user's body at a reasonable bounding height range during crawling movement as contemplated hereunder. It should be appreciated that, once set to be compatible with a user's physical attributes, the user would emplace each hand, respectively, into hand-embracing member 5 configured as a hand-sheath—effectively functioning as a hand-shoe substantially enclosing each user's hand. Indeed, once the user's hands are emplaced therewithin, each of the pair of hand-glove members would be tightened akin to lacing or strapping a pair of shoes.
[0118] It should be understood that materials of construction of the hand-embracing hand-shoe member contemplated hereunder are essentially the same as or similar to materials of construction commonly used in the shoe manufacturing industry. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, rigid threaded post member 16 would typically be molded from suitable hard nonmetallic, plastic material or metallic material. Of course, when post member 16 is constructed from metal or in combination with metallic materials, welding or the like would be a preferred method of joinder thereof with hand platform member 10 .
[0119] Focusing collectively on FIGS. 1-2, 3A-3B, and 4-6 , it should be evident that support afforded by centrally disposed post member 16 is augmented by brace support member 24 disposed at one end of hand-crawler glove platform 10 and fixedly attached thereto, to provide adequate support therefor and concomitant stability thereto. More particularly, brace assembly 22 comprises an elastomeric sufficiently firm arcuate and inherently flexible brace support member 24 affixed at one end thereof to hand platform 10 and to base plate member 26 at the other, opposite end. It has been found advantageous to configure the arc described by arcuate brace member 24 having angle θ. It will be seen that arcuate angle θ has been found to function as contemplated hereunder when in the range of about 95° to about 135° to afford prerequisite compromise of stability and flexion under the influence of the intermittent upward and downward user hand-triggered whippy motion urged by compression and expansion, respectively, of spring member 32 as the user proceeds to walk or run at various speeds on the ground all fours, i.e., essentially simultaneously using both hands and both feet.
[0120] As illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 . hand-crawler platform 10 comprises two embracing members 5 for securing a user's hand to this hand-crawler platform. It should be evident to those conversant in the art, that to enable a user to efficiently crawl using all-fours as disclosed herein, pairs of hand-crawler glove assemblies 5 taught hereunder are required. Thus, each user's hand, in turn, is secured prior to engaging in crawling exercises: first hand-embracing member 12 (or 13 in later figures) and second hand-embracing member 14 (or 11 in later figures)—of hand-crawler assembly 5 —secure a user's hands thereinto. In particular, first hand-embracing member 12 is affixed to the front portion 10 A of hand platform 10 for embracing—by strapping or like securement—the user's fingers thereto. Similarly, second hand-embracing member 14 is affixed to the rear portion 10 B of hand platform 10 for embracing—by strapping or the like—the user's hand-heel and wrist adjacent thereto.
[0121] In a manner well known in the art, first hand-embracing member 12 , exemplified as a strap member, and second hand-embracing member 14 , also exemplified as a strap member, are secured at each respective open end by Velcro fasteners or the like to prevent the user's hands from inadvertently being dislodged from hand-crawler glove apparatus 2 during active locomotion therewith. It will be appreciated that embracing heel portion of the hand in combination with the wrist tends to prevent undue lateral wrist movement which would be detrimental to the contemplated forward or rearward locomotion taught herein. During the novel whippy forward or backward locomotion taught by the present invention, base member 26 of a corresponding hand-crawler apparatus 2 engulfing a user's left and right hand, in turn, sustains contact with the ground immediately below. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, this attachment may be achieved in any number of ways, including adhesion via Velcro fasteners or other commonly used suitable fastening means.
[0122] As will become evident to those skilled in the art, the present invention contemplates that embodiments of the instant hand-crawler glove apparatus 2 should be constructed with suitable materials commensurate with providing a user sufficient shock-absorption characteristics to enable various all-fours exercises to be conducted without adverse effects upon the user's back, hands, fingers, forearms, and other implicated joints and musculature that might jeopardize a user's physical well-being, but, indeed, would tend to promote healthful benefits such as weight-reduction and physical fitness. For instance, the upper surface of hand platform 10 should preferably be relatively soft to promote comfort and avoid injury to the plethora of bones, ligaments and muscles that constitute a user's hands. Accordingly, it has been found to be advantageous to construct embodiments of the present invention with a hand platform having a cork surface or with a soft gel liner commonly used for shoe repair or for shoe rebuilding.
[0123] The simplified perspective side views depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10 demonstrate the efficacy of a pair of lightweight but sturdy hand-crawler glove members used to bring crawling exercise to levels of performance heretofore unattainable and, indeed, not even contemplated by practitioners in the art. First, referring to FIG. 9 , there is depicted a user having hand-crawler glove apparatus 2 releasably attached to each of his hands, leading forward locomotion with his left hand which is being propelled in an upward direction by user lifting his left and thereby urging spring 32 to its uncompressed or expanded configuration 32 E with hand-crawler glove 5 securely but releasably enclosing his left hand situated in combination within left hand-crawler glove 6 , while a user's self-generated downward force on his right hand urges spring 32 into compressed configuration 32 C with hand-crawler glove 5 securely but releasably enclosing his right hand situated in combination within right hand-crawler glove 6 .
[0124] Numeral 6 represents a user's securely-embraced hand within an implicated hand-crawler glove assembly 5 . Depending upon the sequential placement of each user's hand upon the ground, one hand—the leading hand—is urged upwardly by the pressure imposed by spring 32 as it transforms from being a formerly-compressed spring 32 C into a now-expanded, uncompressed spring 32 E within a first combination 6 thereof.
[0125] Simultaneously, the other hand—the trailing hand—is disposed in a diametrically opposite configuration and is urged downwardly by the user's self-imposed force communicated through his implicated arm and contiguous hand upon the hand-crawler glove apparatus, thereby compressing spring 32 from expanded, uncompressed configuration 32 E into compressed configuration 32 C within a second combination 6 thereof.
[0126] Ergo, next, as illustrated by the user's left-and-right hand configuration depicted in FIG. 10 , immediately following user's opposite left-and-right hand configuration in FIG. 9 , the user's leading forward locomotion is now alternated to his right hand which is being propelled in an upward direction by the release of spring 32 urged to its uncompressed, expanded configuration 32 E with hand-crawler glove 5 securely but releasably embracing his right hand situated in combination within right hand-crawler glove 6 , while self-generated downward force on his left hand urges spring 32 into compressed configuration 32 C with hand-crawler glove 5 securely but releasably embracing his left hand situated in combination within left hand-crawler glove 6 . The whippy movement enabled by embodiments of the present invention is characterized by each hand respectively traversing distances d 1 and d 2 and the hand-crawler moving vertically through heights h 1 and h 2 , as shown. It should be understood by those conversant in the art that, for a user traversing typical distances along the ground at varying pace according to such user's physical attributes and athletic condition and associated prowess, particular distances d 1 and d 2 vary according to normal stride lengths. It will also be understood that typical vertical heights contemplated to be manifest during use of all-fours hand-crawler embodiments of the present invention should preferably range from about ¼ inch to about ½ inch.
[0127] As illustrated in FIG. 7 , it will also be appreciated by those conversant in the art that another embodiment of the present invention (numeral 2 depicted in FIGS. 1-6 and hereinbefore described) could be similarly configured—but with base assembly 100 ′ comprising dual substantially congruent arcuate cylindrical rod supporting brace members 25 A-B rather than just one zonal, solid brace member 24 as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 . It will be further appreciated that FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment of the present invention with base assembly 100 ″ comprising only one cylindrical flexible steel arcuate rod member 29 or the like typically affords more flex than both alternative arcuate brace embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 and 7 , respectively. It will be understood that a tough sufficiently flexible plastic rod member may be used in the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8 of the present invention providing the performance contemplated hereunder is achieved.
[0128] FIGS. 19, 20, 21A and 21B depict hand-crawler glove embodiment 111 having hand-shoe assembly 5 supported therebeneath by centrally disposed post assembly 15 affixed centrally of hand platform member 10 and affixed centrally at the other, opposite end thereof to base plate member 26 . As will be hereinafter described, this supporting structure enables hand-crawler glove embodiments to facilitate a user's engaging in alternating bounding and rebounding substantially vertically from the ground beneath the user's specially-gloved hands, while simultaneously being propelled forward. More particularly, it will become evident to those skilled in the art that crawling locomotion contemplated hereunder enables a user to effectuate linear movement substantially parallel to the ground via specially enabled and orchestrated crawling hand-jumping locomotion characterized by intermittently bounding and rebounding substantially vertically—essentially while synchronously progressing horizontally either in a forward or a backward direction characterized herein as whippy locomotion.
[0129] More particularly, FIGS. 19 and 20 depict a frontal perspective view of an alternative spiral-driven hand-crawler embodiment of the present invention similar to the frontal perspective views of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3A , but with base assembly 100 ′″ comprising only one supporting-point on the bottom of base member 26 . Similarly, FIG. 21A depicts an exploded perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 19 , in a manner similar to the exploded view depicted in FIG. 2 . It will be appreciated that hand-crawler embodiment 111 depicted in FIGS. 19, 20 and 21A differs from hand-crawler embodiment 2 by the absence of brace assembly, 22 , 25 , 22 , respectively, which, among other functions, affords a second point of contact with base member 26 .
[0130] Thus, those skilled in the art will understand that, instead of benefiting from a second point of contact manifest by a brace assembly as taught herein, the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 19, 20 and 21A will be seen as being somewhat similar to a piston arrangement comprising single spring retainer member 30 C affixed to base member 26 at its lower end thereof by a fastener member illustrated as bolt member 39 . Base member 26 is preferably configured with a circular cross-section and preferably with plurality of gap members 26 A to accommodate elastic distortion of base member 26 manifest during the unique whippy motion herein described. Gap members 26 A are preferably configured as wedge-shaped voids cut out of base member 26 . It will be seen that plurality of stud members 36 are received through like plurality of apertures 28 disposed upon base member 26 .
[0131] As illustrated in FIG. 21B , it should be appreciated that, to foster stability of post assembly 15 during alternating compression and decompression of spring member 32 as herein described, pair of flat recesses 30 E are disposed upon surface of opposing sides of post member 16 to facilitate securely and tightly screwably holding fastener member 39 therewithin. Top portion 30 D of spring retainer member 30 C is disposed within housing member 20 and has a larger diameter than the lower exposed portion of spring retainer member 30 C. Shoulder members 31 B are disposed at bottom portion of void space 31 within housing member 20 . It will be appreciated that shoulder members 31 function as detents holding top portion 30 D of piston-like spring retainer member 30 C within housing member 20 to repetitively perform the expansion and compression of spring member 32 as contemplated hereunder.
[0132] To achieve the prerequisite functionality taught herein while simultaneously promoting an important lightweight objective, those skilled in the art will understand that spring retainer upper member 30 A depicted in FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, 5 and 6 may be constituted with hollow construction besides solid construction. Similarly, top portion 30 D of single spring retainer member 30 C depicted in FIGS. 19 and 21A may be constituted with hollow construction besides solid construction to achieve the prerequisite functionality taught herein while simultaneously promoting an important lightweight objective. It should be clear to those skilled in the art that the remaining components depicted in FIGS. 19, 20, 21A and 21B are structured and function in the same manner as the like components depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 and in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
[0133] Focusing now on embodiment 7 depicted in FIGS. 11-18 , there is depicted specially reinforced embodiment 7 of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1-8 . By reconciling embodiment 2 with respect to embodiment 7 hereof, it will become evident that both have been configured to receive an optional stability supplemental support cylinder 3 which can be readily inserted through mated hole 28 A in base member 26 and likewise readily removed as appropriate for a particular user or particular type of users, will be hereinafter described. FIG. 11 illustrates stabilizer support cylinder 3 in situ circumscribed by cylindrical spring member 32 situated within base assembly 100 . The exploded perspective view of embodiment 7 depicted in FIG. 12 illustrates the ease with which stabilizer support cylinder 3 is preferably either screwably emplaced or screwably replaced through hole 28 A with cooperation between stability cylinder whorl 3 B and internal cylindrical aperture whorl 30 BS and secured therein by stability cylinder retainer 30 AR. Thus, this stability support cylinder is disposed annularly between post member 16 and spring member 32 .
[0134] This attachment and detachment relationship is illustrated in the frontal cross-sectional view in FIG. 13A and the cross-sectional plan view in FIG. 13B . Lower spring retainer member 30 B is interconnected with base member 26 either by molding or welding as a function of the material of construction, i.e., either suitable plastic or metal, respectively. It should also be understood that gap s 1 between stabilizer cylinder retainer 30 AR and bore hole 3 D is configured to accommodate moderate horizontal deflection flexibility during whippy locomotion to militate against undermining the crucial stability of embodiments hereof that could jeopardize the user's safety and well-being during whippy locomotion.
[0135] Thus, as clearly depicted in FIGS. 12-18 , stability cylinder 3 would be optionally emplaced within base assembly 100 of structurally-reinforced embodiment 7 wherein stability cylinder bottom portion 3 C is securably attached to base member 26 after being adjusted by a screwdriver having access thereto through slit member 3 A in hand platform 10 . It should be evident that FIG. 13B illustrates the interrelationship between slit member 3 A in stability support cylinder 3 for accommodating insertion of a screwdriver for securing the cylinder bottom 3 C to the external threaded whorl 3 B.
[0136] Now focusing on FIG. 22A , there is seen a frontal perspective view of a dual arcuate brace member embodiment of the present invention 42 comprising base assembly 100 ′ configured to be adjoined with a crutch 45 rather than a user's hand for achieving the novel mode of locomotion taught hereunder. More particularly, as shown, conventional crutch 45 is configured to be screwably received within threaded whorl hole 38 as hereinbefore described. Threads 55 of crutch post member 52 are received by corresponding threads within whorl hole 38 . Crutch 45 is shown comprising conventional components well known in the art, including arm pit pad 46 disposed in a transversal relationship with frame 48 constituting first frame portion 48 A and second frame portion 48 B. Conventional crutch hand grip 47 would be appropriately emplaced within a pair of plurality of symmetrically disposed holes 49 to be commensurate with the user's height. Similarly, crutch post member 52 would be appropriately emplaced in a manner common in the art within a pair of plurality of symmetrically disposed holes to be commensurate with the user's height and other relevant attributes.
[0137] It should be understood that, regardless of whether a user walks with a single crutch or with a pair of crutches, crutch embodiment 42 would be adjusted to be compatible with the length of the user's arms (not shown) and the length of the user's legs (not shown). Crutch embodiment 42 comprises frame member 48 having first portion thereof 48 A and second portion thereof 48 B with horizontal soft hand-grip member 47 disposed as a transversal therebetween. Each of first portion 48 A of frame 48 and second portion 48 B of frame 48 include two sets of congruent pairs of holes 49 and 59 , respectively, along the length thereof as shown. Cushioned hand-grip 47 is situated at an appropriate height by its opposite ends being emplaced in a commensurate pair of holes 49 . Similarly, pole member 52 is situated at an appropriate height by its opposite ends being suitably emplaced in a commensurate pair of holes 59 . Thus, adjustment of pole member 52 within congruent pairs of holes 59 is functionally related to setting appropriate vertical distance from the bottom adjustable portion 50 of specially-configured crutch member 42 to top portion thereof at pad member 46 would be adjusted by being inserted into a position of post member 52 by emplacing a pair of conventional fasteners (not shown) into identically positioned holes disposed on each of lower portion of corresponding pair of frame portion 48 A and 48 B. It should be understood that, after these height adjustments have been made to accommodate a user's physical arm and leg physical attributes, threaded portion 55 of pole member 52 of crutch embodiment 42 would be conjoined with base assembly 100 ′ by being screwably emplaced within whirl hole 38 of cylindrical housing member 20 , wherein the distance from base member 34 to hand-grip 47 and arm-pit pad 46 , respectively, are commensurate with the user's corresponding arm and leg physical attributes. Then, when a user walks with either one or two crutch embodiments hereof, depending upon whether one or two crutches are needed for support and the like, the vertical spring locomotion as hereinbefore described tends to promote his physical movement along the ground below concomitant with the several benefits hereinbefore elucidated.
[0138] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that FIG. 22B corresponds to a frontal perspective view of the dual arcuate brace member embodiment depicted in FIG. 22A , but comprising a supplemental stabilizer support cylinder as hereinbefore described. Ergo, it will be readily understood that this stabilizer cylinder-reinforced crutch embodiment contemplated hereunder performs with the same feature set and functionality as the unreinforced embodiment thereof depicted in FIG. 22A —but inherently affording substantially greater stability and safety factor than would otherwise be achievable especially under exigent circumstances implicating significantly inhibited crutch-constrained locomotion.
[0139] Other variations and modifications will, of course, become apparent from a consideration of the structures and techniques hereinbefore described and depicted. For instance, it has been found that various embodiments of the human hand-crawling and bounding apparatus taught herein may be effectively used with a hand-platform comprising only a front hand-embracing member. That is, it has been found that a user may achieve the whippy locomotion herein described in the absence of such user securing the rear heel hand-portion into a rear hand-embracing member. Indeed, it has been found that, if a user has achieved a sufficient all-fours locomotion level of skill then there may be sufficient equilibrium associated with use of the instant apparatus that supplemental stability provided by a rear hand-embracing member or even a supplemental stability cylinder would not be necessary.
[0140] As another example of the versatility of embodiments of the present invention, it has been found to be feasible and, indeed, advantageous not only for users striving to effectuate walking or jogging or running or even jumping exercise routines to sustain physical fitness and good health, but also for athletes and the like to augment normal training protocol by availing themselves of additional thrust and momentum attained by the spiral-driven apparatus disclosed herein. Referring collectively to the simplified illustrations depicted in FIGS. 23 and 24 , there is seen, similar to the illustrations depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10 , a user engaging in a walking sequence while invoking the benefits imparted by the present invention. First, referring to FIG. 23 , there is depicted a user having foot-bounding glove apparatus 2 ′ releasably attached to each of his feet, leading forward locomotion with his left foot which is being propelled in an upward direction by user lifting his left and thereby urging spring 32 to its uncompressed or expanded configuration 32 E′ with the foot-bounding glove securely but releasably enclosing his left foot situated in combination within left foot-bounding glove 6 , while a user's self-generated downward force on his right foot urges spring 32 ′ into compressed configuration 32 C′ with the foot-bounding glove securely but releasably enclosing his right foot situated in combination within right foot-bounding glove 6 ′.
[0141] It should be understood that numeral 6 ′ represents a user's securely-embraced foot within an implicated foot-bounding glove assembly. Depending upon the sequential placement of each user's foot upon the ground, one foot—the leading foot—is urged upwardly by the pressure imposed by spring 32 ′ as it transforms from being a formerly-compressed spring 32 C′ into a now-expanded, uncompressed spring 32 E′ within a first combination 6 ′ thereof. Simultaneously, the other foot—the trailing foot—is disposed in a diametrically opposite configuration and is urged downwardly by the user's self-imposed force communicated through his implicated leg and contiguous foot upon the foot-bounding glove apparatus, thereby compressing spring 32 ′ from expanded, uncompressed configuration 32 E′ into compressed configuration 32 C′ within a second combination 6 ′ thereof.
[0142] Ergo, next, as illustrated by the user's left-and-right foot configuration depicted in FIG. 24 , immediately following user's opposite left-and-right foot configuration in FIG. 23 , the user's leading forward locomotion is now alternated to his right foot which is being propelled in an upward direction by the release of spring 32 ′ urged to its uncompressed, expanded configuration 32 E′ with foot-bounding glove 5 ′ securely but releasably embracing his right foot situated in combination within right foot-bounding glove 6 ′, while self-generated downward force on his left foot urges spring 32 ′ into compressed configuration 32 C′ with foot-bounding glove 5 ′ securely but releasably embracing his left foot situated in combination within left foot-bounding glove 6 ′.
[0143] The whippy movement enabled by embodiments of the present invention is characterized by each foot respectively traversing distances d 1 ′ and d 2 ′ and the foot-bounding apparatus moving vertically through heights h 1 ′ and h 2 ′, as shown. It should be understood by those conversant in the art that, for a user traversing typical distances along the ground at varying pace according to such user's physical attributes and athletic condition and associated prowess, particular distances d 1 ′ and d 2 ′ vary according to normal stride lengths. It will also be understood that typical vertical heights contemplated to be manifest during use of pair of foot-bounding embodiments of the present invention should preferably range from about ¼ inch to about ½ inch.
[0144] Referring to the above disclosure, the referenced figures and element numbering, numerous modifications can be made to the hand-crawling devices disclosed herein. Referring now to FIGS. 25, 26, 27A, 27B, 27C, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32A, 32B, 34, 35A, 35B, 36, 37A and 37B (and with reference to like element numbering from prior figures) there are shown depictions or features of another hand-crawling device 107 . This embodiment 107 is similar to that shown in connection with FIGS. 11-17 , some of differences being directed to a different hand-glove assembly 11 , and a different internal stabilizer cylinder retainer member 30 AR as will be described below.
[0145] The new hand-glove assembly design 11 comprises a finger slot 10 D to permit the user to curl one or more fingers through the slot to facilitate the user's grip. The hand embracing member 14 (see FIG. 11 ) has been modified to include a forearm bracket member 11 , 11 A extending upwardly from the planar hand platform member 10 . In this embodiment, the planar hand platform 10 has a heel section 11 B 1 extending around the back and side edges of the platform 10 in the rear portion 10 B of the platform. This thick parapet substrate 11 B 1 also provides a place for securing the forearm bracket to the substrate 11 B 1 . The forearm brace HA comprises a curved brace section 11 A 1 for interacting and supporting the back of a user's forearm. In one embodiment, the forearm bracket 11 A comprises at its lower end two opposed leg members 11 A having a lower section for attaching fixedly or pivotally to the outer sides of the planar hand platform heel section 11 B 1 and a middle section that curves inwardly and then upwardly to an upper section 11 A 1 . As will be understood by those having the benefit of this disclosure, the exact shape of the brace member 11 can be tailored to ergonomically fit the user's forearm, or to provide for adjustability/tightening to permit tailoring the fit to the user. As will also be understood by those having the benefit of the present disclosure, suitable materials (metals, plastics, synthetics, composites) can be used for the brace 11 to provide the desired level of strength, structural support, flexibility and comfort. Padding (not shown) can also be employed in those areas of the bracket that contact the user's hand, wrist and forearm.
[0146] In one embodiment, this section 11 A 1 also has tabs or ear sections 11 A 2 extending around to the front of the user's forearm and can be shaped in an ergonomic fashion to surround or partially surround the user's forearm. The bracket may also comprise one or more straps 11 A 3 or other securing mechanisms (e.g., buckles, laces, hook and loop fasteners and the like) to assist in securing the forearm within the forearm brace 11 A.
[0147] In this embodiment, the bracket 11 A has two opposed legs that are pivotally attached to the substrate 11 B 1 via an aperture 11 B 4 in the substrate and corresponding aperture or axis point 11 B 5 of the bracket 11 A. The substrate 11 B 1 also contains opposed guide slots 11 B 3 that may receive a securing nut 11 A 6 to secure the bracket's angular movement along the path of the slot 11 B 3 . As will be appreciated, when the lower ends of the bracket legs are pivotally attached to substrate 11 B 1 at axis 11 B 5 , the bracket is therefore capable of rotating forward and backward about the pivot axis 11 B 5 . Slot 11 B 3 provides forward and rearward stops to guide and confine and guide the radius of travel about angle θ 2 . This permits the user to adjust the angle of the wrist relative to the vertical and then to secure or fix the bracket to remain at that angle during use. In one embodiment, the angle θ 2 ranges from about 55° to 90°. Forearm-bracket member 11 A is an angle adjustable component used for receiving the user's forearm to prevent wrist from waggle while user is doing crawling exercises, the support being provided by the upper straps 11 A 3 and the curving or contoured braces 11 A 2 . In connection with the embodiment 107 a shown in FIG. 48 , the inside edge of the planar hand platform 10 can also contain a contoured indentation 10 E to accommodate the user's thumb and to enhance the user's grip.
[0148] To enhance the locking of the bracket angle θ 2 , the assembly of angle adjustable forearm-brackets consists of a group of angle-lock assembly including raised radical cogging members 11 A 4 , 11 B 2 , slots 11 B 3 , bolt members 11 A 6 and thick parapet assembly 11 B 1 , axis assembly, which allows angle of forearm-bracket changing and then fixing position to a specific angle chosen by user. The raised radial cogging members 11 A 4 , 11 B 2 are used for reinforcing the stability of the forearm bracket 11 A at a certain position by tightening hand-bolts 11 A 6 , which have a same radius and a same central angle on axis 11 B 5 . The thick parapet member 11 B 1 is used for supporting forearm-bracket with its cogging members 11 B 2 and slot members 11 B 3 , which is integrated with the hand platform 10 by molding or 3 D printing. Tough, tenacious materials should be feasible.
[0149] Curving Brace 11 A 1 is used primarily for embracing upper portion of user's forearm. If rear strap 11 A 3 for forearm is not enough in practical usage, additional strap(s) for the wrist could be added.
[0150] FIG. 32A shows the brace 11 A in a nearly upright position, while FIG. 32B illustrates the brace being pivoted backward along the slot
[0151] Also referring to FIG. 19 , a different internal stabilizer cylinder retainer member 30 AR is also provided to permit pivoting movement of the retainer in a front-to-back direction (about angle θ), as well as some pivoting pavement of the retainer outwardly in a direction away from the opposed arm. However, to minimize wrist waggle, the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer member 30 AR is designed to restrict pivoting movement inwardly (to the inside, IS, in the direction toward the opposed hand).
[0152] Specific, atypical rod of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer 30 AR will be designed according to experimental data. Instead of user's wrist function which has been limited without waggle by forearm-bracket 11 A during user's crawling locomotion, the interaction of retainer rod 30 AR 2 and the bore hole 3 D is supposed to imitate the function of a human's wrist-joint by regulating the lateral motions of the hand glove 5 , 11 . For example, to prevent hand glove from inward waggle (towards the inside, IS), the inward side of the atypical rod should be closer to the wall of the borehole 3 D as much as possible; on the other hand, to allow hand glove with a larger backward sway, the backward side of the atypical rod should keep a larger distance from the wall of borehole 3 D. Proper atypical rod provides the user with a comfortable experience on crawling locomotion. In one embodiment, the hemisphere end of the rod 30 AR has a diameter the same as the bore hole 3 D of the stabilizer cylinder, which allows the hand glove having lateral movements.
[0153] Different from the original designs of, e.g., FIG. 11 , the upper spring retainer 30 A should be a portion of the housing cylinder longer enough to hold the spring firmly.
[0154] Different from the original designs, the stabilizer cylinder 3 may have the same external diameter as the housing cylindrical member 20 .
[0155] Different from the original designs, referring the FIG. 48 , an obstruction ring 30 A has been added on the lower portion of the housing cylinder 20 to create an upper spring retainer directly.
[0156] Referring now to FIG. 33 , there is depicted a forearm bracket member 11 AB that has a fixed or stationary (non adjustable) angle θ 2A . This stationary angle has a backward-tilting angle of angle θ 2A no less than 60°; e.g., 60° to 85°).
[0157] FIGS. 49, 51A, 51B, 52 and 53 provide alternative mechanisms (other than the threaded height adjustment shown in FIG. 50 ) for providing height adjustment of the hand-crawling device. For example, FIG. 49 generally shows height adjustment by way of an axially oriented hydraulic piston mechanism where post member 16 - 1 and housing member 20 - 1 interact hydraulically, much like the hydraulic height adjustment available on office swivel desk chairs. In this embodiment, a locking latch L can serve to release the pressure to permit height adjustment, and to then lock such adjusted height into place. FIGS. 51A and 51B generally depict cross-sectional views of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via spring-loaded pins or engagement members EM that can engage in a desired spaced-apart height adjustment hole(s) H located in housing 20 - 2 when the inner tubular member or post member 16 - 2 is inserted within the outer tubular member housing member 20 - 2 . FIG. 52 generally depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via a series of aligned, spaced apart height adjustment holes in the inner and outer tubular members and a spring-loaded pin that can engage therethrough to maintain the position of the inner tubular member to the outer tubular member. FIG. 53 generally depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of height adjustment wherein the height adjustment is accomplished via a compression fitting CF that can be tightened to restrict further movement of the inner tubular member 16 - 4 relative to the outer tubular member 20 - 4 . FIG. 54 generally depicts an anti-rotational channel lock that may be employed on the height adjustment embodiments depicted in FIGS. 49, 51A, 51B, 52 and 53 to prevent rotation of the inner tubular member relative to the outer tubular member.
[0158] Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present invention, when invoked by users manifesting sufficient physical skill and exemplary fitness, may achieve astonishing levels of whippy locomotion heretofore thought impossible and, indeed, heretofore not even contemplated.
[0159] Accordingly, it should be clearly understood that the present invention is not intended to be limited by the particular features and structures hereinbefore described and depicted in the accompanying drawings, but that the present invention is to be measured by the scope of the appended claims.
[0160] The following is a tabulation of the components depicted in the drawings in which instances of primes or multiples thereof are representative of the same component, but incorporated into different embodiments of the present invention, e.g., 5 or 5 ′, 6 or 6 ′, 100 or 100 ′ or 100 ″ or 100 ′″, etc.:
[0000]
Component Listing
Numeral
Component
Explanation
2
Hand-crawler glove apparatus, with
Cylindrical cross-section
either a single flat zonal arcuate
brace member or a double rod
arcuate brace member
3
Internal stabilizer cylinder member,
Support; removable
spring retainer lower member
3A
Slit
Accommodates adjustments by screw
driver
3B
Whorl
3C
Bottom portion
3D
Bore Hole
5 or 5′
Hand Glove assembly
for different embodiments
6 or 6′
Hand-in-glove
User's hand secured within glove
apparatus;
For different embodiments
7
Hand-crawler glove apparatus, with
Same cylindrical structure as in numeral 2,
either a single flat zonal arcuate
but reinforced with optional stabilizer
brace member or a double rod
cylinder
arcuate brace member, and also
including removable stabilizer
cylinder
107,
Hand-crawler glove apparatus, with
107a
either a single flat zonal arcuate
brace member or a double rod
arcuate brace member, and also
including removable stabilizer
cylinder
8
Top layer of Hand Platform
9
Bottom layer of Hand Platform
10
Hand Platform
Top surface, for receiving a hand
10A
Front portion
Enclosing fingers of a hand
10B
Rear portion
Enclosing heel of a hand
10C
Sole portion, layered
2 layers (8 & 9)
10D
Finger slot
For receiving curved fingers rather than
laying flat
10E
Thumb contour
For receiving thumb rather than laying flat
11
Hand Glove assemblies
11A
Forearm-Bracket Member, Wrist
Angle Adjustable
fixer, real, leg members
11AB
Angle stationary forearm-bracket
With a backward-tilting Angle
11A1
Curving Brace, upside of forearm
bracket
11A2
Top layer of Forearm-Bracket
Soft material
11A3
Strap
1 or 2 straps of any variety
11A4
Radial cogging member
On both left and right sides of low portion
of wrist fixer member legs
11A6
Tighteners, Bolts and Hand Nuts
11B
Thick Parapet, Substrate Assembly
11B1
Thick Parapet member, Thick
Accommodating forearm-bracket member
Substrate
11B2
Raised Radial cogging member
On both left and right sides of thick
parapet
11B3
Slot member
Tracks for movement of wrist fixer
member
11B4
Apertures on low potion of
Receiving axis
Substrate
11B5
Axis, Joint of wrist fixer member
Bolts, nuts
111
Hand-crawler glove apparatus,
Piston-like operation
devoid of arcuate brace member,
and also including optional
stabilizer cylinder
12
Hand-embracing member, front:
Strap
fingers
13
Hand-embracing member, front:
Strap
fingers
14
Hand-embracing member, rear:
dorsal Strap
heel & wrist
15
Post Assembly
16
Post member
Threaded
16-1
Hydraulically moveable post
Hydraulically adjustable within housing
member
member 20-1
16-2
Moveable post member with
Permits height adjustment between post
spring loaded engagement
member 16-2 and housing member 20-2
members EM
16-3
Moveable post member with
Permits height adjustment between post
height adjustment holes for
member 16-3 and housing member 20-3
receiving height adjustment pin P
16-4
Coaxial height adjustment secured
Permits height adjustment between post
by compression fitting CF
member 16-4 and housing member 20-4
17
Top portion
18
Thread members
19
Groove pairs
Symmetrically disposed relative to post
20
Housing Member
Cylindrical; enclosing Post member 16
20-1
Hydraulic housing Member
Interacts hydraulically with post member
16-1
20-2
outer tubular housing member
With height adjustment holes for receiving
engagement member EM
20-3
outer tubular housing member
With height adjustment holes for receiving
a locking pin P
20-4
Outer tubular housing member for
Interacts axially with inner tubular post
securing height adjustment with
member 16-4
compression fitting CF
20A
Ring member
Preferably contiguous with top of housing
20B
Lower Ring Member
To create a spring retainer
22
Brace Assembly
angle θ
24
Brace Support Member: Zonal,
Arcuate Shoulder Configuration
Flat
25
Brace Support Member, Double
Arcuate Shoulder Configuration
25A, B
Dual Parallel Brace Pair
Alternative configuration, angle θ
26
Base Member
Bottom Support
26A
Gap member
Accommodates elastic distortion
28
Apertures for receiving Studs 36
27
Elastomeric bends, To-and-fro
Lower Position
Bends, Reciprocating Bends
28A
Aperture in base member 26
Through which stabilizer cylinder 3
inserted
29
Brace Support Member, Single
Arcuate Shoulder Configuration
30A
Spring Retainer, Upper Member;
Holding spring within Bracket Assembly,
obstruction ring lower portion of
from above with enough length to prevent
the housing cylindrical member
spring 32 dop
30AR
Internal Stabilizer Cylinder
Retainer
30AR1
Hemisphere end of 30AR
the same diameter as 3D (Bore Hole)
30AR2
Atypical Rod of 30AR
30B
Spring Retainer, Lower Member,
Holding spring or stabilizer cylinder within
or internal stabilizer cylinder
Bracket Assembly, from below
retainer
30BS
Internal Stabilizer Cylinder whorl
30C
Single spring retainer member
30D
Top portion, disposed within
housing member 20
30E
Recess pair
For tightly retaining screw member 39
against post member 16
31
Void within housing 20, below
upper threaded portion
31B
Shoulder members disposed at
bottom of void 31, holding top
portion 30D of spring retainer 30C
32
Compression Spring Member
34
Sole Member
Rubberized; Skid Resistant
36
Stud Member
Insert into corresponding Stud Apertures
28
38
Whorl Hole
Centrally & axially disposed within the
cylindrical housing & having internal
threads mated with post threaded members
39
Fastener member, connecting
Bolt
lower portion of spring retainer
member 30C
40
Set of Securing Fasteners
Bolts or wing-nuts, to adjust height of
column
42
Crutch embodiment
45
Crutch
Screwable trunk bottom rather than rubber
tip
46
Pad
Arm pit
47
Hand-grip
Adjustable height (not shown)
48
Frame
Holes for adjusting height of hand-grip
48A
Left-side Portion
48B
Right-side Portion
49
Holes to adjust hand-grip height
50
Post Support, adjustable
Threaded
52
Post, threaded
55
Threads
100 or
Base assembly for different
Lower portion of embodiments,
100′ or
embodiments
encompassing post assembly (15); housing
100″ or
member (20); spring member (32) & its
100′″
associated components; base member (26)
and its associated components; optionally
brace assembly (22)
θ
Angle of support relative to vertical
Varies from about 95° to 135°
θ 2
Angle of wrist-fixer relative to
Angle optional from 55° to 90° (90° to
vertical
125°)
θ 2A
Angle of stationary forearm-
Angle no less than 60°; (60° to
bracket
85°)
d1, d2
Horizontal distance traversed by
user during first & second cycle
CF
Compression fitting
EM
Engagement member
Spring-loaded to lock into height
adjustment hole H
L
Locking latch
Release and lock hydraulically actuatable
height adjustment between post member
and housing memnber
H
spaced-apart height adjustment
holes
P
Pin for securing height position
h1, h2
Elevated height of user's hand after
driven by decompressed or expanded
hand-jump
spring; about ¼ to ½ inch
IS
Inside or inner side
The side of the device facing towards the
opposite hand; the thumb side of the
device when worn by user
OS
Outside or outer side
The side of the device facing away from
the opposite hand when worn by user
FS
Front side or front end
The front side or front end of the device;
the finger end of the device
BS
Back side or rear end
The back side or rear end of the device; the
hand/wrist end of the device
s1
Gap between stabilizer cylinder
Accommodates horizontal deflection
retainer 39AR and bore hole 3D
occurring during whippy motion
[0161] While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the process and system described herein without departing from the concept and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the scope and concept of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus of the present invention has many applications, and that the present invention is not limited to the representative examples disclosed herein. Moreover, the scope of the present invention covers conventionally known variations and modifications to the system components described herein, as would be known by those skilled in the art. While the apparatus and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred or illustrative embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the process described herein without departing from the concept and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the scope and concept of the invention as it is set out in the following claims. | A height-adjustable apparatus using a spring to urge forward and rearward undulating whippy locomotion is disclosed. A hand-crawling embodiment having a hand-glove assembly affixed to a base assembly enables users to engage in all-fours crawling locomotion while the body is conventionally situated in a two-legged orientation. One embodiment includes a forearm support bracket mounted at either a permanent or adjustable wrist angle. An internal stabilizer cylinder retainer is also provided to reduce inward pivoting of the internal stabilizer cylinder retainer in the direction of the opposite hand while permitting outward pivoting toward the outside of the device, and front-to-back pivoting toward the front side or backside of the device. A similar foot-bounding embodiment enables walkers, joggers, runners and jumpers to engage in forward and backward whippy locomotion. A crutch embodiment having a similar base assembly enables crippled or injured users to likewise engage in whippy locomotion. | 0 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/116,955, filed on Feb. 17, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Security systems are often installed within and around buildings such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples of these buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, schools or universities, shopping malls, government offices, and casinos. The security systems typically include components such as system controllers, access control systems, surveillance cameras, image analytics systems, and/or network video recorders (NVRs), to list a few examples.
[0003] The access control systems in buildings, for example, are principally concerned with physical security and the selective access to, restriction of, and/or notification of access to a place or other resource. Historically, the main components of the access control systems were system controller, access control readers, and possibly door controllers. The access control readers were often installed to enable presentation of credentials to obtain access to restricted areas, such as buildings or areas of the buildings. The readers were installed near the access points, such as doors or hallways or elevators. Typically, individuals would interact with the access control readers by swiping keycards or bringing contactless smart cards within range of the reader. The access control readers would read the credential information of the keycards and validate the information possibly by reference to a verification system that confirmed the credentials and determined if the individuals were authorized to access the restricted areas. If the individuals were authorized, then the access control readers might signal the door controllers to unlock doors or not generate alarms, for example.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Newer access control systems use wireless technology that enables a more transparent method for identifying and tracking users while providing similar access control and tracking as traditional systems and methods. They rely on the users' wireless-capable mobile computing devices such as smartphones, tablets, or wireless fobs. A credential management system proves a system for the authentication of users and then issues security tokens to the users' mobile computing devices, These tokens are presented wirelessly by the devices to security system's access control nodes, for example, which nodes then decide whether to grant or deny access.
[0005] An issue that arises is how the nodes and user devices should exchange information. The approach should be robust against attempts to hack the system but should also conserve the power required especially for the user devices, which are often battery-powered.
[0006] In general according to one aspect, the invention features a security system. This system comprises an access control node broadcasting a beacon including a time stamp and user devices generating replies to the beacon. Each reply is based on credential information for the user of the user device and the time stamp.
[0007] In embodiments, the beacon further includes a node identification for the node, and the beacon is broadcast as a Bluetooth low energy transmission.
[0008] Preferably, the access control node only processes the replies from user devices received within a predetermined time. This time is typically less than 1 second or about 500 milliseconds, or less. The access control node places these replies in a queue for processing. On the other hand, the user devices reply to the beacon after a variable time delay to avoid collisions.
[0009] In the current embodiment, the replies of the user devices comprise user identifiers for the users of the devices and device identifiers for the user devices.
[0010] In the illustrated example, the credential information is issued by a third party authentication system server.
[0011] In general according to another one aspect, the invention features an access control method for a security system. This method comprises broadcasting a beacon including a time stamp at an access control node and receiving replies to the beacon based on the time stamp, the replies including credential information of users of the user devices.
[0012] The above and other features of the invention including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, and other advantages, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in any claims. It will be understood that the particular method and device embodying the invention are shown by way of illustration 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 DRAWINGS
[0013] In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Of the drawings:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a security system with a security credential management system according to the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing how security tokens are obtained and then used by the user's mobile computing device (smartphone);
[0016] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the security credential management system in conjunction with the user's mobile computing device describing the creation and distribution of credential information;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing the pre-enrollment service for the credential management system for the creation of credential information;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing the mobile device application verification process for the credential management system in the access control method; and
[0019] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the reader/control panel device credential verification process for the credential management system in the access control method.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrative 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.
[0021] As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Further, the singular forms including the articles “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms: includes, comprises, including and/or comprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Further, it will be understood that when an element, including component or subsystem, is referred to and/or shown as being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present.
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a security system 10 with a credential management system 12 that has been constructed according to the principles of the present invention.
[0023] It illustrates how the user's mobile computing device 105 accesses the application or app that was purchased and/or downloaded from internet app server 82 , typically. Examples include the app store provided by Apple Corporation or Google Pay provided by Google Inc., for example, or other application program source.
[0024] This app executes on the mobile computing device 105 and allows the user 104 to provide identity and authentication information to an authentication system server 50 of the credential management system 12 that is accessed via the device app in one example.
[0025] The authentication system server 50 requests authentication tokens and other provisioned information from the authentication provider server 52 . Authentication tokens along with the key are provided by the authentication provider server 52 back to the authentication system server 50 .
[0026] The tokens or representations of the tokens and keys are then distributed such as via an authentication control headend server 110 . It communicates with the various access control nodes 152 , such as card or frictionless Bluetooth low energy (BLE) or near field readers, and door controllers 112 . These nodes 152 and/or door controller 112 readers are usually dispersed around the company's buildings and typically installed in connection with the various access points 114 , such as doors, elevators, rooms, hallways, to list a few examples. The access control headend server 110 stores caches of the tokens.
[0027] The authentication provider that operates the authentication provider server 52 is paid for the tokens it distributes and its authentication functions via a payment processing system 80 since it is a third party company, in one example. A customer resource management system 54 is used to control the interface with the payment processing system 80 .
[0028] in general, some of the basic features of the present system 10 involve card emulation by the users' mobile computing devices 105 . This enables virtual credentialing of the users 104 . In operation, the organization operating the security system 10 will buy a pool of credentials from the authentication provider that operates the provider server 52 . Such a provider will typically have provided the application programs to the users for execution on their individual mobile computing devices 105 via the app server 82 . These application programs will enable the users 104 to be authenticated in some examples and obtain and manage credentials that are issued to the users and stored on the users' devices, such as security tokens.
[0029] The issued security tokens are usually time-limited, i.e., expire after a certain period of time or at a particular date and time. If the users are still validated, then new tokens will be issued as part of a rotation.
[0030] In operation, these credential information (i.e., tokens or representations of the tokens (token hashes)) are issued to the users' devices 105 and then sent wirelessly by the devices to access control nodes 152 , managing access to a door, elevator or other entry point or node 114 . The security system 10 of the access control system will then validate the credential information (tokens and then determine the credentials, authenticated identification associated with the token. The devices' tokens are stored in a queue 155 of the nodes and then processed and passed through the system and matched with the credentials.
[0031] The credential management system 12 of the security system 10 allows customer organizations to securely purchase, enroll, and download credentials to mobile devices 105 of their users as well as import credentials to the access control system headend server 110 of the security system 10 .
[0032] The basic system can support major web browsers (Internet Explorer, FireFox . . . ) and securely interfaces to payment systems 80 such as the PayPal payment system. Authentication and SSL interfaces are used for the enrollment pages and the system provides different roles and level of user privileges. The apps/application programs that run on the user devices 105 are compatible with major smart phone (mobile computing device) brands (Apple iPhones (iOS), BlackBerry, Android-based operating systems and other mobile computing device (smart phones) operating systems to enroll credentials to the users' mobile devices.
[0033] The credential management system 12 provides an abstraction layer and plugins for each access control interface from different vendors. It preferably supports credential management including features such as enroll, modify, delete, query, and report. The credential management system also functions to support business unit enrollment services, pre-enrollment services, mobile device application enrollment services, individual device enrollment services, mobile device application device verification, and reader/control panel device/credential verification.
[0034] The credential management system addresses various security considerations such as data confidentiality and integrity (addressing Man-in-the-Middle attacks), Data availability (addressing Denial-of-Service attacks), and Authentication (addressing password crack attacks).
[0035] FIG. 2 provides an overview of the user experience showing how user credentials including security tokens are Obtained and then used by the user's mobile computing device (smartphone) 105 . It illustrates how the app 106 on the user's device 105 can be downloaded via from the app server 82 . The user then registers via this app with a portal that is hosted on the authentication system server 50 that is owned and managed by the authentication provider.
[0036] During operation, the user device 105 passes the authentication tokens through Bluetooth or NFC (nearfield communication) protocols, for example, to the access control node 152 . These tokens are then authenticated against the tokens stored in the cache on the node 152 and/or the access control headend server 110 . The server 110 or the node 152 , depending, on the implementation, then signal the door lock controller 112 , for example, to grant the user 104 access, or not.
[0037] FIG. 3 shows the creation and distribution of credential information for users and their devices.
[0038] This figure shows how the user device app is downloaded in step 310 and installed on the user's mobile device 105 . This app has or accesses the enrollment URL in step 312 . This leads the user to the enrollment screen that is rendered on the display of the user device 105 in step 314 . The app sends a request for enrollment from the user device 105 in step 316 . A standard web client such as a browser can also be used. A list of supported business units is returned by the authentication provider in step 318 . This information is provided on the display of the user device in step 320 . The user will then select their business unit and enter personal information such as name, employee ID number and possibly social security number in step 322 .
[0039] The app then obtains the unique device identifier (UDR)) for the user's device in step 324 . This is usually available to the device's operating system kernel.
[0040] The user/applicant's data along with the device's identifying information is then sent to the authentication provider server 52 , in step 326 . The authentication provider server 52 then confirms that the user is a valid employee of the identified business unit in step 328 .
[0041] If the user is determined to not be a valid applicant, then the user's application is denied in step 330 .
[0042] The credential identifier is determined to be valid or not in step 332 . If not valid the application is also denied in step 330 again. If it is valid, then the credential identification is marked as consumed in step 334 in the credential database of the authentication provider server 52 .
[0043] Additionally, if the credential identifier is valid, it is determined whether the user's device 105 has been previously associated with the credential or the device is new by reference to the UDID in step 336 .
[0044] If the user applicant has had no previous device registered, then a random seed key is generated in step 338 , a random seed key certificate is generated in step 340 , a card format compliant unique identifier in step 342 is generated for the device 105 , and a symmetric key for data structure encryption is generated in step 344 .
[0045] The employee data are stored along with the seed key, certificate, UDID and equivalent card number in the local database 350 of the authentication provider server 52 in step 346 . The information is also exported to the access control system and specifically to the system's headend server 110 in step 348 .
[0046] Additionally, data are exported back to the app executing on the user device 105 for storage in the data structure of the app. This information is sent for storage back to the app and encrypted with the symmetric key. It can be transferred in one example via an SMS message.
[0047] The transfer seed key is also sent. The transfer seed key certificate is also sent via SMS message in one example.
[0048] In more detail, the authentication provider server 52 transfers the seed key and the seed key certificate in one or two SMS messages to the user devices in steps 360 , 362 . These are received in the user devices 105 and then transferred from the messaging app of the device 105 to the security app in steps 364 , 366 . The app then incorporates the seed key and the seed key certificate in steps 368 , 370 .
[0049] The user device then determines if the certificate is valid for the seed key in step 372 . If it is valid then the seed key is stored in the device's SIM card 382 by the device's operating system in step 374 , otherwise an error is registered. The data structure is also preferably stored to the SIM card 382 .
[0050] A data structure is created from the package card identifier in step 384 . This data. structure is encrypted in step 386 and transferred to the user device 105 in step 388 , such as by an SMS message. In step 390 and 392 , the data structure is transferred and incorporated into the security app. The data structure is then stored into the SIM card 382 in step 394 .
[0051] In the case where the user device has a secure element storage 380 as determined in step 376 , the information is removed from the SIM card 382 and transferred to the secure element storage 380 in step 378 .
[0052] FIG. 4 shows the pre-enrollment service for the credential management system 12 . The security app executing on the user device 105 accesses the authentication system server credential management system in step 410 , which returns the pre-enrollment web page in step 412 .
[0053] User entered data is received by the credential management system in step 414 . The authentication provider server 50 confirms whether the business was identified in step 416 and that it is a valid business unit in step 418 . This check is performed by reference to the business unit database stored in the credential database 420 .
[0054] If the business was not identified, then a business enrollment page is provided in step 415 .
[0055] If the business was identified then the database is queried for the existing credentials in step 422 . The credential administration page is returned in step 424 . User entered data is received in step 426 . If credentials are added as determined in step 428 , then charges are calculated in step 430 and invoices issued in step 432 .
[0056] Additional credentials can also be purchased, if necessary.
[0057] FIG. 5 shows the mobile device verification by the credential Management System. This process is performed by the user device 105 when it is in proximity to an access control node 152 .
[0058] The process starts when a broadcast is detected from the access control node 152 in step 510 . This broadcast includes a nodeID, which is a unique identification assigned to each access control node 152 . The broadcast also includes the current time as a time stamp. The current time and the nodeID are retrieved from the broadcast in step 511 . In one embodiment, this time is the least significant bytes of the current time.
[0059] In step 512 , the security app executing on the device 105 retrieves the seed key either from the secure element storage 380 or the subscriber identity module (SIM) card 382 . This seed key is then used to initialize the time based one-time password algorithm (TOTP) in step 514 . The encrypted card identifier is also retrieved in step 516 . This is combined with the UDID from the kernel, which is retrieved in step 518 .
[0060] The latest security ID from the TOTP and the card identifier are obtained in step 520 . In step 522 , a hash is created from the security ID, UDID, the encrypted card identifier, the nodeID and the current time from the node. This is combined into an iBeacon compliant broadcast, in one implementation. This is transmitted to the access control system node 152 via a NFC, Bluetooth low energy transmission (BLE) or WiFi, for example. This broadcast occurs in step 526 after a random wait time that is implemented in step 524 . This delay in for the wait time period avoids collisions with other devices.
[0061] FIG. 6 shows the credential verification performed by the access control node 152 of the security system.
[0062] The access control node or reader sends BLE broadcast including the node's nodeID and the current time (least two significant bytes) in step 610 .
[0063] The responsive BLE broadcasts from the user devices are then received and placed into the queue 155 in step 612 . In one example, responses to the BLE broadcast that are received within less than 1 second or about 500 milliseconds or less are placed the queue.
[0064] Using the time contained in node's broadcast and the nodes's nodeID, the security ID, UDID, encrypted card identifier are retrieved from the device broadcast by parsing each device broadcast in step 614 .
[0065] The node 152 uses the device's UDID to retrieve the symmetric key in step 616 from the node's database 618 . These credentials can also be requested from the access control headend 110 if they are not present in the cache in the database 618 or the versions in the caches are stale. The retrieved symmetric key is used to decrypt the data store containing the Card Identifier in step 618 .
[0066] Using the seed key for the UDID of the message in step 620 , the TOTP algorithm is initialized in step 622 . The present Security ID is calculated in step 624 . The access control node determines whether the security ID is correct in step 626 . If it is not correct then access is denied.
[0067] If the security ID is correct then the card identifier is used to verify the associated user has access rights for this access point or door for example in step 628 .
[0068] If there is no access tight for the user as determined in step 632 , access is denied in step 630 .
[0069] If there are sufficient access rights as determined in step 632 , then the location of the device is assessed in steps 634 , 636 , and 638 .
[0070] Before access is granted, the location of e device 105 is also determined in some examples as shown in steps 634 , 636 . Access is only granted if the device 105 is determined to be adequately close to the access point 152 in step 638 . That is, the door, for example, should only be opened when the user is in front of the door.
[0071] Different methods can be used to determine position. Bluetooth is a wireless technology that operates in a 2.4 GHz (gigahertz) short-range radio frequency band. In free space, Bluetooth applications typically locate a Bluetooth device by calculating the distance of the user devices from the signal receivers. The distance of the device from the receiver is closely related to the strength of the signal received from the device. A lower power version of standard Bluetooth called Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), in contrast, consumes between ½ and 1/100 the power of classic Bluetooth. BLE is optimized for devices requiring maximum battery life instead of higher data transfer rates associated with classic Bluetooth. BLE has a. typical broadcast range of about 100-150 feet (approximately 35-46 meters).
[0072] In an alternative implementation, the user devices are capable of broadcasting via standard Bluetooth. In still other alternative implementations, the user devices may broadcast via other wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11), active RFID (radio frequency identification), or ZigBee, to list a few examples.
[0073] The positioning units are provided as part of the access control nodes, in some examples, each preferably includes two or more antennas. The positioning units determine locations of the user devices using one or more positioning techniques.
[0074] A preferred positioning technique compares signal attenuation between two antennas of the positioning unit. Another positioning technique includes determining time of flight of packet data received at each of the antennas of a positioning unit. in yet another positioning technique example, the positioning units employ triangulation between two or more positioning units installed within the building.
[0075] In any event, if the device is determined to be adequately close in step 638 , then access is approved in step 640 . Otherwise access is again denied in step 630 .
[0076] While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims. | A security system comprises an access control node broadcasting a beacon including a time stamp and user devices generating replies to the beacon that are based on credential information for the user of the user device and the time stamp. The system relies on the users' wireless-capable mobile computing devices such as smartphones, tablets, or wireless fobs. A credential management system proves a system for the authentication of users and then issues security tokens as credential information to the users' mobile computing devices. These tokens are presented wirelessly by the devices to the security system's access control nodes, for example, where the access control nodes then decide whether to grant or deny access. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making paper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Present day paper making techniques are geared to large volume, low-cost classes of paper. The higher quality of these mass-produced papers are used for correspondence, letter writing, product marketing brochures, etc. At the other end of the scale, such lower grade papers are used for newspapers, etc.
Prior to the invention of the Fourdrinier paper machine by Nicolas Louis Robert in 1800, paper was mostly made by hand. Although the volume of such hand-made paper was small, the making of it was greatly decentralized. Of course, the quality of paper depended on the craftsman who made the paper, and a large variety of aesthetic papers could be produced by these individual craftsmen. Since the advent of the printing press and the Fourdrinier paper making machine, the hand-crafted paper maker has all but been eliminated except for a few artists who still produce unique hand-made papers or extremely small volume printings of artistic drawings or writings.
In hand-crafted paper making, the craftsman or artist can control and select the appropriate materials which in the paper making process are in suspension in a water carrier and are then filtered and deposited on a supported substrate to form the sheet of paper. The craftsman, therefore, can select the type of material and can also introduce textural effects to the already formed paper.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a method of making custom sheet paper of consistent predetermined quality.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an apparatus for automatically forming sheet paper having desirable aesthetic craft paper qualities; or any other properties that may be desired.
A method in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of providing a filter-like carrier substrate and introducing the substrate into a first stage, passing a liquid, bearing solids in suspension, through the filter-like carrier such that the solids to form the paper are deposited on the filter-type substrate carrier, moving the carrier with the deposited solids to a second stage where pressure is applied to the sheet on the substrate carrier, moving the carrier carrying the sheet to a third stage, for drying the sheet, and finally moving the carrier to a fourth stage, removing the so-formed sheet from the carrier and repeating these steps.
An apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a carrier means provided with a flat filtering medium and having an area suitable for forming a desired sheet of paper, conveying means for moving the carrier sequentially through treatment stations, the first station including means for passing and drawing a liquid containing solids in suspension therein, through the filter medium of the carrier whereby the solids are deposited on the carrier, a second station where a differential pressure is applied on both sides of the carrier such that excess liquid is drained through the filter medium of the carrier whereby the sheet is consolidated on the carrier, a third station including means for drying the sheet, and means for removing the so-formed sheet from the carrier.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an end elevation partly in cross-section taken along lines 4--4 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-section taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a frame 10 mounting a turntable 12 having four separate carrier sections defined by screen substrates 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d. The screen substrates 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d are illustrated in operative positions at each of the stations 14, 16, 18 and 20.
The turntable 12 which includes the screen substrates 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d, is mounted on a shaft 22. Shaft 22 is itself journalled in a bearing 24 and is connected to a pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement 28 adapted to lift the shaft 22 and thus the turntable 12. The top end of shaft 22 is operatively connected in a torque device 32 which is also pneumatically controlled to turn the shaft 22 and thus the turntable 12 intermittently through 90° arcs. The torque device 32 is mounted on a bracket 30 which in turn is mounted to the frame 10.
Accordingly, it can be seen that the shaft and the turntable 12 can be made to rotate in a horizontal plane through 90° arcs and by controlling the piston and cylinder arrangement 28, shaft and turntable can also be lifted a short distance just prior to the turntable 12 being rotated through its 90° arc and then the piston and cylinder arrangement 28 can be operated to lower the turntable such that the screen substrates will be lowered and keyed into stations 14, 16, 18 and 20.
Referring to the first station 14 as seen more clearly in FIG. 5, there is provided a column forming a container 34 for liquid. The column is mounted to a frame 35 which can be moved along a vertical axis over the screen substrate when a typical screen substrate 12a is keyed in station 14. The column 34 has an open bottom and is adapted to be seated on a suitable gasket 13 surrounding a typical screen substrate 12a.
A measuring tank 46 shown schematically in FIG. 5 is provided over the column 34 and is connected to the column 34 by means of a flexible conduit 47 which is opened by valve 47a. A mixing tank 49 is adapted to receive and to mix the fibers and a liquid carrier ie. pulp fibers mixed in water called the stock. The stock is continually recirculated to measuring tank 46 by means of conduit 43 and pump 43a. A return conduit 45 is also provided for returning the overflow stock to the mixing tank 4a.
Below the column 34, there is provided a large piston and cylinder arrangement 40 which has a lid 38 and a collar 36 adapted to coincide just below the gasket once the screen 12a is seated in station 14. The collar 36 is a continuation therefore of the column 34 when the column 34 is in its lowest position. A piston 42 is provided in the cylinder 40 in hermetical contact with the walls of the cylinder 40 such that when it is pulled downwardly it will forcibly draw the water through the screen 12a into the cylinder 40.
A drain channel 37 with an outlet 37a is also provided for draining away the excess liquid as will be described.
In operation, the cycle will be described with the piston 42 at the end of its downward stroke. Water devoid of the fibers is now within the container 40 and a screen 12 on the top of which are fibers, has been moved on with the column 34 in a raised position. The piston 42 begins its upward stroke pushing the water upwardly into the collar 36 to overflow into the drain channel 37. When the piston 42 reaches a given position in its upward stroke movement it will trigger a limit switch (not shown) which will stop the piston leaving a predetermined volume of water in the container 40. At the same time, a new screen 12a has been moved into place over the collar 36 and the column 34 is moved downwardly to be sealingly fitted about the screen 12a. At this point, the piston 42 is again activated to continue its upward stroke movement pushing the water in the container 40 upwardly in the column 34. At the same time, the valve 47a is activated to allow a batch of concentrated stock to be emptied into the column 34. The amount of stock in the measuring tank 46 is controlled accurately by the overflow position of the return conduit 45. The concentrated stock is mixed with the water which has been passed upwardly into the column 34 and the predetermined concentration of stock as thus provided in the column 34. Once the piston 42 has reached its upper most position, and its upward stroke, it then begins its downward stroke drawing the water containing the pulp fibers downwardly leaving and depositing the pulp fibers on the screen 12a. The piston 42 will draw all the water from the stock down into the container 40 by the time it reaches its downward position prepared for a new cycle.
Station 16 is better illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Station 16 is provided with an upright frame 17 to which the frame bracket 30 is mounted, and includes an overhead piston and cylinder arrangement 54 to which a platen 50 is mounted. The platen 50 would normally have the surface which is in the form of the relief which would be required on the finished sheet of paper. If the sheet of paper is to be completely flat then the platen would be flat. In addition, underneath the screen 12b in this case, there is provided a suction box 56 which is in communication with a vacuum pump arrangement 64, the station 18 is the forming station wherein the platen 50 is lowered on to the screen 12b containing the fibers which would have been placed thereon at station 14.
The air pressure from the platen 50 as well as the suction drawn below the screen enhances the dewatering of the fibers and the consolidation of the fibers in a sheet on the substrate 12b.
Referring now to station 18 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown a support frame 19 to which is mounted a lifting piston and cylinder arrangement 72 which is provided for the purposes of lifting the heating plate 74. The heating plate 74 is adapted to move downwardly onto the sheet formed on the screen 12c which has been previously formed at station 16. A vacuum box 76 is also provided below the screen 12c for enhancing the drying of the sheet station 18.
In operation, the turntable 12 is of course raised and rotated such that the screen 12c is in a keyed position and the turntable has been lowered. The heating plate 74 which is electrically heated is then lowered onto the sheet for the purpose of drying the sheet. Vacuum is applied to the suction box 76 further reducing the time required to dry the sheet. Once a predetermined time lapse has passed, the vacuum is broken when the heating plates 74 are raised by the piston and cylinder arrangement 72 and the turntable 12 is free to be lifted and to rotate to the next position.
The next and final station is station 20 which is adapted to remove the sheet from the screen substrate and place it in a stacking hopper 96. The station 20, best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, includes an upstanding support frame 80 to which are mounted guide rails 82 and 84. The carriage 86 is mounted for sliding movement on the rails 82 and 84. A piston and cylinder arrangement 88 is mounted to the carriage 86 and is adapted to lift and lower a vacuum pick-up device 92. The carriage is controlled by means of the piston and cylinder arrangement 90 which move the carriage 86 and thus the vacuum pick-up device 92 between a position over the sheet on the screen substrate 12d and a position over the stacking hopper 96. An air pressure box 94 is located at station 20 below the screen substrate 12d. In operation, air pressure is forced into the box 94, through the porous surface, to the screen 12d thus disengaging the sheet from the screen 12d. At the same time, vacuum pressure is applied through the vacuum pick-up device 92 so that the pick-up device 92 will lift the sheet from the screen 12d. The piston and cylinder arrangement 88 is retracted so as to lift the pick-up device 92 and then the piston and cylinder arrangement 90 is retracted to move the pick-up device to a position shown in dotted lines over the stacking hopper 96.
When the pick-up device 92 is located over the stacking hopper 96, the vacuum is cut thereby allowing the sheet to fall into the hopper and the cycle is reversed.
An air pressure receiver 100 is provided for supplying air pressure to the various piston and cylinder arrangements as well as to the pressure box 94 and the platen 50. The air pressure receiver communicates and is supplied by the compressor 102. Likewise, a vacuum chamber 64 is provided which communicates with the various vacuum boxes such as a pick-up device 92 in station 20 and a vacuum box 56 in station 16.
As can be seen from the drawings and the above description, the paper making process follows three steps and is withdrawn from the operation at the fourth station 20. The turntable 12 is indexed to move in 90° arcs such that the screen 12a for example after receiving the fibers would then advance to station 16 for consolidating of the fiber and then to station 18 for drying. The same sheet would then be picked-up at station 20 from the screen 12a. As screen 12a is passing through the various steps simultaneously the screens 12b, 12c, 12d are in different stations. | A method and apparatus for custom making paper comprising a filter like carrier substrate which is moved sequentially past a series of stations including a station wherein a liquid bearing solids in suspension is passed through the filter like carrier such that the solids form a paper sheet on the substrate carrier, moving the carrier with the deposited solids to a second stage where pressure is applied to the sheet to consolidate the solids into a sheet, further moving the carrier to a third station and exposing the sheet to heat for drying the sheet, finally moving the carrier to a fourth station and removing the so formed sheet from the carrier. | 3 |
It is the result of a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to energy-conserving blinds for use in the windows of a building, and more particularly, to improved construction of such blinds to reduce the heat loss or gain produced by the windows and to provide for minimum air flow between slats when the blinds are closed. As used herein, the term "window" applies to any glazed sunlight admitting opening.
The solar energy transmitted through large south-facing windows can provide a substantial contribution toward the heating requirements of residences and buildings. However, these same windows (as well as all glazed units) give rise to large heat losses during heating seasons and heat input during cooling seasons. The heat transfer is reduced approximately 1/2 through the use of doubly glazed units. Even so, the heat transfer is at least twice that of acceptably insulated wall systems. A further problem of large windows arises due to glare and to the fading of fabrics and furniture exposed to the sun.
Common partial solution to these problems has been the use of various types of blinds and drapes. Unfortunately, the use of such covering of the windows negates the potential solar input benefit. The covering at night does provide some insulation due to the multiple air layers. Typical of the coverings known in the art are drapes with metalized backing, roll-up shades and venetian blinds. The latter may have a reflective outer surface, and may be mounted between window layers as well as on the room side of the windows. Special screening is also available to install exterior to the window.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved window blinds that not only provide reflection of sunlight upward toward the ceiling of a room during the daylight hours but also provide insulation for the room when they are closed for reducing the heat loss or gain produced by the windows.
It is another object of the present invention to provide reflective insulating blinds for windows that also provide a minimum air flow between th slats thereof when the blinds are closed.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved window blind comprising multiple slats adapted to be adjusted simultaneously, each slat being formed of a base, an insulating layer, and a reflective surface applied to the exterior exposed surface of the insulating layer. In addition, the edges of each slat are adapted to be notched whereby interlocking of adjacent slats can be effected, and these notches are adapted to contain a respective sealant strip to assure close association of adjoining slats when the blind is in a closed position to thus ensure minimum air flow between slats. The reflective surface of each slat may be either flat or contoured across the width thereof to form a concave surface.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of one slat of a window blind of the present invention to accomplish greater energy conservation;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of one slat of another embodiment of a window blind of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a vertical section of a window showing a window blind of the present invention in an open position;
FIG. 4 is a vertical section of the window blind of FIG. 3 in a closed position;
FIG. 5 is a partial showing of a vertical section of a window blind illustrating another embodiment of the present invention with reflective insulating slats in a closed position; and
FIG. 6 is a partial showing of still another embodiment of the present invention with reflective insulating slats of a window blind shown in an opened position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Two embodiments of reflective insulating blinds for windows and the like of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. These drawings are cross sectional views taken across a respective individual slat 1 or 1' of the blinds. A base material or frame 10 or 10' is provided to give adequate rigidity to the respective slat. Affixed to the outwardly facing surface of the base 10 or 10' is a relatively thick layer of insulation 11 or 11', such as styrofoam or polyurethane. (Alternatively, the insulation may contain internal strengthening elements.) The insulation 11 or 11' is provided with appropriate offsets 12, 13 or 12', 13' whereby adjacent slats will form a substantially continuous surface when the blind is in a closed position (see FIG. 4). The base of the offsets 12, 13 or 12', 13' are provided with a sealant strip 14, 15 or 14', 15' to assure a complete seal along the length between adjacent slats when closed. This sealant strip may be of a magnetic material or the like. The exposed face of the insulating material 11 or 11' is covered with a reflective surface 16 or 16'. The reflective surface may be, for example, a bonded layer of metal foil. In addition, the reflective surface 16 of FIG. 1 is flat, while the surface 16' of FIG. 2 is contoured. The outer face of the insulating material 11' may be similarly contoured.
FIG. 3 illustrates a window blind having slats, such as shown in FIG. 1, in one form of utilization. The blind is mounted on the inside of a double glass window 2 which is mounted within a vertically oriented window frame 3. The slats 1 of the blind are connected to a control rod 4, for example, which in turn is supported by the window frame 3. Mechanical means, not shown, are coupled to the rod 4 for effecting the opening and closing of the blind in a conventional manner. With the slats in a substantially horizontal position, incoming sunlight is reflected by the reflective surfaces of the slats 1 onto the ceiling of the room, not shown, in which the window frame 3 is mounted. Excess heat reaching the ceiling can be absorbed thereby and later radiated back into the room. In addition, the ceiling illumination effected by the reflected sunlight greatly decreases the dependence on artificial lighting. The use of the reflective slats in the blind thus permits nearly maximum solar energy input to the room (as in winter) without the accompanying glare and sunlight damage to furniture and rugs.
The use of the curved slats, such as shown in FIG. 2, instead of in flat slats of FIG. 1 in the window blind has the advantage that sunlight will be reflected to the ceiling much of the day without the necessity for making frequent changes in the slant of the slats.
The closed position of the slats of FIG. 3 is illustrated in FIG. 4. In this position any sunlight is reflected away from the room and the insulation forms a continuous insulating shutter to prevent heat transfer. This position would be used at night, particularly in winter, and during summer days where no sunlight is needed or desired in the room. Additional window insulation is provided by the air gap between the window and the closed blind.
Still another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 of the drawings. The principle is the same as that for FIGS. 1 and 2; only the configuration is changed. In order to provide a thickness of insulation layer 17 which is sufficient to maintain proper shape, provision is made whereby the edge of the slats may move without striking an adjoining slat. This necessitates at least rounding the rearward edges 18, 19 as shown. Further, slanting edge 18 permits additional transmission of reflected energy when the slats are in an open position. The bases of the offsets of each slat are provided with sealant strips 23, 24, or the like, for the same purpose as in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2.
Although some loss of insulation results in utilizing the slanting edges 18 for the slats, pockets of dead air 20 will be created in the notches between slats to compensate for the loss. A spacing 21 is provided between forward edges whereby interlocking of slats is assured even when some misalignment exists. The slats are provided with a respective reflective surface 22 which may, if desired, be curved as in FIG. 2.
Still another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Only two slats of the blind are shown in FIG. 6 and the blind is mounted on the inside of a double glass window 36. The slats are shown in the open position to illustrate the direction of the incoming sunlight during the daytime and how it is reflected by the reflective face of one of the slats, for example, toward the ceiling. Each of the slats of FIG. 6 is comprised of a thick layer of insulation 30 and is provided with an offset 31. The base of each of the offsets is provided with a sealant strip 32. The ends of each of the insulation layers 30 of the respective slats are provided with slanting edges 33, 34 as shown. The exposed contoured face of the insulation material 30 of each slat is covered with a reflective surface 35.
It can be seen that when the blind of FIG. 6 is tilted to a closed position, an upper right hand portion of the curved face of a lower slat will abut against the sealant strip 32 of the adjacent upper slat such that when all of the slats of the blind are sealed in this manner, the insulation of the closed slats forms a substantially continuous insulating shutter to prevent heat transfer as in the other embodiments described above. It should be understood that the sealant strip 32 is adapted to be curved to match the curvature of the portion of the adjacent slat that abuts against it when the blind is closed. It should be understood that the upper faces of the slats of FIG. 6 could be made flat if such is desired.
The various embodiments described above were designed for interior mounting in a vertical sunlight-admitting opening. It should be understood that the various blinds could be adapted for mounting in rooms provided with ceiling skylight openings if such were desired. In addition, the blinds could be mounted on the exterior of various building openings, if such were desired, particularly in temperate regions. However, interior mounting of the blinds is preferred, particularly in colder climates where freezing could interfere with the control mechanisms of the blinds.
In order to provide greater visibility than the conventional venetian blind, the blinds of the present invention utilizing the slats of FIGS. 1, 2, 5 or 6 may be made wider. For example, the width of each slat is made 3.5 inches (8.89 cm) as compared to a conventional venetian blind slat of about 2 inches (6.35 cm) width. Also, since the slats are constructed to be rigid, they can easily be wiped clean with a cloth when necessary. When the slats are curved, as in FIG. 2 or FIG. 6, each curved slat is provided with a curvature of 12 inch (30.49 cm) radius, for example, and it has been determined that such a curvature reduces the number of adjustments required for the blind to achieve the desired reflective angle during the daylight hours. It should be understood that any necessary or desired adjustment of the blind may be either manual, as mentioned above, or by means of an automated remote-control device.
It has been determined that the use of the reflective insulation blinds of the present invention will effect a saving of 70-80 kWhr/m 2 during an average heating season in the East Tennessee area.
The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. They were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and their practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto. | Energy-conserving window blinds are provided. The blinds are fabricated from coupled and adjustable slats, each slat having an insulation layer and a reflective surface to face outwardly when the blinds are closed. A range of desired light and air transmission may be selected with the reflective surfaces of the slats adapted to direct sunlight upward toward the ceiling when the blinds are open. When the blinds are closed, the insulation of the slats reduces the heat loss or gain produced by the windows. If desired, the reflective surfaces of the slats may be concave. The edges of the slats are designed to seal against adjacent slats when the blinds are closed to ensure minimum air flow between slats. | 4 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 734,280, filed on Oct. 20, 1976, and now abandoned and entitled "Gilsan Plastic Variable Water Well Screen".
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a water screen and particularly to a water screen providing a variable filtration function.
In general, prior to the present invention, water screens have been complicated in nature and have required a great expense of time and money in their manufacture. For example, the L. B. Foster Company, 415 Holiday Drive, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15220 has recently announced, in an advertising brochure, the development of special tooling for cutting slots in well casing for use as water well screens. Additionally, previous water screens do not readily provide for variable filtration. That is, previous water screens are capable of filtering certain size particles from the water as the water flows through the screen, however, in instances wherein the particulate size is less than screen openings, these particles traveled unhindered through the screen and hence remain as contaminants in the water. Thus, in order to filter substantially all sizes of particulate matter, it has often been necessary to utilize additional filtration systems that increase the time and expense necessary to provide filtered water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, in accordance with this invention, these and other problems are alleviated by providing an inexpensive water screen formed from a compressible plastic material and displaying a variable filtration feature.
The water screen comprises a length of pipe capped at one end and communicable at the other end thereof with a source of negative pressure. The pipe length is made from a plastic, resilient material suitable for liquid transport. The pipe length is provided with at least one inlet opening which comprises a slot with the longitudinal axis of the slot arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe length and inclined at an angle of at least 1° such that with the source of negative pressure providing suction, the material of the pipe length radially compresses thereby reducing the circumferential distance between the walls of the slot hence permitting the flow of water therethrough but excluding debris.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the angle of inclination is defined by the angle between a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the pipe length and bisecting the circumferential distance existing between the walls of the slot as measured along the outer surface of the pipe length and a radius of the pipe length extending from the center of the pipe length and intersecting the bisecting plane at a point tangential to the surface of the pipe length.
In another aspect of the present invention, the plastic material from which the water screen is made is chosen from the group comprising polyvinylchloride, polypropylene and polyethylene.
In yet a further aspect of the present invention the slot has parallel side walls.
In another aspect of the invention, the center-to-center circumferential distance between the slots is not less than 0.25.
In another aspect of the invention, the parallel side walls of the slots are separated by a distance of not less than 0.016 inch.
In yet a further aspect of the present invention, the angle of inclination as measured between the bisecting plane and a radius of the pipe length lies in the range of 1° to 25° .
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is more particularly described in reference to the following figures:
FIG. 1 shows the water screen of the present invention in conjunction with a water well.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the water screen of the present invention.
FIG. 3 depicts a cross section of FIG. 2 taken along the line 2--2 showing the geometric relation of a slot.
FIG. 4 is a cross section of FIG. 2 along the line 2--2 showing a plurality of circumferentially distributed slots.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1, the present invention is generally illustrated as associated with a water well. In FIG. 1, a water screen 10 is attached at an attachment 12 to a typical water well pipe conduit 14. An outlet end 16 of the pipe conduit 14 is in communication by, for example, a pipe 15, to an inlet 17 of a source of negative pressure such as, for example, a pump 20. The water screen 10 is provided with an end cap 18 to prevent water or any undesirable material from being drawn into the water screen 10 through the lowermost end thereof whenever the pump 20 is operating. The end cap 18 may be attached to the water screen 10 in any well-known manner. For example, the lowermost end of the water screen 10 may be threadedly attached to the end cap 18 or may be attached by one or more clamps.
As shown in FIG. 1, the water screen 10 and a part of the pipe conduit 14 extend into a water table. Of course, the water screen 10 need not be fully extended into the water table as depicted in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the water screen 10 need only be extended into the water table such that one or more slot groups, as hereinafter defined, are positioned in the water table. The water table may be an above-ground or underground reservoir such as a stream, lake, pond or the like or may be a water sand table. Throughout the remaining description of the present invention the term "water sand table" is meant to include any water table which has existing therein particulate material such as sand, gravel, mineral particles or any other undissolved material of whatever nature. Thus, an above-ground stream with particulate matter flowing therein is a "water sand table" as is an underground reservoir containing particulate matter suspended within the water. As will be apparent hereinafter, the exact nature of the water sand table is of no bearing to the present invention.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the water screen 10 of the present invention is illustrated. Generally, the water screen 10 comprises a hollow, tubular pipe length 22 with a plurality of slots 24 circumferentially distributed over the surface of and extending through the wall of the pipe length 22. The longitudinal axis of each slot is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe length 22. As depicted in FIG. 2, the plurality of circumferentially distributed slots 24 describe a circumferential slot group 25. As further depicted in FIG. 2, there may exist in any given length of the pipe length 22 a plurality of circumferential slot groups 25. Each pipe length 22 may also be adaptable to be attached in an end-to-end relation to form an operating string of pipe lengths 22.
The pipe length 22 is made of a compressible plastic material, capable of withstanding pressure forces directed radially to the pipe length 22 without adverse effect, however, having sufficient resiliency to permit an area in which the slot group 25 is disposed to be radially compressible. The plastic material preferred in the present invention should display characteristics of compressibility and resiliency such that the pipe length 22 may be radially compressed and expanded without weakening due to fatigue. For example, pipe lengths 22 made from plastic materials such as polyvinylchloride, polyethylene and polypropylene display acceptable characteristics.
Referring again to FIG. 2, it is noted that there are two slot groups 25 disposed in the depicted pipe length 22. It has been discovered that it is possible to place a number of such slot groups in a predetermined axial length of the pipe length 22 consistent with the pressure load factors of the compressible plastic material comprising the pipe length 22. Of course, as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the number of slots in each slot group and the number of slot groups per axial length of the pipe length 22 is dependent upon the inherent strength of the compressible plastic material used in the manufacture of the water screen 10.
In operation the slots 24 provide a variable filtration feature. Accordingly, when the pump 20 (FIG. 1) is operating, water or other fluid materials, existing within the surrounding water sand table in which the water screen 10 is positioned flow toward the water screen 10 either by action of the pump or the natural flow of the water or other fluids. In instances in which the water table has no particulates, the suction generated by pump 20 draws water through the slots 24 and into the water screen 10 substantially unhindered, i.e., the pump suction is less than is required to cause the compressible plastic material of the water screen to compress. Thereafter, the water is drawn through pipe conduit 14 by the well-known action of the pump 20 and released through a pump outlet line 26 (FIG. 1). In this situation, filtration occurs by virtue of the width of each of the slots 24.
On the other hand, when the water screen 10 is positioned in a water sand table the particulate matter contained therein will be drawn toward the slots 24 along with the water or other fluid. In this instance, and as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the suction necessary to draw water to the water screen 10 is somewhat higher than is required for a particulate-free water table. With the pump 20 thusly providing a greater suction, each length of the pipe containing the slot groups 25 tends to radially compress, due to the compressible nature of the pipe length 22, and correspondingly, the sides of the slots 24 are drawn closer together. Thus, as the sides of the slots 24 are drawn closer together variable filtration action takes place thereby permitting the water to flow through the narrowed slots whereas the particulate matter is not drawn through the slots. Accordingly, the water screen 10 of the present invention provides a variable filtration dependent upon the suction drawn by the pump 20 and the amount and size of particulate matter existing within the water sand table. Of course, whenever the pump 20 ceases operation the suction communicated by the pump 20 on the pipe length 22 also ceases. Accordingly, the resiliency of the plastic material comprising the pipe length 22 causes each pipe length 22 containing the slot groups 25 to substantially return to the configuration existing prior to the initiation of suction.
The variable filtration feature of the present invention occurs due to the compressible nature of the pipe length 22 in the area of the slot group 25 and the relative position of each slot with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe length 22.
Referring now to FIG. 3, which is a cross section of FIG. 2 taken along the line 2--2, a slot 24a is shown (the remaining slots are omitted). The above-described variable filtration feature of the present invention is described with reference to the slot 24a. The slot 24a is arranged such that a plane longitudinally bisecting the slot 24a is positioned angularly with respect to a radius of the pipe length 22 extending from the center of the cross-section and intersecting the plane bisecting the slot 24a at the outer wall of the cross section of the pipe length 22.
In FIG. 3, the line c-d includes a radius of the cross section of the pipe length 22. The line f-g represents a line drawn tangential to the cross section of pipe length 22 and intersecting the radius line at the outermost surface of the pipe length 22. Line j-k, which contains the bisecting plane, passes through the cross section of the pipe length 22 at the intersection of the c-d radius and the f-g tangential line and bisects the slot 24a. The angle α, which represents the angle between the line j-k and the radius c-d establishes the angle between the plane longitudinally bisecting the slot 24a and its associated radius and defines an angle of inclination.
The positioning of the plurality slots 24 (FIG. 2) in the pipe length 22 is a critical feature of the present invention. The slots are positioned to afford both maximum efficiency in the pumping operation and maximum filtration of particulate matter. In this regard, as previously described, the slots 24 in each slot group 25 are arranged such that their longitudinal axes are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe length 22 with the slots being positioned at substantially equivalent angles of inclination. Furthermore, the width of each slot and the spacing between each slot is dependent upon such physical parameters of the compressible plastic material as the pressure load factor of the compressible plastic material which comprises the pipe length 22. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a sufficient number of slots to maximize filtration efficiency without providing so many slots as to severly threaten the structural integrity of the pipe length 22 in the region of each slot group. Through experimentation, it has been determined that a center-to-center distance between adjacent slots of not less than approximately 0.250 inches will permit a sufficient number of slots to be formed in a given circumference of the pipe length 22 while keeping structural integrity necessary to the use of the water screen 10 whenever the pipe length 22 is constructed from 40 to 80 gauge polyvinylchoride pipe with a wall thickness of from 0.156 to 0.60 inches and a radius of from 2 to 12 inches. Of course, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the wall thickness for any given diameter of the pipe length 22 must not be so great as to render the pipe length noncompressible thereby negating the variable filtration feature of the present invention.
The slots 24 may be made in the pipe length 22 by any well-known method. For example, the slots 24 may be individually cut in the pipe length 22 by using a circular saw blade. The saw blade may be extended into the pipe length 22 until the length of the slot 24 is equal to the diameter of the saw blade and, in this instance, ends 30 of each of the slots 24 are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pipe length 22. Alternatively, the cutting action of the saw blade may be stopped before the saw blade reaches its diameter and, in this instance, the ends 30 of the slots 24 subscribe an arc whose radius is the radius of the saw blade used in the cutting operation. Also, the slots may be cut one at a time, in pairs or in groups, by cutting implements that are positioned to cut the slots at the appropriate angle of inclination. For example, the slots depicted in FIG. 4 are made by using a pair of parallel spaced saw blades. In this instance the angle of inclination for one slot, i.e., slot 24a, is equal to the angle of inclination of the adjacent parallel slot, i.e., slot 24b. However, the angle of inclination of slot 24b, due to the well-known geometric relation obtained by passing parallel lines through a cylinder, lies on the opposite side of the plane bisecting the slot 24b when compared to the angle of inclination of slot 24a.
As depicted in FIG. 3 the side walls of the slot 24a are in parallel relation. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention the side walls may be tapered either inwardly or outwardly without adversely influencing the variable filtration feature of the present invention.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the width of each slot 24 depends upon the size of the particulate matter existing within the water sand table to be filtered, the compressible nature of the material comprising the pipe length 22 and the number of slots existing within each slot group 25. In the present invention, a width of each slot 24, as measured along the circumference of the outer wall of the pipe length 22 of not less than 0.016 inch is preferred in instances wherein the pipe section 22 is constructed from 40 to 80 gauge polyvinylchloride pipe with a wall thickness of from approximately 0.156 to approximately 0.60 inch. It should be noted however, that the width of the slots 24 may be greater than or less than this preferred width according to the above-mentioned factors and still fall within the scope and spirit of the instant invention.
The spatial relation between adjacent slots is generally defined by the equation: ##EQU1## Where S=the circumferential center-to-center distance between adjacent slots;
N=the number of slots per slot group; and
r=the radius of the pipe length measured to the outer wall of the pipe length. Furthermore, the angle of inclination is defined by the equation: ##EQU2## Thus, where it is desired to adapt a 4 inch inner-diameter pipe length with an outer diameter of 4.313 inch as a water screen and have adjacent slots placed at approximately 0.50 inches apart (center-to-center) the above formulae establish the following requirements:
S=0.50
r=2.156
N=27
α=6.667°
Of course, the S distance may vary in keeping within the spirit of the present invention, and in turn produces variations in the angle of inclination α.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the maximum angle of inclination, α max for any pipe length 22 is dependent upon the wall thickness and diameter of the pipe length 22 and is easily calculated from the following formula:
Sin α.sub.max =(r.sub.inner /r.sub.outer)
Where r inner =the radius of the pipe length measured to the inner wall of the pipe length; and
r outer =the radius of the pipe length measured to the outer wall of the pipe length.
For example, for the 4 inch inner-diameter pipe length described immediately above, the max is:
Sin α.sub.max =(2.000/2.150)
Sin α.sub.max =0.9276
α.sub.max =68.07°
Table I provides examples of water screens that may be produced by the practice of the present invention. The water screens shown in Table I are, for example, produced from commercially available 40 gauge and 80 gauge polyvinylchloride pipes. Each pipe length has a wall thickness of approximately 0.156 inch. It should be realized that Table I represents examples of the water screen of the present invention and as such Table I is not meant to be limiting in nature. Accordingly, the water screen may have more or less slots per slot group or more or less slot groups per running foot of pipe length and still fall within the intent and spirit of the present invention.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS WATER SCREENS Center-to-Center Vertical DistanceInner Diameter Distance Between Slots Between Slot Groups Slots per(Inch) (Inch) α° (See Fig. 3) α.sub.max.sup.• (Inch) Running__________________________________________________________________________ Foot2.0 0.454 11.25 59.88 1.212 642.5 0.491 10.00 62.75 1.212 723.0 0.473 8.18 64.93 1.212 884.0 0.423 5.62 68.07 1.212 1286.0 0.496 4.50 71.68 1.212 16010.0 0.506 2.81 75.87 1.212 25612.0 0.509 2.37 77.07 1.212 304__________________________________________________________________________ | A water screen displaying a variable filtration feature is provided wherein the water screen comprises a pipe length made of a compressible plastic material. The pipe length is provided with a plurality of inlet openings thereby permitting fluid located peripheral to the exterior surface of the pipe length to be transported through the inlet openings and at the same time filtering particulate matter and debris from the water. | 4 |
[0001] The present application claims benefit of priority under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/585,757 (filed 6 Jul. 2004), U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/175,700 (filed 6 Jul. 2005), and U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/504,464, filed 2 Oct. 2014, all of which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by the reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to the papermaking art and, in particular, to the manufacture of paper substrates, paper-containing articles such as file folders, having improved reduction or inhibition in the growth of microbes, mold and/or fungus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Heavy weight cellulosic paper and paperboard webs and products made from the same such as file folders and paperboard file containers are often subject to damage during growth of microbes such as mold and fungus during storage long term storage. The prevalence of microbial growth increases as the storage time increases. During microbial growth, many aesthetic properties of the paper substrate are diminished and further the materials may become soggy, warped and/or weakened thereby reducing their usefulness and potentially allowing the microbes to contact and damage documents which may be stored in containers made with the paper or paperboard materials.
[0004] Internal, e.g. the addition of agents to the paper making process prior to the size press (e.g. wet end) and/or surface sizing, e.g., the addition of agents to the surface of a paper sheet that has been at least partially dried, are widely practiced in the paper industry, particularly for printing grades to improved the quality thereof. Some functional agents include, but are not limited to the most widely used additive: starch. However, starch alone has not been effective in preventing microbial growth on paper substrates and products containing the same. In fact, starch may actually promote microbial growth on paper substrates and products containing the same.
[0005] Examples of applying antimicrobial chemistries to cellulose-containing articles can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,339, which is hereby incorporated, in its entirety, herein by reference. However, the articles according to this reference are related to packaging materials.
[0006] Examples of applying antimicrobial chemistries to gypsum board can be found in US Patent Application Publication Nos. 20020083671; 20030037502 and 20030170317, all of which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference. All of which pertain to gypsum containing products.
[0007] While all of the above examples aid to provide materials with antimicrobial tendency by applying antimicrobial chemistries and compounds to the material and/or components thereof, none sufficiently provide for a paper substrate that is acceptable by commercial market standards in a manner that inhibits, retards, and/or resists antimicrobial growth over an acceptable duration of time, nor do they provide for an acceptable method of making and using the same.
[0008] Accordingly, there exists a need for a paper substrate and articles made therefrom that inhibit, retard, and/or resist microbial growth over an acceptable duration of time so as to provide, in part, paper articles and paper-based containers having improved aesthetic properties, durability and capacity to protect articles contained thereby.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] One aspect of the invention relates to a paper substrate containing a web of cellulose fibers and an antimicrobial compound, where the antimicrobial compound is approximately dispersed evenly throughout from 100% to 5% of the web, including methods of making and using the same. An embodiment thereof relates to an antimicrobial compound that inhibits, retards, or reduces the growth of mold or fungus on or in the paper substrate. An additional embodiment thereof relates to the paper substrate containing from 1 to 5000 ppm dry weight of the antimicrobial compound based upon the total weight of the paper substrate. The compound may be approximately dispersed evenly throughout the web. Still further, an additional embodiment of the invention includes instances when the antimicrobial compound contains silver, zinc, an isothiazolone-containing compound, a benzothiazole-containing compound, a triazole-containing compound, an azole-containing compound, a benzimidazol-containing compound, a nitrile containing compound, alcohol-containing compound, a silane-containing compound, a carboxylic acid-containing compound, a glycol-containing compound, a thiol-containing compound, or mixtures thereof.
[0010] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a file folder containing any of the above-mentioned and/or below-mentioned paper substrates. In an embodiment of the present invention, the file folder may further have at least one die-cut edge.
[0011] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a file folder containing a web of cellulose fibers and an antimicrobial compound, where the antimicrobial compound is approximately dispersed evenly throughout from 100% to 5% of the web, including methods of making and using the same. One embodiment thereof is a tile folder having at least one die-cut edge, as well as methods of making and using the same.
[0012] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a paper substrate, containing a first layer comprising a web of cellulose fibers; and a size-press applied coating layer in contact with at a portion of at least one surface of the first layer, where the coating layer contains an antimicrobial compound and where from 0.5 to 100% of the coating layer interpenetrates the first layer, as well as methods of making and using the same. In an embodiment thereof, the antimicrobial compound inhibits, retards, or reduces the growth of mold or fungus on or in the paper substrate. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the paper substrate contains from 1 to 5000 ppm dry weight of the antimicrobial compound. Still further, an additional embodiment relates to a paper substrate in which the antimicrobial compound is inorganic, organic, or mixtures thereof. Still further, an additional embodiment relates to paper substrate in which lies an antimicrobial contains silver, zinc, an isothiazolone-containing compound, a benzothiazole-containing compound, a triazole-containing compound, an azole-containing compound, a benzimidazol-containing compound, a nitrile containing compound, alcohol-containing compound, a silane-containing compound, a carboxylic acid-containing compound, a glycol-containing compound, a thiol-containing compound or mixtures thereof.
[0013] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a paper substrate containing a first layer comprising a web of cellulose fibers and a starch-based size-press applied coating layer in contact with at a portion of at least one surface of the first layer, where the coating layer contains an antimicrobial compound and where from 0.5 to 100% of the coating layer interpenetrates the first layer, as well as methods of making and using the same.
[0014] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a tile folder containing a first layer comprising a web of cellulose fibers; and a size-press applied coating layer in contact with at a portion of at least one surface of the first layer, where the coating layer contains an antimicrobial compound and where from 0.5 to 100% of the coating layer interpenetrates the first layer, as well as methods of making and using the same. One embodiment thereof is a file folder having at least one die-cut edge, as well as methods of making and using the same.
[0015] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of making a paper substrate by contacting cellulose fibers with an antimicrobial compound during or prior to a papermaking process. One embodiment of the present invention includes instances where the cellulose fibers are contacted with the antimicrobial compound at the wet end of the papermaking process, thin stock, thick stock, machine chest, the headbox, size press, coater, shower, sprayer, steambox, or a combination thereof. Another embodiment of the present invention includes making paper articles and/or paper packages from the above-mentioned substrates, including file folders that may be die-cut.
[0016] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of making a paper substrate by contacting cellulose fibers with an antimicotic or fungicide during or prior to a papermaking process where the contacting occurs at the size press and produces a paper substrate comprising a first layer comprising a web of cellulose fibers and a size-press applied coating layer in contact with at a portion of at least one surface of the first layer so that from 25 to 75% of the size-press applied coating layer interpenetrates the first layer. Another embodiment of the present invention includes making paper articles and/or paper packages from the above-mentioned substrates, including file folders that may be die-cut.
[0017] Another aspect of the present invention relates to A method of making a paper substrate by contacting cellulose fibers with an antimicrobial compound during or prior to a papermaking process, where the contacting occurs at the wet end of the papermaking process and produces a paper substrate comprising a web of cellulose fibers and an antimicrobial compound and where the antimicrobial compound is approximately dispersed evenly throughout the web. Another embodiment of the present invention includes making paper articles and/or paper packages from the above-mentioned substrates, including file folders that may be die-cut.
[0018] The present invention relates to any and all paper or paperboard articles, including packages and packaging materials that may contain the paper substrates of the present invention.
[0019] Additional aspects and embodiments of the present invention are described hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 : A first schematic cross section of just one exemplified embodiment of the paper substrate that is included in the paper substrate of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 2 : A second schematic cross section of just one exemplified embodiment of the paper substrate that is included in the paper substrate of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 3 : A third schematic cross section of just one exemplified embodiment of the paper substrate that is included in the paper substrate of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The inventors of the present technology have discovered an paper substrate, paperboard material, and articles such as packaging and packaging materials made therefrom, all having antimicrobial tendency by applying antimicrobial chemistries and compounds to the material and/or components thereof. Further, the paper or paperboard substrate of the present invention inhibits, retards, and/or resists antimicrobial growth over an acceptable duration of time.
[0024] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain recycled fibers and/or virgin fibers. Recycled fibers differ from virgin fibers in that the fibers have gone through the drying process several times.
[0025] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain from 1 to 100 wt %, preferably from 50 to 100 wt %, most preferably from 80 to 100 wt % of cellulose fibers based upon the total weight of the substrate, including 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 99 wt %, and including any and all ranges and subranges therein. More preferred amounts of cellulose fibers range from wt %.
[0026] Preferably, the sources of the cellulose fibers are from softwood and/or hardwood. The paper substrate of the present invention may contain from 1 to 99 wt %, preferably from 5 to 95 wt %, cellulose fibers originating from softwood species based upon the total amount of cellulose fibers in the paper substrate. This range includes 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100 wt %, including any and all ranges and subranges therein, based upon the total amount of cellulose fibers in the paper substrate.
[0027] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain from 1 to 99 wt %, preferably from 5 to 95 wt %, cellulose fibers originating from hardwood species based upon the total amount of cellulose fibers in the paper substrate. This range includes 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100 wt %, including any and all ranges and subranges therein, based upon the total amount of cellulose fibers in the paper substrate.
[0028] Further, the softwood and/or hardwood fibers contained by the paper substrate of the present invention may be modified by physical and/or chemical means. Examples of physical means include, but is not limited to, electromagnetic and mechanical means. Means for electrical modification include, but are not limited to, means involving contacting the fibers with an electromagnetic energy source such as light and/or electrical current. Means for mechanical modification include, but are not limited to, means involving contacting an inanimate object with the fibers. Examples of such inanimate objects include those with sharp and/or dull edges. Such means also involve, for example, cutting, kneading, pounding, impaling, etc means.
[0029] Examples of chemical means include, but is not limited to, conventional chemical fiber modification means including crosslinking and precipitation of complexes thereon. Examples of such modification of fibers may be, but is not limited to, those found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,592,717, 6,592,712, 6,582,557, 6,579,415, 6,579,414, 6,506,282, 6,471,824, 6,361,651, 6,146,494, H1,704, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,731,080, 5,698,688, 5,698,074, 5,667,637, 5,662,773, 5,531,728, 5,443,899, 5,360,420, 5,266,250, 5,209,953, 5,160,789, 5,049,235, 4,986,882, 4,496,427, 4,431,481, 4,174,417, 4,166,894, 4,075,136, and 4,022,965, which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference.
[0030] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain an antimicrobial compound.
[0031] Antimicotics, fungicides are examples of antimicrobial compounds. Antimicrobial compounds may retard, inhibit, reduce, and/or prevent the tendency of microbial growth over time on/in a product containing such compounds as compared to that tendency of microbial growth on/in a product not containing the antimicrobial compounds. The antimicrobial compound when incorporated into the paper substrate of the present invention preferably retards, inhibits, reduces, and/or prevents microbial growth for a time that is at least 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000% greater than that of a paper substrate that does not contain an antimicrobial compound, including all ranges and subranges therein.
[0032] Antimicotic compounds are, in part, mold resistant. Fungicide compounds are, in part, fungus resistant. The antimicrobial compound may have other functions and activities than provide either mold resistance and/or fungus resistance to a product containing the same.
[0033] The antimicrobial compound may also be mildew, bacteria and/or virus resistant. A mold specifically targeted, but meant to be non-limiting, is Black mold as applied to the above-mentioned paper substrate of the present invention.
[0034] It is preferable for the antimicotic and/or fungicide to be effective to be able to be applied in aqueous solution and/or suspension at the coater and/or head box and/or size press. Further it is preferable for the antimicotic and/or fungicide to not be highly toxic to humans.
[0035] The antimicotic and/or fungicide may be water insoluble and/or water soluble, most preferably water insoluble. The antimicotic and/or fungicide may be volatile and/or non-volatile, most preferably non-volatile. The antimicotic and/or fungicide may be organic and/or inorganic. The antimicotic and/or fungicide may be polymeric and/or monomeric.
[0036] The antimicotic and/or fungicide may be multivalent which means that the agent may carry one or more active compounds so as to protect against a wider range of mold, mildew and/or fungus species and to protect from evolving defense mechanisms within each species of mold, mildew and/or fungus.
[0037] Any water-soluble salt of pyrithione having antimicrobial properties is useful as the antimicrobial compound. Pyrithione is known by several names, including 2 mercaptopyridine-N-oxide; 2-pyridinethiol-1-oxide (CAS Registry No. 1121-31-9); 1-hydroxypyridine-2-thione and 1 hydroxy-2(1H)-pyridinethione (CAS Registry No. 1121-30-8). The sodium derivative, known as sodium pyrithione (CAS Registry No. 3811-73-2), is one embodiment of this salt that is particularly useful. Pyrithione salts are commercially available from Arch Chemicals, Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., such as Sodium OMADINE or Zinc OMADINE.
[0038] Examples of the antimicrobial compound may include silver-containing compound, zinc-containing compound, an isothiazolone-containing compound, a benzothiazole-containing compound, a triazole-containing compound, an azole-containing compound, a benzimidazol-containing compound, a nitrile containing compound, alcohol-containing compound, a silane-containing compound, a carboxylic acid-containing compound, a glycol-containing compound, a thiol-containing compound or mixtures thereof
[0039] Additional exemplified commercial antimicrobial compounds may include those from Intace including B-6773 and B-350, those from Progressive Coatings VJ series, those from Buckman Labs including Busan 1218, 1420 and 1200WB, those from Troy Corp including Polyphase 641, those from Clariant Corporation, including Sanitized TB 83-85 and Sanitized Brand T 96-21, and those from Bentech LLC including Preservor Coater 36. Others include AgION (silver zeolite) from AgION and Mircroban from Microban International (e.g. Microban additive TZ1, S2470, and PZ2). Further examples include dichloro-octyl-isothiazolone, Tri-n-butylin oxide, borax, G-4, chlorothalonil, organic fungicides, and silver-based fungicides. Any one or more of these agents would be considered satisfactory as an additive in the process of making paper material. Further commercial products may be those from AEGIS Environments (e.g. AEM 5772 Antimicrobial), from BASF Corporation (e.g. propionic acid), from Bayer (e.g. Metasol TK-100, TK-25), those from Bendiner Technologies, LLC, those from Ondei-Nalco (e.g. Nalcon 7645 and 7622), and those from Hercules (e.g. RX 8700, RX 3100, and PR 1912). The MSDS's of each and every commercial product mentioned above is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0040] Still further, examples of the antimicrobial compounds may include silver zeolite, dichloro-octyl-isothiazolone, 4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-3(2H)-isothiazolone, 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, 1,2-benzothiazol-3(2H)-one, poly[oxyethylene(ethylimino)ethylene dichloride], Tri-n-butylin oxide, borax, G-4, chlorothalonil, Alkyl-dimethylbenzyl-ammonium saccharinate, dichloropeyl-propyl-dioxolan-methlyl-triazole, alpha-chlorphenyl, ethyl-dimethylethyl-trazole-ethanol, benzimidazol, 2-(thiocyanomethythio)benzothiazole, alpha-2(-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl)-alpha-(1-1-dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol, (1-[[2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-propyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl]-methyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazole, alkyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium saccharinate, 2-(methoxy-carbamoyl)-benzimidazol, tetracholorisophthalonitrile, P-[(diiodomethyl) sulfonyl] toluol, methyl alcohol, 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyldimethyl octadecyl ammonium chloride, chloropropyltrimethylsilane, dimethyl octadecyllamine, propionic acid, 2-(4-thiazolyl)benzimidazole, 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one,2-N-octyl-4-isthiazolin-3-one, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, hexylene glycol, tributoxyethyl phosphate, 2-pyridinethio-1-oxide, potassium sorbate, diiodomethyl-p-tolysulfone, citric acid, lemon grass oil, and thiocyanomethythio-benzothiazole.
[0041] The antimicrobial compound may be present in the paper substrate at amounts from 1 to 5000 ppm dry weight, more preferably, from 100 to 3000 ppm dry weight, most preferably 50 to 1500 ppm dry weight. The amounts of antimicotic and/or fungicide may be 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 12, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500, 2600, 2700, 2800, 2900, 3000, 3200, 3500, 3750, 4000, 4250, 4500, 4750, and 5000 ppm dry weight based upon the total weight of the paper substrate, including all ranges and subranges therein. Higher amounts of such antimicotic and/or fungicide may also prove produce an antibacterial paper material and article therefrom as well. These amount are based upon the total weight of the paper substrate.
[0042] The paper substrate of the present invention, when containing the web of cellulose fibers and an antimicrobial compound, may contain them in a manner in which the antimicrobial compound is on the surface of or within from 1 to 100% of the web. The paper substrate may contain the antimicrobial compound on the surface of and/or within 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100% of the web, including all ranges and subranges therein.
[0043] When the antimicrobial compound is present on at least one surface of the web, it is preferable that the antimicrobial compound also be within 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100% of the web, including all ranges and subranges therein.
[0044] In another embodiment, it is preferable that, when the antimicrobial compound is within the web, it is approximately dispersed evenly throughout 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100% of the web. However, concentration gradients of the antimicrobial compound may occur within the web as a function of the cross section of the web itself. Such gradients are dependent upon the methodology utilized to make this product. For instance, the concentration of the antimicrobial compound may increase as the distance from a center portion of the cross-section of the web increases. That is, the concentration increases as one approaches the surface of the web. Further, the concentration of the antimicrobial compound may decrease as the distance from a center portion of the cross-section of the web decreases. That is, the concentration decreases as one approaches the surface of the web. Still further, the concentration of the antimicrobial compound is approximately evenly distributed throughout the portion of the web in which it resides. All of the above embodiments may be combined with each other, as well as with an embodiment in which the antimicrobial compound resides on at least one surface of the web.
[0045] FIGS. 1-3 demonstrate different embodiments of the paper substrate 1 in the paper substrate of the present invention. FIG. 1 demonstrates a paper substrate 1 that has a web of cellulose fibers 3 and a composition containing an antimicrobial compound 2 where the composition containing an antimicrobial compound 2 has minimal interpenetration of the web of cellulose fibers 3 . Such an embodiment may be made, for example, when an antimicrobial compound is coated onto a web of cellulose fibers.
[0046] FIG. 2 demonstrates a paper substrate 1 that has a web of cellulose fibers 3 and a composition containing an antimicrobial compound 2 where the composition containing an antimicrobial compound 2 interpenetrates the web of cellulose fibers 3 . The interpenetration layer 4 of the paper substrate 1 defines a region in which at least the antimicrobial compound penetrates into and is among the cellulose fibers. The interpenetration layer may be from 1 to 99% of the entire cross section of at least a portion of the paper substrate, including 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, and 99% of the paper substrate, including any and all ranges and subranges therein. Such an embodiment may be made, for example, when an antimicrobial compound is added to the cellulose fibers prior to a coating method and may be combined with a subsequent coating method if required. Addition points may be at the size press, for example.
[0047] FIG. 3 demonstrates a paper substrate 1 that has a web of cellulose fibers 3 and an antimicrobial compound 2 where the antimicrobial compound 2 is approximately evenly distributed throughout the web of cellulose fibers 3 . Such an embodiment may be made, for example, when an antimicrobial compound is added to the cellulose fibers prior to a coating method and may be combined with a subsequent coating method if required. Exemplified addition points may be at the wet end of the paper making process, the thin stock, and the thick stock.
[0048] The web of cellulose fibers and the antimicrobial compound may be in a multilayered structure. The thicknesses of such layers may be any thickness commonly utilized in the paper making industry for a paper substrate, a coating layer, or the combination of the two. The layers do not have to be of approximate equal size. One layer may be larger than the other. One preferably embodiment is that the layer of cellulose fibers has a greater thickness than that of any layer containing the antimicrobial compound. The layer containing the cellulose fibers may also contain, in part, the antimicrobial compound.
[0049] The density, basis weight and caliper of the web of this invention may vary widely and conventional basis weights, densities and calipers may be employed depending on the paper-based product formed from the web. Paper or paperboard of invention preferably have a final caliper, after calendering of the paper, and any nipping or pressing such as may be associated with subsequent coating of from about 1 mils to about 35 mils although the caliper can be outside of this range if desired. More preferably the caliper is from about 4 mils to about 20 mils, and most preferably from about 7 mils to about 17 mils. The caliper of the paper substrate with or without any coating may be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 22, 25, 27, 30, 32, and 35, including any and all ranges and subranges therein
[0050] Paper substrates of the invention preferably exhibit basis weights of from about 10 lb/3000 ft 2 to about 500 lb/3000 ft 2 , although web basis weight can be outside of this range if desired. More preferably the basis weight is from about 30 lb/3000 ft 2 to about 200 lb/3000 ft 2 , and most preferably from about 35 lb/3000 ft 2 to about 150 lb/3000 ft 2 . The basis weight may be 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 22, 25, 30, 32, 35, 37, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 500 lb/3000 ft 2 , including any and all ranges and subranges therein.
[0051] The final density of the papers may be calculated by any of the above-mentioned basis weights divided by any of the above-mentioned calipers, including any and all ranges and subranges therein. Preferably, the final density of the papers, that is, the basis weight divided by the caliper, is preferably from about 6 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil to about 14 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil although web densities can be outside of this range if desired. More preferably the web density is from about 7 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil to about 13 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil and most preferably from about 9 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil to about 12 lb/3000 ft 2 /mil.
[0052] The paper substrate of the present invention containing the web and the antimicrobial compound has the capability to retard, inhibit, reduce, and/or prevent the tendency of microbial growth over time on/in its web containing such compounds as compared to that tendency of microbial growth on/in a product not containing the antimicrobial compound. Further, the paper substrate of the present invention may also bestow such tendency on additional materials of which it may comprise and/or with which it may be in contact. Still further, the paper substrate of the present invention may also bestow this tendency upon any article, packaging, and/or packaging of which it may eventually be a component therein.
[0053] The article, packaging, and/or packaging of the present invention may have an antimicrobial tendency that preferably retards, inhibits, reduces, and/or prevents microbial growth for a time that is at least 5% greater than that of an article, packaging, and/or packaging that does not contain an antimicrobial compound. Preferably, such tendency is at least 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000% greater than that of a article, packaging, and/or packaging that does not contain an antimicrobial compound, including all ranges and subranges therein.
[0054] The paper substrate's antimicrobial tendency may be measured in part by ASTM standard testing methodologies such as D 2020-92, E 2180-01, G 21-966, C1338, and D2020, all of which can be found as published by ASTM and all of which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference.
[0055] Textbooks such as those described in the “handbook for pulp and paper technologists” by G. A. Smook (1992), Angus Wilde Publications, which is hereby incorporated, in its entirety, by reference. Further, G. A. Smook referenced above and references cited therein provide lists of conventional additives that may be contained in the paper substrate, and therefore, the paper articles of the present invention. Such additives may be incorporated into the paper, and therefore, the paper packaging (and packaging materials) of the present invention in any conventional paper making process according to G. A. Smook referenced above and references cited therein.
[0056] The paper substrate of the present invention may also include optional substances including retention aids, sizing agents, binders, fillers, thickeners, and preservatives. Examples of fillers include, but are not limited to; clay, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate hemihydrate, and calcium sulfate dehydrate. Examples of binders include, but are not limited to, polyvinyl alcohol, polyamide-epichlorohydrin, polychloride emulsion, modified starch such as hydroxyethyl starch, starch, polyacrylamide, modified polyacrylamide, polyol, polyol carbonyl adduct, ethanedial/polyol condensate, polyamide, epichlorohydrin, glyoxal, glyoxal urea, ethanedial, aliphatic polyisocyanate, isocyanate, 1,6 hexamethylene diisocyanate, diisocyanate, polyisocyanate, polyester, polyester resin, polyacrylate, polyacrylate resin, acrylate, carboxymethyl cellulose, urea, sodium nitrate, and methacrylate. Other optional substances include, but arc not limited to silicas such as colloids and/or sols. Examples of silicas include, but are not limited to, sodium silicate and/or borosilicates. Another example of optional substances is solvents including but not limited to water.
[0057] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain retention aids selected from the group consisting of coagulation agents, flocculation agents, and entrapment agents dispersed within the bulk and porosity enhancing additives cellulosic fibers.
[0058] Retention aids for the bulk-enhancing additives to retain a significant percentage of the additive in the middle of the paperboard and not in the periphery. Suitable retention aids function through coagulation, flocculation, or entrapment of the bulk additive. Coagulation comprises a precipitation of initially dispersed colloidal particles. This precipitation is suitably accomplished by charge neutralization or formation of high charge density patches on the particle surfaces. Since natural particles such as fines, fibers, clays, etc., are anionic, coagulation is advantageously accomplished by adding cationic materials to the overall system. Such selected cationic materials suitably have a high charge to mass ratio. Suitable coagulants include inorganic salts such as alum or aluminum chloride and their polymerization products (e.g. PAC or poly aluminum chloride or synthetic polymers); poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride) (i.e., DADMAC); poly (dimethylamine)-co-epichlorohydrin; polyethylenimine; poly(3-butenyltrimethyl ammoniumchloride); poly(4-ethenylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride); poly(2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride); poly(5-isoprenyltrimethylammonium chloride); and poly(acryloyloxyethyltrimethylammonium chloride). Other suitable cationic compounds having a high charge to mass ratio include all polysulfonium compounds, such as, for example the polymer made from the adduct of 2-chloromethyl; 1,3-butadiene and a dialkylsulfide, all polyamines made by the reaction of amines such as, for example, ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetraamine or various dialkylamines, with bis-halo, bis-epoxy, or chlorohydrin compounds such as, for example, 1-2 dichloroethane, 1,5-diepoxyhexane, or epichlorohydrin, all polymers of guanidine such as, for example, the product of guanidine and formaldehyde with or without polyamines. The preferred coagulant is poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride) (i.e., DADMAC) having a molecular weight of about ninety thousand to two hundred thousand and polyethylenimene having a molecular weight of about six hundred to 5 million. The molecular weights of all polymers and copolymers herein this application are based on a weight average molecular weight commonly used to measure molecular weights of polymeric systems.
[0059] Another advantageous retention system suitable for the manufacture of the paper substrate of this invention is flocculation. This is basically the bridging or networking of particles through oppositely charged high molecular weight macromolecules. Alternatively, the bridging is accomplished by employing dual polymer systems. Macromolecules useful for the single additive approach are cationic starches (both amylase and amylopectin), cationic polyacrylamide such as for example, poly(acrylamide)-co-diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride; poly(acrylamide)-co-acryloyloxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride, cationic gums, chitosan, and cationic polyacrylates. Natural macromolecules such as, for example, starches and gums, are rendered cationic usually by treating them with 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride, but other compounds can be used such as, for example, 2-chloroethyl-dialkylamine, acryloyloxyethyldialkyl ammonium chloride, acrylamidoethyltrialkylammonium chloride, etc. Dual additives useful for the dual polymer approach are any of those compounds which function as coagulants plus a high molecular weight anionic macromolecule such as, for example, anionic starches, CMC (carboxymethylcellulose), anionic gums, anionic polyacrylamides (e.g., poly(acrylamide)-co-acrylic acid), or a finely dispersed colloidal particle (e.g., colloidal silica, colloidal alumina, bentonite clay, or polymer micro particles marketed by Cytec Industries as Polyflex). Natural macromolecules such as, for example, cellulose, starch and gums are typically rendered anionic by treating them with chloroacetic acid, but other methods such as phosphorylation can be employed. Suitable flocculation agents are nitrogen containing organic polymers having a molecular weight of about one hundred thousand to thirty million. The preferred polymers have a molecular weight of about ten to twenty million. The most preferred have a molecular weight of about twelve to eighteen million. Suitable high molecular weight polymers are polyacrylamides, anionic acrylamide-acrylate polymers, cationic acrylamide copolymers having a molecular weight of about five hundred thousand to thirty million and polyethylenimenes having molecular weights in the range of about five hundred thousand to two million.
[0060] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain high molecular weight anionic polyacrylamides, or high molecular weight polyethyleneoxides (PEO). Alternatively, molecular nets are formed in the network by the reaction of dual additives such as, for example, PEO and a phenolic resin.
[0061] The paper substrate of the present invention may contain from 0.001 to 20 wt % of the optional substances based on the total weight of the substrate, preferably from 0.01 to 10 wt %, most preferably 0.1 to 5.0 wt %, of each of at least one of the optional substances. This range includes 0.001, 0.002, 0.005, 0.006, 0.008, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 20 wt % based on the total weight of the substrate, including any and all ranges and subranges therein.
[0062] The optional substances may be dispersed throughout the cross section of the paper substrate or may be more concentrated within the interior of the cross section of the paper substrate. Further, other optional substances such as binders for example may be concentrated more highly towards the outer surfaces of the cross section of the paper substrate. More specifically, a majority percentage of optional substances such as binders may preferably be located at a distance from the outside surface of the substrate that is equal to or less than 25%, more preferably 10%, of the total thickness of the substrate.
[0063] An example of a binder is polyvinyl alcohol in combination with, for example, starch or alone such as polyvinyl alcohol having a % hydrolysis ranging from 100% to 75%. The % hydrolysis of the polyvinyl alcohol may be 75, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 95, 96, 98, and 100% hdrolysis, including any and all ranges and subranges therein.
[0064] The paper substrate of the present invention may then contain PVOH at a wt % of from 0.05 wt % to 20 wt % based on the total weight of the substrate. This range includes 0.001, 0.002, 0.005, 0.006, 0.008, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 20 wt % based on the total weight of the substrate, including any and all ranges and subranges therein.
[0065] The paper substrate the present invention may contain a surface sizing agent such as starch and/or modified and/or functional equivalents thereof at a wt % of from 0.05 wt % to 20 wt %, preferably from 5 to 15 wt % based on the total weight of the substrate. The wt % of starch contained by the substrate may be 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 20 wt % based on the total weight of the substrate, including any and all ranges and subranges therein. Examples of modified starches include, for example, oxidized, cationic, ethylated, hydroethoxylated, etc. Examples of functional equivalents are, but not limited to, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylamine, alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose, etc.
[0066] Further, the starch may be of any type, including but not limited to oxidized, ethylated, cationic and pearl, and is preferably used in aqueous solution. Illustrative of useful starches for the practice of this preferred embodiment of the invention are naturally occurring carbohydrates synthesized in corn, tapioca, potato and other plants by polymerization of dextrose units. All such starches and modified forms thereof such as starch acetates, starch esters, starch ethers, starch phosphates, starch xanthates, anionic starches, cationic starches and the like which can be derived by reacting the starch with a suitable chemical or enzymatic reagent can be used in the practice of this invention.
[0067] Useful starches may be prepared by known techniques or obtained from commercial sources. For example, the suitable starches include PG-280 from Penford Products, SLS-280 from St. Lawrence Starch, the cationic starch CatoSize 270 from National Starch and the hydroxypropyl No. 02382 from Poly Sciences, Inc.
[0068] Preferred starches for use in the practice of this invention are modified starches. More preferred starches are cationic modified or non-ionic starches such as CatoSize 270 and KoFilm 280 (all from National Starch) and chemically modified starches such as PG-280 ethylated starches and AP Pearl starches. More preferred starches for use in the practice of this invention are cationic starches and chemically modified starches.
[0069] In addition to the starch, small amounts of other additives may be present as well in the size composition. These include without limitation dispersants, fluorescent dyes, surfactants, deforming agents, preservatives, pigments, binders, pH control agents, coating releasing agents, optical brighteners, defoamers and the like. Such additives may include any and all of the above-mentioned optional substances, or combinations thereof.
[0070] The paper substrate of the present invention may also include additives that render the paper substrate water resistant. Examples of such technologies include, but is not limited to those found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,642 and U.S. Ser. Nos. 10/685,899; and 10/430,244, which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference. The paper substrate of the present invention may be made as described herein and may be further made to account for these technologies in rendering a paper substrate that is both water-resistant and antimicrobial in tendency.
[0071] The paper substrate of the present invention may also include additives such as bulking agents. A particularly preferred bulking agent include expandable microspheres such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,802,938; 6,846,529; 6,802,938; 5,856,389; and 5,342,649, as well as U.S. Ser. Nos. 10/121,301; 10/437,856; 10/967,074; 10/967,106; and 60/660,703 which was filed Mar. 11, 2005, all of these references are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference. The paper substrate of the present invention may be made as described herein and may be further made to account for these bulking technologies in rendering a paper substrate that comprises antimicrobial tendency, water resistance, and/or a bulking agent such as a preferably microsphere.
[0072] The paper substrate of the present invention may be further combined with additional components in a manner that makes it useful as a paper facing for insulation which, in turn, may be utilized as a component and/or in a component for constructions such as homes, residential buildings, commercial buildings, offices, stores, and industrial buildings. Accordingly, insulation paper facing as well as the above-mentioned constructions are also aspects of the present invention.
[0073] Exemplified articles made from the paper substrate of the present invention may include, but is not limited to, paper facing, envelopes, file folders, wall board tape, portfolios, folding cartons, food and beverage containers, etc. Any article containing a cellulose web and/or paper substrates may be made in a manner that incorporates the substrate of the present invention.
[0074] The paper substrate may be made by contacting the antimicrobial compound with the cellulose fibers consecutively and/or simultaneously. Still further, the contacting may occur at acceptable concentration levels that provide the paper substrate of the present invention to contain any of the above-mentioned amounts of cellulose and antimicrobial compound of the present invention isolated or in any combination thereof. More specifically, the paper substrate of the present application may be made by adding and amount that is from 1.5 to 150 times that of the amount of antimicrobial compound that is to be retained within the paper substrate based upon dry weight of the paper substrate with the cellulose fibers. This amount may be 1.5, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 110, 120, and 125 times that of the amount of antimicrobial compound that is to be retained within the paper substrate based upon dry weight hereof with the cellulose fibers, including any and all ranges and subranges therein. In accordance with the present invention, the contacting may occur so that from 0.1 to 100% of the amount of antimicrobial added to the cellulose fibers based upon dry weight of the paper substrate. The amount retained may be 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100% of the antimicrobial compound added to the cellulose fibers is retained in the paper substrate, including any and all ranges and subranges therein.
[0075] The contacting of the antimicrobial compound with the cellulose fibers may occur anytime in the papermaking process including, but not limited to the wet end, thick stock, thin stock, head box, size press and coater with the preferred addition point being at the thin stock. Further addition points include machine chest, stuff box, and suction of the fan pump.
[0076] The paper substrate may be made by contacting further optional substances with the cellulose fibers as well. The contacting may occur anytime in the papermaking process including, but not limited to the thick stock, thin stock, head box, size press, water box, and coater. Further addition points include machine chest, stuff box, and suction of the fan pump. The cellulose fibers, antimicrobial compound, and/or optional/additional components may be contacted serially, consecutively, and/or simultaneously in any combination with each other. The cellulose fibers and antimicrobial compound may be pre-mixed in any combination before addition to or during the paper-making process.
[0077] The paper substrate may be pressed in a press section containing one or more nips. However, any pressing means commonly known in the art of papermaking may be utilized. The nips may be, but is not limited to, single felted, double felted, roll, and extended nip in the presses. However, any nip commonly known in the art of papermaking may be utilized.
[0078] The paper substrate may be dried in a drying section. Any drying means commonly known in the art of papermaking may be utilized. The drying section may include and contain a drying can, cylinder drying, Condebelt drying, IR, or other drying means and mechanisms known in the art. The paper substrate may be dried so as to contain any selected amount of water. Preferably, the substrate is dried to contain less than or equal to 10% water.
[0079] The paper substrate may be passed through a size press, where any sizing means commonly known in the art of papermaking is acceptable. The size press, for example, may be a puddle mode size press (e.g. inclined, vertical, horizontal) or metered size press (e.g. blade metered, rod metered). At the size press, sizing agents such as binders may be contacted with the substrate. Optionally these same sizing agents may be added at the wet end of the papermaking process as needed. After sizing, the paper substrate may or may not be dried again according to the above-mentioned exemplified means and other commonly known drying means in the art of papermaking. The paper substrate may be dried so as to contain any selected amount of water. Preferably, the substrate is dried to contain less than or equal to 10% water.
[0080] The paper substrate may be calendered by any commonly known calendaring means in the art of papermaking. More specifically, one could utilize, for example, wet stack calendering, dry stack calendering, steel nip calendaring, hot soft calendaring or extended nip calendering, etc.
[0081] The paper hoard and/or substrate of the present invention may also contain at least one coating layer, including two coating layers and a plurality thereof. The coating layer may be applied to at least one surface of the paper board and/or substrate, including two surfaces. Further, the coating layer may penetrate the paper board and/or substrate. The coating layer may contain a binder. Further the coating layer may also optionally contain a pigment. Other optional ingredients of the coating layer are surfactants, dispersion aids, and other conventional additives for printing compositions.
[0082] The coating layer may contain a coating polymer and/or copolymer which may be branched and/or crosslinked. Polymers and copolymers suitable for this purpose are polymers having a melting point below 270° C. and a glass transition temperature (Tg) in the range of −150 to +120° C. The polymers and copolymers contain carbon and/or heteroatoms. Examples of suitable polymers may be polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, nitrocellulose, polyethylene terephthalate, Saran and styrene acrylic acid copolymers. Representative coating polymers include methyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose acetate copolymer, vinyl acetate copolymer, styrene butadiene copolymer, and styrene-acrylic copolymer. Any standard paper board and/or substrate coating composition may be utilized such as those compositions and methods discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,497, which is hereby incorporated, in its entirety, herein by reference.
[0083] The coating layer may include a plurality of layers or a single layer having any conventional thickness as needed and produced by standard methods, especially printing methods. For example, the coating layer may contain a basecoat layer and a topcoat layer. The basecoat layer may, for example, contain low density thermoplastic particles and optionally a first binder. The topcoat layer may, for example, contain at least one pigment and optionally a second binder which may or may not be a different binder than the first. The particles of the basecoat layer and the at least one pigment of the topcoat layer may be dispersed in their respective binders.
[0084] The invention can be prepared using known conventional techniques. Methods and apparatuses for forming and applying a coating formulation to a paper substrate are well known in the paper and paperboard art. See for example, G. A. Smook referenced above and references cited therein all of which is hereby incorporated by reference. All such known methods can be used in the practice of this invention and will not be described in detail. For example, the mixture of essential pigments, polymeric or copolymeric binders and optional components can be dissolved or dispersed in an appropriate liquid medium, preferably water.
[0085] The paper substrate may be microfinished according to any microfinishing means commonly known in the art of papermaking. Microfinishing is a means involving frictional processes to finish surfaces of the paper substrate. The paper substrate may be microfinished with or without a calendering means applied thereto consecutively and/or simultaneously. Examples of microfinishing means can be found in United States Published Patent Application 20040123966 and references cited therein, which are all hereby, in their entirety, herein incorporated by reference.
[0086] The paper and paperboard web of this invention can be used in the manufacture of a wide range of paper-based products where microbial resistance is desired using conventional techniques. For example, paper and paperboard webs formed according to the invention may be utilized in a variety of office or clerical applications. The web is preferably used for making file folders, manila folders, flap folders such as Bristol base paper, and other substantially inflexible paperboard webs for use in office environments, including, but not limited to paperboard containers for such folders, and the like. The manufacture of such folders from paper webs is well known to those in the paper converting arts and consists in general of cutting appropriately sized and shaped blanks from the paper web, typically by “reverse” die cutting, and then folding the blanks into the appropriate folder shape followed by stacking and packaging steps. The blanks may also be scored beforehand if desired to facilitate folding. The scoring, cutting, folding, stacking, and packaging operations are ordinarily carried out using automated machinery well-known to those of ordinary skill on a substantially continuous basis from rolls of the web material fed to the machinery from an unwind stand.
[0087] Any and all additional methodologies of making a paper substrate may be utilized as found in conventional paper making arts such as that found in G. A. Smook referenced above and references cited therein, all of which is hereby incorporated by reference, so long as the antimicrobial compound is contacted with the cellulose fiber.
[0088] The paper substrate of the present invention, including any article and/or packaging material made therefrom is also expected to have a better performance under conditions that test wet-bleed, transfer, wet rub, wet smear, dry rub resistance, condensation rub resistance, chain lube rub resistance, product rub resistance, and adhesion by scratch resistance. Still further, the paper substrate of the present invention, including any article and/or packaging material made therefrom is also expected to have an increased antimicrobial tendency after such products are scraped, scratched, abraded, etc (as tested by such tests disclosed herein) as compared to those substrates, articles and packaging that do not contain the antimicrobial compound according to the present invention.
[0089] The present invention is explained in more detail with the aid of the following embodiment example which is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any manner.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
[0090] A paper facing paper substrate was made by pre-mixing 100 ppm of an active ingredient (4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one) based upon dry weight tons with cellulose fibers during the paper making process.
[0091] The antimicrobial tendency of the paper substrate was tested using ASTM methods D 2020A. The results demonstrated that the paper substrate was resistant to Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus , and Chaetomium globosum after two (2 weeks) by demonstrating no growth of such organisms and/or any other organisms during such time.
[0092] The antimicrobial tendency of the paper substrate was tested using ASTM C-1338-00. The results demonstrated that the paper substrate was resistant to Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus versicolor, Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium funiculosum , and Aspergillus flavus after 7 days by demonstrating no growth of such organisms and/or any other organisms during such time.
[0093] The antimicrobial tendency of the paper substrate was tested using ASTM G 21-96. The results demonstrated that the paper substrate was resistant to Aspergillus niger, Penicillium pinophilum 14 , Chaetomium globosum, Gliocladium virens , and Aureobasidium pullulans after 28 days by demonstrating no growth of such organisms and/or any other organisms during such time.
Example 2
[0094] A paper facing was made by adding standard asphalt to the paper facing paper substrate of Example 1. Then, the resultant paper facing was heated and fiberglass was applied thereto so as to simulate the process of making a paper facing insulation containing the paper substrate of Example 1, asphalt and fiberglass insulation. Both standard asphalt and asphalt treated with an antimicrobial compound as utilized in separate embodiments. The paper facings were tested using ASTM methods D 2020A and G 21-96.
[0095] After 7 days the paper facing of Example 2 containing standard asphalt had no growth on either the paper substrate and/or the asphalt as measured according to both the D 2020A and G 21-96 tests. After 14 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing standard asphalt had no growth on the paper substrate according to the D 2020A test, but had heavy growth on the asphalt according to this test. After 14 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing standard asphalt had slight growth according to the G 21-96 test. After 21 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing standard asphalt had moderate growth according to the G 21-96 test. After 28 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing standard asphalt had heavy growth according to the G 21-96 test
[0096] After 7 days the paper facing of Example 2 containing the treated asphalt had no growth on either the paper substrate and/or the asphalt as measured according to both the D 2020A and G 21-96 tests. After 14 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing treated asphalt had no growth on the paper substrate, nor the asphalt according to the D 2020A test. After 14 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing treated asphalt had no growth according to the G 21-96 test. After 21 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing treated asphalt had slight growth according to the G 21-96 test. After 28 days, the paper facing of Example 2 containing treated asphalt had moderate growth according to the G 21-96 test.
Comparative Example 1
[0097] A paper facing containing a paper substrate, standard asphalt, and fiberglass insulation was made in parallel according to that process outlined in Example 2 except that the paper substrate did not contain any antimicrobial compound at all.
[0098] The paper facing of Comparative Example 1 had moderate growth everywhere after 7 days and heavy growth everywhere after 14 days according to the D 2020A test. Further the paper facing of Comparative Example 1 had moderate growth, heavy growth, heavy growth, and heavy growth everywhere after 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, respectively, according to the G 21-96 test.
Example 3
[0099] A file folder was made from a substrate in which Busan 1200 was added to cellulose fibers at the size press. The substrate was reverse die-cut.
Example 4
[0100] A file folder was made from a substrate in which Busan 1200 and a stearylated melamine/paraffin wax obtained commercially from RohmNova under the tradename Sequapel® 414 were both added to cellulose fibers at the size press. The substrate was reverse die-cut.
Comparative Example 2
[0101] A file folder was made from a standard substrate made from cellulose fibers and reverse die-cut. This is the standard control.
Example 5
[0102] As tested by the ASTM standard E2180-01 test, Examples 3 and 4 showed a 73.70% and 87.70% reduction in the growth of Staphylococcus aureus as compared to that of the Comparative Example 2.
Example 6
[0103] As tested by the ASTM standard D 2020-92 test, Examples 3 and 4 showed no growth after 7 and 14 days respectively of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus , and Chaetomium globosum . However, Comparative Example 2 had growth of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus , and Chaetomium globosum at both 7 and 14 days.
Example 7
[0104] After abrasion of a conventional file folder made of a paper substrate coated with Busan 1200, the file folder will fail ASTM D 2020 testing after 7 and 14 days as described above, while a file folder containing a substrate that contains Busan 1200 by application at the size press and/or the wet end of the papermaking process will not show growth of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus , and Chaetomium globosum after 7 and 14 days.
[0105] As used throughout, ranges are used as a short hand for describing each and every value that is within the range, including all subranges therein.
[0106] Numerous modifications and variations on the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the accompanying claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
[0107] United States Patent Application having Ser. No. --/---,---, filed Jul. 6, 2005, and also claiming 119(e) priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/585,757, is hereby incorporated, in its entirety, herein by reference.
[0108] All of the references, as well as their cited references, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference with respect to relative portions related to the subject matter of the present invention and all of its embodiments | The invention relates to the papermaking art and, in particular, to the manufacture of paper substrates, paper-containing articles such as file folders, having improved reduction or inhibition in the growth of microbes, mold and/or fungus. | 3 |
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates generally to rotational control apparatuses, particularly to clutches, and more specifically to two-speed clutches.
It is often desired to control an output for operation at two distinct speeds. Prior to the present invention, such control was often provided by the use of two motors and two clutches for obtaining each of the distinct output speeds. The use of two-speed clutches in such control was often disadvantageous because of their size, expense, and disadvantageous operation due to breakdown, complicated controls, and similar deficiencies of prior two-speed clutches. Thus, a need has arisen for a two-speed clutch which overcomes the disadvantages of prior two-speed clutches and allows its use when control of an output is desired at two distinct speeds.
SUMMARY
The present invention overcomes these problems and disadvantages of prior two-speed clutches and provides a solution to this need by providing a clutch for selectively interrelating an input with one of a first output and a second output. An interface member rotatably related to the input is positioned between interface surfaces of the first output and a housing. The second output is rotatably related to the housing. A piston is reciprocally mounted in the housing and is rotatably mounted to and axially movable with the interface member. The piston is biased in the housing by springs which extend between the piston and a radially extending surface which is part of the housing. The interface surface of the housing is formed on the radially extending surface opposite to the springs. The interface member under the influence of the springs and fluid pressure introduced into a fluid pressure cylinder associated with the piston moves to rotatably relate with one of the interface surfaces of the first and second outputs. Therefore, the housing serves multiple functions including serving as the second output and reciprocally mounting the piston to reduce the number and complexity of the clutch components.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel two-speed clutch.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch which eliminates the requirement of two separate drive units when it is desired to control an output at two distinct speeds.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch including a multifunction housing which also forms an output of the clutch.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch including greatly reduced number of components than prior two-speed clutches.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch having a simplicity of construction.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch which provides a relatively dust free environment for the piston and the structure which reciprocally mounts the piston relative to the input.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch which may be supported by a shaft.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel two-speed clutch which is of compact construction.
These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of this invention described in connection with the drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The illustrative embodiment may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:
FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a two-speed clutch constructed according to the preferred embodiment of the teachings of the present invention.
The figure is drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present invention only; the extensions of the figure with respect to number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts to form the preferred embodiment will be explained or will be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood.
Furthermore, when the terms "top", "bottom", "first", "second", "inside", "outside", "axially", "radially", "inward", "outward", and similar terms are used herein, it should be understood that these terms have reference only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings and are utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.
DESCRIPTION
A two-speed clutch according to the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in the drawings and is generally designated 10. Clutch 10 generally includes an input 12 for selective rotational relation with a first output 14 and a second output 16. Input 12 in its most preferred form is shown as a hub for receipt of a shaft, not specifically shown. Suitable means such as keyway means may be provided in hub 12 for preventing mutual rotation of the shaft within hub 12. Generally, the outer surface of hub 12 includes first and second bearing mounts 18 and 20 located on opposite ends of hub 12 and splines 22 located intermediate bearing mounts 18 and 20.
First output 14 is shown in its most preferred form as a sheeve which is rotatably mounted to hub 12 by bearing 24. Bearing 24 is held in a nonsliding position on mount 20 of hub 12 by a snap retaining ring 26 received in a cavity formed on the outer surface of hub 12. Bearing 24 is further held in a nonsliding position relative to sheeve 14 by a retaining ring 28 received in sheeve 14. In its most preferred form, sheeve 14 has a diameter and further includes an integral, radially extending annular interface disc 30 having a diameter greater than the diameter of sheeve 14. In its most preferred form, disc 30 further includes a friction ring 32 mounted to disc 30 axially opposite from sheeve 14 and which forms an engagement, interrelating, and interface surface.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, output 16 generally includes a second sheeve unit 34 and a first housing portion 36 rotatably supported on hub 12. Specifically, housing portion 36 includes an annular body portion 38. The radially inward end 39 of body portion 38 defines an axially extending bore and is provided with a bearing mount 40. The radially outward end of body portion 38 terminates in an axially extending annular flange 42. Body portion 38 is then rotatably mounted to hub 12 by a bearing 44 located between mounts 18 and 40. Bearing 40 is held in a nonsliding relation to hub 12 by a retainer ring 46 received in a cavity formed in hub 12 and is held in a nonsliding position with respect to body portion 38 by a retaining ring 48 received in a cavity formed in body portion 38.
In its most preferred form, body portion 38 includes an annular recess 50 having a first, radially outward, axially extending surface and a second, radially inward, axially extending surface for reciprocally receiving and mounting an annular body portion 53 of a single, annular piston 52. It should then be appreciated that a fluid pressure cylinder for moving the piston in an axial direction is formed and defined by recess 50 of housing portion 36 and piston 52. In its most preferred form, an axially extending, annular flange 54 having a radially inward bearing mount 56 extends from the annular body portion 53 of piston 52 in a direction away from recess 50.
Input 12 of clutch 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention further includes a friction interface disc 58 including a radially extending disc 60 having a first interface surface 62 and a second interface surface 64. Friction disc 58 further includes a hub portion 66 including splines 68 for slidable receipt upon splines 22 of hub 12. Hub portion 66 further includes a bearing mount 70. Piston 52 is axially or reciprocally related to friction disc 58 but rotatably mounted with respect to friction disc 58 by bearing 72 located between bearing mounts 56 and 70. Bearing 72 is prevented from axial movement in mount 56 by having its first race abut with a retaining ring 74 received in a cavity formed in friction disc 58 and is prevented from axial movement in mount 70 by having its second race abut with a retaining ring 76 received in a cavity formed in piston 52.
Sheeve unit 34 generally includes an annular, drive belt receiving, sheeve portion 78 having a radially inward surface 80 and further generally includes a radially extending, annular, housing disc portion 82 which defines an axially extending aperture 81. Disc portion 82 is secured to the free end of flange 42 of housing 36 by bolts 83. It can then be realized that sheeve 34 is connected to housing 36 by bolts 83 for rotation therewith in its most preferred form. Located radially inward from surface 80, disc portion 82 includes a radially extending surface or face 84 for mounting a friction ring 86 and which forms an engagement, interrelating, and interface surface. Disc portion 82 further includes a plurality of radially spaced, axially extending spring recesses 88. Clutch 10 further includes a plurality of springs 90 located in recesses 88 and abutting with piston 52 and for biasing piston 52 in an axial direction and specifically into recess 50. It can then be realized that springs 90 are located generally axially of friction ring 86 to thus directly counteract with the torque force placed on disc portion 82 by the rotatable interaction of interface surface 64 of friction disc 58 with friction ring 86 to thus evenly balance force transfer between friction disc 58 and piston 52. It can further be appreciated that output 16 including sheeve 34 and housing 36 is rotatably mounted to hub 12 by bearings 44 and 72.
In its most preferred form, clutch 10 further includes an end cap member 92 including a circular disc portion 94 and an axially extending, annular flange 96. Circular portion 94 is secured to body portion 38 of housing 36 to close off the axially outward, open end of the cylindrical bore defined by the radial inward end 39 of body portion 38. Flange 96 receives a fluid pressure rotary union 98 for defining a fluid cavity 100 within flange 96. Suitable fluid communication provisions 102 are provided for providing fluid pressure between cavity 100 and the fluid pressure cylinder defined and formed by recess 50 behind piston 52 and is shown in its most preferred form as a fluid conduit extending therebetween. It can then be realized that piston 52 and friction disc 58 axially related thereto is movable in a first axial direction by fluid pressure introduced into the fluid pressure cylinder by union 98 and provisions 102 and is movable in the opposite axial direction in the preferred embodiment by biasing piston 52 and in its most preferred form by springs 90.
In its most preferred form, clutch 10 further includes a manual actuation member 104 reciprocably mounted in body portion 38 and within recess 50 which functions as a short stroke piston. Member 104 may be manually advanced into recess 50 for abutting with and axially moving piston 52 against the bias of springs 90 by a set screw 108 threadably and axially received in body portion 38 of housing 36 which abuts with member 104. It can then be realized that clutch 10 can be manually activated by member 104 to rotatably relate first output sheeve 14 with input 12 if there is a failure in the fluid pressure supply. Further, member 104 may be utilized to find the center position of friction disc 58 wherein friction disc 58 does not interface with either of outputs 14 and 16 if desired, for example for setting the fluid pressure control.
In its most preferred form, friction disc 58 further includes an axially extending cavity 110 for reciprocal receipt of an axially extending annular flange 112 formed on sheeve 14. Cavity 110 and flange 112 have relatively close tolerances to form a rotary air seal in a similar manner as set forth and disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,497,046. Thus, cavity 110 and flange 112 prevent minute portions of friction ring 32 due to wear thereof or dust or other elements from passing to and upon splines 22 and 68. Furthermore, cavity 110 and flange 112 prevent grease from splines 22 and 68 and bearings 24, 34, and 72 from working outwardly to friction ring 32 where it defeats the purpose of the ring 32 and friction disc 58.
In operation and assuming fluid pressure has not been introduced to the fluid pressure cylinder formed by recess 50 by rotary union 98 and provisions 102, springs 90 bias piston 52 into recess 50. Due to the interrelationship of friction disc 58 with piston 52, friction disc 58 axially moves with piston 52 such that surface 64 frictionally engages, interrelates, and interfaces with friction ring 86 of sheeve 34 while surface 62 is spaced from and does not interface with friction ring 32 of sheeve 14. It can then be realized that output 16 is rotationally interrelated to the input 12 such that sheeve 34 and housing 36 rotate as a single member with input 12 while output 14 is rotatably independent from input 12 by bearing 24. However, if fluid pressure is introduced into the fluid pressure cylinder formed by recess 50 by rotary union 98 and provisions 102, piston 52 moves axially outward from recess 50 against the bias of springs 90. Due to the interrelationship of piston 52 with friction disc 58, with the axial movement of piston 52, surface 62 of friction disc 58 frictionally engages, interrelates, and interfaces with friction ring 32 of sheeve 14 while surface 64 is spaced from and does not interface with friction ring 86 of output 16. It can then be appreciated that output 14 is rotatably related to input 12 while output 16 is rotatably independent from input 12 by bearings 72 and 44.
Now that the construction and operation of clutch 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been set forth, subtle features and advantages of the present invention can be set forth and appreciated. For example, it should be appreciated that housing 36 performs multiple functions and provides multiple advantages. First, housing 36 mounts sheeve 34 and thus forms the second output 16. Second, housing 36 serves as the selective interface with input 12 by including friction ring 86 mounted thereto in the preferred embodiment. Next, housing 36 reciprocally mounts piston 52 and with piston 52 forms and defines the fluid pressure cylinder for moving piston 52 against the bias of springs 90. Further, housing 36 mounts springs 90 axially in line with friction ring 86. Additionally, housing 36 rotatably mounts the second output sheeve 34 on the input 12. It can be further appreciated that housing 36 performs other functions than those specifically highlighted hereinbefore.
It should then be appreciated that due to the multiple function housing 36 and its interrelationship with other components of clutch 10, several advantages are obtained by clutch 10 according to the teachings of the present invention. First, clutch 10 provides a significant reduction in the number of clutch components. Therefore, clutch 10 is less prone to wear and breakdown and may be assembled in a quick and economic manner. Next, clutch 10 provides components which can be inexpensively cast and therefore can be economically manufactured. Additionally, clutch 10 is very axially compact with reduced rotational mass for reducing shaft balancing problems. It can be further appreciated that housing 36 and its interrelationship with other clutch components of clutch 10 result in other advantages than those specifically highlighted hereinbefore.
Further, it should be noted that utilizing a single interface disc 58 controlled by a single, double acting piston 52 for interfacing with an interface of either the first or second outputs 14 and 16 arrives at several advantages. For example, utilizing the teachings of the present invention, it is impossible to simultaneously interface with both outputs 14 and 16 which can result in damage to the clutch itself or the machine or other apparatus being controlled by the clutch. Likewise, control of clutch 10 can be easily provided utilizing a single source of fluid and without the complicated and extensive controls required when two pistons and/or two fluid cylinders are utilized as in prior clutches or in prior dual-speed control techniques.
It should be noted that due to the close tolerances provided between friction disc 58 and surface 80 of sheeve 34 and between disc 82 of housing 36 and flange 54 of piston 52, an air type seal is created in a manner similar to cavity 110 and flange 112. Specifically, due to the close tolerances and also due to the rotating interrelationship of friction disc 58 and sheeve 34 when friction disc 58 is interrelated with sheeve 14, dust and other elements are not prone to travel therebetween. Thus, a first volume defined by disc 82, housing 36, and piston 52 is created defining a substantially dust and element free environment within clutch 10. Likewise, a second volume defined by friction disc 58, sheeve 34, piston 52, input 12, disc 94, and portion 38 of housing 36 is created defining a substantially dust and element free environment within clutch 10. It should also be realized that the close tolerances of disc 82 and sheeve 34 also reduce the dust and element communication which otherwise would be subjected to the first volume set forth hereinbefore. Thus, the first and second volumes and the rotary air seal created by cavity 110 and flange 112 reduces the exposure of the clutch components to dust and other elements which increase frictional wear and interaction of the components.
It should be also appreciated that two-speed clutch 10 of the present invention can be supported solely by the shaft upon which input hub 12 is received and no other external support is required as shown in its most preferred form. Thus, two-speed clutch 10 can be utilized in numerous environments without extensive redesign of the machine or apparatus to be controlled by clutch 10.
It can then be appreciated that two-speed clutch 10 according to the present invention can be utilized in environments where control of an output is desired at two distinct speeds in a very economical manner. Thus, clutch 10 of the present invention eliminates the need for the use of two motors and two clutches as were utilized prior to the present invention in this type of environment. Furthermore, clutch 10 does not require complicated controls and is less prone to wear and breakdown. Thus, it should be appreciated that two-speed clutch 10 according to the present invention is clearly advantageous over prior clutches and techniques utilized in this environment.
Now that the basic teachings of the present invention have been explained, many extensions and variations will be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art. For example, although input 12 is shown as a hub and outputs 14 and 16 are shown as sheeves, input 12 and outputs 14 and 16 may take other forms and constructions according to the teachings of the present invention.
Likewise, outputs 14 and 16 may have different sizes and relationships than as shown and described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. For example, output 14 could have a larger diameter than output 16.
Additionally, fluid pressure may be provided to the fluid pressure cylinder in other manners than as shown and described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Similarly, two-speed clutch 10 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes several features which synergistically relate with each other to provide an overall, preferred construction. However, features of the present invention may be utilized alone or with other known and unknown constructions than as shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Furthermore, the reciprocal mounting of piston 52 by recess 50 of housing 36 is believed to be particularly advantageous as set forth hereinbefore; however, piston 52 may be reciprocally mounted in housing 36 by other constructions and techniques according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein. | A two-speed clutch is shown according to the preferred embodiment of the teachings of the present invention for the selective rotational relation of an input shaft with a first or second sheeve unit having different diameters. The first sheeve unit is rotatably mounted to the input shaft. The second sheeve unit is mounted to a housing in turn rotatably mounted to the input shaft. The clutch includes a friction disc which is located between and frictionally interrelates with the first sheeve unit or the housing. The housing includes a single, reciprocally mounted piston for moving the friction disc. Utilizing a two-speed clutch of the present invention eliminates the requirement of two separate and complete drive units as in prior techniques. Furthermore, since the housing performs multiple functions, i.e., rotatably mounts the second sheeve unit to the input, slidably mounts the piston, acts as the interface for the second sheeve unit with the friction disc, and other functions, the two-speed clutch of the present invention greatly reduces the number of parts and results in a simplicity of construction. Furthermore, the two-speed clutch of the present invention provides a relatively dust and other element free environment for the piston and splined interconnection of the interfacing friction disc with the input. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to radar systems, and more particularly, to a lightweight active phased array antenna with forced convection cooling.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Mission requirements for near-future radars dictate high levels of operational capability provided by systems that are light in weight. Such radars must feature agile, reconfigurable beams coupled with high effective transmit power and high receive sensitivity.
[0003] The operational requirements are fulfilled by adopting large aperture active phased array antennas having transmit/receive (TIR) electronics distributed with the radiating elements. Distributing the active TIR circuits over the array antenna also necessitates distributing their associated prime power converters and controllers, plus providing means for effective thermal management and conveying RF/power signals. It is desirable that these phased array antennas be realized with minimum weight to promote high mobility in ground radar applications and to minimize top-side mass for shipboard systems.
[0004] Accordingly, there is a need for a lightweight active phased array antenna having distributed transmit/receive (T/R) electronics radiating elements, power converters, and controllers. Such a phased array antenna should also have effective thermal management and a mechanism for conveying the RF/power signals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] According to an aspect of the invention, a lightweight active phased array antenna comprises modular active electronics assemblies and passive radiating element aperture panels that are integrated into a lightweight support structure of a minimum depth, which provides a cooling system for the electronics assemblies. The electronics assemblies and aperture panels are accessible from one or both faces of the antenna and can be readily removed/replaced as required.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a lightweight active phased array antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0007] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the lightweight active phased array antenna.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a sectional view through two stacked, duct-like horizontal cross members of the antenna's support structure.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a vertical column member of the antenna's support structure.
[0010] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a modular, active electronics assembly and a modular passive radiating element aperture panel of the antenna.
[0011] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a multichannel transmitter/receiver (T/R) assembly which forms one of the antenna's modular, active electronics assemblies.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a lightweight active phased array antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention. The lightweight active phased array antenna, denoted by numeral 10 , comprises a rigid, lightweight support structure 100 having a first side 101 and a second side 102 , and a plurality of modular, active electronics assemblies 200 and modular passive radiating element aperture panels 300 disposed on the first and second sides 101 , 102 of the support structure 100 . A thin sheet-style radome 400 is attached directly to the aperture panels 300 disposed on each of the first and second sides 101 , 102 of the support structure 100 , thereby protecting the aperture panels 300 from weather, chemical, and mechanical damage, and rejecting the majority of incident solar radiation.
[0013] The support structure 100 comprises a perimeter frame 110 , a plurality of stacked, duct-like horizontal cross members 120 which are secured together by the perimeter frame 110 , and a plurality of intermediate, channel-shape vertical column members 130 that provide additional stiffness to the support structure 100 and form bays 140 on both the first and second sides 101 , 102 of the structure 100 into which the modular active electronics assemblies 200 are mounted. The modular passive radiating element aperture panels 300 may be mounted to the modular active electronics assemblies 200 mounted in the bays 140 . The perimeter frame 110 may include an upper channel member 111 , a lower channel member 112 , and first and second side I-beam members 113 and 114 extending between the upper and lower channel members 111 , 112 . The first and second side I-beam members 113 , 114 each include a central web portion 113 a, 114 a having a plurality of fan mounting apertures 113 b, 114 b formed therein.
[0014] The entire support structure 100 may be fabricated from a carbon-epoxy composite, which provides exceptional stiffness to weight characteristics. Alternatively, the entire support structure 100 may be fabricated from a low mass density metal alloy, such as aluminum. Still further, some of the members of the support structure 100 may be fabricated from the carbon-epoxy composite and other members of the support structure 100 may be fabricated from the low mass density metal alloy. In one exemplary embodiment, the support structure may have a width W of about 92 inches, a height H of about 87 inches, and a depth D of about 11.5 inches. Support structures of other dimensions are also contemplated.
[0015] A back-to-back, dual-face phased array antenna may be realized using the shown support structure 100 which includes the bays 140 on both the first and second sides 101 , 102 thereof and the modular active electronics assemblies 200 (mounting the modular passive radiating element aperture panels 300 ) mounted in the bays 140 on both the first and second sides 101 , 102 of the structure 100 . Although not shown, a single-face phased array antenna may also be realized using an embodiment of the support structure 100 that includes the bays 140 on only one of the first and second sides 101 , 102 thereof for mounting the modular active electronics assemblies 200 (and the modular passive radiating element aperture panels 300 mounted to the electronics assemblies 200 ).
[0016] As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the support structure's horizontal, duct-like cross-members have a “bow tie” sectional shape formed by a central main duct 121 and laterally extending, wing-like secondary ducts 122 that communicate with the central, main duct 121 . The upper and lower walls 122 a, 122 b of the secondary ducts 122 include inner and outer air metering apertures 122 c 122 d. The duct-forming design of the horizontal cross-members allow them to distribute a coolant, preferably air, to the array's modular active electronics assemblies 200 . In the case of an air coolant, intake cooling fans 160 and exhaust cooling fans 170 are placed at the ends of the horizontal cross-members, in the fan mounting apertures 113 b, 114 b of the side I-beam members 113 , 114 , to direct ambient or conditioned inlet or intake air into, and exhaust air out of the phased array antenna. The vertical stack of horizontal cross-members form alternating “intake” and “exhaust” ducts. As shown in FIG. 3 , the lower wall 121 b of the central duct portion 121 may be formed with an outdent 121 d and the upper wall 121 a of the central duct portion 121 may be formed with a correspondingly shaped indent 121 c to maintain vertical alignment of the stacked, horizontal cross-members 120 and further rigidify the support structure 100 . The wing-like secondary ducts include cut-outs 123 which are dimensioned for receiving the vertical column members 130 .
[0017] Referring to FIG. 4 , the channel-like vertical column members 130 of the support structure 100 are each formed by bottom wall 131 and two depending side walls 132 . The side walls 132 each include openings 133 which are positioned to communicate with each of the bays 140 so that the vertical column members 130 may also operate as raceways for bus networks that distribute DC power, control, and RF signal to the modular active electronics assemblies 200 disposed in the bays 140 .
[0018] Referring to FIG. 5 , the modular active electronics assemblies 200 each of which includes a high power density DC to DC converter 210 , a panel electronics digital controller 220 , and a multichannel transmitter/receiver (TIR) assembly 230 , and the modular aperture panels 300 are integrated into the array as line replaceable units. The DC converter 210 and the digital controller 220 are disposed end to end in the innermost portion of each of the bays 1440 of the support structure 100 and may be secured by conventional fasteners. The DC converter 210 and the digital controller 220 are plugged into power and control signal buses disposed in the vertical column members 130 .
[0019] Referring again to FIG. 3 , the DC converter 210 includes a heat exchanger 211 that is aligined with the inner air metering, apertures 122 c of two of the horizontal cross-members' secondary ducts 122 that are immediately above and below the DC converter 210 in the bay 140 (one of the two cross-members 120 operates as an “intake” air duct and the other one operates as an “exhaust” air duct). Compliant gaskets 240 are provided for sealing the DC converter's heat exchanger 211 to the secondary ducts 122 of these two cross-members 120 to prevent coolant leakage between the secondary ducts 122 and the heat exchanger 211 . Cooling intake air ducted through the main and secondary ducts 121 , 122 of the “intake” horizontal cross-member 120 (the cross-member 120 below the DC converter 210 in the shown embodiment) passes through the cross-member's inner air metering apertures 122 c (the inner air metering apertures 122 c that communicate with that DC converter's bay 140 ) into or across the fins or grid comprising the DC converter's heat exchanger 211 . The air (which now contains the heat drawn away from the heat exchanger 211 ) is exhausted through the inner air metering apertures 122 c of “exhaust” air horizontal cross-member's secondary duct 122 (the cross-member 120 above the DC converter 210 in the shown embodiment) and exhausted through the main duct 121 thereof.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 6 , the T/R assemblies 230 are constructed as two-sided tile-assemblies to minimize the depth of the phased array antenna. Specifically. each T/R assembly 130 comprises a heat exchanger 231 formed by an extruded or cast metal structure having a plurality of transverse air passages 232 extending therethrough, a conventional low power circuit board 233 forming a low power T/R channel is mounted on a first side surface of the heat exchanger 231 , and a conventional high power circuit board 234 forming a high power transmit amplifier is mounted on a second opposite side surface of the heat exchanger 231 . The low power circuit board 233 forming the T/R channel may include, without limitation, multi-layer interconnect circuits 233 a and microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) 233 b. The high power circuit board 234 forming the high power transmit amplifier may include, without limitation, a Si bi-polar junction transistor (BJT) 234 a, a circulator 234 b, and a band pass filter 234 c. Because TIR assemblies 230 are well known to those skilled in the art, a further discussion of tile details of the low and high power circuit boards are unnecessary herein.
[0021] Still referring to FIG. 6 , covers 235 for shielding the low and high power circuit boards 233 , 234 from electromagnetic interference and the environment are disposed over the circuit boards 233 , 234 . Each T/R assembly 230 is disposed in the outermost portion of the bay 140 and may be secured by conventional fasteners and plugged into the array antenna's RF bus disposed in the vertical column members 130 . The T/R assembly 230 is also connected to the DC converter 210 and controller 220 disposed in the innermost portion of the corresponding bay 140 via plunge-style connectors or a short cable 236 .
[0022] Referring again to FIG. 6 and FIG. 3 , the transverse air passages 232 of the T/R assembly's heat exchanger 231 are aligned with the outer air metering apertures 122 d of the two horizontal cross-members' secondary ducts 122 that are immediately above and below the T/R assembly 230 in the bay 140 . Compliant gaskets are provided for sealing the T/R assembly's heat exchanger to the secondary ducts of these cross-members to prevent coolant leakage between the secondary ducts 122 and the T/R heat exchanger 231 . As with the DC converter 210 , cooling intake air ducted through the main and secondary ducts 121 , 122 of the “intake air” horizontal cross-member 120 passes through that cross-member's outer air metering apertures 122 d and through the transverse air passages 232 of the T/R assembly's heat exchanger 231 . The heated air is exhausted through the outer air metering apertures 122 d of “exhaust air” horizontal cross-member's secondary duct 122 and exhausted through its main duct 121 .
[0023] As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the vertical stack of duct-like horizontal cross-members 120 provide a reliable and effective means for cooling the electronics assemblies 200 . The specialized connections, leak issues, and air purge requirements associated with conventional liquid cooled methods are obviated with the phased array antenna of the present invention.
[0024] Referring again to FIG. 5 , the modular aperture panels 300 each comprise a plurality of radiating elements. Their associated feed networks and optional signal sampling couplers which provided for a calibration system, are realized in the multiple layers of the panels 300 . The modular aperture panels 300 also comprising a plurality of RF signal input ports that may be embodied, for example, as RF plunge-style connectors 301 ( FIG. 3 ), so that when the panels 300 are attached at their periphery to the edges of the horizontal cross-members 120 and vertical column members 130 on one or both sides 101 , 102 of the array antenna's support structure 100 , direct connections are made to the T/R assemblies 230 .
[0025] While the foregoing invention has been described with reference to the above, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and changes are considered to be within the scope of the appended claims. | A lightweight active phased array antenna including modular active electronics assemblies and passive radiating element aperture panels that are integrated into a lightweight support structure of a minimum depth which provides a cooling system for the electronics assemblies. The electronics assemblies and aperture panels are fully accessible from one or both faces of the antenna and can be readily removed/replaced as required. | 7 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of production processes for medicinal preparations containing peptides; more particularly, it belongs to the technical field of production processes for medicinal preparations containing leukocitary dialyzable extract.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Transfer factors, which are produced by leukocytes and lymphocytes, are small water-soluble polypeptides of about 44 amino acids that stimulate or transfer cell-mediated immunity from one subject to another and through species, but it does not provoke an allergic response. Since the transfer factors are smaller than antibodies, they do not transfer antibody-mediated responses, they are non-immunogenic so they do not induce the production of antibodies. Properties and characteristics of transfer factors have been discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,563, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,895, U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,700, U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,224, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,534 patents.
[0003] Transfer factors have been described as effective therapeutics for treating herpex simplex virus infection, to treat acne, and for the treatment of infections caused by Candida albicans. Also, they have been used to treat cryptosporidiosis in recipients treated with a specific transfer factor. On the other hand, they have also been used for the treatment of small pox, as a pretreatment of children having transfer factor from subjects who had small pox.
[0004] For many years diverse methodologies have been used to obtain the transfer factor. For example, patent application WO2007143957 describes a process for obtaining the factor from leukocytes; this process includes the following steps: adjusting the leukocyte homogenate, dialysis and/or ultrafiltration, concentration by lyophilization, adjusting the raw medical solution, interoperative testing, homogenization, prefiltration, ultrafiltration, sterilization by filtration, thermal inactivation, product packaging, and lyophilization. However, in said process a highly raw factor is obtained, since it contains a large number of components that may mask the factor action.
[0005] In turn, NLA2004000058 patent describes a method wherein a leucocitary extract is subjected to sterilization by filtration, and chromatography using Sephadex G-15. This process uses as a quality control the chemotaxis test in rat peripheral blood or thymus and spleen lymphocytes. However, as said method is subjected only to a separation by sephadex, it does not guarantee the purity of the factor since it contains multiple components that can interfere with the metabolic action of the factor.
[0006] On the other hand, patent application No. US20030031686A1 describes a method for obtaining a transfer factor from chicken eggs. This method consists in immunizing the birds with a particular antigen and from the egg white to obtain a water soluble fraction; this fraction was subjected to three consecutive filtration processes: a) by filter paper, (b) by vacuum using glass-fiber filter, and c) by filtration using a DURAPORE hydrophilic membrane to remove lipids and lipoproteins. The protein-containing fraction is collected, frozen, and lyophilized. Although, this process is extremely simple, it has the drawback of lacking of a low molecular weight polypeptide separation, and therefore the product obtained contains proteins interfering with the transfer factor action.
[0007] Another process to obtain transfer factor is that described in the US20020044942 patent application. Said process consists in obtaining the factor from immunized-chicken eggs, and comprises various steps, including filtration, centrifugation, filtration, dialysis, high-performance liquid chromatography, and lyophilization. However, the disadvantage of this process is the difficult handling of eggs when manually separating the yolk and the white, resulting in the protein fraction becoming contaminated with the lipid fraction.
[0008] Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,700 patent describes a method to obtain a substantially pure transfer facto with a specific activity of at least 5000 units per AU214. The process consists mainly in contacting a sample containing the transfer factor with an immobilized antigen to which the factor binds specifically under conditions favoring the formation of the antigen-transfer factor complex. This complex is subsequently separated by reverse phase, high-resolution liquid chromatography, and high-resolution liquid chromatography by gel filtration. Despite the high degree of purity due to the antigen-specific immobilization step, this process has the great disadvantage of requiring a large amount of antigen, resulting in a fairly expensive process.
[0009] Finally, EP0143445A2 patent application describes a method for obtaining a transfer factor from lactating-cows' colustrum. This method basically consists of the following steps: centrifugation to obtain a cell precipitation, removal of casein, ultrafiltration, and dialysis, chromatography, and lyophilization. This process has the great disadvantage of the low availability of caws' or other mammals' colostrum in lactation stage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] According to the result of the analysis of the state of the art, it can be seen that there is a technical problem with respect to the methodology for obtaining the transfer factor. Said problem consists in lacking of a high-purity transfer factor. This may be a problem emerging from the factor source, for example, from the white of the immunized-hens, or by lacking of specific better purification steps.
[0011] In this sense, the present invention reasonably improves the technical problems. In the first instance, obtaining the transfer factor from peripheral-blood allows to avoid the difficult handling of the immunized-hens' eggs stated US20020044942 and US20030031686A1 patent applications. In the same way, there is a major source of factor unlike the cows' colostrum stated in the EP0143445A2 patent application. On the other hand, it has the advantage of obtaining a higher-purity factor when using a purification step based on a ultra-resolution, molecular-exclusion liquid chromatography; this stage primary overcomes the disadvantages present in those processes described in the WO2007143957 and NLa2004000058 patent applications. Finally, this process turns out to be low-cost sin no-antigen is used for the factor purification, unlike that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,700 patent.
[0012] In addition, the present invention has a biological validation step of the factor, thereby allowing to reject those transfer factor batches which do not meet said test.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a calibration curve of the transfer factor by ultra resolution, molecular-exclusion liquid chromatography. The various lines are various batches to which the testing was applied.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a standard curve of molecular weight.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a calibration curve of the transfer factor.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a calibration curve of the transfer factor.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a graph corresponding to the effect of the transfer factor on the cell line MG-63 proliferation.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a graph corresponding to the effect of the transfer factor on the cell line A20 proliferation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] Now, the invention will be described based on particular examples. These examples are illustrative only and do not intend to limit in any way the scope of the invention.
Example 1
Freezing/thawing Step
[0020] The transfer factor is obtained from leukocyte-concentrate units. The units are frozen and subsequently they are subjected to five freezing/thawing steps. In this sense, the leukocyte-concentrate packages are grouped together to form batches of 20 leukocyte-concentrates in plastic bags. The freezing cycles start storing the batches at −20° C. for one week. After the week, thawing of the leucocyte-concentrate packages is made by locating them in a sink under tap water. When completely thawed, they are got back at −20° C. and stored for a week. And so on, until finishing the five freezing/thawing cycles.
Example 2
Dialysis Step
[0021] The dialysis process starts cutting off a membrane for 12 KDa to 1.40 meter length. This membrane is placed in a 4 liters beaker containing 2.5 liters Elix water and allow to boil for 10 minutes. After, the dialysis membrane is taken out and it is placed in another 4 liters beaker containing 2.5 liters Elix water and let to boil for 10 minutes. Subsequently the dialysis membrane is taken out and it is placed in another 4 liters beaker containing 2.5 liters Elix water and sterilize for 15 minutes at 121° C. The dialysis membrane remains in the sterile water until use.
[0022] Once the dialysis membrane is prepared, said membrane is filled with the leukocitary extract subjected to the freezing/thawing processes. This process begins cleaning the bags containing the leukocitary concentrate with 70% alcohol; later, one of the bag ends is cut using sterile surgical scissors. It is emptied and the leukocitary concentrate contents is measured by decantation into a test tube. Then the test tube contents is poured in a 1 liter glass vial. The steps are repeated with the various bags up to a volume of 1.100 liters of leukocitary concentrate within the vial. Subsequently, 800 milliliters of pisa water is measured in a test tube, and this volume is poured into a 2 liters sterile vial. Using sterile gloves one end of the dialysis membrane is taken out and a knot is made at 10 cm from the end, a second knot is made to 7 cm from the end, and between both ends a surgical thread is attached. After, the other end of the dialysis membrane is taken out and a finger is inserted into the membrane, pushing the dialysis membrane to form an accordion. The finger is removed and the vial's neck is placed instead, taking care to not breaking the membrane. The membrane is taken out and the end having both knots is placed into a 2 liters sterile vial, leaving the surgical thread out of the vial. Then, the end of the surgical thread located out of the vial is taken with surgical pliers, and the entire leukocitary concentrate is poured from the vial by decantation into the funnel, carefully introducing slowly the membrane into the 2 liters vial. Subsequently, the funnel is withdrawn from the end of the dialysis membrane and a double knot is made leaving 3 cm distance. A sterile clamp is placed (clip) between both knots and a sterile aluminum cap is placed and leave dialyzing for 20 hours. Once finished the 20 hours of dialysis, samples are taken for the corresponding analysis. Then, the dialysis product is poured into a 4 liters sterile glass by decantation, trying that the decanted liquid to touch as less as possible the dialysis membrane ends. It is filtered by 0.22 pm, it is collected in a 2 liters sterile vial, the volume obtained is measured as a dialysis product, and it is stored at −20° C. until the tangential ultrafiltration begins.
Example 3
Tangential Ultrafiltration Step
[0023] To perform the product ultrafiltration according to the following: the 10 KDa cartridge is sampled and it will determine the present amount of endotoxin. The system pressures are checked (10 psi at the feed port and 5 psi at the retained). Subsequently, a hose is connected to the feed port in order to install it at the peristaltic pump head and inserting the other end in the carboy containing the dialysated product to 12 KDa. Connect a second hose to the port of the permeated to the filtration unit and insert it into a clean 20 L carboy 20 L labeled as PERMEATED 1. Connect a third hose to the port of retained and insert it in a third 20 L carboy labeled as RETAINED 1 (note: Prepare an additional carboy labeled as RETAINED 1,1 since two carboys of retained product will be obtained). Turn on the peristaltic pump and set it at 1 L/min. Ultrafiltrate the entire product. Measure with a 2 L test tube the total amount of each obtained product. Recycle the RETAINED 1 and RETAINED 1,1 product to zero volume as follows: entering the feed hose into one of the carboys containing the retained product (RETAINED 1 or RETAINED 1.1), entering the hose for retained in the same carboy than the feed hose (RETAINED 1 or RETAINED 1, 1), entering the hose for permeated into another carboy labeling it as PERMEATED 2 (note: as 2 carboys of permeated product will be obtained, another carboy is to be prepared labeling it as PERMEATED 2,1. Turn on the peristaltic pump and set it at 1 L/min. Ultrafiltrate the retained product up to a zero volume. Measure with the 2 L test tube the total volume of the obtained products. The product from the three carboys is homogenized with permeated product (PERMEATED 1, PERMEATED 2 and PERMEATED 2,1) as follows: entering a hose into the carboy containing the product PERMEATED 2,1 installing the hose in the peristaltic pump head and entering the other end in the carboy containing the product PERMEATED 1, scheduling the pump to 1 L/min and moving half of the amount contained in the carboy PERMEATED 2,1 to the PERMEATED 1. Repeat steps a and b to move the other half of the amount of the product PERMEATED 2,1 to the carboy containing the PERMEATED 2, remaining two carboys with permeated product. Two hoses are entered in the carboy PERMEATED 1, they are installed in the two peristaltic pump heads (one pump for each hose) and entering the other ends in the carboy PERMEATED 2. Schedule the peristaltic pumps in opposite directions (on with left turn and the other with right turn) and at a rate of 13 L/min. Start both pumps and hold for 20 min. Identify both carboys as TOTAL PERMEATED. Measure with 2 L test tube the total volume obtained and quantify the proteins. According to the above, carry out an ultrafiltration using a 1 kDa cartridge.
Example 4
Identification and Quantification Step by Ultra-resolution, Molecular-exclusion Liquid Chromatography
[0024] This step was carried out under conditions for qualitative and quantitative analysis by SEC-UPLC in an Acquity UPLC system System Class H using the molecular-exclusion column Acquity BEH200 1.7 pm 4.6×150 mm. Peptide separation was made with a 50 mM phosphate buffer solution with 50 mM sodium chloride at pH 7.0 and an isocratic flow rate of 0.2 ml/min, with a total elution time of 15 min. The above chromatographic conditions were used to obtain a calibration curve for the quantitative determinations. Chromatographic profiles were obtained from transfer factor Lot 11 B01, where 11 characteristic peaks can be observed, these results are shown in FIG. 1 . These 11 peaks elute in a retention time ranging between 8.5 and 13.5 min. The molecular weight standards are shown in FIG. 2 . Once obtained the characteristic peaks for the transfer factor, a calibration curve was made using a batch of transfer factor as internal standard, by injecting different volumes: 0.3, 1, 2, 3, 4 y 5 μL. Data were processed using the Empower software applications for the construction of the calibration curve, the results are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 .
[0025] This chromatographic method allow to perform a qualitative analysis to detect the 11 transfer facto characteristic peaks in a retention time ranging from 8.5 to 13.5 minutes. To know the molecular weight approximated range of the transfer factor peptide population, Bioarf molecular weight markers (1.35-670 kDa) and tryptophan (62 Daltons) were used, so we can infer that the transfer factor peptides have a molecular weight less than 17 kDa corresponding to the myoglobin of the Biorad standard. However, since the GPC application of the Empower software is missing, it is not possible to accurately determine the molecular weight of each peak, therefore, these are reported as lower than 17 kDa and with a retention time ranging from 8.5 to 13.5 min. On the other hand, a low range molecular weight marker is not available, reason why only tryptophan was used as a reference to an approximated molecular weight of 62 Daltons. With respect to the quantitative method, the calibration curve was obtained with a correlation coefficient r2 of 0.99, indicating a linear method fulfilling the acceptance criteria set as >0.98. In view of the above, the method can also be used for quantitative determinations.
Example 5
In vitro Biological Validation Step
[0026] MG-63 cell line (ATCC CRL-1427) is human osteosarcoma cells. MG-63 cells were seeded in CORNING 12 well culture plates at a density of 1×10 4 cells per well in 500 □l MMSE culture medium (GIBCO cat. No. 30-2003) supplemented with 10% FBS (GIBCO Cat No. 16000-044), the stimulated cells are treated with transfer factor at a concentration of 100 □g/ml, a proliferation control is placed, with non-stimulated cells. The cells are incubated over 24, 48 and 72 hours. The experiment was performed in triplicate in each condition.
[0027] Proliferation Determination by Exclusion of Trypan Blue. After each incubation time, the number of cells and cellular viability are determined by the 0.4% trypan blue dye exclusion test (SIGMA Cat No. T8124). The cells are detached by trypsinization (triple GIBCO Cat No. 12563) and are centrifuged at 125×g for 5 min, then the counting is performed in a Neubauer chamber ( FIG. 6 ).
[0028] The effect of the transfer factor on the cell line was determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) Briefly, 1×10 4 cells/well were treated with 100 □g/ml. After incubating for 24, 48 and 72 hours, the cells were washed twice with phosphate saline solution (PBS) and TT (0.5 mg/ml PBS) was added to each well and incubated at 37° C. for 30 minutes. The formazan crystals that were formed were dissolved by adding dimethylsulphoxide (100 μL/well), and the absorbance was read at 570 nm using a microplate reader (Model 3550; BIO-RAD, Richmond, USA). The reduction in cell viability after the treatment with transfer factor is expressed in terms of control cells (non-treated cells). The percentages of cell survival were calculated as follows: % Of cell survival=(absorbance of treated cells/absorbance of cells with vehicle solvent)×100. The mean inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) is calculated from dose-response curve obtained by plotting the percentage of cellular survival versus the concentration of transfer factor.
[0029] The same tests were also performed in AT20 cells, which are murine B cells from mice neoplasia of the BALB/cAnN strain. A20 cells are seeded in CORNING 96 well culture plates at a density of 4×10 3 cells per well in 200 □l RPMI culture medium (GIBCO) supplemented with 10% FBS (GIBCO), 0.05 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (SIGMA), the stimulated cells are treated with transfer factor at a concentration of 100 □l/ml, a proliferation control is placed with non-stimulated cells. The cells are incubated over 24, 48 and 72 hours. The experiment was performed in triplicate in each condition.
[0030] Proliferation Determination by Exclusion of Trypan Blue. After each incubation time the cell number and cellular viability are determined by the 0.4% trypan blue dye exclusion test (SIGMA Cat No. T8124). Cells are centrifuged at 125×g over 5 min, then the counting is performed in a Neubauer chamber ( FIG. 5 ).
[0031] A20 cells are seeded in CORNING 96 well culture plates at a density of 4×10 3 cells per well in 200 □l MMSE culture medium (GIBCO Cat. No. 30-2003) supplemented with 10% FBS (GIBCO Cat No. 16000-044), the stimulated cells are treated with transfer factor at a concentration of 100 □g/ml, a proliferation control is placed, with non-stimulated cells. The cells are incubated over 24, 48 and 72 hours. The experiment was performed in triplicate in each condition.
[0032] For the MTT assay, 20 □l MTT solution is added (5 mg/ml in PBS) to each well, 3 h before each of the desired time points, and the cells are incubated at 37° C. for 3 h. After the incubation time, the culture medium is removed and 100 □l DMSO is added in each well. The plate is gently shaked on an orbital shaker for 10 minutes to completely dissolve the precipitation. The absorbance is read at 570 nm using an Epoch microplate reader (Biotek USA). | The present invention relates to a method for producing a transfer factor. The method comprises the following steps: freezing and thawing of peripheral-blood leukocytes, dialysis, tangential ultrafiltration, identification and quantification using high-resolution, molecular-exclusion liquid chromatography, and in vitro biological validation. The resulting product is suitable for medical use. | 2 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/487,777, filed May 19, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to field of antennas, more specifically to the field of antennas suitable for use in mobile devices.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0003] One known antenna concept is referred to as a Dual Fed Dual Inverted L Antenna (DF-DILA). The DF-DILA antenna concept is implemented in the Motorola ZN5 mobile phone. A simple reference model of the DF-DILA concept is developed to illustrate its principles and is illustrated in FIG. 1 . The general dimensions of this model are: printed wiring board 15 (PWB)=40×100 mm, cutback under the element is 40×3 mm and the element is 5 mm above the PWB. The element 20 includes a first arm 22 and a second arm 24 . A first feed 16 is configured to provide an low band feed and a second feed 18 is configured to provide a high band feed. The unmatched impedance of the standard DF-DILA is shown in FIG. 2 , which includes high band impedance 40 (which includes a resonance) and low band impedance 50 . This is obtained by combining the two feeding connections, which then acts as a single feed.
[0004] It is seen from FIG. 2 that the element itself only has 1 resonance, which can be tuned for high band operation, like GSM1800, GSM1800 and/or UMTS Band I. The resonance is created due to the different length of the 2 arms, seen from the feeding. The element acts as a coupler for the low band operation, like GSM 850 and/or GSM 900. The basic idea is to move both impedance areas of interest into the same location in the smith chart, which is done by splitting the feed into two, whereby the low band is fed through a series inductor and high band through a series capacitor. The resulting impedance 35 is shown in FIG. 3 , which includes high band impedance 40 ′ and low band impedance 50 ′. Both bands can now be transformed into the desired SWR circle of 3 by a shunt inductor and a shunt capacitor, as shown in FIGS. 4A (which shows impedance of Low band (GSM850 and GSM 900)) and 4 B (which shows Impedance of High band (GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and UMTS Band I)) so as to provide suitable bandwidth. As can be appreciated from FIGS. 4A and 4B , the DF-DILA in this configuration can cover 3 bands, one low band and 2 high bands. The typical matching circuit for the DF-DILA concept is shown in FIG. 5 .
[0005] While this antenna design has proven acceptable, further improvements in lower frequency and higher frequency bandwidth would be beneficial. However, conventional techniques for providing these improvements would increase the volume of the antenna undesirably. Therefore, certain individuals would appreciate an improved antenna design that provided the benefits of increased antenna volume without the need for what would be an expected amount of increase in the antenna volume.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0006] An antenna is disclosed that is based on the Dual Fed Dual Inverted L Antenna (DF-DILA) structure. A third resonator is added to the resonating structure and this results in a design that increases the antenna volume for low band operation (thus increasing the low band bandwidth) and also provides an additional resonance for high band operation (thus increasing the high-band bandwidth). In certain embodiments, impedance bandwidth improvements can be obtained for both high and low bands, with only a small increase of the antenna volume. The low band bandwidth can be further enhanced by active switching of the low band feed. Thus an improved performing antenna can be provided in a manner that does not require a substantial increase in antenna volume.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a prior art antenna system.
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates an impedance plot of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates an impedance plot of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 1 with a split feed.
[0011] FIG. 4A illustrates an impedance plot of the low band of the antenna system in FIG. 1 with a matching network.
[0012] FIG. 4B illustrates an impedance plot of the high band of the antenna system in FIG. 1 with a matching network.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of matching network for the antenna system depicted in FIG. 1 .
[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of an antenna system.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates an impedance plot of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 6 .
[0016] FIG. 8 illustrates an impedance plot of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 6 with a split feed.
[0017] FIG. 9A illustrates an impedance plot of a high band response of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 6 with a matching network.
[0018] FIG. 9B illustrates an impedance plot of a low band response of the antenna system depicted in FIG. 6 with a matching network.
[0019] FIG. 10 illustrates a chart of frequency response comparing the system of FIG. 1 with the system of FIG. 6 .
[0020] FIG. 11 a schematic diagram of matching network with band for the antenna system depicted in FIG. 6 with low band switching.
[0021] FIG. 12 illustrates low band frequency response of the antenna of FIG. 6 with low band switching.
[0022] FIG. 13 illustrates a voltage plot across the diodes used to provide the low band switching.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] The detailed description that follows describes exemplary embodiments and is not intended to be limited to the expressly disclosed combination(s). Therefore, unless otherwise noted, features disclosed herein may be combined together to form additional combinations that were not otherwise shown for purposes of brevity.
[0024] As can be appreciated from FIG. 6 , an antenna system 101 that can be referred to as providing a Dual Fed Triple Inverted L Antenna (DF-TILA) is disclosed. The antenna system includes a circuit board 105 , which may be a conventional printed circuit board or any desirable structure of comparable design (for example, a LDS structure with traces positioned on the structure). The circuit board 105 includes a first side 106 a and a second side 106 b. Positioned about the circuit board 106 are elements 110 that are configured to resonate. As depicted, this includes a first arm 111 , a second arm 112 and a third arm 113 . As can be appreciated, therefore, one difference between the DF-TILA system and a DF-DILA system is the second element attached to the low band feed. It has been determined that it is beneficial if the second arm 112 is placed on the opposite site of the circuit board 105 compared to the first arm 111 . This will reduce the coupling between the first arm 111 and the second arm 112 , making the tuning of the antenna easier. Secondly, having the second arm 112 on the opposite site will also increase the impedance bandwidth of the low band resonance.
[0025] The unmatched impedance plot shows that the low impedance and high band resonance 1 are located more or less at the same positions in the smith chart as for the standard DF-DILA. A second high band resonance is created due the different length of the short arm and long arm 2 , as can be appreciated from FIG. 6 .
[0026] One would not expect, based on FIG. 6 , that this concept will improve the bandwidth at both the low band resonance and the high band resonance. However, it has been determined that by splitting the feed at an input point 240 (see FIG. 11 ) into 2 feeds and adding one of a series capacitor and an inductor to the two different feeds the 2 high band resonances curl together (see FIG. 7 ), which provides an improved impedance bandwidth (e.g., a greater frequency range within a SWR circle of 3). Thus, a first feed 121 is provided directly to the first and second arms 111 / 112 and a second feed 122 is provided to the third arm 113 . In series with the first feed 121 is an inductor 161 (L 1 ) and in series with the second feed 122 is a capacitor 162 .
[0027] More specifically, as can be seen from FIG. 7 , the high band impedance consists of a first resonance 140 and a second resonance 145 , instead of the one resonance provided by the standard DF-DILA. Thus, somewhat surprisingly, the addition of the second arm 112 , which can be connected to the third arm 113 via the common node 240 , causes the second resonance 145 and increases the impedance bandwidth of the high band. The low band impedance 150 is also affected by the second long arm, since this is connected directly to the low band feed 121 and acts as part of the low band element, increasing the effective antenna volume and thereby the impedance bandwidth. The impedance plot with a matching circuit is shown in FIG. 8 and the same matching circuit as is used with the standard DF-DILA can be used.
[0028] Consequentially, adding a second arm 112 increases the impedance bandwidth and this concept can now cover four bands, three high bands (as shown in FIG. 9A ) and one low band (as shown in FIG. 9B ). The results for the two concepts are compared in the table provided in FIG. 10 . As can be appreciated, a substantial improvement is provided for both the low band and the high band. For example, the high band can readily provide a bandwidth of greater than 350 MHz and in preferred embodiments can provide a bandwidth of greater than 400 MHz. The low band can be configured to provide greater than 80 MHz of bandwidth. In addition, full penta band impedance bandwidth can be achieved by switching the low band as described below.
[0029] The low band switching is implemented by changing the value of the inductor L 1 and thereby the resonance frequency of the low band resonance. Changing the value of L 1 has very little influence on the high band resonance, so the high band performance can be considered to be independent of the low band switch. It has been determined that the impedance of the high band resonance should be optimized for the off state in order to reduce the on time of the diodes and thereby reduce the overall current consumption.
[0030] The switch can be implemented as a parallel combination of an inductor L 2 and one or more diodes, as shown there being 2 PHEMT type diodes D 1 and D 2 . The parallel switching circuit 241 is placed in series with inductor 161 , as shown in FIG. 11 . The number of diodes can vary, depending on, for example, the Q of the antenna and required antenna efficiency.
[0031] The 2 PHEMT type diodes, in parallel, are modeled with a R on of 0.5Ω and a C off of 2.4 pf. The combined inductance of the parallel switching circuit can thus be changed, depending on the state of the PHEMT type diodes. The complex impedances for the 2 switching states are shown in FIG. 12 , which illustrates low band resonance at an on state (plot 275 ) and an off state (plot 278 ) and shows that the 2 low bands (GSM850 and GSM900) are now covered as the frequency response is suitable (e.g., within a SWR circle of 3) between about 820 MHz and 950 MHz (e.g., over 120 MHz of bandwidth).
[0032] It is beneficial to ensure that the parallel resonance of the switching circuit is not overlapping with any on the desired frequency ranges of the communication systems, since this most likely will introduce an undesired loss. The maximum control voltage for the used PHEMT diodes is −12 V, which in theory means the that the maximum RF voltage across the diodes, in off stage, should be less than this, in order to avoid self biasing and/or operation in the unlinear region. The simulated peak voltage 295 and rms voltage 290 across the PHEMT diodes in an off state is shown in FIG. 13 for an AC input level of 35 dBm. The maximum rms voltage swing over the desired frequency range is approximately 7V with a 35 dBm input AC signal. This is well below the maximum diode control voltage of −12 V. Thus the depicted antenna system provides desirable performance in a compact package.
[0033] The disclosure provided herein describes features in terms of preferred and exemplary embodiments thereof. Numerous other embodiments, modifications and variations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occur to persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of this disclosure. | An antenna is disclosed where a third resonator is added to the resonating structure. Impedance bandwidth improvements can be obtained for both high and low bands, with only a small increase of the antenna volume. The low band bandwidth can be further enhanced by active switching of the low band feed. | 7 |
INTRODUCTION
The present invention relates to a targeted vesicular composition for treatment of H. pylori infections and for cytoprotection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Excessive gastric acidity and mental stress were earlier thought to be major pathophysiological reasons for occurrence of peptic ulcers. Marshall and Warren (Warren., Lancet, 1: 1273-1275, 1983 and Marshall etal., Lancet, 2: 1311-1315, 1984) first reported an unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastric and peptic ulcers. These bacilli which were later identified as a gram negative spiral bacterium and named Helicobactor pylori (Goodwin et al., Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 39: 397-405, 1989), have been demonstrated to be associated with gastric and peptic ulcers (Buck et al., J. Infect. Dis. 153: 664-669, 1986 and Graham, Gastroenterology 96: 615-625, 1989).
The recognition that peptic ulcer is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium H. pylori has revolutionized the approach of diagnosis and therapy. H. pylori has been implicated in the etiology of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease and also of gastric carcinoma and gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, if infection persists for a life time (Forman et al., Lancet, 343, 243-244, 1994). International agency for cancer research (IARC, USA), recently declared H. pylori to be a Group I carcinogen, a definite cause of human gastric cancers.
There are several patents that describe different methods to treat H. pylori infections. U.S. Pat. No. 5286492 describes the method of treatment of H. pylori with Triclosan. European patent no. 713392 describes the use of Clioquinol for treating H. pylori infections and related diseases. European patent no. 676199 describes the use of Trifloxacin or derivatives for the treatment of H. pylori infections. European patent no. 758245 describes the use of Spiramycin for treating gastrointestinal disorders caused by H. pylori . WIPO patent no. 9528929 describes the use of amino-N-oxide antimicrobials for use against H. pylori infections.
At present, the treatment of peptic ulcers with drugs like H 2 -receptor antagonists, gastric acid, secretion inhibitors and mucosal protectants has been replaced partially or totally, by antibiotics/antimicrobials. Triple therapy regimen (Tetracycline, in combination with metronidazole and tripotassium dicitratobismuthate, TDB) has been found to be more effective than monotherapy, but patient compliance and drug resistance, further limits its applicability. Difficulties arise in the localization of the drug by conventional delivery systems, since they settle at the base of the stomach and are emptied along with gastric emptying. As a result, little amount of drug is delivered to the body or fundus of the stomach. Ecological niche of H. pylori due to the fact that it lies beneath the mucosal layers and develops rapid resistance to antibiotics (drug resistance towards the causative organism, originating either from the impermeability of the bacterial membrane envelope, or dye to production of β-lactamases), could be cited as reasons for the ineffectiveness of monotherapy and triple therapy (in some part) regimen. Systemic administration followed by local secretion in the gastric juice has been considered as an option for drug delivery to bacterium. Unfortunately, only strong bases diffuse into the stomach and the antibiotics used in H. pylori treatment being weak acids and bases, fail to enter the acid environment. There have been only a few drug delivery systems described, in prior art, to overcome problems of drugs used to treat H. pylori infections. WO/9624341 describes an approach to formulate drugs such as TDB in a chewing gum base for delivery to dental plaques and oral localized delivery. But this is a non-specific delivery and is not specifically targeted to H. pylori cells and suffers from the disadvantages of non-specificity. Moreover, many unpleasant tasting drugs may not be suitable for chewing gum dosage forms.
It is therefore appreciated that there is a need of novel delivery system which can combat with the biochemical and physico-chemical challenges encountered at infectious site (i.e., gastric mucosa) vis-a-vis presenting the system to the target cell lines with the help of specific ligands for the cell surface cytoporter system. Liposomes, the lipid bound microscopic vesicles have been used for targeting of the drugs to various target sites like fungal cells and cancerous cells. A great deal of research has been made on the ligand directed liposomal systems, mainly based on antibody mediated and carbohydrate mediated liposomal interactions. These have revealed some of the conceptual aspects of the enhanced in vitro and in-vivo stability and targeting potential as compared to native liposomes. Liposomes anchored with target-specific monoclonal antibody as a ligand are guided towards the cell surface antigens.
In our invention, we have adopted another novel strategy based on carbohydrate specific glycoconjugate ligands i.e. lectins. Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins that are capable of binding monosaccharidos, oligosaccharides and glycoproteins with an enzyme like specificity. The lectinized liposomes selectively approach their respective receptors expressed on to the surface of target cells. These receptors are cytoportals identified to be glyco-sphingolipids and glyco-proteins.
The carbohydrates recognition groups on the surface of target cells suggest the application of carbohydrate epitopes as ligands for intracytoplasmic targeted drug delivery. The concept of polyvalency or multivalency, i.e., binding to a target site through multiple interactions, viz. sugar affinity and specificity of membrane lectins for glyco-conjugates could be proposed as composite mechanisms. Among the glyco-conjugate linands, glycolipids, sphingoglycolipids, glycoproteins, lectins and polysaccharides are widely investigated pilot molecules to selective interact with biofilms and deliver the contents to cellular interiors. Lectinized liposomes have been used for targeting to HeLa cells (Liautard et al., Biol. Int. Rep., 2, 1123-1137, 1985), glycophorin—A biofilms (Hutchinson et al., FEBS Lett. 234, 493-496, 1988), mouse embryo and transformed fibroblast (Bogdanor et al., Exp. Cel. Res., 181: 362-375, 1989), chicken erythrocyte (Carpenter et al., Anal. Biochem., 135: 151-155, 1983), and Streptococcus infection (Kaszuba et al., Biochem. Soc. Trans., 19: 4165, 1991). Lectin appended liposomes interact selectively with the sugars expressed on cell surface as glycoconjugates. The specificity of the lectins for binding to a particular sugar has been appreciated as site directing component or character. The targeting could be negotiated via carbohydrate mediated interactions.
The multivalency characteristics of lectins impart to it, selectivity and affinity for bacterial cells. Appended ligands [lectins like Concanavallin A (Con A), Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Rat cerebellum agglutinin (RCA)] owing to their sugar affinity and specificities, specifically adhere to the glycocalyx of the bacterial biofilm. The composition as described in this invention system, thus may selectively deliver the drug not only to the bacterial cell proximity but also via receptor mediated uptake in to cellular interiors.
The approach as described in this invention therefore, would be utilized to circumvent ulcerative and carcinogenesis associated with H. pylori infections in the upper GIT, simultaneously to steric protection and confer structural integrity to the disintegrated mucosal cell lines. The novel composition as described in the present invention is based on liposomes constituted using WGA acylated Phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE) as film forming lipid component. PE itself fails forming bilayers (which usually adopts the hexagonal inverted micelle structure in preference to bilayer sheet) however, on derivatization with palmitoyl or acyl WGA/antibiodies it may form stable vesicular constructs entrapping water soluble susbstanits. On partitioning of acylated WGA-PE through ligand-receptor clustering, the system destabilizes and the contents are instantaneouly released. The lectin serves for ligands and recognizes its affinity receptor expressed on to the bacterial films. This as a result could place liposome on bacterial film releasing its antibacterial contents. In addition, the lipid components may serve as prostaglandin precursors or stimulus offering cytoprotection via inflamed site biochemistry manipulation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the proposed work was to engineer lipid vehicles using phosphatidylethanolamine and its derivatives as principle lipids. The derivative is subsequently utilized for keying of proteinaceous ligands to the surface. The acylated protein anchors impart bilayer stability to the liposomes. However, following subsequent receptor ligand interaction they dissociate leaving bilayers unstabilized. The consequence may beneficially be exploited for by-stander release of drug at the pre-selected site. Thus dual functionality of acylated proteins may lend the system a highly specific therapeutic potential. Furthermore, the protein ligands serve to confirm stability to the liposomes, especially, under bioenvironmental stresses of GI. The by-stander release under target derived stimulus specifies the system to be target sensitive, adding to its specificity and as a result improvises the monotherapy to the effective level. A further object was to provide prostaglandin precursor lipid constituents to heal and repair (cytoprotectlon and cytorepairing) the degenerated and disintegrated gastric mucosal cells of the infectious site.
In order to sum up the, objects, the engineered vesicular constructs encapsulating the antibiotic Amoxycillin in their aqueous domains were prepared using PE along with the different molar ratio of Phosphatidyl choline (PC): Cholesterol (Chol) and were stabilized using acylated protein based cap. The basic process is described in FIG. 1 .
Lectin confers biochemical and physicochemical stability to the system. These vesicles resistant against gastric challenges, viz., pH and pepsin are capable of approaching target site ( H. pylori induced ulcerated gastric mucosal site) through carbohydrate specific ligand associated with bacterial biofilm. Once these vesicles were presented to the bacterial cell surface, the structural integrity of the PE/PC based bilayers suffers reorientation releasing amoxycillin into the vicinity of the target cells or cellular interiors eradicating the causative organism. The lipid analog, PC may serve as prostaglandin precursor by providing essential fatty acids to the inflamed and degraded gastric mucosa and offer cytoprotection.
In accordance with the present invention there is disclosed a composition for curing H. pylori infections and for cytoprotection which comprises:
Lectins
1 to 20 mol %
Phospholipids
20 to 80 mol %
Sterols
0 to 50 mol %
One or more Drugs
0.1 to 80 mol %
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Liposomes are microscopic vesicles in which the aqueous milieu is enclosed in a single or multiple phospholipid bilayers (i) The liposomes can range from 30 nm to 50 μ in diameter. Depending upon the number of layers and size liposomes can be categorized into
SUVs
Small Unilamellar liposomes
LUVs
Large Unilamellar liposomes
MLVs
Multilamellar liposomes
IUVs
Intermediate sized Unilamellar liposomes
MVVs
Multi vesicular vesicles
The bilayers are generally composed of phospholipids along with sterols, added to impart rigidity and stability to the structures. Liposomes can be used to encapsulate both water-soluble as well as lipid soluble drugs.
Liposomes have great potential as drug delivery systems. They have been employed for the targeting of anticancer and antifungal agents with success.
Helicobacter pylori is the bactorium that has been implicated as the causative organism for chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer leading to gastric carcinoma and gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissues lymphoma. The organism lies beneath the mucosal layer of the GIT and is also known to develop rapid resistance to antibiotics. For this reason, the commonly employed monotherapy or triple therapy regimens (Tetracycline, metronidazole and tripotassium dicitratobismuthate) proves ineffective.
We have utilized, here, the approach of targeting the surface of the target cells combined with the intracytoplasmic targeted drug delivery using liposomes, particularly the surface modifed, ligand coated liposomes have been employed.
These liposomes composed of phospholipids and cholesterol, containing amoxycillin in the aqueous compartment are stabilized using lectin. Lectin confers stability against gastric challenges, i.e., pH and pepsin. This allows the intact liposomes to reach the target cells, viz., the ulcerated mucosal site through the carbohydrate specific ligand associated with bacterial biofilm. On presentation to the bacterial cell surface, the membrane of the liposomes destabilizes and releases amoxycillin in the vicinity of the target cells or cellular interiors eradicating H. pylori . The constituents of the disrupted liposomal membrane i.e. phosphatidyl choline, in turn, serves as a cytoprotectant by providing essential fatty acids for the repair of the inflamed and degenerated gastric mucosa.
The preparation of liposomes was carried out as shown in the flow chart given in FIG. 1 .
First of all, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) was coupled with palmitic acid to yield Palmitoyl WGA (PWGA), by adapting the procedure by Green and Huang (Green, S. C.; Huang, L., Anal. Biochem. 136: 151-155, 1983). The resulting acylated WGA was added to the casted film prepared from phospholipids, i.e., dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine (DOPE) and/or dioleoyl phosphatidic acid (DOA) along with cholesterol (Chol) and sonicated to yield liposomes. The coating of the film with WGA was done either by covalent coating method using acylated WGA or charge induced coating using the underivatized WGA. Protein free liposomes were prepared for the purpose of comparison, using essentially the same procedure by lipid cast film method.
Separation of the unincorporated material was achieved by gel filtration column chromatography on a sephadex G-50-80 coarse column. The eluted fractions near the first peak in fractions 10-30 (corresponding to the void volume) were detected to contain the protein-coated liposomes and were collected. The unbound drug was eluted later in fractions 35-45. The developed liposomal system was subjected to linear sucrose gradient centrifugation study to separate the undervatized WGA from the liposomes.
Shape characteristics of the liposomes were studied by transmission electron microscopy (JEM 1200 EX 11, JEOL, Japan) using phosphotungstic acid as negative stain. Most of the liposomes were found to be multilamellar and spherical in shape. The particle size distribution was studied using dynamic laser light scattering technique (Autosizer IIC, Malvern Instruments, France). The average size of the liposomes was found to be 5.5 μ.
The zeta potential of the liposomes was found using an elctrophoretic light scattering spectrophotometer (Zetasizer 4, Malvern Instruments, UK) and was found to range between 25 and 40 mV.
Encapsulation efficiency of the liposomes was determined by subjecting the pre-dialyzed suspension to centrifugation at 1,00,000 g for 60 minutes and washing the pellets with 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4) thrice. The vesicles were lysed with triton X-100 and the drug content was measured spectrophotometrically. The encapsulation efficiency of liposomes was found to range between 31.8% and 40.5%. Liposomes stabilized with acylated proteins and with DOPE showed higher values as compared to those with adsorbed protein and plain liposomes.
Number of vesicles per mm 3 were counted using a haemocytometer with the help of photomicrographs (Leitz—Biomed, Germany) (Chatterjee, C.C., 1995, Human Physiology III ed., National Book Centre, Calcutta, India, 328). This parameter along with leaching of the drug was studied as an index for the stability of the liposomal suspension. In-vitro drug leaching from the liposomes was determined against phosphate saline buffer (pH 7.4) at 37° C. and 4° C., using equilibrium dialysis. The protein-coated system was found to be more stable both in terms of % vesicle count as well as tDI15 value (time for 15% drug leaching against dialysis in the medium) as compared to the uncapped formulation. Similar in-vitro studies were also conducted under pH, gastric pepsin, trypsin and α-chymotrypsin challenges. Even in SGF (simulated gastric fluid) the protein-coated systems were found to reveal better stability as compare to their plain version.
The ligand specificity of the liposomes towards sialic acid was determined by studying the elution profile of the liposomic dispersion in a mini-column with the milipore membrane at the base, before and after the addition of the sialic acid. The results of the sialic acid induced interaction of the developed system in vitro are shown in the FIG. 2 .
The results of the study show that PWGA binds to the sialic acid, provided it is covalently bond to the liposomes. The destabilization of the bilayer membrane, once acylated WGA binds with free sialic acid is attributed to the pulse of drug released and ascribed to target responsive nature of liposomes.
In in-vitro studies, cell specificity of the liposomes was investigated using Helicobacter pylori cell lines. A marked enhancement in the binding of PWGA—liposomes as compared to plain liposomes or those prepared with WGA by adsorption method was observed. The results clearly reveal that binding specificity of liposomes to the target cells is distinctive and prominent in the case when acylated WGA was used for coating.
The cytorepairing and cytoprotective performance of the prepared liposomes was assessed in albino male rats of Wistar origin. The level of ulcer healing (%RUh) following the administration of liposomes against the NSAID induced castric lesions followed by colonization of gastric mucosa by orally delivered H. felis suspension culture was studied. The degree of ulceration and rate of ulcer healing was determined following the classification of Sakita (Sakita, T., Oguro, Y., Miwa, T., 1981, In: Handbook of Intestinal Endoscopy I ed., Tokyo: Chugi—Igakusha, 375-396) and Tamada (Tamada, F., 1992, In: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, KSH Hospital, 23-25). Histopathological examination of the gastric mucosa was done using phase contrast research microscope (Leitz—Biomed, Germany).
The results of the ulcer healing studies are given in Table 1.
The results reveal that among the various formulations tested, the system capped with acylated wheat germ agglutinin produced the best results. These capped liposomes achieved a nearly 95.8% recovery (ulcer healing) as compared to 33.3% recovery by amoxycillin at the same MIC 90 level. The photomicrographs confirmed the ulcer healing property of acylated WGA stabilized liposomes as they reveal the attachment of vesicles to the cell surface, followed by vesicular cytoprotection, which could be proposed to be mediated through ligand receptor interaction.
The expression “vesicular constructs” as used in this specification includes within its ambit “liposomes”, “niosomes”, “biosomes”, “pharmacosomes” and its like.
In accordance with the present invention there is disclosed a composition for curing H. pylori infections and for cytoprotection which comprises:
Lectins
1 to 20 mol %
Phospholipids
20 to 80 mol %
Sterols
0 to 50 mol %
One or more Drugs
0.1 to 80 mol %
Lectins used in the present invention could be from plant, animal or any other source.
Lectins from plant source can be selected from Concanavalin A, Wheat Germ Agglutinin, Glycine A or can be obtained from Tetragonolobus purpuria, Viscum album, Vigna radiata, Lens culinaris, Lathyrus odoratus.
Lectins from animal source can be obtained from Human macrophages, Peritoneal lymphocytes, mouse peritoneal macrophages, B16 melanoma cell lines, Rat cerebellum, chicken thymus.
Phospholipids used in the present invention could be all phospholipids belonging to the category of Phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidyl ethanolamine, Phosphatidyl serine, Phosphatidyl glycerol, Phosphatidyl acid and Phosphatidyl innositol, Sphingolipids.
Sterols used in the present invention could be Cholesterol, Ergosterol, Stigmasterol, Sitosterol.
Drugs used in the present invention could be all drugs used for H. pylori antimicrobial treatment such as antibiotics, H 2 receptor antagonists, protectants, astringents and antacids.
Antibiotics could be Amoxycillin, Clarithromycin, Tetracycline. Antiprotozoals could be Metronidazolo, Ornidazole. Protectants could be Bismuth and its salts. H 2 receptor Antagonists could be Omeprazole, Cimetidine and Ranitidine.
Formulation Details
EXAMPLE I
Dehydrated for Rehydration Type
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
7 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
7 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
48 parts mol %
Cholesterol
14 parts mol %
Amoxycillin or its salt
22 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin was coupled with Dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine by incubation at RT for 24 hours. Gel filtration chromatography using Sephadex column was conducted to purify the adduct in Phosphate Buffer. The solution was freeze-dried.
2. The freeze dried adduct was taken along with Phosphatidyl Choline and Cholesterol dissolved in diethyl ether and casted as lipid film.
3. The casted film was hydrated using Amoxycillin solution.
4. The mixture of step 3 was incubated for 2 hours and sonicated for 10 minutes in 2 cycles.
5. The step 4 was dialysed and/or centrifuged to remove free drug and lyophilized.
6. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE II
Dehydrated for Reconstitution Type
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
7 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
48 parts mol %
Cholesterol
14 parts mol %
Metronidazole
22 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
7 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dioloyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine Phosphatidyl choline and Cholesterol was dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The casted film was hydrated using Metronidazole in a buffer.
3. The mixture of step 2 was incubated for 24 hours for hydration. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes.
4. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added and the mixture was incubated for another 12 hours and then dialysed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE III
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
4 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidic Acid
4 parts mol %
Cholesterol
23 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
44 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
8 parts mol %
Ranitidine HCl
16 parts mol %
Excipients
1 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine, Dioleoyl phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin was added to the casted film and mixture was incubated for 12 hours.
3. The mixture of step 2 was hydrated using Ranitidine HCl solution in a buffer and incubated for 24 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE IV
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
7 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidic Acid
7 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
28 parts mol %
Cholesterol
14 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
14 parts mol %
Amoxycillin or its salt
28 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine, Dioleoyl phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Amoxycillin solution in a buffer and incubated for 24 hours.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE V
Ready to Use
Distearoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DSPC)
20 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
20 parts mol %
Cholesterol
20 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
10 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
10 parts mol %
Ranitidine HCl
18 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Distearoyl phosphatidyl choline, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidyl ethanolamine were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Ranitidine HCl solution in a buffer and incubated for 24 hours.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE VI
Distearoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DSPC)
23 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
23 parts mol %
Cholesterol
12 parts mol %
Phosphatidic Acid
5 parts mol %
Tetracycline HCl
23 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
10 parts mol %
Excipients
4 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Distearoyl phosphatidyl choline, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidic acid were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Tetracycline HCl solution in a buffer and incubated for 2 hours at 450° C.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE VII
Dimyristoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DMPC)
15 parts mol %
Distearoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DSPC)
15 parts mol %
Phosphatidic Acid
8 parts mol %
Cholesterol
15 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
15 parts mol %
Bismuth Phosphate
30 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dimyristoyl phosphatidyl choline, Distearoyl phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Bismuth Phosphate solution in a buffer and incubated for 2 hours at 45° C.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE VIII
Distearoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DSPC):
20 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
20 parts mol %
Cholesterol
10 parts mol %
Phosphatidic Acid
10 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
10 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
10 parts mol %
Cimetidine HCl
19 parts mol %
Excipients
1 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Distearoyl phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidyl choline, Phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Cimetidine HCl solution in a buffer and incubated for 2 hours at 45° C.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE IX
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
4 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidic Acid
4 parts mol %
Cholesterol
20 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
41 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
8 parts mol %
Clarithromycin
32 parts mol %
Excipients
1 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine, Dioleoyl phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the casted film and mixture was incubated for 12 hours.
3. The mixture of step 2 was hydrated using Clarithromycin solution in a buffer and incubated for 24 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
EXAMPLE X
Dioleoyl Phosphatidyl Ethanolamine
10 parts mol %
Dioleoyl Phosphatidic Acid
7 parts mol %
Phosphatidyl Choline
40 parts mol %
Cholesterol
26 parts mol %
Palmitoylated Wheat Germ Agglutinin
14 parts mol %
Omeprazole Sodium
1 parts mol %
Excipients
2 parts mol %
Total
100 parts
1. Dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine, Dioleoyl phosphatidic acid, Cholesterol, Phosphatidyl choline were dissolved in diethyl ether. The solvent was evaporated to cast a thin film of lipids.
2. The cast film was hydrated using Omeprazole solution in a buffer and incubated for 24 hours.
3. Palmitoylated wheat germ agglutinin was added to the mixture of step 2 and was incubated for 12 hours.
4. The hydrated suspension was sonicated for 10 minutes and then dialyzed and lyophilized.
5. A constant N 2 umbrella was maintained throughout the whole process.
TABLE 1
% Rate of ulcer healing calculated for the developed systems using
Sakita's classification
No. of
ulcers
Total no. of ulcers
recovered
(A1 + A2 + H1 +
% Rats
% Rate of
Group(S)
(S2)
H2 + S1 + S2)
with ulcers
ulcer healing
I
0
24
100.0 ± 0.01
0.00
II
8
24
54.15 ± 0.1
33.3 ± 1.2
III
14
24
37.5 ± 0.6
54.16 ± 0.8
IV
16
24
16.7 ± 0.2
66.7 ± 0.1
V
19
24
4.16 ± 0.3
79.1 ± 0.7
VI
22
24
0.0 ± 0
91.6 ± 1.1
VII
23
24
0.0 ± 0
95.8 ± 0.7
I = control; III = Protein free (plain) liposomes PL; IV = Protein coated liposomes (charge induced absorption) WGAL; V,VI and VII = Protein coated liposomes (covalently linked with Acylated WGA with different lipid mole fractions PC: Chol. DOPE/DOPA) PWGAL. V (PC:Chol: DOPE; 2:1:1) VI (PC: Chol: DOPE + DOPA 6:3:1) VII (PC:Chol: DOPE + DOPA ; 2:1:1) | A Novel Composition for targeted vesicular for treatment of H - Pylori infections and for protection of the cell is disclosed. The Composition Comprises Lectins, Phospholipids sterols an one or more drugs. The Composition is useful since not only it treats H - Pylori infections and other diseases associated therewith but also helps in protection of the cell walls. | 0 |
FIELD OF DISCLOSURE
The present invention relates to a washer, and more particularly, to a washer having a heating element retainer.
BACKGROUND
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional washer 2 having a tub 6 and a rotatable drum 4 in the tub 6 . FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of an assembly of the tub 6 and drum 4 .
The tub 6 may have an opening that permits a heating element (not shown) to penetrate a wall of the tub 6 of the washer 2 . A base of the heating element typically may be hermetically sealed in the cavity, which is formed in the tub 6 of the washer 2 . A heating element retainer (not shown) typically is provided to secure the heating element in the cavity of the tub 6 .
SUMMARY
In the assembly of a conventional washer, a heating element retainer generally may be inserted into an opening formed in the tub of the washer. The heating element retainer typically may be configured to retain the heating element in a secure manner in the cavity.
FIGS. 3A to 3E show an exemplary assembly process of a conventional heating element retainer and heating element. In order to secure the heating element 26 , some conventional heating element retainers 36 may have a plate 38 that is perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of the heating element 26 . In some conventional retainers 36 , the plate 38 may have a complex design of a hole 42 , which may be, for example, a notch, slot, groove, etc., that receives the heating element 26 as the heating element 26 is inserted in a direction parallel to the longitudinal extent of the heating element 26 . In some conventional retainers 36 , the plate 38 may be retained in the hole 42 by frictional forces between the surfaces of the hole 42 in the plate 38 and surfaces of the heating element 26 . In some other conventional retainers 36 , the plate 38 may have a complex design of tabs or spring pieces formed in the hole 42 to press against the heating element 26 .
In the conventional heating element retainer 36 , the plate 38 typically may be located near the middle of the retainer 36 along a longitudinal extent of the retainer 36 . Accordingly, when the heating element 26 is completely assembled in the retainer 36 , the plate 38 typically may retain the heating element 26 near a middle portion of the heating element 26 with respect to a longitudinal extent of the heating element 26 , as shown in FIG. 3E .
An exemplary assembly process of the conventional heating element retainer 36 and heating element 26 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3E .
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , when the heating element 26 is inserted into the cavity 40 of the tub 6 , a first end of the heating element 26 typically may reach the plate 38 of the retainer 36 before the base 24 of the heating element 26 can be aligned in the cavity 40 . Therefore, the heating element 26 may need to be aligned with the hole 42 by the installer before the base 24 of the heating element 26 can be aligned in the cavity 40 . As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , the installer may have limited or no visibility with respect to the location of the hole 42 in the plate 38 , which is inside the cavity 40 of the tub 6 . Hence, the first end of the heating element 26 typically may contact the surface of the plate 38 of the retainer 36 , as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , instead of passing through the hole 42 . In this case, the installer may need to make several attempts to align the heating element 26 with the hole 42 in the plate 38 until the heating element 26 is successfully installed in the hole 42 , which may increase the time and effort to install the heating element 26 .
Next, as shown in FIG. 3C , when the heating element 26 is inserted into the hole 42 in the plate 38 , a force F 0 may be applied to the heating element 26 by the plate 38 , which may cause the heating element 26 to be tilted or rotated in a plane that it not perpendicular to the plate 38 . Accordingly, the heating element 26 may be misaligned during insertion into the cavity 40 of the tub 6 , which may cause the base 24 of the heating element 26 to catch on or be interfered with by a top of the cavity 40 on the tub 6 , as shown in FIG. 3C . Therefore, in the conventional systems, the base 24 of the heating element 26 may need to be manually aligned with the cavity 40 using an installation tool 50 , as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D . The installer may then need to apply a force F 1 to the tool 50 to push the base 24 of the heating element 26 into the cavity 40 , as shown in FIGS. 3C to 3E .
Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 3C to 3E , in most conventional systems, a large portion of the heating element 26 may need to be pushed through the hole 42 in the plate 38 of the retainer 36 , since the plate 38 may be in the middle of the retainer 36 with respect to the longitudinal extent of the retainer 36 . Thus, the installer may need to apply a large amount of force F 1 to the tool 50 to push the heating element 26 through the hole 42 until the heating element 26 is completely assembled in the retainer 36 , as shown in FIG. 3E .
Furthermore, in conventional washers, a different heating element retainer typically may need to be used for European design washers and U.S. design washers.
In comparison to the conventional retainers, the exemplary aspects of the invention may retain the heating element near a first end of the heating element, thereby reducing or preventing misalignment during the assembly of the heating element into the cavity of the tub. Thus, the heating element retainer according to the invention may be more easily installed as compared to the conventional retainers. The heating element retainer according to the invention also may minimize or reduce the time and effort to install the heating element in the heating element retainer.
Moreover, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce an amount of linear translation of the heating element into the engaging portion of the heating element retainer. Further, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce an amount of force needed to insert or push the heating element into the heating element retainer.
Additionally, the exemplary aspects of the invention also may provide greater flexibility for accommodate heating elements of different sizes. Thus, the exemplary aspects of the invention also may be universal, for example, to both European designs and U.S. designs.
The exemplary aspects of the invention also may reduce a complexity of the heating element retainer and reduce an amount of material that may be needed to form the heating element retainer, which may reduce manufacturing costs of the heating element retainer.
For example, an exemplary embodiment is directed to a washer including a housing, a tub in the housing, a laundry drum rotatably mounted in the tub, a heating element in the tub, and a heating element retainer, on an inner surface of the tub, for retaining the heating element. The heating element retainer includes a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end. The heating element further includes an engaging portion that is formed closer to the second longitudinal end than to the first longitudinal end, and that retains a first end of the heating element.
Another exemplary embodiment is directed to an apparatus including a tub, a heating element in the tub, and a heating element retainer, on an inner surface of the tub, for retaining the heating element. The heating element retainer includes a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end, and an engaging portion that is formed closer to the second longitudinal end than to the first longitudinal end, and that retains a first end of the heating element.
Another exemplary embodiment is directed to a heating element retainer for a washer having a housing, a tub in the housing, a laundry drum rotatably mounted in the tub, and a heating element in the tub. The heating element retainer includes a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end, and an engaging portion that is formed closer to the second longitudinal end than to the first longitudinal end, and that retains a first end of the heating element.
The features of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of exemplary embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of embodiments of the invention and are provided solely for illustration of the embodiments and not limitation thereof.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional washer.
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a conventional washer.
FIGS. 3A to 3E are schematic side views of an assembly process of a conventional heating element retainer and heating element.
FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of a heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 8A to 8D are schematic side views of an assembly process of a heating element and heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 9 is a schematic top view of an assembly of a heating element and heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 11 is a schematic side view of an assembly of a heating element and heating element retainer according to an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments of the invention” does not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
With reference to FIGS. 1-11 , exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described.
A heating element retainer 10 according to an embodiment of the invention may have a first longitudinal end 14 and a second longitudinal end 34 . The heating element retainer 10 may include an engaging portion, which may be positioned to be closer to the second longitudinal end 34 than to the first longitudinal end 14 , for receiving and securing a first end of the heating element 26 in the cavity 40 of the tub 6 .
For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-7 , the retainer 10 may be formed such that a pressing portion 8 A is opposed to a supporting surface 16 , thereby forming the engaging portion that receives and secures the first end of the heating element 26 . One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the engaging portion may be formed by other elements, such as one or more crimping elements, pressing elements, supporting surfaces, etc.
As shown in FIGS. 4-7 , the longitudinal end 34 may have a closed-end formed by folding the retainer 10 to form the pressing portion 8 A. However, the longitudinal end 34 may be open-ended in other exemplary embodiments.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-7 , the heating element retainer 10 also may have a first guide surface 12 A, a second guide surface 12 B, and a third guide surface 12 C for guiding the heating element 26 into the cavity 40 of the tub 6 and between the opposed pressing portion 8 A and supporting surface 16 . The retainer 10 also may include a fourth guide surface 8 B formed on the pressing portion 8 A for guiding the first end of the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 .
As shown in FIG. 4 , the supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 also may have a guide element, such as a bump or protrusion 18 , which may be used to guide the heating element 26 into the retainer 10 . For example, the protrusion 18 may be configured to fit between parts of the heating element 26 to guide the heating element 26 into the retainer 10 , as described below with respect to FIG. 9 .
The retainer 10 also may include holes 20 A, 20 B, and 22 for mounting the retainer 10 to the wall 32 of the cavity 40 . The hole 20 A may have a diameter that is larger than a diameter of a fastener, such as a screw 70 , such that the screw 70 may be inserted through the hole 20 A and into the hole 20 B during the assembly process. The holes 20 B and 22 may have diameters that are smaller that the diameter of the screw 70 .
According to an embodiment of the invention, the heating element retainer 10 may be on (e.g., mounted on) the wall 32 of the cavity 40 of the tub 6 . For example, the first longitudinal end 14 and the second longitudinal end 34 of the retainer 10 may contact the wall 32 of the tub 6 . In the embodiment, the heating element retainer 10 may be fixedly attached to the wall 32 using screws 70 , which extend through holes 20 B and 22 into the wall 32 .
An exemplary embodiment of an assembly of a heating element 26 and a heating element retainer 10 , will now be described with reference to FIGS. 8A-8D and 9 .
As shown, for example, in FIGS. 8D and 9 , a heating element 26 may have a base 24 . The base 24 may have a seal, or be received by a seal disposed in the cavity 40 formed in the wall 32 , to hermetically seal the heating element 26 in the cavity 40 of the tub 6 . One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other configurations of a heating element 26 may be used within the spirit and scope of the invention.
In an embodiment of the invention, the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the second longitudinal end 34 of the retainer 10 may cooperate to receive a first end of the heating element 26 . When the first end of the heating element 26 is inserted between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 , the pressing portion 8 A may apply pressure on the first end of the heating element 26 to secure the heating element 26 in place.
As shown, for example, in FIGS. 8D and 9 , only the first end of the heating element 26 is inserted between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the heating element retainer 10 , according to the embodiment of the invention. Accordingly, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce an amount of linear translation of the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 . Further, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce an amount of force needed to push the heating element 26 into the heating element retainer 10 . Moreover, the exemplary aspects of the invention also may provide greater flexibility, for example, since the pressing portion 8 A of the retainer 10 may flex to accommodate heating elements 26 of different sizes. Thus, the exemplary aspects of the invention also may be universal to both European designs and U.S. designs.
An exemplary assembly process of a heating element 26 and a heating element retainer 10 , according to the exemplary embodiments of the invention, will now be described with reference again to FIGS. 8A-8D and 9 .
As shown in FIG. 8A , the cavity 40 is formed in the wall 32 of the tub 6 . The heating element retainer 10 is mounted within the cavity 40 and on the wall 32 of the tub 6 . When the heating element 26 is inserted into the cavity 40 , the first guide surface 12 A may guide the first end of the heating element 26 onto the second guide surface 12 B.
As shown in FIG. 8B , the heating element 26 may be pushed further into the cavity 40 along the guide surface 12 B. During the installation, if the first end of the heating element 26 is tilted downward, then the third guide surface 12 C may guide or funnel the first end of the heating element 26 toward the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 . On the other hand, if the first end of the heating element 26 is tilted upward, then the fourth guide surface 8 B may guide or funnel the first end of the heating element 26 toward the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 .
As shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C , the third guide surface 12 C and the fourth guide surface 8 B also may help to align the base 24 of the heating element 26 with the cavity 40 . As the heating element 26 is inserted further into the tub 6 , the base 24 is aligned and inserted into the cavity 40 . As shown in FIG. 8C , since only the first end of the heating element 26 may need to be pushed into the retainer 10 , the base 24 of the heating element 26 may be aligned with the cavity 40 before the heating element 26 is received in the engaging portion of the retainer 10 . That is, the heating element 26 may be installed into the cavity 40 of tub 6 up to the base 24 on heating element 26 prior to inserting the first end of the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 . Therefore, in contrast to the conventional retainers, the embodiment may minimize or avoid any misalignment of the heating element 26 due to pressure being applied on the heating element 26 from the retainer 10 . Accordingly, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce or prevent misalignment of the heating element 26 in the cavity 40 and simplify the installation process.
When the base 24 of the heating element 26 is aligned with the top of the cavity 40 in the tub 6 , the heating element 26 may be pushed into the engaging portion of the retainer 10 . For example, as shown in FIG. 8D , the first end of the heating element 26 may be inserted between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the retainer. As set forth above, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce an amount of linear translation of the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the raised supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 , and also may reduce an amount of force needed to push the heating element 26 into the heating element retainer 10 .
As shown in FIG. 9 , the raised supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 also may have a guide element, such as a bump or protrusion 18 , which may further guide the heating element 26 into the retainer 10 . The protrusion 18 may be configured to fit between parts of the heating element 26 to guide the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 . For example, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , the heating element 26 may have a plurality of U-shaped parts. In this embodiment, the heating element 26 may be inserted between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 such that the protrusion 18 interposes adjacent U-shaped parts of the heating element 26 , thereby guiding the heating element 26 between the pressing portion 8 A and the supporting surface 16 of the retainer 10 .
Accordingly, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce or prevent misalignment of the heating element 26 in the cavity 40 and simplify the installation process.
As shown, for example, in FIG. 8D , the second guide surface 12 B of the retainer 10 may be formed such that a first gap 28 is formed between the second guide surface 12 B of the retainer 10 and the wall 32 of the tub 6 of the washer 2 . The second guide surface 12 B of the retainer 10 also may be formed such that a second gap 30 is formed between the second guide surface 12 B and the heating element 26 . In this embodiment, the second guide surface 12 B of the retainer 10 may form, for example, a heat shield that may protect the wall 32 of the tub 6 from excessive heat from the heating element 26 .
The aspects of the invention are not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above. For example, a heating element retainer 10 according to another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 .
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 , a heating element retainer 10 according to another embodiment of the invention may be formed such that second guide surface 12 B of the retainer 10 abuts directly against the wall 32 of the tub 6 . Accordingly, in this embodiment, there is substantially no gap formed between the retainer 10 and the wall 32 of the tub 6 .
Referring again to the embodiment of FIGS. 10 and 11 , the second guide surface 12 B may extend from the first longitudinal end 14 to the third guide surface 12 C. Thus, the first end of the heating element 26 may be guided by the second guide surface 12 B to the engaging portion of the retainer 10 .
Accordingly, the exemplary aspects of the invention may reduce a complexity of the heating element retainer and reduce an amount of material that may be needed to form the heating element retainer. Further, the exemplary aspects may reduce manufacturing costs of the heating element retainer. The exemplary aspects of the invention also may retain the heating element near a first end of the heating element, thereby reducing or preventing misalignment during the assembly of the heating element into the cavity of the tub. Thus, the heating element retainer according to the invention may be more easily installed as compared to the conventional retainers. The exemplary aspects of the invention also may be universal to both European designs and U.S. designs.
While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of the invention with reference to a washer having a heating element retainer, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown. For example, another embodiment of the invention is directed to an apparatus having a heating element retainer.
It should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and a range of equivalents thereof. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. | A washer is provided. The washer includes a housing, a tub in the housing, a laundry drum rotatably mounted in the tub, a heating element in the tub, and a heating element retainer, on an inner surface of the tub, for retaining the heating element. The heating element retainer includes a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end. The heating element further includes an engaging portion that is formed closer to the second longitudinal end than to the first longitudinal end, and that retains a first end of the heating element. | 3 |
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Field of the invention
This invention relates to internal combustion engines and specifically concerns apparatus for use in connection therewith for treating the exhaust gas delivered from the engine when in operation.
The invention has been developed primarily for treating the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines used in locomotives or otherwise in underground mine workings in which the composition of the atmosphere gives rise to a fire or explosion hazard. Regulations governing the use of internal combustion engines in such underground mine workings require that the engine and its exhaust system shall have complied with an officially approved specification governing inter alia:
(a) the maximum surface temperature of the engine and exhaust system thereof,
(b) the temperature of the exhaust gases emergent from the exhaust system into the atmosphere,
(c) the composition of the exhaust gases so emergent.
It is, however, to be understood that the invention may be applied to apparatus for treatment of the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines used in environments in which similar or analogous hazardous conditions arise, either less severe or more severe than those encountered in underground mine workings.
In apparatus of the character specified one of the problems which arises is control over the composition of the exhaust gas emergent into the atmosphere, and to exercise such control the apparatus usually includes a conditioner chamber containing a liquid (normally water) through which the exhaust gas is passed to dissolve or otherwise absorb noxious constituents. In apparatus of conventional design, however, the temperature at which the gas enters the conditioner chamber is often relatively high, e.g. 200° C or more and this leads to significant vaporization of the water contained in the chamber, and such water in the form of vapor may be entrained in the flow path of the exhaust gas leaving the conditioner chamber so that the volume of water contained therein is gradually reduced.
In underground mine workings it may be inconvenient, or even impossible, to return the locomotive to a service area or station in the underground working at frequent intervals to enable water to be added to the conditioner chamber, yet a hazardous condition may arise if the water level is allowed to fall too low.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principal object of the present invention is to overcome or reduce this undesirable risk by reducing the loss of water from the conditioner chamber and hence lengthening the time interval for servicing the locomotive in this particular respect.
According to one aspect of the invention apparatus of the character referred to comprises an exhaust pipe having a jacket for flow of a cooling liquid therethrough, and a conditioner chamber for receiving exhaust gas from said pipe, the chamber being so constructed or arranged as to retain a bath of gas conditioning liquid, such as water, through which the exhaust gas is caused to flow in passing through the chamber from an inlet to an outlet thereof, the chamber further incorporating or containing a condensing means in the flow path of the gas after the latter leaves the bath and before it reaches the outlet, such condensing means being so arranged that liquid vaporized by passage of the exhaust gas through the liquid can condense for discharge back to the bath.
From a further aspect the invention resides in the provision of an apparatus of the character referred to comprising an exhaust pipe having a jacket for passage of cooling liquid therethrough for cooling the exhaust gas in contact with the inner surface of the exhaust pipe, and a conditioner chamber for receiving the exhaust gas from the exhaust pipe and constructed and arranged to retain a bath of gas conditioning liquid, such as water, through which the gas is caused to flow in passing from an inlet to an outlet of the chamber, and wherein the exhaust pipe incorporates, or is connected to, a heat exchanger through which the exhaust gas flows on its way to the conditioner chamber, such heat exchanger comprising a casing having a jacket through which cooling liquid can flow and which is provided internally with a system of plates or webs subdividing the flow path through the heat exchanger into a plurality of passageways, such plates or webs being connected to the inner wall of the casing to form heat conductive paths in the surfaces of the plates or webs to the wall of the casing. Preferably the plates or webs are arranged parallel or approximately parallel to each other and spaced apart in a direction normal to their faces to form a plurality of passageways each of which extends across the whole, or substantially the whole, width of the casing but is of smaller dimensions depthwise of the casing, i.e. normal to the surfaces of the plates or webs. While the passageways could be isolated or sealed from each other internally of the casing, each web or plate being connected in each of two opposing parts of the internal wall of the casing, it is preferred that each web or plate shall be connected to only one such part and be spaced from the other part with alternately positioned webs or plates connected to the same wall part. The passageways are preferably parallel or approximately so to the general flow path through the heat exchanger from one end to the opposite end of the casing.
Further, it is advantageous for both aspects of the invention to be employed in combination so that, not only is the degree of vaporization reduced by reason of the lower temperature of the exhaust gas entering the conditioner chamber, but loss of liquid therefrom by reason of any vaporization which does take place is minimized by condensation and feed back of the condensed liquid thereby preventing the vapor from becoming entrained in the exhaust gas flowing out of the conditioner chamber.
It will of course be understood that the apparatus may include other devices which are employed in exhaust treatment apparatus. Thus a flame trap means may be connected so as to be operative in the exhaust gas flow path either upstream or downstream of the conditioner chamber. Further, a diluter means may be connected in the exhaust gas flow path preferably downstream of the conditioner chamber, such diluter means serving to mix the exhaust gas with environmental atmospheric constituents before discharge into the environment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an internal combustion engine to which one embodiment of exhaust treatment apparatus in accordance with the present invention is applied, the apparatus being illustrated diagrammatically;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in cross-section and on an enlarged scale on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in vertical cross-section on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1 showing the internal construction of the conditioner chamber;
FIG. 4 is a plan view in cross-section on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale and in end elevation showing one of the flame trap units which may be employed in conjunction with the outlet of the conditioner chamber;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view on the line 6--6 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a view in side elevation of a constructional embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention as applied to an internal combustion engine;
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a view in front elevation and in vertical cross-section showing the internal construction of one form of the conditioner chamber which may be incorporated in the apparatus of FIGS. 7 and 8;
FIG. 10 is a view of the conditioner chamber of FIG. 9 in end elevation and in cross-section on the line 10--10 of FIG. 9.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The apparatus illustrated is applied to an internal combustion engine of which the cylinder block 10 is connected at one side to an inlet manifold 11 supplied with air through an air filter/cleaner device 12, pipe 14 a flame trap unit 13, and pipe 15, and at the other side delivers exhaust into a manifold 16.
The exhaust manifold 16 may comprise a casing having inner and outer walls defining a water jacket which extends substantially over the whole area of the casing, such water jacket being connected in a water circulating system incorporating a radiator or heat exchanger 17 (the appropriate connecting pipes being omitted for simplicity). Circulation may be forced flow by means of a water circulating pump (not shown) driven by the engine.
Exhaust gases may be delivered from the end of the manifold remote from the radiator 17 into an exhaust pipe 18 which is itself water jacketed. The exhaust pipe 18 may be of smaller cross-section than the manifold casing. The water jacket (not specifically shown) of the pipe 18 may, as in the case of the manifold, extend substantially over the whole surface area but the exhaust pipe may have a plane or simple internal surface, i.e. present a single passageway for the flow of all of the exhaust gas emergent from the manifold 16.
A continuation 18a of the exhaust pipe 18 serves to deliver the exhaust gas to a conditioner chamber 19 but in between the pipes 18 and 18a the flow path for the exhaust gas is afforded by an interior duct extending through a heat exchanger 20 having a larger internal cross-sectional area normal to the gas flow path than that of the exhaust pipe.
It is advantageous to some extent that the exhaust pipe 18 is connected to the end of exhaust manifold 16 remote from the conditioner chamber 19 since this intrinsically provides a longer path for the exhaust to follow than would be the case were it connected to the end of the manifold 16 nearest the conditioner chamber. The greater length of exhaust pipe provides the opportunity for more extensive heat exchange between the exhaust gas and the cooling water flowing through the jacket of the exhaust pipe. However, even this may be inadequate to reduce the temperature of the exhaust gas immediately prior to its entry into the conditioner chamber to as low a value as is desirable, and the purpose of the heat exchanger 20 is to achieve this temperature reduction.
As seen in cross-section the heat exchanger comprises a casing 23 having inner and outer walls 21, 22 defining a water space 21a connected in the cooling water flow system already mentioned. Internally the heat exchanger casing is sub-divided by a plurality of plates 24 which are connected to at least one, and possibly to two, opposing wall parts of the inner wall 21 and the latter to the other of such wall parts, the casing conveniently but not essentially being of square or rectangular shape in cross-section.
As shown, the plates 24 are parallel to each other and each terminates at a position spaced from the wall part to which it is not connected so as to define individual passageways 25 which do in fact communicate with each other although it would be possible for the plates 24 to be connected to both opposing wall parts so that each passageway is isolated from that or those adjacent thereto.
The plates 24 are connected to the associated parts of the inner wall 21 in a manner providing for heat conduction from the plates to such wall so that the plates effectively extend the heat forming surface in contact with the exhaust gas.
Flow of cooling liquid through the space 21a in the heat exchanger and in the exhaust pipe 18 may be such that the flow path runs counter to the flow path of the exhaust gas whereby the coolest exhaust gas is transmitting heat to the coolest water and hottest exhaust gas transmitting heat to the hottest water.
Connection to the downstream end of the heat exchanger 20 to the conditioner chamber 19 may be by way of a short section 18a of exhaust pipe similar in construction to the pipe 18, i.e. incorporating a water jacket contained in the cooling liquid flow path as mentioned.
Referring now to the conditioner chamber illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, an inlet 26 thereto for the exhaust gas is provided in the upper part of the casing of the chamber preferably adjacent to one side thereof, and outlets are also provided in the upper part of the same wall as indicated generally at 27, FIG. 3 (although these outlets may be in the top wall if desired as hereinafter referred to). The casing of the chamber 19 is again of double walled form so as to afford a water space 28 for cooling water.
Internally the chamber is provided with a partition 29 having a back wall 30 extending parallel or approximately so to the adjacent wall of the casing, i.e. that remote from the inlet and outlets, and two side walls 31 respectively adjacent to but spaced from opposing side walls of the casing, the whole defining a duct 32 of generally U-shaped form in plan leading downwardly from the inlet 26 to the lower part of the chamber.
Between the front wall of the casing in which the inlet and outlet is provided and the rear wall 30 of the partition, the casing affords an upwardly extending duct 65 which contains a number of horizontally disposed perforated plates 33 which span the space between the rear wall 30 of the partition and the front wall of the casing, and in use the chamber is filled with water to a level just above the uppermost one of the perforated plates 33. Exhaust gases may contain sulphur dioxide which, when dissolved in the water, would tend to render the latter acidic and consequently the initial charge of water may have an alkaline substance dissolved in it to counteract this effect. Further, the parts of the conditioner chamber in contact with the water are preferably made from stainless steel or other metal resistant to corrosive attack.
Above the perforated plates 33 the front and rear walls of the casing are spanned by tubes such as 34 arranged in horizontal rows one above the other, these tubes serving to connect the water spaces 28 of the front and rear walls of the casing.
In operation exhaust gas flows in through the inlet 26 and then downwardly in the space between the walls 30, 31 of the partition and the respectively adjacent walls of the casing so as to enter the water and bubble up through the perforated plates 33. Any vaporization of the water results in the vapor being present in the zone immediately above the perforated plates where the tubes 34 are present. The construction of the conditioner chamber, and in particular the water spaces of the front and rear walls of the casing, is that cooling water flows through the tubes 34, and the latter hence act as a condensor means so that such vapor condenses on the tubes 34 and drips back into the water bath contained in the casing. If desired the tubes in successive horizontal rows may be offset horizontally, i.e. staggered.
Overlying the outlets 27, whether in the front wall or in the top wall, are flame trap units 35 not shown in FIG. 4. In principle the flame trap units comprise structure defining a plurality of passageways of small cross-section through which the exhaust gas flows with resultant cooling both by contact with the walls defining the passageways and to some extent adiabatically to lower the temperature to a value at which any flames are extinguished. The flame trap units may each comprise an outer frame composed of opposed members 36, 37 and 38, 39, the former pair being connected by tie rods 40 extending through apertures in a stack of plates 41 held apart by spacers 42 on the tie rods. The passage of exhaust gas is indicated by arrows 43 in FIG. 6.
The emergent exhaust gas passes into a dilutor chamber 44 to which air from the external environment is fed through the radiator 17 by means of an engine driven fan 10a, such air becoming mixed with the exhaust gas preparatory to delivery from an outlet 45 from the chamber 44.
The radiator 17 may incorporate two radiator sections or units having water passageways which do not communicate with each other. One of these sections or units may be connected in a circuit containing the water jackets of the exhaust pipe 18, heat exchanger 20 and conditioner chamber 19 (and possibly the water jacket of the exhaust manifold 16.). The other sectional unit may be connected to the water passageways of the engine block (and the water jacket of the exhaust manifold 16 if the latter is not connected to the first mentioned section or unit of the radiator).
If the flame trap units are mounted over apertures in the top wall of the conditioner chamber, the outlet sides would be connected to a duct leading to the diluter chamber 44 or the latter could be formed with an extension overlying the upper sides of the flame trap units.
In the constructional embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10 parts corresponding to those already described are designated by like references with the prefix 100 and the preceding description is to be deemed to apply. The following description is, therefore, substantially confined to identification of parts not shown in the diagrammatic drawings and to differences of construction where these exist.
Referring firstly to FIGS. 7 and 8, the supply of cooling water for the manifold, the exhaust pipe heat exchanger and the conditioner chamber is derived as follows.
As in the diagrammatic embodiment, the radiator 117 is sub-divided into two separate units or sections 117a and 117b. The unit 117a supplies cooling water to the engine 110 and exhaust manifold 116 by way of a feed pipe 150 and a return pipe 151. Radiator unit 117b and water pump 152 are connected in a water cooling circuit for the exhaust pipe 120 and conditioner chamber 119. Thus, the inlet of the pipe 152 is connected by a water return pipe 153 to the lower end of radiator unit 117b. A feed pipe 154 is connected from the outlet of the pump 152 to an inlet adjacent to the lower end of the conditioner chamber 119 to communicate with the water space 128 thereof. Such water space communicates with the annular or the like water space afforded by the heat exchanger for the exhaust pipe 120 and this water space is connected by a return pipe 155 to the upper end of the radiator unit 117b.
It will thus be noted that the path along which the exhaust travels from the manifold 116 to the outlet in the dilution chamber 145 is enclosed along its entire length by water jacket means through which water is caused to flow by operation of the pump 152.
Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the arrangement of internal partitioning of the conditioner chamber differs somewhat from that illustrated diagrammatically. Thus the lower part of the chamber contains a vertical partition 156 which is parallel, and spaced inwardly from, adjacent rear wall 157 of the chamber and is connected to end walls 158 to form an upwardly extending duct 165 open at its upper and lower ends 159, 160 and spanned internally by the perforated plates 133.
The inlet 126 for the exhaust gas communicates with a compartment 161 which extends across the whole distance between the front and rear walls 157 and is separated in the upper part of the chamber from an outlet compartment 162 by an inclined partition wall 163. The duct 165 bounded by the partition wall 156, adjacent rear wall 157 and the end walls 158 communicates with the compartment 162 through the open upper end 159 of the duct but this upper end is shut off from direct communication with the inlet compartment 161 by the partition wall 163 which extends between the partition wall 156 and the other one of the rear walls 157. The inlet compartment 161 thus communicates with a narrower duct 132 extending to the lower part of the conditioner chamber, and which may be sub-divided internally by guide or distributor plates 166a, 166b and 166c to cause exhaust gases to be distributed in a more or less uniform manner as indicated by arrows 167 into the lower part of the conditioner chamber. The conditioner chamber contains the water previously mentioned up to a level extending above the lower boundaries of the partition 156 so that the gas is caused to bubble up through the water from the lower end 160 to the upper end 159 of the central duct 165 and through the perforations of the plates 133 as indicated by the further arrows 168.
The heat exchanger means provided in this embodiment comprises tubes 134a (FIGS. 9 and 10) connected to the inner wall 157 forming the inner boundary of each space 128, the tubes spanning the inlet compartment 161. Also, baffle members 134 in the form of plates are secured to opposing front and rear walls 157 of the casing and are thereby in thermal communication with water traversing the space 128.
These plates are, therefore, able to act as condensing surfaces and are so arranged as to define the tortuous passageways for the upward flow of gas in the chamber 162 which communicates at the upper end 159 of the outlet duct.
The baffle plates are inclined to the horizontal and, therefore, vapor condensing on them to liquid runs down to the lower edges of the plates and drips back into the bath of conditioning liquid, the normal level of which will be just above the uppermost perforated plate 133.
In this construction the flame trap units 135 are conveniently mounted horizontally over the outlet openings 127 in the top walls of the conditioner chamber.
The bottom wall may be fitted with removable drain plugs in openings 169. | Apparatus for treatment of exhaust gas from internal combustion engines, for use in underground mine workings, comprises an exhaust pipe with a water jacket, and a conditioner chamber retaining a bath of water through which the exhaust gas flows in passing through the inlet to the outlet of the chamber, the chamber further including means for condensing water vaporized from the bath by passage of exhaust gas therethrough and for discharging such condensed water back to the bath. The apparatus may include a heat exchanger upstream of the conditioner chamber and containing a system of plates or webs which sub-divide the gas flow path through the heat exchanger into passageways, the plates or webs being connected to the inner wall of a water jacketed casing of the heat exchanger. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for converting an audio signal to an abstract graphical representation thereof, and more particularly to a system that receives an audio signal from an external source, converts the audio signal into an abstract visual signal, and outputs the visual signal to an output device, the output device conforming to the shape of an outer surface of a physical case.
2. Description of the Related Art
Audio and video components are commonplace in today's consumer electronics (CE) market. Most home entertainment systems contain various forms of these devices including televisions, amplifiers, VCRs, radio tuners, equalizers, and DVD players, to name a few. Also, the home computer is recently becoming an integral part of the home entertainment system. Each of these devices has one common element—a physical case that comes in a standard color (usually black or white). Component manufacturers continuously change the design of the component cases to make them more pleasing to the consumer by changing the shapes and adding various “bells-and-whistles” to the components.
There are devices related to home entertainment electronics that provide the consumer with visual displays based on an input signal. These devices receive audio signals and output visual representations of the input audio signal. One example of an existing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,348 issued to Williams that discloses a system that provides an optical display as a function of frequency and amplitude of an audio music signal. The system is comprised of a plurality of frequency selection circuits and a corresponding plurality of linear optical displays resulting in a composite bar display which includes a plurality of linear bar segments each having a length which varies as a function of amplitude of a corresponding frequency component of the input music signal. The display is in the form of a row and column array of individual optical display elements such as LED's. The Williams' apparatus also includes bar/dot display drivers and an operator-responsive switch for alternately selecting either a bar or a dot display at the LED array.
Analogous devices to that disclosed in Williams have been developed into spectrum analyzers commonly found incorporated into systems that output audio signals. The common spectrum analyzer outputs a visual signal representing the amplitude of a particular frequency of a given audio input signal. A plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is associated with each frequency. As the amplitude of a particular frequency varies, the number of LEDs that are lit varies accordingly.
Certain computer media players (such as the RealJukebox and Sonique player) play MP3 music files (among other formats), thus generating audio output. Such players are also capable of generating video that is displayed to the viewer over the computer's monitor. For example, the computer monitor may display a series of bar graphs having amplitudes that oscillate with the beat of the music output.
Display devices are well known. The bulky and large cathode ray tube (CRT) of the early televisions has long been surpassed by the development of new and ever thinner flat panel displays. The newer displays are incorporating the technologies of hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor diodes, display pixels comprised of thin film transistors, and LEDs constructed from light-emitting organic polymers. Whatever the technology, the resulting displays are entering into the micrometer thickness range, a far cry from the fat and bulky CRTs of the past.
In the CE market, the above devices fail to provide the user with anything but a direct representation of an input signal. Presently, no devices exist that are comprised of a thin film wrapped around the surface of a device or moldable into the surface of the device that can output a visual display. Further, none of the above-mentioned CE devices provide the user with a visually pleasing housing surface. The present invention solves this deficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system for displaying from the surface of an object an abstract visual representation of an input signal.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system for displaying from the surface of an object an abstract audio representation of an input signal.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system for displaying various scents based on an input signal.
It is yet a further aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system for displaying an abstract tactile representation of an input signal.
The above aspect can be achieved by providing an apparatus comprising a controller having an input for receiving a signal, a housing having an outer surface on which is fixed a conforming and surface covering light output device. The controller enables creation of a visually dynamic decorative pattern on the surface of the housing dependent on the signal and under the control of pattern producing software. The input signal can be an audio, video, and/or environmental input signal. The output device can be a visual display, as well as an audio speaker array, scent generator, and/or tactile device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIGS. 1 a and 1 b are a perspective view and top plan view, respectively, of a piece of equipment with which the present invention may be used, and a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a system for creating visual representations of audio signals according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the addressing technique used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a an electroluminscence display (ELD) device utilized in the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the ELD device of FIG. 4 integrated into a display array; and
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a system for creating audio representations of video signals according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.
FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention and a piece of equipment with which it may be used. In FIG. 1 a , a physical case 101 of a CE device is shown. The CE device might be an audio component (e.g. radio tuner, amplifier, tape deck, CD player, speaker, etc.), a video component (e.g. television, VCR, DVD player, digital video recorder), computer component (e.g. monitor, mainframe, modem), or any other device for that matter having a housing with an outer surface. Depending on the device, the shape will change accordingly. A rectangular box shape is shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity purposes, but it is contemplated that the present invention could be applied to a housing of any shape and size.
Physical case 101 is comprised of a top 102 , a left side 103 , a front 104 , a right side 105 , a back 106 , and a bottom 107 . Shown in FIG. 1 b is display device 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display device 110 is comprised of four sections: a top panel 111 , a left side panel 112 , a front panel 113 , and a right side panel 114 . The display device 110 is shown in an unfolded state. When the display device 110 is applied to the physical case 101 according to this embodiment, the display device 110 folds at creases 115 . 116 and 117 , forming 90 degree angles between the planar surface of the top panel 111 and the planar surfaces of left side panel 112 , right side panel 114 and front panel 113 , thus covering the top 102 , left side 103 , front 104 and right side 105 of the physical case 101 , respectively. The back 106 and bottom 107 remain uncovered by the display device 110 in the preferred embodiment, since they are generally not seen when the equipment is used.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention, the display device dose not fold at creases, but instead is constructed from a material that is moldable. Thus, when used, the display device is place over the physical case and formed to the shape of the physical case. Accordingly, the present invention contemplates meanings for folding that include creases and moldable material.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the display device 110 is constructed from organic polymer compounds as a luminescent material in an electroluminescence display device (ELD). Though the preferred embodiment utilizes electroluminescent material, any known light-emitting device with similar dimensional properties can be used. Although the preferred embodiment utilizes an organic polymer compound as the luminescent material, any of the now known or developing flat display technologies can be utilized. Other flat display technologies contemplated for use are hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor diodes, and display pixels driven by thin film transistors. Display devices that are thinner and/or more durable are also contemplated as these display technologies continue to develop. It is also contemplated as another aspect of the present invention that the physical case of the CE equipment itself can be manufactured out of the display material, thus eliminating the separate unit described herein.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system components of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The elements of FIG. 2 can be incorporated into the CE device or can be a separate stand-alone system. An audio input signal is received at the input of analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 201 , converted to a digital signal and forwarded to signal processor 202 of control unit 200 . The source of the audio signal can be from an audio amplifier, a microphone, a computer system sound card, etc. It is appreciated that the input signal can be a digital signal whereby the A/D converter 201 can be eliminated. The signal processor 202 separates the signal into three main audio signal components: tempo, amplitude and frequency. Although these three components are the ones shown in the preferred embodiment, variations thereof are contemplated, and any audio processing method can be implemented. The tempo component is forwarded to a tempo processor 203 , the amplitude component is forwarded to an amplitude processor 204 , and the frequency component is forwarded to a frequency processor 205 . The outputs of the tempo 203 , amplitude 204 and frequency 205 processors are forwarded to a display processor 206 . Although FIG. 2 illustrates the control unit 200 having five separate processors, this is done for ease of description only; all of the processing can occur in a single processor, if desired. The display processor 206 then addresses the signal onto the display device 110 . This overall performing process converts the audio signal into a visual pattern.
Though not shown in FIG. 2 , in a further embodiment of the present invention, a memory unit is included in control unit 200 to store various software programs that vary the audio signal processing in preprogrammed patterns. As described earlier, an audio signal may be analyzed (or decomposed) in terms of several components. Among them are amplitude, frequency, and tempo. These different audio components can be varied through a filtering process to adjust the output signal. For example, by increasing the amplitude of the audio signal, the visual pattern produced might become brighter. As an alternative the output signal might be programmed to change color as the amplitude increases. As another example, the software might be programmed to produce a flashing pattern. The frequency of the flashing can be directly related to the frequency component of the audio signal; or, the software can be programmed to produce an inverse relation between the frequency of the flashing and the frequency component of the audio signal. Also contemplated is a user interface that enables the user to adjust and vary the signal processing to adjust the output signal accordingly.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the addressing technique used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 3 is representation of a flat screen display 300 on which is superimposed display device 110 . Referring to FIG. 1 b , top panel 111 , left side panel 112 , front panel 113 , and right side panel 114 are represented in FIG. 3 by sections 301 , 302 , 303 , and 304 , respectively. When mapping the output video data onto the display device 110 , sections 305 and 306 are not mapped, as they share no corresponding panel on display device 110 . As was earlier described, the present invention does not limit itself to a rectangular physical case. For example, the present invention can be applied to a computer monitor having multiple planar surfaces. Mapping can be performed similarly to that described above when viewing any shaped display device in an unfolded 2-dimensional state.
In one embodiment of the present invention, display device 110 is comprised of an array of ELDs. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a single ELD device utilized in the present invention. A single ELD is comprised of a cathode 401 , a light emitting organic polymer layer 402 , a transparent anode 403 , anode lead 404 , and cathode lead 405 . When an electrical voltage is applied across anode lead 404 and cathode lead 405 , the current produced causes the light emitting organic polymer contained in layer 402 to radiate visible light.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the ELD device of FIG. 4 integrated into a display array. A repeating offset red “R”—green “G”—blue “B” array is shown. When the array is created, each ELD can more commonly be referred to as a pixel. A plurality of pixels 507 is shown in FIG. 5 . Each ELD or pixel is connected through a column decoder 505 and a row decoder 510 , to column decoder leads 520 to 5 NN, and row decoder leads 530 to 5 MM. In this example, there are 5 NN× 5 MM number of pixels. The column decoder leads and row decoder leads are connected to display processor 206 shown in FIG. 2 , thus placing control of the pixels and overall display with the processor 206 .
Thus, where a device primarily generates audio output, then organic/polymer LED sheets (i.e., thin, flexible, transparent sheets) may be used on the external casing of the device or another object. The LEDs are connected to a controlling processor that is also able to receive the audio. The processor is programmed to trigger the LEDs as a function of the audio input received. The LEDs may be triggered, for example, such that the left half of the LEDs on the device or object corresponds to a left stereo channel of the audio generating device and the right half of the LEDs on the device or object corresponds to a right stereo channel of the audio generating device. The processor may also drive the LEDs by displaying the raw audio waveform, a spectral decomposition (e.g., a Fourier transform), a standing-wave pattern (e.g., simulating a drum head on the surface of the case), or any other animated visual display that may or may not be synchronized with the audio provided.
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a service on data network for generating a decorative pattern at a remote client. In this embodiment, a receiver in the display system (i.e. remote client) receives a broadcast of audio signals, alone or with accompanying video, transmitted from a transmitter at the service provider. The broadcast also includes the supply of control signals to generate the decorative patterns on the housing. The broadcast can be sent via satellite, cable or computer network (e.g. the Internet). In this embodiment, the processing section shown in FIG. 2 of the preferred embodiment can be bypassed and the broadcast provider can provide all control of the visual display directly to the display device 110 . A hybrid embodiment may also be provided, wherein an initial signal is sent from the broadcaster with consumer interaction via a user interface.
Whether the display device is a separate unit or integrated into the actual physical case by molding the elements into a plastic material, by providing an array of display pixels on the surface of a physical case of a CE component, or for that matter, the physical casing of any object, the consumer is provided with a decorative and entertaining visual display not contemplated by the prior art.
The above-described embodiment of the invention focused on a device that provides an audio signal and the output provided is primarily a visual display. In the above description, the device that provided the audio output was primarily referred to as a CE device (or the like) and the description focused on a display device or portion that comprised a casing for the CE device. Other configurations are contemplated, such as a CE device that is separate from the display device or portion. The device that provides the audio signal need not be a CE device, but can be any device that provides audio or a signal that reflects an audio signal.
Other variations apart from mapping an audio signal to a visual display are contemplated and within the scope of the invention. (For convenience, in the ensuing description, the device analogous to the CE device that initially provides the audio, visual or other output will generally be referred to as the “initial device”, while the device that outputs a corresponding sensory output will continue to be referred to as the “display”, even if the output invokes a sense other than the visual sense.) For example, an initial device or devices that provide a visual output may be used in the invention for transformation into an audio “display”. For example, an array of speakers may be embedded into an external case, manufactured into a foldable covering, or manufactured into a moldable covering. In a preferred embodiment the speakers utilized may be thin Mylar speakers such as those used in greeting cards, microelectronic transducers, or standard cone speakers. The use of a particular type of speaker is determined based upon the particular application and available physical space for incorporating the speakers. In certain applications as few as one or two speakers may suffice, but in order to provide an audio “display” a plurality is provided. The “display” or audio signal emitted from the speakers is generated to reflect the visual (or other) data received from the initial device. Thus, in addition to tonal and volume variations, spatial information can be displayed that reflects the visual input.
For example, a control or other desk may be comprised of a number of initial devices that output visual or other detectable output. For example, a security desk may have a number of displays (such as a quad display) that receive input from security cameras at different locations. As another example, in the control area of a power plant, there may be numerous gauges, meters, status lamps, etc. that receive input from electronic and other sensors that monitor conditions at various places in the plant. The visual or other output of such initial device(s) may be input to a control unit (comprised of processor(s)) that is programmed to drive the array of speakers comprising the audio display. Thus, the speakers located toward the right may be driven to indicate one set of data conditions (for example, a component failure or critical condition corresponding to an indicator on the right of the control desk) and the speakers located to the left may be driven to indicate another set of conditions (for example, a component failure or critical condition corresponding to an indicator on the left of the control desk). An apparent movement of the sound source (by driving certain speakers in the speaker array in succession, for example) may likewise represent a set of conditions, such as movement of an object or person from the field of view of one camera to another in a quad display. Likewise, the speakers may be driven to simulate left-right and up-down “ping-ponging” based on certain conditions.
In addition, a “status-quo” condition of the initial device(s) providing the output (in the form of visual or other data) may be used by the processor to provide a soft, harmonically pleasing tone by the speaker array to indicate that “all is well”. A progressively louder or more dissonant tone (or percussion) might indicate warning or error conditions in the initial device(s). This provides a much richer and rapid transfer of information than that available from a simple alarm that may sound if one or more conditions are satisfied. Thus, a single worker surrounded on all sides by devices providing visual or other output may prioritize his or her attention on a certain device (which may not even be within his or her field of vision) based on the audio output he or she hears.
An exemplary system for controlling a particular speaker array embodiment is depicted in FIG. 6 and is analogous to the system depicted in FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG. 6 an input in the form of an output video signal (from an initial device or devices) is input into an A/D converter 601 , if necessary, to convert an analog video signal into a digital video signal. If the input video signal is in a digital format the A/D converter 601 is bypassed. The video input may be, for example, the video feed for the quad display of a security desk. Whatever the source of the video signal the basic concept of the present invention remains the same. The digital video signal is then input into a control unit 600 . The control unit 600 receives and processes the digital video signal at signal processor 602 . The signal processor extracts various components from the video signal. These components can, for example, consist of brightness, tint, and color. As depicted in FIG. 6 , brightness processor 603 , tint processor 604 , and color processor 605 each process its respective extracted components received from the signal processor 602 . Each processor 603 - 605 processes its respective component by filtering, adjusting the amplitude, or modifying its frequency. The processed signals are forwarded to display processor 606 . As previously noted, the term “display” is used in this case since the eventual audio signal output from the speaker array results in an audio display of information. The display processor 606 processes the signal to produce an output that drives speaker array 610 . For example, the display processor 606 may detect motion in the video for the quad display and drive the speakers to reflect that motion, as described above. Where an electronic or other physical or sensory output is provided from an initial device to the control unit of the speaker array, such as in the example of a control area of a power plant, then the processors and their programming is adjusted in FIG. 6 to provide an appropriate corresponding output to the speaker array.
Also contemplated is a hybrid model to the foregoing embodiments, e.g. video and audio input that produces audio and visual displays. The processing elements contained in a hybrid control unit would contain both video and audio component processors and display processors. Processed components can also be interchanged. For example, a particular frequency of an input audio signal can be processed to produce a particular speaker array output. A display device and a speaker array would both be connected to the hybrid control unit providing both the visual display and the audio display to the user.
A further embodiment of the present invention contemplates a “display” device that produces artificial scents based on input that is provided by an initial device that provides either audio and/or video signals as output. Scent generating devices that generate particular smells as a function of input control signals may be adapted to provide a scent output that is a function of the audio or video signal received from an initial device. An example of an artificial scent generating product that has been developed is the iSmell device by Digiscents, Inc., described at www.digiscents.com. The audio and/or video signals (or electronic signals representing audio, video and/or other sensory output) of the initial device are provided as input to a control unit that provides control signals to the control circuitry of the scent generating device. The control unit is programmed to drive the scent generating device based on the audio, video or other signals received by the control unit from the initial device. For example, an acidic-lemony scent might be produced by either a high frequency audio signal or a yellow color received as output from an initial device. As another example, a chocolate scent might be produced by a low frequency audio signal or a brown color received by the control unit as input. Alternatively, a random scent may be generated when an input signal is received by the control unit.
In addition, completely artificial scents may be generated that correspond in some way to data that may not ordinarily be associated with a smell. Also, in combination with scent-based training, this could be used to provide or enhance warning or error conditions by generating scents that are related to various warning or error conditions received.
Another variation of the present invention provides a device wherein a physical texture or other sensation is output that is a function of a video, audio or other sensory signal input. Such a video, audio or other sensory signal may be the output of an initial device as described above, such as a CE device. In a particular embodiment, a data glove with tactile actuators in the fingers may have control circuitry that interfaces with a control unit that receives as input the video, audio or other sensory signal output by the initial device. The control unit is programmed to provide a particular tactile feel in the glove that is a function of the particular video, audio or other sensory signal received.
Alternatively, the control unit may interface with circuitry that drives small gas bladders (analogous to a sphygmomanometer) imbedded throughout an article of clothing that inflates and thus imparts pressure at various regions of the body as a function of the particular video, audio or other sensory signal received. Varying input signals are also contemplated. For example, an input signal received from an apparatus that represents a particular atmospheric pressure or wind speed might be processed by the control unit to indicate the direction of impending severe weather by pressurizing a particular arm or leg of the person wearing the clothing. Such a device is particularly useful in situations where vocal communication is prohibitive, for example, scuba diving. In such a setting, for example, a change in current, temperature, pressure, oxygen supply, etc. may be detected and a representative signal provided to the control unit. The control unit provides an alert to the diver in the form of pressurizing a particular bladder in the divers' wetsuit.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | An apparatus including a controller having an input for receiving an input signal is disclosed, the input signal having an audio component. A housing having an outer surface on which is fixed a conforming and surface covering light output device is also provided, whereby the controller enables creation of a visually dynamic decorative pattern on the surface of the housing dependent on the input signal and under the control of software programs. The controller enables creation of a visually dynamic decorative pattern on the surface of the housing dependent on the signal and under the control of pattern producing software. The input signal can be an audio, video, and/or environmental input signal. The output device can be visual display, audio speaker array, scent generator, and/or tactile device. | 6 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/171,927 filed Jul. 11, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/573,139 filed Mar. 22, 2006, which is a 371 National Phase of International Application No. PCT/CA2004/001724 filed Sep. 22, 2004, which was published in English under PCT Article 21(2) as International Publication No. WO 2005/027944. This application further claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/503,881 filed Sep. 22, 2003. All of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to oral administration of a thylakoid extract or of compositions comprising same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Thylakoids are specialized membranes that are responsible for photosynthesis in eukaryotes (plant & algae) and prokaryotes cells (bacteria). These photosynthetic organisms convert CO 2 to organic material by reducing this gas to carbohydrates in a complex set of reactions. Electrons for this reduction reaction ultimately come from water, which is then converted to oxygen and protons. Energy for this process is provided by light, which is absorbed by pigments (primarily chlorophylls and carotenoids).
[0004] The initial electron transfer (charge separation) reaction in the photosynthetic reaction center sets into motion a long series of redox (reduction-oxidation) reactions, passing the electron along a chain of cofactors and filling up the “electron hole” on the chlorophyll, much like in a bucket brigade. All photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen have two types of reaction centers, named photosystem I & photosystem II (PSI and PSII) both, of which are pigment/protein complexes that are located in thylakoids membrane.
[0005] Recently a dynamic and intact thylakoid membrane extract having both anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties and its use in combination with other anti-inflammatory compounds have been described in International patent publication numbers WO 01/49305 and WO 03/04042, respectively. The anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of the thylakoid extract have been demonstrated in in vitro, ex vivo, in situ and in vivo studies. Specifically, the thylakoid extract has been shown to capture the noxious reactive oxygen species including singlet oxygen species and to modulate pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines toward attenuation of inflammation.
[0006] In vivo, topical applications (direct application at site of injury) of the thylakoid extract have been shown to prevent or reduce the UV-induced skin damages in hairless mice and to decrease TPA-induced ear inflammation in rats and mice as well as preventing damage to intestinal mucosa induced by TNBS or DSS in rats. Also, intraperitoneal injection of the thylakoid extract has been shown to reduce carrageenan-induced paw oedema. However, today, no data has confirmed the potential use of the thylakoid extract as an oral anti-oxidative and/or anti-inflammatory agent.
[0007] The present invention relates to the use of a thylakoid extract as an oral therapeutic agent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a new use for a thylakoid extract, that is for oral route of administration, and a composition comprising the thylakoid extract in adjunction with an acceptable carrier for oral administration. Besides the pharmaceutical use, the thylakoid extract enters the composition of food or food supplements, for its innocuity and its capacity to provide a diet enriched in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.
[0009] Therefore, in accordance with the present invention is provided the use of a thylakoid extract, in the making of an oral composition for treating or preventing a disease or disorder involving the formation of reactive oxygen species or inflammation. Also is provided a method for treating or preventing a disease or disorder involving the formation of reactive oxygen species or inflammation in an individual, which comprises the step of orally administering an effective dose of a thylakoid extract. Further is provided an oral composition, comprising a thylakoid extract and a vehicle for oral ingestion or oral administration.
[0010] Therefore, in accordance with the present invention is provided a use of purified thylakoids in the making of an oral composition for treating or preventing a disease or disorder involving the formation of reactive oxygen species or inflammation.
[0011] Further is provided the use of purified thylakoids in the making of an oral composition for preventing oxidative damages to components of the composition. In a specific embodiment, the oral composition is food or a food supplement. In another embodiment, the oral composition is a medication against oxidative damages, disorders or diseases.
[0012] Also is provided a method for treating or preventing a disease or disorder involving the formation of reactive oxygen species or inflammation, in a subject, which comprises the step of orally administering an effective dose of purified thylakoids.
[0013] An oral composition comprising purified thylakoids and a carder for oral ingestion or oral administration, with the proviso that the carrier does not essentially consists of water, physiological saline or propylene glycol is also provided as food or a food supplement, or a medication in the form of a pellet, encapsulated granules or encapsulated powder.
[0014] The carrier may be present in an amount of 0.01% to 95% (w/w) of the total composition.
[0015] The purified thylakoids are present in an amount which achieves a dosage of 0.1 to 10 mg per Kg of a subject's body weight.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Demonstration will be made hereinbelow that the thylakoid extract (hereinbelow also referred to as “purified thylakoids” or “PCT”) is active when orally administered. The extract can be formulated as a liquid composition (a non-lyophilized extract), a lyophilized extract reconstituted in water, physiological saline or any other solution compatible with oral administration, in propylene glycol (100% or lower concentrations) or as a solid composition (as is or in adjunction with pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for oral administration). Thylakoids compositions essentially consisting of lyophilized thylakoids, thylakoids reconstituted in water or in saline as well as thylakoids purified and obtained in propylene glycol have been disclosed in WO 01/49305, although their use for oral administration was not disclosed in this reference.
[0017] The contents of all cited documents are incorporated by reference.
[0018] Excipients and carriers are widely used in the pharmaceutical field and are known to those skilled in the art. Amongst them, binding agents, disintegrating agents and/or fillers are of current use. The form taken by the product may also vary widely. Dry products comprise pellets, and powders and granules in a free form or in capsules. Liquid products may comprise lipids (oils and fats), stabilizers, emulsifiers, surfactants, polymers, and/or any colorant or flavoring additive to improve the taste, the scent or the appearance of the composition.
[0019] Examples of binding agents include gelatine, cellulose, cellulose ethers, amyloses, dextrose, polyglycols, tragacanth, pectins, alginates and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP).
[0020] Examples of disintegrating agents include starches, modified starches (sodium starch glycolate starch 1500, . . . ) pectins, betonite, cellulose, cellulose derivatives like carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), alginates, PVPs, ultraamylopectin, crosslinked PVP or crosslinked CMC (such as Ac-Di-Sol/FMC).
[0021] Examples of fillers include lactose, glucose, fructose, calcium phosphates, sulfates or carbonates, starch, modified starch, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol cellulose derivatives, saccharose, and/or microcrystalline cellulose.
[0022] Several types and selections of auxiliary substances forming carriers for oral use are described for example in Journal of Pharmaceutical Sc. (1963), vol 52, from p. 918 and following.
[0023] Preparation of Spheroids Comprising Plant Material is Described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,551.
[0024] In general, the amount of active ingredient, that is the thylakoids, can extend from 1 ug to 1 g per day in one or more doses. In humans, a range of doses of 0.1 to 10 mg per Kg of body weight appears to be suitable. Therefore, for an averaged 70 Kg subject, a 5-10 mg to 500-1000 mg daily dosage regimen would be adequate. Examples of 200 mg pellets comprising 20, 40 and 60% (40, 80 and 120 mg) thylakoids have been made and are described hereinbelow. Pellets of 200 to 300 mg can be also made of pure compressed thylakoids (without any auxiliary agents).
[0025] This invention will be described herein below referring to specific examples, embodiments and figures, the purpose of which is to illustrate the invention rather than to limit its scope.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0026] FIG. 1 shows the effect of enteral administration of thylakoids on TPA-induced ear oedema.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows the effect of enteral and oral administration of thylakoids on carrageenan-induced paw oedema.
[0028] FIG. 3 represents the dosage of pigments to evaluate the pigment integrity following the compression of thylakoids at different pressures.
[0029] FIG. 4 shows the photosynthetic activity of the thylakoids following compression at different pressures.
[0030] FIG. 5 shows the pigment integrity of the thylakoids following compression in the presence of diverse polymers.
[0031] FIG. 6 shows the effect of various concentrations of thylakoids in diverse polymers on the thylakoids synthetic activity.
EXAMPLE 1
The Thylakoids are Active as Enteral and Oral Compounds
Methodology
Animals
[0032] Male Wistar rats (180-200 g) were used in the experiments. The animals were purchased from Charles River Canada (St-Constant, Qc, Canada). The animals were housed in an environmentally (t=25° C.) and air humidity (60%) controlled room with a 12 h light-dark cycle, kept on a standard laboratory diet and drinking water ad libitum. The experiments were approved by the ethical committee of TransBIOTeeh (Levis, Qc, Canada).
Reagents
[0033] 12O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA, P-8139) and carrageenan (C-1138) were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St-Louis, Mo. USA).
Preparation of the Thylakoid Extract
[0034] The thylakoid extract was obtained item spinach leaves ( Spinacia oleacea ) as described in international patent publication WO 03/49305, the whole content of which is incorporated herein by reference. The thylakoids integrity was evaluated by spectrophotometry (Beckman DU 640) (Lichtenthale 1987) and fluorimetry (Hansatech Instruments Ltd, England) (Maxwell 2000).
Protocol 1: TPA-Induced Rat Ear Oedema
[0035] Male Wistar rats (180-200 g, Charles River) were fasted overnight (18 h). Oedema was induced in the right ear of rats by topical application of 6 ug/ear of TPA in acetone (Yamamoto S et al. 1994). The left ear (control) received vehicle (acetone, 20 ul).
[0036] Six hours after TPA application, rats were anesthetized (pentobarbital; 80 mg/kg) and a 6 mm diameter disc from each ear was removed with metal punch. The swelling induced by TPA was assessed as the increase in thickness (in mm) of the right ear punch biopsy over that of the left ear and called the oedema index.
[0037] The thylakoid extract (25 mg/kg) was administered directly to the duodenum (5 ml/kg) via a catheter previously inserted into the duodenum. Physiology saline was administered for control groups (5 ml/kg).
Protocol 2: Carrageenan-Induced Rat Paw Oedema
[0038] Male Wistar rats (180-200 g) which had been fasted overnight (18 h) received the thylakoid extract (25 mg/kg in sterile physiologic saline) by gavage (5 ml/kg) immediately prior to sub-plantar injection in the right hind paw of carrageenan (100 ul of 1% suspension in 0.9% saline) (Boughton-Smith et al. 1993), or by catheter for an in situ release as in protocol 1.
[0039] Paw circumference was measured immediately prior to carrageenan injection and also 5 h afterwards. Oedema was expressed as the increased in paw circumference (in mm) measured after carrageenan injection and compared to the pre-injection value for individual animals.
[0040] Statistical Analysis
[0041] Data are presented as mean±standard error of the means. Mean differences between groups were compared by t-test (SigmPlot 2001 for Windows Version 7.101).
Results
Effect of Thylakoids on TPA-Induced Ear Oedema in Rats.
[0042] Topical application of TPA in control rats induced an increase in ear thickness (50%) over 6 h ( FIG. 1 ). Simultaneous administration of thylakoids (25 mg/kg given directly into the duodenum via an inserted catheter) reduced (45%) significantly ear oedema induced by TPA.
Effect of Thylakoids on Carrageenan-Induced Rat Paw Oedema
[0043] The sub-plantar injection of carrageenan in control rats induced an increase in paw circumference (5.63±1.29) over 5 h ( FIG. 2 ). Simultaneous treatment with the thylakoid extract (25 mg/kg) directly into duodenum via a previously inserted catheter or by gavage (5 ml/kg), inhibited oedema by 54% and 65%, respectively.
[0044] The above results show that the thylakoid extract can be administered enterally or orally. In inflammation models like TPA-induced rat ear oedema and carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema, a decrease of oedema of about 50% was observed at a dose of 25 mg/kg. Thus it is presumed that a dose of 10 to 10000 mg p.o. per day of thylakoids could be used alone or in combination with any other adjuncted pharmaceutical compound. The intended use is pharmaceutical as well as in food industry as food supplement, additive, preservative or as nutrient per se.
EXAMPLE 2
The Thylakoid Extract Can be Formulated as a Product for Oral Use
Materials and Methods
Materials
[0045] Three commercially available polymers were used for this study sodium alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose low viscosity (CMC1) and carboxymethyl cellulose high viscosity (CMC2). The complex PCT was given by PureCell Technologies inc.
PCT Stability to Compression
[0046] First of all, PureCell Technologies inc. PTC was compressed as such, with any excipient, in order to evaluate the capacity of PCT to preserve its biological activity, following compression. Tablets of 200 mg made from PCT only were obtained by dry compression at 1, 2.5 and 5 T in a Carver hydraulic press using a punch, of 9 mm diameter. The obtained tablets were broken down to powder and sent to PureCell Technologies inc. where the complex activity was tested.
PCT Stability to Compression in Presence of Polymeric Excipients
[0047] Tablets of 200 mg based on, one of the three polymers (alginate, CMC1 or CMC2) containing 20, 40 or 60% of PCT were obtained by dry compression at 2.5 T in a Carver hydraulic press using a punch of 9 mm diameter. The obtained tablets were sent to PureCell Technologies inc. where the complex activity was tested.
Tablet Behavior in Simulated Gastro-Intestinal Fluid
[0048] Two series-of tablets of 200 mg were realized, one composed of one of the three polymers (alginate, CMC1 or CMC2) without the PCT and the other based on one of the three polymers containing 20, 40 or 60% of PCT. Tablets were obtained by dry compression at 2.5 T in a Carver hydraulic press with a 9 mm diameter punch.
[0049] The comportment of tablets was tested in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). These medium were prepared according to U.S. Pharmacopeia (1990) with the difference that we omitted the addition of pepsin and pancreatin because none of the polymers tested can be hydrolyzed by these enzymes. The medium were prepared as follow:
[0050] For SGF an amount of 2 g sodium chloride and of 7 mL HCl (37%) were dissolved in sufficient water to make 1 L.
[0051] For SIF an amount of 6.8 g of monobasic potassium phosphate was dissolved in 250 mL of water and a volume of 190 ml, of 0.2 N sodium hydroxide was added to the solution to adjust pH at 7.5. Then, the solution was completed to 1 L to obtain the simulated intestinal fluid solution.
[0052] Practically for gastrointestinal comportment, tablets were placed in 50 mL of SGF for 1 hour and then in 50 ml, of SIF for 5 hours. The tablet's behavior was evaluated after each hour (glass adhesion, swelling, dissolution).
Results
PCT Stability to Compression
[0053] There is no effect of the compression force on the membrane integrity. The total carotene contents and the total chlorophyll contents were the same and, as results, the ratio chlorophyll/carotene was unchanged ( FIG. 3 ).
[0054] The photosynthetic activity of the PCT was moderately affected by the compression in fact about 35% of the activity was lost during the compression with the mention that compression force do not seems to affect the activity ( FIG. 4 ).
PCT Stability to Compression in Presence of Polymer
[0055] The variation of the carotene and chlorophyll contents was proportionally increased with the PCT contents of the tablet and in each case the ratio chlorophyll/carotene was unchanged. On the other side, there is a variation of the amount of pigment determined in tablet having the same amount of PCT but formulated with different polymers ( FIG. 5 ). In fact, for CMC1 a higher amount of pigments was detected than for CMC2, for which a higher amount of pigments than for alginate was detected.
[0056] It appears that alginate led to lower amounts of pigments than CMC excipients. As a possible explanation, the higher adhesive capacity of alginate can retain part of the pigments, or disturb the assay. Among CMC excipients, CMC1 (low viscosity) led to highest amounts of pigments detected. Same effect of higher pigments retention on high viscosity CMC2 can explain this behaviour. However, differences among polymeric excipients are much lower in terms of total carotenoids, Chla/Chlb and Chl/Car ratio.
[0057] Concerning the photosynthetic activity, for tablet containing 20% PCT CMC1 conserved more activity following by alginate and CMC2 in decreasing order. The activity increase was not strictly proportional but the growing was continuous with tablet contains. It looks like the PCT contents increased from 20% to 40 and 60% moderately increased the photosynthetic activity ( FIG. 6 ).
Tablet Behaviour in Simulated Gastrointestinal Fluid
[0058] The behaviour of tablets composed of polymers only is presented in table 1. During one hour incubation in SGF, alginate and CMC1 polymeric matrices have a slight swelling and stick to the glass, whereas CMC2, which sticks to the glass too, have a higher swelling volume. After one hour in SIF, all the polymeric tablets were surrounded by a gel and remained adhering to the glass. During the four next hours in SIF, the different types of tablets were always adhered to the glass. Alginate continuing to swell, it start to dissolve after 4 hours in SIF and does not totally form a gel, even after 5 hours. CMC1 start to dissolve after only 2 hours in SIF; after 5 hour its dissolution was very advanced and it was completely under gel form. CMC2 have the highest swelling volume and was completely under gel form but does not seem to dissolve. Other auxiliary agents are to be added to improve CMC2 pellets dissolution.
[0059] The behaviour of tablets containing 20, 40 or 60% of PCT was similar to those of the corresponding polymer without PCT. An additional observation was the liberation in SIF of the green PCT. With alginate there is few PCT release which is not significantly increased at higher PCT loading. CMC2 forms a highly swollen gel, which releases few amounts of PCT and the release increased with the increase of PCT tablet loading. CMC1 dissolution helped the release of PCT, which is practically totally released in 5 hours. Auxiliary agents may be added to modulate the pellet dissolution, rate and time, and the thylakoids release.
[0060] The invention being hereinabove described, it will be obvious that the same be varied in many ways. Those skilled in the art recognize that other and further changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended that all such changes and modifications fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.
REFERENCES
[0061] Yamamoto S, Jiang H, Kato R. Anti-inflammatory action of orally active 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor TMK688. Pharmacology 1994; 48:273-82.
[0062] Boughton-Smith N K, Deakin A M, Follenfant R L, Whittle B J, Garland L G. Role of oxygen radicals and arachidonic acid metabolites in the reverse passive Arthus reaction and carrageenin paw oedema in the rat. Br J Pharmacol 1993; 110:896-902.
[0063] Purcell M. (1999), Procedure for preparing active plant extracts used to trap free radicals; the extracts and compounds and devices containing them. Canadian patent CA 2293852.
[0064] Lichtenthaler K. K. (1987), Chlorophylls and carotenoids: Pigments of Photosynthetic Biomembranes In: Packer L. and Douce R. (eds.) Methods in Enzymology, vol 148 pp 350-382. Academic Press, London.
[0065] Maxwell Kate (2000), Chlorophyll fluorescence—a practical guide. Journal of experimental botany vol. 51 no 345. pp. 659-668.
[0066] US. Pharmacopeia National Formulary (1990), USP XXII, NP XVII, p. 1789, United States Pharmacopeial Convention Inc., Rockville, Md.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Tablets behavior during the incubation in simulating gastric fluid (SGF) and
simulated intestinal fluid (SIF).
1 hour
1 hour
2 hours
3 hours
4 hours
5 hours
over-
SGF
SIF
SIF
SIF
SIF
SIF
night
Alginate
Glass
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Yes
adhesion
no
no
around
around
around
Gel aspect
around
low
low
+
+
Swelling
no
no
no
no
begin
Tablets
close to
totally
dissolution
Totally
+
+
partially
Totally
CMC 2
Glass
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Yes
adhesion
no
around
around
around
Totally
Gel aspect
+
++
++
++
++
Swelling
no
no
no
no
No
Tablets
close to
totally
totally
dissolution
++
++
no
no
CMC 1
Glass
yes
Yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Yes
adhesion
around
Around
around
Totally
Gel aspect
“hat”
low
+
+
Swelling
no
No
begin
totally
Tablets
close to
totally
close to
totally
dissolution
totally
+
+
+
begin
partially
partially | A new use or method of use of a thylakoid extract, for oral route of administration, and a composition comprising the thylakoid extract in adjunction with an acceptable carrier for oral administration. Also described is a method for treating or preventing a disease or disorder involving the formation of reactive oxygen species inflammation in an individual, which comprises the step of orally administering an effective dose of a thylakoid extract. Also described is an oral composition comprising purified thylakoids and a carrier for oral ingestion or oral administration, with the proviso that the carrier does not essentially consist of water, physiological saline or propylene glycol. The thylakoid extract or composition is also provided as a food or a food supplement or as a pellet, or encapsulated granules or powder. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/528,571, filed Aug. 29, 2011, Attorney Docket No. 1389.0334P/16976P, entitled “Toy Vehicle Launching Ramp and Landing Ramp” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates generally to toys, and more particularly to a toy vehicle play set that may include a launching ramp spaced a distance apart from a landing ramp. Furthermore, the invention relates to a toy vehicle play set incorporating one or more measuring devices for estimating and adjusting the distance travelled by a vehicle when launched from the launching ramp.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Toy vehicle play sets are popular toys which are known to provide entertainment and excitement to an end user. These play sets typically include one or more track configurations intended to guide a toy vehicle, such as a 1 / 64 scale free-wheeling die-cast toy vehicle. The track configurations may also include a mechanism for propelling the vehicle or call for the vehicle to be propelled by hand.
[0004] To bring increased entertainment and excitement to play sets, track configurations may incorporate jumps into these play sets by which a traveling toy vehicle is briefly separated from the track to ultimately rejoin the track at a downstream location, or to enter a second track portion spaced apart from the first track portion. However, these attempts have been limited due to the complexities of ensuring that the launched toy vehicle lands on the second track portion in a proper orientation to thus allow the vehicle to continue its course of travel. Furthermore, these attempts have been limited in that the consistency of the distance traveled by a launched vehicle has varied, causing the vehicle to miss the landing target and/or fall off the track.
[0005] Accordingly, a toy vehicle play set is desired which can provide the entertainment and excitement associated with a toy vehicle being launched from a launching ramp at a predetermined desired force and landing safely on a landing ramp. It is further desirable to provide a toy vehicle play set incorporating a measuring apparatus for accurately estimating the desired flight distance of the vehicle, ensuring consistent launching of a vehicle. It is further desirable to provide an apparatus capable of adjusting the distance to be travelled by the vehicle to match the gap created between a launching ramp and a landing ramp. It is also desirable to provide a toy vehicle play set capable of measuring the horizontal and/or vertical distance travelled by a vehicle, in flight, when launched from a launching ramp.
SUMMARY
[0006] In one embodiment a toy vehicle track set is provided comprising a launching ramp including a track portion and a launching mechanism coupled to the track portion, wherein the launching mechanism includes a retraction mechanism, a receiver, and an elongate member coupling the receiver to the retraction mechanism, wherein the retraction mechanism includes an actuator, the activation of which results in the retraction of the elongate member and movement of the receiver toward the track portion. The track set further comprises a landing ramp spaced apart from the launching ramp and having a track portion configured to receive a toy vehicle thereon. In practice, a vehicle is placed onto or in front of the receiver of the launching ramp, and the receiver is withdrawn to arm the launching mechanism. The actuator is then depressed, causing the retraction mechanism to move the receiver toward the track portion, launching the toy vehicle upon the launching ramp track portion, through the air, and onto the landing ramp track portion.
[0007] In one embodiment, the elongate member is a measuring device that can be used by the user to determine the distance between the receiver and the track portion prior to retraction of the elongate member.
[0008] In other embodiments, the launching ramp or landing ramp includes a retractable measure with distance indicia thereon, the retractable measure being extendible from either the landing ramp or launching ramp and coupleable with the opposing ramp via a coupler, thereby permitting the measurement of a distance between the launching ramp and the landing ramp.
[0009] In still another embodiment, the launching mechanism includes a locking mechanism, wherein the locking mechanism prevents the retraction mechanism from retracting the elongate member until the actuator is actuated.
[0010] In yet another embodiment, the track portions include sidewalls extending from opposite edges of the launching ramp such that a toy vehicle may travel therebetween. However, in other embodiments, the landing ramp also includes a shell disposed at least partially around the landing ramp, such that the shell may direct a launched vehicle onto the landing ramp.
[0011] In an alternative embodiment a toy vehicle track set comprises a launching track portion having a ramp and a launcher that receives a toy vehicle and propels the toy vehicle along the ramp, the launcher including a receiving member that receives a toy vehicle and a retraction mechanism that moves the receiving member from a withdrawn position to a retracted position, the receiving member including a distance measuring portion that can be used to determine the distance between the receiving member in its withdrawn position and the ramp. The track set further comprises a receiving track portion having a ramp configured to receive the toy vehicle propelled from the launching ramp.
[0012] In other embodiments, the launcher, for the toy vehicle track set above, includes a locking system configured to retain the receiver in a withdrawn position. In some of these embodiments, the locking system is configured to allow the receiver to move away from the ramp of the launching track portion, but not allow the receiver to move towards the ramp of the launching track portion. Further, in at least some other embodiments which include the locking system, the launcher also includes an actuator that, upon actuation, unlocks the locking mechanism, allowing the retraction mechanism to move the receiver from a withdrawn position to a retracted position.
[0013] In some embodiments where the launcher, for the toy vehicle track set above, includes a locking system and a actuator, as addressed above, the retraction mechanism can move the receiver to other positions between the retracted position and withdrawn position recited above, such as a second retracted position disposed between the withdrawn position and the first retracted position. For example, in some of these embodiments, the retraction mechanism moves the receiver to the second retracted position if the actuator is moved from an actuated position to a non-actuated position prior to the receiver moving to the first retracted position.
[0014] In still further embodiments of the toy vehicle track set, one of the launching track portion or the receiving track portion includes a retractable measure that can be extended between the launching track portion and the receiving track portion to measure the distance therebetween. In other embodiments, the retraction mechanism of the toy vehicle track set comprises a torsion spring, a torsion bar, a coil spring, a recoil spring, an elastic binder, derivatives thereof, or combinations thereof.
[0015] According to another alternative embodiment, a toy vehicle track set comprises a launching track portion that includes a ramp and a booster configured to propel a toy vehicle along the track portion. The toy vehicle track set of this embodiment also comprises a first elongate member including distance indicia and a landing track portion including a ramp, wherein the launching track portion and landing track portion are coupled together by a second elongate member, the second elongate member also including distance indicia.
[0016] In other embodiments, the booster for the toy vehicle track set above includes a retraction mechanism, wherein the retraction mechanism is configured to move the first elongate member from an extended position to a retracted position. In some of these embodiments, the retraction mechanism includes a bias member configured to bias the first elongate member in a retracted position, a locking system configured to lock the first elongate member in a extended position, and an actuator configured to unlock the locking system, such that the bias member can cause the retraction mechanism to move the first elongate member from an extended position to a retracted position.
[0017] In other embodiments, the second elongate member for the toy vehicle track set above is permanently coupled to and extendible from either the landing track portion or the launching track portion and removably coupled to the other.
[0018] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be understood more readily after consideration of the Detailed Description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 provides a side perspective view of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 provides a front perspective view of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 3A provides a side view of an element of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 3B provides a side perspective view of an element of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 4 provides a top view of an element of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 5 provides a bottom view of an element of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 6 provides an exploded view of an element of a toy vehicle track set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] FIG. 1 provides a rear perspective view of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, including a launching track portion or ramp 12 and a landing track portion or ramp 14 . The launching ramp 12 may be or comprise a track portion 26 and a launching mechanism 16 . For the purposes of this application, the launching mechanism may also be referred to as a booster or launcher. The track portion 26 may be inclined, flat, or curved and may be bounded by opposite side walls on its lateral edges. Additionally, the track portion 26 may be substantially wider at its bottom edge than at its top edge and may taper from its bottom edge to its top edge. The launching mechanism (or booster/launcher) 16 may include a retraction mechanism 18 , a receiver 20 , and an elongate member 22 coupling the receiver 20 to the retraction mechanism 18 . The receiver 20 is configured to accept or receive a toy vehicle 32 (see FIG. 2 ), about the rear and at least one partial side of the vehicle 32 and may articulate with respect to launcher 16 .
[0027] In some exemplary embodiments, a vehicle 32 may be launched by withdrawing, or otherwise moving, receiver 20 (including a vehicle 32 received therein or thereon) away from track portion 26 , and subsequently releasing the receiver 20 , so that the receiver 20 may be drawn back or retracted towards the track portion 26 . The retraction mechanism 18 is configured to retract the elongate member 22 , thus moving the receiver 20 toward the launching ramp track portion 26 . Alternatively, as best seen in FIG. 6 , the retraction mechanism 18 may comprise a locking system 38 and actuator 24 . The locking system 38 may be configured to retain the elongate member 22 in the withdrawn position until it is released by compressing the actuator 24 . Activation of the actuator 24 results in the retraction of the elongate member 22 , thereby causing the receiver 20 and accompanying vehicle 32 , to be moved towards track portion 26 . In addition, the elongate member 22 may contain distance indicia thereon for selecting a desired launching distance. The launching distance may correlate with a vehicle flight distance. Thus, a user may launch a vehicle 32 a distance corresponding to the gap created between the launching ramp 12 and landing ramp 14 by withdrawing the elongate member 22 to the indicia which matches the length of the gap.
[0028] In some embodiments, the retraction mechanism 18 may be configured to allow for varied retraction forces dependent on where receiver 20 is situated with respect to the track portion 26 . For example, the retraction mechanism 18 may comprise a resilient member configured to increase retraction forces as the receiver 20 is moved further away from the track portion 26 . Regardless of whether the force applied is consistent or varied, the retraction mechanism 18 may be configured to impart substantially similar forces on receivers 20 retracted from substantially the same distance. Accordingly, consistently withdrawing the receiver 20 to the same point may ensure that vehicle 32 is consistently launched the same distance. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, elongate member 22 may include indicia which signify how far a vehicle 32 will be launched if withdrawn to certain points. In other words, elongate member 22 may substantially resemble a tape measure, but the indicia included thereon may be spaced at either varied or constant intervals, instead of strictly constant intervals, and may represent launch distances instead of lengths.
[0029] The track set 10 further comprises a landing ramp 14 which may be or comprise a track portion 28 configured to receive a toy vehicle 32 thereon. The track portion 28 may, similar to track portion 26 , may be inclined, flat, or curved and may be bounded by opposite side walls on its lateral edges. However, in contrast with track portion 26 , track portion 28 may be substantially wider at its top edge than at its bottom edge. The landing ramp 14 may further contain a shell 30 configured to partially encapsulate at least a portion of the landing ramp 14 and aid in directing the toy vehicle 32 onto the track portion 28 of landing ramp 14 .
[0030] In practicing one embodiment of the invention, a vehicle 32 is placed onto or in front of the receiver 20 of the launching ramp 12 , and the receiver 20 is withdrawn, with the vehicle 32 , to arm the booster 16 . Once withdrawn, the locking system 38 (see FIG. 6 ) retains the receiver 20 a distance from the track portion 26 . Then, a user depresses an actuator 24 situated on the booster 16 , releasing the locking system 38 and retracting the receiver 20 and accompanying vehicle 32 towards the track portion 26 . The forward momentum created by the retraction mechanism 18 thrusts the vehicle 32 onto and over the launching ramp 12 , through the air, along the pathway indicated by arrows 50 (See FIG. 2 ) and onto the track portion 28 of the landing ramp 14 .
[0031] FIG. 2 provides a front perspective view of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Further detailed in FIG. 2 are an alternative embodiment of the receiver 20 , in the withdrawn position, configured to contact a portion of the rear of the vehicle 32 , as well as a retractable measure 48 situated between the launching ramp 12 and landing ramp 14 . The retractable measure 48 contains distance indicia thereon, thereby permitting the measurement of a distance between the launching ramp and the landing ramp. The retractable measure 48 may be extendible from the landing ramp 14 , the launching ramp 12 , or both, and may be coupleable with either ramp via any desirable coupler or fastener.
[0032] FIGS. 3A and 3B provide a side view and perspective view, respectively, of an element of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. More particularly, FIGS. 3A and 3B depict a landing ramp 14 including a shell 30 affixed to and at least partially encapsulating a portion of the track portion 28 . Shell 30 may aid in directing a launched vehicle 32 onto the track portion 28 of landing ramp 14 . In this embodiment, the shell 30 is tapered, with a broad opening configured to receive the vehicle 32 . In various other embodiments, the shape, length and/or placement of the shell 30 may be varied for optimal performance or as desired.
[0033] FIG. 4 provides a top view of an element of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 depicts a launching ramp 12 showing a receiver 20 and an elongate member 22 in the retracted position. As seen, receiver 20 may, in some embodiments, include retainer members 21 . Retainer members 21 may project from either or both lateral edges of receiver 20 and may be configured to receive the side portion of a vehicle 32 to help ensure it remains in or on receiver 20 during any motion thereof. Also as seen in FIG. 4 , launching ramp 14 may include guide members 27 that may direct or otherwise guide a vehicle 32 onto track portion 28 . Guide members 27 may interiorly receive retainer members 21 in order to direct a vehicle 32 onto track portion 26 .
[0034] FIG. 4 further depicts a launching ramp 14 including track portion 26 and launching mechanism 16 comprising a retraction mechanism 18 and an actuator 24 . In the exemplary embodiment depicted in FIG. 4 , the actuator is a push button actuator. However, in other embodiments, actuator 24 may be any desirable actuator.
[0035] FIG. 5 provides a bottom view of an element of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 depicts a launching ramp 12 with a receiver 20 and an elongate member 22 in a retracted position. As can be seen in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5 , a portion of the receiver 20 , such as retainer members 21 , may be disposed above the track portion 26 when the receiver 20 is in a retracted position while the remainder of receiver 20 may be disposed below track portion 26 . Thus, receiver 20 may be prevented from being retracted past a certain point or position, such as the retracted position depicted in FIG. 5 .
[0036] Additionally, track 26 may include a securing member 23 on its lower surface which may act to secure or position elongate member 22 substantially in the center of track 26 , substantially adjacent to its underside. Securing member 23 may prevent, or help to prevent, elongate member 22 from twisting, turning or otherwise undesirably moving in a manner that may prevent withdrawal or retraction. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5 , the elongate member 22 is seen engaged with a retraction mechanism 18 , which is disposed within a housing 34 and a cover 36 for the housing 34 . Housing 34 and cover 36 may also include grip portions 17 which may engage a support surface below the toy vehicle track set 10 and resist movement with respect to the support surface below.
[0037] FIG. 6 provides an exploded view of an element of a toy vehicle track set 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The exploded view of a launching ramp 12 illustrates internal components of a launching mechanism 16 , as well as a base 44 configured to support a track portion 26 . The launching mechanism 16 comprises a retraction mechanism 18 , a receiver 20 , and an elongate member 22 coupling the receiver 20 to the retraction mechanism 18 . The retraction mechanism 18 comprises a housing 34 for retaining various components of the launching mechanism 16 , including a locking mechanism 38 , a recoil member 40 , a bias member 42 , and an actuator 24 . The components of retraction mechanism 18 are retained in the housing 34 by a cover 36 , but the cover 36 includes an opening for so that the actuator 24 may be exposed exteriorly of the housing 34 and cover 36 .
[0038] The components of the retraction mechanism 18 are operably connected to each other such that retraction mechanism 18 may function in accordance with the objects and scope of the invention. For example, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6 , the bias member 42 is operably coupled to the elongate member 22 so that it may drive retraction of the elongate member 22 and accompanying receiver 20 towards track portion 26 . Thus, as a user withdraws, pulls back, or otherwise moves the receiver 20 away from the retraction mechanism 18 , the biasing member 42 may coil, retract, or otherwise store energy, such that it may bias the receiver 20 (and elongate member 22 ) towards a retracted position. In some embodiments, the biasing member 42 might automatically retract the receiver 20 as soon as it is released, but in the exemplary embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 , locking mechanism 38 prevents or “locks” the biasing member 42 from automatically retracting receiver 20 , at least until actuator 24 is actuated. However, in some embodiments the locking system 38 may retain or “lock” the elongate member 22 by simply preventing it from retracting. Thus, in some instances even though locking system 38 may be “locking” elongate member 22 , elongate member may still be able to move, but elongate member will only be able to be further withdrawn, not retracted. Regardless, once a user retracts receiver 20 , the user may release receiver 20 without it immediately retracting.
[0039] Once the user is prepared to release the receiver from a withdrawn position (i.e., launch a vehicle 32 ), a user may press, or otherwise actuate, actuator 24 . Such actuation may, in turn, cause actuator 24 to engage and unlock lock mechanism 38 , so that the lock mechanism 38 allows the energy stored in biasing member 42 may be released, causing elongate member 22 and receiver 20 to be retracted. In some embodiments, actuating actuator 24 may fully retract elongate member 22 and receiver 20 , but in other embodiments, retraction mechanism 18 may only retract elongate member 22 and receiver 20 for as long as actuator 24 is engaged.
[0040] For example, recoil member 40 may be operably coupled to actuator 24 and biased to keep actuator 24 in an non-actuated position so that that the actuator 24 is not engaging and unlocking the locking mechanism 38 unless actuator 24 is presently actuated. Thus, a brief or momentary actuation of actuator 24 could partially retract elongate member 22 and receiver 20 for that same amount of time. However, in other embodiments, recoil member 40 may be configured to permit full retraction of elongate member 22 and receiver 20 in response to even a momentary actuation of actuator 24 . Either way, recoil member 40 may ensure (by moving actuator 24 into a non-actuated position) that locking mechanism 38 locks the biasing member 42 unless actuator 24 is being, or has recently been, pressed. In other words, recoil member 40 may automatically return actuator 24 to a non-actuated position after each actuation, thereby ensuring locking mechanism 38 will continue to lock retraction mechanism 18 for any subsequent withdrawals.
[0041] The vehicle track set 10 may be fabricated from any suitable material, or combination of materials, such as plastic, foamed plastic, wood, cardboard, pressed paper, metal, supple natural or synthetic materials including, but not limited to, cotton, elastomers, polyester, plastic, rubber, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. Suitable plastics may include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), or the like. Suitable foamed plastics may include expanded or extruded polystyrene, expanded or extruded polypropylene, EVA foam, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.
[0042] The bias member 42 and recoil member 40 are each defined herein as a spring which expands/rotates (and recovers) in at least one axis, and may include, but is not limited to, a spring, a resilient plastic, memory foam, or a rubber. Each of the bias member 42 and the recoil member 40 may be fabricated from any suitable material, or combinations of materials, such as supple natural or synthetic materials including, but not limited to, plastic, metal, elastomers, polyester, rubber, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.
[0043] It is believed that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a preferred form, the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. Similarly, where any description recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such disclosure should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
[0044] While the invention has been described in detail and with references to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. For example, the majority of the elements can be formed of molded plastic. However, in alternative embodiments, the elements can be formed of a material other than plastic provided that the material has sufficient strength for the component's intended function. | A toy vehicle launching ramp and landing ramp is a toy vehicle track set that includes a launching ramp or track portion and a landing or receiving ramp or track portion. The toy vehicle track set also includes a booster or launcher which can propel or launch a toy vehicle onto the launching ramp, into the air, and onto the landing ramp. Further the set includes at least one elongate member with distance indicia, such that a user can measure the distance between the launcher and launching ramp, the launching ramp and receiving ramp, or some combination thereof. The toy vehicle track set enhances the play value of toy vehicle track sets by providing reliable and measurable jumps. | 0 |
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/828,869, filed Oct. 10, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to security for navigation, positioning, and localization systems, and applications of cryptography thereto. The security can be applied to navigation, aircraft landing guidance, air traffic control, location-based access control, the prevention of relay attacks against financial and legal transaction protocols and protection of other data transmissions.
2. Description of the State of the Art
The general notion of positioning by distance and direction predates humanity. Radar and sonar, developed around the time of World War II, were the first human techniques that calculated distance by measuring the time of flight of a signal and combined distance and direction to give relative position; lidar systems later applied the same concept to the optical spectrum. The first combined distance-direction technology designed specifically for positioning and navigation was VHF Omnidirectional Range/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME), deployed from 1948 to the present. Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN), an improved military version of VOR/DME using essentially the same methods, was built out in the early 1950s. Secondary surveillance radar, also known as Air Traffic Control Radio Beacon System (ATCRBS), introduced in the late 1950s, was an important refinement. Most direction-measurement protocols measure horizontal (azimuth) angle; the glide-slope indicator component of instrument Landing Systems (ILS), introduced in the 1940s, added rough indication of vertical (elevation) angle, and Microwave Landing Systems (MLS), introduced in the 1980s, added precise measurement of elevation angle.
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogators and transponders built into some aircraft during and after World War II were distance-angle radiolocation systems with rudimentary security mechanisms. Cryptographic security was first added to IFF in IFF Mark XII, a.k.a. Mode 4, in the 1960s, which provides only imprecise distance/angle information and is intended to identify aircraft that are located using radar or other means; Mark XII also provides little protection against relay attacks. Mark XIIA, a.k.a. Mode 5, introduced in the 2000s, features improved transmission security and message security, but it identifies aircraft rather than locating the aircraft, and it appears not to use precise timing for distance bounding.
Secure distance bounding was first proposed in the academic literature by Beth et al., “Identification tokens, or: Solving the chess grandmaster problem”, Advances in Cryptology—Crypto '90, 1990, as a solution to relay attacks against cryptographic zero-knowledge authentication protocols; distance bounding was concretely described by Brands et al., “Distance-Bounding Protocols (Extended Abstract)”, Advances in Cryptology—Eurocrypt '93, 1993. U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,617 and its successor RE38,899 describe a method intended to provide security for radiolocation based on distance bounding.
Global Positioning System (GPS), the most common radionavigation system in use as of 2006, was developed by the U.S. military in the 1980s, and was the first widespread passive time-of-arrival navigation to include cryptographic security. The present generation of satellites offers two security mechanisms: Selective Availability adds a pseudorandom uncertainty to each satellite's range data, with the intent of denying high-resolution positioning information to unauthorized users; Anti-Spoofing additively encrypts the GPS precise positioning signal with a lower-frequency pseudorandom sequence, with the intent to both deny unauthorized use of that signal and to make spoofing of the signal difficult.
There has been a suggestion to protect positioning schemes based on simple directional receivability, received signal strength, or signal-to-noise ratio; however this does not provide the same security guarantee as time-of-flight techniques. The combination of secure distance bounding and direction-based positioning is described in Robust Position Estimation (ROPE), by Lazos et al., “ROPE: Robust Position Estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks”, Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN 2005), 2005.
Transmitting position messages with cryptographic protection was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,005, and further described in association with the use of public-key algorithms in Desmedt, “Major security problems with the ‘unforgeable’ (Feige-) Fiat-Shamir proofs of identity and how to overcome them”, Proceedings of SecuriCom '88, 1988, and the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,617 and RE 38,899.
Passive time-of-flight navigation methods (e.g., those methods in which the node seeking to determine its position is a receiver only, such as GPS systems) are inherently vulnerable to several damaging relay attacks. Active methods not involving distance bounding are similarly vulnerable. Due to the hard minimum signal propagation time set by the speed of light, distance bounding offers a stronger proof of security. Using signal time of flight alone for secure positioning requires that at least three well-spaced non-collinear beacons be receivable from each point at which a node might need to be located. The combination of distance bounding and direction-based positioning can offer a degree of security that is unavailable with other positioning schemes that use a comparable number of nodes.
Navigation, proximity determination, and time synchronization are critical to numerous industrial and governmental activities. It is beneficial to provide such systems with security against position falsification (“spoofing”) and other forms of electronic attack.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and/or system to add provable cryptographic security to navigation and time-transfer protocols. There is also needed a method and/or system for decoupling time-dependent ranging messages from cryptographic algorithms responsible for security, in order to enable the use of pubic-key cryptographic functions. Furthermore, there is a need to add cryptographic security to direction-based navigation protocols. There is yet a further need for such methods and/or systems of cryptographic security that are efficient and cost-effective. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly and in general terms, the present invention is directed to methods and systems for determining position relative to an object.
In aspects of the present invention, a method for determining position relative to an object comprises generating at least one challenge message, transmitting said at least one challenge message via a transmission transducer system to said object, receiving at least one response message via a reception transducer system, wherein said at least one response message comprises encoded information or authentication information, wherein said authentication information comprises at least one of an identity of said object, a response message content, a position of said object, a direction of said transmission transducer system, a gain pattern of said transmission transducer system, a time of transmission of said at least one response message, and a time of receipt of said at least one challenge message, determining whether said encoded information is cryptographically derived from said at least one challenge message and rejecting said at least one response message if said encoded information is not cryptographically derived from said challenge message, determining whether said authentication information was sent by said object and accepting said at least one response message if said authentication information was sent by said object, determining a time differential between a time of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a time of receipt of said at least one response message, determining an adjusted time measurement by subtracting a processing delay time from said time differential, determining a maximum distance to said object based at least in part on one or more of said adjusted time measurement, a speed of propagation of said at least one challenge message and a speed of propagation of said at least one response message, determining at least one of a direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a direction of receipt of said at least one response message, wherein said direction of transmission or said direction of receipt is based at least in part on directionality of at least one of said transmission transducer system or said reception transducer system, and determining a position relative to said object based at least in part on said maximum distance to said object and at least one of said direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and said direction of receipt of said at least one response message.
In other aspects of the present invention, a navigation system comprises a transmission transducer to transmit at least one challenge message, a reception transducer to receive at least one response message, said at least one response message comprising encoded information or authentication information, wherein said authentication information comprises at least one of an identity of said object, a response message content, a position of said object, a direction of said transmission transducer, a gain pattern of said transmission transducer, a time of transmission of said at least one response message, and a time of receipt of said at least one challenge message, and a microprocessor for determining whether said encoded information is cryptographically derived from said at least one challenge message and whether said authentication information was sent by said object, wherein said microprocessor determines a time differential between a time of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a time of receipt of said at least one response message, wherein said microprocessor determines an adjusted time measurement by subtracting a processing delay time from said time differential, wherein said microprocessor determines a maximum distance to said object based at least in part on one or more of said adjusted time measurement, a speed of propagation of said at least one challenge message and a speed of propagation of said at least one response message, wherein said microprocessor determines at least one of a direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a direction of receipt of said at least one response message, and wherein said microprocessor determines a position relative to said object based at least in part on said maximum distance to said object and at least one of said direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and said direction of receipt of said at least one response message.
In further aspects of the present invention, a computer readable program is embodied in an article of manufacture comprising computer readable program instructions for determining a position relative to an object, said program comprises program instructions for causing a computer to determine whether encoded information is cryptographically derived from at least one challenge message and whether authentication information was sent by said object, program instructions for causing said computer to determine a time differential between a time of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a time of receipt of at least one response message, program instructions for causing said computer to determine an adjusted time measurement by subtracting a processing delay time from said time differential, program instructions for causing said computer to determine a maximum distance to said object based at least in part on one or more of said adjusted time measurement, a speed of propagation of said at least one challenge message and a speed of propagation of said at least one response message, program instructions for causing a computer to determine at least one of a direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and a direction of receipt of said at least one response message, and program instructions for causing a computer to determine the position relative to said object based at least in part on said maximum distance to said object and at least one of said direction of transmission of said at least one challenge message and said direction of receipt of said at least one response message.
The features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
There are shown in the drawings arrangements which are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic of a system in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
FIG. 3 is another exemplary flow diagram of a method in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
FIG. 4 is another exemplary flow diagram of a method in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
FIG. 5 is another exemplary flow diagram of a method in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
FIG. 6 is another illustration of allowed message acceptance of received messages in accordance with an arrangement of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention disclosed herein provides a method and a system for determining the relative positions of objects by measuring signal propagation time and direction. Additionally, the integrity and trustworthiness of the messages exchanged between the object during operation of the system and execution of the method is assured by cryptography. For example, an authentication key or encryption key may be provided so that only properly authenticated or encrypted messages are accepted.
With reference now to the various figures in which similar elements are identically numbered throughout, a description of the various arrangements of the present invention will now be provided. While the invention is disclosed in the context of a single arrangement, it will be appreciated that the invention can include numerous modifications from the preferred arrangement.
With reference now to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts a pictorial representation of a local system or object 1 that wishes to ascertain its position in accordance with an arrangement of the invention. The local object 1 comprises of three main components: a processor 2 , a transmission transducer system (TX) 3 , and a reception transducer system (ANT) 4 . In some arrangements, the local system 1 can be a component of an aircraft landing guidance system, and the directional transducer system can use components of an existing ILS (instrument landing system) localizer or glide-slope indicator transmission system. In other arrangements, the local object 1 or a remote object can comprise a land-based, marine, airborne, or space vehicle, a navigational aid, radar installation, or aircraft landing guidance system, an unattended ground sensor, or a tracking or navigation device carried by or attached to a person or other animal. In the depicted example, the processor 2 is coupled to, or in communication with, both the transmission transducer system 3 and the reception transducer system 4 to make the system operable. Additionally one or more reference systems or objects 5 are located within the transmission or receiving range of the local object 1 , wherein the reference objects 5 can be similarly configured as the local object 1 .
The most basic operation begins first with the processor 2 preparing one or more challenge messages 6 to be transmitted by the transmission transducer system 3 . The challenge messages 6 may include authentication information and encrypted information. The challenge messages 6 are directed to the transmission transducer system 3 which subsequently transmits the challenge messages 6 . The challenge messages 6 are then received by a reception transducer system of a reference object 5 . Once the reference object 5 has processed the challenge messages 6 , including decryption and/or authentication of the challenge messages 6 , the reference system 5 can generate and transmit one or more response messages 7 . The response messages 7 can include authentication information and encrypted information, such as identity information, response message content, position, transducer system direction, transducer system gain pattern, and time measurements. The response messages 7 are then received by the reception transducer system 4 of the system 1 and are directed to the processor 2 . The processor 2 then analyzes the response messages 7 , including decryption and authentication, and retrieves the information enclosed in the response messages 7 . Finally, using the information in the response messages 7 , the processor 2 calculates its position.
The processor 2 can have various components that allow the functions described herein to be performed. The particular algorithms and/or theory used for navigation and/or cryptography can be chosen to facilitate the methods and techniques described herein. There are no special computational requirements for a processor 2 . For example, the processor 2 can use any cryptographic authentication means, including by way of example, not limitation, digital signatures, public-key encryption, or symmetric encryption algorithms.
In the various arrangements, the processor 2 can be configured to perform several computational operations. First, the processor 2 can be configured to determine whether encoded information is cryptographically derived from the challenge messages 6 and whether the authentication information was sent by the reference object 5 . As used herein, “cryptographically derived from” means consisting in whole or in part of output of a cryptographic authentication function applied to the challenge messages 6 . As used herein, “cryptographic authentication function” means a function whose output can be interpreted as a mathematical demonstration that the entity that generated a message is overwhelmingly likely to be in possession of a particular secret value. Second the processor 2 can be configured to determine a time differential between the time of transmission of the challenge messages 6 and the time of receipt of the response messages 7 . Furthermore, the processor 2 can make an adjusted time measurement by subtracting a processing delay time from the time differential calculated. Third, the processor 2 can be configured to determine the maximum distance to the reference object 5 , based at least on the adjusted time measurement and the speed of propagation of challenge messages 6 and the response messages 7 . Fourth, the processor 2 can be configured to determine the direction of a reference object 5 by determining the direction of transmission of the challenge messages 6 or the direction of receipt of the response messages 6 . As referenced throughout the specification, direction can be one or a combination of horizontal angle (azimuth), vertical angle (elevation), or diagonal angle. Finally, the processor 2 can be configured to determine the position of the local object 2 relative to the reference object 5 based at least in part on the calculated maximum distance and the direction to the reference object 5 . While the exemplary embodiment above describes the steps in a particular order, the present disclosure contemplates various orders of steps being used, as well as simultaneous steps being taken.
As stated above, the transducer transmission system 3 and the reception transducer system 4 are coupled to the processor 2 . Each system handles transmission and reception, respectively, and can be configured to be controlled by the processor 2 directly, although a separate system may be configured to control them. In some arrangements, the transmission transducer system 3 and the reception transducer system 4 may comprise a single system, or at least share common components.
In the various arrangements either or both the transmission transducer system 3 and the reception transducer system 4 can be directional systems, in which the included transducer can be aligned to transmit to or receive from a specific heading. However in other arrangements, such transducers may be omnidirectional. Similarly, a reference system 5 can also utilize an omnidirectional or directional transmission or reception transducer system. In some arrangements, the directionality of the reception transducer system 4 or transmission transducer system 3 of local system 1 is provided by an electronically-scanned antenna array that scans in a random or pseudorandom direction pattern. This is advantageous because an attacker capable of receiving signals from a region wider than the intended beam width will be unable to predict which interrogation corresponds to which direction.
In some arrangements, the transmission transducer system 3 or the reception transducer system can comprise of: a radio-frequency antenna system, an optical transducer system, or an acoustic transducer system. In other arrangements, transmission transducer system 4 can also be configured to transmit a challenge message or a response message as a pulse pattern by a primary radar system. Additionally, the transmission transducer system 3 can have the capability to transmit messages using ultra-wideband pulses, frequency hopping, or direct sequence spread spectrum. Although, the present disclosure contemplates other techniques being utilized for transmission of the messages. In other arrangements, the transmission transducer system 3 is capable of transmitting a main signal and a masking signal, whereby receivers outside the directional transmission pattern of the transmission transducer system 3 are prevented from receiving side lobes of the transmission pattern of the transmission transducer system 3 .
FIG. 2 is a flowchart outlining an exemplary detailed operation of the present invention when determining the position of a local object 1 relative to a reference object 5 . The steps shown in FIG. 2 are only exemplary steps may be optional or performed in a different order that that shown in FIG. 2 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. No limitation is intended or should be inferred by the steps shown in FIG. 2 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , the operation starts with local object 1 first generating and transmitting a challenge message 6 (step 110 ), containing cryptographic information, via the transmission transducer system 3 . A reference object 5 would then receive the challenge message (step 210 ). The reference object 5 would then collect reference object information to be included in a response message 7 , including, but not limited to, information related to any or all of its identity, response message content, position, transducer system direction, transducer system gain pattern, and time measurements (step 220 ). The reference object 5 would then configure and transmit a response message (step 230 ), whereby the response message 7 contains, in addition to the reference object information, information cryptographically related to the challenge message 6 whereby the reference object 5 demonstrates knowledge of said challenge message 6 .
The local object 1 would then receive the response message 7 via the reception transducer system 4 (step 120 ). The local object 1 , using the processor 2 , would then authenticate the response message (step 130 ). First the processor 2 determines whether the response message 7 contains cryptographic information that demonstrates knowledge of the challenge message 6 and determines its origin. Second, the processor determines by cryptographic means whether the authentication message was truly sent by the reference object 5 . If either of these authentication steps fails, the response message 7 is rejected. Otherwise, the information from the reference object 7 is extracted and decrypted if necessary. The particular cryptographic techniques can be chosen to facilitate the efficiency and integrity of the system, as well as based upon other factors deemed significant to the system such as cost.
The processor 2 then collects local information regarding the local object 1 (step 140 ). First, the processor 2 determines the time between the transmission of the challenge message 6 and the receipt of the response message 7 . The processor 2 can then subtract a known processing delay of reference object 5 to obtain an adjusted time measurement. The processor 2 can then calculate the maximum distance to the reference object 5 using the adjusted time measurement and the speed of propagation of the challenge message 6 and response message 7 . Finally, the processor 2 can measure the direction or heading of the remote object 5 , based on the direction of transmission of the challenge message 6 or the direction of arrival of the response message 7 by directionality measurement available in either the transmission transducer system 3 or the reception transducer system 4 . The processor 2 , can then compute the position of the local object 1 relative to the position of reference object 5 , by using the measurements of maximum distance and direction of the remote object 5 (step 150 ).
FIG. 3 is a flowchart outlining an exemplary detailed operation of the present invention when determining the position of a local object 1 relative to one or more reference objects 5 . It can be appreciated that such an arrangement allows a local object 1 to determine its position more accurately based on multiple references. In such an arrangement, the local object generates and transmits a challenge message 6 (step 110 ) as in FIG. 1 , but now the challenge message 6 is received by a first reference object (step 210 ) and at least one additional reference object (step 310 ). Each reference object 5 then proceeds through the steps of collecting data for a response message 7 (steps 220 , 320 ) and generates and transmits a response message 7 (steps 230 , 330 ). The local object 1 then receives the response messages 7 (step 120 ) and processes and determines its position based on each response message 7 (steps 120 - 150 ). In some arrangements, the local object 1 may send challenge messages sequentially, first attempting to calculate its position relative to a first reference object by sending a challenge message 6 only to the first reference object (step 111 ), then looping back (step 155 ) before sending a challenge message 6 to a second reference object (step 112 ). In other arrangements, the challenge messages 6 (steps 111 , 112 ) are sent concurrently and response messages 7 are processed concurrently or sequentially, depending on the configuration of the processor 2 .
FIG. 4 is a flowchart outlining an exemplary detailed operation of the present invention when determining the position of a local object 1 relative to a reference object 5 , using an initial authentication challenge message. It can be appreciated that such an arrangement allows a local object 1 to send the required authentication and/or decryption information at the beginning of an exchange of challenge messages 6 and response messages 7 , without having to resend the information throughout the length of the exchange. Such an arrangement decreases delay time between challenge messages 6 and response messages 7 , allowing for increased accuracy in determining position. In such an arrangement, the local object 1 generates and transmits an authentication challenge message (step 100 ). This message can include all the necessary authentication and decryption information needed by the reference object 5 to accept and decode the challenge messages 6 . The reference object 5 then receives the authentication challenge message (step 205 ). The local object 1 then sends at least one other challenge message 6 which is authenticated and decrypted by the reference object (step 210 ). However, if the challenge 6 message cannot be authenticated according to the authentication challenge message, the challenge message 6 is rejected by the reference object 5 . Otherwise, the reference object 5 continues with collecting information, and generating and transmitting a response message 7 (steps 220 , 230 ). The local object 1 then processes the response message 7 as discussed above in FIG. 1 and calculates its position (steps 120 - 150 ).
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5 , the reference object 5 can transmit an authentication response message and at least one second response message. In such an arrangement, either prior to preparing data or once the data is collected (step 220 ), the reference object 5 sends an authentication response message (step 225 ). The authentication response message is received by the local object 1 (step 125 ). As before, such an arrangement allows a reference object 5 to send the required authentication and/or decryption information at the beginning of an exchange of challenge messages 6 and response messages 7 , without having to resend the information throughout the length of the exchange. Such an arrangement decreases delay time between challenge messages 6 and response messages 7 , allowing for increased accuracy in determining position. The reference object 5 then sends at least one other response message 7 (step 230 ) which is authenticated and decrypted by the local object 1 (steps 120 , 130 ). However, if the response message 7 cannot be authenticated according to the authentication response message, the response message 7 is rejected by the local object 1 . Otherwise, the local object 1 processes the response message 7 , as discussed above in FIG. 1 , and calculates its position (steps 120 - 150 ).
In some arrangements, the challenge messages 6 and the response messages 7 may also be rejected based on directionality. In arrangements in which the transmission transducer system 3 or the reception transducer system 4 is used, the directional information of the local object 1 and the reference object 5 may be used to reject messages. In some arrangements, if the processor 2 of the local object 1 determines, based on the directionality information of the local object 1 and the directionality information provided by the reference object 7 , that the directionality calculated by the processor 2 and the directionality reported by the reference object 5 are not directed in substantially opposite directions, a response message 7 would be rejected, even if the response message 7 can be properly authenticated. In other arrangements, where both the transmission transducer system 3 and the reception transducer system 4 are directional, a local object 1 can also reject an authenticated response message as invalid if the directions of transmission and receipt are arrangements are illustrated in FIG. 6 .
In FIG. 6 , a local object 1 can transmit a challenge message 6 in a transmission direction 8 . One or more reference objects 9 would then transmit back response messages 7 to the local object 1 . In a first arrangement, only response messages 7 received from a direction within a predetermined bound (±θ 1 ) would be accepted. An example would be the response message 7 received from a direction 11 with a heading within an amount θ 1 from the direction of heading of the transmission direction 8 . Response messages 7 received from directions 12 outside the bound 10 , would be rejected, even if properly authenticated. In a second arrangement, the difference θ 2 between the transmission direction 8 and a response message direction 11 would be calculated. Only if θ 2 is within a selected amount, in this case, close to 0 degrees, would the response message 7 be accepted. The particular selected amount can be a pre-determined value or can be dynamic. In the various arrangements, the direction of transmission 8 and the response message directions 11 , 12 could be determined from information gathered from a directional transducer of the local object 1 and/or by combining such information with directional information provided in a response message 7 . It can be appreciated that in such arrangements a local object 1 can increase calculated position accuracy by calculating position from reference object 9 specifically targeted by a directional transducer and rejecting response messages 7 due to remote or irrelevant reference objects.
In some arrangements, the method provides for subsequent transmission of the position of the local object 1 to a recipient (step 160 , FIGS. 2 , 3 ). Such an arrangement is advantageous if the local object 1 wishes to report its position to a specific recipient, such as an air traffic controller or other central location keeping track of the position of the local object 1 .
In other arrangements, further security is provided by generating and transmitting a mask signal along with the challenge message 6 . Such an arrangement prevents challenge messages 6 from being received from outside the directional transmission pattern of the transmission transducer system from receiving side lobes of the transmission pattern.
It can be appreciated that in the various arrangements, the methods of the invention are not limited to those described in FIGS. 2-6 . Furthermore, the methods described in FIGS. 2-6 can be combined to increase security of messages or to increase accuracy in determining position of a local object 1 .
The present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software can be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.
The present invention also can be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.
An embodiment in accordance with the present invention will now be described. In an active-client system that makes use of modulated signal response time, a client transmits a signal pattern; the navaid returns a signal pattern as soon as possible. By way of example and not limitation, a client can be a local object and the navaid can be a reference object. Subtracting the processing delay and multiplying by the wave speed gives the distance between the two transmitters. The navaid for this method can also be passive, such as for example and not limitation, marine radar reflectors and the ground features used by terrain-matching radar.
Both interrogation and response messages can be authenticated, thus making meaconing the only substantial vulnerability. Briefly, meaconing is the reception and rebroadcast of legitimate navigation/time signals. Spatially redirecting or precisely delaying signals in a navigation system can lead a victim receiver to an incorrect indication of position. Since meaconing does not require attackers to predict signal content, it cannot be prevented by merely authenticating the navigation bitstream. The meaconing threat is discussed further below. As the method of the present embodiment is not client-passive, it needs transmission security if low observability is an objective. Frequency hopping and direct-sequence spreading can be used to achieve transmission security.
In interactive protocols, time intervals must be measured with nanosecond precision, so decoupling the key exchange from the timing critical segment is actually crucial.
An embodiment of the present invention utilizes an active-time-of flight navigation, pre-authenticated protocol. When designing a public service, there is a need to use asymmetric cryptography. Time-based navigation protocols need to happen literally at the speed of light, but asymmetric algorithms are decidedly less quick, especially considering that to avoid timing attacks on private keys there is a need to fix the time for each operation at its worst-case value. Since fixed protocol-induced delays can be subtracted from the message timing used to measure distance, delay error is a matter of how far the platforms can move during the delay rather than how far signals can travel.
When two nodes with no prior knowledge of their relative position and velocity are moving together at 1000 meters per second, for example, there should be no more than 1 meter of positioning error, so 1 millisecond is the maximum message verification time. Running two verifications and a signature for a reasonably-secure digital signature algorithm takes several milliseconds on modern general-purpose microprocessors.
However, microsecond-level timing is only crucial within the actual message exchange. It is sufficient for participants to know not where they are right now, but where they were a few milliseconds ago. The long-term secure digital signature can be decoupled from the timed message via the following protocol.
In the pre-authenticated protocol, the protocol participants agree on a key and symmetric encryption algorithm, and authenticate each other. Each participant generates a random bit sequence. The test messages in this protocol are encrypted with the agreed-upon symmetric algorithm.
More particularly, the client sends an interrogation message, including the client's random string, r c , and timestamp, t. The navaid decrypts each incoming packet with each of the key/cipher pairs that are valid in its area. By way of example and not limitation, the client can be a local object 1 and the navaid can be a reference object 5 as depicted in FIG. 1 . Any message that some valid key does not decrypt to a valid interrogation or reply is dropped. If the timestamp is current and the navaid has not received that r c before, the navaid immediately responds with a response message that includes the client's random string, r c , and the navaid's random string, r n .
The client measures the precise time from the beginning of its transmission to the end of the navaid's response. For each valid decryption, it subtracts processing delay to get the round-trip signal time of flight and, therefore, the distance to the navaid.
The navaid's transmission of the client's newly generated, unpredictable r c demonstrates that the navaid received the client's transmission before the client received the navaid's response. Thus, no meaconer can claim that the difference between the client and navaid is less than it actually is. All-station meaconing will not work against this protocol as long as one navaid above the number necessary to fix 3D position is within range.
Note that for many key applications, an attacker being able to increase the measured distance is a critical safety problem. Key applications include without limitation: landing guidance, mid-air traffic avoidance, and radar telemetry. A secure collision-avoidance protocol should, therefore, either require at least three non-collinear nodes or use transmission security.
In might be useful in some situations for nodes to determine distance without pre-arranging keys. An embodiment of the present invention utilizes an active-time-of flight navigation, post-authenticated protocol. In essence, the pre-authenticated protocol previously described is run without encryption, then the response is authenticated afterwards. This loses authentication of interrogations; that could be restored with a pre-authentication method, but then this protocol loses any advantage it might have over its pre-authenticated counterpart.
In the post-authenticated protocol, the client sends an interrogation message that includes the client's random string, r c , and time stamp, t. The navaid sends a response message that includes the client's random string, r c , and the navaid's random string, r n . By way of example and not limitation, the client can be a local object 1 and the navaid can be a reference object 5 as depicted in FIG. 1 . Then the navaid sends the client an authentication message, which is preferably a signed, public-key-encrypted message containing r c , r n , its identity, and everything it knew about its position and radiation pattern when it sent its response. The authentication message can include: the navaid's position, p, at time t; the navaid's antenna direction, d, at time t; the interrogation timestamp, t; the navaid's identifier, i; the client's random string, r c ; the navaid's random string, r n ; and a signature of the forgoing, S k ( . . . ). Since third parties cannot influence or predict r c or r n , the signed message demonstrates that the navaid generated its response after it received the interrogation.
This invention can be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention. | A system and method of security for navigation, positioning, and localization systems, and applications of cryptography thereto are provided. The security can be applied to navigation, aircraft landing guidance, air traffic control, location-based access control, the prevention of relay attacks against financial and legal transaction protocols and protection of other data transmissions. | 7 |
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